“Tough bugs don’t giggle. That’d be stupid.”
“It’s not that bad. Believe me, I’ve seen worse.”
Despite the unicorn’s constant attempts to reassure him, Pharynx folded his arms, still trying to protect his bare midriff from the ongoing gazes of the many pony passersby.
He and Tempest Shadow were currently seated on the exposed roots beneath a large and sturdy tree somewhere in Ponyville.
Though, it wasn’t even that long since the two met each other; wanting to spread the word of the Storm King’s defeat, Tempest Shadow went out of her way to journey across and even beyond Equestria. When she arrived at the Changeling Hive, however, she got a not-so-pleasant welcome from the changeling prince himself, who mistook the broken-horned unicorn for yet another trespassing threat. Before the changeling could even trap her in his bag, however, Tempest Shadow immediately got the upper hand in battle combat, kicking him in the thorax (something that Pharynx constantly teases his brother about up to this day) and successfully defending herself against his ambush attempts. After everything was settled, and after getting chewed out by his brother for attempting to capture the unicorn, Pharynx started to take a liking to the former commander and the unlikely duo slowly grew closer over time.
Pharynx scoffed and rolled his violet eyes. “Puh-lease. You wouldn’t know about the most embarrassing type of armor even if you wore it,” he said.
The black-and-purple metal body armor that Pharynx had on was lightweight enough for him to walk around casually. The set came in three pieces; the leggings, the chestplate, and the boots. Though today, Pharynx just ditched the armor boots just to wear his signature spikey boots. As strong as the armor was, however, the only area on his torso that it didn’t seem to cover was his midriff, much to the changeling’s dismay.
“I do, and I have. Well, at least once or so,” Tempest replied. “Hell was it uncomfortable,” she grumbled lowly, staring down at her own black, polished body armor, which she had gotten recently as a gift.
“Heh, I’m guessing the Storm King made you wear it?” Pharynx cracked a slight smile for a brief moment.
“No, but he might as well have,” Tempest growled. “Thank Celestia that he’s still gone at the very least.”
“Pretty much sums up how I feel about this stupid armor.” Pharynx folded his arms and adjusted his seating on one of the higher tree roots.
“Hey, at least none of the changeling troop members noticed before we left your kingdom—“
“They were staring me down, Tempest! You were there!” Pharynx suddenly stood up as he complained. “If anything, they noticed how stupid this armor actually looks on me.” He then sighed heavily as he sat back down, letting his backside collide with the rather unpleasant texture of the tree trunk behind him. “I know, I’m sounding like such a grub right now, but... I hate it. I really, really, really do.”
Tempest only rolled her sea-green eyes, before scooting close to the changeling and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Say whatever the heck you want, but I’m already attached to your body armor,” she stated with a grin, letting her gaze fall down to his torso. “You know why?”
Pharynx finally turned around to face the broken-horned unicorn. “Why?” he grumbled.
“Because it gives me full-on access to that sexy body of yours.” She sneered.
“What’s that supposed to mea—“
That was when Tempest placed her hands around his belly.
For a mere moment, Pharynx’s body locked up. At least, until Tempest started trailing her fingers across his midriff. The changeling nearly screamed then and there, but he successfully managed to barricade it back in, albeit just barely...
As he started to slightly twist around in his seating, Pharynx kept trying and failing to fight the corners of his mouth and keep them from curving upward and forming a rather uncharacteristic grin. He wanted to focus the warmth of Tempest’s fingertips and the gentleness of her touch, but the fact that this was all happening to his defenseless belly could not be overlooked.
“C-C’mon Tempest,” he attempted through gritted teeth, followed by fits of snickers. “T-That... that tickles.” He voluntarily lowered his voice when he uttered the last few words, glancing around to see if any other ponies were listening or even watching the scene play out.
Tempest merely smirked in reply, squeezing her fingers into his midriff, making the changeling’s grin twinge even further. “Oh, so is the big tough changeling prince/general... ticklish?”
Realizing what he just said, Pharynx violently shook his head, either in reply or to shake the stupid smile off his face or even both. “N-Nohohoho..?” he answered in a short series of half-escaped giggles as his torso began twitching underneath the unicorn’s dark purple fingertips. “C-Cut it out! I-I’m w-warning you!” he threatened.
“M’kay, sure,” Tempest replied with a smug grin of her own, and she merely continued to attack the dark cyan changeling’s bare tummy like it was no big deal, much to Pharynx’s agony.
“Ah—!” Pharynx bit back a scream, which was actually something that could’ve quickly ascended into a fit of laughter had he not prevented it from slipping out his mandibles.
The twitching and squirming of the changeling’s body increased every time Tempest hit a sensitive spot on his midriff. Pharynx even tried scooting away on the large tree root he was sitting on, only to jump when the unicorn wrapped a firm arm around and squeezed his side, in an attempt to keep him from leaving. “Hold still already!” Tempest said with a slight hint of annoyance, wriggling two of her fingers against the lower part of his belly, just a few inches above the waist or so, which was yet another weak spot of the poor changeling’s.
This wasn’t the first time Pharynx had been tickled and embarrassed at the exact same time, unfortunately. He occasionally had these types of experiences back at the changeling hive, whether it was with his brother, the drones, the nymphs, or all three of those options.
Heck, there was even a time where he had gotten his foot stuck in the Feelings Forum wall after unsuccessfully attempting to kick a hole or two. One thing happened after another and the poor changeling eventually had his trapped feet tickled, teased, and tormented by Thorax.
He still hadn’t lived down that humiliating experience.
And he wasn’t sure whether or not he could live down this one, either.
Not once did the changeling prince ever think that someday he would be physically teased by a pony, let alone a broken-horned unicorn who was the former second-in-command next to some crazy storm creature.
“Mmph...” Pharynx kept biting his lip as he glanced around at the ponies in the area. Most of them were going about their day, but some of them were gazing at the smug female unicorn tickling the frustrated male changeling. He winced once he thought about the ponies’ reactions if he chose to burst out into embarrassing fits of childish giggles.
He then glanced back at Tempest Shadow, at her expression specifically. Her devious sea green eyes stared deep into his agitated violet ones, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her smirk either. A part of him wanted to kick her, but at the same time, he found himself feeling some sort of tranquility and satisfaction.
Pharynx let his eyes fall back on to his exposed, tormented belly. As much as the changeling outright hated admitting it, there was something oddly stimulating about the gentle, tingling sensations of tickling stirring about against his sensitive area. He just wasn’t so sure what it could actually be, however.
“D-Don’t stop... tickling..”
“What was that?” Tempest raised an eyebrow as she gave his bare sides a good squeeze.
“I said—“ Pharynx suddenly clamped his jaws shut when Tempest took the tickling down to his waist. “Rrrrrgh...” he softly growled through his gritted teeth.
“Yes?” For a moment, Tempest took it down a notch to let the changeling speak.
“J-Just... Do your worst! I can take it!” Pharynx firmly claimed as he folded his arms, while also letting out a huffy breath. “And do it for as long as you want, too,” he mumbled quietly.
“Okay, fine.” The unicorn rolled her eyes, and she began to trace an index finger along his midriff, making the changeling squirm again, “but only because your belly is kinda cute... for a tough bug.”
With great difficulty, Pharynx resisted the urge to blush at that compliment; he still had a reputation to keep up, after all.
The two sat there in silence for the past few minutes, save for Pharynx’s fits of giggles no matter how hard he tried to fight them. As more time passed, however, Pharynx stopped resisting the urge to keep his laughter in and started resisting the urge to fight back.
It didn’t take very long for Tempest to notice this, however.
“Alright, Mr. Toughbug, be honest.” The unicorn’s finger began to slowly skate in circular motions along the changeling’s tummy. “Are you... enjoying this?”
Pharynx‘s body froze. Well, as much as it could given his twitching and giggling. “N-No!” he proclaimed in defense.
Tempest grinned; she even knew foals who could lie more convincingly. “Well, I guess I could probably stop teasing your cute tummy then... Are you sure you want me to?”
Pharynx glanced down again and bit his lower lip, watching as Tempest’s finger crept closer and closer to his navel.
“Well, which one is it, Bugboy? I’m waiting...”
The changeling swallowed heavily before answering.
“GAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHAHAA!”
It was too late. Pharynx squirmed, thrashed, and convulsed every which way as Tempest dug her finger into his defenseless belly button. “Hahahahahahaha! N-Nohohohohohot thehehehere!”
“Heheh. Looks like I found your lil’ weak spot, didn’t I?” Tempest continued to press her fingertip into his navel.
“Hahahahahaha! Y-You t-teaserrrrr!” Pharynx bellowed. “AAAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“That, I am,” the unicorn snarked, bringing the tickling down to his waist area again, just to keep the laughter flowing.
“S-Stohohohohohop!”
“What?” Still smirking, Tempest tickled his navel again, and the changeling’s laughter rose an octave.
“I-I mean, dohohohon’t stohohohohop!” Pharynx shook his head violently. “D-Don’t you dare stohohohop! Ahahahahahaha!”
“Wasn’t even planning to.”
Many minutes passed as the unicorn kept on teasing the changeling’s unprotected tummy area, while the changeling kept on squirming and laughing.
Neither of them cared about who was watching, who was passing by, or what the two of them looked like to everyone else.
What mattered was that they were having a good time, whether they wanted to admit it or not.
“Hahaha! O-Okay! Okay!” Pharynx arched backwards as Tempest’s fingers kept going at his sensitive region. “I-I’m dying, I’m dying!”
Then, it was all over.
Pharynx sat back up straight, taking in as much air as his lungs could possibly store, letting a few remaining giggles out of his system. “F-Finally,” he gasped and exhaled one last time. “F-Five more minutes and I would’ve really died,” he grumbled as he rubbed his belly.
“So, you did enjoy that, didn’t you?” Tempest leaned in with yet another smirk.
“Okay, okay, fine, I did. Kind of.” Pharynx finally admitted. “J-Just do me a favor and please don’t tell anyone about this,” he added. “I still have a reputation to keep up, and I don’t think it could ever survive—“
He was abruptly cut off when Tempest gave him a light peck right on the lips, making the cyan changeling go as red as his horns.
“Y-You’re horrible,” Pharynx mumbled playfully once the unicorn pulled away after a moment.
“Yes... Yes, I am.” Tempest gave the changeling one last poke in the side, making him chuckle a bit.
Pharynx thought for a moment. Maybe he did need to wear this tacky body armor more often.
Author's Note
Because one sub!Pharynx story wasn’t enough. For me, at least. 
I noticed that, other than this one, there were barely any Tempynx stories on this site, so I honestly had to do something to keep the ship afloat, even though I’m not the best at writing Tempest’s character.
Right, Bronies?
(I still need to choose an idea for little Thorax, though... 
)
Big thanks to chimera3xd for helping me with this! 
