Sacrifices Made
“Pharynx? Pharynx, wake up.”
Pharynx opened his eyes, yawning widely. “Thor? Wha’ time is it?”
“Around two in the afternoon, you fell asleep.” Thorax responded, and Pharynx closed his eyes again. A muzzle grazed his own, and he nudged it away.
“Why’d you wake me up? Something wrong?”
“W-Well, sort of…” Thorax’s worried tone made him open his eyes. “No one has seen Oculus or Pupae since they left the throne room. Capillarie and Scorpia are back in the nursery, but they haven’t seen them either.”
“And you want me to do something about it?”
“Well, you’re a great tracker so I was wondering if you could…?”
Pharynx sighed and sat up. “Fine, but only because they’re technically our subjects. No matter how stupid they are…”
“Thank you Pharynx.” Thorax said, smiling. Apex was napping in the crook of his foreleg.
“Yeah yeah, let’s just get this over with.” Pharynx opened his mouth, scenting the air. “Their scents are faint here, from when they left…”
He led Thorax out of the throne room, following the faded scents of Oculus and Pupae. Pharynx frowned, noticing it led outside the Hive. They stopped quickly for Thorax to put Apex in the nursery to finish his nap.
“They’re heading in a random direction.” Thorax said as Pharynx led him.
“No they’re not.” Pharynx looked ahead, then took off. “They’re heading for the Equestrian border.”
“What?! But-oh no, you don’t think-?”
“Let’s go.” Pharynx said briskly, leading him through the Badlands. Thorax hurried along, worried.
Soon, they reached the border, to be met with the sounds of fighting. Pharynx growled and charged out of the treeline, then skidded to a halt as he saw the scene before them.
Oculus and Pupae were ganging up on two unicorns, who the brothers recognized as the mayor of the town and his sister. Police were keeping the crowd out of the way. Pharynx swore under his breath and burst out of the undergrowth, then sprung at Oculus and Pupae.
His ferocious look seemed to startle them, as the ponies screamed, backing away. They saw him as another threat. But he ignored them, charging and knocking Oculus and Pupae away from the mayor by catching them with his antlers.
“What were you two thinking?!” Pharynx yelled, snarling at them.
“We're only doing what needs to be done, what you and your pathetic brother didn't have the skills to pull off!” Oculus shouted
“We told you not to do this for this exact reason!” Pharynx slammed a hoof on the ground, making the earth shake. “We are not at war with these ponies, leave them be!”
“We won’t stop until they agree to demolish the houses on our territory!” Pupae retorted, snarling.
“They don’t have to do anything, and you don’t have the authority to decide that! I am the General, and my brother is the King, it is only on our authority that that would ever happen!”
As Pupae continued arguing, and Pharynx retorted, Oculus glared around at the ponies watching them. What Pharynx failed to notice, caught up in yelling at the enraged female drone, was that the police of the town were inching toward them. Oculus saw them first, and his eyes widened in realization of what was about to happen.
“-You two need to learn to get your heads out of the Old Days! We can retain some methods but attacking a defenseless town is crossing the line!”
One of the police ponies raised up a crossbow, and Oculus reacted, leaping. Thorax saw it too, stumbling from the undergrowth to reach his brother.
“-You have to listen to your leaders, if we say don't attack a town, you don't attack a tow-”
“My Prince, look out!”
“Pharynx!”
Oculus shoved Pharynx backwards just as Thorax reached the group. Pharynx stumbled back, falling into Thorax's hooves as the crossbow fired. Oculus collapsed to the ground, the arrow sticking out of his side. The force of the crossbow had managed to pierce his tough chitin.
“Oculus!” Pharynx stood up, rushing to him. The drone lifted his head, a half smile on his face.
“Complete idiot of a Prince, though… h-how in Chrysalis’ name… d-did you… not see that coming…?” Oculus laughed weakly, before falling limp. His head hit the ground.
“Oculus!” Pupae shrieked, running to her mate. She looked up, snarling. “You monsters, what have you done to my mate?!”
“Pupae, calm down, please-” Thorax tried to say, but she wasn't listening.
“You killed him, now I'll kill you!” She screamed
“Pupae, you will stand down now, that is an order!” Pharynx shouted at the top of his lungs.
Everyone was silent, then, a pony screamed. It was easy to see why. Pharynx was giving Pupae a look that was unmistakably the look Chrysalis was known for. The police ponies once again raised their weapons. Pupae laughed and looked over at the brothers, eyes sharp and certain.
“Your majesties, get into the woods, I'll give you some time.”
“Pupae, no-” Thorax started to say, but she cut him off.
“Please, your majesty. Just promise me you'll look after the kids for us.” Pupae said, giving them a deep look. “Please. Our only regret would be not giving them a good family after all we did was neglect them.”
Thorax's eyes widened, but before he could protest further, Pupae had let out a battle cry and lunged. She leapt and stood over Oculus, protecting his unmoving body with her own. Pharynx grabbed Thorax and dragged him back into the trees.
They stayed in the woods until silence fell again. When they came back out, Thorax instantly began crying. Pharynx merely surveyed the scene silently.
Pupae had fallen, arrows in her side and wounds all over. She lay beside Oculus, as the mayor spoke with the police ponies. Thorax stepped forward and got the mayor’s attention. They spoke for a minute, then Thorax returned, wiping tears from his eyes.
“Well?”
“We're taking them home.” Thorax told him in a low voice. Pharynx nodded and pulled Pupae onto his back. Thorax took Oculus. Together, they bore the two back home.
Pharynx was in a numb state, eyes staring straight ahead, his hooves guiding him down the memorized path without their aid. He could barely believe what had just happened, especially one part. He watched the scene over and over again in his mind as they walked.
“They… they saved us… me… they hated me… but they still… Oculus still sacrificed himself for me… they still… called me their prince…”
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Wait a minute. Didn't Thorax and Pharynx learn of the deaths after the fact, from the ponies? Or am I missing something?
I don’t know whether to like or hate these two—
10751401
This is more of an alternate version of what happened in the sequel to Patrilineality, they saw Oculus get killed and it was implied that Pupae fell protecting him
10751407
Heh, just lil' old me stirring up conflicting emotions
10751410
No seriously though.
10751412
I mean, it's understandable
10751414
Well, I know they protected their prince, right after badmouthing him, but... would we really miss them?
10751416
Ocellus would
10751419
Well, yeah, that’s one....
10751431
And Thorax, and Pharynx, they're Thorax's subjects and even though Pharynx didn't exactly think they were helpful, he still cared about their safety
10751436
I see..
10751437
Yep
10751410
You should probably put in an author's note pointing that out. Just to avoid confusion in the future.
10751456
I thought I had already established that this story runs on a timeline separate from the Patrilineality stories?
10751464
Not really? You've said that it's not chronologically consistent with patrilineality IIRC, but I don't think alternate possibilities were ever mentioned.
10751469
Well, okay, makes sense, I should probably explain that more
oh boy, time to feel all over again
10751658
Sorry about that
Uhhhhh what how why do you make me feel bad about them!?!
10751752
Heh, sorry...cookie?
............
11485480
Haha, yeah...not as proud with the writing on these chapters