Chapter 11
“According to your file, you have some experience with teaching and tutoring?” Queen Whatevra Wa’Nabe asked the changeling currently standing before her for review. One Miss Quiz if going by one of her most commonly used pseudonyms. Which was exactly what Queen Whatevra was going to do as she had yet to figure out how to pronounce the changeling name written in her file, and didn’t feel like asking.
“I have performed such duties while in the hive and while abroad during infiltrations, my Queen.”
“Good. Go see Bookworm to have your Miss Quiz identity refined, then I want you to insert yourself as either a tutor or teacher in…” Whatevra pretended to think about it for a moment or two before continuing. “Sire Hollow, in Equestria. While you are there, I would like you to introduce the concept of pen pals and staying in touch with one’s friends even if they move away to the students.”
“My Queen?”
“It is to our benefit if ponies are able to develop and maintain stronger friendships. Friendship is a form of love after all. And I would like to see if this experiment pans out the way I expect that it might.”
“I see, my Queen. I will not fail!”
“You may go,” Queen Whatevra dismissed Miss Quiz.
That should nip the events that would otherwise lead Starlight Glimmer into a lonely spiral of despair and a potential time war in the bud before it even becomes a possibility! Well, hopefully anyway. Queen Whatevra wasn’t sure exactly how old Starlight Glimmer had been compared to the Mane Six, nor what any of their ages currently were (or if any or all of them had even been born yet for that matter).
Still, this was the best shot she could think of for preventing Starlight Glimmer’s time war that didn’t involve either outright killing her or sticking her in a pod for something she hadn’t even done yet. That was a slippery slope that Queen Whatevra wanted to avoid as much as possible when she could.
Now, what other changelings currently available in the hive had interesting talents or abilities?
O o O o O
As Queen Whatevra continued going through her predecessor’s personnel files (and marveled at the fact that Queen Chrysalis had bothered with having personnel files maintained), she took note that not all changelings were created equal. Or, perhaps more to the point, there wasn’t a single linear path of progression from newbie to experienced that all changelings followed. Nor, for that matter, did they all share the same abilities with the basic power sets that they technically all shared as Changlings.
Just as her memories of the show had shown that ponies could vary greatly within their various tribe’s signature ability sets, so too did the changelings. Some were more powerful or talented with telekinesis and/or magic, almost just like unicorns in this respect, although the percentage of high power generalist casters was much lower in comparison, nor did changelings have as many high power specialists. Very few changelings could hope to match the fastest pegasi in the air, and the one saving grace of the lackluster peak of the best changeling attempts at weather control was that they had the ability at all.
Queen Whatevra could sit on a cloud and maybe nudge it about a bit, but thus far all her attempts to make any cloud produce either rain or lightning on demand had accomplished was self-inflicted soaking no matter which way she thought the cloud was actually aimed. A trait she apparently shared with her “mother,” who was equally abysmal with weather manipulation.
On the other hoof, she was satisfied with her general telekinetic abilities, and her magic lessons were coming along nicely. Especially given the age her subjects thought she was (as opposed to the age she remembered being, which might not fare so well in comparison). So far, she had managed to turn a piece of slate hot pink, neon green, dayglow blue, eye searing red, and a sort of off kilter plaid involving all of those colors at once.
Her magic tutor was apparently both proud and appalled at this accomplishment. Even more so in both cases when Whatevera decided to have it framed and hung up in one of the semi-permanent rooms that she was using as an office. Specifically behind and to the left of where she normally sat so that anyone looking in her direction couldn’t help but also see it as well.
Whatevra wasn’t sure where she was going with this little experiment, but so far it was serving as a useful filter separating those who could stay on task from those who ended up staring at it whenever they happened to be in the room.
“Leaving aside the terrible color composition (even though I really don’t want to), you may want to work on your pattern alignment. Some of the lines are crooked or of irregular thickness, and I’m not positive, but I think there may be a subtle underpatern of a heart. Or maybe an elephant.”
Queen Whatevra Wa’Nabi blinked, looked at the slate behind her, then back at the file of the changeling before her. Nope. Nothing at all about any artistic ability or talent with design. Just a notation that while his pony disguises were fair to decent, he couldn’t change his voice at all and could sing well enough to peel paint off of walls (literally - they had tested!).
“Sour Note, was it?”
“Yes, my Queen?”
“Your new name is Fine Detail. Go see Bookworm to have a profile made for this identity, and then get kitted out for an infiltration mission as a new student at the Manehattan Institute of Fine Arts.”
“Yes, my Queen!”
“One more thing, Fine Detail.”
“Yes, my Queen?”
“You are expressly forbidden from singing in any Equestrian art gallery. I would like to avoid causing an international incident just because you made some canvas blank again.”
“Yes, my Queen.”
As Fine Detail left Queen Whatevra’s impromptu office, she made a few additional notations to the file before putting it away to her left and drawing the next one from the stack on her right.
Looking back at the eyesore she had produced, Queen Whatevra Wa’Nabi could just barely make out what might be a sort of vague outline of what could potentially be a potato hidden in the plaid pattern. Which would have been more impressive if she had been trying for a subtle image at all instead of it just being an accident of chance. Still, it was a new medium and tool set for her, and she had lots of time to get better.
Turning her attention back to her self-assigned task. Another hidden talent discovered (and on its way to blossom into either an artist or an art critic), and so many more to go…
O o O o O
Moonbeam looked around nervously as the Changeling Umbradepths Troop Expedition approached the tall, jagged spire of dark stone that jutted up from the barren ground of the Badlands.
“Welcome to Jasper, or what’s left of it,” Lieutenant Catastrophe informed her. “Queen Whatevra Wa’Nabe has been insistent on us using the proper names for things ever since she reopened the Royal Archives.”
“Lieutenant!” Captain Mayhem admonished her subordinate’s breach of what she felt should be operational protocols. Just one more thing to go over with the young queen about before the expedition set out again. Mayhem didn’t actually care whether the mission itself was frivolous, as it involved valuable training for her and her troops, but if they were going to start involving any outsiders in the mission goals, then she felt that there should be at least some rules for such set up ahead of time.
“Anyway,” Captain Mayhem decided to address a slightly different issue, “until and unless the Queen commands otherwise, Moonbeam, you are to be escorted at all times while you are within Jasper. In part due to security reasons that I will not go into, and in part to prevent you from becoming lost as the internal layout shifts around you. Frost and Flambé will be your designated escorts today. They will keep you out of trouble. Waspinator, Lampyrid, the two of you will escort Flake to Holding.”
“Um… Okay?” Moonbeam acknowledged. She understood, at least in part, that her new friends were ostensibly part of a military force and thus had rules that they had to follow. Pretty much like the guards she occasionally encountered back in Canterlot. It was just that she had so many questions and no idea how to ask them! Or, for that matter, even if she should be asking them at all.
And, with these uncertain thoughts, Moonbeam allowed herself to be led into a hole that had opened up in the base of the HiveSpire of Jasper.
She really really hoped that she wasn’t making a big mistake, while also being dead certain that it was far too late to back out at this point.
Waspinator, for his part, was just looking forward to getting some more target practice in at the range while they were here. Maybe he’d have some free time after Flake was podded…
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What are the chances Moonbeam is related in some ways to a known pony? lol
edit to add: Dear author, did Watever ever saw the moon to see if shes before or after season 1?
Lovely to see this back in action. Also I imagine Fine Detail will go far.
Maybe Moonbeam is a relative to Moon Dancer
Changelings
Don't forget to secretly plan his rejection for uhh... reasons
After returning to the fic from the time since I've found it, I cannot remember what is going on, and I'm very confused, but at least it's mildly funny.
11305392
No. Bad anon. No discount bug nazis in a comedy fic.
Ah, this story again, simply delightful. She's doing well by her Changelings, you love to see it.
It's alive
11305384
...Until he's coerced into singing. Then he'll be running far away from the now art-less art museum.
11305454
I'm really looking forward to all the blackmail material (foal pictures) Wanna'be will collect on the girls. Muhahaha!
Thank you for the chapter!
11305380
Artwork of Moonbeam looks remarkably like a differently colored Twilight Velvet. So it's possible Moonbeam is her sister. Which would make her Twilight Sparkle's aunt.
11305542
I had actually not considered this before now!
Congratulations! You've expanded the Twilight family tree for this fic!
Moonbeam is now Twilight Velvet's younger sister and thus the aunt of Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle.
"You have another relative that you never told us about!?"
"Why is this a thing? Do I need to hand out my entire family tree now?"
"No need! I already had it printed out for just such an emergency!"
"That... Is both disturbing and mildly horrifying."
So you could say...Waspinator has planzzz....
11305558
Well given AJ started out by introducing a good chunk of her family to Twilight, I guess it makes sense coming from her.
IT LIVES!! I AM SO GLAD I LOVE THIS STORY!
I just imagined Miss Quiz as the changeling equilivant to Miss Frizz from the Magic School Bus lol. Also It is wonderful to see Tagent writing again! Hope all is well with them
It is back
♡♡♡♡♡
camo.fimfiction.net/eMqsPDSgEPBj6w6G4-RGyq4SyiM7XNuL5JG__YQDbAg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.discordapp.com%2Fattachments%2F710628688722395220%2F713938038161408060%2F36c97434865a857567df3cbb75f4a28b.gif
camo.fimfiction.net/cqbQGWQ2WAAdlV--fN5ejZmHbe0yuQ3YjMTWHBs4DLw?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.kym-cdn.com%2Fphotos%2Fimages%2Foriginal%2F001%2F279%2F370%2Fc4c.gif
Ah Whatevra, finding Talent where others overlook it. I'm curious to eventually see if when she meets Celestia and is asked why they should trust her, she tells them she is the one who came up with the idea for Pen Pals. And is directly responsible for strengthening Equestria. Thus, she has secretly been an ally all along, all according to plan!
Also, about the weather manipulation and magic? The Changelings can shift into children right? So have they ever sent an operative into the Pegasus' Flight Academy or a magic school? (Though with their apparent lack of skill/power it's doubtful they could get into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, there might be the equivalent of a public school. Though if they've already tried this, then please excuse my ramblings.
Hurrah! There is more!
Watever: This is the greatest plannnn!!!
11305618
Speaking of children. Another option to them is (after careful screening) allow couples who want children but cannot have em adopt changeling Nymphs lol
11305628
*somewhere in another universe a pilot suddenly looked up nodded and have a happy thumbs up*
Nice
It's good to see this fic isn't completely dead after all
Changelings
It's such a simple solution, why didn't they think of it
Hey, welcome back! :D Love that Whatevra is finding hidden talents. Shoot I may need to go back and refresh my memory, Im completely blanking on who Flake is and why he’s being podded.
11305395
Here are my notes on this story;
Comedy above all, most of the characters are based on old pop culture references, MC is learning the written language. MC has seen the show.
Unusual timeframe as it's set years prior to the events at the wedding and likely even the existence of the main 6.
ch1 mc replaces chrysalis via seemingly teleporting into her killing her instantly in a rather gruesome fashion.
ch2 we find out that humans becoming changeling queens seems to be a trend although it's still unclear what triggers a new one, they have pet spiders.
ch3 the changelings continue to believe mc is only a few hours old, emperor's new groove reference, flambe introduced.
ch4 trying changeling food.
ch5 cuddles and foreshadowing for beaker.
ch6 learning ABCs c is for censored, we meet beaker, founding of black mesa.
ch7 training fight. Author can't do fight scenes.
ch8 they rescue a pony who faints after seeing them and now they are waiting for her to wake up.
ch9 mc starts them looking for dance and music classes and stuff to see if it's worthwhile, mc recruits the pony to help them check if the spiders are gone.
ch10 they have airships with almost cloaking that makes the changelings flying the ship pass out after a few seconds, one of them eats some hallucinogenic lichen and it's suggested they pod him for the rest of the expedition, there are a variety of different types of rocks that float by themselves one of the changelings ate some and are stuck floating around the lab (minions reference? and the changelings name is a muppets reference?) Otherwise everything is going ok.
11305763
You only have to go back one chapter
flake is a changeling and they are podding him because he ate a bunch of hallucinogenic lichen and he's being annoying
Good to see this updating again. Moonbeam really is stuck between a rock and a hard place, she's right that her best option seems to be to just keep riding the tiger at this point.
11305505
The sculpture work would survive…probably.
For those trying to figure out the timeline, there's another clue that hasn't been mentioned - Celestia has a student that also has a similar cutie mark to the Princess. Combine that with Moonbeam graduating in 978, this would make Celestia's student Sunset Shimmer. So, the timeline of the story is the generation before the Mane 6.
Yes! It's back! Wooohooooooooooooo!!! *Runs off into the distance, still screaming*
Yes! Update! Love to see this story again. And a good chapter
somehow this reminded me of a scene in a book, #2 in a series called "starshield" by Margaret Weiss and tracy hickman (i think):
the protagonist has become connected to an ancient AI. since it has been operating constantly for thousands of years, it's absurdly smart and knows everything. this makes him sort of an oracle.
he thought it would be funny to have some bodyguards behind him...
some are scantily-clad women, and some are DEADLY killer robots with SIX lethal weapons apiece!
You thought you could pass a Rorschach test, now see the Watevra test!
Fun thing is, we haven't confirmed if static point-in-time events are required, so it's very possible we've already strayed so far from the canon timeline that all these extra missions aren't even necessary. Time will tell, but at least all the ulterior motives have a solid primary to fall back on.
Now to plan and embed lings to create lasting relationships for planned revelations. If done well, we can have a significant percent of the pony population "in the know" by the time it's important to break the Masquerade Protocol...
11305778
Ohhhh I forgot about that guy! Thanks for the speedy catchup notes
Nice
CELEBRATION, THIS IS BACK!
Still amused by this
11306458
Yay!
Welcome. You are remembered.
(Ah, enjoyable! And potentially preventing future apocalypses through common sense is awesome! Also underutilized.)
More!!!
Watevra becomes Tia #2
Changelings have all three tribe magicks. Does that mean they are cursed alicorns?
And so it returns...
11306978
They have generally lesser forms of the magic of two tribes as part of their magic as infiltrators. Or rather, their Changeling magic can perform those particular functions to some extent.
So no, they are not cursed alicorns.
Brilliant chapter and work as always.
11307699
👍
Fair point i had never considered before
Well I'm glad this lives and can't wait for more.
A random thought occurred to me that could have very amusing results. Since this is happening before the Mane 6 are around, hypothetically couldnt there be a changeling around Ponyville, and hypothetically could that changeling save Pear Butter and Bright Mac from whatever is it that offs them (popular theory in the fandom seems to be that it was Timberwolves). This could have an amusing result on the Apple familly being "in the know" about changelings and being on very good terms with them.
11309319
Somepony's been reading my notes...
It's a good guess, as I did plan on having Queen Whatevra sending some changelings up to Ponyville to investigate food grown with dedication and love, which is the claim made by both the Apple and Pair families. Which would then segway into orders to discretely guard and support the Apple family (as the Pair family had already moved to Vanhoover before Queen Chrysalis died).
There may be a follow up expedition to investigate how the Pair family is doing in Vanhoover, and see how love-infused pairs fare as an alternative food source.
Pony grown fruits and vegetables are going to become a major import from Equestria, but only from certain farms and orchards.