I admit that I found it rather amusing to watch Thorax at his party. Naturally, he had never experienced anything like it before and would never have done so if it wasn’t for Chrysalis rashly invading Canterlot. So, here he was getting overwhelmed by entertainment with his new friends, and between the emotional feast at the wedding and now this celebration, he was getting rather giddy from pleasure overload. I didn’t think it was possible to grin that widely!
I think he was a little drunk on the positive emotions he’d been consuming, and he got quite garrulous. That suited Twilight as he was quite willing to talk at length about any subject that he was familiar with. It didn’t hurt that it made him seem more friendly and sociable to the others too. However, it got to the point where I had to play wingmare and steer him out of the room before he exploded or something. The Crusaders nearly undid that effort by giving him a huge hug before letting him go. I told Twilight that I’d find him a suitable room and I’d be back soon.
Thorax couldn’t simply walk with me because he was so full of energy. He buzzed around the hallway like a hyperactive housefly, giggling with glee. I so wished I had my smartphone so I could make a video of him. I’d have to add that to the shopping list next time I visited the alternate Earth. And a laptop to store and play them, I suppose. Then there was the problem of charging them – no AC power. Maybe I would have to get a solar charger too. I could see some electronics store making out like bandits when I turned up with my wish list and a handful of gold bits.
We reached the level where my room was located. I knew that there were plenty of vacant rooms there, all pretty generic. I was surprised to see a door ajar adjacent to my room that I hadn’t noticed before. I decided to check it out and found it to be totally different from any I had seen before. It was small, dimly lit, and seemed to have nooks and crannies that none of the others featured. There were no right angles anywhere, instead, the room had a roughly dome-shaped ceiling and a sunken depression in the floor. No windows either. I wondered what the heck it was for.
“Ooh! Is this my room?” Thorax asked, abruptly by my side. He gasped. “It’s perfect!”
I blinked and stared at him. “What? Are you kidding?”
“No. It’s like a mini-hive and so cozy! I love it!”
“Ooo-kay. To each their own. Welcome to your new room.” I stood aside and he flew inside and started checking out every feature. I chuckled and said, “Let me know if you need anything”
“I have everything I need, thanks!”
I closed the door and shook my head in wonder. A perfect room for a changeling just happens to be right next to mine… yeah, sure. I raised my eyes to the ceiling and asked, “Did you make this room just for Thorax?”
Of course, there was no answer. Just because a castle is shaped like a tree doesn’t mean it’s alive, does it?
After the party came to a close, I sat down with the girls to have a bit of a chat. Uppermost on our minds was, of course, still Thorax. Plans had to be made to better integrate him into the Ponyville scene, but of far greater importance to Twilight was figuring out how to explain her guest to her brother and sister-in-law. That was going to take some fine diplomacy. She couldn’t just send a letter via dragonfire that said, “You’ll never guess who my latest friend is…”
I facehoofed.
Yeah, she did. No, I’m not kidding. Don’t look at me like that – she did it when I had been showing Thorax his room. Rainbow Dash organized a pool to see who could guess to the nearest minute just how fast Shining Armor would show up on our doorstep. I thought it was a little unfair because everypony else had more experience with the Equestrian transport system than me. Even Spike wanted in on the action! Twilight just pouted and refused to throw in her bits.
Even the most optimistic among us didn’t think that he would be able to get here before tomorrow, so we decided that we might as well go back to the wedding reception. We could hear Vinyl Scratch’s music from the castle, so the party was still in full swing. I went back to Thorax’s room to let him know our plans and find out if he wanted to join us. After my knock on his door went unanswered, I peeked inside. A translucent cocoon hung inside one of the nooks, and I saw what I presumed was the changeling’s silhouette inside. I shrugged. I guess he needed to sleep off the emotional feast. He’s hardly the only being to suffer from food torpor.
We were eating our breakfast and I was showing off my much-improved levitation control. I floated a second serving of waffles off a stack when we heard the whistle of the train pulling up at the Ponyville station. There was nothing too odd about that except that the morning service to Canterlot had already departed, and the next train going in the opposite direction wasn’t due for another half hour. Rainbow Dash zipped off and was back within seconds.
“It’s the Crystal Express,” she announced. “Better get ready to—”
“TWILIGHT!”
“I didn’t know Shining could teleport,” I commented.
“He can’t,” Twilight replied, “but I bet he hit the ground before the train even stopped.”
A moment later, the aforementioned stallion burst into the dining room. “Where is it?!” he demanded as he looked wildly around the room.
Rarity glared at him rather crossly. “Please mind your manners, Prince Armor. And don’t tell me that you left your charming wife behind.”
“He did,” came a slightly annoyed voice from behind him. “Shiny – calm down.”
“How can I calm down when my sister is threatened by one of those insidious fiends?!” he demanded.
Twilight’s magic lifted the unicorn up and placed him in a chair. “He’s not an insidious fiend. Like I told you – he’s a friend.” Then she went over to Cadance and exchanged their quaint little ritual while Shining seethed.
“Hi, Cadance,” I said. “Did your hubby get any sleep last night?”
The Alicorn of Love rolled her eyes. “I doubt it, Mark, and he kept me awake practically the whole night.”
“Sounds like the sort of problem lots of mares would love to have.”
Cadance chuckled and shook her head. “If only. Perhaps I should have tried that.”
That got me a snort and a glare from her husband.
“Coffee?” I asked, levitating the pot over to an empty place at the table near her.
She nodded. “Yes, please.” Cadance seated herself as I poured a cup for her. She drank it black before fixing her eyes on the purple alicorn. “Okay, Twilight, I acknowledge your role as Princess of Friendship, but isn’t including changelings taking it a bit far?”
The mare shook her head. “I’m convinced that his wish to be friends is sincere, and if one changeling can feel that way, then others can too. Thorax represents our best hope for initiating peaceful relations with his species.”
“NO! You can’t trust them, Twily!” Shining bellowed, smacking a hoof on the table.
“Trust has to start somewhere, BBBFF.”
“Have you forgotten what they did to us? What they did to the citizens of Canterlot?”
“I could hardly forget. Just as I still remember how you didn’t trust my word then either.”
Shining flinched. Seems there was more to the invasion than I had heard about.
The stallion was nothing but persistent though. His eyes narrowed and he stared intently at Twilight. “I trust my little sister implicitly, but am I even talking to her? Or have all of you been replaced by changelings and lured Cadance and me into a trap?” His horn lit up and a shield enveloped him and his wife.
Cadance sighed, shook her head, and focused on finishing her coffee.
Twilight responded, “Well, for starters, I knew Cadance and my little ritual—”
“Which Chrysalis could have learned by now,” Shining interjected.
“—and I remember what I found under your bed when I was nine years old and the lie that you told me about what they were…”
Shining dropped his shield and waved his forehooves frantically. “Okay! Okay! I believe you’re the real Twilight. I thought you promised to never bring that up again?”
Cadance gave him an intensely curious look.
Twilight smirked. “I promised not to tell about what you claimed they were, but since they weren’t, then my promise doesn’t apply, does it?”
“Alright, but you still haven’t convinced me that a changeling can be anything but a threat to all I hold dear. Think of all the atrocities that they committed during the invasion. So many died or worse – were left as emotional husks. ”
“Then, I suppose that it’s time for a history lesson.” Twilight’s tone of voice settled down into lecture mode. “In the year 145 B.E. …” She turned to look at me. “‘Before Equestria’”.
This I remembered from Twilight’s slideshow. I nodded and gave her an air kiss. She blinked then frowned at me, obviously annoyed with my reminder. If Cadance’s smirk was anything to go by, she did not share her sister-in-law’s opinion. I just smiled innocently.
Twilight gave me one more glare before returning to look at her brother. “…a small community of earth ponies was raided by pegasi warriors. These raids were common as the winged ponies always felt they deserved most of the food that the earth ponies produced because they controlled the weather that sustained the farmers’ crops. This time was different though. The pegasus warriors came in great numbers, taking the earth ponies by surprise and overwhelming them. Then they castrated every male including the young colts.”
I winced, and each of the girls reacted to various degrees, from Rarity fainting to Applejack grinding her teeth audibly.
Twilight continued. “The farmers plotted vengeance and organized with a nearby community that was a likely target to lay traps and snares. A few days later, the raiders returned, employing the same shock tactics. However, the forewarned earth ponies were ready for them and succeeded in capturing many of their foes. Most of those trying to fly away after watching their comrades getting caught were enmeshed in nets flung by small trebuchets. Then the farmers hacked off their wings and enslaved them.”
This time it was Fluttershy’s turn to faint and Rainbow Dash screeched in outrage.
Before the prismatic pegasus could say anything. Twilight steamrollered on. “The pegasi who escaped found more like-minded members of their tribe and they all retaliated, of course, and screwed up the weather for months. Crops failed and food was scarce. The unicorns weren’t getting their tribute and demanded that the pegasi stop, but they were attacked in response. That angered the unicorns so much that they declared war on the winged ponies. The first cloud-walking spells were developed not for visiting friends but to carry the battle to the sky. Many ponies on all sides died that year, and the fighting continued into the next before famine forced a halt to the eternal battling.”
“What has this got to do with the changelings, Twily?” Shining Armor demanded.
Twilight sighed and shook her head. “Oh, come on, Shiny! Isn’t it obvious? Ponies committed atrocities in the past too. And they did it not to completely different races but to their own subspecies. It wasn’t until the first Hearth’s Warming that ponies from three different tribes became friends and started down the road of peace. When Celestia and Luna rose to power, they ruthlessly enforced laws against prejudice and intolerance. It took them generations to weed out the hate that each pony tribe had for the others, but they did it, and we live harmoniously with each other today. Now it’s another species’ turn to start down the path of reconciliation. Are we going to claim vengeance, or should we find a way to make them our friends?”
Shining looked stunned. He wordlessly digested his sister’s lecture, and Cadance looked thoughtful too. She leaned over and gave him a hug. “Honey, I don’t think I’m ready to forgive Chrysalis quite yet, but I believe Twilight when she says that the common changelings can be our friends if we choose to work at it.”
The stallion slowly nodded. “You’re right, both of you. I… I’m sorry, Twily. I was just so worried about you, and the citizens of Ponyville too. But mostly you.”
“It’s okay. Mark had to stop me from lashing out too. Would you like to meet Thorax?”
“I suppose I’d better. If being the Prince of the Crystal Empire has taught me anything, sometimes you need to do things that you don’t like doing. Don’t expect too much too soon, okay?”
“Fair enough, BBBFF,” Twilight replied with a smile and a hug. “Mark – could you fetch Thorax for us, please?”
“No problem, Twi.” I figured he was still asleep in his room, so I headed straight up there.
I found the changeling washing his face with water that flowed like a spring into a natural basin shape in the wall. That was an interesting touch, especially as it stopped flowing by itself as soon as Thorax was done. I wondered what else this castle could adapt to doing. “Good morning,” I said cheerfully.
Thorax gave me a shy smile. “Good morning, Mark Wells. It’s an odd feeling waking up in a room that I can call my own.”
“I hope you get used to enjoying it. And just call me Mark. Anyway, we’re having breakfast but we have guests that need to see you.”
He looked a little worried. “Am I in trouble?”
I chuckled. “No, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t be in for a bit of a hard time. Shining Armor and Cadance have just arrived and they want to talk to you.”
“Eep! But they…”
“I know, but we’ve explained the situation to them. Just be calm and answer their questions. Twilight wants to make a start on working out ways to integrate changelings into pony society, but first, we have to learn more about you.” I chivvied him out of his room and we started on our way to the dining room.
“What should I expect?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I’m no expert on this kind of thing. Just remember that I’m on your side and I’ll help if I can.”
“Thanks, Mark. This is all new to me too.”
“No problem, Thorax.” I debated whether to resume my normal stallion form to prevent Shining Armor from feeling pressured by so many mares, but in the end, I decided that he should be able to stand firm on his own. Besides, I didn’t want to spoil my weekend by having to switch back after being denied the pleasure for so long.
Conversation died as we entered the dining room. Our visitors’ eyes immediately locked onto Thorax and he squirmed uncomfortably. I didn’t let the silence stretch out. “Shining and Cadance, I would like you to meet Thorax, a.k.a. Kevin. Thorax, these are Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor. I hope that you can become good friends.”
Thorax scuffed a hoof while Shining stared at the changeling intensely. Cadance, however, got up from her chair and came over to Thorax. She gazed at him thoughtfully before she reached up to pull him into a brief hug.
Thorax was startled to feel a choice morsel of love being sent his way, and he reflexively consumed it. As she pulled away with a smile, he hesitantly returned it. “Thank you, Princess.”
“You may call me Cadance, Thorax.”
I said, “Would you like something to eat or drink first, Thorax?”
“Umm… I’d like a hot chocolate if that’s okay?”
“I’m on it!” Spike announced as he headed for the kitchen.
“That’s a curious choice,” Cadance commented.
Thorax shrugged. “I acquired a taste for it while hanging out with the Crusaders. The adults often made them for the fillies and for me too when I was with them.”
“Can we see your foal disguise?” Twilight asked.
“I suppose so.” With a flare of green fire, a blue-coated unicorn colt replaced the changeling.
Twilight blinked. “Blue Agate? I never suspected you to be anything but a normal foal, although come to think of it, I never learned who your parents were. Any reason why you chose a unicorn form?”
“I tried an earth pony form, but I couldn’t match Apple Bloom’s strength, and she said I sounded silly when I talked like her. I settled on a unicorn because I could still use my horn like one, but nopony would expect a colt to be able to do complex spells. I could have done a pegasus too, but I didn’t want Scootaloo to feel uncomfortable that I could fly and she couldn’t.”
Twilight smiled. “That was very considerate of you. Anyway, my brother would like you to cooperate in some tests if you don’t mind?”
I could see that Thorax was still sensing the stallion’s hostility by the way he glanced at Shining Armor. Nevertheless, he nodded.
“I want to help. You’ve already done so much for me. What do you want to do?”
As he walked over to Thorax’s side of the table, Shining said, “We need to root out any spies in our midst and we’ve developed some new changeling detection spells to find them, but we’ve lacked a subject to test them on.”
“I’m not an infiltrator, so I don’t know much about their protocols or any of their advanced techniques. I’m not even a love harvester. Every able-bodied drone took part in the attack on Canterlot, even lowly hive workers like me. But finding infiltrators might be a more difficult problem than you might think.”
“How good could they be?” Shining scoffed.
“Good enough to keep ponies unaware of our existence for hundreds of years,” Thorax pointed out.
The unicorn stallion blinked and then nodded. “Good point. We can start with just detecting if a pony is actually a changeling. Find out if they have replaced any ponies.”
“I do know that infiltrators don’t usually do that,” Thorax replied. “Too much chance of being caught out on any inconsistencies. They normally spend some time establishing an original identity.”
“That makes it even more important to have some means to detect them then if we can’t watch for errors in their acting the part. So, will you allow me to test the spells?” Shining asked impatiently.
Thorax nodded. “What do you want me to do?”
“Just try to hold your disguise and report what you feel. We’re trying to determine which spell is the most effective.”
“I can do that.” Spike returned with the hot chocolate just then and handed it to Thorax. “Um – can I have my drink first?”
Shining sighed but said, “Okay.”
Thorax drank about half the mug before smacking his lips just like any foal would. He then set the mug down on the dining table and moved back in front of Shining Armor. “That’s wonderful. Okay, I’m ready.”
“At last! Right – here’s the first spell.” Shining’s horn lit up and a burst of magic flew from it to Thorax.
The changeling shivered but did not resume his normal form. “That tickled!”
“Why didn’t you change?”
“Oh, I’m sure I would have if I hadn’t been braced for the spell. It would almost certainly work if a changeling was taken totally by surprise.”
“Not reliable then,” the unicorn decided. “Okay – spell number two.”
This time, a magic aura surrounded the changeling. He squirmed and gritted his teeth, but after about fifteen seconds, he was forced back to his natural form.
“Whew! That was a struggle,” Thorax declared. “You have strong magic, Prince Armor.”
Shining frowned. “It still took too long. Infiltrators would have time to hide before being forced to reveal themselves. Nevertheless, it works and can be useful. Ready for the final spell?”
“Let me finish my drink first, please.” Thorax did so and then resumed his colt disguise. “Okay, I’m ready.”
This was another burst-type spell. Thorax’s eyes closed and he slumped to the floor.
I jumped to my hooves and demanded, “What have you done to him?!”
Shining looked at me and said, “Calm down, Mark. It’s only a mild stun spell tuned to changeling physiology. We only had corpses to work with, so we weren’t sure how effective it would be.”
Thorax groaned just then and said, “Who turned out the lights?” He slowly straightened up before opening his eyes again. “Whoa! I don’t know what you did, but I wasn’t able to resist it for even a moment.”
Twilight asked, “Does the spell have any effect on ponies at all?”
Her brother shook his head. “We’ve tested it on all sub-species of pony with no detrimental results.”
“Haven’t you got anything that can just alert you that a pony is actually a changeling without knocking them out or forcing a change?” I asked.
“Why would we want to do only that?” Shining asked.
“Because from what we’ve learned, most changelings in our communities are merely love-harvesters, living peacefully among us. Why stir up unnecessary trouble?”
Shining frowned. “I think you’re being far too soft on them, Mark.”
“And I think your reactions are entirely too colored by your bad experience with Chrysalis. History is on my side.”
The stallion glared at me. “History shows in black and white that they invaded Canterlot, bewitched me, and imprisoned Cadance.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Thorax cringing. I stood up and returned Shining’s angry gaze. “Yeah, one crazy queen makes a power grab and that’s the sum total of your experience. The changeling species didn’t just pop up out of thin air to make your life miserable! They’ve been around for centuries, maybe even as long as there have been ponies, but there have only ever been unsubstantiated rumors of their existence until now. Why? Because they’ve coexisted with ponies peacefully all that time!”
“Or covered up every incident!” Shining yelled back.
“ENOUGH!”
Both of us were startled by Twilight’s authoritative shout. We looked at her to see an uncharacteristic frown on her face and her wings spread aggressively. When she saw that she had our undivided attention, she spoke up.
“Thank you for your defense of Thorax, Mark, but please sit down now. Shiny – you’re my big brother and I love you, but this is not your decision to make, so stop trying to undo everything I’m trying to do. I’ve already decided that we will be attempting to make peaceful relations between changelings and the citizens of Equestria and anything you have to say won’t change that. That may be difficult to achieve with Chrysalis, but what Thorax told me leads me to believe that other hives still exist. I’m going to try to gain their cooperation by appealing to their self-interest. Thorax is the key to all of this until we get more of his kind in talks with us, but we will have a hard time convincing them of our sincerity if all we do is either expose them or knock them out. If you really want to help, find a reliable way of discreetly identifying them to use in appropriate situations only. And stop harassing Thorax.”
Shining Armor gaped at Twilight, stunned by her forceful speech. Cadance poked him in the side and quietly said, “Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria has spoken, dear, and she is the higher authority here. I suggest that you park your plot and do as she commands.”
“Yes, Cady,” he replied in a subdued voice.
Just then, in the silence that followed, I heard several excited young voices approaching, and a moment later, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom barged into the room.
“Hi Twilight!” they chorused.
“Where’s Thorax?” Scootaloo added.
“There he is!” Bloom said, pointing to where he was standing.
“Come on! Time’s wasting!” Sweetie insisted.
“What? Just a moment!” Shining started to object.
“It’s okay, Shiny,” Twilight said. “The Crusaders are his friends.” She turned to Thorax with a smile. “Go have fun, but all of you please be back for lunch. We need to talk more and you promised me some testing time.”
Thorax nodded and started trotting towards his friends. “Thanks, Princess.”
“Just Twilight, please.”
“Are you going to just let him run off with those fillies?” Shining asked incredulously.
Before Twilight had a chance to answer, I spoke up. “Actually, that’s a good point. I think I’ll go with them.” The white unicorn gave me a surprised looked and the Crusaders looked less than pleased. I grinned reassuringly. “But I think Thorax should be in his natural form. It’s time we started turning him from the mythical ‘Kevin’ to a real person, and if I’m accompanying him, it will help reassure the citizens of Ponyville of his good intentions.” Yeah, I intended to make very good use of my reputation. Hey – I earned it!
Twilight smiled widely. “That’s a great idea, Mark, and I’m sure the Crusaders will help you with that.”
“Of course we will! He’s our friend!” Sweetie declared and her comrades backed her up.
Shining facehoofed and sighed. Cadance gave him a hug while winking at us. The mares had this under control.
“Come on, girls – we have work to do!” I told the fillies. They gave a cheer and high-hoofed Thorax who had reverted to his natural form, although still in foal-size to match the other Crusaders. That suited me – anything to make him look less threatening on his first day completely in the open.
It turned out that all those times that Thorax had accidentally let himself be seen as a changeling worked in our favor. Those who had glimpsed him or had heard of him were actually reassured that he was real and not a figment of overactive imaginations. As I predicted, my presence reassured most other ponies. The fact that virtually no Ponyville resident aside from the Element Bearers had experienced the invasion also helped. The most nervous ponies such as the Flower Sisters actually refrained from fainting, although I did miss out on my daily floral gift. A few of the bolder ponies stopped to talk with Thorax and a few even requested a transformation demonstration. The one that amused me the most was when Vinyl Scratch asked him to turn into a duplicate of herself and then posed for a photograph with her doppelganger whom she nicknamed ‘Wubsy’. None of us mentioned his Blue Agate alter ego because we felt he deserved the ability to be incognito on occasion, and it wasn’t as if nopony in authority knew of it. Of course, there were a few ponies who weren’t happy to have a changeling in town, but at least they didn’t cause any problems for us. By the time we returned to the castle for lunch, I was well satisfied that we had gotten changeling-pony relations off to a flying start. Give it a few more weeks, and the locals would probably take Thorax in stride, just as they had every other weird and wonderful thing that happened to this hotbed of outlandish events.
Because Thorax didn’t eat much in the way of physical food, he and Twilight left to do some test while the Crusaders and I had our midday meal. Cadance and Shining Armor joined us but they intended to head back to the Crystal Empire immediately afterwards. They had spent the time that we had been away talking with Twilight and the Element Bearers, discussing an approach for contacting other hives and what courses of action to take when other changelings came forth. I don’t know if Shining will ever be happy about their kind, but at least he had calmed down and was acting in a lot more reasonable manner.
Rainbow Dash surprised me by volunteering to take Thorax and the Crusaders out that afternoon, but she wanted to show her support for Twilight’s decisions, and the Element of Loyalty was not going to be found wanting.
Rarity said, “Besides, darling, this is supposed to be your weekend off too, and you and I are overdue for a little time together.”
Between the wedding, the bugbear, and Thorax, this weekend certainly had disrupted our usual routine. I gratefully accepted Rainbow’s offer and Rarity and I headed off into town. We had some shopping to do!
Later that afternoon after Rarity and I had parted, I sought out the Crusaders. I found them playing a game with Rainbow Dash, and by the sound of laughter, I judged that they were all enjoying themselves. I wanted to get in a bit of flying fun but it wasn’t time yet for the Crusaders to go home, so we compromised. Dash carried Scootaloo and I carried Sweetie and Bloom while Thorax flew solo, and we just enjoyed ourselves for a while. We paused on a cloud to rest for a few minutes and Scootaloo got off to walk about and stretch her legs. She seldom got the opportunity to cloud-walk, and it helped reassure her that she was not completely helpless as a pegasus. In spite of being able to fly, Thorax couldn’t cloud-walk because he was a common drone and not a love harvester – another reason why pegasi weren’t among his favored disguises – so Rainbow Dash allowed him to rest on her back. We all looked at the scenery for a while, admiring the beautiful village of Ponyville nestled in the valley against the low ranges.
“What do you think of your new home, Thorax?” I asked.
“I never knew it could be like this, Mark.”
“Like what exactly?”
“So many friends, so much fun, and so little hunger.”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “Hunger?”
“We’re always hungry in the hive. The queen portions out what the harvesters provide, but there’s never enough, but since I’ve been here with the Crusaders, I’ve eaten well. I didn’t know what it was like to be replete until the wedding.”
That was food for thought. Hunger could drive people to do things they wouldn’t normally do, and I wondered if that had anything to do with Chrysalis’ motivation for invading Canterlot. Not that I would ever agree with her methods or believe that she didn't have other motives too, but there were always other factors to take into account.
I think I would still be sitting there on the cloud contemplating such thoughts if Sweetie’s belly hadn’t rumbled.
“Seems like some fillies might be getting hungry now, Rainbow. I guess it’s time to head back.”
“Yeah, they’re not the only ones to work up an appetite,” the mare agreed.
“Woohoo! Last one back to the castle is a diamond dog!” Scootaloo cried as she leaped off the edge of the cloud, her wings buzzing furiously.
Rainbow Dash dived after the fearless filly as Thorax took to his own wings again. I followed at a slightly less urgent rate. While I knew I could catch the young pegasus with my magic, I had zero doubts that the prismatic mare would do so long before I would need to.
Steady Flight had our stuff packed and ready to go after dinner. I reverted to my normal form to say my farewells to everyone including Thorax. He watched raptly as I changed from pegacorn mare to pegasus stallion.
“Now I think I understand why ponies are fascinated by the way I transform after seeing you do it, Mark,” Thorax said with a grin.
“It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” I replied.
After hugs all around, I left for the station in the company of Steady and Crimson. I’m sure that we’d be talking a lot about my newest friend on the train ride to Canterlot, and perhaps the three of us will start conversations in that conservative city that will start modifying pony attitudes to changelings. Because even ponies can change.
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