5. A Trunk Unpacks
It was the next day and Starlight found herself waiting impatiently in the throne room of the Imperial Palace alongside Twilight, Cadance, Shining Armor, and Sunburst. It had been nearly 24 hours since Pharynx’s declaration, and he was due any minute.
She hadn’t told the others about her and Pharynx’s discussion the previous night, and that was for two main reasons. Firstly, she reasoned that it wouldn’t look good for Pharynx if it were discovered that he'd snuck back in to attempt to assassinate the mimic under their muzzles ahead of his deadline, and this international kerfuffle was kerfuffly enough as it stood. Also, she figured Pharynx would be more cooperative and receptive to their proposal if his pride wasn’t at stake (which it would be if it were made public that she’d conjured a massive boot and whumped him into submission).
“I thought he’d be here by now,” Sunburst muttered as he paced back and forth.
“He said 24 hours,” Starlight said. “It looks like he meant it.”
“I appreciate that he’s a changeling of his word,” Cadance said, keeping her eye on the clock. “He’s got about one more minute to go, though, so hopefully he won’t keep us waiting too long.”
"I'm sure he'll be on time, honey," Shining Armor said. Cadance sighed, nodded, and planted a kiss on him.
“I just hope he’s willing to give our idea a chance,” Twilight said. Then she frowned, her forehead creased with worry. “I’m not sure what we’ll do if he refuses.”
“Probably let him kill the mimic,” Starlight said with a shrug.
“Starlight,” Twilight groaned.
“Hey, I'm just stating the obvious. It’s not like we have a backup plan, and personally, I don't want to risk an international incident over the evil treasure chest that tried to eat Sunburst and me.”
“Just the same…”
They were startled out of their thoughts by a loud knocking at the chamber door.
“Enter!” Cadance called.
A guard came in, and he wore a decidedly befuddled look on his face as he looked over to Shining Armor.
“Um… Your Majesties… Prince Shining Armor is here.”
Cadance and Shining Armor glanced at each other, then back to the guard.
“Uh, yes, I am,” Shining Armor said, placing a hoof on his chest.
“No, I mean…”
At that, a second Shining Armor trotted into the chamber, a sour look on his face.
“Oh,” Cadance sighed. “Pharynx, this really wasn’t necessary. You could have just entered in your true form. We told the guards to expect you, so there’s no need to disguise yourself as my husband.”
The newly-entered Shining Armor’s expression turned into a snarl. “Tell that to him!” he snapped and pointed an accusing hoof at the Shining Armor at Cadance’s side. “What kind of game are you playing, Pharynx?!”
The Shining Armor standing next to Cadance smirked before reverting to his true form in a flash of green flame.
Cadance gasped. “What?! But when—”
“I switched places with him when he went to the bathroom a few minutes ago,” Pharynx said with a smirk. He trotted over to the real Shining Armor. “I’ve disguised myself as a dozen different ponies in the last hour to see if your guards would catch on. They didn’t. Starlight’s right: you really need to train your guards better.”
Shining Armor’s face reddened as Pharynx gave an approving nod and wink in Starlight’s direction.
“I think you’ve made your point,” Shining Armor growled as he took his place alongside his wife.
"Also, your wife is a lousy kisser," Pharynx added.
"Oh, that is it!" Shining Armor roared as Cadance turned bright red.
"Okay, okay, everypony calm down!" Twilight exclaimed hurriedly as she teleported herself between the grinning changeling and her murderous older brother.
“Actually, aside from helpfully pointing out the holes of an allied nation’s security,” Pharynx said, “there was another point to this deception: I could have just come back here and put down the mimic without your interference, and nothing could have stopped me. Well, unless one of you were vigilant enough to stick around and guard the little monster box.”
Starlight saw his purple eye twitch in her direction for a split second and allowed herself a subtle smile. Well well well… I think I might have just earned his respect, she thought to herself.
“Instead,” Pharynx continued, “I’ve chosen to honor our agreement. And, on that note, I’ve had a change of heart: while I still think you should just kill the stupid thing and be done with it, if you have a solution to deal with the mimic without killing it, then I will hear you out.”
The others all exchanged a look. “That’s… very reasonable, Pharynx,” Cadance said.
“Hmph. Don’t sound too surprised about it, Princess,” he grumbled.
“Well, not that we aren’t grateful, but you seemed dead set on either allowing you to eliminate the mimic or declaring war. We do have an idea, and we’re glad you’re willing to listen, but if you don’t mind my asking, what changed your mind?”
Pharynx snorted. “Let’s just say a… a friend gave me good counsel.”
“A friend?!” Twilight exclaimed, rushing over to him.
“Yes, one who would prefer to remain anonymous.”
Twilight visibly sagged.
“Now, if Princess Twilight isn’t too disappointed by the fact that I don’t want to gush about fwiendship—” he said, sarcastically making big wet googly eyes for emphasis “—then let’s quit wasting time and hear this solution of yours.”
Then Twilight smiled. “Actually, Pharynx, the solution in this case is friendship!”
Pharynx blinked at her.
“If you are going to suggest that the mimic and I have some sort of playdate and bond over our mutual ability to transform, I will be forced to ask what sort of weird pony drugs you’ve been putting into your crumpets. And then ask for a few to go, because they sound fun.”
“No no,” Twilight laughed. “What I mean is that, well, as far as we know, the mimic is just a monster with no thought other than eating anything it can catch. But what if we could prove that it was intelligent? What if we could reason with it and get it to agree to not attack ponies or changelings or any other sapient creatures?”
Pharynx rubbed his chin. “I suppose, but as far as I know, no one has ever communicated with a mimic before. It’s difficult to have a conversation with something that’s actively trying to devour you.”
“Well,” said Sunburst, “didn’t you say that mimics and changelings used to be the same species or that mimics were changelings that broke away from the hive?”
Pharynx nodded.
“In that case, wouldn’t it stand to reason that mimics have the same kind of intelligence as changelings?”
Pharynx shook his head. “No. Their minds deteriorated as they devolved into dull beasts. Whatever intelligence they had is gone now.”
“Are you so sure?” Starlight asked. “I’ve seen it act in ways that make it seem like it can understand us and what’s going on around it.”
She didn’t say it aloud, but she was thinking of the snickering sound the thing had made when she’d hit Pharynx with the boot last night. It could have been her imagination, but still…
“I think you’re projecting,” Pharynx said. “Ponies' ability to empathize is well known to us; a pony would project a personality onto a rock if they wanted to…”
Sunburst leaned over to Starlight. “We should probably not tell him about Maud Pie,” he whispered.
“...But, for the sake of argument, let’s pretend for a moment that mimics are intelligent. Even if that’s true, how would we find out?” He snorted. “What, do you ponies have like some miraculous expert on talking to savage beasts or something?”
He chuckled at the thought until he saw them all exchange an infuriatingly knowing glance.
“Oh… of course you do. Well, where is this expert of yours?”
Just then, the doors to the royal chamber burst open and a yellow pegasus skidded to a halt in the middle of the room.
“Oh, Twilight, I hope I’m not too late!” Fluttershy cried. “I got on the train as soon as I got your telegram this morning! And I can’t believe I get to meet a real live mimic! I thought they were extinct! Oh, I hope I can get it to talk to me, or else Mr. Pharynx will make it so they really are extinct!”
Twilight cleared her throat. “I’m glad you’re here, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, going over to her and giving her a small hug. “And, um… speaking of Mr. Pharynx…”
“Please, just ‘Pharynx,’” he said, walking over to her. “No ‘Mister.’”
“Oh,” Fluttershy said bashfully. “Um, well… if it’s okay with you, I’d like to try to talk to the mimic.”
“You are welcome to try,” Pharynx said. “But I think you’re wasting your time.”
Fluttershy drew herself up and smiled at him. “Well, there’s only one way to find out!”
They stood in front of the cell that contained the mimic. The creature was strangely still, once again demonstrating the perfection of its disguise, as it could easily have been taken for just a simple chest.
“It looks so peaceful,” Fluttershy remarked.
“It’s a very good disguise,” Sunburst said. “Starlight and I even carried it back to my home before it attacked me, and we never suspected a thing!”
“Fluttershy, I know you have experience talking to all sorts of creatures,” Twilight said, placing a hoof on her shoulder, “but this one is very different. If you’re not sure about trying to talk to it, then you don’t have to.”
“But, Twilight, if I don’t try to communicate with it, then we… oh, I can’t even say it!” She shook her head vigorously. “No! I can’t turn away! Not when the fate of an entire species is depending on me!”
Pharynx looked down at her. “Before you go in there, I want you to know that I think you’re very brave.”
Fluttershy smiled. “Why, thank you, Pharynx!”
“You are welcome,” he said. “After it eats you, I will tell my people to build a memorial in your honor.”
“That’s… um, nice?”
Starlight elbowed him in the ribs. "Pharynx, can you please try to be positive?"
"I am. I'm positive that thing's going to eat her." This earned him another sharp jab in the ribs. “Ow! Fine, be optimistic, but when she's mimic chow, just remember that I told you so.”
Fluttershy drew herself up. “Okay, I’m ready. Open the cell door, please.”
Shining Armor nodded to a nearby guard who obliged, letting the cell door swing wide as Fluttershy calmly strode in. She gave another nod and the guard locked it behind her, albeit with a notable look of hesitation.
Fluttershy walked right up to the mimic.
“Hello, Mr. Mimic! My name is Fluttershy, and I want you to know that we mean you no harm, and that we—”
The mimic suddenly gave a loud roar, revealing its jaws as it lunged forward, snapping up Fluttershy and swallowing her in a matter of seconds, leaving just her tail hanging out of its lid.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight shrieked.
“Fluttershy!” Starlight also shrieked.
“Ha! Called it!” Pharynx shouted.
The others all turned their horrified faces toward him.
“Er, sorry for your loss. I mean, you could still blast that thing.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Starlight shouted, her horn flaring to life.
But then the mimic began to rattle and pulsate before spewing Fluttershy forth in a cascade of slime. It immediately began making a series of gagging sounds, its tongue lolling as if it were utterly disgusted.
“Quick, get her out of there!” Shining Armor yelled to the guard.
But before the guard could unlock the cell door, Fluttershy raised a hoof and managed to gasp, “Wait!”
They all froze as she unsteadily got to her hooves and shook the excess slime from her mane.
“Fluttershy, are you all right?!” Twilight cried.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just a little slimy. But it’s okay, I thought that might happen, so before I left, I asked Discord to cast a spell on me that would make me taste disgusting. He said that I probably wouldn’t taste very good to it because I’m not very greedy anyway, but I said that he should cast it anyway just to make sure, and then to make sure it worked, I asked all my animals to lick me - and Rainbow Dash showed up right when they were and looked a bit freaked out, but she flew away before I could explain - and I felt so bad when all the poor critters started gagging, and—”
“Could we please focus on the matter at hoof?!” Pharynx demanded. “Just get out of the way so we can destroy that thing!”
“No, wait!” Fluttershy exclaimed, turning back to the mimic. “Please, Mr. Mimic, I know you must be hungry, but I can’t help you unless you try to communicate with me!”
At first, the mimic said nothing. But then, as its slatted wooden sides creaked, it began to speak in a strange, guttural language unlike anything they’d ever heard. (To say it sounded ancient and profound like the eldritch song of a bygone era would be accurate, though it also wouldn’t be wrong to compare it to the sound of someone repeatedly trying to shut a suitcase filled with tapioca pudding.)
After a moment, Sunburst leaned forward and asked, “What’s it saying?”
“Shh,” she said firmly. “I think I’m getting it…”
After a few moments, she nodded. “I see, I see,” she muttered. “All right, do you think you’re ready to talk to them?”
The creature made more guttural sounds that seemed somehow more amicable than before.
“Okay, it’s going to talk to us, but we have to promise to keep… it keeps saying ‘the child’ from attacking it.”
They all exchanged a look of confusion.
“What child does it mean?” Cadance asked.
Fluttershy spoke to the mimic and it groaned a response.
“It says, ‘The one like us.’”
Slowly, their eyes all fell on Pharynx. After a moment, he saw they were watching him and his wings flared angrily. “Me?! Who does that chattering murder box think it’s calling a ‘child?!’”
“No, it… hang on, I’ll just translate it directly.”
Fluttershy stood at the mimic’s side as it began to speak, and she in turn told them what it said, word by squelching word:
“The child," the mimic said, "changes like us, for he inherited our power.”
“Inherited?” Pharynx repeated. “Stupid creature, your kind and ours split off eons ago! We didn’t inherit a thing from you!”
“No. You imagine that we share an ancestor. Or that you were the first, and we your wayward progeny. But it was our kind that first hunted the ancient wilds, and yours that came after.”
“Ridiculous!” Pharynx snarled.
“You say that, but your kind lives short, energetic lives, while ours spans centuries… before this empire’s first foundational stone was laid, I sprang my trap on its ancient ancestors. I know of your kind’s birth from the ancient hunters because I was there to witness it.”
Pharynx gawked. “You… you what?!”
The mimic rumbled, groaning in exertion - or so Fluttershy explained - because it was so unused to speaking at all or doing much other than lying in wait for unsuspecting prey.
“In ancient times, we lured ponies in by posing as valuable caches or delicious fruit, long before we hit upon our most cherished form of the treasure coffer. But among our number were hunters - mimics, you call us - whose transformation powers were swifter than our own. And rather than lie in wait to feed their ravenous appetites, they took on new forms: those of our prey themselves. To ease their transformations, they began to adopt a base form that mirrored their body shape. Why else do you think your kind resembles the ponies so?”
Pharynx gawked at the mimic, then slowly sank to his haunches. “The reason we resemble ponies… was to mimic them?” he breathlessly wondered aloud.
“Our kind has always been solitary, but we do occasionally become mobile, and we seek each other out once in a rare while to exchange information. And soon the tales went from those of strange variant children to tales of new hunters, ones who craved a taste for love rather than greed and posed not as objects of desire, but the loved ones of their prey.
“Though we admired what our progeny had wrought for themselves at first, we experienced their ravenousness for ourselves when they turned on us, their forebears, fearing that our prey’s new techniques for detecting us would be their downfall.
“And so, we hunters became the hunted by both our prey and our own offspring. It has been centuries since last I encountered another of my kind, and if what you say is true, then I am the last of us. And I would have kept myself better hidden were I not forced to feed by circumstance.”
As the others fell silent at the mimic’s tale, Starlight stepped forward. “So, even though you knew I was still around, you attacked Sunburst because you thought you had to? Why? What circumstance do you mean?”
The mimic gurgled in response and Fluttershy gasped.
“Oh! Oh, how wonderful!” she cooed, gently stroking the mimic’s wooden lid as it moaned appreciatively.
“Uh, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. “What did it say?”
“Oh, Twilight, it’s wonderful!” she exclaimed. “The mimic is pregnant!”
“It’s what?!” Pharynx exclaimed.
“Well, you did tell us that they can reproduce on their own,” Sunburst said.
“But I didn’t think it was about to occur now!” he said.
Fluttershy cleared her throat. “Well, Mr Mimic… or Ms. Mimic, is it? I’m not sure, it doesn't quite seem to understand what I’m talking about… anyway, the mimic says it needs food soon in order to give birth. If it doesn't, then its whole species could go extinct, so it was desperate enough to attack Sunburst. And me too, actually.”
Cadance slowly turned to Pharynx. “So, Pharynx, what do you think? We proved that it is intelligent. Do you still want to eliminate it?”
Pharynx shut his eyes and rubbed his temples. “This changes things a bit… I never dreamed that this thing could actually be our oldest living ancestor. It knows the history of changelings in ways even we didn't know ourselves.” He sighed and stood to his full height. “Just the same, if it’s still a danger to ponies and changelings, and especially if it’s about to give birth to even more potential threats, we can’t just leave it to its own devices!”
“Well, I think I have a solution for that too,” Fluttershy said. “Twilight, could you go upstairs and get the bag I left in my room?”
Twilight did as she was asked and handed a small satchel over to Fluttershy, sliding it through the bars of her cell.
Fluttershy reached in and took out something that resembled a dog biscuit that was, strangely, in the shape of a pony.
“Here, try this!” she said, offering it to the mimic.
The mimic curled its lid-like lip, almost as if it was sniffing it, then quickly snapped on the biscuit and gulped it down. It then gave another guttural moan of pleasure and opened itself wide.
“Oh, good, it loves them!” Fluttershy exclaimed, tossing several more of the items into its hungry maw.
“What exactly are those, Fluttershy?” Starlight asked.
“Well, after I explained everything to Discord, he helped me create these biscuits that taste just like greedy ponies! He said he wasn’t sure what that would taste like so he just used his magic to make treats that tasted like those investment bankers in Manehattan.”
“And how did he know what they tasted like?” Twilight asked.
“He said I probably shouldn’t ask.”
“But… but—”
“He said you shouldn’t ask either, Twilight.”
Twilight threw up her hooves in exasperation. “You know what, fine! Look, if we promise to keep the mimic safe and keep feeding it biscuits of questionable origin that taste like greedy ponies, will it stop attacking living creatures?”
“And teach its offspring to do the same?” Pharynx added.
Fluttershy spoke again to the mimic. She frowned, but then nodded.
“Well, I offered the mimic and its children a chance to live in my animal sanctuary, and it has no problem living out the rest of their its own life there being fed by ponies, but that’s because it's very old and just wants a place to live out the rest of its days. It says it has lived a full life, but it wants its children to have a different life. If mimics can’t be hunters feeding on greedy explorers, then they need a new role in society. They wouldn't be happy just being fed like animals in a zoo.”
Sunburst stroked his beard in thought. “A new place in society? For mimics? What could they possibly do?”
Then Starlight’s eyes lit up. “Wait, I've got it! Pharynx, do you remember what you told us about a pony sorcerer using mimics as living traps?”
“Well, based on this mimic’s story, that’s probably false, but—” Then he froze. A smile appeared on his face. “Ah… I think I see where you’re going with this…”
Epilogue
Starlight sat at the breakfast table of Twilight’s castle in Ponyville. Twilight herself was in Canterlot by that time, along with Spike, leaving Starlight to mostly have the run of the place. It was more space than she needed, but Twilight returned frequently and often held events there, and Starlight was happy to have friends over quite often.
That morning, she was finishing a nice brunch and reading the morning newspaper when she heard the buzzing of insectoid wings and a tap at her window. She opened it, and in flew Pharynx carrying a basket.
“My brother suggested I bring you some mushrooms grown in the hive,” he said, giving the basket to Starlight. “I told him about your omelets.”
“Oh, that was nice! Thank him for me!”
Pharynx nodded and sat down across from her at the table. “I heard the news from a couple of scouts. Is it true?”
Starlight held up the newspaper. It was a copy of the Manehattan Times.
Pharynx took it and read the lead article’s title: “Cat burglar spree ended by guard mimic.”
“Heh,” he chuckled. “Looks like someone’s earned their keep.”
“I’ll say,” Starlight said, pouring him a cup of coffee. “The mimic disguised itself as the Horsetensia Diamond’s display case in the museum. It latched onto the thief the instant he tried to remove the glass and held him until the police arrived.”
Pharynx nodded and continued to read the article. It recapped the ongoing success stories of ponies working alongside mimics and deploying them as guardians to catch and hold thieves. The mimics no longer ate the would-be burglars, but were rewarded with more of the treats devised by Fluttershy and Discord. Granted, there were a few instances of young mimics hungrily chomping on a few bankers and politicians here and there, but a few minor injuries paled in comparison to the plummeting burglary rate across Equestria.
It turned out, the old mimic’s offspring grew rapidly and reproduced much faster with a steady supply of food, and most of them were glad to take up a role as a sort of live-in guardian. Most had even taken to learning Ponish and would rent their services out as freelancers. Starlight had even heard of one that had grown legs and was working as a piece of living mobile luggage (and occasional bodyguard) for somepony named Two Flowers on his travels.
Of course, mimics weren’t to be treated like guard dogs, and some mimics instead returned to the wilderness to hunt other animals, and that was fine so long as they didn’t attack any ponies, changelings, or other sapient creatures.
“I know I've said it before, but every day it seems what you said about the mimics having some potential is proven true,” Pharynx said. “Giving the mimics a chance to be something else was worth it. And now the Hive’s historians have centuries of history to unpack from what the Matriarch told us.”
The old mimic Starlight and Sunburst had found was often called “The Matriarch” by its descendants, despite not technically being female. It had lived in Fluttershy’s sanctuary peacefully before passing away earlier that year, apparently satisfied that its kind would endure.
Starlight held up a coffee cup in her magic. “To the Matriarch?” she asked.
Pharynx held up his own cup. “Yes. To the Matriarch,” he said and clinked his mug with hers.
They both drank their coffee and chatted quietly about the newfound role for mimics in society in addition to what was going on in their own lives. Starlight discussed running Twilight’s school, Pharynx related a few amusing stories about running the Changeling Guard - which now had a few mimics in its ranks - and they shared a few crumpets between them for brunch.
“Well, thanks for the brunch, Starlight,” Pharynx said, getting up from the table. “Same time next month?”
“Well, actually, do you have to go right now?” Starlight asked.
“Hm? I… guess not. What did you have in mind?”
Starlight grinned. “Sunburst has the day off too, and it just occurred to me that I’ve never taught you to play Dragon Pit…”
Pharynx sighed in resignation and rolled his eyes. “Keep feeding me crumpets and you’ve got yourself a deal.”
The End
Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope you enjoyed my take on mimics in Equestria! Thanks again to LordMentat for their suggestion!
I intended to finish this earlier but felt my original planned ending was too plain, so I hope this version is sufficiently impactful and enjoyable for you all.
See you next story, everyone! Feel free to leave a comment if you're of a mind to! 
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That...does raise a potential concern about mimic overpopulation though, especially as there is now nothing that will naturally curtail the population from growing too big, what with no natural predators or known enemies seeking to kill them anymore. And as they clearly reproduce much faster than they die off from natural causes...you might end up in a tribble-esque situation and be unintentionally overrun by the things. And good luck finding enough of these biscuits to keep them all fed then.
Otherwise, good that everybody were able to work out a peaceful solution that left everybody happy.
11849684
Eh, thought about it, but figured I'd keep it around for a potential sequel if I ever felt like it... or just for any potential fridge horror like what I've apparently wrought here.
Thanks for reading!
Well there's at least sixteen fics on this site that could answer that.
11849744
I was going to have Fluttershy start to explain this as the start of another shaggy dog story until I realized it was just as funny to leave it totally unanswered.
A very odd story, but in a very wholesome, earnest kind of way.
The right mix of silly and serious that, in my estimation, is not too far off from G4's own writing.
Nothing that truly wowed me but nothing that I truly disliked either.
All in all, 7/10 for me.
11849905
I'll take it!
This was delightful! I really love the worldbuilding and the tentative friendship between Starlight and Pharynx was delightful. Starlight's obsession with Dragon Pit was a very silly throughline.
you really managed to capture the feeling of an episode of the show, and that's tricky to do, so bravo. n_n
This feels like the sort of adventure that, had it been in the show, it would've been a map episode. It needed very specific characters, with Starlight to stop Pharynx and Fluttershy to talk to the mimic. I suppose the fact that everything worked out without its intervention is probably a good enough explanation for why the map didn't send them.
Lovely work. It’s always nice to see a solution that can make everyone happy, and Fluttershy excels at them, especially with a little help from Discord to bridge otherwise insurmountable gaps. Heck, he’s another example of an apparent monster finding a place in society.
Thank you for a great read. I especially appreciate Pharynx as a white-hat intiltrator and that Discworld reference.
11851118
Thanks! This was definitely an odd story for me, but I'm glad its struck a chord with folks, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed writing it as well!
And yeah, it being me, I had to sneak in a little Discworld reference for those in the know.
In other words: Nothing we didn't know before.
I love this response!
Certainly!
Ah, that makes perfectly sense!
Neat!
Maybe they will one day turn into another changeling-like form.
But say, is this a reference to something else? It sounds way too specific to just be a random stand-alone.
Good story!
I enjoyed reading it!