//------------------------------//
// Twenty-Fifth Chapter 
// Story: New Bodies, New Life 
// by Boopy Doopy 
//------------------------------//

Thornton could say he tried to do as Thorax told him, but he didn't know how well it was working.
That wasn't to say Thorax wasn't trying his best, too—he definitely was. But, while Thornton might have looked like a changeling, he apparently didn't have the same instincts as them. Being told to ‘share the love’ seemed similar to him telling Thorax to stand on two legs and walk like a human. Both were intuitive, and both were difficult to explain.
He understood focusing on just one person’s emotions well enough though; he could find the source of feelings that drifted his way if he followed the invisible stream back to the creature it came from. But blocking out emotions was another matter. It was something he could definitely do, but not well. In fact, it wasn’t really blocking emotions at all, more just tuning them out. But it was better than nothing.
They moved to another room after Reece left. Twilight Sparkle came back to find his family in a cafeteria, radiating excitement and explaining all about the magic she saw and what would happen next and how it would probably take a few months to get them back. Thornton wasn’t surprised, although it was weird how happy she seemed about all of this. Denver didn’t seem to mind it either, and even smiled, but didn’t make a comment. He didn’t need to read her emotions to know that, despite her initial reaction, she was getting caught up in the thrill of being here. No surprise, since she could do magic.
And didn’t have to be hungry and starving and overloaded with senses day after day. This was going to continue to suck without any change.
Hey, I’m sure I can help you change a lot!, Thorax’s voice was suddenly saying cheerfully in his head. Don’t you worry! You wouldn’t believe how much I had to learn about being a changeling.
Of course, everyone in this world was overly happy, it seemed. But at least Thorax seemed to genuinely care rather than simply echo happiness and kindness and excitement, even if those things were very tasty. It was in the same vein as Fluttershy.
“Actually, you can take this,” the colorful buggish creature was saying quietly out loud. And then, a moment later, Thornton’s eyes were going wide as he felt Thorax pushing emotion his way. Instead of a stream though, it was a wave, one that crashed over him before disappearing a second later. It not only curbed his hunger, but it left him feeling stuffed. What was that?
That’s what sharing the love is! he told him. Most changeling hives who haven’t reformed yet are forced to give the love they gather from ponies to the king or queen of the hive, but when a changeling reforms, they’re able to give their love willingly to other changelings!
Okay, that was a good piece of information to have, even if he had no idea how to do something like that. Heck, he didn’t even know how to intentionally gather the emotions of anyone, nor had he had his stolen. A lot of this was turning out to be a ‘you’ll figure it out’ sort of situation.
But man, was the emotion he got from Thorax tasty. When was the last time he was actually stuffed like that? It was a combination of assurance and confidence and strength he got—not the most delicious mix of emotions he’d received, but certainly the most filling. Thornton wanted to fall asleep right there after a meal like that. If he could, anyway.
But instead, the fullness dwindled away over the next few seconds, and before long, his stomach was rumbling again. Not painful, but it would get there, he knew.
“Were you wanting to head into town right now?” Thorax asked. He rubbed a hoof behind his head and said, “I know I haven’t been the most helpful, but I hope I got a little bit through to you! I really have to stay here though, talking to Starlight Glimmer about enrollment for changelings this year…” And the fact that the kirin burned some of her books because of me, the green bug added silently. I'm sure that will be a fun conversation.
Then Thorax was speaking out loud again. “Are you going to be going to this school, too? Twilight Sparkle didn’t really give me much info about you actually, if you can believe it. What hive are you from again?”
“I don’t have a hive,” Thornton told him in his nasally voice. “I’m supposed to be a human.”
“Oh, okay! That makes sense!... uhh, I think? If you don’t have a hive though, you can be in my hive if you want! Visit other changelings and everything!”
Thornton smiled again—the second time in one day, an impressive feat under his new circumstances. He made sure his thoughts couldn’t be read as he replied, “I’d be down for that, if I’m not back home by the time I can. But being around other changelings would be good.” Thorax was right in that not much of what he said was the most helpful, but it was a great starting point. Better than Twilight or her now burned books could offer him anyway.
There was a lot of naivety about both Thorax and Twilight, Thornton was now noticing. Not much sympathy came off of either of them, even if there was reassurance and confidence there. Sympathy was nicer, more delicious, like the kind that Fluttershy seemed to give out in bucketloads.
Wait, did he have a crush on a yellow horse?
What are you thinking about, Thorny Tons? a new voice was suddenly asking in his head. He looked around to see who it came from—obviously one of the two smaller girl changelings who were with Thorax judging from their voice—before realizing a second later that it was in his head and he wouldn’t be able to tell. Thankfully though, they allowed their emotions to be felt for a few moments, long enough to pinpoint the stream and turn to one of them.
It was the older looking one of the two, Spiracle. She lifted a hoof casually with a small smirk, and spoke in his head. Telepathy isn’t the only way to find your emotions. You have a look on your face. What’s up?
He shook his head quickly at that, and said aloud, “It’s nothing. Just thinking. Um.” He glanced into her eyes for a second—ones with large red irises containing white pupils—and then turned back to Thorax. “Was there anything else I should know?” he asked. “Or would want to know?”
Thorax rubbed a hoof behind his head. “Well, if you don’t know anything about being a changeling, there’s going to be a lot,” he explained. “I don’t really understand how you can not know anything… oh! Maybe Ocellus and Spiracle or some of the changelings here can help you while I'm here! They could even go into town with you, right guys?”
Ocellus looked nervous, but Spiracle shrugged. “Sure,” she said. “I don’t mind. Should we go right now?” She was looking at Thornton as she asked the question.
It was still strange that he wasn’t able to sense her emotions after only three days. Had he already adjusted to his new normal so quickly? It’d be nice when he finally got back home and was able to go to sleep again, and not know what everyone was thinking all the time. And was able to eat real food. He was gonna have a buffet when Twilight finished whatever she needed to. 
“Uh, yeah, but slow,” he told her. “I don’t wanna be mentally overloaded.” As if this world wasn’t strange enough already.
Slowly was how they walked, carefully making their way back along the path and away from the school. The large, more intense emotions of the yaks disappeared from his senses as he became more aware of the small animals around them and their simple feelings. He tried to practice what Thorax said, tuning out the emotions of the rest of them and focusing on one stream. It worked, somewhat; he could kind of let the other streams fade into the background, but they were still there. He hoped it would be enough.
“Every changeling goes through it when they leave the hive for the first time,” Spiracle explained. “Trust me. It can get loud out here, especially when you haven’t reformed yet. I remember watching Thorax during the invasion struggle with all the emotions, even worse than I was.”
“Wait, is Thorax not, like, your dad?” Thornton had to ask.
“My dad?” Spiracle blinked at the question, sounding incredulous. “All changelings are born from a queen. In our hive, that was Queen Chrysalis.” She paused and added, “You really don’t know anything, do you?”
“No. Like I said, I’m supposed to be a human. Like this.” He quickly changed to look like himself again, this time with shorts and a short sleeved shirt for the nice weather. It was definitely a lot more comfortable to actually look like himself when he wasn’t around his family.
“Huh,” Spiracle nodded, like it wasn’t out of the ordinary at all. Then she shape shifted to look like him, too, an exact copy of what he was, and stretched out her arms to look her body over. Or was it his body? Seeing her change into him definitely felt more weird than anything.
A few seconds later, she changed back, telling him, “That’s pretty strange. Not many creatures stand on their hind legs like that. And you have clothes covering your whole body. No creature does that.”
“Well, this is what I am,” he told her. “Or, well, what I was. That pony, Twilight Sparkle, is supposed to be helping us get back home to Earth, but we don’t know how long that’s going to be.”
“Well I don’t have any problem helping you around while you’re here,” she told him, her voice echoing a bit of skepticism, but not outright doubt. “But if you can, try not to get too focused on eating love? The more you think about it, the worse it’s gonna get. It’s part of how you reform, too.”
That sounded impossible, even more impossible than blocking out emotions. Thornton might have been able to keep how starved he felt in the background a lot of the time, but it was always there on his mind. Especially when it got painful. Thankfully it wasn’t right now, since he was recently fed by this girl. And Fluttershy. He definitely had a crush.
“Yeah, like that I mean,” Spiracle continued. “Changelings can tell when you’re hungry, especially when you’re thinking about it like that. It’s the only thing you can’t block out, for obvious reasons.”
Of course he couldn’t. Not like blocking it out would make him less hungry.
“Let’s keep going,” he told her, starting forward again. “And hopefully by the time we get to Ponyville, I can tune it all out.”
“You should be able to,” Spiracle told him. “Like I said though, every changeling goes through it. It's gonna be pretty hard at first.”
Yeah. Should. Thornton wasn’t a changeling before.
But he was now. Nothing he could do about it but suck it up and start forward. At least pretending to be a human again and looking like one was nice.