Alternative Origins

by TalkingToMyself

Chapter 6

“Say ‘Ah!’”

Crystal Note looked warily at the medic but complied and opened her mouth wide. Her eyes roamed to Sunset Shimmer and she relaxed when she saw the unicorn was close and watching every little move of the earth pony stallion with eagle eyes.

Sunset had to keep herself from groaning as the earth pony went through a series of basic tests with the crystal pony, when all it needed was a quick diagnosis spell instead. She told the commander everything was okay with Crystal Note, but he insisted on his medic to double-check. In the end, it was a wise decision, as Sunset Shimmer had to admit. Although she could perform the spell flawlessly, the medic was a studied professional and he would find out if she missed something obvious.

So far, everything seemed normal. In her current state, Crystal Note looked like every other pony. The dark colours of the last night had vanished, as did the sparkles on her coat. Sunset’s theory was that Crystal Note’s appearance was influenced by her emotional state. Fear and sadness meant dark, glum colours. A good meal and joy made for sparkling.

Right now, Sunset guessed that the crystal mare was nervous, but not afraid. Therefore, her colours were their normal silvery-white, but the sparkling and shimmering was lacking.

Of course, there was still one obvious trait that separated her from everypony else. The medic had to notice eventually that her eyes were shaped like gemstones instead of having round pupils. However, he didn’t mention it, neither did the commander who was watching from the other side of the room.

The check-up was over quickly and at a nod from the medic, the commander approached the mare with a polite smile, despite the glares Sunset Shimmer was shooting at him

“Well, you sure gave us all a mighty scare, Miss. What on earth made you head out during a blizzard of all times?”

Crystal Note sighed and closed her eyes

“I don’t know.”

Sunset Shimmer nodded appreciatively behind the commander’s back. Although she hadn’t told the mare to do so, Crystal Note instinctively was very sparse in giving any information. The commander kept on trying anyways

“Do you live nearby? Is there somepony we should get in contact for you? Maybe your parents?”

Crystal Note shook her head once more, but her brows arched into a frown. At the last words, she whimpered and rubbed her temple with a hoof.

Sunset noticed this with some worry, while the commander pushed on

“What’s wrong? Is there something you need to tell me? Talk to me, girl. What happened out there in the storm?”

The crystal mare whimpered again and Sunset Shimmer already noticed how her coat and mane looked a little more dull already. Before she would change colours in front of everpony, Sunset stepped in between her and the commander and fixed the stallion with one of her famous glares

“Stop it. You’re not interrogating a criminal. She just barely survived a blizzard, give her some space.”
The commander just glared back

“She knows something, I can smell it. You need to tell me what you’re hiding, Miss.”

He shouted past Sunset Shimmer but Crystal Note just shook her head and sobbed out

“I don’t! I don’t know anything!”

The commander was about to push past Sunset Shimmer, but a hoof on his shoulder stopped him. The medic shook his head

“Sir, she’s obviously still in shock. Not surprising after all she’s been through, I must say. She might be confused for a few more days, that’s normal. I would recommend that she gets checked by a specialist in Canterlot. I can’t help her any further here.”

The commander looked at the medic, a long friend of his, and finally sighed

“Okay, you have a point. Miss Shimmer, would you inform Princess Celestia about this, please? If possible, she could arrange for a doctor to meet the girl as soon as you arrive in Canterlot.”
Sunset Shimmer nodded

“I will do that, Commander. I’m sure the Princess already made all necessary arrangements, but it can’t hurt to be sure. The carriage should arrive in a few hours, we should rest up as long as we can.”
She glanced towards the door and the commander frowned but got the hint. Without a word, he left the room. The medic gathered his things and followed. Sunset Shimmer gave him a thankful smile to which he winked.

Once the door fell into its lock, Sunset Shimmer sighed in relief. That could have gone a lot worse. She smirked to Crystal Note, but her smiled died when she saw the grey-coated mare cowering on the bed

“You okay?”

The crystal pony sobbed and shook her head

“I don’t know anything!”

Sunset Shimmer put her hoof on the mare’s shoulder and shook her gently

“Hey, snap out of it! He’s gone, you don’t have to answer his stupid questions anymore.”
“No! You don’t understand. I don’t know anything.”

Sunset backed away a little and asked in a soft voice

“What is it you don’t know, Crystal Note?”

The mare sobbed even more

“Nothing! Everything! It’s all gone! My family, my home, my life! I don’t know.”

Sunset gulped when Crystal Note’s coat turned even darker from the emotional stress

“Crystal Note, calm down, okay? You can’t panic now, you need to focus. Tell me about your family.”
She tried to distract the mare with an easy conversation, but that only got her bawling

“But I can’t! I don’t know. Who are my parents? What are their names and what do they look like? Do I have siblings? What does my bedroom look like? It’s all gone.”

Sunset Shimmer blinked as she tried to make sense of it all. When it finally clicked, she stared at the mare with wide-open eyes

“Are you saying that you… you can’t remember anything? Your memory is gone?”

Crystal Note nodded and buried her face in her hooves. Sunset just stammered perplexed

“But you remembered your name. You said you remembered the Crystal Empire. You remembered King Sombra.”
She bit her tongue as soon as she said that name. Crystal Note first tensed up and then shivered as if she’d just seen a ghost, still crying all the time. Sunset Shimmer, now completely lost, felt she needed to do something, anything.

In a move of desperation, she joined Crystal Note on the bed and pulled her into an awkward hug. She kept her hooves around the mare in a clumsy effort to calm her down.

Crystal Note stopped shivering and after a few minutes, her sobs had turned into a low whimper at least. She turned towards the unicorn with a thankful smile

“I don’t know why you’re doing this, but thank you.”

Sunset frowned and with a deep sigh pulled away her hooves

“I wish I knew what I was doing, frankly.”

Despite all, Crystal Note started to giggle. It was an awkward, tense moment, but Sunset soon felt the relief that sound brought, not only to her but to the crystal mare as well

“Sunset Shimmer? What’s going to happen to me?”

And just like that, any relief was gone with a heavy smack

“There’s a carriage coming for us. It’ll take us to Canterlot and I’ll take you to Princess Celestia.”

Crystal Note flinched at that name and every trace of a smile vanished. Sunset Shimmer watched as the silver-white mare took a shade of grey once more

“You’re taking me to the Princess to be punished?”

“What? Why would I want to do that?”

Crystal Note shivered and sobbed, her eyes clenched shut in effort to keep her tears hidden

“We’ve been in war with Canterlot for years now. With the Princesses. Now that they got their hooves on me, what else would they do to me?”

Sunset Shimmer smacked her forehead

“Crystal Note, it’s been over a thousand years since then. The war is nothing but a legend anymore, most ponies don’t even know that there ever was a Crystal Empire.”

Sunset tried to be reassuring with her words, but the mare in front of her only cried more

“Then there’s no hope for me. I’m the last loose end of that war. I’m the last of my home. I’ll need to stand trial for every crime the Crystal Empire ever committed.”

Sunset Shimmer resisted the urge to shake the mare back to her senses

“That’s so not going to happen. I know Princess Celestia very well. She might be a little selfish from time to time, but she’s not cruel. She won’t punish you for something that happened centuries ago.”

The crystal mare kept sobbing, so Sunset reacted the only way she was comfortable with: Confrontation

“Look, did you personally commit any crimes against Equestria or Princess Celestia?”

“But that’s just it! I don’t know. I can’t remember anything.”

“Oh yes you do! Remember King Sombra?”
Crystal Note flinched violently and her coat turned into a dark grey colour

“Please don’t say his name…”

“Sorry, but it just proves my point.”

Crystal Note stared up at Sunset Shimmer with fear in her eyes, but the unicorn just smirked

“You don’t remember everything, but some things you do. You’re afraid of him. So I’m taking any bet you’d never follow his commands willingly.”
Crystal Note shook her head, confusion mixing into her fear

“That’s what makes the difference. He used fear to force you into submission. That makes you a victim of this war just as much as anypony else.”

Crystal Note’s eyes opened wide

“I… I never thought of that. But that doesn’t excuse… whatever I might have done.”

“Which is probably nothing at all.”

Crystal Note finally sat up again. Her eyes weren’t leaking anymore, but she was still deeply shaken and overwhelmed. Sunset Shimmer just ignored that, eager to make her point

“You don’t look like a soldier or a fighter. I doubt you could fight off anypony even if your life depended on it. And, no offence, but you don’t have the mind-set of a leader or strategist either. My guess? You were probably just one of Sombra’s working drones, doing whatever to support his armies. That’s not an act of crime.”

The mare stared unbelieving at Sunset Shimmer

“But…”

“No.”

“But I…”

“It’s no use worrying right now. Just wait for what the princess has to say. You can thank me later.”

Crystal Note stared for a minute longer, then, against all odds, she started to laugh. It was just a chuckle at first, but soon it grew into a full-blown laughing fit. Sunset Shimmer smirked and nodded, very satisfied with her success. She noticed the melodious quality of Crystal Note’s laughter, almost like a wind chime.

Far too soon, however, the laughter turned into sobbing once more. Sunset Shimmer didn’t get angry this time. The tears she saw now weren’t of fear or terror, but from a deep and earnest sadness not even she could deny

“I’m never going to see them again, am I?”

Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes and sighed. There was no softening that blow whatsoever

“No, probably not.”

“What am I going to do?”

Sunset frowned. There was no way she could give a satisfying answer to that. She had to take this one step at a time

“You’re going to rest now, Crystal Note. You’re still recovering and you had enough emotional turmoil already. I’ll see if I can get us a light lunch while we wait for the carriage.”
Crystal Note nodded gratefully but still with a cloud of sadness surrounding her as she climbed on the bed. She rested her head on the pillow, but her eyes stayed open, staring into nothingness.

Sunset Shimmer stayed and watched silently for a few more minutes.

Comments

[JMP]

And there's the amnesia wrinkle. Sombra's indoctrination is pretty interesting, and makes a lot of sense. It's gonna take a while for Crystal to be able to overcome that, especially considering it's one of the only memories she has.

[Akwolfgrl13]

Awww I'm so happy that sunset is helping this poor scared pony