//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 // Story: Alternative Origins // by TalkingToMyself //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer heard Cadance long before she could see her. That wasn’t because the suddenly-alicorn had a loud or unpleasant voice or because she talked too much. Truth was she barely got a chance to say anything with the noisy entourage of ponies following every step of the newest princess. While the nobles of Canterlot either respected or despised Sunset Shimmer for her raw magical talent and altogether feared her for her unbending personality, they adored Princess Cadance for all the other reasons. Nobles of all ranks approached her with matters big and small and Princess Cadance always listened, always promised to forward them to her ‘Auntie Celestia’. Ponies from every stand hung on the pink alicorn’s lips, laughing at everything she said and trying to have some of Cadance’ popularity rub off on them. And finally, there was this annoying crowd of mares and stallions who constantly begged for advice and help from the self-proclaimed ‘Princess of Love’ who just happened to love playing matchmaker. Sometimes, Sunset Shimmer wondered if Princess Cadance was secretly a genius and knew that all those ponies just tried to manipulate her, that she just played along so she could manipulate them instead. But then she heard the silly, bubbly giggle from the teenage pony trapped in the body of a mature alicorn, and Sunset knew that Princess Cadance was really just as naïve and clueless as everypony thought of her. Sunset pondered for a moment if it was worth to just teleport to the other side of the castle, but by then the cloud of noise with Cadance in the middle had made the turn and the pink alicorn spotted her right away “Sunset Shimmer! It’s great to see you again!” Oblivious as ever, Cadance used her wings to propel herself out of the crowd and into the air. She crossed the distance with a single lead and wrapped her hooves around Sunset in a tight hug, all while Sunset Shimmer tried her best to fight back her reflex to gag. Luckily, she found an outlet for her annoyance and rising anger instantly, as the crowd of Cadance’ followers approached her. She sent a glare towards them that could freeze a volcano and flared her horn menacingly. Behind Cadance’ back, the ponies scattered into different directions and disappeared faster than a fresh cake around Princess Celestia. Sunset Shimmer felt the cling of the pink princess loosen up a little and growled “You can let go now, Cadance.” Cadance smiled and released Sunset from the hug with a sigh of relief “I’m so glad I met you! I can’t wait to tell you all about my trip and Auntie Celestia wrote me you had some exciting new things to tell me as well!” Sunset cringed when Cadance called Princess Celestia ‘Auntie’ and her anger boiled up even more. She just appeared out of nowhere and suddenly, she’s a princess and Celestia’s niece. I worked all my life and harder than everypony else and what did it get me? Sunset Shimmer knew that leashing out against Cadance would make Princess Celestia angry at her. It was the only reason why Cadance still had all her feathers in the right places and enough teeth for that annoying smile. So instead, Sunset did what she always did whenever she was with Cadance. She would count on Cadance' natural inability to sense sarcasm “Gee Cadance, I can’t wait to hear all about your trip! It sounds sooo interesting!” “Oh, I know! But first, how about we find Auntie Celestia? I haven’t had a chance to say hi yet.” Because you were assaulted by an army of hoof-lickers as soon as you entered the palace I’m sure. Sunset Shimmer faked another smile “Of course. Just follow me!” With that, Sunset popped out of existence only to reappear around the corner after teleporting. She had an almost cruel smirk as she watched Cadance' distraught and helpless expression. She enjoyed the sight for half a minute before she teleported back in front of her “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I totally forgot that you can’t teleport yet!” Princess Cadance blushed deep red for a moment and cleared her throat “I-it’s okay Sunset.” It clearly wasn’t. Cadance had received a horn, a crown and enough magic energy so she could lift the entire palace, even if it hurt Sunset to admit this. What made it bearable was that Cadance was unable to control that magic in the slightest, even after weeks of practice with Princess Celestia. She still only barely managed to lift her fork during dinner and her teacups wobbled and spilled their content whenever she tried to levitate them. Princess Cadance was rightfully ashamed of this and therefore Sunset Shimmer missed no opportunity to remind her. Mostly by demonstrating that she, Sunset Shimmer, was the most powerful and talented unicorn that had ever walked on Equestrian soil. Sunset grinned and reached out towards the wannabe-princess “Let’s go together!” Cadance hesitated but took hold of Sunset Shimmer’s hoof. Sunset grinned and immediately teleported them both to Princess Celestia’s private chambers, so Cadance wouldn’t have the chance to brace herself. She didn’t hide her smirk as Cadance held her head and tried to get the room to stop spinning. Teleportation was a tricky thing and needed a lot of control to learn it and even more to master it the way Sunset Shimmer had. For the pony who teleported, it was natural after a few times, but taking somepony along was challenging, especially for the passenger. Of course, you could take a moment to attune the teleportation spell to the pony you want to bring along so there wouldn’t be any dizziness, but Sunset Shimmer accidentally forgot about that. Again. Oops. Sunset Shimmer knocked on the doors with the sun emblem before Cadance had fully recovered and eagerly followed the call from the inside “Come in!” Sunset Shimmer grinned at Princess Celestia who eagerly returned the smile to her talented student. However, as soon as the princess noticed the pony behind Sunset, Celestia’s smile turned brighter and Sunset’s faded completely. Only by sheer force of will could she stop herself from growling in anger. “Cadance! Welcome home, my dear niece.” “Hi Auntie Celestia!” Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes as they hugged and exchanged some pleasantries. Before Cadance could get started with her travel report, Sunset chimed in with her best faked happy voice “Who wants some tea? I’d love a cup!” Before anypony could say something else, Sunset’s magic flared up and all over the room, objects floated up surrounded by her magic. Sunset Shimmer chatted almost casually with Princess Celestia as she juggled two dozen levitation spells at once, summoned all ingredients out of thin air, including water (which was particularly tricky, and Cadance knew that) and then used some perfectly controlled heat spells to prepare three perfect infusions in the blink of an eye. Just seconds later, three cups of tea floated towards each of them, all their favourite blends prepared to perfection with all the extras each of them preferred. Celestia nodded appreciatively and took her cup in her own magic. As the princess closed her eyes for the first blissful sip, Sunset Shimmer smirked at Cadance who not only got a perfect reminder on who was the magical prodigy around, but also lost all of her annoying bubbliness. Cadance managed to grab her own cup in her pink magic and it barely wobbled. Sunset Shimmer noticed this with a frown. I guess she’s getting better with practice. We’ll see about that. With Princess Celestia enjoying her first sip of fresh tea and Cadance utterly focused on holding her cup, Sunset Shimmer sent a tiny nudge towards Cadance’ spell. As expected, that was enough to throw Cadance off balance and break her feeble hold on the cup. What she didn’t expect was for the cup to shatter and send shards and boiling tea flying through the room. Cadance shrieked and Sunset Shimmer ducked her head out of harm’s way, but Princess Celestia was faster than both of them. Every shard of the former cup and every drop of tea was surrounded by her golden magic and froze in mid-air. Then, they moved together again, like a backwards explosion as Princess Celestia reformed the cup with her magic “Goodness, Cadance. You need to be more careful. I’ve told you that you have more magic than a normal unicorn, you must always be careful when using it.” Cadance head dropped in shame “Yes Auntie Celestia. I don’t know what went wrong. I’ve been levitating things all week with no problems and nothing like this ever happened before.” Sunset Shimmer waited for Princess Celestia's sigh before she chimed in, hiding her smirk behind some helpful advice "Maybe Cadance is just excited to tell us all about her trip. Strong emotions can mess with magic when you don't have enough practice." Cadance blushed even more at yet another reminded of her lacking abilities, especially when Princess Celestia nodded towards her student "That might just be it, Sunset. A sharp observation, but I'd expect nothing less from you." Sunset returned Celestia's smile, but her eyes shot a winning smirk towards Cadance. Cadance' head dropped further and Sunset Shimmer grinned inwardly. That's right, better don't forget your place around here. You may be a princess, but I'm still years ahead of you. “In fact, I would like you to practice with Cadance some more. I think it would be a wonderful learning experience for both of you.” Sunset Shimmer’s grin froze and Cadance looked uneasy as well “Auntie, do you really think that…” “Of course Cadance. You won’t find a mage as well-versed as Sunset in all of Canterlot.” Cadance nodded and tried a weak smile towards Sunset Shimmer who was openly frowning now. Sunset also noticed Princess Celestia’s gaze on her, so she nodded as well “I’ll see what I can do.” Great, now I’m stuck with two clueless pony. Hm, actually… “I think I’ll invite Crystal Note to our training sessions. Cadance is learning the basics, after all, so she could catch up.” And it would be hilarious to see Crystal Note understand a spell before Cadance does. “That won’t be necessary, my talented student. I believe it would be for the best if you focused on Cadance individually.” Princess Celestia put a strange emphasis on the last word and shot a glance to Sunset Shimmer that she knew rather well. Don’t argue with me about this. Sunset Shimmer frowned at this. Why would Princess Celestia say something like this? Cadance seemed to notice the silent conversation between teacher and student, but she didn’t confront them about it. Instead, she just asked innocently “Who is Crystal Note?” Before Sunset could reply, Princess Celestia hastily chimed in “Oh, just a pony Sunset Shimmer met on her last mission. I’m sure you’ll meet her soon enough. Now, Cadance, why don’t you tell us about your trip?” Sunset Shimmer stared at Princess Celestia, utterly confused now. What got into her all of a sudden? She glanced to Cadance and noticed that she was just as confused. Their eyes met and some sort of understanding passed between them. Cadance nodded almost unnoticeably before she smiled at her aunt “Of course, Auntie.” Sunset Shimmer barely listened and instead kept watching Princess Celestia very closely. She showed no more odd behaviour, but that didn’t help Sunset Shimmer as much. She wasn’t completely aware of it, but her worry about her mentor urged her to do something about it. She glanced at Cadance who kept babbling about dinner in Fillydelphia. Even if it means working together with her. Princess Celestia had to cut Cadance’ stories short and return to her royal business, so Sunset Shimmer and Cadance left the princess’ chambers with her. While Celestia hurried to the throne room, Sunset and Cadance lingered behind and watched as she left “That was weird.” Sunset glanced at Cadance who whispered as soon as the princess was out of earshot “I’ve never seen her like this before. And she’s never kept a secret from me.” Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes “Princess Celestia keeps secrets all the times. You just don’t notice that because she’s never this obvious about it.” “She’s scared.” Sunset frowned and now turned fully towards Cadance “What could Princess Celestia be scared of?” Sunset knew a couple of reasons, of course. Nightmare Moon, changelings, maybe even whatever King Sombra had left behind, now that a crystal pony had reappeared. What she wanted to find out was, how much did Cadance know? Cadance didn’t notice Sunset’s inquisitive stare and just kept looking into the direction Princess Celestia had gone. Sunset noticed that her eyes seemed to cloud over of a moment “Maybe scared is too strong of a word. But she is deeply, deeply worried that something might happen soon. Something she can’t stop no matter how hard she tries.” Sunset’s stare turned from inquisitive to something very close to awe “How can you know that?” Cadance smiled weakly “Princess of Love, remember? I’m pretty good at telling how ponies really feel. Recently, I started seeing more deeply hidden emotions.” Sunset frowned until Cadance turned her head to look directly at her “I know you hate me. I don’t know why but I know you hate me with a passion that scares me. You try so hard to be nice, but it’s always simmering inside you.” Oh, you have no idea. Sunset didn’t like the fact that Cadance could read her like this, but she had to accept this as a trait of alicorn magic. At least she hasn’t figured me out. She still thinks I genuinely try to be nice. She is just a naïve filly after all. “I wish you wouldn’t hate me. I never gave you any reason to get angry at me.” “Yeah, right.” Sunset snorted and glared at Cadance who looked back with growing concern “You just dropped in out of nowhere and you’re immediately a princess with an entourage. Everypony listens to you and even Princess Celestia always takes time for you!” Cadance looked back at her with wide eyes that for the first time seemed genuinely angry “You think that’s so great? I lost my parents before I turned into an alicorn. I’d gladly give up my horn for just one more day with them. And the ponies that follow me around? None of them really cares about me, just my crown. And now you come along and tell me that Princess Celestia, the only pony who showed some genuine interest in me, that she keeps secrets from me? That she’s maybe even lying to me?” Cadance stomped her hoof in frustration and her wings flared up as well. Sunset Shimmer watched the sudden outburst with great interest. When Cadance was finished, she just laughed. The angry expression just didn’t match with the always happy pink princess at all. “I never thought you’d have it in you, Princess.” Sunset Shimmer mocked the title with a faked bow on top. Cadance just glared. “Okay, listen. I don’t like you. You’ve got no reason to like me. But we both want Princess Celestia to stop worrying, right?” Cadance kept her glare up, but nodded after a moment of thinking “I guess I can agree on that.” “Then this is what we’ll do.” Sunset Shimmer started walking towards her room, expecting for Cadance to follow her, which she did. Even if she had to work together with Cadance, that didn’t mean Sunset had to give up her leadership position “First, we need to find out what’s bothering Princess Celestia. Then, we take care of it.” Cadance tilted her head in surprise “Shouldn’t we talk to her instead? You know, have her confront her own feelings and share her burden with us? Maybe she has a good reason not to tell us anything.” Sunset sighed and shook her head “Listen, I’ve been her student for years now and that’s not how she works. She drops hints and gives vague directions, but she always expects you to figure stuff out on your own. She’d never downright tell us what’s wrong.” Cadance thought silently for a moment, but then she closed her eyes and nodded “I guess you’re right.” “Of course I am right. So let’s look at the hints she’s given us so far.” Sunset Shimmer summoned a scroll of paper and a quill with a quick spell and scribbled words while walking. Cadance watched with what had to be a tad of jealousy “Number one: She wants me to help you with your magic. That means, she wants us to work together and probably become friends along the way.” Cadance smiled softly at that idea and Sunset Shimmer nipped it in the bud “Ridiculous, I know. That’s never going to happen. But it also tells us that she wants you to master high level magic as quickly as possible.” Cadance head titled to the other side “What makes you think that?” “Why else would she want me to tutor you? Any teacher at her school could teach you the basics, but only I can help you when it comes to alicorn level magic.” “Just in case you ever wondered why the other students at Celestia’s school don’t like you, this is why.” Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes and just ignored her “Number two: For some reason, she doesn’t want you to meet Crystal Note. At least, not yet.” “Okay. Who is Crystal Note?” “She’s a pony from the Crystal Empire. Probably the last of her kind.” “Oh. Okay. Yeah. Um, hey Sunset? Let’s pretend for a moment that I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Sunset facehoofed and pushed Cadance into the room. This is going to be a long day.