Amie stared, transfixed by the changeling before her. He was familiar enough to recognize as a member of her own species—but not identical to the campers of Stella Lacus. His fins were bright orange instead of green, a color matched by his eyes and the faint glow of his magic.
Even stranger, his forelegs were covered with... tattoos? There was no other way to describe them—marks set into his shiny coat, lines of ink that left faint indents in the carapace. White lines twisted and swirled together in a vaguely tribal design.
Amie didn't get a good chance to inspect them, because the changeling advanced on her, baring sharp fangs. "Show your face," he demanded. "Your disguise is feeble; there was not even a flicker of true fear. You are no pony."
Maybe not from her. Wes retreated behind her, until he backed into one of the rough wooden crates. He didn't say anything, just watched Amie desperately.
Amie took a deep breath, closed her eyes—and tried to relax. But she wasn't alone in a secluded cave with her brother this time—she was staring down an unknown creature, one that might be a blood enemy, or a desperately needed ally.
After a few seconds she opened them again, sighing with exasperation. "I'm not trying to lie to you—but I can't change as easily as you. I've only had a few days to learn."
His horn stopped glowing, and his posture relaxed. "What tribe sent hunters with such little experience? How desperate is your queen?" He turned, fixing Wes with a withering glare. "If you think this act will elicit sympathy from Equestrians, you are wrong. Your invention is too similar to your true shape, cousin. They fear you. More importantly—"
He leapt through the air in a wide arc, so high that Amie was left staring. He landed atop the crate beside Wes, baring his teeth again.
"What were you thinking, striding brazenly into a hunting ground with the guise of some twisted wolf? They have royal guards watching this place. Did you come here to die, and make hunting harder for the rest of us? I could do it so much gentler than they would."
Wes whimpered, slumping to his haunches. His wings opened and closed several times, but he didn't manage anything like a coherent response. "Not... not trying to... can't—" He looked desperately towards Amie, pleading.
She wasn't sure how she did it—maybe it was the spontaneity, maybe it was Wes's overwhelming fear. Amie's pony form vanished, and she darted between Wes and the stranger. That brought her back to being the smallest creature in the room—but this was also the body she knew best. She crouched low, levitating the shotgun out from her satchel and directly in the orange changeling's face. "Don't threaten my brother again, asshole."
The bug glanced between them. She watched tension ripple through his body, and prepared to turn into a murderer—but then he relaxed. His eyes grew wide, and he slumped onto his haunches, baffled. "That one loves you. How is this possible?"
Amie lowered the weapon, pointing it away from him. "He's my brother. I love him too. Do families not care for each other where you come from?"
Wes nodded sympathetically. "We don't want to fight you, or anyone else. We're just trying to get away from people trying to kill us, that's all."
The changeling hopped down from his place atop a crate. "Whatever that is, you can put it away, cousin. There will be no violence here." She felt his hostility boil away, replaced with something even stranger. Something she had never felt from another creature, not since her arrival in Equestria.
Awe, almost religious reverence—for her brother.
"I can see I've found what I was sent for. You haven't come from the invaders' tribe." His wings buzzed with excitement—and he lifted up into the air, flying straight up to the rafters. He returned after a few seconds, levitating a tightly-folded sheet of paper in front of him.
He dropped it to the floor at their hooves, expanding it out in all directions. It was a map, but what it depicted was only vaguely familiar to Amie. She imagined she could make out the suggestion of North America along the edges, but either the level of detail was too low to be precise, or her own memory of geography was faulty.
"The Elders sent me to hunt here, by vision." He pointed down at the map with one hoof, at a cluster of mountains marked with a few familiar names. Motherlode and Agate were both there, inside a circled region in bright orange.
"The 'Elders,'" Amie repeated, voice flat. There was no telling what he meant by “vision.” She was equally split between a local religious practice, or actual magic yet unknown to her. The rules didn't exactly make themselves very clear.
Wes squeezed in on the other side of the map, taking it all in. But he said nothing, still radiating fear of this new changeling.
"Is there another tribe in these mountains?"
Amie hesitated—but trying to lie was a doomed effort when they could read each other's feelings. Her hesitation alone would be enough to infer the correct answer. "We wouldn't call ourselves that, but yes. In this... valley here, between Motherlode and its next peak. There isn't a valley anymore."
The changeling nodded to himself, satisfied. "This is the clear answer. A new tribe—green. With strange powers." He looked over at Wes again. "How many like him are there?"
"Just me," Wes said, his voice utterly defeated. "Completely alone. Ready to be kidnapped and dissected wherever I go."
Amie pushed him back with one hoof, stepping between this changeling and her brother again. "There's no reason for us to answer your questions. Why should we trust you?"
He frowned, looking between them. Then he reached down, removing something from the clinking satchel he'd been wearing. A little glass bottle, of the same kind that had once stored chemicals. It was filled with a brilliantly glowing liquid, like the contents of an orange glow-stick had been poured directly inside.
"Take this glamor," he said. "And my name. Pachu'a. I was sent to gather information, not make war."
Amie took the bottle in her own levitation, floating it close to her. The light had a mesmerizing, magnetic quality about it. Without knowing why, she felt drawn to it. What would it taste like?
She resisted the urge to try it while he was watching, and tucked it away in her saddlebags. "My real name is Amie Blythe. My brother is still Wes Blythe. He wasn't very good at lying."
Wes rolled his eyes. "You say that like it's bad. I don't like lying."
There was something faintly familiar about a name like “Pachu'a,” something that she could only hear faintly over his accent. It wasn't something that "True Probe" had possessed, but it was persistent in the changeling's own speech. What was it exactly she was hearing?
"This is good. True words exchanged between..." He eyed them, and spoke with a little strain. "Hunters. Now, this next question—it may seem strange, but it is important. Do you remember any other world?"
"Yes!" they exclaimed, at exactly the same moment. Amie continued. "You mean Earth? All we want to—all anyone wants to do—is get back there." She lifted one leg, holes and all. "Okay, and not do it looking like this. Our world doesn't need another freakshow."
Pachu'a settled down onto his haunches again. His awe returned, though it was mixed now with something a little more familiar. Anticipation? He saw an opportunity here, somehow. "You remember it?" he asked. "Your queen didn't tell you stories of it—you experienced it yourselves?"
They both nodded. "Everyone in Stella Lacus did. We've been here less than a month. Our camp is... pretty well supplied, I guess. It could keep us safe through winter, but it doesn't have food. Before I—took my brother away, I led the hunters there. We fished, we caught small game with traps and snares. Never got anything as big as a deer, but I did kill a wolf once."
"Hunters," he said. "Your tribe is already starving so badly you hunt meat?" At her nod, he rose, and began to pace rapidly back and forth. "Your ancestors must be watching out for you, Amie—that you met me, and not one of the invaders of blue. Their queen would not see the value in new wisdom from the ancient homeland. But the people of the cliffs—we are different."
Now it was Amie's turn to feel something new since her time in Equestria—hope. There were other changelings out there, humans from the same place. They were modern enough to speak the same language, even if Pachu'a overflowed with cultural signifiers she didn't recognize. Parasites in a world that hated them could not afford to be choosy with their allies.
"Do you know a better way to feed them?" She glanced nervously around, though of course they were alone in the drafty warehouse. "The mountain is guarded. The Equestrians already know we're up there, and they have royal guards patrolling the edges. They killed a few bugs trying to escape."
"That will make things... more complicated," he admitted. "But not much. The Equestrians are blinded by their preconceptions. When they see us, they see painful memories of their invaders—ferocious, mad with hunger, predatory. If they see you eating meat, they have no reason to believe you will be otherwise. But we need not be. A swift falcon in the air, a deer loping through the trees, or a sly fox clambering over hill and branch. There are many forms to wear."
He began folding the map, before tucking it away with his glowing bottles. "There can be no future under the watchful eyes of our prey. They will never give you the freedom to expand and freely harvest. But that question is for your own tribe to answer, in its own time. For now—I must return to the cliffs, and speak with the Elders. They should approve a relief caravan—and negotiations for trade, if you think your tribe would be amenable."
"I don't think our tribe has any choice," Amie admitted. "Should we go with you? I had my own plan... but it seems so unimportant now. Your tribe must know so much more about living in Equestria... you could shortcut all the painful research and just tell us. Have you tried asking the princess to send you back to Earth? Have you come up with any of your own magic? I talked to a royal guard, and he seemed to think there was a way."
He cut her off with one hoof. "I am the wrong one to ask. I am a hunter, not a scholar. As for returning with me—you could. Your brother is not a changeling, though. Whatever he is—I could not violate the oaths of protection that shelter the cliffs. The Elders would need to decide on his case."
Amie took one, deliberate step towards Wes. "Then we're staying. I won't leave him."
He shrugged. "That may be for the best. Your brother is something... unique, more than the arrival of a new tribe. What he implies, I do not know. Great and terrible things. A future without hunting—I don't know."
There was another flash of light, and the towering earth pony returned. True Probe took a moment to adjust the satchel for his much-larger size, before grinning back at them. "It would be wise to be more discreet while you await my return. There are other hunters moving in Equestria. And if the prey find you, they will treat you like their invaders. You have already seen this."
"You're just gonna leave?" Wes asked, exasperated. "You only talked to us for a few minutes! We have millions of questions, and nobody could answer them until now! Can't you, like—stay here and explain what's going on? Or just tell us how to get everyone home?"
The earth pony stopped in front of the door, then turned back. He rested one hoof on Wes's shoulder, fixing him with a longsuffering, parental expression. "Cousin—this is your home now. Our ancient homeland is beyond your reach. Make your life here worth living."
There were so many ways this could go. and this is not one I expected.
But then, given the author, I should have.
Oh shit, former Indians! Does that mean all changelings are former humans? Or do humans just always turn into changelings when somehow entering Equestria? Oooooh this makes this so much more exciting!
So, it seems some changelings are from earth, or did they come from somewhere else? Seems too ambiguous to speculate one way or the other at the moment...
I did not see that coming!
I can only imagine how the Thoracic Revolution will impact all these other changeling tribes... assuming they ever hear about it. It would be a foolish hive that doesn't listen to Equestrian news about changelings, but whether they'd believe those stories is quite another matter.
Still, Wes's preview of things to come bodes well... but there's still the question of whether Stella Lacus will accept any help. Especially if that help mentions Amie. This really could go any way from here. And that's not even taking into account the news that the trip is one way only. That definitely won't go over well.
This is an interesting development and it's good that they made progress. Amie hasn't said anything about Stella Lacus not having a queen only a camp director who's sanity is questionable.
Interesting. Makes me wonder if Chrysalis's changelings are also from Earth but have been in Equestria so long they've lost any information they had in regards to Earth.
Also, Pachuca wasn't at all interested that Amie discussed things about changelings with a member of the royal guard?
A visit to the Elders seems necessary in the future. The more swarm lore the siblings understand, the better they can understand the reasons for everything that happened.
This hive is old enough to have native born changelings but young enough to remember the old world. I wonder if there are still people from their transit still among them.
There's seemingly no love for Chrysalis's hive. Their failed domination basically sabotaged all the other hives. Still, it'll be interesting to find out about their human origins if it's different from the hive Pachu'a came from.
Perhaps they were guided by Harmony itself.
She would see that value if she wishes to overtake the camp. The ponies evicted her. Her cousins will remind her of the old ways back home and much blood will be paid for victory.
This hive understands infiltration. They could feed off Equestria and its inhabitants would be none the wiser. They could've "dominated" Equestria far better than Chrysalis ever would.
Other than buying time for the camp, this will be a good test case to see if Albrecht is salvageable. See if he's still reasonable enough to put aside his problems with Amie for the good of the camp.
Starscribe mentioned once that all changelings in this story’s universe originally came from Earth, so no surprises here. Still have to wonder how those newly transformed changeling hives survived, considering that people in Stella Lacus can’t figure out the basics of being a changeling to save their lives, while the ancient changelings lacked the modern technology that Stella Lacus relies so heavily on.
is chrysalis a native or a lost descendant?
I remember the comic tales of queen chrysalis her origins showed she started as an adult with people with no one to guide her or the others with her no memory or knowledge she lead a long life I feel she would be surprised at foreign lings but considering the life, she leads for her tribe the other changelings would look like power to her or alien... and probably need to be controlled by her out of habit.
11305709
I'm guessing it pretty much worked out like any other group that set out and formed civilizations. A lot of trial and error. No doubt lives were lost but not without the survivors learning enough lessons to form a culture and lifestyle that worked.
It's also important to note that Stella Lacus is worse off in a couple of ways. It's very likely the other hives originated from self-sufficient tribes or other relatively complete social units (villages, towns, etc.) with wilderness experience while Stella Lacus is comprised of mostly young adults with arguably far less experience. Stella Lacus also had the bad luck of not only transiting right after an invasion but also being immediately discovered by the victims of said invasion who took steps in blocking the camp's movements.
11305709
Where?
He said he was a hunter, and mentioned a relief caravan and negotiations for trade — which will undoubtedly include 'food'. He never mentioned what form their food would come in... he also frequently referred to ponies as prey. I'm hoping they have some way of storing humanely-harvested love energy in a material form, and Amie isn't blindsided by being offered cocooned ponies.
The idea that they cannot go back is sure to be slightly distressing, but we don't know for sure yet that it's a concrete fact for this new generation of changelings. Also, I like how concerned and kindly Pachu'a became once he learned just who and what they are. He's entirely wrong about Wes not being a changeling, yet at the same time, he's also kind of right.
I do wonder what exactly went wrong with Chrysalis to make her specifically suck so bad at what they do. Megalomania, most likely; but then where did that come from? Was it something specific to her ancestors? Was she herself once a human, and if so, how much does she remember? What era was she from? Are there any other relatively recent arrivals other than Stella Lacus?
I had first thought that the changelings in this story being green was a mistake, seeing as how the only canonically green pre-reformation changeling is Thorax... and Queen Chrysalis. The fact that this is not so, and that most changelings are apparently homogeneous (as implied by Ocellus' worst fear in that one episode), gives changelings of a different color in a single hive some interesting implications, though I cannot yet divine what those might actually be.
Chrysalis herself is a different color to her hivemates... though they all still have green magic, which is implied to once again be a bit unusual. And then there's Pharynx, who is purple and red... I can't remember if he had a specific unique magic color, though. Everything is kind of strange, now; I'm very curious about this world's changeling lore.
When the story gets its first really weird chapter and you sneak in a title drop 'Changer Things'.
So all changelings are either humans or descendents of humans? Now that's a twist.
A future for an alternate universe.
....
So what happens if Wes gets kids with a "normal" changeling? Do they get hybrids? I don't think I ever read a story where the new changelings are a different subspecies. That's really unique if this is the case.
11305731
I just picture far future humans with technology that makes the current day civilizations look like cavemen in comparison suddenly become buggos.
Oh wow, the lore we were just given! I need to know more!!
11305847
well, the orange tribe is.
but i think the Blue tribe is the one led by Chrysalis, and they are probably native.
11305833
There's probably some dimorphic divergences between changeling queens/kings and the basic drone. Her not looking exactly like her drones isn't that horribly weird.
11305802
I think that's what that bottle of stuff the other changeling gave her was supposed to be.
11306009
I don't know, he said "THE" ancient homeland instead of "OUR" ancient homeland... It's quite possible that all changelings come from Earth.
Knowing the lore of sisters of willowbrook (fic by the same author, humans come from a world devoid of magic and may be descended from an ancient alicorn civilization, part of me wonders if the core rules of the world are the same in both of these fics. Humans coming from Abaddon, the place without magic, may inherit different amounts of magic from their parents... Those who acquire excessive amounts of magic come through as ponies (as we seen with the main characters of Willowbrook), although that could just be the cult's meddling. Those who acquire less magic come through as changelings, and need to absorb magic from Equestria due to their relative lack...)
As for Wes... Perhaps he inherited a bit more magic than Amie? So on the threshold between being full on pony/alicorn strength like the sisters of Willowbrook, and a full-on normal buggo
I am not very clear on things yet, but it feels like this universe is a "Flim-Flam" takeover as seen during Twilight and villain Starlight's time travel.
Pachu'a sounds like a descendent of a native African American. It's always interesting to have more Zecora-esque tropes!
Wait, hang on. I wasn't expecting this. Turns out the other changelings were also transported to Equestria though this tribe was transported way, way back. Could be generations, if they only heard about the world they left.
11305729
From Starscribe's blog (March 22nd):
If the story follows the blog to the letter, there's no distinction between humanity and the changeling race, they are two sides of the same coin. The question is which of Chrysalis's ancestors (if she was born in Equestria) transited.
11305802
I wouldn't know where Amie would even start if that's the case. Could emotions be harvested from animals? Or only sapients? Glamor has to come from somewhere. If the survival of the hive requires captives, what ethics do we use or do we have to accept it as a reality of nature? Any conflict between changelings and ponies is a parasite/host or predator/prey interaction. I doubt the ponies would accept any sort of harvesting as humane.
11305766
In this blog.
Well dang, I guess I'm glued here now.
11306061
It isn't that- I figured that a Queen would naturally look different than the rest of her people. It was the issue of her being green rather than blue- albeit a sort of blue-green. Though both her and changelings still have green magic, unlike the other tribes of 'ling we've seen so far- unless that detail is retconned for the purposes of the story being told. I dunno. We'd have to see other queens to know for sure about that specific detail, and a larger sampling of regular 'lings to answer questions about the frequency of different color morphs showing up in a population (in regards to my earlier musings about the brothers Thorax and Pharynx).
Pahu'a brings up an interesting point mentioning Stella Lacus's Queen, since we've not actually seen anyone who could really fit that bill. From what we've seen, everyone at Stella Lacus is basically identical except for Wes. I don't know if anyone else already brought up this idea, but I've been thinking for a while now that he's meant to be the hive's King.
11306330
Hope not, because changeling hives/tribes without queens to lay the eggs of future generations are doomed to sad, lingering deaths.
What I have seen so far strongly suggests that changelings are eusocial in the same way that ants and bees are.
11306454
Is that founded in anything from the actual show or other official material? I've stopped watching at some point so there may be something I missed.
Eusocial insects in real life absolutely need a queen, of course, but fictional, magical species based on such insects don't necessarily have to follow the same rules exactly. In the show, Chrysalis's hive ousted their queen and replaced her with a king and that hive is thriving.
I do believe that Changeling hives need a monarch, but given precedent from the show I believe that can be a king instead of a queen without much issue. Hence why I came to the conclusion that Wes is probably the king.
11306471
Supporting your hypothesis, Ocellus (a friendly changeling) is shown to have two 'parents', neither of which are Chrysalis.
11306471
I'm a patron, and so I have read ahead. Further hints will be be dropped that support the eusocial hypothesis.
I'm imagining that other groups of people have spontaneously appeared in Equestria in the past.
Ooh, former Native Americans! I wonder what time and place Chrysalis's tribe originate from?
11306286
Thanks!
Cool, so the current changelings are descendents of humans that got transported to equestria and got turned into changelings. Possibly different ethnic groups got into a conflict with each other or with ponies because religion or confusion
11306454
Wes is a critically endangered species then.
I really do hope the fact others wanting to eat/feed on him appear more later; it's the reason I even clicked on the story:
11306063
It didn't even occur to me that that might've simply been bottled love energy for consumption. He called that a glamor, and in most fantasy fiction settings with magic (that I've read at least), the term "glamor" usually refers to magically changing appearance. I assumed it was some kind of Changeling Disguise Potion for Wes, since Wes said he couldn't transform, and Pachu'a was pretty insistent that he does. I also assumed Amie was drawn to it like she was because of course love energy would naturally be a main ingredient in Changeling Disguise Potion. And he witnessed Wes giving Amie love; wouldn't it be a bit strange to then offer them a bottled meal?
That's multiple layers of assumptions though, so I could easily be wrong. Maybe it was just a bottle of really condensed love-food, maybe it's deceptively much more than it seems from that fact that it's in a single bottle, maybe he intended her to take it back to her 'tribe' to tide them over until his tribe's assistance arrives. /trixieShrug
11306951
now with modern american, equestria will have to accept democracy and freedom or become afghanistan 2.0
we will called it. celestialic state of equestristan.
11307579
Nah equestria doesn’t really have a reason to become a democracy . People went to America because of unfair tax and freedom of religion. Plus having a ruler that holds the fate of the world at her horn is a good deterrent to invaders .
11305833
It could be that a changeling's color is inherited from the specific event that brought them there, or being a descendant from one who was.
I'm hoping that Chrysalis' has simple explanation, if any. I feel that the heavier the lore is, the harder it is to bend & evolve.
11306066
Perhaps it has to do with Wes himself; Thorax got bedazzled when he let love out of his heart. Or into it. Or whatever.
Wes is purer than the rest of the cast. He’s not capable of hurting someone. He doesn't easily understand evil, or when he's in danger. He never went out to hunt or build traps, despite the pressure and isolation he (partially) got from doing so. He never even freaked about the transformation; he goes to Amie when he's hurting, but he never did so over the transformation. He was barely upset.
Perhaps it’s not that Humans from Earth are supposed to be changelings, but that humans are calculating, crueler, and more ambitious than anything in Equestria, and are dressed as such.
Albrecht is said as being reasonable & level-headed. And he is. He lied to the whole camp, and is willing to do anything to save the camp, but he’s good at heart. For a human.
In contrast, Tailslide started out believing straight evil about changelings, to the point where he was surprised that one of them did anything besides murdering him instantly. Then his partner died. And then, after Amie patches him up, he helps her get away. And then he gets hot for her, the instant she stops wearing his dead partner’s face. That’s how okay he is with changelings now.
If you take Tailslide as the test ‘goodness’ in Equestrian, then there are a lot of humans that would pass the first part, and almost no-one who who would even approach the second part.
To look at her, and feel about her, and not have it tainted with minor disgust? That’s the behavior of a good human. To look at her as cute and risk yourself to help her escape? That superhuman.
Wes did it, though. He passed. Maybe he didn’t make it all the way, but he made it. He’s far from perfect; he wouldn’t be able to save the camp, like Amie or Albrecht could, but he sure wouldn’t hurt anyone to do so. Maybe that’s why he was never put against the possibility of starvation; his heart is lighter than a feather.
11308561
Yeah, fair enough. It could be that I'm overcomplicating things a bit. I mean, it could be as simple a matter as outcrossing, or Chrysalis deposing a former queen of the hive.
11308604
I'm quite interested on the circumstances of his transformation. Given Amie's concern of his mental wellbeing to the violence of this world, he might even be on another level when compared to ponies.
I would argue against this given the Flim Flam brothers' policy on medical care for their miners and the royal guard. Also Tailslide's horror at his and Gale's attack on the changelings seems to suggest some ponies are blindingly out for revenge. Humanity and ponykind as a whole are more likely than not to be similar on the morality spectrum.
That might be lust or a possible side effect of Amie's potential feeding on him. If he wasn't wounded, I doubt he would have cared about whatever Amie would have said, especially considering his partner is dead. His wounds were likely the only thing sitting him down and making him listen.
11308745
True.
I wonder how far back the author will go in terms of history. With the constant that one's parents determine one's species, regardless of one's purity, could it be inferred that ponies used to be purer?
Perhaps you can go up the latter of pureness/power (pony turns into alicorn, changeling gains a metabolism), but it doesn't seem that you can go down it.
A pony can ascend to be an alicorn, but can't descend to be a changeling. Being born an sparkly changeling but turning evil won't turn you into a parasitic changeling.
So if being extradimensional makes you a blank slate for Equestria to punish or reward you, then perhaps ponies were created as purer, but then lost that purity, but couldn't descend the latter.
What if... you took Flim & Flam out of Equestria, took all their magic, and put them back in. Would they come back as ponies?
Is there a relationship between species and character? Dragons are greedy, Griffins are rude, Changelings are... empty? Morally flexible? Shifty? :D
More and more questions.
11308745
I'm really rooting for this possibility! To have another layer of moral ambiguity added onto being transformed into a soul sucking face stealing monster sounds awesome. Just imagine the issues that could sprout from it!
Future Amie: "Am I changing people? Does it only affect ponies? Can I exist without brainwashing others? Do I even care?"
Depending on how those questions are answered... this could bring Amie to the dark side! She's desperate, she's on the run, and she’s willing to do anything to protect her kids,
… no matter the cost.
🎈🎉🎈
A few answers this chapter, but many more questions.
Seems like a native-American changeling. Interesting.