“Pharynx, come on, they’re here!” Thorax poked his head into his brother’s room.

“I’m coming.” Pharynx sighed as he got up from where he'd been polishing a sword. “Do we have to do this?”

“Come on Pharynx, we agreed.” Thorax frowned. “Besides, dad wants it.”

“I know.” Pharynx followed his brother out. “It’s just going to take some getting used to.”

“I hope they like their room.” Ocellus piped up as she fell into place beside them. “Apex and I got it all cleaned out.”

“Where is my deputy anyway?” Pharynx asked, and Ocellus giggled.

“He said he wanted to go patrol with Zenith.”

“Of course.” Pharynx rolled his eyes. “I’ve got to talk with him about balancing play and work at some point.”

“But not today.” Thorax instructed, smiling. “Today is about dad.”

“Yeah, I know.” Pharynx rolled his eyes.

Metamorphosis had spent most of his time with his sons over the past month, getting to know the brothers. Although they were eager for Metamorphosis to move into the Hive alongside Fortuna and Midlight, he had a condition. He wanted his boyfriend to go with him, and meet his sons.

Initially, Pharynx had been against it. They had only just gotten to know Metamorphosis himself, it didn’t feel right to have them interact with his boyfriend right away. But he had explained that he was devoted to the stallion, and they wanted a chance to possibly get married one day. Thorax and Apex had seemed open to the idea, so Pharynx, not wanting another argument, consented. Today was the day, after having spent two weeks packing up, Metamorphosis and his boyfriend, Griff, were moving to the Hive.

“Dad!” Thorax spotted the red mane and raced forwards to catch his father in a hug.

“Thorax!” Metamorphosis nuzzled his youngest son as Pharynx approached. “My boys, oh, it’s so good to see you two again.”

Pharynx cleared his throat, glancing at the stallion beside Metamorphosis. The father and son promptly broke from their hug, Metamorphosis blushing sheepishly.

“Ah, right, sorry. Pharynx, Thorax, Ocellus,” Metamorphosis began. Ocellus perked up as she realized she was being included. “This is my boyfriend, Griff Adler.”

The stallion was an alicorn, and despite Thorax’s formidable height, he actually just about matched him at eye level. The alicorn had a light yellow coat with a long, flowing white mane, red eyes seeming to gleam brightly in the light – definitely not a royal they recognized, which was even more confusing. Pharynx wasn’t sure what to think of him. He looked like a soldier of some sort, but he had a downright goofy smile on his face. Pharynx could taste the nervousness wafting off the stallion.

“I-It’s nice to finally meet you.” Griff’s wings rustled on his back. “Morphy has been talking about reuniting with you two for a long time, heh.”

“W-Well, it’s nice to meet you too.” Thorax said, smiling. “I-I’m Thorax-basileus, this is my brother Pharynx-dynastus-dominus, and our advisor Ocellus-consiliaria.”

“Oh, just an advisor?” Ocellus questioned with a playful smile. Thorax giggled and pulled her in for a gentle hug.

“Heh, right, um, Meta’s told me about those rank-name things. What do those mean again, dear?” Griff glanced at his mate, who smiled back.

“Consiliaria is a new one, as far as I know. But translated, it means an advisor or to council.” Metamorphosis smiled at Ocellus kindly. “I think it fits her well.”

Ocellus blushed sheepishly. “Thank you.”

“Dynastus-dominus is a combination. Prince-General, essentially.” Meta added, nodding to Pharynx, who lifted his head slightly out of pride. “And Basileus translates into King.”

“Oh! Heh, silly me, should have remembered that one.” Griff smiled sheepishly. “It’s good to meet you all though.”

“Where’s all your stuff?” Pharynx asked abruptly.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got it all in a safe place.” Griff smiled at the stern warrior, despite the fact he wasn’t smiling back.

“C-Come on dad, Ocellus and Apex helped me set up your room.” Thorax interrupted, trying to clear out the awkward air as he led Metamorphosis off. Ocellus followed behind, Pharynx trotting after her at a quick pace with Griff nervously bringing up the rear.

Soon, Thorax led Metamorphosis into the room that would be his and Griff’s. Like the room they had given Ocellus, it was situated right beside Thorax and Pharynx’s, signifying his place in the royal family. Metamorphosis beamed as he saw the open space, along with the soft-looking bed pressed against a corner of the room.

“Apex and I added these plants.” Ocellus told him, pointing to the vines coming in through the hole that was the window. “I also put the bookshelves up.”

“Thank you Ocellus. Where is Apex, anyway?” Metamorphosis asked, looking around. “I was hoping Griff could meet him, he’s a former soldier, I figured he might like to share some of his knowledge with him.”

“Apex is my deputy, not his.” Pharynx cut in, only to be glared at by Thorax.

“Pharynx, he just wants Griff to meet him.” Thorax smiled at Metamorphosis. “Ocellus said he was out with Zenith-eques, we’ll see them at the next mealtime.”

“That reminds me.” Pharynx strode over to Griff, causing the alicorn to let out a soft yelp of alarm as he was backed into a wall. “I have a few questions for you.”

“Oh not this again.” Ocellus rolled her eyes while Thorax sighed.

“U-Um, not what again?” Griff asked nervously.

“Shovel talk.” Ocellus supplied. “Really Pharynx? I get why you did it when I brought Smolder over, but this is your dad’s boyfriend!”

“I’d say that’s a good enough reason.” Pharynx snapped, keeping his gaze trained on Griff. “So, Adler…”

Griff gulped nervously as Metamorphosis walked over, putting a hoof on Pharynx’s shoulder. “I don’t think this is really necessary, Pharynx.”

“Yes, it is, dad.” Pharynx jabbed a hoof into Griff’s chest. “Now, you.”

Griff screwed his eyes shut, clearly expecting something to happen. But Pharynx only took a breath, lowered his hoof, and stared at him.

“Do you make him happy?”

Griff peeked back out, then untensed, realizing what was going on. “Heh, I– well, I hope I do. I really love him.”

Metamorphosis blushed, stepping back to allow the two to talk. Pharynx gave Griff a half-smile, nodding in agreement.

“So you promise to protect him, then?”

“Of course! I’ll do anything to keep him safe.”

“And remain loyal to him?”

“I shall be his devoted mate for as long as he lets me.” Griff promised, smiling at Metamorphosis fondly.

“Then you are welcome.” Pharynx consented, holding up a hoof to stop Griff as he reached for a hug. “Not there yet. Consider yourself trusted, for now, but we have a ways to go before I get to the point of actually caring about you.”

“Got it. Sorry.” Griff smiled and made his way back over to Metamorphosis. Thorax nuzzled his father, smiling at Griff, before looking over at Pharynx.

“You could have been less intimidating, you know.” Thorax’s eyes gleamed as the message went through. Pharynx snorted slightly.

“You realize who you’re talking to, right?”

Thorax just shook his head and smiled. “Dad, um, Ocellus, Pharynx and I have some work we need to take care of. You’ll be alright unpacking on your own, right?”

“Of course Thorax, you three go ahead.” Metamorphosis nuzzled his mate gently. “Griff and I can handle it.”

“Great. We’ll come find you later.” Thorax hugged his father one last time, before he, Pharynx, and Ocellus made their way out of the room.

“So do we actually have work to do, Thorax, or were you using that as an excuse to let them be alone for a while?” Ocellus questioned. “Because I don’t remember us having anything to do today.”

“Well, maybe it was a little excuse.” Thorax smiled sheepishly. “But, I was hoping to do something with you both.”

“If you say Feelings Forum, I’ll–”

“No, no Pharynx, it’s not that.” Thorax laughed. “I was thinking we could find Apex, and then the four of us could go spend some time together. Now that dad’s back, I thought we might as well get to bond a little more, as a family.”

“I think that sounds like a great idea!” Ocellus piped up before Pharynx could respond. “Come on, my fratres! First one to find Apex gets to choose what we do!”

She raced off without giving the two a chance to respond. Pharynx just smirked and shook his head, while Thorax laughed. The two brothers glanced at each other, before smiles overtook both their faces.

“You heard her, baby bro, better find Apex before me or we’ll be running laps around the Hive!” Pharynx challenged, before tearing off after Ocellus.

“What?! Hey, no fair!” Thorax laughed as he quickly chased after Pharynx.

The sound of the monarch’s laughter filled the air, the overwhelmingly sweet joy in his cries warming the hearts of each of his subjects. His brother and sister’s laughs soon joined in with his own, as the siblings rushed to find their missing link. The one changeling that had started the ripple that led them to where they were now.

Apex, their Young Warrior.

~End~

Author's Note

So... here it is. We're at the end of the series. Wow it's been a much longer ride than I ever expected it to be, but I kept having ideas. Feel free to imagine your own continuations from this point on, more adventures for this family of bugs to go on. But yes, this is indeed the end, the final story of this installment, and in fact perhaps one of the last I may post here.

Don't get me wrong, I love MLP! But I haven't written anything new for it in... a while, even this story was written and completed like- two or three years ago. My fanfiction brain has turned to other hyperfixations, and I feel anything I write for MLP won't hold the same sort of love and devotion it needs for me to be proud of it. So... I hope this is a good high note to leave you all on. If you're interested, feel free to check out my stories on AO3 (my profile there is DylnLing) for other fandoms. I truly am so proud of the Young Warrior stories, as well as several of my other stories on here and I hope you all continue to enjoy them. I hope you enjoyed this conclusion of my longest series to date, but I suppose with that, it's goodbye for now. Until next time.

~Melody Song