Princess Twilight Sparkle was a key ally to the reformed changelings. Security, trade, somecreature to vouch for the reality of their reform - without her, Thorax would likely have been deposed, and the hive conquered, long ago.
But that didn’t mean Thorax thought he could rely on just her allegiance to carry the changelings forward. He’d forged an alliance with the dragons since then, and was working on breaking down the distrust of the griffons and hippogriffs. Which left just one group to open up to.
The yaks.
Fortunately, Thorax thought he had a pretty good read on how to handle them. He just hoped he was right about Rutherford being a better diplomat than anypony gave him credit for.
CW: International trade and politics, copious headcanon/world building nerdery
Story originally written for the May 2022 Pairings Contest, we'll see if it posts in time! This is what happens when I get an idea the weekend before the deadline but still have to work.
Well this turned out to be an interesting story. I would definitely like to see more diplomat Thorax
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We'll have to see what comes out of it.
Thorax and Rutherford are the two most interesting rulers to me out of the ones we see, because they're the two who are clearly in the most precarious positions. Thorax is the ruler, and savior of what (as far as anyone knows) is the last of his kind. But as we see in School Raze, he's keenly aware that the changelings are also kind of screwed if anyone decides they need to go. It only makes sense that he'd want to arrange for backup plans in case Equestria isn't going to be their shield.
Or in case Equestria is the one to decide they need to go - say, if ponies like a certain education association chairpony start taking over.
As for Rutherford, there are two ways you can read him: Too dumb to live, or operating on a different level entirely. And I always try to look for the answer that makes sense which, frankly, is the "operating on a different level." Hence the Rutherford from here, who may be bombastic and loud, but who views ponies with a certain amount of legitimate distrust and knows that he needs every edge he can get in negotiations.
Like "declaring war" on Equestria, and then "forgiving" the naive new Princess on the block when she comes to give him anything he wants in exchange for calling the war off before Celestia finds out how badly she screwed up.
Given the Opaline situation, this was the right move for Thorax and Rutherford.