“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.”