//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: Among the Ruins 
// Story: Of Men and Insects 
// by VeganSpyro97 
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Allan trudged along behind the King, whose great, green, royal posterior blocked the only real view he had in the dense tangle of bushes, trees, vines and the occasional animal. He moved autonomously, following the King’s fat behind as he used his big antler things to push through the undergrowth. He vaguely remembered what Thorax had said before they had left, something about going somewhere that would be better for him, surrounded by ponies who would support him. Allan didn’t care. He was cut off from his family, his friends, and from...Anna. 
A tear sneaked out of his eye before he even registered the emotion and squashed it, which, had he been thinking straight, would have been a clear indication of how much he wanted to just let it all out. But he wasn’t, so instead, he thought it a sign of weakness, of how he should try harder to keep it all together.
“Where are we going?” He asked. It was the longest sentence he had uttered since he had arrived in this stupid world, or at least, since he had broken down in that vilest of caves. 
Thorax glanced over his shoulder, saw the continued suppression of emotion, and answered only to be nice. “To the Castle of the Two Sisters. I read about it when I was staying at the Crystal Empire with Princess Cadence, Prince Shining Armour and their daughter, Flurry Heart. It used to be the home of Equestria’s leaders, but…. Well, it’s a long story.” 
Allan grunted, indicating a return to his usual form of communication. Thorax sighed, and turned his attention back to the barely visible trail he had chosen to use. It stayed clear of any major paths through the dangerous forest, winding it’s way through small hills and streams. 
Thorax had lifted the uncomplaining Allan over any obstacle too high to merely step over, an action that was quickly becoming annoying. If only the idiot would interrupt his moping to just jump or climb every once in awhile. The King shot a frustrated glance the new Changelings way when Allan lowered his gaze in order to avoid tripping on a large tree root. Thorax may have been kind and generous, but his was not to the extent of the ponies in Ponyville, and he had already reached the extent of his with those back at the hive, what with the frustrations of interacting with his people daily. He had no sympathy for Allan at this point. Yes, he had just lost everything. Big deal. Try facing down the mother of your species with no defence and only one ally, an ally who had been pretty much useless at the time, thanks to a distinct lack of magic on her part, then. During his brief time in the hive, the fool hadn’t even tried to start searching for a way back, which would be a logical use of time for him at the present. 
Looking at him, Thorax could not help but think the ‘mane six’, as some referred to them, had their work cut out when it came to Allan. 
The trees began to thin up ahead, and Thorax was relieved to see the cold, grey stone walls of the Castle of the Two Sisters. The ruins revealed at least some of the ancient buildings long lost glamour, being a huge and stark reminder that ponies once lived here, serving their eternal Princesses as they raised and lowered the sun and moon, ensuring the continuation of the world as all knew it. 
“We’re here. Now to find the Princess.” Thorax muttered. He quickly trotted across the expanse of grass that separated the forest from the ruins, only pausing to make sure Allan was still following. Seeing the changeling moping along behind him only worsened Thorax’s irritations. Thinking about being understanding and actually doing it were far different battles, it would seem. 
Following the brick wall around to where it had fallen inward, exposing a large portion of the castle’s interior, Thorax led Allan inside, their hooves clattering on the piles of rubble that littered the floor of the ancient complex. Allan paid it no mind ignoring the shards of rock that jabbed right into the most sensitive and soft parts of his hooves, his frogs. He did not even wince when one actually pierced the skin, drawing a bright green trail of blood that dribbled between the individual stone fragments, pooling somewhere beneath them all. 
Thorax led him away from the opening they had entered, through several corridors, each decorated with molded tapestries and unsalvageable carpeting that was so moth eaten there were more holes than actual fabric left. The muted colours, once vibrant, royal purples, golds, blues and silvers, were now coated in moss and mildew, small plants interwoven into the very fabric itself. As they progressed away from the openings, and into the deeper parts of the castle, the effects of the outside weather began to become less noticeable, the moss slowly thinning, and the mildew retreating from the tapestries, instead being replaced by dust and cobwebs that clung to every surface. 
Even as detached as Allan was becoming from the world, he could not help but be brought back to awareness when Thorax’s hoofsteps kicked up some of the dust, which got into his nose and making him sneeze. 
Blinking, and finally taking in his surroundings some, Allan felt a sense of awe and wonder. Even as a child in England, he had often visited old, decrepit castle ruins with his parents during the height of the British summers. They had spent hours wandering about the battlements that had once staved off invasions and warfare, peered through the narrow slits in the walls through which the archers had rained arrows down on their enemies, and gaped in wonder at the huge stone columns that still held up the crumbling rooftops and spires, even after hundreds of years of exposure to the elements. This place was no different. The corridor through which they trotted was wide, and it’s construction was solid, despite what appeared to be quite a long passage of time having taken it’s toll. The way it was shaped, although now choked by cobwebs, spoke of grandeur now lost, but still just visible beneath the muck and grime.
They made another turn, and Allan was confronted by quite a sight. The main foyer of the building was large, cavernous, the top enshrouded in shadow, where the roof hadn’t been torn open by something. The fact that something had forced its way out of the room via the ceiling was alarming in its own right, but the fact that the damage it inflicted so greatly resembled what Allan had often imagined an explosive could do. He gulped, thinking to the few examples he and his parents had seen of castles that had still had damage from projectiles at the time of their abandonment, and shuddered at the thought of medieval knights wielding the power of explosives in battle. The thought of his parents though… the wonder, the amazement, the alarm at seeing the great hole in the roof… it all faded once again, replaced by the same hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach, and an intense ache in his upper chest, or barrel, where he guessed his heart now was.
Thorax felt it all, and his pity returned. This young one, no matter where he had come from, needed help. He hope against hope that the Princess and her friends were up to the task. 
“Princess?” Thorax called. The deeper tone of his voice was still unfamiliar compared to the voice he had spent his whole life using, but it was certainly useful when it came to attracting attention.
“Thorax?” The Princess’s voice returned only moments later, and across the hall, the young Alicorn stepped into the light, having been standing in one of the many shadowed stairwells that lined the hall. “Thorax, is that you?”
“Yes.” Thorax stepped into the light as well, noting that she was wearing a ratty looking brown cloak that covered her smaller frame from head to hoof. “It’s me. I brought our ‘guest’.”
Allan trudged forward, once again having sunk into a state of near catatonia, standing before the purple pony, his head lowered and his eyes once more glazed over. 
“Hello.” Twilight said, hoof outstretched in greeting. When the metallic changeling did not respond, she looked to the King, her eyebrow raised.
“He’s...depressed isn’t even close. One wrong move and he might just break. That’s why I thought you girls were better equipped to deal with him.”
Twilight felt an alarm grow inside her, one that she always felt whenever something happened. She had felt it the night of the Summer Sun celebration, what felt like a lifetime ago. She had felt it at the wedding, when Chrysalis had impersonated Cadence, and almost conquered Equestria. She had felt it when Discord had escaped, and when Tirek had challenged her. However, as with all those times, Twilight recalled her skills with magic, her friends, and her family, and the panic faded away.
“Not a problem. There isn’t anything me and my friends can’t overcome, and there’s no one, pony or otherwise, that we can’t help.”
Thorax grinned. “That’s what I was hoping to hear.” He looked at the dejected Changeling at his side. “He’s going to need somepony he can count on. If I know emotions, this will get worse before getting better.”
Twilight looked at the poor creature that was so far from home, and pity welled up from within. As she considered how she and her friends could help him, she detected something, just a flicker of emotions on his face, a combination of grief, anguish, anger, and guilt, one that left a tear in his eyes. 
He was gonna need a little… Twilight grinned. She knew just the pony to help this lost soul. As Allan started to trudge over to her, Thorax bowed his head, before turning away. “It’s late, and I must return to the hive. I’ve already been gone too long as it is, and they’ll be missing me by dawn.” Thorax turned and began to trot away, his pace breaking only once, where he paused to look back at the Princess and her new ward as they watched him depart. “Good luck, both of you.”
Twilight watched until the last of Thorax’s gossamer tail had vanished around the corner before she told Allan to follow her. Under normal circumstances, she would have teleported both of them back to her castle, but, with Allan having never experienced it before, she didn’t particularly want to have him experience teleportation, only to vomit when they reached her castle. Instead, they would walk. 
“Come on. Let’s get you to Ponyville.” Twilight started off, a bright, hope inspiring smile on her face. She got a few meters away before she realized that Allan was still standing there, looking down at his hooves. “Allan?”
Turning her head back to look at him, worry written plainly onto her features. He’d stopped moving, and looked like he was on the brink of tears, though it was apparent that he simply didn’t want to let it go. He was bottling it up, not too dissimilar to how the Changelings had been under Chrysalis’s reign. 
As she gazed at him, weighing up her options, she noticed just how… dark his carapace was getting. There were large divots forming in his hooves, and the thin, delicate wings on his back were getting shorter. 
Twilight made a snap decision, and her horn flared brightly, before both of them vanished, leaving the Castle of the Two Sisters empty once more.


**********

Fluttershy smiled down at Angel Bunny as he finally settled down for the night, having been in what her friends often described as a ‘foul mood’, all day. The butter coloured Pegasus was somewhat relieved to have him finally under some semblance of control. He’d already knocked over one of her pictures of her brother, Zephyr, nearly breaking the glass in the frame, and denting the thin screen of wood in the back. She had told him off, of course. She couldn’t just let him walk all over her like the timid little thing she had been back when she had first met her friends, not after all the things she had learned about being assertive without going overboard. 
Still smiling, she quietly backed away from Angel’s bed, heading for her own bed in the room upstairs. Caring for so many animals all day had left her exhausted, more than usual, but that was probably to do with having been gone for several days, and not because more animals having been needing her help. 
She shuddered at the memory of the Changeling pod she had spent the last few days trapped in, her emotions constantly drained by the green goop she had been floating in. At least they were out, and at least Chrysalis was now on her own, though Thorax’s letter to Twilight had made her a little nervous and jumpy, especially when she considered the extremely persona vendetta the Queen had against her and her friends. 
As she reached the top of the stairs, she shook her head to clear away her worries. She was safe. Her friends were safe, and that was all that mattered. 
A yawn escaped her, and she hopped up onto her bed with minimal effort, taking the time to rub her weary eyes with her right fetlock, yawning again as she worked some of the rheum from her eyes. 
*FLASH!!*
The sudden bright light startled the young mare, and before she even registered her reaction, she was peering down from one of her rafters, which she was hanging from by her legs, trying to see past the spots that danced across her vision. 
“W-w-wh-wh-who’s t-t-t-th-there?” She squeaked, fearfully.
“Fluttershy!” 
“Twilight?” Fluttershy recognized the voice of her friend immediately, and her fears rapidly started to fade away. 
“Fluttershy! Quick! I need your help!” The lavender Alicorn sounded frantic, and Fluttershy’s remaining fear was quickly overridden by concern for her friend. 
“What’s wrong? Did Pinkie Pie accidentally have coffee instead of tea again?”
“No! Pinkie’s fine! It’s to do with Thorax’s letter! You remember what it said, right?”
Flutter’s nodded. “Of course I remember. The Changeling that came from through that new portal. What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s having some sort of emotional breakdown, and he’s turning into one of the old Changelings!! You need to help me snap him out of it!” Twilight dumped a large, dark shape on the floor between them, and Fluttershy saw the dull, muted colours, shortened wings, and the first holes starting to eat through his legs. 
“Oh….my.” Fluttershy whispered, eyes wide. The changeling looked up at her, and she could see a raging storm of emotions broiling behind their glassy surface, just waiting to be let out. She smiled gently down at the poor creature in front of her, reminded of Zeph’s early years, particularly his first week at school. Both of them had been picked on for being weak fliers, but Fluttershy had taken an active role in comforting her younger brother whenever it became too much. 
Her instincts took over, and with the quiet, calm demeanor she had come to be known for, she dropped down from her beam, stepped right up to the changeling, and wrapped her hooves around him. 
He tried to pull away at first, but the warm embrace, and the gentleness of the contact were too inviting. Allan blinked, his ears picking up on a quiet murmur coming from the little yellow mare that had just embraced him. He wanted to hear her, even if dealing with the world meant opening up again, just a little. 
“It’s okay. It’ll be okay. Just let it out. Never bottle up your emotions. It will only make things worse. You’ll be fine. Just breathe, and let them all out.” The lovely voice was soft, and full of care. 
He twisted, just enough to see her face, so that he could see if the affection was genuine or not. 
His bright blue eyes met her own cyan pupils, and her smile was kind, understanding, and full of love for not just him, but for the entire world. He felt lost in that endless sea of kindness, those sapphire eyes becoming his world, just for a moment, taking his breath away before giving it back.
He felt it then. He had believed he was alone, and that no one cared for him. Just a brief minute of eye contact changed all of that. 
Everything he had shut out flooded back, and he grabbed her, as gently as he could, his own arms wrapping around her as he returned the hug, his tears welling up and matting the fur of her lovely coat. He felt a little guilty for that, but he buried his face into the thick strands of pale, rosy pink that made up her hair as he choked out sobs.
Twilight watched as the colour returned to his body, and the holes that had started forming slowly but surely closed up as he allowed himself to feel again. Fluttershy looked up and smiled at her, waving a hoof at her to go and wait outside. The Alicorn didn’t need telling twice.
“It’s okay, let it out. I’m here. I’m here.” Fluttershy rocked back and forth, the Changeling still clutched in her hooves as she cooed, listening to him as he wept. He kept mumbling apologies to people whose names she did not hear, but the one he mumbled the most to seemed to be someone called ‘Anna’.
After several minutes, he went still, leaving Fluttershy to wonder if he was okay. She pulled him back from her slightly, and she smiled when she saw his regular, steady breathing. He’d cried himself to sleep, poor thing. She guided him over to bed, his hooves stumbling over themselves as they tried to automatically keep him balanced. Being able to sleep standing up had it’s perks.
Once she had pulled the covers over him, he settled down, a slight, but definitely noticeable smile graced his lips, and Fluttershy felt a wave of contentment as she once again helped some pony else. It was a wonderful destiny to have, helping others.

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