After two and a half month of living with the ponies of the Crystal Empire, Thorax gets a wish granted and gets to meet Princess Twilight and her friends.
Two and a half months have passed since Thorax the changeling approached Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor, the two rulers of the Crystal Empire, and pleaded for them to allow him to live under their rule and become friends with them and their subjects.
Now, Princess Cadance has a surprise for Thorax: She's invited Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends, the very ponies who inspired his decision to leave his hive and live a more peaceful life, to meet him and hear his story.
This is a "mid-quel" to my story Pleading His Case, and takes place two weeks before the events of the second chapter.
Inside the halls of the Crystal Palace, two sets of hooves could be heard click-clacking against the floor. Each set belonged to an equine creature. The first belonged to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, known more commonly as Princess Cadance and sitting ruler of the Crystal Empire. The other set belonged to Thorax, the newest addition to the citizenry of the empire, and a member of an enemy race known as the changelings.
Back some time ago, the changelings attempted to invade the capital city of Equestria, Canterlot. It ended in a failure, and resulted in the changelings being forcibly expelled from the city due to a spell cast by both the princess and her then fiance, Shining Armor.
During that invasion, Thorax had been witness to something he hadn't experienced before: Friendship. He saw this when he took notice of six mares that were fighting against a battalion of his hive-mates. The sextet fought the changelings with intense fervor, but always took caution that they were not harming each other. The changeling had been so moved by what he saw that he knew then and there that the answers to the problems that plagued his kind for centuries could be found with friendship.
After his many attempts to convince his hive-mates of what he saw that day ended in failure, he decided to abandon his hive and try to make friends in Equestria. Upon getting there, he was met with even more failure, being chased away before even having a chance to prove himself.
One day, he was drawn north by a strong outpouring of love, and found himself at the doorstep of the Crystal Empire. Witnessing the ponies there and learning that the princess and stallion who were to be married during the invasion now ruled over this place, Thorax made a desperate decision.
Approaching the empire without a disguise, he surrendered to the guards and made a request to see the princess and her husband. Being granted this request, he made his plea for them to accept his desire to be friends with ponies and learn about friendship.
Despite their reservations, the princess and her husband debated and came to an agreement that Thorax would be allowed to stay, but only if he was watched at all times.
That had been more than two months ago, and now, Thorax was living openly with the ponies of the Crystal Empire, who, despite initial uncertainty and fear, were beginning to treat him as the kindhearted creature he truly was.
Princess Cadance had taken a peculiar interest in Thorax. Despite the bad reputation his kind had earned from the attack, he was hopeful that it could one day be overcome, and that the other changelings could see that taking prisoners and stealing love was not only wrong, but also not the answer to their problems. It felt good to her to see that this former foe could turn over a new leaf, and she was convinced that, with the right kind of help, he could convince others of his kind to follow suit.
The princess and changeling continued down the hallway towards a dining hall meant for guests of the palace. Inside this dining hall was a surprise the princess had for the changeling.
Having heard his story and hearing confirmation as to the identity of one of the six mares from her husband, Cadance deduced that the ponies Thorax saw were Twilight Sparkle and her friends. She knew that the newest princess of Equestria would definitely want to hear that her example had inspired such a strong change, especially since that changed happened long before she became a princess.
So, with that thought in mind, she invited Twilight and her friends to visit the empire and enjoy it without the threat of some nefarious villain threatening to send it back to the frozen wastes it had once returned from.
"Princess," Thorax asked timidly, "are you sure this is a good idea?"
Cadance simply smiled. "Yes, Thorax. It is a good idea."
The response did little to nothing to quell his fears. "Princess Cadance, I know what you said earlier, but... do you really think that they'll trust me?"
Cadance's smile changed to a small frown. "Thorax," she addressed him, "I can't say for sure what any of the seven will do once we introduce you to them."
Thorax went wide eyed. "S-Seven?!"
Cadance nodded. "Princess Twilight has taken on a pupil named Starlight Glimmer. She's coming along to visit as well."
Thorax looked on the verge of hyperventilating. Cadance put a comforting hoof to his withers.
"Thorax," she spoke, "I know you're nervous about this meeting, but I assure you, nothing bad is going to happen. At worst, they just don't trust you, but I honestly don't think that will happen."
"H-How can you be sure?" he asked while calming himself down.
"Because I know that those six mares have befriended far more evil things than changelings" she answered. "True, there will be some tensions that need to be overcome, but if I can look past what happened between our two races and see the good in you, then those seven mares can do that as well."
"In truth, Starlight might be more willing to see you for what you are than the other six."
This remark caused Thorax to raise an eyebrow. "Why's that?"
Cadance looked to her left and right and then leaned in with a smirk. "Because Starlight is a reformed villain herself."
Thorax eyes went wide. "Y-You're not kidding?"
"Nope" Cadance replied. "She used to believe cutie marks were evil and convinced a whole village that getting rid of them would make them all better friends. Then one day Twilight and her friends showed up and convinced the ponies of the truth, which forced Starlight to run and hide."
"She spent a great deal of time afterwards plotting revenge and did so using a spell that allowed her to travel through time and alter past events, which resulted in outcomes that were highly unfavorable to the existence of Equestria. In fact, one of those outcomes was Chrysalis succeeding in taking over Equestria."
Thorax looked at the princess in shock and had a shiver run up his spine; the thought of his queen having taken over Equestria and enslaving all the ponies to either be drained of love or forced into labor caused him some obvious distress.
"Fortunately, Twilight was there to stop her" Cadance continued. "After having seen many horrible timelines caused by Starlight, Twilight decided to bring her to the future to see what her actions were doing. Starlight refused to believe any of what Twilight was showing her, and when Twilight questioned her about what happened to make her the way she was, Starlight showed Twilight the event that caused her to hate cutie marks in the first place."
"What was it?" Thorax asked the princess.
"It was Sunburst getting his cutie mark."
That revelation came as quite a shock to Thorax. "S-Sunburst?!"
Cadance nodded. "After he got it saving her from some falling books, he was sent away to Canterlot to study magic, which left Starlight alone. She grew to resent cutie marks and never made another friend from that day forward."
"Starlight then proclaimed her intention to cause her changes to be permanent, Twilight made a plea to her to give friendship another chance. Starlight was afraid to try, but Twilight eventually convinced her. Now, she's learning about friendship and making amends for her misdeeds."
Thorax stood for a moment taking in what he had just heard. This Starlight had once been an enemy of Equestria, but had seen the error of her ways and was reforming herself and making amends, just as he was, though he had never actually done any kind of wrongdoing explicitly. Could there be a chance that the mare would see the similarity of their situations and decide they could become friends?
The fading of hoofsteps brought Thorax back to reality as he saw the princess walking away from him. He quickly caught back up to her as they continued on down the hallway. Cadance had finished the story about Starlight Glimmer, but she was not completely done talking.
"When we get down to the dining hall, I want you to wait outside for a moment while I go in. I haven't told any of them about you yet because I didn't want Twilight or any of the other mares going into a panic thinking there was another invasion underway. With all of them here, I can handle the damage control much better."
Thorax nodded in agreement; it was probably for the best that the princess not cause any unnecessary problems in Equestria by creating a misunderstanding. He also wasn't keen on finding out just how powerful the seven ponies actually were; he knew from experience how strong unicorn spells could be and how much strength was in an earth pony's legs.
Cadance and Thorax had made it to their destination. The princess turned to the changeling and gave him a nod. "Try not to worry too much, Thorax" she said to him gently. "You've been a model citizen and have treated everypony here with the utmost respect. Keep doing that, and these seven mares will see that you are nothing like your hive-mates."
Thorax gave a nod and a smile as he watched Princess Cadance open the door and enter the dining hall.
Inside the dining hall sat seven mares around a large dining table. At the one end was Princess Twilight Sparkle, newest of the four alicorns of Equestria and the proclaimed "Princess of Friendship". With her at the moment were her five friends who made up the Element Bearers, ponies who were tasked to bear the Elements of Harmony, artifacts that were responsible for maintaining order in their world, and in desperate times, could be used as a weapon to rid the world of whatever evil plagued it.
Also sitting with them was Starlight Glimmer, lilac unicorn that recently joined the group. She has once been the leader of a secluded village and a villain against the six. Now, she was learning the error of her ways and how to be friends with other ponies again.
The table the mares were seated at had a total of nine chairs, of which two were currently free. This chair was at the end of the table opposite Princess Twilight.
"What is taking her so long?" came the annoyed, raspy voice of Rainbow Dash complained.
"Calm yer wings down, sugarcube" spoke Applejack, her voice carrying an accent she shared with many other farm ponies. "I'm sure whatever is keepin' Princess Cadance is mighty important."
"Yeah Dashie!" came the rather excited voice of Pinkie Pie. "She'll be here soon!"
Rainbow Dash let out a huff as she slumped back into her chair and crossed her front hooves over her barrel, clearly displeased with having to wait on Princess Cadance and whatever duties she had to perform.
"You shouldn't be rude" Fluttershy's soft voice chided. "The princess invited us up here to thanks us for our help with the crystalling, so we should show our gratitude."
"I know, Fluttershy!" Rainbow said in exasperation. "You girls all know how bad I am with waiting!"
"Why Rainbow Dash!" came more chiding, this time coming from the very posh sounding voice of Rarity. "I simply cannot believe your behavior! Princess Cadance invites us to spend time here in the Crystal Empire, one of the most beautiful places in our whole world, and you begrudge her just because she is fulfilling her duties as a princess?"
"Well, no," Rainbow replies, a bit of shame in her voice, "but I..."
"Tut, tut, tut," Rarity scolds, "I do not wish to hear your excuses about being impatient. If Princess Cadance were here at this very moment, what do you think she would have to say about your behavior?"
Rainbow had no immediate answer, and after a few more moments, realized she could not put one together. Hanging her head, she offered apologies.
"I'm sorry everypony" she addressed the group. "I'm just so used to moving around all the time that I forget that sometimes I gotta sit still for more than a minute."
"It's okay" answered one of the last two mares in the room yet to speak. Princess Twilight Sparkle sat at one end of the large table with a worried look on her face. She attempted to follow along with the current conversation over Rainbow's impatience, but was distracted by the proverbial splinter in her mind. The only silent mare in the group picked up on it rather quickly.
"What's wrong, Twilight?" Starlight asked the princess. "You don't seem like you're too with it today."
Twilight looks to Starlight for a moment and then shakes her head. "Sorry" she tells her. "It's just that I have this feeling that something big has happened and nopony around here is saying anything."
Applejack, the mare with the southern accent, chimes in. "Nopony is sayin' anythang?"
"Yeah" Twilight answers Applejack, then turns to address Rarity. "Doesn't it seem weird to you that there isn't any gossip going around at all? Not even any comments about Flurry Heart?"
Rarity thinks on this for a moment before answering. "It is a bit strange," she admits, "but that doesn't mean something is wrong. Maybe dear Flurry was being pestered by reporter ponies and Princess Cadance has decided to keep her out of the spotlight?"
"That's possible," Twilight also concedes, "but that's not exactly what I'm talking about. I mean that there's no gossip at all. No news of my brother and his position as royal guard captain, no rumors of whether or not he and Cadance will attend the next Grand Galloping Gala, no criticisms about policies that Cadance may have enacted. There isn't even any discussion about something as simple as the weather!"
Fluttershy begins to look worried. "You don't think King Sombra came back, do you?"
"If he did, he would've revealed himself by now" Twilight answers. "Truth be told, I think it could be something else."
"I know you're gettin' some kind of awful feelin'," Applejack concedes, "but that don't mean anything bad happened. Let's just wait until Cadance gets here and then we can ask her about what the hay seems to be goin' on."
Twilight considers it for a moment and agrees. "Okay, we'll talk to her when she gets here."
"In the meantime," Pinkie interjects, "I think we should all have a snack!" The mare finishes the sentence by reaching into her mane and producing a platter of cupcakes with pink and blue frosting. Each mare takes a few cupcake and begins to chow down. As they finish their cupcakes, the door to the dining room opens and Princess Cadance walks in.
"I apologize for making you all wait" Cadance addresses the group. "I'm afraid I had a situation pop up that required my immediate attention."
"That's quite alright, your highness," Rarity chimed in, "and I must thank you for inviting all of us to come visit the Crystal Empire again so soon after the Crystalling."
"Yes, well," Cadance says with a blush, "let's hope this time you can all just enjoy yourselves and not have to worry about some event that could result in the destruction of the empire or Equestria as a whole."
As Cadance finishes the sentence, Pinkie gives her a stern look, then reaches into her mane and produces a block of wood, then taking her other hoof and striking it loudly three times before putting it back.
"Anyway," Cadance continues, "There is something I have to tell you, and I know for a fact that all of you are going to have, at best, a hard time believing it."
"And what is this hard to believe thing?" Rarity asked.
Cadance took a breath before she began speaking again. "A couple of days after the seven of you left for home from the Crystalling, a lone changeling showed up in the empire."
There were gasps all around the table. After the initial moment of shock, scowls adorned the faces of six of the mares, their memories of the changelings during the royal wedding fresh in their minds again. Starlight, having only second hoof knowledge of them, wore only a concerned look. Cadance continued speaking.
"Yes, I know. The appearance of a changeling in our empire had put us on edge and fearful of another attack. Neither my husband or myself wanted a repeat of what happened during our wedding. However, this changeling wasn't discovered or revealed because of a failed disguise. He approached the empire without a disguise and surrendered to the guards."
That remark earned puzzled looks from all seven mares. Twilight took the moment to question her sister in law. "You're telling me that a lone changeling came here to the Crystal Empire without disguise and surrendered. Why?"
"Well, it's kind of complicated" Cadance admits. "He requested an audience with us, which we agreed to, more out of morbid curiosity than an actual desire to speak with him. During that audience, however, he made a plea for us to allow him to stay here and learn about friendship."
"Y'all let him stay so he could learn about friendship?" Applejack questioned.
Cadance nodded. "We were suspicious at first, but then he told us something that neither Shining or I expected."
"What was that?" Twilight then asked.
Cadance took a breath before explaining. "He said that he saw all six of you. It was during the invasion in Canterlot."
All six mares gasped upon hearing that revelation. Starlight didn't react as strongly, but did look a bit concerned by the others reactions. Cadance continued.
"I know what all of you are thinking, but he didn't want any part of that-"
"Then why was he there?!" Rainbow Dash interrupted, greatly upset by the new revelation.
"According to him," Cadance continues, "changelings don't have much choice when it comes to orders from the queen. She told him to go to Canterlot, so he had to go."
"And do what exactly?!" Twilight called out. "Fight the guards?! Destroy buildings?! Prey on the innocent?!"
"He hasn't done anything like that" Cadance answered calmly. "In fact, he kept commenting on how wonderful he thought the city was and how he thought everything his queen had told him about ponies was wrong."
That remark had caught Twilight off guard. "Really?"
"Yes, really" Cadance confirmed. "He liked Canterlot and didn't want to harm the city or the ponies there, but trying to fight back against his swarm would've ended with him having to endure the queen's wrath, so he did the only thing he really could and stayed out of the fighting."
"It was while he was avoid the conflict that he saw all six of you as you were attempting to get the elements from the vault. Apparently you got into a big tussle in a plaza somewhere near the vault?"
"We did" Twilight answered. "I can't remember ever being so scared before. When they bombarded the city and surrounded us, I wasn't sure whether or not we'd escape the scuffle, but we did, and then we ended up captured anyways."
"Well, he was just as scared. Seeing everything that was happening and not having any real way of intervening had upset him. That's why he swore that from that day forward, he would find a better way."
"A better way to what?" Rainbow said sarcastically. "Feed on us?"
Cadance didn't say anything for a moment. While she didn't like the attitude being expressed, it wasn't without reason. At the end of the day, changelings still fed on the emotions of ponies, and that wasn't a thought ponies were comfortable with.
"I will concede that Thorax was led here to the Crystal Empire by his instincts to feed, but since he has been here, he's done everything he can to demonstrate the sincerity of his words about wanting friendship." Cadance then turns to Twilight and tells her something she wasn't expecting. "Twilight, your own brother has even looked past his own misconceptions and conceded that he doesn't think of Thorax as an enemy anymore."
"What?" Twilight says in shock, most certainly not expecting to hear that her brother was okay with a changeling living with him.
"Yes, but getting back on topic, the changeling's request to stay here wasn't granted without there being certain... caveats" Cadance responds, then produces a small piece of metal. It's hexagonal in shape, and one side features an emblem of a small insect shrouded in flame, and the other side blank.
"He wasn't allowed to leave the castle until recently" Cadance continues. "That was because we were developing this. It's an ID badge that's magically bound to him. He cannot have his taken and used by another changeling; it would cause them great pain and the guard checking it would know it wasn't him."
"Wait!" Twilight interjects. "You're letting him walk free around the empire?!"
"He is still under the supervision of a guard, but we no longer consider it necessary to restrict his movements" Cadance explains. "Besides, having allowed him to do so has given him the chance to actually make friends with the ponies here in the Crystal Empire."
"He's actually made friends?" Rarity says with surprise in her voice.
Cadance nods. "Admittedly, most in the empire were suspicious of him, especially on account of what they learned happened at our wedding, but they've slowly been warming up to him. I would say that there aren't many ponies in the empire that either distrust him or outright hate him because of what he is."
"To get back to the topic at hoof, he believes that friendship is the answer to the problems changelings face, and seeing all of you working together in that fight inspired him to go against the wishes of his queen. I can understand if you aren't comfortable with this idea, but this changeling looks up to all of you and, well, he'd like to meet all of you."
Twilight and her six friends were silent as they reflected on what they were told. A changeling drone, motivated by watching them fight during the attempted takeover of Equestria, was motivated to pursue friendship and harmony as a way to solve the problems plaguing his people, wished to meet them because he saw them as his personal heroes.
"Cadance," Twilight finally speaks, "could we have a moment to discuss this among ourselves, please?"
The princess looks at Twilight for a moment and gives a nod. "Of course" she responds. "I'll just be outside. Let me know when you've all made a decision." With that said, she stands up and leaves the dining hall.
Thorax was seated in the hallway outside the dining hall. On the other side of the door was Princess Cadance and the six mares who inspired him to find a new way to live in Equestria, though he ultimately found it here in the Crystal Empire. The princess was attempting to convince them, as well as a new student taken on by Twilight Sparkle, to meet him face to face. He had no idea if she would succeed, but she had assured him that she could.
As he sat, his hooves fiddled with a necklace around his neck. Attached to it was a hexagonal medallion; his ID badge. One side had the emblem that meant changeling, but the other had the number "001" embossed into it. This had actually been at Thorax's insistence; if there were more changelings that chose to find a new way to live and wound up in the Crystal Empire, then they could be given similar ID badges with different numbers on them.
Of course, the idea of more changelings appearing in the Crystal Empire had startled the leaders a good bit. Shining Armor was almost convinced that Thorax was the beginnings of another invasion, but was swayed when the changeling said he only wanted it as a possibility, even admitting himself that the proposed scenario may very well never play out.
Thorax's fiddling hooves stopped when he heard the door to the dining hall open. Out of it stepped Princess Cadance, who looked a bit disappointed for some reason. "Are they willing to meet me?" he cautiously asked.
Cadance let out a sigh. "I'm not sure, Thorax" she admitted honestly. "I told them about you and your reasons for coming here. They asked me to give them the room so they can discuss the idea among themselves. I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more certain than that."
Thorax looks down at the floor dejectedly, clearly disappointed that he wasn't as readily accepted as he had hoped he would be. "It's okay, your highness" he responds. "You've already done more for me than I could have ever expected you to."
"It still feels like I haven't done enough" she says as she walks over to me.
"Thorax, you took a big risk when you came here initially. What happened at my wedding is something that all of Equestria will have a hard time putting behind them, and if there are any ponies that have the most right to hold a grudge against your kind, it would be my husband and myself."
"However, we made a decision to look past that day and the many horrible things that happened then. We took a chance and decided to give you the opportunity to prove to us, as well as the citizens of this empire, that you were true to your word, and you have proven yourself to be the stallion you said you are."
"You are worthy of the love and friendship you have come here to seek out. You've shown that to my subjects, my husband, and myself. Now, I would like to show that to all of Equestria, starting with these mares that inspired your journey to begin with."
Thorax took in everything the princess told him and smiled. "I'm glad that I decided to come here" Thorax told Cadance. "You're the best ruler anypony or changeling could ask for." Cadance thanks him for his praise and takes him into a hug.
Meanwhile, looking through a slightly cracked open door was Princess Twilight, looking on in shock as she watched her sister in law embrace one of the very creatures that tried to ruin the second most important day in her life.
"Well, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked her.
Twilight very gently shut the door and faced her friends. "It's true" she finally answered. "There's a real changeling out in the hallway."
"Then what are we waiting for?!" Rainbow exclaims as she makes a rush for the door. Before she gets to it to open it, magenta magic grabs her and moves her back away from it.
"Hey!" the cyan pegasus calls out, then takes notice of the magic and looks at Twilight with disbelief. "What gives?!"
Twilight places Rainbow back onto the ground. "What gives is that what Cadance told us is the truth. He has one of those things that she showed us a moment ago around his neck, and listening to the conversation that he and Cadance were having, it sounded like he was disappointed that we didn't just agree to meet him right away."
"Well of course he'd be disappointed if he couldn't get to ponies to feed on!" Rainbow shouts with indignation.
A sudden bolt of blue magic suddenly strikes Rainbow in the flanks, causing the hovering mare to fall to the ground and rub at the affected area.
Rarity, whose horn had been alight a moment ago, released her magic and cleared her throat. "While I can't say that I have a favorable opinion of the changelings after what happened in Canterlot, I can say that it is rather rude of us to deny a request from Princess Cadance, especially after she has invited us all up here at her own expense."
"Ahm not one for being rude to royalty," Applejack interjects, "but I gotta side with Rainbow on this one. How do we all know that that changelin' isn't pullin' some mind control foolery on the princess in an effort to get to us?"
Twilight looks around at her friends before taking a breath and returning to her seat. "I know that Canterlot is still quite fresh in our memories," she begins, "but that was, as far as we know, the one and only time we've interacted with changelings. Whose to say we haven't encountered them before and they were rather benign in their behavior, or perhaps even nice?"
Rainbow looks at Twilight with disbelief. "You can't be serious right now?!"
"I am" Twilight responds, then she uses her magic to produce a photo. On it is the donkey couple Matilda and Cranky in wedding clothes.
"Do you all remember the wedding between Cranky and Matilda?" she then asks her friends.
The six mares look at each other and give nods in reply.
"Well, we were all busy dealing with that bug bear that day, so none of us got to go to the wedding. I was told that everything had went off without a hitch, despite the fact that so many different things went wrong beforehoof. In spite of how successful the wedding was, I was told of one rather concerning thing."
As she said the last part, the picture then changed. In this one, the photographer had captured a changeling drone sitting on a chair looking ahead at the wedding party. The six mares all looked at each other in shock.
"You mean to tell me," Rarity says slowly, "that there was a changeling at Cranky and Matilda's wedding, and nopony did anything about it?!"
"I didn't believe it either, especially since the only ponies that could confirm it were foals. Everypony else dismissed the claim as a prank and ignored what was actually a serious issue. The changeling disappeared shortly after the wedding, so there was no way to capture and question it."
"My point of telling you all that is that nopony at the wedding was hurt, or showed the signs of having been drained of love. If there really was a changeling at Crank and Matilda's wedding, then it behaved itself and didn't cause any trouble."
"C'mon Twi!" Rainbow exclaims impatiently. "Get to the point!"
Twilight gives Rainbow a disapproving glare but doesn't say anything in regards to it. "My point is that it's entirely possible that the changelings are not all monsters out to hurt us. If that is truly the case, then I think we should try and be open to the idea of there being individuals among them that don't want to cause harm."
The mares sitting around the table all take what Twilight has told them into consideration, except for one.
"As if!" Rainbow declares indignantly, but quiets down after Twilight gives her another glare, this time backed up by magic. When she's certain the pegasus has gotten the message and quiets down, she turns to face the rest of her friends.
The remaining five mares are all thinking about what Twilight has proposed to them. Starlight looks to be thinking a little bit harder than the other four. "You seem to really be thinking this over" Twilight observes.
Starlight, who had been looking down at the table, looks up at her friend and mentor. "Hearing about what happened at Canterlot had painted a pretty bad picture in my mind about what the changelings are. Now that I'm hearing about one that wants to turn over a new leaf and have actual friends, it started making me think about where I was and how far I've come since then."
"Back then, I was upset, and I blamed cutie marks for all my problems. Then when you confronted me after the whole time travel debacle, you convinced me to give friendship another chance, despite all the pain I'd caused."
"Now, I hear this about a changeling wanting to be friends with ponies and not steal love. It reminds me of what happened with me, and... I think I want to give him a chance."
The other five mares gasp a little upon hearing Starlight declaring her willingness to hear this changeling speak. Immediately, the other mares, except Rainbow, begin thinking over what the lilac unicorn has just told them.
In a rather surprising display of confidence, Fluttershy speaks first. "I-If Starlight is willing to hear him out," she begins, "then I guess I'm willing to as well."
The other three mares can hardly believe what they had just heard. Bolstered by their shy friend's new display of confidence, Pinkie smiles rather happily. "I hope he likes parties," she declares, "because if he wants to be friends, then that means I can throw him a party!"
Grimacing a little, Twilight decides to temper her friend's flame a bit. "Maybe we should ask him if he's okay with parties before throwing him one?" she proposes.
Pinkie stops for a moment before nodding. "Okay!"
Rarity, who has been watching quietly, appears reluctant to agree with her friends.
"What's wrong, sugarcube?" Applejack asks her.
"I don't know what to think of all of this" she admits to everypony. "I remember the horrible things that the changelings did, but a part of me feels like it's my responsibility to give a chance to this creature, even in spite of all that's happened. I guess I'm just feeling rather conflicted about all of this."
"That's understandable" Twilight responds. "None of us thought we'd be put into this situation when we woke up this morning. But, all of us represent the Elements of Harmony, the forces that help create and strengthen friendship and unity in Equestria. It's our unspoken duty to do everything we can to embody those traits in our everyday lives."
"I can't tell anypony what to do, but I think you should all reflect on your elements and go with your gut on what you should do to stay true to those ideas in this moment."
Applejack and Rarity, the two undecided members of the group, take what Twilight has told them to heart. Hearing what she needed to hear, Rarity makes up her mind.
"Being the holder of generosity, it would be very selfish of me to withhold the opportunity for a creature whose life we've impacted so greatly a chance to meet us face to face. So, I agree with Starlight, Fluttershy and Pinkie. I will join them in meeting this changeling."
Applejack and Rainbow Dash sit in silence. Rainbow sported a scowl and said nothing. Applejack appeared lost in thought. All eyes were divided between the two undecided ponies.
After another few moments, Applejack let out a breath. "I can't say I'm in favor of this idea," she begins, "but I know that I should trust mah friends, and I do trust all of ya. I guess I'm gonna meet this feller too."
Rainbow Dash looked around the room, shocked at everypony so readily agreeing to having a changeling in the room with them.
"Are you all crazy?!" she shouts at all of them. "Did you all forget what fighting them was like?! How confusing it was when they changed into each of us and had us in fear we were fighting our friends?!"
"Ain't none of us forgot, sugarcube," Applejack responds, "but if this one really is tryin' ta make amends, then maybe we oughta hear him out."
"I can't believe this!" Rainbow Dash scowls at her friends.
"Rainbow, nopony hear is going to forget about what happened in Canterlot that day," Twilight tells her, "but if there is ever any hope of making some kind of peace, then we have to put things behind us. Wounds never heal if we keep picking at the scabs."
"Then how come we haven't heard an apology before now?!" Rainbow retorts. "If this changeling is so sincere about wanting to be friends with us, why hasn't he apologized before now?!"
Twilight then gives her a stern look. "Maybe because nopony would give him a chance before now."
Rainbow continued to look at Twilight with a scowl, and the two engaged in a staring contest for some time. Eventually, the cyan pegasus had lost her patience for staring down the purple alicorn.
"Fine!" she declares while throwing her hooves up into the air. "Bring him in so he can meet all of us!" With that said, she floats back down into her chair and crosses her hooves over her barrel.
Twilight wants to chew her friend out for her attitude, but Applejack stops her before she does so. "Twi, I think that's the best yer gonna get outta Dash right now, so maybe just take what ya been given?"
The purple pony mulls over the suggestion from her friend before nodding. "You're right" she replies before shooting a glare at Rainbow. "I shouldn't expect anymore from her right now."
Cadance and Thorax had been sitting outside the dining hall for several minutes as they listened to what the princess hoped was just a heated debate and not full blown arguing. Thorax, however, was fully aware of the mood in the room due to his changeling senses.
There was a great deal of confusion among the group, which eventually shifted to what he could only describe as resolve, but there was also a constant emitting of anger from one pony in particular. Aside from the fact it made him nervous, the negative emotion also made Thorax feel a bit ill.
"Are you okay, Thorax?" Cadance asked him.
"Y-Yeah" he replied. "It's just that there's a pony in there that's really upset, and it's kinda making me not feel so good."
A retching in his stomach caused him to cover his mouth and do his best to fight off the urge to vomit; changeling puke was not easy for even changelings themselves to clean.
Cadance looked on him with pity. "I don't know if they'll be effective, but I do know some spells to help with being nauseated. Would you like me to try one?"
Thorax waves her off as he recomposes himself. "I appreciate the gesture, your highness, but it's nothing I haven't dealt with before. I'll be fine."
Cadance frowned but did nothing further. Even after having spoken fairly regularly for the past two and half months, she still knew only so much about changelings. As far as anything about his health went, she would have to defer to him.
The princess and changeling were interrupted in their conversation by a knocking on the door to the dining hall. Princess Cadance gave Thorax a smile as she approached the door. Opening it, she poked her head inside. Thorax, who was now recovered enough to not be in immediate danger of throwing up, stayed where he was, not wishing to potentially exacerbate any lingering fears that the ponies in the room likely still have about changelings.
After a short exchange of words, Princess Cadance looks to Thorax with a smile on her face.
The seven mares in the dining room all sat nervously as Princess Cadance told the changeling outside it was okay for him to come in now. Most were apprehensive, and all for understandable reasons; this had been their first official interaction with a changeling since the royal wedding, and they were all a bit on edge.
Everypony but Rainbow Dash.
The prismatic mare still firmly remembered the day when her and her friends fought against these creatures that seemed Tartarus-bent on taking over the city. In fact, she still had dreams/nightmares of the creatures, with some involving her fighting them and others of her and her friends being captured and put into cocoons like what happened to Princess Celestia.
Since then, she swore to herself that she would never allow herself or her friends to come to harm from those creatures, and now, one of them claimed it wanted to be friends with them?
"Fat chance" she whispered to herself as she reflected on that last thought.
Princess Cadance stepped away from the door, causing all seven mares in the room to turn and look towards it. They saw nothing for a few moments, but then, a shiny black head with two turquoise eyes and a curved pointy horn poked in.
"It's okay" Princess Cadance reassured the creature, "you can come in."
The changeling's brows were furrowed in worry, but after taking a breath, he finally walked through the door.
"Everypony, I'd like-"
A blue blur shot past the princess quicker than anypony could blink. The changeling was impacted hard and knocked against a wall, pinned down by a certain mare.
"What have you done to Princess Cadance?!" came the accusatory voice of Rainbow Dash.
Thorax was so overwhelmed by both fear and the intense negative emotions that he could do nothing but whimper. He was also starting to feel the nausea come on again as the mare glared over top of him. If she didn't move or calm down soon, he would end up making a mess of the floor.
Rainbow made to shout again, but a magenta aura grabbed her and threw her back into her seat. A rope blinked into existence and proceeded to tie down the mare, preventing her from leaving the seat entirely.
"Hey!" Rainbow calls out in indignation. "What gives?!"
"What gives" comes the very stern voice of Twilight Sparkle, "is that fact that you just assaulted a creature that has done nothing to you so far."
"Done nothing?!" Rainbow parrots in disbelief. "Don't you remember the wedding when they-"
"EVERYPONY REMEMBERS THE WEDDING!" Twilight shouts, her voice almost reaching the levels of the famous Royal Canterlot Voice. "There is not a single pony here that does not remember that day."
"You, however, seem to have forgotten your promise to be on your best behavior."
"I made no such promise!" Rainbow retorts. "I said bring him in!"
Twilight wants to say something, but can't put the words together. Before anypony can say anything else, something shocking happens.
Applejack, a close friend and rival of Rainbow Dash, leaves her seat and heads over to the mare, and without warning, strikes her hard against the cheek.
Everypony in the room gasps as they see the act happen. Rainbow herself is stunned by the pain in her cheek and the fact of what pony had just done it. She turns to call out her friend for her behavior, but is stopped when she sees the livid expression on her friend's face.
"I... cannot... believe y'all right now" the earth pony forces out.
Rainbow attempts to regain her composure, but can't under Applejack's gaze. At this moment, it might be even stronger than Fluttershy's infamous Stare.
"I've been yer friend ever since y'all came down from Cloudsdale to work on the Ponyville Weather Team, and I've seen ya do some mighty pig-headed stuff, but this one takes the apple right off the top of the tree."
The mare stutters as her friend looks at her now with disappointment instead of irritation.
"I remember Canterlot perfectly" Applejack continues. "Ain't nopony gonna forget that day, most of all Princess Cadance. It was her weddin' after all!"
The emphasis on the last sentence has taken what fight was left in Rainbow Dash. Her previous struggles against her bindings cease as the pony in front of her continues making her point.
"The princess and her husband is the ponies most hurt by what happened, and have every reason not to trust these varmints any further than Big Mac can toss a hay bale. But ya know somethin'? They done just that! They gave one of these critters a chance to prove how good he is, and I think we all should too."
"So, iffin' ya can't stop bein' so gaul' dern' pig headed, ya can stay tied up in that chair for the rest of the visit!"
Rainbow flinches at the last line as Applejack returns to her seat. After fixing the position of her hat, she then looks around at everypony in the room, even Thorax.
"Sorry for mah outburst, y'all" she says to them, "but sometimes that mare gets as irritatin' as if ya got poison ivy all over yer hooves."
"It's fine, Applejack" Twilight tells her, then looks over at Rainbow rather sternly. "Someponies just don't know how to behave themselves."
Rainbow looks at her two friends glaring at her disapprovingly. Then, she realizes that they're not the only two. All the ponies in the room are looking at her with disapproval. In fact, the only one who isn't is the changeling she just assaulted. He was cowering and clenching his stomach as though he were ill.
"Uhh... is he okay?" she suddenly says with confusion.
Everypony looks at her with the same confusion until they follow her eyes. Thorax is curled up into a corner of the room, fighting back a powerful urge to vomit.
"Oh, no!" Princess Cadance suddenly says as she produces a waste bin out of thin air and gives it to Thorax.
Despite his best efforts to keep it down, Thorax is unable to contain his sick.
The mares flinch as his body voids itself of the negativity it had just been force-fed. Once he stops heaving, he steadies his breathing before looking into the bin. Flinching he then looks at Princess Cadance apologetically.
"I'm sorry" he says. "I'll-"
"It's okay" she responds as she makes the bin disappear in a flash. "We can get another waste bin easily enough. Are you feeling better?"
Thorax nods. "All the negativity just... overwhelmed me is all."
"Oh, you poor dear!"
Fluttershy's voice startles everypony as she suddenly darts over to Thorax. Without any prompting, she begins examining him.
"Do you have a fever? Have you been feeling chilly? Do you sneeze a lot? Can you smell alright? Is your breathing steady?"
Thorax can't keep up with how fast the mare is speaking, but more surprising is the amount of genuine concern rolling off of her. It's the first time since the princess and prince accepted him that he felt a pony feel genuinely concerned for his well being.
"Might wanna give him some room to breathe 'Shy" Applejack calls over to her friend. "He did just upchuck somethin' unpleasant a moment ago."
Fluttershy takes what her friend told her into consideration, and then realizes what she was doing a moment ago. She immediately backs away from the changeling and averts her eyes.
Thorax blinks for a moment before he looks at the other ponies. "Is she okay?"
"She's fine" Twilight answers. "She's normally very shy, but she tends to overcome that in situations where a pony or other creature needs help."
Thorax blinks as he looks at the mare. He notices her trembling, and can also sense her fear; she still remembered the day of the invasion very well, and was trying to fight her instincts so she could face this with her friends.
"Well, why don't we try this again?" Princess Cadance offered as she gave Thorax a hoof to help him stand up.
"Everypony, I would like you to meet Thorax."
The mares all looked at the changeling as Princess Cadance introduced him. Most of them were unsure of how to feel, not because of what Thorax was, but because of the series of events that just unfolded.
Getting the idea that he might need to do something to move things along, he elected to raise a hoof and wave it. "H-Hello?" he greets them timidly.
He watches them for a response before he suddenly realizes one of them is gone. A split second later, and a pink face with two blue eyes and a huge smile fill his vision. Startled, he stumbles backwards onto his flanks.
"Do you like parties?!" the mare in front of him asks in a sing-song kind of voice.
Thorax is taken aback by the sudden forwardness of this pony compared to the reserved and hesitant demeanor of her friends.
"I guess?" he answers her, unsure of whether or not his did in fact enjoy parties.
The pink mare gasps and suddenly disappears from the room. Thorax blinks again as she suddenly disappears. He can't help but look at the other ponies and ask them "What just happened?"
"It's Pinkie" Twilight answers. "Believe me, it's just better to accept that than to try and rationalize it."
"I'd take her word for it if I was you" Applejack adds while nodding her head.
Thorax looks at the two mares and decides to take the advice. He much enjoyed pony company over his hivemates, but there were things ponies did that just seemed so strange to him. Princess Cadance again approached and offered a hoof. "How about we take our seats now?" she suggested, to which Thorax readily agreed.
The princess and changeling made their way to the two empty seats, going around the side of the table away from Rainbow Dash. The mare hadn't said anything, but was still watching the changeling warily. Once sat down, Twilight elected to start things off.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle" she begins. "And these are my friends."
Twilight then proceeds to introduce all of her friends, pointing to them as she goes.
"The orange earth pony is Applejack."
"Howdy" Applejack says as she tips her hat towards him.
"Next to her is Fluttershy."
"Um... H-Hello" the timid pegasus says as she waves her hoof slightly.
"This is Rarity"
"Hello" she greets with her own hoof wave.
"Over there is my newest friend and pupil, Starlight Glimmer."
The lilac mare blushes slightly and waves hello to him.
"And that is Rainbow Dash over there, tied down." Twilight put emphasis on the last two words, wanting to make a point to her rather obstinate friend.
Rainbow looks at Twilight as she sees the glare from earlier begin to return. Letting out a breath, she looks away from the changeling before simply saying "Hi"
"AND I'M PINKIE PIE!"
Thorax jumps at the suddenly loud voice in his ear. Before he can react further, he feels strong hooves wrap him into a tight hug. He goes to move away, but is suddenly bombarded with more happiness than he could ever know what to do with. After a few moments, the hug is released, and the changeling's eyes stop spinning in their sockets.
"I hope you like your party!"
"Party?" he says in confusion before his vision returns to him and he looks around.
The dining room, which had only had a table and some chairs before, was now filled with streamers and balloons. On the table was a white table cloth decorated with a design of balloons and confetti. In front of each pony was a plate with a fork beside it, and on the plate was a piece of chocolate cake with pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles.
"DOYOULIKEITDOYOULIKEITDOYOULIKEIT?!?!?!"
The mare talks faster than Thorax could comprehend, but his brain finally catches up.
"It's... nice?"
Pinkie gasps and takes him into another hug. "OH! I knew you would love this!" Releasing him, the pony quickly moves over to her seat and begins tucking into the slice of cake there. The other ponies giggle as they take their own bites as well.
Rainbow, however, is left sitting and staring at her own piece, her hooves unable to move because of the ropes holding them down. A quick flash of magenta removes the ones holding her forehooves but leaves the ones on her barrel and hindlegs.
She looks around in confusion but then focuses on Twilight. In her eyes is an unspoken warning for the pegasus to be on her best behavior. Not wishing to upset anypony worse than she had before, she silently takes her fork and proceeds to eat the piece of cake, letting out a happy sigh as she enjoys the flavor.
Thorax watched all of this unfold and then looked at his own cake. "Well, when in Pona" he thought as he took the fork and cut off a piece of cake and took a bite.
Changelings could eat food, but it didn't really nourish their bodies. Instead, the material would be converted into resin to be used for either building or imprisoning prey. He flinched at the thought, but pushed it aside as he tasted the cake.
Thorax could only let out a moan of satisfaction as he chewed. It was moist, sweet, and had been crafted with a great deal of love. He took another bite before somepony realized what was happening.
"Hey! I thought changelings only ate love?"
The voice was quite clearly Rainbow Dash, who watched him with surprise as he tucked into the cake. With all of the others now watching him, he swallowed the bite before answering her question.
"That's how we get nourishment," he answers, "but we're able to eat other things. It just gets converted to resin for us to build with."
"Really?"
This new voice was Twilight Sparkle. In her magic now was a quill and some parchment which the mare was using to write something down.
"Oh boy," Applejack says with a chuckle. "There she goes again."
"Huh?" is all Thorax can say as Twilight begins to look at him more closely.
"Do you know why you guys have holes in your legs?" she asks him.
"Twilight," Cadance scolds, "I don't believe Thorax came here for you to play twenty-thousand questions with him."
"Twenty-Thousand?" Thorax thought before he shook his head.
"It's okay" he tells Princess Cadance. "I imagine there's ponies that are quite curious about changelings. Maybe if I answer a few questions, it'll put some minds at ease."
He takes a moment to think before he answers Twilight.
"Honestly, I'm not really sure" he answers. "I've heard all sorts of things from other changelings over the years. One story says the we faced ponies a long time ago and their magic scarred us and created the holes. Another one says that it's a result of our hunger, and that they'll go away when we finally are able to end the hunger. Honestly, though, I think it's the mark of a curse."
"The mark of a curse?" Twilight asks.
"Yeah" Thorax answers while nodding his head. "I found a magic book once that said there's some curses that leave a physical mark on their victim, and some are so strong that the curse actually passes down from generation to generation."
"That... actually makes a lot of sense" Twilight realizes as she writes down the answer she's been given. "Since you raised that point, then does feeding actually make you feel less hungry?"
"Actually, yes and no" Thorax answers. "It makes it feel better for a little bit, but then it comes back with a vengeance. It's almost like you've never eaten at all."
Twilight writes down the information before smiling. "That does sound more like a curse" she states simply.
"Do you think it could be broken?" Thorax asks hopefully.
"I'm sure it could," Twilight answers, "but curses are usually something that has to be resolved by the affected pony breaking them themselves. The changelings would have to figure out how to resolve the curse in order to be free from it."
Thorax looks at the floor dejectedly for a moment before he looks a bit hopeful. "Maybe I could find a way to break it?"
"Maybe" she responds. "If you're as nice as Princess Cadance has told us you are, then I would certainly hope you could for your sake."
Princess Twilight was writing everything that Thorax had just said down on the parchment in front of her. The changeling sat there as she did so. Princess Cadance, fully aware of how inquisitive Twilight could be come, decided to head off the train before it could really get moving.
"I think in all fairness," she begins, "Thorax should get to ask all of you some questions in addition to you asking him some of your own. Since Twilight asked him a question already, how about Thorax asks you one of his own?"
Twilight stopped writing for a moment and looked at her friends. "That's actually a good idea. Anypony have a problem with Thorax asking us some questions?"
Almost everypony in the room nodded their heads. The only one who didn't was Rainbow Dash, though she hadn't shook her head in disagreement either.
"Rainbow?" Twilight asked her. "Are you okay with Thorax asking some questions?"
The blue mare looked at her friends for a moment. Most simply looked at her waiting for her answer. Applejack, however, was giving her a stern glare. Eventually, Rainbow lets out a breath.
"I guess."
Twilight smiles. "Okay, Thorax," she says as she faces the changeling, "since I asked you a question already, what would you like to ask all of us?"
Thorax had to sit there for a moment. What did he want to ask all of them? Surely there was something about them that he did want to know.
"How did you all meet and become friends?"
Twilight and her friends all looked to each other and smiled.
"Well," Twilight begins, "we all met during the preparations for Ponyville's Summer Sun Celebration. It's basically a big party to celebrate the longest day of the year. I'd actually been sent their to oversee preparations by Princess Celestia since she would be there to raise the sun in front of everypony there."
"I met everypony while checking off to make sure everything got done. It all went well to start with, but when it came time for the princess to raise the sun-"
"Nightmare Moon showed up" Thorax interrupted.
"Yeah" Twilight confirms. "She foalnapped the princess and declared her intentions of causing an eternal night. I rushed to the library in Ponyville to find some info on some artifacts that we could use to fight against Nightmare Moon."
"The elements of harmony" Thorax inferred.
Twilight nodded and continued telling the story. "My friends found me and confronted me, and I told them everything I knew. They helped me find what I was looking for and it pointed us to the Everfree Forest and the Castle of the Two Sisters. We went there, facing trials and tribulations along the way, and when we found the elements, Nightmare Moon appeared and destroyed them."
Thorax hears this and looks at Twilight in confusion. "But you all have the elements."
"We do," Twilight answers, "but they're inside of us, and when I realized that, the elements were reformed into new ones, and we used them to cleanse Princess Luna of Nightmare Moon's influence."
"And you all became friends because of that?" Thorax asked.
"We sure did" Applejack interjects. "Travelin' through that forest took our friendship and 'forged it in fire', as some ponies say. Since that night, we've been thick as maple syrup."
In truth, Thorax had heard the story of how the six mares who became the new elements bearers had met, but hearing it from them somehow made it more special.
"Hold up a minute!" the raspy voice of Rainbow Dash cut in. "How did you know about Nightmare Moon and the elements of harmony?!"
Her look of suspicion and accusing tone of voice underlined her distrust of Thorax, and stung the changeling, both figuratively and literally. Nonetheless, Thorax gave a valid response.
"Infiltrators always bring information back from the various kingdoms. A lot of them came back a day or so after the Summer Sun Celebration with newspapers detailing exactly what had happened."
The rainbow-maned pegasus blinked at the response, and her demeanor shifted back to a more neutral one, though not completely.
"Rainbow," Applejack admonished her friend, "that wasn't very kind of ya."
Rainbow looked at Applejack in disbelief. "Hey! It was a valid concern!"
Twilight glared at Rainbow and lit up her horn. "Do I need to bind your forehooves again and put a muzzle on you?"
To make her point, a length of rope and a muzzle popped into existence beside her.
Rainbow looked at her friend with shock, and then conceded. "Fine, I won't talk anymore."
"You can talk, darling" Rarity told her. "You just need to be civil and stop accusing Thorax of being a no good. Surely he must be some kind of decent and respectable creature if the princess and prince have allowed him to stay here with them."
"Thank you, Rarity" Princess Cadance chimed in with a smile. "I can say that since the day he first approached us and requested that we allow him to stay here, he has been a very gracious guest and a very decent creature."
The room reflected on what the princess had told all of them. Rainbow still had a hard time believing it, but there was already a little bit of doubt in her mind about this changeling. The fact that they were all sitting and having a polite conversation with him was helping things along, even if her own participation wasn't exactly polite.
"Is it Thorax's turn to ask a question since Dashie just asked one?" Pinkie asked with a thoughtful look on her face.
Twilight giggled. "I suppose, since he did give us some information about changelings we didn't really know, or at least we didn't know for certain."
She then turned to the changeling. "Go ahead, Thorax. You can ask us another question."
Thorax sat and thought for a moment about what question he wanted to ask the mares next. In truth, most of what he wanted to ask them was about them and their lives specifically. "Well, I honestly wanted to know more about all of you, since you're all something of heroes to me."
Twilight smiled. "Well, we can certainly do that. How about I start."
Twilight then began telling Thorax about her life and how she'd gotten her cutie mark during the entrance exam to get into Princess Celestia's school, how she'd become the princess's personal pupil, a very quick recap of the Nightmare Moon incident, and finishing up with a summary of what happened between her and Starlight, the lilac unicorn sitting beside Twilight.
"...Starlight then agreed to give friendship another chance, and now she's my own personal student."
"Wow" Thorax said as he took in her story. "You really fought a centaur as big as a mountain?"
"I did" Twilight confirmed. "The fight went to a stalemate and he offered my friends their freedom in exchange for the magic I had left in me. Of course, I agreed and then we figured out how to get the last key for that box and we got a magic strong enough to purge the stolen magic from Tirek and banish him back to Tartarus."
"And you still trust that Discord guy, even after what he did?"
Twilight winced a little at Thorax's question. "Not completely," Twilight answers, "but he's so far behaved himself and only caused some harmless pranks. He actually made chocolate milk rain the other day in Ponyville during the school recess and all the fillies and colts were cheering his praise."
Pinkie snickered. "You were enjoying it too, Twilight."
Twilight looked incensed. "I did not!"
"Really sugarcube?" Applejack chimes in. "How come y'all had that mason jug and funnel set up out front of your castle?"
"I..." Twilight began to say but paused when all of her friends gave her a knowing smile. She then groans in defeat. "Fine! I took advantage of Discord's little prank to save some money on milk, but so was everypony else!"
"Just wanted tah hear ya admit it" Applejack said smugly.
Twilight hid her face in embarrassment as her friends laughed at the schadenfreude. Even Thorax had to chuckle a little at the antics going on between the seven mares.
Eventually, Twilight got over her embarrassment enough to advance the conversation along. "Who wants to tell Thorax about themselves next?"
Almost immediately, Pinkie's hoof shoots up.
"Okay, Pinkie, you can have a turn."
And she did. Each of the other six mares talked about their moving to Ponyville.
Pinkie traveled there and only intended to stay for a little while before she moved to a larger city, but she fell in love with the town and quite liked working for the Cakes, so she decided to stay.
Applejack had always lived in Ponyville, but recalled how she'd gotten her cutie mark upon returning from Manehattan, where she'd moved to experience a more sophisticated life that she'd quickly become not fond of.
Fluttershy recalled her own cutie mark story, and said that she'd moved to Ponyville after she'd finished her schooling in Cloudsdale.
Rarity had also always lived in Ponyville; her family were one of the few unicorn ones in the predominantly earth pony town. As a filly, she had similar desires to move to a big city such as Manehattan like Applejack did, but as she grew up, she fell in love with the town and decided to make it her home.
Rainbow Dash was the only one of the element bearers that didn't actually live in Ponyville. She had what she called a "cloudiminium", but it was close enough to Ponyville she could fly there in a fairly short amount of time, even going at a comfortable pace and not like a bat out of Tartarus.
As for why Rainbow Dash was in Ponyville? She works for the weather service, like a lot of pegasi do, and she was assigned to their weather team.
When it came to be Starlight's turn, she'd became rather embarrassed, and ashamed from what Thorax could tell. Of course, he already knew the story from Twilight about the village she'd started and how much she hated cutie marks. That was all in the past, of course, and the lilac mare was doing her best to embrace friendship between ponies of such diverse backgrounds.
"What about you Thorax?" Pinkie asked the changeling. Her friends looked at her with stern glares, but the pink pony shook them off.
"What? It's Thorax turn to answer a question."
Thorax chuckled nervously. "I, uh, guess it is" he conceded. "So, you all want to know how I got here?"
Twilight nodded. "As much as I would've preferred Pinkie not asking that question in such a way," she said while giving the party mare the stink eye, "I think we would all like to hear your story about coming to Equestria, and more specifically, the Crystal Empire."
Thorax looked at the mares before him, and then to Princess Cadance. Sure, he'd told this story before, but he honestly wasn't a fan of having to tell it.
The princess heard his silent plea and answered it.
"Girls," she addresses the group, "Thorax isn't really that comfortable with telling this story. I don't think we should force him to."
"Why not?!"
The voice of Rainbow Dash causes all the ponies there to turn and face her.
"We told him all of our stories," she argues, "so why shouldn't he tell us his. It's only fair!"
Princess Cadance glares at Rainbow Dash rather sternly. "It might seem fair to you, but I've heard Thorax's story myself, and making him have to tell it again would be most decidedly unfair."
Rainbow Dash stood her ground. "I still want to hear it."
Princess Cadance was becoming rather cross with the pegasus. She knew her to be stubborn, but to the point of being outright rude?
Then she remembered the facts that she'd been trying to ignore since Thorax was first accepted as part of the Crystal Empire: Thorax was a changeling, and the ponies in Equestria, Rainbow included, didn't like them.
Just as the princess was about to cut into Rainbow Dash for her rude behavior, Thorax's voice stopped her.
"It's okay" he told the princess. "I'll... I'll tell them."
Princess Cadance turns to Thorax with shock. "Thorax, you don't need to-"
Thorax cuts her off with a hoof. "I know," he responds, "but all of these ponies would like to know, so it's only fair that I tell them."
Princess Cadance looks at Thorax with concern, but again the changeling waves her off.
"Really, it's fine."
Despite her concerns, she nods in agreement and allows Thorax to tell his story.
Thorax takes a few breaths before he begins telling the story of how he came to Equestria to find peace and harmony.
"It all started about a year or so after the attempt to invade Canterlot..."
Author's Note - This portion of the story will be told from Thorax's perspective.
The Changeling Hive One Year After The Failed Invasion...
The hive was in low spirits. At first glance, a pony would think that the creatures inside were very aggressive and should be avoided at all costs. While that statement was true enough on its own, it didn't summarize the situation well at all.
The changelings, despite outward appearance, were afraid.
With the failed invasion of Canterlot during Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Guard Captain Shining Armor's wedding, the changeling race as a whole was exposed to Equestria and the greater world. Now suddenly out in the open, many infiltrators abandoned their posts, fearful that they would be revealed and subject to harm through either outright torture from the guard or prisoners they'd be forced to share cells that would want to enact revenge upon them for past slights they may or may not have endured because of changelings.
With this massive upheaval, Queen Chrysalis doubled down on the already iron tight grip she held over the hive. She ordered rations cut, more intense training, and ordered the focus of love gathering to be directed at the more unconventional sources, if only for the fact that they would be less likely to associate the term changeling with something malevolent.
The worst of all was a moratorium on new eggs. Changelings that wished to have a brood were not permitted, told to wait until there was a need for new changelings to serve as either a new batch of infiltrators, or potentially as the first wave of soldiers for another invasion.
That was the first three months. When the fourth month rolled around, the queen then ordered infiltrators to begin returning to Equestria, only gathering enough love to sustain themselves as needed. Their role now was to conduct espionage on the most powerful ponies in Equestria. Once they had enough information, they would return and report back to the queen what they had learned.
When the infiltrators got news of this, there were many volunteers. Drones that had been eager to help exact revenge against the ponies that had snatched away their meal ticket, and in the case of some, the right to have progeny to call their own.
In my case, the orders presented me with an opportunity. I had seen what friendship could do, and I knew I wanted it for myself. The problem would be obtaining it, and I knew I couldn't get it from the hive.
I had tried many times already, and each to no avail. I would be hit, made fun of, or in the worst cases, drained and left to lay where I fell in the halls of the hive.
Being drained was the worst. To have all of the energy sapped from you and end up in such a malaise state that you don't even care if you lived or died. Feeling that for the first time instantly made me regret anytime I ever needed to feed on another creature. It was the last piece of evidence I needed to show me that the ways that changelings lived were wrong, and someling needed to fix that.
Of course, convincing the other changelings would be a whole other matter.
"Stop hitting yourself, Thorax!"
I again felt the repeated barrage of my own hoof drilling into my face while it was enveloped in a green glow. Scizza, one of the larger drones in the hive, was sitting on my chest with his hooves crossed over his barrel, a wicked grin on his muzzle.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" I cried with each strike, my attempt to force myself to stop overpowered by Scizza's much stronger magical grip.
"C'mon weakling!" he taunted me. "If you really wanna stop me, then stop me!"
I redoubled my efforts to break free, but again, I was met with the constant barrage of my own hoof striking my face. The only thing I could do to protect myself was close my eyes, but even then, I would probably have a bruise from the abuse.
"You're pathetic" Scizza chided me as he released my hoof, now bored of the mindless torture. "You're even weaker than the grubs in the nursery hive. It's a disgrace!"
The larger changeling rose up and pressed a hoof hard into my barrel, and I could swear he adjusted his form to take the shape of rows and rows of sharp points because I could feel an almost burning sensation from where his hoof was pushing me down.
"I don't know why the queen bothered to let you live" he continues. "I'd say she felt sorry for you, but you know our queen has no pity!"
He pressed down into me as he said the last part, and I could feel some kind of liquid on my chest. I didn't look, but I'm almost dead certain it was my blood that had seeped out of the wound Scizza almost surely made.
"Why did the queen bother to save you?" he asked me, malice still present in his voice but more diminished. "I don't understand it. You don't go out and forage for love, nor do you train to fight, dig in the tunnels or build any walls. You don't even help care for the grubs! So why did she save you if you're nothing but a boil on the collective changeling flank?!"
He let up and I took a lungful of air in. My only reply was "I'm not allowed to care-"
Scizza cut me off. "I know you're not allowed to care for grubs! You also know why that is!"
His hoof returns to my chest, the apparent spines having lengthened and dug deeper, making my discomfort so much I can barely keep the noise down to the level of a whisper.
"I hope you're proud of yourself for what you did to Ocellus!" he sneers at me. "The queen is considering disposing of her. Do you have any idea how hard Scorpion and Ovi worked to have that brood and only one nymph out of four to survive?! You should have your head staked on a rock outside the hive on general principle!"
Scizza removes his hoof from my chest and positions it at my head. I look him in the eyes and I realize that his gesture is not an idle threat. The look there is one devoid of any compassion or mercy. They're the eyes of a real monster.
"You know, the queen will probably exile me or something for this, but I'm gonna do what she should've done with you to begin with!"
With that remark, he raises his hoof with the full intention of literally driving it through my skull...
...only for a blast of green magic to send him flying into a wall.
"Scizza!" a familiar voice calls out. "What in the queen's name are you doing?!"
Scizza recovers and glares at the newcomer. "What the queen and you both should've done, Pharynx."
My brother stands in the hallway with a glare fixed to Scizza, his horn a steady flame of green magic. "If you don't desist and move on," Pharynx warns, "then I'll have to finish this job, plus my own AND yours, and what remains of you when I'm finished will have to go to the queen and explain this whole mess. Do you understand me, Scizza?"
Scizza frowns at Pharynx, but offers no other resistance. "Whatever" he says as he walks away, clearly not wanting a well to do fight while the queen is in a rather irritable state.
Once he leaves, I sit up and look at Pharynx, who looks at me with disappointment. "I know" is all I can reply.
"And yet I still have to come keep you from being turned into a smear on the walls or floor" he adds as he shakes his head. "I don't know what happened to your egg to make it turn out like that, but I hope it never happens again for as long as Queen Chrysalis lives. She's still not sure what to do with Ocellus, you know?"
I hang my head, unable to look at him. "I already said I'm sorry."
A hoof strikes me across the muzzle.
"THAT RIGHT THERE, THORAX!" Pharynx yells at me as he delivers another blow to my face. "No changeling apologizes to another changeling, or apologizes for another changeling!"
"You're too soft and too sentimental, Thorax!" Pharynx spits as he buzzes his wings and takes off. "Either get with the program, or get out of the way!"
Get with the program...
...or get out of the way.
I don't think it was Pharynx had intended, but in that moment, he put things into perspective for me.
I had a choice to make. Either I would have to deny everything I had come to believe and conform to the same system that every changeling before me adhered to, or I would have to abandon that system altogether in hopes of finding the answers I was looking for.
"I planned my escape from the hive that night" Thorax told the ponies. "I knew a bit about the patrols and when the gaps in time would be. All I had to do was know when to disguise myself as some innocuous feature like a rock or a mushroom. Once I had all that ironed out, I only needed to wait for the most opportune moment."
"Little did I know that it would come only a few nights later."
The work that needed to be done in the hive for the day had been completed. Love was gathered from cocooned prey, tunnels that needed dug out were excavated as much as time would allow, nymphs were taught the lessons of the hive, and the hatchery was watched over and maintained. Now, every changeling was going to bed, or at least, most of them.
A special group of changelings that served as the night guard were up and about. Their task was simple: monitor the hive. If there was an intruder, they captured and cocooned them. If there was a changeling milling about, they were detained and questioned. If they noticed some kind of damage to the hive, they investigated it and reported it.
Simply put, they took care of the hive's security and safety while the other changelings slept.
A time or two before, I would have to perform this duty. I would often try to get assigned to areas around the nursery, so the most that I would need to do would be to stop wayward changelings and ask what they were doing. Most times, however, I was put outside, where I would have to capture small animals that would then provide sustenance to the grubs in the nursery.
My experiences with guard duty did give me some familiarity with how the rotations worked. Because of that, I had a rough idea of when there would be gaps for me to exploit. I waited until nightfall, until I was sure the first guard patrols had been completed, before I put my plan into motion.
The hive was quiet. Most changelings were asleep. The ones that weren't were the guards patrolling the hive, their wings buzzing as they made their rounds.
I was hiding in an alcove, having waited for Pharynx to finally drift off to sleep. Cautioning a look, a poked my head out a little to scan the hallway. I ducked back in quickly as a patrol was rounding the corner.
They kept going, and I breathed a sigh of relief. That had been too close of a call.
Making sure the patrol was not doubling back around, I quickly made my way past some of the other living quarters and started making my way up to the hive's entrance. The large opening was not my intended target, but was not far from it.
Just a short distance away and concealed by a pile of rocks was an entrance that most changelings didn't know about. Barely large enough for an adult drone to fit through, it was often used by curious nymphs who wanted to explore the wasteland outside the hive.
Tonight, it was my tunnel to freedom out of this veritable prison.
"Thorax?"
I froze up. Almost immediately, I began to curse myself for carelessness, but then I recognized the voice.
Turning around, I spot a nymph that is only a few short years from adulthood. She looks like nearly every other changeling drone, except her eyes are a much paler blue.
"Ocellus?" I respond cautiously, unsure of what the young changeling would do.
"What are you doing?" she asked me, eyes tired but expression curious.
"What are youdoing?" I counter. "It's a bit late for you to still be awake."
"I was thirsty" she tells me. "I was going down to the trickle to get a drink."
The trickle was the hive's term for our water source. It was a spring head that the hive had been built up around. I'm not sure where the water comes from, but I think it could be from the Hayseed Swamp, and the normally murky water gets filtered out by the soil.
"You never answered my question" Ocellus then points out.
I let out a sigh. Ocellus was a bright nymph. If she was fortunate, she would be trained to become an archivist and catalog the information that infiltrators brought back from the various nations of the world. I certainly hoped that's where she would end up; she was very eager when it came to books.
As for the current situation, I was in a bit of a pickle. I knew that Ocellus was much more sympathetic to my ideas than other drones, but she also felt duty-bound to the hive, so telling her what I planned to do was a risk.
Fate, it seemed, had chosen for me.
"You're leaving, aren't you?"
I couldn't look her in the eyes, nor could I bring myself to answer her question. In the end, my silence was answer enough for her.
"The queen will label you a traitor" Ocellus tells me, her tone sounding more cautionary than threatening.
"I know," I finally respond, "but I must do this. Something inside me is telling me that I need to go so that I can find out."
Ocellus looks at me for a moment, and then steps forward, wrapping her small forelegs around one of my larger ones.
"Take care of yourself, Thorax," she tells me, "and please come back if you find what you're looking for."
"I will" I respond as I wrap my free foreleg around her and hug her back. I could never be completely certain, but I think we shared some of our love back then, without either of us even realizing it.
We separated and Ocellus wished me luck, then made her way back to her parents. I left out through the small entrance and into the badlands around the hive.
The desert stretched out a good ways around the hive, but there was some visible treeline in one direction, so I kept low and made a move for it.
I got almost the whole way there before something large tackled me to the ground. I rolled over to see what it was and froze.
Looking back at me were a pair of dark purple changeling eyes.
It was Pharynx; he'd apparently followed me out of the hive and chose to confront me out here and away from any other changelings.
His eyes glared at me as he asked me the big question of the night.
I laid there as I looked up at my brother Pharynx, his purple eyes glaring down into my turquoise ones. His weight was pressing into me as he made sure I stayed put until he decided I could move again.
"Well?" he asks impatiently.
I couldn't answer him. What could I tell him? There was no such thing as a changeling leaving the hive; it was high treason in his eyes.
But I couldn't lie to him. I was never good at it and he would've picked up on it in a heartbeat. Whatever answer I did give him, he wasn't going to like.
"I... can't."
Pharynx cocks an eye ridge. "Can't what?" he prods.
"I just can't anymore."
My response isn't to his liking. "Out with it Thorax!"
"I can't stay in the hive anymore!" I finally blurt out.
His emotions go from a split second of shock to seething anger.
"You're telling me you're abandoning the hive?!"
I flinch, but steel my resolve as much as possible.
"I don't belong there, Pharynx" I tell my older brother. "Even you have to see that."
His response is to hiss into my face. "Of course you think that!" he responds in a matter of fact way. "You're weak, Thorax! Every day you get bullied by other changelings and I have to step in. Do you know why they do that?"
"Because I can't defend myself" I retort.
"Because you won't defend yourself!" he counters.
"I'm not a fighter!" I shout back at him. "If I was, I wouldn't need you to protect me! I don't fit in here, Pharynx! I just... don't belong."
Pharynx doesn't say anything for a moment, but he stays firm in his position.
"You're a changeling, Thorax" he tells me, his voice having lost its anger. "The hive is the only place for you. If you don't think you have a place here, then that means that there is no place for you."
I grow a bit wary of what he means, but I stand my ground, perhaps for the first time in my life.
"I'm not happy here, Pharynx. I wish I was, but I'm not. Everyday I have other changelings giving me a hard time just because I don't do like them. The queen doesn't trust me to accomplish any kind of tasks. She cuts back my rations thinking It'll give me the incentive to do better but it only makes me weaker still."
"And then there's you."
Pharynx looks at me in confusion.
"You're the only changeling here that even comes close to showing me anything close to positive, but even with those times where you chase off the other drones bullying me, you pick up where they leave off. I don't know if you do it because you think it will get me to toughen up or if it's something else, but all it does is make me feel even more like I don't belong here."
"That's why I can't stay anymore. I need a place where I feel I can belong, like I can contribute something and it actually matters. As long as I stay here, I won't be able to do that, even if I do like all of the other drones. I have to go where I can make a real difference."
I stop speaking and I wait for Pharynx's response. It's quiet for much longer than I expected.
"You're serious?" he finally responds, an unusual amount of uncertainty in his voice.
"I know what leaving means, and what will happen to me," I reply, "but I have to do this. I have to at least try."
I look back at Pharynx, but he's turned away from me and looks back towards the hive.
"...Fine."
His voice surprises me a great deal. It almost sounds... defeated.
"I can't convince you of how horrible an idea this is, so just go. Go find... whatever you're looking for."
He steps back towards the hive and opens his elytra, ready to take to the air.
"I'm sorry, brother" I call to him. "I wish I didn't feel this way, but I have to do this."
"...I know" he replies as his wings buzz and he heads back towards the hive, his body silhouetted against the stars.
"So your brother tried to convince you to stay?" Applejack asks.
"Yeah," Thorax replies, "but not really because of any sort of love. A changeling who leaves the hive without permission is considered a deserter and traitor. There's no active searches, but any infiltrators out on a mission are told of the deserter and advised to capture or..."
"Or what?" Rainbow prods.
"...Eliminate the drone." I finish.
There's a collective gasp from all the mares, except Princess Cadance; she did gasp the first time Thorax told her this story.
"After Thorax told us this, we made extra sure that he would be safe while he stayed here" Cadance then explained. "Frequent guard rotations, specialized enchantments on armor that react to talismans placed on entryways to the palace and in many public spaces, and code phrases that are known only to the guards and changed weekly or even sooner if it's even suspected that they've been compromised in any way."
Applejack whistles. "Whooey! Sound's like y'all done thought about dang near everything."
"We've definitely done all we can to make ourselves, and Thorax by extension, as safe from changeling infiltration as we possibly can" Cadance says in agreement.
"So what happened next?" Pinkie Pie asks Thorax.
"Things were kinda iffy for the next few days," Thorax replies, "but it got a bit hairy after that."
"After Pharynx left me," Thorax continued,"I turned and flew as far, and as fast as I could away from the hive. Once I felt I was far enough away, I decided on a pony disguise I wanted to use to travel more safely. Dodge Junction was the first town I would come across, and I wanted things to go as smoothly as possible."
"I decided on a beige earth pony with a medium-light brown mane and tail, with orange streaks in it. The eyes would match the streaks, and my cutie mark would be a cactus. I decided on calling myself Prickly Pear, and my special talent was growing cacti."
"Once I was comfortable with my new look and identity, I stepped into town. Everypony greeted me kindly enough, though obviously because they thought I was a pony like them. They showered me with love and affection, especially this one little mare that was barely older than being a filly, and I thought about just setting up shop there; I could've even made a life with the mare if I so chose, and maybe even revealed myself to her once I thought she would be comfortable enough with the idea."
"Alas, it wasn't meant to be. I stayed one night, and the next day, rumors of a changeling infiltrator had started spreading. I wasn't discovered, but another changeling sent to find me was found trying to siphon some love away from a couple... coupling. I guess it was too good an opportunity for them to pass up."
All the mares sitting around Thorax blushed, but the changeling ignored it and continued with his story.
"The changeling wasn't caught, and ponies were getting suspicious of one another. I left that night, giving a half-truth of being caught by a changeling, and wished everypony the best. Once out of town, I decided to move on to the next town as quickly as I could, which was Appleloosa."
"Heh, That's where mah cousin Braeburn lives," Applejack told Thorax.
"I think I did run into him," Thorax replied,"but that was after I ran into the buffalo, and I'll tell ya, that did that not go well at all."
With the nerves about the potential of being discovered having quieted down, I began making my way for the next town north of Dodge Junction. There was a lot of desert around me, but I also saw plenty of green growth that told me there would be a well or springhead somewhere. My biggest concern was food, and there was very little love I could get, at least the kind I wanted to obtain, with no personal qualms about how it was gathered.
As I was heading towards Appleloosa, I began to feel a rumbling sensation through the ground. I looked around at first and couldn't see anything, but a minute or so later, I noticed a large dust cloud forming on the horizon. Curious as to what it was, I started looking for a place higher up so I could see better.
Before I knew it, I had been nearly stampeded by a herd of buffalo. Large beings with feather decorations on their heads. Their powerful hooves shook the earth beneath my hooves so much that I didn't know what was gonna happen.
I made my best attempt to get out of the way, but I soon collided with one, and getting hit by one of them is like having a colossal dragon flick you in the chest with their claw. I was sent rolling, and I thought I was gonna lose my disguise before I could recover.
I didn't, fortunately, but when I did come to a stop, I was immediately surrounded by the buffalo, and all of them looked at me with anger and annoyance.
"Why is pony interfering with buffalo stampede?"
I turned to the voice and saw a buffalo bull larger than any other buffalo approach me. He had the most ornate of the feather decorations in the group, so I deduced quickly that he was the leader.
"Answer, pony. Why did you interrupt stampede?"
His voice was louder and had more force behind it. I shivered in place as I tried to answer him.
"I-I didn't mean to! I was walking from Dodge Junction to Appleloosa. I didn't know you were stampeding here!"
The buffalo chief looked me over as he considered my answer, but he scowled as he approached me and took a whiff of air.
"You not smell like pony," he pointed out. "You smell of smoke, but yet we see no soot."
His glare hardened. "Only creature buffalo know that have smell of smoke without soot is changing pony. You are changing pony?"
I looked at him in fear, remembering then how buffalo could smell changelings because we emit a pheromone to identify each other. My hopes of a new life in Equestria were put on hold as I had to think to myself how I could get away from this situation with my life.
"Pony take too long to answer," the buffalo leader said as he turned to another pair of buffalo nearby. "Use magic zebra paste on pony. It will tell us if he is changing pony soon enough."
Magic paste? I thought as I watched one of the buffalo step forward, a ceramic pot in their one hoof. Before I had a chance to react, the buffalo threw the jar at my hooves and it smashed, spilling a strange substance onto my hooves and legs.
Almost as soon as it hit me, I noticed something very strange happening to me. It was like the part of me that was responsible for my disguise magic had gone numb, and very quickly, my disguise was cast away in green flames.
The buffalo reacted, not with fear, but with even more disdain.
"You are changing pony!" the buffalo leader yelled as he pointed a hoof at me. "You ruined pony ruler wedding some moons ago! You take buffalo while sleeping and pretend you them so we love you like family! You are usonvi! You are threat to buffalo!"
"Please!" I cried out as I fell to the ground. "I don't want to hurt you. I want to live peacefully in Equestria. Please, let me leave and I won't bother you again."
The buffalo leader spat on me. "Chief Thunderhooves not born day before now! Your words are as hollow as bird bones! We would be fools to trust changing pony!"
"Please!" I cried out again, tears starting to fall from my eyes in desperation. "Let me leave! I won't come back! I promise!"
Chief Thunderhooves ignored my pleas. "We take you prisoner and give you to ponies. They have bounty on changing pony. We give them changing pony and we get enough food to feed all buffalo for next six moons."
Before I could even protest, the buffalo surrounded me and, instead of tying me up, threaded two thin poles through the holes in my legs. Two buffalo nearly as large as Chief Thunderhooves stepped forward and balanced the pole onto their backs.
"Buffalo go to Appleloosa with changing pony prisoner now," the chief told his buffalo. "We move now. Do not listen to the words of the changing pony. They are like honey to catch wasp in death trap."
"Do not go close either. All who get too close lose their heart. Heart make buffalo strong. Warriors, don't let changing pony take heart from you."
The other buffalo snorted in agreement and the entire herd began moving. I had no way to resist them. My disguise magic wouldn't work with the pole in my legs, and I could still feel the effects of that weird paste they threw at me before. I could do nothing but await whatever fate had in store for me when we arrived in Appleloosa.
At Sundown...
The trip to Appleloosa would take more than a day, which I was glad to find out. I didn't have any sleeping provisions, so I would've needed to find an abandoned cave or some place similar to wait out the night.
Of course, that didn't really matter when the buffalo made me sleep outside. The had a unique way of dealing with changelings and keeping them prisoner: the changeling had their legs threaded over long poles sunk deep enough into the ground they couldn't be wiggled loose and free, then ropes were bound around the barrel and staked down into the dirt, and last was an application of another magic paste that disabled pretty much all magic a changeling could use.
All in all, it was highly effective, and I could only escape if one of the buffalo allowed me to, and the chief had already warned them not to listen to my honeyed words.
"Drink, changing pony."
I was startled from my thoughts by the voice. I looked up to see one of the buffalo, a young cow if I had to guess. In her hoof was a bowl, which I assumed was supposed to be water. I lifted my head and opened my mouth, and the cow tilted the bowl, allowing the liquid to pour down my throat. She let it continue to pour, so I had to keep swallowing, unless I wanted to try and drown myself.
Once the bowl was empty, she pulled it back and set it aside. She then produced a second bowl that had more of that paste in it.
"Please don't use that," I asked of her. "I don't want to hurt any of you."
"Promise from changing pony as empty as water bowl is now," she said somewhat coldly, but also sounding like there was a bit of sadness in her voice.
A part of me then thought about manipulating that into an escape attempt, but I stomped that down quickly. It was exactly that kind of thinking that got my kind the reputation we had to begin with. Nevertheless, if there was a slight chance I could perhaps begin convincing as least one of these buffalo that I wasn't a monster, I was going to take it.
"You're right. Like your chief said, my kind have used a lot of hollow, honeyed words. We've made our entire existence off of lying and deceiving, and taking what isn't ours. I wish I could go back in time and stop it all from ever happening, but I can't."
Genuine tears rolled from my eyes. What I had told her was the truth. If the changelings had started out different, chose peace and harmony instead of war and evil, maybe things would've been different. Perhaps my life would've turned out better than it was.
"Changing pony speaks of regret and cries tears of shame, but father says that is the way of changing ponies. They act like they are hurt when they are not. They act like they are ashamed when they are not. They make others feel sympathy for them so that they can steal the heart from those who care."
"We need love to survive, and no creature has ever showed us love. Maybe that's why changelings feel like they need to take it from others all the time."
The cow looked at me with surprise. "You think you cannot be loved by another?"
"I hope that one day I can, but as it is now, none will. I can only receive the love and kindness I desire if I pretend to be something else. It's the curse of my kind. To get what we need to live, we must live a lie at all times."
"Believe it or not, I hate lying. I'd rather be honest and tell the truth when I can, but even without it being about the fact I'm actually a changeling, I know the truth can hurt, and it becomes preferable to lie."
The young cow looked at me for a few more moments, but then slathered a fresh coating of the magic-suppressing paste on my horn, then picked up the bowls and left. My head fell back down into the dirt.
My one chance to convince one of these buffalo that I wasn't a monster like the other changelings, and I blew it.
I was awoken the next day by a face-full of the magic paste. I made an attempt to shake it loose from my eyes, but it stuck to my face. A cloth was rubbed across is shortly after I stopped shaking, and with my eyes clear, I looked up to see who threw the concoction in my face.
Standing over me was Chief Thunderhooves. Beside him was another cow buffalo, a bowl in her hoof and a scowl on her face.
"We move now, changing pony," he spat at me, "and you not use honeyed words on my daughter again!"
I flinched back as much as the poles holding me to the ground would let me. Apparently, the little cow that visited me last night was the chief's daughter.
Very roughly, the poles and rope holding me down were removed, and I was quickly rolled onto my back, the holes in my hooves once again home to the wooden poles meant to carry me.
"We move, buffalo!" the chief called out, and as one, the herd set forth for Appleloosa once again.
I had made my best effort last night, but it was no good. I blew my one chance to get free, so now I would become a prisoner in Equestria. The only question in my mind was would the ponies get rid of me, or would the hive send a changeling there to do it themselves?
My thoughts were interrupted as the chief stopped dead in his tracks. The herd followed suit, looking to their leader for an answer as to why the had ceased moving.
"Be on guard, buffalo," the chief warned. "The ground trembles beneath us, but not because of our hooves."
Instantly, the buffalo went on guard, looking this way and that. The two buffalo carrying me did the same, but would shoot a glare back at me as though to blame me for the predicament.
Electing to do as the Ancient Pona would, I looked around in an effort to see if there was an attacker nearby. I doubted it was changelings; they would've swarmed the buffalo herd by now.
Perhaps a wolf pack?
No, that made even less sense. The chief even said that the ground shook from something besides themselves. Wolf packs, even large ones, didn't make that much vibration through dirt.
Before I could theorize any further, the ground around the buffalo exploded open. The buffalo turned this way and that to see what was going on. Once I saw the ground open up, I narrowed my list down to one threat I knew existed in the area - tatezlwurms.
However, it turned out I was wrong. Emerging from the holes were diamond dogs, the large bipedal canines that lived underground and valued gemstones more than nearly anything. There must've been several dozen in all, and the had surrounded the buffalo completely.
Looking ahead, I saw the chief squaring up with one of the diamond dogs. This dog resembled a bull dog, and atop his head was a crown full of rubies, sapphires, emeralds, opals, and diamonds. Interestingly enough, there were a few empty spots where it looked like more gems could be added.
"Chief Thunderhooves!" the dog called out. "We have come to claim your sacred gems for our own!"
"We will not surrender them!" the chief spat back. "Those gems belong to my people, and I will not allow you to steal them from us!"
"You will not surrender the blue stone? Then perhaps we take the earth out from under you?"
"You cannot take the earth any more than the ponies can take the sky! The world is for us all, but you wish to hoard much of it for yourselves!"
Their argument went on, but I lost interest in their words. Still, I did want to know why the diamond dogs were harassing this herd of buffalo. I tried getting the attention of one of my captors.
"What's going on?" I asked.
The buffalo turned and glared at me. "Silence, changing pony. We will not fall for tricks or honeyed words."
I looked down at the ground dejectedly. That's when I noticed a set of small hooves approach me. Turning, I saw the chief's daughter again.
"It's the diamond dogs again," she told me in a voice almost as low as a whisper. "They want our sacred gems."
"What do you mean sacred gems?"
"There is a place, far from here, where we can find rocks of a most unusual color. They have both a green like the grass, but also a blue like the sky, all mixed together. The dogs look on them almost the same way they do the diamonds that give them their name."
Now this exchange made sense. The diamond dogs were after turquoise and the buffalo knew where to find it, but the buffalo weren't giving up the location because they viewed the gemstone as being a sacred rock that must be protected.
"Enough of this!" the diamond dog leader declared. "If you won't give up the location of your sacred stones, then we will simply take the sacred stones you have with you. Dogs, ATTACK!!!"
The buffalo tensed, looking at the diamond dogs surrounding them, but not one of them moved. Instead, the ground began shaking again, and a moment later, diamond dogs erupted from the soil all around the buffalo. Once on the surface, they began attacking, tackling the buffalo to the ground.
A pair of diamond dogs shot up and knocked the buffalo transporting me to the ground, sending me flying off towards a group of calfs and older cows.
My head hit the dirt hard and I had my mind jostled for a few moments, but when I was able to think straight again, I noticed that, during my flight and impact with the ground, one of the poles through my legs had been broken over a rock, split into two pieces. The second pole was mostly intact, but had suffered enough impact that at least one good kick or stomp would break it the rest of the way.
I looked at the buffalo around me and noticed one in particular: Chief Thunderhooves' daughter. She had been somewhat sympathetic to me last night, even if still heeding her father's advice. I was taking a gamble, but a gamble was all that I had to take.
"I can help!" I called out to her.
The buffalo turned to scowl at me, but she looked at me with surprise.
"Please, break the pole so I can be free. I can help."
Before she could answer, another buffalo stepped forward.
"Cease with the honey words changing pony!" they told me before turning back to the diamond dogs attacking them.
By this point, nearly every buffalo was tangled with a diamond dog. The only ones who weren't were the calfs and older cows watching them; I suppose they felt that was dishonorable to attack them or something.
The dogs ignored me, and I decided to try and help myself. I was able to roll over onto my hooves where I shook the broken pole from my legs. Doing my best to move with the other pole still in place, I tried to find something I could break the pole and free myself completely.
Before I could get far, I was tackled to the ground, rolling a bit before coming to a stop. I looked up and saw a diamond dog looking at me like a predator who just caught some poor creature that it intended to be its meal.
"HA! They caught a changeling!" the dog called out as it reached for a rope on its hip. "Equestria will pay quite a bounty to us for turning one of them in!"
My magic was still suppressed, so I was limited to what flailing I could do with two legs. The dog began tying the rope into bindings to hold me in place, preparing to take me prisoner to Equestria.
Before it could finish, the diamond dog was kicked violently by a buffalo, so much that it went flying for a few feet before impacting hard into the ground. I looked up to see the chief's daughter over top of me, looking at me sternly.
"You say you can help buffalo?"
I felt fear coursing through me from her gaze, but I gave a nod in response.
"Trust is important to buffalo. If I give you trust and you break it, I will find you and make you pay for breaking trust. You understand?"
Again, I nodded.
"I free you, you help buffalo with diamond dogs."
"Yes," I answered.
"I guess that will have to be good enough."
The heifer turned around and raised a back hoof high. I turned my head, hoping that she wouldn't have a change of heart and just stomp me out there and then.
CRACK!
I felt her kick shatter the pole in my other legs. I kick the now broken pole free from my limbs, and enjoy the return of my mobility.
"I keep my half of deal," she reminded me. "Now you keep yours, changing pony!"
I looked at her and gave her a nod. I rose back up onto my hooves and looked at what was happening around me. The buffalo and diamond dogs were still tussling, but I could already see that the element of surprise the diamond dogs had at the beginning had nearly ensured victory for them.
Well, after seeing that, I thought the buffalo should have their own element of surprise.
I buzzed my wings to carry me up above the fight and start to transform, but my magic blinked out and I gently hovered back to the ground.
"It's no use," I told the chief's daughter apologetically. "That paste still has my magic suppressed. I can help, but only if I can use my magic."
The heifer looked at me for a moment before she picked up a nearby jug and dumped its contents onto me.
At first, I thought she was suppressing my magic again, but I suddenly felt my magic returning.
"I show you more trust, changing pony," she told me,"so you hold up bargain. You help buffalo now!"
"Right," I respond as I rise up again, focusing my magic on a transformation.
I felt the familiar wash of magic over me, and suddenly, the sky is filled with my new form.
Large black scales, green fins, massive membranous wings, and a mouth full of sharp teeth that could only belong to a predator.
I had become a dragon.
Letting out a roar, I swoop down over the diamond dogs. I pass over the group and let out a roar at them, causing many to stumble backwards in fear.
"DOGS! RETREAT!" the leader cried out, and the other dogs complied, quickly burrowing back into the ground and leaving the buffalo alone.
Once I was sure the dogs won't come back, I changed back to my original form and land in front of the buffalo.
The chief looked at me sternly for a moment and began to speak, but was stopped by his daughter.
"Strongheart?," he said in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"I..."
She faltered for a moment, but quickly resolved herself.
"Changing pony helped buffalo against diamond dogs. I don't think it's right that we try to take changing pony as prisoner anymore."
The chief's shock quickly turned to anger.
"Changing pony's flank was on line just as much as buffalo. He fight to save own neck!"
"No!" she protested with a hoof stomp. "Changing pony kept word and help buffalo. He prove himself not to be an enemy of the buffalo."
"Little Strongheart," the buffalo chief began with a seething voice. "Changing ponies attack our people since before even great-grandfather buffalo born. They steal our hearts and capture our people, then they wear their skin and make us think they are one of us. They hurt many buffalo, and hurt many ponies too. Ponies are new allies to buffalo, and we show great distrust by not giving them one they call criminal."
Little Strongheart still stood her ground, but I could already tell her confidence was waning.
"I made deal with changing pony."
The chief again looked at her in shock before becoming even angrier than before. "You WHAT!?"
"I freed changing pony and he helped buffalo," she explained. "He kept his word to me."
The chief was still quite upset at the news, but he began to calm down as he heard his daughter's admission.
"You show disrespect to elders and me by not heeding my words," he scolded her, "but, just as with Appleloosa ponies, you stand strong on what you think is right, and it help buffalo in the end."
The chief turned his attention to me.
"You help buffalo with diamond dogs? You made and kept deal with Little Strongheart?"
I stood up straight and gave a firm nod.
The chief nodded his head and hummed, closing his eyes in thought. After a few moments, he whispered something to Little Strongheart, who became excited and rushed off somewhere into the herd.
"Changing pony, you have shown that you can at least keep your word to the buffalo."
Little Strongheart returned with a necklace in her mouth. It had feathers and beads on it, as well as a few of the turquoise gemstones the diamond dogs had been after.
"This is gift to you for helping buffalo," he explained as Strongheart put it on me. "You are recognized as ally of buffalo. We will honor you by not turning you over to ponies. May the great spirits go with you, and may you continue keeping your promises."
"I intended to, Chief Thunderhooves," I told him, then turned to his daughter, "and thank you, Little Strongheart, for believing me when none of the other buffalo would."
She smiled at me and nodded. I nodded in return, then I buzzed my wings and took off for Equestria...
...and then set back down and disguised as Prickly Pear before I got too close.
"Those dreadful ruffians!" Rarity spat out as she heard Thorax finish his story regarding the diamond dogs and buffalo. "Threatening Chief Thunderhooves and his buffalo for a few turquoise gems!"
"You actually turned into a dragon and scared them off?" Fluttershy asked Thorax.
"I did," he answered, "and the buffalo were gracious enough to let me go."
"And ya started headin' on in towards Appleloosa?" Applejack finished.
Thorax gave a nod. "I got to Appleloosa sometime around midday, but my arrival didn't really go smoothly."
"How come?"
"Well, I arrived in an apple orchard and... they accused me of stealing."
"They thought you was tryin' ta take apples?!"
"They did, but I was able to convince them otherwise. In fact, thinking on it now, I did meet your cousin Braeburn, because he was the one that accused me of stealing apples."
I was approaching the town of Appleloosa when I came across a fairly strange sight to see in a desert - an apple orchard. To the left and right of a fairly wide path leading towards the main part of town were large apple trees, all of them full of big red apples, which at that point in time, meant they were ready to be harvested.
Feeling my body begin to ache from the exertion I had earlier, I decided to stop under the shade of one of the large apple trees. As I laid down in the shadow created by the canopy, my sight caught one of the fruits on the ground; some small marks told me that a squirrel or critter of a similar size had likely knocked it down in an effort to eat the rather delicious-looking fruit.
In fact, looking at it had got my appetite going, though mine unfortunately wasn't for apples.
I decided to pick up the fruit and look it over in my hooves. The skin was flawless, save for the aforementioned marks from the small animals. It had a stem with a pair of leaves poking out from it, and felt fairly firm, but with some give to it. Going from memory, what I observed meant that the apple was ripe and ready for eating.
"DROP THAT APPLE, YA DANG THIEF!"
I jumped up from my spot and looked around in fear and confusion. Soon enough, I sensed anger approaching me very quickly, and before I could react, a hoof had pushed me back up against the tree I was relaxing under.
"WHAT ARE Y'ALL DOIN' TRYIN' TA TAKE OUR APPLES?!" the voice accused me.
I finally laid eyes on my accuser, who turned out to be an earth pony stallion with yellow coat, dirty blonde mane and tail, wearing a cowboy hat and vest, and a large red apple adorning his flanks.
"SPEAK UP!" he shouted at me, a scowl plastered on his face.
"I-I wasn't stealing-"
"HORSEAPPLES!" he interrupted, practically spitting on my face. "I FIND Y'ALL IN OUR ORCHARD AND YA IS HOLDIN' AN APPLE LOOKIN LIKE YA READY TA EAT IT! Y'ALL DIDN"T DO ANYTHIN' TO HAVE A RIGHT TA JUST TAKE AN APPLE AN' EAT IT!"
"I wasn't stealing!" I attempted to defend myself. "Honest I wasn't!"
"Then what was ya doin'?" he asked me, starting to calm down a bit.
"I was walking from Dodge Junction when I came across this orchard."
"Y'all walked here from Dodge Junction?" he parroted with a raised eyebrow, then shook his head. "If that's the truth, then y'all is either not afraid of anythin' or just plain dumb. Them grounds between Dodge Junction and this here orchard is the territory of the buffalo; it's their stampedin' grounds."
"It is?" I asked, trying to make it sound like I genuinely didn't know.
"Eeyup. They ain't too fond of ponies walking through during their stampedin' time, even if we all made peace a while back."
"I didn't know," I told him, this time meaning what I had said; I really hadn't known the first time. "I meant what I said, though. I came here from Dodge Junction and was hoping to find Appleoosa."
The stallion's demeanor changed from skeptical and angry to excitement. "Well why didn't ya say so? This here orchard is right on the outskirts of AAAAAPLELOOOOOSSSSSAAAAA!"
...What?
"My name's Braeburn, and on behalf of Appleloosa, let me give ya a better welcome than I did a moment ago."
Braeburn extended a hoof to me, to which I cautiously offered my own. He proceeded to tap mine and then wrap one of his forelegs around me.
"I don't know if y'all plan on stayin', but this here town is grownin' into a mighty fine place to live, and if y'all is lookin' fer work, then ya got here just in time!"
"What kind of work?"
Braeburn had a good laugh at my question. "If ya would just take a look around, I think ya can figure it out fer yerself."
I look at the trees again and realize that the stallion is referring to the harvest of this year's crop of apples.
"So you need ponies to pick the apples?"
"HA! Hay no! We don't pick apples. We buck 'em!"
"...Huh?"
After hearing that last bit, I had to wonder if this stallion had some unusual preferences in regards to fruit, and how it was consumed.
"I'm talkin' about Apple Buckin'," he went on to explain. "That's when ya go up to a tree full of ripe apples and give it one, good, swift kick!"
Braeburn punctuated his statement by turning around, rearing up his hind legs, and jamming them as hard as he could into the trunk of the tree. The impact shook the tree so hard that the ripe apples snapped off the limbs and fell to the ground.
"Now, normally, we have baskets set up to catch 'em when they fall, but I was just showin' ya how it's done. We can pick these ones up and take 'em in for cider pressin'."
"You can't just eat them?"
"Nnnope. Them apples hittin' the ground got bruises on 'em, and that makes the fruit not taste as good as they should, so we take 'em and press the juice outta 'em and make cider."
Braeburn then leans closer to me in a conspiratorial manner and adds, "we also take some of the cider and give it an edge, iffin' ya get mah meanin."
I've tried the kind of cider that Braeburn was talking about, but honestly, I didn't much care for it.
"So, if ya was lookin' fer work, we're gettin' ready for harvest season. Ya get twenty bits a day, along with three hots and a cot. Whaddaya say?"
Twenty bits a day, along with room and board, as well as meals. If I could sustain myself on normal food, I'd call it a pretty decent deal.
"That sounds like a good offer, but-"
"Then it's settled!" Braeburn exclaimed while cutting me off, not giving me the chance to refuse his offer.
"Yeah, Braeburn can get a bit pushy without meanin' to," Applejack confessed to Thorax.
"I didn't mind it so much," Thorax told Applejack. "In fact, the week or two I spent there did help me to acclimate better to Equestria. I just wish some things had went differently than they had at the time."
"Things went differently? How so?"
"Well... I was introduced to the farm hands that would be helping with the harvest."
"What's wrong with that? Ya ought ta get ta know yer coworkers."
"Oh, I knew him already. He called himself Fuzzy Peach, but his real name was Earwig."
"Yes, a changeling," Thorax confirmed. "He was a year or so older than me, and was a former bully of mine back in the hive. He quit once he was actually certified as an infiltrator, but as you can imagine, he didn't have any remorse for what he did, to me or to the ponies he's drained over the years."
"So what did you do about him?" Twilight asked.
"I didn't really do anything, honestly. He was actually working there just to get a few bits so he could move on somewhere else. Of course, just because I didn't do anything, doesn't mean that he didn't do something."
I was setting up my cot on the first day, putting sheets and pillows on it. I didn't really have any possessions besides that necklace Little Strongheart gave me, so once I finished, I went to find Braeburn to see what needed to be done.
That's how I ended up face first in the dirt with a sore muzzle.
"Whoopsie," I heard above me, turning to see "Fuzzy Peach" standing above me. He sneered when nopony was looking and trotted off, satisfied with his little taunt of me.
I got off the ground and rubbed my nose, examining my hoof and seeing no blood on it. I didn't see where he went off to, so I just left it go and went to the orchard so I could start working.
I spent the day working there and getting a decent haul compared to the other, more experienced ponies. By mid day, I filled the cart that took the apples back to the barn for sorting about halfway full. When lunch was called, I went in with the others, but saw Earwig with a mare just barely out of fillyhood. They went off to another part of the orchard, and I knew right away what was happening.
When I next saw them, the filly looked quite tired, and kept rubbing at her temples. Ultimately, she asked Braeburn if she could finish early due to her current state, and he agreed, seeing she wasn't in the best condition, even commenting that several ponies seemed to be feeling that way as of late.
I frowned, but didn't say anything. Ratting on Earwig would've blown my cover, and I didn't want to risk getting ran down by Braeburn or another pony and hauled off to a prison or a dungeon, so I tried to think on what I could do to discourage him from feeding.
Being honest, I probably would've had better luck bathing a cat.
That evening, as I was asleep, I could hear a pony having what sounded like a nightmare. When I looked up to see what was happening, I could see a pink glow in the room. That glow told me enough about what was happening, and I elected to confront him before he could do more harm.
"Earwig."
The changeling, hearing his real name, stopped and looked at me, his eyes glowing blue and glaring at me.
"Beat it, grub!" he hissed. "This one's mine!"
"No, it's not."
"You gonna fight me for it?"
"No, I'm not."
"Then get lost!" he ignored me and resumed feeding, the pink glow emanating from the pony, who reacted with their moans indicating another nightmare.
"Earwig, stop! You're gonna call attention to yourself like this!"
He cut off the flow and glared at me again. "Do I look like I care what you think, grub? What are you even doing out here? You never completed infiltrator training!"
"I have my reasons."
The glare he had widened upon my saying that. "Your reasons? I didn't know the queen superceded giving orders and let changelings act of their own volition."
"She didn't."
"You left the hive?! You damn traitor!"
He moved to attack me, but I closed the distance and stopped him.
"You really wanna start a fight in here and expose us both?"
Earwig considered what I'd said for a moment, and then backed off, returning to his bunk a little further away. Before he got under the covers, he shot me one last glare, and a warning.
"Better grow a pair of eyes in the back of your skull, Thorax. You're gonna need 'em."
"That sounds awful," Fluttershy said while shivering.
"Yeah, that's totally not cool," Rainbow chimed in. "Tell me you did something the next day."
"I didn't,” Thorax replied. “It wasn't that I didn't want to; I just wasn't sure how to let him know without blowing my cover."
"Would blowin' yer cover really ah been that bad?" Applejack asked.
"At that moment, it would have. I know what I said about wanting to be friends with ponies in my natural form, like I have been for a little while now, but at that time, it wouldn't have been a good idea, especially with Braeburn."
"Aw, it couldn't have been that bad." Pinkie commented.
"It was that bad. When I even slid mention of changelings in conversation, his mood soured faster than a glass of milk left out on a hot day, and he told me there was a special spot in the orchard he would bury "them dang varmints that tried ta hurt mah cousin"."
Applejack shivered upon my perfect impersonation of her cousin's voice. "Yeah, that was probably a good idea ya wasn't so forthcomin' about what ya is. I ain't exactly a fan of lyin', but I know that tone ah voice. Mah cousin wasn't jokin' none when he done said that."
"Yeah. Even without being able to sense his emotions, I could tell he was serious."
"So what did you do?" Pinkie asked.
"Well, nothing happened for a few days, but then there was a day when Braeburn assigned Fuzzy Peach, myself, and another pony to work in a part of the orchard further out. What happened... wasn't good."
"Fuzzy" volunteered to work on the set of rows furthest out, and the other pony with us decided to do the middle rows while I took care of the ones closest to the main house and barn. I made an argument about taking the middle rows, and ultimately convinced the pony to take the ones they wanted me to do originally.
Earwig couldn't have cared any less. If the pony took the rows, that was a chance for him to drain that pony and come after me with as much magic as he wanted, and with me taking the middle rows, he could take care of me and have the pony for dessert. I figured that if I took the middle, I could kick up enough fuss for that pony to get away.
We set to work, going to our individual rows. Earwig gave me a sinister smile before disappearing behind some of the trees he was meant to work on. The other pony moved towards the house and the rows they agreed to take care of. I set up my baskets and got to work, but kept my head on a swivel, looking around me and watching in the trees to make sure I wouldn't be ambushed.
Things were okay for about an hour or so. I got full baskets and put them onto the cart, and would occasionally see the pony out helping us. She was a mare, and a fairly large one at that. Sky blue coat with silvery-white mane and tail pulled back into a ponytail and had a cutie mark of a pie with whipped cream on top.
We would talk occasionally, commenting on the heat and whatnot, but never said too much. She would offload her baskets and then go back with empty ones. I'd do the same, but when I came back the last time, I saw her there putting her baskets onto the cart, but they didn't look nearly as full as they should.
"You doin' okay?" I asked her as I walked up.
The response I got was for her to turn around, her eyes black as night and her mouth full of sharp teeth.
I jumped backwards and fell, letting out a shout as I did. I ended up leaned back against the tree behind me, where I felt something drip on my head. I looked up and saw the mare inside a cocoon, disguised just enough by the canopy that I didn't notice it before.
"I told you you should've grown eyes in the back of your skull, grub!" Earwig shouted as he pounced at me. His yell gave me enough warning to roll out of the way and make a break for it, calling out to the house and barn for help.
Earwing tackled into me from behind, hitting me hard enough to lose my breath momentarily.
"Not today, you turncoat!" he spat at me, rolling me over to look me in the face. "Those ponies aren't gonna help you, not after I expose you for what you are."
He was pressing down hard into my chest, making it hard to breath. I struggled against him, trying to think of a way to get him off of me. When I felt my hoof hit against a tree, I got an idea. With what strength I could muster, I gave the tree as hard a shot as I could.
A flurry of apples rained down on Earwig, hitting him hard enough to distract him. I quickly pushed him off of me and got to my hooves. With only one chance and little time to act, I reared up and shot my legs back with as much force as I could.
I felt the contact and heard how hard my kick connected. Then, I heard a thud, followed by a series of additional thuds. Turning around, I saw Earwig laying on the ground, unconscious and covered in apples.
"What the hay is goin' on over here?"
I looked to see Braeburn come running up. Thinking quickly, I came up with a story, which was mostly true.
"A changeling tried to attack me! He wrapped up Dessert in a cocoon in one of the trees and turned into her, then he tried to get me!"
Braeburn saw Earwig and scowled. "I guess I should get some ropes on that varmint and turn him into the sheriff. We'll have to find out where he stashed Fuzzy Peach."
"If there is a Fuzzy Peach," I countered. "I've heard of changelings coming up with original pony identities and backstories before."
"Have ya?" he says to me with a suspicious look.
"Yeah, they have. I think it's because they're afraid of not copying a pony good enough to fool their friends. You know, like how that queen didn't do a good enough job pretending to be Princess Cadance and got found out by that Sparkle pony?"
Braeburn thought on it for a second and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose that sorta makes sense. Well, I'll deal with this one. You see if ya can get Dessert outta the tree and we'll cut her out of that thing."
"We got Dessert down and out of the cocoon,” Thorax concluded. “Unfortunately, when she came around, she was feeling really weak, so I knew that he took some love out of her before he wrapped her up. Braeburn caught him coming to, and..."
"And what?" Rarity prodded.
"Let's just say that place in the orchard Braeburn was talking about almost got its first permanent resident."
Each of the mares shivered at the implication.
"He didn't hold back, did he?" Applejack asked, as if she knew the answer.
"I don't think I've ever seen a changeling that was happy to see royal guards. He didn't even fight when they took hold of him to put him in the cart to haul him off to jail."
"I never heard of a changeling submitting like that," Starlight commented.
"Normally, they don't, but with the state he was in, Earwig didn't have much choice in the matter. From what I've heard, the guard has to offer medical assistance to prisoners, regardless of their personal feelings."
"They do," Twilight confirmed. "So, what happened after Earwig was taken away?"
"Dessert was laid up in bed for a day or two, but when she finally recovered enough, she told us what happened. According to her, Earwig disguised himself as a basket and attacked her when she went to pick it up. After he drained her, he said about 'finding that traitor' and cocooned her. Braeburn wasn't sure what the traitor comment meant, but figured it meant there was another changeling about. I stuck around until the harvest was done with and collected my pay, and eventually made my way out of Appleloosa and further into Equestria."
"I didn't have anything significant happen to me for a few weeks, but that changed when I got to a big city in the western skies."
"Big city in the western skies?" Rainbow repeated in confusion. After a few moments, her eyes went wide and she looked at me in surprise. "You mean...?"
"YOU were in Las Pegasus?! The unofficial party capital of Equestria?!"
Pinkie gawked wide-eyed at Thorax, hearing the changeling had visited the one city that she had wanted to more than any other.
"I did," Thorax answered, "and that place was just a bit too wild for my liking."
"Ah can imagine," Applejack said with a chuckle. "Them folks aren't of the 'early to bed, early to rise' sort."
"No, they aren't, and they certainly aren't of the sort for quiet reading either."
"Hay no!" Rainbow exclaimed. "That place never sleeps. All the games, the food, and the entertainment. A changeling could probably sustain itself on just the overall atmosphere."
"You have no idea how right you are, Rainbow Dash. I was surprised that I didn't see any drones there when I passed through."
"I know it isn't quite the right scene for you," Rarity interjected, "but surely you found something to enjoy doing there."
Thorax became a bit sheepish and looked away.
"Well... I did get kinda good at playing the card games."
Wandering around Las Pegasus, I was taken in by all the lights. There had to have been thousands, maybe even millions of them all across the city!
Fortunately, I'm not overly photo-tactic, but to say they didn't get my attention and hold it every few seconds would be an outright lie.
Ultimately, I decided to keep my field of view lower to the ground, lest I be standing there for so long I lose my disguise and cause a panic. I trekked along, looking at the names for some of the places:
The Hot Hoof
The Princess's Parlor
Lucky Duck's
Dueces Wild
I blinked for a moment as I took in the names. What kind of things went on at these businesses? Were they on the level, per se? Could I get in with no problems?
But most importantly for me - Would they be able to identify a changeling, even through a disguise?
I couldn't just walk through this place and not see something; it would be a wasted opportunity. So, with that in mind, I picked a place that looked like some of the other ones, but was a fair bit smaller.
The name on the sign out front said The Velveteen, with a large rabbit standing behind it, its paw waving with a carrot held in its grip. I walked through the door and was greeted with a large floor space, and on that space were rows of tables, each of them having some kind of game being played at them.
There was one where a large wheel spun, another with a smaller wheel built into the table, one with walls that players threw a pair of dice at, and several tables with a variety of different card games going on.
"Need some help, sweetie?"
I jumped a little and turned towards the voice. It was a mare in what looked like a pair of gardener's overalls, but the legs in the back were far too short for that. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd think they were made to accent her backside.
Shaking my head, I answer her question. "It's my first time being in a place like this."
"A newbie!" she said as she moved a little closer. "Well, how about I give you a little tour, hmm?"
"Uh, okay."
"Great!" she exclaimed as she then led me by the hoof past all the tables, explaining each game. The first was called roulette, where a small wheel was spun and a white ball was tossed in. Players would then guess which color or number the ball would fall on, and stake a chip down on their guess, like a sort of money wagering.
Next was the large wheel, which was a game called Big Six. In that game, players guessed which number or color a needle would land on when the wheel was spun. If you landed on it, you got all the chips wagered on the table.
The dice game was called... well, it's not a nice word, but the mare did tell me it was sometimes called seven eleven. To play that... well, the rules are pretty complicated, but the general idea is you guess the outcome of the dice and wager on it. Some rolls are considered good, and others aren't.
After those were the card games. The first was stud, where you were dealt an amount of cards, and had to decide whether your hand was good enough to beat other players, or if you needed to get new cards to build a better one. There was also one called Hold 'em, where you were dealt two cards, and then assembled your hand from a community of five cards held by the dealer. There was also blackjack, where the goal was to get as close to 21 without going over, and closer than any other players. You were dealt two cards, and had to decide whether you wanted an extra card by telling the dealer "hit me", or if you felt you were close enough that you didn't want to risk going over and held. In that one, if you got a king, queen, or jack, along with an ace, you won right away.
There were some other ones, but I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to them. In truth, I had seen the chips being placed on the tables, and players calling out excitedly when they won a large collection of them.
"Over here's the cage, where you get your chips for the games."
I was brought back to the mare leading me on the tour, realizing I had become too distracted by the fun that was being had by everypony in the place. Her hoof gestured directed me to a window in the wall. Set into the window was a set of holes in a sort of hexagonal pattern, and directly behind it was a mare wearing similar overalls to the one giving me a tour. She was taking a stack of bits from a stallion in a rather plush looking coat, and after a moment, produced a stack of chips on a tray, placing them inside a box and pressing a button, causing a door to open up and allow the stallion to get his chips.
I watched the exchange and was still confused as to why the use of chips, until I saw another stallion with a big stack of chips walk up to the window and set them down. He said something to the mare, who nodded and pressed the button, allowing the stallion to place his chips inside the box. The door then closed and the mare took the chips, counting them and then walking away for a moment, returning with a small sack that she placed into the box. Once it opened, the stallion collected the sack and looked inside, then gave a nod and walked away, a very clear jostling of bits audible to me as he passed by.
It finally clicked in my mind; this place was a gambling parlor, and these ponies were playing these games to win money.
"Curse Nightmare Moon's flank!" I suddenly heard, directing my attention to a stallion who was walking away from a roulette table, where the pony running it was raking a pile of bits towards them.
"Sorry, sir," the pony called to him, "but maybe you'll come back and have better luck."
"And maybe Princess Luna will appear in your dreams and scold you for rigging the game!" the stallion spat back, still upset at his sizable loss, or at least what I thought was probably a sizable loss.
"Some folks just can't take losing," the tour mare commented as she then walked over to a set of stairs. "These lead up to the hotel. If you need a room, I'd go up there and book it while you still got bits to book it with."
"R-Right, thanks."
The mare walked away as I went and got the room I would keep for the night, but I didn't actually sleep; it was too loud to even fathom falling asleep. Rather, I spent darn near the whole night sitting on a bed, partially in the disguise I was using, and then in my natural form after I had closed the window blinds, wondering whether I should stay here for a bit and try to have some fun, or move on before I got in over my head.
"So did you?"
Thorax looked up to see Pinkie looking at him, her head cocked to the side like a puppy.
"I did, but I didn't stay long."
"How come?" Rainbow Dash asked me next.
"Well, part of it is because I was getting overwhelmed from all of the excitement, but the other part..."
Thorax trailed off, looking a bit nervous.
"It's okay, darling," Rarity reassured me, "you can tell us."
Looking around the table, the other mares gave him reassuring nods as well. Taking a breath, he came out with the truth.
"Part of me leaving was getting overwhelmed, but the other part? Well, I got on the bad side of some ponies."
"You got on the bad side of ponies?" Twilight asked in confusion. "What ponies?"
"The Scelus Familia."
Everypony at the table blanched upon hearing the name.
"Y'all got in trouble with them..." Applejack started, but didn't finish. Thorax, however, finished for her.