Amie followed Albrecht long enough to see where he was headed, and to confirm her suspicions: the cabin he shared with his wife. The lights outside that cabin were still on, shining out at the darkened camp all around it. Stranger still, Amie was positive she saw a pair of patrolling guards circling the building. They each wore one of the camp's many target-shooting .22 rifles.
If this were her body, she could think of several ways she could try to get past them, and confront Albrecht alone. She couldn't take any of those risks with Lily.
It would be better if she could show these bugs how she really looked. Maybe some instinct would take over then, making them more willing to trust a queen.
Her powers didn't work that way, unfortunately. She couldn’t look like another bug, no matter how much she wanted to.
Amie used her bat again—someone smaller than Albrecht, so it wouldn't look like she was a physical threat. Being a bat with darker colors would keep her looking similar to the bugs, while maintaining her sharp senses out in the dark. It did mean she wouldn't have magic to fight with—but if it came to a fight, she would just have to run.
Amie wasn't the only camper who tried to approach Albrecht. Most of them had very little to say, just asking for reassurance from the one they perceived as an authority figure. He told them all the same thing, that Stella Lacus was in good hands and that by doing their duty they had the best chance for survival.
Eventually she didn't feel any other changelings approaching from the gloom, and it was her turn. "Director Albrecht," she called. The whole group stopped to look in her direction.
Strange that having a normal voice was what made her stand out, when everyone else here had the characteristic reverberation of changelings.
She'd picked a particularly dark patch, where she could keep her wings folded and expose as few differences as possible. "Director..." she repeated. His guards stopped too, staring skeptically into the trees. Like the ones circling the cabin, these had rifles. And they'd learned to use their magic, enough to levitate them up into an alert position.
"Come forward," one of them ordered. "Where the president can see you."
President? Apparently the bugs of Stella Lacus had founded their own government while she was gone. "I look like a pony, but I'm not. I had to transform into one of them to get here."
A lie, kinda. But it would be true if she had tried to cross the border naturally. Hopefully that was close enough that they wouldn't be able to tell.
She stepped out of the shadow and into the light. She kept what she hoped was a neutral smile on her face, exposing bat fangs. For once, they would actually make her look more familiar.
They gasped, and one of Albrecht’s guards pointed his rifle in her direction. "Pony! Stay where you are!"
Amie froze, instantly obedient to the command. This was what she had feared. "I'm staying!" she shouted back. "And I'm unarmed. But I swear, if you kill me, there won't be any more relief shipments coming. You'll be on your own."
Another lie. Like the first one, it was probably the wiser answer. If Albrecht killed Lily, then she would need to overthrow him, before he could do any more harm.
"Don't shoot," Albrecht said. He held out one wing, pushing the gun aside. "I think I know who you are, but I want you to tell me."
"Amie," she answered, voice flat. Maybe that was technically a little lie too. But if Lily was still in there somewhere, she didn't object. "I need to talk to you, Director. I can't stay long."
He advanced past the guards, looming over her. Albrecht was leaner than last time, but showed none of the signs of starvation that many campers did. So he'd kept back enough glamor to keep himself going while others starved.
"What makes you think you have a choice? If I order those men to keep you here, then you're staying."
Amie shrugged. This close to him, the guards weren't pointing rifles at her anymore. If she could get away from him, she could slip back into the crowd of campers, and Lily could disappear. They'd never seen her real face. Hopefully she could stop this from becoming aggressive long before she had to run.
"That wouldn't be a good idea." She sighed. "Director, I didn't come here to fight with you. You made me a promise, and I'm here to make sure it happens."
For a few seconds, Amie felt only a maelstrom of conflicting feelings from the director. Part of him wanted to imprison her, and use her as some kind of example for the camp. She was a tempting way to expand his grip on power. But in the end, his better instincts won out.
He turned his back on her. "Search her. If she's not armed, she can come inside with me."
Amie gritted her teeth—but let them do it. At least never wearing clothes meant it was a quick process, if embarrassing. Once they could see she hadn't brought a gun under her wing, it was simple.
Next she knew, she was back in Albrecht’s office. The cabin was basically unchanged from every other time she'd visited, except that many of the numerous fancy leatherbound books on his shelves were removed, arranged on the floor in little piles. Only the titles from his previous legal career remained untouched on the shelf.
The guards didn't follow them into the building. She could still feel them outside, and the profound anger that spread from the first two to the others. Her changeling senses didn't let her feel it exactly, but she could guess. Three of their number were dead, and they blamed her.
Maybe they were right to.
"What do you want, Amie? I can see you're not starving, and you can get past our security detail whenever you want. Say what you're here to say and don't waste my time."
There was no chair on the other side of his desk. "The food we need to survive is called glamour—that's what the relief team brought. Did they tell you where it came from?"
He shook his head once. "Only that it was something changelings hunted. They seemed disgusted when we offered them some dried meat in return."
She was really here—really back in his office. This same man had ordered her brother sacrificed to discover what made him able to eat ordinary food when they couldn't. Now Amie knew the secret, and Wes was still alive. She couldn't muster any fear for Albrecht this time. Once her kids were gone, he wouldn't be able to hurt her anymore.
"To survive in Equestria long-term, we'll need glamour for everyone. Meat is unsustainable, and... disgusting, as they pointed out. I'm building a way for us to get the food we need. But I need more bugs to do it. I'm taking my students now. In exchange for their release, you'll get another aid shipment. Hopefully you can stretch it long enough for us to start gathering our own food to send back."
For a time, Albrecht sat back in his chair, quietly seething. He might be the 'president' of Camp Stella Lacus, but Amie could still feel what he was thinking. She kept her touch light, not wanting to betray this new ability. Just as she didn't want him to know that she wasn't even here in person.
"I don't have any guarantee you'll send that food once you take them," he said. "I know how loyal you were to your campers. Once they're gone, do the others starve? You could keep the relief shipment for yourself."
Amie rolled her eyes. "I could. I didn't have to send the first shipment either, Mr. Albrecht. But I'm telling you that I won't do that. My campers will not get a single drop of the relief shipment—I already have enough to feed them."
He shifted in his seat, levitating open a thick leatherbound book in front of him. It was a ledger of some kind, covered with writing she couldn't see from the ground. "Do you intend to hold this secret over us? You know how to feed us while we do not. With every delivery, you'll demand more, is that it?"
Good thing you're not our queen. Kaya probably would've cut your throat.
"It's not a secret, it's just not something useful to you right now. I... don't have the time to explain in great detail, but I can tell you this: our species is called Changelings. We're emotional parasites—we can't survive on our own. But where other intelligent creatures are living, their positive feelings create food we can eat."
"Will you share your secret to escaping the mountain? Then we could send people out there to gather this... glamour. We wouldn't need to depend on humanitarian relief."
Amie shook her head once. "There is an entire Equestrian military base in the town at the bottom of this mountain. If they realize they can't contain us anymore, they might decide to wipe us out instead. Our numbers need to be small."
"You think your campers are the best for the job? There are other adults who would volunteer—adults should be the ones taking these risks. Your campers are children."
Amie nodded her agreement. "They are children who haven't been eating under your care. Four of them were comatose when I got here. Whatever risks are waiting for them in Agate, they're still safer than they are here."
She felt his anger again, another burst of rage and pride and blame all directed at her. His expression never changed, and he probably thought she was oblivious to all but his general displeasure. That was wrong, obviously.
"I can't stop you from taking what you want," he finally said. "Look me in the eye and promise we'll get another shipment of supplies. Give me your word."
She stuck one hoof towards him. "I swear to these terms. You let my campers go unharmed, and I'll make sure another shipment comes."
He extended one leg, then touched up against hers with obvious reluctance. “Agreed. They can go. But when this is over—Amie, this camp is depending on you. Those children only happen to be the ones who signed up for Pioneering. Camp Stella Lacus has many hundreds of others, whose only crime was not wanting to learn how to tie knots and survive in the wild. Will you abandon them?"
"No." She settled one hoof under her. "I'm going to get us out of this, somehow. Now I need you to tell your private army the deal we just made. Nobody attacks my campers until then, nobody takes revenge, and nobody tries to stop them when they leave. Or me, obviously. Can't negotiate for more food if they shoot me."
He stood up again, pushing the chair back. "That would be easier to enforce if you hadn't killed three of them. You're not exactly popular around here."
She ground her teeth together, baring her fangs. "Maybe it's time for you to tell them the truth. Equestrian guardsmen killed them, or their own mistakes trying to chase me down a cliff. I didn't kill anyone."
"You'll need to offer more than you have if you want that. But come—I can make them let you go, anyway. I suggest you exit the camp quickly once you do. I can't supervise them all night."
“I’ll be out of here in minutes,” she agreed. “And my campers will follow. I expect to get them in the same state they were when I saw them tonight. No punishing them for what you think I did.”
really making go on the side of fuck the ponies wondering if that library they mentioned got info on old weapons like from the world wars to help them out or at least give them a big stick to use for some diplomacy with what will most likely be twilight and friends I think
Albrecht was willing to cooperate for now, but clearly he still fancied himself as the rightful leader, or even ruler, of Stella Lacus. If Amie was able to use her queenly powers fully, he and his little army wouldn't be much of a problem, but she still had much to learn. In the end, the hive can only have one ruler. The more desperately Albrecht clung to power, the more likely he would perish before the end.
I'm not sure of Albrecht, I want to believe he's not out for himself or power, and while he's antagonistic to Amie it's because of his slight authoritarian tendencies not because he's a villain. But he's in a situation where that can spiral out real fast, being surrounded by actual people looking to harm his camp. Most dictators have to make up an enemy, he has very real ones.
That said, I think not telling him more is gonna come bite Amie real soon. What happens when President Albrecht hears the Changelings delivering glamour call Amie Queen? Not understanding they are eusocial and have a queen caste he'll think it's a power play and act on his worst suspicions. Same with not knowing why Equestria is acting so violently to the camp. Sharing that the paranoid security is because they were just under attack (huh, now I'm getting post 9-11 hyper-militant US vibes, damn your writing goes deep) by people that look very much like the members of the camp. Albrecht would probably be much more understanding (not agreeing with, but understanding why) there is a military base nearby watching if he had context. Oh, and that there is a hive of changelings that are definitely not good. Would be shocked Chrysalis hadn't heard about the camp yet, she'd eat Albrecht, figuratively then literally.
That said, misunderstandings and "I can explain!" followed by not explaining are a trope. Conflict is a big driver of stories and that can be how the story keeps the audience's attention. Albrecht, Equestria, if they knew everything the story would be a lot shorter and less tense.
11491196
Just because the other hives have a single all powerful queen doesn't mean Stella Lacus needs to follow that example. Queen Kara has a council that she shares power with. What's to say Stella Lacus won't keep to it's democratic roots and have elected positions side by side with it's eusocial ones? When the Pride changelings came to Equestria absolute rulers were the norm so they have absolute rulers, that's not true of the Stella Lacus changelings. The future of this hive (is they stay in Equestria) will be very interesting, I think.
The only good thing, even if it is very skewed towards corruption, is that the "president" is probably thinking of the campers and is desperate and trusting enough of Amie to deliver more food without any sort of gurantee (hostage).
Human's greed for power will kill the campers some day. Albrecht will probably take the relief team hostage and that would be it.
albrecht rubs me all the wrong way's, i just want to kick his rum of the mauntan and let the questrian's deal with him
yep Albrecht won't honer that deal. he will need removed with grate hast or should i say turned to past.
love the chapter awesome righting.
11491200
From what we've seen so far Albrecht's Stella Lacus wasn’t anywhere near democratic. He had no reason to self-style as "president" other than to satisfy his own ego, yet that's exactly what he did. We don't even see him sharing power with anyone, just him and his armed guards, while the majority of the "citizens" were teens who are easier to control than adults. He kept himself relatively well fed in times of starvation, and the only source of the legitimacy of his rule was his supposed ability to ensure the survival of Stella Lacus, which was a complete lie. Without Amie and her efforts Stella Lacus would be done for and there's nothing Albrecht could do about that. If anything, it's Amie and Wes who could build up a more democratic society for the new hive: Amie didn't really want to become the leader, and Wes was the key to transform the changelings and make them not reliant on queens.
You could argue that in real life Albrecht would probably be a more suitable leader than Amie, that Albrecht must have other ways to sustain his rule other than relying on suspicious armed goons, that presidents are superior to hereditary monarchs, that ironfisted leader are sometimes needed, but this is just a Starscribe MLP fanfic and every Starscribe fic I've read are all like this: protagonists good, authoritarian idiots who cling to power try to oppose/use protagonists so therefore bad; humans come to Equestria (which is a theocratic diarchy without any trace of a constitution, by the way), search for a way home, only to find Equestria better and decide to stay. Practically everything is pointing towards Albrecht being a typical Starscribe villain, simple as that.
The most telling that Albrecht can't remain in charge is the fact that he hasn't accepted Amie's innocence yet. While Amie may not have proof, Albrecht does not subscribe to innocent until proven guilty towards someone who has actually been helping the camp despite his actions.
Still not sure about Albrecht. On one hand, he's clearly the dictator of Stella Lacus. Don't know how much larger his ration of glamour is but it's probably larger than it needs to be. On the other hand, he didn't shoot Amie on sight. The camp is still a priority over whatever ambitions or pettiness he might have. We'll have to see if he trusts Amie enough not to act separately and harvest from the Equestrians.
Ugh. There's no way Albrecht is gonna stick to that deal. When the last of those kids tries to leave he's gonna have one of his cronies intercept them, and then when the rest get to Amie and she calls him out on her missing a camper he's gonna feign ignorance and claim a guard didn't get the notice.
11491196
It's definitely the largest conflict brewing up other than a possible Equestrian raid. There can only one be queen for one hive.
11491197
I'm guessing Amie's trying keep a delicate balance by keeping Albrecht in the dark as well as keep her own cards hidden. She has EVERY right and opportunity to usurp him. Doing so might make Albrecht panic and act in a rash and reckless manner which will destroy the camp. She also still has to learn the ropes of being a queen. And the camp isn't stable yet. It's not a good time to reveal herself yet.
Albrecht really needs to get his head out of his own ass, swallow his pride, and admit he fed up already.
Good job Amie
Lots of people here seem to think that Albrecht won't honor his promise but I don't really see any precedent to support that thesis. The previous conversations with him have painted him more as a morally gray character than an outright evil one - someone who's struggling to keep control in a dire situation. He's power hungry, sure, but he's not completely stupid and he knows he needs those relief shipments.
If he does betray Amie, it'll be to keep a hostage.
11491383
You forget he refuses to say the truth why his men died. He cannot be trusted
11491383
Even at his most morally gray, if he outright loses all trust in Amie, he'll send his people to either arrest Amie or harvest from the Equestrians independently. From his point of view, he thinks Amie is making power plays or saving only her people. Her defiance and independence as well as the long gaps between communication doesn't help things.
11491246
I'm not saying Albrecht is acting democratically, but that the campers are used to that (they do come from the USA if I remember the early chapters correctly). Those are the roots I'm talking about. I doubt anyone at Stella Lacus would accept a queen, but someone speaking with authority could convince everyone they should be president, like I assume Albrecht did.
I absolutely agree that any democracy that might come to exist at the camp would probably come from Amie and Wes. Though the show does have mayors, so the idea of electing leaders can't be unheard of in Equestria. I'm also pretty sure no part of the story has referenced the Princesses as being anything more than long-lived monarchs, not worshiped beings.
Lastly, I really don't appreciate that you took my "I hope this guy doesn't turn out to be a complete villain" and read it as my full support for him as leader of the camp in this story. I'm not arguing that he's a better leader than Amie, or that an "ironfisted leader" is sometimes needed. The whole 'hard times require strong men to lead' idea is some fascist BS. Please don't paint me as your pro-authoritarian strawman to argue against.
The camp leader is a lawyer? Well that explains a lot : /
11491547
I apologize for that if you interpreted the last section that way, I’ll admit if anything it showed my own authoritarian tendencies, if you will. What I was trying to say is that in real life politics is complicated and messy. There will always be lots of morally dubious stuff, politicians’ powers don’t come from thin air and authoritarian rulers exist because real, actual people for one reason or another support them. But this is just a simple story, and stories like this only work as the author intends. Right now it seems to me the author is trying to portray Albrecht as a villainous, authoritarian and egoist man who didn’t know better, and judging from other people’s reactions in the comments section, I think they succeeded. Personally I would argue that I don’t even see any reason Albrecht could remain in power for this long if real-life logic is to be applied, but I know if he is to be overthrown, he could only be overthrown by Amie, because this is how stories like this work.
Also, I find the “Americans can bring the fresh air that is democracy to Equestria” mindset extremely strange. If people and the protagonists they created think the Equestrian theocratic diarchy with no visible constitution nor democratic organ is an acceptable form of government, then there’s also no reason for them to question the changeling monarchist tradition. Right now the authoritarian Albrecht had been ruling Stella Lacus poorly for months and there’s no visible resistance outside of Amie and her group, which makes me think the average person in Stella Lacus wouldn’t ever get the chance to take the initiative and put their “democratic roots” to use, especially in front of a queen who have the ability force her will on them. In the end, if Stella Lacus is really to get democracy, the reason would be “because Amie said Stella Lacus should be democratic”, which is indeed somewhat ironic.
Why would Albrecht think she couldn't sense his emotions? It's been a while since the early chapters when Amie was living in the camp, but I could've sworn the campers were sensing each other's emotions back then?
It's quite confusing, is he insane? He must know Amie holds all the cards, even cards he doesn't know about, and yet still persists? This is not a good look.
So, that went... Well. Albrecht definitely seems to be getting worse, slowly descending into authoritarian madness...
11491636
They were, but it was more vague, I think. Only after becoming a queen could she turn that emotional 'vision' from a blur to detect who it was directed at, and some level of intent?
When this is done Amie needs to execute Albrecht and every one of his enforcers plus anyone who was willing to bully and murder for him. They cannot serve any useful purpose and will only continue to be a problem for everyone. Better yet, make examples of them. Slice their tendons and hang them by their tails until they either bleed out or die of dehydration.
11491241 Bro how drunk are you? I've seen 3rd graders with better spelling and grammar.
11491299 Naw he just needs to die. There is no fixing THAT level of Chaotic Evil/stupid.
11492522
and i am way old enough to not give a rats ass what you think.
i.pinimg.com/564x/6c/79/5e/6c795ed89bf4fd8a4e8cd0307e9cd21c.jpg
11492539
I see your meme and raise you science.
11492539 With a response like that you really are a 3rd grader. Does your mommy know you're on her computer?
11492567
You went off on the guy for spelling. That was rude. Don't attack people for no reason; nobody needs pointless arguments.
Anyway, hm. I'd been holding out hope for Albrecht straightening out since his last contact with Amie, but this just wiped away any faith I had. I'm not necessarily convinced he's starving out Amie's campers so much as the general state of the camp being hopeless and unsustainable - we're seeing changelings dying that weren't a part of her group, so it's likely that there's really just no food to go around at this point. But the fact that he's clinging to propaganda and treating Amie like a criminal (and feeling that way towards her, it's not just a front for his men) when he knows full well what really happened paints a dangerous picture. And there's no way he's going to react well to Amie being a queen - he very clearly wants to be the one in charge and has no qualms about silencing political rivals. This isn't about the good of Stella Lacus anymore, I don't think - not when it became a matter of propaganda. Amie's proven nothing but helpful and even if Albrecht has a reason to fear she'll play favorites, he's in no position to power play the way he's trying to. Certainly not morally.
Albrecht is walking the knife's edge and it appears he's slipping.
11492567
Dude, you're kinda being an a-hole. I've seen you around, and read some of your stories, so I know you're better than this. Let it go.
11493416 I had stopped.
To clarify, I was initially trying to playfully take the piss out of him. I was hoping the guy would have a snappy and snarky playful comeback and maybe edit a bit, but that did not happen. If he said that he was genuinely upset by it and called me an @$$hole or a jerk I would have apologized. That did not happen. Instead several other people jumped in so I hit back. As an English major I can get a bit uppity about grammar, but I really was trying to be playful. If I went too far and genuinely offended then I apologize. That was not really my intent. But knowing how people take stuff these days issuing an apology is asking to get verbally jumped by everyone and their mother while doubling down tends to make people just ignore or drop it.
And to be fair I AM an @$$hole. I just don't generally act like it to people. One guy called me rude so I stopped responding until now.
11492539
The meme: As long as the first and last letters of a word are in the right place, you can read scrambled words, no problem.
Also the meme: Cna yuo
Very much outside the applicable jurisdiction.
Fascinating to see how Albrecht's mental model of Amie has warped in the time she's been gone. He's likely repeated the narrative of her killing the guards so much that he believes it, and he's gone from there to casting her as a callous monster with minimal regard for lives she considers unimportant.
Every accusation a confession...
We'll see just how well he keeps his word in time. And maybe Amie should have asked for the state she saw her campers or better given some of them...
That was calm. I was reluctant to read this because I feared a brainless bloodbath that ruins everything for everyone. At least they're willing to talk. That's a rarity nowadays.
Wait, how do you tell a thousand campers that bacon is now off the table except for Wes? That's not going to be popular.