Vision was blurry for a second, but the blur faded, and everything was clearer, but one eye wouldn’t clear up. Thorax woke up, somewhere. He didn’t know where, until he realized, he was back at the Hive. He sat up, slowly. He was definitely in the Aid room, but no one was really in the room right now. He tried getting on his legs, but he only crumbled to the ground. His legs were bruised, cut, and numb. He just tried sitting on the ground instead, trying to move his legs better. His whole body was damaged, including his right eye. After just trying to shake his legs for a bit, he tried standing up. He was now able to, but he was shaking a lot.

“ ..Ok..now what.. “ Thorax muttered to himself, looking around the room. He thought about seeing how the Hive was doing so far, and Pharynx. He took one step, and almost fell over again. He was more weak than he thought. He opened his elytra, and buzzed his wings, only to fall back to the ground. His wings had a crazy-amount of holes in them, making him unable to fly. He grumbled, and kept walking, stumbling and shaking. When Thorax was outside of the Aid room, the light flashed for a moment. He winced, before blinking. He looked around, some drones seeing his beaten body. They all just looked for a moment, surprised.

“ Thorax! “ Pharynx called, getting the king’s attention. Thorax tried to put on a fake smile, and stumbled toward him.

“ H-Hey...Pharynx.. “

“ Thorax, what are you doing out here?! Go back in the Aid room! “ Pharynx demanded. Thorax tilted his head, like he didn’t know what he meant. But, in reality, the leader knew why Pharynx said that. He was excruciatingly damaged, after his “ fight “ with Onyx Star. He was too weak at that point to fight.

“ ..W..What..do you mean? I-I’m fine, you see? “ Thorax lied, smiling fakely. Pharynx only blinked.

“ ..Yeah. No you’re not. Go back in the Aid room bro! You’re still weak! “ Pharynx pushed the taller, younger brother back into the room, followed by one of the Aid Changelings. Thorax stumbled backwards.

“ P-Pharynx...I-I’m...fineee... “ Thorax muttered, huffing after each word. Even talking tired him, as his legs shook. Pharynx flew up to his face level, and put his hooves on the weakened king’s shoulders, easily able to just sit him down. He gazed at his bruised, and damaged brother, before sitting in front of him.

“ Thorax. You can’t lie to me, and I know you were just trying to leave this room, but you need to stay in here for a while. “ He explained, looking up and down at his brother’s appearance. His brother colors also faded a slight.

“ Pharynx..just..just give me a..a moment. “ Thorax huffed, before putting a hoof to his forehead. His head was heating up. Thorax coughed, and black liquid dripped from the king’s mouth. He covered his mouth, before hacking up black liquid. The Aid Changeling watched, worryingly, and Pharynx blinked, nervously.

“ Ok. Thorax. There is no way that you’re ok if THAT’S happening. “ He pointed at Thorax’s stained hooves. The Changeling leader sighed, and collapsed on his back.

“ ...So...tired... “ He whispered, curling up into a laying ball. The Aid Changeling sat next to the king, and put a hoof on his forehead.

“ Your majesty, you have a fever. “ They said, worried. Thorax nodded weakly, before coughing again. Pharynx heard a knock at the wall, and turned. There, standing, was Starlight Glimmer. Pharynx blinked, confused. Next to her, was Trixie. Pharynx turned back to the two other Changeling’s, and pointed to the entrance.

“ S-Starlight! Trixie! H-Hi there!.. “ Thorax waved, sitting up, pretending to have some kind of energy. Starlight and Trixie carefully walked in, seeing how...odd Thorax looked.

“ ..Thorax, heh..you feeling ok? “ Starlight asked, awkwardly. Thorax nodded, smiling fake. He stood up, trying to not to tremble from weakness. Thorax would walk toward them, trying not to stumble. Trixie and Starlight exchanged glances.

“ W-Well...you think you’re feeling ok? Cause, it’s gonna take a while to get back to Ponyville.. “ Starlight said, rubbing the back of her head, with her leg. Thorax nodded, weakly, and left the room. Starlight looked at Pharynx, who had a “ Really? “ look on his face. Starlight sighed, and followed Thorax. Trixie followed behind.

It turns out. For some reason, Thorax gained the ability to allow his wings to heal tucked in his elytra. So, after a while, there were less holes in his wings, allowing him to fly better. Trixie and Starlight were able to sit on the Changeling’s back, although it stung a bit.

“ Are you..sure this is fine? I don’t want to hurt you too much. “ Starlight asked, nervously. Thorax forced a giggle.

“ N-No worries! I-I’m fine! “ Thorax smiled, his wings buzzing. His mind felt empty, and he didn’t feel Chrysalis’s spiritual presence in his mind. She was probably just silent for a while, but didn’t know why.

“ Hey! Be careful! I’m not going to die because of you! “ Trixie whined, clinging onto Thorax’s back. Thorax rolled his solid eyes, trying to fly straight. Trixie gripped tighter around Thorax’s carapace, making him feel really uncomfortable. Starlight tried not to grip onto the king’s body, as he was already damaged. She saw his one if back legs twitch, from the discomfort of having a pony’s legs wrapped around his carapace. Starlight just blinked, awkwardly.

“ Trixie, could you..not hold on to him like that? I’m pretty sure it’ll be fine. “ Starlight asked, seeing Thorax’s discomfort, from the twitching leg.

“ What if we start plummeting to the ground?! What if he doesn’t see where he’s going?! I am NOT, taking that chance! “ She said, gripping around the king’s torso tighter. He winced, before keeping his composure, still flying in the air. His legs couldn’t help but twitch.

“ Trixie, it’s not necessary! “ Starlight groaned, face-hoofing. Trixie still held on, tightly. Starlight sighed, and her horn glowed. She surrounded herself with her aura, and levitated herself next to the discomforted king. His front legs shook, and twitched.

“ I’m sorry about Trixie. She’s not all that- “

“ No, no, it’s ok! It’s—ah—fine.. “ Thorax winced, twitching. Starlight nodded, doubtingly. His legs kept twitching, and curling up. Starlight flew close to him, just in-case. She thought she knew that Thorax isn’t too capable of using magic. That’s what she thought.

“ Be careful, bug boy.. “ Trixie hissed, still gripping onto Thorax’s carapace with her front legs. Thorax didn’t hear her for a moment, and his ear twitched. He blinked, as his vision started getting blurry. Thorax’s legs kept twitching, and curling up, as the area around him started turning black. Green figures would fly around him, making him stop in place. The figures would blur, and his head would start aching. He groaned, as he kept flying, but had no idea where he was going at this point. He couldn’t see anything in this black void of nothingness. He, then, heard hoofsteps from somewhere, and he stopped in place again.

“ ...What?.. “ He looked around, nervous. Then, he felt someone yell something. The black void disappeared, and he was back to reality. Trixie was hanging off of one of his back legs, with a freaked out expression.

“ WHY DID YOU STOP!? I COULD’VE DIED BECAUSE OF YOU-YOU-YOU STUPID BUG! “ Trixie climbed up Thorax’s back, wrapping her front legs around his carapace again, trying to crawl up Thorax’s back. He let out a few small gasps out of sensitivity in his carapace. Starlight noticed this, and picked up Trixie herself.

“ Here. “ She said, placing Trixie on Thorax’s back, allowing her to grip onto the Changeling again, although she knew it wasn’t necessary. She saw that’s Thorax’s face was a bit blushed, from the hints of Orange that were visible around the king’s face.

“ ..You ok? “

“ Uh? Y-Yeah! Just..a little-Uh...I-I’m fine. Let’s just keep going.. “ Thorax huffed softly, before continuing forward. Starlight followed behind the king, awkwardly.

How much longer was this gonna be?

Author's Note

This was one of my lazy chapters—