Something is Off
Fluttershy hummed as she moseyed off her couch, yawning as the new daylight greeted her. The sun rises from beyond the horizon, streaking the blackened sky with orange and purple.
Stretching her back out and fluttering her wings, she unlatched her locked window. Cool, fresh wind brushed against her face, and she welcomed the bird's song through her ears.
Humming back, she greeted a small pigeon that floated onto her hooves, giving it a light kiss on the head. “Hello, my lovelies! How are you?”
The white and brown bird flapped his wings excitedly, tweeting at her. She smiled, “Oh! Your eggs hatched last night? You must be a proud father, huh?”
Tweeting again, the pigeon flapped back up to his perch, where Fluttershy could hear the soft peeps of babies from the nest. She smiled happily, humming as she trotted over to her kitchen.
“Angel! Time to get up! She called, stepping over the bunny in the basket. The rabbit jumped from its sleep falling over the edge and onto the flat wooden floor. The winged mare winced. “...Be careful...ok?”
Angel Bunny grumbled, pouting as he detangled himself from his soft blanket. Fluttershy chuckled, opening her mini-fridge. Taking out a small salad, she quickly handed it towards her bunny, watching lovingly as he gobbled it up.
Sighing, she began to take out the defrosting sardines as well, fully prepared for the changelings’ needs. She was well accustomed to cooking fish by now, even without the use of a cookbook.
Let’s be honest, where would you find a cookbook on fish, anyway?
Thoroughly washing the skin of the fish, she dried and placed them on a baking rack. She was glad that sardines didn’t need to be deboned or anything, or less it would be a whole different situation here.
Placing them into the heated oven, she reworked her egg timer. She didn’t trust it fully, but it was better than leaving the oven running for Celestia’s knows how long.
Then, like a filly on Hearth’s Warming, she waited. Most ponies wouldn’t dream about waiting in front of an oven for ten minutes, but she had to make sure she wasn’t screwing it up in any way. She’s burnt things and she isn’t burning them again.
Soft hooves steps clacked against the floor, and teal eyes turned to look at the entrance. A crimson changeling stood still, watching her from the shadows.
Angel spat at the changeling, and the little nymph growled at him. Sighing, Fluttershy turned around fully, her back facing the oven.
“Good morning, Pharynx! How did you sleep?” She greeted cheerfully, her voice still lingering with tiredness. The little changeling stayed as silent as he could, shuffling his hooves against the wooden floor.
Instead of answering, he trotted closer to the oven, sitting beside her. Fluttershy gave off is small noises of surprise, but welcomed the changeling with open wings.
“Well...how about Thorax? Is he doing okay?”
The older nymph pursed his lips, unsure of what to say. Flattening his ears, he sighed. “...Thorax...something is off about him today...”
“Oh? Why is that?” Her concern began to eat at her heart. What did Pharynx mean by that? “Is he...sick?”
“Honestly, I can’t tell. He’s just...really sad...and I can’t get him to tell me anything anymore...”
“I see...” Fluttershy murmured, unsure of what to do. Was Thorax still sad about yesterday? Or was this something new she didn’t know about? “...hm, I wonder if it’s because of Rainbow...”
The changeling glared at her, baring his teeth. “Who in Tartarus’s name is Rainbow?” His voice was dangerously low. Fluttershy gulped, realizing that the nymph was not aware of what had transpired the previous day.
“Oh...I guess Thorax didn’t tell you...um...” she shut off her oven, not wanting the fish inside to burn while she talked. “Yesterday, my friend Rainbow Dash came over...and she saw Thorax...”
The changeling nymph flattened significantly, letting out a defeated sigh. “Great...first your unicorn friend, and now this ‘Rainbow Dash’...what’s next?!”
Fluttershy wings clamped against her side, “I’m so sorry about that...she’s a bit sporadic and I didn’t even know she was coming over-“
She was cut off as the nymph stalked away, his wings sagging across his violet carapace. Slowly, he buzzed his wings and laid over her couch, curling into one of the cushions.
The winged mare followed the little nymph, plucking Angel up as she did so. The rabbit squirmed in her grasp as she placed him on her back before turning towards Pharynx. Her expression was apologetic and worried.
“...what did your friend say to Thorax...?”
“Hm? Oh, well at first she was just talking to me...but then she saw Thorax and got all excited. Tried to ask him to change into things and-“
“Aaaand I’ve spotted the issue. Never mind, don’t say anything else.”
The mare became confused, her wings fidgeting at her sides. “Huh?...did I say something wrong...?”
“...no...no you're fine...your friend a complete di-“
Before he could finish his sentence, quiet hoof steps clacked against the wooden stairs. Both Fluttershy and Pharynx looked up, and the winged mare swiftly trotted over towards the cyan changeling coming down. Angel hopped off her back, sticking his tongue out, but Fluttershy ignored him.
“Hello, Thorax!” She greeted with a smile. “How did you sleep?”
“...okay...I guess...” he sighed, averting his gaze. The little changeling avoided her eye contact, buzzing his wings quietly as he pushed past her. She watched with concern as the usually energetic changeling stagger over towards the couch, crawling up along the side.
Biting her lip, she trotted over towards the entrance of the kitchen, teal eyes looking back at the pair of changelings curled up on her couch. “Um...what about breakfast-“
“Not hungry,” Thorax said bluntly, which caught the winged mare off guard. Her teal eyes widen as she fully understood what Pharynx meant by ‘something is off.’
“But...it’s fish...”
“Can smell it,” Thorax turned away from her, his small body curling under one of her cushions. “...not hungry...”
The pegasus worry grew, but she wasn’t sure how to help. Maybe by lunch things won’t be so bad...?
All she could do was hope everything goes well.
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Aww, poor little Thorax...he needs a big hug...
Again, an excellent job on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in this latest installment. Greatly enjoyed seeing Fluttershy checking on her animal friends on her way to Thorax and Pharynx. And I can see your point and reasoning behind both grubs having a lot of difficulty discussing their feelings for different reasons. And, yeah, Thorax DOES need a good hug (or several, preferably).
Definitely looking forward to more of this.
Ah man poor thorax he really can't get over what the other changelings said to him or did to him and I don't blame him for feeling that way but sooner or later he needs to talk about this to either pharynx or Fluttershy I guess he's still not ready to talk about it at least pharynx is sort of opening up to Fluttershy just a little I mean baby steps I guess
Poor Thorax.
We need 50 cc's of hugs, stat!
There ain't nothing wrong with being black for eternity
10561575
True. I mean, she probably doesn't get much experience with kids until she takes Scoot under her wing
10561575
Yeah thats true man I mean in even in her earlier years she should know better a little bit
10561575
True, suppose it depends where is season one, since she goes lighten up in the later half of the reason. Must be before Dragonshy since Dash’s respect for Fluttershy is basically none existent
10561619
I wouldn't say non-existent I will say she was just arrogant that's it I mean back in the flash back when they were kids they were friends Wayback
10561619
It was after Stare Master, and before the Grand Galloping Gala.
Griffonstone, of course.
10621074
Judging by the state of their home and how Gilda’s scones were rock solid, I don’t think they have any either
Fish is considered a delicacy by pegasus standards. Too bad salt's considered alcoholic by pony standards.
When the quiet kid puts your name on his hitlist. (Let’s be real, Pharynx kinda gives off the “quiet kid“ vibes.)