"You can be all gloomy, but it doesn't make the food taste any better," Celestia said as she levitated a fork full of food to her mouth.
Celestia raised a brow at the young unicorn who was sitting at the dining table with her, but across it entirely. Sunset was angrily resting her cheek on a hoof that rested on the marble table. The thief's large eyes were looking at the high ceiling absently. It was clear that she did not hear Celestia's words, but dwelled in the recent past and her recent mistakes. She most likely was not blaming herself for anything that was happening to her.
"I was so close..." Sunset grunted and slowly shook her head in obvious self-disappointment.
Celestia swallowed her food before making a remark. "Close? Not at all. If you actually could escape Armor and Whiplash, you'd still have to go through all my other guards."
The thief finally looked at the princess. "Please, I could get by them like I did last night. I know how to break in here, I know how to break out."
"Then by all means, escape right now."
Sunset rolled her eyes at Celestia's mockery. "Jerk."
"Not a kind word to say to the one who has graced all this food upon you. Look, the entire table is filled with ripe apples, pastries, pears, and...and whatever those things are called!" Celestia gestured at a large round fruit.
"I'm not hungry."
"Yes, you are. I can hear your stomach from here, my dear."
With a frustrated grunt, Sunset sat up in her chair. With a harsh stare at the princess, she picked up an apple with her hoof and started munching on it, her eyes still on Celestia. The thief still had the anti-magic device on her horn, so she had to physically reach for every item of food that was on the massive dining table.
"How is it?" Celestia asked expectantly.
"It's...good."
"I'm glad to hear that. Eat until you're full. Of course, I have to watch how much I eat. I have to watch my calories," Celestia chuckled at her own humor.
The thief did not respond to this, but kept eating as if she expected the princess to attack her at any moment. Her eyes were squinted in concentration while Celestia simply smiled kindly at her. After Sunset finished one apple, she took another with deep caution.
"I understand why you don't trust me, but by the stars, I'm not going to attack you," Celestia told her. "You're more on edge than a pig when the griffons are hungry."
"Ya can drop the act, ya know," Sunset snarled. "I know you couldn't care less about me. I'm just a little toy for you to mess with. Well guess what? You aren't going to have any fun with me. I'll make sure of it."
Celestia's smile faded and was replaced with confusion. "By the Moon! Why would you think that? If you were a toy of mine, I certainly wouldn't let you eat my food. That'd be a waste of taxpayer money. No, I do care about you, my little unicorn. If I didn't, you would not be out of your dungeon; where you belong by the way. I show you grace. Please take it."
"Well I refuse your 'grace!'" the thief growled.
"Ha! You can't! I'm going to give you my grace and mercy whether you accept it or not!" That should do it.
Sunset paused. "How does that work?"
"You'll find out, little one."
"Oh!" Sunset placed her hooves on the table. "That's another thing. Never call me 'little' again. I may be younger and shorter than you, but as you know. I pack quite the punch."
"Don't worry, I understand your magical prowess. And if you are full -as you have stopped eating- then we may begin on how I am going to make you my prized pupil."
Sunset's face scrunched up at the mentioning of her being a student under the princess. She did not even try to hide her distaste in the subject. Her large eyes looked down at the food on the table and she refused to look back up.
"Well, we don't have to go straight into it," Celestia backed down. "Perhaps a tour of the palace will do you well? We can spend days simply showing you every room in this place. Maybe we could, I don't know," she lowered her voice to a mischievous whisper, "even see where some top secret stuff is hidden?" This has to get her interested.
"Yeah right..." Sunset rolled her eyes. "You're just baiting me. Guess what? I'm not like some stupid dragon that drools upon seeing gold. I don't have any attachment to those things."
Celestia was truly confused now. "What? Then why would you go into the most protected structure in all of Equestria to steal some of my precious stones?"
"Like I said, princess, I do it for sport," Sunset answered with a sly grin.
She still will not reveal her true intentions. What can she be hiding from me so stubbornly? "I see. Well, grab any food you wish to carry with you. I'll take you up to my room to start our little tour."
"Could you move any slower?"
"Patience, young one. You really did a number on my legs last night. I hope you realize how painful some burns can be."
"Yeah I know. I'm a pyromancer, aren't I? I know how burns feel."
"We're here."
The two ponies stopped before Celestia's bed chambers. The princess gleefully pushed the filly into the room with one long leg. Sunset, of course, did not approve of the action, but did not complain either. She grunted once and that was all she said.
The chambers were large and fitting for one of royalty. It had a wide balcony that looked out into Canterlot and Equestria. Massive cushions were spread out on the clean floor. Beside Celestia large round bed was a nightstand with quills and letters carelessly piled on it. It was not an organized room in the slightest, but it was not a jumbled mess either. It was clear that the maids had not come in to put everything the princess moved back in place. Sunset expected the place to be spotless, but it was dirty enough to show its daily use. It seemed a room for one who had not enough time to properly take care of it.
"Do not be afraid to look about," Celestia encouraged. "Please stay your hooves from any valuables, though."
The princess went to the balcony door and opened it with her magic. The cool morning air came in with the breeze that ruffled her and Sunset's manes. The young thief was, judging by her face, unimpressed by the chambers. She sat in the middle of the room with her hooves all on the ground and her eyebrows slightly furrowed. Celestia looked back at the thief expectantly, but Sunset did nothing but keep her stoic expression.
"The food calmed you down, hm?" she giggled. Food always works.
"Why are you really doing this, Princess Celestia?" Sunset sternly asked. "Why am I not in the dungeons or in the stocks to be humiliated? You caught me intruding and I roasted your fat flank. Last time I got caught...I was much younger, but I got punished pretty good."
"And what city was that in?"
"Canterlot. This city is my home."
"Well, Sunset, everything I've told you thus far is true," Celestia told her gently. "Please, join me on the balcony."
The thief stood up and walked out of the chambers with confidence. There's not a timid bone in her. Celestia let her pass through the doorway before following into the windy air. They both leaned their front legs on the white banister that separated them from a long drop to the city far below. At this height, there were no sounds of ponies or city life. Only the wind and the occasional bird dared to interrupt the silence.
"Sunset, my intentions are clear and honest. I wish to make you my pupil. Not only because of your exceptional skill with magic, but also because I believe that I can help you. Do not tell me that you do not need help. After what you tried to do last night told me that you are in desperate need of money or that you are in with the wrong ponies. If it's bits you need for you family or home, I can help with that. If it's a friend you need, I'll oblige to be one."
Sunset sighed and looked out to the city. "I don't need either. I don't care what you think of me, I just want to know why."
"Well, because..." Celestia paused.
"Yeah?" Sunset said impatiently.
"You are a pony. You are one of my subjects. I feel that your well-being is my responsibility. To simply let you continue on in your erroneous path would be wrong. So I plan to help you every step of the way for you to become a respectable unicorn and a great sorceress."
The thief raised a brow at the princess. Her little frown indicated that she was not convinced by the princess's reasoning. She took a deep breath and lowered her head onto her front legs that were dangling over the banister.
"Is that it?"
What? Celestia was a bit taken aback by the question. "As of right now, yes."
"How are you going to do that?"
"Well, by making you my pupil and by enrolling you to my school."
"Your school? Is that the one for gifted unicorns?"
"Exactly that one!" Celestia beamed.
"Full of rich unicorns from noble families I bet," the unicorn spat. "None of them worked a day in their life. Princess, I don't need to go to that school. Maybe I can live with you teaching me magic, but I won't have some clean-hoof professor tell me what to do."
She's not entirely wrong about that. Celestia was unsure how to respond to the stubborn thief at first. It took two sighs and rolling of her eyes to finally reply.
"That's not your call, young one. I only hire the most trustworthy and respectable ponies to teach at my school. That's why it's the best school."
"No, it's the 'best school' because no one is stupid enough to make a school and try to take students away from the Princess of Equestria."
"Perhaps," Celestia chuckled.
"Alright, if you enroll me, we gotta make a deal," Sunset began. "I'm not going to be some errand-filly for you nor am I gonna be like some daughter you'd be proud of. I've only gotten this far in life because of me! If you're going to make me do all these things, I better have some arrangements with you too."
"Really?" Celestia smiled. "Are you in the position to make a bargain with the Princess of Equestria? Are you the master or the prisoner in this relationship? Last time I checked, you being my student is not a deal, it's a criminal sentence. As of right now, this is completely one-sided. However, you do have the choice of going back to the Old Dungeons and serving a sentence through prison time or labor."
"My sentence can't be that bad," Sunset said.
"Yes, but you also committed one of the worst crimes you can in Equestria. You assaulted me. Look! My fur is still charred from your fire. Very few ever landed a strike on me and not ended up in stone, banished, or imprisoned in Tartarus. I am going extremely easy for you. I am showing you mercy. If you are a smart pony, Miss Shimmer, I'd suggest going along with it."
"I demand a lawyer then!" Sunset jumped up.
Celestia sighed and hung her head. She went there. "You can't be serious..."
"By Equestria law, if I want a lawyer, I'll get a lawyer!"
"Well, as your judge, your trial has already passed. You have been found guilty of burglary, assault, assaulting the princess, resisting arrest, and being full of teenager angst! As your judge, I sentence you to do everything I tell you to do. Is. That. Not. Clear?"
Sunset continued jumping up and down. "That's not fair!"
The princess leaned very close to the young unicorn. "Deal with it. I know this may seem terrible now, but I assure you that I will be the best thing that has ever happened to you. Don't you want to live a life where you don't have to steal anymore? Don't you want to make friends? Don't you want to be something better than what you are now?"
Sunset leaned away from the princess and stroked her chin thoughtfully. She soon came to an answer and nodded. Her legs crossed themselves and she sat on her rear before giving a one syllable answer.
"No."