Forever a Changeling
by Scootaloo-009, a.k.a. Mechsrule1
My Little Pony and related names, images, and scenarios are property of Hasbro Inc.
There is a continuation of this ending story line that can be found here.
Bonus Chapter (Pony ending)
"Sister, it is time to switch control," Princess Luna said as she strolled into the throne room. Princess Celestia got up and Princess Luna took her place on the throne. The sun was setting through the window behind it, casting long shadows.
"It was a busy day," Princess Celestia said idly.
"I heard there was an execution this morning. First one in... two hundred years?"
"At least. It couldn't be avoided. It was a changeling queen with the ability to turn ponies into changelings," Princess Celestia explained.
"That's interesting but what did she do to warrant such an extreme punishment?" Princess Luna asked while stifling a yawn.
"I wanted to stop her from laying eggs but it just couldn't be done. I had no other choice,” Princess Celestia said solemnly.
"Why did you have to do that?"
"Imagine what a mess it would be if anypony could just start over in a new, changeling body."
"I know a lot of terminally ill foals would jump at the chance," Princess Luna said.
"Yes but it would be a nightmare trying to manage any number of ponies who can instantly shapeshift into anypony else. How could you ever control that? If just one turned into a criminal it would be a disaster. There are enough changelings out there now," Princess Celestia said. "In the end I had to pick the solution that would cause the least amount of problems."
"I don't think many would see it that way, but I agree. Good night, sister,” Princess Luna said.
“Good night.”
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"Why do you think Scootaloo called a crusader emergency?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Ah'm not sure. It must be something important," Apple Bloom replied. Scootaloo had woken them up in the middle of the night, telling them they needed to get to the clubhouse right away. Apple Bloom had always suggested they create a system of reaching each other easily but Scootaloo had always been against the idea. Probably because she didn't want them to know where she lived.
As they approached, they noticed that Scootaloo had easily beaten them there. The lights were on in the club house. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walked inside but didn't see Scootaloo anywhere. Suddenly a pony jumped down from the loft.
"Hey, Cuz," the brown earth pony said.
"Babs!" Sweetie Belle said in surprise.
Apple Bloom took one look and snorted. "Just who the hay are you?"
Babs looked hurt. "Don't ya recognize me? I wasn't gone that long."
"Really, who are you? You're not Babs," Apple Bloom said. "Babs isn't that brown, she's stockier, and most of all, she doesn't sound like Scootaloo trying to do a Manehatten accent."
"Darn. I thought I did a good job," Babs said.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle leaped back as Babs erupted into blue flames. They were gone almost immediately, leaving Scootaloo standing where Babs had been.
"This isn't an exact science," Scootaloo said.
"What just happened?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Apple Bloom leapt into action, tackling Scootaloo. She throttled her while shouting, "What did you do with Scootaloo?!"
Scootaloo kicked her off and got back up. "I am Scootaloo."
"If you're Scootaloo then do our secret hoofshake," Apple Bloom demanded.
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "We don't have one, remember? We couldn't make one we could remember so we gave up."
“That’s right,” Apple Bloom agreed.
"What's going on?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking back and forth between Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.
"Girls, I just found out that I'm not just a pony," Scootaloo began. She burst into flames again, eliciting a yelp from Sweetie Belle, and shifted into her changeling form. "I'm a changeling too!"
"Ah don't buy it. How could yah not know?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Apparently my hive is made up of changelings who think they're ponies. I don’t really know everything yet,” Scootaloo explained.
“So when did you find out?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I just bumped into Rainbow Dash earlier. Suddenly she was all like, ‘I think you’re a changeling’. We discovered I was so she taught me how to shapeshift. There’s a lot more to it but I wanted to show you right away.”
“And she could just tell?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Yeah. I’m not sure how. I’ll have to ask her. I guess we can just tell,” Scootaloo said.
“Ha! So we were right! She is a changeling!” Apple Bloom declared.
“But she’s also a pony like me. At least we were ponies.”
“Huh?” Sweetie Belle said.
“That’s what she said but I’m not sure what she meant. Like I said, I just found out.”
“I bet that’s how you ended up abandoned! Your mom must have been a changeling that wanted you to grow up a pony,” Sweetie Belle suggested.
Scootaloo shrugged. She knew she was wrong but she couldn’t correct her. “Makes sense.”
“Ah think Ah just have one last question,” Apple Bloom said. “What about the crusaders?”
“Well Rainbow Dash still got her cutie mark even though she’s a changeling,” Scootaloo said. “Actually...”
She focused on an earlier form, her first one. It came to her almost immediately. She shifted, causing Sweetie Belle to gasp again. She gazed at her flank but it was plain blue. She focused again and tried to envision Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark. She shifted but nothing changed. Her flank was still blank.
“So I guess I can’t just shapeshift a cutie mark,” Scootaloo said.
“Cool! Do me, do me!” Sweetie Belle urged.
“Fine,” Scootaloo agreed. She stared at Sweetie Belle to make sure she would get it right., then-
“Wow!” Sweetie Belle said. She stared at her duplicate.
“How come yah got her and not Babs?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Because I’m looking at Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said. She turned to Apple Bloom and shifted into the earth filly’s doppelganger. “And now you. It’s harder to do this by memory.”
“And you just learned how to do this?” Apple Bloom asked, surprised at how easily Scootaloo seemed to be shapeshifting.
“It’s getting the look right that’s hard," Scootaloo told her.
"So... um... what do we do now?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Let's go crusading!" Scootaloo declared.
"It's the middle of the night," Apple Bloom pointed out.
"Right..." Scootaloo said.
"Colt the other foals at school are going to freak out when they see you," Sweetie Belle said.
“We probably shouldn’t tell them,” Scootaloo said nervously. “Not a lot of ponies like changelings...”
“Okay, we’ll keep it secret,” Apple Bloom said.
“Who can we talk to?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Scootaloo rubbed her chin. “Just Rainbow Dash for now. She’s the only one who knows except you two.”
Apple Bloom yawned loudly. “Ah don’t know bout you two, but Ah’m bout ready tah fall asleep right now. Ah’ll see yah in the mornin’.”
Sweetie Belle joined her in walking out. “Me too. See you tomorrow?”
“I’m just going to turn off the lights,” Scootaloo called back. “Night girls. Cutie mark crusaders:”
“Friends forever!”
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Uhm, could someone please point me to the sequel? Or is that tumblr thing itself supposed to be said sequel?
Yah! The CMC still are best buds! Please do a sequel with Rainbow dash becoming a queen, but slowly and she show her progress and mental changes, like a mix between the two 'endings'.If you want to that is...
2011323
It is. The story will continue there.
Pretty nice.
imageshack.us/a/img33/5764/likethischapter.jpg
I still don't like how Tia just executed Queen Recarn. Seems not much like Tia to do such a thing. Although, I suppose it is a nice change of pace to see Tia being the harsh one instead of Luna, who always seems pro- death penalty in fics. But it's just too sudden and rash on her part. Celestia never struck me as the 'off with her head' type of ruler. Silent rage, devastating anger, and perhaps even a devious tactician, yes, but not casually ordering an execution and then briefly mentioning it in passing to her sister / co-ruler. That's not like her at all. Not to mention that her choice reflects poorly on her, as a ruler, and the entire nation under her hoof, especially in the eyes of other changeling queens that she has already entered into peace treaties with. She's far wiser than that.
DAH FEELS Of this chapter.
That was classy! Glad you're doing a sequel... too much intriguing unfinished business!
You know even though you liked the "pony ending" better and I will agree that the "queen ending" was a little too much, it doesn't mean that RD can't later develop into a queen, if all she needs is to be fertilized once then that is easily done, we still have Queen Ovi and her hive and all it would take is one visit.
The forever-a-verse is amazing and this is amazing and you are amazing!
Pony Bonus Chapter
YEAH!!!
But now... I'm sure Dash will be a bit torn with Queen influences when she is the element of Loyalty...
Please don't turn her into a tyrant
I love it
so it WAS unusual of Celestia. i am about 20% more satisfied now.
meh i will wait for the fim fic release and then consider.
2019347 There won't be one.
2019616 very well it is your call thank you again for taking the time to reply.
2021002
I'm not even sure how I would convert an image tumblr to a text story.
2021037 hm seen it done as a posted image IN the story. (windfall)
2021168
Really? Well I don't intend to do that anyway. You'll just have to follow the tumblr.
2011577
Yeah, I and others have previously pointed out how out-of-character it was for her.
I believe that the little discussion between Celestia and Luna at the start of the chapter is meant to provide explanation and justification for her actions. Whether or not it succeeded, well... Personally it just seemed like handwaving because it didn't address the actual issues with her decision. Well, it mentioned them but then promptly ignored them.
Well, I liked the story as a whole. I suppose I can deal with hating one part of it.
EDIT: Question for the author: In the "Pony Ending" chapter the relationship between Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo is given as big sister and little sister
However, the first post of the tumblr states that it is mother and daughter.
Which one is it? Personally, I like the sisters one a lot better. I never really got why some people make them mother and daughter, since the comparative relationships in the show are Applejack and Applebloom as sisters and Rarity and Sweetie Belle as sisters. Assuming Scootaloo is roughly the same age as her friends, and that Rainbow Dash is the same age as her friends, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo as sisters seems to make the most sense.
2026711 imageshack.us/a/img507/373/pinkieindubitably.gif
2026711
It's both. Rainbow Dash views it more like a sister-sister relationship while Scootaloo views it as a mother-daughter relationship. Biologically they are now siblings and legally, Rainbow Dash is Scootaloo's mother.
Ask blog=story
2+2=5
I'm not upset, seeing how you weren't planning on doing a sequel anyway, but I just wanted to point out what I see as a flaw in your logic.
2028060
What the hell...
Now, my overall thoughts.
I found the writing to steadily get better throughout the story, especially the description and dialog.
I really liked how you portrayed the way changelings work in this story.
Overall I can't help but like the queen ending more for some reason, if only a little. Just something about it I can't seem to identify.
Overall great story. Not perfect but great. 8/10.
if your going to do a sequal will you put it on fimfiction??
2046630 No.
Nice. Followed on Tumblr. I'll be watching this.
2046788
That's a shame. As much as I'd like to read a sequel, it's too much hassle to set up the machinery necessary to filter a blog down to just new chapters. ...assuming they even have characteristics consistent enough for a program to recognize.
(Plus, even though I'm interested, I'm already adding things to my FiMFiction "Read it Later" list faster than I'm taking them off. As I advise people when telling them not to waste the 200 characters Fanfiction.net allows for descriptions, it's a global market. If they don't live up to the standard people are used to, there are countless other authors who will... and readers won't waste time assuming every sloppy author is merely misunderstood when they're so numerous.)
Let me know if you toss it up on some non-FiMFiction site which has a clean, consistent UI for previous/next and lets me subscribe to only the new chapter updates.
In my universe, and my fan sequel (hey, you said it was allowed!), Rainbow managed 1,000. With a little bit of Spitfire tactics (yelling and whistling, but the volume’s lower)