“Pharynx?” Thorax entered the room he shared with his mate. Pharynx was lying in their bed, staring blankly at the opposite wall. “P-Phary?”
“Don’t call me that.” Pharynx said quietly
Thorax walked over, lying beside him. “Sorry…”
“Get off.”
“Phar, please-”
“I knew this was a mistake.” Pharynx murmured
“W-What? Cuddlebug-”
“No.” Pharynx snapped. “Don’t bucking call me that.”
Thorax froze, wiping his eyes. “But…”
“But nothing!” Pharynx turned on him, eyes cold. “If we hadn’t made that stupid mistake this wouldn’t have happened! If we hadn’t done this everything would be okay!”
“If we hadn’t done what we did they wouldn’t exist!” Thorax shouted out in response. Pharynx froze, stiffening, and Thorax placed a hoof around him. “Phar, I-I’m sorry… I just… it had to be said…”
Pharynx closed his eyes, then leaned into his mate. Thorax held him tightly.
“I’m sorry Thorax… I just…” Pharynx buried his head in Thorax’s shoulder. “I…”
“Yes?” Thorax asked softly, rubbing his back.
“...I miss her…”
Thorax’s eyes filled with tears, and he hugged Pharynx close. “I miss her too.”
The two of them held each other, crying softly. As they did, Pharynx’s antlers glowed. He took a framed photo that was sitting on the bedside table and laid it face-down on the table. Pharynx then clutched Thorax tighter.
“Come on Phar… it’s almost time…” Thorax whispered
“No… Thor, I can’t…”
“We have to.” Thorax kissed his mate on the forehead. “It’s okay. I’ll be beside you the whole time, I promise.”
Pharynx wiped his eyes, then nodded. “O-Okay… l-let’s go…”
Thorax smiled softly at him, taking his hoof. Pharynx gave him a small smile back, then stood up. Thorax joined him, nuzzling his mate. The two royal changelings then headed towards a door across from the bed. Thorax opened it to reveal a short passageway.
Pharynx closed his eyes, drinking in the musty, sweet scent of a hallway filled with love. He felt himself slipping back, into days long past.
“-----, I had a nightmare… c-can I sleep here?”
“Of course you can, come here, it’s okay.”
“I love you -----.”
“I love you too ------.”
“Phar?” Thorax’s voice pulled him back to the present. Pharynx sighed and looked up at him.
“S-Sorry, I just… got distracted. Let’s go.” Pharynx said, voice cracking slightly. Thorax nuzzled him gently.
“It’s okay. Take all the time you need, cuddlebug.”
Pharynx barely reacted to the nickname that time. He merely pressed against Thorax, closing his eyes as they walked. He felt the passageway open up again, and looked around. Pharynx smiled softly, his chest aching.
“Can’t catch me -----!”
“Oh, I will!”
“Or I will!”
“Eek! ----!”
Pharynx didn’t even realize he was crying until he felt a sob creeping up his throat. He opened his eyes and looked around the room before them. It contained a couple chairs, a bookcase, a dresser, and two beds. Stars and constellations had been painstakingly painted on the ceiling, which Pharynx could see were beginning to fade. He closed his eyes again, remembering.
“-Unafraid of the unknown, because I’ll face it all with you.”
“S-Sing it again -----?”
“I will tomorrow. You need to sleep right now.”
“Okay… goodnight -----, goodnight ----. I love you.”
Pharynx choked on a sob, the bitterness of his pain filling his mouth as the next memory came.
“I can’t believe this! You two are shameful excuses for leaders!”
“That’s enough! Stay away from my mate and get out of here! You may not like it but we are your leaders, you will respect us!”
“Respect? As if I’d ever show a bucking gay incestuous couple respect! You two sinners are going to Tartarus for what you’ve done!”
“Get out!”
“Don’t need to tell me twice! I’m telling the rest of the Hive!”
…
“Thor? Hey, Thor, shh, it’s okay, come here.”
“B-But it’s only going to get worse… w-when --- ---- -----.”
“I know. But we’ll get through it. I’ll protect you. Always. I love you Thorax.”
“I love you too Pharynx.”
“Phar?” he heard Thorax ask. He looked over at the taller changeling. “Are you okay sweetie?”
“We did this…” Pharynx whispered, voice breaking. “If we had just been more careful… th-they wouldn’t have… she wouldn’t have…”
“We couldn’t have done anything cuddlebug.” Thorax kissed Pharynx gently on the cheek. “It was going to happen at some point, you know that.”
“B-But… we could have talked to them. T-Told them ourselves rather than it being a rumor that-”
“Pharynx, look at me.” Thorax lifted his chin. “It wouldn’t have changed anything, you know it wouldn’t have. They would have still found out. We would have still gone through that. We’d still be standing here, having this conversation…” Thorax trailed off, eyes watering.
“I-I know… but I just… I can’t stop thinking about how… we could have stopped it…”
“I know.” Thorax kissed his forehead gently. “I do too…”
Pharynx wiped at his eyes, sniffling. Thorax pulled him close, and they walked the rest of the way into the room.
“----?” Thorax called quietly.
A green nymph with red accents looked up from one of the beds. He was wrapped in blankets, a book lying on the floor by the bed. He rubbed his eyes.
“I-Is it…?”
Thorax nodded. The nymph got up and walked to them, tail lowered and dragging on the floor dejectedly. Pharynx sighed as he looked at the nymph. This wasn’t right.
“Come and get me ------!”
“I will ----!”
“Heheh, I’ll get you both!”
“Hehehe! No! Run ------!”
“I am ‘----!”
Pharynx watched Thorax pick the nymph up, and head for the door. Pharynx took one last glance around the room, then took a deep breath and followed them. He closed the door to the room, leaving it swallowed in the darkness.
Thorax led him through one of the hallways of the changeling Hive. One Pharynx knew all too well. He found himself biting back more tears as they walked by a certain corner of the hallway. Pharynx stopped, staring at it blankly. He felt Thorax lay a hoof over him and the nymph’s forelegs wrapped around his neck. He barely registered them, once again caught in a tangle of emotions and memories.
“No! No, please!”
“You monsters! Mistakes! You shouldn’t be here!”
“Time to say goodbye, freaks!”
“NO!”
“------!”
Pharynx folded his ears back against his head, overcome with emotion. Hot, wet, salty tears spilled down his face.
“Get away from them!”
“Stay away from --- ------!”
“Fine! Damage’s been done anyway!”
“W-What does he-”
“Oh shit! ------!”
“------! ---, come back!”
Pharynx cried. Hard. He could hear Thorax talking to him, but he couldn’t understand. He didn’t understand anything anymore. Why did life have to be so cruel? Why couldn’t they have had more time? Maybe if they’d been more careful… if they’d tried harder to keep quiet… if only…
“It’s not fair…” Pharynx whispered, feeling Thorax rubbing his back gently. “It’s not bucking fair.”
“I know Phar…”
“We should have had more time!” Pharynx snarled, pulling away from Thorax and storming down the hallway. He screwed his eyes shut as another memory overtook him.
“Haha! Pinned you, ‘----!”
“I’ll get you next time!”
“You wish! Did I do good, -----?”
“You did great, you’ll be a warrior in no time, both of you will be.”
“Like you, -----?”
“Just like me.”
Pharynx couldn’t take it. He knew what fit in those blank spaces, knew what the words were. But every time he thought they would enter his mind with the others, they came muted. Muffled. Filled his head with a buzzing sound. He couldn’t hear them.
Pharynx glared at any changeling he passed by. For once, he didn’t care if they saw the tears that were streaming down his face. They deserved to see it. It was their fault. In fact, he might as well let them know.
He stopped, standing stock still. He then whipped around, noticing a large crowd had gathered at the sight of him. Good. They should all hear it.
“You want to know why I’m crying?!” Pharynx shouted, drawing their attention. “Are you here to beat me while I’m down?! Go ahead! Take your shot! But this is your fault!”
Murmurs swept through the crowd. Pharynx’s hoof came down on the ground.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about! You did this to me and you know it! If you hadn’t bucking ruined everything she’d still be here! We’d still be happy!”
“We’re better off without the spawn of Tartarus…” a changeling at the front of the crowd muttered.
“Don’t you dare start that shit!” Pharynx snarled, grabbing the changeling in his magic and growling at him. “She was perfect, don’t any of you dare say otherwise, or I’ll kill you! I bucking will!”
Shocked whispers came now, and Pharynx tasted fear. Then, suddenly…
“I want you two to remember something very important about being a warrior. No matter what, we never kill innocent creatures.”
“Why not -----?”
“Because then we’d be no better than the villains our kind used to be. We’d be no better than the villains we’re trying to protect the innocent from.”
“Have you ever killed, -----?”
“...Once.”
“Who was it?”
“Someone… who didn’t deserve it. It made me sick.”
…
“Promise you won’t ever again, -----? I don’t like it when you’re sad.”
“I promise, -- ------ ------- ----. I won’t ever kill anyone again.”
“Good. I love you -----.”
“I love you too, ------.”
Pharynx couldn’t even be sure what had triggered it. But he didn’t care. Tears still dripping down his face, he released the changeling. He staggered backwards, but continued to glare at the changelings watching him.
“Psychopathic.”
“Insane.”
“It’s because he’s gay for his brother.”
“He should never have transformed, that’s when it started.”
“They were all better off dead. Just like h-”
“Shut up!” Pharynx yelled, silencing the whispers. “Don’t you dare. Talk crap about me all you want, but don’t you bucking dare insult her. Call me insane, call me crazy, but you know what?!”
He was met with silence.
“...I’d do it all again. In an instant.” The words shocked him too. But his heart told him what to do. He continued on, speaking without really hearing what he was saying. “I’d make the same choices, all over again. Even if I knew it would end this way. Because I cherished every minute of it.”
Pharynx then turned and walked away. He couldn’t believe what he had just said. He didn’t even know where it came from. The words just… felt right.
Now that he thought about it, they were true. He would do it all again. Even if he knew the outcome would be the same. That they would find out the truth, that they’d ostracize and outcast their own leaders. That she’d…
Pharynx choked back a sob, wiping at his eyes, even though he knew it was worthless. The tears kept coming. Then, he felt a warm hoof around his shoulders. Thorax. Pharynx leaned into him, sobbing.
“Let it out cuddlebug.” Thorax kissed his forehead. “You need this, I shouldn’t have pushed you, you clearly weren’t ready just yet.”
“N-No, Thorax, I-”
“Please Phar. You’ve been strong for us. Let us be strong for you.” Thorax murmured
“I…” Pharynx buried his head in Thorax’s chest. “I just can’t… it was my fault…”
“It wasn’t, cuddlebug.” Thorax held him tight.
“B-But if I had only got there faster…”
“I know… both of us could have…”
“No.” the nymph stepped forwards, and Pharynx looked down at him. “You couldn’t have done more. You know it wasn’t anyone’s fault but their’s. You did everything you could.”
“B-But-”
“Face it.” the nymph reared up to be closer to his head. “She’s gone, through none of our fault. She made her own choice, and… and we have to accept that.”
Pharynx wiped at his eyes again, giving the nymph a slight smile. “H-How’d you get so smart?”
“I-I had some great teachers.” he said, blushing. Pharynx picked him up, holding him close.
“I love you...” Pharynx whispered. “Both of you.”
“We love you too Pharynx.” Thorax held him tightly. “Are you ready now?”
Pharynx rubbed his eyes and sighed. “Y-Yeah… I’m ready Thor. Are you?”
“Yes, I am.” Thorax said, taking a breath. “Let’s go.”
Pharynx nodded, and they straightened up. The small group of three then began to walk away from the Hive, heading for a shady looking glen beyond it.
Aw, poor Colorbugs... great start tho!
She? Who is that, Fortuna or something?
Also what’s with all the ———‘s?
10688498
Thanks!
10688500
It's supposed to represent how Phar can't bring himself to even think about those words
And you'll find out who it is when I post the next chapter tomorrow
10688533
Heh, thanks Sunny
And that nymph may not be who you think it is~
10688543
Oh, he's not a duplicate
But you weren't entirely right when you described him
10688552
...Sunny, there's only one more chapter which I'm releasing tomorrow
10688554
Okay then
Woah, what’s with all the downvotes?
10688745
No clue
I guess some people are too thick to ignore the incest and see the story within
10688750
I don’t think it was this bad last time. Was it?
10688752
No, it wasn't...
10688753
Well, hopefully it’ll get better by the time the next chapter rolls around.
10688754
Yeah...
Damn, I just noticed all the downvotes
10688771
Mhm...
10688797
10688771
Is it really because of the incest thing or is it something else?
10688815
No clue
10688815
Not sure
10688816
I don't know about others, but for me...
Yes. Yes, it is for the Incest thing.
10688852
...I clearly stated it contained incest, you could just leave the story be
10688858
Look, I just came due to me following you. I did read it, and I dislike it on grounds of the Incest thing (Because it's degenerate). What I imagine what happened would be people saw the Incest thing when clicking on the story, and dislike it on principle (Again, because it's f***ing degenerate).
Just giving my two-cents.
10688886
Alright, sorry, I didn't mean to offend you
I'm just frustrated, my last Incest is Wincest contest story didn't get this many dislikes...
10688886
Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine? Thank you ever so much for your hard work in making sure that this heinous act of fictional, completely made up incest is dealt with accordingly. Next up, I suggest you check out some of the latest blockbuster movies and insult their directors because said movies might contain murder. After all, murdering someone is degenerate too.
On a more serious note, there is the door over there, and I suggest you walk right out of it. Nobody asked you to read this story, after specific warnings in the description, and nobody asked for your input on the grounds of incest for an incest-centric story. These are fictional characters in a fictional environment; no real incest is occurring here. Take a moment and learn about the distinction between real life and fiction, because you're enjoying a show about fictional magical horses in a fantasy land. If this author's choice of work upset you so much, the best thing you can do is just unfollow them and move on with your life.
I have reported you to the admins for your harsh, unnecessary language against the author.
10688893
Uh, okay, calm down a bit, I, along with two others did openly ask in the comments why people were downvoting the story
10688896
Even so they came across less critical of the fic and more using it as a excuse to take a shot at you personally
10688942
Fair enough
10688892
I'm sorry this story didn't go over so well. Don't let it discourage you from writing! Everybody has hits and misses, and when it comes to ideologically sensitive or controversial material, that ratio can be even more severe on an on or off day.
Personally think the like/dislike system is a bit too unrelenting and harsh on this site, given that likes and dislikes translate heavily into certain search result placements. One downvote can counteract dozens of upvotes, and that just doesn't seem fair to me, no matter what kind of mathematical argument might exist for it.
10689253
Thanks! I won't let it discourage me!
10689253
Wise words, NavelColt.
From what I can tell, it looks like the downvotes might actually be due to that incest thing, though I can't help but wonder if it might be also the Thorax-x-Pharynx thing also, as I'm aware how pairing specific characters seem to rub some folks the wrong way. As far as I can tell what you have now is fairly sound, I don't see any errors (or at least I didn't catch any), formatting is okay, and, honestly, the story seems rather interesting.
Anywho, not a bad write so far, I'm liking what you did, I'm genuinely curious what has happened and where it's going, and to some extent it's kinda interesting to see Pharynx so emotional as this is not the usual emotion I've seen portrayed for him in other stories. Unfortunately, having said that, it puts me an impasse. I usually don't read stories like this, specifically stories that are considered 'Dark' or 'Sad', it's just not my cup of tea when it comes to reading (and because stories in these genres tend to put me in a bad mood), but felt compelled to read it because I was wondering if there's more to the up/downvote ratio like bad grammar or the story's boring than just because what Centurion pointed out. So, while I did find interest in what you already have down, and it has piqued my interest, I'm not completely certain I want to press on beyond this point. I guess I'll just see just how much my curiosity needs to be sated vs. my hesitance to continue.
In any case, I think you're off to a good start; and, I wish you the best of luck in the contest.
F**k I’m sad. I assuming they probably lost a daughter or something similar thereoff, because it definitely sounds like that.
Loved the story dyin to know who the nymph was and this was a cute story. Now matter what the comments say, just go off the views only and the comments & down votes won't matter.
10689504
Thanks, that means a lot
It's okay if this isn't your cup of tea, I appreciate you giving it a try
I just get mad when the people comment saying it's bad, and they didn't even give it a chance
10689518
Sorry...you need a hug?
10689710
Thanks