Chapter 89
Weeks turned into months, and winter came and went outside the walls of the Dressage Hotel. Much changed in that huge building, beyond renaming it to Stella Lacus and expanding into new structures in the newly-vacated buildings around it. Some of those were other facilities they needed—a shipping warehouse and processing center, along with the largest Rent-a-Friend in Equestria.
There, under a different brand name, creatures of all kinds could come and meet with changelings—and anything else they wanted to meet. With some of the bits and extra time, they recreated a few simple homes from Earth to turn into a living museum, worked by the handful of exceptionally talented bugs who could make that transformation.
But few ponies were even interested in seeing what “humans” looked like. They wanted the tiny-sized bugs to talk to them instead, retelling their tragedy of getting ripped away from their homeland.
Ponies had a great many useful emotions to harvest along the way, but one of the most developed of those was compassion. Once outside the shape of a gross bug, ponies usually felt a little empathy for their plight. How much better would they have done in the human world?
Amie didn't have to contemplate that particular nightmare, thankfully. She had more than enough on her plate keeping the little colony running. She had help—from old friends and new, from her boyfriend and her workers. Good thing, because the original staff of Stella Lacus could never manage such a large group alone.
Equestria provided a great deal of services along the way. Teachers for their school, shipments of food for the small but growing number of bugs who preferred to eat it instead of glamour, and protected access to their city for hunting and recreation.
Amie had lots of boring paperwork to fill out—the location of every bug she sent, what their disguise looked like, and what they were doing. Eventually she set up an office to handle all of that, just as Equestria formalized the single overseeing pony into a diplomatic liaison.
No new eggs came, despite her time with Tailslide. Every bit of wisdom in the knowledge of the orange tribe suggested their union should not have brought anything alive into the world to begin with. So, she didn't worry too much about keeping it going. Queens needed company too. Besides, as the eggs started to hatch, they demanded even more attention from her workers, so much that plenty of ordinary campers got involved to pick up the slack. The wriggling, maggot-like larvae had so little in common with children as Amie knew them that some small part of her still got sick the first time she saw one.
But that part was quickly silenced when she felt their emotions. No matter how freakish they looked, the little bugs still loved her as their mother. Even Tailslide managed not to run away, somehow, though he seemed far less optimistic about how they could raise so many.
“When they look like… when they’re bigger,” he said one night, when the last egg finally hatched. “Am I supposed to provide for them? That’s what stallions do.”
She laughed. “No. But if you’re here, if you can teach them what you’re good at--how to be brave, and kind, and fly--that would be perfect.”
By spring, they had sprawled down under the ground another four levels, burrowing narrow tunnels and cells for the workers as well as plenty of other bugs. There was something instinctively comforting about being in a tiny space—so why force her kids to hang up curtains and use cushions if they could build the space to purpose the first time?
It helped that the vast majority required almost no sleep, and very little water. They had plenty of time to study and work and maintain their space. Soon the young radiated resentment at their confinement—but Amie would not budge. Anyone younger than sixteen would have to wait before going on remote hunting trips. Though if peace with Equestria lasted, they might be able to vacation further out of Maneport.
Whenever bugs asked when they were going home, she always gave the same evasive answer: Equestria was working on it. They would soon have all the magic in the world to bridge the gap. If it was possible to get home again, they soon would.
Except for the day she had to break the news. Eventually all the research was done, and the answer was in. That painful day nearly broke the resolve of her bugs, taking away one distant hope they had all been striving for.
But they were not completely lost. Over the next few weeks, Amie and her most loyal bugs took each and every citizen aside with their best camera to record a message. They had very limited space to work with—but she insisted they sacrifice enough to make the messages audio instead of simple text. Except, of course, for Albrecht’s letters for the dead. Those campers couldn’t record anything for their families. But she could think of no better final message than the ones he wrote. At least that way, they could have closure.
Finally, they were prepared. Amie had a tiny stack of micro-SD cards, bound together in a little plastic case, and sealed with glue.
She brought it all the way to the site of their original camp—mostly empty now, aside for a few makeshift monuments. Largest of these was to Director Albrecht, with a monument of broken wood that always had at least a handful of flowers scattered around it.
The Equestrian expedition had even added a few. Though whether any of them even understood what the little cross meant, Amie couldn't say. She didn't intend to ask.
The monumentality of the task before them was obvious from every aspect of Equestria's magical infrastructure. Vast metal devices pronged with crystals all stood in a line, humming together with a refrain that was almost usual to Amie's ears.
The magic here was so powerful she could barely think straight. It brought the trees and leaves and flowers to verdant life; it made the colors seem more vibrant.
How long could she have fed her camp with this much power? Granted, it wasn't the same kind of food her bugs needed. This was a bit like parking her gasoline car next to a high voltage line and expecting it to somehow refuel. Powerful energy yes, but not in a form any of them could use.
"Transit point is coming with the sunrise," called Sunset Shimmer, the Equestrian expert in universal travel. She wore a hard-hat and a magically insulating vest, just like every other pony on the grounds. Amie walked behind her, wearing the same outfit and treading only on the insulated foam panels.
She wasn’t the only one, either. Sunset Shimmer had a representative of Stella Lacus on her team, one that Amie could trust, but who wouldn’t alarm any of the scientists or get overwhelmed by the constant magical energy.
Amie only waved to Sunset, but she met Ivy Path with a hug. The young mare was a little taller than the last time, and had finally started filling out that lanky frame. Still much shorter than Ivy, given she didn’t look like a pony right now. “You made it!” she said. Then she let go, looking up. “I can’t believe something like that can really exist.”
“By some definitions,” Amie said. “But believe me--if you think I look weird, the ones on the other side would be terrified if they saw a changeling.” She walked forward then, on bare feet instead of hooves.
Of all the times she needed to recreate a human body, this was perhaps the most important. That earned her plenty of stares, along with numerous flashing bulbs from the press waiting behind the cordoned line. If it were up to her, none of them would be here for this.
Every bug couldn't make the trip to see this moment. Instead, each group nominated one, and most of those had working cell phones or other cameras to commemorate the occasion.
At least Sunset Shimmer was too professional to be intimidated. She acted like she’d seen humans before, or something like them. "You get ten minutes at most. Probably much less than that. It would be longer if you weren't trying to send material through."
Amie clutched the little box closer to her chest, squeezing it tight. "I couldn't go without it. My kids are waiting to say goodbye to their families. The people on the other side deserve some closure too. Just one message from the camp isn't good enough."
Sunset shrugged. "No judgment, just reminding you of the mathematics. Plan for ten minutes, and you won't be disappointed. After that, you're just waiting on Celestia's grace. Maybe we get lucky, maybe we don't."
She gestured at a little metal box, surrounded by thick wires and cables. Its little door opened, exposing an interior space barely large enough for her plastic case packed with microSD cards. Amie set it down inside, then backed away.
"Hope you don't expect me to get small enough to fit in there with it. I'm not that good. Never met a bug who was."
Ivy laughed, barely audible over the roar of distant thaumic generators. "You're not really going over. It’s just an illusion!”
"I know," Amie held out one hand, stopping her. "Let's not miss the sunrise."
Sunset escorted her to another open door, near the center of the machine. Several crystal lenses all pointed at a raised platform between them, each one glowing with a different kind of magic. "Stand here and brace yourself. Even for a creature as magically tolerant as you, the exposure will be... difficult. You might take weeks to recover."
"I'll be ready for it." Amie stepped up onto the platform. Boots shifting on the not-quite-glass surface. Technically speaking she wasn't wearing boots—her clothing was just an illusion, offering no protection against the elements or physical utility. But today of all days illusion was what she needed. She removed her insulation vest then, resting it on a waiting hook. It might be protecting her--but it would also prevent the spell from working.
Sunset levitated the metal cage shut behind her with a bang. "Right there, don't move! We're engaging the—"
Amie wasn't in a cage anymore. She wasn't surrounded by ponies and wires—she wasn't even on her familiar mountain.
Instead, she stood on a piece of perfectly flat ground, as though sliced out of the planet with a knife. Only—it didn't continue that way forever. Several structures rose from it, built in an uneven circle. At the center was a spire of white rock, ascending a few stories up into the air. Gardens surrounded it, arranged in little grow-boxes.
As she watched, several boy scouts worked with a single ranger—a young woman, who might've been in the forest service, or maybe a branch of the military.
At her command, the flag went up, rising almost as high as the monument behind it. At least until she appeared.
All eyes turned on her. The bugler dropped his instrument, though the two kids holding the flag managed not to drop it. Amie grinned, waving enthusiastically at the ranger. "Hey! Hey! Are you... Is this Stella Lacus?"
She was the first one here—maybe the oldest, though that might not be true for long. A little parking lot now had a place on the strange flat stone, and a few dozen vehicles were already waiting. Now people emerged from windows, pointing their cameras in Amie's direction.
"How did you... how did you do that? Who are you?"
“My name is Amie Blythe. I was a counselor at Stella Lacus.” She held out one hand. As she did, the air flickered and fuzzed, then solidified into a piece of plastic. Light exploded from around her, little bolts of lightning that crashed into the stone, sending bits of it scattering in all directions. Where they struck, bright green plants sprouted, surrounded by hundreds of little flowers in orange and yellow.
Then it passed through her fingers, and clattered to the ground with an empty, plastic sound. She glanced down, glaring at it.
Then she turned her attention back up again. "Listen, could you pick that up? It's... kinda the most important thing in the world to about a thousand kids. Please make sure their families get these.”
The ranger stepped between her and the watching scouts. She kept her distance, one arm raised in front of her. As though that would make any difference against a magical attack.
"Amie Blythe—" someone said, behind her. One of the scouts, with his hand on the plaque. "She's on here, last name on the staff section."
Last name? I wasn't the least senior counselor! But she hadn't come to inspect the quality of her memorial plaque. She could imagine how her bugs would respond when they heard the news. Maybe she shouldn't say anything. "Yes. I'm communicating to you from... where Stella Lacus ended up. I have video of everything—and messages from the campers and staff. It's right here on the ground, if you could pick it up."
"You should." The ranger lifted her walkie-talkie towards an ear, the transmit button held down. But she wasn't talking into it specifically, more holding it where it could hear what they said. "If you want me to have it so bad, you should hand it over."
She backed away from the box, holding out both hands as she did. "Can't. I'm not really here. Just... transmitting. It's a hologram, or—something so close it might as well be the same thing. I couldn't get more detailed than that."
"Are you a ghost?" asked one of the other boys. They weren't that old—could have fit right in with any of her campers. Except that he, like everyone else here, was human. Two legs—machines, people, plants... it was her home! She couldn't say completely returned, since of course she wasn't really there. Only looking across, like Moses into the promised land.
"Kinda. Except I'm still alive. Stella Lacus is too. But we're... out of reach. Because... well, it's all in those files. If you could get them, make sure the authorities get to read it all. We're safe, but we can't come home. Ever."
Finally, the ranger made her way over. She bent down, then scooped up the little plastic case in one hand. She gave it a shake, holding it up to the light. "Memory cards?"
Amie nodded. "They're numbered. It looks like you never figured out what happened to us on this side. You're about to hear it! And see it and read about it. Sending matter across was... very difficult. But we tested, and the data should still be intact on those things. It wasn't electrical or magnetic."
She already heard sirens. For once, they didn't give her anxiety. This time, they were probably the right people.
Amie turned in a slow circle, soaking in the warmth of her home one final time. Technically speaking, she was one of the few beings magically durable enough to survive this projection. Maybe in a few years, she could try again. But she couldn't imagine Equestria's generosity would last much longer than its guilt. It would be a long, long time before changelings had the magical power to send things on their own.
"What happened to you?" the ranger asked, running one finger down the plastic clasp. It didn't open—the case was sealed, so none of its contents could be accidentally lost. Someone was going to have to cut it open.
"More than you can imagine," she said, without thinking. "But we survived it, that's the important thing. More details are in there. Make sure the families get them. Make sure they know—we're okay. We built something there. Made some friends. And they're taking good care of us."
She turned directly towards the scout holding the camera, staring at the lens. "Mom and Dad—Wes is safe. We both are. I'm sorry we won't get to see you again. I should've let him stay."
She wiped her eyes with her arm, but that did little good. She was still crying. She was crying in the recording, and no telling how many would see it.
Oh well. There were worse fates.
Amie never heard the reply. As it turned out, the spell lasted quite a bit less than ten minutes.
She returned to an explosion. She dropped to the ground, losing her disguise in an instant. She smelled burning, and realized it was coming from her mane. She'd melted it short, not even falling to her shoulders.
Amie dropped to the side, body smoking from the magical energy.
The door banged open, and ponies rushed in around her. Ivy Path was at the front, her expression urgent and fearful. "Are you okay?"
She nodded in reply, letting them help her to her hooves. "Y-yeah. There was someone there... someone to take the recordings. I did it."
"What did you tell them?"
"We wouldn't get to see them again," she answered. "But that we were okay. We found a place. One day, we'd make it home."
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wow a amazing closing chapter to a amazing story.
thank you StarScribe for the telling of this story.
woo!
I know technology isn't quite beyond the stars advanced but we so have something like holograms considering I saw it at a Disney park. So them asking are you a ghost when this science fiction stuff made real is pretty dumb.
What kind of power steals a mountain and a mountains worth of campers that a return trip isn't possible?
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= this much?
This was anice story but the part with Wes and Thorax are it's greatest weakpoints.
yeah. time
thanks for the story :)
argh.
i'm sure we're all gunna thank you for your time and effort, but not getting to see the rest is gunna drive us batty!
maybe we'll see snippets in future works.
This was another wonderful story, thanks :)
Wonderful story. I'm a bit sad we don't get to see the other changeling tribes or more on Wes and Thorax. But I suppose you can't get everything in life. But the final chapter is a great chapter. I like it a lot. Fantastic job!
There is still plenty to explore in this Equestria, but it was outside the scope of Amie's journey. Her story could only contain so much and go so far, especially once she started building the hive in earnest. Who knows? You might get some inspiration for other tales to tell in this setting.
In any case, this has been a thoroughly enjoyable story, and the end provided more closure than I expected. Thank you for it.
nice ending
Wonder if others will be allowed to addend to this AU in their own fics? Lots of little nuggets just waiting to be expanded on...
All those loose ends are perfect for a sequel.
Man am I ever going to miss this. It became a Saturday staple for me. After lunch look to see what was new. Thanks for writing your glorious story. We were near the end clearly, but I assumed there were a few more chapters at least, yet here we are.
11727902
If they are allowed that would be very awesome and would help out fill out the missing pieces such as Thorax, the other changeling tribes etc.
Thank you very much for writing out this awesome HIE story, I am kinda bummed out that we never to got to see Thorax and the Crystal Empire or the other changeling tribes to explore but it is what it is.
I do hope that you'll allow others to add in their take of what could have been with Wes and Thorax, the other tribes, if not I understand.
Me encantó la historia de inicio asta el final espero ver tu próximo trabajo 🙂👏👍
10/10
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It's been a awesome story and very much enjoyed. I really hope there will be a sequel. I agree on the word count bit, but it was still good
11727828
ya, the shit we can do nowadays is straight sci-fi.
man, this story really kept me on edge didn't expect it to just end yet that Cilf Hanger is pretty fun.
Earth knows now it's my headcanon until its written down that the military gives them a real reason not to like us
give them time they will save them. Do you think there is not going to be a scientist on earth that not going to want to work on this just hope them ponies ain't op and to try and keep our people
11727976
Yeah most of it came from Sci fie. Touch screens came from it as well as many other things. We have come a long way from where we were but we can always go further but that doesn't mean that we should stop looking for the next Horizon . Though lately it seems we haven't been doing that.
11727989
I am not sure about that last part. I am still listening to new science videos and know there are more than a few techs out there with a long history of many just being viable from new and different approaches to problem-solving.
maybe we can't advance in some fields because we have already found the perfect solution, and that's sad.
11727999
Maybe but how we suppose make Sci fie real if we don't advance. Technology has barely advance from when I was a kid just some things became more popular. And so less popular stuff became old news like the model t. I would love if they could make alcohol like in star trek though. All the taste none of the drunkenness.
What an ending. And yeah, I get what you mean, Starscribe. I'm currently struggle-bussing towards my dissertation defense, and between my perfectionism and executive dysfunction, it's . . . trying, to say the least. Pray for me.
Ifnthere os a sequel hood but i otherwise too abrupt an ending
11728004
i wasn't saying we won't advance, I was just arguing against that last part and giving some ground that there is something which we already found the optimal solution so we can't advance as there is no room to advance luckily this is more limited to things like simple games try finding a new tic take to solution it going to be hard as there, not many options course we know them all
11728059
Yeah I was hoping for something a little more definition. It is too simple. We went from just beginning peace to we have peace and it doesn't sound that great of a peace either. We need more details to make perfect.
11727906
I wish... Maybe if the funder supplies what is needed ;)
Amazing fic, as always, Starscribe! I look forward to seeing whatever replaces this one!
I REALLY wish we'd gotten to see more of the reaction Earth-side, but I'm plenty satisfied with this ending. Thank you for spending so much of your time writing it all!
I guess that means we won't see tailslide and amie have little flutter ponies.
Now I wanna see a sequel of the tribe growing and expanding...
Camp Stella Lacus is forever stuck in Equestria but they've found a home.
And so another story is finished. Can't wait to see what lies ahead in the future.
It is nice to see how despite all the adversities, tragedies and losses, Amie and the rest of the campers will finally be able to have a peaceful life in Equestria without having to fear the threat of starvation or being murdered. I regret that you were not able to explore more aspects that would have been interesting to read, but even so that does not take away from the fact that the story is very good, I liked reading it from start to finish
Stll a good story. Eaven a with an abrubt ending.
Thank you for writing the story and all the other ones.
I admit, there’s more to this story I would have wanted to read. Would it be that it would go on forever, to read the life and times of this world you’ve crafted, of the characters you’ve made me care about…
But that would be asking too much of you. You already did such a great job with the story, and I can say I’m satisfied with the ending.
As a completely and totally unrelated side note, is fanfiction of a fanfiction allowed on this site?
oh, I'm sad now, I really liked this story, the ending seems to give relief. Amy is a great changeling, the plot is interesting and varied. Something at the end seems to be missing, I don't know. It's not enough for me as always. Thank you for such a wonderful story, I will wait and read more of your work.
I'm glad the kids got closure at least. I feel there's gonna be a lot of buzz on the human side tho lol.
The ending was well timed, and while I do agree there's a lot of world and story we could've seen, I think keeping the story in scope was better. Message in a Bottle felt like two different books stitched together, which was a bit jarring when reading it for the first time
If it means anything I would love to see a sequel.
11727830
It's probably an issue of Equestria being down stream so it's easy to go one way and hard to go the other.
I really appreciate the author's note at the end. If that wasn't there, I'd be a lot more mystified at the narrative choices at display here. I've been a pretty harsh critic here so far, but a lot of that comes from a place of not understanding what's going on in your head. It's good to have the context that you did want there to be more to this story but decided to bring it some closure sooner rather than later, even if you don't explicitly state the reasons but merely imply them. I do also think that leaving some plot threads underexplored is better than letting this story's scope grow to unmanagable size.
Thank you for this story. It managed to occupy my thoughts to a possibly unhealthy degree. Maybe I shouldn't thank you for that at all? Jk 🙃
11729345
Totally makes sence like magical gravity equestria is heavy with it but sometimes theres a magic flare that bursts up into lighter realitys imbuing then dragging them back
Anyway i loved this story so much it was a ride and while i wish it couldve expanded on the same points it still feels right with the pace and where it ended. Keep up the great work <3
Thank you so much for writing all this - I expected it to end with Luna's rescue: every chapter after that was a delightful bonus : )
Nice.
Well, finally, I waited until the story ended so I could read it in full right away. My compliments, watching how the story unfolded was extremely interesting, from the desire to save my brother to the end.
To be honest, there are so many interesting points here that I don’t even know where to start. Various queens, the history of the first people, and so on. There’s obviously a lot more that could be told about the history of the world of beetles, but to be honest, this is the author’s decision.
A good story, the characters are lively and don’t look like they’re there for show. Overall a big thumbs up for this story.
11728378
I mean Fallout Equestria spawned a lot of fanfics.
You should be good to go.
Don't forget the permissions tho.
I actually think the story is stronger for being about Amie only. Spin offs could have been cool, but as a self-contained story it did everything it needed to, and I'm all for it.
The only real downside from my perspective of your format is the lack of variable chapter lengths. Some chapters could have been shorter, some longer, depending on the scenes in question. But that's to be expected of the format and your schedule, and it doesn't take away much for me. As a whole, you've made standardized ~2k word chapters work well.
Overall, a solid story and I'm glad I stuck with it! I've been reading your works almost since you started writing for MLP, and you're one of the few authors on this site I actively read new stories from. It's crazy how time seems to fly.
11727828
A kid asked that. Also, that 'hologram' required a LOT of setup. I can absolutely buy the kid asking if she's a ghost, especially when she made something appear out of nowhere.
11731832
I guess but considering what Disney does hologram would seem more likely.
Still a wonderful story, even with the couple loose end plotlines I too wish could've been explored. You still gave us an amazing ending to an amazing story though, so thank you for writing