After Twilight Sparkle and Chrysalis arranged a date to have a meeting with the rulers of Equestria and the Crystal Empire, in order to draw up a peace treaty and address other matters, the latter informed her changelings to return to the hive when they were ready before excusing herself. While Twilight Sparkle was too happy about the outcome of the challenge to really notice her exit, Marshall watched on with some concern, wondering what was going through the queen's mind.
He decided to follow her after sparing the ballroom a glance and concluding that there wasn't anything for him to worry about. She hadn't gone far, due to her sedate pace, so he caught up with her shortly after entering the hallway. Since he didn't have time to think of anything to say, and wasn't sure whether he should say anything at all, he ended up sidling up beside her and seeing what would come of it.
Nothing happened by the time they reached the castle's main entrance, and by then Marshall figured that nothing would. So, after stepping through said entrance, he stopped at the top of the stairs and watched as Chrysalis descended them. When she reached the ground, however, she paused. At first he thought that she was going to take flight, but he began to wonder if he should do something when the seconds ticked by without her saying or doing anything.
Finally, Chrysalis turned her head slightly and brusquely asked, "Are you going to accompany me, or not?"
Marshall had no idea of where she intended to lead him, but he nonetheless moved to rejoin her, wondering where she planned to go. They continued to walk in silence after he reached her side, taking a route around the castle. She headed toward the lake when it came into view, right around where he remembered Rainbow Dash drying him with a tornado. When they reached the bank, she stopped at the water's edge and stared out into the distance for a few seconds before tilting her head down and directing her gaze to her reflection on the lake's surface.
Realizing what kind of situation he'd ventured into, he took a chance and asked, "Are you alright?"
"No," Chrysalis softly replied, before her expression became one of weariness and she sat upon her haunches without restraint or grace. "I'm feeling very tired."
Not knowing what to say in response to that, and hesitant to treat her differently while she was in such a vulnerable state, it took him a moment to decide on a course of action. When he did, he slowly — cautiously — reached out and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. He hoped that it was comforting, at any rate: not just because hooves weren't known for their softness, but due to having little experience and confidence in the touchy-feely department.
Without looking at him, she reached around and gently brushed his hoof from her shoulder. He didn't know what that meant, exactly, but he ended up awkwardly standing beside her in silence regardless. Figuring that he should stick around, at the very least, he began to pass the time by observing his surroundings, with his gaze often gravitating toward the waterfall. When he wasn't doing that, he would check on Chrysalis and see how she was doing, hoping that his presence would be helpful enough.
Eventually, and suddenly, she evenly asked, "Tell me: have you ever done something for the sake of another, but forgot what they meant to you in the process?"
After Marshall recovered from the unexpected question, and the fact that she was opening up to him, he took some time to seriously consider what she was asking. After some significant mental digging, he recalled something that he hadn't thought about in a really long time. Since he didn't want to give Chrysalis the wrong impression by taking any longer to answer her, he decided to use it without fully comprehending what he was about to share.
"I think so," he modestly began, as old memories were drawn to the surface. "When I was young, a dog I'd known my whole life had gotten sick for a long time. I was eager to help take of him, at first, since I loved him — or I thought I did. It eventually turned into a chore that I didn't want to do, though, because it kept eating into the time that I had for having fun. When it got to the point where I tried to avoid the responsibility when asked..." He paused when he felt a pang in his chest, and continued despite his throat feeling a bit tight. "My mother told me that he wouldn't have long to live. That set my priorities straight pretty quick."
He heard Chrysalis snort in what seemed to be amusement, but she certainly didn't look amused when he turned to regard her. Before he could decide on whether to ask her about it or not, considering what he had just told her, she flatly said, "'Mother.' That's what you called me earlier."
Figuring out that her snort had been self-deprecating in nature, because of her tone, Marshall remained silent and allowed her to speak on her own terms. When that time finally came, she closed her eyes and sighed before saying, "I've been struggling to feed my children for so long... Moving across continents and hiding from persecution... Hoping to find a plentiful, stable source of love."
"Over time," she continued, "my desperation and anger grew. We never managed to satiate the hunger that gnawed at us incessantly, and our bodies became deformed. And I..." She paused, opened her eyes and glared at her reflection. "I began to resent the fact that I couldn't feed my children without acquiring love from elsewhere, while every other mother I've ever come across could provide for both theirs and mine by themselves. At some point, I'm not sure when, I ceased thinking of myself as a mother. It seemed like I could only help my children survive as a leader, so that's what I focused on."
The fire in her eyes dimmed, and her body sagged. "By the time we discovered Equestria, it never once occurred to me that a place with such an abundant source of love might be willing to accept us and our needs. The only future I could imagine was one where we subdued everyone in the land and lived off of their love until they perished, just so we wouldn't have to go through the unpleasant experience of siphoning love from ourselves for a while. In order to secure that future, I had to turn my children into soldiers — which I did without a second thought."
The regret in her voice, with that last statement, elicited a lot of sympathy from Marshall, especially now that he had some of the specifics concerning how the changelings had been living. He could only imagine what it would be like to be hungry all of the time, and having some of your ingested food taken by others because the circumstances limited how many could actually go out and get it. In addition to that, he was especially moved by her plight as a mother, which he felt was rather tragic.
Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to help Chrysalis, he didn't know what to do or say to accomplish that. Despite being willing enough to open up to him, she had still turned down his compassionate gesture, and he doubted that he would fare any better verbally, especially since he wasn't all that confident when it came to expressing how he felt with words. All he could do was hope that he would be showing enough support by being available, should she ever decide to reach out to him.
When Chrysalis finally glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and saw the expression on his face, she appeared to become conflicted about something. Then, without warning, she shied away and launched herself into the air. He could only watch in concern and confusion as she flew away, until she banked around the castle and disappeared from sight.
He stared at the last spot that he had seen her for a bit before sighing, standing up and making his way back to the ballroom. After hoping Chrysalis the best, because it obviously wasn't going to be easy for her to adjust to the changing times, he began to wonder what he was going to do next. With the challenge over, and thus the changelings taken care of, he wanted to turn his focus back to his investigation, but other things were also weighing on his mind: becoming more proactive about acquiring a cutie mark, deciding on whether to join a slumber party or not, and giving some of his new friends a meager tour of his world.
Twilight Sparkle noticed him when he returned to the ballroom, and he responded to her questioning and concerned gaze with a shrug of his shoulders. He didn't want to say anything that might inspire her to ask for an explanation, since he was pretty sure that Chrysalis wouldn't like him to share anything — especially something unintended — that she had only meant for him, so he remained silent and acted as nonchalant as he could manage.
Accepting his response, even if reluctantly, Twilight Sparkle inquired if he was still hungry, and suggested finding something to eat in town if he was, in lieu of hanging around while they took care of the changelings. It was a tempting idea, but he decided to check with Rarity first, since he didn't want to be unavailable if she needed his assistance. Because the middle of the room was littered with downed changelings, and he didn't want to risk having one of them fall on him, he followed the wall to reach his destination. Along the way he nodded his head in greeting to Applejack, who returned the gesture with a friendly smile.
As it turned out, Rarity had decided to take a break from work, due to her plans for that day only leaving a scant few hours for it. With that being the case, he decided to accept Twilight Sparkle's suggestion and find some place to eat in town. Afterward, when school ended for the day, he could also see Sweetie Belle about getting his own cutie mark. Other than that, he figured that he should also see if any of Rarity's friends and family were free to answer some questions.
So, he parted with Rarity and thanked Twilight Sparkle for both the suggestion and the stipend before heading to his room. Once he had his new saddlebags settled comfortably on his back, he left the castle and headed for an area of Ponyville where he knew some restaurants could be found. The saddlebags proved to be a bit distracting while he walked, since he was unaccustomed to wearing such things, but he managed to push it to the back of his mind.
He was nearing his destination when something caught his attention while he was idly looking around, which caused him to pause. Squinting into the distance, between two residences on his left, he could see a billboard on top of a building's roof. Wanting to get a better look at the image being displayed on the billboard, because he wanted to be sure that he wasn't imagining what he was seeing, he decided to take a detour and get a closer look.
Once he was close enough to confirm the image of a "hamburger" and disposable cup on the light bulb-lined billboard, he couldn't help choosing to eat at the building it was connected to. Not only was he curious to see what a fast food-type restaurant would be like in Equestria, but with a name like "Hay Burger" he couldn't help wondering what it would taste like if he ate a burger that replaced beef with hay.
After pushing past the front doors, he briefly paused in order to take in the dining area. The furnishings and layout were simple, with wooden tables that seated two or four ponies and stools that were essentially slices of a tree's trunk with a seat added to them. At the moment the many windows of the establishment served to light the place, with pink curtains drawn in the spaces between them, but there were hanging lamps when the weather or the time of day provided an inadequate amount of light.
There weren't many patrons at the Hay Burger, perhaps because it was a bit after lunch, so there wasn't a line when he reached the service counter. The cashier standing behind it offered him a really big smile, to the point of it looking unnatural, but they waited attentively while he looked up at the menu behind them. He ordered their trademark hay burger as soon as he saw it, then the horseshoe fries to go with it. For a beverage, he couldn't help choosing a milkshake, which he hadn't been able to enjoy in a long time.
With his order completed, he paid the amount that was displayed on the old-fashioned cash register's flags. The cashier assured him that his order would be ready soon before shouting most of it to the cook. As for the milkshake, the cashier took care of that personally. In the meantime, he moved down the length of the counter until he reached the spot where his order would be delivered. There was a stack of trays there, so he took one even though it would only save the tiniest bit of time and effort.
Against his usual expectations, it was the burger that was the first to reach his tray, which was served in one of those clamshell containers. It made sense after a bit of thought, though, since there appeared to be little preparation needed for all of the ingredients involved. The milkshake came next, followed by the fries, at which point he was encouraged to enjoy his meal.
Thanking the cashier, he took his tray, picked up a straw for his milkshake and made his way over to a table that was by a window, in order to have something more to look at while he ate. Once he was settled on his seat, with his saddlebags set aside and his meal ready for consumption, it took him a moment to decide what he would eat first. After a few seconds of consideration, he decided to try the burger and find out how the hay stacked up to the beef variety, since the milkshake and fries weren't as novel.
He was about to take his first bite when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and heard someone say, "Excuse me?"
Looking askance, with his mouth poised to chomp into his hay burger, he saw a unicorn mare who wore a wide-brimmed straw hat, a pair of sunglasses and a white sundress. She had a pale magenta coat and purple hair that had a lighter stripe of purple that was paired with a light cyan one. Her smile was huge, like the cashier's had been, except something seemed off about it.
Upon getting his attention, she asked, "Are you the human that I heard about?" After he pulled away from his burger and confirmed it, she followed up with, "Can I ask you some questions? I wasn't able to join the party, and everything I've heard has been second-hoof."
"Uh, sure," he allowed, since he didn't really mind having some company while he ate. That, and because had promised some other ponies that he would make himself available for chit-chat and questions when he had the time.
In response, the mare eagerly took the seat across from him and wasted no time in saying, "I heard that everyone in your country was created equal. Is that true?"
Marshall took a bite out of his hay burger before he answered, and concluded that it tasted alright after an adequate amount of chewing. Once his mouth was empty, he said, "Yeah: when you're born, you're neither a ruler or a slave. There might be more to its meaning than that, but that's what I got out of it."
"Oh," the mare replied, who was visibly disappointed.
Marshall raised an eyebrow and inquired, "Were you hoping for something else?"
The mare stiffened, and appeared ready to get up and leave, then — for whatever reason — she changed her mind and forced herself to relax. Eventually, she hesitantly said, "Well... What do you think about the idea of everypony being equal in skill? Like, where no pony's better or worse than anypony else?"
Making a show of humming in thought while he ate some more of his hay burger, he considered the odd situation that he seemed to be in. If he had to guess, the stranger before him liked the idea of everyone being equal in the way that she had described, and she had been hoping to hear about a nation putting that idea into practice. He could only suppose that she might like the idea because she found herself lacking in skill, be it for one thing or in general, and found it unfair, but he wasn't about to assume that.
It didn't seem like a good idea to pry, mostly because they had just met, so he decided to be frank with his answer. "I honestly don't see it working out well." He saw the mare frown, who might have even been ready to defend the idea, but he continued anyway. "If you could somehow raise everyone's skill level until it's at least close to their highest potential, then maybe there would be a chance of it working out. Otherwise, the best that anyone would be allowed to do, or would be forced to do if magic was involved and it could do that, is the worst that someone is capable of."
That last bit seemed to have an effect of some kind, but he couldn't tell what until she bowed her head a little, which allowed him to see her brow furrowed in thought and her purplish-blue eyes doing some internal searching. He could have stopped there, but if the practical issues with the idea had somehow evaded her, then there was a good chance of the personal ones being missed as well.
"All the problems that could cause aside," he went on, causing the mare to refocus her attention on him, "would you really like it if you couldn't do what you were good at, especially if you had put in a lot of time and effort to earn it? What about those you care about? Could you really see anyone being happy when something important or integral to them is disallowed or taken away?"
He knew that he had struck a chord that time, because the mare's mouth fell open and her eyes widened more than her sunglasses could conceal. She tried to say something, but nothing intelligible came out after several attempts. Eventually, to his surprise, she disappeared in a flash of light. While he tried to blink away the afterimage, it occurred to him that her question had been a lot more serious than he had thought it to be. He could only hope that his perspective on the matter had been more helpful than hurtful, since he had no idea if he would ever encounter her again.
By the time that he could see clearly again, he saw that no one was paying him any mind, whether because they never had or due to losing interest while he had been unable to see them. Either way, he returned his attention to his meal, his thoughts occasionally drifting back to the unnamed mare while he thought some more about his plans for the day.
Once he was finished with his meal, he opted to visit Rarity's parents first, because he figured that they would be the most likely to know something useful in the past or present, if not both. While he couldn't remember exactly where their house was, it was a simple matter of getting the river into view and seeing which way the windmill was located. When he had it in his sights, he set an unhurried pace and returned any greetings along the way, along with a few more promises to chat at a later date.
His journey was uneventful, and before he knew it he was standing on Cookie Crumbles' doorstep, who was pleasantly surprised to see him when she answered the door. "Oh! Recherché! Please, come in!"
As soon as Marshall crossed the threshold, Cookie Crumbles hugged him and said, "It's so nice to see you again." After she drew away from him, she deliberately stepped in the direction of the dining room and inquired, "Are you hungry? Would you like something to drink?"
Marshall fidgeted a bit with embarrassment at being fussed over. "Thank you, but I just had a, uh... Late breakfast, I guess?"
Cookie Crumbles seemed a little disappointed to hear that, but she perked right back up and said, "Well, feel free to help yourself in the future, okay?"
"Now," she continued, after Marshall reluctantly accepted her offer, "did you need anything, dear?"
Marshall nodded his head. "Yeah. I have some questions about Rarity."
His reply had a sobering effect on Cookie Crumbles, because she knew what kind of questions he wanted to ask. "Let's talk in the living room, then."
She led him into the aforementioned room after helping him find a place to put his saddlebags, where she invited him to sit beside her on the sofa. While he got comfortable on his own cushion, he spared a second to take in his surroundings. In front of the sofa was a coffee table, and to the right was a tall bookshelf filled to the brim with books and the occasional knick-knack. On the left side of the room, from where he was sitting, was a fireplace. The mantel above it displayed framed family photographs, which were bracketed by candlesticks. Directly across from him were two armchairs, and between them was an end table with a built-in lamp. Above them was a ceiling fan that was running on a low setting, which had a three-stemmed light kit.
"What did you want to know?" Cookie Crumbles softly asked.
Marshall bowed his head and took a few seconds to organize his thoughts before replying. "Well... From what I understand, Rarity wanted to be a princess, and had planned to move both herself and her business to Canterlot. Now, she seems to have doubled down on her business, and limited her magic supply despite that." He paused and locked his gaze with Rarity's mother, his concern only mirroring a fraction of her own. "I was hoping that you had some idea of what she's trying to accomplish, now that her first plan has fallen through."
Cookie Crumbles closed her eyes and sighed. "I believe she's still trying to accomplish the same thing."
"She still wants to become a princess?" Marshall asked, confused and wondering if there was some way for Rarity to accomplish that with her business.
"I don't know what else it could be," Cookie Crumbles admitted, as she turned her head to the fore and stared into the distance. "She has idolized Princess Celestia since she was a very young filly."
That sounded familiar to Marshall, and it took him a few seconds to realize why: it reminded him of what Rarity had told him in the sauna, regarding Celestia and a young, impressionable Twilight Sparkle. In particular, it reminded him of the feeling that he had gotten from her at the time, which her mother had just confirmed. At least, he couldn't imagine why Cookie Crumbles wouldn't be a reliable source of information for something like that.
Wanting to know more, and not just in an "official" capacity, he asked, "She has?"
"Mm," Cookie Crumbles hummed affirmatively, before turning her head to regard Marshall once more. "Did she ever tell you why we named her 'Rarity?'"
Marshall shook his head in reply, wondering about the non sequitur-seeming question.
Cookie Crumbles' horn lit up, and he was startled a bit when a photo album suddenly floated into view. She set it between them, opened it, then angled it so he could get a good view of the photograph that covered most of the inside cover. Said photograph was of a younger Cookie Crumbles lying in a hospital bed, with a newborn Rarity bundled up underneath her chin. Both of their eyes were closed, and he couldn't be sure if the mother was asleep or not.
Not that he was paying Cookie Crumbles much attention, though, because he couldn't look away from Rarity. She was so adorable that an unfamiliar chord had been plucked within his heart, causing a strange warmth to wash across his body. He was so engrossed by the image that he didn't scrutinize his feelings, or notice anything else of importance in the photograph.
"Isn't she beautiful?" Cookie Crumbles fondly asked.
Realizing what he was doing, Marshall bashfully turned his head aside and awkwardly replied, "Oh, uh, yeah."
Cookie Crumbles giggled good-naturedly behind a forehoof. "If you look closely, Rarity isn't the only eye-catching pony in that picture."
Marshall regained enough of his composure to take another look, and this time he noticed the pony standing on the far side of the bed. He couldn't see their face, because the photographer had prioritized the mother and child, but there was no mistaking Princess Celestia, between her size, coat color, peytral and what could be seen of her mane.
Curious as to why she was present for Rarity's birth, he looked up at Cookie Crumbles and asked, "Why is Princess Celestia there?"
"She acted as my midwife," Cookie Crumbles answered with a smile. "I had gone into labor during one of her visits, while waiting to greet her, when I should have been resting at home. She quickly delivered me to the hospital and assumed the duty."
"She spoke with me during that time," she continued, looking into the distance as she recalled the memory, "and the very first thing that she did was assure me that she knew what she was doing, despite rarely having the opportunity. Her words had stuck with me, because I thought I had heard a hint of sadness in her voice." She refocused her gaze on Marshall and smiled tenderly. There was a hint of pride in her voice as she concluded, "So, instead of naming our first daughter Sweetie Belle, like we had planned, I named her Rarity."
Marshall chewed on that information for a bit before remarking, "I can definitely see how a, uh, filly might feel about that."
Cookie Crumbles nodded her head in agreement, then closed the photo album and placed it on the coffee table. "I told Rarity as soon as she was old enough to understand. She wanted to know everything about the princess, of course. What surprised me was when her interest in the princess abruptly ended a few years later."
"It did?" Marshall inquired, intrigued after everything that he had learned thus far.
"I don't know why," Cookie Crumbles began, the expression on her face revealing that the thoughts burdening her were not new, "but one day a profound change came over her. She was a precocious filly, so I didn't think anything of it at first, but... She began to study all of the time, and insisted she visit Canterlot as often as possible. By the time she became the apprentice of the old seamstress that once owned her boutique, we hardly ever saw her beyond the dinner table, and sometimes not even then."
That sounded a lot like what the circumstances had been for Rarity as of late, so Marshall couldn't help wondering how things had turned out in the past. "What happened?"
Smiling wanly, Cookie Crumbles quietly replied, "We were concerned, of course. But Rarity appeared to be healthy, and happy, so we tried to not be too selfish with her time." She closed her eyes. "Then she got her cutie mark. We didn't want to get in the way as she chased her dream, so we mostly stood on the sidelines and offered our support whenever she needed it. It wasn't an ideal situation for us, but such is life." She reopened her eyes, revealing the regret within them. "So, we accepted that our daughter wouldn't bring us the family life that we had envisioned for ourselves, and — before we knew it — our little filly was a grown mare, with her own home and business."
Seeing the sympathetic expression on Marshall's face, and perhaps how awkwardly he felt because of the personal nature of what she had just divulged, she offered him a reassuring smile and added, "I'm still very proud of her, of course. Not many ponies get to achieve as much as she has by her age. It's just..." She released a sorrowful sigh and couldn't help admitting, "I wish I could have had more time with her, been a bigger part of her life."
Despite Cookie Crumbles having the strength to take that sort of thing in stride, Marshall still felt sorry for her. Rarity's parents were admirable, as well as refreshingly laid-back and affable, to such a degree that a conscious part of himself wished that they actually had been his parents. What really began to bother him, however, was wondering whether or not Rarity had been aware of her parents' sacrifice, and thus able to appreciate it.
Since she had failed to change the mood, Cookie Crumbles found a convenient distraction in the photo album and decided to try again. Levitating the photo album between them, it was with a more upbeat attitude that she asked, "Would you like to see more photographs of Rarity as a filly?"
Ordinarily, Marshall wouldn't have been interested in such a thing. When his brother's wife had brought their photo album to their last Thanksgiving gathering, for instance, he had made himself scarce so he could avoid having his acting skills tested. Now, aside from curiosity borne from their time together, he actually hoped to see some cute and endearing images of Rarity.
As Cookie Crumbles opened the photo album and showed him the first page, it didn't even occur to him that any of the photos might be embarrassing to Rarity, or that he could tease her with them.