Fitting In Is Hard To Do

by origami

Part II, Chapter 2 - The First Day - Part 1

"GET UP CHANGELING!"

Thorax was awoken by shouting and a hard jab to his side. He jumped out of bed and pressed a hoof against the spot, afraid he'd just been stabbed with a spear.

"Get over it, you overgrown grub!", the voice shouted, "I used the blunt end!"

Thorax then looked to see a set of guards glaring at him, spears at the ready. The Lunar Guard from last evening gave a salute, then exited the room while yawning.

"Get on your hooves already!", one of the guards shouted, "You're burning clock!"

With no need to be told twice, Thorax got out of bed. The guard speaking to him motioned for him to get out of the room. As soon as Thorax was outside the room, the guards fell in behind him.

"Since the princess decided you don't deserve to starve to death", the guard continued with venom in his voice,"We're taking you to a balcony overlooking the empire so you can feed on the overflow of the crystal heart." The guard then jabbed Thorax in the chest with the blunt end of the spear several times. "Don't even think about trying to feed off of any of us! You even think about trying it, and we'll turn you into a cockroach shishkebab! Got it?"

Thorax gulped and then nodded.

"Good! Now, move!" The guards began marching, with Thorax quickly falling in line. He managed to glance a clock and saw it was 6 am.

"Why am I-" Thorax attempted to ask before he was smacked across the face by a spear end.

"No talking!", The guard shouted,"You speak to Madam Ammonia when we get there!"

Thorax kept his mouth shut and kept walking, doing his best to ignore the stinging in his cheek. After several minutes of walking past rooms and up several sets of stairs, the group was standing outside a set of glass doors that led to a balcony overlooking several buildings.

"Wait here until we get the signal!" the guard addressed his squad mates. A few minutes later, and a winged shape flew in front of the doors and tapped on the glass. The two guards in front of Thorax stepped aside and the guard who was speaking moved ahead and opened the door.

"Move straight ahead!", he instructed Thorax, "You move to the mark placed on the balcony. A unicorn will undo the ring, and you wait until instructed. Try anything before that, and you will be in a world of hurt as well as a jail cell! Got it?"

Thorax gave a nod. The guard then made a sharp gesture with his hoof, motioning him forward. As he stepped out, Thorax took note of the view. He could see several buildings at eye level. Moving towards the X marked near the railing, he was greeted with a look at the empire the crystal ponies could only ever dream of getting. He also took note of a glow, and looked up to see a spire of magic shooting off into the sky, likely the spell that keeps the perpetual blizzards at bay.

The clip clop of hooves caught his attention, and Thorax turned to see a somewhat familiar face approaching him. "Sunburst?" he asked.

The unicorn stallion looked at him sheepishly and nodded. "I'm supposed to take the ring off your horn now", he told him while presenting an alarm clock,"You get thirty minutes to take in what love you need, and then the ring goes back on after it goes off. I'm supposed to tell you not to try and drain any of the ponies here, or else you'll go to the dungeons for a really long time."

Sunburst then proceeded to wind up the alarm and hold it in place with his magic. Another glow matching his aura surrounded the ring on his horn. Sunburst looked at the guard and gave a him a nod, which must've been returned because Sunburst then proceeded to remove the ring and release the alarm, which began ticking off the seconds before it would go off.

Thorax flinched for a moment as his ability to sense emotions came back to him. He was greeted with many unpleasant ones, chiefly fear and hate. He looked around and saw the guards watching him with stern expressions, most putting up a front to intimidate Thorax. The changeling knew better, and gave a sigh as he was again reminded that he was fighting a very uphill battle towards becoming accepted among the ponies here and throughout Equestria.

Another reminder sounded as his stomach gurgled, his body also detecting the immense amount of love coming from the crystal heart somewhere below him. Knowing he had limited time, Thorax began the process of feeding. It was difficult to start with, because when feeding, changelings had to focus on their food source to make sure they gathered as much out of it as they could. What made the current moment tricky was the fact that the food source in this instance was the furthest thing away from himself. He would perhaps have to try and discuss moving to another spot with the princess if she would allow it.

Little by little, the love energy began to pour into him. By the time the alarm had went off, he'd gotten enough to last until the next time he'd be permitted to feed, depending on how much he exerted himself. Sunburst shut the alarm off and placed the ring back on Thorax's head, once again cutting off the changeling's ability to sense emotions.

"I'll be going back to my room now", Sunburst told Thorax,"I'll see you again at noon for our first lesson. The guards will escort you to Ammonia so you can start your day. See you later."

Sunburst walked to a corner of the balcony and went through another set of doors that Thorax hadn't noticed before. The guards that had been standing around him closed rank to surround him. "FOLLOW!" one of the guards ordered, to which Thorax obeyed. As one, the group moved back inside.

The trip to wherever the guards were taking him was silent, which Thorax was grateful for; He could feel the hatred and contempt for him while he was feeding, and it threatened to sour his stomach. He tried to think of anyway that he could improve his relations with them, but eventually decided there was nothing practical he could do. More than likely, the guards had friends or possibly relatives who were serving in Canterlot at the time of the invasion, and possibly some of them themselves were there. If that were the case, it would make sense that them being kind to Thorax would have less odds of success than if Chrysalis were to attempt the invasion all over again.

The group eventually came to a large room with a y shaped staircase. Standing on the landing in the middle was the mare from last evening. While her mane kept the same style, she now wore a collar with a red tie. She stared down at Thorax with contempt in her eyes, which Thorax shuddered at seeing. Clearly, his day would not be made easy.

"Ah, so you actually came here?", she questioned with a snort,"And here I was sure you would've sucked the guards dry and made off before anypony could raise an alarm. Well, I guess we should put you to work while there's still daylight."

Thorax wanted to retort, but kept it to himself; The last thing he needed was for this mare to have a reason to complain to the princess and the captain. That was almost for sure a one-way ticket to a prison cell or being exiled from the empire.

Ammonia walked down the staircase and stopped at the bottom, suddenly pointing to a corner. Looking over, Thorax saw a bucket full of sudsy water. "Take that bucket and the brushes inside and scrub this floor until it's like a mirror!" she commanded. Thorax looked at the floor, taking note of the dirt and scuff marks. He guessed that it would take a while to do the task she ordered him to do.

"You have one hour, starting now!", she said, clicking an alarm with her magic. Thorax gulped and set to work, going over to the bucket and fishing out a brush. He looked over the floor and saw it was quite filthy, with hoof marks all over it, along with traces of dirt and mud. He slipped his hooves into the two loops on the brush and set to work, occasionally moving the bucket so he wouldn't have to walk through the area he'd just cleaned. His brush strokes were methodical, making sure to get even the most stubborn spots of dirt. Because of his due diligence, Thorax had accomplished the task with about fifteen minutes to spare.

"H-HOW?!"

Thorax turned to see a stunned Madam Ammonia examining his work.

"How did you do this?!", she questioned,"How can some overgrown mosquito do this job better and faster than my best trained employees?!"

Thorax looked at her for a second before giving an answer. "Because I had to clean the queen's quarters as good as this back in the hive."

Ammonia got a disgusted look on her face at the mention of Chrysalis, but made no comment. "On to the next task. Follow!" The mare then went up the steps, with the guards and Thorax following. They went down several hallways before coming to a set of doors; one with a symbol of a pony colored blue, and the other pink.

"These, insect, are public restrooms", Ammonia informed Thorax,"You'll be going in here each day and cleaning the toilets and sinks, as well as restocking towels and soap." The mare went inside the room with a blue symbol on it, the guard held Thorax back as another guard went in ahead of him. Once that guard was inside, Thorax was permitted to enter.

Once inside, Thorax looked around to see a set of stalls with doors on them to allow for privacy, as well as some stalls with no doors. Looking into the ones with doors, he saw what he knew to be toilets, but he didn't recognize the ones in the stalls without doors. They looked like a large bowl set into the floor. He then looked at the wall across from the stalls and took note of a row of sinks, each with a mirror in front of it, as well as a shelf that had a bar of soap and a pile of towels. A thud on the floor caused Thorax to look at the source. Madam Ammonia had placed a large sack onto the ground with the words "TOILET CLEANER" written on the side.

"Well, you ought to feel right at home here in the bathroom", she commented snidely before motioning to the bag,"Check the toilet for clogs. If there are, plunge it and flush it. If there isn't a clog, then flush it. Once the bowl fills again, dump a scoop of cleaner in the bowl and scrub it until it turns white, then flush it again, then check to make sure there's enough toilet paper in the stall. Do that for all of the toilets. You got another hour."

Thorax nodded and began checking the stalls. Fortunately, there was only one clogged toilet, and it hadn't been too difficult to clear with the plunger he'd been provided. The cleaning hadn't taken nearly as long as Ammonia had made it seem, with Thorax finishing after only about fifteen or so minutes.

"You're not done yet, bug", she informed him,"Now you do the sinks. Clean them until they're white like the toilets, then replace the towels and soap. Fresh bar of soap and six towels per sink. Supplies are in that cabinet." She pointed a hoof to a cabinet in the corner. Thorax walked over and looked inside. He saw boxes of bar soap and several stacks of towels. He also took note of a few scrubbing brushes and more powdered cleaning agent. He started with the cleaner and brush and went over every sink until they were white, then rinsed them off and wiped them dry. After that, it was simply putting out fresh soap and towels. Thorax thought he had finished until he heard a bucket on the floor.

"Now that you've gotten up top, do the bottom", Ammonia said, gesturing to the floor. Thorax obeyed and set about cleaning the floor until it was as spotless as the first one he did. A few moments after he finished, an alarm went off.

"Well", Ammonia began contemptuously,"it appears you can at least follow instructions and do a job right when told. Follow." She turned and exited the bathroom, Thorax following behind her. They went into the next bathroom and proceeded to clean that one for the next hour. This bathroom had all stalls with none of the bowl-in-the-floor style toilets, and there was a small waste bin with a lid inside each stall. He was confused and decided to ask a question.

"Madam Ammonia?"

The mare glared at him, now holding a garbage bag in her magic. "WHAT?!"

Thorax flinched but continued. "W-Why are there two different bathrooms?"

The mare stared blankly at him for a moment. "Are you being serious?" she asked with a bit of venom in her voice. Thorax gave a meek nod, afraid of evoking more anger from her.

"This one is for mares and the other's for stallions", she answered curtly,"Didn't seeing the urinals clue you in?"

"Urinals?" Thorax looked at her confused.

Ammonia put a hoof to her face. "Oh, for the love of- Do you lot just go wherever you please?! No wonder you'd be so good at cleaning up if you have to scrub bug stuff off the floor all the time!"

Thorax shivered in place, not wanting to anger the mare more than she apparently was. She calmed for a moment before explaining.

"You know the pipe between a stallion's legs? Well, they can control it to point it down, so if they just have to take a leak, then they use a urinal. It's the toilets in the floor!"

"So that's what they're for", Thorax thought to himself. Changelings didn't really produce any body waste, unless you wanted to count the resinous slime that was used to cocoon or trap prey.

Thorax wasted no more time and set to work, and in a similar amount of time as before, he had the bathroom looking spotless. Before he could form another thought in his mind, Madam Ammonia walked towards the first stall with a garbage bag in her magic.

"Now, there's another little additional task to perform in here in addition to the previous ones" she explained while pointing to one of the small waste bins inside a stall. "Mares get an unpleasant visit every month, and we have personal items to help deal with the messier parts of it. These trash cans are where we toss the soiled ones away. Dump them out into this garbage bag. When you finish, the bag is tied off with a string and dumped into that chute there." She pointed at a small door in the wall with a plaque above it that read "Garbage".

"Unpleasant visit?" Thorax questioned. Ammonia had become even more upset.

"How in Tartarus did you lot manage to sneak your way into Canterlot if you don't know a damn thing about ponies?!" she shouted, making a guard standing outside come rushing in.

"Alright, bug! Just what do you think you're doing?!"

Thorax cowered under the guard's glare, but Ammonia had called him off.

"I'm not in danger", Ammonia responded,"unless changeling stupidity is contagious"

"Stupidity?" the guard questioned.

"Yes", she answered,"Apparently, this one never had the talk about where little colts and fillies come from."

Hearing that, the guard could only let out a hard laugh, with Ammonia joining him soon after.

"Well", the guard said,"should we leave him in the dark?"

Ammonia calmed herself and resumed the stern facade she had worn before. "We'll let the crystaller take care of that. He's the one so eager to have this bug for a pupil."

"What?",Thorax thought to himself,"Sunburst wanted me to be his student?" Thorax was interrupted from his thoughts by the garbage bag landing on his head.

"Empty those bins, bug!", she curtly commanded him,"Then finish the floor. We still have to get you to your assigned crew for the day!"

Assigned crew? Thorax would have to work with a group of ponies today? Part of him had a small sliver of hope that he could possibly meet one that wasn't as hostile as Ammonia and the guards had been and that he could perhaps make another friend, but the rest of him was fearful that the new batch of ponies would be just a small nudge away from becoming a lynch mob.

Thorax had quickly gathered up the bins from the stalls and emptied them into the garbage bag. He looked inside one bin and saw a few different pieces of what appeared to be cotton fluff attached to a paper backing with two small pieces of tape. In the center was a reddish-brown stain that Thorax assumed was the aforementioned "messier" part of a mare's "unpleasant monthly visit."

Once Thorax had finished with the bathroom completely, he followed Ammonia outside and down several hallways until he was brought into what appeared to be some type of dining hall. A large table sat in the center, with a dozen chairs spread around it and a large candelabra in the center. A small table off to the side was filled with brass candlesticks that had a faint luster to them, but were likely supposed to shine very brightly.

Next to the table were three ponies. The first was a mare with her mane and tail done in a perm hairstyle with a mahogany color, a citron colored coat, a pair of violet eyes, and a cutie mark of a feather duster. Next to her was a stallion with a steel blue coat, ivory colored mane resembling a crew cut, a short ivory tail, crimson red eyes, and a cutie mark of some metal object. The last pony, a mare and youngest of the group, had a cream colored coat with a ruby red mane and tail in loose curls, emerald green eyes, and a cutie mark of a candlestick that appeared to be shimmering.

As soon as the three ponies saw Thorax, their attitudes immediately changed. The older mare and stallion glared at him like they thought their intense looks would actually hurt him. The younger mare...

Thorax couldn't decide what the younger mare's expression was. If he was being honest with himself, it looked like she was rather uncertain, and perhaps a bit... curious?

"This is Feather Duster, Elbow Grease, and Brass Polish" Ammonia said, interrupting Thorax's thoughts. ,"You will be with them for the remainder of the day. The guards will continue to keep watch of you, but each of them, as well as myself, have been instructed on how to use spells that are specific to and highly effective against changelings. So unless you want to be a bug stain on the wall that one of these three will have to clean up, I strongly suggest you behave." Ammonia then turned and left. Thorax turned and tried to introduce himself more pleasantly, but was greeted with a bolt of magic to his muzzle, causing him a sharp burst of pain.

"We know what you are, bug!", the older mare spat,"What we don't know is why the princess decided to not only let you stay here in the empire, but also decided that we have to be the ones to keep watch of you!" She then stormed over to Thorax, who stumbled backwards in fear and fell onto his flanks. This caused the mare to smirk. "Oh, this is rich", she said through laughs,"The big, bad bug is afraid of us." The stallion joined the mare in laughter, while the younger mare looked at both of them with what Thorax thought was disgust.

Before he could react properly, Thorax was wrapped in magic and forcefully brought to his hooves. "This is how this is gonna work, bug!", she told him while poking a hoof into his chest,"You do what we say and don't back sass us, and maybe we don't smear your bug guts on the wall!" She dropped him on the ground, then turned and walked over to the table and picked up a candlestick.

"Know how to polish one of these?" she asked him in her snide tone.

"Yes", Thorax answered, hoping not to further upset the mare. To his surprise, she snickered, then started laughing, and much harder than when he fell on his flanks before.

"You hear that Elbow", she said as she fought to control her laughter enough to talk,"This one knows how to polish a candlestick!" The stallion, who was giggling before, now broke out into a rolling laughter that threatened to make him fall off his hooves. The younger mare looked at the two with even more disgust, but said nothing.

"Too bad I'm not into colts", the stallion commented,"or maybe I'd let him polish mine." That got the older mare to laugh so hard that she finally fell onto her flanks and then her side. The two kept laughing for a solid minute before they both calmed down. At this point, Thorax took note of the guards assigned to him; They were also laughing rather heartily.

Feather Duster recovered and resumed her rather curt demeanor, but it had apparently softened just a bit after the outburst of laughter. She took a candlestick in her magic, as well as a rag and then explained the task. "Take candlestick, take rag, wipe rag in polish, rub polish on candlestick, buff and clean candlestick with clean rag until shiny. Got it?!" Thorax nodded in response. "Good", she finished,"Get to it!"

The mare stepped away from the table and Thorax got to work. He took a candlestick and cloth in his magic and began rubbing polish onto the brass fixture. As he worked, he caught a conversation going on between the three ponies behind him.

"What in Tartarus was the princess thinking?!", Feather Duster whispered to Elbow Grease,"Letting that... thing stay here?!"

"I don't have a clue", replied Elbow,"but I guess we have to deal with it for now."

Feather scoffed. "Deal with it my flank! We're just supposed to stay with this thing?! When at any moment he could just get out of those restraints and attack us?!"

"They tested those restraints on changeling prisoners", Elbow retorted,"Even took them out into the castle gardens to try and provoke an escape attempt. Those wards on all that stuff do work."

"And how do you know?", Feather countered,"How do we know that the changelings are simply faking it to lull us into lowering our guard so they can attack us at our weakest moment?"

Elbow didn't have an answer for that, and any hope of the stallion giving Thorax a chance to prove himself as kind as he said he was went out the window with an icy hot glare. "I guess we should keep a closer eye on it then?"

Feather smirked. "My thoughts exactly."

As this conversation was going on, the young mare named Brass Polish was looking away from the two older ponies with an uneasy look. Feather took notice.

"You've been awful quiet about this whole affair, Brass", Feather observed,"Don't you have anything to contribute to this conversation?"

"Not really", the young mare replied sheepishly,"Honestly, I don't know much about changelings, except they attacked Canterlot."

"Well, you don't need to know any more than that", Feather told her,"Those things will suck out all of the love in you if you give them the chance, so take my advice and don't leave your back turned towards it unless you got somepony you trust to watch it."

Brass Polish seemed to consider those words, but also shot a glance at Thorax. The changeling did his best to ignore the three ponies as he went about cleaning and polishing the candlesticks. Feather ushered her gaze away from him. "Just ignore him", Feather instructed,"Let us take care of it if any problems arise." The younger mare didn't reply, but simply turned away and went about another task. Feather turned back to Elbow Grease.

"I swear", she said to him in a whisper,"they hire them younger and dumber every year."

"Yeah", Elbow agreed,"She doesn't seem the brightest candle on the Hearth's Warming tree."

"We should probably watch what we say around that thing" she said with a bit of venom on the last word.

"Probably shouldn't be talking out here like we are", Elbow pointed out,"Who knows what information he could use to try and replace us."

Thorax didn't show it externally, but inside himself, he was deflated. He knew it was going to take a while to win ponies over, but the group he was put with made him feel like he wouldn't live long enough to see the fruits of his success. Still, he wondered about Brass Polish. Of the three ponies he was assigned with, she was the only one who hadn't been openly hostile with him. "Maybe she would be open to actually talking to me?" he wondered.

Thorax pushed the thought aside for the moment and finished the task. Feather came over and examined his work. "Well", she said with a sarcastic tone,"clearly you've practiced enough on yourself to make these candlesticks plenty shiny. It's noon and you're supposed to go to the crystaller now, so get lost!"

Giving no complaint, Thorax approached the door where the guards were standing. "FOLLOW!" they instructed as they opened the doors and left the dining hall. As they walked, Thorax wondered what Sunburst would have him studying. Whatever it was, it could only be something that the princess and the guard captain/prince would permit, and he had no idea what that could be.

"There you are!"

The voice caught Thorax off guard and he turned to see who was addressing him. He was greeted by the sight of Princess Twilight, Starlight and Spike approaching him from down the hallway he had just moved into. The guard ahead of him saluted to Twilight.

"My apologies, your highness", The guard addressed her,"but I have orders to move this changeling to the agreed upon point for the crystaller to meet with it."

Twilight adopted an annoyed frown. "My dear gentlestallion, this changeling has a name and it is Thorax. Even if you do it for nopony else but me, I insist that you address Thorax by his name."

"Y-yes, your highness", he sputtered, unsure if he was going to be reprimanded. "Well, Thorax does not have a lot of time to move to his next location."

"Then we won't take too much of his time" she replied. She moved past the guard to face Thorax, Starlight and Spike behind her. "I'm sorry we can't make this longer than a minute", Twilight offered,"but I did say we were going to say goodbye before we left."

"Yeah", Starlight added,"Cadance and Shining invited us to lunch, and afterwards we're going to be leaving on the train at 1pm, so this was pretty much the only chance we would get to find you."

"Well, I'm glad you all did find me" Thorax said with a smile.

"We are too", Spike chimed in,"I'll make sure to send you a letter once we get back. Don't be afraid to send us one either."

"I will", Thorax assured him,"I just hope Sunburst will send them for me."

"I'm sure he will", Starlight told him, then looked up at a tapping sound. A guard was indicating a clock.

"I guess that means we're out of time", Twilight said,"Well, we wish you the best of luck, and hopefully I'll be able to come back soon with my friends so you can meet them."

"I look forward to the day", Thorax told her with a smile. It was true; He was really looking forward to meeting the rest of the mares who had unknowingly changed his life.

"I'll be sure to come along too" Starlight added.

Thorax was about to comment when he felt something wrap around his barrel. It was Spike embracing him in a hug.

"I wish you could come back to Ponyville with us", he admitted,"but I don't think Shining Armor would allow it."

"I hate to admit it", Twilight interjected,"but I'm sure my brother would like for you to be anywhere but here in the empire."

Thorax frowned at that, but Twilight reassured him. "It's just going to take him some time to get used to all of this. It's a big change for everypony here, including us. A few days ago, I would've looked at a pony telling me there were friendly changelings like if they were burning one of Starswirl's legendary spellbooks."

"Well, I'm glad all of you came around to the idea" Thorax responded with a smile.

"Take care, Thorax", Twilight said as she began walking away,"Until we meet again."

"Goodbye princess! Goodbye everypony!" Thorax called out as the group walked down the hallway. Thorax turned and continued to follow the guards.

The guards led Thorax through several hallways until they came to a set of double doors. The lead guard made a gesture that the changeling interpreted as stand still and then knocked on the library door in a set pattern. The door then opened and the guard informed the pony inside that the changeling was here. The door opened the rest of the way to reveal another guard who looked at Thorax and gestured a hoof to come ahead. Thorax moved forward and then stepped into the room.

It was a library, if the bookshelves were to be believed. Of course, why wouldn't they? There were bookshelves all over the room, lining the walls and covering the majority of the floor in the room. Off to one side were a few tables and chairs, as well as a desk where it appeared a librarian would be sitting, though there wasn't one there now. Sitting at one of the tables was Sunburst, who had an assortment of books, scrolls and writing implements placed in front of him.

"Thorax!", he called out the the changeling,"Come over here!" The changeling looked at the guard who called him in, who kept a stoic expression but nodded. With that confirmation, Thorax moved over to Sunburst.

"Have a seat here" Sunburst instructed him, indicating a chair next to him. Thorax walked over and took a seat next to the stallion. He couldn't help but notice Sunburst giving off rather nervous body language, but elected not to comment on it. It was his very first official day in the empire being among some of its citizens, and given the history between ponies and changelings, there was bound to be friction from the beginning. He just hoped he could overcome it in due time.

"So...", Sunburst began nervously,"how has your first day here been so far?"

Thorax took a moment to decide how to respond. Should he try and dress it up a little bit or should he just be blunt about it? In any case, he was going to be honest. The question was how to deliver that truth. Ultimately, he elected to be straightforward about it. "It's not going as smoothly as I hoped", he finally admitted,"So far I've been treated with contempt and have been called names by some of the ponies around me."

"O-Oh", Sunburst responded,"Well, uh, I guess that was to be expected. For what it's worth, I don't intend on calling you anything mean."

"I appreciate that", Thorax said to him,"but I can tell you're quite nervous around me anyways. That's not something I really wanted either."

"You picked up on that?" Sunburst asked sheepishly.

"I could just tell in your body language", Thorax told him,"You seem rather tense at the moment."

Sunburst looked at Thorax for a moment before letting out a sigh and coming clean. "Please don't read too much into my behavior", he requested,"This is possibly the first time that ponies and changelings have interacted positively with each other with the changeling's true form exposed. Considering the history, it's hard for all of us to not be just a tiny bit nervous around you."

As much as Thorax didn't want to admit it, Sunburst was right. Ponies and changelings had been at odds with each other for a long time, even before Chrysalis ordered the invasion of Canterlot. It wasn't hard to see why: Staying in the shadows, replacing loved ones, taking the replaced and stuffing them into cocoons, and the stealing of their love through either deception or just plain force.

Through all of this, Thorax had dared to be the first of his kind to truly consider making peaceful relations with ponies. Where others of his kind would scoff at the notion, he had decided he would try their way. Maybe if he did and it worked, he could prove it to his hive mates and perhaps bring about peace between his kind and Equestria. At least, that's what Thorax had hoped for anyways.

"Anyhow", Sunburst continued,"I guess it is a bit unfair to you for me to act this way, so I'll try to rein in my... trepidation." With that, the stallion levitated over a few sheets of paper and a writing quill set.

"Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor are both curious about how intelligent you guys are, so they asked me to evaluate you", Sunburst explained,"This is a small test I've put together for you to take. This is just to give us an idea on what you know and don't know, so if you honestly don't know something, just write down you don't know."

Thorax looked at the inkwell and quill, then to his own shoe-covered hooves. "I can't really write with these shoes on my hooves" he told Sunburst.

"Huh. I hadn't thought about that", Sunburst admitted,"Well, then I guess I can just administer this test verbally and you can just say if you don't know something."

Thorax nodded his head in agreement. Sunburst took a sip of water from a nearby glass and cleared his throat. His thirst quenched, Sunburst began to administer the test.

"Okay, first question..."

Author's Note:

I present to you...

Racism against changelings

Comments

[theOwtcast]

I want these ponies to go sit on a pile of urchins in a nettle field poor Thorax

On an unrelated note, ponies don't menstruate

[origami]

10888481
They do in my story

[Scyphi]

"Get on your hooves already!", one of the guards shouted, "You're burning clock!"

"Burning clock? But...what does burning a clock have to do with...?"

"MOVE already!"

"All right, all right, I'm moving! See? This is me! Moving!"

"Try anything before that, and you will be in a world of hurt as well as a jail cell! Got it?"

Oh please, if it really ever comes to that, we all know you have absolutely no intention of letting him live long enough to even get anywhere close to a jail cell.

"Ah, so you actually came here?", she questioned with a snort,"And here I was sure you would've sucked the guards dry and made off before anypony could raise an alarm."

Such unwavering confidence! [/sarcasm]

"Alright, bug! Just what do you think you're doing?!"

Asking questions! It's the best way to learn things, after all. Didn't you know?

"...each of them, as well as myself, have been instructed on how to use spells that are specific to and highly effective against changelings."

See, this keeps getting brought up, but as none of them have actually put to use such spells as of yet in story, I can't help but wonder if said spells actually do work as advertised...or if the ponies only think they'll work as advertised. I mean, it's not like they get much chance to try them out on actual changelings, I'm sure.

"I wish you could come back to Ponyville with us", he admitted,"but I don't think Shining Armor would allow it."

Which is a pity, because I honestly think Ponyville would be at least a little quicker to give Thorax the benefit of the doubt than here at the Crystal Palace. Probably because Ponyville has had plenty of experience dealing with the weird and accepting reformed villains before now, but still.

There were bookshelves all over the room, lining the walls and covering the majority of the floor in the room.

I know you're saying the bookshelves are plentiful enough that they take up a lot of the room's floorspace, but the way you have it phrased here does make it sound more like there are actual shelves of books embedded into the floor in addition to everywhere else.

So Feather and Elbow can both go get yeeted into the sun. We can keep Brass around though. And Ammonia even, as I think she's not totally beyond reasoning if given enough time--it didn't escape my notice that her level of vitriol towards Thorax did lessen a little once she saw Thorax would not only obediently do the work asked of him, he would do it well, so Thorax has already surpassed her expectations. So the path has begun getting paved there.

[Starlight Glimmer1]

Thorax basically needs to be rescued at this point because he is a prisoner in all but name.

"You hear that Elbow", she said as she fought to control her laughter enough to talk,"This one knows how to polish a candlestick!" The stallion, who was giggling before, now broke out into a rolling laughter that threatened to make him fall off his hooves. The younger mare looked at the two with even more disgust, but said nothing.

"Too bad I'm not into colts", the stallion commented,"or maybe I'd let him polish mine." That got the older mare to laugh so hard that she finally fell onto her flanks and then her side. The two kept laughing for a solid minute before they both calmed down. At this point, Thorax took note of the guards assigned to him; They were also laughing rather heartily.

Mature.