Many ponies were on the street today as Crystal Clarity and Treeling began their business. The nurse had been assigned several important tasks to do today, the least of which was foal-sitting, and they had been walking throughout the city all morning. The silence between them garnered strange looks from passer-bys but there was no tension disrupting their rhythm. Here and there C.C. would stop and inspect a small shop or building, and turned the same silence to its occupants as she did. Only then there was tension, but even still, she would only speak when it was absolutely necessary. Between the pair of them she would often direct the flow of their traffic with a tilt of her head or a point of her horn.
While it had been true that she had suffered a traumatic experience that initially silenced her, she found that once she closed her mouth her ears heard more, and her eyes saw more. There was less need for questions, and many of the ponies she was interacting with today indicated they knew why she had come, so there was also less need for explanations. Her conversations with others had been brief, doing more observing than interacting, and only after gauging what she came to inspect did they leave.
They had been totally in sync up until one point on their approach to the castle, where Nurse Clarity voiced over her shoulder to Treeling: "When we are in the presence of the Queen, you will do what I do, and 'say' nothing." She hadn't established the level of dominance that would make such a command stick, but they both knew that somepony who had would also be present, and felt it best to avoid drawing the wrath of that alpha.
Though it wasn't noticeable to the filly earlier, the sounds of the mare's hoof-falls on the crystal steps were different than the polished floor of the halls outside her cell. There was no longer the metal click-clack of horseshoes on the stone, and her appearance was less constrained than the last time they had met. The filly had been staring at the mare all morning trying to identify what it was about her that had changed and could only conclude that she felt less controlling: less superficial.
Such words did not occur naturally in the filly's vocabulary, but rather had been drawn forth by associated images of ponies very similar to how Nurse Clarity used to be. To Treeling it was as simple as saying that Crystal Clarity had become more like the filly, than the adult, of the two who shared the prior month of isolation.
Once they had climbed the stairs to the main chamber, and walked to the courtroom, they stood once again before the Queen. Though this time was not associated with an appeal for the freedom of the filly, still, her presence didn't go unnoticed. Likewise: neither did the lack of the presences of the advisory staff. Nurse Clarity bowed before the Queen, and after an observational delay, so too did Treeling.
"Report," the Queen said. Her tone was brusque, her posture intense, and her mind visibly elsewhere.
"The preparations have been made," the nurse responded, "But, they are afraid." Nurse C.C. paused while the Queen considered her words, after which she added a cautionary reminder. "We mustn't fill the Heart with fear."
The Queen raised her eyebrow to question which of them was in charge of the situation. The psychiatric adviser continued, motioning to the filly, who after likewise motioned back as she was told to do. "The mind of this child has opened mine to the consequence of primal fear. It would spell out disaster for all the world should the Crystal Heart propagate it."
It had not even been twenty-four hours since the Queen was first introduced to the filly by Sombra, and yet this was the third time her opinion swayed matters of the court. Without speaking so much as a single word, Treeling had impressed Sombra, manipulated the Queen, and intimidated the Nurse. The Queen growled in irritation but was careful not to act rashly. All knew it was her duty to protect the interests of the ponies of the Crystal Empire. Sometimes that meant considering advice from the most unlikely sources and judging it on merit alone.
"Show me child," she addressed the filly directly.
Treeling looked to C.C. with confusion, but whose nod signified permission to 'speak.' The filly happily plopped on her plot to draw the chalk from her board and drew out her response. It was a rough sketch of Nurse Clarity's portrait, with glowing horn, being touched to the horn of the filly. She showed the board to the Queen who had impatiently waited for the response to be constructed.
The Queen leaned forward and inspected the image and then turned to raise her qualm with the psychiatrist. "Can she not communicate these ideas herself?"
Nurse Clarity's response was a hesitant one. "She has had no magical training. It was all we could do to get her to understand our language, and I am sorry to say that she cannot speak it."
Impressed and expressing a sigh of exasperation the Queen lay back on her throne. "So her raw aptitude alone was enough for Sombra to present me with a bar of iron and insist that it could be made into a sword," she said with a note of contemplation though her tone was largely reflective of a feeling of being swindled. All present knew to varying degrees how difficult it was to impress Sombra but this implied something far greater than simply being on his "good" side.
Bemired by their experiences with the child thus far the nurse satirically added: "Since her arrival... She has done nothing but cut down her foes."
The Queen nodded at the alternate interpretation of events. It wasn't difficult to see that she was questioning what she may have done to be counted among those foes, though Nurse Clarity was not privy to the details of their trip, it was obvious that they weighed heavily on the Queen's mind.
"I have another task for you," the Queen said, breaking the still calm of their respective contemplation. "I need you to gauge the morale of our citizens as we begin our first Crystal Fair. Use your magic to sweep the emotions of the citizens you meet and report back to me."
The nurse was visibly perturbed by being asked to spy on her fellow citizens in a time where they had little faith in the government but accepted the order with little hesitation. She bowed, as did Treeling after a short delay, and added: "What shall I do with the filly?"
The Queen gave a tilted nod to the drawing on the slate when she voiced her reply, "Let her observe." However dangerous it may be one thing was clear to both adults: the Queen intended to get the sword that she bought... even if she had to forge and sharpen it herself.