"I hate to sound like a broken record, but are you really sure this is such a good idea?" Thorax asked as Rarity fussed over his 'mane'.
She tsked. "Thorax, you simply must have more confidence. The citizens of Ponyville are nice ponies; it absolutely won't happen immediately, but they'll warm up to you eventually."
"I'm not so much worried about me as I am about you," Thorax admitted, surprising Rarity. "The moment you step out that door, your social life is going to change forever, whether you want it to or not."
She paused, then put on a smile. "While I'm flattered that you care, I've lived in Ponyville for my entire life; they won't discard all of that just because I've changed. Besides, Twilight will be there to back us both up."
Thorax gulped, nodding cautiously. "Alright, I'll trust you."
Rarity smiled, using her magic to grip Thorax's horn — something she'd learned was a comforting gesture amongst Changelings, similar to two pegasi holding wings. In turn, Thorax gripped hers as well, and took a deep breath.
"Right," he breathed, "let's just get this over with before I psych myself out again."
They unlit their horns, and together, they stepped outside into the cool November air.
Several ponies were walking this way or that, with their own places to be and lives to live. There was a surprising number of them nearby, considering that Rarity lived closer to the outskirts of town than most. Twilight was also there, standing next to the entrance.
It took a moment for somepony to notice them, but once they did, the resulting scream and fainting got everypony else's attention.
"Changelings!" cried a stallion in a very manly scream.
"Somepony get the guards!" called another.
"Mares and foals first!" screamed a third as they jumped behind a barrel.
"Everypony, calm down!" Twilight shouted. "Thorax isn't a threat, and the other one's Rarity."
That did very little to calm them down.
"Rarity's a Changeling?!"
"Has she always been one?"
"I don't know what's real anymore!" A teal unicorn shouted. "What if I'm a Changeling?!"
Her cream-colored companion face-hooved. "Lyra, I think you'd know if you were one..."
"Not if I'm a sleeper agent or something!"
Slowly, paranoia began to overtake the crowd. They started to back away slowly, murmuring increasingly outlandish things. Twilight tried to calm them down, but they were getting too lost in their own heads.
Thorax couldn't take it anymore; he collapsed to the floor, covered his eyes with his hooves, and screamed, "I did this! I turned her! If there's anyone to be afraid of, it's me!"
That got everypony to hush up.
"If it wasn't for that stupid invasion, I wouldn't have found myself here in the first place! I wanted to leave as soon as I landed, but I was too afraid that I'd lose what little I still had, and when Rarity found me, I panicked and lashed out! Just get it over with already; I'll accept whatever you want to do with me!"
Rarity moved to comfort him, but Twilight held her back. "Wait a second, I think I know what's about to happen."
Unfortunately for her intuition, the crowd burst out with angry chatter as they began to approach Thorax, who still didn't move.
"…or not." Twilight blinked, then let Rarity go.
The unicorn-turned-changeling bolted to stand between Thorax and the angry crowd. "Stop!"
"Out of the way, Rarity," one of the stallions said, "if it really is you in there."
"No!" Rarity held firm. "I shan't let you harm a hair on his head!"
Twilight watched from the sidelines — though this time, she had her horn lit, just in case things went south again.
"Look at yourselves! Is this really how Ponyville treats somepony different than them?"
"B-but it's a changeling!" an orange-maned Earth Pony shot back. "It attacked Canterlot, it hurt you!"
"Hasn't everypony made mistakes in their life?" She pointed towards a turquoise mare. "Lyra, you once broke a flower pot because you were mad that your favorite magazine was cancelled!"
"I-I didn't mean to, the cart just happened to be there! A-And I paid the girls back right away!" Lyra defended.
"And Thorax has been paying me back — he helped me through my changes, he's been nothing but apologetic for what he did, and —"
She paused when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. "Rarity, stop," Thorax pleaded. "You don't need to do this for me. Just walk away with some of your credibility left, please?"
"No! This has all been so unfair for you — you've given me so much, so let me give something back!"
"If you really want to give me something, then give me the knowledge that I'm not dragging you down with me."
Rarity was now starting to tremble. "Thorax…"
They stared into each other's eyes, before Thorax moved out in front of her. "Alright, I'm ready," he spoke to the crowd.
Said crowd, however, had just watched that exchange in a stunned silence.
Then they all started muttering amongst themselves.
"Y'know, now that I'm thinking about it…"
"Now I feel bad for wanting to…"
"Wait, didn't I see him on Nightmare Night? He seemed fine then…"
Slowly, the crowd of unsure ponies dispersed. A few stragglers wanted to stay behind, still unconvinced, but one look at Twilight's lit horn was all the dissuasion they needed, and they left as well.
Rarity sighed in relief. "Oh, thank Celestia that actually worked…"
Thorax was visibly dumbfounded. "Is everypony in Equestria really this forgiving?"
"More or less," commented Twilight. "Now come on, I heard there's a new malt shop downtown."
Thorax perked up. "Ooh, I've never had those before!"
Then he flinched. "But what if ponies attack us again?"
Rarity put a foreleg around his shoulder. "Then we shall face them head on, together!"
For once, Thorax actually smiled. "Yeah, you're right." With that, they headed into town.