//------------------------------// // 5 - Among Smiling Faces // Story: The Bug in the Herd // by Skijarama //------------------------------// Since Chrysalis almost starved on Tone Shift’s floor, the two hadn’t said very much to each other outside of greeting each other in the morning. It had been almost two days now, with Chrysalis informing him that she would need to consume more love sometime soon if she wanted to avoid going hungry. Tone Shift understood, but was unsure how to go about helping her get any. At about noon of the second day, Tone Shift rose from his desk and glanced towards Chrysalis. “I’m going for some lunch. Want some eggs?” He asked with a stretch, letting out a pleased sigh afterward as his stiff back relaxed somewhat. “I would, yes.” Chrysalis said, standing from the couch and trotting towards him. “I would like food, and you are going to teach me how you prepare it.” “Oh, really? Alright, I guess I can help you with that. Just don’t stray from my instructions. I don’t want my house burning down.” Tone Shift replied with a mild amount of playful snark in his tone. “If your house burns down, it is only because your instructions were terrible.” Chrysalis shot back. Tone Shift rolled his eyes and gestured for her to enter the kitchen before him. “Ladies first.” Chrysalis merely grunted in mild annoyance at the display before strutting into the kitchen. Tone Shift followed her soon after. She glanced around for a moment before her eyes settled on the stove. “So, where do I start?” “With a bowl and two eggs. Eggs are in the fridge and I keep my bowls in the cupboard up there.” Tone replied, gesturing to each container as he referenced them. Chrysalis didn’t say anything, merely withdrawing the bowl from the cupboard with her magic. She opened the door on the fridge and withdrew the egg carton in her magic, eyeing it quizzically. “Only two? Seems like an awfully small amount.” She commented curiously, opening the carton and pulling out two eggs. “Yes, just two. That’s how many I was taught to make when I started out all the way back in school. Start small and all that.” Tone Shift replied with a shrug. “Uh-huh…” Chrysalis hummed before returning the carton to the fridge. “Okay, go ahead and break those eggs over the bowl and pour the contents in. Try not to let any shards get mixed in; they are a massive pain in the plot to remove and are annoying to eat.” Tone Shift instructed, watching and slightly impressed at the precision with which Chrysalis practically split  both eggs perfectly in half and draining the contents into the bowl. “Next?” “Go ahead and mix those together until it’s basically a big mass of raw yellow. Go ahead and get a frying pan out when that’s done. Left cabinet.” It went on like this for a short while, Chrysalis soon holding a spoon in her magic and looking at a frying pan on the stove, about half of it covered in egg yolk. She looked at the spoon and then to Tone Shift. “Why a spoon? I always thought eggs were handled with spatulas.” “They usually are, but my spatula broke a few weeks back and so a spoon is about as good as I can do on that front. Plus, spoons are surprisingly good for scrambling.” He replied simply, nodding towards the stove. “Go ahead and turn that up to medium. Front left burner. Use that spoon to stir it while it hardens up. Keep doing the ‘stir’ motion and eventually you’ll be scrambling instead of stirring.” He instructed before turning for the door. “Where do you think you’re going?” Chrysalis asked, glancing in his direction with narrowed eyes. “To use the bathroom. I’ll be back here shortly. Just keep an eye on that.” Tone Shift replied before stepping out and towards his bathroom. Chrysalis rolled her eyes before turning them back to the pan, an immediate sense of underwhelment overcoming her as she beheld the pitifully small pan of slowly cooking eggs. “It’s just far too small…” She grumbled irritably, contemplating for a moment. “...I’m sure one more egg won’t hurt it.” She used her magic to teleport another egg into the air, split it in half and let the contents fall into the pan with a wet plop. She began the stirring motions Tone Shift had mentioned. *        *        *        *        *        *        * Why do I smell smoke? Tone Shift found himself thinking from the toilet as he finished up his business. Removing himself from the seat and flushing, a look of realization dawned on his face. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” He half shouted as he wrenched open the door of his bathroom and bolted towards the kitchen. Upon entering the room, Tone Shift let his jaw drop slightly. Chrysalis’ face was covered slightly in the remnants of a burst bubble in her pan of eggs, which was now somewhat ajar with one of Tone Shift’s wash cloths thoroughly on fire. Chrysalis herself was using her magic to pour water into a glass from the sink. Tone Shift finally managed to close his mouth and set a death glare at Chrysalis as she poured the water on the burning rag, putting it out. Tone Shift trotted up to the stove and turned off the burner, glancing down to see the pan of eggs only halfway done cooking unevenly at that. He ran a hoof over his face before turning to look at Chrysalis. “How the BUCK did you manage this?!” He demanded, holding up the cloth for emphasis. “Eggs! Two eggs! Stir them with a spoon and you’re good! How in tartarus were you able to get eggs on your face, knock the pan off of it’s burner and then LIGHT A WASHCLOTH ON FIRE?!” He threw the cloth to the ground and glared at Chrysalis aggressively. Chrysalis blinked at him, recoiling slightly at the onslaught of words before pointing at the cloth on the floor. “Did you just throw down the gauntlet… with a wash cloth?” She asked coyly, earning a twitch of the eye from Tone. Tone shift gestured to himself, “Question,” then at Chrysalis, “Answer,” and then he stomped on the floor. “Do it.” “It wasn’t big enough, I’ll have you know! It could never have satisfied me!” Chrysalis snarked, losing the humor in her voice. “Is that right? You know, most ponies have less for lunch and don’t complain!” “And I am no pony! I am a Queen Chrysalis! I have standards and those standards say there is no way I’d take so little inside me, considering the effort I was exerting just to make it serve it’s purpose!” Tone Shift stopped short of whatever comment he was about to make before letting his head fall to stare at the floor. For a moment, Chrysalis grinned triumphantly, believing he had no counter argument. When he burst out into a fit of uncontrollable giggles, however, she took on a look of bewilderment. “...What are you doing?” “You have - heh - no idea how that sounded to me…” Tone said between laughs, unable to make himself stop. “I don’t-” Chrysalis stopped herself as she realized it. She glared at him, but seemed to almost shrink slightly. Tone could have sworn her cheeks had gotten a slight touch brighter… “...Shut up.” “Oh, goodness… That was rich.” Tone managed as he started to calm down. Chrysalis simply gave him a look that said “I hate you” and “I wish I was anywhere else right now.” *        *        *        *        *        *        * After they had gotten the mess cleaned up and Chrysalis ate something (Tone Shift cooked it this time), they sat in relative silence in the living room, Chrysalis nestled once more into the cushions and reading through the second book from the bag Tone had gotten for her. As for Tone, he was just staring idly into nothing, fidgeting uncomfortably every so often on his side of the couch. Finally, he got up and stretched slightly. “I think I’m gonna go for a walk. Haven’t been active enough these last few days and it’s making me antsy.” He said as he turned to head for the door. “Uh, wait.” Chrysalis suddenly blurted, giving Tone pause. She looked away slightly. “I’m… I’m going to go with you this time.” Tone Shift blinked in surprise, noting how Chrysalis almost seemed to be hiding behind her own mane. “Really? Why the change of heart?” “You didn’t reveal me to Princess Twilight. That and I’m still getting hungry. A stroll should let me get in some passive snacking, even if my dignity will forever suffer as a result.” She said, looking back up at him. “Well, if you’re tagging along, we need a disguise and name for you to use in public…” Tone said, going into thought. A swirl of green fire brought his attention back to Chrysalis, who had now assumed the shape he had first seen her in. A unicorn with a dark green coat, dull blue mane and tail. She had not assigned herself a cutie mark of any description yet. And just like that, a name occurred to him, and he blurted it out before he could catch himself. “Wildwood Luster.” “Begging your pardon?” Chrysalis questioned, having not been paying attention to his thoughtful expression. Her voice had changed, the two-toned distortion vanishing and replaced with a softer, smoother voice. “Well, when we first met, you were in a forest, basically living in it. Forests are wild and unpredictable places, with a lot of wood thanks to them being made of trees and all. So, Wildwood. Luster is a word referring to how something reflects light, like shimmers or sparkles. Being a unicorn in this form, I feel the name is fitting.” Tone explained, giving a few rolls of his hoof as he spoke. “Hm...  I see.” A patch of fur on each of her flanks lit with more green fire for a moment, burning a cutie mark into her disguise. It was of a circle of wood, a noticeably large knot in the very center with the ancient pony rune meaning ‘magic’ burned into the heart of the knot. Tone Shift gave a soft smile and nod. “That will work.” With that, he turned the door handle and pushed it open, letting sunlight stream into the room from outside. Chrysalis - or rather, he supposed, Wildwood Luster - winced as it reached her. She had been held up in his house for a while with the curtains usually blocking out a lot of the light. Tone stepped aside and gestured in a theatrical bow for Luster to go first. “Ladies first.” “I'm still a lady after nearly burning down your kitchen?” She shot back with a mild smirk. “Would you rather I call you a horse or mule?” “I’d rather you shut your face before I crush it with the door.” “And we’re leaving.” Tone declared, stepping outside and gesturing for Luster to follow him. She hesitated for a moment, a last vestige of doubt and resentment playing across her face before she finally stepped out into the pleasant late-summer air. *        *        *        *        *        *        * For the first twenty minutes or so, Luster only ever spoke when prompted to by Tone, trying to keep quiet so as to not say anything suspicious. After that, though, she gradually started to open up, in a sense, forming an identity for herself with practiced ease. As the two walked through the streets, stopping at merchant stops, even if only to browse and look, they would periodically be greeted by the other residents of Ponyville, many of which were rather curious about ‘Luster.’ Luster put on a friendly, albeit reserved smile whenever this would happen, replying to questions with short but consistent answers, building the persona of ‘a mare of few words.’ Nopony seemed at all put off by this, many of them walking away with happy grins at having met somepony new and Chrysalis discreetly sucking up the love that was in the air and all around her. And then Pinkie happened. A loud BANG and an enormous explosion of confetti from behind the two drew a startled yelp from Tone and Luster. Pinkie Pie let out a happy squee at the sight of somepony she didn’t know, bouncing in place happily while a veritable tsunami of excited words spilled forth from her yap. Neither Tone Shift or Luster could understand much of what was said due to how quickly she was speaking. Plus, their ears were still ringing from the cannon blast that had covered them head-to-hoof in confetti and streamers. “Should I be scared?” Luster droned out, her face showing that she was now resigned to her fate. “No, but still, you should definitely brace yourself.” Tone replied with equal resignation. “Hiya, my name’s Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?” Pinkie finally said coherently, holding a hoof out to Luster with an enormous grin splitting her face. “Er… Wildwood Luster.” Luster managed, taking a step back from Pinkie’s hoof with disdain. “Ooh, that’s a pretty name!” Pinkie’s smile became more controlled as the initial wave of excitement became more of a steady stream rather than a high-pressure tsunami. “You must be new here.” “She’s been here a few days, actually, Pinkie.” Tone corrected her simply. He couldn’t help but notice the uneasy glance Chrysalis shot his way. Pinkie gasped loudly. “What!? You mean there’s a new pony in town and I haven’t welcomed them properly yet?!” She reached off to the side of the road and pulled out a colorful wagon with a big red button on it. She smiled brightly and reached for the button. “You braced yet?” Tone asked quietly. “As much as I’m going to be.” Luster replied, eyeing the weird contraption as Pinkie’s hoof touched the big red button. ‘Click’ The top of the wagon opened up and a marching band’s worth of various instruments popped out of the top. Pinkie grinned before breaking into a dance, the instruments playing a very lively song as she did. “Welcome, welcome welcome, A fine welcome to you! Welcome, welcome, welcome, I say, how do you do? Welcome welcome welcome, I say, hip-hip-hooray! Welcome, welcome, welcome To Ponyville todaaaay!” Pinkie was now kneeling in front of the two, forelegs spread out wide and a playful smirk crossing her face. “Wait for it.” Ding! A compartment opened on the wagon, unleashing a merciless onslaught of more confetti and streamer. Despite it having no clear means of detecting or directing a target, all of the party decor managed to land right on Luster. For a few seconds, Luster just stood there, her now thoroughly disheveled mane covering her eyes from view. Her mouth was pulled into a thin, tense line. Her upper lip twitched before she spoke. “Thank you. It’s great to feel welcome.” She said sarcastically through clenched teeth in a voice that barely disguised a great deal of agitation. Pinkie didn’t even seem to notice, her smile brightening. “It’s great to make ponies feel welcome! If you ever need a smile, just lemme know!” Pinkie declared enthusiastically before turning and bouncing happily away. Luster turned to look at Tone and glared at him from under her mane with an almost desperate look in her eyes. “We’re done out here.” She said. It wasn’t a request. “I am in complete agreement.”