Chrysalis was deified. The hive would tell tales of Her glory. We never knew the truth, though. Our kind wasn't always revolting leechers of love, but her contempt for the world drove Her to create me and my many brethren.
I am Pharynx, most beloved of Her lieutenants. I stood with Chrysalis during many conquests over the land of Equestria and beyond. I have served Her since birth. Over the years, I began to look less like the drones and more...divine. My eyes, wings, and carapace changed from the common colors to a dark purple, and my fin and tail would become a shade of crimson, the same color of my favorite thing to see from my enemies - blood.
Whenever we abducted victims, I had the honor of ending the ones that couldn't provide love. To see their cold stares after the torment, to remember the shrills of their suffering. All of this once pleased me because, for every life I took, She would praise me for a job well done. My life of favoritism would not last forever, however.
We had just returned from successfully raiding the donkeys - Old Cranky had certainly slipped in his age - when the queen was lecturing the sloppy work of our weakest changeling - my little brother, Thorax. He was always pathetic in battle, and if it wasn’t for me caring about him, he would have died years ago. I didn’t think anything of him being yelled at - it was something that frequently happened to him - but the words from Her caught my attention. “ You are insignificant to this hive. Perhaps I should just kill you now and be rid of your foul stench once and for all.”
Her horn began to glow dark green and I knew she meant what she said. She really planned on killing him. Of all the drones I stood with, he was the only one I ever truly cared enough to call my little brother.
“Wait!” I shouted. She reframed from Her current deed and gave me Her full attention. This was the first time I had ever questioned Her methods. It frightened me dearly because all changelings knew what it meant to question Chrysalis - it meant you were dead.
“Well, my most beloved son,” She said impatiently, “I’m waiting. Why have you stopped me from disposing of this grub I’ve renounced?”
My mind was a blur. I hadn’t the slightest of what to say to justify sparring him. I could see from my queen’s expression that I was losing time, so I spoke the first thing my mind manifested. “Why finish it off? Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable to banish it to the world and know it will suffer from its own isolation?”
Her expression seemed very interested in my opinion on what to do. She walked up to me and patted my head. She started to nuzzle me and finished with a kiss on my forehead. “Oh, that is such a good idea, my child. Guards! Escort this weak little thing out safely. Let the harsh world deal with him.”
The guards did just that. I saw Thorax being taken away and I figured, when I had the opportunity, I could track him down and find a way to assist him. That plan was never going to go to fruition, unfortunately. While she loved my option for his fate, I spoke against her.
"Now you two, restrain my lieutenant." Two more of her drones held me up and kept restrained - my torso exposed. "Now...as much as I love you," She stated in a sinister way, "never give your queen orders." For my transgressions, I earned a new kind of reward from Her - impalement.
I hung through Her jagged horn - my green blood dripping into Her mane. With one mighty swoop, I was flung from the horn, and on the grown in agony. With fading vision, I could see Chrysalis, but the look I saw on my queen wasn't a look of sadness nor regret - she had the most satisfying grin.
She turned to the guards that had restrained me and, before blacking out, I could hear the order they were given. "Cast this ungrateful traitor out of here. Let whatever's out there feast on him."
It might have been hours, and I didn't have the strength to open my eyes, but I was finally regaining consciousness. Everything around me felt cold and wet. I could have sworn I heard something, someone, call for me too. "Pharynx, please don't die." The voice pleaded. "I don't know what I would do without you."
As I slowly became more aware, I finally opened my eyes and saw who was in front of me - my little brother, Thorax. His eyes were closed and liquid flowed from his eyes, the same liquid I saw on the many victims I claimed. For the first time, I felt something I never thought I would feel in all my years serving Chrysalis - shame. I was ashamed that I took joy in the deeds I did for her. She used me like any other drone and tossed me aside in an instant. The only changeling that ever seemed to truly care about me was Thorax, and I knew I needed to survive for him.
"Stop...your crying...you weak....little...insect." I managed to say, gasping for air.
Thorax opened his eyes and saw me awake. He did to me what we always saw our prey do to each other every time we invaded - he hugged me. He showed me, love. He was the first changeling I knew that truly shared the love with me at that moment. I could feel my strength return to me and I saw Thorax's entire body glow bright - too bright for me to continue spectating.
As the light faded, my wounds were fully healed, though, I still had a scar from my impalement. As much as that impressed me, what I saw in front of me surprised me even more. Thorax had evolved into a state far more grand than anything I ever achieved. His height was doubled, his body was now green, his carapace and eyes purple. He had grown antlers and had wings that sparkled like the night sky. What I had always thought as a changeling born defective, I knew then that he was born to be the next stage of metamorphosis.
Thorax observed himself in confusion and I found myself bowing to him, and he panicked. "No, get up, Pharynx. You're my brother, not some pawn." I did what he said and I looked puzzled at him, not sure what to do next. "I'm kind of surprised," he said, which broke my focus, "I don't seem very hungry now. Why don't we share love more often instead of taking love? seems like it was a better option, right?" This idiot managed to put a smile on my face.
I approached Thorax, which seemed to almost intimidate him, but he became more surprised when I gave him a hug. "Thank you, little brother," I said with true sincerity. "I was worried that you were going to be in trouble, that I would need to save you. But instead, you saved me. To think that I was so naive to think she loved anyone but herself."
My hug was returned and, for once, he felt like the big brother. "Hey, it's okay. We have each other. We can form a new hive, or at least find a way to save the rest from her wrath. We can find a way together. Will you help me, big brother?"
He extended his hoof to me and with tears in my eyes, I agreed to help. Before I knew it, a bright light surrounded me. I had entered a state similar to Thorax. My colors were the same as before, but my size grew and I gained antlers like my brother.
The form felt very different from what I had always been not even a minute ago. "You're right, Thorax," I stated to him, " I don't feel hungry anymore. I lost my savage hunger." With that, we walked off.
As we began a quest grander than anything we ever had done before, I knew then, Thorax was truly the strongest of all changelings - in spirit, anyway - and that he would rule the hive one day instead of her.
Author's Note
If I see enough demand for it, I might make more chapters for it in the future.
