The Problems with Changeling Royalty

by Snorlaxkid

Rating: teen
Tags: Pharynx, Sad, Drama, Changelings, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Queen Chrysalis, Adventure, Thorax
Length: 7967

Thorax and Pharynx were always physically and mentally distinct among changelings. In fact, before ousting her, the only changeling more distinct was Chrysalis herself. Is there a connection there?

Changelings are inevitably linked to social insects. Their hierarchy, mannerisms, and single-minded natures all clearly link them to it. But the issue with social insects is that family and individuality generally don't mean anything to them. Yet for Pharynx and Thorax it does. They've always been different than other changelings, and now with Chrysalis ousted those differences are all the more distinct.

In looking for answers though, the two may stumble across answers they would rather have left hidden.

Published 2017-12-14 20:40:06 UTC
Last updated 2017-12-18 20:51:48 UTC

Nagging, Gnawing, and Aching

Have you ever felt like there was something you forgot to do or to check, but no matter what you can't figure out what it was, just that it feels like it was important?

Thorax sat at his wooden throne, the evening sun disappearing over the western horizon. Another peaceful day had come and gone. Each one was a relief after the turmoil with the maulwurf and the old ways that had nearly cost him his brother. And yet, for some reason the relief never seemed to last. Every day brought new "what ifs" and "why nots" to the surface, with no apparent end in sight. Part of Thorax couldn't blame Chrysalis for abusing her power if this is what being a "good" leader was like.

"If you keep staring at the sun while you're lost in thought you're gonna go blind."

Thorax shot up to attention, his older brother having snapped him out of his daze. He gave an exaggerated bow to Thorax, grinning cheekily. "Ah, good, you've returned to the land of the living, I was starting to think I'd lost you."

Pharynx's snark was one thing Thorax hadn't expected to come out of reforming his brother, but it was hardly from the oddest effect. Like Thorax before him, Pharynx was unique among the reformed changelings, taller, and darker colored, and interestingly enough having a different body shape, similar in appearance to Thorax's own.

"Sorry, I was just, thinking," Thorax started, shaking his head. "I've been really worried about everything lately, and I think I need to get to the root of all of this if I want to finally be able to relax."

The elder changeling shook his head and walked over, sitting down next to Thorax's throne. "You're thinking too much."

"But if I don't think I won't-"

"No, no," Pharynx interrupted, "You're thinking too much about everything in general. If you want to get to the root of this you need to work backwards. Stop thinking about the here and now, get rid of every thought until you've cut your way back to where it all stems from."

Thorax blinked a few times. It wasn't really like his brother to give such good advice, at least not directly, but good advice was good advice. He closed his eyes and went through his mind, he had an idea where to start after all, this all seemed to start during the treatment of Pharynx during the maelwurf incident. He couldn't give up on his brother, no matter how much it seemed to veer away from logic. Pharynx was, is, family.

Family. The word seemed to stick in Thorax's head. His family. There was Pharynx, but there felt like there should be more. A family wasn't just two brothers, he'd seen many families in the Crystal Empire. There were brothers, sisters, parents...

Thorax's eyes shot open. He knew what the question was that had been eating at him. "Pharynx, who are our parents?"

Author's Note

This is more of a prologue than a first chapter proper, but it ends with the question that led me to write this in the first place.

At any rate, criticism of the constructive variety is always appreciated.

A Forgotten Trail

It was already well past nightfall as Pharynx and Thorax made their way into the Hive's archives. They weren't exactly much, the old ways didn't put much stock in writing anything down. Any secrets spread on parchment or paper could be given to most anyone and just like that secrets spread. Now however, that made finding out history, even relatively recent history, a hassle. Nonetheless, there was still a part of the Hive set aside for things that did need to be written down, a wall of honeycomb-shaped nooks, each one meant for a scroll. Most of them were empty, and always had been. Part of Thorax felt empty as he Pharynx levitated the torch they'd brought with them upwards. The sheer hollowness of the archives, with the changelings no longer needing to hide within the Hive there was a real chance the archives would have been forgotten if not for now.

"What are we hoping to find?"

Pharynx's voice snapped Thorax out of his momentary stupor. The changeling king glanced at his brother and then back at the scrolls. "Anything to do with genealogy, or anything that looks like it was written or added to recently."

Pharynx glanced at the wall, and smirked a bit. "Well, at least this shouldn't take too long, once we figure out how everything is sorted."

Pharynx was very, very wrong. The scrolls had no apparent rhyme or reason to their ordering, one side of the room could seem to have only foreign intelligence, but then suddenly contain a scroll with a seemingly meaningless list of recipes that were apparently stolen on a whim. Added to that was the fact that many of the scrolls were wrapped very tightly, making them much longer than they had appeared at a glance.

"I swear there were fewer scrolls here when we started." Thorax groaned as he returned another unhelpful scroll to its spot, before glancing in Pharynx's direction. His brother had begun on the opposite side of the wall and the two had hoped one of them would find a sorting method by now. "Have you found any-"

Thorax caught his words as he watched Pharynx replacing a scroll. In a completely different slot than he'd retrieved it moments earlier.

"Hey, wait!" Thorax cried out before catching the scroll with his magic to stop his brother from misplacing it. "It doesn't go there!"

Pharynx glanced at the scroll and then back at Thorax. "It does now, I'm resorting them." Reaching up he pushed the scroll into the slot with his hoof.

Click

Both brothers froze as they heard the mechanical click from beyond the slot. After a moment there was a soft grinding noise from the opposite wall, behind them, as if something was being moved. Pharynx moved first, turning and moving the torch to light the far wall. One last honeycomb alcove had been revealed, a single, ornate scroll was within it. Thorax walked up, his magic enveloping the scroll.

"Careful. It might be a trap." Pharynx warned.

"If it is, it's absurdly well-hidden."

Thorax gently pulled the scroll out. immediately upon exiting the alcove, a series of dangling items dropped, hanging in the air below the scroll. Both brothers froze again... but nothing happened, they were apparently just decorative tassels, hanging from the bottom of the scroll. Thorax slowly levitated the scroll closer, and up close, the "tassels" became much more clear. They were decorative baubles of some sort, each shaped uniquely, as if to indicate something specific. They only hung from half the scroll, starting at the far left, and the farthest one had a familiar gnarled and black appearance. A curved horn.

"Chrysalis," Thorax said under his breath, recognizing the horn. "What does this scroll have to do with her?"

"Only one way to find out." Pharynx offered, prompting a slight nod from Thorax as they unfurled the scroll.

Within was a series of names and numbers, connected to one another from a single origin pair. Near the center of what was written it was crowded, with many names and numbers, eventually slowly petering out of time, until at the bottom there were but three names, with no numbers added.

"It's a family tree," Thorax concluded as he looked down. "I don't recognize any of the-"

He stopped as he reached the bottom.

It listed Chrysalis and her two sons, Pharynx and Thorax.

Author's Note

Let's be honest, this twist was pretty obvious. I wouldn't even be surprised if it was confirmed in the show.

Secrets Unkept

"What, what is it? You've just been standing there gawking at it for the past several minutes." Pharynx asked impatiently, leaning in for a better look. He was exaggerating of course. Thorax had only been stunned into silence for a couple of minutes at tops.

"It's Chrysalis she's..." Thorax wasn't really sure how to spill this. How does one tell their brother that he just found out they threw their mother out of her own home? Well, she'd been a complete sociopathic monster, sure, but still! He passed the scroll to Pharynx. "Here, at the bottom."

There was a brief pause while Pharynx read. His eyes narrowed as he did so.

"That... explains a lot actually." He commented, his tone dropping to a dark one. "Especially why you're suddenly completely speechless."

"I don't talk that much."

"You felt the need to say that." Pharynx pointed out as he looked back over the scroll. "What are these numbers, dates of death? ...Are you happy with this?"

Pharynx rolled the scroll back up before offering it back to Thorax, who took it carefully.

"No. No I'm not."

Thorax spent the next few day pouring over his options. It quickly became apparent that the best course of action would be to seek advice from his friends. The issue was how to word it.

Dear Twilight, Starlight, and Spike,

I would like advice on some distressing information

Thorax crossed out the last couple words and crumpled up the letter. No, that wouldn't do, too direct. Maybe something like...

I was recently looking into genealogy

No! That was worse! He needed to word this in a way that would leave him some wiggle room in case the letter was read by the wrong pony.

Dear Twilight, Starlight, and Spike,

While looking through old documents hidden in the depths of the hive I found some information I would like to discuss in person. I would like a chance to meet with you all as soon as possible, please make a decision and send a date for me to visit back with this messenger.

Sincerely,

King Thorax

Was it a bit too much to refer to himself as "King?" No, no it would do.

Thorax rolled the letter up carefully and sealed it. The easy part would be finding someone to take the letter to Ponyville. The changelings loved any excuse to visit Equestria.

A few days later Thorax was flying to Ponyville, scroll strapped to his back. Pharynx had insisted he come too, as this was about him too, and Thorax had been unable to say no. The two were mostly silent on the way, however Pharynx spoke up as they approached the last leg of the journey.

"You should have talked to me first before agreeing to meet with anyone on this."

Thorax rolled his eyes. "You would have just said no. I know Twilight, Starlight, and Spike. They'll know what to do."

Pharynx just snorted and shook his head, before tilted himself to change direction. "Come on, let's head around to the castle. We'll attract less attention if we avoid flying over the town."

Thorax sighed and took his brother's detour. He knew it was pointless to argue his brother's paranoia about routes. He'd been through this before, it didn't matter if you knew who lived there by heart, an enemy could be hiding anywhere.

The remaining flight was uneventful, and soon Thorax was landing just behind Pharynx at the entrance to the crystal castle. Pharynx looked the castle up and down as they approached the front doors.

"...Flashy place. Is it a thing for ponies to build their strongholds so they can be seen from miles?"

"It's a castle Pharynx, not a stronghold."

"The only difference is that one has royalty living in it and the other doesn't."

Thorax didn't have a counter-argument for that, so he was rather glad when Spike opened the door for them. The young dragon started to greet Thorax when he saw Pharynx.

"Oh I... Didn't realize you were bringing someone else with you," Spike commented, pulling back to let the two changelings in.

"Oh! Right! You two haven't met. Spike, this is my brother Pharynx. Pharynx this is Spike, he found me when I was in the Crystal Empire."

Pharynx took pause at this introduction. "Spike. I remember that name. You protected my brother when you first met. Not many would give that kindness to a stranger. You have my thanks."

"Uh... You're welcome and it's good to meet you too?"

Thorax chuckled lightly. "You don't have to be so formal Pharynx. We're all friends here."

The three continued on to the map and throne room where Twilight and Starlight were waiting. Thorax immediately walked up to the map table and unstrapped his scroll, hovering it to Twilight and Starlight.

"This is what we found. It's a family tree of the..." Thorax paused, not sure how to put it. "Of the royal lineage of the Hive." He waited for Twilight and Starlight to reach the bottom of the scroll.

"Chrysalis... Pharynx and Thorax," Starlight read aloud. "You're Chrysalis' sons? Why isn't your father listed here?"

"Chances are we were supposed to be backups, the real heir was never born, so we're just b-" Pharynx started, pausing to stop himself upon remembering his company, "Illegitimate children."

Thorax shook his head. "Chrysalis would have no reason to add us to the scroll in that case. I'm guessing it's our father who was considered insignificant, not us."

Spike was rubbing his head with his claws. The young dragon was having trouble wrapping his head around all of this. "So you're telling me, that Chrysalis, the psycho queen-"

"Ex-Queen" Twilight reminded.

"Psycho ex-queen, is your mother?"

Both Thorax and Pharynx nodded silently.

"So why are you asking us for help specifically?" Twilight asked.

Thorax and Pharynx looked at each other. Pharynx gave a silent nod.

"We want to find her," Thorax said as he turned back to his friends. "And we want to bring her back home."

Author's Note

Now THAT is a twist.

Though still, I imagine some of you probably still could have seen that coming. I'm not unpredictable.

Arguing Semantics

Twilight, Starlight, and Spike were understandably incredulous at this plan.

"You want to do what?!" Starlight exclaimed after a momentary pause. "I mean, I'm all for giving her a second chance if she'll take it, but she didn't exactly show much interest in the idea when she swore revenge and fled. She won't just turn a new leaf if you just find her and ask."

"I-I'm aware, but we have to try." Thorax stammered, wincing at Starlight's sudden shouting.

"And then what? If she has you alone she might just kill you! She already tried to kill you back when we confronted her at the hive."

"We don't know th-"

"Yes. We do."

Thorax stomped a hoof, upset at being interrupted. "No, we don't. If she had just wanted me dead she could have done it at any time. She didn't have to resort to draining me. And even if she was trying to kill me, I'm willing to leave that in the past where it belongs."

"Will you both stop it!" Twilight suddenly exclaimed, her wings flaring out dramatically. "This argument over what happened in the past is going to get us nowhere, and it's a royal pain."

There was a moment where everyone was completely silent. And then Spike started snickering.

"Royal pain... That's a good one."

Pharynx had been silently fuming during this back and forth. As Spike started snickering though, his annoyance began to turn to rage. Thorax could feel the heat of Pharynx's emotions, turning to him in surprise.

"So can I talk now?" Pharynx asked, slamming a hoof into the map hard enough to make it shake. "This whole meeting is getting us nowhere! We came here asking for help, not for permission! We're doing this with or without you!"

"Pharynx that's-" Starlight started, but Pharynx wasn't done.

"Do you think this decision is an easy one for us? Do you think we just forgot what Chrysalis did to us? To everyone? We're not asking you to help us put her back on her throne, we just want to bring her home. What if it was your family in Chrysalis' place?"

Starlight couldn't look Pharynx in the eye after those questions. She'd been there when Thorax refused to give up on him despite the entire Hive turning against him. She'd been the one to think he was a lost cause until she realized how much he meant to Thorax.

Pharynx snorted and stepped back from the map. "I knew this was pointless. Take the scroll back, and let's go Thorax." Pharynx turned and started walking for the door, confident that his brother would be right behind him.

"No."

Pharynx stopped. That was definitely not the reaction he'd expected.

"What do you mean no? This visit was your idea. Finding Chrysalis was your idea, and I agreed to it. We can't get anything else from this visit, so let's get back to what's important."

"Sit down Pharynx, we are not done here." Thorax commanded. His voice seemed to echo in the room and for a moment Pharynx could barely recognize his brother's voice behind the command.

"Yes, your highness," Pharynx said softly, eyes downward. He turned and walked back to his place, sitting on the floor. "I apologize for snapping like that."

"It's fine, we all get upset from time to time."

Twilight cleared her throat to get the two brothers' attention. "Ahem, I'm sorry to interrupt but I believe that we should try to wrap this up." She wrapped the scroll back up carefully, returning it to Thorax. "And while I'd like to help, I'm afraid I really can't. Nopony knows where Chrysalis fled to and I don't have a way to track her."

Thorax winced slightly before Twilight continued.

"But... Celestia and Luna might."

"No. Absolutely not."

"Luna!" Celestia admonished her sister. "We won't just leave them unaided." She turned back to Thorax and Pharynx, who were standing in the throne room of Canterlot, a few days after the meeting in Ponyville. "If we discover Chrysalis' whereabouts you'll be the first to know. Is there any other aid we can offer?"

Thorax thought for a moment. "Actually, could we look at the royal library? There may be something that helps point us in the right direction." He bowed. "We'll be respectful."

"Of course, I'll send a guard to escort you so there's no confusion. Is there anything in particular you wanted to find?" Celestia asked politely.

Pharynx gave Thorax a knowing look before replying for him. "A scrying spell, Princess Celestia. We have something that might belong to her."

Author's Note

I am way too amused by that scene transition. It's not even that great, I just love me some sitcom level scene transitioning, even in my more sad fics. :trollestia:

Scry A Way Home

That very evening Thorax and Pharynx were setting up just off the Hive. Thorax was carrying the family tree scroll, and Pharynx was looking over the spell scroll the Princesses had lent them. Thorax looked up from his spot toward the top of the Hive. When he closed his eyes he could still see the spire where the throne room once was before they'd driven out Chrysalis.

"Are you sure this is going to work for us? Maybe we should have called in Starlight." Pharynx suddenly snapped Thorax out of his momentary daydream.

"You're the one who insisted we could do this "with or without" her." Thorax replied, looking back to his brother. "We'll just see if we can use the scrying spell on our own. If we need help we can just ask for it. Again."

Pharynx shook his head and chuckled. He sort of deserved that after his outburst at their meeting. "Alright alright, I'll give it a shot, but don't blame me if we end up having to replace the scroll."

Pharynx's horn lit up as he channeled his magic into the scroll, which began to glow green as the spell was cast. A tendril of the green glow struck out like a bolt of lightning, impacting the scroll of the royal family tree, which floated into the air. It aligned perpendicular to the ground and five of the tassels seemed to spring to life, pointing in multiple direction and seeming to adjust slightly before all five suddenly snapped into one direction and the scroll suddenly plummeted. Thorax caught it with his magic just before it hit the ground. He gave the scroll a slight turn, the tassels stayed pointed in the same direction, even wrapping around the scroll as necessary to do so.

"I guess we follow it?"

It was well into the night when Pharynx finally called for Thorax to stop their march. It had gotten dark enough that he could no longer see far enough into the distance to keep Thorax covered, even from the air.

"Oh come on, Pharynx, we're almost to the border between the re-forested area and the badlands, we can go just a bit fa-"

Thorax was cut off when he suddenly became aware that his forehoof was stepping onto thin air. In the darkness, he had not noticed the sudden decline just in front of him. It wasn't quite a cliff, but sliding down a steep hill face-first wasn't much better.

"You want to set up camp now?" Pharynx asked as he trotted down the decline behind Thorax.

"...Yeah, sure, let's do that."

Thorax woke in the morning with a headache. Probably because he'd fallen down a steep decline. The sun's light soon gave him a welcome distraction though.

"Pharynx?"

Thorax's older brother groaned from his spot on the ground next to him.

"Pharynx the scroll is doing something."

Pharynx woke up at that.

The scroll was indeed doing something. While four of the tassels were still pointing in the same direction, one was now pointing back up the slope. The two scrambled, Thorax grabbing the scroll before they climbed back up the slope. Nothing seemed different at first, until the two took a better look at where they were. They were near a large pit-like section of ground, in the center, a large amount of the earth was clearly disturbed, as if something very large had burrowed there.

"This is where we fought the maulwurf." Pharynx stated, taking a few steps forward. "Why would the scrying spell bring us here? Was Chrysalis... watching us?"

As if on cue, the tassel that had been acting up suddenly fell limp, its purpose complete.

"I think that's a yes." Thorax replied.

"...Why?"

Months earlier...

Chrysalis stood above the pit, watching the spectacle below. With all the commotion, it was easy for her to disguise herself as another of these "reformed" changelings while she spied on how her people interacted with Starlight Glimmer. And now, both her sons were transformed. Into these... These pastel abominations.

She could feel the bile rising in her throat. She was disgusted. Changelings giving love to each other like this... it was unheard of. Unnatural.

The moment she had a chance, Chrysalis slunk off, dropping her disguise and fleeing back into the wastes, where she would go unnoticed. There was nothing left to gain from this place.

Her sons were dead to her.

Author's Note

Dear Princess Celestia,

Puns and foreshadowing.

That is all.

In Her Hoofsteps

"Let me look at the scroll really quick."

"What?" Thorax looked at his brother in confusion.

"We're in Equestria proper now, right? It's been days."

"...I guess so, yeah."

"Well I had a thought and I need to move the scroll someplace specific I had in mind to do so."

"Are you going to tell me first or...?"

"Just give me the scroll."

Thorax sighed and gave Pharynx the scroll. Pharynx held it in his forehooves for a moment, as if to make completely sure he had a good grip on it, before he shot upwards into the sky, hovering a good few hundred feet above his brother.

"Don't drop it!" Thorax called out after him. He was fairly certain Pharynx wouldn't but it was better to be safe than sorry.

After a minute or so Pharynx slowly glided his way back down to the ground, giving Thorax the scroll back once he landed. He didn't look like what he'd found out was very satisfying.

"So what did you need to check?"

"Well I was wondering, if that first place we ended up was just someplace Chrysalis had been, what if all the tassels mark different places? And unfortunately it looks like I was right."

Thorax winced as he realized what that meant. They could be hoofing it across Equestria, and if one of the tassels is pointing where their mother is right now, she could very well be gone by the time they arrive.

"Is there any good news?"

"Well, most of them seem to be in the same direction from here. And I could take a good guess as to which one this-" Pharynx grabbed a tassel with his magic, its decoration looked like a poorly cast deer hoof print. "-one is pointing to."

"And where's that."

"Canterlot."

"What? Why would mother-"

Thorax stopped himself. He knew exactly why Chrysalis would have been there. In fact he knew when to. He'd been there after all.

"The invasion. During Cadence's wedding." He said aloud, despite not wanting to think about it.

Pharynx nodded.

"Which means that if it's pointing to places of importance to Chrysalis, or to us, that she's been to, then there's no other way to know how long ago she was at any particular place than to figure out where it's pointing."

A few days before the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza...

Chrysalis approached the edge of the massive barrier around Canterlot from within. Guards on both sides of it stood at attention as they saw her approach. Of course they would, from what they could tell she was Princess Cadance, future bride to their commanding officer, and the third most powerful being in Equestria. However, she only needed to speak to one of them.

"Patrolmen." She said simply, her tone dripping with authority as she stared down a grey pegasus on the outside of the barrier. "I need a private word with this guard. If you don't mind."

"Princess? This is most unu-" A unicorn guard began, but was silenced by a single look.

"Leave us." Chrysalis commanded, before her tone suddenly softened. "We will only be a moment."

The guards shifted nervously under her gaze, before they all filed off, leaving her with just the grey pegasus. Chrysalis sighed, looking back at him.

"Lieutenant, I need a progress report."

The grey pegasus, actually one of Chrysalis' changelings in disguise, nodded. "Everything's going as you predicted, your highness. The barrier is weakening by the hour, by the time the wedding ceremony ends it will be weak enough for us to break through."

Chrysalis could not resist a wide, triumphant grin. Nothing was going to stop her now.

"But..."

And the grin was gone.

"But what?" She growled, her eyes flashing green through her disguise with rage.

"It's... Private Thorax, your highness. He's having second thoughts. Are you certain it was wise to bring-"

"Are you questioning my judgement?!" Chrysalis had to restrain herself from shouting.

"N-No, your highness! I merely thought."

"Bring him here."

"W-What?"

"Now! In disguise of course!"

"R-Right away, your highness!"

Moments later, Chrysalis was looking at two nearly identical grey pegasi. She was thankful most ponies weren't very observant, and that so many of the royal guard looked the same.

"Thorax."

The pegasus to her left cringed as his name was said. Chrysalis seized on the moment.

"What am I going to do with you Thorax? Do I need to punish you?"

"N-No, my queen, I-I just thought-"

"Thought what? Do you believe you have some enlightened strategy that would be better than mine?"

Thorax shrunk back, unable to look the queen in the eye.

"N-No I just... D-Do we have to do this? Isn't there another way?"

Was this runt talking back to her? Chrysalis felt a small surge of pride in her chest. Perhaps he was closer to her than she'd realized.

"I wish that there was," Chrysalis lied, faux sweetness dripping from her tongue. "But you know as well as I that ponies will see us only as monsters. We have no choice but to take what we need by force. It has always been that way."

She paused, observing Thorax. He was clearly upset by this response, but he was receiving the message.

"...But, I suppose we don't need every changeling to concentrate on the assault. Once the barrier is down, you are free to do as you see fit. Even if that means trying to find another way."

She didn't expect that he would of course, in the chaos of the invasion he'd be lucky if he could even tell what was going on. It would be... a learning experience.

A few hours after Shining Armor was wed to the real Princess Cadance.

Chrysalis cursed under her breath. Everything had been perfect right up until the last moment. They shouldn't be back in the badlands, they should be feasting in Canterlot. This was supposed to be her great triumph.

"My queen?"

Chrysalis glanced at the changelings who'd gathered around her in formation. Her lieutenant was closest to her, bowing respectfully.

"My queen, we have managed to identify every changeling in the invasion force. There are no casualties aside from miraculously minor injuries."

"At least there's some small mercy out of this. For a moment I believed the fates had allied just to put us down."

Her lieutenant flinched. There was bad news, of course there was.

"There's just the small matter of... Thorax, my queen."

The words had barely left his mouth before he was lifted off the ground by Chrysalis' magic, rage burning behind her eyes.

"What. Small. Matter."

"H-He abandoned the ranks and fled while I was gathering everyone, ma'am!" The lieutenant replied in a panic, his legs flailing uselessly. "He's deserted."

Chrysalis released her lieutenant, who fell to the ground with a thud. Her own words echoed in her head.

"Once the barrier is down, you are free to do as you see fit."

She'd pushed him away. He'd needed her, and she'd pushed him away. Now he was gone and it was her fault.

"P-Perhaps we could retrieve him? It's possible Thorax only-"

Chrysalis didn't bother letting her lieutenant finish before blasting him with her magic until he collapsed. Unconscious or dead, she didn't care.

"Listen up, all of you! The next changeling who even mentions that deserting traitor Thorax in passing will get worse, do I make myself clear?!"

Her fault. No one else would leave, not if it would be her fault.

Author's Note

Chrysalis doesn't handle empty nest syndrome very well...

Process of Induction

Thorax and Pharynx were in flight now. They had a heading and a theory. They just needed to figure out where all the tassels were pointing. As fast as possible, preferably.

"So how did you figure out that scrying spell was working like this?" Thorax asked, as he double checked that the scroll was securely strapped to his back.

"I didn't until I had it in the air. I just recognized something was up after the first tassel stopped pointing anywhere. On the way this far I tried to think of other places that would be significant to Chrysalis, and it kept coming back to Canterlot. Once I went up far enough, all the tassels were pointing at a downward slope. Except one."

"Because Canterlot is built in the side of a mountain!" Thorax exclaimed, "Of course! You're brilliant Pharynx!"

Pharynx chuckled. "I have my moments."

"Do you have any more ideas as to where places Chrysalis would consider significant?"

Pharynx thought for a moment. "Well, not places exactly, but there is a pony I imagine she considers significant. One she swore vengeance on in fact."

"Starlight..."

"Yeah..." Pharynx looked down at the ground below. "Let's land here, outside of Ponyville, and check the scroll."

The two changeling brothers landed, with Thorax carefully removing the scroll and holding it upright. Sure enough one of the remaining tassels was now visibly pointed directly at Canterlot. Two of the remainder were pointed at Ponyville, and the last one, the tassel representing Chrysalis' horn, was pointed directly at the nearby forest. The Everfree.

"...Figures she'd hide in the most ominous place she could think. She always did have a flair for the dramatic." Pharynx commented, shaking his head.

"Couldn't have found her without you Pharynx."

Pharynx grinned. "Oh you would have thought of something. Or she would have found you. Either way we'd have reached this point before long."

Some months earlier...

Chrysalis gritted her teeth as she looked through the pair of binoculars at the unicorn flying a kite in the distance. Starlight Glimmer had certainly taken her sweet time to go do something alone. And of course it was still some place too public for her to do anything to her alone. This would over already if she still had the swarm.

"Hey."

Chrysalis dropped her binoculars as she her thoughts were interrupted by a monotone voice. She briefly panicked until she remembered she was currently in disguise. A unicorn. Minuette.

"Yes?" She asked as she turned to look at the pony she was being interrupted by. A grey earth pony with a purple mane and blue-green eyes stood next to her. Chrysalis recognized this pony. She'd been with Starlight recently. Chrysalis racked her brain. The name Maud Pie came up. Yes, Maud, a sister to that pink earth pony.

"Do you know Starlight Glimmer?" Maud asked. The question was very flat, like everything Maud seemed to say.

"...I... Guess you could say that?" Chrysalis conceded, trying to keep her cool. There was no reason to suspect the earth pony knew anything.

"Have you seen her?"

"She's at the park flying her kite." Chrysalis pointed toward the park, before immediately regretting it. Stupid, why would you reveal you'd seen her?

"Thanks."

Chrysalis practically sighed with relief as the earth pony started to walk away, only for the tension to reappear when they stopped and glanced back.

"You should invest in a camera."

"Wha- Why?"

"For your bird-watching. Most ponies who take up bird-watching like to bring a camera. Pictures last longer." Maud said simply before continuing to walk toward the park.

Red flags were going up all over the place in Chrysalis' mind. She knew. She couldn't know, but she knew.

"No no, you're just being paranoid Chrysalis." She told herself, picking up her binoculars. "You should get some rest. She was just giving you friendly advice."

She tucked the binoculars into a saddlebag and started to walk back towards the edge of town. ...She could use a camera, now that she thought about it. Actually, a camera might turn out quite useful.

Author's Note

Short chapter, and I'm raising the rating from E to T because things start getting a bit... dark in the last couple chapters coming up.

Also say hi to Maud.

And there she goes. Bye Maud! :pinkiecrazy:

Meeting

Thorax and Pharynx trudged through the Everfree Forest, ignoring any and all paths besides the way the scroll was leading them. Pharynx insisted on taking the lead in case of danger. The Everfree was infamous for a reason. Between the dangerous plants, Timberwolves, and the occasional manticore, there was no telling what they could have run into.

But instead, the forest was eerily quiet. Nothing seemed to be moving. Even the wind was still.

"Do you think the forest was like this when Chrysalis arrived?" Thorax asked, breaking the oppressive silence.

"Doubt it," Pharynx said, pausing to stomp down a small bush-like plant in the way. "It's more likely Chrysalis either scared everything off between her hideout and Ponyville or..."

"Or?"

"Or there's nothing left between her hideout and Ponyville."

Thorax shuddered. "Let's... just keep moving and hope that we don't find out."

"Good plan."

After a few hours of hiking through the underbrush Pharynx made a motion for Thorax to stop.

"What? Is there something up ahead."

"We're here."

"How do you-" Thorax started, but caught his question in his throat as he approached Pharynx's side. They'd stumbled across an old cavern of some sort, a pair of stalactites hung from the entrance like fangs, and the faint flickering of a fire could be seen in the back of it.

Pharynx gave Thorax a look.

"I'll go in first, you follow behind, we'll grab her and go."

"What? No!" Thorax put a hoof on Pharynx's shoulder. "We're not abducting her!"

"She's not exactly likely to come willingly."

"We won't know that unless we try." Thorax gave his brother a stern look. "Look. I'll go in first. If I don't have her on her way out in five minutes, or if it sounds like we've started fighting, you rush in and we'll go with your plan."

Pharynx snorted derisively, but nodded. "Fine. Five minutes. I'll be counting."

The cave had turned out to be much deeper than Thorax expected from outside. Just following the flickering light to the main chamber took him over a minute. The campfire was recently built, and a clean camera was laying beside it. There was no doubt, Chrysalis was here. Now.

As if hearing his thoughts, an echoing laugh filled the chamber.

"My oh my, I never expected the Good King Thorax to come and do his own dirty work. Don't you have an entire race of peons at your disposal now?" Chrysalis taunted, her voice continuing to echo, Thorax couldn't tell where she was.

"I'm not here for any dirty work, Pharynx and I have come to take you home." Thorax looked around, scanning the walls for any sign of Chrysalis. "Show yourself, mother!"

"Ah, so you found the scroll then. And then what would you have me do? Face the judgement of the swarm? The swarm you've tainted with your foul, unnatural ways?"

"There's nothing foul about what I'm doing!"

There was an enraged hiss from above. Thorax had just enough time to glace up to see Chrysalis drop down from the ceiling, effortlessly knocking him onto his side before pinning him, her horn ablaze.

"You lie! You abandoned everyone! You deserted us the moment we tasted failure, and greedily took power for yourself so you could use it to usurp a throne that was never yours! You were the back-up. Pharynx was my heir! You were meant to serve and protect him when I was gone, not the other way around while I still live!"

"I didn't greedily take anything! I was given that willingly when I made friends with the ponies you call your enemies!"

"More lies! They stole you away from me! They stole Pharynx away from me! I watched you help them do it! I'll never forgive them! I'll never forgive you! I should destroy you for all you've done!"

Only now did Thorax noticed the glistening in Chrysalis' eyes, the reflection of the fire on them. She wasn't just angry. She was sad. Sorrowful.

"Then do it." Thorax replied calmly. "Kill me."

Silence.

"You can't. You know you can't."

Chrysalis gritted her teeth and hissed, but said nothing; for once she was unable to think of the words she needed to weave. She'd been dreaming of having this traitor at her mercy since he deserted her. She had planned to drain him of his love by force before, why couldn't she bring herself to do it now?

Before she could find an answer for that however she was suddenly barreled into from the side. Thorax's five minutes were up.

Author's Note

Approaching the finale. The next chapter will be the last one.

Jeez Pharynx, your sense of dramatic timing is awful.

Familicide

"Pharynx, no!" Thorax shouted as his brother forced Chrysalis off him, sending the ex-queen on her back beside the fire. He wasn't listening.

"I'll kill you, you rotting hag!" Pharynx shouted, pouncing on her.

Chrysalis panicked, she attempted to hold Pharynx at bay but her instincts and reflexes had her do something quite different. She released the spell she had been planning to use on Thorax. A sickening green tendril of energy burst from her horn, not stopping til it reached the cave ceiling, even though a fellow changeling was currently in the way.

There was a moment of utter silence as the spell dissipated into the air and Pharynx fell to Chrysalis' side, his legs laying limply. Maternal instincts were not normally a thing among changelings. Normally, any sort of affection a queen showed her heirs was a facsimile of observed behaviors, to make her heirs think her ways were right, even if she had to do great wrongs. Chrysalis never even bothered with that, but at this moment, something inside her clicked. Under this moment of duress, the emotions she felt were very real.

"No, no, no, no..." She pulled herself up and grabbed her eldest, cradling him in her forelegs. She could feel the life leaving him. She knew she had little time. "Pharynx, you're going to be okay, alright? Hang on for me. Hang on for Thorax."

Pharynx's eyes seemed unfocused as he looked up at his mother, as she held him up.

"M-Mother?"

"Mother's right here. Keep talking, stay with my voice." Chrysalis begged. She had to think of something, anything to keep him alive. But no plans or ideas came to her.

"Mother, why did you leave us alone for so long?" Pharynx asked, his voice delirious and weak.

"I-I don't know," She sobbed, tears beginning to stream from her eyes. "I thought I knew better. I thought you didn't need me. I won't be going anywhere ever again, alright? Just stay with me and we can be a family, for real this time."

"I... I think I'd like that..." Pharynx said, smiling before closing his eyes.

"Pharynx, Pharynx? No don't go!" She rocked him back and forth, desperately trying to rouse him from his eternal slumber. "I'm sorry! Please! Just stay with me!"

But in her heart, Chrysalis knew, it was far too late.

Her son was dead.

Pharynx's service was an international affair. While he had personally touched few lives outside of the changeling hive, many who knew Thorax and the reformed changelings felt the need to attend.

"Today, we give our final respects to Prince Pharynx. Son of Chrysalis, and brother of Thorax. He spent his life in service to the hive, and gave it in defense of its king."

Chrysalis could not bear to listen to the sermon, she watched the service from afar, her legs chained. She had surrendered herself to the Princesses, in hopes that they would repay Pharynx's death in kind. They showed her no such mercy.

As Pharynx's coffin was slowly lowered into his grave, Chrysalis broke down again, collapsing to the ground in tears. Her fault. It was her fault. She'd lost both of her sons and it was her fault.

"Chrysalis." Came a now all too familiar voice. "How many times are you going to revisit this nightmare?"

Nightmare?

Chrysalis looked up. The funeral service was gone. Luna, the princess of the night stood before her.

That's right. A nightmare. She'd been through this scenario before. How many nights in a row had she had this dream? Had she even attended the original funeral? She couldn't remember anymore.

"You need to let go, Chrysalis." Luna stated, her tone sympathetic. "You need to stop torturing yourself."

"How can I stop when you torment me with this dream every night?!" Chrysalis shouted back. "My son is gone! His blood is on my hooves!"

"I am doing no such thing." Luna replied, with something between a snort and a derisive laugh. "This is your own mind's doing. You must stop torturing yourself and move on or this nightmare will never leave you."

Chrysalis looked down and sobbed. "What would you know about this anyway?"

"More than you know, Chrysalis. More than you'll ever know, most likely." Luna knelt down next to the changeling queen, gently lifting her head to look her in the eye. "But you'll never have a chance if you don't wake up."

Chrysalis' eyes shot open. The smooth stone ceiling above her told her all she needed to know. She was still in Canterlot's dungeon, where she'd surrendered herself. Where she'd insisted to stay if they refused to kill her. Her ears perked up. Hoof steps. Four pairs. Two ponies. Drearily she looked toward her cell door, to see the white alicorn, Princess Celestia approaching, flanked by a familiar gray pegasus.

"What is he doing here? Are you giving me over to my people?" Chrysalis practically spat in false bravado.

Thorax shook his head and dropped his disguise, in a flash of flame, the pegasus was now the changeling king, a look of concern on his face. "It's been weeks mother. Celestia sent word you haven't eaten anything. You're killing yourself."

Chrysalis grimaced. She'd almost forgotten about the pain in her stomach, the nightmares had seen to that. "...I don't want their pity. Perhaps I deserve to die."

"What you did was an accident." Celestia countered, raising an eyebrow. "And in self-defense I might add. For all you knew Pharynx was really going to kill you."

"And maybe he should have!" Chrysalis jumped out of her cot, stomping toward the bars. "I don't belong anywhere anymore! It would be only fitting the new order remove the old! Instead I had to watch my own son be buried because of my stupidity!"

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Celestia, open my mother's cell."

"Are you certain that's-"

"Please."

Celestia slowly inhaled. "Very well."

There was a soft click as the cell door unlocked before swinging open. Chrysalis stepped back, confused and nervous. "What are you-"

She was cut off by Thorax suddenly rushing up and embracing her. She could feel an immense amount of love coming from her son. She knew what he was doing and she felt sick that she couldn't stop herself. She fed on her son's love for his mother. After a moment she cut herself off, pushing him away.

"Why? You should hate me."

"I can't." Thorax replied simply. "You're the only family I have left."

Chrysalis winced, looking away. He was her only family as well.

"Will you please come home?"

"No. I don't have a home anymore."

"Will you at least come out of this cell?" Thorax glanced at Celestia who nodded. Chrysalis would likely be under surveillance, but she was free to leave.

"...I'll consider it."

"And will you stop starving yourself?"

"...Very well..."

Thorax gave Chrysalis a sad smile and stepped out of her cell. "It's a start. I'll see you soon mother."

Chrysalis watched him leave before turning her attention back to Celestia. "You'll keep him safe?"

"Of course." Celestia gave Chrysalis a knowing smirk. Chrysalis hated that smirk. "Does that mean I should have a guest room furnished instead of this cell?"

"...I suppose it does."

Author's Note

Typing this up was hard. I'd had the ending decided for a while now, but it's much different to have it planned and to actually write it up when you get emotionally invested in the story like I do.

I might eventually write a sequel, I sort of like the scenario I've set up here.