A soft patter of rain filled the air with its soothing sound, slowly waking a certain changeling.
Groaning, Pharynx pried his head from the pillow he had buried himself in. Being inactive for such a long time left a noticeable indent in the stuffed fabric, the fluff bulging out at the sides. Luckily changelings didn’t need that much oxygen, or else he would have suffocated.
Or unluckily, depends on how you see it.
...and Pharynx saw it as unlucky.
He tried to stretch out his back and legs, stiffening as he felt another body curled up next to him. Turning his head, his eyes landed on a black figure that snuggled into the crevice between his foreleg and his carapace.
Pharynx also noticed a soft, white blanket that covered his back, tucked in tightly by his sides. Thorax must’ve done this...or was it Miss Fluttershy? I’m not sure...
Whatever...it doesn’t matter...
Sighing, he detangled himself from the wrapping cotton, his wings finally able to breathe from being under it for so long.
Has it been long? Maybe it’s only been a few hours...
He jumped onto the windowsill, grimacing as a loud clack sounded from his chitinous hooves. It was a miracle that Thorax could sleep through anything.
The window was still partially opened from the day before, gazing out at the outside world. Streaming tears of rain blurred the usually crystal clear glass, and Pharynx could feel the wet air as water collected by the open window.
...rain? Wasn’t it all sunny a few hours ago?...why does this feel early...?
...don’t tell me I slept that entire afternoon...
“...Pharynx...?” A quiet, just-barely-waking voice called out from behind, making him flatten his ears. “Do you feel better now...?”
“...’feel better’...?”
“Yeah...” Thorax yawned, his lower jaw clicking. Rubbing his eyes, he continued. “Yesterday you were feeling nauseous...I guess I fell asleep when I tried to make you comfortable...”
Pharynx stayed silent. So I did sleep that entire afternoon...great...just what I needed to feel better, thanks...I’m going to blame-
“So do you feel any better?” Thorax inquired, cutting off his thoughts. Pharynx frowned slightly, the wings along his back buzzing at an uneven pace.
“...still a little headache...but not that bad...” he said after a while. It was a lie, his head hurt like hell, but compared to yesterday?
He’d rather deal with this than that slough of agony.
Thorax gathered himself together, shaking himself awake. With a slip, he ungracefully crashed into the floorboards, making Pharynx wince.
“....’m okay!” Thorax popped up, smiling as if hadn’t just hit his head on the floor. The older changeling let it slide, as he couldn’t see any physical or emotional discomfort from the fall.
Cyan eyes seemed much more awake now, alert to his surroundings. Cocoon shards we’re gone now, though Pharynx wasn’t sure who had cleaned it up. Not that it mattered, because Thorax tugged as his hooves, dragging him down from his elevation.
“...why are you pulling me?” He asked, knowing full well he wasn’t going to like whatever answer he was going to get. Thorax was much giddier than he usually was, especially this early in the morning.
He didn’t like it.
“I don’t know why. You haven’t been downstairs since yesterday though...just please come down with me?”
The eagerness from the smaller changeling made Pharynx wince, a sudden rush of sweet, almost revolting joy washing over him. It only worsened his headache.
There was a reason why I ate disappointment...
“...I really don’t want to...”
”Pleeeeeease?” There was a begging tone to his voice, an effort to make his older brother more willing. Too bad cute, pleading voices and a....genuine...sadness....wasn’t going...
Oh for Chrysalis’ sake...
Pharynx frowned. “Fine...I’ll humor you for a second...”
A soft sigh emitted from his throat as Thorax cheered. This also made Pharynx wince, but loud noises didn’t hurt as much as the emotional overload.
Seriously, how can Thorax stay this cheerful and not get sick?
If only he could learn to weaponize those emotions...he’d probably be the strongest changeling in the hive!
Shaking his head, he begrudgingly followed his younger nymph. Their pairs of hooves clacked against the wooden stairs, off-sync steps echoed as they made their way down. He quietly listened as Thorax hummed a soft tune. He didn’t have a good sense of rhythm, but it didn’t bother Pharynx much.
It was just...nice.
“Fluttershy? Are you up?”
Rustling feathers and a few more hoof steps, a yellow mare appeared from near the living room couch. Her mane was carefully braided at her sides, seeming more visually put together than usual
“Oh, hello Thorax and Pharynx!” She smiled, her soft grin shown to the both of them. The red changeling frowned, looking away. All of his instincts told him to not trust her...or anyone, for that matter. She hasn’t done anything to warrant trust...or at least...his trust...
“Good morning, Fluttershy!” Thorax giggled, Pharynx left standing on the stairway alone. The younger changeling trotted the rest of the way down, smiling up at the Pegasus as he made his way closer. “Can we do something today? Maybe gardening?”
Fluttershy sadly shook her head. “Sorry, Thorax. It’s raining right now...I wouldn’t want you to get sick...”
“Oh...” Thorax looked down, tapping his chin. “What about something inside?...can we do things inside?” An unsure expression crossed his face, as if asking if he could do something illegal.
Which was stupid, because why would that be illegal?...
...it...it wasn’t illegal...right?
Luckily, Fluttershy nodded. “Oh! Of course, I have a few board games we could play, if that’s okay...”
“...’board games’...” Thorax parroted. Pharynx had noticed that Thorax would repeat words he didn’t know.
“Mhm...I have games like ‘Chess’...’Sorry’... ’Scrabble’...” Fluttershy mumbled a list, pulling out boxes hidden under her couch. Even from Pharynx’s stance on the stairs, he could see that most of the boxes were white, pictures of varying detail drawn of the top. He particularly liked the ones with black covers, though he wasn’t sure why.
“You can pick one! I’m sure you’ll find one you’ll like,” she placed the boxes onto the table, everything cluttered atop. Thorax stared blankly at everything, before giving a panicked look towards his older brother. A look that says ‘I don’t know what I’m doing, you make a decision.’
Sighing, he quietly stepped out of the shadows, crawling over to where Thorax and Fluttershy sat. He briefly looked over the covers, realizing that there was writing atop each one, with presumably the name of each game written on it.
“...I dunno...’Chess’...I guess...” he muttered, shoving the chosen game forward. He wasn’t even sure what the premise was, the cover just wasn’t an eyesore. That was the most important part.
Fluttershy tilted her head. “It’s a two-player game...so who wants to be the first to play?”
“Me!...if that’s okay,” Thorax said sheepishly, looking over towards his older brother. Pharynx shrugged, buzzing his wings as he climbed into one of the cushions on the couch.
“Well...okay...um, how do you play?”
Pharynx listened to their conversation, mentally keeping notes of what was the premise and what each peg on the board did.
Pawn; can move two spaces on its first turn. Only moves one space afterward, and can only travel in a straight line. Attacks at an angle.
Bishop; only moves diagonally...doesn’t sound all that useful.
Guard; moves one space, the three spaces in another direction. Weird rules...Instructors always did say Equestrian military sucked...
Rookie; Moves only in straight lines...Fluttershy said they are one of the most important pieces...they don’t sound all important...
King; the price you need to ‘checkmate’ and win. King is...useless, practically...
...Queen; can move wherever it wants...unless someone is standing in her way...
...
...I...
...never mind...
His head just took a trip and a half, internally already hating the game set forth. It didn’t matter though, it probably was a very unfortunate coincidence that happened to make his headache worse.
“...shi-“ Thorax cursed, realizing the predicament he landed himself in. Hearing his brother cursing and the strained voice of Fluttershy scolding held his attention once more, and he turned his violet eyes towards the table.
Though it had only been at max, five minutes, Thorax had found his ‘king’ cornered by Fluttershy’s ‘guards.’ Somehow, the nymph had found a way to not only get his king in a vulnerable spot, but also no other piece was left in the area to help him defend against them.
“...Thorax, how did you get yourself into this...?” Pharynx chuckled, lifting his head from his hooves. His ears stayed flattened as Thorax shot him a glare.
“...shut up, I’m not good that this..”
“I can see that.”
“I said ‘shut up.’”
Pharynx giggled, it was amusing to see Thorax frustrated. It rarely happened, but when it does, it usually full of entertainment.
Thorax sighed in defeat, begrudgingly moving a piece completely unrelated from the situation forward, allowing the feathered mare to win.
“Checkmate!” She said in triumph, before giving Thorax a comforting glance. “Don’t be too hard on yourself for this, it’s not exactly a game that’s easy...”
“You won it super easy...” Thorax mumbled.
“Well, yes, but it because I’ve played it much longer than you have. I know the ins and outs of the game. You only started today, so of course, you aren’t going to amazing at it. I promise if you keep practicing you’ll get better.”
Thorax mumbled something incoherent under his breath, sighing. He turned to Pharynx, smiling once more. “I guess it your turn, now?”
The older changeling blinked. I...was getting a turn? He tilted his head. His headache seemed to lessen its pressure, but he was still on the fence of actually playing...
“...okay...I guess...” He finally said, crawling off of the couch and swapping places with his brother. His crimson tail wrapped around himself as he patiently watched Fluttershy rearrange the pieces on the board.
“Okay...so the rules are-“
“I know,” he said bluntly, looking up. Teal eyes widened with surprise, before nodding. “So...who’s going first...?”
“I’ll let you go first,” Fluttershy smiled, waiting for him to make his first move. Pharynx only nodded, carefully examining the board in front of him. It took him a moment, but he finally decided to delicately move one of the front ‘pawns’.
He concluded that they were pretty useless, anyway.
Fluttershy quickly followed thereafter. Her moves were quick and light, barely making a sounds as he moved her piece forwards. The red nymph blinked; it took a moment to process that it was his turn already. After more deliberation, he settled on moving another one of his ‘pawns’.
Then Fluttershy moved her ‘pawns’.
Pharynx stared at her, his ears flattening. Their game became a back and forth trial, consisting of him being slow and careful and while she was quick. This went on for quite a while, both of them concentrated on the game.
He pushed his ‘rookie’ into the front lines of enemy territory. The layout of the board was fully memorized, keeping in mind every move Fluttershy could and couldn’t do. Her ‘king’ stayed still the entire game, while his was off to the side by a few spaces.
Fluttershy placed a hoof onto her ‘king’ piece, moving it forward to claim his rookie piece. Her wings fluttered at her side, anticipating anything Pharynx would throw at her.
Then, he smirked. Moving his ‘bishop’ backward diagonally, he slowly took hold of her ‘king’, placing it by his side. “...Checkmate.”
It was silent for a few moments, Fluttershy staring blankly at the chessboard. Thorax, who had been watching the game unfold, jaw dropped. With a click, he clapped his hooves excitedly.
“Pharynx!” He cheered, smiling towards his older brother. “You won!...How did you do that...?”
Fluttershy giggled after a while. “Looks like I forgot you can move backward, too. Congrats, Pharynx! Good game,” she held out a hoof. The red changeling tilted his head, his crest folding along his spine. Awkwardly, Fluttershy gestures a hoof shake with her other hoof, still with an outstretched foreleg. Pharynx hesitated, before lightly putting a hole-ridden hoof on her’s.
She smiled. “You did really well for your first time, it not every day someone wins their first chess match!”
Pharynx pulled his hooves back, looking over the finished game. All the pieces were scattered about, practically at random. White and black were mixed all across the board, almost none of them in their original place.
...except for one...
His compound violet eyes gazed down at one of his pieces. A white piece, that stood taller than the rest of them.
...the queen...
“Pharynx, are you okay?” Thorax’s high pitched voice brought him back, and he shuffled his hooves against the ground.
“...yeah...’m fine...” he murmured, rubbing his eyes. His headache returned with a burning passion, but for the most part, he ignored it. He also chose to ignore the worried looks of both Thorax and Fluttershy as he once again traded places with his brother. “...I don’t mind sitting out the next game...”
“Well...okay...” Thorax's tone was pouring will worry, but Pharynx couldn’t bring himself to care anymore. He curled up onto one of the cushions watching Thorax pick another game. “Um...what about this one? What’s it called?”
“Oh! ‘Connect Four’ is really simple.”
Watching the two of them play and talk was entertaining to some degree. Thorax getting frustrated about losing or complete confusion over concepts was amusing to watch. He always ended with a smile and a laugh though...
Flattening his ears, Pharynx curled deeper into the soft cushions. He turned away from the scene in front of him, a soft chill creeping up his spine.
The patter of rain was louder now, the sky’s tears falling harder and faster than ever...