Starlight is shocked to see that she has a meeting with a student already scheduled the very first day the School of Friendship opens up again for the summer. Ocellus had learned something about herself over the summer, something that she absolutely hates.
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Well Thorax and Phyrax being a different kind of Changeling would explain why they have antlers now unlike other changelings.
10069462
And boom, more fuel to my head canon. I hadn't even thought of that outside of "Thorax is big because he is a mutant" explanation I was going with. Thanks! ^^
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Especially considering that Thorax could turn into a rock before he reformed.
The author has obviously looked deep into the question whether power itself is corrupting and offered us an answer good enough.
I would upvote.
10069471
Even look at the drones we have different "classes" some have horns, some have prominate wings, some have the 3 chest gems. If they have small wings they have a horn, big wings no horn, and chest gems big wings and horns all go together. Clearly at least 3 divisions of "normal" changeling.
The thing about the canon details of the changelings is that a lot of the finer details are left open to interpretation, and looking back, I'm thinking that was by design, so to allow us fans the freedom to devise our own fanons to fill in those blanks as we please. Which means there's definitely more than one way to take all of this. This is certainly one valid explanation...but it's also not the only one. It sort of depends on the fan doing the interpreting.
Personally, I always figured all of the changelings can do these sort of transformations as shown, its just the background changelings are never in the spotlight long enough to get the chance to demonstrate it, so ultimately we only see the major supporting cast changelings demonstrating the ability. So basically I hesitate on assuming that only them can do those sort of transformations when canon didn't give clear evidence to say if that's true. The lack of confirmation doesn't make it confirmed.
I say this basically to remind readers that this isn't the "one true way" of looking at it, because I've seen some fans get it stuck in their heads that their fanons can only be the right ones and go trying to shut down everybody else's, even when they are valid interpretations of the canon facts too. That just thwarts unnecessarily the wonderful amount of creativity the show so generously granted us, and we can't have that, or we probably wouldn't get fics like this one.
That disclaimer aside, this was a nice fic, and it makes a logical argument for its case that I don't have issue with. I especially like the implication that while Chrysalis was a major source of eggs when she ruled, it's hinted she wasn't the only one nor were there no alternatives to getting such eggs if needed, which I think is important, because otherwise, without a queen, the hive wouldn't ever be able to reproduce, and that just doesn't fly even in the real world--other hive insects can reproduce successfully too if the circumstances are right for it. The structure of the hive, when working normally, usually just doesn't permit it. So I like that hint that the changelings don't have to have a queen in order to reproduce, especially now that they've reformed.
I had always figured Thorax and Pharynx were like the alicorns of the changeling race. But this explanation works too.
Heck, talk to Twilight, she might want to join in.
You misspelled identity in the short description.
...
This is amazing and extremely well done. I have to ask--was it written for the Student 6 discovery contest?
Also, I spotted this error:
I assume the \ isn't meant to be there, right? And it'd be "far surpassing"
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Thanks for the feedback, love hearing it, I'll fix those errors in a second. I had a friend go over it and went over it myself, but we clearly didn't catch every, heh
Surprisingly, no. I didn't learn about that contest until it was too late to enter. This idea has been floating around in my head for a while. Mainly the "Shy and timid one is actually a superior type" trope. If you read my story Changeling sense, Ocellus almost lets slip that she's a Queen in that one. I've had this idea since before then
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I've long thought Ocellus was a queen, maybe even Chrysalis's designated heir.
Also, I realized that even if Ocellus dies, when Chrysalis is de-stoned, changeling queens will be able to be brought back
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That's a big if, especially considering Starlight's plans at the end
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I read Starlight's plans to be defacing the statue, not destroying Chrysalis. I guess I feel she wouldn't kill somepony, no matter how nasty.
Ah... Protective!Starlight is best Starlight. I don't think Twilight could blame her, on that basis, in addition to her own personal experience.
To sum it up: Ocellus is not them, they are not her, and she can be easily said to have more things grounding her in using power with responsibility.
(And I will second the thought that it's interesting to see an interpretation more balanced than "Chrysalis laid all the eggs" or "Chrysalis didn't lay them", as Scyphi talked about)
There are definitely worse things than headcanon dumps via short stories.
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I know it's a matter of opinion, and I'm not confident I could change your mind, but IMO, if Twilight struck me as possibly being someone who slept well enough after Sombra died, twice, once by her direct doing, then I'd imagine that Starlight, the one who very much seems to be more inclined to have rage influence her thought process, whether it's hot or cold rage, and arguably looser morals, would be at least slightly more inclined to kill someone without any regrets, or at least delayed regrets, at the very least in regards to the heat of the moment. (it was admittedly pre-character development, reforming, but just look at how unhinged she was in S5; she definitely tried to shoot at her former cult followers in anger after they ruined her getaway with the jars, whether it was with actual killing intent or not, that probably wasn't her using the kid gloves)
I mean, there wasn't actual killing blows involved in AMOP (A Matter of Principals), with the Bugbear and Discord, but she definitely gave me the "would kill if she thought it was warranted" vibe there.
Also, how her reaction to Fluttershy being verbally harrassed in F&M (Fame and Misfortune) was to commence threateningly levitating the pony in question.
...yeah, I'd say my interpretation of leans more on "Good Is Not Soft" than yours probably does, with a spice of "Reformed, But Not Tamed" (which in this case, would go hand-in-hand with her anger, with her desire to go statue-vandalizing), and I can admit I'm biased, because I kinda like to see that in a character.
10071015
Yeah, unreformed Starlight would kill people. I guess I like to see reformed Starlight as being more merciful.
Nah. I don't see even unreformed Starlight killing anyone of her own free will. Shes definitely not the type because I know people like her.
The beam she shot at her town folks seemed more like the remove cutie mark type.
It's weird to think that Changelings would feed on love while having such a bad old default form. I blame Chrysalis for this being an edgelord.
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Which to be clear, she is markedly more merciful in my eyes, compared to S5. She'd quite possibly falter, depending on the circumstances, if you were unrepentant (and she didn't think she could sway you, which she isn't bloodthirsty by nature), yet also were the type to plead for mercy, surrender (which hypothetically, Chrysalis probably wouldn't be the type inclined to do so, grovel in the hopes of attaining mercy, stone aside, in this, and other scenarios, in the slightest; as for the other two, that would probably be more in-character, outright groveling).
In this scenario, paranoia-induced infanticide was crossing the line for her. (But in any case, in the majority of circumstances, Starlight probably wouldn't fancy herself as being judge, jury, and executioner, mostly defaulting to say, Twilight's judgement)
I will say though, I'm not the biggest fan of Starlight Comedy portrayals where her schtick is "my morals are so bad," because I do prefer her to have some amounts of solid grounding there, especially if it's happening after S6.
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Where were the jars she was going to put their cutie marks in, if it was going to just be the cutie mark removal spell? She didn't have any, so what real benefit would casting that have? Would she just carry around the cutie marks for an extended period of time, with her magic, presumably inconveniently? Or is the simpler and more plausible assumption that the gloves were off, and she was trying to at least injure, or otherwise incapacitate?
Also, that specific spell was shown to be distinctive in its color (greenish-white), which cannot be said for whatever she tried to do before Twilight shielded it, since it basically had the same coloring as when she busted the bridge, and collapsed the snowbank.
(if Cadance is canonically willing to be kinda ruthless, against Sombra (saw to it that he died), and Chrysalis, then I'm inclined to think Starlight has it in her to kill someone. Whether she could or would do it rather coldly, as in this case, that's more debatable perhaps, but there isn't a doubt in my mind that she'd do it in self-defense, or for the sake of defending others.)
...yeah, I turned this into a tangent. Oops.
10071015
Didnt she like try and believe she succeeded in killing discord
10071741
The episode said "banishing spell," and she wasn't overly shocked to see him acting in any capacity again.
They never shifted into talking about him in past-tense at any point after it happened, Starlight or Spike.
(If you think it's because they can't say "die," then they could've conveyed it with "destroyed," if that was the real intent)
Gods, we do love making Chrysalis into the worst person imaginable, given both the statements, and of course, that final line from Ocellus? Not that she doesn't bare that out in the comics and show. She was a monster, and when offered and shown she could be something else, she rejected redemption and lashed out. To be fair, I am still curious what Cozy Glow's full backstory was, given she seemed to worry our two ancient evils sometimes, given the Frenemies, but wow, this Chrysalis really was trying to outdo anycreature else in the being bad category.
Thank you for the read, and good luck in the contest.
You know, it is actually quite impressive how much Starlight has changed from her previous self, and this actually shows that in spades. Ocellus in this is the exact type of being she was railing against in New Town, someone who would be objectively superior to another being and therefore outshine them. The idea of having no more Queens would also mean no more pratorians, leaving all changelings equal, which would have greatly appealed to Starlight when we first saw her. Her arguing for Ocellus to continue living, and her existing being a betterment to her friends show how far she has come.
Love the headcanons and thought processes through this, very clever, and great characterization of both Starlight and Ocellus.
That ending though...I can't even imagine what Starlight would do to that statue...
Really gets into the idea of nature vs. nuture and moving on from your past. Nicely done. If I had to say one thing, it felt a little heavy on the dialog.
Nice to see the references to Xenomorph evolution and life cycles.
I wonder, why go with praetor as a subspecies instead of soldier or even praetorian? I don't remember enough about xenomorphs to know what their guardians were called, but in line with the idea of defending a queen, I'd think they'd be praetorians. Those were Roman soldiers assigned to the reigning emperor. A praetor is a court magistrate or emergency military commander. Are we going to have to imagine Thorax dressed as a judge?
I would like to see more in this storyline. I always find stories that try to expend the setting interesting.
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Honestly it was a last minute inclusion. Like, no joke, it was added in after I pasted it in here. I realized I needed a new tribe and thought to SS13 Colonial Marines.
I like it, but there's a problem. Remember Thorax's pony form, Crystal Hoof? Didn't he make that up from scratch?
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I'm guessing he used bits and pieces of other ponies he had seen when he made it
You did a good job, I liked reading it so now your number130 in my book shelf
You swapped tenses here.
Ocellus as a Changeling queen seems a somewhat popular idea. It's my headcanon as well.
Personally, I think Pharynx is a soldier, and Thorax was just another drone, but he changed during the reformation. Not mutation, but something more like sequential hermaphroditism - he went from being a probably-sterile worker to being a breeding ruler.
That raises some questions of its own, come to think of it. It'd be interesting to consider the concept of gender in changelings, given that they seem to be eusocial in nature.
Why do I want a second chapter of starlight vandalising the statue and when asked she tells th why
Great story.
That was great.
I take it that Starlight is going to stop by the hardware store for a sledgehammer, before visiting the statue in question.
Gonna need something strong and heavy to decapitate a statue.
That part reminded me of this (because I'm a bad person that likes dark humor).
Edit: So apparently, the site doesn't cooperate with start times for embedded videos.
Tried to make it start at 8:26
Edit 2: Okay. Looks like you have to do that as a hyperlink, instead of an embed.
Removed the embed.
Edit 3: Have some Fray. Works for the fic.
So, what kind of vandalism are we talking here? Mind controlling a flock of pigeons and having them poop on her? Or are we thinking more along the lines of graffiti? Or perhaps going even farther and considering dis-configuration, or downright destruction?
And are Praetors basically what a Queen becomes if they're born male? Do I have to change my screen name to Praetor Cocoon now?
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That could explain why they were different as children too. Thorax being the timid kind-hearted type, and Pharynx being a more dominant type that, despite teasing Thorax, would come to his little brother's defense like a protective older brother. You can't say there isn't some love there.
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In my head, Praetors are nearly as powerful as a Queen in terms of physical and magical traits, but lack the pheromone that is necessary to control the Hive Mind
10069539
and had his own pony form... I bet that pony doesn't even exist.