Chapter IX
Chapter IX
“Hey, how about we get something to eat?” I asked as my stomach started to growl. “I mean, we’ve been out here for a while, and while most of my species can go without food for a long time, we don’t really prefer it that way.”
Rainbow was still bone tired, though that was probably to be expected. We had gone a ridiculous distance, even for human standards. Not that a normal human couldn’t have gone that far, just that they probably couldn’t have made it in a little under three hours. That being said, she was still flat on her stomach, her tongue hanging out, with a tumbler of water cradled in her hooves. She perked up immediately, though, when I mentioned getting some food. “I am in vote food too, yes!”
Evening looked longingly at her list, then with a sigh, put it back into her bags. “Yes is being…”
Both Rainbow and I cheered at those words.
“But only because being late for language lessons!” she said, waving a hoof at me. “As soon eating is done, back to learn!”
Now, if you’ve never had a four-foot-tall pony wave her hoof at you while looking stern, I highly recommend it. Something about a disapproving, motherly look coupled with a pony face just looks flat-out hilarious. I know she was trying to impress upon me the seriousness of what she was saying, but it took all my willpower not to burst out laughing at her.
I put my hand over my mouth in an effort to hide my grin, but I think she might have noticed.. “O-Okay, I gotcha.”
She gave me a hard look at that, but didn’t pursue the issue. With another long-suffering sigh, she waved us all back towards the castle door where food and rest were waiting. My guards followed us back in, though I couldn’t help but notice a slight wariness about them. My little demonstration really must have freaked them out. “Come on, guys. I’m not going to bite.”
They looked at me funny, and Rainbow, who was hovering next to me, gave a dissatisfied snort. “Ignoring is them. They just surprised, all being.”
I gave them one last look, but shrugged my shoulders. “Okay, whatever you say.”
As we meandered through the halls, I noticed that I was starting to understand the layout of this place. At least, the layout of the small corner I was allowed to inhabit. Good skill to have, in case this place was ever attacked, or I needed to leave in a hurry.
We reached my room pretty quickly, and I wasn’t surprised in the least to find Scroll already there waiting for us. He had a very put-upon expression, but immediately brightened up when he saw us enter the room. He said something to the others, and I managed to pick out the words ‘work’ and ‘waiting’, but nothing else.
“We get food first, then start lesson. Yes is being?” Evening asked him.
I heard a few more words, one that sounded like 'later’, but the rest was way too fast for me to understand. Evening nodded and turned to me, her smile a little apologetic. “Food is already on way. Why not get started while wait?”
I thought about this for a second, then sat down on the edge of my bed. “Well, I don’t see why not.”
Rainbow didn’t seem to like the idea much, but that was okay. She wasn’t the one who needed to learn a new language, after all. That privilege was reserved solely for me.
“Let’s get started, then!” I said, clapping my hands together as I plopped down on the bed. This was shaping up to be a long day, but that really didn’t matter to me.
At this point, I was just happy to be safe and alive.
* * *
When sneaking through a hostile enemy fortress, there are several ways to avoid being seen: One can kill or incapacitate any who see them, stick to the shadows, create a distraction, or pretend as if one belonged in the first place.
For a Changeling, the fourth option was as natural as breathing. While the other three options had their benefits, pretending that you belonged in the first place carried the least amount of risk and had the highest chance of success in Skitter's humble opinion. This was why she was currently disguised as one of the castle’s wait staff, on her way up to the restricted wing with a platter of food that was somewhat suspect for the pony palate.
“Hey, Honey Dew; we still on for tonight?” A fairly burly Solar Guard Pegasus asked, his smile a bit dopey.
“You know it!” Skitter said in her stolen form’s best confident voice. Inwardly, however, she was berating herself for being so careless. Of course her coltfriend is in the Royal Guard. Why would I think this would be easy?
Usually, this would have been a perfect opportunity to feed. The love coming off of the stallion was overwhelming and would have easily kept her hive running for a month, if not several.
However, Skitter was not on a collection run. The guard's familiarity with Skitter's current form meant that her time was limited; eventually, she would make a mistake, and because of Queen Chrysalis’s failed attempt to take Canterlot, they would immediately jump to the conclusion that she was a changeling.
That mad queen had done so much harm to all the hives that even collecting wasn't a simple process anymore.
The pegasus’s partner, a Night Sentinel Earth Pony, moved forward and hooked the trolley’s other handle with his hoof. “I’ll take that off your hooves.” He pushed the trolley to a waiting private, who started wheeling it down the hall and towards its eventual destination.
Skitter gave the assembled guards a winning smile as she turned to leave. “Well, I better get going! Lots of work to-oof!” She rubbed her nose a little, and looked up at the person that had managed to sneak up on her. He was a rather large unicorn stallion, dressed like a Solar Guard, and bearing a Sergeant’s plume. The unicorn had a mild grin on his face that seemed to want to communicate friendliness and familiarity, but the emotions coming off of him were nothing but pure malice.
She gave him a nervous smile then moved out of the way of the guard, all while bowing her head. “I’m sorry about that, sir.”
The stallion’s smile became even wider, almost as if he thought it was the funniest thing in the world. “Hey, don’t worry about it! Everypony makes mistakes!” The stallion’s voice was just a little too chipper for the amount of killing intent coming off of him, which only made Skitter more nervous. “You should head back to the kitchens; I bet they’re positively a wreck without you!”
“Thank you, sir!” Skitter said as she quickly bowed a couple more times, before finally ducking around a corner. Once she was out of sight of the guards, she did a quick jog through the corridors until she found a suitable place to think. It was a closet, but when someone is freaking out in a place they aren’t supposed to be in, they usually have very little in the way of options.
“Okay, I found him. What do I do now?” she wondered aloud as she tried to get her heartbeat under control.
It took a lot longer than she would have cared to admit.
Once she was calm, she took a few deep, cleansing breaths and tried to think her way through this dilemma. Her options were limited, with each worse than the one before it. I could try and take another form to follow him, but that would raise suspicion if a guard didn’t report in. I could report back to the queen… but it would take days to get back. The beacon magic only works one way, and I don’t have time to set up another one... I could… No, that’d expose my whole hive, and we’d be destroyed in a day…
She must have spent a good thirty minutes wrestling with herself before she finally sighed and let her head thump into the wall in front of her. There just isn't a simple solution to this, is there? I either reveal my hive, or the Promethean dies...
With a deep, steadying breath, she turned back to the door and turned the handle. So far, the best course of action would be to go back to her post and keep her ear to the ground, in hopes that something would turn up.
Hopefully, that something would turn up before everything went to Tartarus.
* * *
Rainbow Dash was Bored.
This wasn’t any ordinary kind of boredom, either. This was Boredom with a capital B. She knew how important it was for Defender to learn Equestrian, but come on! This stuff wasn’t just boring, but it was something she had mastered when she was a filly! At least make it interesting, you two, she thought as Written Script started going over small, simple phrases that Defender could use when there wasn’t a pony who knew translation on hoof.
To the wayward ~human’s~ credit, he seemed to be picking everything up pretty fast; needing only to be told a word and its meaning once before memorizing it. He seemed to be struggling with pronunciation, though; particularly any of the whinny or tongue rolling sounds.
Rainbow rolled over onto her back, her legs splayed out in every direction as she waited. If food wasn’t coming immediately, then now seemed like a pretty good time for a nap. Just when she started to get comfortable, though, the door opened to reveal an Earth Pony guard pushing the food cart. “At last! I thought I was going to die!”
Twilight gave her a disapproving look. “Rainbow, that’s for ~Alex.~ If you were that hungry, you could have gone down to the kitchens at any time.”
Rainbow just shrugged, waving off Twilight’s comment with a negligent roll of her hoof. “Eh, food always tastes better if you bum it off someone else.”
If anything, Twilight’s scowl grew even more pronounced. Before she could say anything, though, Defender let out an amused chuckle as he pulled the cover off of his food. “That okay, you have some, but not eat fish.”
Rainbow Dash made a sour face as she got up and sat down next to Defender. “You can keep that part. I just want the cornbread and jelly.”
Defender gave her a brief look, looked at the food, back at her, then slid the named items towards her. “Here, eating is up!”
Rainbow scooped up the food and quickly began devouring it, despite the disapproving glare she was receiving from Twilight. “Geez, Twilight. Lighten up! It’s not like I’m stealing all his food!”
“That’s not the problem, Rainbow. We still don't know everything about his new body! Part of these tests were about how he metabolized various plant and animal based matter. This is really important, you know!”
Rainbow just shrugged a little, then went back to eating. “Yeah, whatever.” Once her mouth was half full of cornbread and Twilight was sufficiently ignored, she turned to the alien sitting next to her, a question on her mind that she’d been meaning to ask for a while now. “Say, Defender. What was it like living back on your home planet?”
Defender seemed taken back by this. “Oh… well, we… home very similar. In fact, our technology similar to you about… hundred? Hundred fifty years ago? Our days similar length, our cities big, and-”
Rainbow shook her head, then took a second to swallow before interrupting him. “No, big guy! I’m talking about you. What was it like growing up?”
The alien smiled, then looked away. “I knowing what you mean. Just… thinking home, make home sickness…”
Twilight immediately got a panicked look on her face--one that was marred by the look of pure joy she had been wearing just moments ago at hearing about an alien culture. “Rainbow! Don't-”
Defender waved her off, though, before she could build up any kind of steam. “No worry about. No shame asking, in fact, want remember home. Just… it hard, okay? Not easy, know never see again.”
The look in his eyes said 'sad,’ but his smile said 'please don't make me stop.’ Eventually, Twilight’s curiosity to hear of the ~human’s~ homeworld won out. “...If it’s not too much trouble, I’d love to hear about you, too.”
Defender smiled and put a hand on his chin in a thoughtful gesture. “I born in place called-” He said several words that didn't translate, as well as some that did, but all of them were mixed up together. If Rainbow were to hazard a guess, though, she would have said that he named his country first (Aamareikaa), his province next (Maain), then his city (which actually did translate, though its name came out as 'Land of Ship Ports’). “I youngest three, living with older brother and sister, Mom, Dad and Uncle. Use move around lot, before I born, but stop because Dad get back. No need move anymore. Only need take care.”
“What’s he saying?” Written Script asked Twilight quietly.
“Oh, sorry, here.” Without another word, Twilight’s horn flashed, allowing Written Script to understand the conversation.
“We good?” Defender asked.
Twilight nodded her head and gave the ~human~ a curious smile. “Yes, please continue. Tell me, why would your family stop moving when your father 'came back?’ Where was he, anyway?”
Defender shrugged a little before spooning another mouthful of food into his mouth. “Dad in military. He move around a lot because military move him. Family move with, until he discharge. Uncle move in to help after that.”
Rainbow Dash perked up at that. “Wait, why would your uncle need to move in to help? Wasn't your mom and your dad around? Why would they need another adult?”
Defender smiled at her before spearing another slice of fried fish on his fork and scooping it into his mouth. Once he was finished with the bite, he speared another morsel on his fork before answering. “Well, Dad not well, after home. Mom need take care him, and us. Her brother come, help out much can. Pretty much be second father. Many time Dad slap me up head with remaining hand when not listen to Uncle May God Exalt.”
Written Script looked like he was going to be sick. “Remaining hand? What happened to him? And why didn’t your doctors use regeneration magic to heal him!?”
Twilight gently put a single hoof on Written Script’s withers. “~Alex's~ world doesn't have magic.”
Written Script quickly turned to the young unicorn, then back to Defender, shock written on his face. “Wait, as in, none at all? How is that even possible!?”
Defender smiled ruefully at the grey unicorn, his eyes showing that he didn’t quite believe it either. “I tell you, it quite real. Was real shock, come here and find fairy tale real. Magic is legend where come from. No one real magic. Only fake, make believe or hand-faster-than-eye trick.”
“Really? Then how do you control your sun? Your moon? What about the weather?” Script asked, completely confused.
“We don’t. This stuff self control. Wild. World spin around sun, moon around planet. Gravity keep pull together, while momentum keep apart.”
Twilight already had her notebook out and was busy writing every word the alien spoke when Rainbow Dash decided to get them back on track. “Woah, woah, hold it right there. We can talk all about that egghead stuff later. Right now, I want to hear more about you. I mean, we barely know anything about you, big guy!”
Twilight looked down at the notepad, regret clear in her face, before putting it down again. “...Yes, sorry, you’re right, Rainbow. Please, Defender what were you saying about your father’s injuries?”
Defender looked like he wanted to say more about his world, but shrugged and continued his story. “Well, there… device. It used in war, to hurt people, machines. Cause explode, send tiny shard metal everywhere, high speed, when step on.”
The three Ponies present looked absolutely horrified at the thought of such a device. “And… and your father… stepped on…?”. Rainbow tried to ask.
Defender shook his head, his lips still turned up into a smile, oddly enough. “No, he no step on. Variant of device can do many thing, such as put on high speed machine he was go to drive, explode when sit down, or open door. Enemy want kill him and troop, but he heard it active before go off. Warn friends, stay away. They send in explosion disarm, but it go off before they arrive.”
Twilight looked confused at this. “If… If he heard it… then why did he-”
“He stay, because afraid if move, set off explosion immediate. Give explosive disarm chance to work. It go off first,” Defender said, his voice and expression still oddly chipper for someone who was talking about how their father almost died. “He armor save him, but still lose arm, leg immediate. Other leg mangle, had removed in hospital, but save him life.”
“How… how can you be so upbeat about this?” Written Script asked, his voice filled with two parts horror and one part nausea. “Your father almost died! He was basically turned into a cripple for life, and you… you sound almost proud that this happened to him!“
Defender gave him a cheeky grin, then winked at him, and Rainbow realize a little too late that none of the emotions the ~human~ had been putting out had been bravado. He genuinely was proud of his father’s actions. “But… But...” Rainbow couldn’t quite wrap her head around it. It wasn’t the pride that she had difficulty with, but the utter lack of sorrow, or pain.
It was a completely alien concept to her.
Defender noticed her confusion, and put a hand on her head, which she quickly batted away in annoyance. He chuckled at that. “Yes. He me hero. Of course I proud him! He stare death in face, and first thought is get him people safe. Almost die in hospital, say that only thing keep going, keep alive, was thought of children left behind, child on way, and mother he leave raise both. Refuse leave mother alone. Refuse leave family behind. Still have father, even if broken father.”
The ponies fell silent, as did Defender, who chose to take this opportunity to focus on his food. Before he was halfway done, the door creaked open to reveal a tall Unicorn Solar Guard that Rainbow was unfamiliar with. Rainbow’s eyes caught the quickest glimpse he made towards Defender, but that was his only break from the otherwise legendary taciturn mannerisms of the Equestrian Guard.
“Can I help you?” Twilight asked politely.
The guard didn’t answer at first. Instead, he approached Twilight as his horn began to glow, and without any sort of fanfare, he pulled out a rolled up scroll from under his armor. “Ma’am, one of your old teachers asked me to deliver this to you. He said it was urgent.”
Twilight looked confused and moderately worried. “Old teacher? Who was it!?” she asked as she unfurled the letter.
Before Rainbow could make a snarky comment, though, there was a sudden, blinding flash of light emanating from the letter, a loud, ear-shattering bark, and pain that seemed to attack her from every single one of her nerve endings.
As suddenly as it had began, it was over. Her muscles seemed to have locked up, and she was having trouble even caring. She barely managed to work up enough energy to look up, only to see a funny, black and teal, bug-like pony where the guard used to be. The creature looked familiar, but at the moment, she was unable to figure out where she had seen something like this before. Funny… guard ponies aren’t supposed to look like that… she thought right before darkness took her.
* * *
Celestia sighed with relief as she sat down in her waiting room. While she knew it was necessary, she still hated talking with the press; they always assumed the worst, and were so very easy to panic. Tell them that you’re changing a long-standing tax law, and they assumed that the Griffon Empire was about to invade.
They had just about had a conniption when she had told them that aliens had landed in Canterlot.
Princess Celestia! Is it true that the aliens are planning on turning us all into lunchmeat!?
Princess Celestia! Does the alien menace have anything to do with the meteor strike that occurred on Whitetail Peak about seven months ago?
Princess Celestia! What is the connection to this, and to the ‘White Yeti’ that was rumored to inhabit Whitetail Woods?
Princess Celestia! What about the rumors of you seeing a dashing Earth Pony stallion? Have you abandoned your alleged lover due to the increased stress that the alien incursion has put upon you?
Celestia groaned in frustration, ignited her horn, and summoned her favorite tea set from the kitchen downstairs. Her staff had apparently anticipated her needs, again, seeing as how it contained a few choice goodies that she normally did not allow herself. I really need to stop being so predictable, she thought as she examined the tray before her. It had been stocked with not only an especially strong brew of her favorite tea, but also with a large selection of chocolates, fudge, and cookies.
Celestia gently levitated a piece of fudge to her lips and bit down. The sugary chocolate flooded her tastebuds, calming her nerves, and temporarily making her forget about the stress from earlier. As if this was somehow a signal to the rest of the universe to spoil the moment, the door to her waiting room rang out with three, solid knocks.
“It just cannot last…” Celestia muttered to herself. What she said loud enough for the visitor to say, however, was: “Come in!”
The door creaked open, allowing a more pleasent surprise than what she was expecting to enter. “Did you survive your meeting with the media, my sister?” Princess Luna asked as she peeked her head around the door.
“Oh, thank the Spirits of Harmony it’s just you. Please, come in and sit down,” Celestia said, motioning towards the couch that was on the other side of her coffee table.
“I apologize for not coming when I received your earlier letter, but I had a somewhat… interesting conversation with ~Alex.~ I think I’ve made some real progress with him, and needed some time to meditate on what I learned,” Luna said a little evasively. “What did you want to talk about, though? Your letter made it sound important.”
“Ah, yes. I need you to look at something, and tell me what you think,” Celestia said as she levitated a piece of paper from a nearby desk.
Luna took the paper with interest and scanned a critical eye over what was written there. However, one look was all she needed to recognize what she was looking at. “It is a transcript from that book that Starswirl always carried with him. Still as unreadable as it has ever been, since that paranoid old coot wouldn’t even let us look at it until long after the aetheric imprint he had made had faded.
“Yes, and Starswirl's death before he could teach us the language in his book was equally as upsetting. However, you are wrong about the script’s origin.”
Luna looked at the paper again, her eye scanning every inch for details she might have missed. “You’re right… Some of the more important characters he used are different, and some are missing entirely. Where did you get this? Did someone unearth another volume by the old bat?”
Celestia shook her head. “No. The author of these writings is far more recent. We have him under our employ, actually.”
Luna scowled at that. “Has he been detained? Those writings are supposed to be on a need-to-know basis. There are many dark spells contained in that vault, and it-”
“Luna, the author has never seen the vault,” Celestia interrupted before Luna could pick up steam. “In fact, I doubt that the author of this work even knows that Starswirl had even existed.
“Oh… but… who... wrote this?” Luna asked, completely flabbergasted. “I... I thought that this tongue was an original creation, designed by Starswirl as a way of encoding his work.”
“As did I, but that now appears to have been a lie. Probably perpetuated to keep us from knowing where Starswirl got his hooves on that book. After all, knowing what we know now, it is rather apparent that he was not the original author of that book,” Celestia said as she poured herself and her sister a cup of tea.
Luna was thoroughly invested now. “What makes you say that? Who wrote this?”
Celestia smiled slyly before setting down her cup of tea. She then took back the transcript and looked at it before setting it back on the table. “~Alex~ wrote this.”
Luna looked up sharply, her mouth hanging open ever so slightly. “...Wait, what?”
Celestia’s horn ignited, and a swath of papers all bearing similar markings made their appearance out from underneath the table. Along with those papers was a book that, while very familiar, was still something that Luna hadn’t seen in over one thousand years. On its unusually bound cover were written words in a blocky, alien text: ‘Wægn hindema su cýðnes of Myrddin.’
“I think we have more in common with ~Alex~ than we first believed. And all the similarities between our peoples that he’s spotted? I think there might be an explanation…” Celestia said darkly.
Before the conversation could go any further, they were interrupted as a loud, official-sounding knock.
Celestia rolled her eyes in disgust. “If it’s not one thing, it’s another… Come in!”
The door open a crack to allow the sergeant at her door to peek his head in. “Your Highness, we’ve just received word that the alien’s vessel was spotted on route to the Canterlot Air Docks.”
“Thank you, Sergeant,” Celestia said as she got up. Her horn ignited briefly, and the things that had been on her desk were all swiftly teleported out of sight.
“I’ll go question-” Luna started to say, but was interrupted by her older sister.
“No, Lulu, I believe I will need you when we meet with the dignitaries. At the very least, I feel I need an ally for what I am sure will be a very awkward conversation,” Celestia said as she stood up.
Luna gave her a wry smile. “Of course, sister. We can question ~Alex~ later.”
With that, the two rulers left the past behind, and went to meet what was sure to be the future of Equestria.
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How exciting! Though it seems our poor protagonist can't catch a single break. Every day seems to be a catastrophe or crazy revelation.
And thus the changelings make an appearance! Almost thought you opted to leave them out of this story's lore.
Well, that was... a rather abrupt end to the story.
Considering I don't know the grand design, I'm not sure if I got the tidbit. Is it because there are two hives of changelings, one trying to kill Alex?
So it sounds like this hive of changelings wants him to live? I hope so, cause then those beams are most likely going to be stun beams. However, stun beams can be lethal if you get enough of them. Also, what did she call him?
Why would hive Chrysalis want to kill him? You know, other than that they tend to be jerks.
Because having aliens after his hide wan´t bad enough, Alex just had to got caught in a changeling war.
The Promethean huh? and what exactly does that mean?
Hmm....wonder if they're friend or foe...
Considering the Changeling at the beginning had no idea about the second changeling, I'm going to guess that that he's not as boned as he thinks he is.
Wonder if the second changeling is from Chrysalis's hive or a third one?
So at least one of the changeling hives beliaves he is some kind of demigod? Huh
Did I miss something? Why are the changelings so focused on killing him? And whats this about prometheum?
His new name is now Woody. And Knight could be Buzz.
1.bp.blogspot.com/-xHg7E8EyNbY/Ur2SYyWA2II/AAAAAAAAAQ0/mwQlC3V6Mec/s1600/ie08r8.png
7693650 Holy Prometheum. Used to burn the heretics in the name of Emperor.
The trick is to anticipate the prediction lines.
i.ytimg.com/vi/j-sVq1WPAmE/maxresdefault.jpg
Thy might be more accurate than you think...
I like how everyone assumes the one from Chrysalis was trying to kill him. Alex has no idea what those beams would have done had they hit him. And Chrysalis benefits nothing by killing him and everything by gaining control of him.
I'm curious to see what the second hive wants from him.
I feel like the plot just went from complex to convoluted.
The part that probably irritates me the most is that that one Guard was intending to MURDER him.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
7694182
Well, you see--as wonderful intelligent and wise as the Princesses are, they can sometimes make really dumb stupid mistakes, and it's up to us guards to fix such mistakes--preferably perm--ah, oooh---changeling!---uuhhh. ah dun goofed didn I?
7694354 7694182 Private Stout Heart's attitude has actually been set up since chapter IV of What I've Become, and you've found more cases like it since then.
While he is being a complete douche, his attitude didn't suddenly come out of the blue. He's been hinting at something like this for a while now.
7694496 Well yeah, but out-and-out murder? Geeze. The guy is about as racist as the K.K.K.
7693483 It's something that Skitter says.
Yeah... Maybe not as boned as he thinks lol
Two different hives having spies in the castle itself... Looks like our protagonist is truly a wanted alien. Im guessing the assassin was from Chrissie's hive, and the one that teleported him was from Pinkie Pie's hive lol. (how else to explain the crazy shit she does)
7694515 I never claimed he wasn't.
I don't get it.
But, I'll just wait for the next chapter to make it clearer.
I am extremely confused now.
Celestia really needs to invest some research on Changeling detection.
7694646 7694645 what are you confused about?
7694664 They haven't caught one yet, so they don't know what to look for.
7694354 thank you for this comment. This right here is the best thing ever.
7693588 nope. Promethean has nothing to do with demigod. Getting that out of the way right now.
7694805 Guess its just so much happening all at once. We find out that there is a changeling in the castle. Then we find out that this changeling wants to save the "Promethean"(assuming this is Alex) but is possibly going against her own hive to do so. Then we find out she is trying to save him(I think) from another changeling, from another hive? And she does so by teleporting him to a hive filled with changelings that seem pretty hostile, at least from his perspective. This raises so many questions so quickly it makes it hard to keep track of everything.
7694835 I understand that it can be a little overwhelming, but we already knew the changelings were coming. The only new thing added here was that there is more than one faction, and that the second faction seems to want to keep Alex out of Chrysalis' hooves.
That, and the fact that they seem to call him the Promethean...
And there goes any and all interest that i had in this story.
7694883 Um... Could you tell me why instead of just leaving in a huff? How will I improve if you don't tell me what I'm doing wrong?
Also, if this is because the changelings seemed to come out of the blue, remember that they were foreshadowed back in chapter one of this book, when Tusk Breaker the Minotaur got himself captured and interrogated.
7694881 The Promethean thing seems pretty important, I may be getting my greek legends mixed up, but wasn't he the guy said to have stolen fire from the gods, and bringing it back to mankind? I can only assume for the sanity of both reader and writer that Prometheus is an analog for what it would be in equestrian, like how they call Alex Defender, otherwise it raises the question of how they know the legend of Prometheus.
And then changelings...This is mildly depressing to me. I have read too many stories where the established characters and events were interesting to me and what drew me into the story and then, without foreshadowing or something to warn me, there are suddenly now changelings in this story. Might this add to the lore? Probably if you do a good job. Does this interest me? Not really because you're going to have to do multiple exposition dumps for a group I didn't care about in the first place rather than the actual developments of what's happening on Earth, the actual alien species, and the MC's relationship with the ponies. I'm trying to figure out what this will actually add to the story overall and I'm obviously skeptical. I'll give you a chance but I may just duck out on this story if I lose interest.
7694897 I ain't telling you anything else. Anything more, and we'd be in spoiler territory.
But I will say this: there is a very real reason why I've been calling to attention all the similarities between Equis and Earth. I haven't just been lampshading things, the similarities are actually relevant to the plot.
7694900 Dude, there WAS foreshadowing. Did you even read the first chapter of this book? Changelings freaking kidnapped Tusk Breaker the Minotaur and interrogated him. How is that not foreshadowing?
7694900 And trust me, this will be important for Earth. More so than you think it will be.
7694892 just went back to re read.
Minotaur got drunk and passed out and his friend took him home. No foreshadowing or anything else. Changelings came literally out of the blue without any warning. And Changelings are overused, useless and boring.
Okay. So it seems that two different hives were at work there. One out to kill him the other... Well, in spite of all the beams currently enroute to his flesh I don't think that they wanted to harm him. Though he might have a serious headache when all those stun spells wear off...
7694807 Twilight managed to remove the disguise of a changeling during the fight scene that took place in the episode. I't may just be me but it seems obvious that the proper course of action after the wedding would be to teach every single guard how to do that trick and have them travel in groups and perform it on each other as a simple greeting on top of routine checkpoints.
7694928 Yes, and I'm sure that this part from the exact next chapter had nothing to do with changelings whatsoever.
Eyup, that's not subtle foreshadowing at all. Next time I use subtle foreshadowing, I'll remember to spell subtle like this:
Seriously, though, I'm sorry that you didn't seem to catch all the hints that I dropped, but I DID drop them. These guys didn't suddenly come out of nowhere. I'm usually just fine at taking constructive criticism, but not over something that I KNOW I did. ESPECIALLY since a lot of you guys have been asking me: "can I just skip the alien parts?" or "I'm just going to skip the earth parts if that's okay with you."
I don't even care if you think changelings are overdone. But you must remember: ALIENS just landed in Equestria. This is going to attract EVERYONE'S attention. And It has already been established that Cadence and Shining Armor exist in this Equestria, so the Changelings exist as well. That means they were going to get involved eventually, whether you like it or not.
I'm sorry that I could not keep your interest, but do not accuse me of not foreshadowing, especially when I give you the exact place where I started foreshadowing.
Interesting turn of eevents. Multiple hives are fun, the fact he's a focus for them now indicates something he's done recently attracted their attention (and we think this is one of the reasons the pink one called him the Prometheus). Defender just keeps getting more names, huh?
The pink hives reaction to the emergency transport is rational, The Federation had a similar reaction to Voyager's exit through the Borg Nexus endpoint after all. At least he isn't with ones bent on killing him (yet).
Keep going! ;)
7694928 They were heavily forshadowed. Did you completely skip the minotaur guy (I can't be bothered to remember the jerk's name, I don't like him.
) being kidnapped?
7695001 I'm surprised that people are skipping that much of the story.
Why read it if you're not going to pay attention to...well....the story? 
7694949 there is a good in-universe reason why that wouldn't work. I'm going to reveal it later, but if you want spoilers now, keep reading:
In universe, Twilight had never encountered a changeling until that moment, so she wouldn't have had any spells specifically designed to deal with them. She does have a spell that disrupts all magic on an entity, provided that they follow the laws of magic (so Discord doesn't count). However, that disrupts ALL magic, and is VERY painful if used directly on a person that is reliant upon magic, like a pony or a changeling. The spell in question would incapacitate the person for at least an hour, making it ill suited for this purpose. They need something tailor made, which they are unfortunately unable to craft due to the fact that they are yet to catch a changeling to experiment on.
Looks like Alex is about to learn about the changeling culture in Equestria, assuming that he manages to stay in one piece.