A Bold Move
Early the following morning, a very formal and legal-sounding message was delivered to Fly’s shop sent by the representatives of the Equestrian government. It did not go into depth on the details, but it explained that a formal inquiry into what it termed as “the Thorax incident” was being started, in hopes to get to the bottom of what happened, generate a clearer overall picture of the sequence of events from all sides, hopefully determine what parties are to blame, if any, and to make changes as needed in hopes of preventing it from repeating. It was apparently covering even the highest levels of government, meaning that even the princesses would not be exempt from the investigation, and they could not refuse per standing law. They made it clear that they did not want to leave any stones unturned in this.
But the point of the message was the convey to Spike, Fly Leaf, and by association, Trixie, that this was a highly sensitive matter and the government did not want any blame placed on anyone until the investigation was complete and the inquiry was ready to make their final ruling. As such, all participants were being asked to not speak of what transpired with the Equestrian public until the investigation had concluded, nor reveal that the pony known as Thornton was, in fact, a changeling for the same reasons. When Trixie heard of this, she was actually quite irate and initially accused the government of trying to cover up what had happened, something she additionally saw as a fruitless endeavor as word was already starting to circulate through Equestria that a secret changeling takeover of the country had taken place and was recently thwarted—all the public needed now was all of the details. But Spike and Fly Leaf, while not entirely happy about it themselves, at least understood why the request was being made. The matter was quite a mess already; the officials did not need a bias public butting in to further hamper their attempts to get to the bottom of things and, hopefully, make amends. They could also take comfort in the fact that this inquiry was being conducted by the government officials, but none of the country’s royalty, telling them that the matter was being taken seriously and trying to keep undue bias to a minimum.
In the meantime though, Fly Leaf reasoned that so long as she didn’t publically reveal that Thorax and Thornton were one and the same, she could go ahead and make plans to pay respects to their lost friend too. This led her to the idea of holding memorial services for Thornton the pony here in Vanhoover, for themselves and all other ponies in the area that were familiar with him—which Fly was quickly finding there seemed to be a few wanting to know of his end fate, especially as they took notice that Fly did not immediately reopen her shop upon her return to it, which she had done with respect to Thorax’s passing. Spike and Trixie both agreed this was a good idea, and so over the next couple of days Fly went about making the needed preparations for the simple service.
Trixie volunteered to help, and soon both mares had become quite preoccupied with it. Spike also assisted where he was needed, but he entrusted most of the work to the other two and felt hesitant getting too deeply involved. He had just been through a funeral service for Thorax at the changeling hive, something that was very trying for him, and he didn’t feel too eager to put himself through that again, especially after finding Thorax’s farewell letter had helped to comfort him so much. Understanding this, Fly told him he didn’t have to attend the service if he didn’t feel up to it.
“I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to, Spike,” she said, resolute on it. “You’ve been through more than enough as it is, anyway.”
So at first Spike took her up on that and declined to attend. But no sooner had he made this choice did he begin to seesaw on it, suddenly uncertain if he wanted to stick with it. He became especially troubled when he learned both Fly and Trixie planned to speak at the service, and Trixie was surprised to learn Spike wouldn’t be doing the same.
“I mean, I get why you might not want to,” she admitted to Spike while they discussed it. “It’s just…well, you’ve never turned down other opportunities to talk about your time with Thorax…I figured this would only serve as yet another chance.”
“It would,” Spike had admitted back. “But it’d also be a…reminder…of bad things as well as good.”
And the fact of the matter was that Spike was finding himself emotionally exhausted from the whole experience. Reflecting back on Thorax’s death was only putting added stress on him and he knew it’d be healthier for him to push past it and look ahead to, hopefully, better times. He didn’t want to dwell upon the bad times he knew he couldn’t change. But at the same time, his conscience weighed heavy and guilty upon him, and he couldn’t shake the lingering feeling in his gut that he was doing Thorax a disservice in shirking this. It eventually got to the point that Spike had immense trouble sleeping because of this internal debate on up to the night prior to the service, and finally the first thing he did that next morning was tell Fly he had changed his mind—he would attend after all.
“Do you want to speak too?” Fly asked gently after hearing this news. “Or would you rather not still?”
Spike hesitated, still not decided on this. “I…I don’t know, Fly. I don’t know if I’m up for it, but…at the same time…”
“Tell you what then,” Fly said gently, watching with sympathy as the dragon stood there and awkwardly rubbed one arm with his claws. “We’ll leave a chance open for you after me and Trixie speak in case you decide you do, but if you don’t, then we’ll just skip over it and proceed on, okay?”
“…okay,” Spike replied, managing a small grin and thankful for Fly’s thoughtfulness.
And thus, three days after he had returned to Vanhoover, he found himself standing in a small and cozy auditorium at the local community hall, dressed in a clean white shirt, bow tie, and in lieu of his usual sweater vest, his grey overcoat, watching as the attendees for the service filed into the room. At first they were few in number, stepping into the room, intermixing and interacting with others, and finding their seats at a slow trickle, but as the scheduled time for the service to begin neared, the attendees jumped in number until half the room would be filled—more than any of them expected there to be.
Most of those Spike recognized were those he expected to be here, nearly all of whom were regulars at Fly’s shop and whom had worked with Thorax directly on more than one occasion. Among them was the zebra mare (for whom Spike embarrassingly realized he’d never gotten her name) that could always count on Thorax to help her thanks to him being able to speak the same language as her, who came to Spike and Fly Leaf and, in broken Equestrian, expressed great lament for his passing and sympathy for their loss. But there were others who also showed up that they didn’t know as well but whom Thorax apparently did. Monterey Jack, the owner of the cheese shop Thorax frequently visited, made an appearance, as did employees from the game shop both he and Spike often frequented. Ragg and a couple of his fellow gang members even showed up, though Spike barely recognized them at first as they showed up wearing clean formal attire and had neatly groomed their manes, a far cry from the more ragtag look the teens normally bore whenever Spike had seen them.
But then there were others still that neither Spike nor Fly Leaf knew at all but apparently Thorax had met at some point during the four moons he had been in Vanhoover. These ranged from ponies who had only ever been in Fly’s shop once or twice, to owners of various miscellaneous shops Thorax had visited, to even ponies Thorax had simply passed on the street. One was an elderly grandmother of a mare who Thorax had taken the time to help cross the street one day and had been so friendly during that brief encounter that she hadn’t forgotten him. There were also those whom Thorax had met during his training to fly an airship, chiefly various members of staff from the airship yard…including one of the control tower operators that Fly Leaf had knocked out during their escape from Vanhoover (which Fly was rather embarrassed to meet again, but thankfully the pony didn’t seem to hold too much against her over the incident). There were also a couple of ponies who had been in the airship training day camp Thorax had participated in, a Poppy Curls and Dark Flare respectively.
The one Spike remembered meeting the best though, was a gruff looking griffon getting up in years, standing out from all the rest because he attended the services fully dressed in a formal military uniform. “You the dragon roommate of Thornton’s I’ve been hearing about?” he asked, offering a set of talons for Spike to shake.
Spike nodded as he accepted the talons. “Spark, sir,” he introduced himself, having lapsed back into using the cover name due to still needing to keep Thorax’s changeling identity to himself.
“Gervas,” the griffon introduced back, “I was the first that tried to teach your friend how to fly an airship.” His gruff demeanor then faded a little as his eyes saddened. “I was deeply sorry to hear about his passing.”
Spike swallowed to force back his own grieving emotions that Gervas’s lament spurred. “We all were.”
“And it’s a darned shame, too,” Gervas continued with a heavy sigh. He turned his head to look at a commemorative table Fly had set up before a speaking podium. In lieu of a body for a viewing, Fly had instead scrounged up the only photograph she had ever managed to take of Thornton (for obvious reasons, Thorax adamantly avoided having his picture taken), a time when she managed to catch him off-guard for it. Because Thornton’s expression was more of blank surprise than a smile, it was perhaps not the most flattering picture, but nonetheless, Fly Leaf had taken it in to be professionally enlarged and framed, and now had it displayed on the table in the center of a wreath of flowers. Gervas shook his head and let his gaze drop. “That kid was going to go places…I knew it from the moment I met him.”
Spike shuffled uneasily, in full agreement with the griffon, but he was failing to find the right words to express it.
Gervas didn’t seem to mind as he continued. “What’s worse is that I knew he had managed to land himself an airship of his own and had just gotten his piloting license to fly it before this all happened.” He blinked to himself for a moment then turned back to Spike. “If I can ask…what happened to that airship?”
“The Vergilius?” Spike blurted out without thinking then shrugged half-heartedly. “Abroad, at the moment…it’s currently on…loan, as a favor to…” he almost said friends, but then decided that wasn’t the right word to describe Shining Armor and Cadance right now, “…some acquaintances.” He shrugged again. “I…don’t really know what’s going to become of it after this.”
“I suppose he didn’t leave any last requests for things like that then, hmm?”
“No, not really…though I guess he’d probably want it left to me, his closest friend…I don’t know what I’d do with it, though.”
“It’s an airship, Mister Spark…you fly it.” Gervas then placed his talons on Spike’s shoulders. “Look, if you decide you want a shot at it yourself, I’m sure I could probably whip you into shape for it soon enough. I think he’d probably want that of me…and it’s the least I could do.”
Spike looked at him for a moment, slightly taken aback. “I’ll keep that in mind, Mister Gervas,” he said.
“That’s Emeritus Captain Gervas, Mister Spark,” the griffon corrected sharply, but there was a teasing glint in his eye as he said it. It seemed almost out of place with the rest of his gruff attitude, but Spike couldn’t help but grin a little at it. “But please do consider it.”
He then started to walk off, Spike turning to watch him go, before Spike decided to say one more thing. “If it helps any, sir,” he said to the griffon, “I know for a fact that Thornton loved every second of the brief time he got to fly an airship.”
Gervas looked back at him with a small grin. “Good,” he replied.
Meanwhile more attendees continued to file into the room for the services, so much so that Fly Leaf wondered aloud at one point if they were going to need to set out more seating so to fit them all, but at last it started to slow to a stop as the time to begin arrived, just shy of enough to fill every seat already present leaving just a couple of spares empty. Fly, leading the proceedings, then started to call for everyone to find their seats so they could begin. Spike still hadn’t decided if he was actually going to speak or not, but regardless, he moved to join Fly and Trixie at a trio of seats behind the podium while the others settled into theirs as part of the audience.
One particularly nondescript looking stallion nodded his head at Spike as he passed him. “Salue, Spica.”
“Salue,” Spike automatically greeted back, but it wasn’t until well after he had passed the pony that he stopped and twisted around to look back at him, realizing that the greeting was spoken in linguae mutationis.
That was a changeling, Spike thought to himself in surprise. There’s a disguised changeling present here in the audience. His first thought was to wonder how he knew to come. The second was what the intentions of the changeling might be, hoping and figuring that the changeling was a reformed one but knowing he had no real way of confirming that. His third was just how many of them there might be and if this was the only one. Ultimately he decided it didn’t matter—it was just yet another example of how widespread the mark Thorax had left was.
At last they had all settled down and a respectful silence befell the room as Fly Leaf took position at the podium and reverently began the proceedings, greeting and welcoming all in attendance. She acknowledged that there were more present than they had expected but was pleased by this, noting that it only went to show just how liked Thornton had been. She then ran through the planned itinerary for the services for the audience’s reference, then switched gears as she was the first to speak, giving something of a personal eulogy for the lost changeling.
She spent most of it simply reflecting back on the four moons she had known him, starting with the moment he and Spike had first walked into her shop “begging for a job,” as she put it. She was of course careful to refer to him as only the pony and not the changeling as had been requested of her, but she was otherwise quite open about her thoughts and opinions on Thorax, all of them positive. She mentioned familiar events from the helpful and demonstrative of Thorax’s good character, to the more playful ones, such as the time she and Spike managed to get him to conquer his fear of swimming in the ocean, the time Thorax stayed up all night reading Sky Trek, the time Thorax was first introduced to her cherry pie and the humorous aftermath that followed, even on to time Thorax got caught in the rain and stubbornly kept walking in it regardless despite her telling him not to and he became “nearly deathly ill” because of it. Of special focus for Fly Leaf were all the good times she had practicing guizhou fa with him.
Fly maintained a fairly upbeat attitude through all of this, but then she arrived at the parts where she first found out he had passed away and her mood shifted to something much more sullen. “When I was told he was gone…my first reaction was to not believe it,” she admitted sadly. “It just…didn’t seem possible. Someone so good and so pure…how could that just be taken away like that? Why would anyone want it be taken away? But I was assured there could be no mistake by all parties…he was gone. Thornton was gone. The friend and coworker I had come to know so well…was gone. Cut down far before his time, and not without still leaving his mark of course, but at that moment…it seemed grossly insufficient. It just…seemed cruelly unfair. Completely and utterly unfair, and…oh, Thor—”
She cut herself short as Fly suddenly had to squeeze her eyes shut, leaking tears as she desperately worked to stop herself from openly sobbing. The sight sent a chill through Spike—it was the first time he had ever really seen Fly Leaf cry like this. After a respectful moment of silence so to give her the chance to recover, Fly soon continued on with the rest of her speaking without much further event, but Spike was left thinking long and hard about that brief breakdown. He had known for a while that he and Thorax were good friends with Fly, and that they had come to mean a lot to her, most obviously demonstrated when she proved willing to face criminal charges so to help them go free. But now it sank into Spike’s mind just how deep and sincere that care and respect actually went, so much so that it caused Spike to have to fight tears too—not for himself or even for Thorax, but more for poor Fly Leaf, for having to be put through this at all. She deserved far better after giving her all to ensure they had a decent life.
After Fly Leaf finished speaking, Trixie then rose and took the podium so to speak next. Like Fly, Trixie was careful not to reveal Thorax as anything but the pony Thornton, but unlike Fly, who had blurred over the events surrounding Thorax’s death, Trixie touched on it faintly by referring to him as a hero, “who’s actions have undoubtedly helped save many.” Trixie’s comments were otherwise quick and succinct. Oddly, she didn’t talk much about the good times she had with Thorax and didn’t mention once that she and him were romantically involved, though this didn’t surprise Spike considerably much. Instead, Trixie’s approach was to reflect on how Thorax was as an individual.
“He was a thoughtful fellow,” Trixie admittedly softly as she spoke. “There were several times were he’d voice just some passing thought, but it’d give me pause to consider just how profound that thought actually was when you really considered it. He’s given me a lot to think about, envisioned a better world the likes of which…you can’t help but share in his desire for. In some ways, he was almost before his time, and…” here, she had to chuckle sadly, “…the darnedest thing of it all was that I don’t think he ever once realized just how much of a visionary he was. To him, he just spoke an obvious truth, something he thought we all should be thinking already…and in many ways he was right. But where we failed to see it…he didn’t. And I’m eternally grateful that he did. He has helped to make a difference the full scope of which I’m still not sure can be entirely seen yet.” She then turned sad. “I’m just sorry he won’t have the chance to see it come to pass himself.”
Overall, Trixie’s comments were somewhat ambling; it seemed she had gone up to the podium with only a vague idea of what it was she wanted to say, just speaking what seemed right and what came to mind at the moment, but it seemed effective enough. By the time she had finished, she had delivered a rather flattering portrayal of Thorax and his views, all of which Spike felt pleased that it did him such good justice. So much so, it led him to finally make a choice on one last matter he had been putting off until that last second.
“Fly,” he whispered as he leaned over towards the mare while Trixie returned to her seat after finishing, “I want to speak.”
Fly nodded, understanding. “Okay then,” she replied simply, and motioned with one hoof for Spike to go ahead and take the podium next.
Spike took a deep breath so to steady himself. He then rose and ambled slowly up to the podium and quietly gazing out at the audience before him. It was the first time he could really take them all in at once like this, and he couldn’t help but take a second to sadly survey the faces of the many Thorax had in some way left a mark on. But it was then that his eyes unexpectedly fell on a pair of ponies he was not at all expecting to see. Sitting on the very back row, but centered almost perfectly with the podium, were Cadance and Shining Armor. Shocked, Spike wondered when they had arrived, as he had never seen them enter the room—they must have slipped in discreetly to escape notice from not just himself but most everyone else present in the room too. They soon noticed that Spike had spotted them too, but they didn’t seem too bothered by this, and instead waited patiently for him to speak. Shining at one point gently motioned with one hoof for Spike to continue.
But by then, Spike had noticed something else about the crowd, something he was quite certain not even Cadance and Shining had observed, something that Spike wasn’t sure even he’d notice if he didn’t have the means to view the whole audience at once like this. With exception for Cadance and Shining of course, the ponies seated in not quite the back half of the audience all appeared a bit too generic, unremarkable, and similar to one another. It was if each pony had been stamped from the same mold then had only small changes made sparingly and at random to each one, after the fact. If it were two or three, it might just be waved aside as an interesting coincidence, but there were easily well over a dozen here, if not more. Spike recalled the disguised changeling that had passed and greeted him earlier, and how Thorax had always claimed changelings were not always the best at creating original disguises from scratch, before realizing there were more changelings present and hidden in the audience then he first thought.
He wondered briefly why so many of them were here, but then realized why—they were here to show their support, to again show their respect for the lost Thorax, and above all, to no doubt hear what Spike would have to say about his changeling friend. It made Spike’s heart clench then to realize that he had been requested to speak of Thorax only as the pony Thornton, and not as the changeling he actually was, omitting important details that Spike felt wasn’t fair to omit, not when there were changelings who knew better here and probably expecting him to be upfront about all of it.
Spike licked his lips for a moment, hesitant. “Thornton…was a great friend,” he began to speak, fidgeting to himself as he tried to push past his protesting conscience. “The best I’ve ever had…and I’ve had some very good friends over the years.” He gazed out at the waiting and attentive audience and felt his conscience throb unbearably again. He closed his eyes, resolve crumbling. “And because of that, I can no longer hide the truth from you all any longer,” he continued abruptly with a great sigh, choosing then and there to go considerably off-script. “I apologize in advance for any trouble for what I’m about to say might bring for Fly Leaf,” he saw out of the corner of his eye Fly straighten urgently in her seat as he said this, “for those in attendance, for the Equestrian government and the royal family,” he glanced back at Cadance and Shining briefly, noticing the latter ever so slightly shake his head to silently advise him against doing what he surely had realized he was about to do, “as well as the Changeling Kingdom. But the pony you all knew as Thornton…wasn’t a pony at all. He was a changeling…named Thorax.”
Some of the audience, looking confused, started to murmur among themselves at this, but while Spike paused briefly to wonder if anyone was going to rush forward and stop him, no one did. Deciding that this meant he had permission to proceed unhindered, he continued.
“Thorax wasn’t like the other changelings you’ve probably heard of, though,” he went on to explain. “He was so much more than that. He wanted so much more than that. He believed—he knew—that it was possible for changelings and ponies to find peace between them, and after the invasion at Canterlot ended in disaster for his hive…he left—deserted, even—and came to Equestria, seeking to make friends with those of us here.”
Spike lowered his gaze slightly, sadly reflecting back on his memories with the changeling. “But when I met him for the first time, mostly by chance, near the Crystal Empire…he hadn’t yet had much luck. No one had been willing to give him the chance to even say his piece…but I did. And I quickly saw who he really was…a friend. One worth giving my all to defend and support…which I soon had to do, as when I brought him back in hopes we both could sway the others to listen…no one would. They feared him, or rather, they feared the past reputation of his race. So they banished him instead. Unwilling to abandon him like that…I went with…even though it met leaving what life I had at the time behind.” Spike made a sad grin. “But for Thorax…it was worth it…it always was.”
“The road ahead of us was rough and uncertain of course, but it soon brought us here, to Vanhoover, and there, we were able to find jobs and shelter, thanks to Fly Leaf.” Spike turned to glance back at his employer, giving her a thankful grin. “And I thank you deeply for all you have done to give us even that much, Fly,” he said to the pumpkin-orange mare, who’s gaze had turned distant and sad. “Thorax would too, if he could be here.” He turned back to the audience. “For the next four moons then, Thorax and I were here, in Vanhoover. In hiding, yes, but still living ordinary lives…that’s all we ever wanted, after all. We weren’t anyone’s foes and we didn’t cause trouble, nor did we ever have any intention of causing any, at least deliberately. You all know that or you all wouldn’t be here now. You all got to know Thorax as he really was too…he only wore a disguise for his own safety. But it was him. Thornton and Thorax are one and the same, and he was a good friend and ally. And you all believe that too…or you all wouldn’t be here now to mourn his passing.”
He paused to gauge the reactions of his audience, but there was strangely little. Though of course many of them were surprised and troubled by what Spike was saying, they remained quiet and still, enraptured with his words and continuing to listen intently. Spike glanced in the direction of Cadance and Shining, but they appeared the same, and like all the others, they made no attempt or move to try and stop him. It didn’t matter much now—he was far enough into the tale that it was too late to try and stop it now.
So Spike continued on. “Given enough time, Thorax always liked to believe that one day he could stop hiding and live undisguised with the rest of you as he was already doing…but unfortunately he never got that chance.” He sadly surveyed the audience again for a second. “I’m sure you’ve already heard rumors by now that Equestria was nearly seized through a secret changeling takeover of the government, and I can confirm this to be true. What you may not know is that Thorax wasn’t a part of it, but as it was still his hive, he felt responsible, and he went to the hive to try and stop it, taking me and a small number of others with. Obviously, we succeeded…but Thorax was killed in the process.
Spike squeezed his eyes shut, fighting tears as he recalled the moment of horrible realization when his friend had passed. Nonetheless, he forced himself to recall why Thorax had perished. “Thorax is gone now…but in doing so he sacrificed himself for a greater good. He was a hero, saving not just my life but that of many others including the royal family, spared Equestria from being conquered, and most important of all, set an example for his fellow changelings with his death so powerful that it has brought about a complete transformation in them, both physical and spiritual. They are quite literally nothing like the changelings you’ve heard of before, I know, I’ve seen them, I’ve spoken with them. They are good creatures now who do not want to harm anyone. If Thorax were here now…” He stopped, a thought coming to him. He cleared his eyes of any dampness with his claws before regarding the audience again. His gaze again fell upon those he suspected to be changelings but just as quickly pulled it off again, surveying the crowd again. He took a deep breath. “Look, I don’t want to alarm you,” he began, aware of what sort of reaction this revelation might bring, “but you should know there are disguised changelings sitting in the audience right now.”
That got a reaction, and immediately the alarmed audience broke out into murmuring, looking urgently about through the crowd from some sign of these changelings, all torn between whether should be panicking over this. Those that Spike suspected were changelings wisely did not do much to react to this reveal, but mostly likely they did this for their own protection, and if anything, only mirrored the reactions of the other attendees so to blend in.
Spike quickly called for their attention back on him before a frenzy could break out. “I won’t point out who they are or where they are in the audience out of respect for those changelings since they are hiding for a reason,” he firmly announced. “But they’re there, among you right now, demonstrating that you do not need to fear them anymore. If anything, they’re more scared of you than you are of them, because they have gone to such trouble to conceal themselves from you even though they really should have no reason to. They are allies and friends now…and friends don’t go harming those they want to befriend.”
He watched the audience for a second, seeing that all eyes were mostly back on him, but the crowd still looked very uneasy about this bombshell he had dropped on them. He hoped they were listening and wanting to believe him, but clearly their fears couldn’t be wiped away all at once like that. It didn’t help that Spike could sense an unusually heavy atmosphere of fear in the air, a sensation that felt a little too familiar, and Spike suspected the changelings were inadvertently expressing their own fears through the sharing their emotions as the reformed changelings were now prone to doing. This at least reassured Spike that the changelings present were indeed who he thought, but this sharing was probably not helping to soothe his audience, as they could no doubt sense that fear in the air too, even if they didn’t recognize its source. Either way, it seemed both sides weren’t going to be swayed quite so easily, a thought that made Spike’s heart sink, seeing how much work still lay ahead of him.
He remained quiet for a second, eyes growing distant for a moment as he pondered the dilemma. “The reason I’m telling you all of this,” he abruptly continued again, “is because if Thorax were here now, it’s what he would be doing, trying to close that gap between races. “That was always his dream…a dream where this apprehension between ponies and changelings was altogether relevant because they were all friends. There was no need to fear, no need to hide, no need to disguise anything—he dreamed of a day when changelings wouldn’t need to masquerade as something they aren’t because they could coexist with ponies peacefully and as equals…and be accepted for who and what they are. It’s a dream that still seems so far off from reality…” Spike shook his head, ashamed, “…even I struggled to believe in it as much as I should’ve for a time. But it’s still a dream I share in too…and one I very much want to see come to pass one day.”
Slowly, Spike’s expression started to brighten a little, forgetting his audience as he began to think aloud. “The thing is though…Thorax died helping getting the ball rolling for all that. He has laid the foundation for that dream, and here we are standing atop of it. Ever since he passed, I’ve been wondering to myself just how I could go on without him, what it is I need to do now…but I get what it is now. Thorax has gotten things started…he would want me—all of us, really—to take up from where he left off and finish it. So that’s what I’m doing. Right now, ponies and changelings still exist separately and distrusting, but do you need to?” He shook his head longingly at his listening audience. “I wish instead of two groups trying to pretend that the other doesn’t exist, I could see this audience with the changelings present undisguised and revealed themselves openly to everypony present here without fear…because nopony would care if they’re changeling or not…because they trust them…because there would be no need to hide.” Spike sighed. “I hope I can help to further what Thorax started…that I can ever be half the fellow he was…and I hope I won’t be the only one, both here and elsewhere, that might want to do the same.”
He shook his head. “But enough of my ramblings,” he concluded. “The choice ultimately isn’t mine to make after all…it’s yours. I just hope we can all make the one best for all of us in the end.” He heaved another sigh. “For now, what’s important to know is that Thorax was a great friend, one who I will dearly miss and wish he didn’t have to be taken away like this. I feel like there was more for him to do, but…sometimes things don’t go how you want them to. Sometimes the good we want to have in life doesn’t come free…and sometimes this is the price needed to be paid for it…to willfully give it up and turn it over to the next person to follow through on.” He raised his gaze, blinking back tears. “I hate that it had to be Thorax who had to pay it…but at this point, I hope that, someday…whatever good comes from it can show to me that it was needed.” He wiped his eyes quickly then gazed back at the audience, who had become still, watching him intently. A few were wiping tears of their own. He grinned a little at that sight, pleased that the significance of his loss wasn’t lost upon them. He hoped it would help to build on the foundation he now wished to complete. “Anyway…thank you all for your attention.” Then, for good measure and as a salute to the changelings he knew were present too, repeated in their tongue, “Gratias tibi ago.” He surveyed the audience solemnly one last time then turned to step away from the podium.
But then he stopped short of doing so when he noticed someone towards the back had risen to their hooves, looking determined. Puzzled, Spike turned his gaze onto that figure, not understanding why he had risen but could clearly see that there was some sort of reason behind it. He gazed back at Spike, waiting almost expectantly, but Spike didn’t understand what. Starting to realize that something was amiss, ponies in the audience slowly began to turn in their seats, following Spike’s gaze with confused looks of their own. Soon all eyes were on this lone figure, wondering what it was he was doing. Apparently to him, though, it was obvious, as he glanced knowingly at those sitting around him.
Then with a burst of magic, he lowered his disguise and revealed himself as a reformed changeling to all present.
Astounded, the audience all gasped or yelped in shock, babbling anxiously while some braced themselves for some negative reaction from the revealed changeling. But the changeling did nothing. He simply stood there resolutely, if not a bit proudly, while awaiting whatever his fate would be for this choice. Before everyone else had even fully finished reacting to this unexpected event though, another had risen to her hooves and abruptly revealed herself as a changeling too. She was soon followed by another. And another.
Gradually, this led into an ongoing chain reaction as more and more were spurred to follow the example of the first, spreading rapidly across the back rows of the audience while the rest looked on with alarm and confusion, not understanding what was happening. Fly Leaf and Trixie suddenly joined Spike at the podium, urgent looks in their faces as they watched the panic unfold, but they clearly had no more idea of what they should be doing than Spike did. They simply remained rooted where they were, watching intensely.
Soon, one-third of the audience had risen and revealed themselves as changelings, filling the back rows entirely, before it slowed to a stop. By this point the audience was in a near panic, and the noise of scraping chairs and hurried hooves filled the room as they leapt up and quickly moved away from those who had been so unexpectedly revealed. A divide quickly formed between the changelings—who remained where they stood—and the rest of the audience, who huddled in front of the podium, nervous and unsure of what would happen next, tensely awaiting for the next move to be made.
But no such move came. The changelings, appearing oddly unfazed by this event and still just as resolute and determined to see this through as they had while rising up, did nothing. They just stood there, as if waiting. But the others didn’t seem at all eager to make the first move, more leery of the changelings to approach them it seemed, content to just keep themselves apart from them. But as the seconds dragged into minutes and things settled into a stalemate, silence started to befall the room and all went still, waiting to see what would happen next, and who would make the next move.
A couple of minutes passed, during which no one seemed to dare to speak. At last, Cadance and Shining Armor, who had vanished from Spike’s view once all the changelings had risen to their hooves and unintentionally surrounded them, gently pushed their way to the front of the gathering of the changelings and took position standing there. This resulted in a new outbreak of murmuring, from both ponies and changelings alike as they quietly wondered what this meant. Spike soon realized that the two were soundlessly standing in support of the changelings and felt his eyebrows go up in surprise.
“The most surprising of things come from those you least expect,” he murmured quietly to himself while he gazed at the prince and princess.
The example they were setting seemed to be significant too, as the murmuring in the audience did not diminish, and slowly, the pony side started to spread out a little so they were no longer so tightly grouped together in fear. But though there were some nervous movements among them suggesting that there were does that were considering it, no one moved to cross the gap between them and the changelings. Beside Spike, Trixie shifted anxiously, looking like she was considering joining Cadance and Shining Armor in support of the changelings, and he was sure Fly Leaf standing on his other side had to be also considering it. Spike was too, but he was also wondering to himself if perhaps trying to force unity between the ponies and changelings here and now was too much to ask for right now and had begun hurriedly considering ways to peacefully resolve the unplanned stand-off.
But ultimately they never got the chance to do any of these things as finally a pony moved to cross the gap between them and the changelings at last—a young filly. Spike vaguely recognized her as a foal of one of Fly’s regular customers, having seen her be brought into the shop with her mother a couple of times before. She was roughly old enough to be of school-attending age but it would easily be another year or more before she would be reaching the age most foals received their cutie mark. Without fear, she trotted up to the closest changeling standing before her, going unnoticed by most of the crowd until she was already standing right before the changeling in question, who, surprised himself, stooped his head down to gaze at her.
“Hi,” the filly greeted in a calm but friendly manner.
The changeling tilted his head at her then glanced at the other changelings, who were all looking on with baited breath. “Um…hello,” he greeted back timidly.
It was then that the foal’s mother broke free from the crowd and hurried forward to scoop up her wayward offspring. Doing this brought her face to face with the changeling in question, which made her uncomfortable…but even after she had collected her foal, she did not retreat, and instead remained standing there before the changeling as if unsure what to do now. The changeling looked back at her, looking to be thinking the same. The others looked on tensely, fearing something would happen to cause it all to end in the dreaded disaster lingering the back of all of their minds. But when it never did, others started to timidly step forward, proceeding cautiously but proceeding nonetheless. They all stopped well short of getting as close as the mother and her foal, but slowly the divide between the two groups started to blur.
Then Gervas decided he’d had enough of that. “Oh for crying out loud, all of you!” the griffon declared loudly from within the pony side of the group. He pushed aside a couple of the ponies then marched determinedly up to the changelings. “Look, you guys are all allies of Thornton now, right?”
A couple of the changelings, intimidated by Gervas’s blunt and direct approach, glanced at one another. “Uh…yes?” one of them offered somewhat uncertainly. He received a nudge in the barrel from one of his compatriots and started over, speaking a bit more confidently. “I mean, yes…we are.”
“Well then, any friend of Thornton’s is a friend of mine,” Gervas concluded. “And that’s good enough for me.”
He then offered a set of talons to the changelings for a friendly shake. Again, the changelings looked awkwardly among themselves, but then the same changeling who had spoken extended his hoof into the griffon’s talons. With a sudden grin, Gervas took the hoof and gave it a firm shake, clapping the changeling on the side with his other set of talons. And with that, the tension was suddenly broken, and gradually the rest of the ponies started to step forward and, a bit more timidly and hesitant than Gervas, started to greet the changelings in a similar manner.
“Well,” Fly Leaf remarked aloud as she, Spike, and Trixie looked on with awe from the podium. She gave Spike, who was closest to her, a nudge. “Will you look at that, huh?”
Spike didn’t reply. Tears had begun to run from his eyes, but his cheeks also had begun to hurt from how hard he was grinning.
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Any plans for Armor & Cadance?
your story never ceases to amaze
8694753
I'm wondering that too. They've made no effort to really approach Spike so I imagine at this point, he see's them as nothing more than "Prince Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza"
That. Was. Awesome.
Thorax would have been so proud.
Spike, looking out at the reformed Changelings: "...of all the souls I have known, Thorax's was the m-m-most...Equine."
Que a changeling pulling out a set of bagpipes and playing "Amazing Grace"
Awesome. It had to start somewhere, and it's not surprising that it would be in Vanhoover.
So can anyone explain why Discord is trolling right now? Where is he at?
And now the Government has to kill everyone in the room to keep the secret and unbias look over the changeling take over the government for a while.
Way to go Spike, you fucked up.
close to the end, eh?
Damnit evil man, this story is the main reason I consider you evil. Once it ends, you won't be an evil man anymore. You'll be a former evil man.
8694897
Hopefully there is epilogues.
Because 98 chapters is so close to 100 and its driving me up the wall
I know that you have plans for Shining Armor and Candace in this story following Thorax’s death, but Spike did save the Crystal Empire... So could we also see how some of the Empire’s citizens reacted to the actions of their hero/savior if/when Spike visits the Crystal Empire ?
some how i think the author has found Spikes new calling.
this is a perfect chapter.
8694864
Exactly.
I'm stupid. Why? Because I finally accepted that this story would end. Heck, I'm even taking this calmly for once.
Beautiful chapter. Short but beautiful. I was mildly surprised to see the royal couple though.
Discord, where are you??
I'll save most of my comments for after the second part, but this was a great idea and I've been waiting for Cadance and Shining to say their peace. Looking forward to more!
I'm glad I'm not the only one that's been thinking about the ramifications this entire fiasco is going to bring. Feeling bad about it isn't going to help Twilight's case; she has completely fucked Equestria's reputation, with the help of Cadance and Shining Armor, and there is nothing but an uphill battle to try and preserve somewhat of a good standing for Equestria.
Like someone here said, Celestia is going to catch a lot of fire herself for allowing her inexperienced, neurotic and racist student-turned-peer run rampant unchecked for so long. Many are, no doubt, going to believe she only made Twilight a princess because of what she meant to her and nothing else. And honestly? Her explaining that "harmony" decided to make Twilight an alicorn isn't going to help her case much. Celestia still put her into a position of power almost immediately after she ascended to alicornhood; harmony or no harmony, the sun princess instated a novice with no prior knowledge about anything political and....look what happened....
The Crystal Empire is going to be furious with their rulers; Spike is their national hero, the dragon that saved them from the tyranny of King Sombra and was adored by every crystal pony in the empire. I imagine hearing about his exile was devastating and a bit suspicious to them. Once they hear the full story? I don't think it's far-fetched to think that they wouldn't want two ponies that allowed their own PTSD hysteria to cloud their judgement preceding over them any longer. And even if it doesn't go that far, it is going to be a long, long process for Cadance and Shining Armor to earn a modicum of trust back between them and their subjects.
And I hate to say it, but I think Twilight's reputation is irreversibly shot. When you're the princess of friendship and you turn your back on what you're suppose to represent, on someone who needs it, because of something like racism? That's the point of no return. Her striving to make sure she never makes the same mistake again is all fine and dandy, but the damage is done. What leader wants to associate with the pony that turned her own country upside-down, leaving them open to an invasion mind you, accused innocent beings and her fellow pony and so on and so forth? This is going to follow Twilight for the rest of her life......
8694753 8694864 8694978 8695805
Meetings with Shining, Cadance, and Discord will all be happening next chapter. It would've been in this chapter if it wasn't getting split like this. Apologies for making you wait yet another chapter for it, especially as I hadn't wanted to do that, but that's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes.
8694916
No joke, the thought to sneak that quote in there for this chapter actually did come to mind while writing, and I nearly did it. The temptation to squeeze in a whole bunch of lines from that film (my favorite Trek film, period) has been there for quite awhile now, and I may yet slip in one before the story's out.
8695006
And I did consider omitting that aspect altogether for along those reasons. But that meant I had no good reason why the audience wouldn't already be at least partly aware of what had transpired, and that sort of took away from the intrigue. So yeah, it's totally there as a half-baked plot device and not much else, and it's not one of my better ones...but it filled its role adequately nonetheless, so...points where points due, I suppose.
8695071
Guess I'll just have to retire evilly or something, then.
8695251 8695580
Even if "Grief" did hit a full one hundred chapters, it would only be temporary. After it's all said and done, I plan to go back and combine together some of the shorter chapters, so that would only bring the final chapter count back down under a hundred anyway.
Besides, if I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times...I never actually meant for "Grief" to get so close to one hundred chapters anyway, and am frankly a little embarrassed at myself that it got so close to it--it's part of the reason why the chapters later in the story started getting so much longer than those at the start, to try and...hurry things along a little before we got that far. That and readers were complaining that the story was dragging its heels at the time, so that was my way of addressing the problem.
8696062
I don't know...this IS Twilight Sparkle we're talking about, you know. She prides herself on learning about everything and anything as much as she can, and I can't see politics being any exception, especially since she spent so much of her time growing up around Princess Celestia and no doubt got exposed to quite a fair bit of it. Just by association she probably got to pick up more about politics than most her age would've. I would actually think her problem was sooner that she knew the politics a little too well, and that enabled her to abuse it in such a way she was able to do it for personal reasons without making it immediately obvious (especially to herself).
I feel I should also point out that, while none of them are princesses of friendship, obviously, there have been plenty of political figures both past and present that have totally done that and completely got away with it without harming their political standings significantly, so realistically speaking, that wouldn't necessarily be reason enough for that to happen to Twilight either technically.
But I hear you, and it is a real pickle, one I have been giving a lot of thought pretty much the whole time I've been working on the story. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any one right answer for it--everybody has their different ideas of what "aftermath" the royal family should face for their actions, and none of them are inherently inadequate...pending on where you stand personally on the matter.
My approach to the matter has been largely to find some kind of halfway point between taking the consequences "too far" and "too little," and, admittedly, I'm still working out exactly where that point lies. Chapter after next will probably be the one where I have to commit to all of that, but I also will probably add one last aspect to the dilemma for the consideration of all which might influence things a little...we'll see.
One thing I can say about this is that I don't want to take it so far that the royal family is all left ruined from it, mostly because I think taking it that far would be more unjust in this instance and considering circumstances (keep in mind, the political mood across Equestria at the time of Thorax's banishment favored and supported such action, and the royals weren't the only ones who supported that choice initially given what information available at the time, plus only Twilight was the one who couldn't leave the matter alone and kept pressing it until she took it too far, at which point support started being withdrawn). But there will still be consequences from this of all sorts...some the royal family choose to impose upon themselves in hopes of preventing such a repeat of events.
But, again, more details on that at a later date.
8697001
Retire?
Evil man, the only way you're going to retire is a wooden stake through your black heart.
8697001
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psbY8KaqUX4
epilogue: 1 month after the final chapter, the Changeling Haven And National Gratitude Embracement act is passed to help break down the barriers between species
8697001
Thanks very much.
I’m just going to go over and cry a little bit.
*sob* GODAMN IT FIC. *sob* WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!
That's so cornyyyyyyyyy
I guess the ramifications, or to be more precise the direct ramifications of everything what happened will be in a more personal level than on a political. And that many eventual political consequences will arise from these personal ones. At least for now. For example: Let's assume that Twilight is suspended from her duties as Princess of Friendship. Not saying that this will happen, but let's assume it for the moment. Then I can imagine that this happens because she decided it for herself (because she does not trust her own decisions anymore) and not because some political group wants her retirement. She is a famous princess after all and Thorax is just someone most of the ponies may have never heard from.
Speaking of political consequences arising from personal ones: I think Hasbros new season 8 trailer made this story even darker since it show what a Twilight Sparkle without a lost integrity as Princess of Friendship is willing and able to to:
The first official season 8 promo (called "Friendship always wins"): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNuTaYwgeRw
Edit: Oh, it seems that Hasbro has taken down their own video. And up again. And down again. Well, that's... something.
8699967
I'm generally hesitant to watch Hasbro's promos for the show, anyway. I've found in the past that they're notoriously bad about not spoiling too much, so I've long gotten in the habit of just waiting for the actual season premiere instead.
8699301
Mmm...corn...
8701036
It seems that this trailer contains a song called "Friendship Always Wins" that is not part of the show itself, but I am not completely sure if the latter is really the case (this is based on a rather "blurry" announcement, the song text writer Nicole Dubuc made on Twitter). What it seems to give away is the theme of the whole season. A little bit like in season 7 when Hasbro announced that the motto of the season would be "family and heritage".
If you roughly want to know what the trailer is about without knowing all the details:
Twilight Sparkle is opening a "Friendship School" for all species, and their leaders are bringing the first students.
8697001
Why is it situations like these can't just have a neat, tidy conclusion?
8701871
That's just life. It's not always fair.
8702039
I understand this, but fanfic ISN'T real life; it need not abide by the same rule
8702282
It doesn't have to NOT abide by that rule, either.
I'm more interested in telling a story that reflects the reality and imperfections of life, not one that portrays an overly unrealistically idealistic and perfect world. There's more challenge to that for me as a writer...or for any writer, for that matter. Anyone can write a story with that idealistic and perfect world you seek, it's not hard at all. But it's not very impressive a feat, either.
It took me. Days. To catch up with this story.
And I won't fully believe that anyone in a story is dead until I see the [COMPLETED] tag.
8702291
This is also fair, and to be clear, I'm not asking for stories to be overly idealistic or perfect. I just prefer stories that wrap up fairly neatly without the characters relationships being shattered, possibly beyond repair, and possible personal and political repercussions on the horizon....
8703020
Me too. Although I'm fine with having one story end that way and then the sequel revolving around undoing that.
I can see it now: Grief II: The Search for Thorax
Ah. Time to talk to the Prince and Princess of Hypocrisy. The 1000 year time skip was apparently instantaneous in the Crystal Empire. From the Crystal Ponies POV, It has only been a few years since they were invading Equestria in the same circumstances as the Changelings. They were both controlled by an evil dictator.
When Sombra fell, Cadence and Shining Armor immediately came to their defence and assumed the throne, making sure that the Crystal Ponies would not be judged by Sombra's Actions. And yet, They refused to give the same courtesy to the changlings.
8703020
I think it really depends on the story. "To Kill a Mockingbird" ended on a bittersweet note, and it remains one of the most gut-wrenching books about racism ever written. A happy ending would have made the book far less effective.
I see the same thing here. This is a story about racism and the consequences of it. If it is causing anger and rage, it is doing its job correctly.
I'm wondering why no one is aking why the Changelings are actually looking like they do.
I mean, for all they know Changelings have a black carapace, not something colorful like now.
If you can split them to fife you wold have exactly 100 chapters. Just saying....
Edit: Just saw your other comment explaining this.
Good chapter!
I'm curious what will happen next.
8708634
Well, considering that the only answer I expect the changelings can give for that is "I dunno, we just do," I didn't think it was a conversation that I needed to cover in much depth.
Both sides get plenty of time to talk with each other, so I'm sure that topic, along with many others, came up during it all.
I was anticipating that the speech Spike would give was going to be terrible, awkward, and cliche. I'm quite glad it was better than expected. I think the way you've been writing the reformed changelings is odd and out of place; they seem like they're trying a little too hard to make things happen. That reveal should've lead to mass panic and fleeting dreams. It just didn't feel right. The reveal should be the worst, mainly because talking to someone really is the fastest way to acclimate to them, but they've gone and revealed themselves before saying a word! It just gives me a feeling of rush. The refreshments scene was refreshing after the wrongful reveal; it felt more alive. I having this nagging feeling that it would feel ever better to have to reveal follow after the refreshments; after which everyone would've mingled and perhaps made a few friends?
Eh, what do I know; I couldn't write a one-shot.
This line describes the story as a whole.
Be that thing self banishment along with the befriending of a supposed enemy coming from a dragon supposedly loyal to Equestria, or the Betrayal, both to what was pretty much a big brother to her, and her nature as the Princess of friendship. Be it complete trust and assistance to complete strangers, one of which is supposedly an enemy, who have just came into her shop looking for a job and a place to live, coming from Fly, or the two who hated changelings, and were personally attacked by them, standing up and supporting their worst enemy.
Yes, time and time again this sentence rang true.
Yay
!
What a bold move to make indeed.
*thunderous applause*
Gervas is MVP
IF you can’t earn forgiveness by apologies alone, then showing it is the way to go.