Ravens Overhead

by Smaug the Golden

This is my journal.

May 29, 1065 C.E.
My name is Trachea. We have to leave the hive. I asked why, but the other changelings won’t tell me. I listened in on them while they were talking though. I wasn’t able to hear much, but the word political necessities and victors stood out.

I don’t understand what they mean. Maybe they’re right when they say that’s a topic for older changelings. But is it political necessities what made Chrysalis stay away? She didn’t come back after the war. Nopony will tell me where she went, but I will find out.

June 3, 1065 C.E.

We left the hive today. All of us, young and old, large and small, we all had to leave. We marched one after another in single file, while those strange ponies checked what we were carrying. I do not like them at all, those ponies wearing that golden armor. Who are they that they’re allowed to check what we carry?

June 10, 1065 C.E.

I found out why we have to leave. I asked Chitin as he’s the wisest changeling around. We lost the war is what he claims, and now we have to all go live with the ponies to show we harbor no ill will. Those ponies in the gold armor are in charge of making sure that we don’t take anything dangerous with us.

I don’t understand why we have to leave. If we aren’t going to hurt them anyway, why do we have to go leave everything we know to go join them? I’m afraid. With Chrysalis gone, who will lead us? We have no leader, no queen, so who will be in charge of us?

June 16, 1065 C.E.
We are crossing the badlands as I write. The ponies in armor guard us while we walk. They seem to walk tirelessly, their legs moving at a continuous pace. We rarely get breaks from our walking, but that’s okay for us. Changelings can walk for miles without resting, so we are fine with these arrangements. But why do I feel so…

June 17, 1065 C.E.

Sorry about yesterday. I fell asleep while writing or so the others tell me. I’m feeling fine today. We are most of the way through the badlands, so we should reach wherever we’re staying soon. The guards look hopeful as well. They seem to be gazing longingly to a speck in the distance. Why do they not realize that we miss our homes too? They wish for their home and so do we, yet they take it from us.

I asked Chitin about it. He says that it is war that is to blame. Fighting and anger. I don’t like that idea. You cannot live on anger. Love is what is what makes us strong, not anger. So why did Chrysalis fight them? Did the ponies give her no choice? They must have, for I cannot see any other way for our former leader to have done such a thing.

June 29, 1065 C.E.

We reached the end of the badlands today, but not the end of our journey. We stopped at a town called Appleloosa for the night. Many of us felt like we could stay here. The ponies were friendly and there was nice food. The guards said we couldn’t stay. They said we had to go to Canterlot to see the princess.

Why do they have a princess to rule them? Shouldn’t they have a queen like us? Chitin laughed when I asked him about it. Apparently he knows something I don’t. Did I miss something in foreign cultures class? I might have, I slept through it most of the time.

July 1, 1065 C.E
The endless walking is wearing some of us down. Nopony will admit it, but I can see weariness in the eyes of many of my friends, as well as the elders. There is something called rationing going around. The guards are giving each changeling less and less food each day. For some reason I seem to be getting the same amount each day. I asked Chitin about it. ‘Protect the young,’ was all he would say. He seems to be getting less and less food as well.

When I asked my friend Molt about it he said something about endangered species. Is our species endangered? There are hundreds of us. We outnumbered those ponies in Appleloosa a hundred to one. Molt just laughed. I don’t like it when secrets are kept from me. Someday I’ll show them. I’ll find out lots of secrets and keep them from my friends. How will they like that?

July 15, 1065 C.E.

The guards are excited. We reached a city attached to a mountain. It doesn’t look safe to me. Chitin says it’s called Canterlot. I was surprised. It’s larger than I expected. Are there really this many ponies in the whole world? I never knew there were so many. Maybe this is why Molt was laughing at me. He must have known that there were as many ponies as us in Canterlot, so he laughed because I didn’t know there were as many ponies as us in Equestria.

The guards claim we’ll meet the princess tomorrow. I truly don’t see why they would have a princess. Wouldn’t a queen be better? A princess only has limited authority; a queen can do whatever she wants. Maybe this is why the ponies are so incompetent. After all, they couldn’t get enough food for us. Maybe their leader wasn’t able to get them enough food because she had limited authority. That would make sense.

I proposed my idea to Chitin. He said that I was wrong, no matter what I say. He claims that the princess is extremely competent, but she didn’t know how many changelings the guards would be escorting, so she gave what she thought was appropriate. I don’t know what to think about that.

July 23, 1065 C.E.

We met the princess today. Well, princesses. There are four of them: Mi Amore Cadenza, Celestia, Luna and one named Twilight Sparkle. Cadenza doesn’t seem to like changelings, and neither does the Twilight Sparkle. Celestia and Luna didn’t seem to like us either. I don’t understand why.

The ponies in the city don’t seem to like us either. No matter who I try to talk to they always give me dark looks and move away. One even threw a bucket at me. It wasn’t very nice. I even learned a few new words today, not that they were very nice. Did you know that if you throw together a few nasty words you can make a limerick?

Chitin won’t tell me why they dislike us. I asked quite a few changelings, but no one will tell me why they hate our kind. I intend to find out, no matter what it takes.

July 30, 1065 C.E.
We learned what we are going to do now that Chrysalis is gone. The changelings will go to different areas and integrate themselves into the cities. I don’t want my friends to leave. Why do we have to leave one another? Why do we have to leave our friends and family?

August 3, 1065 C.E.
I hate the princesses. I hate them with all my heart. I hate what they’ve done. I hate what they have done to my kind. I despise Celestia and her fellow princesses, for now I must leave my friends and family. I hate them all. I hate you all!

August 5, 1065 C.E.
Tomorrow I leave for Ponyville. I hope I will be safe there. I wonder what will happen to me. Will Chitin go with me? Will Molt go with me? I do not know, and I’m not sure if I want to know.

August 16, 1065 C.E.

I don’t like Ponyville. The ponies there are friendly enough to one another, but they despise changelings. I do not know what creates this antipathy towards us. There are only about fifty of us who moved into Ponyville, yet they treat us like an army of enemies. Our new leader is no help either. Princess Twilight Sparkle dislikes us as much as any pony in the town.

August 25, 1065 C.E.

I met the princess face to face today. It was an accident really. I crashed into her while flying. I was truly surprised to see her. She’s far older than me, but she looked barely as old as Molt. She didn’t seem pleased to see me. I tried to ask why she didn’t like changelings, but she wouldn’t tell me. I don’t know if I made things better or worse for my kind by trying to talk to her. I wish that Chrysalis was here. She would know what to do. But then again, the whole reason we’re here is because Chrysalis isn’t.

August 30, 1065 C.E.

I wish that none of this had ever happened. Today the princess declared that all changelings would have to wear some form of necklace to help identify them. I hate the idea. Transformation is a part of who we are. Why would she do this? Why would she try to prevent us from using our natural abilities?

September 9, 1065 C.E
Things are not going well for the changelings. The princess hates us more than ever, and the general attitude of the changelings is not helping. We dislike the new rules, and we are not taking them as well as the princess would like. I hate the princesses more than any being alive.

September 16, 1065 C.E.
Why did this all have to happen? Why does it all have to happen? Why do we have to deal with a race that hates us for what our leaders did? Why?

September 24, 1065 C.E.

The city’s in uproar. A pony turned up dead. Nopony can figure out what killed him. I wasn’t able to get a look at what killed him. The princess was, and she seemed scared when she examined the body. That makes me wonder, what makes that princess afraid? What scares her?

September 28, 1065 C.E.

I wonder where Queen Chrysalis is. Why didn’t she come back? What made her stay away? Is she even still alive?

September 29, 1065 C.E.

We need our queen back. We need her.

September 30, 1065 C.E.

I will find our queen if she is still alive. I will find her. I have lived with these ponies for long enough to know that they are no good. Our queen will return, and that pretender will be defeated.

September 9, 1065 C.E.

I asked Chitin about what happened to Chrysalis in hopes he could give me clues to where she might be. He didn’t seem to want to talk about it, but I pried it from him. He said that Chrysalis waged war on the ponies for revenge, and she was defeated on the battlefield. I don’t understand why she would fight a war, but she must have had her reasons, no matter what Chitin says.

September 19, 1065 C.E.

Molt cornered me today. He asked what I was planning, but I wouldn’t tell him. How does he like having secrets kept from him?

October 3, 1065 C.E.
I really don’t like the princess. She told us that nopony would be leaving the city without her permission. I wonder why she did that.

October 9, 1065 C.E.

I saw snow today, or at least that’s what the ponies call it. I asked Molt about it, but he was as baffled as me. Chitin claims it is frozen water that the Pegasi make during the winter. It wasn’t fun to touch it. It’s cold, and it made me hurt. A doctor claimed that was because of our m-e-t-a-b-o-l-i-s-m. She spelled it out for me.

October 17, 1065 C.E.

I tried to leave today, but the snow made it hard. I thought that the guards wouldn’t be out today, but they saw me in the snow, freezing. I ended up under house arrest according to them, by order of the princess. I asked why, and they said something about trying to leave the city. I guess I’m stuck here till they let me out or I run away.

October 27, 1065 C.E.

Chitin came to visit today. I know that he does his best despite the fact that he is older than the princess. He didn’t look so good. I had to get him to leave for the doctor just to make sure he was okay. He claimed he was fine, but I didn’t believe him.

November 6, 1065 C.E.

Chitin’s dead. Why did this have to happen? Why did he half have to dy die? Im sorry but Im having trouble writing write right now.

November 17, 1065 C.E.

I asked a guard when the snow would let up. He said that it probably wouldn’t happen for a few months, despite the fact that the princess had ordered the snow early. I wish it would let up. The cold is making my fangs chatter.

November 25, 1065 C.E.

The cold is bearing down on the whole town, I can tell that much. Ponies aren’t out that much and the guards tend to walk around less frequently. Once the snow lets up I’ll make my escape. I will find our queen.

November 30, 1065 C.E.

The snow is coming down in feet right now. I expect that the city will have far too much in the morning. I just wish Chitin was here to see it.

December 13, 1065 C.E.

The ponies are decorating the city today. Apparently some holiday is coming up that they want to see. I look forward to it, no matter what it’s about. We had a few holidays back in the hive, and my hatching day is soon. I’m turning sixteen, just the age when a changeling would begin to take up duties in the hive. It’s a pity we don’t have a hive anymore.

December 23, 1065 C.E.

Molt congratulated me today on turning sixteen. The holiday that the ponies are celebrating is called Hearth’s Warming Eve. I will make my escape tomorrow while they are celebrating… I hope.

December 25, 1065 C.E.

I made it out of the city. It’s so strange to see it from the outside. It looks so much happier from the outside than from the inside. I wonder why.

December 31, 1065 C.E.

It’s cold here. I wish that I had something to keep myself warm. The air is f-f-f-freezing here. Argh, I’m having trouble writing due to the cold.

January 7, 1066 C.E.

I found another changeling today. He was long dead from what I could tell. He might have been dead for years from all I know. I actually think he was, for he was wearing the armor that went out of use when we were defeated.

January 17, 1066 C.E.

The snow is clearing up. It began to melt this morning. I’m glad it’s melting. The snow is terrible.

February 3, 1066 C.E.
I’m slowly walking toward the badlands. Ponies claim that it was the site of Chrysalis’s defeat at their hooves. Will I find her? It looks so far away. I may just drop dead before I reach there. I can’t drop dead before I reach our queen for the sake of my people. We will find our queen. I will find her. I will bring her back.

February 12, 1066 C.E.

The badlands do not seem any closer. I feel tired. That desert we called home seems as far away as when I was in Ponyville. I will reach them, no matter what it takes.

March 1, 1066 C.E.

I awoke today to find a changeling feeding me love. I don’t know how or why I got here, but I hope I have found my destination.

March 4, 1066 C.E.

I found our queen. She was here the whole time, keeping a small group of changeling going. She was hiding here, not wishing to fight the ponies with her weakened force. I told her about what was happening with our kind in the cities. She sure looked angry.

March 17, 1066 C.E.

The queen said that we were going to free our people from the ponies, no matter what the cost. I am glad. That princess must be destroyed for what she has done.

March 30, 1066 C.E.

The queen has made me her second in command. I am overjoyed. I will get to help her with the fighting to free our people. Never has a changeling been given such honor.

April 7, 1066 C.E.

We march out today.

April 11, 1066 C.E.

More and more changelings seem to be appearing in our ranks. I don’t understand why, but I am happy that we have more backup. The ponies don’t seem to be reacting, as the most they are doing is fleeing towards Ponyville. Why would they do that?

April 19, 1066 C.E.

We continue to march. Chrysalis seems pleased with our progress. We are headed towards Ponyville to defeat the princess. I hope she is destroyed by our queen.

April 29, 1066 C.E.

We stopped outside of Ponyville to set up camp. Chrysalis threated Twilight Sparkle with threats, calling out taunts about a brother. I don’t know what it means. Quite a few of the changelings seemed baffled as well.

Twilight offered Chrysalis a chance to leave Equestria with all of the changelings. I didn’t think she would do that. Chrysalis refused to leave, and I am pleased that we will be able to punish the ponies for all they have done.

May 3, 1066 C.E.

The ponies assembled their army today. There are a lot more than we thought. We heard rumors that they were considering that this was the last battle of the war that was supposed to end a year ago. Chrysalis said that we would fight and I would stand by her side. I felt warmth coming from her. A cold, harsh warmth, but warmth nonetheless. It seemed to fuel me, but it is unlike any emotion I have ever felt. Tomorrow we fight.

May 4, 1066 C.E.

The battle is about to start from what I can tell. I will not write in this diary again, as I am leaving it. I do not know if I will survive this battle, but if it is my destiny to die I accept it. I hope that if you find this and read it you will continue the legacy I have left in this diary.

Author's Note:

I wrote this for fun to see what I could do. Starlight Shadow gave me this excellent idea which I took on. I wrote Trachea as one of those people who journal spasmodically and in their own time. I didn't use changeling hivemind this this, and I apologize to those of you who like it, but the changelings are obsessed with their queen. Decide for yourself who won that battle and why Twilight appeared cruel in Trachea's eyes. And as always, constructive criticism is welcome.

Comments

[Aurafluff]

Concept is great, but this really could use some severe fleshing out.

[TheEquestrianWing]

Usually, I tend to avoid stories that are told in the first-person narrative. Mostly because a one-sided witness of events can be very limited and general in terms of detail. However, I must admit that this story was rather impressive. It had an interesting premise, a vivid display of emotional, and superb execution.

I'm curious; in this universe, does C.E. still stand for "Common Era?" Or does it actually mean "Celestia's Era?" Heh heh heh...

Anyway, I like how you chose to open this story at this specific point in time. A lot of people have visualized how a war between the Equestrians and the Changelings would turn out. By contrast, you chose to skip the bulk of the war altogether and focus on its aftermath. That's certainly an original idea, so props to you on that.

This whole Great Changeling Immigration was another fascinating aspect. I like the idea of having the Changelings settle in Equestria. Such a shame that it did not have desirable results for any of the parties involved.

The princesses' abhorrence and mistrust of the Changelings was understandable, but I was still somewhat astounded by their complete lack of hospitality towards the shape shifters. I mean, every culture must have rules in both war and diplomacy. In almost every major war in human history, the winner has made an effort to help the loser recover and find a way for them to peacefully coexist together. Considering how benevolent Equestria normally is, I would have expected Celestia and the others to show at least a little leniency to their former enemies. Then again, it's quite possible Trachea was exaggerating on their nature. I'm certain she did not just make it up, but I feel the need to question the authenticity of some of the things she wrote.

I'm still left wondering who killed that one pony on September 24th, as well as who killed Chitin. I guess the murderers are supposed to remain anonymous to maintain the aura of contempt between the ponies and the Changelings.

By the way, that one scene where the Changelings were forced to wear necklaces to single them out... It made think of that one event from World War II when the Nazis forced the Jewish peoples of Germany and Poland to wear armbands imprinted with the Star of David. I'm not saying I equating Twilight with Hitler, but the unfairness of that decree really stood out.

While I can understand that Cadence and Celestia would harbor a personal resentment towards Changelings, I would have thought Twillight would have been at least a LITTLE forgiving. After all, her grudge was mostly just towards Chrysalis. There's also the fact that she spared Sunset Shimmer in Equestria Girls, even though Sunset actually tried to KILL her.

Overall, this story was very good. It had some minor plot holes, but no major problems. While it's possible that either side won the final battle, I'm going to speculate that neither of them did, and that the battle was somehow halted before the death toll became catastrophic. That's just my theory.

Excellent work on this. Look forward to reading more of your "ideas."

[Starlight Shadow]

I'm sorry I didn't read this for so long. Finally got around to it, and I liked it.