History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E19ToChangeAChangeling

** When Trixie mentions how they're still so far away from the hive after finally reaching it, Starlight points out how earlier she couldn't have gotten them closer, referencing the way that Chrysalis' magic-absorbing throne kept them from teleporting closer than a certain distance in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E26ToWhereAndBackAgainPart1 To Where and Back Again]]". Said point they teleported to this time is barely any closer than that time.

After receiving more letters from Thorax about issues with Pharynx, Thorax's elder broodmate, Starlight Glimmer takes Trixie to the Changeling Kingdom, which has blossomed with plant life since the changelings are no longer drawing love from it. Outside of the hive, they run into Pharynx, who has not yet chosen to take on the new colorful changeling forms, and instead captures the pair. He takes them to Thorax, but Thorax reprimands him. Thorax explains to the ponies that Pharynx used to be the lead guard, helping to protect the hive, but since their transformation, has had little do to and resents the changes that has happened. The only thing that seems to keep Pharnyx interested is the current threat of a giant Maulwurf that threatens the hive, but Thorax has planned to lead the creature away via a trail of food.

After showing Starlight and Trixie around the hive, he invites them to join their "feelings forum", one of the changes he implemented to help the reformed changelings express their feelings. It becomes quickly clear that most of the other changelings despise Pharynx since his foul mood gets in the way of enjoying things, but Pharynx overhears this, and continues to express his dislike of what the hive has become. Starlight and Trixie try to appeal to Pharynx's bad side by explaining how they had their own quarrels with the other ponies but since have come around, but Pharynx dismisses this. The ponies think that the only solution is to have Thorax kick Pharynx out of the hive, but when they go to talk to him, they learn from Thorax that ever since they were young, Pharynx had protected Thorax, even if it was to tease and bully him more. Starlight gets an idea to appeal to this side of Pharynx, and has Trixie go locate him while she reverses the trail for the Maulwurf to lead back to the hive.

As they wait for the Maulwurf to arrive, Trixie reveals she couldn't find Pharynx, as he had already left the hive, and now Starlight's plan will lead the Maulwurf right to them. Thorax makes the ponies come with him to find Pharynx since they screwed up the situation, and Starlight tries to encourage the other changelings to come with them, but none of them seem to want to come. The three search outside the hive, and find Pharynx trying to fend off the Maulworf with little luck. They join in but they are took weak to help. As they are fighting, many of the other changelings arrive, having come around to Starlight's encouragement, and help to weaken the Maulwurf, though it remains too powerful. Pharynx gets an idea, reminding Thorax of how teased him in the past, and together they get the Maulworf to beat itself up, eventually forcing the creature to retreat.

* CassandraTruth: Trixie is a bit skeptical about the Maulwurf when Starlight mentions it.
* ChangedMyMindKid: The rest of the changeling hive eventually decides to assist in fighting the Maulwurf.

** The "stop hitting yourself" routine used by Pharynx when he was younger on Thorax inspires the changeling hive to beat the Maulwurf via DeadlyDodging.
** The giant insect form Pharynx uses to scare the changelings who bullied Thorax is used again to fight the Maulwurf.
* ChekhovsGunman: The maulwurf Starlight mentioned to Trixie is part of her plan later on.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Starlight decides to lure the Maulwurf to the changelings so that Pharynx can save the day and be accepted by the hive. She finds out too late that the Pharynx had left, leaving the hive open to attack. Lampshaded at the end where Starlight outright admits that it was a terrible plan after [[WhatTheHellHero Thorax called her out on it]].

* ExactWords: Pharynx mentions that he could take care of the Maulwurf, and Starlight makes a plan for him to be accepted based on this. When he does face the Maulwurf, he says he meant he could beat it "with the rest of the swarm."

* AHandfulForAnEye: Trixie's first attempt at attacking the Maulwurf is to throw a hoofful of dirt at its eye.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Thorax and Pharynx defeat the Maulwurf by tricking it into hitting and even biting itself.

* MixAndMatchCritters: The Maulwurf is an enormous mole-like monster that's described by Starlight as "[[TooManyHalves half-mole, half-bear, half-raging-pile-of-claws]]".

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Starlight comes up with the brilliant idea of luring the Maulwurf to the changelings so that Pharynx can save the day and be accepted by the hive, killing two birds with one stone. She finds out too late that the Pharynx had left, leaving the hive open to attack.
* NighInvulnerable: The Maulwurf has a very thick hide, and most attacks only stop it for a moment. The only things that do significant damage to it are its own blows and bites.
* NonstandardCharacterDesign: Before his transformation -- and even during Chrysalis’ rule -- Pharynx had a purple shell and red crest, seemingly the only changeling to do so. Afterwards, he gains another unique design, halfway between Thorax and the other standard changelings in height and antler size.

* StopHittingYourself: Pharynx used to do this to Thorax when they were grubs, smacking Thorax in the face with the latter's hoof and asking him why he was hitting himself. This later turns out to be the trick to defeating the Maulwurf -- since the only thing that can hurt it through its thick hide are its own attacks, Thorax and Pharynx goad it into slapping and biting itself by hovering next to it or standing on it and dodging before it can hit them.
* SuperToughness: The Maulwurf has extremely thick skin, allowing it to withstand a blast of magic dead center without even flinching, and barely reactng when a chunk of rock is thrown at its head.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Pharynx's behavior can be likened to a soldier that is having trouble adjusting to life outside of war.

* {{Irony}}: Thorax was a traitor to the hive during Chrysalis' rule. But now that Thorax is the new ruler and his own brother is passive-aggressively rebelling against him, Pharynx is a traitor to the hive.

[[caption-width-right:350:It seems that ''this'' Changeling doesn't want to change.]]

After receiving more letters from Thorax about issues with Pharynx, Thorax's elder broodmate, Starlight Glimmer takes Trixie to the Changeling Kingdom, which has blossomed with plant life since the Changelings are no longer drawing love from it. Outside of the hive, they run into Pharynx, who has not yet chosen to take on the new colorful Changeling forms, and instead captures the pair. He takes them to Thorax, but Thorax reprimands him. Thorax explains to the ponies that Pharynx used to be the lead guard, helping to protect the hive, but since their transformation, has had little do to and resents the changes that has happened. The only thing that seems to keep Pharnyx interested is the current threat of a giant Maulwurf that threatens the hive, but Thorax has planned to lead the creature away via a trail of food.

After showing Starlight and Trixie around the hive, he invites them to join their "feelings forum", one of the changes he implemented to help the reformed Changelings express their feelings. It becomes quickly clear that most of the other Changelings despise Pharynx since his foul mood gets in the way of enjoying things, but Pharynx overhears this, and continues to express his dislike of what the hive has become. Starlight and Trixie try to appeal to Pharynx's bad side by explaining how they had their own quarrels with the other ponies but since have come around, but Pharynx dismisses this. The ponies think that the only solution is to have Thorax kick Pharynx out of the hive, but when they go to talk to him, they learn from Thorax that ever since they were young, Pharynx had protected Thorax, even if it was to tease and bully him more. Starlight gets an idea to appeal to this side of Pharynx, and has Trixie go locate him while she reverses the trail for the Maulwurf to lead back to the hive.

As they wait for the Maulwurf to arrive, Trixie reveals she couldn't find Pharynx, as he had already left the hive, and now Starlight's plan will lead the Maulwurf right to them. Thorax makes the ponies come with him to find Pharynx since they screwed up the situation, and Starlight tries to encourage the other Changelings to come with them, but none of them seem to want to come. The three search outside the hive, and find Pharynx trying to fend off the Maulworf with little luck. They join in but they are took weak to help. As they are fighting, many of the other Changelings arrive, having come around to Starlight's encouragement, and help to weaken the Maulwurf, though it remains too powerful. Pharynx gets an idea, reminding Thorax of how teased him in the past, and together they get the Maulworf to beat itself up, eventually forcing the creature to retreat.

As the other Changelings celebrate, Thorax thanks Pharynx for his help, which he says is only because he loves the hive. The other Changelings apologize for treating Pharynx as they had and welcome him back. Accepting their apologizes, Pharynx finally accepts the transformation and becomes a reformed Changeling, agreeing to return to help protect the hive. Starlight and Trixie apologize for making things worse, but agree with Thorax that it has all worked out for the best.

* BigBrotherBully: Pharynx was one to Thorax when they were grubs, beating up on Thorax and calling him weak. That being said, he would rather bully Thorax himself than let his fellow Changelings bully him.

** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E15TripleThreat Triple Threat]]", Thorax mentioned that he was having trouble with changelings who preferred Chrysalis's methods of sustaining themselves. He also mentioned that he had a brother as well. Here, we see that his brother is the last remaining renegade Changeling. Starlight mentions the events of the episode, namely how Ember helped Thorax be more assertive.
** When Trixie mentions how they're still so far away from the hive after finally reaching it, Starlight points out how earlier she couldn't have gotten them closer, referencing the way that Chrysalis' magic-absorbing throne kept them from teleporting closer than a certain distance in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E26ToWhereAndBackAgainPart2 To Where and Back Again]]". Said point they teleported to this time is barely any closer than that time.

** The giant insect form Pharynx uses to scare the Changelings who bullied Thorax is used again to fight the Maulwurf.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Much like Thorax, Pharynx is a bit different from the pre-transformation Changelings.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Starlight decides to lure the Maulwurf to the Changelings so that Pharynx can save the day and be accepted by the hive. She finds out too late that the Pharynx had left, leaving the hive open to attack. Lampshaded at the end where Starlight outright admits that it was a terrible plan after [[WhatTheHellHero Thorax called her out on it]].

* JerkassHasAPoint: As rough as Pharynx is, he is right that the Changelings have become far too soft ever since Thorax assumed leadership, cowering and being unable to protect themselves from outside threats.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Starlight comes up with the brilliant idea of luring the Maulwurf to the Changelings so that Pharynx can save the day and be accepted by the hive, killing two birds with one stone. She finds out too late that the Pharynx had left, leaving the hive open to attack.

* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Pharynx retains the Changelings' original black exoskeleton, has a red dorsal fin and tail, and is the TokenEvilTeammate of the Changelings under Thorax's leadership. When he transforms, his hide lightens up to a dark teal and is a little nicer, though still rougher than the rest of the Changelings.

* VitriolicBestBuds: Starlight and Trixie spend the entire episode cattily one-upping each other with [[StealthInsult Stealth Insults]], but it's good-natured and they remain firm friends.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: While the size and color are far different, the maulwurf is based on the very real [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star-nosed_mole star-nosed mole]].

* CoolChair: Thorax is shown to have a throne, which seems to be made out of tree roots.

* ContinuityNod: Trixie [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E2AllBottledUp once again]] attempts to cast a spell while calling its affects out loud. She claims that this is her "process".

* CharacterDevelopment: It seems the lessons in assertiveness Thorax was given by Ember have really stuck; not only did he manage to convince most of the renegade changelings to accept love, but when the other changelings demand he throw Pharynx out, he simply tells them "I can't do that" in a firm tone.

* FreezeFrameBonus: In the flashback to young Thorax, he is playing with homemade toys; the two he is holding are a purple dragon and a green changeling (mirroring Spike and Thorax's current forms), while a third changeling toy, colored like Queen Chrysalis, sits discarded nearby.

* CallingYourAttacks: After Starlight and Trixie have been captured by Pharynx, Trixie tries to teleport them out of the bag, calling out "Teleportation spell, go!"

* CharacterDevelopment: It seems the lessons in assertiveness Thorax was given by Ember have really stuck; Not only did he manage to convince most of the renegade changelings to accept love, but when the other changelings demand he throw Pharynx out, he simply tells them "I can't do that" in a firm tone.

* NighInvulnerable: The Maulwurf has a very thick hide, and most attacks only stop him for a moment. The only things that do significant damage are his own hits and bites.

** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E15TripleThreat Triple Threat]]", Thorax mentioned that he was having trouble with changelings who preferred Chrysalis's methods of sustaining themselves. He also mentioned that he had a brother as well. Here, we see that his brother is the last remaining renegade Changeling.

* The royal Thorax trying to redeem his brother, Pharynx, with the help of ponies Starlight and Trixie, has strong echoes of what happened between Celestia and Luna/Nightmare Moon in the pilot episode, except it's the ''younger sibling'' trying to redeem the older sibling this time.

* NoodleIncident: Apparently Starlight was having some trouble pinning down the hive's location, and kept teleporting herself and Trixie all over Equestria.

* TokenEvilTeammate: Afer Thorax won over the others, Pharynx is the last of the changelings not on board with sharing love, and is a bit of a jerk, but still cares about his brother and the hive.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard : Thorax and Pharynx defeat the Maulwurf by tricking it into hitting and even biting itself.

After receiving more letters from Thorax about issues with Pharynx, Thorax's elder broodmate, Starlight Glimmer takes Trixie to the Changeling hive, which has blossomed with plant life since the Changelings are no longer drawing love from it. Outside of the hive, they run into Pharynx, who has not yet chosen to take on the new colorful Changeling forms, and instead captures the pair. He takes them to Thorax, but Thorax reprimands him. Thorax explains to the ponies that Pharynx used to be the lead guard, helping to protect the hive, but since their transformation, has had little do to and resents the changes that has happened. The only thing that seems to keep Pharnyx interested is the current threat of a giant maulwurf that threatens the hive, but Thorax has planned to lead the creature away via a trail of food.

After showing Starlight and Trixie around the hive, he invites them to join their "feelings forum", one of the changes he implemented to help the reformed changelings express their feelings. It becomes quickly clear that most of the other Changlings despise Pharynx since his foul mood gets in the way of enjoying things, but Pharynx overhears this, and continues to express his dislike of what the hive has become. Starlight and Trixie try to appeal to Pharynx' bad side by explaining how they had their own quarrels with the other ponies but since have come around, but Pharynx dismisses this. The ponies think that the only solution is to have Thorax kick Pharynx out of the hive, but when they go to talk to him, they learn from Thorax that ever since they were young, Pharynx had protected Thorax, even if it was to tease and bully him more. Starlight gets an idea to appeal to this side of Pharynx, and has Trixie go locate him while she reverses the trail for the maulwurf to lead back to the hive.

As they wait for the maulwurf to arrive, Trixie reveals she couldn't find Pharynx, as he had already left the hive, and now Starlight's plan will lead the maulwurf right to them. Thorax makes the ponies come with him to find Pharynx since they screwed up the situation, and Starlight tries to encourage the other Changelings to come with them, but none of them seem to want to come. The three search outside the hive, and find Pharynx trying to fend off the maulworf with little luck. They join in but they are took weak to help. As they are fighting, many of the other Changelings arrive, having come around to Starlight's encouragement, and help to weaken the maulworf, though it remains too powerful. Pharynx gets an idea, reminding Thorax of how teased him in the past, and together they get the maulworf to beat itself up, eventually forcing the creature to retreat.

* RousingSpeech: Double subverted. Starlight gives one to the changelings to convince them to help Thorax in aiding Pharynx, [[DareToBeBadass exhorting them to rise up]] not because they're being forced to do it, but because they can ''choose'' to do it. While none of the changelings come to help them at first, they all still come along afterwards after having had time to think about it.
* SiblingRivalry: Despite being brothers, Thorax and Pharynx are at odds with each other over their clashing ideals.
* StopHittingYourself: Pharynx used to do this to Thorax when they were grubs, smacking Thorax in the face with the latter's hoof and asking him why he was hitting himself. This later turns out to be the trick to defeating the Maulwurf -- since the only thing that can hurt it through its thick hide are its own attacks, Thorax and Pharynx goad it into slapping and biting itself by hovering next to it or standing on it and dodging before it can hit them.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Pharynx retains the Changelings' original black exoskeleton, has a red dorsal fin and tail, and is the TokenEvilTeammate of the Changelings under Thorax's leadership. When he transforms, his hide lightens up to a dark teal and is a little nicer, though still rougher than the rest of the Changelings.

* WalkingWasteland: Apparently the changeling HorrorHunger was part of why the area around their hive was so desolate, in addition to the throne's [[AntiMagic magic-absorbing]] properties. Them sharing love has led to a new upsurge of plant growth that makes the kingdom much more inviting.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: While the size and color are far different, the maulworf is based on the very real [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star-nosed_mole star-nosed mole]].

** The "stop hitting yourself" routine used by Pharynx when he was younger on Thorax is how the changeling hive beats the Maulwurf.

* ChekhovsGunman: The mole Starlight mentioned to Trixie is part of her plan later on.

* ExactWords: Pharynx mentions that he could take care of the Maulwurf, and Starlight makes a plan for him to be accepted based on this. When he does face the Maulwurf, he says he meant he could beat it "with the rest of his swarm."

* NotSoAboveItAll: The peaceful changeling that runs the feelings forum gets angry upon being ignored, and angrily shouts at them all to leave after having had enough of it.

* TooManyHalves: According to Starlight, Thorax described the Maulwurf as being "half-mole, half-bear, half-raging-pile-of-claws".

* VitriolicBestBuds: Starlight and Trixie spend the entire episode cattily one-upping each other with StealthInsults, but it's good-natured and they remain firm friends.