A ripple of fear passed through Amie's fresh hunters. A few stood up, shifting towards the doors. Only Rick and Beth were unaffected.
Amie inclined her head to him, then gestured at the hall. "Outside. Everyone else, I'll be right back."
Pachu'a followed her from the room, then down the hall to where Rain Fly had once made her bedroom. Inside she found a space more or less as she left it, with the possible exception of a few fresh claw marks on the wood. So Beth had been using it with her hippogriff persona.
At least she kept the place clean. No new green slime had ruined any of her furniture. "You made it into Agate," she said, as soon as the door clicked closed behind them. "I fail to see why you needed to panic my campers."
Pachu'a remained close to the door, ready to bolt. Though whether he intended to run from her, or something worse—she couldn't know. "Nothing has changed in Agate since our last visit, honored queen. Consider that a moment. There are no new guards—no enhanced patrols—no fresh soldiers crowd the streets."
"That sounds... great!" She crossed to the window, peeking outside. There was no visible difference from her memory. The streets outside were quiet and dark. Hardworking ponies usually slept with the sun. Including one in particular that she wanted to see again.
"I'm sorry, why are you panicking over that? Isn't that exactly what we want?"
He crossed the room in a burst of motion from his feathers, landing on the window seat in front of her. "Because, honored queen, you revealed yourself to that mare during our hike together. The ponies know their city is compromised. They know, and we see no different."
He yanked the curtains away from her hoof, then hopped back down again. "The equestrians are barbaric and simple in their instincts, but they are not stupid. If we do not see their preparations, it means they cannot be seen. It does not mean they make none. A noose is curling around your neck, waiting to tighten. You must escape it and relocate your hunters."
Amie settled down into a sitting position. "There's another option. Maybe I got through to her—maybe she's second guessing the genocide angle. Maybe Sweetie Drops knows that if she does anything to lock the city down, it could spark off a war. But what she really wants is a diplomatic solution."
Pachu'a laughed in her face, loud and bitter. "Diplomacy with barbarians is impossible. Forgive me, honored queen—but you speak like the youngest nymph, freshly born. I warn you this last time: do not allow your naivete to claim the lives of these bugs. Trust the ways of those who have survived in hostile lands."
With each word, he grew increasingly despondent, fearful. She could not conceal her true feelings. She was not convinced.
"You're as doomed as the mad queen," he said, turning to go. "You and your tribe, opposites of the same coin. Proof of the need for balance. They were vicious and cruel, burning the forest instead of taking wise stewardship. Your madness will end in the death of many. The ancestors grant you see the folly in your actions before it is too late."
He left. Si'tsi joined him in the hall, and they made for the stairs.
Amie rose, then followed him. "Is this the best our future could be, Pachu'a?"
He stopped, glancing back at her. "Death?"
"Hiding. Running, fighting, killing. There's a better way."
Si'tsi shook her head slowly. "Will the ponies give up oats next? Will the spider stop spinning her web? Impossible." They vanished down the steps, leaving her standing motionless in the hall.
Tailslide should've heard that. Must be exhausted from that stupid job.
But she couldn't go to him yet—there was one task remaining to her.
Wes appeared in the doorway, silent. Until the door clicked, and the hunters vanished into the night. "He didn't convince you?"
She shook her head once, stepping back in. Her campers crowded in close, watching her eagerly.
"He might be right about the danger—I don't know." She tugged the door closed. "We could live the way he wants. We could stay moving, stay on the run, hiding and hunting forever. It works for their tribe. They've done it for centuries."
"But he didn't convince you," Beth prompted. "They were so afraid."
Amie nodded. "They've spent so long hiding from ponies they don't understand them—but I do. You do too, Beth What have you learned?"
"They're... people?" she suggested. "A little weird sometimes. My client is such a boomer. But she means well... just wants a bird to be her friend."
"Exactly." Amie gestured at the window. "They've been hurt. They're scared. But we can get through that to the other side and find the people underneath. If we can do it for them, the ponies can do it for us."
"We aren't in danger?" Sydney prompted. "They wouldn't really hurt us, that's what you're saying."
"No. Unfortunately... no. We're still in danger, the same amount I warned you about. You can't get caught out there no matter what." She turned on Beth. "That goes double for you and Wes. When you go north, you'll be on your own."
Amie wasn't even sure her magic would work at that distance. At least Beth wasn't starving anymore. So long as she stayed on good terms with Wes, she wouldn't even need to hunt.
"Not alone," Rick said, before either of them could say anything. "I'm going with them too. Two isn't enough."
Amie winced. Her wings twitched open, and she forced them closed again. "Rick, you're an expert on Equestria now. I need you back in Stella Lacus teaching more hunters."
He hurried forward, settling another full jar onto the table in front of her. Glamour, one of several that he and Beth had filled. Not as much as the relief mission of course, but still a significant sum. Amie didn't see it as a volume anymore—she imagined how many mouths it would feed. Two hundred bugs would eat a single meal from the contents of that jar. Every drop stockpiled in the apartment would feed her bugs for a week.
Inadequate. Better than nothing.
"Make do," he said. "Beth and I have been together since... the start. She goes, I go. Or Wes can do it alone. Your brother knows how to be a pony too."
My magic won't work on him. She couldn't entertain this argument much longer, or else let slivers of doubt and disagreement work their way into her hunters. They needed confidence now more than ever. "Alright, Rick. You've earned it. But the same warning. Where you go is dangerous. Their capital, then the north. We don't even know what we'll find there. And I expect you to listen to whatever Wes tells you. This is his mission."
Beth nodded. "We can do that. We can change on our own now, Amie—both of us. With that and some money, we'll be ghosts. Wes already explained everything. Meet your old friend, let you take over for a bit, learn the secret magic to travel the worlds. Then north to… wherever's far north. Get up there, get home safe. Sounds more fun than living in a mine."
The next few hours were not easy exactly, but they were at least straightforward. Amie had already planned it all out—building the team that would carry their magic back, traveling out the other direction as hikers before diverting around the city and doubling back. The others would stay, taking on Beth and Rick's clients, or new ones. Amie hadn't just picked the bravest bugs, but the most outgoing, friendly bugs she knew.
For the hunters, Amie helped them take new forms, and gave advice on what their job would be, before finishing with one last admonition about safety. "Marcus. Remember everything we talked about."
He nodded. "Intranet checking every morning and night. Always come back to this building the same way we left. Don't hurt the locals. If you're caught, take the money and run, don't go straight back to camp."
She nodded gratefully, then stood up. "Morning's coming soon. Might want to review for your first hunt. Maps are there... we've got a few campers here who can answer your questions about living in Equestria. I have to talk to Tailslide before work."
If only she could make the trip in person, she could do more than talk to him. But not when she wasn't in her own body.
One door down the hall, and she reached her bedroom—another identical space among many. A pony slept within, soundly despite the drama transpiring outside his door. But considering how hard Tailslide worked, that didn't surprise her.
The door wasn't locked, so she slipped in without trouble, clicking it closed behind her. Not that she expected any of her campers to try and follow, but she couldn't be sure.
She approached the bed as silently as a bat. Maybe it would be kinder just to let him rest. But Amie couldn't talk about friendship and honesty with her campers while ignoring it herself. This pegasus deserved a little of it from her.
"Hey," she whispered, as gently as she could. "Tailslide. You with me?"
He cracked open one eye, focusing on her. "Amie?"
"Yes and no. I'm... not really here. This is changeling magic."
He sat up abruptly. "Amie. You need to know what happened. There was this pony—she wanted to talk about you."
"Sweetie Drops," she suggested. "Earth pony? Cream coat, blue and pink mane? Curly?"
He touched her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. "You fought her on the road? An agent of the Crown? Amie... I told you not to get into trouble! You promised!"
You don't want to know what's happening at camp right now either. She settled down beside him on the bed. She resisted any attempt to move further. It didn't matter how badly she wanted to get closer, she wouldn't do it with someone else's body. "It wasn't supposed to get violent. I just did what you tried to do—told a pony the truth. I thought she might listen to me."
"She... knew a lot. About the battle by the river. Motherlode, you saving me—she knew it all."
Amie nodded. "Did she sound... convinced? Do you think it made a difference?"
"Hard to tell. Knowing what she did—she could've arrested me. But she didn't. That seems good. She did say I shouldn't leave town, but that's it."
Amie chuckled. "Guess I probably shouldn't... tell you what I came to tell you, then. If she doesn't want you leaving."
Tailslide squeezed a little harder with both wings, holding her still. "Whatever it is, I deserve to know, or you wouldn't be worried about it."
More than you know. "Well, I... I don't know how to tell you this..." She pulled free of him, wings opening halfway. Maybe she could fight hard enough to keep her body still, rebelling against all instinct in the process. She tucked her tail, and her ears pressed flat. "You know that... what we were doing... sometimes there are consequences, right? When two ponies are together..."
His eyes got wider. He hopped out of bed, rising to his hooves. "I know the kinds of things that can happen. Are you saying that your transformation is so good... you can get—"
If it was, Amie probably wouldn't know. Surely the act of changing form again would destroy such nascent life before it began. "I think it must be... more magical than that." It was her following him this time, across the room. "I thought you might want to know, since—you're involved. I think they'll be little bugs, not ponies. Maybe you'd... rather not hear this. The whole process sounds super gross, probably lots of goo and slime and straight out of Alien shit.
"But you deserve to know, even if it's just so you can run as far away from here as possible. Wouldn't blame you."
She didn't have to wonder what he was feeling. Sickly fear, nervous energy, disgust. But something won out over all of that, stronger by far. He wrapped both wings around her again, holding her still. "I'm not going to run, Amie. Whatever this is... you shouldn't have to go through it alone. Are you coming back to live here?"
She shook her head. "N-no. Already... getting harder to travel. I think I'll have to stay where I am until the process is done. I'll use magic to go further, like what I'm doing now. But mostly I'll lay around and... run things."
"Then I'll join you. You need protection. And I want to see—no matter how gross it gets."
Was there a limit to how much love could travel through Farcasting? If so, Amie didn't encounter it then. The stallion didn't have to do anything to her—his oath was enough.
A test for him, to be sure.
The fact he wasn't detained further is a very good sign indeed.
obligatory giggity for chapter number
Things will only get interesting from here, and I mean really interesting. I can only guess when either Bon Bon, Celestia, or even Chrysalis will rear their heads in future chapters.
So much awww : )
A good father.
Dammit, Pachu’a, another false alarm? It seems Sonoma has completely lost faith in Amie. Guess we’ll have to get some diplomacy done over a few months and show our results before they actually start to believe. Hopefully Sweetie Drops has the power and intent to prevent a Guard attack on Stella Lacus.
Finally she tells Tailslide. Unsurprisingly, he’s sticking with it. Though I don’t know how Sweetie Drops might react to him leaving town considering she just told him not to.
Albrecht and Cmdr Path remain the biggest concerns.
Considering the danger emanating from the army and SMILE, it would have been prudent to infiltrate and spy on both of these organisations, with or without Pachu'a's warnings. Although given what he said, that's going to be pretty difficult now - they're going to be aware of such attempts now, as shown by the fact that they're not taking on new recruits.
Tailslide leaving town could backfire very badly. If he suddenly disappears, Equestria may start to think he'd been kidnapped.
I felt Tailside's conviction through my screen. He has a heart of gold. Maybe even bigger than Shining's.
I can't believe that Pachu gave us the scare of the lifetime with that but there's no army waiting outside.
On the one hand, Tailslide's a good stallion. On the other, a stallion seduced by the new queen going to the hive after a S.M.I.L.E. agent explicitly told him not to leave town (and after said queen insisted the hive had only peaceful intentions) doesn't provide the best optics. Pachua and company may be paranoid after centuries of failed diplomacy on both sides... but the thing is that ponies really are out to get them. Sure, we know upcoming events favors Amie, but she still has to survive long enough to see them happen. We'll see how many of the shadows actually hide something worth worrying about.
Sweetie and SMILE must be confused with what to do. They're being cautious and careful. Though them thinking Tailslide has been replaced or enthralled seems to be a logical conclusion they can make too. As far as changeling magic goes, it may or may not be too far from the truth, though it seems Tailslide has most of his senses. They're probably trying to develop magic to "reveal" or "free" him. Seems like the path forward is to let them do whatever they want. Satisfy them enough to pass their tests and actually develop a diplomatic relationship.
Though Amie should heed Pachua's words as well. She can't blindly trust the ponies to pay good faith with good faith. They're people like Beth said. And what comes with that is all the potential for zealotry and evil as well. She needs to make sure her words are having the intended effect.
Amie also has to realize that yeah they’re people but they aren’t human too plus the state of relative peace happened very recently in human history. Even then war still exists.
While rational ponies like Ivy and Tailside exist there will still be ponies that are irrational and fearful.
And that is the majority considering the only experiences the public has had to changelings was extremely traumatic and negative.
And we’ve seen what irrational fear and suspicion can do to normal people like Albrecht and the other campers .
They will have to play it safe. They aren’t equipped or ready to go against an entire kingdom .
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I don't know about that it might not just be the guns that can give them advantages could have walkie talkie or a radio set that would help them keep a few steps ahead the main problem are the unicorns and their magic making it less that they have an advantage than they have a potential equalizer.
math can help them here for one they could use that radio to help them perform artillery shots by doing some math to find the path of the possible bomb or anything they can come up with like filling barrels with oils or something that can catch fire not to mention making kill zones in which they can slaughter the enemy army at range or use traps along there most likely path.
the main problem with this is they aint me and I know my self most people are better than me and by that, I mean morally and I can respect them for that even here she keeping humanity alive but I would be gathering resources and writing down everything useful I can think of and since not to mention raiding that library to find any type of anything that could be used like old weapon designs or planes to use for defense against wild animals and the natives with literal magic.
but these guys are mainly kids and some adults that are probably more interested in just trying to live without putting themself in danger and I doubt the new queen here will go that route
Awwwwwwww. So sweet of him. I like it
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Amie is trying for peace but the path to peace is rarely as simple and easy as we would like it to be. Whether she can get peace without bloodshed I don't know. Luna barely knows her despite having access to her dreams which tell you something about the person if you pay attention enough. Celestia doesn't know enough to realize that she could have peace and twilight 50/50 considering the wedding. Maybe she could have handled it better but her friends didn't handled well at all. They should really been listening to twilight instead brushing off her concerns and the spell was not a good sign. If he was under a spell they should have checked it out and if he is getting headaches then have someone else take over even the princesses and send him to a doctor.
Considering in the show it was spike who made peace between the 2 species and starlight helped by helping to save the day.
Other ponies would need convincing considering they can't see any differences between one type of changeling and another.
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Well it doesn't help Equestria hidden racism and the wedding incident. Both things are keeping changelings from getting peace.
Huzzah! She's actually telling tailslide something. And equestria might even be open to negotiation.
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It’s safe to say they don’t have artillery, nor could they make any on short notice. But also artillery doesn’t suit small battles like this. Best option is a killzone set up in a chokepoint in the mine entrance, with gasoline to hopefully light up invaders, though how to light the gas in combat conditions is a problem.
Thank god.
There's so much delicious context in those two words. I love it!
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Don't forget to include Luna in that equation.
It's been reviewed in earlier chapters that Luna already had some questions about just how dangerous these new changelings might be.
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ya true it is hard on Earth this is a different world but while I say artillery I think more here behind a hill and start launching but it still probably won't work I don't really see the ponies as much in the military department but they got advantages to make up for it one of which is teleportation which could get past traps and ambushes but the thing is I am not sure how many times unicorns can cast spells or use them to the level where they can be used in combat effectively like if they kept missing sending out magical beams or failed to teleport into the right position etc.
maybe try taking hostages and forcing negotiations
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They have fliers, you can't artillery bombard birds. The only thing to do is to go into the mine and trap the entrance.
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I forgot about them lol ya under ground also really helps deal with teleporting as well along with number food because the problem then
Sweetie Drops talking to Tailslide was to be expected and it's good that Amie told Tailslide about her pregnancy. I doubt Pachu'a fears were correct given that Sweetie Drops didn't seem to think the danger has increased given commander Path's idiotic approach to everything.
Sweetie had to be trying to confirm the story, or maybe seeing if Tallslide could be trusted. But something's definitely up with the lack of increased surveillance
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Question is, good for whom? He might have been tagged by SMILE, and they're eagerly waiting for his magical beacon to disclose the location of the hive to them. A long shot, yes, but he isn't a unicorn, and lings may not be able to detect it either.
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They already know the location of the hive, it's likely very obvious from the mini exodus that occurred over the prior day, the beginning of which wasn't attempted to be hidden at all with the mass of workers just flying straight there and gathering at the entrance.
Can’t wait for this journey to play out.
I have a very bad feeling about this.
Dude is awesome, good chapter
It isn't a huge leap to go from Tailslide to "the rent-a-friend is infested" - ASSUMING they were able to trace him.
A little caution wouldn't go amiss, but at least the vulnerability she is showing will make Equestria take her peace offer more seriously... Hopefully?
Hm. Going to have to be careful to ensure Tailslide isn't followed.