//------------------------------// // 13 - Better Off // Story: The Bug in the Herd // by Skijarama //------------------------------// For Chrysalis, it felt like all of the hundreds of years of her life up to this point were trivially short in comparison to this one moment. Tone Shift asleep in her forelegs, unable to wake until the spell wore off tomorrow morning. When he did finally return to his senses, it would be with no recollection of having ever found Chrysalis at the edge of the forest or bringing her into his home. She’d have to make sure his memories of her were the same as they were just before he found her. A face of a pony he didn't know and nothing more. Finally pulling herself together, Chrysalis gently and carefully lifted Tone in her magic and deposited him onto her back before striding towards his room. Upon arrival, she pulled back his blankets and set him under them. She sat down by the bedside and tried to smile, only to fail as another sob tore through her. “Dangit, Chrysalis, pull yourself together…!” she said to herself quietly, trying to push the emotions aside so she could do what she needed to do. With a heavy sigh, she looked at Tone Shift’s peacefully sleeping face. His eyebrows were still tilted to portray the fear and confusion he had felt when she cast her spell. ”It’s for your own good, Tone Shift. You gave me a chance to survive… the only way I can think of to repay that is to ensure my time here doesn’t jeopardize you, your safety or your happiness. I could never forgive myself if you were hurt because of me…” “And the only way I can make sure that does not come to pass… is if I was never here.” Chrysalis, with a shiver and grimace, lit up her horn with magic. “You’ll forget we ever met… All traces of my time here will have to be removed... but I’ll try to leave the happy thoughts and feelings as intact as possible…” she leaned down and touched her horn to his head. One by one, she began to gather up the sections of his memory that had her in it, carefully identifying what she could safely erase without creating notable gaps or inconsistencies that he could notice or follow. She couldn't help but relive some of the memories he had of her as they came up. Now, seeing them through his eyes and understanding how he felt during each moment, she felt another sob rattle her. “...What was it, Tone?” Chrysalis whispered almost silently as she had the spell primed and ready to fire. All she needed was to let the spell off and he would forget everything they had done together. He would forget finding her by the forest edge. He would forget bringing her to his home. He would forget deciding to keep her presence a secret. He would forget the time she spilled out her grief and sorrow over her hive to him. He would forget she had ever even been here, and would be able to live his life happily without risk of accusations of treason or betrayal. He would be able to find more work and keep those bills paid for and himself fed. He wouldn’t have to worry about feeling bad about her sudden departure. “...what was it that made you care so much?” Then she came to the memory where he had been looking up at her during their pillow fight at the hotel in Baltimare, when she had tackled him and pinned him to the bed. She froze on that memory as what he had been feeling and thinking was almost literally made into an open book to her. His heart had been beating faster, butterflies in his stomach… She’s so beautiful… he had mentally replaced the image of Luster with Chrysalis, colorful fur replaced with black chitin, and his feelings didn’t change. The emotion was crystal clear, and Tone had thought of it without delay as soon as he realized it. ...I love her.         And of course, when he had flipped them over so he was on top, when she yielded to him in their playful pillow duel, he had looked down at her and wanted nothing more than to lean down and kiss her. He had been just about to do so when she directed his attention to the clock. As soon as all those thoughts and feelings and memories flashed through Chrysalis’ mind, she locked up completely, her fears having been fully confirmed with no room for doubt. She had given him such a hard time, embarrassed him in public, inflicted height-induced panic attacks and assaulted him with an armory of pillows in an effort to get him to become angry with her, to stop caring. But it didn’t turn out that way... He loved her and that on its own made what Chrysalis had to do so, so much harder. Chrysalis retreated into her own mind, trying to pull herself together. Don’t think about it… just do it. Cut the memories and erase them. He’ll be better off… She mentally prepared to fire off the spell. Just as she was about to, however, she stopped. She tried again and, just like before, stopped just short of casting the spell. She tried one last time before she realized it, her jaw clenching shut in an effort to hold in a humorless chuckle. “...I can’t.” Chrysalis dropped the spell and leaned away slightly. “I just can’t do it.” Sagging with exhaustion, Chrysalis simply extended the sleep spell so it would end in three days instead of tomorrow morning. “You’ve enjoyed our time together far too much… it would be dishonest, selfish and cruel of me to take them away from you… even if those are all the traits that make me who I am, I just can’t… not to you…” She stared at him for several minutes, silently saying her goodbyes. When the sounds of pegasi shouting out instructions outside caught her attention, she rested a hoof on his unresponsive shoulder. “Please don’t make either of us regret this, Tone Shift…” Chrysalis stood and returned to his living room. She paused for a moment to memorize the environment, taking it all in and making sure she could remember it whenever she had to. Then she set about leaving a note on the coffee table tucked just under the photo they had taken outside his house. The photo of the day she had finally trusted him enough to leave his house with him… *        *        *        *        *        *        * “Attention everypony! Ponyville is now on lockdown due to the confirmed presence of an Ursa in the Everfree forest nearby! Nopony is to leave Ponyville until we give the all clear, and refrain from leaving your homes unless you have to!” Very similar messages were being relayed across the entire town by the pegasi weather team. Luster looked up at them all flying around, shouting out the instructions to everypony in town to make sure the message was heard. “An Ursa, eh? Not a major and not a minor… probably looking for something to eat.” she muttered to herself before looking towards the forest. “Which means that everypony will be looking out for that… a distraction.” Her analysis of the situation updating by the second, Luster slunk into the shadows and made her way towards the edge of town, intent on slipping into the forest and disappearing. Not far away, a small group of earth ponies and unicorns, one of several put together by Princess Twilight when this situation came up, was going from door to door to hoof out instructions and guidelines for the situation. Among this group, Starlight Glimmer. She came to a brief stop at the door to Tone Shift’s house, knocking hard three times and then levitating the sheet of duplicated parchment. No answer. “Hello? Is anypony home?” she called with another sharp set of knocks. There was still no answer, but Starlight could have sworn she felt a tingle of strong magical residue in the air around the house. She at a glance towards the others in her group. “Hey, I’ll catch up in a minute. Gotta check something real quick.” “Real quick, miss Glimmer.” one of the ponies, a stallion replied. “We need to hit as many homes as possible and if you're hanging back, we’re all slowed down.” “I understand.” Starlight gave a nod as the group moved on to the next set of homes. Once they were a fair ways off. She gave her horn a quick charge and teleported inside the house. “Is everything alright in here?” She asked loudly now definitely picking up some residual magic. A pretty potent spell had been cast here. Recently. She followed the residue until she came to the house's only bedroom. An earth pony stallion lay sleeping in his bed, unusual considering the hour. But it was even more strange because of the heavy magical residue in the air. Looking him over, she soon discovered the source of the residue; a sleep spell had been cast on him only an hour ago, the charge on it timed to fade in around three days. “What the…?” Starlight muttered to herself before preparing a counter spell. For several moments, the spell charged and then fired once she was sure she had it all worked out. As soon as she did, the Stallion opened his eyes wide with a loud gasp, bolting upright. “No!” He half shouted, reaching a foreleg out as though to catch somepony in front of him. “Woah, mister. Easy.” Starlight said carefully, putting a hoof on his shoulder to get his attention. “Are you okay?” The stallion dragged a hoof over his face as he began to get his bearings. “What happened?” “I don’t know. I felt a magic residue and kinda, um, entered your house to make sure everything was alright. You had a high power sleep spell on you but, beyond that, I don’t know the details.” Starlight explained as the stallion slid from the bed on shaky legs. “Are you alright?” “I think so. Name’s Tone Shift, by the way.” Tone said when he was sure he could support himself with his own legs. “Do you have any idea who might have cast that sleep spell on you, or why?” Starlight followed up, stepping back a bit to give Tone some space. Tone Shift’s eyes snapped wide open and he froze. His blood ran cold and a chill ran down his spine as he remembered Chrysalis’ gratitude… and the faint echo of her apology before he passed out. “Oh no…” “Huh?” Starlight tilted her head at him, then jumped back as he shoved past her into his living room. “Luster!” Tone called uselessly, looking around the living room and then darting into the kitchen. Starlight slowly entered the living room as Tone came back, starting to look like he was in a panic, pulling at his mane with his hooves and his eyes darting everywhere. “Oh no, oh no, oh no!” “Tone Shift, calm down. Who’s ‘Luster’?” Starlight asked in a soothing voice from next to the coffee table, holding a foreleg out in an effort to calm him and get his attention. Tone looked at her, then to the coffee table she stood next to. He went silent. Slowly, Tone picked up one of the photo’s on the table and passed it to Starlight. “That’s Luster…” he said absently, his attention instead focused on the note that had been under it. “I remember her. She seemed kind of agitated when we met.. Is everything okay with her?” Starlight asked, but then shrinking slightly at the growing look of dread and despair on Tone Shift’s face. “No… no, No, NO!” Tone’s voice rose to a scream as he turned and sprinted for his door, unlocking it, throwing it open and sprinting out into the evening streets without stopping. “H-hey!” Starlight called after him, confused. She took a moment and saw that he had left the note on the table. Grasping it with her magic, she brought it up to her face and read the contents. Tone Shift         I can never hope to thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me. In the short time you had me in your home, you saved my life twice and brought me back to good health from the brink of starvation. You gave me a home. I appreciate the effort more than I can describe with words         But I have to leave. If I stay with you, you will only suffer greatly, and I would rather avoid causing you any more unnecessary pain. My departure now has probably saved your life. I hope you can forgive me, even though I do not expect you to.         You told me that if I wanted a happy ending, I should just ask. Well, if that’s the case, then I ask of you; do not dwell on my absence or the time we had together. In fact, try to forget if you can. As it is, the happiest ending I can hope for in this chapter of my life is for the pony that saved me to remain unharmed and happy himself.         By the time you read this I will be long gone. Don’t try to find me.         Take care of yourself.         Sincerely yours, Wildwood Luster.