//------------------------------//
// Lantern 
// Story: Thorax is Phototactic 
// by Deergenerate 
//------------------------------//

As the moon moved through the sky, so did it's reflection on the Crystal Empire's streets, and Thorax had followed it the entire time. 

By the time the moon had set, Thorax had exited the Crystal Empire, and was now in a rather expansive ice field just outside the grassy meadows of the Empire. 

When the reflection finally disappeared, and he was able to focus again, he noticed two pretty glaring things. 

One: He was really, really cold. Like so cold that he couldn't even feel his hooves or wings. 

And two: He was really far from the Crystal Palace. 

"Oh no. They must be so worried right now. I've got to get back!" He shouted to himself. He spread his wings to take to the air. He tried buzzing them but nothing happened. They didn't even move in fact. 

Thorax looked back at his wings to see that they were frozen completely stiff. It looked like thin sheets of ice were emerging from his back, and that a single impact would shatter them like glass. 

"That isn't good." Thorax said as he hid his wings under his back plates again. "Oh well, looks like I am gonna have to walk."

Thorax took a step with one of his hole filled hooves and immediately slipped and face planted the ice.

"Ouch." Thorax groaned. "What is this stuff?" 

The changeling, who was born and raised in a desert and thus never saw Ice before in his life, had no idea what was going on.

Thorax slowly picked himself up off the icy ground. His legs shook as he tried to keep them from slipping again. He growled a bit and cursed the ice. 

Who's idea was it to make something so slippery? 

Thorax took another step forwards, and this time he managed to avoid slipping, but the same couldn't be said about the step after that. 

He landed on his back after his forehooves were swept out from under him. 

He couldn't help but shout in fear as he slid across the ice on his slick back plate. He slipped over an ice ramp and was sent careening through the air, landing in a large pile of snow. 

He pulled himself out of the snow with a brrr.

If he was cold before, he was freezing now. He looked around for a second to see that he was out of the ice field, and closer to the Crystal Empire's grassy area, so that was a major plus. He slowly pulled himself out of the snow and walked forwards. 

"I am gonna ask for some hot chocolate when I get back." he said with a sad chitter. 

He smiled a bit when he finally stepped onto the grassy fields of the Crystal Empire, and have a content smile. It definitely warmer with the Crystal Heart around. 

He decided to sit down for a second or two to let the warmth wash over him. 

After a few minutes of absorbing the heat that the Crystal Empire offered he decided to press forwards, walking onto a crystal road, the same one he had left the Empire on. 

Thorax was still uncomfortable with being outside of the Crystal Palace without a disguise, so he decided now would be a good time to put it on.

With a burst of flame Thorax the Changeling was gone, and in his place was Crystal Hoof the Crystal Pony. 

After about an hour of being outside, he finally stepped into the Empire proper. It was about eight in the morning, and most people were inside having breakfast, with the occasional soul out and about on the streets. 

That only made Thorax's push towards the palace all the more easier. He let out another content sigh as he walked. He could only hope that no one noticed he was gone yet.

That was when out of the corner of his eye he noticed something. It was a lantern, but different from any he had ever seen. 

Instead of a glass case, this particular lantern had a cage of horizontal metal bars, and in the center of the lantern was a large glowing blue cylinder which hummed like the droning of a changelings wings. It was hanging out on the porch of one of the houses of the empire.

Once again Thorax found himself utterly captivated by the sight. So much so, that he dropped his disguise then and there in the street, causing a couple people around to jump in fright, but most knew it was only him, and not some different changeling come to cause trouble.

Thorax couldn't take his eyes away from it, and all the sounds of the busy Empire street faded away. He spread his wings, which were no longer frozen due to the heat radiating from the Crystal Heart, mixed with his earlier sun bathing, and he slowly rose into the air. 





Shining Armor frowned as he walked down the street of the crystal empire leading west with Flash Sentry and Stalwart Shield. A frown was evident on the Captain's face.

"So let me get this straight," Shinning said angrily. "You two decided that you would just let Thorax outside the palace to chase something, in the middle of the night?" 

Flash was the first to respond. "Yeah, but we honestly thought he was gonna break something." 

Shining frowned even more at this response. "What do you mean by that?"

Stalwart turned his head over to the side, looking for any trace of the changeling. "He was ramming into the window in his room." 

Shining's frown dropped pretty quickly at that. It was replaced by a look of pure confusion. "Why was he doing that?"

"He said something about a Shiny thing." Stalwart said he turned his head in the other direction.

"Oh." Shining responded. "He mentioned a shiny thing when the lamp fiasco happened too." 

"Speaking of the lamp fiasco," Stalwart said he looked at Shining. "You and Cadance freaked out when Thorax failed to come to breakfast, and yet, now that he might actually be in danger, you seem so calm." 

"Oh trust me," Shining started. "I am not calm, I am actually absolutely livid. If we don't find him in the next hour, you two are gonna be running laps around the entire empire until your hooves have been whittled down."

Stalwart gulped in response but Flash suddenly pointed forwards. "I see him!" Flash shouted as he rose into the air with his wings. 

The three of them looked down the street. There were about a dozen ponies spread out on the large road, but at the end of the street, was Thorax. 

He was currently slowly flying towards a house actually, which only added onto everyone's confusion. 

"What is he flying towards?" Shining asked.

"It looks like a... bug zapper?" Flash replied cocking an eyebrow. Then realization hit him like a pile of bricks. "Oh no!" 

Flash shot forwards closely followed by Shining and Stalwart. 

"Thorax don't touch tha-" Shining started but he was too late and Thorax's face bumped against the cage of the bug zapper. 

Thorax suddenly jolted in the air, and shook from the zap. There was a pop and the bug zapper shorted out. 

Thorax pulled his snout back and blinked. He coughed up some smoke, before he fell out of the air and landed on the ground unconscious. 

Shining, Flash, Stalwart and a small crowd of ponies gathered around the slightly smoking Thorax. Shining frowned again and turned to Flash and Stalwart. 

"50 laps. Now." He seethed through gritted teeth. 

Flash sighed. "Right away sir." he said before the two took off.