//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 
// Story: Left Behind 
// by origami 
//------------------------------//

"GAH!"

Thorax bolted up from his sleeping position.  Confused, he looked around to see if he was still in the interrogation room, but found he was somewhere else.  Looking around, he saw iron bars that had small spots of rust on them, heavy walls made of stone, one of which had a plank bed attached to it, and a sink and toilet set off near one corner.  After the brief inspection, the changeling realized that they had moved him to a prison cell in the castle dungeon.

"The princesses used a sleep spell on me," he realized, "and the guards must've brought me here afterwards."

Calming down for a second, Thorax thought about what had happened to him since he was taken in by the guards, and came to the conclusion that, sooner or later, they would punish him somehow for his part in the invasion.  Fearing how far they would go, the changeling decided that he didn't want to find out what they would do and began thinking about escaping.

First, he checked to see if there were any guards watching, which a quick look outside the cell told him they weren't.  Next, he tried one of the more cliche methods of escape he had heard about: checking if the door to the cell was locked.

A bit of pressure against the door confirmed that it was indeed locked.  "No break-outs on account of incompetent guards," Thorax thought.

Next, he examined the area around him again, thinking he could shapeshift into something that would fit through the bars of the cell.  A glance around showed several mice scurrying about.

"Perfect," Thorax thought as he focused his magic on a transformation spell...

...only to have it fizzle out.

"Huh?"

Confused, Thorax tried again, but the spell wouldn't take.  He tried once more without success, but this time noticed something on the wall glowing.  It looked like a light sconce, but it didn't stay on for long.  Looking at it more closely, the changeling thought it resembled some kind of crystal.  With a thought occurring to him, Thorax tried a simple light spell that pretty much every magic user in the world knew, but found that spell was ineffective as well.

This time, though, the light sconce lit up briefly before dimming to darkness again.

"It's an anti-magic enchantment," Thorax realized, his hopes of escape dashed once again.  His only options now would be to try and force past any guards that would visit his cell, or try to dig his way out with nothing but his own hole-filled hooves.  Regardless of which one he would've chosen, both were equally as ineffective.

Resigned to whatever fate had in store for him, Thorax took a spot on the plank bed and laid down, deciding to conserve his energy and perhaps get a little bit more rest.





Around two hours passed before Thorax saw a guard come to his cell.  The pony was wearing the usual royal guard armor and was carrying a set of keys... in his magic.  Thorax was confused by this, as all the magic he had attempted to use was canceled out by the sconces on the walls.  The only explanation that he could come up with was that the armor the guard wore must've been enchanted to allow them to use magic in this dungeon.

The key went into the lock and the door was opened.  Thorax had the thought to quickly rush the guard and knock them down while he would attempt to get away, but the guard brought up a spear as he entered the cell.

"AGAINST THE FAR WALL!" he commanded, his voice booming out so loud it echoed off of the walls of the dungeon.

Thorax complied immediately, putting himself as flat against the stone as he could.

The guard watched him as he stood in place with the spear.  "Bring it in," he called out to another pony, who came in with a plate of bread and a metal cup filled with water.  They set it down on the wooden bed and quickly left the cell, which told the handicapped changeling that they were quite afraid at that moment.

Well, that makes two of us he thought as he watched the guard back up and close the door, locking it with the keys and disappearing from sight.

Thorax got up and appraised the food in front of him.  He frowned; these ponies either didn't know or didn't care about changeling needs.  Changelings sustained themselves from the energy of emotions other creatures felt, and preferred to feed on love.

They did, however, need water, just like any other creature did.  Thorax took the cup and drank slowly, figuring that the guard wouldn't grant him another cup until his next approved "meal time".  He took his time, making each sip count, but also wanting to gag a bit at the flavor of the water; the hive was built over a natural springhead and didn't have the metallic taste this water had.

Finishing the cup and placing it off to the side, Thorax considered the bread again.  He was unsure if he could actually
eat it; he had never tried to consume solid food before.  He did know changelings were able to do so when disguised, but the food they ate was processed into the resin that was used in construction of the hive and capturing prey.

Thorax shuddered at the thought, having been made to go on hunts where poor, innocent creatures were trapped and then drained of all the love they had.  Sometimes, a pony, curious about the strange lack of magic in the area around the hive, would wander too close and be taken prisoner, wrapped in a cocoon and drained slowly so the hive could have a more "reliable" source of love.

Pushing the negative aside, Thorax picked up a slice of the bread and took a bite from it.  Immediately, he spat it out.  It had a very bland taste to it and he could feel some sort of powder sticking to his tongue.  He was pretty sure that even a pony wouldn't want to eat it.

He placed the piece he'd bitten into back onto the plate and chose to ignore it.  His stomach, however, reminded him of his needs rather quickly.  He clutched his barrel as he felt the familiar pangs he'd felt his whole life.  In truth, it was what every changeling felt their entire lives, and often why they had no compunction about causing the harm they did in pursuit of their next meal.

Thorax hammered his hoof into the stone, doing his best to fight back his protesting stomach.  His actions caught the attention of the guard, who came over and glared at Thorax.  "Just what do you think you're doing?" he asked rather curtly.

"Fighting off my hunger!" Thorax answered.

"Fight it off with the bread!  That's what it's for!"

"Can't... eat it.  Won't... nourish."

The guard didn't say anything but snorted.  As he turned around and walked away, Thorax heard him comment under his breath "I didn't think it was that bad", clearly meaning the food that had been provided.

After a few minutes, Thorax was able to fight off the worst of the hunger pangs.  They were still there, as they had always been, but they decided not to torture the changeling like they had a moment ago.  The guards came back a few moments later and Thorax had the thought of attacking and draining them both, but shook them from his head for two different reasons.

First, he didn't want to cause any creature harm, even these two guards.  They were only doing their jobs, after all.

Second, Thorax needed his magic to even attempt what he had thought of doing, and this dungeon made it impossible for his magic to work.

The first guard ordered him against the wall while the second took the plate, actually taking one of the uneaten pieces and consuming it for himself.

"What are you doing?!" the first one asked.

The second shrugged.  "No sense letting it go to waste."

"You have no idea if he put poison or something on there!" the first scolded.  "For all we know, they probably got a way to clone themselves by making ponies eat some of that weird slime!"

"If that's the case," the second guard retorted, "then we best keep an eye on Princess Celestia, since she actually did consume some of that slime."

The two guards walked away, carrying on their argument in regards to eating the unfinished portions of a prisoner's meal.  Thorax returned to the wooden plank and laid down, deciding to try and get some more sleep.





*CLANG!*

Thorax jolted awake and quickly looked around.  He was still inside the cell, but a guard was now standing outside, a spear held in his magic grip.

"Got some ponies that want to see you," the guard said to Thorax, then turned to address somepony out of the changeling's view.  "Hooves to yourselves, and don't pass him anything."

"I won't," a mare's voice answered.

"I ain't doin' nothin' like that either," a second mare added; she sounded like she was from Dodge Junction, or someplace close by.

"Very well," the guard said.  "There's two chairs set out for you two."

"Two chairs?" Thorax thought as his attention went from the ponies to his other surroundings.  Sure enough, two chairs had been set out in front of his cell, a white line about a pony's length away from the cell bars painted onto the floor.

"Thank you," the first female voice said, to which the guard nodded and stepped off to one side, adopting a stance that looked like he was meant to be stationed at that exact spot.  With the guard out of the way, the two mares stepped into view, allowing Thorax to see who it was that was visiting him.

As soon as his eyes fell on them, they went as wide as saucers.

The first mare was a unicorn, a lavender purple color, with a dark blue mane and tail that had magenta and pink streaks in it.  Her violet eyes looked full of life and curiosity.

The second mare was an earth pony, and had her straw-blonde mane and tail tied back with red hair ribbons.  She wore a stetson-style hat with a portion cut out in the front and had freckles showing through her orange coat.  Her emerald eyes were staring at him warily.

Almost immediately, he recognized who they were, and without thinking, he blurted out "It's you."

The two mares were caught off guard, wondering how this changeling was familiar to them.

"You know us?" the orange earth pony asked, a suspicious tone in her voice.  "How exactly do ya know us?"

Realizing he had spoken out loud without intending to, Thorax immediately tried to walk back what he said.  "I... I don't know you per se," he said nervously, "b-but I saw you earlier, or was it yesterday?"

The lavender unicorn stepped in to ask her own question.  "It's yesterday, and where did you see us?"

"You were, uh, fighting drones in the streets."

The unicorn looked suspiciously at Thorax, then turned to the earth pony.  "Is he telling the truth, AJ?"

AJ looked him up and down before answering the unicorn's question.  "I think he is, Twi, but maybe he figured out how to beat whatever spell is on this place."

Twi looked Thorax over herself before she decided the answer was good enough.  "How about we sit down now?" she offered her friend, who nodded, and the two took a seat in front of the changeling's cell.

"Now, I'd like to ask you some questions," Twi began.  "I expect complete honesty from you; if you're lying, my friend here will know, understand?"

Thorax looked at AJ, who stared back at him, before he gave an unsure response.  "...okay?"

"Good, now, first question," Twi said as she produced a quill and parchment from thin air.  "What's your name?"

Thorax blinked, wondering where this unicorn came from and why she was allowed down here.  Surely she had to know his name already, so maybe she was some kind of test to check if he was lying or not?

"It's Thorax," he finally answered.

The unicorn wrote down the info.  "Now, why were you in Canterlot?" she asked next.

"I was ordered to by my queen.  I... can't exactly disobey her."

"Why can't you disobey her?"

"Well..." Thorax began but paused.  How could he sugarcoat what he was about to say next?  Was there a way to do it?

"Let's just say the changelings that disobey or disappoint her too much... aren't around anymore."

Both Twi and AJ shuddered a bit, getting the message but also not expecting such an answer.

"Unfortunately, I don't think he's lyin' about that," AJ told Twi, as if to remove any doubt of the implication being truthful or not.

"Okay," Twi said as she continued writing.  "How did you beat the shield spell?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I don't.  One moment, I'm just hovering above the city, and then this huge wall of pink energy comes barreling towards me and I try to protect myself from the worst of the impact.  Then a few seconds go by and I realize I'm okay and it must've passed through me."

"But how?  It catapulted every changeling away from the city as far as we know.  Why did it spare you?"

"I don't know why it just let me be, but it did.  Now, here I am in the dungeon waiting for the princesses to do... whatever with me."

"I don't believe they would kill you.  It wouldn't make sense to get rid of you when you could be a wealth of information for us."

"You mean like military knowledge?  I was a low-level drone; a tunnel digger.  If I had my magic, I could've dug my way out of here by now, probably."

"Ya need magic to dig?" AJ asked him.

"Kind of?" he said with uncertainty. "There's drones who are tasked with enchanting the new tunnels so that they shift and change like the rest of the hive.  I don't need magic to do my job, but it does help to change my hoof into a shovel so I can dig faster."

"So you can change specific parts of your body?" Twi asked, sounding a bit excited.

"I can," Thorax confirmed.  "I can't give a demonstration because of the enchantment on this place, but I could make myself look like a draconequus if I really wanted to and had enough energy.  I couldn't keep that shape for more than a few minutes at the longest though."

"Fascinating," the unicorn said as she scribbled the information down.

"So y'all need energy to do your transformin' stuff?" the earth pony inquired.  "Where do ya get the energy then?"

Thorax let out a sigh.  "The love we take from other creatures."

Both Twi and AJ looked at each other with uneasy expressions.  "What do you mean by the love you take?" Twi asked.

Thorax again took a breath as he prepared to explain what he meant.  "I don't know much about magic theory, but I do know a few basic principles.  You know how magic is tied to the emotions of every creature?"

Twi nodded.  "Spells gain strength from our emotions, so the more strongly we feel a specific emotion, the more powerful that kind of spell is."

"Yes, well, those emotions that fuel magic are sort of like stored-up energy, or at least, thinking of it that way always made sense to me.  Changelings don't seem to have the ability to generate that energy from their own emotions, so we have to take it from... other sources."

"Ya mean other creatures that have emotions?" AJ inferred.

"Yeah.  Like Twi said, the stronger the emotion, the more energy it has, and the more we can draw from it.  Some strong emotions, however, aren't good for changelings to try and take.  Anger, for example, is by far one of the strongest emotions there is, but it's sorta like that chemical stuff ponies use to make tunnels in mountains."

"You mean nitroglycerin?" Twi suggested.

"Yes, that stuff.  Anger is so strong and volatile that it can cause harm to us if we try to take even just a little bit of it.  Love, however, is just as strong and much less volatile, so it's a better choice, and the feeling we get from having it makes our constant hunger for energy subside, even if just briefly."

Twi scribbled the information down quickly, as though she were a mare possessed.  "So you guys take the energy from emotions of other creatures?  Could that energy be restored to them?  You know, given back?"

"I don't think a drone has ever tried that, but maybe it could work that way?"

Twi went back to scribbling down his answers, excited by this new bit of information.  AJ took advantage of the opportunity and asked her own question.  "How come yer bein' so forthcomin' with all this information?"

Thorax frowned a bit and looked down towards the ground.  "I don't know.  I guess I just feel like not cooperating is gonna get me much worse treatment than I've already received."

Twi finished writing and looked at AJ.  "Has he been telling us the truth?"

"He seems to be, Twi, but I still can't be one hundred percent with this magic charm stuff goin' on."

Twi let out a huff as she rolled up her parchment.  "Well, we'll just have to trust that he has been telling us the truth."

The two mares stood up and prepared to leave, but were stopped by Thorax calling out to them.  They  stopped and turned to look at him.  The guard had also approached, a spear ready to be launched in Thorax's direction.

The changeling faltered a bit, but resolved himself.  "May I please know your names?"

The two ponies looked at each other for a moment, then shrugged.

"My name's Twilight Sparkle."

"I'm Applejack."

Thorax sat back and smiled as much as he dared to.  "Thank you."

The two ponies were a bit creeped out because of the fangs protruding from the changeling's muzzle, but tried not to show it.  They wordlessly left the dungeon as the guard kept a keen eye on Thorax.

The changeling's positive mood deflated a little upon seeing the guard's behavior, but he was happy to have had some kind of positive interaction with ponies.  He decided to lay down on the wooden slab, resting and conserving what little energy he had left.