> The Awkward Pranks of an Awkward Changeling
>  by PonyThunder
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> An Innocent Prank
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Clicky for music, and start at 2 minute mark for the intended experience (I try to find songs that aren't too in your face). For some reason the embedded player wont start it there automatically.







"And this will be your bedroom," said Twilight as she ushered Thorax into an empty room of her crystalline castle. He seemed honored that the princess of friendship would allow him to stay at her residence temporarily while a more permanent home was being constructed in the Crystal Kingdom. But it did take some serious convincing on her part to stop the ponies of Ponyville from fleeing at the mere sight of him. And some more convincing to stop some of them from assaulting him out of reflex. It was apparent that not everypony was quite yet willing to be content to have a changeling among them. 

But, here he was, walking among the crystalline floors, his jagged hooves clicking and clacking on them loudly. Currently in the group were Twilight and Spike, as well as Starlight, who seemed a bit nervous due to the fact that the room Twilight had just given to Thorax was right next to hers. Apparently, Twilight's castle was becoming a sort of rehabilitation home for villains-gone-good, but with less an emphasis on "rehabilitation" and more of an emphasis on friendship.

Twilight continued speaking. "I hope you're comfortable," she said endearingly. Besides Spike, she was probably one of the most accepting of his residency in the Equestrian empire. For a pony, she could definitely be stubborn when it came to some things, but when her mind was changed it was for often changed for good.

"I'll be fine," Thorax said as he carefully caressed the silky soft blanket on the bed. It was so soft and smooth, unlike his scratchy and gross sleeping quarters back at the hive. At that moment, all he wanted to do was jump into the bed and become a changeling burrito, but decided against it on account of the fact they were still in the doorway, watching him. Later, he noted mentally. "Thank you, Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"You don't have to say my whole title," Twilight smiled and continued almost inaudibly, "although I do enjoy hearing it..."

"Oh," replied Thorax, "thanks Twi."

"Um," said Twilight, "maybe leave it at Twilight."

"Oh sure. Thank you Twilight."

Good grief, Celestia please end this, thought Starlight.

To her relief, Twilight continued the conversation by wrapping things up and leaving Thorax to his own devices. He stared out the window that faced the town, watching everypony stroll by. It was so peaceful and cheery, and the complete opposite of what he used to call home. Dark and musty, randomly placed and mysterious gooey substances around every corner, and so forth. Living in Twilight's castle was a dream come true, except even more so, because no changeling could have ever dreamed of such luxury. Don't screw it up. Don't screw it up, Thorax found himself chanting a mantra in his head.

"Hey, buddy," said Spike as he walked into the room. "So, how's it hangin'?"

"Um..." Thorax stumbled for words. How is what hanging? Is there something hanging I should know about? What if I was supposed to hang something and I didn't and now they're going to throw me out? Oh, Queen Chrysalis...wait, I don't use that one anymore. Oh, sweet Celestia what am I supposed to say?

Spike seemed undeterred from his lack of response and continued walking and talking anyways. "Good, good. So I was wondering, do you have any plans in particular for the rest of the afternoon?"

"Well, um...no I guess."

Spike smiled deviously. "Well, I was thinking...what would you say to using your powers to do a little prankage?"

Thorax looked uneasy. "Prankage? What's a prank?"

"A prank is when you do something to somepony that's funny."

Thorax smiled and replied. "Oh, you mean like when you suck the life force and love out of something so much that they can't stand anymore?"

Spike's eyes widened. "Um, no...more like things where you don't actually harm them."

"Oh," said Thorax. Stupid, stupid, stupid. "What...did you have in mind?"

Spike smiled once more. "I want you to pretend to be somepony...and then we go around...and you...pretend to be them." Spike realized he hadn't exactly thought this prank out that well, but it still sounded like it would be fun.

"Well, I don't know," he began to push his hoof into the hard crystal floor and it made an annoying squeaky sound, "won't that make somepony...mad?"

"Only if you get caught," Spike replied smugly. "Come on, please? It would be a first in the history of Equestria. We'd go down as legends in history books. First pranksters to utilize changelings for a prank," he mock made a headline with his claws in the air.

"Well," Thorax thought carefully for a moment, "alright. I'll do it!"

Spike giggled as he mischievously twiddled his claws together.





After an hour or so of scheming, Spike and Thorax left the room and entered the main entranceway. Except it wasn't Thorax who stood next to him. It was Thorax disguised as the almighty princess of friendship herself. Wings, horn, dorkish demeanor and all.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" inquired Thorax in Twilight's voice, lifting his left wing in the air slightly as if to understand how it worked.

"It'll be fine," said Spike. "Like I said, just don't get caught alright? Twilight is out with Starlight, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about."

"Alright," he replied.

It was definitely still weird hearing Twilight's voice come from somepony that wasn't Twilight. But nopony else would know that, and conveniently, a cyan pegasus knocked on the door of the castle just moments later.

"Hello?" said Rainbow Dash. "You here, Twilight?"

Spike nudged Thorax. "Um, coming!" he replied and trotted to the door as Spike hid behind a column.

He opened the door and Rainbow Dash was waiting for him. "Hey Twilight, I need some help with the weather. Usually I'd be able to take care of it completely myself but...I kind of ended up taking a nap for the entire morning. And afternoon. And Fluttershy is too busy feeding her animals or something. So whaddya say? Lend a fellow pegasus a wing?"

Thorax looked back to Spike, but he was no longer visible. "Um," he said in Twilight's voice, "sure thing."

"Great," said Dash as she turned around and took to the skies. 

Thorax flapped his wings and followed suit, trailing a fair ways behind. He had never actually flown as a pegasus before, and pegasus wings operated quite differently than changelings. Some changelings did during the invasion, but he'd only ever taken the shape of earth ponies and was quite literally flying as a pegasus for the first time in his life.

"You feelin' alright?" said Dash. "You're flying awfully slow!"

"I'm...fine!" Twilight responded with a huff of air as he rose higher into the sky. They arrived at a collection of cumulus clouds, and Rainbow Dash began to shoot about every which direction, bucking clouds as she did so. It seemed like she was perfectly capable of completing the job herself, but regardless, Thorax attempted to stay in character as best he could. Spike had said it was a prank, of course. And that he had to do everything within the realm of possibility to avoid being found out. That meant acting.

"I sure do love bucking clouds!" said Twilight genuinely.

Rainbow Dash stopped and looked back at her, confused. She, herself of course, adored the event more than any other pegasus, but Twilight's statement caught her off guard and she took it as sarcasm. "Well hey, if you don't want to help you don't have to. I thought I'd just...invite you along...or something."

Wait, why did she say I don't have to? Thorax questioned in his mind. I said quite clearly that I very much enjoyed it, but it seems as though my statement has somehow been interpreted as the complete opposite. He thought for a few more seconds, until a bright idea came to fruition.

If everything I say is interpreted as the opposite... "I hate cloud-bucking!" He screamed angrily in Twilight's shrill voice, feeling quite content with his moving performance.

"Sheesh, Twi, what's up with you?" Rainbow replied as she soared slowly next to her. "Did somepony mess with your books?"

Keep it rolling, keep it rolling. You've got to be convincing. "Uh, yeah," Twilight replied somewhat uncertainly. 

Dash had a look of pure perplexity on her face. "Okay...well, I'll finish up here. I guess I'll see you later."

Thorax sighed internally and began his descent downwards back to the castle. He was tired beyond belief, attempting to fly as a pegasus for the first time in his entire life. A changeling didn't ever actually become what they could masquerade as. A more talented changeling could do a decent job of successfully replicating the utility of any of the three pony races, but their powers could only go so far, as most of their energy went into simply pulling off the visual aspect.

Thorax tiredly landed, somewhat ungracefully, at the front door of the castle and started to open the door until he heard the sounds of the real Twilight talking from inside. The voice got louder, and Thorax began to panic. Thinking quickly as he heard Twilight's voice even louder as she opened the door, he dove to the side into a bush below a windowsill, reverting back to a changeling in the process.

"So that's the story of when we defended Ponyville against a bugbear attack," said the real Twilight. Starlight was trotting alongside, listening to her babble on about her story. Thorax breathed a sigh of relief and quickly came out from hiding and went into the castle as himself and made his way into the room Twilight gave him. 

Spike was waiting for him. "So how'd it go? Did Rainbow Dash fall for it?"

Thorax nodded his head and smiled, although it seemed a tad forced. "Flying is hard," he said and peered over at his non-existent wings.

"Hmm," Spike said as he stroked his chin, "maybe for the next prank you should pretend to be an earth pony then."

"Another prank?"

"Of course, we're just getting started!"

Thorax took a gulp and breathed a little bit. He did enjoy pretending to be Twilight for a little while. Often as changelings, they didn't do much actual talking when disguised. He found himself quite entertained with the acting side of things. "Well, alright then. Who should I pretend to be next?"

"Umm...how about Applejack? Can you do a country accent?"

Instantly, Thorax transformed into Applejack and began to speak. "Well a'course I can. What kind a' pony do y'think I am? Yer darn-tootin I can speak country!"

"Excellent..."





	
> Thapple Jackorax
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Instrumental music. Apply directly to the ears.

Never-ending version





Thorax hid along with Spike beneath the porch of the Apple family's homestead, waiting for Applejack to leave so that he could return as her in disguise.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Thorax whispered quietly.

"It's fine," said Spike. "It's not hurting anypony. It's more like a trick than a prank, really. They find out, no harm done." Spike shrugged.

They heard the hoofsteps of somepony making their way to the front porch.

"See y'all later," called Applejack as she trotted out the door and onto the front lawn.

"That's your cue," whispered Spike. Thorax took on Applejack's form and carefully made his way out from underneath the porch and into the house. Okay, be Applejack, he thought to himself. He'd spent some time in Ponyville getting to know Twilight and her friends, so he had the general gist of what they were all like, but he still felt a little worried that he didn't quite know enough. Regardless, the wooden floorboards creaked as he entered the house.

"Applejack?" called Apple Bloom. "Is that you?"

"Uh, yep!" said Applejack. Apple Bloom came into view.

"I thought y'said you were leavin'?"

"I uh, forgot my hat."

"Oh, well, here ya go," she replied as she took one of several identical hats from a nearby closet and tossed it to her. Applejack remained standing. "Aren't you gonna go?"

Thorax was wishing Spike's plans were a little more planned now. "Well, I just remembered, I--"

Suddenly, Winona came scurrying from around the corner, her claws scraping against the hardwood floors as she did so. She started barking wildly at Applejack.

"Winona!" exclaimed Apple Bloom. "What's wrong with you? This is Applejack!"

The barking continued. Apparently, dogs were capable of distinguishing between the real thing and a fake. Gotta think quickly, Thorax told himself. What would Applejack do? "It, uh...must be this new perfume I'm wearin'," said Applejack. "Probably thinks I'm somepony else."

Apple Bloom cocked her head and looked at her sister. "You? Perfume? The only perfume you wear is Sweat and Dirt."

Oh, good, thought Thorax. He had taken a gamble assuming that Applejack wore perfume, but Apple Bloom's mention of a particular brand confirmed it. "It must be a change in the formula...er somethin'," she replied.

Thankfully, Apple Bloom took this as a joke and didn't prod any further as she briefly coaxed Winona into another room. Thorax heard a cough come from outside and trotted over to the window. Spike was there.

"Keep it up, you're doing great!" said Spike as he erupted into a series of stifled giggles. "Try using a country-ism!"

Thorax returned to the room to meet Apple Bloom once more. "Dang, that there dog is like a hog-tied...pig in a...buttered biscuit."

"Uh...you okay there, AJ?"

"Yeah, uh, I'm fine. You go on now and play outside."

Surprised she wasn't assigned some kind of chore, Apple Bloom gratefully went outside to play. Thorax vetured further inside, but didn't know the layout of the house, so it felt kind of weird to him. The sounds of monotonous creaking emanated from the living room. Granny Smith was rocking back in forth in a rocking chair. He tried to avoid being noticed, for what reason he didn't know, but nevertheless it was futile. Granny Smith awoke.

"Hwa?" she croaked. "Applejack, is that you?"

Be Applejack. Be Applejack. "Eyup."

"I thought you left to go meet with that Drainbow Rash or somethin'? The blue one. Or is it the yell'er one. Ah, I don't know it's not important."

"Uh, nope," Applejack replied. That's right, keep up with the short word answers to everything, thought Thorax. He had met the Apple family a while earlier, but only for a few minutes. He remembered most of them but he wasn't quite sure which mannerisms applied to which.

"Well alright," replied Granny Smith. "Do me a favor and make some sweet tea, will you?"

"Eyup," Applejack replied. Thorax found his way into the kitchen, after getting lost for a few moments, and looked for the ingredients for sweet tea. I don't know what makes sweet tea, he thought to himself. Maybe Spike will know. He made his way to the window once more.

"Spike?" he called in Applejack's voice. "Spike?"

He was nowhere to be found. I guess I'll have to improvise. Thorax rummaged through the kitchen, attempting to find the ingredients for sweet tea. Changelings weren't really much for the culinary arts like ponies. In fact, up until this point, Thorax had never even set hoof in a kitchen. Sweet tea, sweet tea, he repeated to himself. Well, it needs something sweet, he reasoned thoughtfully. What is sweet? Salt? No. Pepper? No. Honey? Yes!

In a moment of clarity, Thorax left through the front door in search for a source of honey to mix with some water to make the tea. Feeling giddy about his solid acting skills so far and ability to improvise, he managed to find a hive of honey bees in a nearby tree. Disguised as Applejack, he kicked the tree with his hindquarters, sending the hive crashing the the ground. Instantly, hundreds of bees swarmed out of it with a vengeance. They surrounded his body and attempted to sting him multiple times, but their efforts were pointless. A changeling's skin was very hard and brittle, like an insect, and their stingers couldn't penetrate it beneath the ruse of his disguise.

He grabbed some honey and made his way back into the kitchen, mixed it with some water and ice cubes, and brought it to Granny Smith.

"Thank you, kindly," she said as she took the glass of honey water, taking a sip. Her mouth puckered ever so slightly. "Uh, Applejack? I think it's time we got some new tea. This tastes like it's been expired for months."

Thorax took back the glass of "tea" and returned to the kitchen. Feeling a little discouraged by his lack of knowledge, he decided that the prank was over and left the house, making sure to leave the hat he borrowed in the closet. But as he came onto the front lawn disguised as Applejack, Rainbow Dash reappeared once more.

"What are you doing here?" said Rainbow Dash, landing in the grass next to him. "I thought you said you were gathering up everypony for Twilight's surprise party?"

Surprise party? Thorax thought to himself. 

"You know," Dash continued, "the party to help cheer her up? You should have seen her earlier. She didn't really seem herself."

Suddenly, things were beginning to become complicated. "Oh, that," he replied as Applejack. "I uh...forgot my hat."

He turned around and trotted back into the house and grabbed the hat. Twice now, that excuse had worked beautifully for him.

"Well, hurry up then," Rainbow Dash continued. "Pinkie and I are working on the surprise party and we've only got a few hours left."

She rose to the air and flew away in the opposite direction, leaving a contrail of rainbow behind her. For a moment, he thought he would be forced to remain disguised as Applejack and to tell all their friends about the impromptu surprise party, but then realized that the real Applejack was likely doing that right now. So, after looking for Spike to no avail, he returned to the castle after finding a suitable place to lose his disguise.

Once again, Spike was waiting for him. "Sorry I had to leave you hanging," Spike said. "I saw Apple Bloom coming down the road and didn't want to blow your cover."

"Well, I think I've had enough of pretending," said Thorax. He did thoroughly enjoy being Applejack, and was quite proud of his accent, but the complications that arose out of his actions were starting to seem daunting. "They think Twilight is having a really bad day because of me," he continued.

"Pssh, that's fine," Spike said. "They throw her a surprise party, everypony has fun, no harm done!"

"Hmm, I guess you're right," Thorax replied. "Who am I going to disguise as next?"

"Well..." said Spike. "That's the thing. I was trying to think of that myself, and then I thought of something...interesting..."

"What's that?" Thorax inquired innocently.

"I was thinking you could disguise as...Rarity?"

That seemed harmless enough. Thorax quite enjoyed Rarity's calm and charming demeanor. "Sure," he replied. "Where does she live again?"

"Well, that's the thing," said Spike. "You wouldn't even have to leave the castle."

Thorax cocked his head. "What do you mean? Who am I going to prank then?"

"Well, you wouldn't be pranking anypony, necessarily..."

Thorax seemed quite thoroughly confused, but obliged nonetheless. Spike was the pranking mastermind. He took on the form of Rarity, with her glowing white coat and gracefully flowing purple mane. Her eyes sparkled in the shine that refracted off the crystalline walls and floors of the castle, basking in the sunlight shining in from the outside.

"How do I look?" said Rarity.

Spike smiled excitedly. "Perfect..."


> Where Things Start To Go Too Far
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Atmospheric music (you're definitely going to want to click this one )







"Are you sure this is really a prank?" said Thorax. He was wearing several fancy items of clothing that Spike had picked out for him. A pair of stylish sunglasses and a fancy hat with a pegasus feather in it.

"Yeah," he replied dismissively. "We've gotta um...make sure you've got everything just right first. Just...keep standing there. You look great."

Well, that feels nice, thought Thorax. It wasn't often he was praised for his looks. In fact, that was the first time somepony had ever told him he looked pretty. He shrugged and followed what Spike had to say.

"Perfect," said Spike as he gave Thorax a fluffy white scarf to wear around his neck. It completely engulfed the upper half of his body. Of course, he was disguised as Rarity. He could only imagine how weird and out of place he'd look if he was wearing all of this clothing as a changeling. He looked into a nearby mirror and admired himself. He did look good.

Apparently, Spike thought so too, because he was staring lovingly up at him. Wow, I'm glad I can make my friend so happy, thought Thorax. He didn't quite understand why Spike was so happy just with disguising himself as Rarity, but he seemed so content that he didn't bother asking. Spike was his best friend, after all. He would do anything to make him happy.

Spike raised a claw as if to say something, then put it down and pondered for a few moments and opened his mouth to speak. "Hey...so...how does the whole feeding off love thing work for changelings, anyways?"

That seemed like a random question to ask, Thorax realized. Regardless, he answered, still keeping Rarity's persona and mannerisms. He found that once he was disguised as somepony, it was almost impossible not to talk like them as well. "Well, there are a few ways. I'm still learning all that can be done through friendship, since I'm kind of the pioneer of it for my entire race and all."

"Go on," Spike replied dreamily.

"Well, one way is just by being around friends," he continued as Rarity. "I often feel my hunger become satiated when I'm around you."

Spike felt a shiver go down his spine and replied. "Are there...any other ways? To feed off the love of one another?"

Wow, I'm so honored. He really seems to be interested in the lore of my kind, thought Thorax. "Well, there's also the love that the queen gives to her minions. It's sort of a...what would you ponies call it...tough love?"

"Oh? What's that?" Spike inquired.

"Well," he continued, putting a hoof to his face dramatically as Rarity would do so, "it's sort of complicated. Probably best not to go into details for the sake of...time."

"Any more ways?" He continued inquiring, subconsciously inching closer.

"Well, there is one more," Thorax replied in Rarity's delicately enunciated voice, "but it's pretty rare. I'm not sure how familiar you are with hive-based races and their means of...continued advancement as a species...are there any other insectoid races in Equestria?"

Spike shrugged innocently, being completely unaware of what Thorax was talking about in particular. 

"Well, anyways...it's a special kind of love that only the queen does once a year or so. She goes down into her hive to a special room, and then all of the stronger, more capable changelings go with her, and then--"

Suddenly, Starlight Glimmer walked into the room. "Hey, how's it...going..." her voice trailed off as she noticed Rarity standing alone with Spike.

"Uh, hi Starlight," said Spike.

"Hi, Spike. Hi...Rarity. What are you two doing in Thorax's room?"

"Oh, just chatting," Spike replied.

Starlight Glimmer looked suspicious. 

"We're just talking about...things..."

Starlight sighed. Rarity was probably giving him another talking to about his tendency to be a little too affectionate from time to time. The usual. Although, it did seem strange for what she was wearing. She looked like she'd been dressed by somepony not at all in tune with fashion. But, she dismissed it on the fact that Rarity was always aware of the next "big thing" in the fashion world.

"Well...you two go on I guess. I'll be...far away..." Starlight continued down the hallway, her hoofsteps gradually echoing softer and softer until they no longer heard them.

Thorax seemed giddy. "Did you see that? I was perfect!" he said in Rarity's voice.

"Yeah, good job," said Spike. "Now what were you saying about that thing earlier?"

"Oh," Thorax continued, "the queen goes into a special room and..."

The sounds of birds chirping and bees buzzing can be heard outside the window. A meadowlark lands atop a tree branch and pecks at a few twigs for its nest. A rival meadowlark, however, swoops in and steals the twig for itself, flying away in the other direction. The first meadowlark takes off in hot pursuit against the thief and they fly erratically about through the air, pecking and screeching at each other for a solid minute or so until one is defeated and flies away in injured disgrace. The other meadowlark returns to the tree branch and happily goes back to business as  usual.

"...so that's what happens," Thorax concluded.

"Uhh," said Spike, looking a bit queasy. Suddenly, he no longer felt like continuing this "prank" anymore.

"Life sure is a beautiful thing," Thorax replied.

Spike ran to the window sill and puked his guts out.

Oh no, thought Thorax, what did I do wrong? "What's wrong, Spikey?" he asked in Rarity's most endearing tone. Thorax was surprising himself at the caliber of his improv. It felt almost natural.

Spike apparently overcame his nausea after hearing it, as well. "Say that again?" Spike replied.

"What's wrong?" He repeated, this time as if to ask if that was what he was supposed to repeat in Rarity's voice.

"No, the last part."

"Spikey?"

More shivers. "Now rhyme it with something."

"...Spikey...wikey?"

Even more shivers. 

I'm an acting professional, Thorax thought proudly to himself. "Am I doing a good job?" he inquired. To this point, he had still kept Rarity's voice, and didn't intend on stopping.

"Yeah," said Spike as he sighed. "You're a perfect Rarity."

He smiled and giggled in her voice.

"There's just one more thing...that Rarity does...that would make your impersonation perfect..."

"What's that?"

Spike began to blush. "Well, there's this...thing...that she always does when we talk. She, um...kisses me on the cheek. Every time. A lot."

"Really? I haven't ever seen her, er, me, do that to you."

"You haven't known her for that long," Spike covered his bluff.

"Oh," Thorax continued innocently. That certainly sounded like a reasonable explanation. At this point, he was completely enthralled with nailing the perfect impersonation of Rarity anyways. So he felt no qualms with what was being requested. Besides, Spike was his friend. He probably wanted him to succeed just as much as he did.

Thorax did as instructed and moved closer to spike, his white fluffy scarf pressing up against his scaly body. Spike felt Rarity's warmth radiate over him as her nose delicately pressed against his upper cheek, followed by a soft, warm kiss. Thorax pulled back and waited expectantly. He wasn't exactly sure how it was supposed to be done, but judging by Spike's reaction, it was executed correctly. Spike stood solid for several seconds before melting downwards to the ground, breathing the biggest sigh of contentment that could ever be breathed.

"Perfect....Rarity....." Spike mumbled from the floor as he stared upwards.

"Um..." said Starlight Glimmer from the doorway. "I was just coming back to my room to grab some things..."

"How long have you been there?" asked Spike, still laying on the floor and looking towards the open door.

"Long enough," said Starlight.

"Look," said Spike as he got to his claws, "it's not like it looks, we're just pretend--"

"Stop," said Starlight. "Don't say anything more. I get it. You two have a...thing...or something. Whatever. It's none of my business."

Oh, no wonder! Thorax thought to himself. Rarity and Spike are a couple! Duh! "Yep, me and Spikey Wikey here are together," he replied as Rarity, pulling Spike towards his side.

Spike gasped. "No, we're not--"

"Like I said..." continued Starlight, "...whatever. It's your thing, not anypony else's. It's weird, but it's your business. I mean, Spike is how old? And you're...older...and also a completely different species..." Starlight gagged ever so slightly. "...I'm just going to stop talking now and pretend this never happened."

"Okay," Thorax replied. "Thank you so much darling, for being respectful."

Spike smacked his forehead.

"...Yeah...no problem," she replied flatly and left the doorway trying to stifle her gag reflex as she entered her own room. 

Spike, still recovering from what just transpired, decided that these pranks had come much too far and opened his mouth to speak to Thorax, but they heard Twilight coming from the other end of the hall.

Sheesh, can a dragon get some privacy? thought Spike. I wish we could install locks on the doors or something... "Thorax, lose the disguise!" he whispered. Thorax immediately reverted back to a changeling, just in time for when Twilight came to the doorway to see Spike and Thorax standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. Thorax was wearing a fancy hat, sunglasses and a fuzzy white scarf.

Twilight walked past the door, and then returned to it to glance at what she thought she'd seen. "Um..."

"We're putting on a play," Spike blurted instantly.

"Okay..." Twilight replied, not bothering to inquire any further after deciding she didn't want to know the real reason. "Well, we're having a get-together right now. Applejack just came by to tell me."

"Okay, sounds good," Spike replied. "We're coming."

Thorax was playing with his scarf.






...








> He Who Does The Crime, Does The Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I have way too much fun picking the music for these. It's probably too punchy to read to...







"Okay," said Spike, "so this is fine. They're throwing a party for Twilight because they think she had a bad day. Nobody will find out that you pretended to be Twilight or Applejack."

"Or Rarity," Thorax added.

"Yeah...that too."

"So who can I disguise as next?" Thorax asked excitedly. 

Spike suddenly felt very nervous. He'd already crossed the line. "It's probably best that you don't disguise yourself as anypony anymore."

Thorax felt a little disappointed, but found himself agreeing after remembering everything he'd done so far and started to feel bad about it.

"Come on, let's go to this party," said Spike. 

"Okay, but let me go use the restroom first," said Thorax. He trotted out the room in a few moments, leaving Spike alone.

"Well that was weird..." he said aloud to himself. But he brushed it off and spent some time putting back the clothes he'd taken out, then left the room and made his way down the hallway to the main entrance room, where Twilight, Starlight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity were conversing. Pinkie Pie had wheeled in a large cake and was bouncing around the room, throwing streamers and confetti over various objects.

"Oh, you're all so thoughtful," said Twilight. "You didn't have to throw a surprise party for me."

"Well," said Rainbow Dash, "you seemed a little off when you were helping me clear the skies earlier, so I figured I'd find Pinkie Pie and put something together for you."

Twilight looked confused. "What do you mean? I've been with Starlight all afternoon since I gave Thorax a tour of the castle."

Rainbow Dash looked equally confused. "Well...I came by earlier and asked you to help me, and you did. And then you kind of threw a fit for whatever reason."

"What?" Twilight replied in shock. "I did nothing of the sort."

At this point, they went back and forth, explaining that the other must have been wrong. After a handful of iterations, they discussion reached a standstill.

"Okay..." said Twilight. "If you say I helped you clear the skies earlier today, and I say I didn't, and we're both telling the truth, then either we must both be wrong, or both be right."

"I'm not wrong," said Dash defensively.

Applejack stepped into the conversation. "Dash must be tellin' the truth, 'cause she came by to tell me afterwards, and I don't think you'd ever lie to me now, would you, RD?"

"No way!"

"Then it's settled," said Twilight. "We're both right."

Spike was standing a ways away and felt the combined power of seven mares staring into his soul.

"Spike, you were here when I came by right?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Uh, yeah."

"Was Thorax with you?" asked Twilight.

Oh no, our cover is blown, Spike thought to himself. Where is he anyways? I thought he said he was using the restroom. "Yeah, he was."

"Well, the way I see things," she continued. "There's only one possible explanation for this conundrum." She raised her voice. "Thorax impersonated a pony."

Spike was taken a bit aback at how serious Twilight sounded. Surely, she knew it was just a joke, he thought, and then decided to voice it. "But it was just a joke."

"This is no laughing matter, Spike," she replied sternly. "Impersonating a pony in Equestria is one thing, punishable by lifetime imprisonment in severe cases."

Spike gulped.

Twilight continued, "but in this case in particular, Thorax impersonated an established political figure: Me. That makes the crime worthy of banishment."

"What? No! You can't do that! It was just a joke, I swear! He didn't mean to do it, I was behind the prank, not him!"

"He who does the crime, does the time," Rainbow Dash stated plainly.

"Eyup," said Applejack. "Sounds like a worthy punishment to me."

"It is rather unfortunate darling," said Rarity, "but it is the law. You know how these things go. Such a shame, too. I was just starting to get to know him. Quite the charming fellow."

Pinkie Pie seemed blissfully unaware of the conversation, as she was still bouncing around the room hanging up banners and more streamers.

"So you see," said Twilight, "Thorax has committed one of the highest degrees of crime in Equestria. There simply is no other option. Had he impersonated anypony more than me, his chances of holding up in the courts would be even less likely."

"Actually," said Starlight, "I did see a particularly poorly-dressed Rarity conversing with him in his room, just recently."

"Well," said Rarity, "what was I wearing?"

"These," said Starlight as she pulled out the clothes that Spike had just put away.

"Oh, those are hideous," Rarity replied. "Totally un-couture. That isn't last year's fashion. That's last last year's fashion. I would never wear those, especially this time of year."

Applejack stepped foward once again. "Apple Bloom was telling me earlier when I came back from gatherin' y'all up that Winona was barkin' at me like she didn't even know me...an' somethin' about perfume. I thought she was just pullin' my leg at the time, but now I can't help but feel like he must've been impersonatin' me as'well."

Spike was beginning to turn pale. My friend is going to be banished for impersonating three ponies. And it's because of me...

"Hey, what's going on?" said another Spike from the other entrance to the room. "What's everypony talking about?"

"What?" replied Spike. "That's not me! That's...Thorax, what are you doing?"

"What do you mean? I'm the real Spike," said the other Spike.

"No you're not, I am!"

"Prove it!"

Thinking resourcefully, Spike manifested a breath of fire from his belly and blew flames from out of his mouth.

"Yeah, so?" the other Spike replied, doing the exact same thing.

"But...what...how..."

"Obviously one of us is faking it," said the other Spike.

"Well how are we supposed to find out?" Spike replied.

"I have an idea," said Twilight. "The real Spike won't be afraid to be tested. Both of you, line up against that wall."

They both put their crossed their arms and indignantly walked towards where Twilight had gestured.

"I'm going to cast a spell that will show your true selves," she continued as her horn began to glow a brilliant purple color. Two rays of light shot out from the tip towards each of them and producing a cloud of hazy purple smoke that cleared after a few moments, revealing Spike and Thorax.

"Hah, I told you!" said the other Spike.

"What the..." said Thorax. "How am I..."

"Don't play dumb," said Twilight. "You've been caught."

"But I..."

Thorax found himself imprisoned in an impenetrable magical barrier that Twilight hovered next to her as she brought him to the center of the room. Twilight stopped walking as she rested the bubble on the floor.

"As an acting princess of Equestria," said Twilight, "I hereby declare that this changeling be banished to an alternate dimension immediately."

Oh, sweet Celestia, he thought. Why did I tell him to do those pranks? Wait...banished to an alternate dimension. Can she even do that with her magic? Twilight summoned an aura of intense dark light around her horn as it swirled and grew in size and intensity. In a flash of light, she released the spell upon Thorax. His eyes rolled back and fainted, falling flat on his back against the cold, crystal floor.





Moments later, Spike rose up from the floor in complete shock. Twilight, the six other mares and Thorax were smiling at him. "What in Equestria is going on..." Spike muttered out of pure defeat and exhaustion.

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart" said Starlight.

Thorax walked up to him. "I felt kinda bad about pretending to be everpony, even though it was really fun, so I told Starlight when I was I was going to the restroom."

"And Starlight told me," said Twilight. "And then I had the idea of giving you a taste of your own medicine."

"It was pretty impromptu, if I don't say so myself," added Pinkie. "I only brought decorations for a regular surprise party, but I managed to make them work for the hustle variety."

"You said I was going to banished," said Spike, still recovering from a small panic attack.

"That...was probably a bit too much," said Twilight. Everypony laughed, including Spike, but his were mostly the kind of slightly scared but grateful laugh that one only had after surviving something terrible.

"But how did you make me look like Thorax? I can't transform myself."

"Simple transmorphic spell," said Twilight.

"Oh," Spike replied. "What about the fire?"

Thorax breathed fire again. "I can disguise myself into anything," he answered, and then breathed out bubbles, confetti and smoke from his mouth.

"Huh," said Spike. "That's a neat party trick."

"So, I hope you learned your lesson," said Twilight.

"Don't make others do things for your own enjoyment..." Spike said defeatedly. "Can we leave this one out from sending to Celestia?"

"We haven't done  that in ages," Twilight replied.

The conversation died down, and Rarity stepped forward towards Spike and whispered something into his ear. Judging by his reaction, it wasn't something particularly pleasant. He looked extremely embarrassed, and shot a glance at Thorax, who shrugged.

I guess I know who can't keep a secret, Spike thought to himself.

"So," said Thorax, "does this mean I can't ever transform into anything again?"

"Of course not," she consoled Thorax, "as long as you're respectful and don't lie to anypony, it's absolutely okay."

Thorax smiled.

"Ooh, ooh, do me, do me!" Pinkie blurted.

Thorax turned himself into Pinkie Pie and began to prance around them in a circle with the real Pinkie Pie, and continued to do so for much longer than necessary.

Twilight coughed. "Ahem...this reminds me a little too much of previous events involving a particular mirror pool..."

"Oh, right," said the real Pinkie as she stopped prancing, shortly followed by Thorax returning to his old self. 

It felt good to be able to be himself with a group of friends that cared for who he really was.





After having an actual party, since Pinkie Pie had basically spent the entire time during their discussion creating one, Thorax found himself finally alone in his quaint bedroom overlooking the streets of Ponyville. It was getting late at night, and he was quite tired from the day's events. Spike, Twilight and Starlight had all gone off to bed as well. He took a moment to reflect on how fortunate he felt to be included in such an endearing group of friends, and how he wished he could share what he had with all of the changelings where he used to call home. But he sighed, knowing that one day that time would come, and snuggled himself beneath the soft, silky covers of his warm and comfy bed.

"At last," he sighed wistfully as he wrapped himself in the blanket and finally became a changeling burrito.


-~-THE END-~-









...
















"Psst, Thorax," whispered Spike from the crack in the door.

"What?" Thorax groggily replied from beneath the blankets of his bed.

"Would you...consider turning into Rarity just...one more time?"

Thorax rolled his eyes. "No."