“Thorax!”

The orange-horned changeling looks up from a sea of swirly white and black, his chastened expression racing past embarrassed and diving straight into sheepish. Or maybe that’s just the mass of black and white sheep stopped in the middle of the streets of Ponyville, blocking traffic and causing the sort of general disarray the Ponyvillians find preferable to professed chaos. That is, whenever Discord gets bored and pulls Lemon and Meringue together for more lessons.

Pharynx, observing on the outskirts of the ovis impediment, is having none of it. He chafes at having to coddle his fellow equines, but Chrysalis gave orders. “You realize,” he continues, moderating his merciless command to a merely flippant reminder, “we have somewhere to be?”

“Sorry,” Thorax calls, more for his inexperience with encouraging movement than any sort of remorse about getting involved, as he goes back to orienting the sheep to the north. He gives the closest a light tap on her soft, poofy rump, getting the ewe to take a few steps before promptly running into another sheep. She stops, utters a soft ‘baa’, and goes back to standing around. Thorax sighs, trying again with the next one, a black lamb. “Come on, little one!”

“Urgh,” Pharynx groans, slamming his hoof into his head. It doesn’t hurt nearly enough to take his mind off his cumbersome bother of a brother. He looks up with a glare. “If I help move this along, can this be the last one?”

“But Pharynx,” Thorax wheedles, “they were in our way! And we had to help Carrot Top when her cart spilled. And catching up with Burnt Oak!”

“Rrr.” Pharynx can feel his horns getting redder, and given that they started the same color as Big Mac that is saying something. “But we have wings!”

Thorax exasperatedly shakes his head as Pharynx buzzes his red wings. “Now you’re just being pedantic. They were along our way, and we could help. Happy?” He flashes a smile to the turquoise pegasus at the front of the sheep herd. She looks quite discombobulated, frantically zipping back and forth to make sure no sheep wander off while nervously watching the changeling in the middle.

“Fine.” Pharynx growls menacingly as he steps forward, transforming in sight if not in body to a fearsome warrior sporting a threatening visage of bared fangs and spread wings. The closest sheep back away cautiously, bleating incoherently. As they step they run into other sheep, prompting them to move, setting off a chain reaction that quickly gets the whole herd in motion. Pharynx quickly reaches Thorax, muttering, “This is a waste of time, you know! Chrysalis is waiting for us.”

“No, it’s not,” Thorax retorts as he works alongside Pharynx. “We’re making valuable friends! Filthy Rich taught me that! Chryssy would understand.”

“Urgh,” Pharynx grunts out as Thorax and the mare take to the sides, keeping everysheep steadily shuffling to the north and out of the town. Pharynx bodily chucks any stragglers into the mass ahead. They bounce off their soft compatriots, ‘baaing’ in confusion more than discomfort, before getting jostled and pushed into compliance. The pegasus reaches a hoof forward, biting her lip until she realizes they aren’t harmed.

Eventually the three break out of Ponyville and into one of the many open fields far to the north of the town. The sheep spread out, lazily grazing on the green grass, seemingly untroubled by the events.

It takes a moment for the pegasus to muster the courage to step forward. “Thank y’all kindly,” she shyly says in an Appleloosan accent. After a brief hesitation she tips her wide-brimmed hat to the two changelings. Thorax returns a smile and nod, Pharynx more of a sullen stare. Her smile only falters once as she takes in their horns and wider, heavyset builds. “I’m Sassaflash.”

“Oh, you’re more than welcome, Miss Sassaflash!” Thorax replies chipperly. “I’m Thorax.” He glances to the side, elbowing his brother when he doesn’t respond. “And this is Pharynx.”

“Yeah. Sure.” Pharynx grunts, turning back to look at Ponyville instead of paying attention to the pony. A moment of awkward silence passes as he frowns, glancing back at her. He states, matter-of-fact and more than a little condescending, “Why’d you come all alone? You had to know you might have trouble.”

“I was thinking I could get Fluttershy to help,” Sassaflash says, a bit overwhelmed at Pharynx’s brusque demeanor. “Or Applejack. I heard she’s really good at corralling critters! But then, when they weren’t… available, I figured I could do it on my own.” She sighs, dejected, and stares at the ground, kicking at a clod of dirt. “But they’ve never been to a town this big before! How’s I supposed to know they’d freeze up like a colt ‘just been asked to a dance?”

“I’ve never been to a dance,” Thorax replies matter-of-factly. This draws an apologetic frown from the mare. “Unless you count guard exercises. I never understood the one where you learned how to throw your partner through the air. Something about earth pony tactics? I’ve always had wings, so I wouldn’t know.”

“I have to say, I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe we should get a shindig going? Show these ponies how Appleloosans dance.” Her whole face brightens as she giggles, winking at Thorax. “Speakin’ of, you boys know any available earth ponies?”

She flips her vanilla mane, beaming at the two coyly. Yet what might have been a seductive maneuver on anystallion falls flat on Pharynx, her expression falling as well.

“No,” he curtly replies, noticing Ocellus tailing them on the outskirts of Ponyville. She has saddlebags at her side and makes wide motions with her legs and wings.

“Now, wait,” Thorax says, stepping in front of Pharynx; his brother is more than happy to back off. His generous smile gets Sassaflash’s smile to return. “What kind of assistance are you talking about?”

“Oh, you know.” Sassaflash flips her mane again, batting her eyelashes. “I’ve got a fertile field here, and a lot of sheep. I wouldn’t want them to go to waste!”

“Oh!” Thorax exclaims, nodding along. “You need somepony to help with the grass! You do have a lot of sheep, and they’ll go through it quickly!”

Sassaflash stares at him blankly, her shoulders sagging.

“Ponies who work with grass...” Thorax continues, staring up at the sky. “I’ve got one in mind, maybe two.” He eyes her flanks with a certain intensity, enough for her to take a step back. Her cutie mark is a pair of yellow lightning bolts, but that gives him little idea. He walks up, rubbing against her withers, a rumble growing in the back of his throat.

“You alright?” Sassaflash asks, a little worried. “I have to say, you ain’t like either of the changelings who moved down to Appleloosa.”

“Just checking something,” Thorax says, circling around to behind her. She raises an eyebrow as he takes a long sniff of her tail. He asks, as he rears up and rests his weight across her back, “Do you want foals?”

Sassaflash staggers as he lands on her, barely able to keep standing. She turns with a repudiating glare, “That’s a little forward, ain’t it?”

“Oh! I’m sorry,” Thorax says, hopping off with a nervous smile. “It’s, just, this is the first time I’ve been asked to play matchmaker. Before, we were just assigned the pony we needed to seduce.”

“Seduce?!” Sassaflash pulls back, but curiosity overrides her indignation. “How would you go about seducing somepony?”

“Oh, it’s pretty simple, really.” Thorax chuckles at her slightly affronted look. “Just start with some questions about them, get them talking about themselves. Like this.” He seems to relax, dropping his pitch slightly and smoothly remarking, “Appleloosa, huh? I’ve always wanted to go there. What made you pull up roots and come here?”

Sassaflash nods along, intrigued at the quick change in the changeling’s demeanor. “Here? The opportunity!” She motions to the wide open land around them. “It was starting to get a little crowded in Appleloosa and we had a whole new crop of ewes. Braeburn gave me a tip about how much you can expand, and here we are!”

“Aww, so you’re going to have lots more little ones?” Thorax grins at the sheep just chewing at the grass. “You have contracts on them yet?”

“Contracts?” Sassaflash frowns at the word, but doesn’t react more than that. It is enough to get Pharynx to glance over with something between a curious and commending look. “Not yet, what with the rising prices.”

“Well, if you’re looking for a competitive bid, just talk to Pharynx.” The changeling in question offers a rare smile as Thorax mentions him. “He’s at Sweet Apple Acres most days.”

“That’s right,” Pharynx says, his demeanor completely changed, happy if not joyous to talk shop. “We can equinely harvest, if you’re not looking to ship live. Much better that way. We even make the containers in-house!”

“Down at Sweet Apple Acres, you say?” Sassaflash winks at Pharynx. “Maybe I will head down.”

“Oh, but I definitely wouldn’t talk to Big Macintosh.” Thorax copies Sassaflash’s wink back at her. “He’s far too heavy for you.”

The pegasus laughs, bright and cheerful. “Oh, I don’t know about that. If Braeburn’s collection is accurate?”

“Great!” Pharynx interrupts. “But we have to head to Twilight’s. Ocellus said Sweetie Belle is there.” He offers Sassaflash a curt nod, getting a friendly wave in return.

The two changelings trot off to the bare patch of earth above the sunken castle, meeting up with Ocellus. Pharynx notices Thorax’s self-satisfied smirk, grunting with a heavy sigh. “Not quite a waste of time,” he grudgingly admits, a new spring coming to Thorax’s step.

“And all we had to do was talk to her.” Thorax glances back at the pegasus going about the sheep, making sure they understand to not wander off. “Think Big Mac will like her?”

“I fail to see how this concerns me.” Pharynx pauses at the open door, listening to the grinding sound emanating from within. He glances inside the brightly lit room and almost immediately has to shy away from the intense light.

Starlight Glimmer, cutie mark of a teal wisp of magic and equipped with a black welding face-shield, busily drills anchor holes in the ceiling with her horn. Bits of crystal fleck out and fall down, along with some larger chunks, accompanied by a palpable feeling of heat. Next to her, seemingly hovering in midair but actually suspended on a recently installed transparent platform, rests Trixie. She confers with Diamond Tiara and Pomarbo, going over the plans for the skyway between the entrance and the cumbersome doors far above the floor. She picks up a heavy-duty screw, easily the size of her foreleg, and passes it up to Starlight without looking.

“Is Sweetie Belle here?” Thorax asks as he pokes his head in, having difficulty making anything out over the brilliant sparking horn.

“Down here!” comes the not-quite high pitched voice.

Unsure of how exactly the younger ponies got to the bottom of the stories-deep room, the three changelings leap off, fluttering down the massive atrium to the circular table below. Three young mares dash away from their crates of apples, bales of hay, and lists of ponies and cutie marks at Starlight’s village.

“Hi, Ocellus!” Sweetie Belle greets, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo waving. “And Thorax and Pharynx!”

“Hi, Sweetie Belle! And Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo!” Thorax looks around at the pile of decorations, each of the young mares and fillies contributing something even if they aren’t there. “Love what you’ve done with the place!”

“Thanks!” Apple Bloom says, grinning broadly. “Makes it feel more like home, ya know? But, what’re you three doin’ here?”

“We’ve got a message for you from Spike.” Thorax pulls out a black scarab, placing it on the circular map table. Pharynx and Ocellus copy him as the sounds of drilling above cease, the four ponies above staring down curiously.

“From Spike?” Scootaloo demands, jumping up on one of the chairs to better observe. “About what?”

“Chief Architect Chrysalis didn’t say,” Pharynx states harshly, his tone attempting to get across that they should be quiet. It doesn’t quite work.

“He didn’t send a letter?” Sweetie Belle’s face scrunches up. “And Chief Architect? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“We’ll let Spike explain,” Thorax says, tapping his scarab. A bolt of green magic erupts from the three, coalescing into a ring above the table.

Next Chapter: Ch. 32 - Izaro's Turmoil, Part Three Estimated time remaining: 27 Hours, 5 Minutes