Thorax found himself wandering through the catacombs. Walls opened up to the left while holes in the floor and ceiling filled up. Still, he pressed onward to the right. He had work to do. He knew as much. Then, he passed by a changeling mirroring his movements.
Hold on. He flew back a couple hoof-steps. That was a reflection of his mostly black body, riddled with holes and dents. What stood out were the shimmering wings on his back. He smiled a little... just in time for the reflection to growl, hiss, and bare its fangs and tongue.
He yelped and flew back a pace. The "reflection" shed its love-fueled wings, returning to the dark beetle wings that all young changelings had. He looked back at his own wings in worry, only to find that his shimmering wings were still intact. He slowly looked back at the "reflection" again. The double was still unleashing its intimidation instincts.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The double clenched their fangs. "I'm an evil changeling, remember?"
"But, you can't be." Thorax shook his head. "We all shared our love, and... huh?"
It was about this time that he realized that there was more that was wrong about this situation than he first thought. Didn't they all get new bodies right before destroying Queen Chrysalis's throne? They shared their love willingly so that they wouldn't have to steal again. In exchange, their forms adapted to the desire to give. But if that was true, why did he and this other changeling look like their old selves?
"So what?"
The double surrounded itself in a blazing fire of purple and blue. Thorax looked on, his eyes widening at the slowly growing figure before him. Golden stag horns branched from the top of an expanding head. Wings and tail resembled butterfly and dragonfly. It looked like... his restored form. But, he was looking at it instead of being it.
This ruler-double leaned down, with a face of disgust. "You think you can run away from what you are? What you've always been a part of?" An angry, violet gaze burned into Thorax's own vision. "Do you really think you're ready to lead the hive you were so ready to betray?"
"I... I..." The smaller Thorax shivered, tears dripping from his eyes. But then, he gritted his teeth together and he stomped his hoof down. "That's enough!"
His other self gaped, taken aback before he snarled. "How do you know we deserve to have another chance?"
Dark, broken hooves wrapped around the ruler. This gained a gasp from him. He looked down at the smaller Thorax. Both of them trembled slightly as their respective wings shimmered.
"I am you, and you are me." Thorax hugged tightly. "I know that you're scared, because I'm scared of what tomorrow will bring too. I don't know if I'm ready to be the best ruler in the world. But I am ready to try to be a decent ruler. That's all our friends need for now: somebody willing to try."
His double released a small stream of dripping tears.
"I can't change the past, what I was... what I still am in a way," Thorax admitted. "I will always carry the burden of being an invader, but I won't always be an invader. I'm a friend first, changeling second. I know... it's going to be hard. We'll have our struggles in the days to come, but we'll always have help somewhere nearby."
Translucent images appeared behind Thorax. Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, Discord, Cadance, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, all of the newly restored changelings... Spike the Brave and Glorious.
"It's important to be able to doubt, but it's also important to believe."
When Thorax pulled back, he saw that he had his large green hooves back. His double had returned to being his old, charcoal self. But it was still there. The double wiped his eyes and smiled. "Thank you."
Everyone turned into wisps of colorful flames and swirled around Thorax the ruler. He breathed them all into his heart. He exhaled a soothing, relaxing breath.
"I must admit, you're a lot faster at tackling your own nightmares than I expected."
Thorax turned around and saw someone trot down a staircase made of solid nothing. He chuckled. "I'm sure it's not that impressive. You deal with things like this all the time."
"True, but that doesn't make your accomplishment any less admirable." She swept one hoof to the side.
"This is the fifth time I've had this dream during the last couple of months." He imagined a nearby pebble and turned it into a valentine. "The first time, all I did was crawl under a rock until I woke up."
She held her hoof against her royal necklace. "I believe such a continually improving struggle proves that you're genuinely getting better at this."
"I'm afraid I just sort of memorized a pattern of gestures and words that worked, with some adjustments." He glanced down.
"Sometimes a problem has the same solution." She magically chiselled a stone to form an arrow through the pebble valentine. "I'm glad you found something that works for you, Prince Thorax."
The world around them gradually pulled itself into a rising sun. Walls rapidly deconstructed themselves. The floor became a swimming pool. White light poured into the empty space left behind.
Prince Thorax opened his eyes. He stood up on his legs of stature. His jaw opened up to let out a yawn. At the same time, he stretched out his wings and tail. He stepped out of his chambers and flew onward. He had work to do today.
Author's Note
I just wrote this little something for fun. I like all three of Thorax's designs. I tend to be weird like that.
