//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Homecoming // Story: Fangs and Gangs // by MlpHero //------------------------------// Pharynx walked through the many halls of the hive, glancing around the area. He watched as the subjects continued their saccharine activities. He rolled his eyes at their sappy joyfulness. He never liked the peacefulness of the hive, nor did he like the many activities Thorax had set up. Nevermind that, he decided. Today, his friends were returning from some mission in Manehattan. It was something about a hostage mare, with some ponies and griffons. He didn’t really know much about it, but he was glad they got the job done and that they would be returning sometime today. Pharynx took a whiff of the midday fresh air. He was actually happy for the first time in a while. And nothing could ever change that. “Gangway!” “Hm?” He looked behind him, to see a large wagon speeding towards him. “What the-?!” He quickly jumped out of the way of the speeding vehicle. CRASH! “Figures…” he walked over down the hall. After a while of walking, he found the crashed vehicle, along with a bunch of reformed changelings. One was a light blue changeling with a deep blue mane and blue eyes, and he eyed Pharynx. Double figures… he thought. He sighed. “First of all… how’d this even get in here? And second of all. WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!” “Uh… Venom did,” Scorchin’ Heat, a light red changeling with a deep red mane said. “Triple figures…” Pharynx face-hoofed. Hard. He looked at each of the six reformed changelings. “Why did you guys do this?!” “Well… um..” The green one, Cricket Cluster, tried to explain to him, adjusting his lighter green mane. “We-“ “How else are we supposed to carry our lush vegetation? Our hooves?!” the blue one asked. “Of course, Venom.” He sighed. “You have to unload them from the wagon after you deliver it. And why didn’t one of you hitch yourselves to the wagon?” The purple nymph, Flutterwings, tilted her head. “...What’s hitching?” “It’s—” Pharynx face-hoofed even harder. “Oh, come on! I wish Mantis was here! At least he can drive better than you guys!” “Who’s Mantis?” Flutterwings asked. “He’s a friend of mine, Flutterwings,” Pharynx responded, “and they’re all going to arrive here at any possible time now.” “Wait, who’s ‘they’?” the teal one, Spiny Spectacle, asked. “They’re my friends. The Fang Gang.” The six changelings all looked at each other. “What?” Pharynx asked. “Soooo, they’re a gang like us then, right?” a pink female changeling named Thistle Thorn asked. “Pfft! They’re way different than you!” Pharynx said. “How different?” “Well, for one; they can actually drive a wagon correctly,” he said with a smirk. Venom rolled his eyes. “Anyway, they’re also war veterans, ex-outlaws, and now, a special operations team.” “Ooooh,” they all said. “Yeah, and they’re returning from a mission in Manehattan,” Pharynx said. The teal changeling looked at the mess. “Looks like we got some cleaning up to do then.” “You don’t say,” Pharynx grumbled. “Yes you do,” Venom muttered back. “Let’s go guys… sheesh.” Pharynx sighed. He looked over to the entrance, an unexpected smile suddenly forming on his face. The Change Gang stared in disbelief. “Uh… Pharynx?” Cricket asked. “They came back!” Pharynx rushed to the entrance, leaving the Change Gang be. Venom looked over. “Uh… do we just stay here or..?” “Clean up, I guess,” Flutterwings said. “Meh. I’m gonna take a stroll for a while,” Venom said as he walked off. “Uh… okay, Venom,” Scorch said as he and the others looked at the wreckage. <•>+<•>+<•> Pharynx reached the hive entrance, where nine scarred form changelings trotted in. “Hey guys! You're back!” They looked at him and smiled. “Hey Pharynx! How’s it going?” Blue asked. “Could’ve been better.” “What’s wrong?” Kydra asked curiously. “You’ll see…” The Fangs exchanged glances. “Okay?” Broken said. They walked down the hallways for a while, and then they reached the wagon. They stared in confusion, while Mantis stared in horror and shock. “What kind of psycho would do such a thing?!” he rushed up to the damaged wagon. As if to answer his question, five changelings poked their heads up out of the wreckage. “Hey! You there!” Mantis shouted. “Woah! Chill!” the tallest of the five said. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!” Mantis picked you one of the wheels. “This’ll take weeks to rebuild!” “Okay, so we crashed a wagon! Sorry, geez.” Mantis sighed. “Bucking… j-just… Go!” He pointed away. “Go! Leave! I’ll fix it!” The green changeling of the five cowered behind the group. “Well?! Go!” Mantis yelled. The red one tried to say something again, but was cut off by Mantis. “Go on! Get! Amscray!” Mantis picked up a wheel and threw it at them. “Mantis, calm down!” Blue rushed up to the drama that was occurring. “We didn’t come here to attack anyone!” He grabbed the changeling. “Calm the buck down!” Mantis looked at him. “Like you should say something! You’re always ticked off! Especially that Rage of yours!” “Mantis!” Broken gasped. “Y’know you ain’t supposed to talk about… that!” Blue looked down. He sighed. “It ain’t Mantis’ fault… it’s… his fault.” Mantis looked at Blue again. “I-I...Sorry Blue… I didn’t mean to say that.” The five changelings kept staring. “Y’know Mant, it’s them you should be apologizing to,” Blue said, pointing to the five changelings. The green one ducked down again. Mantis lowered his head in shame. “Sorry about yelling. I’m just stressed.” Pharynx sighed. “Whatever, Mantis…” Blue looked at Pharynx. “So uh… how’s Thorax?” Pharynx looked at him. “He’s fine. Why?” “...What exactly happened while me and my friends were gone?” “...You mean when he got…” Blue nodded silently. Pharynx sighed heavily. “He… went into a coma…” Blue’s eyes widened. “W-Wha…?” Pharynx nodded again. Blue couldn’t believe it. “I…” Pharynx continued. “I wanted to save him! I did! I swear I did!” “...I know you did…”  “I thought I’d lose him… I-I remember seeing him in bed at Canterlot… he was so lifeless,” Pharynx sniffled, his composure starting to crumble. “Without him on my side, I just… I just felt so… alone, for the first time in a while,” he said. “If my brother just never woke up, I don’t know what I would’ve done.” Blue tried to hold back tears of his own. “...I… I need to be alone…” He turned away from the others and ran away. “Blue! Wait!” Kydra called out. Broken put his hoof on her shoulder. “Just let him be… he wants to be alone.” <•>+<•>+<•> Blue continued running for a while, until he’d found a wall. He sat against the wall. “Why…” he muttered to himself. “Why wasn’t I there to prevent it?” His eyes started watering up. “I could have saved him!” His eyes started glowing a sharp blue. “BUCK!” he threw a punch into the wall, breaking a hole clean through the wall. He breathed heavily. Blue sat back down before looking back at his hoof, then back at the wall. “Buck…” he muttered, tearing up some more. He then sat down against the wall and began to cry. <•>+<•>+<•> Venom walked through the hive, wondering why the Fang Gang was sent on the mission to Manehattan and not the Change Gang. “I tell ya! I could’ve done as good as the ‘Fang Gang’!” He lamented. “I can just imagine it! ‘Venom Stinger: Hero of Manehattan’! Haha!” “BUCK!” Venom jumped as soon as he heard someone shouting, followed by the sound of stone crumbling. “What the?!” He quickly ran towards the sounds. The closer he got, the more he heard the sound of crying. He continued down the hall, looking for who or what made those sounds. He ran for a few more minutes until he found a hole big enough for him to crawl through. Venom peered through the hole; the crying was obviously coming from the other side of it. He didn’t know what to do, but he strangely wanted to help. He looked through the hole again, seeing a scarred-form changeling on the other side. Okay, now he really wanted to talk to him. But first… “Alright, Venom Stinger,” he spoke to himself. He backed up to get a running start, before darting towards the hole. “It’s time for a BARREL ROLL!” Without thinking twice, he then jumped through the hole. <•>+<•>+<•> Blue sat against the wall, still crying audibly. WHAM! “What the-?!” He glanced around frantically. “Ow…” a voice uttered. He stared at the blue changeling who likely tried jumping through the hole he’d created in the wall. The reformed changeling sat up and looked at the crying scarred-form changeling. “Uhh… you alright?” Blue Fang asked, still staring at the changeling with surprise. “I was gonna ask you that, actually,” he replied. “I… uhh… I just…” The reformed leaned toward him, a huge grin plastered on his face. Blue just sat there. “I… okay, you ain’t makin’ me anymore comfortable with that look.” Venom leaned back. “Okay then I have to admit. I haven’t seen any non-reforms in like, FOREVER.” “Heheh, they all say that,” Blue chuckled weakly. He looked up to the reformed changeling. “Can’t believe I didn’t make that barrel roll, though, and the collision. MAN it hurt,” the reform said. “Er… should I get a nurse or something?” “Nah, the only thing you should get is a mouthwash. I mean, what have you been eating? A gazillion blueberries?” the reform laughed. Blue blushed. He was fully aware, and self conscious, about his blueberry tasting and smelling fangs. “Heh. Okay, I may be a blueberry, but at least I ain’t a walking blue raspberry,” he laughed back. The reformed changeling rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Blueberry, can I at least ask why you were crying?” Blue sighed again. “Y’know what happened to Thorax, right? With the… the poison?” “Everyone has.” “Well… I just wish I could’ve done something about it… like I could’a… prevented it…” “Well, what do you think you could’ve done?” “I know I would’ve taken the arrow for him. I should’ve been there.” “Pharynx wishes that too.” “I know…” Blue looked up at the reformed changeling; it was at that moment when he noticed his mane. “What the..? I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere.” “Me?” “Yeah. I feel like we’ve talked before.” Blue tried to think. “Come on… where did I see you?” Then, it hit Blue like a train. “Is your name… Venom Stinger?” The reform’s eyes widened, and then he smiled. “You got it!” “Really?” Blue asked, tilting his head in confusion. “Now it’s my turn: You’re Blue Fang!” “How in? What-? H-How’d you-?” Blue stammered. “Dude, the fangs.” “That- … Fair enough. But… when did we meet?” “I think it was um…” Blue dug through his memory. “I… think it was after my fight with Hivehunter.” “It was?” Venom lightly hit his own head a few times with a hoof, trying to think. “Oh yeah, it was!” <•>+<•>+<•> Thirteen year old Blue Fang chatted with his friends as they walked through the halls. It had been about a week or so since Blue’s fight with Hivehunter, one of the elite changelings, and he’d won said fight. This was just one of those times where he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going. While walking, he accidentally bumped into a smaller nymph, who seemed to be about ten or so. “Oof!” The smaller nymph rubbed his head. “Ow.” Blue looked down to the nymph. “Oops. Sorry.” Blue chuckled sheepishly. The nymph got up, shaking his… mane? Blue looked at him curiously. He’d never seen a changeling with a mane apart from Chrysalis herself. He carefully rubbed his mane, admiring the bright blue color.  It reminded him of a bright, shining sapphire. “Wow. Your mane is… beautiful,” Blue complimented. “Heh. Thanks. I usually get picked on for it.” The nymph looked down. “Well, we got something in common,” Blue said, smiling. He then heard his friends whispering and muttering. He turned around. “Guys?” His three main friends exchanged glances. “That wasn’t us. That was the very large crowd you have behind you,” Mantis said. Blue listened to what the crowd was saying. “Ugh. Doesn’t he know that that’s just some weird changeling in the hive?” “Why’s he talking to him?” “And why’s he complimenting his MANE of all things?” Blue gritted his teeth. “Hey! Leave’im alone!” They all looked at him. “Why? He’s just a—” “Because I SAID SO!” He violently snapped, his eyes glowing a sharp blue. The changelings that were trash-talking the nymph cowered. Some even passed out. Blue growled. “Jerks,” he said in a low, distorted voice, still growling and snarling. He turned to the nymph “You okay?” Blue asked in his normal voice. “...I guess.” He walked over to the nymph. “Sorry about all of... that. It’s a… power or something. I can’t really describe it. Anyway, what’s your name?” The nymph smiled and said, “Venom Stinger!” Stinger looked over. “Huh.” Blue chucked. “That’s a nice name. I’m Blue Fang.” “Blue Fang? Why’s that?” Venom asked curiously. “Take a wild guess.” Venom looked at him. Then he noticed Blue Fang’s… well, blue fangs. “Ah. I get it.” “Heheh. Yeah, these little fellers are special. Just like you.” He playfully booped Venom in the nose. He giggled. “Hey!” “Well, I gotta get going, Venom.” “Where are you going?” “Military Academy!” “Military Academy?” “See ya again sometime soon!” Venom watched the four changelings run off. “Bye!” he called out. “Yeah… bye.” <•>+<•>+<•> Blue looked at Venom. “Wow. It’s been so long since we’ve talked… You’ve changed a lot since then, haven’t you? Literally.” Blue chuckled at his stupid attempt of humor. “I guess I have… you still feel bad for your friend, though?” Venom asked. “Kind of.” “Don’t. None of us were able to help Thorax when he was put into a coma. What matters is that… the fact that you wanted to be there for him just shows how much you sincerely care about him.” “Yeah.” Blue looked up. “Well, I guess I better get back to the others.” Blue got up and looked at Venom. “Thanks Venom,” he said, smiling a bit. “No problem.” Blue started to walk away, but then turned around. “Hey. You wanna come meet my gang?” Venom gasped. “You mean it?” “Yeah! I’m sure they’d love to meet you!” “Then what are we waiting for?! I’ll race ya there, Blueberry!” Blue watched as Venom took off ahead. He smirked. Good thing Dag taught me how to teleport. he thought. He concentrated and then imagined where he wanted to be. Then, he found himself ahead of Venom. “Hey!” the reformed changeling called out. Blue chuckled. “Heheh! Come on Venom! If I can do this, then you can too!” Blue called back. “Don’t need to!” Venom charged up to him. Blue chuckled, before speeding up.  “Ha! Can’t beat me! Scarab trained me to do this!” “I knew Scarab too, ya know!” Venom started flying. “Well, one thing he didn’t teach us is this!” Blue teleported further ahead again. “Oh come on!” <•>+<•>+<•> Blue finally reached the others. “Hey guys!” he said, smiling. The others looked over. “Hey Blue!” Broken greeted, “you feeling okay now?” “Never better!” The other cheered and laughed. “That’s great Blue!” Kydra said, hugging him. “So what happened when you were out there?” Mitchell asked. “Well, an old friend of mine kinda cheered me up.” “Who is your old friend?” Zenex asked. Blue smiled. “His name is Venom Stinger,” he said. Pharynx’s eyes widened once he heard those last two words. The others looked at each other, especially the three originals. “You mean the changeling who wanted to be Head of Patrol?” Dagger asked. “Yeah, the one we talked to years ago?” Mantis asked. “The one you protected?” Stinger followed up. “And also the one who had that… last name?” Blue nodded. “Yep! That’s the one!” he chirped happily. “You seem oddly happy about… him,” Pharynx said. “Of course I am! I haven’t seen him ever since the day we’d gotten our ranks!” Blue smiled. “So where is he?” Zen looked around. “He’s right— here..?” Blue looked around. “I don’t understand. He was right behind me!” “I’m sure he was…” Pharynx grumbled. “He was! Venom? Where are you?” Blue called out. They saw a blue speck in the distance. Blue tilted his head. He squinted, and could just barely make out the outline of a blue reformed changeling, who waved and shouted something. “What?! Speak louder!” Dagger called out. The changeling started flying towards the group. “Should we move towards him?” Hive asked. “Or should we wait?” They continued watching as the changeling flew closer and closer. The blue reformed changeling gasped for air as soon as he finally reached the group. “Whew.” Blue chuckled sheepishly. “Heheh… maybe I teleported a bit too much.” “You think?” Blue chuckled again. “Sorry Venom.” Dagger blinked. “This is Venom Stinger?!” “Yeah! You look WAY different!” Mantis commented. “Well, your name still hasn’t changed…” Stinger muttered. “Dagger! Mantis! And… Stinger! Heheh.” Venom ran up to the three. “Hey kid!” Dagger greeted, smiling. “What’s new?” “I dunno, really.” Venom then noticed Dagger’s bandaged leg. “What happened there?” “Oh, this?” He lifted his leg. “I, uh… took an arrow to the leg.” “Yeesh. Is it from that Manehattan mission?” Venom stared at the wound. “How’d you know?” Dagger blinked. “Pharynx told me,” Venom said with a grin. “Huh. News travels fast,” Blue said. “Well, I guess Ky and Dag didn’t get their wounds from repelling down a collapsing and burning building.” “Who’s Ky?” Blue pointed over to her. “That’s her. She’s my girl.” He winked. “Ohhh, I seeeee,” Venom chuckled, before glancing at Brokenwing’s red fangs. “Let me guess, you’re Blueberry’s brother, Strawberry.” “Ha-ha, very funny,” Broken muttered. “My name’s Brokenwing, but you can call me Broken.” “Okay Strawberry, you’re broken,” Venom said. Broken rolled his eyes. “You got me there,” he said, half-smiling. Dagger was already laughing. “Haha! Oh sweet Chrysalis, why didn’t I think of that?” he said, still laughing.  Venom smiled at Dagger. Dagger smiled back. “Well, some things do change. You’re funnier now!” Dagger exclaimed. “You think so?” Venom asked. “Come on. It’s Dagger. I think we can agree that if you make HIM laugh, then you’re funnier than that pink pony,” Stinger said. “I thought anyone could be funnier than that pink pony,” Venom muttered. Blue chuckled. “Anyway. You’ve met Broken and Kydra,” he walked over to Zen and Hive. “This lil’ guy is Zenex. And this fella is Hivehunter.” “The one that Blue knocked into the wall, huh?” Hive rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever…” Zen had his eye closed and shyly smiled. “My name is Zenex...” he said quietly. Venom lifted Zen’s chin up. He smiled at him. “Hm. You look about my sister’s age. Kinda. Maybe a bit older.” “I’m uhh, thirteen…” he said shyly. “Oh, because she’s twelve.” Dagger looked over and started smiling. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Hive. “If you ship them, I’m gonna ship you to the Frozen North.” Venom looked at Mitchell. “What about you?” “I’m Nightbi— I-I mean… Mitchell,” he stammered. “Mitchell, huh?” “Yeah, why?” “What were you about to say the first time?” “It’s… nothin’...” he said, looking at his wooden leg. Soon, a bunch of other reformed changelings came. “There you are, Venom,” the tallest of the group said, “who are these guys?” “Scorch! Flutterwings! Cricket! Spiny!” The Fangs looked at the changelings. “Who are they?” Blue asked. “They the siblings you told me about?” “Mhm!” Venom looked back at his siblings and asked, “Where’s Thistle?” He asked Scorch. “She should be here in a few minutes,” he responded. “Okay,” Venom said, looking back at the Fangs. “These are my siblings.” The Fangs smiled and greeted the four reformed changeling changelings. Scorch came up to Broken. “Hello, Mister,” Scorch greeted with a smile. “Hello. Scorch was it?” Broken asked with a smile. “Mhm.” Broken nodded. “Brokenwing. Nice to meet you, Scorch.” Broken reached his hoof out for a hoof-shake. Scorch shook it with a smile. “Sorry about earlier. Y’know, with Mantis and the wagon,” Broken apologized. “It’s okay, I guess.” Scorch chuckled. Zenex peered from behind Hivehunter. He looked at the purple nymph. She looks so familiar. “Uhh, Hive?” he asked shyly, “can I go… talk to her?” he pointed to the nymph. “Hm? Oh sure, she looks nice.” “Okay… I’ll try.” He closed his green eye and slowly trotted over to her. “H-Hi…” he said. She looked over to him. “Hi,” she greeted with a smile. He sorta looked down. “What’s your name?” he asked. “Flutterwings.” I know I’ve heard that name somewhere. Zen thought. “Uhh, my name is Zenex,” he said, quietly. “Hi Zenex… uh, do you have something in your eye?” He looked away. “I… I…” he quickly darted behind Hive. “I don’t think I’m ready yet…” he whimpered at him. Hive smiled. “Let me try.” Hive trotted over to Flutterwings, with Zen closely behind him. Flutterwings frowned. “Sorry, Zen… I-I didn’t mean to-” “It’s okay, miss. He’s just a little shy,” Hive said with a smile. Flutterwings eyed Hive, looking curious. “My name’s Hivehunter; Hive for short,” he greeted. “...Hi,” she said, starting to smile again. “What’s your name?” Hive asked, smiling. “Flutterwings.” “That’s a nice name, miss Flutterwings,” Hive said. “‘Miss?’” She tilted her head in a confused manner. “Just being nice,” Hive said. He looked at Zen. “Well? Come on Zen, if I can do it, then you can too.” Zen nodded and stepped up. “Sorry about running away like that…” he apologized. “It’s… okay,” she said, adjusting her mane. “Um… I think your mane is beautiful…” he said, softly. “Thank you…” Hive smiled at the sight. “See, you two’ll make great friends.” Dagger snickered a bit. Hive glared at him. “Don’t you dare, Dagger.” “Whatever.” Hive looked at Flutters and Zen. Flutterwings was grinning at him. “Uhh, kid? You alright?” Hive asked. “Heh. I’m good.” “Uhh, okay?” Blue smiled. His gang was making new friends. He then looked over to a green changeling, who was nervously brushing a hoof on the ground. He smiled and walked over to the changeling. “Hello,” he greeted the nervous changeling. “...Hi.” “What’s your name?” Blue asked, smiling. “Cricket Cluster.” “That’s a nice name. I’m Blue Fang, nice to meet you,” Blue said smiling. Cricket smiled softly. “You’re a bit shy, huh?” Blue asked. “Zen is, too.” Cricket looked up. “Zen?” Blue nodded. “Yeah, he doesn’t talk much to anyone other than us.” Blue looked over to the nymph. “Now he seems to be getting along with your sister.” Cricket looked over to Flutterwings and Zenex, who were talking to each other. Soon enough, a tall green changeling came in, along with a pink reformed changeling. Blue looked over to them and ran over. “Thorax! I’m so sorry!” he said, hugging the tall changeling. Thorax looked down in surprise. “Blue? What’s the matter?” Blue looked up. “I’m sorry about not being there for you! I should’ve… should’ve…” he tried not to start crying again. “Aw, Blue…” Thorax looked down and stroked his head. “It’s okay Blue.” Blue looked up. “I… I… I just wish I could’ve been there for you… I made a promise to you… and I broke it…” “I understand...” Thorax said reassuringly. Blue nodded a bit and stepped back a bit, wiping his tears away. Thorax looked to the others. “What’s going on, guys?” Venom Stinger confidently strode up to him. “Well, we met these guys right here,” he pointed to the other nine changelings. “You know them, right?” Thorax nodded. “Of course! They’re the Fangs! We’re friends.” “Since how long ago?” “Well, ever since…” he looked at Blue, who nodded. “Well ever since Blue let me leave after the Canterlot invasion.” Venom’s eyes bulged to the size of saucepans. “What?” Blue nodded confidently. “Yep. I helped him leave the hive.” “Why though?” “We’re brothers. That’s what we do.” “They let them go out into the world? Leaving them at the hooves of—” he gasped for a moment “—ponies?” “Yep. Pretty much.” Blue looked at Broken, who smiled and nodded. “Oh, and speaking of ponies, guess who Broken scored a date with?” Venom just froze there. Thorax lit up. “Who?” Blue smiled. “That mare we saved. Her name’s Rose Petal. And Broken got a date with her tomorrow!” Blue cheered. Venom eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. He never thought he’d hear a changeling, and one from a group of supposed “heroes” no less, dating a pony! A pony! Not that he hasn’t heard of changeling and pony couples, but— “Venom?” He snapped out of his daze. “Y-Yeah?” “Aren’t you proud?” “Uhh… Yeah! Yeah… I-I guess..?” he lied. “You’re not a very good liar, you know?” Venom forced a grin. “Heh… heh.” Blue smirked. “I’ve dealt with rats before, Venom. At least try to sound believable.” He looked at him.  “What’s wrong with Broken being with Rose?” “Did Thorax tell you about all the painful experiences he had with ponies? Especially the ones who called him evil?” Blue nodded. “But he forgave them. And that was before he reformed.” Venom raised an eyebrow. “I mean, just look at me. Don’t I look just a bit creepy and evil?” “...No.” “Well, you’re also a changeling, so of course, I’m not creepy. But to ponies, I still get the whole ‘don’t eat my love and take my family’ thing.” “Didn’t you see how gullible Shining Armor was at the wedding though?” Pharynx blinked at Venom. “Dude! You weren’t even there!” “The changelings who were there told me about it,” Venom said with a grin. “Well, he ain’t wrong, though,” Mantis said. “While I was sneaking around in the castle before the wedding, I was literally able to get access to Cadence’s room by being a fake guard. And he believed me!” Venom laughed. “Yeah! And don’t get me started on how obvious it was that Cadence was actually Chrysalis! She gave some of the most obvious signs and he passed it up like it was a stray cat. So did those five other ponies!” “Yeah, and so did princess Sun Mare!” Dagger brought up. Broken listened to what everyone was saying. He wasn’t sure if he should scold them, or laugh with them. He was thinking about Rose… He looked at the ground, his lower jaw trembling. He took a breath and looked at the others. Before walking away. Blue looked over to his brother. Oh no. Did we… hurt his feelings? He followed his older brother. “Broken?” The red-fanged changeling looked over. “Yeah..?” “You okay?” “I… I guess…” he murmured. Blue sat down by his brother. “Did we… hurt you..?” he asked. Broken looked at him. “A bit…” he admitted. Blue looked down. “Was it… what we said?” Blue asked, shamefully. Broken sighed heavily. “Please… tell me,” Blue pleaded with his brother. “Well, uh…” “It’s Rose… isn’t it?” “Mhm. Blue looked at him. “You’re nervous about meeting her, aren’t you?” he asked. “It’s just…” “Yeah?” Blue waiter for his brother to speak. “I kind of am, actually. I mean, ponies are one of the many creatures that have feared our species.” “But, we’ve changed. And while we may not be reformed, it's what’s on the inside that matters. You’re a good bug, and an even greater brother. She’ll love you.” Blue rubbed his brother’s back. “But Venom and the others—” “Look. Not every pony’s the same. Sure, some ponies are… Y’know. But, maybe she’s different.” Broken smiled. “Thanks Blue. I hope you’re right.” He embraced his brother. Blue smiled back and returned the embrace. “No problem. Now, do you wanna go talk with the others?” “Okay.” <•>+<•>+<•> The two brothers walked back to the others. Blue noticed that two certain changelings were gone. “Where are Pharynx and Hive?” Thorax noticed Blue. He waved his hoof. “They’re in the sparring pit. Again…” Blue rolled his eyes playfully. “Of course.” Venom perked up. “Sparring pit?! Why didn’t tell us you had a sparring pit, Thorax?!”  “Well—” “Pharynx vs Hive?! That I’ve got to go see!” Blue chuckled. “Well, come on. Let’s go watch these two beat the crap outta each other for the fifteenth time this week.” They ran to go and see. They finally reached the pit just in time to see Pharynx get kicked into a wall. Hard. Venom grinned. Pharynx got up and lunged at his opponent, tackling him. The two struggled for a while. “How long have they been at it for?” Venom asked. Stinger looked over. “About fifteen minutes, a new record.” Stinger chuckled, writing something down on a nearby chalkboard. They continued to watch the two go at it. Venom especially watched with wide eyes. Soon, Hive suddenly used his back legs to kick Pharynx off of him, knocking him into a nearby wall. The latter got back up. They began going back at it, seeming to forget that they were simply sparring. “Uh, guys?” Blue called out. Broken looked at them. “Alright! Game! Hive wins!” he called out. The two opponents stopped, breathing heavily. “Again?” Pharynx panted. Hive chuckled. “That makes my victory total one hundred and thirty six! That’s fifteen more than you!” Pharynx looked down, groaning in annoyance. “Yeah, yeah… I’ll beat ya next time.” “Aw, don’t worry about it, Pharynx,” Blue said reassuringly. “Let me give you some advice. Don’t fight a battle you can’t win. And also,” he leaned to Pharynx’s ear. “Make sure you kick Hive into a wall,” he whispered. “Heyyy!” Hive pouted. “To be fair, you did YEET Pharynx over a table,” Dagger pointed out, much to Hive’s dismay. Blue turned back to Pharynx. “I have to say, you were impressive.” “Heh, thanks.” Pharynx scratched the back of his head. Dagger nodded. “Yeah! Keep that up and you could catch up with Hive!” The others began to talk about Pharynx. “I have to say, Pharynx, you were still a natural back there,” Broken said. “Yeah!” Blue agreed. “Wouldn’t you say Venom?” He turned around, only to see no sign of the reformed changeling. “Venom?” The others looked around. “What’s wrong, Blue?” Broken asked. Blue looked around. “Have you guys seem Venom?” “He was just here, wasn’t he?” Hive scratched his head. Blue shrugged. “Guess I’ll go look for him.” Blue trotted off in search of the reformed changeling.