Ponies were not, by and large, known for journeying out into the Badlands unless they had some kind of death wish. And yet, that was exactly where Starlight Glimmer now found herself, walking with a small pair of saddlebags along bare and barren land that, until recently, had been avoided by ponies like the plague. However, the young unicorn didn't seem at all terrified or cautious as she made her way onwards. Instead, she looked, of all things, nervous, as though some important appointment was awaiting her. Stopping for a moment, she took in a deep breath, let out a sigh, then began to speak up to herself.
"Okay, Starlight...you can do this. Twilight believes in you, so...there's no reason for you to worry."
A chuckle from behind caused her to turn around.
"And people say I’m jittery."
Starlight smiled as she looked upon the one who now served as her travelling companion; Thorax, the newly-chosen King of the Changelings. The towering green figure walked beside her, looking out at their destination ahead, that of the Changeling Hive, which Starlight too turned her attention to. In past days, this place was the very textbook definition of dark and menacing. But now? Now, it looked as though new life had been breathed into it. Plants were starting to grow in the surrounding area that, perhaps, had never grown here before, and all around there was an air of newness that actually helped to relax Starlight a little.
"I just hope your people will be okay with me being here. I mean, a pony coming along and teaching them stuff? Chances are that'll ruffle a few feathers. Or...um...antennae, I suppose."
Again, Thorax laughed.
"There might be a few bumps in the road, but I'm sure it'll work out."
Starlight smirked as she looked to him.
"Glad to hear that one of us is being optimistic about this."
Thorax nodded.
"Honestly? The only thing bothering me today is just how long it took us to get back here."
Starlight, upon hearing that, sighed.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Although..."
Looking over her shoulder, she frowned.
"...we would have been here sooner if somepony hadn't decided to bring so much stuff along."
Thorax too turned to look to where Starlight was now glaring, only to find their third companion, Trixie, trailing along behind her. As usual, the show-mare was clad in her typical magician's outfit, and was bringing her small caravan behind her. Having apparently heard Starlight's remark, she took on an indignant expression.
"Hmph! I'll have you know that not everypony wants to travel as light as you do, Starlight."
Starlight shook her head, but soon broke out into a small but genuine smile.
"In any case...I'm glad you're here, Trix. It's good to know I won't be alone out here."
Hearing that softer tone, Trixie, in turned, looked to her friend in a similar fashion.
"Well, far be it from me to have my only real friend go out to a place like this by herself."
The show-mare drew nearer to the two of them, bringing her caravan along all the way, and patted Starlight on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. Thorax smiled at this display, then got back to the business of heading towards the Hive. It wasn't long before Starlight and Trixie followed him, and as they approached, they could see the outlines of Changelings in the air around the place, happily buzzing about. However, once they were close enough, there was a different-sounding buzz going on, and Thorax, hearing it, stopped in his tracks, gaining a concerned look. Starlight and Trixie stopped too, and just in time, for it was here that a trio of Changelings emerged from behind some rocks, landing right in front of them. But, what truly concerned the group was that, unlike the rest, these ones retained their prior appearance, dark and menacing. Seeing that, Trixie turned to Starlight with clear worry.
"Um...Starlight? I didn't know any of the scary-looking ones would be here!"
Starlight frowned, turning to Thorax.
"Neither did I."
But thorax didn't look at her, instead approaching the Changeling trio, who appeared to be led by one with a fin of bright red. Once close enough, this aggressive drone began to speak up to his King.
"Why are these ponies here, Thorax?"
The Changeling King, though a little taken aback by the tone he'd just been addressed in, cleared his throat before explaining.
"Pharynx, this is Starlight and Trixie. Remember them? They helped us against Chrysalis and..."
But Pharynx interrupted him.
"I know who they are, brother! I want to now why they're here!"
Thorax frowned to that.
"They travelled with me all the way from Canterlot. Starlight is going to help us adjust to...well...all these new changes we've been through."
Pharynx glared over to the two mares, with Starlight trying to maintain a smile while waving to him, even though it was obvious that she was unnerved right now. After a while, Pharynx let out an angry-sounding snort, before spinning around and heading away, followed by his two cohorts.
"Bah! Changelings don't need ponies coming in here and telling them how to live!"
His words had been bitter in their tone, though Thorax said nothing in return as he watched them leave. When they were far enough away, however, he sighed, turning to Starlight and Trixie.
"Well...welcome back to the Hive...I suppose."
He resumed his walk onwards, with the two mares following, though clearly concerned over what had just happened. After a few uncomfortable moments, Starlight cleared her throat.
"So...um...did I hear right back there? That Pharynx was your...?"
Thorax finished for her.
"Brother? Yes. My older brother, actually."
Trixie raised an eyebrow.
"Not really much of a family resemblance."
Thorax shook his head.
"No...and he's not the only one."
Stopping, the King looked back to his two guests.
"There are still Changelings here who aren't happy about everything that's happened. They're upset that we no longer go out and steal love like we used to."
Starlight stepped forward, looking confused.
"But...their lives under Chrysalis were miserable! Surely they can't be sad that that part of their lives is over?"
Thorax looked away, considering that.
"They were bad times...but they were also the only way we've ever known. We may be Changelings...but that doesn't mean that all changes are going to be easy for us."
Starlight looked to Trixie, who seemed just as much in a bind on what to say as she was. But, after a few seconds of thinking over all of this, Starlight broke into a small smile, going back over to Thorax and speaking up to him in an upbeat manner.
"Well...I was sent here by Twilight to help your people. That means Pharynx and those like him too."
Thorax looked to her as she continued.
"I may have made more than my fair share of friendship mistakes over the years, but I've also learned a great deal. And I swear to you, Thorax...if there's any way I can help your people through everything that's happened to them...I will."
Those words seemed to cheer him up immensely, as he gave an appreciative smile to her.
"Thank you, Starlight. Any help would be welcome."
Though Starlight was happy at having eased the King's concerns, the moment did not last long, as Trixie soon walked beside her and cleared her throat.
"Pardon me for bringing up the matter, O' wise student of friendship..."
Starlight raised an eyebrow, but remained quiet as her friend continued.
"...but how exactly are you going to help these people? Where do you even start?"
It wasn't as though Starlight hadn’t thought of that question, but even so, having Trixie just blurt it out as she had done did cause her to pause for a moment. Placing a hoof on her chin, she pondered the dilemma for a time, only for her face to then light up afterwards, as she turned to face Thorax yet again.
"Thorax, can you maybe gather up a few of the Changelings into a big wide area of some kind? Someplace where I can speak to them together?"
Thorax seemed taken aback by that, but soon regained his smile, nodding.
"Sure! I'll go and get everything set up!"
And with that, he stretched out his wings and began to fly off, while Starlight turned to Trixie.
"To a lot of the Changelings, basic concepts of friendship and social interaction will be completely foreign to them. They've spent so long living their lives aggressively and selfishly that doing simple nice things for one another could well be some revolutionary idea."
Trixie frowned.
"And your solution to that is...?"
Starlight smiled, placing a hoof squarely in Trixie's chest.
"Simple. We start with the basics!"
With that, Starlight trotted off happily, leaving a confused and lightly irritated Trixie behind. Once the two of them had gone further into the Hive, Trixie took a moment to finally get her harness off so she wouldn't have to cart her caravan around so much, which, naturally, led to a long sigh of relief on her part. Meanwhile, Thorax had made good on his promise, and had found a nice open area where a number of Changelings had already started to gather. Starlight was there, right at the head of the place, and before long, Thorax was beside her. Many drones had gathered here, including Pharynx and his companions, though these latter Changelings were largely off to one side, looking on with amusement rather than aggression. Taking a few calming breaths, Starlight looked to Trixie, who gave her a silent expression of encouragement. Starlight smiled back to her before, at last, speaking up to her gathered audience.
"Hello! Many of you may remember me, but in case you don't, my name is Starlight Glimmer. And I'm here to help you and your Hive to adjust to your new ways of life."
Of course, a statement like that led to a lot of varied murmurs in the crowd. Pharynx continued to look dismissive, while others appeared to be some variation on fearful, confused and even a little excited. Clearing her throat, Starlight carried on.
"There are many things we need to talk about. But today, we're going to start with something simple."
Still smiling, she gestured to the King beside her.
"Okay, friendship 101. Thorax and I are going to show you how to compromise."
Though there was still uncertainty in the crowd, Thorax took Starlight's lead and spoke up himself, albeit with a somewhat stilted-sounding acting voice.
"I would like to have honeysuckle nectar for lunch!"
He gestured to Starlight, who continued, though admittedly with the same performance skills as her royal colleague.
"I would like a sandwich. Oh no! What should we do?"
Now, at this point, Starlight was expecting some vigorous debate amongst the Changelings about the proper response. Instead, what she got was one drone in particular stepping forward, smiling confidently, before bellowing out his answer.
"Attack! The winner gets to choose!"
Among the rest, there was a general chorus of agreement, much to Starlight's concern, and she and Thorax looked to one another nervously. Then, as the chatter died down, Starlight again tried to speak out to them.
"Or...Thorax and I can talk about it and come up with a solution that works for everypony!"
Nodding in agreement, Thorax resumed his "acting".
"Starlight? How do you feel about honeysuckle and peanut butter sandwiches?"
Smiling, Starlight responded.
"Why that sounds delicious!"
Looking out to the crowd, Both Starlight and Thorax called out at once.
"Compromise!"
Like before, there was a great deal of chatter in the crowd, only this time, it seemed far more positive-sounding, which ,as one would expect, led to a wide smile of satisfaction on Starlight's part. For one, brief moment, she felt as though she was making some real headway here, which was only reinforced by Thorax looking to her with clear appreciation on his face. Unfortunately, before either of them could say anything to the other, another voice called out.
"Why not just have two separate meals?"
Immediately, all eyes turned to see that, rather expectedly, it was Pharynx who'd spoken, looking to Starlight with annoyance.
"Um...pardon?" Starlight asked.
Pharynx raised a hoof, pointing it straight at her.
"You wanted two different things...so why not just get two different things? Why do you have to eat the same stuff?"
The crowd turned again, this time focusing their attention on Starlight. Of course, with a turnaround of this nature, the unicorn mare wasn't exactly feeling comfortable right now, as that, admittedly reasonable question had caught her completely off-guard. Thorax seemed just as unsure of what to say, and for a time, it looked as though the other Changelings were starting to look just as annoyed with her as Pharynx was. But, as before, Starlight looked over to Trixie, who again tried to give her silent encouragement. And in that quiet moment, a thought came to Starlight. She regained her smile, looking out to the crowd, and hopped off the elevated position she and Thorax had been standing on this whole time.
"You're right, Pharynx, we could have had two separate things."
She pointed to him.
"But that wasn't the point!"
Slowly, she looked around at all the transformed Changelings close to her.
"What matters...is that sometimes...there will be times when friends aren't always going to agree on what to do together. Where to go, how to do things, what to eat. Friends aren't always going to be on the same page."
Her smile widened.
"And you know what? That's okay! It's okay that not everypony is going to agree with their friends or those closest to them. Because what truly matters is that they're willing to bend a little. To meet them halfway. To try and come up with a path that suits all."
She turned to face Thorax.
"So yes, we two could have had our own meals. Or..."
Again, she turned, facing Pharynx.
"...we could just learn...to compromise...for the sake of making each other happy."
Thorax smiled to that, as indeed did many, if not all of the surrounding Changelings. Pharynx, obviously, wasn't happy about that, and so sulked off with his companions, all while Starlight stood there in the crowd, being spoken to in glowing terms by her audience. She was happy that things had gone this way, as anypony would. But, after a time, many of them had dispersed, leaving only her, Thorax and Trixie. When all was said and done and the watchful eyes of the Hive were no longer upon her, the student of friendship let out a heart sigh.
"Well...that was...something."
Placing a hoof on her shoulder, Trixie nodded.
"It was close there for a bit, but...I think you did good."
"You did. It's been a while since I've seen my people so happy about something," Thorax added.
Starlight sighed again.
"Well...I hope I can keep this up."
Her smile faded a little.
"But it's clear now that...that this isn't going to be an easy transition for your people. And it's not going to be an easy task for me to undertake either."
Thorax nodded.
"Yeah...but I can't think of anypony better to help us through it."
Starlight looked to him.
"You think so?"
Thorax nodded, though it was Trixie that spoke next.
"I may be the last pony to ever agree with Twilight about something, but...I think she was right to send you here. You know what you're doing, Starlight."
Though she briefly blushed at the compliment, Starlight stood tall, looking out to the towering Hive before them, and gained a confident smile to herself.
"In that case...let's get to work!"
