Popcorn, drizzled in yogurt. Wasp cookies. Ant egg soup, served with a sourdough roll. Rice and chopped apples, spiced with cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Unfertilized dragon eggs, hardboiled, served whole with a hammer for the shell.
Not a special hammer—a regular hammer. Like the sort that comes in a toolbox.
Busy Bee was a restauranter. Her parents loved her very much, but they did not understand pony food. To their minds, there were three requirements for a good solid meal: it had to be non-toxic, the foals had to be able to keep it down, and it had to be prepared with love. Everything else was optional.
They were so proud of her, when she got her cutie mark for cooking. They said that she was going to learn to make proper food and crack jokes about her silly old family. But when she went to Canterlot to study at the culinary school, she found their recipes dull. The teachers were wonderful of course, the instruction skilled, and her fellow students kind. But Equestria didn’t need yet another tapas restaurant.
And so she took her savings from a childhood of mowing Twilight’s lawn, and paid one month’s rent on an abandoned storefront in the bad part of Canterlot. Her whole clutch came to help, and in two days, they had the place looking brand-new—floors were polished, glass was cleaned, countertops were repaired. One of them found a giant piece of scrap wood in the dump, lacquered and painted it, and turned it into a sign to hang over the front.
“The Busy Bee,” it read, in flowing yellow-and-black script. Underneath it, smaller text read, “Changeling Food.”
She had a few changeling regulars. Mirror Strike would walk down from Canterlot University every day, order rosewater, and soak in the ambient energy. Gallant would swing by whenever he was in Canterlot, get the wasp cookies, and talk about old times. And changelings from the hive would always stop by when they were visiting the city.
But most of her customers were ponies. It was a pony city.
“Crispy spiders, please,” said a stallion at one table. “And could you, um…” He gestured with a hoof. “If that’s not rude to ask.”
“I dunno,” Busy Bee grinned. “Will you order a dessert too?”
He got the locust pie. In a flash of green, she transformed into a smaller, more elfin version of Princess Celestia. A few patrons applauded, and she took a bow.
“The cinnamon ball, please,” said a mare at another table. “And that comes with apple fries, right?” Once she confirmed that it did, she asked, “And could you like, do Country Charm? He’s so dreamy.”
Busy Bee explained that she couldn’t actually impersonate ponies, but she did turn into a version of Country Charm with blue hair. He flashed his trademark winning smile, and the mare swooned.
“Ant egg soup, please,” said a third patron, a stallion. “And, I’m sorry, but could I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure,” he grinned. “I do requests.”
“No, it’s not that. I was…” the stallion hesitated. “I was wondering. What’s your special talent?”
Busy gave him a flat look, exaggerated for the customers. “Cooking. Y’know I do like to think the food here is pretty good.”
“No. I mean. Yes. I mean…” He hesitated. “Most ponies can’t do magic that isn’t related to their special talent.”
“Oh, sweetie, I’m a changeling. We can all do this.” In a flash of green, he transformed into a near-copy of the stallion, save for a rather obvious palette swap. “But I’ll get you that soup, okay?”
“Okay,” he said. He was quiet after that.
The next day, he was back. He arrived at three in the afternoon, during the slowest hours of the day. He sat at the bar and ordered the apple fries. Busy Bee was a she again, in the form of a powder-blue unicorn.
He was a unicorn as well. Grey, with a bright purple mane, nearly pink. His cutie mark was a stylized eye, with a purple star where the pupil should have been.
“Is your name actually Busy Bee, or is that just the name of the restaurant?” he asked.
“Nope, that’s my real name,” she said, as she was cleaning up. “What’s yours?”
“Steady Eye.” He licked his lips. “I’m an accountant. But it’s not my special talent. Just something to pay the bills. My talent is pony watching.”
“Oh.” She assumed an lecherous grin, flicking her tail across her hindquarters and striking a pose. “Are you watching me?”
“Yes.” He nodded, once. “I hope it’s not presumptuous to say, but it seems like you actually enjoy that sort of attention. You’re not just playing it up to get ponies to tip more.”
“Sometimes I do.” She relaxed her pose and assumed a more normal stance, going back to cleaning up. “It’s not my thing, but I’ve been ugly and I’ve been pretty, and anypony who tells you looks don’t matter is full of it. Ponies treat you differently.”
“I believe that.” He scratched the countertop with a hoof. “I bet they treat stallions and mares differently too.”
“You bet. I am always a stallion when it comes time to negotiate my rent. This big, menacing pegasus. It helps.”
“Mmm.” He nodded. “Which are you normally though? Under the disguise.”
“Looking to see if you swing my way?” She smiled. He blushed. She laughed. “Sorry, champ, but I’m afraid that’s none of your business.”
“No way I could convince you to give me a shot?” he smiled, but stress showed under it. “You… you seem interesting. I’d like to get to know you better.”
“Hey, if you want to make a friend, I’m happy to chat. But we don’t do the whole ‘pair bonding’ thing. I’m not girlfriend material.”
Steady Eye paused. He frowned. “But I thought you were… you know.”
“Do I know?”
“I—I mean,” he stumbled over his words. “A pony. I thought you were a pony. Under the disguise.”
“I’m a changeling. I’m sure I’ve said that to you at least two or three times.”
“Yes, but biologically—”
“Sorry, champ,” she put her hooves up on the counter, and in a flash of green, transformed into a rather menacing looking pegasus stallion, “but I’m afraid my biology is definitely none of your damn business.”
He shrunk back in his chair, his muzzle pulled into a grimace. But after he recovered from the initial shock, he managed a calm, “Of course, you’re right. I’m sorry.”
Busy Bee frowned, and lowered his hooves back to the floor. “It’s fine,” he said. “And hey, here. This is my go-to when I get bad news.”
Bee gave him a candy bar made from cockroaches.
Gallant showed up the next Thursday with a mare in tow. He always had a mare in tow. And they weren’t just any mares. They were all young, beautiful, and rich, and somehow head over hooves for the ruffian from Ponyville.
Busy Bee didn’t see the attraction. She’d tried to, several times. But she didn’t.
The latest mare in tow could have been a model. Her coat was the color of snow and her mane was like flowing caramel. When she giggled, it was like bells ringing. And her hips were, to put it traditionally, “child bearing.”
She was all over Gallant. He was all over her. “Were you two going to order, or just make out in my restaurant?”
“We can do both,” Gallant grinned. Then he tugged the mare forward. “Demure, this is Busy Bee, an old friend from Ponyville. Bee, this is her Royal Highness, Princess Demure of the Orchard Isles: tamer of dolphins, cracker of coconuts, vanquisher of communists, and proud ruler of a nation with a total population of about three-thousand.”
“Plus two elephants,” she says, before giggling and nuzzling into his side.
“Plus two elephants,” he added. “They’re sociologists.”
“Well, your Highness, we’re honored to have you here.” Busy Bee cracked a smile of her own. “What brings you so far from home? I’ve only ever seen the Orchard Isles on the back of a globe.”
“Oh, life. Love. The universe.” She gave a happy sigh. “This charming stallion. He saved us from communists you know.”
“Yes, I know.”
“There was a submarine base, and—”
“Yes, I know.” Busy Bee laughed. “Since the day he left home. Is he taking you on a tour of the world?”
“Just Equestria. I’ve never seen it, and I have so many questions. I don’t know where I’m going to settle, or what we’re going to do about the throne. There’s so much I’ve never seen.”
Busy Bee paused. “Settle?”
“Well, obviously, I’m going to keep the palace back home,” Demure explained, “but I know Gallant can’t stay there. It’s too remote. He needs a home in Equestria too, and that means I need… oh.” She giggled. “Call it a summer palace. So I can keep my royal dignity. Somewhere the foals can get a Canterlot education.”
“The foals.” Busy Bee glanced between them. “You’re…”
“Oh! You didn't hear?” Gallant’s grin got wider. “I got hitched.”
Busy Bee didn’t smile back. The joy fell off her face. “Huh,” she said. Then she asked, “Gallant, could I talk to you in private real quick?”
The smile fell off Demure’s face as well, and she turned to Gallant for clarification. His confused stare offered no reassurance, but after a moment, he patted her with a hoof. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered. “Sorry. Hold on.”
Busy Bee and Gallant moved into the back of the restaurant. No sooner were they out of earshot then he snapped, “What the hell was that about?”
“I’m a little concerned you’re marrying this mare under false pretenses is what that was about.” Busy drew her mouth back into a line. “She thinks she’s going to have a nice little nuclear family with 2.5 foals and a house in Canterlot.”
“Yeah.” He nodded, drawing out the word. “Because she is.”
“A clutch doesn’t have two children in it,” she spoke slowly, like he was simple-minded, “Is she going to be a nursery worker? Or a teacher? Have you even introduced her to the rest of the hive? What about the rest of the family?”
“What? No.” Gallant frowned. “She’s not going to be any of those things, because she’s not a changeling, she doesn’t have a caste. She’s a pony. She’s going to have foals and then raise them.”
“And what about you?”
“Well, I was planning to be a part of that, yes.”
“You can’t just run off and start your own family in Canterlot.” She poked him in the chest. “Who’s going to take care of the children when you’re recovering? Who’s going to inspect them? Princess Celestia? You’ll be the only one who can teach them to make faces. And what if we need you to help raise a clutch back in Ponyville?”
“You’ll be fine without me. Bee…” He gently pushed her away. “This is happening. Demure is family now.”
“I get that, she seems very nice, but if you do this,” Busy Bee drew a breath, “your children will be ponies.”
“So?” Gallant snorted. “We’re ponies. You’re a pony.”
It’s quite the spectacle, when two changelings fight.
She turned into a dragon, he turned into a razor-tailed monkey to scramble up her neck and out of reach of her bite. She turned into a striking serpent that wrapped the monkey in its coils, and he turned into a tatzlwurm to grapple her right back.
It went on like that.
The bell above the door went ding-a-ling.
“We’re closed,” Busy Bee called, as if the state of the restaurant didn’t make that clear. Bits and pieces of the kitchen had flown all the way to the front, bouncing off of tables and hitting patrons. She was behind the counter, sweeping up a pile of broken glass.
“I figured,” replied Steady Eye. He was standing half-in and half-out of the door, forelegs on the hardwood and rear lets on the street. “But I saw you through the window, and you’re um…” He paused. “Injured.”
She was a little brown earth pony mare, with a slate grey mane and a cutie mark depicting a whisk and a dragon’s egg. Her sides were covered in scratches and bruises, and she had a rapidly purpling black eye.
“I got into a fight,” she said curtly, “I’m not seriously hurt.”
“I’m sorry, I know this is a private moment and I’m a stranger and… yeah.” He stared at her a moment, and took a breath. “But you really looked like you needed somepony to talk to. Even if it’s just a stallion you’re never going to see again.”
“Sure.” She laughed and lifted a hoof. “And hey, you wanted to know what I looked like, right?” With a flick of an ankle, she gestured down at herself. “This is it. This is me. Burned through all my energy reserves changing forms like ten times in a row. You wanted to know if I’m a mare? Well, I am. There you go.”
He stepped in and let the door swing shut behind him. “You sound upset about that.”
“I am upset about that. Because a creature I thought was my friend betrayed me. Betrayed all of us. There’s not a lot of us left!” She snapped the words like a whip. “And if we don’t keep the old ways alive, they’re going to drown in a sea of pony culture. I like ponies. Ponies are my friends. But I don’t want to be one of you and you’re diluting me!”
The last two words emerged as a ragged screech, shouted so loud her voice cracked. They were an accusation, leveled at Steady Eye in leu of his entire race.
So he said, “That’s something worth yelling about.”
“What?” she froze.
“I said, that’s something worth yelling about. Like, you’re very upset. And I can see that. But I think you’re upset about something worth getting upset about. I would be mad if I thought I was losing my culture. So.” He took a seat. “Could you tell me why you opened the restaurant?”
“I like food.”
“You could have opened another tapas place. Made a bunch of money. And there’s no such thing as traditional changeling food. This is all you.”
“Fuck you,” she snapped. “It’s me and my parents. They needed to make solid food because I can’t eat love, and they struggled, because they didn’t have the instincts and also didn’t have taste buds. And you know what most creatures would have done in that situation? They would have taken pony recipes and copied them exactly. Just given up.”
She turned back to her sweeping, furiously working the broom over the floor. Broken glass skittered across the hardwood. “And then there really would be no changeling food. But they knew that solid food was going to be a part of my life, and I was their daughter, and so they wanted to understand it. They wanted to make it ours. And some of what they made was worth preserving. And I serve it here.”
“The soup is good,” he agreed.
“Everything I make is good.”
“You know it’s not over. Right?” Steady Eye asked. “I know there aren’t… I know your people are in a bad way. But that doesn’t mean your traditions are going to die. You sound bitter, but I think what you’ve done here is amazing. You changed without changing who you are.”
“Okay, look,” she turned, “of all the patrons who have ever tried to get under my tail, you’re in the top ten, really. This is very charming. But I’m not girlfriend material. Because at some point, I’m going to go back to Ponyville, so I can help raise a clutch of eight to twelve children. They’ll be around six when I start raising them, because children younger than that are cared for by nursery workers. Once a month, I will line them up outside for Princess Twilight to inspect, and…”
She lifted a hoof, drawing out the silence to emphasize her words. “If I ever do somehow get pregnant, I am giving that child to a nursery worker to be raised in the proper fashion. And when they turn six, maybe they end up in my clutch and maybe they don’t. And I accept that because that is the way things should be.”
“Okay,” Steady Eye said. “And if I accepted that?”
“You can’t just say you accept that.” She let out a dismissive snort.
“Woah, I didn’t say I accepted it.” He lifted a hoof. “I haven’t even asked you out yet and you’re talking about our hypothetical future children. That’s a big escalation above casual conversation. Also you seem crazy and very angry and I don’t know you well enough to know if you’re a creature I’d want to be with.”
He laughed. “But as a hypothetical, if I accepted that, properly, would that matter? Or is my being a pony a dealbreaker? Because no offense, I’m getting the feeling you prefer ponies at a distance.”
“No, it would…” She sighed. “No, I don’t… I like stallions, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I even dated in school. Briefly. It didn’t end well.”
“Fine.”
“I’ve been kissed.”
Steady Eye made a face. “I really didn’t ask that, but okay. Good to know.”
“Yeah, sorry. Shared too much there.” She sighed and lowered her head. “I really can’t deal with this right now.”
“Then, I’ll leave.” He got up from the table. “But hey, I meant what I said earlier. What you’ve built here is wonderful. It’s a labor of love, if you can pardon the pun. I know, probably… well. Your feelings on ponies are complicated. But we’re not trying to hurt you. I like this place.” After a moment he added. “And the soup is good.”
“Everything I make is good,” she replied, adding, “thank you.”
The next time he came by, she said she was free on Thursdays. They went bowling.
Their son, whose name was Double Entry, really felt that accounting school had not adequately prepared him for breaking into an insane dictator’s palace.
Yes, granted, he could shapeshift. And yes, granted, he was quite physically fit, and had won several silver medals for flying in the Cloudsdale circuit. But he felt there should have been some additional steps between that and, “You can be the getaway driver!”
And so he stood under the Crystal Palace in the form of a pegasus, hitched up to a sky chariot and wondering who would take over the accounting practice after he got captured and executed.
Probably Cook Book. She was ambitious.
“Down below!” a voice called. One of his co-conspirators fell out of the sky, landing in the back of his chariot. Then came a second, then a third. Then came Princess Cheval, the last changeling queen, and the sole hope of his species for long term survival.
She was still bound up in plastic restraints, which felt wrong for a rescue.
Gallant was last in. “Alright. Let’s go,” he said.
It was at that moment that a wailing alarm sounded through the palace. Spotlights came on to illuminate the ground, and searchlights lit the sky.
“Let’s go quickly,” Gallant urged. Double Entry broke into a gallop, and the chariot left the ground.
This chapter was kinda hard for me to follow. Like, I'm not sure if I was reading about a changeling identifying as a pony in spite of her best efforts or a pony identifying as a changeling. Anyway, Flurry still needs to die in a hurry, despite what Cheval thinks. The world will be better off when she's not in it. And hopefully Cheval stops being suicidal at some point and is able to rein in her worst instincts, but who can say if that'll happen. Nice update.
Wait, ponies with changeling shape shifting powers?
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Biologically pony, identifies as changeling.
Several ponies abandoned unwanted foals with the ponyville hive. Those foals grew up around changelings and in changeling culture. Apparently the shapeshifting isn't biological, and can be taught to ponies.
Without any changeling queens, the only children being born to the hive were pony children of those abandoned foals. Now they're doing a "rescue" of Cheval.
And why does Flurry need to die? She's working to do good now that she's no longer the Alicorn of War/Hate. What good would come from this retribution?
Well, the plot sure keeps meandering. The side streets so far have all been worth touring, to extend the metaphor, but still, a clear focus is missed.
9656789
The world could move on for one. For another, 'I'm sorry for what I did' only carries you so far. She's a goddamn monster for what she's done, not what she's super duper sorry for. Though thank you for clarifying what the heck these characters were for me lol.
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The world is moving on though because Flurry stopped being the Alicorn that was stuck at a moment in time and started learning.
If anything, Celestia (and possibly Luna) also need to stop being alicorns considering their ridiculous right to rulership nonsense.
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The yaks don't seem to have moved on yet. It's a safe assumption that members of the other species probably haven't either. Living remnants, or the children of those who suffered under her reign. "Millions died" by her own admission, for her actions. So... no.
Whoo!! I love where this is going. So much story building and other things... I'm going to be so sad to see it end.
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You're expecting immediate action and change. Even if she died the yaks will still feel that pain for a long time.
I friggin love this. I would read an entire series of just the characters in this chapter. There is so much to work off of. Communist innsurections. Island dictators. Shapeshifting spies. Amazed ng work!
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I'm not expecting anything. I just think Flurry deserves to die for what she's done. Sooner rather than later.
This is one of the greatest paragraphs of all time.
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It's so true and yet, what more does one need?
I gotta say, I'm really enjoying the worldbuilding and character work here. And I dig the pony-with-changeling-culture concept. Something similar has been done for laughs in Watch! Watch!, but here it's played straight and makes perfect sense. Wow.
The pony-changelings were kind of out of nowhere, and were quite jarring. I was thinking 'are they actually changelings? Hybrids? WTF happened?'.
The idea that foals raised by changelings somehow learn to shapeshift and (maybe) eat love needed to be spelled out somewhere.
9656843
Agreed
Well, with these two latest chapters, i finally feel justified in giving this story a like; all it took was easing off on the depression fuel, some badly needed moments of levity, and Gallant showing up with the plot.
9656976
I imagine that question will be answered next chapter when Cheval asks them about that.
Oh for God’s sake Jaxie.
I was reading this chapter and I was all set to post the following, was mentally composing it as I read it:
This is an unequivocally good chapter. I liked it the whole way through. I have nothing to complain about in it. It is genuinely touching and sweet and just a bit sad but also hopeful, without causing any issues with either the show’s canon or your own. On the basis of this chapter alone I’m going to remove the dislike I placed on this fic. Won’t be liking it, it’ll still be in a folder entitled “Sunk Cost Fallacy,” but this was overall a major and strident step back towards the Jaxie I started reading not long after joining this site back in 2012, the Jaxie who wrote so many stories I enjoy. I know you don’t care what I have to say, but in seriousness: good job.
And then you ended the chapter with something that just begs:
Why the Hell was this not done at some point in the past 52 years of it was this easy?! Or if it was attempted, why is it only working now?!
I have to imagine that this would not have been significantly harder at a number of previous points in time, and particularly given the range and duration of the shapeshifting abilities your changelings have demonstrated, and especially if it’s something that ponies, even earth ponies, can just learn or develop from enough exposure to changelings, meaning that the Ponyville Hive (and in particular Twilight), would have had a massive bug-and-pony pool to draw from...
...then why the Hell didn’t it?!
Speaking of the fact that Busy Bee is an earth pony, I don’t even know how many questions this adds. Two. Let’s be conservative and add two.
Whatever. Good chapter otherwise. Everything else I said still applies (except the rescinding of the downvote, that downvote is staying, though I’m sure you don’t care). I’m glad some form of changeling culture (from Amaryllis’ Hive, no mention at all of Badlands survivors, I note...) can survive. I don’t mind it having to adapt, everything has to adapt and change over time. Heh. Change. Get it? ‘Cause changelings?
Eh, whatever.
Oh, and, no personal change on the Flurry front either, for the record.
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Flurry couldn't learn as an alicorn so she became mortal, and as a mortal she's dying.
.. I think that's what you were questioning?
This is a combination actually used in a Ghanian recipe called jollof rice and it gives the dish an amazing savoriness. It smells like neither cinnamon nor cayenne. It smells like comfort food. Even if you're smelling it for the first time
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Looked that up...sounds so good.
I'm very interested to see Cheval's reactions to the pseudo-changelings given her opinions on changelings in general.
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The obvious thing to do here is to answer this question with a question: if, through some contrived set of circumstances, Hitler had remained Führer of Germany and lived out a natural life to age, I dunno, 80, but otherwise still carried out the Holocaust and killed millions of Jews, would you be fine with the idea of him still being Führer until he died of natural causes?
Simple, letting a sitting monarch remain a sitting monarch after committing genocide is carte blanche recognition that Flurry Heart had the right to commit genocide, and by extension, so too does any monarch.
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Actually this is easy: Why now? Because Cheval's not a rock anymore.
We don't know where she was kept as a statue or what security she was under at the time, but now she's out and being kept in her old room. Also why didn't Twilight make use of them? Because unless one of them was part of one of her new groups of mane 6s, she wouldn't think to use them that way, as a bunch of shape-shifting ponies are a new concept, not a group of 6 friends wielding magic friendship artifacts/powers. Also note that the group is being led by Gallant, whose pony mom's relationship with his aunt never seemed on the best of terms even at its height, and this chapter shows he's a non-conformist, who would be willing to go against the hive's 'queen'(Twilight) especially when this is their best and probably last opportunity to finally do so.
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You got that right!
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There's a limited number of places that the statue could really have been kept. I imagine Flurry would want it close to her, for example, while also some place where it was unlikely to be damaged. At the very least I think over the course of 52 years a pony could get a job as a janitor in the Crystal Palace to check the vault there, if nothing else. Plus Shining Armor was constantly attending the statue while alive during the war, and I have to imagine Cadance would know where it was kept as well - can you think of a good reason why Cadance wouldn't be on-board with an attempt to steal it if the safety of the statue could be garunteed? Certainly it seems like something The Third Wheel and Courtesans Cadance would do, anyway...
Ultimately it largely is something I'm willing to just accept, though. It's just that after such a tremendous step-up for most of the chapter, to have Rand al'Thor show up at the end once again is disappointing and sour-tasting.
As for Twilight...well, you have a point there.
Time to escape, whoot whoot!
I actually found the restaurant scenes pretty sweet.
Sort of.
In a way.
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Who says she wasn't? But again, there's too many unknowns about how Cheval was kept as a statue to know how hard retrieving her in that state would have been, and especially with the qualifier of keeping her intact enough to not be bloody bits when depetrified. Heck we now know that the only reason Flurry even kept her intact was because Celestia and Luna might have gotten off their plots if she killed her, but it's doubtful the Alicorn of War wouldn't have put some sort of safeguard in place to make sure all anyone would be able to steal was rubble. And given that non-alicorn Flurry has only now freed her because the Sisters are finally sticking their noses in the Empire's business over her succession, it's equally doubtful Flurry would have removed any such failsafes until now.
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Same, I got lost here more than anything
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Like I said, overall it's something I'm willing to let Morgan LeFey have. Or rather it just forms one part of a larger overall question I have for the series. It's on the list. Otherwise it just took me out of feeling actually happy about this story for a change.
Although really I only have one question I really want answered at this point, but I'm going to give the narrative a chance to answer it fist.
This chapter was great, a strange aside to wacky changeling/pony antics but a fun strange.
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As an author, I hope you understand how much it hurts when people say "I liked your old stuff better."
Alright, and two new chapters here! Again planning to try and keep my commentary down a bit to try and save time, but, well... the stuff does rather seem to spring up, so we'll see how I do. :)
(Sorry about the time limitations, though.)
Chapter 10!
...So, I wonder if we'll see the start of a tradition of Cheval being every Crystal Monarch's heir, then abdicating on the first day or somesuch thing. Might help ensure good heirs get selected, too.
"I think it would be best if I traveled to Equestria, said hello to Celestia, and committed honorable suicide in Canterlot Palace."
...
Well, that is also... a plan. It is a sequence of events and actions that could be pursued towards a purpose. However, I think that there may be a few drawbacks to this one over the one I speculated about above.
"me in awhile. It’s"
"me in a while. It’s"?
"Governed with an iron fist? Restored "
"fist" deliberate, instead of "hoof" or something? If so, I wonder if it's just translation convention, or if the expression comes from some other species in this universe.
"the North"
You seem to have some inconsistent capitalization on "the north/North" in this chapter.
"But I was at the point that I either needed to kill you or accept that you might destroy everything I created."
So I wonder when she was referring to? When she rejected her alicorn hood, or when she unstoned Cheval?
There is still the question of why she waited so long to do it, especially now that we know she's not still War Princess Flurry Heart bent on wiping out all other changelings.
...So, is the enchantment Twilight laid on the building powerful and sophisticated enough to recognize and stop suicide by guard?
Just in case we weren't already clear on Cheval having a few Issues with Amaryllis.
Though I suspect perhaps some of them are not, in fact, with Amaryllis, but with someone who looks very similar.
...Huh. Wonder how Gallant can use changeling magic?
Though forty-five being elderly... well, I suppose Cheval was still a teenager when she was turned to stone. :D
(I also wonder if "Aren't you a little short to be a stormtrooper" is a quote/paraphrase in this universe, or if it's just based on knowledge of Princess of War Era Crystal Empire military ranks and uniforms Cheval (quickly) picked up at the museum.
...Also, apparently the private's uniform does include a saddle. With styles varying based on tribe. Huh.)
Anyway, though, heh, and nice. :) Somewhat interesting procession of emotional tones in various areas of the chapter, it seemed to me, though I'm not presently sure how to describe that further.
Chapter 11!
So, where are we this time?
"was a restauranter. Her"
"was a restaurateur. Her"?
(Yes, with no n, though that surprised me too; that's what the dictionary said when I doublechecked, though.
"The word restaurateur is taken directly from the French form. Although common, restauranteur with an n is a misspelling.")
Interesting cultural detail there, on the requirements of a good meal. :)
"And so she took her savings from a childhood of mowing Twilight’s lawn"
I kind of wonder just how many Ponyville youths, especially ones in need, ended up earning a good amount of bits mowing Twilight's lawn, just how far above the going rate they were paid for it to make up for the tight work period rationing, and how much rapid-grass-growing magic was needed even then to keep up with the demand.
...Also. Hm. I wonder if the ages work out for this to potentially be the nymph Twilight said looked very clever?
And then while considering other reasons that might or might not be the case and whether I should add to or delete this comment, I realized that the evidence seems to indicate that Busy Bee is biologically a pony and so this didn't make sense and should be deleted... but then I realized that that I even temporarily made that mistake says some interesting/nice things about the culture and presentation thereof, I think, and so I decided to leave this even though the original wondering seems to have an answer of a clear no (or at the least, even if the ages work out, it doesn't work out overall). :)
"Mirror Strike would walk down from Canterlot University every day, order rosewater, and soak in the ambient energy."
They might be that one, though.
And then I note that Gallant is listed under the changelings regulars.
Which has, and is representative of something larger that has, some interesting potential interactions with the story's title.
[reads a bit further]
Though, okay, ah, perhaps either it isn't entirely cultural, or changeling magic and culture have an interesting relationship.
(...And then my brain pretty much immediately went to "So in that scenario, how long was it before the Flim-Flam brothers appropriated it with an X-step course of Ancient Changeling Secrets for the Body of your Dreams, with X being coincidentally the number of steps the brothers would need to get to the next town?".)
"His cutie mark was a stylized eye, with a purple star where the pupil should have been."
Hm...
(Though, coming back to this after further reading, it looks like he probably is just a pony with a purple star in his cutie mark, and not Twilight Sparkle in disguise or something.)
"Steady Eye frowned, and lowered"
"Busy Bee frowned, and lowered"?
"put it traditionally, “child bearing.”"
"put it traditionally, “childbearing.”"?
"elephants,” she says, before"
"elephants,” she said, before"?
Oh, hah, a classic old shapeshifter duel? :D
And, ah, yeah, looks like they didn't bother going outside first.
"and rear lets on"
"and rear legs on"?
"Eye in leu of his entire"
"Eye in lieu of his entire"?
(Interestingly, apparently the leu is, according to my dictionary, the basic monetary unit of Romania, and also the Romanian word for "lion".)
"You changed without changing who you are."
...Hm. Not entirely sure what that means. Changed what, for one thing... This sentence appears to refer to what she's doing with the restaurant, but then... still, changed what, and since it came out of who she was, why would there be, with no other information, an expectation it would change who she was?
...Or. Is the significance heavily vested in the you? Ah, now there is a potential interpretation. "You" not Busy Bee, but her people, changed in form while retaining, at least key parts of, essence, perhaps that is it!
"moment he added. “And the"
"moment he added, “And the"?
"They went bowling."
...Do you happen to read El Goonish Shive, by any chance? Just wondering if this was inspired by that, a coincidence, or some larger Thing of which I am unaware.
"Their son, whose name was Double Entry, really felt that accounting school had not adequately prepared him for breaking into an insane dictator’s palace."
:D
I don't know, maybe if he broke in disguised as an accountant? :D
(Though I'm also wondering in which senses he's there son. The ones that matter, I expect they'd all express, though. :))
"the Cloudsdale circuit. But"
"the Cloudsdale Circuit. But"?
Or is it a circuit, in Cloudsdale, "of" something which is here left unsaid? (Which would be fine as a writing device here, I think, just mention it as part of this potential typo spotting comment.)
Well. :D
9657730
I am aware. At the same time, it’s something that would (and in fact has) personally get me to seriously examine where I am verses where I was and see if there were missteps along the way. Of course I don’t want to be stuck in a rut, but that doesn’t mean that all paths I could have gone down or actually have gone down are ones I should have gone down.
Besides, I do genuinely like this chapter until the very end, and even that is much more of a quibble than a genuine problem.
9657201
Yeah it's really simple and there aren't any ingredients you can't get at the grocery store: Chicken, some ham, onions, canned stewed tomatoes, sliced cabbage, salt and pepper,the cayenne-cinnamon mixture (and surprising little of it), green beans and some rice. You cook it all in one pot, adding the rice last and the green beans next to last, so they stay a little crunchy. Easy! Also very healthy and good as leftovers for lunch.
The only thing I'm confused on is the whole Galiant stuff. My understanding was he was 100% biological pony. So why is Busy Bee so upset he's marrying a pony? And how is Galiant able to shapeshift since he is a pony? And is Busy Bee a changling or a pony raised by changlings and considers changling culture to be her culture (but somehow gained changling magic?).
This look into the changeling culture is extremely intriguing. Coupled with Twilight's role as their "queen" this shows an incredible transformation of an species into a people, and that's really amazing. Kudos for that
9657965
Cultural conflict. Gallant is a pony half raised by changelings and half raised as a sparkle (I'd say ponies, but let's be honest here and admit that sparkles are of a more world-changing breed) that sees himself as a pony. Busy Bee is a pony raised by changelings and that sees herself as a changeling.
Busy Bee sees the death of the channelings not as a biological thing, but cultural, not a species but a people, and fights with all her strength to preserve what she can. When Gallant, one that she saw as a changeling, marries and goes to live as a pony, she sees it as a betrayal of their people, and therefore the fight.
It does help her see it's not all that bad though.
The transformation does seem to be a cultural thing, curiously enough.
I thought I'd just leave this here. And walk away. LEAVING THIS HERE AND WALKING AWAAAAYYYY LA-LA-LAAAAAAA
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/bobsburgerpedia/images/4/40/Aquaticism_Truck.png/revision/latest?cb=20170327013220
"Look honey, somebody's doing a crossover. Isn't that nice?"
9658011
It does raise a whole ton of questions. Not bad ones, mind, not exactly, just thought-provoking stuff.
Why can ponies learn changeling magic? Can ponies learn other kinds of magic? Could an earth pony learn unicorn spellcasting, for example? A unicorn learn how to stand on and move clouds around (without using their horn)? Would another species, such as a yak or diamond dog, raised by changelings also be able to develop changeling magic? Can other species learn pony magic? Can ponies learn other species' magic? If there is such a thing as "detection" magic, does a pony who can use changeling magic "detect" as a changeling, even if they're currently in their true form? What if they've changed forms? What is powering the changeling magic? Is it a separate "mana pool" from their species' default "mana pool"? Does it require love? If so, how do non-changelings acquire the love? Does it draw on their own love? What happens if their love runs dry?
Stuff like that. They're in the same pile as my "where's Discord?"-type questions, stuff I'm genuinely curious about and would like to know the answer to but which doesn't feel to me like it impacts the story all that much in and of itself, and which for the most part I'm happy to accept meta-reasoning for or to leave totally unanswered.
9658058
This is a good analogy.
9657055
Oh God, you're still here.
9658112
It’s midnight somewhere.
Huh. Just found this: a type of restaurant founded by refugees fleeing persecution, known for its unique cuisine, and now dying out-- the Parsi Cafe.
(Plus, now I know what Kipling meant by the "Cake Parsee")
9658080
You approve of it? Thank you for letting me know.
9658255
It's not spite. I don't wish to hurt you. I simply wish to avoid your good opinion.
Whatever their other qualities, some of which are quite fine:
Steady Eye is a creeper who doesn't take"no" for an answer. And Busy Bee is a physically violent bigot.
Here comes the Stockholm. Yonder comes the Andrea Doria. Couldn't they've just have passed in the night?
9658300
Yeah, I noticed both of those things when I was writing the chapter. I considered rewriting it to avoid that, particularly Steady Eye.
But I decided, fuck it, people aren't perfect. The fact that they have flaws as people -- in some cases quite severe flaws -- doesn't change the fact that they have genuinely sweet moments together.