Bang! Bang! Bang!

As soon as he heard that familiar banging noise, Pharynx opened his eyes to see a blanket of darkness enveloping the train car he was in. What the…? He looked around the area, trying to make out anything in it. Is the train still moving? Is it night already?

Then it hit him. No… it can’t be.

The moment where Thorax came back, the times where he interacted with Venom and his siblings… he couldn’t have dreamt those things up, could he?

He couldn’t still be in the middle of nowhere inside a train car with his unconscious brother, right?

Pharynx looked to his side. Thorax was not there.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He looked around, trying to see if anything looked familiar at all, but all he could see was darkness.

Pharynx looked out the window. There was supposed to be something out there. Trees, rocks, anything at all! But all he saw was an empty, black, ominously infinite void.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Pharynx jumped when he heard that noise for the third time in a row. He got up, and looked around. He wanted to call out. Just where was everyone? He walked over to the door, and slowly opened it…

…only to find the same room he was just in. What in..?

Pharynx looked up to the ceiling. He looked over to a sunroof. He flew up and started to push on the door, but alas, it wouldn’t budge. Alright Pharynx, let’s see if you still got it. He positioned his hooves towards the sunroof, before trying to buck his way out.

CRASH!

The changeling felt himself fall onto the floor beneath him as he felt the entire train car rock back and forth for a mere moment. He got back up, and looked around once more.

Then he turned to the window. He moved towards the now fogged-up window, which looked as if something was breathing on it. He slowly reached his hoof to it…

A black, hole-infested hoof suddenly slammed against the opposite side of the window.

“Aargh!” Pharynx recoiled back, breathing heavily.

His heavy breaths continued as a pair of glowing blue eyes stared back at him from the darkness. He stared into the blue eyes, almost mesmerized.

The blue-eyed face smiled menacingly, showing rows of white, gleaming fangs…

He stared at them. No way… is that… He couldn’t even utter those two words in his mind. No, no, no, no…

The creature drew back its hoof, before punching the window in front of it, hard enough to shatter the glass.

“NO!”

Pharynx woke up in a sweat. He glanced around the interior of the train car, ready to jump and attack at any possible second.

He looked out his window to finally see the passing scenery, where there was afternoon daylight. Okay, that’s a… good sign.

“Guys? Guys?” he asked in an attempt to get an answer from the other changelings that were supposed to be with him. The only answer he got was dead silence.

Pharynx turned his head, expecting to see them lying down in their seats a few meters away from him…

...the only thing he saw were empty seats.

His heart started beating like a drum. He started breathing heavily and faster than he’d ever done before.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

There it was again.

“Hey! Pharynx!”

He looked over to the voice. The voice that came from outside his window…

“What the…” he looked out of his window. There was Venom Stinger. He was flying right alongside the moving train!

He recoiled. Not again! He blinked at the changeling.

“Hey! Do us a favor and get up here!” Venom called.

He tilted his head. “...No way.”

“Yes way! You see that door thingy on the ceiling? All you gotta do is open it up and—”

“Venom!” Pharynx cut him off. “What are you doing out there?”

“I don’t think you’d believe me if you didn’t see it yourself, but Netwing is on top of the train!”

“Netwing?!” Venom was right about one thing; Pharynx didn’t believe it. “Who the buck is that?!”

Venom looked at him. “He—Aah!” he yelped, just barely clinging to the train window. “He’s from Chrysalis’ hive! And he’s trying to pummel Scorch to death right now!”

“He’s trying to what?!”

“Come on, Pharynx, what are you waiting for?!”

Pharynx quickly got up. “Fine! I’m coming! Hang on!” He flew up to the sunroof, pushing it open and climbing up as he felt the fast winds pushing against him.

He’d only been on top of a moving train like this once or twice, probably sometime during Chrysalis’ reign, but maybe not this fast.

“Guys?!” Pharynx called out.

“We’re over here!” Someone called back.

“What the—Oof!” Pharynx felt a strong hoof punching him against his carapace, hard enough to knock him over. He looked up to see an unreformed changeling standing above him.

One with amber eyes and an orange mane. He recoiled back and rolled towards the others. “So that’s Netwing?!”

“You don’t remember?!” Venom shouted, his voice almost being drowned out by the train’s loud whistle.

“Like buck I do! I haven’t seen anyone from Chrysalis’ hive in forever! You can’t expect me to remember everyone!” Pharynx shouted back.

Scorch suddenly knocked Netwing away from the pair of arguing changelings, only to be knocked away by a yellow-eyed changeling. “Good job, Termite,” Netwing said with a sneer.

Pharynx and Venom dropped their argument and faced the two unreformed changelings. Pharynx looked at Venom. “Okay, truce?”

“Just for ten minutes or so!”

“Then what are you boys waiting for!?” Thistle shouted out to them. She was pinning down a changeling with deep gray eyes and a large gray neckfin.

“Okay, okay, we’re comin’!” Venom yelled before charging said changeling. “Take that, Sawfly!”

Sawfly looked up. “Venom!” he snapped before trying to attack.

“Hey, you remember! Missed me?!”

“Get over here!”

Sawfly raised his hoof to strike, only to be flanked and attacked by Pharynx from his left. Venom got in a punch of his own, landing his hoof into Sawfly’s abdomen, sending him flying back.

Pharynx stared as Venom demonstrated his combat skills. “You’re stronger than I remember.”

“Am I now?”

“Yep, now let’s focus on sending these bugs back to the hole they came from.”

Scorch was still trying to deal with both Netwing and Termite. “Hey! I need some help over here!”

“Coming!” Flutterwings shouted.

She charged over and tackled Termite before landing a punch to the side of his face.

Spiny then dealt with Termite as well, throwing him to the ground—or rather, the roof of the train car.

Netwing looked at them, and tried attacking the two, before Scorch landed a kick to his side, launching him off the side of the train.

Netwing clung to the edge.

Scorch walked over to him, in an attempt to stomp his hoof and cause Netwing to fall off the train…

...only for a brown-eyed changeling to charge in.

Scorch just barely dodged the attack, landing next to Spiny and Flutters.

“Little help here, Pincer!” Netwing was fluttering his wings in an attempt to maneuver himself back onto the train’s roof.

Pincer looked at him, then to the three changelings in front of him. “Oh sure, I’ll just turn my back and- I can’t help you moron!”

“What?!”

“I’ll get knocked off the train if I turn around!” Pincer snapped. “Let me just… take out the trash.”

Flutterwings growled. “Why, we ought to—”

“Allow me.” Pincer turned to his left to see a pink changeling punch him in the face.

“Oof!” Pincer stumbled, just barely catching himself in time. “Alright missy, if you wanted a turn, you should’ve just said so!”

He charged forward towards Thistle, only for a green changeling to suddenly appear right in front of him

He laughed. “You?! You think you can stop me?! You wouldn’t even hurt a—”

Before he knew it, he found himself lying on the roof, trying to pick himself up.

Cricket ran to him, preparing to punch him with a free hoof.

Pincer looked up with fear. “Wait! Don’t—”

POW!

He then flew clean off the train, landing into some nearby shrubbery.

“Pincer!” Netwing called out.

Pincer poked his head out of the bushes. “Netwing!” his voice became more and more distant as the train chugged away.

Netwing threw himself back onto the train’s roof. “You’ll pay for that…” he growled, looking at Cricket.

“Meeep!” Cricket recoiled.

The others stood beside Cricket. “You’ll have to get through us first!” Scorch called out, readying a fighting stance.

“Sawfly! Termite! Get over here!” Netwing bellowed.

“But what about Pincer?!” Termite cried.

“Silence! We need to do what he’d want us to do.”

Termite stiffened. “You’re right,” he said…

...before jumping off the side of the train car, screaming, “I’M COMING, PINCER!”

Sawfly looked out in awe, with his eyes and jaw agape, before looking back at Netwing, who had the same expression.

“TERMITE! YOU IDIOT!” Netwing screamed.

“No bug left behind!” Termite screamed back.

Together, Venom and Thistle struggled to push him off the train car. He moved out of the way, causing them to stumble to the very back of the train.

Venom found himself clinging to the edge, with Thistle holding onto him. He looked at her. “Thistle?!”

“What?!”

“You… You alright?!”

“What do you think, dude?! We’re this close to being blown off the motherbugging train!” she yelled.

“Fair bugging point!”

They looked up to see Netwing staring down at them. He growled. “You two...”

The pair tried fluttering their wings to lift themselves back up, but the wind was far too strong. Venom looked at Thistle, before looking back at Netwing. “What do you want now?!” he yelled.

Netwing opened his mouth to answer when—

“Hey guys!” Spiny’s voice called out. “There’s a pretty big hill up ahead!”

Venom and Thistle looked up ahead. It was a big hill to say the least.

“Hold onto something! Cause gravity’s about to get crazy!” Spiny shouted.

Venom looked up. He and Thistle continued to grip onto the edge as the train started going up the hill.

Netwing, on the other hoof, started sliding right into them. He then fell off the train, and grabbed onto Thistle’s carapace.

“Hey!” she shrieked. She tried kicking him, to no avail.

Venom’s hoof started sliding as the train continued to travel the hill. Then he noticed a gap between the train cars. “Thistle! Do you trust me?!”

“Why do you ask?!”

“Well, you better hold on!” Venom let go of the edge. If he got this right, they’d be safe. If not… Please let this work! He then grabbed the edge of the other train car, the force causing Netwing to let go of Thistle and fly down the hill.

“Venooooom!”

Venom continued clinging as they stared at Netwing as he rolled down the hill. “Geez.”

“I can’t believe that even worked!” Thistle cried. “You could’ve taken us with him!”

“Heheh… Yeah. I could’ve,” Venom chuckled. They looked up…

...then there was Sawfly.

He looked at them with a shocked expression, before glaring down at them and slowly raising a hoof…

Venom and Thistle panicked. “Sawfly wait, wait, wait!” Venom pleaded.

Pharynx suddenly charged in and grabbed Sawfly. “Ahh! Pharynx!” Sawfly cried out in surprise.

Without hesitating, Pharynx hurled him off as the train finally reached the peak of the hill. “That’s a long way down!” Venom commented, watching him tumble down to a lake. “Yeesh.”

“Hey! You might wanna take advantage of this somewhat flat ground and get back on this train!” Pharynx called out, before reaching out a hoof to Venom.

Venom stared in disbelief before reaching his hoof out while he had this small chance. “Er… thanks.”

Pharynx pulled Venom and Thistle up—just as the train started going down the hill.

“We’re going down!” Pharynx shouted out.

They all started sliding forward, each of them hitting the train’s funnel. “Grab onto something!” Scorch yelled.

“We’re trying!” Flutters yelled back.

The train then started speeding down the hill, faster than when it moved up the hill. They all held onto whatever they could for dear life.

“I think we’re almost down!” Flutterwings exclaimed.

“Just keep holding on, dang it!” Pharynx yelled out, shutting his eyes.

Venom looked at Thistle. “You need any help?!”

“What?! Why do you ask?!”

“I dunno! I just… I don’t know! I’m just asking!” Venom spat, trying to seem… what was the word? Nis? No… kindle? No not that. Uh… nice?

Why am I even trying to be nice again? He wondered. Did he even have a reason to be nice to her of all changelings.

Before he could even find the answer, they felt the train finally reach flat ground. “Oh thank Chrysalis that’s over!” Pharynx said, breathing heavily.

They looked at him.

“What? I was just thanking our mother, or… whatever she’s supposed to be. I sure as heck ain’t praying to them alicorns.”

They all got up as the train moved at a much steadier pace. They looked around. “Should we go back in?” Cricket asked, his legs quivering.

Everyone agreed. The seven changelings made their way to the sunroof and entered the train car.

Venom sat down in his seat, still breathing heavily. He still couldn’t believe what they’d just done. Him, his siblings, Pharynx, Thistle…

...Thistle. Venom looked over to the pink changeling. He still couldn’t believe he saved her and tried being nice to her.

“Hey…” he said to her.

She looked over. “Hey Venom…” she breathed deeply, before adding. “I just wanted to say… uh…”

Venom looked at her. He waited for her response. “What?” he asked anxiously.

She sighed and spoke up. “Well, what you did back there, I have to admit…”

“Yeah?” He asked, perking up a bit.

She looked off to the side. “Well… I… thank you…”

Venom’s eyes widened to the size of bowling balls. “Really?”

She nodded. “I...I thought we were goners… but… you saved us.”

“Heheh…” Venom chuckled quietly. “Y’know, I only did that thanks to some of Spiny rubbing off on me with the whole ‘measuring trajectory’ thing.”

“The what?”

“It’s hard to explain,” he said while scratching the back of his head.

They both chuckled.

“Well, I’m glad whatever you did worked.” Thistle smiled.

Venom then looked to Pharynx. He wanted to walk over and talk, but at the same time, not.

Well, Pharynx did prevent Sawfly from pummeling him and Thistle off the train…

He sighed and reluctantly walked over to his rival. “...Hey,” he grumbled just loudly enough for the changeling prince to hear.

Pharynx looked up to him. “What?”

“...Nice job handling Sawfly back there,” he admitted quietly.

Pharynx looked up in surprise. “Huh… thanks, Venom.”

“Whatever… Like I said, that ‘truce’ of ours was only for ten minutes—” Then it hit him. “Wait… just how long was that train battle back there?”

“Sure as hay wasn’t ten minutes. I’d have to guess at least fifteen to twenty minutes—Oh...”

Venom’s throat ran drier than a well in a drought. “Well… uhh… truce over?”

“We’ll see about that.” Pharynx smirked as the changeling pouted for the rest of the trip home.

Author's Note

Huge thanks to Mlphero for writing this with me in Google Docs. This was fun!