Orange rays of sunlight filtered through the misshapen walls like spotlights, glistening off Pharynx's carapace as he walked. By his side trotted his not-so-little brother, hopping with each step he took. Oh, how Pharynx hated it. How any changeling could be so happy, so early in the morning was beyond him.

"Did you sleep well, Pharynx?"

Pharynx sighed. Five words, and he already missed the serenity of his bedhive.

"If I say yes, will you quit the obnoxious bouncing?", he asked curtly, shifting his head in place of his tired eyes. Thorax merely chuckled, sticking his tongue between his lips in reply.

"Grumpy as usual, huh?"

"And about to get grumpier," the dark cyan changeling grumbled, stepping through a doorway alongside his brother.

A tall, wide room riddled with changeling-sized holes laid before the pair. A deafening silence sat in the air, the only movement coming from occasional ear twitches inside the dark hideaways. Thorax came to a stop and peered around the room with a proud little smile.

"Alright, if you can help me give everyling their tasks for the day, Pharynx, I have some things to go over with you and the guard changelings while you're here, okay?"

Pharynx cleared his throat of mucus. Every muscle in his body rebelled against him, but here he stood, resolute to raise his head towards the ever-invading sunlight.

"What was it I did to warrant a promotion, again?", Pharynx asked dryly. "Oh, wait, that's right. I used the word 'love' in a sentence that didn't denote the idea of feeding on ponies. Whoops."

"Come on, Pharynx, seeing the sun this early isn't so bad," Thorax replied, gazing into the dimly lit hovels around the walls. "As head of security you need to lead the guard changelings, but keep in mind they do a lot of the work, too."

As the sounds of birds singing joined the illuminating sunlight, faint groans and yawns came from the corners of the room.

"For example, Tarsus and Tibia came up with some really nice diagrams for a new patrol route I've been working on," Thorax continued. "I know how much you loved to patrol, so I thought it couldn't hurt to have the guard changelings do maintenance patrols from now on. You know, to trim the shrubbery, remove obstacles, scan for any signs of maulwurfs or salamanders that might be lurking around - those sorts of things."

Pharynx squinted around the chamber, the sunrise continuing to blind him to the best of its ability. At the sound of his brother's voice, bug ponies had begun to open their eyes, poking their snouts out from their burrows to investigate the pair of visitors.

Pharynx chuckled to himself. Chrysalis used to yell at the top of her lungs to wake drones, yet here was Thorax, accomplishing the same feat with a mundane side conversation.

"Uh, Pharynx?", Thorax prodded, leaning forward to examine his brother's far-off look. "Does that sound okay to you?"

Pharynx slowly turned his head, locking eyes with the taller changeling. "...you know, Thorax, even I have to admit you're pretty cute, sometimes."

Thorax blinked, his eyes widening.

"For example," Pharynx continued, "you're especially cute when you speak words in my general direction and think that I'm ever listening to you."

Pharynx donned a smirk, and Thorax rolled his eyes, playfully jabbing his broodmate in the side.

"Seriously, Pharynx, did you hear anything I just said?"

"Blah blah, 'here Pharynx, you get to be a gardener, it's just as fun as patrolling, I promise', blah blah," Pharynx retorted, his sly smirk holding steady. "Which I seriously doubt, by the way, but hey, at least you're trying."

Thorax shook his head, but before he could engage his brother with another retort, a swarm of bug ponies fluttered down to the cavern floor. The drones quickly surrounded the alpha and beta changelings and awaited instructions. Every now and then one would give a silent yawn, or rub a tired eye with their hoof.

"You know, Princess Ember taught me a thing or two about being more assertive," Thorax declared, darting a glance at his brother before turning to face the drones. "Sooner or later I bet I'll be able to match your sass, remark for remark."

"Oh, I'm shaking," Pharynx replied with deadpan. "I, the one changeling who you couldn't get to change even after your backbone lessons, am truly terrified. Please, King Cuddlebug, don't give me a hug and replenish my energy, whatever shall I do."

The once silent crowd of changelings began to snicker under their breath, and Thorax cocked an eyebrow. "Do older brothers come with an off switch that I don't know about? Maybe a manual?"

Pharynx scoffed. "Afraid not. You wanted balance in the hive, Thorax, so now we got balance. We've got you, the dork who loves to spread love and understanding, and now we've got me, the dork's brother who keeps his hippie paradise from going too far off the rails. It's a package deal I'm afraid."

Thorax rubbed the back of his head and suffered a slight blush, signaling another round of hiss-like giggling from the crowd. Those echoing chortles simmered down again as Pharynx joined the lime changeling by his side, recapturing the drones' attention with a flutter of his amaranth wings.

"Alright, that's enough fooling around," Pharynx projected, silencing each drone by meeting their gaze. "I'm sure everyone remembers the assembly we had yesterday, right? Who can refresh us all on the finer points of that assembly?"

A sea of multicolored eyes blinked. A few mouths opened, only to close again. Pharynx furrowed his look.

"Well?"

"Cluster naps should only be taken amidst, and following strenuous activities, or if a changeling is weak and needs help recuperating," recited a blue changeling in the crowd. "Nymphs, and those attending to nymphs are exempt from this rule. All cluster naps should be conducted in one of the two nesting chambers, or the nursery hive."

"That's right," Pharynx said with a nod. "I don't wanna see any changeling sleeping out in the open, anymore. It's not safe. If you're tired and need to rest, but aren't near a designated location, you may find a secure place to rest nearby. What are the two conditions for this exception?"

"The space needs to have a ceiling at least two levels low," another drone from the crowd answered, "and you should preferably let someling else know where you're resting - a guard changeling or a hive leader is best."

Pharynx cast a proud side glance at Thorax, to which Thorax returned a bemused smile and another roll of his eyes.

"And that all begins today," Pharynx added, "so keep that in mind. From now on, guard changelings will tell you to relocate if you're sleeping somewhere uncovered, and so help me if I find anyone loafing around in broad daylight you'll get worse."

Pharynx shot a sneer, and changeling ears from among the crowd flopped like wilted flowers.

"Just kidding," he added, taking a step backwards and nodding his head to Thorax. "Someling would have a fit if I spooked you guys too much. Just be mindful where you sleep, and don't be lazy, and you'll be fine."

"Thanks for that, Pharynx," Thorax interjected, mirroring his brother by taking a step forwards. The vibrant alpha garnished his subjects' attention with a warm look. "To that end, everyling, I'll only be taking cluster naps with nymphs, and those drones who actually need their energy restored, from now on. Pharynx and I aren't too picky on what does or doesn't count as energy restoration, we're just trying to keep cluster naps from being a recreational activity."

The changelings nodded, many of them relaxing their dispositions.

"And with that, let's move on," Thorax said, his mellow aura perking upright. "I need to have a quick meeting with the guard changelings, this morning. While I do that, Pharynx is going to assign tasks to squads. We have a lot more plants to trim, and a few other chores that I need everylings' help with getting done, today."

A moment of quiet staring, then changelings turned to mutter to one another. From just behind Thorax, Pharynx gave a small nod of his own.

"Oh, I almost forgot something! Once we've taken care of everything that needs addressing, I've got a surprise for you all!", Thorax said, his pearly teeth gleaming. "We're going to be having a theater performance tonight! Apidae and Xenica have organized a really awesome play that I think you'll all enjoy! Thanks to Aphidel, we also have an array of snacks for everyling who attends!"

The formerly behaved pack of drones erupted into cheers, and Pharynx promptly buried his face in one hoof.

Nestled in the thickest part of the hive was the nursery, set apart by layers of stone and magic. With small, sheltered rooms for eggs and larvae and large, open rooms and tunnels for nymphs to explore, it was the perfect space for young bugs to scamper and play.

Today, however, was different. Rather than jumping and playing with one another, the nymphs sat on their haunches, their wings buzzing with anticipation. When a faint roar pierced the quiet, a tiny changeling's ear flicked to and fro. The nymph picked up his head, his mouth falling open as he looked about for the source of the noise. Not to be missed by his equally curious friends, other nymphs turned their focus to him.

"Did you guys hear that?"

"I hear you talking, if that counts."

"Not me, Apex, all that yelling! You didn't hear somelings yelling just now?"

"...I hear you yelling, Tergite."

Tergite inflated his cheeks like a dissatisfied puffer fish. "You must have slime in your ears, Apex. I'm telling you, there's a bunch of changelings yelling and stomping around somewhere."

"It's probably just Papa Thorax telling everyling about that play tonight," Apex dismissed, tossing over to one side and glaring at the chamber's entryway. "Papa Thorax loves it when the older changelings do all the silly activities he started."

"Well he should hurry up," came the squeaky voice of a mustard yellow nymph, "your brother said Prince Pharynx would spend time with us today, Tergite. I bet the morning meeting is almost done already, and after that is when we can play with Prince Pharynx."

"Duh, I know what my big brother said," Tergite snipped. "Tergum doesn't lie. I'm sure he'll be here any second to let us know."

Apex bonked his head against the stone floor in a series of thuds. "It feels like we've been sitting here for hours, already. It's like waiting for Papa Thorax to finish polo ticks with the crystal ponies."

All eyes turned to Apex, and Tergite scrunched his nose. "What are 'polo ticks'?"

"Super long, super boring meetings," Apex mumbled through bedrock. "The crystal pony princess and Papa Thorax talked for like ten hours about it."

"I think you mean 'politics'," Tergite pointed out.

"Polo ticks sound itchy," mumbled the mustard nymph.

The sound of hooves crossing stone began reverberating around the room, and the small bug ponies sat up at full attention. Through the entryway came a bright green drone, panting slightly and wearing a broad grin.

"Alright...are you ready, guys? Time to go see Uncle Pharynx!"

Unleashing their repressed energy, the nymphs shrieked, zipping through the air in tight circles. A gust of wind born from a dozen tiny wings slammed into Tergum's face, as the swarm of fifteen-strong nymphs left the chamber.

"...did you hear something?"

Thorax stole himself, biting his lip and turning his head to hide his blatant smirk.

"Who, me?", he managed out. "No, I uh, I didn't hear anything."

Pharynx flattened his mouth, drilling holes through his brother's face. "You're a terrible liar, Thorax. The dragon princess's little assertiveness lessons didn't do much for your bungling."

With the day's goals relayed to everyling in the hive, and the security drones briefed on a brand new patrol route, the alpha and beta changelings left the old nesting chamber. While Thorax trotted along with a spring in his step, Pharynx's gaze drifted to corners of the tunnel in which they walked.

"...hold on, I know what this is," Pharynx said under his breath. "You're planning something."

"I am?"

"Yeah, or rather, you've already planned something."

"What would I be planning?", Thorax inquired with a chuckle. "I've been with you since I got up, Pharynx."

"We both know that doesn't mean anything."

"You don't trust me?"

Pharynx glowered. "Oh, spare me. We're talking about you, Thorax, the changeling who'd make cutesy drawings of us together called 'big brother and me' when he was a nymph, and plaster them across the hive's walls. The changeling who'd try and hug me upwards of ten times a day if I didn't watch him like a hawk. My public dignity knows better than to trust you, by now."

Thorax's chuckle turned into a laugh. "So what then, you think I've got changelings stashed away, waiting to pounce on you, so I can have them hug you for me?"

"You said it, not me."

"That's ridiculous, Pharynx," Thorax said, shaking his head and casting off a few final giggles. "I'd never force something on you - knowing it makes you uncomfortable - just for my own enjoyment."

The brothers paused. Pharynx and Thorax exchanged telling looks, and Pharynx's ear twitched.

"Hold on. There it is again - Thorax, seriously, don't you hear that?", he hissed, lowering himself to the ground and scanning the cavern. "It sounds an awful lot...like..."

Pharynx's eyes widened in horror. What began as a soft humming had become an overbearingly zealous group of voices, and a once void tunnel was now filled to the brim with tiny changelings, charging straight for him.

"Uncle Pharynx! Uncle Pharynx! You're here, you're here!"

The beta changeling raised an alarmed hoof, scowling at the small throng of hyperactive eyes and ecstatic smiles that had swiftly surrounded him. Out of sight and mind, Thorax watched the scene unfold from the sidelines with an elated look.

"What are you all doing here?", Pharynx asked, glancing down the passage. "You guys should have an adult changeling supervising you, this time of day."

"We had one, but he got left behind," a blue nymph said with a squeak. "So now you can look after us, Uncle Pharynx!"

Pharynx's scowl grew. "Excuse me?"

"We wanna spend time with you, Uncle Pharynx!", an orange nymph explained, dancing on the tips of her hooves. "We've been waiting for you to wake up so we could play!"

"Yeah! We can play bug pile, or, or you can turn into a maulwurf and we can stop you from eating our plants! Oh! Or-"

"-hold on, one second," Pharynx said sternly, lowering his hoof again and waiting for quiet. "I don't know what this is, or why you guys are running around the hive unsupervised, but playing games and frolicking around is Thorax's bag, not mine. If you want to play games, go annoy him."

Following a nod from Pharynx's head, the swarm of nymphs turned their attention to Thorax, who waved to them in greeting.

"But, we always play with Papa Thorax," a light green nymph insisted, eliciting nods from her peers. "This time we want to play games with you, Uncle Pharynx."

Pharynx quickly dismissed them, parting the crowd and trotting through it with no further hesitation. "Trust me, you don't," he said flatly. "The one thing Thorax has me beat at is his ability to frolic around and play with nymphs. You guys will be far more entertained playing with him."

For a long moment the sound of Pharynx's hoof falls echoed alone through the chamber, as he ignored the pressing stares on his back. But something Pharynx didn't expect was soon audible - a sound that froze his body in place. It was the sound of sniffing, coming from a single bug pony among the group.

"But...my brother, Tergum said we could play with you, today," Tergite mumbled weakly, sniffs dotting his sentences. "He said you wouldn't be busy until everyling was done the morning chores. Can't you spend at least a little time with us?"

Pharynx remained fastened to his spot, facing away from those prying eyes. "I'm busy. Thorax has time allotted ahead of time to play with you all, I don't."

"Pharynx, come on," Thorax spoke up. "We're hardly busy, today, and you know it. Look at their faces, and actually listen to what they're saying. They don't want me, they want you."

Pharynx grumbled. The changeling pivoted his head and regretted it. The disappointed looks of tiny drones assaulted him from all sides, and from behind them, Thorax offered a hopeful smile.

"You told me yesterday that it takes more than love to lead a hive," Thorax continued, trotting through the field of knee-high nymphs. "But by that same token, isn't love how we've come this far? How we've evolved into something more than predators?"

Pharynx let out a long sigh, shifting in place and avoiding his brother's face. "Thorax, you're the one who spreads love, not me. I'm here to provide what you don't already have down flat - that's my role. And I'm certainly not a role model for anything but being a loyal soldier, you know that."

Thorax beamed and gently shook his head. "You're wrong, Pharynx. You may not express love in the same way I do, but that doesn't mean you don't care. Even soldiers are capable of expressing love - I know that, and the nymphs know that. These little guys want to bond with the changelings who lead the hive, regardless of what their strengths and weaknesses are. They know you're just as capable of showing compassion as you are capable of defeating threats against the hive. Maybe this is the perfect time to prove that to yourself, as well."

Trapped in a spotlight far hotter than any ray of sun, Pharynx curled his lip, his ears flattened to a horizontal shape.

"Surely there's something you can do with them, if only for a little bit," Thorax lightly pressed. "Something that's both fun and beneficial, maybe?"

Another long pause as the alpha changeling and his charge of nymphs awaited an answer. When Pharynx next picked up his head, he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

"Fine," he muttered at last. "Maybe I can come up with something to do for a little while, if it'll get you off my back."

The nymphs pounded the air with a resounding harmony of cheering, and Pharynx winced.

"That said, no screaming or aimless running around, got it? If you want to spend time with me, we're playing by my rules."

"We promise, Uncle Pharynx!"

Retracing his steps, Pharynx passed through the expectant nymphs once more, and this time, the tiny bodies followed him like curious cats. The changeling came to a stop when his snout touched his brother's, and there, the two shared an impromptu staring contest.

"You orchestrated this whole thing, didn't you?", Pharynx whispered, just low enough for Thorax to hear. "That was quite the little speech for a random chance event, Thorax."

Thorax wore a sly smile. "Tergum's idea, actually, but I may have capitalized on it a bit."

"You're despicable."

"Look at it this way, not a single one of them has tried to jump on you or hug you."

"Give it time. Don't try and put me off guard, I've seen how they are with you. When I limp back in here later on with a sprained leg, I'll be coming for you."

The throng of nymphs bounced up and down, biting their lips as Pharynx turned to face them. The beta changeling cast out his wings, catching the sunlight and with it, the drones' attention.

"Listen up. Like I said, my rules. If I'm going to subject myself to this, we're going to make something of it. That means we're not just going to prance around and play, because regardless what Thorax might say, that's his thing and not mine. No, I'm going to teach you guys how to track and hunt."

The nymphs tilted their tiny heads, murmuring to one another. However, confusion quickly became excitement, as the group nodded in sync, eager smiles returning to their faces. Clearly, the prospect of training like adult changelings enthralled them.

"Are we going to hunt and track you, Uncle Pharynx?", Apex put out, buzzing a few inches off the ground.

Pharynx sneered. "Oh, you'll be tracking me, alright, but you won't be tracking me like this."

Pharynx enveloped himself in a flash of green magic. A long, curled tail snapped out like a whip from the magic's wall, as did three sets of toed legs. When the magic fully dissipated, a horned lizard the size of a manticore emerged, its bulging eyes darting every which way. The nymphs gasped and awed at the exotic creature, many of them taking to the air to get a better look.

"This is a rippeleon," the large lizard spoke in Pharynx's voice. "Better known as a 'breakneck chameleon'. They are large reptiles distantly related to salamanders."

Without warning the lizard scurried past the observing drones and climbed the entirety of the far wall. By the time the nymphs' gaze followed where it had gone, it vanished. When they turned to Thorax for answers, the massive lizard appeared before them again, causing everyling to jump.

"Unlike salamanders, they are docile and pose little threat to changelings," the creature continued. "However, they are both quick and capable of turning completely invisible, thanks to the magic-imbued skin covering their bodies. They're far more efficient with camouflage than their tiny counterparts."

Too stunned to cheer, the nymphs gawked as the rippeleon's body hazed into nothingness.

"This is what you'll track," came Pharynx's voice again, echoing around the cavern from various spots. "Focus and use your sense of hearing to identify its location, then pounce. If, say, ten or more of you can tag it all at once, we'll call it a success."

From all the way across the room, the yells of excitement that ensued weren't quite so deafening, but they caused Thorax to smile all the same. Caught in a trance, he watched the nymphs faithfully chase after their designated prey, always just out of reach before it disappeared from view.

"...sorry I'm late, did I miss the best part?"

Thorax's lofty expression was salvaged. "Oh! There you are, Tergum. I was starting to wonder where you went."

Still laboring the occasional pant, Tergum trotted to Thorax's side, relishing in the ongoing entertainment.

"Wow, I didn't think he'd get into it this quickly," the drone commented with a chuckle. "Did you guilt him into it or something, Thorax?"

"I like to think of it as helping him realize his potential," Thorax replied, elevating his gaze as Pharynx dashed along the ceiling from his aerial pursuers. "All he needed to do was find some kind of training goal, a way to personally relate to them. Once he did that, he immersed himself right into it."

"Thorax!", came the rippeleon's booming voice. "I'm taking them outside! Half an hour, no more! Mark my words! You better be here to deal with them when I get back!"

The steel-blue reptile crawled out an open crevice in the ceiling, gradually becoming more and more transparent. The group of nymphs quickly followed it, all but two, who fluttered in mid-air from atop the chamber and peered down at their observers.

"Papa Thorax, you should turn into cool creatures like Uncle Pharynx, too, sometime!", Apex called, waiting for Thorax's resulting laugh before heading outside too.

"Big brother, come outside and play with us too, okay!?", Tergite followed up, cupping his hooves to his mouth like a megaphone. "You and I need to be the ones to catch Uncle Pharynx, first! Then everyling will know how awesome we are!"

"I'll do my best, Tergite!", Tergum yelled back, mimicking Thorax's grin. "You'd better start without me, though! You don't want to lose him! Pharynx is slippery!"

A profound silence was cast over the chamber, as the last of the excitable nymphs left. Thorax turned to Tergum, catching his eye with a graceful nod.

"So, I should thank you, Tergum," the alpha changeling said. "You meant it as a joke originally, but getting Pharynx together with the nymphs was a great idea. It has a lot of potential to be good for him. He's been a little..."

"Detached?"

"From everything but the job, yes," Thorax finished. "This is just the kind of thing he needs more of. Seeing him bond with them makes me really happy. It also makes it easier for me to focus on not being too attached to everyling, knowing he's there for you guys, too, you know?"

Tergum harbored a dry laugh. "Yeah, well, I'll believe the 'prohibition on excessive cluster naps' thing when I actually see it."

Thorax snickered. "Maybe we'll convert Pharynx into a cuddlebug before he notices that changelings aren't following it."

The pair of bug ponies walked from the chamber, sharing a mutual laugh.

Author's Notes:

Rewrote huge sections of this chapter twice. Third time's the charm.

...did I mention how much I adore brother relationships?