//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13 - Epilogue 
// Story: Left Behind 
// by origami 
//------------------------------//


A few years later...






Thorax sat in the librarian's chair of the Golden Oaks Library reading over a book.  It was the latest in the Daring Do book series, one which Rainbow Dash had put him onto shortly after he arrived in Ponyville and got settled in.

Thinking of that time led to him reflecting on everything that had happened since his arrival.

His introduction to Ponyville by Twilight and her friends was met with, at best, mixed reactions.  Plenty of ponies held a grudge against changelings for what had happened at Princess Cadance's wedding, and Thorax admitting his involvement and showing remorse didn't affect what most thought about him very much.

Over time, his presence in the library helped his image, and ponies in town became more accepting of him.

A big boost to his reputation came not long after he had moved into the library with Twilight.  A letter from the princess informed the purple unicorn and her friends that the Crystal Empire, a kingdom that had vanished around the time of Princess Luna's banishment to the moon, had now returned, and Princess Cadance and Shining Armor were sent to help the citizens and allow Cadance to take her place as its ruler; according to Princess Celestia, Cadance was a descendant of the empire's last monarch, Princess Amore.

Twilight and her friends, as well as Spike and Thorax, all traveled to the empire to assist in protecting its citizens, where they encountered and did battle with a tyrant named King Sombra, who planned on enslaving the crystal ponies and taking over the world.

Thorax's encounter with the evil pony had him shivering in fear, but being around the Crystal Ponies and being showered in their love and affection had given him the strength and confidence needed to help save them.  His actions had even won him the trust and friendship of Shining Armor and Cadance, who invited him to join them in the Crystal Empire, where they knew he would receive so much love from the crystal ponies that he would never need to feed again.

As tempting as their offer was, Thorax had turned it down.  The reason for that was simple: he had found a pony who was more than willing to give him the love he needed and desired so much.

Thorax shook the thoughts from his head as he heard the bell for the front door jingle.  He looked up from his book and immediately recognized the pony who had just walked in, smiling widely at them as he stepped out from behind the desk.

"It's so great to see you, Shy," he said to the yellow pegasus as he approached her and gave her a hug.

"It's great seeing you too, Thorax," Fluttershy replied, returning his hug and nuzzling at his cheek.

Thorax drank in her affections, delighting in how strong they were for him.

Thinking back to when they had first met each other in that dungeon always brought a smile to his face, recalling how scared she had been and his efforts to engage her in polite conversation.  Once he had come back to Ponyville, he did all he could to spend time with her, even going so far as to ask Princess Celestia permission to be in her custody when not able to be watched by Twilight.  With Celestia's agreement, he often found himself at her cottage tending to her animal friends.

They had become very close in that time.  In fact, they were so close that Thorax had been thinking of asking her to be his official special somepony, but he always got cold hooves and would back out before he could take the plunge.  He was fairly certain she wouldn't refuse him, but he didn't want to ask her in a way that made her feel like she was being put on the spot and couldn't say anything but yes; he wanted her to actually say yes because she wanted to, and not have it come from some feeling of obligation.

"How has working the library been?" Fluttershy asked him.

"It's been boring," Thorax answered, "but in this town, boring is a pretty good thing."

The yellow mare chuckled.  "I can agree with that.  Do you know if the pony who checked out that book about bunny-rearing has-"

Before she could finish, Thorax used his magic and produced the item in question.

"Oh, good.  I was afraid they wouldn't return it soon enough."

"Do you really think there's anything in there that'll help them?" Thorax asked, a slight frown on his muzzle.

"It's the only place I know to look," Fluttershy told him.  "If this doesn't help Angel and his new bunny friend, I don't know what will."

"Well, hopefully him getting a bunny friend will help mellow him out."

Fluttershy swatted Thorax with a hoof and giggled.  "You're horrible."

"Maybe, but you can't tell me that he doesn't get a little unbearable from time to time."

"Yeah, he can be a bit of a pain, but it's part of his charm."

Thorax chuckled.  "Yeah, I guess you could call it that."

Fluttershy chuckled as well, and then took the book and placed it into her saddlebags.

"Say, do you maybe want to get a bite of dinner later?" Thorax asked Fluttershy.

"Dinner?" Fluttershy responded with confusion.  "I thought you didn't eat regular food?"

"Oh, I can chew and swallow it just fine.  I just can't get nourishment from it, aside from maybe processing out water out of it and converting it to resin.  I just want to spend some time with you and talk.  It's been a little while since we've done that."

Fluttershy thought over his proposal for a moment and then nodded in agreement.  "Sure.  Where do you wanna go out to eat at?"

"Actually," Thorax started nervously, "I was kind of hoping you'd come join me here tonight."

Fluttershy looked at him with confusion, then realization crossed her face and she smiled widely.  "You've been practicing with Spike, haven't you?"

"I have," Thorax confirmed with a chuckle.

"Then I'll be here tonight," she declared with a smile.  "What time?"

"How about seven?  It'll give me enough time to prepare everything and close up the library for the day."

"Then seven o'clock it is.  I'll see you then."

"You too."

Fluttershy then left out the main door, the little bell chiming on her way out.

Thorax sighed as he thought of the wonderful meal he intended to prepare for her that night.

"I swear, the love you have for her is more sickeningly sweet than Pinkie's cupcakes."

Thorax's good mood was diminished greatly by the voice of his somewhat new housemate.

"If you can't stand it, then don't hang around for it, Kevin."

Thorax turned to face the creature in question.  Like Thorax, Kevin was a changeling, and was a part of Queen Chrysalis's hive.  He had turned up during Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda's wedding, and was confronted by not only the royal guards, but nearly everypony in Ponyville once they realized the foals attending the wedding hadn't been trying to pull some sort of prank.

After being taken into custody and questioned, he told his interrogators to speak with Cranky and Matilda.  When questioned, the couple revealed that Cranky had known Kevin for some time, and had actually given him medical care in the immediate aftermath of the Canterlot invasion.

Cranky had found him in his vegetable garden only a few hours after the shield that rocketed the changelings away was cast.  Matilda had encountered him a few months later, and Cranky had sworn her to secrecy not to tell anypony about him, as Kevin's time with Cranky had convinced him that there might have actually been something to making friends and not immediately sucking all the love out of the first pony he saw.

With assurance from Cranky and Matilda, as well as a promise from Thorax to help his fellow changeling, Twilight and Mayor Mare made an agreement for Kevin; he could live peacefully in Ponyville so long as he didn't cause anypony harm and helped defend it from any threats, even if they were from Chrysalis and the other changelings.  If he refused, then he would be arrested and taken to Canterlot to stand and face judgment before the princesses.

Given those choices, the changeling was willing to be cooperative.

"Oh, come off it!" Kevin spat back as he buzzed down to Thorax from the upstairs part of the library.  "You're sweet on that mare and you wouldn't mind showing her a new and more fun way for her to feed you."

Thorax blushed a good bit at that remark.  "D-Don't go saying that!  You don't know who could hear!"

Kevin chuckled.  "No offense, Raxy, but your crush on Flutterbutt is an open secret across the whole town."

Thorax flinched a little.  "So what?  I don't care if everypony knows I like her.  That doesn't mean I just want to... well, you know."

"Play a round of churn her butter?"

Thorax glared at Kevin with an evident blush on his cheeks.  "You know, I'd actually started to forget what it was like to be picked on before you went and got caught at Cranky's wedding."

Kevin laughed at that remark.  "You have me there.  I guess being caught there makes changelings oh-for-two as far as weddings go."

"Well, let's not go for third time's the charm, okay?  And don't forget to sort out the return books like I asked you to.  Princess Twilight gave you a break because I vouched for you.  Please don't ruin my new life for your own amusement."

Kevin didn't say anything further.  He just chuckled as he buzzed over to a box marked "late night returns" and started sifting through them.

Thorax let out a sigh as he returned to reading.  Eventually, his thoughts again returned to what had happened since coming to Ponyville, and his referring to Twilight by her new title reminded him of the attack by the centaur Tirek.

He did help Twilight with her spell to become an alicorn, but he was an even greater help against Tirek, the magic-sucking bane of Equestria.  In fact, by using his shapeshifting, Thorax averted disaster by causing Tirek to fire a massive blast towards some unoccupied mountains instead of his original target, the Golden Oaks Library.  His distraction also allowed Twilight to discover a way to beat him, unlocking a chest that the alicorn had received after she and her friends surrendered their elements to the Tree of Harmony, gifting them with new powers to defeat the centaur and drive him back to Tartarus, as well as giving Twilight her own castle just a bit outside of town.

Since then, the only major things of note were the new Friendship map, a large table in the new castle that showed nearly the whole of the world, and would direct selected ponies to travel to places where problems arose between the friendships of other creatures.  Thorax could never quite wrap his head around how something such as a problem between friends could have such a profound impact on the world at large, but he had since learned not to question it.  After all, Rainbow and Pinkie's trip to Griffinstone had helped the floundering empire begin to recover, and all without the help of the Idol of Boreas.

The bell for the front door of the library chimed again, and Thorax was greeted to the sight of another friend.  "Hey, Starlight."

The unicorn looked over and smiled.  "Hey, Thorax.  How's the library today?"

"Boring, but you know that's the best way it can be around here."

Starlight chuckled.  "Yeah.  Something exciting seems to always mean a monster rampaging down the streets, or a pony has gotten a hold of some dark magic artifact they weren't supposed to have."

Thorax chuckled in response.  "Yeah, that it does."

The changeling reminisced in his mind the time he'd met the mare.  Twilight had mentioned her after returning from the first-ever friendship map mission, but he got to meet her for the first time when they were surprised by her in the friendship castle.  She had used a time travel spell created by Starswirl to go back in time and alter history several times in quick succession, specifically by preventing Rainbow Dash from achieving her first Sonic Rainboom, an event which led to the other Element bearers finding their cutie marks and creating a special connection between them.

With each change in history, various villains had achieved success where they'd previously failed.  Tirek had consumed all the magic in the world, Nightmare Moon had defeated Celestia and cast an eternal night, and perhaps worst of all, Queen Chrysalis had invaded Canterlot and succeeded, leading to her army scouring Equestria in search of what ponies she hadn't captured.

Thorax shivered at the memories of ponies keeping him at spearpoint, ready to kill him if he so much as flinched.  Fortunately, a changeling attack had permitted him, Spike and Twilight to escape, and after a few more jumps through altered timelines, Twilight had confronted Starlight as to why she had done what she had done, and the mare had shown her.  Once the secret had been let out, Twilight had convinced her that she needed to give friendship another chance, and Starlight had accepted, letting history play out as it had originally and restoring the present and future to what it had been before.

Since then, Twilight had taken on Starlight as a student, teaching her lessons in friendship she had learned the hard way.

"I'm actually here on a sort of business," Starlight said to Thorax, breaking his train of thoughts.

"Really?  What kind of business?"

"Well, one for you and one for Twilight.  Since she's not here at the moment and you are, we'll take care of your business first."

Thorax looked at Starlight with puzzlement.  What business did he have with her?

Starlight then moved to the side, allowing three mares standing behind her to come inside.  As soon as he saw them, Thorax's eyes went wide.

The three mares were none other than Minuette, Lyra Heartstrings, and Twinkleshine.  These mares were the bridesmaids the queen had mesmerized into being her guards for Princess Cadance.  Thorax had encountered them several times before, but most of the time, they tried to avoid him, and he could always sense very negative feelings from them.

Now, though, the changeling sensed feelings more in line with... remorse?

"Well?" Starlight addressed the group, trying to sound encouraging.  "Who's gonna be the pony to do it?"

The mares looked at each other before Minuette bit the proverbial wooden spoon.  Stepping forward, she looked Thorax straight in the eyes.

"We've been talking to Twilight," she began, "and we all told her about how we felt in regards to... you and living here in Ponyville."

She paused to gauge his reaction.  When he didn't react, she continued.

"She explained to us about what happened immediately after Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor's spell, and how afraid you were then."

She fidgeted with her hooves for a moment, and actually looked back at the two other mares, who gave her nods that seemed to be an encouragement for her to keep speaking.

"Okay, so the point is... we wanted to apologize for how we've been treating you.  It wasn't right, and you didn't do anything to deserve it.  You were allowed to come here and try to live a life like us ponies do, and in doing that, you've actually been a huge help to a lot of ponies.  Hay, Mr. and Mrs. Cake seem to ask you to watch Pound and Pumpkin even more than Pinkie lately."

That would explain why I seem to be on Pinkie's bad side, Thorax thought to himself.

"Anyway, we feel bad for how badly we've acted towards you, and... we wanted to make a gesture of good will towards you."

Minuette looked back at the other two mares and gave a nod.  Seemingly as one, each produced a vial with a dark blue fluid inside.  Each mare uncorked their vial and raised it to their mouths.  They then closed their eyes and let out a breath into their bottles, causing the liquid inside them to turn from blue to pink and making it glow ever-so-slightly.  Once finished, they re-corked the vials and presented them to Thorax.

"We gave Zecora the ingredients and she whipped these up for us," Lyra chimed in.  "Princess Twilight told us about what Fluttershy and some zebra stallion did for you back during the wedding.  She said this was probably a good way for us to make a peace offering."

Thorax gave a small smile.  "I understand how you all felt since the attack by my hive.  Being controlled by the queen is never fun, and I'm honestly surprised she didn't drain you of everything and leave you in the caves."

The mares winced at that suggestion, but didn't say anything.

"You didn't need to do this.  Really, you could've simply offered an apology and it would've been more than enough.  Since you did go to the trouble, I thank you, and I do accept your apology.  Hopefully going forward, we can at least be a little more polite to each other, and maybe try being friends?"

The mares all looked to each other with uncertainty.

"I don't know about being friends," Twinkleshine chimed in, "but I don't have a problem offering a friendly hello the next time I see you out."

"Neither do I," Minuette added.

"Same here," Lyra added as well.

"I can't really ask for more than that," Thorax conceded.  "So, I guess, see you around sometime?"

Each mare smiled and nodded.  "See you around, Thorax," Minuette replied, and with their business concluded, the three mares left to resume their day.

"Twilight's been talking to all the ponies here in Ponyville who were at the wedding," Starlight explained, moving over to the librarian's desk where Thorax was standing.  "Those three really have come a long way.  I'm just glad they seem to finally have gotten over the worst of their feelings."

"Yeah," Thorax agreed.  "I had the feeling they might try to do something rather cruel and foolish at some point."

"They were, in all honesty, but Twilight talked them out of it."

"I'm glad she did," Thorax responded, but then remembered something.  "You said you had business with Twilight?"

"I do, but like I said, I need to wait for her to come here.  In truth, my business with her has a lot to do with you and Kevin."

"My ears started ringing," the changeling shouted from the upstairs of the library.  "Somepony talking about me?"

"Ha Ha, Kevin," Starlight chimed back.  "How about getting your hole-filled flank down here?"

Without further comment, Kevin buzzed his way down to ground level.

"Doin' good, Miss Friendship Student?"

"About the same as you, Mister Friendship Student."

"Oh, Ha ha!" Kevin shot back, his snake-like tongue teasing the mare in front of him.  "So funny I forgot to laugh."

"Yeah.  Just like how you forgot to do that friendship assignment Twilight gave you."

"No, she di-"

Kevin's eyes went wide and he hissed.

"Dang it!  I knew something slipped my mind!"

The changeling buzzed back upstairs, leaving a giggling Starlight behind.

"You really shouldn't tease him like that," Thorax cautioned.

"He'll be fine," Starlight assured him.  "Besides, the assignment was just to think of a pony that you have the strongest bond with and write a few paragraphs about them and your friendship.  You know he only has a few to choose from."

"He does have more friends than just a few.  I mean, Dragon Lord Ember seemed to enjoy his company the last time she visited, and he and Rainbow Dash are always spending time together."

"Oh, please.  They're always racing or sparring one another, and any talking they do is always trash talking at one another."

"I know.  They're practically lovebirds already," Thorax said with a chuckle, which made Starlight laugh as well.

"Yeah, I suppose they are," she forced out between giggles.

"Did I miss something funny?" came the voice of Twilight as she entered the library, the bell for the door chiming as she pushed it open.

"Just poking some fun at Kevin," Thorax answered.  "Starlight was actually here looking for you."

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing I showed up when I did and didn't keep her waiting."

Starlight smiled at Twilight.  "Well, it wasn't exactly me you were keeping waiting, Twilight."

Twilight chuckled.  "Yes, I suppose that's true."

Thorax looked at both mares with confusion.  "Umm, Twilight, did I miss something?"

"No, you didn't, but we have some news that we think both you and Kevin are gonna wanna hear right now."  The princess then looked upstairs and shouted for the other changeling to join them.

Kevin came buzzing down with a paper in his hooves.  "Here's that assignment you gave me, Twilight."

"Thank you, Kevin, but you didn't need to have this done so quickly."

"I don't like procrastinating.  Never have and never will."

"Well, I can appreciate punctuality as well, but this wasn't the reason I called you down here."

Kevin looked confused.  "It wasn't?"

Twilight shook her head.  "We have some big news we wanted to share with the both of you.  Why don't we all sit down?"

Everypony and changeling agreed and took seats in the middle of the library.

"Now, what we're telling you right now is really sensitive information," Twilight told them, "so I need to make sure that the library is secure."  She then cast a spell and the whole building seemed to grow a shade darker.  The front door to the library also clicked loudly, indicating that it had just been locked.

"Now," Twilight continued, "as you both know, we've been talking to you about your hive and ways for us to defend ourselves against other changelings.  It has been a great help from both of you, but as of today, we no longer have a need for that."

Thorax and Kevin both looked at each other with confusion.  Thorax turned back to Twilight.  "What do you mean?"

"Princess Celestia sent us a letter," Starlight explained, presenting a scroll with a royal seal stamped onto it, a clean break through the icon of two alicorns circling a globe.  "In the letter, she told us about a group of changelings that showed up in Dodge Junction, without disguises."

The confused looks turned to shock upon hearing what amounted to suicide in the changeling hive.

"Okay," Kevin said with a bit of a chuckle in his voice.  "I can appreciate a good joke every now and again, but this one is a bit too rich.  You're actually telling us that there were changelings who came to a pony town without disguises?  If that's actually true, what were they there for?"

"According to them, they said that coup took place in the hive.  The group that came to Dodge Junction were representatives for the new leaders of the hive."

Kevin laughed heartily at that statement.  "Yeah, Queen Chrysalis would certainly take that lying down!  Ha ha ha!"

"Well, that's the thing, Kevin," Twilight chimed in.  "When the coup was over, Queen Chrysalis was... permanently deposed."

"Permanently deposed?" Thorax parroted in confusion.  "That would mean...?"

The alicorn gave a nod and her magic produced an item wrapped in cloth from inside her saddlebags.  Removing it from the cloth, both Thorax and Kevin went wide-eyed, their mouths hanging agape.

Inside was a black crown with turquoise gemstones tipping each point on it.  Both changelings knew whose crown this was, and moreover, knew that the only way any creature would've gotten it from this particular individual would be to kill her.

"So she's... gone." Thorax said plainly.

Both Twilight and Starlight nodded.  "She was mobbed during the attack on the throne room.  The guards for her quarters stood aside and allowed it to happen."

"Her guards!?" Kevin questioned.  "Sorry, but I'm having a hard time with that one.  The queen's guards are trained from hatching to guard her with their lives.  I doubt they just stood aside and allowed her to be attacked like that."

"There were a couple that did try to defend her," Starlight admitted to Kevin, "but from what we were told, the guards stood aside once they had learned what she had been keeping secret from all of them."

"What secret?" 

"A changeling had discovered a hidden archive in the hive, and upon investigating, found a journal that the queen had been keeping in there.  Aside from her plans, which included a full scale secret invasion of Equestria, she also described secrets she had kept from every changeling since what was practically the dawn of your kind."

"But what are these secrets?"

Starlight looked at Kevin and Thorax with pity before she dropped the proverbial bomb.  "Apparently, there is a way for changelings to be permanently rid of their hunger for love."

"She knew there was a way for us to not go hungry!?" Kevin shouted in surprise.

"She did, and she kept it from every changeling.  Going from all of the entries, she'd been doing it for the past several centuries, even going so far as to eliminate any changelings that figure it out for themselves."

"Centuries?!" Kevin repeated, sounding incredulous.  "You mean to tell me that Queen Chrysalis has been keeping secret the way to end our perpetual hunger for love for centuries?!"

"That's pretty much what it looks like," Twilight told him.  "We called everything into question, but they answered all of it with complete honesty.  Their delegation was appointed to seek peace with Equestria and the rest of the world at large."

"So, there was a journal that contained all of her secrets, including one about ending our hunger, and a random changeling just happened to find it?" Thorax questioned.

"It wasn't exactly random.  You see, after the failed invasion during the royal wedding, Queen Chrysalis did all she could to pick up the pieces.  She organized searches to find as many drones as she could and get them back to the hive.  Once there, she berated them for the failure, even though practically all the blame could be placed upon her withers."

"A lot of changelings weren't happy with that, but they didn't voice their opinions, for reasons I'm sure you both already know."

Kevin and Thorax both nodded at that assessment.

"Well, over the years, she elected to build up her army again, gathering love as discreetly as she could and having as much reconnaissance as was feasible.  Over time, other changelings started to become restless."

"I'm sure that wasn't a new development for either of you, right?" Starlight asked the two changelings.  "There was probably unspoken dissent within the ranks before Canterlot."

Kevin confirmed her thoughts.  "We never dared air our grievances aloud; that's a surefire way to get your head chopped off."

"Yes, well," Twilight continued, "About a month ago, the opposition was so great that the hive as a whole had actually started to consider deposing her and installing a new ruler, but the idea got momentum when that changeling discovered the diary.  After that, the other changelings confronted her almost immediately."

"They stormed the throne room and captured her and what guards were still loyal to her."

Twilight began to look uncomfortable before she told the last part.

"According to the delegation, once the queen was subdued, she was..."

"She was subdued and what?" Kevin prodded.

Twilight let out a breath before she answered, "She was drained to death."

Both Kevin and Thorax flinched upon hearing that.  The queen had often done that to drones herself; it was her favorite method of elimination.

"After she was deposed, her loyal guards were imprisoned in cocoons, an there was a bit of an argument over leadership for a few days, but eventually, one was chosen to lead, and they organized a committee to run the hive from here on out."

"Who was chosen to be the leader?" Thorax inquired.

"Actually, the one who was chosen was your elder broodmate."

Thorax's eyes went wide.  "Pharynx?"

Twilight nodded.  "Once it was decided he would be the leader, he picked a few changelings from different parts of the hive to make a council.  Tunnel diggers, guards, nursery hive caretakers; basically a changeling from every important part of the hive."

"This council convened and quickly came to agree on a few things," Starlight took over.  "First, they realized the queen had kept the secret of curing the hunger for love from them because it made them rely on her for finding the sustenance they needed to survive.  By keeping all of you starved all the time, you were all naturally more aggressive and also more willing to go along with her more diabolical plans.

"With the discovery of the secret and removal of the queen, Pharynx and this council decided to make some major changes.  The first thing they did was freed all the captive ponies and almost all of the other creatures and gave them full apologies, as well as a promise to escort them back here to Equestria or whichever kingdom or nation they had come from."

"Almost all of the other creatures?" Kevin repeated.

"Apparently, they had some dragons, and they weren't too keen on letting them out in the hive where they could roast changelings alive."

Kevin shivered in place.  "Yeah, that makes sense."

"Dragons are grumpy most of time anyhow," Thorax pointed out.  "I'd hate to think what one would do if they were told they had been held prisoner for many years and had their love siphoned off of them like they were some kind of cow."

"That's why they asked us if we could help them return the other creatures to their homes and with issuing apologies," Twilight told them.  "In addition to secrets, Queen Chrysalis kept more than a few trophies.  There's a vault where she kept a huge collection of bits, Abyssinian kuffs, yak coins, gems and rare artifacts from many different archaeological digs she'd snuck into over the centuries."

"Of course, we're getting a bit off topic with this.  The major point is the changelings are freeing captured creatures and returning them to their homes.  As for any that died while being held by them, they said they're going to offer a large sum of the hoard Queen Chrysalis kept as a restitution for the deaths of ponies and other creatures.  Besides that issue, the council has said that they intend to start making amends for past wrongdoings and establishing a lasting peace."

"Of course, they never kept track of which changelings abducted which ponies or other creatures, and it makes no sense to arrest and imprison an entire race, so we're going to be working with a lot of other nations in an effort to work out some kind of agreement that is satisfactory to all groups."

"Yeah, that sounds like it's going to be complicated," Kevin said upon hearing all of the information.

"So, the changelings... overthrew Chrysalis, my older broodmate is now the leader of the hive, and he is using a council to try and right some of the wrongs we as a species have done to others," Thorax summarized.  "Are you just telling us this because of Pharynx, or is there something more?"

"It's a little of both, to be honest," Twilight answered.  "Princess Celestia will be announcing the change of leadership among the changelings and the desire for their kind to turn over a new leaf, and that's gonna have all kinds of ramifications for you down the road.  However, I told you about this because Pharynx and the changeling council will be coming here to see you."

Thorax was a bit shocked.  "They are?"

"Yes.  You see, Pharynx only just found out recently that you survived Canterlot; Queen Chrysalis had eliminated any reports of you being alive and threatened the changelings who saw you from speaking about it.  Pharynx had been under the impression that you had been killed and the queen was using that to fuel a bloodlust that would motivate him to help eliminate the princesses, myself, and my brother.  After finding out that not only you survived the shield spell, but have also been living among ponies for all this time and thriving, he made it a point that he wanted to see you."

"Besides that, the changeling council would like to speak to both of you about your lives since integrating with ponies," Starlight added.

Twilight then addressed Kevin.  "She actually told the hive you died too.  Her cover story was the same as Thorax - you didn't survive Canterlot."

Kevin looked rather offended to hear that.  "I was a loyal subject of hers for years, and she makes me as good as dead just because I didn't make it back to the hive on my own.  I guess that shows what kind of a leader she really was."

"Well, she's not in power anymore, and I don't imagine she'll be able to reclaim her throne anytime soon, unless-"

"Twilight," Starlight interrupted, "please don't jinx it."

The alicorn chuckled.  "Yeah, probably for the best."

"So when are Pharynx and these other changelings showing up?" Thorax asked Twilight.

Before Twilight could answer, a knock came from the main door of the library.

"Now, apparently," she answered as she used her magic to unlock and open the door.  Both Thorax and Kevin were taken by surprise as six changelings walked into the library.

Or at least, they looked mostly like changelings.

While they still had black chitin covering their body, there were several major differences.  First, there were no holes in their hooves or their wings, which shimmered in the light.  The carapaces on their backs were different colors.  Lastly, their eyes had changed to ones like Queen Chrysalis had, except each had an iris that matched their carapace.

Stepping forward was a changeling with a purple carapace and purple eyes.  He was male, as indicated by his larger frame and square muzzle.  Sitting atop his head was a plain silver crown with some rubies decorating the center of each point.  Finishing off his look was a green sash that had CHANGELING KINGDOM stitched into it.

The changeling looked past Starlight and Twilight and set his eyes on Thorax.  "Brother," he said in disbelief.

"Pharynx," Thorax answered, and began walking up to the changeling.  Pharynx moved to meet him, and the two paused their movement with just a bit more than a pony's length between them.

"It's been a long time," Thorax told Pharynx.

"Yes, it has."

"I missed you, brother."

Thorax moved to give Pharynx a hug, but the older changeling suprised everyone when he struck Thorax hard on the muzzle and knocked him to the ground.

"That's for making me think you were dead!" Pharynx scolded.  "I had a funeral for you as far away from the hive as I could get!  I went for weeks avoiding as much contact with the queen as possible so she didn't sense me grieving!"

Thorax rubbed his muzzle with his hoof.  "I'm sorry-"

"Can it!" Pharynx spat back, using his magic to lift Thorax up and onto his hooves.  Once he was stable, Pharynx moved forward and wrapped his younger brother in a hug.

"I have missed you, and now that you're here, I don't intend to let you go again."

Thorax could suddenly feel something trickle down his withers, and an immense wave of love flow into him from Pharynx.  He couldn't believe the latter; sharing love was said to be suicide by the queen.

But then again, the queen's motives and her lies had been outed, and everyling in the hive knew now just how full of it she had been.

Thorax wrapped his hooves around his brother, and decided to return the favor, sharing his love back with Pharynx.  He closed his eyes as he poured all he could into the other changeling.

Twilight and Starlight watched as the brothers hugged, a smile on their faces.  Soon enough, the smiles turned to looks of shock and surprise as Thorax began to glow brighter and brighter.  When it could support itself no more, the light from Thorax exploded, blinding everypony and everyling that had the misfortune of staring right at the two brothers when it happened.

After a few more seconds, the light dimmed and died out.  Where Thorax the hole-filled changeling once stood, Thorax the whole changeling was now.  His carapace and eyes were a brilliant turquoise, and his eyes changed to have the same slitted pupils as his brother and the other changelings had.

"Congratulations, Thorax," Pharynx said with a smile.  "You figured it out all on your own."

"Hold up!" Kevin shouted.  "Just what the hay happened?"

Pharynx looked at Kevin.  "Thorax shared the love he had for me, and he's changed into our new form."  He then looked back at his brother and asked him, "Does anything feel different?"

Thorax looked over his new from for a few seconds before he realized that there was something significantly different.  "It's gone!"

Kevin looked at Thorax with confusion.  "What's gone?"

"The hunger!  It's gone!  I don't feel that constant gnawing pain in my gut anymore!"

Pharynx smiled.  "And you never will again, except for when you actually are hungry, but that's the good news for you and everyling else.  We can sustain ourselves on normal food now.  No more draining other creatures of love."

"Yeah," one of the council changelings said stepping forward.  It was a female, as noted by the gentler appearance she had.  Her carapace was quite unique among the group.  Not only was it a very vibrant red, but it also had pink spots on it that mimicked a ladybug's shell pattern.  "This transformation we've undergone has brought forth a need for improvements to the hive, especially in regards to our nourishment.  We're working with the ponies to plant farms, learn how to cook things, preparing items for long-term storage and much more!"

"Not only that," another changeling stepped forward, "but we also need to establish what things we might have in the badlands that would be of value to other nations and participate in trade.  The hive has the queen's hoard, but that will only last us so long, and we're cataloging things so that we can return items with significant cultural relevance to other creatures, and that will diminish it by a good bit once all is said and done."

Pharynx called the attention of everyone back to him.  "All of this is important, and it's why I've come for you, brother.  You've spent more time among ponies than any of us, and we want you to come back with us and help the hive transition.  I want you to come back, and I want you to help us build our new future, together.  What do you say?"

Thorax couldn't believe it.  His elder broodmate had not only referred to him by the title of brother, but was inviting him back to the hive to help build a new future for it?

"What happened to all the bullying and teasing you all used to give me for being so different?  In fact, I can't ever remember you being this nice to me before."

The changelings standing there winced a bit and looked away.  Pharynx let out a sigh and looked at Thorax apologetically.

"I've changed a lot, Thorax, and that's not some joke to try and make you laugh.  After we found out Chrysalis's secret, we were furious, and after we changed, we were unsure of ourselves.  All we knew is we wanted to change for the better, all of us."

"I'm not the general of the hive's army anymore.  When I metamorphosed, I thought of you, and how I would make the future you wanted to see, and... I thought about how I treated you as a nymph."

Pharynx put a hoof on Thorax's withers.

"Thorax, I'm sorry for how I treated you growing up.  You're not weak; you just have a different kind of strength.  I was just too much of a fool to realize it back then."

"We were all foolish," another changeling added.  "The queen had us all brainwashed to believe what you were and how you acted was a weakness.  That was wrong of us, and I can't tell you enough how sorry I am for how I acted.  How all of us have acted towards you."

The changelings all nodded in agreement.  Some even muttered their own apologies to Thorax.

"So, brother," Pharynx spoke again, "will you consider coming back to the hive and making it the place you've always wanted to live?"

Thorax thought over what Pharynx had asked him.  Before he gave his answer, a flash of light came from behind him.  Everyone turned to look, and when the light died down, there was Kevin, no longer with holes in his body and with a carapace and eyes colored the same arctic blue they had been before, except his eyes now had slitted pupils.

"Wow, you really aren't hungry after going through all of this," he commented as he examined his new form.

"While I'm glad you have decided to embrace our new ways, Kevin," Pharynx said with annoyance, "could you have at least waited until Thorax gave us his answer?"

Kevin became sheepish when he saw the expression on Pharynx's face.  "Sorry."

Pharynx shook his head as he turned back to Thorax.

"I've thought about it," Thorax told him, "and I would be happy to come back, but I only want to come back long enough to help the hive transition to your new leadership."

Pharynx looked at him with confusion.  "You don't want to come back for good?"

Thorax gave Pharynx a sad smile.  "After the invasion, these ponies took me in and showed me a great deal of trust.  I came back here with Twilight after a few days and her friends all helped me to make friends with ponies and show them that I wanted to live peacefully with them.  In that time since, I became the new librarian, helped Twilight defeat a giant centaur that was gonna destroy the town and take all the magic everypony had, and I've even found somepony I would like to get to know even better than I already do."

"I have a whole life here now, Pharynx, and I don't want to leave it behind."

Pharynx heard Thorax's arguments and nodded.  "Yes, that would be unfair to ask you to leave that all behind.  I'll tell you what: make your way back to the hive whenever you're ready, and you can even bring this pony with you.  I'm sure that a great many Equestrians are going to be curious about our hive and will want to see it for themselves."

"I'm sure they will," Thorax replied with a smile.  "Thank you, brother."

The two changelings then moved in and gave each other a hug.  They held it for a few moments before eventually separating.

"Well, we've done what we came here to do," Pharynx told the changeling council, then looked to his brother.  "Twilight will be hosting us for dinner this evening.  I hope you can make it for that."

Thorax looked at Pharynx with a bit of guilt in his expression.  "I did actually make plans with somepony for this evening, but perhaps I can talk with them and see if they want to come, if you don't mind having them."

Pharynx chuckled.  "It's Princess Twilight you'd have to ask, but I'd like to meet this, how do you say it, special somepony?"

"Uh, yeah," Thorax confirmed with embarrassment, "That."

Pharynx chuckled, as did the other changelings and the ponies.  Once the laughing died down, Twilight cleared her throat to get Pharynx's attention.

"I think it's best we head over to the castle now.  I want to give you all the books you'll need, and I believe you agreed to answer some of my questions?"

Thorax laughed pretty hard.  "Oh, you have no idea what you've gotten yourself into, brother!"

Pharynx cocked an eye ridge.  "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Let's just say," Thorax answered between breaths, "that by the time you're even halfway done, you're going to wish you were back in training with Antenna doing drills."

The other changelings laughed at the memory, but Pharynx looked at Thorax with confusion, and then at Twilight with a bit of fear.  The alicorn was gathering up several rolls of parchment and quills she planned on writing with.

"By the Mother Tree, what have I gotten myself into?"