Despite 13%, They are 50%

“Get back here you insolent child! You’ll do good to stay away from those parasites!”

“No dad! He’s always been my coltfriend and he always will be! I’ll go with him even if you don’t approve!”

“YOU’RE JUST BRAINWASHED! You, guard! Prove it that she’s brainwashed.”

“Sir, with all due respect, we have tested her three times, and the results came back negative.”

“I don’t believe you! Do it again! Nopony in their right minds would ever relate with a damn bug.”

“Dad! I can’t believe you! Buck off!”

Variations of such conversations erupted endlessly as the border between Canterlot and the temporary Changeling Refuge was littered with ponies and changelings separated by an impromptu wooden wall. The announcement of changeling expulsion pushed several ponies to pursue their revealed lovers, which in turn pushed their parents to convince them to not. Soon after, a crowd of angry and confused ponies congregated on the border. A sea of colour clashed against the black line of border defense guarding the changeling’s temporary territory.

With the already diminished amount of royal guards and pony militias, the changelings inadvertently had to help in managing the crowd, which only fueled more of the flames.

In the border guarded by changelings who had royal guard training was a single entrance checkpoint. As there were thousands of ponies that wanted to follow their loved one instead of staying in Equestria, a census was required to document those who chose to leave.

A stout changeling with red eyes and wagon yoke stood behind the changeling border, sweating nervously under the intense negative emotions excreted by the crowd. It had been a week since the nobles announced to Equestria of the agreement they made with the changeling king and queens. They weren’t allowed to take disguises of any kind, not until they were out of Equestrian territory. It was one of the few things covered by the magical promise; the others being their leave in two weeks and absolutely no contact with ponies outside of the temporary territory.

The latter was why he waited out there. The washed yellow Earth Pony filly with red mane, Apple Bloom, was an adopted pony, and his sister. The small filly queued in line, waiting for her screening turn for the census, fidgeting all the while. Under the mass of ponies, her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo waved hoofkerchiefs as they sobbed for their friend’s departure. They each wore velvet capes with the emblem of their little group - Cutie Mark Crusaders.

The yoke-wearing changeling looked at the crowd. Ponies of various types with nothing but either angry, confused, or scared faces. Some of them he knew, but he doubted they would recognize him back. Not without his pony form, which was forbidden to wear after the mandate. He glanced back towards Apple Bloom, who waved her friends goodbye as she galloped towards her brother.

“Big Mac! Ah’m in and Ah’m here!” Apple Bloom called.

“Eeyup. Come along now, Ah’ve set ya a spot in one‘a th’ tents. It ain’t a Manehattan hotel, but it ain’t no slouch, either.” Big Mac said, before leading the filly up.

Apple Bloom walked close to her brother. Even when she knew her sister, brother, and her entire family were changelings, seeing so many of them up close was an entirely different experience, one that might’ve triggered a bit of anxiety in her. Instead of colourful coats with similarly colourful manes, tails, and cutie marks, all she could see was blackness with hints of glistening carapace and eye colours, with ponies only scarcely decorating the landscape.

She turned to her brother instead. Big Mac walked with his trademark neutral face, but even Bloom could see the thousand-yard stare under his pupilles red eyes. “Mac, what’s wrong?” she asked.

Big Mac looked to the sky, and back to Apple Bloom. “Say, Bloom. Ah’ve said it mahself, ya don’ hafta come wit’ us. Yer a pony, and y’all’re practically inseparable. The crusaders, Ah mean. Why’d ya decide t’ come with us?” he asked. He already knew the answer, in part thanks to his natural changeling ability to feel wisps of another individual’s emotions, but he wanted the spoken truth.

Apple Bloom looked at her adoptive brother as if he grew a horn. Well yes, changelings have horns, but regardless, she was slightly confused. The smaller filly sighed before setting her sights onto a random ling’s flying kite. “They’re mah friends and all, but Ah love y’all even more. Ah thought ya knew that?”

“Ah know, but ain’t all ‘a this bother you a tad? No offense, but yer a pony and all-”

“Mac, would ya kindly stop that?” Apple Bloom requested with a tinge of exasperation. “Ah care not if yer a changeling or a pony, but Ah ain’t rightly an Apple if Ah saw species as distinction. Sure, they’re all mah friends, but yer mah fam’ly. Y’all took me outta that dump of an orphanage; Ah ain’t runnin’ lonely a second time, even if Ah hafta gallop ‘round th’ world an’ back.”

“How ‘bout yer friends? Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo? Don’t they mean any t’ ya?” Big Mac asked.

“Ah’ll write to 'em if Ah could. They understand that Ah rather be wit’ mah fam’ly no matter what,” Apple Bloom said, before cocking her head at her brother. “Come ta think of it, where’s mah big sis? Applejack? Ah knew she had a bit of a rut with them Elements with her being a changeling an’ all, ‘specially her being the Element of Honesty, but Ah thought she’d either be here or there in Canterlot?”

Big Mac bit his lips, the malleable chitin creaked under the pressure of his fangs. Just before he was able to answer, however, several sets of hooves clip-clopped closer into their position. A colourful set of ponies approached them, ones they knew all too well.

“Apple Bloom! You’re here? And who is this?” a certain purple mare asked under her laboured breath.

“Twilight! And all y’all Elements too. This here’s Big Mac. What’re y’all doin’ here?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Firstly, little Bloom, what are you doing in this… unique place?” Rarity asked.

“Uhh, Ah’m going wit’ mah fam’ly? Ah mighta be adopted, but Ah’m an Apple nonetheless,” Apple Bloom admitted with pride, which Big Mac approved with an “Eeyup.”

“But the entire Apple family is nothing but changelings!” Rainbow exclaimed, which elicited a stare down from her friends. “Ugh, stop looking at me like that. You all know it as well! Applejack, Braeburn, and all those other Apples, Oranges, Cherries, Melons, Pies, and others we met are all changelings!”

“Ah knew, Dash. Always had been, and Ah love them no less fer it,” Apple Bloom said, hugging one of Big Mac’s forelegs. The Elements froze as their eyes widened.

“YOU KNEW?!” They screamed, drawing attention from changelings all around them.

“Well ‘course Ah knew. Ah jus’ kept it a secret, is all,” Apple Bloom shrugged. “Did all’a y’all really thought yer all gonna take th’ news without going ham like frightened pigs? Ah’m a filly, ain’t an idiot. Y’all would’a just report back to them princesses and have mah sis banished.” The accusation struck a nerve deep within them. Pinkie’s puffy pink mane deflated with a rush of air, turning straight and flat, while the others lost a bit of colour all the same. Apple Bloom winced at the display, but remained resolute.

“Come t’ think ‘bout it, where’s mah sis? Y’all would’a know if y’all’re… her…” Apple Bloom trailed off as her question slapped the Elements to the point of visibly recoiling. “Y- y’all didn’t… send her t’ the moon or something ain’t’cha?” Apple Bloom asked, tears threatening to drop from her eyes. Sensing the sadness from his little sister, Big Mac took a charging stance and dug his hooves.

“N- no! I- we- It’s just- We- I- We-” Twilight trailed off into nothing but incomprehensible croaks, her explanations trying and failing to pour out of her.

“S- sorry, but we- they thought she was replaced!” Fluttershy finally spoke up, her softness of a thousand clouds still managing an audible volume. “Princess Celestia went D- Daybreaker for a while, a- and I had to stare her down, and I t- told Applejack to run and escape. I- we- Oh my, we’re still looking for her.”

Rarity continued as Fluttershy hid behind her mane. “Y- yes darling, we are looking for her. We’ve made a grievous mistake, and we have to make things right once more between us, but we cannot apologize if she’s nowhere to be found.”

“Ugh, ponyfeathers! If you’re all surprised by the news, then that means you haven’t seen her too. Argh! Where is she?!” Rainbow scratched her scalp before taking off in a hasty flight, prompting some of her friends to shout at her to calm down, with futility.

Twilight facehooved. “Ugh, she’s not making this any easier. Apple Bloom, can you help us ask around and find your sister?”

“Ah sure can, Twilight! Ah wanna see mah sis too!” Apple Bloom answered with conviction. Big Mac followed with an “Eeyup”.

“Good! We’ll meet again at the census checkpoint, 6 p.m this afternoon. Bye now, and good luck!” Twilight wished as she and her friends galloped to hurry and chase after the prismatic Element of Loyalty.

“Good luck!” Apple Bloom and Big Mac wished back. “C’mon, Mac, we have a sister ta find!”

“Wait, Apple Bloom,” Big Mac called. Apple Bloom stopped on her tracks with a skid.

“Yeah?”

“Apple Bloom. It ain’t like Ah don’t want ya followin’ us, but Ah really do think ya need’ta be here with them ponies. Just for a bit, just ‘ntil ya found Applejack.”

“But Big Mac-”

Big Mac silenced the filly with a hoof over her mouth. “Sshh, listen. Ah’m just sayin, but it’ll do ya good to have that adventure findin’ yer sister. Yer gonna go find yer friends an’ ask them ta tag along findin’ yer big sis. Ah’ll send y’all a message when we all set up a few barns an’ done, and THEN y’all can come an’ move in with us in th’ hive. Think ya can do that?”

Apple Bloom scrunched her muzzle as she delved deep in thought. On one hoof, she really didn’t want to leave her family. They were all she ever had, during the seven years she had spent with them. On the other hoof, her big sis went somewhere, hidden or lost, or both. She loved her big sister more than anything in the world, even as hardy as her noggin could be at times.

She then thought to her friends. The Cutie Mark Crusaders. If she leaves, she wouldn’t be around with them anymore. No more crusading for their cutie marks, no more brainstorming for ideas in the little clubhouse they painstakingly refurbished with their own three hooves. Hard as it might be, she dared to admit that she missed the sticky tree sap that they would somehow end up in after every crusading session.

But if she stayed, she wouldn’t be with her family again for Celestia knows when. She had a lot of fun living among changelings, and she was proud to admit that. Learning how to hold secrets, how to project a confident false persona, how to sneak around undetected, and how to spot disguised ‘lings amongst ponies. The combination was how she evaded the whole Chrysalis’ invasion by pretending to be a changeling stuck in her disguise, while wheeling her two friends out of combat with a food cart into a walk-in fridge. She also learned how to trick ponies to do her bidding, which was how she acquired the more dubious crusading materials like nitrate explosives, a military grade cannon, and others.

“Awright, Big Mac,” Apple Bloom conceded, before she started trotting to the nearest changeling of her hive. “But ya hafta promise ta send me letters on yer whole changeling business.”

“Eeyup!” Big Mac chirped as he trotted along. He looked at the smiling little filly, then to distant crowd once more, before turning back to their interrogation target. Applejack gosh-darned Apple, where in granny’s sagging hips are you? He internally cursed, as he worries for the farmmare.

~~~~~~

“...and thus ends one chapter of our life, and begins another for a better future. For changelinity, love, and harmony: EVERYLING, TAKE FLIGHT AND MOVE OUT!”

With his speech finished, King Crimson cracked his elytra open, revealing transparent yellow wings with sharp edges, pockmarked with holes unique to changelings. Under his lead, him and the other changeling queens took flight, hovering in the air several stories tall.

Lighting their horns, their wings glowed along with it, and they took off up above, with five colourful explosions trailing behind their spontaneous sonic booms. Love it or hate it, the crowd of hundred thousands watching the changelings’ mass exodus couldn’t help but watch in both awe, relief, and fear at the prismatic display of power in wake of their leave.

A purple trail looped around towards the north as Queen Phasmid led her changelings way up north towards the frozen lands. To the left of the compass, Queen Vespidae did the loop towards the West as her green trail led her changelings towards the undiscovered, unexplored West. Trailing down, ‘Granny Smith’ looped around, leaving a red trail towards the dry, sandy South, leading her hat-wearing swarm down to the deserts.

Three trails of yellow, white, and grey looped towards the East, taking with them a massive collective swarm comprised of King Crimson, Queen Clypeus, and Queen Hemocoel’s hives. While none of them were under obligations to share where they were heading, Clypeus made it clear her hive would be heading to Zebrica, and predictions stated that one of the other two would settle down in Griffonia.

After two weeks of tense, uneasy truce between the crowd of ponies and the evicted changelings, the latter’s leave barely made a dent in the solemn atmosphere ravaging all across Equestria. Nearly every single pony had one family member, a friend, or the very least acquaintance who were revealed as changelings. Some of the more afflicted ponies swallowed the hard pill and followed after their family to an unknown future surrounded by black bugs of whichever hive they entered. Most stayed in Equestria, with hollowness gaping within their hearts and souls, and a sense of betrayal engulfing them.

Beyond the colourful display, quietness seeped in as reality oh so slowly trickled into their psyche. The changelings were now gone, and with them, their former friends/family members.

The biggest loss was not Fancy Pants, who was claimed as the most important pony in Equestria. It was neither Hay Bales, Sapphire Shores, nor anypony else. It was a certain orange earth pony mare of humble origins, best friends with five other mares, all but one of them of insignificant origins.

Twilight Sparkle paced around the clearing she and her friends settled upon to oversee the changeling ‘migration’. Her ears were flopped down to the sides of her head. Her eyes twitched as if they’re seized and electrocuted. Unruly curling strands of hair sprung forth from her mostly straight mane and tail. Her magic flickered in and out like a bulb barely holding on to life.

“I just don’t get it!” she exclaimed, stomping a hoof to the ground. “We asked everywhere around all six hives for the past two weeks, and not a single changeling knew of Applejack! Not even Big Mac and Apple Bloom found anything significant.”

“It is extremely depressing indeed,” Rarity said with a tired frustration. “Really, it’s as if they were keeping her whereabouts a secret. Although, come to think about it, them being changelings will naturally have them experts in secrecy.”

“Argh, this is ridiculous! Everything about these changeling problems is making my head spin! Why would they even shelter her whereabouts? It’s not like she’s needed for literally the Elements itself!” Rainbow exclaimed, throwing her hooves around as she hovered seeral hooves above ground.

“Boasting aside, I agree. What do they even gain by not letting a member of world-saviours do their job? It’s not like we’re going to hate her for what she is?” Twilight claimed, before chuckling nervously under Fluttershy’s deadpan gaze. The butter mare in question snapped out of her confidence and wilted herself.

Pinkie gulped a cupcake she was chewing before opening up. “I mean, what if she really wasn’t in the hives, and instead when she ran away from quote-unquote, Daybreaker, she went the opposite way and is somehow still in Equestria?”

“Pinkie, that’s impossible. The magical promise the six queens made bind each and every changeling under their jurisdiction to subconsciously gather on the very territory we’re overlooking. It’s how we can distinguish them and Chrysalis’ changelings: those who are still here are up for capture,” Twilight explained.

“I have to agree with Pinks here, Twilight. I don’t know squat of your magic shmagic, but she’s not in the hives, so she MUST be somewhere else around here! She wouldn’t escape by air since the Griffon volunteers made sure our airspace is airtight, and as good as she is, I don’t think she can walk for two weeks without being spotted by anypony,” Rainbow said.

“Well, while I wouldn’t walk across Equestria without any luggage, where would our dear Applejack even go? Most nearby towns and countries already knew of the situation, and I doubt any of them would take in any changelings yet,” Rarity added.

“She can theoretically reach the southern deserts in a week, although that wouldn’t be the best way to escape. The undiscovered West is as dangerous as it is unknown. The frozen north is farther than two weeks, and she couldn’t escape east without being spotted, especially if she were to take a ferry into Griffonia.” Twilight slumped into a fetal position as her body jittered. “I just don’t know how to approach this… She could be anywhere!”

Pinkie patted Twilight’s head. “Aww, cheer up Twilight. If my Pinkie Sense is to go by, I know that she’s still somewhere in Equestria.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better…” Twilight mumbled from within her hooves.

“U- umm, Twilight? If I may?” A certain butter mare raised a hoof.

“Yes, Fluttershy, go ahead and speak up.”

“I- I- umm, so I overheard certain things… from ‘Granny Smith’, when I stayed back with her, and I- I don’t know, but it might be related,” Fluttershy meekly admitted.

Twilight teleported from her little corner of despair into just in front of Fluttershy, the purple mare and butter mare touching on their snouts. “Yes! Anything! Just tell me, please!”

Fluttershy flinched and flew back several steps, before calming her breath. “I- well, she said something of a small ceremonial disownage.” The butter mare straightened her posture as her mind forgot her startle in favour of biological facts she lived her life for. “A changeling princess will be legally disowned as a coming of age ceremony. Their family will still love them, and they will still grow with them, but legally they’re not part of the hive. It’s a tradition which I assume has to do with them raising their own hives as an independent queen.”

Twilight hummed as she wrote what Fluttershy said. “Thank you for that piece of information, but I fail to see what this has to do with anything.”

“Cmon now, bookwormy pony Twiley, think about it,” Pinkie said. Twilight scrunched her muzzle from the nickname. “If changeling princesses are not legally part of the hive, and the magical promise thingy was made from a legal statement by the queens and king, they might have anticipated this and swore the promise in a certain way so it wouldn’t exactly involve these princesses. I can't imagine ‘Granny Smith’ making AJ leave us, after all, and since you said she practically led the entire negotiations to her favour, it might be possible that there are still changeling royalties in Equestria here, and I’m not only talking about big ol’ meanie Chryssie.”

Everypony’s jaw drops hearing Pinkie’s shockingly thorough explanation. “P- Pinkie, how? I mean, that actually makes so much sense! But, how?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie rolled her eyes with a happy smirk. “Oh come on, just because I often talk about parties and fun, doesn’t mean I don’t read. My tiny gator, Gummy, loves detective stories, and I would pick up useful things from whatever troubles Coltan Edogaita or Sherlock Horse got themselves into.” She popped another cupcake into her mouth. “Yew showwd rewd mrrw fwcthwn, Thwwlghwt.”

“...I’ll consider it,” was all Twilight could respond with before she shook the cobwebs of incredulity out of her head. “Wait, if there are still changelings in Equestria, shouldn’t we inform the princesses about this?”

“I believe we should, because at this point, I can’t stand not knowing where Applejack is. For all we know, she might be out there, somewhere, all dirty and scruffed up, without even her favourite hat! Simply horrendous!” Rarity exclaimed, leading the eye-rolling group towards the raised pedestal where the princesses oversaw the changeling exodus.

They felt a bit bad for relying on the princesses once more, even after they showed signs of extreme fatigue and frustration, but they really couldn’t help but ask her for guidance. The five agreed that if Equestria wasn’t stabilized soon, it would bring chaos to the whole nation in scales only precedented by the Reign of Discord, and he was the God of Chaos himself.

And to do their part, they just have to find their friend and let the Elements be complete once more.