//------------------------------//
// Protocol 66 (Part 2) 
// Story: Summoning Equestria: Arrival 
// by NicieLunar 
//------------------------------//

=///Crystal Empire, Estovakia Province, Rainbow Falls City, 1904 hours\\\=

In a city in the eastern province of the Crystal Empire, lies a house. The house and the family who lives in it looks like a normal family from the outside, but on the inside, it contains a very dark secret.

On the sofa in the garden terrace of the house, a pony named Crystal Varado can be seen sitting down on it. He is a crystal pony stallion, having a light-red coat and bright-golden mane. He is known by his family and everyone in the town as a friendly and gentle pony, one who desires nothing but a peaceful life. In truth, everything is just a façade. His real name is actually Thorax, and he's a changeling. Deep in thought, he sits on the sofa, reflecting upon the years he has spent in disguise.

Years ago, he and his brother, Pharynx, kidnapped the real Crystal Varado when he went to mine for crystals in a local cave. After locking him up in a cocoon back in the central hive, Thorax was tasked with taking on the identity of Crystal Varado to prevent suspicions that the real one had been kidnapped. For 4 years, Thorax has been disguising and adapting himself to pony society.

Most of the time, Thorax has been playing the role of a caring father and a loving husband. He took care of Varado’s wife, Amber Laurel, and her daughter, Cloudy Spinel, to prevent their suspicions. Though, as time went on, and he began to know them on a personal level, he didn’t want to admit it, but he genuinely loved and cared for them both.

The moment he took the identity and stepped into Crystal Varado’s household for the first time, he had been tackled by Cloudy Spinel. Crystal Varado’s daughter showered him with love, lots of love, and showed excitement that her “father” had returned from the mines after a long time. She had told him stories of how her day went, and went on and on about how her friends managed to topple a tree down onto an unsuspecting empty shopping stand. 

Safe to say that Thorax, or Crystal Varado, had to pay for the damages on his first day.

Then came Amber Laurel, Crystal Varado’s wife. She was watching from a small distance as she witnessed the heartwarming scene. She had chuckled when her “husband” and daughter tumbled to the floor when Cloudy Spinel pounced on him. Approaching the pair, Amber Laurel warmly greeted the disguised Thorax, affectionately planting a kiss on his forehead.

Thorax, or Crystal Varado, was surprised by the gesture, but returned it in kind for fear of being found out so early into his disguise. On the very first day of Thorax’s task, he had already been shown more love than the years he spent back at the hive.

In the first weeks, Thorax interacted with “his” family, doing whatever he can to not raise suspicion. But, as time went on, and weeks turned into years, he honestly felt like he had a wife and daughter to protect and care for.

Thorax went through a lot during those years. To the time when he fixed Cloudy Spinel’s bike when it broke apart, when Ambel Laurel needed help with the garden, and to the time when he even had to fight off 3 thugs to defend his family during a home invasion. He almost lost that fight if it weren’t for Cloudy Spinel dropping a vase on top of the last thug’s head.

Thorax smiled as he went through those memories. Even with the sudden event of being teleported to a new world and losing his homeland, he honestly couldn’t care less.

"Honey, the dinner is ready~!" Amber Laurel's voice can be heard from within the house. 

Crystal Varado snapped out of his memories and turned towards the house. "Oh, I'm coming, Amber!" 

Thorax, or Crystal Varado, stood up from the sofa and entered the house to begin dinner. Feeling the wind rustle through his mane, he was blissfully unaware of dozen watchful stares observing his every move.

=///Varado family house, dining room, 1905 hours\\\=

Thorax, or Crystal Varado, sat in his seat in the family dining room. At the dining table, Amber Laurel has placed various kinds of typical crystal pony foods. For example: Crystal Berry Pies, Cassiterite Salad, and a classic, Crystal Poutine. 

While Amber was still preparing the final touches for the dessert, their daughter, Cloudy Spinel, a crystal pegasus (one of the rare variants of the crystal pony sub-race), with her light-pink coat and light-brown mane, excitedly came out of her room carrying her paper containing her artwork to show her parents.

"Mom, dad, look at what I drew!" Cloudy Spinel said happily.


(Art by PetalTwinkel from Twitter)

"Oh my Faust, that looks wonderful, Cloudy!" complimented Amber Laurel.

The disguised Thorax nodded in agreement. "Your mom is right, it looks really good! Maybe you might finally be able to get your cutie mark by drawing art." 

Cloudy Spinel gasped. "You really think so?! Oooh, oooh! I’m going to start drawing more and more then! I’m going to draw a thousand drawings!" 

Ambel Laurel turned to the disguised Thorax and spoke with a teasing tone. "You’ve done it now, you’ve got her excited. You know what that means…” 

The disguised Thorax realized his mistake, and simply surrendered to what he had done.

“Aw horseapples… The last time that happened, by the time we made it back home, I’ve felt like I’ve ran a thousand miles…”

Ambel Laurel chuckled at the sight of her “husband’s” slight misfortune. ”Oh, don’t be like that. You seemed to have fun helping her find her cutie mark as an explorer.”

“Yeah, dad! Remember that time when we uncovered that time box thingy we found? It was awesome!” said Cloudy Spinel.

The disguised Thorax smiled at the memory. ”Yeah, I remember it clearly. Odd place to put a time capsule though. I wonder why they’d place it under someone’s front lawn…”

“I don’t know, but you still have to fix that old stallion’s lawn. But, setting that aside, it's time we start dinner! I made hematite pudding for tonight~." Amber Laurel said.

Cloudy Spinel jumped up and down excitedly. "Yay! I love hematite pudding!" 

Thorax smiled, happy to see both his 'daughter' and 'wife' happy. Sometimes, he feels sad for the original Crystal Varado, not being able to enjoy this moment. When he was assigned to kidnap and lock him up in a cocoon, he could remember it clearly. 

The real Crystal Varado looked at him with frightened eyes, sweat running down his face. He could recognize the total terror by his expression alone, knowing that he would likely end up in a cocoon for the rest of his life, but also that the changeling would also steal his identity and live with his family.

Though, unlike other changelings who just follow the queen's orders without thinking twice, Thorax has sympathy for the captured ponies and sometimes questions the queen’s actions. It got to the point where Thorax began to consider revealing his true identity to everyone, trying to help the UKE free the kidnapped ponies.

Unfortunately, he didn't have enough courage to do something like that. Trying to help the UKE free kidnapped ponies would mean betraying The Hive and his species as a whole. So, he is stuck in a dilemma about what he should do. He sometimes even wonders how Amber Laurel and Cloudy Spinel would react when they find out that their husband/father was actually a changeling.

Today, however, everything would change. When he was about to take the first bite of his Cassiterite salad, a sudden knock would be heard on the house’s front door.


*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"NIS, OPEN UP!"




Before they had a chance to answer, the front door flew off its hinges as it crashed onto the floor. Dozens of RBI and NIS agents, along with several contingents of Crystal Empire Defense Force soldiers (CEDF), entered their house with special weapons such as obsidian swords and newly reverse engineered repeater crossbows in their hooves.

They destroyed multiple pieces of furniture in the house. Ranging from vases, jars, plates and even family photos. They do a lot of collateral damage to ensure dramatic entry and to confuse those within.

"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! URAHHH!" 

The family was, of course, really shocked to say the least. Cloudy Spinel and Amber Laurel screamed as loud as they could, whilst Thorax, well… Thorax could stay at his seat in a frozen state, unable to comprehend how they managed to find him.

"Target spotted! Take him down!" yelled out one of the NIS agents.

In quick succession, one of the CEDF soldiers fired two arrows with her repeater crossbow at Thorax. The shots managed to land on his thigh and his left foreleg. Thorax jolted with the pain coursing through his body and fell to the floor, bleeding his green blood. His shapeshifting magic spell was broken, and in a spark of green fire, he changed back to his original form.

”DAD!”

"NOOOOOOO! You monsters! What have you done to my husband?!" Amber Laurel screamed.

"Ma'am, calm down!” -an RBI agent shook Ambel Laurel before pointing at Thorax- “HE is not your husband!" 

"W-What do you mean!? How is he not my husband?!"

”Just look!” said the same RBI agent that shook her.

Amber shifted her focus from the agent in front of her, towards where she was pointing. The direction of her gaze pointed towards her husband who had fallen on the floor, but something was wrong. She doesn't remember her husband having horns or wings and a black insectoid body. A few seconds later, realization hits her like a Japanese bullet train at what she was looking at. 

She fainted, and fell onto the floor.

"MOMMY!" Cloudy Spinel screamed.

Thorax was unable to hide his horrified expression when he saw Amber passed out on the floor, and Cloudy Spinel crying beside her unconscious mother. He knew one day that he would be caught by the authorities, but he didn't expect that day to be today, especially not in front of his family too. 

He could hear and see Cloudy Spinel crying loudly non-stop, her eyes watering like the Neighagara Falls he visited with them last summer. He knows that all of this would really traumatize the young filly for the rest of her life, and it was his fault. He felt regret for not telling his family the truth much sooner. Maybe, just maybe, he would’ve been able to prevent all this from happening. 

RBI and NIS agents tied all four of his hooves with iron cuffs, but not before fixing his wounds. It was surprisingly easy since Thorax wasn't resisting them at all, he was too depressed to even resist at this point. They forcefully took him outside, leading him into a caged cart.

Before he was taken away and put into the cart, he could see a medical team entering the house to check on Amber and Cloudy's condition. He could still hear the sobs from his “daughter”, even outside the house. Hearing Cloudy Spinel’s distressed cries, something just… clicked in him. His urge to comfort Cloudy Spinel during this dire time, to assure her that everything would be just fine, overrides his feelings of sadness.

At first, he stopped moving, surprising the two agents that were escorting him. 

”Hey, what are you doing? Keep moving!” demanded the RBI agent.

Thorax remained motionless.

This time, the NIS agent spoke up, ”Hey buddy, my pal over here said to move it.”

This time, Thorax reacted. He turned his head towards the NIS agent with a pleading look.

”Please, let me comfort the filly inside that house.”

This caught the NIS agent off-guard. ”What? Uh…” he looked at his RBI counterpart for an answer. ”What do I do?”

The RBI agent rolled her eyes. ”It’s just another changeling tactic. Don’t believe it.”

The NIS agent looked back at Thorax. ”I’m sorry, bud, but we can’t allow you to do that.”

Thorax’s heart sank as he heard the words from the NIS agent. He needed to console Cloudy Spinel. He can’t bear hearing her distraught cries in the house any longer. 

“Please,” Thorax implored once more, his voice beginning to fill with desperation. ”I’m begging you, just let me be in my disguise to comfort Cloudy Spinel. Just a minute or two, please…”

The RBI agent sighed, growing inpatient. ”Enough of this! We have our orders, and we can’t delay it any longer.”

The NIS agent was now hesitant. He looked at the changeling’s eyes for any deception, but none could be seen. The changeling before him was being genuine. As an NIS agent, he had a duty to arrest all changelings for the safety of all. However, his personal side, his compassionate side, told him to allow Thorax to comfort the weeping filly in the home.

The NIS agent looked at his RBI counterpart. ”C-Can’t we just allow him to go in there, disguised, and comfort the filly for a moment?”

The RBI agent looked at the NIS agent, bewildered. ”Are you serious right now?” she stepped closer towards the NIS agent. ”Are you hearing yourself? Allowing a changeling, a CHANGELING out of all species, to comfort a filly he has been deceiving for years and years? No, I won’t allow it, and I will never allow it.”

The NIS agent winced at her words, but she had a point. Allowing a changeling to comfort a filly he had deceived for so long, even in disguise, seemed risky. Yet, he couldn’t also deny the fact that the changeling in front of him was being genuine. 

This NIS agent gave it a thought, and with a heavy heart, turned towards Thorax. Ultimately, he couldn’t risk it.

”I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you to do that…” he finally said.

Thorax’s eyes widened in desperation. ”No… y-you have to let me do it!” he pleaded.

”I’m sorry, but it’s a risk I can not take. Now, get moving.” the NIS agent replied.

The RBI agent shoved Thorax to force him to move. ”You heard what he said, changeling. Get moving.”

Despite the agent’s warnings, Thorax couldn’t ignore the overwhelming desire to comfort Cloudy Spinel. As they tried to get him moving, Thorax resisted by planting his hooves firmly onto the ground.

”I didn’t want to do this…” he muttered.

The NIS agent raised a brow. ”What do you me-”

This NIS agent was cut off as Thorax lunged himself onto him, momentarily rendering the NIS agent immobile. Thorax shifted his attention to the RBI agent, who was already beginning to make her way to restrain Thorax.

”Hey! Get off of him, you changeling!” the RBI agent shouted.

Despite the cuffs on him, Thorax got up to confront the RBI agent. He wasn’t the best at combat, but he was pretty decent at it.

He got down and suddenly launched himself at the RBI agent. The RBI agent was caught off guard by the sudden act, and didn’t have enough time to react so she too was knocked down onto the ground.

By now, Thorax had gained the attention of surrounding CEDF soldiers. He was panicking a lot, why did he have to attack them at all? He could have complied with their orders, but why didn’t he?

But then, he was reminded again of the reason as Cloudy Spinel’s cries can be heard echoing from the house. 

As Thorax stood there, surrounded by the two downed agents and advancing CEDF soldiers, his mind was racing through hundreds of thoughts. The scene before him was chaotic to say the least, and he felt torn between his duty as a changeling, and the desire to comfort his “daughter”.

The NIS agent, though a bit shaken, quickly regained his composure along with his RBI counterpart. The NIS agent glared at Thorax, feeling betrayed and outmaneuvered.

The NIS agent turned towards his RBI counterpart. ”Lunar Wings, are you alright?” he asked.

The RBI agent, or Lunar Wings, turned her attention to him. ”Yeah, I’m alright. What about you, Star Sweeper?”

He nodded. ”I’m fine, I’m fine.” he glanced around before looking back at Lunar Wings. ”What now?”

”We take him out, non-lethally.” she replied.

Star Sweeper looked at Thorax. ”Got it…”

The Agent Star Sweeper and Agent Lunar Wings got up, and moved cautiously towards Thorax.

Thorax noticed the two agents, and other CEDF soldiers, moving towards him. He knew he was in a precarious situation, and he knew he had no hope of fighting anymore. His heart ached when the thoughts of Cloudy Spinel in distress appeared in his mind, but he realized that his actions were only causing more harm than good.

”I-I don’t want to fight!” Thorax exclaimed, sitting down and raising his hooves in surrender. ”Please… just let me explain…”

The CEDF soldiers remained cautious, their weapons at the ready. Agent Lunar Wings looked at Thorax with anger with a mix of suspicion.

”Explain? You had your chance to listen, and yet you attacked us!” she yelled out.

Thorax took a deep breath, taking a moment to find the right words. ”Look, I didn’t want to hurt anypony! But, I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing as I heard her crying! I have to comfort her and be there for her. She doesn’t deserve what happened to her, to see what she saw, but it happened anyway!”

Thorax continued. ”Her mother is unconscious, and probably still is. She saw her father, me, get hit by arrows before falling onto the ground. Her home, the place she was raised in, now all a mess. She has nopony by her side, but strangers.”

Thorax sighed. “I… I care about her, perhaps too much for somepony like me, but I really do care about her… If you don’t let me in for my sake, please, do it for her sake instead…” 

His words hung in the air for a moment, the surrounding area ever so quiet. Even inside the house, not a sound can be heard. The agents, even Lunar Wings, found themselves hesitating, their stern expressions softening as they took in Thorax’s words. The CEDF soldiers, ponies who were trained to not let their guard down, had lowered their weapons ever so slightly.

Agent Lunar Wings glanced at the house, and looked back at Thorax.

”Are you telling the truth right now…?” she asked.

Thorax looked at her. ”What will I gain from even lying?”

Agent Lunar Wings looked closely at Thorax, but she could see no deception. She began to understand why Sweeping Star had proposed the idea of letting the changeling go to comfort the filly inside, but she was so focused on her job instead, that she wasn’t able to see the other side. 

Agent Lunar Wings sighed before turning to look at Agent Sweeping Star. ”Sweeping Star, get the keys in the cart…”

He nodded. ”Yes, ma’am.”

She turned back to look at Thorax. ”I can’t believe I’m doing this, but make it quick. I’m going back on my word for you.”

Thorax smiled softly at the agent. ”T-Thank you so much. It’ll be quick, I promise.”

Agent Sweeping Star returned with the keys, and went to Thorax. With a turn, the cuffs came off, and Thorax was free temporarily.

”We’ll escort you in, but no funny business. Be in your disguise, talk to the filly, and we’re taking you back.” warned Agent Lunar Wings.

Thorax nodded. ”Of course.”

Thorax’s horn lit up, and a radiant green fire enveloped his entire body, transforming the changeling into Crystal Varado. Both the agents stared at the transformation as a look of shock ran across their faces.

”We forgot to put in the magic inhibitor, didn’t we?” said Agent Lunar Wings.

Agent Star Sweeper nodded. ”I think we did…”

Agent Lunar Wings sighed, and shook her head. ”Bah, we’ll put it on when he’s finished.” she turned to Thorax. ”Alright, get to it.”

Thorax complied and made his way towards the building, the two agents acting as escorts for the disguised changeling. The CEDF soldiers simply watched in subtle surprise as the trio walked towards the home. They had never expected this to happen out of all things.

As they arrived at the home’s front door, Thorax hesitated for a moment. Why was he doing this? He wasn’t even related to them. 

He shook his head to clear his mind, this was not the time to ask such silly questions. It was time to comfort his “daughter”, inside the broken home, and he was planning to follow through it.

He opened the door, and went in, the two agents following suit. Thorax looked around his home, everything either broken or misplaced. He navigated through the broken stuff, and made his way to the dining room. 

As the disguised Thorax arrived at the dining room, he spotted Amber Laurel being placed on a stretcher as medical ponies began preparing to leave with her. Thorax felt guilty as he saw Amber Laurel on the stretcher, he knew that this was his fault. But, at very least, he knew that she would be alright.

He approached the first medical pony he saw, and asked a question. ”Excuse me, but do you know where the filly is?”

The medical pony turned his attention towards the disguised Thorax. ”I’m sorry, but who are you?”

Thorax took a moment to think of the right words. ”I’m a… close relative to this family. I need to see the filly.”

The medical pony looked at him suspiciously, but after a few seconds, he shrugged. ”She is in her room, right over there.” he pointed.

”She’s a bit troubled, but that’s to be expected. We tried talking to her, but she won’t say much. Hopefully a recognizable face would help.” the medical pony added.

Thorax simply nodded and thanked the medical pony as he made his way to Cloudy Spinel’s room. He took one last glance at Amber Laurel, wishing he could do something to help, but he knew he should leave it to ponies who were more trained than him.

He arrived at Cloudy Spinel’s room, her many drawings covering the door. He smiled sadly at it, knowing the many drawings on her door were representing her many adventures that he had the pleasure of being in. 

”We’ll be out here waiting for you.” said Agent Star Sweeper.

Thorax simply said nothing, and went inside.

Inside her room, it was the same mess it was before even the sudden raid. He looked around before he spotted, right there on her bed, Cloudy Spinel hugging a pony doll he gave her as a present.

”Cloudy Spinel?” the disguised Thorax said.

Cloudy Spinel looked up from her bed, her saddened expression remained as she spoke.

”You’re not my real dad, aren’t you?”

Thorax took an involuntary step back as Cloudy Spinel looked at him, her eyes piercing through his soul. He couldn’t believe it, but she knew. How could she have known?

”When… when did you realize that…?” he stammered out.

Cloudy Spinel pointed at her window. ”When you were outside with your hooves up, talking to the two ponies.”

Thorax looked at where she pointed, and low and behold, it revealed a window that showed her everything that led to this point. He turned his attention back to Cloudy Spinel, and sat down across from her.

He struggled to find the right words, nothing could have prepared him for this moment. Cloudy Spinel noticed Thorax’s hesitation, and spoke up.

”C-Can you show your true self?” she asked.

Thorax looked at her, and spoke. ”Are you sure you want to see that…?”

She nodded, still holding onto the pony doll. ”Yes, I want to see.” she replied.

Thorax sighed, and dropped his disguise. The green fire enveloped his entire body once more, erasing Crystal Varado from sight, leaving Thorax the Changeling in its wake.

Cloudy Spinel’s eyes widened at the sight in front of her. But, instead of fear or malice, she was curious.

”What are you?” she asked, genuinely intrigued.

Thorax replied, ”I am a changeling…”

”What’s a changeling?” she asked once more.

Thorax answered her question. ”Changelings are ponies that… rely on love to live. We can eat regular food, but it won’t keep us alive. We adapt by hiding in the dark, being ponies that aren’t the real us. In short, we’re… impostors.”

Cloudy Spinel nodded, and asked another question. ”If you’re not my real dad, where is he?”

Thorax looked down in shame. ”He’s in a cocoon my brother and I made. He was supposed to be safe, but right now? I… I honestly don’t know.” he admitted.

An awkward silence came afterwards, the sounds of the outside world being the only noise they could hear in the room. There was little to say; he was found out, and by one of the only ponies he cared about. If she was mad at him, it was justified.

Cloudy Spinel hopped down from her bed, leaving the pony doll behind. She walked towards the saddened Thorax, the intent was unknown to him. Would she be mad? Disappointed? Even scared? He wouldn’t know, so he prepared for whatever she had in mind.

So when she did come, it came to a surprise to Thorax that, instead of anything negative, it was something else. Cloudy Spinel sat down from across Thorax, and spoke.

”How long have you been taking care of me?” she asked.

Thorax expected to be asked something else. He expected to be asked along the lines of, “How long have you been deceiving me?”, but that was not the case. Though, he should’ve expected this. Cloudy Spinel has always been a kind and curious filly, so it should be no surprise that she would approach him in the same manner.

Thorax sighed. ”Four years. For four years, I’ve been taking care of you.”

Cloudy Spinel looked on in surprise. ”Really? Woah, that’s a really, really, really long time.” she paused for a moment, and spoke again. ”So me and you went on those cool adventures you took me on to get my cutie mark?”

Thorax nodded. ”Yeah, that was me.”

”And you helped me with my homework?”

Again, Thorax nodded. ”Mhm.”

”You were also the one who fought those bad ponies when they went into our house?”

”Uh… yeah, that was also me.” he admitted.

She tilted her head. ”Why?” 

Thorax hesitated for a moment. He knew the answer, but he found it difficult to reveal it to her. Was it because he was in his true form, or was it because she knows the truth?

Thorax shook his head, shaking those thoughts away. He had to be honest with her.

 ”It’s… it’s because I care about you and your mother…” he revealed.

Cloudy Spinel’s eyes widened. Y-You do…?”

Thorax sighed. ”I do…”

Cloudy Spinel stared at him, saying nothing. Thorax’s eyes widened as he began to think he had made a mistake. He revealed too much, and the thought of Cloudy Spinel rejecting him sent Thorax into a panic.

However, as Thorax was about to speak, Cloudy Spinel smiled, catching him off guard.

”Then it’s okay.” she said softly, ”You may not be my real dad, but you care for me and my mom a lot.”

Thorax gaped at her. ”B-But I’m a changeling, tricking you and your mother into keeping me alive. How are you fine with that…?”

Cloudy Spinel looked thoughtful before responding, ”Well, I don’t like that you lied to me and my mom, but you’ve done so much for us for a long time.

She went on. ”You helped me try to get my cutie mark, you helped me with my homework, and you protected us from those bad ponies when they got in our home. You could’ve left us when those bad ponies attacked, but you didn’t.

She smiled warmly at Thorax. ”You seem like a good pony, even in your disguise. That’s why I’m okay with it. You’ve done some bad things, but you’ve done some good things as well. Nopony is perfect, but we can always better ourselves.”

By now, Thorax’s eyes welled up as he was overwhelmed with emotion. He never expected such understanding and acceptance from Cloudy Spinel, a filly he unfortunately had to deceive. She had every right to be mad, to be hateful and lash out at him, but she didn’t.

In a tender moment, he reached out a hoof towards her cheek, and gently touched it.

”T-Thank you, Cloudy Spinel. I-It means a lot…” he said, choking back his tears.

To his surprise, she did the unexpected: she hugged him. 

Thorax was surprised by the gesture, but he returned it in kind. He was tearing up by now, but he didn’t fight it. He let his emotions run free as they both embraced each other.

”Thank you for everything…” she whispered.

As the room became voiceless, and the sounds of the outside world seemed to quiet down, in that moment, Thorax knew he had found something truly special…