The Bug in the Herd

by Skijarama

10 - Voices on the Radio

When Chrysalis awoke the next morning, it was to the sound of Tone Shift opening the door to the bathroom and stepping back out into the room proper. He glanced up and nodded to her through. “Morning, Chrysalis.”

“Morning…” Chrysalis stretched slightly before shifting back into Luster. “It’s nice to sleep on a decent bed instead of a thrift-shop couch for a change.”

“Ha ha.” Tone rolled his eyes at her. “Look, I gotta head out. Recording starts in about an hour and I want to make sure I have enough time to get familiar with the studio’s layout and do my warmups. I’ll be back in a few hours.” He turned to the door to leave but paused. “Uh, I left some of my bits on the end table there if you want to go around town for any reason.”

“...Thanks, I guess. Go do your thing.” Luster shooed him away with her forehoof.

“Alright. See you later.”

With that, he stepped through the door and closed it behind him. Luster sat in silence for a long while before looking at the bits on the table. With a ‘hmph,’ she elected to ignore them for now and instead turned on the radio they sat next to, hoping for some decent music and maybe hear some news about how her children in the hive were doing.

She sighed and simply sat there for almost an hour as various pieces of music from various genres and numerous, very forgettable news stories went in one ear and out the other. It wasn’t until some very different sounding music came on, the stations host saying something about a ‘warriors from the comet re-run,’ that her attention was actually obtained proper.

A new voice came onto the radio, old and tired sounding. “There are secrets that nopony should ever discover, relics of our past left eternally forgotten. One such secret, one buried beneath Equestria’s crust for generations, is about to be discovered by an excavation team, led by Topaz Rune. He’s a good stallion… but he is not prepared for what lies ahead. None of them are ready to meet the Warriors from The Comet.”

Luster found herself listening with intent curiosity as a scene began to play in her mind alongside the sounds coming from the radio…

“What are we hoping to find down here, Topaz?” An earth pony stallion with dull colors snidely remarked, jumping slightly as a large scorpion crawled away from the light cast by his mining helmet. “I can’t exactly see myself going much further with all of these arachnids down here!”

“Neither can I…” A frightened mare added, shivering slightly as a draft blew by and water dripped from the stalactites hanging from the ceiling of the long, dark and ancient cavern. Topaz sighed in a familiar voice.

“I don’t think it’s much farther, guys. That old tomb’s gotta be around here somewhere.” Topaz said, though he failed to hide the unease in his own voice.

“Tone Shift…?” Luster sat upright upon hearing his voice, albeit with a slight accent, coming from the radio.

“Why are we looking for a TOMB of all things?!” the mare shrieked in horror, flailing her forelegs in the air for emphasis. “Those have dead things, usually ponies, in them!”

“Creepy and unsettling though it may be, a corpse can’t hurt you, Spade.” Topaz replied before adjusting his gear a bit. “And as for why we’re looking for a tomb, this tomb in particular, in case you neglected to read the project statement, is supposedly home to the remains of hundreds of soldiers from a pre-celestial Equestria. Luna and Celestia hadn’t come to us, yet.”

“And what’s so special about these soldiers?” The stallion piped up, flinching as another arachnid scuttled away into the darkness.

“They were, according to legend and myth, keeping something contained here. Something that was never really spoken of in the old tales. It is highly unlikely that whatever it was is still alive, if that part of the legend is even true.” Topaz grunted in annoyance as a cluster of bats on the ceiling were caught in the beam of his mining helmet light, retreating deeper into the tunnel and down a side passage in a flurry of wing beats and screeches. “But the point is, finding this old ‘tomb’ would potentially yield a great deal of information about a rather blank period in Equestria’s history. It would be a rather large discovery, one I would love to contribute to our knowledge of our homeland.”

Luster found herself drawn in completely as things moved along. The three ponies on the radio talked among each other, providing some backstory information and exposition on numerous topics. Finally, they all let out a collective gasp.

“Well, I’ll be… you were right! The bloody place still exists!”

“Wow. I guess all that research paid off this time. Come on, let’s go!” Topaz said excitedly, a few pebbles rolling away from him as he descended a slope alongside his companions towards a large stone structure, shaped vaguely like a castle wall with a thick, domed roof. As they reached the path, the mare shivered in extreme discomfort.

“Those little buildings off to the side… the way they’re lined up and even on either side, I would guess those are, uh, mausoleums?”

“Looks like it. Smaller ones, probably for the lower ranking soldiers who died here. We’ll run through them later. For now, we need to map all of this out.” Topaz replied, pulling a sheet of parchment and a quill from his saddlebags with magic.

Several more minutes passed as Luster listened in, the characters starting to throw some playful banter back and forth among each other as they carried on with mapping out the ancient structure. A soft grin began to split open Luster’s lips as she imagined Tone Shift filling Topaz’s horseshoes here. He’d probably be handling it… well, not very well, in all likelihood.

“Hey, did you hear that?” Topaz suddenly said, jerking upright as a whispering voice passed through the halls and into his mind.

“Hear what?” The mare asked, her teeth starting to chatter and clack against each other.

“I think I hear voices…” Topaz mumbled, starting to trot off down one of the corridors they had yet to map.

“Woah, Topaz! We haven’t mapped that yet! Get back here!” the stallion called after him, giving chase with a brisk canter.

“W-wait, voices? We shouldn’t go that way, then!” The mare stuttered, sprinting after them with fear rapidly developing in her voice.

“Hello? Is somepony else down here?” Topaz called out, his voice echoing loudly across the old brick walls. There was a subtle change to his voice, as though somepony or something else were speaking through him.

“Topaz, Dynamite, we should really get out of here! NOW!” The mare said in a near panic, grabbing Topaz and trying to yank him away from his current course. He let out a grunt before his forehoof lashed out and collided with her face, a loud smack reverberating all around them.

“Stay out of my way.” Topaz said in a voice that was clearly not his own. He flinched before turning and continuing towards a the end of the hall, where all there was to greet them was an wall with a softly glowing blue rune on it.

“Topaz, what the hay? What’s gotten into you?! Spade has a point, we should go! NOW!” Dynamite shouted, helping Spade to her hooves and glaring at the expedition leader.

“Th-that is NOT Topaz…” Spade uttered in a jittery voice, pointing a shaking hoof at Topaz. “His eyes are all wrong…”

“Hmph. How very perceptive of you.” Topaz uttered, his voice having shifted cadence and accent completely yet still clearly of the same vocal chords. When he turned to face the others, all they could do was scream in fear as magic began leaking from his eyes. “I hold dominion over this pony. I must thank you lot for bringing me a suitable host... the war has been on hold for far too long. It’s time to end this.”

A flash of magic cut the lives of the rest of the team to an abrupt and terrifying end. Topaz let out a maniacal cackle which echoed with another, far deeper voice. “It is time to wake the warriors...”

Luster blinked as another voice began to list off the names of everypony who helped make this episode. She looked to the clock and realized she had been listening for about thirty minutes. “Topaz Rune was voiced by Tone Shift.” the voice on the radio said, confirming Luster’s suspicions.

“Huh… you’re good with that voice of yours, Tone Shift. Hmmm... It’s in your name, I guess.” Luster muttered to herself before reaching over and scooping up the bits he had left for her to use.

* * * * * * *

There were a few clouds in the sky when Tone exited the recording studio. He gave a slight couch before turning and beginning the trot back to the hotel. He’d made some good progress on his lines today. He figured that as long as he could keep up at this pace he’d be done in another couple days at the latest, receive his pay and be back in Ponyville the day after. Good thing, too. He would only have about a week to pay his bills at that point.

“Make good progress?” Luster’s voice suddenly said from behind him. Tone let out a surprised yip and whirled around to see her peering at him over the rim of a pair of sunglasses. She also had a pair of saddlebags with a few odds and ends in them and her left forehoof was holding a small box of prenchfries.

“Yeah, actually. But didn’t you ever learn not to sneak up on ponies?” Tone asked, only realizing after he said it just how stupid a question that was. “...Don’t answer that.”

“I won’t.” Luster said before taking position next to him. “Well, you just going to stand there looking awkward or are you going back to the hotel?”

“I was actually kind of thinking of getting something to eat. Wanna tag along?”

Luster levitated up a fry and took a slow, deliberate bite out of it while putting on a thoughtful look. “I suppose I could…” she mumbled to herself. “But I won’t be eating the food of the restaurant.”

“You’re really serious about this whole ‘make Tone Shift your personal farm,’ aren’t you?” he deadpanned with a flat look, to which Luster merely gave a chuckle.

“How can I resist? Besides, I’m curious as to the sorts of sounds or voices I could have you make while I’m… hmmm… eating…” Luster drew her words out before waggling her eyebrows at him. She leaned closer and whispered, “I’ve heard how good you are with your voice… in person and on the radio, Topaz.”

“Uh…” Tone couldn’t form words as his face and neck began to turn a bright red. Luster laughed before leaning back, her face turning somewhat more serious.

“Don’t get any ideas. I’m messing with you.” Luster deadpanned before strutting past him and flicking him in the nose with her tail. Tone shook his face slightly before glaring at her.

“Would you please stop embarrassing me in public?!” He called after her, cantering to catch up with an annoyed huff.

“No. It’s entertaining.” Luster said playfully as he caught up to her, giving him a smirk.

“Tch. Do you play with your prey as much as you do with your friends?” He asked snidely, to which Luster simply let her teeth show in a grin.

“Who says you aren’t my prey?”

Tone would have immediately launched a snappy comeback to that, but considering he knew she could easily back up that sentiment if she so wished, he opted to stay silent and not push his luck. He cloused his mouth and stared straight ahead. Luster chuckled to herself, but inwardly she scolded and berated herself for that interaction.

The pink haze of energy had started drifting off of him in much larger amounts, the waves leaving a thick cloud in the air behind them as they went.

Comments

[Razzy]

This put me in the mood to listen to some radio plays.

'He gave a slight couch' - cough

[harts fire]

The pink haze of energy had started drifting off of him in much larger amounts, the waves leaving a thick cloud in the air behind them as they went.
things are starting to get interesting between the tone and Chrysalis or at lest they are having fun trolling each other.

[tom117z]

“There are secrets that nopony should ever discover, relics of our past left eternally forgotten. One such secret, one buried beneath Equestria’s crust for generations, is about to be discovered by an excavation team, led by my Topaz Rune. He’s a good stallion… but he is not prepared for what lies ahead. None of them are ready to meet the Warriors from The Comet.”

Welcome to... The Scary Door

[Skijarama]

8035736

[Orangeblossom1212]

I know this was just updated, but please! I need more! I love this story!!!!!!!

[Skijarama]

8036161 I've been uploading daily for, like, a week. I imagine I'll have more by tomorrow or the day after. I've got nothing else to do to fill my time right now so this is kinda my go-to project to pass the time with until my stuff is fixed.

[sorenxoras]

Mmmm, cant say I've ever heard a radio play, but that was good. I imagine it would be like listening to an audio book, but instead of a single voice all throughout the tape it would be multiple voices clearly from different people.

[erictheblue]

here's a silly video based on an old radio play:

[tsaukpaetra]

Wait, did she just option admit their friendship? Things are further along than we thought!

[ShadwSonic]

8083915 Got it in one! And yes, it really does heighten the experience having multiple voices. There's actually several good "radio plays" about Dr. Whooves on YouTube, if you want a more concrete example (try searching "Ponies with Pockets", that's the best one I've found). Fitting, as apparently radio is where Dr. Who itself got its start.