Chapter Two
It was early in the morning when Thorax's slumber was disturbed by one of the Crystal Palace guards. The sight of a guard pony looming over him first thing after waking up gave the changeling quite a startle. Thorax silently vowed that one day he would learn to stop being so nervous of any royal guard unless it was for good reason.
"Apologies for the rude awakening, Thorax, but you are required to be at the Crystal Empire Orphanage as soon as possible," the guard had said to him, whose name Thorax would later learn was Silver Arrow. His coat was a light shade of gray in color with dark brown eyes, but that was all Thorax knew about his appearance since his royal armor covered the rest of his body, hiding any other distinguishable features of his character.
Back home in the Changeling Hive, Thorax rarely ever was permitted any more than ten minutes of rest, what with all the activity that went off within the caves such as expanding the tunnel network, or venturing out into the world to steal love from whatever poor creature his kind could come across. The beds of the Crystal Palace were so comfortable, a fantastic luxury that surpassed his old hard stone bed.
As much as Thorax wanted to spend just another few minutes in the warmth of the pillow and mattress, today was of more importance. Thorax hoped that the bed he was given at the orphanage would be just as nice as those of the Crystal Palace. Within a few minutes spent in the bathroom, Thorax had bathed, washed, and cleaned his fangs before heading off out to the courtyard, where Cadence and Shining Armor were waiting to see him off.
"Thank you both again for this opportunity, Your Majesties," Thorax said as he fell into a bow before the rulers.
"It's quite alright, Thorax," Cadence chuckled as she returned a small bow of her own. "Now you should probably get going so you can get settled in at your new workplace. Silver Arrow here shall take you to the orphanage."
Shining Armor stepped up to Thorax and lowered his head. He had a serious look on his face, though his words were kind in tone. "My wife and I, we're both placing a lot of trust in you here, Thorax," he said. He placed a hoof upon Thorax's shoulder and stared straight into the changeling's cold blue eyes. "Don't let us down today, okay?"
Thorax nodded. "I'll do my best, Prince Shining," he replied with sincerity.
Shining Armor stared at the changeling for a couple of moments, before nodding and moving aside to let Thorax pass. He and Cadence watched as Thorax skipped off toward the gates, where Silver Arrow was waiting to escort him. Both changeling and royal couple exchanged a final wave of goodbye with each other as Thorax disappeared from their view, and out into the streets of a steadily awakening city.
Don't let us down, Thorax, Shining Armor quietly repeated to himself.
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The streets of the Crystal Empire were slowly filling up with its crystal-coated citizens. Amid the crowd of dazzling manes and bodies, a changeling and his designated bodyguard were making their way to their destination.
"I trust you have no quarrel with me escorting you, Thorax?" Silver Arrow asked while observing the pony citizens wandering around them, making sure none of them were up to any mischief.
Thorax shook his head. "No, it's fine. I understand why Shining requested this." Thorax's eyes surveyed the scene around him. Some ponies who he recognized from his time masquerading as Crystal Hoof waved at him, though with unsure looks on their faces. Thorax remembered them, they were nice ponies whom he enjoyed talking with. They treated him as one of their own, but now that he had revealed himself as a changeling, they were all uncertain how to feel towards him. Considering the lie that was his Crystal Hoof persona at the time, Thorax couldn't blame them for being hesitant to trust him or not just yet.
Silver Arrow turned his head to the changeling, and noticed the unease look on his face. "Is there something the matter, Thorax?" he asked.
Thorax blinked and directed his attention to his companion. "Oh. N-nothing. It's nothing at all," he replied with a fake smile.
Silver Arrow wasn't convinced, but decided not to pursue the matter further. "If you say so, Thorax. Once we arrive at the orphanage I've been instructed to let you go in on your own and talk to Jet Shine - she's the mare who manages the place."
Thorax nodded his head as Silver Arrow continued, whilst keeping an eye on things as they walked. "For the first two weeks I'll be stationed outside the orphanage premises in case anything happens, or if for whatever reason you need to leave the area. After that, if everything goes smoothly and Jet Shine agrees you are trustworthy, the guards will allow you to move freely on your own."
"It would be nice to be able to walk around the place without guards having to watch me all the time," Thorax sighed.
"Then stay true to your promise and you'll become a fully fledged citizen of the Crystal Empire in no time, Thorax," Silver Arrow replied with an assuring smile.
The Crystal Empire orphanage sat a little way north of the palace, roughly about a ten minute walk from the main gates. Had it not been for the large sign above the outer gates, along with the orphanage being situated within a small clearing of non-crystallized grass and the presence of outdoor playing equipment designed for the foals, it would have been easy to mistake for somepony's home or for any other kind of facility. For as beautiful as the buildings in the Crystal Empire were, it was hard to distinguish which were homes and which were services because they all looked nearly the same.
Thorax and Silver Arrow stopped before the little pathway that led towards the orphanage's front doors. "This is as far as I go, Thorax," said Silver Arrow, looking down at the changeling. "Go on ahead and meet your new boss, now. She'll be expecting you." He gave Thorax a quick salute. "I'll wish you the best of luck with your day." Silver Arrow turned around and then began to walk away, leaving the changeling on his own.
Thorax looked up at the orphanage before him. As he eyed the building he began to feel a somewhat overwhelming feeling come over him. He found himself unable to move himself forward along the pathway, as though frozen in place. Yesterday, he had been excited at the idea of coming here to begin his learning of friendship, and now that he was, he was feeling like having second thoughts.
But he couldn't let himself be nervous at a time like this, not now. If this could give him his first step to becoming an example of what the rest of his kind could become; changelings who could learn to co-exist with ponies rather than treating them as a means of food and nourishment, then he just had to go for it and give it his best. Thorax would show the ponies of Equestria that not all changelings were bad, and it would start here at this orphanage.
Taking a deep breath and casting aside his troubled thoughts, Thorax managed to will his hooves to start moving, and he began walking along the pathway. He skipped up a few steps, and there he stood at the front door. Raising his holed hoof he knocked upon the crystal door, his black reflection in the crystal material mimicking his action. A few seconds later, he heard mumbling from inside the building, and the sound of something squeaking as the occupant came to answer the door. Thorax straightened himself and put on his best smile, hoping to make a good first impression.
Thorax heard the door unlocked, and it opened to reveal a cobalt-coated earth pony in a wheelchair. She had a black mane with white streaks which fell down to her chest with small curls, and her eyes glimmered a lovely emerald green.
Upon seeing Thorax and his toothy smile, the mare's eyes widened and she jumped a little in her seat, probably because of the fanged smile the changeling on her doorstep was giving her, but the mare quickly composed herself and spoke. "I'm going to guess you're the new assistant Shining and Cadence talked to me about, yes?" she said with an eyebrow raised.
Thorax slowly nodded. "Yes. I'm, um, Thorax. I suppose you must be Jet Shine, right?"
"That's me," she replied. She reversed her wheelchair back and opened the door wide. She raised a hoof and motioned to the changeling. "So are you going to stand there or are you going to come on in, Thorax?" Jet Shine asked. "There's no time to waste when there's children to look after."
And Thorax stepped inside, ready to start his first day as an assistant inside of the Crystal Empire orphanage.
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Good Story
with His ability to change Form, I'm sure he makes them happy
He would make a good father too
I do love some passive agressive in the morning
Chapters could be just a tad longer, and you need to be a just a bit more descriptive in your writing, but overall I'm looking forward to more. Keep it up!
7809789 Longer chapters? More descriptive writing?
Oh, I get it. You must have mistaken me for a competent story writer. Easy mistake to make. Nah, you must be wanting a good fanfic writer like totallynotabrony, or maybe one of those clopfic writers like MegaPone who don't understand how a penis actually works. Just go out into the hallway and take the door on the left and you'll find the good writers who can offer you what you're looking for, okay sir/madam?
i'll get the sign outside changed so nobody else looking for a good writer makes the same mistake.
7809211 Why do you automatically assume he'll be a father by the end of this fanfic?
7809290 I'm a dick, and a vagina, and all retard.
I don't even know where I was going with that.
7809861 I meant he WOULD make a good father, never meant he would be a father. Sorry If I confused you, coudn't help but think that some of the foals would see him as a father as i read it
7809864 Oh sorry. Guess I went full turd-for-brains there and misread your comment. My bad, mate.
7809870 Don't be, such things happen
7809860 I was giving you advice, fucker. The least you could do is not be a cunt about it.
7809946 Sorry about that, Dusty. Probably don't deserve that advice now, do I?
7809986 You say in the description that you want help with your story. I give you help and then you decide to be a cunt for no reason. Yeah, I don't think you deserve the damn advice.
7810000 Sorry. It's my arrogant pride. I just don't really want to do longer chapters. It's not my thing, you see. I find it very difficult to keep a story going and have it remain interesting, at least to myself anyway. As for descriptive writing, I don't even know what to talk about. I don't know how or what to be describing, and keep it interesting.
7810017 Not everything comes easily. Just gotta keep at it, and it'll eventually get there. I recommend getting an editor or two. And try not to be a cunt to 'em.
7810023
Yeah. Sorry about that again. Can we start over again?
7810048 Sure, no problem. Sorry for the language.
7810064 No apologies, please. I deserved it. You didn't.
So, um...hello there? My name is UniqueSKD, but you can call me that or my real name, Kiefer. (pronounced key-fur) I'm British, 25 years old, male, and I suffer from mental stability caused by a chemical imbalance in my cerebral cortex caused by an experimental medicine served to me when I was younger. I pass it off as ADHD, even though it's a little more complex than that.