Spike walked down the chewed-up crystal hallway into the map room. It was 8:00 AM and Spike never woke up this early. Meanwhile, Thorax sat uncomfortably in Twilight's chair. He was still not used to wings, and sitting up against them just hurt and felt strange. Plus, the chair was made out of crystal, and it was cold. Spike creaked open the two doors, which made him break into a small sweat. The doors were very large to the baby dragon, and thus he usually needed help opening them. Thorax looked over at the doors and smiled a bit, "Oh Spike! I know it's a bit early in the morning, but I've been meaning to have a chat with you. I didn't really get to address this issue while Ember was in town."
"Yeah yeah. Renegade changeling group. You told me a couple days ag-"
"Yeah, but I kinda wanted to go into detail about it... Ember told me to be more strict or whatever, but I just don't know how to do it! Plus, what if what I say makes them even more mad at me!? What if they run away and find Chrysalis!? They could start a new hive and a war could start between us! Speaking of Chrysalis, my subjects are still afraid of her. They are constantly asking me what I will do if she comes back. As well as what I would do to defend them. And I have no idea Spike! I'm so confused and so afraid!"
"Uh, you might wanna talk to Twilight about thi-"
"Also! My subjects now need actual food! And since the hive is in the badlands, there is literally no food around! I have to go miles just to get some bread or some water. It's exhausting me, Spike! I have indigestion, Spike. The food I get is so limited and so horribly old that my body won't even accept it!"
"Thorax you need to calm do-"
"Spike you don't even know what I am going through! I feel horrible everyday I wake up, and my subjects just keep asking things of me. And the Renegade changeling group won't change! It doesn't matter what I do, they listen to Chrysalis and Chrysalis only! I'm just so angry! Ugh!" Spike put his scaly claw on Thorax's back.
"It's okay Thorax. Every leader gets a bit stressed from time to ti-"
"And now I also have to attend these stupid meetings with all the princesses! And Twilight just won't shut up about how many lists she's made and how many books she read on a specific topic and I always wonder if I should be doing that too? But there are no books in the Badlands, so there is nothing for me to read!"
"...Thorax just take a deep bre-"
"I'm just so frustrated and I don't know what to do! I have no way to contact really any pony, as when I sent a messenger changeling out to Canterlot, he never came back! He could have died or worse, been kidnapped by Chrysalis! She could be persuading him so he can be king, and they can start a new hive of changelings even more powerful than mine! And none of my allies would be able to help because I can't get any messages to any other part of Equestria!"
"I just thin-"
"When I was born I was the strangest one in the colony. Everyone would bully me and call me names because I wasn't like the rest. I didn't want any trouble, I wanted friends. But I think I was influenced at a young age to follow others, and so I never was my own leader! So I have no idea what I should do! I just want someone to be telling me what to do! I need a leader... But that's not how it works."
"Thora-"
"I'm just so confus-"
"THORAX! Just let me finish! You should just take suggestions from your subjects. And if you are having trouble with communications, you can ask for a unicorn to teleport your messages to the rest of Equestria instead of someone flying your messages there. Also, you need to work on your communication skills, I've been sitting here for five minutes constantly getting interrupted by you..."
"...But my problem is that my subjects don't respect me. It seems they are still skeptical about whether I, a random changeling, would be suited for being a king. I was born from Chrysalis just like everyone else so why do I have to be king?! I'm just an average Changeling." He started quietly tearing up, "Spike, I miss the days where I wasn't this important, where I didn't have to make decisions that will alter my life and my subjects forever!"
"Aww... Thorax... You'll be oka-"
"No, I won't be okay! I have so many decisions to make all the time and I honestly feel like sometimes Chrysalis was a better leader! At least she was able to supply her subjects with jobs! Now they just sit around confused and I just tell them to go mate or go get some food! I just don't know what to do anymore! That's why I don't want to leave the castle because I don't want to go back to having responsibilities. Plus, Chrysalis actually could be one of my changelings! She could be spying on my hive, who knows, she could have attacked my home already! There are no communications! They could all be enslaved again! She could have killed them all and will kill me if I go back there! Ah! What do I do Spike! What do I do!?"
"Thorax breathe! Breathe! She didn't do that, and your changelings would have fought back. You're a good leader, but I am not the one you should be talking to. Take it to Twilight or whatever. She might know what to do. And if she just starts talking about chairs again or something weird then go to the royal princesses or even Ember. They have all gone through the same things as you and you are not alone."
"Thank you, Spike. I know we don't talk much anymore, as I am busy with my... problems... But I also wanted to say you are my best friend in the whole world, and I thank you for the advice. I think it is time I flew back home. So I will be leaving now." He sat up from the hard crystal chair, but as he was walking out, Twilight burst into the room.
"Oh, Thorax! I heard everything and I have made a list of things we can do to help you! First things first- Oh, Spike. This is official business." She teleported him to his room. Spike honestly didn't even protest and fell back into a deep slumber.
Author's Note
It's 1 AM.
This is gonna be horrible.
