The visit soon came to an end. As the Crystal Empire’s leaders, Shining and Cadence couldn’t stay long. They left two days later, on the train.
As they headed back to the Crystal Empire, the train car they were in was mostly silent. Apex and Flurry played with some of Flurry’s toys. Thorax rested his head on the window ledge, watching the scenery. Pharynx laid on the train seat, and despite his relaxed appearance, he surveyed the train car cautiously.
Shining and Cadence were whispering to each other while Sunburst read a book. Eventually, Shining glanced over at the brothers.
“Uh… Pharynx, Thorax? Can we talk?” Shining asked slowly. The two looked over, straightening up. Shining and Cadence trotted over to their seat, so that Apex and Flurry wouldn’t overhear.
“Yes, Shining?” Thorax asked
“Cadence and I were thinking…” Shining looked at Cadence. “About… maybe taking you to a restaurant we know in the Empire. It serves some good… food that you’d like. The griffon dignitaries like eating there.”
“Meat?” Thorax asked
“Yes.” Shining nodded. “They import it from outside Equestria, we were wondering if you’d like to try it. They have non-meat choices for us, obviously.”
“That sounds nice. Would Apex come with us?” Thorax asked
“Of course.” Cadence smiled. “We can bring Apex, Flurry, and Sunburst.”
“Yep, but… well…” Shining cleared his throat. “After dinner, we were thinking that when we get back to the castle… we put Apex and Flurry to bed, and…”
“Get to the point.” Pharynx prompted bluntly.
“Well… after they go to sleep… we talk.”
“Talk? About what?” Thorax tilted his head in confusion.
“About… Chrysalis.” Cadence finally said
Pharynx and Thorax both visibly stiffened. Cadence and Shining put their hooves on the brother’s shoulders. Cadence then put her wing around them in comfort.
“It’s okay if you decide you don’t want to talk about her yet…”
“No, it’s okay.” Pharynx said, nudging Thorax slightly. “Right Thorax?”
“I-I don’t know…”
“Come on brother, you can be brave enough to live outside of the Hive’s safety. This isn’t nearly as hard.” Pharynx said
Thorax took a breath, then nodded. “Y-Yeah… you’re right. Okay.”
“Are you sure?” Cadence pressed
“We’re sure.” Pharynx replied firmly. “It’s time we told you.”
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Shining and Cadence led the group down the street of the Crystal Empire. Flurry was being carried by Sunburst, while Apex giggled and babbled to her from Thorax’s head. He had taken to perching there, as it made him taller. Cadence and Thorax were fawning over the cuteness of it as they entered the restaurant, while Pharynx and Shining discussed training techniques.
“Alright, we have a reserved private room, you three can order what you like, we won’t be uncomfortable.” Shining assured the changelings as they sat down.
Thorax beamed as he took a menu, holding it up between himself and Apex. The nymph had gotten off his head to sit in his own chair. Pharynx rolled his eyes at them and grabbed his own menu. Shining, Sunburst, and Cadence chuckled, taking some menus for themselves.
After ordering, Sunburst entertained them by talking about Flurry learning some new words and phrases. They laughed and talked happily. Most of them, anyway. Pharynx stayed silent, brooding.
Soon, the meal was finished, and Apex snuggled against Thorax sleepily, burping. Thorax giggled and picked him up, cradling him gently while Cadence held a similarly exhausted Flurry.
“Let’s head back to the palace. I think it’s the little ones’ bedtime.” Shining spoke up.
Thorax and Pharynx looked at each other, knowing what would come after that. But they nodded anyway, standing up.
They headed back to the palace, where Sunburst took Apex and Flurry to their rooms. Once he returned, Shining silently led them to his office. Then, he, Cadence, and Sunburst sat on one side of the desk while Pharynx and Thorax silently sat on the other side.
“Alright, so…” Shining began. “Your… mother.”
“She’s hardly what I would call a mother.” Pharynx spoke after a minute.
“Could you maybe tell us a bit more about what she was like?” Cadence asked gently
Pharynx looked at Thorax, who stared at the floor miserably. He sighed and looked up, lavender eyes flashing.
“Chrysalis is our mother only in the sense that she laid our eggs. She may have been a bit nicer to me, but ‘nice’ to her was merely ignorance. Thorax received punishments for acting differently than the typical changeling. I was being trained by Fortuna-domina at the time, so the only times when I witnessed what was happening was when mother called me to wherever she had dragged Thorax to so I could watch it happen.”
“You didn’t try to stop her?” Sunburst asked
“What could I do? I knew she wanted me to become a warrior, then king eventually, and I myself wanted to earn the position of Pharynx-dominus, not have it granted to me on a silver platter. Besides, I was a nymph, I couldn’t have taken on a full grown female changeling. So I had no choice but to keep my head down and my mouth shut. The best I could do was help Tu-Fortuna bandage Thorax’s injuries afterwards.”
“How bad was it?” Cadence prompted Thorax, eyes showing nothing but concern.
“...Once, mother got fed up with my whimpers of pain and tossed me against the wall of the room we were in. I woke up five hours later, Pharynx had found me after returning from his training and discovering no one had seen me since mother dragged me off.”
Cadence covered her mouth with a hoof in shock. Pharynx shook his head solemnly.
“For us it was simply the price that came with the title of Prince. Chrysalis would do it to me too, though I suspect that was more to toughen me up. Who knows, she might have thought that’s what she was doing when she hurt Thorax. But you can’t teach a cat to swim if it doesn’t want to.”
Shining nodded silently. “Anything else?”
“Hold on Shiny.” Cadence looked over at Pharynx. “Let’s talk about something else. You’ve mentioned her quite a few times, so… Pharynx, who is Fortuna-domina?”