James: The changeling that changed Equestria

by SylveonAKASteven2Desmond

Chapter 3: Thorax and his plans for me...

Author's Note:

Been a while, but I got addicted to games and writing fanfictions in other places so didn't upload a lot. Sorry. Should be a bit more active when tests are over, although not guaranteeing it would work and I still have to work on other websites. But hope you enjoy this longer style chapter.
P.S. I know this chapter is way too short compared to what you're used to reading. In my other websites, however, it's tedious for people to write more than 2K words, and the people who read it is a bit less (I know from experience) than the stories with <2K. So writing short now is probably my habit.
Who am I kidding? You came here for the story. So hope you enjoy it.

*Badlands, somewhere south of Equestria, around 6 p.m in Jame’s POV*

Finally, after quite a long flight, I made it to the hive. It is a big, black and withered tree that seems like nothing fun is happening. Nobody would expect a hive to be living there, making it perfect as our “base of operation"

I went in through the “fake entrance” of the hive, and the whole colony was there. It was not that chaotic, but at the same time, it seemed a lot of changelings rushed back to their base as the operation failed. It seemed like all of them just want a good sleep to forget all of the crap I made them go through for nothing or at least something for those who managed to steal the love of some ponies.

I hoped not to meet the Queen as I sneaked my way to the room of a friend of mine. It was Thorax, who is considered a Weakling, as we call it, because he doesn’t want to hurt anyone, and I was the only one who befriended him. I think people looked at me as a Weakling as well, but they might not say it directly to my face because I am 2nd in command.

Lost in my thought, I bumped into someone and almost fell from the impact. To my surprise, and my fear may I add, I looked up to see the Queen right there, her face seemed to be somewhat happy, awkwardly.

“Tarsus, I would like to have a word with you” She smiled.

She showed me the direction to her room. I gulped as I followed her, knowing her intentions to rip me to pieces. I looked down and away from everyone’s eyes, including Thorax, who was walking back and forth between his and my room to wait for me. He didn’t seem to notice me, but I shook it off, before arriving deep in the base, pretty much at the end of it, at Chrysalis’ office. She opened the door and moved aside as I walked in the room. As soon as she came in and close the door, her face turned from happiness to anger beyond expression.

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked her, as I backed myself into a corner.

“You’ve given us false information!” She replied, her face turning red, “You told me that the pony side would be defenseless after I got the Prince’s love, not to be defeated by the love that Cadence gave or the two bonding or whatever it’s called!”

At this point, I was confused at first. I was surprised how the plans failed. I could’ve told her to steal love from the princess first, and then the prince. Why am I so gosh dang stupid!

No matter. I have to deal with the Queen now. I have to find an excuse, however. I decided to give her the truth: a carefully edited truth.

“Well...I was injured...I got hit by magic so I was unconscious for a while”

“Kind of explains the point of you not being there to watch the world burn...” Chrysalis seemed to calm down a bit.

“When I woke up, I saw chaos ensuring like normal. And so I just ran around Pony houses just in case any pony left behind still haven’t gotten their love souls leeched; before I heard an explosion and saw all of the changelings being blown away by some sort of balloon”

“That was the love barrier, you dimwit. It blocked us from getting in and knocked us back to the wild.” The Queen looked at me one more time, anger clear in her eyes and tone.

“I was inside a house so I wasn’t affected. But I couldn’t get out. It explains why I came back so late. It took me a while to find a loophole in the system to get out...” I looked down as her face drew closer and closer to mine. My face was about an inch away as my sweat started to pour.

I was terrified that, like a dog, she would sniff out the truth from me. But instead, she shook her head in frustration.

“You, Tarsus, are grounded for a week! We will talk about this later. You’re grounded still until we can figure out another love source to take over in Equestria. Do you understand my conditions?” I gulped, before nodding furiously.

“Y-Yeah! I’ll learn my lesson...”

“Good...” She looked at me, before showing me the door, “What are you waiting for? Get a move on!”

I flew to the door as fast as I can, opened the door, and slammed it shut. It was so tense that I wanted to scream, but I decided to calm down, just to not trigger any more alarms for Chrysalis. I walked back to my room, and opened the door; only to see Thorax being there already, sitting on my bed (not that I’m complaining about it anyway) He seemed to be down as well, looking droopy and stuff.

“Thorax, are you alright?” I walked to him, nervously waiting for an answer. He looked at me, before giving me a sigh and a nod.

"So what’s the matter? You want to talk?” I looked at him again, a bit more nervous by the second.

“I guess so...I don’t know how I want to say this...” Thorax looked at me, his changeling eyes seeming desperate.

“So what happened? What made you so sad? Is it because you weren’t able to be brave enough to drain people’s love soul?”

“I...I don’t know...actually. Can you...please keep this a secret?” Thorax looked at me, his eyes seemed more dreaded than before. I nodded out of sheer pity.

“I will. As a trade-off, I want to tell you a secret, too.” I looked down, sighing as he too sighs as well.

“Alright...The thing is...” Thorax started, “I think changelings are wrong. Just very wrong in my opinion...about how we get those love souls”

I was a bit stunned when he told me this. Changelings are wrong? Sure, we’re wrong in some cases, like causing chaos and stuff (and I have to admit, that’s just pure evil), but how we absorb love...that’s wrong?

I tried to look as normal as I can before asking him, “What do you mean by that? That seems surreal!”

“I...” Thorax started sobbing, as he finally said what he dreaded to say, “When I saw...the 6 other ponies that fought our kind off for a few minutes...I...I felt their friendship...It...it was something I never experienced ever, nor any of us...would if we weren’t paying attention to just fighting alone. I saw them...their...bond of friendship was beyond belief...”

My ears drooped as I hear him saying his words. It was true, too, since what Indigo did to me showed that the changelings don’t have to steal love to get love.

Thorax continued as he sobbed, tears still streaming from his green eyes,

“I...I never felt so much worse in my...l-life. I don’t want to hurt anyone, I-I don’t know why, but now I know...I was afraid, that throughout my hunger, I’d steal love that wasn’t mine to begin with...I don’t want to do so. I...think that love should be shared throughout...every single being in Equestria. It betrays the hive’s...belief and that’s why I-I...only told you so...because the Queen will...”

At this point, I can’t take it anymore, as I silenced him by placing a hoof to his mouth, a polite form of saying to be silent. I started to wipe away the tears from his eyes, as he looked at me, stunned and in wild disbelief. I was stunned, too at the point, thinking that it is just something changelings had to do just to keep the hive strong. But it seemed like my gesture was more of an affection one compared to one out of sheer necessity. It was a motherly act, something Thorax never seemed to receive.

“I...Thank you...Tarsus” I gave him a little hug, of which he returned it. It’s not all the time you get to go all touchy-feely with another changeling, but it’s weird why my heart melted to a Weakling.

“Speaking of which, I have a secret I want to tell you, too” I looked at him, sort of blushing at the stupid idea of telling the secret, He nodded and smiled.

“After what you’ve done to me, sure. I won’t tell anyone...” Thorax snuggled on my shoulder, making me blush even more He was affectionate, and he knew how to share friendship. I don’t know how he got it, but I hope nobody notices it, either. We’d be screwed if anybody knows.

“I...I also...” I looked at him, nervousness filling my body, before letting a little sigh and shared, “I also found out you can give friendship willingly.”

“You do?” Thorax looked at me, a bit curious.

“Yeah...I was injured...and I fell from the sky. I woke up to see a pony, whose beauty I can’t describe through mere words. I saw her giving friendship to me...she bandaged me up and healed my wounds. Without her, the pain of magic might have probably killed me.”

“Wow, that sounds horrible!” Thorax looked at me, concern in his tone.

“Well...I was tempted to get her love, but...I decided not to since I don't want to hurt her after she saved me. And since that forgiveness I gave in to her, I felt less guilty about myself and I am much more full of happiness than I thought. Not that I think about it...I realized that friendship is not physical, nor is it mental. It’s magic; it’s the thing that bonds everyone together, and without it, we’re nothing. We’re getting friendship thinking it’s a physical thing, but it’s really not. It’s a magic that can be shared with anyone as long as you open your hearts to it.”

It’s awkward, that Thorax was acting way out of character today, instead of avoiding anyone, even me, he instead is acting like if he was friendly to me, like someone who cared. He’s acting like a kid, even when he’s at least 6 or 8 years older than me, leaning on me and stuff.

“Can we meet the girl?” Thorax asked me, smiling as he wanted to see who that pony was.

“I...I’m not sure...” I looked around, making sure nobody was near me, “I was supposed to meet her at 7 tomorrow...but I’m grounded for a week...Maybe you can help me out?”

Thorax smiled in excitement, before coming up with a plan.

“Wait...there’s no cameras in your room right? And no windows for other people to see inside your cell right?”

“Yeah...” I looked around, making sure nobody would hear our conversation from the outside.

“I need to shove you in a box if you know what I mean...I have a changeling job in Canterlot to disguise and find a love source. How about I sneak you there and get you back here before the week? She might not notice a thing!”

“But what happens if she finds out that I’m not in there?”

“I’ve got a plan.” He looked at me, then around the room, again like me making sure nobody could hear us, before he gave me some sort of watch and whispered:

“This is a voice interference device. This is unknown to the changeling community so I guess there’s no fear of people knowing what’s going on. I can set an alarm when there’s somebody who knocks on the door or hits it hard, using the camera and sensor I’ve put since I tested it on your door before the incident, you can literally sound like you’re here. Also, since the Queen, nor anyone, knows your password for the door, nobody would know that you’re not there at the time. So every time there’s someone trying to knock on the door, it will alarm you via this watch. Press the green button, and you’ll be able to have your voice live and talking in real time. That way, they think you’re in the room, but you’re probably somewhere else”

“That’s brilliant.” I beamed. “But what happens if somebody somehow knows my password? Wouldn’t they go in to find that I’m not there?”

“Well...I can give you the teleportation device. You can lock the door in your bathroom and...actually you know what?” He looked at me, a sly smile appearing on his face.

“Uhm...should I be concerned about the smile or what?” I backed out a bit, making sure he wasn’t trying to kill me.

“No, you don’t have to. I can give you the coordinates of my teleportation device and you can just teleport to me instead of trying to hide and seek and stuff. How about that?”

I was excited that there was an easier way to do this. I can finally be on time for my meeting with Indigo. But I don’t show it since it shows my cowardliness.

“For a Weakling, you’re not that bad” I mocked him, getting a little chuckle from Thorax.

“For a Changeling, you seem to be desperate” He mocked me back.

“Oh shut up...” I blushed, looking away in embarrassment.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s do this...” Thorax stood up.

I stood up, too; and I’m willing to do anything to get out of here...

Even without the Queen’s permission...

To see her again...

Comments

[DisplacedWriter]

A... changeling with a human name...

[SylveonAKASteven2Desmond]

8591668
And that's why you should never trust Lyra to give you a better name for a changeling...: