Pony Tails

by Bluecatcinema

Change Is Good

It was a quiet day in the Crystal Empire. Most of its citizens were going about their lives, happy and content. The newest resident, Thorax the Changeling was taking a walk through the streets of his new home, even happier than any of him.

"Good morning!" He waved to a passerby.

"Morning, Thorax!" The Crystal mare smiled. "How are you doing today?"

"Couldn't be better." Thorax grinned.

"Lucky you." The mare smirked. "I've got to get to the market and stock up on amethyst aubergines. My sister's coming to stay, and she just loves them."

"Need any help?" Thorax offered.

"It's nice of you to offer, but I think I can handle it." The mare politely turned him down.

"Well, if you ever need some help, I'd be happy to lend a hoof." Thorax declared.

"If only my neighbors were as kind as you..." The mare sighed. "I'll let you know if something comes up. Have a good day."

"Thanks, you too!" Thorax waved, as the mare departed.

Some time had passed since Thorax had been accepted into the Empire by Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance themselves. Most of the Empire's citizens had followed suit, to his delight. For many of them, Thorax having the endorsement and friendship of their hero, "the great and glorious Spike the brave and magnificent" was good enough for them to give him a chance. Several had even dropped by to welcome him to their neighborhood, and the Guards always gave him a friendly nod whenever they passed by.

But there were still some Crystal Ponies who kept their distance, who regarded Thorax with distrust, scorn, and even fear. Though such actions hurt Thorax, he knew he had to be grateful he had been accepted by any ponies at all. And with so many willing to accept him, he felt he could overlook those who were less than willing. He had desired friendship for so long, and now he had it.

'All thanks to Spike.' Thorax reminded himself, his thoughts turning to his scaly little friend. 'Without him, none of this would have been possible. He was the first one to see who I am on the inside, and he helped the others see too. I'll never be able to thank him enough for... well, everything.'

It turned out "everything" was quite a list. Aside from being given friendship and acceptance, Thorax had been registered as an official citizen of the Empire. He had even been provided with a nice little home on the west side. While Thorax was mostly unused to pony customs, he felt a house was a vast improvement over the icy cavern he had resided within until recently.

Sustenance hadn't been a problem; There was so much love in the Crystal Empire, Thorax could practically breath it in. It was all around him, so he didn't have to target any single pony, as his own kind did. rather, he could survive solely on the emotions hanging in the air itself. After starving for so long, it felt good to finally have a full stomach at last. And it felt even better to have a new home, and to have made friends with so many ponies.

'Home.' Thorax thought. 'This is my home now. And I couldn't ask for a better one.'

As Thorax's path led him near the castle, he saw Sunburst approaching from the opposite direction. Flurry Heart was with him, her stroller being pulled along by Sunburst's magic.

"Good morning, Thorax." Sunburst smiled.

"Good morning, Sunburst." Thorax returned the smile, then tilted his head downwards. "Hi, Flurry Heart."

"Geee!" Flurry Heart giggled happily.

"She's so sweet." Thorax cooed. He held out his hoof, which Flurry Heart grabbed with her own. "I once thought no pony would ever take a shine to me, let alone a little one like her. But look at us now."

"Flurry Heart does take to strangers rather quickly." Sunburst admitted. "I can personally attest to that. I suppose being the daughter of the Princess of Love gives her quite an... open heart. A wonderful trait for one so young."

"She's something else, alright." Thorax agreed. "There's so much love around her. Just being near her... well, let's just say being so close to love in that quantity is a dream come true for most Changelings."

"Lucky for us, you're not like most Changelings." Sunburst smiled.

"Yeah." Thorax smiled... before frowning. "Which didn't exactly make it easy for me."

"How do you mean?" Sunburst asked, adjusting his glasses.

"Growing up in the hive, I always felt like the odd one out." Thorax admitted. " I was the only Changeling who didn't take such joy in stealing love. Back then, I only went along with it because I thought it was the only way for a Changeling to survive. But I always got the feeling the others could tell I was different. And they shunned me for it. While they were willing to have me along on swarm attacks, they never showed me any sort of consideration or camaraderie."

"I can't imagine how hard that must have been." Sunburst mused.

"Believe it or not, we Changelings can be quite sociable amongst our own kind." Thorax admitted. "But I never saw any of that. I was always apart from the rest. And that hurt. Despite my lack of faith in our cause, I still wanted to be a part of things, to belong. But after Canterlot, I realised I just couldn't be with my own kind any more, so I left the hive behind. For the first time in my life, I was truly alone. And it was far worse than simply being shunned."

"Baah!" Flurry Heart whined. "Bah!"

"What's wrong, Flurry Heart?" Thorax asked, concern breaking through his melancholy recap.

"She's probably just hungry." Sunburst declared. "Luckily, Princess Cadance gave me a bottle, just in case."

Sunburst levitated a bottle of milk over to Flurry Heart. The foal gleefully accepted it, grasping the bottle with all four hooves, and slurping back the milk.

"There we go." Sunburst smiled, holding the bottle steady. "Not too quickly, now."

Flurry Heart finished the bottle in no time. Sunburst then lifted out of her stroller and burped her.

"URRRRP!!" Flurry Heart belched.

"There, all good." Sunburst held Flurry Heart in front of him.

"Eee!" Flurry Heart took the opportunity to grab his face.

"Wow, you're so good with her." Thorax declared, as Sunburst put Flurry Heart back in her stroller. "If only Changelings had carers like you. Then maybe more of them would be like me..."

"That would be nice." Sunburst agreed. "Perhaps then, there might be a chance for more of your kind to be friends with mine."

"I still hope that I can show them a better way some day." Thorax declared. "That we don't need to manipulate and prey on ponies. That we can be friends. Maybe then, we can all live in peace. And I won't be the only Changeling that believes in friendship. I won't be just some cast-off anymore..."

"I never considered how hard a decision choosing to leave your hive was." Sunburst declared, as Flurry Heart dozed off in her stroller. "I can relate."

"Really?" Thorax said skeptically. "You can?"

"Of course." Sunburst nodded, a tad perturbed by the luck on Thorax's face.

"No offense, but you have no idea what it's like being an outcast." Thorax frowned. "Being alone, and unwanted, even by your own kind. You just wouldn't understand."

"You'd be surprised." Sunburst declared. "You see, I was once an outcast myself."

"You were?" Thorax gaped.

"I certainly was." Sunburst nodded.

"But you're Flurry Heart's Crystaller." Thorax pointed out. "An advisor to the Prince and Princess themselves!"

"But I wasn't always." Sunburst declared. "During magic school, I was something of an oddity among my peers. Despite having an extensive knowledge of magic, I lacked the raw power necessary to cast many of the spells my fellow students could perform with ease. I ended up being snubbed by the rest of my class. I was the subject of pity at best, and mockery at worst."

"Oh." Thorax bowed his guiltily. "I didn't know..."

"It didn't take long for me to grow ashamed of myself for failing so completely." Sunburst recalled. "In fact, that's the very reason I moved to the Crystal Empire: So I could cloister myself, far from the site of my failure. I surrounded myself with books, and became perfectly content to spend the rest of my life wallowing in regret."

"So... how did you get from there to here?" Thorax asked, puzzled.

"Starlight." Sunburst smiled. "She came to my door one day, hoping to rekindle our friendship. It didn't go well at first... mostly because I couldn't bear for my old friend to know what a failure I had become. But eventually, the truth came out, and Starlight helped me work through all the pain I had suffered, even sharing some past shames of her own. For the first time in years, I felt like something other than a failure."

Thorax could only smile in response to Sunburst's heartwarming tale.

"Then I heard that the Crystal Heart had been shattered." Sunburst continued. "That was when everything fell into place. I used my knowledge to help repair the Heart, and became Flurry Heart's Crystaller at the same time. After years of misery, I finally managed to put my knowledge to good use. Everything that had happened before no longer mattered. My whole life was turned around, just because an old friend happened to show up on my doorstep."

"Wow." Thorax gaped. "That's quite a story."

"Well, I don't normally like to brag..." Sunburst said humbly. "But my point is, we actually have a lot in common, Thorax. We were both outcasts, we both fled to the Crystal Empire, and we both became far more than we'd ever imagined... with a little help from a friend, of course."

"You're right, Sunburst." Thorax agreed. "Sorry for saying you couldn't understand."

"That's okay." Sunburst smiled. "It wasn't too long ago that I (among many others) didn't understand you, so we can call it even."

"I guess so." Thorax chuckled. "It's kinda incredible when you think about: How both of our lives changed after coming here."

"Maybe this place just has that effect on ponies." Sunburst mused. "And Changelings, of course."

"Maybe." Thorax chuckled.

"Mmm..." Flurry Heart mumbled as she turned in her sleep.

"I'd better get this little one home." Sunburst declared. "It'll be time for her lunch soon." He levitated Flurry Heart's stroller over to him. "Good talking with you, Thorax."

"It really was." Thorax agreed. "See you around?"

"Not if I see you first." Sunburst grinned.

As Sunburst made his way back to the castle, Thorax continued on his walk, pleasantly surprised at what he had learned from their talk.

'Looks like Changelings and ponies can have a lot in common.' He thought. 'Makes me even more hopeful that one day, we can all live together in peace...'

Comments

[danick]

For some reason I ship flurry and thorax

[OmniFox]

Hope Flurry Heart has potty training.

[Vakama95096]

7581836 me too, they look cute together

[moonlit scribe]

rather

That should be capitalized.