//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 // Story: Alternative Origins // by TalkingToMyself //------------------------------// Sunset slumped into her room after dinner and just flopped on her bed. It wasn’t even late, but she felt exhausted. She had endured a whole day with Dusty and Crystal Note. She knew Crystal Note desperately needed some distraction after some of her darker memories had been stirred up and Dusty had enough ‘big sister experience’, as she called it, to get their minds off it for a while at least. But Celestia be my witness, if I hear one more cheesy story today, I will break something. She would have to talk with Crystal Note about it. Clearly, the mare had remembered something that left her shaken to the core for the rest of the day. Crystal Note had retired early today, but she wasn’t in her room, Sunset had peeked in to check. Her violin wasn’t there either. Sunset wasn’t worried. She didn’t look forward to that talk, so the least she could do was let Crystal Note get some alone-time, give her a chance to figure things out before Sunset tortured her with questions. Sunset was just thinking about what to read before bed, when a knock from the door broke the silence. She waited for a moment. The knock was too loud to come from Crystal Note. It wasn’t the quick, urgent knock that Kibitz used and Princess Celestia would have already stepped inside even without an answer. Again, somepony knocked heavily and Sunset got back up with a groan. Putting on her best glare, she pushed the door open with her magic to chew out whoever thought it was a good idea to disturb her. Instead of a staff pony, a member of the royal guard glared back at her, in full armour and in no better mood than Sunset. The stripes on his uniform marked him as a lieutenant. “Sunset Shimmer, you’re to follow me. That’s an order.” Clearly, he wasn’t used to be sent on errands. And clearly, he expected his orders to be followed. When Sunset Shimmer slammed the door back into his face, he started hammering against the wood “Sunset Shimmer, in the name of the Princess, open this door immediately!” Sunset growled and picked the stallion up in a tight magic grip before she stepped out of the room. She glared up at him as he floated a few feet under the ceiling, completely immobilized by Sunset’s magic “Why should I follow you?” She released her grip just enough so he could talk, barely “Princess… wants to see you… now.” Sunset frowned and shook her head. Princess Celestia usually wouldn’t sent the guard to get her. “And what does she want from me?” “Don’t… know.” He pressed out and his horn fizzled, but his magic stood no chance against Sunset’s grip. She was just angry enough to give Princess Celestia a piece of her mind, so she stomped down the hallway with the helpless stallion still in her hold. As she was about to enter Princess Celestia’s wing, she heard some mumbling from him “Other… princess.” Sunset Shimmer looked up at him, then she suddenly understood “Cadance sent you to get me?” He shot a burning glare down at her and wheezed out “That’s Princess Cadance… to you.” Sunset Shimmer just laughed. Now she understood why the stallion seemed so angry for no good reason “Alright, let’s go.” In a flash, she teleported them both in front of Cadance’ bedroom doors. While the lieutenant still struggled to break free, Sunset knocked and of course, moments later the pink pony appeared. Instead of a greeting, Sunset Shimmer levitated the stallion into sight “Cadance, what do you think this is?” Cadance blinked confused and stared between the stallion and Sunset, utterly lost for words “Cadance, did you tell him to get me for you?” The princess nodded and Sunset smirked again “Alright, listen. He’s a member of the guard and by that, he’ll take every order you give him very literal. When you told him to get me, he did just that: He walked all the way to my rooms with every intention to take me to you, by any means necessary.” Cadance listened but Sunset’s smirk and overly didactic tone finally got to her “And, your point is?” “Cadance, maybe you’re a princess, but you don’t know anything. Ponies will listen to your orders anyways. This,” she wiggled the stallion in front of Cadance to get her attention, “this is a lieutenant, probably the head of your personal guard. Am I right?” The stallion nodded with clenched teeth and Sunset continued “You don’t send a lieutenant on an errand, Cadance. Too high rank for that. You tell him to make sure I am called, and then he sends out somepony else. Got that?” Cadance nodded with her eyes still on the stallion that floated in Sunset’s magic “Um, sure. Sunset, shouldn’t you set him down now?” Sunset just smirked and shrugged “You’re the princess, you tell me.” Cadance nodded and stood to her full height, eyes on Sunset “Sunset Shimmer put this good stallion back on the ground now.” “As you wish, Princess.” With a flash, the stallion disappeared as Sunset teleported him away. Cadance looked left and right, but couldn’t find him “Where did you send him?” Sunset just shrugged “Somewhere around the castle. But hey, he’s back on the ground like you said.” “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Sunset smirked and Cadance grew even angrier, her wings flaring out even “Sunset Shimmer, why do you always have to be this way?” “Relax, Princess. I did you a favour there.” Cadance frowned and fixed Sunset with another glare “I doubt that.” “Look, he sure as Tartarus hates me now, but he’s so angry at me that he’ll completely forget your mishap over it.” The frown turned from angry to confused and her wings quietly folded back down “You mean you did all this to protect me?” Sunset rolled her eyes “I wouldn’t go that far. Take it as your first magic lesson.” “I don’t see the connection between the two things, to be honest.” “That’s because you’re not thinking about it like a unicorn.” Cadance, now somewhat appeased, retreated into her room with Sunset Shimmer behind her. Like Sunset had expected, the room was pink. Very pink. From the covers of the bed to the cushions on the floor and the drapes on the wall, almost everything was held in different shades of pink. Sunset Shimmer shook her head in vain hope to ignore the cotton candy nightmare around her and reluctantly sat down on the cushion Cadance offered her. “You’re supposed to be a princess, Cadance. Ponies will follow your orders, more than with any other noble. They think of you as second only to Princess Celestia, so your word is law to most of them. They don’t care what you mean, they will do as you say.” Cadance listened attentively and her ears flopped down as the message sunk in “I never thought of it that way.” “I noticed. But here’s the important thing: Your magic works just the same. Fetch me that book over there.” Sunset pointed at a random book on a nearby desk and Cadance instinctively moved to stand up “With your magic, of course!” “Oops. Right. Sorry.” Cadance screwed up her eyes and focused on her levitation spell. It worked and the book floated wobbly through the air and landed in front of her on the floor. Cadance smiled at Sunset, proud of her success. Sunset just frowned at her until the uneasy smile faded away “What did you do?” “I did what you told me?” Sunset narrowed her eyes “Let me guess, you thought something like this: ‘I want that book to come over here and please please please don’t mess up!’. Close enough?” Cadance gulped and nodded “Very close, actually.” “And that’s your problem!” Sunset Shimmer got on her hooves and flared her horn brightly. Cadance flinched back and closed her eyes, but when she saw Sunset Shimmer didn’t attack her, she watched even more attentively, just as Sunset had intended “Whether you give commands to ponies or cast spells, you have to be clear and precise.” Sunset turned to the bookshelf at the faraway wall and barked a command “Second book from the right, third row, over here in a straight line and land exactly on top of the other book!” Cadance eyes opened wide as the book flew through the room and landed perfectly on top of the one already in front of her. She then stared back at Sunset who still had her magic channelled through her horn “Fourth from the top, blue one in the middle row and the one on the bed, front and centre in exactly this order!” Cadance watched the three books pass through the air towards her, even the one Sunset Shimmer couldn’t see from the bed behind her. Each of them floated in a different speed so that in the end, they landed in the order Sunset Shimmer had commanded “That’s how you use magic, Cadance. You control it, every aspect of it. Levitation is an easy spell, but your control is what makes it powerful. Angle, speed, direction, height and distance, a unicorn mage controls all of it at every given time.” The five books lifted up from the floor and floated in a circle over Sunset. “But you’re not just a unicorn, Cadance. You’re an alicorn and a princess. You have more magic than most and more power as well. You can command everything around you, even everypony around you, at any given time.” As she said that, every single book in the entire room floated towards her and formed a whirlwind of motion around Sunset. They all circled around the tip of Sunset’s horn and Cadance stared in awe. Every single one of them flew in a different arch, in a different direction and twirled in a different speed so the air was literally filled with books, yet none of them even touched another. Cadance’ jaw dropped at Sunset’s masterful demonstration of absolute control. As quickly as it had happened, every book returned to its original spot and Sunset’s magic faded down to a normal level. Sunset sat back down as if nothing had happened and continued almost casually “There’s also the matter of choosing the right spell for the right task. You don’t shot a combustion spell to chase away a bee, just like you don’t send a lieutenant on a simple errand.” Cadance slumped down on her cushion and covered her face with her hooves “You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?” “Not for a good long while.” Sunset Shimmer had her usual smirk and Cadance giggled, if weakly “So what you say is I need to be more precise and decisive. That’s easier said than done. I’ve just had a giant load of power dumped on me with no warning and no preparation. Does everypony really expect to be perfect from the first moment on?” “To be honest, Princess: Yes they do. That comes with the title. The only other princess they know is Princess Celestia, and Princess Celestia never makes mistakes, in their eyes.” Cadance groaned and shook her head “But that’s not true.” “You know that, I know that. But everypony else in Equestria sees her that way.” “But it’s impossible! How can I ever live up on that?” Cadance groaned frustrated but Sunset snapped her back on track “Shut it. That’s quitter talk.” Sunset’s smirk was gone and she glared at Cadance when the alicorn peeked up from behind her hooves “That’s why we practice. You can’t know every spell perfectly at the first try, but you have to learn it and get better. And the ones you can do, you can’t be satisfied just to know them, you have to master them.” Cadance did not flinch away from the glare or Sunset’s loud voice. She was obviously angry with her, but something was very different from usual “Stop being afraid of your stronger magic and just use it. Stop hesitating every time you give somepony an order. If you mess up, big deal. You’re a princess, so nopony will call you out in it and somepony will come clean up after you.” At this, Cadance eyes opened wide and she sat up again “Sunset Shimmer… is this some heartfelt advice? Like you really care about me?” Sunset froze for just a moment, the glared at Cadance with her usual intensity “Don’t fool yourself, Cadance. I still hate you, but Princess Celestia told me to help you, and I always fulfil my assignments with a perfect score.” Sunset Shimmer stomped her hoof in frustration when Cadance gave her that knowing smile, just like Princess Celestia always did “I’m serious!” “I know, Sunset Shimmer. And I will take your advice at heart, no matter for your reasons.” “You better do, or I’ll have to find another way to make the lesson stick.” There was no force behind Sunset’s threat and they both knew it, but Cadance somehow managed to keep herself from giggling and instead just nodded. Sunset Shimmer returned to her cushion and rolled her eyes “So, was there something else or did you just call me to get lectured?” This time, Cadance let out a small giggle before she turned serious again “I called you to talk about what happened this morning, and about Crystal Note.” Sunset groaned and shook her head “Listen Cadance, I don’t think you…” Sunset stopped abruptly as Cadance stood up to her full height and shifted into a regal, dominant pose. Her wings flared wide as her eyes met Sunset with an aura of finality “Sunset Shimmer, I hereby command you to tell me everything about the mare Crystal Note. This, I speak as a Princess of Equestria.” Sunset just stared for a moment, then rolled her eyes but with a smile “That was a little over the top, don’t you think?” “Maybe, I’m still practicing after all.” Both of them laughed and Sunset nodded as Cadance sat back down “Okay, fair. Did Princess Celestia tell you anything about her yet?” Cadance shook her head “Not a single word about her or the Crystal Empire. She kind of admitted she really was a crystal pony, but the rumour mill of the palace told me more about her than Auntie did.” Sunset sighed almost defeated. With Crystal Note spending more time with ponies of the staff, that was supposed to happen. “So what does the royal rumour mill say, Your Highness?” Cadance ignored the mockery from Sunset effortlessly “Well, she’s a crystal pony. That means she can change how she looks. In the morning, she usually has a dull and grey coat, but over the course of the day, she absorbs the light from the sun, because her coat turns lighter and gets more sparkly. In the late evening, she’s sometimes glittering all over like she’s really made of crystal, especially when she had been in the gardens and got more sunlight that day.” As soon as Cadance was finished, Sunset Shimmer just burst into laughter "And ponies seriously believe all that? That's so rich." "Well, can you blame them? Unlike you, they can't spend all day reading obscure books." "Unlike me, they're not Princess Celestia's prized student and sent on important missions either." Sunset smirked and Cadance sighed frustrated "Are you going to tell me now or what?" "Fine." Sunset Shimmer still smirked, but the teasing tone was gone from her voice "So, the only thing you got right is that her coat changes colour because she's a crystal pony. However, she can't control it and it has nothing to do with sunlight. It's called empathetic magic, meaning her emotions are what cause the change." Cadance tilted her and Sunset elaborated "In general, darker colours mean negative emotions, like fear, anxiety, sadness and such." She called back how Crystal Note's eyes and coat had changed earlier when she confronted Blueblood "And you've seen how rage and anger can affect her with your own eyes." Cadance nodded and shivered a little. She had seen Crystal Note's grim expression as well. "So if dark means negative emotions, that means she shines more brightly when she's happy, right?" Sunset nodded thoughtfully "Happy or relieved or satisfied, I guess. Sometimes when she likes a meal, she starts to sparkle. Or when she visits the gardens. When she's at peace, I suppose." Cadance rubbed her chin thoughtfully "So for anypony who knows this, she's like an open book to read." "And we don't even need to be Princesses of Love for it." Cadance took the quip with a small smile, but her thoughtful expression stayed "How many ponies know about this?" "You, me and Princess Celestia." "And anypony Crystal Note might have told about it." "Which is nopony I'd say. She's secretive about herself." Cadance sighed and looked back at Sunset "I guess that's for the best at the moment." "As long as Crystal Note doesn't understand it better herself, she should decide who gets to know about it." "Agreed." Cadance shook her head and shivered again "It was frightening to see her change just like that all of a sudden. Does that mean she lost reign on her emotions when she yelled at Prince Blueblood?" Sunset Shimmer bit her lip and hesitated for a moment. I suppose she will find out sooner than later. She'll be more sensible around Crystal Note if she knows. "She had a flashback." "A what?" "A sudden surge of memories. She remembered something she had forgotten from the curse and by the way her coat changed, it wasn't anything pleasant." Sunset Shimmer's voice almost turned into a whisper at the last words and Cadance met her gaze "What she said and the way she talked... I've never heard anypony talk like that." "Me neither." Cadance gulped but curiosity urged out another question "Do you think she might have remembered something from that evil king?" "I can't say for sure, but it seems the most likely." "Did you talk with her about it?" "Not yet. I don't think she could have faced whatever it was so shortly after her flashback." Cadance sighed deeply and nodded "I understand. She didn't seem very shocked after what happened, but that was because you were there for her right away." Sunset blinked and tilted her head "Wait, what?" Cadance chuckled softly when she saw that she had managed to throw Sunset off loop for once "You must have realized how much she looks up to you. I could tell right away, even from a distance." "I think you need your alicorn senses checked, Cadance." Sunset glared at Cadance, but her blushed cheeks told Cadance what she needed to know. For the sake of peace between them, Cadance let the topic drop "So what's the next step in our plan? Did you find out what could be worrying Auntie Celestia so much?" "So far, nothing new. Did you learn something from her?" "No, I didn't. I haven't had many chances to talk with her." Cadance looked at her, but when Sunset looked up, she noticed that Cadance seemed to stare right through her with faraway eyes "She's withdrawing herself even further. She throws herself into her work, hoping to find some distraction, but all it does is make her more aware of the change she won't be able to stop. And so, she worries more and more each day." Cadance blinked a couple of times and shook her head, like she was trying to shake off what had just come over her. Sunset frowned as the meaning of Cadance words sunk in "If we confront Princess Celestia now, she will just clam up. We have to make a move soon." "But what can we do?" Sunset Shimmer took a deep breath and took a risk "When you see her next time, ask her about your cutie mark." "My cutie mark? Out of all things, why should I ask about that?" Sunset shook her head and looked away "I can't tell you. If I do, you will react differently and she will notice it. Just ask her and tell me what she said and how she behaved. It might give us the hint we need." "You're putting a lot of trust into this, Sunset Shimmer. Do you think this is wise?" "Probably not." She turned her head back towards Cadance "But we're running out of time and out of options." Cadance held her gaze for a whole minute before she finally nodded "You gave me a valuable lesson today and some good advice, so I'm going to trust you on this one." "Gee, thanks Princess." Cadance blushed and looked to the side "It's not like I don't trust your knowledge. It's just..." "You can't trust me because you know I hate you." Cadance blushed even more but nodded "I wouldn't have said it that bluntly, but yes." "Good. That means you're thinking for yourself. Keep it up and I might reconsider my opinion on you someday." Sunset got on her hooves and headed for the door, holding back a yawn "But I wouldn't get my hopes too high just yet, Princess." "Why can't you say something nice for once without turning it into an insult?" Sunset Shimmer laughed as she opened the door "Goodnight Cadance." "Goodnight Sunset. I'm looking forward to our next practice session." Sunset looked back over her shoulder to taunt the princess about her obvious sarcasm, but she could only see sincere anticipation from Cadance. Unsure on how to react on that, Sunset simply closed the door silently. She stayed silent as she walked back to her bedroom. She slipped under the covers of her bed, but it took some time for her to finally fall asleep.