//------------------------------// // Chapter One // Story: Earning Their Trust // by UniqueSKD //------------------------------// Thorax couldn't help but smile. In the light of Celestia's golden sun, the city of the Crystal Empire looked absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking to Thorax from the high balcony of the empire's own crowning majestic wonder, the Crystal Palace. The way every crystal structure shone and reflected light all over the place was just amazing in the Changeling's mind. So polished, so clean, so shiny. The shiniest thing he had ever seen back home within the dark damp caves of the Changeling Hive, were the carapaces of other Changelings and the smooth flat rocks strewn throughout the caverns of his former home. Thorax gazed out upon the city that would become his home. He could see the citizen ponies down below going about their business. He thought it strange that in the short time he had spent within the borders of the Crystal Empire territory, he had not come across any of its residents with crystallized coats and manes as he had thought them to be known well for, but he quickly shrugged away the thought as it did not really matter. Thorax turned away from the view to go back inside of the palace itself. The Crystal Palace itself was a marvel to witness from the outside. On the inside though, despite having set hoof within its halls already, the spectacular crystal architecture and grand decoration still managed to awe the Changeling. An understandable notion, considering for most of his life he saw only the cold stone of the walls that made up his kind's Hive. A maid pony carrying out her duties approached Thorax carrying what looked to be laundry. She noticed the Changeling and gave Thorax a polite bow as they passed each other, to which Thorax returned the gesture with a toothy smile. To think that only a couple days ago, the whole of the empire were on high alert because of him, the guards extremely cautious and wary of any suspicious behavior and the civilians nervous if not worried that their friends or family might turn out to be a hungry bug looking to feed on their vitality. A couple of days ago, that servant pony would have screamed and sprinted off to find the nearest guard at the sight of him. It felt good to wander around as himself without such a thing happening, though he hoped he'd be able to traverse the streets of the city with similar results soon enough. This made Thorax smile a little as he thought of that. Before he met the dragon hero Spike, his desires to learn all he could about this pony thing called 'friendship' seemed impossible. Now he had a chance to earn the trust of the ponies and do exactly that. Except...how, or where, would he begin to start gaining that trust? Really, it was only the ponies who resided within the Crystal Palace whom did not see him as a threat thanks to the help of Spike and the rulers of the empire, but all those ponies outside of the palace...they would still need convincing, proof that he meant them no harm. Where was Thorax meant to start accomplishing such an objective? "Excuse me, Thorax?" A stallion's voice broke the Changeling's trail of thought, and he turned to meet one of the palace guards walking towards him. "Y-Yes?" Thorax replied. Even though the guards no longer deemed him a threat, the sight of them still made the Changeling uneasy. The guard nodded to the end of the hallway. "Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor would like to speak with you," he said. Thorax shuffled away slightly out of nervousness. "Did...they say what about?" he asked. The guard shook his head. "No. Please follow me." He began walking away. "They are waiting for you in the throne room." Thorax was hesitant at first, worried about what the rulers of the Crystal Empire would want him for. But deciding that keeping them waiting for him would be worse he quickly hurried along, hoping that there wasn't a problem. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - When they arrived at the doors leading into the throne room, the guard stopped and held out his foreleg in front of Thorax, prompting him to halt. "Wait here," the guard instructed. Thorax nodded and watched as he pushed open the doors and disappeared behind them. After a few moments had passed, he returned and gestured to Thorax. "They will see you now, Thorax," the guard said as he stepped aside, holding the door open. Thorax slowly nodded his head, and walked past the guard into the throne room, the door closing shut behind him as he entered. At the other end of the room, the pink alicorn and her husband sat on their crystal thrones, Sunburst at the side of them. "Hello, Thorax," Cadence greeted kindly. "Thank you for joining us." Thorax gave a small smile as he approached them, though concern was still present on his face. "I'm, uh...it is my, er, a pleasure, your highness," he stammered as he fell into a bow before them. "Stand up, Thorax. You don't need to bow to us," Shining Armor said. "We've asked you here because we want to discuss something with you." Thorax straightened himself quickly before looking up at the prince. "What is it you want to discuss?" he asked. Shining Armor and Cadence exchanged looks with each other before Cadence spoke. "Well, Shining Armor and I have been discussing your wanting to learn about friendship and love, and..." She paused for a moment in consideration. "We have decided that the best place for you to start will be at our local orphanage." Thorax stared at the both of them in surprise. "I...I beg your pardons?" Shining Armor carried on for Cadence. "The current carer running the orphanage recently had an accident which left her with a broken leg. As a result she is struggling to look after the children by herself and thus requires help doing so." Shining Armor gave Thorax a stern stare, though he spoke his next words with in a softer tone. "Thorax, if you honestly do wish to earn the trust of the ponies of Equestria, then start by helping those who, like yourself, are in need of friendship and love. We believe that positioning you at the orphanage as an assistant carer will allow you to learn the meaning of compassion, and hopefully strengthen your desire to help others. By showing the ponies of the Crystal Empire that you can display kindness to those who require it the most within our community, they will open up more to you and allow you to make the friends you desire." "This will not be an easy task, mind you," Princess Cadence chimed in. "You will be required to help the owner of the orphanage with daily routines, and see that the little ones are kept safe and happy. You will also need to be monitored by a guard for security reasons, as well as to put any doubt still present among the public at ease." "But," Princess Cadence continued, "if you are willing to take on this task, Thorax, the owner of the orphanage is willing to teach you how to look after the children, as well as providing you with a room on the premises as well as payment for your work. And personally speaking, I believe this will be the first step towards realizing your goal to make friends." Shining Armor extended a hoof out. "So, what do you say, Thorax?" Thorax stared at the two of them in astonishment, their proposition repeating itself over and over in his head. This all sounded like it would be a really important task, maybe a task that somepony who was actually from the Crystal Empire itself would have been better suited for. But if the rulers of the Crystal Empire were willing to entrust him of all creatures with such a role, the same rulers who were the most affected by the actions of his Changelings brethren in the past and yet were willing to offer him friendship despite those crimes, then there was easily only one response to such an opportunity. Thorax puffed out his chest and, with the happiest smile, he replied simply, "When do I start?" And Princess Cadence and Shining Armor couldn't help but smile.