“What do you mean?” Thorax asked, a confused look crossing his chitinous face.

“I’m just not sure about what your plan is,” Twilight explained, raising a hoof.

“Well…” the changeling began, scratching at the back of his webbed mane nervously. “I think I’ll stay in the Crystal Empire for a bit…” His large, reflection-less eyes flew towards Cadence. “Er, if that’s alright with you, Princess.”

The Princess of Love smiled from atop her throne.

“I can arrange a bedroom right here in the castle for you, Thorax,” she said in an almost motherly voice. “You can stay as long as you’d like.”

“Oh, tha, urgh, than-” Thorax twitched terribly before bursting out in a series of hisses, his long, forked tongue springing from his mouth. After a moment, he shook his head, and seemed to regain control of himself.

“Sorry, sorry!” he apologized profusely. “Oh, I’ve really got to get a handle on that.”

Cadence was the first to recover from his lapse in control. Though, despite herself, she had leaned towards her daughter instinctually, and had to force herself to sit back in her throne to appear tranquil. The guards looked on warily, but had the decency to make their worry discreet.

“You’ll get used to kindness, I’m sure,” Cadence said optimistically through a strained smile.  

“So, you’ll be staying here, learning all about friendship, right?” Twilight intoned. Thorax turned her way to address her, his hooves shifting across the crystal floor of the castles throne room.  

“Right. I mean, it might take a while. I’m sure there’s a lot to learn, especially considering that this is a whole new concept for...uh…” Thorax blinked, and seemed lost in through for a moment. “...My entire race, actually. Huh.”

“Which makes your studies all the more important,” Cadence noted.  “If your teachings can instigate nationwide reform in the Changeling Kingdom, there’s a definite possibility for peace between pony and changelingkind.”

Shining narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly at his wife’s naivety, but remained silent, lest he say something unpleasant that he might regret.

“If this is so important, wouldn’t it be better for Thorax to come to Ponyville with me and Twilight?” Starlight suggested to Cadence, stepping forwards, towards the throne. She gestured to Twilight with a hoof. “Who could be a better teacher in the ways of friendship than the Princess of Friendship herself?”

“That’s a good question.” It could have been a trick of the light, but Cadence’s smile appeared mischievous for a fleeting moment. “How are your studies coming along, Starlight?”

Starlight’s eyes widened, and she rushed to answer the princess.

“Oh, well, I, uh, I think I’m getting along just fine. It’s a bit hard to relearn everything I know about pony interactions, and I still screw up pretty often, and I, um-”

Twilight, thinking she had heard just about enough, cut off her student.

“Starlight, don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ve been doing better than I could have ever expected,” she reassured before turning to her new changeling friend. “And I’m sure Thorax will be as quick as a learner as you have been.”

Thorax’s cheeks lit bright blue for a moment before his hoofs clamped over his mouth, a muffled hissing sound escaping through the holes of his appendages. Twilight raised an eyebrow, but stood her ground. Thorax cleared his throat before replying.

“Th…” He twitched, but through sheer force of will, avoided another outburst. “T-Thanks, Princess. And, if you think it would be a better idea to come to Ponyville-”

“Wait a minute,” Spike interrupted. "Don’t you think the ponies in Ponyville are a bit...er...skittish?”

“Hm...good point, Spike,” Twilight conceded. “Besides, the ponies in the Crystal Empire already seem have gotten accustomed to Thorax. It’ll probably be for the best if Thorax stays here. But…” She opened her mouth, closed it, then seemed to make an internal decision before continuing. “Given the circumstances, I think we should stay here for a while.”

“We?” Spike asked.

“Yes. You, Starlight and I. I can give Starlight and Thorax lessons simultaneously in an environment they’ve been accepted into.”

“What about your friends in Ponyville?” Cadence pointed out.

“This is just too important. For the first time in Equestrian history, a changeling has shown genuine interest in learning in the ways of friendship. This could be monumental in foreign politics, something that hasn’t been seen in generations!”

“What about that thing with the yaks?” Spike asked.

“...Okay, so maybe this isn’t the rarest occurrence in the world,” Twilight accepted, her swelling passion somewhat deflated.

“What’s a yak?” Thorax whispered to an unresponsive guard when he thought no one was looking.

“But that doesn’t lessen its importance," Twilight continued, undeterred. "What if Chrysalis attacks again? We could prevent that in the near future. And that future could potentially be expedited if I were to stay here to oversee Thorax's tutelage.”

“Well, what about me?” Spike asked quietly. “The ponies in Ponyville are my friends too.”

Twilight looked to her long time friend, a tinge of regret in her eyes, but before she could speak, Thorax stepped towards Spike, his back hunched insecurely.

“But...I’m your friend,” he said timidly before beginning to point out everyone in the room with a holey hoof. “And she’s your friend. And her too. Him. Her. And, uh,” he stumbled, pointing to Twilight. “..She’s your mom, or something, right?”

Spike glanced to Twilight before shrugging his shoulders half-heartedly.

“Yeah?”

“So are some friends more important than others?” Thorax asked with genuine curiosity.  “Are not all friends equal?”

A hush fell over the room. Spike, eyes wide, finally broke it after an uncomfortable amount of time.

“What? No, Thorax, I...uh...Twilight, help me.”

Twilight raised an underhanded hoof to Thorax, and gave him a pained look.

“That’s a difficult question, Thorax. I don’t think you’re ready for that talk yet.”

“Oh...okay,” Thorax said, notably put out. Twilight didn’t feel comfortable with what she had said, or the situation as a whole, but decided to deal with one thing at a time. She turned to Spike, and bent down to speak to him gently.

“If you want, Spike, I can put you on the next train to Ponyville.” She then added as an afterthought, “I could have you stay with Rarity until I get back.”

Spike immediately brightened, and opened his mouth to give Twilight a rather obvious answer, but stopped in his tracks when he saw the despondent look on Thorax’s face. The face of someone who knows what it feels like to be let down by a friend, and isn’t looking forward to feeling it again. Spike let out a deep breath before giving his answer.

“...No. Thanks, Twilight, but I’m starting to think that I should stay here with Thorax.”

Thorax raised his head slowly, almost unbelieving of what he had heard.

“R-Really?” he asked in a small, shaking voice.

“If it makes you feel more comfortable with all of this,” Spike said with a smile, as if that was all that mattered in the world.” Would it?”

“Y-Yeah. My first friend being with me along the way…” Thorax’s smile of pure happiness teased at the ends of his cheeks. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

Twilight, satisfied with this, turned to her student.

“What about you, Starlight? Are you okay with this arrangement?”

“Of course I am,” the mare said easily. “Twilight, no one understands the ramifications of missed opportunities than I do. Like you said, we need to get Thorax ready, before Chrysalis can launch another invasion. We both know what she’s capable of.”

Twilight nodded, full of confidence in her decision. She turned her gaze to her old babysitter, who had been quietly watching her exchanges for the past minute or two.

“Cadence? Would it be alright with you if we were to stay here for a while? At least until Thorax is ready to start reaching out to other members of his hive?”

“It would be wonderful to have you here with us, Twilight,” Cadence said warmly. “And I’m sure your niece would appreciate your presence. Isn’t that right, Flurry?” she asked, leaning over the side of her throne to look at her daughter.

A series of indiscernible baby noises filled the room as Flurry Heart smiled joyously. Everypony in the room felt weakness in their knees from the sheer level of cuteness.

However, everychangeling in the room had a bit of a different reaction. Thorax shook all over his body, and his tongue stretched out to lap at the air. His eyes half closed in pleasure, and he let out a shuddering breath, overwhelmed.

“Ohhh, gosh, that baby is like a gosh dang love volcano.” Suddenly, he became extremely aware that everypony was staring at him, some with humorous expressions, and some with wary eyes. He began to backpedal unconvincingly. .  “I-I mean, she’s adorable, I mean, I’m not going to feed on the emotions surrounding your only child, I mean-”

“Hey relax,” Spike interrupted. “We all know you’ve got more self control than any changeling...well, ever, probably.

“Speaking of which,” Cadence interjected, “How do you plan on teaching them the benefits of sharing love as opposed to stealing it?”

“Well…” Thorax began, tracing one of his hooves in circles in the floor. “I’m thinking that once I learn all about friendship, I’ll see if there are any other changelings like me. Ones that ran away from the hive. Considering how many of us there are, I doubt I’m unique. And, uh...then I’ll teach them what you taught me, and once we get a good number of us going, we’ll head to one of the lower hives. Then…” He suddenly deflated, and his eyes cast down towards the floor.” ...Oh.”

“What is it?” Twilight asked.

“I just...once Mother knows about what we’re doing…” His mouth quivered, and he cleared his throat. “I-I’m just now too sure we can convince her to change her ways. Without her on board, there’s no way we can get all of changelingkind to change.”

Surprising nearly everyone in the room, Starlight was the one person in the room to step up. She approached Thorax, put a hoof on his shoulder, and gave him a smile.

“Sometimes all you can do is hope, Thorax,” she said reassuringly.” Thorax seemed unconvinced for a moment, but practically tasting her good intentions in the air, began to believe her.

“In any case, I’m sure we can make Chrysalis see the error of her ways,” Twilight said with a smirk, giving Starlight a strange look.

“We’ve got a pretty good track record so far.”