They Cant Help Themselves

Pharynx watched as the creature that was Ocellus, flew off to the east and thankfully, away from the hive. The few who witnessed their kings rapid consumption dared not attempt a rescue for fear that they may meet a similar, painful end.

As he mourned the loss of his brother Pharynx was quickly approached by several changelings, wondering what they should do without Thorax.

Pharynx looked at the small crowd that had gathered behind him. “I never thought I’d be the one saying this but, were not eating ponies anymore”, Pharynx declared stoically. “It took losing my brother but I get it now. The hunger never stops it just fades, and it comes back stronger.”

Pharynx’s eyes grew darker, taking on the hue of his former brother’s.

“If we… if I, keep going, we’ll all either end up like that monster, or my brother”, Pharynx spotted a changeling in the back who was in the process of scarfing down Lyra, and turned the crowds attention to him.

“Go ahead… eat her, you’ll feel great… for about a day, but then you’ll need another, and another. You’ll end up like me, hungry, angry, and never EVER,feeling truly full.”

The crowd watched as the changeling pulled the saliva covered mare form his throat and layed her on the ground.

“Well what are we gonna do then Pharynx?”, a girl in the front asked. “All of Equestria thinks we’re gonna eat them now, and Ocellus doesn’t look like she’s going to help change their minds.”

Pharynx wanted revenge for his brother, but knew, should he seek it in his current state he would meet the same end. He needed more power, but was now unwilling to consume any-pony to get it.

He thought hard for a moment and an idea clicked in his head.

“Gather the old black guard, we’re going hunting.”

“But Pharynx you just said?..”

“I know what I said!”, Pharynx took a deep breath. “Just gather the men, we’re going to find Chrysalis.”

{The Everfree}

Pharynx and his men moved through the dense forest as they tracked the unmistakable traces of their old queen’s magic. The forest bled dark magic, making itthe perfect refuge for the dethroned monarch.

Two miles in they heard a voice over the ridge. Climbing over, the party came to a clearing where they found Chrysalis… talking to a stump?

“Oh they’ll see, they’ll all see! I’ll drain them all, and Starlight will watch as I..”

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”, Pharynx shouted at Chrysalis.

Startled by the voice, Chrysalis spun around and fired a beam of magic into the brush which Pharynx deflected upwards. The beam cut through every tree limb on it’s way up and into the sky, but did no damage to Pharynx.

“You’re still strong. That’s good”, Pharynx remarked as he and the black guard exited the brush.

“Who are you?!”, Chrysalis demanded as the group surrounded her.

“You see? That’s why you’re not queen anymore. You don’t even remember your captain of guard.”

“Pharynx?”

“Yup”

Chrysalis chuckled, “Well my loyal captain, have you come here to serve me?”

“No… they have”, Pharynx motioned to the men, and they sized Chrysalis by her hooves before spreading the weakened queen on the ground.

“What is this?!”

Pharynx cracked his neck and bent down to the restrained queen. “I need your power to kill a rogue changeling.”

Hearing this Chrysalis began fighting for her life, now knowing exactly what Pharynx’s intentions were; but the black guard were strong, stronger than they were while she still ruled, so she wasn’t going anywhere… execpt well…

“I’d say I was sorry but, you’ve kinda had this coming for awhile”, Pharynx opened his mouth in front of Chrysalis’s eyes.

“NO! You cant do this, I’M YOUR QUEEN!”

nope, you’re just lunch, Pharynx thought as his men forced the struggling girl into Pharynx’s open mouth.

The size difference between him and Chrysalis made swallowing her difficult, but Pharynx had consumed enough obese ponies in his time to know she would fit just fine. His larger concern was whether or not his stomach would be able to digest one of his own.

Chrysalis thrashed against the men holding her, only to have two more jump to their aid and force her upper body into their new king.

This isn’t possible. Chrysalis denied the reality of her situation as the warm flesh of Pharynx’s maw wrapped around her hind legs, and her hear popped into the acidic chamber of her former subject’s stomach. Some of the acid splashed up onto her face. It burned her eyes and mouth as it ate away her dark chitin. This small taste of pain made the proud queen realize just how bad this was going to be.

“PLEASE! I’ll give you anything just… PULL ME OUT!”

They did not. The men grabbed her rear hooves and shoved hard, forcing the remainder of her body into their king’s maw, and rolling Pharynx back onto his flank in the process.

Slurping down what remained of their former queen, Pharynx gave a final, quiet..

* gulp *

And she was gone.

Well not gone, but the poor girls fate was sealed. As pained screams emanated from Pharynx’s massive gut, the men watched, withno sympathy for the queen that had put so many ponies, and even her own through the same horrible fate.

One of the guard had a special hatred for Chrysalis for having eaten his sister when she dared to claim she had been more pretty then her. He motioned to Pharynx, rubbing his gut to indicate he wanted to see her suffer, but Pharynx shook his head.

“Hearing her is bad enough, I don’t need to see this”, he remarked motioning for the guard to come closer.

Leaning his head down the guard placed his head against Pharynx’s stomach.

“Help me, PLEASE! I cant die like this! So Much PAIN!”

“Holy!”, the guard fell on his ass and shimmied away from the thrashing gut.

“Yah”, Pharynx breathed. “You think it was this bad for Thorax? I hope not”, Pharynx said, mostly to himself as he listened to Chrysalis slowly digesting inside him.

“How long is it gonna take?”

Pharynx rolled over on his side. The motion causing the queen to produce even more muffled screams. Pharynx looked at the group of men watching his gut intently.

“Someone please, IT HURTS!”

“It’s gonna be awhile”

{Several Hours Later}

“She’s dead”, Pharynx said as he got to his hooves.

“So… what do we do now?”, the guard asked as the men gathered round.

“Once she’s finished digesting I am going to kill Ocellus… or die trying.”

“You think you can do it?”

Pharynx felt a large increase in his power already. If the trend continued he would be more than a match for the sun godesss herself, let alone Ocellus… or whatever monster she was now.

Pharynx walked to a large nearby tree . He grabbed it at the base and up-rooted the entire thing with with his bare hooves, tossing it over the forest canopy and into Celestia knows where.

The men watched in awe at their king’s newfound power. As he turned to face them the men could already see physical changes happening to Pharynx’s body structure. He was getting bigger. His horns were growing and his chiten was turning a glossy black as it hardened into an steel like substance.

The men had no idea what to make of this, and to be honest neither did Pharynx.

But he gathered himself, turned to the men, and answered the question.

“Yah, I think so.”