A New Era
“Surprise!” Thorax grinned even wider.
“Wait… what… but how…”
“I know! I couldn’t believe it myself at first! But I guess the impossible does happen sometimes!”
“Okay,” I tried to pull myself together, “so you-”
Wait. What if this was the trap?
“-hold on,” I hissed at him. “How do I know you’re not Chrysalis in disguise?”
He flinched.
“Why would I be?”
“I don’t know, maybe this is some elaborate test of loyalty!” Like making me believe that Thorax was safe so I would lower my guard and admit what I’d done! I’d been away long enough for the drones remaining in the hive to stage this!
“I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me,” he sighed, then turned to Psycho. “We still have some of that thing, don’t we?”
“I’ll bring it,” he said and flew away.
“So…” the king fumbled. “Glad to be back at the hive?”
I glared at him as if ready to pounce him. I was ready to pounce him if he turned out to be an impostor! But how would I get him to reveal himself?
“Oh. You don’t want to talk until I convince you, right?”
I gave a barely perceptible nod, still holding my glare.
“Fine.” He hung his head. “Let’s just wait until Psycho is back. Wanna sit down?”
“I’ll stand,” I retorted.
“Look, I know it’s been a while, and I know that physical appearance doesn’t mean much as a means of recognition since we’re changelings, but I really am Thorax! Didn’t you recognize me by how I greeted you or by how much love I shared with you in that hug?”
“It was… plausible,” I said cautiously. “But I’m going to need more.”
As if on cue, Psycho returned carrying a jar with a greenish substance in it.
“Disguise yourself,” the alleged Thorax said.
“What? Why?”
“So I can convince you I’m not Chrysalis.”
I frowned and tilted my head, then glanced at the jar Psycho had brought. Was it what I thought it was?
“Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you,” he encouraged me. “I just need you to not be in your own form!”
I hesitated. He gave an exasperated sigh.
“Here, I’ll go first!” He assumed the form of himself that I was familiar with, only his wings were as shiny as they’d been in some of the photos from Sunburst’s bag. I’d interpreted it as a trick of the light at first, but could something over there have affected him in such a way? “Please?”
Ugh, fine. I decided I might as well play along.
I opted for my preferred spider-like battle disguise, just in case my suspicions turned out to be true.
“Okay. Now, I believe you know what this is?” He took the jar from Psycho and offered it to me.
“I might,” I said.
“Your teams discovered this in the zebra’s hut in Everfree Forest while on the mission to hunt me down. Could you apply some of it on yourself?”
“Why?”
“So you’d know for sure that this really is the changeling revealer ointment you discovered and not a trick.”
“And then you apply some on yourself?”
“Yes.”
Okay, this would either turn out perfectly fine or lead to a disaster. And I had no idea which was more likely! Logic dictated that he wouldn’t have offered it if he had something to hide, but then again, he could actually be Chrysalis trying to make sure I wasn’t Thorax in disguise. He had pulled that trick once before, after all!
Oh well, only one way to find out…
I dipped an appendage in the jar and rubbed some of the ointment over myself.
Nothing happened for a moment. I was about to swing a claw at him and launch him off the plateau when I felt the ointment tugging at my disguise, gently at first, but getting stronger rapidly, and though I tried to fight it, soon it reached a point when even my best effort couldn’t hold the disguise together anymore.
Just like every test had shown according to Chrysalis’ claims, I reverted to my own form against my will.
Then Thorax, or whoever it was, applied the ointment on himself just like he’d said he would before I could take the jar in my hooves and splat the contents in his face; I’d been sure he wouldn’t do it!
When his magic dissipated, I fully expected to see Chrysalis standing there, gloating over my foolishness and ordering her disguised army to seize me if not doing it herself, and revealing the captured Thorax stashed away somewhere until that point. Instead, the king had simply reverted into his colorful, deerlike form.
“Now do you believe that I’m not Chrysalis?” he asked, reaching for a piece of cloth that Psycho offered and wiping the ointment off himself, then passing the cloth to me.
“Okay, yeah, I guess,” I admitted, accepting the cloth and cleaning myself up. “But how do I know you’re actually Thorax and not some other changeling?”
“Remember when we were nymphs? You told me once that your life goals were to defeat a Dragon Lord in battle, to drain Princess Celestia of her love, and to figure out how to transform into a nirik, and I asked you what a nirik was, and you rolled your eyes and told me that I would have known if I were good enough to qualify for the level of training that taught that.”
“Anyling could have overheard that conversation!”
“Also, before I got deployed to Canterlot, you dragged me into the wasteland and threatened to tell Chrysalis that I’d been the one responsible for losing that crate of spears if I failed to act like a proper soldier.”
“Wait, that was you?” Psycho interjected. “Why did I get torched for it then?”
Thorax gave a sheepish smile. Yes, Thorax! I believed him now! No one could have overheard that conversation; I’d made sure of it!”
“Sorry,” he said.
“Because it was your fault, Psycho!” I retorted. “If you hadn't broken his leg and both wings a few days before the incident, he could have moved that crate before the hole opened underneath, or at the very least, he’d have been able to catch it in mid-air! Good thing I happened to be flying by to catch him before he got splashed into oblivion!”
Psycho opened his mouth and shut it again.
“What?” I barked.
He sighed and looked at the ground. “I almost asked why you didn’t save the crate instead...”
I responded with a murderous scowl that outdid all of my previous murderous scowls combined. Psycho and Thorax both flinched. I decided to deal with the idiot later.
“So, Thorax,” I jabbed him, “why didn’t you describe that incident right away? Why go through all that charade with the changeling revealer?”
“Because I didn’t think you’d believe just one thing,” he said. “And you had every right to doubt me. It wouldn’t have been beyond Chrysalis to obtain that information… one way or another.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered. Then, after a moment, “But she hasn’t been very keen on sharing information lately, either. How much did I miss?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve probably missed a great deal more than you, and Psycho has been getting me up to speed since-”
“Wait… Psycho has been helping you?” I turned to Psycho. “That’s the last thing I would expect from you! How many times did I have to pull you off of him over the years so you wouldn’t kill him? Are you secretly trying to help Chrysalis return?”
“No.” He reached for the jar and rubbed some changeling revealer over himself, and it did its magic, revealing a blue drone.
Okay, what exactly had happened here? I’d never have expected Psycho of all drones to take my brother’s side! How in the name of eggshells had Thorax convinced him?
“As you can see, I’ve accepted the way of sharing love,” he explained. “I thought initially that I’d succumbed to a moment of hunger-driven weakness, but I don’t see it that way anymore, and I’m glad I’ve done it.”
Before I could say anything, a green-and-pink drone landed on the plateau.
“There you are, Psycho!” she said. “We’re just done releasing the last group of ponies!”
“Good.” Then, to Thorax, “Mind if I go?”
“Sure!”
I watched the two drones fly away. When they were out of sight, I turned back to Thorax, and we sat down next to his pile of rubble and scrolls.
“Let me guess. Releasing the ponies was your idea.”
“We don’t need to feed on them anymore, Pharynx! We can create love for one another now, and there’s plenty enough for everyling! None of them have been starving since the metamorphosis, and they’re much happier and much less hostile than they’ve ever been! In fact, Psycho and many others have been showing up here to tell me that they didn’t feel aggressive at all anymore!”
“That’s fascinating,” I said dryly. “At least I don’t have to worry about them bringing Chrysalis back and punishing you for escaping or me for trying to cover for you. I think.”
“Oh.” His posture deflated. “You’ve figured it out.”
“Well, it wasn’t that hard after I saw evidence of you being in the Crystal Empire. What I don’t know is how long she’s known and what gave me away.”
Thorax averted his gaze.
“You know, don’t you?” I asked him.
“Psycho told me,” he admitted.
“And?”
He hesitated.
“Oh, for crying out loud, I already know I’m not gonna like it! So spill it out already!”
“She suspected all along,” he sighed eventually, “even before summoning you to roast you for my escape when she first found out about it. The fact that you then swore your loyalty to the hive rather than to her, and later your decision to keep infiltrators in the dark about me and your claim that it was unnecessary for the hunter teams to report to the hive when they had to report to you and you had to report to the hive yourself anyway… that only solidified her suspicions despite your reasoning, so she told Grim and Brutus and the other Foal Mountain team about her suspicions and ordered them to keep an eye on-”
“Wait, all of them?” I’d suspected that she might have planted one snitch, but five? But then, I must have covered my tracks pretty well at the time if they hadn’t reported me!
“Yes, and Wasp too, later.” He fidgeted his hoof. “By the way, Vermin woke up and he doesn’t remember anything about that day when the ursa attacked. What is an ursa, anyway? I meant to ask Psycho, but he got called off and I forgot by the time he returned.”
“Let me reiterate my statement about the nirik: if you’d bothered to pay any attention in training, you’d know!”
“But it’s a little late for that now, and since it looks like I’m supposed to be the king-” he shuddered, “-don’t you think I should know which dangerous creatures exist out there?”
“Okay, fine. An ursa is like a huge bear with translucent body and stars on its coat.”
A spark of recognition ignited in his eyes.
“Wait, that really happened?”
“The ursa attack? Of course it-”
“No, I mean the dream I had!”
I stared at him blankly.
“I got injured pretty bad and had to put myself in a healing cocoon for a while,” he explained. “While I was in there, I dreamt that a group of drones found me and beat me up, but then a monster that fits your description of an ursa stormed at them and knocked them away, and then it transformed into you, and then you said something and bit me, and I fell through the ground into a bubble of slime, and Chrysalis was there, and she killed me, and-”
“Hold on.” I rubbed my forehead. “You remember that?”
He gave a slight nod.
“Okay, yes, I did save you from that group of drones - they were the other Foal Mountain team, by the way - and I put you back in that healing cocoon, but to the best of my knowledge, Chrysalis wasn’t there. You must have dreamt that part!”
Though I would have preferred that my venom had blocked that memory, I was glad that Thorax had been the one left with residual memories rather than any of the hunters if anyling had to!
He considered this new bit of information. Then, he asked, “Were you one of the timberwolves too?”
“What timberwolves?”
“The ones in Everfree Forest. You know, the two that killed Cringe and Monster and injured Rascal?”
“No I was in Foal Mount- wait, where did you get the idea that there were two of them? And Rascal was injured in Canterlot!”
“I was there.”
“You’re kidding me, right?”
“No, really! They were about to capture me but then the timberwolves attacked us. I got thrown into a ravine pretty quick so I didn’t see what was going on, but I did hear things. I thought… I thought that all three of them had died… but then I ended up in Canterlot the next day and lost my disguise in public and got chased and blasted into unconsciousness on the edge of a cliff… The next thing I knew, I woke up at the base of Mount Canterlot and Rascal attacked me - he must have gotten out of that fight somehow - and we fought and I bit him-”
“So that’s why he didn’t say anything to the soldiers sent to find him in prison,” I mused. “I have to admit, you were insanely lucky there. I suppose the fall injuries were what made you cocoon yourself?”
“Yes. Funny thing is, Chrysalis suspected foul play on your part about those timberwolves even though you’d had nothing to do with the incident, she even guessed that I might have had something to do with that changeling revealer ointment - that was an accidental discovery when the zebra treated a wound that one of the timberwolves gave me - but she never seriously suspected anything about the ursa.” He smirked. “Apparently your injuries were pretty convincing. I knew you were skilled at shapeshifting, but I had no idea you were that good!”
“The injuries were real, if you must know.”
“But how… why…”
“What do you think? The medic sent to examine us would have never fallen for false ones!”
He winced.
“You mean… you injured yourself deliberately to prevent them from doubting your story and starting an investigation on why you’d lied? Oh, Pharynx! I’m so sorry! You didn’t have to go that far just to protect me! If I’d known-”
I stifled him.
“Quit whining, Thorax! I’m a soldier, I eat pain for breakfast!”
“But you could have just surrendered me and-”
“But I didn’t want to! Your safety was all that mattered, and I wasn’t going to give it up to avoid a few cuts and bruises!”
“I’ve been told it was more than a few cuts and bruises…”
“And I’ve seen worse in my time, and anyway I recovered, so quit whining already!”
He bit his lip and fixed his gaze to the ground.
“So how did Chrysalis find out, anyway?”
“I turned up in the Crystal Empire,” he said after a moment. “It’s my fault, really. I was careless and didn’t bother disguising myself while on the outskirts of the city, and somepony saw me. They were on full alert for quite a while, trying to find me and any other changelings that might have been around.”
“And Chrysalis never bothered to mention trouble over there.”
“This was all after she’d started believing your claims that I must be dead after all that time your teams had failed to find a trace of me. But apparently something you said in one of your reports had by then inspired her to make another attempt to overtake Equestria, and Psycho said that victory would have compensated for the missed opportunity to, um, punish the traitor. That is, until Blade and Feisty reported to her that citizens of the Crystal Empire were being warned about a changeling sighting earlier that day, and neither of them knew when they might have been discovered, as they were careful not to drop or modify their disguises unless absolutely unavoidable, which hadn’t happened on the day in question. Basically, they wanted permission to leave the premises, but Chrysalis put two and two together and her suspicions arose again, and since your preparations to replace Equestrian royalty had already begun and she already knew that you were going to replace Shining Armor, she told Blade and Feisty about what was going on and ordered them to sit tight and keep her posted about the situation. Eventually Spike found my hideout and helped me get accepted into pony society, which only helped Chrysalis keep track of me, so instead of having me captured right away, she decided to use me to flush out your intentions. And I’m sorry about that… If I’d known there were other changelings there, I would have never-”
“Skip the apologies, will you?” I groaned. “I get it that you weren’t on a suicide mission, and anyway you couldn’t have known about any of these things!”
“But I should have suspected, and I should have been more careful! And I should have guessed that you may have faced the consequences of my-”
“Can we get on with it?” I interrupted him before he started rambling again. “I suppose the support team sent to the Crystal Empire was briefed about the situation and instructed to watch for my reaction to finding you there? And I suppose that Raptor and Plague received similar orders?”
“Yes. A drone was sent to brief all teams during your preparations and sat in waiting near your camp for a few days until it was your turn to go hunting for food.”
“Well, at least I managed to find out about you when they weren’t around.”
He bit his lip again and looked away.
Oh no, don’t tell me…
“What?” I asked in a tone that demanded an honest and immediate answer.
“Remember the other Foal Mountain team?”
“What about them?”
“They were sent there too. Chrysalis was initially going to deploy them to Manehattan to take up some of the newly-vacant positions, but the new development in the Crystal Empire demanded a few drones that would keep an eye on you specifically, so they were reassigned. Jackal became a tapestry in the royal bedroom and Wasp replaced a statuette on the desk in Shining Armor’s office, which were the two places where you were expected to spend the most time. Carapace intended to be a bird or an insect that would follow you around, and he was going to take over your role once we got captured, but it turned out that he didn’t have much to do while waiting for it to happen so he just kept the others up to speed on your movement and actions and maintained communication with Chrysalis.”
I’d been right: I didn’t like to hear all this! I’d thought that I hadn’t been discovered yet and I’d played my game right under their snouts; I’d known myself to be on the verge of getting punished and it turned out that I couldn’t have cut it any closer if that had been my intention! And ironically, it had been thanks to the very drone I’d been trying to get out of that whole mess!
“They were just waiting for me to run into you, weren’t they?”
“Yes, and apparently enjoying watching you sweat as much as Chrysalis enjoyed the idea of getting to kill us. But I was gone by then, and they freaked out because they couldn’t find me, so they weren’t telling Chrysalis everything for fear of punishment. The hive had no idea they’d lost track of me again until I showed up here.”
“Good thing that Sunburst saw us plotting in the royal bedroom, then,” I said. “I was wondering if he’d managed to warn you about us.”
“Actually, I’m the one who saw you.”
That caught me off guard.
“You? What were you doing there?”
“A disturbance in the love aura woke me up and I went to tell Cadance and Shining Armor about it in case it was something important,” he explained. “I didn’t expect to stumble upon the cause of that disturbance!”
“So you came to Sunburst? Not the other way around?”
“Kind of both, actually. He saw the cocoons being taken away and came to my room looking for me, by which time I’d already freaked out and returned to my room, so we compared notes and agreed that I should go to Ponyville and get Twilight’s help, and he decided to stay there and try to sabotage your work. How did he get captured, anyway? He didn’t remember a thing.”
I told him.
“Oh. Yeah, I suppose he would have been too tired to think straight by then,” he sighed. “You could have revealed yourself to him, you know. I’m sure he would have helped you if you’d explained!”
“Don’t be. He had no reason to trust anything I might have told him, and anyway I didn’t know what his intentions were. I get it now that he’s on your side, but it was unavoidable.”
“Do you want to reconcile with him? He went home already, but I can send him a letter-”
“Don’t bother. I’ve never apologized to an enemy for anything and I don’t intend to start now!”
“But the ponies aren’t our enemies anymore!”
“Whatever. Just because you shared love with ponies doesn’t mean I have to!”
“Would you at least share love with changelings? I've asked them to forgive you for essentially betraying the hive, by the way.”
“You mean, share love like you did? What gave you the idea to do it, anyway?”
“When Chrysalis caught me trying to rescue the captured ponies, she got all thrilled that she would finally get to kill me - actually, to see if you would when you came back - and she started draining me of love in front of a roomful of drones, and I wanted to show everyling how much love I’d gathered by sharing in a hope it would inspire them to do the same, and just as much, I wanted to spare you the humiliation of having to kill me… so I gave it all away willingly in a burst that turned out far bigger and stronger than I’d expected it to be. I admit, I fully expected to die in the process, but instead… this happened.” He motioned to himself and the destroyed throne room. “The blast knocked Chrysalis unconscious and cracked her throne, and when the other drones followed suit… it finished the job.”
Something stirred in the back of my mind.
“When did this happen?” I asked cautiously.
“In the morning hours of the day when you were recalled,” he said. “It would have been just after dawn, but the ordeal distracted Chrysalis and kept her busy, so the night lasted a little longer than it should have, and Celestia and Luna raised the sun together afterwards.”
A dawn of a different kind arose in my mind as the implications of Thorax’s words sank in. The love I’d felt from him when he hugged me on my arrival to the former throne room had vaguely reminded me of something, but I’d dismissed the impression. Now I knew why it had been so familiar.
Though much lighter and warmer, it had the same aura in its core as the queer sensation that had suddenly and mysteriously washed over me as I’d laid awake in Shining Armor’s bed for the last time, tormented by worry for Thorax and unable to think of a way to ensure a worthwile life for him after everything that had happened.
I hadn’t known at the time what that sensation was about. Now I did: it had been Thorax himself, unimaginably far away, doing the one thing he’d always done best, and doing it to the limit and beyond!
In his most desperate hour, my brother had decided to lay down his life for the changeling race - for me, not knowing that I’d have been doomed regardless - and I’d felt it on the other end of the world!
Talk about the power of love, Thorax. You have no idea! Yours shook the world apart while the rest of us were fighting for scraps!
“Is something wrong?” he asked, snapping me out of it.
“That… must have been quite a sight,” I said, hoping it would justify the stupid dumbfounded expression on my face that I’d just become aware of. “So what became of Chrysalis?”
“She wanted to fight me when she dug herself out of the rubble, but by then, all the changelings in the area had transformed, the throne fell apart, and the ponies got out of their cocoons, so she backed off from the opposition and flew away disguised as a bat. We’ve been looking for her since, but she’s had plenty of time to disappear anywhere she wanted to by now.”
“Hey,” I smirked, “give me First Commander authority again if you haven’t already and I’ll make sure the troops have her dragged here for punishment by tomorrow! No messing around this time!”
He avoided my eyes again.
“Um… you don’t know yet,” he sighed.
Now what?
“Well tell me then!”
“I’ve… I’ve disbanded the army.”
“You what?!”
“We don’t need the army anymore! We’re peaceful!”
“Hold on a minute… Did I hear you right? You don’t intend to send drones to infiltrate foreign cities and capture ponies, and you won’t wage any wars, so you’ve disbanded the army?”
“...yes.”
“Do I dare to ask what you did about the hivebound security guards?”
He shrugged feebly.
“They’re part of the army, aren’t they?”
“Wonderful, so you’ve disbanded them too, haven’t you?”
“Yes…”
“Well, congratulations! Of all the ridiculously stupid things you could have done, this takes the prize! What were you thinking? How are we supposed to defend ourselves now?!”
“We won’t have to! Celestia has already agreed to negotiate an alliance with us at the soonest convenience, and I intend to do the same with other countries! I’ve already reached out to them with a declaration of peace!”
“And you expect them to honor that declaration?”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“Because we’ve been at war with the whole world since forever! We’ve been everyone’s enemy for as long as the world can remember, and they have no reason to suddenly trust us just because Chrysalis isn’t at the throne anymore! I might be willing to accept that you’ve convinced Celestia, but the other nations’ armies could be converging on the hive with the intention to wipe us out of existence this minute for all we know, especially since the change of command alone would have left us vulnerable! We need that army now more than ever!”
“And if they are converging here, it won’t look good for us if they find an army in full battle gear waiting for them! How can we expect them to believe in our peaceful intentions with spears pointed at their faces?”
“Thorax, if they have any battle sense in them, they’ll blast first and ask questions later! By the time they think to ask themselves if we might be telling the truth, there won’t be any of us left alive!”
“Isn’t there a ceasefire signal if it really comes to that?”
“Well, yeah, there is, but don’t count on that to save us!”
“But it could work! C’mon, Pharynx, hasn’t such a thing ever happened?”
“Not in changeling history! We’ve never backed out of combat!”
“Not in changeling history, but what about the history of other races?”
“It’s not unheard of, but even if we do accept the possibility that some of them will be willing to talk, not all of them might, and that’s only counting sapient creatures! What about wild beasts? Do you propose to talk a pack of timberwolves out of eating us?”
“I’m sure we can find a non-violent way to deal with them,” he shrugged.
“That’s your plan? Hasn’t Psycho objected? Or any other soldiers?”
“No, they’ve accepted my decision without protesting.”
“I suppose they would have after the way Chrysalis ruled,” I mused. “They probably thought they’d get punished for trying to talk some sense into you.”
“Actually, some of them thanked me.”
“Thanked you? For what?”
“For a chance to devote their time and efforts to something that doesn’t involve endless combat drills and hostile paranoia! Believe it or not, there are drones who actually do want to try other activities!”
“What activities? We don’t do anything other than battle!”
“I’ve started some. So far, there’s an arts-and-crafts group, a group on the way to becoming a choir, and a feelings forum, and a few drones asked for permission to try a hoof at things like science and gardening!”
“So, basically, we’re becoming ponies. Why don’t you rename the hive into ‘Changequestria’ or something like that while you’re at it?”
“You make it sound like it’s a bad thing!”
“I’m not so sure that it isn’t,” I groaned.
“And I’m sure you’ll feel differently once you share love!
“And become like the rest of you? No thanks! You’ve ruined the whole hive already, but you won’t ruin me!”
“But you’ll feel much calmer and more content with life! Everyling else does! Give it a chance… please?”
“I said no!” I got up and stormed towards what looked like a gate to the hive’s interior. “And don’t come to my crying when you realize the colossal extent of the mistakes you’re making!”
“Pharynx…” I heard him call to me despondently as I marched away through the tunnel I’d found.
He wanted me to accept pony ways? Not going to happen! Didn’t he know who I was? What I was? What I’d always been? How could a fearsome warrior ever find purpose in painting pictures or watering flowers? What satisfaction was I supposed to find in casual dancing or gazing at the clouds? How was I expected to come to terms with my own brother denying me everything I’d ever worked for?
All around me, colorful changelings milled about, talking happily. I could sense in their love auras that they genuinely enjoyed their new life, but I couldn’t understand it, I couldn’t stand their laughter and idle voices! How could they have abandoned their old lives so easily? How could they have betrayed themselves? I could accept Chrysalis’ defeat and exile easily enough, but she at least had known how to maintain discipline and keep us safe!
I walked on. I ripped up a painting that someling had hung on a wall. I kicked a board game that a group of colorful nymphs were playing, sending the pieces flying all over the chamber. I hissed at a green drone who had had the misfortune of coming round the corner and turning in my direction.
None of it made it any easier to face the fact that my brother, one whose life I’d defended even at the cost of my own for as long as I could remember, had just rendered me unnecessary to our home.
Eventually I reached the end of the tunnel, where it opened out into the sky above the wastelands. The sun was coming down on the horizon.
How appropriate, I thought, finally managing to cool off a little. My brother had brought forth a new era, one I didn’t understand, but if anything, it had finally helped him find his place in the world; it had finally earned him the changelings’ respect that he could never have in the old days. Maybe, just maybe, I would turn out to be wrong and what I considered mistakes on his part would turn out to be a good thing… or so I hoped, for his sake.
Only time would tell.
I looked on the outer walls of the hive below me and the endless wasteland beyond, basked in the evening glow. This was my home; this had always been my home, the one thing I cared most about beside Thorax, and would always remain just that.
And I would always defend it from harm, no matter the price I’d have to pay.
No matter how Thorax felt about it.
Looking into the distance, I couldn’t see any incoming armies. Thorax may have been right about his idea that we wouldn’t get attacked, but he may have just as easily been wrong. Just because I couldn’t see an army approaching now and from this direction, didn’t mean that none would come, or that they wouldn’t come from elsewhere, and I intended to be ready. I would set traps, build weapons, stand watch; I would find and organize any remaining drones with common sense, and if and when the enemy forces arrive, they would be dealt with so quickly and effectively that they’d never know what hit them!
But in order to do that, I couldn’t give up my ruthlessness and my intimidating warrior’s attitude. As tempting as Thorax’s offer to share love and tap into a source of ample nourishment might have been, becoming mellow in the process was simply too high a price to pay if I wanted to ensure his and the hive’s safety to the best of my abilities!
Even if it meant going against the King’s wishes.
Even if it meant denying him the support he probably deserved.
Sure, my star had fallen like the sun now behind the horizon. But Thorax’s star had risen at the same time, and from the looks of it, it had the potential to shine just as brightly as mine had. But my star could still shine in the shadows, just like Celestia’s sun was shining now on an unknown land far away beyond the horizon.
I guess our stars weren’t destined to shine together, Thorax.
But mine has had its chance, and it made the best of it, and it never meant to outshine yours.
So may your star shine brightly, my brother, my King, and may it shine for a long time!
And my own star, unseen and forgotten, will lend whatever light it can to help yours keep the darkness away.
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That was such a beautiful ending!
This was an amazing story, one I know I'll go back and read again!
Nice ending but I curse the fact it is complete
10326398
As explained in a comment on the previous chapter, I'll take a break now to deal with some real-life stuff, and will be back to publishing stories in about a month unless something delays me.
The story may be complete but the series isn't
10326370
Thanks!
10326418
No problem. I can't wait to see more of this series, it's just so beautiful!
...Also that line where Psycho nearly asked why he didn't save the crate had be laughing for a good five minutes straight, good job with that tiny bit of humor amidst the seriousness
10326424
Believe it or not, that line was a last-minute addition
10326442
Heh, the same can be said for parts of some of my stories. It was still a great line and I can't wait to see more of this series
10326444
You might have noticed that I don't have a habit of commenting much, but I like the story so far
And I can't wait to see the continuation of Patrilineality
10326462
It's alright, and thanks! I think everyone will really like what I have planned for it
MAGNIFICENT end
The speech to himself was a MASTERPIECE 
Glorious story. I look forward to your return 
10326472
Thanks!
I just noticed this speech at the end would fit a bit changed to Luna & Celestia to.
10700090
I think rainbow bug pony are bullshit as well. There need for love is no problem. The challange of there race is what intrigues me about em in a story that isnt just fun and games... Also i love about em there tools to archiv there goals. Most would give everything to be a born as a Shapeshifter or made Changeling via other means!
Changeling need universal only water, a bit of physical food and mostly emotion based magic absorbed from others. In exchange you can switch apperance & depending on Author also gender ( since Changeling seem to be able to pretend being something of another race with there emotion determination skill/ sence there highly advanced over other races ).
As long in theory your not a asshat its pretty simple to get a high profile job:
- Doctor: Since you know how they feel and your professionell knownlage being very capable is very likely. Same with mental doctors.
- Police/Guard/Investigator: Working with fellow guys and girl in that proficency should be a lot easyer if you work vs other sentient and/or sapient being. Instinct driven beast or fellow intelligent being.
Everyone has emotions, one would be practicaly a walking talking lie detector
... ... ... Every job were emotion sensing is involved will be a lot smoother running.
Classic black Changeling is perfect as it is. The only limitation is education and mental flexibility.
10700135
Have to re-read stuff to get the context. Without it answering is impossible.
awesome this story is just awesome.
i am so happy that i sat down and read the hole thing in one go.
While Pharynx does have some good points when Chrysalis was in charge everything was terrible and he seems to have trouble acknowledging that.