“Yeah, cut the greetings. We know,” Pharynx replied bluntly, side-eyeing Spike from up on the desk. The dragon pursed his lips, grimacing.
“Oh, please don’t tell me you aren’t an Angel 2.0...” he whispered, to which Pharynx huffed.
“I’m offended you even compare me to it.”
“Pharynx...don’t be rude...” Thorax mumbled, feeling the rising tension of the situation. It was subtle, but still there nonetheless. “Um...Mister Spike-“
“Please, just call me Spike,” he sighed, smiling towards the cyan changeling. “‘Mister’ makes me feel old.”
“A-ah, I’m sorry-“
“No need to say sorry,” Spike swung the backpack off his shoulders, taking a small scroll out. “Twilight made a list of things we could do while they are gone for the week, so if you guys are interested...”
Thorax slowly exited under the table, hearing Pharynx clacking hooves as they hit the ground. “Um...what does it say...?”
Mumbling, the dragon ran his eyes along the surface of the paper. “Number one...breakfast....have you guys eaten already?”
Loud stomping and growling could be heard, and Spike turned an exasperated face towards Angel Bunny. “Fine. I’ll get you a carrot. I’ll be right back...”
Thorax silently watched as the dragon descended another set of stairs, one he didn’t realize was there. Tentatively, he picked up the dropped scroll from the floor, levitating it with cyan magic.
Letters were sprawled out in rows, but everything was jumbled and illegible. Biting his lip, he turned to Pharynx. “Pharynx, you know how to read Ponish...right?”
“Mhm. Why?”
“How...? How do you read any of this...?”
“Simple. You pay attention in class-“
“Oh shut up,” Thorax playfully pushed against Pharynx’s shoulder. His older brother snickered, holding in a laugh as the cyan changeling stuck his tongue out.
Both became quiet once more as Spike came stumbling up the steps. A lone carrot was held in his claws as he tossed it towards the awaiting rabbit. Angel quickly grabbed and chew the orange root, and Spike turned towards the pair of nymphs.
“So...Twilight said you guys feed on emotions so...I assume you guys have eaten?”
Thorax nodded, crouching behind Pharynx. His insect-like wings buzzed in nervous energy, and the dragon sighed.
“So...” looking over the list, he continued. “Breakfast, check....how about we get to know each other? A fun ice breaker, if you will.”
The youngest of the group tilted his head, pressing up against Pharynx’s side. “...ice..?”
Violet wings buzzed, and Pharynx groaned. “Get on with it...it’s not like we have anything better to do...”
Spike strained a smile, looking at both nymphs. He pulled out a set of cards, all of which had writing on it. “Twilight wrote down some questions we could all ask each other, fifty questions in all. I think we can get through all of them....”
“Um...” Thorax drew air circles into the ground, nervously clicking his jaw. “...can we skip over some questions if....”
The dragon gazed sympathetically towards the nervous nymph. “Sure, we can skip if some questions make you uncomfortable.”
Sighing with relief, Thorax sat comfortably on his haunches. Laying his upper body onto the wooden floor, he watched the purple dragon pull out pieces of parchment. The fluttering of paper made his ear twitch, and the changeling patiently waited for Spike to start.
“Let’s see...‘what is your favorite food?’”
Pharynx raised an eyebrow. “That’s an odd first question...”
“Twilight wrote this, not me,” Spike pointed out, giving a series of taps on the hard wooden floor. “Since I suggest this first, I’m going to start. My favorite food would be either be pancakes or sapphires. Both taste really good!”
The cyan changeling lifted his head, thinking. “Um...I like fish...” he mentioned quietly, rubbing his hooves together. Is that a weird thing to say? He wondered.
If it was, the dragon made no note of that. Instead, he turned to the older changeling. Pharynx rolled his eyes, sighing.
“...I usually eat optimism and joy...but I also sometimes indulge in a little bit of disappointment...” he muttered, looking away. Thorax gave him a surprised look.
“Wait what-“
“Next question,” Pharynx placed a hoof to Thorax’s snout, shutting him up. Thorax gasped, offended.
Spike chuckled, turning back to the litter of paper. Picking up another piece of parchment, he read aloud. “‘When where you born?’”
“Um...I don’t know...” Thorax looked over to his older brother, to which the crimson nymph shrugged. “We changelings don’t keep track...”
The dragon seemed surprised, raising his eyebrows and pursing his lips. “...well...I was born on exactly on the third moon of the year, so I’m twelve!” He smiled, proudly puffing his chest out. Both changelings rolled their eyes, but for fairly different reasons. The cyan nymph chirped with amusement, while red and violet grump huffed.
“Ehehe...” the wingless dragon smiled awkwardly, picking up another piece of paper. “Oh! This one I wrote. ‘What is the scariest thing you’ve experienced?’ I’ll go first-“
Thorax tuned out what the dragon said, looking onto the ground. Scariest thing...? He wondered, tapping his hooves together. The instructors yelling at me was scary but...I got used to it...Would being visited by the Queen count? I don’t know...
The other nymphs...? No...I know there was something else...
Why can’t I remember?
“Thorax? You there?” A light tapping against his head brought him back to reality. Blinking, he turned his head towards Pharynx, though he wasn’t paying attention all that much.
“Huh?”
“You were kinda spacing out...”
“O-oh...I was just thinking....um...next question?”
Pharynx looked over him worriedly, pushing against his shoulder with one hoof. Beside them, Spike set down the pieces of paper.
“I don’t think we are going anywhere with this...” he said out loud. “How about a different game? Two truths one lie, anyone?”
This got more of a reaction out of Pharynx. “I’ve actually played this one...though I might need a refresher on the rules.”
“My pleasure!” Spike's frown quickly turned back into a toothy smile, and Thorax couldn’t help but smile. Everyone is happy and no one was getting mad...anymore...
“...wait when did you play-“
“So!” Spike spike loudly, cutting off Thorax’s question. “Two truths one lie is a game where you tell two truths about yourself and one lie. If others can guess which one is the lie, they get a point. If we choose the wrong one, you get a point. Simple, right?”
The cyan changeling tilted his head, nodding. The dragon clapped his claws together, eager to start. He stood onto his legs, standing taller than the sitting changelings.
“So...here is my list. I have lived with ponies my entire life, I was born when my egg fell into a chimney, and have eaten only five kinds of gems.”
Pharynx tapped his chin. “...I don’t know enough about dragons to know if the second one is false. Do dragons need high temperatures to hatch?” The crimson nymph turn towards his younger brother, to which Thorax shrugged helplessly.
“Well...seeing as you live with ponies now...I don’t think you could’ve lived anywhere else. The last one seems a bit too specific to be false...so I’m going to go with the second one.”
Eyes were turned onto Thorax, who shrunk under the gazes. “Um...” he twirled his hooves nervously, “I’m going to go with Pharynx’s answer....”
Spike pouted. “Alright, fine, piggyback off of each other’s answers, why don’t you? You are right, I didn’t hatch in a chimney. Twilight used magic to hatch me ask a school exam.”
Thorax scrunched his nose. “That sounds even worse.”
“Eh. Okay...” he thought about it, before pointing towards the cyan changeling. “Thorax! It’s your turn.”
The changeling squeaked, suddenly thrown into the spotlight. He clicked his jaw, compound eyes darting across the room. “Um...u-um....” he tapped against the ground, his whole body was vibrating with nervous energy. “....I have blue eyes...I’m a changeling...and I’ve been burned...”
Sweet Queens...this is terrible! Pharynx is right when he said I’m bad at lies...
Spike laughed. “Well, you got the right idea, Thorax, but you need to make it-“
“Your eyes are cyan,” Pharynx deadpanned.
“...wait what?”
“The lie was that his eyes were blue,” the crimson nymph continued, tapping a hoof against the wooden floor. “Plus, I was there to witness him getting burned so...”
“Sweet Celestia!” Spike cried out, looking over towards the cyan nymph. “Are you okay?”
“O-oh I’m fine!” The changeling quickly reassured, the clicking becoming faster. “It was a while ago...”
“That doesn’t make it okay!”
“It...it’s fine...you don’t need to worry! I promise!” A panicked edge in his voice leaked into his sentence, and Thorax could only hope Spike didn’t pick up on it.
“But-“
“Hey, can I get my turn?” Pharynx piped up, flattening his ears. His crest pulsed against the back of his neck and Thorax was never so grateful for his older brother’s intervention than he was now.
Spike cast a worried glance over towards Thorax but nodded. Pharynx gave a realized chirp, deep into thought.
“Hm...I’m one of the youngest nymphs in my generation, I’ve killed another changeling, and....saving Thorax’s behind is a full-time job,” at the last one Pharynx smirked, to which the cyan changeling face hoofed.
“Sometimes I wonder why you are my brother...”
The tension built up quickly melted away as every creature laughed. Spike giggled into his claws while Thorax mildly chortled. He smiled at his brother, rolling his eyes.
“Well, I know which one is the lie, but I’m going to let Spike guess,” Thorax stated quietly, turning a smile towards the small dragon.
He rolled his emerald eyes, sighing. “Wow, okay...thanks,” he said in a sarcastic tone, and Thorax winced slightly. “If I had to take a guess...I would say you killing someone was the lie.”
Pharynx sighed. “Alright fine, you win. I haven’t killed anyone...yet.”
“Please never kill anyone...” Thorax quietly whispered, pulling at his under lids.
“I don’t make promises.”
Spike snorted, grinning a toothy grin at both of them. His smile was genuine, nothing like the sinister grins he had grown up with for the better part of five years.
“My turn again!” Spike enthused, rethinking his list. The young changeling smiled.
Perhaps things won’t be so bad...