Plus Onesby HammerheadChaptersThe ArrivalThe PoetThe Bug LoverThe EndThe Arrival“I have no idea how you got me to do this” a dark green pony-like bug uttered in annoyance, as he flies alongside another, lighter green bug, in the night sky approaching a palace sitting on a mountain top. “There were other changelings you could have brought along with you to this fancy-schmancy pony tea-party. But no, you had to make your big brother go.” “First off Pharynx, it’s called the Royal Canterlot Gala, and for the ponies, it’s their largest event” the lighter green bug refuted, “and secondly, I thought this would make a good break for you. Not to mention, I was invited because my friend Twilight is hosting this Gala.” The pair landed in the square; Pharynx practically stamped the ground hard while his brother landed gracefully. “You were invited because you’re the King, Thorax. Surely, it would have been more responsible to leave your General in charge of protecting the hive when you were gone.” His attempt at judgement did not seem to falter on his brother, who just let out a sigh. “You’re more than just a General, Pharynx, you’re my brother. You should be able to trust the changelings under your command to take care of the hive when both of us are away.” Thorax ended with a solemn stare, making it clear that enough was enough. Pharynx tried to return with his own, but after a minute, Pharynx yielded with a grunt and the pair continue their way to the Gala. The pair briefly stopped just outside the venue, the Royal Canterlot Palace. Both could not help but awe at the size of the palace, not to mention the number of lights and features emitting from the palace. They also noticed the number of well-dressed ponies making their entrance into the Palace, although Pharynx’s focus was on the Royal Guards, all in full armour and some wielding their spears while remaining still and dignified. Out of all the ponies he had come across, he could not help but admire those who remained on guard even at night. “Isn’t it weird? Years ago, you were here to help the changelings take this place over, now you’re their honoured guest.” Pharynx remarked with a smirk to anticipate some mild humour, but upon looking at his brother, his smirked quickly went away. Thorax, even after leading his entire kind through peace, and making good relationships with other leaders, could still remember the day he was part of the attack fleet under his former Queen. His face filled with unease; can he be sure that the ponies in Canterlot do not fear him like they used to? Pharynx was considering an apology as Thorax turned to him, but his brother cut in. “Pharynx, now that we are here. Can you please promise me that you won’t cause any trouble?” Pharynx suddenly felt aggrieved at what Thorax was suggesting, that he was bound to cause trouble before even going inside. Thorax continued. “You don’t have to pretend to be friendly and having a good time, or talk to everyone inside, but I don’t want anyone to think either of us are scary or intimidating.” Another short pause set in, with Thorax’s ears drooping as anxiety was starting to rise. Pharynx used the pause to think through what was being asked. He should not have made that remark if what it did was started worrying his brother. If making a promise was enough to get his brother to forgive him, as well as allow him to get fully involved in the party, then so be it. “Okay, your majesty” he began with a frustrated sigh. “I promise that I won’t cause trouble for you or any creature at this party.” He locked one of his arms around Thorax’s head, holding it upwards and giving light pokes on his abdomen. “You can have fun at this party, and I’ll be out of the way unless you need me. Is that good?” Thorax knew that Pharynx was trying to make him smile, even if it was by abusing his more ticklish spots. “Okay, okay. That’s good.” He answered, quick to yield and take on Pharynx’s assurances as the two entered their way into the palace. Two dragons were flying over that same night sky, making their way towards the palace. “Ugh, why is it that I have to go to this stupid pony party?” The red dragon groaned, resenting the long journey as he lags his light-blue counterpart. “Because I ordered you to come. Now stop whining, we aren’t that far!” The light-blue dragon defiantly snapped back. She flew ahead whilst holding a sceptre, one that made her Dragon Lord. Although the red dragon did not want to defy her authority, he still was not satisfied with the answer. “You could have made Smolder go, at least she’d enjoy hanging around with ponies wearing frilly dresses.” The remark caused the Dragon Lord to stop and turn around with a raised eyebrow, it sounds like she was not aware of his younger sister’s interests as he thought. “Well Garble, I don’t know why you’d think that of your own sister, but she’s busy with school. I spent weeks going throughout the Dragon Lands, trying to think of some dragon who’d be good to bring along to make the dragons look good and have nothing else to do.” Both still in the sky, she moved closer and poked one of her claws into Garble’s chest. “In the end, I ended up choosing you. You might not like ponies, but you have spent more time with them than other dragons usually do. You are also nicer and creative than you look, even Smolder agrees with me on that. Perhaps you can be THAT dragon for a few hours and you might find ponies you’ll like.” Garble could not help but feel confused at how the Dragon Lord had described him, it’s true that for a while now, Garble had become more open about his interest in poetry. It had made things slightly better for him, as he no longer had to hide away in order play on his drums and recite lines, as none of the other dragons paid any attention to it on most days. But the thought of it making him artistic just felt weird. As for nice, if that is what Smolder was saying, perhaps he should not feel as bad as letting slip her interest in cute and silly stuff. The two dragons landed hard on the surface just outside the palace, the impact startling the guards standing at the entrance. They remained tense, even after the Dragon Lord assured them, they were invited to the Gala, even showing them the invitation at hand. Before they made their way into the main hall, the Dragon Lord stopped Garble. “Okay Garble, now apparently no other creatures have been at these Galas before. We’re not just here to make ponies look good, but other creatures as well.” She kept her voice stern as she spoke, Garble couldn’t do anything but keep his eyes on her. “So, if I find out you’ve been causing trouble, I might have to sort you out till you live up to your name, understood?” It was only then, that Garble could look anywhere else, and his eyes were now fixed on the Dragon Lord’s sceptre, as she was repeatedly tapping it against her own hand like it was a mace. He gulped in fear as he looked back to her. “Yes, Dragon Lord Ember.” Each guest entered the main hall of the palace with a proclamation from an announcer, and although most guests would pay little attention to each one, many turned their heads when changelings and dragons showed up to the Gala. There would be whispers amongst some of the ponies, which did not surprise either of the other creatures, being fully aware that they were very new to such event. Although any concerns were phased out when friends were excited to see who arrived, Thorax could not hide his when Ember arrived leaving Pharynx rolling his eyes. Twilight and Spike were happy to welcome all those who arrived, and conversations were being had with everyone. Everyone that is, except Pharynx and Garble, who were left quiet and disinterested while the noise of laughter, the clinging of glasses and music could be heard. “It looks like I have some more guests I need to welcome; I hope you all enjoy your time here.” Twilight mentions, for politely making her departure towards the entrance to greet more guests. “Oh hey, perhaps I can give you all a tour of the palace? You all probably haven’t had a good look around since the coronation.” Spike suggested, Ember and Thorax showed interest but when both turned to Garble and Pharynx, neither of their interests had risen. “I guess it’ll be okay if you just give us two the tour, Spike. Garble shouldn’t be any trouble,” she remarks with a glare in the red dragon’s direction. “Yeah, if Pharynx doesn’t want to join, it’ll be fine.” Thorax included, although his look was more of concern, although his brother just replied with an uninterested shrug. With Spike, Thorax and Ember making their way through the main hall, Pharynx and Garble remained on their own. Aside from some ponies giving short glances, no one was uttering a word to or from them. “So then, you were forced to come here by your leader?” Garble asked first to break the ice, giving a quick glance up and down at the dark green changeling in front of him. “No. I was forced to come here by my brother…” he answered defensively, although Garble noticed he was trailing off. Pharynx continued with a short sigh “…who happens to be the King of our pack.” Garble only responded with a “hmm”. But now it was Pharynx’s turn. “Let me guess, that was your sister who dragged you here?” “Uh…no! Ember isn’t my sister, she’s the Dragon Lord. I’m here because Dragons have to do what the Dragon Lord orders them to do.” His answer was also defensive, as he also attempted to hide the hint of embarrassment at the thought of being related to Ember. Having one defiant younger sister was enough for him, having one more would be a nightmare. “So that means we’re the plus ones…” Pharynx remarked. Garble appeared to agree with him, they looked around at the other ponies happily talking amongst each other. Some would look over and silently comment about the two bored pillars, but quickly change their attention if either of them makes a glance at them. Garble conjured up a smug grin. “At least it seems no one is running in fear from us being here, I can just imagine the chaos if a whole load of dragons showed up here before Dragon Lord Ember became friends with Spikey-Wikey.” Pharynx raised his eyebrow. “Spikey-what now?” “Uh…Spike, the little purple dragon” Garble tried to clarify. “He’s also friends with my little sister at that friendship school. The twerp gets around.” The pair observed Spike, walking across the hall proudly with a gold medal around his neck, as Thorax and Ember followed behind. “He’s also one of my brother’s good friends,” Pharynx included, “So we can blame him for us being here.” The pair found a bit of humour out of that remark. Garble took a moment to focus on Thorax and looked back at Pharynx to compare. The two looked pretty similar aside from a slight height difference and different colour scheme. It was not a surprise that the two were related. “So if you’re the King’s brother, that makes you Prince, right?” “That took you a while to figure out…” he remarked with an eye-roll, a title he wasn’t a fan of. Quick to defend himself, Garble snapped back. “Well, excuse me for not noticing any creature refer to you as Prince when your brother is happy going around as King Thorax.” “That’s because I prefer to be known by my actual duty in the hive.” Pharynx retorted. “Before Thorax took over, I was Head of Patrol. After the takeover, and after the hive realised a peaceful Kingdom needed a way to protect itself, I became its lead protector. So it’s General Pharynx if you don’t mind.” The idea of Pharynx being a protector did explain a detail he didn’t notice previously, down the back of Pharynx’s neck were a series of course lines going across. He assumed they were just an odd feature of his skin, but when he talked about being a protector, it became clearer that they were scars. “So if you’re the tough one, you think you could take on a dragon? Cause I doubt it from your marks.” Goaded Garble. Pharynx felt a nerve plucked. “You wanna bet, hothead?” he quickly shot up to show dominance, the two locked eyes. Both would be at it like dogs if Pharynx quickly recalled he wasn’t supposed to cause trouble, and slowly backed down. Garble upon seeing this could not help but treat it as a victory, “Lemmie guess, don’t cause trouble?” he remarked with a smug grin. However, Pharynx was not easy to take down, even if he couldn’t be physical. “Takes one to know one, what happens if I told your Dragon Lord how you’re treating another guest?” Now Garble was reminded of Ember’s warning, and he quickly backed down. Now it was Pharynx’s turn to be smug. “Guess you didn’t think that one through, wonder what else you don’t think about?” With that, Garble had a plucked nerve. “I'm thinking I'd rather be writing some poem about how I don’t waste my time thinking of ways of pretending to be tough. You know what, I’m gonna find someone more decent and upstanding to talk to.” He declared, turning away from Pharynx, and walking off. “Fine, maybe there’s someone else who’s better to talk to at this party,” Pharynx responded, walking off in the other direction. The PoetGarble stood by the end of a table providing an array of treats for guests, mainly cakes, pastries and fruits as well as a bowl of punch. All of it too sweet for the dragon to take a real interest in. The only kind of “food” that appeared enticing was hanging some 30 feet above his head. The chandelier was covered in crystals that glistened around the candles that lit the hall. “Oh, great fire and brimstone, give me something to prevent me from flying up there.” He thought, trying to hide the salivation. He heard Princess Twilight used to live in a castle made entirely of gems, he heard Ember got in trouble once on a visit. Fortunately for him, that something was not that far away. “Aw, would you look at that, the ‘bug lover’ has found a bug to talk to.” Three mares, all fancily dressed, making comments in the direction towards Pharynx in the opposite end of the room. As he stands by a window, there is another pony nervously talking to him, with a light-yellow coat and a light blue mane on top, covered with a minimal dress that complimented her mane. The three were giggling to themselves, and while Garble could not care less about what three snooty ponies were saying, overhearing them at least gave him a bit of entertainment. “It’s nice to see her striking a conversation with something that isn’t so much smaller than her.” One of them commented. “Oh I totally agree!” Another one remarked. “Not to mention one so tall and stoic. If he were a military stallion, I’d snatch him up for myself.” The three sounded in agreement at that. “Wouldn’t it be grand if we could get our hooves on some pony or creature big, strong and handsome for the night.?” The third pondered, all three giggling in response. For Garble, he could see Pharynx trying to avoid the conversation he was already having with this ‘bug lover’, he started to wonder what would happen if three more enthusiastic ponies wanted his attention. A plan had formed in his head, and he started the first step. “Excuse me, ladies…” he announces, gaining the attention of the group. Their reaction to seeing Garble was a mixture of confused and condescending, being unsure why a dragon is striking a conversation with them. “Couldn’t help but notice you talk about my changeling friend, Pharynx.” He pointed towards the dark green changeling. “Um… yes, he does look interesting…” one of them replied, looking up and down at the stature and stern demeanour. “Although I’m not sure he’s really our type.” Now Garble was on step two. “Ah, do forgive me.” He quips in a mocking upper-class tone. “He actually goes by General Pharynx, he’s no ordinary changeling you see.” The other three go wide-eyed with intrigue. “He’s the second-in-command of their Kingdom and leads their army. He’s about as tough and militant as you can get.” Now the three appear hooked, suddenly seeing Pharynx as more the stallion of their dreams than anything else. “But… I can understand if he’s not your type.” He continued in the upper-class tone, but the three started making their way down the hall. “Let’s see how tough you really are…” Garble uttered to himself with a smirk, he was now on step three, wait and see the results. He thought he could get a bit of peace as he saw the three ponies walk away, but unbeknownst to him there were three more ponies waiting behind him. “Excuse me, Garble… I presume?” One eloquent feminine voice asked. Garble turned around and could see two fancily dressed mares and an equally well-dressed stallion standing behind him. “Uh…yes?” The mare standing in front of the trio smiled, as if she were now confident, she was speaking to the correct creature. “Allow me to introduce ourselves: My name is Laura Ate, this is my husband, Son Ate and a good friend of ours, High Cue.” She gestures towards the other two as she does so. “We often like to go to these high-class events to talk to various high-standing folk, and you’re bug friend made a recommendation to talk to you.” Garble gulped, moments earlier he was boasting about how easy it is to be sophisticated and now he’s being expected to act that way. “Ah yes, I am indeed the top dragon to talk to.” He replied, bringing back his faker upper-class accent in a desperate attempt to sound convincing. “Oh my good friend Pharynx sure thinks highly of myself, such a good friend he is…” he chuckles, before quickly darting a glare in Pharynx’s direction while speaking through his sharp teeth. The only relief Garble could feel at the time was the hope that his plan was still setting in motion. Although the fancy trio looked at each other with uncertainty, they looked back with a smile, seemingly convinced that Garble was at least a fancy dragon. The three began quizzing Garble on his life in the Dragon Lands, all the while Garble was trying to keep a fake grin and beads of sweat occasionally dripping from the top of his head. He’d try his best at making the dragon lands appear a lot fancier than he knew it was: in his mind he’d recall picking out gems to scoff down like they were sweets, but when he spoke “Gems are our favourite cuisine, we often have them neatly arranged before we dine”. “And what about arts, dear dragon?” asked Laura Ate. “Do your dragons show much of a creative side?” “In some avenues, they do. Sculpting and storytelling come to mind” Garble’s mind recalls the tragic stories dragons share and how they beat up blocks of granite to form random shapes, “As for me… I do a bit of poetry on the side…” “Poetry, you say?” High Cue remarked, all three of their interests increased. “All three of us are members of the Royal Canterlot Poetry Society, we regularly meet up to share various literary works as well as our own creations.” Upon hearing this, Garble’s nerves had calmed. He still felt a bit of pressure of keeping up the act, but it’s the first he has heard of any other creature apart from his sister in a long time. “Yes well, it’s something I usually write just for myself. Other dragons don’t seem to show much interest.” “Well, perhaps you could share a little of your work with us?” Son Ate requested, ”do not worry about it being not in our taste, we’re into a variety ourselves. High Cue is into short form, while I myself am into the classics.” Now Garble was back on the spot, “Uh… sure, I can give it a go…”. The three ponies were waiting intently for something, but Garble was used to sitting on the hard-rocky surfaces with a set of drums resting on his lap. Instead, he closes his eyes and starts tapping the sides of his legs to get a vibe going, the rest of the room sounding quiet. “Burning stream, runs down the mountain. Calm as can be seen, but creatures don’t go near.” He starts going through the motions in his head, unaware he has dropped the accent and has moved onto using the table as his new drum set. “Flowing past the rocks and the dirt, hardening as it cools. But no creature goes near the burning stream, fear they may get hurt.” Confidence brewing, he could feel himself making grand gestures with his arms, feeling the part like he was back in the Dragon Lands breathing in the molten air. “Only the feared go near the burning stream, knowing it’s part of their home. The other creatures don’t go near, but the feared find peace where it flows. “ He opens his eyes as the ambience of the Gala fade back into reality, he noticed his audience of three had faces of surprise, with a few others looking in his direction confused. The reaction was more likely because Garble also noticed he was now standing on the table, and whatever treats that were on there were either tipped over or on the floor. Embarrassed, he lowers himself off the table as one of the catering staff glares at him. “Uh, sorry. I guess I got carried away…” The three were still wide-eyed from the performance that was in front of them. “Well… I’d say that was quite passionate… and Avant Garde.” After humiliating himself, Garble looked defeated. “Yeah, it sounded stupid. It’s kinda why I keep it to myself…” The others looked each other, feeling somewhat empathetic to the dragon. “Actually, I’d say you weren’t that bad. Quite creative actually…” Son Ate remarked. It took Garble by surprise. “I agree” High Cue included. “Comparing what I assume to be boiling hot lava to calming cool water was clever, and I felt that when combined that only the feared seems to go near lava to find peace suggests that it might not really be as dangerous as one would assume if they were brave enough.” The others nodded in agreement. “Say, Garble. Does anyone say your work has potential?” asked Laura Ate. Garble thought for a moment, he knew there were a few dragons who stood up for him when he showed everyone his interests, but for a long time afterwards, no one took interest. He wondered if this was what Ember meant when she said he could try and fit in. “Not really…” “Well if you want to improve your craft, I’m sure we can vouch for you to visit the society and learn a few things.” Laura Ate followed, “I’m imagining you’re into beat poetry judging from your style? We have a member named Cane Herb, he considers himself a ‘beatnik’, you’d probably like him.” Now Garble was astonished, taken aback by a group of ponies inviting him. “Y-yeah, that’d be cool!” Laura Ate then added “Oh and you don’t need to put on a fancy accent if you want to fit in, the society is more relaxed.” High Cue could not help but chuckle as Garble got redder in the face, but he was able to find the humour in it himself. Suddenly, a set of loud screams could be heard. “THERE’S A GIANT GREEN SPIDER IN THE GARDEN! ONE THAT’S TEN FEET TALL AND HAS VISCIOUS FANGS!” Almost every pony in the room turned their head towards the sound of fear and panic from three mares running down the far end of the main hall. Garble recognised the three as the ones he pointed towards Pharynx’s direction, but Pharynx himself was nowhere in sight. “Oh no…” he thought, what did Pharynx do, and what did he himself cause? The Bug LoverPharynx was spending time standing around a window, although he could be pretending to be window decoration as the time passed. One of the servers approached him to offer a drink, which he freely took and made little mention of. It was not until a group of three ponies having a conversation surrounding poems that caught his attention, noticing the absent-minded Garble on the other end of the room, an idea formed in his head. He cleared his throat to get their attention. “Hey, I couldn’t help but overhear that you lot were talking about poems?” he asked, acting as casual as he could while doing so. “Why yes, we were. We’re part of the Royal Canterlot Poetry Society: Laurie Ate, Son Ate, High Cue.” Replied Laurie, gesturing towards the others. “Are you… interested in poetry yourself?” “Uh, not really. BUT my friend Garble over there, he loves poetry. The Dragon Lord brought him here because he’s the Dragon Lands’ resident poet, you should totally talk to him since you have the chance.” Pharynx pointed over to Garble, as he was inspecting some of the food laid out on the table on the other side of the room. The three poetry ponies all took intrigue, with Laurie deciding the group should approach. “Let’s see you try to be sophisticated now, hothead” he uttered to himself with a smirk on his face, looking forward to Garble trying to struggle with three aristocratic ponies. He turns around and suddenly there is a mare standing in front of him, light yellow in colour with a light blue mane. The moment Pharynx sees her, she jumps slightly but keeps her eyes on the changeling. It felt a bit confusing as others would avoid approaching or looking at him for long. “Uh, can I help you?” Pharynx asked. The young mare shuffles a bit before giving a response. “Y-your name is Pharynx, right?” “General Pharynx, actually.” He corrected, remaining stern with being formal. The nervous mare is quick to lower her head to apologise. “S-sorry, I’m Spindle Web. I-I’ve noticed you and your majesty for a while, and I really wanted to speak with you. W-would you mind if I ask something about changelings?” Her nerves were very apparent, Pharynx was not sure if the nerves were just from naturally being shy or his own. He shrugged and said “Sure”, he hasn’t had anyone else willing to talk with him since Garble, and in comparison, Garble was talking to three other ponies and the poetry fanatics he sent across hadn’t even approached him yet. Spindle head shot up and a wide grin appeared across her face, “Okay! So changelings are able to change their appearance into any creature? How does that work?” Of course, the first question anyone asks a changeling is how they can change. “Magic.” Pharynx answered bluntly. “We use magic.” Spindle was taken back. “O-oh… of course.” She felt slightly disappointed with such a short answer. “It would be cool to magically look like someone else. Are you limited to what you can change to? Like size?” Pharynx shrugged again. “Not really, as long as you know what you’re changing into. If I were trained as a scout, no creature could tell the difference between yourself and the actual thing. Size isn’t a limit either; I usually change into something bigger to fight other creatures.” “Ooh okay!” Now Spindle felt like she was getting somewhere “So changelings get their energy from love, what does love taste like?” “Don’t know” he answered bluntly again. Pharynx was not a fan of the typical love-tasting question, and if Thorax were around, he would rather push them onto him instead. Although when he saw Spindle look disappointed once more, he could not help but feel bad. “I… rarely eat anything else apart from leaves. One of the younglings says it’s tastes like…” “Hello there, General~!” called the sound of a fancy mare on the approach. Pharynx was interrupted by three well-dressed mares, pushing Spindle out of the way, and moved close into his personal space. “We thought a tough, brave soldier like yourself could use some company.” Unlike Spindle, these mares were really getting to close, and very clingy. What made it worse was that Pharynx could sense the love from all three of them, and whatever he thought it tasted like, it was not satisfying all at once. “Your dragon friend said you lead an entire army, that’s quite impressive! Do you think you can handle all three of us at once?” one of them asked with a longing gaze. Without causing a scene, Pharynx really could not do much and felt himself being pushed away as Spindle couldn’t get in-between them. “Uh, you know what, I think I can do with some fresh air!” he remarked and started to trot away in the hopes they could take a hint. Unfortunately, they interpreted it as an invitation and started to follow. Pharynx picked up the pace and quickly found an entrance towards the Palace gardens. Home to many flowers and small creatures, he could see from the windows that there wasn’t a pony in sight. He made his way in and quickly transformed into one of the bushes to hide, but the mares made their way into the garden. “Oh General~! If you like to play, we have a few games you could try~!” Pharynx was starting to feel desperate, he wanted to have as little attention as possible for the sake of putting his brother at ease, but now he was being followed by mares who were giving too much attention. He thought that something needed to be done to get some peace and quiet. As the mares looked around the garden, a bright green flash appears amongst the bushes. Curious, they approach slowly, before a large dark green creature jumps out. The front two of its eight long legs were raised up as it hissed loudly at the three ponies who could only stare in utter shock. “EEK! A SPIDER! A GIANT SPIDER!” one of the three shrieked as they fled back inside the palace. As the coast cleared, Pharynx changed back and had a long sigh of relief, followed by a smirk on his face. “Heh, glad that scared them off!” He could finally relax, except when he recalled what he promised Thorax at the start of the party: not to scare or cause trouble. The consequences were starting to set in motion when he could overhear through the window the same three mares panicking towards the guards. “THERE’S A GIANT GREEN SPIDER IN THE GARDEN! ONE THAT’S TEN FEET TALL AND HAS VICIOUS FANGS!” “Oh no…” Pharynx thought, he could hear more commotion going on inside, murmurings of other guests at the thought of giant monster causing chaos within the Palace walls. The only voice of reason he could hear was of Princess Twilight Sparkle, her voice was incredibly calm in stark contrast with the rest of the worried crowd around her. “Everyone, please! Let me assure you all that there is no creature that the Palace has not been able to deal with during an event like this. Guards, please inspect the gardens, if you find anything of concern, I want you to inform me immediately.” “Well that’s just great…” Pharynx though, the Palace Guards are going to find him in the garden, nothing could look better with that. He contemplated hiding as something else or fleeing the garden altogether, but his mind started playing out scenarios that he could get caught or cause more panic if the guards could not find anything. He was starting to get desperate; he needed a way to make everyone think there is no reason to think that a giant creature was rampaging the Palace grounds or Pharynx got a little too angry… As the Guards made their way through the Garden, the three mares were huddled at the end of the main hall, with Princess Twilight nearby. Everyone else continued to murmur amongst themselves at what could be outside. "Uh, just once it would be nice to go to the Gala and not chaos going on, do you remember when Discord brought along the Smooze one year?" "The thought of a giant spider reminds me of what happened at the Royal Wedding all those years ago, the changelings were everywhere..." None of them was as worried as Thorax, who sitting anxiously beside the Princess. “Oh Pharynx, what did you do? I cannot see him anywhere…” he whined, his head shifting back and forth along the crowed and peering towards. “Relax Thorax, I’m sure Pharynx doesn’t have anything to do with this. At least I’m hoping Garble wasn’t pulling anything…” Ember tried to assure Thorax, although she was focusing her attention on the other dragon guest, who was trying to avoid any attention towards himself. “All the Ponies are gonna think we’re mean and scary again, I just know it…” Thorax whined once more, the murmurings of the guests were starting to get to him. “Calm down Thorax, no one is assuming anything of that sort right now. It’s probably a misunderstanding.” Said Spike, his own attempt to reassure Thorax did not appear to work. “Your friends are right, Thorax.” Princess Twilight chimed in. “The Royal Guards haven’t returned yet, and I don’t think anyone here should be jumping to conclusions.” It was then that the Royal Guards returned to the main hall, one by one, and all of them were smiling. The last guard approached the three mares, with his right hoof curled up like its holding something. “Miss, is this the spider you’re referring to?” The guard asked as his stretch out his right hoof, revealing a dark green spider, no more than 3cm in length. Confusion spread around the room, as most could not even see the spider standing without standing nearest to the guard in question. One of the three mares had a closer look, and like earlier, the spider hissed and raised its front two legs, causing her to flinch. “Um… it looks similar, but I swear to Celestia it was way, WAY, larger than… that.” Twilight leaned over to Thorax, “Do you think that could be your brother?” she whispered. “I don’t think so…” Thorax’s responded with a slight sense of relief, but he remained uncertain as he tried to look carefully at the spider in question. “I’ve never known Pharynx to change into something smaller than his own body.” Twilight started to ponder, if Pharynx transforming appears unlikely, it does not rule out the possibility that the spider could change size either naturally or through magic. She did not want to make a hasty decision but also didn’t want to leave everyone else unsure or concerned for any longer. She thought that if she had read up on her etymology books much sooner, she would have had an easier time to be sure. “Um… do you mind if I have a look at it?” a timid voice piped up amongst the crowd. Heads turned, and suddenly everyone was looking at a light-yellow mare, it was Spindle Web. “I study insects and arachnids, it’s a bit of a hobby of mine” she says lightly, slowly approaching the guard holding the spider. The room quietened and most of the other guests stepped away to let her through, the small spider turned towards Spindle as she moved closer to the guard’s hoof. It tried to hiss as it did earlier, but unlike other ponies, Spindle didn’t flinch at all. Instead, she reached out her own hoof. “Come on, don’t be shy…” she cooed silently, giving a friendly smile as she offered it to jump towards her like she was calling over a cat or dog. The small spider moved forward to the edge of the guard’s hoof, and with one quick leap, made it onto Spindle’s. She brought the hoof nearer to her own face to inspect the little spider as it lay still on her hoof, and after a few seconds, she appeared to chuckle a little. “It looks like an ordinary Green Huntsman Spider” she states. “They're pretty harmless and don’t get bigger than this, I’m guessing this one hasn’t seen so many creatures as large as us.” Slowly the crowd starts talking amongst themselves, quietly laughing and joking amongst themselves. "Well, thank goodness for that." someone in the crowd uttered to themselves. "So much panic over a tiny little spider." Thorax, Spike, Ember and Twilight could breathe a sigh of relief while the three mares who started the panic felt embarrassed, unsure if the spider they saw in the garden was either their imagination or an exaggeration of what they saw. “I-if it’s okay with you, I could take it back outside” Spindle offered. “I’ve been needing some fresh air.” After the guards looked towards the Princess in approval, they returned to their posts, some of them trying to hold their own laughter at what transpired. Spindle made her way back out to the quiet palace gardens and lowered her curled hoof towards the grass. The spider jumped off her hoof and landed onto the soft ground, barely making a sound as it started to make a move. That was until Spindle talked to the spider once more. “I think the coast is clear now, General Pharynx.” Having stopped in its place, a green flare emerged around it. When the flare cleared away, Pharynx appeared in the spider’s place. He turned back around looking confused. “You knew it was me… No one else could, not even my own brother… and yet you could tell it was me?” Spindle could only smile and chuckle, she did not appear as nervous as she did earlier. “Green Huntsmen Spiders actually are a much brighter green in colour, closer to your brother’s shade of green.” Spindle explained... “They are also usually half the size you were, and aren’t known to hiss at any creature…” Pharynx paused at the moment, trying to think back to how he tried to look. All he could think of was trying to be a large scary spider, and then later the same spider but smaller. He did not consider being accurate in physical appearance to any actual spider, it could have caught him out by anyone else. “In fairness, I used to be Head of Patrol, so not the best at disguises I guess…” he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hoof, looking down and away as he did so. At that moment, the only sound of crickets could be heard in the night sky and muffled chatter coming from inside the palace. “So… you’re into bugs and spiders then?” Pharynx followed. “Y-yeah… thing Is, I don’t like going to these kinds of parties…” Spindle admitted, rubbing one of her hooves along her arm. “But when I heard that changelings were going to attend, I thought it would be a good opportunity to go. Maybe it was wrong to get my hopes up.” Pharynx could see Spindle go back to feeling disappointed, feeling shame that he was avoiding most of the party when he could have at least tried to be nice for a short while. “Thing is… I do not like parties either. But if my choices for the night were doing my duties as a General, being chased by three obsessive ponies or spending time with one nice pony, I’d probably choose the latter.” The two traded smiles, as the music from inside started to play and could be heard from the nearest window in the garden. Listening to the music led to Spindle wanting to ask the changeling in front of her. “Um… General Pharynx?” “You can call me Pharynx, I don’t mind.” he politely corrected her, feeling he could be less formal around her. “O-oh okay, Pharynx. Would you like to dance?” she offered. Pharynx blushed at the thought and was rubbing the back of his neck again. “Um… I don’t really dance. I mean, I don’t know how to…” Spindle chucked and made another offer. “I can show you a thing or two, it’s not like anyone will be looking for us…” She offered out a hoof, and Pharynx looked up and down between it and her smile, before eventually putting his own hoof on top. “Sure” The EndIt was late in the evening, and the Royal Canterlot Gala was ending, with everyone making their departure. Amongst the group was Garble and his new poetry fans, commenting on how well the whole party went on. “Well I must say Garble, it was a delight to speak with you. I do hope you return to Canterlot, I’m sure the poetry society would love to hear more of your work,” said Laura Ate, Garble felt pleased with himself. “Totally, maybe I’ll try and not make a mess next time!” he remarked, and the rest of the group laughed in response. After a few waves, the trio left Garble in the courtyard as he waited to meet Ember before departing. It was at that point that he noticed that familiar-looking light-yellow mare that dealt with the spider make her departure too, followed by the sound of someone humming. Curious, he followed the sound of the humming, only to find it was coming from Pharynx. He was humming, stepping and bouncing in time to a tune, and he looked…happy, oblivious to who was watching him. It looked strange, but also a bit amusing, to see a changeling who was acting serious for most of the night looking so cheerful and quietly dancing to himself. The entertainment only stopped once Garble cleared his throat, the first thing Pharynx could see once he opened his eyes was a red dragon with his arms folded and a smirk on his face. Almost immediately, he returned to his composure, eyes wide open and desperately trying to avoid turning as red as the dragon he was facing. “So, had a fun time then?” Garble remarked, taking advantage of Pharynx’s discomfort. “Actually yeah, I did. In fact, even after you invited those crazy ponies across, I made a good friend today.” Pharynx retorted, trying to fight off being caught out. “So how did you find dealing with smarter and fancier folk?” A small puff of smoke emitted out of Garble’s nose in frustration, “If you want to know, they might not think I’m smart, but they think I have potential. Guess I made a few pony friends, no thanks to you.” The two stared down each other judgingly as Ember and Thorax made their way out, ready to take their leave. The two looked back and forth at Garble and Pharynx as their staring contest progressed, suspicious as what the two were getting up to. “Did something happen between you two?” asked Thorax. “You two didn’t have anything to do with what happened at the Gala tonight, did you?” Ember included in the questioning. The pair kept their eyes towards each other, whatever they did result in them having a good time, so ended up with a grin on their faces. Pharynx answered with “Nope”, and Garble answered with “Nothing at all.”
The Arrival“I have no idea how you got me to do this” a dark green pony-like bug uttered in annoyance, as he flies alongside another, lighter green bug, in the night sky approaching a palace sitting on a mountain top. “There were other changelings you could have brought along with you to this fancy-schmancy pony tea-party. But no, you had to make your big brother go.” “First off Pharynx, it’s called the Royal Canterlot Gala, and for the ponies, it’s their largest event” the lighter green bug refuted, “and secondly, I thought this would make a good break for you. Not to mention, I was invited because my friend Twilight is hosting this Gala.” The pair landed in the square; Pharynx practically stamped the ground hard while his brother landed gracefully. “You were invited because you’re the King, Thorax. Surely, it would have been more responsible to leave your General in charge of protecting the hive when you were gone.” His attempt at judgement did not seem to falter on his brother, who just let out a sigh. “You’re more than just a General, Pharynx, you’re my brother. You should be able to trust the changelings under your command to take care of the hive when both of us are away.” Thorax ended with a solemn stare, making it clear that enough was enough. Pharynx tried to return with his own, but after a minute, Pharynx yielded with a grunt and the pair continue their way to the Gala. The pair briefly stopped just outside the venue, the Royal Canterlot Palace. Both could not help but awe at the size of the palace, not to mention the number of lights and features emitting from the palace. They also noticed the number of well-dressed ponies making their entrance into the Palace, although Pharynx’s focus was on the Royal Guards, all in full armour and some wielding their spears while remaining still and dignified. Out of all the ponies he had come across, he could not help but admire those who remained on guard even at night. “Isn’t it weird? Years ago, you were here to help the changelings take this place over, now you’re their honoured guest.” Pharynx remarked with a smirk to anticipate some mild humour, but upon looking at his brother, his smirked quickly went away. Thorax, even after leading his entire kind through peace, and making good relationships with other leaders, could still remember the day he was part of the attack fleet under his former Queen. His face filled with unease; can he be sure that the ponies in Canterlot do not fear him like they used to? Pharynx was considering an apology as Thorax turned to him, but his brother cut in. “Pharynx, now that we are here. Can you please promise me that you won’t cause any trouble?” Pharynx suddenly felt aggrieved at what Thorax was suggesting, that he was bound to cause trouble before even going inside. Thorax continued. “You don’t have to pretend to be friendly and having a good time, or talk to everyone inside, but I don’t want anyone to think either of us are scary or intimidating.” Another short pause set in, with Thorax’s ears drooping as anxiety was starting to rise. Pharynx used the pause to think through what was being asked. He should not have made that remark if what it did was started worrying his brother. If making a promise was enough to get his brother to forgive him, as well as allow him to get fully involved in the party, then so be it. “Okay, your majesty” he began with a frustrated sigh. “I promise that I won’t cause trouble for you or any creature at this party.” He locked one of his arms around Thorax’s head, holding it upwards and giving light pokes on his abdomen. “You can have fun at this party, and I’ll be out of the way unless you need me. Is that good?” Thorax knew that Pharynx was trying to make him smile, even if it was by abusing his more ticklish spots. “Okay, okay. That’s good.” He answered, quick to yield and take on Pharynx’s assurances as the two entered their way into the palace. Two dragons were flying over that same night sky, making their way towards the palace. “Ugh, why is it that I have to go to this stupid pony party?” The red dragon groaned, resenting the long journey as he lags his light-blue counterpart. “Because I ordered you to come. Now stop whining, we aren’t that far!” The light-blue dragon defiantly snapped back. She flew ahead whilst holding a sceptre, one that made her Dragon Lord. Although the red dragon did not want to defy her authority, he still was not satisfied with the answer. “You could have made Smolder go, at least she’d enjoy hanging around with ponies wearing frilly dresses.” The remark caused the Dragon Lord to stop and turn around with a raised eyebrow, it sounds like she was not aware of his younger sister’s interests as he thought. “Well Garble, I don’t know why you’d think that of your own sister, but she’s busy with school. I spent weeks going throughout the Dragon Lands, trying to think of some dragon who’d be good to bring along to make the dragons look good and have nothing else to do.” Both still in the sky, she moved closer and poked one of her claws into Garble’s chest. “In the end, I ended up choosing you. You might not like ponies, but you have spent more time with them than other dragons usually do. You are also nicer and creative than you look, even Smolder agrees with me on that. Perhaps you can be THAT dragon for a few hours and you might find ponies you’ll like.” Garble could not help but feel confused at how the Dragon Lord had described him, it’s true that for a while now, Garble had become more open about his interest in poetry. It had made things slightly better for him, as he no longer had to hide away in order play on his drums and recite lines, as none of the other dragons paid any attention to it on most days. But the thought of it making him artistic just felt weird. As for nice, if that is what Smolder was saying, perhaps he should not feel as bad as letting slip her interest in cute and silly stuff. The two dragons landed hard on the surface just outside the palace, the impact startling the guards standing at the entrance. They remained tense, even after the Dragon Lord assured them, they were invited to the Gala, even showing them the invitation at hand. Before they made their way into the main hall, the Dragon Lord stopped Garble. “Okay Garble, now apparently no other creatures have been at these Galas before. We’re not just here to make ponies look good, but other creatures as well.” She kept her voice stern as she spoke, Garble couldn’t do anything but keep his eyes on her. “So, if I find out you’ve been causing trouble, I might have to sort you out till you live up to your name, understood?” It was only then, that Garble could look anywhere else, and his eyes were now fixed on the Dragon Lord’s sceptre, as she was repeatedly tapping it against her own hand like it was a mace. He gulped in fear as he looked back to her. “Yes, Dragon Lord Ember.” Each guest entered the main hall of the palace with a proclamation from an announcer, and although most guests would pay little attention to each one, many turned their heads when changelings and dragons showed up to the Gala. There would be whispers amongst some of the ponies, which did not surprise either of the other creatures, being fully aware that they were very new to such event. Although any concerns were phased out when friends were excited to see who arrived, Thorax could not hide his when Ember arrived leaving Pharynx rolling his eyes. Twilight and Spike were happy to welcome all those who arrived, and conversations were being had with everyone. Everyone that is, except Pharynx and Garble, who were left quiet and disinterested while the noise of laughter, the clinging of glasses and music could be heard. “It looks like I have some more guests I need to welcome; I hope you all enjoy your time here.” Twilight mentions, for politely making her departure towards the entrance to greet more guests. “Oh hey, perhaps I can give you all a tour of the palace? You all probably haven’t had a good look around since the coronation.” Spike suggested, Ember and Thorax showed interest but when both turned to Garble and Pharynx, neither of their interests had risen. “I guess it’ll be okay if you just give us two the tour, Spike. Garble shouldn’t be any trouble,” she remarks with a glare in the red dragon’s direction. “Yeah, if Pharynx doesn’t want to join, it’ll be fine.” Thorax included, although his look was more of concern, although his brother just replied with an uninterested shrug. With Spike, Thorax and Ember making their way through the main hall, Pharynx and Garble remained on their own. Aside from some ponies giving short glances, no one was uttering a word to or from them. “So then, you were forced to come here by your leader?” Garble asked first to break the ice, giving a quick glance up and down at the dark green changeling in front of him. “No. I was forced to come here by my brother…” he answered defensively, although Garble noticed he was trailing off. Pharynx continued with a short sigh “…who happens to be the King of our pack.” Garble only responded with a “hmm”. But now it was Pharynx’s turn. “Let me guess, that was your sister who dragged you here?” “Uh…no! Ember isn’t my sister, she’s the Dragon Lord. I’m here because Dragons have to do what the Dragon Lord orders them to do.” His answer was also defensive, as he also attempted to hide the hint of embarrassment at the thought of being related to Ember. Having one defiant younger sister was enough for him, having one more would be a nightmare. “So that means we’re the plus ones…” Pharynx remarked. Garble appeared to agree with him, they looked around at the other ponies happily talking amongst each other. Some would look over and silently comment about the two bored pillars, but quickly change their attention if either of them makes a glance at them. Garble conjured up a smug grin. “At least it seems no one is running in fear from us being here, I can just imagine the chaos if a whole load of dragons showed up here before Dragon Lord Ember became friends with Spikey-Wikey.” Pharynx raised his eyebrow. “Spikey-what now?” “Uh…Spike, the little purple dragon” Garble tried to clarify. “He’s also friends with my little sister at that friendship school. The twerp gets around.” The pair observed Spike, walking across the hall proudly with a gold medal around his neck, as Thorax and Ember followed behind. “He’s also one of my brother’s good friends,” Pharynx included, “So we can blame him for us being here.” The pair found a bit of humour out of that remark. Garble took a moment to focus on Thorax and looked back at Pharynx to compare. The two looked pretty similar aside from a slight height difference and different colour scheme. It was not a surprise that the two were related. “So if you’re the King’s brother, that makes you Prince, right?” “That took you a while to figure out…” he remarked with an eye-roll, a title he wasn’t a fan of. Quick to defend himself, Garble snapped back. “Well, excuse me for not noticing any creature refer to you as Prince when your brother is happy going around as King Thorax.” “That’s because I prefer to be known by my actual duty in the hive.” Pharynx retorted. “Before Thorax took over, I was Head of Patrol. After the takeover, and after the hive realised a peaceful Kingdom needed a way to protect itself, I became its lead protector. So it’s General Pharynx if you don’t mind.” The idea of Pharynx being a protector did explain a detail he didn’t notice previously, down the back of Pharynx’s neck were a series of course lines going across. He assumed they were just an odd feature of his skin, but when he talked about being a protector, it became clearer that they were scars. “So if you’re the tough one, you think you could take on a dragon? Cause I doubt it from your marks.” Goaded Garble. Pharynx felt a nerve plucked. “You wanna bet, hothead?” he quickly shot up to show dominance, the two locked eyes. Both would be at it like dogs if Pharynx quickly recalled he wasn’t supposed to cause trouble, and slowly backed down. Garble upon seeing this could not help but treat it as a victory, “Lemmie guess, don’t cause trouble?” he remarked with a smug grin. However, Pharynx was not easy to take down, even if he couldn’t be physical. “Takes one to know one, what happens if I told your Dragon Lord how you’re treating another guest?” Now Garble was reminded of Ember’s warning, and he quickly backed down. Now it was Pharynx’s turn to be smug. “Guess you didn’t think that one through, wonder what else you don’t think about?” With that, Garble had a plucked nerve. “I'm thinking I'd rather be writing some poem about how I don’t waste my time thinking of ways of pretending to be tough. You know what, I’m gonna find someone more decent and upstanding to talk to.” He declared, turning away from Pharynx, and walking off. “Fine, maybe there’s someone else who’s better to talk to at this party,” Pharynx responded, walking off in the other direction.
The PoetGarble stood by the end of a table providing an array of treats for guests, mainly cakes, pastries and fruits as well as a bowl of punch. All of it too sweet for the dragon to take a real interest in. The only kind of “food” that appeared enticing was hanging some 30 feet above his head. The chandelier was covered in crystals that glistened around the candles that lit the hall. “Oh, great fire and brimstone, give me something to prevent me from flying up there.” He thought, trying to hide the salivation. He heard Princess Twilight used to live in a castle made entirely of gems, he heard Ember got in trouble once on a visit. Fortunately for him, that something was not that far away. “Aw, would you look at that, the ‘bug lover’ has found a bug to talk to.” Three mares, all fancily dressed, making comments in the direction towards Pharynx in the opposite end of the room. As he stands by a window, there is another pony nervously talking to him, with a light-yellow coat and a light blue mane on top, covered with a minimal dress that complimented her mane. The three were giggling to themselves, and while Garble could not care less about what three snooty ponies were saying, overhearing them at least gave him a bit of entertainment. “It’s nice to see her striking a conversation with something that isn’t so much smaller than her.” One of them commented. “Oh I totally agree!” Another one remarked. “Not to mention one so tall and stoic. If he were a military stallion, I’d snatch him up for myself.” The three sounded in agreement at that. “Wouldn’t it be grand if we could get our hooves on some pony or creature big, strong and handsome for the night.?” The third pondered, all three giggling in response. For Garble, he could see Pharynx trying to avoid the conversation he was already having with this ‘bug lover’, he started to wonder what would happen if three more enthusiastic ponies wanted his attention. A plan had formed in his head, and he started the first step. “Excuse me, ladies…” he announces, gaining the attention of the group. Their reaction to seeing Garble was a mixture of confused and condescending, being unsure why a dragon is striking a conversation with them. “Couldn’t help but notice you talk about my changeling friend, Pharynx.” He pointed towards the dark green changeling. “Um… yes, he does look interesting…” one of them replied, looking up and down at the stature and stern demeanour. “Although I’m not sure he’s really our type.” Now Garble was on step two. “Ah, do forgive me.” He quips in a mocking upper-class tone. “He actually goes by General Pharynx, he’s no ordinary changeling you see.” The other three go wide-eyed with intrigue. “He’s the second-in-command of their Kingdom and leads their army. He’s about as tough and militant as you can get.” Now the three appear hooked, suddenly seeing Pharynx as more the stallion of their dreams than anything else. “But… I can understand if he’s not your type.” He continued in the upper-class tone, but the three started making their way down the hall. “Let’s see how tough you really are…” Garble uttered to himself with a smirk, he was now on step three, wait and see the results. He thought he could get a bit of peace as he saw the three ponies walk away, but unbeknownst to him there were three more ponies waiting behind him. “Excuse me, Garble… I presume?” One eloquent feminine voice asked. Garble turned around and could see two fancily dressed mares and an equally well-dressed stallion standing behind him. “Uh…yes?” The mare standing in front of the trio smiled, as if she were now confident, she was speaking to the correct creature. “Allow me to introduce ourselves: My name is Laura Ate, this is my husband, Son Ate and a good friend of ours, High Cue.” She gestures towards the other two as she does so. “We often like to go to these high-class events to talk to various high-standing folk, and you’re bug friend made a recommendation to talk to you.” Garble gulped, moments earlier he was boasting about how easy it is to be sophisticated and now he’s being expected to act that way. “Ah yes, I am indeed the top dragon to talk to.” He replied, bringing back his faker upper-class accent in a desperate attempt to sound convincing. “Oh my good friend Pharynx sure thinks highly of myself, such a good friend he is…” he chuckles, before quickly darting a glare in Pharynx’s direction while speaking through his sharp teeth. The only relief Garble could feel at the time was the hope that his plan was still setting in motion. Although the fancy trio looked at each other with uncertainty, they looked back with a smile, seemingly convinced that Garble was at least a fancy dragon. The three began quizzing Garble on his life in the Dragon Lands, all the while Garble was trying to keep a fake grin and beads of sweat occasionally dripping from the top of his head. He’d try his best at making the dragon lands appear a lot fancier than he knew it was: in his mind he’d recall picking out gems to scoff down like they were sweets, but when he spoke “Gems are our favourite cuisine, we often have them neatly arranged before we dine”. “And what about arts, dear dragon?” asked Laura Ate. “Do your dragons show much of a creative side?” “In some avenues, they do. Sculpting and storytelling come to mind” Garble’s mind recalls the tragic stories dragons share and how they beat up blocks of granite to form random shapes, “As for me… I do a bit of poetry on the side…” “Poetry, you say?” High Cue remarked, all three of their interests increased. “All three of us are members of the Royal Canterlot Poetry Society, we regularly meet up to share various literary works as well as our own creations.” Upon hearing this, Garble’s nerves had calmed. He still felt a bit of pressure of keeping up the act, but it’s the first he has heard of any other creature apart from his sister in a long time. “Yes well, it’s something I usually write just for myself. Other dragons don’t seem to show much interest.” “Well, perhaps you could share a little of your work with us?” Son Ate requested, ”do not worry about it being not in our taste, we’re into a variety ourselves. High Cue is into short form, while I myself am into the classics.” Now Garble was back on the spot, “Uh… sure, I can give it a go…”. The three ponies were waiting intently for something, but Garble was used to sitting on the hard-rocky surfaces with a set of drums resting on his lap. Instead, he closes his eyes and starts tapping the sides of his legs to get a vibe going, the rest of the room sounding quiet. “Burning stream, runs down the mountain. Calm as can be seen, but creatures don’t go near.” He starts going through the motions in his head, unaware he has dropped the accent and has moved onto using the table as his new drum set. “Flowing past the rocks and the dirt, hardening as it cools. But no creature goes near the burning stream, fear they may get hurt.” Confidence brewing, he could feel himself making grand gestures with his arms, feeling the part like he was back in the Dragon Lands breathing in the molten air. “Only the feared go near the burning stream, knowing it’s part of their home. The other creatures don’t go near, but the feared find peace where it flows. “ He opens his eyes as the ambience of the Gala fade back into reality, he noticed his audience of three had faces of surprise, with a few others looking in his direction confused. The reaction was more likely because Garble also noticed he was now standing on the table, and whatever treats that were on there were either tipped over or on the floor. Embarrassed, he lowers himself off the table as one of the catering staff glares at him. “Uh, sorry. I guess I got carried away…” The three were still wide-eyed from the performance that was in front of them. “Well… I’d say that was quite passionate… and Avant Garde.” After humiliating himself, Garble looked defeated. “Yeah, it sounded stupid. It’s kinda why I keep it to myself…” The others looked each other, feeling somewhat empathetic to the dragon. “Actually, I’d say you weren’t that bad. Quite creative actually…” Son Ate remarked. It took Garble by surprise. “I agree” High Cue included. “Comparing what I assume to be boiling hot lava to calming cool water was clever, and I felt that when combined that only the feared seems to go near lava to find peace suggests that it might not really be as dangerous as one would assume if they were brave enough.” The others nodded in agreement. “Say, Garble. Does anyone say your work has potential?” asked Laura Ate. Garble thought for a moment, he knew there were a few dragons who stood up for him when he showed everyone his interests, but for a long time afterwards, no one took interest. He wondered if this was what Ember meant when she said he could try and fit in. “Not really…” “Well if you want to improve your craft, I’m sure we can vouch for you to visit the society and learn a few things.” Laura Ate followed, “I’m imagining you’re into beat poetry judging from your style? We have a member named Cane Herb, he considers himself a ‘beatnik’, you’d probably like him.” Now Garble was astonished, taken aback by a group of ponies inviting him. “Y-yeah, that’d be cool!” Laura Ate then added “Oh and you don’t need to put on a fancy accent if you want to fit in, the society is more relaxed.” High Cue could not help but chuckle as Garble got redder in the face, but he was able to find the humour in it himself. Suddenly, a set of loud screams could be heard. “THERE’S A GIANT GREEN SPIDER IN THE GARDEN! ONE THAT’S TEN FEET TALL AND HAS VISCIOUS FANGS!” Almost every pony in the room turned their head towards the sound of fear and panic from three mares running down the far end of the main hall. Garble recognised the three as the ones he pointed towards Pharynx’s direction, but Pharynx himself was nowhere in sight. “Oh no…” he thought, what did Pharynx do, and what did he himself cause?
The Bug LoverPharynx was spending time standing around a window, although he could be pretending to be window decoration as the time passed. One of the servers approached him to offer a drink, which he freely took and made little mention of. It was not until a group of three ponies having a conversation surrounding poems that caught his attention, noticing the absent-minded Garble on the other end of the room, an idea formed in his head. He cleared his throat to get their attention. “Hey, I couldn’t help but overhear that you lot were talking about poems?” he asked, acting as casual as he could while doing so. “Why yes, we were. We’re part of the Royal Canterlot Poetry Society: Laurie Ate, Son Ate, High Cue.” Replied Laurie, gesturing towards the others. “Are you… interested in poetry yourself?” “Uh, not really. BUT my friend Garble over there, he loves poetry. The Dragon Lord brought him here because he’s the Dragon Lands’ resident poet, you should totally talk to him since you have the chance.” Pharynx pointed over to Garble, as he was inspecting some of the food laid out on the table on the other side of the room. The three poetry ponies all took intrigue, with Laurie deciding the group should approach. “Let’s see you try to be sophisticated now, hothead” he uttered to himself with a smirk on his face, looking forward to Garble trying to struggle with three aristocratic ponies. He turns around and suddenly there is a mare standing in front of him, light yellow in colour with a light blue mane. The moment Pharynx sees her, she jumps slightly but keeps her eyes on the changeling. It felt a bit confusing as others would avoid approaching or looking at him for long. “Uh, can I help you?” Pharynx asked. The young mare shuffles a bit before giving a response. “Y-your name is Pharynx, right?” “General Pharynx, actually.” He corrected, remaining stern with being formal. The nervous mare is quick to lower her head to apologise. “S-sorry, I’m Spindle Web. I-I’ve noticed you and your majesty for a while, and I really wanted to speak with you. W-would you mind if I ask something about changelings?” Her nerves were very apparent, Pharynx was not sure if the nerves were just from naturally being shy or his own. He shrugged and said “Sure”, he hasn’t had anyone else willing to talk with him since Garble, and in comparison, Garble was talking to three other ponies and the poetry fanatics he sent across hadn’t even approached him yet. Spindle head shot up and a wide grin appeared across her face, “Okay! So changelings are able to change their appearance into any creature? How does that work?” Of course, the first question anyone asks a changeling is how they can change. “Magic.” Pharynx answered bluntly. “We use magic.” Spindle was taken back. “O-oh… of course.” She felt slightly disappointed with such a short answer. “It would be cool to magically look like someone else. Are you limited to what you can change to? Like size?” Pharynx shrugged again. “Not really, as long as you know what you’re changing into. If I were trained as a scout, no creature could tell the difference between yourself and the actual thing. Size isn’t a limit either; I usually change into something bigger to fight other creatures.” “Ooh okay!” Now Spindle felt like she was getting somewhere “So changelings get their energy from love, what does love taste like?” “Don’t know” he answered bluntly again. Pharynx was not a fan of the typical love-tasting question, and if Thorax were around, he would rather push them onto him instead. Although when he saw Spindle look disappointed once more, he could not help but feel bad. “I… rarely eat anything else apart from leaves. One of the younglings says it’s tastes like…” “Hello there, General~!” called the sound of a fancy mare on the approach. Pharynx was interrupted by three well-dressed mares, pushing Spindle out of the way, and moved close into his personal space. “We thought a tough, brave soldier like yourself could use some company.” Unlike Spindle, these mares were really getting to close, and very clingy. What made it worse was that Pharynx could sense the love from all three of them, and whatever he thought it tasted like, it was not satisfying all at once. “Your dragon friend said you lead an entire army, that’s quite impressive! Do you think you can handle all three of us at once?” one of them asked with a longing gaze. Without causing a scene, Pharynx really could not do much and felt himself being pushed away as Spindle couldn’t get in-between them. “Uh, you know what, I think I can do with some fresh air!” he remarked and started to trot away in the hopes they could take a hint. Unfortunately, they interpreted it as an invitation and started to follow. Pharynx picked up the pace and quickly found an entrance towards the Palace gardens. Home to many flowers and small creatures, he could see from the windows that there wasn’t a pony in sight. He made his way in and quickly transformed into one of the bushes to hide, but the mares made their way into the garden. “Oh General~! If you like to play, we have a few games you could try~!” Pharynx was starting to feel desperate, he wanted to have as little attention as possible for the sake of putting his brother at ease, but now he was being followed by mares who were giving too much attention. He thought that something needed to be done to get some peace and quiet. As the mares looked around the garden, a bright green flash appears amongst the bushes. Curious, they approach slowly, before a large dark green creature jumps out. The front two of its eight long legs were raised up as it hissed loudly at the three ponies who could only stare in utter shock. “EEK! A SPIDER! A GIANT SPIDER!” one of the three shrieked as they fled back inside the palace. As the coast cleared, Pharynx changed back and had a long sigh of relief, followed by a smirk on his face. “Heh, glad that scared them off!” He could finally relax, except when he recalled what he promised Thorax at the start of the party: not to scare or cause trouble. The consequences were starting to set in motion when he could overhear through the window the same three mares panicking towards the guards. “THERE’S A GIANT GREEN SPIDER IN THE GARDEN! ONE THAT’S TEN FEET TALL AND HAS VICIOUS FANGS!” “Oh no…” Pharynx thought, he could hear more commotion going on inside, murmurings of other guests at the thought of giant monster causing chaos within the Palace walls. The only voice of reason he could hear was of Princess Twilight Sparkle, her voice was incredibly calm in stark contrast with the rest of the worried crowd around her. “Everyone, please! Let me assure you all that there is no creature that the Palace has not been able to deal with during an event like this. Guards, please inspect the gardens, if you find anything of concern, I want you to inform me immediately.” “Well that’s just great…” Pharynx though, the Palace Guards are going to find him in the garden, nothing could look better with that. He contemplated hiding as something else or fleeing the garden altogether, but his mind started playing out scenarios that he could get caught or cause more panic if the guards could not find anything. He was starting to get desperate; he needed a way to make everyone think there is no reason to think that a giant creature was rampaging the Palace grounds or Pharynx got a little too angry… As the Guards made their way through the Garden, the three mares were huddled at the end of the main hall, with Princess Twilight nearby. Everyone else continued to murmur amongst themselves at what could be outside. "Uh, just once it would be nice to go to the Gala and not chaos going on, do you remember when Discord brought along the Smooze one year?" "The thought of a giant spider reminds me of what happened at the Royal Wedding all those years ago, the changelings were everywhere..." None of them was as worried as Thorax, who sitting anxiously beside the Princess. “Oh Pharynx, what did you do? I cannot see him anywhere…” he whined, his head shifting back and forth along the crowed and peering towards. “Relax Thorax, I’m sure Pharynx doesn’t have anything to do with this. At least I’m hoping Garble wasn’t pulling anything…” Ember tried to assure Thorax, although she was focusing her attention on the other dragon guest, who was trying to avoid any attention towards himself. “All the Ponies are gonna think we’re mean and scary again, I just know it…” Thorax whined once more, the murmurings of the guests were starting to get to him. “Calm down Thorax, no one is assuming anything of that sort right now. It’s probably a misunderstanding.” Said Spike, his own attempt to reassure Thorax did not appear to work. “Your friends are right, Thorax.” Princess Twilight chimed in. “The Royal Guards haven’t returned yet, and I don’t think anyone here should be jumping to conclusions.” It was then that the Royal Guards returned to the main hall, one by one, and all of them were smiling. The last guard approached the three mares, with his right hoof curled up like its holding something. “Miss, is this the spider you’re referring to?” The guard asked as his stretch out his right hoof, revealing a dark green spider, no more than 3cm in length. Confusion spread around the room, as most could not even see the spider standing without standing nearest to the guard in question. One of the three mares had a closer look, and like earlier, the spider hissed and raised its front two legs, causing her to flinch. “Um… it looks similar, but I swear to Celestia it was way, WAY, larger than… that.” Twilight leaned over to Thorax, “Do you think that could be your brother?” she whispered. “I don’t think so…” Thorax’s responded with a slight sense of relief, but he remained uncertain as he tried to look carefully at the spider in question. “I’ve never known Pharynx to change into something smaller than his own body.” Twilight started to ponder, if Pharynx transforming appears unlikely, it does not rule out the possibility that the spider could change size either naturally or through magic. She did not want to make a hasty decision but also didn’t want to leave everyone else unsure or concerned for any longer. She thought that if she had read up on her etymology books much sooner, she would have had an easier time to be sure. “Um… do you mind if I have a look at it?” a timid voice piped up amongst the crowd. Heads turned, and suddenly everyone was looking at a light-yellow mare, it was Spindle Web. “I study insects and arachnids, it’s a bit of a hobby of mine” she says lightly, slowly approaching the guard holding the spider. The room quietened and most of the other guests stepped away to let her through, the small spider turned towards Spindle as she moved closer to the guard’s hoof. It tried to hiss as it did earlier, but unlike other ponies, Spindle didn’t flinch at all. Instead, she reached out her own hoof. “Come on, don’t be shy…” she cooed silently, giving a friendly smile as she offered it to jump towards her like she was calling over a cat or dog. The small spider moved forward to the edge of the guard’s hoof, and with one quick leap, made it onto Spindle’s. She brought the hoof nearer to her own face to inspect the little spider as it lay still on her hoof, and after a few seconds, she appeared to chuckle a little. “It looks like an ordinary Green Huntsman Spider” she states. “They're pretty harmless and don’t get bigger than this, I’m guessing this one hasn’t seen so many creatures as large as us.” Slowly the crowd starts talking amongst themselves, quietly laughing and joking amongst themselves. "Well, thank goodness for that." someone in the crowd uttered to themselves. "So much panic over a tiny little spider." Thorax, Spike, Ember and Twilight could breathe a sigh of relief while the three mares who started the panic felt embarrassed, unsure if the spider they saw in the garden was either their imagination or an exaggeration of what they saw. “I-if it’s okay with you, I could take it back outside” Spindle offered. “I’ve been needing some fresh air.” After the guards looked towards the Princess in approval, they returned to their posts, some of them trying to hold their own laughter at what transpired. Spindle made her way back out to the quiet palace gardens and lowered her curled hoof towards the grass. The spider jumped off her hoof and landed onto the soft ground, barely making a sound as it started to make a move. That was until Spindle talked to the spider once more. “I think the coast is clear now, General Pharynx.” Having stopped in its place, a green flare emerged around it. When the flare cleared away, Pharynx appeared in the spider’s place. He turned back around looking confused. “You knew it was me… No one else could, not even my own brother… and yet you could tell it was me?” Spindle could only smile and chuckle, she did not appear as nervous as she did earlier. “Green Huntsmen Spiders actually are a much brighter green in colour, closer to your brother’s shade of green.” Spindle explained... “They are also usually half the size you were, and aren’t known to hiss at any creature…” Pharynx paused at the moment, trying to think back to how he tried to look. All he could think of was trying to be a large scary spider, and then later the same spider but smaller. He did not consider being accurate in physical appearance to any actual spider, it could have caught him out by anyone else. “In fairness, I used to be Head of Patrol, so not the best at disguises I guess…” he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hoof, looking down and away as he did so. At that moment, the only sound of crickets could be heard in the night sky and muffled chatter coming from inside the palace. “So… you’re into bugs and spiders then?” Pharynx followed. “Y-yeah… thing Is, I don’t like going to these kinds of parties…” Spindle admitted, rubbing one of her hooves along her arm. “But when I heard that changelings were going to attend, I thought it would be a good opportunity to go. Maybe it was wrong to get my hopes up.” Pharynx could see Spindle go back to feeling disappointed, feeling shame that he was avoiding most of the party when he could have at least tried to be nice for a short while. “Thing is… I do not like parties either. But if my choices for the night were doing my duties as a General, being chased by three obsessive ponies or spending time with one nice pony, I’d probably choose the latter.” The two traded smiles, as the music from inside started to play and could be heard from the nearest window in the garden. Listening to the music led to Spindle wanting to ask the changeling in front of her. “Um… General Pharynx?” “You can call me Pharynx, I don’t mind.” he politely corrected her, feeling he could be less formal around her. “O-oh okay, Pharynx. Would you like to dance?” she offered. Pharynx blushed at the thought and was rubbing the back of his neck again. “Um… I don’t really dance. I mean, I don’t know how to…” Spindle chucked and made another offer. “I can show you a thing or two, it’s not like anyone will be looking for us…” She offered out a hoof, and Pharynx looked up and down between it and her smile, before eventually putting his own hoof on top. “Sure”
The EndIt was late in the evening, and the Royal Canterlot Gala was ending, with everyone making their departure. Amongst the group was Garble and his new poetry fans, commenting on how well the whole party went on. “Well I must say Garble, it was a delight to speak with you. I do hope you return to Canterlot, I’m sure the poetry society would love to hear more of your work,” said Laura Ate, Garble felt pleased with himself. “Totally, maybe I’ll try and not make a mess next time!” he remarked, and the rest of the group laughed in response. After a few waves, the trio left Garble in the courtyard as he waited to meet Ember before departing. It was at that point that he noticed that familiar-looking light-yellow mare that dealt with the spider make her departure too, followed by the sound of someone humming. Curious, he followed the sound of the humming, only to find it was coming from Pharynx. He was humming, stepping and bouncing in time to a tune, and he looked…happy, oblivious to who was watching him. It looked strange, but also a bit amusing, to see a changeling who was acting serious for most of the night looking so cheerful and quietly dancing to himself. The entertainment only stopped once Garble cleared his throat, the first thing Pharynx could see once he opened his eyes was a red dragon with his arms folded and a smirk on his face. Almost immediately, he returned to his composure, eyes wide open and desperately trying to avoid turning as red as the dragon he was facing. “So, had a fun time then?” Garble remarked, taking advantage of Pharynx’s discomfort. “Actually yeah, I did. In fact, even after you invited those crazy ponies across, I made a good friend today.” Pharynx retorted, trying to fight off being caught out. “So how did you find dealing with smarter and fancier folk?” A small puff of smoke emitted out of Garble’s nose in frustration, “If you want to know, they might not think I’m smart, but they think I have potential. Guess I made a few pony friends, no thanks to you.” The two stared down each other judgingly as Ember and Thorax made their way out, ready to take their leave. The two looked back and forth at Garble and Pharynx as their staring contest progressed, suspicious as what the two were getting up to. “Did something happen between you two?” asked Thorax. “You two didn’t have anything to do with what happened at the Gala tonight, did you?” Ember included in the questioning. The pair kept their eyes towards each other, whatever they did result in them having a good time, so ended up with a grin on their faces. Pharynx answered with “Nope”, and Garble answered with “Nothing at all.”
