//------------------------------//
// A Moment To Reflect 
// Story: The Equestria Chronicles: Journey Through The Crystal Mountains 
// by Slippin_Sweetie 
//------------------------------//

The wind and frost battered against the small wagon, blasting through the heavily damaged rear of the carriage. The remnants of the burnt curtains that covered her windows billowed in against the draft. No matter how tightly Trixie curled into a ball, no matter how much she bundled herself inside her cloak and hat, she couldn't warm herself.

Slowly, the unicorn sat up and looked around at her once beautiful abode. Everything had been wrecked, her hammocks had been turned to ash, and what little food provisions she had were lost in the chaos of running through the city. The little she had left was a bag of peanuts and maybe a canteen of water if she looked hard enough.

Peering out of one of the shattered windows, Trixie watched as the snow hailed from above. They would be trapped beneath a cold white prison if they didn't move soon. They had only stopped out of exhaustion, but the chill made rest difficult. Luckily they had stopped near the face of a cliff, allowing the wagon to be somewhat shielded from the worst of the weather.

"Well... this is just great." Trixie hissed out. "I wasn't exactly planning a holiday tour." if they didn't freeze to death, she would kill Starlight herself. She had wanted nothing to do with this in the first place, and now she was a criminal! At the very least, the prince and his officers must have heard Trixie claiming her innocence, so perhaps she might have some lee-way in that regard...

Starlight had been lying on the floor during the entirety of the trek, out cold,  just barely moving a muscle in her sleep. She had just been able to move the cart from a snowbank when she first landed on the mountain after her duel with Twilight.

One of the last things she did, or rather instructed, was to follow the map she gave to Thorax and not touch her things. The young changeling took the orders without faltering. He looked up at his traveling companion as he shape-shifted into something warm and small enough to fit in the already cramped cart. A lovely fluffy rabbit.

Thorax offered a buck-tooth smile in his new form, "It's not so bad; I've never seen so much snow or been up a mountain with friends before….do you think Starlight will be okay? She hasn't moved in hours…."

Trixie rolled her eyes at the rabbit, wrapping her thin cape around herself as tightly as possible, attempting to keep the cold at bay, "Who cares? She could freeze, and nothing would be different. I'll have to wait years before ponies forget who I am! Well... maybe I could dye my coat and mane... Oh, that would never work. Trixie is too beautiful and recognizable for a color swap!"

Thorax raised his brow at the boastful showpony, "Right… you're so famous..."

"Exactly! Please, you don't have to sing my praises. I know you've heard of me." Trixie smirked, closing her eyes.

Turning to Thorax, the showpony sighed, "Couldn't you at least turn into something warm? Like a blanket, perhaps? Or maybe a dragon... no, wait, I don't want anything else burning up in here!"

Thorax smirked at the suggestion of turning into a dragon, "I can be anything. I'm a changeling; we adopt the physical properties of anything we transform into. Pretty interesting stuff, right? Now, about that blanket..."

"Huh, anything? So why don't you just turn into an alicorn and take over Equestria? Oh wait... your queen already tried that, didn't she?" Trixie tapped a hoof to her chin in thought before shaking her head. 

Thorax sighed, "We take the physical attributes of something. If I transform into a stone, I'm hard as a stone. But if I transform into an alicorn, I could fly, but I don't get alicorn magic."

"Pffft, well, that explains why you didn't just invade with an army of alicorns..." Trixie mumbled.

Hopping over to Trixie, Thorax would stand behind her before wrapping his little arms around her torso, slowly transforming himself into a giant fluffy blanket. The  unicorn froze as the changeling hopped around her back before slowly relaxing as she was blessedly covered from the cold.

"Finally, you turned into something useful." the showpony tightly wrapped the changeling blanket around herself, trying to ignore how strange the concept was.

After pausing for a moment, Trixie decided to ask a question to avoid any more awkwardness, "So... why exactly did you leave the hive?"

As Trixie tugged the blanket around herself, Thorax's face appeared on her left leg as he slowly looked up at her, "Oh, well... it's a long story, but, hey, we have time to talk at least… where do I begin…."

"I participated in the invasion of Canterlot when Queen Chrysalis tried to take over. But to be honest, I'm not much of a warrior or soldier like my brother. So I stayed back, but I saw something I had never seen before in my life. I saw Twilight and her friends' friendship. The fact they trusted each other and stood up to an entire army made me realize that there's more to life than just… feeding."

"It made me wonder if there was something beyond the hive, and so, I left. I snuck out late at night, and I never looked back since… and after of few months of starving and living on the streets (or storm drain) I met you guys, and now I understand what it's like to have friends. It's like…." Thorax paused as he collected the words in his head, "It's… kinda scary, a little obnoxious, but it has some decent ideas and a good goal in mind. I know friendship can't be easy like most things, so I'm just biding my time… not like I could do much else than say, be executed by the hive."

Listening to Thorax, Trixie couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for the bug. He had been raised in a society that preyed on others, while all he wanted to do was live in harmony. In that sense, she could understand. Trixie always wanted a friend, yet it seemed she always scared ponies off.

But when he began to speak about his views on friendship, Trixie couldn't help but laugh.

"Puh-lease don't tell me you're still listening to that weirdo." Trixie poked a hoof out from under the Thorax-Blanket to point at the wagon where Starlight was. "We wouldn't be in this situation if not for her! You do know what a cult is, right? It's only slightly less worse than your hive. I wouldn't take any sort of advice from somepony like that." 

"Also... why didn't you just turn into a pony and start a new life? It can't be that hard. You guys bushwack and pretend to be ponies all the time. Just kidnap a foal and pretend to be them for a bit if you're really hungry."

Thorax sighed, "Because I don't want to live a life where I do nothing but take from others, I want to give; I want to be valued. Not as a drone to serve the changeling queen, but a friend that someone will think of if they need help, advice, or want company with."

"Starlight isn't perfect, but at least she gave me a chance when nopony else would…. I'm sure with enough time, we can uh….assess the less glamorized part of Starlight's thinking and convince her that maybe seeking the destruction against the princesses and burning a city isn't a good way to spread the message of unity."

Trixie scoffed as she shuffled in the blanket, "I'm not saying you'd have to do that forever, but if you're starving and don't have many options, you have to do what's necessary to live." The showpony rolled her eyes. "Geez, sometimes if you're desperate, you have to do bad things for a good reason. But..." 

She glanced over at Starlight, "Some ponies do things they think are good but turn out to be very, very bad..."

"Is that what you really think she's doing? Thorax, there is no greater message; she just wants revenge against Twilight Sparkle!" Trixie kept down the urge to shout, not wanting to wake the other unicorn. 

"I should know. I went down that path myself... nearly kept an entire town as my slaves. Trust me; I can recognize a kindred spirit... of sorts." Trixie couldn't deny her begrudging respect for the lilac unicorn.

"Honestly, I would be a better changeling than you... at least if I was a changeling, I wouldn't have been kicked out of that school..." the showpony mumbled quietly to herself.

He'd perk up at the mumbling as she gave the unicorn an intrigued look, "Is that the school you boast about? What was it like? I've never been to a school."

Sighing, Trixie slumped down a little and looked up at the ceiling, "Ugh... I shouldn't have opened my mouth. Oh well, we might die up in these mountains, and it's not like you are going to go flapping your gums to anypony either."

"Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns is a very sought-after academy. Only the most talented unicorns may enter. Twilight Sparkle, as you might know, attended. As did her brother Shining Armor, and Princess Cadance, when she was older. I was enrolled when I was very young; my mother had just enough bits to pay for the entrance exam."

"Usually, I would say I passed that test with flying colors, but to be honest... I barely scraped by. The only thing that kept me from not even attending that school was a trick I learned... off the back of a cereal box. A simple slight of hoof trick, but it appeared to them as if I had teleported an object across the room."

"The school was a dream; everything was paid for. I can say I truly did love it there. But there were two problems: one, I was terrible at magic, and two, nopony liked me."

Trixie flipped her disheveled mane, "Most of the ponies there were from very, very old and wealthy families. The name Lulamoon meant nothing to them, and to those who didn't care about my status... well, I wasn't exactly the friendliest pony either."

"I've never been good at magic; I'll admit that. I can manage simple levitation magic, but beyond that learning, anything else is neigh impossible. I tried actually teleporting one of my roommate's cats, and well... let's just say they weren't my roommate anymore."

"When final exams came up, I really tried to focus and try to learn something that would impress the professors. The night before our final presentation, I found out one of my classmates was doing the exact same spell I was studying... that's when I freaked out a little...."

"In the middle of my presentation, I kind of just... winged it and completely flubbed up the entire thing. Half of the auditorium was filled with smoke, and I was kicked out the following day. They tried to be nice about it, but I knew they were relieved they could finally be rid of me. After that, I stole a wagon from the school's stable and hit the road."

Trixie blinked, awkwardly realizing she had gone into far, much more detail than she had initially intended, "... Other than that, the school lunch was good... and I was the best at talent shows." 

Thorax blinked as his eyes shifted upward at Trixie. A mix of awe, sorrow, and amusement was painted across his mouth and eyes, ".....Thank you for telling me that, Trixie."

"And maybe you're right; maybe Starlight might just spruce up the fact that she wants to destroy Twilight Sparkle with pleasantries. But I really do believe that ponies and changelings can be friends. I mean…look at us."

Trixie shifted uncomfortably at the staring, looking away from the blanket and towards the wooden panels of the wagon.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call each other friends. I mean, we did just meet. But... you aren't the worst. I guess I don't need to bring out the fly swatter." she snickered good-naturedly, "But seriously, don't fall into her weird delusions of grandeur. I should know."

Thorax rolled his eyes, "I think you should give her a chance that nobody gave you. Like me, nopony else would until she met me. Not even you did until you were practically forced to. I think she just needs somebody to give her a chance and be a friend."

Trixie scoffed at the changeling's idealist attitude,  "She roped you and me into this mess, and now they're probably going to send the guard up to get us. She attacked a princess, Thorax. What would the hive have done to you if you attacked the queen? I only fought with that little purple twerp when she was a unicorn like me. No way in Tartarus am I getting arrested for assaulting a monarch." Trixie huffed indignantly, "And in my defense, you were sitting in the sewer drain. What was I supposed to think? Didn't anypony ever teach you not to talk to strangers?"

"Storm drain," corrected Thorax before sighing, "Let me ask you a question, Trixie. What if somepony at that magic school of yours decided to give you a chance and been your friend? How differently do you think your life would have been if you had somepony to help you study magic or just listen to you talk about your problems?"

Trixie looked away, unsure how to answer that question. It wasn't as if other ponies didn't try, and for lack of trying on her part either. She just seemed to be too abrasive for regular ponies to get along with.

Thorax paused for a moment, "....What Starlight did wasn't right, but without you and her, I would've starved to death. Because nopony would've helped me or given me a chance. Now I have to return the favor; it's the only way to pay it forward."

Turning her head to look down at Thorax, the showpony sighed, "Fine, just promise me you won't follow her if she does anything too... extreme. I'm still debating on leaving... if she'd even let me."

"I'm not going to help her hurt other creatures if that's what you mean...." Thorax shifted a bit as he shivered, "I think that now that we're away from all of them, we can just focus on other things... like surviving..."

Thorax slowly flopped on the floor as he shifted into his regular form, "I'll keep pulling us; you just read the map. You can do that for me, right?"

Trixie seemed to relax a little bit, giving him a small nod. She reluctantly let him go as he slid away and changed back, already feeling the chill returning.

"A-Are you calling me stupid?" Trixie chattered out of habit before pulling a face, "Yeah yeah, I can do it... just don't slip us down a hill."

Thorax climbed out of the wagon as his hooves sunk into the soft pillowy snow. Shivering, he'd quickly trot through the thick frosty haze that obscured his vision before reaching the front of the cart. The changeling took a deep breath before turning himself into a giant bear and attaching the wagon to himself.

He'd quickly start clawing and pulling his way through the ice and snow, carefully moving the wagon as he squinted his eyes to see the whiteness in front of him. He just needed to move forward one step at a time.

Scooting to the front of the wagon, Trixie would barely peer through the window to see anything ahead of them. Pulling out the map, she directed him forward, anxiety building as she hoped she wasn't leading them off a cliff.

The wind howled as it cut through the mountains as they trekked the narrow path; the snow kept pouring onto them. The frosted wind sliced through their coats like butter, "The storm is too bad! I can't see anything in front of my face! We'll have to wait til' it clears up!" Thorax yelled over the shrieking winds.

Trixie felt her anxiety getting worse as the gale began to rock the wagon back and forth. Considering how bad it was getting out there, they needed to find some sort of shelter before they had to use the wagon as firewood.

Looking out the window, Trixie's eyes widened as she thought she saw something. She wasn't sure, but she thought it looked like a break in the rock wall.

"Over there! I think there's a cave!" the showpony shouted, pointing in the direction she thought it had been.

Thorax quickly turned toward the direction of the assumed-to-be cave as he and Trixie clawed their way toward their salvation.

As soon as they were inside, they were blessedly covered from the howling wind. While the cave wasn't extensive, it was just enough to park the wagon inside and leave just enough room for them to sit down on the cold stone floor.

Stepping out from the wagon, Trixie took a few pieces of wood and tossed them on the cave floor, gesturing to the changeling. "Well? Make with the dragon-ing and light us a fire, will you? I might still have a can of beans in there... somewhere."

Thorax sighed as he swiftly transformed into a small purple and yellow dragon, approaching the wood pile on the ground. He'd slowly puff a fiery breath that quickly ignited the wood.

Quickly shifting into himself again, Thorax rubbed his stomach, "Speaking of food, I'm getting kinda hungry again…." He'd slowly look up at Trixie as his snake-like tongue slipped and flicked the cold air expectantly.

Sticking her head into the wagon, only Trixie's back legs kicking into the air were visible as she searched, "Seriously? How often do changelings need to eat? Trixie is used to being loved, not the other way around."

Popping back out and hopping to the ground, the showpony levitated a simple pot and a can of brown beans. Dumping the contents of the can into the pot. She sat down by the fire and hovered the pot over the licking flames.

Thorax huddled by the fire as he extended his hooves toward the flames, "We're always hungry; the gnawing feeling of desiring more love is something that makes a Changeling a Changeling."

Trixie wrinkled her nose, "That sounds terrible, feeling like you're starving all of the time... and you can't eat pony food?" She gestured to the beans she was preparing, "What kind of love do you need, anyways? Does it matter what kind?" she asked curiously, adjusting her cape, so she wasn't resting her flank on the cold ground.

He sighed, "I told you, remember? True love. An undying and unconditional love you have for something or someone. Magic like ours isn't easy for us to do. It's physically taxing to turn your whole body into a completely different creature."

"Yeah yeah yeah. I was just wondering if passively liking something worked for you, like a snack or something." the showpony waved her hoof, rolling her eyes.

Thorax shook his head, "Trust me, we would've decided to steal your food supply than your love a long time ago if we could eat normal food." he'd slowly hold his stomach, "Yeah…you can really only be satisfied for so long…use your magic a couple times, and you'll be starving again."

He'd slowly look over to the cart as his expression softened, "Do you think Starlight's okay? She looked exhausted after flying over here…."

Turning to look at Starlight, she sighed, "Listen, if you want to go check on her, you're welcome to, but I'm sure she's fine. Probably burnt herself out using all that magic at once... honestly I can't believe she got away from Twilight Sparkle..."

Stirring the pot of beans, she glanced back over to Thorax, "All she needs is some rest to recharge; trust me, magic depletion isn't pleasant, but she'll live."

Thorax tapped his hooves against the cold rock as he quietly hissed before looking back to Trixie, "How long does it take to uh…recharge?"

Tapping a wooden spoon against the pot to remove the excess beans, Trixie clicked her tongue, "Mm, I'd say at least a day of rest, but sometimes it took days or weeks for me. But considering how powerful she is... more likely sooner. But I'm no doctor."

"Wait, how do changelings blend in if they can't eat? What if you're at a party and they offer you food?" Trixie questioned yet again, "Can you even taste anything? Ooh, what does love taste like?"

Thorax slowly nodded as he retained his focus back to the mare in front of him, raising a brow at the questions, "Changelings wouldn't dare get too deep into somepony's life like that, not for long term. Chrysalis was the first and only pony to do so so blatantly. It's risky, and you have to intimately know the creature you're changing into to handle all those social cues..." 

Thorax sighed, "We can eat tiny small amounts of physical food, but if we overeat, our bodies will use energy to process it. Love?... Kinda sweet, and fruity; it has a warmth to it that makes it irresistible to a changeling... I mean it's the thing keeping us alive, so it's irresistible by default."

Taking a spoonful of beans out of the pot, Trixie slowly blew on the contents and cautiously stuck her tongue out, wincing at the blistering heat. Still too hot....

"Hm, that's interesting..." although her tone contradicted her, "What's the biggest thing you can turn into? An Ursa Major? What about something like a draconequus?"

"We can turn into anything, but the bigger it is, or the more complex the creature, the more energy we use, and the harder it is for us to stay transformed..." 

The changeling slowly reached over to the cooking pot as he used his magic to take a few beans, swirling them around as he attempted to entertain himself, "Why do you want to be a magician if you're... uh... not the best at magic?" Thorax politely inquired.

Trixie sighed and rolled her eyes, "Isn't it obvious? The lights, the glamor, the attention? Commanding a stage, an audience, to pay attention to you and only you? Who wouldn't want that? When I– Trixie is on that stage, Trixie doesn't just think she is Great and Powerful, she IS."

"But Trixie supposes you wouldn't know that, hiding away as you do. Honestly, with your abilities, you would be a fantastic assistant. What do you think?" the showpony waved her hoof in the air, "Thorax, the Great and Helpful Assistant. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"No offense, but I think I'm done being just an assistant for somebody else." he'd flick the few beans back into the stew pot before turning toward the cave entrance, listening to the howling wind as it thundered outside their little slice of warm heaven.

"Maybe I'm simple, but I just want to live somewhere where I can be myself and have people to be friends with. Maybe I could… have a nice job… baking sounds nice."

"Reaaaally? Because you sure went along with our new 'friend' over there pretty quickly. You do realize she's just using both of us, right? I should know. I've had a few fans that I took adv– allowed to pal around. I wasn't looking for a friend, and neither is she." Trixie rolled her eyes.

Thorax rolled his eyes back in reply, "people can change; I mean, look at me. Like I said, I think she just needs a friend to pull her away from all... of this."

"You were brought up in a literal hivemind where if you thought differently, you would be banished or worse. You didn't know any better; she absolutely knows better." Trixie sighed, "But I won't push anymore on that since we're getting nowhere. Why were you heading for the Crystal Empire anyways? It's not like the prince or princess have any warm feelings for changelings."

"The Changeling Lands border the mountains, and the mountains border the Crystal Empire. I went through them to avoid getting captured, and everybody there thinks I'm dead, so now I have a fresh start."

"Honestly, being considered dead to the Crystal Empire might be a good idea. Think we could fake our deaths?" The unicorn asked conspiratorially.

"Fake our deaths?" he'd laugh, "I think we might get the real deal if this blizzard doesn't let up...." Thorax said as he slowly laid down on the rocky floor beneath him.

"Well, why are you sitting all the way over there?" Trixie cocked a brow as she sat the pot down on the ground and gestured him over. "Sit by the fire. We should have enough kindling for the night, considering the woods coming off my wagon."

She looked genuinely upset at the state of her home. She wasn't even sure it was possible to repair it. The beautiful purple and yellow paint were nearly burnt away, the rest covered in soot. Simply touching certain parts of the wagon made pieces of the wood fall apart into chunks like charcoal. 

She had spent most of her life and many of her happiest moments in that wagon. To see one of the few possessions she truly cherished utterly destroyed felt like a knife in her heart.

Thorax slowly and cautiously slid over by the fire as he inched his way toward Trixie. Plopping back down on the ground and curling up into a ball, he rested his head on his front legs, much like a dog.

"You believe in second or third chances, right?" he asked quietly.

Trixie closed her eyes and turned back towards the fire, silently levitating a spoonful of beans to her lips. She took a bite, chewed, and swallowed before opening her eyes.

"Well... Twilight Sparkle gave me a chance twice. Once when I boasted a bit too much and a couple of twerp– I mean, fans tried to make me reenact one of my stories. The second, I found an amulet of great power, and it... sort of went to my head." 

Setting down the wooden spoon, Trixie rolled her neck and felt something crack, wincing softly, "That's how I know what that Starlight Glimmer is all about... because I felt like I once was her. So... maybe... It depends on whether you want to be a good pony, er... creature or not. But then again, I never attempted to make a cult..." she added quickly.

Thorax perked his head as a smirk began to form on his face; he seemed to examine the unicorn as if something had clicked in the young creature's mind. Before he rested his head on his legs again, he slowly began to close his eyes, "Sounds like you two are bound to be the best of friends then..."

Trixie snorted under her breath, "Yeah... that's a laugh. When you wake up, maybe I'll help you... eat. Just get some rest. I'll take the first watch."

Eating half of the pot of beans, Trixie woefully put the rest away, not knowing when she would be able to restock again. Tossing another piece of wood into the fire, Trixie laid down next to Thorax, using her hat as a makeshift pillow. Mainly to avoid resting her head on the cold stone beneath them. 

Trixie did her best to stay awake, but the journey up the mountain had utterly exhausted her. Before she knew it, her eyes slowly closed shut.