The Reaction
The daze had worn off, and Celestia looked towards where their prisoner had hung. He was gone.
"How did he manage to escape again?!?!" Twilight yelled. "He does this every time! How many tricks can one changeling have?"
"Calm down, my student. I don't want a repeat of the episode in the hospital." Twilight tried to protest, but was silenced by a sidelong glare from the Princess. "What were those magical canisters he used? I've been alive a few thousand years, and not once have I seen something like that." Celestia scratched her head. The smoke started to die down, revealing a couple scorch marks on the floor. Twilight got up from where she had fallen and scraped her hoof through the ash.
She scrunched up her nose. "Smells like sulphur."
"I concur, Twilight, but I have never even seen magic leave a by-product besides residual heat changes, sound or light, yet this, thing, did all of those, and left a residue."
"But Princess, what if this isn't magic? That would explain why it doesn't match the description of anything we've seen before. But why this changeling would be able to do something like that is beyond me."
"Remember though, he wasn't a normal changeling." She said. Fluttershy timidly peaked around the side of the entrance of the room, and upon seeing no danger, besides the somewhat scary plumes of smoke floating around her ankles, ran in to see the condition of her friends.
"Um, are you guys okay?" Twilight turned to look at her. "I mean, that is, if you want to tell me. It's just that I heard this giant noise, and then after I came out from under the bench that I had crawled under, and I decided to see if all of you were all right. If that's okay."
"We're fine Fluttershy, those loud noises were just a distraction, they weren't meant to kill. Wait a second." She turned to Celestia. "Princess, one of those went off right next to you, right?"
"Yes, my student."
"And you're fine, uninjured, I mean?"
"My ears still hurt, but I seem to be otherwise unharmed."
"So then why were those things not meant to kill us? I mean, he surprised us with those, and if he was an assassin, he would have just finished the job, but he just created a distraction to get away." She paused. "You know, the more I think about it, the weirder this becomes."
"Waddaya mean, Sugarcube?"
"Well, besides the fact that he clearly didn't try to kill us, nopony can just create things out of thin air, I mean Celestia can, but that's part of one of her Alicorn powers, and those are still small things. We can safely assume that he doesn't have that kind of power. He didn't have any of those canisters on him, so he must have an accomplice. I have no idea who that could be, though."
"I will send out search parties while you piece together the evidence, my faithful student. It's nice to know that his mission isn't to kill us, although it does beg the question, why is he here? He could be gathering intel, in which case our only able directive would be to kill him, even though he has dug himself a deeper hole with this recent endeavor, of which the penalty is also death. There is no way I will allow a possible threat like him to threaten the safety of all of my subjects, especially since we don't know what his plan is."
"And it's still unclear why he healed Rainbow Dash, and why he had no fear of you."
"Yes, that too. Good luck, Twilight, I must get started on sending out those search parties." She briskly walked out of the room, flagging down a royal guard. A whoosh was heard, and a ball of green flame appeared, leaving a message on the floor nearby.
Twilight walked over and grabbed it. "This must be from Spike. I asked him before we left to inform me of Rainbow's condition upon her awakening." She opened the scroll, and her smile quickly turned to a frown.
"What is it darling?" Rarity asked.
Twilight looked up, a worried look on her face. "He says that Dash left the hospital, but no one knows when, or why." Her expression grew worse. "Unless..."
"Sugarcube, ya'll aren't goin' ta say that Dash helped this changeling, are ya?"
"Well I don't know what else it could have been. She must be under some kind of mind control magic, to come here and try to save him like that. Nah, it's not her, that would be ridiculous." A wave of despair washed over her. Dash had always been the one to stay true to whatever cause they were per suing. When Dash was the one gone, everything else just felt hopeless. Where were they without their most loyal, daredevil friend, the only one they thought they could always trust? It was a harrowing development, she had definitely never expected it, and that made it all the worse.
"But what if it was her? That sounds an awful lot like something Dash would do, ignorin' the whole fugitive part. Ah guess ah'm just sayin' that it follows her personality, rushin' inta a situation and all."
"I doubt she would betray us over some changeling, element of loyalty and all." Twilight responded, shaking her head.
"But Sugarcube, there's always the change that she thinks this is the right thing to do, and is going with it voluntarily. Ah'm just sayin'. We're assuming it's her though, and we have no proof for any of that, really. It could be anypony, it's not like we saw the pony that we assume broke through that window. It's not like she was acting oddly these last few days, and we still don't even know if there was an associate. If it was Dash, we have no idea how she would've gotten those weapons." Twilight stared at Applejack, her jaw hanging open.
"I didn't expect all of that from you, Applejack, but you're right. Although, Rainbow was the closest to this changeling these last few days, so she is the prime suspect. I'll contact the Princess and see about bringing some of the guard to Dash's house, just to check. Hopefully she isn't involved, but with her close proximity to the changeling, we have to assume the worst. Her being in possible cahoots with the changeling would explain his willingness to heal her, I suppose, although that seems a little too compassionate and caring for a changeling. Let's leave it out of the question that she herself was a changeling. A changeling wouldn't throw itself into a storm to save an enemy town, at least not when it was that dangerous, so it has to be her." She bit her lip. She wasn't sure what to think. When it had just been the changeling involved, her stance had been easy to take, but now she was facing one of her best friends, and she didn't know if she could bring herself to actually stop Dash if the opportunity came. Her only solace was the idea that Dash may not be the culprit, in which case she would be more than a little angry that her friends had even thought of her leaving.
"At least we know nopony's done anything with Dashie! We should throw a party!"
Twilight sighed. "No Pinkie, no parties. Maybe we'll have one after we catch this changeling menace. We should get some wanted posters up, just so everypony can be on the lookout. Not that we can really have a picture of him, shape changer and all." She sighed. "I'll go talk to Celestia. Stay here, I'll be right back." She focused energy in her horn, and after a whoosh and a pop, she appeared in front of the Princess in her throne room. She bowed. "Princess, I have some information that we have put together about the changeling."
"Very well, proceed."
"We have no concrete evidence backing this up, only speculation, but the only suspect we have right now, assuming there was a pony helping that changeling, is Rainbow Dash. The way I can see it, though, the changeling doesn't seem to be holding Dash under a spell, nor does she herself seem to have been replaced by a changeling."
"Why would she turn on her own country then? Changeling manipulation magic must be involved."
"But Princess, as far as we know, that doesn't exist, nor does it allow the personality of the controlled pony to show through, and no changes were seen in Dash. She must have thought that this changeling was the right cause to follow, so either she knows something we don't, or she's being manipulated skillfully. Or both, I suppose. I'm really not sure what to think."
"Well what do you propose?"
"We should send out search parties to scour the nearby towns, especially Ponyville. I want to go by Dash's house and take a look around. For all we know, she isn't even with the changeling, and we're just taking the easiest way out by accusing her. Also, we should probably tell ponies to be on the lookout for anything suspicious."
"Alright then, I will continue to send out search parties. When you are ready to go to Rainbow Dash's house, just send for me and I will assemble a small escort."
"It's quite alright, Princess, but I would like to do this myself."
"Very well, Twilight, I will trust you to be careful."
"Thank you princess." she teleported back to her friends, who jumped a little when she appeared.
"So what did she say Sugarcube?"
"She basically shared my disbelief about Dash leaving. Oh ponyfeathers I'm worried about her. The only reason I'm not going catatonic right now is because we don't know that she left, and we still know that she still has a measure of free will. I just hope we're wrong about this changeling. It doesn't change the fact that his crimes are inexcusable, he's still the number one most wanted criminal right now."
"So what are ya doin' about it?"
"I'm going to Dash's house and taking a look around. If she's there, things should be a lot easier, although she could still be the culprit. The Princess is still sending out search parties, but I told her to focus on Ponyville and the surrounding areas. Hopefully they returned to somewhere familiar."
"How good of a chance do we have of finding them?" Rarity spoke up.
"Not too good, I'd say. We're up against the fastest pony in Equestria and a master of disguise, well, maybe not a master, but anyway the odds aren't in our favor. The best we can hope for is one of them accidentally revealing themselves, or actually having a search party find something useful. With how unpredictable that guy is though, they could be anywhere. He's smart too; he used mathematical formulas I've never heard of, and they all make sense!"
"Well then, ah guess we better get lookin'."
"Not like there's anything else we can do..."
The day gap was fine with me. After all, you didn't end the previous chapter with a cliffhanger. Also, I woke uplate last night and saw the comment you made to back me up. Just want to say thanks. Also, this is the point most stories make it or break it. The big reveal/Convincing the others that there isn't a threat.
Twilight, you summon things out of thin air...
1827267 she's not the only one
Wait, what crimes did he "commit" again?
1827373
Supposed murder of a pony and taking his place. And couple others, like stealing love. Though the former is the deal here.
And, apparently, escaping torture room. Remember kids, you cannot simply escape from the torture in a harmless explosion of smoke and sound. You get killed for that!
What possible reason could Rainbow Dash have to break free the changeling who blew out his cover in order to heal her damaged-beyond-repair wings allowing her to fly again?
Really, ponies are too dense in this fic.
Oh Princess this is one of the best stories I have read in a long time lol, it's pretty funny that he is pretty much the smartest living thing there also MOAR
Good-ol-humans, being awesome like always...
I believe they meant using magic and summoning something out of thin air without his horn glowing or working? 1827267
All in their heads lol... all in their stupid heads. 1827373
1827399
Yeah, especially that mathematics bit. Though I hardly believe Twi would let him go after helping her there. Unless she was too shocked to realise that he used something unknown in Equestria. Because, really, if Twi doesn't know something related to math, it doesn't exist as a knowledge in ponyland.
1827346
Erg. Very good point. But let's not think too hard about Pinkie. Down that path lies madness.
1827407
I would imagine Celestia's horn would still glow, like it always does when she's using magic, so that would be kind of strange...
1827373
I dunno. Being a changeling in the wrong neighborhood?
1827391 Ah, thanks. Now for the torches and pitchforks!
If I was him I would leave behind a note in his Dash's home or something that insults every one of them in a sort of troll joke :P
1827412
1827419 Yo dawg! That's racist!
1827442
Nah, it's just, uh... criminal profiling. Yeah!
(Okay, I think I've drug this joke along far enough. Hehe)
1827456 Royal Guard: Sir, your pupils are dilated.
Jason: I don't even have pupils!
1827267
Implying that she's not just summoning something from somewhere else.
Before, I was considering be merciful and merely interrogate and torture him to death. But after this, he would not escape so lightly.
TAKE HIM TO DETROT!
Not tryin to be a spelling/grammar nazi here, but it's sulfur, not sulphur
1827894
Isn't it spelled both ways?
>>AgentSnail
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=t348e24vDyA]
however, i've onlyever seen it speeled 'sulfur'
YAY. NEW CHAPTER!!!
1827267 pocket dimension not materialization, or that how its normally explained how Twi does it fimfiction-static.net/images/emoticons/twilightblush.png
its otherwise from what i know that Celestia with more shear power can actually create completely new items at will.
least thats my take on it ;)
edit and its sulfur lol the other is not a word xD least not im my world.
Lolz it never occurs to them he may just want to live here.
He's a most wanted JUST for being a changeling. All of you, what the fuck!
1828461
What is the meaning of technicolored? I guess I really don't know for sure. Multiple people have called me on that.
By the way, the chapters do experience a huge spike in quality as time goes on.
Mostly for the other readers, the ones that care about chapter length, this next one is already over four thousand words, and I'm not even finished writing it, so TAKE THAT!
1828521 I'm thinking Discord or Nightmare is involved in all the hate going around. If not I'd be disappointed with the author at portraying characters completely wrong.
1828932Well I can at least understand them not trusting changelings, what with the whole wedding invasion and no real known facts about changelings. Other than the basics that anyone could find out by watching a changeling. Still though. He heals Rainbow Dash, escapes without payback, goes out of his way to avoid ponies and does NOTHING that regular changelings would do... and they label him a wanted criminal.
When my phone went all "ba-ding" on me i was in the middle of jumping off a bridge because you didnt updaye yesterday....... you saved my life =) (for anyone wondering i was not really goma jump off a bridge... okay... a medophorical one....still a bridge)
1829072
Thanks for the concern. Here is your explanation:
Let me just say that if some guy was causing chaos in a theater by yelling "FIRE!" or something like that, that's technically punishable by jail time, and so far all they know is that Jason replaced two ponies and caused chaos in Ponyville. If I was Celestia I'd be more than a little worried. Especially in a 'peaceful' place like Equestria. Just saying. Apparently I just overanalyze history or something, because I'm mostly basing this off of how leaders in history tend to act due to the fact that I see it as more realistic. For the record, I have made tweaks to how the characters act so that everything doesn't seem all perfect and happy all the time, because that's revolting, and I would never want to write about that. I can't really develop characters if they have to act the same all the time.
Last thing, because I want to exhaust all my arguments, the ponies are probably partially scared of this random changeling, his weapons, and all that stuff. People tend to kinda exaggerate how bad something is when there's fear involved. Thus the whole 'wanted criminal' part. I guess that's about it.
I think you were one of the people that doesn't really like short chapters. The next one's the longest one so far, just saying.
1829215Still. They acknowledged that he didn't try to take over the identity of someone else when he was using the form of a colt. And yeah, there's obviously going to be some sort of trouble. But Jason has proven that a) he heals and b)he doesn't want to kill.
Also, I don't mind short chapters when said chapters come out daily.
1829474
Cows are apparently sentient In Equestria. I'm assuming that there's no sort of undersea shrimp empire.
No beef. I think I would have to commit suicide.
You meant chance, right?
1827748 1828220
In which case, why assume that this changeling wasn't doing that, too?
1829548
Yeah, I was going to ask that, too...
1830076
Perhaps teleportation is extremely difficult. And teleporting something besides yourself is next to impossible...
It's not like Equestria's physics are set in stone for us, you gotta think outside the box.
1830085
Sure, but that's still not something that only Celestia can do due to being an alicorn. It just seems strange to see Twilight proclaim it such an impossible feat when, by all appearances, it's something she's done many times herself.
1829548
I never said throne room.
1830125
Its something of a line of sight type thing. No line of sight, no teleport.
I think if dash burst in there and exPlained the situation rather than smoke bomb a goddess and flash bang her elite. All this might have been avoided and onward with the slice of li-
Sorry about that you made the right decision which would implore more "drama" than solving it right Away
1830076 well first there already jumping to alot of conclusions, but they know close to nothing about changleing abilities but they do tend to know that they may have magic but its far from a great strength. and i would think you would need a good deal of magic talent to create another dimension.
1830629
In which case we're back to Twilight summoning things out of thin air...
Oh come on, those inexcusable crimes are going out of no where, and the Death Pentality is being mentioned over and over like it is not a big deal, COME ON, do it is some sort of Alternative Universe ? a universe where Fluttershy and PinkiePie can just watch how princess torture changeling in front of them without interfering.
GAH! It still gets gets me how blatantly racist/xenophobic ponies are, everyone (besides twilight) thought Zecora was a witch first thing, and the repeatedly call Iron Will a monster to his face (Fluttershy stood up for him, but was mostly ignored like usual). The only exception I'm aware of is with griffins, who might not be that uncommon of a sight if the relations between the two nations is that good.
Rant now over, i would like to say that if thouroughly enjoying this fanfiction so far, now to see what happens next.
I want to keep reading but... I just can't. The characters are way to Ooc and dense and they jump to conclusions way to fast (not to mention the racism). I would be ok with this if there was explanation and character development behind these actions, but the reactions are taken way out of context. The characters seem to be way to one-dimensional and rash as well as ignorant. The elements of 'harmony' watch as Celestia beats up an already wounded changeling (although he didn't make it any better for himself) and even fluttershy doesn't speak up to say how wrong it is. The story was a good read and has potential, but is lacking true reasons for any actions taken. Try to take this review as constructive criticism if you can.
-edit-
My opinions may be tainted in that I have read a lot of-I would like to say amazingly well thought out-stories lately and that I wrote this review at 3 am for me... It may be also that this story follows a lot of other hie elements in the plot.
2665299 I have to agree with that. Like you said, its a great story with potential, but the characters aren't acting quite right. The torture scene just screams out how off they are in that particular scene as well as how rainbow just up and leaves her the others behind without even thinking they might be understanding. Still a great story, but things like this make it a little harder to read.
"chance"
They keep referring to his unforgivable crimes, but they haven't seen him DO anything bad (except beat up Diamond Tiara, and that didn't seem to bother Cheerilee even). He can't be a kidnapper or murderer because nobody is missing. They don't even know the apple bomb was his.
4154603
I don't think this would bother anypony save for her parents and Silverspoon.