//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Alternative Origins // by TalkingToMyself //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer stirred under the blankets and rolled over. Something wasn’t right and it was disturbing her sleep. She groaned annoyed. There it was again, a very unpleasant sound. She took the pillow and covered her head, trying to will herself back to sleep. The whimpering sound wouldn’t stop and now the mare sobbed even. Sunset’s eyes flew open when she remembered. She jumped out of her bed and dashed the short distance to the other bed by the fireplace. The mare from the crystal tossed around in her sleep and her legs kicked out in every direction. She whimpered in her sleep and painful sobs broke out of her. Sunset Shimmer instinctively sent out another spell to check on her, and was relieved that the mare’s vitals were normal. At least she was not in danger, although she was trapped in a vicious nightmare it seemed, her heartrate was off the charts. Her first instinct was to shake the mare and wake her up. That would be a quick solution for the nightmare and the sobbing all at once. She reached out but her hoof hovered in the air as she recalled the words from Princess Celestia’s message. Go easy on her. Patience. Sunset Shimmer furrowed her brow in a frown. Both of those things didn’t count to her greatest strengths. However, she knew that the Princess had far more experience in dealing with ponies, so it would be careless to dismiss her advice. Instead of shaking the mare, she placed her hoof gently on the top of the mare’s head, the only part that wasn’t tangled in the blanket. The mare whimpered more and instinctively tried to roll out of reach, but Sunset kept her hoof in place. Unsure of what to do next, she began to hesitantly stroke down the mare’s curly mane in a hopefully soothing way. It worked for a moment, but then the whimpering started again. Sunset Shimmer, more confident after her initial success, whispered in a calm voice “It’s just a bad dream. You’re okay.” The whimpering continued and Sunset’s whispers grew more impatient and louder “Stop it. You’re okay. You’re okay.” Suddenly, the mare’s eyes flew open and for a moment, Sunset Shimmer found herself staring deeply into a pair of turquoise eyes that seemed to glow in the dark, shaped like gemstones and with sharp edges instead of normal, round pupils. They looked very strange, but also very beautiful in a way. Before she could follow that thought, the mare broke into an ear-splitting scream of pure terror. Sunset Shimmer pulled back her hoof to cover her ears, and the mare screamed again and tried to get away, but she was tangled in the blankets in such a way that she could barely move. Instead, she curled up and her scream died into fearful whimpers. Her mane fell down and covered most of her face in brown, messy strands. Sunset Shimmer barely had any time to recover from the loud scream when the door to the room flew open and a pony in a guard uniform stormed in “What’s going on in here?” At least, he tried to get inside, but Sunset Shimmer snapped and all her rage and surprise unleashed on the guard. She sent a blast of magic towards him, nothing actually harmful but enough to push him back out while she screamed “Out! Pervert! This is a mare’s room! Out!” Her outburst ended in a high-pitched shriek and her magic slammed the door shut. After a moment of thinking, she also added a lockdown spell to make sure it would stay shut. Now that she had found and outlet for her anger, she turned back to the whimpering mare and forced herself to calm down. She took a deep breath and spoke in a normal voice “It’s alright. He won’t get back in.” Of course she knew that was not what had spooked the mare in such a way, but it was a start at least. It took her brain a moment to process that the mare in front of her had changed completely. The curly mane of bright yellow now was a mess of brown strands. The little of her face she could see wore a dark grey coat. Any trace of sparkles she had seen before was gone. Instead, now tears ran down her cheeks in a stream and her entire body shivered under the blankets. Sunset Shimmer blinked and tried to articulate the complex mass of thoughts that filled her mind “Whaa?” The mare just kept crying and curled up into fetal position. Sunset violently shook her head like before, in a physical attempt to clear her thoughts “Okay, seriously. Calm down and talk to me. What’s wrong with you?” The mare peeked through her mane with those oddly shaped eyes and a desperate voice made it to Sunset’s ears “Please don’t hurt me.” Sunset’s anger boiled up rapidly and made her glare. What was this pony thinking of her? Like she would just hurt a defenseless pony, let alone an injured, crying mare. How could she imply that? She opened her mouth to unleash a barrage of yells at the crystal mare, but the words died in her throat. She just saw me yelling at a guard and throw him out of the room. After she just woke up from a thousand year curse-induced coma. Is it really that surprising she’s scared? She forced herself to take some deep breaths. With a far more collected voice, she tried again “Just talk to me. I won’t hurt you. I promise.” The mare kept whimpering but her turquoise eyes trailed around and took in more of the room around her. Sunset sat down at a distance and noticed the eyes settle on her face for a while. She didn’t like when ponies stared at her like this, but she swallowed any snarky remark and continued with her calm tone “I’m Sunset Shimmer. What’s your name?” She groaned mentally at her uncreative attempt of starting a conversation. She really, really sucked at small talk. The mare’s eyes lost focus and stared through her it seemed. Sunset waited and tilted her head as she tried to find a better thing to say. When she almost didn’t expect an answer anymore, the mare mumbled “Crystal Note…” “Huh? That’s your name?” The mare just nodded as if she had to convince herself and Sunset bent her face into a forced smile “Well… Crystal Note. Nice to meet you. How are you feeling?” She facehooved. That was just miserable. Way to go, Shimmer. Ask the mare who’s crying like an infant how she feels. Out of any stupid things you could have said… But somehow, it worked “I feel woozy. Where am I?” Sunset Shimmer sighed and nodded. Better let her ask the questions for now “You’re at an outpost of the royal guard, far up in the north. Close to where the Crystal Empire had been. You remember the Crystal Empire, right?” The mare again stared through her and she nodded hesitantly. This time however, her eyes stayed dilated as if she was staring into the past “Why am I here?” Sunset bit her lower lip “I found you out in the tundra. You were trapped in a huge crystal made of magic. I broke the magic and freed you, but you didn’t wake up so we were brought here. That was two days ago.” The mare blinked and pressed her hooves against her temples as if she had a sudden headache “But why was I in the tundra? Why did you go looking for me?” “I wasn’t really looking for you. I was trying to find the Crystal Empire, but it was gone. It had been gone for a thousand years now.” The mare, Crystal Note, pressed her hooves against her temples and whimpered again “I want to go home now.” Sunset Shimmer frowned and fought back a snarky comment “That’s not possible.” “Why? I just want to go home. May I go? Please?” Sunset groaned when the mare started talking like a foal “Didn’t you hear me? The Crystal Empire is gone. Lost. Cursed away, I don’t know. You can’t go home because it’s not there anymore. There’s just frozen land outside.” The crystal pony bawled and cried and Sunset’s eyes went wide when her coat turned darker before her eyes, almost black now. Crystal Note trembled all over and tossed around with each heart-broken sob. Sunset Shimmer just stood there, completely lost. She had no idea what to do now, so she followed the route her mind was most comfortable with. She started analysing. Okay, so she’s changed into grey when she was afraid and black when she was sad. I didn’t sense any magic, so it’s no spell. Not that she even had a horn for casting a spell. Could this be an aftereffect from the dark magic? No, I would have sensed that. Come on, it can’t be too hard to figure out a crystal pony. Crystal pony! That’s it! She’s using crystal pony magic like the book said. And it’s empathetic magic so it has to do with emotion and… oh-oh… She gulped and flopped down her ears I’ve just told her she’ll never see her home again. Or her family. Or any pony she ever knew. For a brief moment, Sunset Shimmer saw the image of a small orange filly with a blank flank, bawling her eyes out into a pillow. The filly kept begging for her parents and the ponies from the orphanage tried to explain her they wouldn't be coming back. Oh crap… Sunset took a careful step towards the mare and her voice was merely a rueful whisper at this point “I’m sorry.” The sobbing didn't stop but from behind the strands of hair, Sunset saw a set of turquoise eyes glancing at her "It's just some words in an old book for me, but for you it's all real and important. I’m sorry I got so angry at you.” The mare turned her head to better watch Sunset, even though she stayed curled up. Crystal Note shivered as messy tears ran down her cheeks. Sunset Shimmer hesitated with her next words. She already made the mare cry with her usual approach, so she tried to think something else to do. She remembered how she had first met Princess Celestia back in the orphanage. As a little filly, she had been terrified by the tall alicorn, but at the end of the day, she eagerly left with the Princess. She asked in a voice as calm as she could muster “Are you hurt, Crystal Note? Should I get a doctor?” The mare shook her head and winced, but at least the sobbing stopped “I just feel dizzy. My head hurts.” She tried to sit up, but she was still tangled in the bedsheets “Here, let me help you.” Sunset used a flick of her magic to unwrap the sheets and blankets carefully from the mare. The sheets pooled down at the floor, but Sunset sent the blankets back to cover the mare who was still shivering. As soon as the magic glow appeared, Crystal Note was frozen in place with a fearful expression. Sunset didn't know what to think of that, so she just asked "What's wrong, now?" She instantly bit her tongue. That last word came out much sharper than intended and the mare flinched at her harsh tone. This time however, she fearfully answered right away "You promised you wouldn't hurt me." Sunset nodded, now even more confused and most of all annoyed. She swallowed down her anger and spoke in a forced calm voice "I made a promise and I won't break it. You don't have to be scared. I did nothing but..." "You used your magic against me!" The mare screamed out as loud as her shaky voice allowed, but as she realized what she did her eyes opened wide and her body curled up under the blankets again, seeking any shelter she could get. Her coat turned dark again and the tears and whimpering returned. Sunset Shimmer used every ounce of will to not snap in anger, still there was a sharp edge in her voice "I did not! I just picked up the sheets. That spell didn't even touch you. Seriously, it's like you've never seen a levitation spell before." Crystal Note sobbed and buried her face against her pillow "You used the same magic as King Sombra. It's only good for hurting ponies." With an audible smack, Sunset’s hoof flew against her forehead. How many more mistakes this obvious could she make in just one night? “You’ve never seen any unicorn beside Sombra, have you?” The crystal pony whimpered at the name, but there was a small nod as well. Sunset Shimmer groaned and slumped down in front of the bed “Oh sweet Celestia, give me strength.” While she was mulling over in her mind how she could best break the subject, the crystal pony on the bed kept peeking out of her cover at the frustrated unicorn. “You… you pray to Celestia?” “What? No! Why would I…? Augh, it’s just an expression. Nopony worships the Princess and she wouldn’t want it anyways, trust me.” Crystal Note flinched and cowered deeper under her blanket “Celestia wants to attack us. She wants to destroy the Crystal Empire because we don’t pray to her like other ponies do.” Sunset’s anger turned into surprise and confusion. Something about the way Crystal Note had said those words made it clear that the mare only recited what she had heard before, but clearly had some doubts. Sunset Shimmer quickly connected the dots in her mind and asked, far more calm than before “That’s what King Sombra told you, right? You know he was evil. He told you lies so you would follow him and fight for him. He was the one declaring war on Princess Celestia and Canterlot, not the other way around.” Crystal Note sat up again and stared at Sunset Shimmer. Although her coat and mane still were mostly dark, there was a spark in those gem-shaped eyes “You could be lying, too. You’re with Celestia. You could try to deceive me so you can invade my home.” Sunset Shimmer held the gaze of the crystal mare. She recognized that spark and the way the mare talked. She had that same tone when she was arguing with Princess Celestia, when she tried to convince the Princess but knew very well that she couldn’t change her mind. Since she found herself on the other side of the weigh this time, she followed what she had seen the Princess do in this situation “Do you really think I’m lying to you right now?” As expected, the mare first looked away. Crystal Note had that thousand-yard-stare again, as if she was looking into the past, before she shook her head and answered “No. But that means you didn’t lie earlier as well and… is the Empire really gone?” Sunset Shimmer let out a deep breath and nodded “It’s been gone for almost a thousand years now. According to my books, Canterlot’s armies lay siege to the Crystal Empire and King Sombra fought back, even though he didn’t stand a chance. So instead of surrendering, he unleashed a powerful curse that made the entire Crystal Empire just vanish.” Crystal Note stared ahead with blank eyes, her lips moved but only fragments of words made it out “…a thousand years… siege? ... curse? ... and now it’s all gone?” Sunset Shimmer sighed and repeated herself, testing her patience to the limit “Gone without a trace. I’m sorry, Crystal Note.” The last few words she added to be polite, but also to appease that feeling off guilt that somehow snuck into her guts by now. The last trace was scattered before her eyes when she had used her magic to free the mare. “But, what about the others? My friends? My family? Where are they?” Sunset Shimmer found the turquoise eyes directed at her again, pleading to her almost. Her voice sounded so desperate and hopeless. Sunset couldn’t hold that gaze and looked away, unable to say it. Crystal Note understood and once again broke into tears. She buried her muzzle into her forehooves to muffle the agonizing sobs. Sunset Shimmer could just watch and feel at loss. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know if there even were right things to say. So instead, she stayed silent but she stayed. Least thing she could do was not leave Crystal Note alone right now. With a glow of her horn, she carefully draped the blankets back in place. The crying mare didn’t seem to notice. On the edge of her awareness, she felt something poke against the lockdown spell she placed on the door. Quietly, to not further disturb the mare, Sunset Shimmer approached the door and opened it just enough to poke her head out. As she expected, she now faced the commander, this time accompanied by a unicorn guard who had tried to lift her enchantment on the door. The commander fixed Sunset with a levelled stared. In the room behind them, Crystal Note’s sobs could be heard “What’s going on in there?” Sunset bit her tongue before a snarky remark slipped out. Mostly for Crystal Note’s sake, she tried to keep things as calm as she could “She woke up, but she’s confused and scared. I tried to calm her down, but she’s still in shock.” She foresaw the next questions from the commander and answered in advance “I checked her vitals. Physically she’s okay, but otherwise…” Sunset and the commander sighed and the older earth pony nodded “I can’t say I’m surprised. She nearly died out there, that would leave an impression on anypony. You think you can take care of her for the night?” Sunset Shimmer nodded, pleasantly surprised. If she was the commander, she’d force to have somepony in the room to watch both mares, especially considering how she had treated him earlier. It seemed like the commander had decided to trust her, which felt good despite all the mess she had to deal with “You got in contact with Princess Celestia already?” She nodded again “I’ve sent message and informed her of what happened. She responded immediately and sent a pegasus carriage to collect us. She wants me to return to Canterlot and see her for herself. If my estimation is correct, the carriage should arrive late tomorrow.” The commander raised a brow but didn’t say anything else. It was evident he was surprised on the quick action of the Princess, but he wouldn’t question it. “Alright. That’s probably for the best anyways. Our medics are good, but they’re no doctors. She’ll be taken care of in Canterlot.” He glanced over to the unicorn guard who silently left on that. Now, alone with Sunset Shimmer, a layer of concern softened his stern expression. Behind them, Crystal Note still sobbed faintly “How’s the poor lass? Haven’t heard anyone bawling like that since I had to tell a mare she’d lost both her sons in a border skirmish at the dragon lands.” Sunset Shimmer bit her tongue again and simply shook her head “I can’t tell yet. At least she’s awake.” “Small blessings, eh?” The commander stood up and turned to leave “You try get some shut-eye, Miss Shimmer. You could use it from the looks of it.” He walked down the hallway but turned his head around after a few steps “Oh, and Miss Shimmer? If you attack any of my guards with spells again, I’ll personally tan your hide for it.” There was a challenge in his voice and despite the weird situation, Sunset’s lips curled into a smirk “No promises, Commander.” With a barking laugh and a shake of his head, he turned around and finally left Sunset alone in the doorway. She returned into the room and fought back the urge to cast another lockdown spell. Instead, she checked on Crystal Note who had cried herself to sleep. Both the exhaustion from the blizzard and the emotional stress wore her down to the ground, forcing her body into shutdown. Carefully, Sunset Shimmer adjusted the pillows and blankets around Crystal Note into a somewhat comfortable sleeping position. She climbed on her own bed and lay down, faced towards the mare. Any intentions to stay awake and watch her quickly surrendered to her fatigue and within minutes, she was fast asleep.