Fitting In Is Hard To Do

by origami

Part IV, Chapter 2 - Bon Voyage!

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A Week Later...

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Thorax stood looking at his bed. On it were all of the things he intended to take with him on his trip to Equestria. He carefully scanned over each item to make sure that he hadn't missed something important.

First up were the most important items. His two passports, which now sported photographs of himself, both as a normal changeling and in his Crystal Hoof guise.

Beside the two passports was the letter he had received from Princess Celestia and Princess Luna that instructed the royal guard not to interfere with his visit unless necessary. Thorax hoped that with the letter he wouldn't be given too much trouble by any of the guards he would encounter.

After those items was a special pass that Princess Cadance had given him. It was attached to a lanyard that resembled the ribbon his Crystal Heart award hung from, though the material was a more utilitarian and sturdy cloth than the ornamental silk that the award featured. On the actual pass was Princess Cadance's cutie mark and a number, which allowed the ponies with the rail line to send an invoice to the Crystal Empire, whom would send them payment for whichever tickets he would get.

After the pass, there was a bag of bits. These were provided by Princess Cadance to allow Thorax to enjoy Equestria as anypony would. If he wanted to take a boat tour, visit a museum, came across a carnival or fair, or just wanted to buy a friend a gift while he traveled, he would be able to afford it.

Aside from these important items, there were some personal ones that Thorax decided to bring with him.

The first was a copy of a newly released Daring Do book, which had come out only a couple of weeks earlier. Thorax hadn't got a chance to actually start the book, so he decided that his travel time on the train and any free time that he didn't have planned out could be used to read the novel.

Next was a photograph of his closest friends in the Crystal Empire.

Thorax was in the center and surrounded by his friends. Princess Cadance and Heartfelt were immediately next to him on each side, the princess on his left and the stallion to his right. Next to Princess Cadance on her left was Sunburst, sporting his star covered cape. Beside Heartfelt on his right side was Brass, smiling wide.

Seeing the photo made Thorax think of how much he was going to miss his friends while he was gone, but he was also going to be meeting his friends that he didn't see on a regular basis.

After the photograph was a special parchment and quill set. According to Cadance, the parchment was enchanted with dragon fire, which apparently meant that when a seal was applied to the parchment, it would burst into flames before turning into a wisp that would teleport directly to the pony he intended the parchment to go to. Unfortunately, it was one way, so the only way a pony could send him a message back was to have their own parchment, but it was fairly expensive, according to Cadance anyway, so he could only really send updates to ponies instead of exchanging letters near instantaneously.

Rounding out the luggage were some simple toiletries. A toothbrush with toothpaste, mouthwash, floss, soap that Princess Cadance had special made for Thorax so it would clean his chitin well, a comb and brush for styling his Crystal Hoof disguise's mane and tail, and a few clothing items that mostly included an assortment of scarves and hats.

The last items he looked over was the luggage bought for him. It consisted of a set of saddle bags and a large rolling case that had wheels on it that swiveled in whichever direction you pulled it. He had checked before, but all of his things were able to fit into his luggage well, and he even had some extra room if he wanted to bring back some trinkets as souvenirs or gifts.

Having went over his things, Thorax began to pack them. He had just finished when Princess Cadance had knocked on his door.

"May I come in?" she asked him.

"Of course!" Thorax replied as he allowed her to come inside. Cadance surveyed the room and the packed luggage by the bed.

"Looks like you're ready to go for your trip tomorrow" she observed.

"Yeah" Thorax told her. "I have everything I can think of packed and double checked that I had all of my important papers."

"Good" the princess said before she produced a bag from behind her. "Sunburst asked me to give this to you. He's loaning it to you for your journey."

Thorax looked at the bad and then back to Cadance. "What is it?"

"It's Sunburst's camera" she told him. "He wants you to take pictures to show us all when you get back."

Thorax looked at the bag again and them took it. He then opened it and got the camera out.

It was a very new camera. The flash was built into the housing instead of on a wand attached to the side like the majority of cameras he saw. It still spat out enchanted parchment that took a few minutes of shaking to develop fully. The housing itself was silver-looking plastic, but there were wooden accents at different places.

"I'll have to tell him thanks for letting me borrow it" Thorax said as he placed the camera back in the bad.

"He'll probably come visit you later" she told him before she then produced a rolled parchment from her wing.

"Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna wanted me to give this to you" she told Thorax, offering it to him in her magic. Thorax took the scroll and looked it over. It bore the same seal as their letter he received a week ago had. Opening it, he read the contents of the letter:

Dearest Thorax,

Cadance has told us that you have decided on a day you wish to leave the Crystal Empire. We wish you safe travels and want to make a simple request of you.

We spent a rather brief amount of time together when my sister and I came to the empire on the matter of your arrival. You told us much about your journey there and your overall goals, but we never got to learn a whole lot about who you are as a thinking and feeling creature of this world.

I extend an invitation for you to visit Canterlot during your journey. Simply use the parchment my niece has no doubt provided you with, and I shall have my assistant Raven escort you to us.

I feel I must impress upon you that you may deny this invitation if you wish. Nopony is going to force you to see us. All I ask is that you write to us if you choose not to visit, but I certainly hope you will.

Signed,
Princess Celestia Dawn

"The princesses want to invite me to visit Canterlot?" Thorax said upon finishing the letter.

Cadance nodded. "They do. Their last visit was mostly business, and more specifically, the business of whether or not I should allow you to stay here."

Thorax frowned as he saw her look guilty. "I'm sorry about all of that trouble back then."

Cadance stopped frowning and waved Thorax off. "It's okay" she told him. "Your coming here and staying with us has been good for me. I've had the chance to see now that I shouldn't allow the actions of a few to taint my view of the whole. Perhaps not all the changelings feel the way Queen Chrysalis does, and they only act that way because they're afraid not doing so will get them in really bad trouble."

Thorax nodded in agreement. He had grown up in the hive his whole life and had never heard changelings talk openly about the actions of the queen. Somewhere deep down inside him, he knew that there had to be some that didn't like how Chrysalis did things, even if they didn't voice it.

Cadance looked up at a nearby clock. "It's getting late" she told him. "I'll be heading for bed now. I suggest you do as well. It's going to be an exciting day for you tomorrow, and you should rest up so you can feel your best."

Thorax nodded in agreement. "Good night, princess" he said to her.

"And goodnight to you as well" replied Cadance as she turned and walked out of his room.

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The Next Morning...

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Thorax was standing on the platform of the Crystal Empire's train station in his Crystal Hoof guise. The station was a little ways out out of the main part of the empire, with a simple path made of dirt connecting it to the main streets.

On the platform with him were Brass and Sunburst, as well as Heartfelt, Bicarb, Bar Keeper, and Madam Ammonia. Each had woken up early to see the changeling off.

"We're gonna miss you around here Thorax" Brass said to him as she took him into a hug. "Come back to us safe, please."

Thorax returned the hug. "I will, Brass."

The mare broke the embrace and stepped back. Sunburst stepped up then.

"Make sure you use that camera I loaned you" he told Thorax. "I didn't loan it to you so it just sit there collecting dirt and dust."

"I will" Thorax assured Sunburst. "There will be plenty of pictures for everypony to see."

"Good" Sunburst nodded in approval as he offered his hoof to Thorax, who bumped it in return.

After Sunburst stepped back, Ammonia stepped forward.

"Princess Cadance wanted me to assure you that your position here will be waiting for you when you get back" she told Thorax, before leaning in with a smile. "I wanna see some good pictures too."

Thorax smiled. "Thank you," he responded, "and like I said, I'm gonna take plenty of pictures."

Ammonia then hugged Thorax and stepped back. Thorax smiled at her gesture. They weren't as close as Sunburst or Brass, but Ammonia still treated Thorax with much more kindness than he'd been expecting.

Bicarb and Bar Keeper then stepped up. In the time since Thorax was exonerated, the two ponies had gotten a bit closer with Thorax; perhaps they weren't friends yet, but they were definitely on positive terms.

"Gonna be weird not seeing you in the morning" Bicarb said to Thorax.

"I know" Thorax replied. "I've gotten so used to waking up and working that I'm not sure what I'll do with myself now."

"Well, that's the whole point of a vacation" Bar Keeper pointed out. "You break up the monotony with activities you enjoy doing, and in your case, you're going to see one of the greatest kingdoms on this planet!"

Thorax gave a nod. Even during the attempt to invade during the wedding, Thorax knew that ponies had created a fine kingdom for themselves. Definitely much better than the changelings had currently.

Before anypony could say anything else, trumpets suddenly sounded. Looking around, the group spotted a pink carriage colored in golden accents approaching the train station, a team of crystal guards pulling it. Once stopped, the lead guard undid his harness and went to open the door of the carriage.

Stepping out was Princess Cadance, her mane and tail freshly done. She looked around and spotted Thorax, smiling as she approached.

"Good Morning, Thorax!" she greeted him.

"Good Morning, Princess" Thorax returned, kneeling his body into a bow. This gesture was repeated by all the ponies standing on the platform. Cadance waved her hoof and urged everypony to stand back up.

"I wanted to see you off" she told Thorax. "You're one of our newest citizens and I hope you will make a good impression in Equestria."

"I hope so too" Thorax replied.

Cadance turned and made a gesture to a guard, who gave a nod to the princess and went to the back of the carriage. Opening up a compartment, he removed a luggage case from it and brought it up to her.

"Thank you" she said to the guard as he bowed and returned to the carriage.

"What's this?" Thorax asked.

Cadance used her magic and opened the case. Inside were flasks like the one she had given him a week ago. They all contained the same swirling pink liquid that glowed inside them. A quick count told Thorax there was about one to two months worth, depending on if he used two in a day or one in a day.

"These are so you don't get hungry on your trip" she told him. "Twilight also told me you can add some of this to food and it would stay stable for at least an hour before it would begin to dissipate."

"I'm guessing this is to make my Crystal Hoof disguise more plausible?" Thorax asked.

"In a way" Cadance replied. "Her actual idea was to allow you to try different foods that you might otherwise avoid simply because you couldn't digest them."

Thorax frowned. "I still won't be able to."

"I know" she said to him. "It's just one of her ideas. She remembers what the changelings feeding on ponies looked like and, well, she thinks this could be a 'socially acceptable' way for changelings to feed."

Thorax could see that and did agree with it in a way. Though he had his friend's permission to do so, he still had to pull the love away from them. He knew that it hurt them, even if their directing feelings at him mitigated the effects for some time.

Nevertheless, the feeding was still pink energy yanked out of the body. Ponies wouldn't be tolerant of that, even if there were a few examples of some who would. If this potion did as Twilight said it would, then it was a step in the right direction for improving changeling-pony relations.

A whistling caught everypony's attention, and they turned to see the train approaching. The steam engine, colored pink and gold, came to a hissing stop just past the platform, perfectly lining up the passenger cars with the platform and allowing the passengers onboard to disembark without risk of injuring themselves with a long drop.

After a few ponies disembarked and the conductor walked through the train, he stepped out onto the steps leading down to the platform and called out in a loud voice "NOW BOARDING FOR EQUESTRIA! NOW BOARDING FOR EQUESTRIA!"

Thorax turned to the ponies seeing him off. "Well, I better get going" he said to them as he gathered his luggage, using his mouth and hooves since his Crystal Hoof disguise left him without a horn. Sunburst and Brass both stepped up and took a luggage case in their magic. "We'll help you get on board" Sunburst told Thorax, with Brass nodding in agreement. Uttering his thanks to them, he took his saddlebags and boarded the train.

The passenger cars were nicer than Thorax had expected. Plush, faux-leather benches colored a rich burgundy provided seating on both sides of the car. The walls were a peach color, with windows trimmed in green. Just below the ceiling of the car was a metal shelf where ponies could put their luggage. As a finishing touch, a unique set of carpets covered the floor, with the aisle having a paisley patter and the spaces below the bench having a tartan pattern to them.

Thorax looked around and found a place to put his luggage. Sunburst and Brass placed his extra bags beside his on the shelf. With the luggage secure, Thorax turned to face his friends.

"I really am gonna miss you guys when I'm gone" he told them.

"We know" Brass replied, a small tear forming in her eyes.

"We'll miss you too" Sunburst added, wiping away his own tears but cleverly disguising it as adjusting his spectacles.

Without warning, Thorax took the two ponies into a hug, one that was quickly returned by the them. Love flowed freely from Brass and Sunburst to Thorax, and the changeling swore he could feel the emotion in his own heart reaching out to them.

The hug was broken a few moments later and the ponies and disguised changeling separated. As they did, Thorax took notice of the princess behind them.

"I wish you well on your journey, Thorax," she says with a smile, "and please give Aunt Celestia and Luna my best if you see them."

"Thank you," Thorax replied, "and I will visit them and let them know."

Cadance smiled as she approached and took Thorax into a hug. Thorax returned it, and love again flowed from the princess to Thorax. If any more ponies shared their love with him, he wouldn't need to feed any more today.

"All those not traveling to Equestria, please leave the train now!"

The voice of the conductor caused the hug to break off. Cadance smiled and turned to get off. Brass and Sunburst also left, but not before saying one last goodbye and giving him a wave as they got off.

With his friends departed and his luggage secured, Thorax took his seat on the train bench. The conductor approached a moment later. "Your ticket, please" he said to Thorax.

Thorax reached into his saddlebags and produced the pass Cadance had given him. The conductor took it and read it over, then produced a book and pencil and jotted down the information. "Thank you" he said as he then moved on to the few other ponies who boarded after Thorax.

With his ticket taken care of, Thorax elected to look out of the window.

Looking off in the distance, he could see the mountains that separated the Crystal Empire from Yakyakistan, a fledgling kingdom occupied by yaks: large creatures covered in fur who were known for their rather aggressive tendencies. However, it was also said that if you gained their trust, yaks were also very gracious hosts.

"Maybe I'll visit them sometime in the future" Thorax thought to himself.

"All Aboard for Equestria!" came the cry of the conductor, which caused Thorax to turn his gaze downward, where his friends were waving at him. He returned the wave as he heard the train whistle and begin to move away from the platform. He kept waving until the platform left his sight.

With the Crystal Empire slowly leaving his sight, Thorax took in the scope of his current situation.

He, a changeling, was going to visit Equestria.

The only difference? He was doing so with the full knowledge and acceptance of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

"In one way or another, this is going to be quite the journey" Thorax thought to himself as the train chugged on towards the horizon.

Author's Note:

Thorax is officially on his way back to Equestria. Things can only get interesting from here.

I was very excited to get the artwork for this chapter done, because for the first time, we see two of the OC characters from the story represented here in this artwork:

Heartfelt Sentiment and Brass Polish!

Princess Cadance was not drawn by me. That artwork was done by AndoAnimalia, who gave permission for me to use their art in this piece. All other characters were done by me.

Comments

[Scyphi]

Thorax hoped that with the letter he wouldn't be given too much trouble by any of the guards he would encounter.

One can hope.

Thorax looked at the bad

Thorax said as he placed the camera back in the bad.

That bag for the camera must've done some very bad things in a previous life to be called "bad" so consistently.

"Gonna be weird not seeing you in the morning" Bicarb said to Thorax.

Particularly after how they had just gotten used to how weird it was TO see him every morning.

I mean, c'mon. No matter if you're pro-changeling or not, having a changeling for a coworker probably takes a bit of getting used to still.

"Her actual idea was to allow you to try different foods that you might otherwise avoid simply because you couldn't digest them."

Thorax frowned. "I still won't be able to."

Yeah, how does that work for this universe's changelings? Does what goes in just go back the way it came once the 'ling's body realizes it can't do anything with it? Or does it have another way out of the body? Am I totally thinking too hard about it, asking these questions? (Yes, obviously, but Imma gonna ask 'em anyway )

Fairly straightforward and transitional chapter today, so not too much to really comment on, but still always enjoyable to see Thorax's various (mis)adventures continuing, for better or for worse.

[Melody Song]

Was cool to see what Heartfelt and Brass look like! I hope Thorax's travels go well!

[Luckysweep]

The new adventure starts! A pouch full of bits, a case full of food rations, and a camera to document the lands! Plenty of opportunities for joy and conflict! Onwards to traveling adventure!