Chapter 1: Thorax's Dilemma
Author's Note
*I only own the ideas for the story. All My Little Pony characters, places, etc. belong to Hasbro and DHX. My Little Pony All Rights Reserved.*
*Note, Thorax in this story looks the same as in the episode "The Times They Are a Changeling". The story takes place way before the Season 6 finale.
Chapter 1: Thorax's Dilemma
Chapter 1: Thorax's Dilemma
Thorax the Changeling walked around the main market areas of The Crystal Empire, having a good time... or at least, he wanted to. He had just met with some crystal pony friends a few days ago, and enjoyed the company of friends, but still felt out of place. Like a needle in a haystack. And even though Princess Cadance and Shining Armor had made an official introduction to him being the new member and friend in The Crystal Empire, he still got the feeling other ponies still were apprehensive around him.
'I know I got friends, but I still feel like I want more. Like something is missing', Thorax thought as he noticed how he was still being treated. In fact, he felt like he had only learned the basics of friendship. But he craved more. He wanted to learn everything as much as he could. Thorax needed help.
"I need to talk to Spike," Thorax said to himself before heading to the crystal castle. He walked all over, looking for his best friend. Luckily, he found the bedroom Twilight and him shared while visiting the Crystal Empire. Thorax knocked on the door.
"Come in!" was the answer from the other side of the door. Thorax took a deep breath and opened the door.
"Spike, can I talk to you?" Thorax asked, after he opened the door. He didn't want to interrupt his friend if he was busy.
"Thorax, of course! Come on in," Spike replied, putting his comic book down as Thorax walked into the bedroom, and closed the door.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Spike asked, both curious and nervous.
"I wanted to talk to you about friendship. I'm really enjoying my time here at the Crystal Empire, and I've made some good friends, but I feel like I want more. Like I got the main points down, and I want to learn more. But I just got accepted here! I don't want to just leave and make everyone feel upset, sad, or feel like I wasn't welcomed enough. Especially Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. Or anypony else... What should I do, Spike?" Thorax explained, before letting his best friend talk.
"Hmmm. Well, you are learning more about friendship. Maybe you just need to try to see what other friends you could make somewhere else. Try talking to Twilight, she's the Princess of Friendship. If anypony can help you out, it's her. She's in the library with Starlight. Just think about what I said," Spike suggested. Thorax nodded and decided to go talk to Twilight. He walked over to where the library was... until he heard a noise.
BOOM! CRASH! REEEEEAAAAAEEEEELLLLL!!! came a combo of noises from the library. Whatever they were doing, Thorax had no idea... it just sounded awful.
"NO! STOP! COME HERE!... Why won't this pumpernickel bread stop!" Starlight shouted from the other side of the door. More cat noises, the crashing of books, smashes and other sounds came from the library.
"I TOLD YOU TO READ THE SPELL CAREFULLY! How in Equestria could you have casted a Cat Summoning, Inanimate Object Living, Bread Summoning spell in ONE TRY??!!" Twilight exclaimed, followed by more noises.
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT THE BOOK WAS CRYSTAL! I DIDN'T KNOW IT WOULD BOUNCE OFF AND ZAP ALL THE BOOKS THAT WERE BLUE, PURPLE, AND SILVER IN HERE!" Starlight retorted, trying to take care of the situation... and failing.
"JUST CATCH THE CATS, BREAD, AND BOOKS BEFORE WE GET INTO TROUBLE! WE'LL BE LUCKY IF WE DON'T DAMAGE ANYTHING IN HERE!" Twilight replied, before she crashed into a wall. Thorax was nervous. Maybe now wasn't the best time. Then again, it was better if he tried to help. Thorax quickly opened the door and was greeted by a boatful of chaos.
Books had bread for spines and were falling off the shelves, cats had bread for bodies and were either trying to eat themselves, or were trying to balance with their new bodies. Books had grown furry legs, paws, and tails running all over the place unable to see a thing. And some cats had books for bodies, either running around because the books were upside down, or the fur was swaying to the sides, revealing fur that looked more like pages from a book. This was certainly the last thing Thorax had expected.
"OKAY! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Twilight proclaimed before casting a freezing spell, stopping everything and everyone in their tracks. She levitated all the books, cats, bread, and the book hybrids to the center of the room, zapped everything with a blast of purple magic, and everything returned to normal.
"Nice job Twilight. I didn't even think of casting a spell that would do all of that. Good thing everything's back to normal!" Starlight said happily.
"Actually not..." Thorax said pointing to his legs with his front hoof. A ginger colored cat with the body of a dictionary rubbed against his legs as it purred happily.
"Meow!" said the pumpernickel bread as it ran past Starlight and over to Thorax too. Twilight did a facehoof and growled.
"Don't worry! I got this!" Starlight said before using her magic to lift up the cat hybrids. Unfortunately, the dictionary cat was heavier than Starlight thought and went to set him down. This quickly backfired as the dictionary cat fell on the tail of the meowing bread's tail causing it to screech with a "REEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" before running off. The dictionary cat followed close behind.
"No! Wait!" Starlight shouted before running after the dictionary and the pumpernickel cats. Thorax carefully walked in the library and closed the door. He started to walk towards Twilight.
"Hi Thorax. I'm so sorry you had to see that..." Twilight said feeling a bit embarrassed.
"No worries, Twilight. That's the weirdest thing I've seen all day. And being a Changeling, you get use to unexpecting, weird surprises..." Thorax replied before he sat down next to her.
"So, now that we have some time alone, why are you hear? Do you need a book, or did you want to talk?" Twilight asked politely.
"I came to talk. I told Spike about my Friendship problem. He told me to try and make friends somewhere else, but he told me to check with you. If that is alright?" Thorax explained.
"Of course. What seems to be the problem?" Twilight asked curiously. Thorax sighed.
"Ever since Shining Armor and Princess Cadance anounced me as a friend to the Crystal Empire, everything has been going good. I made new friends, tried to learn the proper way to be a friend... including politeness, proper greetings, sharing common hobbies, respect, treating others nice as best I can, all sorts of stuff! But I'm bored! I feel like I got the friendship basics down, but I want more! I want to make other friends, I want to explore other possibilities of friendship! But I can't do that if my only home is here. But at the same time, I don't just want to leave everypony and make anypony upset, sad, or be rude in any way. I don't want to do that to them... not with everything they have given me..." Thorax explained.
Twilight was amazed by Thorax's knowledge of friendship and how well he had changed to even being so compassionate. She got off her seat, walked over to Thorax, and put a hoof on his shoulder.
"Thorax, I'm SO proud of what you have accomplished since being here. I totally understand where you are coming from. Spike gave you good advice when he suggested you should try to broaden your horizen on friendship. With Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's permission, and if you're willing to, I would like to take you back with us to Ponyville. My friends and the other ponies in Ponyville helped me out so much when I started to learn about friendship. I'm sure getting a similar experience, will help you out too. But only if you want to," Twilight responded. Thorax's eyes widened and a smile ran across his face. Tears came out of his eyes before he hugged Twilight.
"Thank you, Twilight. I don't know how to thank you!" Thorax said before separating from the hug.
"Let's talk with Princess Cadance and Shining Armor first. If they agree, then you can come with us. If not, maybe you just need to accept that staying here is for the best for now. I think they would only want you to stay for your protection, and so you become more aquatinted with more ponies and friendship before taking a big step forward. Just know, no matter what their answer is, they just want what's best for you," Twilight replied back. Thorax smiled in understanding before they hugged again.
"I understand. I just hope they let me-" Thorax said before hearing a scream.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!! SOME PONY GET THIS PUMPERNICKEL THING OUT OF MY MANE!!!" a crystal pony screamed from outside. Twilight and Thorax giggled nervously before running out of the library to help.
Chapter 3: Ponyville Greetings
Chapter 3: Ponyville Greetings
The sun rose bright and early as Thorax made sure he had everything to pack up... including his teddy bear. It was a gift that Flurry Heart had given him... she had gotten plenty of stuffed animals after The Crystaling and from various holidays. She had felt it was only fair Thorax had a gift from her to keep with him.
Once the packing was done ... everything literally double checked ... the group then said their goodbyes to Princess Cadence, Shining Armour and Flurry Heart.
"We'll see you again Cadence. Don't worry, we'll take good care of Thorax!" Twilight said to her friend after hugging her.
"I'm sorry I need to go Flurry Heart," Thorax said sadly, gently hugging the alicorn, Flurry Heart hugged back with her little arms.
"And in case you miss me ... I want to give you this," Thorax replied, using his changeling magic to give Flurry a plush doll of him. Flurry Heart smiled, then squeezed the plush of her changeling friend. The plush horn glowed a soothing green color, and it spoke.
"I love you Flurry," the plush of Thorax said in the real Thorax's voice. Flurry giggled and cheered with happiness. As she kept squeezing the stuffed changeling, different phrases and words coming out of the doll.
"What does this do? .... Ohhhh! Shiny! .... Like this? .... Hehehehe .... Crystal sandwiches exist? .... Beep! You got my nose! .... Would you like to cuddle? ...." said the stuffed Thorax as the baby Alicorn squeezed it, enjoying the words her new toy said.
"Awwww. That's so kind of you Thorax," Shining Armour said as he turn to the real Thorax.
"You're welcome. Twilight helped put a voice recorder in the plush so it talks. I wanted Flurry Heart to not be lonely when I'm gone," Thorax explained.
"Well, she certainly likes it. Have a safe trip everypony," Princess Cadence responded before one last goodbye was said and the four friends boarded the train.
"To Ponyville sir," Twilight told the conductor pony. He nodded and did as he was told. Luckily, he did not notice Thorax on board or he might have freaked out.
"Ahhhh! I'm so nervous!" Thorax said as he held his stomach with a hoof.
"It's okay Thorax. We'll make sure your introduction is a good one. But first, you need to know some important information," Twilight replied before talking about some of the key details about her friends. She explained about each of her friends, what their cutie mark was, what each pony was like, the events that had occured since the saving of The Crystal Empire, and lastly Starlight Glimmer.
"Wow. That's a lot to remember. I just hope they like me ... " Thorax said, now even more nervous than before.
"Remember what I told you last night, Thorax. And if you need help remembering, we can go over the details again," Twilight reassured him.
"Right. But how do I impress them? Most ponies don't trust my kind. And I'm not surprised why ... " Thorax said, slightly sad.
"Don't worry Thorax. I sent a letter to Princess Celestia explaining the whole thing! She even wants to see you first hoof -"
"WHAT?! You never told me about THAT!!" Thorax exclaimed, crouching in his seat and whimpering nervously. His hooves over his face. The changeling felt like a puppy, concerned about where to hide it's bone. Spike, Twilight, and Starlight all patted the changeling softly.
"There, there, buddy. I know it's a lot to take in, but I made sure Twilight put in a good word for you. Honest," Spike replied before Thorax removed his hooves from his face. Spike hugged Thorax softly before his buddy returned the hug. It was a good minute of hugging until they separated, - then Spike's face turned green.
"Duck down!" Twilight cried out just in time, as all three of Spike's friends ducked just before the baby dragon burst out a green flame that soon turned to paper. Twilight took the scroll with her magic.
"It's from Princess Celestia! Let's see what she said!" Twilight told everyone until she unraveled the scroll. The letter read:
"Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
Normally, bringing a changeling to Ponyville would not be a good idea, and I would be highly against it. However, based on the information, pictures, and feedback from both you and Princess Cadence, I am happy to hear that Spike has found a new friend along with The Crystal Empire. Thorax sounds like quite the interesting guest.
I plan to arrive in Ponyville a few days after you're arrival. I hope I can meet Thorax first hoof to discuss more about his interest in being a nice changeling, as well as his backstory. It may help us better understand Changeling culture and get insight into their lives since not much is known.
I happily await your arrival, and don't mean to intrude on Thorax's visit. He is free to see me any time he can.
All the best,
Princess Celestia"
Thorax and the others blinked. They were not expecting such a positive response from the Ruler of Equestria.
"Wow. Sounds like Celestia already is fond of you Thorax," Starlight commented.
"All thanks to Twilight, Princess Cadence, and Spike. Thank you, all of you ..." Thorax replied before hugging Twilight and Spike individually.
"You're welcome Thorax. I just wanted to keep Celestia informed so she dosen't freak out about you coming to Ponyville. Can't say that my friends will be as calm and enthusiastic though," Twilight cautioned her new friend.
"It's okay. Oh, and when we arrive, can you disguise yourself as something before I introduce you? It would be pretty bad if you came off the train and everypony panicked by just seeing you," Twilight responded. Thorax's ears went back a little but he nodded in understanding.
After several hours of sitting and talking, they arrived at Ponyville.
"Now Thorax!" Twilight said, not wanting Thorax to be discovered so quickly.
"Got it!" Thorax said before he shape-shifted into a green blanket. Twilight, Starlight, and Spike grabbed their belongs - as well as Thorax's stuff - and got off the train. They were immediately greeted by their friends.
"Welcome back!" Pinkie Pie said as she ran over and crushed her three friends in a gleeful, smiling, bear hug. She got a hug back and let them go.
"Looks like you three got quite the load. Let's help you care your luggage. Who's the extra bag for?" Applejack said before she put one of the bags on her back.
"A surprise. Once we get into the castle and put our stuff away, I'll tell you!" Twilight responded as the group walked towards the castle. They eventually got to their rooms, put the bags on the beds, and walked into the throne room. Twilight hung the green blanket over her back. Once everyone was in the room, she put the blanket on the floor.
"Thanks for everything everypony. While visiting the Crystal Empire, Spike ran into a new friend. We didn't really trust him at first, and kinda sent the Crystal Empire into a panic, but soon we got to know his friend. He is actually quite shy and gentle," Twilight explained.
"Thorax, you may show yourself!" Twilight said to the green blanket. A blast of green circles swirled and the blanket turned into the Changeling.
"Hi..." Thorax said nervously.
