“That piece of metal there—” Tailslide said, finally setting down his tray. “It’s a spell? One that works even when you don’t have a horn?”
Nothing could bring Amie down just now—Wes was alive. She would figure out the rest in time. “Magic, no. It’s a machine. How it works doesn’t matter. If someone else has a machine like it, they can send messages back and forth. My brother is in town.”
She beamed, her eyes still focused on the screen. The message was already delivered. Wes was probably typing a reply right then.
“I could almost believe you were a pony,” he muttered. “You act like a guardsmare… but you talk like a filly. It would be easier to trust you if you did not wear her face.” His expression became distant, and he finally sat back, no longer stuffing himself. “That weapon was… instant death. If changelings wielded nightmare-magic like that during the invasion, I don’t know if we would’ve won.”
If Tailslide was trying to speedrun her out of a good mood, it was working. “Not magic either.” She glanced nervously down at the saddlebags. Her own shotgun pressed into the fabric there, its oblong shape visible even while the bag was fully closed.
“I would look like someone different if I could, Tailslide. But I don’t know how. I didn’t try to copy your leader. I just didn’t want to leave her out for the wolves. Didn’t feel right.”
He was staring at her. She didn’t have to guess at how he felt. There was plenty of underlying suspicion, but equal parts curiosity. Even a trickle of gratitude around the edges felt more satisfying than all the food piled between them. “You’re a changeling that isn’t a changeling. You changed into Gale, but you don’t know how to change. How many other contradictions do you have?”
She shrugged. “Give me more time in your world, I’ll get a few. Or better yet, get us home. No one on that mountain wants to be a bug, and they don’t want to invade your country. We want to go back to ours.”
A new message appeared at the bottom, short and sweet. “They gave me a job, I can’t let them down. I’ll look for you at lunchtime.”
Amie rolled her eyes, but tapped back a simple okay before turning off the phone. That was exactly what she expected from Wes—never realizing or even caring how much danger he was in. But if the locals don’t think he’s a changeling, maybe he isn’t in danger. They’re taking good care of Tailslide and me.
Tailslide couldn’t see what she was looking at, of course. He yawned, rising from the table. “And what… world is that? Are you from the Badlands, like the queen who invaded? A loveless, desolate place.”
She stood too—not so much because she had anywhere to go, but more because of Tailslide. She had to be there to catch him if he did anything stupid. But he didn’t seem intent on anything but the bed. “I guess there are some edgy teenagers who might talk about it that way. We’ve got our problems, but I think all of us would rather go back. Does Equestria have some kinda magic that could send us home?”
Tailslide climbed up into bed. He moved all the way to one side, leaving the other open for her. She just stared, face growing hotter. Good thing he couldn’t sense her emotions. “I’m the wrong pony to ask. You need a unicorn—somepony with years of magical experience. Maybe the Royal Library would have something on that. Maybe—” He yawned. “Maybe you could ask the princesses, except you… just invaded. They’d blast you all the way to Tartarus.”
She shuddered. Amie might not know what those words meant exactly, but she could read the implication. “So Equestria thinks changelings are… not just a species, but a single government? It’s not possible for some to be good and others bad?”
He shifted in bed, staring up at her. “After the invasion, there were no living changelings captured. But we know how you work—you need love to survive. You’re parasites, who can only take the magic from other creatures, since you don’t produce any of your own.”
He stretched, adjusting the thick blankets. “I only know what they tell us, guarding you. About Queen Chrysalis, and her evil changelings. They came to Equestria for food because there isn’t enough to survive on in the Badlands where they come from. When they can’t get love to feed on, they eat only meat, which barely sustains them.”
Maybe Amie should feel insulted by all that. Tailslide spoke about her as though she were a member of some evil race, guilty of crimes she’d never even heard of. But while the history might not line up, his physical description of her kind made so much sense.
She hadn’t needed to eat for a month, while the others were suffering. They could only eat meat—was it the flesh that sustained them at all, or some way to harvest the energy of life, the same way she must have been doing to her brother?
But Wes didn’t seem unhealthy. If I was a parasite, shouldn’t I be weakening the host? Equestria had been invaded by this species—it wasn’t surprising that they might get some details wrong. Propaganda in wartime did not care about the facts, all that mattered was keeping the population engaged and willing to fight. He thinks we only feed on love. But I’ve felt full around other things. Gratitude, joy, admiration, appreciation.
Whenever Wes felt positive things for Amie, her hunger faded and strength took its place. His gratitude at her willingness to sacrifice herself for him—that still sustained her, days later. I might not find any answers from ponies. I need to find one of these evil changelings if I want to know the truth.
“Does it feel like I only take from you?” she whispered. “Am I a parasite too?”
He blinked up at her, blearily. “Can we talk in the morning? You must be one of Luna’s chosen, staying up so late.” He patted the bed beside himself with a hoof again. “Tomorrow, I’ll tell you anything. Anything that… doesn’t put Equestria in danger.”
He did expect her to get into bed with him. Her wings spread dramatically to both sides, ears flattening again. She had relationships start over less—but not while living on borrowed time, deep behind enemy lines.
Except—she knew what attraction felt like, along with the accompanying hunger for affection. He thought she was attractive, maybe—but there was nothing else underneath. This wasn’t some strange pony way of seducing her, he really just expected her to want to sleep together.
Amie shook her head. “You go ahead. I don’t need as much as you. I’ll—” But she didn’t tell him what she would do. He was already asleep.
She could’ve slipped out into the streets of Motherlode and tried to find her brother after that—but he would be sleeping too. Amie trimmed the lights for her companion, but he didn’t seem to care. He slept so deeply she couldn’t even sense emotions in his dreams.
Amie didn’t know how Rick’s satellite worked, exactly. But there was a printed page of instructions, and she could follow that. Point it towards camp, with a clear line of sight. Connect it to the battery backup, then plug it into a tangled mess of soldered cables and jumpers until the one that went into her phone.
After a few painful seconds waiting for it all to configure, the intranet homepage appeared.
She tapped the link for camp news first, preparing for the worst. What would they say about her and her brother?
“Camp authorities are on the lookout for ‘Amie and Wes Blythe’,” said the latest update. “They are believed armed and dangerous, and may have taken hostages or worse. If they make any contact with you, do not attempt to engage. Report your sighting to Director Albrecht as soon as possible.”
Sure, don’t mention that the ones you sent to capture us tried to kill us. Had they found the body of the one who had fallen off a cliff? There was no obituary—maybe the wolves had found him first.
Of course any contact with her kids might put them in danger. How much did Albrecht know? He might be watching their little message board, for any signs she was communicating with them. Doing so might get them interrogated, or shift suspicion of disloyalty onto them.
On the other hand, he might not know at all. Amie typed the address for their little hunting message board, and found it was awash in rapid messages. Skimming them, she saw her followers were extremely upset. A few wondered if Amie had been planning to betray Stella Lacus all along. Most were critical comments, disbelieving the official story. They had seen her run away from camp, terrified for Wes’s safety.
Amie switched from her usual identity to anonymous mode. She had a feeling Rick would be able to see through that disguise. Who knew what kind of technical information was attached to every message? Hopefully Albrecht would not.
“The species we have become is called ‘Changelings’,” she typed. “Our primary food source is positive emotions, not meat. We can alter our appearance to imitate others. We can also manipulate objects using our horns, with dexterity equal or greater than having hands.
Our mountain has been deposited in a country called ‘Equestria.’ Its population are horse-like mammals that identify themselves as ‘ponies.’ They know we are here, and have armed patrols around the perimeter, watching to see if we try to escape.
Some guys sent to capture me were killed by these guards. They come in at least three varieties—one that can fly called ‘pegasi’ and one with a horn like ours, letting them use telekinesis, ‘unicorns.’ A third variety appears to have no powers, and lacks horns or wings. I don’t know what they’re called.
The ponies believe all changelings are part of a hostile empire that recently invaded their capital, causing much bloodshed and deep fear. They will behave with extreme hostility if they encounter us. We should learn to master our powers before trying to leave Stella Lacus or interact with them.”
It took forever to type all that out with a stylus—but Amie had all night, and her companion was just sleeping. There was no fear that her kids might be sleeping, since they didn’t need it either.
The reply took nearly twenty seconds to fully transmit. Once it appeared in the feed, the scrawl of other messages stopped. A few emoji reactions of confusion or skepticism appeared beneath it.
Finally, one text reply appeared, signed by Marcus. “Are you sure about all this?” it asked.
“Positive,” she replied. “I will show you what the locals look like. Once I didn’t look like a changeling, they were friendly and open with me.” She backed away from the camera, then took an awkward selfie. It took almost two whole painstaking minutes for the image to finally post, even with most of it cropped away.
The reaction was another flurry of reaction emoji, dozens of them this time. Half her kids were watching now, judging by their replies. All glued to their phones.
“You know who else will read this,” someone else with the anonymous tag said. “He’s still looking for you, even after losing Garcia and the others.”
“I know. But I have to share this information I’ve learned, we don’t have any other way to get it. I will send anything else I can. One of the locals thinks there might be a way to send us home, but that I might have to go far away from here searching for information. I will go hunting for it.”
She couldn’t keep up with the flurry of replies after that—some doubting, some begging for more information, a few suggesting that the horse was way cuter than a bug.
She did receive a single private message after that, directly from Rick.
It included a long text file, along with a brief note. “Follow these instructions to send secret messages. Wes will know how to follow them.”
Right. Talk about feeling incredibly stupid—even if most of that message was information she wanted everyone in camp to know, there might be a safer way to distribute it. But there was no taking any of it back now.
She didn’t reply, just saved the file of instructions and packed everything away. She still had a few hours left before sunrise—after a brief nap, maybe she would have time to figure out how her powers worked.
Here's to not hoping Albrecht's guys somehow learn shapeshifting and start to venture into the town and drag Amie and Wes back to the camp to dissect the latter.
On the other hand, the feeding on positive emotions is an important tidbit to pass, so Albrecht might gain some sanity back(if he believes in it which he might not). Amie is treated as a hero by the campers and Wes isn't dissected, all is well. Wishful thinking.
On another matter, the Royal Guards are just keeping a perimeter, so that's nice. But, that may change since it's possibly one of the places to acquire a changeling safely and learn their species without going to the Badlands.
It was good of Amy to share that information and nobody in the camp would doubt that she is responsible for it. I doubt that they will be able to use most of that information anytime soon.
Amie didn't specify where her home is. Tails has no idea that "home" is in another world. At that point you're in need of Twilight, Celestia, or Luna (or Starswirls but he's currently in stone). Or maybe Starlight if she really tries to study complex teleportation. A random magic user won't cut it out for this. More importantly, the camp is the greatest source of clues since it's zone zero. But Amie will have to convince a unicorn to even attempt studying the place. In other words, this won't be easy.
Is Tails having some sort of attraction for Amie? It was kinda implied. Wonder how that'll change once the disguise falls.
No doubt Amie has to share information. Though until they can find a way to escape or "reform", the only way to really buy time is for whoever's listening to go out and start feeding. Tailslide will see this as a betrayal.
At least Stella Lacus will have some defense if the changelings attempt to subjugate them. Or if the ponies no longer tolerate the camp.
I would think meeting up would be the most urgent thing, then again there's no telling how long anyone will stay here.
Chrysalis and her hive might be jerks, but feeding is simple, unmalicious survival. The ponies were defending themselves, but they weren't fighting against the enemies of harmony.
There are many reasons not to directly deal with them. If Amie wants that hive lore, she might have to infiltrate them. That being said, if all changelings originated from humanity, these kids are about to get a demonstration on what humans can really do.
Everyone reading will know. It might be enough to encourage some people to try to experiment, though.
11265044
Don't know if Amie and Wes will stay immediate priorities if they can now test whether they can feed on emotion. Albrecht sounds like a guy that'll try anything at this point. Though the line between survival and raiding might be very thin at this point. If there's anything worse, it's Stella Lacus becoming the very same threat Chrysalis and her hive was.
Don't think the Royal Guards are in the mood in taking prisoners at the moment. They're likely expecting to gain more knowledge through autopsies rather than diplomacy.
11265082
I'm guessing the attraction is more or less for Gale than Amie if she felt nothing more to it.
Oof... I know Amie's heart is in the right place, and that she's loyal to her kids, but considering the camp's current leadership and desperate situation, she just gave Stella Lacus the means and motive to start taking hostile action against Motherlode - and also to retrieve her and Wes. She even gave them her current identity and travelling companion, which was probably a huge mistake. The camp changelings didn't have any chance of getting off the mountain before this, but now there's risk of a serious diplomatic incident going down, assuming they don't just go and kidnap Amie and Wes outright.
11265082
Discord is the one in stone, not Starswirl. And it was pretty heavily implied that Tailslide feels no significant attraction to Amie. Ponies just like to sleep next to each other.
11265137
Right, Limbo. Forgot about that.
Element of Loyalty right there. I was legitimately surprised by her goodwill. Usually, characters in similar stories go full blown anti authoritian even if it meant dooming everyone else. Nice.
Also you should probably change the description to "Updates Tuesdays" instead of Thursday".
11265182
hah didn't notice that. Fixed!
11265115
Not necessarily. Remember, apparently other groups of kids had gone missing, and it's entirely possible that others have left camp since Amie and Wes fled. While it's unlikely that they survived for very long afterwards, any of these groups, we don't know that for sure; and the camp goers certainly don't know that. It could have been anyone else who sent that message- but most of her own group, particularly Rick and Marcus, would probably know that it's either Amie or Wes that was contacting them- most likely the former, seeing as there was a level of enmity towards Wes in particular for seeming like he wasn't pulling his weight, even if he was their leader's beloved little brother.
On the note of missing campers, it's entirely possible that some of them are still alive out there, albeit the chances are very slim. We don't know what became of them, and we don't know how many of Chrysalis' outgoing parties survived the invasion. We know that there must have been plenty still back at the hive, as well as plenty that lived through it- Thorax certainly did. And we can assume that they age similarly to ponies, up to a certain point- apparently it's difficult for them to become elderly. Ponies themselves seem to age like humans. So yeah, the fanon bit about a Changeling Queen's ability to reproduce probably doesn't apply. (Though I forget how that's relevant here, other than total numbers of that particular empire...) Basically, it's possible for contact between parties to have been made, even if it's very minor. Maybe the new and old changelings killed each other...
Going by what Tailslide mentioned, it seems the invasion was relatively recent; at the very least, Thorax hasn't been discovered yet, and thus the hive has not yet been reformed, at least from what I can tell. This gives us a very loose timeline to work with, but at least a closer one than we had before.
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Don't know how many of those campers would post anonymously though. I'm guessing she's trying to buy time posting in the hunting board. Guess she's betting on Albrecht to not notice immediately. The conversation on the board doesn't really try to hide that Amie is one of the posters, anyway.
Don't know about the hive but they might have regrouped by now. Though it's anyone's guess how a meeting between an old hive and a "new" one would go. Amie will have to talk to Tailslide to see how many encounters the guard had with fleeing campers. Their chances are slim if the perimeter is heavily patrolled.
11265133
Don't think the camp has any real option at this point. I'm guessing Amie's hoping the camp will only take what they need. Minimize the harm inflicted.
things are looking good well right now.
Ooh, things are progressing~
As much as she wanted to help, Amie may have just caused trouble for herself, Wes and the rest of Mother lode. If anyone at the camp figured out shape shifting and taught others, then they would start to venture out from camp and either start hunting for them, or start hunting for ponies to feed from. There's also the possibility that Mr. Albrecht will force one of the computer kids to figure out where Amie and Wes are to either capture them or kill them. Either way, could be very bad for them.
That's how it always starts... Next thing you know, you've got a paycheck, you're paying rent, you've got a cute housemate who likes you, and then you're having second thoughts about going back to Earth.
To be fair, Albrecht probably doesn't know that. The capture team only decided that 'alive' was optional once they got injured by her traps.
Ohhh boy. Well, this is interesting.
This has just given Albrecht Casus Belli for an invasion of Motherlode, but at the same time has probably taken some heat off of Amie and Wes. Half the campgoers are starved out of their minds at this point... Quite the recipe for a repeat of Canterlot. Hopefully Albrecht realizes that one camp can't defeat an entire country - though they may just be desperate enough to take those odds for a raid... Maybe some of those who remained sane, mainly the hunters, with mutiny - we'll see.
Albrecht doesn't really need to do anything technical to find Amie at this point, at least - he knows she's in the nearby town, so at least the hunters are free from that pressure...
So, the ponies ARE ignorant of the changelings! Good to know. I guess that whole hive poison conspiracy may well have been bunk. Throws out his earlier theory of a changeling hive-mind that may be an issue if they met Chrysalis
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While feeding alone is survival, Chrysalis's full motivations alone are pretty clear, just look at what exactly she gloats over. "Everypony i'll soon control" "We will have more power than we ever dreamed of!" etc - and that's just looking at S2. She's a megalomaniacal dictator. Though probably, for most of the changelings under her thrall, their desperation to attack and conquer is less out of hunger for power and more "My physiology means I am painfully starving at all times. Please let me capture some ponies so I can feed and get some peace..." - so I guess there isn't an absolute answer one way or another. Nuance.
Good chapter
11265535
There's likely not enough time to negotiate. I wouldn't be surprised Amie sees it necessary to conduct a raid at this point. Though she's thinking it'll be more of an infiltration. She's probably hoping they'll limit themselves to what they need. Go unnoticed. There's enough risk just telling just her people. Tailslide will likely see this action as treacherous. And yes, if Albrecht gets word of this, he won't hesitate to hard raid Motherlode.
Ambition is certainly helpful to survival and Chrysalis is certainly full of it. Controlling the "food supply" will get the changelings far. Controlling her people will get her far. Though I suppose even her people were quite enthusiastic during the invasion. Let's hope she never finds out about Stella Lacus. It's not likely their limited armory will change the outcome, but there's no doubt far more blood will be spilled. Not good for ponies, Stella Lacus, or any humans that will transit in the future.
Welp, now Albrecht's loyal will know what Amie currently looks like if they find a way to pursue. Really should've thought a little harder before posting a picture of herself.
11265082
Since the story has the tag "romance", this is quite possible.
A separate respect to you for calling Tailslide like Tails :)
I feel like this information might cause some campers to discover the Reformation process on their own by accident.
Natural born changelings have too much ingrained cultural momentum to ever try anything new (until Thorax, of course), but transformed human have no frame of reference for what a changeling should and should not be capable of. And humans are quite known for their curiosity and tendency to experiment (especially teens).
"So it says here we eat emotions."
"Huh. Okay. Well, I got emotions and I'm pretty sure you do too. Let's see if we can make something happen between us. Maybe we can use good vibes as a currency."
"Worth a shot. Have a hug, bro."
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"This feels nice man, hsvsnt felt this full siiiiiiiii- and I'm lavender colored now, wait you are too."
Oh boy. He may not be under suspicion, but he’s still stuck in an exploitative work environment. Really hope he hasn’t signed anything.
Heh. Amie’s actually doing a very good job as a scout for the hive. Infiltrate, investigate, report back with vital intelligence. The question is whether Albrecht will decry it as deliberate misinformation to maintain the “dangerous traitor” narrative. And, as has been noted, she’s provided her current appearance for anyone who may want to seek her out. Still, she may have saved lives with this information. We’ll see what happens from here.
I think in the next chapter there will be a reunion of Wes and Amie.
Maybe Wes' first encounter with Tails
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Honestly Albrecht is being super unnecessarily vilified. And it’s kinda annoying me. Especially since Annie is way more at fault. He and those he feels responsibility for are faced with a slow and painful death by starvation and are already feeling and showing visible effects of it. So he decided to place a hint at a solution under closer scrutiny. I doubt he intends to have a dissection or anything otherwise painful or lethal because doing so doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t have any experts at hand to make sense of a dissection and they don’t have any spare subjects, so sustained observation would yield more information. He is very transparent and up front about his intentions. He doesn’t just grab the guy, or try to be sneaky. He tells Amy what he intends to do, why, and asks for her cooperation. She then panics and runs off with her brother without even asking his opinion on that matter. The one person who isn’t exhibiting visible signs of malnutrition just ran off with one of if not the only hints at a solution. Kinda suspicious of you ask me. Albrecht then sends guys with guns to apprehend them by force, because deaths by starvation are inevitable anyways, who admittedly do act in a belligerent manner. None of this I think warrants how the story is portraying the guy.
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You forget that humans can be really stupid, especially in stressful situations in positions of leadership.
Albrecht would be feeling stress from multiple sources. Stress from having to be the calm leader, stress from having to keep things organised, stress from being looked to for answers, stress from trying to keep everyone safe.
In concert with all that, when put in positions of extreme stress or complete loss of control like everyone at Stella Lacus is feeling, people try to grab for ANY kind of control they can find, any kind of answer, any semblance of safety.
It can trigger what seems like a fight-or-flight response in people. While you - an outside perspective - see Albrecht's questions and requests as innocent, in his head he could very well be justifying torturing or killing Wes to get answers, to save everyone else, himself included.
At the same time, Amie's response to it is completely justified. Her paranoia is caused by the exact same things. She's looked up to, she's in a situation where she's lost complete control, she perceives her brother to be in extreme danger, etc etc.
Have the princesses seriously put out a kill.in sight order. Very out of character for them
11278543
Starscribe continuity. Also, SMILE was evil even in IWD canon.
Hmphm. They seemed to have moved over to opressive propaganda pretty quick.
11652909
Eh, propaganda takes a long time to work well. And isn’t especially effective at turning people against close personal friends and family. Against strangers and foreigners, sure. But against your tribe? Your people? Not so much