Sunset considered herself a morning person, and usually it held true. Especially lately, as she had, much to her dismay, to stay in a school library, so getting up early has become a routine neccessity. As she finally become awake, however, a mere glance towards the window made it clear, that it was, at the very least, past 11 in the morning and any plans of going to CHS were very much forfeit at this point. And slight throbbing in her head aslo told, that, while yesterday's plum wine was actually good, and not even that strong alchohol-wise, perhaps it still was better to have less of it.
Groaning, she rose out of her bed and took a closer look at her current room. It was actually quite a big one - about 6 to 6 meters, featuring 5 small windows, a writing desk with a chair and obviously a big bed aside her. Still, it looked as if the room wasn't in a constant use, aside, perhaps some other guest occasionally sleeping there. Or was it actually prepared for her, to be yet another bait? She frowned. Maybe. It changed little anyway - she NEEDED magic. And there wasn't any other way around to get it - she had looked the CHS library and even that "Internet" quite throughly, even if she partially regreted the latter part of the search now. So, what if Crash simply wanted something from her? It was perfectly normal and logical after all, unlike all the crap about "selfless friendship" she detested. She could play the game too, and given time and opportunity, could be the one getting the most out of the deal, would Crash be guilible enough. And if not - even better, having someone actually competent with magic and a straight worldview could be rather refreshing...
She looked at the pile of her clothes laying on the chair under discarded bathrobe and frowned once more. She definitelly wasn't looking froward to wear all of them once again, but it's not like she had any choice in the first place. Asking Lighting Dust to wait, till she picked some of her stuff hidden in the library, was simply not an option however you look on it. And she wasn't THAT good in making excuses anyway. Well, maybe she should persuade Crush into buying her something good - he actually mentioned something about money and "resources" in his offer after all.
A few minutes later she was finally ready to face the new day in fullest, even if her slight hangover was still present, as she unlocked the door and stepped in the corridor. The first sounds she heard were of boiling water and humming, most likely by Crash. As she went downstairs, she saw him sitting behind the bar stand, looking into some papers, while a coffee machine aside him poured the black liquid in the cup.
"Good daytime" He greeted her without even lifting his eyes from the papers as she came closer "You can have the first cup of coffee if you want, and any snacks from the fridge. I'll finish this in five more minutes and then we'll talk."
Sunset frowned again. Was it some stupid test for patience, or did he simply took her "choice" for granted from the start? Sure, he was right here, but it actually felt grating for her. Well, coffee was something that she needed right now, so why not..
As she looked at him a few times while helping herself with toasts and some cheese from the fridge, she had to admit, that at least he looked genuinely busy with something, and not just dismissing her for some fictional reason. And yes, coffee was good. In hindsight it was strange to expect otherwise, with a professional machine to boot, but she was kinda used to be dissapointed in simple things in life at this point. And just as she was finishing her cup, Crash finally put his papers in a briefcase and took a seat across her.
"So, do you have a definite answer on my offer now, or do you need more time?"
This time his tone was straight business-like, without any feeling of familiarity or joking around. But regardless of what he wanted to achieve with it, she wasn't some clueless teenager to be goaded around...
"To be honest, right now i do not see any reason to say no, at least regarding the possible cooperation. Though, if you need my help with that curse of yours, i surely do need to know more about it. You know, something about how dangerous it actualy is, can it affect me or be transfered in some way and what can be required from my part. If we can come to agreement here, my answer would be simple yes."
Sure, the deal was too good to be rejected and she definitely needed it, but even if she knew little about actual curses, it wasn't something to be dismissed, especially if her assistance with a curse supposedly was the main reason that this deal was offered in the first place.
Crash actually smiled while hearing her answer, before answering in a more casual tone.
"Well, i won't go into all details right now as the whole issue is rather complicated, but i'll surely answer yor question. First of all, the circumstances that would allow the curse to affect you directly are rather specific, so, unless for some reason you would want to, you are completely safe in this regard."
At that point he smirked, as if it was really funny in some way, before continuing his explanations.
"Second, yes, the possible treatment or related research are likely to be dangerous, but little more so then any magical research involving high amount of energy or previously mostly unknown fields. And i have to assure you, that i would do anything i can to prepare a suitable place and all necessary precautions. And as for your part of the deal, well, at this stage i mostly want to study your magic."
Sunset mentally frowned hearing it. There definitely could be some catch or a trap for her. But in the end it just meant that she had to be more carefull and less trusting and for now it seemed rather easy. Meanwhile, Crash continued:
"You see, the curse afflicting me is a artificial one, and it was likely created having the magic of my family in mind. And, as it appeared later, the same could be said about other schools and types of magic known to us, in one way or another. And, unfortunately, my family mostly neglected the curse at first, as it was significantly less powerfull in the beginning and they had quite a lot of matters to handle back then. So, even if we have some theoretical solutions or general ideas on the matter, they cannot actually be implemented for various practical reasons. A different and previously unknown type of magic is likely one of the best way to either find a new working solution or to implement one of the known theoretical ideas."
That actually made sense as far as Sunset was concerned. But while receiving this explanation should have probably calmed her down she still feeled some doubts, as if something was still amiss, and something actually important..
"Local magic, is for the most part outright nonexistent as are those with potential to practice it, and even a few exeptions that got my initial interest, show little promise in the long run. Not due to their lack of effort though, i mean Lighting Dust determination to better herself is commendable, but the more she studies the practices, that i show her, the less of the different magic i see in her. As i theorised, there should be a local source of this magic, and in her case, the exposure to it ony gave her an 'initial spark', but little more for me to work with."
That was it! As Crash became a bit absorbed in his explanations, surely revealing more than she was initially expecting, it dawned to her, that like her, he could be from some other world too, what with referencing 'local' and 'nonexistent' magic. And if she was getting it right, then if equestrian magic was completely new to him, while actually affecting this world and it's inhabitants in some way, then not only couldn't he possibly be an equestrian himself, but unless he appeared in this world recently it was strange that he, or someone else from his family haven't gone to Canterlot earlier. Sure, she could be making a mistake, and there were other reasons that made revealing her thoughts not an option, but her mind was set in a turmoil: if his true form is also different, than who, or well, what he actually is? And could there be some other far reaching consequences for dealing with him, say for equestria as a whole? After all, she still planned to return and rule it as a princess among Celestia, as she rightfully deserved, so bringing ruin to it was counterproductive to her plans. Y-yeah that was a true reason, while she was concerned about it, honest!
Meanwhile, unaware of Sunset's turmoil, Crash was finishing his explanations.
"So, if my theory is right, then you, Sunset, should be significantly closer to this source of magic then anyone else i've met or observed so far. And, surely getting an actual control over your abilities and their potential is worth providing me with your assistance on the curse-related matter by itself?"
Sunset took a small pause to mentally calm down, even if it wasn't that easy in the situation. After all, even if she had to agree on the offer, the tone was also important and she just had to avoid showing her doubt at all cost.
"Yes" She finally answered. "Though i'd rather discuss the exact details of my involment once we get to them, as it's really not that practical to go into them now."
Crash shrugged. "That sounds fair, and as long as it's reasonable enough, i see no need to further formalise it at this point. I, on my part, reserve a right to limit or even stop my assistance to you, if, say for some reason the agreement would not work out for us, even if i sincerelly hope that it won't come to it. Now, if we are past it, there's two practical questions: do you need something unrelated to magic right now, or in the nearest future and do you mind answering a few question related to you magical ability? After all i'll likely need to properly prepare for our magical lessons, as we both are supposed to learn something new out of them, and some information may be crucial to it."
After all the revelations of these few minutes Sunset was definitely less doubtfull about mooching of him. She got a lot more serious concerns for a change, so why add 'appartment issues' and other such junk to them? And yes, 'him', as he was a human and a boy at this moment, so who was she to judge or bother with it?
"I'll answer as long as it's nothing really personal. And, i guess, i'll take up on your previous lodging proposal, and shopping for some clothes would be really good."
"You can take the guest room you slept in, if it's for your liking" answered Crash rather nonchalantly "And i guess Dust can drive you to a mall in a hour or so, would five thousand bits be enough?"
Sunset nodded. "Sure."
"Good, now to the actually important things. I'll try to avoid anything personal, and i'd rather hear 'i don't know' or 'i can't say it, because reasons' than a dishonest answer which would just give us both more problems to deal with. Also there's no hurry whatsoever, so if you need to think about it - just take your time. So, the first question is - were you able to use magic in a conscious way at some point in your past?"
Surely she had a lot of doubts and was hesitant to answer. But reflecting on the matter have never helped in her life before, not in the orphange and definitely not since her acceptance in the CSGO. Simply going forward with pride and confidence in her own abilities on the other hand...
"Yes"
"Are you able to consciously use magic right now, or given some preparation in the nearest future?"
The sooner would this be done, the sooner would she be back on her way to greatness..
"No"
"To practice magic before, have you used any kind of focus, that you don't have right now?"
Well, she had her horn back then, duh. And just saying it right now was stupid. Wait, was it some inconsistency here? After all some of the equestrians were using their magic without being unicorns, 'pony's internal magic' theory for pegasi and earth ponies aside..
"Define Focus"
"Should have thought about the terminology first, my apologies. Still, by focus here i mean any object, or well anything that you used to practice magic. I mean, yes, usually it's just some staff, rod or a trinket and it's used to amplify mage's power rather then necessary to do something at all, but after i've read about those weird schools who need to use their hair as their only focus or those with need for certain, hm, 'alchemical amplifiers' i won't be surprised by other non-conventional means. So?"
Using hair to do magic?! Has she heard it right? Regardless, her horn fitted the description, if rather weird one.
"It's yes, then"
"Hm" Crash paused, perhaps considering his next question. "Is the nature of this focus personal? Or rather is it's use currently unavailable anyway?"
"Yes, to both" Answered Sunset with a frown. "I hope that you leave it like that"
"No problem" He answered as he stood up stretching. "After all, i do have a working solution, that i use for Dust and Gilda. I'll just need to prepare a few spells, to take necessary measurements. Should be ready for this evening"
Was it really THAT simple? It's not like it felt insulting that a solution of her being unable to use magic was supposedly easy... but honestly that probably was the case. She was a prodigy, damn it! Someone to act and solve problems not to rely on other to solve her problems... especialy if it both involved magic and was simple...
"Would it require something on my part?" She asked, keeping her voice calm.
"Aside from holding a certain crystall? Not really. I mean we are mostly checking if it would work without major changes, and even then it will take a day or two to do a prototype, so we would be able to see what exactly we need for the better, or perhaps even a final version, as trying to produce one from the get-go would be rather costly and unlikely to succeed..."
He stopped himself and sighed before continuing. "Probably shouldn't bother you with all the details. Suffice to say, crafting foci is included in one of my main specializations in magic, and i do have the resources, so we can expect a success, even if may not happen today, or say within a week or two. After all, crafting a proper focus for someone with bigger potential is always harder."
And even if it meant that she had to wait a bit longer to get her magic back, his words still calmed her down. It sounded rather close to a cutie mark related talent and, well when your problem is solved by someone, who's mostly doing this kind oj work, it's one thing, and it's completely different when it's something easy that you were supposed to figure and solve on your own days ago.
"So if you have no further questions, i'll get to work on the spells. Dust should be here within two hour or so, i think, so feel yourself at home and all that."
"She actually lives here or something?" Asked Sunset. After all asking Crash about it seemed better than adressing Dust herself. And definitelly better than making a stupid mistake related to it and making everything difficult.
"Nah. Supposedly she lives with her family, but she surely hangs here most of the time, regardless of us training or not. May be some minor family issues, but as long as she doesn't bother talking about it and it doesn't interfer with anything - i don't really care." He shrugged. "Now, if you would really need me for some reason i would be in the basement preparing. Though i'd rather not be disturbed unless it's something among the lines of a giant monster rampaging through the streets or our neighbours turned zombies breaking through our gate."
"Where do you even get such ideas from?" Asked Sunset, slightly puzzled with his words.
Crash chuckled as he went downstairs. "Local culture in a form of films and games. They have like nothing with logic and accuracy but are funny like that"
'Well, being from another world or not, he surely is weird' thought Sunset 'I just hope, it won't make my life harder than it already is'