It happened in a blur of motion and the onset pounding of his heart. In one fell swoop, Thorax found himself forcibly knocked from his hooves and sent tumbling to the hive's stone floor. In the chaos that followed, a flash of shimmering wings passed his peripheral, but still the identity of his assailant eluded him.

His head thumping from the sudden exertion, Thorax tensed in anticipation of another strike, squinting up at the figure now looming over him. It wasn't until a familiar voice reached his ears that his tension drained away, replaced swiftly by vexation.

"Well imagine that, just the changeling I was hoping to run into. You know you really shouldn't lay on the ground like that, Thorax, you're bound to become a safety hazard."

Thorax gave a hefty sigh. Sat over him like a proud cat sits over a captured rat was a deep blue changeling, adorned with red highlights and a pair of curved antlers.

"Hey Pharynx," he said, watching his brother don a sly little smile. "Do I even want to know what you're up to?"

Pharynx passively examined his hoof, his smile maturing to a grin. "What's it look like? I finished the afternoon routes early, so here I am. I have to report to you anyway, so I thought I'd see what you were up to before my squad starts the next shift."

Thorax narrowed his already skeptical look. Promptly pressing his hooves against his brother's carapace, he pushed, and for an awkwardly long moment the room filled with audible grunts of effort. When Pharynx swayed a mere half inch before settling back into place, a tinted blush touched the young monarch's cheeks.

Pharynx's teeth gleamed in the afternoon sun. "That was a remarkably pitiful attempt, Thorax."

"So your idea of checking up on me is you pouncing on me like a tiger?", Thorax replied, ignoring the commentary and letting his muscles relax in defeat. "I can't help but feel like there are less severe ways to greet me, Pharynx."

Pharynx cracked the joints in his neck before cocking a brow at the younger changeling. "That's a pretty hilarious response coming from you, Thorax. I seem to recall someone always complaining about how I never spent enough time with him when we were nymphs. 'Pharynx, why don't you ever want to play with me? Pharynx, won't you let me hug you once in a while? Pharynx, how come you don't wanna hear about my extensive rock doll collection?' Ringing any bells? The whiny voice is spot on, by the way."

Thorax grumbled and eyed the sideways cavern laid by his face. Unsurprisingly, their commotion had drawn the attention of the hive's other occupants. Colorful eyes curiously peered at them from around every corner of the room, but Thorax did his best to avoid them.

"Very funny, Pharynx. Yes, I've always wanted to spend more time together...I'm actually kinda surprised to hear you mention all of this out of nowhere. This, however, is not us spending time together. This is just you spending time on top of me."

"Same difference," Pharynx countered. "I'm in your vicinity and time is passing around us, is it not?"

"Well, sure, but-"

"That's checkmate, Thorax. We are in fact spending time together."

Thorax shook his head, resigning himself from a battle he'd never win. He winced in an attempt to readjust his position, seeking to alleviate the pain of small pebbles pressing into his neck, but it was no use. From the look on his brother's face, the hard stone floor and its discomforts were just as amusing as the predicament, itself. He gave another struggle in frustration, but it only served to fuel his brother's stunt further. His gossamer wings were useless inside a carapace that could not open, and his back hooves pressed into the stone floor, locked into place.

Accepting his situation with a bonk of his head against the ground, Thorax settled for meekly holding his hooves to his chest, rather unsure of what to do with himself. He met his brother's smug expression with a sheepish one.

"You know, I didn't think inconveniencing me was still your thing, Pharynx."

"Well you thought wrong. Picking on you is an obligation, not a hobby, Thorax. King or no, you've been fair game since you came back to the hive."

Thorax beamed. "But I've been back home for a while, Pharynx. Why am I only now getting subjected to torment? Haven't you had ample opportunity before now?"

Taken aback, Pharynx widened his eyes before abruptly shifting them elsewhere. "What do you think this is, some play date on a schedule? Don't read into it so much, I'm messing with you on a whim. Also remember that I've been busy reteaching the hive how to defend itself after you let everyone slack off, so no, I haven't exactly had the time to mess with you, lately."

It was Thorax's turn to dawn a sly smile.

"I could just shapeshift into something and get you off me that way, you know," the pinned changeling challenged.

"Spare me," Pharynx retorted. "Don't pretend we don't both know I'd just become something bigger and pin you again."

"You realize I was kinda in the middle of something, right?"

"No you weren't."

"Yes, I was, actually."

"What, trotting around the hive, looking for charity?" Pharynx chuckled. "What was it this time, Thorax? Waiting for someone to need you for something, or waiting to be invited to something once someone spotted you through the door?"

Thorax's confident look wavered. "No, I had to-I was just checking up on everyling! Noon activity hour just started, so I thought I'd make sure everyling was getting along okay."

"That's funny, here I thought hive security and patrolling was still my job," Pharynx mused, flopping himself upon his brother's chest to elicit a grunt. "You know, the job I already finished doing and came to report to you about?"

Growing increasingly flustered, Thorax fumbled with his words, becoming less and less capable of maintaining his brother's static eye contact.

"Well, I was just seeing how everything was going," he backpedaled, avoiding his anxieties by staring off at the ceiling. "The theatre troupe is performing a really good play this afternoon, so I thought I might take a peek and-"

"Aha, so you were just looking for a reason to shirk off throne room duties, then." Pharynx relished his brother's incredulous look. "You know, Thorax, sneaking off and making excuses is more trouble than it's worth. It also makes you look desperate."

"Is there a point to all this, Pharynx?", Thorax snapped, his blush feeding off his rising temper as well as his embarrassment. "Yes, I was bored and I snuck off, okay? Can you blame me? Lately I feel like I sit on that oak throne all day, dealing with politics and keeping up correspondence with the other kingdoms while everyling has fun and, honestly, it's been lonely. The drones don't need my help running activities anymore, and you and the guard changelings have patrol routes, again. I hardly have anything to do at home now that isn't somehow related to that...darn throne."

Through acknowledging his frustrations, Thorax adopted the shadow of a pout, averting his eyes to an empty corner of the room. Pharynx's own eyes flickered in response, his aptitude for scolding fed generously by his brother's childlike plight.

"You've always been like this, Thorax," he began, drawing in his sibling's attention with a calm tone. "You crave love more than any changeling in the hive, to the point of getting depressed when you feel alone or left out. You try to cope with that by being obscenely productive, but then you blatantly forget to think about yourself, and what you really wanted in the first place. So then you get upset when you realize you're missing out on things, and lose the confidence to fix it. It's unbearably frustrating to watch."

His face resembling a pomegranate, Thorax's magenta eyes flared to life. A spark of magic raced up the curvature of his antlers. "Seriously, Pharynx? Did you seriously just pin me to the floor to make fun of me?"

"Of course not, I pinned you to the floor because it was funny," Pharynx replied with matter-of-fact. "And I wasn't making fun of you, you twit, it was a relevant observation. Literally no one but you gets so distressed, so easily from not being around others all the time. It's laughable you're even putting yourself through this in the first place, frankly."

"I hope you realize how bad you are at getting to the point, Pharynx," Thorax stated flatly, borrowing some of his brother's sarcasm. "And how you're usually the one telling me that sort of thing. If all you're going to do is bring up my shortcomings, then maybe I should just take a nap here until you're finished."

Dead silence sat in the air. A few observing changelings placed hooves to their mouths, on edge from the mounting tension.

"...you know, you're awfully testy today, your majesty," the beta changeling replied at last, stealing his sharp tongue right back with a shrewd look. "You oughta loosen up a bit, maybe listen to everything I have to say before you go running an attitude. But hey, if you're really stupid enough to push me while you're in this compromised position, I'm only too happy to play along."

Thorax opened his mouth, but no further defiant retorts came. An uncomfortable wave of tingling had begun to spread throughout his body, eliciting a deep breath and an uncontrollable series of giggles. Ears and eyes snapped to heightened attention from all around the room as Thorax began to convulse, snorts and sharp laughs dotting his incoherent sentences.

"P-Pharynx, wh-at are you d-doing!?"

The elder changeling curled his lip. His hoof had begun to skate along his brother's exposed underbelly. "I dunno why you keep asking me questions you already know the answer to, Thorax. I'm not gonna waste my breath on you while you're being a touchy grub. Unwind first, then get back to me."

Hiding genuine shock behind his buoyant laughter, Thorax laid helpless to his own muscle spasms. Rapidly shaking his head in reply, he bit his lip in an attempt to stifle his outbursts, while his back legs violently kicked at empty air from behind his brother's tail. Any chances he may have had to shapeshift had plummeted, his focus now lost in an adrenaline haze.

Through tearful, squinted eyes he watched the blues and reds of Pharynx's carapace meld to a blur. He could count on four hooves and an antler how many times his brother had ever physically acknowledged him, and most of those were examples of bullying, at best.

Thorax let loose an emphatic chirp as his struggling intensified. His brother's hoof had taken to relentlessly pursuing his sides.

On second thought, bullying was more or less what this was, too.

"P-Pharynx, I hi-ghly obj-ject to th-is!"

"You object to it?", Pharynx repeated, his smirk turning sinister. "But look how much your mood has improved, already."

"P-Pharynx, I-m ser-rious, k-kno-ck i-t o-ff!"

"I can't understand you, Thorax, what's so funny?", Pharynx continued to bait, smirk turning to a toothy grin when Thorax failed to grip onto his foreleg and hold it still. "I sure hope those aren't regrets you're having. Any brother of mine ought to have known exactly what he was getting himself into when he ever asked for my undivided attention."

In a fit of desperation, Thorax managed a shapeshift at last, and a dazzling sequence of transformation stunned the chamber. The changelings were engulfed by flickering green flames, revealing monsters, mammals, birds and insects of all shapes and sizes. The beasts tossed and turned over one another in a wondrous display of color and motion, while distressed cries pierced the air. Limbs and tails flailed about, taking out sections of decorative stone as they did, and dispersing clouds of dust in consecutive waves.

But despite his best efforts, Thorax had nothing to show for it. For every new form he took, Pharynx outdid it like clockwork, firmly maintaining his hold of the younger changeling every time, be it through claws, paws, talons or mandibles. It didn't take long for the zoological spectacle to vanish within the flames for good, and leave the pair on the stone floor, back where they started.

"Since we're in a habit of repeating ourselves today, I guess I'll go next," Pharynx stated, continuing to ruthlessly dig a hoof into his brother's soft chitin. "That was a remarkably pitiful attempt, Thorax."

By now Thorax had lost all manner of his composure, twisting and flailing about in his older brother's grasp. Small tears had formed in his eyes, and his carapace vibrated with frantic wings unable to escape. A cocktail of emotions raced through him as an electrical surge, all of them reflected in his ever-wavering face, while Pharynx observed his handiwork with an insatiable grin, all too clearly enjoying himself. Each time Thorax's writhing leveraged him an advantage, Pharynx swiftly shifted his weight to snuff it out, crushing any hope for escape.

The younger changeling wasn't getting out of this through force - that much had become clear.

"P-Pharynx, p-please stop!", Thorax begged in a rasp, straining to sit up, yet too breathless to properly raise his head. "Thwhole hive i-is w-watching us!"

"You say that like you have some kind of reputation to keep up," Pharynx humored aloud, darting his gaze towards the group of spectating drones. "What a show, am I right? I can't wait to hear about this for weeks in the hallways!"

"Pharynx!"

Thorax hadn't the vantage point to notice, but the standalone chamber had now filled to the brim with changelings. Those few who had initially overheard the commotion had since been joined by dozens of others, summoned by their king's violent display of emotions, which radiated through the hive like a siren. Many drones looked on with benign amusement, invested in their hive leaders' play like a theatrical comedy. Drones whispered to their neighbors with the occasional giggle, whilst others chittered aloud in pockets.

"You do realize this sort of thing is your reputation already, right?", Pharynx picked up, leaning over his prey with a glint in his eye. "You thank drones for helping you out by giving them hugs, Thorax. Hugs."

"I'm j-just sho-owing ever-yling I c-care!"

"You started a safe space, opted to look after the hive's nymphs on a regular basis by offering to be their playmate, and introduced an entire creative renaissance to a hunt and patrol species. Bold, albeit impressive, even if you did end up needing my help to balance it out in the end."

"Y-you-r'e having w-way t-too mu-ch f-fun w-with t-his!"

"Oh, and let's not forget that title the nymphs have taken to calling you, now. 'Papa Thorax', was it? That one is so saccharine it gives me cavities."

"P-Pharynx, s-st-op, I-I can'-t br-breathe!"

The vibrations of Pharynx's hoof came to an end, and Thorax gulped the cool air his lungs so desperately sought. When the weight bearing down on him lifted at last, the young monarch ventured to stand, coughing and gasping in an involuntary reclaim of his composure. He looked up quite suddenly to find a plethora of faces watching him, taking careful note of the warmth reflected in each face. It was a fondness entirely separate from the amusement towards his situation he had heard only moments before.

"If we're being honest here, Thorax," Pharynx began, breaking the pause and walking along his brother's side, "you're a complete dork who floundered around when you first adopted this hive. You're overly emotional, covet reassurance through affection and avoid confrontation at nearly all costs."

Thorax's wrath simmered just under his composure, but Pharynx merely cast him a knowing smirk.

"Ironically enough though," he continued, "those things are what help make you the relatable leader the hive needed after Chrysalis. It's a shame you seem to forget that at times."

Thorax froze mid-thought, resigning himself to merely stare. He had become mesmerized by the gentle look residing in his brother's face, something entirely alien to him. When Pharynx gestured his head, Thorax shifted his gaze, and he was once more faced with that ocean of beaming changelings.

He was all at once overcome by a wave of warmth, a force that engulfed his body and restored every bit of the energy he had lost.

"Don't worry about what Pharynx says, Thorax, I love your hugs!", a cyan drone called out. "For me, they make me feel like I have a special connection with you, personally!"

"Yeah, and I love all our activities!", a yellow changeling piled on. "I used to be really nervous about transforming, but craft time has given me such a creative outlet, I feel great now!"

"Also, the nymphs aren't the only ones who enjoy spending time with you, Thorax, we all do!", a third, deep crimson female added. "Maybe you can find more time to join us? You're always so good at theater and crafts!"

Speechless, Thorax met each changeling's smile individually, mouthing the words of thanks he couldn't find. Just seeing them so full of glee warmed his chest, as did their sentiments pull at his already thin heart strings.

"If you'd have let me finish earlier, you'd have found out that 'the point' was up and coming," Pharynx said suddenly, salvaging his brother's attention. "You said you've been feeling lonely lately due to throne duties? From changelings 'not needing' you for this or that, anymore? Please, Thorax. I hope it sounds as stupid coming out of my mouth as it did to me coming out of yours. News flash, your highness, your primary duties are the changelings, are this hive and its well-being. You are, and always will be relevant."

"...Pharynx, I-"

"If you don't like sitting on that throne then own that, Thorax," the deep blue changeling continued, unperturbed by his brother's meek attempts at a rebuttal. "The other kingdoms, politics, pony tea parties and events - it can all just deal with being second priority, because your first priority is right here, looking after us by being the sickeningly talented caretaker that you are."

Thorax swallowed - a dry, empty feeling that left his throat feeling scratched. He was a weak, exposed nymph once again, receiving a lecture from his intimidating big brother. But for all the shock holding his body still, Thorax's lip quivered. Familiar as those hard set eyes were, the vote of confidence spilling forth was not.

"And I'll tell you something else; I'm not about to interrogate you about your anxiety on a regular basis," the beta changeling carried on, lightly jabbing Thorax's chest with a hoof. "You know full well that all you ever have to do is come find me if you need someone to talk to, so I expect you to do it. I don't care what I'm doing, I'm never too busy to listen. You might as well take advantage of it, Thorax, because I'm not going anywhere."

Little more than a spectator on an emotional rollercoaster, Thorax felt hot tears returning to his eyes, a heat burning from within his chest. Pharynx's form and reserved smile blurred from view, and the young monarch felt his legs shake.

"Pharynx, you-..."

Clenching his eyes, he sought Pharynx out, only stopping when his brother's body made him do so.

Flashes of past attempts to embrace his brother filled Thorax's head - the nightmares, fear and loneliness from his nymphhood, all met with a cold apathy. But as Thorax shed a tear down his brother's carapace, he could already feel the difference. No hoof pushed him away, and no disgusted tone reprimanded him. Without a word Pharynx had made him feel welcome. He was comfortable, and felt safe.

The chamber, once ringing with a joyous laughter now echoed with an isolated sob.

"P-Pharynx, I-I don't know what's changed, but I'm, I'm so thankful for it," Thorax expressed, a tremble in his voice.

Silently watching the younger changeling cling to him, Pharynx placed a hoof along his brother's back. With a tolerant smile he cocked a brow at the ongoing sobs, which grew more erratic by the second. "Reassurance through affection. Leave it to you to prove my point almost immediately after I bring it up, Thorax. What are you talking about? What's so drastic that you need to cry on me in front of the entire hive?"

His head embedded in his brother's shoulder, Thorax unearthed himself just enough to speak through a rapidly degrading voice. "F-for the first time you're starting to sound like my supportive older brother, Pharynx."

Changelings all around the room adopted sympathetic looks. Many of them began to tear up, themselves, overwhelmed by their king's raw emotion. They put their hooves to their mouths, their watery eyes glimmering in the afternoon sunlight. A few drones took to advancing towards the pair like curious cats, offering themselves up in any way of assistance, should they be needed.

But it wasn't his doting changelings that Thorax observed. Pharynx's face reflected an odd tranquility, and even when the familiar smirk showed itself, it too was somehow different.

"If you were any sappier you'd be sprouting branches out of your head instead of antlers, I swear," Pharynx chuckled in a lulled voice. As Thorax continued to lean on him for support, Pharynx shifted his stance, firmly holding the distraught changeling in one foreleg. "I've always looked out for you, Thorax, in one way or another. Yeah, maybe I kept my distance because I've never been the sentimental type, but I've always cared."

"I know that," Thorax answered immediately, unable to stop his tears, but resolute in his efforts to hide his broken face from the observing changelings. Though his sobs had been quelled, loud sniffs continued to dot his breaths, as did the tingling in his legs continue to spread.

"You know, you should be thanking yourself, Thorax. You're the one who found an...admittedly more effecient way of life, against all scrutiny. You're also the one who never gave up on me." His smirk had faded, leaving Pharynx with nothing but a sobering look. "Making an effort to give you a bit more of my attention is probably the very least I can do, considering all you've done for us, for me."

Thorax adamantly shook his head, quickly raising it again to meet his brother's face. "The least you could do? I-I've never wanted anything more from you, Pharynx, you know that."

Pharynx's face grew sullen. He blinked, and for the faintest of moments looked down to see a coal-colored nymph gazing back at him. Tears ran down its tiny cheeks, and it stared at him with somber eyes. Even when Pharynx closed his own, the nymph remained, curling itself into a ball as it continued to cry, alone in the darkness of his eyelids.

Only when Thorax squeezed him tighter did Pharynx's eyes open again, returning him to rational thought.

"...yeah, I guess I do know that," Pharynx muttered in response at last, subtly laying his chin on his brother's head. "I'm sorry, Thorax."

"F-for what?"

"It took you overthrowing a despot and getting crowned king for me to figure out how to act like your older brother, or at least the one you needed," Pharynx explained, growing further despondent in his observation of the ground. "I realize you could have used that a long time ago."

"N-no, don't apologize, Pharynx," Thorax responded, a warm laugh starting to break through his worn voice. "You said it yourself, didn't you? I've always known you cared about me in your own way. I'm just...surprised, that's all. I'm excited at the prospect of seeing you more often, of actually spending more time together. I just, I never thought you were interested, before. Honestly, that's the only reason I've never brought it up. I always figured I'd be bothering you...like I did when we were nymphs."

Pharynx's pensive look deepened, but his attention snapped back to Thorax. "I take it that's why the only time I ever seem to see you lately is when it's no-nonsense, hive-related business?"

Thorax donned a timid look and gave a nod, and Pharynx let out a labored sigh, giving a sweeping glance to the room full of silent, observing changelings.

"Alright, show's over," he announced, pulling himself from the tender moment and taking a few authoritative steps forward. "You all got to play a part in helping Thorax feel better, and you all got a little soap opera about terrible communication to boot. Get out of here."

The chamber echoed with resounding whines of disappointment, as every pair of compound eyes pleaded to the blue changeling in unison. To this, Pharynx slammed his hoof to the floor, garnishing calm again within seconds.

"I don't wanna hear it," he projected. "Half of you probably have somewhere else to be right now, and the other half definitely do. Of course, if you'd all like me to take a closer glance around the room and start calling you out on your slack individually, I'm game. I guarantee if any of you are on my evening patrol squad, we will be having words later, because guess what time it is?"

The crowd went silent. A few eyes darted about, and changelings began to take flight in droves. The chamber floor shook with the hum of buzzing wings, and both Thorax and Pharynx took a moment to watch the play of light now dancing along the cavern floor. As bug ponies soared past or through the sunlight permeating the windows, their wings filtered it into a spectrum of color.

Just as before, the brothers found themselves alone in a quiet void. Neither of them budged a hoof or turned their head for quite some time, the weight of their spoken words, and even those unspoken holding them in place. More than once Thorax opened his mouth in an attempt to relieve the tension, but each time he stopped, held back by his brother's far away look, and a lack of visual cues. Instead, the young monarch took to merely lifting his hoof, a nervous tick of his returning anxiety.

"...um, Pharynx?"

"Yeah, what?"

"You seem thoughtful. Are you okay?"

"Sure, let's go with that."

"Are you sure?"

"Uhuh."

"But, you-"

Pharynx turned his head, so quickly that Thorax jumped. "Don't tell me you still want to talk about feelings, Thorax. Beneficial or not, unearthing all of that nonsense is not what I signed up for, today. And I'm expected to go keep a patrol route on track after this? Swat me now."

Noting the return of his brother's typical tone, Thorax felt his composure lax, and with a chuckle quickly joined Pharynx as he set off towards the chamber's exit. "You don't have to talk about your feelings anymore today, I promise. But I do want you to know how much I appreciate you for doing it. And, you know, I think the patrols could get by for one evening without you. Why don't you take a break?"

"Not a chance," Pharynx dismissed, "we've only been working these routes for a week. They'll wind up in the dragon lands, sending me a postcard if I don't hold their hooves for a while."

"Oh come on, I'm sure they're not that bad," Thorax had begun to say, before getting shot down by a potent stink eye.

"You always seem to miss how aloof the drones can be, Thorax," Pharynx muttered. "You're always too busy fawning over how much they enjoy your sappy group activities and feelings circles."

"Feelings forums, Pharynx," Thorax corrected. "And while that might be true, by the same token I feel like you're really strict with them, maybe too often. You were really intimidating back there."

"Well someone has to put their hoof down," Pharynx replied. "It sure isn't gonna be you, not with how much you dote on them. They got away with almost anything when you were running this place alone, Thorax, because you were never firm with them."

As the pair came to a voiceless hallway, Thorax put on a grin as he awaited his brother's gaze. "Well, I guess that makes you the 'no fun' hive parent then, Pharynx."

Pharynx promptly stopped, glancing back with a newfound sneer. "Oh, I'm plenty fun. In fact, I just took up a new hobby, and you know, I think it's even funnier than making you hit yourself used to be."

Without warning the beta changeling feigned a jolting motion, as if to tackle Thorax yet again. On cue the young monarch let out a shrill gasp, giving a little jump in surprise before staring blankly back at Pharynx, who immediately fell into a fit of hysterics.

"That's not funny, Pharynx," Thorax chided, yet unable to keep himself from giggling a little as well.

"Of course it is, with one tackle I've got you completely conditioned!" Pharynx laughed. "You look like a spooked deer, Thorax, antlers and all!"

His cheeks tinting to a rose shade again, Thorax watched his broodmate closely. A playful fire in his stomach had been stoked, and this time his confidence would win out.

With Pharynx's guard dropped, Thorax took a leap of faith and charged headlong into his brother's side, bowling him over in an instant. Together the changelings tumbled to the floor, and Pharynx gave an uncomfortable grunt as Thorax fell across his chest. For a moment the two sat in a mildly stunned silence, Pharynx's shocked look only giving way when Thorax rose his head to face him.

"...did you really just do that?"

"Wow, at this angle you kinda look like the little brother, Pharynx," Thorax simpered.

His mouth flattened, and Pharynx rolled his eyes in a long, slow arc. "Oh, how original. Laugh it up, go ahead, have your moment, Thorax. It won't last long."

Thoroughly enjoying the irritable grunts he elicited by readjusting himself, Thorax ventured a brazen look. "Oh, and why's that?"

"Because while you may have more bulk than me, weight isn't everything."

Thorax cocked his head, watching that flatline become a twisted smirk. Pharynx had called his bluff, and suddenly he didn't feel so confident, anymore.

"A valiant effort, Thorax, but ultimately a pitiful attempt. We both know you don't have the strength or reflexes to keep me pinned, extra bulk or no. Allow me to demonstrate."

Even from his confined state Pharynx kicked his brother with the strength of a battering ram. Letting out another shrill gasp, Thorax was briefly made airborne before crashing down on his back. Lightheaded from the butterflies in his belly, he blinked to find Pharynx's smug grin peering down at him. The tables had turned yet again, and all too suddenly Thorax found himself back where he started.

"You said you wanted to spend more time with me, didn't you?", Pharynx began, clearly relishing the younger changeling's frazzled look. "Good, so that means I can start dragging you to combat practice in the morning. You can try and develop those twigs you call legs, and maybe someday you'll actually be able to hold me down for more than five seconds. Till then, I have to reiterate that this is way funnier than making you hit yourself."

Thorax sighed and allowed his head to fall back against the cool stone. Even with his brother's weight restricting his breaths and the jabs teasing his resolve, Thorax came to enjoy the hallway's relative peace.

When next the changeling looked up, Pharynx's face had vanished from view. Shocked, Thorax raised his head to find him, but instead found a small black nymph standing stolidly atop his chest, staring at him with frigid violet eyes. A section of the young changeling's ear was missing, and a shaggy red tail drew behind his flank, matched by a weathered fin across the back of his neck.

Even as the epiphany crossed Thorax's face, the nymph remained still as a statue, holding him captive with an expression as dark as any earthen crevice.

"...Thorax, what are you looking at?"

The young monarch blinked, and the apparition disappeared. His brother's hooves filled his view once again, and so Thorax looked up to find Pharynx keenly observing him.

By stark contrast, those violet eyes now reflected confusion, even benign concern.

"No, it's nothing, Pharynx," Thorax replied quietly, beaming at the elder changeling. "I'm just really glad you're here, is all."

Pharynx tilted his head, his concern evaporating to puzzlement. "You're...what? What's that look for? You just spaced out for a second, and now you're getting dangerously close to talking about feelings, again. What's going on with you?"

Thorax laid his head back again once more, watching the sun pass through the upper windows of the room. Though every ounce of his dignity laid surrendered, and the last of his energy had again been lost to him, he still found a reason to grin through it all.

"It's just like you said, Pharynx, time is passing by us, together," Thorax said with a goofy smile. "Even if we're doing nothing at all, I'm happy to be spending time with you. I'm sorry I didn't appreciate this, before. I guess I assumed you weren't being serious. I know better, now."

Thorax's expression lit the room all by itself, but those rays fell short of appealing to Pharynx's impartial stare. Neutral as it stayed, however, even Pharynx couldn't quite tear himself from the sight of his little brother, brimming with a contagious bliss.

"...okay, just so we're clear, I was mostly joking, before. Only you could actually find a way to sentimentalize me sitting on you for sport, Thorax."

This is an aftermath to, 'To Change a Changeling' of sorts, and was originally inspired by the artwork below, which was made by my fellow bugbro fan, RossmaniteAnzu. It was later given color and shading by another friend, LordValtasar. The art made me want to explore the nature of Thorax's relationship with his brother, and how that's changed since Pharynx's metamorphosis.

Though his personality has remained the same, I personally like to think that transforming and using shared love magic has had an emotional/mental impact on Pharynx. I like to think it's caused him to be less standoffish and cold, which has strengthened his relationship with Thorax.

You can read about this concept on my uber blog, which goes over my buggo headcanon theories.