A teeming mass of equinity spilled from the airship ferry. Pegasus ponies flew to avoid the slow moving crowd. Guards wearing glittering, mirror polished armor ensured that everypony remained safe. Chartreuse knew the stories, she knew that everypony with a broken heart or a troubled mind ended up in the Crystal Empire somehow. This place pulled the damaged and the downcast to it, and not just ponies, but also many other sapients.

Chartreuse did not know it, but at the moment, she was a tourist, the most awfulest of awful creatures. Rather than walk at a reasonable pace and keep moving, the filly rubbernecked, staring at every conceivable thing she could, except for the direction she was supposed to be going. This was, perhaps, the worst of all sins, to become a source of inefficiency, and the bane of well-planned schedules. This was how the universe would one day burn, or perhaps freeze.

And then everything would rubberneck to watch the end, thus compounding the issue.

If birds were chirping, they could not be heard over the rustle and roar of the crowd. Old and young spilled forth, and with slow certainty, some of the crowd began to walk towards the crystal spire that served as the Empress’ palace. Two enormous, imposing buildings stood next to crystal spire, one was the great hospital that Empress Cadance had constructed, and the other was her school.

The architecture here was organic; things weren’t built here so much as they were grown. Tall rowhouses of ancient design lined the narrow streets; they flowed with softened, gentle corners and smoothed, rounded edges. Each building used different stone, creating a riot of geological colours. In Chartreuse’s mind, the Crystal Empire was what Canterlot could be if Canterlot had room to sprawl out. Empress Cadance grew the city from the foundation stones, and she had created a garden that delighted the eyes.

The Great Equine Flow Dynamic was hard at work, sorting the singular large herd into smaller, more manageable herds. The young began to coalesce together, with colts forming groups with one another. (No doubt, this mysterious magic was responsible for juvenile gangs.) Little fillies formed protective enclaves that were colt-and-cootie-free. Older ponies clustered together, free of the lazy, good-for-nothing little snots, the whippersnappers that were the source of all of the world’s problems. (A wary eye was kept on the younger ponies by the older, as only a fool would trust them.) Only a few small herds existed of mixed sexes and age groups, and these were the dynamic shatterers, the real source of the older ponies’ ire. The mixed groups defied categorization, and in The Greater Herd Structure of The Great Equine Flow Dynamic, these defiant individuals grouping together constituted anomalies.

Ignoring the tug of some great, invisible force, Chartreuse continued to the palace.

A canopied pavilion stood just outside of the crystal spire, and it flapped in the breeze like a well rigged sail. A great many signs could be seen, and each of them read, ‘Receiving & Registration.’ Would be students had already formed a line that snaked out to an impossible length. The broken hearted and the troubled could be seen, moping together, waiting for help. Some had been tagged already and lay in the grass, just waiting. What for? Chartreuse didn’t know, but she suspected that she would soon find out.

She pulled a waxed, cardboard container out from her saddlebags, pulled the straw free, and then stabbed it down into the little foil square. The first sip of apple juice was an amazing feeling, sugary, sweet, and it clung to the tongue in the most pleasant way. Chartreuse realised that she had no idea where to go, or how to even register. How did one register that they were here to be Shining Armor’s apprentice?

“You there… you look a bit different than the others… you have a look of purpose about you.”

Turning her head, she almost spit out her apple juice. The pony speaking to her was orange, very much so, and was wearing a blueish green cape covered in stars. It only took her a moment to recognise the intellectual might of the Crystal Empire, Empress Cadance’s court wizard. This moment of celebrity caused Chartreuse to go mute, and she stood there, open mouthed, staring.

”I am—”

“Iknowwhoyouare!” Chartreuse blurted out. “You’reoneofmyheroes!” Taking a deep breath, the filly tried to calm herself, and when she continued speaking, she spoke recognisable words, but with considerable volume. “You made me apply myself in school! You’re amazing! Your knowledge of magic rivals Princess Twilight Sparkle’s!”

“I’m flattered—”

“You’re Sunburst!”

“So I am,” the stallion replied while he bowed his head. “It isn’t often I get much in the way of recognition. This is an awkward moment for me.” He stood there, shuffling on his hooves, and his glinting spectacles were spotless in the bright sun. “If you don’t mind me saying, you don’t look like a lovesick filly, or a heartbroken filly, or a filly worried about being a filly, so what brings you here?”

“My name is Chartreuse Le Feu!”

“Oh, right… that…” Sunburst adjusted his glasses, which caused Chartreuse to nudge her own. “Okay, I can see that you are very excited, which tells me that you don’t have a trampled upon spirit or heart, so why are you here?”

“IWANNABECOMESHININGARMOR’SAPPRENTICE!”

Sunburst blinked once while his ears pivoted into a safer position to deal with excitable volume, then he blinked a second time. He stood there, the seconds stretching, and then, without any warning whatsoever, the quiet, dignified, reserved unicorn known as Sunburst exploded with laughter.

With a single, powerful slurp, Chartreuse emptied her juice box, and then stuffed its remains into her saddlebags. “Sorry… so sorry… I get excited sometimes and I have a hard time controlling myself and I promise I’ll try to do better so please, don’t tell Shining Armor about it.”

“Ah, I think he’s bound to find out,” Sunburst said, gasping. He took a few deep breaths, licked his lips, and with his bright eyes twinkling, he asked, “Would you like to come with me? Shining Armor is quite busy at the moment, but I can take you to a place that he can meet with you later, when he has some time. Plus, I’d like to talk to you, and get to know you.”

“You’ll talk with me?” Chartreuse asked, and she almost blurred her words together with her excitement. “You’ll talk with me? You’re like, one of the greatest unicorns of our age. Ponies say you are the next Star Swirl… you’re revolutionising the new magical theory under Sumac’s Hypothesis!”

“You know about that?” Sunburst asked.

“I wanna be a wizard when I grow up, of course I know about that!” Chartreuse blurted out with enough volume to make Sunburst’s ears pivot for cover again. “I’ve read books… your book, The Great Panic, I read Twilight’s book but found it a bit boring, at least your book was exciting, and I’ve retraced all of Sumac’s data findings myself to recreate the results!”

“That’s funny”—he blinked behind his mirror-polished lenses—“I didn’t find Twilight’s book all that boring, I mean, it’s a bit dry, I’ll give ya that… but I guess it wasn’t as exciting as her book on commercial tax reform… that was a page-turner.”

“You’re very weird, you know that?” Chartreuse spoke with the comfortable familiarity that came with youth, and she was unabashed in her statement. Her triangle shaped spectacles also glinted in the sun, and then, out of the blue she said, “Before I left, I tried to find a suitable wizard’s hat. They all looked dorky and old fashioned. I’m worried because I want Shining Armor to know how serious I am about this.”

“That’s a reasonable concern.” Sunburst nodded, smiled, and made a come-follow-me gesture with his hoof. “Come with me, Miss Le Feu, and I’ll show you to your quarters.”

She was inside of the Crystal Palace and on the verge of having her lifelong dream realised, which was the most amazing thing ever. Sunburst led the way, moving with a slow gait and a slight limp. Her curiousity burned her, gnawed at her, but she did not ask why, because that would be rude. There was a hospital-like quiet here, and she passed by many troubled souls tucked away in tiny alcoves. Sobbing and weeping could be heard, the sounds of grief, and hearing it caused a stirring in her heart.

Having been raised in Canterlot, she understood sadness. Growing up in Canterlot, enduring the Endless Siege, Chartreuse had seen much during her short life. In a strange quirk of fate, it had not been her parents who had helped her learn to cope with sadness, but her boss, Rarity. It had been Rarity who had taught her to fight back, to pick her battles, and how to vent her rage, her sense of loss, and her grief upon the Endless Enemy. Chartreuse understood sadness all too well for a filly her age, but she also understood resolve, courage, and determination.

Rarity had tried to teach her poise, how to be ladylike, and more importantly, when to abandon ladylike behaviour for savage barbarity. These lessons, and there had been many, Chartreuse liked to call them The Barbarity of Rarity. Lifting her head, she looked at a mare sitting on a bench while she passed, and the mare was hugging a small doll to her barrel.

Chartreuse could only guess…

“Oh, I see you brought me a waif to experiment upon… how very kind of you my associate”—then, after a long pause—“Mine eyes! Die Farbe! Der Schmerz in den Augen! Der Schmerz im Gehirn!”

“Yeah, she’s a little bright, isn’t she?” Sunburst said to a pony shielding his face behind his grey cloak. Coming to a halt, the bright orange pony turned to look at the searing yellow-green pony that had stopped beside him, and then he returned his attention to the sputtering, spitting, cursing pony that had buried his face beneath his cloak. “Do you know this pony? Can you guess who he is?”

“Is he…” Chartreuse took a step closer, squinting, trying to see past the billowing grey mass. Tall, conical grey hat, wide brim, grey cloak, and something about the pony gave her the shivers, like suddenly getting the news that her mother had just turned to evil, her breakfast cereal milk had spoilt, or her hamster had just died.

“Can she be turned off somehow? This glow is offensive! Offensive!”

Turning her head around, she looked at Sunburst. “Is this Dim Dark?”

“You know your wizards, Miss.” Sunburst began to chuckle while Dim continued his theatrics. “Hey Dim, get a load of this… little Chartreuse here, she wants to be Shining Armor’s apprentice.”

“She needs to be held captive in the top of a lighthouse!” Dim snapped in return. “Millions could be saved!”

“Hey, I’m not that bright!” Chartreuse’s voice was an indignant squeak and she let out a huff of annoyance at the shouted insinuation.

“I can still see the glow burned into my retinas!” Dim retorted. Then, with a flash, the pony garbed in grey vanished, leaving Sunburst and Chartreuse alone with one another.

“I think he likes you,” Sunburst remarked while he shook his head. “If you stay here for any length of time, you’ll be dealing with him. Be patient with him, be kind to him, and treat him with respect. He is… my friend. It can be difficult to be friends with him, but also quite rewarding.” The stallion let out a half-hearted chuckle and then added, “For some reason, I end up making friends with difficult ponies… I wonder why that is?”

Chartreuse watched as Sunburst left her side, and entered into the room proper. He moved with the careless ease that came with knowing a place, and by the looks of it, this place had to be just like home. Or maybe it was home. An ornate table was in the middle of the room, the walls were lined with bookshelves, and a massive water clock sat in the corner. A map of Equestria was affixed to the ceiling above, and there were a number of markers stuck to it.

“This is the study for the court wizards, both Dim and myself. There is a little kitchenette here, a bathroom to freshen up in, and there is a tiny little closet that was turned into a bedroom. It’s nice enough, I suppose, but it doesn’t see much use. Cadance was trying to think of our needs, but Dim and I, we’re not the sort of wizards who nap the day away. We’re working wizards, almost always in study, except in times of crisis—”

“And then Dim does what he is known to do?” Chartreuse asked.

“Yes. And then Dim does what he is known to do.” Sunburst nodded, and then had to fix his glasses, which had slid down his muzzle. “I think you’ll be comfortable here. Try not to wander off. I will speak with Shining Armor, but I won’t ruin the surprise. Come, sit down, and I’ll serve tea. I think it would be a good idea if we got to know one another.”

Bowing her head, Chartreuse nodded. “I’d like that… I’ve read so much about you, and what you do… and about life in the Crystal Empress’ court. I’ve studied for a long, long time about life here, hoping I could impress Shining Armor.”

“Come in, sit down, slip your bags off.” A patient smile spread almost ear to ear on Sunburst’s face. “Make yourself at home and be my guest…”

Author's Note

Next chapter: the royals manifest.