Sunset Shimmer woke up and stretched her legs with a long yawn before she jumped on her hooves. She smiled and walked straight to the window, just in time to see the rising sun. Her sleep had been the best in months and not only was her headache gone, but she also felt that her magic was fully recovered as well. With a quick spell and her brush, she took care of her mane and was ready to start a new, successful day.
Since she was in a rare good mood this early, she decided to take Princess Celestia’s advice from the day before. Usually, she only met Crystal Note after breakfast, but today she went to the door next to her own and knocked firmly. Since she didn’t hear anything from inside, she carefully opened the door and poked her head in.
Crystal Note was up already and busy making her bed. She had the same queen sized bed as Sunset Shimmer and struggled to straighten the enormous sheets with just her mouth and hooves. Sunset smirked as she walked into the room
“You know, the maid usually takes care of that.”
Crystal Note jumped when she heard the voice from behind her and turned around quickly. When she saw Sunset Shimmer, she seemed to relax for a moment, before she tensed up again and lower her eyes to the floor
“I don't wish to give anypony more trouble than I'm worth. I apologize if this bothers you, Madam Sunset.”
Sunset frowned and walked into the room. Crystal Note had been very polite before, but she never had used a title when taking to her. As she stepped inside, Crystal Note backed away the same distance. The crystal pony tried to maintain a calm posture, but Sunset Shimmer saw the tremble in her hooves and the nervous flick of her tail.
It didn't take a genius like Sunset Shimmer to figure out what was going on. Crystal Note was afraid of her. Honestly, there were only few ponies who weren't at least a little intimidated by Sunset Shimmer, some because of her immense magic talent, some because of her sharp tongue, but most of them because of the ruthlessness with which she pursued her goals. Sunset Shimmer knew about it, but didn't care. Why should she care about what other ponies thought of her, all that mattered was that they knew she was the best in what she did and that Princess Celestia was impressed by her.
Somehow though, this time Sunset found that she did care. Crystal Note had followed her like a shadow during the last weeks, which was annoying, but also quite flattering. The crystal mare never questioned anything Sunset said, she followed every order perfectly and when she was asked something, she would look at Sunset with open admiration. That admiration was now replaced by fear and it left a sour taste with Sunset Shimmer.
She remembered what Princess Celestia had said the other day and started thinking.
Am I really treating her like a pet? If she didn't want to follow me, she shouldn't. And if she didn't want to work on my research, she should just leave.
Where would she go to, though? Sunset Shimmer frowned when she realized she never even showed Crystal Note how to navigate through Canterlot Palace. It would be too risky to go into the city with her, nopony should learn about the appearance of a crystal pony yet. But maybe she would enjoy a stroll through the royal gardens at least.
Guess there's only one way to find out, she thought and focused back on the mare.
Crystal Note still had her head bowed down, but her eyes kept glancing towards her. She didn't seem uncomfortable despite her awkward posture, which told Sunset she was used to not looking at ponies and staying silent and out of the sight. With a cruel ruler like King Sombra, the less she was seen probably was best for her.
Sunset Shimmer frowned and walked closer towards the mare who by now ran out of space to back away. The trembling of her hooves increased and Crystal Note probably waited for some kind of punishment right now
“Are you hungry, Crystal Note? I could use some breakfast right now. How about you?”
As intended by Sunset, a casual question like that threw Crystal Note off loop
“I, um, no Madam Sunset. I mean, I am a little hungry, but I don't want to bother you during breakfast. I'll just get something from the kitchen, like always.”
Sunset Shimmer smirked and nodded in approval
“I'm glad you don't let yourself go hungry at least. Why don't you go to the dining hall though, like everypony else?”
Crystal Note turned her head away so she wouldn’t have to face Sunset Shimmer, but the crystal pony magic told Sunset everything she needed to know anyways. After three weeks of observing the changing, she could see the subtle differences, like now when Crystal Note's coat lost some of its shine. Crystal Note tried to keep her voice calm, but Sunset could see her nervousness
“I don't want to bother anypony while they enjoy their meals.”
“Uh-huh. Okay, let's try again. What is the real reason you don't go to the dining hall?”
Crystal Note's eyes snapped to Sunset Shimmer. The look Sunset threw back at her just confirmed that Sunset Shimmer could see right through her, so she sighed and admitted
“The dining hall is always crowed. There are so many soldiers all the time. And in the private hall is only for Princess Celestia and important ponies like you.”
“Says who?”
Crystal Note flinched at the sudden harshness in Sunset’s voice and hurried to answer
“The stallion with the hard eyes. The one all the other soldiers follow when he talks.”
“Captain Stout Shield.”
Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes. She had never liked the old stallion at all. To Stout Shield, the fact that Sunset Shimmer, an orphan with no background whatsoever, was picked as Princess Celestia's personal student, was like a slap in the face to every noble pony. He made no secret and tried to hinder Sunset Shimmer wherever he could.
Not that it helped him any. Even as a filly, Sunset Shimmer had been intelligent and witted. Stout Shield had become the tail's end of many pranks that never even pointed towards Sunset, even though the smirks she threw him when Princess Celestia wasn't watching told an entirely different story.
Sunset Shimmer frowned and shook her head. She would put the guard captain in his place in time, but for now, she had more important things to do
“Follow me, Crystal Note.”
She turned around on the spot, left the room and counted in her head. Before she reached three, she heard hoofsteps of the mare, hurrying to follow as ordered. Sunset Shimmer walked down the hallway and Crystal Note followed, accurately two pony-lengths behind her as always and her steps in perfect time with Sunset's.
She stopped abruptly and turned around. Crystal Note needed a moment to notice, but when she did she skidded to a halt on the marble floor. The crystal mare was shivering from head to tail, her eyes were on the floor all the time and her coat took a dirty greyish hue.
Sunset Shimmer sighed deeply
“Okay, what is this all about?”
“I'm not sure I know what you mean, Madam Sunset.”
“That! What's with the title suddenly? And why do you act this way around me?”
Crystal Note kept her head low but dared to glance up at Sunset Shimmer
“Madam, I am simply treating you with the respect you properly deserve. And I humbly apologize for not doing so right when me met. I was not aware of your rank and position, Madam Sunset.”
Sunset Shimmer blew her breath out through her nose
“Just who told you that nonsense, Crystal Note?”
“Apologies, Madam, but you did so, just yesterday. You may not have said anything, but your actions speak clearly to me.”
Sunset Shimmer blinked once and tilted her head in confusion. My actions? Yesterday? What... oh. Mind magic. She had put a dangerous spell on Crystal Note. She wasn't aware that it was dangerous at the time, but did that really change anything for the mare at the receiving end?
“I suppose Princess Celestia told you what happened while you were asleep.”
“Not entirely, Madam Sunset. Her Highness has a tendency to speak in vague indications.”
Despite a good night’s sleep, Sunset Shimmer’s patience was limited and that overly formal behaviour from Crystal Note triggered her short temper.
“Could you please stop talking like that? You’re giving me a headache.”
“Apologies, Madam. I assumed you preferred if I addressed you like the other ponies of the palace do.”
Like the others do? Sunset took a mental step back. She didn’t really give much about how other ponies treated her, beside Princess Celestia that is. But she did enjoy when they did show proper respect towards her. Soldiers had their military ranks, nobles have had a complicated caste system for centuries and even in Celestia’s school, better grades meant higher rankings and respect from the teachers. So why would Canterlot Palace be any different? Sunset Shimmer was a powerful and intelligent unicorn and Celestia’s ‘most talented student’, why shouldn’t she expect the other ponies to treat her with respect? Shouldn’t a maid or a kitchen aide look up to her, when she was only a single step, or maybe even less, behind Princess Celestia herself?
Sunset Shimmer had to admit, the way Crystal Note talked with her, if any other pony talked with her like that, she’d feel greatly pleased. In fact, she had even treated that pegasus guard better after he had called her ‘Lady’ only once. The crystal mare was right. Sunset Shimmer wanted this and preferred this from any other pony.
So why does it feel so strange when it’s coming from Crystal Note?
The answer was so simple, now that she took the time to think about it. Fear. Crystal Note feared her, right this very moment. Sunset Shimmer always thought ponies ran away screaming when they feared something, like ‘AH! Dragon! Run for your lives!’-fear. But Crystal Note didn’t move from her spot. Two pony-lengths of distance, far enough to show respect and not too far to appear impolite. It was a safe distance in which the crystal mare could hide in plain sight. Because she was afraid, no doubt about it, but Sunset Shimmer didn’t even realize how much. Crystal Note was too afraid even to run away. Maybe it was because she knew she didn’t have a chance even if she ran. Sunset Shimmer could easily trap her in under a shield spell before she made five steps. Or just freeze her like a statue before she even fully turned around. So from where Crystal Note was standing, hiding in plain sight was the most intelligent thing to do.
But that’s not what’s bothering me either, Sunset thought. What is it?
Then it hit her. Crystal Note behaved perfectly for what she was trying to achieve, hiding her fear under a mantle of respect, making herself inconspicuous so much that nopony would think she was worth bothering with at all. In fact, if Sunset Shimmer didn’t know her like she did, she would just walk past this pony and never even throw a second glance at her.
The problem was, Crystal Note wasn’t like that. She wasn’t good at anything, really. She was clumsy when she tried to eat those overly decorated meals Princess Celestia had them served for dinner. She was awkward whenever she talked with somepony, even with Sunset Shimmer. If she really would be that good of an actress, why didn’t she put on an act all time? Instead, she only acted like this when she was afraid.
Again, the answer was simple. Crystal Note was afraid, terrified even. She was awkward in normal situations, because she didn’t know how to deal with them, mainly because she couldn’t remember but also because of thousand years of change in pony culture. But somehow, being deeply afraid and cowering in fear behind faked respect was easy for her. Because it was natural for her. Sunset Shimmer felt a shiver run down her spine at the implications of that. Out of an entire life Crystal Note had forgotten, only fear made it through the power of the curse and the amnesia.
And yesterday, I made myself somepony she would fear. Yesterday, I gave her all the reasons she needed to see that fear was the only way she had left.
Sunset Shimmer gulped and the bitter taste fell like a stone into her empty stomach. By then, she realized she had been just staring at Crystal Note for minutes now without saying a word, without even reacting to the last thing the mare had said. Crystal Note just stayed as she was of course, with her head hung low and eyes on the floor, not moving. Not catching any form of attention and trying to be invisible. She tried her hardest not to give the powerful unicorn in front of her any reason to unleash her magic at her.
“Crystal Note.”
Sunset Shimmer kept her voice soft. It was surprisingly easy. She didn’t even have to imitate the princess this time. The mare in front of her kept her head low, but her eyes glanced up again
“What happened yesterday way a mistake. My mistake. Not your fault, okay? I misjudged the situation and messed up something I should have known better.”
She didn’t say that it was Celestia’s fault for not telling her everything, that would not help Crystal Note right now.
“So how about we just forget about it and go on like nothing happened?”
Crystal Note’s coat turned a notch darker and her eyes darted back to the floor
“Apologies, Madam Sunset, but I would rather not forget anymore.”
Sunset Shimmer smacked her hoof against her forehead. Tell the mare who suffers from amnesia to forget! Great job, Shimmer.
Suddenly, Crystal Note started to giggle. Sunset thought of the awkward moment where she had tried to hug the mare, after she found out about her amnesia. Crystal Note had giggled the same way back then. Sunset's lips curved into a smile.
A moment later, Crystal Note seemed to realize that she was giggling and immediately stopped. Since she couldn't bow down any further, she threw herself flat on the floor before a very perplexed Sunset Shimmer
“Apologies, Madam. I should not question anything you say.”
Sunset Shimmer sighed and rolled her eyes
“And why do you think that, huh? What changed?”
“I am now aware of my place, Madam Sunset.”
Sunset Shimmer frowned. This would not get her anywhere, if she wanted to make progress she needed to shock the mare out of her shell. She sat down on her haunches and used her magic. Crystal Note yelped in fear as she was lifted from the floor by Sunset's magic field. Before she could react in panic, Sunset straightened her up and placed her down in front of her, in the same sitting position and this time much closer. Before Crystal Note's mind could process all of it, Sunset's next question caught her attention
“And what exactly is your place, Crystal Note?”
Crystal Note looked up but the tone of Sunset's voice urged her to answer without thinking
“I'm the subject of your studies and that's why you show any interest in me. But since I couldn't make your plan work last night, I'm not as useful as you expected, so now I can either prove useful in another way or be p-punished accordingly.”
Crystal Note stumbled at the word and her fear broke through and made her glance up at Sunset’s horn for a brief moment.
Sunset Shimmer had stayed silent through the explanation and now just stared at the mare. Crystal Note grew just more and more nervous as the silence continued, until finally, Sunset facehoofed again
“This is wrong on so many levels.”
Crystal Note shivered but she remained in the position Sunset had forced her into, staring anxiously at her
“Okay, first things first: Nopony is going to punish you, especially if you did literally nothing! You’re not to blame for what happened yesterday, I am. Okay? I didn’t even tell you what I was going to do with you. So: You did nothing wrong! Got it?”
Sunset locked her eyes with Crystal Note and used the shorter distance between them to emphasize her words with a hoof on the mare’s shoulder.
Crystal Note flinched when the hoof touched her, but as Sunset Shimmer talked, most of the tension seemed to melt out of her. At the end, she could nod with a meek smile even
“I understand, Madam Sunset.”
“And right to the next thing: You don’t have to call me titles or bow or whatever. Yes, I’m trying to study your past and yes, I’m the Princess’ personal student, but that’s all there is, okay?”
Crystal Note’s smiled faded and her voice was timid and small
“But, whenever somepony speaks to you, they always…”
“Listen.”
Sunset Shimmer interrupted the crystal mare before she could get into any rambling
“If you want to call me ‘Madam’ because you think I’m awesome and you want to show it somehow, that’s fine. But if you’re just saying it because you’re afraid I’ll hurt you otherwise, that’s just wrong.”
Crystal Note stared at her and Sunset knew she didn’t believe a word she said
“I’m serious!”
“Yes, Madam. I understand.”
“Oh, for the love of… okay!”
Sunset Shimmer groaned in frustration and fixed the mare with her famous glare
“I want you to tell me what you thought of me before yesterday! No dodging around and no mincing words, just shove it all at me!”
Crystal Note shivered from the glare as it meant Sunset Shimmer would be angry at her. She was, of course, but something shimmered through behind all that. It took a moment for Crystal Note to see that Sunset Shimmer, while being angry, also was completely honest with her. With a sigh, she finally caved in. Her voice was barely louder than a whisper
“When I first saw you, I was very scared and confused. But soon I found I didn’t have to. You didn’t let the soldiers get close to me and you made sure that stallion didn’t do anything bad to me.” Sunset suspected she talked about the medic at the guard post, but she didn’t interrupt as the mare went on, “I was still scared but I knew you were around so it wasn’t as bad. Even the flying.” A deep blush appeared on Crystal Note cheeks “It felt good to have somepony watching over me.”
“O…kay.” Wow. That’s so not what I expected. Crystal Note thought of her as her guardian? Her protector even?
“Okay, listen.”
Sunset took a deep breath
“I won’t be around all the time to… watch over you. So you need to learn doing that for yourself. I’ll help”, she was quick to add when Crystal Note’s ears dropped down, “but you have to learn it. Okay?”
Crystal Note just sat there and looked into her eyes. Sunset was beginning to feel a little uneasy at the intensity for those gem-shaped orbs, but then the mare nodded shyly
“I understand, Sunset Shimmer.”
“Good.”
Sunset notice the lack of her new title immediately and took it as a good sign
“So, first lesson: Breakfast!”
Crystal Note blinked a couple of times, clearly confused at the sudden change of pace
“You said you were hungry, and so am I. So, follow me. Please!”
Sunset forced the last word out so it was more of an order than anything else, but Crystal Note could see the sentiment behind it and nodded. As soon as she stood up, the glumness faded from her coat and left a light hue of grey.
Sunset Shimmer nodded along and headed towards the dining hall, as she had intended before this talk. Crystal Note fell in step with her again as soon as there was some distance between them, but this time Sunset Shimmer stopped immediately and threw one of her famous glares back at the crystal mare.
Crystal Note needed a moment to realize, but then walked up until she was walking next to Sunset Shimmer. There was a change in colour again, but this time it was just a blush on her cheeks.
They reached the dining hall and by now, enough ponies were awake to create quite some noise that even made it to the hallway. Sunset Shimmer noticed how Crystal Note hesitated and slowed down next to her, so she stopped
“Okay, quiz time. First question: Do you want to have breakfast?”
Crystal Note looked at her, clearly confused
“If it’s not too much a bother…”
“It’s either yes or no, Crystal Note.”
“I… yes, please.”
“Alright. Next question: Do you want to have breakfast in the dining hall? Yes or no?”
“N-no… there are so many soldiers and…”
“Don’t justify yourself! Do you want to have breakfast in the small hall, with the princess instead?”
“Yes. Please.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
Just like that, Sunset Shimmer passed the noisy hall and directed Crystal Note to another, far smaller room. If it wasn’t for the two guard ponies at the door, nopony would have guessed that this was a royal dining room
“Good morning, gentlecolts.”
Sunset Shimmer fixed both guards with a challenging glare. She didn’t slow down as she made for the door, and the guards exchanged a glance when Crystal Note stayed at her side. Of course, as Princess Celestia’s personal student, Sunset Shimmer was allowed in unless the princess said otherwise. Before either of them could say anything, Sunset Shimmer opened the door with her magic and motioned for Crystal Note to walk in first.
The guards said nothing. They knew better than to start a fight with Princess Celestia’s protégé when she was in this mood. Sunset Shimmer turned her glare into a smirk and addressed them again
“Crystal Note is a personal guest of the princess. If I hear that you’re not treating her appropriately, I will come to remind you. Do we have an understanding?”
They glared at her but showed no other reaction.
“As you were gentlecolts.”
Sunset Shimmer walked in and closed the door behind her with a smile to Princess Celestia, who hadn’t noticed anything
“Good morning, Sunset and Crystal Note. Will you join me for breakfast?”
Crystal Note glanced at Sunset Shimmer for approval, like nothing had ever happened between them. Sunset just smirked and nodded
“We’d love to, Princess.”