No Strings Attached

Cadence found herself being hauled into the Crystal Palace by a mass of guards, the Crystal ponies lining the streets booing her as she passed. According to the guard Captain, ‘Captain Strategy’ the Emperor had requested that she be taken directly to the Throne room instead of the damp cell the Captain was so eager to throw her in. Cadence was worried, this ‘Emperor Doflamingo’ must have somehow cast a spell over the Crystal ponies as there was no possible way that anything would want to live willingly with changelings, disgusting little parasites that they were. Maybe that was how the Emperor had these ponies fooled; Queen Chrysalis had already proven herself capable of mind control; who was to say that she wasn’t here now, manipulating everything with the aid of this ‘Emperor’.

The main throne room doors were thrown open, and Cadence looked towards the throne before the four guards escorting her stopped, one of them tugging on the shackle fastened around her neck to halt her. On the throne sat a biped clothed in what appeared to be simple garments, it wore a pair of purple tinted sunglasses hiding its eyes and a coat made of pink feathers. To the left of the throne was a crystal pony mare, her purple eyes watching Cadence with worry. The look she got from the opposite side of the throne however was not so sympathetic with the changeling, a female belonging to the upper-class of hive society, judging from its eyes and flowing mane, shooting Cadence a hate filled glare, likely because of how Cadence tried to defeat its evil plot to take over the Empire. Lastly, lying in front of the crystal throne was the long-dead flayed skin of Sombra, sending a chill up her spine.

“So,” the Emperor began, his voice cold “this is the little bitch who decided that assault and battery was legal, what a pathetic sight.”

Cadence was outraged, how dare this creature insult her so after unjustly detaining her.

“I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, also known as Princess Cadence, niece to Princess Celestia and rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire and its subjects and I demand that you release me at once!”

“I’m not doing that ‘Cadence’” replied the Emperor, deliberately leaving out her title. “You have been charged with assault against one of my subjects and I intend to treat you like the criminal scum that you are.”

“Criminal!?” Cadence yelled “I was attempting to save MY Subjects,” Cadence empathized ‘My’, earning her a glare from the Captain standing next to her “from having their love sucked out by one of those abominations!” She nodded her head towards the Changeling sitting near the Throne.

“YOU PONY BITCH!” Reflection lunged for the Princess only to be held back by two guards, one of which was the Sergeant from when the Changelings first arrived, his previous dislike for Reflection being overridden by his sense of duty. While the Sergeant, Rough Stone, did not care much for the Changeling due to her earlier disrespect he still thought referring to the Changelings as ‘Abominations’ was harsh, the others seemingly a fair bit more… docile than their leader. Reflection continued to attempt to reach for the Princess.

“What gives you the right to come here and start causing problems?!” Reflection’s mad thrashing began to subside.

“We were getting along fine; both us Changelings and the Crystal ponies were happy until you came along and ruined it!” Reflection slowly began to slump in the guard’s hold. “We finally belonged…”

Doflamingo had watched Reflection’s initial outburst with much humor, although he made sure to keep a scowl on his face focused on Cadence. He was half-tempted to order the guards to let Reflection go so he could watch her beat the crap out of the Princess, but then Reflection’s anger had given way to sorrow, spoiling the moment.

‘Why is it that when these ponies and changelings start to cry I almost feel… sorry for them, this place must be making me soft.’  Doflamingo thought before turning toward the Princess, his mouth morphing into a smile of reassurance as he looked upon Reflection, the Changeling beginning to sob.

“Reflection,” the changeling turned around towards him, tears in her eyes “this incident has not changed how you are going to be treated, look around the room, who do you think is the unpopular one here?”

Reflection stopped her crying and looked around her as the Emperor suggested. The nobles in the room, the Emperor’s assistant Sparkling, the guards and even the Sergeant beside her, the one who she had taunted when they first met were all directing looks of anger and rage at… the Pony Princess, not her.

“See Reflection?” the Emperor continued “No-one’s going to throw you out anytime soon, I made a deal with you and I intend to keep my word. Also, you and all your changelings are citizens of my empire and I will protect you all.”

As Doflamingo finished he noticed that the Changeling seemed incredibly touched by his words, and with a few final sniffles a small smile replaced the frown on her face. Doflamingo felt himself swell up with pride, a feeling that was soon extinguished as Reflection propelled herself into his lap, grasping him around the midsection with her forelegs and pushing her head into his chest. This also had the unfortunate effect of one of her rear hooves colliding solidly with his ‘royal jewels’ as she landed, however Doflamingo saw it coming and used Armament Haki to actually protect his crotch from the blow. It was entirely unexpected and later on Doflamingo would reflect that no one had tried to strike a blow at his privates before and this was an unintentional accident at best for him.

Reflection noticed that the Emperor had suddenly froze up, and after she remembered he was male she put two-and-two together, a slight green blush appearing on her face as she scrambled off of him back onto the cushion on the floor, giving him an apologetic look. She had to admit however that the Emperor’s ability to maintain his facial expression despite being injured in what Reflection knew was a ‘sensitive’ spot was amazing.

Doflamingo decided to forgive the Changeling for her blunder considering the circumstances, since he didn’t feel anything except awkwardness at the assault before turning back to Cadence, the shackled Princess not picking up on what had just happened.

“You’re not helping yourself any further Cadence.” Dofalmingo said, not a trace of pain in his voice. “Where I’m from your actions so far would have netted you a hefty thirty years imprisonment with hard labor, although as a ruler of another country in my homeland I had the authority to summarily execute those who break the law or displease me in any way…” at this statement Cadence’s face paled. “However…” Cadence looked at him with hope.

‘Hmm, I can’t just pardon her. I need to punish her in a way that would humiliate and hopefully teach her a lesson. But first….’ Doflamingo thought before continuing.

“Before I pass out your punishment, I want you to tell me why you hate changelings so much?” said Doflamingo while everyone in the room stared at him in shock.

“But Doflamingo, she doesn’t have a right to say anything after what she did!” Reflection yelled at the Emperor before turning to Cadence with another hate-filled glare.

Cadence glared back, but before she could speak, Doflamingo interrupted her. “Reflection.” The Emperor’s voice was stern, the changeling flinching at his tone and turned to him with sadness in her eyes. “I simply want to understand where her hatred is coming from. I know that the reason you hate her is because she is judging you and all other changelings unfairly, but I want to know what the cause of it is.” Doflamingo turned to Cadence, the princess of love staring at him with a mixture of anger and curiosity. “Now is your chance to defend yourself and maybe lessen your punishment if you can give me a good enough reason.” Said Doflamingo as everyone in the room waited for the princess to speak.

Cadence sighed. “Fine. The reason I hate changelings so much is that they ruined my wedding when I was about to marry my husband Shining Armor. The changelings invaded thanks to their Queen Chrysalis, but we managed to beat her in the end. However, I hate her and all changelings because she kidnapped me, impersonated me, and disguised herself as me so they could succeed!” Cadence had been steadily getting angrier recalling the events of that horrible day and she decided to direct it at the so called Emperor who asked her this.

Doflamingo stared impassively at the princess as she glared at him in anger. Doflamingo turned to Reflection and saw anger in her eyes as well, but also sadness and regret. “Reflection.” The changeling turned toward him. “Do you hate your Queen as well for what she tried to do?”

Cadence did a double take and stared at the changeling. Reflection scowled at the question, but her answer surprised Cadence.

“Of course I hate her! Her stupid plan to take over Canterlot is the reason why we changelings are starving and being banished from Equestria now. We just wanted to continue posing as ponies to get the love we need to survive, but Chrysalis wanted more than that! She ruined everything for us!” Reflection angrily shouted.

Cadence stared the changeling in shock while Doflamingo sported a grin. “I see. I understand your feelings Reflection, but at least now you and your fellows are able to live without needing to hide and take what you need through deception.” Reflection turned to the Emperor and smiled, a few tears being shed from her eyes. Doflamingo turned to Cadence.

“It seems your hatred is justified, but it is directed at the wrong source.” Doflamingo said while Cadence stared at him. “The only changeling you have reason to hate is Chrysalis. All other changelings were simply following her orders and many are not like their queen. Reflection here hates her as well, but she also hates those who constantly judge her for what she is without getting to know her first.” Everyone stared at the emperor in silence, contemplating his words.

“Now then, as for your punishment…” this got the attention of everyone in the room again. “I am going to have you explain exactly what you explained to me to the rest of my subjects and it will be up to them to forgive your actions or not. While you didn’t know changelings were citizens here in my empire, you know now and hopefully you can keep your so called hatred for them reserved for their queen and her alone. I will not tolerate anything more out of you if you continue to display this behavior.” His voice turned cold, causing Cadence to shiver in fear.

The room was quiet at the implication of the Emperor’s sentence. Many of the nobles around the room thought the Emperor was merciful allowing the Equestrian princess to not be punished according to the law. While the guards and Reflection thought the princess was getting off too easily, they realized that Doflamingo essentially warned her not to do anything else during her stay here and her reason for hating changelings was explained and seemed justified. Reflection still didn’t like the princess, but she wanted to follow Doflamingo’s example. If he could forgive her, for everything that she had tried to do to the empire, then she could try to forgive the princess for insulting her. After all, the root cause of the problem was Chrysalis. It was ALL her fault that changelings were captured or banished from Equestria, leaving them lost and with nothing, but Doflamingo gave them everything they could ever need in the Empire and she would thank him for that by trying to reign in her temper.

Cadence sighed “All right. If that’s what it takes, I’ll do it.”

Doflamingo could detect bitterness in her voice and knew that she still hated changelings, but he managed to get his message across that she was acting like a fool and further incidents wouldn’t be tolerated. Doflamingo smiled as he walked out of the throne room and out into the city as he gestured for the guards to bring Cadence along to a populated area where she can explain herself.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Shining and the four Pegasi guards arrived at the city, cautiously stepping through the barrier surrounding the city, the guards holding their spears at the ready as they approached the city. The fields on the outskirts of the city were covered with a light layer of snow, seemingly immune to the bright rays of sunlight shining down from above. As they moved into the city, all five stallions searching for any clue of the missing Princess, Shining Armor noted that the streets were deserted, not a pony in sight.

A loud cheer rose up in the distance, Shining and the guards looking towards the source, the large Crystal Palace dominating the center of the city. They galloped over as quickly as they could and as they drew closer to the source of the cheers, now becoming more frequent, they began to encounter the local citizens, the Crystal ponies that noticed them watching them with worry. Shining ran ahead of his guards, pushing through the growing throng as he neared his objective. With a final shove he burst out into a courtyard in front of the Palace, the sight on the stage in the middle causing his jaw to drop.

There standing upon the stage was a large biped, announcing something to the crowd of ponies while he saw his wife Cadence was looking down at the ground in shame. The biped had already finished talking and the throng of ponies slowly began to dissipate. Or they would have if they didn’t see the small group of Equestrians that had just arrived.

“Ah look here my subjects! More Equestrians have to come to our beautiful empire! I am glad that my subjects are able to forgive those whose ignorance of our laws have caused the accused to harm one of our own! I can assure you that the princess here had valid reasons, but they were entirely uncalled for! Please disperse while I invite the rest of my guests into the Palace!” The crystal ponies cheered once again before some of the crowd started to disperse.

Shining deduced that this creature was the one in charge, seeming as there was no trace of Sombra to be found and the crystal ponies all seemed to be in high spirits. His four guards had caught up with him and were staring at the biped in shock, a large amount of crystal ponies having made way for the armed group of ponies as they departed. Shining began to advance on the creature, intending to meet with his wife with the four guards following behind him.

He had barely started to move from his spot before ten armored ponies wielding spears and swords raced in to stand in front of Shining, halting his advance

“Stop right there Equestrian!” a pony with slightly more ornate armor yelled “any further movement will be met with force!”

The crowds’ attention was refocused on Shining and his guards, all other activity in the courtyard ceased, the four Pegasi nervously having extended their spears, forming a wall in front of them.

“Drop your weapons at once!” Commanded the Crystal pony officer, a further fifteen guards surrounding the five Equestrians, cutting off any escape via the ground.

Shining examined his chances, his four guards switching their gazes from one Crystal pony guard to the next, un-nerved by the superior numbers surrounding them. The Crystal ponies were wearing heavy armor, made out of crystals, their strength unknown. Every one of them was armed with a spear and sword, every single weapon pointing at the five Equestrians. While Shining wanted to go to his wife and find out what was going on, he was still a member of the Equestrian Military and if he attacked it could prompt a war between the two nations.

“Do as he says” Shining said reluctantly, the four guards disengaging the spears from their armor, the Crystal ponies rushing in to retrieve the dropped weapons, leaving the Equestrians defenseless.

“Captain, bring them over here.”

Shining looked towards the creature, catching a glimpse of a smile on its face before he and the four guards were corralled towards the stage.

“The Equestrians have given up their weapons Sir, and are here as you ordered.” the officer saluted as the group reached the creature.

“Thank you Captain.” the creature acknowledged, looking down upon Shining Armor. “Now, Equestrian.” Doflamingo’s face retained a neutral look “I am Emperor Donquixote Doflamingo and I suspect that you are the husband of this princess, is that not correct?”

Shining faced the biped stoically “Yes, she is my wife, and so as Captain Shining Armor of the Solar Guard representing the country of Equestria, I humbly request to be by her side and that you have my apologies for any insult she imparted on you.”

Shining had dealt with many troublesome foreign dignitaries in the past during his time as Captain of the Guard, and he also knew that threats and demands did not often work in these situations. Shining had noticed that the Emperor appeared to be fairly fit, his muscles while not overly bulging hinted at a possible Military background, a theory that was supported by Shining’s observations about the way he spoke to the Crystal pony Captain, the Emperors tone suggesting command experience. With his prior experience with dealing with Commanding officers he knew that his best possible chance of success was to conduct himself with caution, this being made easy considering they had been disarmed and surrounded.

“She did not merely insult me, Captain Armor,” the Emperor replied “she assaulted one of my citizens in the middle of a market place with no provocation.”

Shining winced at this; no doubt Cadence had tried to fight one of the Changelings, her hatred for them surpassing his own after the wedding disaster. Cadence was a Princess but Shining had come to learn that she could be a little… impulsive.

“As for what she is doing here,” the emperor turned towards Cadence. “She has just finished apologizing to my subjects over the altercation and has experienced the full weight of their disapproval towards her actions.” spoke The Emperor.

Shining looked over towards his wife, Cadence was looking down right miserable. Shining was torn, on one hoof she was his wife and love but on the other she had entered a different country and then proceeded to attack one of its citizens for no reason. If she was only subjected to the criticism of the crystal ponies after being forced to apologize for attacking one of the Emperor’s subjects, then this Emperor Doflamingo was obviously nothing like Sombra and was willing to show mercy under the circumstances.

Shining looked around him, the four Pegasi were each guarded by three Crystal ponies and the Emperor had seemingly won over the citizens of the Crystal Empire. Another question that was unanswered was what had become of King Sombra? If Cadence and Celestia were correct then he was one of the most powerful and feared unicorns in recorded history, this Emperor must be quite a capable fighter to overcome such a tough adversary.

“I thank you for being so lenient towards my wife Emperor and I hope for good relations between our two countries.”

The Emperor looked quite content with Shining’s response “Great, Guards” The twenty-five Crystal guards saluted the Emperor “escort the Four Equestrian guards to the barracks and provide them with some quarters, Sergeant Stone, I’m going to leave you in charge of them.” the Sergeant Saluted his Emperor before he and a squad of guards escorted the Pegasi away “Captain Strategy, I would like you to follow me, Cadence and Captain Shining here to the throne room, I’ve got a friend that I want him to meet.”

The Emperor shot his Guard Captain a grin, the Captain sending one back in response. As he followed the Emperor to the throne room, accompanied by the Emperor’s assistant, Captain Strategy and a few Crystal guards and his wife, Shining couldn’t help but notice that a large amount of apprehension had begun to form in his stomach regarding the conspiratorial look the Emperor had shared with Strategy. He had no time to reflect on this as the group entered the palace, heading to the throne room and the surprise that lay within.