Despite being accepted into the Crystal Empire as one of their own, Thorax still needs to prove himself deserving of their trust.
(now rated Teen because some people used very naughty words in the comments, and because 95% of you are in your Teens or over anyway. Also, starting from Chapter Four, all chapters may be edited and/or proofread by NWRAlicorn, who deserves more recognition than he has right now)
The ponies of the Crystal Empire have welcomed the Changeling known as Thorax as one of their own, with Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor's blessings. Or at least those who reside within the Crystal Palace have anyway. Outside the walls however, there are some who still need to be convinced of Thorax's good intentions.
Cadence and Shining Armor may have a way for him to do just that. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Cover art by UniqueSKD (because who would want to draw me anything?)
In the light of Celestia's golden sun, the city of the Crystal Empire looked absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking to Thorax from the high balcony of the empire's own crowning majestic wonder, the Crystal Palace. The way every crystal structure shone and reflected light all over the place was just amazing in the Changeling's mind. So polished, so clean, so shiny. The shiniest thing he had ever seen back home within the dark damp caves of the Changeling Hive, were the carapaces of other Changelings and the smooth flat rocks strewn throughout the caverns of his former home.
Thorax gazed out upon the city that would become his home. He could see the citizen ponies down below going about their business. He thought it strange that in the short time he had spent within the borders of the Crystal Empire territory, he had not come across any of its residents with crystallized coats and manes as he had thought them to be known well for, but he quickly shrugged away the thought as it did not really matter.
Thorax turned away from the view to go back inside of the palace itself. The Crystal Palace itself was a marvel to witness from the outside. On the inside though, despite having set hoof within its halls already, the spectacular crystal architecture and grand decoration still managed to awe the Changeling. An understandable notion, considering for most of his life he saw only the cold stone of the walls that made up his kind's Hive.
A maid pony carrying out her duties approached Thorax carrying what looked to be laundry. She noticed the Changeling and gave Thorax a polite bow as they passed each other, to which Thorax returned the gesture with a toothy smile. To think that only a couple days ago, the whole of the empire were on high alert because of him, the guards extremely cautious and wary of any suspicious behavior and the civilians nervous if not worried that their friends or family might turn out to be a hungry bug looking to feed on their vitality.
A couple of days ago, that servant pony would have screamed and sprinted off to find the nearest guard at the sight of him. It felt good to wander around as himself without such a thing happening, though he hoped he'd be able to traverse the streets of the city with similar results soon enough.
This made Thorax smile a little as he thought of that. Before he met the dragon hero Spike, his desires to learn all he could about this pony thing called 'friendship' seemed impossible. Now he had a chance to earn the trust of the ponies and do exactly that.
Except...how, or where, would he begin to start gaining that trust? Really, it was only the ponies who resided within the Crystal Palace whom did not see him as a threat thanks to the help of Spike and the rulers of the empire, but all those ponies outside of the palace...they would still need convincing, proof that he meant them no harm. Where was Thorax meant to start accomplishing such an objective?
"Excuse me, Thorax?" A stallion's voice broke the Changeling's trail of thought, and he turned to meet one of the palace guards walking towards him.
"Y-Yes?" Thorax replied. Even though the guards no longer deemed him a threat, the sight of them still made the Changeling uneasy. The guard nodded to the end of the hallway. "Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor would like to speak with you," he said.
Thorax shuffled away slightly out of nervousness. "Did...they say what about?" he asked.
The guard shook his head. "No. Please follow me." He began walking away. "They are waiting for you in the throne room."
Thorax was hesitant at first, worried about what the rulers of the Crystal Empire would want him for. But deciding that keeping them waiting for him would be worse he quickly hurried along, hoping that there wasn't a problem.
When they arrived at the doors leading into the throne room, the guard stopped and held out his foreleg in front of Thorax, prompting him to halt. "Wait here," the guard instructed. Thorax nodded and watched as he pushed open the doors and disappeared behind them. After a few moments had passed, he returned and gestured to Thorax.
"They will see you now, Thorax," the guard said as he stepped aside, holding the door open.
Thorax slowly nodded his head, and walked past the guard into the throne room, the door closing shut behind him as he entered. At the other end of the room, the pink alicorn and her husband sat on their crystal thrones, Sunburst at the side of them.
"Hello, Thorax," Cadence greeted kindly. "Thank you for joining us."
Thorax gave a small smile as he approached them, though concern was still present on his face. "I'm, uh...it is my, er, a pleasure, your highness," he stammered as he fell into a bow before them.
"Stand up, Thorax. You don't need to bow to us," Shining Armor said. "We've asked you here because we want to discuss something with you." Thorax straightened himself quickly before looking up at the prince. "What is it you want to discuss?" he asked.
Shining Armor and Cadence exchanged looks with each other before Cadence spoke. "Well, Shining Armor and I have been discussing your wanting to learn about friendship and love, and..." She paused for a moment in consideration. "We have decided that the best place for you to start will be at our local orphanage."
Thorax stared at the both of them in surprise. "I...I beg your pardons?"
Shining Armor carried on for Cadence. "The current carer running the orphanage recently had an accident which left her with a broken leg. As a result she is struggling to look after the children by herself and thus requires help doing so." Shining Armor gave Thorax a stern stare, though he spoke his next words with in a softer tone.
"Thorax, if you honestly do wish to earn the trust of the ponies of Equestria, then start by helping those who, like yourself, are in need of friendship and love. We believe that positioning you at the orphanage as an assistant carer will allow you to learn the meaning of compassion, and hopefully strengthen your desire to help others. By showing the ponies of the Crystal Empire that you can display kindness to those who require it the most within our community, they will open up more to you and allow you to make the friends you desire."
"This will not be an easy task, mind you," Princess Cadence chimed in. "You will be required to help the owner of the orphanage with daily routines, and see that the little ones are kept safe and happy. You will also need to be monitored by a guard for security reasons, as well as to put any doubt still present among the public at ease."
"But," Princess Cadence continued, "if you are willing to take on this task, Thorax, the owner of the orphanage is willing to teach you how to look after the children, as well as providing you with a room on the premises as well as payment for your work. And personally speaking, I believe this will be the first step towards realizing your goal to make friends."
Shining Armor extended a hoof out. "So, what do you say, Thorax?"
Thorax stared at the two of them in astonishment, their proposition repeating itself over and over in his head. This all sounded like it would be a really important task, maybe a task that somepony who was actually from the Crystal Empire itself would have been better suited for. But if the rulers of the Crystal Empire were willing to entrust him of all creatures with such a role, the same rulers who were the most affected by the actions of his Changelings brethren in the past and yet were willing to offer him friendship despite those crimes, then there was easily only one response to such an opportunity.
Thorax puffed out his chest and, with the happiest smile, he replied simply, "When do I start?"
And Princess Cadence and Shining Armor couldn't help but smile.
It was early in the morning when Thorax's slumber was disturbed by one of the Crystal Palace guards. The sight of a guard pony looming over him first thing after waking up gave the changeling quite a startle. Thorax silently vowed that one day he would learn to stop being so nervous of any royal guard unless it was for good reason.
"Apologies for the rude awakening, Thorax, but you are required to be at the Crystal Empire Orphanage as soon as possible," the guard had said to him, whose name Thorax would later learn was Silver Arrow. His coat was a light shade of gray in color with dark brown eyes, but that was all Thorax knew about his appearance since his royal armor covered the rest of his body, hiding any other distinguishable features of his character.
Back home in the Changeling Hive, Thorax rarely ever was permitted any more than ten minutes of rest, what with all the activity that went off within the caves such as expanding the tunnel network, or venturing out into the world to steal love from whatever poor creature his kind could come across. The beds of the Crystal Palace were so comfortable, a fantastic luxury that surpassed his old hard stone bed.
As much as Thorax wanted to spend just another few minutes in the warmth of the pillow and mattress, today was of more importance. Thorax hoped that the bed he was given at the orphanage would be just as nice as those of the Crystal Palace. Within a few minutes spent in the bathroom, Thorax had bathed, washed, and cleaned his fangs before heading off out to the courtyard, where Cadence and Shining Armor were waiting to see him off.
"Thank you both again for this opportunity, Your Majesties," Thorax said as he fell into a bow before the rulers.
"It's quite alright, Thorax," Cadence chuckled as she returned a small bow of her own. "Now you should probably get going so you can get settled in at your new workplace. Silver Arrow here shall take you to the orphanage."
Shining Armor stepped up to Thorax and lowered his head. He had a serious look on his face, though his words were kind in tone. "My wife and I, we're both placing a lot of trust in you here, Thorax," he said. He placed a hoof upon Thorax's shoulder and stared straight into the changeling's cold blue eyes. "Don't let us down today, okay?"
Thorax nodded. "I'll do my best, Prince Shining," he replied with sincerity.
Shining Armor stared at the changeling for a couple of moments, before nodding and moving aside to let Thorax pass. He and Cadence watched as Thorax skipped off toward the gates, where Silver Arrow was waiting to escort him. Both changeling and royal couple exchanged a final wave of goodbye with each other as Thorax disappeared from their view, and out into the streets of a steadily awakening city.
The streets of the Crystal Empire were slowly filling up with its crystal-coated citizens. Amid the crowd of dazzling manes and bodies, a changeling and his designated bodyguard were making their way to their destination.
"I trust you have no quarrel with me escorting you, Thorax?" Silver Arrow asked while observing the pony citizens wandering around them, making sure none of them were up to any mischief.
Thorax shook his head. "No, it's fine. I understand why Shining requested this." Thorax's eyes surveyed the scene around him. Some ponies who he recognized from his time masquerading as Crystal Hoof waved at him, though with unsure looks on their faces. Thorax remembered them, they were nice ponies whom he enjoyed talking with. They treated him as one of their own, but now that he had revealed himself as a changeling, they were all uncertain how to feel towards him. Considering the lie that was his Crystal Hoof persona at the time, Thorax couldn't blame them for being hesitant to trust him or not just yet.
Silver Arrow turned his head to the changeling, and noticed the unease look on his face. "Is there something the matter, Thorax?" he asked.
Thorax blinked and directed his attention to his companion. "Oh. N-nothing. It's nothing at all," he replied with a fake smile.
Silver Arrow wasn't convinced, but decided not to pursue the matter further. "If you say so, Thorax. Once we arrive at the orphanage I've been instructed to let you go in on your own and talk to Jet Shine - she's the mare who manages the place."
Thorax nodded his head as Silver Arrow continued, whilst keeping an eye on things as they walked. "For the first two weeks I'll be stationed outside the orphanage premises in case anything happens, or if for whatever reason you need to leave the area. After that, if everything goes smoothly and Jet Shine agrees you are trustworthy, the guards will allow you to move freely on your own."
"It would be nice to be able to walk around the place without guards having to watch me all the time," Thorax sighed.
"Then stay true to your promise and you'll become a fully fledged citizen of the Crystal Empire in no time, Thorax," Silver Arrow replied with an assuring smile.
The Crystal Empire orphanage sat a little way north of the palace, roughly about a ten minute walk from the main gates. Had it not been for the large sign above the outer gates, along with the orphanage being situated within a small clearing of non-crystallized grass and the presence of outdoor playing equipment designed for the foals, it would have been easy to mistake for somepony's home or for any other kind of facility. For as beautiful as the buildings in the Crystal Empire were, it was hard to distinguish which were homes and which were services because they all looked nearly the same.
Thorax and Silver Arrow stopped before the little pathway that led towards the orphanage's front doors. "This is as far as I go, Thorax," said Silver Arrow, looking down at the changeling. "Go on ahead and meet your new boss, now. She'll be expecting you." He gave Thorax a quick salute. "I'll wish you the best of luck with your day." Silver Arrow turned around and then began to walk away, leaving the changeling on his own.
Thorax looked up at the orphanage before him. As he eyed the building he began to feel a somewhat overwhelming feeling come over him. He found himself unable to move himself forward along the pathway, as though frozen in place. Yesterday, he had been excited at the idea of coming here to begin his learning of friendship, and now that he was, he was feeling like having second thoughts.
But he couldn't let himself be nervous at a time like this, not now. If this could give him his first step to becoming an example of what the rest of his kind could become; changelings who could learn to co-exist with ponies rather than treating them as a means of food and nourishment, then he just had to go for it and give it his best. Thorax would show the ponies of Equestria that not all changelings were bad, and it would start here at this orphanage.
Taking a deep breath and casting aside his troubled thoughts, Thorax managed to will his hooves to start moving, and he began walking along the pathway. He skipped up a few steps, and there he stood at the front door. Raising his holed hoof he knocked upon the crystal door, his black reflection in the crystal material mimicking his action. A few seconds later, he heard mumbling from inside the building, and the sound of something squeaking as the occupant came to answer the door. Thorax straightened himself and put on his best smile, hoping to make a good first impression.
Thorax heard the door unlocked, and it opened to reveal a cobalt-coated earth pony in a wheelchair. She had a black mane with white streaks which fell down to her chest with small curls, and her eyes glimmered a lovely emerald green.
Upon seeing Thorax and his toothy smile, the mare's eyes widened and she jumped a little in her seat, probably because of the fanged smile the changeling on her doorstep was giving her, but the mare quickly composed herself and spoke. "I'm going to guess you're the new assistant Shining and Cadence talked to me about, yes?" she said with an eyebrow raised.
Thorax slowly nodded. "Yes. I'm, um, Thorax. I suppose you must be Jet Shine, right?"
"That's me," she replied. She reversed her wheelchair back and opened the door wide. She raised a hoof and motioned to the changeling. "So are you going to stand there or are you going to come on in, Thorax?" Jet Shine asked. "There's no time to waste when there's children to look after."
And Thorax stepped inside, ready to start his first day as an assistant inside of the Crystal Empire orphanage.
Thorax walked inside the orphanage into the main hall, closing the front door behind him with a flick of his magic. Jet Shine wheeled herself to the side of Thorax and positioned her wheelchair so she was facing him. She leaned back in her seat, one hoof on her lap and the other resting under her chin. "So, the new assistant I've got is a Changeling, huh?" she began, looking Thorax up and down, sizing him up with her eyes.
"Er, yeah. I guess that's me." Thorax put on his best friendly smile. I hope this is what ponies call a good first impression. Don't want her to feel uncomfortable, he thought to himself.
"Don't really understand why they chose a changeling over a pony really, but I guess since you're here now I might as well get you acquainted with how things work around here," Jet Shine said as she turned and rolled herself along. Thorax quickly trotted up to the side of her chair as they walked and talked.
To the changeling's surprise, the interior of the orphanage was not made of crystal as the outside appearance would have led anypony to believe, instead his holey hooves touched down upon a soft carpet sprawled over wooden flooring, the walls around him made of concrete and plasterboard, with numerous old timey photos of whom Thorax assumed were probably the previous attendants of the facility. The only things made of crystallized material were the windows, and the large chandelier that hung above from the tall ceiling.
"This is unusual. I thought there would be more crystal on the inside?" Thorax wondered out loud.
"This orphanage was built by an earth pony who came to live in the Crystal Empire over a thousand years ago," Jet Shine answered, not turning her head to look at Thorax. "If I recall, after this place was finished, the empire's original ruler Princess Amore used her magic to cover the faculty with a layer of crystal to add it to the empire's other buildings, as a gesture of her appreciation for what the pony had done. The insides of this place have remained unchanged ever since."
Just as she said that, a crash sounded behind the two, causing Thorax to jump in surprise. They both whirled around to see a picture frame had fallen from the wall, the nail on which it hung having come loose. Jet Shine looked at the large crack in the wall where the nail once was and rubbed the back of her head, eyes looking away from Thorax's. "Although now and then the place does need a bit of, er, restoration to keep it together, to be fairly honest," she said.
She coughed into her hoof before twirling the wheelchair around. "Anyway, let's not stand here dawdling around. Your room's over here, ready and set to your liking as requested by Cadance and Shining Armor". Thorax followed behind her along the corridor to a white oak door. Hanging from a nail in the door was a sign made from a plank of wood, with a hastily written name upon it spelled in black paint. 'Thorax'.
"In case the sign didn't give it away already, this is your room," Jet Shine said flatly. "You can go in and get familiar with your new living quarters while I go bring the children to the hall for you to meet."
The mentioning of the word 'children' brought up a question Thorax had been meaning to ask before. "Speaking of children, where are they exactly?" he asked curiously. His query was answered almost immediately by the sound of banging coming from above their heads, followed by what sounded like muffled laughter.
"Playing up in the playroom, to answer your question," Jet Shine replied. She sighed to herself and rolled her wheelchair past Thorax. "Now go on in and know your accommodations. I'll go calm the kids down and bring them downstairs for introductions soon enough."
Thorax watched her until she disappeared around a corner before turning to the door leading into his new room, deciding to inspect the place and what it had to offer him. He pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The room was average in size, spacious enough for the changeling to move around. In one corner, there was a desk with a few drawers, where he might write letters back to the Crystal Palace to keep the royal couple up to date with his progress, and maybe perhaps a letter to Spike if he got the chance. Next to that there was a large mirror made of crystal, which gleamed brightly in the light. Over in the other corner was a single bed, not quite as grandiose looking as the one he had slept in back in the Crystal Palace, but appeared comfy enough all the same. Next to the door was a wardrobe made of dark oak wood, which Thorax figured would serve him no purpose since he never even wore clothes. On the floor, there lay a simple plain rug, that barely covered up a few of the wooden floorboards.
So there wasn't really that much to his new room, but he didn't need much to feel at home. What was in here now would suit his needs. Perhaps, if and when he began earning a wage for himself, he would be allowed to purchase his own things to make his quarters more to his liking. That was a thing ponies did, right? Thorax didn't have time to ponder over the thought when the squeaking sound of wheels alerted him to Jet Shine entering his room.
"Alright, Thorax. The children have come downstairs, so come on out here so I can introduce you to them please," she asked. Thorax nodded his head, and she reversed out into the main hall. Thorax quickly walked over to the mirror to check himself over, and did a breathing technique that Princess Cadence had kindly taught him to help him keep calm. Feeling relaxed, he put on his serious face as he gave his reflection one last glance.
Thorax stepped out of his new room, his best smile on his face. However, no sooner had he stepped through the door did his hoof slip on something soft, and he found himself getting close and personal with the hard wooden flooring, face first and with a loud thud. He groaned as he lifted his head, a slight daze enveloping his mind.
There were sounds of muffled childish giggles close by. Shaking his head as he stood back up on to all fours, Thorax turned to his side and was met with the faces of six little foals looking up at him, all of whom were giggling hysterically at the. Behind the little foals, still confined to her wheelchair, Jet Shine sat with a hoof over her mouth and shaking her head as she tried to refrain from letting out a giggle of her own.
Thorax gave his onlookers an awkward smile as he got back up onto his hooves, dusting himself off as he stood to attention in front of the little foals. Jet Shine rolled her wheelchair over to the side of him and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Looks like you just learned one of the first rules to working here, Thorax," she chuckled as she held out to him a small soft leathery ball. "Always watch out for the children's toys. The last thing I need is covering a medical bill."
Jet turned to the children still present in the room. She cleared her throat, and they all stood straight and to attention in a line, as though they were presenting themselves to some potential adopting family. "Now children, this here is Thorax; the changeling I told you about yesterday. I know that he looks a little bit scary, but I assure you that he means us no harm."
Jet rolled her wheelchair towards the end of the line and began to roll her way across the line, introducing each foal one by one to the new changeling carer. The first foal was a small Earth pony colt with a messy light-green mane and yellow coat. He had a cutie mark depicting some kind of strange-looking fruit. "This is Mango," Jet said. "He's one of our older residents. Say hello to Thorax. Mango."
"Hello," he said with a small wave of his hoof.
The next foal was a little pinkish-gray unicorn filly wearing large glasses. She had curly purple hair with dark blue stripes running through it. On her flank was a cutie mark of a telescope. "This here is Night Gaze. She's into studying stars and constellations."
"H-hello, Mister Thorax," Night Gaze said with a courteous bow.
Thorax gave a soft smile and turned his attention to the filly next to Night Gaze. She had a soft gray snow slurry colored coat, with a cream colored mane. Her cutie mark was that of a tornado ad umbrella crossed in front of a shield. The look in her eye was that of “Nothing scares me”.
“This is Storm Shield,” Jet smiled. “A word of warning, she's a bit headstrong and can be a hooffull at times.”
“Heh, kinda reminds me of my brothers and sisters back at the Hive,” Thorax said, with a wave of his hoof. “Hooffulls, the whole lot of them.”
The two elders chuckled. They turned back to face the kids. The next in the line was a unicorn and the third filly in line, red with soft blackish gold streaks. On her flank was a Crescent Moon with an arrow crossed in front. She was eyeing him up curiously. Thorax merely smiled as she walked over to inspect him.
“That's Knight Silver,” Jet said. “She's brilliant but keeps to herself, as others push her about making their importance known.”
Thorax nodded, making a mental note to make sure every filly and foal knew that he would tolerate none of their shenanigans.
The fourth one was a sand tan earth pony with a light dirt brown mane. She seemed nervous around him. Her blackish gray eyes darted back to Jet, as if she was avoiding the monster under the bed.
“She's Sandy Pit,” Jet said. “Try to watch yourself around her, okay? Ever since certain..." Jet paused momentarily as though trying to find the right word. "...certain events, she's been scared of Changelings, and she may be hesitant to come close to you, despite Cadence's assurances.”
“I understand, miss Jet,” Thorax sighed softly. “It's okay. I'm sure we'll push through.” Hopefully, he added quietly.
Jet smiled. They looked at the last pony, a steel gray unicorn colt with a fiery orange mane. Thorax noted he had the same eye color as his mane, but he also looked nervous.
“That's Forge,” Jet said. “He's always been nervous, especially after an particularly nasty incident that happened not too long ago that I'd rather not bring up in front of him, if you don't mind.”
Thorax shook his head. "Perfectly fine."
“In that case, that's all of the children then.” she said. "So, do you think you can handle watching them then, Thorax?"
“Well, I think I can sort this out and should I need help, I can turn to either you, or one of the royals should they be free,” he said.
“Good,” Jet said as she turned her chair and wheeled away. "Introduce yourself to them if you would please, Thorax,"
Thorax, smiling, laid down, his front hooves crossed, to show he meant no harm.
The children slowly approached the changeling with looks of curiosity on their faces. I guess not all of these kids have ever properly seen a changeling up close before, if they're not so immediately scared of me Thorax thought to himself as the children circled, oooh'ing and aaahing at the strange new alien-looking creature who would be charged with helping to look after them. All of them save for Sandy Pit, who remained where she was, nervously avoiding looking at her new guardian and kicking her front hooves to and fro...
