“Eeeee! Oh my gosh, it’s really him!”

Pharynx cringed and gritted his teeth as an unpleasantly high-pitched squeal assaulted his ears, nearly causing him to drop his apple cider. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the glass was still full and in one piece, before turning to look behind him.

He saw a trio of unicorn mares staring at him with shining eyes while their grins seemed to take up a disturbingly large portion of their faces. “Prince Pharynx!” the unicorn greeted with a squee. “We have heard sooooo much about you!”

“Ignore them, Pharynx,” Flutterwings quipped quietly, gritting her teeth and furrowing her brow at the sight. “They’re just trying to waste your time.”

“Yeah, tell them you’re taken!” Scorch agreed with a huff.

Pharynx sighed heavily. “Calm down, you two,” he said as he turned to his comrades. “They probably want something else.”

“But Pharynx-!” Flutterwings protested, only for a dark cyan hoof to briefly press against her mouth as Pharynx hesitantly trotted closer to the eager fangirls.

“So, ladies,” he began, clearing his throat as he did. “Can I… help you?”

“Eeee! He’s actually talking to us!” one of the earth ponies cheered, prancing up and down in place.

Pharynx resisted the urge to gag at the overjoyous gesture. “Er… do I have to ask again?”

“Oh no, of course not! We’ve just been looking all over for you!” the unicorn answered. “How has life at the hive been?”

“Uh… fine, I guess?” Pharynx’s eyes darted around the area, seeking for any sign of his younger brother amongst the crowds of well-dressed ponies. For some reason, he still had some hope that Tempest would possibly show up to the gala after all. Nonetheless, he turned back to the mares. “Why?”

The unicorn opened her mouth to answer, only to be unpleasantly pushed aside by one of her peers. “Ehehehe!” she giggled a little. “Don’t mind her, Prince Pharynx. Clearly, it’s none of her beeswax.”

“Clearly it’s none of your beeswax, either,” Pharynx muttered under his breath, turning his head away.

He tried trotting off in a random direction, only to be enveloped by a magical aura that kept him from departing. “You’re single, aren’t you?” one of the unicorns asked, getting all up in his face.

Pharynx cringed backward. “What?! No!” he spat bitterly. “I-I mean, I was—”

“Shhhh…” a hoof pressed up against his lips. “Relax, my prince,” she said. “Whoever you’re with, well, I’m sure they won’t mind. Or notice.”

Pharynx swallowed heavily as sweat began pouring down his face; he felt like he was about to vomit then and there.

The unicorn giggled, displaying the most flirty expression possible as she stood up on the tips of her hooves, in an attempt to reach up to his height. The other two unicorns began closing in on the changeling, with all three of them clearly ignoring his state of discomfort. “I’m sure nothing in Equestria will ever come in between us…” She smirked as she leaned forward and whispered into his ear;

“...Master.”

.
“Okay, I think I lost them,” Pharynx exhaled in exhaustion, rubbing his forelegs as he pressed his back against one of the marble pillars in the ballroom.

Scorch and Flutterwings galloped up to him. “You okay, Pharynx? We just saw you fleeing for your life back there,” the latter pointed out as soon as she approached him.

Pharynx looked over with an annoyed expression. “What’s it look like?”

“Like you had just run a marathon. Which you kinda had,” Scorch added awkwardly.

“Whatever… where are your little gang members at anyway?”

“They’re over at the chocolate fountain,” Flutterwings answered. “We’d show you, but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t wanna see such a juvenile sight.”

“Forget it,” Pharynx deadpanned, rolling his eyes. “Anyone have any clue where my brother is currently residing?”

“Anywhere as long as the blue lizard lady is with him?” Scorch suggested.

“I honestly wouldn’t doubt that in the slightest,” the prince murmured in reply. “Though, I’ll give him this,” he added after a moment. “At least he was able to spend more than five minutes with his special somecreature.”

“Where is this Fizzberry Sodapop anyway?” Flutterwings wondered aloud.

“It’s Fizzlepop Berrytwist, Flutters,” Pharynx corrected, “and she prefers the name Tempest Shadow.”

Flutterwings blinked, holding back a snicker. “...I can see why. Dunno why I keep forgetting her real name though.”

“Whatever. You guys make sure your little clique doesn’t pull anything stupid, okay?”

“No promises.”

“What’s the matter, Phar? Still no sign of Tempest?”

“Apparently not,” Pharynx mumbled as he pressed the side of his head against the table. “I know I keep bringing this up, especially on a night like this, but I still don’t see the point in making her Twilight’s personal guard. I mean, Celestia has like—what, a hundred or even a thousand of those guys, and they’re only better at serving her than serving a purpose. Actually, no, they’re only capable of getting served by whatever they’re trying to deal with.”

Thorax turned to him, cluelessly raising a brow. “And what do Celestia’s guards have to do with Tempest and Twilight again?”

Pharynx lifted his head back up to stare his brother dead in the eye. “Assuming you weren’t cowering in a dumpster during the Canterlot invasion, you’ve seen Twilight put up a fight against some of our best changeling warriors. She shouldn’t need a personal guard.”

“Well, I see what you’re trying to say. Kinda,” Thorax admitted, before looking in a random direction and putting a forehoof to his chin. “Though, I do still remember seeing her encased along with the others in the throne room. You know, when we—”

“I know what happened, Thorax,” Pharynx cut him off sternly, before sighing heavily, “but that’s not the point. I just wish she wasn’t so busy with her new job. Then maybe I won’t have to deal with any of these stupid fangirls breathing against my carapace.”

Thorax gritted his teeth apologetically, his ears lowering a bit. “Right…” he said after a moment. “Well, I can say I’ve been where you are now.”

Pharynx’s eyes widen a bit. “Huh? When?”

“Well, back at the rewarding ceremony at Twilight’s castle, I was hoping that—”

“Thorax, you and Ember haven’t even met.” Pharynx cut off his brother yet again. “How were you even hoping that she’d show up at that sappy little ceremony?”

“...Eheheh.” The lime changeling blushed sheepishly, clearly embarrassed that his attempt at comfort had unsurprisingly failed. “Oops?”

Pharynx sighed again. “...I’m going get another drink. If Tempest finally decides to ditch her guard duties and show up, tell her where I’m at.”

He trotted away before his brother could say anything else, making his way towards the cider table and pouring himself his third glass of the night. “Why’d I even come here?” he said to himself quietly as he began steadily chugging down his beverage.

BUMP!

Pharynx stumbled forward as he felt an unexpected figure collide with his backside, just barely catching himself before he landed flat on his face. He spat and choked up his wasted cider, wiping his mouth, before looking behind him.

“Hey! Watch where you’re—” Pharynx scolded sternly before cutting himself off immediately upon seeing who had bumped into him. “What the-?!”

Behind him was a female alicorn... at least, that was what it looked like. One with a very dark purple coat and a pitch black mane streaked with hot pink. Instead of the expected gala attire, she had both a red choker around her neck and a messy purple cape that barely covered her flank, which displayed what Pharynx assumed was her cutie mark. Though, if anything, it didn’t really look like a cutie mark at all. It looked more like someone had posted a photo of a blindingly bright galaxy on her flank. To top it all off, her blood-red eyes gave off this completely dead stare that really got under Pharynx’s skin... or chitin, in this case. Point was, he didn’t like it. At all.

“Uhhh… did you need something?” the changeling asked the stranger, trying his best to keep a straight face. Please say no. Please say no…

“im sorry i didnt see you there sir”

Now, Pharynx was really cringing. Has this pony ever learned proper speech? “Okay then…” he replied, taking a few steps back. “In that case… I’ll be going now.”

“Wait dont leave!”

The changeling froze, blinking at the alicorn. “Um… why?”

“Do you remember? we knew each other since we were kids! you saved me from those ponys who bully me!” The alicorn exclaimed.

Excuse me? Pharynx thought bitterly as his attempts to mentally grasp this situation failed miserably. “... Can you elaborate?”

“My parents are Nightmare Moon and Sombra. they always beat and abuse me every day because i wasnt evil like them. ponies like to bully me because of my powerful magic. they tried to hurt me but you saved me!”

Pharynx could only think of one way to respond. “No. No I did not.”

“Yeah you did! dont you remember?!”

“Well, fortunately, I don’t recall ever running into you. Ever. I don’t even know your name.”

“Oh i forgot about that! my name is Nova Shadowlight! i really missed you Pharynx!”

Pharynx shuddered. “How did you—”

“i finally found you, my love!” Nova exclaimed, throwing her forelegs around the changeling and nuzzling against his neck.

Now, Pharynx really wanted to vomit. “Please, get off of me.”

“heh. sorry.” The alicorn released him.

“T-Thank you,” he stuttered, his eyes darting around frantically in an attempt to find the best window to jump out of. “Now, if you excuse me, I’m just gonna—”

“I want to show you something i’ve never shown anyone before.”

“Wait, what?!”

In a flash of neon light, the two of them were gone.

“I still don’t understand why that ‘Rarity’ pony was freaking out so much. Hasn’t she seen anyone wear a tuxedo with a skirt before?” Flutterwings rambled as she kept looking down at her outfit. “I mean, I guess it’s—”

“Hold on,” Scorch put a hoof to his sister’s mouth, turning his head to gaze in a random direction. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what? What is it?”

The two remained silent for a moment. “Huh. I could’ve sworn I heard someone teleport outta here.”

“Oh… You think it was Pharynx? I mean, he said he would talk to his brother for a bit, but I can’t find him anywhere,” the purple nymph said.

Scorch thought for a moment. “Well, I don’t remember seeing Pharynx use any teleportation spells. Or maybe…”

“Wait a minute, what is that?!”

“What’s what?”

They peered out the window and into the Canterlot gardens, seeing Pharynx walking with an… alicorn?

Okay, it was easy to tell he was getting forcibly dragged by the alicorn; any attempts to shapeshift or scurry away from her was rudely interrupted by a neon purple aura holding him close to her. Too close to her.

“...You’re seeing what I’m seeing, right?”

“...Unfortunately, yes.”

Without any hesitations, the two changeling siblings darted towards the doorway that led to the Canterlot gardens, pushing their way through the crowd of well-dressed ponies and busting the door open.

The pair galloped outside, stopping to catch their breath as well as to scan the area for any signs of a dark purple coat or a flowing violet mane.

“Shoot,” Flutterwings spat after gazing at her surroundings for a bit only to find nothing. “You think they teleported again?”

“I honestly hope not. Who knows where that creep would take him? Pretty sure the leader of changelings wouldn’t want some freaky alicorn throwing herself onto his older brother,” Scorch remarked.

“No kidding. I mean, what kind of—”

The duo suddenly jumped upon hearing what sounded like a muffled scream. “What was that?!” Flutterwings squeaked, frantically gazing around the area.

“It came from over there! Let’s go!”

Flutterwings and Scorch sprinted in the direction the sound was coming from. Upon reaching their destination, however, a rather… unpleasant sight greeted them.

Pharynx was pressed against the grass as the alicorn kept pressing her lips against his, her neon purple aura preventing him from dashing away. Every time Pharynx would yank his head in a random direction to avoid her, she would only grab him and continue kissing him, her unnaturally large wings wrapping around him and hugging him.

“You there!” Scorch snarled, finally getting the alicorn’s attention. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

The alicorn’s blood red eyes widened upon seeing the two angry changelings, and Pharynx finally gasped for breath, pushing the mare off of him. “About time someone showed up!” he spat. “What took you so long?!”

Before the changelings could answer, the alicorn grabbed Pharynx in her aura, hissing like a cat. “WHAT DO YOU TWO WANT FROM ME?!?!?! I AM SO SICK OF BEING TREATED THIS WAY!!!!!” she screamed.

“Woah, girl, calm down,” Flutterwings said, stepping back. “We’re just trying to ask you to stop hassling Pharynx like that. Sheesh.”

“DONT YOU DARE TALK THAT WAY ABOUT MY BOYFRIEND!!! SHUT UP AND GO AWAY OR I’LL MURDER YOU!!!!!”

Flutterwings and Scorch froze like a pair of deer in headlights. “Boyfriend?!” they parroted in unison.

“THATS RIGHT YOU HEARD ME!!!! I LOVE HIM AND THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!!!!”

“Uh, hello? He’s taken!” Scorch spat back. “You know, by Tempest Shadow!”

“SHUT UP!!! SHES JUST TRYING TO TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME BECAUSE SHE HATES ME LIKE EVERYONE ELSE DOES!!!!!!”

“Okay, I don’t think she’s ever even met you, but I won’t exactly doubt the prediction that she’d hate you,” Flutterwings deadpanned.

“GRRRR…….” The alicorn’s horn flared wildly as she held tightly onto Pharynx. She blasted the ground, somehow launching the two siblings away from her, sending them tumbling in random directions. “THATLL TEACH YOU TO MESS WITH ME! GO AWAY OR ELSE I’LL SEND YOU TO THE MOON LIKE HOW CELESTIA DID TO MY MOTHER!!!!!!”

Within a flash of bright purple, the “couple” was gone, leaving two utterly shocked changelings alone in the garden in complete dead silence.

For a while, at least.

“...Wait, her mom is Nightmare Moon?” Flutterwings asked flatly.

Author's Note

You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to finally post this.

Just in case you were wondering; yes, all those punctuation errors in Nova’s dialogue were intentional, as well as the sentences in caps.