//------------------------------// // Festivities // Story: Peace at Last Side Stories: the Trials and Tribulations of King Thorax // by Prince_Staghorn //------------------------------// Six Years After Metamorphosis It was autumn, and that meant two things for the Aos Sí. First, it meant that they would be sharing their annual feast with the Samsa. The feast would be laid out, containing various dishes of Equestrian origin, as well as those the Aos Sí had developed (mostly consisting of edible desert plants and arthropods), and the egg-like fungi which the Samsa grew, and both races would eat, dance, and celebrate the passing of another year. However, autumn was also the time to go and collect Dust Devil eggs, which would be more difficult to find than if they had been looking for Skyreapers. The maggots of normal-sized robber flies normally preyed on the grubs of wood-boring beetles, and so the parents deposited their eggs onto trees. However, the Skyreapers lived in a world devoid of both trees and beetle grubs sufficiently large enough to feed their young, and so laid their eggs in soft earth, which the maggots then burrowed through, looking for digging arthropods to feast on. Most of the Skyreapers who lived near the kingdom laid their eggs nearby, having learned the colorful equines would dutifully feed both them and their young when needed, though they still hunted for themselves for the most part. The Dust Devils, meanwhile, differed little from their smaller ant lion cousins. After spending several years as terrifying predators lying in wait at the bottom of their pits, they formed a cocoon and emerged one month later as harmless, dragonfly-like adults. These would spend the next 25-45 days mating, after which the eggs of the next generation would be laid, and the adults would die. This meant trips to replenish Dust Devil eggs would be infrequent in the kingdom of Sídhe (indeed, this was actually the first time it had occurred), but needed to be done nonetheless. A few Dust Devils remained in their larval stage, but the majority had already sprouted wings and headed towards the deeper part of the desert. Unlike the Skyreapers, who stayed near the Aos Sí because the equines attracted food and kept them well-fed, the Dust Devils had no ties to their masters. The fact that many adult Dust Devils were slaughtered and eaten by the Skyreapers didn't help. With this in mind, Thorax led a scout party consisting of a few guards and a pair of Samsa guides into the Badlands. *** 6 hours had passed, and the amount of eggs they had collected numbered 20. Thorax was determined to get a few more before heading back home, and this patch of desert looked promising, consisting of soft sand and grit. However, the two Samsa guides were whirling their antennae and chittering frantically. One of them pointed at the chasm nearby. "A very bad inside that. A very bad and come up to eat a friend. Eat a friend and screaming and blooding it does for long." Thorax paused. "Captain Hymenoptera, we're going back. 20 is enough for today." The captain of the Sluagh Sídhe nodded, giving the signal to head back... when one of the Samsa suddenly screeched. The scouting party turned. Rising slowly from the chasm was a massive purple beast. It was somewhat worm-like, but had a pair of fleshy antennae which moved slowly, matching the speed at which the creature moved on its fleshy, stubby legs. Its eyes were tiny, and under its head were a pair of strange, organic nozzles. The entire scouting party had enough experience to recognize what it was. A Phlegmipede. A massive, desert dwelling relative of the jungle-loving Velvet Worms, and one of the largest natives of the Badlands. Even the daredevil Skyreapers and tempramental Ladytanks avoided Phlegmipedes. The beast paused, lifting its head and aiming its nozzles, and Thorax gave the command to retreat as a rope of sticky glue shot from each side of the creature's head. One Samsa was caught, stuck to the ground, screeching at them, urging them to keep running. Thorax hesitated, but the other Samsa guide gently headbutted him, urging him onward. "Now! Be going now or the very bad will eat a friend!" Thorax couldn't move. The Phlegmipede was slowly moving towards its trapped prey... and there was nothing he could do. Tears in his eyes, the king led the survivors to safety. *** For Thorax and the Aos Sí who had been in the scouting party, the feast was no time for celebration. The surviving Samsa had moved on, seemingly forgetting his friend had died, and was now dancing with the others. Ah, to possess such blissful, optimistic ignorance! Thorax envied the insect, and contemplated if there was any more he himself could have done to possibly save the doomed guide. As he watched the spinning multitude of the dead individual's kith and kin, he came to the grim realization. ...No. There wasn't anything he could have done. If they had stayed, they would have all been captured and eaten at leisure by the slow-moving predator. The Samsa was not the first either. Guards and civilians alike had taken casualties from both predators and disease, though the latter was less common. This was one of those "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" things he had read about, a difficult but necessary choice. It was still unfair, though. Being king meant making sacrifices, and that was one of the hardest and most painful lessons to learn. He stood once the feast was over and the Samsa had left. All eyes turned to him when he began speaking. "My subjects. My friends. My family. Today is a time of remembrance, and I would be remiss if I did not call attention to this fact. Six years ago we emerged as the start of a new race and a new kingdom, and here we stand six years later, a thriving community! However, we must also remember those who we have lost to make this dream come to life. I make my own sacrifices to ensure the good of this kingdom, but they are nothing in comparison to the sacrifices made by those who have put their life on the line and beyond to ensure I could. I will admit this- it is painful for me to consider what happened to them, and I wish I could have done more to protect them..." "But let us not be sad! Let us honor our fallen brothers and sisters, whether they met their fate by predator or illness, and be joyful! After all, nothing ever got done by sulking, right?" Silence. Then a few scattered claps, swelling into a full-on applause. Thorax sighed in relief. The speech had helped some, and now maybe he could sleep a little easier.