Bug on the Breeze

Zephyr stretched out on the hammock, hooves behind his head as he looked at the ceiling, eyes lazily following the natural swirls and variations in the rock ceiling. He wasn’t sure how long he had been in the room, but it was at least a few hours, judging by the slowly diminishing light from the window.

He had tried to nap, but found himself too excited by the prospect of working with Thorax. Who better to help him discover his true potential and destiny than the changeling leader who helped his entire species transform and find a new way?

For the first time since his sister and Rainbow Dash had helped him to finish his mane therapy training he felt hopeful for his future. He had spent much of his life simply going with the flow, drifting from place to place, with no real purpose or destination in mind. If he was really honest with himself, he’d rather live his whole life like that, but that just seemed to disappoint everyone, especially his big sister.

His thoughts drifted to Pharynx and how he had called Thorax ‘brother’ earlier. It was weird to think that changelings had siblings. Zephyr had assumed that they all hatched from eggs laid by the Queen or something, but maybe it was more of a social title? Then again, now that he thought about it, there did seem to be some resemblance between them that was missing from the other changelings he saw. Who was the older brother then? Probably Pharynx.

Zephyr smiled. Yeah, Pharynx definitely gave off older sibling vibes. It was an interesting contrast to his own relationship with Fluttershy, where the younger sibling Thorax was the public leader and shining star.

His smile slowly turned to a frown. Even though Thorax was the one in charge, Pharynx wasn’t just in his shadow, he was clearly doing different things from his brother but they seemed to work together well still. During the tour earlier, it was obvious a lot of the other changelings respected Pharynx too.

Maybe he could ask Pharynx to teach him a bit too. But teach him what? Zephyr couldn’t quite pinpoint what made Pharynx so different from him. They were both confident and doing their own thing, so why did it feel like Pharynx actually had the respect Zephyr wished for?

He groaned and dragged his hooves down his face. Maybe that was a bit too much personal reflection for now.

There was a knock on the door and Zephyr sat up, his lips curling into his usual, easy going smile almost automatically. Light from the hallway and magic brightened the room a little as Thorax carefully slid the door open. “Zephyr? You awake?”

Zephyr did a quick stretch before hopping off the hammock and heading towards the door. “Am I ever! I feel sooo rested and ready to go! This room really is amazing, and the hammock? Oh, it felt like I was sleeping on clouds.”

Thorax beamed. “Oh wonderful, I’m glad to hear it. Come on, we have quite a feast set up for you. It’s not often we have special guests for dinner.”

Zephyr rubbed his stomach. “Sounds good cause I am star-ving!”

Thorax led him back to the throne room, where a large, low table had been brought into the center, cushions set around it. There were multiple platters of food, a variety of vegetables and flowers in different presentations, as well as a few small birds and fish.

Pharynx was already sitting on a cushion near one end of the table. Thorax pointed Zephyr to the seat across from Pharynx and then sat at the head of the table.

Zephyr sat down and rubbed his hooves together. “Mmm-mm! When you put on a feast, you really put it on. Are all these locally grown?”

Thorax nodded. “Yup! It took a couple seasons to learn how to farm, but the ground here is surprisingly fertile and has allowed us to grow fruits and vegetables completely unique to our kingdom.”

Zephyr side eyed the cooked fish and birds. “And uh, you know that ponies are usually vegetarian…right?”

Pharynx suddenly grabbed one of the fish and put it on his plate, staring at Zephyr with a toothy grin. “Yeah. You know that changelings are omnivores, right?”

Zephyr gulped. “O-oh. My apologies, I didn’t know.”

Thorax pointedly cleared his throat, glaring at his brother for a moment before smiling at Zephyr and moving the meat dishes away from the pegasus. “I’m sorry, I should have warned you before. I hope your appetite isn’t ruined.”

Zephyr waved his hoof with a strained laugh. “Pssh, don’t worry about me. Part of why I’m here is to learn after all. I appreciate you sharing your culture with me.”

Pharynx snorted, drawing another glare from Thorax that went as unnoticed as the first.

Zephyr’s wings opened and closed a couple times on his back, the tense atmosphere encouraging his usual ‘flight’ instincts. He forced his wings back to his sides and reached for a plate full of bright green roses, putting a couple on his plate. He also spooned some purple looking mash from a bowl and grabbed what looked like a baked banana sprinkled with cinnamon.

A suffocating silence intensified the tension, broken only by the scrape of utensils and chewing of food. About halfway through, Thorax cleared his throat and looked at Pharynx. “Do you have any updates on the creature you were tracking outside the hive?”

Pharynx nodded, taking a moment to swallow before answering. “I had it in a trap earlier but it escaped before I could fully capture it. Was able to get a good look at it though and it’s definitely a sand kelpie, a young one judging by the size.”

Thorax hummed with a frown. “From what I read, the young ones tend to be more dangerous. That’s…not great to hear.”

Zephyr raised his hoof. “What’s a sand kelpie?”

Pharynx huffed. “Nasty monsters. They are a desert variety of the water kelpies who lie in rivers and lakes. They don’t hesitate to kill anything that’s stupid enough to come close. The young ones are extremely impulsive and aggressive, usually just going straight for the kill. As they get older though, they get craftier, and find amusement in luring their victims in and prolonging whatever death they decide on.”

Thorax nodded and added. “They are scaled and look kind of like dragons, but have an equine head, clawed front legs, and a powerful tail that’s said to be able to whip up fierce sandstorms. They are able to ‘swim’ through the sand by puffing air out their scales.”

Zephyr’s eyes widened in awe, breathing out a soft ‘whoa’.

Pharynx poked at his plate with a grim expression. “I was aware there was a herd living in the area, but they always kept their distance, one predator respecting another. I thought after we ran off the maulworth that everything around us would get the memo to continue leaving us alone.”

Thorax shrugged. “Maybe the increased vegetation and return of life is limiting their territory? This area has been pretty barren and desert-like for a long time, at least a few generations before us. If a young one is coming around, they might be trying to fight for the only home they’ve known.”

Pharynx worked his jaw a bit, considering. “Maybe. I doubt another trap will scare it off again, it’s only a matter of time before it comes back and starts to actually attack us. We need to figure out a plan before that happens.”

Zephyr suddenly slammed his hoof on the table and stood up. “That’s it!”

Thorax tilted his head at Zephyr. “Oh? Do you have an idea of what to do?”

Pharynx raised an eyebrow and leaned forward with his chin in his hoof. “This should be good.”

Zephyr flared his wings. “Now, I don’t really believe in coincidence, I’ve always been a pony following the breeze of destiny, but I do believe that I am here, right now, for a reason. I came here to find a purpose, and you have a little monster problem on your hooves. I don’t really know why or how yet, but I just know that I’m here to help.”

Pharynx snickered, his mirth quickly turning into full belly laughs. Zephyr furrowed his brows. “Wha-wha-what’s so funny? Ohhh, it’s because you don’t think a creative soul like me can handle a monster isn’t it? Well I’ll have you know that taking care of monsters and saving the day is in my blood.”

Pharynx didn’t respond, clutching his ribs with one hoof as pained, gasping laughter still spilled from his muzzle. Zephyr frowned lightly and stepped back from the table, his wings half arched from his sides as he watched Pharynx curiously. His lips twitched like he couldn’t decide if he should be laughing along or not.

Thorax smiled encouragingly at Zephyr, blatantly turning his back on his brother. “Don’t mind him, he has a broken sense of humor. I do think you are right though, maybe you’ll find purpose in being a monster hunter.”

Zephyr’s grin returned as he rubbed his chin. “Monster hunter huh? That does have a certain…pizazz. I like it! And if you think it’ll work, then I’ll definitely try it.”

“In fact,” Thorax said, his smile becoming strained as he sharply turned towards Pharynx’s quivering form, “I think you two should go together. With Pharynx’s knowledge of the area and fighting experience, you two should have no problem taking care of the sand kelpie.”

Pharynx stopped short, staring at Thorax in disbelief.

Zephyr pounced on this new direction and clapped his hooves together. “Yeah! I mean, I’m sure I would do just fine by myself, but it’s always good to have a local guide in unfamiliar territory. Don’t you worry Thorax, we’ll have that thing crying for it’s momma in no time!”

Zephyr whooped and started out of the throne room. “I’m gonna go double check what I have in my duffel bag, but I’ll probably need some more supplies, you’ll be able to help me stock up right?”

Thorax called after him. “Of course, we will provide everything you’ll need to track the kelpie down and make it go away for good.”

Once he was gone, Pharynx glared at Thorax. “You can’t be serious.”

Thorax returned the look. “You know I don’t usually like pulling rank on you, but in this case I will.”

Pharynx sputtered, vaguely gesturing at the doorway Zephyr had disappeared through. “But him?! He won’t last 5 minutes out there!”

“Which is exactly why you’ll go with him and protect him. Look, Fluttershy told me a lot about her brother when she said he was interested in coming to the hive. He just needs a bit of guidance and confidence building.” Thorax’s expression brightened. “Who better to do that than you? It’ll be just like training grubs in the old days.”

Pharynx ran his hoof across his face, a frustrated growl grinding in his chest. “Fine.” He spat and stood up. “But if he dies, it’s on you.”

Thorax laughed lightly. “Well it’s a good thing you won’t let him die then.”

Pharynx looked away.

Thorax gulped. “...right?”