Teal eyes fluttered open as she heard the singsong voice of the birds. Fluttershy stretched her wings, feeling them cramp and ache.
She froze when she felt a small body move against her chest. Looking down, Thorax nuzzled into her feathers, still sleeping. His soft snores were barely audible, his breath ruffling her wing feathers ever so slightly.
Tilting her head, she saw Pharynx just to the right. The older changeling was awake, cleaning up the mess on the floor.
“Oh...um Pharynx don’t use your hooves,” Fluttershy winced as she saw small cuts that lined the changeling's chitinous hooves.
Buzzing his wings, the colorful nymph gave her a confused, skeptical glance. Before he could continue with the glass on the floor, she moved from her position with a flap of her wings. She was relieved when Thorax's head simply moved to his forearms, still fast asleep.
“Here,” she picked up the fallen broom from the floor. “You are supposed to use this so you don’t hurt yourself, see?”
Placing the dustpan on the floor, she began to sweep the shards. Pharynx watched intently, rubbing his hooves. Once all the shards were picked up, she tossed them into the trash can.
“There, now hold out your hooves so I can clean them.”
He hissed, bringing his bleeding hooves towards his chest. The winged mare sighed, pulling out her First Aid kit. “Hold out your hooves,” she said much more sternly. Reluctantly, Pharynx held them out, bracing himself for the sting.
Sure enough, he grimaced as the alcohol wipe gently brushed along his cuts. Any stray pieces of glass were swept up, leaving behind newly cleaned wounds.
With another flat bandage, Fluttershy expertly wrapped his hooves it, sealing it shut.
Taking his hooves back, he gingerly began to step on them. Climbing her bed, Pharynx prodded at his little brother’s shoulder.
“...go ‘way....” Thorax mumbled sleepily, curling himself into a ball.
The winged mare chuckled, her wings fluttering at her sides. “Aww come on, bedbug, the suns up!” She cooed, her voice soft.
“Nooooooooo.”
She smiled, looking over towards the older nymph. “Let him sleep,” she whispered. “We’ll surprise him with breakfast.”
Skeptically, Pharynx stopped prodding. Slowly, he slid himself off the bed, trailing behind her. Fluttershy took her door handle and clicked it shut, trotting down the stairs.
“C’mon! I’m sure Thorax will love breakfast in bed.”
“You guys didn’t have to do that...” Thorax said sheepishly, his wings buzzing. “A good wack behind the ear and we would’ve been good...”
“Yeah and I swore off of doing that,” Pharynx muttered, a sardine still hanging from his jaw. Then he snapped up the fish, demolishing it within seconds.
Fluttershy smiled towards both nymphs. “We thought we’d give you an extra minute or two to sleep, you did have a rough night...”
The cyan changeling shook his head, leaping down from the bed. His wings buzzed as he cushions his fall, landing clumsily onto the wooden floor.
“Um...are you doing anything today, Fluttershy?”
“No...I don’t have anything planned, what do you two do while I’m away?”
Both nymphs looked at each other, Pharynx awkwardly coughing. Thorax flattened his ears. “...sometimes we draw...”
“Oh!” Fluttershy wings flapped. “What do you draw?”
Thorax gave a shy grin. “Um...Pharynx draws really good but...I kinda just...scribble...”
She giggled, rubbing his head affectionately. “Anything else you guys do?”
Silence. Thorax looked away, shuffling nervously. A blur of purple and cyan wings buzzed as both changelings silently admit that they did absolutely nothing.
“Oh...”
The three of them sat awkwardly around the living room. Fluttershy tapped her chin, thinking. The cyan changelings twitched his wings against his carapace, and Pharynx flicked his crimson tail back and forth.
Then a light bulb went off.
“I think you’ve been cooped up in the cottage for too long,” The winged mare started, rising onto her hooves. “Why don’t we get some fresh air, hm?”
The young changelings sat with a perplexed expression. “Don’t we...always...get fresh air...?” Thorax asked, his ears flattened against his head.
The winged mare shook her head, giggling at their obviousness. “No, silly. I mean go outside, have some fun!”
“But-“
“Oh, I mean just outside my cottage, we aren’t going to town.”
“...okay...”
With a flutter of her wings, she clapped her hooves. “There is a stream just behind my house, we can go there for the day! How does that sound?”
Biting his lip, Thorax looked over towards Pharynx. The older nymph narrows his eyes but sighed, and the cyan changeling clicked with delight.
Bouncing onto his hooves, he grinned at the winged mare. He buzzed his wings in excitement, and Fluttershy couldn’t help about keep an adoring grin.
Sighing, the colorful changeling got up as well, following them both as they opened the front door.
Walking along the unmarked path, she lead the two changelings down towards the stream. Well...lead one of them, as Thorax perched himself onto her back. She didn’t mind, unfurling her wings slightly to make a barricade he couldn’t fall out of.
“It’s really bright,” Thorax commented, looking to the sky. The clouds were arranged in a streak pattern and Fluttershy wondered briefly if it would rain at all.
“Mhm, lovely weather...I do hope the Weather Factory doesn’t do anything silly,” she sighed. With her limited knowledge, she really didn’t know what to expect.
“Wait...you guys control the weather?”
“...yes...?”
“Huh,” Thorax frowned. “I thought the weather moved on its own...”
“Perhaps where you used to live, but here in Equestria the pegasus’s that worked in the Weather Factory decided the forecast.”
The nymph hummed, taking in the new information. While he busied himself by letting his mind wander, Fluttershy turned towards Pharynx.
“Pharynx? You okay?”
The colorful changeling snapped his head around, flattening his ears. With a buzz of his wings, he nodded, kicking out his bandaged hooves.
“Hm...well, we are here!”
Thorax broke out of his thoughts, looking over her shoulder. In front of them was a large stream that ran over a stony bottom, the water clear as crystal. A wave a cool air washed over them, and the changeling slowly got off of her back.
Tentatively, he stepped towards the stream, placing a hoof into the water. He yelped, jumping back. “It’s cold!”
Giggling, Fluttershy stepped into the cool water. “It’s supposed to be! Nice and refreshing, right?”
Thorax pursed his lips, slowly stepping into the water. Rushing water ran over their hooves, and the changeling began to relax.
Playful, Fluttershy splashed the little changeling. Droplets of water sprayed onto his hooves and chest, and Thorax stiffened.
Before long, he began to laugh. Buzzing his wings, the changeling splashed back, dousing her with water.
She shook out her mane, now hanging limply as the cool riverwater dampened her pink locks. Her wings fluttered as a small bead of water dropped down her sides, and Fluttershy giggled.
The winged mare turned her head towards Pharynx, who sat quietly at the banks. He watched the two playfully splash, shuffling his hooves against the dirt and mud.
Thorax smiles towards his brother. “C’mon, Pharynx,” he called, buzzing his wings as the cyan changeling splashed towards the bank. Violet eyes averted as Pharynx dipped his head. “It’s fun!”
He hissed quietly, waving his bandages hooves as a ‘no’. The younger nymph rolled his cyan eyes, before quickly dragging Pharynx into the stream. Yelping, he tried to drag himself from the water.
Not one this changeling’s watch.
Thorax tackled his older brother, rolling around in the water. Fluttershy gasped, splashing over towards the brothers. Before she could intervene, however, a pinned Pharynx grinned and hissed.
“Oh, I see how it is.”
With a flash of green magic, Pharynx had disappeared. The winged mare watching became confused, until she a lone rainbow trout swimming through the reeds.
Jumping in the air, the fish quickly turned back into the familiar nymph. With his wings propelling him, he similarly tackled Thorax, flipping the smaller changeling onto his carapace.
Pharynx breathed in deeply before a laugh rattled from his throat. Fluttershy was astounded. She had never heard the defensive changeling laugh, it was almost melodic.
It was a quiet, sweet giggle, almost as soft as a bird's chirp. The completely genuine smile that stretched across his face made her heart warm and swell.
Thorax let out a cheer, feeling accomplished. Pushing his hooves against Pharynx’s belly scutes, he got onto his hooves. Both changelings were completely drenched in the cool river water, but both smiled at one another.
With a warm smile, Fluttershy watched the nymphs play. The sound of cheerful chirps and clicks were music to her ears as the sun rises higher into the sky.
The day had only just begun.