Bug on the Breeze

Zephyr grunted as Pharynx shook him awake, his wings aching fiercely as he stretched and tried to shake his sleepiness off. “Mmm…I reaaally hope that day three is the last day. I don’t think my wings can take much more of this.”

Pharynx smirked. “You need more salve before we start?”

“Yes please.”

Pharynx laughed at the immediate response and grabbed the tin from the roll that was still on the ground. Zephyr rolled onto his stomach and sighed into his sleeping bag as Pharynx applied more of the wonderful magic cooling gel to his back and wings. It also had the dual benefit of waking him up almost completely. “Oooh yeah that’s the stuff…Could you teach me how to make this? I bet I could make a lot of bits selling it.”

Pharynx shrugged as he started putting everything away. “Sure. You’ll need to give me a cut of the profit though, as it requires changeling magic.”

Zephyr blew a raspberry. “What would you even do with the bits?”

“I don’t know, take it as payment for all the valuable skills I’ve been teaching you?”

Zephyr sat up and gasped lightly. “You aren’t really going to charge me for that are you?”

Pharynx grinned and made a point to not look at Zephyr. “Why not? I’m sure ponies would pay big money to get authentic survival skills training from a head scout.”

“Buuut since I’m your first pupil I should get it for free. Especially since I can help you smooth out the course material and make it more user friendly.”

Pharynx sharply turned his head. “Are you saying I’m not a good trainer?”

Zephyr sputtered and waved his hooves around. “W-what? No! No, you are doing great with me, it’s just, well, for other ponies, it might be a little…intense.”

Pharynx seemed to consider this, tapping his chin with a hoof. “Hmm…Maybe I’ll give you a discount then.”

Zephyr groaned. “Aww, you really are going to charge me aren’t you?”

Pharynx stared at him for a couple seconds before breaking out into laughter. “Of course I’m not going to charge you, what use would I even have for money? Changelings use a barter system around the hive and it’s not like we import a lot of pony goods.”

Zephyr pouted and crossed his hooves. “Don’t mess with me like that, I really thought you were going to.”

Pharynx snickered. “I can’t help that you are so gullible. Now come on, grab some breakfast, we need to get going.”

Zephyr kept up the pout for a little longer before his grumbling stomach made him reach for his backpack and dig out some food.

Soon, they were packed up and walking out into the early morning light. Pharynx walked along the ledge, the sun now revealing that it ran a decent way along the mountain side. “We can walk this until this ends. It will keep us in about the right direction and give your wings an actual break.”

Zephyr perked up a bit. “Oh! That sounds great because honestly, I’m not sure even with that magic gel stuff I would be able to fly much right now. I wasn’t joking when I said I don’t usually fly this much. I don’t think I even did this much flapping when I was a kid in flight school.”

He thought for a minute. “Hey wait! If there are these trails along the mountain why have we only been flying so far?”

Pharynx gestured out towards the sand, towards the trail they found last night. From this vantage, it was just barely visible. “Because we didn’t have that. If the trail curves off too far we will leave the ledge and start flying again, but as long as I can see it then we can walk.”

Zephyr accepted this logic begrudgingly. It had taken them a while to find the trail, it made sense to keep following it in whatever way was easiest. He was grateful that, for now at least, it meant they could walk.

“So, what’s on the lesson plan for this afternoon?”

Pharynx shrugged. “Not sure yet. Might show you a basic trap for small game, maybe build a slingshot. You any good with those?”

Zephyr scoffed. “Am I any good with a slingshot?”

Pharynx looked over his shoulder with an unamused expression. “Yeah, that was my question.”

Zephyr tossed his head. “Well I’ll have you know that I am more than just good, I am great with a slingshot.”

“I’ll be the judge of that, but if you are half as good as you think you are, it might come in handy against the kelpie.”

“You really think a slingshot could do damage against one of those things?”

Pharynx laughed sharply. “Oh no, no no no. No. You’d have no shot actually injuring it, not even if you could send a big chunk of diamond whizzing at it. I would want you to use the slingshot to distract it, keep it unbalanced.”

Zephyr nodded. “I think I can do that, yeah. That’ll work?”

“Yes. Sand kelpies are dangerous, don’t forget that, but they are also arrogant. They usually only attack small groups or single travelers because they have the advantage of size, intimidation, and usually surprise. It’s unlikely that it will see the two of us as a threat, which will make it sloppy.”

Zephyr bounced up on his back hooves, striking his front hooves out in a mock boxing position. “Ha! That thing won’t even know what hit it! Especially if I then surprise it with a HYAH! Or a Wha-Bam! Or maybe even a Whaaaa-Yaaa!!!”

Pharynx stopped and looked back at Zephyr, his lips twitching as he tried to smother a smile from the pegasus’s antics. Zephyr grinned and winked confidently as he remained reared up. “What? Like what you see, tough bug?”

Pharynx shook his head and quickly looked forward again. “I might be more impressed if you actually knew what you were doing. Come on.”

Zephyr dropped to all four hooves again and trotted after Pharynx. “Being more impressed implies that you are already at least a little impressed, you know. I knew my charm would get you to sooner or later. Be careful you don’t go falling in love with me. I got a mare back home that would be just devastated if I connected to someone else, I’d hate to break your heart too.”

Pharynx rolled his eyes, but the smile he had been fighting finally won. “Noted.”

They walked for a while longer before Pharynx noticed the trail sharply turned away from the mountain. “Time to fly. We should stay higher now, we may be closer to the kelpie than we think.”

Zephyr nodded and walked to the edge, having to resist the urge to simply step off and glide. Between the weight of his backpack and the tiredness of his wings, he was confident it would end up being a very short flight. Instead, he forced the tired limbs to heed his commands and flap enough to lift him from the ground and propel him after Pharynx.

They followed the trail until it disappeared at the foot of a rocky hill sticking out of the side of a tall sand dune. Pharynx paused and held a hoof out. “Wait here, I’m going in for a closer look.”

Zephyr gulped and wrung his hooves as he hovered, watching Pharynx descend towards the rocks. Pharynx carefully scouted the perimeter, ears on a constant swivel. He disappeared for a moment as he flew behind it and then came back around and flew up to Zephyr. “Looks like it rested here for a bit and then continued on behind the rocks. The trail seems to stretch on for a while, so I’m pretty sure it’s gone. Should be safe enough to rest for at least a couple hours.”

Zephyr breathed a sigh of relief and followed Pharynx down towards a large opening near the base of the hill that extended farther inwards than the pegasus expected. He was hard pressed to really call it a ‘cave’ as it felt far too open, but there was still a back wall, a floor, and a ceiling a dozen or so hooves above him. Maybe there was such a thing as ‘open-concept’ caves?

Zephyr almost voiced this thought out loud but decided against it. Now was not the time to be considering the technical names of nature and its constructions. He shook his head to clear it before turning his attention to Pharynx as he dug supplies out of his pack.

The changeling grumbled to himself as he looked through his bag, unable to find any rubber or suitable elastic for Zephyr’s slingshot. He gave up with a huff and tossed a u shaped stick on the ground. “Alright, turns out I don’t have everything I thought I did so we’ll have to be creative in making your slingshot.”

Zephyr laughed as he took off his own backpack. “Ha, I’m sorry but have you met me? Creativity is practically my middle name. What did you have in mind?”

Pharynx held some leaves in his hoof. “Something you probably won’t like but will have to deal with.”

Zephyr tilted his head in confusion as Pharynx began to chew on the leaves. The pegasus then reared back in disgust as the changeling spat a bright green and sticky looking substance into his hooves and stretched it out a bit.

Pharynx nodded in what seemed to be approval and strung the spit between the ends of the stick. He then hit it with a beam of magic and the substance solidified into a thick band that was slightly darker in color.

Pharynx wrapped a couple non chewed up leaves in the middle of the band to create a cradle for whatever ammunition would be loaded and then offered it to Zephyr. “Here, try it out.”

Zephyr shuddered violently, unable to verbalize just how much he did not want to try out the weird spit slingshot.

Pharynx rolled his eyes. “Oh don’t be such a grub, my magic changed it into a rubber like material, it’s barely even my spit anymore.”

Zephyr whined and Pharynx sighed loudly. “Fine, maybe you’ll want to try it after you see it in action.”

He blasted the back wall with magic, littering the ground with various chunks of rock. He levitated one such chunk into the cradle of the slingshot, pulled it back with his hoof, and aimed right next to the hole he had just created. The rock streaked through the air, shattering against the wall and spraying even more small pieces around.

Zephyr’s eyes widened. “Whoa…That’s got some zip to it huh? Hrmm…Okay fine I’ll use it, but you better find me a spring or something so I can wash my hooves tonight."

Pharynx simply pushed the slingshot into his hooves without a word, then used his magic to weave together a small sling that went around Zephyr’s neck. “Remember, your aim is to distract and annoy the sea kelpie. That should be easy for you.”

Zephyr frowned slightly. “Heeey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Pharynx raised an eyebrow. “What? It’s a sound strategy to use your talents in battle.”

Zephyr pursed his lips and scooped up the rock chunks on the ground, moving closer to the edge where some had skittered from the initial blast. “So you are saying that I’m annoying?”

“Well, yeah, but in this case it’s a good thing. How often do you get to turn something ponies don’t like about you into an actual, useful skill? It’s a compliment!”

Zephyr grumbled quietly. “It doesn’t feel like a compliment…”

Pharynx rubbed his forehead. “Are you really trying to pick a fight right now over this?”

Zephyr huffed and stood up, turning to face Pharynx. “Well maybe I am. Look I appreciate all you’ve been teaching me, but you can still be nicer in how you present things.”

Pharynx rolled his eyes. “Zephyr…”

Zephyr stomped his hoof. “No. No. I am taking a stand here, you don’t get to dismiss me just like that. I know that you got this big tough guy thing going on and it works for you, it really does. And I know you also have this whole thing about ‘not wanting to change yourself’, but it wouldn’t kill you to think about how you are saying things.”

Pharynx huffed but then froze, his voice quieter now. “Zephyr.”

Zephyr ignored him. “Like, seriously. I know how ponies see me, what kind of mean thing they’ve said, even when they don’t mean to be. But you seem to have this whole ‘brutal honesty’ thing which is fine but you don’t have to be like that alll the time.”

Pharynx slowly shifted his body downward into a lunging position, his shell open and wings flared and ready. “Zephyr.”

The serious tone took Zephyr by surprise and he finally started paying attention to Pharynx’s body language and how he seemed to be staring at something just over the pegasus’s shoulder. Zephyr gulped as the hairs on the back of his neck rose and he became acutely aware of the sound of shifting sand and the bellowing breath of something much much bigger than him.

Zephyr’s legs began to shake. He looked at Pharynx and, not trusting his voice anymore, mouthed ‘fly?’

Pharynx subtly nodded and spoke again, his voice low but clear. “On my mark.”

“1.”

Zephyr shifted his back hoof slightly to give him a better push off.

“2.”

A whimper caught in his throat as he opened his wings, his heart pounding and blood rushing in his ears.

“3!”

Simultaneously they rushed past each other, a flash of light enveloping Pharynx as he transformed into a large creature that looked like the cross of a beetle and a wasp. Zephyr turned around once he was close to the other side, his jaw dropping as he caught sight of the sand kelpie for the first time.

The overall shape and form reminded him of a seahorse, if a seahorse was covered in interlocking scales and had dragon-like arms. It was colored like the desert, all muted yellows and browns that surely provided excellent camouflage.

It was only half in the cave, but the frills on top of its head almost reached the ceiling and its upper body blocked most of the opening. If this was small for a kelpie, Zephyr sure didn’t want to meet any of the adults.

Pharynx was currently grappling with the beast’s long muzzle, his massive front legs holding the top and bottom lip to try and keep it from chomping down on him with its many, many teeth. The creature reared an arm back and Zephyr cried out right as the kelpie tossed its head and smashed its powerful claw into Pharynx’s side.

The monster bug that was Pharynx went flying into the back wall and landed with a resounding thud. Dust and bits of rocks plumed from the impact as a spider web of cracks branched outwards, making the now normal Pharynx look like a fly caught in a web.

The kelpie then turned towards Zephyr and roared, its mouth open as it rushed at him. Zephyr yelped and scrambled backwards, fishing one of the biggest rocks out of his sling and firing it straight at the back of its mouth. The kelpie choked on the projectile, stopping just short of the pegasus as it grasped at its throat.

Zephyr sprinted to an empty spot in the cave entrance and took flight, pushing himself to fly as high as he could as fast as he could. The kelpie recovered and continued after him, screaming at him from the ground. Zephyr hovered at what he felt was a comfortable height and started pelting it with more rocks, trying to aim towards its eyes and mouth.

The kelpie roared in pain before diving into the sand, letting Zephyr have his first look at the rest of its snakelike body and appreciate just how long it was. He watched the sand undulate as the creature moved underneath it, tunneling a twisting path around the hill. It finally stopped a bit away from the cave.

Zephyr watched the ground with baited breath, waiting for the kelpie to continue having its temper tantrum or try and attack or something. After a couple minutes, his worry for Pharynx made him descend towards the cave again. He made sure to keep an eye on where the kelpie had stopped though, ready to dart back up at the first sign of movement.

Zephyr lowered his head to be able to peek in the opening. “P-Pharynx? Are you okay?”

There was a quiet groan and Zephyr let out a breath he didn’t realize was holding, floating down a little more. “Phew, okay, you are still alive at least. That’s good. Oh you should have seen me Pharynx! I was pelting that thing with rocks like crazy and it was all hissy and mad and then went back into the sand.”

Pharynx shakily stood up, his carapace dusty as he smiled at Zephyr. “G-good,” he coughed, “Good job.” He blinked and frowned. “Wait, did you say it went back into the sand?”

Zephyr caught a rush of movement from the corner of his eye, but it was too late. Time slowed down as Zephyr stared into Pharynx’s face, an increasing amount of fear and worry contorting the changeling’s features. A moment later, Zephyr became vaguely aware of crushing pressure around various points of his body.

Time sped up again as he was slammed into the ground, the air brutally knocked out of him. Zephyr gasped desperately and feebly flailed about as the kelpie then started to press him into the sand, apparently intent on burying him.

As the sand started to enclose him, Zephyr both felt and heard Pharynx roar his name and then the pressure on top of him disappeared. Panicking, choking on the sand and half blind Zephyr fought to get himself uncovered. His face and front hooves broke the surface and he dragged himself up, coughing violently.

The ground shook with the dual roars of two big somethings fighting and Zephyr wiped his eyes to try and see what was happening. Through blurred vision, he saw what looked like a second sand kelpie, though this one was much darker in color.

The kelpies seemed to be wrestling with each other, the darker one wrapping itself around the lighter one. Zephyr’s sight cleared enough to see the darker one, probably Pharynx now that he thought about it, grab the other kelpie's muzzle and wretch it upwards, exposing a soft fleshy throat. Zephyr turned away and closed his eyes as Pharynx bared his fangs.