Thorax wandered into Ponyville.
He was here for business and nothing else, he just needed to pick up the things the changelings needed and get out of here, then he could take a nice, long rest.
Looking around at all the straw houses around him he saw many ponies talking happily amongst themselves. His changelings were still terrified of what was happening after Chrysalis got overthrown. He’d seen pony culture a few times, but it still continued to surprise him. This was his first time in Ponyville, so it had an even further chance to do exactly that.
Now, it was the dead of winter, the ponies were busy stringing up their Hearths’ Warming lights, and wearing some of the cutest outfits Thorax had ever seen, something which he genuinely wanted, but could never have. Something which he’d never got to experience being a changeling.
No. Focus. He needed food, he needed water, and he needed the changelings to survive, somehow. He only did have a small collection of bits on hoof, but the Apples would probably be able to help.
Approaching the rather massive farm of Sweet Apple Acres, Thorax kept an eye out for any ponies that’d be able to give him some goods. They wouldn’t be farming, but they could be outside, right?
Actually, it was pretty cold out here, maybe Thorax would be better off heading inside.
Awkwardly standing at the farmhouse door and giving a rapid knock, Thorax waited in the cold patiently for anypony, or creature at that, to answer.
Miraculously, someone did, at the door was Applejack, who greeted Thorax quite warmly.
“Howdy, Thorax!”
Thorax nervously looked around, “H-hi.”
“Well, come on in, won’t ya?”
Thorax briskly walked in, allowing himself to warm up while taking un the cozy rustic decor of the Apple family house. It was quite cute, again, something that was unattainable as a changeling.
“So, uh…” Thorax said, while Applejack shut the door behind him, “I was hoping to get some food for the changelings. Nothing really grows out there.”
“That sounds a bit unfortunate,” Applejack said, putting her hoof to her chin. “We don’t have any harvest to give ya. See, winter’s comin’ in shortly, and a doozy of a snowstorm was scheduled for today as well. We was workin’ like dogs in a timberwolf dismantling competition to get everythin’ sorted.”
Thorax nodded, slighty taken aback by Applejack’s interesting figure of speech. “But… you wouldn’t happen to have just a little spare for the changelings?”
“‘Fraid we’re gonna hafta hunker down for a spell,” Applejack said. “So probably not. But, Sugarcube Corner should still be open, if ya can settle for somethin’ less than nutritious.”
Thorax looked outside to the sky that was growing cloudier by the minute. “I suppose that’ll do… but when’s that snowstorm going to hit?”
“‘Bout 30 minutes to an hour,” Applejack said. She then added with a smirk. “Guess ya better get hustlin’.”
Thorax nodded, “Thanks, I’ll hurry as fast as I can.”
He then rushed outside to try and reach Sugarcube Corner before everything started coming down.
Thorax took a look up the clouded sky, a sight which was growing more ominous with each passing minute. He’d reached the Ponyville square quite handily now. It was vibrant and colorful, much a contrast to the absolute grey and brown he’d grown up around.
At no place was it more vibrant than Sugarcube Corner. A bakery that looked like a massive dessert, and the inside was bright to match. The smells of freshly baked cookies wafted through the air as Thorax felt genuinely happy. Seeing everything before him, arranged in such pretty formations, formations with actual care put into them.
Now, everything was under glass of course. Thorax almost found himself drooling when Mrs. Cake, the owner of the shop, came to greet him.
“Oh, hello, dearie, what are you here for?” she asked him, and Thorax snapped from his stupor.
“Oh! I’m just looking for food,” he responded quickly. “For the changelings.”
Mrs. Cake looked at Thorax concernedly, “I don’t know if anything here’s something I’d recommend genuinely feeding somepony.”
“Applejack said as much,” Thorax responded. “But she was out of food, so you’re my next best option.”
“You don’t want to go to a store or anything?” Mrs. Cake asked.
Thorax looked up from the desserts he was salivating over. “I guess it just feels better when it’s given by a friend? Also, it’s not like the most important changeling food, love is, we’ve got plenty of that.”
“If you say so, dearie,” Mrs. Cake responded. “Pinkie’s not here right now, but I’ll tell her you showed up.”
Thorax nodded, looking over the desserts one more time, rapping his hoof on the glass covering them.
“So which ones do you want?” Mrs. Cake asked.
Thorax suddenly froze up, he had to make a choice? Everything looked so good! The cookies were frosted in brilliant pinks, blues, oranges, reds, and all manner of interesting colors. There were donuts and cupcakes galore, enticing Thorax by being frosted beautifully and cooked to perfection. Not to mention the cake pops, although rather small, were also good options.
Thorax thought about it, then figured the winning move was not to play.
“Do you have like a cake or something?” Thorax asked.
“Oh, we have cake, just nothing you’d want. I think it was for some filly’s birthday party, but they went somewhere else. It’s sitting in the freezer. Don’t want to cook anything else because of that snow that’s brewing.”
Thorax once again surveyed his options, he couldn’t choose.
“Well, let me see that cake anyways,” he asked, exhausting absolutely all other possible options.
“If you insist…” Mrs. Cake replied, and headed out of view to presumably get the cake.
Thorax waited anxiously, wondering how he would make it home during the snowstorm.
After a long and tedious wait, that was really only a minute, Mrs. Cake came back out with a frilly pink cake. It wasn’t very big, only a single layer, and the only decoration on it was the text “happy birthday Sure Fire” which really wasn’t much. The text was in big, light green, cursive letters. Otherwise, the sides were done up in frilly pink frosting over a simple frosting scrape.
“It’s really nothing, it won’t feed the entire changeling population.” Mrs. Cake noted.
However, Thorax was enamored by it. It was cute, pleasant to look at, something other than rock and stone. It was colorful, and while it wasn’t much, it was leagues better than what Thorax had seen until recently. It felt like it was actually designed with ponies in mind.
“I’ll take it back,” Mrs. Cake responded, getting ready to pick it up,
Thorax lifted his hoof, “It’s adorable! I’ll take it.”
Mrs. Cake blinked while Thorax stood with a goofy smile on his face.
“Alright… that’ll be 5 bits?” Mrs. Cake said, completely floored.
After Thorax gave what he had, Mrs. Cake put the entire thing in a box and handed it to Thorax.
“You’ll probably want to stop at Rarity’s Boutique for snowstorm clothes, dearie, especially if you plan to walk back,” Mrs. Cake mentioned. “It’s right across the street.”
Thorax nodded and walked outside, with a nice bell chime, noticing the ever-darkening sky in the process. Mrs. Cake was right, Rarity’s Boutique was right across the street.
Thorax headed inside, and was immediately greeted with a singsongy, “Hello there!”
Thorax looked in the direction of the voice, being greeted by a pony busily putting various clothes on mannequins.
“Nope, nope… perfect!” she muttered, seemingly losing sight of Thorax.
“So,” Thorax began, “I was advised by Mrs. Cake to get something to cover up with because there’s the whole snowstorm coming. I picked up this adorable cake from her, and I plan on giving it to the changelings!”
Thorax was probably genuinely excited for the first time he could remember. He took out the cake and showed it to Rarity, in all its pink, one-tier glory.
Rarity examined the cake intensely. “Good use of color, I do have to say. Would you liked some clothes that match that cake’s style?”
Thorax blinked for a moment. “…No, I was just excited. What do you have?”
Rarity’s eyes lit up. “I have a fantastic gentlestallion’s jacket! I actually have several, but there’s one I think will be perfect on you.”
Thorax once again, found himself getting excited. “Can I see it?”
“Right away!” Rarity declared, examining the racks to find the mentioned jacket. Eventually she came back with a thin black jacket that looked like it would fit a normal stallion quite comfortably.
Thorax put it on, struggling a bit. While it was true it would fit any normal stallion comfortably, Thorax was slightly bigger than the average stallion, so the jacket was just a little tight on him.
Trying to move around, suddenly everything came rushing back.
All the times he’d had to adopt a form he wasn’t comfortable in, being suffocated by the queen, pressured into becoming whatever mare or stallion was on the hitlist that day. Unfortunately, he did both, and he wasn’t really fully comfortable in either, though he just hated seeing himself as a mare, he didn’t want to hide as a stallion, nor hide in the first place.
The jacket didn’t constrict him much, but it was enough to limit his movement. Looking in a wall mirror as well, Thorax saw that scared little changeling of a few months ago, fitting into whatever box he was put in… but never one he wanted to be in. He didn’t want to be in this, he wanted to be the changeling he wanted to see himself as.
With haste Thorax ripped off the jacket and set it gently down.
“Don’t like it?” Rarity asked.
“It’s… a little tight…” Thorax said, merely a half-lie.
“Do you want a bigger jacket then? I’ve got plenty in that style.” Rarity asked.
Thorax weakly nodded. His excitement was gone. Rarity brought out a similar, yet larger jacket, albeit this one with pockets and no accent and showed it to Thorax.
Thorax saw it, imagined himself in it, and couldn’t do it. It was too similar.
Then, he looked at the cake once more.
“You know… Rarity, I might want something that matches the style of the cake…” Thorax mused.
“Do tell, do tell,” Rarity said.
“Well, you got anything similar to that in style? I don’t know much about fashion.”
“Of course, darling,” Rarity responded. “Would you like me to fetch it?”
“That would be appreciated,” Thorax said.
Rarity rummaged around a bit more, and got something that more resembled a dress, it was white with a pink splash on the ending. It was a little long, but Thorax took one look at it, and got excited again.
“It’s adorable! I love it…” Thorax squealed. “…Oh, I’m out of money, though.”
“Don’t worry, darling,” Rarity said. “This one’s on me, an early Hearths’ Warming gift! Should insulate pretty well, too.”
Thorax nodded, took the dress, and put it on. It left him plenty of breathing room, something which he greatly appreciated. He nodded at Rarity and stepped outside.
The first snowflakes were beginning to fall.
Thorax looked up at them, squinting as to avoid the snow getting into his eyes.
The Badlands were pretty much a desert, and sure, he’d been on infiltration missions, but there was something about it. He wasn’t under any mind control, no direct orders, and he finally felt like himself.
Thorax looked into the horizon, noting the snow, it seemed it went on for miles. For ponies, this was normal, as was the dress and cake he got. However, for Thorax, it decidedly wasn’t, and he’d never gotten the chance to truly experience it.
Cracking a smile, Thorax started on a merry trot in the way of The Badlands. Soon, it gave way to a skip, and Thorax only grew happier.
He got out of the weather right before if became a storm, but looking back, Thorax saw the snow, looked at his cake, dress, and he found it all adorable.
Author's Note
“So how did Thorax become a femboy?”
Why thank you nonexistent person who asked that question, here’s that story. Pretty proud of it, actually. I, as to quote the ending, think it’s adorable.
