Finale 3/3
“What’s going on?” asks 387, finally sensing a note of grief because it’s coming from 1988.
“Tantabus killed High- 9999 after it made contact with Luna,” reports 1988, “And drones can’t deal with the sheer mass of regenerating flesh. We have the vector in which Luna was moved, but no way of getting to her.”
387 grits his teeth.
“Alright, remaining here will only get us crushed then, but Tantabus is now vulnerable until it decides to make itself indestructible again. So far, these changes in strategy always took some time. Based on the last known direction of the tunnel I’m getting, Luna must be somewhere in the front part of its chest, so if we get out and fly around we might close on her depending on how easy it is to move her. 559, can you hold the tunnel on your own for a moment?”
“On it!” the warrior’s chitin spear breaks and gets immediately replaced by another one while 791 backs off to 387.
“Everyone, blast the floor!” orders 387 and points his horn down.
In mere seconds, chunks of surface under their hooves start disintegrating.
“MAKE WAY, FALLING THROUGH!” yells 10013, dropping from the ceiling and immediately digging downwards. The other drones start arriving from their crawl spaces which quickly close behind them.
The regeneration isn’t enough to withstand the combined blasting and digging, and the changelings soon see real light again as they fly out of Tantabus’ belly, the hole they created rapidly closing behind them. Unfortunately, the ground seems far further down than it was when they dug in.
The drastically reduced number of fake changelings poses no problem, but when the real lings fly out from under Tantabus’ shadow and look up, 387 curses yet again.
The rift is wide open. Tantabus’ previously broken off leg is back in full, and the monster itself is almost touching the sky with its horn while wearing a wide smile. The front of its chest is now see-through like glass, revealing Luna stuck in the root-like structure and forced to look up by having her mane pulled backwards. It’s clearly just taunting them now.
“CONGRATULATIONS, BUGS. YOU PRESERVED THE SECRETS OF YOUR MIND, BUT I’M ALMOST IN THE REAL WORLD. WITH SO MANY PONY MINDS TO SPREAD INTO, I WILL NEVER BE CHAINED AGAIN! LOOK UP, LUNA, AND SEE THAT YOU FAILED!”
“BLAST IT!” orders 387, kicking a fake charging at him in the face while shooting green lasers from his horn at Luna’s prison. As chunks of Tantabus’ chest start evaporating under the changeling fire, the titanic equine laughs.
“NICE TRY, BUT TOO LATE. DO YOU WANT A PLAY BY PLAY? THE RIFT IS BIG ENOUGH, AND THE MOMENT I TOUCH IT I WILL ENTER THE MINDS OF MORTALS. THE DREAMWEAVERS WILL DEVOUR YOU AND LUNA-”
“YESSSS! IT WORKED! IT FINALLY WORKED!” yells a squeaky voice from the rift, “Why did it work now? Nevermind, focus, dummy. BLUE, NOT-BLUE, HERE WE GOOOOO!”
“...WHAT?”
The starry night-ness of Tantabus’ horn connects to the blinding whiteness of the open rift-
No… to the blinding whiteness of some other massive entity coming through the rift.
Tantabus backs off, forced to dodge a dropping object of its own size followed by a slightly smaller, darker one.
Unprompted, changelings fly upwards to avoid another cloud of dust raised by the landing, only to hear a loud, somewhat feminine, robotic voice say:
“FIRING MAIN CANNON!”
A burning beam of red light, thick as a train, cleaves through the dust and blasts Tantabus’ chest. Its agonized roar follows and it responds by lowering its horn and blasting a beam of energy at the shadow outline of the obscured two enemies.
“AUXILIARY BARRIERS PRIMED FOR RELEASE!” announces a different robotic voice.
Tantabus’ attack vanishes as a teal barrier flickers into existence right before it hits, and the shockwave from the impact clears the air.
“I think I’ve gone insane from pressure and I’m hallucinating…” mutters 387.
In front of Tantabus leaning down after the original attack stands an equally massive plush toy of Princess Celestia, accompanied by one of Luna which is roughly a quarter of its size but still huge.
The craziest part, however, is the changeling drone wearing a cardboard Nightguard helmet standing on huge Celestia’s head, its legs gooped to the fuzz so that it doesn’t fall off.
“...WHAT?”
“In the name of the Nightguard, I ARREST YOU, EVILDOER!”
“...WHAAAA?!”
“Not-Blue, fire the Luna-saving beam!”
“IF YOU HIT ME, YOU WILL BURN HER!”
“Pfff, it’s a Luna-saving, not Luna-hurting beam. I’d never hurt Luna!”
In the mind of 65536, that is the absolute truth. There’s no doubt about it, no second thought, nothing, just like the fact that drones can dig through anything, that changelings have infinite stamina if they have the love, or that high ranks can kill any amount of drones on a whim.
Here, in the dreamscape, true belief is only barely distinguishable from the truth, and a mind too simple to understand any evidence to the contrary is a force to be reckoned with.
“FIRING MAIN CANNON!” announces Not-Blue.
“PRIMARY OFFENSIVE SYSTEM ENGAGED!” says Blue in sync.
The twin eye beams bite into Tantabus’ chest, sending the titan tumbling backwards. However, this time a comparatively small, dark blue dot remains in the air for a moment before it starts dropping to the ground.
“NO…”
“Hey, that’s the soup princess!” 10013 calls out, charging forward.
Within a moment, it’s overtaken by 1988 who in turn is left behind 387 who-
“ENGAGING TRACTOR BEAM!”
-avoids the beam of white light shooting from giant plush Celestia’s eyes, enveloping Luna, and gently pulling it up on the plushie’s head.
“LunaLunaLunaLuna!” 65536 tries to rush forward, forgets its legs are glued to the surface, and faceplants into the plush fuzz, “Mmmphm- nom nom nom!” it bites the goop off as if nothing happened and starts shaking the princess, “LunaLunaLunaLunaLu-!”
“HAH!” with a gasp, she wakes up, sits, and starts turning her head, “65536?! What? I was-” her eyes lock on Tantabus on the ground with a massive hole in its chest, “Stay here until I say otherwise!”
“But I got my armor and all,” 65536 objects, “Not the real one cuz I’m off duty, but-”
“What did I just say?” she gives it a… look.
“I’m not moving from this spot!” 65536 salutes, “Gooping my legs down again right now!”
“Good.”
Luna takes off, landing in front of Tantabus with her horn glowing. She doesn’t say anything, but the star monster begins shrinking in front of everyone’s eyes until it vanishes completely. Along with it, the sky fixes itself as well. A bit anticlimactic, really, but the important job was done by others already.
You are my darkness, and I must do better to contain you.
Luna takes a deep breath and calls out:
“CHANGELINGS, COME HERE! DO NOT WORRY. YOU TOO, 65536.”
Of course, everyone but 387 looks to 156 for confirmation. When she nods, the formation lands in front of Luna. 156 and 387 first, the other ranked changelings fanned out behind them, and the drones huddled up in a group a few steps away, seemingly not particularly interested in what’s going on.
To Luna, thanks to her experience with 65536, that seems extremely strange. She was expecting to be swarmed by them, but it might just be the presence of the higher ranks that’s tempering their curiosity. However, there are other issues to deal with first.
She gives 387 a puzzled look.
“The shape of your mind is something I haven’t felt in a very long time.”
“That’s neither here nor there,” 387 shakes his head, “So, what happens now? We’re still enemies… officially.”
“We don’t have to be,” Luna looks to the side where 65536 is galloping through the grass with a small plushie of Luna fastened to the back of its neck and dragging an almost life-sized Celestia plush by a foreleg held in its mouth, “I’ve learned a lot about you in the past weeks from 65536 here. I have no problem with helping any and all of you assimilate into pony society if you truly want to-”
“No,” 156 shakes her head.
“No,” 387 sighs despite agreeing, “Although probably for a distinctly different reason. What now, 156? And think before you answer, because if the answer is wrong I’ll have to assume I was wrong about you all this time and I’ll bury you here.”
The ranked changelings gasp while the drones still just… ignore everything, huddled up against each other.
“I guess that level of paranoia was what allowed you to survive this long,” 156 chuckles, “So let me guess - you want everyone here to decide for themselves, right? Well, why should I care if we leave a few drones or low ranks here? All it means is fewer mouths to feed,” she looks around, “Anyone here wants to go live in pony land?”
“Ahem,” 387 clears his throat, turning towards the others, “As 156 and Princess Luna said, we don’t know how much we can trust the ponies-”
“We totally can!” 65536 drops Not-Blue and hops up and down excitedly, “I mean, not everyone, but they can be super nice! Like, Sharp is nice, Princess Sunbutt is nice, Luna is the best, and the baddies only tried to kill me once in three weeks. That’s like… a record compared to back home!” it looks at the crestfallen drones, “Umm, guys… what’s wrong?”
The drones fan out, revealing a blankly staring Smiley still holding a broken fetlock in its mouth, tears streaming from its eyes.
“HIGH SCORE IS DEEEEEEEAAAAD!” weeps 36658. As if the words finally let the harsh reality in, the other drones start wailing.
“Drones-” 387 speaks out, but 1988 raises his hoof and clears his throat.
“May I?”
The warrior raises an eyebrow but nods.
“Drones!” 1988 looks into the numerous pairs of grieving eyes that look at him in response, “9999- High Score died gaining vital information that saved us all. Without it, we wouldn’t have bought enough time for… whatever the holes just happened. It saved the soup princess, and it saved us high ranks. Your high score isn’t just a concept anymore, something to motivate you to go through a life that… frankly… no one deserves. 9999 IS High Score now, the true Shiny Bringer. No matter what rank any other drone achieves, there will always be only one hero who sacrificed itself to save everyone. Don’t forget.”
“Y-Yeah…” 36658 nods, nudging 57999 sitting next to it, “Shiny Bringer made it so that the ponies wouldn’t eat us on sight!”
“And it taught the tiny buzzers how to spread shinies all over the forest!” 20100 looks up.
“It even held the hive mind together when I was incapacitated,” 1988 adds with a soft smile.
“Ahem!” 387 walks over, his mere presence quashing any already fragile enthusiasm, “Drones, you know how last time one of you died to Tantabus’ tricks, right?”
The drones who survived the first Tantabus’ trap look at 13887 who shivers. 387 continues:
“And you know what? It only took a few minutes for 13887 to come back. So what does it matter what Tantabus said? 9999 will come back, it’ll just take much longer this time. After all, a cleanly snapped neck is much different from being crushed by a ‘super powerful evil bad guy’.”
“R-RIGHT!” 10013 jumps up, “If it took 13887 a few minutes from such a quick and painless death, then even someone as awesome as 9999 might take… days to get back from this. Months. Years.”
“Yeah, tens of years!” 20100 nods vigorously, “But it’ll be back for sure!”
“Maybe hundreds!” 13887 agrees, “But that just means we gotta tell everyone back home to not forget how 9999 saved me from slashy spitters when I accidentally fell into a hole.”
1988 exchanges glances with 387. They both know none of the drones will live that long, but they also know it doesn’t matter.
387 stomps his hoof, making the drones go silent again.
“Here, however, you have a choice. A free choice. No one will force you to do anything. Luna-”
“Soup princess!” 1988 mentally corrects him.
“-Luna, the soup princess, is offering you a chance to go live with ponies, and 65536 is saying it is far less dangerous than your life back home. No one will go after you, no one will follow you, and that goes for everyone here, not just you drones. I’m going back, though.”
“I… have a feeling that my sister would be happy to see you,” Luna gives it another shot.
387 shakes his head without looking at her.
“My place is with the hive, no matter who is in charge, and no matter where that path takes me. I know I’m likely to be the first one on the chopping block when we get back, but if there’s any miniscule chance that I’ll live then I must be there to help anyone I can.”
“Then why did you lie to the little ones?” Luna’s voice grows harsher.
All higher changelings look at her with sudden frowns as 387 finally turns to face her. However, it’s the drones who group up in front of her and look up, a bunch of big teal circles on black background.
“What do you mean, soup pony princess?” asks 10013.
“Tantabus wasn’t lying,” she replies, and a small part of her dies when she sees them all wince, including 65536, “It can manipulate this place almost as well as I can. It pains me to say it, but this… High Score whom you all so clearly adored… is gone, and I can’t let those two,” she nods to 387 and 1988, “sweet talk you into returning to your short and brutal lives back at the hive, at least not with lies.”
“Princess-” 387 hisses through gritted teeth.
“Oh, is that all?” replies 36658, seemingly relieved for no reason Luna can identify.
“Uhh, yes?” she tilts her head and, from the corner of her eye, she notices that 387 is about as surprised as she is.
“Then thanks, soup princess!” 36658 looks around, “You clearly care, and we’re all happy that 65536 landed with you, but you just don’t know High Score like we do.”
“Yeah!” 20100 nods with vigor, “High Score talked a high rank into healing us instead of eating us. A drone who can do that can do anything.”
“High Score once played with fire. And won!” 19441 blurts out.
“Totally,” 10013 beams, “We just gotta be patient. High Score will come back, and it’s up to us to tell every drone that wasn’t lucky enough to meet it about all the shinies it brought and all the awesome things it did.”
“Yup,” 57999 jabs Smiley, “And we even got a guy whom High Score saved in its final moments! Smiley here is Shiny-touched! We gotta go home and tell everyone!”
Smiley keeps looking down at the grass, but its foreleg shimmers, and it digs a few simple lines in the ground - a smiling face.
“Even Smiley thinks so, and that guy wasn’t made to think at all!” 31214 taps at the Silent’s temple, “See? No hollow sound. High Score made a Silent think a bit, and not even the Queen herself could do that!”
“So, don’t worry, soup princess,” 36658 finishes with a wide smile, “We just gotta go back and tell everyone that High Score the Shiny Bringer is with them, no matter what sort of muncher they’re running away from or how deep they’re supposed to dig.”
Luna wipes her eyes, fully aware this means that 65536 will never see any of them again.
“So, nopony is coming with me then?” she asks. When no one but 65536 nods, she adds, “I guess you’ll be your High Score’s apostles then.”
“Yeah, apostates!” 10013 nods, “Whatever that is.”
“That’s a vastly different expr-” Luna makes the beginner mistake of trying to correct a drone.
“WE’RE SHINY BRINGER’S POTATOES!” 36658 cheers, turns around, and hugs Smiley, much to the joining cheering of all other drones.
387 approaches Luna, once again at ease.
“I believe that’s settled then,” he says. She frowns at him, “Princess, if even one of them lives once we get back, it’ll tell everyone about this. Well, some version of what happened. The newly hatched drones might get to know that ponies are real, not just a record in the hive mind, and that they aren’t food or hunters waiting to kill them on sight. In the long run, that might do more good than just living out their natural lifetime as a group with you. As for whatever weird faith 1988 came up with, we’ll have to make sure the queen never learns about it, because she’s supposed to be the only… deity of the hive.”
“There’s a vast difference between belief and reality, and they’re being sold the former in order to remain obedient workers.”
“Is that the case?” 387 tilts his head, “They’ve never met the queen before the invasion. Holes, most changelings haven’t. She’s no less a rumor than whatever they believe about 9999. A stronger changeling tells you what to do, or a marker appears in the hive mind, that’s how things work.”
“That’s horrible…”
387 frowns while glancing sideways at 156.
“Yes, it is. That’s why I- they- we can’t run away and leave everyone else in that grim, black pit of ignorance.”
“Umm, 387?” a muffled squeak interrupts the conversation. The warrior looks at 65536 reaching up to him, holding Blue in its forelegs.
“What is it?”
“I heard what you said and… can you bring Blue here to the hive and give it to the guys? So that they’ll have something to remind them that ponies are nice and warm and fluffy. I’d give it to them but I know that someone would immediately take it.”
387 nods towards 156 who gives him a blank stare.
“Ask her. She’s the top rank here, or will be again once we’re out of the dreamscape.”
65536 turns towards her, Blue still presented in its outstretched forelegs. With a sigh. 156 takes it.
“If you think the first thing the queen does when we get back will be anything other than reading my mind and disintegrating this thing then you’re even dumb-”
*Wibble!*
“-FINE! Stop doing that! I’ll toss it to the first drone I see back home,” she looks away while swiping the plush toy.
“Thank you!” 65536 nuzzles her other foreleg.
“Yeah yeah, drone,” 156 coughs, and the hive link pulse she sends draws everyone’s attention, “Unless there’s anything else, we’re leaving. Princess, how does this go?”
“I can transport you nearly anywhere, provided I know the location.”
“Anywhere on the eastern edge of the Everfree Forest will suffice, then. We can find our way from there.”
“As you wish,” Luna nods, and a swirling portal appears in the air, “Good luck, changelings. I wish something good springs out of all that happened.”
“Drones, move in!” 156 orders.
“Byyyye, 65536! Bye, soup princess!” they wave before recklessly charging forward in a single file led by 10013, “INTO THE SWIRLY!”
EPILOGUE
Months have passed since the invasion of Canterlot.
On the 9th level of the hive, inside the 9th tunnel of the 9th sector, there are many cracks and small branching paths where drones once had to recover a chunk from a vein of minerals. However, the 9th crack is different - much smoother and looking more like a tunnel through which only a drone could comfortably crawl through.
It’s still only a short tunnel, though. No drone has the time to spare on pointless crawling outside of sleepy time. Doing so during worky time is obviously completely out of the question. Beyond it lies a small cave with smooth walls, comfortably only big enough for roughly six or seven drones. In its center stands a statue made of stone perfectly depicting a changeling drone indistinguishable from any other. Or it probably used to when it was originally carved from solid stone. Now, there are shards of obsidian glass from the deepest tunnels gooped to its carapace, one eye has been replaced with a smooth sapphire a drone must have snatched from a particularly lucky mining operation and gotten away with due to a high rank’s oversight. Finally, a dark blue plush pony sits on its back, constantly radiating a tiny amount of love for no discernable reason.
A drone is lying next to the statue, crushed pieces of its hind leg held together using a cast made from goop. Such a wound would normally mean the drone would have been devoured for any scrap of love, but this one is, despite its circumstances, still breathing.
There’s one more changeling in the small cave, a warrior, resting with his back against the wall.
387 senses the presence of a changeling, and opens his eyes to see a drone creeping out of the entry hole. He smiles a bitter smile when he realizes the drone made no noise while getting inside, not even the faintest scratching of chitin on stone. An ingress on the level of the best of infiltrators including barely the faintest hive mind presence. Only a select few would have the mental skill to even notice it.
A quick hive link scan confirms his worries.
“I guess you finally made time to read through everyone’s memories in full,” he says.
The drone slowly looks around before transforming into a much taller, terrifying shape.
“Yes, I did, Twinkleshine,” replies Chrysalis.
“Took you much longer than I thought it would, you know?” 387 stands up before lowering himself into a fighting stance.
The queen lets out a snort of contempt before giving the unconscious drone a quick glance.
“I feel rather insulted that you think it might work.”
“All I can do is try,” 387 smirks.
Chrysalis rolls her eyes before reaching under her wing and pulling out a chunk of crystallized goo so tightly packed with love that it’s barely radiating at all. Her horn lights up, telekinetically bringing the Luna plush toy to her and unraveling stitches on its underbelly. From the opened hole, a weak, almost empty love crystal falls out which she replaces with the fresh one before fastening the stitches again and placing the toy back behind the statue’s neck.
“Tell me, which queen was your favorite?” she asks, transforming back into a drone.
“I’ve only known a king, Chrysalis. After him,” 387 shrugs, “my only concern was those on the bottom, not the one on top.”
“Heh, I suppose we all have our own cycles to break,” Chrysalis vanishes back into the hole, “Warrior 387?”
“Yes?”
“Arrange a sapphire mining operation in sector -xgg487g4663- and make sure at least eighty-five percent of all valuables get to the storage. That statue is physically grating to look at.”
387 looks at the sleeping drone.
Welp, you just missed possibly your only chance to see the queen, little guy.
As if sensing his attention, the drone shifts in its sleep, mumbling:
“...shinyyy…”
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Hey, I need a Captain over here:
Who was Twinkelshine again and who is the drone next to the statue?
11132855
Twinkleshine is one of the original Flutterponies who were transformed into Changelings by Sun-Butt's & Jingle-Hat's spell, and has survived all 12 Queens (and 1 King), and the Hive Mind poison that was Shroud's "Vengeance".
He may be one the oldest non-diety level entities in the Imbalanced universe.
As for that drone? It may be 9999 / High Score slowly being brought back to life via his leg? Or it's just a drone, being brought to the Shiny Bringer for safety and healing away from the high ranks who would probably just crush it because that's what they do with injured drones.
So... how did King Thorax come about at the end of the Management's series ending? I hope 9999 makes a come back in form or an inspirational drive.
Despite the drawback of some not as interesting character arc(s), they did keep the whole story believable and exciting. Nice work, wordsmith!
Stories been awesome, much enjoy, much cute ling's. Can't wait to see what you come up with next. Also love your lore for changelings
This was a good story. Many d'aaaaws were head and many wibbles were endured, and they were good moments every time. It being a story set in the middle of a bigger setting did lead to a lot of moments of confusion, but that didn't take away from drones being so danged adorable.
Damn, changelings have really been fleshed out now, huh? We have their history, what happened after Canterlot, and their future with Chrysalis being a ruler of Equestria (is that right? I don't remember).
Really sad to see High Score go but glad to know it'll be forever immortalized as Drone Jesus. I was super attached to it and I'm happy that it's become something bigger.
High Score rests, hidden in the dreams of drones, that at some time in the future, at their greatest need, he can wake, and rise, to lead them once more?
For what is life, without Hope?
High Score's death broke my heart. Loved it.
Oh, Tantabus, that's always your response to 65536.
So...the Shiny Bringer really IS a religion now!
Eh, I like potatoes better anyway--it seems weirdly fitting, all things considered.
11132745
It's not what 9999 actually was that was important though, it's what its fellow 'lings think it could do...and most important of all, what it had represented to the drones--hope for a life better than what they had.
And I think 9999 was special in its own way, in that it came to understand truths about changeling culture that it's fellow drones couldn't and that the higher ranks chose to ignore for the sake of not rocking the boat, and it managed to make all of the other changelings around it, even Chrysalis in a way, gain a better understanding and appreciation for those truths, which can only help to pave the way for them getting addressed in some manner in the future.
So in that sense, I'd argue 9999 truly was the Shiny Bringer it's thought of as...just in it's own special way.
As for 9999's death...to be perfectly honest, I probably would've done the exact same thing for precisely the same reasons as you have, so speaking from one writer to another...you did good there.
11133252
I think this sums up the story nicely. It does have faults, but...few fics don't, so I'd rather focus on it's upsides, and there's a darn good few of them...many of them very neatly numbered too.
And speaking as someone who hadn't read the previous fics in the 'verse (but probably really ought to at some point
), I figure this wasn't a half-bad fic to enter the universe from, because, yes, it's not a total standalone from its sister fics, that much is obvious...but it also presents or reiterates the lore for it nicely enough that one is able to fit together a good sense of the basics well enough on their own anyway, and I also see that as an upside. 
This story started out with a light hearted giggle fell, but ut ended in an epic big feels way. You have turned this comady into a tragity in a way i am sure the original greek playwrites would applaud. I was both smiling and in tears at the end. You have a gift for story telling. I can only hope you continue to use it.
This was a good read. I think this fic is tied up with Dawn Of The Silver Sun for my personal favorites among your stories. I really enjoyed the bits about changeling culture and history. Chrysalis' chapters always promised something interesting. Even if it was always just an interesting way to hurt Celestia.. I'll admit though, the logging camp chapters always had me the most excited just because of how much was always going on in them and how often the changeling hierarchy came up.
Best changeling: 156.
11132855
Thanks for reading.
It's not me, it's the bugs.
This might be beyond the powers of Captain Obvious and straight to Four-star Grand General Recapitulation.
11132926
- Regarding 387/Twinky's age, I never actually thought about it like that. You're right, he certainly is up there with the oldest living mortals, along with some other survivors Chrysalis' chapters hinted at.
- Just a random drone.
11132942
So far, the king Beard being some version of Thorax is just a conspiracy theory. FAKE NUDES! And so on. And the epilogue is pretty clear on how much of an impact 9999 really made, and CLEARLY it will return when it's ready.
11133223
Thank you. The heavy lore does interfere with the desired chill nature of the story but somehow it worked.
11133252
Damn, still confusing? And this one is still probably my most standalone story ever, aside from the original Imbalanced that started everything off, obviously. I guess that at this point it's inevitable due to how big my verse is. It just feels so empty when writing anything that doesn't expand the overall lore or build on it. Aaaah, one day I'll get lucky and accidentally get it right. Maybe. Aaanyway...
*Smiley face*
11133263
- Yeah, people seem to like changelings a lot. I'm pretty sure that if I somehow wrote something similar with poines, it would have overall 2 likes, and one of those would be me giving it one out of pity. As for Chrysalis - yes, post-corruption she's part of the Equestrian leadership with Luna and Twilight. Celestia never gets her old post back after "Corrupted Lands".
- 9999 will grow into some unholy mixture of Jesus and Chuck Norris. It's the only way now.
11133322
Hope is both the greatest blessing and the deadliest curse, because it can both inspire unbelievable acts of heroism as well as make one just endure the worst abuse without fighting. Aaand that's why Blazing has always been unstable as hell.
11133372
If you love a broken heart, I hear McDonald's offers cheap and rather delicious items some might call food that do the job.
11133530
- That is the only applicable response to 65536 unleashed.
- Their holy book would be ChuckNorrisFacts translated into drone-ish. (noting a potential idea for later...)
- Jehova's Witnesses, High Score's Potatoes. Same thing, one just can't be stopped by a door.
- 36658, 57999 had their drug mixing. Who knows what 9999's genetic trait was? Considering changelings, it could have been anything. Maybe it was only more courage or less self-preservation rather than a more analytical mind. I think every drone that survives longer than a week or two knows how things are just like 9999.
- Eh, I know that without pointing out the downsides and failures it's impossible to get better. On the other hand, it's impossible to please everyone, and weak points for one reader can be strengths for another. I also know that if someone gave me a list of poorly done stuff in my stories, my first instinct would by to jump out of the window. Granted, I live on the ground floor, so the effect would be minimal, but I could always jump into traffic for a combo. Writing stuff is weird...
- As I wrote in a response earlier, in a verse where most of the big lore happened before the FIM series got to the point, it is difficult to enter without chewing through the "main plot". There are a few places - "Happiness is what you make of it" is completely unrelated to anything, especially because it is chronologically the earliest story, this story is one, "Management" is one, "Dawn/Shine of the Silver Sun" work to a degree, and "Legacy of Light" might too, but there will always be the feeling of "There's a big world around us and stuff happened". I'm trying to make the big events fit but it's not always easy or even possible. Changeling reformation is one of those, return of the Pillars is another, and of course Bugbutt being turned into a statue is a complete no-no.
11133681
- Thank you. I'm sure that one day this story will stand writen in stone next to Aeneid, Iliad, and Odyssey as equals. Seriously, though, try to chew through my non-changeling stories and you'll see what "writing gift" I really don't have
11133771
- Regarding culture, I could try to write something changeling-based from before the Canterlot invasion, but that would be too grim, with the amount of main character deaths that would make George R.R. Martin say that I'm overdoing it. As for the overall ling history, each queen could have her own universe and it still wouldn't be enough. It would really be like the current Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thanos would be Scream (even though Void could literally cause the end of the universe with a thought and without a tacky gauntlet).
- What can I say? Scream does have a one-track mind in some respects.
- 156 best bug? That might be a unique opinion here. Neat!
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de.meming.world/images/de/thumb/8/82/I_Am_Never_Gonna_Financially_Recover_From_This.jpg/300px-I_Am_Never_Gonna_Financially_Recover_From_This.jpg
But I've got a new rank out of it, so thats fine. Still not sure if High Score or Smiley :P
11133911
I second the potential of that idea. It would seem very drone-ish.
Another thought I had that failed to make it into my previous comment--obviously it's not super critical to the plot, but I did wonder what Smiley's end fate in all of this was, seeing they were no longer your typical Silent anymore, and I figure that would interfere with their original intended purpose. Did Chrysalis choose to "overlook" them too, or...?
11134150
Clearly, that's a hook for the Nameless Cinematic Universe. SmileyVision, streaming on Disney+ or Netflix.
11133911
The lore worked really well. And we all know that 9999 will come back as a dream walking changeling royal that protects the dreams of all young grubs and Nymphs ;)
…huh…
11136334
Tacrical spell strike = tactical nuclear strike.
I just picked an expression that fits. If we want to bicker about human expressions in MLP that are out of place to any degree it'll make writing impossible.
11136351
Cuddle drone does tis best.
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11136581
I legit can't exactly say no to that.
11136711
Always.
11136767
Scream is the Alicorn of Death Metal.
So a few questions.
1:did blue blood ever get brought before Celestia for his actions?
2: What of 1313 and his Zebra friend? I'd love to know more about them post-events.
3: What of Luna's little changeling? Id love to know more about them post events too, and wonder if he (she?) was ever given a real name.
4: Where were the mane 6 during all of the events? I know we saw AJ once but that was about it.
5: Was High Score's death always planed or was it a spur of the moment thing?
6: what of the deaf changeling, and the lings that had been caryying the pods. Can I assume the deaf link is still at the logging camp?
okay so more then a few questions lol. I spent 3 days bing reading this lol and loved every moment of it
11138715
You're about to be sooo disappointed.
1- Directly no. In a broader sense of karma or something, yes. (see "Imbalanced")
2- My idea now is that they got a big reward on the condition that they don't breathe a word about what happened. Probably a small nobility title for Zamira, an estate in some backwater hole of Equestria, and a steady income of money.
3- If I decide to write a story about Gem's youth in Fury and Crest's care post "Exercise In Management", 65536 will be there. But each story is usually a year of commitment and weekly updates so I haven'T decided in which direction to go yet.
4- The invasion happened just like in FiM. Where were the M6 directly after? No idea for the most. The next episode was, if I recall correctly, Sombra's return, and the trip to the Crystal Empire. The only known post-invasion bit is about Twilight in "Exercise In Management".
5- From about the halfway point when the ending somewhat crystallized in my head, Smiley was supposed be the one. However, with saving 17070 it became clear that HS knew what was waiting for it and would go for the dangerous mission instead of throwing a Silent at it.
6- Who knows? When I get that sweet Hasbro+Disney+Marvel movie deal then there will be so many open ends to base TV mini series on.
11138769
haha thanks for the answers! I LOVE changelings a lot and really enjoyed this story! #HUGABUG!
You know it was only after i went to bed last night did I realize the whole "Scream plot line" never saw a close to it lol
11139253
You'd have to read the Imbalanced storyline until Dawn of the Silver Sun to learn about Scream in current times. And those stories are... grim. Better stick to the hug bugs for the mix of fun and plot, not just pure misery.
11139348
noted
This was so awesome, sad , and adorable and I need more.
11155449
There's a huge verse surrounding this story and all links to my stories are on my profile page, but if you want something similar yet different, you can start Lovebugs series by reading the "An Exercise In Management" story.
11270684
I'm on edge about it but I'm leaning towards that being right. I did that shorter mix once early in Blazing Light's storyline and I haven't been able to fix it and it still sucks.
A few spelling and grammar errors, but overall a good story. Made me laugh, there’s very few stories like this that make me do so. Until next time!
11303380
Thank you.
11305243
I will certainly read this sequel and the other two you mentioned! I am very intrigued! Keep up the great work!
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I'm glad to hear it, but pls no spam
11319632
I do absolutely next to zero promotion for my stories, because I don't know how.
Well, in the end, this story about changelings is the best for me.
She gave me many different emotions. There are a lot of cute moments, a lot of funny moments, somewhere really sad moments.
I really felt sorry for the fate of almost all the old queens (except for you Carapace. You are a bitch.) And for some reason Shroud, who was supposed to be the main evil, but I felt sorry for her the most. (Is it supposed to be like this?) For after her story, I feel how unfairly treated their people and perhaps I, too, became infected with her righteous hatred.
If I could give this story more than one like, I would.
The only question I would like answered is "what was the fate of the group from the forest camp who went to return the ponies caught in cocoons? Were they killed by rangers with paladins who then attacked 9999?"
11341043
It's always good to hear that I did at least this one right at least by accident. As for the mixed tone, I like stories which have a little bit of everything too, although I do get sometimes called out on it being "inconsistent".
As for the old Queens, I wanted to write a more detailed standalone story regarding changeling history, but I think that would simply take too much, and as a result it might make the Queens blend together a little. However, yes, they were partially victims of circumstances. Shroud herself did get extremely shafted by fate, but you can get the worst monsters out of the best ideals.
Finally, the cocoon group's fate, as well as 17070's is a mystery and it's supposed to be that way. It all depends on whether you believe in High Score holding a protective hoof over them from The Greeat Gablonk or not.
11341107
I love it when stories evoke an emotional response. Without it, they are quickly forgotten. I also really like ambiguous characters. (They are really interesting to watch.) So I thank you again for this story.
11341112
You're welcome.
Enjoy "They're ON HOLIDAY" if you're going for that story next. If not, there are a few other changeling stories on my channel.
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I think they mean the whole Imbalanced storyline.
11534912
Well, yeah.
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That's the whole point. The Queens are so incredibly powerful contrasted with other changelings that it's unclear whether the hive is a nation or just slaves to an absolute ruler.
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Oh, good, that was basically the only line in the entire continuity that I really had a problem with
I've always thought too many authors go down the route of 'Oh, those thousands of drones who fought and died in the invasion? They were mindcontrolled and had no choice :)', and then literally never acknowledge how tragic that actually is - so it's nice to see a story where everyone reacts with horror and revulsion at horrible and revolting events.
I really appreciate all the effort put into the worldbuilding and giving the changelings that distinctly brutal, alien feel to them, and their society, without pushing them too far into literal-monsters territory. Seeing every single drone running around with childlike wonder and glee, realising that each and every one is their own person with ambitions and emotions, and then remembering most live to the age of what, seventeen days? Before dying a gruesome and unnecessary death, definitely hits home just how horrible life is for the average changeling.
And then having the characters in the story actually realise that, and change their views on the changelings because of it, is just such a nice and refreshing thing to see; I honestly think it justifies all of the bloodthirst you gave to the ponies, reader-wise.
I know I definitely wouldn't have read so much if the Princesses just shrugged and went 'Oh well' to all the atrocities happening outside their front door.
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I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm currently nearing the end of the followup story, but that one's much more chill and mostly about drones finding their dentities rather than some big, overarching story like this one. Or if you're interested in different changelings who influence this story in a minor-ish way, there's the Boss' storyline starting with "Exercise In Management" or an experimental one-shot "Hard to Find the Right Words". Since all my stories are one world, they influence each other to a varying degree.
11585613
Took me a second to find it a chapter earlier, but fixed.
Shiny bringer's gonna pull a queen and come back in the hive mind isn't he?
Also, you bastard! You made me cry at work! XD
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Glad you enjoyed. A sequel is almost finished, but it's a bit more "in the weeds" of drone psychological growth and less eventful.
yyyy, xD esta va a favoritos sin dudas jajajaja, muy, pero muy buen fic, OwO me rei muchisimo y estuvo completamente muy entretenido, xD te quedo de perlas el fic y disfrute mucho leyendolo, gracias por el excelente trabajo jajajaj
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Thank you for enjoying it and Thank High Score for google translate.
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Let's see how long that lasts.
11659339
That feeling when Freddy accidentally attacks the dreamscape military instead of few random teenagers.
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"I am straight, therefore everything I fuck is a woman." - I don't know where I read/heard it but it is perfect.
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The use of huglear weapons authorized.
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That one's a bit more complicated.
11659585
do you mean disowning the origonal one?
Incomprehensible epilogue.
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Huh... naaaaah.
11660243
Tactical nuke? Tactical spell strike? My lore blends to me but I'm pretty sure I explained it to a degree in this story.
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Book 2
11660124
Why limit him?
11663449
Look my brain is pretty smooth so can I please get a nudge in the right direction about all that
Also
1988 herd, soon?
Nice.
11663634
Drones finally built their own, albeit small, place. The big sacrifice is remembered. Bugbutt mellowed out and doesn't want to kill the only one who can tell others things were/can be different, plus she indirectly allowed Ds to own something with the final order.