Rick looked away from her, hiding his fear. That might have helped him if she was a pony, or something remotely similar. Unfortunately for the bug, Amie could still see his emotions. She could see his thoughts too, if she pushed hard enough. She didn't though—probing into someone's mind without their permission felt like a violation. Her loyal bugs deserved better.
"Where is Wes?" she repeated. "It's not like him to run off for no reason. Did he go out for groceries?"
"No." Rick hurried across the room, over to the only bed. Amie recognized that smell instantly—her brother. That made sense, considering the other two were bugs who didn't sleep. He lifted something in his magic, holding it out for Amie to inspect. A newspaper. "Not sure what set him off. He was reading this one minute—then he took most of the money and ran. We would've had to fight him to keep him from leaving!"
Amie took the newspaper, opening up each page and flipping through it. "When did this happen?"
"This morning. Beth and I were expecting you to call days ago. We thought something must be wrong, but... we weren't sure what to do. The intranet would never work this far away. There are some radios that might, but only Albrecht has those."
He doesn't even know about camp. But Amie didn't tell him, because she saw what Wes must've. On the second page, a large headline next to the photo of a frightened pony. "Fears of Changeling Infiltration Rock the Crystal Palace" Amie skimmed the article in silence, but found nothing more suggestive. The “crystal empire” had just enjoyed a monumental and somewhat frightening birth, leading to a new heir.
The article was vague on details, only hinted at inconsistencies in the court records. Little things went missing, names that couldn't be found in the city kept showing up on sign-in sheets. None of the murders Sweetie Drops suggested would follow a true changeling infiltration.
The article's writer was clear in their suspicions, though. They blamed “lax” security in the Changeling Isolation Zone for potential escapes, arguing for a more definitive "solution" to the changeling problem.
"He went... here," Amie said, gesturing at the map. "Somewhere called the Crystal Empire. Why does the article write like they're part of Equestria?"
Rick shrugged. "That sounds familiar. Wes wanted to go there. I... assume we're going to follow him? Beth and I, I mean."
"Yes. You can catch the evening express. I'll meet Ivy tonight, and Beth can catch the morning train tomorrow."
"No," Rick said, without hesitation. "No chance. Amie—I know you're the... queen... but this is dangerous territory. We already split up once. If Beth and I get separated, I might never see her again. I won't do that."
She should've expected more resistance. It was the only reason Rick was here at all. She needed his skills working with the mine's intranet, or hunting glamour. Instead, he chased a diplomatic mission. "Alright. But you can't go with me to Ivy. She's only expecting me. If I bring someone else, it might set off their security. Her father is the general keeping Stella Lacus trapped, remember."
He nodded. "I could still... be in the same general area. There are gardens on rooftops and stuff, I could just hang out in one of those. Be close in case Beth needs me." He moved closer, touching one hoof against her chest. "Can she... hear me? Are you two people right now, or..."
"Sorta," Amie said. "I think if I was better at this, I could make suggestions to her, instead of taking over. But I haven't practiced that much. The bugs I usually do this to don't have... minds... anymore. It's new to me too."
Rick pushed harder. "I know I don't have to tell you, counselor. But I will anyway. Don't take Beth into danger. That isn't right. She's not just a glove for you to wear, even if she lets you do it."
Amie pushed his hoof away with magic, firm. "I know, Rick. I'm not. Ivy is my friend. If I smell trouble, I'll run. But her letter—she thinks she has a way to get us home! I may not understand my powers that much, but I can feel that Beth agrees with me. That's why she insisted you two wait here, instead of following Wes. She knows that getting everyone home is more important than chasing one bug. Even if that bug is my brother."
That worked. Rick's anger eased, and he nodded. "I'm glad she's still in there. Beth—if you're not comfortable with this, kick her out. I know you're strong enough."
"I called her, idiot!" The words didn't come from Amie—but they came anyway, from her mouth. From Beth's mouth that she borrowed. "If I thought I could do this without her, I would've gone to meet her friend already. The queen knows what she's doing."
It took Amie another few seconds to reestablish... control? That wasn't quite right. First there were two of them, then just one again. This is how Kaya can look through the eyes of many bugs at once. She only uses a tiny bit of her concentration, splitting it between them all. Even considering that made Amie's head hurt, and she dismissed the possibility instantly. With luck, they would be back on Earth before that mattered.
An hour later, and they were in the right place—uptown Canterlot where magical light shone in every window, and the ponies walked with a delicate poise that Amie could never hope to imitate. But that didn't matter—she wasn't supposed to be a posh, well-bred mare from a place like this. Rain Fly never would've made friends with Ivy that way.
"Don't come in unless it sounds like an emergency," Amie said. "I'll reach for you, you'll know. Otherwise, just keep your head down. If I stay the night, you can come back in the morning. Not sure what she'll offer."
Rick nodded. Thanks to her powers, she didn't have to wonder if he would obey. Rick knew that she thought it was safe, and in turn radiated his willingness to obey her instructions. She couldn't expect more. "Be careful, both of you."
Amie continued along the street, separating from him at the stop sign, then turning up the lane. She compared the numbers with her memorized address, and finally selected one home among many.
She didn't need the numbers to find this place. The Path estate looked a little like a military fortification itself. Instead of fine statues and beautiful gardens, there was only a single straight path, under the watchful eyes of a dozen different windows. She saw at least one armored pony watching from above, though their armor wasn't the gold she was used to.
No traps sprung on her at least, though she did feel a general pressure of suspicion on her. Those were some paranoid house-guards for a residential property.
No soldiers rushed out to arrest her. She reached the oversized metal doors and knocked.
Hoof steps echoed off a stone floor, galloping in from parts unknown. Finally, the door opened, and a figure appeared there. The unicorn was old, more bone than flesh, with a horn as sharp as her expression. "I venture that you are Rain Fly, is that correct?"
The pony felt almost nothing, emotions so feeble that Amie barely even tasted them. Rather—there was only one feeling, so dominant it swallowed all others. Never before had she met a creature that knew such powerful disdain.
Amie stood up straight, meeting her eyes. Her body was too young and short to be anywhere close to this mare's height, though. "That's me. I'm here to see Ivy Path. I think she's expecting me."
"Yes." The mare spoke with considerable disbelief, clearly not willing to accept that anyone in her house would want to meet a creature like Amie. "Follow me." It was not a request.
Amie obeyed anyway, trailing after the stern mare.
Inside, the Path residence was much of what she expected—suits of armor, ancient uniforms, and military-themed portraits and murals filled the space. Whoever arranged it all cared more about getting it all out on display than using any kind of unifying theme, let alone common sense. They sometimes had to weave a circuitous path, because a statue took up the center of the next hallway.
They descended several flights of steps, until stone walls overtook narrow windows. Finally, they emerged in a library of sorts, packed with shelves and dusty tables. Her escort turned something on the wall, filling the room with a faint magical glow from overhead. It would've been more than enough for a changeling, though it wasn't much for a unicorn. "I believe she had a number of materials picked out for you to read on that table there. Make yourself... comfortable. I'll inquire if she is willing to entertain you at this late hour."
The mare didn't wait for Amie's acknowledgement, just turned right back out the way she'd come, shutting the door behind her. If Albrecht wasn't already married, I'd tell him I found the perfect woman for him.
Amie banished her anger, then lit her horn so she wouldn't trip on anything. The room had several desks, all empty except for one. That one had a mismatched assortment of books piled on it, from heavy textbooks to slim memoirs, all marked with a laminated library stamp.
The titles weren’t exactly fascinating, many named after esoteric magical concepts that she couldn’t even begin to understand. She picked the first one, then flipped through it at random. She found a bookmark about halfway through, on a page that happened to have an illustration.
It looked a little like a mirror, with a strange metal rim in the shape of a horseshoe. That was exactly the kind of vain, silly thing she expected from Equestria’s ponies—she could believe they would make something like that.
Thankfully, the text beside it was more interesting. It described its creator’s intentions to explore worlds beyond Equestria, and the realm of “two-legged monsters” he had found on the other side. “I do not believe meaningful exploration of this domain can serve any useful purpose. No magic extends to that realm, making all aspects of communication difficult. In the absence of magic, how could any beings understand kinship, compassion, or kindness?
What few encounters I had with the itinerant monsters of this domain reinforces this fear. With regret, I terminate my research. Perhaps it might serve as the means of permanent banishment for capital criminals. Even so, I believe death would be a kinder sentence.”
Clover’s writings were grim, but more importantly, they didn’t include anything about how they had built this portal. With so little concrete information about the other side, there was no telling if it was really Earth, or some other planet sharing the same basic body-plan. Considering how much Equestria had in common with her home, it felt entirely plausible.
This is good, Ivy. You’re on the right track.
The next volume was a set of old judicial records, chronicling those who had received the harshest sentences in Equestrian history. Including a number that were turned to stone, several particularly troublesome creatures were listed as “Banished through the Mirror to Thaumic Deadlands Beyond.”
The account gave very little more, though a few of them did resemble some aspects of familiar folklore. But that wasn’t new to Amie—the Pegasus came from myth too, as did unicorns. She already knew there was some connection here.
She was about to start on the third of the stacked volumes when hoof steps sounded from down the hall. Amie looked up, in time to see a beleaguered Ivy make her way inside.
Life in Canterlot clearly did not suit her. Her mane was messy, and her eyes were red and puffy. She felt worse than either, weighed down with guilt and fear and anxiety. Doing all this for me—I asked too much. Ivy’s a kid too.
Unlike the bugs, she wasn’t a kid who needed to work hard or get crushed by Equestrian violence. “Ivy! I’m sorry it took so long for me to get here… you wouldn’t believe everything that happened since you left.”
The mare nodded weakly. “You’re right. I don’t think I would.”
I hope that the changelings catch before he gets caught and messes things up. Amie is going chew him out when she gets ahold of him. And Luna better convince Celestia to start working on peace.
I wonder what happened to Ivy Path that makes her look like that,
Must've been strange if she finds the mirror portal only to find the humans there have very colourful skins and pony-like names.
what the fuck is wes exactly trying to do here, why's he heading off to the crystal empire?
Oh dear. Seems Ivy has been under psychological torture...
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Yeah, but the account says no magic and full of monsters. I don't think magical girl world matches that.
I wonder what's been stressing Ivy out. Has she been gaslit into believing Amie was deceiving her?
I think ivy needs a hug. Poor girl looks miserable.
A "Final Solution" then 💀.
Except Equestrians aren't likely going to bother with Concentration Camps.
While it's pretty certain that Clover's portal doesn't lead to the world of EqG, what with the description of a "thaumic wasteland" and whatnot, there's also no actual guarantee that it leads to the world Amie came from.
We'll see in a week what soured Ivy's mood in the interim, but I'll she either found out Amie was hired through the rent-a-friend or it has something to do with the same news Wes was reading.
Wes should've at least left a letter explaining why he had to go in such short notice. Given the reports, it won't do well if ponies really find evidence of "infiltration". They really needed to plan this out.
Ivy really went above the call here. Amie certainly owes her a lot even if there's no way home. We'll have to see if the mirror world is Earth. Depending on how the portal was used there's good chances any magical beings and ponies sent there became human. A lot of opportunity for them and the locals to mingle. Equestria is coming into contact with their way ward cousins.
Success so clearly in view... or is it merely a trick of the light?
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I don't know, it may have been devoid of magic when the portal was first built, but a thousand years is a long time for magic to have bled over from Equestria through it.
So Path found out and is using Ivy as bait.
"The mare nodded weakly. “You’re right. I don’t think I would.”"
That sounds exactly like what somepony would say if they were about to do a betrayal.
I've got a strong gut feeling that something VERY bad is going to happen in the next chapter. And I wonder if Wes will meet Thorax in the Crystal Empire?
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Well, that writing was, well, written by Clover which is over a thousand years ago. Many things could happen in a span of 1000 years, Equestrian magic could slowly seep through over the years when the portal between the two worlds was opened for the first time. Another point, this was written by Clover, who was a pony. So their account might be very unreliable when it comes to describing creatures, say "a two-legged monster" is likely referring to a human and the "itinerant monster" could be referring to a human or a horse or a human on a horse(provided if horses don't exist in Equestria might have reinforced the idea that it's a monster).
Just pointing it out. I'm by no means dismissing your view completely.
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Not to mention the comic depictions of Starswirl’s other mirror to a world with a good Sombra shows that the mirror’s existence causes some symmetry to happen between worlds, where people on that side become the entire opposite of the other side of the mirror, or rather, a distorted reflection.
Ivy's answer sounded rather ominous.
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could be a part of the reason the teleportation event happened
I don't like that ending. Something's not right here. The way that Ivy's eyes are red and puffy, suggesting crying, and how her emotions suggest guilt, fear, and anxiety, suggests that she's been talking to someone about Amie. And now that she has, someone has gotten to Ivy and now she won't believe anything that Amie might tell her. This is all a trap for Amie I think.
This is all going to end so very, very badly. Goddamnit.
If Earth was a "thaumic wasteland" originally, how did chunks of it get magically transported to Equestria? Could it be that opening a portal to Earth has caused a thaumic leak? And if so, does that make Equestria responsible for the creation of the changeling race?
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Cause of the vision, remember? The Crystal Empire is to the North, and his mission was to find a Changeling in the North. If a Changeling was spotted, or suspected, they might drive the changeling away, or worse kill him. And his vision quest to better save the entire changeling race, and his sister and their friends/hive, would fail cause he wasn't fast enough.
Amy is going to be taking a trip soon to Canterlot,
Oh, that's an ominous note to end on. (Also, I guess the story's still going.) This could go very, very poorly for Amie. Doubly so for Beth, since she's the one who's physically there. At least they have a little backup. Let's see where this goes and how badly Ivy's had it for the past several weeks.
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oh riiight, i forgot about that
Nooooo, you can’t end it like this. I wanted to finally see ivy path again
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I think you're probably spot on. Assuming the world Clover found is the changeling/human homeworld (and storytelling-wise it wouldn't make much sense for it to be anything else), this has some major implications for the relationship between ponies and changelings.
The idea that these transit events happen because of Equestria's practice of banning criminals to the human realm has a lot of merit. Like they're pushing against a cosmic force that reciprocates in equal measure. Like you can't throw your trash in a body of water without also displacing some of that water.
Plus, we could gleam from Sonoma's historical records how ponies and changelings have been caught in a vicious cycle of violence since time immemorial. Now we can pin down the original act of violence that started it all, in that Equestria made the human realm their dumping ground for all the worst monsters they could find. I'm not so sure how I like this thematically - the way to get over such an endless battle shouldn't lie in getting hung up on how it all started.
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You know what, same here. It's a bit of a weakness in how this story is written, I think. I say this as someone who's gotten burnt out on stories that engage in non-stop POV switching, but this story's limit on Amie's point of view kinda works to its detriment. There's some great characters here that we just don't see a lot of. Ivy has been a major character for the entire rent-a-friend arc, now we see her again, but she's apparently gone through some major character changes off-screen.
I can say the same thing about Wes, but to a much stronger degree. He's central to the entire story and he really should feature front and center, but he's barely present. We've also seen surprisingly little of the actual campers of Stella Lacus.
Did... Something happen to her father? Or a false flag from Chrysalis, maybe?
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Probably not the rent-a-friend. The guilt maybe implies she thinks that SHE did something wrong...
Overall, this is pretty concerning. I'd definitely be concerned about the possibility of a trap. The fact she's only been crying recently implies if it IS a trap, it's not premeditated - so news from the front feels likely.
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At the same time, maybe the Sisters have simply decided the best way of getting rid of the new changeling queen is to return her to what they think is their original world.
Poor Ivy- what the heck happened to her?