> Thorax's Visit to Ponyville
>  by origami
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Arriving
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Next stop - Ponyville Station!"

I looked at the conductor as he moved down the aisle between all of the seats on the train.  He was alerting the passengers who were meant to get off the train at this stop.  It was my stop as well, and it made me rather nervous to finally be here after so long.

Back during Hearth's Warming, Princess Twilight, my friend Spike's surrogate mother/older sister, had told me that the town of Ponyville would be agreeable to letting me visit them and do so without having to disguise my changeling appearance.  Hearing that I could visit the town and just be my real self was wonderful news to hear, but knowing that I would also be getting to spend some time with my first true friend made it even better.

Of course, there were some conditions I had to follow in order to come visit Ponyville.  I was to be escorted by a guard, and I had to make the trip here in my Crystal Hoof disguise.  Those two conditions had been insisted upon by both Princess Cadance and her husband Prince/Captain Shining Armor.

Thinking of the captain also reminded me of how much things had changed since I first arrived in the Crystal Empire some time ago.  He had not trusted me from the first moment we met, and had only agreed to go along with his wife's wishes that I be allowed to stay so he could keep his eye on me.

It was like that for a while.  I would be followed by guards wherever I went, and Shining had made a point to pick out the ones who would act the most obstinate towards me and my goals.

All of that changed the day of Hearth's Warming, when I had presented a portrait of the royal family I had made as a gift.  Princess Cadance had loved the product of my hard work, and showed it by showering me in affection.  Princess Flurry Heart, though too young to truly and fully appreciate the piece, also enjoyed the portrait, and had even tried to be a bit more hooves on with it than an adult would.

Shining Armor...

The stallion had mixed feelings.  Initially, he didn't want to accept that I had actually painted the portrait, and was also rather upset that I had used my transformation magic to accomplish the level of detail and accuracy that I required to do the ponies justice on canvas.  As the day progressed, however, his viewpoint changed.  Instead of outright hostility, he appeared to be confused and in deep thought.  By that evening, he had come to my quarters and apologized for his behavior, truly thanking me for the portrait and showing his appreciation.

He also apologized for his mistrust and treatment of me since I first came to the empire, and made a promise to improve his behavior towards me going forward.  In the months that followed, he had held to his promise, and spoke to me more positively than before.  He even included me in different activities, such as games with his family.  I enjoyed most of the things he included me in, but his insistence that we have sparring sessions together was one I wasn't fond of.

Despite being roughed up by Shining Armor during these sparring sessions, he did offer his opinion on how I should improve my fighting technique, and as time went on, I did get better at defending myself.  There were even a few times where I was actually able to beat the stallion, but those times often resulted in an immediate rematch afterwards where he would go harder on me than before and my victory would be short lived.

The sparring sessions often led me to thinking of what my clutch mate Pharynx would think of me being trained in fighting by the pony captain.  A part would probably have some kind of praise at actually performing better than I had in the hive, but he would definitely not be fond of me learning combat techniques from a pony.

I also thought of what Queen Chrysalis would think of my current situation, but I often dismissed those thoughts rather quickly.  I was happy where I was now, and as far as I was concerned, her opinion of my life didn't matter anymore.

Bringing my mind back to where I was and what I was going to be doing, I nervously fidgeted in my seat as the guard beside me gathered his belongings.  His collection of items included a bag set up for a week-long stay, a camera for some sightseeing, and his guard equipment.  He made a gesture for me to grab my belongings, including my painting supplies and a sack with several canvases inside.

Once I had my belongings, I felt the train come to a stop.  Looking out the window, I saw the station and platform.  There were a few ponies standing there, some were waiting for the departing ponies to get off the train, while some others were holding signs and looking around in an effort to find ponies that were disembarking.  The guard beside me gave a nudge and indicated for me to follow him.

We disembarked the train and stepped down onto the wooden platform.  Looking around, I could see some of the forests that covered the area.  None of them looked like the dark and ominous Everfree Forest that I'd been told of by Sunburst and Twilight.  These were probably the Whitetail Woods, if my memory is serving me correctly.

"Th-Crystal Hoof!"

I heard that very familiar voice and turned to face Twilight Sparkle, my second friend after Spike.  The magenta mare with both wings and a horn trotted up to me and gave me a hug, which I returned in kind.  She released me from her hooves and looked at me with a smile.  "It's so good to see you again" she told me.  "How have you been?"

"A lot better since Hearth's Warming" I tell her honestly.  "Shining Armor has put aside a lot of his mistrust and started giving me more benefit of the doubt.  He's even included me in a few different activities, both with his family and just with him."

"That's good to hear" she responds.  "Anyway, we need to get moving.  Mayor Mare said she wanted to meet with you as soon as you got here."

"Really?" I respond.  "Why does she want to meet with me so bad?"

"She wants to talk to you and find out some information to help her write her speech" she replies.  "I don't know when she plans on doing it exactly, but I'm pretty sure she wants to introduce you to the town as soon as she possibly can."

I frown a little upon hearing that.  My hope was that I could settle in on the first day and clear my mind so I can be completely prepared for when I would be introduced to the town.  Apparently, I was going to be rushed into it a little sooner than I had expected.

Twilight took notice of my demeanor and called me out on it.

"You're nervous about meeting the mayor?" she asked, but honestly knew the answer already.

"Mostly about meeting the whole town without being disguised," I confessed, "but I am nervous about meeting the mayor too.  Honestly, I was hoping I could use the rest of today to calm myself down and settle in.  The trip here from the Crystal Empire was pretty long."

Twilight gave me a sympathetic look.  "I understand," she told me, "but these questions are important.  Even though I've told everypony about you, there's a chance that some of them thought what I was talking about was just something 'in theory', and not something that could actually happen.  If that's something that's true for even a fraction of the town, revealing you could cause a panic that could end up with ponies getting hurt."

"The mayor's speech is going to be really important when you're actually introduced to the town properly.  If she can convince everypony that they are going to be meeting a real changeling and that everything is safe, then the chance of a panic happening really goes down."

"I tried to convince her to get whatever information that she wanted from me, but she insisted that she speak with you.  She wants to hear the information straight from you."

"I promise that the mayor will only ask you a few questions, then we can be on our way to my castle.  Okay?"

"I suppose," I finally relented, "but you are going to stay with me during the interview, right?"

Twilight nodded.  "Of course" she replied.  "I wanted to sit in on the interview in case there was any information that you would share with her that I didn't already have.  I'm hoping that with all the info, I can write a report to Princess Celestia and Luna in Canterlot, and they can use it in an effort to try and start diplomatic relations with the changelings."

My hopes were high upon hearing her enthusiasm, but they were quickly brought down like a balloon that had suddenly been filled with lead.  The queen would never hear of piece with creatures she considered prey.

"Chrysalis won't let you do that" I said to her, with perhaps a little more of an edge than I'd intended.

"Then perhaps we can convince the other changelings that living under her rule will be bad for their future and making peace with Equestria would be a more beneficial alternative?"

"Maybe," I relented, "but it would have to be a very convincing argument.  I know from experience that drones and commanders are pretty obstinate.  Without joking, you may find persuading a brick wall to be easier."

"Well, I'm still gonna try!" she declared with a hoof stomp, sending a small cloud of dust into the air as she did so.  "Anyway, we should get going.  I told the mayor I would get you to her as soon as possible, and if we take too long, she might begin to think a changeling army is starting to replace the town."

That was enough motivation for me.  "What are we waiting around for then?" I asked in a panic.  "Let's get going!"

I broke out into a full gallop as my mind created an image of a pony scowling at me and ordering guards to toss me in a dungeon.  After a moment, I noticed a glow around me and felt my hooves leave the ground.  I turned back to see Twilight with her horn lit up, and the guard sent along with me giving a disapproving glare.  The princess brought me back in front of her and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Nopony knows who or what you are yet," she told me, "which means nopony thinks you're the herald for a changeling invasion, so just calm down and stay with me, okay?"

Her voice had helped calm my nerves, and the faint trickle of sympathy from her also helped steady my resolve.  A part of me felt guilty for feeding off my friends, but they told me that allowing me to do that was how they showed their friendship towards me, aside from the usual stuff.  After all, would a friend let another friend go hungry?

I gave her a nod and breathe slowly in order to calm myself down.  "Okay," I answered, "I'll stick with you.  Lead on."

Twilight gave a nod and trotted past me on the way towards town.  The guard, who moved up beside me, was still giving me a disapproving look, but said nothing else.  I got the feeling he wasn't too happy with me at the moment, but I guess I couldn't blame him too much.  If Twilight hadn't been here, I would've probably been making his job of keeping an eye on me that much harder.

I quickly followed along, slightly faster than a trot so that I could catch up to the two ponies ahead of me.  As I eventually caught up, I took the time to look around at the town.  The main street was cobblestones, with houses that had exposed building frames and thatched roofs made with golden straw.  Some of the buildings had housed businesses in addition to homes.

Looking down one street, I recognized a building that resembled a large gingerbread house; that was Sugar Cube Corner, the bakery where Pinkie Pie lived and worked.  She once said that the sweets made there were the best in Equestria; quite a bold statement on the surface.

Down another street was Carousel Boutique, Rarity's business and home.  It was here the fashion-minded pony weaved her magic with swaths of fabric and gemstones of all sorts.

I knew nothing of fashion, but she once told me that my natural form would be ideal for a tuxedo, whatever that was.  All I knew about fashion is that some ponies dressed up all the time as a symbol of status, and sometimes all ponies dressed up for special occasions, but most ponies simply went around without clothes most of the time.

In all honesty, I found Rarity being an aspiring fashion designer to be a bit confusing; for all the clothing she made, I cannot recall having ever seen her wearing any clothing outside winter hats and scarves.

I pushed the thoughts from my head as we approached a large round building at the center of town.  "This must be town hall" I thought as we got closer.  Before Twilight got her castle, this had to be the tallest building in town.

Twilight had walked right up to the door and rapped her hoof on it loudly.  A few moments later, and a mare with a gray mane opened the door and answered.

"Princess Twilight!" exclaimed the mare, who quickly moved out of the way.  "Come inside, please!"

The princess gave her a thank you and walked through the open door.  I followed her, and the guard followed behind me.  As I walked inside, I gave a quick glance to the mare, who I deduced was the mayor I was supposed to speak with.  She gave no outward reaction towards me, but I could feel her nervousness as I walked past.  I suppose any behavior besides screaming and hiding or being bludgeoned with the nearest blunt object was a good sign.

As I walked past the door, I took in the building's interior.  If I understood the structure of the building correctly, the exterior portion acted as a hallway in which all of the other rooms could be accessed.  The rooms inside effectively served as a "middle ring" of sorts, and the remaining interior was a swirling stairway which led to an observation deck and the roof, where anypony, though presumably the mayor most of the time, could view the town and surrounding area from.

The mayor shut the door and moved past us, using her hoof to gesture at us to follow her.  Twilight followed, as did I and the guard.  We passed one door and came upon the next one, which the mayor opened and stepped inside, ushering us to follow her.

Upon entering, we found ourselves in the mayor's office.  On one side was a table with several books between a pair of book ends modeled after the princesses; one was white and gold, the other was a very dark midnight blue with silver flashing meant to make the mane look as though it were a field of stars.  Looking to the other side, I saw several filing cabinets, including a short one with long drawers that were rather thin, which told me that it held maps of the town, blueprints for all the buildings, or most likely both.

The last wall had the town seal, which was a golden oak leaf with a heart on the left side and a hoof print on the other.  In front of the wall sat the desk of the mare, with two baskets full of paperwork sitting on one side, and a quill set on the other.

The mayor took her seat and motioned for us to take ours.  Twilight sat down, and then I followed.  The guard escorting me looked around before he saw a chair in one corner of the room and brought it over to sit down between us.

Once everypony and myself were seated, the mayor looked at me but addressed Twilight.  "So," she began, "am I correct in assuming this is our changeling from the Crystal Empire?"

"Yes," Twilight affirmed, "this is Thorax."

"Hello" I said to her, waving my hoof just a bit.

"Er, yes" she responded a bit sheepishly, but returned the wave.  "Hello to you too."

I could tell she was still nervous, but I could also sense her desire to push past that.  Though it made me feel better, I didn't show it outwardly.  If I was making headway in gaining trust, I didn't want to do something to undo the work I had already accomplished.

Twilight elected to break the small silence that formed after our greeting.  "Thorax has been living in the Crystal Empire for some time now," she told the mayor, "and my brother and sister have been showing him all he's ever wanted to know about friendship."

That remark caught the mayor off guard.  "Your brother and sister?"

"I know" Twilight responded.  "You'd think they'd be the last ponies in all of Equestria that would want anything to do with changelings after what happened at their wedding, but with a little convincing, they agreed to let him stay, and have been showing him all about friendship and harmony, with a little help from a stallion named Sunburst as well."

The mayor mulled over what Twilight told her, and then shot her a small smirk.  "I thought teaching ponies about friendship was your whole shtick?"

"It is," Twilight replied sheepishly, "but I didn't think I could bring a changeling back here to Ponyville and be able to teach him all he needed to know about friendship, not without it cutting into my other duties, and all of the unknowns at the time."

"Besides, it was probably better for him to stay in the empire anyhow."

The mayor looked at Twilight with puzzlement, so the magenta mare explained.

"Well, changelings need to feed on love to live, and the Crystal Empire was so chock full of it that it had actually drawn him there to begin with.  However, Thorax wants to learn about friendship and not resort to stealing love from others, so since he's been staying there, he's been experimenting with ways to gather love that don't cause harm to other creatures."

Upon hearing that, the mayor turned towards me.  "And you have found some methods to do so?" she asked me.

I was still rather nervous, so my response was a bit rushed.  "I'm still experimenting, but the friendship Princess Twilight and the other element bearers share with me has helped me greatly, so you don't need to worry about me trying to harm any ponies here!"

The mayor looked at me skeptically, but the guard cleared his throat.  "I've been dispatched by Captain Shining Armor to keep a watch on this changeling," he informed her, "which means that he is my responsibility for the duration of time that we are here."

"You're a member of the guard?" The mayor asked, to which he replied with a nod.  "Do you believe there could be problems with having Thorax here?"

He shakes his head before answering.  "I don't believe any problems will arise, however."

The mayor digested that before letting out a breath.  "Well then," she responded, "I guess I can tell the town that they don't have to worry about being attacked while you're here."

"Well," Twilight interjected, "they don't have anything to worry about from Thorax.  Since Queen Chrysalis and the rest of her hive are still at large and unaccounted for, we should still remain vigilant."

That remark from Twilight had given me mixed feelings.  On one hoof, I could agree that everypony should keep their eyes open, lest Chrysalis find a way to get back into Equestria undetected.  On the other hoof, I felt a twinge of guilt for what had happened.  A part of me wished that I could go back in time and leave the hive before the wedding, travel the whole way to Canterlot and personally warn all of the princesses of what was coming.

"That is certainly a good idea" the mayor said, agreeing with Twilight's suggestion.  "I should probably emphasize the point of being vigilant when I do give my speech to the town."

"Just make sure everypony knows they have nothing to fear from Thorax" Twilight reminded her.

"I will certainly do that" the mayor replied.  She then looked at me and produced a notepad from her desk.  "Now, I don't believe that I've properly introduced myself.  I am Mayor Mare, elected mayor of the town of Ponyville."  As she finished the last portion of her sentence, she extended a hoof towards me.  I reached out my own and touched it with hers.

The mayor retracted her own hoof and prepared to write.  "Now, I have a few questions I would like to ask you."

I spent the next hour or so answering the various questions that the mayor had, from whether or not changelings consumed actual food in addition to feeding off of the love of other creatures to whether or not changelings had any sort of a culture.  I answered as best I could, but some things there just wasn't an answer for.  Once she was satisfied, she told us we could be on our way, but she did ask me to reveal myself so she could see my true form.  I did so, and learned that ponies still weren't used of the appearance of changelings; though she didn't run, she did flinch.

I changed back into Crystal Hoof, making a point to recommend that the mayor call me that until she told the town about me, and we all left for Twilight's castle.  As we walked, I couldn't help but notice that since arriving, I hadn't seen any of Twilight's friends.  I would've figured that we would have bumped into Rainbow Dash at least; she was a weather mare and also had a penchant for performing flying stunts.  Not seeing her doing loops and corkscrews in the air or pushing clouds about seemed odd.

I was going to ask Twilight where her friends might be, but she and the guard escorting me were having their own conversation.  Not wishing to be rude, I just elected to keep to myself until we got to Twilight's castle.  My question wasn't so important that it couldn't wait until we got there.

After a few more minutes of walking, we finally arrived at the castle that served as the residence of Equestria's newest princess.  Its massive crystalline structure was something to behold, and was starting to feel almost as intimidating as the Crystal Palace had felt the first time I had laid eyes on it.

Twilight trotted up the steps and opened the doors, beckoning the guard and myself inside.  As I walked in, I was greeted by even more ornate crystal decorating the walls and ceilings.  The building would not have looked out of place back home.

I paused at that last thought.  The Crystal Empire, a place with more love than I could ever recall feeling in my whole life, was my home.  It was still hard to believe after all the time that I spent there.

"You coming, Thorax?"

The question shook me from my thoughts.  I looked at Twilight, who was looking at me with a smile, but also giving me the feeling that she was waiting for a response.

"Sorry" I responded.  "Seeing this place made me think of the Crystal Empire, and I kind of got lost in my own mind for a minute."

The mare continued smiling as she offered a response to my own.  "That's okay" she reassured me.  "Sometimes this place can get a bit overwhelming.  I'll have to tell you the story about the my first few months living here.  That was quite a time for me and my friends."

"Speaking of friends," she continued, "I think there's some of them waiting for us."  She turned and continued trotting further into the castle, the guard following behind her, but not until he gave me a look that basically said "Don't get lost".  Not wanting to upset the guard that I was trusting my safety to, I quickly fell in behind them.

We walked a few more minutes until we came to a set of double doors.  Rather than opening them, Twilight turned to face me.  "Would you mind opening these doors, Thorax?"

I looked at her suspiciously for a moment.  There was no malicious intentions that I could find, but she was more than capable of opening the door herself.  My best guess was that she had some kind of surprise for me and was inviting me to "spring the trap" as it were.  I gave a nod and moved forward, placing my hooves on the door knobs and pulling them outwards.

As I opened the doors far enough to comfortably walk through them, I was assaulted by party streamers and confetti.  In a single second, I was covered head to hoof.  Once I could clear some things from my face, I looked into the room to see where it had all come from.

"SURPRISE!"

The shout had come from six pony mares.  I looked around at all of them and the room we had entered.  It was a room I was all too familiar with, even if I hadn't seen it for myself before.

An arrangement of six thrones sitting around a large crystalline table, upon which sat a magically projected map of all of Equestria.  This was the throne room, and that table was the friendship map.

I also saw another table off to the side, loaded with all manner of baked goods.  Besides that was a second table which held a multitude of drinks, including a small wooden barrel with an apple painted just above the tap; The Apple family's legendary cider, if I was to guess.

I then regarded the ponies in the room.  The five remaining element bearers and Princess Twilight's own protege looked back at me with smiles.

"Wow," I said while taking in the room, including the huge banner with the words "WELCOME TO PONYVILLE, THORAX!" written in large bright letters.  "You did all of this for me?"

Applejack gave a small chuckle.  "Pinkie Pie goes all out for a pony's welcome party."

"We hope that you like it" remarked Fluttershy, a slightly nervous look upon her face.  Of course, it was from being nervous and not from fear that I might drop my disguise and attack her.  There was a very clear distinction between the two.

"I do" I said as both a factual statement and as a means to assuage her nerves.  "Getting to be reunited with all of you has been the best thing to happen to me in quite some time."

Twilight raised an eyebrow.  "And what was the last best thing before this?" she asked.

"When Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor allowed me to stay in the Crystal Empire."

That may have been the very best thing to ever happen to me in my whole life, besides becoming friends with Spike.  When I heard the princess grant me permission to stay, and even apologize for not giving me the chance to prove my intentions were true, I practically jumped for joy.

"Yeah, that's probably the best thing that ever happened to ya, huh?" Applejack said with another small chuckle.

"Except for maybe becoming friends with Spike" I replied, voicing the thoughts I just had a moment ago.  It was then that I realized something.  "Where is Spike?"

I got my answer when something fell from the ceiling and right onto my back.  Fortunately my disguise protected my wings, but it did nothing about my knees buckling slightly because of the sudden extra weight, nor the rather undignified yelp I let out at the unannounced rider I now found on my back.

"Hey Thorax!"

All thoughts I had about the sudden weight on my back disappeared as soon as I heard that voice.  I looked back over my shoulder and saw him smiling back at me.  I got an ear to ear grin and flipped around so fast to catch the little dragon in a hug.  "Spike!"

We fell to the floor in a pile and laughed.  All around me, I sensed happiness and amusement, and a spike of worry that I could only assume was the guard wondering why I had suddenly tackled the baby dragon between my hooves.  I spared a quick glance to him, finding him held back by Twilight's hoof.

After a few more seconds, I released Spike and stood back up, offering a hoof to my first friend ever.  He took it and rose back up onto his feet, looking at me with a smile.

"It's good to see you again" he told me.

"It's good to see you too" I replied.

Some giggling caught my attention, and I turned to see the mares watching us with smiles, and Pinkie with a hoof over her muzzle.

"He's been waiting up there for a while" Twilight informed me.  "Rainbow convinced him that pouncing on you would be a good idea."

"And it was" Rainbow said in her defense.  "Pinkie got a kick out of it."

Pinkie was still fighting back a fit of giggling, apparently quite amused by Spike's sneak attack on me.  After a moment, I myself started to chuckle as well.  "That was a pretty good idea" I admitted to the pegasus, then turned back to Spike.  "Congratulations," I told him, "I don't think there's too many creatures that can claim they ambushed a changeling."

Spike let out a chuckle at that remark.  "Yeah, I suppose there aren't too many who have done that, huh?"

I just nodded my head in response.  I also left out the part that the ones who succeeded in getting the drop on a changeling had often made a meal of them shortly afterwards.  That's why squads were to never to become too separated from one another on missions, or at least that's what drill instructors in the hive had told us.

"Well," Twilight continued, "I believe we all were planning on a party with our newest friend, weren't we?"

Everypony was in agreement, especially me; I had yet to enjoy a real, well put together party.  Pinkie's little thrown together affair when we all first met each other was nice, but it was just a few streamers, balloons, a banner and some cake.  This was well thought out, with just about everything that I had come to learn was usually expected of a party.  I even saw a poster of a donkey without its tail and a table with several strips of paper made to look like a donkey's tail.

Once everypony had some food and something to drink, the party kicked off in full.  I enjoyed a small plate of various cupcakes, which I washed down with some of Applejack's cider.  I could honestly say that if I put a cup of that on top of my head, my tongue would beat my brains out to get to it.  The flavor was almost as good as the love I received from my friends, with the cupcakes being a close second to that.

As I ate, I wondered if my body was changing to allow me to digest food for nutrition, but I dismissed it just as readily.  I still had urges to feed, but they were getting lesser and lesser as time went on.  That's when another thought occurred to me: had I solved the problem of insatiable hunger that plagues my kind?

A tapping on my withers brought me out of my thoughts.  Standing in front of me was Starlight, who had a concerned look on her face.  "Something wrong, Thorax?" she asked me.

I shook my head.  "No, nothing's wrong" I answer her.  "Just lost in my thoughts."

"Twilight told me that happened to you earlier" she commented.  "I guess you've had a lot to think about since you first got here, huh?"

"Yes, I have" I admit, then elect to change the subject.  "Anyway, you were trying to get my attention a moment ago.  Was there something you wanted?"

I could feel nervousness coming off of Starlight like it was fog rolling off of water, but she nodded and asked me her question.  "I wanted to ask you about Sunburst" she tells me.  "I've written him several letters recently, but he hasn't responded to any of them.  Do you know what's going on with him?"

Her nervousness gives way to worry.  Not hearing from the bespectacled stallion for some time was clearly a cause for concern.  Thinking back on a conversation I had with Sunburst a few weeks ago allowed me to give the mare an answer to her question and a quelling of her fears.

"Yeah, I do" I admit to her.  "I was talking to Sunburst a few weeks ago and he told me he noticed that one of the letters that arrived for him at the palace had its seal removed.  According to what he told me, he was afraid that it was his mother trying to spy on him and take control of his life."

Starlight looked at me for a moment, and I had figured the mare would be somewhat surprised to hear the revelation.  Imagine my surprise when I am met with exasperation.  "Of course it would be Stellar" she says with a huff.

"Stellar?" I question, unfamiliar with the name.

"Stellar Flare" Starlight answers.  "She's Sunburst's mother.  She's a very driven pony and wants her son to be one as well.  She keeps getting after him because she's afraid he'll fall into a rut and not accomplish anything, so she keeps after him to do something with his life."

"That seems kinda wrong" I respond, fairly certain it's unfair to Sunburst that his mother keeps pushing him to do things.

"It is," Starlight admits, "but she means well.  She just has issues with boundaries is all.  He's probably afraid she'll try to push me onto him."

I look at her for a second with confusion, but then her eyes go wide and I feel a strong sense of embarrassment from her.  "N-Not like that!" she quickly corrects.  "I meant that she would pressure him into trying to start dating me or something."

"You really think she would do that?" I asked her.

Starlight nodded.  "Me and Sunburst were close when we were foals, which is kind of to be expected; our town wasn't very big and there weren't a lot of foals our age.  I think that Stellar would try to get him to ask me out because of how close we were then."

"Aren't you guys still close?" I asked.  "The last time I saw you two together, you both seemed to get along pretty good."

"We've reconnected, sure," she replied, "but it's been so long since we've seen each other.  Even now, we still have a lot to catch up on."

I nodded in understanding.  Truth be told, I suspected that Sunburst may actually have feelings for Starlight.  We had talked about friends on several occasions, and the more I mentioned her, the more red he became in the cheeks.  Speaking to Starlight now, I suspected our talk may have made her question her own feelings about the stallion.  A small part of me hoped they would confront these feelings in the future, if only to simply have them out in the open, should they decide they are simply crushes that wouldn't amount to anything if explored.  A part of me thought that I was being supportive of them in my thoughts, but then another part chastised myself for acting on more basic instincts to try and create love to feed on.

"Anyway," Starlight continued, "Twilight mentioned you celebrated Hearth's Warming with Cadance and Shining.  How did that go?"

"It was wonderful!" I replied with enthusiasm.  "We sat in a drawing room and stayed warm by a fire.  I got to watch Princess Flurry unwrap and play with her presents, and I even got to play with her a little bit too."

"Shining actually let you play with Flurry?" Starlight questioned.  It was understandable; she knew about Shining's feelings towards me at that time.

"Yeah" I answered.  "It took me by surprise too.  But, he had allowed it.  Actually, ever since Hearth's Warming, I've kinda became one of Princess Flurry's foal sitters."

"Really?" she said, her voice accented with a touch of disbelief.

I nod.  "Yeah, really.  I painted a portrait for the couple and gave it to them.  When Shining saw it, he started to reconsider his position that I was an enemy lying in wait for an opportunity to strike, and by the time the day was through, he decided to start trusting me more."

"Since then, we've been getting along much better.  Of course, it probably helps that we have sparring sessions and he gets to work out whatever negative feelings he has bottled up."

Starlight looked at me with surprise, and then a smirk.  "Thorax," she said in a teasing manner, "are you sure you're not fibbing to me to try and drum up some trust and love?"

I went flush and became nervous.  "Of course not!" I replied, "I would never do that to a friend!"

Starlight giggled a fair bit before answering.  "I know Thorax" she finally answered.  "It's just can't believe that Captain Shining Armor actually trusts you with his daughter."

"I didn't believe it either at first," I admitted, "but he went along with it at the insistence of Princess Cadance.  Since then, Flurry enjoys spending time with me, and I've grown to enjoy watching over her."

"Getting some easy love from a foal?" she asks in a teasing manner.

I become a bit defensive about that.  "No! Never!"

Starlight realizes what she had said and is sudden quite guilty.  "I'm sorry, Thorax.  I shouldn't have said that.  I know from experience what you're truly like and what I described is most certainly not you."

"It's okay" I reply as a calm myself down.  "It's just that I've been working so hard to shed the horrible stigma associated with my kind.  Hearing ponies still saying that feels like a set back to me."

"And I'll remember to be careful of what I say in our conversations from now on" she responds.  "You really are my friend, and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable around me.  Friends?"

She offers me a hug, which I accept.  As we embrace, I feel love coming of her and being directed towards me, and my body reacts by absorbing it, making the ever present dull ache of hunger quiet down for a while.

That had been a method of feeding I had discovered while staying in the Crystal Empire.

...Well, I didn't really discover it.  Changelings could always absorb love ambiently without ponies really knowing about it.  The problem was that one infiltrator could never absorb enough that way to bring back a sufficient quantity to feed the hive.  Even a whole squad could never provide enough from ambient feeding alone.

That's why the discovery of how much more potent freely shared love was so important.  Since the love being directed at me was much stronger than just generally amorous feelings in the air, ambient feeding became a much more filling method.  Perhaps if the hive knew of this, they might consider changing their tactics and work towards a better solution than the horrible methods they used now.

Starlight broke the hug and decided to continue the conversation.  "So, the princess and captain let you watch Princess Flurry Heart now?  That had to be a rather interesting learning process."

I nodded.  "It wasn't quite as hard as a normal foal, but with Flurry being an alicorn, it presented its own challenges."

Starlight caught the beginning of the sentence and looked at me with surprise.  "You have experience with foals?"

I considered how I wanted to answer Starlight's question.  I didn't want to lie, but I didn't exactly want to admit the truth.  Ultimately, I decided that coming out with the truth now would be better than keeping up a lie that could be exposed later.

"The only infiltration mission I was ever sent on was to an orphanage.  The headmare had had an accident on her way back from Fillydelphia and was killed, so I assumed her form and set up her retirement with a pony to replace her after two weeks."

Starlight listened to his explanation, and feelings of fear started to build up within her.  "You mean... you've preyed on foals?"

"No" I answer quickly.  "I would never do that.  I actually cared about those foals, and I made sure the pony that replaced them was going to care for them as much as the former headmare and I both did."

"But... you absorbed their love for the headmare, didn't you?"

I didn't answer verbally, but I gave a nod.  It was a past sin I still carried with me, knowing that I was nothing more than an impostor pretending to be the one pony that truly cared for those young colts and fillies, and feeding off the love and affection they so willingly provided that old mare.  Only my attack on Soothing Dusk was a greater sin than that.

"I don't blame you" Starlight told me, causing me some surprise.  "It's not exactly right," she continued, "but you were only doing it because you didn't want to starve, and you cared enough to make sure that somepony would be there to look after the foals when you left.  I imagine the other changelings would've never thought to do that."

"They would've swapped me out with another changeling, and one with much less compunction about draining foals than I do.  I at least made sure it was actually a pony taking my place before I disappeared into the shadows."

Before Starlight can ask or say anything further, Twilight walks up.  "So," she says to me, "giving away more changeling secrets again?"

"They're more my secrets than anything else" I admit to her.  "I'll tell you about them some other time."

Twilight gives me a look, but just nods.  "I'll hold you to that" she tells me.  "Anyway, we were just about to start playing some of the games.  Want to join us?"

A large smile crosses my muzzle.  "Of course!" I reply enthusiastically as I follow her over to the group gathered to play some games.





We played several party games, including the game on the wall I saw earlier, appropriately named Pin the Tail on the Donkey.  We all had fun and got to talking again.  Unfortunately, somepony looked at a clock and saw how late it was getting.

"Oh, my!" came a relatively loud exclamation from the normally quiet Fluttershy.  "Sorry girls, but I really need to get home now.  I'm taking care of an opossum family and they haven't eaten in a good while."

We all wave her goodbye, and she heads out the door.  Applejack follows shortly after her, making a comment about needing to get up early to take care of some farm stuff.  Pinkie, surprisingly, leaves after her, mentioning the need of some sleep so she can help get the bread ready at Sugar Cube Corner.  Rarity and Rainbow Dash are the last to leave, the dressmaker needing to fill an order and finish a wedding dress for a pony in Sire's Hollow.  I immediately recognize it as the town both Starlight and Sunburst are from.  Rainbow just wants to feed her pet tortoise and go to bed, looking a bit tired.

With those five gone, I was left in the company of Twilight, Starlight, Spike and the guard with me.  We all agree to go to bed and make our way to our rooms.  I walk with Spike and the guard assigned to me.  While he was initially quite wary of me, the guard started to relax and didn't seem as jumpy as he did before.  He was never truly afraid of me, but it was his nature to be a bit flighty and observant of everypony and every creature around him.  After all, his name was Vigilant Strategy.

Princess Twilight brought us back to my room for the night.  She bid us good night and requested Spike come with her, but he asked her for another minute so he could say good night to me; a request she granted without objection.  Giving us a smile, she turned and left for her own bedroom.

Spike turned back to me with a smile.  "It really is good to see you again" he tells me.

"I know," I say in agreement, "and it feels so different being here.  It's like being back in the Crystal Palace, but it isn't at the same time."

Spike chuckles a bit.  "I know what you mean.  If the crystal was white, I couldn't tell the difference."

"Well, I guess we should get to bed" I say to Spike.  "I imagine it's quite probable that the mayor will want to introduce me sometime tomorrow."

"Yeah" the little dragon agrees.  "Just remember: You have friends that are here for you, and we'll make sure you stay safe from anypony that might think it'll be a good idea to get revenge for the royal wedding by attacking you, or anything else for that matter."

I smile at him.  "Thank you, Spike.  It really does mean a lot to me."

The dragon smiles, and then lets out a yawn.  "Wow," he says, "I didn't realize how tired I feel.  I guess I'll just head to bed now."

I'm suddenly confronted with a yawn myself.  "Me too" I respond.  "I better get in bed before I end up falling asleep on my hooves."

"Yeah" Spike agrees.  "Good night!" Spike says and then turns to go to his room.

"Good night!" I call back and then head into my room for the night.

The room itself is rather nice; at least as nice as my room back in the Crystal Empire.  There's a bed with fresh linens, a writing desk with a magic powered lamp, a dresser for some extra sheets and some pony clothing, and then a bathroom with both a large tub and a shower, as well as a vanity with an ornate sink and small medicine cabinet to one side.

Resting on the bed, I unpack the few things I brought with me and I find places for them.  I set up my easel in one corner of the room, and prop my canvases against the wall behind it.  I put my sketch pads on the writing desk, along with my graphites and the small sharpener Princess Cadance was nice enough to give me.  Lastly, I take my toiletries and put them in the bathroom in the shower and on the vanity.

Now that all of my things are where I'd like them to be, I find myself so tired as quite literally falling asleep on my hooves.  Walking over towards my bed, I begin listing to one side and trip over a rug that had rolled up a bit.  Fortunately, Vigilant lives up to his namesake and races over to catch me.

"Thanks" I tell him as he helps me back up.  "I guess I should've went to bed and worried about unpacking in the morning."

"It's not a problem" Vigilant responds.  "We've all had a busy day, so it's probably for the best that we all go to sleep."

I nod my head in agreement, but then realize something.  "Where are you going to sleep."

Vigilant gestures to his bags.  "I brought a cot with me.  Princess Cadance said Princess Twilight would give me a bed if I asked for it, but in all honesty, I spent most of my tours in the guard out and away from civilians most of the time, so I got used to sleeping on a cot.  Most of the beds I've slept in are too soft for me."

I just nodded and decided not to ask why he wouldn't take up Princess Twilight's offer of a bed.  With my eyes winning the fight on staying shut, I mutter a quick goodnight before I drift off to sleep.
> Day 1 - Breakfast and a Tour
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"THORAX!  WAKE UP!"

"Huh?"

A shouting of my name brought me back to consciousness rather quickly.  I look around and eventually find the source of the shouting.  My friend Spike was standing beside my bed.  "Come on, ya bug!" he says teasingly to me.  "You're gonna be late for breakfast!"

I blink my eyes for a moment.  "Breakfast?"

He looks at me with confusion.  "Yeah, you know?  Most important meal of the day?"

"I know, Spike," I respond with a frown, "but you know I can't get any nutrition from regular food.  Most of the time when I eat it, it's just to keep up appearances or because I like how the food tastes.  The only way I get any nourishment from it is if there's love imbued into it by a pony or other creature."

"I know that!" he tells me while lightly punching my shoulder with his claws.  "You can still come down and sit with us!  Besides, Twilight's been messing with her magic and alchemy books and thinks she's found something that you'll really appreciate."

"Huh?" I say in confusion as I watch the little dragon run over to the open door, then turn and gesture enthusiastically for me to follow him.  I get out of bed and follow him, but stop for a moment after a thought crosses my mind, and an odor crosses my nose.

I turn and check my body to find that I had acquired some odors that one wouldn't call pleasant.  "Wait!" I call out to Spike, causing the little dragon to stop and look at me.  "I kinda need to use the shower" I tell him.  "Mind waiting a minute for me?"

"Sure!" Spike replies as he sits down on my bed.  "I'll wait until you're finished."

I give the little drake a nod of thanks as I enter into the shower.  After about ten minutes of bathing, my chitin has a nice glossy appearance to it and the smells from the previous day are gone.  Once I'm dry and in my Crystal Hoof disguise, I enter the bedroom to find Vigilant sitting on his bed looking a little annoyed.

"Sleep well?" I ask him.

"I was having a rather nice dream about my marefriend," he replied a bit tersely, "but then I had some dragon and bug pony shouting at each other that ruined it."

My previously chipper mood diminishes at the response.  "Sorry."

Vigilant waves a hoof.  "If I'm lucky, she'll make the dream a reality when I get back" he tells me with a smirk, giving some idea as to what sort of things his dreamland marefriend was doing.

A clearing of a throat catches our attention.  I look to see Spike standing by the door.  "If you're both ready," he says with a smirk, "I believe breakfast is getting cold."

I give a nod and follow after Spike, Vigilant falling in right behind me.

We left the room and walked down one of the many hallways in Twilight's castle, trusting my friend to lead us in the right direction.  Really though, why should I doubt him?  He's lived here since Princess Twilight received this castle.  He would be one of the best two creatures in all of Equestria to give a tour of this place.

"So," Spike spoke up, "Any ideas on what you want to do today?"

I looked down at him with a frown.  "I'm not sure" I admit to him.  "I'm trying to keep all of my days here open, on account of that fact that at some point in the future, I'm going to be properly introduced to the whole town."

Spike nodded in agreement.  "Yeah, that's probably a good idea, but you'll be able to do all kinds of stuff once the mayor introduces you, and you won't have to be Crystal Hoof to do it either!"

"I know," I say in agreement, "but I still have to wait for that to happen."

Our conversation turned to silence as we walked, but Spike spoke up with an idea after a few moments.  Snapping his claws, he announced it to both Vigilant and myself.

"I've got it!  How about after we have breakfast, I give you a tour of the castle?  If we do that, then everypony will know where to find us if the mayor decides to introduce you today."

I thought it over and agreed with it.  "Okay, after we eat, or more specifically, you and everypony else eat, you can give me a tour of this place."

Spike frowned at me.  "Thorax, you're gonna eat too!" he chides me.

I was going to protest, but Spike raised his claws to me.

"I won't hear it Thorax!  You're gonna sit down and eat with all of us, and as I said before, Twilight has something she thinks you're gonna really enjoy."

I looked at Spike with confusion.  "All of us?"

Spike looked at me for a second before smacking his face with his claws.  "Twilight and I both forgot to tell you last night.  The girls and the mayor were coming over this morning to have breakfast and talk more about you and the time since you came to the Crystal Empire."

Hearing that the mayor was here and that we were already late had set my mind into a panic-induced overdrive.  "Why are we standing around then?  Let's get going!"

I move to run but get stopped as magic grabs me and lifts me off the ground.  I turn to see Vigilant looking at me rather sternly with his horn alight.  "Do you guys seriously not have a 'no running in the hive' rule?"

Smiling sheepishly, I shake my head.  Upon receiving my response, the guard puts a hoof to his temple and groans out loud.  I'm placed back down on the floor again, where Vigilant promptly walks up to me.

"Listen," he begins, "I know you're nervous and want to make a good impression, and I can't really blame you for that given certain extenuating circumstances, but I want you to remember two things.  One, running in a blind panic will only end with either you or another pony getting hurt.  Two, the mayor and other important ponies aren't going to want to punish you harshly just because you were a little late for getting some breakfast.  At worst, you'd get a light scolding, but I doubt they'll even do that to you.  So, please calm down and walk at a normal pace so you don't get hurt, okay?"

I take a few moments to calm myself down, then I turn to Vigilant and offer an apology.  He raises a hoof to make a gesture that is meant to say the apology wasn't necessary.  "Thorax, my job right now is to protect and keep you safe" he elaborates.  "If I don't look out for you and something bad happens, it'll mean my flank, and I like my flank right where it is."

I give a nervous nod to Vigilant, then look at Spike, who is making a gesture to keep following him.  We continue moving, electing to resume our conversation once we get to the dining room.  I look at the walls around me and take note of how similar in color they are to Twilight and her coat color.  A part of me is tempted to shape shift into her to compare, but I neither want to waste anymore time than we already have, nor do I want to freak out Vigilant and irritate him any further than I already have.

After another few minutes, we finally arrive at the dining room.  Inside, I see Twilight, Starlight and the other element bearers sitting at a dining table, who are joined by the mayor and...

Wait a moment.  Who is this pony?  I feel like I should know who they are.  A big red stallion with blonde mane and tail and green apple cutie mark.

I mentally slap my face with a hoof as it dawns on me.  This is Applejack's older brother Big Macintosh!  She'd told me about him when I first met the elements back in the Crystal Empire!

But... why is he here?

"There you guys are!" Twilight said as she got up from her chair and gave all of us hugs, even Vigilant.  "I thought Spike had gotten lost again."

"Hey!" the dragon said indignantly.  "That only happened when we first got the castle, and as I recall, you still get lost in this place!"

"Oh, Spike, I was just teasing you!" Twilight replied with a smile before turning to face me.  "Did you sleep well, Thorax?"

I nodded my head.  "Slept like a grub in the nursery hive."

"I'll take your word for that" she replied before heading back to the table and taking another bite of pancakes.  I followed her and took a seat in one of the remaining empty chairs at the table.  Spike had walked through a pair of doors behind the chair I had chosen.

"You've met everypony else here," Twilight continued, "but this stallion right here is Big Macintosh.  He's Applejack's older brother."

I say "Hello" and give a small wave.  The stallion does a short wave before resuming his meal.

"Big Mac, this is Thorax."

Hearing my name makes Big Mac stop eating for a moment.  "That's a strange name for a pony" he comments.

"Well... there's a reason for that" Twilight says sheepishly, then turns to me.  "Thorax, do you want me to tell him, or should I let you do it?"

Any happiness I had evaporated in the wave of fear that washed over me.  Intentional or otherwise, Princess Twilight had just put me on the spot and forced me to have to expose my true self to this stallion, a pony who I had no idea how they would react.

After my mind jumped from images of those strong hooves cracking my carapace like an eggshell to decisions about what my answer should be, I eventually decided that I should probably just get this over with.  After all, this could serve as a trial run for what to expect when the mayor introduces me to the town.  Besides, if Big Mac doesn't find out now, he's going to when the mayor introduces me later.

"I...  I'll do it, Twilight" I finally respond, then give her a stern look; I intended to speak to her later about springing this on me without us talking it over beforehoof.

A quick look at Applejack showed her displeasure with Twilight as well.  I could tell by her expression and the emotions coming off her and being directed at Twilight that she was feeling rather cross with her about her actions a moment ago.  Despite how little a difference it made in my confidence, it was still nice to know I had someone in my metaphorical corner.

Doing my best to shake off my nerves, I turn to face Macintosh and explain "why I had a strange name for a pony", as he has so eloquently put it.

I take a deep breath before I begin speaking.  "Well, the reason I have a strange name for a pony...  is because it's not a pony name at all."

Upon hearing this, Big Mac cocks his eyebrow.  "Then, what is it a name for?" he asks me.

With nerves building up in my stomach, I choose then and there to "rip the band aid off", as it were.

"My name is Thorax because I'm a changeling."

As I finish my sentence, I allow my disguise to fall away in a wash of turquoise magic, revealing my insectoid appearance.

As soon as the magic disappears and Big Mac sees my true form for the first time, he reacts with a gasp, which proves to be a big mistake.  Having done this with a mouth full of pancakes, a bite of the food finds its way down his windpipe and begins choking him.  Immediately, his hooves go to his throat in a feeble attempt to remove the blockage.

Before anypony else can react, Applejack jumps from her chair and gets behind her brother.  Then, with a swift and powerful kick, she strikes his back hard enough to knock the bite of pancakes from his throat.  The food sails through the air and lands on the floor, where the nearest unicorn, in this case Rarity, picks it up in her magic with a napkin and discards it in a nearby trash can.

With the piece of food dislodged from his throat, Macintosh took several moments to recover the breath he'd been deprived of.  Once recovered, he looked at me with a scowl and pointed an accusatory hoof.

"What the hay is a changeling doin' here?!" he asked as he looked around at the other ponies.

"He was invited" Applejack informs her brother.

"Y'all knew about this?!" Mac said in disbelief, pointing his hoof at her.  "And y'all brought me here?!"

"We did," Applejack answered, "and iffin' ya paid attention for the past couple a weeks or so, y'all woulda remembered me tellin' ya 'bout this whole affair and wouldn't be makin' such a fuss about it!"

Big Mac blinked upon hearing his sister's response, and then a moment later, recalls what she had just reminded him of.  "Y'all mean this is the guest that ya wuzzin't sure was gonna be liked by anypony but Pinkie?"

"Eeyup!" Applejack replied,  giving her brother a teasing look.  I think her response was supposed to be some kind of jab at the older pony, but without knowing the particulars of their family dynamic, I could only make guesses.

Big Mac leaned back in his chair and looked at me.  His hostility had died down, but I could tell he wasn't happy with me being there.  I tried to offer a gesture of reassurance, but it clearly didn't help; ponies just simply weren't used to a friendly smile that had a pair of fangs attached to it.

Fortunately, Twilight stepped in to defuse the situation altogether.

"Big Mac," she said to the stallion, "you have my personal assurances that Thorax is not here for some nefarious reason.  Do you remember when I went around asking ponies about what they thought about a changeling wanting to live with ponies peacefully and apologize for what happened in the past?"

"Eeyup" came Big Mac's reply.

"Well, Thorax is the reason I was asking those questions.  Last year, he arrived in the Crystal Empire with a proclamation that he wanted to make friends with the ponies there.  Nopony believed him, but when he saved Spike from almost dying in a cave, the little dragon repaid him by convincing all of us that he was telling the truth.  Since then, he's been living and learning about friendship with Princess Cadance and my brother.  Now, he's come here to Ponyville so that he can show ponies, and possibly some undercover changelings, that it is possible for both our kinds to exist not just peacefully, but in a mutually beneficial way."

Big Mac considered what Twilight just told him, then looked me up and down again as if to decide what they were telling him was the truth.  After a few more seconds, he stood up and walked over to me, keeping an unreadable yet even stare fixed on me.  Even his emotions offered no context as to what the stallion felt in that moment.  He stopped about a few hoof lengths away from me and leaned in close enough that he could whisper and only I would hear him.

"So what the princess has been sayin' is all true?" he asked me.  "Y'all wanna be friends with ponies?"

His voice creeped me out even further; while he had an accent like his sister, it disappeared entirely when he spoke to me.  I felt like somepony was running ice cubes up and down my back.  I did my best to stay calm and answer his question.

"Y-Yes," I replied while nodding, "I don't want to live like the rest of my hive does.  I came here to learn about friendship so I can finally be happy."

Big Mac looks me over for a few more moments, in which time a sweat joins the feeling of ice cubes running up and down my spine.  In truth, that feeling is very strange and quite uncomfortable.

After another moment, Big Mac eases off, and I feel relief coming from the stallion.  "I believe ya" he finally responds, but then leans back down with a scowl to add another point.  "But if you ever hurt any of mah family or friends, or anypony for that matter, and I'll make sure you end up just like Humpty Dumpty.  Understand?"

I nodded rather vigorously; I knew all about Humpty Dumpty and the ponies who failed to put him back together again.

Big Mac then stood back up, happiness and relief emanating from him.  "Good," he said in response to my answer, "then perhaps we can be friends, once I get to know ya a lil' better?"

I give a simple nod as an answer; even if his anger has now subsided, the stallion still had an intimidating presence.  Returning the nod, he turned around and went back to his seat to resume eating his pancakes.

Once I was calm enough, I elected to call Twilight out.  "I really don't appreciate how you put me on the spot like that, your highness."

Upon hearing that, Twilight flinched, but recovered and gave me an apologetic look.  "I know Thorax, and I'm sorry," she replied, "but I did have a reason for doing that."

"Oh?" I respond, my voice still showing irritation.  "And what reason was that?"

"Well," Twilight continued, "Big Mac was something of a test."

I blinked in confusion.  "A test?"

Twilight nodded.  "The mayor and I wanted to see what the reaction of an average citizen would be to you revealing yourself.  We figured it would give us a good frame of reference for what to expect when we formally introduce you to the town, and Big Mac seemed like a good enough example for us to go by."

"Oh" I say in response.  I almost feel like apologizing, but I was still upset about one detail.  "You still could've given me a heads up!  Then I could've known to expect a large stallion threatening to bust me up like an egg!"

"Humpty Dumpty wasn't an egg" Big Mac points out, earning a scowl from his sister as she quickly figures out what he said to me.

"I know, and I'm sorry" she responds.  "Next time, I'll make sure you have a proper warning so you're not left high and dry."

Satisfied with her response, I give a nod to her and she smiles back, returning to her breakfast.

After a moment or so, I looked down at the table.  Expecting a smorgasbord of breakfast food, I was surprised when I saw no platters of pancakes, bowls of fruit, dishes of eggs and fried potatoes that I learned were called home fries.  The only things on the table were some small silver dishes which had sticks of butter and several small silver pitchers that I assumed were full of syrup to pour over pancakes.

Twilight saw me looking over the table and decided to remove any curiosity I had.  "Spike and I have been preparing something special for you.  I've been working on something since Hearth's Warming and I think it's ready now for us to test it out with you."

Despite her attempts to remove my curiosity, she had actually piqued it more.  "Something special?"

Twilight just gave me a grin.  "You'll see" she replied cryptically.

I was about to ask further questions, but was interrupted by the sound of a door being pushed open.  I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a door with a single glass window about the size of a pony's head opening.  I recognized it as the door to an industrial kitchen; Sunburst had taken me on a tour of the castle shortly after Shining Armor agreed to put aside his misconceptions about me.

From the kitchen came Spike, dressed in a chef's poofy hat and covered by a white apron.  Approaching me, he placed a stack of pancakes onto my plate.  I looked at him confused for a moment before he gestured for me to try eating them.

"Spike, you know I can't-"

A single claw stopped my speech further.

"Please just try them, Thorax" he said to me in an almost pleading voice.

I looked over the pancakes again.  They were, as far as I knew, perfectly cooked.  They were a golden brown color and appeared thick and fluffy.  For a pony, they would be delicious and filling.  For me, they would just be delicious.  But, Spike had made them for me, and it would be rude to refuse them, if I wasn't being rude already.

"Okay," I relented, "I'll give them a try.  They do look pretty delicious anyway."

Spike smiled and nodded, but I felt relief from him as well.  Twilight and Starlight had both told me that Spike was a good cook, but he had never made anything for me before.  Was he nervous about what I would think of it?

Spreading some butter onto the pancakes and cutting them in a pattern resembling a tic-tac-toe board, I was preparing to put a small amount of syrup on them when a magenta aura enveloped the miniature pitcher I had chosen and stopped it from tilting.  Floating back down onto the table, a second pitcher was then offered to me.

"Try this one, Thorax" Twilight told me.  "That's also part of the surprise we have for you."

Confused, I simply nod as I take the syrup container in my own magic.  I pour some of the new syrup over my pancakes and set the pitcher down.  Taking a fork, I spear some of the food with it and take a bite.

"Whaff fa?" I speak with a mouthful of pancake as my tongue is assaulted with an all too familiar flavor.

Love

Stunned, I looked at Spike, then Twilight, then back to Spike.  Both of them were wearing rather large grins.

"So?" Twilight asked me after a few moments.  "How is it?"

I had no words to address what I had just experienced a minute ago.  Somehow, Twilight and Spike had managed to put actual, real love into food.  I swallow the bite in my mouth and answer her.  "They're amazing, but..."

"How did we get the love into them?" she finishes for me.

I nod, unable to articulate a proper response.

"Well, I just had to collect some."

"H-How?" I ask her, a bit afraid of the answer I will receive.

Twilight smiled as she reached under the table and produced a Florence flask with a cork in the mouth and filled with a glowing pink liquid.  Through the very small amount of space between the cork and glass, I had a very familiar and very delightful odor assault my senses and pique my appetite.

"Pure love?" I asked her in confusion.  "How did you get that?"

Twilight laughed and shook her head.  "There's only a little bit that's actually pure.  I've been working on some ideas and consulting with a zebra named Zecora.  Putting our heads together, we've managed to create this potion."

"But... How did you get it?" I ask again.

"Well, I've been doing some thinking about how changelings use their magic to drain love from ponies, and I was able to recreate that spell.  Of course, I didn't want to actually drain love from a pony, so I thought of other ways I could use that spell to gather love.  That's when I realized I could adapt it into an enchantment I could place on an empty vessel and have it collect love being emitted into the air from different sources."

"I placed that enchantment on some flasks that could hold an amount of love and decided to test if it worked.  I obviously couldn't just tell ponies that I intended to collect love from them; they'd think I was a changeling in disguise.  So, I tried to think of how a changeling might discretely feed on love and it just struck me: I had to be near some couples.  And when was the best time to do that?  Hearts and Hooves Day!"

"So, when the day came around, I found a cafe where the ponies were on dates with their loved ones and set the vessels out to do their work.  By the time I was finished, I had enough that I could run experiments relating to love for months on end."

I had to admit that Twilight had impressed me a great deal.  Not only had she figured out how the changeling feeding magic worked, but found a way to use it in a way that wouldn't harm ponies.  I might just have to ask her how she had made the enchantment; No longer needing to feed on Sunburst and Princess Cadance was too attractive a prospect for me.

I was brought back from my thoughts by Twilight's continued explanation.

"Using a small amount of the real love I collected and a mixture of different herbs and chemicals suggested by Zecora, we've created a solution that takes that small amount of love and grows it into a greater quantity, sorta like growing a new plant from a clipping."

I was amazed that the mare had accomplished such a thing.  If the hive ever found out about her enchantment, they'd maybe consider this a more hooves off approach to collection; an infiltrator's greatest fear was being uncovered, and this would eliminate a great deal of that risk.  "This is amazing, but how come I can't smell the love in the food?" I ask next.

Twilight frowned a little upon asking me that question.  "I'm not entirely sure" she replied.  "I was unaware that you couldn't smell it, but then again, love doesn't have a scent that ponies can smell, so I wouldn't even realize it.  This is definitely something we'll need to investigate this week."

I look at her with both a sense of curiosity and dread, all too familiar with the princess's propensity for experimentation from Spike's stories.  "This week?"

Twilight nods.  "Since you're the only changeling that I can actually get feedback from, I was hoping you would help me with some experiments this week.  I would give you some samples of the potion, and you would tell me what you thought of them.  Stuff like how intense it felt, if the flavor was off-putting or less than ideal.  I even have a few different ideas about how the love would be delivered."

"Delivered?" I parrot with confusion.

"How you would consume it.  That's kind of a big one; the whole 'sucking the energy right from a pony' thing would take forever for ponies to adjust to, if they would be willing to adjust at all.  My thought was if we could put this in food and drinks, it would allow you to feed in a way that most ponies would find socially acceptable."

"I wouldn't take up your whole day with experiments; just an hour or so would be good.  We could even run them at night so they don't cut into any plans you may have during the actual day."

I listen to everything Twilight tells me and give her a smile.  "I shouldn't really be surprised, but you had this all planned out, didn't you?"

Twilight blushes a little at my question.  "I always try to have a plan, no matter what."

I nod my head in agreement.  "That's probably a good idea."

"So," she asks me, "are you willing to help me?"

It's not a serious question, or at least, I hope it isn't.  "Of course I'm gonna help you.  It'll be like helping the palace baker with her recipes back in the empire."

Twilight looks at me with surprise.  "You actually helped a pony with food they were making?"

I nod.  "I might not get sustenance from normal food, but that doesn't mean that I can't taste it.  Besides, you know how they say that chefs put a little bit of love into their food to make it that much better?  Well, take it from me when I say that they really do."

"So there actually is some love in food?" she asks me.

"Not enough to be truly nourishing" I explain.  "It's kinda like eating one cracker versus having a whole bowl of soup.  Also, that little bit of love tends to dissipate after a while."

"That said, what you've done here is put an amount of love in that can provide as much nourishment for a changeling as the actual food would for a pony, and that love doesn't seem to dissipate so quickly either.  It's really amazing!"

Twilight smiles at my praise, then jots down what appears to be a note regarding what I said.  I'm tempted to ask what she's writing about, but decide not to.  It's probably about the comment I made about food containing some love in it from the chef or cook who made it anyway.

I sit back and appraise the flask on the table.  This potion, concocted by Princess Twilight and a zebra friend named Zecora, actually takes pure love and grows it inside the fluid.  My mouth salivated at the smell coming from the flask, but my mind was blown as I thought that this solution could solve the problem of eternal hunger that I, as well as many changelings before me, have to deal with on a daily basis.

Of course, I must admit that my time in the Crystal Empire among friends has tempered my appetite greatly, so the hunger would be much easier for me to control than my hivemates.

As I consider the other possibilities for this solution, Twilight begins brainstorming some of her own.  "This is gonna be amazing!" she says with excitement as she picks up the flask.  "The uses for this stuff can go way beyond feeding you in a socially acceptable way.  I tried some of this stuff just after Zecora and I first made it, and I felt so much happier and full of energy afterwards.  If that's consistent across all pony tribes, than this potion can be used in a treatment regimen for depression and all other sorts of mental ailments."

"And if this stuff can do that, then maybe it can help restore the ponies that were fed on during the invasion."

She hadn't intended it, but her comment brought the mood of the room down a good bit.  Even Pinkie, the normally energetic and seemingly always happy mare, looked rather saddened as her mane lost some of its puffiness.

Everyone sitting at the table was all too familiar with what happened during the wedding in Canterlot, and not just the queen's attempt to usurp the power of the throne.  All across the great city, my brothers and sisters followed the queen's only order after the capture of Twilight and her friends - feed.

When the spell that Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor used to expel us from the city was finished, the guards very quickly found a large number of ponies that were either so drained of emotion that they could barely move, or ponies so catatonic from draining that they needed to be put on life support machines because even their bodies didn't care if they lived or not.

The thought of those ponies made me feel terrible, and not just from thinking about them being in that horrible state.  Even before the invasion, I disagreed with the way changelings acted, and their disdain at the idea of friendship.  I had intended to defect long before the invasion.  Perhaps if I did, I could've warned ponies about my kind, and maybe with that warning, the guard could've provided better protection than what they were able to.

Since I couldn't go back in time and convince myself to leave, my next best option for atoning would be to help with the experiments involving this potion.  If I could help make it strong enough, then perhaps it could restore the ponies that were drained the worst during the invasion.

The thought about healing ponies also made me think of Soothing Dusk, the mare I had  attacked in a hunger-clouded haze in Whinnyapolis.  I remember how gulty I had felt immediately afterwards and how I ran away in a panic, and then later on when Princess Cadance found out her identity and took me to see her so I could apologize face to face.  I could still see her face in pure terror, even as I told her how sorry I had felt for doing what I did to her.

With this potion, It was now possible for me to do something I never thought I would ever be able to do before: I could give back what I had taken.  If it could help Soothing like Twilight said it could, then I would volunteer as much love as I could to make up for that mistake.

"As much as I hate admitting it," Twilight continued, "there's also another application for this formula.  If we ever caught one of Queen Chrysalis's agents, then perhaps we could use this to help sway them to our side and have them defect from her rule, or at least keep them alive as we hold them prisoner.  At current, unless we sacrificed ponies for the changelings to feed on, they would starve in the dungeons, and the princess wouldn't want either of those situations to play out.

I thought about that idea for a moment. Using this potion to sway defectors from the hive?  In theory, it could definitely work, but that was theory.  Changelings were fiercely loyal to their queen.  The only ones that weren't completely loyal were usually the younger queens that would either leave to start a new hive, or fight the previous queen for control of the current one.  All other changelings obeyed the queen without question.  If Twilight's potion could potentially sway the remaining changelings in the hive, it would only sway a few at best.

Thinking of the hive, I then thought about what Queen Chrysalis would do if she got hold of this information and shuddered.  Twilight took notice of my reactions and got my attention.

"What's wrong?" she asked me.  "I thought finding out about this would be wonderful news."

"It is" I assure her.  "This potion is going to do a lot of good things for a lot of ponies.  I just had the thought of what could happen if Queen Chrysalis got a hold of this stuff."

Princess Twilight frowned.  "Yeah, that might not be a good thing, huh?"

I shake my head.  "She could take all the research and destroy it so that the drones in the hive won't find out, or she'll keep it for herself and charge herself up with so much love that nothing in Equestria, even the elements, would be able to stop her."

Twilight looked rather disappointed upon hearing what I had to say about my former queen's potential plans if she were to learn of this potion.  My intention hadn't been to shoot down her great achievement; just providing a word of caution to the mare about how she may want to proceed with this new discovery.

"Please don't take it the wrong way" I say to her apologetically.  "You have created something wonderful.  In truth, this potion may very well be the answer to the question of the hunger that's haunted changelings since time immemorial."

"What I'm saying is you should be careful with this discovery.  Right now, I would take all the research and the recipe for that mixture and put it in the most secure place you can think of, and only call for it when absolutely necessary so that it doesn't fall into the wrong hooves."

Twilight digested the words that I told her and nodded in agreement.  "You're right, Thorax" she said aloud.  "This potion has the potential of doing a whole lot of good, but it's also possible it can cause great harm if it fell into the wrong hooves.  We need to be absolutely careful with this discovery going forward."

The princess then produced two parchments, one written on and rolled up and the other blank and ready to be written on.  Writing something very quickly on the blank one, Twilight the placed the rolled up parchment at the bottom of the other one and rolled them up together.  "Spike, please send this immediately" she asked the purple dragon, who gave a salute and then took the letter and used his fire breath to set it aflame.  I'd never seen Spike send a letter before, so I was rather shocked to see the little drake do that.  Before I could voice my surprise, the entire letter transformed into smoke and vanished in a green flash.

Twilight saw my reaction and let out a small chuckle.  "Spike has magic that allows him to send letters directly to Princess Celestia, wherever she might be" she explained.  "I sent that potion recipe to her and asked that it be stored in her personal archives.  No creature, no matter how powerful with magic, would be able to get in there."

I considered what Twilight had just told me and gave a nod of satisfaction.  I knew for a fact that while some changelings were competent with using pony magic, none were at a level that could be called excelling.  Unless the princesses themselves were to be mind controlled and made to unlock whatever spells and wards had been placed on the princess's archives, changelings weren't going to get a hold of that recipe any time soon, and I doubted that the queen or any other changeling could be good enough at mind control spells to use them against alicorns.  If they had been, the invasion would've happened much differently.

A moment later, and a reply was belched out by Spike, who read it and said that the princess would hold onto the recipe for the potion and congratulated Twilight on her accomplishment.  She also mentioned to give thanks to Zecora for her assistance with producing the recipe as well.  Twilight beamed at the praise from the letter.  In truth, I smiled a bit as well; Princess Celestia sounded like a nice pony, and I had been told by Cadance that she had written letters to Celestia about me, and both she and I hoped that time could be spared so that we could meet face to face in the future.

I had made an effort to convince both Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor to allow to stop in Canterlot on my way back from Ponyville, but they had shot down the idea.  Cadance had told me sympathetically "Something could happen while you're there and it could end badly for either you or somepony else.  It would be best for all parties to wait for a time when Princess Celestia could visit the Crystal Empire.  That way, we could ensure everypony's safety."

With the great surprise revealed, and the mayor and Big Mac sworn not to reveal the secret of the new potion to the ponies in town, we continued eating breakfast.  I whoofed down the love-infused pancakes with vigor; to actually eat pony food and be nourished by it had felt amazing.  For one moment, in my true form, I felt like one of them, eating a meal with friends and having a great time as I did it.

I didn't want the meal to end, but there were no more pancakes to be had.  Despite my disappointment, I elected to consider myself full from the meal.  Something told me that drinking the love infused syrup would've gotten me strange looks, and there might have been plans for more pancakes later this week, so best to save it to use with them.





After we had finished breakfast and cleaned our dishes, Spike took me by the hoof and began giving me a tour of Princess Twilight's castle.  Twilight had asked me before hoof to use my Crystal Hoof disguise until I had been introduced to the town, on the off chance a citizen came bursting into the palace due to some kind of emergency.  Having heard the reputation of the town, I readily agreed and took on my most familiar form again.

Spike walked ahead of me as I walked just a half step or so behind him, looking at some of the doors he was pointing to.

"That's the royal guest suite, which we'll use whenever any of the princesses visit," Spike told me while pointing at one door, then pointed to another while saying "That's the royal guard barracks.  If Twilight ever agreed to have her own guards, they would stay here.  Of course, being the Princess of Friendship, she thinks having guards around would make ponies think she wasn't approachable."

"I don't think having some guards would be a terrible idea" I voiced my concern.  "What if Chrysalis tried another invasion?"

Spike waved a claw dismissively.  "This place is so disorienting that anypony that tried to get in here without having been here at least once would get lost."

I was still concerned, but I kept any further opinions to myself; I would bring them directly to Twilight, who I hoped would agree with me.

Spike continued the tour while I put our recent discussion behind me for the moment.  I had to look around in awe at the castle and its crystalline architecture.  It was reminiscent of my home in the Crystal Empire.  I couldn't even see any seams in the crystal!

"And here's the castle armory."

Wait...

Armory?

I stop in my tracks and look at the door Spike is pointing to.  Sure enough, a small plaque on the doors reads "ARMORY".  My attention goes back to the little dragon with a questioning look.  "Why would Princess Twilight have this?"

Spike rubs the back of his head while he forms a response.  "Well... it's really just an armory in name.  Most of it is bare, but there are a few weapons inside.  Twilight wanted to get rid of all of them, but the mayor insisted she keep at least a few in case there would ever be need of them."

The mare with the graying mane was far more intelligent than I had initially given her credit for.  I look back at the door again with a new question in mind.  "Does Twilight use this room at all?"

"Actually, yeah, she does" Spike replies.  "The portion that isn't currently housing weapons was turned into a little side project of hers."

"Side project?" I parrot in confusion.

"Yeah" Spike answers.  "It's her 'friendship museum'."

"A museum about... friendship?" I question as I study the door further, now noticing a decoration of a sword and ax crossed together over a shield.

"It's not so much a museum about friendship as much as it's about Twilight meeting all the other girls and discovering that they were all the elements of harmony" Spike explains.  "She hopes that ponies who see it will learn something about friendship, and one day..."

I look at Spike as he trails off.  "And one day?" I prod just a little.

"I probably shouldn't say" he says in a weak effort to dissuade me.

"And one day what Spike?" I prod a little more firmly.

Spike considers me for a moment, and then looks around before moving in closer to me.  "Can you keep a secret?" he asks in a whisper.

"I'm a changeling, Spike" I say to the little dragon with a smile.  "A race of creatures who, until recently, lived in total secrecy.  Of course I can keep one."

Spike looks around again before leaning in a little bit closer still.  "Twilight wants to open up a friendship school."

I took a moment to process what I heard.  "A friendship school?" I parroted.

Spike nodded.  "She wants to start a friendship school so that ponies and other creatures can learn about friendship and harmony like she and the other girls did.  Most of her nights staying up lately have been planning all kinds of things, like class curriculum and grading systems.  She's even made up blueprints and picked out a spot that she believes would be perfect for it."

Somehow I wasn't surprised to hear that.  Having known Twilight as long as I had known Spike, I knew the mare was very studious and enjoyed teaching just as much as she did learning.  Her starting a school sounded just like something she'd do.

As I stood there, a thought occurred to me.  "Can we check this museum out?" I asked him.

Spike thought it over for a second, but then nodded.  "Sure," he said, "but it might be better to wait for Twilight.  Not all of the exhibits are complete yet and despite her penchant for organization, she hasn't labeled anything yet.  I helped out with this some, but I couldn't tell you what everything is."

"Then it's a good thing we're all here to see it too."

The voice behind us catches Spike and I both off guard.  We turn to see Twilight and everypony else from breakfast.  Pinkie and Rainbow are looking at us try to keep straight faces; they apparently thought our reaction was amusing.  Rarity and Fluttershy were both smiling, and Applejack was shaking her head at her friends' reaction.  The mayor and Big Macintosh were standing behind everypony else, small smiles on their faces and radiating contentedness.  Twilight herself was beaming.

"I suggested to everypony after you left that they take a look at the museum and tell me what they thought of it," she explained, "and then I could use that input to help make it better."

"Well I'll be happy to give you my input as well" I told her.  She gave a nod and I could feel appreciation roll off her towards me.  She then moved past me and opened the door.

"Come on in, everypony!" Twilight said enthusiastically as she pushed open the doors to lead us inside.





The armory had been just as Spike said: A large room with only a few lockers that looked as though they could hold a couple of dozen spears or axes.  I took notice that in one locker was a pony style bow, which had two cutouts on the main body for hooves to slide into, as well as an arm for a quiver of arrows to attach to.  Looking underneath the bow, I saw about a dozen or so arrows.  Raising one out in my magic, I saw that the end was capped with a slightly pointed piece of metal, telling me these were the "target arrows" that the royal guard used in training and practice.  I replaced the arrow and moved to rejoin the group.

Twilight was standing underneath an archway that seemed to lead to another part of the armory.  "This is the Elements of Harmony Friendship Museum" Twilight announced as she gestured towards a sign above her head.  "Inside are some examples of exhibits that I want to feature in a more permanent museum in the future.  You all are the first to see this besides Spike, so I want your honest opinion of what you see, and girls, if you don't think something you saw is accurate to what happened, please let me know so I can fix it."  The princess then turned and walked into the museum, all of us following behind her.

The room Twilight entered was a section of the armory that was meant for artillery pieces.  There were places where divots in the floor marked where cannons would be placed, with places for ammunition to go beside them.  I made the guess that Twilight had the cannons and ammunition moved elsewhere so she could set up this museum here.

I elected to take in the exhibits so I could give proper feedback.  The first was a diorama that featured Princess Luna, but she looked very different.  She had fangs and armor, and her fur color was so dark that it almost appeared black.  It finally struck me that I was looking at the princess's possessed form, Nightmare Moon.

Opposite the figure was miniatures of Princess Twilight and her friends.  All of them appeared to be floating in the air, and a sphere giving off while light was at the center.  Remembering what Sunburst had told me, I realized this was the moment that Twilight and her friends had become the elements of harmony and cleansed Princess Luna of the nightmare creature.

After taking the first exhibit in, I moved on to one where pictures and replicas of the element jewelry were located.  Each one had been an ornate design, and the jewels at the center reflected their bearers, each being in the shape of that mare's respective cutie mark.  Just below the replica elements was a picture of all six of the girls, posed around Twilight while wearing the elements.  Interestingly, I noticed that Applejack had removed her stetson for the photograph, something that the mare rarely did.  Her whole blonde mane was out for everypony to see.

After passing a few more exhibits that discussed events such as the Grand Galloping Gala party in Canterlot, the chaos god Discord breaking free of his stone prison, and some other minor events that held significance for the six mares that experienced them, I then came to an exhibit that made me stop in my tracks.

Sitting on the table was a replica of the wedding cathedral in Canterlot, and inside was Twilight and her friends, as well as Princess Cadance, standing at odds with Queen Chrysalis, who had a hypnotized Shining Armor beside her.  Completing the display were several dozen changeling drones that were made to look as though they were flying around the cathedral.

"Sorry, Thorax" came Twilight's voice.  I turned to see the mare approach me with a frown.  "I should've warned you this was here."

"It's okay" I told her.  "That was a bad day for a lot of ponies, and even for me, but you can't ignore history just because it makes you uncomfortable."

She nodded in agreement with me.  "Those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it, or at least that's how the saying goes."

I nodded in agreement with that sentiment.  What I was trying to do in the Crystal Empire and here in Ponyville fit that remark to a tee.  The only question was if I could succeed in teaching the other changelings.

After a few more minutes, our group had seen all the exhibits and gave our feedback.  Overall, we enjoyed learning about all of the things that happened to the girls, but some of the girls had to criticize the exhibits for inaccuracies.  Rainbow, however,  proclaimed that her Sonic Rainboom that she had made to save her friends during a flying competition was "way more awesome" than the model one Twilight had made for the exhibit.  When everypony had given their feedback, the mayor cleared her throat to get everypony's attention.

"I hate to interrupt," she began, "but I must leave now."  She then turned to look at me.  "Thorax, I've decided to introduce you to Ponyville this afternoon at two o'clock.  It's nine o'clock now, so that should give you some time to prepare yourself however you need to.  I'm going to try and get everypony I can to attend."

"Twilight, if you would please, I'd like to get Zecora to attend as well.  I'm sure that she's curious to meet the changeling that she helped you make that potion for."

"If somepony would volunteer, I'd like Miss Cheerilee to be aware of this meeting so she can dismiss her class early.  I would like for those foals in her school to attend."

"I could also use a few more volunteers to help set up the stage for this afternoon.  Applejack and Big Mac, I'd prefer it to be you two since you've both set it up in the past and can do it rather quickly."

Applejack and Big Mac nodded.  Fluttershy volunteered to get Zecora instead of Twilight, since her cottage and Zecora's hut weren't too far away from each other.  The other girls also volunteered, with Pinkie preparing refreshments for the ponies, Rainbow making sure there were no stray rain clouds that could cause an interruption, and Rarity insisting she throw together a new ascot for the mayor and taking her to the spa so she looked her best for the meeting.

After everypony left to take care of their assigned or volunteered tasks, I found myself alone with Spike and Twilight.  The purple mare had a smile as she approached me.

"I believe I'll help you prepare for your big moment" she said as she gestured for me to follow her.

"My big moment" I say as worry begins to build in me.  "Oh, eggshells!  How am I gonna pull this off?!"

I begin to panic and start hyperventilating, but Twilight uses a spell that causes a sharp, pinch-like sensation on my flanks.

"Ow!" I cry out as I rub the affected area with a hoof.

"Thorax, please calm down!" Twilight pleads with me.  "I know that you're nervous, but this is something that you've wanted for a while.  Everypony in the Crystal Empire has accepted you for who you are and doesn't hold your being a changeling against you.  I can guarantee you that with a show of confidence from both the mayor and myself, the ponies here in town will give you a chance."

I listen to what she tells me and can sense the certainty she has in her words.  One way or another, she was gonna convince the ponies here to accept me despite my appearance and the history between my kind and theirs.  Calming myself down, I look back at Twilight and give her a nod.

"Thanks" I say to her.  "I know I seem like I'm being a pain, but I hope you understand that a changeling revealing themselves deliberately is practically unheard of, and while I've gotten used to living with the ponies in the Crystal Empire without disguising myself, it's still really scary revealing myself to a new pony."

"I know," she replies, "but doing that is showing trust in the ponies you're revealing yourself to, and trust is a two way street."

She gestures for me to follow her again, and this time I do.  "Where are we going?" I ask.

"To my private library" she replied.  "I think the best place to start preparing you would be to show you some exercises that will help relieve anxiety."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea" I respond as we both continue moving down the hallway.

Truth be told, I was gonna need all the help I could get.
> Day 1 - Meeting the Town (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, why did I ever agree to this?" I ask myself as I pace around the inside of the town hall building.  Princess Twilight and Spike both walked me over here while Applejack and Big Macintosh finished setting up the stage.  I was ushered inside and told to stay put until the mayor had given me my cue to come outside and meet everypony.

Currently, the mayor was waiting for the remainder of the town's citizens to arrive and get settled so she could begin her speech.  I dared a peek to look out over the crowd and saw some faces that I recognized but wished that I hadn't.

All three of the mares that Queen Chrysalis brainwashed to keep Princess Cadance in the abandoned Crystal Mines were here.  A grey earth pony with a treble clef cutie mark that was part of the orchestra at the wedding was here as well, along with the white mare that wore sunglasses and operated the record players.  There were also some stallions that I thought I recognized as guards that had their enchanted armor knocked off during the attack on the city.  All in all, more than a few of the ponies that attended the royal wedding were here, and they were about to be introduced to one of the creatures that was part of the attack on that day.

My panic was interrupted as Mayor Mare began her speech.

"Mares and Stallions of Ponyville, I thank you all for coming here this afternoon.  Now, I know some of you are curious about why I have called a meeting this late in the day, and I have a good reason for that.  Today, Ponyville will be welcoming a very special guest."

The mayor stepped away from the podium and allowed Twilight to speak.

"Thank you mayor, and Good Afternoon Ponyville.  I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Equestria's Princess of Friendship, am here to introduce all of you to a very unexpected guest: a friendly changeling."

Shocked gasps spread through the crowd, and I could feel the wave of fear and uncertainty pass over the ponies.  I could even detect a bit of fear from Princess Twilight, but the lavender mare kept her composure as she spoke.

"I understand that all of you have reservations about the idea of a changeling that actually wants to be on friendly terms with us, but I am here to personally assure you that no harm will come to you from this changeling.  Though I know that his word is good, a guard has been provided to keep watch of him so that you may all have piece of mind."

There were murmurs spreading through the audience now, and the wave of fear was starting to diminish.  Princess Twilight continued speaking.

"I met this changeling last year in the Crystal Empire a short time after an event there called The Crystaling.  That outpouring of love, combined with the excitement of my brother Shining Armor and fellow Princess Cadance giving birth to their first child, attracted him to the empire."

"His appearance caused a panic that put the empire into a lock down that would not end until he was captured.  When we arrived and learned of a changeling in the vicinity, we offered our services to help protect the citizens and bring in this changeling."

"My assistant Spike, who is a well known and respected hero in the empire, offered to assist the guard in their efforts to find the changeling in the wastelands outside the city.  His efforts were successful, but he panicked upon encountering the changeling and fell into a chasm inside the cave where the changeling was hiding."

The crowd reacted with shock upon learning that a hero of the Crystal Empire and one of their own citizens had been in such grave danger.

"This would've ended badly for Spike," Twilight continued, "but this changeling demonstrated his goodness by saving Spike from certain doom."

"Once he was safe, Spike heard out this changeling's story and made the decision to convince the Crystal Empire of his sincerity.  While they had their doubts, and there were several hiccups along the way, the ponies of the Crystal Empire eventually accepted this changeling, and for about the past six months or so, the changeling and the crystal ponies have lived together without incident.  They have shown him many lessons in regards to friendship and harmony, and he has stayed true to his word in regards to wanting friendship."

"Now, this changeling has asked to come before all of you today so that he can prove to all of you that his desire for friendship is genuine.  Please, everypony give a warm Ponyville welcome to Thorax!"

I gulped as a very quiet applause sounded.  By sound alone, I could tell it was only Starlight, the other element bearers, and a few really nervous ponies that were just as unsure about my being here as the ones who weren't applauding.

The mayor then proceeded to open the door and usher me out.  She looked at me with worry for a moment, and I at first thought it was from fear, but I quickly realized it was genuine concern.

"We're ready for you" the mayor tells me.  I think she had hoped that little bit of gentle pressure would persuade me to step outside, but my hooves decided to shape-shift into tree roots and hold me in place.  The mayor makes a gesture for me to come outside but my body refuses to do so.  I then see the mare turn and shake her head at Twilight, who reacts with nervousness that I am barely able to pick out from the background radiation of shock, fear and a tiny tidbit of anger.

"Sorry about this everypony" she addresses the crowd.  "From what Thorax has told me, a changeling deliberately revealing themselves to another creature is a rather nerve-wracking thing for them, so he's just a bit nervous right now."

As she concludes her explanation, I hear her hooves slowly walk over to the door, but it becomes almost a gallop once she's a few steps away from the podium.  She quickly joins the mayor at the door.

"Come on, Thorax" she says to me.  "This is what you've wanted for a long time.  A chance to meet ponies and be accepted for who you are outright."

"I know," I answer her, "but I'm still really nervous.  I can tell that everypony outside is scared, and there's a few that are even a little bit angry at me.  What if those ponies decide to act and the others join in?  I know how angry mobs usually get started."

Twilight gestures for the mare to get out of the doorway.  She comes inside and takes me into a hug, and I feel the love she has for me start to sink into my carapace, making some of the small pangs of hunger I've felt since the morning quiet down.

"I know how nervous you are," she sympathizes, "but nopony will find out how truly nice you are if you keep hiding in here.  If you really want to start building a bridge between ponies and the other changelings, then you got to start right here.  Let them see the real you, and they'll eventually come around."

"What about the angry ones?" I ask her.

Twilight looks at me for a second and then smiles.  "Remember my brother?" she asks, to which I nod.  "He was one of the angry ones too.  Now he's not.  I'm sure if you could get 'Mister Set In Stone' to come around, these few angry ponies will be a cinch."

I try to come up with a rebuttal, but the lavender alicorn is right.  Shining Armor was my most vocal opponent in the Crystal Empire, but now he had accepted me as a member of the kingdom he and his wife call home.  I could bring those angry ponies around with enough time and effort.

I slowly began to calm down, enjoying the bits of love coming from the princess, savoring them as my nerves began to calm down more.

"Feeling better now?" she asks me.

"A lot" I reply.

"Good" she says with a smile.  "Now, how about we go outside and meet all the ponies?"

I practice the exercises that she showed me earlier, and once I finish them, I give her a nod.  I step up to the door as the princess falls in behind me, ready to shove me through if I get cold hooves again.  Tentatively raising a hoof, I take one last deep breath and place it outside the threshold.

The sun is still fairly high in the sky, but it's begun its trek to the other side of the horizon.  Just outside the door is a stage with a podium set on it, and past that is what has my nerves so worked up at the moment: the population of the entire town, save anypony that may have taken a trip elsewhere today.

Princess Twilight steps past me and back to the podium.  I hear a door closing and look to see the mayor has cut off my best chance at hiding.  With nowhere to run besides out of town, I try my best to keep calm and approach the podium.  Princess Twilight addresses the ponies again.

"I know that a lot of you are really unsure of the current situation," she begins, "and I know some of you have some rather bad memories from what happened at the royal wedding some time ago, but I am here to assure you that nothing bad like that is going to happen here today."

"And how do you know for certain?" a pony in the crowd cries out.

"Because my friends and I, as well as the guard stationed her, care about the well being of this town enough to have made sure everypony who has gathered here for this meeting is not secretly a changeling waiting to spring a trap."

"But how do we know they're not in our houses right now?" another fearful pony cries out.  "I could walk home and be taken!"

"Nothing like that is going to happen!" Princess Twilight answers, more insistently than before.  "I'm well aware of the dangers that changelings present ponies.  I was at the wedding and seen first hoof what things they are capable of doing."

"That said, Thorax here is nothing like that.  As I said before, he came to the Crystal Empire wanting to be friends with ponies there and he has proven his intentions to be true.  Now, he wants to do the same thing here."

"And how do we know that's really true and you just aren't under some kind of mind control spell like your brother was?" A stallion steps forward, a scowl on his face.

"It's true because I was the only pony to see the changeling queen for what she was: a horrible imposter.  I would never fall for such terrible mind tricks."

"I bet" the stallion says under his breath.

The mayor decides to step forward and try to deescalate the situation.  "Please, everypony!" she calls out.  "I assure you that all necessary precautions have been taken.  If you have any doubts, then understand that a few minutes ago, this changeling was so terrified of coming out to see all of you that he was frozen in place.  I must ask all of you this simple question: If this changeling is some evil mastermind here to take over our town, then why have we announced him?  And why is he acting as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs?"

Nopony answers for a second, until one blurts out "That could be part of the deception."  With that scenario put forward, the crowd devolves into murmurs that border on shouting.  I immediately feel their growing hostility and know it is only a matter of time before the community of earth ponies break out pitch forks and torches.

Before things devolve any further, Princess Twilight steps back up to the podium.

"In the few years I have lived here in Ponyville", she begins, "I can honestly say that I have never felt more ashamed of you all as I do right now."

That comment causes the mob to quiet down and look at the princess.

"We've seen some of the worst that Equestria has had the displeasure of experiencing" she continues.  "My first day here, we were confronted with Nightmare Moon.  My friends and I became the new bearers for the Elements of Harmony and we cleansed the nightmare and restored Princess Luna."

"She was then invited back to take part in Nightmare Night, and what did we do?  We treated her like she was still Nightmare Moon!"

"The princess still feels very ashamed of what she had done in the past, but you all made her feel even worse than she already did, because in her mind, you proved to her that she was never going to redeem herself and prove that she had turned over a new leaf!"

"In the end, you finally did see that she was no longer the princess that sought to cause destruction and mayhem and allowed her a chance to forgive herself, if only just a little bit at that time."

"I thought all of you had got past that mistake, but I guess you haven't, and now we're all going to do the same thing with this changeling that we did with the princess so long ago.  I used to think this town was the most warm and accepting place in all of Equestria.  Now? I'm not so sure anymore."

I stood in both awe and shock of Twilight.  In her recollection of this event involving Princess Luna, she had evoked memories in a great many of these ponies, and I then started to feel shame coming from the audience.  Each one of them was looking down and away from the stage, none wanting to make eye contact with the alicorn.

"Now that I've cleared everything up," she continues, "let's have a warm Ponyville welcome for Thorax!"

The ponies stood stock still for a moment before a slow drumming was heard, which gradually picked up in volume.  I looked at the crowd and saw a few ponies begin stomping their hooves, some next to them joining in after a moment, and by the time a full minute had passed, the majority of the ponies in the crowd were stomping their hooves against the ground, making the small stage we were standing on shake a little bit.

Princess Twilight raised a hoof and the stomping ceased.  "That was much better" she praised them.  "Now, Thorax understands that all of you are rather nervous about a changeling being here, with some of you rather scared and wanting to go hide.  In truth, he feels the same way too.  He didn't want to come out of the town hall and show himself to all of you because he was afraid you would turn into an angry mob and run him out of town on a... rail."

Everypony turns to see two stallions carrying a long wooden pole on their backs.  The two stop and see the disapproving stare coming form the princess, and after some rather sheepish smiles, back up and out of view again.  Princess Twilight starts speaking again.

"Thorax was afraid of what he thought you all would do, but he got over that fear and came out to meet all of you.  Now, I want all of you to get over that same fear as well, and I know from experience that the biggest motivator in fear is ignorance.  With that in mind, I would like to invite all of you to please ask Thorax any question that you've wanted to know about changelings."

"Before we start, I would appreciate it greatly if everypony please keep things civil and not bombard him with questions about the incident at the royal wedding.  He wants to move past that as much as I do.  Thorax, the stage is yours."
> Day 1 - Meeting the Town(Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I stood on the stage quivering in fear.  Thousands of pony eyes were staring at me.  Every single pony there feeling some kind of negative emotion, from simple nervousness to outright fear.  It was so much that it was beginning to sour my stomach and cause me to throw up the wonderful love-infused pancakes Spike and Princess Twilight had made me this morning.  I did my best to calm myself and alleviate my nausea, and I was fortunate enough to abate it for a moment.

With cautious steps, I approached the podium that Twilight and the mayor had been speaking at.  As I stood before it, I looked out over the crowd gathered in front of it.  They were a mix of all three races, and I could swear I saw a few ponies with slitted eyes like a cat; some thestrals that had decided to stay awake for the day so they could inform their nocturnal brethren of the goings on in the town.

Perhaps I could come out at night and meet a few, before it got too late and I had to go to bed?

My attention returned to the crowd and I prepared myself to speak.

"Um, h... he... hello" I managed to squeak out.  "M... My name...  My name is...  T-T-Thorax."

Nopony reacted, and I couldn't sense a change in mood.  A good sign, maybe?

"Princess Twilight has told you some about me," I continue with more confidence, "but I'm sure you all have questions-"

"WHY DID YOU ATTACK CANTERLOT?!"

"WHY DO YOU ATTACK US FOR LOVE?!  CAN'T YOU MAKE YOUR OWN?!"

"WHAT'S WITH THE HOLES AND THE WHOLE BUG LOOK?!"

"WHY DO YOU HAVE FANGS?!  DO YOU HAVE VENOM LIKE SNAKES?!"

The questions came flooding over me and I very quickly ducked down behind the podium.  A quick flash of light and a loud "BANG!" silenced the crowd again as Princess Twilight addressed them.

"Everypony, please calm down!" she called out to them.  "You all have questions, and some that are very deserving of answers, but it is completely unfair for us to expect Thorax to answer any of them when you're bombarding him like some Bridlewood star!"

Nopony spoke after that.  Twilight looked back to me.  "Don't worry," she assured me, "The mare and I have your back.  Don't let them get to you."

I give her a nod as I rise back up to face the crowd.  "As I was saying," I continue, "I am willing to answer questions, but for some of them, I may not have the answers.  I was a drone, and I wasn't granted the privilege to know more than what the queen wanted.  So, I will answer any questions you have."

"Need I remind all of you," Twilight interjects, "when it comes to asking questions, you need to do so in an orderly manner.  You cannot bombard Thorax with questions and expect to get answers to every one of them.  We will raise hooves and I will call on you to ask your question."

Nearly every hoof shot up into the air.  The unison of the act made it feel somewhat creepy, and reminded me of the hive and training drills to an extent.

"We'll start with Lyra Heartstrings" Twilight says as she points to a mint-green mare with yellow eyes.  I recognize her and then shudder; she was one of the bridesmaids that was hypnotized into guarding Princess Cadance in the crystal caves beneath Canterlot during the wedding.  I could only imagine what kind of question she had to ask me.

"Is it true that changelings can control ponies' minds?"

...Yeah, that's about what I imagined she would ask.  The worst part is she was looking for me to say there was.  Anything else and she would consider it to be an outright lie or just dodging the question.  It was a catch 22 for me: Answer yes and lose any chance at gaining trust in the town, but answer no and everypony will think you're lying.

I look at Twilight nervously.  "I don't know how to answer that" I tell her.

"Why?" she asks as she looks at me with confusion.

"I can tell that she wants me to say yes and won't accept anything but yes as the truth." I admit to her.

Twilight turns to face Lyra.  "Answer me honestly, Lyra: Will you except any answer besides yes, even if no is the actual truth?"

Lyra looks taken aback.  "W-What?!"

"If Thorax told you no," Twilight elaborates, "would you accept it as the truth, or would you take it as he's lying?"

Lyra looks around at the crowd with discomfort.  "U... Um..."

"Then I don't think it's proper for you to be asking that question" she tells the mare before facing the crowd.  "Thorax is more than willing to tell all of you the truth and that he won't hide anything from you, but there isn't really a point to asking him questions if you would only accept an answer that wouldn't conflict with your own beliefs about changelings.  That's what science ponies call a confirmation bias, and it prevents the real evidence of an experiment from being considered and the actual truth to be known."

"So, with that said, how many of you actually have a question for Thorax for which you will accept whatever he tells you is the truth and you won't call him out as a liar for it?"

Nopony raises a hoof for a few moments, but eventually, one hoof is raised very timidly into the air.

"Yes, Davenport?" Twilight calls on the stallion.

"Um... Why did you attack Canterlot?"

The question is another one I was expecting.  For ponies, that attack was unprovoked, and the damage it had caused had taken away the peace of mind that their princesses could handle any threat the kingdom faced.  It wasn't hard to understand that those affected would want answers.

"Well... I don't know ALL of the reasons we were made to invade Canterlot, but what I know for certain is that the queen promised us that going there and taking over would allow us to feed and we wouldn't have to feel hunger any more."

"Why were all of you so hungry to begin with?"

The mare asking this question was the one standing beside Lyra.  She had a mane that was half indigo and half magenta.  Her blue eyes appraised me as I considered how to answer her question.

"Well, we don't eat food like other creatures do.  Our bodies our kinda like plants, where we make the nutrients we need to survive inside ourselves, but just like plants, we need an external source of energy in order for us to function.  For us, that energy comes from the emotions of other creatures, and the kind that is preferred are the more amorous kinds of feelings, like love."

"So we're just some kind of walking smorgasbord for you lot, huh?"

The pony asking this question was a stallion wearing a necktie.  He was close enough I could make out his cutie mark: an  hourglass.

"Well, not me specifically" I answer.  "The rest of the changelings don't see any problem with stealing love from all of you and making you so weak you can barely move.  I don't think that's right, and that's why I left the hive to find a better way to live."

"That's why you went to the Crystal Empire?"

This was a mare's voice.  Her mulberry coat and pinkish mane contrasted well against her green eyes.

"Well, not exactly" I answer.  "I ended up in the Crystal Empire after I tried to make friends in other places, but as you can imagine, nopony really wanted to make friends with... a creature like me."

There weren't anymore questions for a few moments.  Eventually, a pony did raise their hoof.

"How come y'all didn't wanna talk with us about bein' hungry?"

This question came from a foal.  The little yellow filly had a big red bow in her hair, and she looked up at me with her orange eyes in genuine curiosity.

"I honestly don't know" I tell her.  "I think maybe it was because we didn't think ponies would listen to us because of how different we are."

"That's nonsense!" Lyra's voice called out.  "We ponies pride ourselves on being very accepting and friendly creatures!"

"I don't know" I replied to her.  "Princess Twilight told me the story about how your town reacted to meeting a zebra for the first time."

Everypony winced a bit at that remark.  They clearly hadn't forgotten about the shamare who lived inside the Everfree Forest and concocted herbal remedies and potions.  She would occasionally come into town for some events and to purchase things she couldn't otherwise procure from her excursions into the dangerous forest.

Upon her first entry into town, the ponies believed she was an evil sorceress who would curse anypony who crossed her path.  It was only later that she was revealed to be as normal as any pony living in Ponyville, save some eccentricities such as her speaking in rhyme and living in a place most regarded as being too dangerous.

"How did you make friends with Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor?"

The voice and raised hoof belonged to another mare in town.  Her orange mane and cream coat made her stand out especially well in the sea of ponies gathered before the changeling.

"It wasn't easy" I reply.  "After the story Princess Twilight told you all, I was allowed to stay in the empire, and even given a room in the Crystal Palace so I didn't have to worry about finding a home."

"The first few weeks weren't easy.  Prince Shining Armor still didn't trust me and thought everything I did was a ruse to make him lower his guard."

"Princess Cadance, however, was more accepting of me.  She actually helped me to make friends and demonstrate that my intentions were true."

"I also got to make friends with Sunburst.  He's the royal crystaller that helps with the ceremonies that go on in the Crystal Empire, such as the Crystal Fair and the Crystalling itself."

"What about the prince?" Lyra asked with a raised hoof.

"He took the most convincing" I respond.  "He actually opened up to me more around Hearth's Warming this past winter."

"While I was living in the Crystal Empire, I took up painting as a hobby.  I wasn't terribly good to start with, but I did eventually improve enough to make some decent artwork."

"Sunburst had taught me about Hearth's Warming and I decided I wanted to participate in the holiday with other ponies.  So, I decided to paint some pictures as presents.  I did one for Sunburst and one for the royal family."

"I wrapped them and presented them the morning of Hearth's Warming.  Upon seeing the portrait I did, the prince was skeptical of me, thinking I had taken another pony's artwork and tried to claim it as my own."

"Eventually, he reconsidered his overall stance with me and by that evening, he admitted to his change of heart.  Now, we're on better terms.  Maybe we're not friends, but we're certainly not enemies anymore."

"As it stands now, I have nearly convinced the entire Crystal Empire that I hold no ill will towards them."

"Nearly?" came Lyra's voice again, her hoof coming up along with it.

"I can tell that some of the ponies still don't fully trust me" I admit to the crowd.  "I even feel it here from most of you."

"I can't blame you for feeling that way.  While I won't call any of you out, I know there's ponies in the crowd who were present at the wedding, and some of you had rather unpleasant run ins with other members of the hive."

"I understand if none of you want to be friends, or even just acquaintances right away, but all I am asking of you is a chance to show that I'm not here to try some dastardly scheme.  I just want you all to see me as what I am; another living creature just trying to live a good life with all of you."

I waited to see if there were any other ponies that wanted to ask questions.  Going by the feel of the crowd, I didn't think there would be anymore.  However, a hoof did raise up.

"Are there other changelings like you?"

The pony asking the question was a mare.  Her cream colored coat was offset by red mane and green eyes.  She had been standing beside the pony with the hourglass cutie mark.

Were they possibly together?  I could feel some kind of a bond between them.

"I'm... not completely sure" I have to admit.  "I never knew of any others like myself, but I suppose it's possible there's more and I just never met any of them."

"Do you guys have venom?"

The voice and hoof came from a pony that was just a tad more unusual than the others.  She had a grey coat and yellow mane that paired with her yellow eyes.  However, those eyes weren't focused on the same spot; I think I heard of that being called "wall eyed"?

"...Well, sort of" I confess reluctantly.  "It's not meant to cause any harm in the way something like snake venom would.  It paralyzes muscles so the one bitten can't move, and it makes the one bitten feel tired and drowsy as well.  The main purpose is to make catching things easier."

I can see ponies wincing at my explanation.  Honestly, I can't blame them.  The idea of venom that makes you easier prey isn't something I would be fond of either.

Some frantic scribbling to my side causes me to glance and I see Princess Twilight scribbling down what I just told the audience.  A shiver goes down my spine as I realize that I will probably have to give her a sample of venom later on so she can study it.

"Are there any more questions?" the mayor asks as she looks over the crowd.  I see no more hooves go up into the air, and internally I sigh in relief.

"Well then," the mare continues, "Thorax will be here for a week's time, and he has agreed that for that time, he will remain without a disguise.  He has been given permission to see our town and will have an escort with him, both so that all of you can feel safe and nothing happens to him as well."

"Don't be afraid to approach and talk with him, but please don't call him out or harass him while he's here.  He wants to see a place he never really got to visit in his journey and it would do well for all of us to show him the same hospitality that you would show any other pony visiting."

"Did you come through here on your journey?"

The question came from Lyra again, but this time she didn't bother with raising her hoof.

"I did" I admit to her and the crowd.  "I was so afraid of being discovered that I didn't stay for very long though."

A few different emotions went through the crowd, but one I wasn't expecting was guilt.  There were actually ponies out there that felt bad that I had felt so unwelcome that I didn't choose to stay long.  I suppose they didn't like their reputation of being a friendly town being tarnished, even if the one that felt unwelcome was a creature they weren't fond of.

"Well, that is something I think we can all certainly help with in the coming week" the mayor says with a smile as she approaches the podium.  "I believe our new friend here is a bit worn out from this whole situation, so I think we'll end the questions for now."

"As a reminder, Thorax will be here for this week in town, without any disguise and with an escort to ensure that both he and all of you are safe.  If you have any further questions for him, I'm sure he won't be afraid to answer them, provided you all don't gang up on him and make him feel uncomfortable."

The ponies all gave each other nervous smiles but otherwise didn't react too much.

"I will also be available to answer any questions you all may have" Twilight adds.  "While he is here in Ponyville, I am considering him my personal responsibility, so any ponies that have issue with him will have to take the matter up with me.  Does anyone have any issues at the moment?"

No hooves were raised.

"Good" Twilight says with a smile.  "I believe this concludes today's announcement.  I thank you all for coming today."

With that, the ponies began to disperse.  I let out a sigh of relief, glad that that little affair had concluded.  Right now, I wanted nothing more than to go back to the castle and crawl under a bed for a while.

"Care to join us for a late lunch?"

I look up at Princess Twilight as she gestures to me with a hoof.

"I asked Spike to prepare something before he came to see the announcement today.  He should have it plated up and ready for us by the time we get back."

My stomach grumbled a bit at the thought of eating whatever love-infused food the pair had crafted for me.  I give her a small smile.

"Lead the way."
> Day 1 - Spike's Game
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We headed back to the castle and had our late lunch.  Spike had used some of the potion Twilight and Zecora made in a loaf of bread that everyone tried.  The bread, and love, were both equally delicious.

Just as Twilight had said happened to her, everypony at the table seemed to have more energy and were in rather high spirits.  My senses also told me that there may have been some amorous emotions to go along with the more upbeat mood, especially between Fluttershy and Big Macintosh.

I'd have to give Twilight a warning about this then; the increase in amorous feelings could cause the pony to engage in acts they wouldn't in normal circumstances, and may come to regret later.

After lunch, Spike invited me to come back to his room with Big Macintosh, where I was inducted into the game known as Ogres and Oubliettes, or O&O for short.  Apparently, the way to play was for me to make up a character and pretend to be this character through the course of the game.

My character would join Spike and Big Mac's characters and travel around in the fictional world, engaging in fights with monsters and discovering lost castles and dungeons where we were to find loot that we could keep or sell.

For my first campaign, Spike and Big Mac accompanied me along on a quest that they'd already completed, and was also recommended for players just beginning to play the game.  It involved traveling to a cave where a dragon that was threatening a village lived, and after doing the campaign my way, which involved convincing the dragon to leave the village and move on, my character was rewarded with a portion of the dragon's hoard and some experience, which I still didn't quite understand how to use yet.

In truth, I didn't understand much about the game and how it was played; Spike and Big Mac had to help me during pretty much every turn I took.  However, seeing the happy look and feeling the love my dragon friend had for the game spurred me on, and we began a second campaign that was more involved than the first.

In this one, a village had called all of us to help capture a thief that had broken into some homes and stole some valuable possessions.  The constable was unable to travel to the thief's hideout to apprehend them, and agreed to pay us a bounty if we succeeded.

We'd gotten to the cage to find out that the thief was part of a larger party of bandits that had been plaguing the countryside.  Descending into their lair, we were met by not only the bandits, but several monsters they'd managed to enslave with a dark magic artifact.

My attempts at diplomacy were quickly defeated by a dice roll, so I changed my strategy after that to staying towards the back of our group and offering my potions to my friend and Big Macintosh, something Spike referred to as "being a support character".  The two friends used their spells and combat abilities to defeat the remainder of the bandits and work all of the way to the head bandit.

"Upon entering the final chamber," Spike reads aloud from behind a screen he'd set up to keep Big Macintosh and me from seeing the possible outcomes of the quest, "you see the final bandit sitting on a throne.  'You've done well to come so far' he says to your party 'but it has all been for naught!'.  The-"

Spike cuts off as he looks at me nervously.  "Maybe we should call it here for today?" he suddenly proposes, fear and nervousness quickly spreading through him.

Big Macintosh looks at him with shock and a bit of anger.  "After we done got to the last boss in the dungeon, y'all wanna give up now?"

Spike quickly walked over to Big Mac and whispered something into his ear.  Upon hearing it, Big Mac's eyes go wide and he suddenly becomes as nervous as Spike.

"Y-Yer right" Big Macintosh concedes.  "It is gettin' sort of late anyways."

A quick look at a nearby window shows me that the sun, while closer to the horizon, is by no means ready to go down.

I look back at Spike and Big Macintosh, both of them still exuding nervousness as they start to clean up pieces from the game.

"Spike" I say to get my friend's attention.

The little dragon winces.  "Y-Yeah?" he responds.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here" I begin as I take a breath.  "That last bandit boss?  It's a changeling, isn't it?"

Spike doesn't say anything, but his body language and emotions confirm what I had suspected.  

"That certainly explains their nervousness" I thought to myself.

I sit back and think for a second about this recent turn of events.  Despite my attempts thus far to present a more positive image of changelings, they were still painted as villains by a great many ponies.  It was understandable though; our queen attacked two different princesses directly.  Even with claiming that the attack was meant to provide for her starving subjects, ponies still view the act as unjustifiable.

Before he can even offer a retort, I let out a breath and make my decision.

"Let's finish playing" I tell the two.

Both Spike and Big Macintosh look at me.  "Are you sure?" Spike asks me.

I nod.  "I'm not surprised that ponies are using changelings as villains in different fictional stories, or game plots in this case.  Until my kind change their ways and become more accepted in pony society, I'm just gonna have to live with this unpleasant fact that we'll be painted as villains."

Spike and Big Macintosh both look at me for a few seconds before returning to their seats.  Spike places his pieces back in their spots as Big Macintosh does the same.  The red stallion doesn't look me straight in the eyes, purposefully avoiding doing so as though he fears something will happen to him if he does.

Once the pieces are set back up, Spike resumes reading the campaign literature.

"The lead bandit is suddenly consumed by green fire, and after the column of flames dissipates, a changeling is left standing in his place.  A nearby stallion witnesses this and attempts to run, but is suddenly caught in the changeling's sickly green magic.  'You have served me well' the changeling says to the stallion 'but now you will serve me in the way nature intended'."

Spike pauses and looks at me.  "Do you really want me to keep going?" he asks, the uncertainty and fear greater than before.

I give him a nod.  "I can probably guess what's coming next" I respond, honestly knowing what's going to happen next.  In truth, I've seen it more times than I care to count.

"Okay" Spike says, giving me a nervous frown before continuing with the script.

"Before the stallion can protest, his breath catches in his throat as a pink energy is sucked out of his body and into the changeling's mouth.  As more energy leaves the stallion's body, his gaze becomes unfocused and he becomes visibly weaker, his muscles sagging on his frame as energy leaves him."

"After a minute, the pink stream stops and the changeling discards the pony, tossing him away onto a few wooden crates, where the stallion's impact causes them to break.  Due to the intense apathy of having his love stolen, the stallion doesn't even let out a groan of pain."

I don't show it, but I wince a bit on the inside as I hear what is more or less an accurate description of a feeding.  It causes me to remember Soothing Dusk and again lament my actions.  I once again hope to myself that Twilight and the zebra can perfect the potion.  It would be rather nice to give back what I'd taken, even if in just a symbolic manner.

"Now full of love," Spike continues reading,"the changeling looks at your party with malevolence in its pupil-less eyes.  'Now that that pony has given me a decent recharge' he taunts 'I have enough energy to deal with the likes of you!'  The changeling gets into a fighting stance and ignites its horn, prompting you and your party to adopt your own."

Spike looks to Big Macintosh.  "What are you gonna do?" he asked the red stallion.

Big Macintosh flinches a bit during Spike's reading of the pre-fight encounter.  Once Spike finishes, the stallion thinks over his choices and decides to attack with a distraction.

Spike rolls a die and it lands with a seventeen.  Seeing he only needed sixteen, Spike reads the next part of the encounter.

"You throw a smoke bomb at the changeling's face and blind it momentarily.  Taking advantage, you spot a boulder and step behind it."

Spike turns to me.  "Do you follow Sir McBiggun or do you try something else?"

I look at the board for a moment before deciding on my move.  I don't know what the changeling character is like in this game, but I am under the impression that it is quite under-powered despite its recent meal.

"I decide to attack."

Both Spike and Macintosh look at each other and then to Thorax.

"The changeling has really high stats, Thorax" Spike cautions me.  "Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

"It is" I say with confidence.

Spike just looks back at Big Mac and shrugs.  "Okay" he says to me and rolls his dice.  They come up nineteen.

"You charge at the changeling ready to attack.  What attack do you use?"

"I use electricity" I tell them confidently.

"Okay" Spike says, just a bit unsure.  He hands me dice, telling me "Roll this one for accuracy and this one for damage.

I do as asked and both dice come up with high enough numbers to be considered successful.

Wide eyed, Spike refers to the campaign sheet.

"You charge up a powerful electricity spell and cast it.  It hits dead center in the changeling's chest and incapacitates it.  The changeling takes 13 damage out of its total of 150, leaving 137 health.  The electricity also paralyzes the changeling and keeps it from using physical attacks for one turn."

Spike takes the dice in his hand.  "I elect to attack with a fire sword!"

He rolls the first die, and it comes up with a six.  Spike groans as he reads the sheet.  "I charge forward with my sword but trip on a rock.  My blade catches in the wall and I struggle to free it."

Spike turns back to Big Macintosh and the stallion tells him he wants to attack with his Gravity Hammer.  The little dragon flinches, thinking the weapon might not be appropriate for the situation.  Nonetheless, he gives Macintosh the dice.

The stallion rolls the big dice and it comes up twenty.  The red stallion grins and stretches out his hoof, only to quickly pull it back into himself.

Spike smiles as he reads the script.  "Sir Biggun produces his gravity hammer and approaches the changeling.  It is starting to regain movement, but it freezes as it sees the stallion approaching.  It makes one last ditch effort to get itself free, but to no avail."

Spike turns the page and then becomes shocked.  "The changeling then ignites his horn and starts trying to drain the love from you!"

He turns to me.  "You see Sir McBiggun in trouble and want to help.  What do you do?"

"I cast electricity again" I say a bit too enthusiastically.

Spike hands me the die and I roll.  I smile as it lands on 18.

"The electricity spell you conjured hits its mark," Spike reads on, "and Sir McBiggun is freed from the changeling's grasp.  The insecto-equine is incapacitated again, and takes another 13 damage, taking it to 124 health."

"Since you were able to save Sir McBiggun, he gets to take his turn again."

Turning to Big Mac, Spike asks if he wants to repeat the same attack or try a different one.

"Gravity hammer" he says with no hesitation.

Spike hands Macintosh the dice again.  The first is high and the second is low.  "You bring up your hammer and swing it home.  At the last second, the changeling tries to roll out of the way, only succeeding partly."

Spike then winces as he reads the next part.

"Because you've added an enchantment to this hammer for a triple damage multiplier, the glancing blow which would normally be worth only twenty-five points is now worth seventy-five, bringing the changeling's health down to forty-nine health points.  The blow stuns the changeling and incapacitates it for one turn."

Spike picks up the dice in front of him.  "I'm going to try my fire sword again."

Rolling the dice, Spike rolls a sixteen, which is just what he needs for a successful attack.

"I get my sword free of the wall and bring it back for a swing again."

He rolls the dice again.  A low number on the first and a low number on the second.

"Shoot!" he swears as he reads the script.

"The changeling avoids my sword swipe and has gotten back to his hooves.  Because of his dazed state from the hammer, the next player will get a free turn against the changeling."

Big Mac grins an evil grin.

"Gravity Hammer to finish him."

Spike rolls and the dice read fourteen.  Big Mac deflates.

"Sir McBiggun winds up his hammer and strikes, but the changeling dodges at the last minute.  Again, he grabs McBiggun in his magic and prepares to drain his love.  What will you do Thorax?"

"Electricity again!" I call out, a little more enthusiastically than I had meant to.

Spike gives me the dice and I roll.

A six.  

"Dang it" I curse.

"The electricity spell misses its mark," Spike reads, "colliding into a nearby wall.  The changeling charges up its spell and prepares to feed.  Since it's my turn, I'll try my fire sword one last time."

Spike rolls and his eyes go wide with a smile.  Twenty.

"The blade cuts into the changeling right as the pink energy starts to leave Sir McBiggun.  The blow deals twenty five damage, but the blade's burning effect will linger for the remainder of the match and take five health at the beginning of each of the changeling's turns, unless the changeling can acquire a healing potion.  The changeling now has twenty-four health points.

"Sir McBiggun is freed from the changeling's grip, gasping a bit from the effect of having love pulled from his body, but not taking him out of the fight.  What would you like to do?"

"Gravity Hammer again" Big Macintosh tells Spike.  The dragon then rolls the large die and it comes up eighteen.

"The hammer swing strikes into the changeling's side and sends them into a wall.  The powerful strike removes all remaining health points from the changeling and the creature lays on the floor, finally defeated."

"Your party binds the creature in heavy rope and hauls it out of the hideout and back to the village.  The stallion he drained is taken as well, likely to be recovered by an apothecary before being dumped in with the changeling."

"For your party's efforts, you are rewarded with ten-thousand gold bits, a set of durability enchanted armor that resists up to twelve damage points, a dozen healing potions, and a dozen poison antidotes."

"The local wizard has crafted a unique item for one of your party to use.  It is a cloak that, when worn by one of your party, will allow them to disguise as another character for up to five turns, or when they choose to reveal their identity."

Big Macintosh lets out a whistle.  "That sounds mighty useful."

"It is" I say absentmindedly, then look around when I suddenly sense confusion.  Both Big Macintosh and Spike are looking at me.

"I mean," I say nervously, "being able to disguise yourself would make getting into places you're not supposed to much easier."

"So YOU'RE the reason Princess Flurry Heart always has cookie crumbs in her crib after bedtime?" I hear Vigilant call out from his spot near the door to Spike's bedroom.  I let out a groan upon hearing that, having more or less completely forgotten he was standing there.  Spike and Big Macintosh both laugh at the chiding from my guard.  I decide to just take the L and go about cleaning up the playing pieces I was using.

Spike and Big Macintosh clean up their own pieces.  As they do so, Spike looks at me apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Thorax" he tells me.  "That was a brand new campaign and it was the first time me and Big Mac played it.  If I'd known about the last boss-"

"It's okay, Spike" I reassure the little dragon.  "I'm not upset.  Sure, it's a little disheartening to know that ponies still view changelings as nothing more than manipulative monsters; nothing has happened to show the good changelings are capable of.  I knew when I came here and established that goal, I was climbing up a very steep hill, but I am determined to see it through to the end!"

Spike looks at me for a minute, and then smiles.  "That optimism is infectious" he tells me.

"Eeyup" Big Mac agrees.  "Good to have a positive outlook, especially when things look the worst."

I nod at the stallion's sentiment.  Big Mac returned to putting his pieces away.  I take mine and give them to Spike, but he pushes them back at me.

"I want you to have those" he tells me.  "I'm sure there's other ponies in the Crystal Empire that play O&O.  I know Shining Armor does, or he used to."

"He's so busy doing his guard duties," I tell Spike, "and these games seem like they could really stretch on for a while."

Spike nods in agreement.  "They can, but that's what bookmarks and stat sheets are for; you can pick up where you left off if you have to stop for any reason."

"I know," I tell Spike, "but like I said, Shining Armor is always so busy, so who knows when he and I would get a chance to play the game.  It's entirely possible we'd never get any time at all."

"What happens happens," Spike tells me as he pushes the pieces back to me, "but I still want you to keep those.  If you ever visit again, we can have another campaign.  I'm sure Big Mac wouldn't mind a brief round after his chores get finished for the day."

Big Mac nods at Spike's proposal, and then his eyes go wide.  "Oh, Fiddlesticks!" he calls out before barreling out the door and down the hall.

Vigilant watches him go and shakes his head.  "Whatever it was must've been important."

"It was" Spike confirms.  "It's actually a mare named Fiddlesticks.  She's a distant relation to the Apple family.  She's due on a train in..."

Spike pauses to look at a clock.

"...about an hour.  Big Mac needs to get cleaned up and brush out his mane."

"Couldn't he have cleaned up here?" I suggest.

"He wants to go home so he can get Apple Bloom and take her to the train station with him" Spike tells me.

I nod in understanding, then look up at the clock on the wall.  "It's getting close to sunset now."

Spike's eyes widen as he looks at the clock with me.  "I gotta go!" he announces as he bolts out of the room.

"Where are you going?" I ask him as I follow him out at a much slower pace.

"Dinner isn't gonna cook itself" he calls back as he disappears down a hallway.

I smile as I watch my friend leave.  Vigilant, walking behind me, let's out a sigh.

"Has nopony around here ever heard of not running indoors?"
> Day 1 - Meeting the Night Life, Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I enjoyed another great love-infused meal thanks to Spike.  This time around, it was a souffle with sauteed vegetables on the side.  Even without the love, it was still quite delicious.

Twilight had heeded my warning to her and had Spike omit the love from everypony else's meals.  Surprisingly, Big Mac and Fluttershy still had rather obvious feelings towards one another, which made me think that it was possible the two had feelings that they'd been suppressing for fear of rejection by the other party.

Whatever the case, they still seemed to have quite an interest in one another.  Fortunately, I finished my meal quickly and was permitted to go to bed earlier than most of the ponies.  Vigilant unfortunately chose not to dine with us, but eventually conceded on the suggestion of Twilight bringing a serving of the meal to my room so he could eat while he performed his duties.

I went about preparing myself for bed, having a shower, brushing my teeth and fangs, and having a small glass of water to make sure I stayed properly hydrated.  After bidding Vigilant a good night, my head hit the pillow and I was off to sleep.






A few hours later...






*TAP TAP TAP*

I slowly woke up and looked around, a bit groggy from the sudden noise.  I look around the dark room and see nothing out of the ordinary.  However, I take notice that Vigilant is propped up against a wall, lightly snoring.

*TAP TAP TAP*

I look around again but still can't find the source of the noise.  Fearing it could be some kind of trap by either a changeling that had managed to locate me or a pony that was hoping to take revenge on me for Canterlot, I decide to go over and nudge Vigilant.

My gesture is rewarded by the stallion jumping on me and placing a spear to my throat.

"What are you doing?!" he whispers at me, his spear point just an inch or so from my neck.

"I-I heard a noise!" I cry out, my eyes closed and fear coursing through me.

Vigilant stands there for a few moments before he withdraws his spear and steps back, allowing me to rise up to my hooves.

"Sorry" he says to me.  "When you woke me up it startled me."

"It's okay," I reply, "but I think there's somepony or something in the room with us."

*TAP TAP TAP*

I jump again as I hear the noise and Vigilant almost immediately picks up on it.

"It's one of the windows" he says as he moves to the side of the room where some windows are situated in the wall.  Fortunately, they're stained glass, or maybe they're colored crystal; it was a castle made of crystal.

Vigilant opens the window and looks out.  After a brief scan, he looks back at me.  "There's nothing out there" he tells me.

I walk over to the window and look out, seeing nothing but a treeline, a few buildings off in the distance, and some bushes immediately outside the window.

"Up here, sillies!"

The voice surprises both of us and we look around for the source.  After not seeing anything again, I process what the voice told me and look up.  What I see catches me off guard almost completely.

Hanging upside down by their tail is a pony.  It's a female, based on the overall body shape, but she had a few features that I had never seen in a pony before.  Firstly, her eyes - they were bright yellow, and slitted like the queen's eyes.  Next, she had fangs coming from her muzzle, gleaming white in some moonlight that happened to shine on them.  After that was some tufted ears, and the last thing of note was a large pair of wings on her back that resembled bat wings.

The mare giggles at us as she releases her tails grip and opens her wings, silently gliding into the room and landing in an open space.  After she touches down, she turns to face both of us.

Vigilant goes into guard mode and quickly takes up his spear and getting between the pony and I.  "What do you think you're doing?!" he asks her in a sharp whisper.

The mare tousles her mane as she walks over towards me.  Vigilant raises his spear in warning.

"Oh, just checking out the rumors I heard" she says as she steps around him and begins circling me.  "So, there really is a changeling here in Ponyville, and without a disguise too."

She continues circling as she gets a gauge of me.  After a few moments, she seems to be satisfied with her assessment.

"Well, the others are sure gonna get a kick out of this."

...Others?

Vigilant moves between the mare and I again.  "You've had your fun now miss, so why don't you head on back to your roost?"

The mare looks incensed.  "We sleep in normal beds just like you 'normal' ponies do," she retorts, "and we work all the night shift jobs so you colts don't have to!"

"I'm sure it's much appreciated," he counters, "and I'm sure lots of ponies would thank you, but right now, they're all asleep, and Thorax should be too!"

The mare stares down the guard and then starts giggling.

"I think that should be up to the bug here" she says as she gestures a hoof towards me, then turns to address me.

"So your name's Thorax?" she says.  I give a simple nod in response.

"Well, I'm Amber Moonlight," she introduces herself with spread wings, "and on behalf of the thestral population, welcome to Ponyville!"

I stand there for a moment and process what she just said to me, and then it all clicks.  The mare in front of me, Amber, is a thestral.  They're a sub-race of ponies that most have almost been totally forgotten about until Princess Luna returned from banishment.  Naturally nocturnal, they perform all manner of jobs that one expects to be done either at night or in very dark conditions.

Most went into hiding for the thousand years that Princess Luna had been banished, as a great many served in her night guard, and their nocturnal nature had earned them the moniker of "Luna's Faithful".

The thestrals were also known as lunar pegasi and bat ponies, as well as the rather offensive term "bug eaters" on account of their omnivorous diet, which insects were once a regular part of.

Wait a moment.  Insects?

I suddenly get nervous.

"So, guard," Amber says as she walks up to us, "can the little bug come out and play for a minute?"

Vigilant frowns.  "I understand this is probably like mid day for you," he chastises, "but it's the middle of the night for us, and I'm sure 'little bug' would like to catch some shut eye too."

"Maybe let him decide?" Amber countered as she looked at me.  I looked back and I could feel the excitement coming off of her like she was a campfire in the winter.  I look over at Vigilant with a guilty expression.  The stallion lets out a breath and curses something under his breath.

"For how long?" he eventually asks the mare.

"Just an hour or so," she replies, "but we'll have to go to town square.  That's where the rest are gathered."

Again, Vigilant lets out a sigh.  "Can you give us some time to get there?"

Amber smiles.  "Certainly.  Just don't be squares you slowpokes!"

With that, she jumped through the window, spread her wings and flapped them hard to get her airborne into the night sky.  I watch her go as I hear Vigilant mutter something about finding a cup of coffee.





Amber had left my room and flown around to the front of the castle to wait for us; she at least understood that Vigilant couldn't fly and needed to come with me.  The stallion had made his way to the castle kitchens and prepared himself a cup of coffee to take with him.  We both headed out the front doors and met up with Amber, who giggled as she stood up from her seat on the steps.

"You ponies sure are slow" she teased Vigilant and I.

"Hey!" Vigilant said in offense.  "Thorax has to be under my watch twenty-four-seven, so wherever he goes, I have to go with him."

"Really?" Amber says with a quirked eyebrow.  "Well, I guess that explains why he isn't flying."

The thestral then opens her wings and takes to the air, making a wide circle before passing over top of us.

"Just head to the center of town" she calls out as she passes over us.  "All of the thestrals are gathered there.  Don't be late, slowpokes!"

Vigilant and I watch as she flies off towards our destination.  Vigilant lets out a breath as he takes a sip of his coffee.  "Well, let's get going" he says after he's had a drink.

I nod and fall into step beside him.  Everything is quiet for several minutes, and I quickly become uncomfortable.

"So," I begin awkwardly, "have you dealt with thestral ponies before?"

Vigilant just looked at me and gave a short nod.  "Yeah.  I got put on night shift a few days after Princess Luna returned.  You see, when the princess came back, the guard was inundated with applications from thestrals to join.  They held Luna in high reverence and consider her their patron, so for them to be able to serve under her as guards is a very high honor."

"Wow" is all that I can really say to that.

Vigilant nods.  "Yeah, it is admirable.  However, things weren't easy.  A lot of guard ponies looked very skeptically at the first batch of thestral recruits.  They had it a bit rougher than normal recruits because of having to change their sleep schedule."

I looked at Vigilant with confusion.  "Sleep schedule?"

"When the thestral guards first joined," Vigilant elaborates, "we only had day guard protocols to go by, so the basic guard training all took place during the day, so they had to go against their natural instincts and sleep during the night and be awake during the day."

I wilt a little bit hearing that.  "That kinda sucks."

"It does," he agrees, "but take that sudden change to sleep schedule and dump the thestrals natural aversion to bright lights and intensity of guard training on top, and you have a guard class that only graduated about three thestral guards out of sixty recruits."

Upon hearing that number, I look at Vigilant dumbstruck.  "Th-Three out of sixty?!"

Vigilant nods, then continues.

"Of course, this was considered unacceptable, and Princess Celestia ordered an investigation into what happened.  When it concluded, she appointed the three thestral graduates to a committee to help establish a guard training regimen specifically designed for thestrals so that they could complete the guard training within acceptable parameters."

"As an apology, she struck the first groups failures from the record and permitted the ones that wished to apply again to do so with the new course that was more favorable to thestral recruits.  All the failed thestrals applied and each one passed."

"Since then, each new class of recruits is trained with the new protocols."

"What kind of new protocols?" I ask, then add, "i-if you don't mind my asking."

Vigilant shakes his head.  "I don't mind.  Really, the only differences are it takes place at night and is modeled more after the training regimen for pegasi than other ponies.  The three graduates were given abbreviated tours of duty and brought back to Canterlot as instructors.  They helped with some fine tuning to take advantage of several thestral traits, like improved night vision and more sensitive hearing."

"In the here and now, the night guard is almost entirely thestral, with the exception of some rare nocturnal unicorns."

"Nocturnal unicorns?" I ask, slightly confused by the subject.

"They're extremely rare," Vigilant tells me, "almost as rare as alicorns.  They have eyes like thestrals but are unicorns mostly.  In truth, they come about if their lineage has any trace of thestrals in it."

"Wow," I respond, "I didn't know the tribes intermingled as much as they did after the unification."

"Love is love," Vigilant replies with a chuckle, "and your kind are only concerned with feeding off it like a hot lunch."

I could tell Vigilant meant that as a joke, but what he said hurt me a little inside.  Even with ponies that I'd gotten so much closer to, I still had an image to overcome.

Vigilant, upon seeing my reaction, becomes very apologetic.  "I am SO sorry, Thorax.  I didn't mean that as a jab at you.  You're way different than the other changelings, and maybe you are right and there's some that see more eye to eye with your way of thinking."

I wave him off with a hoof.  "It's okay.  I know that you didn't mean it.  It's just that that reminded me of how much further I have to go for true acceptance, and how far I've come seems so little by comparison."

"It is a lot, Thorax" Vigilant says with determination in his voice.  "You're walking around in a pony town without having to wear a disguise and you haven't been attacked or lynched or anything negative of that sort, nor has anypony bolted from the town in a panic.  You're the only changeling that holds that claim."

I smile at Vigilant's encouragement.  He is right; I'm the only changeling in Equestria that can walk around without wearing a disguise and not be afraid of the consequences.  No other members of my hive can make that claim, even if they tried to disguise as me.  More than that, I had actual friends now, and they would make sure I didn't come to harm from somepony or a member of my hive sent to recapture or kill me.

"Aw, I think his smiles are just as cute as yours, Honeydew."

The voice catches us both off guard as we look around.  We'd made it to the center of town, and upon looking up, we find ourselves surrounded by thestral ponies, all of them perched on rooftops, their slitted eyes fixed on us.

To be perfectly honest, it was a good bit unnerving.

Before either Vigilant or I could respond, a thestral stallion took to the air and glided down to us.  From what I could tell, he was an older male, and he had some scars from what appeared to have been a rather intense fight.  Once he landed, he walked over to us and looked us over.

"Vigilant, right?" the stallion asked the guard next to me.  Vigilant gave a nod in reply.  The thestral looked at him more sternly.

"I know I'm retired," he begins, "but I was under the impression that subordinates still saluted their superior officers, whether they're active duty or retired."

Vigilant looked at the stallion for a few seconds before his face went flush and his hoof went to his brow in a sharp gesture.  "M-My apologies, sir!" he spits out.

"At ease" the thestral says, which causes Vigilant's hoof to return to the ground.  The stallion turns to face me.

"My name is Orion," he introduces himself, "and I am the acting representative of the thestral population of Ponyville."

He then gestures to a rooftop behind him, where a familiar thestral is sitting and waving to us.  "I believe you've already met my daughter Amber earlier tonight."

"We have" I respond.

"Good" he says with a small smile on his muzzle.  Turning to face the group, he makes a gesture with his ears, and the other thestrals perk up theirs.

"Friends," he says at a volume just above private conversation but quiet enough it wouldn't disturb sleeping ponies, "we are gathered here during the princess's glorious night because the pony world, or more specifically Ponyville, have just met a former enemy who has chosen to embrace friendship and harmony as we do.  In the interest of promoting a lasting peace, I believe we should all give a warm welcome to our newest friend, Thorax."

The thestrals all let out a series of quiet chirping sounds after Orion said this, which I assume was their way of saying hello or welcome.  It was barely audible to me, but then I shifted my ear canal into one more sensitive to noise and I could hear what sounded like some strange language I'd never heard before.

Its structure seemed to be in squeaking and chirping noises, and with varying pitches.  They spoke it so fast, it was hard to discern exactly what was being said.  Unfortunately, I would have to learn the language if I wanted to ever understand it at the very least; something told me I'd have to change my voice box if I ever wanted to speak it.

Orion raised a hoof and the sounds stopped.  He began to address the audience again.

"Now, we all remember the time before Princess Luna's return to us.  It was not a good time for thestrals in the first hundred or so years after her banishment had begun, but things did improve.  Princess Celestia, keeper of the sun, saw fit to eject the nobility that sought to hunt our kind and force us out of the kingdom, fearing that we would rebel because of what happened to the princess of the night."

There were murmurs among the thestrals, but Orion chose to ignore them.

"That fear was unfounded, and born from the same place many fears are born - ignorance.  It is through this willful stupidity that we have seen the worst of Equestria, and it is only through the elimination of this ignorance that we can move forward and make a much better world for ourselves."

"In that spirit," Orion then faces me, "I would like to ask Thorax to answer the questions that we have for him.  Thorax, will you help quell our ignorance?"

I looked at the stallion for a moment before nodding.  He was wise, as one would expect from age, and quite correct in his assessment; many fears were born from ignorance.  I stepped forward and looked around at the thestral gathering.  In total, it appeared to be somewhere just less than one hundred ponies.

"H-Hello" I say to the crowd.  "Um, I'm sorry if any of you have trouble hearing me."

"You're good" Orion said to me.  "Most thestrals have exceptionally good hearing.  The level you're speaking at is just right for this kind of thing."

I look at him and then take a breath to calm myself.  "Thank you" I say to him.  "I was afraid of not being loud enough."

Orion smiles and nods, then takes a step back as he watches the crowd's reactions.

"Your, uh, representative?" I say as I look back at Orion, who nods.  "He's asked me to answer your questions.  I'll be glad to, but my hearing isn't quite as good as you all, so if I call on you to ask a question, please come forward more so I can hear you a bit better."

Surprisingly, all the thestrals took off from the roofs and glided down the ground, quickly gathering around the fountain.  Quickly, the air filled with excitement, and Orion had to step in.

"Please, everypony!" he admonished the gathered group.  "We are going to become too loud for the others in their sleep."

Orion then faced me and Vigilant.  "Would either of you be objectionable to relocating this gathering to the schoolhouse?" he asked.

I was uncertain, but then I heard the sound of liquid sloshing around in a cup, which caused me to turn around and see Vigilant gesturing with the mug he'd brought for himself.

"Only if I can get another cup of coffee."
> Day 1 - Meeting the Night Life, Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The trip to the schoolhouse had been interesting.  The thestrals all took to the sky and moved as one, the only sound being the occasional flap of wings.  I stayed grounded with Vigilant, who was nursing another cup of coffee that had been generously provided by Amber.

The thestral also joined us on hoof, more than happy to have a conversation between the two of us.

"So, you really left your hive?" she said with surprise.  "Even though you could've been... y'know?"

I nodded sadly.  "It was scary," I admit to her, "but I knew deep down inside, there was a better way, and I knew that I was likely the only changeling willing to look for it."

Amber nodded as I spoke.  "That's good" she told me.  "Takes a lot of guts to do the right thing sometimes, especially if everypony you know thinks that's wrong or stupid."

I had to agree with the statement that everypony, or everyling in this case, thought what I was trying to do was stupid, and I suppose it did take some guts to find a way to leave the hive.  It certainly took a lot of guts to approach Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor and ask for a chance to learn about friendship from them.

Even with Spike backing me up, I was still quivering in my chitin at the possibility of everything going south like a bunch of geese with their tail feathers on fire.

Amber, Vigilant and I got to the schoolhouse about five minutes later.  Standing outside the schoolhouse were some of the thestrals and a pony mare.  She looked tired, but her eyes widened and she became more alert as soon as she saw me.

"So he really came?" she said in a questioning manner.

"He did" Orion responded.  "We asked him if he minded speaking here at the schoolhouse so that we didn't disturb the ponies in town."

He then gave her an apologetic look.  "I sorry that we had to wake you up so late," he told Cherilee, "but I didn't feel right just barging into the schoolhouse without at least asking for permission."

Cherilee waved him off with a yawn.  "That's quite alright" she tells Orion.  "While it is a rather late hour, I do appreciate the consideration.  You're free to use the schoolhouse whenever you wish.  All I ask is that you lock it up and leave the key in its usual place."

"I'll remember to do that," he assured her, "and thank you again."

Cherilee gives a nod and heads to a small cottage behind the school house, the building most likely her home.

"Well," Orion says while turning to me, "now that we've gotten permission, why don't we head on inside so that we can have this little meeting get underway?"

"Sure thing" I saw with a nod as I follow the old thestral inside.





The schoolhouse was, surprisingly, quite spacious on the inside.  It was one room, with a wall that had a chalkboard affixed to it, as well as some rolled up maps and diagrams that the school teacher would use to educate the students on various things.

The desks that the students would normally sit at had been moved off to the side and stacked on top of one another when it was clear there wouldn't be enough space with all the desks on the floor.

Once there was enough clear space, the thestrals filed in and began sitting side by side.  A little more than half fit on the floor of the room, which caused the remaining ponies to take up roost on the rafters holding the roof up.  Once everypony had found a place, Orion led me to the front of the room, where the teacher's desk sat on an elevated platform.

"Friends," Orion said to the gathering, "Miss Cherilee has graciously provided us use of the school house so that we may hold our meeting and ask our questions to Thorax.  I ask you to give your thanks to her at the next possible chance, as she has been a friend of ours for some time now."

The thestrals all voiced their agreement or nodded in agreement with Orion's sentiment.  Orion continued speaking.

"Now I will turn the floor over to Thorax here.  I will allow him to speak how he wishes to speak to you and if you have any questions for him, which I'm sure you all do, I ask you to raise your hoof and wait to be recognized."

Orion turns to me with a smile.  "The floor is now yours" he says as he backs away from the group of thestrals and offers the spot where he was standing to me.  I step forward and look at the group of gathered ponies.

Several sets of eyes look back at me, all different colors but appearing to glow; a likely result of the cat-like nature of thestral eyes.  I clear my throat as I begin to speak to them.

"Hello everypony" I say to the group.  "I'm really happy that all of you have been so welcoming of me tonight.  I can say with all honesty that this was a much warmer reception than what the earlier gathering was like."

I felt kinda bad saying it that way, but it was the truth and I refused to lie so freely anymore.  I elect to push on with the meeting, knowing that Vigilant would like to return to the castle and get what rest he can.  In truth, I wouldn't mind going back to sleep either.

"As Orion has told me," I continue, "you are all quite curious about me and likely have many questions.  I ask you to hold onto those, because I intend to say a few things about myself, and in hearing them, you may have the answers you were looking for."

After that, I began giving them what was effectively my life story.  How I was born different, how I grew up and realizing how much I didn't fit in, the attack on Canterlot and my decision to leave, and my ultimate trip to the Crystal Empire.

Once I was finished, I looked around at the gathered thestrals.  Each of their faces considered the story I had just told them.  Some looked sad.  Others looked enraged, but their anger wasn't directed at me.  All of them seemed to have made up their mind about some facet of the story.

I decided that now was as good a time as any to let the ponies who were still curious ask their questions.

"If anypony still has any questions..."

While there were hooves that did go up, I was surprised that the total number was significantly lower than what I had been expecting.  In total, there were only about five or six hooves altogether in the air.

"Okay, let's start with you" I say as I gesture to a thestral colt sitting near to the front.

"What's it like to eat love?"

The question isn't surprising, as I expected somepony to ask it at some point.  Nonetheless, the have it out there right off the bat catches me off guard just a little bit.

"Umm... It's kinda hard to explain" I tell him.  "We don't consume love in exactly the same way ponies eat normal food, but at the same time, when we absorb it, it quells the need for it like a pony feeling full after having something to eat."

Another hoof is raised and I call on the pony; a mare.

"Have you ever drained a pony before?"

My ear stalks fold back against my head and I wince a bit.  Two questions in, and I must lay my sins out before these thestrals.

I can only hope they're at least understanding, if not forgiving.

"In the hive, love is taken from any creature unfortunate enough to be captured by changelings and put into a pod, so... yes, I have."

"Do you feel sorry for it?"

The thestral in question, a stallion, didn't raise his hoof, but he really didn't need to.  Orion goes to call him out for the question, but I raise a hoof to stop him.

"Not a day goes by that I don't regret the things I needed to do to survive" I say honestly.  "I always knew deep down inside it was wrong and that there had to be a better way.  All I can do now is hope that any of the creatures I've hurt can understand, and perhaps forgive me for what I had to do."

I hang my head in shame as I reflect on all the times I had to feed while living in the hive.  More-so, I think back to the night I attacked Soothing Dusk and my regret is tenfold.

The thestrals see my remorse and decide not to propose anymore questions... until a young filly's hoof goes up.

"Can you really turn into anything you want?"

I look up at her as she looks at me expectantly.  I get an idea and smile as I use my magic and turn into a duplicate of her.

"I can" I reply in the filly's voice.

Immediately, she laughs and claps her hooves together.  The adults looking on are surprised that I was so able to accurately copy the young pony and clap along as well.  Soon enough, there are calls for me to imitate almost everypony in the room.

Orion takes this as his cue to cut the meeting short.

"Okay, everyone!" he calls out.  "I think that's enough questions for Thorax for one night.  If you want to speak with him further, then I recommend getting into contact with Princess Twilight Sparkle at the Castle of Friendship to arrange a private meeting with him.  Now, though, I think he would like to return to bed and so would the Crystal Guard assigned to keep an eye on him."

"Thank you, everypony, and have safe travels through this glorious night."

The crowd of thestrals bows to Orion and begins to file out of the school house.  Once the majority have exited, a few stragglers move the desks back into their original positions so that the next day's classes can commence without delay.

After the desks are put back and the remaining thestrals leave, I look to see Vigilant standing by Orion and Amber.  The young mare looks at Vigilant apologetically.

"I'm sorry about earlier" she tells the guard.  "I wasn't sure how to approach and by the time I decided on how I should do it, you'd all went to sleep."

Vigilant waves it off as he finishes the rest of his coffee, this newest cup being decaf.  "It's okay.  I understand the curiosity about the first changeling to actually peacefully coexist with ponies, and I also understand the skepticism and uncertainty as well."

"It wasn't so much uncertainty as it was nervousness" Amber admitted.  "Despite how the evening started earlier, I try not to be rude."

"Regardless," Vigilant persisted, "message received and message understood."

Amber gave a nod and turned look at Orion, who had just put the key for the school house inside a small pot hidden behind some larger planters.  "All ready to go?" she asked him.

Orion gave a nod.  "I left a note on the desk thanking Miss Cherilee again for allowing us to use the school house.  Be sure to say thanks the next time you see her."

"I will" Amber told her father.

Orion nodded and then turned to me.

"Thank you for taking the time to speak with all of us thestrals" he told me.  "If we want to speak with you again, we'll try to do it in the afternoon when you not likely to just jump into bed at any minute."

"It wasn't a bother for me" I tell the old stallion.  "I was more than happy to answer a few questions and clear up any uncertainties."

Orion gave a nod and flexed his wings.  "We'll be getting going now.  Amber has a job she must go to, and I have a meeting with some other members of the thestral community on another matter.  I again thank you for your time and wish you safe travels in your future."

"Thank you, sir" I tell him in response.

Orion smiles and launches himself into the air, getting to a high altitude and gliding off in the direction of the town.  Amber gives me a smile and wave goodbye as she too launches herself into the air and off towards Ponyville, leaving me and Vigilant alone.

"We should head back" the guard tells me.  "If anypony decided to check on us and we weren't there, it'd be a panic and you'd most likely be thought of as a criminal."

I winced at the accusation.  "That's probably a good idea" I concede as I begin moving in the direction of the castle, Vigilant falling in behind me and keeping a close watch for anything that could cause us harm.

We move quietly for about ten to fifteen minutes before a question comes to mind that I decide I need to ask.

"Vigilant" I address the stallion.  He responds by stopping in place and looking at me.

"Do you think Soothing Dusk will ever forgive me for what I did to her?"

I can tell he senses the regret inside me.  He doesn't answer for a few seconds.

"I don't honestly know," he finally says, "but I do know that you meant what you said and you do regret having done that, even if you probably weren't in your right mind at the time."

My confidence deflates a bit as I hear him tell me the truth.  He was right in that he couldn't predict what her reaction would be, but he also knew that knowing something like that was next to impossible.

"I know one thing" he adds as I look at him again.  "If you are sincere in your words and you have friends there to vouch for you, I'm sure you can at least get her to understand, if not forgive you."

I consider what he says and give him a smile.  "Thanks, Vigilant."

He smiles back.  "Not a problem, Thorax.  Now, let's get back to the castle and get some shut eye?"

I nod in agreement and we again start heading back for the castle, with thoughts of what could happen tomorrow dominating my mind.
> Day 2 - A Batty Breakfast and Making Plans for the Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey! Thorax!"

Groggily, I woke up and looked around.  Spike was standing by my bed, a claw out shaking me.

"Time to wake up, buddy!"

I let out a yawn as I look at him.  "Did I sleep in?"

"No," he answers, "but Twi's finishing up breakfast now.  We'd better get a move on if we wanna get some food while it's still hot."

I give him a nod as I push back the sheets and get up, stretching to the point of hearing a rather satisfying pop in my back.

"Oh, by the way," he adds, "one of your new friends from last night is here."

I go wide eyed for a second.  "What?"

Spike let out a giggle.  "Yeah.  Twilight sorta figured that one of the ponies in town would've informed the thestral community and they would've wanted to meet you ASAP.  She thought you'd get at least two days in before they set something up.  Guess they moved a little quicker than she thought."

"Guess so" I respond.  "Who's here?"

"Amber" he replied.  "Apparently, she asked her father if she could stay with you until noon so she can get to know you a little better."

I blinked in surprise.  "Really?"

"Yeah" he confirms.  "Orion wants the thestrals to start being seen in a more positive light, and he thinks having Amber interacting more with 'day ponies' during the day will help with that."

"Day ponies?" I question.

"Yeah" Spike says while rubbing the back of his neck.  "Thestrals and the other tribes kinda don't get along so good.  Granted, it's better than it was before, but it can still be better.  Both sides still have some rather interesting names for the other side, and thestrals refer to the other tribes as day ponies, since thestrals are more active at night."

"Yeah" I agree.  "I was told once that thestrals were sometimes called bug eaters."

Spike flinched a little.  "Yeah, sometimes they are.  Also, you should probably watch saying that around Amber and the other thestrals.  Might take quite the offense to it."

I blush a bit in embarrassment.  "I'll make sure to watch what I say" I assure Spike.

"Not a problem" he says while waving a claw.  "Now, we should definitely get a move on.  Don't want to keep a visitor waiting."

I nodded in agreement as I did a quick morning routine of brushing my teeth and wiping down my carapace with a wet soapy rag.  Once I was clean enough for the moment, I followed Spike to the dining room.

Inside, I saw Twilight and her friends, as well as Amber.  The thestral mare herself had a cup of coffee in her hooves.

Upon entering, Twilight looked up and smiled.  "Thorax!" she said enthusiastically as she used her magic to pull out a chair for him to sit.  "Come join us!"

I give a nod as I take a seat beside her.  As I sit down, Twilight resumes the previous conversation.  "You said your dad decided to move your family here from Hollow Shades?"

Amber nodded.  "Yeah.  He was afraid we'd start getting some negative viewpoints about other ponies.  You see, the day ponies, not every single one but a fair majority, don't exactly hold the thestrals in the highest regard."

"He says it's probably because many of the thestrals still supported Luna during her banishment, but I think ponies get weirded out by our looks."

Twilight looks aghast at Amber's insinuation, but after a second, she returns to something closer to a neutral expression.  "Those ponies should be ashamed of themselves!" she says with conviction.  "Equestria was founded on the principles of harmony, and accepting others for who they are plays a huge roll in that!"

"I agree," Amber tells Twilight, "but not everypony thinks that way.  Honestly, that was the straw that broke the camel's back and made my father want to move from Hollow Shades.  He was talking with one of my younger brother's teachers after school, and during the conversation, the teacher let slip what was, apparently, her and a great many teacher's opinions about the ponies in Canterlot, and he didn't much care for it.  After all, he did serve in the guard."

"Yeah, I can understand that" Twilight agreed.  "If my brother encountered something like that, he'd give that pony an earful."

Amber nodded at Twilight's statement.  After a few moments of silence, Twilight asked Amber another question.

"So, your dad retired from the guard not too long ago.  When did he enlist?"

"He was one of the first ones to enlist after Luna's return," Amber answered, "and he's actually one of the first three to pass."

Thorax looked wide eyed at her statement.  Orion was one of the three thestrals to pass the original guard training?

"Wow" Twilight says in amazement.  "I didn't know he was one of the first three.  That must've been quite the honor for him."

"It was" Amber confirmed.  "After he took a month long tour of duty, he was brought back to Canterlot and put on the committee to establish the thestral training program.  Once it had been agreed on and put into place, he was given choice of assignment and chose to be one of Luna's personal guard."

"Remarkable" Twilight beams upon hearing of Orion's accomplishments.  "Did anything interesting happen during his time as a guard?"

Amber's positive demeanor diminishes greatly and she becomes sheepish in a near full 180 from how she was before.  As she does this, she shoots a glance at me, which is all the more information I need.

Twilight picks up on the body language and realizes her inadvertent mistake.  "Oh, I'm sorry Amber."

Amber looked at Twilight.  "Shouldn't that apology be for Thorax?"

The alicorn winced as she turned to me.  "I'm sorry about that Thorax.  As you can see, friendship is an ongoing lesson for everypony, even for me, and we sometimes have its lessons slip our minds."

"It's okay" I tell her.  "I know nopony means any offense discussing that."

"We should still be more mindful though" Twilight counters, a frown on her muzzle.  "I know you say that you understand, but I can tell it still bothers you.  I might not be able to sense emotions, but I can read body language well enough."

I had to give it to her on that.  As soon as the topic of the invasion became apparent, I'd slumped a bit.  I should've known that Twilight would've picked up on that; Spike has told me before how incredible her attention to detail is.

"Well, since we're on that topic," Amber continued, "my father did find himself involved in the invasion."

Her remark piqued my interest.  "Really?"

Amber nodded.  "Every guard is required to serve both day and night shifts.  They're usually rotated, but more recently, the guards have had to do so less and less on account of the increase in thestral recruits.  However, at the time my father was serving, guards still had to do both fairly regularly, and during the invasion, he was stationed outside Princess Luna's room."

"He heard the shield break and the commotion outside, so he and the other guard standing outside the princess's room went on the defensive.  They locked the room and set up barricades to keep anything from breaking in.  They had been there for a few minutes when one of the windows broke and a changeling landed in the hallway.  It looked at the guards and hissed, ready to attack them.  He said that specific changeling seemed to have some kind of scar under its eye."

"Was it under the right eye?" I ask, thinking I may know who it was.

"I'm not sure" Amber replies.  "It might've been."

I give a nod.  "If it was, then it was probably Lycosidae.  After we were repelled and returned to the hive, the queen had every changeling give a report on their participation.  Lycosidae said he attacked the castle and encountered a thestral guard, so maybe that was the one your father saw."

"I suppose that's possible" Amber conceded.  "He did say that after the changeling hissed and dove to attack, that shield started back up and sent the changeling flying back out the window."

"And Lycosidae said he was sent flying before he could get a lick in," I finished, then sheepishly add, "or, at least, that's how he put it in his report.  Anyway, it sounds like that was definitely him then."

"I'll be sure to tell my father later" Amber says as she picks up a glass of orange juice and takes a sip.  "I'm sure he'll find it amusing to be able to put a name to that face."

"Well," Twilight chimes back in, "if we sit here flapping our jaws any longer, we won't get to enjoy any hot food.  I think it's time we got breakfast on the table."

She asks Spike to help and the two enter the kitchen to grab the food.  While they're in there, Rainbow Dash leans over and nudges me in the side.

"Do you remember any of the names of the changelings you saw us fight?" she asks me, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Um, not really?" I reply in a rather non-committal way; I got the strange feeling that she wanted to know for some rather not-nice reasons.

"That sucks" she says with a pout as she sits back down.  "I was hoping I could taunt them if we ever encountered any mean ones again."

...Yeah.  Definitely for not-nice reasons.

The doors to the kitchen open as Twilight and Spike come out of the kitchen with the food and plates and silverware so everypony can eat.  The dishes today are a large fruit salad and a bowl of eggs, which were mixed through with pieces of onions and peppers, and what looked to be cheese mixed in for good measure.

Spike walked over with a smile and set a dish in front of me.  It had a sampling of the fruit salad and eggs, but I could smell the love wafting off of them.  My stomach voiced its approval, much to the amusement of Amber and everyone else at the table.





We ate breakfast with vigor, everypony ready to eat hearty in preparation for a new day.  Amber asked why my dish was served separate from everypony else, and when informed of the extra ingredients, asked for a sampling.  I offered a small bit of the fruit salad and she became quite enamored with it, and then quite enamored with Vigilant.

Princess Twilight is definitely going to want to lock up that potion and recipe.  Even without the changeling threat, the possibility of stallions or mares using it to dope an object of their affections into a night of passion against their natural instincts and wills was too great.

Once we had finished eating, the dishes were taken away by Spike and Twilight.  While they were in the kitchen, the other element bearers looked at me, and all of them were radiating nervousness and excitement.

"So," Rarity began speaking, "the girls and I have an idea for you on how to spend some of your time here in Ponyville."

"You do?" I said, feeling a bit nervous myself now.

"Eeyup" Applejack chimed in.  "Ya see, since we only got to meet y'all for a short spell back in the Crystal Empire, me an' the girls thought it'd be a swell idea to have ya spend some time with each of us a day this week so we can get ta know ya better."

"Mhm" Fluttershy now chimed in.  "We only got to spend a few hours with you that day, and that's hardly enough time to really learn about anypony, so we thought you could spend some time each day with one of us so we can learn more about you and you about us."

"Yepper eppers!" Pinkie Pie shouted out, a cloud of confetti flying from her hooves.

I sat back and thought about the offer.  Spending time each day getting to know these mares that changed my life in such a profound way?

"When would we meet?" I ask to the group.

"Well, we didn't really have a schedule planned out" Rainbow admits.  "Well, Twilight would, but she's not a part of this.  We figured that since you're staying here at her castle, you'd have all the time you'd want to get to know her."

"We all got it planned out as each day you're with a different one of us" Applejack tells Thorax.  "As for time of day, I think it's just when it's best for everypony.  Hay, if there's a day where it doesn't work out with our schedule, we can swap days with somepony else and pick another that will work."

Now having a better grasp of the plan the mares put into place, I give them all a big smile.  "That's sounds wonderful!  I can't wait.  Who do I get to spend a day with first?"

My question is promptly answered by a wall of pink latching onto me.

"Why me, silly willy!" comes Pinkie Pie's voice, the mare sounding as eager as a foal getting a new toy.  "You and Amber are gonna come make cupcakes with me!"

"...Amber?" I ask with uncertainty.  "I'm not sure if-"

"CUPCAKES?!" Amber yells out in excitement.  "I've never made cupcakes before!  You gotta show me a good recipe!"

"Oh, I'll show you one of the best recipes around" Pinkie says as she grabs up the thestral mare in a hug.  Locked together, they begin dancing around in circles and carrying on about making cupcakes.

I admire the spectacle and the love and joy radiating off of it.  If I hadn't had the breakfast infused with love, I would've been tempted to feed off a little bit of it.

As I sit back, a sudden realization comes over me.

I'm going to be alone, in a kitchen, with Pinkie and Amber.

Two mares that, at the current moment, are all too excited to be spending time with me, and also seem to be an endless well of energy.

I'll possibly be spending the whole day with them, surrounded and tempted by all that positive energy.

Positive energy and love that I'll have to resist the urge to consume.

"Oh... crumbs."
> Day 2 - CUPCAKES!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After breakfast, Spike and Twilight collect the dishes as the other ponies have conversations with themselves.  Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were apparently planning on going to Fluttershy's cottage so the mare could perform an examination on Rainbow's pet tortoise Tank.  Rarity was talking with Amber about having her possibly come by some day and allow her to make some articles of clothing with the thestral ponies in mind; there were apparently some small populations of the ponies in other cities that Rarity wanted to draw in business from.  Applejack was talking to Starlight about doing some activities later, which the lilac unicorn seemed more than happy to agree to.

As for myself, I simply sat there and tried to think of how I was going to resist all of the positivity and love that was I was practically going to be swimming in while I was with Pinkie and Amber.  My time in the Crystal Empire had done a great deal to help me gain better control of my instincts, but I would still have an occasional lapse and scare some poor pony when I hadn't meant to.  While those incidents were becoming more and more infrequent, the common denominator in all of them was a massive outpouring of love, which is why I often excused myself from large gatherings such as the last Crystal Faire.

I was disappointed that I couldn't enjoy the festivities that the other ponies did, but I didn't want my failure to control myself to ruin what should be a rather joyous time.

"What's the matter, Thorax?"

I jump a little at the voice of concern, lost in my thoughts and not paying attention to my senses.  Amber was sitting beside me, a look of concern on her face.

"Sorry" I say in response.  "I was just... thinking."

Amber cocks an eyebrow.  "What about?"

"Well..."

I have a difficult time trying to explain what I'm feeling to Amber.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, Vigilant was more than happy to explain.

"Thorax is afraid he'll revert to a changeling's tendency to hiss when exposed to too much love."

I turn around and give him a glare.  "I could've told them myself" I say in my head as the stallion smirks and rolls his eyes simultaneously.

Amber looks at me in surprise.  "Really?  I thought the princess said you don't do that anymore?"

"Not as often as I used to" I explain to Amber.  "When I first arrived in the Crystal Empire, I had went for so long without love that I was practically starving.  Any time I was even close to a tiny bit of positivity, I was hissing like a snake about to strike.  It's what usually happens before a changeling feeds."

"Since then, however, I've learned to control myself more.  Of course, it really helped when some of the ponies started sharing their love with me, and I started to feel more accepted, but I still have an episode of hissing when I am exposed to a lot of love in one place."

"Like this breakfast?" Amber asks as she gestures to the table full of ponies.

"Well, yes and no" I answer.  "A group like this could cause me to have a response, but with the love-infused food that Princess Twilight and Spike have given me, I don't feel the urge as strongly.  I can control myself better."

Amber processes what I've told her, and appears to be thinking of something.

"You guys draw on love from ponies, right?" she asks me.

"Well, yeah" I answer.  "Pretty much any creature that can feel love."

"But you don't like doing that because you think of it as stealing?"

"Yeah" I admit to her.  "I've seen what it's like to have it taken from some creature by force, and I've personally felt it too.  It's not pleasant, and I swore to myself I would never take any love that wasn't meant for me."

"So what's the problem?"

I look at Amber after she asks that question.

"I mean, you, Pinkie and I are gonna be spending a day together doing something so you can grow closer as friends.  Any love you would take from either of us would be meant for you.  Is it really stealing if the love is meant for you?"

I intended to rebut her statement, but I was stopped in my tracks.

"She had a point" I thought to myself.  "Pinkie liked me as a friend, and so did Amber.  Even though they haven't known me for a super long period of time, they do both care about me, and they wouldn't want to see me go without.  That would mean that if I needed love, they would share it with me, and if they were sharing it with me intentionally, then it was being given to me and I wasn't stealing it from them."

"I guess" I finally answer.

Amber gave me a hoof slap on the back.  "You're overthinking it, Thorax" she tells me.  "Me and Pinkie like you and wanna spend a day with you, so if you get a bit peckish and feel a tad hissy, let us top off your glass."

The mare went back to her salad, while I sat in awe of the pony beside me.  If I had these kinds of friends in the first week after I left the hive, I would've never made it to the Crystal Empire and ran into Spike.  Who knows what my life would be like now.

All I know is that I have these ponies now, and they care about me, and knowing that made me smiling the biggest since I'd first been accepted by Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor.

For the first time in a while, I felt truly content.





After Twilight and Spike returned, we said our goodbyes and went about our days.  Applejack returned to work on her farm, Rainbow Dash went to set up the weather schedule for the following week, Fluttershy had her animals to tend to, Rarity had dresses and other clothing to make, and both Twilight and Starlight had some studying they each wanted to get done.

Twilight wanted to improve her alchemy in an effort to perfect the love potion she had made for me, and Starlight wanting to read up on thestrals, as meeting Amber and hearing about the population living in Ponyville had piqued her interest in the somewhat reclusive tribe of ponies.

Amber, Pinkie and I all made our way out of the castle and headed into town, Vigilant following not far behind.  The stallion was wearing a lighter set of armor that the guards normally wore in more arid conditions; he was originally a member of the EUP guards, but moved to the Crystal Empire to serve under Captain Shining Armor.  One of his previous assignments had been to Appleloosa, which wasn't far from Dodge Junction and the hive.

As we walked, I continued to contemplate what Amber proposed to me at breakfast a little bit ago.  A part of me could agree with her point, but another part couldn't.  Perhaps it was just plain and simple guilt that had built up in me since my days in the hive just after the wedding when I began to realize what it was I wanted and what I felt, but I couldn't be completely sure.

"You okay Thorax?"

The question shakes me out of my thoughts as I look at Amber and Pinkie.

"Huh?" I ask, only aware they said something to me and not what was actually said.

Pinkie smiles at me.  "Were you waxing your filly sock sickle?"

...what?

"What?" I say in confusion.

"I think what Pinkie meant to say was you were waxing philosophical," Amber chimes in, "which I can safely assume you aren't.  More than likely, you're still thinking about the conversation we had this morning, am I right?"

The thestral was perceptive.

"Yeah" I admit to her.  "It's just... I still feel like feeding on anypony is wrong."

Amber places a hoof on my withers and looks me straight in the eye, and proceeds to go over it to me again.

"Like I said before Thorax, you don't need to feel guilty.  You're not stealing love from us.  We care about you, and want to support you.  We want to share love with you.  You can't steal something that's being shared with you.  Okay?"

Amber never breaks eye contact the whole time she speaks to me.  I feel like she's looking into my very soul, and it makes me unsure of how I should feel.  Ultimately, I nod my agreement.

"Good" she says with a smile.  "Now, let's get to that bakery and make those cupcakes!"

Her infectiously positive attitude takes me over.  "Okay!" I say with much more enthusiasm as we both begin trotting off towards town.

"HEY!" Pinkie calls out to the two of us.  "Wait for me and Viggie!"





The four of us finally found our way to our destination, which had me standing with mouth and eyes both wide open.  The building looked like a giant gingerbread house like I had seen decorating some of the tables in the Crystal Palace during Hearth's Warming.  Every decoration I could think of was there: sprinkles, frosting, gum drops, lollipops, candy canes and little bits of chocolate.  I was tempted to take a bit, but Pinkie Pie stopped me before I could even get a lick in.

"It's not real, silly!" she told me as she stepped in front and faced Amber, Vigilant and myself.  "Everything you see is plaster, wood and paint.  It's not edible, but it's supposed to look like it is.  Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner!"

I oohed at the building before me, as did Vigilant, though his reaction was a bit more subdued than mine.  Amber rolled her eyes with a smirk and trotted right along behind Pinkie, who practically zipped into the door and straight through it.

Everypony headed inside and we were greeted with a large room that had plenty of chairs and tables for customers to sit, as well as a glass display case full of all kinds of delicious goodies.

"Follow me, everypony!" Pinkie said as she trotted back into a room behind the display case.  We all followed and ended up in a kitchen area, with several ovens against one wall, a pantry on the opposite side, and a large refrigerator between the two.  Across from the fridge was a large counter with a large sink and drying rack beside it.  Completing the kitchen was a large island in the center, with some pots and bowls beneath it and some pans hanging above it.

"This is where the magic happens," she told us, "and is going to happen now.  Everypony go wash up and put on an apron, because we're about to whip up some really delicious cupcakes!"

Amber's eyes went wide and her fanged grin went ear to ear as she clopped her hooves.  In all honesty, I'm surprised her wings didn't shoot straight up like sometimes happened with pegasi.

"Maybe it only happens to pegasi?" I thought to myself as I washed my hooves in the sink and procured an apron from a nearby hook on a wall.  Once properly attired, according to Pinkie, we all looked to the mare, who had brought out what looked to be our ingredients.

There was a large sack of flour, along with a sack of sugar, a box of baking powder, a dozen  eggs, a tall glass bottle with milk inside, a dish with some butter, and a small glass dish with what looked like chocolate chips inside it.

"This is what we're gonna use to make the cupcakes" Pinkie told us, then looked at me while pointing a hoof at the shelf below the island.  "Thorax, would you get us the big pink bowl from under this counter?"

"Sure" I respond as I focus my magic and pull out a bowl that's actually white but has some pink stripes running around it.

"Thank you Thank you!" she says as she takes the bowl and places it on the counter.  "Now, we'll need measuring cups and spoons."

Pinkie looks to our thestral friend and points to a cupboard behind her.  "Amber, can you get the measuring cups out of that cabinet there?"'

"Certainly" Amber replies with a smile, then turns around and opens the cupboard, pulling out three cups with markings on the side.  According to the writing, the cups can hold 1 cup, 3 cups, and 5 cups respectively.

"Perfect" Pinkie says before looking at Vigilant.  "Can you get the spoons from that drawer there?" she asks him while pointing to a set of drawers below the drying rack.

Vigilant nods and turns, but Pinkie then adds , "Oh!  And grab the two spatulas in there too please?"

The stallion gives a nod and opens the drawer.  He produces a set of spoons in varying sizes that are all held together by a piece of string.  After those, he pulls out a pair of spatulas; one with a long handle and the other having a shorter handle.

"Alrighty!" Pinkie says with excitement.  "Now I just need to go get us our whisk and beaters and we can get going!"

Pinkie zips over to another cabinet and produces a whisk and a contraption I remember seeing before.  It had two mixers on one end, and a handle with a crank on the other.  By working the crank, you got the mixers to spin, and you could combine ingredients with it.

I looked at the mixer with confusion as my eyes spotted another mixer on a counter on the other side of the room.  That one was a new electric mixer that didn't require cranking.

"Why can't we use that mixer?" I ask while pointing with my hoof.

Pinkie looks at the mixer and then blushes, her pink cheeks darkening to a nearly red.  "W-Well," she stutters out, "Mr. and Mrs. Cake let me use it a few times, but I ended up making a really big mess, so they told me that I could only do the hoof mixing from now on."

I blink as I look back at the mixer on the counter.  At first glance, it didn't look very complicated.  Put the ingredients into the bowl and use the switch on the side.  Depending on where you set the switch, the mixer either spun slow or fast.  How could somepony mess up something like that?

Then I turned back around and saw the amount of ingredients that Pinkie was dumping into the mixing bowl.

"Okay, I can see how she would probably make a mess" I thought to myself as I waited for the mare to measure out and add the ingredients.  After a few moments, she had added everything, and to what was apparently the correct proportions.

"Now," Pinkie says as she wipes her hooves off on a nearby towel, "it's time to mix it all up.  Would you like to do the honors, Amber?"

Amber made a "SQUEE!" noise and stepped up to the mixer that Pinkie had stuck into the bowl.  Taking the handle and crank, the thestral mare began whipping up the ingredients into a large brown paste.

"Really good!" Pinkie said as she admired Amber's work.

The bat pony smiled as she continued mixing the ingredients together.  "I've always wanted to make these!" she says as she picks up the pace a bit.

"How come you never did?" I ask her.

Amber slows down a bit and looks a little sad.  "I don't know.  I guess it never occurred to me to try and make the time before.  That and I never looked up a recipe before."

Pinkie pats Amber on the back.  "Don't be sad" she tells the bat pony.  "I'll make sure you have a really good recipe. Then you can make cupcakes whenever you want."

Amber smiles as she looks at Pinkie.  "Thanks" she says to her.  "I'm glad I decided to spend the day here making cupcakes and stuff with you, and you too Thorax and Vigilant."

I smile at the acknowledgment, and can feel the appreciation from Vigilant too.

Pinkie decides the ingredients are mixed enough and takes the beaters from Amber.

"Now Viggie," Pinkie says to the guard, "would you please get the cupcake pans from that cabinet there?"

She points to a cupboard to Vigilant's right.  The stallion nods, but I sense a little frustration from him; I guess he's not a fan of Pinkie's nickname for him.

Returning with the cupcake pans, Pinkie reaches into another cupboard and pulls out some paper cups and starts placing them in the pans.

"Now Thorax," she turns to address me, "I need you to hold the bowl so I can get this batter into the cupcake pans.  There's a good bit here so I need you to hold it steady for a good minute or so.  Can you do that?"

I give Pinkie a nod and levitate the bowl with my magic.  I strain a little on account of it being more weight than what I regularly lift with my magic, but I give her a nod that I'm okay as I move it over one of the pans.

Pinkie makes sure I'm lined up and gives me the okay.  I then pour some of the batter into the paper cup in the first tray.  Pinkie eyeballs it and holds up a hoof, telling me to stop pouring.  I move onto the next empty cup and pour more of the batter out, getting another signal to stop.  This pattern continues until all of the cupcake sheets are full.

"Good job, Thorax!" Pinkie tells me with a hug and quick kiss on the cheek.  I stand there for a few seconds, shocked by the affectionate gesture and the love coming from it being directed straight at me.

Even after all these months in the Crystal Empire, I'm still rather surprised as the sensation of freely given love.  It does seem to help that this love tastes almost like cotton candy.

"Now that Thorax has had a little snack," Pinkie says with a grin, "we'll get these cupcakes in the oven and set up for decorating!"

Pinkie walks over to the ovens on the wall and fiddles with some switches and knobs.  Soon enough, I hear a fire ignite inside each one and see a thermometer on the front of each one start to climb up.  The pink mare then turned and grabbed a pan of cupcakes in her mouth and returned to the first oven, which was now at the correct temperature for baking.  We then each grabbed a pan and placed them in the other ovens.  Once all the pans were in place, Pinkie set a timer to tell us when the cupcakes were done baking.

"Now comes another really fun part" Pinkie says as she retrieves another bowl and a fresh batch of ingredients.  "Making the frosting!"

Amber again got excited, giggling and clopping her hooves together.  I looked at Vigilant in time to see him roll his eyes; I got the impression either the cupcakes or mares were not particularly amusing to him.

Pinkie proceeded to dump a bottle of milk into a bowl, but this time, she put the whisk in and began stirring it very quickly.  After a few minutes of this fast stirring, I noticed that the milk was starting to look... firmer?

"And now to add the sugar so it gets nice and sweet" Pinkie says as she adds a cup of powdery sugar.  She whisks the milk and sugar mixture until it gets so firm that when the whisk is pulled out, parts of the mix stick to the whisk and break off, forming little peaks in the concoction.

"Looks good" Pinkie says after examining the results of her whisking.  "Now I'll get some food color to make this frosting nice and pink like me!"

The pony proceeds to disappear in a flash, returning a moment later with a small bottle of a red liquid.  I almost question Pinkie, as the dark red liquid almost looks like blood, but then she puts a few drops into the mix and begins whipping it again.  As the liquid is incorporated, the color changes from white to pink.

"Okay Dokey" Pinkie says as she pulls the whisk from the frosting and sets it in the sink.  "The frosting's done and the cupcakes are getting close to ready, so I'm gonna go get the bag we use to put the frosting on.  You guys hang out here and I'll be back in a jiffy!"

With that, the pink mare zipped off to somewhere in the shop to retrieve the item she said she was looking for.  Amber sat on her flanks as we waited, a slight frown on her face.

"I thought making cupcakes would be a lot more hooves on," she said, "but Pinkie's done most of the work so far.  I mean, I'm excited I get to learn how to do this, but I thought I was gonna be doing more than watching and grabbing this and that."

I put a hoof on her withers, which makes her look at me.  I then try to give her some encouragement.

"If it's anything like the cake decorating I've seen done in the Crystal Palace kitchens, then she's saving the most fun part for the rest of us."

Amber looks at me for a moment and smiles.  "You know, you're probably right" she concedes as she then gives me a hug.

"Aww!"

We separate and look to see Pinkie has returned, and in her hooves is a bag-like object with a star shaped nozzle on the end.

"This bad boy is what we decorate all the cupcakes with" Pinkie explains as she heads over to the bowl of frosting.  "Just scoop up a bunch and load it in the back, then give it a nice, gentle squeeze to get the frosting to come out."

She demonstrates by taking a large glob of frosting on a spatula and scraping it off into the bag.  She grabs a second on and does the same, then places the spatula to the side and ushers Vigilant over.

"Hold out your hoof" she tells the stallion, who complies with a confused look.

The pink mare holds the bag over his hoof and squeezes out a large glob of the frosting she's made.

"You're the taster!" she declares, then asks, "How did I do?"

Vigilant looks at the frosting in his hoof and gives it a tentative lick.  After the first one, though, the frosting disappears in the blink of an eye and some pink spots decorate the stallion's muzzle.

Pinkie giggles at the guard's reaction.  "I think that's an A+ if I ever saw one,"  she remarks, "and I got plenty of those in my school lessons too!"

I look at the mare in amazement; I had a hard time seeing the pink mare sitting still in a school house as the teacher goes over boring subjects like math and history.  Despite his best efforts, there were times Sunburst could put a rabid maulwurf to sleep, and I know that from experience.

A dinging noise catches our attention, but it's not the ovens.  We hear a door open and turn to see a new mare enter the kitchen.  She was a pale blue color with a mane that looked sort of like the frosting Pinkie had just made, even being the same color.

The first thing I noticed about her was her... size.  She was the first pony I've ever really seen that was what one would call fat.  Of course, I did not voice this fact, as Sunburst had taught me enough about what things one should and shouldn't say in polite company.

Coming in behind her was a stallion.  He had long legs for a pony and was a lemon yellow color.  Both his mane and tail were orange.  On his head was a red and white brimless hat.

And atop his back sat two foals, a pegasus colt and a unicorn filly.

Well, that certainly explains the rotund mare that preceded him, if those foals belonged to the two ponies.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie explains as she zips over to the two.  "There are my new friends!  They've come here to make cupcakes with me."

The mare and stallion give her a smile.  "Hello dear, and hello..."

Their greeting trails off and smiles falter a bit as their eyes meet mine.  I give a sheepish smile and a small wave.

"You remember Twilight asking you about the nice changeling, right?" Pinkie asks the two ponies, who look at her and nod slowly.

"Well, here he is!"

They look back at and me, and again, I smile and wave.

Pinkie then smacks her face with her hoof.  "Silly me!" she says in realization before pointing back to me.  "You guys weren't here for the meeting yesterday."

"Twilight introduced Thorax to Ponyville and even had him answer a few questions to put the town at ease.  He's even got a guard with him to make everypony feel safer yet."

At the mention of himself, Vigilant stepped forward.

"Vigilant Strider, sir and ma'am" he introduced himself while giving a salute.  "I was sent with Thorax to make sure his stay in Ponyville went as smoothly as possible."

Mr. and Mrs. Cake regard Vigilant and I for a few more moments before the two give each other a look.  Before they can respond, Pinkie suddenly blurts out "BE RIGHT BACK!!!" and disappears from the bakery in a blur.  Everypony is silent for a few moments before there's a sudden pink flash out front and the door to the bakery chimes to alert all creatures inside of somepony entering.

The new pony is non other than Twilight, who looks at Pinkie with a bit of annoyance.

"You know, you could've just told them to come see me, Pinkie" the alicorn tells her energetic friend.  "I'm quite sure they would've found the time to do so."

"But then they'd all be suspicious of Thorax and then not wanna let him in the bakery" Pinkie protested.

Twilight shakes her head at her friend before looking at Mr. and Mrs. Cake.

"Pinkie just told me what happened," she explains, "and I'm here to assure you that not only is Thorax here with a member of the Crystal Guard hoof selected by my brother to keep an eye on him, but he also wishes to have peaceful relations with ponies here in Equestria as well."

Both Mr. and Mrs. Cake look at each other before smiling again.

"Okay Princess Twilight," Mrs. Cake says to the alicorn, "we trust your judgment."

Mr. Cake nods his agreement.

"Good" Twilight remarks, satisfied that the incident hasn't led to me being given the angry mob treatment.  "Now, if you'll excuse me-"

"Oh, no you don't!" the pink party mare suddenly says while putting a hoof to Twilight's chest.  "We got cupcakes almost done and you're gonna stay and have some."

"Pinkie!" Twilight says to her in annoyance.  "I was in the middle of something before you pulled me away!"

"...Please?"  Pinkie asks with large puppy dog eyes.

Despite her best efforts, Twilight lets out a sigh.  "I suppose pausing to have a cupcake or two wouldn't be so bad."

"Yay!" Pinkie shouts as she throws confetti she got from... somewhere.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake both chuckle, as do their infants.  The parents nuzzle their children in a show of affection.

The sight immediately has an effect on me as my fear comes to life.  I immediately fight to repress my urges to hiss at the display of love before me.

Before I lose control and give in to my baser instincts, a pair of leathery wings suddenly wraps around me, and I feel much warmer.

"You're loved," Amber says to me as her hooves join her wings, "and you're loved for who you are.  Nothing will ever change that, Thorax."

I hear her words and both my fear and my instincts calm down.  I smile as I wrap my hooves around Amber, returning the hug and love she'd given me.  We stayed like that for a few moments but eventually broke away from each other.

"Better now?" Amber asks me after we separate.

"Yeah" I tell her.  "Thank you."

She smiles, her fangs making her look almost predatory.  "Hey, what are friends for?"

"What indeed" I thought as I returned the smile.

A giggling returned our attention to the other ponies in the room.  Mr. and Mrs. Cake were standing with Princess Twilight, while Pinkie was holding their two foals.

"Come meet the family!" the pink mare said as she gestured for Thorax to come over with a free hoof.

I reluctantly did so, and soon had two sets of eyes trained on me.  Both the little pegasus and unicorn were curious about the shiny black pony in the room, and their little hooves reached out to touch me.

"Aww, they like you" Pinkie remarked as she watched the two foals running their hooves over my chitin.  The two foals coo a bit as their hooves glide over the places where holes pock mark my legs.  The unicorn prods her hoof through one, then looks at her own legs, a bit confused by the difference between mine and hers.

The pegasus does much the same, but he then attempts to prod at my wings, clearly interested by the appendages.  I give them a little buzz, and the little colt jumps back a bit, but then giggles and attempts to do the same with his own wings.

"Seems like we'll have a little flyer on our hooves before we know it" Mrs. Cake comments as she watches her son attempt to mimic my wing movements, only getting them to go so fast on account of the anatomy differences between our wings and his still to properly develop flight muscles.

"Yeah," Mr. Cake agreed, "and then we'll have to hope one of the other pegasi in the village will help us keep hold of him as his wings get stronger."

Everypony chuckles a bit, but that's quickly ended by a series of dings.

Pinkie jumps in excitement.  "Cupcakes are done!" she proclaims as she zips over to the ovens and pulls out the pans and places them on the counter.

I look at them and see steam still coming off of them from the cooking.  Pinkie zips over and sticks what looks like a miniature skewer into the cupcakes, pulling them up and looking at the end stuck into the cupcake.  A few small crumbs cling to the wooden stick in her hoof.

"Perfect!" she beams with a smile.  "Now we just gotta let them cool a bit and we can put frosting and stuff on them!"

We spend the time waiting for the cupcakes to cool by telling my story to the cakes, and having them tell their story to me.

Mr. Cake didn't have much of a story to tell.  He grew up in a baking family and started the business after coming to Ponyville.

Mrs. Cake, however, had a bit more of an interesting story.

For instance, her real name was Chiffon Swirl, and she only discovered her talents for baking because of her foalhood friend Pear Butter.  The mare looked a bit sad about mentioning her, so I didn't prod any further.  If past history was anything to go by, her feelings were tied to not so good memories of a very particular kind.

Pinkie announced that the cupcakes were ready, and we set about decorating them.  Vigilant added the frosting, but then smoothed them over so the top was flat and smooth.  When asked why, he said it reminded him of the snack cakes he used to like getting from mess hall during his guard training.

Pinkie taught Amber how to swirl the frosting like the cupcakes in the display case out front.  She topped hers off with cherries, a favorite food of the thestral mare.

Pinkie decorated hers in the blink of an eye, each having a perfect swirl and plenty of colorful sprinkles.  Everypony's mouth watered at the delicious looking treats, including me; I did say I ate pony food from time to time because I liked how some of it tasted.

As for my cupcakes?

Well, I wasn't sure how to decorate them.  When I asked Pinkie about it, she just gave me the frosting bag and told me to let inspiration guide my hoof.  I looked back at the cupcakes and shrugged, using gentle pressure to force the frosting through the metal tip.  I carefully moved the frosting around until I had formed a peak at the end.

"Not bad," Pinkie commented, "but maybe try to use just a bit more pressure?"

I take her advice and find that the decorating goes faster.  I eventually finish putting frosting on all the cupcakes in the pan.

"So, what else do you want to add?" the pink mare asks as she studies my work.

I think on it for a moment before a thought occurs to me.  "Do you guys have toffee?"

Pinkie looks at me for a moment before her eyes go huge.  "That's a great idea!"

She again disappears and reappears with a candy bar made of the aforementioned toffee, along with...

BANG!

The pink mare smashes the bar on the counter with a large wooden mallet.  She repeats the action until the candy bar is sitting in little pieces on the counter.

"Go ahead and scoop it up!" Pinkie tells me with an encouraging hoof.  "Just sprinkle it over the cupcakes."

I follow her suggestion and gather the pieces of toffee in my magic, then depositing them onto the tops of the cupcakes as evenly as I can.  Once I finish, I look up to see Pinkie whispering into Twilight's ear.

The purple alicorn huffs a bit but appears to go along with whatever Pinkie has suggested.

"Since this is everypony's first time decorating cupcakes," she begins, "Pinkie has asked me to judge who has done the best job out of all of you, so I'm going to sample one of each of yours and see who did the best."

Twilight's horn lights up as she takes one of each cupcake from our pans and places it before herself.  Pinkie gives her a glass of milk that Twilight gives her thanks for.  Pinkie steps back beside me and we all watch as she samples our cupcakes.

She tries Vigilant first, and comments on how she likes the "minimalist" approach he's taken to decorating.  I sense amusement in the stallion as he snorts lightly.

Next is Amber, who Twilight remarks did a wonderful job swirling the frosting, and finding the cherry on top to be a nice touch.  Amber beams at the praise given to her by a princess.

After Amber is Pinkie, who Twilight says "has done as good a job with decorating as she always does".

Lastly are my cupcakes, which Twilight looks over closely.

"This looks very nice, Thorax" she comments on my work.  "The frosting is swirled just right and the bits of toffee you added give it a visual distinctiveness from the other three."

After a moment of looking over the cupcakes, Twilight shrugs her withers.  "They're all so good in their own ways.  I think you all did very well."

Twilight goes to give back our cupcakes, but Pinkie stops her.  "Those are yours" she informs Twilight, pointing at the glass of milk on the counter.  The alicorn shakes her head but complies, sampling each of the cupcakes once, but then making them disappear as quickly as Vigilant did the frosting.

Whatever Pinkie did with the cupcakes must've been some kind of amazing.  Everypony else joined in and made short work of the cupcakes, taking one from each other's trays.  I tried some as well, enjoying the one Amber had done with the cherry on top; the fruit went nicely with the frosting.

"Your cupcakes are really good, Thorax" Amber said after swallowing a mouthful.  "That toffee on top is a really nice touch."

"I like your cherry topped ones too" I told her as I tried the one that Pinkie had done.  It was incredibly sweet, but not sickeningly so, to my surprise.  It made me wish that changelings could get their nourishment only from sugar.

Amber beamed at my praise as she tried Pinkie's cupcake as well, making quick work of the pink mare's treat.  After a few short minutes, the cupcakes were gone, and everypony had their fill of sweets.

"I hope everypony enjoyed themselves" Pinkie says as she gives Amber a paper.  "Here's the recipe for the cupcakes, Amber.  I made sure the portions are for a smaller batch so you don't make more than you can eat."

"Thanks Pinkie" Amber says as she takes the paper from her.  "I'm sure my family is gonna enjoy these once I whip up a batch."

Pinkie giggled.  "I'm sure once they try those, they're gonna want you to make only those from now on."

The two mares hugged and then separated.  Pinkie then turned and faced me.  "Do you enjoy making cupcakes with us?"

I give a nod.  "It was fun doing the decorating" I tell her.

"That's always the fun part" Pinkie replies.  "Just imagine how much fun you can have with a full size cake."

I chuckle at her remark.  Pinkie clearly likes her job here making all kinds of baked goods.

Amber approaches me with a tired looking smile.

"It was great to spend the day with you, Thorax," she says to me, "but I really need to go home and get some shut eye.  I'm too much of a night pony to spend the whole day awake and away from my family."

I give her a smile back.  "I understand.  Thank you for spending all this time with me."

"Thanks for spending it with me" she says, and the two of us embrace in a hug.

After we separate, she says goodbye to the Cakes, Pinkie, Twilight and Vigilant and heads out the door.  Twilight excuses herself so she can get back to whatever she had been doing before Pinkie had pulled her away.  The Cakes then proceeded to apologize for their earlier behavior and told me I was welcome to come back to the shop whenever I wished to do so, a sentiment that their foals seemed to agree with.

Pinkie said her goodbyes as well, shoving into my hooves a box that had been filled with some special cupcakes that she had made for me.  To my surprise, they were almost completely black, with frosting colored to perfectly match my eyes, and also infused with the love potion Twilight had concocted.

Needless to say, as soon as I walked outside with Vigilant and back towards the castle, the contents of the box disappeared, and I was licking turquoise frosting from across my muzzle and fangs.
> Day 2 - Track and Field
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vigilant and I were walking back to the castle when we both felt a whoosh of air blow right past us.  Vigilant reached up and held his helmet to his head while I moved my hoof to my eyes in an effort to protect them from any errant dirt and dust kicked up by the gust of wind.  Setting my hoof back down and blinking my eyes, I was quick to see a familiar blue face with magenta eyes and prismatic mane.

"I was wondering what happened to ya!" Rainbow Dash said as she hovered in the air in front of us.

"Well, we're heading back to the castle from Sugar Cube Corner," I told her.  I gave Vigilant a quick look and saw him brushing some dirt off of his armor.

"Oh, yeah, the cupcakes," Rainbow said as she remembered the discussion from earlier in the day.  After a second, her eyes widened a bit and she looked at me.  "What happened to Amber?"

"She went home to get some sleep," I told her.  "She's a thestral, so staying awake in the daytime is not really her thing."

Rainbow threw her head back and cried out in what I was pretty sure was disappointment.

"Dangit!  I was hoping I could challenge her to a race!"

I looked at Rainbow, confused.  "You wanted to race Amber?"

"She wants to race everypony," Vigilant cut in.  "I guess she thinks if she beats every creature in Equestria, they'll beg her to join the Wonderbolts or something."

"Hey, pal!" Rainbow Dash said, clearly incensed and poking him with her hoof.  "I'll have you know I'm a reservist, which means I AM a Wonderbolt, and it won't be long before I get moved up to the main team!"

Vigilant rolled his eyes and smirked.  "Whatever you say, Rainbow Crash."

Rainbow Dash sputtered for a few seconds before her face became one of unbridled rage.

"WHY YOU-"

"Rainbow, please!" I said quickly as I moved between the two.  "He's just giving you a hard time.  Vigilant doesn't mean anything by it, right?"

I gave Vigilant a pleading expression, hoping he'd take the hint to help me diffuse the situation.

Fortunately, he took the hint.

"Yeah, I'm just cutting on you a bit.  Sorry if I struck a nerve."

Rainbow still looked miffed, but she did calm down.  "Fine.  Apology accepted."

There's a bit of a tense silence for a few moments afterwards.  When somepony spokevagain, it was Rainbow Dash.

"How about you and me?"

"Huh?"

I looked at Rainbow, who was giving me an evil-looking grin.

"How about you and me race?" she proposed.  "I'm sure everypony in town would like to see me beat the tar out of a changeling in a race!"

I could see how giddy the thought was making her, the mare's body vibrating like Pinkie's seemed to do whenever she was about to throw a party.

While I could tell that she was excited about the prospect of challenging me to a competition, I was not very enthused about such a thing.

"I'm sorry, Rainbow, but I politely refuse."

The excited mare went from trembling like an alarm clock with a grin on her face to being stone still and completely surprised.  "What?"

"I'm not really the competitive type, and I'm not so proud that I can't admit that even a normal pegasus could beat a changeling in a head to head race based purely on speed."

Despite my objection, Rainbow was having none of it.  "Uh-uh.  I don't believe that for a second.  You're honestly gonna stand there and tell me that you aren't even gonna try to race me."

"I'd get my flank handed to me twice."

Rainbow fumed for a few moments before an idea crosses her mind and she grins again.  "What about some kind of competition where the odds are a little more even?"

The tone of her voice was not comforting at all.  "What do you mean?"

"What if we find an event where ponies and changelings are relatively equal, and we compete against each other in that?"

I sighed.  "Like I said, Rainbow, I'm not the competitive type."

"Oh, COME ON!" Rainbow blurted out impatiently.  "You're telling me that you're not the least bit curious about who the better pony is between us?"

"Honestly? No, I'm not.  I've never been the competitive type, Rainbow Dash.  That's just not who I am."

Rainbow kept looking at me, feeling very flustered.  I guess she doesn't take her challenges being refused too well.

I walked away from her, Vigilant moving to catch up.



"You wuss."



I stopped mid-stride.  What did she call me?

"You... wuss," she repeated, a smirk on her face.

I turned around to look at her.  "What did you call me?"

"A wuss," she said again, still smiling that taunting smile.  "A sissy bug whose too afraid to lose."

I immediately realized what she was going for, and I had no intention of taking the bait.

"I'm still not gonna accept your challenge, Rainbow," I repeated as I turned and continued walking away.  I got about two steps before something pushed me to the ground.

"Nothing but a wimpy bug!"

Getting frustrated, I turned and looked up at her with a scowl.

Except she wasn't there.  When I do find her, she looking quite scared, and rightfully so.  The blue pegasus was pinned down under spearpoint by Vigilant, who was scowling at her intensely.

"DO. NOT. TRY. THAT. AGAIN." he warned her, pushing the tip of his spear against her barrel enough that it wouldn't hurt her, but she'd still feel it.

"What's going on here?"

We all looked to see Twilight approaching us.  Vigilant pulled his spear away, allowing Rainbow Dash to get back on her hooves.  Before she can defend herself, the guard relayed exactly what happened to Twilight.

"Miss Dash came across us and challenged Thorax to a competition of one sort or another, but he refused.  She tried to goad him into competing, which he also rebuffed, but then she took it too far and actually pushed him to the ground.  Seeing as he is my charge, I stepped in to make sure she didn't cause further harm to him."

Twilight listened to the story relayed to her, but then gave a stern glare as he finished.  "How come you didn't warn Rainbow Dash to stop when she started goading him?"

"He didn't appear distressed by what she was trying to do, and I was under the belief that Miss Dash would've given up on her efforts once she saw they would bear no fruit."

Twilight shook her head.  "Rainbow," she addressed her friend, "I'm not sure what you were trying to pull, but please don't do anything like that to Thorax again.  If he doesn't want to have a competition between you two, then that's his choice and you respect it."

Rainbow was going to retort, but the look she got from Twilight was enough to silence her.  "Fine," she answered quietly, flapping her wings and taking off for a cloud building near the outside of town.

"Is she gonna be okay?" I asked, feeling the disappointment coming off the mare like a bucket of water was just dumped on her.

"She'll be fine," Twilight replied.  "She's just gonna go mope for a bit, but she'll come back like nothing happened."

Twilight turned to walk away, but then stopped and looked back at me.  "Just as a warning, Rainbow's probably not gonna let the whole 'challenge you to a contest' thing go, especially since you're a changeling and she's wanted to challenge one ever since the royal wedding, so don't be surprised if she nags at you until you agree to it.  If it gets to be too much, just let me know and I'll pull her aside and drive the point home."

I gave her a nod, and she headed back to the castle, Vigilant and I not far behind.





We entered the castle and headed to the library, where Starlight had a book out on thestral ponies and was reading it by an unlit fireplace.  Upon hearing the doors open, she looked up at us with a smile.  "How'd the cupcake-making go?" she asked.

"It went well," I answered.  "Amber headed home to get some sleep, but she took a recipe and said she was gonna practice when she got the chance."

"That's a shame," Starlight said, a slight sadness in her voice.  "I was hoping we could chat for a bit."

"Maybe she'll come back tonight?"

"Maybe," Twilight cut in, "but Amber does have a job here in town, so she may not be able to."

Hearing that made me deflate a bit.  I felt good knowing that the thestral ponies in Ponville were accepting of me, but not getting to see them as often as I would like to was disappointing.

"Anyhow," Twilight continued, "I thought I would show Thorax something interesting that Princess Celestia sent to me recently."

Something to show me?  From Princess Celestia?

"She said she's had this in her personal restricted archives for quite a while now.  In fact, I think she had put this in there even before Discord's first attack against Equestria."

I must admit, my curiosity was piqued now.  Whatever that thing was, it had been locked away for more than a thousand years.

"She doesn't know much about the artist who painted this, but the subject matter certainly caught her attention."

"It's a painting?"

"Not just any.  Have a look."

With that, Twilight wrapped her magic around a cloth that was covering an easel and removed it.  Everypony, including myself, gasped at what had been revealed.

The portrait under the cloth was nothing like anypony expected.  There was a gray, cloudy background, with a greenish-blue foreground, which weren't the most jarring parts of the portrait.

That honor went to the subject in the center.

Painted into this fairly unusual scene was a changeling drone; a female, going by the presence of eyelashes.  She was wearing a hood with a band under her horn.  She was seated, and held in her hoof was a scepter that had a headpiece resembling a beetle that was holding what looked like an amber gem as big as the changeling's eye.

Most interesting of all was the fact the drone was smiling, something I did not expect a drone to do.

"So, what do you think?"

I didn't have an immediate answer.  Stepping forward, I looked over the painting in detail, getting close enough that I could make out brush strokes on the canvas.

After a moment, I looked at Twilight and shook my head.

"I don't know what to say about this," I answered honestly.  "If a changeling made this, then it was something that they did in complete privacy and away from the hive, but I don't think that's the case here."

"So, you think a pony made this?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, but how they managed to do this is beyond me.  The standing order is that anypony who finds out another creature is actually a changeling has to be captured and returned to the hive.  It's been the rule for as long as the changelings have existed.“

“But you just said that you think a pony made this piece.”

“I know.  It's just... the only explanations I have would be that a pony managed to observe a changeling and get away undetected, then made this work of art, or the more unlikely scenario of a changeling willingly revealing themselves to a pony and agreeing to model for a painting.”

Twilight nodded, then produced a quill and parchment, writing down something on it and then rolling it up and placing a seal on it.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of anymore help than that," I said to Twilight.

"It's fine, Thorax," she replied.  "You can only tell me what you know, or at least what you think based on what you know already.  Thank you for giving me your feedback on this, though."

I gave her a nod and look over the painting again.  "I will say: this artist must've taken some creative liberties with the subject matter.  Female drones don't have eyelashes like that."

Twilight nodded her agreement.  Before anypony else says anything, Rainbow Dash comes fluttering in.

"Hey, Twilight, I was-"

She stopped speaking as she took notice of the painting that had been revealed a few moments ago.

"Who made that thing?" she then asked.

"Somepony a long time ago," Twilight answered.  "Princess Celestia sent it to me and asked if I could ask Thorax if he had any ideas about it."

"Huh," Rainbow said as she digested the information, then shook her head looked at me.  "Okay, so, Thorax, I know what you said about not wanting to compete against me-"

"Rainbow," Twilight interrupted, her voice becoming terse.

"Just let me finish!" the pegasus responded to Twilight.  "Anyway, I know you said you weren't much for competition, but what about doing something that involved teamwork?"

Teamwork?

"What are you talking about?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her hoof as she gave me an explanation.  "I have a little sister, kind of.  We're not really related, but she looks up to me like I'm an older sister for her.  She has two friends, who happen to be the little sisters of Applejack and Rarity, and they make up a trio called the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

I nodded my head in understanding.  Spike had told me about the trio of fillies and their antics in Ponyville, including one time where they had become covered in tree sap.  Apparently, these antics were meant to help the group find their cutie marks, which, to the best of my knowledge, they have yet to acquire.

"Anyhow," Rainbow continued, "they're in an actual competition with some ponies in their school."

"What kind of competition?"

"It's a relay race on hoof.  They gotta run through with a baton and pass it off to one another, and the last pony has to cross the finish line first."

"So it's a race?" Twilight asked.

"Uh, yeah."

My alicorn friend rubbed her temples with a hoof.  "Rainbow, please tell me that you didn't put Miss Cherilee up to this?"

"What? No!" Rainbow retorted.  "Miss Cherilee has to give the foals a credit for physical education, and she decided to do track and field this year instead of the usual swimming courses."

"And you had nothing to do with that?"

"No, of course not!"

Twilight deadpanned at Rainbow.

"Okay, fine!  I overheard Miss Cherilee talking about the annual swim classes, and I might've suggested track and field would be a nice alternative."

Twilight huffed.  "Somehow, I knew you would pull something like this."

"So you want me to go with these fillies and... participate?"

"Miss Cherilee usually has a group of adult volunteers to help the younger ponies with swimming, but since she took my advice and has them doing track and field things this year, the adults are going to be part of a team with three of the students.  We'll be spending the afternoon helping them and participating in the events the teacher has set up.  She might put you with the Crusaders, but you might get put with another group too."

I listened to Rainbow's explanation and found myself nodding along.  It was still a competition in a sense, but it was more of a way to get the colts and fillies of Miss Cherilee's class some exercise.  Plus, it would let me interact with more ponies in my natural form.

"You know what, Rainbow?  This actually sounds like a pretty good idea.  I think I'll do it."

Upon hearing my agreement, Rainbow did a hoof pump.

"AW YEAH!  This is gonna be good!"

The pegasus got a paper from off of a nearby table and gave it to me.

"This is all the information about where the event is being held.  It'll start shortly after lunch and last until about the end of the school day, which is usually about an hour or so before most ponies start making dinner.  I'd get a good, hearty lunch if I were you."

Upon hearing Rainbow's last sentence, I began to chuckle.  The pegasus cocked her head at me.

"What so funny?"

I get my giggles under control as I answer her.

"I thought it was funny you told me to eat a hearty meal, since, you know, I feed on love."

Rainbow thought it over and gave a sympathy chuckle.  "Yeah, I guess that is a little bit funny."

"Anyhow, head straight to the place on the paper after lunch.  I gotta go meet Applejack now, so I'll meet you there."

"Okay," I replied, and the pegasus was out the window in a rainbow streak.  Twilight, having watched the whole exchange, shook her head.

"If she devoted herself to everything she did like trying to set up competitions against other ponies, she'd get so much stuff done," she commented before putting the cloth back over top of the painting that we'd been looking at.

"What are you gonna do with that thing?" I asked her.

"I'm not too sure," she replied.  "For now, I'm just gonna put this in storage to keep it safe.  It would be amazing if we could ever figure out how it came to be."

She grabbed the painting in her magic and lifted it up in front of her, then turned and walked out an open door with the item in tow.

"Come on," Starlight said to me, getting my attention.  "I know Spike is whipping up some tomato soup and grilled cheese, and I'm almost certain he has a special bowl set aside for you."

Licking my fangs, I gave her a nod and we both filed out and down the hallway towards the dining room.





The tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches Spike made were delectable.  Even without the love that Spike put into mine, the meal was superb.  Both Starlight and Spike giggled as they watched me bury my muzzle into the bowl to get every last drop I could.

Once we had finished and I had cleaned myself up from my less-than-dignified display, I thanked the two and made my way to where the school would be having their track and field events, which, according to Rainbow's directions, were taking place in a meadow just a bit outside of town.

As I drew closer, I paused for a moment as a thought occurred to me.

"Um, care to explain why we stopped?" Vigilant asked me as he came up beside me.

"Do you think I should put on my Crystal Hoof disguise for this?" I asked him.

He gave me a puzzled look in return.  "Why?"

"Well, you know how the ponies reacted when I was revealed to them yesterday.  I'm afraid that they might react more negatively than they did then since Princess Twilight won't be there to admonish them for their poor behavior."

Vigilant put a hoof to his chin as he thought, then looked at me and gave a shrug.

"It's entirely up to you how you wanna show up at this event," he told me, "but if you want my personal opinion, it's better to rip the band aid off and be done with it than to slowly peel it off, if you get my meaning."

I did.  Sunburst had used the same analogy when I was unsure of doing something that involved interacting with crystal ponies during my early days in the empire.

I let out a breath and made my decision.  In a quick flash of green, I was Crystal Hoof.

"I think I'll show up like this, and if I'm invited to, I'll drop my disguise.  I know ponies will have to get used to me at some point, but I don't want to be ran off because I scared somepony's foal."

Vigilant again gave me a shrug.  "Whatever you wanna do, but I think we should get moving now."

I nodded and we resumed our journey to the meadow.  After coming over top of a hill, I saw the event and the ponies there.

There were foals lined up doing stretches, with a dark-raspberry colored mare in front of them giving instructions on what stretches to do.  Off to the side were some older ponies, with Rainbow Dash among them.  Upon seeing me, she frowned, but then smiled and waved me over.

"Hey, Thorax!" she said rather enthusiastically.

"Hey," I said, returning her greeting.

As I approached, I took notice to some of the ponies standing around.  Big Macintosh was here, his yoke left at home and a towel in its place.  Beside him was a mare with a carrot-orange mane and tail, goldenrod coat, and cutie mark of three carrots.  Beside her was a blue-eyed stallion with moneys bags for a cutie mark, the collar and tie set also having a money symbol on them.

Behind the three ponies were a pair of stallions.  One was a bluish-white with a darker blue mane and green eyes, while the other was a charcoal grey with a whitish-grey mane and golden eyes.  Next to them was a mare with a pinkish-purple coat and raspberry mane and having a cutie mark of a strawberry and cluster of grapes.

"What are you doing?" Rainbow asked me.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean this," she answered while gesturing at me with her hoof.  "Don't you remember Twilight saying it was okay to look like yourself?"

I let out a sigh.  "I do.  It's just that I was afraid that I would scare the foals with how I looked normally, so I decided to come here like this to avoid that."

"Well, the foals don't care, Thorax."

"Huh?"

"I don't know how it works with you guys, but I thought Twilight said you could smell emotions, or taste them, or something."

"It's an extra sense we have that lets us pick up on emotions-"

"Not important," Rainbow cut me off.  "My point is these foals are more excited to see a real live changeling up close than they are afraid.  You showing up like this is gonna disappoint them."

I listen to what Rainbow is saying and decided to get a feel for the ponies around me.  Rainbow overwhelmed my systems with her disappointment, but once I got past it, I could sense pleny of other disappointment as well, and all of it coming from the group of foals that had just completed their warm up stretches for the day.

"I can't believe I didn't notice that," I admitted to Rainbow.

"Well, just go ahead and drop the act."

I deadpanned at her.  "I'd prefer if you didn't call it an act.  Crystal Hoof is a pony I created in my mind, and he's just as much me as my normal self is."

"Whatever.  Just go back to being your normal you."

I looked around a bit apprehensively, but I can see a few ponies looking at me expectantly.  Letting out one last breath, I let my disguise dissolve into a flash of magic, and my regular changeling appearance is revealed to the world.

"That so cool!" I heard a colt yell, which was followed by the thundering of little hooves as the class charged over to look at me more closely.

"Wow," I heard more voices say as the miniature army of young ponies surrounded me on all sides.  Soon enough, the swarm of colts and fillies were asking questions a mile a minute.



"So you can look like anypony you want?"



"Can you do my dad?"



"Can you do my mom?"



“Can you do Princess Celestia?  What about Princess Luna?”



"Do those holes in your legs hurt?"



"What does love taste like?"



"Can you wrap somepony up in a cocoon?"



The bombardment lasted for another few seconds before a mare's voice got their attention.

"Okay class, I think it's time we left Mister Thorax alone and took our places so we can begin."

A chorus of disappointed groans sounded out as the class slowly trudged their way away from me and went over to an area where some small orange cones had been set up.

"I'm sorry if my class made you feel a bit uncomfortable," the mare said to me as she walked over.

"It's nothing I haven't handled before," I responded, remembering a time in the early days of my stay in the empire, when I had to deal with an overly curious group of crystal ponies asking more questions than I could process.

"Still, they should have some better manners than that," she said as she offered a hoof to me.  "I'm Miss Cherilee, and I'm the teacher here in Ponyville."

"It's nice meeting you," I answered, bumping my hoof against hers.

"So, Rainbow Dash said she talked you into a contest by using the foals to motivate you into coming here."

"Umm..."

I wasn't sure how to answer that.  It was true to some extent; Rainbow did convince me to show up here by mentioning the foals.

"I came because I want to improve my public image.  It's kinda hard after what happened in Canterlot not that long ago."

"It's been a couple of years at least, hasn't it?"

"About that.  It's still pretty fresh in the minds of some ponies."

"Well, that's water under the bridge for me.  I hope that's the same story for you."

"It is.  I want to move past that day be known as the first changeling to give peace a chance."

"A worthy pursuit, but we can have a chat about that later.  Right now, we have some antsy little ones that I need to get physical education grades for."

Miss Cherilee turned and walked over to the foals.  Rainbow waved for me to follow as the group of adults moved over to the starting line the foals were gathered at.

"Okay class," the teacher called out to them, "we're going to be doing this a little differently this year for your physical education requirements.  Normally, we take you to the pond and instruct you in swimming, but this year, Miss Rainbow Dash suggested some track and field events as a change of pace, and I agreed with her.  I want to say before we begin, that if any of you still wanted to go to the pond for swimming lessons, I will be organizing an outing for this weekend.  If you wish to come, I will give you a permission slip for your parents to sign.  For all of you adults who wish to help, please speak to me afterwards and we will discuss the time of day we'll have the class so everypony that wants to attend will be able to."

"Now, to start off, we have twenty-four foals here and eight adults not counting myself.  Who can tell me what the solution is for twenty-four divided by eight?"

A few eager hooves shot up, and Miss Cherilee chose a filly with pink and purple mane.

"Yes, Sweetie Belle?"

"Three."

Miss Cherilee nodded.  "That's right.  Now, I need everypony to divide themselves into groups of three.  Once you're all grouped together, I will assign an adult to your group.  Now, adults, your job is to make sure nopony cheats, and everypony stays safe.  After we make our groups, I will go over the events being held today."

The colts and fillies all divided up as instructed.  The most notable of the groups were a pair of fillies with a colt wearing thick-framed glasses.  One was a purplish pink and was wearing a tiara, while the other was a grey color with silverish hair and a cutie mark of a spoon with a heart-shaped gemstone in the handle.  Another group was three fillies, and I was pretty sure they were the ones Rainbow Dash had called the Cutie Mark Crusaders since they matched the descriptions that Spike had given me.

The last group was two colts and a red-maned filly with thick purple glasses.  One colt was a silver color with charcoal mane and tail, and the other was brown with red hair and a small propeller hat on his head.

"Okay," Miss Cherilee called out, "Now that we have our foals in groups, it's time to assign parents to them.  First, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle will be with Rainbow Dash."

The orange pegasus filly did a hoof pump as Rainbow trotted over to them.

"Mr. Rich, you may join your daughter's group."

Mr. Rich nodded to Miss Cherilee and walked over to his daughter.  Miss Cherilee went through the rest of the ponies before coming to me.

"Mr. Thorax, you will go with our last group.  Please say hello to Rumble, Button Mash and Twist."

I walked over to the foals and waved my hoof at them.  "Hello."

The foals looked at me for a second before they all started smiling.

"Yeah!" the pegasus colt shouted.  "We got the cool one!"

His reaction earned laughs from some of the ponies present.  The filly with the tiara rolled her eyes but did smirked a little.

"Okay, now that we are in groups," Miss Cherilee continued, "We will get to the activities for the day.  To start with, we'll be playing a little hoofie tournament.  Foals will play the offensive positions while the older ponies will be the net-minders.  It will be single game elimination, and we'll only play fifteen minute halves."

I smiled upon hearing that.  Hoofie was one of the few games that both ponies and changelings both played.  The ball was kicked around by the offensive players of one team, and attempts would be made to score by kicking the ball into a net.  Players on the team that didn't have the ball became defenders, and would try to keep the ball out of their net and reclaim possession for themselves.  The netminder's job was entirely defensive, tasked with keeping the ball from going past the goal line and into the net.  While rare, a net-minder could score a goal themselves, but to do so would require either a lucky shot or the net-minder leaving their own goal area and going across the playing field to the opponent's net.

"To start with, we'll have the crusaders going against Rumble's group.  Adults will pick their net and stay there for the fifteen minutes, then they'll switch nets for the last fifteen."

Rainbow smiled at me and nodded, but I could tell her smile was a bit more malicious than she had probably intended.  I simply ignored her and went to the net opposite her and waited for the game to begin.

Miss Cherilee called the two teams over and made them form a circle.  After explaining a few last-minute rules, such as where out of bounds was marked, the teacher placed a ball in the center of the fillies.

"Now, when I blow the whistle, Big Macintosh will start the clock and you'll try to get possession of the ball.  Remember, even though this is a competition, it's a friendly one, so don't get too rough with one another."

The foals nodded as they focused on the ball.  Once she was satisfied that the foals would follow the rules, she produced a whistle from her mane and blew into it, starting the clock and game.





About a half hour or so later...





The game was close and in the last few minutes.  The two teams each had two goals a piece.  One of those had been scored by Rainbow, who blasted one in my direction after I had tripped over Scootaloo by mistake.  Feeling a bit disappointed, I decided I would try to get a goal myself.

Apple Bloom was bringing the ball up one side of the field, with Button Mash closing in on her.  Scootaloo was behind him, and I heard her say something to the colt as he ran.  He abruptly stopped and looked at the filly with a shocked expression, which allowed Apple Bloom to fly past him and have an unobstructed shot at the net.

I dived across and kept the ball from going in, but in the process, I knocked it out of bounds.

"Crusader's ball," Miss Cherilee called out as Apple Bloom came up beside her.  Placing the ball on the ground, the teacher then blew her whistle.  As soon as she heard the noise, Apple Bloom sent the ball in to Sweetie Belle, who kicked it around a little bit before sending it past Twist and towards Scootaloo.  The orange pegasus then set herself up to buck the ball as hard as she could past me.

I threw my body in the way in time to deflect the ball away from the goal.  Coming back down, I landed on my hooves and turned to look at the ball.

There were no ponies close to it, and with time dwindling, I took a risk and kicked the ball out and followed it, intent on taking it to Rainbow Dash and the goal.

The pegasus saw what I was doing and charged out to intercept me.  I waited until she got too close to slow down, and then I made my move.  Faking to the right, I went left and threw the pony off balance, causing her to trip up on the grass.

With the crusaders behind me and Rainbow momentarily stunned, I took my shot and kicked the ball into the net.

Miss Cherilee blew the whistle and smirked at us.

"Game ends 3-2.  Rumble's team wins."

"Hey! No fair!"

Miss Cherilee and I both looked at Rainbow Dash who gave me a death glare.

"No fair!" she repeated.  "You cheated!"

"What?"

"You heard me!" she spat at me with venom.  "You cheated!"

"How did I cheat?"

"Well... you..."

Rainbow was at a loss for words, a rare instance for the trash-talking pegasus.

"Exactly, Rainbow.  I didn't cheat.  Besides, this is just a P.E. exercise for the kids, not some kind of professional league."

Rainbow wanted to retort, but couldn't say anything past "Grr.  Fine.  You didn't cheat."

I didn't appreciate the attitude, but I figured I would take the small victory.





We lost the next game against the other team that had Big Macintosh; hard to score on somepony that can just block shots by standing still.

Regardless, we all had fin.

The winner of the tournament was Thunderlane's team, who got to brag and not much more.  Once the hoofie was done with, we moved on to a different event.

"The next event is the hammer toss," Miss Cherilee explained.  "So you don't get confused, here's how you do it."

The earth pony teacher walked over to a heavy metal ball attached to a metal chain with a grip on the end.  Grabbing the grip, Miss Cherilee proceeded to spin in a circle several times, and on the last spin around, she whipped her neck and released the object, sending it hurtling through the air a fair distance before it came back down and impacted on the ground.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Miss Cherilee gave the foals a smile.  "I doubt any of my students could throw one that far, but you are invited to try.  If I was to take a guess at who would excel in this event, I would say Big Macintosh would have the advantage."

The stallion in question chuckled and turned a darker shade of red in his cheeks.

"Now, everypony gets a chance in this event, so who wants to go first?"





Miss Cherilee's guess was quite accurate.  Big Macintosh threw the hammer such a great distance, she questioned whether she would be able to locate it later, and also pondered if it had ended up lodged in a tree.

Big Macintosh himself apologized and offered to look for it, but Miss Cherilee waved him off.  "It's quite alright.  It'll be found at some point, I'm sure.  For now, let's focus on the next event."

We all followed Miss Cherilee to the next event.  As we did, I thought about my throw.

I'd made a good approach, got good momentum, and was pretty sure I released at the correct point.  My throw was true and went a comparable to Miss Cherilee, though the earth pony may have beaten my throw by a few inches or so.

Rainbow Dash made her best effort to give the hammer the old heave-ho, but she ended up slowing down a bit on her last spin because of what she claimed was a pebble under her hoof.  Regardless, her throw came up a few feet short of mine.

A part of me wanted to chuckle since I must've beaten her by her standards in two different events, but another part wondered if I shouldn't concede the last two to her just to keep the peace.

As quick as I thought it, I dismissed it.  Rainbow would have no respect for me if I took it easy on her just because she was getting frustrated.

Besides, at least in the first event, I had beaten her fair and square.

We arrived at the next event, where portions of the grass and topsoil had been dug up to make a sort of pit where sand had been poured into it.

"The third event is called the hop, skip, jump," Miss Cherilee told the class as she gestured with her hoof to several markers placed in front of the sand pit.  "Each pony will start from this line and run as fast as they can to this point.  Once they get here, they must take a hop and a skip to gain momentum, and at this last point where the sand begins, they will jump as far as they can.  We will measure from the beginning of the sand to the hoofprint closest to it."

The teacher then turns to Thunderlane and Soarin.  "Would one of our resident Wonderbolts care to give us a demonstration?  No using your wings to glide either."

Both stallions rolled their eyes before Soarin stepped forward.  "The higher rank sets the example for the subordinates to follow," he said, getting a frown from Thunderlane.  Once at the start line, Miss Cherilee ordered him set, and once he was ready, she blew her whistle.

Soarin took off as fast as he could, and when he got to the first marker, he took two big skips and launched himself from just behind the line where the sand started.

With wings firmly tucked to his side, Soarin landed with his back hooves at what appeared to be a distance equal to ten ponylengths.

"A fine example of Wonderbolt athletic training," Miss Cherilee commented before turning to the class.  "Now, I want all of you to form a line at the starting point over there.  You'll each get one attempt, so make sure to give it your best.  If the adult ponies wish to participate, or be excluded, they can do so at their discretion."

The foals did as instructed and formed a line where Soarin had started from.  As Miss Cherilee blew her whistle, each foal would get a running start, then take two large skips before jumping as far as they could in the sand.  Each time one landed, an adult would look to see where the foals touched down and marked it on the side of the sand pit, a little white flag that had the foals initials on it.

Once all was said and done, the side of the sand pit had twenty-four little flags, and at the furthest distance, was one which read "AB".

"Yeah!" Apple Bloom cried out as she celebrated her apparent victory.  The other foals gave their congratulations, but going by the emotions that I sensed, most weren't all that happy about her winning.

"Okay everypony," Miss Cherilee called to us as she began walking, "we're gonna head over to the last event now, so please follow me."

Everypony began following the teacher over to the last event for the day.  I tried to do so as well, but was stopped by a blue hoof on my withers.

"Come on, Thorax!" I heard Rainbow Dash say.  "Let's go!  Just you and me!"

I turned and looked at her.  "What?"

"The hop, skip and jump.  Let's see which of us goes further!"

Of course, I think to myself as I turn to face the pegasus.  "Why is this so important to you?"

"Because I wanna see which one of us is better!"

"Why is that so important?"

"Why wouldn't it be?!"

"It's not that important to me."

"Well, it should be!"

"Why?"

"Because it is!"

The pegasus became frustrated as she tried to explain it to me.

"How can you not be the least bit curious about how much better or worse you could be than a pony at something?!"

"Because I don't let it bother me."

"WHAT?!"

I sighed as I explained how I felt about this to Dash.

"Rainbow, it's not important how you compare to other ponies, or other species.  What matters is that you grow how you want to.  If you start comparing yourself to others, then you start holding yourself back."

"That's ridiculous!  I don't let how I compare myself to ponies hold me back!"

"Really?  The Best Young Fliers competition doesn't ring any bells?"

Rainbow looked at me in shock, which quickly turned to anger.  "Who told you about that?"

"Does it matter?  My point is, you got all nerved up because you were afraid you wouldn't compare to the other ponies in the competition, or you wouldn't live up to the expectations of the Wonderbolts."

"Rainbow Dash, you're a fast flier, probably the fastest there is, but a good dose of humility would do wonders for you."

Rainbow's anger tapered off some.  She stood there for a few minutes stewing over what I had told her.  In that time, Miss Cherilee came back over to us.

"Are you two coming?  We're ready to start the final event."

"We're coming," I assured her, then turned to follow.  I did eventually hear Rainbow's hoofsteps behind me, but they were much slower than mine.





The last event was the one Rainbow Dash had told me about earlier in the day - a relay race.  The foals and their adult were divided into pairs and placed opposite from one another.  One of the foals was given a brass baton that would be passed off to the next runner when the previous one crossed over the start/finish line.  The three foals would go first, and the adult pony, or changeling in my case, would run the last leg.  The foals were being tested on how well they ran and their coordination and teamwork.

"Okay now," Miss Cherilee got the attention of the groups, "When I blow this whistle, the relay race will begin.  Runners, keep a firm hold of your baton, and make sure that you pass it smoothly to the next runner.  If the baton is dropped during the pass off, the pony who was carrying it previously must pick it up and give it to the next runner.  If you drop it during the run, you must go back and pick it up before going any further."

"Would our first runners now get set at their starting line?"

The foals with batons in their mouths lined up to get set.  Rumble was our first.

"Would the next baton carriers please approach your starting line?"

The next foals to carry got set.  Twist took her spot at the front.

"Good," Miss Cherilee nodded in approval.  "Now, runners, get ready."

Each runner squatted down, ready to explode away from the starting line.

"Get set."

The foals all looked at their partners across from them, eyes intent on their muzzles and hoping for a clean exchange.

Miss Cherilee reached down and put the whistle around her neck to her muzzle and-

FWEEEEEEET!

The foals bolted out after the loud whistling.  Each made very good time crossing what was approximately the distance of half a hoofball field.  Rumble and Apple Bloom were leading the ponies, with the gray earth pony Silver Spoon close behind.  As they approached the other side, they prepared to exchange their batons.

For Rumble, the exchange went smoothly, and as soon as she had a good grip on the baton, Twist took off at her top speed, which was a bit slower than Rumble.

Apple Bloom gave a smooth pass off as well to her friend Sweetie Belle, who took off at a pace quicker than Twist, and found herself gaining on the filly rather quickly.

I noticed that Silver Spoon had dropped the baton in the exchange, and very quickly grabbed it before giving it to her tiara-wearing teammate, who took off as fast as her hooves could take her.

Twist and Sweetie Belle both got to their respective finish lines and passed their batons to the next runners.  Button Mash took his and bolted as fast as he could to me, his speed comparable to Twist but perhaps just a bit faster.

Seeing him getting close, I prepared to grab the baton and finish the relay.

Sweetie Belle gave her baton to Scootaloo, who ran the fastest I had seen a foal run that day.  She was gaining on Button Mash and about to overtake him.

I looked over to see Rainbow Dash at the start line, but surprisingly, she wasn't set to run.

"Come on, Rainbow!" Apple Bloom shouted at her.  "It's your turn to run!"

Rainbow nodded at the filly, and halfheartedly got into position to take the baton and finish the race.

I heard Button's hoofsteps getting closer and I looked in time to see I had only a second to take the exchange.  I opened my maw wide so he had a good target, but quickly found that to be a mistake; the sight of my teeth startling the foal and causing him to lose the baton.

"Button, grab the baton!" I called to him, but the colt froze up.

"C'mon Button!" Rumble shouted at him.  "Get the baton and give it to Thorax!"

Button got the baton and eventually gave it to me.  Once secure, I took off as fast as I could, crossing the finish line on the other side.

To my surprise, as I crossed the line, I felt a whoosh over to my side, and turned to see Rainbow crossing at the same time as I did.

Once all the foals had crossed the line, Miss Cherilee examined a device she had set up to help her keep tabs on the foal's run times.  As she finished going over them, she smiled.

"I'm happy to say that all of my students have done well.  Each of you has earned high marks for your physical education."

All of the foals cheered upon hearing the news.  I wasn't sure what they would've had to do if they hadn't passed.  Perhaps they would've had to attend the swimming class later this week?

"Now then," she continued, "for those of you curious about how the relay race ended, we have an interesting result."

"The group of Rumble, Button Mash, Twist, and Mister Thorax have tied with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Miss Rainbow Dash."

All of the foals gasped as they heard the news.  Even I was a bit shocked hearing that the rainbow maned pegasus and I had crossed at the same time.  I looked over at where I thought Rainbow was standing, but the blue pegasus wasn't there.  In fact, she was nowhere near the track and field area.

"Did anypony see where Rainbow went?" I asked.

"She went up into a cloud," Scootaloo told me.  "Said she wanted to be by herself for a bit."

The filly pointed up at a cloud, and upon looking at it, I took notice to a rainbow-colored tail poking out of it and twitching a bit.

"Maybe I should go talk with her," I thought out loud.

"We'll have a talk with her," I heard a voice call out from behind me.  Turning around, I saw the stallions Soarin and Thunderlane approaching.

"Yeah," Soarin voiced his agreement.  "After the race, she looked sort of upset and bolted for that cloud up there.  I don't know what's going on in that head of hers, but she's gonna hear something from the two of us."

Getting a feeling that what they were doing was a terrible idea, I raised my hoof to stop them.

"Um, maybe we should just leave her be for a bit?  I might not know her as well as you two do, but... she and I had a conversation earlier, and I think that might have something to do with how she's acting now."

Both Soarin and Thunderlane looked at me sternly.  "What did you talk about."

"Well..." I rubbed my hoof on my neck as I thought of how best to explain it.  "She was trying to get me to do the hop, skip, jump, but I refused.  When she kept trying to push me, I asked her why it was so important.  She told me, and I told her that comparing yourself to other ponies all the time was a bad idea and-"

"Say no more," Soarin interrupted, a smile on his muzzle.  He then turned to Thunderlane.  "Let's go see if we can talk Applejack out of a barrel of cider.  I get the feeling that filly is gonna want a drink in a bit."

Thunderlane nodded his agreement, and the two stallions took off in what I presumed was the direction of Applejack's farm.

I turned my attention back up to the cloud Rainbow was laying on.  Part of me was second guessing my choice to leave the mare alone with her thoughts, but then I thought about the situation a bit more and concluded that there was probably nothing at the moment that would help anything.

Sighing in defeat, I elected to return to the castle, the day slowly winding down into evening.





Dinner that evening was a veggie loaf made with zucchini, carrots, celery, potatoes and broccoli.  My portion was given the dose of love potion so it gave me the necessary nourishment, though my mind was distracted by Rainbow Dash and her behavior in the later part of the day.

"Something on your mind, Thorax?" Twilight asked me.

"Just thinking about Rainbow Dash," I answered her.

"Don't worry about her too much," she reassured me, placing a hoof on my withers and rubbing.  "If I know her, she's probably just taking a good, long think on what you told her."

"You think so?"

"Definitely.  Rainbow gets really competitive, and a lot of times, that causes her to lose sight of the really important stuff.  That's why the girls and I try to keep her grounded."

"Well, grounded mentally and emotionally, I mean.  I doubt you could keep her grounded physically if you tried."

Both Twilight and I giggled at that assessment.  A few moments after was stopped, the door to the dining hall opened, and through it walked a certain blue pegasus.

"Hi, Twi.  Hi, Thorax." she greeted us.

"Hey, Rainbow.  I'm sorry, but you're a bit late for dinner, but if I asked Spike, I'm sure-"

"That's okay, Twi," Rainbow interrupted.  "I'm actually not feeling that terribly hungry at the moment."

"Oh.  So what brings you by?"

"Um..."

Rainbow paused and traced her hoof on the floor.

"Can I talk to Thorax?  Privately?"

Twilight looked at Rainbow for a moment, then at me.  When her gaze turned to me, it was silently asking if I was okay speaking with her alone, or at least as alone as having Vigilant standing nearby.

After thinking it over for a second, I give a small nod, and Twilight turns back to Rainbow.

"Sure.  Why don't you head on down to the map room?  Nopony's there right now and you can lock the doors if you need privacy."

"Thanks, Twi," Rainbow answered as she walked out of the dining hall and headed for the big map room a little bit further down the hall.  I stood up to follow, but Twilight stopped me for a second.

"Just let her say her peace first," she told me, "and then say yours.  She kinda has a hard time with admitting when she's wrong, or she made a mistake."

I gave Twilight a nod and headed out of the library, Vigilant close behind.

"Um, Vigilant?" I said to the stallion as we walked.

"Yes?"

"Um... can you keep whatever you hear to yourself afterwards?  I don't want Rainbow to feel like her trust is being violated or something."

I don't see it, but I can tell the stallion had rolled his eyes.

"I can keep secrets.  Whatever she confides to you is also safe with me."

"Thanks.  It's appreciated."

We approach the map room and find the door slightly open.  Upon walking in, we both see Rainbow sitting at the table in the chair with her cutie mark on it.

"Should we sit down?" I ask her.

"Nah, I just popped a squat while I waited," came her reply, popping up and getting back down onto the floor and walking over to us.

"Listen," she began once close enough to Vigilant and I, "I wanna say I'm sorry for how I was acting earlier.  The thing is... I've always been super-competitive, and when I meet a new pony or creature, I always wanna challenge them to see what they're made of.  I think it probably goes back to when I was a filly."

Rainbow Dash let out a chuckle before continuing.

"Believe it or not, I did get picked on a bit during my flight schooling."

"Really?" I respond with surprise.

"Yep, the other foals would give me grief for this and that, but the worst was Fluttershy.  I don't know if she's ever mentioned it to you, but she's not the strongest flier in Equestria."

"Yeah, I think she has mentioned that once before."

"Anyway, because of that, I always feel like I need to prove myself to show them what kind of pony I am, but what you did today reminded me that not everypony has to show off to prove who they are.  You did it just by standing your ground and not budging when you got pushed.  I really have to respect that about you."

"Bullying is always a hard thing to get past.  I remember how much doubt I experienced when I first left the hive and started making my way to the Crystal Empire, even if I didn't know I was heading there at the time.  All of that stemmed from how the others treated me, and how they bullied me.  Even one of the older nymphs in my brood, what I guess you could think of as a brother, would bully me and tell me my dreams and ideas were nonsense."

"But every time I heard them say it to me, a little voice inside would tell me not to listen, that they were wrong.  I would always feel depressed and downtrodden, but that little voice was always there, telling me to keep going, that I was on the right path.  I listened to that voice, and because I did, I'm here now, talking to you, instead of attacking whatever innocent village of creatures to take them prisoner and steal their love."

"I'm not really a changeling known for giving advice, but if I can offer you any, it's to listen to that little voice in your own head.  I'm sure it cries out to you 'Don't listen to them, Rainbow Dash!  You know how strong you really are!'.  You just gotta listen for it, or maybe give it a bull horn to shout through."

Rainbow chuckled at that last part.  "Thanks, Thorax.  I'll try to remember that."

She gave me a smile, and I smiled in return.  Vigilant, who had been standing by the door, took the break in conversation as a place to politely interrupt our discussion.

"I hate to break up all of this warm and fuzzy feeling, but it's getting late, and everypony should probably get some shut-eye."

Rainbow Dash and I both looked at a clock nearby and saw it was getting close to bed time.

"Dang, I didn't realize it was that late," Rainbow remarked as she trotted towards the door, then paused.

"You don't think Twilight would mind loaning me a room for the night, do you?"

"Maybe?" I respond.  "I don't really know."

"Might be for the best," she concluded as she opened the door.  "I just remembered Tank hasn't had his dinner, so I better head back home and feed him before it's too late."

With that, the rainbow-maned pegasus left in a flash of bright colors.  As she did, Vigilant let out another sigh as he brought a hoof to his face.

"Again with the running in the halls."
> Day 3 - Sweet Apple Acres (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day began with a bit of an overcast sky, since the sunlight shining in through my window wasn't as intense as the previous days.  Vigilant and I made our way to the dining hall, where we found that a few ponies were unable to join us for breakfast.

Absent were Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, but present were Twilight, Spike, Starlight, Applejack and her older brother Big Macintosh.  Also present, but not there when I had initially arrived with Vigilant, was Mayor Mare, who had stopped by to discuss some business with Twilight about an event happening later in the month.

I gave the mare a friendly smile and wave, which she returned.  After the business with Twilight had been sorted out, she then surprised me by asking about my interactions with the thestral community.  When I asked how she found out about that, she told me that Amber had filled her in on the meeting I had had with them after everypony went to sleep.  Upon hearing the story, she expressed gratitude that things went well, as well as thinking up some ideas of how to better involve the thestrals in Ponyville's activities.

Looking over the spread on the table, I saw breakfast was an egg casserole with peppers, onions, and more than enough cheese; the recipe had come from Princess Luna, who was a connoisseur of cheese, apparently.  In addition, there was a stack of toast, a bowl of fruit, a tea pot with sugar bowl, a coffee carafe, and two pitchers containing what looked to be milk and orange juice.

As with the previous days, Spike had prepared a special plate with love-infused food for me to enjoy, and I must say that it went quite well with the eggs and toast.  The milk, while having no love in it, was also quite good, satisfying my thirst in a way love couldn't.

During the meal, Applejack initiated a conversation with me.

"Hey, Thorax?"

"Yes?"

"I know ya are only stayin' in Ponyville for a short spell, but my brother and I was wonderin' iffin' ya be interested in swingin' by the farm for a bit."

"Coming to see your farm?  Of course!  I would love to do that!"

Applejack looked back at me with a wide stare, but then became nervous, looking away and rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof.

"Well, what I was meanin' ta ask was if ya wouldn't mind lendin' us a spare hoof?"

"You want me to help out?"

Applejack nodded.  "I hate imposin' on ya since yer visitin' for so brief, but Apple Bloom has a school project that she's gotta get done, and Granny Smith's watchin' her ta make sure she keeps her nose and hooves on the grindin' stone.  That means Big Mac and I are down a set a hooves, and we ain't got nopony else ta turn to."

"I don't wanna be askin' like this, but I don't know what else ta do."

I gave Applejack a sympathetic look.  "Applejack, I'm gonna spend the day with you and your brother doing the work that helps keep your farm running.  Even if I wasn't there to help, I'd still end up asking you about it, and learning all about your farm in the process.  Doing this for you is giving me a hooves-on approach to it."

Applejack thought over what I had said for a moment and chuckled, then smiled at me.  "I didn't really think of it like that."

"So what do you want me to help you do?"

Applejack then explained that, since the apple season was a little ways off, they needed to prepare for it.  When Apple Bloom was available, they went around the entire farm and spread various types of fertilizer and deterrent agents to ward off any parasites that would attack the trees or fruit.  That had been a month or so ago, and now the apple trees were blossoming, and two things needed to be accomplished.

First, we needed to go through the whole orchard and prune some of the blossoms off.  This was done to allow the fruit to grow to a large size, as well as making sure the quality of the apples stayed consistent.  After that was done, we would need to do something that would be a bit dangerous: beekeeping.

Applejack and her family maintained a few honeybee hive boxes on their property.  They were moved into the barn during the winter, and then moved out the day following Winter Wrap Up.  The bees stayed fairly docile for the most part, but often weren't fans of having their homes moved.  Applejack even told a brief story in which she had set a hive box down a little harder than she had meant to, and the jostling prompted the hive to start attacking her.

She had so many stings that she had become bed bound for a day or so afterwards, and had only escaped a worse fate because Fluttershy was nearby and able to calm the hive down, though not without the aid of a beekeeping suit and a smoker full of hemp cloth.

"That business was no fun at all," Applejack finished, "and even to this day, I still gotta watch how I go about handling them darn hive boxes."

"Wow," I remarked upon the conclusion of her story.  "I certainly hope nothing like that happens today."

"Hopefully not, sugarcube," she replied, "but just in case, I asked Fluttershy ta join us with her suit and smoker.  She's usually pretty good with them critters, but sometimes they get a bit ornery and come after her.  A couple of puffs of that smoke gun an' they usually calm down."

"Don't you use a suit?"

"Just a veil to keep 'em from mah eyes.  Truth is, the beekeeper ponies I know say you should get a few shots of the venom every once in a while.  Helps build up a tolerance, or somethin' like that.  Of course, some of 'em are older, and they say their joints ain't so sore after they get a stingin' or two, so maybe they just sorta learned ta put up with it."

"I think I read about something like that once.  Most doctors don't really agree with it, since it involves the body getting injected with what is meant to be a poison."

"Caffiene is a poison, but ya see plenty of ponies chokin' down that black bean water every mornin' fer a wake up call, so maybe them doctor ponies don't know everythin' like they think they do."

Her comment made me a bit uncomfortable.  Sure, doctors could get egos and think that they know more than the next pony, but at the end of the day, their job was to make sure to you were healthy, and if you weren't, they would help you get healthy.

"Umm..."

The ponies in the room turned to the one pony who hadn't spoke yet today: Vigilant.  The stallion in guard armor looked at us all a bit nervously.

"I know I'm not supposed to leave Thorax unguarded, but I don't think I can come to Sweet Apple Acres with all of you."

Applejack looked at the guard with puzzlement.  "Why's that?"

"Well..."

Vigilant trailed off for a moment before recomposing himself.

"I'm... afraid of bees."

Everypony looked at him as he hung his head.  I understood why right away.  Guards were meant to be fearless, so him admitting to a fear was basically admitting to weakness in his mind.

Twilight got up from her seat and walked over to him, placing a hoof gently on his withers.

"That's perfectly fine, Vigilant," she told the stallion in a supportive tone.  "We all have things were afraid of.  Can I ask why you're afraid of bees?"

Vigilant looked at the princess for a moment before nodding and relaxing his muscles.  Once he was calm, he recalled the reason for his apiphobia.

"It's because of my sister.  When we were little, we lived in a small hamlet not far from Fillydelphia.  My dad was a guard like I am now, and my mother worked as a maid for an office in the city.  They met on a lunch break one afternoon.

My sister's name is Faded Glory.  She's a seamstress in Manehattan, working for one of those clothing designers; Polomare, if I remember right.

When we were still foals, Faded and I would play near a forest that bordered the western edge of the village.  It wasn't the Everfree, but you only needed to cross a river to get to that place.  We were chasing each other in a game of tag, playing with a few other local colts and fillies.

My sister had wandered off in one direction while the rest of us had started moving off into another direction.  We didn't see her for five minutes or so, but by then, we heard horrible screaming.  I knew it was her right away, so I took off through the forest as quick as I could, wanting to find out what had happened and help her.

When I got to the scene, I saw a tree limb had broken and fell, and on the end of it was a bee hive.  My sister was in a nearby creek, thrashing about and covered in bees.

I ran to help but was hit with sudden, sharp jabs of pain, followed by a burning sensation.  I looked at my hooves and saw that the bees were swarming me and stinging me in my legs.  Just like her, I began screaming and trying to get the bees off as well as get the stingers out.

I kept this up for a good minute or so before I realized it was useless to try until we got away from the bees, so I grabbed my sister from the creek and hauled off in the direction of the village, getting fresh jabs in my back from the swarm attacking my sister.

By the time we had gotten back, we'd sustained more than a hundred stings each.  The pain was so much that I started to become ill, and once I got to somepony's backyard, I passed out.

I didn't come back to until two days later.  I was in a hospital bed and swelled up like a balloon.  My parents came in and tried to hug me, but I was so sore from the attack that it hurt more than it helped.

Dad told me that both Faded and I nearly died, the amount of venom being so much in us that the doctors had to perform dialysis on our blood to help get the toxin out of us.

We both lived, and agreed never to go back to that forest, but even today, if either of us see a bee, that image of them swarming and attacking us gets us locked into a panic attack."

Everypony looked at Vigilant with sympathy.  I had never known this about the guard assigned to me, and a part of me hoped that recalling that memory didn't trouble him more than it did.

"Do you wanna know a secret about me Vigilant?" Twilight asked him.

The stallion nodded.

"I'm afraid of ladybugs."

"Really?"

The princess nodded.  "A swarm of them got into my home as a child, and my brother thought it would be funny to trick me into thinking the spots on their backs were eyes.  I believed that for quite some time, and I always thought they were really creepy from that day forward."

"But you know that that was just a joke now, right?"

"Yes, I do, but... I still get really uncomfortable around ladybugs."

Vigilant looked at her with surprise.  "But you know they can't hurt you!"

"I know that, but I've carried that fear with me from a very young age.  I work to overcome it, but it's still there, even after all these years."

Twilight lowered her hoof from his withers and looked him in the eyes.  "My point is that my fear is irrational; I have no legitimate reason to fear ladybugs.  Your fear, however, is completely rational.  You and your sister nearly died because of what was likely an accident.  Those bees were agitated and went after whatever they perceived was a threat to their hive, which was you and your sister, unfortunately."

"Ain't nopony here faultin' ya fer bein' a bit on edge about not likin' the idea of bein' around all them bees," Applejack reassured him.  "Iffin' ya like, ya can just stay up by the house and watch from afar.  Would y'all be okay with that?"

Vigilant looked between the princess and Applejack before he let out a sigh.  "I suppose if I don't have to get too close, then that'll be okay."

Twilight smiled.  "That'll be more than okay."





Everypony finished breakfast and began going about their day.  Spike took the dishes to clean them, with Starlight coming by and offering her help.  Twilight needed to attend to some of her royal duties, so she left the castle a bit before Applejack, Big Mac, Vigilant, and I did.  Unfortunately, I didn't see any of the other element bearers the rest of that morning.

The four of us made our way to the edge of town, where a long dirt road led us back to Sweet Apple Acres, the large farm where Applejack and her brother lived.  Beyond the fence on either side of the path were apple trees that went as far as the eye could see.  Even if I transformed myself to have eagle eyes, I wouldn't see an end to the orchards stretching on towards the horizon.

We finally found our way to the main part of the farm, where a large red barn and farmhouse sat.  Scattered about the front yard were various kinds of equipment, from a large set of plows on wheels, a harvester for what looked like corn, a pair of wagons with wooden side walls, and the remains of a machine I didn't quite recognize.

"What's this?" I asked while pointing at the strange object.

"That's what remains of the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000."

"...What's that?"

"A while back, these two unicorn fellers came to us with that machine with hopes that we'd buy it from 'em.  Well, us apples do all our own work 'round here, especially makin' apple cider, so we told 'em no.  That didn't sit right with 'em, so they made a challenge to us that they could out-cider us with that machine of theirs.

Well, another thing about us apples is we don't back down from a fight, so we all accepted and went about makin' us much apple cider as we could.  We spent dang near a whole day doin' nothin' but makin' barrels of cider."

Applejack's demeanor then turned a little sour.  "Unfortunately, we couldn't beat out their machine."

"So, what happened with you all losing?"

Applejack then chuckled.  "Well, everypony tried their cider and universally agreed it wasn't apple cider."

I was a little confused.  "How could they make cider without making cider."

"That's easy!  Their machine was runnin' so gaul dern fast that they weren't doin' all the proper quality checkin' like they shoulda been.  Everypony that tried their cider was spittin' out wads of mud and chips of wood from dug up apple trees.  It was so bad that even the pigs wouldn't touch the stuff, and they'd eat dang near anythin'!"

Something that was so foul tasting that even a pig wouldn't eat it?  "That must've been really bad."

"It was, and when the ponies all went after them two unicorns, them fellers skedaddled like a cockroach when a light comes on."

"They didn't take their machine with them?"

"Nope.  They was in such a hurry to get outta here that they left it sit.  We sure as hay wasn't gonna use it for cider, but a lot of the parts on it work on some of the stuff we use 'round here, so we just left it sit there so we can grab a part or two off it when we need it.  Sure does save on the money of goin' inta town to pick up a piece if somethin' 'round here breaks."

I looked at the machine one last time before looking back at Applejack.  "So, we need to prune some trees?"

"Yessir!" she replied enthusiastically.  "Big Mac's gonna go and grab the tools we need, and we're gonna follow him out to the spot we stopped at yesterday."

"Anything special I should know?"

"Y'all done prunin' before?"

"I have.  I kept a buttercup flower in the Crystal Empire."

"Ah!  I remember that now.  Twilight filled us all in on that."

"I imagine that that kind of pruning and what we're doing are a little bit different though, right?"

"There's a little more to know, but the idea is the same.  We gotta make sure that there's only enough blossoms to make a decent yield, and that the fruits can grow to a good size.  If we leave too many blossoms, the fruits won't get real big.  If we take too many, we won't have enough apples to sell.  I can explain it all better once we get out there."

I elected to keep my questions to myself for the moment.  A short wait later, and Big Mac returned with a cart containing a few sets of shears and a few ladders.

"Do you ever consider letting any unicorns do the pruning work?" I asked.

"Granny ain't a fan of it," Applejack answered, "but if we can't get anypony else, we'll use 'em."

"Granny Smith doesn't like unicorns?"

"No, she fine with 'em.  She just feels that everythin' we do should be done the earth pony way, usin' nothin' but our own hooves."

"How come?"

"She's mighty traditional in that regard.  Bein' honest, I am a bit too; sometimes doin' it the old-fashioned way is just better."

"But you're more open to the idea of having unicorns and pegasi pitch in?"

"To an extent.  Sure, magic and wings can help us get some things done easier, but I ain't gonna change up the whole process from how we've been doin' it for centuries.  Honestly, it's a bit more satisfyin' puttin' in the elbow grease."

I could sympathize with that sentiment.  My own experience with with buttercup flower and its many clippings were a testament to that.  Putting in the hard work and reaping the rewards was quite satisfying.

"Anywho," Applejack continued, "I think we should be gettin' underway.  Daylight's a wastin' as it is."

"Okay," I answered, and the three of began our march into the orchard, while Vigilant took a seat beside the Apple family's matriarch to watch us from afar.
> Day 3 - Sweet Apple Acres (Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our trek through the orchard brought us to a place where there was a somewhat subtle divide between where the work of pruning had been completed and where it still needed to be done.  Some of the trees had an abundance of blossoms, while others had been pruned back to what looked to be about half as many.  Judging by what I could see, the work looked to be nearly complete, and our pruning efforts would be completed sometime by mid-morning, if we got started right away.

"Alrighty," Applejack said as she grabbed some shears, "I'm gonna give ya a crash course on how to prune these here apple trees.  We're gonna start down here at the bottom and work our way up; that's where them ladders are gonna come into play."

She gestured to some wooden ladders leaned against one of the trees.  They looked well used, but not in any state of disrepair.

The orange mare continued her explanation.  "What ya wanna do is make space between the blossoms so that the nutrients from the soil get distributed evenly among the fruits once the trees get pollinated.  If they're bunched too close together, then the fruit won't get big enough, but don't go whole hog and just cut a whole bunch back; we won't get enough fruit that way."

"A good rule for prunin' blossoms is to leave about two hooves of space between 'em.  That's enough for spacin' for 'em to grow right once they start makin' fruit.  Ya start by pick out a blossom and clippin' some of the others from around it.  Take yer time and make sure ya don't clip too much.  There ain't much work left to do, but I wanna make sure we all do it right.  Watch what I do here."

Applejack approached a tree full of blossoms and picked one bunch towards the end of a branch.  Giving it a look over, she then took the shears and started pruning some of the flowers away from that particular bunch.  After a minute, she stepped back to examine her work, then turned back to us.

"That's how ya do it.  Now, take a good look at what I done and see if ya can't do somethin' similar."

I stepped up to see what she had done.  There was a space around the blossoms that, according to my measurements, was about a hoof and a half wide.  Keeping the measurement in mind, I turn and gave a nod to Applejack.

The orange pony returned the nod, then passed me a pair of shears to start pruning.  I pick a different bunch of blossoms and carefully trim around them, taking my time to make sure I don't leave too much of a gap.  Once I'm satisfied, I move on to another bunch and carefully trim around those.  After about fifteen minutes, I have most of the lower portion of the tree trimmed back to something that, to me, looks acceptable.

"Right fine job there, Thorax," Applejack gave her approval.  "Now we'll set up a ladder and get the top part of the tree done."

The earth pony went over and hooked a ladder with her head and neck, using a front hoof to balance it as she made her way over to me.  I offered a hoof and helped her get the ladder in place.

"Normally I'd give ya warnin' to watch how ya move at the top, but since ya got wings, ya can just float back down if ya fall off.  Just make sure to keep that consistent gap ya got goin' with the blossoms.  Once ya get this tree done, we'll move on to another."

I gave her a nod and carefully made my way up the ladder, keeping a firm grip on the shears with my mouth.  Once I'm at the top, I resume clipping away at blossoms, picking bunches and clipping around them carefully to make a reasonable amount of space.  After a few minutes, I need to move the ladder, which Applejack is more than happy to help me with, and I continue with the chore.  After a half-hour or so, I've finished the pruning on this tree.

Big Macintosh comes over and helps me move the ladder to another tree, where I finish up with that one.  It takes me a half-hour to finish that tree, and Applejack comes over to help me move to the next one.  I keep a pretty decent pace, but I notice I am a little slower than the two ponies, each of them getting a tree done in twenty minutes.  Nonetheless, they don't complain about my pace, as I'm not that much slower than the two, and we're getting done at a decent pace.

Our work goes on for another two hours before we finish the last tree.  Applejack and Big Macintosh take a moment to sip some water, while I simply sit underneath one of the trees.  The orange pony invites me over for some water, but I politely decline, not feeling particularly parched.

Of course, the pony won't have it.

"Ya gotta keep hydrated while we do work out here.  Even if ya don't feel all that thirsty, ya gotta keep water in ya so ya don't wear yourself down and get wore out too soon."

I concede and take a few sips of the water, which I have to admit is quite refreshing.

After passing the ladle that we had been using as a cup back to the mare, Applejack turned to her brother and gave him a nod, then looked back to me.

"We're gonna head back to the barn and get the hive boxes now.  Ya might wanna stand back a bit when we get 'em out.  Sometimes the bees ain't so keen on us movin' their hives and get a bit onery.  Me and Mac got special boots and veils we wear to help protect us from the worst of the stingin', and I don't know how your hide'll hold up to gettin' swarmed by them things."

"How does covering your legs protect you from most of the stinging?"

"I can't speak for other ponies, but my brother an' I can deal with getting poked in our ribs a bit better than our fetlocks or knees."

"I think I should be okay, mostly.  My chitin is pretty resilient to damage."

"Well, yer eyes are still a good bit like a pony's, even if they don't quite look the same, so I'd still be careful if I was yah."

I gave her a nod in agreement; always better to be safe than sorry.

Big Mac hooked himself into the cart and we all headed back towards the house and barn.  I could see Vigilant and Granny Smith sitting on the front porch observing us as we came back for the hive boxes.  Vigilant said something to Granny, who gave him a nod, and the stallion went into the house, observing us from a window a moment later.

Once we got closer to the barn, Big Mac pulled the wagon around to the back, where I could hear a faint buzzing noise that got louder as we neared the rear.  Once we turned the corner, I observed four stacks of wooden boxes that were painted white.  Going to and from those boxes were hundreds of bees, the yellow and black insects hard at work to convert nectar from flowers into honey that would feed their hive, and presumably whichever ponies were brave enough to tend to them.

Big Mac walked past the hives and to a small wooden shed nearby.  Opening the door, he retrieved a few items: three hats with netting going all the way around, three pairs of thick rubber boots, an old burlap sack, and a smoker.

"Don't ferget the matches," Applejack reminded her brother, who rolled his eyes as he retrieved a box of matches from inside the shed.  Settting the smoker down, he removed the lid and proceeded to tear a section off of the burlap, stuffing it down into the smoker.  Once satisfied, he lit a match and placed it into the smoker, where the burlap caught aflame and began making smoke.  Replacing the lid, he gave the smoker a few pumps, which sent a few puffs of white smoke out of the nozzle.

"We're gonna give the hives a few puffs of that smoke," Applejack explained to me.  "The hemp in the burlap calms 'em down so they ain't as apt to wanna turn us inta pin cushions."

Big Mac walked up to each hive and placed the nozzle of the smoker at the thin entrance where the bees were going in, giving a few pumps to send some smoke into the hive.  Once he was finished, he placed the smoker on the wagon and stood off to the side.

Applejack walked over to the hives and placed a pair of boots on her hooves.  "Go ahead and grab a pair of boots and a veil," she told me.  "We're gonna carefully pick these hives up and put 'em on the cart.  Once we get 'em loaded, we're gonna move through the orchard and drop a hive next to the rock piles we set up as markers.  Puttin' a hive by each one ensures our whole orchard gets pollenated right."

I gave the mare a nod as I slid into a pair of boots, finding them to be a little loose, but not something a slight shapeshift couldn't fix.  Placing the veil over my head, I cinch the bottom tight to my neck so that the bees can't crawl underneath it and get at my face.  Once ready, I watch Applejack as she grabs a hive box near the bottom and lifts it up, carefully walking it over to the cart and placing it on the back.

Just as she moves away, the mare yips and utters what sounds like a swear under her breath.

"Mac, I got one in under mah right front leg."

The stallion nodded at her instructions and grabbed a metal tool from the shed.  Applejack lifted her leg and allowed him to examine the area, eventually moving the tool against her skin, examining it once he'd finished.

"Got it," he told her proudly.

"Thanks," she answered back, wincing a bit as she moved her leg.  "Dang varmints seem to always get me when I least expect it."

Big Mac set the metal tool down, and my curiosity led to me walking over and looking at it.  I quickly deduced it was a plaster knife, repurposed for dealing with the bees.  Looking closer, I could see what looked like a little piece of mucus on one egde, but it's constant pulsing told me it was the dislodged stinger continuing to pump out venom.

"C'mon, Thorax," Applejack called out to me.  "Can't stop just 'cause I got stung."

I nod and move to pick up a hive box.  Carefully, I take it to the cart and set it on the back.  Big Mac grabbed one and slid it on after me, and Applejack loading the last one.

"Don't take yer veil or boots off yet," the mare instructed me.  "We're gonna go drop these off in the orchard now, and we gotta be careful settin' 'em inta place.  The smoke from the burlap will have worn off, and they might be in a stickin' kind of mood, if ya get mah meanin'."

I nodded my understanding and followed behind Big Mac, who hitched himself back up to the cart and began leading us back to the orchard.

"Your brother seems awfully confident doing this," I commented to Applejack.

"Yeah," she agreed.  "That colt has some kind of way with these here bees.  Ain't once been stung by 'em his whole life."

"Really?"

"Mhm.  He seems ta know just how ta handle 'em right so they don't get ornery with him."

"That's good, I suppose.  Too bad one of them stuck you back there."

"Like I said before, the beekeeper ponies say ya should get stuck every now and again.  Body gets used ta the venom that way.  Guess I got my first dose fer the year."

I nodded as we approached our first stop, a small pile of rocks set between two rows of apple trees, with a small rock painted red resting on top.  Big Mac stopped beside it and unhitched himself, Applejack approaching the back and ushering me to join her.

"We're gonna take a side and, bein' real careful, lower it down over the pile of rocks.  It'll fit over top of 'em just fine."

"Okay," I say as I carefully grip one side of the hive while Applejack takes the other.  Working together, we raise it up and off of the cart and begin moving it over the pile of rocks.

"Consarnit!" Applejack seethed as we moved.  "Another one of 'em stuck me."

"Should we set it down and-"

Applejack cut me off before I could finish.  "Get the hive over the rocks.  Then we'll worry about gettin' the stinger outta me."

"Okay," I replied as I kept moving back, watching as I moved over the pile of rocks.  Once in place, both Applejack and I lower the hive over the pile of rocks.

Big Mac walked over with the plaster knife in his mouth.  "Where'd it get ya?" he asked his sister.

"Base of mah neck on my right side," she told him, and the stallion moved over to that side, lifting her mane out of the way and examining where she told him.  Once he saw it, he brushed the knife over that spot a few times until he dislodged the stinger.

"Mhnn!" Applejack hummed after the stinger was removed.  "Gonna have to put some ointment on that once we're done."

"Does it hurt?"

Applejack deadpanned at me.  "Sugarcube, imagine somepony making the tip of a butter knife hot and holdin' it against ya.  Not burn yer hide off, but hotter than ya can reasonably stand."

I kind of got the picture.  "Okay.  That was a dumb question."

"I'm used to it from doin' this for so many years," she continued.  "Ain't comfortable havin' it happen, but I get plenty a sore muscles during harvest time, so I'm used ta a little bit a sore."

"Let's get movin'," Big Mac interrupted.  "Gotta get these out before lunchtime."

"We're comin'," Applejack answered, ushering me to follow.

We didn't say anything as we approached the next spot.  Once there, Applejack and I got the next hive off and in place, this time managing to avoid the orange pony being stung by a member of the hive.  The next stop resulted in the mare getting a jab in the left side of her neck, followed by one in the flanks.  I happened to watch a third time happen on her back, watching the little bee wind up and jam its abdomen into her back, earning an angry grunt from the mare.

"Dagnabit!" she exclaimed.  "Got another one, Mac!"

The red stallion huffed as he removed that stinger.  Once it was out, he spat the knife on the cart and turned to his sister.

"Might wanna wash off down at the pond," he suggested to her.  "Them pheremones are gonna get the rest of 'em riled up."

"We'll be fine.  Let's get the last box out and head back ta the house.  I wanna get washed off and put some ointment on these stings."

Big Mac sighed.  "Alright.  C'mon Thorax."

I followed behind the two ponies to the last spot, sympathizing with Big Mac and having to deal with his stubborn sibling; it reminded me of my relationship with Pharynx in a way.

We got the last hive off the cart and in place, with Applejack getting two jabs in her left side as a consequence.  Mac was quick with the knife, dislodging the stingers and hitching back up to the cart.

"Finally done," Applejack sighed as she rubbed gingerly at the site of her most recent stings.  "'Bout a half dozen or so jabs.  That's better than last year."

"Could've been worse," I respond.  "Could've dropped a hive and got swarmed."

"Oh, don't even talk any nonsense like that," she warned me.  "Iffin that happened, I doubt any one of us could run fast enough to escape the hive's ire."

"Yeah, that wouldn't end well for any of us."

"No siree."

Big Mac coughed to get our attention, gesturing in the direction of the house and barn.  Both Applejack and I gave a nod, falling into step behind him, commenting on different things we observed as we walked.  Once we got back to the barn, Applejack opened the door and let Big Mac walk inside.

"Thanks a bunch fer helpin' us out today," the orange pony said to me.

"It's not a problem.  I was glad to learn about some of the stuff you have to do to get the trees ready for growing apples."

"Aw, shucks, this ain't even the half of it.  Gotta keep up with weeds during the summer, sprayin' repellents ta keep the bugs from chewin' holes in the fruit, and usin' that good ol' earth pony magic ta get these apples big an' ripe fer harvest time, then there's gatherin' up all the leaves and compostin' 'em so we got plenty a nutrient-rich material for the trees to get nourished from-"

"OW!"

Both of us look inside the barn to see Big Mac come limpin' out and shaking his hoof.

"Get the knife!" he said in a panic.  "One of 'em finally got me in the hoof!"

Applejack grabbed the plaster knife and told Big Mac to turn his hoof over.  Doing so, we saw the remains of a honey bee, and a pulsing stinger that created a red bump on the stallion's frog.  Quickly, Applejack scraped the knife against his hoof, dislodging the stinger and preventing it from further envenoming her brother.

"Well, guess the streak of not gettin' stung is finally over, huh Mac?" the mare teased her brother.

...

Big Mac didn't say anything.  Instead, he began to wheeze like he was out of breath.

"Uh, Mac?"

"Is that spot supposed to be that big?" I pointed out, the red spot on his frog getting rather large compared to the places where Applejack had been stung.

"C-Can't-HUH!-B-Br-Breathe!" the stallion forced out, continuing to have trouble getting air.

"Whoa nelly!" Applejack responded, a note of panic beginning to set in to both her voice and emotions.

"What's wrong?" I ask her, panic starting to enter into my emotions as well.

"STAND CLEAR!" a familiar voice cried out.

Applejack and I both turn to see Vigilant running straight at us, and in his mouth was a syringe with some kind of liquid inside it.  The stallion ran straight to Big Mac and smacks his head against the stallion, jabbing the needle into his flanks, then smacking his hoof against the plunger to drive whatever the medicine inside it into the stallion.

For a few moments, nothing seemed to happen, but then, Big Mac started to breath easier, beginning to calm down a little.  There was still a wheezing sound in his voice, however.

"Let's get him on that cart, now," Vigilant told us.  "He needs to get to the hospital."

"What was that?" Applejack asked, a bit bewildered by the stallion's quick actions.

"Epinephrine," he replied.  "Your brother most likely has an undiagnosed allergy to bee venom."

"Now how in the hay does that happen?  Ain't nopony in our whole family got an allergy to gettin' stuck by bees!"

"It happens sometimes.  Ponies just develop an allergy.  Has he ever been stung before?"

Applejack looked a bit sheepish.  "...Well, no."

"Most ponies never realize they're allergic until they actually get stung the first time," Vigilant pointed out, "but that doesn't matter.  Right now, we gotta get him to the hospital.  That shot'll help him, but he needs to be seen by a doctor as soon as possible."

"He's right," I agreed.  "We need to get your brother there as quick as we can."

Applejack looked at her brother, then back to Vigilant and I with a nod.  "I'm pullin' the cart.  You two follow behind me!"





We ended up spending the next few hours at the hospital as Big Mac was examined.  The red stallion did indeed have a severe allergy to being stung by bees, and had been sent home by a pony named Nurse Redheart with information about his newly discovered affliction.

In short, he was to make his best effort to avoid situations where bees could be present, so as to reduce his chances of being stung again.  As for the beekeeping, he was advised to wear a full body anti-sting suit when doing the work with the hive boxes.  

In addition to those bits of advice, Big Mac was also sent home with a syringe and several disposable needles, as well as a special container to dispose of the needles in.  The syringe would be used for his new emergency doses of epinephrine, a medicine that would help counteract the immediate effects of an allergic reaction, and give him enough time to seek out medical help from the hospital or nearest doctor, whichever was appropriate for the situation.  The last thing he received was an insulated satchel to wear around his neck and keep his emergency shot in, so it would be available to be administered quickly.

Strangely, I noticed that it looked remarkably similar to a piece of luggage that Vigilant kept with him at all times, so I asked the stallion about it after we had left the farm.

"I actually am allergic," he confessed to me.  "It's pretty much why I have my apiphobia."

I can't say I blame him for that; I wouldn't be too keen on hanging around a creature that could potentially kill me if I was bit or stung by it.

"Well, it's a good thing that you were there and had a shot of that stuff.  Big Mac might not have made it to the hospital if you hadn't been there to give him that shot."

"He might have made it, but with how his sister reacted, there was a chance he wouldn't.  I'm just glad I could think quick on my hooves."

"I'm sure Applejack is in your debt for what you did for her brother."

Realizing what I said, I crack a smile at the stallion.  "In fact, I bet there's a warm apple pie in your future."

Vigilant looked at me, but all I could notice in that moment was the little bit of drool coming out of his muzzle.  Clearly, he was hoping for such a reward as well.
> Day 3 - Other World (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon returning to the castle, Twilight and Spike had both invited me to have dinner with them.  It was a quiche dish made with heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, red and green peppers, spinach leaves and red onions.  Mine, of course, had been given some of the love solution to give it some nutritional value to me.  The dish was quite tasty, on both counts.

Afterwards, I was invited to spend some time in the castle's large library.  Walls lined with books on nearly any subject you could imagine, from spell craft to cooking to various hobbies.  Besides the books, Starlight had brought a kite into the library so that she could work on it.  It was a diamond shape with a tail that had about five little bowtie-like decorations on it.

"So, Thorax," Twilight addressed me as she found a seat, "what kind of books do you like to read?"

"Umm..."

A good question to ask in a library, and I had to think on it for a moment.  What did I like to read?

"I'm... not sure.  Maybe I could look around for a bit and see what catches my eye?"

Twilight smiled and nodded.  "Of course.  Go ahead and check out the whole library.  No book is off-limits in here; I keep all the really sensitive stuff in a different part of the castle."

"Uh... okay."

The princess gave me a nod and used her magic to summon a book to herself, along with a stack of parchment, ink pot, and several quills.  Starlight set to work on her kite, a set of paints and a brush telling me she was intending to decorate it in unique patterns.

"I know Twilight said about all the books in here," Spike said, catching my attention, "but you don't have to look through them if you don't want to.  In fact..."

Spike reached under a table and produced an old milk crate.  Inside it were several small books, each one having a very detailed cover that was emblazoned with titles such as "Power Ponies" and "Mysterious Mare Do Well".  Pretty quickly, I figured out that he had intended to share his comic book collection with me; a fact confirmed by the large smile and wave of love washing over me.

"We could go through these and you could tell me which one is your favorite."

His smile was infectious, and I could literally taste the glee in his voice.  I glanced over them for a few moments before I relented.

"I suppose I could skim over a few and see if any catch my interest."

The joy in the dragon boiled over as he pushed the crate in my direction.  Using my magic, I levitated out a few books and placed them on the table nearest me.  Sitting down, I brought one of the Power Ponies comics in front of me and began looking through it.  After a few pages, I realized that I was reading the story from somewhere in the middle, as some of the things being discussed were alluding to earlier issues.  Not wanting to spoil anything for myself, I closed the comic and set it aside, opting to try another one.

Barely an hour passed when I gave up on the comics and opted for a book instead.  I didn't want to lie to Spike, so I told him I wasn't a big fan of the comic books, but did like the character of The Mysterious Mare Do Well.  Hearing that, the little drake chuckled.

"Yeah, there's a few ponies that like her comics, but did you know she was actually a real pony once?"

...what?

"A while back, Rainbow Dash started getting a hero complex and was rushing around trying to save the day all the time, and it started going to her head, so somepony came up with the Mare Do Well costume and started saving the day and fighting crime here in Ponyville."

"Wow," was all that I could say.  "So what happened to her?"

"Rainbow Dash forced her to unmask herself."

"And who was she?"

"Pinkie Pie."

"Pinkie?!"

Spike nodded.  "And she wasn't the only Mare Do Well."

"Who were the others?"

"I'll give you a hint - one of them is muzzle deep in a book right now."

I was confused upon hearing that, and then realization hit me as I looked over to see Twilight, muzzle buried inside a book and a quill working so fast that I was certain I saw smoke coming from the tip.

"Twilight?!"

"Yep, and it wasn't just her and Pinkie either.  All the girls helped out by taking turns as Mare Do Well.  In fact, Rarity was the only one who didn't go out and do heroic stuff, but she was busy making costumes for the other girls, so she did her part in her own way."

"And they did all that to call out Rainbow Dash on her boastfulness?"

"Nothing else seemed to be working, so they thought that creating that identity and making it seem like she was a better hero than Rainbow would humble her.  Of course, Rainbow took it as a challenge, which led to the unmasking and all of them admitting what they'd done and why.  After that, she got the message and eased off on always being a hero.  Now she only does it when it's really needed, like if something threatened all of Equestria."

That was probably for the better; being a hero all the time would probably be very stressful.  I was about to add another comment when I heard a strange sound.

"Oh!  The journal!"

Twilight quite literally dropped what she was doing and turned her attention to another book, which appeared to be glowing with magic that was neither the princess's magic or Starlight's.  As the princess brought it to herself and opened it, I noticed that the cover of the aforementioned journal had a unique marking on it - a sun design, with the main body of the sun resembling a yin and yang of red and yellow, its corona also half red and half yellow.

Grabbing a second quill, Twilight set to work writing something inside this new book.

"What are you writing?" I asked her.

Twilight paused her writing to look up at me.

"I have a friend that doesn't live in Ponyville," she explained.  "In fact, she doesn't even live in Equestria, or even on the whole of Equus."

Unironically, I went bug-eyed at this remark.

"Where does she live?"

The alicorn then went on to explain a crazy adventure she had that involved a unicorn with a cutie mark the same as what was on the journal in front of her, and how this unicorn wanted to steal Twilight's crown and use it to take over something called a high school.  Following her through a magic mirror portal, Twilight found herself in a strange new world, and as a strange, new, bipedal creature called a human.

Spike chuckled and chimed in with his two bits, telling me that he went through the portal as well, but ended up as a dog instead of a human.  My mind immediately tried to picture what my first friend looked like as a dog.  Maybe something with floppy ears?

Anyway, Twilight went on to tell me how this unicorn, named Sunset Shimmer, was once a student of Princess Celestia, but wanted to become a princess of Equestria and was refused by said princess.  In a fit of anger, she ran away through the mirror portal and was not seen again until a few years ago, when she stole Twilight's crown and intended to use it in a rigged election to become "Queen of the Fall Formal", whatever that was.

Well, to wrap up a long story, Twilight told me that she met human versions of all her friends on the other side of the mirror portal and they helped her to reclaim her crown, showing Sunset the error of her ways and establishing the magic journal as a way to keep in touch.

"That other world sounds really interesting," I said as I reflected on all that I was told.  "I bet it would be really neat to visit."

Upon saying this, I get a sudden cold chill running up my spine.  I then notice Twilight, whose expression went from a small, somewhat neutral smile, to an ear to ear grin with all her teeth showing.

"That's a FANTASTIC idea!" she exclaimed as she then dipped the quill in ink and began frantically writing inside the journal.

"Um, what are you doing?"

"I'm telling Sunset that you want to come and see the human world!"

...what?!

"Twilight, I said-"

"I know, Thorax," she cut me off, "but this would be a perfect idea to explore!  What would happen if a changeling went through the mirror portal?  Would it turn you into a human?  Some other animal?  Would you stay the same and retain your transformation magic?  There's so many unknowns, and unless another changeling comes forward genuinely wanting to give friendship a chance, you're the best bet on us answering any of those questions!"

"I'm... not sure about this, Twilight.  What happens if something happens to me?  I mean, some of the stuff you talked about over there seemed kind of dangerous, like those auto thingies."

"It's called an automobile, or just a car, and yeah, they can be dangerous, but they develop a whole road system with specific rules to help avoid as much danger as possible.  Believe me, Thorax, it's not nearly as dangerous in that other world as it sounds."

"I'm still not sure.  You said there was a chance that I might stay in my changeling form if I crossed over to that world, right?  What if that did happen, and one of those humans saw me?"

This statement did give Twilight pause.  "You do have a point, but being able to test whether or not your form will change or stay the same is the safest it can possibly be right now."

"How can you know that?"

"Because day and night are inverse between our worlds."

"Inverse?"

"When it's night over here, it's day over there.  So that means that we have a couple of hours of night that we can use to check if you going through the mirror portal will cause you to change, or if you'll stay the same.  It's the safest time to do it."

This whole idea still didn't sit well with me.  I looked at Spike, who nodded at me, telling me to trust Twilight's plan.  I then looked over at Starlight, who paused her kite-decorating to listen in on the conversation.

"What do you think?" I asked her.

"Well, there is a risk, like you said, but like Twilight said, this would be the best time to test what would happen.  I mean, if you stay as a changeling and don't feel safe, you can just pop back over here before anyone sees you.  I don't think there would be a problem."

"But what if there is somepony around?"

"Someone," Twilight interjected, "and the only person who would be there would be Sunset, and perhaps a few of our friends over in the human world."

"But what if one of them seeing me would cause a panic?"

"It won't; Sunset has spoken to all of them about everything in Equestria, including some of the races that aren't exactly as friendly as ponies, or at least, ponies most of the time.  They know how dangerous changelings can be, but I've also told them about you, and what kind of individual you are, so if we came over and vouched for you, there shouldn't be a problem."

Trying to come up with any reason not to go through with this and finding none, I look around the room again, finding all three heads nodding at me in a form of encouragement.  Not wanting to disappoint, I let out a sigh of defeat.

"Okay, let's go see this mirror portal thing."





The four of us, plus Vigilant, left the library and went down a few hallways, ending up at a door that, if I remembered correctly, was meant for storage.  Upon entering, we saw all the things you would typically see in a storage room: stacks of boxes, racks of clothing, and various odds and ends.  There was a space straight through the middle of the room, and we went straight through to the back, where another door awaited us.

"We keep a special lock on this door," Twilight explained as she used a spell on the doorknob, which made a click as the mechanism holding it shut released.  She pulled it open and went through, ushering us to follow close behind her.  We did so, and she shut the door after me, recasting the locking spell and turning back to face all of us.

"Well, here it is," she said while pointing her hoof.

Following her hoof, I was directed to a mirror with several wires coming out of it at different locations, and a frame decorated in horseshoes.  Stepping forward, I examined the surface, taking notice of a slight rippling effect that one wouldn't notice if they were more than a foot or so away.

"According to the journal entry I got back from Sunset," Twilight continued, "she'll be waiting on the other side of the portal for us, and she said not to take too long; she saw some joggers and is afraid that they might loop back around sometime soon."

"Joggers?" I questioned.

"It's an exercise that humans do to help maintain their body weight.  In their world, it's a lot easier to get out of shape, so they're often encouraged to perform different physical activities to keep from becoming overweight.  If they do get too much fat on them, it can lead to some health issues, and more than a few of those can be, well, fatal."

"Being fat can kill you?"

"Yeah, but not really by just being fat.  Your body has to work harder to do simple things like pump blood through your veins, so things like blood pressure can be elevated, and more weight on the body to carry around puts more strain on joints, and can lead to a human requiring medical intervention to alleviate joint pain caused by the excess weight."

"So being fat isn't a good thing.  Gotcha."

"Really, being overweight is seen as a sign of an unhealthy lifestyle.  Eating foods that have little to no nutritional value and living what's called a sedentary lifestyle, which is basically sitting around and doing nothing a lot, can cause a human to get fat pretty quickly, and the sitting around can cause muscles to shrink and not be as effect-"

"I think we're getting a bit off topic here, Twilight," Starlight chimed in, adding a hoof roll for emphasis.

"You're right.  Anyway, jogging is an activity that is done to help humans stay healthy, and most joggers will start from one location and go in a loop back to their starting point, and will sometimes go back on the same route but in the opposite direction, so we can't waste anymore time than we have already."

Moving past me, she steps up to the portal and pauses, turning and giving me a reassuring smile before she walks straight into the mirror, the portal glowing bright and shimmering as she does so.

"Just keep moving and don't stop," Starlight advised as she went through the portal as well.

"See ya on the other side, buddy!" Spike called to me as he ran through behind Starlight.

Now alone with Vigilant, I looked at the portal and thought over my options.  I could stay here alone, or I could join the others on the other side.  Unsure, I looked to my guard.

"What should I do?"

Vigilant shrugged.  "You can do whatever, but whatever you choose, I gotta go along with you, but as a word of caution, it's best not to keep a princess waiting."

Giving a nod and having made my choice, I approached the portal, closed my eyes, and stepped through.