//------------------------------// // Deliberating // Story: Meeting His Heroes // by origami //------------------------------// Thorax was seated in the hallway outside the dining hall. On the other side of the door was Princess Cadance and the six mares who inspired him to find a new way to live in Equestria, though he ultimately found it here in the Crystal Empire. The princess was attempting to convince them, as well as a new student taken on by Twilight Sparkle, to meet him face to face. He had no idea if she would succeed, but she had assured him that she could. As he sat, his hooves fiddled with a necklace around his neck. Attached to it was a hexagonal medallion; his ID badge. One side had the emblem that meant changeling, but the other had the number "001" embossed into it. This had actually been at Thorax's insistence; if there were more changelings that chose to find a new way to live and wound up in the Crystal Empire, then they could be given similar ID badges with different numbers on them. Of course, the idea of more changelings appearing in the Crystal Empire had startled the leaders a good bit. Shining Armor was almost convinced that Thorax was the beginnings of another invasion, but was swayed when the changeling said he only wanted it as a possibility, even admitting himself that the proposed scenario may very well never play out. Thorax's fiddling hooves stopped when he heard the door to the dining hall open. Out of it stepped Princess Cadance, who looked a bit disappointed for some reason. "Are they willing to meet me?" he cautiously asked. Cadance let out a sigh. "I'm not sure, Thorax" she admitted honestly. "I told them about you and your reasons for coming here. They asked me to give them the room so they can discuss the idea among themselves. I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more certain than that." Thorax looks down at the floor dejectedly, clearly disappointed that he wasn't as readily accepted as he had hoped he would be. "It's okay, your highness" he responds. "You've already done more for me than I could have ever expected you to." "It still feels like I haven't done enough" she says as she walks over to me. "Thorax, you took a big risk when you came here initially. What happened at my wedding is something that all of Equestria will have a hard time putting behind them, and if there are any ponies that have the most right to hold a grudge against your kind, it would be my husband and myself." "However, we made a decision to look past that day and the many horrible things that happened then. We took a chance and decided to give you the opportunity to prove to us, as well as the citizens of this empire, that you were true to your word, and you have proven yourself to be the stallion you said you are." "You are worthy of the love and friendship you have come here to seek out. You've shown that to my subjects, my husband, and myself. Now, I would like to show that to all of Equestria, starting with these mares that inspired your journey to begin with." Thorax took in everything the princess told him and smiled. "I'm glad that I decided to come here" Thorax told Cadance. "You're the best ruler anypony or changeling could ask for." Cadance thanks him for his praise and takes him into a hug. Meanwhile, looking through a slightly cracked open door was Princess Twilight, looking on in shock as she watched her sister in law embrace one of the very creatures that tried to ruin the second most important day in her life. "Well, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked her. Twilight very gently shut the door and faced her friends. "It's true" she finally answered. "There's a real changeling out in the hallway." "Then what are we waiting for?!" Rainbow exclaims as she makes a rush for the door. Before she gets to it to open it, magenta magic grabs her and moves her back away from it. "Hey!" the cyan pegasus calls out, then takes notice of the magic and looks at Twilight with disbelief. "What gives?!" Twilight places Rainbow back onto the ground. "What gives is that what Cadance told us is the truth. He has one of those things that she showed us a moment ago around his neck, and listening to the conversation that he and Cadance were having, it sounded like he was disappointed that we didn't just agree to meet him right away." "Well of course he'd be disappointed if he couldn't get to ponies to feed on!" Rainbow shouts with indignation. A sudden bolt of blue magic suddenly strikes Rainbow in the flanks, causing the hovering mare to fall to the ground and rub at the affected area. Rarity, whose horn had been alight a moment ago, released her magic and cleared her throat. "While I can't say that I have a favorable opinion of the changelings after what happened in Canterlot, I can say that it is rather rude of us to deny a request from Princess Cadance, especially after she has invited us all up here at her own expense." "Ahm not one for being rude to royalty," Applejack interjects, "but I gotta side with Rainbow on this one. How do we all know that that changelin' isn't pullin' some mind control foolery on the princess in an effort to get to us?" Twilight looks around at her friends before taking a breath and returning to her seat. "I know that Canterlot is still quite fresh in our memories," she begins, "but that was, as far as we know, the one and only time we've interacted with changelings. Whose to say we haven't encountered them before and they were rather benign in their behavior, or perhaps even nice?" Rainbow looks at Twilight with disbelief. "You can't be serious right now?!" "I am" Twilight responds, then she uses her magic to produce a photo. On it is the donkey couple Matilda and Cranky in wedding clothes. "Do you all remember the wedding between Cranky and Matilda?" she then asks her friends. The six mares look at each other and give nods in reply. "Well, we were all busy dealing with that bug bear that day, so none of us got to go to the wedding. I was told that everything had went off without a hitch, despite the fact that so many different things went wrong beforehoof. In spite of how successful the wedding was, I was told of one rather concerning thing." As she said the last part, the picture then changed. In this one, the photographer had captured a changeling drone sitting on a chair looking ahead at the wedding party. The six mares all looked at each other in shock. "You mean to tell me," Rarity says slowly, "that there was a changeling at Cranky and Matilda's wedding, and nopony did anything about it?!" "I didn't believe it either, especially since the only ponies that could confirm it were foals. Everypony else dismissed the claim as a prank and ignored what was actually a serious issue. The changeling disappeared shortly after the wedding, so there was no way to capture and question it." "My point of telling you all that is that nopony at the wedding was hurt, or showed the signs of having been drained of love. If there really was a changeling at Crank and Matilda's wedding, then it behaved itself and didn't cause any trouble." "C'mon Twi!" Rainbow exclaims impatiently. "Get to the point!" Twilight gives Rainbow a disapproving glare but doesn't say anything in regards to it. "My point is that it's entirely possible that the changelings are not all monsters out to hurt us. If that is truly the case, then I think we should try and be open to the idea of there being individuals among them that don't want to cause harm." The mares sitting around the table all take what Twilight has told them into consideration, except for one. "As if!" Rainbow declares indignantly, but quiets down after Twilight gives her another glare, this time backed up by magic. When she's certain the pegasus has gotten the message and quiets down, she turns to face the rest of her friends. The remaining five mares are all thinking about what Twilight has proposed to them. Starlight looks to be thinking a little bit harder than the other four. "You seem to really be thinking this over" Twilight observes. Starlight, who had been looking down at the table, looks up at her friend and mentor. "Hearing about what happened at Canterlot had painted a pretty bad picture in my mind about what the changelings are. Now that I'm hearing about one that wants to turn over a new leaf and have actual friends, it started making me think about where I was and how far I've come since then." "Back then, I was upset, and I blamed cutie marks for all my problems. Then when you confronted me after the whole time travel debacle, you convinced me to give friendship another chance, despite all the pain I'd caused." "Now, I hear this about a changeling wanting to be friends with ponies and not steal love. It reminds me of what happened with me, and... I think I want to give him a chance." The other five mares gasp a little upon hearing Starlight declaring her willingness to hear this changeling speak. Immediately, the other mares, except Rainbow, begin thinking over what the lilac unicorn has just told them. In a rather surprising display of confidence, Fluttershy speaks first. "I-If Starlight is willing to hear him out," she begins, "then I guess I'm willing to as well." The other three mares can hardly believe what they had just heard. Bolstered by their shy friend's new display of confidence, Pinkie smiles rather happily. "I hope he likes parties," she declares, "because if he wants to be friends, then that means I can throw him a party!" Grimacing a little, Twilight decides to temper her friend's flame a bit. "Maybe we should ask him if he's okay with parties before throwing him one?" she proposes. Pinkie stops for a moment before nodding. "Okay!" Rarity, who has been watching quietly, appears reluctant to agree with her friends. "What's wrong, sugarcube?" Applejack asks her. "I don't know what to think of all of this" she admits to everypony. "I remember the horrible things that the changelings did, but a part of me feels like it's my responsibility to give a chance to this creature, even in spite of all that's happened. I guess I'm just feeling rather conflicted about all of this." "That's understandable" Twilight responds. "None of us thought we'd be put into this situation when we woke up this morning. But, all of us represent the Elements of Harmony, the forces that help create and strengthen friendship and unity in Equestria. It's our unspoken duty to do everything we can to embody those traits in our everyday lives." "I can't tell anypony what to do, but I think you should all reflect on your elements and go with your gut on what you should do to stay true to those ideas in this moment." Applejack and Rarity, the two undecided members of the group, take what Twilight has told them to heart. Hearing what she needed to hear, Rarity makes up her mind. "Being the holder of generosity, it would be very selfish of me to withhold the opportunity for a creature whose life we've impacted so greatly a chance to meet us face to face. So, I agree with Starlight, Fluttershy and Pinkie. I will join them in meeting this changeling." Applejack and Rainbow Dash sit in silence. Rainbow sported a scowl and said nothing. Applejack appeared lost in thought. All eyes were divided between the two undecided ponies. After another few moments, Applejack let out a breath. "I can't say I'm in favor of this idea," she begins, "but I know that I should trust mah friends, and I do trust all of ya. I guess I'm gonna meet this feller too." Rainbow Dash looked around the room, shocked at everypony so readily agreeing to having a changeling in the room with them. "Are you all crazy?!" she shouts at all of them. "Did you all forget what fighting them was like?! How confusing it was when they changed into each of us and had us in fear we were fighting our friends?!" "Ain't none of us forgot, sugarcube," Applejack responds, "but if this one really is tryin' ta make amends, then maybe we oughta hear him out." "I can't believe this!" Rainbow Dash scowls at her friends. "Rainbow, nopony hear is going to forget about what happened in Canterlot that day," Twilight tells her, "but if there is ever any hope of making some kind of peace, then we have to put things behind us. Wounds never heal if we keep picking at the scabs." "Then how come we haven't heard an apology before now?!" Rainbow retorts. "If this changeling is so sincere about wanting to be friends with us, why hasn't he apologized before now?!" Twilight then gives her a stern look. "Maybe because nopony would give him a chance before now." Rainbow continued to look at Twilight with a scowl, and the two engaged in a staring contest for some time. Eventually, the cyan pegasus had lost her patience for staring down the purple alicorn. "Fine!" she declares while throwing her hooves up into the air. "Bring him in so he can meet all of us!" With that said, she floats back down into her chair and crosses her hooves over her barrel. Twilight wants to chew her friend out for her attitude, but Applejack stops her before she does so. "Twi, I think that's the best yer gonna get outta Dash right now, so maybe just take what ya been given?" The purple pony mulls over the suggestion from her friend before nodding. "You're right" she replies before shooting a glare at Rainbow. "I shouldn't expect anymore from her right now." Cadance and Thorax had been sitting outside the dining hall for several minutes as they listened to what the princess hoped was just a heated debate and not full blown arguing. Thorax, however, was fully aware of the mood in the room due to his changeling senses. There was a great deal of confusion among the group, which eventually shifted to what he could only describe as resolve, but there was also a constant emitting of anger from one pony in particular. Aside from the fact it made him nervous, the negative emotion also made Thorax feel a bit ill. "Are you okay, Thorax?" Cadance asked him. "Y-Yeah" he replied. "It's just that there's a pony in there that's really upset, and it's kinda making me not feel so good." A retching in his stomach caused him to cover his mouth and do his best to fight off the urge to vomit; changeling puke was not easy for even changelings themselves to clean. Cadance looked on him with pity. "I don't know if they'll be effective, but I do know some spells to help with being nauseated. Would you like me to try one?" Thorax waves her off as he recomposes himself. "I appreciate the gesture, your highness, but it's nothing I haven't dealt with before. I'll be fine." Cadance frowned but did nothing further. Even after having spoken fairly regularly for the past two and half months, she still knew only so much about changelings. As far as anything about his health went, she would have to defer to him. The princess and changeling were interrupted in their conversation by a knocking on the door to the dining hall. Princess Cadance gave Thorax a smile as she approached the door. Opening it, she poked her head inside. Thorax, who was now recovered enough to not be in immediate danger of throwing up, stayed where he was, not wishing to potentially exacerbate any lingering fears that the ponies in the room likely still have about changelings. After a short exchange of words, Princess Cadance looks to Thorax with a smile on her face. "You can come in now, Thorax."