The Ponyville Train Station
Princess Cheval was free.
Ponyville could hardly talk about anything else. It was in the papers, and on the radio. There was gossip in the barbershops and the hair salons, in the cafes and in the markets. Every creature knew she’d soon come to Ponyville—her nation was waiting for her. Parties were prepared in her honor, gifts were wrapped, and cameras were made ready for the moment she stepped off the train.
It was such a grand occasion that many creatures traveled to Ponyville just to wait. The entire Apple clan assembled, all the ponies who were once Elements of Harmony returned to their childhood home, and remote members of the Sparkle family came to meet their niece.
Every changeling who had left the hive returned home as well. It was a grand family reunion.
One changeling, a mare named Brightside, decided it was a good opportunity to introduce her family to her boyfriend. His name was Ocean Breeze, and he was a pegasus pony. They took the train down from Manehatten, and he got to sleep in the spare room that was right next to her bedroom and conveniently had a connecting door.
It went so well at first. Her grandmother sniffed him and proclaimed that he did, in fact, love her. He told jokes and her relatives laughed. But around noon on the second day of their visit, he asked her question.
“Why is this such a big deal?” They were together in one of Ponyville’s cafes, near the hive, but with a distinctly pony flavor to the food. For lunch, they both preferred muffins to roast spiders.
“What do you mean?” Brightside laughed. “She’s the future queen of my people.”
“Celestia is the ruler of your people right now. When she appears on TV, you shout, ‘Hey Sunbutt, you’ve got a divine right to kiss my ass.’”
“I don’t believe in alicorn rule.”
“No.” Ocean Breeze tilted his head to one side. “But you do believe in the birthright of a teenager from the Crystal Empire who spent fifty years turned to stone?”
“Oh come on, that’s totally not the same.” Brightside rolled her eyes. “Celestia isn't literally the mother to her people.”
“Cheval isn’t your mother.”
“She’ll be mother to lots of other changelings.”
“No she won’t. She’ll lay a lot of eggs, but she won’t raise them all herself.” He poked at his food. “I thought you said parents are the creatures who love their children?”
“Okay, fine.” Brightside’s scoffed, and the next roll of her eyes was somewhat less friendly than the first had been. “But you know laying thousands of eggs is still a big deal, right?”
“I’m not saying she isn’t a big deal. But you’re like… excited.” He gestured at her, momentarily struggling for words. “I haven’t seen you this wrapped up in something in awhile. I’m sorry; I’m not trying to be picky. I just don’t get it.”
“It’s important to me. It’s like, I don’t want to have foals. But if I did have foals, it would matter that they know how to make faces.” She poked at her toast, suddenly lacking an appetite. “And I want to be here to see her reconnect with her culture.”
“Okay. That’s good.” He took in a breath and nodded. “Are you getting her something?”
“No. No. I mean, I’m sure Princess Twilight will. And all the important ponies. But she doesn’t want or need gifts from the common folk.” She paused. “Why did you think I was getting her something?”
“A lot of your family members seem to be wrapping up gifts.”
“That’s for each other.” Brightside looked off at the hive. “It’s fine.”
Later, while Ocean Breeze was visiting some pegasus friends in Cloudsdale, Brightside dropped in on her parents.
“Hey, mom? Dad? A quick question.” She poked her head into the living room. “You’re not, um, getting Princess Cheval anything, are you? Like, that would be silly.”
“Oh, yeah, we are,” her mother said. “We heard that she didn’t speak vespid very well, and if she does speak it, it’ll be the old-hive version. So your father and I thought, she should have a guide on slang in bilingual towns. You know, which vespid words have just become part of Ponyville equestrian and vice-versa?”
“So you got her a book?”
“Well,” her father said, “we couldn’t find a guide like that. So your mother and her clutch all got together and wrote one. Then they all signed it.”
“Oh.” Brightside paused. “That’s… remarkably thoughtful.”
“You could sign it too if you…” her mother started to say, but Brightside has already walked out.
When she got back to the streets of Ponyville, she stared up at the sky for a few long seconds. Then she stamped her hoof and shouted, “Fuck!”
“Hey there, my clutch-sister,” Brightside lifted a leg to hoofbump the creature in front of her. “How’s it hanging?”
Snaggle, who was indeed a mare and who was indeed part of Brightside’s clutch, stared at her for a long moment. “You are actually a changeling, how do you sound like a pony doing a bad impression?”
“I’ve lived in Manehatten awhile, okay?” Brightside lowered her hoof un-bumped. “Listen, I need a favor. Are you getting Princess Cheval anything?”
Snaggle was a barber. In the true Ponyville style, she worked in a combination movie theater and barbershop called And, Cut! Patrons got their hair cut while watching a film, and there was popcorn after. It was an entirely sensible business model, with the only problem being that most movies took slightly longer than a haircut, and so patrons tended to occupy the chairs for some time.
At least it left Snaggle plenty of time to stand around and gossip.
“Sure,” she said. “I heard she was taught to shapeshift the old way. Like, taught to impersonate ponies? So Snap Shot and I did some posing and some photo-editing, and we made a portfolio of ponies who don’t exist. So she can transform the way she’s used too without stealing anypony’s face.”
“That’s great. Really.” Brightside rubbed her face. “Is there still time for me to help make it?”
“It’s pretty much done. But you can sign it too if you want.”
“No. That’s…” She frowned. “Did you have any other gift ideas, maybe? Ideas you didn’t end up using?”
“Not really. But, come on, don’t worry. It’s not about getting her something.” Snaggle gestured at the hive around them. “For her, last week, she was just schoolfilly. Now she’s the long-awaited princess of an exiled people. She doesn’t know us, and she doesn’t know our culture. So just… give her something that helps her understand you.”
“That helps her understand me.” Brightside’s tone was skeptical.
“Or, not you, but you know, us.” Snaggle gestured all around them. “Us. This strange and wonderful hybrid of pastel herbivorous mammals and tie-dye predatory insects. What does being a changeling mean to you?”
Brightside stared, and so Snaggle repeated: “Get her that.”
“Hey there…” She paused. “Clutch-brother.”
Xerox, who was indeed a stallion and who was indeed part of Brightside’s clutch stared at her.
“Look, sorry, I’m having a bad day, okay?” Brightside sighed and covered her eyes. “I didn’t mean to make it weird.”
“It wasn’t weird,” he paused. “I mean, it was a little formal. But, we are clutch siblings. You could just call me your brother. It’s not like that distinction matters in this instance.”
“Yeah, I’ll note that for next time.” Brightside snapped. “What are you getting Princess Cheval?”
Xerox didn’t live in Ponyville either, but was rather a psychatrist in Canterlot. Returning to Ponyville for her visit, he’d chosen to rent a room in an inn, and so it was from his suitcase that he produced a gift.
“It’s a few specific pages from the Survey on Non-Pony Employment in the Greater Canterlot Area with some specific passages highlighted.” He offered her the document, though it had no fancy wrapping. He wasn’t the wrapper type, having instead put it in a simple manilla envelope.
“And,” he added, “I included some pictures. Since she’s from the Crystal Empire, she was probably raised to believe that changelings are all whores or spies. So seeing shapeshifting powers used for other professions might help her. There’s a bunch of actors in here, a nature conservationist who uses them to hide from animals…”
He trailed off as Brightside’s frustration became obvious on her face. She tossed the report back to the bed. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m a baker,” she sighed. “I don’t use my powers at work. Sometimes I go whole weeks without changing forms. And the main thing I use my powers for is turning into mares from my boyfriend’s dreams, only, we don’t do that much, because he really does like what I actually look like.”
“A bit too much information there,” Xerox paused. “But, good for you two. That sounds like a very healthy relationship.”
“Do you have any other gift ideas?” She raised a hoof. “And don’t say I can sign this one.”
“Come on, Brightside. You don’t have to do anything. Being a changeling just isn’t that big a deal to you.”
“Yes, it is,” she snapped, pointing at herself with a hoof. “I am servant of this hive and a loyal drone.”
“Yeah, I know.” He shrugged. “But you live in Manehatten, and you’re a baker, and all your friends are ponies, and you never worry about being loved because you’ve got a great boyfriend. Like just… show up and take pictures of her. It’s not a big deal.”
“Hey, you, you’re the new Element of Generosity right?”
River Breeze, who was halfway through taking a bite of her sandwich, froze midway through the action. With glacial slowness, she chewed once. Then again. Then a third time. She swallowed. “Who are you?”
“Hi. I’m Brightside. I’m a changeling.” Uninvited, she sat at River Breeze’s cafe table. “But you are, right?”
“I’m the old Element of Generosity actually. The new Element of Generosity is in the Crystal Empire with Twilight.”
“But before you were the old one you were the new one, right?”
River Breeze didn’t know what to say to that, which was fine, because Brightside went on without her. “I need a thoughtful gift idea. And I thought, you’d be an expert in this! Like, the expert. See, Princess Cheval is coming to town, and every changeling is getting her something personal and thoughtful that’s about what our culture means to them. And like, I can’t think of anything.”
“So… you want to me to come up with something thoughtful and authentic and meaningful so you can copy it?” River Breeze scrunched up her muzzle. “That’s kind of old ways isn’t it? I think she already knows how that part works.”
“Wow. That’s racist.” Brightside grimaced, then laughed, then reached across the table. “But seriously I need help.”
“Okay, let’s back up.” River Breeze levitated her napkin to her mouth, and carefully wiped away some bits of mayonnaise and hay. “Why does it matter so much to you? With so many creatures giving gifts, the odds are very low she’ll ever open yours.”
“I need to show I’m…” She gestured vaguely. “One of us. Not just a pony with powers she never uses. That I’m a good daughter, and a good drone. That I’m loyal to my people.”
“Okay. Why does that matter so much to you?” River Breeze lifted a hoof. “And answer without telling me what you are. I know what you are. What are you feeling?”
“But it’s about what I am. I’m a loyal part of the hive. I belong to something.” She touched her chest with her hoof. “Without that, I’m just… a baker with a cute boyfriend and no foals who drinks too much wine.”
“Okay,” River Breeze shrugged. “Then publicly swear yourself to her as the first member of her new hive guard. That’s your gift.”
“I’m not a soldier.” She frowned. “She doesn't even have a hive-guard. Does she?”
“No. I don’t think she’ll want one. So you can call yourself a changeling warrior, and feel a sense of accomplishment, and you won’t have to actually do anything to earn it.” River Breeze spread her hooves. “Because it seems that that’s what being a changeling is to you. It’s not about the powers or the traditions or living in a hive. It’s about belonging to something. So belong to her.”
When Brightside gaped, River Breeze shrugged. “I’m sure she’ll get it.”
Slapping a former Element of Generosity probably wasn't a good idea. Particularly given that there were three more former Elements of Generosity in that same cafe to hold her down, plus two Elements of Laughter and one dragon-assistant who reminded everypony of Spike.
On the upside though, there were a lot of ponies eager to help with her friendship problem.
After she was done singing her friendship song, Brightside stormed back into the hive. She went to her parents house, then up to her room, and slammed the door behind her like she was a petulant teenager all over again. She threw herself onto the bed and pressed her head down into the pillow, waiting for sleep that would not come.
After what felt like hours, the connecting door to the side room opened, and Ocean Breeze stepped in. “Hey, cutie,” he said, but when he laid eyes upon her, he froze. “What’s wrong?”
“Why do you love me?”
“Woah.” He rushed to her side, resting his hoof on her shoulder. “Where’d that come from?”
“It comes from the land of my not being anything special,” she buried her head deep in the pillow. “It comes from the place where I always thought, I don’t know, I had this mystic destiny. Or lineage. Or I was, like, a small part of something big and important. But it turns out, nope. It’s just an excuse to feel good about yourself because of things you didn’t do. Like stuffy old noble ponies who are proud of their lineage even though they didn’t do anything for it except be born.”
“You’re special to me,” he insisted. “You make me happy and—”
“Oh, yeah. We were a whirlwind romance. ‘Well, like, we hung out at a few parties, and once he took me home and that was fun, and after I noticed I didn’t feel tired and achy and hungry, so I was like, oh shit he must love me a little.’ Story tell our foals.” She rubbed at her face with a hoof. “No. That was bitchy. I’m so… dammit, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. Really.” He frowned. “But you know I fell in love with the mare who puts hearts on her cookies and spends every Saturday feeding stale bread to ducks. Right? I fell in love with her, not some mystic hero or a shapeshifting super spy.”
“I know, I just… I always thought I mattered. Somehow. And…”
When she trailed off into silence, Ocean Breeze slipped into bed with her, wrapping his legs around her chest. “You matter to me,” he said. “Do you want to go home? We’re only here to make you happy. If things are stressing you out, we can go back to Manehatten.”
“No. We might as well stay,” she sighed. “I’ll get to see a Princess. That’s big I guess.”
“You could shout she has a divine right to kiss your ass.”
“Ha ha.” Brightside shut her eyes. “No, it’s…” She licked her lips. “It’s fine. We’ll snap a few pictures and go home early. Nothing’s going to happen anyway. It’s just an old trueblood waving at crowds.”
Tens of thousands stood outside the Ponyville train station, waiting for Cheval to arrive: ponies, changelings, diamond dogs, griffons, dragons, and more. As always, the flyers had the best view. Ocean Breeze had woken her up early, she’d taken the form of a pegasus, and together they’d flown to the station before dawn.
All the spots on the station roof were already taken, but they found a cloud out over the outskirts of Ponyville and borrowed it. It made a comfortable perch, and they were able to watch the crowd form.
An enterprising pegasus was selling hayburgers out of a sky chariot. They got two, and from his saddlebags, Ocean Breeze produced a flask. Brightside giggled, kissed him, and took somewhat more than her half.
When the train arrived just past eleven, Brightside was already braced for disappointment. What was this creature going to do or say, to match the sight of the crowd? Creatures of all kinds packed the streets, the skies, the roofs, all gathered to welcome a teenage mare.
“They’re all like me, aren’t they?” she asked Ocean. He didn’t have an answer. “They think it makes them special.”
Her train—no royal conveyance but a regular passenger line—pulled into the station. A few crystal ponies stepped out, then Gallant and a few other changelings she knew, then a few members of Celestia’s royal guard.
Finally, Cheval emerged. Her shell was black, her wings were by her side, and she squinted into the sunlight. She stared at the crowd, was though she not sure what she was seeing.
Then, she shivered. She shuddered, a motion so severe it was visible from a distance. She gripped her stomach with a hoof, and doubled over as though in pain, bending her spine around herself.
“What’s happening?” Ocean Breeze sat up, fear running through his words. It was becoming obvious to him, to her, to the entire crowd, that something was wrong with Cheval. Her escorts and guards were trying to help her, but the shaking wasn’t passing.
“Oh no.” Brightside’s hoof shot to her face. “They took her away from Cadence. None of her escorts love her. She’s having hunger pangs.”
“That looks like more than pangs.” On the ground below, Cheval was shaking at the knees, her escorts holding her up as she threatened to tumble over.
“She should be able to go for weeks without eating. It must be because she’s pregnant.” Looking over the crowd, Brightside saw a few old truebloods trying to push their way to the platform—drones with greying shells and weak bodies. “Right. Right.”
Without another word, Brightside leapt from her cloud. An ungraceful flyer, she crashed down to the train platform face first. She recovered quickly, charged past a group of royal guards. One swung at her, and in a flash of green, she transformed into a filly. The blow whiffed above her considerably shorter head, and in another flash, she transformed back. She crossed the last few steps to Cheval in one massive leap.
And wrapped her up in a hug.
“It’s okay,” she said. “You’ll be okay.” Cheval was shaking so hard that Brightside struggled to grip her. But she held on anyway. She didn’t know if it was possible to make herself love a creature, but she tried. She thought the kindest thoughts she could about Cheval, and hoped for her to recover.
Something hit her from behind. It was another changeling, trying to wrap his legs around her and Cheval both. Then another hugged Cheval from her other side. Then another came, and another. The crowd swarmed up over the platform, pushing aside the royal guard and Cheval’s escorts. Every creature that could hugged her, and those who could not hugged eachother.
The pressure was intense. Cheval’s hard shell was in front of her and the crowd was behind her. Brightside feared being crushed under the weight. She struggled to breathe, but she didn’t move.
And eventually, Cheval stopped shaking.
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Poor Cheval, crushed to death by her loving subjects
I liked this chapter too. Well...one minor thing, but I’ve talked above it before at length so we’ll leave it be, and otherwise, yeah. It’s good. Plus it seems our interlude chapters have chronologically caught up to our main ones. I’m guessing, what, two or three more?
9670245
That took a little while...I’ll explain why I’m leaning positive on this story in detail when we get to my final thoughts (actually I explained why in a previous post but Jaxie deleted it). But it’s true. My thoughts on this story are leaning positive. I’m not even “undecided” anymore after these two chapters, though I remain wary.
This story does still have one major flaw. Like, a big one. As in, a single question undermines the entire central premise from chapter one. I’ve been alluding to it since chapter one here and there, but I’ve refrained from directly asking it because I want to give Jaxie the chance to come up with a solution to it. I’m presuming he sees it and knows about it and he still has plenty of time to answer it.
But we’ll get there when we get there. For now, yeah. Positive opinion of this story, if a wary and slight one.
WHOAH. I LOVE THAT kind of TWIST. Brightside is AWESOME.😍
In this universe, I definitely agree.
I'm still firmly enjoying this story and this series. It's the little touches and world building that really make it compelling.
Well, things are definitely trending upwards now. This story got off to a very rocky start, thanks in no small part to how the two preceding stories ended, but has definitely leveled out now, and cleared much of the proverbial turbulence.
The escape from the Crystal Empire feels very much like Flurry gave standing orders to put on a good chase, but to let the rescuers get away. Also i would not be surprised at all if Twilight was indeed in on the rescue, just not necessarily in the way the rescuers think; and almost certainly not for Flurry's benefit, but for Cheval's.
They were keeping Cheval from offing herself within the Crystal Empire, but getting her to the Ponyville Hive was the only real chance they ever had of convincing Cheval to want to go on living.
That should be a baker unless I fundamentally misunderstood something that was going on here.
Anyway, this is nice. Weird how they're using black magic to let the pony-born changelings shapeshift, that sounds like something Twilight wouldn't be happy about.
Evil cult, or Important cultural identity? You decide!
Nice update!
9670375
I mean, Celestia and Twilight both used dark magic in “The Crystal Empire”, albeit in the former case a PowerPoint presentation might have done just as well, and in the latter case she apparently had forgotten to prepare the spell knock and so needed to use Dark Magic.
“Dark magic” is sufficiently poorly defined in the show that it might mean anything from something like the Final Fantasy series’ “Black Magic”, which is simply more overt and destructive on average than White Magic but isn’t inherently evil by any means, to perhaps referring to magic that innately requires some kind of cost to be paid. Or something.
-Morgan Freeman voice-
And then, much like the Japanese hornet, Cheval was burned alive in the combined warmth of a herd of ponylings.
F
I can't remember, what happened to Chrysalis in this universe? Is she dead or in Tartarus or what?
9670415
She’s dead, we don’t know how exactly, it probably happened during an alternate version of “To Where and Back Again”.
Somewhat annoyingly her being dead is not actually mentioned in any of this series’ stories at any point. It was only mentioned in the comments section.
9670386
nuklearpower.com/comics/8-bit-theater/041127.png
9670496
Awesome, a fellow 8-bit fan. That was a comic that knew how to tie things together.
The previous stories in the series had kind of conditioned me to approach each new chapters with no small amount of wariness and trepidation, so I'm pleasantly surprised by how many moments of this chapter made me smile.
9670269 everything will be ok :(
Alright, let's see what comes to me this time!
Chapter 12!
"You have changeling names. Proper ones."
Interesting... So where do the improper names (examples Chrysalis, Thorax, Ocellus, Amaryllis, Cheval) changelings have given themselves come from, I wonder? And how widespread are/were Cheval's views on what were and weren't proper changeling names?
Interesting information about how the pony-changelings became what they are, and what that is. Though still much unknown, of course. :)
"He cleared her throat"
"He cleared his throat"?
"and her rescues leapt into"
"and her rescuers leapt into"?
(And of course, because I'm me, I'm quite curious about the design of the train. :D)
"she changed tacts, and"
"she changed tacks, and"?
"From what Moth said last night, ‘whore’ is still a slur for changelings. It is, isn’t it? Because you need to be loved. But it’s not true."
Hm. Not sure I quite follow what she's saying there.
Well, that was an interesting interplay of two people's conscious and subconscious drives, I think. :)
9670651
"They're still huge liars too!"
...And now I'm wondering which particular bits you're referring to... :)
Chapter 13!
"Brightside’s scoffed, and the"
"Brightside scoffed, and the"?
"something in awhile. I’m"
"something in a while. I’m"?
"Hey, mom? Dad?"
"Hey, Mom? Dad?"?
"slang in bilingual towns"
Hm. Interesting pluralization.
"I’ve lived in Manehatten awhile"
...Eh, technically, the literal meaning is probably different from what this is supposed to mean (with "awhile" there instead of "for a while"), but it seems like the sort of thing someone might do in conversation, and this is dialogue, so... pointing it out, but probably fine to leave it.
...Yes, that sounds like quite a Ponyville business. :D
(And nice name. :))
"way she’s used too without"
"way she’s used to without"?
"she was just schoolfilly"
"she was just a schoolfilly"?
"of Brightside’s clutch stared"
"of Brightside’s clutch, stared"?
"next time.” Brightside"
"next time,” Brightside"?
Not sure why she's snapping that, though.
"coming to down, and"
"coming to town, and"?
Hm. Thought on the "the queen being mother to all of them" thing: could that be from a feeling that the queen, being the queen, loves all of them in some way (the exact way likely varying with hive and time)? Perhaps not as much as a changeling's main parents, but enough? That didn't seem to be consciously realized by Brightside, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not the drive behind her feeling there on some level.
"have a hive-guard. Does"
"have a hive guard. Does"?
"one dragon-assistant who"
"one dragon assistant who"?
...And also popping into my head was the idea that the dragons now actually run a dragon assistant industry, with educational programs and competitions and such and a free one of her choice (or possibly of the dragons' choice) going to Princess Twilight whenever she needs a new one, with the runners-up getting a start on their hoards (minus a cut for the teachers and administrators, of course) by hiring out to wealthy creatures around the world.
And now popping into my head is the question of whether there are now equivalents to the Jeeves and Wooster stories with a dragon in the former role, fitting that part of their new reputation (and possibly partially commissioned by the Dragon Assistant Association marketing board).
...Probably not how it actually works... probably... but... :D
"On the upside though, there were a lot of ponies eager to help with her friendship problem."
:D
(That's not the only line in here (either chapter, as I recall) I've found particularly amusing or otherwise good and considered quoting with this sort of highlighted reaction, but it got over the threshold. :D)
"her parents house"
"her parents' house"?
"Or I was, like, a small part of something big and important."
...I mean, on the other hoof, would you actually prefer if that was the reason he loved you? You being a small part of something big and important, just like, in that view, every other changeling? Because I think that'd kind of be less "love" and more "having a changeling fetish" or something.
"I noticed I didn’t feel tired and achy and hungry"
I wonder what she was getting love from before? Infused-into-food shipments from the hive?
"Story tell our foals"
"Story to tell our foals"?
"old trueblood waving"
"old true-blood waving"?
"Brightside giggled, kissed him, and took somewhat more than her half."
...So I have several hypotheses about how this is going to go, but Brightside drinking is shifting the probabilities a bit... :)
Ah, they must have changed trains at some point past the border, and taken on some more people, it sounds like. Makes sense.
"were by her side, and she"
"were by her sides, and she"?
"crowd, was though she not sure"
"crowd, as though not sure"?
"a few old truebloods trying"
"a few old true-bloods trying"?
Or do you want it to be one word? If so, I think at least in the previous chapter you've got some cases of it being hyphenated.
...Hm. It occurs to me (after some thinking sparked by that "a few" quoted above), by the way, Twilight's line back in Chapter 6...
"“No! No. Not… not all of them. We still have two left in Ponyville.” Twilight bit her lip. “And there’s rumors there might be a previously unknown hive in the Amber Isles. Nopony’s ever seen it, but if they’re hiding then—”"
That's... really deceptive. Even if Twilight doesn't think any of the pony-changelings are actually changelings, and at most two of that few live in Ponyville full-time, the Ponyville Hive, and pony-changelings in general, is/are kind of a big thing to leave out.
I doubt Twilight wanted to hurt Cheval by leaving them out, making the situation seem potentially worse than it was.
So, two hypotheses (though it could be something else):
1: Twilight was hoping to ease Cheval into this gradually. It is, after all, a complicated and significant thing about which she might have complicated and difficult feelings; better, perhaps, to try and let her recover a bit first.
and or, 2: That was in the Crystal Empire, and Twilight suspected that anything she said might get back to Flurry and Flurry might not like Twilight talking about that to Cheval. Is that true? Maybe; maybe Flurry even expressly told her that, laying down rules for the visit, or maybe Twilight is mistaken, but understandably so given their pasts. Either way, Twilight didn't think it would be safe to say it there and then. Later... well, Cheval did speculate that Twilight may have had an active role in her rescue (and that her rescuers thought of it as a rescue says some things all by itself about what they think of her hosts in the Crystal Empire).
"not hugged eachother."
"not hugged each other."?
Well! So, first of all, you surprised me after all; that wasn't a hypothesis at all, really, and after the drinking the leading ones were all starting with "Brightside decides that the ass-kissing invitation sounds like a great idea after all". :D
Also, though... if that was a hunger pang, it had quite the timing. I'm suspicious. That it would just happen to occur when it did, not later, and not, it seems, earlier (it didn't sound to me like this was something that the escorts and guards had already been dealing with), right then when she's just stepped out of the train and has everyone focussed on her, seems unlikely. So I'm guessing that either something about that situation triggered it, and/or it wasn't fully genuinely. I'm not currently sure which is more likely, or what the details might be.
Perhaps we'll see! :)
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Yeah, that’s Kevin. What I can’t remember is how “canon” his name is. I seem to recall it being mentioned in a tweet or something by the show’s producers, which would make it as canonical as Chrysalis’ (Since that’s where we learned her name - it wasn’t actually said during “A Canterlot Wedding” at any point). But I don’t know for certain and am not in a position to check at the moment.
Update: Yep, Kevin's name is canon. M.A. Larson helped pick it out, and it's the name given to that changeling in the Enterplay card game. So, yeah, the canon changeling names we know are Chrysalis, Thorax, Pharynx, Ocellus, and Kevin. Other changeling names (who I'm not sure how much Larson was involved in naming so we won't call them canon) from the collectible card game are Arista, Cornicle, Frenulum, Sclerite, Tymbal, while a changeling named Urtica is in the Friendship is Magic comic, and Delilah is a changeling from the novels.
Whoa. And apparently there's a human in Equestria Girls named Amaryllis. I'll assume no relation.
In any event names like Double Entry (or even Double Time) and such are incongruous with canon changeling names that we do know. Or, heck, Amaryllis’ (a plant, and from Greek meaning “to sparkle”, although maybe there’s a connection to Virgil that I’m not picking up on, i haven’t read and Virgil since High School but apparently the plant is named after the heroine of one of his poems). But I’m willing to chalk it up to cultural differences between the original Hive and Amaryllis’ offshoot Hive. Though that does leave me wondering why the Northern Hive, so much further from ponies for most of its existence and presumably usually getting love from yaks or diamond dogs, would have a fairly pony naming scheme.
Whatever, it doesn’t matter.
Interesting to see Cheval being called on being the opposite of the changeling culture, a trueblood that's actually a pony deep inside, doesn't know how to deal with that and loathes herself deeply for it. And that, indeed, going to Ponyvile's likely the only true hope for her not to off herself without some years of therapy and intense suicide watch. Hell, maybe Flurry can even deal with unstoning the sister she still loves only to see her promise she'll kill herself so Celestia can't complain about her son from inheriting the empire.
I did find And, Cut! absolutely hilarious and totally Ponyvillian, though
9670789
Tacts is accurate as is.
9672412
Hm. What does it mean, then? That is, where does that come from? I don't think I've come across it before, nor does my usual dictionary return a result on it. I'd guess some relation to "tact", but then, whence the plural, and what would changing tacts mean here?
I like to think Twilight's cursed immortal existence became greatly more bearable once she finally got around to finding a new dragon assistant.
Also, ditto that And, Cut! is a great name for a Ponyville store. I'm still a fan of Pitchforks and Torches and Cutlery and Haemophilia Medications, though.
9672466
Actually I may be wrong. If you were to replace the word with its definition, then it comes across awkwardly, so I'm sure the word that was meant to be used was "tactics". I'm pretty certain my original assumption was wrong, as I realize I kept looking at the word "tacts" as a simplification of "tactics".
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The term is “changing tacks”. It’s a nautical term originally, referring to the act of tacking, turning into the wind so that the sail moves to the opposite side. It’s unrelated to the word “tactics”, and “changing tacts” is a simple typo.
You know, after rereading a bit I'm really starting to wonder what things would have been like had Cadence, Cheval, or Flurry surrendered. We don't actually know anything about how Amaryllis governed the territories she ruled and how she treated the non-Changelings in them.
She apparently treated the Yaks & such well enough that she could at least manipulate them into fighting for her. And there is a decent chance that was better than how Flurry treated her subjects, although that isn't exactly Flurry's fault.
9672819
We know what would happen if Cadance surrendered. She DID surrender. It resulted in Cheval trying to kidnap her and Flurry taking advantage of it to overthrow her.
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Rejected from this fic was Hot Stuff, Ponyville's space heater emporium and gay bar.
On the one hand, it's good to see she finally found someone to fill the position. On the other, how many times per day does the new guy get called Spike?
In any case, this genuinely looks like it's going well. That epic ponypile will certainly give Cheval something to think about.
Now there's just the not-inconsiderable matter of what happens when the crystal ponies get to town.
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Ah, thanks; RainbowDoubleDash stated my understanding of this as well, though.
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Thanks.
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"On the other, how many times per day does the new guy get called Spike?"
How long before that just becomes a title of Twilight's baby dragon assistant, a la Caesar? :D
"Now there's just the not-inconsiderable matter of what happens when the crystal ponies get to town."
Well, there were already a few on the train, but I assume you mean less friendly ones. And I think that probably depends on how this international incident is being handled at the border...
Though if they do get to town, well, uh. On the town's side is one Twilight Sparkle, in the heart of her power, with multiple sets of Bearers on hoof... and if Cheval gets over or at least temporarily past her suicidal drives, a changeling queen with pretty much an entire town of freely given love to plug into. Oh, and said entire town of ponies who would likely not be much pleased by an attempt to... reverse-kidnap Cheval?
And then there's whatever might be sent from Canterlot, and the presence of royal guards with Cheval as well would seem to indicate that Celestia is at least to some extent on board with this.
So I think probably unless the Imperials come with an actual assault force and basically declare war on Equestria (which seems unlikely for modern Flurry), there's not much they can do unilaterally besides try for a quick assassination (which would also risk war) followed by a very quick retreat, or alternatively by expendable agents. And I doubt modern Flurry would do that, either.
Which means I'm guessing the only actions the Imperials can reasonably take will be more restricted to the speed of politics. And this depends on how much Flurry even wants to contest the issue, which for us involves a lot of unknowns at the moment.
...Of course, that assumes that any Imperials going after Cheval would only be doing so on Flurry's orders, which I'm not sure we can completely say at this point either. Seems fairly unlikely, but still a lot of unknowns; we don't know what political rivals Flurry might have, for instance, and if it looks like she attacked Equestria, oh, well, someone will have to be in charge once she's removed. And looking at the way Cheval was removed from the Empire, and how and why Twilight may have been limiting what she said to Cheval while there, at best Flurry still has a Reputation from her own personal Bad Old Days; how hard would it be to convince enough people in the right places that she would do something like that?
...Doylistic analysis is suggesting that seems fairly unlikely due to various factors, but still, not only do I tend to prefer Watsonian, GaPJaxie has surprised us before. :D
Paring away the last nit, it's really "changing tack." Though you talk about a different tack, as if there were many, you change tack, as if there were only one.
Unless, of course, you are comparing the tacks of two different ships.
But when you cross the International Date Line...
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And so it was that we four, working together, explored the idiosyncrasies of the English language, and it was good.
Something something idioms, something something Archer reference.
9672837
GIRL
LET'S START A WAR
media1.tenor.com/images/25be3b5611d83ebbe50c43860947b602/tenor.gif?itemid=8603282
START A NUCLEAR WAR
9673422
Ah, thanks for correcting me. :)
9673659
Heh. :)
9673792
I love that song and “Danger! High Voltage!”. Electric Six is also the only band I know that was able to do a cover of a Queen song that I actually liked; their take on “Radio Gaga”. Original is still better, of course.
I've been doing some thinking over the past day or two.
Oh God no what nitpick is it this time?!
No, it's not one of those, more just opinion/conjecture/spitballing. You do that a lot when you're as deep in the Alternate Universe rabbit hole as I am; I've been writing AU's ever since Digimon Zero Two first got its English dub.
No, it's just, I re-read the story description for this fic...
And...it doesn't really match up with what this fic has been about. Yeah, sure, there was a big question for awhile about why Flurry Heart had released Cheval from her petrification, but the description of the story makes it seem more like it should be much more Flurry-centric then it has been. This story has been about Cheval trying to decide if changelings as a species should continue, and if she as a person deserves to live. Cheval hadn't seemed particularly curious about whether or not Flurry forgives her (whether it's based on the presumption that she can't be forgiven, or just general apathy, can be debated some other time), and seems broadly unsurprised by the reasoning Flurry eventually gives. Flurry's own focus chapter concerns her realizing that she's trapped in Hellicornhood and (somehow) working her way out of it, but Cheval doesn't really factor into her thinking too much in it, while the modern-day conversation with Old Flurry doesn't really involve forgiveness at all, and certainly forgiving Cheval doesn't seem to be on her mind. In fact the chapter as presented sort of makes it seem like it's a given that Flurry has forgiven Cheval, possibly ages ago.
Now that's not exactly a slight against this story - though the short description should probably be changed to something more related to the actual plot, but, whatever, that is a nitpick - but the short description does make me think that rather than have this story center on main plot/flashback/main plot/flashback, instead we could have/should have had a fic from Flurry's perspective.
The point of The Virgin Princess, one presumes, was to detail how Hellicornhood works, or at least give the audience a better understanding of it. We can debate that in detail later. But as was observed by Neece here, 9645085, it's a story that doesn't really have a satisfying conclusion or resolution. It's also, ultimately, filler, which is more problematic. Every character in it ends in exactly the same place they were when they began and nothing happens in it that carries over into later fics other than the establishment of the de-alicornization spell. Sort of poetic given the subject, I suppose (Twilight's stuck in a loop, why shouldn't the audience be?), but the MacGuffin spell could just as easily been revealed at any point in another story.
Just, for a second, consider an alternative story to The Virgin Princess, let's call it The Alicorn of War. The story is entirely from Flurry's perspective. Each chapter takes the form of Flurry Heart talking to Cheval's statue. Not in an insane way, she doesn't listen to it or expect it to talk back, more like how one might unload one's thoughts and feelings into a journal or tell one's dog about a good or bad day. And each chapter involves a timeskip. Depending on where the statue is located you could even occasionally bring in other characters, like Cadance or Shining Armor or the like.
So you get, say, a chapter at Flurry's coronation, when she's earned her cutie mark and became trapped in Hellicornhood. A chapter at the outbreak of the war with Amaryllis. A chapter concerning Shining Armor's death. A chapter detailing Flurry's defeat of Amaryllis. A chapter where Flurry kills a changeling infiltrator trying to steal the statue. A chapter where Flurry starts talking about all the other enemies she sees around her. A chapter where she has a fight with Twilight (maybe here Twilight could mention the de-alicornization spell and even attempt to cast it) and wins. A chapter where Flurry informs the statue that every last changeling in the Empire is dead. A chapter where Flurry mentions she's started seeking psychological help. A chapter where Flurry realizes she was wrong and starts trying to make things right. A chapter where she bemoans that even after X many decades Celestia won't let things go. A chapter mentioning her marriage, a chapter where she's pregnant, a chapter where she worries about the future of the Empire And so on, for however long the story works for, finally leading up to her decision to release and forgive Cheval as she recognizes that nothing Cheval did holds a candle to what Flurry has done.
So The Alicorn of War then involves actual character development while also being an info-dump about Hellicornhood (as we watch and observe Flurry trapped in one emotional moment and what this does to her and drives her to do, though I must point out that it would nevertheless still create problems vis-a-vis Cadance, but we'll get to that later). Stuff happens and there is resolution to it. Characters don't end where they began, and as an added bonus the whole thing, since it mostly takes the form of one-sided conversations, could go a long way towards building a better sense of family dynamic between Cheval and Flurry beyond the current feeling (Flurry: "I love you, you can tell because I didn't kill you"; Cheval: "I love you, you can tell because I put you on the throne"). You could even throw in tiny chapters about stuff like Flurry reminiscing about some vacation the family took once, or one that is just a "funny" joke that Flurry heard ("Hey, Cheval. I heard a good one today. How many yaks does it take to screw in a lightbulb?")
Then we get The Last Changeling, a story about Cheval trying to figure out if she wants to live and what makes her life worth living. This story, in other words, only with less flashbacks since much of it would have been covered by The Alicorn of War, which overall would make this whole story tighter, somewhat less of the meandering that Thought Prism observed here, 9656791.
I dunno. Like I said, it's just a thought/spitballing ideas. A bit late now and I doubt it would have been listened to anyway even if it had been brought up as far back as Courtesans. Just...the road not traveled. Like I said, I've been in the Alternate Universe/Alternate History business for a long time, so I can't help but think these things.
Save the world!
Save the world!
I'm the new Michael Jackson.
Save the world!
Save the world!
Save the world!
--Electric Six, "Iron Dragon"
D'awww