//------------------------------// // An apprentice in distress // Story: Crystal Camaraderie // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// The laboratory still had a stink of burning feathers that Chartreuse couldn’t get rid of, no matter what she tried. The filly was fretful, and for good reason; it was her job to make sure that the laboratory remained clean, neat, and tidy after experiments. Such was the life of an apprentice, the life that she herself had chosen, believing it to be wondrous and glamourous. She had, of course, been mistaken, and had learned the hard way that the life of an apprentice was all about hard work and drudgery. Not that she minded, no. One day, she would be a wizard, and she would have an apprentice of her own, perhaps. All of her current frustrations could be relieved at a later date, and this kept her going. The best way to learn was to do and necessity made a pony try new things. No matter what new things she tried, she couldn’t get the stench of burned feathers out of the laboratory though, and she wondered why the alchemists were burning feathers in the first place. Ugh! At least she had been able to clean the black soot from off of the ceiling. Sighing, she resigned herself to failure and hoped that her masters wouldn’t be too disappointed. Dim would berate her, but she expected that. He was a super-tidy perfectionist prone to tirades, but he was also the one that had taught her the most magic so far. Sunburst would give her ‘The Look’ while also trying to reassure her. The worst though was Shining Armor, and the silence that would be sure to follow. She hated that most of all and it motivated her to do her very best, no matter what. As it was right now though, her best was not good enough. Sighing, she took off her conical hat and set it down upon an immaculately clean stone table. She had scoured it, using both magic and a scrubbing brush. It was clean and she was confident that nothing remained behind to pollute or otherwise corrupt future work. Alchemy required a clean, sterilised environment, which meant a great deal of scrubbing. The exact sort of make-busy work that an apprentice was good for. “Having some trouble?” Hearing Sunburst’s voice, she flinched but did not turn to look at him, knowing that he stood in the doorway, no doubt giving her the dreaded ‘The Look’ to end all looks. A lump grew in her throat, which then grew tight around it, making it difficult to breathe. No matter what she had tried, she just couldn’t summon up the magic required to make the stench go away. “Looks like we’ve found your point of failure,” Sunburst said, his voice gentle and somehow encouraging. “Now, we get to see how you handle a lack of success. Chartreuse, try not to worry about it too much, okay? You’ve already exceeded all of our expectations. You’re not going anywhere and we’re not sending you home because of this.” Hearing hooves, her ears pricked and pivoted in the direction of the sound. She had been a bit more emotional than usual, missing her parents, missing home, and missing Canterlot. Rarity and Sassy were also missed, along with all of the familiar sights and sounds of where she used to work. The raw emotion bore down upon her withers and she could feel the weight of the world upon her back. This was exactly what she wanted—her dreams had come true—so why wasn’t she happy? “You have a new assignment.” Sunburst approached; each step caused his hooves to ring out on the stone tiles and the faint sound of his breathing could also be heard if one listened. On his face was a look of mild disappointment tinged with sincere concern and worry, the very look that Chartreuse so dreaded. “This comes from Shining Armor himself. He wants you to take up new quarters with a roommate.” “A roommate?” Chartreuse replied while she blinked a few times to be rid of the sting in her eyes. “Well, that tiny little room we currently have you in isn’t adequate.” Sunburst paused, lifted Chartreuse’s hat, and then with his magic, he sterilised the spot where it had been sitting. With a smile, he placed it back upon her head, then nudged it so it sat at a jaunty angle. “There is a filly, she’s about your age, and she could use a helper. She’s blind, sort of, and her name is Chalcedony.” “How can one be sort of blind?” This time, Chartreuse did turn around to look at her master. “I don’t understand and I would very much like to know. If I am to perform my task, I need details. Relevant information.” Sunburst chuckled, and then tweaked the tassel on Chartreuse’s hat, an affectionate gesture done between teacher and student. “She sees the magical light spectrum, and because of this, she can’t see non-magical mundane items at all. She can see thaumaton radiation, in simple terms.” The orange unicorn cleared his throat and his grin grew ever-wider. “Shining Armor was hoping that you could be her companion. She doesn’t have much in the way of friends. Just a few teachers.” “I don’t mind being a seeing eye pony if that is what is requested of me.” Chartreuse bowed her head. “I will look after whatever or whoever Shining Armor entrusts me with and I am glad that I can be trusted with such a task.” “That’s the spirit.” Sunburst nodded. “You know, Chartreuse, you don’t need to try so hard to impress. Shining Armor is a little worried about that. You have the job. Every day you do more than is expected of you. You need to relax a little.” “Okay.” Try as she might, Chartreuse couldn’t relax a little. She expected far too much from herself, and she held herself up to the stringent standards established by her previous boss. Chartreuse had been capable of meeting Rarity’s exacting demands for absolute perfection, which was proof that effort and hard work paid off. Perfection was possible. “Good.” Sunburst made a gesture with his hoof while also turning about to face the door. “Now follow me so you can check out your new quarters.” The new quarters weren’t within the Crystal Spire, but outside. A short, narrow tower of pale green crystal stood in the middle of a nice little garden. The entire thing was fenced off with hedges and even had a gate. It wasn’t very big, nor was it very tall, which no doubt meant it would be a little cramped inside. The door was made of opaque rose-coloured glass. Chartreuse paused for a moment to admire it. “This is a former guardhouse, but it is no longer in use since we’ve redirected traffic. Shining Armor had it repurposed, but then didn’t know what to do with it. It’s a bit of a walk to the palace tower, but not too bad. It is a quiet little spot out here past the royal greens.” “It’s lovely,” Chartreuse said, and she meant it. It wasn’t very big at all, but it was cosy looking. There was even a postal box next to the gate. Sprouting from the top of the tower was an ornamental lightning rod shaped like a reaching dragon, and there was a teeny, tiny cramped little balcony on the top floor, something just big enough for a pegasus to land on, which made sense, seeing as how it was a guardhouse at one point. “Shining Armor had the path leading to this place embedded with magical stones so Chalcedony would be able to find her way to and from this place to the school and the palace. Are you ready to meet her? She’s inside, waiting, and probably a bit nervous.” Taking a deep breath, Chartreuse swallowed and nodded at the same time. “I am…” Inside, beyond the rose-coloured door, was a cosy little parlour, but Chartreuse failed to notice. No, the first thing she saw was a pale white crystal pony shooting up and down while shouting, “WHEE!” in a shrill, excited voice. The tower, being so small, did not have stairs, but had a launcher that shot a pony up through a hole in the floor. Like almost any foal that lived in a cramped tower in Canterlot, Chalcedony was using it for fun, and Chartreuse had fond memories of home while she stood there, staring with wide eyes. The crystal pony giggled with reckless abandon while being boosted upwards, and on her way down, she happened to notice the two unicorns in the room. She tumbled out of the path of the launcher and landed on her hooves with a clatter, looking sheepish. Her mane was mussed, her tail was bushy from the launcher, and she still had an enormous grin on her face that stretched from ear to ear. Lifting one hoof, she gave a shy wave. “Hi, I’m Chalcedony, and you look easy on the eyes!” The awkward silence got a five second head start while Chartreuse stood there with her mouth hanging open. Sunburst had closed his eyes and his whole body shook with the laughter he battled to suppress. Chalcedony realised what she had said and now looked mortified. The filly pulled up her right foreleg from the floor and began to rub her left foreleg with it while her ears tried to make up their mind what to do in response to this dreaded social faux pas. “I see magic,” she said, trying to explain, and almost stammering. “Some ponies are too bright for me to look at it and it hurts me. You’re not very bright and that makes it easy for me to look at you.” “I see.” Chartreuse blinked a few times to recover her senses, but never thought about how insensitive her response might sound. “I am Chartreuse Le Feu, of House Le Feu, of Canterlot. Most ponies find me too bright to look at.” “Oooh, Fancy!” Chalcedony stumbled forwards in gawky, awkward adolescent motion, and came to a stop when she was about a foot away from Chartreuse. “I can’t see you at all, I can only see the magical aura you project. An outline of you. I see little flames dancing around your body, but your body itself is unseen. I lost my sight the day I got my cutie mark.” “That’s awful!” “I don’t think so.” Chalcedony’s smile never faltered. “Sunburst here gives off the golden glow of sunshine, but it is hard to look at him because it stings my eyes. With you… it’s like staring into a candle.” Wracking her brain, Chartreuse tried to think of a suitable response, but came up with exactly nothing. Chalcedony’s eyes were a milky-pinkish white, somewhat disturbing to look into, but she was determined not to be rude. The pale white crystal pony was earthen in nature, and like all crystal ponies, she had a faint glow about her. The mussed up curly mane was a muted shade of green that had vivid yellow-green highlights. Chalcedony was a pretty filly, certainly more so than Chartreuse thought about herself. “I don’t have many friends,” Chalcedony said, blurting out her words in the manner of adolescent fillies everywhere. “My last assistant ditched me. She got tired of having to wait around, having to lead me from place to place, and helping me fix meals and stuff.” “I won’t do that—” “You say that now, but everypony says that at first.” Chalcedony’s smile never wavered, not even for a second. “I won’t hold it against you if you decide this just isn’t working out. No one should be saddled with me against their will.” “Now you just hold on a second!” Chartreuse’s sense of righteousness felt as though it had been rubbed wrong—it was like an unwanted tweak on the nose—and Sunburst’s ears perked from her outburst. “When I take a job, I do it to the best of my ability and I don’t quit! I am not a quitter, I am a go getter! I already have a very professional résumé!” “We’ll see.” Chalcedony took a few steps back and her head tilted off to one side. “I am going to leave you two fillies to get acquainted.” Sunburst had a somewhat worried expression on his face while his head turned from left to right to focus on each filly. “Chartreuse, you have the rest of the day off. Make the most of it. Get comfortable and I’ll bring by your stuff, later.” “Thank you, Sunburst.” “Don’t mention it.” His lips pressed into a tight, thin line, and his glasses slid down his muzzle just a bit. It made him look older somehow, maybe absentminded, and he pushed them back into place with his hoof, not his magic. “Yes, thank you, Sunburst.” Chalcedony squinted when her head turned in Sunburst’s direction. “She certainly seems a lot nicer than my last assistant.” “I’ll be taking my leave now.” Sunburst bowed his head. “Good luck, both of you.”