An apprentice, a blind filly, and a nocturnal pegasus walk into a tearoom. Somehow, this is not a joke.
Chartreuse Le Feu, now in the apprenticeship of her dreams, is assigned to be a helper to Chalcedony, a blind crystal pony who can see into the thaumaturgical spectrum of light, but can’t view mundane objects. After being introduced to one another by Sunburst, they go out to visit Chalcedony’s favourite tearoom.
Along the way, they meet a pegasus colt of the nocturnal variety, and he’s a bit down in the dumps...
The laboratory still had a stink of burning feathers that Chartreuse couldn’t get rid of, no matter what she tried. The filly was fretful, and for good reason; it was her job to make sure that the laboratory remained clean, neat, and tidy after experiments. Such was the life of an apprentice, the life that she herself had chosen, believing it to be wondrous and glamourous. She had, of course, been mistaken, and had learned the hard way that the life of an apprentice was all about hard work and drudgery. Not that she minded, no. One day, she would be a wizard, and she would have an apprentice of her own, perhaps. All of her current frustrations could be relieved at a later date, and this kept her going.
The best way to learn was to do and necessity made a pony try new things.
No matter what new things she tried, she couldn’t get the stench of burned feathers out of the laboratory though, and she wondered why the alchemists were burning feathers in the first place. Ugh! At least she had been able to clean the black soot from off of the ceiling. Sighing, she resigned herself to failure and hoped that her masters wouldn’t be too disappointed.
Dim would berate her, but she expected that. He was a super-tidy perfectionist prone to tirades, but he was also the one that had taught her the most magic so far. Sunburst would give her ‘The Look’ while also trying to reassure her. The worst though was Shining Armor, and the silence that would be sure to follow. She hated that most of all and it motivated her to do her very best, no matter what.
As it was right now though, her best was not good enough.
Sighing, she took off her conical hat and set it down upon an immaculately clean stone table. She had scoured it, using both magic and a scrubbing brush. It was clean and she was confident that nothing remained behind to pollute or otherwise corrupt future work. Alchemy required a clean, sterilised environment, which meant a great deal of scrubbing. The exact sort of make-busy work that an apprentice was good for.
“Having some trouble?”
Hearing Sunburst’s voice, she flinched but did not turn to look at him, knowing that he stood in the doorway, no doubt giving her the dreaded ‘The Look’ to end all looks. A lump grew in her throat, which then grew tight around it, making it difficult to breathe. No matter what she had tried, she just couldn’t summon up the magic required to make the stench go away.
“Looks like we’ve found your point of failure,” Sunburst said, his voice gentle and somehow encouraging. “Now, we get to see how you handle a lack of success. Chartreuse, try not to worry about it too much, okay? You’ve already exceeded all of our expectations. You’re not going anywhere and we’re not sending you home because of this.”
Hearing hooves, her ears pricked and pivoted in the direction of the sound. She had been a bit more emotional than usual, missing her parents, missing home, and missing Canterlot. Rarity and Sassy were also missed, along with all of the familiar sights and sounds of where she used to work. The raw emotion bore down upon her withers and she could feel the weight of the world upon her back. This was exactly what she wanted—her dreams had come true—so why wasn’t she happy?
“You have a new assignment.” Sunburst approached; each step caused his hooves to ring out on the stone tiles and the faint sound of his breathing could also be heard if one listened. On his face was a look of mild disappointment tinged with sincere concern and worry, the very look that Chartreuse so dreaded. “This comes from Shining Armor himself. He wants you to take up new quarters with a roommate.”
“A roommate?” Chartreuse replied while she blinked a few times to be rid of the sting in her eyes.
“Well, that tiny little room we currently have you in isn’t adequate.” Sunburst paused, lifted Chartreuse’s hat, and then with his magic, he sterilised the spot where it had been sitting. With a smile, he placed it back upon her head, then nudged it so it sat at a jaunty angle. “There is a filly, she’s about your age, and she could use a helper. She’s blind, sort of, and her name is Chalcedony.”
“How can one be sort of blind?” This time, Chartreuse did turn around to look at her master. “I don’t understand and I would very much like to know. If I am to perform my task, I need details. Relevant information.”
Sunburst chuckled, and then tweaked the tassel on Chartreuse’s hat, an affectionate gesture done between teacher and student. “She sees the magical light spectrum, and because of this, she can’t see non-magical mundane items at all. She can see thaumaton radiation, in simple terms.” The orange unicorn cleared his throat and his grin grew ever-wider. “Shining Armor was hoping that you could be her companion. She doesn’t have much in the way of friends. Just a few teachers.”
“I don’t mind being a seeing eye pony if that is what is requested of me.” Chartreuse bowed her head. “I will look after whatever or whoever Shining Armor entrusts me with and I am glad that I can be trusted with such a task.”
“That’s the spirit.” Sunburst nodded. “You know, Chartreuse, you don’t need to try so hard to impress. Shining Armor is a little worried about that. You have the job. Every day you do more than is expected of you. You need to relax a little.”
“Okay.” Try as she might, Chartreuse couldn’t relax a little. She expected far too much from herself, and she held herself up to the stringent standards established by her previous boss. Chartreuse had been capable of meeting Rarity’s exacting demands for absolute perfection, which was proof that effort and hard work paid off. Perfection was possible.
“Good.” Sunburst made a gesture with his hoof while also turning about to face the door. “Now follow me so you can check out your new quarters.”
The new quarters weren’t within the Crystal Spire, but outside. A short, narrow tower of pale green crystal stood in the middle of a nice little garden. The entire thing was fenced off with hedges and even had a gate. It wasn’t very big, nor was it very tall, which no doubt meant it would be a little cramped inside. The door was made of opaque rose-coloured glass.
Chartreuse paused for a moment to admire it.
“This is a former guardhouse, but it is no longer in use since we’ve redirected traffic. Shining Armor had it repurposed, but then didn’t know what to do with it. It’s a bit of a walk to the palace tower, but not too bad. It is a quiet little spot out here past the royal greens.”
“It’s lovely,” Chartreuse said, and she meant it. It wasn’t very big at all, but it was cosy looking. There was even a postal box next to the gate. Sprouting from the top of the tower was an ornamental lightning rod shaped like a reaching dragon, and there was a teeny, tiny cramped little balcony on the top floor, something just big enough for a pegasus to land on, which made sense, seeing as how it was a guardhouse at one point.
“Shining Armor had the path leading to this place embedded with magical stones so Chalcedony would be able to find her way to and from this place to the school and the palace. Are you ready to meet her? She’s inside, waiting, and probably a bit nervous.”
Taking a deep breath, Chartreuse swallowed and nodded at the same time. “I am…”
Inside, beyond the rose-coloured door, was a cosy little parlour, but Chartreuse failed to notice. No, the first thing she saw was a pale white crystal pony shooting up and down while shouting, “WHEE!” in a shrill, excited voice. The tower, being so small, did not have stairs, but had a launcher that shot a pony up through a hole in the floor.
Like almost any foal that lived in a cramped tower in Canterlot, Chalcedony was using it for fun, and Chartreuse had fond memories of home while she stood there, staring with wide eyes. The crystal pony giggled with reckless abandon while being boosted upwards, and on her way down, she happened to notice the two unicorns in the room.
She tumbled out of the path of the launcher and landed on her hooves with a clatter, looking sheepish. Her mane was mussed, her tail was bushy from the launcher, and she still had an enormous grin on her face that stretched from ear to ear. Lifting one hoof, she gave a shy wave. “Hi, I’m Chalcedony, and you look easy on the eyes!”
The awkward silence got a five second head start while Chartreuse stood there with her mouth hanging open. Sunburst had closed his eyes and his whole body shook with the laughter he battled to suppress. Chalcedony realised what she had said and now looked mortified. The filly pulled up her right foreleg from the floor and began to rub her left foreleg with it while her ears tried to make up their mind what to do in response to this dreaded social faux pas.
“I see magic,” she said, trying to explain, and almost stammering. “Some ponies are too bright for me to look at it and it hurts me. You’re not very bright and that makes it easy for me to look at you.”
“I see.” Chartreuse blinked a few times to recover her senses, but never thought about how insensitive her response might sound. “I am Chartreuse Le Feu, of House Le Feu, of Canterlot. Most ponies find me too bright to look at.”
“Oooh, Fancy!” Chalcedony stumbled forwards in gawky, awkward adolescent motion, and came to a stop when she was about a foot away from Chartreuse. “I can’t see you at all, I can only see the magical aura you project. An outline of you. I see little flames dancing around your body, but your body itself is unseen. I lost my sight the day I got my cutie mark.”
“That’s awful!”
“I don’t think so.” Chalcedony’s smile never faltered. “Sunburst here gives off the golden glow of sunshine, but it is hard to look at him because it stings my eyes. With you… it’s like staring into a candle.”
Wracking her brain, Chartreuse tried to think of a suitable response, but came up with exactly nothing. Chalcedony’s eyes were a milky-pinkish white, somewhat disturbing to look into, but she was determined not to be rude. The pale white crystal pony was earthen in nature, and like all crystal ponies, she had a faint glow about her. The mussed up curly mane was a muted shade of green that had vivid yellow-green highlights.
Chalcedony was a pretty filly, certainly more so than Chartreuse thought about herself.
“I don’t have many friends,” Chalcedony said, blurting out her words in the manner of adolescent fillies everywhere. “My last assistant ditched me. She got tired of having to wait around, having to lead me from place to place, and helping me fix meals and stuff.”
“I won’t do that—”
“You say that now, but everypony says that at first.” Chalcedony’s smile never wavered, not even for a second. “I won’t hold it against you if you decide this just isn’t working out. No one should be saddled with me against their will.”
“Now you just hold on a second!” Chartreuse’s sense of righteousness felt as though it had been rubbed wrong—it was like an unwanted tweak on the nose—and Sunburst’s ears perked from her outburst. “When I take a job, I do it to the best of my ability and I don’t quit! I am not a quitter, I am a go getter! I already have a very professional résumé!”
“We’ll see.” Chalcedony took a few steps back and her head tilted off to one side.
“I am going to leave you two fillies to get acquainted.” Sunburst had a somewhat worried expression on his face while his head turned from left to right to focus on each filly. “Chartreuse, you have the rest of the day off. Make the most of it. Get comfortable and I’ll bring by your stuff, later.”
“Thank you, Sunburst.”
“Don’t mention it.” His lips pressed into a tight, thin line, and his glasses slid down his muzzle just a bit. It made him look older somehow, maybe absentminded, and he pushed them back into place with his hoof, not his magic.
“Yes, thank you, Sunburst.” Chalcedony squinted when her head turned in Sunburst’s direction. “She certainly seems a lot nicer than my last assistant.”
“I’ll be taking my leave now.” Sunburst bowed his head. “Good luck, both of you.”
Left to themselves without adult supervision, the two fillies did what any two fillies left alone to their own devices would do: they stared at one another. Chartreuse saw a filly that had trust issues, and rightfully so it seemed. Chalcedony saw very little at all: she was blind. After a few moments, Chartreuse began to look at the tiny parlour. The couch was wood-framed and upholstered in a heavy pink paisley brocade. It was the sort of furniture that somepony made when they thought they knew what a little filly might like; in other words, it was horrendous.
The bookshelf was a column of shaped crystal that flowed from ceiling to floor. It was wide in some places, narrow in others, and even had a few books. There was a little table—also made of shaped crystal—and it was just the right size and height to bang a shin against when one was in a hurry. Chartreuse just knew that there would be a shin-bang or two later, especially with a blind filly.
“Surely you must have a few friends?” Chartreuse asked, and she turned to look at Chalcedony once more.
“A colt named Sumac and a filly named Pebble,” Chalcedony replied. “We’re all assets together and we have a special club. He sends me letters written with magic infused ink so I can read them. I love reading…”—her words trailed off in a sad way, but her smile never faltered—“I just don’t get to do it very often anymore.”
“Assets?” Chartreuse took a moment to adjust her triangle shaped spectacles.
For just a brief second, Chalcedony’s smile wavered. “Maybe I’ll talk about that later.”
“So you have a few pen pals.” Chartreuse drew in a deep breath, but did not allow herself a sigh, because she didn’t want to sound bored or disinterested. Something else, anything else had to be said, but she didn’t know what it was or how to say it. No two ways around it, they had hit that awkward moment that two newly acquainted ponies have when they didn’t know what to discuss.
“Up one floor is the kitchen, the room where I am the most useless,” Chalcedony said, salvaging the silent moment. “There is a little dining area too. Up beyond that is the bedroom. At the very top is an empty room… I think. Out back, there is a bath shed and a compost toilet. We’ll freeze and die come winter.”
“Oh… goody.” The lack of indoor plumbing made Chartreuse pause and reflect upon her life choices. “So, would you like to get out and do something—”
“I’d love to get out and do something!” Chalcedony blurted out and then she began to bounce in place. “I get tired of being cooped up and I love going out! I love going out!”
“Any place that you’d like to go?” Chartreuse wondered for a moment if she was this annoying when she became an excited filly. After a bit of consideration, she decided, no, no she was not. She was a filly that could control herself, and she would never allow herself to become overexcited. With the faintest hint of a smile, she made a mental note to make sure that this statement remained true.
“There is a tearoom that I absolutely adore but going there is difficult because it is across town and in a district where the tourists generally don’t go and they know me there and treat me nice but going there is a little expensive so that’s always a factor and I haven’t been there for a long time and my last assistant quit and I’ve been kinda worried that I might not ever make it there again and I—” Chalcedony only stopped because she needed air, and she began sucking it in, great squeaky gulps of it.
“Breathing is good!” Chartreuse suggested, not that she knew this from experience.
“Ponies complain about the name, though I’m not sure why.”
“What is this place called?”
“Casual-Tea of a Name.”
Squinting, Chartreuse stared at Chalcedony, wondering if she was being put on. Did the crystal pony filly just say, ‘Casualty?’ It sure sounded like it. Her tail swished, and she couldn’t determine if she was being lead along by the nose. “Say again?”
“Well, when it opened, it was called Creativi-Tea, but ponies complained. Then it was called Tranquili-Tea, but ponies still complained. After that, it was Simplici-Tea, and for reasons I don’t understand, ponies were really upset about that one too. Then came Sinceri-Tea, Sereni-Tea, and Prosperi-Tea—”
The corner of Chartreuse’s left eye now had a fitful, frightful twitch.
“Ponies threatened Brutali-Tea if the bad names didn’t stop, so the tearoom became known as Casual-Tea of a Name.” Shaking her head from side to side, Chalcedony added, “I don’t know what the big deal is or why ponies just had to complain.”
At this moment, at this time, Chartreuse now understood why ponies ran through walls in a mad, desperate bid to escape. She understood the need, the desire, and the motivation. It took effort to even breathe and she realised that she was already facing her first friendship challenge: she had taken up residence with a pony oblivious to puns. Surely, Shining Armor was to blame for this travesty, but there was nothing she could do but grin and bear it, while clinging to her Sani-Tea.
There was a mighty, mighty cringe when it registered that she was thinking in puns.
Some ponies had natural immunity to puns, like immunity or resistance to certain types of harmful magic. Chartreuse loathed these ponies, but she also envied them. There was nothing that could be done but make the most of this situation. “Chalcedony,” she said to her brand new filly companion, “We’re going out. I need fresh air.”
The real trick was making it past the tourists that congregated around the palace. Chartreuse avoided these mobs, taking the long way around if necessary, and she kept looking back over her withers to make certain that Chalcedony was right right behind her. There was a promising looking path that lead behind the school and lead to the administrative offices: this was the path she chose. A few students and teachers were easier to deal with, and tourists weren’t allowed here for the safety of the students.
Along the way, Chartreuse encountered a hopscotch court, and she bounded through it with ease, going from four legs, to three, to two, and even hopping on just one leg during the skinny part. This caused both her hat and her glasses to go askew, and she had to fix them, while somehow also maintaining both her dignity and balance. All of this was easier said than done, and it was quite a relief to be on four hooves again.
“Do you hear that?” Chalcedony asked as she came to a sudden halt.
“Hear what?”
“Something squeaky… like a machine in need of oiling.”
“I hear nothing—”
“But I do!”
Chalcedony took off, her ears pricked and standing straight up out of the curls of her mane like two ponies whose heads stuck up out of the tall grass of the primeval prairie. Chartreuse took off after her, hooves clopping, and she hoped that she didn’t let her companion bump into anything on the first day on the job, as that would be disastrous. The blind filly travelled in a straight line, oblivious to danger.
“Trash cans!” Chartreuse tugged Chalcedony away, and then added, “Walls!”
It was then she heard it, the sound of somepony crying, but it was quite unlike any crying she had heard before. She walked parallel to the wall with her companion along the side of the administration building, her own ears perked, listening to what could only be described as a muffled, snuffling calliope mourning the inevitable heat death of the universe.
The pair of them came to a garage, a little one filled with a few two wheeled carts, and this was the place where the sound originated. Chalcedony almost tripped over a yoke on the floor, and would have, had Chartreuse not shoved her to keep her upright. The source of the sobbing came into view, and sat in the back corner, perched atop of a pile of old grain sacks.
There was a curious collection of squeaks, pops, crackles, and noise while Chartreuse stared at the uncommon creature before her that was clutching at its eyes. This was the first time she had ever seen a night terror up close, one of the Night Lady’s shrieking host was in the flesh, having himself a good cry on top of a stack of sacks. Up to this point, she hadn’t even been aware that they could cry. The supernatural pegasus ponies of the night were a mystery to her.
“I didn’t have my goggles on! It burns to look at you! I’m blind!”
Rolling her eyes, Chartreuse had heard all of this before, and with great patience, she listened to it now. At least the sobbing had stopped—for the moment anyhow—and Chalcedony’s curiousity could be satisfied.
“Skipping class, I see.” Chalcedony’s voice was somewhat teasing, but kind. Stumbling a bit, she made her way to the pile of sacks and sat down with Chartreuse’s help. “You’re really squeaky. Why?”
“Uh—”
“She’s blind,” Chartreuse said to the night terror colt.
“I can’t see much of anything right now myself.” The colt began rubbing his eyes with his foreleg while squirming on his seat. “You’re like the sun, and the sun and I don’t get along. What colour are you, anyhow? Why do you glow? Are you a crystal pony? Are you green or are you yellow?”
Standing there, Chartreuse began tapping one hoof against the garage floor.
“So, what’s with the class skipping?” Chalcedony asked in a voice that was far too chipper for the situation. “I still don’t know what you are, but you sound sad. I know how it feels to be sad, believe me, I do, which is why I smile all the time. Sometimes, it just feels good to see another pony smiling, ya know? I can’t see ponies smiling anymore, which is really sad, but even when I could see, ponies didn’t smile much, of course, that might have had something to do with Dread King Sombra at the time, but anyhow, now I smile because I know how it feels to be down in the dumps and wanting to see a smile but not finding one.”
“Wha—”
“No, you don’t get to ask a question, I asked one first. Now get to answering before I have to twist an ear, or something awful. I will! See if I won’t!” Chalcedony reached out and placed her hoof on the colt beside her. “You have strange magic that I don’t think I’ve seen before. You’re a squeaky weirdo. You better not try anything funny, colt.”
Biting down on her lower lip, Chartreuse had to chew to keep from laughing.
“I’m having a bad day—”
“That much is obvious,” Chalcedony said, interrupting while also patting the colt.
“And it feels like it just got worse—”
The crystal pony poked the strange colt beside her, causing a stream of clicks, pops, and whistles to come streaming out. “Well, if you’d just tell me about it, you’d feel better!”
“Chalcedony, why don’t you let him finish?” Chartreuse suggested. “What’s your name, colt?”
“I am Nomination—”
“Nomination?” Chalcedony appeared puzzled.
“I am my mother’s contribution to the very future of Equestria and she wanted me to join the guard—”
“Wow, there’s a mom with ego and high hopes!” Chalcedony scooted a little closer to the sniffling colt. “Wanna tell me about what’s going on? Just let it out, you’ll feel better. Stop avoiding the questions… Nom? Yes, I like Nom. You are Nom, now. Nom Nom Nom!”
“But I am Nomination—”
“Nom!”
“Nicknames are against regulations—”
“Regulations?” Chalcedony shook her head. “I’m not in the guard. I don’t have any regulations to live by.”
“But I do!” Nomination blurted out.
“You’re in the guard?”
“No!”
“Then why the regulations?” Chalcedony turned her head and gave the eerie impression that her sightless eyes were focused on the colt.
“Because that is how my parents raised me!”
“Oh.” The crystal pony filly gave a knowing nod. “You need to stop avoiding the questions and start giving some answers, Nom. I have ways of making you talk!”
“I came here to learn to be a cook, a chef,” Nomination blurted out while he shied away from the aggressive filly getting into his space. “My mother only agreed to it because she said I could cook in the guard, but she’s not happy about it! Not at all! I live in constant fear of disappointing her and she’s really stern, and today I crossed a line! A point of no return! There’s this colt I kept seeing, he’s in some of my classes, and I’m kinda into him, and I finally worked up the nerve to talk to him and I asked him if he wanted to go out sometime, and he told me that he wasn’t gay, and then I realised that I’m gay, and that’s why I kept stalking my classmate, and if my mother finds out, I think she’s gonna kill me, because I have obligations and responsibilities due to my unique nature! I don’t think I’m allowed to be gay and my entire life is ruined!”
“Oh…” Chalcedony’s ears drooped. “Oh, that’s terrible, you got dumped on your first try.”
“It feels like my life is ruined—”
“Because you got dumped?” Chalcedony scooted a little closer and wrapped her foreleg around the colt’s withers. “Wow, you’re shaggy… and… scaly? You also kinda stink.”
“I… I… no…” The colt’s remaining defenses crumbled apart and he began sobbing again.
“Aw, poor fella, getting rejected hurts.” Chalcedony leaned in a little closer and pulled Nomination to her. When he tried to squirm away, she tugged even harder. “Would you like to come and have tea with us? Maybe then you might tell me a little something about yourself.”
Chartreuse snorted, rolled her eyes, all while she tossed her head around, a dextrous display of expression. Her new companion was… something else. Still, she had a job to do, and she was determined to stick to it. Chalcedony was… a little dense, but she was also a good pony, and good ponies were worth being patient with.
“Nom, why don’t you come with Chartreuse and I? We’re going out for tea. If you’re going to skip class, you might as well do it in style. I think a hot cuppa would do you good, and if we run into any hot looking colts, do you think that maybe, just maybe, you could describe them to me?”
“Chalcedony!” Chartreuse snapped while her head swiveled around to focus on her friend.
“I’m blind, but I still have needs!” Chalcedony snapped right back. “Colts freak out if I run up and start touching them all over so I can figure out what they look like.”
Shaking her head, Chartreuse couldn’t figure out what the big deal was about colts and how they looked. “Let’s go before somepony comes looking for Nom—”
“Nomination,” the colt said, correcting Chartreuse. “Nicknames are against regulations.”
Squeaking, snuffling, Nomination pulled his goggles up from his neck and slipped them over his eyes. He then wiped his nose, snorted a bit, and then rubbed his shiny, snot-streaked foreleg against the grain sacks he was sitting on. This was the exact reason why colts were disgusting, and Chartreuse turned away, her gorge rising.
“Is somepony gonna tell me why Nom is kinda scaly and smells like rotten eggs?”
Looking about, Chartreuse wondered about the circumstances that lead up to Chalcedony knowing how to offer directions to the tearoom so well. In her mind, it must have been a task her new friend had repeated a great many times, and was now in practice for it. Straight up Spike Street until you hit Flugelhorn Court, take a right down the row, and when you hit Skarn Street, you took a left. The tearoom had a big sign. It was the older part of town, and was mostly free of tourists, who just weren’t welcome.
Canterlot too, had a district where tourists were discouraged, and Chartreuse understood.
She gave her blind companion a nudge, which was also accompanied by a warning: “Curb. Watch out.” Chartreuse was pleased to see that Chalcedony didn’t bang a hoof against the curb, which she might have done had there been no warning. The smiling filly seemed surprised by this thoughtful gesture and was careful with her hind hooves as well.
“I always trip over those,” Chalcedony said with what seemed like a grateful grin.
Chartreuse scowled, not liking the sound of that. “Not on my watch.”
“I didn’t even think about the curb being a danger.” Nomination came to a halt, sighed, and then just stood there looking sulky and dejected. “You were nice to me and I almost let you stumble.”
Chalcedony turned her head in the direction of Nomination’s voice. She stood there, smiling while batting her eyelashes, appearing to be quite pleased with herself. “Stop being a mope! What do the regulations have to say about being a mope?”
“I’m in violation of so many regulations right now,” Nomination whined.
Using her magic, Chartreuse grabbed two tender ears and gave a tug to get everypony moving. The whimpers and protests were ignored, and moreover, she didn’t care. There was a goal to achieve and standing about moping wasn’t getting anything done. When Nomination and Chalcedony fell in line behind her, she let go, trusting they would walk on their own.
The neighborhood around them was starting to change. The buildings huddled closer together and looked much older. Some were quite austere, as if they weren’t made with comfort in mind. Chartreuse was starting to learn the history of this, all of it, and she knew that Sombra had grown some of the crystalline structures here.
A shadow hung over this place. Even though it was bright and cheerful, there was something about the surrounding neighborhood, something ominous and foreboding about the architecture. Using magic, she pulled Chalcedony closer to her, until they were almost touching. The street lamps here looked more like repurposed gibbets, places where cages had once hung. The bright ornamental glass globes did a poor job of hiding them—if that was the case—and Chartreuse was almost certain that it was.
“Do you feel it?” Chalcedony asked in a low whisper. “I can see it… some of his magic is still here. It haunts this place. When Princess Cadance has the time and the energy to spare, she comes here and infuses this place with her magic. It’s been a slow process, but bit by bit, she’s scrubbing away the dark magic left behind.”
“How horrid.” Chartreuse bumped against Chalcedony and the two fillies stumbled a bit together. “How do ponies live here?”
“The Crystal Heart sustains us,” Chalcedony replied, and there was no sign of her ever-present smile upon her muzzle. In fact, she looked a little scared at the moment. “It gives us courage, it fills us with hope, and we stand in defiance of the dark shadow left on this place. I won’t come here at night though, it’s spooky!”
“This place is awful—”
“You have no idea, Nom.” The trio now walked abreast, with Chalcedony in the middle, and she brushed up against the side of her colt companion. “I was born during Sombra’s rule, right at the end of it, when the Crystal Empire vanished for a thousand years. Like many, I don’t know who my parents are, or if they are even alive. We’re the Unwanted, the reminders of Dread King Sombra’s most terrible rule, a generation of orphans that nobody could bear to look at, because of what we remind others of. It’s hard for us, but we’ve managed.”
“I’m really sorry—”
“Don’t be, Nom. If you are really sorry, just be my friend, and don’t abandon me.” The smile returned to Chalcedony’s face, bright and beaming. “No pressure!”
“Nopony wanted you?” Nomination sounded incredulous. “That seems so heartless!”
“Some say it is a curse and others say it is just too painful to remember. Some think the pain of sorting everything out would be too much to bear, and too many of us orphans would find out for certain that we have dead parents. It’s a scab that nopony wants to tear open. All of us, even our nobles, we were all put in shackles and made to serve. At least now we have the Crystal Empress, and she has been good to us.”
“Are you like a thousand years old?” Nomination’s ears stood straight up and he took a cautious step aside for fear of retribution.
“You don’t talk about a lady’s age!” Chalcedony took a clumsy swipe at the colt and missed. “Those years don’t count. New regulation, we don’t mention a lady’s age.”
“Um—”
“You’re sorry?” Chalcedony took a moment to rebalance herself and then trotted in time to Chartreuse’s hoofbeats. Her curly pastel green mane bobbed in a fetching way with each step, and coiled curls clung to her ears like a foal to a security blanket or a stuffed animal.
“Yeah, I’m sorry.” Nomination smiled, revealing pointed teeth. “You look pretty cute for being a thousand years old though.” The colt’s happiness lasted only for a moment, and then he went back to looking morose. “I mean, you only look cute in a general sense. I mean that in a nice way. I mean, I don’t know what I mean, everything is so confused right now and nothing I say feels right.”
The crystal filly let out an unladylike grunt, snorted, and then had this to say: “I’ll let you off the hook for now because you are having a bad day.” She continued to stroll in time with Chartreuse along the sidewalk, her ears pivoting as wagons went rumbling past in the road. “It’s nice to be called cute. My eyes freak out other ponies.”
“You’re eyes are a little different.” Nomination too, fell back into step, and again, the three walked abreast of one another. “Maybe some glasses?”
“Why should I wear glasses to make others comfortable? I’m the one that has to live with this blindness, not them. I shouldn’t have to cover myself up to make others feel better looking at me.” Chalcedony’s smile remained resolute and her nose pointed straight ahead, though her eyes lacked focus. “I don’t even know what my eyes look like. I can’t see them. Some ponies say they are awful, and other ponies, nice ones, say they aren’t that bad. It’s kinda frustrating. So many ponies say so many different things… I can’t even sort out the truth for myself. It’s awful.”
“They’re not that bad, they’re just… different. I’m different too. I guess you can’t see that.” Nomination reached out and poked Chalcedony with his wing, which caused her to giggle and squirm. “I spend a lot of time worrying about what others think of me and how they see me. My mother says that it doesn’t matter, that I was born and bred to serve others, and that what they think of me should be the least of my concerns.”
“Nomination, are you a noble?” Chartreuse asked while she glanced at her colt companion out of the corner of her vision. Most of what she saw was Chalcedony’s pearly whites.
“No.” Nomination’s voice became a soft, hard to hear whisper. “My parents say that we are slaves to the betterment of society. Our purpose to serve, always and continuously, endlessly and without ceasing, until such a time that an honourable death robs us of our breath and tears away the spirit of life from our bodies.”
Hearing this, Chartreuse shrugged. “Sounds like nobility to me…”
On Skarn Street, Chartreuse was assailed by an all to familiar voice, and hearing it filled her with joy. With a turn of her head, she saw a familiar face, hailing her, calling out to her, while also rushing over to be with her. The sight made her heart leap up into her throat and she became misty-eyed.
“Miss Le Feu! Miss Le Feu! Darling, this is fortunate! I was going to come to the palace later to see if I could visit you! I was hoping to surprise you! Oh, it is so good to see you! Darling, you look smashing!”
“Miss Rarity—”
“No, no, just Rarity, darling!”
Chartreuse was rushed by the marshmallowy mare, both cheeks were kissed, and a cloud of fine perfume wafted around her. Nomination squeaked, Chalcedony sniffed, and Rarity took a step back while flashing a perfect, stunning smile. It took a moment for Chartreuse to recover her senses, but recover them she did, and she could feel her heart pounding in her barrel while she stood staring at her former employer.
Rarity was pretty, and the dress she was wearing did funny things to Chartreuse’s imagination. It was one of the Sapphire Shores Signature Series dresses, done in a stunning shade of blue. It grew quite warm, very much so, and she was filled with the need to remove her cloak, because it was getting hot underneath there.
For reasons she could not explain, Chartreuse giggled.
When she got the giggles out of her system, she took a deep breath, calmed herself, and did her best to look like a professional apprentice. “Rarity, these are my friends, Chalcedony and Nomination.” She turned to look at her companions, both of whom she had met this day, and marveled at the fact that she had called them both her friends. “Both of you, this is Rarity, my former boss.”
“Oh, I, we, Sassy and I, we’re both so proud of you!” Rarity gushed, and she invaded Chartreuse’s space once more. “Chalcedony, Nomination, I am quite pleased to meet you!”
“Rarity, what brings you to the Crystal Empire?” Chartreuse asked.
“Oh, I just bought some property,” the fabulous fashionista replied. “Soon, I plan to open a shop… I might call it Crystal Couture, I don’t know yet. I have options! I have to go and talk with Princess Cadance because she wants to use my shop for apprenticeships so future tailors and seamstresses will get the experience they need from a master of the craft.” Tittering, Rarity lifted up a hoof and began fanning herself.
A crowd had begun to gather, gawking and rubbernecking.
Turning, Rarity turned her critical eye upon Chalcedony, who was oblivious to the fashionista’s attention. After a few moments of intense study, Rarity clucked her tongue a few times and then cocked her head off to one side. She squinted a little, bit her lower lip, and pulled out a pair of glasses from some hidden pocket so that she might see better.
As she slipped them on, she asked, “Chalcedony, darling… have you thought about modeling? Right now, at this point in your life, you have a fine form for it. You have neutral colours that wouldn’t clash with much. You have… splendid curves, darling.”
As her friend stood there stammering and spluttering, Chartreuse felt a pang of jealousy, but could not say why. It hurt though, it inflamed her brain, and try as she might, she could not determine the reason as to why she was jealous, just that she was. She cleared her throat and willed the uncomfortable feeling to go away, while wishing she didn’t feel so hot and uncomfortable.
“But my eyes,” Chalcedony managed to say, and she stood there blushing and blinking.
“Oh, nonsense! Darling, I can make you look so good that nopony would notice your eyes. You have a window, darling, a fabulous, wonderful window. Should you chose to model, and in my opinion, I think you should, you could enjoy a bit of success. Just don’t get any delusions, darling, this window will not stay open forever. You must forgive me for being blunt, but I have a total honesty policy with my clients after a few… unpleasant misunderstandings.”
“I think I like just being me.” Chalcedony’s grin now rivaled the sun itself for brilliance, a magnificent sight indeed, and there was something a bit shy about her expression. “I’m flattered, really, but I think it is better if I stay in school and focus on my education.”
“That is wise, darling.” Rarity tittered, reached out, and stroked Chalcedony’s cheek. “This is why I wasn’t upset when Chartreuse gave me a notice that she would be taking her leave. Fashion is such a trivial thing, really, it relies upon the whims and whimsy of so many, while only acknowledging the opinions of so few. Chartreuse has all of the right stuff for greatness, and I’d like to think I had a hoof in that.” A smile moved with glacial slowness across Rarity’s muzzle and she turned to look at Chartreuse once more.
It made Chartreuse feel hot, flustered, and a bit sweaty.
“I consider Chartreuse to be one of my finest projects,” Rarity continued while her white teeth flashed with brilliant, dazzling intensity. “She’s tailor-made for success. It was quite enriching and rewarding to watch her grow from the over-excited filly that she was to what she is now. She is commanding, she is bold, and she knows how to follow a plan for success.”
Sweat was running down Chartreuse’s neck now, and while she stared at Rarity’s marvellous face, the muscles on the insides of her thighs began to suffer fitful twitches. Something about those blue eyes made her heart feel fluttery and her pelt continued to moisten in the most uncomfortable of places.
“Take what you want, darling!” Rarity breathed out these words, and they made Chartreuse’s ears twitch. “Life is yours for the taking. As for me, I must be going. I have an appointment with Princess Cadance that I am almost late for. I must be going! Best of luck, darling!”
Gulping, Chartreuse tugged at the too-tight collar of her cloak and watched while the fabulous mare departed. Her cloak clasp felt as though it was cutting into her neck, she itched, and she was too warm. The muscles in her dock were spasming like mad, and her mouth couldn’t make up its mind if it wanted to water or feel dry.
“Goodbye, all of you, it was a real pleasure to meet you!”
Casual-Tea of a Name was a Canterlot tearoom, except it wasn’t. It emulated the style, it was a mimicry of an established institution, except there was one fundamental difference that Chartreuse noticed right away: this place was far more relaxed and a lot less stuffy. With but a few seconds she discerned why, too. Crystal ponies were like earth ponies in that they didn’t have horns for advanced manipulation, so many of the tea drinkers lapped their drink from wide, accommodating teacups.
She and her companions sat around a small table that was low to the ground. The cushions were a bit worn, but comfortable, and the table was really meant for two, but three could be made to crowd around it. The table, like so many other things, was made of shaped crystal that had been grown from the earth. The shaped crystals were perhaps, the most unique and most fantastic part of the Crystal Empire, in Chartreuse’s opinion.
There was a lot of flowing water features to help muffle sounds from other tables and privacy dividers covered in fine fabrics. Fans whirred overhead and the place had electricity, a feature so prominent that it was boasted about with a sign on the front door. Chartreuse knew from experience that pegasus ponies did not like ceiling fans, and she wondered what Nomination must have thought about them.
Near the table, there was a most delightful water feature: an alicorn frolicked in a birdbath.
On the table, tea sat cooling in cups and a collection of treats was piled upon a petite platter that there was little room for. The steam that rose and tickled the companions’ noses smelled of a king’s ransom, a collection of fine, exotic spices from far away lands. Today’s special blend was a spicy green chai that promised the bite of a dragon.
Or as Canterlot called it, Tuesday tea.
“My mother is going to destroy me—”
“Nom, stop that,” Chalcedony said to the colt wedged in beside her.
“She’s going to remind me how much trouble it was to pass my egg and how all of her hopes and dreams were in that one little egg—”
“You hatched from an egg?” Chalcedony’s voice was squeaky with incredulity.
“Yeah, I hatched from an egg.” Nomination sighed, squeaked, and his leathery wings creaked. “My mother and father are really, really proud that I come from an egg. I think they think that those of us that come from an egg are better than those of us that don’t. It’s complicated, and I don’t like it, and my mother is always going on that one day, if the program is successful, we’ll become a stable chimera race just like the griffons and I’m a big part of that future.”
“Uh huh.” Chalcedony nodded.
“What if I really am gay? What if I’m not confused and I really do like colts and I grow up this way and how do I start a family and do what is expected of me? This isn’t the usual pressure of starting a family. I’m real small for my age but I’m still considered viable breeding stock because we need variation to stay healthy and have strong bloodlines and all of this is just so much pressure—”
“Nom.” Chalcedony held up one hoof and reached in the direction of Nomination’s voice. There was a clumsy collision and a boop-bash on the nose that left the colt unharmed but rather silly looking.
“Yeah?”
“Nom, your most valuable asset can be pumped and squirted into a cup.”
“Oh gross!” Chartreuse recoiled and then discovered that she couldn’t look at the pitcher of heavy, foamy cream left on the table. Yanking off her hat, she reached across the table and slapped Chalcedony with it. “Bad! Bad filly!” Now she understood why wizards wore hats. She gave her friend one more slap and then pulled her hat away.
“What’d I do?” Chalcedony demanded in the shrill way of distraught fillies being assaulted by slap-happy apprentices everywhere.
“You just about ruined teatime!” Chartreuse snapped, and Nomination began to chortle.
“So when I just about ruin teatime, you’re going to slap me?” Chalcedony’s head turned in Chartreuse’s general direction, nostrils flaring, and she began to rub her neck.
“Yes!”
“Well, that seems fair, I can’t argue that.” Ears pinning back, Chalcedony continued to rub her neck while making indignant little snorts. “Ow, what was that anyhow? A tassel? It stung!”
“Yes!” Chartreuse began to try and calm herself down. “Keep that in mind the next time you say something lewd.” The cream-filled cakes no longer seemed quite as appealing and the treacle tarts with clotted cream? Ick. Unable to look at the table, she focused on a nearby statue of Spike the Dragon instead.
Reaching out with her front hooves once more, Chalcedony made a bold advance on Nomination. She clubbed him on contact, but he didn’t budge, and her further attempts were far more gentle. A look of concentration appeared on her face while she touched his cheeks, his muzzle, and then she clopped him on the ear while trying to get a better feel.
“What tribe are you?” she asked.
“I’m a draconic pegasus,” Nomination replied, bearing the assault upon his personal space with surprising grace and aplomb. “We’re not part of your tribes, and technically, we’re not ponies.”
“I don’t care about technically stuff.” Chalcedony smooshed Nomination’s face like clay. “You sorta feel like a pony so I am just going to think of you as a pony. You can’t stop me.” She pulled her hooves away, swayed a bit to maintain her balance, and then with a sweet smile she asked, “Nom, could you please guide my hoof to my teacup? If I go feeling around for it, I’m bound to knock it over or slosh it or make a mess and that’s always so embarrassing.”
Turning her head, Chartreuse watched as Nomination took Chalcedony’s foreleg and guided it towards her hot, steaming teacup. There was surprising gentleness there, a sincere kindness. It was heartwarming to witness and it served as a reminder that good creatures came in all shapes and sizes.
“Meals are the hardest,” Chalcedony said in a low whisper. “If I was a unicorn, I could just magic my food. As it is, I am always burning my face, scalding my snoot, and making a big mess. It gets me down, sometimes, and I hate asking for help, because ponies always sound so exasperated that I can’t do something as simple as feed myself. Thank you, Nom.”
The colt was silent—making no verbal response—but nodded, a gesture that Chalcedony could not see. Chartreuse saw it though, it caused an emotional jolt, and it was something she needed to see. She thought of her parents, all of their many lessons, all of their helpful advice and wise words. Chalcedony lowered her head, her hoof resting against the side of her teacup, and with much caution, she stuck out her tongue to test her tea.
“It seems like such a foalish question,” Chartreuse began, and she took a deep breath to prepare herself. “But it is perhaps the question that has the most profound impact upon our lives. What do you want to be when you grow up? Nomination, you and I, we have something in common, in that we’ve both been told what is good, right, and true. Much is expected of us.” The filly, pausing to recollect her thoughts, remained focused upon her tablemates. “I came here to fulfil a dream, to become Shining Armor’s apprentice… but now that I am here and doing this, I don’t know what comes next. Do either of you understand what I mean?”
“Yeah, actually,” Nomination replied, and he glanced at Chalcedony, perhaps expecting to be interrupted again. “I want to be a cook… a chef. Cooking is art and science, and I want to explore both. Cooking is the best medium to do that. But I have no idea what to do once I become a cook. If I listen to my mother, I’ll end up in the guard, and what I cook and how I cook it won’t matter. All that matters in the guard is that the food is hot, brown, and that there is plenty of it.”
“We have these cutie marks, but no plan. At least, I don’t.” Chartreuse lifted her teacup, deciding that it had cooled enough. “I was young when I got my flaming kite shield. I was so happy, I was overjoyed really, but then I woke up one day and realised that I didn’t know what to do with it. It had arrived, but it offered me no vision on how to become whatever it was that my flaming kite shield wanted me to be.”
Nomination too, lifted up his teacup, pinching it between his clawed thumb and the central, bulbous knuckle on his wing. “I was happy when I got my mark, but my mother wasn’t. She wasn’t anything. Not a speck of emotion. It hurt me. When my chocolate covered strawberry appeared, I was the happiest colt in the world, but then my mother had to ruin it. Later, she told me that it would be fine to do as a hobby, but that my duties posed more pressing obligations than frivolous food.”
“How many ponies get their marks, I wonder, and then never truly live up to their purpose because they don’t know how to go from being the pony they are to the pony their mark intends for them to be?” Chartreuse asked of her newfound friends. She held her cup less than an inch away from her lips and each spoken word caused ripples in the surface of the liquid. “Rarity taught me to strive for success. I grew up in that mare’s shop doing everything she asked of me. I can honestly say that I am where I am because of her and all of her lessons about striving for success… without her, I might have been just another member of the rank and file in the guard. Another buckethead. Rarity made me want more, she made me demand more from my mark and the options it offered.”
Taking a sip, Chartreuse almost shivered from the burn of black pepper and ginger. At the moment, she was feeling quite grown up, she felt accomplished, she had done worthwhile things and achieved her goals. But she had not arrived, no, she had only just begun. Where to go next was the great unknown. Become a wizard was the distant goal, but a wizard doing what?
Chalcedony paused in her lapping, but did not raise her head. “Both of you… listen to you. All these big hopes and dreams. Me, I just want to get passing marks in independent living studies. Princess Cadance requires it from all of her students. It’s part of her new initiative for social development. The pressure is on. I’m blind and the world is not friendly to blind ponies.”
“That’s a friendship application,” Nomination said to the crystal filly beside him. “I’m studying the Twilight curriculum right now. As it stands, being a blind pony, your best option is to make the sort of friends that will help you survive and maintain your independence. Twilight says that the innate equine herd structure is a magnificent engine of survival, but like any engine, it can still be fine tuned and made better. It is possible for ponies to survive now that might not have survived during more difficult, more primitive times. Going back even five hundred years ago, crippled ponies and blind ponies were often abandoned in the woods. Society has changed and advanced enough now that such barbarous treatment is no longer necessary.”
“Nom, you’re smart.” Chalcedony raised her head, and tea dribbled down her pale white chin, staining it.
“Are you surprised?” Nomination asked.
Giggling, Chalcedony made no response, much to Nomination’s annoyance, and she lowered her muzzle back down to her tea. Still giggling just a little, she began lapping up the rich brown liquid. Beside her, Nomination squirmed on his cushion while displaying visible signs of exasperation. All of the grown up feelings that Chartreuse was feeling fled from her and she too, began to giggle, because Nomination was just that expressive. His almost vulpine face showed displeasure in a manner quite different from equines and now, with both fillies giggling, he made clicking, popping, squeaky sounds.
“It’s against regulations to be stupid,” Nomination said while he stared down into his teacup, trying to ignore the two giggling fillies. This made the two fillies giggle even more, and the colt snorted.
Lifting her head, Chalcedony went to put her foreleg around Nomination, but smacked him instead. Her smile vanished and she made another cautious attempt, looking irked. Leaning over a bit, she managed to slip her foreleg around his neck and give him a half-hug. “I’m supposed to study Twilight’s teachings, but I can’t read the books. Since you’re a smart, helpful… whatever you are, do you think you can help me? Being blind is no excuse and I’m a little behind in my studies. Also, sorry for slapping you.”
“I bet there is a regulation where Nomination can’t turn down a filly in distress,” Chartreuse said just as the colt was starting to say something.
“Actually, there is a regulation stating exactly that.” Nomination turned to look at the filly with her foreleg around his neck and there was something kind about his expression. “I’d still help you even if there was no regulation. I am a firm believer in the Twilight principles.”
“Shining Armor is really devious.” Chartreuse put down her teacup, licked her lips, and leaned over the table. “He said that provisions would be made for my schooling as his apprentice, because this is a working apprenticeship and that makes it hard for me to continue my secondary schooling. I just realised, if I am reading stuff to Chalcedony here, and helping her with her schoolwork, I’ll be learning this stuff too. That has to be what he has planned. My master is smart!”
“And he’s providing me with a trusted helper…” Chalcedony’s lips pressed together and her sightless eyes narrowed. “That’s efficient.”
“That is actually pretty clever, if this is what he had planned.” Nomination too, now looked thoughtful. “Regulations state that if I commit an infraction, I am supposed to self-punish. How about when we get done here, I help you study for a while?”
“Oh, I’d like that, Nom… you have a nice voice,” Chalcedony replied, and a vivid pink blush overtook the entirety of her face. “I’ve started to get my hopes up… please don’t crush them like the others. I’ve had quite a number of ponies who say they want to be my friend… my helper, but they never stick around.”
“Regulations,” Nomination said, and he began to chuckle even though the expression upon his face was one of sadness. “I’ve had trouble making friends since I came here. I scare others because of what I am.”
“You can’t help what you are, just like I can’t help how I am.” Chalcedony closed her eyes and leaned up against her new friend. “You smell like rotten eggs and woodsmoke. I think I’m getting used to it, but your breath does smell like farts. That might have an impact on you making friends.”
“It might.” Nomination’s sadness vanished and when he grinned, a great many horrible teeth could be seen. “I’m what Twilight calls ‘friendship challenged.’ It takes hard work and extra effort to be friends with me, so I am not a common selection for a friend-seeking equine. There are a variety of factors that present themselves and ponies make snap decisions on potential friends after a few initial quick judgments.”
Chalcedony’s eyes opened and her eyelids fluttered. “I think I fall in that category too! Being blind… I guess that gives me a friendship handicap, and you, right now, your breath could tip a yak over.”
Hearing this, Chartreuse almost dropped her teacup, and the struggle to remain composed was real.
“Twilight said that making friends with a dragon completely realigned her friendship determination factors and completely changed her perceived perceptions, the things she looks for when making a friend—”
“Nom!”
“Yes?”
“How do you know this stuff?” Chalcedony asked.
“Well,” Nomination began, “cooking is merging of art and science. I am studying all of the traditional sciences just to get a feel for them, and I find Twilight’s friendship sciences to be quite fascinating. I’ve been wondering if you can influence friendship establishing dynamics with food… sort of like how we’re sitting here having tea. You’re blind and I have yak-slaying death breath, and these are handicaps that might exclude us from many social activities, but here, in this place, in a more intimate setting, this teatime might be an external factor that is helping us to overcome our initial biases and aiding us in our potential friendship determinations, whatever those are.”
“Nom…”
“Yes?”
“I have decided that I like you.” Chalcedony batted her eyelashes in a feminine way.
“I’m glad.”
“Nom, we have a job ahead of us.”
“We do?” Nomination now looked concerned.
“It’s Charty—”
Alarmed, Chartreuse almost choked on her tea. Charty? Really?
“—I think she’s gonna be the stick in the mud in our group.”
“Hmm.” Nomination turned his head and focused his thoughtful expression on Chartreuse. “She’s wearing granny glasses, you might be right.”
“What? No! They’re not! No!” Chartreuse sat there, stammering, her teacup trembling.
“So, I am a blind filly stuck with two sticks in the mud—”
At this, Nomination scowled and shook his head, knowing he had been duped.
“—one is bound by regulations, the other by apprenticeship. I suppose this is the best I could hope for.”
“Regulations have to be followed,” Nomination whined. “Failure to follow the regulations is against regulations! Surely you can see the logic in that—”
“Nope.”
“Nope? What do you mean, nope, Chalcedony? How can you not see the logic in that?”
“I’m blind.”
“Oh… you! You are impossible!” A stream of echo-locative vulgarities spewed forth from the colt, who squirmed on his cushion while Chalcedony clung to him, giggling.
“I do not wear granny glasses!” Chartreuse set down her almost empty teacup and then began to eye the food on the table, wondering what she would destroy with angry, fierce chomps. When Chalcedony began to laugh, not giggle, Chartreuse let out a throaty whicker to express her displeasure. “Both of you are awful!”
It was at that moment that Chartreuse realised, yes, they were awful, but she was fond of them anyway. Such was the way of friendship, mysterious and strange as it was, and she really wasn’t angry with them. Not really. No, she was just annoyed with them in a pleasant, enjoyable way that for some reason, she wanted to have continue. She liked being somewhat annoyed by them, which was a most peculiar realisation indeed.
Both of them were the most awful, yet somehow enjoyable friends a filly could ask for.
“Curb.” Navigation now was second nature and Chartreuse was determined to make certain her friend didn’t stumble. Even distracted as she was, thinking of everything said during tea, she was watchful, mindful of Chalcedony’s needs. They were simple needs, simple demands, and when one thought about it, they were the same needs and demands that any pony had, only somewhat more pronounced due to her condition.
There was a lot of city to explore, but that would happen on other days, other outings. There was so much to see, so much to explore, so many shops with inviting window displays. Hat shops, tea shops, curiousities from exotic lands, a weapons store named ‘Bloodbath and Beyond,’ the Gnome Depot, and a place that sold magical items, all of which were promised to be one-hundred-percent non-evil, guaranteed, or your bits returned without question.
“Ash Wipe Chimney Sweeps,” Nomination said, reading the sign that hung in front of the business. “I wonder what it’s like to sweep a chimney?”
“I dunno,” Chalcedony replied, “but if you get the right cutie mark for it, it soots you.”
“Oooh, Junk and Disorderly! A thrift shop.” Chartreuse refused to even acknowledge the dreadful pun her friend had made. “Oh, Planet of the Grapes, for all of your wine needs!”
“Nim Com Soup.” Nomination craned his head to look up at the sign. “Stupidly good soup.”
“Pita Pan, our food will keep you young and healthy forever.” Chartreuse eyeballed that one in total disbelief, it was quite a claim and she had her doubts. As she continued, she saw another enticing sign: “Hey, Back to the Fuchsia, we have two of those in Canterlot.”
“Beauty and the Bleach,” Nomination said as he swung his head around to see another ornate wooden sign. “Discreet genital and anal bleaching, remove unsightly stains today.”
“Hey!” Chalcedony came to a sudden stop, her tail tucked between her legs. She stood there for a moment, squirming, uncomfortable, and her ears pivoted around into a dozen different positions in just a few seconds. “Being my friends, you would tell me if I had any unsightly stains back there, right? I mean, I hope somepony would tell me that and that I wouldn’t be walking around with unsightly stains back there.”
“Chalcy”—Chartreuse felt funny shortening her friends name—“I would tell you.”
“I could have a look—”
“Nomination, no!” Chartreuse stomped her hoof and the colt dropped into a submissive pose. “Although that is kind if you to offer, this is a job better left to a fellow filly.” She felt bad for the pitiful looking colt, but not too bad, and after studying his face for a short time, she could see that he was sincere in his feelings, as near as she could tell. No doubt, there was probably some regulation that prevented him from doing untoward things. “Let’s go home. It’s getting late in the day and we could all stand to do some productive studying.”
“Home.” Chalcedony lifted her head, blinked, and her ears stood up out of the wild, curly thatch of her mane. “I do have a home. Not a dormitory bunk in the boarding hall, but a home. It makes me feel all grown up inside.”
“It’s home for now,” Chartreuse said to her companion.
“Home, with a budget, and shopping, and tidying up, and staying indoors when it is rainy and bleak… home… listening to the rain falling and the wind howling on stormy nights. I’ve never had a home before, homes are generally something that orphans don’t have—” And then, without warning, Chalcedony exploded with tears and began sobbing.
Fighting back the urge to sniffle, Chartreuse approached her weeping friend, gave her a full body bump to reassure her, and then she said, “Yes, home… let’s go there now and get you cleaned up. Come on, little steps, you can do it. Maybe when we get home, we can find that smile of yours.”
Home. This was home. Chartreuse led her friend along the little stone path through the garden around the tower to the bath shed in the back, leaving Nomination to explore the compact garden. Coming around the side of the tower, she saw the shed for the first time, and halted for a moment to take it all in.
It was pleasant, and not at all what she expected. There was a green copper chimney sticking up out of the red shingled roof, and the door was red too. The walls were a dark stained cedar. There was a little round window near the door, and a compost hatch off on the right side. This was no mere outhouse, but a teeny, tiny bathhouse, a needed addition to the tower, which had been created in a time when indoor plumbing didn’t exist.
She resumed her movement, walked to the door, and pressed the latch with her magic. The door opened on well oiled hinges, revealing an inviting space just beyond. To the right of the entrance, there was a door leading to the compost toilet, but it was the main room that held her attention captive. There was a tub in the corner, a copper basin that would serve as a tub well enough. There were benches along the walls and some kind of brazier in the middle that was filled with rocks.
It was a primitive sauna.
No modern steam fed contraption here, just rocks that could be heated. There was a wrought iron stove and an insulated water tank. Nearby, there was a sink for washing, and Chartreuse realised that if she wanted hot water, she would either have to heat it up herself or light a fire to heat the tank.
Chalcedony vanished behind the door, going into the closet where the compost toilet was hidden, leaving Chartreuse to continue her inspection of the bath shed. There was no electricity here, no electric lights. There was an oil lantern that hung from the ceiling and that was it. After looking about, taking in every detail, the clever unicorn filly knew that she would have to cast some permanent light spells in this place.
From beyond the door, Chalcedony shouted a sentence that made Chartreuse shiver in fright: “I really hope that spiders don’t come crawling up out of the compost pit and tickle my plot!”
Things had settled into a quiet calm and the three friends were now nestled on the couch together. Chartreuse held a book in her magic, Nomination did the reading, and Chalcedony listened while clinging to Chartreuse. It was a pleasant time, comforting and comfortable, and at some point during the day, the three had become fast friends.
“You’re a bit grabby,” Chartreuse said to Chalcedony, and this caused Nomination to stop reading.
“You know how you look at a pony’s face to tell what they are feeling?” the crystal filly replied. She took a deep breath, redoubled her squeezy grip on Chartreuse, and closed her eyes. “Well, I can’t do that. I can’t connect to other ponies by looking at them. I can’t tell what they might be feeling, or how they are responding, or what they might be thinking. If I touch them, I have a somewhat better idea.”
Nodding a little, Chartreuse thought of the way that Chalcedony had hung onto Nomination in the tearoom. Then, without prompting, she began to think of why that tearoom appealed to her friend, and came to the conclusion that it was one of the quietest tearooms she had ever visited, due to the water features and what not. She made a sincere effort to try and understand how her new friend perceived the world.
“One of my previous assistants quit because I was too clingy,” Chalcedony said, almost sighing out these words, with her voice sounding so defeated and sad.
Clingy. Turning her head, Chartreuse looked down at the filly pressed up against her side, and much to her alarm, she noticed that Chalcedony was… rather cute. She was a creature made of soft curves, was a pleasing pale white, she had the most intriguing curls that just begged to be brushed into submission. When her mouth went dry, Chartreuse swallowed.
“Hey, your heart is racing. Is everything okay?”
“Fine.” Chartreuse heard the huskiness of her own voice and was mortified by how strange it sounded. For some reason, her glasses had fogged over, and she suffered distracting thoughts of Rarity. Also, the soft glow of Chalcedony only added to her appeal and Chartreuse’s brain transmogrified itself into a pile of mush.
What was going on?
She didn’t get a chance to figure out what was going on because the door opened without warning, and Sunburst came in. Chartreuse gasped, feeling dirty, as if she had been doing something wrong, and had just been caught. She couldn’t even look Sunburst in the eye while he stood there, adjusting his glasses, and clearing his throat.
Busted! Chartreuse’s brain blurbled in its current mushy state. What I do? she demanded of her own mind.
“The alarm went off,” Sunburst said in a matter-of-fact way. “Specifically, the alarm that warns of colts passing through the front door.
An enormous droplet of sweat rolled down the side of Chartreuse’s face.
“We’re studying together,” Chalcedony said to Sunburst. “This is Nom—”
“Nomination,” the colt corrected. “Nicknames are against regulations.”
“Okay, somepony has to explain what is going on. I’m not angry, not yet, anyway, and I’m tough but fair. Spill the beans and I will be merciful.” When Sunburst sat down upon the floor, his spine crackled and he grimaced. “Ugh, Starlight really messed up my spine, ouch!”
“Back problems?” Chalcedony asked in a sweet, sincere voice.
“Twister,” was the only word said in return as an explanation. Sunburst leveled his gaze and focused on the three ponies on the sofa. “Enough about me. Tell me about you and why I shouldn’t move you back into a dormitory.”
The crystal filly gulped.
“Well, I was taking Chalcedony to her favourite tea room, and we cut through the school and administration buildings, and we found Nomination here crying in a garage because he was having a bad day. After that, we went out for tea, and we talked, and we became friends I think, and Nomination came home with us to help Chalcedony study and—”
Raising his hoof, Sunburst cut Chartreuse off with a gentle gesture. “Okay, I get the gist of it. You had a complicated sequence of events that lead to an impromptu friendship. As innocent as this might be, and I hate to be the one that does this, but I am going to have to—”
“Can Nom be one of my assistants?” Chalcedony blurted out. “Please? Can he stay here with us? Charty is going to be busy sometimes with her apprentice stuff and I like Nom. Please?”
“Coed cohabitation isn’t allowed—”
“Nom is probably gay, so really, he could be just one of us fillies!” Chalcedony slipped off of the couch, almost taking a tumble, and she stumbled over to where Sunburst sat. When she was inches away from Sunburst, she began pouring out her heart. “Nom isn’t a bad pony… he’s too scared of his mother to do anything bad and he has all of these regulations that he makes himself follow, and everything is about the regulations, and I don’t think he’ll do anything stupid!”
“Chalcedony…” Sunburst’s ears splayed out left and right. “Chalcedony there are rules about this sort of thing—”
“You and Princess Cadance are always telling me to ask for help, that I need to ask for help, and I need to be more direct with my needs and this is me asking for help! I’ve found a pony that I think will make a good assistant for me and that I’m comfortable with. I am asking you for help, and how you answer this will probably determine if I ask for help in the future.” The crystal filly sat down on her fuzzy backside with a muffled whump, and then gave Sunburst a hopeful, pleading, sightless gaze.
Sunburst’s ears drooped a bit more, sagging, and his right front hoof tapped against the floor. “Chalcedony—”
“You said that I have to start trusting in the good of ponies… you said this a couple of assistants ago when I said I was sick of it all and wanted to give up! You said it! I needed to trust in the good of ponies! Well, I’m doing it and right now, I’m trusting in Nom’s goodness and I am trusting in your goodness… please, please, please give this a chance.”
“You make a point.” Sunburst sounded defeated, and he let out a longsuffering sigh. “You there, Nomination… how do you feel about being her helper?”
The colt sat on the couch, blinking, looking quite panicked. “I am not against it.”
Raising his right front hoof, Sunburst began rubbing the side of his head, making little circular motions against his temple. This caused his glasses to go askew. “I can’t make any promises, but I will bring this up to Princess Cadance. Chalcedony, I’ll make sure that you get a chance to speak to her and plead your case. I suppose there is something to be said about asking you to trust in the good in ponies, and this is a practical application of that lesson.”
“Not being trustworthy is against regulations,” Nomination mentioned, and his words were punctuated by a few clicky sounds. “I cut class today and I screwed up, and I came back here to help her study so I could self-punish, so if you wanted to, for my infraction, you could sentence me to civil service—”
“I might just do that,” Sunburst said, cutting the colt off before he could get worked up. “Would you feel better if you were given punishment disproportionate to your alleged crime?”
“YES!” Nomination let out a huff of relief and then fell over on the couch. “Please punish me and get it over with so I can feel better, this is driving me crazy!”
Now, Sunburst looked shrewd. “Well, the punishment should fit the crime, I suppose.”
Reaching out her hoof, Chartreuse placed it on the dull blue-grey colt to comfort him while he buried his face into his forelegs. She understood self-punishment, having done it more than a few times herself. The colt made a curious variety of clicks, pops, squeals, and squeaks, all sounds of echolocation, and she found something about them to be quite endearing.
“I hate asking for help and I hate that it feels like I’m a chore that has to be done,” Chalcedony said, whispering out the painful words. “Today was like the greatest day ever, because my new friends were nice to me, and Charty kept me from tripping on the curbs, and I felt special, and we did something that I liked to do, and I wasn’t just dragged around and made to follow somepony else while they did things they wanted to do. Nopony shouted at me or hollered at me to keep up. This has been, like, the greatest day ever and I don’t want this to end.”
“Chalcedony, I won’t say that I understand, because that would be patronising, but I do acknowledge what you are saying.” Sunburst scooted forward a bit, reached out his foreleg, and pulled the blind filly into a tender embrace. She resisted for a moment, sniffling and sad, then gave in completely, pressing against him as she began blubbering.
Clearing her throat, feeling a bit choked up, Chartreuse coughed a few times, and then had this to say: “The right thing needs to be done. If this is something she wants, then somepony needs to make sure that she has it. It sounds like she’s had a rough go at things, and this might go a long way towards restoring her hope. I don’t have a problem with Nomination staying with us. I think it would be a fine thing to do.”
“When I explain all of this to Princess Cadance, I’ll keep that in mind.” Sunburst wrapped his foreleg around Chalcedony a little tighter, closed his eyes, and then began to rock back and forth with her, trying to bring her some measure of comfort. “Take heart, little one, Cadance is an understanding pony.”
Turning her head, Chartreuse prodded the colt beside her on the couch to get his attention. “Nomination, we have an obligation to do good. You know of what I speak. Duty. Shall we endeavour to do this together?”
“Yes.” The colt’s response was muffled from behind his forelegs.
“Sunburst, when you go to speak with Princess Cadance, I request to go with you.”
“Why, Chartreuse?”
“I wish to plead with her.”
“I don’t know if that is necessary.” Sunburst reached up and stoked Chalcedony’s neck.
“But she”—Chartreuse pointed at Chalcedony with her hoof— “needs to know that she is worthwhile… worth fighting for. This isn’t a chore, but a privilege that is a reward of trust.”
At this, Nomination struggled to sit up and his face contorted with intense concentration while he did so. He grunted a bit, and once he was upright, he tucked his wings back against his sides. “I’m coming too. If this is to be a formal request, then I demand the right to represent myself, to plead on behalf of myself and my friend.”
“Okay, all of you… you’re coming with me so we can sort this out. Princess Cadance might be busy, so we might have to wait a while, but you’re all coming with me and you’re staying with me until we get this settled. Okay?”
“Okay.” Chartreuse nodded.
Nomination replied, “Fine with me.”
“I’m having a really emotional day,” Chalcedony whimpered. “I’m feeling hopeful, and I haven’t felt this way in a long, long time. I want to believe that this will somehow be okay.”
“And somehow,” Sunburst responded, “I want to make this okay for you.”
“Here’s to doing what is right and good,” Nomination said while he held out his hoof to Chartreuse.
Nodding, she gave him a hoof bump in return. “To camaraderie.”
“Let us give good, kindly Cadance an earful,” Sunburst said, resigning himself to his task. “This is the social progression she wanted, I hope she’s ready to have it. This pretty much covers every major social issue that she frets over.”
“But first, before we go, let me help Chalcedony clean up her face again!”
