Part IV, Chapter 9 - Whinnyapolis, Part 2 - Departure
Thorax awoke the next day feeling refreshed. On a chair of his room sat the Whinnyapolis Wingers jersey he'd purchased the night before at the game. He thought back to how impressive a spectacle it was, but also still thought of the game as a bit too violent for his tastes.
He got out of bed and went about cleaning himself, deciding that he would take the morning and figure out whether he wanted to stay in Whinnyapolis a little longer or if he wanted to move on to Van Hoover. Whinnyapolis did feel like it was a bit bigger, or at least had some more points of interest. Maybe he could spend another half day exploring and leave after noon to go on to Van Hoover?
Thorax shook the thoughts from his head as he went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Standing in the stream of water, he thought about the little bit of journey he'd taken so far. It had only been a few days, but he missed his friends in the Crystal Empire already. He had hoped that maybe one of them could've come on this journey with him, but unfortunately, none of them were able to do so.
He then thought about the two more interesting events to happen to him so far: catching the two troublemakers in the Cheval factory and the hockey game. The former reminded him of the fact that Equestria wasn't as innocent a place as he had once believed, and the latter made him curious about if there were similar kinds of events that would be as exciting as the game had been. Maybe a concert if he came across one?
Thorax finished his shower and prepared for the day. He drank one of the flasks from his case and set the empty back in its spot. If he drank one in the morning and one in the evening, he could probably go for another two weeks before he would have to head towards Ponyville. From what he could tell, he'd been given about a month's worth of the concoctions the princess and her zebra friend had made.
Thinking about the zebra gave Thorax another idea. He knew of the equines from having gone through infiltration training in the hive, and he had seen one officiating the game last night. Was it possible there were more zebras here in Whinnyapolis?
Well, there was only one way for him to find out.
Thorax spent part of his morning wandering the streets of the city, looking for anything of interest, as well as keeping his eyes peeled for any zebras, but coming up short on both counts. The only place that was of any interest to him was a public library. Deciding to take advantage of an opportunity to learn, Thorax headed inside.
The public library was massive, easily outdoing anything in the Crystal Empire. There were bookshelves that would've dwarfed the ones back in the Crystal Palace, and all of them were as full of books as those were. Just by taking a quick look around, Thorax knew he was going to have a hard time finding anything unless he got some help.
Finding a librarian, he asked for books on zebra culture and was taken to a world cultures section with books on many species. Selecting one about zebras, Thorax pulled it down and began reading through it.
Zebras, for lack of a better word, had a unique magic that manifested itself in their ability to brew powerful potions. They were taught from a young age how to find ingredients and how to mix them. In addition to potion-making, they also had complex ceremonies with ritual dances and chants. One passage even claimed that some zebras practiced speaking exclusively in rhyme as a way to strengthen and improve their mental fortitude.
Further reading revealed that in more recent years, zebras have branched out and explored other parts of the world, including some having traveled to Equestria. Thorax's belief that he might meet one here in Whinnyapolis was dashed a bit as he read that most zebras preferred warmer climates like those in the south of Equestria, and Whinnyapolis was definitely not warm at this time of year.
Still, he didn't let his hopes die completely. After all, changelings came from a much warmer climate than Whinnyapolis, yet here he was, and as much as he hated to admit it, there were likely some infiltrators here in the city, even if he hadn't encountered them. Surely there were a few zebras that wouldn't mind a little bit of cold. Hay, maybe there were some rare herbs for potion brewing that only existed in this part of the world?
Putting the book back on the shelf where he'd found it, Thorax gave the librarian a thank you and parting smile as he decided to try and find something of interest. He decided that if he couldn't find anything in the next few hours, he would move on to his next destination.
A few more hours of walking revealed the Whinnyapolis Convention Center, a large building with a huge open floor space where conventions and other similar functions were held. It was not quite as big as the hockey arena, but could easily fit as many ponies, if being a bit cramped.
Unfortunately, his discovery was for naught. When he looked at an information board outside the convention center, it said the current convention was for medical magic. Thorax was tempted to go inside, as a medical magic convention might attract the interest of a zebra he could meet, but a sign on the outside door told him that the only ponies allowed in were ones that had been invited. He let out a sigh as he turned and walked back out onto the streets.
Thorax kept his hooves moving as he made up his mind to start packing his things and move on the Van Hoover. All in all, he did have an enjoyable time in Equestria thus far, and certainly more enjoyable than the first time around. He got to see carriages made in Detrot and inadvertently helped thwart a scheme by two ponies to steal trade secrets, and he got to see hockey, a sport he'd never seen played before, for the first time here in Whinnyapolis, which was quite an experience in and of itself.
Still though, he felt as though Equestria was beginning to look a little... underwhelming.
He quickly shook those thoughts from his head. He couldn't make a judgment like that now. He'd only been here for a few days, and in that time, he'd only seen two cities. There were so many small towns and other cities he could visit yet, and surely one of them had to have some more points of interest than some factory tours and sporting events.
Returning to his hotel, Thorax proceeded to pack up the few things that he had taken out of his luggage and placed in his room. He also shed his Crystal Hoof disguise and decided to get a shower as well. If his reading of maps was correct, he'd be spending the night on the train and arrive in Van Hoover in the early morning, possibly before Celestia even raised the sun.
One shower later and Thorax, re-disguised as Crystal Hoof, left the hotel and came down to the lobby. Stepping up to the front desk, he placed his room key on the counter. The mare behind the desk looked up at him. "May I help you?" she asked him.
"I'd like to check out of my room now" he told her. "I wanna take the train to Van Hoover tonight and get there tomorrow morning."
The mare gave a simple nod and took the key from desk and placed it back onto their room key rack. Once he signed out of the ledger, Thorax took his belongings on the short journey back to the train station. He kept his passports and the letter from the princesses at hoof as he approached a guard. The guard looked at him and frowned, clearly recognizing him.
"What do you want?" the guard asked accusingly.
"I'm leaving Whinnyapolis tonight and heading to Van Hoover" Thorax replied.
The guard looked him over for a few moments before he let out a breath. "Follow me" he said said sternly before leading Thorax back to Commander Steel Wing's office. Once outside, he gave a knock on the door.
"Commander," the guard called through the door. "The changeling is here to see you again."
A muffled voice is heard through the door. If Thorax didn't know any better, he would've swore it was some kind of profanity.
"Send him in!" came a louder and much clearer reply.
The guard opens the door and gestures Thorax inside. The door is then closed behind Thorax, who finds himself alone with the stallion from before, a drinking glass visible in the low light of an oil lamp.
"Back again so soon?" he says snidely. "Here to confess to some crime you probably committed?"
Thorax winces from the negativity. "N-No, I-"
"Lose the charade" Steel Wing commands before knocking back another drink and pouring a second one. Thorax complies as he drops his Crystal Hoof disguise.
"You checked out of your hotel room" Steel Wing tells Thorax. "I had a pony over there watching the check in/check out desk. Leaving awfully late, aren't you?"
Thorax started to get a little nervous. "I wanted to take an overnight train and get to Van Hoover tomorrow morning."
Steel Wing set his glass down and glared at Thorax. "Is it your intention to give my counterpart in Van Hoover a sleepless night?"
"N-No!" Thorax responded. "I just wanna get there early enough to find a hotel and perhas some breakfast."
Steel Wing glared at Thorax as he rose up and splayed his wings in a threatening pose. "What did you say?" he asked through clenched teeth.
Thorax realized he had misspoken. "N-Not how you think!" he spat out. "I... sometimes eat pony food just so I can experience the taste."
Steel Wing glared long and hard at Thorax before he eventually backed off. "One of my guards did say they saw you eating pierogis while walking through the city" he concedes, before hardening his gaze again. "He also told me about a stallion he saw you talking to. Care to fill me in on that?"
"He was a random passerby" Thorax replied. "I liked his jersey he was wearing and asked him about it."
"And then you decided to go to a hockey game" Steel Wing concluded, still very suspicious of Thorax's behavior.
"...yeah?" Thorax replied, unsure of where the conversation was going.
"Enjoy the game?"
Steel Wing's question was rather pointed. Thorax could tell he was fishing for information to try and detain him.
Of course, Thorax had done nothing wrong. Even at the game, he refrained from any desire he might have had to feed on the abundance of love in the arena for the team.
"Mostly" Thorax answered. "I wasn't too fond of how violent it got."
Steel Wing snorted. "That's a violent game by nature" he responded. "I would've thought changelings would love it because of that."
"Maybe other changelings would," Thorax admitted, "but not me."
"Big softy?" the stallion says with a snort. "Sorry, but that hard shell of yours doesn't exactly convey that image very well. Of course, you can fix that in a literal flash, right?"
"Um, y-yeah?"
Steel Wing reaches over to a spot on his desk where a stamp and ink pad are sitting. "Give me the letter" he orders.
Thorax goes into his bags and produces the letter from the princess. Steel Wing wets the stamp and pounds it hard onto the paper before giving it back to Thorax.
"You'll be watched as you go to the ticket office and platform" Steel Wing tells Thorax. "If it were within my power, I would send a guard along with you, but unfortunately, I can't do that."
Thorax blinks in surprise. "Y-You can't?"
"No" the commander says almost dejectedly. "I would be intruding on Van Hoover's guard authority without probable cause, even though I'm sure mentioning you would grant me their permission to be there."
"That said, you have actually, as far as we can tell, kept your word and done everything as instructed. To that end, I have no reason to hold you. Now, go be Van Hoover's problem."
Thorax looks at the commander for a moment before taking the paper and putting it back in his saddlebags. He stands up and goes to leave, but stops at the door before looking back at the commander.
"I wasn't the one to do it," Thorax tells him, "but I'm sorry you were attacked."
The commander looks at Thorax but just scoffs as he downs more of the drink in his hooves.
Thorax lets out a sigh, resigning himself to the fact that relations with ponies and changelings was going to take a long time to improve. A part of him thought "if ever", but he couldn't deny that the fact he had already made friends and was recognized as a diplomat by the princesses, even if just a title given to offer him some protection, proved is was entirely possible.
Thorax leaves the commander's office and heads for the ticket booth. Once his ticket is secured, he makes his way to the train platform to wait, a guard shadowing him from nearby.
"Ocellus!" came the voice of the teacher Argiope. "Pay attention!"
Ocellus, a young infiltrator, or at least what she had been designated as, turned her attention back to the front of the classroom. Chained to the floor was a pony, a unicorn stallion, actively fighting against his restraints and exuding so much fear that the first two rows in the class had to back away to keep from getting sick from all the negative emotion. He'd tried to use a spell to get away, but found his magic being canceled out by the queen's throne, causing him to become even more scared and confused than he had been initially.
He'd been brought in a few moments ago by a pair of warriors for the day's lesson: love collection. Each student was to take a portion of this stallion's love once they had been taught how by the teacher.
This was a lesson that Ocellus didn't really want to learn, but was unfortunately made to. The queen had decreed that she would be an infiltrator, and her roles would be shy mares that stallions would fall head over hooves for.
If she had had her way, Ocellus would work in the archives of the hive. She was quite studious and honestly enjoyed books far more than the standard infiltration training that almost every drone was going through.
Ever since the failed invasion, changelings had become much easier for ponies to spot. Several infiltrators had been arrested already. One had made an attempt to escape from the town of Ponyville, but his panic had led him into the Everfree Forest, and directly into the jaws of a hungry manticore.
The little changeling winced as she imagined how horrible a fate that was.
"Class," Argiope called out to the collection of nymphs, "I will draw the spell diagram you will be using. Pay close attention to it. This is something you will need to know for the rest of your life."
Argiope walked over to a chalk board and grabbed a piece of white chalk, drawing a pair of circles, one inside the other, and then several runes in the space between. After that, she drew a few other symbols inside the smaller circle before finishing with a heart at the very center.
Ocellus was a gifted magic user and understood this spell very well. The outer runes acted as a focusing and filtering sort of spell, cutting through all the complex emotions of a pony and going straight to their love. The inner runes were used to actually pull out the love, with two final runes telling it where to go: a special gland in the changeling body where the love was processed into a gel that was either consumed by the collector or regurgitated so it could be fed to other changelings and grubs that didn't have the ability to collect it for themselves. A small portion was absorbed by the infiltrators during the draining, which helped to mitigate how much magic was lost during casting.
The stallion looked at the chalkboard and went wide eyed, also clearly understanding what the spell was meant to do. He radiated fear more intensely than before as he fought harder against his bindings. His fetlocks had actually started bleeding from the constant rubbing.
Argiope turned to him and laughed. "Fight all you want, pony" she said to him in a taunting manner. "You'll never break through those chains."
The stallion ignored her taunts and continued fighting. Ocellus looked on with pity as she could see red start to mix in with his coat, his efforts only injuring himself further and likely causing an infection that would not be treated properly.
Of course, he would be cocooned again after this most likely, and the fluid inside them was able to eliminate nearly all infections. He would probably be healed in only a few days once he was back inside.
Argiope moved in front of the stallion with a hungry look in her eyes. "Now class, you've seen the spell you must craft. For the next part, you shall see it applied in a practical way."
The stallion looked on in horror as he was consumed in a green aura. Argiope's horn glowed to match as she then opened her mouth. Almost immediately, a pink stream left the stallion's chest and he became physically fatigued. The teacher cut off the spell before she had taken any more.
"And that's how it's done" she told the class with a smirk. All the students cheered happily as she prepared for what was to come next.
The stallion fell onto his haunches and held his chest. He then looked at the class even more fearfully as he realized what was going to happen next. His efforts against the chain were doubled, his momentary fatigue forgotten about as adrenaline gave him more motivation.
"Now then," Argiope continued, "each of you will come forward and conduct the spell. If you perform it correctly, you will pass. As a bonus, you will get to enjoy the love you collect from this pony, which I hope should motivate you all to do your best going forward. Now, please come to the front and form a single file line."
The stallion saw the changelings moving to stand in front of him and flailed wildly, wanting nothing more than to get away from this horrible place. His efforts were for nothing as Argiope shot him with a stunning spell, sending him to the floor in a heap.
"Don't fret students" she told the class. "You can still pull from him as he is."
The students looked on hungrily as they all moved up.
"Now, remember the runes I've shown you" she says to the first nymph. "Focus on the love and just pull on it. Only take a little; there needs to be something left for your classmates."
The stallion, having recovered from the stun spell, looked at the nymph with pleading eyes.
The nymph only gave him an evil smile as his horn ignited and mouth opened, another stream of pink leaving the stallion and draining him further.
"That's enough" Argiope said as she smacked the nymph's horn hard with her hoof. "You're only to take a little and leave some for your classmates. We will be going over impulse control in a future lesson, so for now, if I notice you starting to take too much, I will stop you from doing so. Now, next student, please."
The stallion watched on in horror that slowly faded as weakness set in, each student taking a bit more of his love and robbing him of any energy to resist.
Ocellus couldn't bear to watch it. Worse yet, she had to do this. If she failed, she would have to explain it to the queen directly, and no changeling wanted to answer to her for failure; it was punished in the harshest way imaginable.
"Your turn now, Ocellus" came Argiope's voice.
Ocellus stepped forward. She'd taken the last spot in line in an attempt to prolong this as much as she could. Unfortunately, it couldn't be forever. She turned to look at the chalkboard, and then the stallion. He was nearly a husk now, his eyes staring ahead and only the barest hint of emotion left in them. What little was there, however, was pleading to her not to do what she had to do.
"I'm sorry" she whispered to him as she cast the spell and opened her mouth. A pink tendril left his body and went into her mouth.
She wanted to say how wonderful it was, but once she had finished, she looked to see the stallion in what was effectively a state of living death. She saw no more emotions in him. He was effectively a shell.
And she had made him that way for the sake of passing some stupid class she didn't even want to be in!
"Well done, Ocellus" Argiope beamed. "Now, students, I want you to pay attention to the pony now. He has no more love left in him. He will take months to recover even the tiniest sliver and will be effectively useless to us until then."
"You should never leave prey like this in your infiltration missions" she cautioned the class. "Draining a pony this badly may as well be the same as you going into a crowded pony village, dropping your disguise and shouting 'Hey Royal Guard! Over here!'"
"Impulse control is some of the hardest training for an infiltrator to accomplish. It is too much in our nature to feed until there is nothing left."
"If the queen hadn't achieved control and taught it to the first infiltrators, then we wouldn't even have a hive today. We would've burned through every feeling race in this world and slowly starved to death."
"That is why for our next class, we will be practicing impulse control. You will feed directly again, but you will also learn to produce the gel that you usually feed on. It is important that you learn to make it, as it will feed every other changeling in the hive. Now, class is dismissed."
The changelings all file out of the classroom. Ocellus is left standing and looking at the stallion. He has a far off stare on his face, any fight he had to escape now gone.
"You are dismissed, Ocellus" Argiope says to her student, who doesn't move. "Ocellus, did you not hear me?"
Ocellus moves her gaze from the stallion to the teacher.
"Is it wrong?"
Argiope looks at her with a little confusion. "Is what wrong?"
Ocellus looks at the stallion again. Argiope suddenly realizes what the nymph is thinking and adopts a stern scowl.
"We are predators, Ocellus" she tells the young changeling, and then points a hoof at the stallion. "They are our prey. It does none of us any good to feel pity for them. They are here to feed us. There is no reason to feel guilty about doing what you must to survive."
"But isn't there-" Ocellus is cut off by Argiope.
"If the next words out of your mouth are 'a better way', I will fail you for this class today and you will have to go explain your failure to the queen."
Ocellus didn't dare speak again. Argiope moved to face her.
"There is no better way" she told her student. "If there was, the queen would've found it by now. Just learn to live with whatever bad feelings you have. You will either get used to it, or you will starve. Do you understand me?"
Ocellus didn't even look up. She knew that her teacher was glaring at her. "I understand."
"Good" came Argiope's response. "Now, you are dismissed. Go back to your burrow."
The nymph nodded and left the classroom. Once she was gone, Argiope turned and looked at the stallion. Her stern glare changed to a look of disappointment.
"The students drained you too fast" she commented. "It's getting harder to find ponies full enough to teach these larger classes I have now."
Argiope then left, telling the two guards who brought the stallion in to take him back to the prey holding area.
I bet you forgot that there were some other changelings besides Thorax being featured in this part of the story, didn't you?
Well, Thorax is off on the next part of his journey, and heading to what is likely the most important destination yet - Van Hoover. What awaits him there? Who knows?
I do, the author, because I'm writing this story 
Anyhow, if it wasn't apparent, the guard commander in Whinnyapolis had PTSD. His behavior and drinking were supposed to tip you guys off to that, as experiencing a trigger, such as the commander seeing Thorax, can cause agitation in the afflicted party, and those with PTSD are also at greater risk of chemical dependency on drugs, as some will turn to that as a rather unhealthy coping mechanism.
That illness is not fun, and it should definitely be taken more seriously than what it is. Like, it should be fully covered by health insurance so those who need treatment can get it.
Of course, the greedy jerks running those companies won't do that, since the game is "we take your money and never pay for what you actually need" 
Anywho, sorry to rant in author's notes. This is the last chapter for March. I'm not sure when I'll get the next one out, but I promise at least one before the end of next month. I would like to work on some of my other stories, as well as other drafts for chapters in this one.
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Thorax can write to Cadence about his finding, and treatment and suggestion to get the commander help. Which Cadence conveys to Celestia. Also you better write a future scene of Ocellus bumping into her old teacher AFTER Thorax took over and give them their makeover. "There was another way after all."
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As a part of a rather unsympathetic race, Thorax doesn't really know what PTSD is, even though he gets ponies are upset about what happened in Canterlot. He sees the reaction of the commander as him holding a grudge against changelings, which he may or may not.
If he did though, he would go directly to Celestia with it, since a letter would get to Canterlot much quicker than the Crystal Empire.
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Oh, that's true and fair. So when are we gonna get a roast Shining chapter?
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I have plans for Shining, but nothing in the immediate future
Well, not only that, but I'm sure Ponyville (and the Everfree Forest beside it) is a much cooler climate overall than the zebra homeland too...and yet that's where Zecora is.
Well, as they say, the grass is always greener on the other side of the hill.
Personally, I think Thorax just let his expectations get unrealistically high about Equestria, getting this utopic vision of it from all of the good things he'd heard but never seen or experienced personally about it, when in reality Equestria is a more normal society, like any other. But that needn't be a bad thing per se. Normality is a good thing, especially for a society--it helps keep them humble, realize that there's always something more to be working towards and/or improving.
And anyway, Equestria is surely still leaps and bonds better than the Chrysalis-ruled Changeling Kingdom he'd left.
Well, I do know better--it was definitely a profanity.
It's a good thing Thorax isn't me, because if it were, I'd be sorely tempted to stick around Whinnyapolis anyway, if just for no reason than to watch this guy give himself an ulcer for no reason, fretting over a changeling that clearly isn't even a threat.
Meh, whatever, good riddance to him anyway.
(After reading the author's note) I get the PTSD angle on this, of course, and I don't mean disrespect on that...but I also know this guy isn't helping himself by continuing to bode such strong ill-will for something for no reason other than spite. That's the other unfortunate side of the PTSD dilemma--there are many sufferers who refuse to seek treatment or even acknowledge they are suffering out of personal pride and the assumption (usual false) that they know what they're doing, that the problem isn't as bad as it is, and that they can control it themselves. So there's also the aspect that sometimes the best way for a sufferer of PTSD to get help...is to help themselves. And I do feel like this guy is just fanning the flames for his own problem here, and as a result...my sympathy only goes so far. Not to say he doesn't still need, or would benefit from, help, but...
Wonder how they found that latter one out. Hopefully through second hand sources and not from finding the...remains...themselves.
Assuming this were all true for a moment...that doesn't mean you need to be sadistic about feeding, as you were here, OR that you couldn't do something so to try and at least make it as close to painless as circumstance would allow.
So even if a changeling reformation wasn't possible...the changelings are still preying wrong, doing it out of malice and a vain show of dominance than out of any simple need to feed and survive.
Or, more likely, she just never bothered, because she rather liked the malice and vain show of dominance way.
I've actually long suspected that Chrysalis at least had an inkling of an idea that there really was a better way...but was deliberately concealing it out of vanity so to preserve the evil image of changelings she had built for herself and her domain, and out of fear that she personally would lose power, both political and magical, by not showing a constant image of "I'm better than you," something she interprets as weakness. But canon never made it clear one way or another.
And that's the other side of this. Even with what precautions Chrysalis and co. are undertaking, there's growing evidence it's ultimately not going to be sustainable, at least not for the size of powerful hive Chrysalis clearly wants to build, maintain, and, ultimately, expand. This is probably an unrealistic goal, though, and would only result in the hive expanding itself beyond it's ability to keep itself fed and healthy very rapidly. Again assuming there really wasn't a better way, then the better plan for the hive would be to keep things small and simple, the population low, and to give up on this dream of Chrysalis's of being a large military power, as the math just wouldn't check out for that-- it would require the hive hoarding more love than the world probably has to give, voluntarily or involuntarily.
Fortunately for the changelings, there is a better way. But we're getting that part still.
Considering this chapter went live just in time for the last day of March, I would think so.
Nonetheless, looking forward to more whenever it may come, as always.
Hi Ocellus! Poor little bug though... and Thorax sure isn't having the best time either with Steel Wing... I do understand the guard's trauma having an effect on how he interacts with Thor, though