This story is a sequel to Order-naries: Redux
Cabbage Path does not truly belong anywhere. Too small, weak in transformation ability, and softhearted to contribute to the survival of the Changelings, she was cast out into the world of ponies, where she is considered a kidnapper, a parasite, and a monster.
Although the ponies of The Great Trixie's Royal Thespians defy the trend and accept Cabbage for all that she is, she remains hesitant to relax her guard. Her hard, painful past has taught her to hold fast to what little she has and draw as little attention to herself as possible. Any behavior remotely resembling a Changeling is to be avoided until no other choice remains. A life on the road, such as the Thespians provide, is ideal.
When the troupe finds themselves stranded in Ponyville without their wagon in the wake of Tremolo's Earth Elemental rampage, Cabbage struggles to maintain her low, shy profile when confronted with the ever-eager and curious Cutie Mark Crusaders, news that another Changeling had fled town after attack, and mounting pressure from many sides to put her talents on display.
Ooh, more Cabagepatch, and also the CMC to boot, this ig oing to be good.
I remember reading that we would see more of the older CMC a while back... Recently re-read this series, so this is good timing.
Cabbage Patch and the CMC? It's going to be a glorious disaster.
I'm really rather pleased to see Cabbage making some friends her own age.
This can only lead to good things.
Also, is Salty going to explain his real motivation to Applejack?
Dang AJ, stop being so bucket stingy.
Well that's kind of a worrisome out.
Makes sense to just give in and show the CMC the truth in a controlled environment. The way it was developing, they probably would have ended up accidentally stripped her disguise in the middle of town square.
I'd meant to be reading this fic from the start, but I apparently forgot to fav it so missed most of the updates until now.
Anyway, that's fixed now and I've been enjoying catchinthing up with what feels like one of your best fics yet.
One thing this chapter reminded me of though is the one thing I've always thought was strange about Cabbage's sea pony act, and that's her costume. I know she's not supposed to be a very good shapeshifter, but she's still a changeling and everyone always remarks on how realistic the costume looks so it's just always felt to me like the costume should just be lie to cover up her using an actual transformation.
That's a funny way to put it, it almost feels like Apple Bloom is angry that she isn't the one being bullied.
A good fic. Good character development, good dialogue, a nice premise, and it has a way of keeping you interested.
~Crystalline Electrostatic~
It's all fun and games until you take a solid gold bit to the eye.
Woah, I did not see that coming. Go Cabbage!
Hehehehe why is my evil vibe tingling?
its continuation of something or it have just that strange start?
Heh, and this chapter it's definitely "Go Harlequin!".
Oh Turnip has brought an ultimatum. I wonder how this will work out for Cabbage.
Ooh... a new chapter from one of my long time favorite authors. It's been quite while, but while this chapter seems innocuous at first blush, it's certainly worth the wait for how thought provoking it is. So if you don't mind, I'm going to ramble for a bit as a show of appreciation
So then, sudden unexplained growth spurts... hmm? Changeling biology is something of a wild card, but as I see it there are two possibilities.
We know they can alter the size of their disguised forms. Notably, as Turnip himself mentions, Chrisalis being the about the size Celestia, but able to shrink down when she was pretending to be Cadance. So at first thought it could just be as simple as Cabbage's own increasing self-confidence causing her to unconsciously adjust her disguise, as she feels more like an adult and so the size of her appearance adjusts accordingly. However, Turnip's explanations also states that growing is harder than shrinking, which would cast doubt on Cabbage's ability to inadvertently do so unless it turns out she's actually been some kind of repressed savant this whole time. Moreover, if Cabbage is likewise correct about being full grown since age four, her sudden change in size is only all the more curios.
So what if, maybe, just maybe... what if her growing concern and compassion for other changelings, her desire to save them from themselves, is transforming her on a deeper level? What if Cabbage is metamorphosing into a QUEEN?
Again, we don't really know that much about what makes any given changeling a queen in the first place. I know a lot of fans fixate on the insect analogy, assuming it means Chrysalis is literally mother to the whole hive. Cabbage is hybrid, however, so it seems things are more complex than that in your continuity here. Most of all I find myself fixating on one line Chrysalis spoke in the show, "And as queen of the changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects," which certainly seems to be a similar state of mind to Cabbage's own new found goals in teaching her kin a better way to feed through mutual integration among ponies.
...
Then again, maybe I'm just grasping at epileptic trees, but even if this story isn't headed in that direction and even if it turns out I'm completely off base here, all this speculation has still inspired me to consider new ideas and possible even expand upon my own headcanon -- so in closing, THANK YOU!
Okay it has been some time I had laughed this much from a fimfiction story, so here have a cookie and keep on the good work.
You know I wonder if Cabbage with all that growing is turning into a hive queen.
Why did you chance the cutie mark of the cutie mark crusaders when we finally have seen there true ones in the tv show? Even in your alternate universe it doesn't make sense they have different ones.
7248410
I started this fic way before Crusaders of the Lost Mark aired. The canon overrode my (and many others's) conceptions of the CMC having individualized cutie marks, but that doesn't mean my ideas make less sense.
Ha! Called it about Cabbage becoming a queen.
Thank you for finishing this up. I've been following this storyline since your first one on EQD. Kinda sad that this one didn't become more popular.
7257412
Well, it's the latest in a long-running series, ties in pretty much every side-story, and depends on reading most of what comes beforehand to understand what's going on. It makes sense to me that not many people have the time or stamina to make it all the way here from Order-naries, or at least from SS,DC.
The ending felt almost too-friendshippy. How can any of the changelings trust Chrysalis having a position of authority in their small group when they all rather strongly just rescinded her role as queen after multiple failures that nearly wiped them out? Cabbage wouldn't have...ascended if their belief in her wasn't true and genuine, and it was mostly fueled by their rejection of Chrysalis for not having working plans (while they all knew what historically happened to the then-former-queen).
It may be out of character for Cabbage to act it out, but fortunately there's two dozen revitalized changeling there who know how their species works. I really feel like the ending should have gone down a slightly darker path as far as Chrysalis was concerned.
I enjoyed the story overall, of course.
7258387
The one thing that's stuck with Cabbage throughout her character arc is that she (like most Changeling Queens) gets extremely single-minded and stubborn about how to do things, even if those means become self-destructive. It takes a lot of effort or extraordinary circumstances to push her out of her comfort zone.
In her mind, keeping Chrysalis alive is part and parcel of her destiny to help Changelings. No one, pony or Changeling, is going to convince her otherwise until the anvil drops.
7258429
Mmm. I'm assuming from your phrasing that the anvil will drop in the next story?
7258445
That would be spoiling :P
Tremolo's attack
Truth with the protester part so much Truth