Chrysalis was awake before Tone Shift the following morning. In fact, she was up before the sun came up. She had barely been able to sleep after Tone put the photo of them on the coffee table. When Tone Shift did finally awaken, stumbling groggily into the living room, he came to a brief pause as he saw Chrysalis looking back at him. She looked away quickly, returning her attention to the book she held in her magic. She had been reading it all night, it seemed.
“Good morning.” Tone mumbled tiredly as he meandered past her into the kitchen.
Chrysalis didn’t say anything, but lowered the book to look in his direction, an uncertain frown overcoming her face. He didn’t notice, as coffee was his only concern at the moment. When he returned with a mug of hot coffee in his forehoof, Chrysalis had set down the book and was now holding the photograph in her magic.
“I think it came out rather well.” Tone commented when he saw Chrysalis’ look of disdain.
“Tone Shift.” Chrysalis said firmly, drawing his attention immediately. “We have to talk.”
“We do? What about?” Tone asked curiously, perking up slightly.
“About this little ‘situation’ you’ve gotten us into.” Chrysalis replied, setting the photo down and standing up.
“Uh, okay…?”
“Tone, you saved my life. As much as I have come to appreciate that, I have to wonder why I’m still here. The longer you keep me here, the worse your situation will become if I am discovered. We will both have to pay a terrible price.” Chrysalis explained, cutting right to the chase.
“Oh… We’re having this talk…” Tone muttered under his breath before downing more of his coffee and setting the mug down on the table. “Look, Chrysalis, I’m not going to lie… but, before I tell you this, just… promise me something, okay?”
“What?”
“Don’t attack me or go into a rage? Please? Just… at least hear me out.” Tone requested carefully, nervousness starting to enter his voice.
“...I can only promise to try.” Chrysalis said, sounding unsure herself now.
“Okay. I can’t ask for anything more than that... Chrysalis, your hive, your children turned from you… and I can’t even begin to imagine how horribly that must hurt. But from what I’ve heard, be it in the news or any other sources, the Changelings are happy. Happier than they’ve ever been before.” Tone started carefully, bracing himself subtly just in case he needed to doge.
“You walk on dangerously thin ice, Tone Shift.” Chrysalis said in a low growl, narrowing her eyes at him but maintaining her posture.
“...After seeing how much you were hurting over that whole incident, Chrysalis, I just… I just want to see if you’d be willing to give it a chance.”
“Forget it!” Chrysalis snapped at him, turning away sharply as disgust and anger built up within her rapidly.
“Your children are happy, Chrysalis, so please be glad for that, if nothing else.” Tone said carefully, stepping forward with a forehoof slowly outstretching.
Chrysalis said nothing, refusing to look at him.
“And, well… if you at least give it a chance, then maybe you can be with them again.”
Tone’s eyes widened as he was suddenly grabbed in Chrysalis’ aura and slammed into the floor in front of her. He skidded to a stop, his carpet burning at his coat and underlying skin from the friction heat. The Chrysalis that was looking down at him was frightening to say the least.
“And what makes you think they would ever accept me if I tried this method? After the generations that lived in a never ending hunger?! Even if I tried it, they would never forgive me!” She seethed at him, kneeling down and pressing her face close to his so she could glare deep into his eyes.
Tone let out a pained wheeze before attempting to reply. “You don’t know that-”
“I DO KNOW THAT!” Chrysalis shouted at him, her magic pushing him harder into the rug with enough force that it was becoming harder for him to breath, especially with the pain he was already feeling. “I could feel the contempt they held for me when they drove me out! When Starlight offered me her hoof, the resentment and loathing in the air was so thick it made me sick. I wanted to vomit!”
Finally, she released her grasp on him and backed away, taking deep breaths to try and calm herself. Tone looked at her from his position on the floor with sympathetic, if also frightened eyes.
“...Chrysalis…” He finally managed to utter before picking himself up. “It won’t happen overnight, but I’m sure they would forgive and accept you with time if you just tried.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Chrysalis snapped at him.
“Why won’t you at least try? What do you stand to lose at this point?” Tone asked softly, gesturing to her with a hoof.
Chrysalis said nothing, looking away with a scoff.
“I’m not an expert, but I think that if you want things to turn out well for you, you have to stop thinking of the worst possible outcome as the only one. You’re looking at this situation and you can’t see any way it could end well from where you are now, so you don’t even bother trying…”
Tone slowly stepped forward until he was right in front of Chrysalis, who despite the obvious height differences seemed almost tiny with the way she was standing. “So please, just try…”
“And what happens if it ends badly…?” Chrysalis asked him, looking back at him with tears welling in her eyes.
“If you want a happy ending, just ask.” Tone said, mimicking the voice of somepony Chrysalis didn’t know. She looked and saw a sad smile on his face. He was also glowing slightly with more love energy, generated from happy memories of his mother.
“What…?”
“My mother always used to say that,” Tone said, slumping sadly. “It was her way of saying that if you don’t try for a happy ending, you’ll never get it.”
For quite some time, Chrysalis remained silent before sighing. “I don’t know if I can, Tone Shift… but…”
Chrysalis drew Tone into a soft hug, shaking slightly as she did so. “...I’ll think about it.”
“Alright.” Tone said softly with a nod before returning the hug. Tone couldn’t see it from where he was sitting, but Chrysalis’ face once more seemed to be twisting with fear. She looked down at him for a moment before scooting back and breaking the hug.
“Okay, that’s enough sap for me, I think.” Chrysalis said, trying to sound joking even through the way her voice cracked. She gave a small nod before returning to her position on the couch, book lifted in her magic as she started on the last chapter.
* * * * * * *
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Tone’s ears perked up at the sound of somepony knocking on his door. He glanced back at Chrysalis to see she had already donned the Wildwood Luster disguise. With a nod, he got up and went to open the door. He couldn’t help the charmed smile that came over his face when Derpy Hooves was revealed to be the pony at his door.
“Oh, good morning Derpy! Mail for me?” Tone asked, earning a nod from the smiling mail mare.
“Yup! Here you are.” She said before digging into her saddlebags and offering him an envelope. He took it and looked it over for a moment, an excited smile rapidly splitting his face.
“Thanks for bringing me this, Derpy.” He said happily before giving her a nod. “Have a good day, now.”
“Thanks. You, too.” Derpy gave her trademarked smile before fluttering off to her next stop. Tone gave a happy chuckle and closed the door.
“What is it?” Chrysalis asked, the disguise vanishing in a swirl of green fire.
“It’s from the company I auditioned for a few days back.” Tone replied, quickly tearing off the seal and withdrawing the contents. A folded stack of three sheets of paper, each of which holding a lot of written text and what looked like a check for a significant number of bits. “YES!” Tone exclaimed enthusiastically, pumping his forehoof victoriously.
“What is it?” Chrysalis asked again, though she had a feeling she already knew.
“I got the role! Okay, let’s see here… duh, duhduhduh…” Tone started ‘duh’-ing to himself as he read over the details of the job. “Okay, yeah, this check here is so I can cover travel expenses. The recording studio is located in Baltimare, so I’m going to have to take the friendship express to get there and record my lines.”
“How long will you be there?”
“I’d say a few days to a couple weeks, depending on various circumstances.” Tone answered as he kept running through the paper, flipping to the second page. “Uh-huh, alright. Pay looks pretty good. If I can get this done in decent time I might just be able to pay my bills on time!” He said with a smile.
“And what about me?” Chrysalis asked bluntly, giving Tone pause.
“Oh… I hadn’t thought of that.” He said sheepishly, glancing down at the paper with uncertainty.
“Of course you didn’t.” Chrysalis quipped, rolling her eyes.
“I was half expecting to not even get the role, here! Let alone have travel expenses paid for by my employer!” Tone protested, throwing his forelegs up with a frown.
“So, what are you going to do?” Chrysalis asked simply, standing from the couch and looking at him seriously.
“Uh… Take you with me?” Tone asked reluctantly, earning an amused chuckle from Chrysalis.
“Oh, is that all? I could walk along by your side, disguised as Wildwood Luster and have all of Baltimare see you with your new marefriend.” She taunted, giving Tone Shift a look that, while clearly insincere, still created a substantial blush on his cheeks.
“N-not quite what I meant…” He stuttered, rubbing the back of his head absently. Chrysalis hummed with amusement before strutting past him, flicking his nose with her tail as she passed.
“Good, because I’m going anyway and wouldn’t want anypony, yourself included, to get the wrong impression.”
“Wha- wait, hold on! You’re coming? Just like that?” Tone spluttered incredulously, turning around to see Chrysalis looking at him like she looked at her morning plate of eggs.
“I can’t really eat if my walking buffet is too far away, now can I?” Chrysalis teased him, turning around to face him fully.
“I am not a walking buffet, thank you very much!” Tone shot back, bristling slightly at her candid objectification of him.
“Hm, I suppose not. A cheap snack bar might be a more accurate analogy…” Chrysalis hummed with a predatory smirk.
“W-what?! Chrysalis, I will have you know that-”
“Ha ha ha! Too easy!” Chrysalis laughed outright, pointing a hoof at Tone Shift as she giggled uncontrollably. He froze as he realized he had taken on a rather defensive stance and was jabbing a hoof in her direction as though he were about to make some sort of amazing comeback. A comeback that was sadly forever lost to the halls of his scattered brain, the words dying in his throat as he processed what was happening. With a violent twitch of his eyes and an agitated growl, he set his hoof down and glared at her.
“Shut up.”
“Never.”
* * * * * * *
“All aboard for Baltimare!” The voice rang out over the platform as Tone and Luster stepped into the passenger cart they would be using, ponies all around them moving to do the same.
“You remembered your stuff, right?” Tone asked Luster, who rolled her eyes at him.
“Everything I own is present and accounted for.” She shot back before brushing past him to scout out for an isolated seat. Tone followed her for a minute before the two got seated, the terrain outside starting to roll along as the train began on it’s way.
While not in the least surprised by her lack of any sort of luggage, Tone still had to ask, “What all do you own?”
“Oh, nothing much. Me, myself and my food.” She replied sarcastically, adding a slight bit of humor to her voice on that last one.
“Stop it.”
“Absolutely not.”