Left Behind

by origami

Chapter 7

Thorax had been asleep when he heard something slam against the bars of his cell. Springing awake and looking around, he saw the same two guards from earlier with a fresh plate of bread and another tin cup of water. As before, Thorax got off to one side while the guard pony placed the items into his cell, the other holding him at spearpoint to make sure he didn't try to attack either of them. Once the food was delivered, the two exited his cell and stood off to the side, watching him intently.

The changeling examined the food, noting it didn't look much different than the first batch he'd been brought. Ignoring the water for the moment, he decided to give the food a try once again. While the dough was a little bit better in terms of quality, he still didn't find it very appetizing. Worse yet, it caused his stomach to protest again.

"Don't tell me this food actually makes you sick?" the guard said aloud, not actually expecting Thorax to answer.

"I can't eat it."

The guard just glared at Thorax. "There's starving ponies that wouldn't be so quick to complain about getting that!"

"I can't eat physical food. I need love. It's all my body will accept or be able to use."

"Well, tough break!" the guard said as he whacked the bars of the cell in a taunt. "I heard what having that done to a pony is like, so you can forget having one of us offer ourselves up like a hot lunch! We wouldn't do it for a manticore, and we sure as hay won't do it for you!"

Thorax ignored the pony as he tried to quiet his protesting stomach again. The effort was gargantuan, but eventually the organ acquiesced. He opted to consume the water, and set the empty cup back down next to the plate of bread.

As before, the one guard pinned him back with the spear while the other took the plate of bread and left. Thorax didn't like the idea of not eating the bread, but he simply couldn't sustain himself on it. He was a changeling, and like it or not, love was what nourished him.

With nothing else to do, Thorax chose to lie down on the cot in an effort to conserve his dwindling energy.

---

Thorax groggily woke up again, licking his mouth and wishing he could be granted a second cup of water. He thought about making an attempt to ask for one, but he paused as he realized that something had awoken him. He took a whiff of the air and caught the scent of a pony, and not one of the guards, but looking towards where the two from earlier had been showed none there, but a single chair had been set out.

"Strange," Thorax thought to himself. "The guards certainly wouldn't care if they disturbed me sleeping."

"Um, excuse me?"

Thorax jumped a bit at the exceptionally soft voice that just spoke to him. He then heard a soft "EEP!", followed by some shuffling. He looked around to find the source of the voice but didn't immediately see anything out of place...

...until he saw a long pink tail poking out from just behind a wall and twitching.

"Hello?" he cautiously called out to the pony trying to hide.

The tail jumped a bit, but then tucked behind the wall the rest of the pony was behind. A moment later, and half a yellow face with pink mane and cyan eye poked out.

"H... Hello," the incredibly soft voice greeted again.

Now that he had time to focus on it, Thorax had to admit to himself that he liked this pony's voice. It was a very nice contrast to the harsh ones he'd heard for the majority of his life.

"Who are you?" he asked the timid pony.

The pony stood in the same spot, shaking a bit, but soon resolved their fearfulness. Stepping out, they revealed themselves to be a pegasus mare. Her soft pink mane was hiding the second one of her cyan eyes from view. Her wings looked freshly preened and very soft. Adorning her flanks were a trio of pink and blue butterflies. If he hadn't known better, he would've sworn this pony was a model or a starlet of some kind.

Taken with her appearance, and repeating what he had done with the two mares earlier, Thorax spoke without thinking. "It's another one."

The pegasus flinched and hid herself again. Thorax put a hoof to his face, chastising himself mentally for startling her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

The mare didn't step out again right away. Instead she called out to him. "You said another one. What did you mean?"

"I saw you yesterday. You were with that purple unicorn and orange earth pony and three others. You were fighting with the other changelings."

The pegasus mare, cowered behind her mane, peeked an eye out at him. "Y-You saw me?"

"Yeah. You weren't exactly fighting, but you fooled some drones into thinking you were one of them and avoided being attacked."

"But you saw me?"

Thorax elected just to nod, noticing the mare still trembling a bit. "I'm Thorax," he offered, hoping his introduction might calm her down.

The pegasus did begin to calm some, but she still trembled a bit. "I-I'm Fluttershy."

Thorax smiled. Her name fit her so well, and she looked as though her wings would simply let her float through the air like a swimmer in the ocean. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy flinched again, but didn't try to hide herself. Thorax frowned, cursing the dungeon for removing his ability to disguise; he only needed to conceal his fangs so he wouldn't look as threatening as he did currently.

"You don't happen to know why the guards didn't wake me up when you came in by chance, would you?"

Fluttershy was still fidgeting, not looking directly at him. "I asked them not to."

One of the guards must've had a soft spot for her, Thorax thought. That's the only reason I can think that they would honor her request.

Thorax glanced at Fluttershy for a few moments and saw the mare was still shaking. Realizing that this was likely to continue through this whole interview, Thorax let out a defeated breath.

"I'm sorry if I'm scaring you. I haven't met many ponies before."

"You haven't?"

"No. Before the attempt to invade by my queen, the only ponies I ever saw were ones that other infiltrators had abducted and brought back to the hive."

Once again, Thorax seemed to say the wrong thing, as Fluttershy again hid behind her mane.

Dang it! I'm scaring her without even trying! Thorax thought to himself. Maybe I should take a different approach and try asking her a question?

"What are you doing here in Canterlot?" Thorax asked, hoping to start up a conversation less likely to leave the mare shivering in fear.

Fluttershy heard the question and was a tad nervous as to how she should answer. "I'm, uh, here for the wedding," she answered.

Thorax winced a bit. This could go poorly, he mused.

"Are you part of the wedding party?"

"N-Not really. I was asked to bring my bird choir and perform here."

"Bird choir?" Thorax asked, actually curious about how such a thing could exist; most birds avoided other creatures.

"I know some birds who are really good at singing songs," Fluttershy explained, "so I've organized them into a choir where they perform in front of ponies."

"How did you manage that? Most of the birds I've ever seen run away as soon as you get close."

"It's my special talent. I can communicate with animals like ponies can talk to each other. That's how I can convince them to put on the shows they do."

The thought of a choir of songbirds sounded interesting to Thorax, and again he felt a bit enamored by the mare before him. "I'd love to see that sometime," he told her.

"Well, maybe I can get the princesses to let me bring them down here," she offered. "O-Of course, I don't think the birds would like the lack of sunlight down here. It would make them sleepy."

"Yeah, can't say I'm much of a fan of that either."

The two creatures sat silent for a moment, then Fluttershy decided to ask a question.

"What did you do? I mean, what was your job back in... wherever your home is?"

Thorax sighed. "The changeling hive, or kingdom, if you want to call it that. I was assigned to dig tunnels to expand the hive underground. If I had my magic, I could change my forelegs into the tools that I use to make tunnels each day."

"Do you use other tools besides your hooves?"

"Sometimes. I remember one time where another drone had brought back some dynamite from an infiltration mission and used it to expand one of the tunnels. It certainly did the job, but that changeling was told never to dynamite in the hive again."

Thorax chuckled at the memory. Fluttershy chuckled a little bit as well, but Thorax couldn't tell if it was a genuine and heartfelt response, or just a nervous chuckle.

"Umm..."

"Yeah?" Thorax asked, hoping it would encourage her to answer.

"Why... Why do you need to feed on love?"

Her question was one that Thorax had never really thought about before, but it was one he only ever had one answer for.

"I just do. It's like how things like manticores and bears need to eat meat to survive."

"But don't you and the other changelings see it hurts everypony else?"

"We do, but almost all of us don't care. When you're always starving, you tend to lose any sense of right and wrong. It just boils down to 'you do it or you starve to death'."

Fluttershy winced a bit at his wording. In truth, she had never considered the possibility of a creature needing to do something horrible to survive, but then again, she never really thought about what Harry did before or after coming to her cottage for tea time.

"That's sad," she remarked.

"It is. I wish it didn't have to be that way."

"...What if it didn't have to?"

Thorax, who had looked away feeling a bit ashamed, looked back at Fluttershy with surprise. "What do you mean?"

"What if there was a way for you to get love without hurting anypony?"

Thorax thought about what Fluttershy had suggested for a moment. "I can't speak for the rest of the changelings, but if there was a way to get the love I need without hurting others, I'd gladly take it."

Fluttershy smiled and stood up from her chair. "Thank you for talking with me, Thorax. If the princesses will let me, I'll come back and talk with you again."

Thorax smiled back. "I would like that."

Unlike the last few times, Fluttershy didn't flinch upon seeing his fangs. After giving a small hum as agreement, she turned and went to leave.

"Umm," Thorax called out to her, causing her to stop and look at him. "Could you see if maybe they'll bring me some more water? I am kinda thirsty."

Fluttershy smiled. "I'd be more than happy to."

She turned back and headed towards the guards. Thorax laid back down on his cot and thought about the mare he'd just spoken to. He thought of her soft-looking yellow coat, her silky-smooth mane and tail, her soft and gentle voice, and then he thought of her eyes. He hadn't realize it before, but her eyes had a similar color to his own, if perhaps off by a few shades.

He spent the rest of the afternoon thinking of the mare, and imagining what it would be like to spend time with her doing different things.

---

Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle sat in the private study adjacent to the throne room. The unicorn had just told the princess everything she had learned from Thorax, which the princess compared against notes taken by the interrogator as well as what little there was from her and her sister's own brief interview.

Unfortunately, there was little to nothing that could be used to help plan an attack outright, but learning about the feeding habits and needs of changelings was a small consolation at least.

"I never could figure out how the feeding process worked before," Celestia admitted as she reviewed her student's notes. "There have been theories, but without willing subjects on both sides of this issue, there's been no real way to test any of them."

Twilight frowned. "Given the recent events, I don't think we'll be getting many volunteers any time soon."

Celestia frowned a bit herself. "Yes, I suppose that's true, and I most certainly can't order anypony to subject themselves to a draining for the purposes of research. One feeding wouldn't be enough to garner much information, and I can't imagine a willing pony allowing it to be done more than once once they had been subjected to it. It's not a pleasant experience from what those unfortunate souls have told me."

Twilight nodded. She had yet to go see any of the affected ponies, but she had a feeling they wouldn't even want to be in the same room as a changeling after what happened at the wedding. "This will still need to be researched, though. As long as the whereabouts of the rest of the changelings is unknown, we can't presume they won't come back. There could very well be another attack at some point in the future, and knowing how to combat it would benefit us greatly."

Celestia let out a breath. "For the moment, this needs to be put aside. Princess Cadance and your brother would like to resume their wedding. Once they have been formally wed and on their way to their honeymoon, I will revisit this topic with the remaining high ranks of the royal guard and what researchers are willing to study this topic."

"Right now, I think you should be with your brother," she concluded with a smile. "He will need his best mare by his side."

Twilight bowed to her mentor. "Then I will go join him," she told the princess as she rose and left the study.

---

Princess Luna was going through her wardrobe in search of her formal attire. Though it had been crafted before her banishment, Celestia made sure to keep it in pristine condition for when Luna returned. The gown was set with a smattering of sapphires, diamonds and amber gems, all working in sync to create a night sky against the black and navy blue materials.

Once it had been found, Luna set the article aside and looked into a nearby mirror. Despite being an alicorn and having a near-eternal youthfulness to her form, the lunar princess could see the age of time plain as day on her face. Feelings of regret began to resurface as she thought of time lost in banishment that could've been spent with her sister, but she pushed them back down again.

"The past is in the past, and nothing can change that," she reminded herself. "I am here now, and Tia and I can be sisters again. We must make the most of our time together from here on out."

A gentle knock sounded outside the princess's door.

"Who calls upon me?" she asked, loud enough to be heard through the door.

"Miss Fluttershy wishes to speak with you, your highness," the voice of a guard called through the door.

Luna smiled a little. The pegasus had requested she be allowed to visit Thorax herself, a request the princess granted with a fast-tracked approval of security clearance for the young mare. She felt certain that Fluttershy was here to tell her what she had learned.

"Very well. I permit her entry."

The doors opened a moment later and the yellow pegasus mare entered the private chambers.

"What have you to say about your visit to our prisoner?" Luna asked her.

"Umm..." Fluttershy hesitated.

Princess Luna closed her eyes and hummed, sensing the mare's nervousness. Striding over to a pair of chairs with a table between, she took a seat and gestured to the other. "Please join us and have a seat here."

Fluttershy bowed. "Thank you, your highness," she responded as she walked over to the chair and sat down.

"Now, please tell me what happened during your visit with the changeling."

Fluttershy fidgeted for a moment, but calmed herself as she gave the princess a recap of her recent visit to the royal dungeons.

"Well, he recognized me like how he recognized Twilight and Applejack. I was really nervous, and I think he knew it was because of him. He acted... kind of disappointed."

"Interesting," Luna responded as she examined her dress, noticing no stray threads or missing gems on it.

"I also overheard him speaking with the guards briefly. According to him, changelings can't digest normal food. They can only survive on love, and love they get from other creatures."

"Yes, that is a well known fact to us at this point," Luna said as she continued inspecting her gown.

"He, um..." Fluttershy trailed off, causing the princess to stop looking at her dress and look at her.

"He what?" Luna prodded, a fair bit curious.

"Well, he didn't sound too happy about hurting ponies to keep himself fed."

Luna closed her eyes and nodded. "Dear Fluttershy, you are a compassionate soul. Harmony has chosen well its bearer for the Element of Kindness."

She then opened her eyes and adopted a more serious expression. "However, I fear that your kindness may be wasted on this changeling."

"Princess?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"We have lived for thousands of years, and in that time we have crossed paths with changelings on more than one occasion. In all those encounters, there have been things that remained constant. One of those is the fact that the changeling's hunger for love knows practically no limit, and in their futile quest to quell that hunger, they will resort to whatever trickery and deception they can use to feed on a pony or other creature."

Fluttershy was a little disheartened to hear such an accusation being levied at the changeling in the dungeons.

Surprisingly, though, Luna let out a breath. "Though as much as what I have just said is true, so is it true that he will not survive if he does not have love to sustain himself. It is a conundrum with no easy answer."

Fluttershy fidgeted in place for a moment before she asked Luna a question.

"Princess, you've had changeling prisoners in the past, right?"

Luna nodded.

"How did you care for them then?"

Luna looked away, guilt clear on her face. "The last time we held changelings as prisoners, it was a time that was much more lawless than it is now. We often held prisoners of many kinds, and often had no way to keep them all separated. In fact, and as much as I regret saying this, we often had to give changeling prisoners cellmates."

Fluttershy blanched as she realized what the princess was implying. "Y-You mean...?"

Luna nodded. "The changelings often drained other prisoners."

The pegasus nearly fainted in her chair. To hear that the princesses allowed such a thing, even in times older than some of her oldest ancestors, was a bit much to take in.

"Before you go thinking too ill of us," Luna continued, "you must understand that our decisions were a product of the times in which they occurred. Equestria was a fledgling nation, and it had many enemies, some of which attempted to assassinate my sister and me. Trust us when we say that when a creature threatens your life, you tend not to carry a very favorable view of them, much less have a great deal of concern for what horrible fate may befall them."

"I wish that things were different then, dear Fluttershy, but my sister and I were forced to do things that proved the strength of our rule and our country to our enemies. Sometimes, fate doesn't allow you to do things the way you want to."

Fluttershy listened to what Princess Luna told her. Her view of the lunar princess had changed a bit, but she also saw the regret in her eyes, and knew what she said about doing things differently was true.

"I don't blame you, your highness. Like you said, you had to do what you had to do, and sometimes, it wasn't pleasant, but I don't think that Thorax should starve when there's a possibility that we can help him. That's why I wanted to ask you if I could try to help him."

Princess Luna looked at Fluttershy after she said that. "In what way do you mean to help him?"

"Well..." Fluttershy began, but paused. Did she dare tell the princess her idea?

"Please be forthcoming with whatever plan you wish to enact," Luna told the demure pegasus beside her.

Fluttershy winced a bit but resolved herself again. "I think willingly sharing my love with him will help him."

Almost immediately, Princess Luna shook her head. "Nay. There have been ponies who have tried to make a peace with the changelings in such a way, but those ponies ended up in hospitals and so drained that even being with their loved ones could do nothing to help them."

"I'm sorry, miss Fluttershy, but I cannot allow you to do that. It is for your own safety. Now, please don't pursue the matter further. I do not wish to see you hurt."

Fluttershy went to protest, but stopped when she saw the princess's look. Though it was only a simple look of disappointment, it also served as a warning. "I won't, your highness."

"Very good. Now, if you would please excuse me, I need to prepare for the wedding. I suggest you do the same."

Fluttershy looked back towards the princess as she entered an adjacent room. As she did, the guard opened the door she had come in through and ushered her out.

Walking down the hall to her suite in the castle, Fluttershy had a determined expression on her face.

"I can't just let him starve," she said to herself as she went to prepare for the real royal wedding.

Author's Note:

Toeing (of hoofing, I suppose) a fine line there, Fluttershy. Wanting to help but being told not to. It's a moral conundrum, but how will she resolve it?

Keep reading!

Comments

[Killjoy1221]

Fluttershy is about to be the star in Little Shop of Horrors

[Yoshifan30]

"Well, tough break!" the guard said as he whacked the bars of the cell in a taunt. "I heard what having that done to a pony is like, so you can forget having one of us offer ourselves up like a hot lunch! We wouldn't do it for a manticore, and we sure as hay won't do it for you!"

I get it that they are trying to protect other ponies but thorax is not really a threat he refused to hurt anybody I'm sure if he give him a chance

[Yoshifan30]

The tail jumped a bit, but then tucked behind the wall the rest of the pony was behind. A moment later, and half a yellow face with pink mane and cyan eye poked out.

Oh wow Fluttershy wanted to talk with him wow that's pretty cool of her to talk with him

[Yoshifan30]

Thorax winced a bit. This could go poorly, he mused.

I mean at least you're trying buddy

[Yoshifan30]

Fluttershy winced a bit at his wording. In truth, she had never considered the possibility of a creature needing to do something horrible to survive, but then again, she never really thought about what Harry did before or after coming to her cottage for tea time.

I mean Harry is a predator and unfortunately Fluttershy and he is a meat eater as in he eats other small creatures mostly fish but still yikes

[Yoshifan30]

Thorax thought about what Fluttershy had suggested for a moment. "I can't speak for the rest of the changelings, but if there was a way to get the love I need without hurting others, I'd gladly take it."

I'm sure you will find a way somewhere in this season 6 of this alternate timeline

[Yoshifan30]

Twilight nodded. She had yet to go see any of the affected ponies, but she had a feeling they wouldn't even want to be in the same room as a changeling after what happened at the wedding. "This will still need to be researched, though. As long as the whereabouts of the rest of the changelings is unknown, we can't presume they won't come back. There could very well be another attack at some point in the future, and knowing how to combat it would benefit us greatly."

Which unfortunately she's right they will come back in season 6

[Yoshifan30]

"I can't just let him starve," she said to herself as she went to prepare for the real royal wedding.

I wonder if Fluttershy is going to be a little bit rebellious and to help thorax

[Yoshifan30]

Well I would say this was a pretty nice conversation so thorax was not expecting another visitor and what he saw was another familial one Fluttershy and she was pretty brave enough to talk with him despite how scared she is especially what happened they really had a nice conversation and even telling how changelings eat and apparently they needed love to survive even though he didn't want to hurt any other ponies despite how hungry he is so with that Fluttershy left and talked with Luna about information that thorax said and Luna talk about the old times how things were not pretty at the time and Fluttershy thinks that maybe she could help him by giving her love to him which Luna does not like the idea so with that I wonder if is she going to do it behind their back

[Sozmioi]

> Almost immediately, Princess Luna shook her head. "Nay. There have been ponies who have tried to make a peace with the changelings in such a way, but those ponies ended up in hospitals and so drained that even being with their loved ones could do nothing to help them."

Under what circumstances, and with what precautions? That seems like a very important pair of questions for this. You have a lot of control, here.

[Bookwurm666]

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