//------------------------------// // Day 1 - Meeting the Town(Part 2) // Story: Thorax's Visit to Ponyville // by origami //------------------------------// I stood on the stage quivering in fear. Thousands of pony eyes were staring at me. Every single pony there feeling some kind of negative emotion, from simple nervousness to outright fear. It was so much that it was beginning to sour my stomach and cause me to throw up the wonderful love-infused pancakes Spike and Princess Twilight had made me this morning. I did my best to calm myself and alleviate my nausea, and I was fortunate enough to abate it for a moment. With cautious steps, I approached the podium that Twilight and the mayor had been speaking at. As I stood before it, I looked out over the crowd gathered in front of it. They were a mix of all three races, and I could swear I saw a few ponies with slitted eyes like a cat; some thestrals that had decided to stay awake for the day so they could inform their nocturnal brethren of the goings on in the town. Perhaps I could come out at night and meet a few, before it got too late and I had to go to bed? My attention returned to the crowd and I prepared myself to speak. "Um, h... he... hello" I managed to squeak out. "M... My name... My name is... T-T-Thorax." Nopony reacted, and I couldn't sense a change in mood. A good sign, maybe? "Princess Twilight has told you some about me," I continue with more confidence, "but I'm sure you all have questions-" "WHY DID YOU ATTACK CANTERLOT?!" "WHY DO YOU ATTACK US FOR LOVE?! CAN'T YOU MAKE YOUR OWN?!" "WHAT'S WITH THE HOLES AND THE WHOLE BUG LOOK?!" "WHY DO YOU HAVE FANGS?! DO YOU HAVE VENOM LIKE SNAKES?!" The questions came flooding over me and I very quickly ducked down behind the podium. A quick flash of light and a loud "BANG!" silenced the crowd again as Princess Twilight addressed them. "Everypony, please calm down!" she called out to them. "You all have questions, and some that are very deserving of answers, but it is completely unfair for us to expect Thorax to answer any of them when you're bombarding him like some Bridlewood star!" Nopony spoke after that. Twilight looked back to me. "Don't worry," she assured me, "The mare and I have your back. Don't let them get to you." I give her a nod as I rise back up to face the crowd. "As I was saying," I continue, "I am willing to answer questions, but for some of them, I may not have the answers. I was a drone, and I wasn't granted the privilege to know more than what the queen wanted. So, I will answer any questions you have." "Need I remind all of you," Twilight interjects, "when it comes to asking questions, you need to do so in an orderly manner. You cannot bombard Thorax with questions and expect to get answers to every one of them. We will raise hooves and I will call on you to ask your question." Nearly every hoof shot up into the air. The unison of the act made it feel somewhat creepy, and reminded me of the hive and training drills to an extent. "We'll start with Lyra Heartstrings" Twilight says as she points to a mint-green mare with yellow eyes. I recognize her and then shudder; she was one of the bridesmaids that was hypnotized into guarding Princess Cadance in the crystal caves beneath Canterlot during the wedding. I could only imagine what kind of question she had to ask me. "Is it true that changelings can control ponies' minds?" ...Yeah, that's about what I imagined she would ask. The worst part is she was looking for me to say there was. Anything else and she would consider it to be an outright lie or just dodging the question. It was a catch 22 for me: Answer yes and lose any chance at gaining trust in the town, but answer no and everypony will think you're lying. I look at Twilight nervously. "I don't know how to answer that" I tell her. "Why?" she asks as she looks at me with confusion. "I can tell that she wants me to say yes and won't accept anything but yes as the truth." I admit to her. Twilight turns to face Lyra. "Answer me honestly, Lyra: Will you except any answer besides yes, even if no is the actual truth?" Lyra looks taken aback. "W-What?!" "If Thorax told you no," Twilight elaborates, "would you accept it as the truth, or would you take it as he's lying?" Lyra looks around at the crowd with discomfort. "U... Um..." "Then I don't think it's proper for you to be asking that question" she tells the mare before facing the crowd. "Thorax is more than willing to tell all of you the truth and that he won't hide anything from you, but there isn't really a point to asking him questions if you would only accept an answer that wouldn't conflict with your own beliefs about changelings. That's what science ponies call a confirmation bias, and it prevents the real evidence of an experiment from being considered and the actual truth to be known." "So, with that said, how many of you actually have a question for Thorax for which you will accept whatever he tells you is the truth and you won't call him out as a liar for it?" Nopony raises a hoof for a few moments, but eventually, one hoof is raised very timidly into the air. "Yes, Davenport?" Twilight calls on the stallion. "Um... Why did you attack Canterlot?" The question is another one I was expecting. For ponies, that attack was unprovoked, and the damage it had caused had taken away the peace of mind that their princesses could handle any threat the kingdom faced. It wasn't hard to understand that those affected would want answers. "Well... I don't know ALL of the reasons we were made to invade Canterlot, but what I know for certain is that the queen promised us that going there and taking over would allow us to feed and we wouldn't have to feel hunger any more." "Why were all of you so hungry to begin with?" The mare asking this question was the one standing beside Lyra. She had a mane that was half indigo and half magenta. Her blue eyes appraised me as I considered how to answer her question. "Well, we don't eat food like other creatures do. Our bodies our kinda like plants, where we make the nutrients we need to survive inside ourselves, but just like plants, we need an external source of energy in order for us to function. For us, that energy comes from the emotions of other creatures, and the kind that is preferred are the more amorous kinds of feelings, like love." "So we're just some kind of walking smorgasbord for you lot, huh?" The pony asking this question was a stallion wearing a necktie. He was close enough I could make out his cutie mark: an hourglass. "Well, not me specifically" I answer. "The rest of the changelings don't see any problem with stealing love from all of you and making you so weak you can barely move. I don't think that's right, and that's why I left the hive to find a better way to live." "That's why you went to the Crystal Empire?" This was a mare's voice. Her mulberry coat and pinkish mane contrasted well against her green eyes. "Well, not exactly" I answer. "I ended up in the Crystal Empire after I tried to make friends in other places, but as you can imagine, nopony really wanted to make friends with... a creature like me." There weren't anymore questions for a few moments. Eventually, a pony did raise their hoof. "How come y'all didn't wanna talk with us about bein' hungry?" This question came from a foal. The little yellow filly had a big red bow in her hair, and she looked up at me with her orange eyes in genuine curiosity. "I honestly don't know" I tell her. "I think maybe it was because we didn't think ponies would listen to us because of how different we are." "That's nonsense!" Lyra's voice called out. "We ponies pride ourselves on being very accepting and friendly creatures!" "I don't know" I replied to her. "Princess Twilight told me the story about how your town reacted to meeting a zebra for the first time." Everypony winced a bit at that remark. They clearly hadn't forgotten about the shamare who lived inside the Everfree Forest and concocted herbal remedies and potions. She would occasionally come into town for some events and to purchase things she couldn't otherwise procure from her excursions into the dangerous forest. Upon her first entry into town, the ponies believed she was an evil sorceress who would curse anypony who crossed her path. It was only later that she was revealed to be as normal as any pony living in Ponyville, save some eccentricities such as her speaking in rhyme and living in a place most regarded as being too dangerous. "How did you make friends with Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor?" The voice and raised hoof belonged to another mare in town. Her orange mane and cream coat made her stand out especially well in the sea of ponies gathered before the changeling. "It wasn't easy" I reply. "After the story Princess Twilight told you all, I was allowed to stay in the empire, and even given a room in the Crystal Palace so I didn't have to worry about finding a home." "The first few weeks weren't easy. Prince Shining Armor still didn't trust me and thought everything I did was a ruse to make him lower his guard." "Princess Cadance, however, was more accepting of me. She actually helped me to make friends and demonstrate that my intentions were true." "I also got to make friends with Sunburst. He's the royal crystaller that helps with the ceremonies that go on in the Crystal Empire, such as the Crystal Fair and the Crystalling itself." "What about the prince?" Lyra asked with a raised hoof. "He took the most convincing" I respond. "He actually opened up to me more around Hearth's Warming this past winter." "While I was living in the Crystal Empire, I took up painting as a hobby. I wasn't terribly good to start with, but I did eventually improve enough to make some decent artwork." "Sunburst had taught me about Hearth's Warming and I decided I wanted to participate in the holiday with other ponies. So, I decided to paint some pictures as presents. I did one for Sunburst and one for the royal family." "I wrapped them and presented them the morning of Hearth's Warming. Upon seeing the portrait I did, the prince was skeptical of me, thinking I had taken another pony's artwork and tried to claim it as my own." "Eventually, he reconsidered his overall stance with me and by that evening, he admitted to his change of heart. Now, we're on better terms. Maybe we're not friends, but we're certainly not enemies anymore." "As it stands now, I have nearly convinced the entire Crystal Empire that I hold no ill will towards them." "Nearly?" came Lyra's voice again, her hoof coming up along with it. "I can tell that some of the ponies still don't fully trust me" I admit to the crowd. "I even feel it here from most of you." "I can't blame you for feeling that way. While I won't call any of you out, I know there's ponies in the crowd who were present at the wedding, and some of you had rather unpleasant run ins with other members of the hive." "I understand if none of you want to be friends, or even just acquaintances right away, but all I am asking of you is a chance to show that I'm not here to try some dastardly scheme. I just want you all to see me as what I am; another living creature just trying to live a good life with all of you." I waited to see if there were any other ponies that wanted to ask questions. Going by the feel of the crowd, I didn't think there would be anymore. However, a hoof did raise up. "Are there other changelings like you?" The pony asking the question was a mare. Her cream colored coat was offset by red mane and green eyes. She had been standing beside the pony with the hourglass cutie mark. Were they possibly together? I could feel some kind of a bond between them. "I'm... not completely sure" I have to admit. "I never knew of any others like myself, but I suppose it's possible there's more and I just never met any of them." "Do you guys have venom?" The voice and hoof came from a pony that was just a tad more unusual than the others. She had a grey coat and yellow mane that paired with her yellow eyes. However, those eyes weren't focused on the same spot; I think I heard of that being called "wall eyed"? "...Well, sort of" I confess reluctantly. "It's not meant to cause any harm in the way something like snake venom would. It paralyzes muscles so the one bitten can't move, and it makes the one bitten feel tired and drowsy as well. The main purpose is to make catching things easier." I can see ponies wincing at my explanation. Honestly, I can't blame them. The idea of venom that makes you easier prey isn't something I would be fond of either. Some frantic scribbling to my side causes me to glance and I see Princess Twilight scribbling down what I just told the audience. A shiver goes down my spine as I realize that I will probably have to give her a sample of venom later on so she can study it. "Are there any more questions?" the mayor asks as she looks over the crowd. I see no more hooves go up into the air, and internally I sigh in relief. "Well then," the mare continues, "Thorax will be here for a week's time, and he has agreed that for that time, he will remain without a disguise. He has been given permission to see our town and will have an escort with him, both so that all of you can feel safe and nothing happens to him as well." "Don't be afraid to approach and talk with him, but please don't call him out or harass him while he's here. He wants to see a place he never really got to visit in his journey and it would do well for all of us to show him the same hospitality that you would show any other pony visiting." "Did you come through here on your journey?" The question came from Lyra again, but this time she didn't bother with raising her hoof. "I did" I admit to her and the crowd. "I was so afraid of being discovered that I didn't stay for very long though." A few different emotions went through the crowd, but one I wasn't expecting was guilt. There were actually ponies out there that felt bad that I had felt so unwelcome that I didn't choose to stay long. I suppose they didn't like their reputation of being a friendly town being tarnished, even if the one that felt unwelcome was a creature they weren't fond of. "Well, that is something I think we can all certainly help with in the coming week" the mayor says with a smile as she approaches the podium. "I believe our new friend here is a bit worn out from this whole situation, so I think we'll end the questions for now." "As a reminder, Thorax will be here for this week in town, without any disguise and with an escort to ensure that both he and all of you are safe. If you have any further questions for him, I'm sure he won't be afraid to answer them, provided you all don't gang up on him and make him feel uncomfortable." The ponies all gave each other nervous smiles but otherwise didn't react too much. "I will also be available to answer any questions you all may have" Twilight adds. "While he is here in Ponyville, I am considering him my personal responsibility, so any ponies that have issue with him will have to take the matter up with me. Does anyone have any issues at the moment?" No hooves were raised. "Good" Twilight says with a smile. "I believe this concludes today's announcement. I thank you all for coming today." With that, the ponies began to disperse. I let out a sigh of relief, glad that that little affair had concluded. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to go back to the castle and crawl under a bed for a while. "Care to join us for a late lunch?" I look up at Princess Twilight as she gestures to me with a hoof. "I asked Spike to prepare something before he came to see the announcement today. He should have it plated up and ready for us by the time we get back." My stomach grumbled a bit at the thought of eating whatever love-infused food the pair had crafted for me. I give her a small smile. "Lead the way."