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.