"Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight muttered to herself as she finally put her quill to parchment. "I hope you and everypony back in Canterlot are safe and well. Please know that my friends and I had a pleasant journey back to Ponyville. No incidents along the way." She paused here, then let out a long sigh before continuing her letter. "However, I regret to inform you that there was an unexpected hiccup once Spike and I returned to the Golden Oak. We had an uninvited guest here by the time we got back. It was a Changeling drone. Now, I realise that this will probably cause you a great deal of worry, but know that the situation is well in hoof. He did not attack us, and we quickly had him apprehended. But it appears as though his reasons for being here are, at least according to him, for non-malicious purposes. According to what we've learned from him, Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changelings who attacked Canterlot, lost her life at the hooves of her followers, and this lone drone has decided to offer his services to me, seeing me as largely responsible for his former leader's downfall. I realise this is a lot to put on you all at once, but I felt you needed to know. I eagerly await to hear your advice on how we should proceed from here."
Twilight lifted her parchment, looking over her words several times over, before taking in a deep breath to calm herself. Afterwards, she turned to Spike, who had only just managed to crawl out of his own bed, and was still rubbing sleep-dust out of his eyes before giving her a weak smile. "So...do I send it?" Seeing the nod she gave him, Spike carefully accepted the scroll, then took in a deep breath of his own. In a blaze of green fire, the parchment was magically transported out of the nearby open window, and would no doubt find its way to Princess Celestia soon. Giving himself a moment to stretch, Spike scratched his side as he looked back to Twilight. "So, how did you sleep?"
Twilight shook her head. "I wish I could say I slept well, but..."
Spike nodded, understanding. "I know the feeling. Hard to get rest when...you know..."
Twilight nodded, and together the two of them walked over to the edge of where they slept, looking down to those below. Two of her friends were still here after the events of last night. Applejack and Rainbow. One was asleep while the other kept their eyes firmly fixed on the newly-christened Thorax. As for the latter, he just sat quietly in the corner, as he had done since the end of their conversation. He was like a statute, un-moving, unblinking, never making even the slightest sound. It was somewhat unnerving, it had to be said, but to her credit, Rainbow, who was the friend still awake right now, did not look intimidated in the slightest. "I've got my eye on you, Thorax."
Thorax remained as emotionless as ever. "Yes, I can see that."
Through the corner of her eye, Rainbow could see Spike and Twilight descend, leading to a smile on her part. "Oh, you're up. Sleep well?"
Twilight smiled to her. "We did, thanks." Her smile grew. "And thanks for keeping watch last night."
Rainbow waved her off. "Pfft! No big deal! Me and AJ had this one in the bag. Oh, speaking of which..." She stepped over to where Applejack was sleeping, giving her a gentle nudge. "Yo! AJ! Time to get up!"
It took only a second for Applejack to rouse from her slumber, and she was on her hooves immediately. "Time fer mah shift already?" She saw Rainbow shake her head, pointing just past her, which prompted Applejack to turn and see that it was Twilight, leading to a smile on her part. "Ah! So, what's the move, Twi?"
Twilight sighed. "I've sent word to Princess Celestia. The ball's in her court now." She frowned as she regarded Thorax. "I imagine it won't be long before you're taken to Canterlot. After the invasion of the city it's likely you'll be questioned by our leaders."
Thorax's bore an utterly stony poker face as he heard that. "I have no intention of going anywhere unless my Queen commands me to do so."
Twilight groaned, giving herself a facehoof. "Ugh! Fine! Then I command you to go to Canterlot if Princess Celestia deiced that's where you're going."
Thorax gave a salute. "It will be done, my Queen!"
Rainbow chuckled, giving Twilight a quick nudge in the side. "You know, having a totally obedient drone around might be pretty useful." After seeing Twilight scowl at her, Rainbow looked a touch more nervous. "Um...not that you would of course...because that would be wrong."
Applejack arched an eyebrow to her. "Wow, smooth."
Shaking her head to all of that, Twilight stepped forward to look at Thorax up close. "I want to warn you right now, it's not likely that you'll be getting any kind of warm reception around other ponies right now. The attack on our capital has led a lot of us to be wary. Seeing another Changeling so soon might cause a stir."
Thorax nodded firmly. "I understand. But you needn't worry, my Queen. My kind are used to eliciting fear from others. If we did not, we probably wouldn't change our appearances so often."
The words had been so matter-of-fact that it took Twilight aback for a moment. For an entire people to just be used to having others fear them, and to the point where it no longer bothers them? That was not the most pleasant of notions. Even so, Twilight looked him over, considering their position. "It might make sense for you to do what you can to avoid causing a panic if we let you out and among other ponies."
Another nod from Thorax. "Ah, understood. You wish for me to go in disguise?" Without any further word coming his way, Thorax cleared his throat, then gave himself a quick stretch before concentrating. The others, knowing what was coming, took a single step backwards, and sure enough they looked on as their prisoner was engulfed in green flames. They were still new to this Changeling power, so it naturally held their attention until it was over. Within moments the flames had disappeared, and in the Changeling's place now stood a pony. An earth pony stallion to be precise, with light-blue fur and a short green mane. Looking himself over, thorax turned to Twilight. "Will this suffice?"
Even in spite of how serious she knew she'd have to be, Twilight couldn't help but smirk. "Might want to change the color of your mane. Rarity's not a fond of green up there."
Thorax quickly glanced up to said mane, then gave another nod before again covering himself in his flames. A second passed and, lo and behold, he now had a dark blue mane instead of green. Rainbow, tapping her chin, took on a more mischievous look, then stepped forward. "So...you can become anything?"
Thorax shook his head. "There are limits. Size, for instance, has to be something relatively close to what we already are. I couldn't transform myself into a hundred-foot dragon for instance."
Hearing that, Rainbow grumbled. "Nuts."
Shaking her head to her companions' behaviour, Applejack now added her voice to the matter. "Ah still don't take kindly ta Changelin's after all the trouble y'all have caused us...but aren't ya worried bout how the others might miss ya?"
Thorax looked to her with confusion. "Miss...me?" It took a moment, then realisation came to him. "Ah! Miss! The feeling of longing when someone or something of value to you is absent for a long period." He was oblivious to the amused stares he was getting from being so analytical about the whole thing, but those looks faded when he spoke his next words. "No, I don't miss them. There are no family bonds among Changelings as there are with ponies. Our only real relationship is our loyalty to our Queen." He grimaced as he looked to the side. "Unless that Queen fails, as you know."
Applejack, understandably, didn't look like she was fond of that position. "Yeesh, no family? No friends? No...no love?"
Thorax looked back to her, raising an eyebrow of his own. "My kind feeds on love, pony. We may imitate the feelings of love towards another in an effort to coax that emotion out of the other, but we cannot feel it ourselves." He pointed to her. "Do you feel a piece of fruit, or do you just eat it?"
Now, as an apple farmer, Applejack naturally wanted to come up with some sort of counter, but sadly she wasn't able to think up one, hence her embarrassed look right now. Twilight, for her part, looked to Thorax with what could only be described as sympathy. "I'm sorry your people don't have those things in their life. It must have been a difficult existence."
As always, Thorax simply shrugged to the remark. "It was no bother for us. One cannot call it difficult if we do not feel discomfort from it after all."
The more he spoke, the less the ponies knew how to feel about him, as clearly evidenced by the uncertain looks the mares now gave one another. As for Spike, who had been patiently standing to one side for the time being, he looked to Thorax carefully, then stepped forward. "So...you're willing to just do whatever Twilight tells you?"
Thorax looked down to him. "Within reason. The Queen of a hive must command in a way that benefits that hive. If she were to ask me to, say, expose myself and cause a panic, that would cause serious problems for both her and those around her, thus bringing into question her validity as a leader."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Gee, no pressure then." Then, before she had the chance to say anything further, she was distracted by a very familiar rumbling sound coming from Spike, causing a smile to come to her. "Ah, earlier than expected." And sure enough, Spike burped forth some green flames, which inevitably formed into another scroll. Using her magic, Twilight took hold of the parchment, unrolling it and giving the first few lines a quick look. "It's from Princess Celestia."
Spike, recovering from his expected belch, looked to her with curiosity. "So...what are we doing with him?" he asked while gesturing to Thorax.
Twilight's eyes drifted over the words of the parchment, then she took a few steps away before finally speaking up. "To my faithful student, Twilight. I am pleased to hear you have your troubling situation under control. It was something of a shock to me to discover that a Changeling had come to you. As you no doubt expected, this is a serious matter, and one that I intend to involve myself with personally." Twilight paused, glancing up from the scroll briefly. "Personally?" Again, she continued reading. "Please keep your guest under watch until I arrive. There is still much to be done here in Canterlot after the recent invasion, but I will be there in Ponyville as fast as I can. Until then, stay safe. Yours, Princess Celestia." Scrolling up the parchment, Twilight set it to one side, then looked back to Thorax. "Well, you heard her. She's coming here herself to speak to you."
Thorax didn't seem fearful, and in fact spoke as though everything were perfectly fine. "What shall I expect with this visit?"
Twilight sighed. "The only thing I can guarantee is that questions will be asked. Princess Celestia will need to know as much as she can about your people. Like how many others are still here in Equestria."
Thorax shrugged. "I'm not sure how much help I can be, but if it is your command that I answer her, then I will carry out that command to the best of my abilities."
Twilight accepted his cooperation with a nod, then looked to her friends. "There's no telling how long it'll be before Princess Celestia gets here, so until then, Thorax doesn't leave the Golden Oak."
They all nodded back to her, with Rainbow resuming her earlier position of staring right into Thorax's eyes. "You heard her! I'm watching you, bub!"
Thorax, seeing the intent she looked to him with, just stared back at her with his usual blankness. "Yes...I can see that...again."