Thorax is Phototactic

by Deergenerate

Fireworks

Thorax yawned as he pulled himself out of bed.

'Wait, I'm in a bed?' he thought to himself as he looked down at his bed. Sure enough he was indeed tucked in a bed.

He looked around to see that he was in his bed room in the Crystal Palace, which was weird, because the last thing he could remember, he had just stepped foot inside the empire. Looking out the window, he saw that it was the afternoon, which was weird because he remembered he entered the city in the morning.

For some reason his mouth tasted very..... lightning-y, which made him all the more confuzzled. Outside he heard the sound of running and commotion outside his door. Then there was a sound of excited knocking.

He pulled himself out of bed and walked up to said door. He opened it and stuck his head out the door. A green Crystal Pony maid was on the other side of the door a look of pure joy on her face.

"Uh... Hello?" Thorax said as he raised an 'eyebrow'.

"Thorax!" The Crystal Pony shouted at him, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The Crystal Pony grabbed him in a hug and crushed the air out of him. She pulled him off his feet while she excitedly bounced in place.

"Thank you for what?" Thorax wheezed as the air was crushed out of him.

"Princess Twilight wrote a letter that she and Spike the Brave and Glorious were coming to the Crystal Empire to visit you!" The Crystal Pony cheered. "Spikes coming because of you! That is reason enough to thank you a thousand times!"

Thorax would have smiled and cheered too, if he could breath that is.

"Come on Emerald, you can let him go now." Cadance said as she walked up. "You might break his carapace if you keep hugging him."

Emerald gave a sheepish smile in response and set Thorax down.

"Sorry ma'am." Emerald said with an embarrassed giggle.

"It's fine, but we need to still set up. Shining Armor and I are planning to have a big party for the event. Could you help set up?" Cadance asked with a tender smile.

Thorax coughed a bit as he tried to pull himself up. "Yes ma'am." Emerald replied before she walked off.

Cadance leaned down and picked him up. "Hey Thorax, how are you doing?" Cadance asked. "You gave us quiet the fright yesterday."

Thorax raised an 'eyebrow' yet again. "I did? Wait... Yesterday? I must have blacked out for longer than I thought." Thorax rubbed the back of his head.

"What even happened?" He asked Cadance. "How did I get from the outskirts to my bed and why does my mouth taste like lightning?"

"Erm…" Cadance started, sweating a little. "You should really get ready for Spikes visit he is getting here in about an hour."

Thorax smiled. "You're right, I have so much stuff to do. I have to polish my fangs and my carapace, clean my room and make sure my head fin stays in place!" He excitedly shouted.

Thorax quickly rushed into his room and closed to door behind him. Cadance happily sighed. 'Thorax sure can be trouble sometimes but, atleast he means well.' She thought as she walked away.

---

Spike smiled as he walked through the streets of the Crystal Empire with a huge spring in his step. Whenever Spike was having a particularly bad time, he could always remember that the Crystal Ponies completely adored him.

And if it somehow got worse then that? Well, let's just say that the Empire was a train ride away. He also got free train tickets because of Twilight, so that was always fun.

Spike made a pair of finger guns at a group of mares who were walking by. The Mares practically fainted in response, which only made the drake smile more.

A row of Stallions and Mares formed to the right of him holding up photos. Photos of him in fact.

He pulled out his trusted quill, and with several wrist motions he signed all of them. The group of Crystal Ponies cheered in response.

"Careful Spike." Twilight said with a smile. "If you smile any more you might reach your ear fins."

Spike made a playful frown back. Then he looked back to his path and kept walking. "I am so excited to be back in the empire. I love this place."

"Me too." Twilight said with a smile. "Its gonna be great to See Cadance and Shining armor again."

"And I can't wait to see Thorax again!" Spike practically shouted as he walked forwards.

Twilight pulled up next to him and lowered her head. She started to whisper into his ear. "Speaking of Thorax, have you heard that he has been having trouble recently?"

Spikes eyes widened in response to Twilights word. "He has!" He shouted but he quickly shushed himself. "What's wrong with him?" He quietly whispered back.

"Apparently the guy has hurt himself a couple times recently." Twilight replied. "Cadance and Shining said in their letters that they are really worried about him."

"What do they mean by hurt himself?" Spike asked as they neared the palace.

"Apparently he recently ran face first into a bug zapper. That is part of the reason we are here. He might need some cheering up." Twilight said as the two walked up to the Crystal Heart.

One of the castle doors opened up and Cadance and Shining Armor walked out with some guards.

"Hey Twily, hey Spike, thanks for coming." Shining said as he walked up. He quickly embraced his sister in a hug.

"Is Thorax doing ok?" Spike asked as he walked over to them.

"Actually yes," Cadance said. "Weirdly he doesn't even remember the Bug Zapper thing."

Spike grabbed the sides of his head in fright. "Does that mean he has amnesia!" He screamed.

"No. I think he just plain doesn't remember it." Cadance said with a shrug. "He seems to remember everything else."

Shining then set his sister down. "We have decided to not tell him about it. To save him from the embarrassment."

Spike gulped. "OK." he said rubbing the back of his head.

"Now then," Cadance said. "Chin up, the Crystal Ponies have a party planned to celebrate your arrival."

Spike smiled in response. "I really love the Crystal Ponies. They are just so great!"

No one managed to notice the chitinous black form of a Changeling sneak outside, and stalk towards the group. It barred it's fangs in a mischievous smile as he clung to the shadows.

"Yeah, we have the party set up to start when the moon comes up." Cadance said as she started to lead them towards the Castle, accidently leading them past a shadow which contained a very sneaky Changeling.

Spike smiled as he walked by, but then he was suddenly thrown aside by a flash of black tackling him.

He landed on his back with the form of Thorax looming over him with a playful smile on his face. "Hey Spike! Thanks for visiting!" The changeling excitedly said.

"Nice to see you too Thorax." Spike said with a hearty smile.

---

It was night time, therefore, about time for the party.

Half of the entire Crystal Empire had flooded into the main Plaza of the Crystal Empire in hopes of getting a glimpse of Spike. There was basket weaving, punch, treats, and even a jousting tourney.

Cadance and Twilight were currently playing with Flurry Heart near the punch bowls, while Thorax and Spike were off in the distance chatting while Spike was absent mindedly signing autographs of a long line of ponies.

"So," Twilight started. "How are things here in the empire?" Twilight took a sip of her punch after she said that.

"Really great. Me and Shining are doing great, Flurry is happy as can be and despite all the occasional mishaps, Thorax is doing well too." Cadance replied.

Emerald walked up to them as the continued to absent mindedly chat. In her hoof, she held a remote. "We are ready to set off the Fireworks ma'am." Emerald said as she held up the remote. "All anyone has to do now to set them off now is press this button." She pointed at the remotes only button, a very large a red one.

"Fireworks?" Cadance asked. She turned and set Flurry down on the table as Emerald walked up and stood directly in front of her. "As in the really sparkly loud things?"

"Yes ma'am." Emerald replied as she held the remote out to her. "Would you like to do the honors?"

Cadance inhaled through gritted teeth. "Maybe we shouldn't set off fireworks." She said, still through gritted teeth.

Emerald and Twilight cocked their eyebrows in response. "Why?" They both asked in unison.

"Well remember how Thorax ran head first into a bug zapper yesterday?" Cadance said as she took the remote. "Well I think he might also run into a fire work if we set these off."

"Oh." The other two mares responded in unison. "Yeah that is a good point."

"So let's just keep the party as it is and not do anything unnecessarily." Cadance said as she put the remote on the table.

That was when Flurry, who saw the big shiny red button, and as a baby did the only thing she could think to do. The second her mother's levitation let go of it, she slammed her little hoof directly on the button with all her might.

"FLURRY HEART!" Cadance shouted in shock. She definitely did not expect her daughter to do that. In fact, she forgot she had even put her on the table.

A second or two later there was a whistling sound and the first of many Fireworks exploded in the sky, forming the face of Spike out of sparkles.

The crowd of Crystal Ponies, Dragon, Alicorns and Changeling looked up in awe at the fireworks.

"Oooooh Ahhhh" Came the mesmerized voices of the Ponies below, baring Cadance and Twilight.

"SOMEONE GRAB THORAX!!" Cadance shouted at Thorax's general direction.

Spike had heard her, but he was confused. Why was Cadance telling him to grab his best friend? He turned to his friend who was staring at the Fireworks completely out of it.

The Changeling was drooling and didn't take his eyes off the fireworks. "Pretty..." The Changeling muttered.

"Thorax?" Spike asked.

Thorax didn't even hear him instead he spread his wings and started to fly towards the fireworks.

"Woah Thorax!" Spike shouted as he reached out to grab his friend, but he was too late and the changeling was already well on his way into the air.

The Crystal Pones all turned their gaze to the Changeling who was now flying towards the explosions of light in the air.

They all immediately shielded their eyes as the sky was soon covered in an explosion of red. "Ooh!" They all grimaced at once with a flinch.

A somewhat flaming Changeling was sent rocketing to the ground. He landed next to Spike in a crumpled up mess, smoking rising off his carapace.

Spike, Cadance and Twilight all looked down at him as he twitched.

"Worth it." Thorax wheezed with a loud cough.

Author's Note:

Dang guys.

I never expected this story to do this well. A whole hearted thank you to everyone who read the story, and commented, it means alot to me

:)

Comments

[dshadow14]

Yeah. How about we weigh the pros and cons of telling Thorax about his problem with shiny things. Cons: He might be embarrassed. Pros: He would be more aware of it and could try to take preventative measures. It might not work, but it's worth a try.

[Disappointment-Incarnate]

9225383
Eh, we all know Cadance wouldn't intentionality say something that ciuld hurt someones feelings.

Its probably her idea not to tell Thorax.

[dshadow14]

9225409
Yeah, but I find embarrassment preferable to injury.

[spikls]

Æll mūst bę sæçrįfïčėd før thē S H Ï Ñ Ÿ

[TheYear2525]

The title alone made my day . Having that said there are only 15 minutes left of it .
Nerd edit: phototaxis only means that something is influenced by light, not necessarily that it's drawn to the light (positive phototaxis). It can also mean that something is trying to avoid light, wich is then called negative phototaxis. Millipedes for example exhibit negative phototaxis.

[Blaze Song]

Uh.. attraction to light, uh would that be photo...philia or.. something? I know Photophobia is a medical condition that could lead to someone fearing bright light.

[evtrax]

That was when Flurry, who saw the big shiny red button, and as a baby did the only thing she could think to do. The second her mother's levitation let go of it, she slammed her little hoof directly on the button with all her might.

I can totally see the canon flurry heart doing this. I mean, she was a day old at max when she shattered the crystal heart. We can not really blame her, no matter how smart she is she is just a baby after all, and as such she doesn't really understand what is going on. But yeah, flurry heart tends to cause disasters.