How many ways were there to build a nation? The planet she came from had its own infinity of answers, each one leading to dramatically different outcomes. But across all of human history, she couldn’t imagine any would resemble the path that she had ended up on now. No one had ever needed to build a city using a population of children all transformed into new bodies, given strange new powers that none of them fully understood. All the while, they were entirely surrounded by a population who feared and hated them. At the first sign of hostility, their host nation could decide to wipe them out completely.
She had known this of course, and so did the Equestrian princesses who penned their treaty. They all knew the fundamental needs that must be satisfied to sustain the population, let alone give it a chance to thrive. This would be no accidental (or intentional) starvation.
She could’ve kept everyone living in the mine shelter, which they had expanded in various ways since first colonizing it. But using it to defend against a raid had taught Amie an important lesson: bugs might like living down there, but humans didn’t. What she had were as much the latter as the former. But some things—like creating conditions for eggs to hatch—outright required building underground. They couldn’t just abandon their instincts and build houses again.
It was a little after the first snowfall—but eventually the last preparations were made, all the bugs were ready, and they were prepared to leave. It took most of the hive’s workers to carry her eggs, now swollen to at least twice their original size, into carefully-insulated train cars. Her bugs all took on the shape of ponies, griffons, and other creatures, then loaded into a series of trains bound for their new home.
Some small part of Amie still expected some terrible betrayal waiting at the end of the ride. Equestria had essentially arranged free labor to dismantle the camp, gathering all of its artifacts and useful material into carts. All they had to do was eliminate a few pesky bugs left over after the operation, and their presence in Equestria could be erased.
She had every reason to fear, after the way her bugs had been treated thus far. But this time—things were different. There was no horror waiting, only what the treaty required.
Even Amie wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when she arrived—certainly not what she found waiting for them. Equestria promised housing that could fit their needs and give them room to do their own expansion in the years ahead—and so they provided it.
The town of Maneport was located in a place so familiar to Amie, she recognized the shape of the river bisecting the city. She knew the old cobblestone streets, and those where more modern construction built towers that stretched higher and higher into the sky.
It was to one of those that her expedition eventually traveled, a towering hotel located more or less directly on the riverfront. Signs proclaimed the structure was the “Grand Dressage,” with windows stretching high into the sky, and all the hotel amenities one might expect. Importantly, it was also surrounded by new construction, all of which now halted. Some of the steam shovels, diggers, and mixers still parked in that empty space, waiting for crews that would not return.
“Seven hundred fifteen guest rooms,” Bon Bon said, as they entered the sprawling wooden entryway. The whole facility looked a little like it had been abandoned for a nuclear disaster—many of the accouterments of life remained exactly where their past occupants had left them. Hotel uniforms hung from hooks, while the occasional suitcase or saddlebags lay abandoned. A few stray cups of coffee remained on counters, no longer steaming.
But the lights were on, and the floors were polished. “My letter from the princess told me it was the largest property they could find for sale on short notice. But it should match every other one of the treaty’s specifications. Plenty of other space to use how you want, room to expand and build whatever else you need. Access to water and electricity from Maneport, and deliveries of food that you may require.”
She said that last with a little trepidation, before flipping through the several printed sheets she carried and finally settling on one. “This arrangement you’ve made with the… Rent-a-Friend… I’m still unsure how you’re going to feed all these bugs. I saw what the conquerors did in Canterlot. There were a hundred times more of them, but… still. How much love can you send back?”
Amie continued through the empty lobby to the elevator. It was an old-style device, one with a simple up-down that required an operator’s constant presence. She stepped inside with her pony escort, then levitated the controls into the sharpest upward position she could.
The craft began its ascent, so fast that she briefly flared her wings in case she needed them to hold herself steady. But she didn’t—they were still enclosed in the protective shelter of the elevator.
“Changelings come in different tribes. I can’t tell you specifics about the others, but I know they eat different emotions. The ones who attacked Equestria were the Erovores—they ate love. We can eat it, but we can also eat lots of other things. Joy, satisfaction, hope, compassion…”
She slowed as they approached the top, easing off the upward speed. The door was only a metal mesh, giving her a clear view of the top opening as they approached. Just like the mineshaft elevator in their old shelter, this device could easily be destroyed by improper operation. She would need to decide very carefully what kind of bug would ever have the chance.
“That doesn’t sound like any one emotion at all.” Bon Bon tucked her printed copy of the treaty under one leg, stepping off the elevator with her. “That just sounds like friendship. You eat friendship? Which means… anything you get from the Rent-a-Friend will feed you.”
The top floor was far less packed with rooms than the lower ones probably were. This section contained a few suites, spread along the walls. Amie would make her offices here, along with housing her most important staff. But as for herself—she would make her accommodations far lower, deep in the lowest sub-basement. And lower, as soon as her bugs got around to digging it.
“You could say that. But eating friendship—does sound a little like there’s nothing left when we’re done. I guess it could work like that, but it seems so… destructive. That’s like taking a fruit tree that’s still producing oranges every year and cutting it down to make firewood.”
She picked one door at the end of the hall, then unlocked its bolt with a little magic. Equestria had special unlocking spells, but why bother when every lock was its own physical device, with a mechanism of some kind that could be pushed open. The magic was simpler than any of those lock opening videos on YouTube had ever been.
Through it was a vast stateroom, well-appointed with luxuries and common necessities alike. Bright red carpet, a kitchen filled with old-style appliances, a sprawling sitting room and a grand piano.
We’ll need to go through this whole place and see what we need. Better to sell off the good stuff over time and collect the extra bits. We only need one or two places that look this nice.
“I’m not sure how I should feel about that,” Bon Bon eventually said. “I guess it’s… good, that you don’t want to suck all the life out of a pony. You’re not monsters. But you’re still talking about friendships like they’re a resource. Oil wells to be drilled, mines to be tapped.”
“I wouldn’t pick those words exactly. But if you boil it down… friendships are a little like that for everybody.” Amie picked the largest picture window, looking out at the city beyond. The river outside was a single sheet of ice, broken only in the center by the fastest-moving flow. A powder dusting of snow covered every building, though the streets themselves were clear. A huge caravan of bugs surrounded this hotel, with campers and adult leaders alike waiting for her go-ahead to come inside and occupy the building. “Don’t you feel better after being around your friends? Don’t you want them to be happier, your relationship stronger? I know it worked that way before. It still does now, just—with some esoteric side-effects. Ponies don’t have to be worse off because they’re our friends. We can both win.”
She couldn’t keep them waiting for too much longer. Almost none of them weren’t wearing some kind of fur disguise right then—as much for the sanity of the city’s pony inhabitants as for their own. But fur or not, nobody liked standing around in the snow. Much less a population who watched their home get blasted and had to gather all the pieces with their own hooves.
“If it was that simple, I think bugs would’ve figured it out sooner.” Bon Bon followed her gaze, down at the milling camp. Of course, not all of Amie’s changelings were down there. Some remained with the Rent-a-Friend, both known and endorsed by Equestria’s authorities. Others carried their salvaged crates and wagons into the loading area beneath the hotel, where once they received fine furniture and rich food to cook for the wealthy guests.
Down there, where the pipes ran hot and the air was moist, she would make a new nest for her eggs. They would be hatching soon, after all.
It was a testament to the size of the structure, and the devastation they had suffered, that everything fit inside. “Why have no changelings tried living alongside ponies before? If they can take it without harming…”
Amie shrugged her wings. “Would you know if they had?”
Bon Bon had no answer for that. After almost a minute spent in silence, she turned to leave. “I hope you don’t mind if I make my office on the bottom floor. I’ve never cared for heights.” Then she was gone, leaving Amie alone with her thoughts.
And the occasional barking of the walkie-talkie. Finally, she levitated it up into the air in front of her. “Mona, start getting everyone in. Use the ballroom, which looked enormous. I don’t want anyone rushing off to try and claim rooms either—we’re going to be orderly about this. We’re using the system we voted on during the ride over. Anyone who tries to jump the line will get moved.”
The radio hissed, then Mona’s voice echoed in over the line. “Understood, Amie. Got some cold campers out here. Hope Equestria left the heat on.”
Amie should have headed down to meet them—but she lingered near the window. She felt something in the top of that tower—a pressure that held her in place, the anticipation of a gun not fired. Finally, a figure emerged from the darkness.
Natane, not wearing any pony disguise. Or walking around like a frightened drone, either. “Queen Amie—surrenderer. Occupied. Conquered by your enemies.”
Amie faced the bug directly. She opened both wings to full size, holding them ready. Not that there was anywhere to fly to. She saw no weapon in the queen’s magical grip, though that meant little. If she wanted to, Kaya could channel all kinds of incredible magical force through this drone. At range, the amount of raw power was quite limited—but the number of spells she knew was unrestricted. She might even be able to kill a queen.
“I don’t think of it that way. I wrote the treaty. I asked for this, and they gave it to me. Explain how that makes me conquered?”
The drone buzzed her way over, landing on the carpet a few feet away. She looked up, baring sharp teeth at Amie. “Don’t give me that, queen. You know the truth as well as I do. You’ve sacrificed obscurity completely. The ponies know your every movement. They know the position of your hunters; they know your intention for the city. There is no plan you can make to escape them now. They’ve given you a well-crafted cage, but it is still a cage. You crawled right into it.”
Amie met her eyes, unblinking and defiant. “I knew the risks. I knew what might be waiting for us here—but consider the opportunity. Equestria will allow my hunters into every major city. Under some supervision, granted. But I don’t know why that would upset me. We’ll soon have more glamour than we know how to spend. Glamour we could trade with your tribe. We may be few, but we may soon become rich. Equestria has no idea how much glamour is required, or how fast a genuine friendship can produce it. Don’t you think that’s worth the risk?”
“Worth becoming their slaves?” Natane asked. “That is the choice you have made. Not today, perhaps—not tomorrow. But eventually. Something will change, and their guilt will be replaced with revulsion. I hoped my involvement could spare you this pain. But here you are, digging deeper and deeper until there’s no salvation for you. Why couldn’t you listen?”
“I heard you fine, Queen Kaya. And I’ve been grateful for your advice at every step. But I cannot agree. You’re determined to see Equestrians as primitive, dangerous enemies. I think they can be our friends.”
“And I think your tribe is doomed to a slow, agonizing death,” the queen replied, laughing. “We will see which of us is right.”
Amie waved her off, and vanished down a hall. There were more important ponies to talk to now. If she remembered the schedule right, Ivy’s train from Canterlot should be arriving about then. They had a lot of catching up to do.
I can understand the points of both sides here, but ultimately it all comes down to perspective, Queen Kaya doesn't know anything other than being hunted like pests and parasites.
Natane is just in constant questioning of Amie's ideals and aspirations, and then you have Amie, trying to make the best of a difficult situation with as few conflicts as possible. She also has to prepare for a completely unplanned parenthood, as well as look after a bunch of youths at the same time, it's a wonder she hasn't crumbled under the pressure completely!
I feel somewhat sorry for Queen Kaya. She's been around for so long, has grown so jaded and bitter, that she's closed herself off to things such as hope and interspecies co-operation under the guise of being pragmatic. Worse, should Amie's plans prove fruitful, she will only grow more bitter in being proven that she was wrong.
I want to see Kaya come crawling back to ask for some glamour or how to reform when everything actually works out.
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It's a shame that they can't see a way to get along but the other hive doesn't really want to believe things can change. I just hope the ponies are willing to stick to dirty looks in hating them. Maybe ask twilight to get know them Considering the public trust her after everything she done so if she says they are cool then more folks are willing to trust them. They will probably even with that doubts about the peace but hopefully they can give it a try.
this is true,, but the real question here is witch queen is in a cage?
a awesome chapter.
they very much are very primitive in their culture and tech level fight me on this the friend's things is a possibility but one that probably all already failed if the ponies were smart and lol BUGED the place and were listening in if they think glamour is something that they can use against them they might not take chances.
She really doesn't want to be wrong.
Doesn't want to believe that such a young queen is correct.
Thinks that she knows better. We shall see if she is correct, or if Amie will win this battle of society.
I hope the new queen and all the kids are ready for trials some of those kids need therapy and may be open to some advice from the older generation rather than disregarding all the queens and the long memories and changes they all experienced the stories of both good, bad magical, and ugliness of life it is not an easy thing to get out of the routine disregard traditions but I bet they can open with work.
many queens have lost lings to this life and raised each generation so this new path of the newer generation is shocking to the older generation with trauma and their desire for safety and maybe desire to correct some injustice or get some lost mementos they lost over the ages...
I feel like that slavery comment is a story involving a ling just as sweet as OP but didn't get lucky like her...
this is so why I comment on that mention of a library a number of times, information or even the knowledge that something is possible is a great step into the possibility of reverse engineering things, not to mention while there might not be any real-life situation that much up one to one there are still many pice of gold to mine the one thing are MC did right in my Opinion is diplomacy and even then she fucked it up and it cost her big.
but she could have found the basic idea behind a generator one I kind of cringe at in Isekai but building on is possible and I am sure they would not have needed to mine to material to craft on as they should have had all they needed already and still do in theroy.
the main problem is they have a lot of children to work with not adults and relearning science isn't what I would call safe for instance a gun I think we can all see that there is a lot of room to mess up and lose an eye or death not to mention the food problem which could be solved with modern tech and a lot of hard work for humans.
I am not even sure where to start there it would be so much easier on all accounts for them if they were human but their being bugs now might be the thing that forces them to live with the little shits
The irony of changelings - creatures able to change their outward appearance but utterly terrified of actual change
Amie is a better person than I. I would not have forgiven Ivy so easily. And Ivy's father, what of him? More importantly who has captured Amie's brother and what are they doing to him?
It makes sense when you remember the orange bugs eat pride. 😏 Perhaps the fortune teller bugs have given Kaya vague instruction to keep Amie on her toes and never lose perspective while sailing the ship of hope she's building. After all, there's still the Romans out there, and who knows what else, keeping the status quo and disgusted at the blatant disregard for How Things Must Be.
We are all in cages. Just some of them are out of our own making while others have formed it. But the structure and purpose of a cage can change. There's opportunity to turn what looks like a death trap into a spa, and slowly if not surely this one will arise from rotting iron into a glorious alabaster palace. Maybe.
And then there's Wes. 😂
Kaya says that, but she's already shut her eyes. Even when Amie thrives, Kaya will find a way to twist it in her mind so she's 'right'. Let us not forget that every obstacle Amie's faced so far has been other changelings. Heck, I'm pretty sure it was the changelings that had infiltrated Canterlot's government that initially tipped the ponies off that Stella Lacus suddenly appeared, so even that initial confrontation as Amie was trying to flee with her brother, that resulted in the death of a pony and thus the labeling of the camp as a threat was ultimately caused by other changelings.
Thinga are probably not going to be easy for Amie but Kaya seems to be incapable of acknowledging that Amie might be right. The obscurity that Kaya values is exactly one the reasons ponies are so afraid of changelings something she doesn't seem to realize or at least she does not acknowledge it.
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That isn't really true? Most of the challenge has been the pony soldiers.
The very reason Kaya sent someone to meet Amie to begin with is because of a prophecy that she will soar to greatness and take them with her. But every piece of advice from her has been "Stop doing things your own way and do exactly what we've done for generations." Really calls Kaya's intelligence into question.
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For recreating Tech, they won't be able to probably. Cause there is no oil, no gas, and no tech to get such things. The biggest hurdle in Tech, will be getting a replacement form of it in the form of magic or just pure Electricity.
However, there is probably some 'Tech' they could do to outshine the equestrians. For example, even tho they wouldn't have the Technology to make advance farming equipment, they probably have the knowledge and science to know the best way to farm more efficiently than earth ponies. And add in earth ponies and earth pony magic, could be growing so much food, the entire nation never goes hungry again, based off ONE small human farm.
Stuff such as Fertalization of the soil, PH levels, understanding the right temp, location, and environment for each type of food to plant, and so on. We never see any earth ponies in the show actually... Well, "Farm", we see them go up to a random bit of land, plowing rows, and then planting seeds.... And that's it. That's all they do. They have no science to understand PH levels, plant growth environment, how to rotate crops and fields, and other advance human farming techniques. Most likely cause Magic brute forces all that stuff. But do that ON TOP of having magic boosting it all? Boom, they (Changelings) can provide BETTER food, for food/emotions.
There are other things like that too. Cooking Receipies. Ingrediants Ponies might have never tried nor known could be used for cook. Medication, knowing about mold, cleaning, and safety to have better health care.
Humans don't just have Tech as in Technology, but in KNOWLEDGE that they have learned from their advanced tech as well.
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You mean the pony soldiers that probably wouldn't have found them if not for other changelings? I don't think it was ever explicitly said as such, but the fact that Canterlot has been infiltrated by changelings who are descendants of former Romans is a pretty big hint. Even if the ponies did find Stella Lacus eventually, they were aware of it way too quickly for it to have been the result of their own intelligence gathering efforts. Unless I'm forgetting some passing mention of a pegasus flyover that was mentioned in some early chapter.
I'm with Kaya to some degree. Amie says she "asked for this", but back when Kaya offered her to move out of camp to a more secure, hidden location, Amie absolutely didn't want that. Now that Equestria wants her to move the whole hive to a place they control, she just complies. Would she have done or wanted that if camp wasn't just bombarded to shreds? Moving in with the people who just trashed your home doesn't strike me as a smart move, and it's not something I would have done in Amie's place if it wasn't for the fact that she'd surrendered and is thus limited in what she can do.
Ultimately, this outcome is the end result of the starting premise of this story. With a population comprised almost entirely of children, there was little chance for Stella Lacus to not end up completely at Equestria's mercy, as much as I hate to see it now. I honestly kinda would have liked to see another, similar story to this one, where it wasn't just children, where we would look at a hive that could and did fight back when Equestria poked it. To some degree, we see hints of that in the other hives that survived (or didn't), but we never get a good look at how any of them got established (or failed).
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Officially, Equestria is supposed to be at an early 1900s level of technology. In our world that was a time period of rapid technological advancement. I mean, we had Nikola Tesla, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers all doing their thing, just to name a few off the top of my head. And Equestria has. . . hmm. . . Twilight Sparkle and Flim and Flam, that we know of, I guess. I'm sure their progress could be accelerated simply from being told, in general terms, about what worked on Earth.
A shame that Queen Kaya is moving the goalpost. First she said the Equestrians will never listen, when they did, she said that the whole treaty is a gilded cage. Maybe. But I seriously doubt it, like Amie said this is the best way to survive, no, to thrive. Though I can't entirely blame Kaya for being prideful and paranoid. After all, she is a capable queen, therefore she trusts her instincts. Not only that, but generations of changelings survived with the old ways and survive they did. But prosper they did not.
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And then there's Wes and the two bugs that love bombed themselves into skittlehood in Canterlot.
It will take a couple of generations to see the full result of the treaty. It may be that Kaya will be right and that the relationship will degrade to the point that humans will be relegated as 2nd class citizens at best. But if Amie's vision proves true, she will obtain resources and benefits Kaya or any other queen would only dream of acquiring.
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oh no, remaking the basics of a lot of stuff is possible for them if they have one kid like me when I was in school They are going to be set on the path of recreating a lot of science oil might be a problem the world could just be millennia old made by gods in which case there would be non its gas and electricity that can be mass-produced and used.
there is this method of harvesting gas and making fertilizer from farm animal waste along with harvesting bugs to feed animals some small methods like that can get them a source to work with experimenting and maybe give them more diplomatic options with some economical weight behind them I am sure they do not want to pick a fight again.
but the recreation of things like magnets would lead to better options like wind/water energy sources being available main reason I want POWER is because it going to be needed to perform a lot of work from smelting mind resources to possibly powring vehicles and factories. honestly knowing me I'd hold a grudge hard and try to find my way back with science maybe even ignoring my new magic
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I tend to think they are all over the place like with their tech level using spears and armor while having good medical tech and trains and stuff yet ships mainly made of wood
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for real I can't help but wish a military-based found itself there with a least 3 days to get themselves familiar with their new bodies exxtra points if this base some how has a nuke or two
Oftentimes it is a slow death, giving up inch by inch.
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Frankly, Kaya is internally terrified of what everything about them entails, including but not limited to the changeling race as a whole potentially completely missing out on a natural evolution point, the complete upheaval of what changelings are, and many more fundamental belief-system-shattering potential truths yet to be revealed...
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The ponies found Stella Locus because of the magical "aftershocks" of the original teleport. They sent Bon Bon and someone else to investigate, the camp people tried to talk to them, the two ponies panicked and teleported away. I forget which chapter it happened in
Queen Kaja thinks like a Parasite. Amie thinks abbout a symbiotic relationship. Lets see which one is better.
Something tells me Kaya's gonna lose this wager she set into place
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Wait, Bon Bon appeared in the story before Amie met her in disguise? I know this story's been going a while, but I'm surprised I'd completely forget that.
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Chapter 6 and 7. Sweetie drops is bon bon's other name right?
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Yeah, Bon Bon's her civilian cover name. And just read it again. Now that I've seen it again I can certainly understand why I forgot about it. I didn't expect it to be such a quick scene. If it wasn't completely pivotal to the entire story moving forward from it, I'd be tempted to label the bit where they teleport out as a throwaway line.
Out of all the various empires to have spawned changeling hives in Equestria, America's expanded with commerce and diplomacy in addition to its military might. For the rest, the commerce came afterwards. Amie and her hive have a unique starting perspective to add to changeling history.
Amazing progress! Still a few mysteries yet to resolve, but Amie is definitely well set up to prove Kaya wrong.
The ponies are fearful for now, but give them some time to adjust to having changeling friends and things will cool off, i'm sure.
I just wish this fic were longer. I always feel like Starscribe fics end way too early xD
”Hello, this is the Lock-Picking Lovebug, and today we have a fairly typical Ironhoof and Foals deadbolt you might see in hotels across Equestria…”
I do appreciate the parallels of Kaya and Bonbon both not being sure what to make of this queen breaking out of the known and accepted patterns of changeling-pony interaction, both waiting until the sudden yet inevitable betrayal. Meanwhile, Wes and Thorax are getting ready to upend everything everyone thinks they know about changelings yet again.
There is the question of what Chrysalis will think of Amie when she hears about her. This may alter her next round of invasion plans, or she may dismiss the new hive as already doomed. We’ll see in time.
I wonder what time era and culture and place each hive is from or who the people where before they became queens?
other than Romans and their lore it can really bloom in a variety of changeling cultures and costumes the old era and the new era are way different in attitudes and actions let's not get into whether the queens had to be ahead of their time or the attempts of kings being a part of history the original in their lots of travel before the descendants replaced all but the queen unless queens had to teach new queen replacements... hmm.
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imagine if she didn't know there were other changeling types and other queens? She was very public and has made history that the others would avoid her and those lings she probably either be a different person if she had known or maybe a danger the others have to plan around.
also, She was born in Equastria from Starswirl time from a magic tree alone with her kin very different from the other queens the comic was a pretty cool origin story it showed!
It is depressing that neither side is completely right or wrong. Hopefully, Amie can be rewarded for her idealism.