The Pony in The Cave
The strange, chitin-clad creature in front of Twilight let out a low, two-toned drone, its voice distorted in a way that sent shivers crawling up and down her spine like an army of millipedes. Its unnaturally glowing blue eyes pierced her soul, making her recoil in fear. Its shredded body, its sharp teeth, the tattered wings flicking this way and that on its back… all of these things and more proved to be the last straw.
Twilight opened her mouth, primal terror swallowing her whole, and she screamed.
The moment she did, the creature immediately began to back away from her, screaming right back at her.
With the aid of adrenaline, Twilight cast aside any concerns about the water clinging to her coat or the wound in her side. She sprung back up to her hooves, her horn flaring up with magic before she let loose a wild, unfocused beam of raw offensive energy. Sadly, in her frightened and confused state, her shot went flying way off the mark, knocking a few pebbles loose from the ceiling and nothing else.
“Ew, ew, ew! Get away from me!” Twilight shouted as she backpedaled deeper into the cave, firing off bolt after wild bolt of magic at the monster that had somehow snuck up on her. She could already imagine it pouncing on her, snarling and snapping violently as it bit for her throat. The idea of being eaten alive by some pony-looking monster drove her fear to greater heights, and tears began to leak out of the corner of her eyes.
But just as she was absolutely terrified, the bug before her had seemingly been sent into a state of fear itself. It let out a few alarmed yelps before ducking back around the corner to hide from her blasts.
Twilight, emboldened by the beasts retreat, drew up more power and made ready to press the attack. She took a step forward, ready to fire off another blast at a moment’s-
“W-wait!” the two tones voice from before cried out, shaking in fear. “Wait, don’t hurt me! I don’t wanna fight you!”
That gave Twilight pause. She drew back her hoof and took a slow, deep breath, not entirely convinced of what she was hearing. After a moment, she held her head high, though she kept her horn lit up with energy, just in case. “W-who are you? Actually, no, w-what are you?!” she asked shakily.
She could hear movement around the corner before the creature poked its head slowly back around, its ears folded back and its body low to the ground. Now that Twilight was really looking at it, and knew it could talk, it… almost looked kind of pitiful, cowering like that. Her eyes slowly widened, and the spark on her horn began to diminish.
“My name is Thorax,” he said after a few more seconds of silence, bravely poking his head further out. “I, uh… y-you shouldn’t be here.”
Twilight took a step back, still feeling a little unnerved by his appearance. She squinted at him as he slowly but surely revealed himself entirely, taking careful mental note of every layer of his appearance. “Uh… again, what are you?” she repeated after a second, her brain playing catch-up. “Are you a pony? I mean, I’ve never seen a pony like you before…”
Thorax glanced down at himself for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I’m not a pony. Er… I’m a changeling. And, uh...” he scuffed the floor awkwardly before looking back up at her with an indecisive frown. “L-look, you’re really not supposed to be here. You’re trespassing in changeling territory, and you need to leave. If any of the others find you, they’ll-”
“Changelings?” Twilight asked, her fear starting to dwindle at the unfamiliar name. Slowly but surely, a gigantic grin began to appear on her face, and she took a few excited steps forward. “Wow! I’ve never heard of changelings before! Why are you called that? Can you shapeshift? Why do you look so much like a pony? Can you do magic? What’s with the holes? Why are you- GHUH!”
Twilight’s words died in her throat when her side suddenly flared with pain, her injury rudely reminding her that it was there and still untreated. With a gasp, she crumpled to the dirty ground and curled into a ball, her breath heavy and shaky.
Thorax took a step back, clearly surprised. “What the? Hey, are you alright?” he asked, any and all of the intensity from his warning gone just like that. He came up to Twilight’s side and looked her over, his eyes soon landing on her injury. “Oh… oh, that doesn’t look good.”
“It hurts,” Twilight hissed through clenched teeth, her eyes screwing shut. “It didn’t hurt this bad earlier… ow, ow, ow! Make it stop…”
Thorax leaned back, his ears drooping. “Uh, uh, um… I, uh…” he mumbled uselessly, his hoof reaching up to rub at the side of his head. After a few seconds, though, he seemed to get an idea. He leaned down and placed his hooves on Twilight’s shoulder and near her hip. “Could you flatten out a bit?”
Twilight tensed involuntarily under his touch. The cold, hard surface of his chitin pressing on her body was a foreign and deeply unsettling feeling for her. For a moment, primal instinct kicked in again, and she curled up more to protect herself.
“Please, I’m trying to help,” Thorax pleaded carefully, gently pulling to coax her to open up.
After a few seconds, Twilight managed to calm her fear down enough to think properly. “If he really wanted to hurt me, chances are he would have done it by now,” she reasoned to herself. “And besides, it’s not like I have any other options. If he can help me, I just have to trust him…”
Still nervous, Twilight swallowed heavily before slowly uncurling her body and laying flat on her side, presenting her open injury for the world to see.
Thorax looked it over for a few seconds, working his jaw as if he were chewing on something, or thinking really heavily. Then, without any warning, he opened his mouth and leaned down. Twilight lost sight of his face, and for a moment, she locked up with fear at the idea that he was about to chomp down on her.
Her fear was replaced with disgust when something warm, sticky, and moist spread over her injury. The torn flesh burned from the contact, making her hiss through tightly clenched teeth, her ears pinning back against her skull and her legs twitching against her will. However, just as quickly as the pain started, it began to fade, as did all feeling in flesh around it.
“There, that should keep it sealed for a while,” Thorax said with a self-satisfied voice, pulling back and leaving Twilight to her own devices.
Blinking open her eyes, Twilight looked down to see a thick patch of sticky, slimy, green… er, stuff covering her injury. It was somewhat transparent and adhered to her fur remarkably well, covering her wound and allowing her to look at it without losing much detail.
“...What… is this stuff?” she asked, moving a hoof down to poke at the substance.
Thorax smiled innocently. “Changeling mucus.”
“WHAT?!” Twilight shrieked, springing back up to stand on the very tips of her hooves, her back hunched up while her ears folded back in revulsion. “Eeeeueue, ew, ew, ew! I’m covered in it!”
Thorax blinked, tilting his head to one side. “Er, no, just your injury- Don’t pull it off!” he suddenly protested when Twilight began to pull at the edge with one of her hooves. “It’s super adherent! If you pull that off, you’re gonna be ripping out a lot of fur.”
Twilight shuddered in disgust, walking to one side as if that would somehow get the disgusting resin off of her. “Guh. It’s disgusting!”
Thorax’s ears lowered, and he looked away as if in shame. “I’m sorry… I couldn’t think of anything else,” he mumbled, his voice low and pathetic.
Twilight poked at the resin for a few more seconds before looking away and taking several deep breaths. Slowly but surely, as the initial shock and disgust at realizing she was covered in mucus wore off, she was able to see the merit in the unorthodox application. The flesh around her injury had gone numb, so she wasn’t feeling any pain right now aside from the general ache all through her body. But more than that, it was covering the wound and keeping it from bleeding.
“Uh… will this stuff keep infections out?” she eventually asked with an uneasy cringe.
Thorax lifted his head and nodded, his wings buzzing on his back for a second. “Uh-huh. It’s usually used to cocoon our prey and preserve them for a long time so that we can keep it fresh. It’s also really good for keeping any prisoners and subduing them, and- why are you looking at me like that?”
Twilight’s eyes had locked onto Thorax the moment he had said the word ‘prey.’ Swallowing a lump in her throat, she took an uneasy step back. “Prey… what kind of prey?” she asked after a moment of tense silence.
Thorax’s eyes widened as he realized what he had just implied. “Oh. OH! Oh, no, no, not you! I’m not going to eat you! Changelings don’t eat meat. Well, not unless we really, really need to! We eat love from our prey.”
Twilight was quiet for a moment, trying to wrap her head around that. Then she let out a little snort of amusement, her hoof flying up to cover her muzzle to kill her oncoming snickers.
Thorax’s cheeks puffed up. “Hey! What’s so funny?” he asked indignantly, his wings twitching in agitation on his back.
Twilight giggled at the face, before shaking her head. “S-sorry, just - heh, - I just wasn’t expecting you to say that,” she said between her chortles.
Thorax huffed. “Oh, come on! You don’t see me laughing at you for your diet!”
Twilight was quick to get her laughs under control after that. Once she calmed down, she took a deep breath and gave Thorax an understanding look. “Right, sorry. I don’t really have much reason to laugh at you for that anyway. I mean, I saved my home with the magic of friendship. Twice.”
Thorax blinked. “...Whuh?”
“Anyways, enough about me,” Twilight was quick to press on, the scholarly part of her mind kicking into gear. “Tell me more about you! You eat love? How does that work? And what’s with all of the holes in your legs? And again, can you shapeshift? What kind of magic do you have? Are you...”
Twilight’s barrage of questions died in her throat when she noticed Thorax slowly lowering himself down to the ground and leaning back, overwhelmed by the barrage of questions. She chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. “S-sorry, I’ve just never met a changeling before. I don’t think anypony has. I’ve never heard of you, and I’m just so curious!”
Thorax gave her a stiff nod, slowly starting to lift himself back up. “No, no, it’s alright… uh… for what it’s worth, I’ve never actually met a, ah… what did you call me earlier? A pony?” he asked timidly.
“You’ve never heard of ponies?”
“Well, I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never seen them before… they’re supposed to live really far away from here, in Equestria,” Thorax replied before seemingly remembering something. He straightened himself out and looked at her with a degree of caution. “Actually… what are you doing here?”
Twilight’s excitement and good mood were swiftly shattered by the reminder of her situation. Her ears drooped, and a tired sigh slid past her lips. “I was part of an expedition into the badlands to explore and map things out. Right now, Equestria only has the first few miles and the rough outline charted. I wanted to be a part of that kind of research, and so I signed up when I heard about the expedition. But we were attacked by some kind of giant angry worm, and I got separated from the others.”
Thorax glanced back towards the mouth of the cave. “Ah, that would probably be a Tatzlwurm. They get pretty feisty when rain falls, and can be very dangerous. I had to deal with one earlier myself… I’m actually probably in a lot of trouble for running away.”
Twilight took a few steps forward, a small spark of hope in her chest. “So, you’re a native? I mean, changelings live in the badlands? You mentioned I was trespassing earlier. Are you organized into some kind of kingdom?”
Before Thorax could answer, his ears suddenly stood bolt upright. Twilight, confused, perked her own ears up to listen for whatever had caught the odd creature’s attention.
It was a voice, low, gruff, and similarly distorted like Thorax’s.
“Thorax, where are you?!”
If it were possible for an exoskeleton to turn pale, Thorax managed it expertly. He suddenly went totally stiff, his eyes going wide and his jaw clamping shut. “...Pharynx,” he choked out.
Twilight tilted her head. “Pharynx? As in the membrane-lined cavity behind the nose and mouth-”
“He’s my brother,” Thorax suddenly hissed at her in a whisper, his wings snapping into life and carrying him forward. He pressed a hole-riddled hoof against Twilight’s lips, pushing her back and totally out of sight of the cave mouth. “Look, I’m already in trouble with him, but if he sees you, who knows what will happen!”
Twilight tried to speak and pry Thorax’s hoof away, but he held firm.
“Look, just stay down and out of sight until we’re gone, okay? It…” he pulled his hoof away, and a small smile formed on his face. “It was nice meeting you. Goodbye.”
Twilight watched as Thorax then turned and galloped out of the cave, his hoof-falls becoming muffled before the sound of buzzing wings reached her ears. Slowly, she snuck up to the corner and peered around to observe what was happening. She saw three more changelings, one of which with a different color scheme, flying down to meet Thorax.
“That one in the front is colored differently… and they all have an insect-like appearance. Do they have a social structure based on castes like an ant hill or beehive?” she wondered curiously while listening in.
“Thorax, where have you been, you idiot?!” The purple-eyed changeling, Pharynx, if Twilight had to guess, snapped upon getting close to Thorax.
Twilight strained her ears to make out the response, but Thorax’s voice was too low and quiet to be discerned.
“I told you he was a coward,” one of the others jeered once he was finished with an almost predatory look on his face. “Couldn’t even stand to do his job for more than a minute!”
Pharynx turned back to that one with an angry scowl. “Shut up, Scorpion. In case you forgot, he saved my life and pointed out the worm long before either of you did!”
Scorpion cowered back from the shout, his ears drooping and an inaudible apology tumbling out of his lips.
Pharynx sighed and turned back to Thorax, carefully checking him over for any injuries. After a few seconds, he seemed satisfied and nodded back towards the south. “The rain’s cleared up, and the Tatzlwurms are returning to the dirt. We need to report in.”
“And Thorax needs some disciplinary action for running off in the middle of a fight,” the last changeling remarked with a more respectful tone. “Saved your life or not, boss, he still ran away, and that’s not acceptable.”
“I know that, Mandible,” Pharynx growled, disappointment evident in his voice. He then shared a few hushed sentences with Thorax. After a few seconds of back and forth, Pharynx smacked Thorax on the shoulder and turned to the group at large. “Well? What are you buffoons loitering around for?! We’re moving out!”
And with that, the four changelings began to fly away into the distance, the rapidly-fading light of the sunset allowing Twilight to watch them for a time. She extracted herself from her hiding place and trotted up to the mouth of the cave to watch them go, her eyes glued onto Thorax until he disappeared into the distance.
A dusty breeze blew by, and the sun finally settled beneath the horizon, and dusk settled over the land.
After a few minutes of silence, Twilight nodded to herself before withdrawing back into the cave. “It’s too dangerous to travel at night, especially in this place,” she told herself as she made her way back around the bend. “Besides, I need the rest. I’ll look for the expedition team in the morning.”
With that sentiment ringing in her mind, Twilight settled down on the cool, hard floor of the cave, closed her eyes, and tried to get some much-needed sleep.
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Thanks for the update!
Nice work
Of course Twilight's curiosity comes in full force after her initial panic. Changelings haven't attacked Canterlot, so she just wants to know...everything. She got lucky Thorax found her.
Wow, Twilight's on a really erratic emotional pendulum, isn't she?
From terror and fear to curiosity to fear to disgust to a degree of rationality and curiosity.
Really took me for a spin there.
So... how long until Twilight does something silly in the name of her curiosity?
9993647
Just go count your hooves. She'll do it before you finish.
9993715
Alternatively, Twilight might head back home and make it know that there is, in fact, a kingdom of Changelings in the Badlands and their isolationists.
The Pony in The Cave.
Heh, heh, heh. Title Twist!
9993902
you tell funny joke.
this is starting out to be a good story, but time will tell.
The badlands. Home to some of the strangest creatures to ever walk this earth
I have to wonder. Why are they speaking the same language? Even if the hive knows more about Equestria in general, Thorax knows barely anything about ponies. And this is a first contact scenario as far as Equestria is concerned.
10018516
Because MLP. Most folks speak Ponish for whatever reason.
10018516
Twilight has a universal translator.
Wow if that Pain & Injury wasn't there Twilight would have a major nerd out to ask a lot of questions good old Twilight and her excitement for knowledge
Wow what a way to encounter somebody with Twilight being panicking almost killing thorax but she finally chill out when thorax says he wasn't going to hurt anybody afterwards they look like they were chatting or at least her because of her interest of new creatures but unfortunately her injury got in the way but with thorax help she's okay even though at that is disgusting lol so she doesn't know what a changeling is so this is before the season 2 finale came along
Phew. A close one.