Patriots of Equestria, Part 1

In the hours since he had prisoners of his own kind sitting before him, Thorax continued to wait and wait for his captives to break their silence. Unlike his former leader, Thorax was not ruthless and did not want to go to extremes to set up a point. He wanted to give his captors mercy, no matter how evil they were. But, just as he continued to wait, a reformed Changeling flew quickly into the throne room with urgent news.

"Your highness," he said, landing and bowing before Thorax while panting heavily. "There has been a terrible attack on our pony allies."

Thorax's eyes widened and knowing that his most loyal allies had been attacked, he rose to his legs and looked down upon the messenger. Remembering what Chrysalis had done to them before, Thorax felt his anger boil.

"What happened?" he asked coldly, causing the messenger to back away nervously. "What happened to Spike and the others?"

"Bombs were set off," replied the messenger, trembling before the furious Changeling leader. "Targeted assassination attempt. Reports say that it was Hopper and Thumper."

Thorax snarled and slammed his left front hoof down hard on the throne, furious that this could happen to the ones that helped him get to his new role. Furthermore, these developments were causing him to feel anger not felt by anything he had ever experienced before. Yes, he did have a brief outburst when Spike turned his back on him, but this was much worse than that…much worse.

"Is any of my friends hurt?" Thorax asked.

"Yes," answered the messenger, nervously. "Fortunately, they are all still alive despite what had happened. As of now, they remain in a pony hospital."

"If I find that Hopper and Thumper did any of this," seethed Thorax, looking away from the angry Changeling king as he was starting to go into a brief soliloquy. "Then, I can assure you that there are two cells in Tartarus just waiting for them. Nopony attempts to carry out an assassination attempt and lives to tell the tale. But I won't go through any trials or anything like that, because I know what will happen. Chrysalis would just say they were guilty, drain their love and then kill whoever was accused!"

The messenger wanted to back away, but he couldn't do so. His leader had not dismissed him, but that was all about to change as Thorax looked back up to them.

"You are dismissed," he said, firmly and the nervous Changeling messenger bowed to his leader, before leaving the throne room.

…

Now, Thorax was deciding what to do with his captives now that the two missing Changelings had been revealed as the main perpetrators behind what had happened. However, there was something far more important that he needed to do first before joining in the hunt.

"I must visit my friends and offer them my support," he thought to himself. "Then, I will deal with the captives later. If I find out if Spike was hurt…"

Just then, before he could leave, another reformed Changeling made his way into the throne room with one of the Changelings still loyal to Chrysalis. Thorax growled as he looked down at the Changeling, wanting to teach him a lesson right then and there.

"Where is Hopper and Thumper?" Thorax asked icily, grabbing the changeling captive in a magic aura that emulated from his horns. "Do you wish for me to teach you what happens to Changelings who don't talk?"

"Somewhere where you will never find them, traitor," snapped the Changeling captive. "You made a big mistake overthrowing our true leader. Soon, you will be the one in my place."

Thorax was not going to put up with this kind of behavior from his prisoners and he roughly put the captive Changeling back onto the ground hard while letting out a small growl.

"Don't underestimate the fury of your new leader," retorted Thorax, pointing his magic glowing horns at the captured Changeling. "Anypony who fails to understand our new way of life will be never heard of again!"

"You will be the one never heard of again, traitor!" snarled the Changeling captive and Thorax was beginning to lose his patience with him. But, for his own sake as well as those of Spike and his pony friends, Thorax kept his dignity despite the growing anger inside of him. "Yes, back down from harming me, traitor. I swear that once our queen is restored to her proper throne, you will see what…"

But, Thorax merely slapped the Changeling across the face angrily to silence him.

"Yes, hit me across the face," laughed the Changeling captive, brushing off Thorax's actions like it was nothing. "That's just a reflection of who you truly are, traitor. A scared little Changeling that wants to be friends with creatures that harbor our food source."

Thorax was having none of this and was left with no other choice for his captives. He then directed his attention towards the reformed Changeling holding the captive Changeling.

"Take him back to the dungeons and do whatever you can to make him and the others talk," ordered Thorax in an ice cold tone of a voice. "He and the others will talk and he and the others will reveal where Hopper and Thumper are hiding. If they still don't talk, then do what you want with them."

"If you destroy us, your blood will be on your hooves, traitor!" cried the captured Changeling as he struggled against his bonds while being taken back to his cell. "I swear that our comrades are probably somewhere planning your demise and if you destroy us when our Queen returns, we will be avenged with your destroyed life!"

But, Thorax was not going to listen and simply focused on visiting his pony friends. With the sounds of the screaming captives still being heard, Thorax turned his attention towards the setting sky.

"Your highness," replied a reformed Changeling who was on guard, looking up to Thorax. "The princesses are at a hospital in the pony city of Manehattan. That was where the bombs were planted by Hopper and Thumper."

"Is Spike there too?" asked Thorax.

"Yes," said the reformed Changeling. "He was one of those who were hurt in the blasts. According to reports, about over 200 were hurt."

The thought of so many ponies hurt because of Hopper and Thumper were simply too much for Thorax to take in. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to just be there for his friends. But, a part of him wondered if they were even still alive to begin with

"Are there any dead?" he asked.

"Only about six, your highness," replied the reformed Changeling in a solemn voice. "But, none of your friends were among the dead."

"Then, I have no choice," sighed Thorax. "I must charge Hopper and Thumper with murder upon their capture. That is, if they are captured alive. But, I must go to Manehattan and visit my friends. I will be back in time, though I do not know exactly when I will be back."

Bowing to his superior, the reformed Changeling watched as Thorax took to the air and began making his way towards Manehattan where his friends were recovering from their injuries…