When Chrysalis finally has the chance to secure a peaceful future for her Swarm with Equestria she leaps for it, but the old prejudices of Ponies die hard, and with an Assassin who has already struck once on the prowl, who knows what will happen
Thanks, I tried, and I don't think I quite fully got across the horror of it, but that is the reaction I was looking for, just wait 'til the rest of the plan starts to come to light.
beyond that, he believes Chrysalis raped him while controlling him, when he and Cadance had done the whole romantic not until marriage shall we touch thing, something that was particularly hard (heheheh) during their puberty, and some of Cadance's late life surges as her power as the Princess of Love continued to grow as she fell further in love.
He constantly hopes that it isn't true, and Cadance has told him multiple multiple times that it doesn't matter, she still loves him even if she wasn't his first, but the doubt which is in his heart, which he had mostly come to terms with, flared during these events and made things tenser than normal.
Don't even know if Unicorn truth spells work on Changeling minds, notice that unicorn magic can only really detect the presence of changeling magic, and even then the best that two experienced medical examiners/dieners/autopsy specialists got was "a changeling did it, dunno what to tell ya otherwise", any interaction between the two magic's is untested and could be dangerous (it's not really explosively dangerous, but an attempt by an Unicorn would effect everyling attached to Chrysalis by her "hive mind" as the magic wouldn't "mute" the link first, and the psychic link could drive a non-changeling insane pretty quick if they were "reading", but they don't know that ).
It's one of the reasons that off-screen from the story Twilight wants this treaty to go forward, she's champing at the bit (ha.ha.ha.) to get her hooves on a changeling and discuss magical theory, they've pretty much been off the grid since the invasion, and part of the treaty, even if not sighed to the document, was that all Changeling corpses from the "love bomb and resulting injuries" would be delivered back to Chrysalis and her Swarm for grieving. Any dissections, Autopsies, and Medical Examinations were shut down, and the records filed as incomplete and inconclusive beyond some small facts.
6843866 As long as there's hope, I like it. Still, I hope that even though it's very important, she won't let the other participants in the summit step over her and the changelings. There's really a lot both sides could gain from a fair revision of the treaty/new treaty. Also, I wonder if the changeling will continue with their work on the badlands. I imagine it'd go a long way to have the place restored at least partially, plus it also gives them a bargaining point, sharing just how did they manage even that much, since even Earth ponies threw their hooves up and gave up.
Well, the changelings should work on their manners a bit and put effort in explaining to the ponies how it works. From what I've seen with Barbed talking to the ponies on site, they don't need to do a direct drain, but can also absorb emotions exuded by the pony. Explained like that it'd be less feeding on someone and more feeding on something someone else left around.
6844751 Well, Barbed didn't do much, he was just showing him around. :D Plus, I won't believe that there are no pony brothels where the prostitutes dress as anyone the customer wants them to, with heavy makeup and all, including the princesses. The only difference is that changelings utilise natural abilities unavailable to ponies while doing so.
Yeah, I can imagine him having quite a few BSODs once he realises just how much he let his hatred blur the world to him. Or, even worse if he actually hurts a changeling, or even kills one, only to find out later that they were innocent or were even helping.
6844791 Hmm, good point. Still, he could just try asking, even if he doesn't believe her outright, it'd be something.
Hah, figured Twilight would like that. Yeah, an entire massive branch of magic created by creatures almost completely alien physiology-wose to ponies and expanded over centuries, one that no pony researcher ever laid their hooves on. I can imagine her salivating uncontrollably at the idea alone.
Hmm... They never found Toxic Love's body... Or whatever was her name. Hmmmmmmmmm...
I like this story a lot, so far. Things are kept feeling real, there are consequences to everyone's actions, but there's no immediate all-encompassing kill order against changelings some stories feature. And I like that after five years of Chryssie and her hive behaving themselves to the best of their abilities (however small are these in case of Barbed Retort), the ponies seem to be willing to forgive. Well, Celestia seems to be driven more by hurt pride, but I imagine she can put a lid on it if the other side proves their worth and devotion to peace. And I figured Cadance and Twilight would be eager to forgive. As for Luna, not much about her, logically, she should be one to appreciate second chances the most, but she seems to react rather violently. Weird, since she'd been forgiven for trying to end the world twice.
As for Luna, not much about her, logically, she should be one to appreciate second chances the most,
She's sleep deprived and had to deal with a night of sorting out nightmares from the attack, and PTSD nightmares from the invasion, she's just cranky, and needs a cup of royal strength coffee, and Barbed Retort has no manner for those who have no manners. We never do get to see from her point of view, just Barbed's and he's not an infallible narrator.
she won't let the other participants in the summit step over her and the changelings.
She has her pride, and is a "mother" to them, she honestly doesn't care too much about what happens to her beyond it affecting her ability to care for her swarm, but if something seems unfair for her Swarm then she'll go tooth & Nail in a very diplomatic way. I might have been hyperbolic in my previous comment.
Hmm... They never found Toxic Love's body... Or whatever was her name. Hmmmmmmmmm...
She landed in the Ghastly Gorge, broke her neck, died relatively painlessly, although she did drift in and out for 5 minutes or so, long enough to make her peace with the world and send out her goodbyes, and her corpse got eaten by Quarry Eels. I did originally toy with the idea of having her body kept by an unscrupulous Unicorn scientist but the Hive-Mind would hear her if she was alive, and if she was dead then it would be pure desecration of the dead so many times over. I won't shy away from gore, but it just felt like an overdoing the cruelty at that point.
From what I've seen with Barbed talking to the ponies on site, they don't need to do a direct drain, but can also absorb emotions exuded by the pony.
Prejudices die HARD. (Yippee-Kia-Yay). Also note that nearly all of the Ponies/Changelings that Barbed is rude to hold a position of Authority, he's an anti-authoritarian in a position of authority and does everything he can to not be treated as someling important, just someling you can talk to and trust (which is why Faint Praise acted the way he did with him in chapter 1, and he could weasel the unrevealed information from Clockwork and Gilded Gears). This was caused by him having spent most of his time as an infiltrator dealing with Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara, and her Mother as they funded his "expeditions" in to the badlands to explore ancient ruins and find historic artefacts, and ancient gems, and experts of their fields who would dismiss a lot of the things he brought back (sometimes from the hive itself as proof of an ancient shapeshifting species, because he has a sense of "humour") out of pure academic blindness. Chrysalis is the only "good" boss he's had, and he's still kinda snarky with her because she's made bad decisions that have had major consequences, but he's ready to help her. He's working with Shining Armour for the Hive, it's easier to be polite and will help them both do their work better.
Also, they have a pamphlet they hoof out to visitors that explain things in a blanket manner, the Royal Guards never read their paperwork.
Barbed didn't do much, he was just showing him around. :D
Barbed has mastered the art of being an infuriating asshole even while doing innocuous things, it's honestly quite magical, there are extenuating circumstance and all the clues are out there now, but it'd be a spoiler to fully explain , so *shrugs*, I can't tell you.
I won't believe that there are no pony brothels where the prostitutes dress as anyone the customer wants them to, with heavy makeup and all, including the princesses. The only difference is that changelings utilise natural abilities unavailable to ponies while doing so.
Yes, yes there are, but remember Shining was fooled by this method, his friends were hurt by this method, his wife was kidnapped and "abused" with this method, it's a sore spot, especially to somepony who is already in a bad mood, Shining had a moment where his anger got away from him, he did it out of love, but that doesn't make it better, it makes it understandable.
As for him just asking Chrysalis about the whole thing, Cadance might for his sake and then tell him as carefully as she can, but he's scared of the answer, and terrorised by the doubt, she stuck him in a no-win situation and honestly, it was a massive fuck-up on her part. Chrysalis done goofed in a way that had lasting repercussions.
6845485 That she did, though it's kinda understandable, seeing as she could never really trust anyone but her give her entire life, just asking for help was pretty outside of her comprehension. Hopefully, amends can be made.
Wait, ponies still have nightmares about the invasion en masses? I imagine she must curse the reappearance of the Crystal Empire then, since its entire population has to have nightmares of Sombra's rule.
Ah, good, so she'll fight for her children.
Poor Toxic love. At least it was painless. And yeah, that scenario you mentioned would be just too cruel.
... I can't help but imagine a cardboard stand shaped like a cutesy changeling, "Do YOU know everything about Cutelings?", holding the pamphlets for anyone to take.
As we all know, the royal guard's record of preparedness is stellar. *insert gag reel of all the times they've been totally owned here*
Yes, Barbed is a virtuoso of covert arseholery. Though it's understandable of be had to deal with these arseholes.
I can't help it, the changelings are the cutest thing in mlp bar none. I just can't help but hope for the best for them no matter what.
Anyway, the next chapter can't arrive soon enough.
Wow, that's... some pretty dark and nasty work in action there.
6807842
Thanks, I tried, and I don't think I quite fully got across the horror of it, but that is the reaction I was looking for, just wait 'til the rest of the plan starts to come to light.
6827918
beyond that, he believes Chrysalis raped him while controlling him, when he and Cadance had done the whole romantic not until marriage shall we touch thing, something that was particularly hard (heheheh) during their puberty, and some of Cadance's late life surges as her power as the Princess of Love continued to grow as she fell further in love.
He constantly hopes that it isn't true, and Cadance has told him multiple multiple times that it doesn't matter, she still loves him even if she wasn't his first, but the doubt which is in his heart, which he had mostly come to terms with, flared during these events and made things tenser than normal.
Wow, that's gotten really dark really quickly. But it's good to know that it's not one of Chryssie's own.
Hah, Shining can't stomach the mortuary.
6827945 He could always request that Chryssie answers while under a truth spell out something.
Cya
Raziel-chan
6844712
Don't even know if Unicorn truth spells work on Changeling minds, notice that unicorn magic can only really detect the presence of changeling magic, and even then the best that two experienced medical examiners/dieners/autopsy specialists got was "a changeling did it, dunno what to tell ya otherwise", any interaction between the two magic's is untested and could be dangerous (it's not really explosively dangerous, but an attempt by an Unicorn would effect everyling attached to Chrysalis by her "hive mind" as the magic wouldn't "mute" the link first, and the psychic link could drive a non-changeling insane pretty quick if they were "reading", but they don't know that ).
It's one of the reasons that off-screen from the story Twilight wants this treaty to go forward, she's champing at the bit (ha.ha.ha.) to get her hooves on a changeling and discuss magical theory, they've pretty much been off the grid since the invasion, and part of the treaty, even if not sighed to the document, was that all Changeling corpses from the "love bomb and resulting injuries" would be delivered back to Chrysalis and her Swarm for grieving. Any dissections, Autopsies, and Medical Examinations were shut down, and the records filed as incomplete and inconclusive beyond some small facts.
6843866 As long as there's hope, I like it. Still, I hope that even though it's very important, she won't let the other participants in the summit step over her and the changelings. There's really a lot both sides could gain from a fair revision of the treaty/new treaty. Also, I wonder if the changeling will continue with their work on the badlands. I imagine it'd go a long way to have the place restored at least partially, plus it also gives them a bargaining point, sharing just how did they manage even that much, since even Earth ponies threw their hooves up and gave up.
Well, the changelings should work on their manners a bit and put effort in explaining to the ponies how it works. From what I've seen with Barbed talking to the ponies on site, they don't need to do a direct drain, but can also absorb emotions exuded by the pony. Explained like that it'd be less feeding on someone and more feeding on something someone else left around.
6844751 Well, Barbed didn't do much, he was just showing him around. :D Plus, I won't believe that there are no pony brothels where the prostitutes dress as anyone the customer wants them to, with heavy makeup and all, including the princesses. The only difference is that changelings utilise natural abilities unavailable to ponies while doing so.
Yeah, I can imagine him having quite a few BSODs once he realises just how much he let his hatred blur the world to him. Or, even worse if he actually hurts a changeling, or even kills one, only to find out later that they were innocent or were even helping.
6844791 Hmm, good point. Still, he could just try asking, even if he doesn't believe her outright, it'd be something.
Hah, figured Twilight would like that. Yeah, an entire massive branch of magic created by creatures almost completely alien physiology-wose to ponies and expanded over centuries, one that no pony researcher ever laid their hooves on. I can imagine her salivating uncontrollably at the idea alone.
Hmm... They never found Toxic Love's body... Or whatever was her name. Hmmmmmmmmm...
I like this story a lot, so far. Things are kept feeling real, there are consequences to everyone's actions, but there's no immediate all-encompassing kill order against changelings some stories feature. And I like that after five years of Chryssie and her hive behaving themselves to the best of their abilities (however small are these in case of Barbed Retort), the ponies seem to be willing to forgive. Well, Celestia seems to be driven more by hurt pride, but I imagine she can put a lid on it if the other side proves their worth and devotion to peace. And I figured Cadance and Twilight would be eager to forgive. As for Luna, not much about her, logically, she should be one to appreciate second chances the most, but she seems to react rather violently. Weird, since she'd been forgiven for trying to end the world twice.
cya
Raziel-chan
6845300
She's sleep deprived and had to deal with a night of sorting out nightmares from the attack, and PTSD nightmares from the invasion, she's just cranky, and needs a cup of royal strength coffee, and Barbed Retort has no manner for those who have no manners. We never do get to see from her point of view, just Barbed's and he's not an infallible narrator.
She has her pride, and is a "mother" to them, she honestly doesn't care too much about what happens to her beyond it affecting her ability to care for her swarm, but if something seems unfair for her Swarm then she'll go tooth & Nail in a very diplomatic way. I might have been hyperbolic in my previous comment.
She landed in the Ghastly Gorge, broke her neck, died relatively painlessly, although she did drift in and out for 5 minutes or so, long enough to make her peace with the world and send out her goodbyes, and her corpse got eaten by Quarry Eels. I did originally toy with the idea of having her body kept by an unscrupulous Unicorn scientist but the Hive-Mind would hear her if she was alive, and if she was dead then it would be pure desecration of the dead so many times over. I won't shy away from gore, but it just felt like an overdoing the cruelty at that point.
Prejudices die HARD. (Yippee-Kia-Yay). Also note that nearly all of the Ponies/Changelings that Barbed is rude to hold a position of Authority, he's an anti-authoritarian in a position of authority and does everything he can to not be treated as someling important, just someling you can talk to and trust (which is why Faint Praise acted the way he did with him in chapter 1, and he could weasel the unrevealed information from Clockwork and Gilded Gears). This was caused by him having spent most of his time as an infiltrator dealing with Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara, and her Mother as they funded his "expeditions" in to the badlands to explore ancient ruins and find historic artefacts, and ancient gems, and experts of their fields who would dismiss a lot of the things he brought back (sometimes from the hive itself as proof of an ancient shapeshifting species, because he has a sense of "humour") out of pure academic blindness. Chrysalis is the only "good" boss he's had, and he's still kinda snarky with her because she's made bad decisions that have had major consequences, but he's ready to help her. He's working with Shining Armour for the Hive, it's easier to be polite and will help them both do their work better.
Also, they have a pamphlet they hoof out to visitors that explain things in a blanket manner, the Royal Guards never read their paperwork.
Barbed has mastered the art of being an infuriating asshole even while doing innocuous things, it's honestly quite magical, there are extenuating circumstance and all the clues are out there now, but it'd be a spoiler to fully explain , so *shrugs*, I can't tell you.
Yes, yes there are, but remember Shining was fooled by this method, his friends were hurt by this method, his wife was kidnapped and "abused" with this method, it's a sore spot, especially to somepony who is already in a bad mood, Shining had a moment where his anger got away from him, he did it out of love, but that doesn't make it better, it makes it understandable.
As for him just asking Chrysalis about the whole thing, Cadance might for his sake and then tell him as carefully as she can, but he's scared of the answer, and terrorised by the doubt, she stuck him in a no-win situation and honestly, it was a massive fuck-up on her part. Chrysalis done goofed in a way that had lasting repercussions.
6845485 That she did, though it's kinda understandable, seeing as she could never really trust anyone but her give her entire life, just asking for help was pretty outside of her comprehension. Hopefully, amends can be made.
Wait, ponies still have nightmares about the invasion en masses? I imagine she must curse the reappearance of the Crystal Empire then, since its entire population has to have nightmares of Sombra's rule.
Ah, good, so she'll fight for her children.
Poor Toxic love. At least it was painless. And yeah, that scenario you mentioned would be just too cruel.
... I can't help but imagine a cardboard stand shaped like a cutesy changeling, "Do YOU know everything about Cutelings?", holding the pamphlets for anyone to take.
As we all know, the royal guard's record of preparedness is stellar. *insert gag reel of all the times they've been totally owned here*
Yes, Barbed is a virtuoso of covert arseholery. Though it's understandable of be had to deal with these arseholes.
I can't help it, the changelings are the cutest thing in mlp bar none. I just can't help but hope for the best for them no matter what.
Anyway, the next chapter can't arrive soon enough.
Cya
Raziel-chan