After spending a few minutes cleansing themselves (mostly Luster) of the confetti and streamers that had covered them, Tone Shift and Luster began to make their way back towards Tone’s house. Luster had her eyes turned down, as though hoping to avoid anymore discussions with other ponies. Tone could see it from where he was; she was done being social for the day. He couldn’t help but crack a small smile at the posture she was holding. If he didn’t know who it was under that disguise, he would not have hesitated to call her stance and expression ‘cute.’
As they finally came to his front door, Tone put a hoof to Luster’s shoulder in order to stop her. “Hey, uh, mind waiting out here for a second?” He asked hesitantly, as though unsure of himself.
“Why?” Luster asked impatiently, shooting him an equally impatient glare.
“I just wanna get something real quick. I’ll be right back.” Tone said while rubbing the back of his head with a hoof absently. Luster scoffed but relented.
“Fine. Make it quick.”
Tone nodded before disappearing into his home. A couple minutes passed, during which Luster merely stood idly by his door and focuses on soaking up any leftover energy she could from the air while she still had the chance to do so. She was so focused on getting in her snack that she didn’t notice the pony approaching her with a curious smile on her face.
“Uh, hi there.” Starlight Glimmer’s voice shattered Luster’s concentration, causing her eyes to snap open wide and a sharp intake of breath to run through her. She looked towards Princess Twilight’s pupil with wide, almost frightened eyes. Chrysalis formed her expression into one of being startled, barely able to mask the rapidly building rage filling her system.
“...Hello.” Luster said tiredly, looking at Starlight with narrowed eyes.
“I saw Pinkie throwing you that welcome earlier and, well… you looked pretty frazzled so I just wanted to make sure you weren’t too off-put by her antics.” Starlight said uncertainty, a slight tremble to her words. Seemed that even after all she had learned from Twilight she still had a few things to nail down.
“I’m fine.” Luster replied simply, praying to whatever would listen that Starlight would see the anger in her eyes and opt to leave her alone.
“Alright…” Starlight flinched slightly under Luster’s threatening gaze, taking a step back. “Well, welcome to Ponyville.” She said before turning to leave. Chrysalis sighed inwardly, thankful that she wouldn’t have to be around Starlight any longer.
“Alright, got it!” Tone called happily as he opened the door and stepped out of his house, a hoof-held camera hanging around his neck by a chord.
“What’s that for?” Luster asked bluntly, much of her agitation showing through.
“Oh, well…” Tone seemed almost sheepish in his response. “I was kinda hoping to get a picture of us out here. You know, to, uh, remember the occasion?”
Luster narrowed her eyes at him. “What occasion?”
“You finally trusting me enough to leave my house and look around Ponyville. I won’t lie, I had fun while we were out here. I just… I wanna be able to remember this is all.” He said, pawing nervously at the ground with a forehoof.
Luster glared daggers at him before levitating his camera with her aura. “Fine.” She growled before taking up position next to him. With practiced ease, despite the frustration and anger in her system, Luster put on a happy smile as she prepared the camera for the shot. All of her muscles tensed up for a moment when Tone wrapped a foreleg over her shoulders. He, too, was wearing a big smile as he looked into the camera.
“Say cheese.” Luster said through her smile before the camera let out a bright flash. The device let out some mechanical clunks and buzzes before a copy of the photo was printed from it. Luster shoved both items into Tone’s chest before releasing them and entering his home, slamming the door behind her loud enough to echo down the street and draw the eye of a few ponies.
Tone quickly caught the camera and photo before glancing behind him at the door. “...Huh?”
Carefully, he opened the door and peered inside. Chrysalis had dropped her disguise and was now sitting on her haunches in the middle of the room, facing away from him. She was shaking. Tone slipped into the house, closing and locking the door behind him before stepping towards the Changeling Queen.
“Hey, are you okay…?” He asked carefully, earning a snort from Chrysalis.
“Shut up!” Chrysalis snapped at him, whirling swiftly around to look him in the eyes. Tone went stiff at the face she wore. Her eyes were wide open and angled into a furious glare, her pupils dilated and… tears streaming down her cheeks. “Just shut up and leave me alone!”
“Chrysalis…?” Tone shied away under Chrysalis’ gaze, legitimately scared by her tone.
“I should have known! I should have known that… that... worthless, muling maggot would still be living here!” Chrysalis shouted, her voice cracking with rage and what sounded like sorrow. With a scream of anger, her horn lit up in green light, picking Tone Shift’s lantern from it’s place by the couch and hurling it at break-neck speeds into the nearest wall. It shattered and put a substantial hole into his wall.
Tone Shift shrunk and cowered as Chrysalis vented her stresses by thoroughly destroying the lantern, finishing by thrusting it into the floor, sending scraps of shrapnel and glass scattering across the entire room. Tone peeked one of his eyes open, not even noticing he had shut them in fear of the raging Queen. Now, Chrysalis stood, trembling horribly and her head bowed down.
Was she… crying?
Tone didn’t say anything at first, slowly picking himself out of his corner and gingerly approaching Chrysalis. He reached out to her with concern, gently touching his hoof to her shoulder. “Hey… what’s wrong?” He asked in a hushed town, gently patting her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting way.
Chrysalis fell back to her haunches, choking down a sob. “Starlight Glimmer…” Was all she said. Tone’s eyes widened as he recalled the story that had spread basically overnight across all of Equestria. Starlight Glimmer had managed to convince the changelings to follow Thorax instead of Chrysalis, showing them ‘a better way to live their lives.’ Now Chrysalis’ sudden rage made perfect sense.
“I’m sorry…”
“I don’t need your pity!” Chrysalis shot at him, her eyes becoming bloodshot as more tears spilled forth.
“Chrysalis, please... I don’t know if it will help, but, I know what it’s like to lose something important to me, too. I mean, my mother-”
“Doesn’t even compare to this!” Chrysalis interrupted him, leaning in his direction and baring her fangs. He shied away, but only a little bit, keeping a hoof on her shoulder. His face formed a frown of offense, though, shifting away from the look of sympathy and concern he had been wearing a moment ago.
“Chrysalis, I lost my mother! The mare that gave birth to me! She was taken from me only a year ago by heart failure! I-”
“YOU HAVE NEVER LOST A CHILD!” Chrysalis suddenly screamed at the top of her voice, plunging the entire house into a cold, tense silence. Chrysalis turned away from him, shaking even harder now.
“Every. Single. Drone… I gave birth to every single drone in my kingdom. They were all my children. Imagine what it would be like for a pony mother to lose even one child.” Chrysalis began, her voice coming out in an almost emotionless tone.
Tone Shift could only stare at her wide-eyed jaw agape as she continued.
“Ponies rarely have many foals… and their capacity to have many more is limited by a short life-span.” Chrysalis sniffled quietly. “...I have lived for centuries, and built my hive from the brink of extinction when my mother died…” She looked back to Tone Shift with unspeakable grief written on her face.
“While I may not have shown it out of necessity, I cared for all of my drones. They were all my children. And… with just a few honeyed words and a visual example…” Chrysalis closed her eyes, choking down another sob. “Starlight Glimmer made every single one of my drones turn on me. Thousands of drones, thousands of my children… dethroning me as their Queen… disowning me as their mother.”
She opened her eyes with a hint of anger in them once more. “So don’t you dare assume you know my pain. You know nothing of what it means to be a Changeling, or what it takes to be their queen. Their mother!” Chrysalis finished, closing her eyes and breaking down fully, no longer even bothering to hold it in any longer.
For several long minutes, Chrysalis let out six months of built-up sorrow and grief. Tone remained next to her the whole time silently petting her shoulder and a sympathetic look on his face. Finally, he swallowed nervously and brought himself to Chrysalis’ side, wrapping a foreleg over he shoulders and gently pulling her closer. She tensed slightly, but otherwise didn’t react.
“I… I’m so sorry, Chrysalis. I shouldn’t have said anything…” He said in a hushed whisper before giving her a gentle squeeze and nuzzle. Chrysalis flinched and looked down at him. For a few moments, her gaze lingered on his before her eyes widened and her jaw fell open. Her muscles tensed abruptly and she pulled away from him, shoving him away.
“Just leave me alone.” She said in a broken voice before retreating to the couch, laying down on it and facing the backrest so she wouldn’t have to look at him. Tone Shift sighed after a moment.
“If you need anything, anything at all… just let me know. I’ll be in the kitchen.” Tone said softly before departing quietly, leaving Chrysalis to her own devices for now. Had he managed to get a look at her face, he would have seen the face of a borderline panicking Queen Chrysalis staring back.
* * * * * * *
Chrysalis awoke later that night when she heard Tone Shift trying to sneak by her. She didn’t know what he was up to, but she paid attention all the same, making sure her position and breaths were the same as when she was asleep. After a few moments of shuffling around, she could hear Tone mutter quietly to himself.
“She stopped snoring…”
I do NOT snore… do I? Chrysalis thought to herself with an almost automatic roll of her eyes under her eyelids.
A soft, quiet squeak could be heard, not unlike what one might hear from a small wooden box. After a few seconds of relative silence, the squeak came again. Tone set something against the surface of the coffee table before retreating as quietly from the room as he could, presumably returning to his bedroom to get some sleep.
Once she was sure he was gone, Chrysalis opened her eyes and rolled over to look at what he had put on the coffee table. She saw a new photograph in a frame upon the table. The same one they had taken just outside his house earlier. She could tell how forced her smile was in the picture, but anypony else would be hard-pressed to even notice anything off about her expression. Tone, on the other hoof, looked genuinely very happy in the picture.
Chrysalis’ eyes fell and she thought back to how he had tried to comfort her earlier. He had shows such legitimate and genuine concern. He had actually cared how she was feeling, and wanted to help her. A grimace flashed across her face as she began thinking about the possible outcomes this situation could lead to.
...We’re being reckless. He can’t hide me forever and if somepony finds out I’m here, we’ll both have to pay the price.
She groaned quietly in frustration before returning to her resting position, a million and one thoughts coursing through her mind at record speed. But most of all, the thoughts echoing in her mind the most were the memory of how he tried to comfort her and a simple, one-word question.
Why…?