An Old Life
Nictis was slowly getting used to interacting with ponies without the comforting safety of a disguise. Every friendly pony he interacted with was a tiny bit less tension on his mind. Sky's support, and that of his friends, slowly encouraged him. They assured him that everything would be just fine, even as instinct and habit cried out against it. The newly arrived changelings even gave him something to focus himself on, a way to distract himself from his own unease by doing something good, something worthwhile.
None of this comforted him as he found himself alone, trapped, face-to-face with the terrifying might of Celestia. She was all politeness and smiles, and even the emotions radiating from her were laden with compassion, yet he regarded the whole thing as a trap, just waiting to spring upon him. This was a being that received the love of an entire kingdom, and there he was, having wronged so many of her little ponies. His only hope was that she felt merciful.
"Please, you can relax," Celestia said in soft and gentle tones. "I don't intend you any harm. Have a seat."
He immediately dropped to his haunches on the bare wood, belatedly noting the pair of large cushions that had been set in the library room. Celestia paused a moment to regard him before an amused smirk crossed her lips--Nictis's heart-rate soared even higher--and gracefully laid herself upon one of the cushions.
"I see I should deal with a certain issue immediately," Celestia said, as if to herself. "I have announced amnesty for any changelings who would come forward openly, forgiving any but the most reprehensible and violent of crimes. Officially, that means you are not going to be charged for any threats, or fraud, or theft." The smirk returned. "Although I would be pleased if you made some attempt at reparations."
"O-of course," Nictis replied, his voice feeling quite small and strained.
"In addition, the Guard contacted Night Watch to inform him that they may have a suspect in his incident, but fortunately, he seems quite the forgiving sort. He decided to not press charges." When Nictis merely looked on with confusion, Celestia's smile grew a bit. "He had concluded that his assailant must have reconsidered their life of crime when the spree of robberies immediately ended, and that they must have felt rather bad about what they did if they dragged him so far to get help."
If chitin were capable of blanching in shock, Nictis was certain he would be ghost-white. His eyes went wide, ears pinning back. A tiny voice in the back of his head tried to point out that he'd been forgiven, but it was drowned under the panicked knowledge that Celestia, the might of Equestria, knew he had nearly caved in the skull of one of her ponies.
Her smile vanished, and his heart lurched with the change in expression. The compassion he felt from her, still strong, did nothing to relieve his fear. "I do not approve of what you did," she said, "But after hearing of your account, I can at least understand why you felt such things were necessary. I hope you recognize now that there are better ways, and that you will not resort to such actions again?"
Nictis's mouth felt too dry to talk. He merely nodded instead.
The silence lingered for several moments as Celestia watched him. Every moment felt like an eternity to Nictis, every fear rising up one after another, assailing his nerves.
Finally, Celestia spoke again. "I remember you, you know."
Nictis blinked, almost recoiling. She continued before he could find his voice again. "Four and a half years ago, in Hoofington. I recognized Meadow Song's appearance after Sky contacted me. You might have a very different appearance now, but I remember that look of fear all too well. Please, Nictis, be at ease. You have nothing to fear from me."
Hesitantly, Nictis nodded. He didn't entirely believe her, naturally, even if she seemed to mean the best, but he was not about to contradict her.
"That day stuck in my memory," Celestia said, looking off in thought. "I've often seen ponies who are uneasy in my presence, worried about displeasing me or some such silliness, as if I'd punish them for such a thing. Still, I rarely see anypony so terrified. To see such a thing on that day was... unpleasant. I don't want any of my subjects to feel as if they should fear me."
Nictis nodded again, this time managing to find his voice. "I'll try."
Celestia allowed a faint, sad smile, that lingered for only a moment. Then she asked, "What do you plan to do now?"
When he looked to her in surprised confusion, she clarified. "You're free to follow whatever course you like. It seems like you're settling into Ponyville quite well, if perhaps a little slowly. At the same time, I understand from the account of your time in Equestria that you feel a strong devotion to the hive. So I'm curious, what do you plan to do now?"
His reply came quickly, but quietly. "I won't take any action against Equestria."
"That's not quite what I meant," Celestia said, a light-hearted tone to her voice. "Although I am certainly glad to hear it."
He hesitated, but forced himself to continue. "I won't take any action against the hive, either."
Celestia merely nodded.
"I... I can't betray them. Even after everything, they're still..."
"I understand," Celestia said. "And I won't ask you to do anything you are uncomfortable with. In fact, I hope any further interactions with the hive will be purely peaceful. Even if you simply live peacefully here in Ponyville, I think you will be helping that goal. I certainly hope you will never have to choose between one or the other."
"Thank you," Nictis murmured after a brief pause.
"Of course," Celestia said, and smiled warmly. "All who live in Equestria are my subjects, and I will do my best by them, whether pony or not."
Nictis had to force the next few words out. "What of the changelings in the hive?"
Despite his fears, Celestia's smile grew in warmth. "They are not my subjects, but I hope the time will come when Equestria and your hive can embrace each other in friendship."
Concerns flew through Nictis's mind; the old Infiltrator thinking practically salivating at the opportunities such a situation would present. Such a thought prompted a sharp stab of guilt, and he quickly banished the thought. "I'd like that," he said, but sadly added, "But I don't think the other changelings will. We've been taught for so long that ponies are just... prey. Enemies."
"Then there is one thing I would ask of you," Celestia said, a smirk teasing at her features. "And that would be to carry on, as you have these past days. Aid your fellow changelings here. Live on, happy and free. Let your example serve as a beacon to the rest of your hive, to show them the strength and magic of friendship. Show them that we do not need to be enemies."
Instinct insisted on crying out about threats and traps, despite all the evidence to the contrary from the past days. The Princess's compassion teased at his senses, and half from impulse, half from fear, he allowed himself to draw in a tiny bit of the offered energies. He held the little wisp of energy in his senses, as if to reassure himself that it was, in fact, real. His fear finally faded when Celestia did not react. No smiting came, no anger. If anything, he could almost swear the emotion grew by a minuscule amount.
Finally, hesitantly, Nictis allowed a small smile. "I'll try my best."
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Post-epilogue update wat
3614774
This is what happens when a site like FiMFiction forbids authors from writing chapters that are nothing but a "there's now a sequel" announcement.
3614820
Fortunately, it also gave me the opportunity to portray a pair of scenes that I really wanted to show, but which wouldn't really fit into the new story. So I kinda get to do a double-purpose chapter. Efficiency!
Oh Celestia. You're always fun
3614832 yay! A new character will be the protagonist.
There is one thing I expect to see in the sequel however, I expect to see the reconciliation of Spark and Meadow/Nictis. Also, is Nictis primarily a 'he' now or?....
3615322
Nictis was always a he. He just spent most of his life as Meadow Song, so then he was a she. But still a he...
...Changelings are weird...
3615447 That they are. Gotta love them anyways.
3615496
Heh, I just started playing that game, otherwise I probably wouldn't know what that was. No, actually it was based off Belladonna (AKA Deadly Nightshade), though I wouldn't be surprised if Deathbell was inspired by the same source!
And yeah, don't mess with the chickens. Nords love their chickens, and will do their best to avenge their fallen fowl.
Goddammit, I love you so much.
Just when I thought my day couldn't get any better, bam, a sequel to one of my all-time favourites.
I see the cover image and all I can think of is this:
I FOUND THIS AGAIN, HOORAY, MY GOD THIS WAS EPIC AT SEVEN CHAPTERS, IT WILL BE EVEN MORE EPIC!
Joy spree over, I really love this and finally found it again.
Looks like Celestia is a bit more naive about these things than her sister
3617802
She's not naive, she's optimistic.
Nevermind that some changelings would call that the same thing...
3620364
It starts about 7-ish years before the show; there's one minor detail mentioned in one of the chapters that suggests when it is, but it's fairly vague. It's not until chapter 15 that it gets a firm "date" by mentioning events depicted in the show.
3623550
Yep. Ceymi is Nictis's mother.
It just means slightly different things to changelings than it does to ponies
3633419
Nah, just that it barely worked. It was a cheap little thing, like the stereotypical cracker-jack-box toy compass. Not good enough for precise work, but good enough to get a general direction. If you gave it long enough to settle. And didn't move it. And didn't have anything metal in the general area. And, y'know, don't look at it too hard or anything. And...
My bad. Reading other comments I see that your Changelings are what we would call "multi-queen" eusocial, but what they separate into Queens and Princesses because of course they have a more complicated social organization than do real-world eusocial critters. But then they're sapient, so that makes perfect sense.
3634777
Yep, you've pretty much got it nailed perfectly! Have a happy Twilight:
3637983
I really like pondering what it must be like for normal ponies when some big event is going on, like that. There's got to be so much confusion and uncertainty as these gigantic, world-shaking events are going on, and they're completely helpless to do anything about it.
And then on the other side of it, after having lived through so many bizarre and dangerous things, I have to wonder if they're kind of used to it. Sure, they panic and run around whenever stuff happens, but they seem to get over it pretty quickly.
I've kind of contemplated doing a story at some point that just follows some regular Ponyville folk around while the mane six are doing their own thing in the background. One of many ideas that I might consider once I'm done with A New Way.
3640845
Indeed. I really like that they addressed that, too
3644422
I honestly haven't decided on that. There are so many possibilities there. Changeling shapeshifting (In this story) is a complete physiological change, so it's quite possible that a changeling disguised as a pony would be able to produce a child as if they were that pony. On the other hand, it may also be the case that, even if the change is indistinguishable in the overall anatomy, there's still differences in genetics and/or magical nature that complicates things; perhaps they're incompatible, or perhaps changeling magic results in the production of some sort of half'ling (I still love that term, Nyerguds
). And changelings being changelings, there's the possibility that some amount of love is needed in order to fuel the whole thing.
So, still undecided... but if I had to decide one way or another, I'd say there is probably some sort of way it would work out
Gosh this was beautiful. Almost all of it was quite rational, very believable, and (dare we say) accurate.
I had hoped he would be able to get back with Spark, but I realize that's probably better saved for the next arc. The skills learned by being a compassionate service renderer will certainly help in his efforts to assist other lings' assimilation.
I'm rather pleased that you used this outcome, even if it's just slightly rushed (for us, it's been more than a year since the invasion at this point, right?). Life can become more normal! Or, at least as normal as can be for our crazy ponies...
Keep going!;)
3615543
How do you fail to kill a chicken though? I still can't understand it.
Man. That was an incredible ending. Welp, onto the sequel!
This story took a while to read, but I'm glad I soldiered through to the end. Our little Nictus has finally found a rock, free from paranoia, deceit, and lies. It's...just so touching.
Wow. This story was just fantastic. Keep up the good work!
Awesome story! Thank you for writing this.
3649131
It has occurred to me that the relationship between Spark and Nictis/Meadow takes Gender Confusion to new heights, attainable only given Changeling polymorphic abilities.
Spark is, as far as I can see, a heterosexual Pony male. Nictis is (presumably) a heterosexual Changeling male (whatever that means for Changelings not actually mating). And Meadow is a heterosexual Pony female. In addition, Nictis and Meadow are essentially two aspects of the same being.
Furthermore, there is an aspect of Single Target Sexuality here, given that as far as I know Nictis has never mated with any Changelings (of either sex) and Meadow has only ever mated with Spark. It also seems quite probable that Spark has only ever mated with Meadow.
I also think that this is very much a case of True Love, on both sides. After all, Nictis gave up trying to return to his own species because Meadow loves Spark. The great irony of it from the POV of readers is that we know this to be true for Nictis/Meadow,, but of course Spark does not know this at all: he has all sorts of reasons to believe that Nictis was only pretending to love him at the last, in order to slow the pursuit. And Spark is easily smart enough to figure out that angle.
But Meadow really does love him.
3712378
You can use the [ spoiler ] tag here, ya know? Like this. And I'd say changelings are more "flexible" in that regard; such categorization is not of much significance to them. In fact, during most of human history, it was not to us either.
3713638
No, the implication here is that there were very few infiltrators at any given time, and with the whole class dead, Nictis is the last one.
3721674
Ah, thank you for showing me how to do the spoiler tags ...
That's a good point -- in addition to the Changelings' strategy being in part one of succubi, it might not even matter that much to them among themselves, especially if not involving a fertile female.
Well, crap -- if Nictis is the last Infiltrator then Queen Chrysalis is going to want him back for all sorts of reasons!
There's another obvious reason why Chrysalis might want to capture/kill Spark Wheel, though I don't think she realizes his potential importance. I don't think that even Nictis realizes Spark's potential importance, beyond the personal.
Look at what he's been developing. On his own, and still as an inexperienced young engineer. What might this not become, in time?
Ironically, it's exactly the kind of game-changing thing that Nictis noticed the very first time he saw a steam train. A revolution in strategic mobility. Less dramatic for the ponies than it was for us (because they already have a kind which can fly including VTOL) but still a game-changer.
Plus, there's a lovely pun inherent in the very concept of Equestrian...
Air Cavalry.
Cried at a few points in this story that took me about a solid day of reading to finish up.
Jeez. Lovely work on this.
First off... I have to say, I really loved your pacing through this whole story. It felt... realistic, in a number of ways that just felt right.
Characters were fairly believable, mindsets were actually held to a good bit, and several easy cliches were avoided.
To name more specific details: Nictis' reactions, thoughts, and overall his whole scheme and manipulation. It was awesome, detailed, and believable. It felt more real for the sake of it actually enduring, and raising a good argument over the validity of predator-prey relationships, especially that of building trust/happiness for selfish reasons.
Also, I enjoyed that character development was actually a very solid thing in this fic. Nictis obviously changed over time, but then, so did virtually all relevant characters, even Big Shot. It wasn't loudly announced, but clear enough to appreciate.
Plus, changes often happened over years, avoiding the cliche of major changes over days/weeks.
Quite simply, I really enjoyed reading this, and I hope to be reading more of the sequel, haha.
Now, I have some links to follow.
3712378
3721674
...Slight thought I wanna contribute.
Through reading this fic, and thinking over changeling sexuality and justifying how it seems to not really matter a ton to Nictis... I kinda remembered a specific picture my biology teacher showed us during a chapter devoted to genetics.
classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/17/flashcards/1707017/png/picture11353159344143.png
We famously use a system where a smaller chromosome (Y) catalytically modifies expression of a multitude of other, gender-shared genes, where the default is the other gender in its absence (but with a second X, which is often reduced in the cell to a single active X anyways). There are notable differences between male and female, but it's basically using the exact same coding in a different way.
A good number of insects use the X0-XX method where male is simply the absence of a second X. Nematodes (also in this group) have 'females' that maybe more accurately called 'hermaphrodites.' Both sexes have the male parts supposedly, but the term female still sticks.
Meanwhile, for honey bees, unfertilized eggs become male workers--the gender ratio is entirely controlled by the queen in response to the need of the colony.
I can't help but think, given the changeling hierarchy, this could easily be a good parallel--males are birthed in response to a need for more bodies in the lower classes, as are females for positions of leadership.//Pretty much confirmed this is how the author is going by it. Males are drones, females are princesses and queens.//Basically, what I'm trying to say is that 'gender' (and orientation by extension) may not translate between changelings and ponies the same way. It may be more of a statement of their societal role than the typical 'gender identity,' and may not even come with any traits attributed towards femininity or masculinity (or even put one gender as practically a different creature, which could make ponies similar in their alien-ish distinction). The broship between males or chick-clicks of females may run no deeper than the simple status of being with the majority of the changeling population---sub-servant to the hive.
Plus, food is food. Changelings seem to focus far too heavily on emotions to bother heavily with nuances of form and identity (and gender) beyond being traits of an individual, no more than that. Biologically, orientation-related preferences regarding ponies seems to only be harmful--especially since it'd be completely moot, seeing as the orientation would be applied to an alien species given their (most likely present) inability for interbreeding anyways, so instead ponies may just evoke a blank slate, only seen for their emotions.
...Also from a comment or two a few chapters back, I kinda gathered the author probably stands behind the argument of alien biology being more of a hurdle than a few anatomical features a changeling can change on a whim.
3730829
Some seriously good points there.
First of all, I completely agree with you that the Changelings have to have some way, probably biochemical and nutritional (though it might also be magical or psychic, as the Changelings are after all both) of controlling their sex birth ratio. They can also probably induce or restrain fertility -- most eusocial animals, including the only known mammalian eusocials (naked molerats) can perform this feat. Changelings being sapient, the ratio is probably consciously controlled by the Queen and Princesses of the hive.
You're quite right that Nictis, as Nictis, manifests no particularly male or female traits by human or pony standards. Likewise, Meadow Song actually acts rather gender-neutral -- most ponies probably perceive her as being rather the tomboy. (It was hard enough, I'd guess, for Nictis to master being "pony" without adding all sorts of complex gender role games on top of it).
I agree. If Nictis were a normal Changeling, he'd just be Meadow Song (among other identities) long enough to attract and drain emotions, then go back to the Hive to deliver it and thus serve his primary loyalty. The only reason the issue of "feelings" even comes up is because he's in love with Spark Wheel -- his primary loyalties have shifted in a way which his society would consider insane and perverted. Even though from a human or pony POV, they are all too understandable.
I'm not really sure what Changelings are biologically. They have exoskeletons, but in many ways seem like tetrapods. I have my own theory about their true origins and nature, but it's a weird one, and probably not Phoenix_Dragon's. The discerning may have figured some of it out already from something I said in passing in the first chapter of All the Way Back.
3730829
3731061
I love how much analysis this story gets.
As guessed, I was inspired by insects such as honey bees and ants, although with some differences. The drone caste is expanded significantly to fill what would normally be worker-caste roles, while the non-queen females are much smaller in number. I was kind of iffy even introducing the concept of a changeling princess as an additional class of changeling that we hadn't seen in the show, but it seemed a small enough change.
And yeah, I imagined that a changeling queen or princess would be able to control their fertility. It'd kind of be necessary by the method of sexual determination, if we're going to have queens and princesses as active away from the hive as Chrysalis was in the show. Kind of inconvenient if you suddenly have to pop out some eggs when you're out doing something, particularly if you're undercover at the time!
As for taxonomy, I don't think changelings really fit in existing classification... but then again, neither do pegasii, dragons, or griffins. My thoughts on that are what brought about Glitterbug's comments about the classification of changelings, and how there was disagreement about how they should be classified. Likely, they're an offshoot of an existing classification, but which? Are they an offshoot of arthropod (Alongside insects) but with non-segmented bodies and a closed circulatory system? Are they an offshoot of chordates (And therefor possibly possibly parallel in classification to ponies), but with an exoskeleton? I have no idea.
3731753
Well, see, what you did was write the story as xenofiction, taking the Changelings seriously as creatures in their own right with their own culture and point of view, instead of just using them as metaphors for seduction or treachery. That creates a logical pattern, which has further implications. This is exactly how good science fiction and fantasy are written.
You also, I've noticed in more than one place, write the ponies as xenofiction. They're a lot more like humans than are the Changelings, of course -- but they are not precisely like us, and you highlight the differences. Which is also an example of good science fiction and fantasy.
Also, you've made me care about your characters, human and pony alike. Heck, I even sort of care about Big Shot, though I don't really like him and would not care to know him in person. And the same is true for Nictis, though at first he was the sort of entity who would have been very dangerous to know -- I've come to really like him. Or her. Or it. Whatever Nictis is, he's become a hero.
3731833
That's one of the things I really liked about writing this: I got to give a good look at ponies and all their quirks, from the PoV of a being that's even more different from humans.
I pretty much agree with SFyr 's analysis on how little gender plays a role here, but I do think identity can be an issue. I think the epilogue shows that Nictis' identity without a disguise is important to him. The small annoyance he expressed over needing to wear a symbol suggests he doesn't want to have to change his appearance just to make things easier on everyone else. Since he'd given up the hive for Spark once already I don't doubt he would change, but is it okay for Spark to ask that of him now that he knows the truth? That's assuming they work out the trust issues I assume they'll have.
Also, screw Big Shot. I was kinda cool with him when he was acting more adult, but as I look back he was still trying to make Spark miserable, even as he seemed to be aware that it was Meadow alone tormenting him. He only looked like a responsible adult when compared to Nictis, who was essentially a sociopath at the time.
3757747
True, but I wasn't talking about Spark. I was referring to ponies in general, what with the office that Meadow works at being much busier after Nightmare Moon than Discord. In fact it says that the only injuries after Discord where some minor bumps and bruises. Were as their were fires and some pretty hefty property damage after Nightmare Moon.
3756166
Ah, here's the technique.
If you want to write something really dark or tragic, you make the READERS participate in the love and appreciation for whatever is to be threatened or lost.
Suppose I just tell you that John loves Mary, and then Mary is kidnapped by evil slavers. Well, there's some drama here, because you know what love is, you know that being kidnapped by evil slavers is bad, and so you can see why John is upset by this turn of events and wants to do things to rescue Mary.
Yeah, but suppose instead that I show you John meeting Mary, getting to know Mary, falling in love with Mary, and let you fully appreciate just why Mary is wonderful and special and loveable. So that you, the reader, also fall in love with Mary.
And THEN I have Mary kidnapped by evil slavers.
You feel it more, don't you?
Heck, if it's really been done right, you'll get mad not only if Mary is kidnapped by evil slavers, but even if her mean cousin taunts her for something embarrassing she did years ago due to a character flaw she's long ago conquered. You may even hate the mean cousin more if you really KNOW Mary than you would the evil slavers if you've merely been informed that Mary is a cool chick and thus it's reasonable to love her.
Phoenix_Dragon set up two character types here, both of whom are the sort to attract sympathy: the Anti-Villain Nictis, who you can't really hate at the beginning because he's not evil for a Chanegeling, he's just coming at Ponies from the perspective of a predatory/parasitic alien; and the Adorkable Spark Wheel, who is likeable though weird from the very first moment we meet him. And he takes them through prolonged character development, from Nictis' point of view, so we get to see how Meadow Song starts off just using Spark for sustenance, and winds up completely in love with him. And we also see how Spark grows from a rather pathetic little geek to a strong, imaginative Science Hero who is developing a potentially-revolutionary technology.
He does something really sneaky too, to make the punch of what happens even worse.
He ties their character development directly to their love.
The moment at which Meadow Song was doomed was the moment that she started tying her own positive affect to making Spark happy, because no matter why she told herself she was doing this, it meant that she had to attempt to make a Pony happy and get rewarded based on how well she did it. It was also pretty much impossible for her to do this as her main social relationship and not wind up caring for the Pony she was -- well -- caring for.
This took place from a direct choice on her part -- she chose to side with Spark rather than Big Shot. She did so intellectually, because she wanted to follow the Pony ethical system as she saw it, the better to fit in. But that was the key error that meant she started Becoming the Mask. With Big Shot, she might have learned how to be a callous parasite. With Spark, she learned to become a symbiote.
And Spark? Meadow's (at first) pretense of being interested in his inventions, and her protection of him, was what gave him the courage to develop his talent. I don't even know if Meadow's ever realized it, but she is a good part of the reason why Spark becomes so confident and effective.
Basically, what you're seeing her is a mutual Redemption Arc. And when you've seen the effort Meadow's gone through to build up Spark, and in the process to become a better being herself, and (by implication) the effort that Spark has gone through to build up his own self-confidence -- when it all comes crashing down, it is far more tragic than if the build-up hadn't happened.
Seriously, this fanfic is a good example of exactly how to do character-centered fiction, especially with a genuine Anti-Villain protagonist. I say "genuine" because all too often, either the Anti-Villain is so much an "anti" villain that they are more like a Designated Villain (in other words, it's not obvious how or why they are in any way villainous save that someone slapped a "Genuine US Grade A Villain" stamp on them), or they are so totally a villain that their supposed "redemption" is entirely Protagonist Centered Morality.
Nictis isn't a terribly evil villain at first, but he does come from a cruel culture and he acts according to its precepts. He is gradually Redeemed By Love (and Friendship, really), until he's no longer villainous at all. But this happens slowly, at a believable pace, and for believable reasons. It's not forced, and what's more everything isn't instantly all right because he's reformed -- he still finds himself on the wrong side of a war, hunted by everyone, and with his love interest feeling utterly betrayed by years of lies. And there's no instant resolution to this.
Which makes it seem real, hence believable, hence of greater impact.
Verisimilitude.
3757982
Food for thought: Big Shot was right all along! He refused to grant Meadow Song a truce because she was a dangerous, unrepenting manipulator. And while she felt he was always using his authority to mess with her life, look again: whenever they clashed, his actions were proper and justified.
3758833 I'm not really interested in the actions as much as the motivations behind them. He refuses the truce because he doesn't see any remorse, he claims he feels bad about what he did, but did he ever try making amends with anyone he tortured? He brushes it off the same way the reader would, because "hey, at least I'm not as bad as her" but that's no excuse. He shouldn't get a free pass on being a monster just because he's a kid, when Nictis was even younger than him. I make no defense on anything Nictis did, it's Big Shot pretending his treatment of Spark wasn't a big deal I take issue with.
3758949
Maybe it's a case of "even evil has standards", no?
3758833
Oh yes. Big Shot calls Meadow Song a "monster," and in the strictest sense, by Pony standards he is absolutely RIGHT. By that point her behavior isn't all that "monstrous" anymore, which increases the irony of the situation.
3731753
In reality I can show you anapsids (the group to which turtles belong) and xenarthans (actual eutherial mammals: the group to which armadillos and sloths belong) as examples of chordates evolving exoskeletons. It's probably much easier to grow exoskeletal armor from a tetrapod basis than it is to evolve a tetrapod body plan and organ structure from an arthopod basis. Of course, the MLP universe is chock-full of mix-and-match critters, including the Pegasi themselves.
3758949
The reason I find it easier to like Nictis/Meadow Song than Big Shot is very simple.
Nictis/Meadow Song is the way he/she is toward other Ponies (which is to say, mostly nice, by the end of the story) from the starting point of having been raised Changeling. Big Shot is the way he is toward other Ponies (which is to say, still rather nasty by the end of the story) from the starting point of having been raised Pony. As far as I can see, Meadow Song is, by the point that conversation occurs, the better Pony of the two.
Though maybe I'd feel differently if I'd seen the story from Big Shot's point of view.
3760441 I could feel for him more simply because I'd have a better understanding of his decision making process. I think I'd like to see Nictis try and make amends with Big Shot as much as I'd like to see them both properly apologize to Spark. Big Shot seems to really need an apology to move on with his life, but I don't know that he's been in the right state of mind to believe and accept one.
3760441
You don't have to like Bigs. Just see that he had little reason to believe Meadow was any better.
3760657
Oh, I agree with you completely on that!
3760640
There are so many reasons I would love to see what happens if and when Nictis, as himself, ever meets up with Big Shot again. There are so many ways this could go, from the hilarious to the utterly tragic.
It kind of hurts that we didn't get any real closure with Spark. Life doesn't always give you closure though... So I'm torn between approval and dissapointment