The First Interviews

Twilight Sparkle was nervous about talking to a Sungbohn Changeling. And it didn’t help that the Sungbohn facing her down as Queen Chrysalis’s head of the military in the new Changeling Kingdom. She was PRETTY sure she’d smacked her hoof into his face during the Invasion of Canterlot, because he had a nasty scar-esque bruise and an even nastier gleam in his intense blue eyes.

“So, uh…how are you?” Twilight asked nervously as the Liason between Equestria and the Changeling Kingdom, Shinedown, stood nearby. He was to act as translator since Sungbohn just did NOT want to speak the language of the Equestrians. Not one iota. They weren’t like the Ghainaim, who looked more like ponies and less like insects. And they required more feeding on emotion to maintain their disguises. So that meant they only did what they had to, and no more, and wouldn’t even TALK to an Equestrian in their own language unless absolutely necessary.

“Chal ji-nae-shŏ-ssŏ-yo?” Shinedown translated as Twilight sat across from Commander Silk-Yoon, who snorted a bit.

“Chal ji-nae-ssŏ-yo.”

“He say’s he’s alright, he supposes. So-so.” Shinedown translated. “I’ll translate everything he says, even if it’s…unpleasant.”

“I can handle anything he throws at me.”

Commander Silk-Yoon chuckled at that. “Ne, uliui majimag mannam-eseo geu moyeossda.”

“Huh?” Twilight blinked in surprise, her purple eyes looking the commander over, slightly dropping the quill she had in one hoof onto the dark mahogany table below.

“He says “Yes, I gathered that from our last encounter”.” Shinedown murmured nervously, his deep blue eyes glancing slightly to the side as the Changeling-blooded Earth pony apologetically looked back to her.

Yep. DEFINITELY the same changeling she’d smacked. Twilight sighed, waving her other hoof in the air in a dismissive fashion before opening up the notepad below her, the light from the window casting soft shadows across the faintly purple room. A few banners of the Sugnbohn tribe hung from the walls just like in all of the state buildings, each displaying different history. In particular, one side showed the Queen, Chrysalis herself, whilst the other showed the King, Sombra, Ghainaim Changeling who’d abandoned his people and escaped the Shadowlands, leaving it and its people to fall horribly in a war.

The Sungbohn and the Ghainaim were like spring and fall. Both seasons, but drastically different. And nowhere was that more clearer in how the two rulers had reigned over their people. Chrysalis had been subtle, undermining, passive-aggressive, whilst King Sombra, the Shadowlord, had been all about domination, the power of the will, and being AGGRESSIVE-AGGRESSIVE.

It was of Sombra and the Shadowlands, his home kingdom, that Twilight wanted to know. For that had been when the split between Ghainaim and Sungbohn had truly solidified.

“Tell me about the day the minotaur army broke through to the capital.”

Upon hearing these words, Commander Silk-Yoon spat on the ground, muttering darkly as Shinedown translated. “Oh, we all remember that. Some of us were actually there. Myself included. It had been a slow night…even for the increasing number of accidents that had been occurring.”

“Accidents?”

“We were essentially quarantined in our own city. Cut off from the outside world. Our youngest were getting reckless. People were trying to climb out of the walls. We used to say our CITY was killing more Changelings than all the minotaurs combined. I was at what passed for our hospital, tired, my back aching, my hooves sore, and I only wanted to watch the dawn. Then it happened.”

“The wall broke?”

“That’s the first thing that came to my mind when I heard the shouting. No. Not shouting. SCREAMING.” The Commander shuddered, his eyes shutting tight as he held his head in one hoof. “I could smell smoke. Dozens of people were all screaming at once. “Run! Get out of there! They’re coming!” House lamps were being lit all around me, faces poking up out of shanties in the streets, confused, unsure of what was happening until they realized what I’d realized.”

“Which was?”

“That the wall was down and the minotaurs had broken through. They’d had enough of the previous Shadow Lord ruling over them. They were going to make sure his son had the shortest reign in history. Guess they succeeded. They scared him off. The…coward.”

The commander took in a deep breath, biting into his lip for a moment. “I had to find my family. Two “doors” down from my favorite butchery.”

Twilight flinched. She hadn’t forgotten that the Changeling culture was not above eating meat but she’d heard they occasionally fed on ponies in a more…literal sense than simply leeching emotion. And she didn’t doubt that.

“I wasn’t thinking. Should have doubled back. Found an alleyway or something. Instead I tried to wade through the mob, pushing in the opposite direction and I was slammed into a shanty which collapsed on me. I was trapped. Couldn’t breath. I wriggled free, heart in my mouth when I saw them silhouetted against the flames outside, large, huger than I could handle, one of them holding a knife up high, advancing on me, trying to cut me in chunks. He growled…

I had a choice. Stand there. Or do something else. So I lunged. I headbutted him, then as he reeled back, I slammed his own knife into his chest and saw the blood dribble down his chest, spilling out over my feet. With that I bounded away, running, running. I didn’t know where I was going. I could hear little dibbuns crying. I could hear my people screaming. I felt something slam into my shoulder and realized they were still launching rocks at the walls. But I kept running…

Finally I found a way out. The river. Many of us went the same way, diving into the river, holding our breaths, swimming as fast as we could. Some of us were noticed underneath the dark waters that led out of the city, the minotaur army had Griffin allies there to aid them. They…weren’t kind to the ones they fished out. I managed to get away. Just barely.”

The commander took in another deep breath, lowering his head down slightly, holding it in his hooves.

“After exiting the river our little groups wandered about in the wilds, watching from afar, seeing where we’d called home crumble apart. Chrysalis rallied us…picking up one group at a time, disguising herself to get past Griffin scouts. She was able to hold a disguise quite longer than most of us, it served her well. In the end, we blamed Sombra on how the city fell. After all, he’d abandoned it and took off running with his little sister.”

The Commander grunted. “…y’know, truth be told, actually…looking back…” He sneered. “He probably just saw a sinking ship and wanted to get out.”

…

…

…

… “When you think of us Changelings, I know what you ponies assume automatically. Don’t lie, I can see it in your eyes. The first is that our greatest loyalties are to “The Queen” and “The Hive” and that we’ve got all the power we need to neutralize threats to the first. That first part’s mostly true. The second isn’t.”

This Sungbohn was younger, smoking a cigarette, her eyes a faint shade of yellow as she leaned back in her chair, looking Shinedown over with a chuckle as Shinedown continued to translate. “You know, for an Inkblood, you’ve got lovely eyes.” She admitted. “We Changelings LOOOOVE the color blue.”

“No thank you.” Shinedown muttered back, frowning slightly. “We’d just like you to answer some questions for the Royal Library’s historical records. We’ve asked about the day the Shadowlands Capital fell and we’d like to know more about how your species lived before everything collapsed. I do hope that’s not too unreasonable to ask?”

“Nŏ-mu ch'in-jŏ-ra-shi-ne-yo!” The Sungbohn, Ms. Hyun, remarked. Twilight was “very kind”, according to the translation that Shinedown gave her, the Changeling giggling a bit. “Isn’t that nice of you, wanting to know more about our culture? Wanna dispel some of those myths? Well again…let me tell you what your species thinks of us. We’ve created myths. By-products we perpetrate to get things done. First of all, we’re secretive, and that means we’re a vacuum. An unknown. Nothing fills a vacuum like paranoid ramblings and speculation. “Oh, did you hear who killed so-and-so! I’ll bet it was a Changeling, who else could get in there”? “You hear about that coup? They musta been Changelings working from inside”. That’s what you think of us. And we wanted it that way. We wanted you to fear us. To think of us as some kind of omniscient octopus. We had tendrils everywhere. We were waiting…waiting to strike!”

The female Changeling snapped her fanged mouth, laughing as Twilight slightly jumped in her seat, Shinedown looking sympathetically at her before frowning back at the interviewee. “Please continue WITHOUT the jump scares.” He remarked wryly.

“Truth is, we’re not capable of having eyes and ears everywhere. For one, we need to feed once a week just to maintain our appearance. Two, the longer we go without feeding, the more the disguise fades. And three, we found out species could detect us through…unconventional means.” Ms. Hyun admitted with a sigh, blowing some smoke through the air, waving the cigarette about with her hoof.

“Like what?” Twilight asked, leaning in slightly, eyes widening in surprise.

“The Zebra could now detect us by SMELL.” Ms. Hyun whispered quietly as Shinedown kept translating. “And then there was the Ophidians.” She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself, shaking her head back and forth. “The Ophidian race…the snakemen. They terrified us. We never, EVER went near the Far Western swamps after what happened with them. They claimed they could see our “natural auras”. Evidently the dust-eaters could sense the innate magical aura that’s erected around a changeling when we turn into something else!”

“Faaaaascinating…” Twilight whispered, Celestia’s best student writing down everything with eyes wide and full of awe as she took everything in. “I would LOVE to meet one.”

“I’m sure they’d love to meet you too. Unicorns are a delicacy.” The Changeling said with a snarky chuckle.

Shinedown wisely ended the interview right there, ushering Ms. Hyun out.

…

…

…

… “Please, tell me what you can about Queen Chrysalis and how she differed from King Sombra.”

Moth was the head of the servants in Chrysalis’s palace, and had also served under the Shadowlord himself for quite some time. As such, Twilight felt it would be a good idea to inquire about the two different ruling styles. It would be somewhat difficult, though. Moth was a rather skittish, jittery Changeling who was actually part Ghainaim, as evidenced by his unique wings. They had a faint ornateness to them, tiny little swirls meshing together circling around the bottom, the material looking delicate as Moth cringed, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Somba Nyh-Tyaim…his “Sanguine Condition” allowed him to get into our heads. He could make us do anything he wanted. See anything HE wanted. His will was ours. He didn’t really use it much because…he didn’t need to. We were all terrified of the mere threat of him and his horrific hypnosis. His monstrous mesmerism.” Moth murmured softly, rubbing his hooves together as Shinedown translated and then gently put a hoof on his shoulder, Moth cringing at this. “P-Please don’t touch me, inkb-I’m sorry, I…” He hesitated.

Shinedown frowned a bit, looking hurt as he took the hoof slowly off of Moth’s shoulder, lips turning slightly taut. “Inkblood” was what “unpure” Changelings were called. Those with Changeling blood who weren’t full Changeling. Halfbloods and under were beneath “true” Changeling’s notice.

“I don’t mean to say that. It’s just…our species needs to stay strong. There’s just so few pure Changelings left, the Queen is always saying. Always trying to emphasize the need to stay together. Be strong for a united kingdom.” Moth went on, waving a hoof in the air as Twilight continued to take down notes.

“She sounds quite…well, passionate about the subject.”

“Passionate is putting it mildly. She regularly treats us with abuse, loud, threatening, personally demeaning voices and verbal tirades on a near-daily basis. And we have to swallow our pride or she ends us. Sometimes literally.” Moth added with a nervous squeak. “But more often than not, we’re RUINED, you understand? She’s someone who doesn’t forget and doesn’t forgive.”

“That bad, huh?” Twilight asked, Shinedown continuing to translate. “Please, don’t be afraid to tell me this. You don’t have to give away MUCH personal information to reveal who you are in case she should read the reports I’m writing on your culture and people. Just whatever you feel comfortable. I won’t force you.”

“Well…” Moth took in a breath before tapping his hooves together, bouncing his head back and forth, slightly stringy scars faintly visible on the side of his neck. “Many times I would call upon her because a general or commander was asking to see her, and she insisted she had no time and would call ME when SHE needed me. And she’d burst into our bedrooms, demanding us to serve her with a particular problem she was feeling too lazy to deal with. Like clearing out some pests from her room, or making her a sandwich or running to the market to get jellied eels.”

“She likes jellied eels?” Twilight asked, looking rather surprised, tilting her head slightly to the side as Moth nodded his head.

“Oh, yes. She always asks us to get her jellied eels at around 11:00 at night, and then she belittles and screams at us if we’re not fast enough.” Moth murmured quietly, tracing an invisible circle on the table. “She tells us she has the power to keep any in the kingdom from getting a job, the power to control everyone’s futures. It’s mutually-agreed enslavement, really.”

“Wait. Why “mutual”? It doesn’t sound even remotely fair.” Twilight said, frowning deeply as Moth sighed, hanging his head.

“…the pay is…VERY good.” He admitted softly. “I mean…just…wow.” He mumbled, waving his hooves in the air, making a fake explosion to emphasize the blowing of his mind. “How many bits do you earn as a librarian?”

“Oh, the town pays me 500 bits every week.”

Moth snorted at this, beginning to laugh, bursting out into tears and howling in amusement, slapping the table he and Twilight were sitting at, falling out of his chair. He rolled about on the floor, continuing to laugh and holler in sheer hilarity before lifting himself up, letting out faint “hoo-hoo’s” as he panted slightly. “That’s-that’s good. Ohhh, I needed a good laugh like that.” He chuckled. “I make THREE TIMES THAT.”

“How can she afford to pay you all that much, if you don’t mind me inquiring?” Twilight inquired, looking confused as Moth wiped a tear from his eye, smiling broadly.

“Ms. Sparkle, my queen has essentially weaseled her way into the hearts of rich man after rich man. As have many of our kind. You have NO idea how much money we’ve accumulated. And because of our majesty’s taxes, she’s got plenty to pay.” Moth informed the unicorn with a wave of his hoof. “If she was a bit more reserved and less…throwing things at our heads…then it wouldn’t be that bad at all.”

“And Sombra?” Twilight inquired, swiftly scribbling down onto her notepad, dipping her quill into a small inkwell, Moth rubbing his chin.

“He wasn’t bad at first. He treated us much the same way you would a young creature or a pup. Speaking gently. Softly. Trying to cultivate and nurture an idea of him as a merciful ruler.” Moth sighed quietly, hanging his head. “One who’d be far better than his father, who was killed by a stray arrow shot when the minotaurs first attacked the capital. I suppose he changed his mind as things continued to deteriorate inside the city as the continual assault of the capital continued. He came to feel the only way to approach ruling was to establish himself as our absolute master. To be severe. Commanding. And to never, ever lose any kind of confrontation with any servant, no matter what the confrontation was about.”

“Did he ever hit or strike any of you?” Twilight wanted to know.

Moth paused. Hesitant to speak. And then, at last…

“…he didn’t need to. He could show us things that would give us nightmares for life. And he did it enough so that none of us wanted to disobey. It hurt us just to even THINK about disobeying.” Moth mumbled.

“What was his sister like?”

“Ms. Luza Nyh-Tyaim was…” Moth hesitated. “…short. Adorable. Kind of…silly.” He smiled wistfully. “She was a sweet little thing. He never hurt any of us when she was around. The more time he got to spend with her in a day, the more I think she rubbed off on him and he was more merciful.”

“She never survived the trip to the Crystal Empire, though. I read through Sombra Nyh-Tyaim’s personal journals.” Shinedown interjected, shaking his head back and forth, face solemn and sad. “She starved to death on the road. They’d JUST collapsed outside the boundaries of the Empire and had just been found by a scouting party. If they’d perhaps gotten there just a few hours earlier…”

“If he’d stayed at the city, perhaps Luna could have aided him. Didn’t she try to reach out into his dreams? Hadn’t she been working along with Celestia for a diplomatic solution?” Twilight asked of Moth as the Changeling “harrumphed”.

“Fat lot of good that did.” He mumbled. “That kind of person can talk diplomacy all they want. While they’re doing THAT…we had to negotiate with the UNDERTAKERS!” He snarled, spitting on the floor, arms folded across his chest, glowering darkly at the wall.

“It’s not EASY to quell centuries of unrest and anger at an empire. This sort of thing takes time.” Twilight defended, Moth holding up a hoof to cut her off.

“We didn’t HAVE time, we were trapped in our capital and running out of food and supplies!” He said, Shinedown translating…and leaving out the swears. Which were getting rather fluent. Even TWILIGHT could tell from his tone and she didn’t even SPEAK Changeling.

“…I think we’re done here.” She decided quietly.

The Second Interviews

Author's Notes:

And so the interviews continue! I've examined how they can live so long, what their bodies are like, their eating habits...if there's anything you feel I'm missing or you'd like to see, please, remember, don't be afraid to leave feedback, since I shall ne'er improve without it. :D

Twilight was surprised they’d managed to find a Sungbohn Changeling willing to let her examine him so closely. The dark purple-eyed Changeling sighed slightly, mouth held open as Twilight used a small mirror and a tiny metal prodding tool to tap against the sides of each tooth, examining the fangs quite closely. The teeth were primarily designed, judging by the strength and sharpness of the canines and the premolars, to pierce through flesh with a powerful bite. The molars appeared thick as well, designed to give a good grip to whatever food the Changeling ate, but, most interestingly, the structure of the teeth was…odd.

“Keratin.” She realized aloud, her translator Shinedown informing their Changeling volunteer what she’d said with a simple word. “These teeth are made of Keratin, not dentine.”

“Gagjil?” The changeling asked, looking confused as his thick, slightly pointed tongue lapped up, licking Twilight’s tools as she removed them from his mouth. “Igeos-eun mueos-eul uimi haneunga?”

“He wants to know what that even means.” Shinedown asked of Twilight, waving his hoof in the air, blue hair slightly matted with sweat from being in the room for so long as he wiped his brow. Twilight, for some reason, didn’t seem to mind, but she noticed the Changeling they were speaking to, Yu Yeon, was also rather hot. An idea came to her as she put a hoof up.

“Might I…feel your hide?” She asked, the changeling nodding a bit as she carefully rubbed her hoof alongside the sides of his body, feeling the almost scaly texture before then feeling Shinedown, making him blink in surprise. “…your Changeling blood seems to share another commonality. Your bodies naturally absorb heat at a slightly faster rate than Ponies. I suspect its designed to help you through periods of hibernation and rest out in the wild. Unlike Ponies like myself, your race has been nomadic for so long you’ve adapted by sucking in any bit of heat so it can be stored inside you for the long, cold nights?”

The Changeling nodded, Shinedown translating his words. “We would often have to hold up together in caves and caverns in the wild, bunkering down for days on end because the weather was too extreme or harsh for us to safely migrate to safer lands. But we can only stay in such a position for two weeks before the cold finally begins to break through.”

“I appreciate you answering my questions.” Twilight said, clasping her hooves together and giving the Changeling the proper respectful bow as Shinedown nodded in approval, the Changeling Yu Yeon also nodding. “There’s something I’d like to inquire about. If its too personal, please, don’t be afraid of telling me.”

“Go ahead. Ask away.” Yu Yeon remarked.

“…from what I’ve gathered, you were also present during the minotaur invasion of the great Changeling capital. Yet that was centuries ago.” Twilight admitted, scratching her head as Yu Yeon smiled wryly. “How can you…be so old? Yet you don’t look that old, truth be told. My town’s mayor has more grey hair than you.”

“Do you know why we need to cocoon up others? It is not just so we may have a full reference for what the being we’re imitating looks like.” Yu Yeon informed her with a small chuckle. “It allows us to more fully imitate them through physical contact through the cocoon, but it also allows us to sample their Kokoro, to take it for ourselves.”

“Ko…koro?” Twilight asked, confusedly glancing over at Shinedown, who placed his hooves together, nodding slightly.

“Kokoro is their word for Spirit. Soul. The heart, as it were.” He told her.

“By sampling of their Kokoro in the cocoon, the disguise is complete and we can sample their memories and histories within them. Sample their life. Leech it away and thus make it ours…”

“You mean your race has survived for so long by leeching off the lives of others?” Twilight asked, eyes wide in horror, mouth gaping in disgust and surprise. She didn’t want to judge but…the idea that they used those cocoons to literally steal away the lives of others just to continue an illusion of a life that wasn’t their own was…

“That seems…cruel.” Shinedown admitted with a grunt.

“Oh, it is.” Yu Yeon sighed. “I don’t pretend otherwise. It’s very selfish to take other’s Kokoro from them in the name of keeping the lie we live going, but…we don’t want to die.” He said simply. “Members of our species have done this for so long in the name of trying to recreate the kingdom we once had, in a time when we didn’t need to fear others and hide among them to live peacefully. Chrysalis was going to make Canterlot our kingdom…it would mean we would have a home of our own and we were desperate for that.”

“I…I need a minute.” Twilight said, holding her head in her hooves, shaking it back and forth. “Its just…I…”

“I think you’d best let her have some time alone.” Shinedown whispered to the Changeling. “We appreciate you answering our questions, Yu Yeon.” He added with a respectful nod, opening up the door and allowing the Changeling to leave, turning to Twilight.

“I…know they just want normal lives. I know they want to live somewhere where they won’t have things thrown at them just for being Changelings, but…the mere idea of…of being trapped in one of those…those things, having your life leeched, day after day, somebody wearing your face, living in your home, lying next to the one you love, year after year untilyou’reashriveledoldHUSKofapony-” She shuddered, hanging her head as Shinedown gently put a hoof on her shoulder, she looking up into his deep blue eyes as he took her hooves in his.

“Do you need me to leave?” He asked. “To give you some time alone?”

“No, I…I just…” She bit her lip, shaking her head back and forth. “…I…need to write. I calm down when I can write. Where’d I put my-” Shinedown handed her her notepad, Twilight nodding in appreciation as she began to scribble down her observations and what she’d learned so far, Shinedown sitting in a nearby chair as he sighed quietly.

“People are willing to do horrible things in the name of just staying alive. You can forgive them. That doesn’t mean you forget what they’ve done. But you forgive.” He said softly.

“I…need to move past this.” Twilight insisted. “I can’t keep thinking of them as monsters in the back of my mind. I know I’ve got good reason to fear them, but it’s just not right.”

“We’ll find others you can speak to.” Shinedown offered tenderly.

…

…

…

… “I miss the giant koi.”

Twilight was surprised by Ms. Sol’s remark, the old, barely-alive Changeling sitting in a plain white dress with oddly ornate loopings around the v-neck it had, a carefully-painted necklace she wore the only thing noteworthy about her. It was the same quiet pale white color of her now blind eyes, yet…Sol was speaking as if the sight she could see in her mind was right before her.

“Giant…koi?” Twilight inquired, scribbling down in her notepad, raising an eyebrow up in the air in confusion.

“The koi fish in the river that ran through the castle.” Sol murmured quietly. “…they had such…beautiful patterns. Little flecks of gold spattered about their cheeks, deep, blazing reds and oranges, like little sunsets popping out of the water to smile at us. They were always so cheery and pretty…” She whispered with a wistful sigh.

“You never tried to…y’know…eat them?” Twilight asked, Sol looking horrified.

“No! Of course not! They sang.”

“They…sang?” Twilight asked. “Like…whales?”

“Oh, yes.” Sol remarked. “They had a whistling, crying way of singing to each other when they were mating. People would just bring up their chairs to the river during mating season and just…watch and listen.” She admitted, waving a hoof in the air and sighing slightly as she shook her head back and forth, her whispy hair flopping about in the air. “And if you were lucky, they’d let you touch them. Their skin felt so much like our own and they’d sing if you rubbed them just right.”

“Hubba-hubba.” Shinedown wisecracked.

“What happened to them?” Twilight wanted to know as Sol was quiet for a long…long time. Then she finally spoke, her voice a soft whimper.

“The minotaurs needed somethingto eat when they were besieging our city.”

Twilight inwardly cringed. That truly was tragic. It wasn’t unheard of in Pony history that a species would get damaged somehow from careless pony interaction…the Breezies came to mind, of course. Yet this seemed…excessive.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did…how did you get blind?” Shinedown suddenly inquired of Sol as she chuckled. “You’ve got…faint burn marks around your eyelids.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she peered more closely. Yes. Sol DID. She hadn’t noticed the faint scarring around the changeling’s eyelids as Sol responded. “Chemical burns. The Zebras started sieging the city too and they had some…unpleasant surprises.”

“You seem awfully…passe about it.”

“My dear, I was screaming like a banshee when it hit my eyes, but I got off lucky. My neighbor literally lost her head.” Sol intoned with a deep sigh.

“Chemical warfare is…I mean…” Twilight trailed off. “…Celestia will need to speak to the heads of the Zebra nation about such a thing.”

“You think they’ll ADMIT it?” Sol laughed, high, cold, sad and desperate, head thrown back as Twilight cringed. “We were the enemy and it was hundreds of years ago. There’s no proof left. All the jars full of acidic foulness they tossed over the city walls to drench us in and demean and degrade us are long-destroyed by now thanks to the annals of time, my little pony. You’d be lucky if you found ONE, let alone any acidic trace left inside. And good luck finding written documentation from the Zebras talking about it. I’m guessing all of that has somehow mysteriously been chipped away from the great stone artwork they do in the Desert lands?”

“…I’ll find some proof of what they did. The nations should stand up to what they did if true reconciliation is going to happen. You can’t just sweep the past under the rug.” Twilight insisted firmly, Sol looking…surprised. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes as she brushed them away. “Are, are you alright?”

“I’m-I’m sorry, I…nobody’s ever shown that much concern for us before. And YOU of all people, somebody who has the most reason to hate us, I…we don’t deserve somebody as decent as you trying to give us a voice.” Ms. Sol murmured out.

“Nobody deserves anything. But you’re owed better.” Twilight decided. “I’ll find some proof. Somehow.”

…

…

…

…looking at the drawings it was not too difficult to understand why some ponies would be afraid of Changeling tastes. There was a term for wanting to be consumed. Voraphilia. “Vore”. Some ponies were IN to the idea of Changelings preying on them. It was rare, but it happened. But it was rarer still for her to see a Changeling try to explain why her species had such an…unusual fascination with the act of literal feeding on other beings.

Yet that was what she was seeing. She looked down at the nearest drawing to her right hoof, labeled “Bubble Bath”. It was a cutaway of Queen Chrysalis’s stomach, with some poor unfortunate soul inside, partially dissolved by stomach acids, her face a mixture of pleasure and pain. Another drawing was in a comic style, Princess Celestia was being overpowered by an enormous snake before being gobbled down.

The teenage Changeling was nervously glancing to the side, the pack he’d carried the drawings in slung over his shoulder. “It goes beyond just satisfying our species inherent craving for meat, it…this is…”

“This is erotic to you?” Twilight inquired.

“…yes, ma’am.” Yun admitted with a nod and a quiet sigh. “I know its crazy to you. Not right. And other Changelings think I’m weird for…drawing pictures of Changelings being eaten. It just fascinates me.”

Shinedown looked over one such drawing. It was of a minotaur female with enormous breasts, large areolas with freakishly long nipples licking the taste of changeling off her pointed nails as her meal made impressions against the belly it was trapped in. He tried not to cringe. But it was very, VERY hard.

“When did you start drawing? I mean, despite the subject matter and some wonky perspective, these are…quite detailed.” Twilight had to admit, despite inwardly gulping, fearful of the answer as Yun the Changeling bit into his lip, his slightly subdued voice struggling to articulate his point.

“Well…I…there were some chicks.” He admitted.

“What?”

“We had some chicks. I was imitating this little colt who’d died out in the woods. I felt bad for the parents, knowing they’d never see their tyke again so…so I took on his appearance and just…became their child. They lived on a farm, they had these chicks…little yellow puffballs, soft as could be.” Yun admitted.

“Did they die?” Twilight inquired with a tilt of her head.

“No, no. They didn’t die. I took good care of them. I like animals a lot.” He seemed to grapple with revealing the secret to them, Shinedown continuing to translate as he hesitated, taking long pauses. “I would go out to the barn where they were, I’d been with them for five, six weeks, and…and I’d reach into their pen and pick them up.” He said, holding out his hoof’s palm as if he had a chick in it. “And…and I’d just pet them. And then I thought about just…squeezing. Squeezing and SMOOSHING. And I felt horrible until starting thinking about just…swallowing them.”

“Swallowing?” Twilight asked, Yun nodding slowly.

“Yes, just…swallowing and hearing them peep inside my belly, letting their little chirps sing me to sleep. I just kept thinking about holding those chicks in my belly and…it became sexual.” Yun finally murmured, blushing deeply in embarrassment as he waved a hoof in the air. “I don’t know how else to explain it. Just the idea of…overpowering them and taking them into me. I didn’t really wanna hurt them, I just…wanted them. So much.”

“I can understand feeling…uncomfortable sharing this.”

“The thing is, other Changelings don’t like the idea of being prey. They prefer being in control, but…that seems kinda unfair. Everybody should be on the menu, y’know? Equality.” Yun remarked. “We’re not better than anyone else. We’re not even the only pony-esque species that preys on other similar species. Don’t those, ah…bat-ponies drink blood occasionally?”

“Ah, that term is rather…demeaning. It would be like calling me an “Inkblood”.” Shinedown interjected suddenly. “They prefer the term “Mountain Clan” if you absolutely have to refer to them as anything but normal ponies.” He insisted with a firm nod. “But yes, they do…and there are reports of…pony cannibals. There’s rumors the Insane Colt Posse are cannibals.”

“Ooh, I LOVE their work!” Yun proclaimed, grinning broadly. “Wanna see my fanart? I promise it doesn’t show them eating anyone!”

“I would like that.” Twilight said with a smile.

…

…

…

… “Our ruler was…you could say it was “meet the new boss, same as the old boss”, yes. We almost regretted having Sombra as our leader, wished his father was back.”

Mrs. Nam sighed, chewing on some noodles that Shinedown had cooked up for her to entice her into speaking about her life in the capital before the war had truly gotten underway. She hadn’t been interested in Twilight cooking, oh no. She insisted on only Changeling noodles bought from a changeling shop and cooked by somebody of changeling blood. Sungbohn Changelings viewed pony noodles the same way Ponies viewed the food they gave to dogs. Taste wise, it might be just fine, but on a visercal level it just…didn’t appeal to them. They simply couldn’t bring themselves to eat.

“Lord Nyh-Tyaim, Sombra’s father, was rather harsh. Any time there were…uprisings…he’d crack down hard to get across the idea he would not tolerate disloyalty. But things never seemed so bad as what happened with Sombra and the invasion.” Mrs. Nam murmured in between bites of noodle. “Still, in regards to the first Shadowlord, my husband wanted to protest his reign but I always said no, yet even that didn’t keep him from joining in protests. One day he joined in a march in which fellow Changelings were carrying the body of a young man killed in a fight with the guards. He’d tried to charge the Shadowlord to “end the madness” but hadn’t made it close enough.”

“What happened?” Twilight wished to know, eagerly taking down everything Mrs. Nam said as she slurped up the remaining noodles from the white and blue bowl Shinedown had served them in.

“Well, we saw another body being carried out of the local hospital. Someone we knew, Mr. Pak. The crowd immediately judged him another martyr so they began shouting revolutionary slogans, calling him a hero. Then my husband took notice of Pak’s widow coming out of the hospital, and she was upset by what the crowd was doing.” Mrs. Nam remarked, spreading her hooves out to gesticulate. “She insisted we all stop. I asked why, did she like the Shadowlord?”

“Did she?”

“No.”

“What did she say?”

“Dangsin-eun ihaehaji anhseubnida. Naneun wang silh-eo. Hajiman nae nampyeon-eun gam-yeom-eulo samang…” Mrs. Nam said with a small giggle as Shinedown blinked a bit before what she said truly sank in.

“Ohhh! She’s saying the old woman told the crowd to basically stop protesting because her husband wasn’t a martyr, he died of infection!” Shinedown said with a chuckle. “Don’t tell me that…”

“Nobody but me heard it, and my husband just started leading the crowd into a chant. “The king is a killer, we’ll catch you one day and we’ll make you pay”.” Mrs. Nam began giggling out. “So I just told her “Don’t worry. Your husband is a hero now”. And…and the best part is…SHE STARTED DEMONSTRATING WITH US!” She laughed, her, Shinedown and Twilight all laughing at this strange, silly turn of events. That was pretty funny, Twilight had to admit, Mrs. Nam wiping the tears from her eyes as she wistfully sighed. “Oh, my dear husband…how I miss him. He was such a vibrant man.”

“What are the…marriage ceremonies of Changelings like?” Twilight wished to know, Mrs. Nam holding up one hoof to her neck, showing off a small unmistakable set of bite marks.

“We Changelings only ever, EVER bite so deep as to leave such wounds when we do our marriage ceremony.” She remarked. “It is a sign we connect to each other and expose ourselves at our most vulnerable for all to see. After we each bite, we then embrace as our priests recite the Bonding Ceremony…and then we lick our wounds clean and finally kiss.” Mrs. Nam explained. “Biting on the neck is very…very intimate, I assure you. VERY intimate.”

“Yes, Changelings give new meaning to the phrase “I want to nibble on your ear”.” Shinedown admitted with a small chuckle.

“Jae felt so guilty he didn’t give me a present for our three hundredth anniversary, the last one we had together. But I told him he HAD.” Mrs. Nam chuckled as she tapped her hooves together and chuckled a bit. “He gave me a neck to nibble on…ears to nibble on…LIPS to nibble on…”

Many, many miles away, Pinkie Pie stiffened, suddenly shuddering. “Ewww. GROSS. Somebody is talking about old people hanky-panky!”

The Third Interviews

“Adults are stupid.”

It was a surprise to Twilight that a Changeling filly was willing to speak. But Tae-Yeon was quite happy to be interviewed for the Canterlot library’s historical records, and she was now sitting in the chair across from Twilight, arms folded across his chest. Tae-Yeon was an “Keobjil” Changeling who was half Sugnbohn, half Ghainaim. As a member of the “Keobjil” clan she had thick muscles, a well-built, beetle-esque set of small, useless wings rising and falling off her back. They weren’t quite as extravagant as the Ilgagsu wings, who resembled that of moths or butterflies, but it was better than the wingless Nabang, who’s skill laid in their odd horn sets. Each of the different Ghainaim clans struggled to fit in with “Normal” ponies, seeking only to belong once more.

Evidently that wasn’t easy. Especially if you were part of a family that despised the former elitist clan.

“Why are adults stupid, Tae-Yeon?” Shinedown gently asked her in the Sugnbohn language.

“They’ve all lost their imaginations. They don’t believe in the stories anymore. All they like to do is whine about how things aren’t the same and say the tales never happened.” Tae-Yeon mumbled, Twilight tilting her head slightly to the side in confusion.

“What kind of stories are you speaking of, Tae-Yeon?”

“We’re AAAAALIENS.” Tae-Yeon whispered, waving her hooves in the air, waggling them back and forth. “Our ancestors came from beyond the stars. That’s what the old legends say! We just took on pony skin to get close to them, but we wore it so long, it became our real skin! Wooooooooo!” She proclaimed, warbling the “Woooo” in a creepy fashion as Twilight raised an eyebrow up. “But the adults don’t wanna believe it. They lost their imagination and they don’t want to admit where we came from because they think it makes them look bad. That it makes them look like big jerks who just went around hurting people.”

“You don’t think it does?” Twilight asked, intrigued as Tae-Yeon shook her head.

“I think it’s more like…we just wanted a good place to stay. I’m guessing our ancestor’s original home went bye-bye and we had to find someplace new. It’s why we ended up where we are today, right? People don’t leave a good place unless it turns real bad.”

“I’ve never done full tests on the bodies of Changelings to compare them to Ponies. Perhaps her theory has some truth.” She admitted to Shinedown as her translator rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look in his eye.

“And the adults don’t believe the tale of why the animals talk either. They’re all stuffy.” Tae-Yeon mumbled, Twilight’s eyes widening as she beamed.

“Oh, I KNOW that old story! Every animal used to be able to talk on our planet so as to have true harmony, but then when ponies started to make real civilizations, other animals got jealous and mean. They attacked the early ponies and as punishment, they lost the ability to think and speak like people! But the good animals that stood by us got to keep those rights.” Twilight sighed wistfully. “It was a really good bedtime story my mother liked to read to me. I never got scared, not even when she brought up the wolves and how they got an extra punishment by being made into wood for being the ones that urged the other species to attack!”

“I’m surprised dragons didn’t try it.” Shinedown admitted, scratching his head. “The story never explained why the dragons didn’t join the timberwolves and the manticores and basilisks…”

“I think I know why.” Tae-Yeon said with a small grin, wagging her hooves about. “There weren’t no huge piles of gold or gems around. All of it was still buried deep in the world, so they weren’t all mean and nasty and sleeping on piles of treasure, hoarding everything and being greedy! So they were nice until they started finding treasure!”

“Perhaps I should interview more…friendly dragons to inquire about that. Draconic culture fascinates me as much as Changeling culture.” Twilight admitted with a nod. “Do you know of any other stories the adults don’t like to hear?”

“They hate hearing about Ghainaim. They’re always so mean to them and mean to me too because I’m a “halfblood freak”.” Tae-Yeon grumbled. “…big jerks.”

“The little dibbuns tease my adopted son too because of his changeling blood. And I’m harassed myself for being an “inkblood”.” Shinedown admitted, putting a hoof on his chest and giving Tae-Yeon a sympathetic smile as he patted her on the back. “It will take some time for folks to get used to all of you.”

“I don’t got that time. I want them being nice NOW.” She muttered.

“Yeah…that’s what I always said.” Twilight sighed quietly.

…

…

…

… “So Sugnbohn have a…creator God?” Twilight inquired of Lee as the pale-pink-crested changeling nodded, leaning back, smoking a strange kind of cigarette that wafted up odd, greenish smoke into the air. He let out a singular puff of smoke that formed itself into an “o” that drifted lazily over Twilight’s head before puffing out a few more “o’s”.

“Hana, dul, ses, nes…” Lee intoned in a deep baritone in between each puff.

“He’s counting, isn’t he?” Twilight asked of Shinedown as the blue-haired Earth pony sighed and nodded at her. “What is that plant?”

“He’s smoking “Cannabis”, a hallucinogenic drug. There’s a twenty-year penalty for smoking it in the Changeling kingdom, but that just makes indulging it in all the more appealing for some. Not to mention it makes Changelings very happy and cheery without needing to truly feed on real emotion.” Shinedown apologized as he gestured at Lee, who was giggling a bit, continuing to count and blow smoke rings.

“Twenty years for a hallucinogenic? Somewhat harsh.” Twilight remarked, tilting her head to the side in confusion, looking unsure. “I mean, he just looks rather silly and stupid right now. Does it turn them into knife-wielding psychopaths? Do they go on killing sprees?”

The earth pony shook his head. “No, they mostly just sit around, looking at their hooves. But for a society that’s all about constant production and effort for the greater good, slacking off like that is kind of a no-no.” He remarked before putting a hoof on Lee’s shoulder, giving him a glowering, dark stare.

“Huh?” Lee mumbled.

“Geunyeoui meoli wie yeongileul bul-eo jungji, ttoneun naneun dangsin-ui eongdeong-ikkaji jigeumkkaji nae bal-eul neoh-eo geos, sum agchwidoebnida!” Shinedown hissed out, Lee immediately straightening up and almost swallowing the cigarette he was puffing, hocking and spluttering on the spot.

“Sheesh, what did you say to him?” Twilight asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion as Shinedown gave her a “You really don’t want to know” glance, Twilight deciding to move back to her question. “As I was saying, you had mentioned Sugnbohn believe in a creator God just like we do?”

“You have the Goddess. The one named Faust. Her gifts were that of the forces of harmony. We worship at the altar of Emotion.” Lee said, giving her a large, enormous grin. “Sweeeeeeeeet emooooootion.” He sang out, waving a holey hoof in the air before taking another puff of the cigarette. “The tales are recorded in the Changsega ! The ancient stories! Most of us don’t believe ‘em anymore, but they’re amaaaazing.”

“ Changsega…” Twilight whispered, letting the musical word roll of her tongue, scribbling down in her notebook with fervent intensity. “Please, please tell me more!” She pleaded.

“There were two…a male and a female. Tak-Seongha and Jayd-Seongha. They spoke for a greater being still, but the tale is of them.” Lee admitted, waving his hooves in the air, blowing some more smoke as he took the little clouds he was making and created an image of a mountaintop, with two figures lying down atop it. “They laid down together over the tallest mountain of the land and slept, drifting off into endless sleep. Their bodies began to break down, and as they did, emotion was released into the world. All that was left was their soul…” He murmured, the two “bodies” atop the mountain now tiny balls that floated up before dissipating into the “sky” above as Lee then took in a breath, inhaling the smoke before letting it surge forth from his nostrils. “Everyone breathed in what they left behind, and emotion came into them. Before, they only knew what Harmony was. Now they could rejoice in it, and the celebration of the world’s true birth lasted for an entire year!”

He let out a deep, happy sigh, leaning back in the chair. “It’s a beautiful old tale.”

“Do you think its true?” Twilight wanted to know, looking intrigued.

“Yeah, kinda. Just that what really happened has been sorta twisted up a bit because it’s been so long since it happened.” Lee said with a shrug.

“What does that word mean? “Seongha”?” Twilight wanted to know, realizing the people that he’d referred to, the God and Goddess who’d supposedly granted the planet of Equus emotion, had had unique honorifics she hadn’t picked up on.

“Holiness. For the two were priests in service to an even greater power, a beautiful, shining light that warmed Equus for a year. When it departed, it left behind the sun and the moon to give light in day and then at night.” Lee added with a wave of his hoof and a calm nod. “The Cornerstone of Light was what the warmth of day and night was founded on, as the legends say.”

“It’s a very pretty legend. No doubt you’ve all got some fascinating artwork about your creation legends.” Twilight admitted as he finished writing down in her notebook, nodding her head at Lee. “Do you think you could tell me of any Changeling artists I could speak to who’d be happy to show me such art?”

“Oh, of course.” Lee remarked with a calm smile. “If you could do me a little favor.” He said, holding up the cannabis cigarette and jabbing at it with a big grin, Twilight cringing.

…

…

…

… “I’ve been studying your species’s armor.” Twilight admitted to the captain of the guard, Gaya. He had his hooves on the table and had placed them carefully together as he stared deep into Twilight’s eyes, almost accusingly so. “It appears to be a type of brigandine.”

Gaya, Captain of the Guard nodded, holding a hoof up and speaking swiftly as Shinedown translated. “It allows us to breathe fluidly in combat and most importantly, to move swiftly. For us, we need to move quickly. Individually, we are not very strong. But in numbers, we overpower. Hence the need for much mobility.”

“Yes, I gathered that from the invasion of Canterlot.” Twilight admitted as she put the quill pen to her lip, concentrating a bit before tilting her head slightly to the side. “What do you make the armor out of? Steel? Iron? Bronze?”

“The armor is actually made from hardened dragon bone that we’ve forged into plates.” Gaya informed her with a calm nod. “Needless to say, this made us frequent enemies of the dragon race. Having us wearing their dead ancestors did not make us popular. They could still smell their friends on the armor we wore into battle and we would get cooked alive if we were careless. With extreme prejudice.”

“It must have been difficult imitating dragons.”

“For larger Changelings, it wasn’t too difficult to imitate younger dragons, but…yes, even our considerable shapeshifting abilities are limited by what we have to imitate. I couldn’t, for example, become a sea serpent.” He told Twilight with a spread of his hooves and a small smile. “Though my father always yearned to transform into a dragon. He was always pushing me to try harder.”

“Tell me of family life.” Twilight asked gently. “If you wouldn’t mind, that is. I understand that your nomadic ways made your former traditions difficult, but tell me, before you were nomads, did the mother stay at home, did she typically work? What age did you have your children practicing transforming?”

“Please, slow down, I shall explain all.” Gaya informed her with a roll of his eyes. “Our fathers are the head of the family and it was their responsibility to provide food, clothing and shelter, and to approve the marriages of family members. This was a very big deal to my kind.” He admitted as he put a hoof on his chest. “And I, as the eldest son, had special duties: first to my parents, then to my brothers from older to younger. A father’s first duty was to his sons, then to his wife, and lastly to his daughters. The wife’s first duty was to her daughters, then to her husband, then to her sons. This way all our bases were covered.”

“Would they both work? Or rather, be out imitating other beings?”

“Not necessarily.” Gaya informed her with a shake of his head. “It depended on our natural skill. Some of us were better at tilling the land and harvesting crops or looking for wild animals to eat, whilst others had a natural skill at infiltration. You quickly picked up on these things at a young age, there were signs. They’d be able to sneak things out of your pockets, or they’d always be examining little bugs in the garden.”

“Ohhh, that’s cute!” Twilight giggled, Gaya groaned as he held his hoof in one hand.

“PLEASE do not call us “cute”! Look. We…” He cringed, shaking his head back and forth. “We do not really want to be like you ponies! My species has long, proud traditions and we don’t want to be “cuddly” or “adorable”! We have a reputation to uphold that kept us alive for decades, feared by other predators who would have wiped us out for years of picking and prodding at them. How would you feel if, say, Chrysalis said you’d make a good CHANGELING?!”

“Why would I wanna be-” Twilight stopped herself, realizing now just how it must feel to be on the other side. “Oh. I…see.” She murmured softly, biting into her lip, blushing in embarrassment. “I didn’t mean-that is, I-its just-”

“I understand. You ponies love young, cute things. Your culture has trained you to relax and take in all of life, you’ve had decades to develop your technology, your art, your philosophy. You have had it easy in the name of focusing on the things you felt mattered most. We had to focus on staying alive above all else and just had to carry what little else we could fit with us, hoping in the end we’d finally reach somewhere where we could settle and rebuild our people into a true nation anew.” Gaya softly murmured as he folded his arms over his chest, lowering his helmeted head, deep red eyes slowly closing. “My own father never lived to see the home of his ancestors restored. He allowed himself to starve to death so my mother could have enough food for us one cold winter night.”

Twilight wanted to reach out, to touch the Changeling’s shoulder in sympathy, but Shinedown gently shook his head as Twilight hesitated before speaking up. “Would…you like me to get you some “Mandu” dumplings? Shinedown has continuously recommended I try your vegetable ones, but I do know the diner down the road makes meat ones.”

“I would…appreciate that.” The Captain of the Guard finally sighed. “Dangsin-ui chinjeol-eun gajang hwan-yeonghabnida.”

“What?”

“He said “your kindness is most welcome”.” Shinedown said, Twilight clasping her hooves together and bowing along with her translator.

“Geugeos-eun naui gippeum-ibnida. It’s my pleasure.”

The Last Interview

“I’m surprised there’s so much art devoted to Princess Luna and the Moon.” Twilight had to admit. The purple-furred pony was astonished by the beautiful scroll art that Cultural Advisor Jueon-Seong displayed for her in the interview room, having unrolled it for her and her translator to take in. Each single stitch had been lovingly applied into an intricate design, forming a beautiful mosaic of mountains, all of which appeared to be made up of sweeping strokes, the moon hanging high above, Luna draped carefully over it, head slightly held up as if awakening from sleep. This was probably the fifth picture displaying the glory of the night, and the brown-eyed Changelung was smiling with obvious pride at the display.

“It took me ages to track this down, but I did it.” Shinedown translated as the proud advisor cheerily gestured with a single hoof at the scroll’s artwork. “You wouldn’t believe what I had to do to find it, but now, here it is! The oldest piece of Sugnbohn art.” The Changeling-blooded stallion informed Twilight as she peered over the scroll with a magnifying glass, her horn glowing softly as she scribbled notes, multitasking to take everything in. “This was made during the Great Migration following the escape from the Capital. We had to use whatever we could take on our backs to make it, therefore a lot of our art is iron-based and comes from other metals. In fact, the original artist probably got metal poisoning.” He added, the advisor sighing sadly as Twilight gave him a sympathetic nod.

“Indeed. He was coughing up blood for weeks.” A voice announced from the other end of the room, Queen Chrysalis standing there with Princess Luna and Princess Celestia by her side, the Queen wearing a lovely-looking necklace with a deep red ruby in a amulet, a small horned crown atop her head with matching jewels which served to contrast brightly with her eyes. The Queen brushed some hair aside from her face, Twilight trying not to look nervous as Shinedown gave her a “do as I do”, placing his hooves together and bowing his head.

“Queen Chrysalis. I gihoeleul jusyeoseo gamsahabnida.” He said, Twilight repeating the gesture.

“You’re lucky I believe that this will better help my people.” Queen Chrysalis remarked. “I was slightly unsure about this endeavor.” She added with a wave of her hoof and a “harrumph”. “However, I want you ponies to better understand my kind and what we’ve endured.”

“I must say, your culture is just so fascinating!” Twilight complimented, gesturing at the scroll. “I mean, look at this! It clearly took a great deal of work. Yet I’m surprised you all have such adoration for Princess Luna.” Twilight admitted. “Why do you venerate her and the night?”

Celestia sighed slightly, Luna giving her a sympathetic look whilst Jueon-Seong waved a hoof in the air, looking surprised that Twilight couldn’t realize it. “Celestia represents our failure to get a new home. Our horrendous invasion of Canterlot. One of our lowest points. Worser still is what she represents…the sun. The day. Yet her sister, and the cool, cool night?” The Cultural Advisor wistfully sighed. “It wraps us in its velvet cloak. It is comfort and joy to us.”

The advisor’s horn glowed slightly as he took off the little helmet he wore and put it onto his chest, bowing his head slightly as an illusionary scene began to play out behind him, Shinedown looking intrigued as he kept translating what the Changeling was saying, Twilight eagerly taking notes with even further vigor. “When the walls of the capital came down, everyone ran, terrified, unsure of what to do until Queen Chrysalis rallied those she could. We had to flee under the cover of darkness because out in the open in the day, we were targets. Worse still, it would have been completely pointless to try and disguise ourselves as other ponies or minotaurs or the like, that sort of thing would take energy we couldn’t afford to waste, and we had so many children with us who weren’t yet ready to do proper imitations, much less of random beings, not captured hostages we could practice with again and again to get right. And so, as the sun began to set, we made our move.”

And indeed, the Changelings that had been hiding themselves within the dark recesses of the forest not too far from the capital emerged, the moon surrounded by faintly twinkling stars. The night was still, not a single wind blew as Chrysalis held a hoof up, letting out a soft “shhh” to the rest of her people. They all moved as one amongst the tall grass, the shadow of night making them blend in well amongst the shadows of the clouds passing by. If you tried to look, you’d just chalk it up to your eyes seeing things, the black shape you thought was there was already gone.

“The night shielded us. It kept us hidden and safe. We could move smoothly and secretly. And over time, our people adapted even better to sneak fluidly through the night and flow as smoothly through it as fish through water.” Jueon-Seong admitted as he spread his arms wide, beaming with pride as the illusion faded away.

“In addition, I spoke often to their former King, Sombra, in his dreams. And I tried, when I could, to bring nighttime comfort to their people whilst their city was shelling. My sister sought to work with the Minotaurs, the Zebras and the others who were sieging the capital, but most Changelings never got to see her compassion-” Luna admitted, Queen Chrysalis snorting slightly.

“Please don’t remind us.” She muttered. “By the time you actually freed the prisoners they had months later after the capital fell, 12,000 Changelings had died. They were forced to migrate up to the Far, Far North, to the cold colonies up in the mountains. Most of my people hadn’t even fought in any of the Shadowlord’s campaigns, yet were treated as the enemy all the same. And a few thousand tried to remain behind, but were all deported or arrested for being “foreign nationals”. Foreign nationals in their own land!” Chrysalis hissed out, gritting her teeth. “And do not get me started on what the Ophidians did. They practically destroyed my kind.”

“Did they…eat you?” Twilight asked nervously, Chrysalis giving her a wry smile.

“Oh, I would have preferred if they’d done that to their prisoners they stole away to the Far West Swamps. The largest group left behind when the walls came down all settled down there, trusting in Celestia’s strict promise that if they were killed in any way, if any physical harm was brought to them, she would bring down her full wrath on the Ophidians. No, they didn’t eat them. They simply bred them out of existence. There’s not one true Changeling left there anymore.”

Twilight instantly felt a disturbed chill rise in her. She’d looked up photographs of the Ophidians, surprised to see an immense amount of them didn’t merely have bodies that ended in serpentine tails, but had legs as well. Now it all made sense. The Sugnbohn Changeling species valued preserving their ways above all else. So much so most refused to even speak the language of others unless imitating them. They preferred death over dishonor. This, to them, must have been an annihilation of their race, what they meant as a people. No more paintings or sculptures, no more tales of Changelings past, now all that was left were people who didn’t even really resemble changelings anymore beyond being capable of walking on four legs…the only thing left of the prisoners who’d been taken: an extra bit of evolutionary advantage was all they’d ended up being. And gotten from-

She shuddered again, Celestia looking very, very pale. Even more so than usual as she bit into her lip. “Their race is…persuasive. They too were well-versed in the Sanguine Condition, being masters of mesmerism. They don’t have to hurt you to get what they want. I kept sending officers to check on them, they never reported anything was out of the ordinary. I keep wondering how many of them actually believed that.”

“Ah, but we are so, so grateful to the boon your night’s blessings offered, Luna.” Chrysalis admitted, putting a hoof on her chest as the starry-maned Luna gave a soft bow to the Queen. “It was, to many, the only source of respite for us. The night was our sword and shield, a way to slink from town to town as we sought to find a new home.”

“We’ve even made songs about such tales.” Jueon-Seong added, Shinedown swiftly translating, the Cultural Advisor cheerily tapping his hooves together as Shinedown nodded in agreement.

“Indeed, I’m set to perform for the Canterlot crowds at the Gala tomorrow night.” Shinedown admitted. “Queen Chrysalis, I trust you too shall be attending with your private party?”

“We assure you, there will be absolutely no attempts on you or your people. I’ve ordered both mine and Luna’s guards to be on high alert to halt any shenanigans.” Celestia insisted as Chrysalis gave a small nod.

“Yes. And such a gesture is very appreciated. A good start.” She remarked. “It will be…very fulfilling to walk among Canterlot undisguised and without a spear being pointed at me.” The Changeling Queen admitted as she trotted out, her cultural advisor following after as Celestia and Luna turned to the two, Shinedown smiling as he gestured for Twilight to follow him.

“Would you like to see the Gugak Gayageum I’ll be using?” He inquired as they made their way out of the room, down the hall and into a pale blue room with a twelve-stringed instrument, hollowed out, from the looks of it, with an intricate crescent moon design painted upon it in silvery paint. It was positively huge, quite longer and larger than a guitar, and had clearly been painstakingly crafted over many, many days.

“So is this some kind of zither, a guitar or the like?” Twilight Sparkle wanted to know as Shinedown picked it up and sat down on the small wooden stool within the room of various musical instruments that hung around the walls on shelves. He smiled and plucked a few notes that echoed through the air, Luna giving Twilight a nod.

“That is a Gayageum. It’s part of their folk music, used to weave intricate stories through alluring song.” She admitted, giving a small blush. “They’ve made quite a few songs devoted to me, and my dear student shall be performing one tomorrow.”

“As a liaison between Changeling and Pony governments, its very much a big deal for me. My mom’s super-ecstatic.” Shinedown cheerily admitted, putting a hoof on his chest and happily beaming. “If they like it, I’ll be able to get more ponies interested in Changeling music. It’s a dream come true for me, especially since my afterschool music class for the Changeling Kingdom could always use more participants.”

“They don’t mind that its taught by a, y’know, “inkblood”?” Twilight nervously inquired.

“They were until they actually heard me sing.” Shinedown said, a bigger grin stretching across his face as he began to strum.

And soon enough, he was now silhouetted against the deep blue curtain of the Gala Stage, hundreds of ponies spread out in chairs and tables before him. Queen Chrysalis watched from the side of the stage, Celestia and Luna sitting in the front row whilst Twilight stood next to the Queen, there to provide her with a bit of extra protection in addition to her guard, as per the Queen’s request. Yet despite being so close to Chrysalis, Twilight was more nervous about the audience’s reaction to Changeling music. They’d been murmuring and whispering at the sight of the Changelings at the gala.

Though all dressed up in their finest ebony robes, with silvery glittering linings and ornate curves and swirls painted into the trimmings of each sleeve, there was still a sort of “peasantry” that the Canterlot nobles seemed to feel upon seeing the traditional hanbok attire. For the lower section, the “pants”, the gown of the attire was very, very long, and tied off not at the waist, but up at the chest. It was as if they were desperately trying to keep their clothes from falling off and showing their rear, and had forced them up further and further to ensure this didn’t happen. And their caps were rather large too, big, black and kind of blocky, the bokegon looked rather uncomfortable to wear. Yet even so, Twilight could see solitary, glittering jewels in the center of these hats, beautifully sparkling more brightly than most of the jewels worn around the necks of the Canterlot nobles.

And now they glittered brightly in the back row, eyes wide and expectantly glancing about, worried what these ponies would think of their art, this expression of what was, in a way, their species’s “first love” of sorts. Shinedown looked understandably worried for a few brief moments, but composed himself with a calm, deep breath, closing his eyes before holding the Gugak Gayageum up for all to see. “Through music, we express ourselves. From our dreams to our fears to our loves, it is the truest gateway to the soul.” He said, his melodic voice carrying over the large expanse of the immense hall, his words reverberating through the air. “As the famous Pegaus philosopher Soarin’ Kierkegaard famously proclaimed, “Music is a higher, or more spiritual art”. More so than all others! And I hope through this expression, you will come to understand the people I’ve grown to understand.”

With this, he began to strum, the music wafting through the air to nestle in their heads, resting gently there like a bluebird on a treebranch as everyone simply sat…and listened.

The moon wanted more of our nights…
Providing its safety, was our guiding light.
The treeeees appeeeaaaared as they'd never been gone!
I promised the fiiieeeeelds I'd return from now on!
As the moon kept on riiiiiiising…
We had no more to say,
When the light went away,
And surrendered the day!

Our dearest home, you’ll be calling me soon,
But if I don't answer I’m… calling the moooooon!
I was calling her then,
Now I’m wondering “will she take me again”?
Ohhhhh-ohhh-ohhhh, I’m calling the moon...

Twilight got to work, her horn sparkling faintly, as she got to work, the illusionary landscape forming behind Shinedown, replacing the stage with Changelings riding through the grass under the soft moonlight. The burning capital of their homeland far in the distance, a single Changeling turned about, a much younger Queen Chrysalis looking longingly back before turning her face to the sky. The moonlight illuminated her visage as she softly sighed, before diving down the hill, her people following after in the dark shadows that spread across the plains.

When I called the moon back to me,
I thought she wanted my beeeaauuuuty!
So we shone in the best…that her vanity buuuuys!
Though we’d all lived liiiives…that’d been built upon liiiies!
Yet the moon kept on riiiiising…
She was there through it all!
She comes when the empire falls
And shines on crumbling walls!

The moon cast soft rays of light upon the ruined capital, a single dying Changeling now caught in its soft rays. It had tightly to its own knees, arms wrapped tightly around them. But now it saw the moonlight and the soft light that was descending down onto it, and a smile spread across its lips before it tenderly laid its head down on the wreckage of its old home, a final sigh echoing out from its lips before it passed.

Far, far away, the Changelings huddled together, mothers keeping their children tight to them, tattered clothing their only protection in a cold winter as they all made their way into a cave, starting a fire. A single changeling stood at the entrance, as one by one others joined to stand guard, shuddering and shivering until the moon finally poked its head out of the darkened clouds of night, a sigh of relief coming from their forms as they laid down on the floor, a sense of peace coming over them all. And through all this, the Canterlot crowd had grown silent, mouths slightly hung open in surprise, entranced by what they saw, scarcely able to believe their ears and eyes.

Our dearest home, you’ll be calling me soon,
But if I don't answer I’m… calling the moooooon!
By the name that she chose!
As we kept on wandering in moth-eaten robes…
Ohhhhh-ohhh-ohhhh, I’m calling the moon...

Oh, make sense of this, night!
Help ease our hearts with your comforting light!
The moon said “Now my work is done!
I've poooooured out this bottle of light like the sun!
But the anger keeps on riiiiiising…
Do you not understand?
I've shown them all that I can!
That the world is at hand!

And now, the final part. Two warring tribes. Anger and hatred as they sniped and barked at each other before splitting, Ghainaim and Sungbohn storming off. The Ghainaim made their way towards the far-off cities with soft candlelight in the windows, the Sungbohn returning to the fields as the moon illuminated their path, yet it seemed to be lower in the sky than before. And the clouds began to cover it as the Sungbohn now laid under trees by the rubble of their old capital, whilst in dual scene the Ghainaim stood alone in a crowd, head bowed and held in their hooves as they laid in alleyways, what little moonlight they had blocked out from darkened skies above. Both scenes showing two Changelings with necklaces that had half-moon crests…both emaciated, starving…lonely. Surrounded on all sides by others, and yet still lonely.

Our dearest home, you’ll be calling me soon,
But if I don't answer I’m… calling the moooooon!
We can see by her light!
This one's going out to the moon tonight!
Ohhh-ohhhh-ohhh, I’m calling the moon…

Calling the moooooon!
We was calling her then,
Now we’re wondering “will this land take us again”?
Ohhhhh-ohhh-ohhhh, We’re calling the moon...

As the song finished and Shinedown finished strumming, he opened his eyes, ponies standing up, one by one, applauding loudly, hooves slapping together almost in a frenzy as they cheered and whistled, then turned to the table in the back. There were fresh tears in mares and colt’s eyes as they struggled to wipe them free and off their arms, the Changeling table looking astonished by this sudden display of emotion, yet took it all in, nervous yet appreciate smiles on their faces as Twilight turned to the Queen.

“Well your majesty, I’d say it went over very-”

She stopped herself. Queen Chrysalis was slightly shaking, struggling to stop the tears that were sliding down her cheeks, gritting her teeth as her hooves dug slightly into the floor. She tried to keep from crying, shaking her head slightly before turning to Twilight. “Oh. Are…are you alright?” Twilight asked.

“…nothing is wrong with me.” The Queen finally managed to say, a smile beginning to spread across her lips. “I’m alright.” She insisted with a small nod. “I’m fine.”

And she looked out from the side of the stage, looked out at a people more willing than ever to give her people a place and a home to call their own. A people more accepting of her kind than she’d ever experienced before.

“Everything is going to be fine.”