A distress call issues from a mansion in the snow-capped peaks of the Crystal Mountains. One of the six young residents is reporting evidence of a changeling among them. The Royal Guard rallies to their remote location with all haste, but they are days away—they have charged Detective Pesco and his apprentice Bluebird with investigating the scene in advance.
There's nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. Identity is a delicate thing, and the changeling's isn't the only one on the brink of unraveling.
A novel-length mystery (social deduction, closed room, limited suspect pool) with an emphasis on character drama. Entirely original cast split among canonical and semicanonical MLP species: ponies, griffons, reindeer, zebra—and among them, the changeling.
Assumed to take place prior/alternative to the changeling reformation in season 6.
Cover art (one and two) by Rocket Lawnchair.
Many thanks for the catches and suggestions from my beta readers, including: wonderkid125, Miller Minus, mikemeiers, Secret Moon, Majora.
welp, i guess im hooked
Well, the prime suspect is Blanche, since she could recognize what a piece of changeling wing looks like. Grid, Gloria and Girard are sus because of their reactions to the things that Pesco and Bluebird were saying. Without any sort of input from Zorn, I'm gonna say Bon is the changeling, simply for the fact that he's the only one acting cool as a cucumber, which is something an infiltrator would likely do in an attempt to cast suspicion off themselves.
I don't recall if I've ever seen the whodunnit trope done with buggos before, but it feels fresh for me and so I'm very invested! Very awesome cover, to boot. Definitely following.
Twilight showed us that if you blast a CHERNGELERNG, ERMAHGERD in the face with magic, they lose their disguise!
So SHOOT EM ALL AND LET CELESTIA SORT EM OUT!!
This looks quite interesting!
Should be "in or out"
11229137
Thanks for the catch!
Oh! Is this a daily, or do you simply have a buffer/motivation right now?
at any rate this is excellent
11229678
Yep, it should be daily. Still second-drafting the last few chapters, but it is well and truly complete.
11228625
There was one where one of the Mane 6 was, and always had been, a changeling and Twilight has to figure out which of the Mane 6 is a Changeling. Weirdly ive lost it but the cover art featured a shadow behind a show curtain.
I'm still hoping that one of her friends always her friend...and a changeling.
11229697
oh my gosh, you mean i will be able to overthink every detail in the story to try to guess ahead and then get my answers the very next day?
(well, maybe not the very next day, but still)
11229821
I feel like it's a bit early to tell. We do have one account of how changelings are, or can be like, in this world, and it's not pretty.
Assuming Blanche is being honest about what she says she knows, then if the changeling hasn't replaced anyone they're possibly some kind of runaway or exile from their hive. Alternatively, she's only wrong about the short-term replacement part, and someone is this group is currently one cog in a large scale, years-in-the-making conspiracy that would gain "the changelings" a significant amount of power and resources in the long term.
I also wonder why the rest of the group trusts her ability to conclude there is a changeling among them simply on her recognizing such a small wing fragment. But if she's the changeling, it wouldn't make much sense that she would basically give herself away like that, right? Unless there was some other piece of evidence someone else has that forced her to fabricate evidence of her own to clear herself by being the one to call for help? Not sure.
And why isn't the changeling running away? Perhaps they don't know that Blanche has extra information on their identity, or perhaps they still need to complete their assignment... or perhaps they simply have nowhere to run away to. At this point they might try and pin the blame on someone else, or fake the daring escape of some theoretical changeling houseplant that would break the window and disappear into the night.... but wouldn't they have done that already? You know, before the detective had a chance to arrive?
+ assuming the friendship was honest... based on blanche's tidbits there... it might not make it past the eventual reveal unfortunately. i don't think it's entirely impossible, given that... the idea is actively being entertained, by blanche (as a joke) but also by the assistant (as a what-if 'social-rights' type situation, ecept geniunely). it might be something of a political issue in-uuniverse? am i making sense by formulating it this way
argh we have zero information yet and it's driving me in circles, and i get the feeling i'll just be running myself in even larger, more numerous circles tomorrow
11229861
Yep, you have my fullest blessing and encouragement. Nothing I'll enjoy more than reading theories about what's to come. You'll certainly have bragging rights if any are correct! (Partial credit is accepted.)
11229861
I'm an optimist and like happy endings. Also the show has clearly shown Changelings are capable of love and being able to be independent.
Okay, Blanche has become much more sus
Well...it is a changeling. They sort of excel at that, y'know?
Getting a kind of Clue vibe to this--it was Colonel Mustard! In the library! With the lead pipe!
As another famous detective once said: once you've eliminated the impossible, then whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.
Well, that goes without saying, but it'd be just as much for its own defense than anything else--I can only imagine what could happen to it should the anti-changeling inclined were to lay hoof or claw upon it, and it'd know of that potential reality all too well.
11229861
Well, there is a blizzard ongoing at the moment, and while obviously that didn't stop traveling entirely if our two detectives could brave it long enough just to get here, it may be hoping to hold out until better weather conditions first--perhaps it's next destination is not very nearby.
Assuming it even IS still here and hasn't already left--which I find unlikely, given the nature of the story, but I point it out to show that all the theories or possible explanations could still be on the table at this point in the game.
11229928
You'd think that, but I'm finding Blanche too obvious, and in my experience, when it comes to mystery stories like this, it's usually not the obvious one.
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11228625
I assume that Teraucne was referring to Who We Are.
- MLP: FiM
- Slice of Life
A chilling letter from Celestia throws the girls' world upsidedownAnyway, I'm interested to see how this story plays out.
11230199
I was. I'm optimistically hoping for a similar motivation and ending.
If we're already theorizing in the comments, here's mine since I can't read a mystery and not be on guard for an outrageous and intensely cynical twist.
My guess is the changeling is Blanche's parchment supplier and was never in the building, and her papers were disturbed by someone else who just wanted a peek at her story. They're all about to self destruct in a conflagration of paranoia over nothing.
This story proves interesting so far. I wonder how it will develop.
He wouldn't be a very good detective if he didn't, y'know.
...I think I might. A theory that the changeling may relate, or be of a similar viewpoint, to that of Zorn's thoughts on abuse, perhaps? It would give a motive for his own private attempts at investigation and the refusal to elaborate the details, for fear of putting the changeling in the very situation Zorn may believe it is seeking to avoid. But that's just a hunch at the moment.
At the very least, Zorn definitely seems to be of the opinion that all might not be as it seems with this changeling and its reasons/motives for being here in the first place, and seems to be of the opinion that this is at risk of not getting proper consideration, and in turn creating new problems from it.
That said, he's also unwilling to bet all his bits on that theory, suggesting there's doubt about it too.
Best new fanfiction I've seen in a while. Can't wait to see how it progresses. At the moment, I definitely don't think the Zebra's the imposter, especially considering he clearly just tested for himself who the changeling was. Then again, if that was the case, what need would he have to test himself? Perhaps the experiment was for something we don't know about yet...
Interesting. Different ways to go with this. He clearly understands ponies well enough. Knows enough about alchemy and science to deduce that experiment to identify a changeling, and has synthesized an agent to countera changeling's magic...
Unless all of that is a load. Zorn being sick has sequestered himself to his room so he's not continuously around his friends and not being around his friends that much would give him the opportunity to sneak around when they're not looking, which gives him the opportunity to sneak about it so desired. Plus, if Zorn turns out to be the changeling, then his being sequestered give the changeling a convenient target to replace; Zorn's friends will keep their distance both to allow him to rest and recover as well as avoid catching whatever illness he has.
He seems very much a prominent subject, if not a prime suspect at this point.
Things are definitely getting interesting
Ooo! Ooo! I know! They can all give a blood sample and then stick a hot wire into it!
And then when the changeling reveals itself, BLAST IT WITH A FLAMETHROWER!
Oh, a syringe of... something. If he's the bugpony, it could be a syringe of DEADLY POISON!!!
Can't just trust what someone hands you.
I hope happily for all. Nice chapter.
On the one hand, Zorn seems like too obvious of a suspect story wise. On the other hand, what we've read of his personality and intelligence makes it seem like he'd be the ideal candidate for an elite infiltrator trying to blend in, especially considering he's admitted to wanting to see how this all, "plays out". What's really bugging me is how Blanche seems to know so much about Changellings when they're supposed to be a secretive species and is planning to write a book staring them. All of these teens, (with the exception of Grid Iron), seem to be in positions of power and influence with connections towards important and wealthy families. It feels like I still know too little to make a serious prediction. At the moment though, I want to throw out the idea of the detective or his partner being the changelling, and planning to replace one of these kids in secret while on the property. After all, how well do we actually know these OC's?
Zorn is being cautiously optimistic here, somewhat, I'd say? He seems to want both to acknowledge the risks posed by having a changeling in their midst, and still hopefuly that they can be in a friendly, or maybe non-violent, disposition towards him and maybe the group. Or perhaps, he hopes he can convince the imposter to release the creature they've replaced, and he doesn't think he can obtain that if he acts too agressively?
The serum seems to indicate that he at least knows the changeling to be dangerous if they so choose. Perhaps they've obtained Blanche's tidbit on the ling being some kind of elite?
At any rate, if he's not the changeling, then perhaps he stays secluded to avoid giving away emotions (if it's a thing here) that would indicate he successfully identified the impostor.
Or perhaps he's it and that's just a ploy to justify his isolation.
So, wait. Blanche and Bon are the reindeer siblings, and Gloria and Girard are the griffin cousins, right? Assuming no surprise adoptions, this means a non replacement would have to be either Grid or Zorn.
Girard seems like an ideal target for replacement to me. Maybe he wouldn't have met Gloria all that much prior to the boarding school, due to being "only" cousins, instead of siblings like the other pair, so if he's been replaced just before that it seems like an ideal time frame. Gloria "gets to know" her cousin better, getting the image of familiarity due to being cousins with still enough of a blur that the infiltrator could compose along. And his anxiety may mask a lot of mistakes or indiscretions. They're important enough people due to their connections and families and etc. that an infiltrator could secure a lofty spot in a privileged position, and higher education tends to change you enough due to getting out of the parental nest and "learning to adult" that a significant change in behavior wouldn't be unexpected when that infiltrator does meet their "parents" again.
At this point, I'm fairly certain any replacement will have been done sometime before, or immediately after, the group met together in boarding school. I don't think "trying to recall distant memories" is going to give anything significant, unless either Blanche or Bon were replaced.
Zorn and Blanche come off as the most cagey so far, but I doubt they'll be the only ones leading us on. I know Zorn seems suspicious, but to me he geniunely comes off more as "cautious but hopeful" than "guilty". I don't think Blanche is necessarily the changeling - more likely to be an accomplice. Hey, all that information about changelings had to come from somewhere, right? And I still can't get over the divide between what she writes and what she says.
Assuming no replacements then it's between Grid and Zorn... I was going to say Grid wasn't interested in relationships and therefore was less likely to be it, but... hey, if he's being 'geniune' then there's no reason he should want to seek out a relationship he doesn't want, right? Aromantic changeling, maybe? Sure. Hell yeah. Thinking about it, he seems more likely to be the ling than Zorn if there's been no replacements, actually.
It's a...sibling thing, Bluebird. Trust those of us who have siblings of our own.
No, I don't buy that. If that were the case, the changeling would've left a much more obvious "message" than that. That said, there's a good chance the wing fragment was shed while the changeling was trying to find out from her notes what Blanche does know of changelings, probably with the fear that she might know enough to see-through whatever disguise it may or may not have assumed.
Or it's just a fan. Her story is about changelings after all, not to mention one that proposes the possibility of peaceful coexistence between 'lings and other creatures, Thorax-style, even if Blanche means it more as satire, mocking such an idea.
Of course, it could also be a case that it was attempting to determine not what Blanche knows about changelings, but rather what her opinions of them are.
Again, I don't buy that for the same reasons--if that was really the changeling's intent, it would try to make contact through a more obvious and direct means than one so small and obscure, it could be missed, let alone misinterpreted, entirely. If it really had such hesitation and fear about intentionally revealing any hint of its existence to anyone that all it does is leave such a small and nearly unnoticeable clue like that, then more likely it wouldn't commit to such a reveal at all and continue to remain in full hiding to the best of its abilities, revealing nothing.
No, more likely, with the evidence currently available, the wing fragment was shed and left accidentally, a telltale that it was snooping around that it, in all likelihood, hadn't meant to leave behind (and is now probably kicking itself for doing so, given the tense situation it's put them all in).
Maybe, but it doesn't explain the experiment, even if the experiment is not as Zorn described it earlier, because if that really is true about Zorn, then why engage in the experiment at all, particularly when it could run the risk of raising suspicion about him, as it clearly has here?
Your pessimism is showing again, Pesco--this assumes the changeling actually means nefarious intent, or some other violent motive. But if that's the case, then why has the changeling not made its move already and still hiding, even though it'd be clear by now that everything's hitting the fan? You'd think that if it meant harm, then it'd cut its losses and act now to do it then escape before the authorities can get here and stop it.
So either its not here for nefarious intent at all, it's already bailed and fled and no one's realized it yet, or it still (probably vainly and foolishly) thinks it can salvage this somehow and is trying to wait this out, then act...but that'd probably mean a far more complex scheme is at play here than just one to cause harm, one with high enough stakes and large enough payoff to take such a high risk.
Agreed, more info is needed. All that can be said for sure is that there's definitely more at play here than would seem obvious from a passing glance.
11231635
If we're throwing out theories like that, then I might as well throw in my own idea that all of our suspects in the mansion are changelings, they all just don't know they're all changelings as of yet, or are deliberately acting as such as means of staging some kind of trap.
(I think this unlikely though)
11231701
I'd actually completely buy that theory...if it weren't for the fact that Blanche was the one who raised the alarm about there being a changeling in the first place. So unless this is her sadistic way of saying "you're fired"...
Fascinating thus far. I don't have any meaningful speculation of my own at this juncture; I'm just along for the ride as the investigators gather more information. Looking forward to more.
Ooh, nice pun with "Dragalog." Never seen that particular play on words before.
An interesting thing for a horse to tell a cat-bird.
I do love the ongoing theme of dramatic irony. But then, Thorax is a very notable anomaly.
Hmm. Very suspicious behavior from Gloria... but it could be for innocent reasons. Or at least reasons unrelated to the ongoing investigation. Still, best to keep an eye on her...
Indeed! More politicians in our world ought to do it themselves.
Well...for now, perhaps.
A pity, then, that Chrysalis isn't an especially capable planner either.
The conspiracy deepens, then. Interestingly, none of it seems so much to protect themselves individually but rather one another. This makes me wonder all the more if most, if not all, are in on this scheme to protect (though whether or not said scheme to protect is because specifically of the changeling or because of some other, unrelated, matter that is just happening to come to light at the same time, remains to be seen--I fully expect our detective duo will accidentally uncover some other secret of this lot's that they hadn't wanted to come to light in all of this regardless, since the door for that happening too is wide, wide, open).
I've also been wondering if no one's actually been replaced at all, and the changeling (if it exists--I haven't ruled out it being a red herring altogether so to cover up some other matter) is some separate individual that is trying to hide here in this mansion, and one or more of the group is simply assisting it in secret for whatever reason, fearing the others would not understand their reasons.
If not that, though, then I suspect that whoever has been replaced, it happened quite some time ago. We may even be looking at an "X was always a changeling" sort of scenario here.
This chapter makes it appear as if the Griffin here is actually the changeling and making a very convincing case to mislead the detective. It also implies that Zorn discovered her to be the changeling in his earlier experiment and that's why he's acting so cold towards her. Still, I'm not going to make that my official prediction. I'm actually seriously considering the idea that there may be more than one changeling amongst this group.
I was wondering if we had a Thorax situation here, but those elite markers... I can't see anyone getting that high with Chrysalis, then getting exiled for anything other than a grab for power... which would make him unlikely to bother with friendship.
I'm happy to see so many readers expounding on their theories in such depth! Suffice to say, I hope to reward that depth; I've worked hard to leave the right little clues, and I'll be ashamed if there are any plot holes left after so long a writing and editing process.
In fact, I would say a very eagle-eyed and genre-savvy reader could piece everything together from just these first few chapters. There are a couple of clues and lines whose relevance would stand out very differently on a second reading. There was one clue in particular that I was very afraid to leave in, in fact, given the close reading and analysis so far. Thankfully, no one seems to have picked up on it :)
An easter egg not really related to the mystery: Anyone who can explain the relevance of Zorn's chapter title gets a gold star. There are at least three aspects to it, I'd say.
Also: There will be 26 chapters. Remember this.
I'm still hoping the changeling was trying to pull a Thorax
11232730
I'm hoping it was that last one and they themselves might not have known before unexpectedly and accidentally demorphing.
So there IS a changeling kingdom, then! I suppose it would make sense that some information about them would be more openly available, then. And this would be where Blanche got hers from. Through I can't say I'm convinced by the rather... uniform portrayal of them that's been done by both Blanche and Gloria. Only Zorn seems to consider so far that the "replacement" or infiltration might have happened from before they even all met each other.
Oh, and I have to echo the sentiment of other people in the comments; that changeling's probably not working alone. Either there are several of them, or they have at least one "associate" in the group.
11233064
You monster! Now I'll have to go back and read it from the top again
I'm gonna put out that Zorn isn't the changeling. The evidence definitely points that way, but that could likely be to mislead. I think it's Girard now. The only way to prove it would be to go back to the bathroom Girard was using and check if there was a window and melting snow. I propose this because the changeling likely knew Zorn would be suspected by all the others, and joining the group sooner would help to throw off any suspicion.
My first half-joking theory was that none of them were the changeling and it was just a random paper supplier. There's now clearly a hostile agent here, but I still don't think it's any of them. Not for more than brief encounters.
Gloria and Bon were physically in the wrong place during an attack. Zorn just got directly acted against. Blanche and Grid both offered up detailed memories that would instantly expose them if prodded. Girard hasn't been interviewed by the detectives, but Gloria has almost certainly quizzed him offscreen. Hell, all six have probably already put each other through some amount of distant memory song and dance.
Theory one is that Gloria and Girard are both changelings covering for each other. Gloria is actively trolling the detective a bit, and being royalty of some transient province in an area so torn by border wars that even a schooled detective would never have heard of it at all is pretty suspicious. I mean, the average IRL westerner may not know the current status of every current border in sub-Saharan Africa or the former Soviet Union, but they'd most likely at least recognize a name.
But even if they are changelings, I don't think either is the changeling that has everyone freaked out. This is a big mansion and a hostile changeling could pretty easily slip in and out of chance meetings and watch the chaos unfold. It may not have even come back to the building after fleeing.
I'm thinking it's an agent dispatched to threaten at least one benign changeling already among the teens and considered rogue. Zorn's tests and cryptic bullcrap, and Blanche's deeply personal knowledge of their biology and hierarchy, have me leaning toward all of them knowing or having a pretty good idea and trying to cover for them, and the agent was trying to break into his lab to find the right target himself.
Also possible all six are rogue changelings meeting up to discuss Equestrian amnesty or something. In this case Zorn's test would have likely discovered one of them - probably one of the griffons - is actual royalty, which would've forced a hive agent to act even more urgently.
Most curious. But this does definitely seem like a blunder on the changeling's part... assuming it's the only one.
But that may be a bit too paranoid. For now, time to see what everyone has to say for themselves.
See? Shooting them all and letting Celestia sort em out is looking like the ONLY logical solution, isn't it?
MY MADNESS IS NEVER WRONG!!
11233580 Everyone is a changeling, even the investigators! They're so good at impersonating ponies, they even convinced themselves!
Yeah, pretty good for selecting a bottle at random, isn't it?
Bon's such a show off, he effectively oversells the supposed skills of others too, it seems. In reality, he's full of it--so eager to demonstrate he IS all that and more that he ends up overselling it, and then it comes out seeming ingenuine. He should probably try being just himself more.
If he should prove to be the changeling before this is all over, I will probably laugh a little, because that means that 'ling's trying entirely too hard...and its working anyway.
You know, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I've noticed there's been a couple of these "just passing by" encounters with Girard at random locations throughout the mansion, so much so I'm wondering now if it's deliberate, and we the readers are supposed to be taking note of it...
At least he admits it. That's the first step towards recovery, you know!
Yeah, I too had a hunch about that earlier, but I didn't want to seem presumptuous in calling it out.
If that's true, then either it's two-way and Grid has an interest (at some level) as well and just hasn't given voice to it yet for whatever reason, or Grid does have some suspicion about Bon's interest, but hasn't wanted to be presumptuous in acknowledging it either (possibly for fear of guessing wrong and embarrassing them both). And the reason I say that is because it was Grid's reactions to the topic of Bon that first got me thinking there might be something there, so if I got that from the supposedly uninterested one of the two...then perhaps there's hope yet for poor Bon here.
Or Grid's the changeling, and the interest is in actuality to exploit Bon's interest for the chance for a full stomach, as Bluebird has already proposed. There may be some interesting implications yet to come to light if that's the case, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here (though to be honest, I'm sorting hoping that's not the case, as it'd feel like it'd be awfully cliche
)
Maybe, but maybe not in the sense that sentence would seem to suggest...still can't rule it out just yet.
Because, again, if the changeling really did mean ill-intent, then why isn't there more obvious sign of it? Why hasn't it already made its move? What's holding it back?
Huh. Okay, move made, I guess. Look at me being wrong.
That does mean we can probably rule out both of the detectives then, at least (not that I think anyone was seriously considering it here).
Also, obviously, confirms that there IS actually a changeling, but c'mon, we all knew deep down there would be at least one, that's why we all clicked on the story. admit it.
Additionally, the changeling knows Bluebird not just by name, but also enough to feel obligated to apologize in advance. This feels like it should be relevant, but I don't know how yet.
Relevant question--does the bathroom have a window? Or some other means of quickly slipping into the building from the outside, where one can swiftly assume a new form?
Not to say Girard IS definitely the changeling, but...he is currently the one with the weakest case to deny it at the moment.
Yeah, Gloria's definitely hiding something, though as to what exactly, I can only guess, because I'm not convinced yet it actually concerns the changeling. Or if it does, not in the way one would presume.
While down with a headcold?
I call foul on that, Zorn.
Y'know, something's definitely amiss about this whole place...and I'm not so sure it's actually the changeling.
But on that matter, this whole incident has made clear one thing about that changeling--they do not necessarily have any one preferred form. We've been looking at this as if the changeling has replaced and assumed only one identity, but what if they've actually been assuming multiple as the situation calls for it all throughout? It could explain why no one had previously noticed anyone acting truly out of the ordinary, because the changeling hadn't ever assumed the place of one of them for long enough for others to notice.
If so, then this could get a lot more complicated.
11233549
Agreed, I think Girard's the prime suspect at the moment, but there's suspicious peculiarities going on here with some of the others too, like Zorn, but most definitely Gloria too, so it could still be anyone's guess at the moment. It doesn't help that I'm confident there's something else amiss going on here besides the changeling, and that's not helping.
But yeah, I'm thinking it's at least probably not Zorn--that smells too much like a set-up. But that still means Zorn's up to something regardless, because him being outside the same time this goes down, plus his withholding of information earlier, is still rather suspect, so what else is going on here?
11233579
Now there's a thought, the idea that the changeling might be here to act against yet another changeling. Hadn't really toyed with the idea before because there didn't seem to be enough evidence for it...but now you might be onto something there...particularly as I've gotten the sense the group's are all trying to cover for each other too, and this could easily explain why. The sudden quickness everyone interrogated has voiced shooting down the idea of a changeling reformation would even seem to support that idea, as that could be an attempt to simply dissuade unwanted attention.
So assuming this IS the case, then I think it'd have to be Girard, because everyone has been super protective of him and quick to try and turn attention away from him, and he IS the only one who hasn't been interrogated yet, as well as also the one the most uneasy about all of this. And there's my earlier point about how he's always the one "just passing by" that'd fit perfectly into this too. Heck, if he is a changeling, then that could explain why he has the nerves issue at all, because he was perpetually nervous about being caught--GOOD GOSH, this is starting to make more and more sense the more I think about it! I was going to hide all of this with a spoiler tag just in case, but now I'm thinking this is worth being upfront about.
One final thought: there was a brief moment between the changeling revealing itself to Bluebird and Pesco seeing them both race out of the hallway that we aren't shown what was happening. Are we sure Bluebird himself wasn't replaced in that moment? Particularly as the rest of the chapter following remains in Pesco's perspective? Sure, that'd mean there's multiple changelings, but we're already speculating in that regard so that's nothing new. Besides...why would the changeling suddenly give itself away like that just because Bluebird walked in on it doing something Bluebird would already find in line with the form it had assumed, especially when it's probably managed to avoid revealing itself so for who knows how long prior to then?
11233682
Then couldn't that mean YOU'RE a changeling too?
11233708
Oh $#!+ I've been found out!