• Published 26th Oct 2019
  • 2,064 Views, 91 Comments

Winds of Change - theOwtcast



Only months after being accepted in the Crystal Empire, Thorax puts his life on the line to help his friends and save Equestria.

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A Destiny Fulfilled

“Your Highness?”

“Yes, Psycho?”

“I’ve brought the lists you asked for.”

“Thank you. How are the other things going?”

“The ponies and other prey are still being released. So far, twenty-seven had perished, and the ponies have offered to track down their families. Am I correct in assuming you’ll still want to issue formal apologies yourself?”

“Yes. It’s our fault that twenty-seven ponies are dead; being sorry won’t change that, but ignoring our guilt won’t make it go away, either. It’s time the changelings learn to face the consequences of their actions! Can you find out who exactly captured those ponies?”

“I’ll do my best, but it could take a while. We didn’t exactly keep track.”

“I understand. When you do, gather them up and bring them to me, will you?”

“Yes, sir! As for the lamps, I’ve assigned a number of drones to take care of it, but it will be a while before they’re all released. Fluttershy has already taken some of them to her home to care for until they’ve recovered enough to be released into the wild, and we’ve arranged to remain in contact should she need help.”

“Excellent! Now, tell me how the other changelings are doing? I would have gone to check on them myself, but the ponies only just left a minute ago, and I didn’t have the time.”

“The news has spread throughout the hive, and a lot of them decided to follow your example without needing to be told to. Some did it after a bit of persuading, but there’s still a small percentage of drones who won’t budge.” He produced another scroll. “I’ve noted them down, too, in case they end up causing trouble.”

“Oh… good thinking!” I accepted the extra list. “Those who have transformed, they’re handling it well, I hope?”

“Well, yeah, I suppose… I mean, they’re a lot calmer than they used to be, and not complaining of hunger anymore, which is good I guess… but they’re getting restless. Hunting ponies and keeping fit for combat is everything they’ve ever known, myself included, but now that we’re about to become their allies, they’re kind of unsure what to do with themselves anymore, especially since you haven’t issued any orders or announced any plans yet.”

“I will soon, don’t you worry!” As soon as I figured out how to hold a speech. “Is there anything else you need to report on so far that we haven’t covered?”

“No, that would be all, Your Highness.” He bowed.

“Please, Psycho,” I groaned, “just call me Thorax, okay? I’m not comfortable with all this ‘Your Highness’ thing!”

“If you say so… Thorax,” he replied, hesitantly for the first time in all the years we’d known each other. He fumbled for a moment, as if he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure if it was a good idea.

“Something on your mind?” I encouraged him to speak up.

“It probably isn’t worth your time,” he shrugged.

“Why don’t you tell me anyway? It’s not like we’re in a hurry anywhere, and I’d like to help if I can!”

“You would?”

“Don’t you know me? Thorax, the friendly changeling, always getting in trouble for it?”

He winced.

“That’s just it! All my life I’ve treated you badly, beating you up whenever I had the excuse to and often when I didn’t, hating you for being such a wimp and a disgrace to the changeling kind… a lot of times I would have killed you if Pharynx hadn’t stepped in and pulled me off of you! I wanted to be the one leading the hunt for you after you escaped and couldn’t forgive Chrysalis for months for choosing me as Acting First Commander in Pharynx’s absence! If anyling had told me only yesterday that I’d side with you just because you’d say that you’d found the way to end starvation, I would have laughed in their face and sent them to the dungeons because how dare they think I would ever abandon the changeling ways and turn my back to Chrysalis for a traitor’s claim! Now look at me.” He sighed. “Not only that, but after that mass transformation, I came to realize how little I care about the old ways! I don’t want to hurt ponies anymore, I don’t take pleasure in petty violence… and if anything, I’m ashamed of the things I did in the past, of the way I used to treat you, of not having listened… And when I reported to you a few hours ago when you requested a high-ranking soldier, I could see that you haven’t forgotten what I’d done to you, either, and… well… I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry, and I accept whatever punishment you give me.”

Punishment?!

“Oh, I’m not going to punish you, Psycho!”

He stared at me incredulously.

“Why?”

“For one thing, I don’t hold a grudge like Chrysalis! And you’ve already begun to understand the errors and flaws of the old ways, even if you may still have a long way to go! Why would I undermine that progress? You were inspired by my act of sharing love and friendship; but part of friendship is learning to forgive rather than seek revenge! How can I expect my kind to embrace that principle if I were to ignore it? And on a practical side, you weren’t nearly the only changeling to have ever bullied me, so if I were to punish everyling who had ever hurt me, there wouldn’t be many of us left, now, would there?”

“I guess you’re right,” he chuckled.

“Anyway, when are these coming back?” I pointed at the lists of currently-deployed infiltrators and prisoners in foreign lands.

“Some of them are already on the way, but most still have to report in. You probably don’t know this, but for the sake of maintaining their cover, the hive can’t contact them on a whim; almost all infiltrators keep their communicators hidden somewhere except when delivering reports or expecting a call from this end, and since most of them report on a daily basis anyway, I’ve put Elytra on standby for scheduled incoming reports since I’ve mostly been busy elsewhere. She’s the one who handled most of the infiltrators who have reported so far, and by the way, a lot of them haven’t been happy to learn that their missions are suddenly over, so I can’t promise there won’t be trouble when they get here. As for the prisoners, I’ve talked with the alicorn princesses on their way out, and they promised to deliver them by the time you formally negotiate the alliance, but we have yet to contact other lands and see if they will cooperate so readily.”

I nodded. Princess Celestia and Shining Armor had already told me the same thing.

“Speaking of which,” he added, “I should check how Elytra is doing!”

“Go then! You know where to find me if you need me!”

He saluted and left.

I sat down and took a scroll at random. It was a list of prisoners in Equestria and I skimmed over it. A lot of names were unfamiliar, but I did recognize a few, such as Coxa, who had had her infiltration cover blown shortly before my escape, and Rascal, who had nearly captured me near Canterlot but fell victim to my venom and ended up being captured himself by the Royal Guards chasing me. Both of them were listed as confirmed alive! I wondered how Rascal would react to his prey suddenly being at the throne… well, the proverbial throne at least, since the literal one lay in fragments on the other side of the plateau that had once been the throne room, the plateau I was still using as the command center, at least until I figure out something else.

I took the next scroll. This one was the list of infiltrators deployed worldwide, and it was a long one… a really long one. I skimmed through some of it as well, finding both familiar and unfamiliar names, none of which stood out especially.

I moved on to another scroll. It outlined what looked like possible future missions, as well as ideas for candidates to be included in each. I set that one aside; I didn’t have the nerve to go through it right now.

The last scroll was titled ‘Operation Doom of Equestria’. It was a list of names again, though a little different from the previous ones: at the beginning, a dozen names were paired up with a pony name, and the rest of the list was labelled ‘backups and support drones’. I realized I was looking at the names of infiltrators sent to replace my friends!

One of the twelve paired-up names stood out.

Pharynx - Shining Armor

Pharynx was in the Crystal Empire, or had been at least, depending on whether or not he’d reported in to the hive yet and received orders to return home! And I’d been so close to him without realizing it: I’d watched him through the doors left ajar, and he’d gone out into the hallway to check if it was clear, almost revealing my presence to his teammates! Had that been simple precaution against pony intruders? Or had he sensed my presence? If so, had he tried to silently warn me to leave while I could? I would ask him when he came back! I would ask him everything! And I would hug him to pieces and thank him to high heavens for sticking up for me! Oh, I couldn’t wait for him to come home!

In the meantime, I still had to figure out the details of what I wanted the changelings to do from now on. I’d already encouraged them to socialize and make friends with one another, but there was so much more they could do now that they were free from the reins of my tyrant predecessor! What would they like to do? What would their limits be? Would they even have limits now that they’d stepped out of the darkness and seen the whole world open up before them?

Let’s start small, I decided. I could start with a few simple activity groups to get them used to the idea of there being more to life than hunting for food. Painting and reading had helped me in my short time in pony society; maybe it would be a good start here too! It could help them express themselves in a wider variety of ways and teach them more about the world; it might even give them ideas of their own about what they wanted to try! I would also encourage them to share those ideas with others! There could even be official groups for sharing ideas and asking for help with problems!

If all went well, I realized, we could soon have a culture we would be proud of!

As for me, I would have the task to spread the word of the changelings’ newfound ways to other races; hopefully, one day, we would shake off our old reputation and gain a new, better one.

I’d used to think my destiny was to pave the road for friendship between changelings and non-changelings so that any outcasts like me would have a place to go to when the hive became unbearable. I had hoped that ponies and changelings would gradually learn to see eye to eye and live together in peace and harmony, but had doubted it would happen for centuries. I’d thought I’d fulfilled my destiny by having made friends with ponies and warmed them to the idea of friendship with a changeling.

But I’d been wrong. I knew that now!

Everything I’d done before had been just a prelude, the steps necessary to prepare me for my true destiny: to lead my kind into a new era, one where love would be their driving force in a new way, where no changeling would even think of stealing love because they could share it to the benefit of everyone involved.

My kind had already proven they were willing to embrace such a life. Even those who hadn’t yet would come around eventually, I was sure of it! All I needed was to find the right approach!

The same would be the case with our former enemies. It would take time, it may not be easy, but it would be worth it in the end, and I owed it to my kind. They had trusted me when it could have been the end of them if Chrysalis had had her way, and I wasn’t one to betray that trust.

I’d thought I’d betrayed them by leaving the hive, but I hadn’t.

I’d merely gone to find our bright future.

And now, I’d found it, and I was back at home.

I’d found my destiny along the way.

And with all that I had, I intended to see it through.

Comments ( 16 )

Great story!

“Your Highness?”

“Yes, Psycho?”

Pfffft... :rainbowlaugh: I’m sorry, I just never heard of anyone being named that.

Still, this was a pretty nice ending. I’m hyped to see what comes next.

10032828
Well, he is a changeling, so what do you expect? :rainbowlaugh: my headcanon is that some of them get named after intimidating things, so there you go :pinkiecrazy:

10032785
Thanks!

10032871
That’s a good headcanon then!

This story’s not bad. Decently good, actually.

This has been a ride. These episodic rewrites now feel more personal and exciting. Great job! I wonder what happens in the sequel

10032871
Changeling nameing conventions aren't really explained well. We know I sect body parts are used and other insect related terms. Phyrax is part of the throat, Ocelleus is part of a compound eye. Fannonn agreement seems to be they also get named after types of bugs or share names with Deceptions (both belonging to Hasbro) so I expect there are 3 changeling explosives experts named Bombshell, Shrapnel and Kickback.

I hope Thorax brother stays the classic Changeling. Helping the variation of Changelings and live as symbiotic partners in friendship and/or love. They will make great counselers to go trough harf times. Laywers to go trough cases not only by facts but working hard for the truth.

Forgiveness is good but keep it balanced. Former victims might wannt at least hear that they try to compensate em. 26 Ponys dead. How about 26 chances to become a Friend later maybe a substitute for the lost individual .

A great rewrite you've got here.

10306561
I don't think age really matters on that front, to be honest. I've seen media featuring rulers as young as 8-12, so Thorax being a teenage king isn't too odd to me.

I finished reading the story a few hours ago, about when I clicked "favorite". I'm not the sort to really analyze what I read, so that's why I haven't really commented. Obviously, I loved the story, and I think your version of the climax in both this story and Walk Where There Is No Path are better than canon, but I'm not the sort to point out every difference that I liked. Although I will say...

While I understand that Pharynx probably hadn't been thought up yet in the show, I really love how you had Chrysalis use him against Thorax. We all know Thorax loves Pharynx, but it was kind of unexpected to see that kind of trick. I also like how stating that she'd force Pharynx to kill Thorax is what caused him to give away his love, essentially committing a Heroic Suicide, only to basically get a full-heal and win the day.

I also love how you managed this without having a single cuss word uttered, in either the narration or dialogue, at least as far as I remember. WAY too many fics use swearing like it's obligatory if you want the story to be believable, and considering this is a slightly darker take on canon, I was a little worried about seeing a curse. I really respect writers who avoid that particular pitfall.

Wow that was amazing story man I do like how you made the episode a little different from it which that is pretty awesome and thorax man He made the impossible And I'm sure he will make a good king despite their reputation and it's gonna take a long time to other ponies and creatures to trust them But their future is pretty bright The story was amazing as I said great job on it 👏

Is this a sequel to whatever happens in the end of 'The Odd-One'?

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