“Just Breathe, Zenex.”
"Calm Down, Zenex."
By MlpHero
“Calm down, Zenex.”
Hivehunter looked at the nymph, who was breathing heavily into a bag. The nymph looked up to the red unreformed changeling. “I’m sorry, Hive! But it’s so different now! Especially since we’re two of only nine unreformed changelings!” Zen continued breathing into his bag.
Hive facehoofed. “Come on, Z! It’s not that scary.” Hive pointed his hoof around.
Zen slowly took a peek away from the bag, and noticed the small crowd watching them. He let out a squeal before diving behind Hive, shivering. “I… I don’t think they like us very much…” he said, still shaking and shivering. Hive looked at Zen straight in his blue and green eyes. Zen stared back. “I think it’s my eyes…”
Hive facehoofed yet again. “Zen, your eyes are fine. You can’t help that one is green and the others blue. You were born with it.”
Zen nodded a bit. “I guess… but I’m still a bit nervous… especially with so many changelings watching.”
“C’mon Z. Just... wave at them,” Hive suggested.
Zen poked his head out yet again. He slowly reached a hoof out, getting ready to wave when…
“Eep!” He quickly jumped up and turned into a turtle and hid away in the shell.
Hive looked at the shaking shell. “Uhh… Zenex? Are you… okay..?” Hive picked up the nymph. He peered into the shell, noticing a pair of green and a blue eyes staring at him. He sighed. “C’mon Zen. Come out.”
“Mm-mm,” Zen shook his head.
“Why?” Hive asked, tilting his head, slowly revealing his chipped horn.
Zen slowly stuck his head out of the shell and looked past Hive. “Look. Over there.”
Hive looked over to see Thorax and an icy-blue changeling walking by. He tilted his head. “Thorax?”
Zen shook his head again. “Not him. Her.”
Hive looked over again. “Ocellus?” This time, Zen nodded, causing Hive to laugh a bit. “So, she’s what all of this is about?”
“Well… a bit,” Zen admitted, changing back into his usual unreformed self; as soon as he did, Hive set him down. “Well… it’s her, and the fact that we, along with the other Fangs, haven’t reformed yet. We don’t… fit in.”
“Come on, Zenex. Why don’t you try and make more friends? Like Helix?” Hive suggested.
Zen perked up. “Why Helix?” he asked, tilting his head.
“I dunno. I mean, he does like building stuff. And he loves sketching, like you… so…”
Zen nodded a bit. “I guess…”
Hive thought more. Then, he thought of one changeling in particular “What about that nymph?”
Zen tilted his head. “What nymph?”
Hive moved his hoof in a circular motion in the air. “Y’know? The purple one, with the pigtails?”
Zen blushed again. “M-maybe…” he said, still hiding away.
Hive chuckled. “Come on, let’s go to the Arts and Crafts section. Maybe there’s something there you could do?”
Zen nodded again and poked his head out. “Okay.”
The two began walking towards the Arts and Crafts table. Zen looked around, trying his best to stay out of sight from anyone else. Hive looked at him. “Try not to think about it too much. That way, it doesn’t seem like everyone’s watching you.”
Zen looked up. He tilted his head. “How?” he asked, curiously.
Hive did the circle motion with his hoof again. “Y’know, just think of something else. Like… uhh… the meaning of life or something.”
Zen seemed to freeze up, yet kept walking. He tried to comprehend what he had heard. There was no possible way to know the true meaning of life. Was there?
The meaning of life… The meaning of life… The meaning of life… The meaning of life… The meaning of life… The meaning of life! THE MEANING OF— “Oh, we’re here now,” Zen said, happily smiling, much to the surprise of Hivehunter. Zen and Hive took a seat and grabbed a few things to get started. Zen started giggling happily and playfully as he put together a few things. Hive smiled as he watched the nymph playfully build his object. Zen had a playful side, but it was a rare sight.
Hive smiled at the nymph. They weren’t brothers, but they might as well have been. Hive had always looked out for Zenex, especially during Chrysalis’ reign, despite Hive being in the elite class, and Zen being in the lower class.
“Hey Hive.”
The two changelings looked over to see a light-blue reformed changeling standing beside them. Hive waved at him. “Hey Helix,” he greeted. Zen on the other hoof ducked behind Hive.
Helix looked at him. “Who’s that, Hive?” he asked.
Hive gently rubbed Zen’s head. “This is my friend, Zenex.”
Helix sat down beside Hive. “Hello, Zenex,” he greeted with a smile.
The shy nymph poked his head out. “H-Hi… mister…” he said, starting to smile a bit.
“Hey there. Whatcha making?”
Zen smiled and pulled out his creation. “A crossbow.”
The two older changelings stared in stunned silence. Helix looked at Hive, who had an embarrassed blush on his face. “Hive!”
“Whaaat? He needs to know how to make stuff!” Hive said, almost in a whiny fashion.
“Well not weapons, ya nimrod!” Helix facehoofed. He grabbed a couple of popsicle sticks. He used his magic to carry, glue, set up, break the sticks up and build them into a small house. “Voilá!” Helix said proudly.
Zen happily clapped his hooves while Hive merely rolled his eyes. “You were always the artistic one.”
“First off, buck you, second off, maybe if you hadn’t fallen asleep in class so much, you’d have my artistic skill.”
“Whatever.” Hive rolled his eyes.
Zen looked over to a few popsicle sticks nearby. He grabbed them and started lighting his horn. The popsicle sticks started building themselves into a small house. He smiled and giggled a bit.
“See? It’s easy.” Helix smiled.
Hive took the crossbow Zen had made. He looked down the sights. “Huh. This thing isn’t loaded with arrows, right?”
Zen shook his head.
Hive aimed in around, scaring a few changelings with it. He looked at a nearby changeling, who flinched. Hive chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s not—” the next thing they knew, a projectile landed next to the changeling’s head and was buried into the wall. “...loaded…” He looked at Zenex, who blushed a bit. “I thought it wasn’t loaded!”
“It wasn’t loaded with arrows… It was loaded with pencils!” Zen chirped, proudly.
Hive and Helix stared for a while. “How..?” Helix asked.
“I… I don’t know…” Hive admitted. He then noticed that the changelings were glaring at them. He chuckled sheepishly. “Maybe we should try something else?” he suggested.
Zen tilted his head. “Like what?”
Hive thought for a few seconds. Then Helix suggested, “what about the Feelings Forum?”
Zen looked over. “The what?”
Helix smiled. “Come on, I’ll show you.” He led the two changelings to a nearby cave, where a few more changelings, including Thorax, Pharynx and Ocellus.
Zenex hid behind Hive and Helix as they walked in. Hive smiled at the nymph. “Come on, Zen. You gotta try something.”
“Okay…”
They sat down and watched as the others shared their feelings. The circle continued going around until it reached Helix. “Well, I know it may sound like a ridiculous request…”
“Nonsense. There is no request too ridiculous,” the Feelings Forum leader said. “Please proceed.”
“Well uhh… I’d like to request a bit more art supplies, especially some new types of supplies like brushes, and canvases, and paints.”
Thorax smiled. “Okay. I’ll put that on my list of things to do.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Of course. Who’s next?” Thorax smiled.
Zen shyly raised a hoof. The leader calmly smiled. “Go ahead, little nymph. Tell us your name.”
“Z-Zenex…” he said, quietly.
The leader tilted her head. “Speak up?”
Hivehunter chuckled. “Sorry, he’s a bit shy. I’m Hivehunter, and he’s Zenex.”
“Nice to meet you two,” the leader said. “Is there anything you would like to share?”
Zen looked at Hive, who smiled. Zen looked up to the group. “Well… I feel…” he took a breath. “I feel like me and my friends… don’t fit in.”
The changelings exchanged glances. “Why do you say that?” The leader asked.
“Well… look at us… we’re still unreformed… and we still haven’t gotten used to the new lifestyle…”
The changelings exchanged glances. Then, Thorax spoke up. “Oh, Zenex…” He trotted over to him. “Zenex… your looks don’t describe who you are.”
Zen looked at him. “Really?”
“Of course. I mean, Hive looks absolutely terrifying, but deep down, he has a heart.”
“Pff, I’ll believe when I see it,” Hive pouted.
Thorax and Zen giggled. Thorax leaned over to Zen’s ear. “He’s what we call a 'tsundere', Zenny,” he whispered. “Don’t tell him that.”
They giggled again.
“What did he say?”
Zenex smirked. “I won’t say.” He gave a wink.
Hive’s jaw dropped. “Aww! Come on! Don’t leave me hanging!” Hive whined. The changelings giggled as Hive continued to whine and pout.
=+•+•+•+=
Zen and Hive sat in their now shared room. Hive looked over to Zen. “Come on! Tell me!”
“Nope!”
Hive looked at him. “Come on!” He smirked playfully at the nymph. He then tackled him gently.
“Hey!” Zen said.
Hive began gently tickling the nymph’s belly.
“Eee!” Zen squealed happily as Hive began tickling him. “Hehehehe!”
“Coochie coochie coo, Zenny!”
“Heheheive!”
Hive smirked as he continued. He looked at Zen as he wiggled and squirmed. He had to admit, Zen did look cute. Especially since he was giggling and seeming to have fun. A very rare sight for the little nymph.
Hive let the little nymph up after a while. Zen was still giggling, and looked up to his friend. “Thanks Hive.”
“No problem, Zenny Boy.” He rubbed Zen’s head.
The nymph happily giggled before yawning. He pulled the covers up and laid back. He smiled at Hive, before yawning yet again. “Goodnight, Hive.”
Hive smiled at his friend. “Goodnight, Zenny Boy.”
Hive left the room, leaving Zenex to happily fall asleep, now feeling more comfortable than he’d ever thought he’d be. Maybe this life wouldn’t be so bad after all.