//------------------------------//
// Day at the Museum - Part 1 
// Story: The King of Love Bugs 
// by NavelColt 
//------------------------------//

Thorax stepped through the museum entrance and into an archway, bottlenecked alongside ponies and changelings alike. A crisp wave of conditioned air rushed his nostrils, and a beckoning light shined so brightly that he winced briefly.

"Thorax, there's even more pony statues in here! Maybe this is where they make them!"

Two hooves clamped around his leg and jostled him. Thorax looked down to see Cimex shaking with enough energy to clear the roof off the building. He pointed at a carving made of marble, located in the room’s center. On it was a trio of ponies, one of each tribe, all gathered around a towering, waving flag that proudly sported Equestria’s crest. 

"'Courtship of Destiny'. A restored piece, from times immemorial. One of my favorites. I'm so glad it was chosen as the entryway article."

Celestia's narration guided Thorax. Unspoken words from indecipherable voices swam in his head as he looked closely at the relic. He was certain his taste buds had been fooled; a residue of love seemed to emanate from the cold stone. A window to a moment of glee and pride long forgotten.

Thorax blinked, and the moment was lost. Eager hooves heaved a familiar carapace up the statue's bulk, and anxiety erupted in his heart.

"Cimex, what are you doing!? Get down from there!"

Cimex, startled by the sudden reprimand, lost his grip. But just as weightlessness drew a gasp, he was wrapped in a familiar teal aura and safely retrieved. Caught and detained, he grimaced as he was levitated up in front of Thorax. Murmurs flooded the room, but Thorax didn’t hear them.

"You can't just go climbing things in here," Thorax implored with a frown. Cimex shied away, but a flare of magic turned the drone around. "I know you're excited, but you need to be respectful. We're guests."

"But I climbed the other statue!" Cimex pleaded, crossing his hooves. "Noling stopped me then, so why can't I now? The pony statues look like they're supposed to be climbed. Why would they shoot water to drink if you're not supposed to climb them, Thorax?"

"We are still unfamiliar with pony culture, Cimex. You can't make assumptions about things, especially in places like this. I let you guys have free reign of the garden because no one else was around, and I knew the princesses likely wouldn't mind. This is somepony's museum, and we're in public, therefore it's different. You have to be respectful."

Cimex pouted. Before Thorax could embarrass him any further, however, the slow clopping of a single pair of hooves sounded from behind the carving.

"Who could say that changelings are still heartless beasts after hearing such a thing. Such vigor and foalish wonder! I, for one, welcome you to Canterlot, King Thorax and company."

A middle-aged mare had greeted them. As she walked, top hats tipped and hooves bent slightly, but no response was as lovely as Celestia's. The newcomer found herself embraced within the sun monarch's wing, and they shared a few words of greeting.

"Thorax," Celestia said. "This is Mild Menagerie. She is the museum's curator and a dear friend of mine. It's all thanks to her hard work that we find ourselves here today."

"Oh, don't feed him that gibberish," Mild bantered. "I did nothing but offer a suggestion. She's the one who volunteered to assist me at early dawn these past few days to ensure the opening was ready in time for your visit. I can't imagine where she found the time."

"I have a few time spell tomes hidden away in the library. You don't know all my tricks yet."

"Oh, you wouldn't dare." Mild lightly jabbed a hoof against a snowy coat. "Think of what Luna would say. Think of what Sir Starswirl would say, now that he's returned.”

Celestia grimaced.

"I asked Mild if she would help give your subjects our tour today," the princess continued. "As familiar as I am with Equestrian history, I'm not yet familiar with the museum’s exact choices of presentation. Mild can help all of us truly appreciate what has been put together here."

Thorax jumped when he found his hoof gently lifted and pecked. Several changelings squished their cheeks and gasped at Mild Menagerie’s charming greeting.

"Ooh, oh, my. Thorax, I've seen this before on recon," remarked Xenica, climbing Thorax's shell to hiss in his ear. "I think she's proposing to you as a mate. Look out for a ring. You're committed after that."

Calor silently shrieked.

"Oh, m-my deepest apologies," Mild stammered, flustered. "You didn’t just finish explaining to this cute young lad about your unfamiliarity with pony culture in front of me! Clearly, I dropped my brain somewhere this morning. Just a respectful greeting you can find among the aristocracy, Your Highness."

Mild turned to the rest of the room. A distraught Calor decisively crouched, leaped, and clung to Thorax from behind.

"I will not judge anypony's feelings regarding the changelings, but no matter your current stance, know that we are living through history itself today." Mild stepped before the carving and addressed the room properly. "I've been told that the changelings are now fundamentally different in both body and mind from the creatures that once threatened our city. I've already witnessed all I need to know. I believe they deserve their chance to redeem themselves. I'll be escorting them today as they, too, learn all about Equestria's grand history. Please feel free to say hello during your visit. Thank you so much again for joining us for our grand opening, everpony!"

Though a few scowls remained, a greater wave of cautious welcome overtook the crowd. Before long, ponies went about their visit and explored at their leisure. Only the wide, enchanted gazes of foals remained, attached to the changelings by an insatiable curiosity.

Mild Menagerie drew the flock of drones to her, effortlessly taking the mantle of chaperone from Celestia. To their enthused bouncing and probing questions, she giggled and led them to a nearby exhibit.

Thorax let out a little sigh. It was getting awfully hot in here, all of a sudden. Then again, he did have an azure scarf to address.

"Calor, we can play bug pile some other time," Thorax said softly, gently patting the drone's head. "As glad as I am that you're following my expectations, I'm afraid I don't want you guys climbing me either, right now. I'm gonna need my mobility."

Blue ears wilted, but matching hooves obeyed all the same. Calor dropped to the lavish floor and darted seamlessly through hoof traffic to reach his friends.

For a time, Thorax merely stood and watched his charge explore the displays of history, fun facts, and vibrant artwork. Each new fixture was greeted first by Apidae, a ravenous sponge eager to learn about the world of ponies. Practically attached to her carapace, Xenica provided the occasional sarcastic downplay, offsetting every enthused comment Apidae could think of.

Mild Menagerie was like an epicenter for social gravitation, boasting three changelings by her side. Cimex, Labrum, and the freshly-arrived Calor attentively listened to her tangents. She babbled on about the first settlements in Equestria, but her eyes never stopped scanning for those not so cozy with her; such as Apidae and Xenica's self-guided tour ahead of her, and the straggler trailing behind her.

Clypeus brought up the rear, timidly meandering through ponies and tables with the presence of a discarded leaf in the wind. At one point, a bewitched pop-up of a mighty Black Dragon reared from a cardboard cutout of castle ruins, and it sent the adolescent spiraling, falling to the floor with a shrill chirp.

Papa Thorax bit his lip from afar and mentally weighed the implications of rushing to his side with a readied hug.

"I just love seeing their unique personalities," Celestia said suddenly. She awaited the inevitable head turn before continuing. "I always found the solidarity that Chrysalis demanded to be disheartening. It's a delight to see them embracing the world in their own ways."

Thorax simpered. "Princess Cadance said something similar. And, I've said that myself several times now. But thank you, Your Highness. It’s rather encouraging to hear it so much. I just hope we can show the rest of Canterlot what you've all seen in us."

Again, they walked side-by-side, shadowing Mild Menagerie's tour and absorbing the exhibits at their own pace. Mild's distant exposition offered insight on each display in advance, which Thorax quickly subscribed to. But whereas he entertained himself with the passing snippets of foreign history, Celestia was enchanted by a chance scene now playing out elsewhere.

A foal had bravely approached the changelings, unbeknownst to his distracted parents. A curious hoof prodded their shiny shells, and changelings turned to greet their fan. A surge of innate adoration pinged even Apidae from her scholarly pursuits and drew her to the foal, as well.

The foal's parents did take notice soon enough, after hearing their foal's giggling. Calor and Apidae were making silly faces for him, while the others offered welcoming grins. When the foal raised a tiny hoof for them, Apidae lightly pressed hers against it. And when he bounced and reared in excitement, Calor mirrored it with the same enthusiasm.

Once the foal's guardians retrieved him, Calor transformed and waved farewell as a sentient, stuffed lion toy. Held aloft by his mother, the foal's tiny hoof waved back in earnest.

Celestia beamed. Further laughter came, but not just from the foal. Uncertainty and caution had begun to melt away from each of his parent's faces, allowing them to join him in his glee.

"'A good heart, once nurtured, needs no guidance, for it will move mountains all on its own'."

The words were soft, but they pulled Thorax with more gravity than any white noise filling his ears. He locked eyes with Celestia and found something of equal parts mystique and joy.

"Princess...?"

"A quotation from my youth. Until just now, something I thought I'd forgotten. The changelings reminded me of it."

She looked for the young couple and their foal one last time, now glancing figures amongst the shifting crowd. With bodies stepping in and out of view, their shared bliss came in snapshot frames. The entrancing film ended when the father's tail turned a corner, but Celestia still stared.

"Allow me a compliment that you may have yet to hear, Thorax," she said. "You have clearly taught the changelings depths of kindness and empathy that only you could have taught them. I want you to know how impressed I am. I saw a glimpse of it, that day I visited you all in your hive. Today, I have the chance to watch it blossom, to watch them spread that kindness to others. You will win over Canterlot, Thorax. Not because of our assistance, or because of luck or circumstance, but because you are, without a doubt, the greatest thing to have ever happened to the Changeling Kingdom."

She paused. As Thorax's lip began to shiver and shake, she offered him a comforting hoof. But her offer was turned down. With a sudden sob by her ear, Celestia gasped in a moment of surprise before growing content in the same breath. Looks of shock and awe came at once from every corner, but she ignored them. Instead, she closed her hoof along a chitinous back, and for a moment, allowed the world to consist only of him.

"You know, I’d been hoping to get a hug from a changeling today," Celestia whispered. She gave a weak smile as he continued to sob, and enwrapped them both in a pair of angelic wings. "As a friend, a fellow monarch, and a proponent of peace, I must thank you for everything you've done for your kind, Thorax."



"Why doesn't anypony ever see the big picture? What I'm trying to do is create a world of fun and frivolity! Your rules are small, Twilight. You only see what's in front of you. I won't let you stand in my way."

Twilight touched the ground and pierced the sky again, a brilliant pink aura of magic her ethereal armor. She soared in an orbit around Discord. Her heart pounded and her mind raced, seeking an opportunity to counterattack. The draconequus's throne had become like dust in the breeze, a swirling mass of stone and fabric that now floated in the sky, surrounding him.

Her goal had been realized; his irreverent display had left the school's lawn. But now, all-out attack or defense was his to command, and she had but one chance to end this ridiculousness.

"If I can't stop a simple prank that disrupts my faculty event..."

Decision gripped her muscles, and so Twilight's body moved. The ominous cloud of matter shot out like tentacles ready to slam and pierce, but she evaded every blow. When a projectile nearly missed her chest, she slammed a hoof into its bulk and shot herself towards the sun. She arched in a slow curve before dropping like a stone, twisting her fall to further dodge incoming attacks. With clenched teeth, she pulled back a forehoof.

"...then how can I call myself a headmare, who looks after her entire student body!?"

The impact was a sonic boom. In an exchange of momentum, Discord's sickly visage was torn asunder, his mask ripped from his face as he plummeted to the grass below.

"That is the headmare I want to be!"

Starlight, observing the confrontation from a safe distance, could already feel her tongue drying, what with her jaw still hung open. She saw Twilight descend and stand over the small crater left in Discord's wake, where the villain laid in an apparent coma.

"What is even going on anymore?"



"Thorax, are you feeling any better yet?"

Thorax sniffed. From head to hoof, he found himself covered in changelings, each of them embracing him in whatever way they could. Like an emotional response team, they’d abandoned their tour to pounce upon him as soon as a tear had hit the floor.

Apidae was laid across her alpha's back, resembling a vivid mustard cape while anchoring herself around his neck with her hooves.

"There's no need to be upset. We're here to have fun, aren't we?" she asked, shooting glances at her assistants. Five colors replied with firm nods and squeezed Thorax tighter.

"I'm not upset," Thorax insisted, sniffing loudly once more. "I've just never received a compliment like that from anyone before, let alone a princess. And now, you guys are being so considerate over something so trivial on top of that. I'm just so-so shocked. And grateful."

A box of handkerchiefs wrapped in rose magic sailed through the air. Xenica, clutching Thorax's antler, reached out and retrieved it. She promptly offered him one before returning to her dutiful hug.

"If you need privacy, don't hesitate to speak up," Mild Menagerie declared. "When things get congested, it can help to step away and take a breath of fresh air. That goes for crowds and noses."

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly keep these guys from our visit," Thorax rebutted, smiling through his waterworks. As if to signal his recovery, he playfully poked changelings until, one by one, they willingly dropped to the floor. "We’ve barely gotten started. Let's continue. I was just caught off guard, that's all."

"The fault is all mine, anyway," Celestia admitted solemnly. "I'm afraid I sometimes let my sentimentality get the best of me. Though I meant every word, it might’ve been more productive to finish our tour first before dumping those thoughts on you, Thorax. I apologize."

True to Mild's advice, Thorax closed his eyes and labored a deep breath. When he opened them, the tears had vanished.

"Thank you for the concern, but you don't have to worry about me. I might overreact to things sometimes, but that doesn't mean they're negative responses. If you're overly sentimental, I'm definitely overemotional. That was so nice of you to say, Princess Celestia, I just-I didn't have anything to do but cry."

Changelings sat close to him, still attentive. Even when some started trotting about their immediate area, their eyes and ears would regularly return to Thorax, as if checking up on a vulnerable nymph.

"Besides, as you can see, the changelings are really attuned to my emotions." Thorax offered a hoof, and Labrum nudged it in passing. Another nudge then came from Clypeus, and Thorax sprung. The adolescent gave a series of chirps as he was given overdue hugs. "I can't even have a small panic attack without nearby changelings sensing it and coming to help."

"It's what he’d do for us," Apidae explained, teasingly batting at Clypeus's tail while he struggled for freedom. "Thorax likes to let his anxiety hold him back from things, sometimes. We've vowed to put a stop to it."

The drones exchanged hoof bumps, and Thorax let out a sigh.

"My heroes," he mumbled, rubbing a hoof along his head. Now with one hoof removed, Clypeus managed to pry himself loose.

"I'm curious. Can your every emotion be read?" Celestia inquired. Once again, she found herself watching a half-dozen changelings turn an unassuming spot into something warmer and inviting.

The deja vu would’ve been amusing if it didn't hold such meaning.

"It's nothing like telepathy, if that's what you're thinking-Calor, you are not a nymph. You cannot fit on my head."

Thorax winced as a tiny hoof stepped into his cheek anyway. Upon reprimand, there was a flash of blue light, a noticeable reduction of weight, and two coos from his female hosts.

Wonderful, Thorax thought. At least Calor was a quieter nymph than Apex.

"The changelings can sense what my emotion range is. Sadness, joy, anger, fear, and something we've just started calling 'urgency'. We still don't fully understand it, but I've come to notice a few things. It's not linked to thoughts, but the bodily response to powerful emotions. Tears when sad, that heat in your face when you're angry, or the fluttering in your chest when you experience fight-or-flight. I've come to learn that when I experience those things, any nearby changelings can, too."

"Noling else can do it," Xenica added. "I think it's his antlers. I bet they're emotion transmitters."

"So as the alpha changeling, you have an innate power to summon changelings without words," Celestia summarized. "And what about your brother? If it truly is related to antlers, would your brother not be able to accomplish this, as well?"

Thorax tilted his head in doubt. "Pharynx is...not the most expressive changeling. Fear, joy, and sadness aren't things he puts on display, which leaves anger and urgency. I've heard a few of his direct underlings express that they've felt something from him, but it hasn't been a consistent report. I guess that, if he does have the power, it's not as noticeable as with me."

"Well, his antlers are half the size of yours, Thorax," said tiny Calor. "You'd probably need to be a lot closer to feel his emotions, and we all know how Pharynx is with personal space."

The drones chittered.

"It would appear it's a power most utilizable by you, then, King Thorax. I've only known you for a handful of minutes, but it's already quite obvious that you seem to be very in touch with your emotions. Goodness, what a potentially useful power. Imagine what it could do for ponies."

Eyes turned to Mild Menagerie. "Well, now I just feel like I've failed you all as a tour guide! To think, here I am, learning so very much about you all, near the restrooms of this cultural achievement in pony history. Come, come, every...ling, is it? Everyling? Pardon my ignorance if that's not it. We still have so much to see, and only so much of Celestia's daylight to do so!"

Hooves stretched and stood, ready to continue. As the changelings huddled together for a moment, bombarding their alpha with hopes and requests for the day, Celestia turned to her friend.

"Mild, if I'm not mistaken, the next room contains several hooves-on exhibits."

Mild nodded with a smile. "You'd be correct. Not every exhibit is finished yet, and there are a few placeholder signs for unfinished exhibits, but the room still has plenty to offer."

"Sure to be a hit, given the nature of our guests. But I had a question about those placeholders. Would the curator and security team have an issue with any, let's say, impromptu exhibits?"

Mild smirked. "The curator and security team might inquire what our princess's idea is before responding."

Celestia tapped a hoof to her chin, eyeing the skylight. Her eyes slid to the changelings, who now patiently awaited their host's lead. Even Calor had resumed his regular size, having joined Apidae in observing Cimex, who had taken to scaling a drinking fountain.

"The princess in question cannot give details at this time, lest certain ears overhear, but no tables or fixtures would be required. Watercolor markers, some spare canvas, and maybe a few pieces of plywood would suffice."

Mild laughed. "I'm not sure what you have in mind, but knowing you, it's part of some grander scheme. I'll see if I can't secure a few supplies. I'll have you know, though, that I won't be doing any drawing or title making today or any other day. I can barely write my name in cursive, and that's good enough for me."

"Oh, I already have some helpers in mind," Celestia mused. "Though, I take umbrage with you belittling your skillset, Mild. Remind me to scold you on that later over tea."

The mares shared a mutual chuckle and rejoined their multi-colored troupe. Mild pranced ahead, drawing Thorax's attention.

With the alpha out of earshot, Celestia advanced and befell her shadow across two particular drones. They turned to her with bulbous eyes and uncertain, slightly hung mouths.

"Calor, Apidae," Celestia said, briefly sitting to meet with them. Upon their prompt and polite bows, she giggled and lifted each of their chins in succession. "How would you both like to help me with something? Think of it as a surprise for Thorax."

"A surprise?" Apidae repeated.

Celestia nodded. "The information Princess Twilight gathered from her visits with you has only recently been printed in book form, meaning our museum doesn't yet have a dedicated exhibit for the changelings, as they are now. I thought we could make one of our own, and show everypony just how much you've all changed."

Apidae raised a curious hoof.

"Oh, oh!" Calor exclaimed, bouncing in place. "Can I dance and play with more tiny ponies? Oh, princess, do you think any of them would like hugs? Thorax doesn't believe random hugs can make Canterlot ponies friendlier, but I beg to differ. Hugs make everyone happier, and happier and friendlier are basically the same."

Celestia's giggle grew, and she winked.

"Normally, I'd consider Thorax's word on the subject to be sage, but you know what? I agree. A nice hug certainly made me happier. No reason it couldn't do the same for somepony else, right?"