For Thorax and his entourage, it was a trip home, and one that they, as drones, had made many times before, from many directions. For Allan, it was a reminder of how lost he was, in a world that was not his own, and stuck in an alien body. He looked dejectedly up at the rocky spire that stretched high up in the air, a natural skyscraper in the center of a dry and arid plain. His sapphire eyes took in the hive’s constantly shifting exterior, and he wandered if the inside was anything similar. There was no actual investment to find out the answer to the question, just a tiny amount of curiosity coupled with a lack of emotional stimulation.
Allan had become incredibly withdrawn in the two hours it had taken for King Thorax to make the decision to bring the displaced boy back to the hive, then teleporting all of them as close as he could, and had them hike their way back the rest of the way. In his situation though, even the bright, rich colors of this world did nothing to distract him. The world seemed hollow, and full of empty promises, forlorn hopes and broken dreams to him, barely worth the effort to even exist in this place. Thorax had made a dozen attempts to engage him in conversation, trying to coax his guest to talk, about something, anything, from the weather, to what his family was like.
Allan ignored all of them, replying only in non-verbal grunts and the occasional: “Uh-huh.”
Thorax looked up at the hive in trepidation as well. This was the home of his people, his responsibilities, and the place that had, for the longest time, held host to his fears. It wasn’t exactly the best place for a recently coronated King still finding his footing to be.
Swallowing his nervousness, Thorax turned his head to gaze at Allan, who walked, his expression flat and eyes glazed over with disinterest. “Welcome to the Hive Allan.” The King said, giving a smile that was far too forced to be convincing.
Allan glanced in the King’s direction before giving the familiar answer. “Uh-huh.”
Thorax sighed. This kid needed support. Friends. There was only one group he would trust with that, but he wasn’t sure that he could just ask for their assistance so soon. He’d been King for only two days. Two days, and already, he felt out of his depth. Perhaps he should have requested tips and advice from the Princesses of Equestria while they had all been under one roof. The failure to capture Chrysalis was already a big blow to his confidence, as he had felt that the weakened Queen would have been an easy win, one that he could use to help cement relations with Equestria, ensuring that the Changelings would be welcomed more easily than they could have been before. Losing her had already put a damper on his spirits, but he was determined to do right by his friends, and his people.
Approaching the gate, King Thorax was immediately recognized by the gate guards, who, after a quick identity checking spell, gave a crisp salute, and opened the doors, allowing Thorax inside.
As it had been for over a thousand years, the main foyer of the Changeling hive was unchanged, green and black being the central theme for it’s decoration, being one of only a few rooms in the stone tower and the catacombs beneath that was unchanging. The Changeling hive was a marvel of living magic, constantly flowing and adjusting, making it almost impossible for an invading force to find their way anywhere without becoming hopelessly lost. The furnishings of the room were all from places the Changeling swarm had either conquered or the ones they had raided, something that Thorax meant to remedy as soon as he had the time. That was something that the entire hive was in agreement on. No more stealing, no more conquests or wars, not without good reason, good reason here being self defense and little else. A few changeling banners, still depicting Queen Chrysalis as leader, hung above the new King’s head as he and his company walked through the citadel’s main entry room, and he made note to have them removed at the earliest possible convenience.
As he passed by, Changelings, large and small, warrior’s and civilians alike, all stopped to wave, cheer or salute the King. Although Chrysalis had kept them alive, they all knew that Thorax would lead them in a way that would let them live freely, in a way that had been impossible under his predecessor. Thorax smiled, waved, and saluted right back, thrilled to see that the Changelings were more than happy to cast aside their old hatreds. It felt good to have been the center of a cultural reform for the better, though he could have done without the pressure of being anointed King, but Princess Celestia had more or less confirmed her support by naming him the new leader outright.
Allan was, as he had been for the entire trip, completely despondent, walking besides the others in a daze. Thorax could sense the emotional detachment from the transformed human, which, in itself, was it’s own brand of emotions. It tasted of frustration, anger, guilt, sadness, and a large amount of self-pity, all of them keeping emotions in, and stopping Allan from noticing anything beyond it. The raging storm beneath it must be great indeed, if this was the strength of the shield that kept him from feeling it.
Thorax could tell that it was because the boy had had a good life that had been stolen from him, and not from an emotional drain, like the ones that Chrysalis often inflicted upon her prey. He felt a sort of kinship with Allan, as he remembered all too well the feeling of being alone and helpless in a place he barely understood. Spike, his first ever friend, had helped to bring Thorax into the real world, the world full of interesting ponies, and other creatures to meet, and now, the King would do the same.
That reflection brought his train of thought full circle. The boy needed to make some new connections, fast. His old ones having been shattered had drawn out an understandable, yet dangerous response, one that the journal pages that the group had brought back with them went into great detail on. That response had to end soon, though, or poor Allan may start to consider the most horrible of options, and take his own life.
Despite his reservations about contacting his allies in Equestria so soon, King Thorax decided to write a letter to a certain purple pony Princess.
**************
Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, one time student of Princess Celestia, and sister in law with another of the nation’s Princess’s, was busy watching her student, Starlight Glimmer, as she laughed and socialized with ponies that, less than three days previously, she had run away from in fear of becoming the awful pony she had once been. Twilight smiled as Starlight paused to wave to her, a bright and joyful smile on her face as she did so, an expression that was usually reserved for when the two were practicing magic.
The Princess was sat with her own friends, who were in the middle of a conversation discussing what had happened while they had been prisoners of Queen Chrysalis, as recounted to them by their rescuers, Starlight, Trixie and Discord, the latter two of whom had apparently managed to form the beginnings of an unlikely friendship.
Twilight was quite impressed with just how far her student had come, having once been a confused and angry individual, was now someone with great friends and so much kinder and wiser than before. Starlight had risen to the occasion in more ways than one, and Twilight was looking forward to seeing Starlight’s future, which promised to be bright indeed.
Spike, Twilight’s surrogate brother and number one assistant, stood close by, his eyes, as often they were, fixated on Rarity, the fashionista and established business-mare of the group, whom he had had a crush on since their first meeting. The little dragon had grown somewhat since Twilight had first move to, now standing up to the same height as the average pony.
Twilight offered him a smile when he noticed her watching him. The response he gave was an adorable blush and look of embarrassment. Twilight wondered if the little dragon knew that Rarity had been planning on telling him that she had started developing feelings for the adorable little reptile. She couldn’t wait to see his face when the mare of his dreams broke the news to him. She’d already planned out a way to catch the reaction on camera, and she was eager to see her plan work.
As she was watching Spike, she noticed something. The little dragon suddenly put his hands to his mouth in the middle of a laugh inspired by the conversation, drawing a look of concern from Rarity, who spotted it first.
Before they could wonder if Spike had indigestion, Twilight felt a small surge of magic, one she had felt many times before. A plume of green dragonfire erupted from Spike’s mouth, which then swirled about itself before coalescing into a scroll, bearing a seal that Twilight did not initially recognize. However, not knowing the seal did not stop her from realizing who it was from.
“Who’s that from, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked. The orange mare had spent much of her time at the sunset festival that Starlight had brought them to trying to clean the last of the changeling goop from the inside of her ever present stetson hat, which had suffered several hours of soaking inside of a changeling storage pod. It was mostly clean now, but AJ still seemed uncomfortable wearing it until she was sure. “That sure don’t look like Princess Celestia’s seal.”
“That’s because it isn’t.” Twilight answered, opening it up. “It’s from Thorax.”
“Oh, dear. He’s not in trouble already, is he?” Fluttershy asked, her kind, baby blue eyes displaying such genuine concern for the new King that Twilight had to force herself not to say: ‘Awww.’
“No, he’s coping just fine.” Twilight waved Fluttershy’s worries away with a hoof. “He says he tried to go after Chrysalis…” Twilight trailed off as she read the next part of the letter.
“Sparkles? What’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked, magenta eyes fixed on the Princess. “What does he say?”
“...Chrysalis found a portal to another world…” Twilight’s voice was laden with worry, and her eyes betrayed her fear. “She could have found a way into the world where Sunset Shimmer and my Canterlot High friends live!”
“Keep reading, Darling. Perhaps he explains more.” Rarity encouraged. “Perhaps this portal does not go to Canterlot High, but somewhere else. After all, didn’t Princess Celestia and Star Swirl the Bearded use the mirror to journey to many different worlds?”
Twilight mulled Rarity’s suggestion of a different world over. It was a valid point. Star Swirl had originally created the mirror that she used to visit Sunset, so that he could discover and explore many alternate realities, not just the one that she herself had fixated on.
Reading on, Twilight was relieved when Thorax explained that this world, which according to the descriptions of a years old investigative team, was similar to Sunset’s home, but was distinctly different in many ways.
“It’s not Sunset’s world. It’s similar, but it isn’t the same.”
“See? You should never assume the worst until you know all the details.” Rarity proclaimed.
Reading more, Twilight was more than intrigued, she was transfixed by the idea of this strange new world and this bizarre portal that led there.
“If the findings of the thaumatology team that seems to have been studying the place, the portal is a one way ticket from the opposite side. Any of the natives that come through are transformed into creatures from Equestria, the specific species of which is decided by who used the portal last. Chrysalis went through it, and while she was attacking one of the natives in order to drain his love, he ended up coming through. He’s become one of the new Changelings and now he has to abandon his old life! He’s devastated...”
“That sounds awful! There’s no way to change him back?” Fluttershy asked.
“No. According to the remaining research and recordings Thorax and his team found, the research team had a human stumble into the portal as well. He became an Earth Pony, like the researcher who used the portal before him.” Twilight was torn between concern for the human, Allan, and excitement for the discoveries that could be made here. She kept her promise as one of the leaders of Equestria, and put aside her interest in studying the human and the portal, instead, focusing on how she could help the poor guy adjust. “Though they didn’t have an Alicorn, they had a substantial number of Unicorns who tried to combine their magics to change him back, but… they weren’t able to reverse the change. I’m afraid that even all four Princesses might not be enough to change him back into a human.”
“Then we gotta do something to cheer him up!! Nopony, Changeling or human is gonna be sad on my watch, even though I never wear a watch!!!” Pinkie Pie, who had been silent, (strangely so), for most of the conversation, exclaimed with zeal. “I gotta plan a bunch of parties for him!!”
Applejack reached over and grabbed Pinkie’s tail in her mouth, stopping the pony from shooting off to start party making, but not stopping the pink pony from bouncing up and down like a ping pong ball. “Now, hold on there, Sugarcube!” The orange farm pony admonished. “Ah don’t think a party is a good idea. This poor fella just learned that he can never go back to his normal life. He’s dealing with a bunch of emotional problems, like letting go of his family and loved ones. If he ain’t tryin’ ta hide from his emotions, he’s gonna need something’ a little more on the quiet side. Save the parties for when he’s feelin’ more up to it.”
Now there had once been a time where Pinkie would have protested that anypony, and everypony, likes parties. But time had taught her considerations, and the pink party planner stopped bouncing. While she wasn’t entirely happy with not being able to throw an awesome shindig, she could deal with that until this new guy was deemed well enough for a party.
“Okie-Doki-Loki! I’ll wait.” Pinkie tapped her chin with a hoof. “I can still bake him cakes and stuff, though, right?”
Twilight rolled her eyes as Pinkie decided that she should bake the possibly depressed human a “Bazillion cakes!”
“So… why is Thorax telling us? No offense to the guy, but surely he can deal with stuff like this on his own. He is a King now.” Rainbow said, waving a hoof around in a nonchalant circle.
“Rainbow!” Applejack interjected. “He became King a few days ago! Y’all can’t expect him ta be perfect already! If he needs help, we’ll give it to him, right girls?”
“Absolutely!”
“Um... yes.”
“Of course, darling!”
“Yep.”
The four other ponies all gave their answers at once, resulting in a loud, positive noise.
“Thorax only just ascended to the throne. He needs allies and assistance in order to get through his first few years while he’s busy learning how to rule well. Any help we can give him will not go unnoticed or unappreciated. And this isn’t just about him, Rainbow. The Changelings have started the long road to true reformation, but no amount of magic in the world can erase years of antagonism and hatred between the races. Remember how long it took for Princess Luna to earn ponies respect again? It will be difficult for them to adjust, and until they are more established, the Changeling kingdom is no place for someone going through emotional distress. Him just being there could cause all sorts of problems, and that’s something that Thorax can’t have right now.” Twilight had felt her lecture mode engage, shrugged, and rolled with it. “Besides, he’ll need friends, and I can’t think of a better place than Ponyville for him to make some.”
Rainbow yawned. “You done, egghead?”
“More or less.”
“Good. I was almost asleep. Politics are boring anyway, but that was like taking one of Zecora’s sleeping aids.”
“Rainbow.” Twilight’s voice was low, and screamed ‘no-nonsense’.
Rainbow grunted, before flying off to find some cider. Fluttershy mumbled something about making sure their friend stayed out of trouble, and flew off after her.
“So… what now, darling?” Rarity asked, sipping at some tea one of the locals had brewed for her. “Are you going to reply?”
Twilight nodded once, sharply. “Of course. Let it not be said that ‘Princess’ Twilight Sparkle is not prompt with her letters.” Twilight put on a false air of imperiousness that was extremely out of character for her, drawing a giggle from the business mare. “Spike. Take a letter, please.”
“Coming right up!” The dragon pulled out a piece of paper, and also produced a quill. “Ready when you are.”
“Alright then. Please write down the following.” Twilight cleared her throat.
“Dear King Thorax….”
***********
Thorax waited patiently for the Princess to respond. He was sat in what had once been his mother’s old study, which was right next to her now unoccupied private chambers. A recently used quill lay on the desk in front of him, a desk that was stacked high with paper, full inkwells, empty inkwells, and a myriad of broken quills.
He had quickly found that Chrysalis had completely neglected to keep any written record of her resources, her past actions, and even her laws. This frustrating fact had prompted the young King to start creating a new…. Well, everything. For an intelligent Queen, Chrysalis had sure been lax in her dealings.
The lone candle that sat on his work space flickered, then flared up, turning green. Recognizing the dragonfire, and smiling at the thought of Spike, Thorax prepared to catch the incoming letter. When it burst into existence, he skillfully wrapped his magical aura about it, and swiftly opened it.
“Dear King Thorax,
I am greatly intrigued by this portal that you discovered, especially as to why Chrysalis would risk using it. However, my concern lies with the human who came through, the “Allan” that you talked about in your letter.
I accept responsibility for him, and will take him back with me to Ponyville at the earliest opportunity. I agree with your assessment of the potential impact he may have on the Hive, especially if he is busy dealing with such strong negative feelings. Bring him to the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest. We still want to keep your people hidden for now, after all, though Allan will certainly be a useful gauge to measure the public’s reaction to the new Changelings, once he’s adjusted. I will be waiting for you at the castle ruins tonight, with Spike. If you do not know where the castle is, I can give you a map detailing the best routes to take.
Yours Sincerely,
Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria.”
Thorax grinned. That would be a weight off his chest, though he was certain….
Another scroll burst into being, this one a little smaller.
“P.S: I almost forgot, please send me any information you have on the portal, and please keep me informed of your own investigations into it.
Good luck!
P.P.S: Hi Thorax, this is Spike! Just wanted to let you know that we’re still on for our guys night next month! See you then!”
Thorax smiled happily, chuckling. He wrote a quick response back, thanking the pony and dragon for their support, and then left the room, searching for Allan.
**************