//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Mother, Mother // Story: A Family is Love // by Godslittleprincess //------------------------------// Two weeks passed, and life returned to normal for the most part. The local police managed to track Robby down to a greenhouse in the middle of nowhere specializing in agricultural products of questionable legality and to everyone’s relief, brought him over to the Chips where his sister and their new family were waiting for him. He took the news of getting adopted much better than Gale did. Furthermore, he was quite overjoyed at the fact that the Chips didn’t own a single princess movie. The only other major event everyone was anticipating was a trip to Pittsburgh that Flare Burst was getting ready to take with Ocellus. The two of them were going to meet with Ocellus’s parents and a social worker to discuss her long-term living situation. Of course, her parents were shocked and furious when they found out what had happened to their daughter. However, some of life’s most major events end up being the ones everyone is least expecting. Thorax was at the Canterlot City Jail on one side of a booth with a glass divider. On the other side sat his former employer Chrysalis, dressed in prison orange. The only thing connecting the two of them were the pair of phone handsets, one on each side of the divider, hanging on side. The two of them unhooked the handsets and began to speak to one another. “Well, well, well,” Chrysalis sneered, “I didn’t think I’d be getting any visitors, especially you. What’s the matter? Here to apologize for ratting me out to the police?” “The police were in the process of finding out even without my involvement,” Thorax replied firmly yet calmly, “so technically, I DIDN’T rat you out. Besides, that’s not what I’m here to see you about.” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at Thorax’s last statement. Thorax unfolded the paper he had in his hand and held it up against the glass. “Recognize this?” he asked. Chrysalis quickly skimmed through the contents of the document and coolly replied, “And the contents of this concern you how?” “The police found it in your safe with your other documents, and the paper trail ended up leading to me,” Thorax explained, glaring at Chrysalis sternly. “Did you know?” “Oh, people can put anything in documents these days. It doesn’t prove anything.” Thorax’s almost uncharacteristic scowl deepened as he answered, “I knew you would say that, and I’m not going to lie; I wanted to believe that too, which is why I spent a good chunk of my savings on a DNA test.” “My,” Chrysalis chuckled maliciously, “was the answer you were looking for worth the cost?” Thorax’s glare intensified. “I’m only going to ask one more time. Did. You. Know?” Chrysalis just stared back nonchalantly. “Of course not,” she coolly replied. “For me to know, I’d have to care enough to keep track of you, which I didn’t.” Thorax’s glare changed into an incredulous grimace. “So, when I first came in for that job interview three years ago, you never once suspected or even wondered if I could have been your own son?” Thorax tried not to yell. “No.” She let out another sickening laugh. “It’s funny. I actually considered just getting rid of you when I found out, but the procedure was just so expensive. Maybe if I had made the investment, well, I wouldn’t be here now, would I?” “What kind of a mother is she?!” Thorax thought furiously to himself as he tried not to scream. “You really hated me that much?” Thorax asked, forcing himself to stay calm. “You hated me just for existing.” “Oh, don’t flatter yourself,” Chrysalis sarcastically replied. “I hate everyone equally, except for myself, of course.” Thorax slowly exhaled through his teeth. “There’s one other thing,” he continued. “The police found a document like this one dated about a year earlier for another boy. They had a harder time tracking him down, and the only thing anyone knows for certain is that he would have aged out of the foster system by now. Is there even a sliver of a chance that you might have seen or met him at all since then?” “Oh, please,” she scoffed. “If I were to have seen him, he would have to had to come to me, and I can assure you that if he did, I’d remember it. Why don’t you go to your old foster home and ask? I did have you both sent to the same home. I’m surprised that you haven’t met him already.” Thorax’s eyes widened at the last two statements. Chrysalis laughed in maleficent pleasure at Thorax’s dumbfounded expression. “Or maybe you had,” she continued, “and the woman running the home just never told the two of you that you were related. But why would she do a thing like that?” A long, pregnant silence hung heavily in the air for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Thorax slowly let out a breath and said, “Thanks for your help. I think the two of us are done here.” With that, he hung up the handset and left the room. Two days later, Derpy, Flash, and Twilight rang the doorbell of the place formerly known as Chrysalis’s Home for Children. Yeah, the home needed a new name, but Thorax was having trouble finding one. Anyway, Thorax answered the door and warmly ushered the three of them in. “I can’t thank you enough for agreeing to look after the kids for me on such short-notice,” Thorax gushed appreciatively. “I’ll try not to be gone for too long. This is just something that I really have to do.” “Hey, no problem, Thorax,” Flash answered, speaking for everyone else. Thorax hadn’t told him or anyone else where he was going or why, but Flash trusted that Thorax had a good reason for needing to take off so suddenly. “Just do what you need to do.” “I’ll be back in four hours, six at the latest. I’ll even pay you guys when this is all over.” “Oh, Thorax, you don’t have to do that,” Derpy protested. “We’ve helped look after the kids before.” “I know, but this is the first time that you three are actually babysitting for me without my supervision. It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t pay you. Is $20 an hour about standard?” “For you, we’ll do $12,” Twilight replied, noting how unusually frazzled Thorax was. Well, okay, Thorax was pretty much always frazzled. Being almost singly responsible for the care of anywhere between five to sixteen children while having an iron-fisted tyrant breathing down your neck for the last three years can do that to a man, and his employer’s arrest and his new position as the primary caretaker of the home only intensified Thorax’s frazzled-ness. However, Twilight and her compatriots could see that Thorax’s current state of frazzled was somewhat different from his usual state of frazzled. “Thanks, you three. You guys are lifesavers,” Thorax exhaled as he rushed out the door. He quickly got inside his car, pulled out of the driveway, and sped down the road. Two hours later, Thorax parked in front of a cozy-looking, two-story house painted white with mint green shutters. A small wooden sign hung in front of it reading “The Nest Children’s Home.” Thorax parked his car, went up to the front door, and rang the bell. “I’ll get it,” he heard a young feminine voice call. The door was opened by a woman in her thirties with bright yellow skin, dark gray eyes, and shoulder-length, straight, black hair. “May I help you?” she asked Thorax. “Yes, I’m here to see Ms. Argiope,” he replied courteously. “Is she here?” “Yes, why don’t I just take you to her office. I’m Spinneret by the way.” The woman offered her hand to shake. “Thorax. Nice to meet you,” Thorax replied, accepting her handshake. She led Thorax up to the second floor to an office where a woman with tan skin and silver hair in her early sixties was packing office decorations into a box. “Ms. Argiope,” Spinneret called, “someone’s here to see you.” The older woman looked up at them, her eyes widening in recognition when she saw Thorax. “Thorax, hello,” Ms. Argiope greeted, gesturing for Thorax to sit in one of the chairs. “Please have a seat.” Thorax sat down in one of the guest chairs while Ms. Argiope took her place behind the desk. “I’ll just head downstairs and see if anything needs to be done,” Spinneret said as she left the room. “It was nice meeting you, Thorax.” “So,” Thorax began, “is she your assistant?” “Replacement, actually,” Ms. Argiope replied. “I’m retiring, and this place and the kids needed someone else to take over.” “Oh, I see.” A long pause passed between them before Thorax finally decided to break it. “As much as I wish this was just a friendly visit, it actually isn’t,” Thorax began sternly. “You see, I’ve also been working at a foster home, and about two weeks ago, my boss got arrested.” “Oh my, that sounds difficult. Are you and your charges alright?” Ms. Argiope gasped. “Yes, for the most part we are,” Thorax answered curtly, “but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” Ms. Argiope raised an eyebrow at Thorax’s statement. “The police went through her paperwork and found out that she’s actually my birth mother,” Thorax explained. The corner of Ms. Argiope’s lip twitched as the first prick of nervousness began to grow inside of her. “Additionally, her papers also showed that I have an older brother, and when I confronted her about it, she told me that she had him sent here too and was surprised that I had never met him.” Ms. Argiope wrung her hands together as nervousness grew into guilt. “Which brings me to why I’m here,” Thorax continued, his eyes narrowing. “There’s only one person that I remember from growing up here that checks off all the boxes, and because of that, I just have one question for you.” He paused and pressed his lips into a hard line. “Did you lie to me about Pharynx not being my brother?” “Thorax, you work at a foster home,” Ms. Argiope retorted defensively. “You know firsthand how hard it is to adopt out siblings. If you and Pharynx and everyone else had known that the two of you were brothers, you might have never gotten adopted. On top of that, with all the behavioral problems he was giving everybody both here and at school, Pharynx was next to impossible to adopt out. If you had known he was your actual brother, you would have wanted to stay with him, and where would you be now? Having Pharynx for a brother would have just dragged you down. You know it, I know it, and good gracious, even he knew it.” Thorax suppressed the urge to yell back at her. He wanted to tell her that she was wrong and that he and Pharynx could have worked things out and figured out a way to have a good life together, but as much as he hated to admit it, she was right. In his three years of working at Chrysalis’s group home, Thorax had somehow been fortunate enough to avoid having to separate a group of siblings, but wisdom told him that he would have to prepare for the day he would need to make some hard choices. Maybe his and Pharynx’s case was just one of those choices. His mind went back to the last time that he saw Pharynx. Seventeen years earlier “Kid, just stop telling everyone that we’re brothers,” an 11-year-old boy with dark green skin and a dark red crew cut snapped at a 10-year-old Thorax. “But why?” Thorax whined. “Because we’re not!” Pharynx yelled. “We’re just two foster kids with the same legal guardian. That’s it. Besides, even if by some slim chance we actually are brothers, we’d be better off pretending that we’re not.” “But if we get adopted together, we could have a chance at a better life,” Thorax protested. “We’re not going to get adopted together, kid,” Pharynx retorted. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but most potential parents don’t exactly come looking for ‘buy one, get one free’ specials on kids. Even if we do get that lucky, they’ll change their minds once they figure out how much trouble I get myself into at school. If you keep making a scene about not wanting to go without me every time someone gets interested in taking you in, you’re never going to get out of here.” “But—” “No buts,” Pharynx interrupted. “All I’m going to do is just drag you down, which is why I want you to promise me that the next time someone comes in wanting to adopt you, you go with them WITHOUT ME. Got it?” “But—” “Promise me!” Pharynx narrowed his eyes at the younger boy, the purple flames in his eyes burning right into Thorax’s red-violet ones. Thorax sighed and relented, “Okay, I promise.” As the memory faded from his mind, he looked back as Ms. Argiope and clenched his teeth. “Maybe Pharynx and I did need to be separated,” Thorax admitted, “but you didn’t have to lie to us. Now that I think about it, I’m starting to wonder what else you lied about and who else you lied to.” “Oh, don’t you dare give me any of that,” Ms. Argiope scoffed. “Everything I did was to try to help you kids get a better life.” “Still, it doesn’t make lying right,” Thorax bluntly stated. “Anyway, now that you know why I came to see you, you mind telling me where I can find my brother?” “He aged out years ago,” Ms. Argiope retorted dismissively. “Wherever he is, it’s not my problem anymore.” Thorax just stared at her incredulously and replied, “You know, for someone who wants to help kids in need get a better life, you don’t seem to care much about how Pharynx’s turned out.” “You’ll understand once you’ve been in the business long enough. Sometimes you just can’t help them all. There’s no point losing sleep over it.” Thorax suddenly got up and glared at Ms. Argiope. “Once I’ve been in the business long enough, I’m going take the time to learn from my mistakes instead of pretending that they never happened,” he said sternly. “It was nice to see you again. Thank you for your time.” With that, Thorax simply left the office and stormed out the front door. Soon, he was driving back towards Canterlot and towards the children’s home, HIS children’s home.