As The Sun Sets

Chapters

Okay, Take two, please
In which Cadance tries to connect with this weirdo at all
Oh no... He's deeaaaaaad...
Have you ever seen a train just... spontaneously explode?
From the Life of a Princess
From the Life of a Princess Part Two
The one where we all assume Shining Armor is going to melt
A letter for Friendship
The Setup
A chapter where I go completely insane with the power of physics and magic
A nod and a shake
Something something, the chapter that goes after the last one because it was getting too long
I promise I'll start taking chapter titles seriously
Wrapping up the day
An ultimatum over the fire
Luna
Girl's night out-
-for the crazy we keep inside
Morning
So you're a cultist, and the Devil came for your soul.
Meddlesome Pegasi
Cadance's notes on the nature of "Pony Biokinetics" and the unique application of overcharging unicorn telekinesis
Ever wonder what rulers do in their free time?
The Gala, part 1
The Gala, part 2
The Gala, part C
Why is playful spelled with one 'L'? It just looks wrong to me
I don't have a good pun for sheep, so just pretend there's one here
Keepin' On
Into the Jungle and through the Woods
It stings the toes and bites the nose
Spring Over the Ground, Like a Hunting Hound
Hurrah for Fun!
Dear Princess Cadance
Start...
...to...
...Finish,
Interlude: Point Flare and Chaos Magic
[Insert clever chapter title here]
Convergence
Phase Two
Welp. That's not supposed to happen
Interlude: Fall for it
A recreation of that particular event where a small horse easily described as 'pink' knows an important detail about the subject of the chapter, part one
A recreation of that particular event where a small horse easily described as 'pink' knows an important detail about the subject of the chapter, part two
A recreation of that particular event where a small horse easily described as 'pink' knows an important detail about the subject of the chapter, part three
Who knew making chapter titles would be so much fun?
Morning of
Things happening in an order
Cadance, and the quest for lunch
Something happening in less of an order
Can you believe I'm running out of poorly constructed funnies for my chapter titles?
Off to see the... Giant crystal Spire thing!
Checkup
Dream Sequence
Bugging the Princess
Bugging the Princessesses
bIg DaY iNdEeD
Everything is totally fine
Dream date
It's all happening
Make it work
Passing through
Court Date
Bored-bored-bored-bor
Hospital Trip
(Another chapter I didn't expect, but here it is)
Getting closer
Unnamed Interlude Chapter to Do Foreshadowing and Check in on Luna
Ocean Beach and Blood
Interlude chapter Two: Grey Skies and Riptide... and something else...
The Nine.
Momentum bound
Sleepover episode I totally didn't plan for but here it is
The Crystal Solstice...
Oh look! It's on fire!
The take two part
The Crystal Solstice.
One last night
Time.
This is it
Defy.
and that's why pumpkins are yellow
Back in '920
Dear Beloved Niece
The first actual chapter with things happening in it
You ever wonder if the legitimacy of the crown is based off of anything other than the ponies who have just been around the longest?
with a little bit extra.
Something something, Wendsday night slash Thursday morning
History's Ground Floor
"Make it a Good One."
...
Will.

Okay, Take two, please

I honestly should have seen this coming

Cadance dove towards a pathway down towards the hedge where she saw Dusks colours flash against the ground.

"Dusk! Wait!" She called out to him, he laughed in response

"Catch me if you can Little Princess!"

She smirked, he was giving away his position calling out to her like that. She angled herself up over another hedge and saw him running perpendicular to her, she swung around to the side and caught him turning back the direction he came. He kept running.

"Dusk! Listen okay?!" She shouted over the wind resistance, it made her realize how fast she was going, and how fast Dusk was running, "I'm not going to force you to do anything, I just want to-"

"Do you think you're going to catch me by talking?!" He dove through a hedge wall, and she lost him for a split second before visually catching him to her left, running away from the hedge maze and towards the palace. One flap, and she was off again. He was fast, but she was faster by far in the air, and much more maneuverable.

"Please! Will you just stop for a second an-"

"I ain't gonna chat it up with another princess who flies like a bat mid shit!"

Excuse Me?

She clenched her jaw and flew in closer to him, "Now Listen here yo-"

Dusk stopped dead in his tracks, causing Cadance to overshoot his position, she heard him call out as she flew past him. "Oh heavens, please shut your mouth!" He turned to the left and began sprinting towards the edge of the palace grounds. Cadance had to bank hard to the side to keep ontop of him, but he was gunning it towards the edge of the palace grounds, which meant he was running out of places to go, she grinned despite the attitude, and after clearing a fountain and a walkway, she dove to land on the opposite side of a guardrail.

Dusk had hopped it and was looking over the side at the drop down past the palace falls that lead to mid Canterlot. Cadance hit the ground just as he reached the edge, her horn lit in preparation for his next move.

"That's it Dusk, there's no-where else to go." She heard herself, harsh, and out of breath. She was stood in a tiny crater where she landed and,

He chuckled without looking at her, "You shouldn't've said that."

Before she could react, he tossed himself over the edge of a very long drop down Canterhorn.

She felt one pound of her heart before she tore the grass jumping off the edge after him, her wings pumping to get her momentum up.

He was falling with two hooves behind his head, gazing up at her with a raised eyebrow. He had maybe a mile before he was splatted on the side of Canterhorn, she caught up with him in the air and shouted over the pressure. "What are you doing!?"

"Trying to explode violently against a hard surface?" He said back, casually, then switched to taunting, "Why? Did you want to stop that? Maybe catch me or something?"

She shook her head, their chase flooding her mind and the stress exiting in her voice, "YES! Of course I do! What are you even-! This is CRAZY!"

He just looked at her, mid fall to his doom, no response, his eyes still blank of emotion. "Huh"

Cadance tried to fly closer, to grab him or try to catch him, but he angled his hooves so she couldn't dive closer for a solid grip, no matter what direction she came from, he kept turning to stop her. "Stop it! You're going to get hurt!"

"Uhuh, you're a unicorn right? Why not just catch me with magic?"

Another hundred feet or so.

She wrapped him in her aura. Slowed his decent, and the two came to a halt a couple hundred feet above the mountain side. She looked at him, breathing heavily, struggling to mentally catch up with the situation.

She glared at him, he looked back impassively. She tried to catch her breath.

"Alright, I'm in. Can you put me down though?" He said to her, mid air. Over Cantorhorn, leagues away from her Empire, from Shining Armor.

What have I gotten myself into.

She slid along a warm air current, towards an outcropping of rock she deemed safe enough to stand on, and put him down on top of it, landing herself just a moment after. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" He said, inspecting his hoof.

"Do what? Jump off the Palace!" She approached, stomping her hoof to accentuate her frustration

He started drawing in the dirt. This time, she paid attention, not to be caught off guard a second time.

"Relax, this is just the rest of that teleportation matrix."

He noticed me noticing, he's sharp

"Don't dodge my question."

"Which one"

She sighed. "Why did you jump off the palace."

Patience Cadance.

"Oh that? I was curious."

...

At least he showed some emotion

He had indeed, a small lilt of joviality rather than snark.

"Curious about?" Cadance lead,

"You."

"Me?"

He hummed in confirmation, still drawing in the stone.

"About?" Cadance said, leading forwards again,

Patience Cadance

"You ascended from being a pegasus correct?" He actually looked up at her now. She wasn't sure if she liked that more or less.

"I am- er, was."

"It was pretty clear with that flying, I'm honestly impressed, I thought you'd be far more clunky in the air with your lanky frame." He turned back to the stone and remarked after, "You were also far quicker on the jump down after me, when I did it to Celestia, it took her almost five seconds before she tried to catch me."

Before she could recover from the remark on her physique, "You've done this before?"

"Can you lend me some magic?" He said, taping his hoof against the stone, "To teleport us back to the clearing, little Luna's probably still pacing. Fretting over my little escape attempt."

Trap for sure.

"We're not moving till you-" a tap and a flash, "-nevermind" They were back in the clearing where they started.

"Cadance! You have retrieved Dusk! Excellent work." Luna approached the two.

He didn't need my magic to teleport, Skilled mage... right... okay

She held up her hoof towards Luna.

Okay Cadance, you've got his attention, you need to take control of this situation. Fast. Large and in charge like Celestia taught you

"I've got it all under control Luna"

That sounded really contrived

She tried to discretely glance at Dusk, he was smiling at her in a way that said: 'that was really contrived'

whoops

"You have this handled Niece? Truly?" The taller Alicorn, apparently unaware of Cadance's blunder, returned to a passive pose, inquisitively glancing between Cadance and Dusk. Cadance did the same once. She noticed that the clearing was occupied in the air and on the ground by numerous Thestrals, likely called to aid Luna right after she shouted.

"Yes, I've," She changed verbal momentum, "I have a plan, and I think Dusk's willing to give me a chance."

"Yeah, the Little Princess has me hooked," he said in sarcastic excitement as he dismissively waved at Luna, "Now go away, meet some new people."

Luna frowned, Cadance intercepted. "While rude, I think it's best we continue how we discussed, I can handle it from here."

"If you insist my niece." Luna lifted her wings, "Thestrals to me, let us vacate the gardens to the castle." Luna turned back to Cadance. "Retrieve me if need be Cadance."

"I will, promise" Cadance also took note of the two crystal guardsponies at the opening in the hedge. The whole chase took just about a minute before they returned, and now Cadance had a moment to calm her churning mind to actually try to come up with some sort of plan. Luna was midway through the last of her statement before vacating the clearing.

"She probably won't."

"You're opinion is noted, Dusk." Luna snapped back, scowling, before turning and trotting out of the clearing, night guard in tow. She stopped at the edge and turned back towards Cadance.

"If I can be honest with you, I feel unsure about leaving you in the hooves of Dusk Swirl. Are you-"

"I have both Brazier and Runner to assist me if I need anything, and we already agreed that this would be best done one on one. Thank you Luna, but I can take it from here."

Luna worriedly glanced back and forth again towards Cadance and Dusk. Dusk who was rolling his eyes, and Cadance who was determinedly standing amidst the grass in the clearing.

Luna left without another word. As did her Thestral retinue, until it was just Cadance, Dusk, and the two crystal guards left in the clearing. Cadance took a couple of steps towards Dusk, getting a good distance in front of him before dropping to the grass in a sit, and holding out her hoof.

From the top

"My name is Cadance. It's nice to meet you Dusk."

He held out his hoof to shake hers, he wrapped his leg awkwardly around hers, and wiggled it. "I know who you are, and you shouldn't lie to someone you just met." He let go, letting himself sit as well. "You definitely did not enjoy our meeting."

Right...

"Do you need a minute?" He said, surprisingly softly

"I'll be o-"

"Don't lie to me. I promise you can't." There goes the softness, replaced with 'stern' and 'annoyed'

"Okay."

Cadance took a minute.

So what is the plan here Cadance

She took a deep breath, and counted to five, then released it, pulling a hoof away from her chest.

He seems to be both polite and rude in equal measure, I need to 'turn him to the side of Harmony' whatever that means. He's letting me breathe, so this must be doable. Okay... Regardless I have to start with

"Tell me about yourself."

"Myself?" He raised an eyebrow and gave a side smile, it seemed to be a reoccurring expression

Gotcha

"Luna told me a lot of related information around you, but had very little to say about your personality as a whole."

"and you want to get to know me before what? 'helping me'?" He made air quotes with his hooves.

"Something like that."

He shrugged, "Well okay then" He stood and struck a pose, "Little Princess, you're looking at the most legendary living dark mage this side of the hemisphere, the master of the mind and the creator of modern psychology, I am, " He bowed, "Dusk Swirl. It is an absolute annoyance to have to be awake and talking to you."

A beat passed before he sat back down in the grass and looked off to the side, "I enjoy long walks off the side of cliffs, and find dull, boring food fascinating to no end. I'm a follower of the School of Unrelenting Force and self proclaimed master of insults," he leaned in conspicuously and 'whispered' "Although Discord will try to take that title, don't believe him"

"I like the quiet, and when I'm not basking in the silence, I also enjoy the sounds of crying, and screams of rage, generally pointed in my direction."

He stopped his description of himself, and looked at Cadance with the look of sarcastic interest still plastered across his face. "and who might you be" he gestured towards her.

Okay, this part is easy, I know who I am

"I am Princess Cadance, and-"

"Liar" he interrupted, expression unchanged.

She scrunched her muzzle, "I'd like to think I know who I am"

"You'd think that wouldn't you." He flipped back, then he sighed loudly just before she responded. "Listen, I'm not going to spend the next hour playing this little game. You're either going to get it or you won't, but in the interest of fairness," he paused then looked her in the eye, the intensity betraying his bored disposition, "Do you honestly view yourself as a 'princess'?"

A beat.

"Yes I do... maybe a little unconventionally," he smiled, "but a princess all the same, I have my responsibilities to my kingdom, and my ponies... I just, go about my duties in ways unique to me."

"See? Now we're getting personal. Explain."

"Explain my duties?"

"Sure, I mean, why not?" He waved in the air, clearly barely paying attention to what was happening.

Cadance tried to change her tone, she wanted to lead him towards getting used to her, not make him feel like he was getting a lecture.

"Well, I guess my main focus is keeping my citizens happy, and together. It takes a lot of effort to keep so many ponies focused on the same goal, and not only is it important for them, but also for the crystal heart."

He made a humming noise, "The Crystal Heart? You mean the artefact from ages past?"

She turned to show off her mark

"Well I'll be. You run the Crystal Empire then?"

getting somewhere... this is still so surreal

"I do, me and my husband Shining Armor"

"What of Sombrero?"

"Sombra?" she questioned, "King Sombra?"

"Yeah! What ever happened to the old fool, we used to work together."

"You worked with King Sombra?"

"Yeah, he was investigating the heart, and a number of black magics, he requested my expertise, at the time, he was a normal stallion." He rolled his neck to the side, "Well, for a ruler that is. He was harsh, but fair, back then you had to exude confidence from every pore or the citizenry would snap you up in an instant."

"We know very little about the Crystal Heart, only what it does. Could you perhaps share what you shared with him with me?"

"Are you trying to get me talking about magical theory to try and acclimate me to your presence?" He shot back, frowning

crap

"Well- no, I was just-"

He snapped, "IF you try lying to me again, I'll just turn myself back into stone"

"Okay, I'm sorry."

I'd best just let him have that one, another angle, how abo-

"What, why?" He said inquisitively, smiling.

It was basically impossible for Cadance to get a read on Dusk's emotions. It didn't help that his entire disposition changed every two seconds.

"For trying to get you talking?" She carefully answered.

He shook his head, and tilted it in confusion. "What? Is that a bad thing nowadays?"

Cadance thought for a second, then narrowed her eyes.

This whole conversation is a chess game to him. He's just trying to toy with me! That doesn't even make any sense!

"I just asked you a question, you're the one who got all defensive and tried to lie like you'd done something wrong." He laughed once, "Gotcha" he said, half scoffing and half laughing to himself as he turned away.

He looked away towards the stone plinth he rested on less than an hour ago.

Talking to him is pointless... He'll always try to turn it around on me, Luna said so to begin with... He said he wouldn't be playing 'this' game, so let's see what he thinks of me when I stop playing too, I've got you now.

Cadance, with her new plan, put a relaxed smile on her face, and re-settled herself into a sitting position in the cool air of the Canterlot Gardens. After maybe a minute or so of her inspecting his form, he turned back to her with a kinder smile on his face. He didn't speak. Cadance felt the impression that he was genuinely happy she stopped talking.

I'm not sure if I should be happy I got him to actually smile, or insulted that it was because I shut up

He eventually closed his eyes, and tilted his head up towards the sky, he... moved his head around oddly, it reminded Cadance of a flamingo feeling the air currents with it's neck. He stayed like that. Seemingly enjoying the night air for at least ten minutes.

This is so strange, first, a mysterious summons to reform an equally mysterious villain. Then the villain turns out to be a sarcastic earth pony mage with the skill to teleport, and here I am, just... sitting in a field with him. Enjoying the night air...

at least I think it's working'

"You know, I knew some ponies who tried to play that little game with me until they died of old age."

Cadance chose not to respond. This time, she saw the bait for what it was.

"You figured out the pointlessness of 'talking' to me relatively instantly"

"I did." she said simply. He turned his head back down and re-opened his eyes.

"ah, so she speaks." He inclined his head towards her, "And what exactly did you learn?" He rested his head on a hoof.

Cadance actually took a moment to consider what to say. She knew what she knew of course, but how to explain it was a completely different story.

"You don't care about me or this. The only reason your here is because... you're bored?" She said tentatively

He gestured for her to continue, but rolled his eyes nonetheless.

"So... this whole thing is... pointless." She frowned, and felt the weight of failure settle on her withers.

"Well yeah, I mean, you came at me like I had a problem, and tried to talk to me like I was a noble. The only problem was that I'm smarter than you, and don't particularly enjoy being treated like I had some sort of debilitating issue that you think you can just trick me into not having using verbal gymnastics. It was stupid, and honestly rude."

She waited.

"What makes you think I even need to be reformed?" He stood, and advanced on her, slowly.

"What brought upon you the audacity to try and pull the verbal nonsense you just tried to pull to... what? Get in my head?" he shook his head. "Is this how ponies make nice nowadays? Really?"

"No."

"Well at least we're on the same page then." He was close enough to touch her, and glared at her. "So what're you going to do now hmm?"

What am I going to do now? I don't even... I don-

"I don't like you."

It took Cadance a moment to realize that it was her that just let that out. She looked level at him and watched his eyes widen.

where did that come from?!

She opened her mouth to try and fix what she had just done, but was interrupted by Dusk throwing his snout back and laughing once deeply.

He guffawed, shifting his whole weight with the laugh. Helooked back down at her and started giggling, suddenly his voice sounded 'sailory' "AYE!"

Dusk took another step forward and slapped a hoof on her shoulder, "See! There's a little bit o' the old honesty right? That wasn't so hard was it?" His phrase was still interspaced with gasps of held back laughter

"I-" She tried, but he doubled back,

He began laughing so hard that he stumbled over, laughing his heart out. Was he laughing at her?

It's not fake, does really find that so funny?

"Hooo boy! All this time, and I thought I'd have to pop you!" He saddled up to her side and elbowed her in the ribs, "Good thing you did it yourself ay?"

Pop me? What is that supposed to mean??

"AY! Guard pony! Stop looking at the birds!" Cadance turned her head towards her two guards

"A dark mage is close enough to kill your princess in moments and you're just enjoying the view? C'mon now!" I still spoke with that strange accent that came from nowhere

Kill me? What?

She shuffled away from him

"Ay don't worry Little Princess, I'm not gonna hurt you, your guards just suck." he said, a massive smile still plastered on his face.

"Could you though?"

"Could I kill you in moments you mean?" He was a bit quick to respond to that, like he was expecting it. Cadance merely nodded in response

I feel like I'm being tossed around in a bouncy house, this is too fast!

"Rule one of dealing with a hostile practitioner of dark magic Little Princess. This'll help you with liches and the likes too." He closed his eyes and bounced his head like he was reciting a word at a spelling bee, "Don't ever let one get close enough to touch you. Almost all dangerous dark spells capable of permanent harm require direct contact with the user and the target in order to function."

He looked back at her with a face that said 'I didn't just imply I could murder you with evil magic'

She looked back at him in confusion.

He seemed to like that.

This is going to be a long night.

In which Cadance tries to connect with this weirdo at all

Alright Cadance...

I've gone backwards, there was a plan, that mostly got tossed as he tossed himself over the side of the palace.

Both him and Luna have all but confirmed that everything I thought about going about this is generally pointless...

So........

She tried to push the 'ich' around murderous dark magic and the lack of her guards' attention to the back of her mind and spoke.

"Alright then."

"Alright then?" He said, it reminded her of Celestia long ago, teaching her about her diplomatic duties. Like he was leading her to an answer, which in hindsight was not really correct, but it set her on the right path anyways.

"I... don't know what I'm doing, you're clearly not 'evil' and you keep implying that you have some better way to go about this." She added as an afterthought, "and it occurs to me that you wouldn't have unfrozen yourself if you didn't have a plan."

"So?"

The way he keeps still reminds me of Celestia's poker face

"So what is it? What do you want to do here?" She tried to keep her query as soft as possible. A request rather than an accusation, which... most of this has been accusatory.

Time to take one from Twilight's book

He looked around, eyes settling on the guards, he turned back to her, "First, we ditch Brazier and Runner the-"

"Absolutely not." She raised a hoof before he could respond, "and not because of what you think, Shining only let me come here for this if I promised to keep my guards with me at all times." She gestured at them, "Shining would be really upset with me if I just ditched them with you."

She expected some sort of rebuttal, but instead, he put his hoof under his muzzle and pondered in a very exaggerated face that she was sure was a joke.

"Fair enough I suppose," he shrugged and then his entire body flew into motion as he stepped back onto his hindquarters and forward kicked two rocks towards her guards.

"Hey!" But it was already too late, the rocks flew to slow to injure either of them, but too fast for them to avoid. The rocks hit their mark and collapsed into glittering dust on contact, both guards fell into the grass like a puppet with their strings cut. Cadance was stood over them seconds after, her heart pounding.

Oh thank everything they're okay

She wiped her head around, only to come muzzle to muzzle with Dusk. She blanched

"Rule two, never take your eyes off a mage, if the spells are flying and you lose sight of your opponent, it means you probably just lost."

"What did you do to them." She was seconds away from blasting him into the grass

"I just put them to sleep" He pulled another stone from... Somewhere, and held it up to the Princess of Love. "See? Inspect the spell work yourself."

She was no adept mage, but she new a couple of simple sleeping spells from her days of foalsitting Twilight. Cadance lifted the stone from his hoof in her magical aura-

"Careful not to squeeze it, finding us both passed out in the field tomorrow morning would be very embarrassing."

The spell work felt like a sleeping spell... Just... Runic...

"Why did you do that." She stopped inspecting the stone and hoped to glean anything from his response.

"Shining just said they had to be with you no? Not that they had to be awake?" He said like it was the simplest thing ever, gesturing to the two guards laying prostrate on the grass.

"No. Just no." She sat, sighed, and pressed a hoof to her temples. "And you couldn't've just asked first instead of dropping both of my guards?"

"Forgiveness and permission, heard that phrase before?"

"Yes I've heard that phrase before," She removed her hoof and looked him in the eye, "You're definitely not forgiven, you just committed a crime!"

"I-"

nope

"Nope!" Cadance stomped a hoof, "I know you're not going to play by any rules I know, but you will not go casting spells on anypony without clearing it with me first!" She pressed her hoof to his chest, tapping it with each word to prove her point. "Am. I. Clear."

"Crystal!" He said with a smile, he returned to a neutral expression and held a hoof up to his chest, before she could stop him, he grabbed her hoof and held them both to his chest, "I swear on the things that matter to me that not only was I not intending to hurt them or anypony else, but that I will not affect anypony else with magic unless you are aware of it; and allow it." He let her go, and then returned to a neutral stance himself.

"Okay" She said, moved by his sincerity, and the really intense eye-contact. "That's good enough for me"

This stallion is an emotional rollercoaster!

"May I shrink them?"

Roller. Coaster.

"Why?"

"So we can take them with us easily."

"Okay, beyond the reasoning behind that, where do you think we're just going to go in the middle of the night, a Princess and an unknown Stallion with two tiny passed out Royal Crystal Guards?"

How did he convince me to do this

"I can't believe you convinced me to do this"

They had moved to the cobblestone streets of middle Canterlot, surrounded by the closely packed stone and wooden structures of the residential district, they stood in front of a hole in the wall bar. It was clearly once a home itself before being turned into likely the defacto inlet for this particular street, much to the credit of the likely business savvy businesspony who owned the property. The lights were dim and warm.

And it smelled.

"Why is it so odd? I've been in stone for so long, I've been craving a good drink."

"Is this, really what you want?" Before he could respond, "and I mean reeeaaally, this isn't some joke or part of some plan to get rid of me? You actually want to just... drink with me?"

Shining has made plenty of friends this way, it's definitely not that strange

"Is there a reason that it would be for any reason unreasonable?" He looked at her.

His eyes give me the creeps

"How about that I have two unwillingly sleeping royal guards on my back?" Which she indeed did, after consenting to make them small enough to carry, they were both proportionally shrunk down in a runic circle to the size of newborns.

He tossed a hoof, "details," and approached her by a couple of steps, "and before we go in, we're going to need disguises. You were right in that a Princess and some guy can't just go walking into a whole in the wall bar for a pint in the middle of the night." He gestured hoof up to her, "may I demonstrate?"

Cadance nodded

He closed his eyes, and before her his features changed. His gradient mane turned a sleek silver and straightened down his back away from his chest, his fur inverted and went from a silvery blue to a stark white, and not only that, but his legs slimmed and his muzzle shortened. His features rounded out and when he reopened his eyes she saw elongated eyelashes flutter.

"How do I look?"

well his voice is unchanged

"You look like a mare made of chalk"

"That's the idea." he struck an elegant pose, "Completely unrecognizable no?"

His cutie mark was the only thing that remained unchanged, he was right, everything else about him was completely different.

"Now you, how are you with transfiguration and illusion?"

She wasn't...

"I don't really know any spells for... that" She pointed at his everything, "I know a height spell, but usually that and a large cloak is enough for being inconspicuous"

"In that case, may I craft a disguise for you?" He said, taking another step towards her.

"You're not going to turn me inside out are you?"

"No, purely a visible transfiguration of your flesh."

"You said that in a way that makes me very nervous."

"This entire encounter with me is going to make you very nervous, are you going to roll with it? Or are you going to keep resisting like you did at the beginning?"

Cadance had learned many a time in the excitement of her life, from her childhood to her mission agaisnt the witch that gained her a horn, to her quest to protect the crystal empire, and even a point in dating Shining of moments that carried a very particular weight. In those moments she found that there was always a deceptively simple choice. She could continue, or she could not, and depending on the circumstance, it was bound to change something drastic about herself, or the world as a whole. This was one of those moments.

Buck it

"Alright, I'm in" She held out a hoof to him.

He smiled and grasped her hoof in his own. There was a soft prick right above the bone on her hoof and then she started to feel the magic and the warmth she didn't realize she knew was present all over Dusk pass into her body. Her eyeline shifted down and she felt her everything shift all over.

And just like that, it was over.

She was now an earth green unicorn mare with a crisp black and brown mane. Which was incredibly startling seeing as that she was now just about a full head shorter and

missing my wings

"What did you do to my wings"

"Relax princess, I have them right here."

Have?!

He wasn't lying, his stark white fur now sported a pair of equally stark white wings. The panic sunk down in her chest as she realized that he had just stolen her wings off her back. Her commitment to this plan vanished in an instant and a different emotion grabbed the front of her brain. She was so baffled that she just stood there stock still, her mouth gaping, her face contorting in anger.

"Now before you shout at me, I would like to posit that I can and will easily return them to you, and that to any outside observer, there are simply a pair of mares stood outside a bar having a conversation before entering."

Patience Cadance, you're getting way to angry. Discord has taken your wings and horn before too, you didn't get this mad at him

Her internal thoughts helped calm her off the edge of incoherent shouting and her face cooled. "Don't..."

"Do what I said I was going to do again?" He rolled his eyes, "No, sorry, I'm a stallion of my word."

"Not at the moment" She said

"Ha!" He tossed his head back again for a single laugh. "Nice zinger"

"Just give me a larger warning next time okay?" She said, trying to keep her tone steady and her voice soft.

"I'll keep that in mind" He said, or she Cadance pondered. He started making his way towards the entrance of the Homely Hovel and held the door open for her. She, a couple hoovelengths behind him checked the guards on her back only to find them invisible, yet still present.

"Part of your disguise" He said from the door

She tossed her new, front laden mane out of her eyes and approached the door

alright Cadance, I can do this, just a couple of drinks and we'll both loosen up, we'll chat, and then everything will be hunky dory in the morning

"Thank you" She commented out of habit of having the door held for her as she entered. The interior was deceptively cheap. The wooden floors were polished but old, and the ceiling had plenty of hanging decor in the forms of paintings and young looking metal chandeliers lighting the room meant to disrtract the common bar goer of the dilapidated ceiling. The bar and the tables littering the open plan establishment in random order fed to the idea of a limited supply attempting to make itself look more than it was.

"You're welcome," Dusk said, entering in after her, "Cute place huh? Trying a bit hard though"

He wandered past her towards the bar where a pink mare in a tightfitting servers coat and smock shook a drink from behind the counter before passing it off towards a stallion who took it, side-glanced both Dusk and her, before leaving the counter and sitting down at a table several strides away where a plate of food waited for him.

She approached the bar counter and lifted herself onto a seat, the two guards on her back stayed in place regardless of gravity.

Apparently

"How can I help you two tonight?" The mare asked, Cadance noted her cutiemark of a cocktail glass filled with clear liquid with an olive on a toothpick.

"Do you have anything eighty proof?" Dusk asked before Cadance could think of her drink of choice.

The mare took a double take at either the choice of drink or the surprisingly stallion like voice coming from what was clearly a mare in the seat in front of her. "Absolutely, we have High Floor and a new vegetable based drink from Stalliongrad called Everspell."

"Can I buy a bottle of each?" He asked in response,

"I'm sorry, uh, sir," She looked to Cadance for help, "but we don't sell by the bottle, both Everspell and High Floor come by shots."

"That'll do, I'll take two of each please and thank you." As the countermare turned to Cadance, "and that will be for both of us by the way, thank you again."

She nodded, "I'll have those ready for you two in a moment." and got to work.

"How heavy is an eighty proof?" Cadance leaned over to Dusk before asking. He looked to her with a look she was already starting to tire of. "I'm not a drinker, as I'm sure you could've guessed."

"Really, you've never gone out on the town before?" he paused, "City in this case I guess?"

"I've not drank recreationally since college, and that was just a massive jug of red wine we found." She chuckled, "We definitely should not have drunk it, we of course assumed wine just tasted like that, turns out it had been left open for nearly a year in the teachers lounge, and a staff member tried to discretely remove it."

"But of course some kid found it and brought to you and your friends. Must've been quite the night." He chuckled, coming to rest himself on a hoof, turned to observe, and listen to her story.

"It was, and I'm not looking for a repeat, so instead of distracting me, how about you answer my question." She returned his pose and facial expression.

"Ha! Got me that time," He sat back and clapped his hooves, "eighty proof is about as hard as I'll go shot wise, it's gonna be awful, that I swear" He crossed a hoof over his chest, "best swallow as fast as possible. Speaking of!" He turned with a smile towards the countermare who levitated their drinks down in front of them. Cadance could already smell the alcohol. It smelled scarily similar to the cleaning vinegar that the palace kitchen used to sterilize the floors. One shot glass was filled with a blackish translucent liquid that looked almost like oil, the other, strikingly opposite, was a very clear liquid that she easily could've mistake for water if she was far away and nose-blind.

"Ah, hold on for a second." Dusk leaned over and reached a hoof out to her drinks, "This is important." He pressed the tip of his hoof to the edge of each of her drinks and whispered strange words, both lit up and shimmered lightly before visually returning to their original splendor.

"What spell was that." She immediately jumped on that.

"Before you get all excited, I promised to not affect a pony with magic, I was going to tell you what it did before letting you drink it, honest. It's just a small charm that'll protect you from the damage of the alcohol, while still letting you enjoy it the fun way." He explained, leaning back towards his own drinks.

That's not to bad I guess.

"And I guess there's no way for me to know for sure I won't have something terrible happen to me when I drink that?"

He laughed "Oh something terrible will happen, it just won't be on me; and if I wanted to hurt you, I would've done it outside when you let me touch you. Not with poison. That's just boring, and kinda sad."

Before anything else Dusk wrapped his mouth around the glass filled with 'high floor' and tossed the entire thing back. He leaned forward again, and dropped the glass into a waiting hoof. "Wow, that's disgusting, Verdant, you've got to try it"

Verdant? Right, disguises

He gestured her on with his hooves, excitedly, like a filly jumping around, only this was about enchanted poison, it was a dark mage, and she was a Princess.

"Go on! Try it try it!"

You definitely shouldn't do this

She did it anyway. In a smooth motion she tried to follow Dusks lead, wrapping her lips around the edge of the shot glass and holding it in her teeth, she quickly tossed the entire drink to the back of her throat.

She had an idea of what she was getting into in the moments before the liquid hit her throat by the burning sensation caused in her mouth when she grabbed it in her jaw, her idea was blown out of proportion as the liquid burned down her throat, already too late to stop swallowing, she coughed, hard. The glass fell from her mouth; and her mind recoiled in shock and her body recoiled in pain as her everything tried to catch up with what exactly just happened.

Dusk was laughing. Besides herself, Cadance began laughing too. Her cough strangled it, but she tried nonetheless. Somewhere in the depths of her mind, she knew what had just happened was unconditionally funny.

"My heavens, the look on your face!"

Cadance was still hacking her lungs out,

"Do you need help there Verdant?"

Cadance shook her head and tried to steady her breathing and stop coughing, which worked surprisingly well.

"That was terrible" She said, and it resumed his chortling anew.

"I know!" He said between giggling, "Ma'am, could you bring me another 'High Floor', but with a tablespoon of salt mixed into it?"

The pink countermare frowned, "Uhm, are you sure you want that?" Before she could finish properly, he interrupted

"Absolutely" Then he turned her head to Cadance, ignoring the countermare's frown and attempt to disuade him. "You see, Verdant, many a mare believe in the complexity of a drink, but I think differently." Cadance, mid-attempt at trying to hold onto her sanity, simply listened. "It's poison is it not? So it should taste like it. If I'm not vomiting on my first whiff of the drink in question, then it's not disgusting enough."

"Excuse me," The countermare said, laying another drink down in front of Dusk "Here is your ruined drink sir." Cadance didn't miss the ire directed towards Dusk, but his only response was tossing back the new drink and coughing the same way Cadance just had. He smacked his hoof onto the counter and wheezed. His eyes bulged and his mouth opened wide. She laughed. It was funny, it just was.

The countermare's rude barb at Dusk forgotten, Cadence turned her attention to the other drink while Dusk recovered from what was likely a harrowing experience. This one smelled just as bad as the other, but with less flavor. She, decided upon the direction the rest of this night would take right then and there.

Time to mare up Cadance

Down went the next one. This time, she was way more ready for the sensation of somepony putting an acidic spinning toilet-brush down her throat, and managed to not cough for a couple of seconds before shaking her head and exhaling hard. She shook her hoof in front of her open mouth, like it was on fire. Dusk to her side, had apparently recovered.

"Damn mare, you hit that pretty hard." He tossed back his other one in a second and coughed once. "Ugh, which one did you like more?"

It didn't take long to decide on the second she tried, it was just as awful, but at least it didn't taste like a horseshoe.

"The Everspell, definitely." She rasped, unprepared for exactly how much two drinks would smooth out her throat.

"Excuse me, Ma'am" Dusk turned toward the countermare again.

"What."

Cadance coughed again, but not because of the alcohol, Dusk seemed to take it in stride however.

"Six more shots of Everspell please-"

Six more? I can't drink three more of those!

"For both of us." He finished

Six each?! Oh no, Cadance, alarm bells, you definitely cannot handle that many drinks!

Cadance cannot answer your letter right now, please come back later.

She giggled at her internal monologue as the countermare worked to setup their twelve shots on the countertop. Her mind vaguely registered Dusk casting that drink ward spell six more times for her, and she focused intently to make sure he didn't try anything funny. He definitely didn't.

"So!" He clapped, "Now that we have our drink of choice for the night, let's play a game."

"A game." She dedpanned.

"Yes a game! Games are fun! We're here to have fun! I'll make it interesting to you," He leaned closer to Cadance, "We have six drinks each, we've got to get through all six, unless of course, you need to tap out, which is totally fine, we'll just reduce it at the end."

Sounds good so far

Two parts of Cadance's mind were at war with another despite her calm demeanor, her terror at the environment, and who exactly she was with; but on the other hoof, whatever she was doing, it was working.

"It's simple, we each drink at the same time, and if you move or cough or shake, I get one point, if the opposite, you get one point. At the end, we each ask each other questions equal to the amount of points, and you can't lie, and have to answer the question, you can of course be vague, the fun of the game is trying to have your questions make sense after eight shots." throughout his explanation, he was twirling the liquid inside a glass on the tip of his hoof, looking at her dead in the face.

His eyes are so scary

"You're on." This time, Cadance lifted her drink with her magic, and poured it straight into the back of her throat, at the same time Dusk tipped back the drink in his hoof.

She dropped the glass on the counter and tried not to shake, this time she managed to swallow all of the drink at once, and in turn, the warmth hit her core all at once. She was so focused that she didn't feel her neck tense, and her breathing remained even. Dusk on the other hoof, shook his head to be rid himself of the flavor.

"One point for you" He said, leaning forwards and almost tapping her on the shoulder while pointing at her before leaning back and grabbing his next drink. "Cheers Little Princess" he waved his glass at her and downed it before she could grab her next one.

"Why Little Princess? I'm definitely taller than you" She said, scooping up her next drink in her magic.

He smirked and grabbed his next glass, "Save the questions till the end Little Princess"

They tossed their respective drinks back together again.

"I have never had a day like this before in my life" She said, "It feels like I've been through an entire day of Princessing, only I'm smiling, and I'm at a bar with a dark mage, drinking until I'm blind."

"Stuff like that happens all the time around me" Came his response, "Don't worry about the details, just smile and keep rolling." a beat passed, "and that's a point for both of us, I didn't see; and I'm pretty sure you weren't looking either."

"No I wasn't, and I got clenchy"

"Next?"

Her response was to grab her drink and toss it back. She's never done shots before, and now she was five into a night that was something she'd remember forever as her first time really drinking. Or was she four in...

She looked to Dusk the same time he looked to her, and he shook his head.

"That's a point for me."

is that three to one? is he letting me beat him?

At this point, her first two shots had set in fully curtesy of her alicorn metabolism, and she was buzzing lightly, she wasn't sure

I guess that's the point

The next couple of minutes included her drinking whatever was left in front of her, and she only realized she had spaced out when Dusk shook her by the shoulder, "Hey Little Princess, you need to tap out?"

She nodded, and he turned and looked over the counter, "Excuse me mylady, would you mind taking this glass back, it's untouched." The countermare however, was not interested.

"No you can't return a used drink mr. tablespoon of salt." It was something about her tone, Cadance couldn't describe it, but it drove her to speak up.

"Hey, sto-" She burped, and it was the strangest most awful experience to barely feel, "No... N- No, being rude, Dusk is being an exquis-ert... exquisit gentle stallion, and he deserves more respecth."

The countermare just walked away. She wasn't sure where, but at least she was gone.

"That's three points for you Cadance, and two points for me, you played a mean game, go ahead and ask away, I think I'll cache mine for next time."

Next time? Questions? What time is it?

"Hey, you okay? did you drink to much?"

She shook her head. She just wasn't used to it was all. She had questions to ask, and she was going to make them count.

"Why did Luna want you redeemed" She barely managed not to slur, after she said it, she was impressed

A very distinct and very precise question there Princess, very good work

"I don't know" He flippantly responded.

"Buck" She said aloud.

He snorted, "Not what you wanted out of that question huh?"

Did I say that out loud?

"Did I say that out loud?"

At this point, the only things that existed for Cadance were the sway of the lights, Dusk, and her body, which felt really off, like she wasn't even inside of it.

inside of my own body?

"Yes Little Princess, you said that out loud" He smirked at her.

She rushed, "Wait no, that's not one of my-" She burped again. This time it was loud, not just a bubble in the back of her throat.

"Don't worry, I'm not charging you for that one, ask away"

This one better be good

"Have you ever loved somepony? Like, really loved them, not like, not loved them."

Dammit Cadance! That barely made...

Oh... Oh wow.

He responded at some point, she wasn't sure what he said, but she knew what it meant. Her addled mind tried to pull in the information so she could understand, and basically came up with 'he said yes and meant it'

"One more question Little Princess" He was looking at her now, same intensity as always. His eyes boring into her mind like he knew everything that was in there already, and was just sifting around to make sure she hadn't disorganized her own thoughts.

This time, she was quick on the draw,

"What's your real name?"

"That's the two of them! Right there at the counter still!"

Cadance turned to see the countermare stood next to two royal guard stallions at the doorway pointing at her with a snarl on her face. That was also the point in which she fell off her chair and passed out.

Oh no... He's deeaaaaaad...

Cadance awoke in the sun, startlingly fast. One moment she was asleep. The next her eyes were wide open to the just-afternoon sun.

Uh-oh

She quickly took stock of her body, she was laying on grass, she was outside, uninjured, and was back to how she was meant to look. No disguise. There were two Crystal Guards ponies at her sides, not yet awoken, and she felt energized. Also, somepony was calling her name.

"Cadance!"

Oh. Oh no

That was Celestia's voice, along with the distinct sound of Celestia's wingbeats.

UUUUUHH

She sat up quick and straight to see exactly what she was dreading, Celestia landed and approached her rapidly before wrapping her tightly in a warm hug, Celestia's wings surrounding her like a cacoon.

Okay?

"Oh Cadance, I'm so glad your okay." Celestia pulled away and looked Cadance in the eye. Just after, the Sun Princess' expression hardened, evidently Cadance's confusion was easy to read, "Are you okay?" Celestia lightly moved around Cadance's face to get a good look at her.

"What happened?" She tumbled out. While she had no headache she was still foggy on what happened after her and Dusk entered a bar. Her mind tried to pick up a little panic at the mental mention of Dusk, but at this point she resigned herself to her mistakes.

"After Dusk Swirl poisoned you, he went on a rampage through the city with you as a hostage."

WHAT?!

"HE WHAT?" Out came the RCV

When!? After I passed out? C'mon brain tell me what happened!

Her brain was on strike after her decision making earlier today, and refused to relinquish the precious information, Celestia continued. "Luna told me everything, and I am very disappointed you would keep this from me. Even though your intent was pure, Luna didn't tell you everything about Dusk."

At this point her brain fully properly managed to decipher what exactly Celestia had said. Her eyes went wide.

"Oh... oh no." Her voice got quiet and shallow as emotions racked her mind forwards and backwards, "A rampage? How many?" The words came out strangled

"Just the one dear Cadance," Celestia said, no confusion entering her voice, "Bu-"

"No, I mean..." She steeled herself. "Celestia, how many ponies died for my actions?"

Now it was Celestia's turn to blanch, "Killed? No Cadance, nopony was hurt, luckily Luna's charm to withhold most of Dusk's power held throughout his rampage through the city. Besides the roads and a lot of personal property damaged in the chase through the city, nothing was lost."

Celestia fully stepped away from their hug as the two guard ponies stirred, she stood straight, "and I'm sorry, I know you had good intentions, as you always do; but Dusk Swirl had to be turned back into stone, this time permanently, once he was caught."

Cadance's mind was spinning.

Something's on backwards here.

"So just to be clear," Cadance started, Celestia nodded for her to continue, "Dusk, poisoned me, and then... used me as a hostage to rampage through the city... but nopony was hurt, because of... Luna's charm? A charm she used on Dusk to seal away his magical power?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry you had to experience any of that. Luna had no right to free Dusk, nor expose you to his machinations, safe or not safe." Celestia turned her head away from Cadance, "I was so worried when I heard they'd lost sight of you during the chase, I've spent all morning looking for you."

Cadance's confusion was missed.

I have to talk to Luna

"Thank you auntie, really... I just need a moment... where's Luna? Is she okay?"

"I sent up the flare as soon as I saw you, she should be here any moment to apologize to you."

More and more of Cadance's night was coming back to her, and more and more was she realizing that the story she was being told was inaccurate. Everything about it was just wrong. She wasn't poisoned, she drank herself into blacking out; and Dusk wasn't charmed, he pulled the wings off an alicorn without even blinking. Even if he was charmed, he was clearly skilled and highly intelligent. Cadance had seen the things Shining Armor could do with the non-magical weapons they had at the guards' disposal, and for a pony like Dusk, weapons were plentiful. So no injuries? No deaths? He hadn't wanted to hurt anypony.

And now he was stone.

"What did you mean by permanently?" Cadance stood, "When he was turned back to stone?" Another pair of wing flaps joined them in the grass from behind, as she turned she noted their location as just outside the palace grounds.

"It means I made a grave error, and had to make up for it with an equally grave decision." Luna stated and stepped forwards after landing to wrap Cadance in a wing. "When he refused to disclose your location to me, I cornered him and gave him a choice between you, and being directly turned to stone."

Celestia stepped in to finish the story. "When he chose to spite Luna, she transfigured his body directly into stone, his spirit left him shortly after." Cadance's mind whirled, but before she spoke, "Technically there was one casualty of his rampage."

"Can I see him?" She said, "The statue I mean? Can I see his statue? Just to be sure?" She sounded hopefull.

The two sisters exchanged a glance, and Luna stepped away from her niece. Celestia lit her horn. "Cadance, is it okay if I scan you for any lingering traces of dark magic?" They were both watching her warily, Cadance could tell Luna's hackles were raised by her clenched teeth and her outstretched wings.

They think he cast a spell on me

Her mind remembered his promise. "Yes, go ahead, I'm not under a-" Cadance's body shook as Celestia's magic vibrated her body from the inside out. "Oh that feels very strange"

"My apologies niece, that was a heavy duty spell keyed specifically to discovering dark magic, you are clean of course. Why exactly do you want to see Dusk's statue?" Luna returned to Cadance's side and continued, "After all of this, I had assumed you would want to return to the Crystal Empire and your paramour to leave this all behind you as quickly as possible?"

"I just want to make sure he's really gone." She spoke with confidence. Too much confidence really. Cadance wasn't even sure if that was true, she wasn't even sure what was going on any more, what she wanted to see his statue for. All of this was just one massive headache.

And she didn't even have a hangover.

That was certainly him...

On the three princess's flight over to Dusk's stone plinth where his statue had been returned, Cadance's emotional maelstrom of a mind had calmed; and her memory had returned to her fully

Something was definitely up.

Luna had confirmed that she had placed a spell over Dusk after he was released. Cadance Guessed she could have missed it, but she was almost certain it was a lie.

That was definitely him though, the eyes were just as menacing as they were in the pony. The rest of his body was crouched low like he was about to jump, a massive snarl covered his face, likely mid insult.

"That's" Cadance started slowly, "So it's just over then?" She paused, "Mission failed?"

Luna spoke up, "Indeed dear niece, but do not take it as a failure. It was by my fault you were present here, and his fault for refusing your kindness."

"She's right Cadance. While this was a terrible idea, it going wrong isn't on you. That falls strictly on his withers." Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder. "Twilight's in town now though, if you could use some cheering up."

"Twilight came up to Canterlot?"

"Twilight and her friends rushed to our aid when they heard we had loosened a dark mage upon the populace." Luna said evenly

Cadance didn't want to see Twilight. Not like this, not right after getting somepony killed

"I think I just need to take the next train back to the Crystal Empire" Cadance moved slightly to begin her path out. "Also probably a spa visit, and several naps, and maybe some busy work."

You also need to figure out what in tartarus is going on

"I will see you away to the train station dear niece"

"Thank you auntie"

Luna scooped up the still groggy pair of Crystal Guards and off they went. After a couple of steps both Cadance and Luna took flight, Celestia took to the air a moment after, with a heading towards the palace. It took Cadance a moment to get her bearings and start flying in the right direction.

"Luna," She flapped slightly closer to the larger alicorn, "Did Dusk have the skill to cast memory spells?"

Luna's response was quick and curt. "Indeed." She then turned to Cadance, "Do you believe he cast one such on you? That which is why your memory is refusing to return to you?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure yet."

Cadance had entertained the idea that everything that happened right after he touched her the first time was either an illusion or just a horrible bending of her mind. That would imply however that he was capable of casting that magic to begin with, which wouldn't be possible if Luna had cast a magic restricting spell on him. That and her memory of the previous night had returned to her.

She was sure some things in it were true, as her guards were still asleep, and she could feel the growing need to use the little fillies room from her... alcohol consumption the night before. That and the lack of a hangover meant that Dusk's spell had worked. Meaning it hadn't been a trick, which implied everything before that moment actually happened.

ugh, a nap and a spa, then I can send a letter to Luna about it all later.

By the time they landed at the train station, her guards had awoken. They made the attempt to return to her side as if they hadn't been asleep for the past seven or so hours. It wasn't really their fault, Cadance just had weird emotional nots in her head about guards.

"Cadance, I'd like to apologize for this kerfuffle" Luna began,

"It's okay auntie, really. I know you meant for it to go a different way." Her mind reminded her of her first wasted question, and before Luna could attempt to apologize in a more complicated way, Cadance broke her train of thought, "Although, I do wonder why exactly you wanted him reformed to begin with?"

Luna shook her head, "At one time, Dusk Swirl was just as much a hero as he was a villain. During the Discordian Era, he was one of the few to directly challenge the Mad King's rule. He formed a resistance and lead thousands of ponies to safety" She took a breath, then continued, "To my knowledge he is the only creature of which truly drew Discord's ire. A stallion capable of making better chaos than himself. That and during the rise of Equestria, he carried a lead role in defending settlements and the ponies therein. Beyond his achievements, he was a personal friend of mine. I would say that the true answer to your question is that I just wished to see him again."

Cadance hugged her aunt. There wasn't anything else to be done.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out Luna."

"I'm sorry too dear niece."

They separated, and Cadance took a few steps towards the train at the platform, which luckily happened to be leaving within the next thirty minutes. She waved once to Luna, she returned the gesture before taking flight and heading off. Cadance boarded the train, everything all a blur. She stumbled around to a seat somewhere, laid down across it, and promptly felt all the stress and alcohol from the past day and a half and fell into a fitful sleep the moment she closed her eyes.

Have you ever seen a train just... spontaneously explode?

Not for long though.

The jostling of the train going through a tunnel stirred Cadance from her impromptu nap, she lifted her head only to realize the train was submerged in darkness. In the quick panic of being unfamiliar to one's waking environment, she tried to get her hooves under her and began straining her eyes to pick out important details.

Only, in the next moment, the train exited the tunnel it was traveling through. The sudden light blinded Cadance, and her hasty attempt to stand ended with her half sliding off the couch cushion. Leaving her half standing half laying on the seat.

She swore she got an odd look from Fog Runner, but when she checked again, his face was a wall of professionalism. Cadance elected to stand for the moment.

"How long was I asleep for?" She said,

"About an hour or so" Came the response from the seat ahead of her, the voice of Crystal Brazier.

Still got a ways to go to get home.

"Excuse me you two." She slipped past them into the isle. Nopony was on their way that far north at this time of day... or really at this time of the week for that matter. The car was empty aside from one other stallion, napping the trip away in a pile made of a pillow and blanket.

Cadance turned down the isle and made her way towards the connecting door on the train, looking for the bathroom imbedded in the wall. After dealing with her business, Cadance exited to find Crystal Brazier had gotten up, and was standing guard less than a body lengths away from the door, with Fog Runner stood in the isle, blocking the way through.

Cadance once again, made the effort to slide past them, back into the isle. Except she stopped.

"Excuse me... Ms. Brazier yes?" Cadance turned to Runner as well, "And Mr. Runner? May I call you Fog?"

Mixed responses from them both. Crystal Brazier nodded and took a few steps forwards. Fog merely nodded and continued looking stock straight ahead.

Next time I pick my escort

"Are you two doing okay? I know the events were... extraordinary."

Fog was the first to respond, "I can assure you ma'am, both me and Ms. Brazier are doing perfectly fine."

Brazier on the other hoof chose not to respond at all. She instead straightened up. She was also not nearly as good at 'stoic guard'. At least, not nearly as good Fog was.

Oh dear

Cadance put on her softest smile and stepped towards Brazier, "Ms. Brazier, I do not want to pry. Honest, but you clearly have something to say."

Aaaaaaaand!

Cadance rested a hoof on Brazier's shoulder, just as she was tipping her head back to look Cadance in the eye, and that was it.

This is how I remember this usually being like. Encouragement and Connectivity, it's nice to know what's going on.

"I jus-" Brazier glanced at Fog. "I want to apologize Princess..." She said the second part, slowly. Here is where Cadance prospered; and this is where she could do some good.

Cadance chose to simply encourage Brazier to continue, all she had to do was make it clear she was giving Brazier her full attention and a real, warm smile graced Cadance's face.

"That stallion, Dusk..."

Indeed, that stallion

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure if this is really professional. I-"

"Hey, I'm not the Princess of Procedure, go ahead and get that off your withers" and that was it. With Cadance's last comment, Brazier was fully committed.

"He insulted you! He insulted us! and..." Brazier shook her head, "He was right!"

Cadance raised an eyebrow

"Erm, uh... Not about you Princess, but about us. He took us both down in an instant and then kidnapped you." Brazier took a moment to collect herself. "We should have done something differently, stood in-between you and him, maybe had special enchantments. I'm not an officer. I don't know exactly what we could've done, but it wasn't enough; and that was reason enough for us to be on an even higher guard, and we weren't."

"And I'm sorry"

Time to work your magic Cadance

"You're right Brazier."

Cadance took a deep breath, this, this right here was what 'Princessing' was all about. Of course, her lead in phrase made Brazier a little bit nervous, a classic move.

"And you are forgiven. You're definitely right that you were dropped into a situation with no hopes of having any real effectiveness should the worst happen. You were ill prepared, and ill outfitted." Another pause. "And so was I."

"Princess?" Brazier's facial expression betrayed her mood. She was convicted, but confused.

"I was promised the situation would be safe, and felt comfortable within it's bounds due to my own confidence and what I was promised."

She continued, "But I was wrong. Dusk took me by surprise too."

supposedly...

"Yes of course, but Princess, you shouldn't have to engage a hostile like that. You-"

"Do you think I am incapable of defending myself Ms. Brazier?" Cadance took on her 'teaching' tone

"I'd never imply that Princess. However, we, or any guard for that matter are the first and last line of defense for both the Princesses and the innocent. An enemy shouldn't've have thought they could get to you. You're to important for me to just get blindsided like that!"

"Then next time, Ms. Brazier, don't let it happen."

"Ma'am?"

"Next time you are in a situation where your charge is overconfident, and they're putting themselves in danger, stop them. Stop me. Say what you're saying to me now, then. As much as I wish we could just go backwards and do it all again differently, we can't. We're all safe, and that's a miracle in it of itself. So next time, make it so that we don't need to get lucky." Cadance dropped her 'teacher' tone, and gave Crystal Brazier a warm smile.

Brazier, looked lost in the eyes of the taller alicorn for a split second before taking a step back and snapping a hard and sharp salute. "Absolutely Ma'am" A wide smile adorned her face.

Cadance turned past Fog Runner, checked his face. Even Fog couldn't resist Brazier's conviction. She saw the hint of a smile, and when she locked eyes with him, he nodded once to her before returning to his stony demeanor.

Cadance, now feeling lighter, returned to her seat took a deep breath, and relaxed properly.

She looked out of the glass towards the hillsides of Equestria. She wasn't a geography buff, and while she figured it was probably important for a Princess to know the features of the land she was in charge of maintaining...

Well I guess I'm only really in charge of the Emipre

Eh, it's pretty

Which was the last complex thought Cadance had for the next while, electing instead to lightly meditate and enjoy the scenery.

"Aaaaaaah!" Cadance exclaimed with a wide smile upon exiting the Crystal Express.

There really isn't anything quite like home is there?

The air was warm, and a chill breeze was in the air, the shining dome around the empire showed off the clear sky above the cloud layer, and Cadance would never admit it, as she tended to be the 'down to earth' of the Princesses, but the opulence of being in charge of an empire made of solid crystal stirred that hindbrain portion of her mind and made her just a little giddy.

Cadance exited the train onto the platform being careful not to get her hoof stuck in the gap between the two, Brazier and Fog steps behind her. She turned and waved to a couple of other ponies standing on the platform. The perks of going out incognito; she could get off a train in public without being swarmed.

"Shall I call for an escort Princess?" Brazier asked

tempting

"Nah, I think I've had enough time today to relax, I'll teleport us to the heart."

"On your word Ma'am" said Fog.

Cadance leaned her head down a little, closed her eyes and stretched out her magical influence over the area. The heart was easy to find. It was covered in what the magically adept would refer to as a 'hilariously convenient spell anchor.' Cadance liked to refer to it as a love ball. She focused the location end of her teleport on the mass of churning magic from her namesake, and lifted her head, her horn now lit.

She turned towards her guards "Ready?"

They both simply nodded, as they had approached her while she was channeling, each pressed a hoof to her side.

Cadance loosed her spell, and in a loud-ish crack (she'd been practicing) they were stood fifty hoof lengths from the opening to the Palace. Not nearly as close as they should've been.

Guess I need more practice, I'll remind myself of that later

"Cadance!"

An involuntary smile came to her face, "Shining!"

Shining was wearing a military dress uniform, and there were what she assumed was new recruits out and about. Likely some sort of military get together, she didn't pay too much attention to those. She was far more focused on the approaching Stallion of her dreams, whom she hugged once he was in range.

Shining quickly pushed her back, "I heard so many rumors about what went down" He returned the hug "I'm glad your okay"

"I'm as okay as I can be."

...

"Cadance honey, you can let go of me now."

...

Shining went slack, accepting his fate. Cadance was beaming at passersby's, and the soldiers from the military function nearby.

"It's good to see you too Cadance. I'm glad your back."

Cadance took that as enough embarrassing her husband in front of his military staff and released him from her clutches. "I'm glad to be back, and we can talk about the details later, for now," she turned to her guards, "You two, you're dismissed for now, go get some rest" she looked at shining, and then back at them, "and probably file a report or two."

Shining saluted her guards, they saluted back. Cadance had the urge to salute as well and had to mentally reign herself in from being too silly.

"What's going on with this?" Cadance said, gesturing at the gathering of military suits.

Shining turned and started walking back towards the hub of activity, "It's a officers forum. After the months of running the empire, me and the operating staff decided to gather together all the bureaucrats for a chance for the Crystal Ponies to reconnect, and meet all of the additional staff from Equestria. There's a couple of new faces here too; and we're planning on having an open mic run by yours truly to try and organize hotfixes to any issues the staff here can work out."

Ah, so the hooves on approach, my favorite

"Can you send for someone to get Amber?" Cadance said.

Shining gave a short chuckle, "Boring you already?" but he did wave down an on duty guard who began approaching from the far wall.

"Of course not, I even intend to help." She bumped him in his flanks with her own. Even though he was built like a Crystal Pipe, her size plus her Earth Pony strength still bumped him to the side.

He laughed, "Oh no... That's much worse."

"Sir?" The guard aproached.

Shining looked towards Cadance, "Would you mind fetching Amber Stone for my wife?"

The guard saluted, and was off, Shining turned towards Cadance only to see that she had walked up to the nearest gaggle of ponies and was chatting up a storm already. He made his way over.

"Well you see Princess, while my colleague here thinks that additional funding for organization will allow for greater room to grow, I believe that our growth problem lies not in organization, but in our pony power and workforce behind our practice." Some stallion was going on. Cadance turned towards the other stallion who was apparently part of the conversation.

"Adding more bodies both as guards and as officers won't matter if neither have any organizational procedures to function on, we need funding directed to a total breakdown of our management procedure."

"What have you started here Cadance?" Shining interjected

"Nothing get's a colt arguing for real better than a pretty mare" Cadance whispered to him sagely as the two stallions went at it.

"An operational overhaul is unnecessary for the amount of ponies we have at our disposal, you might as well throw out ranks too!"

"And you just the same can join troops in training! Without any sort of higher form of function for organization technique, you'll essentially have to function as a company officer!"

"We have Drill sergeants for that!"

"They won't matter if they have no way of organizing their troops!"

"Stallions!" Shining belted out. The couple of heads that had been eyeing up the discussion, or discussing the finer points of the stallions' arguments with each other, albeit, more calmly, stopped to observe whatever it was to happen next.

"It's true that our organizational systems need a revamp; not only do we need it to revitalize old systems, we also need it to take advantage of new technology, magics, and division practices." Shining turned to the other stallion, and let out a long drawn out, "However. It's true that the Crystal Guard has enough officers with enough experience that widescale organization would be a step backwards."

He pivoted his head around, "One of the ongoing discussion points for the open mic will be a 'logistics' division. Essentially a guard and officer branch dedicated to organization, followed by the consolidation of the Crystal Guard to an elite force, and the formation of a more modern Crystal Army with the backing of said logistics division."

Cadance turned her head at the Amber coloured limb that swung to get her attention. As the two stallions turned to berate Shining with questions Cadance interjected, "That's my que, see you two," she turned to shining, "I'll see you for dinner" and then made her way around the outside of the crowd to Amber Stone, her aid.

Amber was, suprise, an Amber coloured mare with a short cropped mane of a sandy colour. Her cutie mark was a picture of a tablet of stone and a carving pick.

"Evening Princess." Amber did a short kneel with her front hooves, the equivalent of a curtsy.

"Hello Amber, I know I'm back far earlier than expected, but I'm guessing you still have work for me?"

"Absolutely Princess, there's never an end to paperwork. Specifically there are a couple of bills for zoning the guild wants you to recognize as a go between for the noble houses." Amber turned off towards the entrance to the spire, and Cadance followed, trying to piece together what she'd say to Shining at dinner.

Cadance looked at the clock. Six in the evening. The sun was starting to colour the sky all of it's beautiful shades, and Cadance was starting to see things. She'd been up way to long, and all the paper work was blurring together. At least she only had an hour left before she could go to the dining hall. Amber was at another desk in her office, just outside of the open doorway that led to another room that was basically still just Cadance's office.

She shuffled the papers around

Paper about nobles wanting more taxbits

Paper about the Guild being annoyed at the nobles getting taxbits

Reports about the palace not receiving enough taxbits,

ugh, how does Aunty Luna understand all of this legalize so easily?

"Amber?" Cadance called out

"Yes Princess?" Amber leaned her head into the doorway. Cadance instead of responding just waved Amber into her office. Once she was close enough she continued.

"I may have prematurely tossed myself into this, do you think you can translate some of these for me?" Cadance tried to organize her workstation while making her request, trying not to sound exhausted already.

"Like what Princess?"

Cadance pulled a sheet from the stack, this one was clipped together at the top, with a duplicate paper for each of the noble houses.

"This one says, official recognition from the crown for exiled noble class in light of extenuating circumstance." Which is one Tartarus of a summary.

"Ah, a particularly strange one" Amber said, maneuvering around the desk to hold the papers, "This came request came in today from a pony from Equestria. Apparently some merchant mare has proof of lineage to a noble house that was exiled from the Empire just before Sombra's rule." She looked through the first pages, which were the details on their own, before skimming through the supplementaries for the other houses. "Citing that their house was exiled because of Sombra, the mare is requesting acknowledgement that they are an heir to the exiled house, and that they'd like not only officially bring said house from exile, but host their company here in the empire as the rekindling of the..." Amber trailed of and flipped back a couple of pages, "The Noble House of Silvers"

"So a mare wants a noble title and permission to start a company?"

"Essentially Princess."

Cadance thought for a moment. "Will the other nobles throw a fit?"

"No Princess." Amber said, and simply looked at Cadance patiently.

Cadance, expecting more said, "oh, how do you know?"

"Besides the fact that this wouldn't've made it to your or my desk had the nobles not wanted it to, it's likely that any of ours would look at this business mare as an opportunity" Amber cleared her throat, "They'll likely take the new noblemare under their wing so to speak, in order to add to their resources."

"Huh."

"Shall I send this out with your approval Princess?"

Cadance looked at the clock. "Yes," Cadance signed a couple of dotted lines "Thank you Amber."

Amber took the paper, and walked it back out to her own desk.

six whole minutes over and done with.... wooo

From the Life of a Princess

Cadance thought the dining hall was too opulent when she first moved into the castle. The crystal walls from the spire, plus all of the sconces and chandeliers and décor of which she could not name made the dining room seem more like a ballroom.

So about two months into her governance of the Crystal empire, she converted the royal dining hall into a mess hall of grand proportions, upgraded and expanded the kitchens, and hired more staff. With a little bit of guidance from Shining Armor, it had been turned into what amounted to a gourmet soup kitchen, of which mostly only palace staff frequented. (However it was open to the public)

However, Shining had another plan.

"Shining Armor is here with dinner for you princess." Amber called from outside.

Cadance, still neck deep in paperwork had yet to think about dining shook her head in surprise and smiled as Shining Armor pushed open the door and walked in, giving a similar smile. In his magic floated what looked like two bowls of spaghetti.

"Shining! I didn't realize you'd be coming"

Shining full stepped into the room and placed the food down on a nearby surface, Cadance stood without realizing that she didn't really need to.

"Well we wrapped up in the plaza pretty quickly. There wasn't much to talk about, and more to do so I dismissed the crowd early to come talk with you."

Cadance turned her smile into a smirk and tipped her nose down, "And eat spaghetti"

"And eat spaghetti" He conceded.

Amber closed the doors to Cadance's office, and Shining Armor took a seat and pulled up a chair to Cadance's desk. Cadance shuffled the papers on her desk around with her magic, and stacked them up on a table to the side, then levitated their dinner over.

Hope I organized those correctly

"So." Armor said very matter-a-factly

Cadance took the opportunity to eat. The pasta had no sauce on it, just how she preferred. Shining waited. Cadance tried to think of what to say.

"It didn't go very well."

"I heard... I'm trying to not say 'I told you so'"

Cadance gave a mock frown, "And you were doing a great job of it until just now."

"I'm just saying, seems like every time we unearth some evil creature from thousands of years ago, it always ends the same way."

Cadance ended up going for the truth. When she actually gave herself a moment to think about it, obviously she was going to tell her husband what actually happened.

"He wasn't exactly... evil, per say."

Shining raised and eyebrow but did not comment, waiting for Cadance to continue.

"He's smart, that's for sure. He could probably give some of those noble lawyers a run for their bits" Cadance paused to eat more, levitating something precisely like a fork required a little bit of focus.

"and he was definitely mean, but I wouldn't say evil."

Shining Armor waited, and then very slowly and carefully said, "So what am I missing here. He attacked you, and Canterlot, and princess Luna."

Cadance rubbed her hoof on her chest and looked away, "Well... That's not exactly what happened."

Shining looked anxious, at least to Cadance, and when Shining got anxious, it usually meant he would try to find something to do.

Something that may be detrimental to the current delicate situation

"Now before I explain, I want you to promise me you'll listen to the whole story first," Shining opened his mouth only to get cut off "And I want you to promise you'll listen to my reasoning before you make any hasty decisions."

"You're not exactly instilling me with great confidence here Cady, should I be genuinely worried right now?"

"No no, we're safe and everything's fine, just let me tell you what actually happened."

Which she did, about her original meeting and subsequent chase with Dusk, their short and failed conversation, followed by the sleepy guards and their trip to a hole in the wall bar. Shining Armor looked more and more concerned as the story went on.

"When I woke up, Luna and Celestia found me and my guards. The checked me for dark magic, and told me that Dusk had been... killed"

"That Luna had killed him."

"Yes."

Shining took a deep breath; and pressed a hoof against his snout, "You're talking about this like you didn't tell Celestia or Luna about the inconsistence in the stories"

"I didn't."

"Cadance"

"You said you'd listen to why." She postured

"Cadance"

"I-" She tried, but Shining inturrupted.

"Are you telling me, " he stumbled over his words, "Just to be clear, there's a pony out there capable of, as you've described, anything. Wandering around? A villan! An actual convicted criminal is!" He stopped in the middle of his sentence and stood up.

"Shining wait" Cadance also stood up.

"This isn't something we can just ignore or keep to ourselves."

"I'm not asking you to do that, just let me explain first okay?" Cadance held a hoof out to shining, "Can you do that for me?"

Shining waited, but didn't sit back down.

That is until Cadance insisted, gesturing to her hoof and giving him a look.

"Right."

He took her hoof and sat back down, leaving Cadance to slightly awkwardly be leaning forwards over the desk and past their food.

He looked up at her. "Drinking?" a beat, "really?"

Cadance retracted over the table and sat back down herself.

"I uhh... yes? I mean, it didn't seem like a bad idea." At this time, Cadance hadn't told him about the spell Dusk had used on her drinks. She didn't need to worry him over nothing.

"Cadance, this is gonna have to be a darn good explanation."

"Well..." Cadance began, taking a moment to formulate her thoughts. "He isn't a bad stallion. I don't really have a way to explain it to somepony that wasn't there; but he wasn't like Tirek or Discord. He was reasonable, logical even."

"I've seen logical ponies commit crimes too"

"Which is fair, but there's more to it. I think his 'rampage' was just a trick, to get away."

"Get away?"

"Well yeah, if he just ran, we'd know he's out there."

Shining cut in, "But if we all thought he was dead, he could do whatever he wanted without any pushback. Which is worse"

"Except!" Cadance put up a hoof to extenuate her point. "If that were the case, then why was I left untouched?"

"If I'm remembering your story correctly, you weren't really."

"No, I mean, if he had the power to alter Luna's memory, or just flat out trick her, then why do I, somepony he had unrestricted access to, remember everything the way it was."

"Alter her memory, Cadance you're talking about this stallion as if he's not a complete threat. Memory spells are incredibly dangerous."

"I'm just saying that it's strange that I would remember, if he really wanted a clean getaway, he could have just faked a fight between me and him, where I won and then passed out."

"Except Luna would have known you couldn't've have fought him off, and would have suspected something was up." Shining began again. "So he engaged Luna, and tricked her somehow, then made an escape."

"Yes, that's how I think it happened."

"And this should be less concerning how?"

"Because I still remember what happened."

"Which means?"

"Which means that Dusk Swirl, wherever he is, wanted me to remember what happened. He wants me to know he's still out there, and the only reason he could want that was if I was getting through to him."

Shining sat a bit further back and really started thinking. After a moment he said, "I can't poke holes in that argument, except if you were just imagining most of this."

"I'd like to think that too, but there's too many inconsistencies for it to be coincidence."

"So what do we do?"

"For now, nothing." Cadance nodded her head.

Shining did not look pleased. "It would be better if we told Luna, maybe even Twilight."

"And what would they do? What would we do for that matter? If I'm right, then Dusk Swirl won't be found unless he wants to be. It also means that he'll find us."

"That's the part I'm worried about Cadance. I'm worried that this... stallion has some malicious plans in store for you."

"He pulled the wings off my back, he could have killed me if he wanted to."

Shining shook his head and gave Cadance a frustrated look.

"He wasn't going to though. My point was just that he could have, I still don't think he would."

Shining just looked away and was silent. Cadance quieted too.

He needs a second to think about this, it was crazy for me, I bet it's even worse for him

After a bit of waiting, both ponies simply finished their food in silence. Cadance wasn't sure, but maybe ten minutes passed before Shining Armor spoke again.

"And you want to do nothing?"

Cadance, having had time to think about the conversation, had an immediate response, "I want to wait for him to show up again, and then do something"

"Do what?"

Cadance thought about it for a moment, "Continue trying to... connect with him, I guess. He doesn't really seem like he'll accept 'reformation' and really, that's not what Fluttershy did for Discord either."

"So just show him that you're his friend? Give him reason to not be a criminal anymore?"

"Yes."

"I hate that idea just as much now as when Celestia tried it." Shining made an annoyed face that Cadance found a little cute, even though she was trying to take the conversation seriously.

"Which is probably why she didn't tell you about it until after."

"Right." Shining struggled to think of more to say before, "I still think we tell Luna and Celestia; and Twilight, the guard."

"And I'm asking you to just trust me on this."

Shining looked like he had a lot to say to that. He opened his mouth and made several 'I don't know how to respond to that' faces before settling on leaning back sighing and, "Okay."

YES

"Wait really?" Cadance said, incredulous

"Yes, but I'm tasking someone to look for special enchantments, and sending a letter to Twilight for defense against dark magics."

"That's pretty fair." Cadance pretended to ponder, "More than I thought I'd get."

"You know I can't say no to you" Shining smiled, but quickly returned to a serious expression, "but that doesn't mean we won't take proper precaution, and the second any of this smells funny I'm pulling the plug on this whole 'operation.'"

"I know it's potentially dangerous, but there's nopony I'd want making contingencies to keep me safe more than you."

"I'll take that."

They lapsed into silence.

Cadance stacked up their bowls and broke said silence, "Do you have more work you need done today?"

"Not really. No"

Cadance stood up from her desk and walked around it towards Shining Armor, he gave her a look. Candace gave him a quick kiss and said, "Then you're coming with me" and scooped him over her head and onto her back.

He tried to protest, "Whoa, hey what about all your work?"

Cadance sauntered her way out of her office, and waved goodnight to Amber, "I was going to put it off for a week anyways, it can wait one more night."

Then Cadance carried Shining Armor back to their room, Shining swore up and down he'd never hear the end of it from the guards.

From the Life of a Princess Part Two

Dusk Swirl reappeared about a week after Cadance's talk with Shining Armor. Cadance had spent the majority of her free week catching up on mounds of paperwork and organizing side projects; essentially diving into the depths of bureaucracy while she had the time. At the beginning of the next week, during an open court in the Spire is where we re-join Cadance.

"Amber, can you recount the request in it's entirety?"

Cadance found open court in the Crystal Empire to be a rollercoaster. Sometimes ponies would bring in comments or requests or bills that were mind-numbingly boring. Sometimes ponies would ask for weird favors or would otherwise do something hilarious. Cadance's favorites were wholesome or simple requests she could solve personally. Everypony likes to see their work impact immediately via smiling faces.

Amber at the moment was going on about some provisional ground breaking request for an internal company requesting a something or other. Half way through Cadance had accepted the request, but there was a whole pomp and whathaveyou she learned was good to go through for the observers. It went along with the courtroom, which happened to be the only public space in the castle Cadance let the staff decorate as opulently as they could.

The unprepared tourist would describe it as: "Doctor, I can't feel my eyes."

There was a lot of crystal furniture and glass windows facing the sun.

Cadance took her head out from leaning in her hoof as soon as Amber finished talking and addressed the yellow-coated stallion in front of her, "I'll grant your groundbreaking request, just make sure you actually start work tomorrow so that the paperwork has a chance to get into the right hooves first."

"Thank you, your highness, I ap-" the courtroom doors couldn't exactly be slammed open, as they were propped open during court hours, but somehow a mare still pulled it off.

Here's the wild thing to get the evening going

"Princess!" Said who was now identified as Slim Fitting, a purple furred and grey maned unicorn. Who also just happened to be the head of the Noble House of Facets, or Facet, Cadance wasn't really sure. Slim stomped into the open court, past the line and straight into the center of the chamber with a scowl on their face and the rest of their temper shown through the rapid twisting of their ears and flicking of their tail.

Cadance waited

"Princess, I require satisfaction immediately to some snub-nosed upstart!" Slim spat hard enough she had to take a breath, "The absolute nerve!"

"Slim Fitt-"

"This mare by the name of Quick Silver is an absolute disgrace to the halls of the Empire and I demand their house be struck down at once!"

"Slim Fitting!"

Slim stopped their fuming momentarily, giving Cadance a chance to take control of the conversation, and by proxy, the situation.

"Thank you, can you please start from the beginning?" Cadance put on her best 'disapproval face' "and I hope this is important enough that you felt the need to disrupt court." At this point the stallion before Slim's appearance had already made for a hasty retreat.

"I, uh- Well yes of course, your highness, and I promise you this is of great importance." Slim put on what Cadance could only describe as an 'announcer' voice, and began turning to address the crowd and Cadance in equal measure.

"Less than thirty minutes ago, I sent my son to go welcome the old House of Silvers back into the Empire. He returned to me distressed and in tears! Apparently this 'noble'" She strained the word "Had berated and insulted him! For barely a reason no less!" Slim continued to add flair and extravagance to her body language and her story.

Definitely the sensation of the day, I remember who she's talking about though.

"As such, I went to confront the mare, verbally attacking my poor boy like that! The nerve I tell you! Only..." pause for dramatic affect, "I received the exact same treatment! The mare ignored me until I outright demanded her attention, and then! AND THEN! This mare barreled out of her abode, a ghastly place I might add, and insulted me and demanded that I leave."

"Far beyond this point, I had had enough; and promptly challenged that fool to a Duel of Titles"

Cadance's eyebrows raised subtly. She thought she heard a couple of ponies gasp.

"To which she scoffed in my face, ruining my day dress, said 'No' and shut her door in my face! I rushed here immediately to sort out this whole debacle and eject this despicable mare from our city." Slim, who had been making plenty of accentuating gestures through-out her story, stomped her hoof and looked up to Cadance in a fluid motion.

I have no idea what a Duel of the Titles means

Cadance turned to Amber, "Amber, can you recite the main laws surrounding the Duel of Titles for the court?"

Amber, used to her job at this point, didn't even bat an ear. "The Duel of Titles is a dueling ritual specific to the Nobles of the Crystal Empire. Specifically for settling disputes between the Noble Houses, it follows most of the normal rules for dueling. Notably it's to non-lethal combat, and has political rules for dignitaries and ambassadors. For this particular circumstance, it should be known that a Noble House, for all intents and purposes, can't refuse a Duel of Titles." Amber had pulled out a book from the stand hidden beneath her desk, and was flipping through it during her explanation.

"It says here that settling any disputes for a Duel of Titles needs to be handled directly by the next highest power." Amber looked up at Cadance, as did everypony else.

Cadance steepled her hooves underneath her snout and thought.

If I'm going to be required to sort this out, I'm either going to have to postpone it until court is over or close court early. After that, I now have to deal with potentially reneging on a house acceptance, which should be fine since it's another Noble House doing the ejecting, unless of course this mare wins the duel... Hold on a moment

"Slim fitting, can you describe Quick Silver for me?"

"Absolutely, your highness. The criminal in question is a disgustingly metallic white furred pegasus, with a dull grey mane, far more saturated than mine."

...Crap

Cadance tried to hold her expression, "Would you say this is something that should be dealt with immediately Slim Fitting?" Cadance went to comment on the fact court was meant to be open still, but Slim beat her to the punch.

"Of course, your highness."

Cadance turned towards Amber, "Amber, please close court for the day and fetch my husband, I'm potentially going to need him to help me sort this out."

This is bound to be all over the papers tomorrow.

Amber simply nodded, and started gathering the paperwork that had accumulated over the court day. Cadance turned back to Slim Fitting, who now sported a look between smug and malicious. "Slim, would you please lead me to the Quick Silver estate?" She turned to the guards present, not really caring about Slim Fitting's response, "Guards, I'd like a four pony escort there, just in case."

The guards mobilized, Slim Fitting led on, overjoyed to be the center of attention, leading the princess out of the throne room and on their way.

It's nice to be outside at least

Around about midday in the Crystal Empire, Cadance, lead by a Unicorn Noble along with their four guard escort of crystal guards made their way away from the castle grounds and out onto the streets of the Crystal Empire. It was a nice enough day for a walk, though Cadance found herself stressing over their arrival.

In just under a week, he'd have plenty of time to get here. To plan this whole thing from the start though. Possible?

Cadance tried to keep an even smile on her face as she walked through her city. Waving at the occasional passerby.

Unlikely.

In short order they reached the home in question. It was put away from the rest of the houses on the road, slightly set back and away from the street. Not anything special, the architecture seemed similar to the rough but practical crystal construction of the older homes in the Empire.

"That's the house Princess, this is the yard where I was verbally assaulted!" Slim Fitting presented.

"Thank you Slim Fitting, if you wouldn't mind heading home, I have this situation well in hoof."

"Absolutely not Princess! I'd never have you confront this heathen on my behalf and not be here for you!"

So you want the spectacle. Right

Nobles made Cadance tired. She humorously considered the new noble here, also making her tired

"Just stay with the guards then please." Fitting nodded and Cadance turned to walk up to the home in question, less then a couple of strides and she was there, and gave a quick and simple three knocks on the door. The sound was more of a ding than a thud, the door being made of crystal will do that.

No response.

Cadance knocked again.

She rolled her eyes.

She heard a voice from inside, too far and too 'on the other side of a wall' to make out, just before hearing a set hoof steps come up from the other side of the door. Cadance took a step back as the door swung open inwards, and a metallic white pegasus mare stepped out into the noon-day sun.

Yup, that's him

"Is there something I can help you with Princess?" The mare said with a firm but melodic voice. Like somepony was reciting a poem, or singing a song without any effort to hit the notes.

Not his voice though

"I guess..." Cadance tried to stagger her words and give herself a moment to think, "I'm here to clear up an issue that was brought to my attention."

The mare looked around Cadance at Slim Fitting, who's son was just arriving on scene with Shining Armor, Amber, and two more Crystal Guard ponies. After a gaze that settled longer than normal, the mare's eyes flicked to Cadance, and gave her an upturned eyebrow raise.

"I don't know what issue you could be here to solve, mayhaps you could clarify?"

"This mare here with me, Slim Fitting, claims that you insulted herself and her son."

"That's correct."

"To which she challenged you to a Dual of Titles?"

"Yup"

"And then you refused."

"That's right."

Cadance, expecting nothing else simply added. "I'm afraid by law, you cannot refuse."

The mare walked around Cadance, and onto the grass, leaving Cadance stood in front of the door. 'Quick Silver' had placed herself in between Cadance and her guard retinue, something she noticed because of her tactically minded husband rubbing off on her.

"Why?"

"Why?" Cadance responded, a higher lilt to emphasize her confusion.

"Why can I not refuse?"

Slim Fitting, who was still standing behind the guards called out, "Because it's the law you mule"

Racism, classic Nobles

Quick Silver laughed, "A law written by Sombra, and I doubt you want to fight me really. So I refuse."

"Hearsay!"

"Slim Fitting that is enough thank you."

"On the contrary, Little Princess, I think it's not nearly enough." Quick Silver said, turning to face Fitting.

So it is you

"You realize that if I were to go about this duel, you'd have to fight me directly, in actual combat?" Silver had started gesturing at themselves and Fitting, confusion plastered over their face.

"Well I'd get to choose a champion wouldn't I?" Fitting rebutted, snarking, and sticking her nose into the air.

Amber, who had been reading during the interaction, glanced up at Slim Fitting and said "Actually, only the wronged parties, initiator of the duel, and immediate family can participate."

Slim's eyes widened, and her mouth blubbered momentarily before her son came to the rescue. "Worry not then mother, I shall be you champion then." Her son, a relatively large purple unicorn stallion with a deep orange mane, levitated/unsheathed a unicorn style rapier from a hilt over his back. Apparently he had went to arm himself.

Amber looked at Cadance and mouthed a phrase they had coined together early in their partnership. It simply meant that there was nothing Cadance could do about what was going on. At least not for any legal reason.

Quick Silver looked over her shoulder at Cadance, "You really want me to do this?"

Sounds like a coded phrase, he, uh, they know they can't get out of this, what they're really asking is

"I don't think you have a choice."

Ie: 'go ahead, just don't really hurt anypony'

"Alight then." Quick Silver rolled their shoulders and flexed their wings, bounced a couple of times on their hooves and called out, "Come on up then boy, let's see what'cha got."

Shining, who was observing wondered aloud, "Is that a Trottingham accent?"

"Manehatten actually"

Shining, immune to the nonsense of the nobles, nonchalantly made a 'huh' gesture, and went back to calmly observing.

"Where is your weapon?" Cadance said

"Don't need one Princess"

The opposing combatant smirked, "Well then this should be over quick then." Before anypony could respond, he rushed Quick Silver and struck out with his telekinetic blade. Quick Silver, who had taken a step forward as soon as they noticed they were about to be attacked, simply lifted a hoof and caught the blade in the frog of their hoof.

It being a rapier, and the attack being a stab, the blade sank down to Silver's shoulder. Only the small grip on the hilt was visible.

Cadance's eyes bulged, and she heard several gasps from nearby. Silver then ripped the blade from the telekinetic aura suspending it, took another two steps forward, and punched the stunned Stallion in the jaw with a right hook that sent him tumbling over.

Nopony moved. Silver went back to a casual stance. The currently unnamed combatant groaned. On the floor.

Slim Fitting rushed from the guards to her son, "My baby! Get away from him!" She ran up and scooped her son into a hoof to check on his snout.

Silver walked up to the two of them, and kicked Slim Fitting in the face as well. Slim, who had significantly less bodyweight than her son, went skidding across the grass, and began to cough as she struggled to stand.

Everypony looked on with wide eyes.

"This duel is over!" Cadance shouted, "There is a clear winner! I declare this duel over!"

The stallion, found his legs and glared at the pony that just attacked his mother. "Nonsense! I have yet to yield!"

Silver, who up until this point was keeping their left front leg straight and stiff, bent her limb at the knee, and pushed the tip of the blade out of her shoulder. The act sprayed a bit of blood onto the Stallions face, and Silver grabbed the blade in her teeth and pulled it out through her whole leg, once it was removed, she straightened up, and spat the blade at his hooves, and said "Then yield."

The stallion, stuttered in fear at Slivers gaze, and somewhere in there, he yielded. Silver announced "Cadance is right, the duel is over. Now if you'll all excuse me, I've been a bit busy as of late." Silver then tuned back to her home, gave a quick glance to Cadance, and then began walking towards the door again.

Amber spoke up from the crowd, "Silver wait! You've won the Duel of Titles, before you can leave you must claim a boon from the house you defeated."

Slim Fitting, having recovered, and in a furry began yelling, "Excuse me! Absolutely not! She attacked me! I am a non-combatant, She threw the duel! She doesn't get anything!"

Amber, shrunk under Slim Fitting's yelling and spittle, and Shining Armor interposed himself between the two of them. "Actually ma'am, because you placed your hooves on one of the duelists, you became a combatant. It didn't matter that it was you son, it still put you in the ring."

Slim Fitting only became more enraged, "That is absolute nonsense! Nonsense I tell you! How dare you side with this mad dog!"

"Slim Fitting that is enough! You have made a clear and utter fool of yourself! You should b-"

"It's okay," normally nopony interrupts Cadance when she's tounge lashing somepony, but the softness and nearness of the voice stopped Cadance in her tracks. Quick Silver, from her side, waved with their bleeding leg and called out to Amber, "I don't want anything."

Silver then entered her home.

Cadance didn't really know what to do in the moments after, and in the moment during the silence that followed she raced to come to a decision for a course of action.

"Then that's it. Amber, can you please send me the correct paperwork for filling all this out when we return to the castle?"

Slim continued her nonsense, "What!? What do you mean 'That's it'! You have to do something about this! About her!"

Before Cadance could respond, Shining Armor, the Love of her life, did it for her.

"And what exactly would you have us do? By your own account, Silver broke no laws besides ignoring your duel, and now that the duel is over, still no laws have been broken. We can't arrest or prosecute somepony who did nothing wrong."

"Nothing wrong! I aught to-!"

"We can however arrest a noble who causing a public disturbance."

That mollified Slim right quick. Her son had approached from behind and mumbled something along the lines of 'maybe we should just escape with our dignity'

Slim turned back to Shining with a scowl and with a "Fine then" absconded with her son, making a quick trot away from the crowd that had formed, the guards, and the Princess.

Cadance approached Shining. "That's him."

Shining looked back towards the stallion following after Slim, "Who?"

"No, Quick Silver. It's him" She said and made a 'please understand what I'm saying face' and nodded towards the abode in question.

Shining's eyes widened, and he looked past Cadance towards the house, "Oh. Him."

Cadance waited for a more complex response, Amber meanwhile, "Who's him? To be clear Princess? Unless I was mistaken, Quick Silver is a mare."

Cadance turned towards Quick Silver,

"Cadance is referring to the Changeling, Quick Silver."

Amber's eyes bugged out, "The-!"

Cadance put a hoof over her mouth, and looked at Shining and silently yelled "WHAT?" Over Amber's shoulder.

"Don't worry Amber, we know of them, and they're here on our express permission, right Cadance?"

Ah, I get it now, quick. Nice

Cadance let go of Amber, "Yes, but it's all hush hush, so please don't yell out Amber?"

Amber recovering from the shock, simply nodded and didn't say anything.

"Me and Cadance are going to go talk to 'Quick Silver'" He said with a conspiratory tone, "And meet you back at the palace, okay?"

Amber nodded and turned looked at Cadance while tucking the book she brought onto her back, "I'll make sure I have all the paperwork ready for you when you return Princess, should we plan to re-open court?"

"No, we're probably going to be out for at least another hour."

Amber looked between the two, and without any signs of obvious issues, Amber turned away and began making her way back to the palace.

Shining sidled up next to Cadance as she turned to face the door. "So what now" He was quiet enough that nopony would overhear, but was still mostly talking normally.

"What now? I don't know!" She rushed out as they began walking towards the door together.

"I thought you said you had a plan for this!" He whisper shouted

"An big picture plan, I wasn't ready for this in particular"

"So there's no plan?"

Ugh

"No."

"Good thing I've been practicing then."

As they stepped up onto the home's foundation Shining started casting a spell. In a couple of moments, a spell matrix appeared at the tip of his horn, and Cadance began to glow in his aura. Runic structures began appearing around her, and a fur-tight golden shield congealed around her before becoming translucent. Shining cast the same spell on himself moments after.

"Dark magic wards, Twilight sent me an all purpose spell."

"Nice, and quick thinking with that changeling call"

"Thank you"

They shared a quick kiss and Cadance knocked.

The one where we all assume Shining Armor is going to melt

Both Cadance and Shining stayed focused on the door as they waited. No significant glances to one another, they both knew why they were here and had the confidence to not anxiously shift about.

At least for the first thirty seconds.

After of which Shining gave Cadance the 'eyebrow raise' and Cadance knocked again. A couple of moments passed before they heard hoof steps again. In short order the door swung open to show Quick Silver stood in the doorway, their scowl turned to a frown as they looked over the two, and gestured them both inside.

"Make it quick."

Cadance and Shining entered. The front room was spartan, bare floors and doorways with no doors, though there were a vaguely nice set of curtains for the windows.

For brooding I'm guessing, but then why have them drawn?

"So" Came Shining to the side, "You're the... pony who attacked my wife"

"Yup" Quick Silver had plopped themselves onto the floor and was holding a white rag against their shoulder.

Cadance narrowed her eyes, "Except, I know you didn't attack me."

"Yup"

"Wait, so you did attack her? Or you didn't?" Shining asked

"I didn't."

Why is he doing this again?

"Why would you lie in favor of committing a crime?"

I can see where this is going

"I didn't lie, you were just wrong."

"But you agreed with me."

Silver just shrugged, "I don't care if you're wrong"

Cadance, before Shining could retort, "You're injured"

Silver tossed their mane back and smirked at Cadance, "No I'm not, I'm Quick Silver"

Cadance, annoyed, charged her horn with a simple first aid spell. Quick Silver dropped her rag and gestured placatingly at Cadance, "Whoah whoah, don't do that. Whatever it is you're doing. All jokes aside, I've been reworking my internal ward network. You could get hurt trying to cast a spell on me." Cadance frowned and slowly let the half formed spell drain away into the air.

She made for a couple of steps forwards and sat down in front of...

"What are we calling you? By the way? And let me see your hoof." Cadance

"You're calling me whatever you want, my disguise is named Quick Silver though." Quick Silver, lifted their leg up and delicately placed it in Cadance's hooves.

She began inspecting the frog as Shining began again.

"Are you a mare or a stallion?"

"You wanna check pretty boy?"

Cadance glanced between the two of them, but didn't say anything. Shining on the other hoof, was verbally stunned, and went to metaphorically tag Cadance in.

"This is... surprisingly not bad. Definitely not as bad as I thought it would be." She said, putting Silver's hoof back onto the floor.

Silver, rubbed her shoulder with her opposite hoof "I have my own healing magics. Still hurts like a bitch though." And added onto the end "I'll be fine in another couple of hours or so."

Shining brought it back, "Well, you didn't have to pull a sword through your leg."

Silver stood abruptly and locked eyes with Shining and stared him down "You didn't have to bring ponies to my house knowing they were going to attempt to assault me." She scowled and deepened her stare down.

Cadance, realizing that she was head height with Quick Silver decided not to stand to try and diffuse the situation. "We didn't have a choice, an-"

"You always have a choice." Quick Silver hadn't looked away from Shining when she had said that; and she said it with such conviction that Shining broke away from their impromptu staring contest.

"Let me finish." Cadance tried to admonish, "We didn't have a choice, and I'm sorry it happened, we didn't know they would try that."

"What did you think they were going to do." She had turned and switched to a more neutral expression towards Cadance.

Shining spoke up, "We were going to try to diffuse the situation once we had everypony together."

"That didn't work."

"I didn't think you cared"

Silver looked at Cadance. Thought for a moment.

"I guess I don't... I should honestly just stop complaining about it." Silver sat back down, "What did you two want again?"

Cadance looked towards Shining as he answered, "We wanted to know why you were here. And more specifically, how you got here."

"I'm here to help, and I'm not telling you how I got here." Silver gestured out, "Is that all? Will you two leave now? Or at least him?"

"Why just him?"

"He's annoying, and disrespectful. You could honestly do better."

"I disagree."

"He's not as smart as you."

"He's smarter in different ways."

"In ways that aren't nearly as useful."
"He doesn't have to be intelligent in the ways I am"
"So he's just going to be lesser than you?"
"That's not what I meant"
"What did you mean?"
"He's good at what he does, and is very useful"

Through their banter, Shining was rapidly looking back and forth between them as their retorts got faster.

"Flies are good at vomiting on food, and are great for ecosystem."

Cadance got thrown off by the shock value and scrunched her muzzle, "Eew."

Silver rolled her eyes. "In any case, like I said, I'm busy. Now please leave." Silver turned while standing up, and began walking towards one of the doorways that lead deeper into the house. That is until a magical barrier sprung up where the door would have been.

Silver sighed, and looked over her shoulder at the two of them. "What."

"I'm going to need a better answer than 'here to help' and 'no' before I'm comfortable letting somepony as dangerous as you wander my kingdom; or any kingdom for that matter." Shining said, his horn lit.

"To bad." Silver sat down, and turned towards the shield.

Crap!

"Shining!" Before Cadance could give a proper warning, Silver pressed her hoof onto the shield. In the next second the shield shattered around a hole Silver had punched through it.

Shining was flabbergasted, but okay.

Phew

Silver walked away.

"What? How did he break my shield?"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but... I thought you said Dusk was a dark mage. That wasn't dark magic, my wards would have triggered."

I doubt it

Cadance internally cringed at her mental response, but it was true, if Dusk, well Silver in this case, wanted to affect them with any of their black magics... Candance was sure they could figure it out.

"Well... Dusk... or Quick Silver, she's... they are good at a lot of kinds of magic."

"That just makes them even more dangerous."

"I think you just annoyed them."

"Great, so we have a mage more skilled than my sister wandering the empire, don't worry though, they're totally harmless unless you mildly inconvenience them."

Cadance paused for a moment.

He's right. I can't just let Dusk wander the Empire. It's not safe. But I won't get anywhere if Shin-

"I know that face honey, what are you thinking?" Shining asked, his voice gone from sarcastic and towards soft and inquisitive.

"I think you should stay here while I go talk to him."

Shining tilted his head and widened his eyes as if to say, 'No. we are not doing that.'

"Just hear me out okay?"

Shining merely intensified his 'nuh-uh' look

"Dusk did that to me too when we first talked, I think they found the conversation pointless and therefore didn't try to engage."

"and?"

"Well, I think I'd have better chances talking to him on my own."

"Cadance"

"Even if you did dial it back, there's a chance Dusk might not care anyways just because they don't like you."

"I'm not going to deny that, but I can't just let you do that on your own, we've clearly established this pony is not safe." Shining had approached Cadance fully and was talking quietly, almost gently.

He always gets like this when he's worrying about me

Cadance leaned forwards and pressed a kiss right on his snout. "You're cute when you worry about me."

Shining smiled and nodded, "True, but don't try and distract me."

"I don't think I'll be in any more or less danger than I was."

"I disagree"

"Shining, I just need you to trust me, and let me do this."

Shining looked away from Cadance. A couple of beats passed.

He sighed. "Alright."

Yes!

"But I'm standing right outside the door... or... uh entrance."

"Fine by me. Let's go get this done."

Cadance turned and walked towards doorway Quick Silver had left from. It seemed to stretch back pretty far before an opening, and Cadance could sense a glimmer of magic coming from the hallway. As she stepped into the area, she noticed the rune work covering the wall, and a small wall of magic that hung over the way forwards.

"Do you know what this is Shining?"

Shining brought himself up next to her, the hallway was tight enough that their coats pressed together. "I have no idea, but the effect looks like some sort of spatial enchantment. It's really the only way to have light ripple like that."

Cadance stepped through, and felt her experience... Widen?

whoah, funky

The hallway seemed a bit shorter now, and she could hear sounds of activity coming from beyond

She turned to see that Shining, instead of being a couple of steps behind her, was instead visually almost thirty hooves away.

Point for Shining

He followed shortly after her, after Cadance waved him forwards; and Cadance proceeded down the hall towards the sounds. She heard a burst of static followed by a clang, and a rapid string of almost curses.

"Riggen, Frackle, yellow, hifron, bickles!" and a deep sigh sounded from around the corner.

Cadance waved behind her to signal to Shining to stay out of sight, and approached the doorway.

"Dusk?"

A deeper sigh sounded as Cadance turned the corner. This room was... maybe decorated was the wrong term, but it was filled with what looked like magical equipment, metal, desks, gemstones. Papers and charts and graphs filled the walls and desks, there were a few open and closed boxes lying in the far corner of the room. In one spot the ground had been ripped open, and several strange looking spiral tubed crystals were growing from the ground and bending into the chamber.

The centerpiece though, the thing Quick Silver was sitting in front of, looking exasperated, looked like some sort of giant telescope rotating mechanism without the telescope, that could also serve you tea. Bronze and gears and gems oh my! The thing was maybe three times as tall as she was, and was currently smoking white shimmering smoke.

"Wow... I can see why the other rooms are empty."

"Cadance, I really don't have time to play ring around the rosy with you or your husband"

Cadance looked from the strange machine over to him. Instead of the annoyed facial expression she was expecting, Silver instead looked tired, and... sad.

"I'm not here for that."

"Your boy toy is." They said, pointing at the doorway.

Cadance didn't look back, "He's just listening in to make sure I'm safe."

Quick Silver slowly turned back towards their machine while saying "riiiiight." And began tugging at a smoking component.

Cadance took a couple of steps forward, to be a little bit behind and to the side of Silver. Silver got the weird mixture of what looked like copper and a gemstone fused together to come out a little, only for Silver to push the piece back into the machine, deeper than it was before, and another piece came falling from the bottom. Silver caught it, and began visually inspecting it.

"What is this?" Cadance asked quietly.

Silver held up the what was a strip of silvery metal covered in runes smaller than her feather tips. "This is supposed to be a control mechanism for power flow, but it doesn't want to work properly. It keeps engaging the safety's."

"I mean the whole thing."

"Oh... It's a... planar stabilizer."

"A what?"

"When it's on, it makes realism and localism true, even for magic. It means that there's no back flow for advanced spells, and no reality destabilization from quantum affects."

Cadance made an 'uh' face.

"It could stop a powerful magical device from blowing itself up."

Cadance made an 'ah' face.

"But it's broken." Silver shook their head. "I was hoping not irreparably, but it seems like my storage of it wasn't exactly perfect. The chronological stasis seems to have defragged some of the sensitive spells within the main spell matrix's that actually make the thing work. I'd have to re-enchant the whole thing, and at that point, I may as well just make a new one."

"What do you need it for?"

"That... Why the sudden interest in my area of expertise?"

Cadance gave her answer actual thought before responding. Silver was still moving parts around on the... uh... Planar Stabilizer

"Do I need a reason?"

Silver turned back to look at Cadance, "I know you have one, it just tripped me up that you were asking out of curiosity rather than because you thought I was going to use it for nefarious purposes."

"You got all that from my question?"

Silver shrugged and returned to work, "Your tone, and you learn a lot about reading people when you're as old as I am."

I've definitely gotten that from Celestia a lot

"I'm planning on using it to safely start up a magnet reactor."

"Which I'm guessing I'll never understand, so instead, what does a 'magnet reactor' do?" Cadance went to sit down, but moved a stray tool off the floor where she was going to sit, and telekinetically placed it on a work table.

There's a surprisingly large amount of wood in here.

"It's really actually not that complex, it's just a perpetual energy machine. Produces a lot of magic and force."

"So it's a magic generator?"

"In principle, yeah."

The two fell into a smooth silence as Silver worked and Cadance pondered the interaction.

This is going okay, but I'm still not really getting anywhere. The question is how

Cadance looked around the room, back towards the doorway, Shining was keeping himself hidden enough. She just kind of filled her thoughts with visual information for a moment.

If he's okay with this, I guess I did get some information... So I just need to do more increments of this?

Cadance nodded to herself,

I've got it

"How can I help?"

Silver was, in that moment, shoulder deep in the machine, propped up on their stomach with half their body submerged in the innerworkings of the clockwork behemoth. There was a muffled 'one moment' and Silver began slowly pulling themselves out.

When they were fully removed, they had what looked like a faceted sphere of diamond covered in what looked like imbedded fractals of metal. Even to Cadance it was a beautiful piece of arcane engineering.

Silver frowned, "Dammit"

"I take it it's broken somehow?"

"It's not aligned to reality anymore, it's basically trash now."

"How can something not be aligned to reality?"

Silver gently placed the sphere on the ground. "You've teleported before right? In the non-moment that you don't exist, you're not within the confines of reality, or physics. This," They gestured to the orb, "Was submerged in that state for so long that the non-moment actually happened magically. It means that it's lost all ability to interface with magic the way it needs to."

"And I take it that is a pretty important part?"

"It's the core."

"Can I have it?"

Silver blanched for a barely a moment, if Cadance wasn't looking, she would have missed it.

"What for?"

"If it's trash, does it matter?"

"I guess not" Silver rolled the core over to Cadance, Cadance who was sitting, placed her hoof on it's top to stop it, and rolled it under her chest. Silver turned back to the machine and gave it a once over.

"What now?"

Silver continued looking over the machine, "I'm going to try and salvage as much of the advanced components on this as possible, I don't really have the tools or the infrastructure to remake a lot of these parts."

"I could send you raw materials if you want, the Empire has plenty of gems."

"If you could replace that lonsdaleite chunk, it'd save me a lot of digging."

"Lonsdaleite?"

"Uh... hexagonal diamond?"

Cadance shook her head, "What?"

"Diamonds have a cubical chemical structure, lonsdaleite has a hexagonal one"

"I'm not a science buff, I don't know what that means."

"You don't know basic chemistry?"

"That's basic chemistry?"

Silver looked up and sighed, "Celestia what did you do to Equestria."

Silver trotted towards a work bench, picked up two diamonds with their wings, and quickly walked back to Cadance and sat down in front of her. Dropping one diamond each into their front hooves, Silver began explaining. "These are diamonds, they can scratch each other," To demonstrate, Silver slammed the diamonds together like they were trying to start a fire, and held them out for Cadance to look at.

They were indeed marked.

Silver then tossed the scratched diamond out of their non-dominant hoof, and began again, "lonsdaleite, however, is harder than diamond, and wont scratch." And slammed the diamond onto the orb right in front of Cadance, she felt it shake against her fur as Silver struck it. It was not marked, and the diamond Silver struck it with broke into chunks and made tinging clattering noises as it fell apart.

"It also does that less often." Silver turned away and began fenagling parts on the machine again.

"Is this safe to pick up with magic?"

"Yeah, just don't charm or enchant it, I don't know if it still works, but it has sensors to detect if it's being fundamentally altered, and will violently remove itself it it detects that."

"Violently remove itself?"

"In short? It will explode."

"Okay." Cadance stood and carefully cast a telekinetic spell around the orb, and placed it on her back. She ruffled and unfurled her wings a little to make sure it wouldn't fall.

She turned and made her way out of the room, Shining had his nose basically to the doorway, which looked a little bit silly. Cadance turned back to Silver, "How did you beak though my husband's shield so easily?"

"I made his shield manifold try and turn itself into ravioli"

Cadance blinked several times, and then turned to leave, "Bye Dusk"

"Bye"

Shining followed Cadance back out through the spatial magic and into the home's foyer.

"So?" Shining said

Cadance turned back towards him, still trying to balance the core on her back, it was just a bit bigger than she could comfortably carry.

"What was all that? and why are we suddenly leaving?"

"Let's walk and talk, we need to be back in the palace soon."

"We're just leaving?"

"Yes"

"Cadance"

"Shining, what would we do?"

Shining gave her a look,

"What I mean is, how would we go about even doing anything to Dusk if we wanted to? Look at this," Cadance turned to show off the core, "Dusk is blunt in a very complex way, they act like a wall. We can either try and take them down directly, or accept that we're not going to get anything. We have to play the long game, and it's not worth making Dusk our direct enemy."

"You're saying we have to weather the wall down over time?"

Cadance nodded, "That fits in the analogy. This time though, I have an actual plan."

"That's good to hear."

"Come on, I'll tell you on the way."

A letter for Friendship

Hey Twilight! I'm sure you can tell by the seal, but this letter is from none other than your favorite sister in law!

So is the other letter I sent, this one is just to describe some details for you. In a day or so, you'll be receiving a package from the EPS, open it, and my second letter together, and make sure they're kept confidential. As much as I'd like to catch up, I really need your help for something very important.

You're not to tell even the other Princesses about this. You'll know why when you get the package and read my other letter,

Love,
Cadance

P.S. If you open the package first before reading the letter make sure you are very careful with the package and the object contained inside, it's very magically sensitive; and I've been told it is likely to explode if magic more complex then telekinesis is used on it

Twilight, I'm sure by now you've seen the artefact I sent you, and I want to clear up what it is, and what I need your help with.

Remember when Canterlot was attacked by another long forgotten evil just over a week ago? Well the Stallion in question, Dusk Swirl, was the one who did the rampaging. I was tasked that night with reforming him, much like Fluttershy was tasked with reforming Discord.

Despite what you may think, it actually went well. The stories that were told about the outcome were, however, a lie. Dusk Swirl is alive, and is currently hiding out in the Crystal Empire. He is docile, and almost friendly on occasion. He is also the creator of the artefact you have with you.

Dusk at the moment, is trying to build something, and has managed to make themselves Crystal Empire Nobility. Knowing what little I know about him, he plans on doing something big. I don't want to antagonize him by demanding what it is, and don't have the ability to demand anyways. Dusk is powerful, and far more dangerously, smart. He has more magical knowledge flat out than me, and more than you as well. For example, he was able to break through Shining Armor's trademark shield spell instantly, and with very little effort, I've seen him move wings from one pony to another, and I know he is a very accomplished dark mage from what Luna told me. I wouldn't doubt that Dusk at his prime outclassed Starswirl himself.

So I'm taking another approach. Befriending him. Which I'm sure you now see where I'm going with this.

You know so much about friendship, notably being the only pony I know to study it, and I want you to come to the Empire and try and befriend him over his work. There's probably fewer than three ponies in Equestria that could geek out about magical theory with him, and you're definitely my first choice.

Let me know what you think

Love, Cadance

Dear Cadance,

Cadance. I don't know what to say, this... thing you sent me is proof enough with your word of all that you claimed but...

I'm very worried about this, and about you.

But I'll do it.

I've seen friendship do greater things than change a single life, that being said, I think you're on the right track, and I'll definitely help. I'll be there on the next train north, to catch up and to get started. We have a lot to talk about, and it's better to do so when I'm there.

Love,
Twilight

The Setup

Cadance had setup a dinner. Something like it anyways, the castle staff insisted and eventually ended up doing ninety percent of the work.

I tried though, I really did.

The room itself was a dignitary dining room, something for hosting if Cadance remembered correctly; so it had all the standard opulence that was present throughout the castle. Unnecessary for this, but at the very least, they'd have a bit of privacy, while still being as close as possible to safety.

This is going to work

Twilight had likely gotten on the morning train the day after her letter, and would be in the Empire at five-ish. Which just so happened to be the current time, Shining was down by the station to pick up Twilight, and with Twilight's skill in magic, they'd likely teleport here, meaning they'd be here at around five thirty.

And Dusk is going to be here at six.

So I'm going to have thirty minutes minimum to explain and get things going.

Cadance took a deep breath, and let it out over ten seconds

I can do that.

For now, she just had to sit and wait.

...

Actually Cadance was going to go check the kitchens again to make sure the staff knew not to interrupt them.

Twilight's POV

"Shining!" Twilight, having just exited the Crystal Express, took a galloping start and gently glomped her brother.

Shining, being A. used to this, and B. a absolute tank, barely moved, and returned the hug. "Hey LSBFF, how's it goin?"

Twilight stepped away from him, but only a little bit, "How's it going? Apparently everything is going crazy!"

Shining chuckled and Twilight continued.

"I really hoped that after Tirek, the world would calm down a little, but then there was that village, and this, and the Grand Galloping Gala is co-"

I'm rambling

Twilight rubbed her hoof over her other leg, bashful, "It's just been a lot."

"I'm sorry to say that this isn't really going to make it any better."

"I know, I know, but I still want to help however I can."

Shining leaned in conspiratorially, "Did you learn those spells?"

"Yeah, Omnashe's Dark Magic Deflector, and Prism's All Purpose Protector."

Although I did know the second one already

"Good" Shining leaned back, "I won't lie, I'm pretty close to pulling the plug on all of this. I want you to be just as wary."

"Don't worry BBBFF, Cadance was explicitly clear how dangerous Dusk was, I am totally prepared."

Shining turned, "Shall we?" He close to kneeled and waved his hoof in a 'carry on' gesture.

Twilight giggled, moved up to his side and lit her horn, "We shall." With a crack of teleportation, Twilight and Shining were standing in some sitting room within the Crystal Spire.

Shining, quick to recover, started trotting, "Come on, I'm sure Cadance is waiting on us."

Twilight made a light squee and caught up with her brother. "I can't wait to see Cadance again, I just wish it wasn't under these... well I mean it's always like this."

"What do you mean?"

"It just feels like me and Cadance never get time to just spend together, there's always something going on."

"Come's with the territory of being a Princess right?"

I guess

"That seems about right."

They fell into a comfortable silence as Shining Armor made his way to the dining room, and Twilight followed close by. Twilight didn't notice, but Shining started to realize the stunning lack of castle staff or guards patrolling the hallway. Aside from clenching his jaw, he made no comment.

Eventually they turned down a hallway with a set of tall crystal doors at the end. Cadance turned into the hallway at the same time, and after the two seconds of which Cadance and Twilight had locked eyes, they rushed to each other and did their thing.

Sunshine Sunshine
Lady bugs awake
Clap your hooves and
Do a little shake!

They both laughed and embraced. "It's so good to see you Twilight."

I'm glad to help

"I missed you too Cadance." Their hug continued.

"Twilight, are you taller?"

Twilight stepped away and tried to measure herself up to Cadance by memory.

"Oh she's definitely taller" said shining, having approached from behind Twilight.

Am I taller?

"My LSBFF all grown up, soon you're gonna be taller than me." Shining gave a shit-eating grin

"Oh hush Shiny."

Twilight just looked back and forth during the exchange, trying to figure out if she had indeed grown.

I could check with a spell

"Regardless, come on Twily, we have a lot to talk about."

Cadance turned with Shining towards the door, "Indeed we do. I'm sorry to make this all business, but..." Cadance's face said it all. A mix between cringe and shame.

"I know Cadance, it's okay."

They all made their way into the dining hall. The table was set, there were a nominally large amount of snacks, plenty of hoof food. Crackers and cheeses, mostly.

As everypony took seats around the round table, Cadance and Shining next to each other, and Twilight a little ways across from Cadance, Cadance began to speak. "So, where are you at so far? Concise."

Twilight thought for a moment.

There's a pony we can't control, with the power to match and or surpass Starswirl the Bearded hiding out in the Crystal Empire because they're basically a fugitive from the Equestria Crown. Said pony is in the middle of doing something that potentially has the chance to harm a lot of other ponies. Solve with friendship.

"Long forgotten powerful pony fugitive turned noble needs a friend?" She said, with a powerful inflection.

"I wouldn't say needs" Came Shining's flippant response accompanied by rolling eyes

"But essentially. Yes."

"Can you tell me about him? Personality?"

"He's a jerk."

Cadance frowned at Shining and just held up a hoof to him. "He has very little patience for things that he can't see as important." Cadance dropped her hoof and reached out for a small block of cheese with he magic. "It leads him to be easy to irritate, as he cares about very little besides his own goals."

"It sounds like he might just want to be left alone."

"Which we obviously can't do." Shining quickly interjected.

Twilight turned to address his comment, slowly asking, "Has he done anything bad yet?"

"He's assaulted several ponies."

"Ponies that attacked him first, if I can add that." Cadance looked to Shining with a raised brow.

Shining shot back, "Sorry, I meant your guards."

He attacked guards?

Cadance nodded her head slowly, "Oh, right yes. He cast some sort of instant knockout spell on them. There wasn't really a fight, and they weren't hurt."

"But we know that he can hurt ponies, and he's willing to attack them to get what he wants."

Twilight took the chance to speak up, "It might not be that simple. What I mean is, you could say that about police ponies if you phrase it right."

Shining looked incredulous, "What?"

"What Twilight means is that a Police pony has the skill to hurt somepony, and would if given an adequate reason"

We're getting a little off track

"Well... okay well maybe, but you knew what I meant."

"How old is he?"

Both Cadance and Shining looked to each other. Shining shrugged and vaguely gestured at Cadance. Cadance looked back towards Twilight, "He's at least as old as Nightmare Night. Luna had claimed he was there for her fall, and a while before then too."

Wait... What???

"Wait, you're telling me he could be as old as Celestia and Luna?"

"Come to think of it, Luna also mentioned he was around during the Discordian Era."

Twilight was aware of how visible her widening eyes were, "Older than Celestia and Luna!?"

"I honestly don't know, I don't even think he knows either."

O.K.A.Y.

There was silence.

"What. I mean, when am I going to meet him?"

Shining pipped up, "Good question, and how many guards are going to be there?"

Cadance took on a sheepish smile. "Actually, he'll be here in about twenty minutes."

...

"Cadance"

"Now hold on."

"Cay-Dence"

Cadance put her hooves up in mock surrender. "I want this to go right, and us going by to knock on his door isn't going to work... Again"

"Cadance, I-" Twilight tried, but was interrupted.

"Cadance, that's a terrible idea!"

Cadance stood up, and almost glared. She lightly placed her hoof on the table. "Why!?"

Shining too shocked that Cadance raised her voice, and Twilight, already struggling to keep up with the developing situation, gave space for Cadance to keep verbally rolling.

"There's no other way for us to do this. We're in the Crystal Spire, surrounded by guards only a call away. We have the three most powerful ponies besides Dusk himself in the room to keep us all safe!"

Cadance huffed, but continued, "I know we're playing with fire here, we're always going to be risking something when we do anything. This is worth the risk."

"Cadanc-"

Cadance interrupted him, "and it's not even that risky! Powerful or not, he can't take us all on at once."

...

Cadance sat back down, and crossed her hooves in front of her. She turned away from the table and pouted.

Twilight saw her ear flick, ever so slightly. "I didn't realize you felt so strongly about this."

"My ponies are potentially at stake... Of course I care about this."

Shining just nodded, Twilight added, "Even Dusk?"

Cadance turned back, "Now don't get me wrong, Dusk is definitely a danger, but I think he's just confused." Cadance put a hoof to her snout, before gesturing, "Aimless maybe."

"Which is why you think Twily should befriend him."

"Yes."

Twilight looked at Shining, Shining looked at Twilight, and then back to Cadance.

She looks so... resolute... more so than I've ever seen

"I'm definitely willing to give it a try, as the Princess of Friendship, I couldn't give anything less than my best."

"That's all I'm asking."

"That's not all I'm asking." Shining said, and continued, "I asked Twilight to look into more protection spells since she knew what we were dealing with a bit better."

Cadance blinked once and gave a light shake of her head, "I have no problem with extra precaution, which spells?"

"Omnashe's Dark Magic Deflector, and Prism's All Purpose Protector"

"I would avoid using Prism's trademark science spell." a smooth voice called from the doorway.

Twilight saw Shining almost have cheese go flying out of his nose as he choked and looked at the pony behind her. Cadance turned just as Twilight looked over her shoulder to see a metallic white Pegasus mare with a pair of... saddlebags...

Oh, Celestia... is that leather?

"Hello Dusk." Cadance made the attempt to formally greet him despite the other welcomes.

Her?

"How's it going Little Princess?" Quick Silver walked right up to the table, and sat down in-between Cadance and Twilight. Close enough that Twilight could probably lean over and touch the pony if she wanted. She didn't, but she could.

Cadance leaned back into her seat. "I've been okay. Can I introduce you?"

"No need, I already know Twilight Sparkle" Silver turned towards her, "Princess of Friendship, Celestia's personal student, Savior of Equestria a dozen times over, a proper adventurer. You do clean and effective work."

Silver then reached over to a pile of crackers and shoved them in her mouth

"Um... Thank you. Why shouldn't I use Prism's All Purpose Protection spell?"

Silver, having finished chewing, said "Because I'll stop you, and you have enough magic behind your spellcasting that it'll probably hurt. I don't wanna do that."

Twilight looked towards Cadance, who was smiling like a cheshire cat. She made a shooing motion with her hooves in encouragment.

"Why would you want to stop me from casting a protection spell?"

Shining mumbled something from across the table, Silver after inhaling more cheese and cracker said, "I'm not going to tell you, you'll have to figure it out on your own."

Is there something wrong with the spell? It's complex, but easily something I can do.

Hmmmmm... Nevermind

"So... Cadance told me you're basically a master wizard?"

"I wouldn't go that far."

Cadance spoke up, "Then you're being modest."

"It's just that I wouldn't ever claim to be a master of any sort of mystic art. There's always more to discover you know? Shining Armor?"

"Sure."

"Cmon, you could at least engage a little bit, you know? I mean, now's the perfect time to blast me with magic in the middle of a sentence." Silver frowned, "Or don't, fine, see if I care." Then returned to removing the food off the table.

Shining and Cadance looked confused.

Twilight spoke up, trying to resolve their confusion, "Were you... Trying to get him to blast you with magic while you were talking?"

"Was it that obvious?" Silver turned towards Twilight and very methodically rolled her eyes at her

"Why would you want me to blast you."

"You just looked like you really wanted to."

"No pony is going to be blasting anypony else today." Cadance tried.

"Tell your boy toy that."

"Hey!" Shining armor called out

"Hay yourself! All that's here is cheese and crackers, if you want hay so bad then get it yourself!"

Shining was stunned by Silver's outburst, Cadance looked like she was trying to think of a way to manage the conversation.

Twilight laughed. Not intensely, just one solid laugh.

"Thank you Twilight."

Shining took to glaring at Silver.

"You... remind me of one of my friends?"

That wasn't meant to be a question, woops.

"Oh yeah? Which one?"

Despite the seemingly casual turn in the conversation, Twilight could still feel the growing tension weighing on her withers.

Cadance spoke up in tandem with Twilight's answer, "Pinkie Pie"

Silver paused their food shoveling, like they were frozen mid action. "You don't mean Pinkie Pie, the daughter of Igneous Rock Pie and Cloudy Quartz, do you?"

"Wait, you know Pinkie's parents?" Twilight asked with a head tilt.

"Yeah, I bought rocks from them. Small world huh?"

"You bought rocks from Pinkie's parents?" Cadance asked, also confused

Twilight switched verbal partners, "They farm rocks."

I realize now that that's not a very good explanation

"Why were you buying rocks." Shining said. It came out more as a suspicious demand than a question.

"Rock related purposes."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"You asked a shit question then."

Twilight interrupted Shining before he had a chance to respond. "Do you have to antagonize my brother?"

"I absolutely do."

Twilight scrunched her eyes and asked, "Explain why in complete detail."

"No."

Oh...

"Please?" Said Cadance.

"He really just deserves it."

"In detail? Like Twilight said?"

Silver rolled her eyes, "Ugh fine, I'm trying to teach him a lesson." Silver went to vaporize more food.

"About?"

She placatingly put up a hoof while chewing, "I wash getting there" She swallowed, "About not being a dick for no reason."

"Can you please keep the vulgarity away from the dinner table?"

Cadance was ignored, "You see, your boy toy there seems to think that being aggressive and rude towards me is somehow going to make me not a threat. That if he can 'cow' me somehow that he'll suddenly feel like he's in control." Silver took a breath, "The too most important ponies in his life are sat in a room with someone who could hurt them, and he thinks being a bully is going to solve that problem, and he's stupid for it."

"I don'-"

"No, you don't. You didn't even think of what you were doing before you did it. You won't even get what you want from acting the way you're acting. You're embarrassing your wife."

"Don't talk about my brother like that."

"I'll do what I want Princess."

Out of the corner of Twilight's eyes she saw Cadance's wings began to unfurl.

"Actually, you won't." Shining stood up.

Twilight began, "You're at least not going to be hurting anypony, or doing anything that could otherwise harm Equestria." Twilight glanced over at Cadance, to see Cadance rapidly looking in-between Shining and Twilight, they locked eyes and the only thing Twilight saw was confusion plastered on Cadance's face.

Shining lit his horn.

Silver pulled out a bomb.

"Shining wait!" Twilight yelled, seeing the danger. Silver had placed a small metal sphere etched in runes on the table. It may not have been a bomb, but it was carrying enough magical potential to become one.

Shining fired a bolt of magic at Silver.

The magic ripped across the table, and splashed on an unseen barrier right in front of Silver. Food and cutlery went flying, Cadance had fully stood with her wings unfurled and shouted, "Shiny! Stop!"

Twilight had jumped up onto the table, her own wings unfurled, and her horn glowing with a barely contained stun spell.

"Everypony stop!" Came Cadance shout, "What has gotten into you two!?"

"Shining is an idiot, and Twilight has trauma."

"I do not!"

Silver stood and mimed a deeper voice, flapping her wings in jest, "You won't do anything to harm Equestria." Silver retuned to a neutral stance, "Really? How many times have you said that to someone about to hurt you or your friends?"

"Cadance, Dusk cannot be reasoned with, we have to deal with him now!"

"What?! What are you saying?!"

"I know right? It's not like he could even hurt me if he wanted to."

Shining Armor snarled, "I'm just getting warmed up."

"And I stole and improved your trademark shield spell specifically to counter you. Since you obviously would never look for weak spots in your own spell."

"What?" Shining Armor fired another blast at Silver, and sure enough, Twilight saw the metal orb, just around the size of her hoof, light up with magic as the bolt splashed on an unseen barrier.

"SHINING ARMOR THAT IS ENOUGH!" Cadance pulled out the Royal Canterlot Voice. It rattled the doors and made sure anything still standing on the table fell over. Shining folded his ears down and went to retort, but Cadance beat him to the punch, "No! I don't want to hear it! You are embarrassing me! You made this into a dangerous situation!"

"I-"

"Dusk isn't even doing anything! He's just defending himself!"

It seemed like Cadance had successfully mollified Shining with that. Twilight was just as equally stunned, never having seen Cadance... essentially verbally buck someone in the jaw. With Twilight's knowledge of Shining's mannerisms, he looked like a kicked puppy.

"It's okay Little Princess. I mean, I did start it by being verbally attacked."

Cadance turned towards Silver and just... Stopped, her facial expression read of somepony who had properly had enough of whatever was happening, and morphed towards pure confusion.

"What is going on?" Twilight said slowly and carefully.

"Ah..." Silver sat back down, and leaned back adopting an awkward sitting position, resting entirely on her flanks. "and then everypony stopped and considered the strangeness of the last couple of moments."

and then everypony stopped and considered the strangeness of the last couple of moments.

"I've seen enough moments like these to explain for you Twilight." Silver continued to lounge, "Cadance is wondering how her carefully laid plan could have gone so wrong. Shining Armor is berating himself for his lack of discipline, and you! You are drowning in choice, wondering what it is you're supposed to do, and hoping someone else will key you into how to de-escalate the situation."

"I..."

"Well it's been de-escalated. You're welcome."

Cadance sat back down in her seat, and looked back towards Shining. Shining, took his seat too.

Twilight quickly got off the table.

Everypony took a breath.

"I'm sorry, Cadance."

Cadance shook her head and gestured at Silver.

Silver held up a hoof. "I don't want your apology, before you start. I want you to act your age."

Shining did not respond.

"Kay, bye." Silver picked up her orb, and started leaving.

Cadance smiled. Her ear twitched again. She gestured at Twilight to follow Silver.

What is she...

Cadance gestured harder, Twilight got up, and started to follow Silver. When she glanced back at Cadance, Cadance winked at her.

Twilight almost didn't notice that Silver was holding the door open for her as she left, she nearly bumped into Silver.

Silver gestured, "Shall we?"

Author's Note

I admit to being able to type out Cadance's and Twilight's unique greeting by memory

A chapter where I go completely insane with the power of physics and magic

Twilight took a glance at the mare who was currently gesturing her forwards. The Crystal hall itself, while simply a wall, looked more inviting than Quick Silver did.

I guess there's a reason my gut is telling me not to trust her

"We're not going to just be standing around here all day right?" Silver swung her hoof again, losing her posture and rolling her eyes.

Twilight had frozen for a moment by her thoughts before she was able to recover. "Do you have somewhere specific in mind?"

"We'll head back to my place, I was hoping to show you my lab, and take advantage of you." Silver started trotting down the hallway while Twilight blanched again, "Specifically your ties to magic, and alicorn magic."

Twilight couldn't tell if she was joking. "Is... that a joke?"

Silver looked over her shoulder, "Is that the question you really want to be asking? Are you sure you don't want me to distract you with the mysteries of the arcane?"

"Yes?"

Silver frowned. "Ah" She turned and waved Twilight onwards, "I'll explain when we get there."

Twilight followed until the two of them exited the hallway into one of the many chambers in the Empire, this one had four guards posted on the interior, it was sparingly decorated. Likely a hallway interchange for high hoof traffic, hence the guards.

"This oughta do it," Silver said, reaching into her bag.

"For?" Twilight walked up next to Silver as she pulled a white and brown pile of dust out of her bag and threw it onto the floor.

"First little lesson of mine I guess, how can an ear- well, how can a Pegasus cast a teleport spell?"

Twilight, stunned by the casual attack on the room's décor, didn't respond. One of the guards however, did, "Hey! Clean that up!" A stallions voice came from the side, Twilight noted the aggression from the brownish crystal pony, and Silver's seemingly complete ignorance of their command. Silver was watching Twilight, waiting for an answer.

She waved a hoof at the guard, smiled apologetically. It seemed to cause the guard to come up short, and he settled into a frown and continued glaring at Silver.

"Alright, well, short answer is, they can't."

Twilight returned her attention to Silver, who was shifting the powder around on the ground. On second glance, Silver was maneuvering the powder with a dexterity that Twilight had never seen before. She opened her mouth to say something she hadn't thought out yet, but Silver continued, "Well, at least I can't, not without any alicorn."

"Alicorn?"

"Is it not called that anymore? The bone that makes up unicorn horns?"

Twilight blinked, "No... there's a medical term for it, but it's not called alicorn anymore."

Silver shifter her focus from the dust to Twilight, "Huh"

Silver stamped her hoof on the ground. A bubble sprung up around them, and Twilight felt the telltale shift of teleportation as the bubble rippled from opaque to translucent, and then they were simply somewhere else.

Silver began walking off.

Twilight only had moments to take in the scene before hurrying up after Silver. They were underground, that much from her pegasus senses she could work out, but not how far.

Of course, it was obvious enough, the cavern of ice they were stood in was black as night towards the edges. If she wasn't just standing in a structure made entirely of crystal, she would have assumed the ice, as clear as it was, was crystal as well. It gave her the sensation of standing on air, and looking out into the void.

Once she began trotting forwards after Silver, she noticed the lines of metal inlaid into the ground, just underneath the ice where they teleported in.

You got this Twilight

"An anchor." She said, striding up next to Silver

Silver smiled wide and almost pranced for a moment, "Good! Good! Of course I needed an anchor, a memory based spell would have cost far to much magic for a two pony translocation matrix."

"Which was what the dust was for?"

Silver stopped her stride and simply began sliding on the floor, Twilight could hear it happening, which is why it was unconcerning.

I guess she never got any horseshoes.

While sliding, Silver lifted a hoof and began to explain, "The purpose of the dust was two fold. The white was an enchanted diamond powder, designed to power the spell, the brown was powdered copper and bronze, and some agate to function as a the runic symbols"

Twilight was tempted to try sliding too, but unlike Silver, she didn't have the dexterity, or likely practice to stay stable. She elected to continue walking, and tried not to slip. "So where are we going?"

Silver came upon a bend in the cavern, and merely readjusted their slide by pushing against the wall. "I'm surprised you didn't ask until just now, ponies these days are way more trusting." It seemed almost as if Silver was chiding her with the remark.

"Well..."

Silver interrupted, "We're just about to my lab."

"Okay."

They lapsed into silence, and sure enough a couple of moments later, they walked and slid respectively into an opening in the cavern wall, definitely carved out, as the interior was blocky. The walls, ceiling and floor were a different colour of ice; like the entire room full of ice had been compressed down into the walls.

The interior had numerous large pieces of metal in them, things Twilight had no name for, and what generally looked like scrap metal. The centerpiece looked like a sideways ribbed tube, half imbedded in a massive bluish-silver metal block that was imbedded itself into the ice. The entire structure took up most of the room, and rose to a couple of hooves above her horn, and further down into the ice than she could see.

Twilight, still at the threshold of the room, turned as Silver's slide stopped upon the denser ice, and she stepped into the room.

"This is what I'll be needing your help with." She said, gesturing towards the large... Object.

"What is it?"

"This? Why, this is a humble magnet reactor."

Twilight, along with Silver, approached the machine, "What does it do?"

"I promise it's less complex than it looks." Silver pointed individually at the four points, "See those four outcroppings going around the housing of it?"

Twilight nodded.

"In each one of those, there's a magnet, a very powerful, enchanted magnet, sitting on a track on the opposite side of a tightly wound electro-magical circuit" Silver waved, "Nothing more complex than an electromagnet. The magnets are connected to a shaft, and when the shaft spins, it generates rotational force. Following?"

Twilight nodded again

"The mechanical force is driven into a mechanism at the end of the shaft, that creates electricity and feeds back into the main machine, and out into a large battery underneath."

This must be what my friends feel like when I explain things to them

"So it's a generator?"

Silver bounced their head from left to right for a moment, before slowly responding, "In essence, yes."

Twilight was still at a loss for what particularly she was supposed to be doing here. She knew 'friendship' but as of far, they've only really... Well, they're not really friends are they? Silver said she was going to use Twilight for her magic.

I guess... it wasn't a joke.

"And you want me to?" Twilight lead

"I need you to help me start it. You see, there's this funny little gimick where you can cheat more energy out of rotating magnets that you put in. With enough magic, you can cross a threshold where you can power the function of the reactor with itself, and still produce a positive net of electricity."

That's impossible

"Issue is, the amount of magic required is also far above the amount that would destabilize the local area's space-time, causing magic to assert itself over reality and making the reactor... not do that."

Twilight stepped in verbally, feeling like she finally had something to contribute. "Of course, Yonder's theorem proves a null state exists over physics. Causing magic to take precedence over energy consumption." She paused to think and Silver took the moment to interject

"Unless of course you were able to harvest the electro-magical-magnetism factor, and pump it back into the equation." Silver pressed their hoof into the ground, and a plate appeared made of slate.

"Look" Silver began running their hoof accross the slate, writing out what Twilight surmised shortly to be an... A less defined version of the math required to prove Yonder's Law. "Once the energy consumption changes the factor of magical wave form from static to fluid, so long as you can manipulate the outflow, you can keep the same constant, and as the equivalence starts to go to infinity, the output side begins increasing faster than the input once you pass eleven point six thaums."

Twilight checked over the math. "Wouldn't you have to factor in for the electro static discharge from the magnets affecting the mana flow?"

"Not if the magnets themselves are the centrifugal force. Inverse gravitational mana waves force the electro-magnetic field inwards."

"Which means you'd be able to control the rotational force without disrupting the energy being pushed into the spin." Twilight checked the math again.

That's... ingenious

"How would you control the outflow of the thaumic disruption?" Twilight asked, now genuinely curious, her diplomatic side abandoned in the face of her scholarly side demanding information be found.

Silver frowned. "Originally? I used the reality stabilizer. Unfortunately it's time outside of time didn't treat it very well." Followed by a smile, "So I'm going to use Alicorn magic instead"

Twilight lifted a hoof defensively, "You're not... going to take it from me, are you?"

"What no!" Silver turned away with a dismissive hoof wave, "Of course not. I'm going to teach you a base of a simpler targeted version of a rose grade reality anchor enchantment, and I'm going to use what magic I have left stored up to get the reactor past it's thaumic threshold, and then I'm going to use the output to take over your spell, and lock it into the reactor."

Wait... what?

"You want me to hold a Astro-chronoturgy spell over a thaumic disruption of over ten thaums?"

Silver looked back at Twilight, and tilted her head, "...Yes?"

Twilight stared

"For how long?"

Silver smiled and nodded, as if she understood where the issue was coming from, "Ah, only a couple of minutes."

"A couple of-!"

"What?"

"I-"

"Can you not do it?"

Twilight stopped. She didn't expect that kind of tone from Silver. It was soft, and... really fit with the melodic voice they had clearly taken on. "No"

"Oh." Silver frowned. Then scrunched her face, visually displaying their depth of thought.

A couple of moments of silence past before Silver retuned to a less squishy expression, and smiled and waved at Twilight, "Okay, bye then."

Silver pressed on the slate on the ground, and it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. She turned and stepped over to a piece of scrap metal and started rolling it towards another section of the room.

Twilight, very noticeably, did not leave.

Silver stopped and sighed. "We're not going to be friends Twilight, you can go."

Frustration bubbled up out of Twilight's core and into and out of her mouth before she could think better of it. "How would you know if you won't even give me a chance!"

"Because I'm smarter than you."

The bluntness of the comment cooled Twilight's frustration into hurt before it could really get going.

"And besides that, it's exactly what you think." Silver's tone darkened with her expression as she turned, and glared at Twilight over her snout. "I am choosing to not try to befriend you, because I have more important things to do with my time."

"I thought so too. Friendship turned out to be more important to me than I could-"

Faster than she could blink, Silver was in front of her, "Don't try to emphasize with me girl." Twilight would have mentally commented on the return of Dusk's voice, but after Silver locked eyes with her, everything about her gaze made Twilight want to shudder. She'd later describe the feeling as, 'the opposite of Celestia.'

In the gaze was less than the lack of warmth and love, it was full of hatred and pain. Then the gaze was broken, and Twilight let out a breath.

Silver finished quietly, "You'll hurt yourself." a beat passed, "now get out."

This time, Twilight left. With a flash of teleportation she was gone. Only when she rematerialized under the crystal heart did she realize how alien her own mind felt.

I didn't think I could panic that much over... that

When she thought back to Silver's face, she felt her anxiety rising, telling her to get away from the danger.

Twilight shook her head.

What am I gonna tell Cadance? That I just ran away?

"Princess? Are you okay?"

"Huh?" One of the guards had snuck up on Twilight while she was thinking. She turned to face him, "Oh yes, I'm okay, would you mind taking me to Cadance?"

Best get this over with.

"Of course ma'am."

"Thank you."

Twilight met back with Cadance and Shining in Cadance's office. Probably the most wood she'll see in the whole tower was located within the confines, it gave the office a warm feeling to it that helped straighten out her nerves.

When she walked in, she was given a warm greeting from her old foal sitter, "Twilight! That was fast, how did it go?"

Straight to the point

She steeled herself and spoke, "It went pretty badly actually."

"That's okay Twily, we knew it wouldn't work out." Shining similarly smiled warmly, though Twilight could see the hint of a smirk on his face; the sign that her brother knew something she didn't.

Cadance said, "He's right, Dusk wasn't going to talk to you from the get go. This was part of a bigger plan."

Twilight glanced between the two of them, "Wait, was dinner part of the plan too?"

Cadance nodded, "To try and throw Dusk off our trail. Although Shining overdid it a little bit." She looked at Shining who rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof, making the effort to avoid meeting her gaze.

"Huh."

"What did you learn when you were with him Twily?"

Twilight thought for a moment; and as she thought more, she came to a series of conclusions that displayed as a grimace on her face. "You never wanted me to befriend Silver? You just wanted to trick her? And me?" Her wings drooped and for lack of better description, felt sad.

Cadance leaned forward over her desk, "Of course we actually wanted you to be able to befriend Silver." She leaned back and steepled her hooves in font of herself, and looked away, "We just assumed it would be very difficult, or at least take multiple tries."

Shining spoke up as well, "Dusk really only seems willing to interact with Cadance."

"Then why not have Cadance do... this?"

"Because Dusk is smart. Very smart, and from what we can tell, he'll keep me at hoof's length to stop me from learning anything."

Twilight felt a little reassured that she wasn't just at tool in this scenario. At the very least, she was glad Cadance wasn't taking advantage of her. Though, she wasn't really sure why she considered it in the first place. "So the plan was to confuse him, and then let me interact with him one on one, and hope I would be able to achieve anything?"

Shining spoke, "That's it, really, yeah."

A beat passed before Cadance spoke again, "And did you? Achieve anything, I mean."

Twilight thought back to Silver, and their short encounter, her ears folded against her head. "Not really. She made it pretty clear she didn't want anything to do with me. At least after she learned I couldn't help her start her machine."

"A machine?"

Twilight held up a hoof, "I'm not gonna tell you, at least, I don't think I should. It was hidden, and if I want Silver to be my friend, than the first thing I could do is keep her secrets."

Shining frowned, "Twily, Silver is a dangerous pony."

"Well-"

Cadance interrupted, "What Shining means is that while we personally agree with that, if this 'machine' is something that could hurt ponies, then we have a responsibility to act on that knowledge." She tacted onto the end, "As rulers."

I can't argue with that

"It..."

it's not right though

"I don't think it could hurt anypony..." Twilight trailed off, "it was just a generator."

Honesty is a tenant of Friendship Twilight

So is Loyalty...

Cadance nodded and stood. She turned the side of the table and approached Twilight with spread wings.

Twilight didn't show it, but the relief spread through her as she embraced the taller Alicorn.

"I'm sorry this was such a stressful experience."

Twilight gave a deep tone whisper, "I can only imagine how it is for you two."

Cadance giggled and broke the hug. "So Dusk just shooed you away then?"

"Well..." Twilight trailed off,

It seems silly now

"She scared me, and I uh..." Twilight gave a strained smile, "ran away?"

Cadance and Shining exchanged a glance, Shining said, "Sounds about right."

Cadance turned back to Twilight, "Do you think you could interact with them again?"

A quiet, "no"

"That's okay Twilight, thank you for all you've done so far."

"That's not it, is it?"

Shining waved to get her attention past the large form of Cadance, "We'd really like if you could work out a few more protection spells, but otherwise...?" He lead looking to Cadance.

"Otherwise... Yes, that's it. I'm sorry for the short trip. You are of course, welcome to stay in the Spire until you want to leave."

I guess I could stay for a little...

"I think I'll just try and get the evening train home."

"Well you're not going anywhere until I get a hug too LSBFF" Shining stood, Twilight laughed, and hugs were had before she left.

Twilight, instead of teleporting back to the station, took to the air and flew her way towards the station with the intent of taking in the sights, and getting her mind off of her most recent stress.

Once she found her way onto a train, she pulled a book from her personal stash and enjoyed a calming read on her way home.

The castle.

Twilight had a lot to say about 'The Castle'

She didn't really know how to say it though, and at the moment, she was a bit too tired to be introspective. She simply pushed opened the doors and walked inside. Spike had almost certainly gone to bed with the sun, and Twilight was going to make no fuss, and just go to bed herself.

Her stomach grumbled

Twilight was going to go to bed after getting a bite to eat.

She tried to avoid taking in the crystal hallways as she tried not to get lost on her way to the kitchen. Luckily for her, the kitchen was noticeable by the wooden door, and the sweet smells and light coming from inside.

Spike must still be up

Without more thought of the subject, Twilight opened the door, and yawned mid speech, "Spike?"

"Oh no my dear, I'm afraid spike went to bed an hour or two ago."

The distinctively non-spike voice, plus the cutting figure stood in the room caused Twilight to mentally sober from her sleepy self. "Discord?"

"The one and only."

Something was off, despite his jovial words, Discord sounded different

"What are you doing in my kitchen?"

"Baking a mud pie."

Twilight grimaced

Discord levitated above the counter, "Oh don't worry, not the pony, the ground."

Twilight sighed, "It's a bit late for this Discord."

Instead of a comical remark, or otherwise any decidedly 'Discord' actions, Twilight heard him snap his fingers, and the light from the stove went off, and the smells from the room disappeared. Twilight had never seen Discord look so serious on his own. Sure when he was betrayed, but to have that look on his face for no discernable reason? Of his own accord?

"Discord?" Twilight tenitively asked

Instead of responding, Discord thought and Twilight was reminded of Discords power, as she felt the rise of ambient magic as Discord fully brought his presence to his physical location.

Discord stopped floating, and sat on the island counter upright. "Hold still please my dear."

Twilight held still, and Discord reached a hand, with the arm elongating mind you, into her head. Twilight grimaced, but otherwise it didn't feel like anything.

Discord's serious look turned... Angry. He jerked his arm and pulled out a mass of... something from her.

It looked like a mixture between a cloud of smoke, magic, and a pile of metal shavings. Whatever it was writhed in his claws before he crushed it, and two comical puffs of white smoke appeared on either end of his eagle talon.

"What was-"

"A nasty little charm meant to track you, and steal your senses."

Twilight was decidedly worried.

I've never seen him like this before

"Are you okay Discord?"

His look went from serious and frustrated to surprised

Discord began floating again and pressed his lion's paw to his chest, "Why me? Of course! I am the lord of cha-"

"Discord"

Discord looked back down at Twilight.

She was unamused.

Discord didn't look like he knew what to do in this situation.

"Just... Tell me?"

Discord held up a talon, and, then put it back down, he pursed his lips. Which to Twilight looked strange, as he didn't really have lips, and it somehow went over his snaggle tooth, even though it was still visible, but she tried to just ignore that.

Discord leaned in, "I've made... a lot of mistakes in my lifetime," he looked at his hands as his voice deepened, "Let me tell you about the one named Dusk Swirl."

Author's Note

For reference purposes, Thaumic Math is expressed as a conversion between raw energy, thaums, and an exponential scaling factor.

For example, one thaum is equal to ten joules. Two thaums is equal to one hundred joules.

Thaums represents the number of zero's in the conversion to joules.

11.6 = 600,000,000,000 or 6*10^11 Joules

For reference, the bombing of Hiroshima released 1.5*10^13 joules. Which would be 13.05 thaums, only about one and a half more zero's than what is mentioned in the chapter.

A nod and a shake

Author's Note

Phobia/Trigger warning: This chapter gets a bit intense, there's brief descriptions of several injuries and blood, but nothing really too graphic, and there's not any violence. If you'd be uncomfortable reading about hospitals, or watching those weird zit popping videos on youtube; that's kinda the same energy as this; although, definitely less gross as zit popping videos

A nod and a shake

Cadance's POV

Dusk had fallen the day after, Cadance was on her way to her bedroom in one of the many hallways after a long day of work. While she listened to Amber go on about her schedule for tomorrow, she thought.

It's not even been a week since I met dusk, and my life is already had more excitement that it's had since that trip to Maretonia

"Princess, are you listening?"

Guess I should pause my internal dialogue

Cadance made the attempt to put on a genuine smile, but she felt it only come out tired, "I'm sorry Amber, it's just been a long couple of days, today was especially tiring and boring."

Amber, continuing to keep pace with the taller pony, looked down at the clipboard in her hoof and then back at Cadance. "I understand Princess, just make sure you're awake for the morning castle meeting and we can organize after."

"Thank you Amber I-"

Both mares stopped short as a magical stream of smoke flew up from behind them, noisily crackling. There was a light noise, like a popcorn kernel in a pan, and a jar appeared. Inside was a rolled up sheet of paper, and a little blue bead.

Spike?

Cadance picked up the jar and gave it a once over, on the lid there was a wet strip of paper that said: 'To: Little Princess'

Dusk

Cadance pulled the grabbed the cork in her magic and twisted it out of the opening, the paper shortly after. Amber tentatively watched Cadance unroll it.

Hey Little Princess

No pleasantries today, I have an urgent request for you, so take this seriously

I found a group of cultists dedicated to worshiping Sombra, they kidnapped someone, and there is dark magic at play.

I cannot stop them non-lethally without magic, but I will stop them regardless of your response

May I?

Crush the gem in the jar onto your response to send it back to me

Cadance's eyes widened while she was reading, and half way through, she mentally jarred herself awake and commanded, "Amber, I need you to pen out a response for me."

"Of course Princess."

Cadance rerolled up the paper and then just dropped it on the ground, not knowing where else to put it. Amber feeling the change in the situation, very quickly pulled a quill from off the top of the clipboard, sat down, and flipped the top piece of paper over and started writing, as Cadance had not waited for her to be ready before speaking.

"Do what you can, tell me where you are."

The moment Amber was done, Cadance pulled the paper off her clipboard with her magic and tipped over the jar into her hoof at the same time. The paper went on the floor and she crushed the bead onto the paper, it turned into smoke in a blue flash of static and flew off.

"Amber, scramble the guards and wake my husband; we're going to need to deal with a scuffle."

Cadance took flight the moment after Amber started running

As Cadance flew towards the first balcony she could get to, she smiled at the thought of Amber's responsiveness.

That mare needs a raise

She hit the balcony and tossed the door open and landed on the ledge outside.

Through the barrier she could see the stars, and the clouds gather on just the outside far off in the distance, the aurora over the city glimmered off the crystal structures below, but Cadance didn't have time to appreciate the view. She looked out over the city, looking for any signs of chaos.

Nothing

Aside from the wind, everything was calm.

Cadance felt her anxiety rising as the mental momentum she had gathered suddenly had no where to go.

She kept glancing around, trying to pick out where Dusk might be, she started at their residence, and started scanning around it, but still nothing.

A minute past of her searching

I guess he's not going to tell me where

So Cadance lit her horn and closed her eyes.

Celestia had tried to teach her a spell once for gauging the strength and direction of flow in the magical field, she was foggy on how exactly the spell was meant to function, but it was a lot like a beacon. Weaving her own magical essence into her immediate surroundings, she started getting feedback from the castle walls, the ground, and the air.

Now I just have to go bigger

That was, until she felt a ting of something familiar, but wild and indescribable. She sent the aura in that direction, and she started feeling the telltale magical signature of dark magics flowing...

Away from me?

Cadance tried to identify what is was when it hit her.

Dusk's message spell

She kept her horn lit, and turned back into the castle. There was a guard in the hallway she turned her attention to, "Go alert the active guards to meet me under the Crystal Heart."

And then she teleported

For Cadance her perspective was unbroken, she reappeared a ways away from the crystal heart.

You really can't be missing teleportation spells like that Cadance

She was close enough to the leg of the Spire that she could have hurt herself had she missed her location a little bit more. What she didn't have time to think about was how unlikely it was for an signature teleportation spell to cause a displacement as much as it had. What she did notice, is that the dark magic aura was in the same direction she was displaced in; although it barely registered in her mind as a group of armored crystal ponies came rolling out of the Spire leg she was in front of.

Shining called out her name, his mane was undone and he looked like he just rolled out of bed.

"Shining, it's Dusk, he needs our help."

"Guards! Tighten your formation and limber up!" Shining walked the rest of the ways towards Cadance and started talking quietly but strained, "Dusk needs our help?"

I wish I took the letter with me instead of leaving it on the ground!

Cadance lit her horn up again and spread her wings, "I don't know all the details, but I can find him, and we need to go now."

Shining looked like he wanted to argue, but he turned to the guards instead, "Alright ponies! Follow Cadance!"

Cadance took the cue and took flight, the sound of crystal hooves on crystal roads was surprisingly deep, and Cadance's focus almost shattered as the guards started to run just underneath her.

She tried to stick to roads, but after a minute of flight she saw smoke, and the part of her mind that had allowed her to wait for backup was silenced as she heard crystal glass shatter. Ponies were in danger, she had to move. She spared a single glance towards the guards who started to break into groups to go to every corner of the structure they were approaching. Cadance cleared the building just in front and her mind overclocked itself taking everything in.

The crystal home, or rather, what looked more like an office was very on fire; somehow though, only on the inside. Smoke poured out of the shattered windows, and Cadance took two stationary flaps in the air before she flew towards one of them and dove inside.

Immediately she was assailed with the heat. The voice of Luna filled her head as she landed in the smoke filled room, her wings batting away the smoke from her, and pulling fresh air in through the window.

There is a moment in the psyche that every pony faces while in danger. To fight and defend themselves, or to run, and hope they can outpace the danger.

Cadance was a fighter.

It was a moment after touching down onto the ground that Cadance took off, to a normal pony, the structure would be impossible to traverse, but Cadance had been a Pegasus for almost eighty one years. She flexed her wings and felt the room, the thermals and the smoke gave her a map, and she dashed through the flames towards a doorway, she closed her wings to jump through over a hole she felt in the crystal and onto a broken outcrop of Crystal that overlooked a drop into what looked like another room beneath her.

"Dusk!" Cadance called out still moving. She took a running leap off the broken platform and onto the side of the continuation in front of her, she used the flat surface to pivot her momentum, and she jumped down onto the floor below, spinning once in the air with her wings to stop the burning air from sucking her glide down into the fire.

"Silver!" She glanced around, and saw a pony prone on the ground, on their side. She rushed up to them and lit her horn, a controlled wave of force threw the debris and flames off of them to reveal-

What?!

A pony turned to stone, their stone leg bent at an odd angle, they had a look of pain frozen on their face.

I don't have time to unpack that.

Cadance started charging her horn, realizing Dusk had apparently left the pony to die, she knew she had to act fast. She charged a fluid shield spell, and began filling the matrix with magic and then reached into her connection to her Alicornhood, to Love, to envelope the magic.

The idea was to have an expanding shield like what she pulled off at her wedding, it would throw the flames to the surrounding buildings, but with a platoon of guards outside and more on the way, she was more concerned with the ponies inside. The issue of course came when she started to pump Love into her spell. She wasn't sure what she did wrong, but very suddenly, one half of her spell began to rupture as the Love began overfilling the spell with far more raw magic than she wanted, her reserves strained, and like any intelligent caster, she pushed the exploding spell from her horn before it could get any worse. The result was a wave of non-visible pink force that blasted outwards from the tip of her horn, and threw her onto her flanks.

It also dislodged debris above her that began to fall. Cadance internally amusedly squinted

Classic

Her instincts told her not to dodge, as she wouldn't let the stoned pony she was standing over get crushed, and she tried instead to blast the falling debris with her horn but only sparks came from it.

Cadance braced and was covered in darkness, but not the crushing kind of darkness, the kind of darkness that implied magic.

As her sight returned in a flash she heard the debris crash into the ground over the crackling of the fire.

"Decided to ruin my fun huh?"

Cadance looked at the newly arrived Quick Silver, and whatever she was going to say dug it's own grave and died in her mouth. Silver was more than on fire, there were chunks taken out of her body, her face was gnarled and broken, and one of her wings was missing entirely. Any mane or tail that was left was black or burning. Strangely though, there was no blood, the body underneath the damaged sections revealed merely more body.

Cadance's mouth opened and closed like a fish, and she vaguely registered that the pony made of stone was still underneath her.

"Get this pony outside, there's another one upstairs; get her too. Everyone else is clear, I'm going to head into the basement to get the last two out. Move."

Cadance had her information, so she moved, she lit her horn, and pressed out the last vestiges of broken magic clinging to her horn as she wrapped the stone pony in her aura. Dusk turned opposite to Cadance and shouted. The sound reverberated like it was artificial, nothing like a voice, and a wave of vibrations ripped up the ground in front of Silver and put out some of the flame and cleared the smoke to make a door on the second floor visible, Silver then sprinted off to the side, and Cadance used the opening to take flight back up to the second floor, stone pony in tow.

It didn't take long to find the pony, the room was mostly not on fire, and the pony was stood in front of a window with a surprised look on their face. The whole window was removed from the outside, and Cadance glanced out over the smoke to see the guards surrounding the structure.

"Hey! Up here!" She began levitating the stone ponies out the window and out onto the pavement.

The several calls of medic sounded as she deposited them in the waiting guards hooves, and she herself landed moments after, having jumped and flew down from the burning structure.

"Are there any ponies left in there ma'am!"

"Yes! but they're-"

BOOM

Cadance was almost knocked off her hooves as a blast wave of energy erupted from the building. The guards in front of her threw themselves onto the stoned ponies to protect them, and it made Cadance's heart swell. She turned towards the structure, only to see it begin collapsing, the building could seemingly take no more abuse. Cracks started to run up load bearing walls, and the crashing of the internals crumbling inwards signaled moments before the whole building came down.

Cadance lit her horn and the building lit up with her aura. The sight of her guards protecting her charges, plus her adrenaline filled movement and the idea that there were ponies still inside caused something to click in her mind, she pulled upon her Alicornhood again and shoved with all she could. Instead of the magic overloading, she felt her body overcome with emotion as her horn jumped from one to four corona's instantly and the entire building began to glow with energy as she held it up in her magic.

"Princes-"

Cadance pulled out the RCV, "Get these ponies clear!" and her command booked no arguments for the guards, who nodded and lifted anypony who had fallen, and pulled the stoned ponies with them out of the danger zone.

Cadance spread her wings as she channeled more magic than she'd ever wielded in her life, the building stood, and she was barely even felt the strain on her magic. The force and the emotion, however, was starting to break her focus, and she mentally felt the spell slipping from her grasp and growing out of control.

Come on! Come on!

She heard the building begin to groan again as her magic started struggling to hold it up in the right positioning, a couple more moments and the magic would be so unstable it would do more harm then good.

Get out dammit!

Cadance released the spell and the magic began radiating off her horn in waves as the excess began to bleed off into the air. Moments after, the building began to collapse and Cadance made a quick retreat out towards the guard line.

There were six more additions, Silver included, who was stood several hooves from the line, with Shining stood in-between with a shocked expression, several guards were pointing their shields and spears in Silver's direction, and Cadance could tell why. Silver looked like some kind of monster. She was bent over, grunting and occasionally crying out in pain as Cadance approached.

She watched skin slough off Silver and fall to the ground before turning to dust, new fresh fur appearing beneath it, and an entire wing regrew right in front of Cadance's eyes.

Her sprint slowed to a canter as she approached, wide eyeing Silver, who looked completely normal by the time Cadance was close enough to hear.

"Stay back!" Shining shouted

Silver shouted back "Shut up! I need a medic and plenty of blood! NOW!"

Cadance ran up next to Silver, who turned to face her, "Good! Tell him I need cooperation to save these ponies!" Despite her tone and their now non-visible injuries, Silver looked completely calm, stone faced.

Cadance struggled to bring her mind away from 'danger' mode to 'talking'

Silver turned back towards the guard line, "Some of these ponies are in critical condition," She gestured at the stoned ponies laid on their sides in front of her. "You won't be able to save them without me, and I can't keep them like this for long!"

Okay

"Guards! Do as she says!"

Shining tried, "Cadance!"

"Now!"

And that was enough, several the guards lowered their spears, and several crystal ponies wearing black coats covered in medical markings rushed forwards with bags and tools.

Silver tumbled forwards but caught herself and Cadance felt a crack of powerful magic as four of the ponies on the ground suddenly returned to flesh and blood. There were broken bones, and plenty of injuries, and the medics went to work. Silver took a step towards one of the ponies and started waving a hoof over them, there was a glittering affect, and Silver said, "Cadance, I'm going to need your levitation; guards! I need someone to volunteer about a pint of blood!"

The guards all looked to each other as another wave of magic passed over the prone stoned pony.

Cadance looked at all the guards and the apprehension clearly written on their faces. She took a spot besides Silver, "Just take mine."

Silver looked at Cadance, and glanced at her side for a split second, "HA! No." Silver turned back to the crowd, as fire fighters started to show up.

A guard had stepped forwards and was opposite the prone pony. Cadance recognized Fog Runner.

"What do you need Princess?" He said in a gruff, professional tone.

"Cadance, take this," Silver offered a long straight needle in her hoof, while still casting some spell on the prone pony, "Prick the side of his leg, right above the hoof, then sir, give me your leg, this will hurt."

Cadance quickly did as instructed and as she did, she realized exactly what she the damage was. The pony was missing their side. Silver took Runner's hoof and yelled, the immediate affect caused Cadance's heart to jump in her chest, both physically and metaphorically.

"Uch-RU-Nephfroone!"

Blood started to flow from Runner's leg and into the air, Silver seemingly guiding it with a hoof, their eyes glowing orange and sparkling at the edges with black smoke. "Cadance"

Cadance drifted back into focus at the mention of her name

"You're going to use your magic to keep as much of this pony inside them as possible."

Cadance nodded, and whatever spell Silver was weaving began to take affect, as the damaged section of the pony began returning to normal. Blood from Runner started to spear itself like jagged tendrils into the wounds, which rapidly began to heal. Cadance blanketed the whole area in telekinesis, trying to keep whatever was happening physically stable. In a couple of moments, it was over, and the pony was returned to normal. Fresh, slightly tinted fur covered where their grievous wound used to be. Cadance noted that they were tinted the colour of Fog Runner's coat.

Silver wrapped a bandage around Runner's leg, and then stepped over to the next pony.

Cadance tried to follow, but Shining stepped up to her and began whisper shouting. "Cadance! What happened in there?!"

"Shining, now really isn't the time."

"Cadance, these ponies are seriously hurt, the only mare uninjured came running out of the house screaming about a monster!"

Cadance leaned over Shining's shoulder to see Silver having finished whatever needed to be done on the second pony, and was moving to the third.

"Cadance, talk to me!"

Shining looked frantic and scared. Cadance only just then realized the state she was in. She was covered in ash, and probably had several burns on her. Her mane was definitely damaged beyond repair, and everything in her mind suddenly threw itself into focus as she realized exactly what just happened.

Did... Did I really do that?

Her sudden mindfulness must have shown on her face because Shining pressed a hoof to her chest and called her name much softer.

Buck... that was... that was incredible

"Cadance, are you okay?" Shining pressed a little harder on her chest, "Are you hurt?"

Cadance's heart was beating, hard. She felt so alive.

"I'm okay." She wrapped her leg around Shining's, and pulled him into an embrace.

"Oh thank Celestia."

Cadance gave a snort, apt to her state at the moment, "You have got to stop saying that."

"Sorry, force of habit."

"Cadance! Telekinesis!"

Cadance broke the embrace and stepped back, she awkwardly tried to move as Shining stepped back as well, Silver was turned black around her body, bits of smoke and dust falling off of her coat. Cadance spoke as she approached, "Silver you're... you're disintegrating"

Silver blanched and looked over a leg. After watching a piece of fur turn to ash and fall off, Dusk's voice spoke out, "Shit, that's the clock"

Silver moved her jaw to the side and then crunched; Cadance heard it over the activity in the area. In moments Silver returned to her normal self, and then began speaking again, though with Silver's voice, "That won't last very long, this pony has it the worst off, they'll die from shock as soon as they're unpetrified."

Cadance looked to the pony in question, and gave them a once over, her eyes stopped on their shattered horn, and the broken bone surrounding their skull.

"I can only keep her alive for a minute more at most, and I can't channel while I siphon. I'm going to open up the area around the wound, and then I'm going to talk you through how to fix it with magic."

Cadance looked to Silver in shock, rebuttal on her tounge, but Silver beat her to the punch. "Yes it has to be you. Focus." and then the broken bone around the mare's head became real bone.

Cadance did all she could to strain her ears and her mind on nothing other than this exact moment.

"Channel a conjuration based healing spell with the raw components, no magic, just the matrix."

She did so, it was a first aid spell meant to work like a sort of magic paste that would copy any damaged tissue it came in contact with.

"Fire it backwards into your head, not on yourself, in yourself"

Cadance tried it, and she felt the energy roll down her horn and onto her forehead. Yet, she felt some... connection focused in her head,

"Good, pull it down into your front hooves with your muscles." Silver was talking in clipped tones, quickly and efficiently

Cadance tried, she didn't quite understand what she meant, and she clenched her jaw and her neck, and tried to move the sensation, but it wouldn't budge.

"Like swallowing, you have to roll it down, don't force it, move the energy with your body."

Cadance, for lack of better description, did that. She felt the energy dragging along her chest, and she felt her wings charge with speckles of magic, but the bone on her hooves began to glow pink.

"Rub your hooves together like you're a madpony"

Cadance snorted again, but did it, and magic sparks began flying as the glow intensified.

"Here," Silver grabbed the stone mare from around the side of her head, and lifted the visible orange broken forehead in Cadance's direction, "put one at the base of her horn, and the other on top"

Cadance did so,

"Do you feel the connection? it should come naturally"

Cadance had no clue, "I don't know"

"Okay, whatever, shove down like you're stomping on her head."

There were several calls of protest at the idea of throwing all of Cadance's weight onto an injured mare's broken horn, but Cadance was already doing it.

The energy of her hooves discharged, and Cadance felt a draw on her chest as her front hooves grew cold. As the pink energy turned grey and orange, it seeped into the mare's head like a wave as Silver grunted and released the petrifaction spell. When the wave of orange and grey and pink reached Silver, she pressed a similar blue and green energy in the opposite direction and changed the flow of the wave back towards the tip of the mare's head where it coalesced at the edge of an invisible horn in thousands of small glowing pathways.

The mare gasped awake as the magic fizzled out, and her broken horn fell from her head, smooth skin underneath where there was once a deadly wound.

Everypony, both guard, medic, and Princess alike looked on in shock and horror as the orange mare began screaming in Silver's grip.

"GET AWAY FROM ME! HELP! SOMEPONY HE-" Silver whispered something into her ear, and the mare went limp as she fell asleep.

Silver gently set the mare's head on the ground and then looked up and noticed the looks.

"Everypony here but that grey crystal stallion are traitors to the crown. I'm glad to pass off this citizen's arrest to the rest of you, thank you for your timely arrival." She said as she stood.

One of the medics in the small group that had broken off to observe the treatment, still staring dumbfound at the broken horn laying on the crystal road had it right. "What?!" She said.

Silver began walking away.

Shining moved to stop her. "Did you do this!? To all of them? To the building?"

Silver stopped, and turned slowly to face Shining Armor.

Cadance thought she heard crying from somewhere, but was too focused on the situation to know for sure.

"Yes. Obviously I showed up, set a building on fire, kidnapped a stallion and the maimed or injured six ponies." Silver trotted right into Shining's face. Shining to his credit, didn't flinch from the mare.

"What're you gonna do about it pretty boy"

A beat passed

Nopony breathed, but several guards redrew their weapons, and slowly started moving to support Shining Armor, Cadance lit her horn.

Then Shining clocked Silver in the nose. Black dust and smoke went flying, as Silver's head cocked back, and she stumbled from the hit.

Shining stared at his hoof in shock.

Silver laughed it was a choked, pained thing. "That's what I thought" Then she turned and began walking away again without a portion of her muzzle

This time, nopony stopped her.

Something something, the chapter that goes after the last one because it was getting too long

It didn't take long for the guards and medics to round up the injured criminals. At first, the guards had issues arresting ponies that were seemingly just attacked, but the grey crystal stallion by the name of Quartz Heart claimed they were indeed foalnappers, and were planning on some dark ritual before Quick Silver arrived. Several of the previously petrified ponies agreed, and were happy to be arrested.

They actually pleaded for it, after a bit of questioning Shining was able to figure out that Silver had scared them all so bad that they just wanted to be away from 'the monster', and the majority of them agreed that the palace was the safest place. One mare, who was previously covered in burns before Silver, still refused to speak. The mare with her horn broken was still magically unconscious.

The firefighters put out the fire easily, it having been smothered by the collapsing building. The remains were cordoned off for a contract company to clear out in the morning.

Cadance gave a quick announcement to the ponies on the street that a resident had saw Quartz Heart get foalnapped and stepped in to stop the cultists; an action that she tried to carefully explain, quickly got out of hoof.

Cultists...

Cadance was flat on her back, laying in bed. Shining dozed off to her side, having slammed back asleep as soon as he had blankets over him.

Cultists for Sombra... In the Empire?

Even though Cadance was in bed, and... Well she knew she should be comfortable, but it didn't feel like it. Her mind kept going back to, well, everything.

She had flashes of movement and fire and will running through her mind. Questions tried to assail her through it all.

Hours ago I said exiting... more like exhausting

She flopped over and tried to banish the thoughts and go to sleep. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Pressing herself into the covers and using her magic to reset the blankets.

A moment passed where she forcefully thought of nothing but the comfort and the quiet.

...

A moment passed

And her mind reminded her that something was wrong. That there was a pony out there that took on a group of cultists, a pony that could destroy her city. Somepony that was supposedly older than Celestia, smarter than Twilight, stronger than Shining and...

and I can't do anything about it...

Cadance rolled over to the edge of the bed and sat up

Dusk is out there, doing something and...

That pony is consuming my thoughts,

Well Dusk is crazy! I mean, fire and violence and... Blood magic!

She cringed. She willfully let somepony cast blood magic on an injured pony. Not only that but she intelligently commanded a Royal Guard Stallion to let a, technically, unknown force to the crown, use blood magic on them, and a civilian.

Cadance awkwardly leaned her head forwards and dropped her face into her hooves.

They're going to be talking about that for years I'm sure... Princess of the Crystal Empire commands resident to use cursed magics on guards.

She looked over her shoulder at Shining Armor. Her husband. She felt her heart slow as her mind shifted away from her mistakes into what she did right.

I saved two ponies...

I lead the charge to a save more.

She remembered the flames and the stone ponies. How she navigated the air. She mentally laughed

I haven't done stuff like that since I was younger. Jumping off a wall in a flaming building? Doing a four hoof roll?

Cadance smiled.

It was so...

Her mind flashed with the idea of a rainbow as she was searching for the right description.

Awesome. I was awesome

She silently giggled at the hilarity of the word choice as she rolled it around in her head.

Her mood lightly improved, Cadance rolled to her side and off of the bed simultaneously. She tried to quietly make her way out of her room with the intent for midnight snackies, the same intent plastered over her face in the form of a childish grin.

She poked her head out of her door and cringed a bit, the light in the hallways was far to bright in comparison.

"Princess?" Came the voice of a guard mare to her right, "is there something wrong?"

Cadance did a quick reset of her posture and facial expression and smiled at the mare. "Nothing's wrong, I'm just a bit hungry after the excitement."

"Would you like me to send somepony to fetch something for you?"

"No thank you, I couldn't sleep, I'm gonna try and get myself moving so I can rest a bit easier."

The guards mare nodded her head. She wasn't a crystal pony, so Cadance couldn't place her name.

"May I escort you to the kitchens then Princess?"

Cadance's hackles raised at the statement, and she turned an appraising eye towards the sentry.

Why ask to escort me? Could... No, there's no way...

"Uhm, Princess? Are you alright?"

Cadance shook her head, her heart racing in her chest but she didn't take her eyes off the mare.

"Yes of course, I'm alright, I just wasn't prepared for your offer."

The mare remained physically stalwart, not giving off a hint of information via body language, "My apologies Princess, the guard is just a bit frazzled, me included."

Cadance nodded slowly, "That's... I understand, I'll be safe on a trip to the kitchen though" and she started on her way... but she had to resist the urge to look over her shoulder at the mare.

I was more exhausted than I thought

Cadance stood in the smaller kitchen of the palace for the dignitaries and nobles that came to visit or negotiate. The canteen she had pushed for was really for mass serving. They didn't have meals or such prepared, so she meandered her way up a few floors to here. There were salads and soups refrigerating with just a little bit of foil over the tops of them, perfect for a light snack.

She had made it halfway to the kitchen before being struck with the exhaustion of her day. It was nearing probably four am; she had probably not gone this long without sleep since before become a Princess.

No, that was definitely in college.

She pulled a salad from a cooler and set it on the table and unwrapped it with her magic. Looks be damned, her mane was literally on fire within the past five hours, so she just placed her muzzle into the bowl and chowed down.

It felt astronomically good. Like her body was cooling, and

thump thump

Knocking?

Cadance looked up from her meal as the kitchen door opened, and a piece of lettuce fell from her nose.

"Cadance?"

It was... Twilight.

"Twilight?"

Twilight fully stepped into the kitchen.

They looked at each other.

"I look like a hot mess right now don't I."

Twilight tried not to smile, she failed of course, but she did try.

She approached her old foal sitter and offered a hug, which Cadance gladly took.

Cadance levitated the dropped lettuce leaf into her mouth. After swallowing, she spoke, "I take it you heard about the night's fiasco?"

Cadance felt Twilight nod against her neck, their hug still unbroken. When Cadance looked at Twilight's face, it was scrunched up in thought.

"So you're here about Dusk then?"

She nodded again.

"I swear, that pony has been the only thing happening recently"

Twilight pulled away, "Discord was the only thing anypony in Ponyville talked about for weeks after he was reformed"

"Bad things?"

"Not always. Some ponies were excited to have the lord of chaos as a protector." She giggled, "Especially because of how crazy Ponyville gets."

Cadance shook her head, "I still can't believe it's called 'Pony-ville'"

Twilight smirked, "And the 'Crystal-Empire' isn't on the nose either?"

"Touché"

The fell into silence... sorta, Cadance had more salad. Sweet, delicious, crunchy salad

"So... You came back to talk about Dusk?"

Twilight looked concerned.

"Bad things?"

She spoke, "I talked to Discord."

Cadance rose an eyebrow, "Really?"

Twilight rose both, "I know! More so, he came to talk to me."

Cadance frowned, "Ah, about Dusk."

"Yes."

"What did he say?"

"A lot."

Cadance realized what Twilight was thinking about, "The cliff notes?"

"Discord and Dusk Swirl were enemies... real enemies. Discord tried to explain it to me after I almost demanded it. They weren't just rivals, Discord and Dusk fought"

Cadance felt her shoulders sag, "I'm not surprised, you should have seen Dusk today; Equestria wasn't always as peaceful as it is now."

"Discord called it a war."

"A war?"

Twilight nodded, "Discord had faced down armies before, and won by just snapping his claw. He explained it to me like that, that he had never even fought a pony before, not even Celestia and Luna truly fought him. Even with their powers, he only ever toyed with them."

"Which is what eventually lead to his downfall." Cadance tacked on

"I said the same..." Twilight smiled, "He told me not to interrupt."

Cadance held up a placating hoof, and then waved it in a 'go on' gesture.

"Discord described all his troubles, all of the conflict he'd ever faced in his entire life as a snap fix" Twilight took a deep breath, "and he explained it like that, so when he said that going up against Dusk Swirl felt like a war to him, that I would understand the depth of what he meant."

Cadance opened her mouth, but Twilight interrupted her.

"A war he said he lost"

Cadance closed her mouth.

"Cadance... Dusk... Let me tell Celestia and Luna. Please." Twilight stumbled over her words for a moment before continuing, "Discord practically begged me to stay away from Dusk, Discord was scared of what he could do to me. I was... I am..." Twilight struggled.

Twilight was scared. Not just scared, but afraid. This was not the filly Cadance had explained the dark to when she was young. This was a fellow Alicorn Immortal that had faced down monsters and gods, and she was afraid.

Discord isn't here to tell me this because he is too scared to be in the same city as Dusk

Cadance looked away from Twilight.

Dusk is immortal too. I can't just...

Cadance opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Twilight isn't a liar, and Discord wouldn't make that up. Dusk is too dangerous, you saw that today.

Her mind vied to make a decision.

Dusk fought Discord because he was a tyrant, because he was hurting ponies, it was the same tonight

One side threw out an argument

Good ponies don't rip holes through torso's and remove horns

The other countered it,

Who's to say that he did that? It's not like we know, horns can shatter for all sorts of reasons

Blood magic Cadance. Turning into smoke and dust? Evil magic, dangerous, evil magic. IF Dusk wasn't evil, he's on track to become that way.

He's ageless and very old, if he hasn't gone mad by now, there's no reason to assume he ever would.

He's tricked you. Countless times, ignored you, and your requests, you have no control, and if left unchecked he will hurt more ponies, you have a responsibility as a princess

That one stumped her for a moment.

He asked me... The bar! He swore that he'd not use magic on ponies without my knowledge and clearance! He kept to his promise!

and then she realized what side she was trying to argue for.

"Cadance?"

Cadance looked at Twilight, torn away from her thoughts

"I don't..." She trailed off.

"Cadance, please." Twilight was... pleading with Cadance, it baffled her. Cadance couldn't see why Twilight would have this powerful a fear.

"What else did Discord tell you?"

Twilight shook her head, "He told me that Dusk being immortal was a mistake. That Dusk never wanted it, never wanted to live forever. Discord told me that Dusk wasn't like him. That Dusk knows about the values of friendship but just still labels them as 'not important' because..." She saw a glimmer of tears in her eyes. "I've never..." She blinked them away, "I don't think I ever heard Discord be serious, that serious at least, but it's something I can understand."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't choose my wings."

Cadance spread hers on reflex and frowned.

"You know how that feels, imagine thousands of years of that? Dusk is insane. He's violent."

Cadance's wings spread further, "Discord is insane too... and probably older, you're not arguing for his re-imprisonment."

"Are you saying Dusk should be let free?"

Twilight's face was hard to make out in the sparsely luminated kitchen. Cadance didn't need to though. She heard the tone and the rasp of Twilight's voice, the fear in it. The fear that Twilight would have to go against Cadance.

Cadance opened her mouth, but her throat was dry, and her mind was empty of excuses, it had yet to even come up with a reason.

Except one.

A look. A voice, and a feeling. An emotion. Something in her mind clicked

Dusk loves

"Dusk is under my protection."

"Cadance, you can-"

"I can. I'm sorry Twilight, but... He deserves a chance."

Cadance waited for Twilight's response but Twilight was just as verbally stunned as Cadance just was.

"Why?" She questioned breathily.

"I don't know."

They stared at each other

They stared at each other for a long time.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but whatever it was died in her throat.

Eventually Cadance leaned forwards and wrapped Twilight her wings.

They both sat there in silence for a while, both of their conflicting emotions mixing together like aerosol food colouring. Cadance could feel it in her bones how Twilight felt.

"I love you Twilight"

"I love you too Cadance."

They remained there.

"Please be careful"

You can't promise that

"I'll do my best."

Twilight leaned away, and the weight of her emotions left with her.

"Okay."

Twilight stood, and began to leave. Slowly, she clearly wanted to say more, but both her and Cadance knew there was nothing else that could be said.

Before Twilight fully left the kitchen, Twilight looked back, "I'll see you at the gala?"

"Of course."

Twilight slowly tore her gaze away from Cadance, and left.

Cadance sat at the counter. Her salad forgotten. Her horn weighted on her head, but her heart filled her with determination.

I promise I'll start taking chapter titles seriously

Silver's face dropped from mildly irritated and thoughtful to a completely blank poker face.

Cadance stared on, trying not to spontaneously combust

"I'm sorry... What?" Silver tried, slowly

Shining called out from behind Cadance, "Cadance, what are you-" He stuttered, "What?"

"Same page here dude," Silver gestured to Shining

Cadance cleared her throat and side eyed Shining. "I was thinking that as a favor, we could-"

"What, hang out?" Silver inturrupted

Cadance nodded, starting to lose confidence.

"Why?" Silver said, "What possessed you to even ask that?"

"Well... you wanted to before."

Silver's face turned to surprise and confusion, she turned to the side and just stared off into space, heavily blinking every couple of seconds. That continued for at least half a minute before Silver shook her head and turned to leave again.

"Wait, Dusk-"

Silver rolled her head and groaned, "what."

"You're right-" Silver mumbled 'of course I am', "We do owe you a favor"

Shining tuned in again, "Do we? We never asked for any of this."

"Actually-" Silver and Cadance said at the same time

Cadance glanced at Silver quickly and continued, "I did give the okay for Silver to be involved."

"You?" Shining tried before realization dawned on his face, "Ah right, the letter."

"And you want to... take me out for a night on the town because you owe me a favor?"

"Well... I'm not giving you my memories, but I don't just want to leave a hanging debt."

Silver nodded, "Which makes plenty of sense."

"Is there anything else not power related that you want?"

Silver thought and locked eyes with Cadance,

Cadance followed up, "Anything we could provide, to be clear."

Shining had stopped detesting the situation; as he had made is opinion known enough, he returned to a guarded but neutral stance from his seat at the table. Amber had taken several steps closer to him, behind him, specifically.

Silver sighed. "Not really anything unrelated to my original ask."

Cadance ruffled her wings, and waited for Silver to continue

She rubbed her whole face with her hoof and groaned again, "You know it's not even midday yet."

Cadance found the use of midday instead of noon odd, but she started smiling.

Silver was avoiding Cadance's gaze. At least, Silver was trying to, by rubbing her face and turning away.

"I really don't have the time."

Cadance's smile turned into a frown and Silver looked back to her with a mirrored expression, "I'll just have to go without advanced magic for a while." Silver shrugged, and shook her head, "Cause you know, opening dimensional folds doesn't take any magic." She continued gesturing extravagantly, and shaking herself.

"I mean, why would I even try to do conventional magic anyways? That'd just be too convenient!"

Cadance's frown turned to concern as Silver kicked one of the chairs over and began laughing.

Cadance reached a hoof over to Silver, "Are-"

"No Little Princess. I am not okay." Silver snapped her head back to Cadance, "I have over three weeks of work to do in ninety hours, and I can't use magic, and have no tools."

Cadance stepped forward with the intent patting Silver on the shoulder and reassuring her. Cadance was interrupted by a loud cracking noise coming from Silver's saddle bags as Cadance touched her, and by a little jolt of arcane lightening traveling up her hoof like a shock.

"Ow!" Cadance quickly stepped back, cradling her hoof, Silver guffawed.

Shining was at Cadance's side in an instant and was looking her over, Silver sat down and pulled a pile of destroyed ruby from her bag.

"What did you do!" shouted Shining.

Silver continued to tiredly laugh while speaking, "And of course now! I have to deal with this"

Cadance meanwhile, having recovered from being startled, "It was just a jolt Shining, I'm okay."

"And my apologies for that, you tripped one of my non-Snoutlean wards."

"Your what?"

Shining answered her instead of Silver. "Non-Snoutlean geometry?"

Silvers eyes began to glow as she turned towards Cadance, "You appear to have some built up residue from a 'nth-'m-'l'c"

"A nathimalac?" Cadance tried, she got a look from Shining.

"No vowels, the word is non-dimensional, Alicorn ears though." Silver's eyes returned to normal.

"She was asking about the creature, not the pronunciation."

"They're like cosmic lampreys..." Silver put a hoof under her chin, "Although pretty much all eldrich animals are cosmic lampreys, so ignore that analogy."

"That sounds bad."

Silver shook her head, "They're pretty harmless normally, but they also don't normally cause that much residue buildup, Shining has a bit less. I'm guessing they prey on you more since you're an Alicorn." Silver pulled several more objects out of her bag, including several bound plants and a jar full of opaque orange fluid.

"What about me being an Alicorn makes me more of a target?"

"You're juicier."

Cadance leaned forwards with eyebrows raised, clearly demanding a better explanation than being referred to as juicy.

"No, I mean literally. They consume chemical entropy. You have more since you do less, I think. It means you've got more of what they want." Silver continued doing random assortment of things with the objects she had on hoof, mixing them into the fluid, crushing gems onto the floor and casting quick spells.

Cadance frowned, "That doesn't sound promising."

Shining leaned forwards, "Can you get rid of them?"

Silver dropped the rock they were holding and slammed their hooves on the ground, "Could you make up your damn mind!?" Silver pointed an accusing hoof at Shining, "Whining and complaining about owing me a favor and now you, 'well just get rid of them'" Silver threw their hooves back to their work with frustrated speed, "Just shut your mouth Shining, seriously."

Shining did, and Cadance wrapped a wing around him, both to reassure him, and to make sure he didn't 'add' anything else.

Silver put a lid on the jar and shook it a couple of times. The orange, which had turned brown through Silver's mixing, rapidly expanded to fill the container to the lid, and turned an ivory white. After examining it, Silver slid the jar over to Cadance, "Put a dollop on your horn, under your wings, and in the frog of each of your hooves, it'll make you unappetizing." Silver gestured up and rolled her eyes. "And I don't suppose you two know how they're getting into reality? Any rips in space time hanging around in the castle?"

Shining became suspicious, Cadance responded, "Yes."

Silver's ears perked up, "Wait, really?"

Shining gestured for Cadance to not

But she did. "The mirror portal"

"The whosit whatnow?"

"The Mirror Portal is an artifact made by Starswirl, it opens to another world every thirty moons." Cadance explained.

Silver scrunched her eyes with her pitch rising as she asked, "And what kind of protective spatial enchantments do you have to keep out the nasties?"

Cadance gave an 'oopsie daisy' smile

"I thought so."

"So what do we do?"

"Smash the mirror." Silver said

Cadance looked to Shining, who was pretty much just along for the ride at this point. Then back to Silver. "It's not quite that simple."

"There's not a habitable world on the other side is there?"

Cadance nodded

Silver tossed their hooves up, "So why can't we smash it? Do we need this other world? Because eldritch nonsense will be getting into that world too."

Cadance put a hoof up and opened her mouth to respond to that, but found that she simply couldn't.

"I'm just kidding, the opposite anchor point is an opener, void creatures wouldn't be able to get into their world."

Cadance bopped her head and rolled her eyes, "There's a mare on the opposite side living there. Plus, they occasionally need our help."

"Who? Anyone important?"

"Celestia's old student, Sunset Shimmer."

Silver coughed, hard. Still working through what seemed like a random choking fit, said "I'm sorry. Who?"

"Sunset Shimmer." Shining said.

Silver closed her eyes slowly and pinched the bridge of her snout and mumbled a long string of expletives.

"Well then you're just going to have to deal with occasional eldritch creatures sneaking into reality." Silver gathered up her things. "Either that, or bring her back and destroy the mirror."

"Can't we... Put those enchantments on it?"

Silver scoffed, "For something like a world gate? Not a chance, if you breathed on the spell structure hard enough you could potentially completely lose your destination by several other realties, timelines, or just by infinity entirely."

"Are uh..."

"'nth-'m-'l'c"

"Are they dangerous?"

Silver thought for a moment, "I dunno really, a swarm could potentially kill a pony if they all attacked at once, but 'nth-'m-'l'c tend to be pretty passive creatures." Silver stood up, and tossed something to Cadance. Shining caught the little ruby in his telekinesis.

"If you see anyone rapidly aging, give them some of that ointment. Otherwise it'll be fine. That gemstone will shatter if anything bigger comes through the portal."

"You're just giving us all of this?"

Silver frowned. "You say that like I want to."

"Well... I... Yes?"

Silver just sighed and turned to leave again.

This keeps happening the same way.

"Thank you."

Silver perked up a bit on her way out, but otherwise didn't respond.

There was a pause before Cadance heard Amber gasp, and start, "That was terrifying!"

Cadance turned towards Amber with Shining, he spoke out first, approaching Amber, "Are you okay?"

She doesn't look like it

"I didn't know changelings could steal memories!"

Cadance was momentarily confused before remembering Shining's quick cover story.

Shining vainly tried to comfort her, he couldn't.

"And what was all that about?! Monsters?! Eldritch monsters aging ponies!? Here? Who even was that?!" Amber was practically hyperventilating, and practically fell into Shining as he went tried to pull her into a hug.

"Normal changelings can't do what he can, Amber."

"Shining, let's just tell Amber the truth."

Amber looked up and her head shook between the two of them, "What truth? Please tell me there's not more?"

Cadance wasn't quite sure what to do here, or how to even explain Dusk to Amber. So she did not. Cadance bid a hasty retreat, "Shining, I'm going to go setup our evening, go ahead; Amber, I'll clear my paperwork during lunch, and we can talk tonight okay?"

Amber nodded, with a fearful and confused look on her face. Shining began talking as Cadance left the room, her mind not quite racing with organizing her next couple of actions. Her thoughts were interrupted by Silver, who was stood just outside the meeting room, on the side of the glass that wasn't transparent.

Silver was facing the door, and clearly waiting for her. There was a suitcase with wheels, and a runic teleportation circle spread in dust over the floor behind her.

"Now listen."

Cadance's adrenaline filled response went dead and she felt her anxiety building, but she waited and listened.

"I don't know why you care, but if you desperately want to help me, you can, but Shining Armor can't know."

Cadance kept waiting.

"Is there more?"

Silver smiled, "Nope, that's it."

"I can help you if I want, but I can't tell Shining."

"You can forgiveness and permission it, but he won't like it."

Cadance forced herself to calm down, and tried to apply a bit of rational thought. "You're saying 'it' a lot, what does this actually entail?"

"Oh, well I'm going to manipulate you into doing something you don't want to"

*Distrusting horse thought noise*

Cadance's face matched her thoughts, "So why offer, if you're going... to..." She trailed off in confusion, not exactly knowing how to phrase what she meant.

"You don't want to now; that's what the manipulation is for." Silver said, matter-a-factly

Cadance tried to think a bit more, but Silver tapped the ground, "Tick tock Little Princess, Shining will be done consoling Amber in a moment."

Cadance looked back to the door, then back to Silver

I mean, he won't use magic on me, so why wouldn't I? If I know what he's trying then... Well then I guess, that's the gimmick; I can handle that.

Silver held out a hoof.

Cadance looked at it with visible hesitation.

Silver smiled, "Learning to not let me touch you. Smart." Silver walked backwards into the circle and grabbed the suitcase in her mouth.

Not exactly what was happening there, but okay.

Cadance took a couple steps forwards, "Okay, Dusk Swirl; I'll hear you out."

"Then let's get a move on." Silver gestured towards the circle.

Cadance stepped up towards the circle and gave it a once over before entering the bounds, Silver spread her wings.

"May I?"

hmm? Oh

"Yes, go-" They teleported, "ahead."

Okay.

They were in a cavern made of ice. Cadance was stood on some strange metallic pattern. The room had several pillars of ice carved into the walls, and there were three pathways leading away from the round chamber that was, in Cadance's opinion, roughly thirty hooves wide. Looking through the perfectly clear ice out into the darkness gave the room a particularly ominous aura too it.

"It's an old spell" Silver said, stepping away, having been observing Cadance's thousand yard stare into the dark. "A fear based astroturgy spell to separate a large area from reality."

"Like a pocket dimension?"

Silver took a couple of steps around, giving the metallic rune structure inlaid in the ice a couple of testing prods with her hoof. "Yeah actually, exactly like a pocket dimension. The only difference is the space in here is where things actually are out there."

"Well so, what do you need?"

"Alicorn memories."

Cadance frowned, and lifted her mental guard, "I already said no to that."

Silver smiled and calmly said, "and I said I was going to manipulate you into doing it."

Silver's look was wrong. It took Cadance a moment to figure that Silver had an incredible poker face, with perfect facial contortion. The reason Cadance could tell at all that her expression was a lie was because her emotions didn't match her expression. In fact, Silver was limited in emotion at all.

I'll never get over the eyes

Silver's eyes made Cadance uncomfortable.

"Okay?" Cadance tried, after Silver had continued to stare

Silver didn't blink, "To make a long story short. It won't hurt you, and you'll get to pick what memories to get rid of. Anything will do, so long as it's a clear one."

"And then what?"

Silver deadpanned, "And then nothing, I distill the memories, and you can get back to princessing."

"Will the spell do something to me?"

"It won't hurt you, if that's what you're asking."

"So... You just give a series of memories I have physicality, and then remove them?"

"Not in that order but yeah."

Cadance shook her head, "And that's it."

"That's it."

"This isn't like one of those stories about fae deals that go wrong?"

"No."

Cadance tried to dismiss her expectations. "So there's literally nothing dangerous or permanently altering about removing my memories?"

"You'll have your memories removed" Silver tried, sarcastically.

"Why didn't you explain that before?" Cadance said, incredulous.

"I did."

"Well-"

"It wasn't anymore complex than I described, and still isn't. You presumed it was, because you didn't understand it. Then you didn't ask either."

Cadance just... paused as her mind tried to describe back to her what Silver did say, and that was pretty much correct. "What about manipulating me?"

"I did it already."

"I never agreed to anything."

"You will though, now you know it's not dangerous."

Cadance scrunched her muzzle. "That's not manipulation though."

"It is, because I knew that so long as I didn't clarify the details of taking out memories, that I'd have the opportunity to do it later, and it would guarantee that you would agree."

"Except I haven't."

"But you will."

"How do you know"

"You're easy to read."

"It's not like I try to hide what I think."

"Only because you don't know how"

"I didn't learn because I didn't want to do it"

Silver's rebuttal stuttered and died, "Okay then, fair enough."

They looked at each other in silence while Cadance caught her breath from their argumentative back and forth.

Cadance slowly spoke, "So you planned that interaction?"

"Of course I did. What makes sense to you? Did you honestly think I thought that I could just walk up to you, ask for your memories, and then not explain and be successful?" Silver explained

I guess not

"It's funny how you recognize how dangerous I am, but refuse to act as though I am intelligent."

Cadance rubbed the back of her neck, "It's not that, I just-" She tried to answer abashedly, but Silver held up a hoof and spoke over her.

"I make things move fast. It doesn't give you time to think, I know." Silver put her hoof back down and her false smile disappeared. "Life gets like that around me. I know it's uncomfortable, I'm sorry."

Cadance smiled, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, think up memories you don't need."

Am I... really going to do that?

...

Cadance's you can't just get rid of your own memories.

...
...

Cadance groaned, but couldn't keep her amusement off her face, "I can't believe you convinced me to give you my memories."

"Just a couple, I'll need a gallon, at least." Silver began walking out of the chamber towards one of the caverns openings out of the teleportation chamber.

Cadance followed tentatively, making sure to keep Silver in view.

"Where is this place?"

"In the mountains, outside of the Empire."

Cadance didn't say anything for a moment in their walk. The hallway curving up and around itself in a loop. As soon as Cadance realized, she looked up to see the floor above them was close enough to see it through ice.

Once they walked up to the top Cadance got a look at what reminded her of the laboratory in the Crystal Empire Spire. It was very reminiscent of what Cadance would describe as a 'pre-medieval' alchemy setup. Silver pulled a flask off the shelf near the door, and nearly bumped into Cadance as she turned around.

"Oh, woops, I didn't realize you were right behind me." She said, walking past and back down the loop.

Cadance, without better reason to interact just followed.

This is... Honestly exactly what I expected

Once they entered back into the teleportation room, Silver held out the flask for Cadance out on a wing, "You'll need to drink this for the spell to work properly."

Cadance took it in her telekinesis as they walked, and held it up to inspect it. It was some midnight blue liquid, with speckles floating around inside. "What is it?"

"It's mostly distilled nightmares."

"Is that safe to drink?"

Silver nodded, "It's like anti-venoms. Safe to consume, not safe to inject."

Cadance popped the quark lid out of the top with her magic and gave the concoction a whiff. I didn't smell of anything. She, very cautiously, gave it a sip. It was cold, but it didn't taste like anything. It slid down her throat very much not like water. Almost aggressively not letting her maneuver it in her mouth. "That's really strange."

"You'll have to drink it all."

She did so, it was weird, but not bad.

Silver led her into another chamber mostly full of broken boxes, and packing material. Random objects were strewn about, broken crystals mostly.

Is this a trash room?

Silver tipped over a box, the interior containing a cast iron cauldron. After rolling it out, Silver drew a circle around the massive pot, and began digging through her bags. She briefly looked up to Cadance, "Would you charge the pot with magic please?"

Cadance started emptying her mana into the pot. It was surprisingly easy.

Normally objects resist mana charge, I guess it's made of some mana absorbing material? Magic?

Silver tossed a hoof full of assorted items into the pot, which was around when Cadance felt the potion start taking.

"Oooh." She blinked the tears from her eyes and put a hoof to her stomach. Silver was at her side almost instantaneously, inspecting where she was holding her hoof.

"Have you eaten anything today?" Silver glanced up with worry.

Cadance shook her head, "I came down to that faux meeting as soon as I got up and ready for the day."

That's an awful lot of concern

"I like your mane by the way"

"Thanks." Cadance tried to smile, "Aside from that, is the gut discomfort normal?"

Silver looked unwilling to answer, "It... Yes, I've never seen that side affect, but it should do that if you're hungry."

"Why?"

"The potion makes your mind more responsive. It just means that your body is sick of you tuning out how hungry you were." Silver bopped Cadance on the nose, "Bad Princess."

"Hey, half of that was on you."

"The half that you told me to take over, yeah absolutely."

Cadance stopped charging the pot, the inside was filled with pink mist and a couple of charges of arcane lightening could be seen flashing around the bottom of the pot.

"Now all you have to do is focus on the memories you want to remove. Nod when you want me to draw out, shake when you want me to stop, I'll tell you when I have enough."

"Should I make sure to mentally separate them?"

"You don't have too, but if you start thinking of something and don't tell me to stop, I'll draw it out by accident."

"At least you're honest."

"I've never not been. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Silver wasted no more time talking, and wrapped a hoof around Cadance's face, covering her eyes. Silver placed another hoof at the back of Cadance's head, and tilted her muzzle over the edge of the cauldron rim. It took her a moment to feel the magic take hold. It was a little bit like waking up from a dream, but in reverse. She slowly felt foggier and foggier until the things around her may well have not been there. Yet, her understanding of the environment was still present. It was just being fed to her mind factually, some strange disassociation of the mind from the brain.

Cadance thought about a memory of showering earlier today. It wasn't anything unique. Sure her mane was trimmed down, but aside from getting the bits of cut hair out, it was nothing special. She nodded, and didn't so much as feel, but vaguely knew there was fluid rising up and out of her throat, dribbling out of her mouth.

Instead of focusing on the strange knowledge based experiences she focused on her memory until it got to when she got out and Shining entered the room, then she shook her head. Not really feeling it happen, yet still the same knowledge that it had happened present in her mind. In the same way, she could hear Silver chanting some sort of ritual magic, she just couldn't find it in herself to care about the specifics.

She mentally went to a few more random memories about random inane tasks she'd done recently. Brushing her mane or coat. Particularly boring days of walking down halls. Interesting meals she could bear forgetting about. She was tempted to remove her memory of a couple of books she loved, so she could read them again, but thought better of it. Eventually light returned to her knowledge based understanding, and she knew Silver said that 'she had enough memories'

So Cadance tried to clear her mind, but was roughly dropped back into her body as she did so, coughing up golden fluid from just beneath the back of her mouth.

"You good?"

After a couple more coughs, and clearing what was left in her mouth by spitting it out into the cauldron, which was now a vortex of swirling golden images and feelings. "You're a lot more dispassionate when it's just the two of us."

"What can I say? I don't have to pretend nearly as much."

Cadance shook her head.

I seem okay, like nothing's changed.

"Alright, that's perfect. With a bit of work, I should be able to do all the things I need."

Cadance just observed Silver's expression, and it's distinct lack of meaning.

Every face she makes is planned before hoof. She planned this whole encounter... How much effort did she go through? How much time did she even have since last night? How'd she know any of this was going to-

"C'mon, I'll teleport you back. Like you never left."

Cadance, still a little dazed from the mind magic, just nodded, and followed Silver back out into the main chamber, where Silver and Cadance exchanged some goodbyes, and Cadance looked at some more meaningless facial expressions before being warped off back to the Spire.

Wrapping up the day

Cadance had reappeared somewhere in the Spire, several guards had asked her if she was okay, and she easily explained her appearance away as having to do a quick errand. She then got to work. Amber had left her a schedule on her desk, and among the paperwork and the meetings where she had to disclose the details of said paperwork, she had the open court for three hours starting at two.

She went through the whole day in a daze.

She was at first concerned that she was being mentally affected by whatever Dusk had done to her, but she could easily pull herself away from it if she focused. Her mind was just drawing her to try and comprehend other things, and by other things,

Dusk.

Cadance's mind was locked firmly on the pony, and wouldn't let her higher functions work on anything else. She was also mildly concerned she was under some sort of spell. She ruled it out, the mysterious pony garnering the right amount of interest and concern from the monarch. At least so she thought.

She tried to understand well... Anything about him. Her, whatever; every time she came up short.

Dusk is exquisitely good at distancing himself from ponies. From me. Everything I've seen from him has been completely honest, but equally a front. A mask.

He doesn't want me to get to know him, doesn't want to be controlled or tied down.

But to go through so much mental effort?

She just couldn't understand it. Everypony liked companionship, friendship, socializing. Ponies were herd creatures at heart, sure some ponies liked the calm and the peace that came with being on their own but...

Cadance couldn't put her hoof on it, but something about her intuition told her that Dusk just wasn't that kind of pony.

It could be another trick...

She tried to organize what she knew about Dusk, about what he'd been up to, what she'd seen. Everything pointed to the same answer.

I know nothing, and I've been getting manipulated throughout...

Cadance's scoff laughed, which interrupted a court plea for the crown to intervene with a territory dispute between two ponies' housing lines. The mare in question didn't take too kindly, Cadance apologized and focused on finishing up court.

It was when she arrived to her office did she come out of her mental fog. The sun was on it's way, but the dusk setting still filtered in through any open windows.

"Evening Princess."

"Hi Amber, can we talk?"

Amber stood from her desk right outside Cadance's office, and followed Cadance's gesture to enter her study/office. Cadance followed in after and shut the door behind her with her magic.

"So,"

"Princess Cadance, as your advisor, I have to urge you to do something about... That pony." Amber said, having turned and addressed her Princess with a pleading tone and look.

Cadance, having been submerged in a melancholic mindset for the duration of the day, elected to take the conversation slowly. "Explain?" She offered.

Amber nearly scoffed, but held her composure, still trying to remain professional, "Explain? Your majesty, that pony is... What they're capable of, the way they snuck into resurrecting a noble house, using blood magic? Dark magic?"

Amber paused momentarily to catch her breath. "What do you need me to explain?"

Everything.

Cadance had spent the day organizing her thoughts, and as Amber listed out supposed issues with Dusk, she had mentally crossed out each one, with adequate reasons or excuses for Dusk to have done the things he did. The same arguments she made to herself and shot down.

"Amber."

"Yes Princess?"

Cadance took a moment to consider how she was going to try and explain her perspective, "As of this moment, Dusk has not done anything wrong."

Amber blanched and retorted, "Wrong? Dusk has committed several serious crimes!"

Cadance shot back just as quickly, but far calmer, "With each either being annulled for circumstance or equally valid justification."

Before Amber could respond, Cadance held up a hoof, "Now I know, Dusk has done illegal things, but he's never done anything wrong. Different? Absolutely, I've never met a pony with the expertise and... I'm going to say irreverence for the law, but Dusk has only ever acted for positive purposes."

"Princess he-"

There was a knock from the door, and Shining entered. He gave Cadance a look, Cadance turned back to Amber to see her look of apprehension replaced with confidence.

Cadance's posture changed, and she ruffled her wings. "What's going on here?"

Shining walked up next to Cadance and got her attention by brushing up next to her. She stepped away.

"Honey, me and Amber talked this morning; I'm concerned about you, and Amber rose a lot of good points."

Cadance narrowed her eyes, but didn't speak.

Amber spoke up, "Princess, from what the Prince described to me, it sounds very much like you're under some kind of enchantment, or geas."

"So what, this is some kind of intervention?"

Shining shook his head, "No, we just want to make sure you're safe."

I don't feel safe

Her heart was screaming at her that something was wrong here. That there was something out of place. Her instincts were telling her to do something; her anxiety building and making her muscles clench.

But what? What's going on?

"Cadance?" Shining said softly, "Are you okay honey?"

What's setting me off so badly?

Wrong. That was Shining's voice, but that... it was his face, those were his eyes

What is wrong!?

Cadance gasped out, realizing she was holding her breath, her horn sparked.

"Princess!"

Cadance's mind was on fire, suddenly her senses were assailed like she was under some magical affect, and just as swiftly the pressure disappeared, and her magic stopped flaring.

Shining had a hoof on her shoulder, "Cadance, what's wrong?" He was desperately concerned.

Cadance shook her head "I don't know, I've never felt like that before; something is very very wrong."

Cadance was scared.

"Dusk." Shining's eyes narrowed as he snarled, it was wrong

Cadance's horn flared again, this time under her own power as she felt something twinge her in the ambient magical wind, and just like that, it was gone.

The pressure left entirely, and she felt her heart slow and her body unclench itself.

Amber and Shining were both saying something but Cadance was too distracted by whatever just happened. Some wild magical surge, some affect that she resisted.

She pressed a hoof to her temple and took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

Amber and Cadance were both steadying her, she hadn't realized it but she had sat down at some point. "That's it Cadance, we're taking you straight to Luna, she's going to check you out for dark magic influences."

Cadance shook her head, "That's not necessary, I'm okay."

"No Cadance, I'm putting my hoof down on this, we're telling the other Princesses and we're getting you away from Dusk."

Cadance tried not to raise her voice, and failed, "Why do you care so much about Dusk?!"

Shining stepped back, surprised, as did Amber

"What has he done to you? What has he done to any of us?"

Shining gently tried to calm Cadance down, his eyes wide, "Cadance hone-"

"No Shining, you want to put your hoof down? Fine, I trust you, but if I'm going to go along with it, I want a reason. A real one." She brought herself back under control. "Please."

Shining was stunned for a moment, he opened his mouth but then thought better of it; he began thinking deeply, trying to answer Cadance's plea. Amber simply looked to Shining, lost in this conversation.

Cadance, during Shining Armor's time thinking, tried to get a hold of herself.

Yelling at him? Cadance please

I'm far more stressed than I thought,

We just need to calm down and work this out,

Shining's being irrational, what is there too work out.

Except he's right to be wary, he just wants to protect you.

Her thoughts came to a halt, she took another deep breath and steadied herself.

Shining eventually spoke, "The lack of any technical issues is what worries me."

Cadance, "Please explain, and I'm sorry for yelling at you." She wrapped her wing around him.

"You summed it up the first time we discussed this," Shining said, "He's smart. He knows how to do all the right things while still achieving his goals."

Cadance softly asked, "What do you think makes his goals malevolent?" and tacked onto the end, "He said he was here to help."

Shining tried to respond, but couldn't quite get the words out, "I don't know how to explain."

Amber spoke up, "I believe what Shining is trying to explain is Dusk's volatile nature."

Cadance listened

"Dusk may not have lied when claiming he was here to help. However, Dusk's violent tendencies lead me to believe that his version of 'helping'" She said slowly, "May be harmful to us, or innocents."

Shining nodded along with her as she spoke.

"That's what I've been worried about too."

"So we're all on the same page?" Shining tentatively claimed

"So we just have to decide what to do."

"We're telling Celestia and Luna, simple as that."

"Shining-"

Shining shook his head, "You said if we could give you a reason, you'd go along with it. Dusk is abusing your leniency and kindness, regardless of his intent."

He's right...

"I don't know... It doesn't feel right."

Nopony had anything else to add onto the tail end of that. In the silence, Cadance squeezed Shining against her side with her wing, he nuzzled her in response.

"I don't know if I'm really at call to give advice her-"

Shining interrupted her, "You wouldn't be here if we didn't trust you to help Amber, if you have anything to say, go for it."

"Give him an ultimatum."

Cadance nodded, "He has to do certain things to prove he's safe for our ponies, or we call the Calvary."

"I... I'm fine with that," Shining said, "but what if he refuses?"

"Then we call Celestia and Luna."

Shining half chuckled, "No, I mean, what if he violently refuses. There's no telling what he's planned, and if I were him, I'd be ready for something like this."

Amber added onto his thought, "He'd have some sort of contingency, or escape plan."

If we do tell him that it's our way or the walkway, then he may just leave, and we'll never see him again if he doesn't want to be found.

"Then we'll just have to do it in one." Cadance said, waiting to see Shining's and Ambers confused looks before continuing, "I'll confront him, and give him the ultimatum, if he refuses, I'll call for Celestia and Luna, and keep him there until they arrive."

"I'm not comfortable that."

"The Prince is right, you shouldn't put yourself in the line of fire like that."

Cadance held up her hoof questioningly, "Who else can do it?" She looked down at her side at Shining, "He won't talk to you, and anypony else either can't hold a conversation with him, or is, no offense Amber, too scared or not powerful enough to deal with him directly."

How far we've come from that garden outside of Canterlot, and it's still only us who can do anything at all.

"You're not going in without backup."

"It's okay if you're nearby or even with me I think, you just have to promise not to get involved unless I call you in."

Shining nodded,

"This sounds like a viable plan Princess." Amber said,

"So when do we do it?"

Cadance laughed, "Not tonight, I'm going to bed." She stood and glanced over at her desk before sticking her tounge out the paperwork sitting atop it.

"Oh, um- Goodnight Princess."

"Goodnight Amber", "Night," Came both the royals' reply.

Shining and Cadance walked side by side back to their room, neither of them bothered talking, enjoying each other's company, and generally decompressing. Equally they plopped down into bed and began the attempt at sleep as soon as the sheets were in place.

As she fell into the dream realm, Cadance wondered about her magic, and the strange pressure she felt during the rising argument that she... realized she didn't quite defuse in time. Her failure woke her up enough for her to roll over and apologize once more to her husband.

His response was snuggling, it was her calmest night for a while.

An ultimatum over the fire

Cadance, Shining Armor, and Amber along with several of their non-direct advisors, spent the morning doing a 'study session' esc paperwork extravaganza. Cadance had cleared her desk and canceled court citing the details the crown had to deal with for noble traitors. She'd never once caught up with all her paperwork; it was an accomplishment.

Cadance and Shining Armor had then broken for lunch, and spent an hour or so talking about their future. Cadance couldn't help but make the conversation serious with her mental state at the time. It didn't matter though, the conversation still made her happy.

Now her, Shining in tow, plus a guard detail were at Silver's residency. Cadance had gone right up to the door with the express intent of barging in. The muscle was going to stay outside, close enough for her to send a magical flare to get their attention, except of course, just before walking in, she was stopped a series of noises.

No, not a series of noises, a pattern of noises.

Music.

There was some, jaunty orchestral piece playing, almost exclusively with string instruments. There was no telltale scratch of a record, but-

It's just music, don't get distracted Cadance

Cadance pushed the door open with her magic, it's not that it wasn't locked, it didn't even have a door latch. There wasn't even anything keeping the wind from swinging the door open.

Silver was in the foyer, and glanced quickly to Cadance from behind a pair of goggles before returning to her orb.

The room had been turned into a forge of sorts, there was a furnace carved out of glass and crystal, among numerous tools and cast iron implements for manipulating hot objects laid strewn about.

Not a very organized worker

Silver at the moment, had a pair of two hoof long cast iron tongs in her teeth, and was holding a black and silver stripped sphere over a violet flame with runic sigils floating around it, and at it's base; she was rotating the sphere to... heat it evenly, Cadance guessed.

Cadance waited until Silver was done, which happened to be around twelve minutes. Cadance during that time realized that the music was gone. It had cut out so quickly when she entered that she hadn't even realized it was missing while she was keeping an eye on Silver.

There was a spark, and the flame went out. The orb slipped from tongs and began to float in a cyan aura. In conjunction Silver raised a hoof with a similar cyan aura emanating from it, and the orb floated onto a stand on the crystal island next to the furnace. Silver turned to Cadance and pulled her goggles off.

Cadance noted that Silver didn't put her hoof back on the ground, instead, awkwardly holding the leg up and balancing on one side.

"You should really knock before you come barging in here. A minute ago, and the gas would have burned your eyes out." She said, nonchalantly.

Cadance took a deep breath, "Is there somewhere we can talk?"

Silver smirked, "Are you giving me the opportunity to seclude you before you give me harsh news?"

"Think before you speak Little Princess," Silver waved her hoof, the one that glowed, and opaque equally cyan crystal sprouted from the ground. Their magical construction was like watching tree roots grow upwards in slow motion, there was a tinkling noise as the crystal resolved itself into two ornate looking crystal seats. "Here is as good as anywhere else." and Silver sat down.

Cadance walked up to the opposing chair, and put a hoof on it. Real crystal, for sure. She elected to stay standing, "I'm going to give you a series of rules you have to follow."

Silver snorted, "Straight to the point then, eh?"

Cadance looked up from her inspection of the chair and put on a determined look, "If you don't follow them, I'll get Celestia and Luna to come remove you."

"No. Actually you won't."

Cadance felt her eyebrows furrow, "Actually I will. I need you to take this seriously."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes."

Cadance felt the emotion in the air warble.

Imagine standing behind a monolithic wall, something that stretches in any direction into infinity. That was a little bit like what sensing emotion was like. The closer you were to a certain section of the wall, the easier it was to feel what somepony was feeling on the opposite side.

This wasn't like that.

This was like something moved the entire wall forwards an inch. Like the field got closer, bigger, as something on the other side, bigger than the wall, decided that the wall should just be somewhere else.

"Okay." Silver's face changed from mildly amused, to serious, her eyes went from empty to sparkling.

Cadance tried not to stop breathing as she felt the same magical affect from the previous night return in force, she did however, light her horn. The force remained passive, but present.

"You can't enforce anything on me Little Princess." Silver's voice rang in the small room, echoing with magic, "because you have no power to."

Cadance, despite Silver's attempt at intimidating her, stood tall, and didn't lose her determined look. "I may not have that power, but there's a reason you hid. I bet Celestia can stop you."

"Oh she can." Silver didn't lose any menace, but her voice took on a higher tone, like she was teasing Cadance, "You know what a thousand years of being driven to hate someone leads to?"

"I-"

"Factor in my notes on severing my immortality, and I'd reckon by now Celestia knows how to kill me." She said, still in a teasing tone, "Of course, I also know that for sure, since Luna told me."

Cadance tried to verbally be present, but failed, her words being cut off by Silver's dominating presence.

"Of course she told me, she warned me." Silver scoffed, "The gall."

The force began pressing against her, and she put more mana into her horn to keep it at bay.

"She also will, you know." Silver said, "Which is why you won't do it."

"What?"

"Celestia, the first chance she gets, will kill me."

Cadance frowned, "Celestia wouldn't do that."

Silver smiled a smile that was far too wide for a normal pony, "So I take it you haven't noticed my little curse then?"

"Curse, you cursed me? Is that what this is?" Cadance said while vaguely trying to reference the force pressing down on her magic.

"No no. Little Princess, I said, my curse." Silver raised a hoof to her chest, "Discord's curse on me? Did he not tell Twilight to warn you?"

Cadance shook her head, her neck straining under the pressure of whatever Silver was referring to.

Silver laughed, "Still running from your mistakes I see."

"I don't know what you're talking about" Cadance tried

Silver stood, slowly, and stalked forwards towards Cadance, "So Luna didn't tell you either. Didn't tell you why I'm immortal. Not about my curse, why... She basically threw you into the deep end." Silver growled out the last words, as she came muzzle to muzzle with Cadance.

"Stop, please stop."

and the tension left. Whatever curse or force was there was still there, but Silver took several steps back, and their snarling face turned neutral.

Cadance forced herself to speak, "No, I don't know what any of that means. You won't even talk to me! Much less tell me your history!"

"This is me talking to you."

Cadance shook and she didn't realize it, but she had lost control of her expression, she let the mask slip. "This is an assault! This hurts!"

"Yes. It does."

Silver looked on impassively as the force lessened, it lessened because it had found a way past Cadance's magical pressure.

Hatred, fear, paranoia and more started filtering into her mind. She was an expert when it came to emotions, both literarily, and personally. She realized she was shouting, realized the look of rage plastered over her face.

She's infesting me with negative emotions.

The strange part was that they were her emotions. Cadance's own hatred and rage, strengthened and bubbling unnaturally to the surface of her mind.

So she changed the aura of her horn from cerulean to pink and drew upon her ties to Love, and the force cringed away from her, as if it had been struck, or so, the magical equivalent.

Her mind went blank as the sudden void of emotion in her head twisted her mind. Her brain reacting defensively to the rapid shifting of her emotion. Cadance closed her eyes and took a deep breath, still channeling her magic.

She lost sight of the room, of Silver, and the domineering presence that came with her. She stopped listening, and just focused on herself, on her Love.

and just like that, she was herself again. Whatever mind altering affect emanating from Silver didn't dare touch the Alicorn of Love.

The entire mental gymnastics felt like it took forever, but in reality, it all took place in less than two seconds.

She opened her eyes to see Silver staring on in shock, and...

Is that fear?

As they locked eyes, Silver's face morphed, her ears pressed flat against her head, wings spread and her tail flicking rapidly.

No. That emotion is Terror.

Silver took a step away from Cadance and looked away.

Cadance didn't know what to say.

"Alright" Silver said, quietly.

"Alright?" Cadance said dumbly, just repeating the word in leu of anything else.

Silver looked back to Cadance, the energy from her eyes gone, and her face covered in a false smirk. "I'll play by your rules."

"You will." Cadance made it sound like a statement, but it was meant to come out as a question

Silver nodded, "But I do have one addendum."

Cadance narrowed one of her eyes, trying to read Silver's face. Trying to understand what just happened, what she was feeling. Anything to connect with her.

"Clear out your Thursdays, that's our girls' night out."

AHa?! What?

"What?" Cadance smiled and nearly laughed from the sheer shock factor of such a statement.

"You wanna reform me? Whatever, you can't do whatever you want to me unless we're friends first." Silver waved her hoof around, "So girls' night out, every Thursday, me and you."

Cadance blinked rapidly, "What just happened Dusk? Why the sudden change?" Cadance tried to change her tone of voice to soft, but it just came out normal, "What's this curse? What was all of that?"

Silver just shook her head, "You want to get to know me Little Princess? Well you can't do it like this, like that rather; spoilers."

That... Has distraction written all over it

"And you'll stop causing a ruckus in the Empire?"

Silver snorted, "Kinda too late for that, and not quite." Silver stuck up a wing quickly, "But! I will start keeping you clued in to the goings on."

"That's it then?"

"Yes, you can leave now." Silver looked at Cadance with a dead smile.

Cadance felt the ideas in her mind not quite connecting. The weight of her wanting to Understand was starting to give her a headache. She needed more information, but of course apparently that was gated behind...

Idea

"How about the Gala?"

Silver raised an eyebrow, face unchanged, still encouraging Cadance to leave.

Cadance nodded to herself, content with this plan, "You come with me to the Grand Galloping Gala at the end of this week, and I'll be able to convince everypony else that you'll..."

Silver pipped up, "Do the things you want me to do, as ambiguous as they are."

Cadance nodded

"Of course there's the problem of Celestia." Silver said; every ounce of essence or meaning behind her words gone. Cadance wondered how she never noticed, how Silver could talk like this, so dispassionate, so empty. Cadance had seen a sparkle of Dusk's real intent and thought, and now everything else seemed... Just as hollow as it was.

Cadance didn't respond, her mind still trying to put the pieces together.

Silver just waited.

"Will she recognize you?"

Silver nodded, "Absolutely, she's smart enough to be scanning for my distinct magical signature. The only reason she hasn't found me yet is because of the Crystal Heart."

"Can you disguise it?"

Silver took on an unreadable expression of disgust. A moment later, she spoke, "Do you want to go to the Gala with a meat puppet?" Silver laughed, "No? Okay, then no."

"What about Luna?"

"What about her?"

Cadance spoke slowly, trying to piece together her words as she thought of them, "She... knew you escaped, can she hide you from Celestia?"

Silver frowned, "She does, and she might."

"I'll send her a letter."

Silver didn't respond.

"Dusk?"

"Start getting used to calling me Quick or Silver. You're going to have to be doing it in public."

Cadance nodded, "A bit for your thoughts?"

"No, and I hate that phrase. My thoughts aren't worth your bit."

Cadance tried to rebuttal that, but Silver held up a hoof, and rubbed her forehead with a wing "I'm actually going to have to go to a Gala aren't I?"

Cadance kept her face even.

"Buck."

She failed. Giggling at Silver's explative

"So you'll go?"

"If you can get me a ticket, and confirm Luna can keep me hidden. She doesn't particularly want me to die either."

I hope this doesn't get shot down

"Why did... Well I'm guessing Luna intentionally let you go?"

Silver nodded

"Why?"

"Because Luna is scared of me, like Amber. The difference being that what Luna is scared of is very; very real."

Completely unhelpful.

"I'll ask her then, and then... I'll have somepony bring you a message, and I'll come get you from here the day of the Gala."

"Alright, it's a date." Silver said, turning away and back to her tools.

Feeling suitably dismissed, Cadance turned to leave. She hesitated, and looked back to Silver, day dreaming of Silver just telling her everything she wanted to know.

Cadance caught Silver staring.

Just as she brought herself out of her thoughts, she locked eyes with Silver, who was side eyeing her as she left. Silver twitched like she was going to look away, but was already caught.

I don't know you

Cadance gave a tired smile to the empty stare.

But I will

and she left.

The door was just as easy to push through as it was the first time. Several ponies were closer than they needed to be. With Shining awkwardly standing near the back of the formation.

She gave them a nod and smile of assurance, before trotting off the step and onto the lawn.

She walked up to Shining

"So it worked?"

Cadance nodded, "I'm just going to need a minute. Silver was..."

"Not happy I take it?"

"Intense." Cadance settled.

She watched the guards pack up. Their officer took them out and back to the Empire.

She breathed in the air. Looked at Shining.

Thursday is... two days away. Gala is Sunday. We... I have to write that letter.

Did Luna? I guess she never lied to me. She still... She knew all that time...

These... Old creatures are maddening. I'm starting to see the trend. Discord, Dusk... Luna, all of them are crazy.

Of course, the line of thought lead her to Dusk's comment about Celestia. Despite what she wanted to believe. Celestia taught her everything she knows about diplomacy, negotiations.

Celestia knows how to be cut-throat. She's run a kingdom, the biggest one in the world, for more than a thousand years uncontested.

Cadance mentally approached the idea of her aunt being a murderer.

A proper one, since what Dusk described was essentially killing out of hatred.

She wouldn't. Celestia's not a killer.

Cadance banished that line of thought and refocused on the things happening around her.

Shining had brought himself next to her, and had placed a hoof in-between hers in silent support as she thought.

"So... Shall we go interrogate some cultists?"

Shining Armor pulled his face back and smiled and shook his head, surprised. "That is not what I expected you to say."

She smiled and began walking a couple of steps, Shining took the cue, and they began walking together. Several crystal ponies and equally, journalists who had been drawn to the forty minute exercise out into the city followed discretely, interested in what was going on, and/or bored.

"We have to do it sometime right?"

Shining thought for a second, "I guess so." he said, uncharacteristically apprehensive.

"You okay?"

"Are you?"

Cadance kept walking,

"You seem shaken."

She kept walking.

"He was intense. She I guess."

"Dusk is always intense. This is different."

"I'm okay."

"Cadance, please, I know you. Something happened in there, with Dusk's ability to twist the mind-"

"He didn't do anything to me." She said, her tone dropping deeper.

Shining didn't respond. They kept walking.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I know how stressful this is for you."

They were nearly at the palace by now, the behemoth stretching into the sky only promised more stress and work for Cadance. Despite her ability to push through, and her practice, it loomed in her mind. Made her feel... bad.

I must be even more stressed than I thought

"He's just... confounding." Candace said with exasperation, "I want... He doesn't talk like he hates us, hates me, but he refuses to connect with me at all."

"Have you been able to read him?"

'Read him' was code for using her special talent. She, among the other perks of being an alicorn, could get a sense for what a pony was feeling.

"No. Nothing from him. No emotion."

Shining thought, "So what did he say?"

"He said... He'll play by our rules." She stopped and tried not to cringe at Shining's coming reaction, "And he wants to go out on... 'girls' night out' every Thursday, from now on."

Shining sighed. "And you said yes."

"It was-"

"Do I need to explain how much of a bad idea that is? For so many reasons?" Shining waved out to a passing citizen.

"No."

"Then okay, I guess. We can't go back on it now." He said tersely

Cadance wanted to explain, but Shining cut her off.

"I know it's your thing, so I'll just sit back and let you handle it."

I listened to your advice didn't I. Did this whole ultimatum thing to begin with.

"It's... I'm just the mouth piece, but-" She tried

"Cadance. We don't negotiate with hostile forces." He said slowly at first, though it turned into whisper shouting, "And we especially do not devote entire days to going out to have fun with them!"

"It works doesn't it? Dusk falls into line, and I have a chance to befriend him."

Shining sighed, "If it goes to plan."

Cadance sighed. "Which it won't."

It was something they learned together, about ruling. Nothing went to plan. Nothing ever could be trusted to go to plan. They were lost in the mire.

At least they were lost together. Cadance felt Shining's low bearing fear, and apprehension, along with her own.

She was not alone.

That made her strong.

Author's Note

There's one more large series of events at the gala before we really get cooking

Luna

Dear Princess Luna,

Me and you need to have a very long talk. I want to see you in the Empire as soon as possible. There's been a lot going on, and there are things we can only discuss mare to mare. I'm sorry to simply make a demand like this, however, I believe you know the context.

See you soon.

Love,
Cadance.

It was a relaxing couple of days since Cadance's confrontation with Dusk. She had spent her time doing her daily duties, bothering Shining in the fun ways, and planning for her next work week.

It was around dusk in her study when Luna arrived, which Cadance had pondered would qualify as a funny joke, if told in the right setting.

Luna knocked on the window to Cadance's study, it was opened in short order; luckily Cadance saw Luna fly up to the window.

As she entered, she spoke, "Niece, it is good to see you again."

Calm Cadance

She had spent the last day or so mentally deliberating on how to interact with Luna here, in this moment. Eventually electing to just act as she normally would, with the intent of getting to the bottom of Dusk's and Luna's plan to hide him from Celestia.

So Cadance offered her aunt a hug, "It's good to see you to Luna." It was received, and Luna let out a breath, "It's been a hectic couple weeks since we talked last."

"I can imagine so." She said, pulling away with a frown. "I am... Sorry for deceiving you Cadance."

I'm glad she does actually know why I asked to see here, that would have been awkward.

"Auntie" Cadance said, not tersely, but with confidence

Luna has trouble connecting, has trouble with her guilt.

"I trust you." Cadance stressed, "I just want to know why."

Luna fought the smile away from her face and looked away.

"Thank you niece, you are truly graceful. To put up with my... mistake."

"Everypony makes mistakes Luna, it's okay to fail. What matters is not giving up making it right."

Luna nodded, and ruffled Cadance's new mane with a wing, "You constantly show wisdom beyond your years Cadance."

Cadance gestured for Luna to take a seat, "Do you want anything before we..."

"No dear niece, I have had everything I require for the night."

"Then... Tell me about Dusk."

Luna bit the inside of her cheek.

Cadance steepled her hooves and waited.

"I don't quite know where to start." She said quietly.

Luna was acting strange, only now did Cadance connect the weird behavior to how she was acting before. Something she didn't pick up on the time, but now? Cadance was aware of the stakes, she may have been trying a little harder than necessary.

Luna was easy to read. She was apprehensive and worried. Not guilty, not shameful. Shamed. Like a permanent mark on her emotion.

"How about you start with his history? His past?" Cadance tried

Luna, immediately, "That's not my story to tell."

Dusk

She continued, "Dusk was... is, as you can tell most probably, very secretive about their past. I am not aware if what I know about him, what he told me rather, is even true." She stopped for a moment, "Regardless, it is not my place to share."

"So you knew Dusk would come to the Empire?"

Luna grimaced and nodded slowly, "Yes, it was most likely what he was planning on, and he told me as much, when we met on the streets of Canterlot that night."

"What did happen that night?" Cadance, let her curiosity get the best of her, rather than keeping Luna on topic.

"Dusk had slung you over his back and run from the night watch guards. The chase was grand enough that it reached the ears of my personal guards, who were out patrolling, I arrived on scene shortly after Dusk properly lost his guard tailing." She took a deep breath, "We... talked."

Cadance continued to listen, finally feeling like she was getting answers, like she was in the loop rather than the dark.

"He knew what I was planning with you. He told me about his plan to teach Celestia how to..."

"How to kill him." Cadance finished for her.

"Yes." Luna looked down... The same taint on her emotions rising. "Many have tried to slay Dusk Swirl." The hurt was evident in her voice, no Alicorn of Love powers required. "Only Dusk and Discord ever knew the secrets behind his immortality. Discord refuses to speak of it, out of shame."

"Why is Dusk immortal?" Cadance tried, Luna looked like she had been struck, like she wanted to do anything other than answer that particular question.

"I wish to not speak of it."

"Will you at least tell me why?"

Luna nodded. "I fell to the nightmare. Myself. My own conjuration of the darkness in my heart. At the end of the day, as they say, it was my choice."

Cadance sat back, feeling the story start to work its way out of her aunt's throat. Elders, or ponies who had been through some traumatic experience tended to do this. Once you asked just the right question, framed the experience just right, they'd start talking. Ponies liked to get things off their withers, some ponies just couldn't explain, just couldn't emphasize how they felt.

"Dusk didn't make me fall to the nightmare. It was, however, his intent to encourage it. To stop me from doing worse than I could have."

But some ponies could. Luna had been opening up to Cadance since her return, when they had the chance to talk.

"I could have spent ages plotting against my sister. Spent that time making sure I could truly bring upon nighttime eternal. Destroy Equestria in my jealous rage."

Cadance, now that she saw Luna's hurt, honestly just hoped she could help the older Alicorn. Just by listening.

"Dusk made it all come to a head in one night."

Cadance, tentatively, slowly, "How"

"He... broke me... Emotionally. My psyche was already fraying at the edges... Dusk was aware... He was my closest confidant for years. He new exactly how to hurt me, and he did."

"I'm sorry Luna..."

"Do not apologize dear niece. For it was not Dusk who was at fault."

"Is-"

"Please, let me..." Luna shook her head, "I believe I should have told you this from the start."

Cadance did nothing but nod, and show her support as she gestured for Luna to continue.

"To start at the beginning then."

Luna took a deep breath, her voice turned melancholic, and she took on a look like she was gazing into the past, "Dusk is older than me and Celestia. Our elder by... likely fifty moons or so." She shook her head. "He met us when we were just fillies with wings and horns. Yet to truly become Alicorns. He was some kind of warlord turned dictator who ran a small town with an iron hoof."

"He left his home at Starswirl's behest to join our courts as a magician. He was... Friendly, and cordial. Starswirl and the Chancellor's son vouched for him."

"He went to and from his home in what is now the Everfree forest when we needed him. He taught us occasional life skills, it seemed like every time he came by, it was for some strange purpose or something he made up. He told me once that it was only ever to see me and Tia."

Cadance nodded, to show she was listening along.

"He was like a strange uncle, or a thing similar to it. He was still as strange as he is today, in fact, over the ages, I don't think he's changed even a little. Grown in magical skill, absolutely, but he's still exactly the same pony I knew when I was growing up."

"I never noticed the nuance of who he really was. I was a filly, and I grew up with him coming around, and treating my like a filly instead of a Princess. I... fell into the role, I guess. I realized it was intentional."

"Intentional?" Cadance slipped in,

"Yes. Dusk had... planned on acting the way he did. Building trust with me in the way I thought of him."

Cadance nodded

I know what you mean

"He... told me on several occasions, as well, exactly what he was doing and why. I didn't understand at the time, nor did I care, as I and my sister were staring down the new nation we had founded."

Luna paused...

"And then everything started going wrong."

Luna's tone changed from reminiscing to... hallowed remembrance. Instead of drifting memories, Luna spoke about pictures she tried her hardest to believe weren't real. "Starswirl and his compatriots went missing, unrest began to rise in our cities."

"Discord arrived." She intoned

Cadance slowly began to piece together the timeline. Trying to keep a little ahead of Luna's story.

"There was no water for miles after he took over. Spreading his chaos. Ponies never died of thirst, they went insane, consuming Discord's..." She nearly almost spat, bearing her teeth, "Treats"

"In hopes of sustenance."

Luna took a deep breath. "There was a reason it was called 'the age of chaos', the suffering lasted for uncountable moons. Maybe more... it was impossible to keep track of the passage of time."

"Though it all, Dusk never once wavered or broke under the stress, where me and Tia failed to maintain order, and protect our ponies, Dusk had slithered and manuevered his way moons before into having the power and connections to make up for our... inexperience."

"It was then I learned of his dark powers. Dusk knew how to combat Discord's chaos magic using evil magics, corruptive magics. He never taught anypony, which was the only reason why he wasn't drawn and quartered. His powers were only ever used to protect."

"He founded a city, in the chaos, immune to the destruction of Discord's nightmarish playtime. The Everfree Empire, sitting in a forest empowered by his dark magics."

"He lead thousands to safety, of course, he could combat Discord's brand of magic, but not cure it. The city became full of twisted ponies, monsters and animals broken or changed by Discord's chaos. He welcomed them all. Ponies alike, along side anything with a pulse he could find, he protected."

Luna smiled, "It was a place unlike any other, it's own beautiful kind of chaos. Ponies and monsters alike would fight in the streets for fun, carefree and happy in their world that had turned upside down. It was a place of darkness and hatred deeper and more complex than any friendship I've... ever had."

"That... That sounds incredible and strange in equal measure."

"It was. Me and Tia only ever went to his marauder city once to escape the carnage Discord had wrought over our budding kingdom. He had pressured us to rest there when we were passing by."

Luna brushed some of her mane from her eyes, the single lock combining back into her flowing mane. "He was saving ponies... It took me until my freedom from The Nightmare that I truly realized who he was protecting."

"He was saving everypony we weren't."

Cadance's eyebrows raised ever so slightly.

"We looked away from the ponies fallen or twisted by Discord's magic." She looked away, still in shame. "Dusk fought hoof and teeth to find them and drag them bucking and screaming to his home to change their lives for the better against their will."

"He taught them how to live again. How to be, not who they were, but who they had become."

"Dusk coined the Code of Monsters, and named and categorized almost all sapient beasts he met or protected."

"The Code of Monsters?"

"Any beast with a sapient mind knows it, aside from Dragons. Beasts fight for life, not to kill."

Cadance listened on in rapt attention. She felt like I filly getting a story before bedtime. The two sisters never talked about their past, besides Celestia's occasional history lessons.

"He taught the thousands of hurting creatures he took under his metaphorical wing how to hate correctly. How to become monsters worth respecting. If you've ever noticed, a beast will never go for the kill unless their opposing combatant fights to kill them first, or runs."

"His care for the broken passed down to even the non-sapient. His teachings of respect and honor."

"He had tried to teach me and Tia the same, but we didn't listen." Luna's ears pressed against her head.

"Dusk saw a way for us to live in harmony despite Discord." Luna snorted, "To Dusk, Discord was just another part of living. His chaos, a simple occupational hazard, and the dangers were just a chance to change, and grow stronger physically and mentally."

"And Discord hated it. The tyrant king had been bested by a dark magic marauder turned court adviser by simply ignoring him."

Despite the topic, Luna smiled. "It only ever drew me to him more."

wait

"I had never met somepony so unrelentingly passionate about life, all kinds of life."

wait

"That was when we learned about the elements of harmony."

Cadance listened on in growing suspicion that she understood more now what exactly Dusk had done to Luna.

"But we couldn't just go looking for them. Discord liked to torment us, and he could whenever we were outside Dusk Swirl's city. So without hesitation, Dusk offered to distract the tyrant while we journeyed for the weapon to defeat him."

"He... offered to distract Discord?"

"Dusk had built a monument of hope for the ponies Discord had broken, it was a direct and powerful opposition to his rule. Discord had been attempting to hurt Dusk for several moons, but Dusk was always one step ahead of the mad king."

"So he offered to give himself up, to give you the time you needed to retrieve the elements from the tree of harmony." Cadance said, understanding.

Luna meanwhile, looked like she was nearing tears.

"We didn't know."

She looked broken.

"We didn't understand the length Dusk was willing to go for us."

She looked like she had stabbed her own pet

"W-we found Dusk at the foot of Discord's throne, mangled and twisted."

Cadance was mollified into listening in a terrifying 'watching the train crash' dear in the headlights mentality.

"Dusk... was no longer Dusk... We assumed he was dead... That Dusk had died to give us the time we needed to save Equestria."

Luna began to cry.

"We were so... so wrong."

"Dusk was alive."

"Discord would not let him die."

"It was not chaos, it was cruelty. It was raw suffering Discord had inflicted."

She snorted her tears away and tried to regain her composure.

That... doesn't line up with Twilight's warning from Discord... I'm missing something here.

Cadance didn't know what to say... she she just listened. Sometimes there wasn't anything that could be said. Nothing to be done. Sometimes things just hurt.

"We defeated Discord. I thought I would have to put down the husk that was left of Dusk."

"Except he got up. He twisted himself back into a visage of a pony, with magic and will alone. The cracking and scraping of bones still echoes in my memory like a phantasm. The mad stallion brushed himself off and offered to host the victory celebration in his keep in the Everfree."

Cadance was incredulous, "He just brushed it off?"

Luna nodded.

"We don't know how he did it, but from then on, Dusk was immortal. It didn't matter how badly he was hurt, he would always simply brush away the pain, fix himself with his dark magics, and carry on. Only him and Discord know what transpired to cause it, only they know how Dusk managed to distract Discord for as long as he did."

Cadance listened, but just had to ask, "What happened after?"

Luna gave a bitter pained laugh. "We spat in his face."

"We... in our endless incompetent childish wisdom, to honor Dusk, moved our capital to the Ever free forest. We ruled our ponies from the bastion which protected the ponies we had rejected, and over the passing moons, with new..." Luna searched for the word, "Normal" She said with verbal air quotes, "Ponies becoming residents, they pushed out the monsters and broken ponies Dusk had protected with rules and laws that should not have applied to them."

"Dusk had saved thousands, saved us, and we repaid him by taking his home from him."

"I don't remember what he told me, or how, but it was during our failure as his friend that I now realize he began enacting his plan to turn me towards jealousy of Celestia. He saw what we did to his people, and knew we would only repeat our mistakes on each other, so he prepared."

"He put rifts and wedges between me and Celestia. Used the Thestral population as a guide piece to show me what we had done with his people. He... I-..."

"I fell for him."

Cadance's expression did not change

"He was immortal after all... and I began to consider... that we might have a future, if not as... close as I may have wanted, maybe, but still. I considered it."

"and he knew, he led me on a marry chase, he made me feel like I was... lesser, and not good enough for him, but he never stopped caring for me, not really. He just knew what I actually needed."

"It was when it all came to a head when he... did what he did..."

Cadance spoke up, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to Luna."

"No, no. I- This has been good for me. I feel the weight lifting as I speak more and more."

"Dusk had been... at the point in my life at the time, present throughout the majority of my life. Distant, but I thought that was just because he wasn't around a lot. As I grew in confidence, I began engaging with him, and making my... false desire for him very obvious."

"I was not in love with Dusk. I was broken, and lonely. An outcast, and Dusk was the only pony who truly cared for me. In my foolishness, I had mistaken my loneliness for something pure."

"What it really was? I wanted to use him to feed my own selfish desires. For ponies to tell me I was great, instead of being great in spite of them, like he had tried to teach me."

"It took nearly a hundred years, but..."

"One day... the same day I decided to turn on my sister, he began to return my affections, except it was twisted, and..."

"Dark. Malicious and... and bold."

A pit formed in Cadance stomach

"He showed me how I was treating him, by treating me the same way. I didn't understand it, didn't know what..."

"I thought he had betrayed me, thought he had..."

"I wasn't thinking."

"Then he did betray me, left me. On a day where I had... I had gotten into an argument with him, just because I could, just because he was there, and he laughed in my face and told me everything they were saying about me was right. He insulted me, broke me down specifically and artfully."

"It was that dusk that I crafted Nightmare Moon from the dream realm and my emotions in pain and alone."

Luna looked down, the world coming back into focus as her story came to a close, "The rest is history I do not know of..."

Cadance... didn't... couldn't comprehend the depth of that.

Hundreds of moons of work gone to... that.

"That's a lot to think about Auntie."

"It was a lot to keep inside. Thank you for listening to my tale Cadance."

Cadance reached over her desk for Luna's hoof, "I may not have answers a lot of the time, but I will always be here for you, at the very least to listen to your hurt. Show you that you aren't alone."

The pain Luna felt ran from the Love, and Luna grinned and wrapped her hooves around Cadance's as he smile widened, "Yes, of course. Thank you from the depths of my soul Cadance."

Cadance just matched Luna's smile in response.

They sat for a moment, enjoying the kindness they shared with one another, until Cadance reminded her of the business she had to attend to, and eventually going to bed.

"So. You freed Dusk in hopes of making right what you had done to him?"

"More, Cadance, that what I made him do." Luna closed her eyes, still cradling Cadance's limb in her own. "Dusk never spoke the words, but it was clear he cared for us deeply. His passion and Love were unmistakable. I forced him to push us both away, to sacrifice his relationship with us out of childishness."

"Something he was willing to do without hesitation. To Dusk, we were far more valuable to him than our relationship was. He, on many occasions, threw caution to the wind for his reputation for us."

Cadance spoke up, "You're saying that... He did do anything for you?"

"Yes, he did in a way. He was a friend to us, but we were never his friends. He gave up any chance of truly finding companionship with us that day, especially with Celestia."

"What about you?"

Luna frowned, "I honestly do not know dear niece. It was hard to hear him in the garden, the spite and the hurt, now that I had understood what I had done to him, he had no reason to hide it from me anymore."

"You want him to forgive you."

"Nay Cadance, I am not sure I deserve to be forgiven for this."

"Luna-"

"No, Cadance, some things are not forgivable, some mistakes can only be fought to be made right forever. If that is what I must do, then so be it."

Cadance pulled her hoof back over the table, "If that's how you feel, I won't argue."

"I hoped I could... that maybe I could... introduce the two of you, and maybe he could find the friend he never could in me."

"With me." Cadance nodded, she felt she understood Luna's intentions, but hearing her say them allowed was the last piece of the mental jigsaw to be completely certain.

Luna didn't seem to have anything else to add.

"What of the... This curse?"

Luna frowned.

"Dusk brought it up, didn't explain it." Cadance felt deeply confused at Luna's reaction, "He said that you threw me into the deep end."

Luna awkwardly shifted her weight before speaking, "Dusk... Du... He..."

Cadance patiently waited for Luna to find exactly what she was trying to phrase.

"My apologies Cadance, this has been a particularly emotional night for me."

Cadance gave a soft smile and nodded, "No need, I understand, and I'm not busy. Take your time."

"The answer lies in something Dusk told me in confidence. Something I forced him to tell me. It would be against my honor as a new pony, as a Princess and more to reveal the details."

Cadance tried not to frown, and was moderately successful. "So I won't be getting that."

"Dusk may tell you yet. I don't know his plans for you, but I do know he plans something."

"Two other things,"

"Ask away dear niece"

"Can you potentially shield him from Celestia's tracking? I invite him to the gala."

Luna snorted, "Of course, I'll have to actually go to this one, and watch the nobles fret."

"and the other thing."

Luna nodded and waited for Cadance to ask,

"Dusk said... well I won't mince words. Dusk said you were scared of him. Scared of what he could do. That you knew just how dangerous Dusk could really be. In essence, I want to know... how badly this could go. I want to know what I'm protecting my citizens from."

Throughout Cadance's question, Luna's frown turned to a tight lipped neutral expression. "Cadance, do you know of the phrase, a cornered animal fights it's hardest?"

Cadance nodded,

"Dusk does not do that. Dusk can not be cornered. Dusk can not be out-wit, or out thought, or out planned. There is no corner you can push Dusk into, because he will simply lead you into a corner he fabricated. Dusk will always maintain control over you, and over himself. He never opens up to ponies, unless it's part of some plan. He summed up his power to me in a terrifyingly simple phrase once."

Luna leaned back, "If magic gives one infinite potential, and immortality gives one infinite time to reach that potential, then I am capable of everything"

Cadance nodded slowly, that, very lightly being what she expected.

"Celestia is the only creature alive that could potentially contest Dusk's intelligence with raw power. He likely out classes everypony else."

"What about the elements of harmony?"

Luna... Looked away, "Dusk is immune."

What?

"Dusk had found a very simple counter to the powers of the elements of harmony. He is always in harmony with himself. He was very good at explaining his strangeness. 'They are the elements of harmony, not the elements of whatever seems good from your perspective'. "

"He often said that good was often just evil pointed in a convenient direction. When we learned of some his darker practices, and he refused to stop; we proved him right. The elements left him untouched, as apparently the forces of harmony agree with some part of his morality."

Curious

"So..."

Luna waited,

Cadance just had to know, "You picked me for the job because I was just... the last pony that could? Why not Twilight? The literal Princess of Friendship?"

Luna shook her head, "It has to do with what I will not reveal to you. You must have Dusk answer those questions."

"Okay then." Cadance shut her eyes, and rubbed at them with a hoof, stretching her wings at the same time. Luna stood from her seat apposing Cadance and made her way around the table.

"Despite my initial deception, I am very pleased you found me out. I am glad to... to..."

"I understand Luna," Cadance leaned into a hug with the slightly taller Alicorn.

"Thank you Cadance."

"Always." Cadance spoke with meaning. Luna gripped her tighter.

They shared in the moment before they both pulled away.

"I will make sure you dream well tonight."

"Thank you Luna, have a safe trip back."

"I will dear niece, Goodnight"

"Goodnight Luna."

Luna took flight out for grafted crystal window frame, out into the night sky where she disappeared against the black. Shortly after, the moon rose over the horizon, gleaming with passion.

It filled Cadance with Hope.

Author's Note

And with that limited section of lore, this is where the real story begins. All of the characters are in place, all of the info for the beginning is out in the open.

It's rotation station time.

Girl's night out-

Cadance was prepared

The night before had kept her mind in focus enough to square aware any work she had that came in during the morning, and she had gotten plenty of sleep. She also cleared the morning after of any meetings, and assigned her morning activities to ponies that could handle them.

She was equally mentally prepared.

Cadance had spent a while organizing her thoughts from Luna's personal history with Dusk, in addition to what she had gathered herself, and from Discord's and Twilight's vague warning.

In short? Dusk was a jaded genius. He thought vastly differently from the average pony due to his long life. He had been hurt by connecting with ponies before, hence his grumpy and manipulative demeanor. With that understanding, Cadance was confident that she could help him along into trusting her, and from there...

We'll see what it brings when I get to it.

At the moment, Cadance was packing a prep bag in her pocket watch. One of the few enchantments she had struggled to master because of it's convenience, and additionally at Celestia's behest, was a pocket storage spell; anchored onto a silver pocket watch she kept in her mane.

Towel, water. Quills and ink? Nah

In all honesty, the idea of gathering a bunch of likely useless supplies was more to stop her anxiety from hammering away at her mind while she waited for a message from Dusk. The sun was on it's way over the horizon.

Luckily for her, she didn't need to occupy herself for any longer. A cerulean spark flew threw the window and with a light smell of ozone, deposited a jar on the ground at her hooves.

She quickly magicked the rest of her assorted items into her watch and lifted the jar with her hooves. Like before, there was a note, there was not, however, a gem.

Heya Little Princess

I'll be there in a minute to pick you up, just finishing up a couple of things. Time got away from me for the moment.

-You know who

Great more waiting, my favorite

She took a breath. With the 'go go' speed of which her life had taken up, she had recently found herself stressing over the peace and quiet. Like she was waiting for the other horseshoe to drop. She made an attempt to calm herself down, realizing where exactly her stress was coming from helped with that.

There was a knock at her balcony window.

Silver was... floating outside the window, so she reached out with her magic and opened the window. She swooped into the room and the sound of bare hooves on crystal bounced to Cadance's ears.

"Do you not have horseshoes?" She asked

Silver kept her... empty smile, Cadance noted upon second glance, "Nah, not good for..." She took on a thoughtful look, "What's the material horns are made of?"

"Your hooves are-"

"Never mind, you get it" Silver lifted a hoof which glowed Silver's blue colour, "It makes it easier to channel without nails in my hoof."

Noted...

"I'd... be more interested in the idea of being able to cast like a unicorn if..."

"If it wasn't achieved with something that would make you sick, yeah I know."

Cadance didn't really have anything else to add,

Silver smirked, "Is that what you're wearing?"

Cadance, who was not wearing anything, asked, "Yes?"

Silver rolled her eyes, "Come on Little Princess. You need some kind of disguise, I'm not just going to tote a grumpy Alicorn around all night."

Ah, well, I didn't think of that

"Would you like me to give you a quick make over?" Silver said, holding out a hoof.

Cadance stepped forwards, "I would like it if you made me a disguise, I don't want you to mess with me please." She grabbed her hoof.

Silver dropped her mischievous look, "But of course, and now I can actually produce an illusion for you, instead of having to rely on biogenesis."

A cerulean wave passed over Cadance and it was then she noticed how Dusk's magic was a very similar colour to her own. She watched as the hoof in Silver's leg shrunk and turned green, and her eyeline fell to just above Silver's. She also lost sight of her horn at the tip of her vision.

When Silver let go, she turned to appraise herself in the mirror. She had turned green again, but instead of being a solid series of earth tones, her mane sported a deep royal purple, heavy braid with pink highlights that covered her entire forehead and fell as low as her chest, her tail had puffed out and covered her backside in a fan shape, and she now sported what looked like a pink allium as a cuitemark.

"Wow."

"I know right? Way better than what I cobbled together before, Allium."

Cadance chuckled, "My codename then?"

"If you want, all my disguises have their own names, ones I make for others aren't exempt from that rule."

"I can't help but notice the lack of wings or horn."

But Cadance could, unlike the previous transformation, still feel her wings and horn. She flared her wings as a test, and while it certainly felt like it worked, they were simply invisible.

Silver had walked up into view in the mirror next to Cadance, "They're still present, your large mane will visually block the glow of your horn if you feel the need to use it."

Cadance moved her head around, "How did you get the eye level to change?"

"It's an active transmission of a lens spell over your eyes."

Clever... I think

Cadance wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but it was pretty simple to understand given the context.

She tuned towards Silver, who spoke before she could, "Ready to go then Allium?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Cadance gave a nervous smile, "Where are we going?"

"A Canterlot nightclub named..." Silver thought, "Ze Beatz?" She said questioningly?

"What? Why a nightclub?" Cadance took a double take from the mirror to the physical Silver, "And can't you not leave the Crystal Heart's shield?"

"Celestia is asleep at the moment, and a nightclub because I've been told they're a great place to find love." Silver claimed.

Cadance's mind chugged away at trying to comprehend that statement, what came out as a response was, "I wish I understood that."

Silver half rolled her eyes, "I wish I did too Cadance."

In the next moment, a corded silver and green ring appeared to Silver's side and began to spin and grow, a sheet of raw magic filling the interior that quickly resolved into a view of a grey brick street of an alleyway.

"Shall we?" Silver said, gesturing to the now open portal.

"We shall."

It was surprisingly not disorienting at all. Cadance attributed the feeling to being like singing in the shower, except for a moment so short you might miss it. They both trotted themselves into the alleyway, and the portal closed behind them, the ring simply disappearing into nothing behind them. Cadance saw a flicker of black smoke from Silver's baby blue eyes, but it was gone in the next moment.

Cadance, decided now would be a good time to share what she had thought up, while she was waiting. "You know," Silver tilted her head, to make it clear she was listening, as she checked the alleyway for something, "Even though it's odd circumstances, I am happy to go out."

"I bet you haven't had a night to yourself in a long time."

Cadance lightly shook her head, the 'illusionary' mane flopping to her opposite shoulder. "I tend to get more than I'd like, just never enough time to go and do something fun."

"Well keep in mind that while we're here together, we don't necessarily have to spend this time together. If I'm a good excuse for you to get out of your tower, then I don't mind tagging along." Silver had walked to the edge of the alley, and gestured Cadance forwards.

"Not at all," Cadance said, "I'm out tonight to get to know you a little better. I do... actually hope we can become friends."

"Among other things." Silver monotoned

"I won't lie, yes, among other things." Cadance offered diplomatically

Silver stepped out into the street, and began trotting to the side, Cadance had to quickly get used to the odd feedback from her visual in conjunction with how long her legs actually were to keep pace without tripping.

Silver, based on her comment, took notice, "I can actually make you shorter if you want."

Cadance... at first wanted to reject the idea due to the likely dangerous magic involved, but half of her mind decided to make an argument in favor of the idea.

I mean... Why not right? Dusk is an expert, and he did something similar weeks ago, and there was no side affects at all, not even any lingering magic.

Cadance pursed her lips and shrugged, "I guess..."

Silver lifted a wing over Cadance's shoulder and drew her into lock step with the herself, Cadance in the next couple of moments felt her legs broaden and shorten. Silver helped keep her steady as her height changed, then they reset gaits, and Silver let her go.

It was distinctly easier to walk.

"Thanks." She said apprehensively

"You know, I'm not gonna lie, that doesn't really look up to my speed."

They had come up on what was clearly the night club. Across the street, maybe a block down, was a lime white structure, (like all the structures in Canterlot) with florescent lights. The low thrum of bass heavy electronic music spilled from the door and Cadance could barely hear the sounds of ponies talking as they approached.

Cadance, had also never been to a night club, only ever parties at the homes of her friends, or celebrations in the village she grew up in. "I'm genuinely curious about how you even know about night clubs."

"I have my ways."

Meaning, 'I'm not going to tell you'

"Kinda regretting my choices now though."

Cadance raised an eyebrow, their walk to the building still having not slowed, "Do you... not want to go in?"

"Eh, I'm committed to the idea now, it just might be a bit more effort than I thought."

They fell into silence as they approached a large grey unicorn stallion in a smart suit in front of the door.

"Evening you two, how are you doing."

Silver took the verbal initiative, "Wonderful my good sir, and yourself?" Her tone matched what Cadance remembered as "Silver's" voice. Whereas the way Silver tended to talk to her was some blend of Dusk's voice and Silver's voice, this was purely marish in nature, and definitely held the tone of a sophisticated mare.

"It's as good as any other night out here. Welcome to Ze Beatz ladies" He lifted one of his hooves and pushed the door open for the two of them, the music and lights flooding the area.

Silver nodded to the stallion, and made her way inside, Cadance gave a quick thank you, and followed after.

There was a short hallway with a single branching door that said 'employees only' that lead into the main what Cadance assumed was the main room, as she followed after Silver, the music grew louder and she felt the density of the air increase under her wings.

They must have a misting machine

The room itself was the exact description Cadance had heard about. A raised dance floor covered in glowing panels that dominated the center of the room with a DJ table at the back sitting atop a stage. Around the dance floor were numerous recessed tables and couches organized in an admittedly interesting pattern. On the wall to the right was a very colourful blinking standing bar with a two ponies operating it.

There was a staggering amount of ponies in here. Enough that Cadance's legalese focused mind reminded her that this was definitely over the maximum occupancy for this room. She saw the telltale movement of Silver having said something, but the music was so loud that Cadance didn't make it out.

"What?"

Silver leaned towards Cadance, "Where's all this music coming from?!"

Ah right, he's from several hundred years ago

"They're called speakers!" She yelled over the echoing electronic buzzing several ponies were jumping to. "They use magnets and electricity to make sound!"

Silver fully turned to look at Cadance, "Really?!"

Cadance nodded

Silver made a 'huh' face, the actual noise being blown away by the vibrations. Cadance caught the whiff of alcohol as Silver began to take several steps forward, seemingly towards nothing, a look on her face lead Cadance to believe she had yet to decide where to go. Which resolved itself shortly.

Silver made headway towards the stairs down into the seating area, Cadance followed, her attention being momentarily disrupted as she had to duck around a mare going past on rollerblades. It looked like she worked here.

She stepped down onto the platform a body length under the dance floor towards the couch and table combo Silver had claimed, as she approached Silver was in the midst of placing a burlap sack on the table.

"What's this?!" Cadance asked over the music, which was significantly louder here. Apparently the speaker system was under the stage, meaning they were in the perfect spot for it to be as loud as possible.

Silver pulled a green cloak from the bag and tossed it over the rounded couch, near the end "Marking a table for us, dibs right?"

Cadance scoffed. The juxtaposition of Dusk saying 'dibs' and other slang all night nearly had her laughing. "Where'd you learn the word dibs?"

Silver shook her head and rolled her eyes, "I can tell you're not going to come to this conclusion on your own, so I'll just let you know, I wasn't in stone for that whole time." She said, half shouting. "I came and went as I pleased every nine moons or so!"

garbled thought noises

"I can barely hear myself think in here!"

Silver smiled, "I know!? Isn't it silly!" Silver, after covering the table and couch with a pair of saddle bags and water, stood and stepped off the couch, "Drinks?"

Which of course was something else Cadance was deliberating, drinking. While she could and-

"Before you get all stick in the mud on me, I'll have you know that I chose this place in particular because they have fun liquids" Silver was stood in front of Cadance now, which made it a little bit easier to hear her.

"Why'd you say it like that?"

Silver walked past, "You'll see, just hold down the fort!" She called over her shoulder, leaving Cadance to take a seat and look around

wow

This was surreal, and honestly, it got her heart pumping a bit. Being out, doing something strange, wearing somepony else's fur? The scandal would stretch all over Equestria if she were found doing this normally. Her reputation of soft furred guidance for the Crystal Empire would be tarnished forever in the smear piece about her uncontrollable party lust.

It was exhilarating. It was fun.

Maybe this won't be so bad, plus, Dusk is bound to enjoy my company more if I actually want to be here

Cadance elected to really try to lean into the night, now that she was here at least. That was the plan, after all; have fun, make a friend.

Doesn't have to be any more complicated than that

The ceiling wasn't covered, like one of those restaurant establishments unique to the cities like Trottingham and Manehatten, the room was just so smoky and covered in flashing lights that it was likely nopony would notice. Not that anypony likely wanted too, the dancing featured jumping and shaking, mostly; ponies here seemed not to care about making an impression.

Silver returned to Cadance's view toting two... things balanced on her wings

They were stemmed glasses with a wide triangular rim shape, which wasn't the unusual part. The liquid which they roughly contained was a kaleidoscope of colours, and floated just inside the rim, functioning more like a gas than a liquid.

"They call them rainbow brain smashers" Silver said with a smile, as she slid one off her wing and onto the table for Cadance, "Oh, and remember the drink enchantment, it makes them work a little faster, so make sure you pace yourself this time."

Cadance did indeed remember, and Silver's comment confirmed something she had been mentally tossing around, "So the drinking the night I met you was a plan to get rid of me."

"Hah! Yeah..." Silver looked at nothing and smiled warmly, "Good times."

"I thought you said it wasn't a trick?" Cadance picked up her drink. There was salt sugar dotted around the rim.

"If you recall, I just re-asked you if you thought it was unreasonable." Silver took a 'sip'. Drinking from the cloud that floated in the air.

Fair enough I guess... That does sound like something Dusk would do

The drink was weird, it smelled like water vapor and chemicals, floated, and-

Lean Cadance, lean.

She tilted the glass, and took a sip.

Unlike the shots, this drink wasn't nearly as alcohol rich, it was however, spicy. Very, very spicy.

"Eghb!" She tried to cover her disgust, Cadance was not an avid enjoyer of spicy things.

Silver laughed at her from the side.

"Rainbow, I should have known."

Silver scooted next to her on the couch, her own drink balanced on her wing still. "It's not exactly a hidden feature is it Little Princess?"

Cadance rolled her eyes.

At least you didn't taste the poison in it

"How much alcohol is in this?" She yelled over the music, which had just turned to heavy beats and static guitar thrums.

"The tender said it was a fruit whisky," Silver took another sip, "It tastes like sixty percent"

"Wait, isn't that a lot?"

"Yeah, the rainbow really hides the content no? I figured you might enjoy it."

"I can't really taste it at all, I don't really have a developed palate for spicy."

Silver shrugged, and tossed back the rest of the 'rainbow brain destroyer'

Cadance decided to take her drink a little slower, it was maybe half the volume of what she had drank that night, and Silver had claimed it was just under the same alcohol content.

"So speakers? How do they work? I'm guessing some sort of magic piston?"

What?

Cadance smiled, "Speakers? Really? That's what you want to talk about?"

"Colour me intrigued, I want to know how they work, maybe make my own." Silver shrugged

Well why not right?

"They're actually fully mechanical and electrical."

Silver raised a brow

"They use a magnet and a current to shake a piece of metal sitting over the negative side extension of the magnet, that sits on a pole."

Silver nodded

"The piece is wrapped in a wire that shakes because of the magnets and in sequence with the electrical signal sent through the wire"

"and that works?" Silver said, incredulous, "You can just reverse apply the rules of the electro-magnetic field?"

"I'm not sure what that means but yes, it does work!" Cadance took another sip of her drink, and waved a hoof, trying not to cough.

"How do you know all that?"

"My roomie in college was an engineer, her name was Sunlight, it was a hobby."

"You had a roomate? Actually, I'm cashing in one of my questions here. What's your education like?"

"Questions?"

Silver opened her mouth, but before she could,

"Oh oh! No I remember, from the game!"

Silver nodded, "It occurred to me that I don't have a grasp of how book smart you are."

"Well I'm no Twilight Sparkle, but I did finish a degree in business."

Silver half smirked, "You. A business degree?"

Cadance smiled, "I've got a decent head for numbers, plus, in college, business degrees are pretty easy."

"Well tell me all about it."

Cadance took another sip from her drink while she thought. Lucky for her, her mouth had given up trying to taste, and the drink slid back without any issues.

"Well first off, I didn't go to any fancy schools. Even though Celestia wanted me to, I... at the time, wanted a normal fillyhood."

"How long ago was this? I also have no idea how old you are."

"Is that a question?" She cheekily tried

Silver laughed, "No, I know you're around seventy to ninety years old. You might as well finish it off for me."

"I'm eighty one, almost."

Silver threw her head in an exaggerated nod, "Ah, the old eight-oh, you look obnoxiously young for that age."

"Flatterer."

Silver rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, I went to college in Dale, in Bridlepolis" Cadance took another sip, "Nothing unique, I wasn't much of a partier, going through my midlife crisis in my twenties looking like a teenager. I just studied and made a couple of friends."

"Sounds boring and pointless, did you at least learn anything useful."

"Other than applied statistics and calculus, not really. It was enough to help me keep up with Twilight, but everything else I know was on the job learning, or taught to me by Celestia."

"Statistics?"

"The study of probability."

Silver snorted and produced a stocky bottle glass bottle of something yellow, and popped the cork off the top of it.

"What's so funny."

"The idea that probability can be studied. Things, everything that is, have a fifty percent chance of happening or not."

"That's ridiculous."

"If you say so" Silver swigged the bottle like a sailor. It was odd to watch.

You know, there might be something to that

"Explain then, the fifty percent thing."

Silver put the bottle on the table, and held up both of her hooves. "Think of it like this Allium, everything that could happen, will either happen, or not. Two options."

Cadance jumped in, "but certain things are more likely to happen than others."

Silver smiled, "Exactly my point. What is more likely, a book that writes itself spawning into existence on it's own? or a spot where exactly nothing is happening, for nothing to continue happening."

"I don't see your point."

"Life is a statistical anomaly my dear. One that you're currently living. Of course from the perspective of a living creature, certain things are more likely than other things, because your existence creates those statistical anomalies. From a non-living universal perspective, anything is as likely as anything else."

That's actually a pretty compelling argument.

Cadance nodded slowly. She was beginning to feel the light warmth from her drink. "That implies though that we'd want to measure statistics from a non-living perspective"

"In order to chart likely events with math so it could be useful, yes. Of course, you could do the same with a non-living perspective, it's just that no one has thought up the math, and published it." Silver gave her a knowing look, "You were in the debate club weren't you."

Cadance, very unwillingly, felt a blush come to her cheeks at the comment, "Celestia said it'd be good for me to learn the basic principles..."

"Celestia this and Celestia that, wasn't there anything in your education not lead by the old mare upstairs?"

"Yes... but you won't particularly like the idea..."

"Ahhhh... College romance, no?" Silver's false smile deepened, and her eyes gave a telltale sparkle, "Far be it from me to deny you the chance to talk about your special talent."

Cadance rolled her eyes, "Romance isn't my special talent."

"I am quite aware." Silver said with a more essence than Cadance was expecting.

"I dated two or three ponies in college. Nothing came of it, there's not too much more to tell." Cadance nervously took a sip of her slowly diminishing cloud in a glass.

"Surely not; you've the tendency to think, I can tell." Silver took a deeper swig. "Surely there was something you learned or did that was worth a story."

Cadance thought, and she turned towards the shaking dance floor, then back to Silver. "I learned how to dance."

"Dancing is fun." A cheshire smile from the silver pegasus

"Not anything like that," She nodded to the dance floor, "Definitely something slower."

"You're being a bit cagey about the details, something tells me there's something more to that."

Cadance smiled, "I had my first kiss slow dancing, that's all." It was a vague yet fond memory from a couple several full lunar cycles back.

Silver clapped, "Slow dancing ay? I figured you'd be more of a swing kinda gal."

"Swing?"

"The name is the music."

Well I guess that makes sense

"Also... Gal?" Cadance tried the word, "I've never heard that before."

Silver frowned, "Ugh, of course you haven't. Gal, girl, person, people. They're non-race specific terms."

"Non-race specific terms?"

"You wouldn't call a griffon a pony would you?"

"No?"

"So why do you say things like 'everypony' or 'mare' or 'stallion' per word? Lumping them together is way easier." Another swig, "It's also less racist."

Cadance considered. "I guess I just never thought about it."

Silver bapped Cadance on the back of the head with her wing.

"Hey, okay I get it."

She was about halfway through her drink, she wanted to ask Silver the return question, but she tried to consider how to broach the topic. She decided to go blunt, as there wasn't anything technically wrong with her question.

"How about you? Have any romance back in your day?"

Silver chuckled, "Allium, I'm older than Equestria. I have bloodlines."

"You mean..."

"I've had married several people, among of which I have had many children."

Cadance's thought process came to a screeching halt.

"Don't look so surprised, I was quite the Casanova back in my youth."

Cadance shook the complex thoughts from her head, "I just... It didn't seem like you."

"What, you think I don't want companionship?"

"No?"

"Well you'd be wrong then. Usually it was political. I did favor my children though." Silver gave Cadance a... strange once over.

"I just..."

"I'll hit you again," Silver joked, spreading a wing in Cadance's direction, "I will, don't test me."

"Fair enough I guess... do... are any of them still around?" Cadance tried, taking another sip from her drink. "Your descendants, I mean."

Silver made a weird expression, and tossed her head back momentarily, "Apparently. I really only had a couple of children that could procreate themselves; my... unique biology not really lending itself towards that in any useful way."

Not surprising.

As far as Cadance knew, Dusk was a heavily biologically modified pony. Pushed forwards by magic and science, along with his... curse. Which Cadance was still desperate to know the details of.

She was drawn out of her thoughts by Silver's side eye, "You promise not to do anything with the information?"

Not a difficult promise, "Promise"

"That Sunset girl, over the mirror, wouldn't happen to have the same colour of magic as I do, would she?"

She does, he's not saying

"I made sure this one I actually liked, Fire Dance Shimmer, could actually have a family that wasn't just me."

"You mean-"

Silver held up a hoof. "It's possible" but she smiled, "But maybe" and shrugged.

Cadance wasn't dumbstruck per say, but she was certainly surprised, Sunset Shimmer could have been a descendant of Dusk this whole time?

Is that why Celestia-

"Not by any measure that it'd be any notable relation, but she might have a bit of my blood in her, if she has my telltale colour of magic; in addition to the sir name."

"Huh," was all that Cadance could get out. "What was she like?"

"Fire Dance?"

"Yeah."

"Fire Dance was a Stallion."

Cadance blinked, "Oh."

"And he was an idiot." Silver leaned over and knocked her hoof on her head, "Total bucking dunce."

Cadance looked silly, sat there with a glass in her hoof, and Silver tapping the side of her face while she gaped like a fish.

"He was endlessly sweet though, and a powerhouse if you know what I mean." Silver said fondly at first, switching up her tone near the end.

Cadance blushed, "I- I thought you were a stallion." There was a little stuttering

"Hah!" Silver sneered, "I am nothing, other than myself." She then polished whatever was left in her bottle, and continued, "And when you get to as old as I am, I promise that the idea of 'gender' will stop mattering."

She then more sullenly said, "A lot of things stop mattering."

Cadance tentatively spread a wing and wrapped Silver in a hug, seeing that Silver may need some comfort, gazing into an empty bottle the way she was.

Silver leaned away.

"Ay, your feathers are ticklish." Silver batted at Cadance's wings with her own.

"Sorry"

Silver stood, "No worries, I'ma go get myself another one of those weird drinks, you want something else while I'm up?"

Silver had a slight sway as she stood... It was a little concerning. Cadance was a little upset for the hasty retreat.

Silver elbowed Cadance as she stepped over her to get out of the couch, "I'm just jokin, you don't have a choice, no spicy things this time though."

And Silver was swallowed by the crowd.

Cadance looked down at her drink.

This is not at all what I expected from... Dusk, it almost feels far to good to be true. Is... well I guess are they actually opening up? Is this all it took?

It didn't feel like it.

No... something is still off. I just can't put my hoof on it. Dusk isn't a liar though, so I can take everything he-they say for the truth. It's just something else about those eyes and hollow smile.

She sniffed her drink. It made her wrinkle her face. Which subsequently made her frown. She was nearing tipsy at this point, and Dusk was apparently adamant that she keep drinking, although not pressuring her to drink at the same speed, Dusk was still bringing her another drink.

Alright then

She tipped back the rest of the rainbow cloud and swallowed it down. A few coughs and tingling later and she triumphantly placed the gross thing back down onto the long curved table.

Dusk returned to the table a moment after, this time she had two tall glasses that looked like beakers. They were filled with a sluicy silver liquid. Although Cadance was hesitant to think of them as liquids, it looked much more like the thing was full of white sand. There was, however, a curly swirly straw, which Cadance liked.

Dusk set it down on the table in front of her, and took a quick couple of flaps to hop over to return to sitting next to her.

"I have to ask." Cadance tried, almost hiccupping, "Whatever this is, before I drink it."

Silver was now sporting a proper flushed look, "It's a sweet drink, the counter filly called it a silver dream." Silver inhaled the rest of her new rainbow drink, having seemingly been drinking it on the way over. "It was their most expensive one, also apparently quite dense, lotta bang for your bit there." She said, roughly pointing at her own drink.

Cadance decided to express her concern, "You're going a bit fast, don't you think?"

Silver smiled and gave Cadance a far off look, "I'm looking to get properly thrashed tonight, give this new body a whirl."

"What does that even mean." Cadance rolled her eyes

"Well, unlike before, when I was rocking a non-corporeal form, I had to mentally disable myself while we were drinking to get a legitimate effect." Silver lifted the beaker like glass to her lips, ignoring the straw, and sucked up some of the... sand.

Cadance watched in curiousity.

"Now though" And Silver made her point by stretching her wings, "I'm proper flesh and blood, got a soul anchored and everything. It's what I used your memories for." Silver quickly and roughly gestured to Cadance's drink, "Also try that, you'll like it."

She almost accidentally levitated it, but remembered. Instead, she grabbed it between her hooves and gave the 'drink' an appraising look from the opening. It didn't look any different from up close.

"Why are you so skeptical Allium? Hmm?" Silver drank more, "It's a drink I got from over there," She pointed at the bar, "It won't hurt you, not with my spell."

Lean Cadance, you're here to have fun remember?

I am distinctly worried about my company though.

That's not how friendship works, trust isn't something a pony can earn, it has to be given.

Do I want to trust Dusk?

That was the million bit question that struck Cadance like a truck. With the glass in her hooves, she looked over to Dusk.

It isn't about Dusk, Cadance. Are you going to do this.

Am I going to do this?

Silver had an encouraging look. Cadance still had the feeling that it wasn't genuine, but did it have to be? Did it matter?

Yes. I am.

"To Tartarus with it." She tilted back the beaker, and let the sluice drain into her mouth. Something in her mind told her she had to mark her decision physically, so she decided that she was going to consume this drink in one fell swoop as proof to herself for her commitment.

Was it necessary? No, not at all.

The drink was surprisingly good, at the very least, the alcohol was hard to notice behind her already burned tounge, and the rest of it was a zesty but still sweet sugary flavor.

She drained nearly a pint of it from the beaker until it was empty before slamming the beaker down onto the table.

-for the crazy we keep inside

Oh my gosh I can't believe I just did that.

"Woohoo!" Silver clapped her on the back with a hoof, "There it is! and I was worried you wouldn't be joining me tonight."

Cadance struggled to hear the tail end of Silver's statement over the music, and the burp caused by Silver that brought all the wonderful flavours of death into her sinuses.

Despite herself, she found Silver's excitement infectious.

I was skirting cutting loose. Not anymore.

"Whatever that was, it tasted good." Cadance said, struggling to keep the smell away

Silver matched Cadance's growing smile with a fake one.

Don't worry about it Cadance. Silver is Silver... or, Dusk is Dusk, whatever, stop focusing so much

Silver retreated her hoof from Cadance's back, and pulled a shiny silver metal container from nowhere and hoofed it over to Cadance. The thing was cool, and covered in condensation.

"Water?" She said over the noise, Silver merely nodded, and hopped back over the end of the couch, probably to go get Cadance another drink.

That's nice

She pulled the cap off with her teeth, and spat it onto the table

Imagine doing that in a meeting

The refreshing temperature and sensation of ice water filled her mouth, and she practically melted into the couch. There was a slight noise of contentedness as well, something decidedly not Princess like, which is when a thought struck Cadance in her tipsy haze.

I'm not a Princess right now.

I'm just Cadance, Cadance with a purple mane and green fur.

Just me.

Silver returned floating down from somewhere back onto the couch with another pair of drinks in tow. Another glass of rainbow for her, and another... What was it called? Silver dream, for Cadance.

Cadance inspected the drink, her half formed thoughts about newfound freedom swirling away anything she was going to say.

What does me want?

"So Cadance."

She grabbed at her fresh drink, deciding to savour this one. It was actually pretty good. Sugary sweet with a biting aftertaste. Not something she'd want in her pasta, but at the moment, it was interesting enough. Once she had it balanced, and was properly reclined, she turned towards Silver, who began to speak again once she had Cadance's attention.

"What are your thoughts on a family?"

"My thoughts?" The pressure from her sitting position made it a little hard to breath, causing her voice to come out deeper than she wanted it to.

"Yeah, ever wanted one?"

Cadance got what she was working at, "You mean having a foal."

"A child." Silver jabbed

Before Cadance could respond to the correction, Silver raised a wing and said, "Racist"

Cadance giggled, "Child then." And then frowned. "Celestia said that... Alicorns are too different from non-alicorns."

"Which is true. It's what I told her when she asked me all those moons ago."

Cadance raised an eyebrow, "Celestia asked you if she could have children?"

She snorted, that having not quite come out the way she meant.

"Heh, yeah she did. She had been trying for a couple hundred moons before giving up. Of course, this was back when medical science was as developed as 'knowing mares had a uterus'"

Cadance snorted again at the jab to older medical sciences.

"So she came to me, a bit of a user, but I let it slide for this. Told me that if anypony could figure it out, I could." Silver took a large gulp of her tall glass. "Turns out Alicorn biology just isn't compatible."

Cadance's frown deepened.

"Do you know anything about that?"

"About alicorn biology?"

"If anyone was to know about it, it'd be you."

Cadance didn't miss the double meaning behind the phrase, but didn't feel the need to comment on it. "I don't know, didn't know that, at least."

"But you've been trying no doubt."

Cadance blushed, but didn't respond.

Me wants a daughter

Her thoughts struck out at her

So she spoke, "What's it like? Having a child?"

"I-er." Silver stuttered, and gave a quick evasive glance around the room. "Well- it, it's the most resp-" Silver shook her head, "Lemme try that again... It's the most difficult thing I've done other than Live." She put her glass down, "It's more complex than I imagined, at least at first. Although, I always thought it was worth it. With my children, anyways."

"Tell me about them" Cadance leaned over the table, a little to close for Silver; who put a hoof on Cadance's side and pushed her back into her upright sitting position.

"That's a bit personal don't'cha think?"

Cadance sipped her drink in response.

"Fair enough." Silver rolled her eyes, "I prefer keeping my past where it lies though."

Cadance nodded.

I can respect that, for now.

A light from the dance floor caught her eye, and the music stopped momentarily before the DJ said something into the microphone. There was a smattering of applause and stomping before the music and light's continued unabated.

"Guess their set is done."

Aww. I-

I wanted to dance.

Cadance leaned forwards in her seat, and deposited her drink on the table at the same time she fell forwards to sit properly. "You're unreasonably old right?" She asked Silver while getting to her hooves.

"Not a super polite way to say it-" Cadance stuck her tounge out, "But yes."

Cadance stepped out of the booth with a sway she was expecting, "Then why don't you show me the dance moves you picked up along the way?"

"Only if you show me yours." Silver said with a smirk, making her way out of the booth herself

"It's a deal."

And the two drunken immortals stutter stepped their way up to the raised disco platform full of flailing ponies, giggling as they both continued to nearly fall, only to be caught by the other.

Once they were up, Silver took a position in front of Cadance and gave her a weary smile. Cadance was unsure if it was real or not, and this time, was simply able to not care about that little detail. Shunting it from her mind, and taking a deep breath of the thrumming music vibrating up her legs, she yelled out over the activity, "Well let's see what you got!"

Silver, wasting no time at all, closed her eyes and started to bounce to the music with her wings spread.

Wondering what she was going to do, Cadance simply fell into beat with the vibrating ground, and watched.

Silver, like Cadance expected, did something ridiculous. Rearing onto her hindlegs, using her wings to stabilize herself with each swing of the bass, started to bounce and jive from left to right using her back legs only. Once Silver found a rhythm, she began to spin, into a series of steps that looked specifically choreographed for her to be leaned down to the point where she should have fallen, if not for being a pegasus. She catapulted herself back into a standing position, where she continued the bouncing steps for the series of moves by sliding in a circle around Cadance while spinning.

Several ponies around her stopped in awe to witness the dexterity, Cadance found herself entranced by Silver's commitment to matching the beat of the wild electronic music with jumps and half steps along the deeper thrums of the music.

Once she had completed the full loop, Silver dipped under Cadance's muzzle upside down, and onto one leg, where she closed her wings and wrapped herself in a hug and spun.

Holy-

Six, seven, eight, nine rotations and climbing, Silver spun five more times before drawing the last spin into a forward lean, flipping herself under her own muzzle, and snapping her wings out at the last second and calmly drifting back down onto her back with her legs crossed, the momentum of her spinning causing her to slide lightly on the polished floor.

The ponies close enough to see erupted in chaos and cheers, ponies going into either more intense versions of their dramatic dancing in support, or stomping and cheering over the noise for Silver's performance.

Silver reached a hoof out towards Cadance in a passing of the baton gesture. The ponies on the floor followed the look to the obvious pony the gesture was directed at, and Cadance was suddenly faced with the task of topping that.

The fun part was, she felt like she could. Cadance recognized foreign dance moves when she saw them, and Minitour was something she definitely had in her repertoire.

Nothing compared to yak

Cadance began to stomp in sequence with the beats. Nothing special, just hard and heavy. She gave a woop on the third of the stomps, and then threw her back legs into the mix. Fully jumping up and down to get as much volume and power from her stomps as possible. The ponies around her, feeling the coming competition joined in the stomping in support of the disguised Princess.

Once she had dominated her entire surroundings with the rapid sounds of ponies attempting to rupture the earth, did she commit to the full series of moves.

In a flurry, Cadance flipped herself, going from one stomp, instantaneously to the next, but with a full bodily rotation, it was fast. It was primal, loud. She gave another whoop, this one louder and deeper, and flipped herself the other way, this time, landing on only her left hooves, then again, and again, each time in some different alteration sometimes giving herself time to stomp twice with her own momentum.

The crowd loved it. She loved it, the sensation of blood filling her legs, the vibrations.

The final touch was wrapped around her neck. She ripped into whatever enchantment was holding her illusionary mane together with her magic and although the illusion staggered for a moment, her blunt force attempt to undo her mane worked. The pink and lilac furls quickly joining the fray of her rapid spinning and stomping in a whirl of colour as she began to give increasingly loud whoops with each stomp.

It was exhilarating, but not without the crescendo was Cadance ready to put a bow on her 'addition' to the dancing. She growled as she used the last rotation to throw herself bodily into the air, a noise of exertion following as she pushed off the ground and spun once over head, and twice over her side, before landing and slamming the ground three times so rapidly in sequence that it actually hurt.

She gasped, the breath having been properly removed from her lungs throughout the whole thing, and her adrenaline and alcohol laden brain demanding oxygen for it's work.

She mentally tuned back in to ponies dancing and stomping and cheering in support. Silver looked on with a neutral expression. Something which sapped at Cadance's excitement.

That is until the expression turned into a smirk, and Silver's eyebrows creased.

It was the look of somepony sizing up the competition.

It was a challenge.

You're on.

She told Silver with her expression, and her action as she walked up next to the smaller mare, and looked over her shoulder at her, "Let's see if you can handle the Mareland Waltz."

"Darling. You had me at 'Hello'" Silver stuck out her front left hoof, the one closest to Cadance. Cadance did the same with hers, and they both took a deliberate step away from one another, so that their body lengths were just opposite each other.

Then they came crashing together. Cadance spun, Silver, just a moment after, and their hooves collided in the air, both of them reared up, and practically muzzle to muzzle.

Cadance decided to try and throw Silver off balance by taking the first step, backwards, a clear smirk written across her face gave it away though. Silver dropped her first connecting hoof, and rolled with the back step, now standing completely upright and wrapped in Cadance's leading hoof, Cadance, now forced to follow, twisted with her back step, and flung Silver into a airborne roll, which Silver used to replant, and re-engage. Now back where they were, Silver took the first step, pushing Cadance's following hoof back, while stepping forward with her own leading hoof.

Before Cadance had a chance to respond, Silver repeated the action in reverse, forcing Cadance to match. Suddenly they were in a rhythm of pushing their hooves back and forth between each other, and rapidly switching lead hooves on the ground.

You think you'll get me off guard with a sudden change but- whoah!

Silver did in fact, do that, pulling Cadance's hooves up, and lifting Cadance bodily off the ground, Silver flapped with her wings and slid Cadance under her, barely half a hoof above the floor. Just after, Silver's back hooves landed on the floor at the same time that she heaved, throwing Cadance into the air and spinning around.

Cadance, decidedly trying not to use her wings to avoid any unwanted attention, fell.

Silver caught her in her hooves, her back legs resting against the floor and Silver stood upright with her wings to keep her balanced. Silver leaned in to Cadance's ear and whispered, "Gotcha"

On that, and realizing she'd been beaten, Cadance violently and humorously removed herself from Silver's grip, making sure she was planted on the ground before turning to the laughing Silver. Most ponies after seeing the clear victor, returned to their own dancing after giving several heartfelt cheers.

Cadance felt the heat on her face at the loss, but also from the alcohol, though she didn't feel like she lost. She was having far to much fun. She gently jabbed Silver in the chest, "A fluke, let's see you do that again."

"Gladly."

Silver took Cadance's hoof, and spun her away like a storm. Whatever was causing Silver to hold back was seemingly gone now, Cadance's vision nearly impaired from the speed of Silver's rapid moves. On several occasions Cadance found herself being tripped or leaned by Silver in the right directions just to help her keep up.

To say the least, Silver tore the floor a new one, with Cadance joyfully along for the ride.

Eventually the oncoming tide that was Silver's oppressive dancing ended, but Cadance wasn't near from over, having spent enough time observing the other ponies on the floor. Cadance began to shake and bounce away the music, always keeping a smile on her face, and Silver in sight, who elected to do the same as her. They occasionally bumped and quickly exchanged challenging dance moves, but otherwise, whatever constructed competition they had, had broken down into uncontrolled dancing between the two of them.

Flailing wasn't really the right term to describe her own dancing, but she didn't mind. She was a ball dancer, not a night club enthusiast. She wasn't sure how long she danced, but she took immeasurable joy in spinning her mane like a hurricane, and shaking her backside like no tomorrow in particular.

Eventually though, the Princess of Love's party stamina wore out, the exhaustion continually making itself known at the tail end of every dance move. Eventually she had to stop, and just as she did, expecting to take quick breather and get back into it, her exhaustion hit her all at once.

Her vision swam, and she tried to yell for Silver over the noise, having lost sight of her at some point, but it only came out as a mumble as Cadance tried to blink away the nausea and tiredness.

A silver hoof found her, and Cadance idly wondered how Silver managed to get her hooves to look metallic like that, and if she could do that for Cadance's mane.

Next thing she knew, she was off the dance floor, leaning up against Silver, and slowly trotting back to their table. Cadance's whole body felt obnoxiously heavy, her eye lids specifically.

I wasn't... aware it would all slam into me at once... jeez

The single line of comprehensive thought led her all the way back to the table, where Silver wordlessly pressed the open container of ice water to Cadance's lips. She took it in her hooves and drank greedily of the refreshing substance, now not bothering to hide her moan of satisfaction.

Making a 'ah' noise as she tried to place the bottle down on the table she tried not to tumble over into the couch. She wasn't really sure if she succeeded. Silver had grabbed her hoof again and tried to banish the mental fog by shaking her head, but Silver started leading her somewhere.

Eventually the vibrant and loud room formed into a UV lit bathroom Cadance didn't remember walking into.

"-eady to go home Little Princess?" Silver said, Cadance tuning in after realizing she was speaking.

The smile stuck to her face grew as she thought of home, and she nodded slowly.

"Bathroom?"

She shook her head

Silver started stepping on the ground and the 'Silver is casting a spell' alarm bells started ringing in Cadance's mind, urging her to observe and understand. Instead, Cadance just looked at Silver.

She wasn't really sure what to think, so she didn't. Tried not to at least.

The very recognizable portal opened up in front of her; Silver grabbed her by the hoof and led her through it. Now though, the vaguely disorienting sensation sent Cadance into a mental downspin. She was just so warm and happy, and tired. Her smile grew as she jokingly started internally laughing at how she was 'going down.' The thought never properly making it to her conscious mind, as it began shutting down.

She thought she heard shouting, but the idea was over taken by her bed, which she was suddenly in. A wave of magic, and sequentially, a warm blanket that fell over her back in addition to the cool sheets she was laying on was enough to send her into the dream realm in a deeper sleep then she'd slept in a very long time.

Morning

Cadance awoke gently, and then immediately fell back into sleep. Her mind did a quick register of her state and after taking stock of the warmth and comfort of her bed and her current position, decided that she did not have to be awake just yet.

The next time she came too, she fell right into being awake, sliding away from her sleep imperceptibly. She stretched lengthwise, and pressed her nose into the pillow she had in-between her front hooves.

"Cadance?" Came Shining's voice

Cadance continued to bury herself in the covers and comfort as she slowly allowed herself to become aware. She let out a soft affirmation that she was awake, with a light inflection at the end, "mmmm?"

She felt the mattress indent on her side of the bed, which was odd. Shining usually slept on the other side. To check the state of things, Cadance opened her eyes, accepting that it was time to get up properly.

As she blunk the sleep out of her eyes, she got a look at her husband. Shining Armor clearly hadn't slept and was standing with two limbs on the bed sheets, a look of worry and exhaustion plastered over his face.

"Shining? What's wrong?" She said as she began sitting up, ruffling her wings to move the blankets off of herself.

"I... You."

She frowned, "I'm what's wrong?"

"No I-" He shook his head, "I'm sorry, give yourself a minute to wake up."

"No no, I'm wide awake now, what's happening?"

Shining got off the bed, and began to fall backwards, Cadance only noticed after he had sat down that there was a chair behind him.

Did he... Was he awake all night? Watching me sleep?

"You came back last night." Shining said slowly, breathily, reinforcing the idea he had been up all night

Last night

"Silver just... Opened a portal into our bedroom, dragged you inside from some alleyway somewhere."

"It's ok-" She tried to interject.

"Cadance," He stopped her interjection, "You were very out of it. You didn't even hear me talk, Silver just led you to bed and you flopped and I couldn't wake you up."

Guess I slept pretty hard

"Silver wouldn't tell me anything either, just 'What happens at 'GN' stays at 'GN'" His tone turned frustrated at the comment.

Sounds like Silver

"She was just messing with you honey." Cadance looked him in the eyes, "I'm okay, really I am."

Whatever Shining was going to say next happened just a bit too slowly, and words kept tumbling from Cadance's mouth. "Better than okay... I haven't slept like that in months." She enunciated the fact by rolling her neck and her shoulders. It was true, she felt great, a bit of stretching, a shower and she'd be at peak physicality. The sun had yet to crest the horizon, but she still felt like she got a full six hours of sleep.

"I don't know what to do, Cadance."

Cadance's frown returned and her gaze softened as Shining spoke

"I feel like there's nothing I can do to help you, and-" He looked away, "You keep getting into crazier circumstances, I keep seeing you... I keep worrying about you, and every time it's..."

"How can you be fine? You came back drunk." He began gesturing, "Not tipsy Cadance, drunk."

"Silver has a spell for the alcohol poisoning." She said quickly, a little ashamed at the state she came home in, but not too ashamed. She was more emotionally distraught about her husband.

He's really upset Cadance

"That's just it Cadance. Every time something happens, or you do something, there's always something to make it okay." He shook his hoof in his other as he listed, "Silver has a spell, nothing 'technically' bad happened, nopony was hurt, no laws were broken. It's always something. Silver is skirting the rules so closely tha-"

"Shining."

"Just let me finish? Please?"

She bit back her words, and nodded.

"What am I supposed to do Cadance? I..." He deeply frowned, "Dusk is better than me, stronger, smarter, I can't protect you, and then I see you come home like that and it terrifies me."

Cadance stepped out of bed and wrapped her Love in her wings and hooves. It was a little awkward with the chair, but she had the height to make it work.

She spoke quietly, the distance not requiring anything more, "Silver, isn't better than you Shining. Just different."

Shining scoffed

"I'm sorry I worried you. I did have fun last night, I thought, 'Shining has made guard friends over a drink? Why can't I?'"

"Not friends like that."

"I actually think so Shining." She pulled away, "It worked, at least"

"It did?" He said

"Yes." She gave a hard nod, "Silver may not have actually engaged with me, I'm not too sure, but once I leaned into having fun... Well, so did Silver. She and I talked a lot. I learned a lot about her, exactly what we were hoping for."

"She?"

Cadance nodded, "That's one of the things. Apparently Dusk slash Silver doesn't really have any stable persona's."

"What does that mean?"

"Well..." She tried to put it to words, "Dusk has been a bunch of different ponies, worn a lot of literally different faces. Has lived several life times. I just don't think they have a sense of self anymore."

Shining mulled over the idea for a bit before speaking, "Like how Discord isn't any of his parts."

She nodded, "Exactly, he's just Discord."

"And at the moment, Dusk is Silver?"

"She didn't tell me that specifically, but that's what it felt like."

Shining went silent. She could feel his whirling emotions, satisfaction and relief that she was apparently safe and sound, but apprehension and fear of what was to come.

He feels powerless to help. Powerless to keep me safe.

The two of them sat momentarily, breathing in the moment, and their short conversation.

Shining eventually spoke again, slowly, trying to put his thoughts to words as best as he could, "I want to help. I do, I... If you're right about Silver being a good pony, then it's worth it. I trust you."

"You just don't like the way it's going so far." She finished for him.

"I get that Silver isn't normal, isn't going to act normal."

Cadance gave a soft chiming laugh, "Tell me about it."

"I just worry."

"I know you do, and it warms my heart and keeps me going." She pressed a hoof over her chest and gave him the warmest smile she could.

He gave a deep sigh, "So I just need to... Let you do you then?"

"I think that I may actually have an idea."

Shining raised an eyebrow.

"But first, you're going to get up here and get some sleep. The sun's not up yet, you still have a bit before we have to get up for real." She snarked at him, and used her magic to grab his hoof and lead him into bed.

Shining smiled, and Cadance internally soared.

There it is! Good work Cadance!

The mental hoof shaking from all her thoughts celebrating the kindness she was able to show. "You can even have my warm spot" She said, climbing back over where she was just sleeping, and pulling Shining Armor into bed. She laid down next to where she knew he'd lay down, and wrapped a wing over him in the next moment. They settled in a spoon, and Shining pulled up the blankets with his magic.

Cadance's mind, having decided she was awake, rebelled at the idea of going back to sleep. So she spoke, "Does everyone in your family have that colour of aura?"

"Hmm?" Shining said, settling into the cuddle

"Your magic aura, the purple shades. Twilight has a slightly different colour, and I know your mother does too"

Shining, aware of the distance, spoke softly when he answered, "It's a unicorn thing. Powerful magical lineages tend to have similar coloured magic."

A beat passed

"What makes you ask?"

Cadance inwardly chuckled at the explanation she had, the irony of it not lost on her. "Sliver thinks Sunset Shimmer might be one of her descendants."

Shining responded by not responding.

"I know right?"

Shining softly shook his head, "I wonder about the nature of the pony he had children with."

"According to her, there were several." She added, “Which is not surprising, considering the length of Silver's life."

"How long is that?"

"I've gotten enough information to guess that she was born a couple hundred years before the Discordian Era." Cadance said.

"Hmmm, guess it's not too surprising then no..."

Cadance felt his emotions shift again. Back towards negativity.

"Something else on your mind?" She tentatively asked

Shining took several seconds to respond, but he did eventually respond, "Are... Are we going to..?"

Cadance's good mood plummeted, she squeezed him gently, "I don't know Shining. Silver said it wasn't possible."

"You talked to Silver about having foals?"

"She asked... I didn't really feel the need to lie, anypony could guess that I... Well, that we would want a foal."

He didn't say anything else.

"Celestia never had a foal. Silver made it sound like she tried for a long time before giving up."

He grabbed her hoof though, the one she had wrapped over his shoulder. Nothing unique, just a show of affection through contact.

"Did Silver tell you why?" He asked, clipped

"Genetics... Alicorns are just... Different." She recalled, however, the oddity of how Silver had gone about saying it hours prior, "Silver was odd about it though... Acted like She didn't know for sure."

"That pony is odd about everything."

She nodded, and pressed her muzzle into his neck.

"You promise you'll keep yourself safe?"

"I'll do my best Shining."

From there, they lapsed into silence. At some point, Cadance felt Shining's breathing slow, a couple of hours later, the sun came up.

After she woke her husband, and the two got ready for the day, they followed their routine; sitting together, and talking before going about their business.

There was a somber tone sticking in Cadance’s mind as they spoke, but Shining, after his nap, was seemingly either putting the emotional density of their brief conversation behind him.

Or he was just trying to ignore it like she was.

"So what's on the agenda today?" Cadance asked

Shining, who was still working his mane into place, responded with, "I've got a meeting with the patrol officers, and then I'm going to talk to our 'cultists' until lunch."

Cadance nodded in recognition, "I don't have anything to do until lunch, mind if I join you for the interrogation?"

"Of course, they seemed repentant enough because of Silver's fearmongering." He spat, "I'm sure they'll be happy to see a friendly influence."

"Silver did the right thing, you know."

"Yes I do. Doesn't mean I like her methods."

"Fair."

Shining got control of his mane, "What about after lunch?"

"Open court, and then getting further ahead of the paperwork."

"Gala's in two days."

Cadance groaned, "Don't remind me, I still need a dress."

"I'm surprised you're going at all." He quipped with a chuckle as he moved to grab his things.

She rolled her eyes, "Well I wasn't, unti-"

"Silver, yes I remember. It's been a common trend recently." He monotoned

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"What was your idea? By the way?" He tentatively phrased, less as a question, and more as a leading statement.

"Tomorrow's schedule is clear right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, everypony is busy that day preparing for the gala; not much ruling to do."

"I'm going to ask Silver if she'll teach you defenses for dark magicks."

He raised an eyebrow

"Who better to teach you how to protect me than the one threatening my safety," She half pleaded, "Right?"

He raised his other eyebrow, and pursed his lips, tilting his head forwards for the 'really.' expression.

"She will, as well. I gave it a lot of thought."

"Silver will teach me how to fight her?"

"Yes."

Shining went to speak, but rolled his eyes instead, "I guess it's not any more weird than I expect from Silver to begin with."

"Break?" She said

"Break." He responded

To which they both spread out, Cadance grabbing a folder she needed for court in several hours that she had brought up from her desk yesterday morning. Shining made his way straight towards the door, and held it open for Cadance.

They shared a quick kiss before they went their separate ways. Cadance to go talk to Silver about a list of business, Shining to go prepare the rest of his day.

She knocked.

Like before, in front of Silver's modest abode, there was a freshly cut lawn of grass and the light sound of string instruments from the inside.

A couple of seconds went by after she knocked, before the music cut out.

I'll have to ask

Hooves trotted to the door, a beat passed before it swung open. Cadance saw the magic turn the 'door' from what was essentially a thin wall back into a swinging door.

"Well if it isn't the party princess herself. Did I not meet your 'fun' quota?" Silver looked the same, and made her quip with a sarcastic tone.

"There wasn't a requirement, I just came by to talk to you about a couple of things." She moved to lift a hoof, intending on entering, but Silver didn't move, instead taking up the entirety of the doorway.

Cadance raised a mental eyebrow.

"What things?"

Cadance, a little thrown off by the not usual behavior, but seeing no reason why it would otherwise be strange, decided to ignore it for now. "Business things."

"I was more interested in specifics."

"You just want to talk out on the doorstep?"

Silver smiled a half smile, "It's a nice morning out."

Alright, forget ignoring it, Silver is hiding something.

"Is there a reason tha-"

"Yes"

Cadance frowned.

"Do I want to know?" She slowly asked.

"I doubt it."

Ugh

"Should I know?" She tried a bit more tersely.

Instead of immediately responding, Silver took several seconds to think before responding, she took on a neutral tone after five or six seconds and said, "From that perspective? Maybe, I guess I am committing a crime, but when do I not? I'm literally a walking crime."

"Will you at least tell me what the crime is?"

Silver nodded, "Illegal..." She tensed her face, "Or well, I'm guessing illegal, I didn't chec-"

"Please?"

"Body grafting."

Oh dear

"On?" She tried, inwardly hoping for the best

Silver gave a slight shake of the head, and put a hoof to her chest, "No worries, just on myself, Little Princess"

Should I state the obvious?

Silver, noticing Cadance noticing the current lack of body grafting going on directly in front of her, bit into her own raised limb. The wound, or where there would have been a wound, crumpled and the flesh underneath flaked off into black ash and disappeared.

"This is just a projection, my body is inside." She stated, like commenting on the sunrise.

Okay... That's... okay right? Right?

Cadance, no.

You know what?

"Whatever, it doesn't matter."

Silver raised an eyebrow.

"Will you teach Shining skilled magic? The way you know it?"

Silver's eyebrow raise turned taunting, "Another favor? So soon?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

Exactly... and why wouldn't she? Right?

"Tomorrow work?"

"No, but that implies that any time would work." She said, clearly annoyed.

Guess that's that, onto the next migraine

Cadance decided to sit, assuming she was going to be here for a while, "What were those cultists you stopped doing? Magically I mean."

"Ah, I was wondering when you'd ask." Silver stepped forwards a bit more, and stood almost so that the door was closed, everything outside besides her flanks. "They were trying to get together a summoning ritual, like a resurrections charm, but more like calling the number on a card."

Cadance mentally noted a teaching tone, surprised that Silver had a different way of talking to begin with. One that wasn’t confusing or misplaced that is.

"It was a complex charged spell. It would have used a dying pony as an amplification and a spark to set off a heaping series of charged magic runes to reach into the background flux of Eternity, and draw Sombra's still living essence into our plane. Nothing complex, basically brute force summoning."

There's a phrase in there that's very concerning

"Sombra is still alive?" She said slowly

"As alive as you'd be if you were dead."

She blinked slowly, and gave Silver her best, 'unamused' look.

"And if you're talking to those cultists today, tell that Point Flare girl that I'd like to hire her." Silver began stepping backwards into the doorway.

"What for?"

I bet I can guess

"I could use a mare with her mana well and talent for elemental fire for a lot. Give her these incentives, if you would, and repeat them like this to her, exactly." Silver planted her hooves on the ground, and very seriously said, "A chance for revenge, and a horn to do it with."

A chance for revenge, and a horn to do it with.

"You're offering her a horn? And revenge?"

"Yes, plain and simple." Silver said seriously

"No tricks? No addendums?"

"Nope"

Cadance scrunched her face

"You can just give ponies horns?"

"Yup."

Okay wow. I can’t let that go.

"That's... An incredible leap in medical science Silver." Silver nodded, "I-" Cadance got her words together, "I know it's probably achieved with some gruesome process, but you just have to share how that's done. If you can do the same with wings and hooves... Thousands of ponies could go without disabilities in their lives." She finished softly.

Silver very clearly worked it over in her head. It took longer than Cadance would have liked.

"I can't argue that point, and I'm all for sharing the power of dark magic altruistically." She lifted a hoof, "But." and pointed it at Cadance, "I can't just draw attention to myself like that, you'd have to make up where you got the idea, lie basically, and it wouldn't be convincing."

"I can come up with something."

"Do you promise to share the process for the sake of helping ponies, and protect me from the obvious lash back if I am discovered?"

Cadance opened her mouth to make the promise, the idea of helping so many ponies in exchange for secrecy she was already giving urging her to simply say yes. Except...

You almost had me.

"I promise to share the process for the sake of helping ponies, and to protect you from the 'lash back' if you are discovered because of sharing."

Silver gave a heartfelt smile, and nodded, "I'll have a folder and some documents on your desk by tomorrow night." Then she shook her head, “Actually, I’ll just send them back with Shining.”

"Thank you Silver."

"Don't mention it."

Cadance stood, "Do you have any other magical insights on how to help the common pony?"

"Not any that are generally applicable no." Silver held out a hoof, "Will that be all?"

Cadance bumped hooves with the shorter mare, "Yes... and uh, good luck with your..." She glanced at the bite taken out of Silver's limb.

"Noted, Little Princess." Silver collapsed backwards into the house, falling into a pile of dust and disappearing as the door closed and sealed itself.

Taking that as her cue, Cadance turned to take flight and head back to The Spire.

She waved at a passerby before taking flight, and made sure her folder was still firmly under her wing before making haste back home.

So you're a cultist, and the Devil came for your soul.

The prison block in The Spire was something aside from the cafeteria that Cadance had had a personal hoof in redesigning.

That is to say, she had had it remodeled and turned into an office in conjunction with Shining for the patrol guard. They operated independently of the Crystal Guard, and had their own command structure. Cadance had heard a little of the spiel from Shining about the Logistic Corp and how he was organizing their pony power in something that could actually be useful on the world stage.

That being said, there wasn't much work to do, Sombra hadn't kept prisoners.

The actual ponies in question had been dressed down a couple of days ago for any information they were willing to provide by Cadance and the guards. Several reports had been taken, but that was before Stone Cut had joined them all in their cells.

Apparently the stallion had to be removed shortly after as the cultists had quickly come to blows with their 'benefactor.' That landed this strictly within the confines of the royalty to handle, there were no laws for an independent power holder united under the crown to fall in with semi-loyal cultists.

Thus Cadance found herself in front of the prison cells of the cultists, with Stone Cut at the end of the hall full of bars. The cells themselves had metal instead of crystal for their lining, since it was easier to weave enchantments in aluminum.

At least, that's what the construction agency told me

Shining was with her, as well as the guard posted in the hallway, though he was more just watching.

As she walked in, one of the mares, a pegasus with a mauve coat pushed herself up against the bars. "Princess!" She said excitedly, "Are you letting us out?"

She had discussed with them release in short in return for cooperation the last time she was here. That had changed a little.

"It depends on how this interaction goes." She answered honestly, Shining nodding next to her and adding:

"We have all the facts so far, from here we need to discuss some sort of trial or punishment you're willing to accept." He magicked a couple of sheets of paper in front of himself, "I came up with several ideas that you definitely won't like, but if you accept them there's no need for a trial, if you don't, then you'll be subject to the judgment of ponies much less caring than my wife."

The ponies in the cage wilted at that, Point Flare, the orange mare in the back was still staring at the floor. She had been in a coma for a while, and was moved into the cell once the doctors deemed she would be fine. She had only nodded and complied, quietly letting herself get put in a cell.

It was also the same time Point Flare's cultist 'friends' had attacked Stone Cut

The other catatonic mare was in another cell, and was simply staring dumbly at Cadance. She had come around to talking with her friends in their cell, or at least said the observations of the posted guard. Otherwise though, she was generally unresponsive. Cadance glanced over the crystal pony, quietly wondering what had driven them to try and sacrifice another living pony.

"What are our options?" The mauve mare asked

Cadance interjected before Shining Armor had a chance to start listing, "First." She gestured to them, "I want to make something explicitly clear."

This drew the attention of the cultists, Cadance taking on her princess tone, the one Celestia had personally taught her.

"The facts say a number of things. Like how you tried to summon Sombra from the depths of Eternity, how you were willing to kill to do it." Point Flare had lifted her depressive state from the floor at the mention of 'Eternity'

Cadance changed her voice, "They also state that you were all under duress at the time, forced to do what you did by Stone Cut."

Shining piped up, "We are, however, not foolish enough to believe that any of you are innocent just because of Stone Cut's involvement."

"Which means that in addition to the laws that condemn you, you equally have some stretch of protection, regardless of what is true or not." Cadance said

Shining smirked over his papers, "How much of that protection you receive depends entirely on how easy you make this for us."

Cadance and Shining shared a mental hoof bump. The cultists, all of them were paying attention now, it was a basic interrogation strategy, give them hope of control, and see what they do. The guilty pony would reason, the innocent would flail.

"We'll cooperate" The mauve mare said, along with the nods of all the ponies in the cell, and the ones in the next cell over. Six total, two pegasi, three crystal ponies, and two unicorns, Counting Stone Cut of course.

"Shining?"

He nodded, "Your options are as follo-"

Cadance interrupted again, "Sorry, one more thing." Shining rolled his eyes, "If any of you have anything else to say, we are nearing the point where your testimony will have to be shared in a court. If you all have anything else you'd like to share with us, you must do it now."

The ponies looked at each other, Point Flare looked at her hooves and quietly said, "I'm sorry."

Shining hummed, careful not to show how far that actually got his leniency. Shattered horns were no joke.

"Your options are as follows: You would be brought into the guard for life, serving your life sentences by serving the crown. It's better than prison; For the non crystal ponies, you could be shipped back to Equestria, and be tried there by their courts and their laws." There were several shaking heads of disapproval, which included, Cadance noted, both Equestrians and Crystal Ponies.

"You could all simply stay in your cells, and we could call deadlock on any legal passthroughs, you'd live your lives on the crown's bits, but in a cell." More shaking

"Or we could have you work in the mines." The Crystal ponies blanched at that and Cadance raised an eyebrow.

"If you all feel like Sombra would be a better ruler, I hope that last punishment is a decent enough reminder of why my wife is in charge around here." He said tersely.

There was a scoff from down the line, and Stone Cut banged his hoof against his cell bars. "Better ruler my bare flanks Captain."

Shining bristled, but Cadance beat him to responding, "You genuinely think Sombra, the insane slave king, was a better ruler?"

Stone Cut just half snarled and shook his head, turning away from the bars and the Princess of Love.

There was a beat of silence.

"Is that all of our options?"

Here we go Cadance

"Actually. I have a special offer for you six."

There was a quick sharing of looks between the ponies. Apparently, at least based off of Cadance's understanding of their glances, these ponies were definitely closer than just a group of cultists, and Point Flare was definitely the leading voice. Almost half the glances were directed towards her.

They eventually turned to her, somberly waiting for her to make her offer. Cadance had talked it through with Shining, and he had actually given in to the point that basically being servants to Quick Silver was a solid enough punishment.

"Quick Silver, the mare who apprehended you all, has offered a sort of... work release pr-"

"What?!" The mauve mare exclaimed.

The silent mare in the back covered her head with her hooves and started shaking. Point Flare started rapidly shaking her head.

"Is-" Cadance tried, but Point Flare interrupted her.

"Princess Cadance, I know we're cultists, I know we're criminals, but whoever that pony is, you have to destroy them."

Cadance made a face, "Destroy, I-" She stumbled over her words, "You don't remember, but she saved your life."

Point Flare just shook her head and looked past Cadance like she was staring at a ghost that had come to remind her of her misdeeds. "You don't understand."

"Then explain." Said Shining, not willing to play the long game.

The ponies, besides Point Flare and the fearful mare, looked to the ground, or otherwise away from the Princess and her consort.

"She came in like a storm." Point Flare began to speak, clearly struggling to get the words out. Cadance felt the rise of emotion from the other sides of the bars. "There were seconds." She shook her head, "Noises like... screaming foals mixed with scratching a chalkboard through a radio as she ate the light in the room."

That sobered Cadance real quick.

"I was the only one who actually saw her. When she broke my horn."

The whimpering from the mare on the floor grew, and Cadance could hear her begging.

"Every other moment was..." Point Flare clenched her eyes shut as the rest of the ponies continued to try and ignore or forget what they saw.

Cadance felt the presence of the curse Silver had alluded to. She banished it with her aura, and Point Flare took a deep breath.

"Imagine what it would look like if a pony was made of dough at the limbs." She trembled, "Stretching at the bone with jagged edges that are too unnatural to be real."

"She came into the basement like some kind of arachnid demon, screeching like Tartarus had breached the hall."

Cadance was mentally at the edge of her seat.

"Whatever that thing is." She began stuffing sentences in between heavy breaths, like she'd just run a race.

"It came from outside so quiet that Kay didn't even notice until he was stone."

"It burst through the study wall like a manticore."

"Stole the magic from our hooves, and the light from the walls."

"It didn't care about being on fire. I only made it laugh."

"It chased us and then disappeared, but I could still hear it giggling right behind me wherever I looked."

"I broke my horn out of fear after I saw what it did to Misty."

"It grabbed her and pulled her apart, re-assembled her as she screamed."

"I saw her insides Princess."

"It came for me next, and I blew my horn in terror."

Her story lungs empty, she finished, "It just quietly laughed as I fell, certain I was worse than dead."

...

"That is a particularly harrowing tale." Shining said slowly, deeply.

The tone of the moment certainly changed

Cadance was speechless.

Shining was not, "Unfortunately, that's not out of character for Quick Silver."

"What." Came Point Flare, slowly taking a step back from the bars of the cell.

"You were going to murder somepony. Quick Silver stopped you. Fear tactics are something we train, and it's not uncommon."

Point Flare looked like she just swallowed a centipede the length of her limb.

Cadance spoke up, "It's also like Quick Silver to go overboard like that."

"No. No. no no no no" The mare in the corner was crying now

"You don't understand Princess, that... that! That thing! It's not a pony! It's some monster!"

Shining monotonously stated, "The stallion you foalnapped from the street was quick to call you monsters as well."

Cadance was genuinely surprised at Shining's defense of Silver.

"From the short conversation I had with Quick Silver on the subject, she's a very reasonable mare. Different, but you could learn dark magic from her." That clicked with one of them, his ears imperceptibly perked.

"Princess-"

Cadance cut her off with the wave of her hoof, "The exact words, Silver asked me to give you directly as an incentive. Her offer was, 'revenge, and a horn to do it with.'"

Point Flare went silent. Cadance watched the gear click in her mind at the idea of getting her horn back.

"My horn?"

"Silver was apologetic that a mare of your magic aptitude was hurt in such a way, she wishes to restore it for you."

A little fib, but a useful one.

Flare was stunned, "She- I... Can she do that?"

"Yes. and under her watch, you'd be allowed to study her knowledge of dangerous magics, for the crown. Not as traitors."

The cultists began sharing more thoughtful prospective looks. Even the mare on the ground stopped shaking and went back to just covering her eyes. The crystal stallion patted her on the shoulder a couple of times and said something supportive.

The mauve mare spoke up, "Can we think about it Princess?"

"Yes, of course." She turned towards Shining, and he led the way towards the cell at the end of the hall.

He showed his uncertainty with what she had just done with a single look, and she tried to pass back the same.

I don't know what I'm doing, same as you.

He raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'You're right, I don't have any idea what you're doing'

To which she rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, what do you want from me."

Stone Cut.

Shining cleared his throat, "We want a statement from you before we transport you to a high security facility in Equestria."

"Phaf, of course you do." He spat

"I see your false demeanor has faded all the way now Stone Cut."

He snarled at her, honest to goddess snarled at her like an animal. "You're pathetic." He verbally threw at her.

"Why's that?" She taunted him.

He got up on his hooves, "Why? WHY!?" he rushed towards the bars and reared up and slammed his hooves against the bars so he was eye level with her. "You turned our EMPIRE into some dingy little village! My family used to be RICH!" He slammed on the bars several times, "YOU usurped the throne from what separated us from freezing in the snow!"

Gotcha

"You get that Shining?"

"Yeeup" He said, writing down Stone Cut's subtle admission of loyalty to the tyrant.

She gave him a smile she copied from Silver. "Thank you very much Stone Cut." And gave him a solid heel turn, her and Shining simply leaving him to froth. That is until Stone Cut called her a whore.

She stopped in her tracks and her wings flared on their own. There was a mental flash through her head of violence, before she used her magic to stop Shining from turning Cut's prison cell into a trash compactor.

They left the real cultist to his frothing insanity.

The other cultists were seemingly deliberating something. The shaking mare, Misty, if Cadance remembered, had seemingly recovered, and they were all sitting around the bars talking to one another.

As they approached, there were several nods, and Point Flare stood.

"We'll do it."

Cadance, still trying not to send a stun bolt down the hallway at the yelling Stone Cut, tried to keep her cool, "Just like that?"

Point Flare shook her head, "Only if... Silver... will take all of us."

Shining gave an imperceptible nod, confirming his support of this plan.

Cadance spoke, "Then there's no need for a trial, I can clearly see who was the true driving force of the crimes that were committed by your group." Stone Cut's screaming accentuated her point.

Shining finished for her, "We'll sort out the legalese, and Cadance or myself will collect you to bring you to Quick Silver."

"Thank you for your time." Cadance said, and both her and Shining left the Empire's only prison block.

Dear Quick Silver,

Point Flare and her group have agreed to work for you, but I have several caveats.

I want updates from each of them individually, letters or proof that they are well that can be filed as official reports that they are actually being punished for the crimes they committed. Similarly, they're going to need housing and food, can your home support six ponies?

I'd also like to make clear that I don't know what your plan is for them, and would like to, in detail please. The deal I cut with them was that they'd have the opportunity to study black magics under your watch, and report their findings to the crown. Amber is drafting up the documents as an addendum that allows us to deconstruct Sombra's old traps in The Spire.

Also if you could, I'd like more of those gemstones you use to send letters, they could potentially be incredibly useful. If not only for quickly sending letters to you.

Signed, H.R.H
Princess Cadance of the Crystal Empire.

Ah, never seen you be some formal!

It was novel getting a hoof delivered letter! It reminded me of my own days as a sovereign.

Thank. You. For. That.

To answer your question, of course my home can support several ponies, and they'll be treated with the same avarice I treat myself with. Though I recall I only extended such an offer for Point Flare, I, nonetheless have a use for the other five. They will remain unharmed, and although I can't promise that I'll teach them anything, there is a strong chance they will learn something regardless.

I can arrange to have them send letters to you or a secretary while they work under me, but I won't have you breathing down their necks any more than that. Anything else you can ask me directly; on that note, I'll simply send you the spell I use to send letters with the spell to repair ponies.

See you after court when you deliver them tonight, Little Princess.

P.S. That courier, Ms. Gleam? She deserves a raise; give it to her.

Meddlesome Pegasi

Shining was done with his meeting in the next hour and joined her in court. Luckily, as it is currently Friday, court started three hours later than normal. Ponies knew this, so after the first five petitions or so Cadance decided to close court early and get a move on.

She and Shining had elected to teleport under invisibility, alerting the guards that they were taking the six from the cells, but otherwise intending to keep their punishment hush hush.

Cadance walked into the cell block while Shining organized the paperwork in the prison office. As she approached, the six roused themselves slowly, apprehensively. Cadance spent a moment or two just watching, whatever she thought she was going to say slipped from her mind; all that was left was the vague thoughtfulness directed towards nothing.

The mauve mare with a two tone gray mane, who Cadance had learned was named 'Grey Skies,' pulled Cadance from her thoughts. "Princess? If I may?" She said from the other side of the bars, respectfully, as it was.

"Of course."

"Will you..." She turned back to Point Flare, who nodded at the glance, "Will you protect us? From Silver? If this goes poorly?"

I can try

"You'll be safe, with or without me, but I will if need be. As will my husband." She said in a low tone.

Shining peaked his head into the open doorway leading into the metal jail hallway, "We're good to go."

Cadance turned back towards the ponies, "I'll be teleporting us all there."

Shining walked up next to her and spoke in his 'royal guard' tone, "And we'll be outside, and you will all be able to run" He paused for effect, "Don't."

There were several nods as Cadance lit her horn and began focusing. Teleportation definitely was something she could do on a good day, but an eight pony warp?

Luckily you did the math

She had found the reference point for the Crystal Heart relative to their destination. Which meant she could manage her unique 'Loveport' as she'd been mentally calling it. She wrapped her magic around the surrounding ponies and herself, the initial targets being marked by her magic, and then she reached out for her location. The heart shone like a beacon and even though it wasn't alive, it always gave Cadance the sense that it was; it's presence said: "I am here, I Love you"

Nonetheless, her magic brushed against the beacon, and she mentally recounted the location she'd done the calculations for, with just the right amount of magic-

*pop*

whoah

Cadance swayed a moment as her hooves tried to buckle beneath her. She was inside, specifically inside what looked like Silver's home.

"Ah! Hello!"

Oh, this is Silver's home? How did that happen?"

The other ponies in the room gathered up, each of them closing together behind Shining and Cadance at Silver's presence. The room had been redecorated to look like some foyer, or sitting room. There was a couch, a table, a throw rug that looked more expensive than it probably was, and numerous other random things that made the room look lived in; homely.

"I didn't think you all would be popping in like that, but evening nonetheless."

She felt Shining tap her on the shoulder, "You okay?"

"Yeah, that teleport took more out of me than I thought it would."

Silver was lounging upright on one of the seats with a hoofrest, there was a tea plate and pot balanced there, steam rising from it and a cup Silver had in her hooves, "Tea?" She said, not glancing at the pot to her right.

There was a silent standoff.

Silver broke it, "Oh please. That's an awful lot of fear for your new... employer" She ended with a malicious grin

To which it was, Cadance could feel the rising fear from the ponies behind her. Not active fear, but like rising anxiety at seeing something that had hurt you before.

"Don't antagonize them please."

Silver rolled her eyes

Shining spoke again with his guard voice, "This is: Point Flare, Kayfur, Rip Tide, Grey Sk-"

"Grey Skies, Hematite and Misty Scarlet, yes I know them well." Silver interrupted. She leaned back, seemingly composing herself, "Please you six, come sit." and gestured to the couches. In the same move, Silver used her magic, protruding from her hooves, to pour several cups of tea, and levitated them all to the table where she'd gestured the ponies to sit. Cadance felt the curiosity boom out from behind her, and Shining became apprehensive.

"Ho-"

"Evil magic Shining Armor, and I'm supposed to be teaching it to you," She looked to Cadance, "Right?"

Shining hasn't seen that yet...

Cadance shook her head, "Just the defensive strategies, that's all."

Silver let out a contemplative hum, "Your tea will be getting cold soonish."

Cadance looked over her shoulder at the group. They featured general apprehension, but were slowly fading from being scared. She gave them a soft smile and a nod towards the couches. They took that as a go ahead, and the lot meandered over to the table. Misty and Hematite being the last two in the group to take seats, farthest from Silver.

Point Flare was the first to speak, "Cadance said you could fix my horn?"

Silver responded immediately, "Princess Cadance, and if she said that, she lied to you."

What?

Cadance dually questioned the correction for her title, and Silver's apparent lie.

"I can't fix your horn, it's gone. I can, however, make you a new one."

Oh... of course

Stupid Silver and her stupid word play.

Cadance mock frowned, and watched a short conversation between the criminals and the... admittedly bigger criminal.

"Will it be like it was before?" Point Flare asked

"You'll have to work up some physical resistance in the horn, since it will be fresh bone, but yes."

Kayfur, the only crystal stallion spoke up, "I think I speak for everypony when I ask: How?" He continued after a momentary pause, "Ponies ca-"

"Everyone." Silver interrupted.

"What?"

"This goes for all of you, if you're to work for me. No 'everypony' or 'anypony.' Say everyone, or everybody. Racism and xenophobia in Equestria and its territories is unacceptable. It's also very annoying."

There was a short wait before Misty, the only other unicorn besides Point Flare, spoke, "Who are you?"

Everypony besides Silver turned their gaze to Misty, who didn't shrink back to her credit.

"You must be referring to my 'attack' and I must apologize where it's due. I didn't mean to scare you all as much as I did." Silver took a short sip of her tea, "Truly a mistake."

"I struggle to see how... That could have been a mistake" Said Hematite

"Then you are short-sighted." Silver raised an eyebrow at her own quip and set her tea down.

"I'll be restoring your horn later, and for the rest of you, I have several jobs we will speak of in the morning. For now, I have business with the Princess and her Consort." Silver raised her hoof, and several conjured cerulean arrows lit up a path from the seating area into the furthest hallway. "There are some modest quarters, as well as a bunk room for those of you who would like to sleep together; please make yourselves at home while I conduct my business."

"When will yo-" started Grey Skies

"As soon as I am able, for now, go make yourselves comfortable."

There were several looks shared between the ponies before they began standing up again, and filing out of the space between the table and the couch.

"Oh, and feel free to take that tea with you if you want."

They did not, and soon it was just Cadance and Shining.

And Silver.

Shining was the first to take charge of what was about to become a verbal battleground, if Cadance could tell from the rising tension.

"You understand that you are responsible for the safety and well being of those ponies?"

Silver, quick to retort, "I understand that I'm going to have to spend the next hour or so teaching you basic principles of magic."

"And me." Cadance said, hoping to throw her off,

"and the Little Princess apparently." Silver took a deep breath and tossed the teacup behind her as a wave of cerulean magic covered the room and everything began spinning. The couches and random tacky pictures spun and transfigured into other shapes and colours. The room itself bent inwards and outwards like it was breathing as it slowly expanded into a circle, instead of the rectangular sitting room. The walls hardened and lost their reflective transparency and the ground shifted under Cadance's hooves into powdered crystals. She felt wave after wave of indescribable emotion that passed too quickly for her to sense properly before the room groaned to a halt.

It was a sparring arena. She'd seen a couple of sand pits in Canterlot, and there was even one made with snow out in the encampment in The Empire.

"So." Silver dropped her stance low, and dug her hooves into the crystal powder. "What do you want to know?"

Shining looked at Cadance with a 'this is an absolutely terrible idea.'

Cadance hoped she could salvage the situation, "Now, Silver, we're not going to be doing anything unnecessarily dangerous right?"

"Actually, that's a good point." Silver gestured to Cadance, "Can you take fifteen steps to the side?"

Cadance did, albeit deliberately slow, keeping her eyes on Shining and Silver. After she was done, she turned to face the two of them. They stood in a triangle.

"There, now you're safe." Silver threw a blast of blue magic at Shining. He let out a short grunt of surprise, but raised a shield in time to catch the blast, the dome settling unevenly on the crystal powder floor.

"Hey!" Cadance yelled, and subsequently realized her limbs had sunk into several hooves into crystals that had solidified under her.

"First rule of dealing with any kind of dark magic user: Be prepared for the unpredictable!" Silver took flight as she spoke, and landed on top of Shining's shield, "Corruptive magics bend the mind, anyone you're fighting won't be of sound mind. You can't count on them to act normally."

Shining flared his horn and the shield rapidly expanded, throwing Silver into the air. Cadance watched as the ceiling grew away from her, stopping her from slamming into it, and instead making enough space for Silver to turn her vector into a spin. Catching the air in her wings and coming to a skidding halt on the ground.

"Second rule! Same as the first!" Silver disappeared in a flare of shadow dust just as Shining's blast flew through whatever was left. Shining's tail lifted in the same moment, and Silver shimmered into appearance with his tail in her right hoof.

Shining threw his back hooves into a buck, and his left hoof caught Silver in the jaw where it spread the flesh like a rock being chucked into a pond, his hoof sank into Silver's face, as her eyes lit up with black mist.

"Third rule." She said maliciously, as she took a leaning step into Shining's back leg. "Don't ever touch, or let yourself be touched by a dark magic user." The skin and flesh around her face where Shining's leg was embedded flicked like angry goop, trying to crawl up Shining's fur.

Silver took a step back and Shining stumbled forwards as his hoof was disconnected from Silver's grasp. He threw up a shield as soon as he was planted, and Silver dismissed whatever effect she was channeling.

"Now what did you learn?"

Shining snarled, "That you're bucking crazy!"

"Exactly! That's rule number one," Silver smiled and Cadance saw a sparkle in her eyes, "Any dark magic user that's attacking you is definitely insane; treat them like it, or their unpredictability will take you for a ride. What else?"

Shining's retort fell silent, and his snarl turned into a glare. He glanced once at Cadance. She shook her head as if to say, 'I can't help you here.'

Despite what I'd like... I could get out of this little trap, but undoubtedly this is Silver's kind way of telling me not to get involved.

"Cmon, Shining, don't you want to show off for your wife?"

"I learned that you're a pansy that won't fight me head on." He yelled through his shield

"Perfect!" Silver said, switching to a condescending tone, "Any dark magic user that isn't completely insane, won't ever fight you directly. If you lose sight of your opponent, you're dead, or they've escaped."

Shining slowly turned his glare into a smirk of challenge, "I learned to play that same game back in basic." He dropped his shield and fired a blast which Silver sidestepped. Silver took a single hoofstep and then launched herself into the air. She twisted as she jumped, dodging Shining's second shot before diving towards him again. This time, Shining teleported to the other end of the room, and launched three bolts in sequence, two arcing around the sides, and one dead on, Silver shimmered out of existence when the bolts were halfway to their destination. They all struck the powder, and Shining threw up a shield. There were six seconds of undisturbed silence before Silver reappeared, knocking on his shield.

"And about this shield spell of yours."

Shining dropped the shield and fired a larger short range blast straight at Silver, who had to throw herself into the sand to dodge. The sight that Cadance saw next reminded her of Silver dancing. The speed at which she threw herself to the ground was turned into radial momentum as Silver hit the dirt with her wing, throwing her hooves and twisting her back while sliding across the ground like it was ice, Silver went from throwing herself down to the floor, back to standing and launching herself at Shining in less than a second.

Shining teleported at the last second as Silver went careening into a roll as she flipped and turned.

Shining fired several more blasts from the other end of the room.

Cadance watched this exchange happen a couple more times before she realized the premise. Shining couldn't take on Silver head on, and Silver wasn't going to try and do the same to Shining. He was just going to dodge until he got a lucky shot. He may have even been able to sustain it except for on the sixth clash, Silver sailed through Shining's shield like it wasn't even there, the spell folding like one would expect a piece of paper, rapidly dissolving into the air as Silver rapidly turned her dive into a halt, and booped Shining on the nose.

Shining shook his head in agitation and took several steps back.

"So about your shield."

He blasted her again. This time his mana bolt exploded in the air just in front of Silver, and Cadance saw the flickering slate gray plate of magic it hit fizzle out just as it did.

"What about it?" He huffed

"It's too easy to manipulate." Silver lifted her hoof and casted Shining's own shield. "The main issue is also its greatest strength. The fact that the shield is focused as a hard-mana projection from a single point means that the entire shield has the same stability, but the meta-magic manifold is basically just floating around in the wind."

Cadance tried to follow along. Basically what Silver was saying was that the shield was strong, but...

"So what?" Shining called out

"So it means," Silver continued, "That the actual shield can be interrupted with another spell. Anypony with enough conceptual understanding of magic can steal the energy you're using for your shield, and just use it for something else." The blue shield around Silver warbled and congealed into her hoof, shrinking down into the size and shape of a single ravioli. "Some parasitic magics are particularly useful in acting as a counter spell for 'loose' spells, since the caster can't even compensate without knowing exactly what was cast."

"Sounds like a problem I'll only have with you then."

"Yes indeed."

Shining's retort fell silent at Silver agreeing with him.

"But you should still factor in the fact that against dangerous magical opponents, your shield can be easily beaten by a foe with disruptive capabilities. If you fought Tirek when he escaped, you may have noticed that your shield did nothing to protect you; this is why."

Shining seemed to roll the idea around in his head, and after a couple of seconds, lit his horn again. This time, a new shield appeared, it was hexagonal in nature; Cadance recognized the structure as a particularly powerful 'all purpose' seven layer shield matrix.

"Ah..." Silver's shoulders went slack... "I knew the mare who crafted that spell's predecessor."

"Really?" Cadance said, from across the room.

"Yeah, say, do either of you know a 'Chrysalis'?"

Shining glared harder, and his spell dropped.

Cadance just hung her head, "I'm not even going to go there."

Silver just shrugged, "Another round?" She said to Shining, her response was getting a mana bolt to the face, sending her head over hooves into the powder. She came sliding to a halt and then her head popped up from the powder, "Whoo!" In the next moment she was in the air, and the spar continued.

After another hour of what may or may not be referred to as 'bullying' Shining into coming to several useful conclusions, Silver gave Cadance her written reports about 'spells' and they went on their way. The sun was down by the time they left. Shining was exhausted, but surprisingly content with the encounter, at least that's how he felt to Cadance.

Thus another day of dealing with Silver ended.

Heavens, I need a break

Cadance's notes on the nature of "Pony Biokinetics" and the unique application of overcharging unicorn telekinesis

Quick Silver's attempt at writing any sort of formal documentation of her spell work was seemingly taken as a joke, or maybe just ignored. As such, I did my best to make a cohesive description of what I could in a way that makes an amount of sense. For anyone who ends up reading this, be aware that these techniques use corruptive magics.

Unicorn Lightening:

The art of unicorn telekinesis is a good standing point to learning about racial manipulative traits. Things like earth pony strength and the unique mental characteristic of pegasi are both unique categories of magio-biological adaptations produced by the unique way specific pony races' souls ground themselves in the body.

In short, imagine how many points are on a line, that is how many grounding points a soul has in your body. To the uninformed, that simply means that the soul is "in" the body, but for someone who understands fifth dimensional geometry, the concept becomes simple when you introduce the functional dissonance of physics when filtered through the universe. Unicorn telekinesis is one of these such affects.

Different than the unique physical characteristics of the other races, the Unicorn's capability to cast telekinesis is purely instinctual and grounded in the mind. Similiar to that of an Earth Pony's uncanny ability to manipulate objects. Thus unlike most advanced spell form, Unicorn Telekenisis can be mixed with elemental and emotional casting to burn away all of the pesky rules control casting applies.

For example, normally a transportation spell of emotional context generated by greed, and the complex goal of being excited for an adventure, and thus containing the anticipation and anxiety of an adventure yet to have, can generate a non-causile spatial fold for ease of transport to a location of your choosing with a few restrictions, and at the cost of a horrendous amount of mana.

Unicorn Telekinesis has no such constraints, capable of moving anything, anywhere so long as the caster is aware of the object and the destination. The step up from a failed telekinesis spell lightly resembles prestidigitonium, and is manipulatable if you know what you're doing. Regardless of how useful and dominant emotional casting is as a spell form, breaking down Unicorn telekinesis into something manipulatable can only really function if you have a less intelligent form of energy source following your will.

To incite this power, merely begin to lift something with Unicorn Telekinesis, fill your mind with the imagery of where you'd like your message delivered too, and allow the telekinetics fail by dropping the mental focus guaranteed by stability, and trying to make up for it in power. Once the spell is suitably exploding, all that is required is a Phoenix Style mental runaround loop, the equivalent of thinking of a paradox to tie your will into the exploding spell form, with a hint of anticipation.

The result is a spell that forcefully turns whatever it was lifting into a wave of energy directed towards where ever the bound mental strata was imprinted with when you filled the dying spell with anticipation. It is subsequently more effective for smaller objects than opening spatial rifts, though it should be noted that casting this spell on large or living targets is not advised, as one of you will definitely die trying to consume the other in a wave of energy. It also has a particularly short range for this kind of spell, which it makes up for in it's versatility.

It should also be noted that while a Phoenix style run-around loop is a requirement to allow the anticipation the right formation inside the collapsing spell, there is a bit of leeway in what exactly the paradox in question is. As the direction of the spell takes subconscious cues from yourself, so long as whatever loop you create is a paradox to you, this spell should function properly.

I like using the idea of dating as a consistent psychic energy grounding node.

On the subject of manipulating a ponies biology by force:

Starswirl postured early on in his discovery of advanced transformative magics that ponies were particularly immune to that branch of study due to the souls nature to resist the idea of it's temporary housing violently changing shape, making illusions the go to false mustache applier for generations. His postulates were generally true, as the soul tends to reject the idea of changing under the influence of another.

However, this likely evolutionary marvel can be exploited for it's intelligence.

I had theorized that if a soul was resistant to change it did not want, that it would encourage change it did want. For instance, take the life force transference theorem, which basically states that any energy transferred directly from one soul to another has a quickly closing limit on how much can be transferred in any given instance. Even the mightiest Alicorns cannot simply pump a dying pony full of magic to help them survive, it is why brute force healing spells have never become common place.

The reason for this is actually quite silly. Souls are expressly picky about what they allow inside them, what they allow to affect them. If it isn't the soul, or a direct creation of the soul, it is fought. Very similarly to how the body fights infection.

So how do you trick the soul's subtle intelligence into encouraging you to change it with energy that isn't its own?

To put it simply, you kill the pony.

Souls very suddenly lose their picky nature when all of the grounding points in the body are suddenly severed, and majoritively wish to return to their 'host' in order to continue living. Using a mixture of fear and pain, as well as a complex practice that can only be learned from inside the Astral Sea and fishing the actual point of death from their tangential future, it is possible to convince an unconscious pony's soul that it's host has died. From there, all you need to do is manipulate the meat puppet that is left of the host, easy enough to do with any complex matter manipulation spell, either corruptive or control based magic; I've seen harmonic magic do the trick as well.

As long as you make sure to regenerate the pony as they were, either in a repaired state before the injury, or a healthy state after the injury, the soul should take to the body. If you do not do this, there is roughly a fifty percent chance for the average soul that you have just created a lich. Please do not do that. The next step is to shove their soul back into their body.

On average, this tends to work unless a pony has been viscerally injured over a long period, like say, gotten scar tissue from biting their lip from too long. One must also be a talented orniomancer in order to trick a soul into killing itself; in addition to having a solid grasp of hemokinesis and biogenisis. From there it is only a question of how much power and time you have. Luckily I devised a trick for fishing the latent visions of psychic death out of Eternity by simply converting surety into a psychic eminence when you cast the spell. In short, you won't have to look through infinite possibilities to find the right death for the pony, when you know exactly how they're about to die by your own will.

It is heavily recommended that anypony casting this spell on another be clearly aware that fear is a crucial element of emotion magic applied to making sure the caster is not the target of the spell. It is far to easy to rip your own soul out by accident by directing the Astral Sea to show you your own tangential fate. Fear stops this when woven into the spell. Any pony saving a life using this spell must value their own life over their target, as without the intent to truly kill, the lash back will instead rupture the sympathetic bonds that bind your soul to your mind.

A particularly stupid way to die, tricking your own soul into killing itself.

The spell form and equations Silver included as a visual aid are gruesome in their efficiency, and for the sake of not allowing these spells to be cast by just anypony; I will not be sharing said equations, and would like to equally say that anypony trying to cast theses spells without the fine tuning of the advanced spell form will absolutely suffer a horrible fate.

Do NOT try this at home.

Author's Note

I am absolutely ripping off The Unique Properties of Dark Magic when it comes to emotional casting. Shadestyle crafted a beautiful and cohesive system that I couldn't hope to improve upon if I tried, and duly pay my homage to its creator with a chapter similar in style to their own.

If you haven't read the referenced work, and you like this kind of chapter, go read UPDM, it's also got an incredible story to match the epic magical properties of the world they devised.

Ever wonder what rulers do in their free time?

It was the day before the Galla; Cadance had sent Amber out to find her something to wear, and seeing as Amber was still at her desk just outside Cadance's office, it was clear she had delegated that task.

Cadance was far ahead of the curve in terms of paperwork.

Seems that pushing yourself worked out hmm?

She was idly tapping her hooves on her desk, the well crafted wooden thing was well worth the bits it had cost. Sturdy, reliable and fashionable.

Minutes passed.

Ugh

Cadance stood and plodded over to her open office door.

"Amber?"

"Yes Princess?"

"Do you have something for me to do?"

Amber kept a straight face despite Cadance's playful tone, "Fortunately, there's no ingoing or outgoing paperwork that requires your attention."

"You have work to do there." Cadance non-specifically gestured to her desk.

"All organizational work." Amber clipped back

Cadance and Amber had a complex working relationship. One of the thing Cadance had developed with the mare by annoying her was job specificity. Amber had, at Cadance's encouragement, learned how to politely tell Cadance to buzz off when her particular talents weren't applicable to a situation. That being said, Cadance took the statement for what it actually was.

"Are you sure?" Cadance's voice filled with hope

"Yes; do you have a project you could start or work on?"

The comparison to a parent telling their hyperactive foal to leave them be was not lost on Cadance.

"I've been distracted by Quick Silver, recently."

"Maybe now is a good time to start something then." Amber had turned her attention away from her monarch, and was reading some treatise or something or other. Her response came in monotone, the final nail in the coffin for this particular conversation.

Cadance, nodding at the comment, entered halfway back into her office. Idly standing in the doorway as she tried to come up with something to do. Creativity wasn't Cadance's strong suit, but she tended to always get there in the end, in her head, she mentally listed out a couple of premises.

Construction, organization, pleasure, learning

I could go organize something... Delegate some ponies to...

She mentally failed to come up with something comprehensive to tell anypony else to do, and decided to come back to it later.

Construction efforts? Mmmmmnope. No bits for that... actually

Cadance looked down at her desk from her thoughtful pose, at little blue folder Silver had given her.

Silver can manifest crystal... permanent crystal it looked like

The folder seemingly stared back at her as if to say, 'yes, come learn all of the dark secrets I have to solve all of your tiny problems.'

Cadance was distinctly bored enough to mentally personify a folder, and decided to go for a walk to clear her head of fog. Turning and stepping out of her office, she gave a wave to Amber before making her way towards a balcony.

I could go embarrass Shining in front of his troops

They were running drills today, nothing special.

Maybe later

She passed by a maid and gave a soft smile.

Where to... Where to...

Failing on any general idea of where to go, besides not to wherever Silver was, she required a bit of peace at the moment, thank you very much; she decided to head towards the farming district on the outskirts.

Open air, plains view, good enough for me.

She spread her wings out on the balcony and got a read for the wind and the thermals before stepping over the rim and dropping into a steep glide towards the ground. Wings were incredibly useful, and even now, Cadance couldn't get over the twinge of thrill at dropping like a stone in the wind and turning up at just the last second under her own power.

Let's not, though, wouldn't want to freak anypony... anyone. Out

She pitched up her dive until she was smooth gliding and half galloping while she slowed, turning the flight into a run, and eventually a walk as she landed. She folded her wings and... walked.

The excitement of the past month or so fell into focus as she tried to sort out her feelings. Her own habit of using relaxation time to melt her capacity for interaction via mental organization wasn't perfect, but it worked. She made sure to smile and or wave at any pony that saw or greeted her as she walked. Luckily she was the 'friendly' down to earth kind of Princess, so her subjects seeing her out and about was nothing to throw a festival over.

I'll never know how Celestia does it

The crystal clinking of the road and Cadance's thoughts kept her busy until she reached the edge of the outermost ring of The Empire. Her appreciative sigh of the countryside turned into a glare at the... Crystal box that stood in a field out in the distance, some large warehouse not quite ruining the view, but annoying her nonetheless.

She giggled at her own irritation and began walking towards the structure.

Because why not? Right?

It piqued her curiosity, as it was clearly not for storing any realm of agricultural supplies, those structures were made exclusively out of metal and wood, as to not ruin the food with the strange nature of magical crystals.

So why is a giant warehouse sitting in the middle of what should be prime farming land?

Cadance didn't remember signing off on it, but nonetheless, it definitely happened, since there it was.

The fields look nice at least

She was currently treading through some short corn stalks, making a good effort to not trample them before coming towards a crystal road that separated the field. A road that led towards the warehouse. She gave it a once over, and continued on her way.

Something in the back of her mind made her wary, which didn't help when a pony towing a cart wandered up and tilted his sun visor at her. He seemingly didn't plan on stopping, so she stood in his path and smiled at him.

He came to a halt and conducted the normalized response to being stopped out in a field by your monarch. "Well happy midday Princess, what can I help you with?"

She took a step forward to close the distance, "Nothing complex, I'm just working on a little project of my own, can I ask what you are doing and what you think of it?"

He took on a head tilt, "This like a survey your Highness?"

"Sortof."

It's a survey of one, and I'm the only one that wants to know

Of course, she could have just asked directly; rule thirty five of ruling as taught to her by Celestia caused her to do otherwise. Simply put, don't act like you don't know what you're doing.

"Well ifn' that's all, I'm hauling equipment, and nails, for the surrounding homesteads."

"What kind of equipment?"

"Oh just hoes, rakes and the like. Farming equipment."

"And what do you think of the work?"

He nodded and smiled, "It's good honest work, delivering, I'll say. Keeps me out all day, pays well, and I get to see plenty on the way. Not to mention it's nice to see the nice folks out here everyday instead of doing the farm work myself."

Cadance broadened her smile into a real one. It was nice to know, regardless of the oddity of it's presence, that apparently the work was satisfying.

"Thank you very much mister?" She trailed off

"Oh, no need to mister me Princess, I'm not quite that old yet. My name's Cross Trail."

"Thank you very much for your time, Cross Trail." She stepped out of the way.

"No worries at all Princess." He began to continue, but she waved at him

"Oh, one more thing. How are you liking your stay in The Empire?"

He looked at her in confusion, "Oh! Oh I don't live in The Empire Princess. I just work here."

He makes the trip up to... What?

"Tack & Co. provides transportation for their working ponies, wherever they are. It was one of their hiring slogans" His trottingham accent suddenly made more sense.

"Are you a new employee?" Cadance tried to distract from her confusion.

"Yup, I started working here barely two weeks ago."

Oh dear... that's awfully consistent with another timeline.

"Thank you Cross Trail, that's everything I needed."

"You have a fine day Princess" He tilted his visor again and walked off.

Cadance looked back towards the warehouse with a healthy dose of apprehension.

Silver... what did you do now.

She continued the rest of the way up the road until it opened up into some sort of flat crystal yard. There were lamps for when it seemingly got dark, and plenty of carriages sitting around, transport carriages. There were a couple of what looked like pegasi chariots that had been retrofitted to carry heavier loads, and were branded with a number of slogans having to do with 'Tack & Co.'

There was plenty of activity out in the lot. Ponies were loading up carts and setting off on various different paths. There was a group of ponies in shiny vests directing the traffic, and another of a different colour actually loading up the carriages. They were pulling piles of boxes and wrapped tools out from an overhead door in the side of the warehouse on massive carts that took two ponies to maneuver properly. All in all, it was a bustling territory of activity and organization.

She walked up to it, waiting to catch someponies' eyes.

A pegasus mare with a nice auburn mane in a red vest approached her. "Hello Princess Cadance, how can I help you?"

"I was wondering if I could talk to the pony in charge?" She tried

"That would be me, technically" She pulled out a massive smile and lifted up her limb to bump hooves, "Autumn Breeze, your Highness."

Cadance followed the gesture and bumped hooves with the mare. "Technically?"

"There's no 'main' pony in charge here, we all just do our jobs to keep everything moving. I'm a lead pony, about as high up as you can get."

"And what exactly are you up to today?"

Cadance watched the mare turn from friendly to professional, "I'm sorry but our business procedures are all 'trade secrets' and such." She tried to play it off in a friendly way, but the message was clear.

"Could you direct me to somepony I could talk to then?"

The mare hid a grimace, but nodded, "Of course, right this way Princess" and led the way towards the corner of the structure, away from the yard. There was a doorway Autumn held open for Cadance; to which she was greeted by a plush yet professional air conditioned reception. There was a blue toned crystal stallion sitting at the desk who looked up and tried to not widen his eyes as Cadance entered.

What are you so worried about?

"Hey Marine, is Galligar in right now?"

"Uh..." 'marine' tore his eyes from Cadance and looked at something behind the rim of the desk he sat at, "Uh yeah, he got in just an hour ago."

"Office?" Autumn asked,

The stallion nodded, and Autumn walked down the right hallway to the side of the desk, she opened a door, into another hallway full of doors with name tags, and the occasional glass wall with what looked like meeting rooms behind it. Despite the tight corridors, Cadance managed to not bump herself on anything.

Autumn came to a stop at a door and knocked. A keening voice called through in native Grifonin, to which Cadance realized that 'Galligar' was not a pony name.

The griffon in question, a gray and brown feathered tercel, had an old book smell mixed with chemicals. He swung open the door, inwards, and glanced at Autumn and Cadance. Autumn wearing an apologetic look, and Cadance trying to maintain a neutral outlook.

This is far bigger than I imagined

"I see." He said slowly. He gestured to Cadance, "Thank you Autumn, please Princess, step into my office."

She did, and Autumn slipped past her in the tight hallway, Cadance read, 'accountant lead' under his name on the mounted brass card on the wall.

The office was... decorated... a lot. It reminded Cadance very closely of some of the sitting rooms she'd seen in Griffonia. Galligar took a seat at his desk after pulling out a griffon style fur chair out for her to sit in.

She chose to stand.

Galligar steepled his talons, "How can I help you, your Highness?"

"I'm just doing an inspection of the grounds and its operations, Ms. Breeze brought me here to speak with you when I asked her."

Keep it together

"I know why, if you're curious." He said with a hint of sarcasm

"Enlighten me." She said with the same back

"It's because everything you just said is rat shit."

Alright

"So we're not doing the pleasantries and formality thing?" She said, narrowing her eyes.

The changeling in front of her undisguised themselves. She lifted her wings to defend herself, but no attack came.

"No. We're not, my instructions say otherwise." The changeling's voice was the normal bug-like double tone of their species.

Cadance kept herself tensed, and had a defensive force spell primed in her horn, "Your instructions?"

"Some of us get special operating procedures, for changelings, if you're ever on site, and corner us, we're to undisguise and explain a series of statements. For me, since I'm the defacto leader of the Changelings on site; I get to deal with you." The changeling put a holed limb on the bridge of its snout and sighed.

"You're going to need a good explanation. I already know Silver's got her hooves in this, so there's no need to hide anything."

"Who?" The changeling tilted it's head, and Cadance felt the spark of genuine confusion

"Uh." Cadance's mind mentally staggered in place, "Quick Silver?"

The changeling tilted its head more.

"Never mind, what are you supposed to tell me?"

"My name is Kirsha, and I don't associate with Queen Chrysalis. "

Cadance waited for more. There wasn't.

"Is that all?"

"Yes?"

Now I definitely know for sure. That has Silver written all over it.

"If you don't associate with Chrysalis, then why are you here?" Suspicion coated her voice

"I work for Tack & Co. as their lead accountant." Kirsha said straight faced.

Cadance tried to make sense of that statement, she settled on "Why" eventually.

"I've got a good head for numbers?" Kirsha tried

"No. Why do you work here? What do you get out of it?"

"I get money, love, and work."

"You take love from the ponies here?"

"No, I get paid in love, it gets taken out of my regular pay."

"Who decides that?"

"I do." Kirsha gestured at her title and name on her desk, "I'm the accounting lead."

"Who tells you what to do? Who's in charge of you?"

"I'm really not supposed to talk about that." Kirsha said, trying to shrink back into her swivel chair.

Throughout their back and forth, Cadance had slowly meandered her way forwards, and currently had her hooves on the edge of the desk. It wasn't nearly as nice as hers.

Despite what most ponies were aware of, Cadance had spent roughly three decades of her life abroad, and was thoroughly mentally immersed in the nature and culture of the races that surrounded the Equestrian homefront. Similarly, contrary to popular belief, Cadance wasn't exactly the kindest negotiator in the land; Equestria was the largest power in the world, it was leverage she had to use frequently during her diplomatic escapades, that being said,

Cadance was well versed in the art of intimidation, regardless of her general will to do it. Here though, she was completely comfortable pulling out all the stops.

She lit her horn as she loomed over the changeling, "I'm not giving you a choice."

She had no spell charged, it was just to spook the thing.

"I don't know!" Kirsha said, fully sitting back in her chair. "None of us do! We just get instructions and organizational feedback in writing!"

"Explain."

"There's a suggestion box!" Kirsha quickly moved her hooves in the shape of a box, "It's a daily activity we do at lunch! We pull all the papers out and go over them to see what we can improve, sometimes a sealed letter comes through with instructions from the owner telling us what to do! That's all I know about them! Honest!"

Cadance narrowed her eyes, sure she felt a little guilty at playing the 'terror' so much, but Changelings tended to fear her anyways, so why not lean into it? "And what exactly does Tack & Co. Do?"

The Changeling shook its head, "I'm not supposed to talk about that either"

Cadance snarked, "Still not giving you a choice."

The bug spent several moments deliberating its response. "We do transport, buying and selling." Kirsha said quietly, she looked ashamed

Cadance mentally back tracked, "Explain?"

"We have portal stations all across Equestria, we buy things cheap and in bulk from the source, and sell them where the demand is highest."

"And that works?"

Kirsha nodded swiftly and jaggedly, "You can buy a ton of nails from Trottingham for an eighth bit a piece, but they sell in the Empire for one."

That can't be all this is

"Portal stations? How does that work?"

"I'm not supposed to talk about that too, and I don't know, even if I could, I'm an accountant, not a technician."

"Then take me to someone that can explain."

Kirsha looked up at the visage Cadance was putting out and smirked, "Actually, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, now."

Uh oh

"You're not the only one that can read emotions Princess."

Kirsha opened a drawer and magicked a leaflet of paper to her.

It was a description, written like a stage play. It depicted the bounds of the current conversation, and the premise. It had lists of responses and things Kirsha was meant to say to Cadance.

"Whoever does own Tack & Co., read you like a book."

Cadance put the paper down on the desk slowly, "This doesn't mean that you're off the hook" She said, dropping her menacing vibe, her normal tone returning.

"Of course not, did you read the end?"

Cadance turned her gaze back to the paper

I also knew you wouldn't read the end.

1. Do not harass my employees
2. You are being recorded by magic tracking cameras
3. I will absolutely sue your wings off of your back if you interrupt my operations

Everything I'm doing here is up to code, and besides your personal reservations about Changelings, the majority of them are kind hearted. Don't misuse my trust in you Little Princess, or I will make sure you cannot.

What kind of trust is it if you have pages of interactive media for your employees to 'deal with me'

The paper also included the instructions to show Cadance the paper, the note reading that once she read the end, she'd leave whomever it concerned alone.

Cadance wanted to make a fuss, but obviously Silver was prepared for that.

Too prepared

Cadance realized something.

This is it. This is what she's doing. It has something to do with Tack & Co.

Cadance rolled up the paper and slid it back over to Kirsha who was calmly watching Cadance with a neutral expression.

"I think I'll be taking my leave then."

Kirsha returned to her griffon form, "Goodbye Princess, it was a pleasure helping you answer all your questions."

Cadance nearly turned and said something rude, but the phrase 'most of them are kind hearted' stuck in her mind, so she simply left. That is, she also tried to spot where the 'magic tracking cameras' were, but she guessed that if Silver wanted them to not be easily visible, she probably wouldn't notice them without magic.

and a high octane scanning spell was probably not a good idea.

She trotted out back towards reception where the blue stallion waved to her with a smile.

She gave him a once over, not bothering to return the kind gesture, "Do you have one of those papers too?"

His smile turned apologetic.

She sighed and left.

At least it was still nice outside.

Author's Note

For anypony wondering, the reason Cadance could tell Kirsha was a changeling right away is because changelings have a unique emotional aura, their emotions are a like a void Cadance can see sparks in.

The Gala, part 1

"I'm not sure I understand why this is so important."

Shining was confused, which was okay; he didn't know Silver like Cadance did.

At the moment: Cadance, Amber and Shining Armor were sitting in their bedroom covered in papers and white boards. It was the day of the Gala, and Cadance had work to do.

She shifted a paper on air ordinance laws, "It's important because this is Silver's plan." She pointed towards their 'brainstorming' white board, "Silver tried very hard to keep this hidden, and was incredibly prepared to keep me out of it."

"It makes enough sense too." Amber said, "If she can't do damage with magic without getting caught, the next best thing would be to take over politically and economically."

Cadance looked up at their board. There was a menagerie of random comments and offshoots from a bubble with 'Tack & Co.' at the center. Apparently the idea was ingenious. Nopony had done it before because bulk transport portals had range and mass issues that nopony could figure out. Obviously Silver could, and the instant transport from region to region was incredibly lucrative.

"I still think it's some sort of world conquering idea." Shining was stuck on the 'portals to everywhere in Equestria' part

Cadance nodded, "It very well might be, who knows how much damage Silver could do to every single major settlement in Equestria before we could react."

The good news is that Cadance knew that wouldn't happen. Silver wouldn't blow all of her leverage on some massive world destroying attack, because she'd still lose in the end. Silver wanted to win, permanently. Tack & Co. wasn't part of some revenge scheme, everything Cadance knew about Silver pointed away from it.

So why?

"I don't think that's the case though. There's plenty of ways Silver could more subtly destroy Equestria." Amber said

Cadance finished, "And she'd still lose in the end, that's not her goal."

"So it's some kind of economic power grab?"

Amber shifted a paper over on the crystal floor, "A decent one at that, Tack & Co. is operating in a market that's basically wide open. With the right innovations and connections, Tack & Co. could theoretically dominate and monopolize the transport industry in just over a year."

"How many bits is that?"

Amber grimaced, "If she takes advantage of price ranges not responding to the new technologies of Tack & Co. because of the novelty factor? She'd outpace The Empire's coffers in two."

"Surely there are laws against one pony becoming that powerful?"

Cadance shook her head, Shining had a morning meeting so he had missed that part.

"We scoured the books for it, but a combination of Silver's Noble title, a technical international company, and dual citizenship means that there's no law, ordinance or treatise that Silver is breaking. We can't pin anything on the company either."

"As far as the law is concerned, the company is an independent lawful party, subject to international laws. Silver has neatly sidestepped our ability to slow her down." Amber finished

Shining Armor nodded grimly, "What I don't get is how she got so many ponies there so fast, and trained too."

"Hoof Take industry is a hiring company." Cadance said

"A what?"

Amber explained, "It basically means that they organize hiring processes for thousands of ponies who sign up. Instead of putting up job posters, ponies give their resumes to Hoof Take, and companies just go there to hire their employees."

"And Silver bought them out." Cadance lifted up the letter she expedited from the mayor of Manehatten and magicked it over to Shining, "Apparently Silver cut a deal with the owner to hire all of their employees in exchange for exclusivity. Hoof Take works for Tack & Co. now, finding ponies to fill the workforce."

Shining took the letter and started to read while Amber spoke, "Apparently their headquarters went up practically overnight, so nopony noticed. Silver paid a construction crew double overtime and hired several architect experts from both The Empire and Equestria for the construction; the ponies worked two days straight."

Cadance slapped a hoof to her forehead, "That groundbreaking request I expedited, I totally forgot about that. They must have started practically as soon as the paperwork went through."

"Can't we pull this down for the hostile takeover of Hoof Take?"

Amber shook her head, "Because the owner is still in charge, and the investors signed off on it, no. It's an informal agreement between the two."

"So what do we do?" He asked

Cadance knew this part, "At the moment? Nothing. We can't act on this until we have more information, but we're steadily catching up."

Shining continued, his tone dropping, "I'm concerned we won't catch up fast enough."

"We have to try."

Amber spoke up, "In all honesty, there is little to be concerned about. An economic superpower located in the Crystal Empire could work for us. The worst that could happen is Silver leads the economic sector of The Empire for the next several generations." She looked up at the two royals, "That's not really malevolent is it?"

Shining frowned, "It probably won't look bad until it's exactly too late for us to do anything."

Cadance nodded

Despite what she wanted to believe, that was the truth. If Silver truly planned on doing something 'bad' then she'd wait until the absolute last moment to reveal her hoof. They had to be ready for it, especially with the amount of damage the amount of bits Silver was raking in could do. Especially in her hooves.

"The good news is that we have a lead now." Cadance shook her head, "Silver's not doing anything else big, everything we've been dealing with so far must have been lucky distractions Silver took advantage of."

"You know what I just realized?" Shining said, "She lied, she said she'd tell us the big things she was up to, like you told her." He pointed to Cadance, "But she didn't."

Cadance gave a sideways smile, "Uhhh, well...."

"Cadance"

"She was pretty clear how ambiguous the agreement was to her... I guess I just didn't ask afterwards?"

Shining put his face in his hooves.

"I suppose you'll have time to ask her when she arrives for the Gala." Amber said

Ah yes... that

Cadance had received her dress, it was a big comfy florally decorated sun dress with even greens and soft yellows, speckled with flashes of bright vibrant flower colours. It didn't really match her coat... or mane, but it was very pretty.

"Silver definitely knows I know by now." Cadance said mostly to herself, "It's worth asking, I might get some more information."

"So... Lunch?" Shining said hopefully.

They'd been here for several hours past lunchtime. Everything was closed today in The Spire for the Gala, so they had no other responsibilities for the day.

"How will Silver know when to show up?"

"I could always use that sending spell she gave me."

"Cadance, we talked about that, I don't want you using corruptive magics."

Cadance pursed her lips, "It's only half emotion..."

"Cadance"

"I can handle it, Shining."

"I know, I still don't want you doing it, full stop."

"Celestia does dark magic."

"Celestia's been doing it for a thousand years."

Cadance gestured ambiguously.

"Yes I know I just argued myself into a corner."

Amber watched the interaction break down to gestures and short phrases as the couple communicated in what she could only call 'the chicken scratch of married arguing.'

"I'm going to test it." Cadance had said with a wry smile near the tail end as she stood and grabbed a paper in her telekinesis.

Shining tried to reason with her, having lost the battle of wills. Which failed as he was impacted by the spell.

Cadance had tried to send the paper to him, which worked, as the jolt of magical electricity jumped from her horn to the paper and consumed the page into a wave of force. What Cadance did not know, however, was that the power she'd put into the spell, plus her lack of practice, had given it a 'minimum range' of sorts. The result was that the spell couldn't disengage before arriving, and instead slammed into Shining's face.

Shining rolled onto his back, seemingly knocked over by a piece of paper shredding itself on his face at a quarter the speed of sound.

Cadance covered her mouth with her hoof.

"Ow."

"Sorry."

At least it worked.

The Gala, part 2

It was just about evening now, and Cadance had spent the majority of lunch with Shining trying to get their minds off Silver.

Shining apparently had a good handle on the guard presence. With the incoming EUP transfers, they'd actually be a military force, both internally and externally. That was good, at least from a political standpoint. It also gave plenty of ponies jobs and a positive mental outlook, which was a perfect bonus. That wasn't all Shining does though, despite his head for guard work, having been the captain of the Canterlot militia for most of his working life...

Actually... that is pretty much all he does. Guard work, or guard work adjacent

Now, Cadance was cleaning up the mess they'd made in their bedroom. They hadn't intentionally started their impromptu thought storm in their bedroom. That's just where the conversation started, and when Amber arrived, Cadance had just gone with it.

She kept the white board, she knew Shining may not appreciate it being left in their room, so she flipped it over against the wall and then stared at it for a few moments.

Yup... good enough.

She smiled at the thought. Few ponies knew of Cadance's playful side, though that came with being a Princess, and a media personality.

Plus, annoying ponies... Lightly, not the way Discord does it, was funny. It just was.

She looked out towards the window, checking the time.

I better get dressed and work my mane.

And she did. Cadance's mane had mostly regrown by now so there was plenty of strands to brush and arrange in an interesting pattern, seeing that she'd be wearing a bright rimmed hat, she'd pulled her mane up into an extravagant bun, with the edges hanging down with sparse bangs. The intent was to have the hat cover the majority of her mane, and have the shorter multi-coloured strands hang out from underneath. A little application of makeup to lighten her features from under the hat, and she was good to slip into the dress.

Moments later, Silver arrived, walking straight into their room from a magic portal. Cadance heard from the bathroom.

"Oh, Little Princess?" Silver called out from outside, Cadance made her way out and blanched at Silver's... Getup, if it could be called that.

She looks like the dumpster threw her out

Her mane was greasy, and splayed around, her fur had lost its sheen, and she was wearing her best impression at 'hobo' with several layers of dirty holed overcoats... and pants.

"You look stunning my dear." Silver said in her same posh tone she'd addressed ponies not Cadance and Shining.

Cadance gapped

Silver chuckled, "What? Is there something on my face?"

"You"

Silver laughed a bit harder

"You can't go to the Gala wearing... looking like that."

"Why not?"

"You look like you're homeless."

"I am, technically."

"You own a house"

Somehow

"I don't sleep where I work."

"Where do you sleep?"

"I don't."

Cadance halted their back and forth, "You don't sleep?"

"Haven't for as long as I can remember. All of my forays into the dream realm are manual." Silver had dropped her joking tone.

Cadance narrowed her eyes, "You remember sleeping." She said, as an accusation

"It's not really a lie if it's blatantly obvious." Silver flippantly responded, looking around Cadance's bedroom, "Plus, why waste all this space for somewhere you only sleep in? Seems better to throw it out all together."

"Silver, not sleeping is really bad for you." She tried to sound like a disappointed mother

"Oh yes." Silver gave Cadance a playful, yet menacing look, "I am definitely insane."

Cadance frowned

"Luna wouldn't stop bothering me if I slept." Silver said, more seriously, "I can't afford the distraction. One pony princess demanding my friendship is all I have time for."

"You still can't wear that."

"Please. Little Princess, spare me." Silver tutted, "I've ruled and manipulated crowds of things far more unruly than the Canterlot nobles. I know exactly what this ensemble will do, and I plan to play the game to my heart's content tonight."

"You promise it's not just a joke?"

"I promise." Silver smirked, "Plus, you now know why I'm intent on making some connections"

"Tack & Co." Cadance said simply, to which Silver suppressed a chuckle

"Yes yes, what do you think? By the way?"

"Of Tack & Co.?" Cadance said again, to which Silver laughed fully, before covering her mouth with a hoof.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, Little Princess. Nothing at all." She said with a shit-eating grin.

Silver was still distant. She was very here in the same way Silver was always 'present'. She had an aura to her, but was still at least personally, keeping her distance. Distracting Cadance with light chatter and complex interaction was something she could probably do all night; something Cadance was prepared for.

Time to play

"So you're avoiding Luna?" She asked, and then tentatively tacked onto the end, "What for?"

Silver gave her another far off look. Half way between answering and not.

"Just tell me... What am I going to do about it?"

Forceful, back off, and

"Heh." Silver gave a smile, "Fair enough; There's no reason for me to interact with her. She's learned her lesson, has her whole life ahead of her."

What you're not saying, is that you don't think she wants you around.

Or that you don't want to...

"What about Celestia?"

"Ohoho, not everything Little Princess." Silver waggled a hoof in a 'no' gesture, "Celestia's still part of the endgame, I have to deal with her eventually, and I don't want to spoil the surprise."

Despite the success, the mental gymnastics were starting to give her a headache. She could see plenty of the conversational pitfalls, it was what she didn't know that worried her.

"So they're connected? Avoiding Luna and Celestia? There's something you can do for her? Some lessons you still want to 'teach'."

Silver appraised Cadance with a proud look, before nodding simply.

Cadance racked her mind, trying to connect the dots between an economic powerhouse, a dark magician, and a millennia old part of The Sun.

"What?"

She ended up sticking her hoof in her mouth by just blatantly asking.

Silver smiled a smile far too big to be possible. "I'm going to teach her how to lose."

Drat

That was the stone wall. Of course it meant something, but she wasn't going to get anything else but that.

Silver, obviously sensing she had 'gotten' Cadance swung a hoof to the still open portal in her bedroom. "Shall we?"

Cadance mentally recovered in record time, "Actually, I was thinking chariot."

"Isn't that an hour flight?"

Cadance nodded.

Silver frowned and went silent.

"I don't know how to tell you that I don't have the energy to sit in a chariot with you for an hour and then spend the night around more children."

Cadance went to respond, but Silver cut her off

"Actually no, I lie, I know exactly how to do that." Silver met Cadance's eyes, "I don't have the patience to interact with you for an hour, followed by a bunch of children, without spontaneously combusting." Silver mimed waving some hot air over herself, "Woo there we go, that wasn't so hard."

"So you want to portal there?"

"Obviously."

"The Gala doesn't start for another two hours."

"I like being fashionably early."

Cadance's response was to look sideways at Silver's clothing of choice. Luckily for her, the smell was inaccurate to the look.

"I like being early." Silver amended.

"Want to play a game to pass an hour?"

Silver's ears perked up. "A game?"

Cadance magicked a chess board and a fold out stand to the spot they were standing on, "Do you play chess?"

"I have played chess." Silver steepled her hooves, "Are you asking to play chess against the greatest intellectual mind of this age?"

Cadance monotoned, "We're kinda doing it without the board anyways."

"You brought that on yourself."

She rolled her eyes and set the board.

What followed was absolutely the weirdest game of chess Cadance had ever played. Silver seemingly took absolutely random moves, doing things that had actually no strategic benefit for the game, and against Cadance's initial belief that she was just missing Silver's grand plan, she eventually won the game.

"Checkmate." She said slowly

"Actually you have a checkmate in two more moves, look."

Silver moved her Princess to another tile to safety, and then magicked one of her pieces to the side, and then moved her Princess again, and then moved another one of Cadance's pieces, and that was checkmate.

"Did you let me win?"

"No?" Silver leaned forwards, "Did it feel like I did?"

"You were doing completely random things."

"Mhm."

"Wait, so it was completely random? Why?"

"Mind if I lecture you for a moment?"

Cadance nodded for her to go ahead.

"Take the example of the two forces taking the field." She gestured to the board, "In a skirmish with people in the real world, there's best choices, and good ideas, and probable counters. Too many factors for the average to manage, and for the above average to coordinate over so many people."

"In chess, however, that's not the case. Things are far more cut and dry, there's no retreat, and every force can take out any other. The possible strategy is limited to positioning only, essentially."

"So what strategy can you employ against an opponent that completely forgoes any kind of positing?" Silver rearranged to board to a state Cadance recognized from halfway through their game.

"If you had moved this piece here, I would have been able to turn the tide." She pointed to the piece in question, "But you played defensively, and waited out my random movements until I had gotten rid of my own advantage."

"You're saying that because you played randomly, the outcome of the game was random?"

"Not at all, my random movements were designed to confuse and disorient your own plan and counters. The strategy also limits your moves to being incredibly simple, lest you want to make a mistake early. That means that if you had made a mistake, I would have been able to easily wipe your pieces from the board."

Silver sat back down and shrugged, "But it just didn't happen this game."

"You try to work in wisdom to everything you do don't you?"

"There's wisdom to be found in everything, Little Princess." Silver smiled, "Shall we play again?"

They did. It was exactly the same up until the tail end of the game, Cadance played defensively, too defensively. She'd wasted too many turns moving too few pieces too slowly.

"I win."

"You do?" The board was far from either of them checking, muchless checkmating.

"Observe carefully."

A wave of cerulean magic overtook the board and each piece. Cadance watched Silver play out the remaining thirteen moves of the game, every time she moved one of Cadance's pieces, it was definitely what Cadance would have done.

"Checkmate." The board settled

"Huh. So it happened in this game."

"Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. There's no strategy to employ against it, which gives it a roughly fifty percent success rate. Just over, since I know exactly what to look for before turning the tides."

Cadance looked at the state of the board. "Why use that strategy?"

"Why not?"

Like you were expecting something else

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. Her headache returned

Maybe not the best way to spend the hour

"Hey wait, you still spent the hour with me anyways." She pouted

Silver shrugged, "I don't like chariots."

She tried to rub the pressure out of her head at her snout.

"Don't look so tired yet Little Princess, we have a whole party to crash."

"Ugh, don't remind me."

"Not a fan of The Gala?" Came Silver's soft question.

Cadance looked up to see a surprisingly soft look coming from the messy pegasus

"No. I... The Canterlot Nobles have a lot of bad memories tied up with them."

"Ah. Say no more, I completely understand. An upcoming Alicorn like yourself was certainly torn to shreds the moment you appeared. Used and abused by the likes that wanted things from you, instead of wanting you."

"Yeah" Cadance felt a smile tugging at her lips, "Exactly that."

Silver kicked the table over and scattered the chess pieces across the room.

"Silver!"

She was up to Cadance and grabbed her by the hoof.

We're going now then I guess

"Let's go take some back." Silver passionately drove the comment into Cadance's mind as they passed through the portal.

They'd emerged in Silver's ice cavern workshop, Silver leading the unwilling Alicorn to the teleportation array, citing that they couldn't take the 'dark magic express' with Celestia breathing down her neck.

With a flash, they were in the palace gardens.

"The gardens?"

"Party adjacent. We can arrive on our own time."

I thought you-

"That being now; let's draw some eyes Little Princess." Silver looked her over, and then waved a hoof, Cadance's clothes transformed. What was a nature themed sundress became a nature themed moondress. The blacks and lilacs fit with Cadance's coat far better, and the triangular hat tied the look together.

“Whoah”

Silver tapped her hoof on her chin while Cadance observed the changes, a flower floated over to Cadance, rapidly shifting in colour, and Silver wrapped the levitating flower around the top of the hat, and made it grow big enough to be a proper centerpiece.

Silver produced a standing mirror, from somewhere, "What do you think?"

"I think I'll add fashion to your growing list of endless skills" She snarked.

The mirror disappeared and Silver noncommittedly said, "You pick up colour theory by accident by your third century."

"And the flower?"

"Some transmutation, with a light based enchantment, nothing bad I swear."

Cadance gave Silver an over the shoulder hug, "Thank you. It's the second nicest dress I've ever worn."

Silver was muffled beneath the bulk of the larger mare, but extricated herself from the hug regardless, clearly not enjoying it in the slightest. "Second best? I can't regale myself to second best."

"You'll have to beat my wedding dress."

"Second best it is then."

Cadance chuckled. "You know, you'd be a really good friend if you gave it a chance. Not just with me."

"I am a very good friend Little Princess." She said with a bit of edge, but not dropping her smile. "I know that plenty well, now let's get to partying. The early comers will be the first turn for the crowd."

"Lead on then."

"Oh, I was born to lead."

With that, they walked in through one of the palace doors, into the hallway. Luckily they bypassed the entrance to the Gala, where Celestia undoubtedly was, despite her own belief that Silver was exaggerating, she was still worried about any confrontation.

They made their way past a couple of party goers wandering the palace, drawing plenty of gawking stares and one particularly funny spit take as they made their way to the actual party location. How exactly Silver knew where it was, she didn't know, she didn't even know where it was.

Maybe she doesn't. Maybe she's just pretending to know until she finds it.

Cadance never got her answer, but they did get to the ballroom. They hadn't gone all out this year apparently. There was a stage, carpet, sparse decorations, confetti, and a nice cool and smooth colour pallet in the room. "Not too shabby" she said aloud

Her mind thought back to the Zebra Sultan's decorations when she went to work out a crystal trade deal for exotic spices.

Definitely not the best I'-

"Go grab some wine, I've found our first mark."

Mark? Oh here we go.

She felt Silver lightly tugging her over to the buffet table, so she decided to walk on her own. "You know, we can just enjoy the night, we don't have to play 'the game'" She said with verbal air quotes.

Silver stopped walking and turned to face her entirely.

"Alright." Silver grunted after rolling her eyes, "How about this?" Silver pulled out a bit, "You flip this bit, tails we relax, heads we do things my way."

With a smirk Cadance used her magic to flip the bit in Silver's hoof once from heads to tails. "Guess we relax."

Silver stared at the coin in her hoof for a split second before exploding with laughter. She tossed the coin into the air, and it fell into her mess of a mane and disappeared. "You got me good!"

Cadance gave a good natured 'Princess giggle' and Silver's intense love of her joke.

Silver's laughter petered out into chuckling, "Relax it is, though I reserve the right to mess with anyone who approaches us."

"Speaking of."

A pink mare with a very purple mane approached them, "Good evening Princess Cadance," The mare gave a short bow, "I must say, the menagerie is in an uproar seeing you again at a Gala."

"Nothing I wouldn't expect Ma'am. Cadance here is truly a sight to behold."

"And who are you?" She verbally snarled

"Oh, nopony special my dear, say, and you?"

"I am Spoiled Rich." she said, turning her nose up.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Rich."

"I wish I could say likewise, this is the greatest event of the year, not an alleyway." The mare was clearly nearly gnashing her teeth at Silver. Silver, however, kept her face straight, and her tone polite.

"Say Mrs. Rich, that's a lovely gown you're wearing."

"I'm surprised you could recognize fashion at all."

"And how many looks are you getting? Hmm? Everypony seems to be looking at me, between the two of us."

Spoiled turned to look, and with that, Cadance knew well enough, Silver had just won their verbal sparring. Similarly, it's not even that Silver was wrong. There were plenty of ponies observing only Silver, even in leu of Cadance herself.

"Humph!" Spoiled lifted her nose and briskly trotted away from the pair.

"Heh" Silver watched Spoiled leave, Cadance saw the contented amusement written all over her face.

"A sight to behold?" Cadance tried

"Complimenting my own work, really." Silver turned away and walked up to the buffet

"Hey!"

Silver offered her a sparkling glass of some white wine, and fished a hors d'oeuvre on a stick off the table and appraised it.

"Do you always have to have me drink whenever we go out?"

"It helps you get out of your own head."

"Mmmm."

Cadance could sense the spell present on the cup, the same one Silver always cast for her.

I guess?

"What does this spell do anyways?"

"Hmm? The... Alcohol spell?" Silver put the hors d'oeuvre back on the table, seemingly deciding she didn't want it. Grabbed her own cup of wine and they began walking towards a table off to the side of the rug.

I don't like the way she had to think of what it was called

"Yes, and you never cast it on your own drinks."

"It doesn't work on me."

"Don't try and distract me Missy."

"You're awfully playful tonight."

"What did I just say" Cadance said with a smile

"Can't blame a mare for trying."

"Just tell me"

Silver's tone dropped hard, "I'll tell you later, seven 'o clock"

"Cadance!"

Twilight approached the two sitting at the table.

Silver watched as they shared their special greeting, smiling warmly, something Cadance missed.

"Oh Twilight, it's good to see you again."

Celestia was there, and Cadance boxed up her worry and shoved it out of her mind. Celestia was better at reading ponies than even she was.

Careful now Cadance, steady.

"Hello my niece, who is this?"

"And what is she wearing?" Twilight said in mild disgust.

Cadance sent it, "This is my plus one, Quick Silver. She helped us uncover a dangerous plot to resurrect Sombra, and is of The Noble House of Silvers."

"And I'm wearing the most eye-catching ensemble in the room." Silver said towards Twilight, who stepped back on instinct after realizing exactly who this was.

Celestia giggled, "Eye catching is right, what pray tell is it meant to state?"

"Poverty among riches."

Celestia made a weird face, and shook her head. "Sorry, that's... I've just not hear that phrase in a long time." She smiled warmly, "You said your name was Quick Silver?"

"That's right your highness, it's a pleasure to formally make your acquaintance."

Silver and Celestia quickly bumped hooves, and began talking about nothing, as you do at parties like this.

"Is that..?" Twilight whispered beside Cadance, who at the moment was wearing a very clearly forced stressed grin as Silver talked to Celestia.

She shook her apprehension off, "Yeah."

"Is that a good idea?"

"Yeah."

Twilight rolled the response through her mind. "Okay." She did the same banishment of her own apprehension, and smiled at Cadance, "It really is good to see you. I love your dress."

"Silver's idea."

"Really?"

Cadance sipped her wine, "Mhm."

Celestia laughed, not a princessly chuckle, but a well and proper laugh, "Oh Ms. Silver, you are a card."

"I try my hardest, your Highness."

"Well it was lovely to meet you, Twilight? Shall we?"

"Yes Princess." Twilight left Cadance's side.

"Have a wonderful night you two, that nothing won't do itself." Silver said with a wave and wry grin.

Celestia giggled again, and trotted off with Twilight in tow.

Silver slumped over the table.

"You okay?" Cadance asked.

"She's far better than I remember." Despite her likely false exaggerated exhaustion, Silver smiled, "I'm so proud of her."

That comment wasn't for Cadance. So she didn't say anything

She actually tried to forget about it. Feeling like the first bit of emotion she'd ever seen from Silver was something so alien, and so raw that it just wasn't something she should touch.

The Gala, part C

"What is that!"

Cadance heard Rarity cry from across the room. Glancing over, she saw that indeed Rarity was pointing with horror at Quick Silver. Who ignored the comment, and laughed, sampling some food they'd eventually gotten.

They'd been hearing mumbles throughout the crowd about the strange mare here as the Princess's plus all night. In addition to the several ponies who approached after Celestia.

Silver's hobo getup is working

Ponies saw Celestia laughing, Cadance had been glued to Silver all night, which was apparently enough to make Quick Silver the talk of the Gala. Some were disgusted and confused, others were sure that the unnamed mare was clearly a big deal, wearing such a 'statement' and getting the attention of all three princesses in attendance.

"Excuse me! Miss!"

"I'm sorry?" Silver turned to the approaching Rarity as if she'd not heard her clearly shout.

"Miss! I-" Rarity composed herself, "Oh, hello Princess Cadance." and gave a short bow

"No need for formalities Rarity, Cadance will do fine, and this is Quick Silver, and yes. She's committing a crime against fashion."

"In my defense, I did pick the colours and shapes for Cadance's ensemble."

Rarity took a double take at Cadance's midnight floral dress, "Ah yes, well, uhm..." Rarity tried not to criticize

Silver rolled her eyes, "Everypony's a critic"

"Maybe you could explain your ensemble to Rarity?"

Silver raised an eyebrow at Cadance but turned towards the white mare. "It's a statement of wisdom."

"A statement for sure, but of wisdom?" Rarity tried to be polite, but couldn’t help but grimace as she used her magic to levitate one of the many old coats Silver had on her shoulders.

"Poverty in riches my dear, I'm sure you know the value of bits when compared to that of what truly matters in the world yes?" Silver didn't give Rarity time to respond, "Many of these ponies wear their bits over their flanks, I, on the other hoof, know of true values, and instead choose to wear my experience."

Rarity slowly let out an "I see."

"To have so much, and yet so little." Silver said wistfully

Rarity hemmed and hawed for a moment "Yes, of course, but does it have to be spoken as 'homeless'?"

Silver laughed, "I guess not, but I couldn't come up with anything else."

Silver's dropped into a glare and focused it past Rarity.

"Uhm." Rarity said intelligently

Cadance followed Silver's glare to Discord, who was talking to Fluttershy, and... a green blob.

"I think I hear Sweetie Belle calling me, ta ta." Rarity bid a hasty retreat.

Silver was seemingly done talking, so Cadance left her alone and watched on.

Discord was being Discord, that was the long and short of it. Cadance understood the general mood. He appeared to be trying to get Fluttershy's attention, and was failing. Classic.

Silver never took her eyes off the Draconequus

"Silv-"

"Shut up Cadance."

Okay. Wow.

Silver snarled and tore her eyes away from Discord and instead started glaring at the table.

"I'm getting some air." Silver's face returned to a normalized smile, and she was walking away from the table and through the crowd in the next moment. Leaving Cadance without company for the moment.

Oh dear. What to do

She wants to be away from Discord. As far as I know, they hate each other. That didn't look like hatred though, or even rivalry, that was pain.

Cadance got up and followed after Silver. She was stopped a couple of times in the crowd, but was Cadance a political gamemaster. She simply verbally maneuvered herself through the crowd with no issue, and managed to get back out into the gardens, where Silver had gone.

She couldn't see Silver though

"Can't leave me alone for a moment can you?" Silver approached from somewhere she couldn't see

"I can't be worried about you?" She tried to mix sarcasm and worry and succeeded, in her opinion at least.

Silver deadpanned a 'are you joking with me right now' look.

Recover!

Cadance tried, "So, uh, that spell?"

Close enough!

"I said I'd tell you later, not that I'd tell you immediately at the next possible opportunity."

"I am asking you to explain it to me." Cadance said earnestly

It left Silver wordless, and she blinked away her annoyed look.

"Well I-"

There was a pitched scream. "Let me in!"

Cadance moved but was stopped by Silver's outstretched hoof, Cadance turned to Silver, and followed her pointing hoof towards Rarity, covered in green slime, and the ball of goop accosting another partygoer. The door opened and Rarity stumbled into the ballroom. Silver moved to get a proper look, as did Cadance. Making the right space between the entryway and the ball of goop.

Hey, is it bigger than it was before?

"Heh, look Cadance."

Twilight was giving Discord a dressing down, which he didn't really care about, but then Discord's attention shifted, and Twilight's posture changed.

Cadance felt a spark

No way

"Hehe, you see it too?" Silver bumped her shoulder, "My hoofwork, you like?"

Cadance watched Twilight pull Discord aside and they began talking earnestly. Discord mostly, Twilight seemingly just listened at first.

"Little Pri-"

Cadance quietly reached a blind hoof out to press over Silver's mouth, it seemingly worked, because Silver stopped talking.

Twilight said something to Discord, and he slouched and crossed his arms, muttering something. Twilight got some air and pulled Discord's face to meet her gaze.

They shared several more words, before Discord waved her off. Nodding and seemingly calming down, he teleported away after.

Cadance stood awestruck for a moment, before turning towards Silver like a door creaking open in a horror movie. "What. Was. That." She enunciated very carefully, a slow smile spreading across her features.

"I take it, you approve?"

"Approve?!" Cadance lowered her voice, but not her excitement, "Approve? Silver! Explain that this instant!"

Silver shrugged "Well, I had a hunch, and I gave a little push."

Cadance pranced in place and flapped like a filly on her birthday, "You're joking! You're joking?"

Silver shook her head

She's not joking!

Cadance did not squee, that was decidedly something Princesses didn't do.

"How?" Cadance begged and grabbed Silver by the shoulders

Silver placating removed Cadance's grip on her. "Now steady yourself Little Princess. There's no telling what happens now, I just gave them a chance."

"This is so incredible, why? Why give them a push?"

"So you noticed it too?"

"I did once when I went to visit Twilight but..." Cadance trailed off

Silver smiled and tossed a hoof. It looked strange with her hobo getup, but Cadance knew what it meant.

"I have so many things to do."

"Steady Alicorn of Love. Steady."

"How could I relax now?"

"Easy, let's go start the dancing."

They did, they were the best aside from Pinkie, nopony beats Pinkie enthusiasm.

They'd extricated themselves from the dancing ponies.

Cadance was personally surprised at the fact that Silver had only left her side the one time, before attributing that to the coin flip.

"You're quite the animal on the dance floor Little Princess. Hard beats or smooth chords." Silver said conversationally as they walked back to their table.

"Hardly, I barely exerted myself." She said, giving the smaller mare a raised eyebrow.

Silver smiled, "Maybe for the better, I don't think the ponies here are ready to see you truly throw down."

Cadance suppressed her snort, and laughed instead. "Where do you learn all of this lingo?"

"I told you already didn't I? I didn't spend all that time in stone."

"You mean you came and went?"

Silver nodded as they sat down next to each other on the cushions for their table. "That's right, I experimented, kept track of my bloodlines, and watched the new ages. I even saw you once when you were out in Minos."

"Wait... so if you kept track of your bloodlines?" She let the leading question hang,

Silver acquiesced, "Alright fine, yes, Sunset is indeed a descendant of mine. My uncertainty was a fib to keep you from going crazy."

"You certainly do that enough." Cadance smiled, "Drive me crazy I mean."

"I try."

They enjoyed a moment of silence, watching the other ponies enjoy themselves. Discord had a little corner to which he was tangoing with The Smooze under special lighting spawned from nowhere.

Cadance took another sip of her drink, the alcoholic buzz barely reaching her ears. "So this spell?"

"Ugh, Little Princess, please. Not with this again."

She laughed at Silver's over exaggeration of irritation, "Your aversion to giving me even a sideways answer is only making me more curious."

"You really don't want me to tell you." Silver said with a straight face

"Uh, really?"

"Well... you don't want me to tell you."

What does that even mean

"Explain?" Cadence said hopefully

"If I do, you're only going to get more curious." Silver monotoned

Cadance gave her a wry smile, "We're way past that now."

"It's a surprise. Something I know for a fact you want to find out for yourself."

Cadance didn't bother trying to use Silver's hints to try and work out what she meant. She was committed to weaseling a straight answer out of the mare.

"So I want to hear it, but you don't want to spoil the surprise?"

"Yes."

Cadance leaned over the table, "Tell me."

Silver deadpanned in her general direction

"Why not right?"

Silver's look continued

"Oh come on!" Cadance pleaded, "Please?"

"You're being very playful tonight." Silver slung

"You've been awfully preachy tonight too." She slung back at her

Silver huffed, "Turnabout is fair play I suppose."

"Cmon Silver, just tell me, I promise I won't be mad." She pleaded just a little more, she could tell she was making progress. Knowing how silly she was being, it was working though, and if it ain't broke.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't care about telling you." Silver lifted a hoof placatingly towards the Alicorn, "I know you'll care, so this is my last warning, ask me again, and I'll tell you."

Cadance spent a fraction of mental effort to consider the weight of Silver's declaration before settling on the running good natured humour she'd been seemingly stirring within Silver.

"Tell me." She said, less than a second after

Silver rolled her eyes, "It's a pregnancy aid spell."

Cadance's mind didn't so much as grind to a halt. Rather, imagine what would happen if you set the momentum of an object to zero relative to its planetary mass. The object hitting a relative mach eighty seven and plasmafying the atmosphere as the planetary mass flew away from it. That was a closer description.

"That's why it doesn't work on me. I'm not pregnant." Silver said evenly

...

With her expression completely unchanged from the moment before, Cadance's horn sparkled a wild twisting pink and blue colour from the tip. She then turned to the side and vomited onto the floor.

"Congratulations."

"I'm fine, really I am." Cadance said tiredly.

After vomiting, Celestia had sent her to the palace's hospital; they ran a couple of quick tests, including one that had verified Silver's claim.

I'm totally fine. I really am.

She lied to herself.

The other half of herself was screaming Pregnant! like a crazed madmare!

I'm going to have a foal!

Heavens, I'm going to be a mom...

A little pony!

Now?! I'm ruling a nation!

Pregnant! Pregnant! Pregna-

"Princess!"

Hubauhwah?

Cadance's eyes lost their 'staring off into Eternity' look as she locked onto the doctor clapping in front of her face, "Yes?"

"Are you sure you're okay Princess?"

This was the doctor that didn't know she was pregnant. At the thought, her mind tried to go wild again, but she clamped down on the emotions for the moment.

Act like a Princess Cadance!

"I'm okay. I am, my thoughts are elsewhere."

Only two ponies knew... four actually. Counting herself and Silver, the doctor who ran the test, and the nurse who was there when the doctor gave her the news.

She had stress vomited; apparently it was something that just happened when a pony was overcome so thoroughly that their body decided a good way to knock them out of their stupor was to eject the bottle of acid violently through said pony's mouth.

I'm pregnant

"Okay Princess, the doctors cleared you a while ago, I was just a little worried. You're free to return to the party whenever you would prefer." The stallion was white coated, and sky blue maned. His name was Test Tube, leaving his title to be hilariously: Doctor Tube. Which Cadance found funny enough to keep herself focused... Pony naming conventions were very strange.

"Is the party still going?"

"They're wrapping up by now most likely. Commander Thicket came to poach some of our janitor ponies a couple of minutes ago."

"Thank you Doctor Tube."

He grimaced, "Aheh, please call me Doctor Test, if you would."

"Of course, Doctor Test"

Apparently other ponies have found that funny too.

Cadance scooted off the examination plate, and onto her four hooves. Her subconscious made her feel like her stomach jostled as her weight settled, but it was just her imagination.

I'm pregnant

A wing unfurled to cover her stomach as her mind and emotions whirled, standing in that room. That tiny examination room, meant for ponies about a half of a head shorter than her. Cadance considered responsibility, joy and fear.

There was a knock at the door, and it opened just a crack to reveal Silver sans hobo outfit; who after making eye contact, opened the door all the way.

"Hey."

Cadance just stared dumbly at the mare, "You knew the whole time?"

"Since we met. Yes. It's hard not to notice when someone is carrying two souls in their body."

Cadance flapped her mouth, her wing still cradling her stomach.

I'm going to be a mom

"You didn't let me finish."

Silver's voice changed. It deepened, and took on a more masculine timber. Softer than Cadance originally thought, quieter than a whisper. Cadance wasn't exactly sure Silver had even said anything.

"That wasn't the surprise."

Silver stood in front of Cadance with sparkling eyes.

Cadance glared back, and half gasped out "How. Could that have not been. The surprise."

"They're an Alicorn."

Cadance's mind reeled, or rather, reeled more, as the barely wind-like voice flowed from Silver.

"You won't have to bury them."

Silver had rested a limb on Cadance's shoulder, not speaking another word as Cadance let the floodgates of sudden joy wash away her fear. Silver held her for a moment, awkwardly trying to give a light hug. Cadance pushed the smaller mare away and pulled herself together.

"Shining, I have to tell him."

Silver nodded seriously and began spreading sparkling powder on the exam room floor.

She had to ask Cadance for the magic to teleport back to her cave, which sparked a series of questions from the elated Alicorn; which Silver ignored.

After, they went through a portal straight into Cadance's bedroom. Which startled the Tartarus out of Shining.

"Who?!" He jumped up and out of bed, pulling a drawer out of their dresser with his magic and brandishing it like a weapon.

Cadance giggled, "It's just us Shining, party's over."

"Us?" He glanced over Cadance's shoulder at Silver, who gave him a half lidded smile, "Oh."

"That's actually a good point." Cadance gave Silver a jokingly hard look, "Stop warping into our bedroom."

Silver lifted a placating hoof, and rolled her eyes.

Good enough

She turned back to her husband.

"We need to talk."

Shining had the 'uh oh' look quickly pass over his features

"Don't worry Armor, I didn't do anything."

Shining glared at Silver, Cadance walked up to him and pushed him onto his flanks, and grabbed his hooves.

"I-" She stuttered

"Cadance?" He tried, the concern evident.

"I shouldn't be here for this probably." Silver idly gestured, which Cadance caught the tail end of as she turned to look at the pegasus. She turned for the still open portal before freezing.

"Actually." She turned around and her left eye lit with blue magic, there was a sparkle of arcane runes in the air, and she saw Shining glow from the corner of her eye.

A short moment passed. Shinning nodded from in front of her, and Silver left. Portal twirling closed and disappearing with a silent visible pop.

"What was that?"

Shining bit his lip, "Silver gave me some advice."

"She told you?" She frowned

"Uh..." He squinted, "No... said... Husband to Husband, then told me not to tell you."

That's...

She smiled

That's really sweet

"Okay" She pulled up Shining's hooves so they were in-between the two of their chests. "I'm pregnant."

She went for the cold send. Shining's eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. The feeling in her chest vibrated, the elation, so she said it again, and why the heck not?

Her voice came out half broken, and she felt the whispers of tears trying to return, "I'm pregnant Shining."

"HAh!" He laughed and stood, taking a step back, Cadance was baffled until he started prancing in place, "You're pregnant!" He rushed up and hugged her, almost toppling her over, "We're gonna be parents! I'm gonna be a dad!"

He hefted her up, "Oh!" and started spinning her around, they spent the next several moments in laughter, Cadance joining in with the joy.

Still mid twirl, she tried to get out between laughs, "There's more!"

Shining was too busy being happy

"I will fwap you! Put me down!"

He did, but he didn't let go, "There's more? You're not..." He smiled wider, "You're not having twins are you?"

She shook her head, "They're an Alicorn."

Shining violently began coughing, "An Ali-" He caught his breath, "Cadance!" He teared up like she had. "Cadance!"

She hugged him tighter

I knew he'd understand.

Author's Note

Sure anyone reading has gotten the themes for immortality and what it does to a living being. The pantheon, that being: Twilight, Discord, Celestia, Luna, Cadance and now Quick Silver, and their adjacent closest friends; are going to make consistent appearances to drive this point home.

I write in a way that doesn't explain much to the reader, choosing instead to try to get everything the characters are experiencing through subtle context. That being said (I'm not a great author) and the last moment is a bit difficult to understand if you're not the writer, since there's a lot of context not written in there.

In short, Cadance and Shining have talked before about her having to bury him. She's not afraid of losing him so much that she doesn't want him, and that conversation shook them both. Cadance because as it turned out, Shining was torn up too. He was worried about what he could do for her once he was gone. He was terrified that he couldn't just stick around to keep her happy; it's why an admittedly simple minded stallion like himself jumped into ruling a nation with a passion. He wanted to leave her with his legacy, also the same reason he wanted children so badly.

(None of that conversation, or it's fallout are ever pointed at directly in the story, besides the fact that the two almost never talk about it, and even then, only in reference, they agreed to enjoy being Alive Together rather than worry about when it was over. Hence why I mentioned it here.)

Why is playful spelled with one 'L'? It just looks wrong to me

Author's Note

This chapter's gonna be a little different.

Think of this a bit like a 'Diary' chapter, where Cadance internally expresses all of her thoughts on recent events for herself, I wanna see how it sits.

Why is playful spelled with one 'L'? It just looks wrong to me

Cadance wasn't sure how she felt.

That's why she took the day off. Instead of finding something to busy herself with, or making something to busy herself with. She spent the morning after washing, meditating. She cast a couple of sound proofing wards around her office, and pulled a couple of books and an apple from 'around' for her day of physical relaxation. Mentally though...

Cadance needed to do a lot.

She'd spent the last three weeks getting hit by revelation and happenstance and more and more and more without sorting it out for herself. Just responding, instead of acting.

As she took a deep breath, and sat on her favourite green throw pillow she'd brought down from her room; Cadance thought.

Empire. Shining. Foal. Cultists. Silver. Organization.

The Empire is still thriving. Without the constant slave drive obviously the economy can get on. Satisfaction?

It struck Cadance that it had been quite a while since she'd heard anything about populace satisfaction. From Shining or otherwise. Amber wasn't a pony relations specialist, but would occasionally tell her what ponies in The Spire were thinking.

I'll have to ask around. I need to, I bet that Stone Cut wasn't self contained... Why did that happen then? The Cultists too... Were they just part of some research group? I know Shining looked into them, I'm sure he would have told me- okay so never mind. So Stone Cut hired some cultists, big deal right? Except that ponies would have noticed, and those ponies didn't tell the guards, that means they were either made silent or worse...

I shouldn't've looked over that. If individuals are rallying to depose my rule, then what of the many? Surely Stone Cut would have tried something safer if he was alone. No, his plan speaks that he was confident he could get away with it. That either means he was crazy, desperate, or right. The only reason anypony knew anyways was because of Silver.

Silver...

She skipped over the lump in her head.

I need something else to occupy my time. The Empire may be flourishing, but it's still stagnant; I'll send a letter to Celestia, see if I can get an in on the Minos Engine Pact

The MEP was a research and development agreement between Minos and Equestria for mechanical devices. Minos would build them, Equestria would fund it in exchange for the output. She didn't have a hoof in the pact's creation, but nonetheless, found good reason to get the Empire involved.

I could probably get Silver to set up a portal for me... Straight to Minos. Why have a pact when we could just have a joint research team?

...

The Empire is going to need a better school system soon.

It wasn't just because she was pregnant, that the thought passed her mind. The Empire was almost entirely adults. The number of children didn't break one hundred. It was a desperate problem that would generally be solved by immigration.

Except I don't want it to be solved by immigration. The Crystal Ponies need more reason to have foals. I'm thinking... a research institute I can turn into a college later. I'm sure Point Flare and her cohorts would want to work there. Shining could help me staff it with his buddies from CSGU. Yeah... I like that...

Cadance lifted an eyelid and levitated a quill to mark down 'school + look into populace satisfaction' before closing her eye again.

We're also going to need to build a nursery at some point, that can wait though

The feeling of being a mother welled up within her and felt her joy turn over in her chest. It was one of those softly keening sensations of satisfaction that rang in the mind. She ignored her thoughts for the time being, and reveled in the feeling.

I'm going to be a mom... I should get a book, or... something.

Cadance's mind lost a few hours just on that as her imagination let itself go. She imagined what her foal would look like, filly or colt? Who'd they grow up to be? How often would they fuss when she filed their hooves? All of those little noises and conversations they'd share as the little one grew up.

For those hours, she pretended she was already there, and lost herself in the abstract thoughtform story she'd created for herself. She laughed and laughed in her mind on picnics and kite flying they'd share with Shining, and mentally drew herself away with the thought to make the years count. To make every year count.

Still a ways away.

The story and the voices fell away as she focused again.

Quick Silver.

Her face scrunched up as she put together all the fragments she'd encountered to the forefront of her mind.

Some big company, leading to a scaling economic factors... Not to mention Silver's political investment, she's 'in charge' of a noble house... Wait... does that technically make Sunset Shimmer a... oh, hmm, didn't think about that, ah except Silver isn't... I guess she could actually be of a noble house? Does that mean all of her children and relatives are too? Never mind, not important.

She's looking for a hoof hold, that much is obvious. She already has a bit of attention and clout from showing up Stone Cut; with bits backing her, she could really start moving and shaking in The Empire... That plus her magic...

Silver's already probably cut several deals, 'deals with the devil' no doubt. How many ponies are like Point Flare? Willing to work in exchange for something nopony else can give them? She has no short on ponypower. So what's the end goal?

She can't just take over The Empire, the Nobles would shut her down before she had the money to do it, but if she really wanted she could probably manage it with magic.

Except for her promise

She said she was here to help

Okay so theoretically ruling out bad things, what good could she be doing intentionally?

With bits? Anything... oh, so many things. The local economic stimulus will... Except her company isn't exclusive to The Empire. She hires from everywhere, all over... not just Equestria, changelings too? Oh dear, I almost forgot about... Kirshi? Kirsha? 'They're kind hearted indeed' Played me like a fiddle, but I did get something from that.

Silver's never just told me to not stick my nose into something. So at the very least I can be sure that whatever she's planning, large scale, has to do with Tack & Co.

The memory of Silver laughing when she said the name flowed to the forefront of her focus.

Why laugh? And why fake pretend to hide the humour? Hmmmm.... Nope, not getting anything out of that. If it's some joke, I don't know the context anyways. Silver could just be trying to trick me too.

Where was I?

Changelings. Silver pays them in love?

Wait, can you just do that? If it's that easy, then why would Chrysalis attack at all? Ugh, what does it mean? Changelings are obvious ideal workers, no question why Silver would want them on payroll. Except...

Hold on. If everypony on site knows how to deal with me... Why take me to the one changeling? Breeze wasn't a changeling...

Ohhh! That conniving! Ugh!

Cadance huffed and stopped thinking about it. She grumpily levitated an apple up to her mouth and took a bite from it.

"Can't believe I fell for that."

Should I go back?

No, Silver definitely has something else prepared no doubt...

Okay.

She re-jumbled her thoughts,

Silver claims a lot, if I don't believe her intentions of goodwill, then she must have some way to circumvent the issues of political control, the Houses won't just topple, and she'll need to start there first. So I can check out their defenses while checking up on them. Defenses? I don't know, I'll work it out. Maybe if I can get them to work together more? Regardless. There's a reason to encourage the houses, I'll have to... ugh... nobles, okay.

If I do believe Silver which...

I guess that's the entire gambit then isn't it? Silver's a convincing liar, if I ever try to stop her directly, I think I may just succeed. I definitely will in the end, regardless. Which she knew, so she was playing the long game as soon as... she stepped hoof from that statue.

If she could get me to play along for long enough, then I wouldn't be able to stop her at whatever she's doing. If she's doing anything at all. It's hard to tell if her abrasive attitude is because she's actually irritated or if she's trying to 'manage' me. It could be both, which makes it the perfect visage. So what... What...

She wants me to play the long game against her, because she thinks she’ll win. She's acquiesced to spending time with me for that exact purpose, which means she is trying to manage me; which is easily seen in how she acts when we're together. Obviously it's an act, but why? Silver's proven to be a genuine genius time and time again, so why turn down my intentions? She no doubt knows for sure I want to befriend her, so why push my away?

That's what clicked in her mind

Push me away.

That's exactly what she's been doing... Keeping me at wings reach, close enough to watch, but not close enough to actually get close... But why?

The curse. It must have something to do with this 'curse' she mentioned. I felt it. Some... malignant magic that comes from inside. It’s what she brought up when I confronted her, really the only time we’ve ever butt heads and she’s fought back.

Cadance idly reached out for the sensation with her magic, there was nothing.

It made me feel my own frustration. Purely my own emotion, but how does that even make sense?

Cadance knew a heft on the subject of emotions, and their connection. Emotional casting was a kind of magic that left the caster consumed by their emotions, filtered in through magic; except in that case the weight of the emotion was always driven by the magic. The 'emotion' was just raw energy in a certain state. This 'curse' brought out the pony's own emotion into the mix.

I can't come to any conclusions without knowing more about it. Silver being scared is a note though. Whatever this 'curse' is, finding out exactly how it works is clearly a priority to figuring out Silver. Luna wouldn't tell me. What did Silver say? Didn't...

Of course! You dummy! Discord! Discord knows Silver, knew Silver... I'd need to find him to talk to him. Twilight mentioned he didn't want to even be near Quick Silver, and while I'm at it...

I... No Cadance. One thing at a time.

She lifted her eyelid again and wrote down 'talk to Discord!' and then went back to her revelations.

So. Empire work, get the nobles working together and put out some feelers. Ask Celestia about political stimulus. Put the works in for some management meetings, I need to talk to the Ponies, see what they're thinking and feeling. Ooo! yes, and a school, I should start laying the groundwork for that. I'll have to check with Amber for some kind of budget margin. And Shining.

Her feelings flickered

I need to talk to Shining about all of this... Silver especially, I know how he worries. Plus, he'll have a bunch of addendums.

Idea!

Leaving the apple to aerate itself on the desk, Cadance cleared it with a flap, and happily trotted out of her office to go find and subsequently bother her husband.

I don't have a good pun for sheep, so just pretend there's one here

Cadance was falling vertically down the slope of a mountain. Not on the mountain, just nearby.

Now, ordinarily that'd be an issue to the average, but Cadance was going somewhere. Plus, when you've conquered the skies time and time again, falling just becomes a means of faster and easier transit.

Nearing the bottom of the distance she could fall, Cadance snapped open her wings and landed in The Spire offices. She liked it here; this is where all of the paperwork and origination for The Empire was looked over before it went to her. Regulations, 'getting back to you's', public events and even new business models all started here.

"Hey Princess!"

"Hey Rim Shot." She heard herself, turning to the stallion. He was a pegasus, even though he was a Crystal Pony, but that's not strange nowadays is it? Her perspective shifted, like she wasn't behind her own eyes.

"Nothing much Cadance, we've been busy busy down here, as usual." The stallion was chipper, but was doing his best to hide his face behind a blur.

"Don't I know it." It's a good thing Shining Armor was here, she Loved him a lot. She felt him next to her, sleeping calmly, the pressure of his body up against her right wing, like usual. He always slept to her right.

She sat up in her bed and gave a yelp, "Silver? I thought I told you not to be in our bedroom." This was her bedroom, right? It was, even though it didn't look like it. It was her bed right? So it was her bedroom, simple as that. Silver was there, or as there as she could have been. Half of her was shrouded in the shadow that blocked the detail for the rest of the room, leaving a menacing outline of the silver mare with only her too wide grin and glimmering eyes visible.

Cadance sat up all the way with her heart pumping as she saw the shadows roil. She felt the indentation in the bedsheet she made with her hoof, and desperately tried not to change it so she wouldn't be seen, wouldn't be attacked by the monster sprouting Silver. She sat there with her eyes wide open, both trying to see the danger and trying to not blink with everything she had. Blinking was movement, movement was death. She wasn't sure how long the moment stretched on for b-

Luna landed on the tiles to the side. Suddenly everything took focus.

"Is this Dusk's now chosen form?"

Cadance flopped down onto her bed again, Shining now gone, and she rolled onto her side and rested a hoof on her chest to slow her breathing.

"Cadance?" Luna asked, a little worried

"I'm okay. That was quite the scare." She looked towards the menacing form of Silver. Not so striking now; now that she could see the visual faults with her mind's design of her, "What about her?"

"Ah, if she seemingly has you referring to her as 'her', then this must indeed be her new form."

"How could you tell she was... I mean, that Dusk was Quick Silver?" Cadance clambered out of the empty bedframe as she spoke

Luna smirked, "Who else would be giving you such a fright?"

Cadance rolled her eyes, "Thank you Auntie."

Luna's horn 'lit' and the scenery began twirling around them, "Think nothing of my duties Dear Niece, they are as they are. Although, I have come for more reasons than your nightmare, I was planning to see you tonight in spite of it." The scene eventually settled into the clearing of a forest glade, with a pond of into the distance, and the borders defined by the tree line. The grass was softer than it could have been, as was the 'dirt' beneath it.

"You just happened into a nightmare by accident?"

"It happens more times than you would first assume, Cadance." Luna ruffled her wings, "I came to... speak with you again."

Was there a little bit of anxiousness there?

"About?"

Luna scuffed a hoof on the ground. It was strange yet heartwarming seeing the Alicorn of the Night acting like an embarrassed filly. "I merely wished to... continue our other conversation. It was pleasant, vocalizing my past for you."

"I'd be happy to listen to more stories Luna." Cadance smiled, and laid down in the grass, where a pillow manifested itself for her. On the same beat, a trunk which 'was' always there, sprouted itself from the grass and on top, manifested a teapot, and a couple of cups and plates. Luna came to the table, manipulating the china from a distance and sat down opposite to Cadance. Somewhere off in the distance, a bird flew and tweeted just because it could.

"I'm glad you're willing to spare the time."

Cadance cut her off before she could continue the thought, "It's honestly a pleasure. I'm glad to help, you don't need to feel so self conscious."

Luna kept her trademark resting grumpy expression "I may not, but in your presence I still find myself humbled."

"Humbled?" Cadance 'levitated' the tea for herself. It may not be technically filling, but hey, it still tastes good.

"You have taken to your Alicorn nature far better than I had. I acknowledge that you had guidance, and a stable era of which to thrive in, unlike myself. Yet, it is not difficult to remind myself that you are my equal." Luna took a drink herself after the statement.

"Thank you Luna, that means a lot to me. Now; what did you wish to talk about?"

Luna rolled a gulp of tea around in her muzzle for a moment in thought before speaking. "I am not sure how I should phrase it."

"I've got time."

Luna waved a hoof, "I simply wish to be honest, without being unnecessarily rude." Luna had more to say, so Cadance kept quiet, "Last we spoke I... May have made it seem as though Dusk Swirl, or, Quick Silver now was the sole catalyst for my... Fall. The thought that my story was inaccurate has been plaguing my mind as of late."

"Why has it been bothering you?" Cadance led

"I know you are dealing with Quick Silver, and... Well once upon a time, Dusk was a friend to me, I simply felt as though I had done his memory a disservice."

"I don't see how any of that could be misconstrued as rude, Luna"

"I was getting there."

Cadance waved a hoof in a 'go on' gesture

"I wish to not be rude to my Sister, who was the... main cause of my loneliness, and the final nail in the coffin for my fall. Dusk may have set it up, but my Sister was the one who played along in all of his plans."

Oh. She wants to talk to you about Celestia. Okay, best listening attitude Cadance

"I..." Luna took a rather haphazard sip of tea, as haphazard as you can get when details fall away like flour in the wind. "Wish not to dwell on the mistakes of the past..."

"It's okay Luna, I understand."

"Do you? Really?" The question wasn't meant to be oppressive, there was a kind of hope in Luna's eyes, emphasizing that she was actually asking the question, rather than it being pure rhetoric.

Cadance maintained her calming presence through her description, "Dwelling on the past... Yes, I do. It's hard to let go of things that you haven't... Say, 'confronted.' I've always, at least for myself, felt okay engaging with my negative emotions, feeling them first, before letting them go."

Luna mulled over the wisdom for a moment. "Tis better to feel, rather than to let the pain fester. A lesson I have learned at a cost very dear to me." She said low, and melancholic.

Cadance simply stayed, and listened. At the moment, that was all Luna needed.

"To begin, at the beginning, as such is simply the most sensible." Luna nodded, "It began... When we ascended, suddenly there was responsibility; lessons we had to learn, ponies we had to lead. I spent a long time... trying. Celestia did not, she took to it slowly at first like I did, but ruling became simply another skill in her skill set. At the time I didn't understand, but Celestia had been taking on more and more to ease the pressure off of me."

"It didn't work, I'm guessing."

"It did, which was... Me and My Sister swore we'd do things together. Always. I was failing, and she let me. She figured it just didn't matter. It wasn't something either of wanted to do but..." Luna frowned, "We had to."

Cadance nodded along

"It was only when Equestria was founded, and the dreams of a united pony race became real did I start feeling alone. It was long after my older friends had passed, and even so, Celestia simply went deeper into being a 'Princess.' She took on more responsibility, lead more ponies, became more popular, and I... Didn't." Luna took a deep breath. "I was stuck in-between ages."

"That's when the Discordian era started? When you met Dusk?"

Luna nodded, "It was an age of strife which I hid myself away in. Behind the militias and fighting beasts. Keeping the nightmares away from my ponies. I ran away from my problems as did Celestia."

"We, growing, rarely argued; and even then it was only ever such to discuss. As more of our kingdom fell to chaos, we began arguing more and more. Celestia began to detest me and my influence, and I began to believe the things she said about me behind my back."

"I heard from the nobles and townsfolk that she refused to speak of me or ignored questions of my presence; if she didn't, then it was verbally separating herself from... 'that mare'. Celestia willfully pushed me out of public view. A political tactic that I now understood gave me less power and influence. She was embarrassed of me, of my failures."

"You were very young, you can't blame yourself for everything can you?"

"I suppose not. I was only a couple decades older than you, at the time."

"Sorry for interrupting, please continue."

"It is okay." Luna did just that, "After Discord was defeated. I thought that... maybe things would change, which they did. Celestia no longer bothered me, for a time, that was enough. What had happened was she began to avoid me, making excuses about... ruling. It doesn't matter. Our relationship festered. I didn't confront her... I couldn't. She avoided me and... well..."

"Nightmare Moon happened."

Luna to her credit, didn't cringe away at the statement. "Yes. You know the rest of the story from here, ponies began to detest me, nobles scoffed at my presence in the capital. I... Lost my way, and confronted my Sister. She broke me down, sent me away. In the throws of my grief at... having felt as though I had nothing left... I summoned the Nightmare and formed a pact for power, Celestia forced the Elements upon me, and the rest is well known history."

"She forced them upon you?"

"The Elements are physical embodiments of what they represent. Brought from Eternity into material form. When she used them on me, she forced them to go against everything they were. Tis why they... broke, for a lack of better description."

"Have you talked to Celestia about this? About how it makes you feel."

Luna looked away, and her ears folded down. "I have tried. She always listens, but..."

Hmmm?

"I fear that I do not know her anymore." Luna continued looking hurt, "I have lost the years in which she grew up; became the mare she is now. When she speaks, I do not hear my sister. In her eyes lie the mind of somepony alien to me. I do not know what to make of it... of her. I do not know where I stand now."

"You're still stuck."

Luna perked up, "Yes! Exactly! Oh Cadance you do understand!"

"It's just the same as before, except of course." Cadance, trying to take advantage of the 'non' space, slipped next to Luna and wrapped her in her wing, "You definitively have ponies in this age who Love you."

"Ah." Luna settled into the hug, "Thank you Cadance. Do the words really flow to you so easily?"

"Not always. For this? Yes, you very much have a family here Luna."

Luna smiled, "Oh yes! I have heard the news of your insemination."

"Maybe don't call it that." Cadance said carefully while cringing.

"I jest, nonetheless, congratulations my Niece."

"Did you know my little one is going to be an Alicorn?"

Luna mentally choked, which transferred into visually choking on tea, "Chhurrkk- FPhat? Surely not?"

"Silver confirmed it."

Luna grasped Cadance in her wing and stood, posing, "Huzzah! Another pony to add to us in immortality! I cannot believe such a thing was possible, but if Silver claimed it, then it must be true!" Luna spun her around a couple of times before setting her down. Cadance, since her perspective wasn't locked into her own body, watched the scene with a smile.

"What, pray tell, is the little one's connection to Eternity?"

"I don't know, Silver never said."

Luna pranced in place, "Oh, Cadance, this is most exciting! An Alicorn foal? How could such a thing even be possible!?"

"I don't know anything about the subject, and I don't particularly care to be honest." Cadance truly didn't, why question the perfect outcome?

"You must tell me everything."

She did. Cadance brought Luna up to speed with Silver and the events of the Gala throughout the rest of the dream. Cadance filed away in the back of her mind that she really needed to stop avoiding Celestia, something which slipped away as her dream fell away. Eventually the phase of waking up slipped Cadance away from her conversation and into the hours just before waking proper. Regardless, it was a very pleasant night.

Keepin' On

Author's Note

Song inspired and written to the tune of Tough Without You by 4everfreebrony

(Fr, Forever is a huge inspiration for me, go check out their stuff)

Keepin' On

Cadance trotted with a high step and a hum in her throat as she made her way through the Spire's halls

She was feeling good today, yesterday was spent making meetings and getting documents and legalese signed off on and cross referenced; today? Today was for doing. Cadance loved doing things, who doesn't right? Morning court hours just ended, and she was on her way to get lunch.

She turned and gave a smile just a little too big to a passerby. This was the servants alleyway, and even though it wasn't nearly as opulent, this particular route to the dining hall was faster.

Not like we enjoy opulence all that much anyways

Maybe I will one day

She mentally dismissed the random thought and kept bouncing to the tune in her head. After another minute of shmoovin Cadance passed through the false wall that led into the hallway just across from the dining hall.

Inside there was the usual menagerie of folks wandering, chatting, eating, you name it. As she entered, she wandered over towards the buffet line despite the waves she got from ponies sitting throughout the hall. The general vibe Cadance got from feeling out the emotions of the room was roughly equivalent to her own, and slightly rising towards elation; seemingly everyone was having a good day today.

She approached the counter and greeted the staff pony, "Happy midday!" She said with a smile

"Someone's chipper today" The crystal mare half teased, "What can I get for you?"

"It's hard not to be, and I'll just take the garden, biggest bowl you've got."

"I'm all over it!" She said enthusiastically. The mare used a hoof to hit the side of an upside down bowl and flipped it onto her head. She spun and went about tossing the ingredients like a pro. Cadance looked down the line to see a similar shift in energy enter the moving and shaking.

Cadance felt around the room again, and felt the rising magic and emotion.

Ohhhh!

She was definitely going to take advantage of this, the bowl was hefted over the counter, and Cadance wasted no time grabbing it in her magic.

She lit her horn with a second spell to shift the magic in the room. Using her horn like a drain to channel the latent growing energy in the air, she began to sing.

Oh I just can't help myself
the music flowin' 'round us all
So I'll just keep on Livin' as I do

She waved her wings and began trotting towards the center of the room, she missed a line, but that was okay

Never thought I'd see my eyes
Reflecting through this Love of life
Now I'll just keep on wondering what I'll do
No I'll~ never know just, what I'll do!~

She reached one of the long tables, just as the ponies started catching on, and the music started filling the room. She hopped up onto the table and kept at it, half prancing, half dancing.

The moments pass, the changes come!
I'll never stop no matter what!
Now I'll just keep on movin' till I do!

Challen~ges will pass me by
My heart will always carry through
So I'll just keep on Loving till I do!
I'll al~wa~ys be me! When I do!

The musical instrumental that followed was too well choreographed for the descriptive budget.

Cadance moved her whole body from muzzle to hips into dancing away her emotions as the ponies around her followed suit. It was far less extravagant than it could have been, which isn't to say Cadance didn't enjoy the light activity

As the instrumental slowed Cadance's voice softened as a wing folded over her stomach

The Future's hope is coming fast
The stress and work can't stop my Love
It's never been so easy to let it through

So I'll just keep on Loving~

Till I do!~

The now fully committed Heart Song swept up the crowd as the music came back at full blast and the ponies joined in for the edge of the last chorus. Cadance kept dancing as she made her way towards the edge of her 'runway' and gave a little spin and an artistic flash of sparkles from her horn as the music hit its crescendo.

Cadance stepped off the table and basked in the excitement.

The cheers too. As much as she tried to be a humble Princess, Cadance did love the cheering.

She checked behind her, near the edge of the bench side of the table

Ah crud, I spilled my salad

After spending lunch making idle, yet still pleasant, conversation with the working ponies of The Spire, Cadance got to enjoy a flight out. Not for any particular reason, she was just in a high enough mood, and had the hour, that she felt the need to run and jump off a tall structure.

Pegasus thing.

Regardless, Cadance cleared her head and enjoyed the horizon as she circled The Spire. At least as much of the horizon she could see through the shield, the singular clouds that were bunched up around the tip of the spire that silhouetted the sky gave her a little tingle along her feather tips that told her it was a great time to soar.

It's been too long since I've done this... Just me and the sky... and I guess you, little one.

She mentally giggled as she banked to loop around The Spire again.

What. a. day.

She had a couple things left to do during the work day, but she had that spark of motivation that made everything seem possible. She glanced out towards the warehouse out in the fields and pulled that determination forwards.

It's not so menacing from up here.

As if triggered by her thoughts a voice sounded off, "Mind if I join you?"

A pair of wings caught air near her, pulling her from her thoughts. Silver was gliding nearby.

She gathered herself, "Not at all" Cadance called out over the wind, mildly confused

Silver nodded and flapped once and gained the distance up to where Cadance was gliding. They flew nearly tip to tip, though Silver didn't say anything else or even look to Cadance.

She's just messing with you. Don't let her under your fur.

Cadance shook her head in amusement and looked out again towards the horizon.

Despite what Cadance thought, Silver stayed in the air with her with no comment until she had to fly back into The Spire. Silver simply left back towards the ground without a word as Cadance turned to the balcony.

Cadance had pulled Shining Armor into her office for another dinner date, which really meant just talking shop while they stuffed their faces. Cadance had just given him the entire spiel for her idea of a college/research institute. Shining enjoyed his gazpacho while she talked, nodding at key points, but otherwise taking it all in stoically.

"So what do you think" She said, taking a breath after her blurb.

Shining immediately responded, "I think it's a great idea... I just don't know where we'd get the funds for it."

"We have plenty for the rollover once taxbits go out to get it started."

He raised an eyebrow, "You ask Amber already?"

Cadance nodded, "And I asked Cord, and checked the math myself, it's doable but I wanna think long term cost to benefit analysis"

"You sound like Twilight when you say that"

Cadance waggled her eyebrows, "Or maybe she sounds like me when she says it"

He chuckled. "Do you think it's a good idea to set up a board?"

"No, I want it to be an internally run institute."

"The nobles aren't going to like that."

Cadance let out an exhale, "I've been thinking of ways around that, but I don't have any concrete ideas."

"You could make it a military research institute" He said

Cadance gave him a look

"Hey, it's what I do. Plus, with a military institute there's plenty to fund, and we can have it run by royal guard logistics." He postured

"I'll add it to my mental list. I think short term, we will just need to let the nobles take a swing in order to have the popularity and funding to get it off the ground."

Shining's face turned from inquisitive to shifty, "You're thinking about asking Quick Silver aren't you?"

She smiled sheepishly, "It crossed my mind"

"Do it."

Cadance shook her head, taken aback, "Wait really?"

"She's going to have the bits soon, if she doesn't already; plus, I bet she knows something about running a school."

"Well... yeah but, I thought you..."

"Hated her?"

She cringed, "I wasn't going to put it like that."

"Well I do. For good reason too."

And he did, Cadance could feel as much.

Shining raised a hoof, even though Cadance wasn't intending to say anything, "Silver's not the focus of my attention, you are. I'll put her in a hole if need be, but I trust you to wrangle her until then."

Cadance mulled over the statement for a moment, "What did she tell you? Right after I got back from the Gala?"

Shining didn't seem like answering for a moment, "She told me not to buck this up for you. To hate her all I wanted; so long as it was for you, told me to be constructive."

"Oh" Cadance said intelligently

"And she was right, I made a fool of myself enough to know where I made my mistakes." He looked off to the side

Cadance tried, "Well, let's not worry about it then. I'll ask Silver tomorrow while we're out." She only slightly got Shining to think of something else, "Oh! and I also have a meeting with Cane Sugar tomorrow morning, do you have time to double up with me?" She asked hopefully

He shook his head, "Ever since you started not showing up for the morning staff meetings, I've been taking over the management issues"

"Aww... Thank you for doing that by the way" Cadance took another hefty chomp of her salad. It was a wedge salad... Salads are good.

"It's not nearly as bad as nobles." He joked

"Tell me about it."

They enjoyed the rest of their meal sans business, and spent the rest of the night losing track of time as they talked.

Into the Jungle and through the Woods

Cadance woke up early today. It meant she had to skip her morning talk with Shining, but Cane Sugar woke at just before dawn, which was just after she was meant to meet him. Luckily he had business in The Spire, so her short missive to him was sent back with a time in which she could catch him while he was going about his business.

She grabbed a notebook, just to look professional and walked out of her room when she was ambushed by Quick Silver.

"Morning."

"AH!" Cadance fully jumped to the side

Silver was leaning against the other of the double door Cadance hadn't opened, meaning that Cadance came practically muzzle to muzzle to the other pony when walking through, hence the surprise at suddenly realizing there was somepony, more specifically, Quick Silver less than a hoof from her.

"Jumpy today." Silver smirked

Cadance took a deep breath, "What are you doing here?"

Silver raised an eyebrow, "It's Thursday isn't it?"

"Yes?"

"I'm here to pick you up."

Cadance frowned, "I-"

"You're not backing out on me are you?" Silver kept her smirk

"You said Thursday evenings." Cadance monotoned, "I have things to do in the morning."

Silver made a face, "Did I?" She looked to the side in thought and tapped a hoof to her chin

Is she messing with me?

"You don't remember?"

"Not really, I do like the word, so I may have just said it for flair." Silver shrugged, "My mistake."

"You like the word... Evening?"

"Well of course. I mean just think about the phonics right? In old equish a word like 'Evening'-" Silver made air quotes with her hooves, "Would never be a thing. With the suffix -'ing' it adds a silent 'y' before the pronunciation. Turning, 'Eve-en' into 'Eve-ning'. A whole extra vowel with no additional syllable! Fantastical no?"

Cadance stared in confusion at the smaller mare.

"Sorry. As I said, I like the word."

Is that... embarrassment?

"I... Is there a reason you're..." Cadance rolled her eyes, "Telling you not to appear in my room doesn't mean you can appear directly outside of it"

"You weren't very specific."

"Just send me a note?"

"I can do that, so what are you up to?"

Oh geez, I'm not gonna be able to lose her am I

"I've got some Princessing things to do, it shouldn't take long, but you don-"

Silver slid up to Cadance and interrupted, "What, tag along? Come now Little Princess, if there's anypony who could help you with ruling, it'd be me."

"I'm not sure I want your guidance."

"Then decide." Silver said seriously.

Cadance had a quick response, "If you're going to be like that, then no."

"Alrightydo, we can go after your done." Silver took several steps away from Cadance and twirled he wings in several circles, trailing cerulean light that sparkled into ropes and eventually ended with a wave of translucent energy taking the mare before she disappeared.

Cadance squinted her eyes, "Did you just turn invisible?"

No response.

Gamble

"I can tell you're still here."

Still nothing.

Cadance lit her horn and pressed her magic outwards like what one would expect from 'manifesting non-real forces that function like eyesight if eyesight was touch'

"If you're just gonna follow me around, you can still talk." She said sarcastically

"Darn." Came Silver's voice, "I really thought that was a bluff"

There were muffled sounds of hoof steps.

I can't believe that worked

"Don't you have somewhere to be missy?"

"Right. Please don't cause any problems."

"I won't, may I insert thought speak in your mind?" The disembodied voice said non-committedly

Cadance started walking, "That's exactly the kind of thing I would expect to cause problems, but you probably have an excuse already lined up. It's better than me talking to myself, so sure."

It's more of a reason really.

Cadance stopped in place

"Are..."

Inside please

"Oh- Uh,"

Are your thoughts blue?

Apparently, Alicorn senses. My mental presence is the same colour as my magic. Huh.

Just keep quiet please, I need to focus.

There was a tiny thumping noise, followed by silence

You didn't see it, but I sarcastically saluted

Cadance rolled her eyes.

She was nearly where she needed to be. Shadow included, but at least she'd have something else to focus on. She walked down the crystal hallways, ambiently pressing back against Silver's magical presence while trying to keep her hackles from rising.

She pushed open a door and walked into the office hall, much different from what she'd see at Tack & Co. This space was open, and covered in crystal tables and chairs. Ponies were moving to and fro, with papers, to desks, talking, the works. She walked up to the 'main' desk.

Rim Shot, a white crystal stallion greeted her from his rotating chair behind the desk, "Morning Princess, what can I do for you?"

"Hi Rim Shot, is Cane Sugar here yet?"

"He just got into meeting room four, he should be out in twenty."

"Thank you" Cadance gave him a smile and a nod. She turned to the walkway through the tables and up to the hallway that led away from the louder spaces.

A unicorn approached her from the side, "Excuse me, Princess Cadance?" The green mare waved a hoof in addition to her careful approach. Cadance turned and gave her a smile, hoping to disperse the stress the mare was supposedly feeling for dealing with her monarch.

"Hello miss, how can I help you."

Cadance's ear flicked as she heard a chuckle.

The mare stuttered over herself for a second, "Oh, well uh- I actua- Actually, I want to help you."

Reverse ask, put up to this, not nervous: passionate, spontaneous, not trustworthy: prone to make her own mistakes

The slew of thoughts Silver injected into her head stopped Cadance from responding as her mind filtered through what exactly she 'said'

"You see, me and my project team have been working on managing Equestrian integration and... Well-" The mare had long since lost her nervous tone, and smiled as she continued talking, "A lot of technology from Equestria isn't making its way into The Empire."

Cadance caught the meaning, "I understand, these things take time however."

The mare bobbed her head from side to side, "Well... Me and my team were hoping that we could... uh..." The mare glanced backwards to a group of crystal ponies, and a pegasus stallion. They all did their own version of 'pretending' they weren't watching as Cadance looked them over.

Prepare to interrupt her and ask for her name

The mare gathered herself, "Well as it stands, Sombra's rule over the Empire caused the falling off of a lot of basic amenities, everything aside from the Crystal Fair was basically stripped away from-"

"I'm sorry, but can I have your name miss?"

The mare blinked, having been verbally derailed, "Oh right, I'm Homeward, but my friends just call me Ward."

Cadance kept her princessly smile, "Well miss Ward, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Thank you."

"You were saying?"

"Oh! Right," She gave a nervous chuckle, "The Empire lacks a lot of amenities, we have collected plenty of data comparisons for what's available. In short, The Empire needs schools."

Cadance lifted an eyebrow.

"There's only one technical place of learning in The Empire, and that's the Library, but it's more of an archive, and besides the ponies that act as teachers there, there's no group or board that's in charge of The Empire's education." The mare took a breath, "We were hoping to change that." She smiled the kind of smile that said 'oh please don't be mad when I say this', "With the right funding of course."

"Hmm." Cadance audibly hummed to cover her internal dialogue

How early are we going to get back?

Early enough for you to setup a meeting with them tonight, say: seven thirty two.

Why seven thirty two?

Picking such a specific number makes it seem like you have it all together, it'll encourage her and her cohorts-

"Princess?"

-To put a little more effort since you're slotting them in at such a particular time, rather than just 'seven thirty' or 'eight'. It gives them hope, and conveys a greater attention to this than you're actually giving.

"I'll tell you what Homeward, I have time at seven thirty two at my office tonight, meet with my aid Amber, and I'll hopefully not get caught up with my seven 'oh nine."

The mare's eyes widened in surprise, "Of course, your highness! Thank you! We'll be there."

Cadance watched the mare turn and excitedly go tell her cohorts all about the conversation they were eavesdropping on. Cadance waited for Silver to say something, but she didn't.

No quip?

No stetson

What?

noƨtɘtƨ oИ

Cadance took a physical double take as she stepped into the hallway

Did you just think backwards?

You're gonna be late Little Princess

Cadance kept moving, even though she was certain it was just her mind playing tricks on her, she felt like she could tell Silver was walking next to her.

Didn't I tell you I didn't want your advice?

Yeah, I'm still going to give it though, it was your choice to follow my instructions.

Can you at least wait outside? This meeting is meant to be private.

Of course

Cadance mentally pursed her lips

Can you please wait outside and not listen in?

Fine, be like that.

Cadance felt Silver's presence leave. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she did. She huffed once and gathered her thoughts as she came up to meeting room four. Luckily, peering through the 'crystal glass' it looked like they were going to go over a bit, and Cadance had time to put some sentences together before hoof.

Thank heavens. That mare is so distracting.

Cadance stood right in front of the door sorting out her thoughts for a minute before the ponies on the other side of the glass started to gather all of their packets and such. In short order they all exited, a few giving a deferential head nod towards the Princess as they filtered out of the room one by one. She took the opportunity to enter about mid way through the procedure, and scanned the conference room for Cane Sugar. Sure enough, the yellow stallion was there, conversing with a pinkish white crystal mare.

At her approach, Cane Sugar turned and gave a quick hoof wave to dismiss the mare, she glanced at Cadance and then left as Cane began speaking, "Ah, Princess Cadance, what can I do for you?"

"Actually Cane Sugar, today, it's what the crown can do for you." Cadance pulled a pair of chairs away from the crystal table and took a seat.

Cane Sugar lifted an eyebrow and took a seat, "How's that?"

Here we go

Cadance took a deep breath "To put it simply, The Empire has recovered. It's ponies are ready to re-enter the world stage. The crown, me, in this instance, is looking for projects to dedicate our resources to; now that we're out of the woods when it comes to recovery efforts."

"Not quite."

"That's what I'm here to solve. The Noble Houses as of far have been alone, and stand divided still."

Cane Sugar rolled her words around in his mind, "So you want to extend the olive branch then? Tit for Tat?"

"No, I'm looking for work." She chuckled, "If such a thing can be believed. I want to transfer the momentum of our recovery into a thriving industry and economy."

"It's nice to say that, but how're you gonna do it?"

Why is he so suspicious? Didn't I already answer that?

Cadance took a second to form a directional answer, "With the help of the Noble Houses, of course. The Crown obviously doesn't know everything, and the Houses have access to the land and influence that can keep The Empire growing, all we need to do is consolidate our resources."

Cane nodded slowly, "You're talking about re-united the Noble Houses." Then he laughed, "That's a grand idea Princess." Except the laugh was... sarcastic, and the way he made the statement told of something he knew that she didn't.

"Does the Noble House of Agriculture have any outstanding problems or projects the Crown might address?"

Cane's expression turned neutral again. "Of course we do, labor ponies are always in short supply, and we're losing heaps of 'bits' because the northern farms were converted into cereal farming circles."

"Why would that lose you bits?"

"Pfft, with the sudden influx of foreigners settling in The Empire, we've got a higher calorie quota to hit, it means we can't grow the crops we want; it depreciates the value of the land we can use."

Cadance nodded slowly, dismissing the way he said 'foreigners', "So in order to meet the rising food demand, you've had to cut out the more profitable seeding cycles?"

"Not just that, we don't have nearly enough crystal ponies who can grow 'em." Cane Sugar leaned forward and pressed a hoof on the table, "These earth ponies can grow some corn, but they don't know the techniques for growing hardy Crystal Grapes, or Sharded Wheat."

Of course, two problems not easily solved... clearly intentionally

"Those both seem like serious problems. Would your House benefit from outsourcing the high calorie count foodstuffs?"

"What do you mean?" He raised an eyebrow

"Obviously we would have to sort out the details, and get all of the data straight so we know where we're sending our bits, but if the Crown invested in food imports, how would that affect that particular issue."

Cane Sugar let his suspicion openly flow out onto his expression now, "And what's the catch?"

Gotcha

"Catch?" Cadance smiled, "Nothing. Giving you the hoofspace to grow the more profitable crops puts more money into The Empire. The Crown might lose bits, but I like to think of it more like 'disseminating funds.'"

Cane took a more inquisitive flex on his suspicion, "You'd simply... Invest? In my House?"

Cadance let herself show a tiny little smirk, "To restate. The Houses are important tools for the future of The Empire. I need them at their best. Any help the Crown shows to them will just be helping myself. That being said, can you give me a particularly compelling reason for why I shouldn't?"

"Not at all." Cane Sugar returned to a neutral expression and thought for a moment, "I'll..." He put a hoof on his chin and gave Cadance an appraising look, "I'll have my ponies run the numbers, and I'll make sure the paperwork gets to your desk personally"

"Perfect." Cadance levitated out her notebook and scribbled several random lines onto it to make it look like she was writing something down. "I'll keep my eye out for it. Thank you for your time Cane Sugar."

Cane Sugar nodded, and watched her leave.

As she exited, she stuffed her quill and notebook into the non-space in her mane, and looked around the hallway.

You still here?

...

"Hmm." Cadance walked down the hallway a bit more. Trying to figure out... Something, she didn't really have a good idea at to what she was doing.

Hellllooooooo?

She walked out into the open office space and gave the room a once over. As usual, everything was different, ponies didn't stay here for long, only a few had permanent desks.

Quick Silver?

Oh hey

Thank you for not stalking my conversation

I didn't really need to, I was just watching to realizing potential.

The what?

Well look around. Ponies. Lives.

She did, there were plenty of things happening. Ponies talking, chuckling, focusing.

Every second that ticks by, the world changes just a tiny itty-bitty bit, right here. It's beautiful, isn't it?

That's a surprisingly lax appreciation for somepony like you

Cadance started moving towards the exit, as to not look as though she had gotten lost in her own mind, awkwardly standing just outside a hallway and staring into space.

I work a little harder sure, and I make bigger moves, but I can still appreciate the lesser version of being alive.

The lesser version?

Don't be like that. You have infinite potential, none of these ponies measures up to the change you or I could make.

Life isn't just about your accomplishments.

Maybe not, but should it be?

The leading question broke Cadance's subconscious line of thought.

And that depends on your scope of 'accomplishments', maybe I think winning a game of hop-scotch is an accomplishment.

Cadance rolled her eyes at nothing

Sure

Well why not? In the right circumstance it could actually be a challenge, furthermore, why not view relaxing activities as accomplishments? Mental maintenance is important.

Doesn't... Doesn't that go against small things being lesser versions of... well... You know what I mean

Yeah

Cadance shook her head

So why even bring it up?

What, you want to depend on confusing my moral philosophy with hop-scotch?

Silver enunciated her quip by laughing in Cadance's head

So you did it just to annoy me... got it

Cadance fully ducked into one of the side hallways adjacent to the ornate pathways throughout The Spire. "So, what was so special you needed to bother me so early?"

Silver spoke, still invisible, "It's not that it's special. Just figured we'd want to get an early start."

"To..." Cadance's mind cringed for her, "Hang out?"

"Remember, you basically threatened me into doing this. I won't take credit." She snarked

Cadance, having located the sound of Silver's voice, gave the 'nothing' and eyebrow raise, "You act like you wanted to do it to begin with."

"Might as well give it my all if I have to."

"So?"

"Treasure hunting!"

Cadance shook her head, "Like... you... a scavenger hunt?"

Silver, still invisible, said after a moment, "We're gonna go to the unexplored jungles past the badlands. I've got a bead on a corrupted ripple that spread over Eternity from somewhere over there."

"You mean... Like... a dangerous artefact?"

"Yup!"

"Wait..." Cadance smirked, "Did you shake your head while you were invisible?"

"Uh- no..." A pause, "Shut up."

"Wow."

"Anyways, I've got a one time launch warper prepped, just a hop and a jump before we get to immerse ourselves in an adventure story." Silver's excitement was palpable

"An adventure story?" Cadance smiled at her enthusiasm

"I've been dealing with paperwork and organization and management for months Cadance. I want to go kill something, blow up a temple, and hear somebody scream 'curse you!' hopefully directed at me. It's an adventure story, plain and simple."

Cadance cringed lightly, "Maybe we could go without the killing?" she said diplomatically

"I hold the right to un-alive any non-sapient monster that tries to eat us. Anything else is situational, but I'll hold back-" Silver fake coughed, "Enough"

"You'll just do it yourself if I say no right?"

"Yep."

"Then I guess I'm in."

"Of course you are, shall we?"

Cadance held out a hoof, "Go ahead."

They flashed onto a mountain top. In the middle of a blizzard. Cadance immediately lifted her wings to shield herself from the wind and the ice as she sank hock deep into the snow. "Silver!"

"Yeah?" Silver shouted over the howling wind.

"Why?!" Cadance yelled in desperate annoyance

"We need open air for the launch!"

"Wait! What exactly does a launch warper do?" She called out, trying to spot anything besides the snow trying to get into her eyes and coating her fur.

"It's a teleportation matrix that gets around the maximum charge range for a standard teleportation spell by including momentum!"

Cadance saw the ground and snow beneath her start to glow with arcane light, her worry jumped as the concept of 'momentum based long range teleportation' settled into her mind. "We can just take th-"

Cadance's insinuation that they could simply take the Royal Crystal Train car in exchange for a couple of lost hours of the day was lost to the wind as a wave of magic exploded from the surface of the mountaintop and Cadance plus the invisible Silver went from standing in place to rapidly blipping in and out of existence while moving at Mach seven.

Cadance had just enough time to see the top of the bubble around the Empire as she broke the cloud layer while spinning uncontrollably before passing out from the G-Forces

Author's Note

To nerd out about the magical metaphysics of a cycling micro teleportation spell.

The 'Launch Warper' spell is an active enchantment array unlike a single charge teleportation spell. It uses a rotation of force redirecting suites and a micro teleportation 'engine'.

Essentially, a burst of magic starts off the whole thing, putting the initial targets of the spell under the effects of the enchantment, and setting their relative velocity to an arbitrarily high number. The Micro Teleports not only move the targets forward, but also rotate the target over and over in conjunction with a force manipulation spell that applies drag retroactively to the opposite direction.

It basically means that with a an initially large charge of magic, and a comparably smaller charge from that of a long range teleportation spell, you can abuse magic's ability to redirect forces and allow you to fly basically unimpeded at a set speed for a vast distance. It also has the nice side affect of not turning you into goo or igniting the air by creating a bubble of constantly redirected forces around and inside the body in question.

Still not enough to stop Cadance from passing out tho :twilightsheepish:

It stings the toes and bites the nose

Cadence let out a muffled groan into the mud.

Flexing her wings against the shrubbery she had destroyed when she landed, she took stock. No aches, or injuries, but she could still feel the light pressures from where she had impacted on her side, about as bad as falling out of bed.

She felt her ruffled wing get poked

She lifted her muzzle, hoping that her neck wouldn't ache as she moved it for the first time, and peered up through the shrub she was currently inhabiting to see Silver standing just over the edge of her sight line. The smaller mare was similarly coated in mud from top to bottom, ruining her metallic coat glaze. She also bore a worrying toothy smile.

poke poke

"I'm okay." Cadance said beginning to stand

"Oh I know, I calculated the spell's trajectory myself after all."

"Don't." Cadance stood and pressed a hoof to her forehead. "Just don't."

Something about being nearly viscerally injured drove Cadance to a level of deep seated irritation with... Everything about this.

Quick Silver widened her smile, "Remember, you brought this on yourself."

"I-! You!" She turned towards Quick Silver with a snarl but caught herself. She clamped her eyes closed and took a deep inhale through her nose, which was a massive mistake, as she accidentally sucked a globule of mud that was stuck in her fur up into her nose.

Quick Silver laughed at her as she hacked and worked at spitting out the mud

Cadance simmered with barely controlled rage

I know how this works. You make me angry, and then manipulate me.

She took a more careful deep breath.

"You still could have warned me." She tried to say evenly

Silver flipped a hoof, and turned to the jungle, "Three minutes."

"Until?" She responded hotly

"No Little Princess, three minutes of travel time. You have a prior arrangement at seven, I wanna get you back in time for curfew." Silver quipped, and started walking.

Keep a level head Cadance

She took a series of shaking steps out of the shrub she was in, trying to shake as much mud off of herself as she could from her limbs and her wings. Her first step sunk a hoof deep into mud, so she didn't try too hard.

"You're lucky I'm not opposed to getting my hooves dirty."

"I wouldn't have you any other way Little Princess." Silver looked over her shoulder, and chuckled again and Cadance's state, "Now cmon! Adventure awaits!" Silver walked off around the corner of a tree

Cadance beat down on her frustration and followed quickly after, slowing down once she caught up. She looked out into the daytime jungle glades, vines and thick canopies blocking out most of the sun. Shrubs and large clumps of uneven turf and tall grass covered most of the ground. She saw a snake hanging in one of the trees, a big one. "Do you know where we're going?"

"Nope."

Cadance took another deep breath, "Are we just walking in a random direction?"

"Yup" Came Silver's quick response, in addition to Silver looking at Cadance with a Cheshire grin

"You're really trying to get under my fur." Cadance grumbled, and tried to trudge ahead of Silver.

Ponies talk about vacationing to warmer climates, but what they don't tell you is that jungles like this? Sure they're warm, but they're also wet, and wet heat sucks. Silver kept pace and they kept moving in their straight line.

"What, does that bother you? You don't like a little friendly ribbing?" Silver enunciated 'ribbing' as she poked Cadance in the ribs with a primary feather.

"I don't consider being thrown to the other side of the world as friendly ribbing."

"You've gotta scale up, remember?" Silver laughed, "Injuring you is practically my version of a bad pun."

"You know what?" Cadance rounded on the smaller mare, "I am scaling up with you! And I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt way more than I should! You keep pushing those bo- mrmph!"

Silver stuck a hoof in Cadance's mouth, which sucked, since it was covered in mud. As Cadance backed up, Silver pushed forwards and shushed her.

Cadance heard the trudging noises of something massive through her thrashing, and glared as she used her magic to pull Silver's hoof out of her mouth. "That conversation isn't over."

Silver just chuckled and turned away from her.

You know that feeling that rises up like a pressure in your head when you're entire brain practically screams that it's time to knock someone's block off? Cadance pushed that down and used her magic to banish whatever remnants of Silver's curse where nearby. There weren't any, but it didn't matter to Cadance.

I- am so going to...

To what? What are you gonna do Cadance?

Cadance banished the line of thought and walked up behind Silver. She was peeking through some shrubbery, Cadance did the same; ahead of them through the trees, maybe twelve pony lengths was some large angry looking quadruped lizard creature, it was leaning on it's back legs and pulling leaves out of a tree to throw into the ground, it's tail was held out behind it for stabilization.

"S-" Cadance's surprise was cut off as she was telekinetically hefted into the clearing, where she promptly fell forwards trying to catch herself.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Her enraged half thought was cut off as the beast made an odd screeching/hissing/roaring noise, leapt from it's task, and ran at her. Cadance with her face still in the mud, backpedaled into a standing position and lit her horn. Before she could do anything an ambiguous aura of blue struck the lizard, and it stumbled for a second before twisting to the side and rushing past Cadance.

"Wha-" She said intelligently as she turned back towards Silver to see a lance of flame suddenly explode from over the rim of the vegetation and set a swath of the canopy on fire. Her eyes settled on the shrub she was just standing in, and it's currently 'disintegrated' state.

"Haha!" Silver's voice sounded out

Oh crap

Cadance lifted herself and put her hooves forward into a run back into the clearing.

Kirin!

She did a double take

Wait Kirin?

Silver was in the midst of unnaturally twisting around a lance of flame launched from the horn of one such pony. There were three others, one currently trying to deal with the massive Lizard that had thrown itself onto the Kirin's spear, the other two were chasing around Silver with floating knives.

Silver's twist ended with her hitting the ground and throwing a wave of force across the landscape, the fires were blown out, and Cadance lifted a wing over her face to stop the twigs and other improvised woodland projectiles from hitting her face.

"Cmon Little Princess! Get in on- OOF" Silver got halfway through her invitation as she was tackled and subsequently stabbed in the neck by one of the Kirin mare's wielding a knife.

Silver went down and the Kirin mare stood triumphant over the muddy pegasus right up until Silver began laughing. It started as a normal laugh, like someone had told a particularly funny story about a situation that went awry, and slowly transitioned into an 'oh god, oh please, oh no' kind of laugh that ended with an empty screaming that echoed through the trees like a banshee was being strangled

Uh oh.

The Kirin's last expression before being launched was: "Oh shit"

Cadance watched as the mare disappeared, with nothing but a hole in the tree canopy and a whoosh to commemorate her vacation from the battlefield. Silver then lifted herself up backwards from her spot on the ground, her eyes glowing blue. Her head snapped in the direction of the other knife wielding mare who was slowly backing away with wide eyes. Silver's head tilted instantaneously ever so slightly to the left.

"Fear"

Cadance felt the weaponized invisible lance of emotion twinge in her sense and she was forced into a cringe from the pain, The Kirin mare fell over, stiff and open mouthed.

The other two, the mare throwing the flames, and the mare with the pointy stick decided it was a good time to make a hasty retreat.

"Silver! Don't!" Cadance called out

Silver looked over at Cadance, her eyes no longer glowing, "Don't what?"

"Uh." She said, looking over to where the mares previously were, visually catching their tails as they disappeared into the underbrush.

Silver didn't make a move, just tilting her head to the side, waiting for Cadance to respond.

She just stared dumbly at the scene, at the mare who had some glowing black mist leaking from her eyes, and the now limp impaled Lizard creature, and then back to Silver. Who raised an eyebrow.

"Now Cadance." She smiled, and lowered her gaze, "Why would I kill the rats when they're going to lead us straight to the nest?"

"That!" Cadance pointed, "None of that! No killing!"

Silver rolled her eyes, "Nopony died Cadance" she spat out

Cadance looked up at the mare shaped hole in the canopy

"I'll catch her in a minute." Silver waved as she trotted over to the mare she'd collapsed onto the ground.

"Who... What just happened?"

"Tribe ponies. Remember, we're past the badlands, past changeling territory. The ponies down here are-" Silver used her wings to produce air quotes, "Uncivilized."

"Why did they attack us?"

Silver hefted the limp Kirin mare up off the ground, "Let's find out."

Cadance interposed herself between the two, having trotted up to the smaller mare. "Now hold on. What did you do to her?"

"I filled her mind with unimaginable terrors?" Silver said, somehow innocently

"Undo that." Cadance commanded

Silver rolled her eyes, but the mist stopped flowing from the mare, and she jerked awake.

Silver looked at Cadance, "Good cop, bad cop?"

"What?"

Silver frowned, "Ugh, whatever-" Silver turned to the mare, "Irictua msth'als-um ti."

The mare shook her head and tried to make herself small, "Mithuam, mithuam, mithuam ec'ctchi, mithuam"

Silver rolled her eyes again and shouted, "Um ti! Ether ec'ctchi Um-TI!"

The mare just shook her head more, Silver stomped a hoof and let off a wave of magic, the mare squeaked and bolted off into the forest.

Cadance moved to speak, but was cut off.

"Shut up for a second." Silver began weaving a spell with her hoof. "Heavens, you really know how to ruin fun."

I do not!

Silver loosed her spell just as the Kirin mare hit the canopy again, hitting the bubble of cerulean magic next, which slowed her descent and roughly deposited her onto the ground.

"There, happy?"

Cadance snorted, "Happier, did you have-"

"Up bup bup!" Silver walked up to Cadance and pressed a muddy hoof into her chest fluff. She lifted her gaze and locked eyes with Cadance. "Bitch."

Cadance's expression twisted, but before she could express her outrage, Silver turned and trotted off in the direction the pair of Kirin mares ran off into.

Oh she's gonna get it.

Cadance stomped after the other mare, and tried to think of something, anything to say, or yell, at the smaller mare. They ended up just trudging through the mud and foliage in silence, with Cadance angrily glaring at the back of Silver's head, while the silver pony smirked all the while from her successful irritation of the Alicorn. In her haste, Cadance didn't notice that the Lizard was gone, or the fizzle of light it disappeared into.

Their walk through the jungle didn't help Cadance calm down.

It did help her stop feeling like ripping out her own mane, but all the stress being pushed into the back of her mind still wanted out. She knew she had to break the stiff air that she'd created between herself and Silver... but she didn't want to.

Except Silver will be content to just have me be silent for the rest of this little 'trip' so I have to say something

Cadance decided not to wait any longer, "Do you have a better idea of where we're going now?"

Silver side eyed Cadance, "I thought you weren't talking to me" followed by a smirk

"Do you?"

"Feisty. I like it." Silver snarked

"Silver" Cadance said threateningly

Silver shook her head, "If you can believe it, that was a serious compliment. 'Pissed off' looks very good on you."

Uhlgh, yuck

"Can you be serious, for a second, please?"

Silver looked straight ahead, "I just was."

Cadance huffed, "Please just answer my question."

Silver closed her eyes and kept walking after just the amount of time of which Cadance would have opened her mouth again, Silver opened her eyes and spoke, "No, but I have a good feeling about what we're looking for now"

Cadance tilted her nose in a 'go on' gesture

"It's probably some kind of hate or rage sink. Some magical device that can extract negative emotions."

"How'd'you figure that?"

Silver side eye'd Cadance again. "Care to guess?"

"No." She monotoned

"Notice how none of them went Nirik on us?"

Oh yeah...

Cadance pulled her pace up a little to get over an annoyingly spread patch of gnarled roots.

"You think they had their emotions pulled out?"

Silver bounced her head around, "The 'bad' ones, maybe."

"So... what are you going to do when we find them? Or it?"

"Probably going to blow up a temple, and make a daring escape just under the wire with the artefact in hoof." Silver joked, "And that's us, Little Bitch, you're in this too"

Cadance deeply frowned. Initially being about to smack the mare over the head quickly followed by the realization that 'Little Bitch' was actually just a twist on 'Little Princess'

I have no idea if being called Little Bitch is worse or better than being called a little bitch

She settled on, "I'm not going to help you wreak havoc and hurt ponies."

"Then go home."

"Excuse me?"

Silver stopped, and glared at the taller mare, "Nothing's keeping you here aside from your own responsibility, the same responsibility you're shirking by acting like a tiny prissy princess. I'm not sure you noticed, but that mare stabbed me in the neck and the other tried to ignite you." Silver took a step forwards and poked Cadance in the chest, "You're welcome by the way, for moving you and your filly out of the way of a Rupture Lance."

Cadance opened her mouth, Silver just poked her in the chest again, and kept going, "Furthermore, you can drop the suspicion, you told me not to kill, and I didn't, and wasn't going to. The high road your trying to take doesn't exist. So stop making a fool of yourself."

Silver's eyes narrowed, "You asked for this. I don't live smoothly. You wanna back out? Better for me, I'll even send you home, but believe it or not; I need this mental health break, and having you snarling down the back of my neck while I'm trying to wrestle the poison out of my bloodstream is enough of my patience down the drain that I may as well abort this whole exercise with you."

Cadance stomped and leaned forward into Silver's muzzle, "I'm only snarling down your neck because you're taking every opportunity to make me!"

"Oh? So you're nine years old?" Silver leaned in closer too, till they were basically touching noses, "Wah wah! The big bad Silver bully makes me angy! Whaaa wah!" Silver laughed in her face just before she leaned her weight forward and shoved Cadance, “Where’ve I heard that one before!”

"Why are you doing this!?" Cadance yelled, half in desperation

"Why not!?" Silver screamed with a crazed smile

Cadance smashed Silver's face with a blast of magic, the silver mare went tumbling backwards into a tree, which she slammed into with a loud crack, like Cadance had actually thrown a two ton chunk of iron at the tree instead of a flesh and blood pony. It felt good, and an unbidden smile came to Cadance's face.

Silver fired a beam back at her, which curved through the air around the foliage to hit her from the side, Cadance forwent lifting a shield, and simply obliterated the beam with unrelenting arcane might. The second beam she didn't see hit her in the side of the head like a slap.

"RRAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!" Cadance's head snapped to Silver's stupid smug face as she released a rage filled scream at being punched in the nose, she fired another blast of magic at Silver, this one was wider, it couldn't miss, it could be blocked, which is exactly what Silver did. An invisible shield absorbed the blast like it was nothing, Shining's shield, the shield that got her husband his cutie mark, the perverted version of it that that...

I'm going to kill her!

but Silver was gone, the wave of magic had obscured her for long enough that Silver had seemingly turned invisible, so Cadance let off a blast wave focused everywhere, and Silver went tumbling out of the air and into a series of branches nearby as her shadowy illusion was blown away in the wind of Cadance's magic.

Another blast, and another, and another. Cadance kept firing blast after blast of raw magic at Silver, who blocked or dodged them all until Cadance scored a lucky hit, sending Silver into the ground, several hooves into the ground.

Then she fired again.

"BLOCK THAT!"

and again

"AND THIS!"

The hole Silver was embedded in widened and deepened as Cadance filled it with arcane death. Cadance fired and screamed until she was out of breath, until she was out of magic.

Heaving with exertion, irritation, she peaked into the hole she'd dug as the now dried out dirt and dust settled in the air. Expecting a trap, or some sort of body double or trick, Cadance tensely peeked over the rim with her horn lit and her wings spread, regardless of the protesting ache of mana exhaustion at the base of her horn.

What she did not expect was a crumpled body. Twisted from the arcane forces, Silver lay in the hole completely still

Cadance's eyes widened as her horn winked out along with her already petering rage, and she gasped.

The body in the hole weakly lifted a hoof and pointed it at Cadance

...

"Nice."

Cadance let out a tentative, "Silver?"

Silver let out a groan from underneath the light rubble on top of her. "I'm okay."

Liar

"I-"

"Just. Give me a second" Silver said tersely.

Cadance stepped away from the hole and sat back hard.

You lost it Cadance, you genuinely lost it and nearly killed Quick Silver

She looked around at the destruction she'd wrought

You also made a new clearing

Silver's hoof gripped the edge of the hole, and she rolled herself out of the hole and onto her side. "whoo." She let out tiredly, waving a hoof around, "I didn't think I'd ever get you to pop your lid." Silver smiled at Cadance

Cadance just looked at her, dumbfounded, as Silver's body stitched itself back together, her nose setting into the direction it should be facing, and her teeth reappearing before Cadance's eyes.

"How do you feel?"

"How do I-"

Her own thought interrupted her before she could finish her reflexive question

How do I feel?

Cadance's hooves ached. Her mane was covered in dirt. Her horn burned like she'd just stuck it in the oven, her throat was dry and raspy. Her whole body sang the song of exhaustion.

Except it felt good. It felt like she'd just run and won a marathon.

She felt relaxed. Sitting in the mud, in the wet air, in the jungle, miles and miles from home.

"ha." her lax face let out a tiny laugh. "Ha. Ha?" and then two more, a little harder, as a smile worked its way onto her face. She let out a huff that scraped at her throat, and the next breath carried a real series of rib angering heaves of amusement as Cadance let it all out.

"I put you in a hole!" She said in-between her laughter, which only served to intensify it, "And you wanted it!"

What is my life!?

Silver watched on in amusement herself, a sparkle dashing across her blue eyes.

Cadance carefully wiped a tear from her eye with a wing tip, trying not to push mud into her eye as she stood at the tail end of her laughing fit. She trotted up to Silver and scooped her up into a hug, "I'm so glad you're okay. I'm sorry for losing it like that."

"Felt good though, didn't it." Silver smiled and said as she leaned away from Cadance's side hug

Cadance rubbed the back of her neck, "Yeah..."

"Don't go backwards on me Bitch, you did great!"

Cadence wasn't sure how one could say 'bitch' in an endearing way, but Silver certainly did it

"It wasn't great for my pride getting slammed like a stress doll, but you sure showed me huh?"

Cadance flapped her mouth

"Cmon, did you? Huh?"

"I- I did!"

"Yeah that's right!"

"I did show you!" Cadance laughed again, "That'll teach you to piss me off!"

Silver kept up her smile, "It sure will, and next time, warm me before you blow off all that steam."

Cadance stopped her joke at the way Silver said 'next time', "Next time?"

"Tartarus yes! Are you kidding? Look at all this jazz you were keeping bottled up!" Silver gestured around the clearing. "Seems like you needed a good fight just like I do."

"I try to be more constructive with m-"

"How's this not constructive?"

Cadance sarcastically gestured everywhere around herself.

Silver shook her head and smiled warmly. "You see destruction, I see change. All those little seeds that couldn't sprout in the sun because of the trees get a chance to take the stage light now, this hole may turn into a pond in ten years, so what? Nature doesn't care how hard you hit it."

Silver took one of Cadance's hooves and looked her in the eye, "I'm not a little filly like you Cadance, I can take a hit, and you can actually talk to me." Silver said, tilting her head towards the 'destruction'. "No more going 'princess' on me, and I won't try to get under your fur to bring it out of you."

Cadance shook Silver's hooves, "Deal." She shook her head, "You know, you could have just talked to me."

"Heh, what'd be the fun in that?" Silver quipped as she stood

Something about the seemingly normal phrase from Silver stuck in Cadance's mind

She doesn't believe me

"No really... You could have." Cadance tried

Silver smiled again, "I'll keep that in mind next time."

She... Does... well I just nearly turned her into pony pudding in a fit of rage, of course she doesn't think I-

"I'm sorry." Cadance said slowly.

"I already sai-"

"No." Cadance interrupted, "For treating you like a noble, instead of my friend."

Silver didn't have a response for that, but her ear flicked to the side. "We aren't friends, Little Princess."

Cadance smiled softly, "Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't do my best anyways."

Silver's ear flicked again as she stared blankly at Cadance. Somewhere off in the distance of the jungle, a bird tweeted. Silver stared harder. Cadance leaned back as Silver scrutinized the mare, suddenly the tone in Silver's blank expression changed from neutral to something alien to Cadance.

"Uh" Cadance said intelligently

Silver spoke roughly, her jaw shifted mechanically and her expression didn't shift. Like she was fighting herself. "I... Like... Boats..." Silver lifted an eyebrow ever so slightly, waiting for Cadance's reply.

What is happening???

"You do?"

"Yeah"

...

Silver's look intensified

"What kind?" Cadance said, verbally standing against the tidal wave that was Quick Silver at the moment.

Silver made no change to her expression, but Cadance could see, feel her eyes sparkling with hope

"Sailing ships... small ones, with only one or two main masts."

"Have you ever sailed one" She asked back

"Yeah." Silver's ear flicked again

"You'll have to take me sailing sometime."

Silver's ear flicked again, and then the far off look broke away, "Shall we finish finding a dangerous artefact?" Silver held out a hoof to the sitting princess

Cadance pushed her mind away from the strange interaction and let Silver change the subject

"Let's." Cadance took her hoof

Author's Note

It Could Have Been Me
by, The Struts

Spring Over the Ground, Like a Hunting Hound

They'd been walking in silence for a mile or two; Silver had asked Cadance to stay silent while she tracked where the Kirin mare's had run off to.

So Cadance just tried to enjoy the scenery through the mud and wet heat.

It wasn't going too well.

Much aside from the high overlooks she was used to in The Empire; in this jungle you'd be lucky to look out more than a couple of pony lengths, and that was only if there wasn't shrubbery with leaves the size of a smaller pony up to your chest.

So Cadance instead tried to figure out what Silver was tracking, or rather, how.

There wasn't anything Cadance could see, so... It must have been something else

Magic? Smell? Can I just not see the tracks?

"Ooo" Silver broke the silence

"What?"

Silver reached forwards for the leaves of a short tree in front of them as she turned to Cadance, "We're here."

Silver pulled the greenery aside to show a wall. One made out of upright wooden tree trunks, about half a pony's length away from the tree.

"Oh." Silver monotoned, "That's not the grand view I was hoping for"

Cadance stepped up next to Silver, "It's a wall?"

"Maybe" Silver frowned and said seriously and quietly, "Stay here." She walked up to the wall carefully, stepping intentionally and awkwardly; like she was stepping around spots on the ground. Crouched down, she pressed up just a hoof away from the wall and tapped it once. Twice.

She stood there silently, ears perked, and Cadance saw her wings begin to unfurl just before Silver perked up, returning to a normal stance.

"Yup. It's a wall."

Despite the sarcasm, Cadance smiled.

I don't know why it bothered me to begin with

"So..." Cadance led,

"So what?" Silver gestured up to the wall, "Wall?"

"I can't... respond to 'wall' with an inflection."

"I think you should make the plan." Silver said, answering Cadance's question

Cadance lifted a brow, "You want me to make the plan?"

"Well sure... I mean." Silver brushed a hoof against the trunk and looked up at it oddly. "I've done this before, let's- that is, I mean I- mean that you should, because- uh."

Hmm?

"Sorry, that thought got away from me." Silver looked away from the wall, "What I tried to say is that doing this my way would be boring, chess wouldn't be fun if it was always one turn long, so you have a crack at it, and I'll follow your lead."

"So..." Cadance thought for a second, "I can do whatever? And you'll just make it work?"

"Ya" Silver said with an odd accent and false saluted

Cadance tapped a hoof against her chin, having gotten used to being smeared with mud, so the addition of fresh wet mud from her hoof onto her face was noted, but ignored.

We could knock the wall over...

No, that's not...

Silver wants me to do this... That means she wants...

She glanced at Silver, who was still fake saluting while looking at her with interest.

She wants me to do this my way, my thing.

How would I conduct a raid on a dangerous group of Kirin's with an even more dangerous dark magic artefact?

Cadance looked at the wall in thought.

"You know what's odd?" Silver said

"What?"

Silver gestured at the space around them, "No patrols. A wall like this must have taken some effort to construct, pony power, yet no guards."

"Are you..."

Silver lifted a hoof under her chin and posed, "Hmm?"

Cadance slowly lifted a hoof and pointed it at Silver, "You're trying to help me decide under the veil of discovering 'new' information. You knew there weren't any guards when you approached the wall. That's why you did it so... sillily."

"Got it in one Little Princess... Like I said, I've done this before."

"Thank you for helping."

Silver went silent for a second, "So what's the plan, your highness?"

"We walk in like we own the place." Cadance smirked and narrowed her eyes

"I'll clean us up then."

Cadance dropped her theatrical look, "Ah"

Silver had returned Cadance's peytral, shoes, and crown after removing the grime from the two of them, similarly conjuring a series of what she called 'wayfarer' equipment that made her look... kind of like a royal guard, if the royal guard in question was covered in flexible greenish brown plating from top to bottom.

They navigated around to the edge of the wall, until they found an entrance, which Silver blew open without asking any questions.

This was what Silver was looking for.

Around what looked like a massive sinkhole, and surrounded by grass and shrubbery, was a thrown up grouping of tents and lean-to's.

The planked double door entrance went flying inside and crushed a tent, and several Kirin scattered and ran about. Plenty more grabbed up knives or spears and began to surround the Princess and her cohort.

Cadance strode forwards into the light destruction with a serene smile, Silver taking up just behind her.

She eventually reached the 'defensive' line the Kirin's had...

Wait... Why are there only mares?

One of them stabbed at Cadance with a spear as she approached, and the spear tip cracked against the magical barrier Silver was working around Cadance, the wood just beneath it splintered from the force, and the mare pulled back the now limp spear tip in confusion and worry.

Cadance took the opportunity to walk past her as the Kirins changed their encirclement in response to Cadance walking through it. They were far from a trained fighting force, scrambling about and shouting in some native language to each other. They were shortly surrounded again in a shuffling circle. A couple more Kirin's took a stab at Cadance, her large and imposing stride taking up their focus, rather than Silver, who was casually focusing on making herself look the opposite while maintaining the protective spell.

Cadance was focusing on not flinching and keeping up her stance and smile. Being safe was one thing, knowing she was safe was another, and the several attempts at stabbing her between the ribs were grating on her 'princessly' focus on staying serene.

She walked right up to the sinkhole, inside it was the top half of what looked like a temple.

Huh... I wonder how Silver guessed that

The tanned stone structure had several Kirin's in robes, nothing fancy, standing atop it. Having heard the shouting, the Kirin's had prepared a spell to launch at a would-be intruder, and as Cadance began walking down into the sink hole they launched a fireball bigger than her at her head.

The sudden relentless outpouring of light was a lot. The heat? Not so much.

This shield spell is Great

After a second of the explosion, Cadance flapped her wings, hard. The resulting air wave launched the remaining flame into the air, where it dissipated harmlessly, the rest on the ground was snuffed out by the pressure. The Kirin mages-

Still only mares, odd

Were rightfully surprised and worried. Cadance continued her strut up to the edge of the temple where the mares were standing, the encirclement of spears and knives having backed away after the ball of flame and its subsequent dismissal.

Cadance kept her wings spread, and actually curled them around her head, something she'd seen Celestia do at the summer sun celebration.

"So!" Cadance looked up to the still awestruck mages, and she heard Silver call out in their native tongue, translating for her like they'd discussed.

"I see you all have issue with my presence." Cadance lifted a hoof like she was holding a teacup, and gestured around herself, "I do not care."

The Kirin mages looked exchanged glances as Silver translated

"I'm here for the artefact your people covet, it is not for hooves like yours. Relinquish it, and I will simply be on my way."

Silver slowly translated the last bit, and Cadance could practically hear the eyebrow raise

What? What did I do wrong

The Kirin mares conversed, and then a nicer cloak made its way into the grouping, which silenced the chatter and 'split the sea'.

Cadance could feel the magical pressure from the...

Silver whispered glibly from her side, "Oh, here we go, that's a big bad."

The creature tossed its cloak back, a Nirik, it's flames burning white hot and simmering around its form rather than spreading around it in flame.

On its head, was a thorned crown made of black crystal glass, the thing did the equivalent of glowing in reverse, malevolently sucking in the light from around itself.

Uh oh

The mare fired a white lance of fire at the Alicorn, it whistled through the air and slammed into Cadance hard enough for her to feel it through the shield.

In the current smoke screen, Silver called out at a normal volume, "I can't block that again."

Cadance nodded and flapped her wings again, this time taking flight. She felt Silver's magic slide away from her, unlike a spell just ending and winking out or failing slowly, Silver's always had this sense of... 'life' to it.

Focus Cadance

Cadance watched the flaming Kirin blast into the air in chase. Her eyes widened as the mare flew past her much faster than her own top speed. Luckily not nearly as maneuverable, or Cadance probably would have become airborne pony paste.

Cadance fired a tentative beam of arcane might at the mare, which missed. The screaming black and white ball of fire retaliated by filling the sky with fire. Originating from herself in a white hot flame, which spread around her like a bomb, eventually reaching Cadance and her hastily thrown up shield. The fire rippled around her, and just after, the pressure wave threw her and her bubble down to the ground.

Just as the flame petered out, Cadance dismissed her bubble and caught air again, twisting around a needle thick beam of white flame that she only saw because of the air it ignited around itself.

"Whoah!" She yipped as she did half a roll into a dive to make up her speed and be a more difficult target.

Her dive was cut short as she was slammed into by a screaming projectile. Only her quick thinking and rapid flapping kept her from imminent immolation, but the spots on her fur the Nirik had her hooves were sizzling and Cadance could feel the burning in her stomach and side even through her Alicorn resilience.

They slammed into the ground near one of the lean-to's, which was turned into a crater. Cadance felt the rock and dust dig into her coat, but the more pressing concern was the screaming ball of hatred and fire trying to strangle her. So Cadance lit her horn and dug into her reserves and her Alicorn nature and mentally conjured the equivalent magical blast of yelling 'eat food nerd' as a battle cry.

The resulting blast/bubble of pink that expanded from the origin on Cadance's horn launched the Nirik into the air, where it subsequently slammed into the ground and burned a crevice into the ground where it slid to a stop right in front of Quick Silver. Who had just finished calculating exactly where the Nirik would land.

The Nirik, having been blasted with pure magical love screamed in rage in order to re-stabilize its negative state, Silver calmly placed her front right hoof over the things neck and pressed down, causing the Nirik to spasm in frustration and grab the offending limb. The fire and plasma just around the scales of the Nirik sizzled against Silver's limb, the elastic metal plate having liquified and dripped onto the ground.

Cadance sat up and watched along with the rest of the Kirin at the display of the Nirik screaming incoherently at the silver mare.

Her heart was pounding, and her breathing calmed down from her short scuffle in the air, but the adrenaline and the excitement from her short fight simmered in her chest.

Silver leaned in, and caught a hoof to the face for it, her other leg snapped out and grabbed the leg.

Silver leaned in closer, and said something, Cadance couldn't make it out from the ringing in her ears, but Silver leaned in closer and deposited a little kiss on the mare's snout; just like that, she went out.

The Nirik dropped limp back into her red Kirin form, and the crystal crown tumbled off of her head and into the still smoldering dust.

Silver scooped the thing up and tossed it onto her wingtip, twirling it around as she approached Cadance.

"You okay?"

Cadance rubbed at her right ear with her wing as she got up, and cast a little triage spell for the burns, "Yeah, I'm fine." Cadance looked around at the retreating Kirins. "Are you?"

"Yeah, not the first time I've been liquified, if you could believe it." Silver tossed the crown back into her hoof.

Cadance gave it an appraising look. It didn't look nearly as menacing when not in use. "So this is the thing?"

"Yup. Capable of channeling all of those negative emotions into one user. Astronomically useful."

Silver tossed the thing onto her head before Cadance could react. She stood there in surprise for a moment before nothing happened.

"Heh, just kidding." Silver gave her a sideways smile, "It doesn't work for me." She tipped the thing off her head, and back into her hoof.

"It doesn't?" Cadance questioned

"Why would it?" Silver asked back

"Don't you have-"

"Do I?"

Does she?

Silver walked past her.

"Hey, wait, what about that mare?"

Silver glanced over her shoulder, "What about her?"

"Will she survive?"

Silver nodded, "Yeah, of course, her Nirik form absorbed all of the more potent side effects of ripping your soul open for power." She bobbed her head, "She might be more irritable for a while, but she should be fine."

Cadance glanced back to the mare, the back to Silver. "So we just leave now right?"

"Yup"

"But-"

"Princesses are responsible Cadance." Silver said slowly, "Princesses clean up the messes they make, regardless of the necessity of the mess."

Cadance pursed her lips.

"You gonna get all 'princessy' on me again? Making me ask kinda ruins the mood anyway."

Cadance shook her head and smiled, "No. I think I learned my lesson there. Girls night out, no responsibilities!" She cheered, walking up to Silver's side.

"Glad to hear it."

"Wasn't really as climactic as you were hoping though right?"

Silver shrugged, "Eh, you see one massive theatrically timed explosion, you've seen them all."

The conversation continued as the two made their way out of the destroyed compound, and back out into the jungle.

"What are you going to use the crown for?"

Silver inspected the thing, "I'll have to see if I can strip the intent from it, then I'll probably use it as a conduit for emotional spell charging." She tossed the thing to Cadance, who caught it in her magical aura

"Or you can keep it, emotion casting isn't really my thing; it'd make me too unstable to do my work."

"I think I might, actually." Cadance said, looking at the crystal thorned crown.

"Taking an interest in the dark arts?" Silver quipped

"Yes." Cadance returned seriously.

Silver raised an eyebrow and laughed a little, "Really?"

"You've proven time and time again that it's possible without corruption and insanity." Cadance said, and tilted her head in thought, "And everypony knows about its effectiveness, same as its dangers. I guess I can't think of a good reason not to."

"Huh."

"Got any first-timer advice?"

"I'm more of a blood magician and a rune smith than an Emotion Caster, but I do dabble, mostly for power augmentations for my spells."

Cadance considered her question for a second before asking, "What's blood magic like?"

"I'll tell you this.” Silver said seriously, “Stay away from blood magic. As far as my research shows, its corruptive effects are exponentially more dangerous to Alicorns." Silver switched to a more conversational tone, "To answer your question: Gross. Blood magic is gross, it preys about the physical, that is, the body without mind or soul. Think about all the nasty business flesh would get up to if you filled it with magic and took away any higher will."

Cadance thought about it.

Yeah... maybe not

"Emotion casting, on the other hand, may be right up your alley. I dunno what unique effects your Alicorn nature yields on the interior of your soul, but to put it simply, imagine your soul like a big ball of tubes that carry magic around."

"Okay." Cadance said tentatively

"Now rip open one of the tubes of magic, the say, 'hate' tube. Filling the soul with unrefined energy means that it's pretty easy to do whatever you want, and the more emotion you rip into your soul, the more magic you can manipulate, meaning you can get even more emotion, and so on." Silver pushed aside a bush as she continued her lecture, "The hate tube will 'heal' per say, but not without scars, the more you rip it open, the easier it is to hate, the easier it is to pour more unrefined energy into your soul, eventually the tube can't heal anymore and gets stuck open, pouring magic into your soul. That's what happened to Sombra."

Cadance nodded along, "So that's how the corruption affect works."

"Yeah, it's shockingly manageable if you don't mind a bit of emotional instability. Especially if you only use your emotions constructively, rather than reflexively."

"I knew... some of that, I didn't realize that's how it worked in its entirety. What's the difference between unrefined and refined magic?"

Silver looked at Cadance like she was dumb for a second, "Oh, right of course, you know how you have magic inside you? Some of that is your soul, some of it is just 'you', your own magical influence." Silver gestured around herself, "Thing is, everything in the world has that, unique to themselves, or itself." She said, pushing a leaf, "Channeling magic not in yourself is Chaos magic, and is particularly hard to do; since normally things don't like having their internal magic wrenched from them without permission."

"So... Raw emotion has its own magical qualities?"

"Yeah. Like elemental fire, versus regular arcane fire"

"Is that why ponies can still be driven to cast magic by emotion, but it's not technically emotion- uh, casting?"

"Yup, you catch on quick." Silver poked her in the side with her wing

"I did have a decent education." She poked Silver back.

"Nonetheless. Shall we return?" Silver slowly held out a hoof to Cadance.

Wait, oh? What do you mean 'oh?'?

Cadance didn't want to leave yet. She stared at Silver's outstretched hoof as she suddenly got lost in thought.

This whole exercise was crazy, just like before. It was fun, I had fun, I... I loved it.

Silver wiggled her hoof, "Something on your mind Little Princess?"

"No, no, I'm just..." Cadance dipped back into thought for a second, but just for a second. "Thanks."

Silver looked on in confusion

"For the night out. Again."

Silver shook her hoof again, "More like a day out, and you can thank yourself, you're the one twisting my wing into doing this every week."

"I'm not the one making them so much fun."

Smirked and shook her hoof again.

Cadance took it, and they both fell backwards into a portal that spread open at their hooves.

Hurrah for Fun!

They appeared back in the hallway right in front of Cadance's room.

Cadance simply stood in place as Silver wove the magic to clean her, and additionally, she felt the burns on her stomach and side grow out with a tingle. Turning her head over, she watched as the fur on the spots fell out and was replaced with new hairs, the skin underneath unblemished.

"Thank you."

"You're saying that a lot today." Silver sardonically quipped

"You keep giving me good reasons to." She took a step forward and smiled at Silver

Silver backed up and held up a hoof, "Nope, I know that look, no hugs."

Cadance spread her wings

"Little Princess, I'm not jok- eep!" Silver scrambled and tried to scramble away as Cadance jumped into movement.

HEheE!

Cadance was taller, and Silver was unsurprised, so it wasn't a difficulty to scoop her up from the side in a wing hug. Silver struggled for a moment, awkwardly posing herself in the hug, before relenting.

Oh wow, she's heavy

"Ponies are so touchy feely." She mumbled

Cadance didn't retract from the hug, but still leaned back for proper eye contact, "I don't know why, or honestly how, given my experience with you, but you treat me like a friend; so that's how I'll treat you." Cadance squeezed Silver, "Hugs are part of that deal."

Exactly what Luna described... You haven't changed at all since then, have you?

The moment lasted another second before Cadance released the mare, who stumbled away, and made a show of brushing herself off, "Right." She... half glared, half lidded-stared at Cadance, "I'll keep that in mind and maintain the required defenses."

Cadance giggled, honestly, at Silver's sarcasm.

At least I hope that's sarcasm

"I'm glad you had fun at least."

You made sure it happened...

The thought struck out at Cadance

You... She tried harder than I expected to make it happen... She worked... Did she plan that all? Know it was goin- of course she did, she started our interactions by building up my annoyance...

She gave Silver a softer look, "Silver, did yo-"

Silver interrupted her with a smirk, "Tick tock Little Princess, you're going to be late."

Hmm?

"But it's bare-" Cadance stopped herself, what was going to be the phrase 'barely sundown' was interrupted as she glanced out to the dusk on the far balcony of the hallway.

Oh right, the other side of the world. Wait, how did we get back so fast?

Cadance turned back to Silver and opened her mouth

Silver tapped the wrist of her hoof and raised an eyebrow

"This conversation isn't over."

Silver smiled, "Smell ya later" and she turned and walked around the corner, humming some jaunty tune.

Cadance laughed at the exit, and turned herself to rush down to her office.

"So." Cadance said to the ponies in front of her, a crystal stallion, Homeward, and two pegasi.

It was currently seven thirty, and she'd gathered up the ponies who were waiting outside of her office with Amber and pulled them into her office. She sent Amber to run for tea, and pulled the four aside to the table and cushions near the door, rather than her desk.

The stallion was apparently an immigrant, some lost lineage of crystal pony that left the Empire at some point, he was a shimmery quiet yellow color, his mane, an orange version of the same. He had a cutie mark of an over stylized 'sun ray' coming from the sun, his name? Dawn Ray.

Unsurprising

Then there was Homeward, the earthy green unicorn with a minty green mane. She had a cutie mark of a... broken bone...

I'll have to ask about that at some point

Then there were the pegasi twins, they were by far the normal of the four. Symbol and Marker, apparently they were for hire temps together, they handled the data analytics for the group, since you know, that was the original purpose of the team's job. The pair of mare and stallion were by far the most reserved of the group. Marker, that is, the stallion wore a pair of sunglasses at all times for an unknown reason.

The group dynamic as Cadance had determined it was thus: Dawn Ray was the group's artist and 'interaction expert' the extrovert of the team. Homeward was the leader, the organizer and the apparent friend that kept the group together. Dawn and the twins didn't seem to like each other very much, at least as far as Cadance could sense. The twins apparently handled all of the actual 'work', that is to say, all of the stuff Cadance would view as work.

"So?" Homeward said tentatively, breaking Cadance out of her mental review of the situation.

Cadance shook her head, "You four were originally from the census division for data analytics right?"

Marker smiled, "You looked us up then."

Symbol spoke in an eerily similar voice, just effeminate, "Yes we are, hoping to change that."

Dawn and Ward just nodded

"I didn't get a chance to look over any of the work your team did, could you enlighten me?" Cadance moved to take a sip of her tea as they all looked to each other, trying to decide who would speak.

Homeward ended up taking the mantle, "We mostly worked with the other divisions, at first we didn't really have any information to present any projects like the census division is designed to do. So we organized things for the other relief divisions."

Symbol spoke up, "That is until now."

Cadance without looking, "Would you summarize for me?"

Marker was the one who responded, "We have enough data to present a project, now."

"Me and my brother have been checking through the information Ward had wanted us to search for."

Marker continued, "Ward had predicted several issues based off of her experiences in Equestria, once we had enough data to prove the recurrence she and Dawn created the initiative we're presenting to you."

Homeward awkwardly chuckled, "It's less of an initiative and more of a..." She twirled her hoof, "Well I don't know, but that's okay. I-"

"You haven't done anything like this before then?" Cadance interrupted.

While Homeward's mouth flapped, Dawn came to her rescue, "Homeward is just about as experienced as one can be without just being a part of the EEA, even though she's never done something like this before."

Cadance giggled, "Don't worry to much about impressing me, I've already decided to 'hire' you all, for lack of better phrase."

Homeward's stance changed from 'interview-e' to 'excited filly' while the rest simply tried to make sense of the phrase, "Really?!"

"Yes."

"Oh thank you Princess!"

"That wasn't very hard." Symbol said monotonously.

Was that snark? It's hard to tell

Cadance smiled, "The truth is, you stopped me at the perfect time. A school is something I was already planning, so besides your merits, you're exactly the ponies I was looking for."

Marker spoke again, "Unsurprising, if we noticed it, surely the Princess would have too."

"Wait..." Dawn said, "So, if you already were working on this, and we're already hired, why the meeting?"

Homeward smiled and leaned forward, meeting Cadance's eyes, "Vision. Obviously."

Cadance leaned forward too, meeting Homeward's expression, the mare leaned back, not really sure what to make of Cadance doing so. "Sorry." Cadance returned to a normal posture, "But she's right, Vision. I'm not looking to setup schools, I'm looking to build an institute. A college if you will, the biggest ever."

Symbol's head tilted, "Lofty goals."

Marker shifted, "Are you sure that's what the Empire needs?"

Cadance nodded, "The crystal ponies can't survive on tourism alone, the majority of children are self taught. Raised by the village, so to speak." As Cadance spoke, the group nodded along, "What we lack at the moment, is something bigger. A market." She smiled as she saw the confusion, "As it stands, there's no reason for somepony to train to become a teacher, or for a noble to invest or cater to an elementary school, nopony wants one. Most of our immigrants are adults, so we're fine on that front too."

"What making an institute that provides a higher form of education will do is create a demand for lower education over time."

Marker's ears perked up, "The private sector will take over."

Symbol had the same realization, "The incentive will solve the problem for us."

Cadance pointed a hoof at the air, "And. It means we can rely on retroactive laws to solve problems as they crop up." She glanced towards Dawn, deciding to say this to him for no particular reason, "Thing is, I need rules, regulations, features; truth is, I don't know anything about running a school, much less the regulations to make it work."

"That's where we come in." Homeward said

"Mhm. What do you think?" Cadance asked to the room.

They shared glances with each other.

Homeward turned back to Cadance with an inquisitive look, "So you need us to... gather a together a list of rules, laws and regulations for a college like research institute?"

"At first, yes; after, I'll probably have you all run it."

Dawn's eyebrows shot up, "Run it? You mean the school?"

Cadance gave her false Princess giggle again, "Well who better to run it than the ponies that made the system?"

"We'll do it." Homeward said confidently

"Ward" Marker hissed

Homeward held up a hoof, "We'll do the first part, at least. I don't know about... running a school."

Tell me about it...

"We'll find out when we get there then. Thank you all for your time."

They cleared out after they verified that they were actually suddenly in charge of doing what Cadance had asked them to do. As they filed out, and Cadance mused on how they clearly weren't prepared for the meeting to go so successfully, Shining walked in.

"Shining!"

"Hey Honey."

They shared a hug in a way that skipped the majority for storytelling for their individual days.

"So?"

"Silver was... Actually, I need to hoof something off to you." Cadance pulled the crown out of her pocket space.

"What's this?" He said concerned at the dark magic wafting off of the thing.

"Erm-"

Maybe you could have done that a little differently Cadance

"It's a dark magic artefact of sorts." Cadance said slowly, trying to be nonchalant

Shining took a deep breath

"Silver took me 'treasure hunting' today"

Shining raised an eyebrow

"I know... It was mostly safe..." She winced

Shining just shook his head, "Do you have to get yourself into danger like that?" He pointed at the crown.

"Yes?"

Shining rolled his eyes, "I've already expressed my... opinion." He took the crown in his levitation, "What does it do? It feels angry."

"The short version is that it is. Silver guessed that it can extract and store negative emotions, channeling them into the wearer"

"And she didn't..." Shining looked over the crown at Cadance, "She didn't keep it?"

"Said she wasn't an Emotion mage" Cadance pointed at the crown, "Plus, she said she couldn't have used it for anything anyways."

"So why even go get it?"

Cadance rolled around the answer in her mind for a second, trying to phrase it just right. "Shining I think; I think Silver actually cares." Cadance gestured to the crown, "I mean, about me."

Shining let her continue, since he could tell there was more

"Silver put together the whole trip, and the last one to help me relax. She gave it a lot of thought, and put a lot of work into it. Remember what I told you about Luna?"

Shining nodded, "Yeah, quite the story."

"I think She's doing the same thing with me."

"What, pushing you to learn things?"

Cadance tapped her muzzled with a hoof in thought, "No no... It's different, in a way, but kinda?"

Shining didn't have a response for that.

"It... Something Luna phrased it applies, she meant: 'Dusk was my friend, but I wasn't his.'" She ruffled her wings, "It's all over everything she does. She treats ponies like they're so important, but only her way, only the way that keeps everypony at hoof length."

"You're saying she... pushes ponies away?" Shining looked deep in thought

"In a way, I'm not sure why, but yes."

Why is this so difficult to explain?

Cadance understood the feeling, the relationship was something she could understand intrinsically, but communicating it?

"It's like... I know she doesn't trust me, but she still does?"

"She doesn't trust, but not because you're untrustworthy, it's because she knows the bigger picture better than you; knows we're prone to mistakes."

What?

"Uh-" Cadance gave her husband a sideways look, "Yeah... Exactly that, except-"

"Except she doesn't know the bigger picture better. She just thinks she does. Then instead of getting stuck in her own little world, she makes her own world everypony else’s and takes the lead."

"Shining?"

Shining snapped out of his thoughtful state, "Yeah?"

"Where'd all that come from?"

Shining furrowed his brow, "What she told me. The... The way she said it. She knows we'd eventually have a conversation like this. It's part of what she told me, when she told me I was, 'to young to know yet.'"

Cadance kept looking at Shining in confusion.

"How much did she tell you? Just as she was walking out?"

Shining gave a wry smile, "A little bit more than the couple of seconds she left in." and he rubbed the back of his neck.

The two sat together in thought for a moment

"Nevermind that for now, remember that school idea I told you about?"

Shining nodded and Cadance went on

The rest of the night was spent talking together until they went to bed, Cadance never ended up reading the letter's Point Flare had sent her that evening nor did she realize that the tea she sent Amber for never arrived. Roughly a mile away Silver returned from her chores after distracting Cadance.

The Silver mare walked into her domicile, the wards washing over her, and mechanically twinging at the gem implants that verified her mental stability.

Three

Check. Check. Memory association, mildly unstable. Check. Check. I'll need to reset my manifestation gate, being liquified did a number on the nexus

Before the thought or even the wards were done Silver had already walked past the the door, the front sitting room which she'd converted into an active manipulatable spatial fold, and into the dorms.

Eighteen

"Point Flare."

The group on the interior looked up an-

Consensus, preparation, mark and manipulate.

Silver's eyes clicked from the eyes of each of the interior ponies.

"With me-" Verifying effect, let's go with half confidence. "Please."

Point Flare levitated the cards she was lifting with her horn-

No aura discoloration, concerning, I'll have to check to see if there were any complications with the horn taking.

Twenty five

Point Flare was following Silver out into the staircase which Silver was already halfway down. They both walked through the folded space that brought them into the laboratory a couple of miles below them.

Don't look, keep moving, you've got to be a good role model.

An unwilled emotion sprouted in Silver's head before she brushed it away at the same time she dumped the bags she had filled with materials. Gems and floating pieces of metal scattered along the table as Point Flare flicked her horn to turn on all of the lights in the lab. Silver blinked once to adjust to the new light levels.

Thirty four

"Catch" Silver tossed the liquid metal at Point Flare with a wave of levitation.

She did in fact catch it-

Not at a decent enough range, I'll have to manifest an addition to her reaction time next time we weight train her mana pool

Silver was already done enchanting one of the gemstones with a subconscious control system, and an interface. The act was so ingrained into her mind that it came to her without having to focus.

Forty one

"Burn away at the impurities for me, that's going to be our new transportation mechanism"

Point Flare brought the metal in her telekinetic grip with herself over to the table and started. Silver watched.

No mistakes, bad, I need you to make mistakes so I can teach you how to get better.

Silver shook her hoof away from the assembly and warped behind Point Flare, "Boo."

Fifty

The mare jumped ever so slightly as Silver suddenly appeared behind her. "Jeez. Do you have to do that?"

"Absolutely, you're burning off the extraneous magic, lean back with the power, lean into the precision. It's alchemy, not buckball."

"I know, you didn't have to startle me to remind me though." She frowned at Silver but readjusted her aura on the liquid metal.

Fifty nine

looks like the molecular stabilization effect from the spell is adjusting faster now, good, she got better

"You never know when something is just going to fall over in the lab, you've gotta make sure you don't jump like that and accidentally blow yourself up."

Point Flare rolled her eyes, used to what she thought was Silver's teaching style.

One-Seven

Silver pulled the assembly over to herself and connected the mechanics with the control system.

Let's see if I have to re-teach this

"Do you remember the phase spell I taught you?"

"Mhm" She said, concentrating on catalyzing field spell into the metal

Silver realized she was going to have to wait before she was going to do anything else, so she thought.

Shining should go looking for Cadance soon, which means the risk of going back out is too high, you have to stay. Project Heth? No, I have to readjust my mental acuity. Call it:

Mental faculty check and readjustment.
Spell practice with the group, I'll end it by warping them to the warehouse and have them look over the portals. That should give me time for Operation four.
Check the world stash state, hopefully I can get some pings back this time.
Note: Exercise your wings throughout the rest of the day, they really need work.
After I finish off Operation four (I'll need to reset the base defenses first) I can drop by the Engine and top myself off.
Then I can really get started with the day

One-Twelve

Two seconds had passed and Point Flare's aura disappeared around the metal as the enchantment took to the permanence. "Done" She said-

Proud, good, be happy you're working, be happy when you get better. Twist it, forwards

"Good work. Take this." Silver handed her the sea urchin looking assembly. It had a gemstone sitting in the center surrounded by a mix of antennae and rods of etched metal attached to hinges at the base of the case the gemstone sat in. "Use your levitation to submerge the device, the density should get lighter than air."

Point Flare took the metal and spread it out in her levitation like dough, the molecules sliding past each other until the 'solid liquid' was basically magical 'gas'. After, she simply dumped the 'metallic gas' onto the device.

One-Thirty five

"Now wait for the ping."

Flare held it in place until her aura disappeared, replaced by the rippling metal going taut, the whole thing turning into a visibly solid ball of metal. It began to float and rotate slowly.

"These are our new mechanical drones for lifting in the warehouse, I'll be teaching you how to make them from scratch tomorrow, gather the rest and we'll go over the magic theory tonight."

Point Flare nodded and made her way back towards the staircase as Silver wove a spell to send the drone to the warehouse.

One-Fourty nin-

Flare turned at the stairs, "Hey, uh boss? Are you okay?"

Damnit

"Yeah, just in a rush." Silver said flatly

"You're always in a rush." Flare said tentatively.

We cannot be friends.

"Go get the rest of the group Point Flare." Silver said without turning back.

Point Flare left.

Two.

Still thirty seconds behind, I'll have to find a better way to distance Flare's concerns.

The pony who was Silver spread her wings and began to stretch as she began recalling the night's lesson plans for her mage group; in addition to readjusting it for the group's current mood.

The mental image of a marionette sprung to her mind before the four layered enchantment that overlaid her brain registered a danger to her sanity and erased the thought so she could focus.

Dear Princess Cadance

Hello Princess Cadance

Quick Silver told me that I should call you by your full name, but I think she may have been pulling my tail.

Oh, this is Point Flare; this letter is for my 'monthly report' as Quick Silver called it, my group and Silver included thought it might be better if I wrote for everyone in the group, so I'll let you know how they're doing too.

Silver's been taking astonishingly good care of us. I spent my first couple of days forgetting that I was being punished for committing treason. Aside from having to stay inside all of the time, our dorms are really comfy, and Silver let's us work wherever we want so long as we clean up. There's good food, even though none of us know where Silver get's it all from, and none of us are willing to ask in case it goes away. She always finds time for all of us, and has been teaching us all sorts of things.

She told me I have an aptitude for Chaos Magic, and when I said, 'like Discord?' she said yes. I'm not exactly sure what that means, for me and just in general. She hasn't told me anything about it yet, and I'm kinda glad. I don't know if I'd be able to keep up.

Misty has recovered from what Quick Silver did to them. It was actually a pretty interesting lecture. Turns out Silver didn't actually rip Misty in half as, and this is how she said it, 'such a thing would have not only been horribly inefficient, but ineffective.' Apparently what I saw was a mixture of an illusion and a mind affecting spell that convinced us the illusion was real, to the point where Misty actually felt the phantom pain of losing her bottom half. Regardless Misty has settled in now that she's got work to do, Misty's the only one of us who's got a talent for Emotion Casting, I'll get to that in a second.

Rip Tide proposed to Grey Skies. I know right? We knew they were super into each other, but they never dated. It was super cute, really. You'll have talk to them about it if you want the details, nonetheless, they're super happy and engaged whenever Silver gives them work, and wow does she. She probably gives Tide and Skies the most work out of anyone.

Hematite is okay, she's been really quiet recently, I think she's just, I think it's sunk in that she's being punished right? We were being black mailed by Stone Cut, but we were still free to come and go as we pleased. She doesn't really like being trapped inside, and Quick Silver always gives us a reason to stay indoors. I can tell Hematite doesn't like Silver even a little bit, and the only reason she doesn't butt heads with her all the time is because she's basically our parole officer. That and Silver is really... prempitively rude

Kayfur has... really taken to this. I'm not sure he even views this as punishment. He's always been the pony out of us who cared the least about the negative effects of dangerous magic, and with Silver showing us where all the pitfalls are... Well, they don't get a long per say, but they talk the most besides me.

Silver's been teaching us a lot. Very little intentionally, mostly only the things she needs us to do. There was a lot of basics she had to teach Misty before she could maintenance the Tac & Co portals, and Hematite and Kayfur got the crash course in advanced Crystal Pony magic. They've been growing crystals for nearly a full week, expanding their mana pools. She's also been slowly teaching Rip and Grey about Elementalism and pegasus magic. Did you know that pegasi could cast certain elemental spells through their wings? The same way unicorns cast with horns? I certainly didn't, but it's definitely possible, I got to watch Rip Tide pull water vapor out of the air with his wing and shoot it forward like a cannon ball.

We're all learning. Me included, I never thought that 'Control' magic was such a small tip of the ice berg when it comes to ways to use magic. Silver has me practice by constantly switching styles, and having me figure out how she's casting. I've seen her cast with something called she quickly called 'applied-psionic-magical-electromagnetism-manipulation'. She's a genius, and I mean that in a technical way. She's no prodigy, but she just knows so much; is an expert in so many fields.

And that's just her, the way she works with technology and applied sciences are beyond me, beyond any of us besides Hematite, and even she can barely keep up. Silver just... the way she thinks, the way she just pulls out random ideas that nobody would have ever come up with? Who could have thought of combining a inverted glow matrix with levitation to make the aura feed back the energy it's trying to radiate to control the mana flow? I've been able to hold levitation indefinitely with that little trick. Every new thing Silver shows us is some revolutionary idea or technology that she just can't be real.

I know it's not really my place to ask Princess... but just who exactly is Quick Silver?

She absolutely doesn't act like a normal pony, and from what I knew already, there's definitely something off about her. Is she... I don't know like, some kind of space pony or something? That's Misty's theory. I don't know myself but I guess that's why I'm asking.

With the way Silver talks and... the way she says things without saying them, I'm not really comfortable asking her directly who she is for real, since it's obvious she's not a pegasus mare from trottingham.

I also wanted to say thank you.

I'm not really good with getting gifts or anything from other ponies, but this... incredible opportunity you've given me is something I'll never forget. You changed my life forever by giving me and my friends a chance so... Thank you.

-Point Flare

Hello Point Flare
I'm glad to hear from you, and get Silver's reports on your punishments. First and foremost, as a ruler, I have to remind you that you are being punished, and would ask that you apply yourself to your work with that understanding. With that out of the way.

Re-reading your personal letter to me, that's a lot to unpack.

I'm happy to hear that you and your friends are doing well under Silver's care, and I have to say that I'm... somehow surprised by your praise of her, both her skill and her care. I'll talk to her about it at some point.

While I'm not too shook by the nature of Silver's intelligence as it was clear that she was a kind of scientist, but it's still a little worrying, and I'll explain why.

To be blunt, Silver is older than me. Older than Celestia and Luna. The only creature I know that might rival her in sheer age and experience is Discord. Silver was around since before Equestria was formally founded and was a practitioner of Dark magic during that era. At some point she was turned to stone and had rested in the palace gardens for a long time. I and Princess Luna caused her release, hoping to reform her like we did Discord...

I'm not sure it didn't work. Silver is headstrong in a way that I don't really understand; a general enigma to me. That being said, I have a task for you.

Watch her. I don't know what her plans for The Empire are, and while I don't believe them to be malicious, they still may very well be. I keep tabs on her myself, but it seems like you may have far more contact. Do me the favour of paying some attention to her behavior and her plans. Just in case. If you could, similarly pay attention to the way she acts, if you could learn anything about her of vague importance, it could easily be one for the history books.

-Cadance
P.S. and she was pulling your tail. Letters addressed to me can remain informal, and you are very welcome, please just do your best to prove my intuition about you and your friends correct.

Start...

Author's Note

The next handful of chapters are going to be much more slice of life than usual, since I usually skip over it, I wanted to take the opportunity to follow through one of Cadance's days-

Start...

Cadance awoke jarringly quickly. Rather than the normal sliding from into and out of dreaming like normal, she merely blinked and then realized she was awake. A glance around the room told her it was still night, it must have been around five-am.

Not the ideal time to awake

She rolled over and nestled into Shining and closed her eyes again. There was little effort to not wake him, as Shining had mastered the soldier's skill of being asleep when one was sleeping.

Cadance lay in the warm covers of their shared bed, trying to return to sleep. The dull ache in conjunction with the comfort urging her to just go back to bed. The low hum of her mind kept her from returning to sleep, the subconscious thought having taken form and simply brought her to wakefulness. Something was keeping her up, she just didn't know what.

She frowned in dissatisfaction and rolled away from Shining, landing on the ground quietly; after a short stretch she made her way over to the bathroom, deciding to just get ready for the day, hoping that a warm shower would help clear the mental fog.

She followed all the normal procedures. Hot shower, lather rinse, she dried herself with some magic, brushed her coat down and styled her mane, preened her wings, the whole nine yards.

She let out a sigh as she stepped back out of the bathroom, still slightly damp.

Ugh, that probably only took up an hour

She looked around idly for something to do.

You could just relax

She was relaxed until she thought about it, then her restlessness filled her mind again, urging her to do something.

Shining lightly snored from their bed.

She did her best to be quiet when she walked over and gave him a quick peck on the forehead before leaving. At the door she turned her head towards him, "Promise I'll be safe." before slipping out and shutting the door behind her.

The halls were lit unlike her room, enchanted crystals hung off the walls just above head height that illuminated the hall and the crystal nature of its structures. She politely nodded to the guard pony sitting outside of her room and began making her way towards The Spire's vault.

On the way, she tried to appreciate the walls and the palace a bit more than normal, simply trying to occupy her mind with the short walk to the higher level.

Never thought this is how my life would go. Walking around trying to appreciate living in a solid crystal palace as the crystal princess.

She chuckled and mumbled, "Crazy that I got used to this."

Walking up to the vault door, she spread her magic signature over the wards, a click followed and the door unlocked just as she began pushing it open. To anypony but an Alicorn, that door would be inoperable. The vault was a repurposed monster containment room, apparently crafted by Sombra when he was in power to contain and study the creatures of the wastes, one of the freed crystal ponies had claimed that the room could potentially contain a windigo; so after scouring the thing of the dangerous magic, they'd repurposed it into a vault for all of the traps and enchanted items Sombra had produced, this was also where Starswirl's mirror was kept, off in a side room, but still here.

The room itself was a simple massive cube carved into what was once a massive gemstone, the entire room seemingly having been placed here rather than grown out of the same material as The Spire. How?

Who knows.

Cadance walked over to the plinth that contained the crown, the thing angrily writhing in a containment field Shining himself had produced. At least, that's what her senses told her. The thing had a vague air of mechanical sentience, unlike ponies, it had an intent to it. It wanted to 'escape' to bring ruin to the things that thought they could contain it. Spite, hatred, rage, and underneath was a passionate determination and a sense of superiority and arrogance.

All of the negative emotional rainbow.

She used her magic to lift the thing from the shield. The emotions in it snapped out at her in rage at her moving it, even though she'd freed the thing momentarily; that was the 'vagueness' of its intelligence. It didn't seem to understand the deeper nuance of what was going on around it.

"Hmmm. Can you understand ponish?"

The thing simply raged at her.

Cadance was here to test a theory. You see, if the thing could contain and redirect negative emotions, could it do the same for positive ones? The way Silver had talked about it implied as much.

Right? Clearing the intent is something she said right? But how.

Suddenly the crown went quiet

Its intent shifted, Cadance held the thing further away from her and gave it a sideways look, waiting for it to explode, or something equally irritating. Instead, it began whispering pain to her, promising the wrath it would incur on her enemies, it spoke of righteous fury delivered to those that irritate her.

"Huh." She half chuckled.

She hovered the thing closer to her again, "Sorry, but not today."

The thing continued posturing her, promising greatness if she'd

JUST PUT IT ON

"Yikes!" Cadance dropped it in surprise at the mental intrusion

The crown fell to the floor, clattering against the crystal where it fell silent again.

Okay, maybe not... I may need to get Silver to do this for me, I have no idea what I'm doing.

She lifted the thing up again in her aura.

Now don't do that again.

Cadance didn't want to leave yet. She wanted to make some kind of progress.

Think Cadance. Twilight's not the only genius in the family. This is emotion, your field of expertise...

The thing was filled with rage and dominance. Some twisted sense of mad arrogance backed by a willful desire of magic and determination, a dangerous mix.

But why exactly that?

The thing was always in that state, so it must have been the core of the magic.

Throw things on the wall, let's see

A well kept secret of Cadance was that long ago she'd learned how to cast using her emotions as a power source. She'd always known the difference between using emotions as motivation, and using them as power, which of course was the separation between Control and Emotion casting.

She drew upon her emotions: serenity, her sense of being at peace, a mixture of deference, the ideal of simply letting something brush past you. Following that up with a channeling medium of change and Love, a rippling cloud of black and pink magic began bubbling at the tip of her horn as blue mist the same colour as her eyes began leaking from the edges of her vision. The emotions flowed through her, and she brought them to the tip of her horn.

Then she fired it at the crown floating in her telekinesis. The thing, not capable of not consuming any emotions available to it, drank greedily of the magic that was directed at it.

Cadance watched the rippling wave of pink and black flow around the crown and eventually sink into it. The sparkling black and grey features of the crystal glowing blue for moments as the magic sank in.

There was a tinkling noise before the glowing crown turned dull.

Did it work?

She poked at it with her hoof.

It wasn't whispering or raging at her anymore.

Hmmm

She lifted it into her magic again. The dull thing hovered in front of her in silence.

Did I break it?

After a bit of poking at it with her magic, and eventually just placing the thing on her head, she figured out that she did indeed break it.

"Dang it." She hefted the thing in front of her in her hoof, "But why?" The crown gave her no answers.

Twilight would have been able to figure this out

No, it didn't break, the enchantment is just gone...

After wracking her brain for ideas, she elected to try blasting it with the same spell again. This time, the magic washed over the thing, not finding a suitable target to direct the calming magic into.

Ugh

Cadance put the crown back in its case.

At least I made it safe

She idly looked around. Looking at the cursed tomes and books, the strange crystal artefacts Sombra had produced, and eventually back to the crown.

Sorry for breaking you.

She sighed and left, hoping to find something else to do. She never heard the contentment and forgiveness from the crown as the twisting magic inside of it drove it to peace.

"There you are." Shining said as she re-entered their bedroom.

"Morning honey."

Shining was in the middle of brushing his mane back, "Couldn't sleep?"

"I just woke up early, wanted to get busy."

"What's wrong?"

Of course he'd notice she was a little dejected. She'd wandered over to her office, taken one look inside and then closed the door and walked off. She didn't feel hungry either. Just restless.

"I broke the crown, and there's nothing to do."

Shining stopped brushing his mane, "The crown you showed me yesterday?"

"Mhm."

Cadance walked up next to him and yoinked his brush and started styling his mane.

"You broke it?"

Cadance idly responded as she focused on getting the knots out of his hair, "I tried fill it with it's opposite nature, I'm pretty sure I just broke the enchantment, I'm not sure why though."

"What's really wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

She could tell Shining Armor rolled his eyes even though she couldn't see his face from behind him.

"You're telling me that you wandered down to the vault at the break of dawn, broke the crown after casting dark magic on it, and now you're brushing my mane. You only do that when you're really nervous. So what's up?"

"Do I really?"

"Spill it Cadance."

She slumped her shoulders. "I don't know. I'm just feeling restless this morning I guess."

Shining pulled her into a hug. She was a bit taller than him, so she had to lean into it, but it was nice nonetheless. She tried to phrase how she felt, "I'm a little upset I couldn't make the crown useful, Twilight would have been able to, and I could have just asked Silver to do it. She probably would have just done it while telling me she wouldn't." Her words only felt half right to her own ears.

"I don't know. I just feel off."

"Could it be hormones?"

Maybe

"Maybe."

"Tell you what, I've got a spare two hours before a paperwork sesh with my third. Why don't we finally get you checked out here in The Empire?"

Cadance mulled it over in her head. The timing was nice, she'd be able to go to the palace staff meeting in the morning, then meet up with Shining before she had to take open court. She thought of the soul growing just behind her stomach.

"Mmm, yes, I think I'd like that." She gave him a squeeze with her wing.

"I'll make sure to send a letter ahead to the hospital. What else is bugging you?"

"Mmmmm, nothing anymore." She pressed her muzzle up underneath his neck and took a deep breath.

The sensation cleared away the negative air that was shifting around her, the poetic thought of Shining defending her from her bad mood came to her mind, she smiled at the thought and leaned more into him.

"Honey, you're gonna knock me over."

She did that, pushing him over onto his side where she subsequently and unrelentingly cuddled him.

Husbands right? Who knew?

"Alright Cadance. Two can play at this."

"What's that-Wha-!" Cadance's inquiry was cut off as Shining magically scooped her into a blanket

"Shining!"

He pulled the now burritoed Alicorn into a tight hug from behind and projected, "Now you'll be trapped here with me forever!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" She struggled to flare open her wings, throwing the blanket and Shining backwards. She turned around to face the pile of husband and comforters. She stepped forwards until she was just over him

"Don't you dare."

She dared. She laid down on top of him, shifting her weight and magicking the buddle comforter into a nest. Pegasus thing.

"Cadance!"

"That's what you get." She snarked down at the stallion.

Despite his struggling and false annoyance, he began to laugh, and did his best to hug her from underneath the mess of Alicorn and blanket.

"Think I can finish brushing my mane now?"

"Yeah." Cadance got off, and moved the blanket back over to their bed, fixing it back into place. As Shining got back to fixing up his now re-tangled mane Cadance walked over and gave him a sloppy kiss on the side of his muzzle.

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

"I'm gonna go to the morning staff meeting today, what's your evening like?"

"It's up in the air after me and Whistle finish going through the work orders. I'll probably get lunch with her and then roll out the new patrol rosters. You?"

"After open court, I've got a meeting with Chance's husband."

"The House of Mirrors?" he questioned

"Mhm. Going to see if I can build up a rapport."

Shining nodded in understanding, "The funding redirection project?"

"That's right. I'm hoping to switch over half of it to stimulating the houses"

Shining nodded in understanding. It wasn't really his area of expertise.

"Think you'll be able to swing by after? Meet me in my office?"

"Yeah I can do that."

"Then I'm gonna go to that meeting, I'll go find you in the-" Cadance led

Shining answered, "The guard checkpoint, I have to be there for the training regimen presentation."

"The guard checkpoint, say in an hour?"

"Make it one and a half."

"Okay, I'll bring you breakfast." She kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks."

She fainted turning away to leave, but then surprise glomped him from behind. He didn't fall over this time.

"Love you, you big goof."

"Love you more, My Cadance."

Her heart fluttered, "Oh you wish."

They shared a deeper kiss, and then Cadance left for real.

The meeting hall for the palace staff was chock full as always. The maids and several of the guard officers were piling in when she got there. That in conjunction with the head line chef for The Spire's cafeteria.

There were plenty of nods and a couple of bows of deference as she entered. She kept her smile up, waved and gestured for ponies to rise when necessary. She eventually made it through the large crystal double doors into the impromptu ballroom turned meeting hall. There were plenty of round tables and cushions and chairs. Somepony had brought donuts and drinks for the ponies who had to skip breakfast for the morning commute.

The head of palace affairs, a yellow coated, blue maned crystal stallion named Easy Morning; The head of the maid staff and Palace maintenance, Ivory, an aptly named white toned earth pony mare and somepony she didn't recognize, a pink crystal mare with a slick back pink tinted mane, stood at the raised crystal platform at the opposite end of the hall. Cadance levitated a donut from the table over to herself as she crossed the room to approach the three.

Easy noticed her approach first "Ah, good morning Princess."

"Oh!" Ivory did a short bow, "We didn't realize you'd be here this morning Princess Cadance."

Cadance took a large bite out of the glazed doughy ball floating in her magic before responding, "I've not had the time for a while, excuse me, but I don't think we've ever met before miss?"

The crystal mare held out a hoof to the approaching Princess as Cadance stepped up onto the raised platform, yet she didn't meet Cadance's gaze, maintaining a look out over the room, like she had something on her mind.

"Slick Quire, your highness. It's a pleasure."

What an odd name.

Ivory spoke, "Slick has been a great help with the recent organizational changes, she's been in charge of palace communication for the past week or two."

Cadance tilted her head, "Only two weeks? When did you get hired?"

"Around the same time" Slick said, "I helped out enough times during these meetings that I slowly got shoe-horned into the position."

That's... Completely avoiding my question... Why won't you look at me?

"Is something wrong, your highness?" Easy Morning said after noticing Cadance's frown

"No, no, sorry, I think I just swallowed a hair." Cadance returned the smile to her face, "I'll go take a seat, it's been a while since I knew what was going on in The Spire."

As Cadance was halfway down the steps off the raised platform, the oddity in Slick's name stuck out at her.

Slick Quire? Slic....

No. Oh, I swear.

She turned her head and met "Slick's" gaze as she watched Cadance walk away.

I know those eyes. What are you up to.

Slick gave her a toothy smile and waved at her from the stage.

What are you doing here... ugh, that damn mare is everywhere!

Cadance kept her internal despairing to herself and off her face. She found a cushion to park herself at a table near the front of the room just as the assortment of staff were all either finding their seats or turning their attention to the stage.

Ivory began to speak to the crowd, with Easy taking her side and 'Slick' standing a little off to the side. "Morning everypony!"

Everypony...

There were plenty of call backs of good mornings, and Ivory continued, "Last week we had very good marks for the palace maintenance, so there's little to hear from me. You all know what your operations are today from Slick," Ivory gestured to the mare in question, who nodded and began to speak

"Today we've got the normal to and fore for castle maintenance; today though I talked with, uh-" Slick glanced around through the crowd until her eyes stopped on a crystal mare who raised her hoof, "Ah there you are, everyone get a good look at Miss Stance over there, she's in charge of running palace inventory today: Food, cleaning supplies, the works; everyone without a job today make sure you find her in the foyer, and she'll be handing out assignments."

Ivory spoke again, "We've also got a couple of individual room requests from the housing relocation initiative, I put up a chart in the break room with area assignments, the plan is to get through all the requests before the weekend is over."

Easy morning spoke up, "Moving forwards, I'm sure we're all still winding down from the Gala, but we've got an upswing in tourism now that ponies are going to be looking for somewhere to spend their time. I've got several project ideas for us to get started on right away. First and foremost is the central Empire ring conversion from a housing district to the business center we've been planning. There's a sign up sheet out in the break room for anypony that wants to work on the project with some of our managers."

Slick cut in, "Keep in mind it's mostly going to be overseeing construction and renovation requests, post that, selling and managing business spaces and ponies who're looking to take up the new structures."

"Right" Easy morning nodded towards Slick, "It's a long term project, we want the ponies on it to be experienced from start to finish so they can act as the buildings' management once they're complete."

Ivory spoke up again, "Can Hard Tack, Missed Beam and Ice Storm please put your hooves up?"

There was a trio of hooves raised into the air off on a table to Cadance's side.

"They're in charge of the project management, construction and public relations respectively, find them when you get your project assignments."

Easy Morning continued, "Secondly, we want to start working on our next big internal organization project, Slick? If you would?"

"Of course." Slick took a couple of steps forwards "As you all know, the revitalization projects for fixing up The Empire were patchwork and half done. That being said, the hard work and extra hours you all put in pushed us over the edge of what we needed to mark down most projects as a success. However, as it stands, the HR division is still severely overworked because of the disorganization of our teams and the mix of ponies brought over from Canterlot and the staff from Sombra's reign mixing together with anypony who walked in off the street who had good enough ideas."

There were a couple of chuckles and elbowing of fellow associates

"So our first organizational protocol is going to be skill redistribution. Easy Morning is working with the guard division to work out a chain of command to restructure and organize the internal workings of you movers and shakers. As it stands though, we can't promote or organize our personnel without knowing on paper what your experiences and skills are. There's a massive stack of papers sitting in the break room, you can't miss them, today there's going to be an hour long extra tack onto the normal break length for everyone to complete the information inside."

"Once we have all of the details, we'll be able to know what we're working with and get our second project on the move." Easy finished.

Ivory called out, "Any questions?"

A hoof raised out, and they simply began to speak, "What kind of questions are in the leaflet?"

Ivory answered the question, instead of Slick, "Some non-invasive personal history questions, work experience boxes, 'what is your special talent', team preferences, that sort of thing."

"Are there going to be more move orders for the furniture imports?"

Ivory nervously chuckled, "Hopefully not."

"Missed Beam?" The mare in question turned to the voice in asking for her attention, "Did the renovation requests go through for that one trouble floor?"

The mare nodded, "It took some finagling, but it t'wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

Then there was silence.

Easy Morning clapped his hooves, "Alright then, everypony have a good day!"

"Now go get to work!" Ivory smiled as she spoke

The crowd of ponies began rising and dispersing, the crowd immediately building a volume as friends and team members began talking about the day and the meeting.

Cadance tracked Slick as she walked down off the stage and into the crowd. At least she tried, a couple of moments after she dipped into the crowd, Cadance lost sight of her and didn't manage to find her again.

Disgruntled horse thought noises

Cadance was one of the last ponies standing around when the room eventually cleared out, Ivory walked up to her as she began moving to leave.

"Excuse me Princess?"

"Hello again Ivory, excellent work as always."

"Thank you Princess, I had a question for you, if I may?"

"Of course."

Ivory rolled the words around in her head, "I heard that you had tasked some ponies with working on the paperwork for a school?"

Scuttlebutt travels faster than light

"I did yes." Cadance understood the subtext behind the question was and continued, "It's absolutely going to be a palace project, but it's too early to make it a public work. I'll let you, Easy, and the relevant ponies know when I have enough planned for us to really get started."

"Oh, uhm, okay. Thank you Princess." The mare's odd response to the question had Cadance raising her eyebrow, but Ivory's hasty retreat stopped Cadance from investigating. Not willing to be the last one out, Cadance followed after her with the intent to head down to the Palace kitchen to rustle up some food for her and Shining.

...to...

Luckily, the palace kitchens were mostly empty as usual, the additional wing tacked onto the suites near the top of The Spire generally remaining unstaffed unless there were visiting dignitaries. This meant Cadance had free reign to do as she wanted, that is, take as much salad seasoning from the cooling boxes that she could, turning what would have been a wedge salad into more of a wedge salad soup.

Cadance looked around the kitchen while she sat in her usual spot at the island, slowly levitating blobs of sauce obscuring the vegetables inside them into her mouth.

I wonder who manages this place

The kitchens were always stocked, so there must have been somepony who managed it.

I'll have to ask but...

The thought was spawned as she enjoyed another ball of liquid salad carbs

meh

Cadance lit her horn momentarily to check the time. A matrix keyed to some obscure spell form that simply worked told her that she still had roughly another forty minutes to burn before she could go accost her husband again.

and go to the hospital.

When she got a look over at Canterlot, it was just that, a look over. None of the normal procedures for checking and getting information on a pregnancy were done, it was only something the doctor on hoof had noticed and obviously let Cadance know about.

Okay, so maybe you're a little nervous about getting looked at for real... Nothing's going to go wrong though, you're just overthinking yourself because there's nothing in front of you.

Cadance looked at her drowned mess of salad and gave it a straight line look.

"Mmmmmmmwell then. I'll just have to busy myself." Cadance stood and looked around. "Let's see."

The next couple of minutes were spent pulling numerous items, soft pastas and pastries, vegetables and an assortment of condiments and spices from the cabinets and walk-in pantries. What followed was Cadance's attempt to combine grilled and seasoned vegetables wrapped in a thin rice like pasta sheet with red and white pepper powder and crystal berry flakes, of which somehow managed to taste like the way sweet corn smelled.

The intent was to make several little bite sized dumplings to stick into the oven to make sure they kept their shape. What Cadance didn't plan ahead for was the oblong shapes of the carrots and cucumbers not wanting to be wrapped properly, and following her failed attempts at not ripping the rice sheets, she instead defaulted to instead rolling it all into a massive burrito.

The result was a supposedly spicy-sweet gritty textured wrap full of grilled and salted vegetables. Supposedly.

After pulling the baking sheet out of the standing rapid baking oven and placing it on the cool flat top grill, Cadance debated testing to see if it was edible.

It certainly looked appetizing, the grill marks in conjunction with the way the pepper and berry powder stained the rice sheets created a nice pattern, and she could smell the warm salty smell of the grilled vegetables.

Maybe I should have added hay

She shook her head

Nah, hay is too common

Giving up on making a decision, and checking the time again she scooped up the steaming vegetable roll in her aura and decided that Shining would just have to figure out if she'd created something edible or not. She got some looks walking through the crystal hallways looking like a mare on a mission with nothing but a floating food experiment behind her, but such is life.

Cadance arrived at the guard post sitting in The Spire, the brain to the heart of the compound outside. Here's where all of the important organization happened. When she entered, everypony knew where she was going and thus pointed her through the throngs of open maps and ponies in heated discussions to wherever her husband was currently.

When she found him, he was sitting in a meeting room at a long table with nothing on it besides the official looking papers he was looking through, and a crystal projection device pointed at the sheet up on the far end of the room.

"Shining~"

"Hey honey" Shining took a double take at Cadance's entrance, "What's that?"

Cadance levitated her concoction for him to see. "Breakfast."

Shining raised an eyebrow, but she could see the side of his mouth twitch into a smile. "Sure, but what is it."

She levitated it to him in a unicorn way that meant 'take this with your own levitation', a kind of bob that was universally recognized by unicorns the same way one would understand the motion of being handed something. Shining Armor dutifully took the thing in his aura. As Cadance moved to sit down she elected to sarcastically answer his question, "Brek-fest."

Shining looked over his inspection of the thing, and gave Cadance an unamused look. "Uhuh, thanks."

He took a bite, and Cadance tried to keep the anticipation off of her face. His chew was slow, and it was clear he was savoring the act of making Cadance wait for some kind of response.

After dragging the moment to the point of Cadance rolling her eyes, he swallowed and gave her an answer, "I've no idea what I just put in my mouth, even after tasting it."

Cadance gave him a look

"I don't even know if it was good or not; that's how confused I am."

"Lemme try."

Shining handed the wrap over to her, and she took a bite.

In short? Shining was right, even with it under her more direct senses, she had no idea what she'd created. The flavour was all over the place, the taste of what should have been in a spicy gumbo mixing with salted vegetables and the sweet and half sweet of crystal berry seeds and rice sheets made for a truly stunning mix of flavors that somehow managed to not combine at all. That's before even talking about the texture, which was essentially, 'yes'. Everything from gritty rice sheets and gooey cucumber cores.

She swallowed. Way too much salt.

"This is gross." She glared at the offending food item

"Eh, pass it back here."

She did, and cringed as he took another bite out of it and shrugged. "I'm hungry enough."

"That's something Discord would refer to as fine cuisine."

"It's not too bad."

"I'll take that win."

Shining gave the rest of his paper a quick skim before sticking it into his mane. "Shall we?"

"We shall." Cadance stood with him as he used his magic to gather the rest of the papers and sticking them into non-space, "Who'd you end up sending a letter to?"

"Just the hospital in general, figured it would be easier for them to just sort out the details when we get there." Shining lacked an expression as he spoke, clearly in 'work mode'.

This bothered Cadance, so she came up with a complex solution: apply kisses directly to the problem.

"Ach!" Shining tried to resist her assault at first. Though Cadance continued undaunted, "Cadance!"

"mwah, mwah-"

"Alright alright!"

Cadance put on a haughty tone as she slowly peeled back her lips from Shining, "You're gonna pay the proper amount of attention to me now?"

Shining waited to speak until his laughter tapered off, "Of course Princess."

"And don't you ever forget it." She punctuated the snark by poking him in the nose with her wing.

"The express way?" He asked

"If you please" Cadance moved the wing she poked him with into an 'after you' gesture, to which he responded by lighting his horn and teleporting the two of them out into the space under The Spire.

I Love you

Cadance turned towards the Crystal Heart, the thing spinning in place, radiating it's magic into The Spire and throughout the nearby air. It occurred to her how similar the premise was for the Crystal Heart to the crown. Even though they were...

Wait, is the heart more powerful than the crown?

It made sense that the Heart would be more powerful, but was that because it had access to a larger field of power? Hundreds of ponies, rather than a hoof full? How powerful could that crown have become, exactly?

And you broke it

"Cadance?"

"Yeah?"

Shining smiled at her, but she could see the vague concern written on his face, "What's with the thousand hoof stare?"

She mentally shook the cobwebs loose, "I've just had a lot on my mind recently, you know?"

"Mhm, we should get moving, talk to me about it while we walk."

He set the pace, as usually, her additional leg length made her slightly faster, so they had an unspoken agreement that whenever they were out together, that Shining would be the 'speed setting'.

Cadance thought about how to phrase what she was going to say.

"I'm all ears honey." Shining reassured her, the brush of positive emotions from him gave her the verbal solution she was looking for.

"I think... I think I want to learn dark magic?" She questioned, both as an answer and a leading question.

Shining gave a half chuckle, "Oh, here we go."

"Don't be like that."

He shook his head, "I mean it in a good way."

"How so?"

Shining looked like he had a proper answer to give her, but instead he said, "I don't want to pull away from you, just ignore it for now."

"Nu-uh, spill."

Shining mulled over answering for a moment as they walked, "I-" He stopped, "I've always known you'd... do more than I would, break bigger boundaries; just like Twily." He smiled, "I know it sounds a whole lot like a call of 'oh woe is me' cursed to be left behind by the achievements of everypony I know, but the truth is I couldn't be more proud of you all."

"Oh Shining-"

"Now I'm not going to pretend like I don't feel inadequate sometime-"

"You've never been anything close to that."

"Exactly, I have you to knock that out of me." He smiled warmly, but switched his tone back to 'explaining', "My point is, I know there will be things you'll do, things you'll see that I'll never be able to understand."

Ah... I see...

"Doesn't mean I'm not going to tell you to stay the hay away from dark magic." He smirked

Cadance frowned, "I haven't just decided to stuff my muzzle into it ya goof. I've just had it proven over and over again that it's not nearly as dangerous, and just as useful ponies say."

"I'm sure that's how a lot of ponies got started."

"Take the crown, sure I didn't want to dispel the enchantment on it, but I did. Dangerous magical artefact, cleanly contained and destroyed" She argued.

Shining's muzzle twisted into disapproval, "You used dark magic? This morning? That's how you broke the crown?"

Woops, uh, crudcrudcr-

"No?"

Shining just shook his head. "I'm not going to berate you, you already know how I feel about it, and I trust you to be careful. You've not hurt yourself yet, so I've no reason to not believe you're careful."

"That's a lot of logic there, soldier."

Shining smirked, "Don't push it." His face shifted to be more genuine, "Just please take it seriously? Next time have somepony with you? Even if it's not me?"

"I promise I will. No more unsupervised magic practice."

"Thank you." He turned his gaze back out into the street, "Now go on with what you were saying, now that that's out of the way."

"I think learning dark magic would be a good idea. Not even being a practitioner, but just learning it could be useful." She thought to herself, also taking the moment to examine her surroundings, "Emotion casting, as Silver called it."

"Sounds right up your alley."

She nodded to herself, "Exactly what I was thinking. What if it's so dangerous just because it hasn't been researched properly?"

"That's kinda hopeful, isn't it?"

She nodded again, "Yes but, who's to say that there's not some unique way to channel that just completely bypasses the danger?"

They approached one of the only non-crystal structures in The Empire, the Righteous Community Hospital. The construction was a diplomatic gift from Equestria once Sombra had been defeated, the Righteous family in Canterlot having donated the majority of the bits required for its construction and initial staffing.

Shining pulled open the door. "Let's table this for now."

Cadance simply nodded and entered through the half painted wood, half glass swinging door.

The interior of the foyer was a small space. There weren't any other medical facilities in The Empire, so half the hospital had to double as a makeshift lab, there being nowhere else to test or store samples or take care of particular patients. That being said, most of Righteous CH was cramped, aside from the actual parts that were important. It was an extraordinarily compact and efficient design, made for productivity, rather than the mental well being of its patients and staff. Something Cadance mentally put in the 'maybe do something about that' folder in the back of her head.

Cadance and Shining walked past the seating and up to the reception desk where three mares were in the midst of a conversation, one, a white crystal mare with a grey mane and a nurse's cap and smock was talking to the two seated receptionists. She was the one who noticed the two royals' arrival. The other two, a pair of reverse coloured earth pony mares, the left one had a blue coat and a dull orange mane, the other had an orange coat, blue mane.

"bpRincess Cadance!" She stuttered

The two receptionists spun around in their seats, the second of the two spinning too far, and accidentally spinning around all the way.

"Hello Princess! Prince Shining Armor," The other mare started, while the other turned her chair slower, to make sure she didn't spin around again, "We got your letter, I'll be right with you in a moment." She leaned down and started ruffling through some paper.

"Having a nice day Princess?" Said the other mare.

"mhm, had a bit of a rough morning, and I'm a little nervous, but I'm still feeling great."

"Oh there's nothing to be worried about at all Princess, Mrs. Treatment is very good at what she does." Said the nurse

Shining spoke up, "Fair Treatment? I thought she was going to transfer back to Canterlot general?"

The nurse nodded, "Yup, but she decided to stay."

"It's good to know she wants be here." Cadance quipped

"Uh- Yeah." Came the odd response from the 'spinning chair' mare.

Her twin finished piling up the papers and tossed them onto her back. She walked past the nurse and called out to the royals from next to the desk, "Right this way Princess."

"Thank you." Cadance responded, making her way in that direction.

"Thank you ladies," Shining said, directed at the other two.

The mare led her and Shining down a barely three pony width hallway into an open space with another desk and asked the crystal stallion, "Hey Lith, do you know when Treatment will be done with her current patient?"

The green toned stallion, apparently named Lith, looked up and glanced over Shining and Cadance, the latter who waved when he met her eyes.

"She should be out soon, I'll send her over as soon as she stops by..." The stallion shifted a leaflet on his desk, "Room five eighteen?"

"Gotcha, thanks Lithy!" The mare ignored Lith's annoyance at the mangling of his name and turned back to Cadance, "This way please."

The mare led them down the stacked hall filled with carts and such, lit by crystal lamps embedded in the ceiling. She opened the door to what looked like a medical bedroom.

Cadance trotted in with mild confusion stirring in the back of her mind.

Shining voiced the same confusion, "Uh, are you sure this is the right room?"

"Yup!" The mare cheerily responded, "Since we assume you'll be coming several times during your pregnancy, hospital management deemed that we should set aside a specific room for you to get used to. It looks like this because this is supposedly where we'd want to have you give birth, when you get to that point of course."

As far as what the room looked like, the walls were covered in a soft tannish sandy paper and a crystal window took up the far end of the wider wall. In the center of the room there was a low table that looked comfy as far as tables go. Scattered around, besides the dresser tucked away in the corner, were medical tools and a series of charts and posters relating to pregnancy terms.

"Cozy." Cadance monotoned

"I know it's not perfect, we didn't have enough time to really set up anything for you."

"I'm only joking, miss?"

"Citrus Sun ma'am." The mare responded

"Thank you Ms. Sun, this will do fine; and I'm sure it will only get better."

"Of course, I'll leave you two, Treatment should be by shortly."

Then she left.

Cadance and Shining shared a glance.

"You're nervous too?"

"I already said I was nervous, what's your excuse?" The phrase was toned as a literal question, rather than a rhetorical one.

"Guess I didn't realize how nervous I was until just now." Shining looked down at the floor, deep in thought.

"It's okay Shining, we'll be great parents." She rested a wing over his shoulder

His response was to break out of his thoughts and give her a smirk, "Oh, I know" His smirk shifted back to neutral after Cadance's mouthless chuckle, "I'm just worried about... everything... I guess."

"Everything? Dear?"

"Well. There's a lot we haven't thought of, a lot of things we don't know we haven't thought of. I just feel... unprepared."

Cadance tried to keep her tone mellow, "It's okay, I know it's a lot of stress, but we've got plenty of time."

Shining's face and emotions twisted into hurt

What?

Cadance's concern was cut off by the knock and the subsequent door opening, "Your Highnesses?" Followed by an "Oh for goodness sake."

Fair Treatment, a brown unicorn mare with a straw like mane both in colour and style entered the room with half a scowl. "Many apologies for the accommodations, I tol-"

"It's okay, Doctor, I care far more about the quality of my care then the instruments." Cadance tried to deflect the 'royal' treatment.

Treatment rolled her eyes and magic'd a clipboard off her back and onto the stand she rolled in behind her, "All do respect Princess, the staff pulled the legs of an exam table and then covered it in pillows and blankets. Then dumped it in the recovery ward. This wouldn't do for a normal mare."

Shining gained an approving look to Treatment from behind her. Cadance let out a low hum.

"Nonetheless, you're only here for a checkup, and I can get this mess sorted out after." The mare waved her hoof in the general direction of everything in the room when referring to 'this mess'.

"Now, just a bit of information..." She spread the word 'information' into being two or three seconds long as she flipped through the clipboard, "How long have you been pregnant? If you're uncertain, just an estimate will do."

Cadance responded with, "A little over a month, probably."

"O-kay'' She jotted several things down on the flipped over paper. Cadance thought Treatment was just annoyed with her terse tone, but apparently that's just how she talked.

"Any pregnancy symptoms? Aches? Magical feedback?"

Cadance shook her head

Shining spoke up, "She's been a bit more stressed lately."

"It's hard to tell if it's the baby, or just being a Princess." Cadance added on to the end.

"Well from a Doctor's standpoint, I'll tell you right now that there isn't a difference. The baby will affect your brain chemistry just as much as any outside factor." Treatment said indifferently, "Meter out your stress even while ruling, it will help with any hormonal imbalances," She pointed the back end of her quill at Shining while she quickly peaked over her clipboard, "And put your back into making sure she's comfortable. Husbands are a pregnant mare's best outlet for stress."

She's... abrasive.

"Alright, we have the rest of your old measurements on hand, so we're just going to take your weight, check your blood pressure, and draw a blood sample. Then I'll run a couple of magical scans of your uterine lining to check for development." The mare set the clipboard on her back again and lit her horn, "If you could... ugh, step onto the exam table Princess?"

Cadance chuckled to herself and stepped away from Shining and up onto the blanketed exam table. After a making sure she was centered and situated, she folded her legs and lowered herself into a pony-loaf

Treatment levitated a tool that looked like a magnifying glass, without the glass, over top of Cadance's horn like a horn ring and began casting a few spells. Cadance felt the effects coasting over her form.

Tingly

Treatment scribbled down a few things on her clipboard, "Well you're definitely pregnant, the weight difference is substantial enough for it. And..." Treatment verbally led as she levitated the magnifying glass tool off of Cadance's horn and glanced over its hilt, "Hmmm."

She tilted her head to the side slightly, and continued inspecting the tool.

"Is something wrong with it?" Shining said from outside of Cadance's field of view

"No no, these thaumic gauges tend to output the wrong reading from time to time." Treatment levitated it back on to Cadance's horn, "That's what I get for casting spells while trying to take a reading."

Throughout the encounter, Fair Treatment was focused, to the point where Cadance would call it dedication. Her professional coldness was, however, not a product of her work, and was instead clearly either a mood or some kind of personality trait.

I wonder why? So many doctors are...

Wait...

Cadance tentatively opened her mouth, "Say, where are you from? Fair Treatment?"

"Canterlot." Came her clipped reply.

Hmmm

Treatment levitated the gauge off of Cadance's horn again and looked it over before frowning. She lifted a hoof to press a button on its side, and then continued to stare at the tool in dissatisfaction.

"Must be broken." Treatment placed the offending tool on her rolling desk and made for the door, "Please excuse me your highnesses."

After the door shut, Cadance looked over her door at Shining, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Shining responded with, "Why does she still have a job here when she seems so..."

"Sarcastically cold?" Cadance offered

"I've never heard any complaints about the staff."

"It probably just didn't get to us."

Shining put a hoof to his chin, "Should we do something about it?"

No.

"Nah, it's honestly a little refreshing."

The door opened again, Treatment on her way in with a new thaumic gauge. "Sorry about that, sometimes we miss the maintenance for our equipment." Treatment levitated the new gauge over Cadance's horn while mumbling 'here we go'.

After a couple of seconds, Treatment removed the tool again and glared at the reading. "That's not..." She glanced up at Cadance, "Have you been experiencing any exaggerated magical sensations recently?"

Uhhh... well, there was the flying through the air thing, the crown, and that time I lifted a building

"Yes?"

Treatment levitated her clipboard over and flipped it open to a fresh page, "Can you describe them?"

"To reiterate, is there something wrong?" Shining said again.

"The Princess has a relative thaumic discrepancy of four and a quarter thaums." Treatment explained concisely.

Shining blanched, "How?"

Uhhh

"What exactly does that mean?" Cadance asked slowly

"Normally thaums are measured in decimal places, generally two or three places back. I for instance have a passive capacity of two or so thaums total, which increases to around two point zero nine at my peak. Your average was somewhere around..." She trailed off as she flipped the papers on her clipboard, "Five, but the thaumic gauges are saying that your passive yield has jumped to around five point two five. Which is a relative twenty five percent increase."

"That's bad I take it?"

"Generally?" Treatment pressed the feather of her quill to her chin, "The symptoms of mana poisoning begin to show at around eleven percent. The fact that you are seemingly stable bodes well, and implies that it's your own magical capacities that have increased, rather than some supplemental effect being placed on you."

Shining spoke up, "What she means is that your mana well has spontaneously expanded a lot"

"I feel fine. Aside from a little rising anxiety." Cadance gave a smirk at her sideways, but still honest joke, "Will I be okay?"

Treatment looked at Cadance and frowned, only after seemingly deliberating her response for nearly ten seconds did she respond, "I don't know." She lifted her clipboard up to her nose, to use as an excuse to look away from Cadance, "Alicorn biology isn't a studied thing, even a little. All I have are your baselines." Treatment had the decency to look just a little upset, but even so, Cadance wasn't sure if it was because of the doctors care for her patient, or if it was because there was currently an unsolved problem in front of her. "I can't give you any answers. I'm sorry. It may just be an innocuous change, it might be a sign of something bad; there's just no way for me to tell for sure."

Treatment glanced at Shining before continuing, "It is absolutely my professional opinion that it has something to do with being pregnant, massive changes like that are par for the course for even a normal mare, not the thaumic jump, but other similar things, like hearing. That being said though, nopony is going to know anything about alicorns besides the Princesses, and alicorn pregnancies?" Treatment just shook her head.

Cadance and Shining exchanged glances, and a short visual conversation before Cadance turned back to Treatment, "I have a specialist available, for now, you mentioned a blood test?"

"Already done." Treatment levitated a tiny vial of...

"Wait, is that my blood?"

Treatment nodded, and Shining asked the question in her mind, "Why is it... fluorescent?"

"This," Treatment started, holding up the little lightly shimmering vial of blood, "is something I expected. Alicorn blood carries a kind of magic, the light glimmer is just a side effect of it being removed from your body."

"When did you draw blood?" Cadance asked while mentally feeling out her fur for any pricked skin

Shining raised an eyebrow, "Micro-Telescopic teleportation." To which Treatment nodded, as she put the vial back on her cart.

Shining Armor straightened up in that way that said to Cadance, 'this mare knows her deal'

"Micro-Telescopic teleportation?" Cadance, once again not in the know, asked.

Treatment responded, "Tubular manifolds to bypass a body's natural resistance in conjunction with a strung teleportation vortex."

"A kind of pathway teleportation shrunk to microscopic levels." Shining added onto the end of her explanation.

Oh. So that's why you work here, you're a genius.

"I'll go over all of this and send you a missive for anything important. As it stands, I'll want you back in two weeks for another series of tests, now that I know what I'm looking for." Treatment pulled her desk behind her with her telekinesis, "Normally I'd tell you both to wait for a nurse to bring you the paperwork, but I'll just send it to your office with the missive, you two are free to go." Treatment then left without another word, leaving the door cracked open.

"She's a bit prickly."

"A specialist?" Shining monotoned

Cadance rolled her eyes, "Feel free to come with, but it's a good idea."

"Not disagreeing, just..." Shining lit his horn, and a little non-physical alarm clock appeared in front of him, made up of his magic, "We don't really have the time." He flipped the clock around for her to see.

"Crud, you're right. I need to get ready for open court with Amber, and you have that thing."

'Getting ready' for open court was generally unnecessary, but it helped Cadance's mind not leak out of her ears from the little prep work it provided.

"Fast way back?"

"Probably for the best."

Shining lit his horn-

*pop*

And they were back under The Spire.

"Love you." Shining kissed her and then bolted

"Hey! Get back here!" Cadance gave chase, intending on snogging the poor stallion for his transgression

Author's Note

Just as a note, in case anyone didn't see it coming, Cadance's pregnancy is going to be a big plot point in the story, (since Cadance is the MC) and as it stands, I don't plan on doing any time skips longer than three or four days; so we'll be seeing Ms. Treatment a bunch more times.

Hopefully they fix the room

...Finish,

"Hey Amber!"

"Afternoon Cadance."

Cadance quickly trotted up to the mare in question in the courtroom. Very similar to an actual court room, since apparently the pony who was in charge of modeling the room and the surrounding crystal heard 'court' and just galloped with it. The room itself had a couple of crystal stands, one for herself, potentially an addition, and Amber to sit comfortably on what was basically a high chair for quadrupeds with a matching pulpit, the remainder of the room was a series of crystal pews and what amounted to 'fancy crystal bleachers'.

"What's on the menu for today?" Cadance asked while she was climbing up onto the stand where Amber was sitting, so half her question came out as a grunt as she hauled herself up.

Amber, instead of answering, slid over a leaflet with hoof scribbled notes to her.

"Hmm..." Cadance was just in a random mindset to talk aloud, "No 'versus' interactions today."

"I know you like those." Amber said, still reading through a proper packet of paper.

"What can I say? Princess of Love." Cadance leaned over to Amber, "What's this one mean?" she held the paper up and pointed to a line that said: 'cloth change request'

Amber looked over, "Oh, I'm not entirely sure, it's about The Empire's textile industry, an import issue to be specific."

Cadance nodded, "I see"

She did not see, but it didn't matter too much; Amber was the pony who did all of the work during open court. Her memory for fringe and normal laws meant that Cadance was only a relay for the court communications.

Honestly, Amber could probably do most of my job if she had a horn and wings...

The sheet was more of a reference guide for Amber to look up laws and court precedents rather than something to make any real sense of. Things like 'building code violation' and 'walkway funding' tended to be too obscure for Cadance to really glean anything, for example, one just said: 'Banana problem'

With a single exhaled laugh, Cadance turned over the sheet and glanced at Amber, the mare still nose deep in a pair of tomes.

"Ready?"

Amber nodded, closed her books, and made to mark something down as Cadance gestured for the guards by the door to start open court.

The pair simultaneously pushed the doors open as another pair of guards moved to the sides of the stand.

In the next couple of minutes, as Cadance smiled and waved at the incoming ponies, and Amber pretended to be paying attention while continuing to take notes, ponies moved to the bleachers with journals or books, and petitioners took their seats in order of arrival at the pews.

Once everypony was seated, Cadance let off a chime from her horn; something she always did. The crowd settled, and she spoke out to the crowd, "Open Court is now in session. Can the first petitioner please come forwards?"

An icy blue crystal mare with a white mane slid off her seat in the pews and approached the stand. After a short 'bow' she started talking in a tired tone, "Good morning Princess Cadance" she nodded again, and then drew herself up to banish whatever exhaustion was plaguing her.

"As you know, going back a bit, The House Cut's Mansion was burned to the ground by criminal elements."

Ah so we're starting there.

"I represent The Cut House when it comes to... reimbursement for what they lost."

Cadance silently nodded

"Normally such a thing would be simple, but the Equestrian insurance agencies refuse to fund the reconstruction of Stone's mansion because of his criminal nature." She made a light sweeping gesture with her front hooves, "They claim that the loss was self-inflicted under category criminal activism; now, of course, The House of Cut does not stand with Stone, but his resources being thrown to the wind is something my client would prefer against."

Cadance spoke once the mare was done, "I believe I understand. So you were hired recently?"

"No, Princess, I've worked for The House since the Empire's return."

Mhm

"Please continue."

"Essentially, I was hoping for either a diplomatic solution with our Equestria contacts managed by the crown, or recompense in part for the property that was destroyed, as the manor was a local library."

Cadance nodded slowly, waiting for Amber to pass her whatever she was scribbling down on a scrap sheet. The 'I was hoping' and the mare's exhausted disposition stuck out to Cadance enough that she reached out with her senses towards the mare; normally her ability to sense other's was limited to touch, or her immediate surroundings. What she felt was desperation.

Why would you be desperate?

Amber slid the paper over to her. There was a note about the Empire's 'fair ownership acting clause' and the Equestrian insurance rights to refuse payouts to criminal elements. In short, Cadance could do something, which basically boiled down to asking a company very nicely for a very large sum of bits. So no guarantee, coupled with the Crown's lack of responsibility for Stone Cut's actions, since he was a 'private' citizen...

Cadance looked up from the paper, "I'm sorry, but I'm sure you know why the crown wouldn't need to get involved in order to say no." She watched the mare fight to keep her expression neutral and her ears from folding down, "However, if you'd like to stay in the stands until the end of court today, I may have a solution for you, personally."

The mare's mouth opened dumbly in confusion momentarily before she responded, "Of... Of course."

"Can you-?"

The guard was already on his way to open the gate to let the mare into the stands from the front of the room.

"Next please!" Cadance called out, as the blue crystal mare took a seat in the stands.

An orange earth stallion stood from his seat and approached Cadance's stand. Cadance had originally assumed he was already standing, his now towering height evident.

"How can the crown help you today sir?"

The stallion spoke with an even and deep voice, "Orange Oak from the Civil Guild ma'am." He tilted his head in respect, "I wanted to discuss the organizational..." He fake coughed into his hoof, "Discourse with the new central district lines."

Oh boy...

"So you want to have the shop remove its signage? The signage on its property?"

"Yes Princess, the shade from th-"

"Is their sign hanging over, your property?"

"Well... no, but-"

"Move your planter box to the other side of your yard. Next!"

"So you see, the classical style of presentation for the art should be altered to better fit the requirements, dare I say, the standards of which the Crystal Empire holds dear."

"..."

"No. Just... no."

"Actually, rather than funds, I think I can get you in touch with a team working on that very problem, here, Amber?"

"..."

"Here you go, their working hours and some details, tell Homeward I sent you; they'll help you out."

"The next Crystal Fair is in the works to be three months after the Winter Moon Solstice. Here, this is a room number for the event offices, on the third floor, you can ask them anything else"

"I'd like to sue the Noble Houses."

Cadance coughed

Eheh, heh

Oh. He's not joking

In front of her, and a couple hooves down from the stand was a stark yellow coated, brown maned earth pony stallion wearing a tan suit, tie and vest combo, with a white button down underneath.

Amber poked her from the side, and she looked down to see Amber pointing at the point on her list labeled 'Banana problem'

"Sir-"

"Mr. Slip, if you would, please and thank you."

Cadance slowly continued, after being interrupted, "Mr. Slip. Can you clarify, what you mean by, 'sue the Noble Houses'?"

The few onlookers still in the chambers were either watching dumbfounded, and in the single reporter's case, frantically scribbling in their notebook.

"Of course." The stallion smiled, in fact, he'd been smiling the cool, calm and collected smile of a lawyer for the duration of his presence at the stand. "To clarify, I've been trying to have a sit down with any of the Noble Houses' representatives for the past week or so, to no avail. As such, I've come to you hoping for an audience at worst, and a court date, at best."

Alright, this suddenly got very interesting, best take this slow

Cadance gave the stallion her full attention, "And on what grounds are you suing for? Both out of personal interest, and for the books."

"For the violation of several international laws, the criminal slavery accords of forty nine, in addition to violation of several of its derivatives; the economic bindery agreement dating back to Equestria's and The Empire's original alliance, and the civilized black magic pact of one fifty five. Also, absurd misuse of staff, to put it kindly, and several counts of treason, fraud, and wartime criminal activity. Association with hostile powers, and a number of legal violations of the Houses Oath's"

Cadance stared blankly forwards

Ah...

"I see."

"And that would be, all of the houses, your highness." The stallion's mouth twitched up slightly into a smirk before returning to normal.

"You're suggesting a full scale criminal investigation of every single Noble House in the Empire?"

"Yes."

Cadance's hind leg lightly tapped against the chair as she bounced it in thought.

Should I just dismiss this? It's preposterous to begin with, but some of my ponies were slaves.

Cadance debated the lash back versus potentially letting this go onwards. The unfortunate truth, however, was that Cadance didn't have long to think. Thinking, in it of itself, was a kind of answer, and thus she knew she had to only look 'contemplative', rather than, 'deep in thought'.

Cadance carried an even tone as she responded, trying not to hint her bias one way or the other. "I will send out missives with the details of your requests directly to the Nobles. If you can provide an address to the guards as you leave, I will equally send you a message personally when I either hear or do not hear a response."

The smiling stallion nodded and half turned away. "Will that be all?" He said, making eye contact

Not Silver... good to know

"Yes. Next!"

"Well that was stranger than it normally was."

Amber glanced over from her freshly made tome of notes, tried to make some sort of facial expression, and then looked away.

"Princess?"

Cadance turned from the stand towards the mare from earlier. "Ah, my apologies, I almost forgot you were there." She shifted her weight and rolled off the chair onto the small platform, quickly making her way down the high steps.

The mare spoke as Cadance approached, "You said you could help me?"

"Well I can't help you retain your job. Sorry," Cadance tried to look apologetic, mildly failed. She didn't care much for the Nobles as a whole. "I can, however, offer you a new one."

The mare looked shocked momentarily, "How- but... How could you know that?"

Cadance allowed herself a quiet chuckle at the mare's expense. "First, what's your name?"

"Blue Skies, your highness."

"Well Ms. Skies, I'd like to hire you to work on a project of mine; so long as you actually get fired for not solving the mansion issue."

Skies' desperation had long since vanished, and one didn't need to be able to sense emotion to tell.

"Of course! I can't guarantee that I'll-"

Cadance interrupted "You're a kind of lawyer? Yes?"

"Uh- Yes, Princess." She nodded hastily

"I'll need your expertise, please, go and deal with your current work environment, send Amber a letter, or come to my office if you become available."

Skies nodded again, "Thank you Princess Cadance, I will."

Cadance tilted her head slightly as the mare continued to stand in place.

Skies' smile turned awkward, "Right, sorry." before she turned and made her way out of the chamber.

What was that about?

"You didn't have to do that you know"

Cadance jumped ever so slightly, and put a hoof to her chest, "Amber! I didn't see you."

Amber rolled her eyes, "All in all, a successful day."

Cadance made a vague gesture, "So far, I still have that meeting with Fractured Mirror."

Amber nodded as her eyes darted to the binder full of paper in her hooves, "In just over an hour; lunch?"

Cadance bounced her head around in thought for a moment, "I think I'll go to my office, would you grab me something?"

Amber nodded instead of responding, absorbed in her notes as she walked away.

I really need to learn how to hold a book and walk at the same time like that

Cadance took a wing and cleared the room while Amber took one of the side hallways out. She waved to a couple of lingering ponies as she stepped out of the still open double doors before clearing the crowd and starting the short walk back towards her office. Her thoughts consumed by the missives she was about to draft.

Should I talk to myself?

Cadance snorted at the idiotic reflexive thought as she entered her office. A quick kick, probably a bit more forceful than necessary handled the entry.

Ugh, I really need to stop leaving my office like this

It was organized chaos at best.

Cadance lit her horn and got to work procrastinating the efforts of writing out to the Nobles Houses that there was somepony here to sue them. After a too short minute of cleaning up her desk, Cadance sat down with her head between her front hooves, and blew a sigh from her mouth.

Hoooooooow. am I. gonna. do. this.

A paper levitated to just in-between where she was resting her front limbs

No dearing, I have to make the opening sound blunt, but still cordial

She sat back

Is there a word for that?

Just start with a name: Miss Gemstone, I want to relay... mmm, no. Miss Gemstone, I crossed paths with a peculiar pony in open court today; I was made to believe you might recognize the name Banana Slip? After the showing he gave in court, I had to make the snap decision to attempt an actual meeting between the Nobles for his purposes, unfortunate bu-

Cadance hummed as an idea struck her. She levitated another paper on top of her letter and began writing anew.

Silver, I've got something that concerns you, are you busy?

heh, okay no.

Silver, I need your help with something, I know you're busy, this is important.

Cadance lifted the paper with her hooves

Yeah, okay.

She followed the same techniques she'd already practiced. Levitating the paper in an unstable aura, overcharging it, and as a little pink and blue smoke fell from her vision, the paper burned up and flew away in a flash of magic.

Cadance steepled her hooves and waited for Silver to spontaneously appear and try to startle her. What she got a couple of minutes instead was a return letter. Cadance unrolled it with her magic, and read it aloud.

"I am busy. Figure it out yourself."

She frowned, "Typical."

The next hour of Cadance's time was filled with drafting letters that basically said: 'This guy wants to sue you, we have to do something to deal with him, work with me please.'

"Princess Cadance, Sir Mirror is here to see you." Amber said, peaking in her office doors.

Cadance, who knew he was here since she wasn't doing anything after sending the letters, shifted a blank piece of paper over to the side of her desk for no particular reason. "Thank you Amber, please bring him in."

Amber did, she said something too quiet to hear, then pushed open the second door for the stallion in question. A sky blue furred, tanned pink maned crystal pony stepped inside Cadance's humble office. He was wearing a traditional Empire suit, what a tweed jacket would look like if it was closer to a fancy trench coat. A standard for stallions back in the day, if Cadance was remembering correctly.

She greeted him, "Afternoon, Sir Mirror"

Laying it on a bit thick there

"It's a pleasure to see you Princess, it has been too long."

Cadance sat down again, having stood for his entry, "Please sit down, we have much to discuss." Cadance turned to Amber, "Before you leave, would you like anything Mr. Mirror?"

"Oh no, I couldn't, your secretary has already been such a help."

"Of course. Thank you"

The stallion slid a cushion from the sitting table up to Cadance's desk. "And Mr. Mirror was my father, please, call me Fracture."

Cadance nodded, making sure to keep up her 'I care about that' smile. "Now Fracture, the reason I called you in to speak with you to-"

Fracture lifted a hoof, "Actually, if I may be so bold, your highness?"

"Do go on."

He spoke in a cultured voice, too reminiscent of the Nobles from Canterlot for Cadance's tastes, "We in the House of Mirrors have heard compelling stories from Head Sugar's House about your... Fund redistribution."

Cadance tilted her head in some sort of false admission, it just felt right at the time, "I'm not surprised, The House of Mirrors is well known for keeping ears to the ground."

"We like to think of it more as proactive journalism." He tutted, "Regardless, I believe that is the reason you asked for my presence? I've prepared several projects of which to present to your liking."

Mm, so you mean you knew exactly what you were going to get out of this.

Cadance paused for a moment to make sure he was done speaking, "First and foremost, it is the Crown's concern of acclimating each Noble House to the new age we find ourselves in."

Something flashed over Fractured Mirror's face, but he made no move to speak, so Cadance continued, "That and promoting Unity, the Crown and the Nobles are... at odds, at the moment, so to say; Sombra's rule left a lot to be desired."

"I'll say." He tried to say sarcastically, but it came out full of spite and anger.

As a pony who lived through it, that's an adequate response.

"The Spire is undergoing a full reorganization of staff and resources, something I was interested in presenting to you was a sort of 'Nobles' Embassy' in The Spire."

"Nobles' Embassy, Princess?"

Cadance nodded, "Of course, any of the Nobles are free to come and go from the Palace as they please, but having a more standardized location for work and communication is the first step to bringing the Noble Houses together."

Fracture's head moved off as he side eyed Cadance with a raised eyebrow, "You're talking about a melting pot of each and every Noble House? Princess, all due respect of course, but such a thing would never work."

"Why's that?" Came Cadance's flippant response, trying to fight away a smirk.

Fracture stuttered, "Well- Well it comes down to the nature of the Houses of course! We've always been separate entities, such a mish-mash of intents and ideas would break down, it just hasn't ever been done before."

"So it's a problem of leadership?"

"More so a problem of motivation, your highness."

Cadance nodded her head, thinking over her response, "This is why I wanted to present the idea of The House of Mirrors running such a thing."

"Running?"

Cadance smile turned genuine, "Yes. Instead of having each individual House vying for power, the 'embassy' would be run by the House of Mirrors, specifically because it's not a platform for management. Merely a place for the Nobles to communicate and plan with their chosen representatives."

"Well, while that is a generous offer-"

"To be clear." Cadance tilted her head upright, and straightened up her back, "We are moving away, from what happens behind closed doors. The Nobles and the civilian population haven't mingled together since The Empire's return. I know the Noble Houses haven't ever had issues communicating with each other before, all I'm suggesting is making it even easier, and to place it in a public spotlight. To reawaken the public's trust in the Noble Houses."

"I think I understand now." Fracture nodded, his face creased in thought, "It is a public relation project, that doubles as a center for future cooperation between the Houses."

"To say, you hit the nail right on the head, would be an understatement."

"In that case, I'm glad I prepared this for our meeting Princess."

Success!

Fractured continued, "You see, before Sombra's rule, and a ways into it, the House of Mirrors published a state funded weekly paper about anything and everything. It was the peak of high society in The Empire, and how The House of Mirrors became everything we are today. My grandfather penned the first folded article, and my father, may he rest in peace, was the creator of the Crystal Foundation Printing Spell. The House of Mirrors has been juggling the perfect time to bring it back to the forefront of Crystal Empire living, and I believe your embassy presents an incredible opportunity."

"So you'd need a space, and the funding to create the articles, likely the workforce too?"

"Yes, I kn-"

"You'll have it."

"He-ba-" Fracture cleared his throat, "Just like that?"

"I'll make a note to have a wall torn down near the embassy to be converted into a... newsroom?"

Fracture smiled, "In the business, we call it 'history's ground floor.'"

Cadance levitated a quill over a sheet of paper, and started writing down some of the details while she talked, "And anypony working there will be on the Palace staff's payroll, we'll probably have somepony working as the go-between for the supply orders and more."

"And in exchange, the House of Mirrors will be exquisitely happy to run your embassy."

As the two reached over the desk to bump hooves, Cadance turned her tone deep and serious, "I also have a very important job regarding it."

"Oh? Princess?" He said, a little concerned at the sudden shift.

"It's going to need a new name."

Fractured Mirror let out a single refined laugh, "Oh is that all? Not to worry Princess, me and mine are exceptionally good at naming things."

As their hooves touched, and they shook on it, Cadance felt a... revolting series of emotions from the stallion. That laugh was not a laugh, his smile was not a smile. Not something to be surprised by normally, Nobles always had two faces, but this was something else.

Ignoring that, Cadance turned her business casual expression to her favorite 'friendly Princess' expression, "Thank you very much for your time Fracture."

Fracture released her hoof and shook his head, "No, no Princess, thank you for setting this up. I can already envision the papers now. We have a very productive dream here going forwards."

"I look forward to it."

Don't slip, don't slip, don't slip.

He nodded, and gave her a toothy smile, "As do I. Though if that is all, I must be going."

"Actually, I did want to alert you to something."

He kept his smile, but spun his hoof in a 'go on' gesture, "Well don't keep me in suspense Princess."

"There was a stallion in court today, by the name of Banana Slip?" Cadance asked

Fracture's smile turned into a frown and his shoulders slumped. "Ah yes, I know of him. Some new lawyer, looking to make his name by assaulting the honor of the Empire's government." He seemed genuinely disappointed.

Cadance tilted her head, trying for sympathy, but the confusion was probably written all over her muzzle. "Yes, well, he made quite a splash in court today, big enough that I couldn't just send him away."

"Ah."

Succinct.

"Yes, I'm not interested in marehandling him into a poor position, so I figured I'd have to rely on the Houses to deal with him, unfortunately in a public setting."

"I see."

"You don't necessarily seem opposed."

"I'm not. Do with him as you will, you'll have my and my family's full support." he closed his eyes, and put a hoof to the center of his vest, under his coat like suit as he spoke what sounded like a rehearsed line.

"Oh. Well, thank you. That is all."

"Until we speak again Princess." He tilted his head, and Cadance gave a short wave as he left.

As soon as the door was shut, Cadance began mentally berating herself

What the buck were you thinking Cadance!? An Embassy?! You can't just make things up like that on the fly!

She glanced at the sheet of paper full of notes about a new massive undertaking she was probably going to have to organize herself, since no-one else knew about the damn thing.

Cadance awkwardly smiled at the paper as her eye twitched

*Incompressible screaming*

Interlude: Point Flare and Chaos Magic

Point Flare's Perspective

There was a short warbling noise as the portal shifted from translucent to transparent. The 'warehouse outpost' out in the Hollow Shades became more visible as Misty Scarlet canceled her spell.

"Good work."

Misty tilted her head down in light of the exhaustion but smiled anyway, "Thanks, I'm glad Silver told you to come with me."

Point Flare glanced around the floor. Floor as in 'factory floor' or 'large room' rather than the slab of crystal they were standing on. "Why do you think she wanted me to come? It's not like I can help."

"Why does that mare do anything?"

Flare rolled her eyes, "Point taken, but seriously, what do you think?"

Misty hummed to herself as she inspected the portal edge. The golden ribbed coil stretched around the barrier glowing faintly where her red and black aura brushed against it. After a couple of moments of channeling she nodded to herself, seemingly talking in her own head. Something she'd visibly started doing since Silver started teaching her the in's and out's of Emotion Casting.

Flare simply waited, Misty was always like this. It was usually just because she was shy, instead of focused like now.

"Probably... stability?" Misty said to herself as she pulled her aura away from the portal

"How so?"

"Well... Silver always says not to practice Dark Magic without supervision. Maybe it's not just a safety precaution... maybe..." Misty stared off into space again, "It does feel a little easier... to resist the mental effects of Emotion Casting when my friends are here."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I wonder if it's because that's how it actually works, or if it's just because I've convinced myself that it helps, and the magic follows that trend in response?"

Circular spell amplification?

"Who knows. We're done here though, let's go back, get some lunch." Flare rested a hoof over Misty's shoulder as she spoke, Misty shook her head and blinked a few times before nodding and smiling at Flare's comment.

The two walked across the floor, and Point Flare used her telekinesis to trigger the gemstones that would mark the portal gate as operable again. They walked out into the open hallway between the stacked floors and storage space that was the main warehouse.

The warehouse was separated into three sections. The Empire side transportation wing, the portal and storage wing, and the office wing. The three sections were arranged in four tiles, with half the warehouse being taken up by two tiles of portal and storage, the tile near the front of the building used for offices and management, and the back end of the building taken by the transportation wing. There was a ring around the whole building of open space and bathrooms with indoor plumbing, water fountains, and all the amenities of one of those new fangled product factories out in Manehatten.

The massive crystal slabs that made up the floors, walls, and indoor structural supports, and metal and plaster walls was a good reminder that this was a workplace.

It certainly won’t be winning any beauty contests, that’s for sure.

Where the two mares were right now was the second floor of the portal wing. They walked past the high-vis-vested ponies going about their business, either shoving things through portals, putting things in boxes, or putting things on boxes that were going to be shoved into portals.

"What are you gonna have for lunch?"

Point Flare shrugged as well as a quadruped can shrug while in active motion, "Whatever's around, honestly."

"I'll make us sandwiches."

"Hey..." Flare gave Misty a concerned look, "You doing okay?"

Misty wore a frown on her face, and looked to be deep in thought, "Dunno, dealing with those portals is always so... weird... practicing on my own is one thing, but the magic in those portals is something else."

"You wanna talk about it?"

Misty nodded, but kept her frown, her face morphing from upset to hopeful; with a twinge of the previous mental hang-up present, as the mare clearly didn't know where to start.

They took a break in the conversation to walk down the open stairs down to the first floor. Once they reached the bottom, Misty picked up the pace to stand next to Flare once more, and began to struggle to explain, "It's like... like... When I'm casting spells on my own. It's always me that feels like doing it more"

Point Flare wasn't really adept when it came to Emotion Casting, but she understood the premise. The danger, of course, was that as you opened the pathways in your soul and mind to draw more and more emotion into you, those pathways would stay open, and alter the way you thought. Very similar to normal chemical addictions. Hence why Silver referred to it as the 'drug' of magic casters.

"When I feed those portals... it's like... there's another voice, still mine, and it whispers for... something I don't have. Not like egging me on to feel more and corrupt myself, but..."

"Like encouragement?"

Misty shook her head, "I don't know. It's just really strange."

"Well as soon as you start thinking it's not strange, I'll let you know." Point Flare added a smirk and an eyebrow wiggle to hopefully try and lift Misty's spirits.

Success!

Misty smiled and nodded, "It's surreal. A month ago, we..."

"We sucked." Point Flare explained succinctly, leading Misty to snort in laughter.

"We did, and now we're joking about going insane, when it could really happen."

It is surreal

The two continued making their way past the shelves, carts and ponies, out towards the office space that held the transfer field back towards their bunk. Unlike the portals, which Silver had assured her that she had in limited supply. 'Transfer fields' were more like, in Silver's words: 'convincing reality that it was actually over here'.

Once they stepped into the depressingly monotone hallway and its repetitive doors, they quickly ducked into a door Misty unlocked at range, and stepped through the runic pathway just on the other side and into Silver's home.

Once they both stood next to each other, Point Flare directed her attention down the flight of stairs that lead into the lab. "I'll tell the bossmare that we're done while you make lunch?"

"Sure thing, thanks Flare."

"You got it Misty."

With that they parted ways, Misty heading to the kitchen, and Flare descending the 'non-spatial respecting' staircase and into the metal lab. Her hooves clanged on the non-reflective gray metal, and the smell of 'clean' bothered her nose for a moment before she inhaled deeply, and the sensation went away.

She wandered into the lab, and glanced over all the random widgets, gizmos, and gadgets that sat around the lab equipment.

"Boss?" She called out into the room

"Yes?" Silver said from directly next to her

Buck!

"What in Tartarus!" Flare exclaimed, instinctively backing away from the sudden presence of the mare

Silver frowned

"You can't keep sneaking up on me like that."

Silver didn't lose her frown, but turned away and went back to a flask full of purple liquid, "Stop letting me."

Flare rolled her eyes

"Are you and Ms. Scarlet finished with your task?"

"Yup."

"Good. I have the next hour free, I'm going to start you on Chaos Magic."

Point Flare went from idly glancing around the room to laser focus at Silver, "Wait, just like that?"

"No."

Flare sighed in relief, "Oh thank goodness, I thought you were-"

Silver held up the volumetric flask full of purple liquid "I just have to wait for this to finish oxidizing, then we can start."

*confused horse noise*

"How?" Point Flare took a challenging step forwards, "I don't think I can just 'pick up' chaos magic like it's a hobby."

"I don't expect you to. I expect you to-" Silver mockingly repeated, "Pick it up, like the tasks I've been having you complete for me. Same as anything else. It is work. You will do it. End of story."

Silver's harsh verbal dressing down was punctuated by her brushing past Flare with the flask balanced on her wing. Body language wise ignoring the mare's worry. An act of which Flare was unaware was intentional.

"Okay." Flare said, her confidence waning.

"Good, step over here, please." Silver said in a clipped tone, far away from the conversation mentally.

Flare stepped around the island towards Silver, and an empty beaker.

"This also serves as a little bit of a lab safety lesson, but it's far besides the point." Silver lifted a lighter in her levitation, something which still boggled Point Flare to no end, and lowered it into the beaker. "Tell me, what is the difference between this," Silver punctuated the phrase by lighting her hoof on fire using magic, "and this?" while simultaneously sparking the lighter, to which a previously invisible flammable gas caught flame inside of the beaker.

Point Flare glanced between the two flames, "One is magical, the other one is chemical?"

"Chemical?"

"Uh... chemistry, sorry, I know I'm not quite as well versed a-"

"Don't second guess yourself, you're right, but that wasn't the answer I was looking for." Silver snuffed out the flames. "True, one was magical, one was a normal, 'chemical' fire." Silver said, creating air quotes with her primaries, "In truth, however, there is no real difference. It's all energy, just expressed differently. Chemistry and Thaumaturgy are just such different sciences that they're generally referred to as different forms of energy, but in the end, this and this," Silver lit the flames again, " are exactly the same. I don't have the time to get into the details, but just think of them as two ends of the same 'energy' spectrum that exists within the bounds of what is possible."

Point Flare nodded along slowly.

"So... That begs the question."

Silver lifted over the flask full of a now pink swirling liquid, and turned it over so a dollop landed in her frog.

"What is this?" She said, her voice rising from a dead lecturing tone, to have that twinge of wonder that comes from showing off as a spark set off a wild flame that surrounded Silver's hoof.

Obviously the flame was different. It wasn't burning Silver's hoof to ash, but it was still creating smoke, and consuming oxygen.

So... wait...what is that?

"Not a rhetorical question, if you know the answer..." Silver led

"I don't think I do."

Silver lifted her hoof, and gently deposited the flame onto the beaker, where the fire began to lick at the fuel inside as the glass on the outside of the beaker began to heat, glowing as it cracked around the rims.

"This is elemental fire. A kind of living fire tied to what fire actually is."

As Silver spoke, Point Flare watched the flame eat away at the beaker

"Fire is a force of destruction and growth. Breaking down the unbreakable to create something new. A cyclical force for Change, tangential to the means of Life and Death, and bound to that of Energy."

The beaker exploded into shards, or more accurately, 'melt-sploded' into shards as the fire took the place of the jar.

"Now tell me Point Flare. Why?" Silver breathed out the word why like the question was the answer in it of itself. The direct comment breaking Flare out of her mesmerized state to intelligently say:

"Uhm"

"In short, the answer is: Because."

"Because?"

Silver gave a shit eating grin, "Yup, just 'cause. That's how the universe is. When reality formed, and Eternity subsumed space-time, reality stabilized around a few central concepts. Things like mass and energy, life, magic, change, time, cause and effect, knowledge, etcetera. At the time, things that were 'alive' were more or less deities, Discord is one, lesser, example of this phenomena, and the god of fire-" Silver tapped her hoof against her chin as she thought, "I forget her name, but I know Kirins worshiped her, eventually equally destabilized as the universe settled and became a 'living existence' of experience, physics and magic as a central node within Eternity."

"Wait... You're talking about the beginning." Flare looked on as the gears in her mind turned over into maximum gear ratio.

"The beginning of everything. Yes."

"The beginning beginning."

"There's only one, so yes, that one."

Point Flare stuttered, half in excited wonder, half in indignation at the casual dismissal of the power of such knowledge "How do you even know about this?"

"The same way you're learning about it, someone told me."

"Who?"

"Do you want the rest of the lesson or not?" Silver gave Flare a sideways smile

"Yes. Sorry."

"Where was I?" Silver pressed her hoof down over the elemental flame as she thought, snuffing the thing out. "Ah, right. Chaos magic, formerly known as the art of 'wizardy' long, long ago when magic was different; equally known nowadays as 'convincing the universe to do what you want' and a casting form I personally refer to as: 'World Diplomacy'."

Point Flare studiously nodded along, drinking in Silver's lecture. Both the surreal nature of just sitting on the floor and learning about the dawn of her world, and the fact that she wasn't writing any of this down itching in the back of her head as she tried to focus.

"In short, things that exist, the more powerful fundamental forces that are tied to 'old magic', for a lack of better term: are alive, and want things. They have motives, and intent. Elemental fire seeks to consume. Water seeks to flow, plants grow, sun shines, and so forth. Chaos Magic, is the art of convincing those things to instead do as you command, channeling their power and will for yourself."

That sounds impossible... but I guess it was always going to sound impossible...

"In order to do this, you must Understand the things of which you are trying to command, or they will consume you instead."

"Consume me instead?"

"Ever wonder where fire elementals come from? Or lightening pegasi spirits?"

Ah... I guess that's enough clarification

"It's a kind of..." Silver tossed a hoof, "Think of World Diplomacy as a kind of 'realer' fey magic"

"Okay."

"It will eat you, as soon as you let it."

"Noted." Point Flare nodded at Silver's heavy look, intent on showing she understood the gravity of what she was just told.

It's not like I didn't understand the risks I was dealing with.

"Earth ponies do this constantly. Life and certain kinds of Elemental Earth magics fall under the umbrella of Chaos magic. Coaxing plants into sprouting early, and convincing trees to shed their leaves so they can stay healthy as fall comes are all examples of subconscious chaos magic."

"Wait... Really?"

"Mhm. Earth ponies tend to lean towards passive chaos magic more than the other two races, though you see plenty of Pegasi with wind or water or sky affinities, same with Unicorns who have ice or magic affinities."

"Magic affinity?"

"Magic at its core is a kind of living chaos magic. Something fundamentally different, and not something I'm going to explain at the moment."

Flare hummed at the deflection.

"For now, you're going to practice creating elemental fire."

"I am?"

"Yup."

Flare glanced up at her horn. Her new horn.

"You have a kind of affinity for flame, so that's a good starting place for learning the basics without killing yourself."

Point Flare glanced down from her horn at Silver's encouraging look, "How do I-"

"It's simpler than you think. It's all will driven, but you must understand the purpose of the fire when you create it. You must Understand it in order for it to burn."

"Okay" Flare closed her eyes and tried to focus

"I'll be right here in case you blow yourself up, so don't worry about safety, just try and have it click."

"Okay, okay, stop distracting me."

Silver went quiet, and Point Flare focused her magic to the tip of her horn, her white magic coating the surface as she channeled.

Understand the fire huh? Simpler than I think. Okay, I can do that. What did she say?

Growth, Destruction, Life and Death, Change, and Energy

Flare shifted the magic around in her core, trying to draw the mana out into her horn to spark something into working. The air, and the ambient mana around her horn shifted as she tried to force some kind of spell into existence.

Nothing happened.

"Can I have a hint?"

"You don't need nearly that much mana." Silver said quietly

Flare scrunched her closed eyes and nose in concentration as she dissipated the mana she'd gathered carefully.

"Even less."

She let more of the mana go

"Less."

and more

"Still too much."

Flare's face morphed in confusion as she lowered the mana in her horn down to where she wouldn't even be capable of basic levitation.

"That oughta do it."

"Really?"

"Mhm. Now focus."

Focus on what? Just the concepts?

Flare dragged the tip of her horn through the air as she focused on Energy. The swish of the air around her horn, and the energy it contained twinged at the edge of her mind like a whisper.

"I think I... I think I feel it."

She focused on Change, and the Energy whispered songs of smoke and desires of Life.

"You're feeling the flame yet to be. Calling backwards to you through the inverted nth-dimensional topology of time."

"So how do I actually make it real?"

Silver answered, still lecturing quietly "All of the components of the flame are there, you merely need to evoke it with intent, and under your control."

Evoke? Like... Like casting a spell?

The sensation of actually casting a spell wasn't a describable sensation, even to other unicorns, just how feeling thermals, or hearing the soil were incomprehensible sensations to unicorns. The best explanation Flare could come up with was: 'it's like swallowing backwards, but through your horn, and you're vomiting soulstuff; but a little less visceral.'

Instead, she projected that sensation outwards with her mind, and dragged it along the awaiting Energy floating in the air. An arc of magic jumped from the tip of her horn to the section of air as something connected, and an unstable flame caught as Flare gasped.

Suddenly her horn was ablaze, her eyes wide as her heart jumped into action

Oh my Celestia

Flare laughed shakily as she heaved a breath inwards. Her entire mind went into overdrive as some alien sensation shook her to her core.

"Take some deep breaths. That's flame sickness. The elemental effects of channeling fire." Silver said calmly, resting a hoof on Flare's shoulder.

Flare looked up at the flame on her horn, burning around the same size as her head and laughed again, not realizing how quickly she was breathing, "Sickness?! I feel! I feel incredible!" She took a few more shuddering breaths.

"Calm down Point Flare."

Flare's eyes snapped to Silver and moments after glazed over as the flame she commanded told her of the Energy present within the teacher.

"Flare."

Point Flare no longer felt incredible. Point Flare was scared, she was heaving breaths like she was drowning, and she still didn't feel like she was getting enough air, her hooves were shaking, her tail was lashing uncontrollably, and the heat from the flame on her head barely matched the rising temperature of her blood she could feel at the tips of her ears, and pounding through her heart.

"Flare. Your mane is on fire."

That was it.

Flare panicked as the fire started to greedily snake it's way down her horn and onto her head. Her instincts warned her of the imminent death or heavy injury she was facing just as her body decided that now seemed like a great time to do literally anything.

Luckily, a moment before she could start running around in circles, she was drenched in water, a wave splashing from the forward direction, coating her front half; her uncontrollable gasping caused her to sputter and cough as she inhaled a mouthful of water. A moment later it happened again, and she felt the flame on her horn, damaged by the first wave, get snuffed out.

Flare flopped over, and tentatively poked at her smoking horn.

Silver stepped over her, "You're okay. Just fed the flame just a bit too much."

Her horn was still evaporating the water on the floor, and her mane was singed around the edges, in-between gasps as her heart rate lowered, Flare said, "I don't know if I can do that again."

Silver chuckled, "Sure you can. Get up." and held out a hoof.

Guess I'm skipping lunch, sorry Misty...

[Insert clever chapter title here]

"I'll make sure to get in contact the next chance I get." Said Blue Skies, writing Twilight's P.O. box address down.

Cadance nodded, "That's hopefully the initial staff sorted, I can pull interest and support once we break ground on where the actual building will go."

Homeward tilted her head, "Isn't that a looong way away?"

Dawn answered just before Cadance, "Yes, but it's still a good point. If we're going to be getting letters and resumes coming to us to fill out the staff, then we're going to need to prepare; know what we're looking for, that sort of thing."

Symbol paused clacking away on a calculator to raise a hoof, "Motion that Dawn handles that since he mentioned it."

Cadance couldn't tell if she was joking from her completely serious tone as she said it, yet Marker and Homeward both additionally raised their hooves and Homeward added, "Passed." To which they all put their hooves down.

Cadance met eyes with Blue Skies in humored confusion and was answered with a shrug. Cadance looked away, but her eyes snapped to movement just outside, a few more heads turned as a jet black pegasus with a purple and blue toned mane opened the door and stepped inside.

"Uh." Said Dawn.

"Can I help you miss?" Cadance led

The mare locked eyes with Cadance and a peculiar glint in them, "I was looking for you, Princess Cadance."

Cadance reached out with her emotional senses.

"Luna? Is that you?"

The disguised Luna's ears flopped in disappointment. "Yes, though I was hoping to remain incognito."

Marker finally looked like he cared about what was going on around him, "Wait? Princess Luna?"

The mare nodded, "Good afternoon, subject."

Marker's wit left him momentarily as he corrected her, "uh, Marker"

Luna nodded again, "Good afternoon, Marker, and to the rest of you." She turned back to Cadance "A humorous stallion named Rim Shot told me you would be here."

Cadance looked around the room for a clock, "What time is it?"

Marker answered, "Just about to become two thirty."

How did- whatever

"Already?" Cadance quickly glanced between the disguised Luna and the meeting she was still not nearly done with.

Silver will probably be here around five, I'm going to need to eat something... eeeeh

Eventually Cadance came to a decision, "You're a bit early Luna, do you think you could meet me up at my office in about an hour?"

Luna responded, "Of course, and my mistake."

"I didn't really specify a time, it's my fault, don't worry about it."

"I will not."

The ponies at the table watched the exchange, their heads bouncing back and forth as Homeward suddenly had a short introspective episode about the sudden path her life had taken.

"I shall go bother your secretary." Luna exited the room with a flash of teleportation.

Once the flash had dissipated, Homeward asked Cadance, "What was that about?"

"Me and her have a..." Cadance spun her hoof around, "Thing to do tonight."

Blue Skies' eyes darted back and forth while Marker chuckled, Dawn said, "What kind of thing?"

Cadance rolled her eyes, "Nothing scandalous, we're just going out for some Princess work."

Homeward looked like she was about to ask something else, but Cadance interrupted her, "And we've only got an hour left to finish up here, so let's focus. Now, about those literature alternation laws."

Cadance turned the corner to the far too high hallway that held the doors to her office. Amber waved to her from her own recessed station at the end of the hallway.

"Hey Amber, I haven't seen you all day." The alicorn said as she approached, hoping to strike up a friendly conversation.

"I've been busy, that's all..." Amber looked away, and busied herself shuffling papers around. Flipping up a folder and tapping it on the desk to cause all the papers inside to fall into place.

Cadance got a weird vibe. Something that made her internally scrunch her eyes and frown in concern. As Cadance opened her mouth, Amber spoke just before she did, "Princess Luna is waiting in your office for you. Will you need anything?" Amber looked up from her seat with a smile that didn't fit on her face.

Cadance closed her mouth, "No, say Amber?"

I’m just going to be direct

"Yes Princess?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

Amber had a series of expressions flicker though her face too quickly for any one of them to settle, and Cadance felt the mare's anxiety rise.

"Oh, yes. I'm feeling just fine Princess." She nodded earnestly, at least tried to.

Just as Cadance was about to call her out on her lie, the disguised Luna pushed open the door to Cadance's office. "Ah! Cadance, perfect, now we may get started." Luna grabbed Cadance by the shoulder, and began pulling her into the office.

"Wait, hold on."

"Nonsense my niece," Luna continued to shove, "I have waited long enough!" Luna was of course jokingly doing what she was doing. If Luna wanted to move Cadance, there wasn't a chance Cadance would be able to resist as much as she was. As Cadance looked over her shoulder at Amber to see her smiling and chuckling at her aunt's antics, she thought the mistake of which many do.

She'll be fine

Cadance relented and stepped into her office, Luna right behind her.

"So." Luna had seemingly already set up a table and a series of cushions pressed up against the opposite wall in front of Cadance's ill-used bookshelf. How exactly Luna got the table and cushions into the room was not clear, but nonetheless, Cadance followed Luna to the table as she continued, "What night of revelry do you have planned for us?"

Cadance took her seat, while internally rolling her eyes at Luna's excitement. "I don't actually plan anything, Silver usually picks a location and the activity."

Luna's smile widened a bit further than it should have, and Cadance finally sensed the nervousness behind her excitement. "Right! Of course, that should go well, and you've told her of my presence."

Buck! I knew I forgot something!

Cadance grabbed a leaflet from her desk and quickly wrote a few lines,

Hey, we're ready to go whenever you are

And by we I mean I invited a friend

I hope you don't mind, but she's willing to go if you don't want her.

It'd mean a lot to both of us if you let her tag along.

Cadance's quill tapped the bottom of the page just as she was about to sign her name, she stopped and thought for a second before writing:

-Little Princess

Luna had leaned over to see what Cadance was writing and spoke as she finished, "So you neglected to tell Silver of my presence? And still do not explain?"

"Silver would talk it personally if I did. I think..." Cadance lit her horn and cast the message sending spell. Luna reared back in alarm from her lean over the table as she did.

"Niece! That was-"

"A hybrid dark magic spell, I know." Cadance interrupted, "It's safe, and tested."

"Such a thing does not sit well with me." Luna frowned her trademark scowl. It looked a little awkward on her currently smaller face

"Noted." Cadance said simply.

Just then, a paper appeared in a flash of blue lightning. Cadance caught it in her magic and unfolded the square of paper.

I will be there momentarily

For their sake, I hope this friend of yours can keep up.

Because I will not be taking it easy on them.

Cadance flipped over the paper in her aura and showed it to Luna.

"Hmmm." She closed her eyes slowly with an exhale, "Yes, that sounds about right. This should be no difficulty."

"You know, I can tell you're still anxious about seeing her again." Cadance tried to keep a neutral tone. Hoping to not come off as accusatory

Luna tilted her head down, "Is it that obvious?" The slightly different, younger, voice of the elder alicorn made the question sound likely far more hurt than she actually was.

"No, but we have a minute before she gets here. Do you wanna talk about it?"

Luna considered it before determinedly responding, "No. I can handle myself for the night, Silver is- that is, I will be okay." She hurriedly finished

If you're sure

"Well..." Cadance tried to dig for some kind of wisdom, and ended up just repeating her last trip with the crazy immortal, "Actually try to have fun."

Luna gave her an eyebrow raise, "That is what I am here to do, was it implied that I wouldn't?"

"Sorry," Cadance chuckled, "What I mean is, there's just a way to... let it all out, you know? Don't let yourself focus on Silver all night, or on anything."

Luna slowly nodded, trying to comprehend the confusing phrasing, "Right. I believe I under-"

Cadance office door was pushed open as Silver came trotting in. There was a short second, a miniscule moment, where just as her gaze passed over Luna, her entire body froze in active motion, like a robot glitching, before she continued like nothing was wrong. She walked straight up to the table, and did not sit, instead choosing to just silently stand at the edge.

Cadance could practically feel the repressed anxiety attack Luna was experiencing as Silver silently glanced between the too of them, Cadance's failure to come up with anything to say leading to the silent moment dragging on extremely painfully; much to Silver's clear amusement, as she began to laugh several agonizing moments into the silence.

"So who's this?" Silver asked Cadance, once she eventually stopped chuckling to herself.

"This is-" Cadance started, lifting her hoof to point at the disguised Luna

Cadance was cut off, "Selene." Luna said a bit forcefully from the other end of Cadance's hoof. Slightly calmer, she added, "Noxa Selene."

"Ooo," Silver flamboyantly added, "Didja know Selene is old ponish for 'moon'?"

Selene nodded, "Yes, my parents were quite old fashioned."

Silver's head snapped to Cadance unnaturally fast, "Shall I show off your disguise Cadance?" She held out her hoof. Cadance strained her ears to hear just exactly how Silver said 'your', yet there was no insinuation that she knew Selene was a disguise.

Cadance reached her hoof over and bopped Silver's, their unspoken way of Cadance agreeing to have magic cast on her. In a second Cadance was Allium once more. She glanced down at her now green fur, and the exceptionally long braided mane that hung down over her shoulder, and into her vision.

Silver let go of Cadance's now shorter hoof, "Now don't go ruining the braid this time, I wasn't exactly ready to fix the spell last time either, Allium Bloom"

"Whoah..." Luna said in awe.

Silver smirked and propped her head up on the table, "So how much has Cadance told you about me then? Hmm?"

Luna ever so slightly shrunk from the direct attention in partial confusion, "Uh," She glanced towards Cadance. She contributed by shrugging with her eyes and eyebrows. Luna ended up going with, "Very little, just that you were in charge of the fest- er, our night out."

"Hmm." Silver surmised, and then tapped her hoof on the table once, "Well in short, I'm a thousand year old master of dark magic."

Luna chose not to respond, and Cadance could feel a vague hint of despair swimming around the other princess.

"Now that we're all acquainted, shall we get going?" Silver gestured in a random direction, pointing at nothing. Cadance stood in response

Luna spoke out, "Wait, what is your name?"

Silver stopped in place and paused.

She turned over her shoulder and winked at the disguised Luna, "Quick Silver." She turned away again, and summoned a portal, the spinning grated surface expanding into a gate big enough for each of them to see the bricked alleyway on the other side.

From behind Silver, Luna gave Cadance a confusing look. Cadance read it as desperation mixed with 'this was a mistake'. Cadance just nodded her head towards the portal, 'it's now or never, you can still bail.'

Luna closed her eyes and shook her head once, 'no, I can't, it's too late now.'

Then they all stepped through, one after the other.

Convergence

As soon as Cadance stepped through the portal, she was assaulted with the salty scent of sea air. That combined with the particular brickwork, and the fact that wherever they were had an alleyway told the well traveled Alicorn exactly where they were

"Manehatten?" She questioned, just as 'Selene' followed through the portal.

Silver, who had stood off to the side, instead of stepping forwards after going through the portal, responded while closing it again, "Good guess."

"I for one, am surprised you figured it out so quickly, what gave away the location?"

"It was either Trottingham or Manehatten because of the alleyway and the salt. It had to be Manehatten, since it's darker here than it was in the Crystal Empire. That and Manehatten is the only place with brick work like this." She gestured vaguely at the walls

Silver made a face, "You recognized the brick work?"

"The industries that made bricks were a really big deal back when Manehatten was founded, they were still around when I was a filly."

Silver summarized her thoughts on the trivia, "Huh. Anyways, shall we?" She gestured out of the alleyway, out onto the grey stone facade street.

Cadance took the lead, walking past Silver, who started moving as Selene walked past.

"To know for certain, what exactly are we doing here tonight?" She asked Silver

Silver responded as she turned left into the open street. "Well, we've been to a hole in the wall, a nightclub, I got this idea from a story I heard about Cadance. Know what Karaoke is, Ms. Selene?"

Cadance, who was appreciating the ergonomic spacing of the houses and small plots of trees taking up space in the road joined in the conversation with a wide smile and a partial gasp, "Karaoke!? Ohmygosh- I looove Karaoke!"

"That's because you cheat."

"I do not!"

"You're only allowed to start one Heartsong Little Princess" Silver admonished, while Selene confusedly mouthed 'Little Princess', "Everything else better be normal terrible singing, like the rest of us."

"So... Following the theme, this is a Carry-okie bar?" Selene struggled with the word

Silver's tone switched conversational, with a twinge of curiosity, "You catch on quick, say, what's your story by the way? We've got a ways to walk, how do you know Cadance?"

Does she really not know?

Selene glanced at Cadance for answers, who just smiled a 'you got this!' smile

"Cadance and myself met in school-"

"Forty years ago?" Silver interrupted

"Thirty five years ago." Selene continued, "I was studying magic theor-

"Aren't you a pegasus?"

"My thesis was about active pegasus magic."

"Wasn't your roommate an engineer?" Silver turned to Cadance

She remembered that? Ah wait, I have to-

"Yeah, but that was way after, when I went to school again at the same time as Shining."

Silver tilted her head as she walked, "Wait, did you go through the college experience twice?"

Cadance answered by nodding then saying, "I got my masters in psychology the second time around. The first, it was mostly Celestia teaching me how to 'Princess.'"

At least that's not technically a lie

"Ew, a psych major."

Cadance mock frowned

Silver took the next several pony lengths in a bouncing gallop and crossed in front of their path to reach for a door hidden by the seamless transition of building to building. "Aaand here we are ladies." The held open door allowed a sliver of guitar noises filter through and out into the street; the scent of alcohol barely notable over the salty air.

Noxa Selene spoke as they slowed in front of the opening, "How exactly did you have the time to find this place?"

"I meandered around Manehattan for a while, I'm actually a Minutemare hereabouts. Definitely not my jurisdiction but hey," Silver laid into her 'Hattenite accent, "metal does business down here."

Cadance incredulous, elbowed Silver as Selene walked inside, "Hold on, that wasn't a lie? You're actually a Minutemare?"

Silver shrugged, "Weekend nights; gives me time to think."

Well okay then

Cadance followed in after Selene and into the plush wooden hallway as she swore she felt a light bit of magic shift in the area. The ground was simple thin polished planks of wood, the base of the wall started up in an odd dirty red velvet cushioning like from the back of a couch; it ended at around neck height, before transitioning back into wood. The little hallway inside was small enough that they had to walk front to back. Just as Cadance heard the door close behind Silver, the wood on her right cut off, leaving just the velvet behind and showing off the interior of their location of fun for the night.

There was a bar that took up the right side of the room, curving around to the right of the room the further back it got. The rest of the floor forwards was taken up by tables and chairs. At the far end of the room, there looked to be a raised platform with both a microphone, a projector, and a dj-ing booth with a replica of a pony skeleton wearing a hat sitting over it. The room was mostly filled with orange light, aside from the open space in front of the microphone that had plenty of coloured lights pointed at it. That in conjunction with the disco ball and the ponies shaking a dancing meant that the 'dancing' area was a mash of colours from every end of the rainbow.

The music was loud enough to feel, coming from speakers likely hidden somewhere near the lights as Cadance couldn't see the origin of the upbeat near country rock and roll.

As both Cadance and Selene stepped past the wall and into the room proper, they got a good look around the corner of the room to where there were seemingly bathrooms on the other side of the bar. As Selene was trying to make sense of what she was seeing, a mare with an indiscernible coloured coat and a very extravagant mane that looked more like someone had put a beach ball on her head; rolled up to the two of them on roller blades.

The mare shouted over the din, "What can I help you mares with tonight?"

Selene opened her mouth to respond, but failed, her eyes glancing to Cadance for help. Cadance took a step to the side as Silver pushed forwards, her smooth voice cutting through the audio, "We're just bargoers tonight. Thank you though, gorgeous." Silver accentuated the flirting by tossing a bit to the mare who caught it in her teeth, winked, and then rolled away. Doing a single spin in time with the music before disappearing behind the rest of the crowd.

Silver was already a few steps closer to the bar, she turned to face Cadance and Selene, "C'mon you two, quit standin' around!"

Cadance locked eyes with Selene and nodded her head in the direction of the bar; that was all that was required to get the disguised Luna to get moving. Cadance took up the space behind her.

She was not ready for this at all. In all fairness, I guess.

She thought as she gave another quick once over around the room.

Yup. Here we go again.

Cadance put a smile on her face as she hopped up onto the bar stool. Hopefully showing Selene how it was done, and leaned forwards onto the countertop. Silver ended up taking the middle seat between the three of them, and was already in the midst of flagging down the on staff bartender.

After the stallion waved in acknowledgment, Silver leaned back to open up Cadance's eyeline to Selene, who was trying to decipher the bottles of alcohol and kitchen equipment on the other side of the countertop.

"So what're you two getting? I'm honestly gonna be dialing it back today."

"You still have that spell ready?"

Silver gave her an eyeroll that said 'of course I do'.

"How does blind sound?" The words didn't feel right coming out of Cadance's mouth, yet she still said them with confidence.

Silver's fake smile turned more serious, "Glad you're getting it." She flipped around and went to jostle Selene before putting her hoof back down and talking her out of her focus instead. "Hey!" Selene turned to her, "Whatcha getting? and how much?"

Selene moved her mouth a bit before realizing she wasn't talking nearly loud enough, cleared her throat, "I am not sure. Where I'm from, we don't have such... variety"

Was this what I was like the first time Silver took me out? Confused? Apprehensive? No wonder she was so irritable, I can see how it's annoying.

"I'll order for you. We'll go take for take, I'm trying to stay awake since the Princess here wants to go home in a bucket."

"How can I help you three beautiful mares?" The stallion Silver had waved down broke up their conversation by reminding Cadance that their disguises weren't exactly incognito. Silver looked incredibly out of place, and Selene was a picture of equine beauty. Cadance probably had the best disguise, but was still an athletic, well groomed, petite earth pony mare.

Silver answered, "Two 'dice rollers' and something sweet and heavy for her."

The stallion nodded and magicked a bottle opener and a clear glass from a fridge nearby.

Didn't realize he had a horn

Cadance watched the application of the tool, and the eventual placement of the bottle in front of her. She stopped paying attention as she read the label. 'Blue Moon'

The interior held a yellow frothy liquid that smelled of piss and orange juice. She tentatively turned to Silver, hoping to ask.

Silver, who was already paying attention, leaned over while watching the stallion flip some short glasses in his aura, "It's beer, I don't think you'll like it, but you can have a go if you want."

Well that's that.

Cadance remembered to grab the bottle with her hooves instead of her wings or horn, and lifted it to her lips. The first taste caused her to remove the bottle from her face, and cough violently as she put it down.

"That is vile!" Cadance wiped her lips. Despite her disgust, she was beginning to see why it was funny.

A hoof slapped her back, and she heard the muffled laughter of Silver. She glanced back at the bottle, it tasted exactly how it smelled. She steeled herself for another gulp, and managed not to cough this time. The alcohol content was low, at least in comparison to what she'd had so far, but her body still cringed at the flavour.

"Hey check it out." Silver held up her short glass of clear, fizzy pink liquid. "It's got a dice shaped ice cube!"

It did, indeed have that. Cadance tilted her head, wondering how and more importantly, why. Silver put her glass back down and turned with Cadance's attention to Selene, who was eyeing the glass in her hoof with clear suspicion. The moment went on until Selene realized she was being watched by her cohorts. She brought the drink closer to her chest in defense, "What?"

She thinks she's done something wrong

"Don't think, just drink!" Cadance said, accidentally burping the taste of rind into her mouth again, making her gag.

Silver 'pfft'ed, "She's right, if you wanna be able to keep up, you've gotta knock it back all the way. Observe." Silver grabbed her glass roughly and brought it to her lips, and tossed the majority of the drink to the back of her throat in one smooth motion. She let out a hearty "ahh'' and Cadance watched a short twitch and chill run down Silver's spine.

Selene gave a cursory sniff of the thing before looking back to Cadance. She gave a 'go ahead' wave with her hoof, and Selene made the attempt to mimic Silver.

The choking and gagging of which Cadance did, and was expecting of Luna, however, did not come. Selene simply swallowed the drink and raised her eyebrows at the flavour. She also bit down, and it took a moment of confusion for Cadance to realize she had also gotten the ice cube with the rest of the drink.

Wait, did Silver just swallow her ice cube?

"Interesting." Was Selene's only response.

"Not as strong as you're used to?" Silver asked

"No. I-" She was interrupted by Silver frantically waving down the bartender, the stallion wasn't busy, so he walked over immediately.

They carried a short exchange, "Something stronger, and in higher volume, please and thank you." To which he nodded and trotted around the corner of the back wall. Silver then turned to Cadance, who was suddenly reminded that she was in the current situation, "Don't like it?"

"Hu-Oh, Eh. Not really."

Silver reached out a hoof, and Cadance slid the glass bottle over to her with her magic; she chugged whatever was left of it in seven or eight gulps.

Selene was wearing a face of sheer confusion.

Cadance, knowing the introspective thought by Selene's emotion, and by Cadance's own experience wearing that face, called out, "Just roll with it!"

She nodded, and took on a serious expression. Probably more serious than necessary, which was just around when Silver leaned back and glanced between the two of them before eventually settling on Selene. "So you've never been out like this before? Tearing up the town?"

Is everything she says half of a quip-

Selene shook her head, "No, not like this at least." She gestured vaguely at everything going on in the room.

"So what'dya do for a living? Cadance here is pretty boring, as I'm sure you already know." Silver had leaned forwards again, and propped her head up on a hoof, with the back of her mane facing Cadance.

"E.U.P. Guard."

"Ooo, a military mare. That'll be why you're so straight faced, though, I would've expected a mare like yourself to be a bit more used to drunk filled closed spaces; you seem distinctly out of your element."

Cadance decided to verbally step in for some support, "Noxa was always a 'straight and narrow' kind of mare. I don't think I've ever even seen her drink. I was surprised she could handle whatever that was without even twitching."

"You should try to be less surprised."

"You should strive to-" Selene stopped, "Yes, that."

Cadance rolled her eyes just as she came to a mental conclusion by accident. "Wait, why do..."

"What?"

"Sorry, I have no idea how to word this question..." Cadance rolled the thoughts around her mouth for a second, "Why do you still shake and such? When you drink? I would have thought yo-"

"Oh that's easy." Silver waved a dismissive hoof before gesturing to herself and ruffling her wings. "New body, new reflexes. I'm far from having broken it in yet."

Cadance, correctly pointed out the fallacy in that, "But what about when you were still Dusk?"

The bartender took that moment to place a series of tall glasses of offensively blue drinks in front of all three of them.

"Well when I was Dusk, I didn't have any organs, so excuse me for acting just a teensy bit."

Selene, from the side, stuttered in confusion, "You- organs?"

"Old Dark Mage, Ms. Selene. Don't worry about it."

"What is this?" Cadance asked, gesturing at the drink

"Manehatten water." She wiggled her eyebrows as she reached forwards and took a sip. After the liquid went down, she flopped her mane about and let out another 'ahh', albeit silently.

Cadance looked at her own, only for her peripheral vision to draw her towards the sight of Selene chugging what must have been nearly a full pint of the stuff.

The bartender let out an apt, ''Dear Celestia!" which caused Silver to turn and see the sight herself. Cadance watched from behind Silver as just the very tip of her left ear began twitching. That was around when Selene slammed the glass down onto the countertop hard enough to shatter it. Whatever she was about to say was cut off by the cries of alarm, and the upset cry of the bartender.

"Sorry!"

Silver just silently moved a modest stack of bits over to the tending side of the bar. Cadance took a sip of her own tall glass. It tasted of fruit, sweet salts, and a lot of vodka.

"Whoo!" She shouted, "That's really strong! Selene!" The mare turned to listen, "You're crazy!"

"Please, I have imbibed far worse." Selene then turned and tried to get the bartender to bring her another, with the promise that she'd be more careful.

Silver, vivaciously leaned backwards towards Cadance, flipping her muzzle upside down to make eye contact, "Don't think? Just Drink? Really?"

"Slick Quire?" Cadance responded back, equally as sarcastic, and slightly surprised at her swift verbal comeback.

Silver made a face of admission, "Touché." Silver flipped herself over and called out to the bartender, "Hey mate! Could we get the music menu?" The stallion nodded, and Cadance went back to nursing the cup of vodka. Eventually putting it back down after deciding that keeping it so close to her face wasn't a great idea.

She shifted in urgency, and leaned over to Silver, "Crap! Wait! The spell!"

Silver waved her off, "You're good, I revised it recently. It's been on you since we walked in."

So that's what that was.

Unfortunately, the mental vibe she had going had already drained away. Looking at her drink made her feel slightly ill. Knowing it was fine didn't convince her anxiety of hurting her foal.

The bartender arrived again with a folded paper menu, placed it down, then leaned over the counter to speak. "If you ladies got any talent, we'd love to have you. Nopony's been up to the mic all night." Silver nodded, and the bartender left. Cadance watched him leave, noting the upside down shot glass cutie mark.

Cadance subtly slid the menu over to herself using telekinesis just as Silver reached for it, leading Silver to mime chasing it back over to Cadance. Who grabbed it herself and opened it up for the two of them to read.

The songs were helpfully subdivided by nature, the largest columns being: Rock, pop, swing and funk.

Cadance talked at a normal tone, due to how close Silver was, as Selene got her next drink, "Not going to lie, I don't recognize any of these."

"Eh, I came prepared. Just pick one that sounds fun." Silver pushed her seat back, "I am going to go answer your question."

"My-? Oh." Cadance's unasked question was what exactly Silver had prepared for. The 'oh' came from realizing Silver was already halfway up to the mic, now sporting a horn instead of wings. Cadance turned to Selene, who had spun around, and was in the midst of gazing forlornly at the retreating silver mare.

Cadance, sensing the rampaging emotion, hopped a seat over and bumped 'Selene' with her shoulder. "You okay?"

Selene shook her head, still locked onto what Silver was doing. She'd drifted away from her path to the mic, and was fiddling with something behind the dj-ing stand.

Selene suddenly speaking broke her out of her focus. "I don't know what's worse. Being screamed at and put down, or... this... barely even being acknowledged."

"Hey." Cadance drew out, hopefully buying herself time to figure out what she was supposed to say to that. The word drawing Selene's attention away from Silver, and settling on Cadance as she struggled to find the words through the light buzz she was feeling. "Don't look at it like you're being ignored..." Cadance spun he hoof, "Look at it like..."

Think Cadance! Think!

"Like it's a second chance."

Good! Okay! I can work with that!

Cadance gestured vaguely in Silver's direction, "She's letting you start from scratch."

"I fear she is simply humoring us, and would like nothing more than to remind me of all my failures. Something she is unwittingly doing... or maybe not." Selene's frown deepened.

"You just have to give it time. She'll need it to be able to trust you again-"

Selene interrupted, "Dusk, that is, Silver, does not trust ponies who have once before betrayed her."

Cadance bounced her mane once, "Okay well, Silver isn't Dusk right now, and you're not Luna either." Cadance accentuated the point by poking Selene in the chest. "Just give it a chance?"

Selene thought about it, looking back to where Silver was currently taking the stage.

Cadance never got an answer. Silver took the mic, adjusted its height, stepped around in front of it, and lit her horn. Several instruments made of translucent blue light appeared on the stage, visibly shielded by the flashing lights as Silver began to magically play the instruments just as the music cut out.

Immediately, the slowly incoming musical accompaniment gained the attention of the dancers as the beat flowed throughout the room. Several either adopting new dances and bops, and some simply stomping in preparation for whatever the strange mare was going to start singing.

Silver began shaking her hips and taking exaggerated steps down into the crowd as she began to sing.

There's a mare downtown in the club I know
She doesn't say a word she just hit's the flo
The way she moves always caught my eye
Couldn't take no more, I just had to try

I moved to the floor as she danced away
Her hooves like magic as she looked my way
And in one swoop she had me by her side
I know I was in for a ride! As we!

Silver swept up the nearest party goer into an upright, two legged tango, spinning them through all manner of twists and turns. The stallion in question dizzily struggled to keep up before eventually being spun away into the crowd as Silver took a jump and continued to jig and jive with the music.

We'd be dancing till the door!

The beats convinced Cadance that she should go join the dancing, yet, she didn't, as she didn't want to leave Selene here to stew by herself.

Mare I'll tell you, that girl can move
Got me twistin' and turnin' around in my jimmy shoes
Never knew I'd feel so alive
That mare sure knows how to twist and jive

I swayed around the club all night
Not once did she ever leave my side
No matter what, we couldn't stop
Dancing, waiting for that drop, as we!

Silver, in the middle of the crowd now, having done enough dancing and singing to give herself enough space, continued her dancing and singing with timed stomps and spins. Occasionally drawing in a brave party goer and turning their perceptions into mush as she spun them around. Cadance knew how jarring it could be, having been on the receiving end before, she couldn't help but giggle at the dazed looks from the ponies stumbling away from Silver's storm of dancing.

The music transitioned, an electrical sounding base filling the foreground, Silver began jumping in place, waving the other ponies to join her, and in short order, the entire crowd minus those lingering near the edges, were jumping up until the beat slowed and Silver filled in the next line in near relative silence.

Swing to that sound
Our hooves tap-tappin and our hearts beat-beatin
and we, spin round and round
we got lost in the rhythm the lights in the crowd
that look in her eyes made me sure
we'd be dancing, dancing dancin' till the dawn

The music picked up again, and Silver plus the rest of the crowd threw themselves into dancing away what was left of the music while Silver sauntered back up to the stage, occasionally filling in jarred verbal musical accentuations. Once the music came to a close, Silver spoke into the mic. Cadance gave a quick glance to Selene, who was nearly falling off the small seat watching Silver.

"Alrighty ponies! How do we think of all of that noise!" Silver drew out the last word into a long shout, and the ponies cheered and stomped in excitement despite the grammatical failure of the sentence.

Silver, instead of working the crowd more, brought one of the floating magic guitars to her side and tentatively gave it several soft strums with her hoof that shook the room with their volume, signaling the start of the next song.

Cadance reached over to Selene, who was recovering from almost falling off her chair after being startled by the music. She grabbed her by a hoof as she stepped down from her own chair. Selene stepped down and Cadance went to take another gulp of her drink. As she turned back to Selene she noticed that at some point, she'd downed the rest of her new drink. The surprise laugh sent her into a coughing fit.

Don'tthrowupdon'tthrowupdon't-

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fm-ine" She coughed a couple more times, just to clear her throat, then bounced in the direction of the moving mess of colours. "Let's go dance!"

Apprehension

"No really!"

"Cad-er Allium. I do not know how to dance like that." She said, tossing her head in the direction of the crowd, as if such a thing was blatantly obvious.

Cadance saddled up next to Selene, "It's way easier than it looks. C'mon, you're not gonna make me go dance on my own are you?" She bumped Selene with her hips to emphasize the point.

"Very well. Roll with it, as you said."

"Great! Come on." Cadance dragged Selene by the hoof just as Silver started the first lines of the song

Educated! With money!
He's well dressed, not funny!

Cadance pulled Selene into the mix of the crowd, shouldering past one or two ponies until they came to an open spot under a flashing blue light, which transitioned the next second into red, then green, and so on.

And not much to say in most conversations
But he'll foot the bill in all situations
'Cause he pays for everything!

Cadance shouted over the noise, "Like this!"

Mares don't like colts
Mares like carts and money!

Cadance decided to take one from Twilight's book, and chose to do everything, in every direction. Mostly hopping, but to the uninformed, what she was doing appeared to be an organized seizure.

Colts will laugh at mares when they're not funny!

Selene tried, she awkwardly moved her limbs in the same order, albeit less exaggerated, but there was still a massive frown on her face as she focused.

That won't do, how did Silver do it?

Cadance approached Selene and grabbed her front hooves, "To the music! Don't worry about the moves, just feel the music!" Cadance, to Selene's disapproval, reared them both up onto their back hooves so that they were balanced by each other, and started pushing and pulling, shaking Selene forwards and backwards.

Paper or plastic
Don't matter, she'll have it

Once they'd found a rhythm, Selene's frown turned neutral, her eyes expressing the fun she was clearly just starting to have.

Vacations and shopping sprees
These are a few of her favorite things

As the beat was picking up again Cadance shouted out, "Now you're getting it!"

She'll get what she wants if she's willing to please

Their back and forth got faster

His type of girl always comes with a fee

Then they started stepping to accentuate the pushing and pulling

Hey, now, there's nothing for free!

Just as the beat shifted, Cadance let go of Selene and stepped back, the motion they'd worked up carrying Selene to drop onto all fours and resume the awkward dance she was doing before, but with a smile on her face.

Mares don't like colts
Mares like carts and money!

Cadance glanced towards the stage, and Silver caught her eye and sent her a wink

Colts will laugh at mares
When they're not funny!

Cadance kept dancing.

Phase Two

It wasn't that Cadance wasn't sure how much time had passed dancing with Luna; it was that she simply wasn't paying attention. The smaller amount of drunkenness as opposed to last time meant she actually had the acuity to try to dance in creative ways, more to the style of this particular bar. The party goers were a lot more invested in choreographed moves, rather than shaking and bouncing.

Silver kept up her music on the stage, switching between old rock and swing. At some point a few ponies joined the stage with her and were in the midst of singing the vocals to a song they all clearly knew. Once the shanties started, Silver slipped off the back of the stage and snuck her way back to the bar. Cadance, who was watching Silver instead of Selene, decided to walk back over to the bar. She tapped Selene and told her of her intent, but the disguised Luna was far more invested in having fun.

Just to make sure Silver doesn't get into any trouble

It also struck Cadance that Selene may have better reflexes when it came to drinking, but was still probably trashed at the moment.

That was a lot of vodka

Cadance slipped through the crowded with a grace that surprised her. Grinding her hooves against the plastic façade tiles to make sure her stumbling momentum didn't throw her into any nearby party goers. She watched Silver take her place at the bar and slumped forwards as Cadance exited the crowd of colours and approached, slowing her steps as she got closer.

Silver was hilariously difficult to read, the same as Celestia. Cadance was starting to get better at it though, just enough that she could feel the battle going on just behind the wall she had over her mind.

Cadance stepped up onto the seat next to her and set her face into a neutral frown. Silver strained out a chuckle, "Great... Now I've even got Love throwing pity my way."

Cadance didn't respond, and Silver's left ear twitched. She spun around in her seat, looking out into the crowd. Resetting her pose, lounging with a glass in hoof. The moment passed with the beat of the song the ponies were all cheering to, just as the next one started. Some brave pony being the first to raise their voice over the crowd in song.

"I-" Cadance tried

"Don't." Silver scrunched her eyes closed, "Just don't. This is meant to be fun. Not therapy sessions with Cadance. You intentionally ruined my night trying to manipulate my relationships." Silver opened her eyes again halfway through her admonishment, staring out into the crowd. Whatever fun Cadance was having slipped away.

She felt bad. She hadn't done anything wrong, but it still hurt Silver.

It isn't fair.

Cadance tried to see what Silver was looking at, tipped off by the fact Silver would be making eye contact normally. She couldn't, but it wasn't hard to guess what was taking up the mare's mind.

"She was really nervous about this wasn't she?"

The question lingered in the air. The white noise of the bar fading into the background, clearly by spell.

"Yeah."

Silver shook her head.

The moment dragged on. Cadance wanted to say something, but recognized that there was nothing she could say. The depth of the issue she had grazed was too far from her to say something as cliché as 'I'm sorry'.

"Invite her back next week."

Cadance did a double take, "What?"

"You heard me." Silver nodded, "Invite her back next week."

Cadance started on, waiting for Silver to continue

"She needs it. Clearly." Silver's eyes snapped to Cadance's, "But be aware that if you ever pull something like this again; I will take from you something you cannot get back." The threat lacked Silver's normal playful attempt at being intimidating, merely a promise.

Cadance suppressed her concern and nodded, "I liked your music."

Just like that, the noise returned, and Silver smirked, "Yeah, I figured you would. I took you for a jazz mare."

Cadance sighed internally, wishing she could say more. Do more.

"Jazz?" She felt the fake expression slide onto her face, the emotions behind them incredulous. "Please, as if."

"What? You're telling me you have higher standards than jazz? What's wrong with jazz?"

Cadance's chest twisted, telling her that this wasn't right. This wasn't how you were supposed to treat pain. This was all the wrong way to deal with verbal tension.

"Nothing's wrong with jazz, I'm just more of a funk mare." Cadance tilted her nose up, the words slowly beginning to come to her easier.

Silver gestured out to the crowd, "Well the crowd is ready. Properly prepped, and other alliteration aside, I did say you could do one, heart song tonight."

Cadance put a hoof to her chin, "Is this what that music I kept hearing outside your... uh"

"Just call it home, I don't have a better word for it either" Silver waved a hoof

"Home? Were you practicing?"

"Yeah." Silver's eyes had gone back out into the crowd ever since her threat, still likely on the dancing form of Selene

Cadance tilted her head, "But I heard you practicing before we agreed to do this, before the gala? How did you know?"

"I didn't. Remember that I suggested doing this." Silver gestured to everything around them, "It was just a backup plan I was preparing, just in case it happened." She spun back around and put her empty glass on the counter, and continued as she pushed herself back onto the floor, "I had a lot of free minutes I had to wait in those first few weeks, so I spent a lot of that time practicing old plans. Making sure my skills were up to snuff."

Cadance got down too. Following Silver's steps as they wandered up towards the stage. As they got closer to the excitement, Silver had to raise her voice for Cadance to hear, "Go for a four, I've got the musical accompaniment, just give me a start and I'll roll with it." As they reached the stage, Cadance took up the foreground as Silver stepped towards the back, levitating a spectral bass into her hooves.

Cadance stepped up to the mic, much to the excitement of a particular mare in the crowd.

Silver started off with a slew of electronic noises Cadance had never heard before, she wasn't even sure the noises could come from an instrument... But she liked them.

Just as the first instrumental line finished, Cadance began

Hey baby where you going,
This night is oh so young.
We've got a moment to spare
I'm solidified in your crystal eyes
So tell me is it magic,
Or is it something more?
You've got a burning passion
Your sweet allure-
-Dancing out on the floor

Cadance shifted her stance, bouncing in place

You've got me on the ropes
And I can't help but stare,
It's natural attraction
My breath is short-
-And I'm gasping for air!
You think I'm by myself
But I've been waiting for you
Tell the DJ to play it slow,
The club is packed but
Tonight it's for two

Silver joined her at the mic for the chorus

Sweet love
Will you take me away
Oh mi amore light it up-
-And send me into space

Sweet love
Your fire's out of control
But I love how it feeeeeeeels!

From there, there was a series of electronic body shaking noises as Cadance spun the mic stand, bringing it down to chest level as she leaned down and continued,

Hey baby where you looking?
Your eyes are all on me,
Oh please I think I'm blushing
You got me with your sensibilities.
Oh baby gimme a second!
I think I'm losing steam!
You want to get a reaction!
I pinch myself-
-I guess it's not a dream

Silver and Cadance rapidly switched places on the stage

You've got me on the ropes
And I'm danglin' here.
It's natural selection,
The tables turn-
-With your words in my ear
I think you're by yourself
But you've been waiting for me
That evil smile's got me nervous-
-But I'm still here saying please

Plenty of ponies in the crowd joined in on the chorus, finding partners to spin or twist around with

Sweet love!
Will you take me away
Oh mi amore light it up-
-And send me into space

Sweet love!
Your fire's out of control
But I love how it feels

Cadance, stood, flaring invisible wings to keep herself upright as she turned her back on the crowd, turning her head so the mic was still visible,

Parked in the back
Show me all that I lack
All I'm hearing is your breath on my back

Check it out,
Lemme be your eighth wonder
I'll bring you back a drink in a sec

Put on the grooves
Show me all of your moves
Got a rhythm and I'm ready to jive!

Play that beat
Better get on your hooves
Cause my mare gonna play that guitar funky right now

Silver proceeded to do just that, filling the room with sweet, funky, artistic auditory rhythm. Just as the solo was ending, the crowd retook a patterned choreography, the music of the room tilting as ponies dove and swung from one side to the other. Silver made an amusing face of concentration as she rapidly drove her hoof over her magical instrument.

Hey baby where you going?
This night is oh so young,
So tell me is it magic
Don't call it chance
When you're falling in love now!

Tell me baby is my temperature rising!
Is it me or is it you!?
Got a fever that's starting to break-
-At the end of the week with nothing to do

Cadance huffed for breath, one more left.

We got us on the ropes,
And we can't help but stare.
It's natural attraction-
-Our breath is short
And we're gasping for air,
We thought we were alone
But we've been waiting for this
Tell the DJ to play it slow
As we lean in close-
-And give in to the bliss

Sweet love!
Will you take me away
Oh mi amore light it up-
-And send me into space

Sweet love!
Your fire's out of control
But I love how it feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeels!

Cadance spun away from the mic in an open dance move, the only thing saving it from falling off the stage was Silver catching it just at the end of its ark. Transitioning the remainder of the song in an instrumental as the ponies stomped their hooves and Cadance caught her breath.

Holy crap...

Cadance gave herself a wicked smirk as she slipped off the stage faster than necessary. She did a little dance once she was out of the spotlight.

I just did that!

Silver offered her to do a heart song, but nay!

I, am, incredible!

She reached the edge of the bar and pulled herself back onto her chair. At least one of the ones nearby where they had sat. The next song had already started, but the buzz of successfully wowing a crowd still filled Cadance's mind. She tried her best to get over the... 'roughness' of the night with her excitement.

Goodness, my head is a total mess right now.

"Allium!" A wing wrapped around her shoulder as Selene hopped up onto the stool next to her, a little woozy, yet the disguised Luna clearly knew how to hold her drink. "I have never seen you sing like that!"

Cadance, ignoring the verbal hiccup, "College taught me something about crowd work at least."

Selene didn't understand her joke, but laughed anyway. Silver joined them a second later. "So! I think that's just about everything I was hoping for from tonight. Aside from a bar fight that is."

Cadance leaned over Selene, "Maybe next time Silver!"

Silver falsely lit up in excitement, "Really?"

Selene giggled from above Cadance

Silver continued, "Anybody got any stories while we're 'laxin?"

Cadance looked to Selene, who struck an intensively exaggerated thoughtful pose. Cadance pushed her tall blue drink in Silver's direction. She took it in her hoof, but left the cup on the table while she gazed on at Selene humming to herself.

Eventually her hum resolved and loudened into words, "Yes! I have a story to tell."

"Well go on then. I'm curious as to what you get up to in the E.U.P. haven't been in the military in four or five lives."

Selene frowned, the look of remembering she wasn't herself at the moment flew across her face before she looked to Cadance for assistance. Cadance, hoping to at least make up for ruining Silver's mood, decided to come to the rescue, "You've served before?" The question was directed at SIlver.

"Not Equestria, no. In general, yes. Never any leadership positions. I was always on the ground, it's honestly not a very interesting story as a whole, or split up." Silver shook her head and leaned back against nothing. Which looked very precarious as she took a sailor style swig of the glass attached to her limb. Returning to a semi-normal pose, she continued, "Most of it was waiting and exercising. The few times I saw combat aren't something I should, or want to, talk about."

"What about your comrades?"

"I treated them like adults, never made any friends."

Selene chimed in, "I do not know why, but that seems incredibly like you."

Silver smirked, "I'm not exactly what you'd call a subtle personality." She pointed at Selene, "And it's 'don't' not 'do not', you need to use more contractions. I dunno where you come from, but in Equestria, we use contractions."

Cadance tilted her head, "Isn't it technically more grammatically correct to forgo contractions?"

Selene opened her mouth, but Silver beat her to the punch, "Sure, if you're basing the living language mechanics off of what it looked like two hundred years ago. The rules change, so do people." Silver rolled her eyes, "That being said, several of the changes are severely annoying, I'll admit with no shame."

"You've got that right. Modern Ponish is a mess." Selene commented

"I'll drink to that." She did indeed, do that.

Guess it's not to strange for a trio of immortals to get into a conversation about the nature of aging language rules when they're out a bar.

The environment told Cadance that the conversation should be about stallions... or something equally inane, like complaining about shampoo, but such was their particular experiences and lives that led to the surreal experience that Cadance was currently trying to fit into a box in her head.

"So? E.U.P.?"

"Ah, well, I only know of the night operations, being that of myself."

Silver raised an eyebrow and adopted a sly look, "I see, I heard some rumors that Luna's personal night guard doubled as a special ops team for the E.U.P."

Selene shook her head in amusement, "I will not confirm or deny that."

"Where did you even hear that?" Cadance said over Selene, partially incredulous.

"I have a friendly source of information." Silver hid her glib expression behind her glass as she sipped it lightly.

"That breeds immeasurable concern in my mind." Cadance laughed at the end of her phrase, just once, seeing the irony of the repetition.

"It's boring. Really. Like Silver said, but without seeing combat. Equestria is a quiet place, and Smile takes care of the magical problems."

Silver's head tilted, "Really? I thought they were more of a secret police?"

Cadance waved her hooves in confusion and surprise, "Maybe let's not discuss state secrets in a public space?!" She hissed to the two of them

Silver shrugged, "Well, if you say so" clearly disappointed.

"It is true Cad- Allium. You're being a stick in the mud."

Cadance put her neck into rolling her eyes, "Let's just talk about something else."

"Well if you wanna steer the conversation, why don't you offer up something? C'mon, you do loads of stuff."

Cadance searched her mind, "I don't know!"

Most of what I do is genuinely boring to talk about

"How about your filly? How's that going?" Silver offered

"Oh! That reminds me." Cadance leaned over, "Is it normal for mares to have a jump in thaumic capacity when their pregnant?"

Selene offered her two cents, "I believe so." While Silver raised her eyebrow

"You wouldn't be asking that if there wasn't already an irregularity, how big is the jump?"

"Big."

Silver waved a hoof, "I'll take a look at you after we send Selene home, how are you doing by the way? That was a lot of alcohol, need some water?"

Selene, who had started swaying with the music midway through Silver's sentence, nodded silently, sporting a calm smile with closed eyes. Silver went through the process of getting a glass of water from the bartender.

Cadance watched the interesting procedure that followed. Silver's wing twitched out and brushed Selene along the shoulder in a clearly intentional way. Selene reached out to exactly where the glass was and picked it up without looking. The whole thing took less than a second, and Silver continued on as if it didn't happen, "So no hormones? Morning sickness? The spell should be helping, so let me know if it needs any adjustments."

Cadance chose to ignore the interaction, and answered the question suddenly on her mind, "Wait, is that why I feel so normal? I thought it was just for the alcohol?"

Silver chuckled deeply, a 'hoho' kind of laugh that shook her up and down in her seat, "No no. That aid spell is heavy duty, it does it all."

Selene nodded, "If I'm not mistaken, the enchantment is three separate spirals, with at least twenty loops between them."

"Nobody says loops or spirals anymore." Silver cut in, "It's all about fragments and matrixes now." She waved her free hoof through the air like she was showing off the horizon. "But yes, there's a stabilizer, and then a dual purpose 'health and safety' spell, with a diffusion accelerator."

"Ah, so that is why Cadance was woozy so quickly."

Silver corrected her, "Allium Bloom."

"Ah yes, of course. My mistake." Selene's words came out a bit slurred, and she leaned forwards onto the counter.

Silver spread a wing over Selene's shoulder, "You need to throw up?"

"Nay, I believe I just require some fresh air."

Silver stepped down, Cadance following suit silently. Silver took the lead, nodding to Cadance as an untold message to help Selene make her way to the door. The process was far easier than it seemed, Selene, despite her swaying, never faltered with her hoof placement. Her wings awkwardly hung half splayed down her sides, and she lifted her hooves jerkily, like they were made of lead, but they all made it outside without any fuss.

"Ahhh." Silver spread her wings as they stepped outside. "Love that sickly salty air."

Selene took a deep breath. Exhaling through her mouth.

"Feeling better?" Cadance stepped up to her side

"Yes. I believe I was just more tired than I realized, my apologies."

Silver spoke without turning around, she was staring down the street, down at the docks, and out into the ocean. "Don't apologize. No mare gets left behind on MNO"

Cadance clarified, "Mare's night out" for Selene, who nodded. The two of them now focusing on Silver's strange stance, wings outstretched, staring out into the ocean as if she was about to get swept from the ground by a particularly strong breeze.

She looks... At peace...

"See something you like back there?" Silver said, filled with snark as she wiggled her rump.

"Ew" Cadance vocalized

Selene looked away, mumbling a quiet "Sorry."

Silver did a quick heel turn, stomping a hoof on the stone to accentuate her: "So!" She took a couple more steps forward, "I know it's a bit early, but do we wanna call it here so I can check out Cadance?"

Cadance waited for Selene to nod before agreeing, "Sounds good to me."

"Alrighty do, if you would follow me girls." Silver said as she trotted past them with a bounce in her step, heading for an alley. Cadance followed just a step behind Selene, her stance had changed quite a lot. It seemed that the fresh air did actually do wonders for her.

They followed Silver into the alley, where the portal waited to take them back to The Empire. They emerged outside, underneath The Spire. There was a little bit of alarm by the on post guards, that is, until Cadance's disguise fell away.

"As you were." She said simply at the blue crystal mare that had come comically skidding to a stop three body lengths away. The other ponies looked at each other in confusion. Silver waved a hoof, not helping.

"I believe this is where we part. Thank you both for tonight."

Silver caught Cadance's eye and nodded in Selene's direction

Oh! Right

"You'll be coming out with us next time, won't you Noxa?"

She took an odd step in surprise, "I-" She looked to Silver, "Am I invited?"

Silver put a hoof to her chest, "Don't look at me." Taking the hoof and pointing it at Cadance.

Selene's look followed the point to Cadance, who nodded with a smile.

The smile spread to Selene, who said, "Then yes. I shall arrive here next week, at the same time." She turned to leave.

Cadance called out, "Maybe not nearly as early!"

"And stop saying 'shall'!" Silver added on.

Selene waved a wing, "Goodnight!"

Cadance waved her own wing, Silver stood stock still as she watched the disguised monarch take flight, and disappear into the night sky, the glare from the Crystal Heart's shield making it impossible to see Selene's colours once she was over the city's building height. At least for Cadance, Silver was clearly still tracking Selene as she flew, her eyes locked out into the sky.

Cadance wanted to say something, but was worried about interrupting Silver's recent introspective episodes.

I made a little progress with her tonight, best not push my luck.

"So." Silver said, her tone tired.

"So?" Cadance offered.

Silver turned to look Cadance in the eye. "The fact that, that worked, doesn't justify doing it." Her look was angry. The way she searched Cadance's face for expression gave away a little of her frustration.

It was the searching to begin with that led Cadance to answer, "Yes it does."

Silver continued looking at Cadance, unfazed by her answer.

...

"Good." Silver nodded once.

Cadance let out a breath

"So shall I take a look at you?"

Cadance nodded and lit her horn. Silver waved a hoof, stepping up to her, "No, don't try and teleport me. It will definitely not work." She waved her wing, "Let's just go for a walk. Way easier. Plus, we cut short your interrogation time; gotta make it up somewhere." Silver was already ahead, so Cadance took a deep breath and picked up her pace to catch up.

Author's Note

It should go without saying to not imbibe poison.

It should doubly go without saying to not imbibe poison while pregnant.

Cadance is a fictional character, and magic is unfortunately not real.

Do not do that

Also, btw, the song featured here is L-Train's, Set Me Off. If you like what you heard, you should check out their other Princess style Electro Swing songs like: Paint The Moon Red and Battle Royale. Also take a look at all the featured artists. Lot's of epic pony creators helped with those grooves.

Welp. That's not supposed to happen

Stepping away from The Spire, Cadance guessed it was somewhere near eight thirty-ish. The night was quiet aside from the clacking of hooves on glass. That is, Cadance's hooves.

Not making any sound when walking must be some kind of spell

"Is there a reason we're not flying?" Cadance asked, after she was side by side with Silver, her longer gait making up for how quickly Silver was moving.

"Weeeeell..." Silver rubbed the back of her neck with a wing, "This was supposed to be the night you were gonna probe me for all those questions piling up... That got tossed out the window." A notepad appeared in front of Silver's face, seemingly from nowhere, she stuffed her muzzle into as a few pages flipped over the top. "It won't put us too far behind," she dismissed it back into the aether and shrugged, "But if you've got something important to ask, now is the time."

"You want me to ask you questions?"

"What kind of megalomaniac would I be if I didn't want to monologue? I have to play the part just a little." Silver said, scrunching her eyes

Cadance tilted her head, "You don't really seem like you want to."

"Oh Tartarus no. I just fall into the role enough that I don't fight it anymore."

Don't fight it anymore?

Despite that line of conversation, Cadance wasn't willing to throw away the chance to ask the series of questions she had available to her. "Remember Banana?"

"The lawyer?"

Cadance nodded

"I gave him some advice, but told him to go screw himself."

Cadance suspiciously stated, "You're being very forthcoming right now."

Silver shrugged, "It's a short walk." She smiled, and gave Cadance a knowing look while bouncing her mane, "Why don't you go for a bigger question?"

???

"Tack & Co.?"

Silver let out a stomach laugh.

"Okay, well, firstly, why is that so funny?"

Silver, her laughter tapering off, said, "I was gonna do this whole thing, but whatever, just remove the 'and'"

"The and?"

Tack Co-

Cadance shook her head, "Wait..."

"Oh come on, not even a laugh?" Silver pouted

Cadance shook her head again, "Did you... spend however many bits, organize a nation wide cooperation, and create however many hundred jobs just to get me to say taco?"

Silver struggled not to burst out laughing.

"You're completely insane." Cadance stared off into space.

It is kinda funny...

"Yes and no." Silver answered, the mirth gone from her voice, "The name was spontaneous, but the company is the crux of my plan to destroy The Empire."

Cadance raised an eyebrow, "Destroy? I find that hard to believe."

"Believe it sister."

"You're just telling me that you're planning to destroy the Crystal Empire?"

"Yup."

They walked silently, turning down the last street to Silver's home. Silver avoided Cadance's gaze, boring into the side of her head.

Cadance started, once she collected her thoughts, "Even if that is true, why tell me?"

"It'll be more challenging if you try to stop me." Silver said, without turning, focused on her house off in the distance.

"Do you find the back and forth entertaining?"

"Not really, I honestly find the whole charade exhausting."

Cadance desperately asked, "Then why do it? Why do any of this? Why the dark magic? Why the... the... manipulations? The company, becoming a noble, what is it all for?"

Silver just shook her head, "All that and you only ask the right question right at the end the walk."

Cadance gestured forwards, "Uh! No! We've still got at least a block." Hoping to drag anything out of the smaller mare.

"Fair enough, I can't argue that." Silver tapped a hoof to her chin, "Why?" She said rhetorically, drawing the moment out as long as possible. "I guess you can fully place the blame on Luna."

Cadance rolled her eyes, "What, Luna made you do this?"

"I'll give you a leading question, to finish off the whole thing. I'm feeling generous." They came to a stop on the grass of Silver's yard. "Luna had an idea of how this," Silver gestured between the two of them, "would go. She wasn't entirely wrong either, but in case you haven't noticed, she chose" Silver dramatically leveled her hoof at Cadance, "You."

Silver's face morphed into a frown, "I'm not a friendship problem. Luna knew that." She spat the world friendship. After she dropped her hoof, Silver turned and headed for the door, Cadance struck dumb by how quickly the gears in her head were turning.

"Wait-"

"Nope, that's the end of that. I can't give up the whole fish."

Fish? What?

Silver stopped at her door and tapped her hoof, "Mmm... I don't think that's how that phrase goes..."

Cadance trotted up behind her, "Please? Can you at least finish your thought?"

"I just did." She pressed a hoof against her door, the wave of light unsealing the room barely visible in the dark, "You weren't listening." Then Silver entered inside.

Dang it!

Cadance stomped a hoof, still trying to parse what exactly Silver meant. The good news was that Silver had clearly meant something.

"Come in! We are here for a reason after all!" As Cadance approached, "And you lot, we've got a guest! Best behavior now."

Oh right, I can't believe I forgot there were five other ponies living here

As Cadance stepped inside, she was greeted by the 'foyer' again. In addition to a trio of ponies playing cards on the floor, in front of the table. Point Flare, Kayfur, and Riptide

I wonder if all of these rooms are stored somewhere? Or does Silver have to make them fresh every time she dismisses one? Also, why are they all on the floor?

Deciding to voice at least one of those questions, Cadance spoke to the trio of ponies just turning to look at her, "Why are you three on the floor?" The unsaid: 'since there's a couch and a table right there', clearly being the point of the inquiry.

Silver, from the other end of the room admonished, "I know we're here for you, but that doesn't mean you get to interrogate my staff. Let them sit on the floor! Who cares!" She disappeared down a set of stairs

There was a mixed series of greetings from the ponies on the floor, their game forgotten. Riptide was the one who answered her question, "The couch is too hard for us. I don't think Silver realizes we're not five thousand pounds."

Point Flare rolled her eyes, "What he means," She sent him a look, "Is that it's her couch, and she's a lot heavier than we are."

Kayfur unhelpfully shrugged, "I don't mind it."

Well... you are made of crystal...

There was an echo of Silver shouting up the stairs, "Move your rump wings and horn!"

"Better go. It was nice seeing you all again." Then Cadance hastily made he way towards the stairs, carefully starting down them as they were a bit short for her, too deep, and the hallway was just about as wide as she was. Halfway down, the stairwell transitioned from crystal to a dull metal. An oddly dull metal.

Stepping down into the room, Cadance glanced around the numerous objects she had no hope of recognizing.

"Your lab?" She asked, meeting the eyes of Silver at the other end of the room.

"Just about. This is where I kept all my old equipment." She was rooting around in a cabinet, so her voice echoed.

Seeing her backside awkwardly sticking out of a cabinet while she was digging inside for something almost made Cadance forgot who she was. Just for a moment thinking that this was just a normal pony, rather than a fellow immortal. Curious, she asked, "Are you doing that intentionally?"

"What?" Silver pulled her head out from the cabinet and turned around

"Are you... acting so normal? Intentionally?"

Silver's ears perked in understanding, "Oh? Surprised you picked up on that. The short answer is no." Silver looked back to the cabinet to reach into it again, then stopped, looked back at Cadance, then at the cabinet again and made an 'o' face. Flipping her hoof, a wave of cerulean magic swept the room. Silver rolled her eyes, stepped to the side, and opened the opposite cabinet. Using her magic to pull out a scroll and unrolling it.

She studied the spell while speaking, "Would you mind sinking the island? Just grab the rim in telekinesis and push."

Cadance appraised the island in the center of the lab for a second before complying. Initially it felt pretty sturdy, but as soon as the whole surface was wrapped in her aura, she felt some of it's weight shift. Pushing down, she felt it yield, and watched as the table slid down into the floor. It went down a bit further than expected, and a magic cover made of Cadance's signature blue aura covered the floor where the table used to be.

"Is that a hard light projection?"

Silver was still nose deep in a spell, "It uses the telekinetic force to create it."

"Huh." Cadance pressed her hoof against it, testing it's rigidity. Felt like floor.

"Okay." Silver roughly threw the spell off to the side, "Normally I need a platform for this, but I can free style." She took a moment of limbering up, stretching her body out like a cat. Once she was done, she spread her wings open, and then her feathers before twisting them

Her wings spun grossly, the joints clearly designed to do that, but not on any real pegasus. Trailing lines of cerulean light, Silver began to draw out an enchantment in the air.

It was far too complex for Cadance to follow unfortunately, but it was very pretty.

Once Silver was done, the lights began to orientate themselves, snapping together and twisting around each other jerkily, like the interior of a clock. After a few rotations of several of the components, a sparkle appeared over where the table used to be, followed by an expanse of lines and nodes so complex that it looked like an ocean of stars.

"Whoah." If Cadance thought the spell was pretty, than this was absolutely flooring.

"Like it?"

Cadance nodded, "What is it?"

"You're looking at my soul."

Cadance believed her. The sight was indescribable, exactly what one would expect from looking at a soul.

"At least, a projection of it." Silver had stepped out of the spell, and up to the projection. "Watch this." She stretched out a wing, and wrapped it over Cadance's back and pulled her close. There was a warmth in the action that Cadance wasn't expecting, and a flicker of Love passed over the wall that was Silver's mind.

In the spiraling tangle of what a spider would consider clockwork, a little blur of pink movement flashed throughout the nodes and lines, lighting up a section of the projection. Silver closed her eyes and the projection changed, zooming into the particular section as the projection exploded around them.

Cadance watched in stunned wonder as the image settled.

Silver pointed a hoof, gesturing vaguely at a cluster of nodes, "That's you."

"Huh?" Cadance looked from Silver's hoof to the projection, not having a response ready.

"Souls connect to things, it's what they do. That's what you look like to my soul." Silver pointed again at the cluster, then squeezed Cadance again. The nodes lit up again, one of them practically burning, sending a cascading affect of pink spiraling throughout the nodes around Cadance like fireworks.

"That right there." Silver pointed to the burning node, "Is your connection to Love. Your divine aspect."

"Why is it..."

"Here? In my soul?" Silver finished her question, "It's because where ever you go, you take your divine aspect with you. It even affects me, such is its power."

"This is beautiful."

"Geez. You really know how to talk to a girl."

Cadance shook her head and stepped from out underneath Silver's wing, "Aaaand you ruined it." Despite herself, she couldn't help but smirk.

Silver laughed, and the projection lit up again, far off in the distance. She waved a hoof and the projection shrunk down into a point again. "Sorry, I got a little distracted. I may have wanted to show off a little." Silver stepped to the side. "Here, go stand in the spell, it'll scan you, and I can actually get to work."

Cadance nodded, walking over to it.

"Oh!" Silver exclaimed, and Cadance turned her head, "Do you mind if I record this? It may be useful in case anybody else get's pregnant with an immortal, or if another immortal is trying to conceive."

"Uh"

"I'll ask you before sharing and all that, it's your body and baby after all." Silver said the statement like it was completely innocuous, but Cadance was, at least at the time, sure that such a thing was what Silver would just do without asking.

It seemed a little out of character for her is all. In fact, the whole night seemed a little out of character for Silver.

What was that hug by the way? Don't forget about that.

"Yeah, go ahead." She nodded, stepping into the spell.

Silver was right behind her, and started making adjustments to the swirling arcane symbols floating around in the air. "Okay, you're definitely going to feel a tingle, please don't blow up my basement."

"Is that a possibility?" Cadance concernedly asked

"Alicorn souls are known to be explosive when directly stimulated." Silver said nonchalantly, spinning the spell into action.

Cadance shuddered, letting out an involuntary 'oooo' noise as it felt like the opposite reaction for which suddenly standing under an ice cold shower, but from the inside, and if it were warm. She couldn't help but twitch slightly, a sparkle of magic leaking from her horn.

"Okay, we're going to have to try that again."

"What happened?"

Silver continued physically fiddling with the spellwork.

I wonder how she makes enchantments physical like that? It'd be a wonder if spell casters could work with their magic tactilely, like she's doing.

"This spell is rated and tuned for me." She twisted her hoof, and a spell circle grew, it's features deepening into more copies of itself. "I've never used it on an Alicorn before, of which have fundamentally different souls. It's like the reverse of using an oven to cook toast."

Cadance, trying to keep herself still in the spell evenly said, "I'm struggling to understand that analogy."

"Your soul is the oven. Mine is a toaster. The spell is the bread."

Cadance laughed in her head as she worked out the details, "So it's doable, but more delicate?"

"Yeah. The image is going to be wonky, but it's okay because..." Silver adjusted a few more things, "We only need..." The spell began to spin again, a ring appearing around Cadance, spinning in the opposite direction of the rest of the magic, "One section."

Cadance felt the tingle again, this time able to suppress her shudder at the far less intense sensation. The ring around her started sparking blue and pink as it spun... oddly enough, there was a hint of gold mixed on the interior of the line that Cadance could barely make out.

"Alright, hold still, it's going to have to stay active while I look."

"Okay... So what is the point of doing this?"

Silver went over to the projection, and began spinning a smaller version around, inspecting it by orientating it in different directions. "The short answer is that souls are smart. Alicorn souls are wise. If your magic jumping up is an issue, it's because it's a defense mechanism for something that's gone wrong, that'll be easily noticeable in this projection, since it's stimulating and projecting the same base that your soul is operating on." She spun around the projection again, watching it intently.

"I'm definitely seeing the thaumic jump. Nothing damaged though." She hmmed to herself, "This is interesting though."

"What did you find?"

"Oh nothing yet. I've literally never looked at an Alicorn soul like this before, it's going to take me a moment to get my bearings..." Silver trailed off in confusion

"Silver?"

"..." She kept orientating, and looking.

"Is that a bad silence or a confused silence?" Cadance let the worry seep into her tone.

"I honestly shouldn't be surprised seeing something so new. I mean-" Silver looked over her shoulder, "I'm looking at something that's never happened before, why am I so astounded?"

Cadance shot her rhetorical question a 'mother' look

"Right." Silver twirled her hoof, "Well... Let me check another thing, just to be certain."

"You said nothing was wrong. Is that still true." She told, not asked

Silver nodded, "You and your baby are totally safe. This is probably natural for an alicorn."

"Go on?" Cadance said, no willing to partake in the back and forth anymore

"Your filly, and it is a filly, sorry for spoiling that, is about seven months old."

Cadance's head tilted, "I'm sorry?"

"Yup. You're visibly pregnant with a soul of about seven months of age. Which is technically not possible, however, my best guess for cause is that the divine aspect your child carries necessitated a soul built around them."

"Please Silver, I need a simpler explanation."

Silver waved her hoof, and the magic in the room died, just a single flicker, and everything went out. "Normal new souls start from scratch, grappling at their mother's for facets and details that originally make them up. It's why most pony offspring are female, soul memory and body physicality shape each other in tandem." Silver paused, waiting for Cadance to nod, when she did, Silver continued, "Your child, is connected to an aspect of Eternity, and had no such restrictions. Her soul grew far faster than a regular child's and your body was seemingly expecting that. I give you an estimate of going from showing to gravid in weeks, rather than months."

Silver by now, was standing next to Cadance as she spoke, "I'd need to do a bit more work, but guesswork implies that she'll start rapid cell growth on par with Alicorn regeneration within the next few days. It looks like you're due in about two and a half."

Cadance's eyes, which were opening wider and wider as Silver went on, shot open and she shouted, "Two and a half WEEKS?!

"No, no, two and a half months." Silver clarified, her mane blown backwards in a comical position as she stood in place unperturbed by The Royal Canterlot Voice.

Cadance fell backwards onto her flanks, staring off into space.

"The good news is t-"

"Silver?"

"Yes Little Princess?"

"Shut up."

"Shining Armor!"

Cadance burst through another set of doors, shouting for her husband. Her mane was fritzy, and her wings were spread. Several ponies who knew where the stallion was had already refused to tell Cadance for fear of being involved in what looked to be the moments before Shining's death.

Angry Alicorn wives are scary.

That being said, Cadance wasn't angry, she was panicked, baring the spiraling thoughts spinning through her head, the only cohesive surface thought that could be pulled from her mind was:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Cadance continued bursting into halls and startling the staff, trying to subconsciously piece together how she was going to do anything within the next two months.

"Cadance!"

Her head snapped to the side, Shining Armor running down the hall with objects in his telekinetic grasp that Cadance didn't take the time to look at before hard warping both of them up to their room. Cadance appeared on the bed, and Shining's run took him tumbling over the back board with an 'oof'

Recovering, Shining quickly began asking, "What's going on? Is the Empire under attack? Is it Silver?"

Cadance didn't mean to, which was how she looked at it, but all that came out her mouth was broken stuttering as she began to ball her eyes out. Shining, being an intelligent husband, initiated a hug and mane strokes within the next crucial three to two seconds.

All Shining had to work with at the moment was Cadance's blubbering with tangible phrases like 'I'm not ready' and 'what are we going to do' and 'Its too much' filtering out in-between her crying. Duitifully, he shifted his weight to allow her to lean into him, and continued to stroke her mane back into it's normal wavy shape, albeit, shorter.

Shining's soldier eyes snapped to movement at the door as Silver quietly stepped inside, a series of large poster sized paper held in her wings. She lifted a hoof to shush Shining's initial question of alarm, and held up the first poster card.

"We found out that Cadance is due in two months."

She then flipped to the next one

"She's understandably freaking out about it."

Shining waited for the next card as it came,

"Baby is safe, so is she, but the lack of hormones is going to be changing soon."

Then the last one

"Good luck."

Silver put the cards back under her wings and gave noncommittal salute before leaving the way she came in.

Shining continued to hold Cadance, now equally stunned. Rallying himself, he pushed the thou- he tried to push the thought out of his mind and comfort his wife.

It was a rough night for them.

Interlude: Fall for it

Author's Note

For the sake of not displaying the full extent of my insanity, Silver's thoughts are not written out in this chapter about some stuff that happens off screen to Cadance's perspective.

Interlude: Fall for it

Quick Silver was stood in a fanciful garden along a crystal flagstone path, walking up to a mansion of seemingly modest proportions in comparison to the alternate shapes and sizes manors tended to take up.

Silver had come through the open gate at the end of the property, at least, it was open now; she actually visibly ogled the garden and its well trimmed grass, and perfectly shaped hedges, running water, exotic flowers and so on.

She approached the pair of semi-circle doors, jarringly placed right at the edge of the building without a veranda or any sort of porch. Then she knocked.

Stepping forwards as the door opened inwards for her, she was greeted by a smart looking grey crystal stallion, who gestured her inside. "Greetings and salutations Ms. Silver, please, her madam Immaculate is waiting in her study for you."

"Why thank you, please lead the way." Silver methodically stepped up from the flagstone onto a strangely soft uniform soft pink crystal, almost like carpet. The doorstallion led her through a short series of turns, then down a grand hallway, up a exorbitantly decorated staircase, and then up to a singular large ornately carved wooden door, which he knocked on.

"Please send her in." Was the quiet response that came through moments after the knock.

The stallion fit his hoof into an invisible hoof hold, and then slid the door into the wall, gesturing for Silver to enter. She did so without fuss, a massive Cheshire smile on her face as she took sight of Immaculate Gemstone sitting at her desk on the interior.

"Immaculate!" She called out, lathering on excitement in tandem with mirth in a way that was clearly sarcastic. The door slid closed behind her, sealing the room.

Once the door was closed, Gemstone put down a pamphlet she was appraising and sent a hard look towards Quick Silver, "You didn't hold up your end of our agreement."

Silver's false smile turned into a false frown as she gave the earth toned mare a once over. Gemstone had done a fine job of concealing her age visually, but Silver could see all the little telling movements of old age. Having been in the position many times herself.

"So we're not playing then. Alright." Silver stepped forwards, pushing an opposite chair out of the way as she lounged on top of Gemstone's desk. "I bet you're wondering why I didn't take any of your resources too, in addition to not doing what I said I was going to do."

Gemstone's hard look remained unchanged, "It was a distraction, to keep me away from Tack & Co."

Silver huffed. "Well, looks like you're a bit smarter than I gave you credit for."

"You'll find that The Empire is far more resilient than you would expect." Gemstone calmly placed her hooves over the table. "I don't know what kind of criminal you are, but it's only a matter of time before you're caught in the act."

Silver laughed a short, sardonic laugh, "I don't think so. My stories are straight, my background is perfect, the only thing you'd ever be able to take me to court for is a suspicious lack of my face in college and high school yearbooks. You don't have the bits to pay for any kind of tech to record me, or my dealings-" At least not any Silver couldn't invisibly disable at range, like the one under the pamphlet on Gemstone's desk, "Face it filly. I'm untouchable."

Gemstone shook her head, "I knew you were prideful, but nopony is untouchable, I'll find the chink in your armor and take you down just like everypony else who's stood in my way."

Silver waved her hoof non committedly in response, "Oh I doubt that. Everything has been smooth sailing so far after all."

"Winds change."

"Sure they do." Silver's smile was back in full force, "Say, what is it you hope to achieve, by interrogating me?"

Silver took note of the invisible setting of Gemstone's shoulders as she spoke, "I want no information from you, I know your likes, petulant business mare. I invited you here to offer you a warning."

"Ooo, do go on."

She did, "The Crystal Empire has seen far worse than you. The Crystal Maidens, Empress Glacier, the Yeti barbarians, you will fail." She ended simply, her expression still unchanged.

"Hmmm..." Silver tapped a hoof to her chin, still laying across Gemstone's desk, "No, I don't think so. It's interesting that you knew what to threaten me with though, I'm surprised you're old enough to remember the Crystal Maidens."

Gemstone responded with, "Even Sombra fell, the screaming child never truly had a hold over The Empire, only what we gave him, you will fall just like any tyrant."

Silver glared back, her eyes not matching her glib expression, "I am quite sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you have it all backwards. I'm not going to take over your stupid little country." Silver flipped a hoof, "It's like you said, I'm a business mare. I saw an opportunity, a weakness, and I capitalized."

"Then you were fooled."

Silver ignored her, "No, because if I were going to take over your dying culture, I'd need several other degrees. I'm going to destroy The Empire." Silver said it calmly, placing her hooves gently on the table, "I'm going to gouge every single last bit from this eyesore in the north, and turn whatever's left into a tourist attraction so Equestrians can come and point in excitement at where your people used to be."

Gemstone steepled her hooves in front of her, "Then you've made your intentions clear, and the full might of the Crystal Ponies will come for you."

Silver leaned into Gemstone's face, the elder crystal pony not budging an inch, even though Silver could see the telltale signs of her curse just beneath Gemstone's eyes. "When I'm done mangling your pathetic city, I'm going to retire to a twenty acre estate with beautiful gardens, and then build an amusement park around it."

"Get out."

"You wanna know what I'm gonna call it?" Her tone came out even, deep and menacing.

"Get out."

"Heh." Silver shook her head and then backed away from the table. "Be seeing you then." Silver turned, and opened the door herself, startling the grey stallion waiting outside. She pretended that her sensitive hearing didn't pick up on the Gemstone's hooves shaking as she left. She pretended that she didn't hear Gemstone burst into confused tears as Silver shut the door behind her.

And after the grey stallion led her back down the exorbitantly decorated staircase, through the grand hallway, and past a series of short turns and Silver was standing back outside in the garden; Silver looked up to the structure sitting on a twenty acre spot of land, set her jaw and somberly said, "I'm very sorry about that little one. With hope, you won't ever have to go through that again."

Then she walked off.

Silver oddly looked at the closed sign hanging on the opposite side of the crystal glass door, peering past it to see moving boxes, trolleys, and other equipment of the same ilk.

She was currently in the residential district 'roundabout midday, when there was very little hoof traffic. She knocked on the door vehemently, hoping somepony was inside. Of course, this being Silver, she already knew of the two ponies inside, and was merely knocking like a lunatic to let the two ponies know she wouldn't be leaving.

Eventually, a cream coloured crystal mare, no older than twenty years old came to the door and wrenched it open, "Excuse me miss." She said tersely, "But we're closed."

Before the mare could slam the door closed again, Silver stuck her hoof into the doorframe, "That's exactly why I'm here." Her phrase gained her a confused look from the young mare, and she continued, "I noticed your shop has been closed for the last couple of days, and I grew worried you were closing for good, that's not the case is it?"

The cream coloured crystal mare frowned, and sadness filled her voice, "I'm sorry ma'am, but yes, we're closing for good."

Silver shook her head, "Well that just won't do. If I can have a moment of your time, I believe I can offer assistance, though I will say it may not be what you're looking for. It's only what I can offer."

The mare's confused look intensified, "What kind of help?"

"A business deal. I'm an accountant from Equestria, working for Tack & Co. They have a program that can re-open your shop."

The mare frowned as soon as Silver said 'Tack & Co.' She turned her head back inwards to the building, and bit her lip. She opened the door slightly as she thought, before pushing it open all the way. "I'll hear you out."

Just as Silver stepped inside she said, "Thank you, what's your name by the way miss?"

"Creamy Freeze."

Silver internally laughed at the name. "Well happy mid-day to you, I hope I can help you."

"Thanks" Creamy said tentatively as Silver stepped inside and looked around.

Snapping her head back to Cream, Silver sat back on her haunches and began talking with her voice and hooves in tandem, "So! In short, there's a local stimulus program going on for businesses getting outplaced by Tack & Co's industry."

"Outplaced is a kind of word for it." The mare grumbled

Silver's voice went soft, "Now I know, it's... well, it came to the regional department's attention when local businesses started to shut down. We probably shouldn't've done those ad campaigns. Given the locals a chance to slowly acclimate to our delivery services. I'm sorry for the damages it's caused you."

The mare's ears did that pony thing where they go from being floppy when they're dejected, to being perky when they're happy. Cream clearly liked, or at least accepted the sympathy.

"That's why this program exists at all." Silver continued, gesturing with her hooves, "The premise is that we begin buying your products at a discount, and selling them elsewhere in Equestria, in exchange, the discount percentage we get from you, is the percentage of the cut of profit we give back to you from what we sell." She made a chopping motion, "If we buy your products at twenty percent off, you get twenty percent of any profits we make when selling your products, antiques will sell excellently, especially with our safety packaging."

Cream was mulling over the idea with more and more visual hope, "What's the percentage?"

"Uh-" Silver's hooves stopped their motions momentarily, "Well, that's- rather, I don't know, I'm not part of that department. I can help you set up the paperwork, but I think it's a fluid rate, you'll be able to discuss the details and decide what works best for you."

"That..."

"In addition, there's a stimulus, a sort of incentive to take the deal, and an apology for the financial damages we caused the area."

"How big of a stimulus?" Cream lilted her voice with curiosity and suspicion.

Silver gestured at the shelves, and the comically large number of them that said 'sale!' or 'Fifty Percent Off!' "Enough to bring your prices back up to what they used to be. One of our ponies will want to look at your papers, and calculate your loss; it'll probably be around whatever that number is."

Cream was smiling now, "This sounds too good to be true!"

"If it sounds it, then it probably is." The large crystal stallion decided to make his presence known, finally. Silver faked turning around in surprise. "What's the catch?"

Silver's ears folded down, "Well... I'm sure you already understand, I take it you own the antique store?"

The stallion shook his head, "Used to. It's been Cream's responsibility for the past year, once she was old enough." He gave Silver a suspicious look, "And yeah, I do understand, what you're saying is that we'd be reliant on Tack and Co selling our goods. If your people fail, we fail."

Silver nodded, "It's not perfect, and I know it's not... I know I can't just undo what we've done. It hurts to know the amount of good ponies that we accidentally forced their business from."

The stallion nodded along as Silver spoke

"It's what I can offer though. That's all I can do, would you please at least consider it?" Silver pleaded

The stallion and mare shared a short visual conversation between themselves over Silver's shoulder. Silver waited for them to get halfway into that conversation before interrupting, "And you obviously don't have to agree to anything right now, I can get you in touch with somepony, and you can look over all the details yourself."

"Well..." The stallion started, "I guess there's no harm in just looking at what you're offering."

Silver clapped her hooves and spread her wings in fake excitement, "Great! Should I-" She was interrupted at the large stallion pointing his hoof in Cream's direction. "Oh," Silver turned to Creamy, "Should I get you a card? Or, I can have somepony swing by in an hour or two?"

Cream nodded, "In an hour, please, and thank you."

Silver nodded in tandem and stood to shake Creamy's hoof, "Of course, I'm glad to help."

Then Silver ducked out the front door while waving goodbye. After Silver's senses told her that Cream had gone back into the store room in the little antique shop, Silver let out a sigh as she looked up through the Heart's shield at the sun.

"Just after noon. Yeah." Silver shook her head and began trotting off at a near galloping pace, "I've got five more of those in me."

Silver was in a park, taking a leisurely stroll beneath some of the local crystal flora. Blades of near florescent glass stalks of grass glinted in the sun, a beautiful contrast to the deep onyx crystal flagstones.

Silver looked around ambivalently, her gaze passing across the scenery until it settled on a bench just off to the side of the path ahead. She smiled, and approached it, making a show of finding the sight charming, and taking a seat.

She lounged calmly, her head still pivoting around.

"Check." She said, into the air

"Check" Came another voice, from somewhere.

"Direction clear." Silver monotoned, her lips barely moving as she continued to impassively look around.

"Copy." Came the voice from no where again.

"I have a message I need delivered. To your Queen."

The invisible voice spoke again, "She won't like that."

"Did I ask you to talk back to me?"

Silence. Silver nodded to herself as the moment passed.

"I need her to meet me at the fourth drop site. One league north outside of the portal. Thursday morning at sunrise. Make sure you emphasize the importance."

"Understood."

Silver stood from the bench and continued down the path, once she was out of earshot, Silver smirked, "One more distraction."

Nopony was nearby to see what happened, but within the next minute, the bench was gone.

"Here you go, Ivory." Slick Quire planted a massive three ringed binder on a fold out table

"Wow."

Slick chuckled aloud, "I know." She patted the binder and its contents, "This bad boy's got everything you'll need to formalize the origination of your staff, all copied and stored in the relevant locations."

Easy Morning gave a comedic whistle, "It's even bigger than the one she gave me."

Ivory pulled the thing across the table and flipped it open, "There's even a table of contents!" She smiled at Slick, "Thank you, you have no idea how much of a help this is."

"Nothin' to it. I mean I am getting paid, so you know." Slick made an exaggerated shrugging gesture.

"Still. We can't thank you enough, you managed to whip this whole castle into shape in no time flat." Said Easy.

Slick laughed, bumping hooves with Easy as Ivory continued flipping through the binder, "Easy now Easy, you wouldn't want my ego blowing out of my ears do you?"

The two shared an additional series of chuckles. Ivory said, "Once we have all of this presented to the staff, we should be able to begin the subdivision work right?"

Easy nodded, "I've already got the ball rolling on that, tomorrow, the palace should be moving like a pair of greased up gears."

Slick mimed looking at a watch, "Well you two, break time's just about over, I've got work to do."

"Okay" Said Ivory, Easy just gave a wave, Ivory continued, "See you around Slick."

Slick let off an exaggerated salute and a cocky smile as she left their impromptu meeting room, she transitioned from Slick Quire back into Quick Silver in less than an instant. "Glad that went just as quickly as I needed it to." Before wandering off into the depths of The Spire.

A recreation of that particular event where a small horse easily described as 'pink' knows an important detail about the subject of the chapter, part one

Author's Note

I wasn't originally going to include Quick Silver in the next chapters, but without her, it kinda just felt like copying and pasting the episode into text from Cadance's perspective. I included Silver on a whim, and I liked how it turned out, so that's how it stayed.

A recreation of that particular event where a small horse easily described as 'pink' knows an important detail about the subject of the chapter, part one

"Shining!"

"Just a second!"

Cadance continued throwing things into the pair of suitcases.

I can organize things later

Shining came trotting out of the bathroom at speed. "Alright, I'm good."

"Have you seen my crown?" Cadance asked, still trying to figure out what they'd need to bring.

Shining shook his head, "Isn't it with your peytral and shoes?"

Cadance made a face, "Yes, but I don't know where those are either!"

"I'll go check your office." Shining dashed out of the room

"Wait!"

He poked his head back inside, as Cadance stuttered, "Can you- my paperwork, uh-" She exited the room, "New plan, I'll check my office, you pack the bags."

With that Cadance, never forgetting she could fly, took wing and made pace to her office. As she arrived, she dove through the doors past Amber who lifted a hoof to try and get her attention "goodmorningambersorryreallybusy!"

Cadance swept the room for her regalia first, it would be easier to find than the stacks of paperwork she needed to look through on their little trip. Spotting them laying in a discarded pile next to her desk, she magicked them over and slipped them on.

Amber stepped inside as she was midway through dressing herself and pulling papers off her desk, opening drawers at random.

I need to be more organized

"Princess Cadance?"

Speaking over her shoulder, "Is it important?"

She could feel Amber wilt ever so slightly at the question, but nonetheless Amber responded, "Yes, the summit got rescheduled to Monday, Princess Luna apparently is feeling quite ill."

Cadance turned to give Amber her full attention, "Wai-oh, so I only have the Maretonia visit?"

Amber shook her head, "That's next week."

Dang it!

"Oh no! I already told Shining that we-" She stomped a hoof as she collected all of the papers floating in her aura, surprising herself with her own telekinetic dexterity, "Nevermind, what else is there to do today?"

"Nothing Princess, I knew something was going on so I-" Amber gave an apologetic smile, "I hope you don't mind, but I cleared your schedule for today."

"You did?" Cadance beamed, "Really?"

Amber confirmed with a nod.

"Oh Amber! That's perfect!" Stuffing the papers into her mane, Cadance gave Amber a quick hug

"Just doing my job." Amber mumbled quietly

"Thank you!" Cadance ran out the door calling out, "You're getting a raise when we get back!" Dashing back down to her room, she quieted her golden shoes clacking against the crystal floor by taking flight once more.

She burst in, "Shining!"

"Cadance?" He gave her a once over, "Good, you found them, do you think we should take an-"

"Hold that thought" Cadance had fully entered the room, and walked up to where the suitcases and a menagerie of items were strewn about their bed. "The summit got moved to Monday."

"Sweet!"

"And I may have forgotten that the trip to Maretonia was next week."

Shining frowned, "Oh, well... I already sent the second letter."

"Do you think we can beat it there?"

He shook his head, "Twilight won't mind."

Cadance sat back and cradled her head in her hooves, "I know, I know. Just trying to think of everything so we don't miss anything."

"Hey, don't be like that." He stepped over to her and gave her a squeeze, throwing his left leg around her shoulder so she could press into his chest.

"Can we even be a functional family? If this is how-"

"Uh-uh. None. Not. Nadda." He punctuated his interruptions by poking Cadance on the nose, "We're gonna be a great family, and you're gonna be a perfect mom."

"Okay. Okay; I just-" Cadance took a deep breath, pushing her hoof out, and exhaled while bringing it back in. "I'm okay. It's just been a fast morning."

"It was a fast night too."

Cadance interrupted before his smirk could turn into words, "If you joke again about me thinking I was fat, I'm going to bite your ears off."

His smirk intensified, "I didn't say anything."

"Ugh, stallions."

He deposited a kiss just over her horn as they broke the awkward hug.

"So to recap, you're totally free for the day, and we're going to show up today rather than tomorrow, even though we said tomorrow, instead of today, in the second letter we sent last night, once we realized we had things to do in the morning?"

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." Cadance glanced at their pile of luggage. Or luggnot at the moment. "Did you send a letter to your parents?"

"Pfft, no." Shining made an apt face, "What am I going to say? Congrats, you two thought you'd never be grandparents, but actually you will, and it's happening in three months?"

"We need to go see Fair Treatment again."

Shining turned away, "I'll go write it down."

"Wait, don't you have a meeting to get to!?"

Shining stutter stepped in place, "Crud! You're right, you leave the note, I'll try and go handle that as fast as possible." Making his way to the door he said, "I'll be back!" Then exited at speed.

"Okay."

Cadance looked around the room, trying to slow her mind. It felt like everything was moving on it's own, even though it was all stationary.

I just need to calm down. Calm down Cadance... Caaaaaaaaaaaalmmmmmmmmmmm

She took another deep breath, and let it out.

"Luggage first, then note."

The activity was a mix of putting paperwork and binders in the right positions to not get ruined while in the suitcases, but still in some kind of order, while also fitting toiletries and other such requirements for travel. The jar with the 'anti-void-creature-ointment' for Cadance, now about half empty, went in the suitcase as well, even though Cadance new she probably wouldn't need it.

Then came the note, quickly jotting down 'go back to the hospital for a checkup' onto a piece of paper and then leaving it under her pillow, she shifted to turn back to her suitcases while the gears started turning in her head.

Silver might be able to get us there earlier...

She idly continued packing as the idea crossed her mind

I could just send her a letter, odds are she can just send us there no problem, worst that could happen is she says no right?

Abandoning her passive project, Cadance penned a letter, a simple one with her request. Instead of sending it immediately though, she left it on the bed next to the suitcases.

By the time she was finished, Shining still wasn't back yet. So she went to the bathroom, did some personal maintenance and tidied up their room while she waited in her half anxious 'needing to do something' state.

Eventually, her wayward husband returned, satchel at his side. "Sorry, I had to pick up some work at my office too."

"No problem, look at this." She levitated the note over to Shining.

He read it, "Think that could work?"

"I don't see why not?"

"You think it's worth it?"

"I wanted to ask you to decide."

Shining nodded, "Send it."

Cadance smiled at his support, despite his clear reluctance. Cadance did so, sending the letter away in a flash of blue electro-magic.

Shining started, "While that's happening, how goes packing?"

"I'm done, unless you can think of anything else we might need?"

He shook his head, "So it's just hurry up and wait then."

"Think we can still catch the noon train if Silver says no?"

"Probably, we'll just have to take the expressway."

Cadance tilted her head slightly, "Can you make a teleport that far?"

"I'll just do two jumps if we-"

The sound and then sight of the return letter coalesced in front of them as a strip of oddly white paper appeared in front of Cadance. She grabbed it in her levitation and flipped it around.

'I am in the middle of something, but I've wanted to meet the new Elements of Harmony for a while. Please hold for a few minutes, I'll be right there.'

Cadance made a face and turned the note around for Shining to read

He was just as incredulous as she was concerned, "Wait, does she think we were inviting her?"

It may be too late for that now

"It shouldn't be too bad, Silver's not a bad pony." She tried to convince herself

"Just dragging along Silver to stay at Twilight's for the weekend is a ridiculous idea."

Cadance gave a low chuckle and frowned, "Well are you gonna tell her?"

Shining just stared off into space. "Fair point, but I'm not going to let her ruin our trip, or the surprise, or the scavenger hunt."

"I'm sure if we just ask her to keep a low profile she will without complaint. She's not-" Cadance's mind shoehorned in a series of facts that made her realize a few things.

Shining, noticing Cadance's thoughtful look, asked the question, "What's that face mean."

Cadance rolled her eyes, "I just realized that Silver lied to me about hiding in the Crystal Empire."

"What do you mean?"

"She said the only reason she was here in particular was because the shield blocks the magic Celestia would use to track her down, except, we've been leaving the shield constantly. She probably used it as a cover so I wouldn't think she could leave. Dang it..." Cadance lightly stomped her hoof, her voice getting quieter as she explained aloud.

Two knocks sounded out on their door. Cadance and Shining shared a look before Shining used his magic to open the door.

Yup... That's what she thought

Silver was stood out in the hallway with a... green bandana around her mane, which was tied up into a tight bun. She was wearing boots and generally looked like she was about to go camping, what with all the supplies tied around her back.

"Hey Little Princess, Armor." Silver tilted her head in greeting.

"What are you wearing?" Shining said, more confused than annoyed.

Silver shrugged as she stepped inside. "I didn't get much warning."

"Tell me about it." Cadance grumbled

Silver's tone turned serious as she stepped inside, "I went over the data I collected while you were sleeping, you'll be fine; and if you want another checkup, just ask."

"What I don't understand is why you seem to care so much."

"Well Shining Armor, you could say I have a vested interest in Cadance's offspring." Silver turned slick, striding up to Shining menacingly. Shining stepped away

"Liar." Cadance called her out on it straight away.

"Me?" Silver held a hoof to her chest in mock offense, "Never!"

"You lied about being able to leave the Empire." She said sternly

Silver stood up straight and looked at Cadance in confusion, before crossing her eyes, "Uhh, what?"

"You told me th-"

"Yeah, I remember that, it was a joke..." She tilted her head, "Did you seriously believe that? I held a conversation with Celestia without being discovered, what? Cadance? Really?"

Cadance began to blush, realizing the context of the blunder, "Okay, okay, I get it. It's not lying if it's blatantly obvious."

"Well at least you listened to something."

Shining spoke up, slightly staring off into space, "This is incredibly strange."

Silver poked him in the side with her wing, "Get used to it boyo, you're about to be a mom, your life is definitely going to be strange from here on in."

"Dad. I'm going to be a dad."

Silver looked at him in confusion, "Oh. Right, sorry, I forget."

Cadance huffed in mild amusement as Silver waved him off, wondering if she had forgotten the word dad, or was insinuating that her husband was a mare.

Silver pulled on the strap that covered her chest, situating the bag on her shoulder, "So! Shall we be off?"

"Sure. Honestly, I didn't invite you-"

"I know."

Cadance didn't stop despite the interruption, "But I don't mind you coming along if you want to."

Shining raised his hoof, "I kinda mind."

"Nobody asked you."

Cadance diplomatically said, "Just please try to keep your head low? Keep a low profile? This is really important to us, we really want to surprise Twilight."

Silver gave a serious nod, "I got it, don't worry. You won't even notice I'm there."

"My request isn't an excuse to go overboard though." Cadance added in concern.

"Got it. No memory wipes." Silver nodded her head again with the same serious expression

Shining gave Cadance his, 'this is a bad idea' look. Silver turned and made her way to the door, opening it, and then holding it for the other two, who were just looking on.

Silver, confused by the looks, questioned, "What are you two waiting for? Let's go? The noon train is leaving like... now, I'm pretty sure."

"Can't you just... get us to Ponyville immediately?" Shining asked.

"Well... yeah, but I would have had to set up a portal there first." Silver reached into her bag and pulled out a tiny golden ring.

Cadance approached, hoping to get a look at the artefact, Silver pocketed it before she could though. "Is that how that works?"

"Yes."

"What about that... Launch? Spell?" Cadance said tentatively, looking to Shining who only shrugged.

"It would take me longer to set that up for three ponies than the time it would take to just take the train." Silver monotoned, waving out the door, "So let's go."

Cadance looked to Shining again. He spoke while lighting his horn, "I got this."

"Hold on." Silver started waving at herself, cerulean magic surrounding her body as her fur started whipping around in invisible wind. "Lemme make a few adjustments" She said, her voice full of focus as she stuck the tip of her tongue out of her mouth.

Shining's horn passed two layers and Cadance wrapped a wing around him. "Ready?"

"Just a second." The waves of cerulean suddenly tinged with red and sunk into Silver, her eyes turned purple and she opened her mouth and sneezed.

"Excusme. Ready!"

*pop*

The sight of crystal streets greeted Cadance just as-

*pop*

Oh good, the train station.

Cadance adjusted the suitcases floating around in her magic, making sure everything was still in place.

"Toot tooot." Silver whispered.

Before either of the royals had a chance to respond, the train sounded out two toots of its own. Silver smiled a real genuine smile as she bounced on her hooves towards one of the cars. "C'mon you two! This beasty's waiting for us!"

I've never seen her so endearing

Shining gave Cadance an amused look, Cadance just smiled back, Silver's excitement just a little infectious.

Shining broke off to get the three of them tickets while Cadance grabbed their luggage and towed it all onto the train after Silver. Actually stepping past the juncture of cars and into the seating area proper, Cadance spied Silver taking a seat on one of the lounge chairs while doing something with magic. The car was mostly empty at the moment so Cadance hurried to stow their suitcases under the seats.

Silver finished casting a spell, which settled over the area she had chosen to sit, dropping it into a field illusion that made it appear as though nopony was there. As Cadance stepped forwards to sit on the opposing seat, Silver suddenly became visible again.

"What's this spell?"

Silver put a frosty looking gold gemstone back in her satchel and then answered, "It's an inversion of a light bending soulsight spell layered onto a non-tangible field of force. Makes it so that you can't see living creatures from the other side."

"What if anypony else tries to sit here?"

Silver smirked, "That'll be an interesting conversation."

Ah okay, so you don't care.

Cadance settled into her seat and glanced out the window, seeing Shining on his way to board himself. "Will Shining be able to see us?"

"He shouldn't be." Silver pulled out a book and leaned back into the lounge, sitting awkwardly upright while cradling the book in one of her hooves.

Cadance scooted to the edge of the seat and waited for Shining to stick his head into the car, she leaned out of the field and waved him over. He stepped into the field and sat down close enough to Cadance for her to need to spread her wing around him. There was a short lapse of silence as Cadance watched Silver tune out the world, invested in her book.

"What are you reading?" She asked.

Silver didn't look up, "You wouldn't be interested, promise."

Shining laughed, "Remember, this is the mare that foals at Twilight. When it comes to books? Just try her."

"It's a story book"

Cadance shifted on her seat a little. "What is it about?"

Silver's head drooped. "I'm not going to get to ignore your questioning am I?"

"You should just accept it by now."

Shining mused to himself, "I'm kind of interested now too."

Silver sighed, "It's a fantasy story. End of the world, magic plants, wizards, hippogriphs, adventures, all of that."

Cadance made a face, "Really? I didn't... That is I wouldn't've have thought you'd read something like that."

Silver flipped another page, "I'm old. Been around. There's a lot of things you don't know about me."

"You can say that again. We've barely talked and everything you say is a complete enigma to me." Shining joked

"Alright wise guy, you don't have to kiss my flanks." Silver sent Shining a glare over the rim of her book, "I try not to lean into the 'mysterious old mare' theme, regardless of how easy it is."

"Is there one of those in your book?" Cadance asked

"There's a tortured witch that gets possessed by a nature spirit and tries to overthrow the new world order that's slowly erasing the culture of her home." Silver waved a hoof, "But that's more, 'alien intelligence' than 'old mysterious but wise yet neutral entity.'"

"That seems oddly specific, have you read that before?"

Silver just chuckled

"You wrote it?"

Shining bumped Cadance, "How'd you get that from just a chuckle?"

"It was a little obvious from the, 'lots of things you don't know' statement."

"She listens, is what she's trying to say." Silver added

"I'm trying to say it politely though." Cadance corrected.

"It would work better my way"

"That's never been proven"

"My experience says otherwise"

"Ah, but obviously my experience takes from a more favorable data set"

"Sometimes even the inexperienced can glean important information. Perspective is far more important"

"Perspective can be skewed, biased"

"Then it stands to reason that your experience could be too"

"I've had the time to see all of the perspectives"

"How many of those perspectives were flawed?"

"That's not the point."

"Then why bring it up?"
"You brought it up!"
"Because it was relevant!"
"The frame of reference in which information is gained can be used as a feature to determine other frames of reference in which new information can be collected, having more time to do the same thing doesn't necessarily mean that it would happen!"
"But how could you know if what you were understanding didn't affect your next perspective? Change the questions you asked until there was basically a forgone conclusion!"
"All that would mean is that there's more than one answer to the question!"
"That's not what you were implying!"
"I was implying that my way was better, not that yours was wrong!"
"Except that the statement implicatively says that one of those answers is better than the other!"

Silver threw up her hooves, "Well then I guess everybody's wrong about everything then! Geez!" Despite her frustration, Silver still sported a smile. Shining just made a weird gesture in confusion, not having followed any of that.

Cadance burst into giggles, Silver just leaned back into her seat and resumed reading with a smirk, shaking her head in amusement. Eventually when Cadance could contain herself, she asked, "What's it called?"

"Hmm?"

"Your book? What did you name it?"

Silver lifted the book up, "Oh this? It doesn't have a name, I just refer to it as Brallitesck, which is the name of one of the factions in the story." Silver bobbed her head, "And also technically the world, but that's besides the point."

"Tell me more."

"No thanks." Silver frowned, and said in monotone. "I wanted to enjoy my relaxing trainventure. Not spend the whole time storytelling."

Shining spoke up, "Think of it this way. You can tell us, or you can listen to us talk for the duration of the trip."

Silver stared at them over the gap in the seats for a moment before she slammed her book closed and grumbled, "Fiiiiinnnne."

Shining lifted up a hoof to bump with Cadance, she did so. He was happy to get a hoof bump from his wife, the nerd that he was.

"But if anything about it is going to make any sense, I have to start at the beginning." Silver stuffed the book into her satchel, and pulled out another one. "It all starts with a cultist by the name of Song. His best friend, a hunter named Salliminus, and the world of The Empty Sky." Silver flipped the book open to its first page with a flare of magic and layered on a theatrical voice as she began. "So sit, and listen well. For I have a story to tell; a tale that begins not here, but two steps from hell."

A recreation of that particular event where a small horse easily described as 'pink' knows an important detail about the subject of the chapter, part two

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

A recreation of that particular event where a small horse easily described as 'pink' knows an important detail about the subject of the chapter, part three

They should be showing up soon

"Excited?" Shining said from next to her

Cadance felt... Something about this, excitement? Sure, that was in the bubbling cauldron of emotions swirling around in what felt like her chest instead of her head.

"Yes. I'm trying to focus on that, rather than everything else."

Shining nodded, "It'll be worth it to see the look on Twily's face when she figures it out."

"I'm surprised you didn't bring a camera, you were really ready for this."

Shining elbowed her, "Oh yeah, you have no idea. Twilight loved these when she was little, and it meant that only thirty minutes of work would distract her for nearly two hours."

Cadance giggled, "Until she got good at them."

Shining laughed, "And until I ran out of books."

They lapsed into silence, enjoying each other's company until Cadance rhetorically asked, "We're telling her about... the, uh weird magic baby due date right?"

Despite being a funny way to say ‘imminent disaster’ Shining said, "Mhm." While leaning against her.

"Think she'll want to do science on me?"

Shining laughed, "I think she'll want to help."

"Right, right."

They lapsed into silence again.

Cadance smiled when she felt the Twilight approaching with her friends. She had a distinct magical presence to her that Cadance never had the ability to explain. How to explain a sense to someone without it? Imagine if you could touch at a distance, but only in theory? She never tried.

"Here we go." Cadance said, and Shining stood up straight

The bell rang and they exchanged a glance, Twilight and co walked inside, Pinkie Pie pushing through from behind

"Surprise!" Shining trotted up to Twilight and they exchanged their 'sibling greeting'. "Did you like the scavenger hunt?"

Twilight ruffled her wings as Shining mussed up her mane, "It was perfect! Just like how I remember them!"

Cadance moved to the side, blocking the sight of the cake that would give away the whole thing.

"This time I got to share it with my best friends!" Fluttershy landed as Pinkie began bouncing in place, having noticed the cake, the rest were still watching on. Cadance could feel Shining's rising excitement.

"There's just one more thing?" Twilight bumped Shining, "The book prize at the end~?"

Shining chuckled, "There's still a prize..." He backed up to where Cadance was standing, and she shimmied to make sure he could equally block the cake.

Does this technically count as a baby shower? I guess it'll have to...

Cadance missed something Shining said, Twilight made a face, "I don't understand?"

Oh! That's my que!

"Everywhere on Shining's scavenger hunt had something in common."

Nailed it. Now we just have to stick the pose once she figures it out.

Twilight turned away with a 'hmm' and began pacing, "First we went to the schoolhouse." There was a strange buildup of emotion somewhere else in the room that Cadance looked away from Twilight to spot.

"Then we read the foal free press..."

Oh... right, Pinkie...

Cadance watched Pinkie mime out the answer, the girls behind Twilight gasping once they realized what was happening. "After that we found Applejack's birth certificate." Luckily Twilight didn't notice, though Rarity flopped back onto her haunches and covered her mouth in surprise. It seemed like Rainbow was paying more attention to the spread than the puzzle.

"And then the last clue was under a crib..."

Pinkie Pie began steaming like a kettle

is that going to be okay?

"Hmmm... school... foal... birth certificate... and crib..."

Shining nudged Cadance just as the gears in Twilight's head clicked, she gasped and her eyes went wide, "Can it be?!" She looked over, "Are you two-?"

Aaaaaaand-

Cadance glanced to Shining, initiating what they'd planned, they both stepped around the cake and spoke in sync, "We're having a baby!"

Twilight was too shocked to respond, Pinkie wasn't, she was cheering in sheer joy before shooting off like a ping pong ball bouncing around the room. Twilight's face jumped through at least thirteen different expressions before, "I- I'm gonna be an aunt?"

Cadance and Shining just gestured again at the cake

Twilight flared her wings as she reared up, "This. Is. The. Best Prize EVER!"

Her face couldn't have radiated more joy if such a thing were even possible.

Ohmygosh, she's so cute!

The satisfaction of a surprise well sprung and Twilight's reaction sent Cadance into soft laughter, Shining joining in half a moment later. Twilight ran up to them and threw them into a hug. Cadance had to step closer to make sure Shining didn't fall over, but it worked. "I Love you guys!"

She definitely did. Cadance could tell.

Congratulations came from every direction, Fluttershy was beaming and hopping in place, Rarity was stuttering over something, Applejack was stomping her hooves in approval, Rainbow dash...

Rainbow looked away when Cadance glanced at her, she landed and smiled, stomping her hooves with Applejack.

Hmmm.

The cakes joined the gathering with Pound and Pumpkin in tow, the two excited just to be part of whatever was going on. Rainbow dash stalked away as Pinkie Pie exploded into pieces.

"Do you have a name picked out for the little one?" Fluttershy's voice drew Cadance's attention away from her mounting concern that Pinkie Pie had just broken into pieces. Nopony else looked worried, so it was probably normal, a Pinkie thing, her mind eventually decided.

"We haven't even gotten the chance to talk about anything just yet. We only really found out yesterday."

Applejack asked, "Is that why the sudden trip down here?"

Cadance nodded, before she could verbally respond, Rarity interjected, "Oh! When are you due Princess? Hearthswarming?"

Cadance lifted a hoof placatingly, smirking as she said, "Actually, I'm due in two and a half months."

Shocked faces and silence from the three mares. Rainbow from over Shining's shoulder called over their conversation, "Wait wait, wait wait, what did you just say?"

Twilight and the Cakes turned at the interruption, Shining gave Cadance a knowing smirk.

Cadance smiled, "I'm due in two months."

Rarity fainted.

Twilight tilted in place, "What?"

Applejack was the only pony who managed to verbalize a more cohesive question. "Now, you mean yall're giving birth that soon? Or- 'cause you just said you found out yesterday?"

Cadance's smile didn't waver, but her hoof shifted, "We found out a few weeks ago that I was pregnant, at The Gala."

Shining finished for her, "It was only yesterday we found out the due date."

"Oh my..."

"But- Bu-" Twilight stuttered, "How is that even possible!?"

Rainbow added, "And how are you so calm?"

Cadance was getting more suspicious of Rainbow's behavior, the specifics of it. It just felt off to her

That's an oddly specific question to ask...

Cadance chuckled, "Honestly? I let it all out already."

Shining slung a hoof over her shoulder, "Oh yeah, we had a nice long freak out session that night."

Cadance summarized, "It's an Alicorn thing."

"Well if you ain't worried, than all I've gotta say is congratulations Princess."

Cadance giggled, "Please just Cadance."

"Nah, feels right."

"Is Rarity okay?" Twilight said

Fluttershy, who was cradling the mare while Rarity fanned herself with a hoof, rolled her eyes, "She's fine."

Rarity bolted up from her upright lying position, "Fine?! There's so much to do! Two months! How could you cope?!"

"I have an excellent husband."

Shining smiled.

"Darling! You're not even showing yet? Do you have a room? Details! I need Details!"

Everypony shared a laugh at her dramatism. Rainbow broke up the group by declaring, "How about some cake?"

"Alright sugarcube, I guess you've been waiting long enough."

Shining said, "I got this one." The cake was surrounded in a purple glow and was subsequently subdivided into numerous similarly sized cake slices. Thanks were shared, cake was had, and the cakes started playing some music from somewhere. Cadance found herself drawn towards Pinkie, who was reassembling herself.

Despite the whole point of the party, Cadance was glad to have a little bit of the attention taken off of herself. She approached Pinkie, cake in aura, and sat down at the table.

"I'm surprised you managed to keep the surprise a surprise Pinkie." Cadance felt slightly self conscious about saying 'surprise' so many times in a single sentence, but -eh-

Pinkie flipped a hoof after readjusting her mane, "Tell me about it!" She said rhetorically

"Thank you." Cadance inclined her head, "I hope it wasn't too much trouble?"

Cadance inwardly rolled her eyes at her pointless question.

Seeing as that it caused you to explode, I'm pretty sure I know the answer

"Piece of cake!" Pinkie turned her head to the side before shaking in place. That is, her entire body began to vibrate up and down like somepony was shaking her... Really hard.

"Pinkie? Are you okay?" Cadance worriedly asked, not sure if this was normal or something else.

All she got was "DoOozIe!" as the pink mare shook in place, vibrating away from the table while rotating.

Cadance looked away from the sight only to see Shining holding up Twilight as the rest of the mares stumbled around in confusion, like someone had just set off a flash bang. Flopping ears, glazed eyes; then, Cadance felt something graze past her, something else. Like if someone looking at you from behind could be translated into a figure striding past you. The fur on the back of her neck stood up, and she started instinctually backing up in confusion.

Just as quickly as it started, it stopped.

"What in the world was that!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick..."

Shining’s concerned voice cut over the crowd, "Is everypony okay?"

The Cakes had escaped as soon as something started happening, clearly not willing to let their children be anywhere near the scene as soon as something strange happened.

"Dear me, what just happened?"

Cadance came to the same conclusion Twilight did, "The elements!"-"Silver!"

They looked at each other, "What?"-"Wha-" Cadance waved her hoof, "Silver came with us, said she wanted to meet the new elements of harmony." She explained

Pinkie shouted in-between shakes, "The Tree!"

They all shared a determined look between each other, and Rainbow was the first one to kick herself into high gear, flying out the door with a, "Well what are we waiting for!"

Shining turned towards Mr. and Mrs. Cake, who were both worriedly peering out of the back door. "Sorry! We've gotta run!"

Cadance silently joined the fray as they all jumped out into the street. Twilight galloped underneath where Cadance had taken to the sky, "Why didn't you tell me Silver was here!?"

Cadance shouted down as they began nearing the edge of town, "I told her to keep a low profile!"

Shining, at the front of the pack yelled, "Form up everypony! Twilight! Do you think you can guide a teleport?"

Twilight lit her horn, "On it!"

"I think we may be overreacting a little!" Cadance shouted.

Pinkie, bouncing along with them, called out, "If we're going to teleport, why are we all still running?"

Everyone shared a few looks as Applejack slowly came to a stop at the front of the group. Everyone slowing to a stop with her. Rarity panted quietly as she fixed her windswept mane and Rainbow said, "My bad." As they all grouped up around Shining and Twilight. With a couple of shared sheepish looks, they teleported without further ado.

Cadance was first surrounded by the muggier air of the Ever Free jungle as the displacement of force from their arrival moved the air around. Then it was the fern she was standing on, followed by her getting her bearings. Just in front of her and the rest of the group was the gorge that housed the Tree, the bridge, and the castle of the Two Royal Pony Sisters.

Shining looked around, "Not straight to the tree?" He asked Twilight

Who nodded and said, "Just in case there's a trap."

Cadance had a short moment of offense on Silver's behalf before remembering that Silver would definitely do something like that

"Good thinkin' ahead Twi'"

"What's that?" Pinkie asked, pointing over the edge of the gorge. Everyone first looked to Pinkie, then in the direction of her hoof to see a pink balloon float up past the rim of the gorge, up to the trees and then out over the canopy.

Rainbow Dash landed in befuddlement, "Is that a balloon?"

It was; a balloon the same colour as Cadance's fur.

"Huh" Shining contributed

Cadance looked around, which was easy, she was the tallest, "Do any of you mind if I do this myself? Silver's more likely to respo-"

Applejack interrupted, "Lemme stop ya right there Cadance, ain't nopony doing anything alone 'round here."

Rainbow added not the end, "No offense, it's kinda our thing."

I can't argue with that... I mean, I did ask...

Cadance nodded, "Then let's go. Where are the stairs?"

Twilight noted the stairs by walking down them, Pinkie bouncing down behind her, followed by Shining, Cadance, Applejack and Rarity. Rainbow and Fluttershy taking wing and hovering right next to the stairs.

They all quietly walked down the stairs, Pinkie somehow managing to do so while bouncing down each step. As they reached the bottom, Cadance's taller height granted her a view of the Tree's cave and the...

Streamers?

Rainbow, who had flown forwards, verbally questioned the nature of, "What is..." Before trailing off at the sight as they got close enough to see inside.

Strung into and over the rock walls and the ceiling were pink, purple and gold streamers. The floor had a series of flashing coloured tiles in the center, along with cushions and chairs around it. The balloons floated around on an invisible breeze which equally flowed over a banner that read: 'Cadance's Baby Shower'

What

Cadance's mouth slowly opened, as if she had something to say. She didn't, she and the rest of them just stared on until a portal opened off to the side. Silver herself pushed a comically long cart with their cake and other foodstuffs through before coming through the portal herself and sending the onlookers her own confused glance.

"Silver? What is all this?" Cadance asked softly. Silver still clearly heard her though, even over the sizeable distance. Cadance watched Silver's ears swivel around to face her

"Uhhh..." Silver said, hooves still on the cart, "A clever distraction?" Then she snorted, "I was really banking on you all forgetting teleportation to finish setting this all up. Dang it" Followed by an unreadable gesture, "Whatever."

Cadance began walking into the room, straight towards Silver, Silver just watched, not yet realizing what was happening. About a third of the way through the distance, Cadance's smile gave it away.

"Princess... Wait, hey, no." Silver waved a hoof and stepped behind the cart, using it as a shield, as Cadance got closer she lit her horn and spread her wings. Silver continued to protest, "We can talk about this." She tried diplomatically, backing away, even from behind the cart

Cadance grabbed the cart and rolled it out of the way, after, she closed the distance and wrapped Silver in the warmest hug she could manage.

"We talked about the hugging! Ahck!" Silver went stiff as Cadance squeezed, "Seriously Cadance! I'll explode! I'll do it!"

Cadance laughed, but let her go. "I can't believe you sometimes."

Silver stumbled away, glaring with a smile on her face. "Next time, I'm going to tase you."

"Noted."

The rest of the mares, plus Shining, wandered into the party area. Pinkie commented, "Wow, she even got the Tree of Harmony!"

The Tree had a few balloons tied to it, including several streamers, and a painted rock at the base of it.

"Wait, yeah!" Twilight started, breaking out of her confusion, "What did you do to the elements?"

Silver made a face in Twilight's direction, "I asked them for help. Well... The Tree, it's complicated." She waved Twilight off.

"You did call this whole thing a distraction Miss... Maybe a more thorough explanation is in order?"

"Eh, only if Cadance is okay with the spoilers." Silver looked to Cadance for confirmation of that fact, when she nodded Silver continued, "I looked into the future, to see how Cadence's pregnancy would go, with Harmony helping me cast the spell, it was safe."

"You..." Shining started, "Looked into the future?"

"Yeah" Silver said, clacking her jaw.

Cadance started, "Well ignoring that, what did you see?"

Silver made a face like she forgot what she was talking about, "Oh! Right, everything works out. You're loud, she's born, all the normal stuff."

Cadance felt... relief of a kind. Just accepting that everything was going to be fine wasn't really where her head was at. So it felt delayed, like half believing everything was fine, but she still had to do something about it; which, she realized, when it comes to time magic, was probably actually the case.

"She?" Fluttershy said

"Spoilers." She stated, Silver turned to Cadance, "Sorry."

"I don't mind." Cadance said on reflex, even though she was already told.

"Well..." Silver gestured out to the everything, "There's a party, don't you ponies like those?"

Twilight stepped forwards, visually taking the lead for the mood of the room. "How are we supposed to know you're not lying?"

"I could give a detailed description of Cadance's..." Silver trailed off, "You know what? No. I'm not proving it that way, you're just going to have to accept that I'm not."

Applejack made a face, "I dunno, it-"

Silver locked eyes with Applejack, "The sky isn't real." came out as an even statement

She made a face, "Oh... Uhhh..."

"Compelling no?" Silver pointed to a table in the corner, "There's a table there for gifts. I'm gonna go." Silver tossed out her golden ring, opening the portal again.

Cadance interjected herself in between the two, "You're not staying?"

"No." Was all the response she got.

Busy enough to have to go, not busy enough to set it up to begin with.

Cadance moved out of the way, "Okay... See you Thursday."

Silver left, the portal closed. Twilight seemed seriously displeased and voiced as such a moment later, "Cadance! Why did you just let her go?"

Cadance, not ready for the level of vitriol, stepped back, "I- Well, she was going to leave anyways... I just-"

"Hold on." Shining interjected, "Let's not start going at each other."

"Of course," Rarity added, "I'm sure you have a good reason Cadance?"

"I do." Cadance couldn't believe what she was about to say, "I think you all need to put a little more faith in Silver."

Shining raised an eyebrow, "Didn't she tell you she was going to try and destroy the Crystal Empire?"

Cadance sent him an annoyed look, "Shining!"

"Just trying to be the neutral party."

Twilight spoke right after, "We have no idea what she did! Or what it meant... ugh..." She face hooved, before straightening up in surprise, "What does he mean destroy the Crystal Empire?"

"Shining!"

Shining smartly turned away from Cadance to address his sister, "Where's all this coming from Twilight?"

Twilight went through a few expressions before settling on abashed, "Well... Discord told me a lot about... Things"

"That's hardly a good explanation." Rarity said, "Why, every time I've seen you this week, Discord has always been somewhere nearby Darling."

"He talks a lot about you at our tea parties."

Pinkie bounced once, "Yeah! You two have been hanging out a lot!"

Cadance smirked, but shuffled the expression away as Twilight began to flush slightly, "That's not the point. The point is, he opened up to me about his past with Silver, and from what I've heard, she can't be trusted."

Cadance smiled, "I don't think she can be trusted either, but... I still do. Trust her that is."

Twilight's analytical brain couldn't comprehend the logic of that statement, her eye twitched slightly as she tried. Shining, sensing the oncoming argument placed himself in-between the two mares. "Maybe we talk about this tomorrow? Silver is right about something." He gestured at the banner, "Today is Cadance's day, we can celebrate now and worry about all the messy details of the criminal hiding out in The Empire tomorrow."

Cadance walked up next to him and kissed him on the cheek, "It's your day too, you big goof."

"I'll take it."

Pinkie pulled a colourful phonograph from somewhere and excitedly yelled, "Sounds like it's time to party!"

Author's Note

I feel like I struggle with this many characters in a single scene. I always try to support for a balance between realism and focus from Cadance's perspective, while still trying to make each of the characters seem relevant before they do or say important things.

Feel free to make comments on how I executed that, and if anybody's got any tips, please feel free to share.

(Or unrelentingly criticize me, if that's your thing)

Who knew making chapter titles would be so much fun?

"Nope, we still don't have anything prepared." Shining chuckled at Rarity freaking out about every single detail.

Cadance watched on from her spot on a cushion, mid conversation with Applejack and Fluttershy, Cadance took the moment to glance at her husband, just to check on him.

For being the only stallion here after we ditched the cakes... gonna have to go apologize for that later... He's doing pretty good.

Applejack turned to Cadance, drawing her back into the conversation, "Princess, how's the Empire nowadays?"

"It's beautiful as always." Was her simple response to lead into, "Though things have been getting more and more complicated recently."

"I've heard." Fluttershy said

"Really?"

She nodded, "A birdy friend of mine accidentally ended up in Ponyville after going from Trottingham to Manehatten. She was really confused, and I had to explain transportation magic before sending her on her way."

"What's that gotta do with hearin' about the Empire?"

Cadance answered, "It probably has to do with Tack & Co; Silver's front corporation."

"They're not very careful with animals there."

Applejack made a face, "Even I've heard of 'em, taking Equestria by storm. I heard from Granny that Filthy had some kinda business deal going through with them." She tilted her head towards Cadance, "That's her? The mare that was-"

"Yes, that's Quick Silver."

Fluttershy shuddered, "She's scary."

Cadance's mouth folded into a neutral line, "She... is, sometimes. She tries to be." She was more thinking out loud than making a real comment, "Aside from that though, honestly I've had enough of talking about Silver and such. How's Ponyville been? The Farm?"

Fluttershy timidly began with a smile, "Oh. Ponyville has been okay... Ponies are starting to get more used to the strange things that happen around here."

Applejack started, "Remember the Sister Hooves social? Big Mac just put on a dress and everypony looked the other way." She laughed at the tail end in quiet amusment.

Cadance made a face, "He what?"

Fluttershy answered, "Applebloom wanted to attend, but-"

Applejack interrupted, "I wasn't available."

Fluttershy continued after nodding, "So Big Mac dressed up like a mare, with makeup and everything. He went with her instead."

"Did... Was..." Cadance tried to imagine the sight, having only seen Big Mac in passing once, "Nopony said anything?"

"The way I got told was that everypony knew. You can't exactly hide as Big Mac, everypony thought it was cute though, so..." Applejack shrugged as the end of her explanation.

"I wish I could have seen that, isn't he as tall as I am?"

"I think he might be just a little bit shorter." Fluttershy said

This is nice... No talk about world ending entities, just normal inane stories about wacky nonsense

Cadance let out a sigh and picked up her empty paper plate in her magic as she stood up. "I'm going to grab everypony's trash, there's not a can in here, we'll have to take it back with us."

"Okay." and "Sure thing Princess" came from the two of them as Applejack hoofed Cadance her own plate.

As Cadance walked away, they continued talking. She glanced around at the room. Pinkie was spinning on the disco floor with a small alligator and Rainbow Dash, Shining was still messing with Rarity, and Twilight was investigating the Tree of Harmony. She'd expressed her desire to look it over before enjoying the festivities. Walking towards Shining and Rarity, Cadance reached over with her telekinesis to grab Rainbow's plate off the floor. Pinkie didn't use plates.

"Hey you two." Cadance said, striding up to the conversation.

"Cadance!" Rarity said in mock exhaustion, "Your husband is going to be the death of me. Please tell me you two have more planned than nothing?"

Shining just chuckled

Cadance shook her head, "We planned on doing this. Shining made an appointment with the hospital on Monday before we left. After that, well..."

Shining finished for her, "We've had a bunch of ideas bouncing around. I'm sure Cadance already has a plan or two."

"Three, actually." She giggled and Rarity rolled her eyes, levitating her own plate into Cadance's growing stack. "Thank you."

Rarity responded with a quick "Thank you" before turning back to Shining, "So let's talk name-" Cadance tuned out of their conversation as she approached Twilight.

She was concentrating, her eyes closed and her horn lit.

"Anything yet?"

Twilight huffed, her magic went out and she opened her eyes. "No. I don't know what Silver was talking about. As far as my magic can tell, the Tree of Harmony is an immense living enchantment. It's not sapient, it can't be asked things..."

Cadance lifted a wing over Twilight's back, "Maybe it's time to join your friends?" and she tilted her head back towards the party.

Twilight shook her head and stepped away. "You have to be more careful with Silver."

Cadance frowned. "Twilight, I don't want to talk about her." She said with more exhaustion than sternness

"I'm being serious. She's not even a pony."

"I take it Discord told you that?" Cadance smirked

Let's change the subject

"He did." Twilight said slowly, warily.

"What's going on with that then?"

Twilight's eyes darted to the side, "Going on? Nothing, he's just- well, he's been talking to me more is all."

Cadance laughed, "You can't hide that from me Twilight."

Twilight hung her head, "Ugh. Okay, well, something happened..."

"What?" Cadance practically danced, "You've got to tell me."

"I dunno... It's complicated..." She looked away

Cadance took a deep breath and "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaa-"

"Cadanc-"

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"

Twilight let a smile come to her face, "Cadance sto-"

"eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"

"Okay okay!" Twilight waved her hooves at the noise, her ears flapping, "Fine! I'll tell you."

Cadance nodded to herself, job well done.

"He told me he... liked me." Before Cadance could say anything Twilight rolled her eyes, "Yes, like that."

"Oh! Twilight! That's so exciting!" Cadance's glee infected Twilight, as she slowly started becoming more comfortable with explaining.

"I was floored at first." She was going to say something else, but Cadance interjected.

She said knowingly, "He surprised you and you teleported away?"

Twilight flushed red, "I was floored at first." She sternly reiterated, "But we talked... some, about it... He said he'd ask me on a date in a couple decades..."

"A few decades?" Cadance asked, already understanding the time scale of immortals. She asked to be polite.

"I've... got a lot going on in my life right now... I wasn't really sure, that's just what he said." She rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof, "He's been treating me differently. I can tell he's been trying to impress me." She scoffed, "Doesn't stop him from filling my pantry with custard though."

Cadance giggled, "That just means he likes you."

"Oh thanks, glad I know that now." She said sarcastically, they shared a titter between the two of them.

"I'll be around for you to ask advice from once he does; you're right though. Now's probably not the best time."

She probably hasn't thought about how she feels about him... lemme just...

Before Twilight could show her appreciation for Cadance's previous statement, Cadance asked, "What do you think of him?"

"What do I think?" She repeated back

"Uh-huh" Cadance bumped her with her flanks, "Are you interested?"

Twilight flushed and blinked, looking away from the taller Alicorn, "Cadance!"

Cadance giggled at her expense, "Just teasing."

Not really, heh

"Well, don't" Twilight ruffled her wings, smiling in annoyance.

"Noted." Cadance smiled and pointed off onto the disco tiles, where Applejack and Rainbow were dancing against each other, with Pinkie as the referee. "Feel relaxed enough now?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Twilight started walking off towards the three before stopping and turning around. "Hold on, I wanted to check this." Twilight waved Cadance over to a table in the far corner, covered in a pink tablecloth. Cadance followed, not having a reason not to, still trailing her ball of trash.

On the table was a small rectangular white box no bigger than her hoof with a golden stick on bow placed on it.

"What's this?" Cadance asked Twilight as they both came to a stop at the table.

Twilight reached out a hoof and brought the box towards the edge of the table. "I don't know, but it's covered in complex magic."

Cadance raised an eyebrow and reached out for the box. Flipping the top of it off, she glanced at the jewelry inside. A mix between functional and fashionable, the material was clearly metal, but Cadance couldn't determine it at a glance. It was both inlaid with and hung gemstones that glowed on their interior like they had veins, the magic flowing through the filaments of metal interwoven around and inside the gems to a central red and grey perfectly spherical gem sitting in the center.

"Whoah." Twilight leaned her head in to get a better look, "That's... Physical enchantments? Are those runes?"

Cadance lifted the now identified necklace out of the box. It stuck to her hoof as she grabbed at it, the necklace functioning like a magnet. It was light, and very flexible, the metal curved like it was liquid, even though it had very few joints. The gems jingled as they bounced against each other.

"What the..." Cadance muttered in confusion. Even she could feel the magic coming from it.

"There's a note." Twilight used her telekinesis to lift a slip of paper out from underneath the wrapping in the box. Once it was in front of her, Twilight began to read aloud. "Congratulations Little Princess?" Twilight looked confused and muttered, "Congratulations is spelled wrong..."

"It's what she calls me." Cadance clarified.

Twilight shook her head and continued, "This is the best I could rustle up as a gift for your little one. I'm not a particularly good tailor, so I went another route."

"I'll say." Cadance said sarcastically, still awkwardly holding the thing

"To clarify what it is. It's a-" Twilight cut herself off as her eyes bulged, she stuttered out, "A true polymorph charm?"

Cadance's eyebrows lifted, and she magicked away the note and flipped it around to read herself. The writing was rough, like it was hastily written.

Congradulations Little Princess
This is the best I could rustle up as a gift for your little one, I'm not a particularly good tailor, so I went another route.

To clarify, it's a True Polymorph Charm, capable of manifestively applying a combination of conjuration and illusion into transmutation. If you let your filly wear it around her hoof from birth to age, eventually it'll be able to recognize enough of her biology and unique magical signature for her to change shape at will.

Alicorns are very hard to manipulate the forms of. If she's going to be ageless, she'll appreciate having to wear it for as long as it'll take for it to work if it works for her.

Cadance didn't need to read the note over again

She looked at the necklace, or rather, the bracelet and just... continued looking at it.

Twilight tentatively asked, "What's the rest of it say?"

Cadance flipped it around to the top side of her limb, the bracelet moved on its own, the metal shifting its size and length to fit snuggly around her hoof. Immediately, she began to feel the sensation of it scanning her, trying to make sense of what it might have to change.

"It's... It's a long term investment... I think." Cadance said, letting it scan her. Eventually the sensation faded to the point where she couldn't feel it anymore, but somehow she could just still tell it was there. Studiously looking at her until it had everything it needed. It was alive in a way. Complex enough that it had some kind of intelligence.

"What's going on over here?" Shining wandered over with Rarity in tow. Cadance turned her head to see the dance battle heating up, but she turned her attention back to Shining.

Rarity added, "And what is that gorgeous piece?"

"A gift from Silver, to... our baby." Cadance summarized.

Shining gave it a skeptical look, "It's not a bomb is it?"

Cadance gathered her intent.

Off, please.

The bracelet shifted, the spot where it had bound itself around her hoof created a non-visible flash of light as it disconnected and reverted back to it's normal size. Cadance kept it balanced on her hoof.

Twilight had taken the note and was reading it over, answering Shining's question without looking up. "Supposedly it's a charm capable of cheap true polymorphing once it has time to identify and adapt to it's user."

Shining made the face that matched his following question, "Did you just say, 'true polymorphing?'"

Rarity said, "As in, real transmutation?"

Cadance nodded, "Silver made it for her. So that when she gets older, she's not stuck in one shape." Cadance shook her head with a slight smile.

Shining mimicked her mood with a phrase, "That's so her, it's almost funny."

"Leave it to Silver to cobble together a feat of magic never before seen and then downplay it as a quick gift." Cadance turned to Twilight, "Do you think you could reproduce this? If you had time to study it? If you can, then thousands of foals born with defects don't have to live with them anymore."

Rarity gasped

Twilight took the bracelet from her half reverently in her hooves and inspected it, "I don't know. It'd take longer than a few days. The whole thing is an enchantment, the metal, the gems, everything. It's all woven together, and that's only if I can figure out how this was done." Twilight switched into a lecturing tone as she stopped fully talking to the ponies around her, "The process of making it is part of the enchantment, and I've never seen a metal like this before, or this method of inlaying gemstones. The runes are so small, you'd need precision equipment to do this, and you'd have to do it while growing fresh gems from the ground up."

Twilight's ears flopped around, "I don't know." She finalized, "There's... no way I can think to build something like this all at once. In steps? Maybe I could reproduce parts... but I just don't know."

Cadance lifted the bracelet from Twilight with her magic and put it back in the box. "Just try. If you can't, you can't. Send me any questions and I'll see what I can get from Silver."

"It appears, at least, that the mare knows how to give gifts." Rarity monotoned.

Shining just shook his head in amusment.

"Alright!" Cadance clapped her hooves and flared her wings. She did a quick turn and strutted towards the rainbow floor. "I've got winner!"

After cleaning up the streamers and trash, Pinkie took the balloons, the mares bid Cadance and Shining goodnight even though it was more of an 'evening' at the time. Twilight, Cadance and Shining took the express way back to the Twilight's castle, Cadance had gone straight to the kitchen with Shining in tow for water and conversation. Twilight said she'd meet them there, and went to go deposit the bracelet in a lab.

While they were walking, Cadance said, "Can we agree to leave The Empire and Silver at the door for the rest of the weekend?"

"You bet. Outside of that bracelet, which will absolutely distract Twily from our visit."

Cadance shook her head, "I just can't stop worrying. Was taking a weekend off a mistake?"

Shining smiled, "No. It has it's upsides and downsides, I'll help you keep your mind off things."

"Oh yeah?" She sauntered as she walked, "How are you going to do that?"

He gave out an 'eheh' clearly not having been prepared for that response, recovering, he said, "With charming nothing?"

"Perfect. Nothing is exactly what I need right now. Just two days of..." Cadance remembered all the work they brought with them, "Paperwork and relaxation."

"Drinks first. Then we can bother Twilight more about the goings on."

"Alright... And I'll try to be less of a stick in the mud."

Shining made a face, "You're not a stick in the mud, what do you mean?"

"Am I wrongfully projecting my internal stress and thinking it's affecting you all more than it is?"

Shining blinked once at the complex sentence, and then carefully lifted a hoof while he was walking and calmly responded with, "Yes."

Cadance ruffled her own mane by shaking her head. "Okay. Sorry." She said, out of politlness rather than actual remorse. She knew what he was going to say.

Which he said, moments after, "Don't be sorry. The whole point of the trip is-"

"Destressing... Just some time away from it all. Yup, I know... I just wish my head would go along with it." They entered the kitchen together, both of them coming to a stop at the crystal island in the center of the room. The shape reminded Cadance of Silver's lab.

"Snacks, and then a good night's rest should do us both some good."

Cadance leaned over and smooched Shining on the cheek, "Thank you for staying strong for me."

He gave her back a genuine smile before wrapping his hoof around her neck and pulling her into a hug. Carefully, as to not poke himself in the neck with her horn, they shared the moment with each other. "Anything for you Cadance."

"Mhm..." She nuzzled into his chest and neck.

Eventually, Shining, without breaking the hug rhetorically asked, "Water?"

"Yes please."

There was the sound of cabinets and magic, and a faucet. Cadance leaned away just as a glass came floating to her.

I wonder how this place has its plumbing set up if none of the internals exist unless...

Shaking out her left hoof as she felt a mild ache, she stuffed the water down her mouth with her telekinesis. Deciding that she didn't have the patience to manually drink water with her hooves. Water was just as hard to manipulate with magic, but after years of practice, it was like lifting any other object.

Cadance glanced over at her husband as he rooted around in a cabinet. She let her gaze linger on his form.

The door they came in from opened up as Twilight cantered in, "Hey."

Shining lifted his head out of the cabinet near the floor, "Hey yourself."

"I never got the chance to thank you guys for that surprise." Twilight was all smiles. Happy to be here, happy to be talking to her family.

Cadance wanted to titter, but the sound fell flat due to the calm nature of the moment, she opted instead for a simple response, "It wasn't hard to set up, and your reaction was fully worth it."

"I still have so many questions."

Shining laughed once, "Snacks first, then you can interrogate her."

Twilight made an 'oh right, of course, that's what we're doing here' face, and then lit her horn. The cabinets all opening as she magicked a series of items out of them, crackers, snack cakes, the works.

"Before you ask. I do actually have a repeatable answer." Cadance said into the air as a plate flew over to her in a show of telekinetic mastery. Not that she needed a plate. Unicorn and all that.

"What do you mean?"

Cadance's simple response was a stressed, "Why."

"Oh... well..." Twilight wanted Cadance to continued, and she did.

"I got this from Silver, but the way she said it, the little one isn't just an Alicorn in features. She's got a connection to Eternity, and it sped up her development so the bond didn't overtake her soul."

Twilight made a cute face trying to translate the summary into technical phrases in her head.

Shining said something before Cadance could comment on Twilight's thinking face, "We're still going to get you checked out though. I'm not willing to trust Silver at her word."

"I don't disagree." Was Cadance's careful response. In truth, she was willing to trust Silver at her word.

Why would she lie? Go through all that effort just to give me an incomplete answer?

Additionally, Cadance figured there wasn't a reason not to go get checked out anyways.

Twilight finally finished 'processing' and asked, "Does that mean they're conscious? A full soul?"

"I don't think so. There's not a fully formed filly in my gut." Cadance turned to the side and lifted her wing, "As you can see."

"But that will change in two months." Twilight stated, half a question, half reminding herself.

"So I've been told. She'll grow on par with standard Alicorn regeneration."

"That's not going to be comfortable. I just realized." Shining said from the other end of the kitchen island after levitating a cracker into his mouth, "Having your body displaced by a baby in two months time."

Cadance gave a weary smile

Twilight tried to hold a neutral expression that looked seriously uncomfortable.

"Well on that note." Cadance levitated the third snack cake she had picked up back down onto the island, "I'm going to bed. Shining. You're coming with." She leaned over to Twilight and wrapped a wing around her, Twilight stepped forwards with a slowly rising smile as they shared a hug. "Love you, Twilight."

"Love you too." She weaseled he way out of the hug early and went for Shining, "And you BBBFF"

Oh yeah. That's what we like to see.

The storm of Love the two shared was deep and almost violent; daring anyone to test it's might.

They separated and Shining joined her at the door. "Goodnight" Cadance said

"Goodnight" Twilight parroted back.

Morning of

Cadance was wide awake as the sun came up to fill Shining's childhood dream room with light. If she really bothered to go through with the mental exercises, she could probably convince herself that the glittering crystal was actually part of the Spire, of which her home currently firmly was.

The whole point of this is to get away from it all. Stop thinking about being back home.

The concept was easier said than done of course, especially with Cadance focusing on the disorganized workstation of sprawled out papers and leaflets spread out on her and her husband's shared bed. His light snoring had been accentuating her work for the past thirty minutes or so, which helped calm the brooding Alicorn as she worked. Despite most ponies being annoyed by such a noise, she had gone past losing sight of the value of things while she had them.

There'd be a day when she'd miss his snoring. She had simply elected to skip to the satisfaction of having him around without actually having to lose him first.

She tore mind away from the grim thought as she refocused on the papers in front of her.

Most of it was work orders, luckily; paperwork that had to cross past her desk and gain a signature before ponies could say they were allowed to do something. She had learned long ago what to look for when somepony was trying to slip something past her in text form; luckily that rarely reached her.

"Still need to give Amber a raise." She mumbled to herself, quietly enough that most of the words didn't actually come out, sounding more like: "mll to mber ah aise." She was talking to herself after all. No need to worry about something so silly as comprehensive language skills.

An hour passed with her doing her work until Shining Armor began to stir. Turning away from her now slightly more organized pile of work, she watched him reach over to where he assumed she was sleeping, his eyes still closed. She smiled as she watched him try to snuggle up with her. Unfortunately she was awake, and not where he thought. It took him a moment to realize such, eventually cracking open his eyes to spot her sitting up on the bed with the stack of papers, watching him.

"mornin'" He mumbled, a smile unwittingly coming to his face as he caught sight of her

It was little things like that made Cadance's heart soar.

I really did score the perfect husband

She leaned herself and then flopped down onto the bed next to him while levitating the papers off the bed and into two stacks, 'unfinished' and 'finished' on the stand next to the bed.

"Hey handsome."

"Not yet..." he mumbled, "I'm sleepy right now."

Cadance snorted and then reached out for him. They did their thing, shuffling about until they'd found a comfortable position to settle into. It didn't take long for Shining to pass out again, his light snoring muffled by the fluff on her chest.

mmmm... sleeping in... sounds like a good idea, wish I thought of it

She thought in annoyance to her own brain, and its constant reminders of her responsibilities.

She settled her head down on top of his and did her best to drown out her own thoughts.

Cadance followed Shining into the realm of sleep shortly after.

Shining Armor's Perspective

Shining let himself wake up. As a guard and a soldier with the experience of sleeping on command, and management of exhaustion. Sleep was a science to him, he wanted to wake up, and he did. It took him a few seconds to blink the sleep from his eyes, and his mind to click into gear. Once it did, he was for a lack of better description, 'up and at 'em'.

He took in his surroundings, noted the pink fluff lightly tickling his nose, and was careful to lift his head to the side first, rather than up, to avoid poking his wife in the neck with his horn.

Shining's head poked up from their position laying in the bed together, he noted the time and gave Cadance a once over; She was asleep.

Good. She needs rest.

Shining glanced at the stack of papers on the nightstand next to the bed and a sideways frown worked its way onto his features. In tandem, he levitated the papers off the nightstand, and lifted a section of the bed while sliding the papers underneath the frame.

Hopefully that will sort that out. What to do next though

He debated simply staying here with her, as through his life, no pillow had ever measured up to Cadance. He very simply decided upon something better though. Carefully extracting himself from her and the sheets, knowing she slept like a feather, he managed to carefully step onto the crystal floors without making a sound. He drew the curtains with his magic as he exited through the door, putting the room into a nice range of lit without being bright.

Once in the hallway, he allowed himself to trot without worry of being loud.

Time to rustle up some good ol' fashioned breakfast in bed for my princess.

Pushing open the door to the kitchen Shining was greeted to a great sight.

"Spike!" He said in surprise tinged with joy

Spike looked up from his position on a stepping stool, chef hat and mixing bowl adorned as he used a wooden spoon to mix; he had little spots of flower on his scales. He equally looked up, and a little sparkle went through his eyes as he excitedly returned the greeting. "Shining!"

"What's up Spike?" Shining walked up to the dragon and held out a hoof.

Spike bumped his hoof with his fist, the mixing bowl forgotten for a moment. "Nothing at all. I'm just making breakfast, sorry I missed you guys yesterday, I was busy at the post office."

Shining's questions of breakfast died in confusion, "The post office?"

"Yeah, I've been helping out around there recently." He lifted a claw in-between their eyeline and wiggled his digits, "Claws are super useful when it comes to envelopes and tape." Spike's smile was wide and proud.

Shining returned his proud smile. "That's awesome Spike, are you getting paid and everything?"

He waved the claw in his eyeline, "Nah, just helping out. I don't exactly need the bits." He gestured out around to the massive crystal tree, enchanted to the nines.

"But it's a proper job Spike?"

It's crazy to think how fast he's grown up.

Spike returned to his mixing bowl as he spun the flower and egg around inside with the spoon while continuing. "Well yeah, I don't exactly have a title or anything." He leaned forwards over the counter and turned a nob near the sink, putting a little bit of water into the bowl before returning to stir. "It's something to keep me occupied when Twilight is busy; plus, the mail ponies know everything going on in town, and they're super friendly."

Shining chuckled, "You haven't picked up gossiping from Rarity have you?"

Spike mimicked a snooty face and lilted his voice to match the expression, "I shall neither confirm nor deny that."

They both chuckled. Shining said a bit softer, "It really is great to see you Spike, I'm sorry I've not been able to visit more often."

I'm sorry.

"It's alright Shining. I've got Twilight, and more friends than I can count."

Before apologizing again in his head, Shining shook it off, putting a smile back on his face, "Whatcha' making?"

Spike hefted the bowl, "Pancakes, once Twilight get's out of her 'research' mood, she'll need something to eat before crashing."

"She's still awake?" He said knowingly

Spike shrugged, "As far as I know, she was up when I got back last night, something about polymorphing. She'd torn the library apart finding the right references around when you were both sound asleep."

Shining shook his head with a weary smile.

Why do all the important mares in my life have to overwork themselves all the time?

"Can you make a few extra? And what's the ETA on those cakes?"

Spike nodded, "There's already a plate ready in the oven for Cadance, I was going to lure Twilight up here once this batch was ready."

Wait really?

Shining wrapped the oven handle in his telekinesis to ogle the healthy stack of pancakes warmed by the oven. As he did, Spike continued, "She'll only crash if I can get her away from work. If you bring the food to her, she'll just forget about it." Spike was rambling conspiratorially.

Definitely picked up gossiping

Shining mock saluted to Spike "I'll go get her down here while you're making the next batch."

Spike smiled and saluted back, Shining's mind instinctually analyzing the ways he did it wrong. "Good luck Captain Armor."

Without wasting time, Shining kept up the joke while marching his way out of the kitchen. After realizing he had no idea where he was going, he spun himself around and stuck his head back into the kitchen.

Spike looked up from what he was doing and they made eye contact.

Spike smiled and gestured with his claw as he spoke, "Follow the hall down fifteen doors, take the opening on the left, staircase, then you can't miss her lab."

Geez, fifteen doors.

"Thanks Spike." He pulled his head back out and walked along the directed path.

This place needs some guards... Or anyone... it's blaringly empty in here.

Once he got down the staircase he followed a short path to the side where the crystal colours deepened into a purple, a sign of denser crystal grown manually with unicorn magic. He came upon a wooden door locked into the wall of the slightly smaller than necessary hallway and magicked it open.

"Twilight?" He called into the room, immediately distracted as his instincts kicked into gear. He pushed with two left legs and twisted with his right to seemingly slide across the floor laterally as the enchanted bracelet flew out the door right past his head.

"No!" Came Twilight's cry of dismay from deeper in the lab. She came rushing out, and Shining only got a vague look at the interior before he had to backpedal to give Twilight room to get past him. Of course, that was only a feint, as he managed to take up enough of the hallway to look like she could squeeze past, but not enough for her to avoid getting grabbed as she tried to break into a gallop.

"Whoah! Twily!" She flailed for a moment in his grasp.

She's way stronger than I remember.

"Shining!" Twilight turned and shuffled away once she calmed down, now properly seeing Shining Armor as she mentally drew herself back into the current situation.

"What was that?" He tilted his head in the direction the bracelet flew. It had rounded the corner and flown itself up the stairs.

She started to ramble immediately, hours of thoughts and ideas all crammed up in her head came flowing out of her mouth as soon as there was someone within range to listen. On one rotation of her head, Shining carefully timed a puff of air as he blew in her face.

Her muzzle scrunched up from his morning breath.

"You okay?"

She didn't look very okay, the standard mix of sagging eyes and droopy ears. He curtailed her research fueled freak out, but that didn't mean she wasn't completely exhausted.

"Yeah..." She rubbed a hoof in her eyes as she sat back down.

"Silver's bracelet giving you trouble?" He smirked to accentuate the lighter mood he was trying to create

Twilight shook her head, "It's filled with countermeasures."

"Want pancakes?" He summarized.

Twilight sleepily nodded with an "Mhm."

Please never grow up Twily.

"C'mon, Spike should be nearly done by now."

"No, wait, we need to find the bracelet." She protested

Shining chuckled to himself, "If you couldn't pin it down in a whole night, you're not going to catch it now."

Twilight's ears twisted on her head as her wings folded up again, she walked up behind Shining as he led her to the stairs. He knew that so long as they were talking, she would unconsciously follow him wherever he went.

"Wait, what time is it?" She said, sounding embarrassed

Shining didn't answer. Well, he did, but the answer was a laugh.

Twilight pouted but followed him up the stairs. She continued her ramble as they wandered, "I didn't think so much complex magic could interlock without an aria, baring any actual complex defragmentation; most of them aren't even spells. I barely understand the runic programing, but the temporospatial claudication holds the majority of the spell form of the actual main. I just can't get at it without a specific orderic spoken runic order."

She looked up at Shining, "Did you know that you could speak runes? I sure didn't."

"Twilight. I don't understand anything you just said."

She snorted. Then inhaled deeply and hummed to herself. "mmmmpancakes." She mumbled, trotting forwards faster than Shining.

Alicorn sense of smell is crazy

With Twilight now on autopilot, Shining followed behind her quietly until they reached the kitchen. There was a pot of coffee and a plate of pancakes lathered with butter that Twilight had already approached and began to eat. As Shining stepped into the room, Spike's claw grabbed his forehoof from the spot he was hiding at from behind the door. He held a digit up to his mouth in a 'shush' gesture, then pointed at Twilight.

From her stool at the counter, she downed a quarter of the pot of coffee, then shoved an entire pancake into her mouth. Spike held up his hand, and started slowly putting digits down, one after another. Shining watched in fascination as she yawned once and then leaned forwards for a more comfortable sitting position which ended with her face down on the counter as Spike dropped his last finger.

Shining rolled his eyes as the light sound of breathy sleep sounded out from her spot at the counter.

Spike polished his claw on his chest scales and quietly said, "Decaf: works every time."

"You're the best Spike." Shining whispered

Thank you for being here for her.

He made his way over to the oven and extracted Cadance's pancakes, still warm to the touch, without being dehydrated from the heat. Spike had opened a cabinet under the sink with a pillow and blanket and was currently setting up Twilight for a prolonged nap at the counter.

I couldn't think of anyone better for the job.

With a brotherly nod of responsibility shared between him and Spike, he wandered out of the kitchen and back across the several halls to the room Twilight had set up for him.

He smiled when he remembered where he was going. It was quite the blast from the past, and Cadance encouraging him to immerse himself in the nostalgia was a great feeling to boot. He'd not picked up a comic in years, much less even thought about all the other memories in the room.

As he came up to the door in question, he spotted the bracelet floating in the intersection, surrounded by a golden glow that reminded him of Celestia's aura. He trotted up to it, eyeing it warily.

"You're supposed to help my daughter one day, huh?" He asked, not so much suspicious as wanting it to think he was suspicious. It didn't respond, or at least, didn't visually respond.

"Well... You better." He summarized, walking past it as the door opened.

"Shining? Are you-" Cadance had pulled the door open and then glanced out into the hallway, "Were you talking to somepony?"

"Nah, just this thing." He stepped to the side and gestured at the floating bracelet that was on the move towards Cadance. She started stepping back but the thing didn't seem to be 'floating' aggressively, if an object could do such a thing.

Eventually it settled on her back, and the golden glow faded as the thing went inert.

Cadance glanced away from the thing and locked eyes with Shining, "Ignoring that, did you-" She interrupted herself, "Are those pancakes?"

"Yes. Go lay back down." He said, pushing his way through the door and into the room.

Cadance raised an eyebrow but took a few steps closer to the bed, before saying, "Did you do something with my paperwork?"

"Uhuh." He answered, smiling to himself.

Cadance waited for a moment to make it clear that he wasn't going to tell her before asking, "What did you do with it?" She said a bit more urgently.

"I'll tell you after you get back in bed." He answered, still being evasive.

Cadance rolled her eyes, but she couldn't hide her amusement from him.

She got back into bed, and then lifted the covers around her front, and then over her back, she smiled at him, giggling to herself. "Okay, I'm in bed now. Papers?"

Shining’s tone was clearly joking, "Nuh-uh, pretend like you're sleeping."

There was a sparkle of annoyance that crossed Cadance's features. "Shining."

Shining waggled his eyebrows at her. She scoffed and rolled her eyes again before leaning down and placing her head on the mattress and closing her eyes.

Shining took a step forwards and placed the pancakes on the bed in front of her. He poked her in the shoulder gently, "Hey Cadance, wake up." He said quietly.

"Oh wow... I'm awake now..." She mimed, as she slowly opened the eye facing Shining.

"Surprise! Breakfast in bed." He said jovially.

Cadance flared a wing and bapped him over the head lightly. "You're a goof." She said it, but she didn't move the blanket, or start getting up. She reached her hooves forwards and pulled the plate of pancakes within range to eat.

Shining didn't know why, but not only did Cadance not like anything on her pancakes, she also refused to use utensils or magic to eat them. The few times he asked, she simply claimed that that's just how she'd always done it, so... that's how she's always done it.

She mumbled around her fist bite, "Paperwork?"

"I hid it."

She rolled her eyes as she swallowed, "Where? And did you keep it all organized?"

He climbed up onto the bed and laid down next to her. She lifted a wing and pulled him close. "I'll tell you after we have a relaxing day in Ponyville. You were already halfway through what we brought by the time I woke up."

He quickly curtailed her response by kissing her on the cheek and saying, "And they're exactly how you left them. I didn't separate the stacks."

She levitated a pancake to his mouth and pushed it in. Shining made a quiet 'murmph' in protest, but elected to consume the pancake without further complaint.

"Fine." Cadance huffed. "Though I'll have you know that half finished paperwork is just as anxiety-inducing as not having started."

After Shining finished swallowing an entire pancake, he commented, "You and I both know that you wouldn't've been able to get work off your mind either way."

"mmmmmmmmm" She grumbled.

So long as I can keep her focused on paltry paperwork, everything else will fall by the wayside.

Shining kissed her again, once his mouth was clear of pancakes. She tightened her wing around him and giggled, "Stop it you goober. You have morning mouth."

"Yeah, and now I have pancake mouth too." He kissed her on the cheek again, this time more forcefully.

"Shining." Cadance tried, leading him to applying more pressure, and adding more kisses, "Shining! Quit it!"

He went for the killing blow and pushed her over.

"Ahh! The pancakes! Shining!" Cadance squealed in laughter.

After his assault ended, they were laying together in an awkward yet comfortable hug next to a toppled stack of pancakes. Shining was wearing a triumphant look, and Cadance was no longer focused on pointless nonsense, that was Shining's true victory.

"You spilled the pancakes." She said, humorously and accusatorily.

"Totally worth it." He claimed from slightly on top of her.

She squeezed him again. "Thanks for breakfast. Even if it didn't make it." She rotated her head upwards from her spot on her back to look at the pancakes spread over their temporary bed.

"A sacrifice that will not be forgotten." He said sagely.

She rolled her eyes and levitated the pancakes back onto the plate. "Love you."

"I Love you more."

They shared a moment of warmth that was eventually interrupted by Cadance levitating another pancake to her hooves. She gave it a short inspection for dirt or other yuck before shrugging as best as she could from on her back and took a healthy bite of the thing.

Shining just watched, enamored as he was.

One day I'll figured out how she can look beautiful while eating a dirty pancake, upside down and tangled in sheets.

He chuckled to himself

Might just be a me thing...

"So what's on the agenda today?" Cadance asked as the mouthful of pancake disappeared.

Shining had already mentally prepared his answer for this. "No agenda. We're going to go outside, and see where the wind takes us."

Cadance raised an eyebrow, "So just go for a walk?"

"Until something catches our eye." He nodded in agreement.

She smiled, "Well okay... You're the boss." She joked

Hahaahahaha, No.

"How are the pancakes?" He said, asking for her opinion, rather than objective fact. She could probably tell from his tone.

Her response was finishing off the rest of the pancake she was currently holding. Around the mouthful she asked, "How's Twilight?" It sounded more like: "m-owz milithhf"

"She stayed up all night trying to work out the bracelet." He tilted his head at the spot it occupied on the nightstand, Cadance having telekinetically tossed it over there when Shining toppled her over.

"Classic." Cadance emptily commented as she levitated another pancake towards herself.

"Spike did some voodoo magic to get her to sleep."

Cadance snrked to herself, "Voodoo magic?"

"The potion involved decaffeinated coffee." He summarized, trying to keep his face straight.

Cadance flicked a hoof and said, "You're hilarious." sarcasm filling the comment; the real amusement clear in her smile. Cadance was glowing under Shining's attention. She could tell when he was focusing on her like this, with the jokes and the extra care. Her emotion sense lent her that skill.

She couldn't sense everything else going on in his head though.

They laid together in silence. Shining eventually rolling off of her and watching the sky from out the window. Cadance fed him another pancake at some point, but Shining was too busy decompressing himself for there to be any further conversation.

Thirty minutes passed before he felt Cadance rest her head on his back, just behind his neck.

He lifted a hoof and reached over to grab hers, both of them watching the window.

"Need anything before we go?" She asked

"Ready when you are Princess." He responded, using a particular tone when saying 'princess'

She flushed.

Glad she still likes that.

She lifted her head and jolted herself off the bed. "Alright then! Let's go have a relaxing day out in Ponyville!" She was working the blood into her legs subconsciously. Shining was visually drawn to her form, as husbands will be, as she stretched without knowing exactly what she was doing. The only reason Shining noticed was due to his expertise in physical sciences.

He climbed off the bed and joined her at the door. Opening it for her, "Shall we?"

She smiled wide, "We shall!" and excitedly rushed out the door. Shining followed after her with an equally sized smile from completing the first half of his mission once more.

Keep her happy now

He thought to himself with more stress and meaning then one would expect as they made their way out of the castle together.

Things happening in an order

Cadance and Shining Armor both exited the crystal castle into the midmorning sun of Ponyville. It was the right kind of time to be outside, too early to be hot, with just enough sun to keep warm in the cool early morning breeze.

Shining recognized the scents that came with being a majoritively outdoor town with hoof traffic as the main form of travel. The smell of vegetation, dust, ponies, and water. There were a few sources of running water in town, nothing they were close to, but Shining still noticed as he followed behind his wife.

~Here we go~

"So!" He came up to her side and gestured out to the town with a hoof as she gave him an amused look. "Whole town to explore, what direction do you want to go first?"

Cadance made a show of tapping a hoof to her chin, "I... thiiiiinnnnk..." She snapped in a direction, "This way!"

"Onwards then!" Shining took a few running steps forwards, having fun. Cadance giggled behind him but kept pace. They walked a total of thirty seconds before Cadance found something to look at.

"Why do you think they build with straw roofing still?"

Shining slowed his pace to walk side by side with her, "It's earth pony magic." He stated

Cadance gave him a look that said, 'ah' and 'continue'

"Unfortunately that's all I got. Enchanted straw." He shrugged with a smile.

"Think they've got any parks?" She asked

Shining nodded, "They do. I checked a while ago. I know how much you miss nature up in the north."

She smiled to herself as she continued to appraise the architecture, "Sounds like a perfect place to spend lunch."

Ah crud, she's already planning the day out.

"Thinking about lunch already?" Shining mused

"My mind’s on food. Pancakes." She guessed out loud, mentally elsewhere.

Shining needed to ground her in their walk. She was using it as thinking time, rather than relaxing time.

How though?

He shifted on his hooves and pointed across Cadance's field of view to a series of stands that looked like food vendors from a distance. "What's that?"

Cadance came to a stop and followed his pointing hoof, "Looks like open market stalls." She turned to face him and tilted her head, the unasked, 'do you want to take a look?' answered by Shining beginning the trot towards them. Cadance followed in his wake for a moment before coming up next to him.

Hopefully a crowd will bring her into the moment. She loves public appearances

A few ponies did glance with wide eyes to the two royals as they came out from around a house on the grass. Any other place, seeing something like that would be cause for worry, in Ponyville? At least it wasn't Tuesday. That was a cause for fear, much less worry.

Cadance waved a few times as they walked. Shining picked a customer-less stand at random and approached. There was a pink unicorn mare with a backwards ballcap on, her yellow mane hidden behind her head and the hat, she smiled uneasily as Shining, the Prince of The Crystal Empire, approached her stand.

"Excuse me miss?"

The mare, unexpected from Shining, leaned over the wooden counter with a smile and stuck out her hoof, "Paint Brush!" She wore a massive smile, seemingly having gotten herself together.

Shining, excited to interact, reached over and gave the mare a healthy hoof shake, she had a sturdy arm; something which immediately garnered Shining's respect. "What do you sell out here at your stand?"

"I sell custom paint orders!" She leaned back and began a presentation as Cadance caught up. "This isn't my normal setup; normally my office takes full tickets." She said 'full' with more enthusiasm than necessary, despite the misunderstanding of specified terminology. "You need a paint? A thick one? A specific colour? Something sturdy? Something flammable? I can do it all." Her horn lit up as a yellow aura the same colour as her eyes and mane lifted a series of laminated cards into view.

Each had a series of individual colours on them, flipped between several different tints and shades of each per card. She continued as she showed them off, "Anything you can dream of, I can make it." She said with a degree of pride. She trailed off, not actually asking the question she was asking.

Shining admired the expertise in selling, he turned to Cadance, "Got a need for paint?"

Cadance already had a response ready, "Do you have paints that will seal over crystal?"

The mare nodded and immediately clipped back with, "Magic? Jewelry? Construction?"

"Construction?" Cadance asked back

Where's she going with this?

Shining was expecting a less direct line of questioning, at the very least, he wondered why Cadance would want paint to begin with. That and... you know... buying things was more of nuanced experience when you were royalty.

"I've got plenty of mixtures when it comes to construction crystals. Princess Twilight actually checked my recipe herself." The mare coughed into her hoof and mumbled something that Shining didn't quite catch.

Cadance did, and she giggled, dang Alicorn hearing.

"What do you think Shining? Got any colour ideas for a nursery?"

A nurser- OH, DUH

Shining quickly rolled his mind forwards, trying to imagine what a nursery looked like in his head as his wife waited for him to answer, eventually he settled on, "What do you have in greyed out pinks and blues?"

The mare waved her hoof like she was cutting something sideways, "Ohoh- you won't be disappointed. Give me just a second." The mare turned in place and walked back behind the stand, still visible, just further away. She pulled something on the ground closer to the front of the stand with her teeth as she opened it with her magic. A stack of cards came floating out before setting themselves down on the table.

Shining was getting impressed with this mare more and more. The professionalism of not reacting to the word 'nursery' was something he didn't miss.

Cadance stepped forwards, her height meaning she didn't have to lean over the counter to look at the cards. As the two mares began to speak. This was where Shining phased out of the conversation, at this point he was no longer required for the transaction. Not that he was kicked out of it; Shining knew what he and his wife were both good at.

Interior design settled very cleanly outside of his preview of skills and interests.

Cadance levitated a card to him, and he grabbed it from the air to let the two mares continue their conversation. The mare had politely asked about the baby, and Shining was doing his best to monitor Cadance's body language while looking for the next thing to do in the vicinity.

Maybe we can grab lunch at Sugar Cube corner? And take it to a park? Maybe we can find somewhere else. Though we do still need to apologize to the Cakes for ditching them. They probably didn't want to deal with Silver, but still...

"Shining?"

Shining snapped to, throwing a hoof up in a salute.

Cadance chuckled.

"Would you remind me to come back here before we leave?" Both Cadance and the mare behind the counter were giving him a look.

Gosh I probably shouldn't've tuned out all of that

"Yeah of course," was his far too quick response, "Found a colour you like?"

"Ms. Brush is going to prep them for tomorrow, before we leave."

Cadance had that look in her eye, like she was thinking of something else. Shining never really knew what it meant, but it didn't really matter. Nodding his affirmation he said, "I'll remind you the morning of."

Cadance turned, "Thank you, Paint Brush."

The mare cheerfully waved, "You're welcome Princess!"

After the disengagement from conversation, Cadance pulled a slip of paper off the counter in her levitation and then meandered towards Shining. He took step next to her as they both began walking away, a few ponies sneaking up behind them to Brush's stall to try and get a word from the mare.

"Where to next?"

Shining was glad he was as tall as he was. Being just about Cadance's height made eye contact not nearly as awkward as it could be.

"Can I say, 'wherever the wind takes us', again without it being cliché?" He smirked

She laughed, though not at what he said, and nodded

"Then," Shining smiled while he 'pretended' to clear his throat. "Wherever the wind takes us!"

So they both continued walking across the grass before they happened onto another dirt road that led out of town. Twilight's castle was already near the edge. Shining wasn't really keeping track of where they were, so they must've ended up getting turned around.

Cadance visually enjoyed the open plains around ponyville as they followed the path around the outskirts of the town.

"It's awfully quiet out here." She stated, turning away from the field, but not towards Shining, instead choosing to look straight ahead.

"I wouldn't say that. If I were you." Shining threw back, in an attempt to joke.

Cadance shifted, her posture changed, and her head hung just a little bit lower.

Hmmm, guess I'll just have to be direct.

"Something digging at you?"

Cadance quietly responded with, "uh-huh"

Shining patiently waited for her to come up with how to word what she wanted to say.

She did, eventually, "I just... wonder-what, that is, I-"

Shining kept silent.

"I don't know. I just feel off"

"Stuck in a vacation?" He guessed.

Cadance shook her head, "I dunno... maybe I just need to cool off. I'm sorry I'm-"

"No apologies, we talked about that."

"I know." Cadance refrained from apologizing for apologizing.

"How can I help?"

Cadance smiled, "You're already doing everything you can." She meant it as a compliment, assurance but-

That's not enough

Shining's face morphed into a concentrated frown, "Well I-"

Cadance laughed to herself, it was fake, "Never mind, I'm not going to keep being a downer. Do you have something you want to see?"

Shining had a little mental fight with himself that just resolved with 'it's complicated'

"Just you." He said softly.

Cadance rolled her neck, "You're too sweet." but he saw her blush, despite her trying to hide it.

"Nah. Never." He picked up his pace, "Cmon, let's stop sitting around in this air."

"You've got a heading then soldier?" She was faster than he was, keeping pace with him easily.

"Yeah, figure we can go bother Applejack; I know I could go for some exertion and apple products."

Neither of them were winded, and they were already halfway to the half of the town where Sweet Apple Acres was, so he figured, why not connect the dots? The whole point of the exercise was to do without thinking, it was what he thought of first, and that was enough. Even so, he could see Cadance mulling it around in her head with her intellect, it took less than a few seconds for Shining to see her visualize a couple of scenarios.

It was silly. Cadance wasn't nearly as book smart as Twilight, but Cadance thought in a way that baffled Shining sometimes.

"Sounds like fun." She said slowly, over the sound of the air rushing between them.

"You~ just want to kick some trees."

"I will not confirm, nor deny that."

Cadance was expressly, and equally, a thinker as much as she was a physical mare. Shining grinned to himself as she kept pace with his near gallop with a casual trot; if he didn't know her as well as he did, he would've assumed she didn't even know she was running.

A very physical mare.

Some exercise was exactly what she needed to get her mind off of the numerous things likely bothering her. That, and as much as he Loved his little sister, Twilight was likely going to bring up the stress levels. She didn't really know the 'now' and 'later' conversation premises yet.

Distracted by both the sight of his wife finally smiling as she blindly ran into the wind with her wings spread, and the continuation of his internal dialogue, he missed when they transitioned from dirt into grass.

"Shining! Look out fo-"

Her warning came too late, and Shining ran straight into a fence.

He rolled forwards, barely having had the chance to jump over it, before he fell into a tumble that ended up with him standing. If a little dusted up.

Cadance was giggling on the other side of the fence as he popped up.

"Let's not talk about that."

She shimmied the fence back into a non-precarious lean before flapping over it, and into the apple orchard. She smirked at him as she walked past, very audibly not talking about anything.

He matched her pace as she led, and decided to try and continue a conversation. The problem was talking about something Cadance was passionate about, without it being work, or something she hadn't done in a long time, like spreading Love with her magic; something she'd been kept from for a while due to responsibility.

Melancholic is the wrong option, but inane has already been used... Might as well keep it on point

"So you have an idea as far as apple bucking goes?"

"Pfft, no, do you? It's probably more difficult than just kicking a tree right?" She snarked, though her question was a serious one.

"We'll have to ask."

A high pitched voice: "Ask what?"

"Whoah!" Cadance flared her wings and jumped to the side, nearly bowling over Shining.

Shining looked over Cadance's shoulder, "Applebloom?"

"Howdy Cadance! Shining Armor! What are yall doing in Ponyville?" The filly came out from around the tree and onto the path.

Cadance answered first, "We're vacationing for a day and a half."

Ah, so we're not telling her about the thing, okay.

"Well" Applebloom gave them a sideways look, "What're yall doing in Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Just lookin' for some exercise." Shining smiled

"Really? I thought you royal types would-" She cut herself off, "I mean- uh, would-"

Cadance interrupted her, "No need for niceties Applebloom; I'm excited to do some hard work that doesn't cause my brain to come melting out of my ears."

"Well don't stop me from letting you appreciate a hard day's work." She chirped

Cadance's muzzle twitched into a smile, Shining watched her struggle to keep herself from correcting the filly's grammar, eventually coming to her rescue. "Can you point us to Applejack?"

"Sure thing!" She did, indeed point, "She's over by the crisps." She lowered to her flanks and cupped her hooves around her mouth, "APPLEJACK!"

"Wow." Shining said before he could stop himself.

If she had a deeper voice, she could've been my drill instructor.

Applejack came barreling out of the woods a few seconds later, "What'n tarnation are you-!" She answered her own question as she came to a stop, huffing slightly. "Applebloom! Consarnit! You nearly scared me half to death!"

Applebloom didn't wilt under the scolding. "How else was I supposed to-"

"That ain't to point. Granny an' I've told you a thousand times to only go yelling like that when there's danger." She continued to scold, seeming more concerned than upset.

"Alright..." Applebloom relented, "Sorry sis."

Applejack gave her sister a light mane tussling and then pushed her back towards the field. "Go on then- and stay safe, and stop yelling!" Once Applebloom was a distance away, moving buckets and bucking trees, Applejack turned to address the two royals who respectfully stayed out of the interaction.

"Morning Princess, Shining Armor, what can I do you for?" She said, adjusting her hat from the sprinting.

Shining took a little mental note of Cadance's desire to correct verbiage before said note drifted away in favour of speaking. "We were wondering if you've got any work for us." He gestured between the two of them.

"Work?" Applejack looked confused, but smiled anyways, "Well yeah, f'course I got work, why?"

"I've got the itch to productively kick something." Cadance simply stated, "Paperwork and dignitaries aren't nearly as simple, and are a thousand times less rewarding to kick." Shining could tell Cadance was itching, quite literally to get to the main event. She'd slipped into the 'talking to ponies' state she gets into when she's got her mind on other things.

A constant, lately.

"Ah see." Applejack nodded sagely, "Granny always says ain't no better cure-all than a satisfying day of work."

"Just point us in the direction." Shining added on, hoping to move this along.

"Well sure, Cmon, I'll show ya where I'm working." She waved a hoof and then turned to walk back into the orchard.

It was a short walk through the grass and trees to a path worn into the foliage from constant hoof traffic. It ran in-between the trees, and Shining got a glimpse of the barn out on the hill from a break in the tree line.

Applejack, being a quadruped, was able to turn and give them both an appraising look while they walked. Her hooves found placement over roots and rocks with the experience of someone who knew these fields. "Say, Princess, not that I mind the help an' all; but what's got you so worked up? It's not the baby is it?"

Cadance ever so slightly cringed, "Is it that obvious?"

"Something wrong?"

Cadance shook her head, "Honestly, being pregnant has been the least stressful thing in my life at the moment."

Shining had something to add, but was waiting for the right break between the two's back and forth to throw it in.

"Running the empire then?" Applejack said more as a statement than a question.

"Yes, but-" Cadance stretched out 'only'. "It's not only that. I barely run the Empire, I just sign things and come up with ideas."

Shining interjected, the moment for what he wanted to say was gone, "Now you're just being modest."

Applejack beat Cadance to the response, "He's right Princess, that's all leadership is. Having good ideas and doin' em."

That's not all leadership is

Mostly...

Their conversation took them from shorter to larger trees, until they were in a field of buckets as much as an orchard. Crisp, vibrant red apples hung from the branches, majoritively from the bottom and sides, rather than the interior foliage of the trees.

"Well here we are. Do yall need any instructing? Ever bucked apples before?"

Cadance snorted, "I've kicked a giant worm before. Does that translate?"

Uh- when? Excuse m-

"Last I checked?" Applejack chuckled, "Nope."

Shining walked up to a tree, "Then do you have any pointers?"

Applejack walked backwards up to a tree that had the buckets under it already, electing to show via demonstration. "You gotta get the right distance. You don't want to have to fully extend your legs, a good bounce will keep you going for a while. That, and if you throw your back into it, it won't help. All the buckin' comes from the legs."

Applejack leaned forwards onto her front hooves, and executed a buck exactly as she described. Shining watched the impact instantaneously travel up the tree and shake each individual apple loose, and into a bucket without dislodging a single leaf. She adjusted her hat after, and took on a prideful tone, "Ain't nothin' more to it than that."

Cadance looked intrigued.

Problem solving face.

Shining watched his wife wordlessly trot up to a tree, and take the same pose Applejack had.

"Just a little closer Princess."

Cadance shimmied backwards a step, then leaned forwards to buck the tree. There was a loud crack as her hooves hit the wood, and the tree shook like it had been struck by a cannonball. Apples fell, but randomly, with still half sitting up in the branches; a visible indentation was left in the bark where she'd kicked.

Applejack's eyes went wide at the display and she caught herself walking up to the tree, "Maybe not so much power there. They don't need to-"

*CRACK*

A branch fell down from the tree and landed on Cadance; she flinched but didn't move. The sight of his wife half covered by a tree branch, while amusing, was more worrying with Cadance's steamed expression.

"You okay?" He used his magic to levitate the branch from its base.

"Fine, what did I do wrong?" She turned to Applejack.

"Well, you hit it too hard. Not sure I was expecting that, you've got-"

"Any comments on my wife's legs will go unappreciated" Shining said, seeing where that was going.

Applejack smiled and nodded, "Just don't hit 'em as hard Princess. That's all."

Cadance didn't wait for more instruction, just wandered over to another tree and tried again. This time, nothing happened. Her face continued to morph as she went deeper and deeper into thought. Shining was too busy watching her to make his own attempt at knocking down some apples.

"I'm gonna..." Applejack trailed off as she began watching the same thing he was.

Cadance took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Both Applejack and Shining exchanged a worried look as blue smoke began to leak from the edges underneath her eyelids.

"Cadance?" Shining asked tentatively, her only response was to rear up onto her hindlegs and shout

"YAA!" With a flap of her wings, she smashed her front hooves into the ground. Nothing happened for a few seconds, then the ground began to shake under Shining's hooves.

"What in the-!" and "Cadance!" were the only sounds of alarm as the shaking grew in intensity until it shut off completely. All around them, a shockwave tore up the trunks of the trees around them. The vibrations practically blasted the apples off of their respective branches.

Cadance was stood awestruck in the storm of flying red projectiles, accentuated by the dull thumps of the fruit hitting the grass, and in some cases flying up and getting lodged into the trees. Shining created a shield across the ground to try and dull the impact and save as many as possible.

"What in the hay was that!" Came Applejack's disgruntled cry once all of the apples had come to rest. She herself had a bucket on her back, a quick attempt to catch the fruit as it all came crashing down around her. She had at least seven balanced on other parts of herself, with a pair sitting on her head, and three in her hat she had held in her mouth.

Cadance's look of triumph folded away in a flash. "Oh my gosh! Applejack, I'm so sorry!"

Applejack sank to her haunches, "Whatever that was, don't do it again. We don't let normal unicorn magic near the apples, Alicorn magic neither." She evenly said, clearly pissed, despite the grateful nod towards Shining for saving the apples from splatting on the ground.

"I just- I saw the- and I went for it. I'm sorry." She looked torn between asking Shining for help, and apologizing to Applejack more.

Shining didn't let her choose, "Hey, no harm done really." He tried to deescalate the situation.

"Darn straight, good thinking Shining." He held his shield until Applejack finished picking up all the apples, not wanting to drop them into the dirt. Cadance joined in, helping her without telekinesis. It was a short exercise of dexterity mostly done in silence.

After loading up all the buckets into a cart that was just over a hill, "Now yall can hang around and clear the other half of the field if yall want. I've gotta tow all these back." She nodded at the two, and continued, "Despite, the magic scaring me half to death, it still put me ahead of schedule."

"Sorry, again." Cadance said.

Applejack shook her head, "Now don't you worry about it. Maybe just..."

"Don't do that again. Yup. I won't." Cadance finished for her.

Once the cowpony was hitched up, she took off at quite the pace through the trees.

Impressive

"So... Am I going to get an earful now or later?" Cadance said, sounding like she was genuinely worried about being shouted at.

Shining gave her a weary smile, "Are you okay? Dark mag-"

"Emotion magic." Cadance corrected.

Shining gave her a look before continuing. "Dark Magic, is dangerous. I'm more concerned about you than apples."

She perked up a little, "I'm fine. I don't- rather, it doesn't feel dangerous."

Yeah- I doubt it's supposed to.

Shining took on his 'reprimanding' voice, saved for: children who were in big trouble, desk attendants when they made a serious mistake, and his wife, for when he needed her to take him seriously.

"Please stop doing dangerous magic on a whim. Learning? Fine, practicing? Okay, I don't like it, but okay." His tone deepened, "But none of this, 'let's just blast the ground, or fire a letter at my husband' thing. Knowing it's dangerous doesn't protect you from the danger, whether you feel like it or not."

"Shining! I think I could do some real good with magic like this!" She said back, not angry, but half pleading.

What?

Certainly not the response he was expecting, Cadance was able to continue before he could verbally recover.

"I think we've been lied to. I don't think corruptive magics are as dangerous as they seem."

"Cadance, please listen to what you just said."

"I saw ponies saved, Shining. Mares that would've been..." She shook her head, "I'm sorry. I don't want this to be an argument, it's just-"

Shining snorted. "I read the papers too Cadance. I know where you're coming from. I know it's important to you, but it has to stop. You are too important to be doing things like that." He gestured out to the field.

Cadance went silent. Shining used the opportunity to hug her. "I Love you."

"I Love you too." She responded

They sat there for a moment, the energy diffusing away from them until Cadance spoke again, softly, since Shining was so close. "Okay. I'll stop. It worked though, didn't it?"

Shining poked her in the horn with his nose, "I never argued against the effectiveness. I see the potential uses, and I support you in exploring them." He pushed himself away and held Cadance by the shoulders, making sure they were making eye contact before he stressed: "Safely"

She nodded and stood. "Feels like I ruined the moment." She looked around at the trees, and then lifted a hoof to inspect it, "Felt really good though."

"Really good how?" Shining asked, concern bleeding into his voice

Cadance waved the hoof and sent him a smile to assuage his worries, "Like exercise, the... feeling when you push yourself... but..." She searched for the word before settling on, "Magical?"

"So long as your legs don't start whispering to you."

"Oh hush, this isn't a Ogre's and Oubliette's campaign." She rolled her eyes.

"Just throwing it out there." He pointed towards the next section of trees, "More then? Or are you off to the idea?"

Cadance nodded, and began to move, "I feel like we owe Applejack."

They bucked apples until midday. Shining was terrible at it, much to his embarrassment, though it made Cadance feel a little better about her own skill with the activity; Shining didn't realize the overt extra competitiveness Cadance had adopted, thinking she was just excited.

Author's Note

I've been itching to do Shining's perspective for a while, because of the way his thoughts are consumed by Cadance. 'Cause let's be honest, if you were married to an Amazonianly beautiful manifestation of Love, they'd be the only thing you thought of too
(horse or human either, I know yall ain't picky)

There's a lot of things Cadance doesn't notice are out of the ordinary for herself, that Shining does notice, but likes; which I get the opportunity to show off by comparing the tiny little traits Shining has picked up from her over time. Like planning out situations, and managing interactions while still being honest.

Don't get me wrong, I find stories about Shining Armor being an idiot-dad immensely hilarious, but just a reminder:

Half siphoned magical strips of Shining Armor's Love for Cadance alone was enough to just straight up trash the Goddess of the Sun.
(In my own personal headcannon, quite the feat)

Either by surprise, or by might, it was done. Shining was smart enough, strong enough, and wise enough to catch the eye of a Princess by merit.

Shining is a good Husband.

Cadance, and the quest for lunch

"What did you think? In the end?" Cadance asked, observing the now empty trees as they walked through a clearing towards the path.

Shining rolled his eyes, "I clearly don't have the talent for it like you do."

Despite trying to keep a straight face, Cadance still smiled, once she noticed Shining noticing she broke into a laugh, "Sorry- I'm not making fun of you."

Shining just shook his head.

There were no confections either, Applejack promised some next time; so he had that to look forward to at least. It didn't hurt his pride at all to have spent nearly an hour kicking trees and failing to do anything other than have an apple fall on his head.

Cadance continued to giggle at Shining's exaggerated frown as they walked back into town.

"Lunch next?" Shining said, Cadance nodded. She seemed to have enjoyed limbering up; despite the initial setback to the activity.

Now that it was noon there were plenty of ponies going about their business outside. Mostly walking to and fro, Shining could pick out a few conversations as his ears swiveled around; not anything important enough to eavesdrop.

"Sugar Cube corner’s in the center of town." Cadance picked up her pace at that, supposedly heading in the direction.

"Do they do lunch things?" Shining asked as he matched her pace

Cadance shrugged with her wings, "They're a bakery, they do everything."

Shining made a face before realizing that he couldn't think of a bakery that didn't fit that description.

Huh

"That, and we need to apologize to the Cakes."

"I was thinking the same thing earlier."

It didn't take them long, weaving around the few small gatherings of ponies that could hardly be called a crowd. Nobody reacted until they'd walked past, something Shining enjoyed about this town. With the resident Princess being his adorkable sister, the ponies were acclimated to seeing royals wandering around; thus, no fuss.

Well, a little fuss, there was the odd pony that bowed, and plenty who stared. It was better than anywhere else he'd seen though.

Cadance kept moving with that in mind, mare on a mission.

Moving mare

Unluckily, or luckily, depending on how you looked at it, Sugarcube corner was closed until the evening.

"I didn't realize they ever closed..."

Cadance added in her agreement, "With both Pinkie, and the Cakes working... what do you think they're up to?"

"It's Pinkie and the Cakes." Shining surmised, "Could be anything."

"Well what now?"

"We could go wandering again."

Cadance made a face between mock sadness and petulance. "But I'm hungry."

"Wanna see if they have any fresh lunch things in the market?"

She smiled, to which Shining briefly internally cheered, "Yes!" Her smile turned into more of a smirk, "Yes I do."

She took the lead, marching at first, before going back to a more casual trot. Shining followed along, of course.

The town of Ponyville became more dense in its structure and ponies as they got closer to the open market. The large space in front of city hall was taken up by anyone trying to sell their wares, or on the flip side, anyone looking to buy any wares. The houses split from single floor and sparse structures to taller buildings with shops on the bottom, and houses on top. As the two royals approached what went for 'town square' in Ponyville, they got a little look at some of the odd businesses that had been grounded enough to warrant having a building of their own.

Shining saw a shop that, from the outside, seemed to sell exclusively sofas and quills. That was by far the most accurate description Shining felt one could form when describing Ponyville.

'Hey, what's Ponyville like?' and then Shining would say, 'They have a sofa and quill shop.' Then everyone would silently and confusedly fail to respond, much like how Shining's first glance of the shop left him dumbstruck.

Anyways

He caught up to his wife, who was standing on the outside of a crowd. As he approached, he noticed how this wasn't the 'hustle and bustle' crowd, this was the 'looking at something' crowd. Once he was next to Cadance, he was able to hear what was going on, that, and he was tall enough to simply see.

"That's right ponies! Only our wonderfully wizardly magical manipulations can complete such a feat!" Said a yellow stallion with a straw hat and a striped vest.

"And with the Magically Manifesting Portal Rock, you can do it too!"

Wait...

Shining mistook them for the same pony, but they must've been twins. He leaned over to Cadance and mumbled, knowing she could hear him over the din of the crowd. "What's going on here?"

Cadance's mouth was firmly in an unimpressed frown, "Swindling, if I've ever seen it."

"Continue?" He asked

"They're trying to pawn off some kind of... Portal..." Cadance hmm'd to herself, "I bet I know where they got the idea."

Shining matched her frown, now following as he watched the shimmer around the stone they were supposedly trying to sell. The pair lapsed into silence as the stallions began addressing the crowd once more.

"Now mares and stallions, this fine young pony brings up an excellent point!"

"Yes dear brother, an excellent point indeed."

"We've been chased out of town before." The stallion not talking took off his hat and held it to his chest, looking pensive, apologetic. Shining wasn't sure if he was seeing through some trick, but Cadance's comment filled him with suspicion at the clearly intentional display. "How could we try to sell something here again? Without any brand trust? Witho-"

"You almost hurt somepony!" and calls of "Brand trust!?" and other cries of indignation at the continued attempt to 'market' led the brothers to take a step back and reassess the situation.

"Ponies, ponies! Can't we all change?"

"Can't we turn over a leaf?"

"Why would we pass up the opportunity to do real good, when everypony stands to profit?"

The last comment sent the crowd into a deeper pattern of thought, the argument more sound than the few jeering ponies amongst them were expecting.

"And what is more, why trust us when you can see the results for yourself?"

"Indeed brother of mine, I think a demonstration is in order!"

The stallion's horns lit, and a pair of stones lifted into the air, making a strange shimmering streak in the air as they separated. The brothers didn't waste any time, charging their horns while directing the mana at the stones between them, as they did, the visual distortion became more prominent, spreading over an area as a light glow filled the space even in the direct noon sun.

There wasn't any flash, before the stallions concluded the procedure.

"And there you have it folks!" The first said, levitating an apple and tossing it through the portal.

It came flying out of the other end, at the center of the opposite distortion, and the other brother caught it in his magic, "A working pair of portals!"

"Yes mares and stallions, with one of these, you can be-" They synchronized their next phrase as they both stepped into the portal, switching places as they did, "Anywhere! Anytime!"

There was a scattering of applause, Shining was distracted by Cadance poking him in the shoulder with his wing.

She gave him a look.

"Go do your thing." Shining said.

Cadance needed no other prompting, and began to push into the crowd.

"Excuse me!" and numerous 'oofs' and 'Princess Cadance!' came from a few places as Cadance muscled her way forwards.

Why walk through the crowd instead of... ah, right, crowd focus... duh

Shining strained his ears as Cadance got to where she wanted to be.

"Ah, Princess Cadance, why-"

"-We didn't know you were in town!

"I hope you liked our little demonstra-"

Cadance's voice rang out like a gong to the stallion's ongoing performance, not so much the volume, but merely the intensity of her displeasure; from the supposed Alicorn of Love no less, her words stunned the crowd and the brothers equally.

"It's fake."

"Prince-"

Cadance took a step forwards, flaring her wings in a show of intimidation. She didn't speak, but the brother in question wisely shut his mouth. Once it was clear neither of them would attempt to interrupt her again, she continued. "The stones are just an illusion, you passed the apple and yourselves through with teleportation." She nodded towards the brothers, "Now, lightless teleportation is impressive, but costly. These 'portals' probably only have a range of eyesight, not to mention the difficulty of fooling everypony you try to use it on."

"Now, now, Princess! Let's not be hasty in judgment, surely you'd be willing to let us test, work out your misconceptions?"

"Sure." Cadance smiled, lowering her wings and relaxing. "Maybe I was too quick to judge, go ahead."

"Dear brother of mine, I do believe we should show them as far as these portals can go."

"Oh yes, I agree, let's not leave these ponies waiting."

They lifted a bag, and a long chain from it, proceeding to send one end through, while grabbing it from the other side of the portal. Its length stayed upright between both ends, floating like it was cut down the middle by a pony length of space.

"Now if we were teleporting the objects through-"

"How would the chain stay straight?"

Cadance laughed, then pointed at the ground, "The shadow isn't blocked by the visual disruption." The brothers looked shocked to the ground as Cadance continued, "You can see the hanging chain link."

Shining couldn't see it himself, but the sudden angry agreements by the other ponies close enough to see.

"Well-"

"It's-"

"It's an incredible talent, you two have, for teleportation quick enough to make it look like a chain is passing through a fake portal like that." Cadance gestured at the trick, "Lightless too, you two could have easily sold your skills, or practiced to be mages with raw talent like that. So why do this?" Her wings unfolded, gesturing around her to accentuate the question.

"Ah-"

"Well you see-"

The brothers shared a look as they stumbled over each other

"When we-"

"Sometimes-"

"That is to say-"

Cadance laughed a deep, aggressive thing, interrupting their verbal stumbling. "Never mind. I think I understand." Cadance began advancing on the brothers, while lighting her horn.

They shared a gulp, one of them said, "You do?" Before they were both consumed in a flash of light. The two rocks fell onto the ground, inert, and the brothers were nowhere to be seen.

There was a palpable silence that went through the crowd, something Shining saw Cadance notice as her head and ears perked up, and she turned towards the onlookers; looking sheepish.

"Eh-heh, I only teleported them out of town..." She waved a hoof, "They're fine."

"Alright, show's over ponies." Shining said from near the back of the group.

Ponies did as they do, milling around and slowly dispersing while conversation broke out between them all. Shining expertly maneuvered his way through the crowd and quietly addressed Cadance as he approached, "Something about them bother you?"

She smiled, glad to explain, and to know Shining hadn't judged her. "They're tricksters, through and through. There wasn't an ounce of empathy or regret when I asked them for it. They just tried to figure out how to recover their blunder."

"Bet they weren't expecting to fail so drastically." Shining said, pushing one of the stones around on the ground.

Cadance rolled her eyes, "Food. Shining, I'm starving"

Shining chuckled and looked around, Cadance beat him to the punch, "I see raw vegetables, that's enough for me!" Then she was off.

Mare on a mission

Shining followed after her at her pace. Until there was a flash from behind him, reflected on the surfaces in front. Less than an instant after his visual recognition of the sudden change in ambient luminescence, a shockwave blasted at his mane and a little rumble passed through the ground beneath his hooves.

There were cries of alarm that Shining spun to look towards, catching the fading smoke of an explosion over the rooftops of the town center. Without thinking, he took off.

Cadance was by his side in the next moment, or rather, slightly above him as she had taken to the air. Shining's run nearly stumbled as the nervousness of 'my wife is charging into danger' faded and was replaced with 'we are charging into danger together'

They swerved past a series of houses, and Shining sprinted over a bridge before he heard a crash and pivoted on his front hooves to change direction, Cadance just a little ahead of him. He saw a rainbow blur as he swerved around a building to see a toppled over structure near the edge of town, with an orange mare gripping a lasso in her mouth while in mid air; the other end of the lasso attached to a wolf five times his size made of stardust and magic.

His strategic mind defined three key combat details.

Number one, high value civilians. Fluttershy was near, hiding on the other side of the tipped over home, a flash of pink and yellow was all he needed to confirm she was there. Then there was Applejack and Rainbow Dash; Applejack was currently in imminent danger. No-one else was nearby.

Number two, dangerous element. Lupus minor, large wolf of magical origins. They rarely left their territories, and even more rarely hunted ponies, it was even stranger to see one in the light of day, so he couldn't count on it acting anything like a normal Lupus.

Number three was less of something he noted, and the sensation of his mind magically coming into position with the years of training. His horn lit in tune with his muscles as he continued his sprint.

"Catch!" He yelled out to Cadance while dragging his horn across the air and willing the spell structure for a sideways bolt of magic to go slicing through the air; the technique came to him like walking. The bolt traveled for a second and then snapped Applejack's lasso, she made a country-like yell of surprise as she was whipped into the air.

Shining was already priming a second, far more powerful spell once the Lupus was distracted by the flying Applejack and Cadance's airborne dive to catch the mare. Shining put on the speed and snapped his tail in front of the massive canine as he ran past it.

It made a sound of confusion followed by a growl as it gave chase to Shining's retreating form, within three iterations of a gallop, he released his spell. A large orb of crackling energy drifted away from his horn, floating in the air directly in the path of the wolf that had just begun to bound after him.

The two made contact and there was a flash of pressure that almost knocked Shining over. Once he regained his footing, he turned to appreciate the sight of a Lupus minor contained in a trap shield spell.

He felt the danger and adrenaline switch off, and he lit his horn again to ensure the shield would stay stable under the thrashing Lupus, he also made the shield progressively more translucent, until it became opaque.

"Everypony okay?" Cadance said, landing on the ground with Applejack floating in her aura.

"Ah will be, soon as I'm back on the ground."

Rainbow landed on Shining's shield spell. "Awesome, great work Armor!" She did a faux salute from the top of the little dome.

"All in a day's work." He said, frowning to himself.

You're missing something...

"What happened?" Cadance asked

"I dunno, Rainbow came and got me-"

The prismatic mare in question interrupted, "Yeah! Then we were showing this puppy dog what it means to mess with ponies!"

Shining lapsed into concentrated thought while Cadance convinced Fluttershy it was safe to come out.

We... I caught it with the shield, Cadance caught Applejack after I cut the rope, we turned the house corner after the bridge...

Shining stepped up to the group while looking around. There weren't any signs of explosions, or damage. Not even the smell of smoke hung in the air. "Hey, what was that explosion?"

Applejack tilted her head slightly in confusion, "Explosion? What explosion?"

Cadance smiled for some reason, "Wait, you didn't see the massive explosion? That wasn't-'' she stopped and looked around, noticing the same thing Shining had.

"We should probably go check that out." Shining monotoned

Cadance tilted her head into the air and took a deep breath, "I don't smell any smoke."

"I'll go check it out. I can scout out this whole town in a jiffy." She zoomed off without any more prompting, a 'don't wait up!' getting tossed into the wind as she shot off like a bullet.

"Okay well, a Lupus minor and that happening at the same time can't be a coincidence, can they?"

"Fluttershy said the Lupus was agitated by something in the forest." Cadance answered as Fluttershy nodded, "I don't see how they could be connected?" The lilt at the end was the unasked question of, 'do you see a connection?'

Applejack chimed in, "It's nothin' too much to be concerned about Princess, Ponyville is a magnet for trouble like this. We're used to it by now."

A few unreadable expressions went across Cadance's face before she shook her head, "Well first and foremost." She gestured back at the bubble shield keeping the Lupus in place. "Think you can get him back into the forest?"

"Him? And yes, I just need a boost." He lit his horn as Cadance walked over.

"Masculine emotions have a kind of texture to them." She tapped her horn to his, and Shining grasped at the magic there. Pulling upon his own mana pool felt like lifting weights, the sensation of power you have but can't measure, and the ability to use it using nothing but your intent, sometimes he could feel his limit when he pressed, 'lifted' more than he could handle. On a few occasions in his life, like when he gave himself burnout during boot, he was vaguely able to sense his own well of mana in his core due to the medicine he was on to keep him from using magic on reflex.

Cadance's magic did not feel anything like that. When he reached for her magic with his will, it grasped at him, filling his 'muscle' with its strength and augmenting it with the raw fabrics of magic his wife commanded; the only invitation it needed to fill him to the brim with compliant power was his permission.

That being said, the Lupus disappeared along with the bubble shield in a non-climactic flash of teleportation, the whole spell lasting less than two seconds. Cadance lifted her horn, but the sensation of her magical presence didn't leave him, it never did, really. It was just easier to feel in moments like that, when they were more conventionally connected.

"Done and done" He said

Cadance chuckled, "This trip is really laughing in the face of relaxation."

"Sounds about right." Applejack joked, chuckling along.

Cadance's posture snapped into a standing position, her body language telling the story of her runaway thoughts as the alicorn focused on something else, "Applejack, do you know anywhere to get lunch around here?"

"Well sure, there's-"

The blur of Rainbow returning was joined by the dust of the settling building she landed in disrupting Cadance's quest for lunch with coughing.

"Oops."

Fluttershy was the first to recover, "Did you find anything?"

"Nope, what exactly do you mean when you say 'explosion'?" She sat back on her haunches, "Do you mean like:" She mimed an explosion gesture with her hooves, "Or like:" Followed by another, slightly different explosion gesture.

Shining and Cadance exchanged a glance.

"You know what." She shook her head, "Whatever. Relaxation, vacation, lunch."

"Didja try the market?" Applejack asked

Shining answered for Cadance, "That's where we just came from."

Rainbow tried next, "What about Sugar Cube Corner?"

"Closed." The married couple said together

"Closed?" Fluttershy asked, clearly on the same page as everyone else.

"What about the Hay Burger?" Rainbow tried again

Cadance quietly said, "I'll eat anything at this point."

"Well, good luck Princess, I've gotta get back to work. Weekends are long days."

Shining wrinkled his nose and nearly laughed

Monster attack? Meh, gotta get back to work, Saturdays right?

Cadance giggled, sensing his amusement. "Do any of you want to come? I'm buying of course."

"Oh no, thank you. I have to go make sure the other forest animals didn’t get too scared by the Lupus."

"I uh- have something else to do." Fluttershy's response was mostly cut off by Rainbow rocketing away into the sky. Cadance watched her go with an upside down smirk.

"Well." Shining said, still a little out of sorts at the sudden monster attack, followed by the immediate dismissal of said attack.

"Do you need directions?"

"Yes please."

Cadance and Shining were back to wandering around Ponyville. Either Fluttershy's directions were wrong, or they had just gotten lost on accident. Shining was still mentally keeping a lookout for signs of an explosion, but really, if nothing was wrong then, would it be wrong if he ever found out what happened?

I just want to know

"Shining" Cadance said in excitement. "Shining, I see a flag with a burger on it." Her wings ruffled themselves.

"Of course, now is when we find out that there's a store that sells banners with burgers on them, and that's just somepony's house."

"Don't say things like that." Cadance jokingly admonished while picking up her pace.

Shining got a look at the banner as they turned the next corner, and began to approach the structure.

"Oh no..." Cadance said slowly. "No no no no..."

The building was empty.

Shining saw Cadance's aura wrap around the entire door and heard the clonking noise of a door that was locked.

Cadance huffed, "Come on! Is there some kind of holiday today or something?"

"Maybe we should just go back to the castle? We know they've got food there."

Cadance mulled over the idea before narrowing her eyes, "I won't admit defeat."

Shining smiled

She's having fun.

"What's next then?"

Cadance thought for a second before responding, "We could just break in."

"Vetoing that." He wasn't sure if she was joking or not.

"The market again? It's only been about an hour."

"Lead the way." He said in a certain way

"Uh-huh" She responded in the same particular way, flicking her tail in his general direction as she walked past. "Lunch first, Casanova."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

Shining could practically feel Cadance's eye twitching from where he was standing, such was her body language. The market wasn't deserted per say, but almost all of the stalls were closed. There were only ponies talking about their days so far standing around, or the occasional pegasus gliding by.

"How."

"Maybe they close everything early on saturdays?"

"We were only gone for an hour! Two at most!" Despite her frustration, Cadance was grinning like a loon.

"We still have time." Shining looked up at the sky, "It can't be past two yet."

"Alright, enough of this walking nonsense."

Shining felt Cadance's aura wrap around him as his vision was tinged the same blue as his eyes. "Cadance?"

Her response was to take flight with him in tow

"Caaadaaaance!"

Shining was casually laying in the air, lofted along too fast for him to comfortably keep his eyes open as he was dragged through the open air. Occasionally he'd hear the confused yelp of a pegasus as his wife quickly combed over the town for somewhere to eat lunch.

"Shining! Keep your eyes open! I need you to help me look!"

"Oh I'm definitely looking!" He said, not doing that, since he was upside down anyways.

They set down a few times, Cadance failing once by misidentifying a townhouse as a bakery; then a second time since the bakery that wasn't a townhouse was out of materials for the week. They had stale bread, which Shining had to convince Cadance not to buy.

"This is bordering on ridiculous. How can everywhere in town either be closed, out of stock, or not somewhere to get food!" Cadance stomped on the grass, having set them down in the park Shining was originally planning on them having lunch in.

"In their- well... its? Defense? You know what I mean- In their defense, that last one isn't their fault."

It was nearing the hours before dusk now. Still day, with a light tinting of orange over the far horizon. The perfect angle for sunlight to come glittering in through the trees. Nature at its finest, in his opinion.

Cadance grumbled to herself.

"That, and we could go get lunch at any time."

Cadance scuffed her hoof, "More like early dinner, at this point."

"At least it was fun." He smiled for her

"You-" She made a face he couldn't decipher, "You goof." She said quietly, pulling him into a hug.

They sat there for a moment, enjoying the environment. Shining unfortunately knew he had to break the already broken silence when Cadance's stomach decided to voice its own protests, "Ready to throw in the towel?"

Cadance 'pbbtttpppbbptt'ed with her tongue, then took a deep breath, "Yeah..."

Shining smiled wide as they both wordlessly agreed to enjoy the view for another few minutes before leaving for the castle.

Something happening in less of an order

"Honey! I'm home!" Shining yelled into the confines of the crystal castle as he pushed the door open. Cadance was just behind him, tittering at his antics. His voice didn't echo back to him.

Seems like a pretty successful day, if I do say so myself.

He took a deep breath, and let an ounce of tension flow from his back.

"Think Spike's in the kitchen?"

Shining fixed his attention to Cadance, "Oh, I forgot to mention, Spike's been working at the ponyville post."

Cadance smirked, "Spike the brave and glorious works in the post office? How humble." Her smile turned genuine, and slightly abashed as her stomach grumbled again.

"Alright you." Shining poked her in the barrel, "I remember the way, cmon."

It was a short walk, though Shining shortly and internally compared the size of his sister's castle to his own. The fact that he couldn't exactly tell for sure which was bigger was ever so mildly infuriating.

"Voilà" He said, opening the door for her when they arrived. It was the same as it was this morning, just clean, and lacking a purple alicorn sleeping at the kitchen island.

Wonder where she got off too.

"Perfect." Cadance's horn lit, and cabinets began to open of their own volition as Cadance began sifting through materials and objects. Several small cups of spices floated their way out of the topmost cabinet, and she eyed a box of crackers before eventually munching on a few, the bag in the box floating in her aura with a cracker floating out and into her mouth while she focused on finding something better to eat.

"Pass me one of those."

She did, it wasn't particularly fascinating, it was just a cracker. Shining didn't know why he suddenly took such an interest in the design of the thing, but he did. Probably just bored.

"Ahah! Now we're talking." Cadance levitated a whole cantaloupe out from a pull out cooler. With magic that could grind bricks into dust, she simply separated the fruit in half along the center and scooped all of the seeds onto a baking sheet that had just come to rest on the stove top.

Shining watched, slowly nibbling at the edges of a cracker as his wife did what she do.

The seeds got evened out and covered in sugar, the cantaloupe halves ended up on the counter with him.

She began searching around, her wings ruffling in irritation, "Shining, can you help me find the spoons?"

"I gotcha." He lit his own horn and opened up a drawer on the other side of the island, two spoons came floating out.

"Thank you, Love." She turned her attention to the fruit and several clouds of spices and salts came floating out of their containers to mix in the air. Shining spotted white pepper, and some kind of hay seasoning before it was all a homogenous cloud of 'stuff' that lowered itself onto the cantaloupe.

Cadance wasted no time, lifting a spoon in her aura and digging into the soft orange covered flesh of the fruit covered in flavour.

"Mmm... Food..." She mumbled over a mouthful.

Shining humorously exhaled through his nose and pulled the other half over to himself, she hadn't put any spices on his, as he preferred. He spoke as he lifted a spoonful to his face, "Did you turn the oven on?"

Cadance's slightly orange stained muzzle turned with her ears towards the oven in question, she did not, and she gave a mock frown and glare as she used her magic to light it and set the seeds cooking.

They ate together in silence. Shining wasn't worried about having to make conversation, that wasn't a requirement for them anymore. It never was for Shining, her company was enough for him. That and food, the food helped, he couldn't lie.

The door opened, "Cadance, Shining? Is that you?"

"Twily!" Shining abandoned his cantaloupe and went over to grab Twilight in a hug.

"Hey" She said timidly as he mussed up her mane. "Sorry I missed you guys this morning."

"Didn't you two talk?" Cadance said from the table, in-between bites.

How did she know that?

"I don't..." Twilight blushed, "This morning was pretty hazy."

"We did, you went on about magic, we found the bracelet though, it flew itself to Cadance."

Twilight sighed in relief, "Oh thank Celestia, I was... I thought I lost it."

"Did you figure anything out before it escaped?" Cadance asked from behind him.

Twilight walked up to the counter with him as she responded, "It uses an old... very illegal series of runic spells meant to take in information, and store it somehow. Have you ever read Tight Lense's theories of medical applications of teleportation?"

Shining recognized that name, "Hey, wasn't he a doctor?"

"Mhm. He tried to work out a way to individually subdivide thaumatic stabilization fields fine tuned enough to target parts of the body at range." She gestured out with her hooves, "Imagine just being able to teleport all of the bacteria making you sick out of your body."

Cadance responded, her tone even, "Or teleporting somepony's heart out of their chest from a distance away."

"Ah." Shining surmised, "So that's the illegal part."

Twilight nodded, "Except Lense's work was shut down, he never figured it out, and nopony else was allowed down that avenue of research. I can't tell if the... bracelet holds the solution, but I know enough to tell that's what it's trying to do. There wouldn't be another way for it to create a spell manifold."

"How does it actually change anything?"

"I don't know, I was trying to figure out where it was drawing energy from when it flew away from me."

Cadance shook her head, "Well, no use worrying about it now, I'll just have to ask Silver." Cadance rolled her eyes and mumbled to herself, "Probably why she left." Before stepping back towards the stove and opening it to check on the seeds. The smell of caramelizing sugar wafted into the room, along with the tint of smoke from whatever detritus was lying at the bottom when Cadance turned it on.

Twilight glanced at the fruit sitting on the counter, Shining realized that Cadance had already scooped out the entire interior of her cantaloupe half.

"Are those the seeds?"

"Mhm." Cadance let the springs in the oven shut the crystal cover down over the top.

I wonder where the tree got the idea to incorporate modern engineering in its structure.

"Oh!" Twilight straightened up, "How was your day? You guys went out exploring right? Spike said as much."

"Eh" Cadance waved a hoof, "We bought paint, I nearly blew up Applejack's trees, Sugarcube Corner was closed, then I teleported two goons out of town, flew around looking for food, then came back here."

"The flying part was probably the most exciting part for me." He sarcastically stated, smiling to himself as Twilight tried to work over the information in her head.

She settled on, "Wait, blew up?"

"Cadance tried some dark magic."

"Emotion Magic." She corrected, still staring at the oven's cover.

"What?! Why?"

Shining watched Cadance's posture imperceptibly change.

Mm, right, gonna have to mediate this.

Even though Shining was clearly on the side of, 'let's put it down, never touch it again, and never talk about what we did when we had it'. He wasn't about to gang up on her, especially since he already said his piece, he trusted her to listen to him the first time he said something.

"Turns out." Shining started, "Dark magic isn't nearly as corruptive as we thought."

Twilight twisted her head to look at Shining, half leering in concern, "Are... You too?"

"Oh no, not me. I'm not that crazy."

"Mmnot crazy" Cadance mumbled.

Shining could see the solution here. He just had to get Twilight's academic curiosity over her glaring and very valid concern for the subject. "Didn't you learn some Dark magic too Twily? To get into where the crystal heart was?"

"Well..." She was interrupted by Cadance

"It's called Emotion Magic. It's just... a different style of casting. It's not inherently evil."

"It's just inherently corruptive." Shining added.

"It doesn't feel very corruptive." Cadance countered

"Maybe it's just Silver rubbing off on you then." Once he said it, he wanted to have unsaid it

Ahhhhh.... crud...

Cadance's eyebrows furrowed, her calm smile morphed into pursed lips.

Uhhhhh

"Am I... acting differently? Have I been... getting corrupted?" She carefully asked, Twilight having fallen silent while observing the interaction.

"No. No-"

Cadance's head tilted in the way that said, 'don't mess up answering this', "Then what do you mean by, 'rubbing off' on me."

"Just..." Shining grabbed for some words that were equally true, and wouldn't end with him on a couch, "She's got a very domineering personality, you spend time with her every week, that's all."

"Alright then..." She said cryptically, her inquisitive frown morphing back into a dangerous smile.

"Uhm... so... What's it like?"

Shining chuckled internally

That wasn't how I thought I was gonna do it, but hey, we take those.

Cadance mulled over an answer for a second. "It's like..." She continued to think as she opened the oven again. "Like how you can... feel yourself extended into the magic. When it forms around your mind and expands it."

Twilight nodded along.

"When you cast with Emotion, it's like that, but it comes from your core rather than your... focus?" She turned around to Twilight, "Does that make sense?"

She nodded and added, "And the emotions take up their own space, they're you when the feeling extends, but it's not something you can control."

Cadance nodded and used her magic to wrench a seed out of the melted sugar over top of it, popping into her mouth, and letting out a zippy 'mm' of satisfaction.

"Honestly... it's too figurative for me to understand." Shining added, "I'm not good with this kind of magic stuff."

"Imagine if your..." Cadance made a face, "Actually, do you mind if I try something?"

Shining blinked once, "You're asking to-"

"Just this once?"

"Wait, hold on, what are you asking?"

"Cadance"

"Shining."

"I don't mean to-" Twilight suddenly shifted under the attention of both of the monarchs "I mean, well..." She turned to Cadance, "Is it dangerous? The spell I learned was."

"Definitely not." Cadance answered with absolute confidence

Both of the mares' attention turned to him.

Shining wondered if it was his fault every mare he knew was like this. "Alright."

Cadance smiled, "Okay. So." She began, stepping up to the island where Shining was seated, Twilight joined a moment later. "Love affected your shield spell before right?"

"Yes?" He questioned, obviously wondering where this was going.

"What if that wasn't an accident? What if that's how it works?"

Twilight scrunched her muzzle, "Did the spell you used to amplify Shining's shield spell the banish the changelings-"

"That was a complete accident. Yes." Shining answered for Cadance.

Twilight was making that concerned expression a lot tonight.

"Silver's already proved several different types of casting are compatible... so..." Cadance's horn lit with her normal telltale blue, but her eyes began to leak smoke as they always did when casting like this.

On the table, a little pink cube appeared, barely the size of Shining's hoof.

All three blinked at the thing.

"Huh." Cadance said

"What are you... How are you doing that?" Said both Shining and Twilight together, the words mixing together into soup.

Cadance's head tilted as the cube floated into the air, "Just the normal levitation charm, with a hint of love."

"And... that makes..." Twilight trailed off.

Cadance reached her hoof forwards and poked the cube. It spun lazily in place.

"Wait." Shining leaned forwards, "Is that solid?"

"Solid telekinesis?"

"It doesn't feel like hard light?" Cadance questioned

"I need to write this down." Twilight lit her own horn and several things flashed around her as a notepad and a quill already dipped in ink appeared in her telekinetic grasp. "Cadance, can you describe what you did?"

"Oh um." Cadance turned away from the cube. "I just thought about using the... intuitive levitation charm most unicorns learn, then did it with love instead."

Twilight's quill stopped, "Can you be a little more specific?"

"No?" Cadance nearly laughed. The cube seemed to get denser, though Shining was the only one who noticed. He lit his own horn and formed an identical cube on the table, made out his point shield matrix.

"How difficult was it to cast?" Twilight asked

"I barely had to try, it almost happened without me."

Twilight bit the end of the quill.

"Oh no. Don't even think about it Twi." Shining admonished

"Right... But, if we could recreate the effects! Who knows what we could learn?" Twilight had that little sparkle in her eyes of an unanswered question.

Shining took a deep breath, "Fine, but I'm doing it."

"Shining, you don't have to." Cadance said from across the table.

Twilight clapped her hooves in excitement and prepped her notepad again. Shining tilted his head in her direction.

She's got me already. Too far gone now.

"You said it was just... levitation done with love right?"

"Uh-huh."

Shining closed his eyes and lit his horn.

Levitating objects felt a lot like eating them, to him. That's what the analogy he always used was, at least. An object and it's properties became you, your properties, and with exertion, you could manipulate them the same way you could lift a hoof. He thought of levitation, and flexed the mental muscle, not pulling any of the spell form; he simply thought of Cadance.

Like adrenaline, the sensation of emotion came filling his core, up and out of his horn, so much like Cadance combining her magic with his. Then there was a blue sphere, the same colour as Cadance's eyes floating in the air next to her cube. Shining opened his eyes to see it. The glamour of the smoke leaking in the corner of his vision was a little distracting, but it didn't make his face feel any different.

"Oh, huh. It really is that easy."

"Well Shining? Do you feel corrupted yet?"

She asked the question sarcastically, but Shining planned on answering it very seriously. "There was a swelling sensation that passed through me as I cast the spell. Not nearly enough to overwhelm me, but it was there. It could have, say, if I tried to fill the entire room with the magic."

"Would you describe the sensation as magical, mental, or physical?"

Shining knew the answer to that, "Mental. I didn't really feel it physically, but it certainly felt like I did. A trick played by the mind."

Twilight continued to scribble as another, large cube appeared and formed a trio with the others.

"You said... You felt it?" Cadance asked, slight worry mixed with confusion.

"Yeah."

Another object joined the three, this one was a rectangular prism. "I don't..." Then another one, "I don't feel anything when I make them, it's just normal levitation to me."

Shining and Twilight shared a look.

Twilight spoke first, "How many can you make?"

Shining quickly interjected, "Let's not. I think this was a nice little research session, but you promised to cut back on this." He finished while looking at Cadance.

"I did." She nodded, and the smoke went away with the light on her horn. The objects fell against the island, and Shining's ears twitched as they made no sound, but they did not disappear. Cadance continued unaware, "I'm sorry I brought this up again, it just came to me and... What are you two-?"

Three objects sat there on the counter, unphased by any lack of magical channeling. Shining canceled his own spell, and the sphere fell and began to roll on the table until it came to rest against the larger pink cube.

"What am I seeing." Shining said

"Spontaneous thaumic draw?"

Twilight shook her head, "They're not drawing from the ambient. I have no idea how that's even possible."

Shining reached forwards with his hoof and pressed down on the rectangular prism. It was firm, but slightly malleable, like a foam sponge. He pressed down on it, and it compressed under his hoof until it was bulging out at the sides, then it silently popped. There was a flickering rush of magic, but that was it. No sound, no flash, it just disappeared.

The other three remained.

"I..." Twilight tried.

"Don't freak out on us now Twi." Shining said, chuckling to himself

"Right. This is fascinating, but I think we can safely pull our hooves away from the proverbial fire before we go too far." Cadance told herself. Twilight nodded along, vanishing her notes away.

"What were we talking about before..." Twilight looked back at the three magical objects sitting on the table. Shining saw her bite the inside of her cheek, and watched the gears turn in her head.

"Sugar cube corner being closed."

"Oh." Twilight tore her gaze away from the magic, "Pinkie and the cakes went to Canterlot today to renew a license or something, Pinkie came along to watch the twins."

"Will you send them our apologies for the strangeness that was right before Cadance's shower?"

Cadance waved a hoof noncommittally, "We can just go see them in the morning Shining."

Shining nodded, accepting that.

"So... you also said you teleported somepony out of town?"

Shining wanted to answer this one, "A pair of stallions trying to swindle rocks."

Cadance laughed at the description, covering her mouth with a hoof.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "Flim and Flam?"

"I dunno, we never caught their names."

"Red manes?"

"Yup." Cadance was back to being all smiles

"Well, thank you. It's a good thing you got rid of them."

"Oh!" Cadance's wings unconsciously fluttered slightly, "And we fought a Lupus! And there was that explosion? What was up with that?"

Twilight made that face again, "There was another monster attack today?"

"Barely an attack, and barely fighting; we put it in a bubble and then sent it back into the forest. I can't believe I forgot about that." Shining chuckled

"Weird things and excitement have just become the norm."

"Ugh, I'm glad we sorted out the disaster funds."

Shining just now noticed that Cadance had eaten half of the seeds from the sheet, "Hey! Leave some for us!"

"Nope!" Cadance laughed, floating a bunch of seeds into her mouth at once

Shining got up over the table and swiftly moved over to the oven. Cadance brandished a spatula at him, something he was explicitly not prepared for. He used his magic to lift a wooden spoon from the sink and locked utensils with Cadance.

"En' Garde!" He shouted right as she bapped him on the nose and ran away while giggling.

"Twilight! Secure the confections!" He gave chase.

The next hour was spent play fighting with numerous kitchen implements. Twilight ended up going mad with power and the two royals had to band together to triumph over her legions of glasses and dishware.

Can you believe I'm running out of poorly constructed funnies for my chapter titles?

Shining and Cadance entered their shared room together, leaning into each other.

"I can't believe she just let you go."

Cadance chuckled, "I know, I was certain I was going to get grilled at some point."

Why didn't she ask all her questions?

Shining broke away, lighting his horn to grab the papers stuffed under the bed, "She knows we're leaving tomorrow morning right? She won-"

"OHmyGOSH! I totally forgot about work!" Cadance jumped forwards and yoinked the papers from Shining's aura.

Shining continued staring where he was looking before yoinkage, "Well... I'll count that as a win." He said sarcastically as he slowly turned towards Cadance, currently working herself into a tizzy.

"Cadance honey."

She turned around sharply, "Yes?" said with confusion

"It's still barely seven. You've got time."

Cadance looked out to the window and exhaled. "Right. I mean, not-'' She shook her head, "Ugh- Right, not fast." Then she focused back on the paper she had floating in her aura. Shining was half concerned the poor slip of paper was going to catch flames under her scrutiny.

He magicked a pillow under her back legs, gently tapping it against rump. She sat down, and continued scribbling.

Ah Cadance. Always gonna be the same aren't you?

Shining had the joy of experiencing numerous interactions in which, the pony in question, talking about his sister, would wonder if Cadance's 'regal grace' made Twilight any more social, and less of a bookworm.

...

Shining looked over to Cadance as he clambered up onto the bed. She was practically dead to the world.

Shining waved his hoof, he thought she responded, but she was just done with what she was reading and switched to something else.

In the zone then. Welp.

He looked around at the various entertainment amenities provided to him by his sister, lifted a comic book from a shelf, and settled into the groove on the bed. It was time to do Shining's favorite thing in the world.

Nothing.

Shining tuned out the world, the only thing still within the preview of his attention outside of 'chillaxing' was the slowly dimming natural light from outside. Shining wasn't completely sure because he wasn't paying close enough attention, but the room, and likely the castle as a whole, felt cooler after the sun went down.

Shining watched Cadance get up onto the bed within his peripheral, "I'm all done. Mostly."

Shining levitated his comic back over to the night stand, he wasn't really reading it anyways, just looking at the pictures. "Mostly?"

She settled in next to him, "I want Amber to look at a couple of things before I sign them, her encyclopedic knowledge of law will do its work." She laid her head over his back, "I think now, I'm just going to enjoy the rest of my vacation."

Shining didn't miss the little poke at him hiding her work earlier.

Except you would have fret over nothing instead of being annoyed at me

"You wanna talk first?" He asked, leaning to the side and shimmying to give her more space to get comfortable. Cadance knew what he meant, he was certain.

"I think I'm losing my mind."

Shining didn't lose his smile on the outside, "That's quite a jump."

"Really." She said, snuggling deeper into him.

Shining levitated a section of blanket out from underneath him, then rolled a tad to get the other section. He lifted the thing over his shoulder and covered Cadance. "Tell me." He said

She roughly gestured out with her front hooves in agitation, "It just! It all made sense! Years ago. I remember..." She shifted, deflating, "Remember our wedding night? Defeat the bad guys, marry my Prince."

Shining nodded, making sure Cadance could feel it.

"Then the Crystal Empire came around and... I just felt like I had it all together. That I knew what... I mean, I'd been practicing for years, nearly half a lifetime." She leaned up and tried to look him in the eye, he didn't realize it though, and she merely looked over the back of his head before slouching over. "I just thought... Marry a Prince. Rule a kingdom. That's what Alicorns do right?"

Shining expertly interjected after waiting for just the right moment, "And now?" In truth, Shining barely understood what she was talking about, sure he got the words; understood the premise, but he knew he couldn't truly comprehend how she felt. That didn't mean he couldn't be there, support her. He didn't have to solve every problem.

"Now I don't know." Cadance shook her head, "I guess I never really knew, just guessed."

"What do you want then?" He ventured

"Hmm?"

"If you don't know what you should have, what you should be doing, that is. Pick." He bobbed his head once, "Don't wait around..." He trailed off as a memory, words not his own filtered into his mind.

Exactly what Silver told me...

"I want you." She squeezed him, "And I want... This baby, in our lives. Those two are easy."

"What else?" He said, and Cadance yawned from behind his head.

"I want..." She trailed off, "I want to... Keep the Empire running. Rule, like I'm supposed to. I want to be a good Princess."

This is... Surreal

Shining parroted back something else Silver had told him, "Do you think a fair Princess would ignore the law when it was important? Or would a fair Princess make the law right, so it wouldn't have to be broken, to do good?"

"I-" Cadance shifted, rolling over onto her side, "I don't know. I'm not omnipotent, I can't do everything. So I guess it'd be better to break the law when it matters..."

Shining furrowed his brow, banishing his thoughts and focusing back on Cadance. "What else?"

"Uhgh, I want the ponies in my life to stop being so hard to talk to." Cadance began waggling a hoof as she spoke the names, "Luna, Celestia, Twilight... sometimes, Silver- I guess..."

"No shame in wanting that mare to talk straight for once."

"I want to feel like I'm doing good, of course, I also want to actually help ponies, but... Knowing I'm doing it wouldn't hurt." Cadance took a few deep breaths, then yawned again.

Shining laid his head down and rolled to the side. Cadance slid forwards along his chest as he fell, and she leaned forwards into a sort of T shaped spoon. "The insane thing? Again?"

"Yeah, I like... having it all fit into where it's supposed to. Not all of this, grey, sideways moral compass ruling." Cadance huffed, "I just can't tell which way is up anymore. I'm doubting my own decisions with no proof, and just..."

"I just feel lost. Do you think The Empire was too big of a responsibility?"

Shining didn't hesitate to respond. He rested a hoof around Cadance's shoulder and pulled her into a hug. Well, more of a hug than what they were doing already; tangled together in the way they were. "No. I think we've got it. It's just not easy."

"..."

"For what it's worth. I think you're on the right track."

"Really?" She said quietly.

"Mhm."

"Even with the... dark magic? Silver? The school and... Thursdays?"

Shining couldn't sense emotion like his wife could. He didn't have to be able to read emotions with magic to hear the... mixed bag of hope and doubt in her words. So Shining was honest. "Yes." and it surprised even him.

"Just... Yes?"

Shining blinked once, then closed his eyes and nestled into Cadance more. "I guess so. I felt like I had a lot to say but, really? It's all just worrying. I'm flying in the dark as much as you are, except you always feel so far ahead that I can only really judge after you've done something. So despite all the worry, you've yet to... Do anything wrong." He pressed his nose against her, "I've only ever seen My Princess at work."

The conversation ended there. Cadance, glowing. Shining, happy. They laid together, not caring for sleep in exchange for a few more minutes to enjoy the company.

The sound of their light breathing and comfortable bed carried them both to sleep eventually.

Off to see the... Giant crystal Spire thing!

Cadance's perspective

Cadance woke up slowly, a bit too warm for comfort. She spread her wings to reach the edges of the blankets and flapped lightly to let fresh air underneath to cool her down. Shining stirred for a moment before settling again, and Cadance cracked her right eye open.

The crystal room was still dim, though the barest hint of daylight was beginning to filter in through the window. Her sleepy mind could only focus on Shining Armor, though, and the fleeting dream she had just experienced. Words and voices with colours she could barely remember drifted away as she let them go and closed her eye again.

Totally worth the scheduling nightmare

Cadance shifted a little, her body discomfortably warning her of the pressure in her limbs.

"Mmmmm." Said Shining

"Sorry honey, I didn't mean to wake you."

He squeezed her, "Mnahbr"

Cadance smiled

"Mawake now." He leaned up, stretching the hoof that was laying beneath Cadance moments ago. "Time is it?"

"Early. We still have a till noon."

"Perfect." He rolled back into position and grabbed up Cadance again, settling back into rest moments later.

Stallions...

Cadance did not find sleep again, but she wasn't consumed by her thoughts. She just rested, having successfully cleared her mind the night prior. That and a good night's sleep left her feeling... whole, serene even. The comfort of her husband holding her probably added onto that.

The hours past, and the sun came up. Cadance didn't bother pulling the curtains. They did have to be up eventually. The Friendship Express was only taking one round trip to The Empire today, so...

We could always try and find one of Silver's... uh... distribution centers? I'll have to ask her for a map, for emergencies.

Once it became bright enough for Cadance to think it was time to get up, that and when she got bored enough of lying around, she carefully extracted herself from Shining's grasp and onto the floor. There was a short flurry of levitation as she arranged their luggage, and quickly moved some of the things they wouldn't need that morning. Toiletries were important, she'd have to take a trip to...

Wait...

She hadn't noticed it till now, since she hadn't been told, but she had yet to use the little filly's room since arriving. She didn't feel like she had to either.

She shifted in place, her brow furrowed. Then she quietly made her way to the bathroom, both on her way out of the room, and out in the halls with toothbrush and co in tow.

Still felt normal. Yet within the next few minutes when she went, everything worked like normal, she just didn't feel the way she was supposed to. At least the sudden motive to be in the bathroom gave her the excuse to groom herself quickly, her mane had nearly grown back to its normal length. The bottom of her mane was beginning to curl at the edges, hard to see with the different colours, but still clearly visible.

That and her wings, wing care was very important

A few more minutes freshening up in the bathroom and she stepped back into the hall, feeling good and clean; mostly due to magic, but hey, if it works.

She made her way back to the room, or rather, she tried to. She ended up lost in the castle hallways.

"Why have..." Cadance mumbled to herself after opening another door that lead to another empty room. "Ugh."

Cadance lit her horn, she wasn't willing to just try teleporting in a structure like this, but that didn't mean she couldn't find the nearest pony. She turned in place, trying to get a feel for whoever was closest to her.

Turns out trying to judge distance in a place without distance and covered in magic is kinda hard.

Cadance continued walking aimlessly down the halls until she came across an open door. She peaked inside, "Helloooo?"

"Oh! Cadance!" Came Twilight's voice

"Oh thank goodness, Twilight!" Cadance stepped into the room... the... Empty room, what was Twilight doing in here? The mare in question was just standing in said empty room. She turned to Cadance as she walked inside, they met halfway. "What are you doing in here?"

Twilight smiled, "Oh, just morning spell practice, what are you doing?"

"Looking for a way back to our room..." Cadance muttered, trying to make her faux irritation clear.

Twilight frowned, "Oh, right. Uhm, come on, I can lead you back."

Twilight was overtook momentarily by a wave of indecision, or doubt, or something like it, Cadance couldn't exactly tell. Her emotion sense struggled to work on Alicorns, the only reason it worked on Twilight at all was because of their bond.

Time to bite the feather

"Something on your mind?"

Twilight's ears shifted on her head, "Is it that easy to tell?" Twilight took one look at Cadance and answered her own question, "Never mind, yes. I do have something on my mind."

Twilight opened her mouth, but Cadance lifted a hoof, "Walk and talk?"

Twilight nodded and used her magic to lift the stone propping the door open, while holding the door open as well. They left the room together with Twilight taking the lead. "I dunno, I don't want to be all..." Twilight rolled her eyes in opposite directions, "Looking over your shoulder or anything-"

"Twilight" Cadance said sternly, "Just talk to me. Where is all of this trepidation coming from?" To emphasize the mood she was trying to get across, Cadance took a step closer and wrapped a wing across the smaller Alicorn's back.

Twilight didn't shy away from the walking embrace, just groaned, "Ugh, I'm already overthinking this." She lifted her head, "You've been a little more..." she led Cadance down a right hoof turn, "More like Celestia."

"Tall?" Cadance joked.

"Distant."

"Oh." Cadance tried not to let the comment get to her.

"I don't mean it personally!" Twilight tried to backpedal on the phrase, but it was already said, and it was pretty true.

The moment when she tried intimidating that changeling struck out at her from her memory and her mouth found itself in a line. Her wing around Twilight's back became ever so slightly mechanical.

"It's okay Twilight, I've been stuck in my own head recently; I understand."

"And Silver-"

"Lemme stop you right there." Cadance smiled, returning to a playful demeanor, "Do you think you can talk to me about what's bothering you without mentioning Quick Silver?"

"Err-"

"Okay, just curious, go ahead."

Twilight mulled over her words momentarily before speaking, "I just... She scares me, and for good reason. She's not like Discord, Cadance, she'll hurt ponies and she can't be trusted."

"Oh, she definitely can't be trusted. I know that much, she makes it a point with almost everything she says." Cadance tapped her other wing to her chin, "I think she actually makes a game of trying to get ponies to call her a liar." Cadance lifted her wing from Twilight's back as she folded both appendages back into place. "But I've never seen her hurt somepony without a reason."

Twilight sighed, "But what if she does? I won't... undermine you, or your work; but what will happen if Silver tries to do something bad, and we didn't stop her?"

"You mean like what happened with Discord."

Twilight frowned, "Yes, I do mean... Like that."

Cadance didn't just want to be mean, but the next thing she said was true. "Well that worked out, didn't it?"

"Yes..." Twilight said slowly.

"Thank you for worrying about me Twilight, and I'm not just saying that." Cadance lifted a hoof and bumped Twilight's shoulder, "But I got this, you don't have to worry. I do think about the things you say, so if you have a concern, please tell me."

"Well... Will you look over her... well, I don't know if it is her company, but nopony else I know has access to the magical artifice to be able t-"

"Tack & Co.?"

"Yes. Will you look into it? Closely? After... Well Discord basically pointed me at a- there was a literal plane- okay, how he told me doesn't matter, but he told me to look into it and I did. You know what I found?"

Cadance gestured for her to continue

Twilight's brow furrowed, and her voice came out even, tensed to get across how serious she was being. "I used my title to get access to a couple of documents. Tack & Co. has operation centers in every single settlement in Equestria. Every. Single. One. But only two are active. On paper, and to the public, the company is only active in Trottingham, Manehatten, and the Crystal Empire, but there's structures everywhere."

I was just thinking about that...

Cadance's muzzle wrinkled, "Why have buildings without using them?"

"That's what I tried to figure out." Twilight gestured, "The safety inspections for the building records had locations on them, so I... tracked down the one in Ponyville. I tried to use a scrying spell to see inside, but I got... blocked." Twilight huffed, "When I tried something stronger, the entire house lost all magical signatures, all of the spells dispersed into background thaumic ambiance."

"Wait, house?"

Twilight nodded, "I don't know if it was intentional, but it was just a normal house. Completely impossible to recognize as anything else from the outside."

Why? What could it be for?

"Quick Silver has instant access to everywhere in Equestria and... Well, in spite of what I want to believe, the only purpose for infrastructure like that is-"

"I get it, and... That is very concerning."

"The worst part?" Twilight rhetorically asked

"There's more?"

"The dates, at least, most of the dates I found for the inspections and building records are marked from before Silver showed up in The Empire, before you and Luna freed Dusk from stone. As in, years before."

Years?

"Quick Silver has been planning whatever she's doing for years, and whatever it is; I don't know if we can stop her without taking drastic action." Twilight continued, "That's what I tried to say when... When I said she wasn't like Discord. Discord doesn't think years in advance... I don't think; Silver is conniving, and manipulative."

Cadance thought back to all the times Silver warned her about Tack & Co. being the keystone to her plan, and it struck her as odd that the only time Cadance was ever just told 'no' by the mare was when she went to inspect the building itself. It only just clicked now how out of character that was. Every other question or accusation was brushed off, avoided, or turned back onto Cadance. With Tack & Co.? A brick wall.

"I see your point. I won't let it sit anymore, I promise." and Cadance meant it. "Though, can we stop going in circles now?"

Twilight flushed, having been found out, "S-sorry. I didn't want to get there before we were done talking."

"Me neither." Cadance affirmed, "Thank you for telling me that."

As they came to a stop in front of the room in question Cadance wrapped the door in her aura before turning to Twilight, "You can always talk to me Twilight. Please remember that."

"I will, and I'll go make breakfast for you two. See you in a minute?"

"If I can wake up your brother." She joked

Twilight giggled, "Good luck with that." She turned away and walked off, Cadance watched her take a deep breath and let it out as she walked away.

The door opened, Cadance stepped inside the room. "~Shini-"

"Surprise!" He said, standing over a suitcase.

This stallion!

"Shining! Did you pack everything?" Cadance took a couple more steps into the room, glancing around, everything was as it was. The only thing left out of place was their pair of suitcases, currently opened to display the stacks of papers, a jar, and a few other assorted objects.

"Everything but the toiletries, I noticed you took them with you?"

Cadance ruffled her wings, "I left them in the bathroom, one second." She lit her horn and cast an object teleport, since she knew the shape, colour and intimate details of the objects, it was something she could do without issue. They teleported directly into her telekinetic grasp and subsequently joined with a cup in her suitcase.

"There, done. Unless we're miss-"

"Paint." Shining supplied.

Dang it, I... Guess I predicted forgetting about that.

"Thank you, I think we'll just carry that though." Cadance lifted the suitcases to the door, "Twilight's making breakfast, hungry?"

"Yeah, actually, I could've stood to eat more yesterday." He joked while bumping Cadance

"Hey, it's not my fault your spoon fencing is rusty."

Shining contemplatively looked at a wall. "I never thought I'd hear that statement said out loud for any reason."

"Breakfast!"

"Okay okay! I'm coming!"

They arrived in the kitchen where they had waged war the night previous. Twilight was currently sitting at the island on a stool with her hooves crossed and a pout on her face. Spike was at the sink washing his claws.

"What's going on here?" Cadance said, confused and amused.

"Spike won't let me cook breakfast."

Spike retorted from the sink as he shut it off, "I'm not letting you burn down the castle."

"I wouldn't've burned down the castle!" Twilight cried in embarrassment.

"You made a spell to light crystals on fire."

Twilight hid under her wings.

Shining scoffed and walked past Cadance and took a seat on the stool next to Twilight. "Hey don't feel bad Twilight, Cadance is a terrible cook too."

"Uh- excuse me?" Cadance said in mock offense

"It's true?" Shining said, shrugging

Cadance nodded sagely, inclining her head, "It's true, what can I say?" She turned to Spike, "It's good to see you Spike, how are you?"

"Eh." He shrugged, taking off his apron, "You know, work, saving the world, nothing new."

"Just another day for Spike the brave and glorious huh?" She smiled, and he tried to hide how the praise made him feel. He did a pretty good job actually, Cadance assumed nopony ever told him that she can cheat though.

"You know it."

Shining joined in, breaking away from his conversation with Twilight, "Hey Spike, what's on the menue?"

"Cherry Danishes and whatever's left from the mess you guys made last night. I got the jam at the post office yesterday."

Cadance tilted her head, "The post office has jam?"

Spike opened the fridge and pulled out a jar half full of said jam, "One of the mail mare's father makes jams. She brings in snacks from time to time, muffins mostly."

"Spike!" Shining shouted; Spike turned in confusion at the shout, "Stop growing up so fast!"

Spike’s worried posture melted away and he smiled, "Thanks."

Twilight made a face, but Cadance distracted everypony by spreading her wings and opening a few cabinets.

Crackers and cheese

She fished out the crackers she'd found the previous night, "Spike, do you-"

Spike had already pulled out a bag of cubed cheddar from the fridge when he put the jam back inside. He handed it to her, she took it in her aura in light confusion, wondering how he knew what she was looking for. "Thanks..."

Spike had already walked off to the oven, presumably for pastries.

"How long until you guys have to leave?" Twilight asked to the room

Shining answered, "We leave at noon right?"

Cadance nodded from the seat she'd just taken as she lifted a cracker and some cheese into her mouth.

mmmm

"So two hours or so?"

"Sounds about right."

Spike pulled a tray of almost comically delectable looking pastries from the oven and placed them on the counter a few hooves away from Cadance.

"Holy-" Shining blinked a few times, "Spike, those look incredible!"

Spike polished a claw on his chest.

"Spike's been picking up skills faster than anypony else I know."

"You taught me how to learn Twilight."

"I knooow. I just wish I could cook like that."

Shining elbowed her in the side, "Never gonna happen."

"Ugh."

Cadance levitated a danish up off the tray, the bottom sizzled as she picked it up, exposed to the air.

"Careful Cadance, it's pretty hot."

Cadance put the whole thing in her mouth.

Spike's eyes widened and Shining 'snrked.

Around a mouthful of pastry, a good juxtaposition of Cadance and 'Princess Cadance' she said, "I realized recently, I am a little more heat resistant than I thought."

After breakfast, Shining and Cadance shared hugs and goodbyes with Twilight and Spike before heading out to collect Cadance's paint order. Neither Shining nor Cadance spoke during the event, as they both simply didn't feel the need to. Brush was polite and professional like before, and the married head to the train station and subsequently bordered after collecting two enchanted buckets of paint.

Cadance wished for a moment that Silver was there for the trip back to continue her story, before she and Shining snuggled up on their seat and watched the countryside pass by.

Checkup

Cadance went to the hospital that night when they returned, once everything was packed away and Shining got nabbed by the castle staff for something important.

comedic timing? Or the other kind of timing?

Cadance mused, making her way inside. The hospital was cramped as always, and an idle thought of crystal growth magic passed through her mind as she worried what the emergency section of it looked like.

"Hello Princess Cadance!" A mare said from the intake desk, it was the same orange and blue mare from before, waving jovially from her rotating chair which shimmied in place slightly as she waved. "Here for your appointment?"

"Yes." Cadance said simply, almost on accident, while trying to think of something else to add.

The mare leaned down and picked up a paper slip with her mouth and dropped it into her hooves as she stood up by falling out of the chair. "We changed your room around, so come with me."

Cadance followed the orange maned mare down a different hallway, "Thank you, though I think I never caught your name?"

"Dawn, Highness, my sister is Dusk."

"Have you two been working here for long?"

"Oh yeah, me and Dusk signed on just when the place was looking for ponies. I'm not a doc, but I do have a good head for paperwork. Dusk came along because we always do things together." The mare talked with cheer, clearly recalling the last time she spoke about this.

"That sounds nice." And it was, truly, Cadance didn't mean to sound demeaning when she said it, though; there was a little self consciousness directed internally, which Cadance promptly ignored.

"And here you are, room five ninety nine."

Hmm, why five? are there four more floors?

"Thank you Dawn, when wi-"

"Mrs. Treatment will be by soon. She doesn't have any other patients this late, so she's just doing paperwork in her office."

Cadance just nodded as she stepped into the room and was reminded of what exactly she was to these ponies. It was a windowed room, with a wide panel peering over the street outside. A planter box in front of it, filled with a flux of coloured flowers, and the whole room was just as jaunty as the flowers. The crystal and plaster was covered in a soft banana esc wallpaper, with white trims around the corners where the walls met the floors. There was a medical stand, full of gems and more mundane implements of medicine like thin hoof covers and an otoscope.

In essence, it was what one pictured when thinking 'hospital room'. There was a large white board on wheels in the corner, and a long bed that took up near half of the far side of the room. Built and covered with parts she didn't really have the technical skill to understand, it just looked like a complex bed to her.

The thing folded up along the middle, clearly designed for her to lay on her back.

Cadance wouldn't be doing that. Side or chest, not back.

Cadance stepped up onto the low bed and sat down on it. Staring out the window while waiting for the doctor to arrive. It would've been a nicer view if it wasn't still dusk. The aurora over the Empire reflecting off the shield and the crystals made for a beautiful night sky, though at the moment it was all just glare from the sunset on the mountain beaming into the city.

There was a knock on the door that pulled Cadance from her attempt at staring out at the sun

"Miss Cadenza?" Fair Treatment pushed the door open and stepped inside the room, clipboard floating in her deep strawberry coloured aura.

Cadance turned, politely facing the brown mare, "Cadance is fine."

"Of course." Treatment levitated the clipboard in front of herself to break eye contact, "Would you please confirm again for me the ballpark for how long you've been pregnant for?"

Ah, right of course

"Only a month, at most. However..." Treatment peaked over her clipboard, "We found out recently that my due date is... within the next two months?"

Fair Treatment was a stoic mare, even at the news, her mouth didn't shift from a professional yet neutral line. Cadance knew a little better than what most would see upon glancing at Fair Treatment and her mildly chilly demeanor. There was a kind of focus that emanated from her, a level of attention one would only give to the most important thing in their life. Fair cared deeply about what was going on in front of her, just not positively, more like a duty or a mission.

"I'm going to be clear when I say I do not have a decent gauge for your physical health. The bloodwork we did indicates that you could have already given birth, or that you're four months along." The clipboard found rest on her back as Fair moved over to the stand covered in medical tools. "The best we're going to be able to do is give you a full look over, and keep comparing between other features during your... Three month long pregnancy."

Treatment gave Cadance an unreadable look, "While I can't legally recommend it, wherever you are receiving your current information; I'm guessing another princess. You may want to look into less conventional treatment and checkups." Treatment applied the hoof converse and grabbed a stethoscope. "May. I'll do everything I can, and there generally isn't a good supplement for conventional medical data analysis, but I can't promise to be able to catch trouble before it happens."

Cadance smiled as Treatment placed the stethoscope over Cadance chest, the bed was practically right against the floor, and Treatment used her levitation to do so; a slightly longer cord on the stethoscope being the innovation to let such a thing happen. "That does actually make me feel a lot better."

"Breath in deep please."

She did, and the actions repeated a few times with the cold metal disk placed in various positions on Cadance's body. Cadance noticed Fair Treatment was holding a single blue rubber covered hoof in the air off the floor during the whole exercise.

"Your lungs sound very good, I don't think I've ever heard a clear pressure gradient like that in anypony other than you. Your heart is the same, very strong, though at a decent pace faster than average like before. Do you feel stressed at all right now Cadance?"

Cadance shook her head.

"Can you spread your wings for me? I'm going to run my telekinesis through them with a spell."

Cadance did, there was a very warm tingle that ran through her feathers, for a moment, she could feel the active magic vibrate each individual branching node of her feathers. There was a warm sensation that ran up her back where her wings connected to the muscles for flight.

"Very good, excellent wing maintenance, and very magical; though that's no surprise. Please lay on your side, towards me." As she laid down on her side, Cadance noticed the scribbling sound from the clipboard floating next to Treatment's head. In addition, she realized why the doctor was holding her hoof up off the ground, as she reached forwards to move the fur over on her stomach.

"Have you been to see a doctor who specializes in reproductive health?"

"Not recently." Cadance said

Geez her hoof is cold

"Please lift your tail and leg for me." Cadance did, "I'll recommend it. Though you look like a perfectly healthy young mare to me."

Cadance made a face at the phrase 'young mare'

"Your bloodwork came back more than clean, in addition to the other magical tests we ran." Once Treatment removed her hoof after a couple more cold prods, Cadance lowered her leg and the doctor continued, "As far as projections go, your body has shot forwards as fast as we could expect when it comes to Alicorn metabolism." Treatment went back over to the stand and discarded her current gloves. "The good news is that with a body operating as young as yours is, it's very unlikely that there will be any complications. Everything out of the ordinary presented to my team have only ever been strangely positive benefits to you."

Well if Silver 'looking into the future' is to be believed. That's just about how it is.

The mare lifted a couple more implements from the stand while she continued talking, "As far as I can tell, you'll likely have the fastest and healthiest pregnancy in recorded history. Though, that's only a prediction. Please say 'ahh'"

Cadance did not say 'ahh' but she did open her mouth the way she was supposed to.

Cadance walked out of the hospital and onto the glass streets of The Crystal Empire with copied documents from the hospital she wasn't meant to know how to read. It was dark, by now, and she took a moment to appreciate the sky through the magic in the air, and the shield behind it.

She wondered if there was a way to stop the eternal storm of the north.

Then she wondered what she was going to do for the next hour. She basically had free time to do whatever she wanted; while normally what free time was for (that being, whatever one wanted) Cadance didn't think of it like that. Amber had probably already gone home, Shining was busy, and she didn't and wouldn't have anything to do until tomorrow morning.

"Hmm."

She lifted the papers into her pocket space with her magic.

Surely that doesn't just leave Silver does it? I have hobbies don't I?

Cadance did not have any hobbies, and she hung her head in realization.

I guess I could just... go to sleep early...

"Excuse me?"

Cadance shook her head and snapped her vision towards the pony standing behind her in the doorway. "Sorry, I was in my thoughts."

The earth pony stallion gave her a light bow as she stepped to the side, and then left without any fanfare.

Okay well, first step is to stop standing around in public staring off into space.

Cadance spread her wings and took flight, simply flapping once into the air with ease. Flight for Cadance was as subconscious as mentally picturing the direction she wanted to fly in, and then pushing. Looking in the particular direction usually helped, but her skill allowed her to tune out the world while she flew, making for prime thinking time; almost like showering, but with wind.

I guess I can just relax for a while.

Cadance's hooves dangled once she eventually made it to 'cruising altitude' several body lengths away from the aurora that hung in the sky. Basically swimming in the light, Cadance was cascaded in blues and pinks and every soft colour of the rainbow. To an onlooker, she would've been practically invisible, to Cadance, it may as well have been daytime underwater. Surrounded by twisting bright colours that reminded her of a coral reef.

Funny, I don't feel very relaxed.

She mused, letting the wind direct her glide through the air, vaguely in the direction of The Spire.

She sighed. Lifting her hoof in front of her face to look it over, "I really need to get myself out of this... Funk." She turned her limb over, "I thought hormones were meant to make me... overly emotional, not... absent minded? Funky? Ugh, I wish Ponish had better words."

Maybe I could learn another language, grab a book from the library or something... Guess I do need a hobby. Twilight reads, Luna... does something, probably; Celestia bakes, I know that.

I should have a hobby.

Of course, thinking about it didn't suddenly make it happen, nor did it spontaneously spawn the creativity to come up with the perfect thing for her to do for...

Cadance looked up at the moon and frowned.

That... More time passed than that, I swear.

Cadance was bored, which was awful, because the only alternative was being stressed, and/or busy. How could her mind not latch onto the wind and sky and just let her relax damn it! She didn't want to wish she was busy so she wouldn't feel bored! That would just heap all sorts of karma on her that she definitely didn't want to deal with.

And I definitely can't just go to bed early like this. I need to clear my head. I need Shining...

Cadance took another deep breath and began to tilt downwards. Gaining speed as she banked lightly towards the bottom of The Spire.

"Ah screw it."

Cadance turned away from The Spire, heading for the second largest residential district. She used her diving momentum to glide just over the tops of the buildings before dropping onto the street after passing over the top of the last building to her destination. There were four solid clacking noises as she touched down, hooves on crystal will tend to do that.

As she walked up to the door, Cadance pondered how exactly she was going to do what she was about to do. It was likely Silver would just tell her to go away, but it was equally unlikely that Cadance would be able to fool Silver into letting her inside so...

Blunt force honesty is the best way to do this.

She nodded to herself as she reached to knock on the door, there was a creaking noise that came from somewhere as the door swung open, leaving her hoof to pass through the air instead. The door didn't swing all the way open, a metallic furred silver hoof wrapped around the edge and Silver herself became visible, poking her head and front half into the space not wide enough for Cadance to enter.

"Yes? Is there a reason you're standing outside my house again?" Her face was blank, as usual, emanating disinterest.

"I-"

Silver set her jaw and interrupted Cadance's thought, "I mean... seriously Cadance. I was eventually planning to use your relationship with me as political leverage, but if you keep coming here in the dead of night, ponies are going to be talking without me having to do anything"

Cadance pursed her lips. There wasn't anypony outside to see her here anyways, so what was the problem?

"What did you want again?" Silver questioned, not leaving enough time for Cadance to speak in-between phrases.

"I was bored."

Blunt truth

Silver's eyes narrowed

"I don't have time to do anything else tonight and I figured I could come see you."

The door shifted in Silver's grip, "You saw me less than two days ago. You'll see me Thursday."

"I know bu-"

"You were feeling aimless, and couldn't find the motivation to start doing something with so little time before bed?" Silver's eyes narrowed further.

"Sorta, I was more like-"

"Restlessness, anxiety and boredom all in one."

Cadance's mouth closed slowly as Silver opened the door a little bit more. "Uh... yeah. How did you know?"

"Come inside." Silver let go of the door, and it hung in place. Cadance stepped inside slowly, slightly weirded out by Silver's strange heel turn from annoyed disinterest to letting her inside. It clearly wasn't something she did.

I suppose... blunt force honesty worked, in a way?

Cadance stepped onto the carefully polished crystal floor to see the same sitting room that was usually in here. Instead of a table, there was a massive block of white reflective chalk that took up most of the space of the length in front of the couch, where Silver had just sat down.

"Come sit next to me." She said, closing her eyes. As she did, Cadance felt the magic in the air climb ever so slightly.

Cadance walked forwards, tempted to touch the massive block of weird chalk; though she refrained. She walked slow enough to gauge Silver's reaction to her presence, that was, nothing. She just sat there on the couch with her eyes closed, supposedly oblivious to Cadance prodding the couch.

Wow, they weren't joking.

The couch itself may as well have been made of crystal. There was a slight give, attributing to the fact that it was made out of some kind of fabric. Not any fabric Cadance had seen though. She stepped up, lifting herself bodily onto the couch. It was just large enough for her to comfortably sit down on, though if she tried to lay down, her front hooves would end up dangling over the edge. After she sat down, she looked to Silver questioningly.

This was technically working. Cadance was occupied with something interesting enough to make her feel like she was doing something.

The moment dragged on long enough for Cadance to feel awkward for staring. Luckily, Silver spoke up while flaring the wing on her side facing Cadance. "I said next to me, not nearby."

Cadance looked at the wing, realizing it was meant to look inviting. Silver had clearly not done that in a while.

Is she offering to hug me? What is happening right now?

Cadance shuffled over, watching Silver, she kept her eyes closed through the process of Cadance scooting in range of Silver's wing. Once close enough, Silver closed her wing over Cadance's back and pulled. The Alicorn slid across the couch surface until she was touching fur with Silver, she didn't say anything, or otherwise respond at all.

Cadance eventually found the words, "Can I ask what's happening right now?"

"Go ahead." Silver responded with her eyes still closed.

Uh huh, right, but with no assurance you'll actually answer.

Cadance instead to choose a different question, "What are you doing?"

"Problem solving." Silver's right ear twitched on her head, the first movement Cadance had seen besides the silver wing. Her wing was almost too light to feel, room temperature and slightly pointed. The only reason Cadance could feel the thing was because of the pressure on her coat.

"What problem?"

"Dialateral thaumaturgical spell detonation."

Cadance tilted her head to the side, and Silver continued

"Chemistry and Magic are interchangeable when you get to a high enough level, but it's not a perfect conversion. When physics fights against magic, and wins, explosions happen. Most spells end that way, I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with the enchantment I theorized, since it exploded when I tried it."

"What enchantment?"

"It's a smaller thing, a sound toleration spell; it's part of a larger structure in my ears."

"Your ears?"

"Most of my body functions on a mix of magic and manually crafted biology, my ears are mostly biology, but they can still register sounds higher and lower than the normal pony hearing range. That's not exactly safe long term, so I'm trying to build a resistance enchantment to replicate in the cell structure with runes inlaid inside microscopic liquid crystal designed to retroactively change the vibrational tolerance of the hairs in my ears."

"I... think I got most of that. You're trying to make your ears tougher and weaker based on the incoming sound?"

"Yes."

Cadance's eyebrows twitched, but she smiled. "That's cool?"

"Thank you."

Is...

"How does it work?"

Is she just going to keep talking to me?

"It's complicated... Think of it like magic cheat codes into physics. Time doesn't actually move, it runs, and it doesn't run forwards, it runs backwards. You can't see this with minds, since well... We experience time forwards, a quirk of mental frameworks hosted by physical mass. With a bit of math, and super positioning wavelengths of light, you can measure time operating in reverse."

Silver gestured in front of her like she was holding something, eyes still closed. "Most magically infused particles work this way, electrons, anti-particles and so on. Their traits are determined in our relative futures, their relative past, and they move towards an end state in our future where they become defined when observed. Experience creates magical stability in reality, but the cascading effect can be measured before it happens; which means if you know what to look for, you can look a few moments into the future based on traits of mass in the past."

"You lost me."

"The... Spell is meant to check what speed the air in my ears is going to be at, think of it like scrying, it's not future sight, since I'm looking for currently defined features."

Cadance took a moment to respond, "So... it's... the spell can guess the future based off of the present?"

"The same way you could guess a ball was going to hit you in the face as you watched it travel directly for your face, yes."

Cadance 'hmmed' to herself, "But isn't that because light travels faster than the ball?"

"And the effects of magic on mass travel faster than time, like how shadows can 'move' faster than light."

Cadance ignored Silver's answer, instead drinking in the features of the smaller mare, trying to figure out through will alone what was going on. Silver was still an impenetrable fortress of emotion like always, but there was clearly something causing her to act this way. Tangentially, Cadance also just now noticed the indentation Silver was making on the couch, to an outside observer it looked as though Cadance was floating just above the surface by comparison.

This time Cadance didn't feel awkward staring. Silver's wing squeezing her close pushed away the sense of strangeness that came from being so close to another pony. The Alicorn wasn't exactly sure why Silver was holding her, but she was, and Cadance couldn't find a great reason to be discontent with the comfort.

It was making her feel better, after all.

"You're going to catch my coat on fire if you keep staring so hard."

"So you can see me? Even with your eyes closed?"

"No."

Cadance mock frowned, annoyed at having gotten 'got'. She tried her best to phrase this the right way, and her voice came out with equal softness for the question, "Why are you doing this?"

"You were experiencing the early symptoms of depression. The enemy of life exhaustion is connection."

...

Silver's wing suddenly felt warm over her back. She shook her head to banish the feeling, mentally piecing together what Silver had just said.

She thought I was... and she just invited me in and is engaging without complaint? Just like that?

"You..." Cadance tried to distract herself with a question, "I thought the opposite of connection was loneliness?"

Silver snorted, "No. The opposite of connection is addiction. The opposite of loneliness is contentness. I said the enemy of life exhaustion is connection."

Cadance's ears folded down, her smile was still warm, but small, "I'm not sure what that means..."

"It means that it isn't a cure. Connection, comfort, and affection can't fix depression. It can't make the thousands of tiny little things that shouldn't be the way they are different. It will make you feel better, but it won't make you better. Connection will fight, but it won't win. That is unfortunately all I can offer you."

Cadance was already confused, stunned even, but that floored her. Fight for her? What was Silver on about? -aside from what she clearly meant. The situation was almost exactly not what Cadance had expected when she tried and failed to knock.

"I didn't... I mean, I don't feel like that, but I didn't think you cared?"

"I do not. I need you mentally and emotionally stable, this activity is unfortunately a requirement for my plans, and you... foolishly refuse to acknowledge that I don't actually care, and will believe that somewhere deep within the core of my 'evil' and 'dismissive' nature is some sort of misaligned care for you that leads me to comfort you."

Cadance's mouth opened and closed.

"I've read books before Little Princess. It's not exactly an original premise, but it works, so who am I to complain?"

"You're right."

Silver's eyes opened in confusion, she turned to the taller mare, looking up slightly to meet her gaze.

"I don't believe you." Cadance said while smiling.

Silver sighed and rolled her eyes, turning to smack her face with her other wing before returning to her calm sitting position and closing her eyes again.

A few more moments passed before Cadance spoke again, "Thank you."

Silver's response went against her words, "I do actually need you to be quiet so I can think." Silver's wing tightened around Cadance's back. "Leave when you want."

That brought forward a thought.

"What time is it?"

"Around ten."

"Oh."

Cadance almost jumped up, but didn't.

She didn't want to leave quite yet.

She enjoyed another few minutes of the wing around her shoulder before wiggling out. Silver retracted her wing, and Cadance made for the door. About half way there she turned. "Okay, but can I ask what the giant block of chalk is for?"

Silver didn't respond for a moment, then she took a strong inhale and said, "Of course you can."

Cadance laughed, then she shook her head and left a few pounds of weight behind her when she stepped out into the street.

Dream Sequence

Cadance was way more gravid than she should have been. If she wasn't wandering the halls of the crystal palace, she definitely would have been sitting down. She wasn't sure why those two things were connected, but they were, so she kept walking. Her hooves ached, except when she looked at them, they weren't there.

She spent a good couple of minutes trying to understand why she couldn't stop, and why her hooves were invisible before she was joined by another figure in the halls. She had passed by the tall mare in a shadowy alleyway that wasn't there before. For sure, not something that would be in the palace. Cadance shook her head and kept walking. The figure came rushing out of the dark hallway, or alleyway. Something, Cadance wasn't sure, they caught up with Cadance, walking side by side with her.

Cadance's breath became heavy like her head when the mare spoke.

"Cadance?"

Cadance shook her head, she was busy. Couldn't this mare take the hint?

"Cadance. You are dreaming."

Cadance's intangible brow furrowed as she began stomping harder as she walked, obstinately resisting the idea. This couldn't be a dream could it? Cadance had work to do regardless, she couldn't ju-

The dream solidified, Cadance's body appeared all the way, rather than just being a phantom. Luna became visible as well. Cadance stumbled forwards, no longer weighing far more than she should have as her mind caught up with the environment. The crystal halls suddenly gained sharper features, and details like magical sconces that lit up the room.

"Oh." was all Cadance had to say as she came to a stop.

"Are you feeling okay, Niece? I've never had your dreams resist my presence so..."

"Passive aggressively?"

Luna pursed her lips.

Cadance took a deep breath. "I'm okay, it's just been a stressful couple of days."

Luna's head tilted, "Did your vacation not go as planned?"

Cadance smiled, thinking back to said vacation.

That feels like ages ago

The scene around her morphed to the kitchen, a massive mess they had made while reveling in dumb fun.

"It seems like a war had happened in here." Luna said, lifting up a baking sheet with a spatula shoved through it.

Cadance tried to fight down a blush, which worked, it was a dream after all. "When all of the ponies fighting are either Alicorns, or skilled warriors, adventurers... Play fighting can get a little heated."

Luna glanced at the egg embedded in one of the crystal walls. She smiled in mild concern. "I see."

Cadance continued, "And no." Luna met her eyes, "The vacation was great, I just got back and everything started kicking off. There's this stallion named Banana that's trying to 'sue' the entire Crystal Empire nobility for their actions during Sombra's reign. The court date got set today, and all the nobles wanted to tell me their thoughts on the subject. Construction just began on the intercity ring and a new section of the palace, Silver is... still being herself, Homeward kept trying to meet with me but I never had time... There was this one faculty report that went all the way past PR to me, which says enough I think... it's all just a little overwhelming."

Luna's expression grew more sympathetic as Cadance went on. "I honestly cannot speak much to the subject. I stay away from the limelight as a public resource, but..." Luna trailed off and then stepped forwards, spinning herself around so she was side to side with the slightly shorter Alicorn. A hug was shared. "I believe this is an adequate response?"

Cadance smirked under Luna's wings. They were far larger than her own, despite their similar size. "Do you do the archaic voice structure on purpose?"

"Uh..." Luna didn't try to defend herself.

Cadance giggled. "Okay ancient warrior princess, just use some contractions from time to time and I won't complain." She joked.

"I will make an effort." Luna released the hug, "Though to explain, I find... The New Equestrian dialect..." She tried to figure out how to phrase her thoughts.

"Bad." Cadance supplied, "The word you're looking for is 'bad.'"

"Yes, I believe so."

"It's been like that for a while. I know it's an evolving language but... at least ponies could say words that genuinely make sense, instead of..."

"I heard one of the Solar guards say 'sick' out of context, and may have reacted a certain way." Luna grumbled.

"I get that." She did, it was kinda funny as well. "I'm sure you can find a nice bookish stallion somewhere that appreciates older speech patterns."

Luna raised an eyebrow in response.

"What?"

"You say that as a joke?"

"It was meant to be funny, but hold on for a second." Cadance's mind viscously grappled onto the opportunity to finally have a chance at exercising her special talent. "You're not looking? I take it?"

"Looking?"

"Looking for romance?"

Luna smiled but shook her head, "No, I don't think I'll be partaking in anything of that nature anytime soon."

"Why not?" Cadance frowned, the wall of a 'no' was seriously disheartening.

"I am... Not really relationship compatible? At the moment. Maybe in a few years, if I ever retire completely. I'll consider it."

"And I'll be the first pony you ask for help, ~~right?" Cadance wasn't really asking, she leaned a bit into Luna's personal space.

Luna laughed, "Yes of course."

Cadance tapped the Luna on the chest, "I'll hold you to that." Cadance leaned back, "Oh and... Silver invited you back for next time."

Luna's head tilted, "You mean, tomorrow?"

"Today, technically, but yes."

"Really? How did she say it?"

How did she say it? Looks like Luna does know Silver pretty well...

"She uh..." Cadance trailed off, remembering the moment, "She invited you back after admonishing me for brining you, and then she threatened me."

"That sounds surprisingly genuine." Luna monotoned

"It was; as far as I could tell."

They fell into silence. Cadance looked around at the fraying edges of the kitchen in the dream.

"What should I expect?" Luna eventually asked, they were both still awkwardly standing in front of each other, not doing anything but looking around.

Cadance understood the question, Silver wasn't the kind of mare to really ever do the same thing twice, Luna knew that too. "Anything, I guess." Cadance shrugged. "We've gone out to drink, dance, there was this one time we went and fought a tribe of Kirin's for a dangerous artefact that I then broke."

"You went artefact hunting?"

"I guess?"

Luna shifted in place, "Did you enjoy it?"

Cadance tried to answer but failed, she'd not gotten the chance to even talk about the series of events with anypony, not even Shining. So what ended up coming from her was the bubbling excitement of finally getting to share. "It was crazy! There were, I mean, the Kirin could fly, I kicked open a door. We wandered through a jungle..." Cadance remembered the part where she tried to explode Silver, "Me and her fought, for a moment, nothing came of it. She was just trying to get me to relax."

"If you would like, I could..." Luna lit her horn, "We have access to the infinite expanse of creativity. I could generate any kind of adventure... If you'd like that, that is."

Cadance's emotion sense didn't work in the dream realm, though she desperately wished it did. Luna had a straight face, but her shifting hooves told another story. Cadance decided to just roll with it. "Sure, that actually sounds fun, a chance to blow off some steam."

Luna nodded as the dream around them shifted and expanded. The walls grew, and Cadance somehow recognized that they were now outside as Luna started explaining. "Aside from hunting the nightmares that come up from the Skein, and the demons that slip in from the Outside; this is generally how I spend my time in the dream realm."

"Adventuring?"

"Something like that."

Thank you. For the incredibly vague affirmation

The environment resolved into a massive open field with tall grass up to Cadance's neck. Both Luna and Cadance were submerged in false darkness, illuminated by the stars and moon. Cadance's eyes went wide as she saw the sky.

"Ah, yes. I suppose even you wouldn't be used to the night sky as I remember it."

"Whoah."

The sky itself wasn't dark. There wasn't a single section of pitch blackness that filled the sky with reams of void. It was all just stars, and slightly dimmer stars; sparkling blues, purples, and whites that covered the land in almost dusk levels of brightness.

"What is... What..." Cadance turned towards Luna, "What?" Luna's mane wasn't a tapestry of stars anymore, it looked more like a mirror that flipped the visage of the sky into a cascading rainbow of light, almost like Celestia's auroric mane, but made of thousands of little dots.

"Back in this age, I tended to the night sky, and the realms beyond. My sister tried her best while I was away, but like a field, the sky wilted without the proper care."

"You look gorgeous." Cadance said in awe.

Luna laughed, "Thank you Cadance, coming from you, that means a lot to me."

Cadance dragged her hoof around in the tall grass, trying to make a space that was anything other than just her head poking out. Then she remembered she had a horn, and telekinetically flattened out the space around them. Luna was taller, and her tail was just the same as her mane. Her fur was thicker, and it sparkled with the same kind of silvery metallic sheen that Quick Silver’s had.

"So..."

Luna looked down from the sky. "Right, of course. If I remember this dream correctly, this was a couple hundred years before I became Nightmare Moon, after the first defeat of Discord, there were monsters still left over that had to be dealt with so the major populations could plant new colonies away from the major strongholds. The land had become vicious and angry again."

Luna lit her horn again, and ponies suddenly joined them in the field, campfires and tents sprang up from the ground and the sound of music and the revelry of soldiers joined them under the sky. "I had come out here with my comrades looking for a series of large spiders that had expanded from their jungle to the east."

"You're really good with this dream magic." Cadance commented, all of the ponies, mostly Thestrals, looked completely real, the actions they were taking were dynamic. Nopony repeated any actions, and the mares and stallions spoke with different voices, and their conversations were complex. "I can't believe you can remember things like this, with such detail."

"I am blessed in the dream realm with an accurate memory, though, these ponies are not memories. They are figments, and are just as alive as you were in your own dream when I arrived. They will speak and think without my input, so long as it is within line with who I think they were."

"Really?"

Instead of answering Luna began walking into the crowd, Cadance followed behind and conversation began to quiet as ponies began drawing their gaze to Luna. "Ponies!" She shouted, and many rose, with those already standing saluting or stomping on the ground. "Ready your equipment and weapons! Tonight, we hunt the monsters that hunt us! Tonight we remind the natural world who is the prey! and who is the predator!" Luna stomped her right hoof on the ground twice hard enough to leave a hole and kick up dirt. Thestrals and pegasi took to the air, cheering, and the camp became a whirlwind of activity.

Cadance smiled and leaned over to Luna, "Very regal."

"It's something I would have said, at the time."

Something clicked in Cadance's head.

Cadance was the kind of mare that liked having answers to questions, like most ponies; except she lived long enough to actually rationalize everything. When it came to her Alicorn nature, understanding the ponies around her was a key fundamental she'd taken upon herself to skill herself into. Taking conscious effort to try and understand why, rather than just know of.

How often does she come back here?

How far in the past is she living?

Luna was adventuring into the dream realm and reliving her past instead of making her own future. That'll be why she's struggled to get used to the new language, despite what she'd said.

No wonder she's so concerned about Silver... how often does she meet a memory of them in a dream?

Cadance wiped away the frown that had appeared on her face while she thought. "How often do you do this Luna?"

Luna snapped herself out of staring out at the flurry of activity in the camp ruffling her wings and taking a moment to parse what she'd heard, "Oh" She turned, gesturing out to the crowd, "Whenever I get the chance." Despite being an age old mare, Luna still ended up looking shy, somehow. "It's nice to... feel at home again."

Cadance put some important pieces together, and decided to be direct.

"You know hiding away from the future isn't good for you."

Luna frowned and looked away.

"Not that I'm judging you. I just want you to know that I care."

Luna sighed with her body. In an imperceptible shift, Luna was suddenly 'Luna' again. Her awe striking mane and tail went back to their flowing starlight sky, her fur lost its sheen, and she shrunk down a few inches. Cadance only noticed the tufted ears when they disappeared.

"You're right... My apologies for bringing you."

Cadance chuckled, much to Luna's confusion, and she walked up to the tall mare and slung a wing over her back, "Oh no, I'm interested in fighting monsters. This is cool, but you can't keep yourself locked up in your head. That's all I'm saying."

"You wish to stay?"

"Of course! I've never gotten to lucid dream without you, I'm not starting now." Cadance met Luna's rising smile. It was good to talk to an immortal not like...

Celestia or Quick Silver

The unconscious similarities she'd noticed between the two struck out at her, at least in comparison to Luna. The Alicorn of the Night was expressive and honest. It made Cadance feel like she was actually having an impact when she was kind, or made an effort to be understanding.

"So what usually happened next?" Cadance gestured out to the campsite. The fires barely lighting anything in comparison to the glow from the sky.

"You may want to cover your ears." Luna smiled, then rose up from underneath Cadance's wing while taking a deep breath. "PONIES! RALLY ON ME!"

The camp went strangely quiet aside from the stomping of hooves, the flapping of wings, and the clanking of armor. In less than twenty seconds, the entire camp was marshaled in two blocks of ponies. Cadance noticed that they had subdivided themselves by heavy earth ponies, and lighter clad pegasi and thestrals. Cadance saw a few unicorns mixed through the crowd, and the odd zebra, poking over the tops of the heads of others.

"This is Princess Cadance, my Niece, she will be joining us in the fight against the monsters that have risen to take this land away from us." Luna gestured to Cadance while speaking, and Cadance spread her wings and lit her horn.

Cadance flinched a little as suddenly the entire crowd roared in approval. They simply went from dead silence and attention to cheering and stomping.

Luna whispered to Cadance from further away than was possible. "Another Alicorn joining the fight is a big deal, it means we are sure to succeed." She turned back to the crowd. "Let us not delay! Captains! Move these troops at speed! I want to see the jungle by midnight!" With smattering conversation, and the yelling of several pegasi that took to the air to relay orders, the troops moved forwards. Luna and Cadance watched them go by, and Cadance noticed the ponies lingering behind.

"What are all those ponies here for?"

"Those are the supply teams, and the curriers, and medics. They maintain the camp, send messages to and fro, they will pack up the majority of our supplies and meet us as we move forwards."

Cadance lifted or lowered an eyebrow, depending on how you looked at it. "Do they... need supplies?"

"No, but I figured I should give you an accurate experience." Luna smirked, "Battles like this were just as easily won by the coordination of our non-combatants. Even if an entire force is wiped out, the injured can make a final push with only properly maintained medical supplies and food. Several battles were turned simply because of a safety net, and the enemy thinking they'd won after a devastating retreat."

Cadance started walking through the tall grass, keeping pace with the troops as they trotted, walking rather than marching. "You've got a lot of experience."

"Ancient Warrior Princess is an accurate title, despite it being originally made in jest." Luna picked herself up with a bit of pride, and matched Cadance's pace.

"Sounds like you kind of like it too."

"I equally miss these times, and hope they never come again. Fighting monsters was so simple, back in the day; though ponies still died."

"It was different." Cadance summarized.

"Yes. It was." Luna accepted, thinking of something else.

"So we just walk for a long time now? Shining always says that soldering is ninety percent waiting, nine percent equipment maintenance, and one percent action." Cadance tried to pull Luna out of her musings with some idle conversation.

"Your husband is correct, at least when it comes to monster hunting. Though I will skip the night of walking."

"What are we hunting again?"

"I believe this night, I was ambushed by Akcanera, the Spider Queen." Luna blinked a few times, "She had devised that she had a chance to destroy me, so she rode out with her strongest forces to slay me while we hunted her children."

"Akcanera?" Cadance asked in mild confusion, "I don't think I've ever heard of- wait, so they weren't just monsters? They were a species of spiders?"

"During Discord's reign, he created many sapient and semi-immortal creatures from the insanity of the ponies he tortured, to torture more. Akcanera, Anubis, Chrysalis, Jelickfcha, and the yeti barbarians are the first that come to mind. I believe Anubis turned over a new leaf, until Celestia killed him some time after my banishment."

"Who are... the... the other two? and Chrysalis? Discord created Chrysalis?" Cadance calmly ignored Luna's last statement.

Luna nodded, "Jelickfcha was the first Sphinx, a fusion of a zebra and an abyssinian. We never actually found out about her and her children until long after he was in stone. Their kind is mostly harmless unless provoked; like dragons." Luna started to use her magic to flatten the grass in front of Cadance as they walked after having noticed Cadance struggling with it. "The yeti barbarians were much of the same, they accosted the fledgling Crystal Empire, far away from Equestria. I do believe there are still a few, animalistic yetis, living in the north."

"I have so many questions."

"Apologies, I had forgotten you have yet to experience a moot. I don't know how many immortals are left in the world, Celestia hasn't told me, and I am honestly afraid to ask." Luna shook her head, "But enough history, we have a fight to start. See up ahead?"

"Is that snow?"

It was not snow, it was silk. Spider silk so thick and dense it covered the grass completely; both weaving through and over the tall grass, strangling the field like a weed. The grass underneath it was sickly and browning, dying due to the lack of light and space. Cadance picked at it with a hoof, it did more than stick to her, the mesh grappled outwards and folded itself onto her hoof like it was alive. Cadance retracted her leg quickly and tried to shake it off before wiping her hoof in the grass. The tendrils that had broken off floated around in the air, reaching out towards whatever had disturbed them.

"After we tried breaching it-" Luna pointed off to where the sounds of shouting and the thumping of hooves broke out.

Cadance lifted herself into the air in one smooth motion of flexing her wings. Luna was right behind her, in the glowing light of the stars and moon, it wasn't hard to see what was happening. At the front of the group, ponies had met with and pulled in several large spiders. Most of them were pony sized, but there were a few that were even larger. Some of the more pony sized ones actually had the front half of a pony attached to the front.

Cadance landed in front of the combat, the enemies having been dispatched cleanly and effectively. There was no blood, or any of the other features of death and war that would accompany a fight like this. The spiders just laid in pieces, like broken toys.

It struck Cadance with sadness, for some reason.

Luna landed down behind Cadance, "Ah, the Arachne. Feral ponies combined with Akcanera's children."

"Is..." Cadance didn't really know what to make of what she was seeing, but she pushed away the strange upset feeling that had come to her. "Are these still around? These ponies?"

"Not any that I know of. It's hard to find a pony to procreate with when your lesser subspecies eat their mating partners."

Cadance made a face, "Oh... well I guess that makes sense."

"Princess! Princess!" An earth pony stallion approached and saluted, he had a striking gold mane, and orange-y red fur. "What do you make of these things?" He said, a little more subdued.

"Ah, general Heart. It's good to see you." Luna said, Heart nodded and Luna continued, "These monsters were dispatched with excellent precision and discipline. Their nature is that of the flesh, they have no advantage over us."

"How many more are out there your majesty?" He responded, nodding along with her confidence in their forces.

"Many." Luna said in tone, "Ready the troops in a defensive arch with me and Cadance in the middle. We will meet their ambush with nothing but iron and will, and their best will break as we fall back into the defensive line. They will try to surround us and meet only death when they do."

The stallion saluted and broke off, shouting orders.

"Are you ready?" Luna turned to Cadance, breaking her out of her observations.

"Oh! Right! So, what do we do?"

"The figments will stay behind, any of the overwhelming forces that do not target us will simply disappear for the sake of simplicity, we will fight the rest."

Cadance started to warm up her limbs, limbering up, stretching her flight muscles and stomping her hooves. Luna...

Luna summoned a mix between a glaive, a halberd, and a pickaxe. A crescent moon shaped blade that sprouted from a rune filled pole as thick as the base of Cadance's horn. It was a thing that ran the length of Luna's body, she pulled it from the mount that had appeared on her shoulder and gave the thing a swing. It extended with what looked like magic and hummed as it split the air and spun back over Luna's neck like nunchuks.

"Whoah. Right." Cadance said, remembering that Luna was not only a master tactician

"Ah, of course, what is your preferred weapon? I can summon one for you."

Cadance stuttered for a second, "I don't, really have one? I've only ever used my magic."

Luna tilted her head, "Surely you joke, you've never picked up a weapon? Not a single one?"

"Eheh..."

The taller alicorn shook her head, "A peaceful age."

"Maybe you can teach me something? Someday?"

Luna nodded in Cadance's direction, "Absolutely, you not knowing basic combat procedure is something I cannot abide by. Here." A sword the length of Cadance's arm appeared in front of her. It was made of silvery metal, and its hilt and guard were clearly designed for a muzzle, rather than magic. That being said, Cadance reached out and grabbed the thing in her mouth.

"The shortsword is the weapon of kings. It has the right length, for equal deflection and striking range, perfect for weight, and an excellent starting tool. Easy to learn, with a very high ceiling for skill." Luna lectured, and Cadance would have giggled at the strange thought of Twilight lecturing Cadance on proper sword technique.

That is, until Luna gave her the next piece of advice. "Point the sharp end at the enemy. When they get close, and are not about to hurt you, swing the edge at them."

Cadance was about to spit out the sword and ask a pointed question, but suddenly the grass in front of them began to screech, and Luna took to the sky and yelled.

"TO ARMS PONIES! LET THEM REMEMBER WHO OWNS THE NIGHT!"

Cadance's 'dream' heart leapt into action as a wave of chitinous monsters broke free of the grass line. Cadance pointed the sword at the enemies, sure, but the more reactive part of her mind fired a concentrated line of mana at the oncoming rush with her horn. A divot lasered into the ground where the masses were rushing forwards cut through a few, with limbs popping off and the majority just poofing away as her beam struck their centers or heads.

Luna crashed down to the earth in front of her just after her magic dissipated. The shockwave of the landing flattened every single blade of grass in the vicinity, and exposed hundreds of the onrushing swarm. The creatures near Luna were rended into poofing clouds of dust as her weapon struck out and spun through the air, practically alive, like a gymnast. Suddenly there were very few enemies.

Enough for Cadance to refocus, tuning out the intrusive flashback to her wedding. She turned the sword over in her mouth and rushed up to Luna just as the mare did a standing corkscrew, dancing around and pivoting her large polearm like she was born to do it.

The sound was the worst part. It was definitely throwing Cadance off of the more light hearted adventure she was expecting, the screeching and yelling from ponies served only to make her nervous. She felt distinctly out of place here, in combat. On a battlefield. In a war.

She closed her eyes and remembered. She remembered how she felt when she was fighting the Kirin. She remembered how angry Silver wanted to make her, angry at how Silver wouldn't just stop manipulating her, and from there, the emotion flowed. Filling Cadance with righteous indignation as her subconscious reminded her of the life she never got to have, and all of the ponies that took it away from her.

Her wings already flared, she flapped hard and tackled the nearest target, the sword, evident to Luna's advice, dove straight into the creature like nothing. It poofed a moment after Cadance hit the ground, and she lifted the sword from the dirt while rearing up on her hindlegs, splitting another spider in half as she drew herself up and kicked out at another one, she didn't feel the blow in her legs, but contact sent the top half of the arachne bending backwards in a sickly display before it poofed into dust.

Cadance would have been surrounded if Luna's polearm didn't come spearing through the wave at her front like a missile. It dove through seven of the seething arachne ponies by the waist before halting in mid air due to a blue glow, and flying itself back over to Luna while spinning and adding more starlit dust to the fray of combat.

"WOOO!" Cadance exhaled as she launched herself into the air, there was a wave of force that spread away from the ground as she did so, knocking the spiders prone, and flipping several into the air from the gust of wind that followed. She only realized she had dropped the sword from her mouth once she was in the air.

"Oh... woops." She fired another blast from her, having calmed down, but still in the swing of things.

From the air she spotted a massive spider. Something with legs that towered over even the treeline in the distance. It lumbered through the grass, still faster than a speeding pegasi due to its size.

That'll be Akcanera then.

Cadance pursed her lips and fired a blast of magic at the massive thing. The spell sunk into the beast, disappearing beneath writhing chitin and fur.

"Uhh." Cadance's instincts drove her to the side as a strand of silk like a bullet shot out from a random section of the massive beast towards Cadance at the speed of a bullet. It barely grazed her, and the force was enough to send her spinning for a moment before she righted herself and dodged the next strand while returning fire with a less cohesive blast. It exploded when it reached Akcanera, but the creature was still unphased.

Suddenly everything stopped. All of the creatures paused in place as a barely perceptible wave of blue glow passed over everything. From the ground, Luna called up to Cadance, "Did you drop your sword?"

Cadance called back down sheepishly, "Maybe!"

Another one appeared in front of her, as Luna took the sky and met up with Cadance.

"Thank you."

"It is very bad form to lose your weapon in the middle of combat." Luna admonished with a smile.

"I know that." Cadance grumbled, crossing her hooves and trying to maintain an air of composure. She didn't want to let on how exhilarating that was. She was mildly upset that Luna paused the whole thing to begin with.

"Shall we face Akcanera together?"

Cadance grinned, "Yes."

Luna smiled, and everything resumed. Another strand of oncoming silk was sliced down the middle by Luna's weapon, and she flew towards the beast. Neither of them had to dive, that's how tall Akcanera was. "FOR ATIRIA!" Luna screamed

Cadance got the general message and joined in, "FOR EQUESTRIA!"

They fell upon the beast with thrashing steel and angry beams of magic. Like little bees with laser pointers and toothpicks, they attacked Akcanera from everywhere. The thing was far too big to deal with creatures so agile, and every time Luna danced away from its attacks and taunted it with archaic phrases to draw its attention, Cadance charged and fired blast after blast into its torso and backside.

"She's tough! I'll give her that!" Cadance yelled over the wind,

"Yes! Have you devised her weakness yet?" Luna yelled back,

"SCHEEEEEREEEEREEE!" Akcanera added constructively.

Cadance came to a stop as Luna spun around the spider's jaw again, leading it away as Cadance squinted. The thing hadn't taken any visible wounds, it's body was malleable, like when Shining kicked Silver in the face.

Blood magic... or the visual equivalent.

Every time a blast of magic hit, the flesh simply swallowed it. Whenever a blade sunk into the chitin, more just grew around the hole. When a leg was severed, tendrils of tendons and bone extended to reconnect. Cadance dove, rushing up from underneath the creature's side and sliced out with her blade, the impact sent her spinning as the blade met the leg at the joint, but Cadance didn't bother catching air again. She wrapped the bottom stump in her magic and pulled, using her momentum of falling to channel it into the limb.

That's not really how telekinetics work, but it was a dream, so it did work like that.

The leg snapped away from the flesh as it tried to heal itself and went tumbling to the webs and grass below. Akcanera roared in rage as Cadance caught air and dodged another coming limb attempting to skewer her into the ground.

"Excellent work Cadance!" She heard Luna call out to her with genuine joy in her voice. Cadance smiled, and created some distance. She spat out her blade and held it in her telekinesis, the blade shot forwards and sank into the head of Akcanera. She pushed with her magic and the blade was consumed by the flesh of the beast.

Normally, using telekinesis on a living thing was extraordinarily hard, but as Cadance had learned from Silver: it was only hard because the soul of the creature rejected the magic. Also something Cadance learned from Silver: Blood magic doesn't define bodies as part of the soul. Cadance could have lifted Silver with her telekinesis with ease if Silver didn't weigh nearly a ton.

So as the sword sank into the body of the dream Akcanera, Cadance simply held onto the blade with her telekinesis. When she felt it stop moving, she yanked. The sword came up from the core of the creature, flying out of its head spinning sideways and upwards into the air. The head fell off, and a moment later Akcanera poofed into glittering blue dust.

Luna cheered, as did the ponies below.

I did it! Haha!

Cadance flew up to Luna, "That was fun!" She said, mildly but pleasantly surprised by how much fun it actually was.

Luna glomped her in the air. The dream magic kept them both floating, even though Cadance struggled to instinctively flap. Luna was silent, and the dream bled away as the hug went from: 'victory hug' to 'oh, this is really emotional.'

Luna held her tighter as Cadance realized what exactly was going on and returned the gesture.

"Thank you for letting me share this with you."

"Of course Luna."

The taller Alicorn didn't let go until Cadance pulled away.

"Just... next time, let's meet up in the real world, okay?" Cadance said with a soft smile.

Luna nodded, schooling her features, "I promise. Sorry, combat clears my head."

"Don't worry about getting emotional with me Auntie." Cadance snarked

"I..." Some unreadable expressions passed over Luna's features. "I will not." She eventually said.

Cadance yawned, somehow. She squinted and frowned at her own reaction to nothing.

"You require normal rest. Actively dreaming like this is draining to the psyche."

Cadance shrugged, "I can go for a bit longer. The sword was new, I'm... actually kinda interested in learning now; do you think Silver would show me some tips?"

Luna made a face nearing annoyance. "I doubt it. Du-er, Silver would almost exclusively fight with wit, traps, and magic. She wasn't a very directly confrontational fighter, often choosing to out plan or out maneuver her opponents. Although it is like you said, they are a different pony now, who knows."

"Will I see you tomorrow?"

Luna didn't expect the question. She thought for a second, "Yes you will. I will arrive at a slightly later time, with the same disguise?"

"Sounds good to me." Cadance approached for another hug, which Luna returned. "It's always great to see you Auntie, thanks for stopping by, and for the adventure."

"I-er" Luna flushed under her fur, visible because of the dream, "Anytime Cadance. I hope we can have a real one, at some point."

"Maybe we'll invite Silver?" Cadance offered

Luna's odd demeanor turned a little more stoic and her brow furrowed. "Maybe..." She said, lighting her horn.

Cadance fell into a dreamless sleep moments later.

Author's Note

The way dream magic works here is very reminiscent of Starscribe's work with the whole premise. A new creative step for me is that it isn't a carbon copy of it (lol), despite how much I love the ideas behind it and how it interacts with void creatures and the structure of the universe as a whole. If you like ponies at all, go read their work.

For dream realm specific stuff: Knight of Wands and Beyond the Veil of Sleep
(Though keep in mind that Knight of Wands is mildly unintelligible without reading through the rest of the series, starting with The Last Pony on Earth, which I also highly recomend as a whole)

Bugging the Princess

Cadance was in her office, doing office things she wasn't really paying attention to. There was a book on her desk she asked Amber to retrieve two days ago, Alliteration's Guide to Teaching, that was meant to be review for her upcoming meeting with Homeward today. To hopefully talk about progress, the green mare was excited about something the last time they spoke, so Cadance had high hopes. High enough that she couldn't focus on anything else, with the meeting just an hour away.

Cadance glanced over the details of the stack of papers in front of her. It was a maintenance report, and a funding request to fix the little filly's room down on the eighth floor. Apparently the construction ponies, while attempting to begin work on Cadance's grand idea for a mailroom, had ignored Ivory because, quote: "What would a maid know about construction?" and then went ahead and began construction in the wrong room.

Ivory was justifiably out for blood, hoping to at least make the money back by suing the ties off of the company; despite all of the company's bits coming directly from the Palace anyways.

Cadance magically slid the stack to the side, hoping to try and talk Ivory down before the entire palace ate itself. She kept her horn lit and opened her office door, "Amber?"

Amber's head came around the corner leaning over her own desk into Cadance's line of sight.

"Do you have Ivory's schedule over there?"

Amber nodded, "One second~!"

Cadance's muzzle scrunched. Not only was that an explicitly cheery reaction, but Amber was smiling. The mare was always so focused or in her head that she rarely expressed anything other than neutral professionalism.

Amber walked in through the doors, a folder open in her front hoof. She nosed through several pages before settling on one and lifting it up with her mouth and placing it on Cadance's desk. "There you go." She smiled again.

It was cute as Tartarus, but Cadance was far too interested in the why. Amber was... Giddy? Not quite excited, not quite happy, reveling? Wait...

Cadance gasped, "Amber!"

Amber stepped back in confusion and mild fear as Cadance nearly leapt over her desk, "Do you have a crush!?"

Amber's mouth did that thing fishes do, "Oh-uhm. Right... Princess of Love." She said as her heart calmed and she looked away bashfully.

"Oh my gosh!" The mare didn't deny it. "Tell me everything!"

Amber kept up the shy demeanor, "There isn't really much to tell. Yesterday I... Somepony left me a card and a cupcake, today it was a graham cracker. They've just been saying really nice things."

Cadance leaned over the desk more and smiled a dangerous smile, "oOoOo, so a secret admirer?"

Amber was wilting from the attention, so Cadance backed off a little. "Uh-huh."

"Do you have any idea who they are? Do you want any help finding them?"

"Oh no! No." Amber waved her hooves, "I mean, no thank you. They're probably really shy and I-"

"They're?" The tone was enough context for the question.

Amber blushed a little harder, "I'm not picky, your Highness."

"Oh! That's perfect!" Cadance clapped her hooves. "Amber, you have no idea how glad I am to hear this. You should leave them something too! A note or a confection, like they've been doing."

Amber's eyes lit up, seemingly with ideas. "That- I will. That sounds like a wonderful thought."

"Oh, and you just have to tell me all the details. What have they been saying? What's the-"

Cadance nearly broke into giggling as Amber interrupted her. The crystal mare was apparently just as excited as Cadance was. "They saw me first at the duel, remember? They were around during Sombra's reign, and remembered me from the palace. The...uh-" Her momentum slowed, and she got quieter. "They said that I was a genius. They've been following my court appearances, said they learned a lot about legalese from my work, a-and that they like the way I style my mane?" She finished, looking at Cadance who was nearly about to explode.

If Cadance was on all fours, she probably would have been dancing in place. She schooled her expression, "Out of curiosity, graham crackers?"

Amber shook her head, and suddenly, almost frighteningly, all of her emotions were replaced with nothing. Amber just dimmed on the inside when she answered, "The Empire doesn't make a lot of wheat, so what we do make doesn't go to waste... Since the Crystal Star Stalks bind with the yeast in the brown wheat berries we grow, it means that that the..." The second time Amber trailed off, it was for far longer than would have normally been acceptable in a conversation without somepony asking if the one speaking was okay. "-cracker can mostly be made out of sugar. It makes them very sweet, and they're more of a confection in the Crystal Empire than anywhere else in Equestria."

Cadance tried to keep her own mood from souring at the sudden change in the conversation. Despite the information from Amber's lecture being something Cadance would have normally taken polite interest in, the monotone presentation in conjunction with Amber's emptying emotional state made it difficult to keep a smile up.

"I'm... surprised I haven't heard of this before..." Cadance decided it best to change the topic, "Thank you Amber, for the schedule, did you need me for anything before you go?" Cadance made sure to imply what she actually meant in her tone when she said, "Anything at all?"

Amber's neutral expression became slightly more neutral. "No, nothing Princess, and you're welcome."

Amber then left, supposedly leaving once she'd been verbally dismissed.

The... The buck was that?

Cadance stared dumbly at the door as it closed, wondering what exactly about graham crackers would have... done the reverse of upset her so much. That and why exactly her asking about it was the issue, she'd mentioned it herself so...

Why?

Cadance leaned back on her cushion and flexed her wings to cover her face, "Ugghhh"

It's always something isn't it?

Cadance used her magic to clear off her desk quickly, and levitated a book over to herself.

Gonna need my energy to deal with tonight. Best conserve it.

Cadance stared at the book. Several moments passed her by, moments she wouldn't be getting back.

Her frown became more and more agitated.

You know what? No!

Cadance tossed the book onto the desk, delicately. Just enough for the motion to be conjuntive with her intent, without actually damaging the book. She took several efficient steps around her desk and strode up to her office door. Opening it just a few seconds after she had gotten up.

"Amber, can we-" She started, only to glance around. "Amber?" Amber had left. Her work station lay empty, with all of its materials organized or stowed away. The hallway was quiet and just as empty as the chair behind Amber's desk.

Tartarus...

Cadance reversed her way back into her office and shut the door, thinking about what she'd say the next time she saw Amber.

Hey Amber? Can we talk about- mmm, no. Amber! Hey, I was wondering about...

Ugh, Cadance, Amber is an adult, and your friend. Just ask her what was bothering her, she's not Silver; she won't make it so complicated it feels like your head is going to explode.

There was a knock at the door, the sound startling Cadance since she was so close. After settling, she turned towards the tall clock in the room. It read thirty minutes before Homeward was meant to be here, which in all likelihood meant that the pony who had just knocked was not Homeward.

Cadance's office was public, and while its location wasn't exactly a secret; it also wasn't listed anywhere and it wasn't generally spoken about by the ponies that did know where it was.

Cadance reopened the door to reveal Quick Silver.

"Am I early?" She smiled a cheshire grin

Cadance wasn't willing to entertain her at the moment. "Yes. What do you need?"

Silver pursed her lips. "I just wanted to give you a heads up. I'm bringing a friend tonight. I kinda want you to impress. We're doing a rich, secluded dinner thing; so pack a dress, or a tux, if you feel. Or don’t, what do I care? I'm not your mom." Silver turned away before stopping short, "Oh, and tell Luna when she gets here- Sorry, Selene? Was it Selene?"

"Yeah- uh, what friend?" Cadance knew she probably wouldn't get anything else, but it was worth trying.

"You didn't tell me Luna was coming" Silver's right ear twitched, "I at least gave you fair warning. Don't push your luck." She said flatly, then she left, flapping her wings and taking to the air. Cadance only now noticed as she watched the mare move down the hall that her flight wasn't real flight. Just floating that looked like it was lined up with her flapping.

"Okay..." Cadance said out to the once more empty hall. "See you later."

She huffed and stepped back inside her office, shutting the door again. She took a breath from the mood whiplash she just experienced and stretched out her hoof as she did so in her tried and tested breathing exercise. Once she felt suitably centered, she cracked her neck and elected to force down some work before Homeward arrived.

As Cadance had seen from Homeward thus far, it took her thirty minutes. She arrived just on time.

"Come in!"

Homeward's blue aura surrounded the central section of the door and swung it open. She stepped inside once the door was as open as it could be. "Cadance! Hi!"

"Homeward, perfect, come take a seat. I've needed some good news lately." Cadance had put on her polite professionalism voice, that and a big ol' smile. She was excited to see what Homeward had to tell her.

The solid tone green mare quickly made it across the short few steps to Cadance's desk, and planted herself down firmly before talking. "It's not... all good news, but I think you'll like our progress."

"Okay." Cadance said a little slower, "Why don't you start with the bad news?"

Homeward nodded, "We hadn't thought of it until Blue Sky, the lawyer pony you sent us, brought it up. Since we're technically an Equestrian province we fall under their wider scale education rating system. That means local details, government data requirements, guidelines and regulations to make a school formally a school. Otherwise, it's just a building where we commercially offer learning."

"That sounds..." Cadance mulled over the premise momentarily before coming to a conclusion. "Not what I'm looking for."

Homeward made a face Cadance didn't have to read in order to sense the upcoming trepidation. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I want the school to be an independent structure. If we won't get called a school by Equestria, what exactly does that entail?"

Homeward frowned, "Blue didn't really go on about it. If I had to guess, noble spite? Taxes, ponies being obstinate at worst, economically speaking, we'd be screwed by anypony who was associated with the EEA."

"The EEA?" Cadance said, though she remembered a moment too late what it was as the words left her mouth.

"Equestrian Education Association."

Cadance smiled, "Then ignore them. They're all bluster, nopony worries about accreditation anyways. When we succeed, they'll try and give it to us anyways and try to make it look like they were on our side the whole time. If you get any paperwork from them, you send it directly to me after letting Blue Skies look it over."

"Oh..." Homeward inclined her head a little, "Is it really that easy? We just ignore them?"

"Uh-huh, Celestia dealt with them while founding CTU." Cadance tapped a hoof to her chin, "Though I think she may have just outlasted them..."

"Well then, throwing that out of the window, all I have is good news."

Cadance clapped her hooves, "Well go on then!"

"We're ready to start looking for a location, and we have the first two drafts of what we want our operating rules to look like." Homeward lifted up a hoof, "But, we're going to need more ponies. Just like the thing with Blue, we didn't realize we didn't know something until after a pony with experience pointed it out."

"So you need a few more ponies on the roster, preferably an expert." Cadance agreed.

"Yes, and... we may need a little bit more time?" Ward tapped her hoof on the ground, a nervous tick she apparently had. "It's a lot of work writing up everything from scratch, hiring forms to adherence paperwork... it's a lot to get through with five ponies."

Cadance tilted her head, "From scratch? Aren't there public resources?"

Ward already seemingly had an answer prepared, based on how quickly she responded. "I thought that too, Ray convinced us otherwise though. If we want this place to be on the map, we have to do everything ourselves. That means all of our procedures have to be new, all of the lessons have to be hoof made, the staff and faculty needs to have papers up to date that we made ourselves..."

"And the reasons he used were...?"

"It's all about imaging." Ward's hoof tapped on the ground once more before she gestured with her other hoof, "Being totally new, and with the facilities you... envisioned, ponies are going to need a reason to trust what we have going. If we just copy the templates used by every school? Versus if we make everything ourselves."

Cadance nodded, "So we start with a clean reputation, and so long as we don't make any mistakes, it can only go up from there."

"Yes, exactly." Homeward's nervous twitching stopped, "When the research institution portion of the school opens, ponies are going to get interested. When they see what we're doing, and how we're doing it, ponies will get excited to come. Then when we announce the learning opportunities? Degrees and such? Ponies will come running."

Cadance was nodding along with everything Homeward was saying, "So... This is just an update meeting? You don't need anything from me?"

"Aside from any experts you can send us-"

Cadance interrupted, "I'll get that done, I know a few ponies, and I can ask Celestia."

Homeward smiled, "Then, nope! We don't need anything from you. Though, where do you think we should build it?"

Cadance waved her hoof, "Before we go onto that, how's your team? Like you said, it is a lot of work, and I know I didn't give any of you a deadline. How are they?"

"Oh uhm." Ward took a moment. "They're doing alright, I guess. Marker and Symbol are generally the same, nothing really seems to phase them. Dawn is really excited to be working on something so big, he has this dream of getting his name in the history books. I'm just glad to be busy, honestly."

Cadance opened her mouth, but Homeward apparently didn't see, and continued talking, "It is hard work, but that's what we get paid to do right? Nopony's complaining, and it's not like you're making it difficult. You basically told me not to care about the biggest roadblock we had, and then immediately promised to grant my request." There was a short chuckle, "You're basically the best supervisor I've ever had."

"Thank you, I try." Cadance shifted, "About the location... I was actually thinking about building it outside the shield."

Homeward blinked a few times.

Cadance continued, "There's not a lot of space left in The Empire proper, and I'm not eating up any farmland for this, so that leaves industrial zones, rural zones, and neither of those really fit the theme."

Homeward was justifiably skeptical, "Maybe, but, out in the perpetual blizzard? How would we even-"

"Magic, obviously. I've been... working on something in my spare time." Cadance gave the mare a silly smile, "It's going to stay a secret for now though, don't worry about a location yet."

"Okay. Not that I don't trust you or anything, but will building out on the permafrost be a problem? I'm no architect."

Cadance shook her head. "I don't think so, no."

Homeward shrugged, "Can't argue with that."

They both shared a short moment of silence before Homeward stood and said, "That's everything I have for you."

"Thank you, of course, if you have any questions or requests, come find me. Sorry my schedule is all over the place, you're always welcome to drop in and set something up. I'll tell Amber."

"Thank you, I will be doing that. There's a surprisingly large amount of hoops to schedule something with you."

Cadance gave a princessly titter, "Don't I know it."

"Bye Princess, thank you again."

"Thank you, Homeward." Cadance gave a wave as Homeward exited.

Good good good

Cadance leaned over her desk and lit her horn. She focused the same thoughts into her magic as before, and a little floating pink cube appeared.

"Hello little one." She floated it over to her hoof, where it landed and began to sag. Cadance charged it with more magic, and it seemed to fill out, getting denser and becoming opaque.

Alright, here it goes.

A little creativity mixed with inspiration, and the sensation of reaching out. Her eyes began to leak blue smoke, and the cube began to expand, gaining more vertices and edges, becoming an octahedron, then a dodecahedron. Then she started thinking of herself, her features and who she was. The pink shape fell through her hoof, becoming intangible to her, and landed on her desk.

Cadance identified a few more objects in the room, mostly everything besides the walls, and poured magic into the growing shape.

Unlike the last time Cadance tried this, the object was now nearly a sphere as it grew out from it's resting spot on the floor. The magic around it's edges began to swallow up everything it grew around, lifting up things Cadance hadn't identified. A few quills and a sheet of paper got shoved off her desk, and Cadance strained to continue pushing magic into the sphere. The area around her became covered in pink as it enveloped her.

Once it became too difficult to continue, Cadance stopped and caught her breath. The sphere took up half the room now. Lighting not only the interior, but the walls and bookshelves with pink light as it glowed. Cadance walked around her desk towards the edge of the sphere and lifted a quill that had been thrown to the ground, leisurely tossing it at the bubble and watching it bounce off.

A self sustaining shield spell... If only I could make the inside less pink.

Cadance had another cube in her bedroom. It was three days old at this point, and had yet to show any signs of disappearing on its own. If she could produce permanent shields, they could expand the Crystal Empire.

Cadance blinked a few times to get the smoke flowing from her eyes to disappear. It was sticking around longer and longer now. Something she needed to keep track of.

"Okay. Now for the fun part."

Cadance stepped up to the bubble, and tapped the edge of it with her horn. She lit it a second later, and all of the energy began flowing back to where it came from. The sphere shrunk all the way down to Cadance's horn, before disappearing with a 'pop'. The whole process took far less time than expanding it. Now revitalized, having gained back the magic she used, Cadance smiled to herself.

I'm getting better at this.

"Okay." She ruffled her wings. "That's enough messing around for today." She glanced at the clock, "I apparently have somepony to impress."

Cadance lit her horn and Love-ported to her room.

Luna arrived just as Cadance stepped out of the bathroom. She was looking for a pin for her mane, it occurred to her that she wouldn't be able to find a dress that fit her if she was going to change size into Allium, so she just went with something that fit with hopes for the best.

"Oh! Luna, hey." Selene simply stood in the room, having seemingly been waiting. Cadance was wearing what was essentially a large soft maroon cape that covered her flanks. The front end of it curled around her chest and hung down, tied off on itself with a ruby clip with just enough give to wrinkle into a flowy pattern.

"Hello Cadance, was I..." Luna, in her disguise, looked Cadance up and down. "Was I supposed to come dressed?"

"Silver let me know a little last minute. We're meeting a friend of hers for dinner."

Selene's face immediately filled with suspicion. "Silver does not have friends, by her own word. What else did she tell you?"

"Purposefully? Nothing, though she alluded to payback for bringing you." Cadance levitated a mane clip from inside her nightstand and fiddled with her mane, trying to get it into a bun.

"This is concerning." A space floating above Selene's head began to glow, and light flickered around her form as an undershirt that matched her jet black coat appeared, followed by a series of blankets that folded over her form, leading to a ruffles filled jacket that could have been mistaken for a dress by passerby's.

"Was it really that bad last time?"

Selene looked to the side and considered the question.

Cadance chuckled, giving her bun a tentative poke to make sure it would stay in place. "Aside from you drinking way too much, it went well right?"

"It did. Am I worrying too much?"

Cadance nodded, "I think you just want to make a good impression. Don't worry about it, just be yourself."

Selene made a face, then shook her head. There was a mixed burst of a few emotions that Cadance couldn't understand. "When should they be arriving?"

"I'm not sure. Let me send Silver a letter." Cadance did just that, a few quill strokes and a spell and that was that. Selene still looked unamused at the spell itself, but a bolt of lightning appeared moments later.

We're meeting my friend at their restaurant, if you're ready now, I'll be there in a second.

Cadance looked up at Selene, "Ready?"

"Now then?" Selene looked over Cadance at the letter. "Yes. I suppose."

There was a knock at the door a second later. Silver let herself in, despite the door being locked, she took a few steps into the room before gesturing outwards. "Shall we?"

Seems like everypony just comes in my room whenever they want

Selene approached, "We shall. Hopefully I won't end the night early again."

"Oh, please Selene." Silver waved her hoof, reminiscent of what Cadance expected from a noble. "You were a joy last week. I'm surprised you didn't puke your guts out."

"Castle guards tend to have a high alcohol tolerance." Selene said, monotone, with the slight twinge of a smirk at the edge of her mouth.

Silver found it funny enough, giving a few laughs. "Exactly what I mean." Silver turned to Cadance, "Cadance! I like your cape, very ALC." Silver leaned over to Selene, "After Lord of Chaos." Then back to Cadance, "Are you ready to get your comeuppance?"

Cadance joined the other two at the door. "I thought I had to do it again for you to…?"

"Nah, but yes. This is something else. You'll think it's funny, eventually."

Cadance deadpanned in Silver's direction. "Thanks."

Glad to have that cleared up...

"Cadance told me that we'd be meeting with a friend of yours?"

"Oh yeah." Silver pointed at Cadance, "She definitely shouldn't've invited you last time, especially without telling me. So hopefully I get one back tonight. We're going to dinner."

Cadance ignored Silver's exposition. "Where exactly? Are we going, that is?"

A ghost of a smile appeared in Silver's expression, but her eyes were still wide and as empty as always. "Los Pegasus. I'd have rather gone for something a little more exciting, but regardless, we can always come back."

"I thought Los Pegasus was an amusement park." Said Selene.

Cadance answered with, "It basically is."

"Oh come on you two. The place is covered top to bottom in shady businesses and the gears that keep the place running. Plenty to make it more complex than just an amusement park. Despite it only having roughly a thousand permanent residents."

A raised eyebrow from Cadance, "That was eerily specific."

"What can I say? I do my research." Silver tossed her portal onto the ground like she was flipping a coin. It hit the floor and stretched open. "Shall we?"

"Is this not inconspicuous?" Selene said, looking down through the floor, to the other side of the portal.

"Very conspicuous. Though ponies nowadays seem inured to strange magical effects."

"Am I wearing a disguise today?" Cadance asked.

Silver stepped over the portal. "Nope, you won't need one; plus, I'd hate to ruin your colour theory cape." As she stepped down, her body inverted, rotating to the different orientation of gravity.

Selene was next. Her wings instinctively spread as she stumbled through.

Cadance jumped in, hoping to land with all her hooves facing down. It worked pretty well, all things considered, the sensation of passing through the portal was still disorienting, especially sideways. Cadance was starting to get used to it though.

She landed on clouds, and looked around as the portal faded away, the little coin shape disk floating it's way towards Silver as she turned away. "C'mon mares, it's just down here."

"Out of curiosity, why not bring us directly to the door?" Selene asked, keeping pace with Silver. Cadance came up behind them, hoping to let them talk.

"I wanted to show off how I could use cloud walking magic." Silver scrunched her muzzle, "Except I realized neither of you know I'm not actually a pegasus, so the point is ruined. I really should have thought of that."

"I actually saw it earlier." Cadance said, "Your flapping didn't match your flight path perfectly."

"Huh. Good catch." Silver shrugged, "Anyways, here we are. Oh, and there's Photo."

The building they'd come up on had neon lights going around the rim, and a red and white façade facing out towards the cloud-crete walkway. Cadance turned with Selene as the dark mare's eyes went wide. Silver took several steps back, bumping into Cadance and pushing her backwards with her surprising weight. As she pushed Cadance backwards, she whispered, "Watch this, you'll love it."

Selene gasped and ran up to the other mare. A light green unicorn mare with a two tone auburn brown mane. "Firefly!" A huge grin split through Selene's muzzle, and her voice slipped from her disguise's back to Luna's.

"Uh-" was all the mare had the chance to say before Selene wrapped her in a hug.

"I cannot believe you're still alive! I thought for sure my- uh-" Selene remembered herself and backed up.

Cadance was trying to make sense of the situation as Silver silently chuckled to herself. She got it when she reached out with her emotional senses on reflex and got nothing.

Changeling.

It wasn't a normal changeling. Normal changelings felt like voids with sparks going off on the inside. This mare, Photo, felt like a vacuum, swallowing even the latent emotions coming off of Selene. The same sensation she'd received from only one changeling she'd ever met.

Cadance was further flabbergasted when the unicorn mare gasped as well. "Long horn?!" She tapped her hooves in place, doing a little dance, "I knew you were back! I told them! HA!" The mare had a familiar voice, lacking only the two tone vibrations of a changeling.

Silver nudged Cadance in the shoulder, "Careful not to catch any flies. Princess."

Bugging the Princessesses

Author's Note

Fair warning: There is a particularly salacious kiss in this chapter, but that is all.

This is... basically the halfway point in the non-side story/sequel section of Cadance's and Silver's interaction. As such, I've been waiting to do this for a while, and when writing the chapter, I ended up writing the whole thing in one sitting.

As you can probably see, it is long.
(The appetizers are roughly a third of the way through, wow)

It happens. I couldn't find a good reason to split up the chapter, so here you go.

Bugging the Princessesses

Cadance looked between the two, Silver and Photo with growing concern.

"Why do you look like this?" Photo said to Selene.

"I'm Noxa Selene right now. Hoping to stay incognito."

Sliver chuckled to herself. Cadance narrowed her eyes, and mumbled to Silver as the two mares met each other. "I don't think this is very funny."

Silver smiled wider, "Good." She made a face Cadance couldn't read.

It was immeasurably annoying, not being able to understand what was happening around her. In reality, it was Cadance's lack of control of the situation that was getting a rise out of her, being in a place with ponies on par with her own skill with interaction meant that she was constantly on the back hoof. Two of the three ponies aside from herself were immune to her emotion sense, they all used body language too old to make sense to her, and Silver was seemingly making random facial expressions just to mess with her.

And the changeling queen that trapped her in a cave for three days was standing in front of her, excitedly talking to Selene like they were long lost sisters.

"Where have you been?"

"Where have you been?! I invaded your capitol!"

"You what!?"

A clapping sound came from Silver, though Cadance didn't see what exactly she had clapped with as Silver took a few steps towards the restaurant. "Shall we head inside ladies?"

That's when Photo saw Cadance. Her face filled with a leer and a predatory smile, "Well look who it isss. The Princess of Love herself."

Cadance lit her horn and stepped back. Leaning down in case she had to take flight, her body tensing like a cord under the gaze of the ancient queen.

Photo laughed at her, "Ohohoh! Please, we're not here to fight are we?" She glanced at Silver

"We're not. We're here to enjoy a nice relaxing dinner." Silver's taunting smirk came back in full force.

Cadance's nose wrinkled.

"I believe I am missing something?" Selene said, glancing between the weird standoff.

Photo looked away from Cadance, who stopped holding her breath, she said to Selene, "You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"EHEM" Silver said out loud, rather then fake coughing. "Inside? Please?"

The mares shared a series of looks. Well, Silver, Photo, and Selene did. Cadance had her gaze locked firmly on Photo, waiting for the other horseshoe to drop.

Photo rolled her eyes, "Not much for a Love Alicorn. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I hope you don't mind if I'm unconvinced." Cadance responded tersely.

"She isn't going to hurt you Little Princess. She couldn't even if she wanted to. She's here on a favour to me."

Photo nodded, "Yes, just this once though."

Cadance settled her wings and tentatively returned to a normal posture, though she didn't look away or even blink. "Fine, but... Selene's staying right next to me." Selene got the message, whether Selene came to stand over with Cadance because of Cadance simply commanding so, or whether it was because Cadance looked like she was about freak out was up to interpretation.

"Alright, c'mon Photo, it's your restaurant after all."

Photo strutted up towards the door, lighting her horn in that sickly green aura that haunted Cadance for weeks. All it did was swing open the door. Dim orange mood lighting and the sound of light piano cords filtered out from the opening, and Photo made a wide sweeping gesture leading inside. "After you."

"Why thank you dear." Silver said, laying on a thick accent and trotting inside.

Photo's tail flicked and she grimaced as Silver said 'dear', and Selene and Cadance walked up to the door together after Cadance took a second to readjust the gem on her shoulder keeping her blanket/sash in place.

"After you." Cadance said.

Photo rolled her eyes and entered, letting the door swing shut. As soon as the door was closed, Selene leaned over, "Explanation?"

Cadance quickly said, while half sighing, "Chrysalis invaded Canterlot the day of my wedding, after foalnapping me, taking my place, mind controlling my husband, attacking Twilight, and trapping me in a cave for three days."

"Oh." Selene said in surprise, followed by an, "Oh" in understanding.

"Yeah." Cadance took a deep breath and pushed open the door. The interior was just like outside, despite it being much darker to make the dim chandeliers hanging from the ceiling cast the entire room in romantic ambience. Mostly in tones of deep red and accents of white, with soft wood flooring that stretched around in snaking pathways surrounded by plush red carpet.

"Ah so they decide to join us." Silver snarked.

"Welcome to The Parlor, Princess, Noxa." Photo inclined her head to each mare in sequence.

"It's a lovely place." Selene said tentatively, gauging Cadance for a reaction.

"Table for four?" A small black coated mare said from the side. She was practically invisible with the lighting, though she held a stack of menu's in her hoof.

Another changeling...

Silver was the first to respond. "Yes, please and thank you. A curtain and a circular booth."

"Right this way."

Silver was the first to follow after. Photo continued to maliciously grin at Cadance, who started moving with Selene as she followed Silver. Their hooves clacked against the wooden pathway as the changeling led them through the open floor filled with tables and candles, and the clinking of silverware against ceramic. The building was packed, but surprisingly quiet, even while walking through the open sections with wide circular tables, the chatter was almost inaudible.

"It's a privacy spell." Photo said from behind her, "With plenty of uses."

Cadance could hear the grin, along with the implications. Cadance was able to pick out a few ponies moving about in the crowd, managers and waitstaff. The majority were changelings, blending in with the darkness; though there were a hooffull of regular ponies as well. Ten total, by her quick headcount.

"Right here ladies." Green magic gripped a piece of wood that pulled itself out from an embedded structure in the wall to act as a step up point to a large circular booth, raised up to nearly Cadance's height. There was a rail near the ceiling with a blood red curtain hanging from it, bunched up to the side.

"Thank you miss." Silver leaned over and kissed the mare on the forehead. Cadance heard a buzzing sound, and the mare's eyes lit up.

Photo pipped up from the tail of the group. "Don't go spoiling my staff Fiyrra."

Silver chuckled, "I'll do what I want." and she stepped up into the booth, the wood made a creaking noise. Selene was next, with less squeaking. Cadance glanced over her shoulder at Photo, who was nonchalantly inspecting her hoof.

The booth was more of a massive 'U' shaped mattress that curved around a round block of black marble. The block had carved sections in it, pockets, for cups and anything else a pony wanted to store out of visual range. The seat was a dark red that matched Cadance's dress, and the backing was just as plush and red as the mattress that Cadance struggled to maneuver over due to it's squishiness. Once Cadance clambered inside, and scooted herself up next to Selene, Photo hopped in, hovering up with a buzzing sound and clambering up onto the couch next to Cadance. Before Cadance could protest, Silver spoke up.

"Give her some space Fanatic." She said.

She scooted away, and Cadance unruffled her feathers.

"So? What do you think?" Photo propped herself up on the table as the disguised changeling waiter drew the curtain closed. Plunging the booth into near complete darkness. Cadance was the only pony who's eyes didn't glow.

This was not where she wanted to be right now.

"It's eerie."

She raised an eyebrow, "That's a compliment."

"I personally love the mattress. This booth is fantastic."

"It's a little dark." Cadance retorted.

"It is?" Said Selene.

Silver chuckled, and a floating blue light appeared over the table.

"Thank you... Fiyrra?" Cadance questioned

Silver laughed, "Holy... I totally forgot that name."

"You forgot Fiyrra?" Selene asked.

"So for a little context, Little Princess. I was a few people while I was Dusk Swirl. Fiyrra was a unicorn mare that formed the monster hunting brigade in Atiria."

Photo pipped up, "She nearly killed me. Twice."

"You fell into a hole the second time, that wasn't my fault."

"So." Cadance interrupted the back and forth. "You all know each other?"

Photo gave Cadance a softer look than she thought was possible. "Silver said you were naïve, not young."

Silver groaned. "She's never been to a moot, as far as I know."

"There wouldn't be a point." Selene said, "All of the other ageless are dead. Celestia killed them."

"Well... clearly not all of them." Silver pointed at Photo.

Photo grumbled, "She's had me under her hoof for centuries."

What?

"Wait, wait, hold up." Silver put her hooves up in a 'T' shape. "Who's still around?"

"Us four. Celestia, Discord." Selene said.

Photo answered as well, "Novo is still around, and Lyrane. I haven't heard from the harpies in a long time."

"What about Anubis? Exxctics? Mia?"

Photo shook her head.

Silver's voice sounded a little desperate, "What about the spirit council? It and They?"

Did... Did this really happen?

"Celestia sealed the Fey realms behind Time ages ago." Selene answered.

Silver hit her hoof against the table and looked down. It was loud. Loud enough for Cadance to feel. "Damn. Mare really went on the war path all the way."

"She rules the world." Photo added, wearily.

"I feel like I only got a little bit of that." Cadance said slowly.

Silver sighed. "Let's just move on then. What were we talking about? Cadance's hilariously thin skin?"

"I think we were ordering drinks." Photo said, tapping her hoof against the wall. A second later, the curtain came open, and the same small mare stepped up onto the wooden platform. There was a notepad that levitated in her green aura, despite her not having a horn.

"Water, with a bit of salt for me." Said Silver.

"Do you have wine?" Selene asked. The small mare nodded, and then turned towards Cadance.

"Water... too, please. No salt."

The small mare didn't turn to Photo. Just closed to curtain and supposedly left to get their drinks.

"So tell me about this drama" Silver said, while her wings fluttered, her voice returning to 'normal Silver.'

Photo gave a haughty chuckle. "I blindsided her on a train."

"We were heading to Canterlot for the wedding."

Selene frowned, "Firefly, why would you do such a thing?"

"Why are you calling her Firefly?" Cadance interrupted. Photo's mouth closed as both Silver and Selene turned to her.

She rolled her mouth around, "I- Firefly is my original name. Before Discord did this to me." She gestured at herself.

"Discord had quite the habit of creating immortals for fun."

Photo bit at the air, "I was already on the starlit path before he stole Eternity from me."

Cadance's brow furrowed. "You were an Alicorn?"

Selene answered instead of Photo, "Almost."

Photo leaned back and crossed her hooves.

That was when their drinks arrived. Just the drinks; they floated up through the curtain and settled themselves in front of each of the mares according to what they ordered. In Selene's case, a stemless wine glass and a metal tub full of ice and a bottle of wine. Cadance grabbed her drink in her hooves, just wanting to hold something. The tactile feedback helped her destress ever so slightly.

Chrysalis is being... normal... what...

"Photo?" Cadance said, catching the eyes of the mare, "What is this restaurant for?"

She snrked, "Isn't it obvious?" She said like it was an insult.

"I just want to hear it from you." Cadance responded evenly.

She waved a hoof, responding flippantly. "It's a regular restaurant. Changelings need bits too, so what if they skim a bit of love off the top of the customers?"

"They don't foalnap anypony?"

Silver leaned across the table and poked Cadance in the hoof "Anyone, Little Princess."

"Sorry."

Photo responded, "Not that I know of. Wouldn't be a good business if ponies disappeared every time they went in."

"I thought changelings replaced ponies?"

Photo laughed, Silver frowned from across the table, "Little Princess, would you mind not embarrassing me with every single sentence?"

What'd I say?

"Not all changelings are infiltration experts Cadance." Selene said, "It takes years of training, and advanced magic that few changelings can do."

"To phrase it in a way you'll understand." Photo snarked, "If I had an army of infiltration specialists at my disposal, why would I put my own neck on the line to impersonate you myself?" She half whined in annoyance. "Most of my children are... just normal people, but changelings."

"Wow. Surprise, surprise, xenophobia is bad? It yields mindless results that make no sense and confuse societies and alienate cultures?" Silver rolled her head to the side, lifting her hooves in a faux shrug. "Who could have seen this coming?"

"Why attack at all then?" Cadance said, getting a little red in her cheeks. "Why bother invading if you have nothing to lose?"

Selene hummed, and both her and Photo monotoned at the same time: "Celestia."

Silver extrapolated, "Celestia has been playing chessmaster for centuries. Is it not just a little bit strange that every other nation or city state besides Equestria has been in constant decline since you were born?"

"I find it hard to believe Celestia has that kind of malicious intention for the world." Cadance responded.

"Believe it, Cadance."

Cadance mind caught up for a second that it was Selene who had said that.

Silver continued, "Celestia has been preparing to unite the world under one banner. Her own, and she's nearly there." She finished, sounding impressed.

"I just-"

"Bucking Tartarus, none of us care what you think." Photo withheld a snarl. "It's the truth, believe it or not, otherwise, shut up about it."

Cadance shrunk back a little. "Sorry."

Okay... so Chrysalis isn't a literal monster. All of them know each other... Celestia is...

Cadance shook her head. Selene was the one who picked up the conversation from where it was dying on the floor. "How did the invasion go?"

Silver tapped her hoof against the marble block, "Oh shit, that's right. You slept through the whole thing didn't you?"

Selene smiled abashedly, "Let's not focus on that."

"I was so close to victory I could practically taste it. Canterlot had fallen, I had beaten Celestia and stuffed her into a cocoon. It was a brilliant day."

Cadance raised her eyebrow, frowning, "It was my wedding day."

"She said brilliant." Silver helpfully pointed out.

"It would have been a lovely wedding had I not crashed it." Photo joked

Cadance clapped back. "You tried to marry my husband."

"He's a good husband." Photo shrugged.

Cadance slapped a wing over her face.

"It's true." Silver smiled and turned, "Say, Selene, where are you at for romance these days?"

Wait, did she just compliment him? Wait, did they both just-

Photo chuckled, "Please, Selene's never been able to hold down an interest for more than a week."

Selene's response was cut short as she began to stutter incoherently.

"Remember Adherence?"

Silver did a liquidless spit take, "Oh yeah!"

"You promised not to bring that up again!" Selene forced out.

"Wait, who?"

"No!"

Silver ignored Selene's protests. "Selene went on date once, convinced she was going to marry this stallion she'd met the day before."

Selene coved her face with her hooves.

"Ooooo! and what did he tell you?" Photo egged on Selene.

There was a short moment of emotional pain before she eeked out, "He thought I was a stallion..."

Silver laughed uproariously. "A stallion! Ha! Warrior Princess, and the idiot thought you were- goodness. What is the world like?"

"Hilarious. That's what. What about you Princess of Love, surely you've had some kind of fun with relationships."

Now it was Cadance turn to fidget under the attention. It was true, she did have a hooffull of stories. Being told she was the Princess of Love at the young age of twenty two puts a kind of mentality in the head that leads to such things. Despite intrinsically knowing that wasn't really the point of being an Alicorn, she did habitually flirt with the palace staff for years while training under Celestia. Mostly out of angsty teenage spite, and because she was lonely and confident.

"Oh ho ho! I see a story behind your eyes." Silver taunted from across the table.

"There... is a story that comes to mind." Cadance said, gauging the reactions around the table. Selene seemed genuinely interested, Photo seemed like she was pretending like she wasn't interested. Silver... Looked like Silver always does, attentive yet empty. Cadance swirled the water around in her cup while trying to avoid telling the story.

"Well? Do not keep us in suspense." Selene commented, nudging Cadance with a wing.

Cadance took a breath, "Back when I was learning... Princess things at the palace in Canterlot, way before Twilight was born, there was this gray pegasus stallion who always wore a bow tie and the front half of a suit, he was super cute."

"Have a thing for palace staff don't you?" Silver smirked

"He was one of the butlers..."

Do I have a thing for palace staff? That may be an issue

"Anyways, I snuck off during one of Celestia's lessons. He was there so... I convinced him to follow me into a closet..."

"Cadance?" Came Selene's questioning eyebrow.

"Hah! So what? Celestia wrenches the door open while you're sucking face?" Silver leaned over the table.

"No no... I heard Celestia coming, I told him I'd be back, and I stepped out just in time for her to not see. She scolded me for running off, and then we left to continue the lesson."

Photo smiled, sensing where this was going, based only on Cadance's rising embarrassment.

"Then what? You went back and he wasn't there?"

"More like the opposite..." Cadance looked down at her glass. "I... forgot about him."

"pppbbbttt!"

"Cadance!"

"Hah! Princess of Love for sure!"

Cadance adequately fought back the rising heat in her face. "Celestia was livid with me when she found out. He didn't talk to me again afterwards."

"I can't believe you simply left your paramour."

"We didn't even do anything!" Cadance tried to defend herself

"Oh I'm ~sure~ you didn't." Silver sing songed

Cadance turned to the mare and pointed an accusatory hoof, "Uh-huh, and what about you? Dark and mysterious. What's your romance story?"

"Oho, I got plenty. What do you wanna hear? I've got everything from comedically tragic to heart wrenchingly romantic."

Photo smirked, "Aren't those the same thing?"

"Damn right! Up top!" Silver reached over a limb, Photo did the same, their hooves clapped together as Silver turned back to Cadance. "So what'll it be?"

"What about Sunset's progenitor?"

Silver's face folded back to neutral. "Mmmm. Fire Dance, let me think for a second..."

"Wasn't that the name of that white circus mare?" Photo asked

"Who?" Selene asked back.

"Never mind."

"We met, I think," Silver started, looking off into somewhere else, "Oh... what was I doing?" Silver played up trying to remember, "I think I was spelunking? Or looking for a mining spot for silver, it doesn't really matter. It was practically midnight, and I stumble across this plowed field attached to the cutest little tribal settlement you've ever seen. Fire Dance is outside, watching the stars, and he hears me trip over a tangle of watermelon vines and rushes over to help me."

She shook here head. "Random mare comes wandering in, never met her before, and he runs out in the pitch black because I'm swearing like a sailor. I came back, say, a week later. We talked... or, well... I talked. He listened, the rest is history."

"Ugh-gag"

"Be nice." Selene admonished Photo.

"Oh come on, that was the sappiest drivel I've ever heard and you barely even said anything!"

Cadance smiled to herself, finally feeling like she was part of the conversation, "I could tell you the story about how me and Shining met instead, if you want."

Photo looked actually afraid of Cadance's sarcastic threat. "Oh no! No thank you! I don't need any of your perfect destiny love bond nonsense."

Selene decided to come to her rescue, "I believe now is when we would normally order dinner?"

This is...

Cadance had no clue what was going on, as usual. Except it was working, that, and Cadance was starting to get used to the feeling of being out of her comfort zone.

Luna doesn't seem to think it's weird

Silver lifted a hoof, "Appetizers, and I second that."

The curtain opened, and the small mare levitated four menu's from outside into the booth. Then the curtain closed

Cadance tilted her head, "Is she just standing out there?"

Photo nodded, "All of the private booths get constant attention."

Silver added on, "Makes sense, otherwise we'd having to keep opening the curtain ourselves, waving down the staff, no thanks."

"It is astoundingly good service." Selene smiled to herself, "For changelings."

Photo flopped her menue down onto the table, "You wanna say that again?"

"Whoah whoah, hey you two, relax. You're gonna scare our tagalong." Silver pointed at Cadance, who was about to say something. She ended up grumbling instead.

She perked up, "Wait, why do you have a menue?"

Photo frowned, "What, now I'm not allowed to eat either?"

Cadance lifted a placating wing, "Not what I meant, you didn't get a drink, I thought-"

"I'm sure you did." She monotoned back

Silver chuckled at the antics. "Give her a break Fanatic, nobody's told her anything about you or your kids."

Photo answered Cadance's question after huffing, it was clear she didn't like it. "I can eat whatever I want. I just don't like liquids." Silver cleared her throat, and Photo grumbled but continued, "My changelings can't digest anything other than heavy proteins and love. Water is a requirement for all living things."

"Do you not drink water?" Cadance asked back, curious.

"Firefly is scared of water." Selene said.

"I am NOT." Photo protested.

"It's true, I keep a spray bottle in my desk." Silver joked. Probably.

Photo continued to futily protest as Selene began to politely titter, even Cadance was nearing a chuckle herself. "Nobody likes being sprayed with a spritz of water by surprise! That was one time!"

The disguised changeling queen had some genuine vitriol for Cadance, but seemed happy with, even pleasant to the other two mares a the table. Cadance's misconceptions of chrysalis were quickly becoming more and more alien to her as she continued to act almost alike to Quick Silver.

Collecting those thoughts into a question, Cadance gestured to both Silver and Photo. "So I have to ask, what's the story here? How did you two meet?"

"Heh, maybe pick up your menu first Little Princess? I can tell you're hungry." Silver said.

Cadance tentatively picked up her menu in her magic. "How can you tell?"

Photo was the one who responded, "Please. Your constant outpouring of emotions is almost annoying, despite how good it tastes."

"Wait, I'm constantly outpouring emotion?"

"Nobody ever told you?" Selene tilted her head, catching Cadance's eyes.

Huh?

"You're an emotional beacon Cadance, I'm pretty sure every changeling in The Empire could point in whatever direction you were in if the Crystal Heart wasn't around." Silver explained.

"Am..." Cadance tried to focus on her menu, but failed. "Really?"

She'd never considered what she looks like in the eyes of somepony elses emotional senses.

"Oh yeah. I've tried to figure out why exactly, I've settled on the misnomer that you're not the Princess of Love." Silver waved a hoof. "More like the Princess of Connection."

"Can that happen?" Cadance asked

"Most immortal names and titles in the old pantheon were intentionally misleading." Photo said, "Even Celestia, 'Princess of the Sun' that's not really her Alicorn nature."

"Oh! What ever happened to The Mother?" Silver suddenly remembered the name

"Slumbering, I believe." Answered Selene.

"Awww..." Silver faked disappointment, or maybe not. Cadance couldn't tell.

"Who's The Mother? And... Celestia's not the Princess of the Sun?"

Photo groaned, "Can we please not talk about Celestia anymore?"

"I'll summarize, but seriously Little Princess, look over the menu while I talk."

"Why do you keep calling her Little Princess?" Photo questioned, folding up her own menu.

"It was a pet name I gave her as a joke, it just stuck, anyways." Silver waved a hoof

Pet name? Excuse me?

"The crash course is this: There are two primary sources of entropic reversing energy in our Universe, The Sun, and The Earth. Ponies used to separate the two in primal states of 'creation' and 'destruction'. Their position in tandem with the other forces of Eternity generates Ley Lines, in addition to the cascading features that make the world... the... the world."

As Silver rambled, Cadance looked down at the menu, really looked at it for the first time. It was subdivided into several sections, and had everything she could think of while splitting her focus.

"The Sun isn't really a force. It's more of a representation of raw magic as present to Eternity in reality, Celestia isn't tied to the Sun, she is tied to the thing that creates the Sun."

Cadance's eyebrows went up, and she opened her mouth

"Have an order ready, then you can ask questions." Silver pointed at her menu and continued. Photo gave an odd sounding giggle at Cadance's mock frown. "The Mother is the opposite. You see, material, wood, iron, dirt, it all exists. In a vacuum, if everything up and disappeared, if magic stopped flowing, if time stopped, Equus as a whole would still be present."

Silver sent a questioning look to Selene, "She was like Discord right?"

"Before Celestia dispersed her essence, yes."

Silver rolled her eyes. "Regardless, The Mother, or her full title, 'The Mother Flame' was the spirit of the cycle of Experience. From life to death, change and growth, that was her whole deal. She was responsible in that day and age for natural disasters, new flora, Earth pony magic, and the Featureless Flame. Everyone has some kind of connection to her, some tie back to the first life that ever existed."

"There's still a group of Kirin that worship her out in Japony." Photo added

Cadance lifted her head to respond and met Silver's eyes. She looked back down at her menu, frustrated. At random, her eyes settled on what was vaguely described as a sandwich full of cheese and random toppings and committed the name to her mind. "What's a Cibum Pollum? Is that old ponish?"

Silver responded first, "It is, it's meat, you wouldn't like it." She turned to Photo, "Also, you need to have your menu rewritten. Old Ponish fell out of style for 'the romance language' a hilariously long time ago."

Cadance groaned in her head a she looked over the menu again. Half of these things made no sense to her.

Guess I'll go with old faithful.

Cadance folded down her menu which drew the eyes of everypony at the table.

"Here we go..." She saw Photo mumble to herself

Cadance refrained from voicing all of the questions bouncing around in her head, not really knowing what to ask. "Are we all ready to order?" was the one that made its way out of her muzzle first.

"I think so, Selene, you're not ordering the bugs are you?"

Selene made a face, having been caught in the act. "No." She failed to lie convincingly.

The curtain opened again, and the small mare stepped back up onto the platform and silenetly collected the menu's while levitating a pad of paper and a red quill.

Silver began first, "Roasted fish rolls for me."

Selene answered tentatively, trying to avoid the smug look Silver was throwing her way, "The... centipede kabobs"

Cadance stuttered over her own order in response, "U-the... The, cucumber salad, please." Once she finished, she gave Selene a look of confusion.

"I'll have the same thing she's having." Photo pointed at Cadance.

Cadance was immediately suspicious, which the changeling queen got a sense for immediately. She turned with a tired frown and rolled her eyes, "I can like salad too, Little Princess."

"Only Silver gets to call me that." Cadance let out. She only knew what it meant when Silver said it after all. "And sorry. I'm just..."

"You're trying to rationalize the creature that left you for dead in a cave being a normal pony?" Silver offered.

"Uh" Cadance nodded slowly. "Yeah. I guess I am."

Photo half snarled, "Well don't. I'm not playing nice because I am. I owe this to Silver, as soon as we leave here it'll be right back to the way it was."

"Why?" Cadance asked, genuinely upset, "If... Does it have to be that way? If you're a reasonable creature-"

"Next pony to call me 'creature' is going to get punted out of a window." Photo interrupted.

"Sorry, if you're a completely reasonable person, why go to war anyways? I mean..." Cadance gestured out to the booth, and the restaurant beyond. "This place is proof at all that changelings and ponies can coexi-"

"Pbbtt" Silver stopped Cadance in her tracks.

"Please." Photo started, "Your 'Goddess' has been working Equestria for a millennia, there's no hope for peace, not while she's on the throne. I'm not stupid enough to fall for your 'let's all just be friends' act. Blegh."

Selene shifted in place, "In her defense, she doesn't believe Celestia is... well... Celestia."

"I think we're starting to convince her." Said Silver.

And they were. Cadance would have been far more unwilling to believe anything they were saying if Selene wasn't nodding along the whole time, even adding onto their gripes about the Solar Alicorn.

"I'm... starting to see that, yes."

This is... more complex than I thought, at the least.

"Again, can we please talk about something else?" Photo half snarked, half begged.

Selene offered a solution, "Why don't you share one of your own romantical misadventures?"

"Easy" Photo scoffed, "I don't have any. As soon as I learned how to fertilize my own eggs, I swore off the whole thing."

Cadance frowned at the casual dismissal of 'like, her entire deal.'

"That's astoundingly boring. Do better." Silver snarked

"You're one to talk, your story was just a gross lovely dovey quip. It wasn't even a story."

Silver turned to Cadance, "To answer your question, me and Photo met in Atiria, I was Fyirra at the time, and you were what? A wandering transmutationist?"

"A kind of illusionist, yes. I was looking for somewhere to settle down once Discord turned my old home into a giant basket of pastries."

"You joined my brigade didn't you?" Silver tilted her head.

Photo rolled her eyes, an action she seemed fond of. "I ran your brigade, once you stopped coming. That's how I met Discord."

"Ah. Well-" Silver's ears perked up, "Oh yeah! I remember now, you came back filled with holes, that's why I got back into the monster hunting business."

"Little did I know that the mare that trained me was actually the ruler of the city itself." Photo quiped.

Cadance leaned into the conversation. "I've heard the name Atiria a few times, is that the name of the city you made?"

"Atiria is..." Silver trailed off, "Something. Something else. It's not important, but I named my tiny little city after Atiria."

"I fail to see the reason for the distinction." Selene said, though Cadance got the sense she was saying something else.

"Regardless." Silver shrugged off the veiled question, "Basically? Yes. Fanatic Photographer here showed up maybe... ten? eighty years before the unification wars ended?" Silver tilted her head towards Photo.

"What makes you think I remember? It was before Celestia and Long horn over there arrived. After Discord started mussing up my countryside." Photo responded flippantly.

"That's a pretty long range, I thought the unification wars ended before Equestria was founded?"

Silver nodded, "Sure, the first ones."

Selene explained, "After the mass exodus to Equestria, not just the unified had crossed over. Pegasi barbarians, tribalists, and other creatures beat the majority of our civilization over the border and had taken up roots. Resources were fought over, me and my sister were the ones who finally brought some semblance of order."

"I was one of those 'other' ponies that crossed the Frozen Sea." Silver said.

Photo added on, with a shrug when Cadance looked to her. "I was born in Equestria."

"Weren't you born up north? Near Rainbow Falls right?" Asked Silver

Cadance shook her head, "I don't know where I was born. I'm an orphan, technically. Though it never felt like it."

"Good for you." Photo rolled her eyes again.

Before Cadance could respond, Silver solemnly interrupted. It was her tone that stopped Cadance, rather than the volume. "We're all orphans here, Little Princess. Every immortal is, except Twilight. Another one of Fate's cruel jokes."

There was a wave of emotion that passed over the group. Something Cadance couldn't grasp, something only creatures that had experienced years and years on their lonesome could feel; something only they could understand.

Cadance realized why specifically these three immortals were sitting here in the booth. They were all constant, maybe the only vaguely neutral constants in each others lives since they were born. Discord had fought and hurt most of them. Celestia was an enemy of two. Twilight was supposedly the same, and everypony else was dead.

Why am I here?

Cadance wondered. It was hard to grasp what immortality had done to any of them, Cadance wasn't old enough to have lived her whole lifetime. She was just out of the prime of her life, when it came to pony lifespans; so why was she invited? Why was she here? If Silver had planned for this scenario like she planned for everything else, had she always been waiting for Cadance to invite Luna? If so, why be so frustrated about it? Why not do it herself? and why wait until after to bring Chrysalis along to have this moment? Was it random?

What does it all mean?

The group's introspection was cut short as their food arrived.

Selene's was by far the most eye catching, it was an upright circular... holder. For the lack of better word. Something you'd keep your miscellaneous kitchen tools in. Stowed inside of it were six sticks of obsidian coloured wood with cooked centipedes running up and down each length. Selene's eyes went wide when their server placed the thing in front of her... She also started to drool slightly. Silver received a triangular plate with a less geometrically inclined pattern of raw smelling rolls that looked like they were made of rubber, surrounding some kind of potato looking stuffing. The whole plate had what Cadance could barely identify by smell as lemony vinaigrette artistically strung around the plate and the rolls.

Then Cadance and Photo's salads came down. They were in oblong wooden bowls filled to the brim with the heartiest lettuce Cadance had ever seen, the cucumbers were just as visually delicious, glistening, but not soggy, firm, but not hard. There was a lit peppering of some kind of white cheese over the top, along with the carrot shavings mixed inside. Simple, elegant.

"Holy shmit." Silver said around a roll. She visibly sagged, to the point of compression as her eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped away from the table. There was a hearty moan of satisfaction. "Eternity. Buck, and other apt expletives." She finished, still relaxing.

"Are..." Cadance could only smell... weird... savory, raw scents. Like licorice if it were a stew, she'd smelled the scent of cooked meat plenty of times, having been to Griffonia on several occasions, though, never this close and certainly not with that much attention. "Are they really that good?"

There was a crunch from Cadance's side as Selene slowly removed an entire stick from her mouth, sans bugs. The crunching continued as she munched on them and a warm smile came over her features.

"Enjoying, ladies?" Photo said from the side, a mix between a sneer and smile on her face.

A plate with one of the rolls slide its way over to Cadance with a cerulean glow to explain where it came from. "I haven't eaten since I was born, so my perspective is a little bit off, I think they're divine." Silver said, popping another one into her mouth and shivering as she tuned out.

"I am curious then, Silver rarely has such high praise for things in general." Selene wrapped the roll in telekinesis, despite not having a horn, and the thing came apart in two equal halves. One remained on the plate, the other went over to Selene, who bit one end of it off, cutting it in half again. Cadance watched, waiting to contemplate eating the thing until she saw Selene's reaction. She began to nod slowly before swallowing and speaking, "She's right. Try it Cadance, you may like it."

Cadance appraised the meat in question. "Is it safe to eat?"

Photo was the one who answered incredulously, "You're too stupid to know your own dietary restrictions? How old are you?" She seemed genuinely confused.

"I-"

"She's just around eighty." Silver said, "And like I said, cut her some slack. Celestia purposefully sheltered her." Silver looked at Cadance, and the plate slid a little closer to her, "Most pegasi actually eat some fish from time to time. It's a pretty common southern cuisine, you're an Alicorn, so you can safely eat pretty much anything, even gems."

"I can eat gems?"

Selene nodded, "Gems have magical qualities, you are a magical creature that resonates with the same geomagical features. You should try them sometime, they have very exotic flavours."

Cadance looked over to Photo, who was muzzle deep in a her salad. They locked eyes and Photo immediately began glaring as she pulled her muzzle from her food. "What?"

"Nothing, I just assumed you would say something. Sorry." Cadance turned away from the disguised queen and lifted up the roll with her magic. She gave it a tentative sniff that yielded nothing new, and then popped the thing in her mouth. It was soft, tangy, savory, and had this odd flavour of a mix of sea air and oily bread that she couldn't describe. There was the hint of some steamed spinach mixed into the stuffing.

Cadance chewed slowly, mixing the flavour around. "Wow. That's... Really good."

"Heh, thank you." Photo said, smug, "I think the Sole Rolls were my own recipe."

"You're welcome." Cadance said, surprised with herself

Credit where credit is due.

Selene leaned one of her centipede sticks over to Cadance, "Would you also like to try one of these?"

"Uh-" Cadance shivered, having caught sight of the many faceted eyes having been cooked out of one of the three centipedes wrapped around the stuck, "No thanks, I don't think I'd be able to get that into my mouth."

Selene shrugged, "It's an acquired taste."

"Speaking of, will you pour me some of that wine?" Silver asked and Selene obliged. There were already enough glasses and plates on the table for all of them, both with towels and ornate silverware.

Selene offered a glass to Cadance, she waved a hoof, "No thanks, I don't like wine."

"~reaaaally. The diplomat stick doesn't like wine? How scandalous."

Cadance subconsciously reoriented her water with her telekinesis, the condensation from the outside of the glass smearing from the force. "Don't get me wrong, I've drunk plenty of wine at all sorts of occasions, I just think it's gross."

"She doesn't like beer either."

Photo inclined her head, "Which is fair, in my opinion. You ponies are always finding new and creative ways of poisoning yourselves."

Silver smirked, "Little Princess, remind me to tell you the story of the first time we discovered 'Love tolerance.'"

Photo's eyes closed slowly and she sighed through her nose.

"Can..." Cadance quickly glanced between the three other mares... at the moment, she considered for a second before continuing her thought. "Can I ask why I'm here?"

"What do you mean? This was your idea." Silver said back.

"It wasn't. This was all you." Cadance responded, "And I... feel like I understand why, at least a little, but I don't see how I fit into this situation."

"Ugh. You're like a teenager." Photo somehow refrained from rolling her eyes, but still managing to get across the idea with voice alone.

Silver just slowly leaned back, "You wanna take that one Selene?"

"I would, but I don't know either."

Silver's wings spread in frustration. "Great. Glad I'm the only one paying attention, as usual."

Cadance waited patiently for Silver to huff and puff about it, eventually she was done, and Silver continued, "I'm trying, as I always am, to distract you, and lower your guard."

"You're lying." Cadance said with full confidence.

There's no way you'd waste this much effort on distracting me

Silver let out a single explosive laugh. "Of course I am."

Great. Glad we cleared that up.

"About what though?" Photo waggled her eyebrows at Cadance, it made her very uncomfortable. "That's the question."

Selene placed her wine glass down on the table, having been pretending to sip at it to stay out of the conversation, "I believe Silver isn't lying Cadance, rather, she's intentionally being misleading with the time presence of her words."

Silver propped her head up on the table with her hoof, and the last roll floated into her mouth.

Selene took that as permission to continue, "Silver is trying to placate you, to make you comfortable with her, so she can manipulate you and go behind your back right now."

Cadance grit her teeth. "That's... basically what she told me she was doing."

"And you're still falling for it? Seriously?" Photo joked

Cadance felt the need to defend herself, "She gives off mixed signals!"

Selene snarked, "That is literally what I would do if I wanted to be as confusing as possible."

"But you said-"

"It isn't a lie if it's blatantly obvious."

"Alright well fine." Cadance's hoof tapped against the block of marble as she decided to let herself vent. "Fine! Okay?! I get it! I'm young and stupid! That's why I'm asking! Could ONE of you give me a straight bucking answer!?"

Maybe a little to much

Silver and Photo seemingly found it hilarious, as they shared chuckles and a few glances. Selene seemed torn, looking away from Cadance guiltily.

"Fairness Cadance. It's a damn bucking lie. There's no such thing." Silver said, building up some mysterious tone as her words began to artistically flow. "But I still owe you a question. You're free to use it at any time."

"Remember? You asked me what my real name was. You didn't hear. That counts as an unused question to me."

Cadance waited for a moment, mulling over her thoughts, "How do I know you won't just lie to me?"

"I probably will, if you ask the right question." Silver shrugged.

Photo laughed again at the annoyance plastered over Cadance's face. Cadance, meanwhile internally quit.

"It doesn't matter does it?" She frowned on the inside. Feeling what it felt like when somepony rejected you. "It doesn't matter what I ask, or how I ask it, I might as well just say something stupid so you'll humor me."

"It's okay Cadance." Selene wrapped a wing around her, and it got her to stop talking, but it didn't make her feel better.

"Nice contraction." Silver quipped

She doesn't care...

Cadance decided to stop talking for a while.

I'm getting way to emotional for this

She glanced over at her salad, but she wasn't hungry anymore.

"I believe you two owe Cadance an apology." Selene said, "You've both been picking on her this whole time."

"She deserves it." Photo said.

"Shut up cheese legs." Silver snapped back, then more sincerely, "I'm sorry Cadance, always have been. You don't deserve having me done to you."

Cadance smiled, despite the confusing phrase, "Thanks, I think."

"Just a reminder who started this whole mess, hmm?" She inclined her head towards Selene, who looked away when Cadance glanced her way.

"I don't care much for who started it. Though, thank you for apologizing."

Photo added on, "For whatever it matters, you're not complex enough to be worth it to put down." She waved a hoof flippantly.

Cadance sent her a glare, "Says the shapeshifter who failed to fool somepony who hadn't seen me in years for a day with mind control and years of experience at your disposal. Not to mention an entire shapeshifting army." The tensing of each phrase got the mare frowning deeper and deeper as Cadance continued on.

Photo opened her mouth but Cadance threw a cucumber at her from the bowl. "That! And what was your plan exactly? Capture Canterlot? Marry my husband? Why? Why not just kidnap him and feed all of your subjects? What would capturing Canterlot even do? with all the ponies foalnapped to produce love, it's not like any of the infrastructure would work!"

Silver's chuckling turned into laughing, and Selene tightened the wing over Cadance's shoulder in support as she continued.

"And another thing! Maybe you ought to have thought about what would have happened if S- Princess Luna woke up and noticed that Canterlot was under siege? You surprised Celestia, but did you really think you could beat the Ancient Warrior Princess herself? Quick Silver? What would have happened if your chaos freed Discord again huh?"

Photo cringed at the last thing, she raised a hoof to respond but Cadance cut her off again, "Think before you make 'evil plots', and before you call me simple. If I recall, it was my magic that beat you, in the end." She gave a curt nod to finish off her triade.

Silver was uproariously giggling to herself, in-between breaths she managed to work out: "She's got you there cheese legs!"

"Tis true, The Princess of the Night certainly would have sent your flanks packing."

Cadance snorted, "I don't have the mental acuity to correct the grammar and lingo in that."

"Alright! Alright." Photo finally managed to get a word in, "You're an Alicorn. I get it, you don't have to be so smug about it."

"I won't if you won't." Cadance responded.

"Fine." Photo held out a hoof, "Truce, for now, At least."

Cadance reached over a hoof, and they shook. "Thank you."

"Eh- Don't make it weird."

"What do you all think about main courses?" Silver asked, hoping to steer the conversation back onto track. However much a group with the conversation in question could be 'on a track' at all.

"I could stand to talk a little more." Selene said

"I mean, I've just realized how hungry I am." Silver argued

Cadance leaned forwards, which was enough of a reason for Selene to remove her wing from over Cadance's back. "How does that work by the way? I've been wondering about your... uh, body." She made a face, "You know what I mean."

"I'm flesh and blood. I'm full of implants though, my blood isn't quite blood, and I have two brains, one is made out of a faceted omni-dimensional tetrahydric crystal. That an-"

"I meant more in the sense of how it affects you? I... I'm not going to understand any of what you're saying anyways."

"Oh." Silver leaned back. "Well I'm sure you- you actually did notice my attitude shift. Silver, that is, who I am right now, is now individually biochemically active. Once I was old enough to really be my own consciousness. I've only been 'awake' for about a week. Everything else was just... A mix of all of my old minds and personalities trying to drive my amalgamized form around. They're still all back there." She said, tapping the back of her head, "I can hear them giving advice, but I have free reign to do what I want my way."

Photo was the one to express curiosity, "How does that even work? Surely if you recreated a body by memory, you'd just be the same pony every time?"

"I poorly memorized my own string of genetic code. Every time I recreate it, I have to make a few guesses, so I come out just a little different every time. Silver is a little more twitchy, personable, and has a way bigger consequential interactive attitude."

Selene frowned, "I know little about pony biology, but surely you can't just guess to form a stable life?"

"It's part of my curse. I get to cheat. It makes it so that I can't fail, otherwise, I'd be dead." Silver tapped the marble, "but for now, I'm hungry. 'Silver' just realized she's sustained herself on nothing but magic for weeks, and wants to fill her belly when she can."

Photo snorted and tapped the wall again, the curtain came open and the menus, that is, different menus were distributed between them.

Gooddness, was the other one all appetizers?

This one had pages, at least ten. There was everything from gourmet pancakes to stuffed turkey dinners.

"Woah." Silver said, quickly flipping through the menu, "You changelings really don't hold back. I've got to say, I'm seriously impressed."

"Changelings organize far better than ponies can." Photo said, sounding smug, "I've seen kitchens in Canterlot, worked in a few myself. It's disgusting, not even a drop of Love, much less comradery, to be found."

Selene smiled to herself, thinking back, "Do you remember that soup kitchen, Quick Silver?"

Silver gave a quiet chuckle, "Of course I remember it. That was our only front against Discord."

Photo sighed, "Discord was really something wasn't he?"

Selene half snorted while she looked through the menu

Cadance just looked across the table at Silver, who was staring over her menu at Cadance.

"What?"

"I ain't waiting another five minutes."

Cadance's response was to pick something at random from the menu by placing her hoof down on top of it. She looked down over the menu and moved her hoof slightly. "What is... Tartiflette?" She said slowly, only slightly mangling the pronunciation.

"It's a Prench dish." Photo answered, "Potato, cheese, lardons."

"Lardons?"

"Bacon." Silver corrected.

Cadance moved her hoof down, "Bacon is meat right?"

"Pork, yeah." Silver nosed a page of her own menu over.

Well... If I can eat it, it's not like...

Unlike the average Equestrian, Cadance didn't feel any 'ick to the idea of slaughtering animals for sustenance. Ponies were pretty much the only species she knew of that were strictly herbivores, and even then, apparently that information was subject to change if the other three were to believed. She wouldn't go murder and eat an animal herself, but what was the harm in eating something that was already dead? Of course, Cadance also wasn't aware of the standard ranching process, and just assumed the animals were processed after they'd lived a full life.

"Is... uh," She looked down at the menu again, "Tartiflette any good?"

Selene answered, "It is. Photo, is the... fajita's accurate?"

Photo snarked, "Are you asking if they're not some hay knock off from Equestria's pathetic attempt to copy griffon cuisine?"

"That is what I am asking." Selene raised an eyebrow, "Though, I think I got my answer."

"So we've got a Tartiflette, and an open Fajita?"

Selene 'pbbbttt'd, "Please. A burrito, I actually remember what good food tastes like."

Silver continued, "And Photo? What are you getting? I'm going get the penne drowned in every cheese known to ponydom."

"Eh, I'm thinking I'll just take the rest of Cadance's salad and not bother." She flipped the menu closed and Cadance responded by sliding her untouched salad towards Photo. Photo threw the cucumber back at Cadance but otherwise accepted the salad. Cadance caught the projectile in her magic and set it down near the end of the table on one of the plates. The curtain came open and the mare stepped up again.

It must get tiring doing that over and over.

"Are we ready to order?"

"Tartiflette, please." Cadance said, having gotten used to the word and not butchering it.

"A steak fajita burrito, corn. No peppers, and as much cheese and onion as is allowed." As the mare turned towards Silver, Selene continued, "Also, can you bring two limes to the table?" The mare nodded and sent Selene a wide and happy smile while her floating quill scribbled it down on the equally floating pad of paper.

"I'll be having the cheesy penne dish, two, actually." Silver flipped open the menu again, "Can you put any sauces on the side?"

"Of course." She scribbled something down, "Would you like one large bowl? Or two medium ones?"

"One medium, and would you put the other into a to-go container for me? That'd be perfect."

Silver was almost humorously kind. It caused Cadance to smirk slightly to herself, she'd never seen Silver be so polite, not even to the nobles, and especially not to her. The fact that it was a changeling waitress that garnered that much effort of manners was certainly something.

Once she was done scribbling it down, she stepped backwards again, and the curtain closed.

"So, are we going to talk about the complexity of that burrito?" Photo snarked, eyeing up Selene.

"I know what I like. I don't see how that is strange."

"I have a question." Cadance interjected, "Does, well, hmm..." She reorganized her thoughts for a second, "Do the meat dishes on the menu not get their own column on purpose?"

"Is this another racism thing?" Silver rolled her eyes

"That's what I thought." Cadance added, before anypony else could say anything, "It's all labeled. I don't see an issue with it, I was just asking." Cadance rolled a question around before letting it loose, "How much don't I know about?"

Each of the mares had an answer for her,

"Plenty."

"What do you know about?"

"You simply require more experience."

Cadance 'hmm'd and slowly said "Okay." Mulling over their responses. She was sitting at a table with more than three thousand years of collective age. Besides Luna, who'd spent most of that time possessed on or in the moon. She could probably get any number of valuable tidbits of wisdom, that is, if any of them weren't agonizingly against the idea of giving her a straight answer; even Lu- rather, Selene seemed to be oddly silent by comparison to the other two.

She elected to not say anything, eventually Selene filled the void.

"So what have you been up to? Since 'crashing' my friend's wedding?" The question was directed at Photo, who groaned in response. Selene's tone at 'friend' didn't give away anything; despite the casual discrepancies that filled the conversation and would have otherwise given away the fact that Selene was Luna in disguise.

"Maintenance. Ruling a kingdom is boring, but most of my children are too stupid to handle logistics."

"What about the ones that are?" Silver asked, meeting Cadance's eyes momentarily.

"They handle more important tasks. Running places like this, for example." She pointed at the curtain, supposedly to the center of the building, "Infiltration, spying, everything else I can't do on my own."

"Photo has the largest information network in the world, even trumping the old SMILE, and ICON." Silver smiled, swirling some wine, "Certainly a good mare to be friends with."

"Don't give her ideas." Photo mumbled.

"I'm actually not opposed to that." Cadance tried to say, the hope in her words easily heard.

"What did I say?" Photo snarked

"No, I'm being completely serious." Cadance turned fully to face Photo, she didn't quite know if she was an adequate ruler or not. In the end, Cadance could only accept that what 'ruling' really was included a premise of personality that she wouldn't be able to recognize even if she occupied it; thus, she equally didn't know where the words she spoke came from, only that it worked. "The Crystal Empire has no presence on the world scale. We're working on that, but getting trade deals before Equestria? Hearing the ins and outs of the world? New innovations and technology? We could use that."

Photo gave Cadance an appraising look, visibly considering what was just said. Something which brought a sense of accomplishment to Cadance on its own. "I don't think so. You're not willing to pay any price I'd give to you, so the idea is moot anyways."

"I'm not asking for much, just a letter, every now and then, and I am absolutely willing to negotiate." Cadance tapped her hoof to her chin and noticed a complex series of looks Selene and Silver were sharing, before Silver's eyes locked onto Cadance's and the silent conversation ended. "The only trade good I can think of you wanting wholesale is Love, and... I do have some of that." She chuckled to herself, ruffling her wings. "What would you need? To keep... just me in the loop, personally?"

Photo looked over at Silver, who smiled and inclined her head. Photo turned back to Cadance and opened her mouth with an unreadable expression before closing it again. She took a deep breath after a look of deep thought crossed her face and spoke, "How much would you be willing to give? A whole pony? A week of Love?"

"I don't really know the measurements..."

"What about a kiss?"

Cadance didn't have an exterior reaction to the blunt question, but Silver did, the mare snorted loud enough that it startled Selene. "Here we go again." She waved a hoof

"Don't." Photo tried to clamp down on whatever Silver was about to say

In true Silver fashion, that failed quietly, "Fanatic's got this vendetta to kiss every immortal she can find."

Cadance raised an eyebrow in the mare's direction. She made to defend herself, "It's a hobby. I eat emotion." She shrugged, "It's quite the impressive collection, if I do say so myself."

"As far as I know, the only one you haven't gotten is Discord."

"I don't count him." Photo snapped back

Cadance interjected, "Wait, does that mean she's smooched both of you?"

Selene nodded, seemingly reminiscing. Something Cadance didn't know how to feel about. "Photo is an excellent kisser, you should take her up on her offer."

Silver chuckled, "She got me too. I honestly couldn't resist, it was too funny. I also support the hobby."

Cadance made a face but Silver continued, "One day, you'll pick a strange thing to do over the ages to keep yourself sane. Photo has her kisses, Celestia has her books, Selene's got her stars, I've got my kids. You'll get up to something, eventually."

Cadance mulled over the words as the silence settled. "I wouldn't be opposed, I guess? If that's all you're asking for."

Photo scooted over in the booth and Cadance lifted up a hoof, "Not right now!" She said a little too quickly, "I don't... The, Love- I kinda need to stay focused right now." Photo rolled her eyes, but scooted back.

"Sounds opposed to me." Silver quipped.

Selene lightly gestured out with her wing in Cadance's direction. "Cadance is right, now may not be the perfect time to have herself drained of emotion."

"Regardless, I've been meaning to ask-" Silver was interrupted by the curtain opening up.

Cadance was impressed by the mare's handle on precision telekinesis. Forks, knives, and a single spoon along with all of their bowls and plates, in addition to the food that rode on top directly and cleanly flew from one end of the table to all the correct positions in less than two seconds. The booth was suddendly filled with exotic sents Cadance hadn't smelled before, one such sent coming from the plate in front of her. It was, in a sense, a tiny casserole. The stark white ceramic plate was rectangular with a lip that curved upwards to contain the dish itself, the dish looked like any other oven baked stack of potatoes and cheese; aside from the rich, oily sent emanating from it, and the mixed in spices she'd probably not even recognize the name of.

Selene had already picked up her burrito, a massive orange tinged thing the width of her hoof and probably as long as her snout. There was already a bite taken out of it, and Selene leaned back into the booth, sitting strangely upright on her flanks as she cradled the steaming tube in her hooves with a contented sigh.

Quick Silver had recieved a bowl of cheese and penne pasta. It was a confusingly simple dish, until Cadance realized that the singularly coloured melted cheese was only the top section of what was essentially pasta and cheese soup.

Photo casually swallowed a cucumber slice when Cadance's gaze eventually landed on her.

"Nevermind." Was all Silver said before the fork presented to her came to life, floating a bite of very gooey pasta to the mare, who accepted it with gusto despite the trailing cheese getting on her coat and the table.

"Please don't ruin my booth." Said Photo.

Silver didn't look at Photo when she responded. "Sorry, I can't hear you. I'm busy remembering what it feels like to eat."

"Have you really not eaten since... since we met?"

"Nothing but alcohol. That doesn't really count though, I had to manually remove most of that."

Both Selene and Cadance shared a similar frown, though neither of them noticed the other's dissatisfied look towards Silver. Selene eventually looked away, levitating a lime over the open side of the burrito and squishing the juice onto the interior. Cadance kept eyeballing Silver.

"Don't look at me, look at that!" Silver pointed at Cadance's dish. She was given a spoon, and a knife and fork. She briefly considered what the correct procedure might be before tossing caution to the wind, grabbing the spoon in her magic and lifting a bite for her to taste.

It was... Something.

Cadance didn't have a good reference point, but she chewed slowly, almost expecting some massive reaction to come to her from nowhere, but it was just food. The meat was clearly identifiable, and it was delicious. It tickled parts of her senses she'd never used before, the oil and the fat striking against her normal palate. Like the fish, it seemed as the the texture was half of the flavour, parts of the rectangular strips were solid and almost crunchy, while other parts were gooey and tasted like it melted, while really it bunched like rubber while she chewed all of the flavour out of it.

The potatoes were perfectly cooked, wonderfully soft, with all of the moisture and flavour. She could taste some sort of brine that they must have been soaking in, it stood out against the contrasting savory flavour of the cheese, clearly aged, and too perfection she would have added, if she wasn't to busy humming in delight and going in for another bite.

"You know." Photo started, conversationally, "It's times like these where I'm glad I don't have to eat."

Silver responded, muffled by the-

Cadance took a double take of Silver's hilariously cheese covered muzzle.

"I don't have to eat. It's just sanity inducing, so it's a good idea, from time to time."

"You really should take better care of yourself Silver." Selene said softly.

Silver's response was filled with iron. "You do not know who I am." Though she turned away, back to her pasta, her brow was furrowed in opposition to the smile of a mare consuming a comfort food.

In truth, Cadance had similar concerns but... Silver had been alive far longer than Cadance had. You didn't get to be as old as she was without knowing a thing or two about taking care of yourself.

She's complicated... I'm sure she'll be fine

Though the back of her head reminded her that she wouldn't ever know for certain.

Cadance took another bite of her potatoes.

Seems like the conversation has died down, everpony... everone is eating.

Cadance turned towards Photo, who was watching her come to the conclusion that the other two were busy, just as she had.

"So... I feel like I should ask..." She led, making sure Photo knew she was talking to her, "Are you planning to attack Equestria again?"

"Yes? What of it?"

"Why Equestria as a whole? Why not... Just Celestia? If I'm reading that right?"

Photo rolled her eyes, something Cadance was getting seriously tired of seeing, "I know you don't understand the intricacies of immortal feuds, but safe to say, it's revenge. I'm going to take away everything she built, and shove it in everyone's face when I'm on top, just like she did."

Cadance asked this carefully, tentatively, "Wouldn't that just make you like her?"

"Ohoh! Of course!" She smiled, looking far off into the distance, "Why?" her head snapped back down to Cadance.

"Uh." The response short circuited Cadance's brain, as she struggled to make sense of the confusing hypocrisy. "I was just wondering, forget I asked."

Photo shrugged in response and pulled out a piece of broccoli from one of her two bowls of salad.

Cadance turned towards Silver and giggled. It looked like a large percentage of the cheese from the bowl had ended up on her face. Selene was politely looking away, fighting to not laugh herself.

"What?" Silver glanced around the table as Cadance's giggling intensified, Selene snorted, and Photo, guess what? She rolled her eyes. "Is there something on my face?"

Cadance had spent a nearly half a life time teaching herself how to laugh, when to titter, and what was becoming of a princess. Now, she remembered why she hated those lessons so much when she was younger. It seemed so silly to restrict something like laughter, so pointless; going as far to say that it was a good habit to break in general.

"You're completely incorrigible." Selene muttered under chuckles

"At least I don't say words like incorrigible. Wow." Magically, all of the cheese slurped into Silver's muzzle like pasta noodles, albeit, a different shape. "Anyway, I've been meaning to ask. Selene?"

Selene mumbled affirmation of attention around a bite of burrito.

"Did you get home all right last week? You were in quite the daze when we left."

"Sounds like something I would've wanted to see" Photo said, though her comment went mostly ignored.

Selene nodded, then swallowed, "The morning after brought the suffering. Should I apologize for... over indulging?"

Silver waved a hoof, "Nah, c'mon, I saw you dancing. Not only was that what you were supposed to do, you had a blast. Worth it, in my books."

Selene side eyed Cadance, "Don't think, just drink?"

"Ugh." Cadance flared her wings to cover her face, "I'm never going to hear the end of that."

"Not because you're a princess?" Photo connected the dots, "Oh, wait! You said that?"

"Cheered it, more like."

Cadance grumbled. There were a few chuckles. Food disappeared, aside from the salad. By length of meals Cadance had ever gone along with, this one was on the shorter side, it was clear these mares came here to eat.

"So what does the cheque look like?" Silver asked Photo

"I'll cover it. Just this once. So long as you're still going to honor that deal." Photo said, doing her haughtiest impression of a noble upturned noise while side eyeing Cadance.

"Okay. Okay." Cadance took a deep breath, and briefly considered Shining being upset that she smooched a changeling queen. This particular changeling queen. Shortly, she came to the conclusion that he would recognize the benefits, and understand that it wasn't a case of infidelity, and merely a transaction. So she took a deep breath, and scooched closer to Photo.

Photo did exactly what she expected. She tried to make Cadance as uncomfortable as possible. She licked her lips, and made a particular series of 'fluttering half lidded eyes while smiling' expressions that made Cadance immediately regret this course of action.

Regret, not stop. There were three things on the line here. First of all, Cadance was going to be brought into the loop of what was apparently an incredibly large information network if she did what she was about to do. Secondly, and probably more importantly, was Cadance's honor. She was the princess of Love after all, even though 'kissing' was far from her nature as an Alicorn, time and reinforcement of the idea by her younger self and others compelled her to not only keep her tentatively given word, but to properly 'commit to the bit'.

Lastly, and probably least importantly, she had an audience. Photo was doing her best to make a show of it, to gross out Cadance, and that annoyed her. Photo wanted her trophy of kissing Cadance?

You're gonna get it alright.

Cadance fought back her disgust, and temptation to look towards the other two and brought up a smirk, letting the mischief twinkle in her eye unabashedly. "You're not going to change form?"

Have to get you a little bit closer...

"Oh of course." Photo smiled wider, and with a flash of green flame, Shining was sitting in the booth across from her, making kissy faces.

"No." Cadance intoned, scooching a bit closer, slowly moving a hoof forwards along the booth. "What you actually look like."

"Oooohhh" Photo dragged out, "~You mean-" Another flash of green flame, and Chrysalis leaned over to leer at Cadance. The height difference was now clearly tilted in the queen's direction, especially while sitting. Chrysalis actually could 'lean over' Cadance; which was exactly what Cadance wanted. Not being the Princess of Smooches didn't mean she didn't have some decent practice in timing. "~Like thi-mmph?"

Chrysalis' taunt was interrupted by Cadance using the hoof she'd snuck forwards to lift herself up to mouth height. As such, the surprise physical bridge was excellently excecuted, with a sideways tilt, for Chrysalis' larger muzzle and fangs; in addition to the lower side of her mouth, due to the low angle. Chrysalis was surprised only moments, before using whatever changeling magic at her disposal to attempt to draw the Love from Cadance's soul.

It felt like... some kind of mental pressure. Like trying to focus while you really don't want to, but in the other direction. Regardless, Cadance was going to go all the way, so instead of fighting the sensation, she fed it. She focused on Chrysalis, her height, her stature, the localized imagine in the pink Alicorn's mind filled with little details she found appealing. Chrysalis' bluntness was respectable, her clear skill was admirable, her intelligence was jealousy inducing and just as Cadance started thinking about how pretty the queen's eyes were, Chrysalis attempted to pull away, the draining sensation having long since faded.

Attempted being the keyword. Cadance stood up, and leaned forwards, allowing her to prolong the kiss for another few seconds.

There was choked laughter from her side, and Cadance eventually decided to pull away. The action made a soft popping noise, and she stood there, lightly out of breath. She stepped backwards on instinct alone. She quickly looked at the other two ponies before turning back to Chrysalis. "How did I do?"

Silver was smiling a massive cheshire smile, Selene was staring wide eyed while blushing up a storm.

Chrysalis lifted a hoof to say something in response, her wings were outstretched and she wobbled in place, her head lolling to the side with her mouth hanging lightly open. After a second of trying and failing to vocalize, her wings trilled once, and she slumped over, sliding down the back side of the booth and onto her side. She occasionally twitched and her wings buzzed in time with what Cadance assumed was her heartbeat.

Silver laughed, "Good work Little Princess!"

"Yes." Selene vocalized, trying to keep her tone neutral, "That was quite impressive."

"I've only ever seen that happen once before," Silver sent Cadance a wink, "Guess you were too much mare for her?"

Cadance blushed lightly at the attention, ironically, rather than the kiss. Though, she looked down at Chrysalis' twitching form, aware of the gap of biology between the two of them. "Is she going to be okay?"

Silver waved a hoof, "She'll be fine. In fact, I'd say she'll be happily trying to live down getting out kissed by someone less than a single percentage point of her age."

You don't have to say it like that

"That being said. I think it's time to wrap up tonight. I've honestly run out of things to talk about."

"I agree, that may be a good idea."

"Do you mind bringing Fanatic home?"

Selene nodded, and then scrunched her eyes and shook her head.

Silver looked over at Cadance, "Don't do that to any of the staff."

Cadance sat back down. "I wasn't planning on it."

This time, it was Silver who tapped the wall. The curtain opened in a flurry, and the waitress checked on Chrysalis' prone form before stepping up onto the box. She levitated what was supposedly Silver's second box of cheesy pasta to her at the same time as Selene melted into the shadows, and appeared at the other side of the table.

In a series of movements that must have been practiced, Silver levitated herself and Chrysalis out of the booth, landing softly on her hooves, and leaving Chrysalis balanced on Selene's back. Cadance herself clambered out of the booth a few seconds after, just in time for the three to step away after she watched a few bits change hooves silently from Selene to the disguised changeling.

"Thank you for brining me out once more, Quick Silver."

"Just say again." Silver monotoned.

There was a pregnant silence, and a pregnant alicorn.

Silver smiled and moved her hoof in a 'go on' gesture, "No really, try again, but say the word."

Selene chuckled to herself. "Thank you for bringing me out again, Quick Silver."

"It's a pleasure to have you, Selene." Silver intoned, a message not meant for Cadance passing through in her words.

Selene nodded. "Goodnight, to both of you." She said, turning back towards Cadance and noding her head once. Cadance nodded back, and refrained from hugging due to the quietly stirring changeling queen. Once second Selene was there, the next, she was not.

I wonder how she does that.

"Shall I take you home now?" Silver said, waving her hoof towards the door.

Cadance took the gesture and began to walk in front. "Is there another option?" She asked as she walked past.

"Of course there is."

Cadance looked over her shoulder, "Really?"

"Well yeah, you could just fly off into the sky and never come back. Be the first mare to go to space."

Cadance waited to respond until they had skirted the edge of the open restaurant and exited into the cool night air. The refreshing night winds of Las Pegasus were slightly ruined by the blazing bright lights of the city itself, and the ambiance of voices and electronic noises filtering up to the clouds. "Why the first mare in space?"

Silver spoke conversationally, "I went to space once, though I was a minitour at the time. Hands, you see." As if the feat was some kind of macaroni picture she made.

"Uh-huh."

Nothing changed, that is, Silver and Cadance stood outside the restaurant, and neither of them moved or spoke. They just looked at each other. Silver looking like she was viewing something far away. Cadance was trying to search for something concrete for once, to understand if the moment was some kind of spontaneous joke... or anything for that matter, as far as she knew, Silver had just gotten distracted and was staring off into space.

"Do..." Cadance said slowly, "You want to go for a walk? Or something?"

Silver tilted her head, not breaking eye contact. "No. I don't think so. Nice try though." That's when she turned away, and began walking back towards the street where they had taken the portal to get here.

Cadance caught up with ease, her stride long enough. "I'm not trying anything." She argued.

"Funny." Silver kept walking, "I don't remember asking."

Cadance frowned, half in annoyance, half in disappointment.

"Thank you, for not making a complete and utter fool of me, by the way."

It took her a moment to realize what Silver meant by that, she retorted with "Thank you for introducing me. I learned... a lot more than I thought was- that I would have, without you."

"Wow." Now it was Silver rolling her eyes, "It's almost like there's a theme there or something. Some sort of repetitive event that coincides with a certain other series of causes."

"Selene is right. You're incorrigible."

"Yes, yes. Fresh fish spinning towards the horizon without their mustard, I get it." Silver came to a stop, and pulled the portal coin from her mane. Cadance ignored the nonsense phrase and tried to pay attention to how the portal worked. "Feel free to invite Selene again, for next week."

Cadance watched the coin land, but was distracted as an idea struck her square in the forehead.

Of course, why haven't I thought of this sooner!

"Actually, I was thinking next week... I could make the destination? And it'd just be you and me. No surprises."

Silver shrugged, "I'll just accept that, hoping that you've learned your lesson." She nodded towards the now open portal, "Now off to bed with you; big day tomorrow."

"Is it?" Cadance asked, of course, wondering what Silver knew that she didn't. "Wait, you aren't coming?"

"I have some business here tonight. Nothing you need to worry about." Silver chuckled, "and I can even say that without lying. You genuinely have no reason to worry about my business here tonight in any way, shape, or form."

"Okay..." She leaned away from Silver's creepy smile and hovered a hoof over the portal. "Goodnight Silver."

"Not quite, but you've never been closer."

Cadance retracted her hoof and opened her mouth to ask a question that was drowned out by the whoosh of the portal coming up from the ground to deposit her into her office. If she had blinked she would have missed the action, the only reason she was sure it happened was because of the odd sensation of passing through folded space.

She took a second to glance around at her office before stomping her hoof in mock frustration. "Dang it."

bIg DaY iNdEeD

Cadance awoke calmly.

Mmmmm... good sleep.

It was probably the most well rested she could have been, the best sleep she could remember, in her still half asleep state.

Shining was nearby, that was good.

She pulled him closer to herself, and he nuzzled into the fluff on her chest unconsciously. The warmth helped her mind start to fully come into focus, and she smiled while resting her head precariously close next to Shining Armor's horn.

"You mwake?" He mumbled.

"M-hmm."

"How was last night?" He shuffled a little.

It was barely lit in the room. Somewhere past the shield, over the mountains, the sun was just beginning to rise. They spoke to each other softly, fitting in with the quiet theme of the morning they had woken up to.

"I don't know." Cadance admitted, pulling on her thoughts to try and organize them to be translated into Ponish. "I think it went well. We went out for dinner. I uh- was introduced to Chrysalis. Again."

Shining grumbled, "You know what. Never mind."

"She said she would bring us into her information network."

"Hmm?" He buried his muzzle in her fur again, and she shuffled her wing to get the blood flowing.

"I gave her some love in exchange for updates about the world as whole. Chrysalis has a massive spy network."

"Of course she does."

Cadance's gears were turning. She felt compelled to say more, to convince Shining the way Silver had done with her.

"It'll put us on the map Shining. Trade, and I want- The Empire is." Cadance's wing fluttered involuntarily, "The Empire is what I want to build for our daughter. I don't want to just be another Equestrian colony. The world is big, bigger than I thought an-"

Cadance was cut off my Shining pushing away and lifting up his head to look at her in confusion and weary blinking eyes. He had noticed that she was getting passionate and tried to wake up all the way to listen.

"Sorry. I know it's early."

Shining rubbed his eyes with a hoof and sat up, Cadance remained laying on her side. "No no, keep going, that sounded really important to you." He said through a yawn.

Cadance gestured out with her hooves while laying on her side. The attention from Shining grew, only fueling her rambling. "Celestia put me in charge of the Empire, but I don't know if I've really earned that? All we've done is what we were told. I want to change that, I just don't know what I'm doing. I need answers..." She rolled onto her back momentarily before remembering how much she hated that, then she fell back onto her side. "I don't know when exactly... I came to this conclusion, I think it was some kind of... immortal meeting fueled apotheosis or something, but it doesn't matter. It's time we get our flanks into gear."

"Name it Cadance, you know I'm with you."

"I know, I Love you."

He leaned down and gave her a quick smooch as a response.

"So we're getting up early?" He asked after the prolonged moment, Cadance had grabbed his head in her hooves and expressed her satisfaction.

"Yes. We're both going to the morning staff standup."

"Should I bother to get dressed?"

"No, nothing..." Cadance inclined her head as she sat up, "Well sure, if you want. It's just the staff though, they have the same jobs we do."

"I like to impress." Shining joked as he jumped off the bed

"You just like being in uniform." Cadance snarked

"You just like me being in uniform."

Cadance coughed into her hoof and let the conversation tract end there before Shining said anything too embarrassing. Then they both got ready for Amber. Like usual, Amber arrived just on time after the royal couple were well and properly freshened up.

There were two knocks on the door and Cadance magicked it open immediately, wooshing Amber's mane.

"Amber!" Cadance trotted up to the door, levitating a brush over to the armoire and roughly shoving it in. Shining stood up from where he was being brushed and joined Cadance at the door. "Good morning!"

Amber quickly adjusted herself, "Good morning. Is there a particular reason for your excitement?"

"Yes." Cadance and Shining exited together and began making their way down the hallway. Amber followed at pace, waiting for Cadance to continue. "Remember that promotion I was talking about giving you?"

Amber blinked once, "Oh, yes. Uh- it's, you don'-"

"How do you feel about running open court?"

Shining coughed and Amber stumbled. "I'm sorry?"

"Run it. Be in charge of it. Permanently."

Amber's trotting started coming in shorter anxious steps, "I- Princess, I don't think that's a very good idea, I-"

Cadance kept her smile up, she was in control here. She'd already thought of exactly what to say. "Before you tell me you can't, you can. You're my advisor though, so why is it a bad idea?"

Amber took a second to mentally go over what Cadance had just told her, and asked her. "I- Well, I'm not the Princess... ponies wouldn't respect my authority..."

Cadance gave a light chuckle, "Amber. You practically run open court anyways, this is just making it official. They'll respect you 'cause I said so. Simple as that."

Goodness... I sound like Silver

"But! I don't have the vision you do! Not everything is about law!" Amber protested, a bit louder than Cadance expected. Amber was worried about this to the point of being frightened.

"Then make new laws, or dismiss cases that aren't worth our time." Cadance inclined her head, "Anything else you can forward up to me, and-" She stressed, "And. I want that change to begin with."

"What change? Is that, exactly?" Shining decided to pipe in.

"I've always thought keeping an 'open court' to the public is silly." Cadance shrugged, "It's good for publicity, but I don't need publicity. I need things actually done."

Shining raised an eyebrow. Amber equally didn't know how to respond to that.

"Where are we going?" She eventually said, they'd gone past the route up to Cadance's office.

"We're crashing-" Shining snorted, "I'm crashing-" Cadance corrected "the morning stand up, The Spire is organized. It's time to get everything moving at full capacity."

"Is that why you want me to run open court?"

"No." Cadance stopped, having arrived at the hallways just outside the foyer for the staff sections of The Spire. Cadance looked Amber in the eye, "That's why I need you to run open court. I know you can, and we're going to need it now more than ever."

Amber half shuddered, "Ho-okay." There was a glint of determination. Cadance didn't realize how intense she was being, but having someone so forcefully believe in you was enough for Amber to truly trust that the pink princess was correct. Plenty of eavesdroppers heard the conversation, and began talking aloud about it.

Guess it's not gossip if I'm right here.

Cadance leaned over to Shining, "Round everyone up for me?"

He gave her a strange look at first, but then he nodded and began walking forwards. Cadance jumped and caught the air, gliding her way over the heads of all of the staff and turning into the open doors of the room. She flew up to the little stage and caught the eyes of Ivory and Easy Morning just before she landed and the sound of Shining's 'deep' voice carried into the room as he got everyone's attention and ponies began filing in.

"Hey you two."

"Princess Cadance." Ivory curtsied

Cadance frowned and a quick series of thoughts shot through her head before she glanced at Easy Morning and said, "Okay. No more of that. I work here too."

"Princess?" Morning asked

Cadance lifted a hoof. "Just Cadance. I'm making some changes, you both can do your jobs as soon as I finish, but I have some announcements to make."

Both of them shared a glance.

"Also, you should both finally ask each other out." Cadance glibly quipped, turning away quick enough to not see their response. She could feel the sudden embarrassment that flowed between them, so she didn't technically need to see. Cadance took a few steps forwards to the edge of the stage, making herself the clear center point of attention for the ponies finding their spots inside.

Cadance waited until everyone had settled.

"Good morning!" She called out, and received many in kind. "Today, there's gonna be a few changes. First and foremost, I have a few announcements." She took a breath, managing the tempo of the speech. "Amber, my secretary, will now be in charge of open court, with the hopes that the citizenry will use it more to verify and test the structural integrity of our laws, rather than to settle disputes." Cadance gestured towards Amber with her wing, and she lifted up a nervous hoof when ponies looked around to identify the mare in question.

"Secondly, I want to formally announce the Crystal Empire College of Science. Me, along with a small specialized team have been writing out the scope of what we hope to be the largest school in mainland Equestria, as well as a research institution specialized in advancing the sciences of magic and technology." There was a few looks shared, but the general feeling that wafted throughout the room was excitement.

Perfect. Exactly what I wanted

"This is the most important for all of you. The timetable for the Crystal Faire is being moved up to a week before Hearths Warming, on the night of the Winter Solstice." There was confusion now, some fear, "The reason for this is two fold; and before anyone begins worrying about how exactly we're going to setup a city wide festival in under a month, I'm going to be spearheading the operations myself, calling in some favours, we're going to get it done." She took another breath, getting another feel for the emotion of the room. Some measure of resolve. She noticed ponies nodding along, some in uninformed agreement, other just because they could. "Firstly. The Crystal Faire will no longer be an Empire only event. This year, we're going to start a new tradition: The Winter Moon Celebration. We'll be inviting Princess Luna to preside over the events, as will I. Equestria will remember us, as the ponies who started a national holiday." There was more agreement, a few ponies already mumbling to each other.

The trick was to give them the bad news first, that is, the work they'd need to do to prepare for such an event. She softened the blow by sharing that she'd be doing most of the work, and then got them excited about the mark their work would leave. Now, for the final part, just a little bit of flair to cement her words and the excitement of the ponies.

"For too long, The Crystal Empire has been recovering"

Pause for dramatic affect

"Now?"

She had the crowd at the edge of their seats.

"We're going to remind the ponies of Equestria why we're called an Empire."

The crowd, subconsciously aware of the presentation for what it was, began to stomp, the ponies sitting began to clap. Cadance beamed from the stage, and lifted a wing and waited for the crowd to quiet down.

"And last, I have a surprise."

A brave pony spoke up, "How is that not the surprise?"

Cadance glanced over to the sound, but wasn't able to pick out the speaker fast enough, she kept smiling as she continued, "I am... inordinately happy to express this..." She took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant." Her wings flared unconsciously.

Ivory gasped really loudly. Loud enough that Cadance turned around, giggling to herself to see Ivory covering her mouth with a hoof. The same brave pony whooped and there was scattered stomping and ponies shouting 'congratulations.' Cadance didn't expect for the polite applause to turn into cheering as ponies began pointing out having an heir to the throne. Few probably realized the weight the moment bore for Cadance, but it warmed her heart, and she opened her mouth to try and say something but failed to come up with anything to say.

At least I still know how to work a crowd.

She smiled to herself as she watched the overflowing emotion make the walls begin to glow. The ponies began doing the collective spell to push the magic down towards the base of The Spire, and down towards the heart.

There was a waft of pressure followed by magic, and everything was crystalized.

Cadance folded her wings, after having realized they were opened. "Thank you everyone! Ivory and Easy will continue the standard standup meeting, when we have the rest of the work organized to begin, you will all hear about it."

Cadance turned around towards Ivory and nearly stopped in place as she looked over the mare, she was gorgeous, crystalized. There was a very brief moment of appreciation before she broke the observation. "Alright you two. In the next two days, starting Monday, I'm going to be slamming you guys with work goals and management projects."

"You had me at work goals Prince- er- Cadance." Easy Morning said quickly sneaking a glance towards Ivory; since she was already looking at him, he got caught immediately and looked away again. Cadance chuckled.

"Alright, I'll see you both then, bye for now, if I don't see either of you." Cadance took wing and flew across the room again towards the door. There was more scattered stomping and she waved, there were probably just over one hundred and fifty ponies in the room, half of them Equestrians. All shimmering crystal ponies now. She landed in front of Shining Armor, and did a quiet series of movements that told Shining she wanted him to say something.

"You did great." He said, answering her silent request for his feedback.

"Congratulations Princess Cadance." Amber said softly, her face still mostly neutral besides a small smile.

That was when Ivory and Easy morning began the meeting; Cadance, Shining Armor, and Amber let themselves out. Once they were back out in the hallway, Shining began hushedly talking in the quickly formed triangle between the three ponies. "Okay, so. Massive curveball, I need to go make an appearance down near the barracks at least, and then I can join you for whatever it is you're up to." He said to Cadance.

Cadance nodded and turned to Amber, "You can go get ready for open court, I'll want to see you after."

"Of course, Princess." She nodded, and Cadance looked back to Shining to verify he had nothing else to say, and she nodded and started moving. Shining broke off, so did Amber, and Cadance made her way to her office to pick up a few things, her hooves clacking differently with the sound of crystal against crystal. Almost like a solid wind chime.

Do they make crystal wind chimes? That sounds p- oh, right, no good wind to hang them in.

Don't get distracted Cadance, get your flanks into gear. First things first.

Cadance entered her office bluntly. Simply throwing the doors open and trotting inside at pace. "Alright..." She said to herself, lifting pages up off her desk. "Two... letters... first one-"

Hey Auntie Celestia!

I had a wonderful idea, and I'm going to need some resources to get it done, in short, I'm asking for a favour.

I want to host a Crystal Faire on the Winter Solstice for Luna. I want her to be the guest of honor, start the parallel to The Summer Sun Celebration: The Winter Moon Celebration.

You know more about logistics than I do, so there's no reason for me to explain. I have the details, but I want to know what you think, personally?

Love you Auntie,
-Cadance

"Aaaaand..." Cadance lifted up the second sheet of blank paper before lowering it.

I can just talk to her in my dreams...

I can just do that right? I should probably send a formal letter...

It'll be better as a surprise, I don't want her worrying about it.

Cadance lifted from her desk a notebook, a folder full of the draft notes for the school, and what was left of her work from yesterday as she spun around towards the door; the objects trailing behind her. "Now I need to find Homeward."

Cadance had gone up in the office rooms where most of the slower work in The Spire took place. Next door was the massive file chamber that Celestia had suggested as a stop gap instead of just leaving things in desks, or sending them to the libraries. That's where she found Homeward and Blue, they were pouring over legal documentation for the school.

And this early in the morning. I should ask how much they're getting paid for this.

"Cadance?" Homeward asked, looking up from the spot where Blue Skies and her were sitting in front of an open metallic drawer with papers scattered around them on the floor. Blue turned when Homewards called out, to see Cadance approaching, a look of surprise crossed over her face.

"Hey, I'm glad it didn't take me long to find you. I have some things to tell you about your project." Cadance trotted right up to their spot on the floor, and casually sat down with them.

"You're not canceling it are you?" Homeward said, fearful.

Cadance laughed, "No! no, nothing like that. I'm advancing it. In just under a month, we're hosting the first Winter Moon Celebration along with an early Crystal Faire."

As soon as Cadance said 'cyrstal faire' Blue Skies' eyes lit up. "Really!?" She stood up, probably on accident, and danced in place once Cadance nodded in affirmation. She squee'd in excitement like a filly. Homeward was more collected than the crystal mare, more curious.

"What does that have to do with us?" Homeward said, though Cadance could equally feel and see the gears turning in her head.

"We're going to get you your experts." Cadance said, "This Crystal Faire is going nation wide, I'm shooting to have ponies from everywhere in Equestria coming to celebrate in The Empire, I want a booth, a big one, dedicated to the school."

Homeward nodded along as Blue watched with barely contained glee. "You want marketing. That's not my field, but I can relay the details. What do you have planned so far?"

"So far? This is it. I'm still gathering together all my favours and resources. Tomorrow you'll hear more, but the long and short of it is that we need something concrete. Something to show off, and I have just the idea. Everything else is going to come from you and your team." Cadance glanced between both of the mares, "I'll handle catching the eye, all you have to do is reel them in with real documentation, real policies, plans, everything; that's what the experts will be looking for."

"Princess, this is bound to work!" Said Blue, "Oh I'm so excited, an early Crystal Faire!"

"Mhm, it'll be something else, by the time I'm done with it."

"Is that everything, Cadance?"

Cadance just then noticed the lack of title usage. It only bothered her because it was out of the ordinary, that, and it was something Cadance hadn't explicitly told Homeward to do. She ignored it, trying not to care, "No, I have something else." Cadance levitated a key out from the pocket space spell in her mane, "This is the key to your new office, it's two floors down from mine, on this level, no more sitting on the floor. Tomorrow, I'll have Ivory get you a dedicated maid, and they'll be able to help you fetch documents and me if you ever need anything."

Homeward took the key as it floated to her hooves, almost reverently. "Cadance... I-"

"I won't have it." Cadance interrupted, a smile on her face, "This project is important to me. I may be hyper fixating on it, but so long as it gets done, right?"

Homeward made a face. Something difficult for Cadance to read despite the emotions coming clearly. Homeward was upset, she felt shame for something, something Cadance wasn't going to dig at. She stood instead, "Okay, that's everything. I'll send more details to your office as I get them. Thank you both!" She said, already halfway out of the filing room. She exited before either of them could respond.

She took a deep breath once the crystal door slid closed behind her. "Alright. Now Silver." She took off, not letting the moment pass for very long. A paper came off her notebook and lifted into the air, she wrote as she walked towards her next destination.

Hey Silver

I'm doing a thing. I need your advanced transport magic to host the largest Crystal Faire ever. Getting ponies here with one way train tracks isn't going to cut it for what I have in mind.

Will you help me?

The letter went spiraling off in bolt of Emotion and cascading levitation just as Cadance reached the room The House of Mirrors was building their newsroom in. She was here to hopefully find someone in charge, what she ended up finding instead was Fractured Mirror himself, covered in dust, polishing the bottom side of under half of a floor covered in concrete crystal adhesive. The plan, from what Cadance could tell by the stacked up materials, was apparently to lay a solid kind of glue and then specialized tiles for print work over the crystal structure of The Spire.

Fractured Mirror was wearing a thick apron, and some thick cloth gloves, he looked up, his mane tied behind his head in a bun, covered in sweat, like the rest of the ponies working in the room.

"Princess Cadance! Welcome to history's ground floor!" He stood up and threw off his gloves, making his way over to her.

"Fracture. I'm surprised to see you in this line of work." She said conversationally.

"Everyone in my employ knows of my family legacy. I wouldn't dare trust another pony to work that I wouldn't do myself. That's the way of the Mirrors." He smiled, having finished approaching her.

He was lying. She could tell. Even more now, she was sure there was something sinister about him.

Regardless, Cadance turned on the 'princess.' "That's exactly what I would hope for a Noble," Cadance nodded her head, looking around, "I wish some of the others had your kind of perspective on work ethic, aside from Sugar, of course."

"Ah yes, the stallion works twice as hard as me, though, some might say half as smart." He chuckled a noble chuckle.

"Before we continue with making nice, I'm actually here because of your legacy." Fracture leaned forwards, a sparkle in his eye as he sensed Cadance's leading question, it was odd, to see him like this, though Cadance continued. "I have a story for you."

"A story?"

"The first story I want this place to run."

"Princess, I don't think I can say you have me by the ear any more aptly." He waved his hoof in a circle, "Please do go on."

"We're moving up the timetable for The Crystal Faire, and we're going national, in conjunction with The Winter Moon Celebration." She said simply.

He smirked, "By the by, I don't think I've ever heard of a... Winter Moon Celebration?"

Cadance explained, trying to sound as softly authoritative as possible. "That's because we're starting it, on the Winter Solstice, Princess Luna is going to be the guest of honor, and I'm going to make way for anyone in Equestria to make their way here, and I want your ponies to publish it."

She watched the gears in Fracture's head turn momentarily. "That gives us... A month until the Faire, less to actually start printing. How, exactly, do you suggest that we-"

Cadance interrupted by lightly stepping forwards, "I'll be handling the transport. All I'll need is the papers. I can connect you to ponies with the information by Wednesday, and as soon as you start getting papers printed; they'll start showing up in every news stand in Rainbow Falls to Appleoosa."

Fracture mulled over the idea, he slowly began to smile, and the sensation of directed confusion built in the stallion to nearly malicious levels. "Don't let anypony tell you that you don't dream big. You really have those resources?" He looked up, raising his eyebrow, trying to find the answer in her body language.

"Yes." Cadance smiled, it was easy to tell the truth.

I can do this.

"Then it's all hooves on deck." He nodded with a wild grin and spun around, immediately he called out to the crowd and started organizing things. Ponies started moving at double time, and Cadance began to leave.

"Alright, three down, two t-" Her slowly building habit of talking to herself was interrupted by a bolt of lightening that resolved into a scroll. She read while moving.

Yeah, of course I will. Though, I'll want my own booth for Tack & Co. as the provider for the transport and the premier transportation company. I'd like to solidify their presence as Crystal Empire exclusive, that is all I'll ask in return though. I really like the idea of bringing back the Fire Sky Festival

Cadance hastily scribbled a return note as she moved down the crystal hallways with purpose

Thank you.

Of course, I'm concerned at your intentions as always, but thank you. We'll be glad to have you.

I also wanted to ask if Point Flare and her friends would be willing to join Homeward, (you remember Homeward?) and me for a magic presentation for my school? I was... Thinking of hiring them as teachers or researchers, a final part of their, 'work release' program.

Also, I'm going to remember whatever the Fire Sky Festival is and ask you about it later

Also, also, please stop spying on me, it's really unnerving.

And then she sent the letter.

The rest of Cadance's day was much of the same, getting in touch with individual groups, teams, logistics crews and personally delivering the news and giving instructions. She didn't outright say it, but she wanted the ponies with questions to come looking for her.

The trick was for all of the groups she slowly got involved to look to her when they hit roadblocks or when they needed support from another one of the active teams. That was step one, solidify her position as event organizer. It was a little undercutted to take the Faire from the hooves of the event planners, but she needed them for public relations.

Something had clicked in Cadance's head.

She had found her motivation, found her passion, and more importantly, something to channel that energy into.

She found her way to bed that night, Shining at her hip after hours of 'princessing' and the short, winding down hour of going over open court that day with Amber. She passed out immediately once she was snuggled up with her husband. A smile on her face, and the knowledge of a day of work done well.

Everything is totally fine

Cadance was just on her way out of her room in the dead of morning when she met up with Amber. She spoke quietly, as not to wake the still sleeping Shining Armor just a door over. "Amber" She said as such so the name was a greeting in it of itself, "Thanks for meeting with me so early."

Amber didn't look tired, and she felt about the same as she usually did to Cadance. There but not there. "It's not a problem at all Cadance, it's my job."

"Did you get everything?" Cadance asked, eyeing up the stack of papers on Amber's back, plus the rolled up map. It was clearly a map, it had that map texture cloth maps have.

Amber's response was a simple nod.

Cadance clip clopped in place with the excitement of a plan nearing its moment of execution. "Again, thank you."

"Can I ask what this is all for?" Amber said while watching Cadance take all of the materials in her levitation, fitting them onto her own back.

"Yup."

Amber used 'politely wait' to little effect.

Cadance used humorous smile.

Amber was confused.

"It's for my meeting with the planning committee." Cadance rolled her shoulders to get the map up next to her neck, "We're going to get them all on board today."

A smile came to her muzzle. "For the Crystal Faire?"

"Yup!"

Oh woops

Cadance's ears swiveled back to her room, and she lowered her voice, "Yes, I imagine they're pretty upset I steamrolled their operation. They need to be involved pronto."

Amber's right hoof scuffed against the crystal floor. Normally one would expect the grating sound of crystal on crystal, but there was no such audio, merely a hoof scuffing the ground. "Do you need any help?"

"I've got all the required reading right here." Cadance tossed her head back, careful not to ruin her mane, "It's way too early to start a meeting now, so I'll just go camp out in the office until everyone's in for the day."

"Are you sure?"

Amber had a sense of desperation in the question, something that felt wrong with the polite smile on her face. Cadance, misunderstanding Amber's emotion for wanting to be useful, decided to give her something to do.

"Actually, can you head to the morning meeting and ask Ivory to send a maid and a guard to the office? I expect to run late, and refreshments are going to be a necessity."

She nodded, "I'll get right on it." She turned to leave

"Amber?" Cadance stepped forwards herself, her long stride letting her reach a wing to stop Amber. "Don't you want to take a break for a minute? It's really early, and the morning meetings won't start for at least another hour."

"I'm just going to find Ivory before then, so she can rearrange the staff postings before the meeting."

Hmmm

"Oh. Well okay then." Cadance lowered her wing. "Just make sure you take a break after, I don't want you overworked."

"I will,l Princess. I promise." Then she was off.

Hmmmmmrrrrrmmmmmm

Cadance's eyes narrowed and trailed Amber as she walked off. Her gaze became more introspective as she lost sight, and she tried to figure out what exactly had just happened. The weight on her back reminded her of her current responsibility, and with a hard-set frown, she banished the line of thought for later.

The trip down to the lower floors was filled with forcefully observing the scenery of The Spire to try and set her mind back into a good attitude, it didn't work.

Having to Princess sucks...

"Princess Cadance?"

Cadance lifted her head, quill in mouth. She met eyes with a pink crystal pony with a yellow, shimmery mane.

"What are you doing here?" They asked, trying to hide their incredulity behind a soft veneer of respect.

Cadance had pulled out a folding table, and had set up her map and several small books (that honestly should have been smaller) on said table. In the center of what looked to be the highest hoof traffic area in the offices that most of the old crystal pony palace staff worked. This space was the non-public side of The Spire's operations, and despite Cadance's personal wish that it wasn't so...

The place looked like shit.

Or more accurately, it looked like a construction zone. There wasn't any carpet, cubicles, or anything to define it as an office. Just a bunch of throw pillows, walls that hung up to separate rooms, what looked like a break room, and a sextet of four-drawer tall filing cabinets pressed against the unpolished crystal wall on the opposite end of everything else. In essence, it looked unfinished, haphazardly set up, and terribly inefficient.

"Princess?"

Oh-right.

"Sorry I-" Cadance magically removed the quill from her mouth, "I've been reading up before the meeting today. Are you on the planning committee? For the Crystal Faire?"

The mare's confused frown turned into an upset one. "Uhm..."

Cadance tried not to narrow her eyes in suspicion. Despite her attempts to otherwise improve her mood, her short interaction with Amber, plus the state of her current space had left her feeling sour. She wasn't exactly in the mood for more surprises, but they just kept coming.

"I am the planning committee." The mare shuffled in place without making eye contact. At least she knew that that particular statement wouldn't be received well.

Cadance staggered over her words internally, what came out was, "I'm not sure I understand? I was under the impression that this was the event's planning offices?" A blatant 'hey can you please explain this to me, preferably right now?'

"Oh it is." The mare said, lifting her hoof in fleeting excitement before drooping again. "It's... well you're probably looking for the floor above this one. That's where all the business ponies meet up."

Cadance dropped the quill onto the fold out table and lost all desire to pretend she was a princess in that moment. "Please explain."

"Well..."

"I'm sorry." Cadance shook her head, "What was your name?"

"Mevea Blossom." She did a quick little nod with her head, reminiscent of a bow.

Mevea? Isn't that a wild berry?

Cadance smiled, "Hi Mevea, please, call me Cadance. I've been working on my image recently, and approachability is a new direction I'm trying out."

"Okay..." Obviously Mevea had no clue how to respond.

"So" Cadance clapped her front hooves together, "Can you quickly explain to me the dynamic of the Faire committee?"

"Of course" She nodded, happy to have a simple question to answer, "I'm in charge of planning everything, and the business ponies tell me what they want. I have a friend down in the warehouse who gets me in touch with Shard whenever I need to make a request for supplies."

Oh dear...

Cadance stood. "Can you lead me to this other floor?"

"Sure." She stepped backwards, and propped the door open again with her back hoof.

It was upsettingly clear that Mevea had no idea what was wrong with her explanation.

This room made a far greater impression than the one below. Though, the opulence only served to make Cadance more concerned. She had a sinking hypothesis as to why the next Crystal Faire was supposedly a year away until she decided to make it happen this month.

It looked less like an office, and more like a lounge. It vaguely reminded her of the sitting room in Las Pegasus, only with more Crystal. A hooffull of suited, or otherwise 'expensive cloth wearing' ponies sat inside, all but two of the roughly thirteen were Equestrians.

As she entered, just behind Mevea, the chatter stopped as the majority turned to look.

There was a conflux of emotions, enough that she couldn't get a solid read on any single one. Though, she didn't need to be an empath to see the sudden alert and excited looks from the pair of crystal mares.

"Princess Cadance! How lovely to see you here." A pegasus mare stood up from the couch that was just sitting on open floor, "What can we do for you?" There was scattered chatter from the others, 'I'd like to know that myself' and 'what is she doing here?' were two of the phrases that caught in her ears.

Okay Cadance... you got this.

"I'm sure you all heard the announcement yesterday that the next Crystal Faire will be held on the winter solstice?" Cadance took a step forward. Her tone mildly betrayed her growing annoyance. Cadance wasn't against opulence as a rule, but she was getting 'Canterlot noble' from these few. Big no no.

The unicorn mare with a two tone orange mane and stark yellow fur gave a haughty laugh from the circle of seats. "Oh, we heard alright. It passed around a nasty case of chuckles between us all." She looked around, visually encouraging the others to laugh at her half made joke, they did.

"Really, the Crystal Faire in less than two months would be mad."

"I imagine some poor sap mistook this year for next."

Cadance's smile became more forced. "I appear to be at a loss. I don't recognize any of you. Could you-"

The pegasus in front of her interrupted her, "Of course! I am Ever Tesla, representative of the Skrim corporation." She turned behind her and began pointing, and naming the ponies in series. Cadance watched them all preen under the attention, some of them fixing their pocket squares or otherwise making themselves look more presentable as they were called on. Cadance tuned out most of it, she only wanted confirmation that they were all wealthy merchants.

Tesla skipped over the two crystal mares

"Thank you very much Ms. Tesla, tell me, what work have you done since yesterday?"

"Work? What do you mean?"

Oh great, yeah, like that's a viable answer to anything.

"I can confirm that the 'joke' you heard is indeed, accurate. The Crystal Faire will be hosted this coming winter solstice."

The mare's ears pinned back as the others looked to each other in confusion. "But princess! That's... ridiculous! We don't have the time to-"

Cadance's princess voice came out on reflex. Building frustration led to passive aggressive comments, which led to Cadance dipping into the personality that was forced upon her when she was growing up in Canterlot.

"I didn't ask you what you had time to do." She silenced her, raising her wings slightly in a clear 'shut up' gesture. "The Crystal Faire will be hosted then."

"Princess, surely you see how impossible that is. We'd have to finish half the work today in order to-"

Cadance cut him off, not even looking to see who was speaking, "That is exactly why I am here." She levitated the series of objects off her back and into the air. "We just have to focus, and we can get it done."

"It's not that simple, uh-" The pegasus withered slightly as Cadance turned her cold look to the smaller mare, "Your Majesty. The planning phases need a back and forth between companies, it'll take a month at minimum to confirm and gather the resources."

"I have a solution to that." Cadance flipped over one of the couches with her magic and rolled the map out onto the flat underside of it. "I was thinking that we instead set up areas for ponies who want to be represented at the..." Cadance trailed off, realizing what exactly Silver had asked her for.

"Ponies who want to be represented at the Faire to... Basically a first come first serve scenario, with Crystal Empire businesses or organizations taking priority. That way there's no arguing or back and forth."

Mevea was standing next to Cadance as she unfurled the map, and spoke out loud, mostly to herself as she looked over the lines Cadance had drawn around the areas in question. "Incentives to move quickly and efficiently."

The stallion she had vacated from the couch sent her an angry look. "Princess, I know you're new to this, but something like that just wouldn't work. If you gave us a mom-"

"You're fired." Cadance monotoned.

He shook his head in faux outrage. "What?"

"You're fired, please get out."

Yeah. Don't forget who's in charge here.

He snorted and left. Stomping his way out of the room like a foal.

Cadance rose to her full height. "Nobody in this room is going to tell me what can or can't be done. I'm looking for solutions, not excuses." That mollified the group, as they realized exactly what situation they were in.

"I think I have an idea." One of the crystal mares in the back braved the center of the circle of seats to walk over towards the map. The other turned away to go do something. "You said you wanted self directed zones for ponies to fill rather than having ponies pick and choose where to set up?"

She knows what she's doing! Haha!

Cadance's angry smile turned real, "Yes. Additionally, I was thinking about creating Faire grounds as a whole. Somewhere, but that's secondary."

"How will they be moving supplies?"

"Pricing, based on the size of the areas they want. The bits will go directly into subsidizing extra train runs to bring everything they need."

The mare tapped a crystal hoof to her crystal chin, making a quiet tinking noise. The other merchants were watching in supposed horror, one of them nearly fainted at the word 'pricing.'

"So transport is covered by the crown, what about information?" The mare was sparkling as she asked.

Cadance smiled, excited to have found a kindred spirit. "We've got a bunch of representatives right here." She gestured outwards, "You can all handle sending a letter, right?"

A few of them nodded.

Cadance lifted the map again as the other crystal mare re-entered the room, dragging a table table with her.

"Let's get started."

None of the merchants made it. They'd all gone 'home' as soon as it was noon.

Right now, it was just Cadance, the two mares who she had learned were named Yelitite and Bailey. Apparently she had a Diamond Dog in her family tree somewhere. Then there was the maid Ivory had sent, who had been in and out of the room, mostly bringing coffee and things to nibble on while Mevea dropped context from her experience of event organization as they tried to fit all the pieces together. Plus the guard, Brazier, who was standing around in case they needed anything else.

They were on their third iteration of a map, and the lines were only getting more complicated.

"Heeeeey." A new but not new voice sounded out from the door as the four of them were in the middle of staring at the map, trying to come up with a solution to the last series of issues. "Cadance? Honey?"

Cadance spun around slowly to meet the eyes of Shining. She blinked a few times, "Shining, hey, what time is it?"

"Just after closing time." He joked, "What's going on? I knew you had a meeting but-"

"We went a little late," She answered. Turning back towards the map.

Shining took the complex answer for what it was, and took a seat on one of the many now off to the side couches while Cadance continued to brainstorm.

"What if we moved the Faire booths over into the open grounds?" Yelitite gestured to a few lines on the map.

"I don't want to cut into the open flooring at all." Cadance said, "It's going to be the main event, after all."

Mevea pulled the map a little closer to herself, "What if we fill the open grounds with the Faire booths, and clear them away as it gets dark?"

"Can we rely on that kind of pony power?" Bailey looked to Cadance for an answer.

"We definitely can."

Mevea bumped Cadance. "You know, you can tend to your husband. We can handle this from here."

Cadance snrked, and Shining laughed form his seat on the couch. "It wouldn't feel right just-"

"Really princess. You helped enough just getting rid of the...erm." Bailey trailed off

Yelitite filled the empty space, "Call them what they are, but it doesn't matter. We know what you want anyways Princess, just let us handle it. As a thank you."

Cadance didn't need any more convincing. She stepped back, away from the map, and cleared the short term knowledge from her memory. "Alright. If you all insist." A glance confirmed the nodding smiles of the three crystal mares. "Shining?"

He hopped up from the seat in a smooth motion and made way for the door. On their way out, Cadance said to Brazier, "Take care of those mares for me, please and thank you." Brazier sent her a smile and a salute.

Once they were out in the hallways, walking towards somewhere, Shining started grilling her. "So how'd it go?"

"Rocky at first. Apparently more than half the staff were... Are Equestrian merchants. I have no idea how that happened."

"Who specifically?"

Cadance listed out the names she could remember, mostly they were all just going to serve as messengers. "I may have lost some businesses that may have wanted to take up a place in the Faire..."

"I'm sure it'll be fine honey, who were those mares?"

"The remnants of the actual planning committee I'm guessing, I dunno. I didn't ask." Cadance raised an eyebrow, waiting for Shining's next question.

"So what was the map all about? It looked like a whole operation you had going in there."

Despite what ponies tended to assume, Shining was a quiet pony, he didn't normally open his mouth without something he felt strongly about leaving shortly thereafter. So the vaguely emotionless questioning had a clear intent. She was less concerned as she was intrigued, he didn't seem like he was trying to distract her for any upsetting purpose, he felt excited, actually.

What are you hiding

She internally smirked and kept her eyebrow raised.

Shining took notice after she didn't answer his question. He chuckled, "Do you think I'll ever be able to slip anything past you?"

She laughed back, "I doubt it."

"Well, I tried, and I was pretty close too." Shining veered off from the center of the hallway, and pressed open a door.

Cadance followed after and looked inside, and her heart melted. There was a window, with a clear view of the setting sun outside, and a dinner table covered in food, candles, rose petals, the works. "Oh... Shining."

"Surprise." He stepped into her view line, "You've been working yourself to the bone, I thought it was a good time to treat you to..." Shining trailed off, as he started seeing Cadance lower her body in a pouncing stance.

She smiled, her wings having splayed themselves out the more he talked. "You better run."

"Uh- what?" Shining backed away

"I'm gonna kiss you so hard!" Shining took the warning to heart and ran into the room. "Come back here!" She gave chase. The door swung closed on its own.

"Yes Princess. I heard the news."

Cadance was walking next to a cyan crystal stallion, a shade darker than Blue Skies. His name was Ice Shard, and he was the forepony for the warehouse that The Spire sat on top of, and the mines that sat below that. The second job was mostly a guard and upkeep role, as the mines had been shut down immediately after verifying they were safe.

"And?" She asked, "Can you do it?"

"Princess..." He shook his head, "Listen, I know you mean well, bu-"

Cadance smiled and bapped him over the shoulder with her wing, "Cmon Shard, you're the most straight forward pony I know, besides Shining. Just tell me." A little flattery went a long way.

"It can't be done." He nodded to himself with a little finality. Their walk was leading them back up towards the palace grounds, where the Crystal Heart was kept. "I'm sorry, but we don't have the resources. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't."

Cadance frowned, her ears going all floppy. "Does the staff have something against the Crystal Faire?"

He chuckled, "No-no, I misspoke. We wondered what would be going on, obviously, but you're asking a bunch of inexperienced ponies to set something up with no foreknowledge. An entire faire grounds capable of hosting thousands of ponies at once? I don't even know where we'd get the food, much less the supplies." He tapped a hoof against a shelf.

The hall down here was less of a hall, and more of a chasm, centered beneath several massive racks of boxes and gemstones. It was essentially the Crystal Empire's coffers. Everything physical owned by the crown, including bits, was stored on these shelves. "Tents, railings, drill holes, bolts, carpets, canopies, tarps, crates, scrap wood; we'd need piles of it to even think about getting started on something that looks like a bunch of foals and fillies made it." He bit the side of his cheek and shook his head, "It's not like we even have the ponies for it. Throwing bodies at a problem doesn't solve it, everypony would need experience, and I can't have my only twelve competent ponies spend weeks teaching newbies how to grow crystal posts and then set up an entire festival, only to take it down half way through."

Cadance frowned a little deeper in thought.

"I'm sorry Princess, but it just can't be done." He spoke low and deep, truly apologetic. Exactly the kind of realism she needed.

Don't tell me what can and can't be done.

Realism was lost on someone like Cadance though. She tilted a hoof forwards, "What if I solved the experienced labor problem?"

"I dunno how you would, but we still need supplies."

Cadance smirked, "And if I solved that problem too?"

"You can't just 'suppose'. What are you getting at?"

"I can get hooves on the ground and supplies to you within the week."

His face morphed with a healthy dash of skepticism, "And how exactly are you gonna do that?"

"Details" She tossed her mane, "What I need to know from you." She poked him with a feather, "Is, can you handle it? Someone needs to be in charge."

"Are you askin' me?"

"I am."

He laughed, "You've got a pair on you Princess, lemme tell you that. I dunno what kinda plan you're cooking up, but I'm in." He lifted his hoof to meet hers, and they shook on it.

"I'd like to place an order." Cadance set down a stack of papers on the mix of metal, plaster and stone receptionist stand.

"I'm not sure-" The mare behind the counter peaked out from around the stack.

"I've got the bits to pay for it all, of course."

Tack & Co. was some kind of nefarious shell company for Quick Silver, that much was obvious. That didn't mean Cadance couldn't use it herself.

"I'll have to talk with my supervisor..."

Cadance spread her wings, "That's all I can ask for. So long as you send it up the chain, I'm sure someone will see my name and give the go ahead." She took wing and left the office without another word.

"So what exactly am I supposed to expect from this? Explain again?"

Cadance twisted a little in her chair, it was far too small for her. It was probably because of her widening stomach, but the point wasn't here nor there. She was sitting in a plush office, across from the current representative of the Cut House, Stone Cut's wife. A charcoal grey crystal pony mare without a mane.

"You're supposed to expect a change in procedure." Cadance used her magic to lift up the map in question. "We need raw materials, and your family has the only stable mine left in The Empire." She peeked around the map, "And I know that hasn't left your ponies idle."

"You want gems." The mare steepled her hooves.

"I want crystal. The raw waste of digging into the permafrost." Cadance squirmed in her seat again, trying to find a comfortable position.

"Well keep in mind, there's a price for that." She said, her voice sounded too much like Quick Silver's, elegant and full of hidden meanings.

At least she's accepted that I know she has access to the mines.

The verbal gymnastics that was: 'I'm not going to say what I know you know, I'm only kinda going to suggest you know something that I'm not supposed to know you think you might know about-' and so on, was something Cadance was used to as a Princess.

That didn't mean she liked it.

"Let's be clear. I think we would both benefit from not muddying intentions with an overuse of words." Cadance raised a wing as she forced her ears to face forwards, "I could just take it. I know you share the same... values as your husband, and the Cut House isn't doing very well under the scrutiny of the public." The mane-less mare's eyes narrowed in that imperceptible way that angry nobles do.

Funny, the thing that angered you was a comment on your House

Cadance grinned. "We stand to gain from doing this together. I'm sure you've heard of my involvement with the House of Mirrors?" A subject change, to give her a chance to mull over what was just said. Negotiations one oh one.

"Yes." She adjusted a quill on her desk, "I take it that is a requirement too?"

"A kind of one, yes." Cadance continued to gesture with her wing, "Every other House is already on board, what will you look like if you shun them? It all comes back to image. We need crystal for the Faire, you need to have ponies looking at you with something else in mind."

Then it was her turn to shift in place. She leaned forwards and opened her mouth, but when words didn't immediately come, Cadance knew she had her. A few more seconds passed, and Cadance felt the change into compliance and acceptance.

"How much crystal? Exactly?"

"Are you sure?"

Shining shrugged his shoulders, "Of course I'm sure. The Crystal Guard has been itching to do something since Sombra."

Cadance shuffled the blankets. She wasn't ready for bed yet. From Shining's posture and emotion, she could tell he was going to stay up with her until she calmed down.

"Construction isn't exactly what I'd call 'soldier material'."

"You're thinking about it too hard honey." He leaned and took a short step over their squishy bed and pressed his muzzle into her side. There was a short shuffling as she spread a wing and brought him close into a hug. "Did you notice you're getting bigger?"

"I am?" She looked down at her stomach, it looked normal to her despite her fight with a chair the other day.

"No, I mean taller. Look." He leaned away and gestured with his hoof. He was just about eye level with the tip of her nose.

Cadance tried not to lose her train of thought, "That's odd, but unimportant. Shining, advanced construction work isn't something everyone just knows. The extra hooves will be a help but..." Cadance trailed off.

"Oh I know that look. You've just had an idea."

She had. The beginnings of a plan were starting to form. Despite her confidence that she could solve the labor problem when she spoke about it with Ice Shard, she had no idea how until just now.

"Alright, time for bed. I want to see if I can meet with Luna tonight."

Shining gave her a mock salute, and she kissed him on the nose.

Author's Note

This chapter went through several iterations. Mostly a learning experience for me. I wanted to split from the normal, longer and slower placed slice of life to cover some of the important events that shift the narrative forward a little faster. I like the chapter as a standalone, not sure what I think of it with the story as a whole.

Dream date

Cadance was incredibly busy building a plane.

Which was odd, since she had no idea what that was, or how to do it.

"Wait a minute." She glanced around, and realized she was dreaming.

Cadance hadn't ever been able to lucid dream before. Generally the act of being conscious while asleep led to her waking unless Luna was present. "Luna?!" She yelled out into the void. The things all around her that weren't real began to darken and fall away as her mind deemed them unimportant.

There was no Luna.

Cadance thought, and slowly, a mischievous grin filled the length of her muzzle. The dark resolved into a scene of the palace in Canterlot, the marble floors, the golden trim, the pillars and the snobbish nobles trotting to and fro with their noses up. The dream apparently knew from memory exactly where she wanted to go, and resolved in the exact hallway she was expecting to see.

It was tilted slightly to the left, for some reason, but it was easy to ignore, dreams right?

"Excuse me." She said, trotting up to a pair of nobles that had walked passed her. Both of them turned to look up at her, and her body shrunk down, her mane became less lustrous, her legs shortened along with her muzzle. She was back to being a young mare again, still with her horn and wings, but nonetheless, back in her twenties. Twilight's age.

She waited for them to do the side speaking insult to her like they did when this happened in real life, they didn't. Instead, both ponies turned towards her in a strange spastic haze that left her stepping back in mild concern.

"Oh! Princess Cadance!" The first mare said, her pink muzzle and yellow mane coming into focus as she stepped forwards towards Cadance.

The other mare with her just tilted her head in mild confusion.

"How can I help you?" She said, trailing off in the Canterlotian accent that the nobles were known for.

Cadance shifted on her hooves a little, "Oh, uhm... Sorry... This-I remember this differently."

"You remember what?" Came a recognizable voice, the other mare resolved through the mist as Quick Silver, or at least as close to the annoying silver pony as one could get. Cadance could tell the difference by the eyes.

"Yes, dear me, what do you mean?"

Both ponies advanced another few steps forwards

Cadance ruffled her wings and stood her ground, "Well... this was the day I met Flash Cannon..." Cadance turned, keeping her eyes on the fabrications of her dream, only darting as she pointed off to the side, "He was over there when..." Cadance did another double take, seeing Shining Armor standing over by the door. He was as he was supposed to be, rather than looking like anything else.

Cadance shifted, "I... clearly don't know how to do this properly."

"Wouldn't be the first time." The dream Silver monotoned.

"Like you know any better." She retorted.

There was a shocked gasp from the pink and yellow noble mare, and Silver smirked, though the expression was off a little. "I'm sure I do, it'd be nice if I was actually sure. I don't exactly have any memories."

"Dear Celestia, what is going on?"

Silver turned around to look past Cadance. "Uh-oh"

Cadance followed her gaze, only to be blindsided by flashing cameras and reporter screams. Things like: 'oh the scandal' 'princess princess!' 'over there!' 'What is she doing with that mare!'

She shook her head to get rid of the flashing haze in her vision. The sudden sensory input tricked her into forgetting that she was dreaming. The magic around her slipped from her control, and she spun away from the crowd only to slam muzzle first into a white furred chest. Celestia, towering unnaturally over Cadance with a completely unreadable expression.

"Celestia! I-uh, I mean-" She stammered over herself, until a hoof was placed on her shoulder, Silver's hoof.

"Relax, Little Princess." Was barely audible over the noise of walls crashing down and eyes peeking through the holes that led out into the starry night sky despite the windows showing nothing but a bright sunny day. Celestia started to melt into goop, as did Silver, and the environment, the walls, the floor. Cadance's breathing hitched despite her own lack of presence in the dream. Her eyes went wide as her mind hit its maximum processing capacity; she locked up as everything meshed into nothing but colours and spirals around her.

Her eyes focused on another set, another large set of eyes emerging in a pattern within the mixing dust of what was left of her dream.

Something was bearing down on her.

And then it all stopped. Everything froze, not in time, but as if there was nothing left in the script, and all the actors were left on the stage with no instructions. The whole dream turned into a lava lamp, and Cadance felt herself sag into her hooves as she stopped hyperventilating.

"Get a hold of yourself Cadance."

Cadance's eyes went a little wider

"You're an immortal alicorn Princess."

Her own voice, sharper, and full of iron. She spun around to see herself strutting through the goop and dust, she had a flowing mane, and an angry glare.

"You're better than some stupid ponies."

Cadance stepped back on instinct as the taller version of herself continued to approach. "What- No, I'm not better than anyone."

"Anyone" The mare mocked, "You're already letting them bring you down to their level." She snarled, and just as Cadance thought the bigger alicorn was going to bowl into her, she turned, and began stalking around Cadance with predatory intent. Sharp teeth glinted as she kept talking, "You don't need them. You don't need him. You won't get to keep them anyways." She giggled to herself, "Just a joke, between just the two of us."

Cadance wasn't willing to respond. The comments were just as sharp as the tone the other her spoke them with. Her mind raced, trying to rationalize what she was seeing, what she was hearing.

"Look at you." She spat, "Shivering in the dust like a-"

"Who the buck do you think you are?"

The facsimile of herself stutter stepped and stopped before tossing her mane and giving a sick smile, all teeth. "Why, I'm just you, but be-"

Cadance's wings spread, and she laughed. There was an ache that manifested in the back of her head that stung all the way down into her neck. "No you're not."

The other version of her snarled, "I'm who you'll become."

Cadance lit her horn, and the pain intensified. "No you're not." She said with more finality. Her mocking facial expression dropped into exertion, as she focused on resisting whatever was happening to her.

The fake stepped forwards with her own horn lit, "If you won't accept wha-"

"Lemme stop you right there." Cadance waved a hoof, "I don't care."

Cadance eye's clenched shut. "Get. Out!"

The pain blossomed and Cadance threw her horn forwards as she cried out, a wave of white force exploded from where she was standing and ripped apart the scenery and the monster hiding just behind the fake version of herself. There was some kind of border that it smashed against, billowing up and pressing against the black with arcing white strips of electricity that burned away the remaining dust and ooze.

Cadance huffed from her spot on the ground, she had fallen back onto her flanks, her wings hung low enough that most of their considerable size was resting on the ground. A hoof went to the back of her neck, trying to massage the tingling sensation left there out.

"Cadance!"

Cadance jumped up onto her hooves, almost falling over as her hoof hit the invisible ground weird. She spun around on nothing but adrenaline and prepared to blast the next something that appeared. Luna touched down just off to the side of the invisible border. Behind Luna, a shimmering image of the crescent moon shifted like it was a reflection on a pond.

"Cadance. Excuse me for-"

"Luna!" Cadance cut her off. "Is that really you?"

Luna stopped short, "Yes Cadance, this is really me." She lifted a hoof to her chest as the urgency flowed out of her, in its stead, concern filled Luna's body language. "Are you okay?"

Cadance drooped again. She exhaled a heavy breath. "Why does my life have to be so crazy?" A measure of the fight or flight energy that filled her moments before came out in that shout. She took another breath, and switched to a softer tone. "Is this how Twilight feels all the time? Constantly bombarded with crazy thing after crazy thing?"

Luna continued her approach. "I won't share details, but Twilight does struggle with nightmares like this."

Cadance leaned into the hug as it came. She was glad that Luna had finally gone past the point of asking for physical contact. It was needed at the moment. "That's okay. I don't want to know, her dreams are her own."

Luna looked around after drawing herself out slightly. "Your nightmare was so intense that I could not enter until it was over. How did you banish the monster?" She asked with sincere interest.

"Monster?" Was Cadance's confused reverse ask, "You mean... the... thing?" She asked weakly.

"Were you not lucid dreaming?"

Cadance shut her eyes slowly. "I don't know, I think I was, a little, for a bit. It's all fading away, it hurt." She joked, "I can tell you that much."

Luna's brow furrowed, "Hurt? Hurt where?" Her question was lathered in curiosity.

"Uh..." Cadance raised her wing to the back of her neck, "Really just, my head, my neck."

"Fascinating." Luna looked passed Cadance at the scenery again.

Cadance rolled her eyes and leaned forwards again into Luna, the familiar sensation of her fur was all the comfort she needed at the moment.

"Cadance?"

"No." Came her muffled snark, "Peace. For... twenty seconds."

Luna's wings came around Cadance's back

Twenty seconds passed silently.

"Okay." Cadance pushed outwards softly, letting Luna know she was ready to engage in social interaction. Luna lifted her wings and stepped away to reveal a familiar glade. "I'm okay now."

"That is good to hear Cadance." Luna said, clipped. Clearly she had more to say.

"What is this place?" Cadance asked, sweeping a wing out in the general direction of everything.

Luna answered without missing a beat, "This is the glade I was born in."

Cadance blinked her eyes, "Really? How do you know what it looks like?"

"Chronomancy." She said simply, tilting her head to the side and sweeping her own gaze up the stream, towards the rocks near the edge of the clearing. "Immortals, we eventually will see it all."

"I... didn't know that was possible." Cadance said tentatively.

Luna made a face. Something in between the face you make when laughing at your own joke in a crowd of people who didn't find it as funny as you did and the expression that follows biting into a lemon. The strange look disappeared in a flash, and Luna shook her head. "It is neither here nor there. It is a calming space for me, it is simple to call upon."

Cadance's ears pulled back. "How do you shape dreams like that? And so fast... I tried it, and it... broke down really fast."

"Oneiromancy is an esoteric and touchy magic." She lit her horn, and suddenly the glade lit up with fireflies, bugs, frogs, and life that filled every leaf, and under every rock. "There is no math for it. No runes, no equations. It all comes from the inside." Her horn stopped glowing, and her curious smile returned, "That is why I am curious as to, how exactly, you banished the nightmare that attacked you?"

"Wait... Is that, nightmare? or, Nightmare? With a capital 'en'?"

"The latter." Luna found a comfortable spot in the grass and sat down. "It fought to keep me out until you dispelled it."

"Something like that can keep you out of dreams?" Cadance asked, growing mildly concerned for her safety.

"No." Luna chuckled, something Cadance had never seen her do before. "Not in the slightest, I could have barreled into your dream with ease and slayed it, but it would have undoubtedly woken you."

"I... wouldn't have minded that too much."

"It was the energy pouring out of your dream that stopped me from doing so." Luna lifted a hoof, "All magic has certain indicators of their presence when imprinted on the dream realm. Casting a spell here isn't quite the same as in the real world, but some things do carry over."

"And?" Cadance sat down next to Luna, watching the tiny light show going on the dark alicorn's hoof.

"I have only ever sensed energy like that from Griffon kind." A little griffon appeared in her hoof, lifting things around it with lightless telekinesis.

"Griffons? I thought they couldn't do magic."

Luna shook her head, "They absolutely can, the ability was prevalent in..." The illusion on her hoof disappeared as her limb dropped back to the grass, "Before." Was all she had to say. "I do not know why the practice has been forgotten."

"Oh!" Cadance perked up, seeing the moment as a good time to change the subject. "Luna, I had a huge request for you."

"Anything that is within my power shall be done for you." Luna nodded, turning over to Cadance to give her the 'undivided stare of the Princess of The Night.'

Cadance wilted slightly under the gaze, laughing to herself, "Nothing so serious. You remember the Crystal Faire? Right?"

Luna nodded.

"Well, we're doing it early, instead of waiting another six and a half months." She spun a hoof, "I was wondering... Since we're hosting it on the Winter Solstice, if you would lend your resources, and maybe let me have you be the guest of honor?"

Luna's serious expression melted away into shock as Cadance gave the explanation.

"We need able bodied ponies knowledgeable in construction, and..." Cadance gestured out to the dream again with her wing, "From before, it was the first thing I thought of, would the night guard be up for the task?"

Luna spoke in a quiet tone. "Are... Did Quick Silver put you up to this?"

"No." Cadance responded simply.

"You... You want me as the guest of honor."

"Yes."

A series of things happened, but the most attention grabbing was waking up.

Cadance jerked forwards, surrounded by bedsheets. There was a quiet snorting sound as Shining Armor woke up and stood. In less than a second, there was a pink shield surrounding their bed. Shining stuttered something questioning and unintelligible, and Cadance had her wing pulled under the comforter, causing her to make a pain filled 'you're crushing my wing' sound, which only served to escalate the situation. The only thing Shining knew was that his wife had jerked awake, and made a pain filled sound.

Light filled the room like a flash bang as Shining's shield split outwards in a wave of energy. There was a crash as several things were struck back by the force and the wooden attempts to make the room covered in glittering crystal a little more homely split and cracked as the spell spilt over the surfaces.

"Shining stop! I'm okay!"

The magic cut out. "Wah-What happen?" He said, or rather, tried to say.

Cadance started giggling. All it took was one glance to see that their room had been mostly destroyed, besides the epicenter of their bed, which was mostly untouched. Already, guards were pouring into the room, looking for a target or some kind of instruction. All eyes rested on Cadance, who continued to laugh at the absurdity of her night, and only began laughing harder as she met the eyes of the confused and worried guards rushing into the room after the initial blast.

Cadance wiped a tear and some of the sleep from her eyes as she lifted herself up. "It's okay everyone. False alarm."

Guess, I have started saying that... I wonder when that started?

"Cadance?"

Cadance giggled again, making a valiant attempt to not burst out again as she got a good view of her husband's bedhead and exaggerated stance. "Yes honey?"

Shining just shook his head. "Sorry," He said. "Sorry!" He said a little louder to the ponies that had gathered inside, Cadance even spotted Amber at the door. "I overreacted, everyone head back to your posts."

Shining is saying it too

Cadance continued observing the events, now getting the privilege to watch all the ponies filter away from the door and disappear into the hallway. A yellow coated crystal stallion shut the door slowly, and plunged the room back into darkness as Shining sat back and rubbed his face.

"Welp. That just happened."

"Is there a reason you're so jumpy?"

"Er-no."

Cadance raised an eyebrow and Shining's eyes darted towards her as they both silently communicated how poorly he hid that. Shining didn't go to explain himself and Cadance shrugged and rolled onto her side to pull her wing out from the bed sheets.

"I won't pry. I trust you." She said, quietly scooting over to him once she had extricated herself.

"Thanks." He flopped down on top of her, over her back. "Why'd you jerk awake like that?"

"I think I made Luna's night." She said, half asking herself, half explaining.

Cadance felt the shifting of emotions and the shifting of his body language through her senses. She didn't have to see his face in order to know what he was thinking. Non-verbal communication was Cadance's favorite kind of communication.

"I invited her to be the guest of honor, and asked for her help."

"Wasn't it meant to be a surprise?"

Cadance shrugged, as much as she could with Shining on her back. "It was, but I had the idea to invite her honor guard."

"The Thestrals?"

"As, hopefully, an extra pair of hooves."

"You think she'll accept?"

"I was going to go back to sleep, but now that I'm fully awake, I get the feeling she's already on her way here."

"How's that?"

"Just a gut feeling." Cadance snorted, "Hey wait, no, I can say mother's intuition now!" She smiled, "Yeah!" She reset her tone to five seconds ago. "I can just tell, it's my mother's intuition." She restated.

She felt Shining roll his eyes in appreciation of her humour.

There was a crack of teleportation, and Luna was standing in their bedroom.

Cadance smirked, "Told you."

Shining sighed, "I'm not going back to bed am I?"

Luna huffed once, flapping her wings as she settled down. A thestral stallion that looked like he'd just flown through a tornado stumbled away from her, getting his bearings.

Wait a second, why does everyone have the location of my bedroom memorized?

"Cadance, my apologies for shattering your dream." Luna took a few steps forwards, she was swirling with emotion, mostly barely contained excitement, though there was also a hefty yet silent doubt hanging over her.

Luna made to continue, but Cadance lifted her hoof, "Just a second Luna, how did you manage to teleport directly into my bedroom?"

Shining shifted off of her back, giving her the opportunity to get up and get out of the bed, he did so as well, just on the other side. Luna blinked twice, "I have the location of your bedroom memorized, in case I need to reach you quickly, in situations exactly like this one."

"Okay. Stop teleporting into my bedroom."

"Hey, I know you." Shining had walked up to the thestral, "Corporal Wake right?"

"Yes sir." The stallion snapped out a very clean salute. Cadance was married to a guard captain, so she knew the difference between a good and bad salute.

"No need to call me sir, I'm not your boss anymore." He turned to look at the two alicorn mares watching the interaction with interest. "I can guess what he's here for?" He asked Luna.

She nodded, "Yes. He is here to assist as Cadance requested."

"The legions are at my disposal Princess, and now at yours." He gave a slight incline of his head. His tone was professional, rather than differential, something Cadance appreciated. "I am told that the Empire is hosting the next Fire Light Festival?"

Cadance tilted her head, "I thought it was called the Fire Sky Festival?"

Luna smiled, "Thestral traditions have shifted over the course of my banishment. Though it is indeed titled the Fire Sky Festival."

"Does it have to do with the winter solstice?" Shining asked.

"It does." Luna took a deep breath, and Cadance saw the reminiscence in her eyes as she spoke. "The Fire Sky Festival stems from a time before the moon, back when the sky was fluid. Magic, danger, visions, nightmares, dreams flowed from the endless dark, and ponies lit lanterns and bonfires and forests on fire to cast it away." She shifted in place as she drew in another breath, "In my day, it was a celebration of unity, of civilization triumphing over the dangers of the natural world. Until I ascended..."

"Then it became a celebration of the Goddess who took the meaning of the festival and made it real." The thestral said, in complete seriousness.

"I am no goddess Wind Wake." Luna admonished, "We talked about this."

He nodded, "We did. I explicitly remember ignoring your opinion."

Shining snorted.

"I like him." Cadance said, "He'll be perfect, thank you Luna."

Luna slowly took her annoyed frown away from the stallion's shit eating grin and continued explaining. "When I ascended, the Fire Sky Festival became something of an arts faire, a celebration of the stars, and the creativity and minds of the ponies that built up civilization. The competitions were... for a lack of better term, artsy. Ponies raced during the festival to craft masterpieces, argue about what they believed in, make memories, and bask in the world they had created."

"That's beautiful Luna."

"It was."

"Is." Cadance said, bunting Luna in the shoulder with a wing. "We're bringing it back, remember?"

Luna's wings flared, "Of course! I cannot- I had forgotten in my haste, how long do I have to prepare?"

Shining answered for her, as Cadance was too busy being surprised by Luna somehow matching Twilight's ambient anxiety levels. "The Winter Solstice, remember?"

Luna thought for a second before hoisting herself up to her full height. "Then I must go begin preparations, thank you both, I leave Wake in your capable hooves." Her horn lit, and there was another, far more intense, flash and crack of teleportation as she made her exit.

Cadance, Shining Armor, and Wind Wake stood in awkward silence for a moment before the latter gestured around him with a leather wing. "What happened to your room?"

Shining dropped his head and spun around. "I'm going back to bed."

Cadance laughed.

Author's Note

This is getting more and more comical as time goes on.

It's all happening

"Alright ponies!" Shining yelled out to the smattering of colourful cliques.

Cadance was stood just next to him, covered head to hoof in snow gear, bargain bin stuff she found in one of the Spire supply closets at Ivory's direction. The head maid herself, plus a pony she brought along, Homeward and Dawn Ray; Marker and Symbol had chosen to sit this particular activity out. Then there was her and her Shining, and a representative from the House of Agriculture.

All heads turned to Shining's call, and the ponies approached the border of the Heart's shield. It was a shimmering blue, like it always was. Just beyond it? The wastes of the Frozen North.

Not for long.

"You sure about this Honey?"

Cadance nudged Shining with her wing, something that took far more effort than normal due to the heavy coat. "I'm sure I have to try."

Shining lifted his hoof, and while his expression was hidden partially by his snow goggles, she knew him well enough to know the supportive concern plastering his face. That, and she could feel his emotions like a beacon.

My empathy is getting stronger...

"Not trying to discourage you, but how many ponies do you think said that moments before disaster?"

Cadance sent him a flat look. Something that had the intensity stolen by her undersized ear muffs, "Shining, if I can get this to work-"

Shining lifted his hoof to say something, but Cadance give him a look that said: 'let me finish.'

"If I can get this to work." Cadance looked out towards the swirling snow, just beyond the shield. "The entire waste would be open to us. There's a lot of little details, but this could be an incredible victory."

Shining lifted his hoof again, and Cadance nodded for him to say what was on his mind. "I'm here. Again, not trying to discourage you, just trying to see the whole picture."

"We're ready Princess!" Cadance spun around to the tiny crowd. There were two total cameras

Times like this where I think I should give a speech

She glanced over them once, and the words didn't come, so she spun around again. "Nobody wander out any further than a few lengths, Shining is going to keep everyone in sight, I'll let out a flare if we have to turn back. Everyone got that?"

Nods, and vocal affirmations.

Cadance walked up to the shield and stepped through without any fanfare. The blizzard on the outside was a stark contrast to the shield itself. It was angry, whirling with barely restrained might. Cadance knew storms, they were neutral entities, they had power, power that had to be used. The blizzards of the northern wastes were vicious, old enough to have a will of their own. As soon as the group made their way into the snow, Cadance felt the wind shift, and a brush of some kind of weather forging magic, and the snow coming down on them doubled.

Shining stuck right by her side.

"Did everyone pass through okay!" She asked, yelling over the wind.

"Yeah! We're ready when you are!"

Cadance planted her hooves in the snow, ignoring the temperature on the outside of the boots, and lit her horn. Pink and black smoke turned kaleidoscopic as they mixed and dribbled away from her eyes, instead of her natural aura, a sickly rose flame with splotches of green spread from the base to the tip of her horn.

"Here we go!"

Cadance cast the first part of the spell. A little pink cube filled with invisible flame appeared and bagan to rotate just above the tip of her horn. She increased the complexity of the emotion, the facets of Love that made up the little thing. Corners and edges split into more as the shape grew, as she did so, she filled it with raw arcane energy. There was a pulling sensation like a nullification ring, and her magic simply started to fall away as the pink ball began to bulge.

It passed over her first, the shield had a distinct emotional sensation, something she very easily related to, since she was the one casting it. It passed over Shining next without any issue, then it hit the snow, and there was a sparking increase of magic that yanked on her horn. Cadance grit her teeth, and the mixing double corona with emotional components turned into a swirling beacon of colour.

The snow congealed around the edge of the shield, the ice underneath the snow cracked and split into shards, melting from the pressure. The once little pink cube continued to grow, passing over Ward and Ray, then Ivory and her friend. The now exposed ground was visually filling with mud, where ice had been melted and pressed into the ground by the force of the shield.

Then the shield touched the Heart's shield and Cadance gasped.

I will protect you.

It wasn't so much a promise as Cadance knew it. The outstretching emotional spell, broadcasted over Cadance's empathetic senses was a command, a call of righteousness, straight up to the heavens, filled with belief that nothing else was possible.

Her shield latched onto it like glitter onto fur, and the draw from her magical reserves lessened. Cadance stopped adding more corners to what was by now, visually, a simple sphere. As the pink dome slowed its growth, the magical draw became negligible, and eventually, Cadance cut off the power flow entirely.

Her horn went out, and she opened her eyes.

Around them was a pink dome, right up against the shimmering blue of the shield. The snow was piling up on the top of the pink barrier, which cast a similarly coloured glow all around them, leaving everything on the interior ever so slightly tinted pink. The ground was covered with wet or frozen mud. Several of the entourage were already covered in the stuff, but their reactions were far from focused on their dirtying coats.

As Cadance turned to Ivory, she nearly snorted, the mare was tossing and kicking up mud like she was at the beach. Homeward's horn was lit, likely trying to get a feel for the magic around them. The representative of the House of Agriculture was prodding the mud with a shocked look. Cadance figured she should talk to him first.

"I take it, this is what you were hoping for?" She said, crossing the short distance between them.

He let the mud drop from his hoof and looked up towards the top of the pink dome in something akin to a mix of awe and shock. Cadance let the moment pass and he managed to get out, "Is this permanent?"

Cadance smiled, trying to keep herself from giggling at him. This was distinctly not the time to titter, but she was proud. Having someone so directly admire your work did that. "As far as our testing shows, yes. Though, I have an expert on the way to verify that."

The stallion's response was interrupted by Shining brushing up under Cadance's wing, it was a nice shift from the snow clinging to the limb. "Good work honey." He said simply.

Cadance raised an eyebrow and hip checked him. "That's it? Just... Good job?" She snarked.

"Alright alright" He bumped her back. "You revolutionized Crystal Empire living and all that."

Cadance raised her wing threateningly with a smirk on her face.

Shining prepared to duck, but said a bit more seriously, "I'm deeply impressed. I'm just not surprised."

The stallion across from them cleared his throat very pointedly.

"Apologies." Cadance said on reflex, returning to a more princessly posture.

"When will this expert be arriving?" He asked, the awe on his face wiped away for noble indifference. She could sense the rising mix of annoyance and trepidation in him, he didn't want to believe this was possible.

Shining gave her an imperceptible nudge of confusion.

"Any minute now..." Cadance trailed off, looking towards where the pink met the blue.

Silver spies on me all the time. She has to be monitoring the Heart's shield.

It was a gamble, but gambling on Silver had worked before. Cadance smirked as, in the moment where she was staring off towards the city, she felt a vague warble at the edge of her shield.

"Cadance?"

Cadance turned towards the approaching Homeward and Dawn Ray. They were both covered in mud, Homeward, a little less so.

"How did you do this?"

"Dark magic." Said Silver, dramatically revealing herself, as she do.

Shining didn't go stiff like she expected, instead, the negative response came from the representative of the House of Agriculture. His ears went stock straight, and he spun around to face the silver pegasus with as much of a sneer as was decently respectable. "You?"

Silver let off a menacing smirk, something Cadance was starting to recognize meant 'amusement.'

"Happy midday!" She danced forwards on her hooves, splashing the mud around, "Your expert is here Princess."

"Thank you for arriving promptly."

"Princess, I'd hardly call this mare an expert. She-

Before he continued, Cadance lifted a hoof to her chin, the mud mussed up her fur, but the gesture was key for the comment. "What was your name again?"

The stallion silently grit his teeth, "Avalanche, your majesty."

Cadance waved the hoof, gently, as to not splash him with mud, "Please. No need for such formalities." Now with a stark command over the conversation, Cadance continued, "and I would call her an expert, she's gone through advanced studies of blood magic under Princess Luna, and as I know it, has a sweeping understanding of all kinds of magicks?"

"That's right." Silver answered, flicking some mud from her fetlock. "Emotion. A diverse and generally impossible to study form of wielding magic, due to the differences between casters. So, with me, I brought a student of mine." Silver gestured to her side, and suddenly, a warble of air shifted around like someone popped a balloon in slow motion. A glowing red horn doused itself, and Misty Scarlet was revealed.

Okay. I've never had someone dodge my emotion sense before like that.

Even Silver had a strange sort of non-presence in her magic, something she could feel the edges of, but not reach into. Scarlet was blocked off, intentionally.

A spell?

"Misty, darling, if you would tell the class what you've gleaned so far?"

Misty's eyes burned as she lit her horn agian. Red light, bubbling more viciously and viscously than Cadance's covered her horn as she took a deep breath. "Love." She said, "Mostly. Creativity, as the modular component. I can sense Hope, twisted into Guiding Light, and a smattering of Domination, littered throughout the whole of the spell."

Cadance had soooo many questions. As usual, whenever Silver was involved.

"What of the permeance?"

Her horn twisted with a few more colours, all of them getting swallowed by the angry red twisting around her horn. She focused, clenching her eyes shut as the bubbling got faster, and green and blood red smoke began dripping from her eyes. "I can't see an edge..." She grunted and twitched her head, sending her mane flopping around. "The Crystal Heart is feeding into it..."

Silver took a step to the side and gently placed a muddy hoof on Misty's shoulder. "That's good Misty. You can stop now."

Misty let out a shaky exhale, and there was a drift of magic that popped away from her horn, drifting into the air. Cadance felt the emotion that bushed and sunk into the ambient magic around them. The sensation of power, and being so far above a belief that you couldn't see all the little things moving around beneath you, and the vibrancy that comes with showing that power hit Cadance like a brick.

Maybe... I should check on those ponies again... Maybe letting Silver teach them wasn't such a great idea...

"And... How accurate... is this information?" Ivory said, finally joining the group, she sending a respectful, professional look towards Quick Silver, but her emotions read nothing but vague irritation.

"Very accurate." Was Silver's response. Ivory turned towards Misty, but Silver moved with Ivory's gaze, stepping in-between the two. "You're talking to me. Thank you." Silver added on, her malicious smirk returning.

"I can speak to the validity of the claim." Shining interjected, stepping out from under Cadance's wing. "My wife says it's permanent. A magical expert says it's permanent, and I know shield spells; as long as the Crystal Heart is active, it's permanent." Shining looked at Silver, who nodded as he finished.

"Sounds like that's that." Dawn Ray smiled to himself.

Homeward took the moment to ask, "Cadance, is-"

Cadance interrupted, knowing where the question was going. "Yup. This will be how we make space for the school grounds."

"I believe I have some letters to write." Avalanche said, quickly excusing himself from the conversation. He made a light trot out towards the shield, and became practically invisible after stepping through.

"He's a joy, right?" Silver joked, having snuck up next to Cadance to elbow her in the side.

Cadance jumped slightly, and Silver laughed at her, which she responded to by smacking Silver over the head with her wing.

"Ow." Silver said in mock surprise, overdramatically stumbling away.

"Princess... Cadance..." Ivory said, lifting a tentative hoof while eyeing up Silver's antics. "I'm... not sure..."

Shining voiced Cadance's thought. "I know she's... exuberant, but she means well, Ivory."

"That's not-"

"So!" Silver interrupted, once again showing an unusual amount of speed, swinging around and half lounging with a hoof slung over Shining's shoulder. "Big plans, big moves. I'm honestly impressed. Say, Ivory, right?"

Ivory took a step back, but nodded.

"You know, I've heard a lot about you from that Morning fellow. You run the origzation side of The Spire, right?"

Cadance lifted a hoof with a flat expression. "Please don't antagonize her Silver."

"What? No. Me? Never." Silver twisted, reaching out and grabbing Homeward's hoof off the ground. "and Homeward! From desk attendant to working on the Princess's personal project? It's a pleasure to formally meet you." Homeward awkwardly returned the hoof shake, and turned to Dawn, who, after seeing the other two attempts at socialization, already had his hoof prepared.

Silver reached out to bump it, then turned and slung a wing over his back. Cadance finally got a good look at Silver's coat next to a crystal pony, and noticed the similarities. Like Silver's coat had crystal just beneath it. "Cadance, did you knoooow-" Silver said, pushing Dawn Ray forwards towards Cadance, "Dawn Ray is cousins with Sunlight Ray, your college roommate?"

Cadance blinked, Dawn looked at Silver in confusion, "You know Sunlight?"

Shining made a face.

"And how do you know that?" Cadance only kinda asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well." Silver sat back and did a series of confusing hoof gestures, "After you told me about how speakers work, I went looking for the source. Turns out the Ray family is pretty extensive."

Homeward coughed violently, turning the attention of the conversation to herself. "I'm sorry, but... can you introduce yourself? Please?"

Ivory responded, and Cadance noticed again, the second pony she'd brought with her, totally silent, and watching on with a curious look. "This is Quick Silver, of the Noble House of Silvers."

"A noble?" Dawn said, laced with disgust, he froze the moment after, looking to the mare in question. "Er- I mean-"

"Don't worry 'bout it kid. I'm not like the other nobles." She sent him a wry smile and a wink.

"Anyways." Cadance announced, "I think we all have important duties to att-"

"Haha, you said dooties."

...

"I think we all have important work to get to. Shining? Can you go tell Amber it was a success? I'm going to..." Cadance glanced over the crowd, "Busy myself, with my other project."

Shining understood the barely coded message and nodded. "Alright ponies, you heard her, let's go."

Ivory sent a concerned glance towards Cadance, but left with the crowd. Silver's outline followed with them, but Cadance could still feel the mare standing in front of her. Cloaked by the invisible Misty Scarlet, who had faded into obscurity after Silver had broken Cadance's line of sight.

Once the other ponies were gone, the invisible barrier came down. Silver sent a proud smile towards Misty, who huffed like a teenager getting her mane ruffled. "Little Princess. It's good to see you. Been a long week?"

Cadance's posture fixed back into a more comfortable state. A real, yet tiny smile found its way onto her face. "A little. Do you think you could help me clean up?"

Silver reached out a hoof, Cadance took it. She felt a warmth pass over her, and the mud on her fur simply fell off. Despite the burning magical academic questions plaguing her mind, Cadance flapped her wings once to air out the warmth on instinct, and retracted her hoof once Silver let go.

"I'll do the mud too, one moment."

Misty dodged Cadance's eyes as she looked over to the staring mare. "Hey. Thank you for coming out."

Misty blew a puff of air at the red mane hanging down over her muzzle. "No problem. Though..." Misty lifted her muzzle up for a second, gesturing upwards, "What are you going to do about the snow?"

Cadance followed the gesture, and frowned as she noticed the blizzard piling up on top of the shield.

Silver was done scattering glittering dust in the mud, and a pool of water started to form, sucking out the moisture from the dirt and pooling along the edges of the array she had drawn. A hole was shot into the ground with a dull thuwmpph and the water disappeared. "The snow will eventually pressurize the shield, it'll either collapse or explode, probably." Silver said, wiping her hooves.

"Well then." Cadance pursed her lips. "Permanent?"

"Technically-" Silver pointed, "Just not indestructible."

Cadance rolled her eyes, accepting the wordplay as some degree of honest. Her horn lit again, and she reached out towards the spell. It was shockingly easy to connect to, and the pink tint hanging in the air became denser around her horn, almost red. She simply visualized the adjustment, and the shield reconfigured to have a slanted top. The snow, not able to find purchase or grip on a magical barrier with no friction began to slide off under its own weight.

"There. Problem solved." Cadance mused, mostly to herself as she caught her breath.

Silver was making a face as Cadance caught her eye again, a face that disappeared in an instant. "Misty? Darling, I think me and Cadance have a few words to ignore from each other."

A portal coin flipped from Silver's hoof, and Mist caught the thing in her aura, a wisp of magic zapped the coin and is spread open near instantaneously. She gave a parting wave before stepping through, the portal closed, and the coin flipped off of nothing, going along the reverse arc and landing back in Silver's hoof. She stuffed the thing in her mane.

"She seemed frosty."

"I've been pushing her to become more comfortable not liking people." Silver glanced out into the snow.

Cadance fell silent.

"So?" Silver's head snapped back towards Cadance, "What is it? You said you had something planned? Was this it?"

Cadance lit her horn, regular spellcraft this time. "Will I ever be able to sneak something past you?" She joked as she pulled a picnic basket from her pocket space. It was a little more difficult, the magical exertion, plus the size restrictions for the invisible pocket spell just barely allowed for something the size of a basket.

"No." Silver said tersely. Eyeing up the picnic basket.

Cadance answered the unasked question, "I ~thought-" She sing songed, setting the basket down on the now dry ground. "That with you working so much, we could just relax this time." A checkered blanket flew out by her telekinesis, a classic red and white colour, something Cadance was tentatively excited about finding. "No thrumming music, no screaming, no villains, just a nice afternoon and some snacks."

Cadance's smile dropped at Silver's glare.

"What?" She asked.

"Really." Silver let out between grit teeth. "Little Princess. Please tell me this is a joke." Cadance didn't respond immediately, which was apparently enough of an answer for Sliver. She spun around with a wave of her wing and began walking off. "Goodbye."

Make it work

"Wait! Silver. Please." Cadance stood up. Silver sighed deeply and spun around. Cadance expected some sort of verbal dressing down, but nothing came, Silver just spun her hoof in a 'go on' gesture. Quickly, the mix of situational knowledge and skill at diplomacy had a short, subconscious shouting match about what to say. Cadance stumbled out a "Will you tell me what about this you find so irksome?"

Silver waved her hoof, "First of all, don't ever say 'irksome' again." Silver made a 'blegh' face. "B. I'm not your friend Little Princess." Silver waved a hoof between the two of them, "THIS?" Cadance flinched back, unprepared for the shout. "This is a thing you're forcing me to do. We?" Silver took a few more steps, angrily gesturing between the two of them more sporadically. "We cannot be friends, and I'm disappointed in you for not thinking before doing this. You had a week to think about it and you just didn't. Haven't you figured it out yet? Why Luna picked you and not Twilight?"

Cadance bit the side of her cheek. Silver's approach, despite the heat in it, was anything but threatening.

Cadance saw the game this time.

Distraction, and a coded message, followed by something I'll want to ask about. Three tricks, cleverly constructed. Not this time. I just have to keep pushing.

"You're right." Cadance said slowly, setting her jaw. "I am forcing you to do this." Silver's fake angry expression was instantly replaced by that same amused aggression. "And I'd appreciate it if you stopped trying to play games."

"You don't control me." She snarled, getting right up into Cadance's muzzle, staring up at the taller mare.

Then she pushes back.

Cadance's reply was simple. Elegant, in her opinion. "No, I'm blackmailing you."

And I push back harder.

Silver's gaze softened, and there was a little bit of light that filled her eyes, for just a second before she huffed and turned away. Cadance let her eyes go wide in a measure of letting the surprise of success onto her face.

She blinked first.

Cadance had never gotten this far in a conversation with her, there was a moment of dumbstruck, grinding to a halt thoughts, as Cadance metaphorically wedged her hoof in the door before it closed. "So will you tell me?" She asked softly, moving to step around to Silver's side.

"Fine." She whispered. Twisting over to the basket and blanket, "There better be some decent sandwiches in there." She grumbled.

Cadance let her walk passed, and watched her take a seat and reach for the basket. Cadance lifted it out of the way and Silver rolled her eyes. "Fine. Geez." Despite the acquiescence, Silver still didn't explain, she just stared off into space. Cadance moved over to the opposite side of the blanket and set the basket down next to Silver as a sign of trust, Silver didn't go for it again.

As Cadance was about to break the silence, Silver spoke.

"I have work to do." She hummed, "A lot of it. You do too, so you should know." There was a momentum that filled her voice as she started talking a little faster. "I'm not going to waste my time sitting around doing nothing. This whole exercise in futility is something I can accept due to you making me have to placate you, but if all we're going to do is sit on some dirt and talk about our feelings..." Silver shrugged. "I can't justify spending my time doing that."

"You're not against it?" Cadance asked

Silver gave her a pointed look. "Did I say I was?"

"No, but I can never tell with you." She smiled, sitting down herself. "It's worth asking, just in case."

Answer given, Silver reached out for the basket and flipped it open. Her cerulean aura reached inside as her hoof lit, and the contents lifted themselves from the basket for a second before Silver narrowed her eyes and dropped the mix of objects back into the basket before smacking it on the side to knock it over and spill the contents over the blanket.

Cadance watched in confusion as Silver reached for a packet of salt and put it in her mouth.

"Right." She said helpfully, using her own telekinesis to lift a daisy sandwich and unwrap it in tandem.

"You haven't had breakfast yet." Silver stated, "You need to be more conscious of your eating habits."

"You could tell that from me lifting a sandwich?"

"No... well... yes, but not really, just pay more attention."

"You're one to talk." Cadance pointed the sandwich in her direction, "Have you eaten anything aside from that salt packet since last week?"

Silver pursed her lips.

"That's what I thought."

Silver frowned and lifted a hoof, "I'm not pregnant, there's a difference."

Cadance smiled, taking a bite. Daisy sandwiches were alright, in her top seven comfort foods for ease of access. "Speaking of, my magic has been getting stronger, recently."

"How so." Just like that, Cadance had Silver's full attention.

"My empathetic senses have been getting stronger, emotion magic seems easier than when I first tried it, and I've found that I have more energy during the day." Cadance listed off, tapping her hoof on the blanket as a light nervous tick. Despite the casualness, Cadance was still worried somewhere deep down that Silver was about to tell her that the symptoms she'd just described were a sign of something terrible.

Silver rolled the salt packet around in her mouth. Thinking, there were flashes of weight that pressed against Cadance's senses. The moment passed, and Silver returned to a state of vague attention. "The truth is, Little Princess, I don't have a perfect answer for you. I have guesses, but you're basically the index case for ASGP."

"ASGP?"

Silver made a face before clarifying. "Alicorn induced Spontanious Geothuamosomphonic Primigravida."

Cadance mulled over the description for a second before deadpanning, "You made that up didn't you?"

"I actually stole it from Fair Treatment's notes." Silver flipped a hoof while ignoring Cadance's look, "Anyways, I didn't want to go on before saying that." Silver shifted, "Have you noticed any strange dreams as well? Noticed your behavior becoming sharper, terser, and more willful?"

Cadance retracted her head.

Yes and yes.

"And if I have?"

Silver moved her hoof in what Cadance could only describe as a clinical gesture. "Then it has something to do with your special talent, your baby, your Alicorn nature, and your greater destiny as a whole."

Cadance let the concern show on her face.

"The good news is that there's no bad news."

Cadance raised an annoyed eyebrow.

"Sorry. The point is, your biology is magic. To differentiate between the normal pony genetic structure which has magic, Alicorns are magic, all the way down to the most obscure level of abstraction. Even the air you exhale is slightly more magical than the air around it. That, plus a second Alicorn gestating in your system is doing something, which is increasing the flow of the ambient thaumic weave through you, but it isn't just overcharging you, no." Silver tapped a hoof to the side of her head as she kept speaking, "That magic is coming from the same place Alicorns come from. From the above, Eternity, All, the things that make up reality."

Cadance leaned forwards again. "What does that have to do with me?"

"No idea." Silver shrugged. "It may be that your pregnancy isn't an accident at all, or it could be something special about you in particular. Chronomancy could be involved, anything. When you get to this depth of magic, it stops making sense, even to me. Alicorns are a kind of magic that I never deciphered... Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. I think I get it though, and that makes sense right? Something like that would have to happen if they..." Cadance trailed off, mulling over the details, "If they're an Alicorn, right?"

"I guess." Silver shifted, "Thing is, I've never seen an ascension move so slowly. It could be that she won't be an Alicorn until she's born, but I don't understand why that would matter retroactively. There's no build up of magic not meant to be in you, so..." Silver waved her hoof sporadically, ending in tossing up the limb in question. "I dunno. I'm flying as blind as you are at this point. All I can say is that it's normal. That kind of universal magic getting pumped into your system should do those things, it means that the extra magic is safely finding avenues to expend itself."

"Thank you. That's all I wanted to hear." Cadance said, trying to let go of what felt like an ax hanging over her withers.

Silver's mouth slipped through a ghost of a smile before returning to a neutral line. "I'm moderately surprised you'd trust my judgment."

Cadance grasped at the moment to express how she'd been paying attention. "I can tell how seriously you take it. Were you a doctor? Some time ago?"

Silver's wings ruffled.

"You don't have to answer that." Cadance added on.

"Good." Silver pointed pointedly. "I do a lot of things that you probably don't want an answer for."

"I think there's a difference between don't want and shouldn't have." Cadance bounced her mane, "But I won't argue the point."

Silver waved a hoof while staring at Cadance. "I wasn't going to answer anyways."

"I'm not going to make you." Cadance said, mildly confused from the comment.

She sneered, "Didn't you want me to talk about my feelings?"

"Not if it makes you uncomfortable."

"You're doing a pretty bad job at making that happen."

She's trying to throw me off again...

Cadance lifted her hooves to her face and did something that felt mean. "Awww.... is widdle baby Silver upsetteded?"

Silver's muzzle wrinkled in rage and her ear twitched. The expression fell away as quickly as it came. She looked away again with that same glazed over look, staring out into the snow.

Cadance stuck her hoof further into the door. "I want to get to know you better." Her tone dropped as she continued, the low tone mixing well with the timber of her soft voice. "I want to connect with you properly, not this sideways back and forth."

"You want information outta me." She snapped back.

Cadance responded with the same soft voice. "I do, and I think you want to give it too, you have so much to talk about."

Silver's ear twitched again. She stared, looking at Cadance with an unreadable expression. Her mouth opened slightly, then closed again.

Maybe that was too much...

"Does it hurt to mention that I'm genuinely interested in what you have to say?" Cadance said along with a careful smile. "I don't think I've ever seen somepony talk so passionately about what you talk about, in a way I can understand. Misty was very impressive."

Give her an out Cadance.

"I thought you said you weren't an emotion mage? Where'd she learn all of that from?"

Silver shifted through a series of body languages, and expressions in each, her ear flicked throughout it all, until Cadance felt the weight of Silver's curse press down on her. Cadance's horn lit on reflex, and she kept it at bay. Barely.

Silver spoke like a ghost, like she was far away. "Ms. Scarlet is a natural when it comes to flexing her emotions along the wavelength of magic where psionics meet the thaumic energy form. I'm not a good emotion mage, I'm a good teacher. We work together, I've learned a lot."

"You are a good teacher. I've learned a lot from you."

"Thank you." Silver tilted her head slightly, "But, everything you learned from me, you did on your own. I never give out answers for free." Cadance opened her mouth, horn still lit, but Silver cut her off with a command, still absent of emotion. "Accept that the work you've done is your own, and respectable."

"Okay." Cadance said, shifting in place. "I also want to thank you for breaking me out of my rut."

"I was happy too." A little, tiny spark of amusement and affection zapped across the growing weight of magic in the air from Silver to Cadance. "Watching you basically piss away the responsibility of ruling a kingdom was grating."

Cadance grunted under the force of the curse bearing down on her, her horn shot up to two corona's, and she shifted her weight again. Silver continued to watch, expression unreadable. Cadance smiled, despite the exertion, "I'm glad you know what I mean."

"I wish you did." The weight retracted slightly, "Have you noticed the civil war yet?"

Cadance tried to look sheepish under the lessening strain. "The... what?"

Silver rolled her eyes and looked away again. Her ear stopped flicking in agitation, and the weight lifted from Cadance. She doused her horn and took a breath.

The quiet moment dragged on for longer than it should have.

"The quiet civil war, happening in The Crystal Empire?" Silver eventually answered, the tone and grace having returned to her voice. It sounded both right and wrong in Cadance's ears. Something she could notice, but didn't really want to.

"I-" Cadance wanted to talk about that. She wanted to reach out to Silver, to do anything else other than ignore the moment that had just happened in front of them. Silver looking off to the side with a kicked puppy look didn't help. Her mouth moved on autopilot. "No, I don't know of a civil war..."

More often than not, Cadance found her sympathy extending out to the silver mare.

"Well... you might want to look into it." She winked

"Wait- back up." Cadance lifted both her front hooves to hopefully stop Silver from going on. "Civil war? What do you mean by that."

"Is that your question?" Silver's eyebrows waggled at her, and Cadance very intentionally didn't look at her eyes.

"No. I'm only asking."

Silver inspected the back of her hoof while she turned away, taking on an aloof pose. "Like I said, I don't give anything out for free, maybe you should look into it."

"Ugh." Cadance hadn't made such an un-princessly vocalization for years. "One hint."

"One hint?" Silver mimed before coughing. There was a viscous series of twitches and she spat the salt packet out, sans salt, onto the dirt nearby. "I'll clean that up later." She wiped her muzzle. "Just one?"

"Can you point me in the right direction at least?" Cadance didn't whine. "I know there's not a civil war going on and I didn't notice, but can you..." Cadance trailed off, appraising the warning look Silver was sending her through a side eye.

"I'd take my comment very seriously. Like them all, if I were you." She twisted her hoof awkwardly to grab at the other daisy sandwich. "As for a hint?" She bit into the sandwich, through the wrapper and immediately spit it out. "What- is that a flow- right. Herbivores. Right-rightrightriteri-" She shook her head, "Anyways." She shifted, twirling a wing and somehow managing to seem ominous despite the bread crumbs stuck to her muzzle. "Where does Amber sleep?"

Cadance's eyebrows shot up.

Silver chuckled.

"Amber? As in, my secretary?" She asked tentatively, with a bit of iron. "That Amber?"

"One in the same."

Cadance let her frown flow freely. "Firstly, you shouldn't spy on anybody else, you definitely shouldn't be watching them sleep. Spying on me is one thing. I'm almost halfway okay with it."

Silver's prodding, antagonistic smile grew.

"Secondly... what is that look for?"

"I think..." Silver singsonged, "~You. ~Should. ~Mind. ~Your. ~Own. ~Business." She giggled to herself, "Me and Amber have a particular, yet professional relationship" She exaggerated a pop with her lips on the vocal phonics for 'ship.'

Cadance leaned away as Silver leaned in. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying." Silver leaned up to rest on her haunches. "Maybe you should look into her. I mean, there's lots of things that don't make sense, right? Like how she's always in The Spire in the middle of the night, her strange encyclopedic knowledge of law, say, I wonder who she caught the eye of?"

Caught the eye o-

Cadance's ears swiveled aggressively. "You!?"

Silvers giggle turned into a full laugh

"You're her secret admirer?"

Silver continued to laugh, and that was enough of an answer.

"Silver. That is not okay." Cadance tried to talk over Silver's exaggerated laughing. "Silver! I'm being serious! Amber is a sensitive mare an-"

"Sensitive!" Silver laughed at the word like the phrase itself was hilarious.

"I don't appreciate my namesake being mocked."

Cadance tried to genuinely not be offended, of course, that seemed to be the whole point of Silver laughing at her. There was a mix of frustration and sympathy from before, Silver thought viscerally different from anyone she'd ever met.

She's just trying to get under your fur Cadance, it's what she does. Relax.

Silver wiped a tear from her eye and tossed it to the side. "Aaah. Thank you Little Princess. I haven't had a good laugh like that since I was born."

"I'm going to need an explanation. A serious one." She said, crossing her front hooves.

Silver let out one last fading chuckle. "I think the main issue, is that you think I'm incapable of finding Amber attractive."

Cadance raised an eyebrow.

"You think. That I'm incapable of actually admiring her."

Cadance's gaze narrowed, "You mean to tell me that you're actually, genuinely, romantically interested in Amber? That you're not stringing her along to mess with her? She was really excited, and... well she was excited! You know how heartbroken she'll be when she finds-"

"Finds out it's only me?" Silver smirked, presenting her face under her hoof like a model. Then she shrunk back and lifted a hoof to her forehead in a mock faint. She fell onto her back, "Oh! Woe is me, my secret admirer is only a terrifying ageless master of magic and society!" She rolled over and sent her a look. "I'll try to not be offended by that."

"I'm going to need an answer, not a distraction."

Silver winced, "When it comes to my preferences? Maybe let's not go there?"

"Silver, you-"

"She needed the hope."

Cadance's retort cut itself off. There was silence for a moment as she mulled over the words.

"And she's cute." Silver flipped a hoof, "I won't lie to myself, she's hardworking, got a good head. I've got a thing for bookish mares."

Cadance took a second to push aside the rationalization going on in her head. "You mean like Twilight?"

Silver did a spit take with nothing. "Hah! No. Not in one thousand, two hundred, and thirty years." Silver pointed an accusatory hoof at Cadance, "And Twilight is distinctly an adventurer. There's nothing bookish about her."

Alright. Ignoring that oddly specific timeframe.

"Fair enough. So... real attraction?"

Silver rolled over again, staring up at the slanted roof of the shield. "Fine. Yes. It is. With things like this though, distance is best. It won't end in anything, so I expect you to be there to support her in finding something real. All knows the mare needs it."

"Of course." Cadance said on reflex.

Silver rolled her eyes and the pair lapsed into silence again.

Cadance looked up, following Silver's gaze towards the snow splatting itself against her pink shield.

This is going okay. I think...

The moment dragged on, and Cadance eventually found her eyes drifting over to her companion. Silver caught her eye and spoke, "So how long do we have to do this until we meet your socialization quota?"

"I really don't like treating it like that."

She let off a lightly pitched hum. "You can't have both, Little Princess. You can force me into interacting with you, or you can let me leave, and mind your own business." She spoke nonchalantly, like she didn't care one way or another.

Cadance clenched her jaw, speaking in frustration with a hint of hurt and outrage. "Am I really that awful to be around?"

Silver turned back up to face the snow and spoke into the air. "The better question is, why, in this tiny little universe, do you care?" She snorted, "Why would you waste so much time bothering with me."

"I-"

"Actually, shut up for a second." Silver waved her hoof to silence Cadance. "I've had this thought for a while, somebody has to tell it to you straight, and it might as well be me." During the length of the sentence, Silver stood, and glared at Cadance as she spoke again. "How fucking dare you."

There was no rage in the comment, just disgust. Ire of the dispassionate kind.

"You know how many of us would kill for a life like you have?" Silver spat off to the side, "Don't even get me started. Shining Armor? You know what Chrysalis would do if she had a stallion in her life like Shining Armor? Luna? Me?" Silver angrily smashed her hoof against her fur, letting out a dull thwump. "and you have the sheer audacity. The absolute gall. To rule a kingdom while he wastes away?!" Her voice continued to pitch up in frustration. "If I were you, I would have found a deserted island and relaxed the rest of his life away. A vacation of perfection with a pony who only cared about me."

Cadance, having backed up into a near standing position as Silver had advanced on her, she finally clicked together the two stunned neurons in her brain to respond in deep confusion with, "You're jealous?"

"Jealous!?" Silver gestured out at nothing, "Cadance! One of the other immortals literally kidnapped you to get the attention of your husband. Are you kidding me? Jealousy doesn't even begin to describe it! It's barely even fair!" Silver huffed and flapped her mouth like a fish, making angry noises, but not actually saying anything else. She spun and kicked a spare sandwich hard enough that there was a crack of air and a simple smear left over of the poor food item. Then she flopped, her deceptively heavy form making the blanket flap once before going still again.

"Stupid..." She mumbled, "But I'm happy for you... It's... how it's supposed to go, you're younger. You get the benefit of all of our wisdom to guide your lifetime." Cadance opened her mouth, but Silver whirled on her. "But that means that you better use it. Stop neglecting your husband, stop fooling around. You've got all the tools you need to be more than all of us. So do it."

The fire fell away from Silver's limbs again. "There." She laid down again, and rolled over onto her back to look at the sky again, through the snow. "Somebody had to say it."

"You're..." Cadance muttered, "What?"

"What?" Silver questioned right back

"What was all of that?"

Silver shrugged, "Call it a message from the pantheon. We were all thinking it. You're privileged."

"I don't..." Cadance raised her voice to stop Silver's incoming snide remark, "Let me think about that for a second. That was a lot to process."

And it did... make sense to a degree. Cadance's lifelong troubles could be boiled down to being the focus of attention so early on in her childhood. There was something about the pressure to perform, to be a good princess that still got to her, even today. Coming from Silver's comment, it made the sinking sensation she used to feel in her former years drift around in her stomach. She was the youngest amongst the oldest. Twilight had already saved the world countless times.

and what have I done? Made some trade deals?

Cadance internally scoffed

She's wrong. I'm not privileged, but I got to grow up in a nicer age... And I could use my skill for... more...

"I have been trying harder." Cadance said slowly, "Because of you."

Silver let out a single fake laugh. "Me, huh? Wonder why that happened."

"That." Cadance pointed at Silver. "That's why I 'bother' with you. You pretend like you don't care, but you do." Cadance kept talking, to stop Silver from interrupting her. "You say and do things that go totally opposite to what you act like, and I don't even know how, half the time-" Cadance cut herself off, "No, I do understand how. You're crazy. You spend hours a day thinking about what to say days in advance, you don't sleep, you don't eat-" Cadance noticed her spread wings and calmed herself for a moment.

"But you get me." Cadance spoke again, with slightly more urgency. "I don't know if it's just because you're old, and you've seen it all or whatever, but you understand me. Shining Loves me, and there's nothing more important to me than that, but he doesn't get it. Luna is... We're so vastly different, I don't know how to connect with her, Celestia is my mentor, she'll never... She's never tried to connect with me. Twilight, I love her to death, but she's barely thirty."

All Silver did was raise an eyebrow as Cadance went on.

Cadance continued in a low tone, having finally found the words to express the feeling. "I've never had a friend like you."

"We're not friends." She said

Cadance felt heat rising to her face at the curt rejection, whether it was embarrassment or frustration was up to interpretation. She continued regardless, "I want to have a friend like you."

"Pfft, and you wanted me to talk about my emotions."

"Dammit Quick Silver!" Cadance stood, "Take me seriously!"

Silver shook her head and tsked. "Little Princess, where do you think this goes? Honestly? What is this, some kind of relationship drama? A stage play?"

Cadance stuttered.

"You bear your lonely heart out to me, and I suddenly have a change of heart? Is that what you wanted? ~Princess~?"

Stop it.

Silver continued in monotone. "There is nothing, no place, no way we get to win." She gestured around her, "But look at what you're doing. Isn't this enough? Can't you be happy with success?"

"I don't understand what you're saying!"

"When do you!" Silver shouted back, "Think about what you're asking for. You just want me to bend over to make you feel like you're not alone in the world? Cast away all my plans? For what? Being a mom again? You're not my daughter, I'm not going to raise you."

"That's not-!" Cadance huffed and broke off the interaction by stomping her hooves. "Calm down Cadance." She said aloud. It took a moment for her to get the peace of mind to take a deep breath, with a hoof outstretched, bringing it back in as she exhaled.

"You only get a perfect-whirlwind-destiny-cave-shit-romance once Cadance." Silver said softly. "This is the real world now, and people don't win in the real world. We only survive."

"What..." Cadance let out a breathless chuckle as she dropped backwards onto her haunches, winds knocked from her sails. "What does that even mean..." She rolled her eyes.

Silver chuckled to herself. "It's a detractment, from the conversation, to confuse and calm you down."

"Do you always have to try and confuse me?" She asked quietly.

"You're always paying attention. More than most, credit yourself on that, at least."

Silver was close enough for Cadance to ensnare her in a wing hug, her wing jumped out like a coiled snake and pulled in the heavier mare with her Alicorn strength. "You're a jerk."

"I'm supposed to be a jerk Little Princess." Silver grumbled from under Cadance's heavier weight, "I'm your rough awakening into the scuffed up world we live in."

"Scuffed?" Cadance questioned

"You've never heard that word before?"

"No. I like it."

"Words are funny, most of the time."

"You said you liked words."

"Some of them, I hate talking though."

"You... It doesn't seem like it."

"So they say."

Cadance let Silver go. She stumbled to the side. "Sorry I murdered that sandwich."

"It's okay Silver." Cadance took another quick breath. "Can you tell me one thing though? No tricks, no lies, no sidespeak, can you just give me a single straight answer? Just this once?"

"For once. Throughout the remainder of our existence?" Silver raised an eyebrow, "Forever is a long time Little Princess."

Cadance nodded. "I promise I won't ask again."

Silver set her expression. "Alright. Save your cached question, I'll give you this one. Once. In exchange for you never doing this again." She waved her hoof in a 'go on' gesture.

"Do you really not care about me?"

Silver's ears flopped down. "Thousands of years of magical experience, countless educations, endless history, so many secrets, and she picks the hard question."

Cadance let out a warning: "Silver..."

"Right, right..." Silver waved off the warning with a wing. "I think it's best if we just pretend I don't. Okay? Can you accept that as an answer?"

"No." Cadance let a tiny smile come to her muzzle. "That's a dumb answer."

Silver closed her eyes and sighed. "This touchy feely stuff is reaching its peak." She waved her wing again to ward off Cadance's next comment. "Yes. Cadance, I do care."

Silver spontaneously jumped into an obnoxious pose, shaking her wings in something akin to 'jazz hands' that minitours did to express sarcasm. "Wow, what a surprise." She said in a mocking rendition of another voice, "Quick Silver cares? Wow, and here I thought she was just a terrifying ten faced monster."

"I don't think you're a monster."

"Then you're not paying attention."

Cadance heatedly retorted with, "Oh no, I've been paying attention. You like to play the part, and you've clearly been practicing for years, but I'm certain of it now." Cadance let her tone fall into a level of finality. "You're a good mare. You're just..."

"Completely gobsmackingly insane?" Silver offered jovially

"Different." Cadance said, then she added onto the end, "Like me."

"Well as much as I like to hear people talk about me-" She leaned in conspiratorially, "and read history books about myself-" She leaned back again, returning to her normal tone, "You should really be focusing on other things. Your tiny empire is a single misplaced link-n-log away from tumbling down, and you have a husband you need to go shower with affection he's been lacking." Silver stretched her wings. "Same time next week?"

Cadance didn't bother to stand. The instinct instilled in her to stand to greet any exiting noble was easily quieted by the context of the situation. "Yes."

Silver sent her an unreadable look. "Do I have to?"

Cadance felt it. That moment, rising up to her. In those times where she was feeling self aware enough to notice a pivoting point in her life, and question the decision of doing something, or not doing something... She always found those moments staggeringly calming, like looking out at your own future in obscurity with an ethereal lack of connection to it.

Cadance had a simple choice here, so she gambled on the future she wanted.

"No." She said, not quite hearing the word as she poured over Silver's features for some kind of visible response. All she got was Silver's ear imperceptibly flicking. "You don't have to come next week. If you don't want to."

Silver stared back at Cadance, "Last chance to reverse that comment."

"I won't be doing that." She said simply.

"Damn." Silver shook her head, "You got me Cadance. You really got me." She chuckled, shaking her head again. "The nerve of you." She took to the air. "Pack any seabound snacks you have for next week, if you're scared of the ocean, now's the time to tell me."

When Cadance didn't respond, Silver flew off without another word.

Cadance made an auditory 'whoo' of relief as she ran a hoof through her mane, straightening the imagined shimmery mess. There was a split second of reflection before Cadance glanced over the basket, and the new hole in the blanket where Silver obliterated a sandwich. "That went well Cadance."

She looked around again, "You know what? She's right. I'll think about all of this later, I have a husband I can go dote on." The basket disappeared back into her pocket spell, in addition to the blanket, which went alongside the basket.

Cadance spread her own wings and took off, leaving the clearing, and the new extension to the Crystal Heart's shield behind.

Passing through

Cadance blinked wearily.

The nominal speed of a blink tended to be fast enough that the actual action went unnoticed, however, due to both the hour, and the latent exhaustion...

It was nearing five, in the AM. Cadance was still hunched over her desk, reading over documents, marking down her signature. The actual signage was becoming more and more unintelligible to her mind, despite it being identical to the last four hundred copies of itself. She'd turned off the crystal lamps in her office for the sake of her eyes, letting her alicorn night vision handle most of the actual seeing. Only two lamps were still glowing lightly by the door.

Cadance folded up an order request and used her magic to bring out an envelope. A couple of quill strokes later, and she tossed it into the pile with the other pieces of mail going out, hopefully all together, when the rest of the day staff woke.

A yawn did her the favour of gracing her features. The action left her leaning back in her chair with a hoof over her face, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Instead of turning back to the papers, she remained upright, sitting up against how sleepy she was. She scooched the nearby stack of single papers over as she felt Shining Armor's presence coming up the hall.

Despite the fact that he was almost certainly going to try and take her to bed, and she couldn't let him, (she still needed to get all of this done before the morning came properly) she didn't have the internal strength of will to prepare anything to say. Or do anything that would have been relatively speaking, funny, like trying to climb out the window so as to not get caught pulling an all-nighter.

He knocked once and opened the door. Stepping inside and quietly closing it behind him.

"Hey honey."

A smile came to her face. "Hey Shining."

He crossed the distance, coming around the edge of the desk and pulling up a cushion next to her. "Whatcha workin' on?"

Cadance valiantly fought off another yawn as she used her telekinesis to lift one of the papers in question in front of them both. "Organization. Logistics. Mostly work orders... Wish we could automate this..."

He nosed her shoulder, leading to her immediately leaning over. He moved with the gesture and hip slid himself over so she could rest her weight on him, just a little. "You feeling sleepy enough to leave it here?"

Yes.

"No." She protested, as convincingly as she could

"Uh-huh."

Guess that wasn't very convincing.

"I just..." Cadance leaned away from Shining and onto the desk, pulling over the stack she was currently working through. "I want this one finished too, and then if I can deliver everything just after the sun comes up, I can make it to the morning standup, and then-"

"Lemme stop you right there." Shining nosed her shoulder again, leading up to her neck. Cadance's feathers fluttered of their own accord.

Traitors.

"You and I both know that this ends with you taking a nap. Before the sun comes up."

Cadance leaned down and put her head on the table. "Nooooooo..."

"Yeeeees." Shining whined back. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

"But-"

"Nothing." Shining's head playfully joined hers on the desk, just across from her own. "I'll finish up for you an-"

"No, you can't. The-" Cadance flutily gestured at the completed box of envelopes, and the stack of papers next to it. "The maps and-things. You'd need to... It's too much." Cadance pushed herself up and tried to fight some wakefulness into her voice. "I can finish it Shining, it'll only take an hour."

"Alright." Shining pushed himself up too. "So the hard way then."

The white unicorn went around the table, crossed the office to the door, and left without another word.

Cadance was too tired and confused at the action to do anything with it, both mentally and physically. So she leaned back over the desk and continued answering questions, paper mail, and pouring over maps of The Empire in order to determine where structures would line up, and where tents would have to go without crossing over each other.

She felt Shining returning about seven minutes later.

He came back with a mug.

"What is that?" She asked, burning curiosity mixing with the strange sensory feedback she was getting. Oddly enough, she could smell the steam before seeing it, what with the darkness filling the room and all. She only got a good look when he placed it on the desk itself, on the opposite side.

Cadance picked it up in her telekinesis, and the mug drifted over to her hooves.

"Hot water and salt?" She questioned, looking up at him.

"Remember our first date?"

Oh... so that's what the hard way is...

Shining pressed himself up against her again, this time in earnest. Cadance melted, both at the contact, and the memories, and the overpowering wave of Love, affection, love, and care that sprouted out from Shining Armor and filled her to the brim.

Cadance smiled down at the mug, and shook her head. "I can't believe you."

"How was I supposed to know?"

I give.

Cadance leaned back from the desk, and into Shining, he was waiting for that, and moved to support her weight. "I had expected that you'd drunk tea before. Ever, even."

"I wasn't entirely wrong."

"You told me you thought it was like wine."

Shining pointed a hoof out at nothing. "Most tea's still taste bad, or at least weird. I'll hold onto that opinion."

Cadance tried to roll her eyes. The motion failed halfway through, and just led to her eyes closing as she pulled the warm mug closer to her chest and her nose. Maybe it was the baby and the hormones talking, but the smell of warm salt was very inviting. After a deeper whiff, she took a sip, and was rewarded with positive sensory feedback she wasn't expecting. Some part of her said: "Salt water! Yes!"

"Mmmmmm."

Shining pressed into her again. "Like it?"

"Yeah." Cadance joked, "It tastes like dumb, lovable colt."

"I'll take that." He left a kiss on the side of her muzzle. "So. Bed?"

Cadance removed the contents of the rest of the mug, and basked in the warm feeling of water for a short moment before responding. "Mhm. You got me."

Shining leaned forwards, and lifted her leg up over his shoulder with magic. She let him guide her, and he stood up from underneath her, leaving her to scooch herself up onto his back. Her muzzle came to rest in his mane, in-between his ears. He started walking towards their bedroom.

About halfway through the walk, Cadance mumbled something along the lines of "Morning-wake up-Amber" and then fell asleep to the smell of her husband, and the sound of his hooves on the crystal flooring.

Shining's perspective

That worked like a charm

Shining made sure to start walking quieter when he noticed his wife dozing away on his back. His sideways smile said it all. He was glad she was going to get some sleep, and as much as he'd prefer to let her sleep in, she did have work to do.

When he set her down in bed, a mixture of skill and telekinesis, she didn't even murmur. Out like a light.

Shining's sideways smile turned to a sideways frown. Usually she'd make some noise, snore, or talk in her sleep; a sign that she had a lot on her mind. The main dilemma was trying to find some way to help. Getting her to sleep was only really a stop gap, she'd wake up and then throw herself back into working just that much harder.

I love you, but you're crazy.

He left another kiss on her muzzle, and then left the room and started heading back to her office. His thoughts of getting help to finish her work threw themselves out the window when he found Amber, scribbling away at something at her desk, the one just outside of Cadance's office.

"Amber?"

She jumped, throwing a hoof to her chest in surprise before calming down. "Shining Armor! I-er, Prince, I'm sorry. You startled me."

Shining suppressed a chuckle, "What are you doing here so early?"

Amber collected herself, "Princess Cadance let me know that we had an early day ahead of us. So... here I am."

"Well, I just put her to bed after an attempted all-nighter." Shining magicked the door to Cadance's office open. "Wanna help me decipher what she had left?"

"Of course." Amber flipped up a folder and threw it onto her back, then followed Shining into Cadance's office.

Cadance had been spending more time here, after Shining exploded their bedroom, that is, more time than usual.

It took them a minute or two to find the pages in-between the last thing she signed, and the thing that looked the most like it went after the last thing she signed.

"Seems as though she was finalizing the budget. See this map?"

He did, it had lines, markers, little scribbled proper nouns that didn't mean anything to him. It was a map of the grounds surrounding the Spire, and supposedly, it depicted the arrangements for the upcoming Winter Solstice and Crystal Faire combo.

Shining's view of the map was enough for Amber to continue, "This is going to have a reference sheet somewhere, then we can get started."

What followed was the initial hope, followed by sadness when Shining realized that Cadance hadn't likely written out a reference sheet, and then an additional two hours of learning it all from scratch. Both Amber and Shining did work it out, and ended up putting Shining's name on a dozen or so leaflets while Amber wrapped them up. The rejection pile was twice as large, and left out for Cadance to send return messages.

Hematite's perspective

Hematite was standing over a rudimentary control panel made of mostly wood. She tended to prefer wood casing because of the ease of working on them, shaping them, but that wasn't here nor there. Kayfur, and Grey Skies were at either end of the apparatus that sprouted cables and copper wiring leading towards the box. They were all inside, hidden away in one of Quick Silver's subterranean crystal rooms.

"What's the status say Grey?" Hematite said, her crystalline accent slipping in a little due to the excitement. Alchemy and its technological applications had never been studied in the way they were studying it. After Quick Silver had introduced her to the wonders of electromagnetism, and its effects on the measurable wavelengths of permeating thaumic background, Hematite had been struck with inspiration on par with when she got her cutiemark.

"~Flow looks steady~." Grey melodically responded. As much as Hematite was jealous of Grey's voice, there wasn't any real ire. Hematite was glad she didn't have to sing all the time. The singing was magic practice, elemental pegasus magic apparently involved singing, or rhythm. The lessons were mostly lost on her.

"Kayfur?"

"It's fine." He responded, notably less melodic than Grey Skies. "Exactly the same as it was the last three times you asked me."

Hematite sent him a raised eyebrow and pursed lips.

He rolled his eyes and leaned forwards to squint at the magical display. "Still says one thaum."

"The decimal, Kayfur." Hematite scolded.

"One point five seven nine."

Grey skies perked up. Equestrian ponies were far too expressive for Hematite's tastes. "Aren't we looking for point six?"

Hematite nodded, "That's probably as close as we're going to get. How's the condensation core?"

Grey leaned over and grabbed a little silver ball from a tray stand. "Got it right here."

"Are we actually going to do this? Or are we just going to keep talking about doing it?" Kayfur grumbled.

"Go ahead Grey." Hematite responded, sending Kayfur an annoyed look. He chuckled and sent her a shit eating smirk back.

Grey stepped up to their science fair project. A pair of pressure chambers, attached to each other, and a circular oscillating electromagnet surrounding the center chamber between them. Her wings spread unconsciously as she tilted her ponytail out of the way. Her hoof guided the silver pellet into a slot that she grabbed the back of and pressed into the center. She latched it closed next, securing it on the inside of the two sides of the pressure chamber.

"Secure?" Hematite asked

"~Yuuuup~" Grey sang back

"Alright ponies." Hematite flipped a switch on the wooden control panel. There was a spark, from underneath it, and a whirring noise from the cooling fan on the electromagnet as it started up and began to spin around the center. "How does it look Kayfur?"

"It's doing exactly what I made it to do." That, in particular, was suspending the silver pellet in-between the two pressure chambers.

Hematite flipped another switch, and then reached up for her goggles. Grey and Kayfur took note, and adjusted their own personal pony protection equipment as well. The hum of the spells on the outside of the pressure chambers designed to remove the air let her know that it was working. "Okay Hemi... Just..." She kept turning the dial, and the speed of the magnet increased, filling the room with a steady electrical hum.

As soon as the magnet was at full power, Hematite ducked away from the control panel and over to the metal cart next to Grey, and the pair of vials of glowing blue powder sitting on it. She pulled the first one out with her teeth, and brought it over to a slot on the top chamber, sliding it into place, and pushing a tube down over the top. She repeated the same for the bottom side.

"Okay." She breathed out, stepping away from her creation. She turned to Kayfur but he interrupted her with another over exaggerated roll of his eyes.

"Point six one one."

Hematite rushed behind the control panel again and reached for a switch. "Okay! Releasing in three... two..." She waited the extra second in silence before flipping the switch. There was a hiss followed by a thump of the vials' contents getting discharged into the vacuumed chambers. Both sides filled with the glittering blue-green smoke of copper acetate. "Alright. Moment of truth."

Another dial, and the magnet began oscillating, an idea she had gotten from a conversation Silver had with Point Flare about fusion reactions, whatever those were. With the magnet spinning in multiple directions, both clockwise, and inwards, it created an inverted vortex of magnetism around the silver pellet. As expected, despite the lack of ferrous metal in the copper mix, the powder began moving along the arcs of invisible electromagnetism towards the center in ridged cubic patterns.

The silver pellet disappeared under the rapidly forming blue green crystal, glowing brighter as the powder mostly turned clear around the growing shape.

Kayfur, sounding alarmed, said "We just jumped up to two."

Hematite immediately slammed her hoof down over the emergency stop button. A metal lever dropped into the magnet and stopped it in place with an angry screech. The crystal had grown large enough that it didn't fall down into the bottom chamber when everything stopped, but the hissing sound of the chambers filling again dashed Hematite's hopes of keeping the crystal contained.

Kayfur grunted in annoyance, "I said we jumped up to two thaums, not 'it's about to explode.'"

Hematite responded as academically as she could. "I'm not willing to take that chance. This is uncharted territory." Really, she would have let it run until it melted the container, but not with her friends standing right next to it. She turned to Grey, "Help me get it out?"

Grey was already holding a screwdriver, she sent Hematite a wink, since her mouth was occupied.

Quick Silver's perspective

Four hundred and eighty one.

It was nearing the hour after sunup, and Silver was counting the steps required to walk from her abode to The Spire. The only thing she had on her was a folded up letter, and herself, of course.

Four hundred and eighty two.

Her head turned slowly to the side while her eyes snapped over the nearest ponies, a crystal mare and a stallion, talking about getting lunch. The stallion was clearly just a bit younger.

By the tone alone, four eighty three, I'm betting siblings.

Silver did a quick glance over while continuing to face the opposite direction.

Definitely siblings, see the, four eighty four, curve behind the neck? Crystalian, four eighty five, genetics for you.

Silver twitched suddenly and violently. Nobody saw, she chose just the right moment to crack her neck.

Focus.

Silver's mind fell away as her body slipped into autopilot, the next thing she knew, she was striding down a crystal hallway. She could smell Shining Armor, her current target, two doors down with her heightened sense of smell. Still trying to avoid any thought, so as to not spook anyone, Silver crossed the rest of the distance in a blink, and knocked on the door. Cadance's office, which was odd, because Cadance definitely wasn't inside.

What could he be doing inside?

Amber was in there too, apparently. Silver heard her voice reverberate through the crystal floor. The door had a sound refraction charm on it, making the conversation inside audible, but completely unintelligible. The floor had no such restrictions. Silver leaned over to Amber's desk and expended a large sum of magic to conjure a slice of sponge cake. The card filled with niceties joined it at the desk, and then Silver turned back to the door.

Having given a courtesy knock, Silver pushed the door open.

It was an office, there wasn't a lock on the door, as far as she knew. She'd never looked. It's not like it would have mattered anyways. Silver could always just walk through the door if she really needed to.

Amber made a move to grumpily tell whomever was intruding to leave, before noticing Silver, and falling silent. Silver made sure not to let the disappointment show, regardless of how much she expected it.

Yeah...

"Silver?" Shining Armor looked up from the desk. Silver took in the stacks of paperwork and made the connection.

Ah, they're doing Cadance's piled up paperwork.

"I take it the princess is suitably in bed, at the moment?" Silver strode up to the desk, moving eerily smoothly to make herself seem intimidating by moving just a little too grateful to be possible. Precise muscle control.

"What are you doing here." Came Amber's frustrated statement.

Shining sent Silver a look, and Silver smiled as she explained, "I'm here to collect the fair prince for his training."

Amber looked at Shining in confusion, Shining looked like he needed to yawn and rub his eyes. "Stuff came up."

Silver slid herself over to the desk and propped herself up over the back end with her front hooves, she leaned her head to the side, "OoOoOo. Stuff?"

"Silver."

"Alright. Message received." Silver turned and pretended to be about to leave. In reality, she did actually leave her body, folding her essence down into the crystal flooring. Despite the over-opulence of having an entire spire made of crystal, it was horrendously thaumically conductive. Probably the same way Sombra used to be able to get around the palace so quickly. She wove a spell into the response features folded into her body's flesh, telekinesis of the blood magic kind. "I could help you know."

"What, with running a country?" Shining sarcastically monotoned.

Silver turned her head over her shoulder and protested, "I've run countries, and no, setting up the faire."

"Aren't you already doing that?" He asked, seriously this time.

"She is?" Amber questioned.

Silver pushed her magic through her body, pulling the important parts into ethereal mist, and slowly draining them into the floor to join the rest of her. She also made herself shrug while doing it, slowly replacing the parts that were disappearing with fake misty parts that merely looked like her. "Something like that." Silver's body said. "Regardless, I'll get out of your manes; though, Shining."

Shining knew that tone of voice, clearly, and narrowed his eyes.

"Here's a bit of homework for you. How did I do this?"

Then the fake Silver disappeared, and the real Silver slipped through the crystal flooring, making her way back out into the hallway she started in. A quick perception charm stopped anyone from watching her fold her body back into material, which looked gross, as blood magic does.

"Looks like I've got a few spare hours."

Silver's head leaned to the side.

"Helix?" She offered

The voices bickered for a moment.

"Helix." She decided

Silver walked off.

Discord's persp-"Ahah... No. Next!"

Luna's perspective

Luna kicked one of the palace doors closed behind her. She was already half asleep, and she still had the rest of her duties to take care of... still... before she got the chance to go to bed. In her delirious state, she failed to notice the guard that began trotting towards her in confusion, as they approached, Luna lit her invisible horn and cast off her 'noxa selene' disguise. The armor plates fizzled into dreamstuff that fell into the void of her ethereal mane, and her body lengthened and 'blue-ened' as she simply became Luna again.

The approaching guard, wisely, turned around and returned to their post without a word.

Luna grumbled to herself while trying to figure out where she was in the maze of a castle. After a moment, she gave up thinking, and just cast a homing charm on her sister. Celestia was in the castle, the sun had risen about an hour ago.

Luna didn't really feel like dealing with Celestia at the moment, but there was an idle hope for comfort, followed by a bed, if she could convince herself to push off doing 'princess' work for just another day. Following her horn, Luna navigated the castle, occasionally drifting away from a wall when she got too close, and meandering her way towards what looked to be the palace dining hall.

She could have figured out where she was now, but Celestia almost certainly recognized the homing charm from a distance. Not at least saying hello would be rude. So Luna continued until she found herself in the dining hall, the doors came open with a gentle, tired application of telekinesis, and Celestia, who was talking to a smart looking grey unicorn in a suit, snapped her head towards the sound.

Pretending, of course. Your ears were already facing me, you just wanted the butler to think you didn't know I was coming.

"Luna!" A wide smile opened up on the white alicorn's face as she stood. "Good morning! I didn't think I'd see you today."

Luna suppressed a deep frown. "And yet, you made breakfast for..." She trailed off, looking over the table. Clearly Celestia's work, fruits adorned everything, from pastries to just sitting out in bowls. There were pancakes, waffles, croissants, a few buttery treats, and more.

Celestia shrugged, "Well, you can't blame me for hoping can you?"

Hoping my flanks...

Celestia caught Luna's frustrated gaze, and her own face softened, "Join me?" came the tentative request.

Luna moved to sit down at the table, and Celestia tried and failed to hide a pretend dancing in place in excitement. Celestia rushed over to the table herself, sitting at the head, next to where Luna dropped her rump. Chairs were ignored, Luna was too tired to care.

"What looks good? Anything you want in particular?" Celestia asked.

Luna blinked wearily. "It all looks delicious, sister." She used her magic to levitate one of the buttered rolls towards her, "Can we not do this?"

Celestia seemingly ignored her second comment, levitating a fork and knife into action on a stack of pancakes. "So how was your night?"

"The same as it always is." Came Luna's pointed reply

Celestia's left ear flicked. "Anything interesting happen though? Guard work tends to be boring- I know." She tittered, "But I'm still curious."

Of course she knows about my forays...

Seeing as Celestia knew, Luna didn't bother trying to hide it. "My disguise isn't very good for getting me places, and I'm not opposed to boring."

"But surely you're moving up, right? Your combat prowess is unmatched." Celestia noted.

Luna looked over at Celestia's plate. The fork was still holding onto the same piece of pancake, and the knife had gone through the plate, and was sawing away at the table. Celestia's face was glued to Luna's, impassive, but still blanketed by cheerfulness that didn't reach her eyes.

"Oops!" Celestia let the knife and fork clatter from her telekinesis. "Silly me."

Are you... actually so stressed? Or is that just another ploy?

A flash of fire on the table and Celestia's glowing horn signaled the repair. The table cloth mended, and the shattered ceramics slotted themselves back into place. "Anyways-"

"Sister, as I asked, can we please not do this? I'm exhausted."

"That's exactly my point. How could you be so exhausted if the work is boring?" Celestia smiled again, leaning forwards conspicuously. "I'm sure you're holding out on me. Cmon, tell your big sister, what's the excitement? You know an old mare like me loves the gossip."

Luna finished the roll silently. Looking away from Celestia. She couldn't see it but Celestia's frown was practically audible.

Let's see how you like being ignored.

Celestia leaned back in her seat and pursed her lips. "Okay. I get it. Guard work, boring. How goes reforming Silver?"

Luna didn't suppress the frown this time. Luna responded with tense measured words. "You promised you wouldn't get involved."

"I'm not!" Celestia protested, "I'm just... curious. She dodges most of my spies, you can't blame me for being curious can you?" Celestia's sickly sweet voice didn't match up with the intensity of her stare.

Yes.

"No." Luna monotoned, "But I can blame you for bothering me about it when you know I don't want to talk about it."

"You won't talk to me about anything else." Celestia retorted, her voice dropping low, almost gravely, with a timber normally reserved for people about to be executed.

"There she is." Luna snarked, her muzzle wrinkling.

Celestia's ear flicked again. "Excuse me." Celestia roughly stood, and teleported away without another word.

"It's actually nice to see you, properly." Despite the frustration, Luna's eyes turned to the floor, and her ears drooped. "Celestia."

Court Date

Currently midday on Wednesday, Cadance was flying towards the Crystal Archives.

Today was the day of Banana Slip's court date, and his levied accusations at the crown.

Cadance had spent the better part of the morning working up the right mood to take on the predicament with some semblance of outward facing confidence. In truth, she had no idea what she was about to step into. She was in that mental headspace of being confident in her ability to manage whatever came, bordering on slipping down the slope of 'no idea what I'm doing'.

You're stressing over nothing Cadance.

She set down, and walked in through the large front doors. The archives were built like a fortress for obvious reasons. One of the few older structures that marked where the original town center used to be, thousands of years ago. She waved to the elderly mare at reception, but kept moving. She was on the clock, so to speak.

She turned past one of the public halls, and spotted Immaculate Gemstone, and another crystal stallion she didn't recognize, he was blue, and was wearing a brown tweed suit. He was a head taller than Gemstone, though she was a short mare to begin with.

"Morning." Cadance said conversationally as she approached.

Here we go.

Cadance didn't think Slip would get anywhere with anything; the point of this meeting was to impress Gemstone. She was, by far, the most influential of the nobles, and her in to working with the houses full scale. Cadance was here to impress. Which, of course, meant she had to play the 'game' of side speak she despised so much, hence the mental preparations with Shining a few hours prior.

"I believe it is afternoon now," Gemstone didn't bother turning, "Princess." Said evenly.

"And we're waiting for Slip, I take it?"

She raised an eyebrow, "You don't sound surprised."

"Should I be?" Cadance sarcastically retorted, "I wouldn't count on someone like him being punctual."

Gemstone's face creased into a thoughtful frown.

"Regardless of the lack of professionalism," Cadance changed tone to something more reserved to quietly talking to her husband, "How do you want to play this?"

"Play?" Immaculate asked back.

It was Cadance's turn to raise her own eyebrow. "Yes? I had my own plan, but-" She inclined her head, "Working together?"

Immaculata's frown intensified, "Aren't you meant to be impartial?"

Exactly like dealing with Silver, funny, just keep pushing.

"I'm supposed to represent the interests of the Crystal Ponies." Cadance clarified, "As it stands, inducting the heads of my kingdom's only supporting structure to prison? Not a good plan." A beat passed, "So how do you want to play this?"

The stallion leaned down and whispered into Gemstone's ear, "Follow along for now, I want to see where this goes."

He probably didn't mean for Cadance to hear, but... Alicorn hearing, and she was standing within ten hooves... Kinda his own fault. The awkwardness of hearing the comment didn't suppress Cadance's curiosity of who this stallion was, or what he was doing here.

"Very well, Princess." Immaculate started, "I've had my ponies search the records, and viably found no trace of anything he accused. We have a very simple course of action."

"Railroad him for evidence." Cadance nodded

"That being said, unless he's very stupid. He has something." Gemstone took a deep breath, then continued normally. "We have to discredit whatever 'evidence' he thinks he has, and that will be that."

"Simple." Cadance commented, then a bit slower, "Though... what if he does actually have evidence of your wrongdoings?"

"Excuse me?" Immaculate's tone matched her face

Carefully...

"If he has solid evidence of any of your crimes, or any of the other nobles for that matter, all I can do is nothing. I'd feel more comfortable if we had a backup plan."

Immaculate turned to face Cadance all the way, only to look behind her instead.

"Ah, good morning!"

"It's afternoon" - "Afternoon." Both mares said at once. Banana Slip turned the same corner and quickly trotted up to meet them. He had saddlebags full of papers, not a good sign. Cadance and Immaculate shared a glance. He walked past them into the closed conference room and stepped inside.

"I see you're impatient to begin." Cadance followed him in.

"Naturally, one would be excited for a case like this." He said neutrally, though, only in tone. He looked like a colt in a candy store, light on his hooves, drifting around. Cadance didn't need to be an empath to tell he was giddy.

Obviously thinks he's already won whatever this is.

"Well don't stand out there, come in, sit down, let's get this going." He smiled, sitting down himself.

Cadance held the door for Immaculate and the stallion, and closed it after them. Then they were alone. The four of them. Despite the temperature telling her exactly where she was, she couldn't help the twitching sensation of her wings telling her she was in Canterlot, stuffed in one of those echoing halls with nobles whinging at each other until Celestia lowered the sun.

Just... quieter. Library and all that.

She sat, the stallion chose to stand. Immaculate continued to show her age by sitting down roughly. "Begin. If you would." She said towards Banana.

He looked to his side, towards the stallion. "Are we- rather, is there somepony to take notes?"

"There won't be any notes here." Cadance clarified, smiling all the while, "This is a private matter, since you're prosecuting the crown."

His face morphed into surprise, and pointed towards Immaculate, "Oh no, Princess Cadance, you have it all wrong. This has nothing to do with the Crystal Empire, just the nobles."

Cadance rolled her eyes, "You realize there's no difference?" Cadance felt a shift in Immaculate's mood.

"Er-"

Cadance continued to explain "The crown and the nobles function together. This isn't Equestria; when you accused them of wrongdoing, you accused the crown of breaking its own laws." Immaculate smiled

"So then." She started, "Would you restate your accusations for us?"

Banana Slip realized, in that moment, that he was totally alone in this room, and pulled out his notes. A beat passed as he organized himself, "Mainly, the slavery, treason, and supporting Sombra's rule. Not up holding the oaths of their houses-"

"And your proof?" Immaculate asked, moments before Cadance did.

"..." Slip rolled his jaw, "I have a few things on good authority. For example: Slim Fitting."

Immaculate emotionally tensed

Cadance asked slowly, "What about her?"

"A regular mare as a noble in the Crystal Empire? Not a crystal mare?"

"So?" Cadance asked

"Her family used to own slaves, her progenitor was one of them." Slip spoke with far more enthusiasm and far less seriousness than required for a phrase like that.

Immaculate tapped a hoof on the table, "And who's authority is this?"

Cadance frowned, and copied Immaculate's hoof tap. "The fact of the matter is, Mr. Slip, is that accusations like that are simple hearsay. Nobody can act on anything without evidence."

"Yes." Immaculate monotoned, "Just in case you forgot how the law works."

"The evidence is obvious," Slip reaffirmed. "It's clear as day, it's the only way for a non-crystal pony to get any sort of house title or noble holding."

"I know of that legal loophole" Immaculate said, steepling her hooves, "but it has no application towards your accusations, and as I just stated, it isn't against Crystalian law. If I sired a foal with a dog, they'd still have rights to the noble title."

Slip waved a hoof, "That's not the point! It's proof that her family owned slaves."

"How is that proof?" Cadance inclined her head, "Exactly?"

"It's-"

"Where is the documentation?" Cadance interrupted, "A wedding ceremony? A picture? A letter? Do you have anything.-" Cool down Cadance "Other than conjunctive reasoning?"

"We can't just assume that because there were slaves in the Empire at the time" Immaculate took another deep breath, "and that simply because Slim Fitting is not a crystal pony, that her progenitors owned or laid with slaves. Who's to say said Crystalian in question didn't find a normal happy mare or stallion?"

Slip pointed his hoof, and Cadance felt his excitement rise again, "Exactly, you see, I thought the same thing, so I went looking for this proof."

"And?" Cadance led

"Nothing." Slip smiled, "No archive, no library, nothing in the Crystal Archives, nothing, anywhere."

"Sombra did an excellent job at erasing our relevant civil documents." Immaculate responded, slowly. Cadance felt the wariness in her, it filtered out through her tone. So he does have something. Cadance was well under the impression that Sombra didn't care about genealogical records.

Slip continued, "Yes, so I found somepony who did know."

Uh-oh

"Who?" Immaculate squeezed out.

"I'm a lawyer, and as you well know-" Slip smirked, "we have certain rules and standards. One of which is confidentiality. My source wishes to remain anonymous."

"Then we're at an impasse." Cadance said, "Without this... first hoof perspective to present their testimony against the crown, all we have is your word. That's hardly evidence enough to pull apart the Noble Houses."

"Of course, and-" Slip leaned down to his bags, "I'll tell you, I wasn't planning on doing this, but you're forcing my hoof Princess." He pulled up, and in his teeth, barely fitting in his mouth was a tome. The kind Cadance remembered seeing in old fairy tale novels and grimoires locked inside the Canterlot Archives. It fell onto the table with a 'thump.' "This. Is a complete record of the occupation, name, family tree, everything. A complete Crystalian genealogical record."

Both mares at the table shared an internally worried glance

"That's ridiculous. Nothing like that exists." Immaculate sputtered.

Slip smiled a slippery smile and opened the cover, revealing the glowing signature of Princess Amore.

Immaculate stood, both hooves on the desk as she looked wide eyed at the book in question, "Impossible! How did you get that?"

"Anonymous." Slip reiterated with a winning smile.

"So you stole it." Immaculate glared.

"Nothing of the sort, I acquired it by completely legal means... unlike, somepony else here..." He flipped his hoof up to the book and opened it to the i's. "Princess, would you like to know the crimes of the Crystalian Nobility?" He looked up to her with a winning smile.

"Stop it."

"As it-" Slip's face twisted, "Wait, what?"

Cadance spoke again, "You heard me. That's enough."

Immaculate sent her the same confused look that Slip was wearing.

Cadance horn lit, and the tome jerked out of Slip's grip and slid over the table in Cadance's blue glow. It closed, and she rested her hoof on top of it. "Thank you."

"Uh-"

"For returning this... Priceless artifact." Cadance clarified, followed by returning his winning smile.

"I- Wait. You can't-"

"Actually. I can." Cadance interrupted. "Regardless of how you acquired this, it doesn't belong to you. The signature says as much; this tome is of national importance to The Crystal Empire, and thus, I am confiscating it for such purposes."

"You're..." Slip shook his head, "That's insane, you can't just-"

"Crystalian law is different, Banana Slip." She continued smiling, "This isn't Equestria."

He was worried now, "It's... It doesn't matter! You can't just-"

"Are you going to take it back from me?" She laughed a princessly titter. Probably enjoying this far more than she should have been, she spread her wings. "Go on."

Slip looked across the table at the book, resting under the hoof of the Alicorn Princess of The Crystal Empire.

He obviously didn't try to take it from her.

Slip glared at her instead. "I'll bring it to law enforcement, Canterlot, the crystal ponies, when Celestia hears about this-"

"She'll do nothing." Cadance frowned and dropped her wings. "And there's no jurisdiction for Canterlot law enforcement in the Crystal Empire. Also? Good luck trying to convince any crystal pony that you should keep an extensive tome of their personal history."

Slip sputtered.

Immaculate spoke after another deep inhale. "The Princess is right, Banana Slip. Unless you have something else, this conversation is over."

"But! That's my proof! Right there!" He pointed, "She just took it right in front of you!" He turned towards Cadance, "You're meant to be a Princess, not a-"

Cadance stood. He shut up.

"I am a Princess." Came out with just the right amount of menace. "You came after my ponies, and I will defend them with the fire of the stars." Silver's poeticisms are starting to rub off on you. "Also? Your anonymous source? I already know who she is. I wouldn't bother going back to her for anything else."

Slip's face was filled with confusion, and a spark of despair.

Cadance turned to Immaculate. "Madam Gemstone, I believe we are done here. My apologies for dragging you out for nothing."

"It was no trouble at all. Princess Cadance."

Gotcha.

Slip didn't feel like this was over, "This isn't over!?" Aha-yup, there it is, "I can't believe what I'm... what is going on here?"

Cadance tore her focus away from Immaculate. "Mr. Slip, I know this hasn't gone the way you wanted, but the fact of the matter is, this conversation is over. Feel free to take up this line of query with the Equestrian crown, or anyone else at your leisure. You are free to do so, of course, but as of now, the crown has deemed your accusations baseless, and this case will be dismissed tomorrow when I have the time to file and make the resources and transcript public information."

"Transcript?" Slip looked around, "What transcript."

Cadance nodded her head towards the crystal stallion. He nodded, Banana narrowed his eyes, "If you think-"

"It'll be public tomorrow." Cadance shrugged, "Look at it yourself to make sure."

Slip opened his mouth, but Immaculate beat him to it. "Goodbye Mr. Slip. I wish I could say being accused of treason was entertaining, but Princess Cadance and I have things to discuss privately."

Slip looked between the two mares, and once at the stallion. He looked, really looked for any hint of a way forwards, any crack in the façade, and he found nothing. Cadance felt the disbelief and frustration solidify into a halting, painful acceptance as Slip collected his papers, and left for the door with a single parting phase, "This isn't over." He affirmed.

Cadance may have made a personal enemy just then, but it was worth it.

"You're more observant than I gave you credit for, Princess Cadance." Immaculate said offhoofedly.

Cadance set her jaw, "Let's cut to the chase, please and thank you."

Immaculate made a face, and an arc of blue lightning flowing in through the cracks in the floor silenced her, as a rolled up parchment appeared before Cadance in a flash of magic. "Apologies, give me one moment." She unrolled it.

I'm canceling our Thursday night out, sorry for the late notice, something came up that requires my full attention.

Cadance, as far as she knew, was the only other pony that knew that spell. That, and she was beginning to recognize Silver's horn writing. Hoof writing? Is it horn writing if it involves telekinesis but no horn? Cadance put the letter to the side and focused up. "My apologies again, please continue."

"Is that book legitimate?" Was her question

Cadance kept the book under her hoof. "It probably is, but I won't be looking at it."

Immaculate didn't squint or furrow her brow. Her face remained neutral, but her heart told a different story. Immaculate Gemstone was confused. Deeply confused, and behind that was a spark of hope.

"You-" She started slowly, "Insinuated that the noble houses had committed crimes earlier."

Cadance nodded, "I did, and they have; are."

Immaculate took another deep breath before continuing. "And the evidence to prove it supposedly sits under your hoof, and you turned away the stallion trying to... hold the houses accountable for said, hypothetical crimes."

"What are you getting at?"

Immaculate leaned forwards, "What are you? What did you have to gain from doing what you just did?"

"Your trust." Cadance responded instantly.

Immaculate fell silent, verbally. Cadance could see the cogs churning away in her head. The cogs of a mare with millions of strings all pulling in different directions. The clockwork of a noble tick-tick-ticking away.

You're getting poetic again Cadance, focus.

"It's no secret I'm trying to win over the nobles." Cadance said into the vacuum of conversation, "At every step, the Houses seem genuinely confused at my intentions, motives, and path of action." Cadance took her own deep breath, and said as tersely as possible, "I am trying to help you. My focus is on the crystal ponies first, there is no other hidden goal."

"Pretend that I'm willing to believe that at face value, and answer me this." Immaculate took another deep breath, "What would you have me do? What would you want to know?"

Okay Silver. You better not have been lying to me.

Cadance had gambled on Silver before. It hadn't failed her yet.

"Tell me about the civil war." Cadance answered. "I can't touch it from my position."

Immaculate's emotions began to twist into shapes too complex for Cadance to register with her senses. Immaculate wasn't a known pony to her, it happened sometimes. "You really are smarter than I thought."

Keep pushing "We have to work together Gemstone. The situation in the Empire is tenuous at best, we have to cast off this rift of mistrust and skip the years of work that would slowly lead us to trusting each other. We do not have the time to play these noble 'games'."

Immaculate considered her words. Cadance struggled to get a proper read, but the gears kept turning, and wisdom that matched Cadance's danced behind Immaculate's eyes. Her mouth moved a few times, only ever opening once to say, "Do you truly know where that tome came from?"

Cadance nodded, "Quick Silver."

Another beat of silence, a deep breath, "Then you know who our first enemy is."

"I do." Cadance said on reflex. Despite not understanding the sudden marking as Quick Silver as such.

"I was under the impression..." Immaculate drew out, "You two were... friends?"

"Keep your friends close." Cadance said.

Immaculate nodded.

More silence passed. It was strange, years ago, Cadance could find solace in quiet moments, introspection and silence greeted her with swimming thoughts and occasionally, peace, in its most relaxing form. Now, silence was merely a state of the environment around her. The communication never ended unless she was truly alone. Something more recently made aware to her by spending time with Quick Silver, who didn't give off any emotion.

Immaculate was silent, but to Cadance, she was screaming. Her emotions were wild, and her thoughts, even more so. The Noble Crystal mare was scheming. That much was certain. Cadance had basically offered herself up on a silver platter, and Immaculate was trying to figure out what in the wide world of Equestria to do next.

Eventually, she stood. "I hope you know I have taken your words to heart. I must speak with my advisors."

Ha! Yes! I win!

Cadance pranced in a circle in her mind, but stood as regally as she could in reality. The tome slid into her magical pockets, and she nodded to Immaculate's statement. "You know where to find me."

"I'll make sure that transcript gets to you." Immaculate offered, gesturing towards the stallion, who nodded in kind.

"Thank you Immaculate, really."

She stopped her movements towards the door, "If this is..." She reconsidered, "If this alliance is to work, you're going to have to get used to calling me Gemstone, like you did while you were trying to convince me of your intentions."

"Noted." Cadance parroted something she heard Silver say.

Immaculate gave her a deep look, and then left.

Cadance did not let the filly dancing around in her head at her successful manipulations out to prance about the room. She waited a respectable amount of time for Immaculate to be far enough away, and then left herself without any fanfare.

Yes, that's definitely what happened.

The sun was set, and Shining Armor and Cadance had just settled in for the night.

Of course, for the particular married couple, 'settling in' meant exactly that. On nights where they could settle in, and the two of them didn't simply pass out near enough to each other to be considered 'together'; there as a standard block of an hour long conversation, interspaced with: snacks, the bathroom, and on particularly warm nights, a two pony shower. Usually, it was a non-verbal agreement to simply be together in a more complicated sense than occupying the same space.

Shining wasn't as good at the conversation part, but he knew how to get by enough for Cadance. At the moment, she had just finished telling him about the game she played today, and he was currently being incredulous about her success.

"So you're telling me that everything just went to plan?"

Cadance smiled and poked his nose with her own. "Yep."

He shuffled under the covers, as he usually did when he couldn't use his hooves to talk for him. "You mean, no adaptations, no quick witted adjustments. The plan hit, and everything went perfectly."

"Exactly."

"I don't believe you." He joked

"You don't have to believe the truth for it to be true."

Shining 'snrked', "That sounds like something Silver would say."

"Excuse me? Princess? Prince?"

"..."

Cadance and Shining both sat up and panned their eyes and ears around their room to locate the third voice that had joined in their conversation at point blank range. After failing to locate the person in question, both Shining and Cadance exchange a glance. Cadance opened her mouth first. "Hello?" Her ears kept pivoting.

"Good evening Princess Cadance."

Oh. Okay. Sure. Yup. That's Fine.

The voice was coming from the bed, the head, to be specific, and to get even more granular; Cadance was hoping she had misheard, but she was mostly certain it had come from the pillow she had just been using.

Another glance was shared.

"Is there... a breezie in there?" Shining reached for the pillow, confirming Cadance's concern.

Cadance used her magic to gently stop him, and spoke. "Kindly show yourself. Please."

A flash of green fire revealed the changeling. Which was of immediate concern. Cadance could sense changelings. She'd always been able to sense changelings. Not this one. She was touching it... them. Shining luckily didn't attack on sight, and Cadance was too stunned to respond immediately.

The changeling, now sharing the bed with the crowned Prince and Princess of The Crystal Empire, bowed, or nodded. Cadance wasn't sure, their shoulders didn't move. Now no longer a pillow, their voice buzzed as they spoke. "My apologies for the interruption, but I have an urgent message for you."

Shining stared, Cadance managed to work out, "How long have you been disguised as my pillow?"

They tilted their head, "You've never had a pillow. It's always been me."

Shining inhaled deeply.

"I loved that pillow." Cadance mumbled.

"Yes. It's very nice." They added.

Shining's next sharp inhale came with a warning attached.

"What is this message?" Cadance's voice pitched up as the confusion reached her tone.

"My Queen found it pertinent to alert you directly to the fact that there's an open hit on you."

Cadance shook her head, "A what?"

"An assassin has been paid to come murder you." They clarified with all the grace of a rubber ball passing through a plate glass window.

A wing came up to Cadance's muzzle, and wrapped around her face as she shut her eyes as hard as she could and willed herself to wake up. She did not, and she could only assume that she was not dreaming at the moment. So she did the next best thing after pretending it wasn't real.

"Thank you for the message, mister?"

"Moth Loleck." They bounced their head, "Or Op-Nine, whichever you prefer."

"Thank you Loleck, you may return to your post."

The changeling saluted, and with another flash of green flame, Cadance's pillow returned to place on the bed.

Both Shining and Cadance stared at the pillow.

Cadance laid down.

"Cadance?"

"I'm going to bed."

"Cadance."

"I. Am. Going. To. Bed."

The only real option besides hoping it wasn't real was ignoring it. Which Cadance did, much to the detriment of Shining's stress levels.

Bored-bored-bored-bor

There was an ambient problem with working as hard as Cadance did, paperwork was a pain, but at the very least, it was easy. The cognitive effort of signing paperwork basically followed the workflow of two basic questions: 'Do I remember this, and, should I sign this?' If both answers were no, Cadance basically threw the documents out by giving them to Amber. If they were important, they'd find their way back to her desk anyways.

If one yes, and one no, she'd throw it in a pile to sort through after she was done with everything else.

Both ‘yeses’ were the easiest. Those went into a file packet that Amber usually took downstairs to Rim Shot who would handle making triplicates and stowing them away in relative locations and alerting the relative ponie-

People.

All that being said, Cadance was done.

As in, including the fact that her Thursday was normally clear, which necessitated her working harder to clear her docket for said day, she had nothing to do. No paperwork to catch up on, nothing new to sign, no trouble. Nothing. Cadance was a fully caught up Princess. Something she had, till that particular moment of sitting around in her office for an hour, believed was impossible.

...

"Ugh"

Cadance head slammed onto the desk with an audible 'thump'. She was unconcerned with hurting herself, Alicorn. The only reason she didn't actively use force was because she was concerned she'd damage the desk. Still face down, Cadance began talking to herself.

"Can't leave the castle, apparently there's an assassin after me. Can't go out with Silver... Those are probably related."

A beat passed, Cadance rolled her head and flicked a quill with her hoof.

"No work."

...

"I should be proud-" Her ears perked up, and she sat up with them. "I don't have anything to do because I did it all."

Cadance's excitement drained away immediately.

...

Her ears flopped down as she glanced around her office for the eightieth time, "I need an indoor hobby."

Cadance couldn't go out and spread love manually, like she used to in Canterlot. Assassin. That is, if she trusted Chrysalis to begin with... Which...

I do... I might as well... I don't think she wants me hurt, she just doesn't like me personally.

"The... Pantheon is what Silver calls it. Seems more like a group of immortals with grudges and mental issues."

Cadance rolled her eyes at no one, then internally berated herself for expressing internal thoughts to the people around here when there wasn't anyone around her.

"Okay Cadance, you need to-" Cadance got up, shook her wings out and made haste to the door to her office. The speed reminded her of the growing weight. She was showing now, just a little, Silver's prediction was off by several days, but if she was right about the basics, Cadance would have trouble getting up by the time the week was over.

She wasn't very excited about that.

The door opened, and Cadance walked out. "Amber? Do you have anything for me?"

Amber flipped a page over on her desk before making a mark with the quill in her mouth then leaned over to grab another parchment. A quick glance at that and Amber clearly said, "No." In the way that meant: 'please don't ask me a sixteenth time.'

Cadance glanced at the half eaten grained muffin on Ambers desk.

"Hey, did your secret admirer deliver that?"

Amber looked up and then glanced down at the muffin. "Oh!" Her eyes lit up, "Yes, they did." A hoof went over to pick it up. "A grain muffin, I'm sure you can tell, compact, and very nutrition." A bite was taken, Cadance watched the secretary's emotions sparkle, then fizzle out.

Where does Amber sleep?

The question echoed through Cadance's mind. Except it wasn't Cadance's business... Except-except, something was wrong. Ambers emotions were all over the place, they generally were, Cadance just figured that she was just like that, but... Call it intuition, but whatever was going on with her was getting worse. Cadance was sure.

Cadance had exhausted her dialogue options though... She couldn't continue a conversation without looking like she was prying... which would have been exactly what she was doing. Doing so before had led to Amber shutting down, so...

"Thank you Amber." Cadance turned and walked away. She had no particular destination, she just started walking around.

Some time between when she left her office and when she eventually found one of the invisible windows in the side of the Spire, Cadance realized she had no friends aside from Silver, and that was only kinda-sorta a thing. Shining was her husband, that was different; a similar premise with Twilight.

Celestia was... family, but not her friend. Luna was royalty like Cadance. There wasn't really room for friendship between them. Luna couldn't get over herself, as mean as that sounded, and Cadance still struggled to connect with her. At least, Luna tended to be far more personable than Celestia.

Do... Is Silver really my only friend?

The thought that Twilight, the pony she used to be to Cadance, currently had far more, and far better friends than Cadance did, or probably would have.

Don't compare Cadance.

Silver wasn't really her friend either. Their... 'relationship', if written out, would be a mess of yelling, nonsense, and gibberish. It just so happened that Silver was Cadance's go-to choice for things-to-do when nothing else was around to be done.

Homeward and her team were still working.

The newsroom was still a day or two away from completion, they were waiting on special order equipment from Mirror's people.

The maps and organization for the Winter Solstice/Crystal Faire had left the planning stages and Cadance was just waiting on word back from their sponsors, companies, visitors, and staff/volunteers for tweaks and management. Even that was barely hooves on for Cadance. She'd found the right ponies, and after the setup, the momentum of the teams working together would make it all happen on its own.

She'd gotten an 'in' with Gemstone, and thus, the rest of the nobles. Not to mention the imports taking the stress away from Sugar Cane's ponies. She'd received a few letters from a scattering of workers of thanks to the crown for the contribution.

Open Court was now being handled by Amber, meaning that the court was much more 'no nonsense'. Whenever there was a law that genuinely required a dispute, Amber would hoof the documentation to Cadance, and she'd make a decision. That had wonderfully streamlined the whole process.

...

What has it been? Two? One and a half months? Three?

Cadance let her wings droop slightly. One lowering down to cradle her stomach.

Time flies then. What to do... what to do...

She made a few auditory clicking noises with her tongue and lips, noise to fill the air.

Starting a hobby is out of the question.

That, and starting a new project that she wasn't going to complete on her own was out of the question. They were nearing the holiday season, on top of the faire, the solstice, Hearth's Warming, and Nightmare Night. The last two weren't widely celebrated in The Crystal Empire, at least, they hadn't been last year.

There had been much immigration since then.

Cadance's brow furrowed.

Civil war... Gemstone... Book...

Silver must have been where Banana Split got that book. Cadance hadn't looked through it, true to her word, but... Silver also subtly warned Cadance about Banana, it was half the reason she took him seriously. Gemstone's response to the record said a lot.

Crystal Ponies... Tac & Co... Transportation industry...

Silver was trying to 'destroy the crystal empire' that's what she said, she'd said it more than once.

It's all connected

Cadance stomped a hoof

Duh! Filly! OF COURSE it's all connected!

Silver had stuck her hooves everywhere. Gemstone had almost viscerally referred to Quick Silver as an enemy of the state, which meant that the mare probably had also caught the ire of all of the other Nobles too...

Civil war... between Equestria and The Crystal Empire?

Of course it was all connected, Silver couldn't simply 'destroy' everything without getting involved everywhere, but what did it all mean? More importantly, what was Cadance supposed to do about it all? She couldn't get Celestia and point out the problem and ask her to fix it, which was sure to lead to Silver getting caught. Luna...

No... probably not a good idea...

A thought struck her, mainly with the premise that it was a terrible idea, that she could ask Discord for help.

...

She laughed.

"Yeah-no. Definitely not."

And she pushed the thoughts away, and started wandering again. Hopefully her subconscious would work the problem for her.

"Hey boss?"

"Yes?" Silver didn't turn. She never turned while she was working.

Point Flare had been working with Silver closely for around a month. As it stood, Silver was weird. She had only ever heard stories of what Discord was like in-pony, and had made the mistake of comparing Silver to him in passing.

"Do you think we could go out for dinner tonight?"

Silver's ears perked up, and her back straightened as her hooves worked a series of metal tubes around a tube form of quartz enchanted by Misty. "You're all under house arrest, essentially." Was Silver's response, clipped and professional.

Flare shifted on her hooves. "Yeah, except we constantly leave here to different places all over Equestria to do work for you."

"Exactly." Silver answered the same way.

"That's not really house arrest, is it?"

Silver frowned deeply, "No."

Flare waited for an addendum which didn't come. The obvious was obvious, but Silver would ignore logic most of the time. Instead choosing to either lie, and then claim honesty, or just completely follow some other tract of law that wasn't real, or was completely unexplainable. The only explanations Silver ever gave was for their lessons.

"So does that mean we can go out?"

Silver snorted. "Are you asking me for permission?"

"Well yeah." Flare tracked Silver as she stepped through the island she was working on. Her body meshing over the solid object and reforming on the other side. That was another thing. Silver definitely wasn't a pony. Some kind of changeling or chimera or something... it was gross to watch. "You're our parole officer, right?"

"Not really, and you won't get my permission."

More parts, runes she wasn't meant to look too closely at, and a metal cord joined the pile of magical instruments on the table. Silver started using specialized spells to cut off chunks to machine the parts by bending and shaping them together.

Flare shifted on her hooves again. "Please? Grey and Rip Tide have really been wanting to celebrate their proposal properly. It'd mean so much to us."

"I know exactly how much it would mean to you." Silver grumbled to herself.

"Well..." Point Flare wanted to be careful, Silver got moody, but she really only had the option of being blunt. "We were thinking that if it was okay for us to leave the property in general, it'd be okay for us to go out too. We wouldn't mind a guard with us either, none of us would try to run." She rambled on earnestly.

"You won't be getting my permission." Silver tensed.

"But why not?"

Silver stopped working and turned to glare at her. Flare's ears folded unconsciously, and she stepped back, silently reprimanded. Silver's gaze didn't waver. Flare felt herself getting scared, the prey in the eyes of the predator feeling Silver tended to invoke when any of them made her genuinely frustrated. "Were you ever going to invite me? Like Hematite asked you to?"

Right... magical surveillance...

Point Flare tried to push the sensation out of her head and stuttered out, "Yes! I was, I just- I didn't-you-"

"You're not a good liar, Point Flare."

"I'm not lying." Flare protested.

Silver took a step forwards, "You're trying to twist the truth. To clarify, you're not very good at deception. Especially when I already know how you feel." Flare heard the rest of the words Silver had to say, and let her continue despite the want to continue to protest; it was embarrassing to get scolded like she was a little filly again. "You weren't, despite wanting to. You were nervous over something you shouldn't be nervous about."

"If it's really about you not being invited, Grey and Rip Tide really wouldn't mind." That was the closest she could get to 'I'm sorry' without outright saying it.

Silver's gaze softened.

Flare continued, "You changed our lives... first for the worst, then for the better. I'd just be in prison without you." She lit her horn with the arcane weight of living fire. It sparked with hunger and creativity. The fire on her horn lifted and grew like a breath and Flare felt the air shift as she turned the magic and matter into chemical energy, expending it into heat and light. "Now I'm a mage. A real one, not just some hedge witch."

Silver's frown returned in full force. "Flattery won't get you anywhere."

"It's not flattery." Flare protested, "It's true."

That was the other thing about Silver. The mare was easy to agitate, incomprehensible most of the time, and generally abrasive. She cared though, she had a soft side, and she didn't mind showing it when she could. Point Flare had yet to see Quick Silver eat, much less sleep. Kayfur's running explanation for that was that she was actually a robot in disguise.

It was probably why she was so grumpy. Yet, Flare still couldn't ever tell if it was genuine kindness, or Silver cleverly placating them while the cabin fever ran rampant.

"What's wrong with the food we have here?" Silver asked conversationally, turning back to her work.

"Nothing. Grey just..." Flare felt the sensation pass over, "She really wanted to do something formal."

"Fourth shelf down my left side, third drawer." Silver stated, wedging her hoof inside one of the lines between one of the poles and the quartz.

Flare moved over to the drawer. Expecting some kind of tool or part stowed away. Silver didn't waste words when she needed help. Dunno what she needs help with th- Flare blinked and her eyes narrowed in confusion as she got a look at the contents. There were a stack of papers and folders, and on top, a clear bag full of... what looked like vouchers

"Grab the bag, bring it here." Flare did so, levitating the baggie over to Silver and set it down on the island. The bag opened by cerulean telekinesis, and a quintet of slips floated out and stacked up in front of Flare. "That place is in Grey's hometown, I'm pretty sure."

Flare took another look. They were vouchers for a restaurant in Phillydelphia. "I..." what? "But I thought you sai-"

"Point Flare." Silver interrupted. "You're lucky you're so cute, because dear All, are you dull." Silver didn't turn, but she did shake her head as she hefted one of the metal tubes into place alongside another. There was the slipping metallic noise of friction against the crystal as she did it.

Flare looked at the vouchers, then back at Silver, then silently stuffed them in her mane and elected to simply not ask. Silver didn't like explaining, so if Flare had gotten what she'd wanted, she'd consider that mission success, despite the insult. "What are you making?" She asked, hoping to change the subject, lest Silver change her mind.

"A gun."

Flare tilted her head, "A what?"

"An accelerator rifle, to be specific. I have a chunk o- never mind. Point is, it's good for one shot of anti-shield or anti-magic." Silver held up the thing.

"You mean... like a crossbow?"

Silver nodded, and turned it over. "Yeah. Except it uses spell magnetism, and hopefully I can get the spell to fire past the speed of sound this time."

"That's..." Flare scrunched her muzzle, "Kind of unnecessary, don't you think? What would you even need that for?"

Silver shrugged. "Hunting."

Author's Note

An excerpt that I wrote at random. Wasn't planning to write this, it just sorta happened.

Hospital Trip

Again, Cadance was both surprised and impressed by the compact and modern nature of RCH. The interior was smoother though, she noticed as she entered. It looked as if they redecorated, put up some new wallpaper, since the last time she was here.

Last week was nothing special, Fair had used a specialized spell and alchemical ingredients to take pictures of her foal. They'd confirmed the rapid growth and the Alicorn part, but aside from Cadance giggling and bubbling about the pictures, there wasn't anything else for her that day.

Since then, Cadance had gone from barely showing, to having difficulty standing up quickly. She was down majoritively to sleeping on her side, rather than her stomach, and the flittering nervousness of something potentially being wrong still stuck with her as she walked up to reception.

For the life of her she couldn't remember the names of the two mares at the reception desk, one of them was... sun, something.

"Happy midday princess!"

"Hello," Cadance tilted her head to the side. "The same room as usual?"

The orange maned mare nodded, and the blue maned mare hopped down out of her chair, "I'll go let Fair know that you're here."

"Thank you."

Cadance walked, and considered, for the sake of keeping her mind off of everything else. Despite the almost comical lack of staff, this hospital ran smooth as butter, and was quiet on the day to day. The average crystal pony doesn't tend to accidentally hurt themselves, crystal and all. Not in a small part due to Fair Treatment as a whole.

Cadance had done some research, and the mare was a medical prodigy with an interesting story. She'd flunked out of Celestia's school for gifted unicorns in her first semester, citing 'behavioral issues'. Only to somehow luck into an apprenticeship at a small clinic on the southernmost side of lower Canterlot nearly a decade later. From there, her reputation built until she was hailed as a modern medical Starswirl. Apparently, in medical circles, Fair Treatment was famous for her perfect medical record. Cadance had just never heard about her until she went looking.

The drab, brown coated Fair Treatment wasn't boastful, didn't go to publicity events or parties, as far as Cadance could tell... The mare only worked, and that was it.

Cadance found her way into her room. It was still plush, softly yellow, and 'hospitaly' with a few new gadgets up in the corner, and a new whiteboard that Cadance asked to be moved in so she could write when she got bored. As it stood, there were a few imaging pictures of her baby, and random scribbles on it.

She settled on the bed, and waited.

Fair Treatment entered silently, trailing a stand with wheels and baskets behind her with her telekinesis. Like before, she didn't speak, just nodded to Cadance and sent her a short smile that disappeared immediately.

"Hi Fair Treatment, is the day treating you well?"

The stand rolled against the wall, and, instead of gesturing for Cadance to roll onto her other side, Treatment walked all the way around the bed and raised an eyebrow when she got a good look at Cadance's baby bump. "Well." Was her clipped response, "I can see the accelerated growth is..."

"Accelerated?"

Treatment nodded. "I'm going to want another scan," A stethoscope came out, "And I'll want you in early next week."

Cadance's ears half folded. "Most planning features fo-"

Treatment cut her off. "Find someone else to do them. As a doctor, I cannot stress enough how important comparing baseline data is. If there's a complication, and it's not caught immediately, then there's a high chance I won't know what to do."

She says that a lot.

"I find that-" Cadance stuttered as the cold stethoscope ran up her fur. "hard to believe. If I may, I went looking for details about you and your work."

"mhm." Treatment wasn't listening.

Cadance pursued her lips, "How different could it be? Really?"

Treatment pulled the stethoscope off of Cadance's stomach, but her horn remained lit, and Cadance watched a syringe fly over her head and settle down on the bed, "I can explain, but I'll need to prick you just for a moment. It probably won't hurt at all."

Cadance held out her hoof.

Treatment levitated the needle down after using her magic to brush anything out of Cadance's fur.

Shouldn't you sterilize that fir-

Cadance felt the needle touch her hide, and she watched as it didn't go in. A quick glance to Treatment indicated that she was trying to have it go in. The doctor's horn glowed brighter, and the needle pressed harder on her hide, hard enough for her to feel the tiny little needle still only depressing her skin.

Then the top of the needle, the part Fair Treatment was holding in her aura, bent roughly to the side, and the whole thing crumpled in on itself. Cadance's eyes widened slightly, blinking a few times at the display. Treatment levitated the garbage away, and then raised the stethoscope again. "You tend to see physical resistance like that in very thaumically active earth pony mares. You are several steps above, and undergoing some kind of... 'thaumic-overcharge' that is making it impossible to work many normal medical practices. Even your scans were difficult."

Treatment kept going, "Using medical inhibitors isn't an option either, while legal, they're deeply unsafe for pregnancies. I... read about a circumstance where a mare underwent a surge while giving birth, a horn ring was administered, and the child was still born from the internal magical backlash. Thaumic-peripheral neurosis, their brain stem had burned itself out in the magical vacuum."

Fair snorted, "And all of those doctors kept their jobs." The other end of the stethoscope levitated out of Fair's ears and over to Cadance, "Here."

Cadance dumbly put them on. The rest of her mind entirely focused on the horrific possibilities. It was additionally a reminder of the danger she was currently in. She had gone out in hopes of attracting Silver's attention, seeing as that the mare was constantly stalking her anyways. Yet, the window in the room had a certain menace to it. Anyone with wings could look inside, anyone with the right application of equipment could get inside.

Her eyes stayed glued to the window, and whatever was outside it, until she heard a pair of heart beats. Cadance looked down at where the other end of the stethoscope was resting.

"Oh."

"Oh is right." Treatment monotoned, "So come in early next week. I put in a special order for equipment from Canterlot, hopefully after some testing, I can put more emergency procedures on the table, a C-section, for example; as it stands, we can't cut into you without industrial equipment."

Cadance made a face.

was that a joke?

"The good news is that there is no bad news. You seem as healthy as you've always been, and if you're alicorn immune and metabolism is working the way it should... You'll likely stay that way. Let me take those scans, and you can get back to your princessly duties." Cadance opened her mouth, but Treatment continued, "So long as you avoid easily avoidable stress, doctor's orders."

Treatment turned the area in front of her into a tiny whirlwind of medical equipment as she mixed an alchemical lather, and turned over a pair of magnets into a folded piece of metal.

"Ms. Treatment?"

"Yes?"

Cadance waited for a second, mentally phrasing her question, "Why did you become a doctor? You're very good at it. Better than anypony I've met, besides your bedside manner. Which I personally like, don't get me wrong." Cadance cut off her awkward ramble there.

Treatment was still focusing on the mixture, only turning when the gel went from yellow to clear. "I became a doctor because no-one else was good enough at it." A spark of determination fed into Cadance's senses. There was depth to that comment, despite Treatment trying to hide it under the veil of sarcasm.

Treatment went through the process of applying the gel, the sheet of silvery metal, and casting the spell. Sheets of waxy paper flitted around and were placed in a black sealed envelope to the side.

"Do you need anything else from me Cadance?"

Again with no title.

"No, thank you doctor."

She nodded, "Then you're free to go, if your specialist can figure out how to draw blood safely, I'd recommend having them create a few samples for testing purposes." Then she started to leave, dragging her stand out with her. Cadance watched her go, and only looked down at her stomach after the door closed.

"You're all kinds of trouble already, you know that?"

Silence and warmth.

"Okay, you just relax then. Momma's gotta go be a Princess."

She rolled out of the bed, landing on her hooves. It wasn't lost on her, the fact that she could probably punch a hoof through the tile. It was strange to think about, the image of the needle crumpling against her leg stuck in her mind, but she didn't feel any stronger, or tougher, or anything.

She just felt like herself.

Regardless, she left normally, instead of love-porting herself back to the Spire. Reasoning it out to herself, no-one would expect her to be walking around when she could fly or teleport anywhere she wanted. So logically it was clearly... the safer option.

...Obviously...

Cadance sent a polite wing-wave to the two mares at the desk who waved back at her as she walked through the door. She wondered in the back of her mind what she'd think about on her way back to The Spire, but was interrupted when she nearly bumped into a pony. She wasn't sure how she noticed them before she walked into them, but she did.

Probably those enhanced al-

"Excuse me." The voice was unmistakable

OH, that's Silver-

Silver, less than a hoof from Cadance, stared up at her with barely restrained indignation. "What are you doing out in the open."

Cadance stepped away from the door, and Silver followed after her, stomping on the crystal road. She was shaking, and her wings were spread, her jaw was clenched. Cadance hadn't ever seen her be so visibly upset, so stiff in her movements. That tick with her ear flicking was joined by her tail audibly snapping behind her. It was so jarring and sudden that Cadance apparently didn't respond fast enough.

"You got the message didn't you?" Silver took another step closer, Cadance took another step back, "There is an active attempt on your life." She hissed.

"I-"

Silver tried to shove her, and Cadance stumbled as Silver basically just bounced off of her. "You better, have an extravagantly good reason."

A beat passed, and Cadance waited to make sure Silver didn't have anything else to say. She was suddenly very aware of what Silver had the capability to do to her. Ponies were walking past, their Princess getting roughed up didn't draw their attention, which meant Silver had already cast a spell.

Be very. Very careful Cadance.

"I needed to talk to you." She said slowly, trying to be as calm as possible.

Silver's ear flicked and her eyes widened with rage. Then Cadance felt the first emotion she'd ever felt from Silver.

Grief.

Silver continued to twitch madly, frighteningly. It looked almost like she was having a miniature seizure.

Cadance continued, "I... thought you might come out to see me, if I was... Out. That is..."

Who are you grieving? What is-

"Ow!" Cadance yelped

Silver had, in a flash, grown three hooves up, proportionally extending her body, and snapped Cadance's ear in her mouth. Then she started to yank.

"Ow-! Hey! Ah! Ow!"

Silver didn't let go when Cadance jerked around, it only made it worse, and every time Cadance pulled hard enough to pull away, Silver bit down harder. She pulled Cadance through a portal, and she nearly tripped over the rim of it and the ground that came up a little higher. All the while Cadance tugged, but Silver was completely unmovable, she didn't jerk or resist, it wasn't like pulling on a rope that had a little give whenever you yanked it. She was like a brick wall.

Cadance eventually was let go, more 'tossed' than let go. She yipped again and nearly fell before Silver hauled her up by the shoulders and screamed in her face.

"You will NEVER gamble with your LIFE!" Silver shook her once, and Cadance made the mistake of catching Silver's eyes while being shook. "I can't believe you'd be so STUPID!" Cadance tried to pull away, and Silver let her go. Her backside came up against a sofa, and she fell backwards.

She also noticed the group of three ponies, Grey Skies, Kayfur, and Misty Scarlet, looking on from their spot on the couch and nearby cushions in frozen worry. They all shared a glance as Silver stomped backwards away from the table, spinning around and cracking the crystal on the floor with her steps.

"I don't even know if these ponies can actually hurt you, Cadance!" She spun around, turning the other direction and marching back, "And what if they could-? Where in it ALL was Shining Armor!? He should have known better!"

Cadance steadied her breathing and tried to calm her racing heart. She repositioned on her half fallen state on the sofa and stood back up while Silver continued to yell. After the comment on Shining Armor, she'd switched into a language Cadance didn't know, or just started screaming gibberish. Now Cadance was twitching from the flight or fight adrenaline coursing through her body. Nobody else at the table had so much as flicked an ear.

Once Cadance got a handle on herself, she noticed that in-between stomps and raging, Silver kept wiping at her face with her wings. The ground across the line she was stomping was pulverized. First and foremost, Cadance wanted to leave. Secondly, Cadance wanted to do anything other than leaving, so as imaginable, she was frozen in place with decision paralysis as her mind chugged to come up with a course of action.

Silver spun towards her and took a step and shook her hoof. She cringed and her ear flapped when they made contact and she turned back to her line and continued pulverizing the floor. Silver wiped her face again. The other three ponies gathered up their cards and drinks and hastily and silently exited the room.

Cadance's adrenaline gave way to guilt and frustration for being treated in such a way. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Silver stopped, and the emotion pervading the room fell away. Cadance hadn't even noticed that she never felt the other three ponies. Silver's grief wasn't stronger than the average pony, per say, but it blanketed the area and quieted the rest of her senses. Oppressive, was the word. Then it was simply gone.

Silver stood in place for far too long.

Cadance found the words, "Nothing happened Silver. I'm safe, and everything is fine."

"Fuck you." Silver half turned, then looked away from Cadance very intentionally. "You have no idea what could have happened. These ponies aren't playing games, they tried to kill me last week and I know they have a list for who's next if they can't get you. They would have tried Shining Armor if he wasn't such a skilled mage, and they would have tried Amber if she ever left the spire. You are not safe, and that's the point."

You don't get to decide that.

Cadance's ears folded down. She'd not been... scolded like this for a long time. Silver wasn't right, about most of that, hopefully. That didn't make the situation any more jarring than it was. She'd also been physically dragged here; her ear still stung, she was blushing with confusion and anger, only serving to get an even bigger rise out of her as she glanced back at the retreating forms of the other three ponies.

"Why? What could-" Silver stopped a hoof, and rolled her whole head, "You already told me!" Silver plopped backwards onto her rump. "All, help me. She's stupid. She's going to be the death of me. Literally."

I didn't want to make you feel this way.

Trying to deescalate the situation, Cadance forcefully muttered out, "I'm sorry."

"You're not forgiven." That's when Silver turned around, but she'd seemed to have calmed herself back to her normal expressionless self. At the moment, Cadance wasn't sure which she preferred. "You don't get to do that with yourself and just hope for the best. You have a responsibi-"

But I'm not your daughter.

"My life is my own." Cadance interrupted, done with Silver talking down to her. "Regardless of who I'm responsible for, I will make my own decisions and live my own life." Cadance took her own challenging step forwards, "You could have talked to me, instead of being difficult."

You brought this onto yourself.

Silver's eyes didn't narrow, yet, Cadance felt the mood of such a thing happening regardless. "You don't get to blame me for knowing things you're not clever enough to notice."

You make me push you.

"You don't get to claim you're 'helping' me, but turn around only when it's emotionally convenient for you." Cadance shot back

Silver's eyebrows didn't raise, her voice didn't pitch, and she didn't lose control again. Cadance just knew. "Emotionally convenien- How dare y-"

Hopefully this isn't too far.

"You're a wreck!" Cadance interrupted with a shout, and she was shouting now. Despite her want to deescalate, the emotion just came flowing out of her, the energy in the situation had simply reached its peak. "You can't even hold a conversation without bursting into tears. You can't even control your body when you're agitated. You're losing your mind Silver, I'm watching it happen in slow motion in front of me."

Silver didn't respond, and Cadance continued. "You need sleep. You need food. You need to stop."

Silver glared, "I am not like you. I don't throw lives into the air and hope they land safe just because I'm sleepy."

"I don't care!" Cadance threw her mane to the side, "I don't care about you and all of your stupid drama and nonsense! I don't care about all of this terrifying cloak and dagger horseapples!" Her words were angry, they were full of stress, and like accidentally blasting Silver into a hole, Cadance mentally jerked herself back.

Wait-

Silver took a step back. "Then get out. Go walk home in the open air and wait to die."

"I didn't mean that." Except she did. Everything but the not caring part.

Silver snarled, "You think I'm too stupid to not know what you meant?"

"No, I-"

"We're done talking." Silver pointed at the door, "Get out."

Cadance didn't say anything else, but she also didn't leave.

"I said, get out."

...

Cadance narrowed her eyes, and took another challenging step forwards. "I thought we were done talking."

...

"You're insane."

...

"Says you."

"You should trust my experience."

"Oh I do- just not your judgment, insane mare."

"Insanity is just another word for 'smarter than me'."

"So I'm smarter than you now?"

"You're still in my house, is what."

"Funny, we're doing a lot of talking right now."
"I'll arrest you for breaking and entering."
"You're the one who brought me here."
"Try proving that in court."
"I am the court."
"You're a horse."
"Careful, your age is showing. That's an old insult."
"If only I was as 'young and beautiful' as you."
"If only, then I wouldn't have to look at you so often, like I said: Wreck."
"Child."
"Jerk."
"Naïve."
"Crotchety old mare."
"Crotchety young mare."
"Stubborn."
"Stupid."

"Hey-uh-"

"WHAT?" - "WHAT!?"

Both Cadance and Silver, now in each other's faces, both whipped their heads around to glare at Point Flare who had interrupted their back and forth. Point Flare's mane was swept back from the shout and the Royal Canterlot voice. She lifted a hoof, with one eye still closed from the wind shear. "Do you two need... water? Or something?"

A beat passed.

"Water." Silver said dumbly.

"I need a whole lot more than water." Cadance monotoned. "How do you live with her?" Cadance pointed an accusatory hoof

Point Flare's hoof went up a little, then down, her mouth flapped like a fish for a second before she eeked out, "We kind of don't? Silver's not really around unless she's teaching us something."

"Well..." Cadance shut the thought out of her mind before it happened, "A reminder that I need to meet with you next week to finalize the Tack & Co transportation... things."

Point nodded slowly.

Cadance turned back to Silver. They stared at each other. Cadance slapped a wing over her face. Silver started to laugh at her. A smile crept onto Cadance's face her face. "You're crazy."

"Pardon, but you're both crazy." Point Flare added

Silver laughed louder, "You're just as crazy as I am Little Princess, and you're well rested. What does that say about you?"

Cadance continued to hide behind her wing. "It says that you're rubbing off on me, in all the worst ways."

"Bah!" Silver snickered a few more times, "You're just personable, cut yourself some slack."

"You're..." Cadance didn't have a good enough word.

"And you're the biggest pain in my flanks since Celestia. Take pride in that. She was a serious horse."

"Again with that insult."

"It's stuck in my head now."

Point Flare physically stepped between them, sensing the oncoming back and forth again. "Let's not do that. Please."

Silver mock 'harumphed'.

"I..." Cadance shook her head, "Is this how you solve all of your disagreements?"

Silver straightened up and smiled. Honest to All, she smiled. "You feel better don't you?"

...

"That's..."

"Thank you Point Flare. That will be all." Silver waved her back into the depths of the home, and Flare nodded and followed the half-silent instruction." Silver started to move, "You coming?"

Cadance took a hesitant step and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Silver responded.

Cadance took another, and her other eyebrow raised.

Silver shrugged. "Let's just say, you wore me down. It's easier to give into your childish demands than any other option."

... Can you actually read my mind?

"No."

Oh...-wait-

Cadance mock frowned, "Hey!"

Silver winked, and dashed out the door.

"Hey!" Cadance followed after her.

(Another chapter I didn't expect, but here it is)

Silver was walking when Cadance got through the door, just fifty hooves ahead on the road. How she had gotten there in less than a second was a mystery, but Cadance lifted her wings and flapped herself into the air, putting herself into a glide.

Silver kept walking as Cadance landed.

'how did you do that?' was on Cadance's mind, but she knew there was no chance of being told. Silver didn't turn despite Cadance staring into the side of her head. "So where are we going?"

Silver rolled her eyes.

"Silent treatment?"

...

"Fine." Cadance grumbled.

The walk continued on in silence. There were stray ponies passing by, and Cadance was waving and smiling like the Princess do; until she noticed no-one responding. As she noticed, Silver chuckled, most likely in her direction. Cadance sent a grumpy frown her way. Silver chuckled again.

Silver was leading her into the outskirts, she thought Silver might take her all the way out into the fields, but the mare turned into a short-path past a pair of houses, and into a nook. The Empire had a lot of spaces like these, the circular grid roads left pockets of space where buildings would end up. There was an old house there, made of crystal, one of the original ones from before the empire returned, there were a good hooffull still around, so it wasn't odd to see.

Cadance stopped near the porch. "Where is this?"

Silver silently walked up to the door and kicked it in.

Well... the door being kicked in wasn't silent.

Dust picked up around the edges, and Cadance spared a glance towards the majoritively dead yard, besides a few weeds, before walking up the porch and getting a breath full of stale air. Silver had already gone inside, Cadance...

Breaking and entering, yeah, this can't end poorly.

Cadance stepped inside and was immediately creeped out. Everything was covered in a thin layer of dust. Furniture laid strewn about, hoof sewn quilts. Cadance's heart fluttered, this whole room had been lived in, but it was overturned like a storm had come through. There were random objects on the floor, broken crystal glass and scorch marks on the walls. Drawers that had been pulled out and then left where they fell. There were cobwebs, but no bugs, nothing scurried along the floor or hung from the ceiling.

Cadance could feel something wrong. The place would have looked so homely if it hadn't been ransacked.

There was a staircase that had fallen into itself, and Cadance felt the dark remnants of the dark crystal before she saw them, growing up the side of the staircase like a vine.

Sombra was here.

Cadance was slowly following Silver, both of them were trying not to step on anything, but it was hard.

They turned a corner together, into an equally ransacked kitchen. Water had dried, mold had died, the whole room smelled like dry decay. Silver stopped, and gestured to Cadance's side at a bookcase. It contained books, as one would expect, dry rotting on the shelves, it was the one thing that hadn't been overturned or emptied. On the top, and the top shelf, were knickknacks, and picture frames.

Amber and another older mare of similar colours. There was a wax circle with a tiny hoofprint on it, and Amber's name stenciled in old faded colour around the rim. There were photos of the two at a festival, all shoved into one frame. There was a baby picture of Amber, an unlit candle, and a photo of two other ponies.

Cadance was looking at the memory of a family.

She shouldn't have been looking. She...

This is...

"You wanted to know." Silver said softly.

I still don't.

Desperate curiosity won out over her twisting gut, "What happened here?"

"Can't you tell?" Silver asked, genuinely.

Cadance stared blankly at the photos, and the mementos from a nicer time.

"Can't you hear the tragedy? Calling out to you?" Silver's hoof raised up towards the candle and she picked it off the shelf, "The Fate of life transposed onto another, the pain and the rage and the love that sit in this room."

Cadance could.

"Someone died here." Silver didn't add any inflection, she just said it. "Do you still want to know?"

Cadance nodded.

"Sombra took power. Shattered Princess Amore. But as a whole, life didn't change, at first." Silver put the candle back up on the shelf. "Amber was a filly when it all happened. Then one day, her parents disappeared, sent into the mines because they were both healthy enough for it. As I'm sure you can guess..."

"They didn't come back." Cadance finished.

"Amber's grandmother lived here, and took care of Amber for years into Sombra's reign." Silver took a breath, "Until Amber started asking questions... 'where did my mommy and daddy go?' She asked the wrong ponies, got caught up in the resistance movement, she was a hoof full of years away from being a mare, and she didn't know what she was doing or why. Turns out..."

"Her grandmother was a resistance leader. Old ponies know things, and Mrs. Glass knew how to get ponies from one side of the city to the other. It was all a massive mistake."

Cadance was trapped in the memory, reaching out in the emotion around her. She was cold. She was cold and she didn't know why, it was unnatural, but Silver's story continued as the ambient magic in the air rose.

"Amber's tampering fed back to someone, who told someone else, who told Sombra. Sombra shows up, demands the filly..."

"No."

"Simmer Glass offers herself instead. Comes clean, Sombra butchers her in the street."

Cadance's heart fell.

"With the example made, and the leader dead, Sombra still took Amber. Wonder why Amber is such a good aide?"

"I-"

"And... It was all her fault. She blames herself for her parents too."

Cadance's heart was breaking, she felt like crying, she probably would have if Silver hadn't told the story so jarringly.

"How do you know any of this? What-"

Silver cut her off softly. "I asked."

Cadance wiped her nose with a wing. "... You... What?"

"Look at this bookshelf Cadance." Silver pointed, "Really look at it."

She did. Like before, she noticed how it wasn't overturned, all of the cook books and scrapbooks and random knick knacks were all still on the shelf... And there was no dust. Not on the picture frames... "It's... it's been upkept."

"There were no hoof prints in the dust, were there? I haven't been doing it, neither has Amber."

So... who?

Cadance turned towards Silver.

Silver shrugged. "Ghosts are real, in case you didn't know that already."

At least Cadance knew why she was so cold... in that moment, she also noticed her fogging breath.

"Do you need a little more time? Or shall we leave this place to rest?"

Cadance made for the door without a word. Silver followed after, and Cadance only took another breath when she was outside in the post-noon sun. She warmed immediately, and the dark house stayed dark behind her. Silver quietly shut the door with a flash of blue telekinesis.

"So now you know."

"I feel awful."

"Feel worse."

Cadance glanced over her shoulder, "What?"

"You think Amber's the only mare with a story like that?"

Cadance internally winced.

Silver continued, a little more tersely. "These crystal ponies were enslaved for years, and were all waiting to die at any moment less than a year ago, from their perspective." Silver walked up and bumped Cadance, "I've been waiting for you to do something about that, but you still haven't noticed. The crystal ponies are still waiting for the other horseshoe to drop, 'Sombra came back once right?' that's what I hear them saying."

"No wonder there haven't been any..." Cadance felt sick, "The whole kingdom?"

"Not the whole kingdom, no-" Silver's eyebrows wiggled, "All of the immigrants are doing fantastic."

It clicked.

It was Silver's tone, or the words themselves. It could have been the mood of the moment, but all of that didn't matter.

Cadance figured it out.

"That's it." She said, surprised she had come to a conclusion and horrified of what the conclusion meant.

"That's your plan." She repeated dumbly.

The house behind her loomed. "You're not... this isn't some comically maniacal plot to... knock over the Spire."

Silver nodded with a smile, only serving to unnerve Cadance more. "You don't think like a normal pony. You think in terms of centuries, not... days or even years... that's why we couldn't figure it out, it wasn't about anything you were doing, not directly."

Silver waved her hoof, "Go on."

"Silver. No." Cadance shook her head, "You can't do that."

"Do what?" Silver's grin turned malicious.

"Silver, please."

She rolled her eyes, "I've come all this way, I wanna hear you say it."

Cadance stared at the other mare. In less than an hour, Silver had assaulted her, made her laugh, and told her that ghosts were real. Silver had said time and time again that they weren't friends, that she was trying to destroy the Crystal Empire.

Are you really? Is it true?

Because Silver was apparently awfully close to succeeding. All she'd have to do is stay the course.

"You're..." Cadance started, letting the words come as they did. "You're going to erase what's left of the Empire's ponies."

Silver nodded, "You've got a good idea, but how?"

"Economy, and..." Cadance winced and her wings spread, "Oh no... the Crystal Solstice... I-" She sent an angry glare at Silver, "Was that part of your plan too? Did you- I-"

I already invited everyone in Equestria. I got Silver to help me bring them here.

"And you can't go back on it now, either." Silver's smile stayed exactly as it was. The mare didn't blink, move, or breathe. She just stared back as Cadance realized what was really going on. "Not unless you want to ruin the entire Faire and butcher what's left of the ponies' trust that you can be their Princess."

Silver fast tracked cultural diffusion in the Empire. The Crystal Ponies, already hopeless from their time under Sombra, get thrust into a world filled with tourists, flashing cameras, and an economy however many times more powerful than their own.

Cadance was hit with a reminder of something somebody had said to her.

There's been no crystal pony couples, no new births, no new crystal foals.

If that continued, if Silver forced it to happen... It'd only take a few generations, and then all of that history would be exactly that.

"I'm gonna be sick." Cadance desperately wanted away from that house. The feeling of wrongness had sunk into her hooves again.

"You'll be fine." Silver joked. "Don't be such a baby."

"How could-" Cadance stomped a hoof and tried to gather herself, "Silver. You're talking about genocide." Once she said it, the fire in her chest lit up. It was real now. There was an enemy standing a hoof away from her. "It's subtle and it's not entirely you, but you knew what you were doing. You knew and you still did it. It's what you wanted."

"Yeeeup." Silver responded.

Cadance's face jumped through several different expressions. "Yup?! That's all you have to say? 'yeah- genocide, anyways'?!"

"You're about to realize something else." Silver started, "And, I'm curious, deeply curious, about what you'll do when it happens." Silver said that in a particular tone. A mix between questioning and menacing.

It raised Cadance's hackles, and she reminded herself that... she might not be able to take Silver in a fight. Not a real one, anyways. "Realize what?"

"That I'm not a liar." Silver deadpanned. "I am trying to destroy the Crystal Empire. I am not your friend. This isn't a game Little Princess, this is all very much the real world."

"You also promised me that you cared." Cadance offered, hoping that... that was true.Silver offered silence in response, her eyebrow raised, and she turned to walk away. "Where do you think you're going?" Cadance warned.

"Why would you care? I get around, so what?"

"You're not leaving until-"

"Until what?" Silver laughed a fake laugh. "Go ahead, arrest me, try, I'm begging you to."

"I'll-"

"Nothing. What are you gonna-"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Cadance whirled on the mare, "Buck! Can't you give me five seconds peace! Ghosts and genocide and my ear still hurts!" She punctuated the last comment by poking Silver in the chest.

Silver reached out and lowered Cadance’s hoof. Her look said 'unimpressed.' "Congratulations, you probably feel like me right now. How stressful do you think planning a silent genocide is?"

Cadance's left eye twitched.

Silver chuckled quietly in her face. "Cmon, you're acting like this is your first villain, where's the witty one-liners? Isn't this the drama and stage play you wanted?" Silver's expression dropped back to 'unimpressed' "or are we done lying to ourselves?"

My friend.

Cadance reigned in her emotions. Silver had pulled her in, she'd gotten surprised and led around in a circle. "Why are you doing this?" Cadance needed some kind of verbal momentum. Silver didn't respond, choosing to stand breathlessly in front of her. There wasn't an indication she had heard Cadance, or even that she was alive. "You could... you could still undo it. There's still a chance."

"Give me a good reason."

Cadance's mouth opened immediately, then closed.

Silver widened her eyes, "No, seriously. If you can give me a good reason to stop what I'm doing. I will."

Nothing I say will ever be good enough for you.

"Please Silver..." Cadance struggled to find the words. "Help me understand. What's the point in all of this? Why do you even want to hurt the crystal ponies anyways?"

Silver pretended to consider, she tapped a hoof to her chin and everything. "You." She eventually settled on.

"Me?" Cadance questioned incredulously.

Silver nodded, like she was agreeing on the colour of the sky. "Yeah, you, specifically. You're the crux of all of this."

"Why? What did I do to you?"

Silver stepped forwards, her eyes closed, and a breath of air sucked into her body for the first time in probably thirty minutes. She got right up close to Cadance, who didn't back down, until they were practically muzzle to muzzle. "You woke me up." She grumbled. "Call it... Spite." Then the smile came back. That angry, sickening, empty smile.

Silver brought Cadance out to parties. Silver cried and made stupid jokes. Those weren't lies, they couldn't have been. Silver told her she was pregnant, Silver cared about her. It didn't make any sense. If anyone cared for Cadance, the last thing they would do was genocide her subjects.

WHY. WHY-WHY-WHY!

Silver couldn't've just been evil. There was no chance. There wasn't any way to believe that Quick Silver had just been playing her the entire time. Even though she said she was, many times. Even though it all made sense. Even though all the evidence pointed to that, and that alone.

I... I can't have...

Cadance had failed. Reforming Silver? Funny. Protecting her subjects? She couldn't control Silver, her only option now was...

"Celestia."

"Go get her." Silver shot back.

"I-" Cadance blanched, "I will."

"She'll kill me." Silver answered.

"... I... I know..."

"There's the realization." Silver's smile split her muzzle. "You've had the answer this whole time. Just one letter, and it's over. The nightmare ends, all you gotta do is write a letter, it wouldn't even be you doing the deed." Silver tilted her head, "Actually, if you feel like waiting here for a moment, I'll get you the quill."

"Stop it Silver."

"Right, because we both know you won't. So don't threaten it." Silver said it sarcastically.

Would I?

The math was simple, and also wrong.

Cadance needed more time to think. Time she had already run out of. Time she'd run out of weeks ago. Luna had made it clear, Celestia didn't mix with the other immortals. Cadance had to assume that if she sent that letter, Silver would die.

"You're right. I won't." She hung her head.

"Then I've won, simple as that. You can't stop me, and I'm already halfway there." Silver, still touching distance, chuckled again, "The question is, Little Princess... What are you going to do about it? That's the part I'm deeply curious to know. Practically bursting at the seams."

The antagonism was starting to make Cadance want to cry. "What did I do to you? Why- just... why?" Cadance reiterated.

Silver shrugged. "Bye." Then she walked off.

Cadance stood in the shadow of a dead family's house and wondered where it had all gone wrong. She wondered what to do, and how, she wanted to know who she could get help from, but her mind only turned up blank. The only pony she could think of that could help her with something like this had walked away.

...

I'm so sorry.

Amber would have to wait. It all had to wait for her to fix her mistake.

Cadance took wing back towards The Spire. Hit, totally forgotten.

Author's Note

And there you have it.

What, like... 70 chapters in, and the main character has finally figured out the main plot conflict?

Whoo boy, we did get there. That's all that matters.

Getting closer

"So how does this work?" Cadance asked.

She was at Tack & Co. Point Flare was walking her through the operations grounds, showing her how they'd set up walkways and tarps, and those little cloth lines then ran between poles to set up impromptu barriers to show ponies where to stand in a line. They had paused operations today to do a dry run for the Crystal Solstice, Point Flare had invited Cadance, the whole place reminded her of an empty beehive. She could feel the experience and dedication of hundreds of ponies, but nobody was there.

There was only Cadance and Point Flare in the whole warehouse.

"The process or-"

"Everything, if you could." Cadance amended, "Silver's only mentioned vague details in passing, how does it all work?"

Point Flare made a face, "You know I can't tell you that Princess."

"I could shut this whole operation down, if it's dangerous. Black magics don't belong in civilian transportation." Cadance said it sarcastically, rhetorically. It wasn't meant to be a threat... just a warning... totally not side speak. Cadance wouldn't do that.

Cadance was still hoping that she could find something out of her control to blame for shutting down the Crystal Solstice on. Something that wasn't her. She needed something to work with, anything.

Flare laughed, "Oh Princess, if there's one thing I learned from Quick Silver, it's this." She gestured out towards the warehouse, "Everything can be dangerous." Her horn lit with fire, and Cadance watched a gust of smoke lift one of the velvet ropes, "If we arranged these just so, we could confuse a bunch of ponies, and that's just rope!"

Cadance frowned, "You know that's not what I mean."

"I can assure you, everything we do here is safe."

"Even the portals?"

Come on...

Flare nodded, "Yup! Even those."

...

"How do they work?"

Flare dropped the rope, and the flame coating her horn doused itself. "Weeeeeell~ I can't really tell you... I know, I know, I probably should, but... Silver's Orders."

You have no idea who she is. Okay Cadance, you can do this.

If Cadance couldn't cancel the Crystal Solstice, she'd find someone else who could. Point Flare was the de-facto leader of her group, if she could change Flare's mind about Silver then there was a chance it would all come crashing down.

"To change the subject, how is Silver?"

Flare raised an eyebrow, "Didn't you two get into a shouting match a few days ago?"

"Oh that?" Cadance fake laughed, "That was just a-a... uh, well you know how Silver gets."

Flare's eyebrow remained raised.

Think. Formulate. Project.

"We butt heads." Cadance stated, followed by a deep breath. "Silver jumping into the noble scene cold made a lot of noise in the inner circles... especially because she's so..."

"Herself?" Flare offered.

Cadance felt a hint of disbelief, and was that... sorrow? Was she upset about something?

"Yes. Herself."

"You two don't argue like stately officials." Flare commented, the hint of suspicion weaving its way into her tone.

"Ah-hah. Could you get through to Silver by talking serious shop?"

"Yes." Flare responded with zero hesitation. "Silver's always been a listening teacher. She might get annoyed when my questions are dumb... but she still always answers me." Cadance ignored Flare's annoyed tone.

Really? Please teach me how to- oh. Right...

"That must be nice." Cadance deadpanned.

Point Flare made a face, and turned away from Cadance and trotted on down the warehouse floor. "Anyways, as you can see, everything is set up like the night of." She pointed outwards to the winding rope lines, "Everything but the portals, of course. Keeping them running all day for just a show and tell would be a waste of power."

You're losing her Cadance

"How much power do they use?" Cadance asked conversationally. She needed to move this dialogue one topic over.

Flare's disbelief intensified. "It's really not so much how much. It's more about stability."

Did she just lie?

"So... the longer the portals are open, the less stable they become?"

Flare looked at the ground. "Yeah, something like that-I- I'm not a technician, so I wouldn't know. You'll have to ask Misty." Then Flare trotted off again, at a quicker pace.

Cadance followed after, her nervousness growing. She wouldn't say she was desperate, but after a whole day of planning...

Cadance had nothing. Aside from shutting down the whole Crystal Solstice, Cadance didn't have any options. She couldn't just open up an entire new event for Crystal Ponies, every staff member and bit the palace had to spare was focused on making sure everything ran smoothly. There was no going back. No easy, scot free way to disrupt Silver's plan. That was the worst part of it.

Silver's plan wasn't really the whole of the issue. If Cadance could solve the Crystal Pony morale issues, then Silver could achieve little to nothing. She was just pushing in the right direction, and exacerbating the problem. It would get too bad too quickly for Cadance to stop. There were so many details Cadance hadn't considered, and it was all too late.

Yet, Cadance wasn't to the point of hoping for the best after. She couldn't grasp how Silver even went about dealing with ponies on the individual level. How was that even possible? Stopping any Crystal Ponies from forming new bonds? If anything, it was a sign that Cadance was failing as the Princess of Love.

The bubbling anxiety? The need to do something? She was trapped in her own head.

Okay. I'm just going to be direct.

"Point Flare." Cadance said, "I'm... I have to be honest with you."

Flare's ears perked, "You're not really here for an inspection?"

"Er- yes. Uh..." Anyways "I made a mistake."

Flare narrowed her eyes, "What kind of mistake."

"Like all things recently, it has to do with Silver."

Flare waited.

"You see... oh, how do I explain this?"

How do I explain this...

Cadance started off slowly, "Tack & Co.... it's a trick. A complex plot to damage the Crystal Empire. I let it fester, and now it's too late to do anything about it. Silver's not just immortal, she's... deranged, she wants to hurt ponies."

"I understand."

"You do?"

Flare whirled on her, "You think! You..." The angry look melted away immediately. Point Flare was upset, but above that, she was confused. "You sent me to Silver to learn magic. You want me to teach at your school, and now you... you want to shut down everything Silver's created?" Confusion meshed into resolve, "Yeah. I understand, Silver told us you'd try something like this, that you'd try and undermine her for something. So-" Flare shouted, "No!"

Oh crud

"No... Princess." Flare turned, "I don't know why you'd turn on her, but she hasn't betrayed you. If you want me to show you the rest of our facilities, I will, but..." Flare looked back at Cadance, "I'm not getting involved in whatever rivalry you have. I don't know the complexities, but Silver is a good mare, and I'm not going to... help you with whatever it is you're trying to do."

That was it.

Now among feeling betrayed, Cadance was embarrassed, Point Flare was onto her in the first line, and Cadance was so desperate to get something done that she'd overlooked the obvious.

Of COURSE Silver would warn everyone about you filly! Duh! She has nothing to hide! She's not technically ever done anything wrong! Well... aside from public use of blood magic, which you pardoned her for. UGH!

"Princess Cadance?"

"Huh," Cadance focused herself.

"Are you okay?"

Concern, confusion, fear.

"You look angry."

Get a hold of yourself Cadance.

"I'm sorry for wasting your time, Point Flare."

What are you doing.

Cadance spread her wings, "Thank you, genuinely for your hard work for the celebration, I know what organizational work can be like."

You have to do something.

Flare looked about as satisfied at Cadance's end to the conversation as Cadance felt. There were rules. She couldn't light her horn and blow the top of the warehouse off, despite the fact that she could; the fact that she wanted to. It would be...

So easy. A little destruction. Could they repair it in a week?

Stop it Cadance.

Cadance sent a smile towards the other mare. "Goodbye for now Flare. Don't worry, I know my way out." Cadance flapped and flew away.

~~Dear Prin~~

~~Dear aun~~

~~Luna, I made a huge mistake. It was exactly how you said, Silver tricked me and now I don't know what to do. I know you won't want to get involved, but I need help, I~~

~~Princess Luna, as a fell-~~

~~So... Silver's 'harmony' training isn't going as planned, and~~

~~I have no idea what~~

Dear Princess Celestia

I lied to you. Dusk Swirl did escape. They took on the guise of Quick Silver and took on the Crystal Empire with a vengeance. She tricked me, and now the Empire is heading for something I can't stop. I-

Cadance let the quill in her magic drop.

...

What are you doing Cadance.

What am I doing.

The quill raised again, and the quill settled on the page.

Just one letter. Celestia deals with it. The Solstice gets canceled, a pony tried to hijack it. What else could I do? It's not my fault.

The quill wavered.

Who are you trying to trick? Even if Celestia doesn't hurt Silver, you'd still be condemning her.

Cadance had run out of ideas. After flubbing getting something from Point Flare, all she had left was sending that letter. She couldn't do anything else. Silver had said: 'I win.' All the pieces had been set and moved before Cadance was paying attention.

Except... She could still kick over the board. She could still get Celestia.

Unless.

Unless that was part of the plan too. How much had Silver thought about this exact moment, of Cadance leaning over a page, trying to will herself to do something she shouldn't? Cadance was wasting time doing nothing, Silver had propped up this moment constantly.

Could it be a red herring?

Silver said Celestia could beat her, but was that a lie?

Celestia stood less than a hoof from Silver at the gala.

Silver constantly lied, but then claimed to not be a liar, and then told the truth to prove it.

This...

The quill straightened up again.

Silver is your friend.

I was never Silver's friend.

I don't know her.

She's going to hurt so many ponies.

Is it even really her fault?

Is it mine?

I-

The door to Cadance's office opened. Shining nosed his way inside. He was like that, Cadance didn't know how, but Shining could tell when she was in a mood. This particular mood was a bit extravagant.

"Hi honey."

So extravagant that Cadance made the attempt to hide it.

Shining frowned from the doorway at her greeting and walked over to her desk. He wasted no time, and looked straight at the page she had been scribbling on. He saw her asking for help, saw her inner thoughts of confusion, betrayal and failure. Cadance could tell how upset he was that she hadn't told him herself, but she sat on her cushion and watched him read. At least it was happening now. It was one thing that didn't have to be in her control. The inner turmoil came to a peak when Shining snorted and looked up at her.

He raised an eyebrow.

So Cadance told him everything. Funny, she'd gone three total days without spilling her guts. A record for her.

She ranted as the sun was going down and whined about how confusing it all was. Not Silver, though the name came up frequently. Being a Princess. Being responsible. Being a ruler. It was all so complicated, and nobody would sit down and talk to her about it, it always had to be some adventure. Some complex plot. There were always games and ponies who wanted things that didn't even benefit them.

There were a few tears, no bawling or crying. Cadance wasn't sad, the tears just rose with her emotion as she ranted, and she was too focused on showing her husband how she felt to cry properly. Then she started talking about her baby, and being pregnant. She yelled about that.

Ruling a kingdom? Being a mother? A wife? A sister? A role model? A friend?

Cadance couldn't do any of them. Much less all of them at the same time.

For the first time in the better part of that year, Cadance truly thought about everything she'd done. All of the points in ruling the Crystal Empire that lead her to this moment.

And she... didn't want it.

She didn't want to be a Princess.

She'd finally felt like she'd seen what it meant, and she wished out loud for her horn to fall from her head.

She couldn't believe that she'd ever wanted this.

The only thing that was right was...

Right in front of her, with a neutral line across his face, staring unblinking as she ranted and raved about everything wrong with her life. He was an immovable cavern for her voice to fall into, and she knew that he was memorizing every word. She felt the resolve in his core, and the Love, and the worry. He knew he couldn't truly help her. All he could do was be a witness, and it was tearing him up inside.

It was tearing her up inside.

A thought struck, something Silver had yelled at her.

"Let's run."

Shining's ears twisted.

"Let's... find an island somewhere. We can have our baby, we... it can just be us, no one can make us stay here."

Cadance knew she shouldn't have said it. She was mentally resisting the words as they came out. She rationalized that it was an option maybe. Maybe if Shining said yes, she could really think about doing it.

Shining blinked. Hard.

Cadance felt his inner turmoil shift up and away from her, to focus on something else.

"Sure." He said, almost humorously. Cadance could tell he was being serious. "I'd follow you anywhere Cadance."

Cadance looked away.

Of course he'd say that...

Oh...

You can't...

but-

No.

Abandon everything?

Everything that doesn't matter.

Since whe-

Shining is all that matters.

"Cadance."

Cadance shook her head, she'd zoned out. Shining looked worried. He felt worried.

And then Cadance realized how she was treating him.

She flinched, physically, as it sank in why Silver had yelled at her.

She was actually considering tearing Shining away from his family. From Twilight, from his parents. From Spike. From his guard friends, and Shining was about to go along with it, because of course he would. Cadance was about to play god with the stallion who loved her more than anything; she was so trapped in her own head that she hadn't noticed when her perspective changed from loving him to owning him. She'd been using him as a crux to keep herself stable, and he'd been there at her side every step of the way.

The worst part is that he knew. He wasn't some dumb colt. Cadance had been emotionally unavailable for the better part of the year, maybe even past that, maybe the whole time, and he knew. He didn't care. It didn't matter to him. He Loved her. She'd just gotten so distracted. Cadance was just so confused, Cadance had to balance so many things. Cadance. Cadance. Cadance. It was always about Cadance.

Cadance...

Cadance...

What is wrong with you?

And then she started crying. She just couldn't hold it in anymore. She pulled her hooves in, her wings came down around her. She sat across from the husband she felt like she had alienated and started to ugly-cry.

Shining came around the desk, because he would. He knew not to jump in and hug her. All he did was sit as close as possible to silently be there with her as she cried. It stung. It stung that he knew so well what she wanted, and it only brought more tears.

That evil question resonated through her mind again.

What is wrong with you?

A shiver ran up her spine to accompany the choked crying.

Cadance had no clue what she was doing. All she knew was that she was doing it wrong. No wonder Celestia never married. Somewhere in between her huffs, Shining's aura lifted up her letter and crumpled it into a ball. It joined the others in the can. Cadance sniffled.

"It's okay." He said softly. As warm as he possibly could. His voice rumbled with the tone, and it drew her attention.

"It's not okay." She disagreed.

"You're overreacting." He countered.

Cadance blinked, and a hiccup interrupted her tears as her face grew cold and the blush fled from her face.

His hoof came to rest on her shoulders. "It's not as bad as you think it is."

Cadance looked at him like he'd grown a second head. She looked like a proper mess, so it likely didn't end up being the look she was going for, but Shining smiled and rubbed her back while leaning into her.

"Of course it looks bad from where you're sitting, but you keep forgetting that you're not alone."

I'm not alone?

"You took on Silver by yourself. You tried to take on The Empire, by yourself. You keep thinking you're above it all, that you can do anything all by yourself." Shining smile-frowned, "I used to think you were right. My immortal Princess, incapable of failing, impossible to beat, perfect."

He bumped her. "Perfect is being flawed, and you never did it all alone. It was hard to see, but your greatest strength was always the ponies you loved. Twilight, Luna, Me." He took a deep breath, and Cadance watched his neck strain as he forced out, "Silver..."

"I don't-"

"You do." Shining interrupted her. "You wouldn't stick your neck so far out for her if you didn't. That's something I... I know it's cliché, but I Love that about you." He chuckled, "You don't have any patience. The moment you find someone who will take your Love, you're all in, all the time. You'll meet a pony on the street, and then I'll hear about how they're doing months down the line and wonder when you had the time to check on them. That's all you cared about when I met you in Canterlot. Ponies. Whoever you could Love. It was your mission."

Cadance had no response.

"So stop worrying." He joked, "No really. Stop." He didn't joke. "You can do this. You just need to get out of your own head. Get Silver out of your head, because you can do this. Buck if I know how, but I know you, and I know you'll figure something out."

...

Was it that simple?

Could she?

Would she?

Cast away all of the confusion and worry? The doubt?

Just shut up and do it?

...

There was a Spark.

It was the same feeling she felt when she defeated Prisma and ascended. It was the feeling of doing the impossible, of bridging the gap, of knowing that you could do anything. Prisma had said yes then, it was everything Cadance had wanted. She'd known she could do it, and she did. It was that simple.

Cadance took a breath.

What would I do?

...

Her wings spread.

I would stick to my principles.

Her horn lit.

I would do what I would.

Cadance wiped the snot from her face.

I would win.

The energy flowed.

I'd do something so impossible, that nobody saw it coming.

Cadance felt alive.

Down beneath the Spire, the Crystal Heart shone and spun with barely contained magic.

Homeward was outside.

It was night.

She was feeling the emotion that one would feel when stalking through the back alleys of Trottingham, not the glowing streets of the Crystal Empire. That being said, she was avoiding the main roads. If one had been paying attention from her walk that started at the base of the Spire and followed it on her route all the way home, one might even say she was trying to hide from something.

She was, of course.

It just so happened that she didn't know what exactly it was she was hiding from. She had betrayed Cadance once, it wasn't her fault, that's what she told herself. The ponies that cornered her were pushy and angry, they took the files even though there wasn't anything important in them. They wanted to know things about Cadance, and her intentions for the Crystal Faire. They wanted her to be their inside pony. At the time, she had said yes.

But Cadance was so nice to her. She trusted her.

So then Homeward stopped sending them letters. Stopped making copies of the documents that Rim filed away.

She stopped helping them and there'd been nothing but silence for the whole week.

So she was taking an extra safe route home. An extra-extra safe route. Courtesy of Blue Skies, a lawyer Cadance had hired on to their group to help with the legalese. She also happened to be a local, and knew her way around. Blue acted like she'd never had a friend before, so it wasn't hard for Homeward to work that information out of her, despite it being morally wrong. Homeward rather have the itch and apologize for it later, rather than freak out all the time when she was going home for the night.

She was turning past another back end of an old closed down bakery when her nose pressed into something invisible.

There was a split second where whatever it was shimmered, and she saw the outline of a bubble before the sheet she walked into flexed and pushed her back. She fell back onto her flanks, and gasped. The short time she spent rubbing her nose on reflex twisted from annoyance to terror as a pair of ponies appeared around the corner, from the other side of the shield.

Homeward lit her horn for the light.

The arcane visibility let her see the bounds of the bubble she'd been caught in, barely. That, and the two... Very large, suited Crystal Stallions that approached. The first one stepped through the bubble. Homeward's eyes widened, and she stumbled backwards onto her hooves again.

"Good evening Homeward." He said in a way that clearly indicated what kind of evening she was about to be having.

"Listen, I-"

"Calm down, miss." He interrupted, "We're not here to hurt you."

Homeward thought it was ironic that they had to say that.

"I just have a few questions to relay to you." He spoke evenly, he was a professional. Homeward had met his ilk before. Body guards, muscle. He kept stepping towards her, she kept stepping backwards. "Like why your stream of information stopped? Did you get caught? Maybe... you found something big, and needed to talk with somepony else?"

"I-" Homeward's tail pressed against the edge of the bubble, and she sat back down to get as far away from him as she could.

His expression remained unchanged as he came to a stop close enough to loom over her. "Don't lie to me."

Homeward tried to stop the shakes that ran up her hooves. Her horn light flickered. "I- It's- Cadance, and..."

"Really miss. Calm down. You're safe. The bubble is just insurance that you don't run."

Homeward tried to swallow her fear. "I don't know why you'd need that to begin with, if you're not going to hurt me."

The stallion chuckled. It was mirthless, "Look at how scared you are of us already. We haven't even done anything to you."

She could feel the heat from his breath from how close he was. The words were a lie. She had to be careful.

"I don't want to do this anymore. I can't. You'll have to find somepony else." She stuttered out. It was clear enough.

He frowned and looked back towards the other stallion, giving Homeward a chance to breathe. It was a short moment. A moment she let herself hope he'd accept that and leave her alone. He turned back to her, unfortunately, that would not be the case.

"Well that won't do." He snarked, talking like he was making voices to a puppy. "We need somepony on the inside-"

"Get somepony else!" She shouted, "There's plenty! I can't!"

"There isn't anypony else we can use." He countered, "We've tried. Everypony close to the Princess is tight lipped or... strong." He leaned forwards, "Not like you. You have a lot to say, why can't you help us? That's all that we're asking."

Homeward was at a loss. The danger was clear, but this was Equestria. Getting mugged in an alley was unheard of, practically impossible. Except it was happening to her, it was political, and she was definitely in danger. "All of the information is public." She answered, "You don't need a pony on the inside."

"Oh, but we do." Despite already being deep inside her personal space bubble, the stallion just kept getting closer. "You know, all of the juicy office gossip? Cadance's reports in the morning. Things like that. That wouldn't be too hard, would it?"

"I-" Homeward hardened her resolve. They wouldn't actually hurt her. It was intimidation. By Celestia was it good intimidation, but that's all it was. "I just can't. Cadance is a good mare. I don't know what you want from me, or her, but nopony deserves to be spied on."

"Hmmm..." He turned to look at his partner again. Then stepped away. He walked to the other end of the bubble and started to 'tsk' "Homeward. Homeward. We're not here to hurt you." He reached a hoof into his suit and whipped out a stick that folded open with a 'snap-crack!' "We're not here to hurt you." He repeated, "but we will."

Homeward pressed backwards into the bubble more.

"This information is important."

"Wait-"

The stallion spun back around to face Homeward. The look on his face said it all.

Homeward cracked. "Wait! I'll do it! I'll help you!"

The stallion approached. "Too late. You already went silent on us already."

Homeward tried to speak, but the fear stole her words, her breathing was coming too fast. The bubble around where she was pressing back into was deformed to fit most of her backside, but it wasn't nearly far enough away.

"Let's see what a broken horn looks like, shall we?"

He raised the stick.

Homeward tracked it with her eyes, and then the sky exploded.

Far away, the heart had been activated, except it wasn't like before, when Homeward had been in the blast radius. The aurora in the sky shone not with blues and pinks, but with red, with passion and fire. There was gold and whites that twisted and danced around the rage and the push against what shouldn't be. What wasn't fair.

It filled Homeward with... Determination.

More importantly, it distracted the stallion long enough for her to leap into his face and deliver a one-two kick right to his snoz. He grunted and stepped back, and Homeward used her telekinesis to try and wrench the stick from his hoof while throwing her shoulder forwards to disorient him.

In the struggle, neither of them noticed the other stallion disappearing.

He shoved her back, and she flashed a directed cone of light into his eyes. The beam shone through his faceted crystal face, but the switch from telekinesis to flashbang freed the stallion's stick hoof for a swing. The hoof rather than the stick came at Homeward's head, and she moved to take it in the shoulder, but the strength behind the swing still sent her onto her side.

She tried to roll, but a kick stopped that.

The fight was over. He stood over her with a bloody nose, and grunted out an "Okay. Let's try that again." He raised the stick again, and Homeward clenched her eyes shut. Her ears came next, clamping over her skull when there was the sound of sound breaking, and glass shattering. It took a second for the reverberation to stop, before Homeward's adrenaline mentally noted that she had remained unharmed.

She lifted her head and an eye cracked open, only for her to yelp and scramble back as her vision was filled with another pair of eyes, cerulean. A mare, a silvery one, had appeared and gotten up in her face while she was cowering.

"Excuse me." The mare said, while Homeward continued to scramble away.

Homeward calmed, and her eyes glanced over to the stallion, who lay crumpled on the ground. She looked back towards the silver mare, now identifiable as a pegasus, as she stood up straight and hefted a massive rifle looking thing over her shoulder. There was white smoke wafting from the business end of it. Homeward wasn't sure how she identified it as a weapon, but she had.

"I noticed you were in a bit of a bind, and well-" The mare waved a hoof, "I just couldn't help myself." She took another few steps forwards and offered a hoof to Homeward.

Homeward, in a daze, took the offered hoof and hefted herself back up onto all four legs. There was a pinch at her side. "Ow!" She jerked her hood back and looked at the bruising on her right side, where the pinch was. The purple under her fur disappeared in a wash of strange tingly sensations.

"There we are." The mare was looking too. "All better. Homeward, was it?"

"Uh- yeah." She answered dumbly, "What-how do you know my name?"

The mare took her by the shoulder, "I've seen you around. You're actually a pretty big name you know? Lot's of things to pay attention to with you." Homeward turned to look over her shoulder at the stallion, but the silver mare nudged her nose the other way. "Nah-ah-don't worry about him. He's just resting." She joked with a hint of menace. Then she smiled and rolled her eyes, "No seriously, he's fine. That was a joke. Sorry, I'm used to poking fun at somepony else's sense of humor."

Homeward's pounding heart had no idea what was happening, but she was being lead away from the scene. That, and the silver mare was strong. Whenever Homeward tried to slightly move in some other direction than where she was being pulled, the pressure of the hoof over her back would slightly increase to match, and keep her walking until she was led out of the alley.

"Go on home. Homeward." The mare said from her side, "Stay safe."

Homeward stumbled forwards from a gust of wind. She turned to the side, and the mare was gone.

Homeward looked back into the alley for a split second before turning tail and running down the road towards her dinky crystal apartment.

Unnamed Interlude Chapter to Do Foreshadowing and Check in on Luna

Selene's Perspective

Dusk in the Canterlot Palace was boring for a guard.

That's what Lun- rather, that's what Selene had learned during her time standing vigil in the hallways. It was something she realized in her first week pretending to be a guard...

Pretendings...

She wasn't 'pretending' in that sense. Luna had fought wars, she knew what a real soldier was meant to do, she remembered her honor guard...

Real guards.

Selene let out a breathless sigh. Not moving from her statuesque form, it was dumb and backwards, but Selene was still going to do it properly. She had as much self respect for herself at least. The situation made her realize how much the guards must miss her presence. Luna's presence...

She was the only pony who wandered these halls when night fell, she nodded respectfully to the guards and they stood a hair taller and straightened their backs. It was all so... sideways. It was so close to being something she might remember, but it was all so far away.

Maybe this was a bad idea...

The thought struck again. It usually did, at least once per night. Luna knew better than to let thoughts like that register in her mind, but... Did Selene? Selene came here for a job. Luna came here to change her life. Selene didn't have anything else, neither did Luna, they were both so unsatisfied and couldn't find anywhere to fit their satisfaction. Like a puzzle piece you couldn't hold while going through the whole process blindfolded.

And it was boring. Meditation was out, Luna knew how to meditate, not Selene. Selene was meant to be abrasive and impulsive, half of what Luna wanted to be to all the strange things that didn't make any sense, or put forth the effort to explain themselves. Of course, that fell by the wayside as Selene was trapped in the forsaken hallways, swallowed by Luna's thoughts.

At least being Selene gave Luna the justification to be confused. If Luna couldn't figure it all out, then she shouldn't worry about Selene figuring it out; it just couldn't be done by a mare barely a quarter of her age. It was okay to not have any answers while she was Selene. Selene was just a mare, just a pony, not a royal, not an alicorn. She didn't have to find the answers. Being confused and afraid was normal, it was okay for it to be normal.

Selene was broken from her internal spiraling by a trio of stallions coming around the corner, whispering to themselves. They were armored, and with years of experience reading-

Stop.

Selene had no clue what they were whispering about, she couldn't hear them clearly from where she was standing. Their relaxed postures and their smiles didn't tell her anything about what they were doing. All Selene saw were a hoof full of guards she vaguely remembered not at their posts.

Should I-no-say some-don't get involved-shut u-what is go-

Selene shut Luna out.

The black toned mare took a step forward as the stallions approached. They approached her specifically. "What is going on here?"

"Hey Noxa-"

Another stallion interrupted, "Shh-"

The third talked over the other two, "We-"

They all stopped and looked at each other while trying to decide who was meant to talk. Selene narrowed her eyes, it was intimidating enough, she was barely as tall as they were. "I recognize you all from the rotation. You're all meant to be guarding the east wing entrances on the third floor. What are you doing here?"

"How do yo-"

The stallion in the middle cut him off. "Ice, shut up."

The third spoke up, "You, actually."

"Me?" Selene's eyes narrowed a little more.

"Uh-"

"Guys we can't keep talking over each other-"

"Well then stop it!"

Selene felt the overwhelming urge to whack all three of them.

Pretending. Ugh.

One of them noticed her growing irritation and verbally jumped forwards. "We wanted to invite you to Climbers!"

The other two fell silent, and looked to Selene for a response. Her response was to intensify her glare. "I'm working."

"We know."

"Ice."

"Sorry."

"Let's try this again." The stallion in the middle gestured to his left, "That's Ice Ball," then to his right, "This is Foresight" then to himself, "And I'm Whirlwind. We kept noticing you timeslots on the rotation list an-"

"What about them, and why are you looking at my rotation order?" Selene knew he was about to explain that, but the interruption came from her days as a drill sergeant. Confuse, yell, disorient, all of the skills didn't just go away. The felt right in Selene too. That was okay, that was normal.

He stuttered for a second after her interruption, "Well- it's just that you're scheduled all night whenever you're on rotation. You don't sleep in the barracks, so nopony's even met you before."

"What about that is unusual?"

Foresight spoke, "You're the only guardsmare in the castle who takes full shifts."

Selene's face scrunched in confusion, "I am?"

She was greeted with three nods.

Luna had set up Selene's schedule. It may not have been as polite as possible to the staff organizing them, but working all night made sense. What else was a guard meant to do? Not work through the night? She was a nightguard? Why even suggest anything different? That made sense to Luna.

"Don't you take breaks?" Ice asked to the annoyed looks from Foresight and Whirlwind

Selene shook her head, missing the moment where she went onto the verbal defense. "No? Why would I take a break in the middle of a shift? It's only a single night."

The trio shared a look. Then Whirlwind chuckled, "They told us you were hard, but geez, you're not joking are you?"

"I don't joke." She monotoned, realizing the laughter was at her expense and not liking that at all.

Whirlwind frowned, "I mean that you take your job very seriously, that's all."

Selene snarled, "Of course I take my job seriously you coarse-furred baboon."

All three of them stepped back. Selene had spread her wings, she was angry; it was a good way to cover up all the hurt and confusion. The insult just slipped out. She didn't mean it, not really, it was just a distraction from Luna screaming in her head. Selene forcefully returned to parade rest. "What do you want. What is Climbers?"

Foresight nudged Whirlwind back, and Ice Ball started going around behind them as they all tangled over themselves to start leaving. "It's a guard exclusive club, that's clearly not your scene."

Oh.

"Yeah, we're really sorry for bothering you Noxa, we'l-"

Selene hadn't thought of what they were here for. Not yet. She desperately tried not to.

They were trying to invite her out with them for fun, because they noticed that she worked all of every night and didn't have any friends. Luna screamed in Selene's head that they'd found out she was lonely, and she wanted to dismiss her disguise right then and there. Then they could see what the trio really thought of her, and the alien thoughts swirling in Selene's head would be well and truly smothered by her responsibility as a Princess.

She could order them to return to their posts. She could silence it all for another few minutes. It could all go back to the painful but comfortable status quo.

"Selene." She tensed. All of them stopped moving.

"What?" Ice Ball stopped and comically blocked the other two, who also turned back to look at Selene's disinterested expression.

She spoke as if it was an obvious explanation. "We are brothers and sisters in arms. You will call me by Selene, using my Fore Name is unbecoming."

"Oh." Whirlwind shared a glance with Foresight who facially shrugged. "Sorry, uh, Selene?"

"Yes?"

Whirlwind made a face, not understanding what was going on anymore.

Colts.

Foresight spoke up. "You're not mad?"

Selene sent them a sideways frown. "Did you three leave your posts unattended?"

"No, of course not." They all shook their heads, Whirlwind continued, "We've got friends covering for us, whenever we want to-"

Whatever he said was blocked out by the word he said resonating in Selene's mind like a gong.

Friends.

Fix this. Fix it now.

Selene held up a hoof, "What makes you think a... club... isn't my scene?"

Ice Ball spoke before either of the other two could stop him. "You seem so straight laced?"

"I am." She responded, followed by waving her hoof, "So you think ponies that take their job seriously can't enjoy a good party? I'll have you know, I've been to a... uh, I've been around." She trailed off, she wasn't sure she should say she got so drunk she flew blind back to the palace from Manehattan after dancing and screaming her heart out with Princess Cadance and-

Luna tried screaming again.

Selene blinked hard. Her hearing came back into the moment.

"-ou're saying you'll go with us?"

"Naturally."

No.

Shut up Luna.

The stallions exchanged a pair of looks with each other, confusion and excitement.

"Really?" Foresight asked slowly.

Selene tried for a smile, it didn't really work, she settled on a neutral line instead. "Yes. Lead on stallions, I believe I now have to prove you all wrong."

Ice Ball continued talking, "What about your post?"

"Princess Luna hasn't walked these halls in weeks." Selene shrugged, "She won't care."

Foresight sent her a look of disbelief, but whatever he was about to say was muted by Whirlwind's excitement, "Well okay! Let's go!" Followed by him nosing Foresight forwards. Selene took up a position behind them, next to Ice Ball who started rambling about Climbers and how much she'd like it.

Selene tuned out the screaming.

Banana Split's Perspective

Nopony had listened to him.

He'd tried, and honestly? He made a fool of himself.

He waited until the transcript was filed, and it was exactly what had transpired, there was something to be said for the missing tone, but it just didn't matter. He couldn't get the time of day from anypony to listen to him gripe about the Princess, the first bad word about her marked him as crazy to the average. The few crystal ponies that had stopped and listened to him agreed with Cadance's course of action, exactly as she said they would.

The even fewer ponies he got through the whole transcript with, without pointing out how much of a tyrant Cadance was being generally confused about what the problem was.

Split was waiting at the train station. He was a mess, he needed to shower. He'd slept the last few nights in the Archives until the polite desk attendant who had also not listened to him gently told him that he had to leave, and stop accosting the hoof traffic.

The mare he'd gotten the book from was non-responsive. Exactly like she'd told him she'd be. He even found out where she lived, and was politely shoed off by somepony else. Every avenue had been shot, he had tried everything. All that was left was to go back to Equestria with his tail tucked, it was demeaning.

This was meant to be your big break Split. You finally had something. No more pro-bono cases, no more 'reputation'. Your name in lights, on the front page... You could have done some actual good. What are they going to say about you now?

The train station ran once after the moon went down. The Friendship Express on its midnight rounds of Equestria, one stop in the Empire at four AM.

It was midnight...

Banana Split sighed and readjusted the bag and briefcase over his shoulder, hoping it would keep him a little warmer. Ponies in the Empire didn't understand how cold it was. The bench wasn't doing him any good either, crystal made for bad seating conditions.

Everything about this trip has been a disaster.

Split didn't even have anything to go back to. A dinky apartment for ponies in Canterlot who didn't have familial connections. An office that didn't appreciate his skill, no real work, and only ever enough bits to feed himself and buy the expensive suits required for his job.

It's not fair. Stupid nobles, stupid Cadance.

Split snarled to himself.

I can't believe this. I can't believe all of those sheep would go along with her so empty minded. How could they not see it? She'll run this 'Empire' into the ground. Idiots! All of them!

He felt like getting up and kicking something over, shouting or cursing the world and the empty train station.

Except he had more composure than that. Not like a certain Princess that came to mind.

"Excuse me? Sir?"

Split shook his head and nearly jumped. The entire station was empty and silent. How a pony got up to him without making a sound was baffling. "What? Who are you? What do yo-?" He forced out as he sat up. He stopped talking when he spotted the indentation at the top of her cloak. It was a crystal pony, that was for sure, from the voice it was a mare. She had a purple coat and blue locks of shimmering hair drifting down from her hood, and of course-

A horn.

A... A unicorn crystal pony?

She took a step closer to his bench. He sat up a little straighter.

"I've heard word about what happened to you." She said calmly. "I think you and I need to talk."

Shining Armor's Perspective

Cadance, like always, was working herself into a tizzy over something that didn't matter.

A pair of days ago, Cadance accidentally triggered the Crystal Heart by herself. Since then, her mane and tail was all wavy and intangible and impossible to control. It made sleeping next to her a mild pain, waking up with his face completely enveloped in flowing mane was bothersome and very confusing. She had spent the last night fretting over it, and was doing so again tonight.

Shining stood in their bedroom, idling outside of the bathroom as Cadance lost another brush in her mane.

It had the tendency to eat the objects placed inside of it. They were currently four mane brushes down, and had only found the first one ten minutes ago when it fell out without warning.

To husband, or not to husband?

Shining silently chuckled to himself and pushed his way inside. Cadance stopped fussing for a moment. "Shiniiiiiiing! How do my aunties deal with this!" Cadance's telekinetic aura winked out as another brush fell into infinity. "Ugh! Stop it!"

"Blame Twilight, but I'm still curious about what happened." He said while sidling up next to her. In truth, he knew. He'd only slightly felt Cadance's growing magical power, now, it wasn't something he could ignore. As a guard, he'd been around plenty of explosive magic, and he'd seen a pony or two surging. It was like that, but still Cadance rather than raw explosive magic. There was a smooth flow that washed over him whenever she was near.

It helped him spot her from a distance, letting him get back at her for all those times she ruined a surprise by sensing him nearby.

Anyways.

Shining brought himself back into the moment and Cadance trying to find the hair brushes in her mane with both of her hooves.

"Honeeeey~" Shining led, "Maybe we can just leave it?"

"I look like a mess." Cadance sagged and stared at her reflection and turned her head to look down her side.

Shining internally coughed violently. "No you don't." A bump to her side. "You look gorgeous."

"Shining."

"Cadance."

"Ugh! How am I supposed to make wavy hair mix with baby bump!" She flared her wings, "There's no style for that!"

Shining shook his head, keeping his tone calm in opposition to Cadance's outlet-freakout-session. "Why do you care about how you look anyways?"

"Shining. I Love you, but the biggest celebration the Empire has ever seen is less than two weeks away and I look like-"

Shining interrupted, "A hot mess. Emphasis on the 'hot.'"

Cadance looked at him with the mixed desire to kiss him and also slap him over the head with a wing.

Shining bumped her again, and she sighed. "You look like a mom. That's what's happening. You really should just not worry about it." At Shining's comment, the energy left Cadance's shoulders and she sagged in place. Shining watched her fall into her own head like she tended to do.

...

"...Yeah..."

...

"You wanna worry about it instead of something else?"

...

"...Yeah..."

...

"Want me to freak out with you?"

...

"...Yes pleas-"

Shining screamed like a filly, Cadance gasped and started laughing immediately after the sudden and mareish scream. Another hairbrush fell out of Cadance's mane.

Time kept passing.

Ocean Beach and Blood

Author's Note

As the title suggests, this chapter contains blood, blood magic, and a large Lovecraftian fish horse. There's no gore, just blood. If that's not your thing, please don't damage your mental health by reading this.

Much love,
-Noobblue

Ocean Beach and Blood

Thursday.

Cadance was concerned. She'd kept her schedule clear still, just in case. She didn't know what Silver would try today.

It was almost comical. Cadance had gone from dreading their encounters, to a different kind of anxious dread, to enjoying them, right back to regular bargain bin dread. Cadance wouldn't let Silver trot all over her again, things had changed. Cadance was ready this time, if Silver even showed up.

Cadance wasn't sure what Silver thought of their last... conversation... argument...

There's a high chance that Silver will act like she doesn't care though.

Cadance was hoping she kept her schedule clear for nothing, Silver wouldn't show up, and she wouldn't have to deal with the genocidal maniac for the week. It was mostly the anxiety talking, and also, the fact that Cadance now saw the futility in their little meetups. At least... the futility Silver kept pointing out.

Everything's changed. Again.

If only it wasn't all so fast.

Cadance steeled herself as there was a knock on her door. It was past noon by a few hours, usually when Silver would show up. Not teleporting directly into her room as told.

"Heeeeeeey~"

Yup... That's Silver.

The mare pushed her way in through the door sideways, opening it as little as possible.

"I didn't invite you in."

"You never do." Silver countered, "How's it going Little Princess? I see I was right?"

Cadance followed Silver's gesture towards her stomach and its current size. She snorted. "We're not gonna talk?"

"I like your new look." Silver kept stalking forwards.

In Cadance's room. Towards her bed. The presence of the changeling behind her wasn't lost on her. It still bothered her. She had a killer in her bedroom, a pony who'd told all sorts of lies without words. Cadance had never felt so powerful, yet she still had no idea what to say.

"It's very..." Silver waved a hoof, "powerful."

Cadance stared and lit her horn as Silver came to a stop at the foot of her bed.

Silver stared back.

They both shared the same look. Determination, frustration; to an outsider, they were just blankly staring at one another. Not much of a confrontation, but enough for them. Cadance inhaled deep. Silver stopped breathing in response, her ear flicked.

The stare down shifted a few times. The tension melted and was filled with half rhetorical understanding. Then aggression, as the tension flowed back, a beat passed, and then Silver looked imperceptibly tired. It was a conversation Cadance knew she was having, but she didn't know the words.

"... Let's get some air." Cadance spread her wings, and used her magic to open the window.

It wasn't a balcony, Cadance wasn't sure she'd fit, but Silver quietly, no- silently walked to the open window. She moved like a ghost, and stepped through without fanfare. Cadance clambered down off her bed sideways, and made a far more serious effort to get out the window. Silver helped, guiding her out with a hoof, keeping her leveraged on the opposite side.

"There ya go." She said as Cadance spread her wings again and took flight properly.

The sky was open. At least until the shield, behind all the 'open sky' was a raging snowstorm that would do its best to smother her in cold and ice.

Needlessly poetic.

Silver made towards the southern end of the sphere, where the farms were, Cadance maintained her altitude on the band of air they were hovering on. "Feeling introspective today Little Princess? You're quiet."

Cadance rolled her jaw and continued to follow. Her horn stayed lit silently, the normal twinkling of the arcane didn't overcome the signal masking from the wind.

"I see."

Silver angled herself, Cadance watched the winds twist around and catch on Silver's wings. She felt the air move a few hooves from her side. Silver was coasting along in a stream of pegasus magic, how? She had no idea, but she knew she could flap a certain way, drop Silver out of the sky if she wanted to.

The maneuver left Silver closer to Cadance as they flew.

"I'm sorry. By the way." Silver whispered. Cadance knew Silver knew that she could hear it over the wind. It was acting, whether it was done to trick Cadance, or express what Silver was feeling, Cadance had no idea; she didn't try to figure it out either.

This time, Cadance listened.

Silver let a moment pass before continuing, "I didn't want to leave you alone in the street. After that bombshell. I knew how you were feeling, I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry."

You knew how I was feeling because you're millennias old, and you're about as much as an empath as I am.

That's why you left.

Cadance spoke at the same volume, knowing Silver could hear her even if she hadn't said anything. "I'm sorry for saying all of those hurtful things." Cadance exhaled and flapped into the wind for another breath of fresh air. There was nothing like the gust of cool air from the sky passing into her snout.

Grief.

Silver tried to chuckle, Cadance saw it in her lower jaw, and in her neck. Something else broke through the façade and stopped her, instead, Silver flapped and shook her head. "I forgave you already. You don't have to apologize."

I'm sorry.

Then Cadance felt something.

I forgive you.

Silver's ear flicked, and then she began to descend.

Cadance released her spell, holding Silver's curse at bay.

They both flew down towards a field and touched down gracefully. Silver was a bit more on the side of 'cannonball falling onto the ground' gracefully, but they both landed nonetheless. Cadance missed flying.

"So, you remember to bring some sea snacks? You don't get seasick do you?"

Cadance steeled herself and her mind. She remembered, but she was more concerned about Silver as a whole than where they were going.

Where are we going?

Of course, the main question was how they were going to get there.

Silver moved like a cat, stalking around in a circle around Cadance. It was her version of pacing, apparently. "I was actually going to teach you the secrets behind continental teleportation."

"I never figured out regular teleportation..." Cadance trailed off. How was that supposed to even work? There was a hard capacity to teleportation distance, even Cadance knew that, and she'd flunked the first class on thaumatic law she'd ever taken.

"Well, the good thing is that it's a totally different concept." Silver kept circling, "It has everything to do with what distance actually is, higher concept stuff, for creatures like us."

Creatures like us...

"Ageless creatures. So it goes without saying..." Silver trailed off with an inflection, prompting Cadance for an answer.

"Don't go talking about it." Cadance finished for her. "Are those pantheon rules? Is that what it's called?"

Silver tilted her head all the way to the side and smiled at her sideways.

Okay.

"Tell me, what is-" Silver paused for dramatic effect, and then pointed upwards, "The Sun?"

"The sun?" Cadance asked

"No. The Sun." Silver corrected

Cadance took a second to think about it. She wasn't really sure. It was fire, flame, heat, energy... She understood that implicitly, but to put it into words was outside her wheelhouse.

Silver's head returned to a normal position, and she started stalking around again. "Safe to say, you know that if you flew into The Sun, it wouldn't end very well, yes?"

Cadance let out an unprincessly snort at the question, "Yes. I know that, at least."

"So-it stands to reason that anything else near or in The Sun, not having a good time, yes?"

Cadance nodded.

"So, how close is The Sun, exactly, to Equestria?"

Hmmm...

"I'm not sure?"

Silver jumped up, "Bingo!" She spun and grabbed Cadance by the shoulder, "I'm surprised you got it in one guess!"

"Huh?"

Silver raised her hooves for air quotes, "Not Sure." then she stepped away, "That's exactly correct. The Universe isn't sure where The Sun is either. Blame Discord." Silver pointed up, "It's up there, that's for certain, and it's close enough that it can warm us during the day, but not so close that it explodes or consumes The Diamond Mountain."

The Dia-

Silver interrupted Cadance's thought. "The name for what you're standing on currently, as a reminder. The Mother, Gaia, to the Kirins, and an old cult of Nox-Cal on the other side of the world. Her title is The Diamond Mountain, Equestria."

"So... Equestria is..."

"One of the immortals? Yes, one of the first. Probably as old as Discord."

"Okay." Cadance smiled, "I'm not sure how that makes sense to me, but it does."

Silver shrugged and blinked, "It happens."

"What does that have to do with The Sun?" Cadance questioned, still only slightly following.

I'm glad you love teaching so much.

Silver stutter stepped. A sign she'd heard Cadance's thought. She ignored it though, and kept circling. "Distance, when you get into the nitty gritty of the magical sciences, doesn't matter." Silver stopped and made eye contact, "No really, distance basically isn't real." She broke and kept circling.

"In order to get from here to there, we're going to do what is loosely called 'stepping', thaumatically referred to as pysiofractal-astromanifestation. A mouthful, the most common name for it is translocation."

Silver side eyed Cadance as she chuckled internally. "That sounds like a far simpler name."

"It's a bit of a misnomer." Silver said, before resuming her pacing. It was starting to make Cadance a little dizzy. Every few moments Silver would pass in front of her again, elegantly moving a different way while talking. "And I've only known two ponies who can use it at will, one of which is Luna, she uses the Astral Sea to do it, the other one is dead."

Cadance kept her emotions in check, she didn't think about asking.

"Translocation for immortals is simple. You have to connect with what you're trying to get to. You understand that, you learned it a few days ago." Silver pointed at her mane, "Despite not knowing why, you now understand. Perspective is magic, understanding is energy, comprehension and experience fundamentally alter you. As an Alicorn, these things affect you even more so."

Cadance nodded.

"So find it." Silver stopped. "Reach out to the Ocean. Not the sea, the Ocean. Find it, and feel it."

Cadance questioned it. She wondered how such a thing was possible.

"You can feel emotion." Silver stated, "You can feel The Sun on your back. Start there."

Cadance did. She'd paid attention when Celestia was teaching her magic, Celestia was far more of a 'professor' than Silver was. Always encouraging Cadance to figure it all out herself, with only guiding nudges. Cadance felt The Sun. The warmth, the heat. There was a duality to it, the energy burned away at the hide under her fur, but it also warmed her wings, the air around her. It was...

"Change." Cadance said, "Energy."

"And emotion?"

"The same." Cadance answered. "It's all Change. Magic is Change."

Silver nodded, "The measurement of experience of Time. Follow it down from the top."

Trying to stave off the growing epiphany, Cadance continued to focus.

Ocean.

She inhaled, and let her senses roam. She ignored The Sun, she ignored Silver, yet she didn't close her eyes or feel the grass under her hooves. It all shifted. She felt the salt reach her sinuses.

She felt small.

Water.

Alien sounds reached out to fill her ears.

What kind of Change is The Ocean?

She took another deep inhale.

Air. Pressure. Water. Life. Waves. Weight.

Change.

What did it all mean?

Cadance blinked... "What..." She looked off to her side, and the setting sun. "When did..." She trailed off, then turned to look at Silver. "How long was I..."

"A few hours." Silver said. "That was fascinating to watch. I wish I had brought my tools."

That felt like seconds.

"What happened?" Cadance asked, slowly.

"You're an Alicorn, Little Princess." Silver responded with a smile, she stood from her spot on the grass, and began to circle again. "You're part of the world, and the world responds when you reach out to it. It was just a little more than you were expecting. The Ocean isn't quite the same as a psychic construct unique to life, it's...more..." Silver spun her hoof, looking for the word.

"Primal." Cadance offered.

Silver pointed, "Exactly."

"So..." Cadance struggled to remember why they were doing this in the first place.

"Translocation."

Cadance nodded.

Silver stepped up to Cadance. "Give me your hoof."

She did. Silver wrapped her leg around Cadance's and took a step next to her until their sides were touching. Silver got close. It was a little too intimate for Cadance's liking, especially when Silver buried her muzzle in Cadance's mane.

"Reach out again. Imagine yourself being there. Then stop letting it be your imagination. It's a different kind of magic. You'll feel it."

Cadance didn't try immediately, though she didn't push Silver away. "I'm worried about getting... sucked down... into that."

"That's fair." Silver said from over her shoulder, "And you'd be right to be worried. I wouldn't dare suggest you try this without me here. You could very easily become Lost among Eternity."

Cadance held her concern in place. She'd trust Silver again, on this.

"And I am here. If you take me with you, you can't get hurt."

Okay.

Cadance thought to her.

Then she reached out again. This time, she knew what she was looking for.

The Ocean crashed into her mind, and her horn sparked.

It was... wrath, but elegant with beauty and danger. Vibrancy without colour, infinity with ending, depth in existence, it pushed and pulled against what was possible, but deep on the inside, Cadance felt the presence brush up against something inside her. She felt her heartbeat.

Her wings snapped open, and she felt the cold Ocean breeze under her. She was flying. She was over the Ocean, feeling the sky and the reflection of her own form peered back up from the crystal water, staring into her own imagination, at her real self.

It was a glacier.

Flowing in infinity.

Ice, that knew where she'd return.

It was life in death. It was a cycle of existence. It was purpose. All of them.

She flapped her wings and felt the breeze and took a breath as the sensations ran over her body in her mind. It was exactly like the feeling of triggering the Heart. That threshold that bordered the impossible breaking open.

And then she stopped imagining.

"Whoah!" Silver fell, as there was suddenly no ground for her to stand on. She caught herself a moment later.

Cadance kept flapping her wings through her surprise. "I- I did it..."

Around them both was an expanse of water. The sun setting on the horizon glistened like fire on the side of the waters in Cadance's field of view. She was here. She did it.

"Yeah- you really did." Silver monotoned from beneath her.

"I did it!" Cadance yelled as her mind caught up with what just happened. "I did it! Ha-Hah!" She did a quick loop in the sky, there was a whoop, and she brought herself down to be level with Silver. "Silver!"

Silver was smiling, but held up a placating hoof, "Cool it hotshot. Where are we?"

Cadance tilted her head and gestured outwards, "Where do you mean? We're at the Ocean? Right?"

Silver's gaze followed Cadance's hoof. "Right." She said slowly. "I'm going to be totally honest, I was expecting us to end up at a beach or something." Silver looked up, "It's almost night, so I can figure out where we are by the stars in a minute, but..." Silver flew down towards the water. "Might as well do this now."

She dove straight in, and there was a flash of cerulean magic that Cadance had to look away from.

When she looked back, Silver was half fish. Her wings and back legs had been replaced by a thick tail of corded muscle.

"You can turn into a seapony?" Cadance flew down towards the water where Silver was floating.

"Not a seapony. Hippocampus, very different civilizations, remind me to introduce you to Queen Nova."

"Nova? Don't you mean Novo?"

Silver raised a brow and sent Cadance a cheeky smile, "Ooooh~! So you do know her?"

Woops. Probably wasn't supposed to let that slip.

Silver waved a dismissive hoof.

"Only in passing!" Cadance protested.

"Are you gonna keep yapping? Or are you going to join me?"

Just jump in the water?

"Our destination is down." Silver pointed, "So you'll have to get a little wet eventually."

Cadance hesitated, "I'm not a very good swimmer."

"Don't worry, I hear Alicorns float."

Cadance stopped flapping, and worrying at the same time. There was a soft splash as she hit the water and extended her legs to start paddling. It was open water as far as the eye could see, so the waves weren't nearly as bad as they could have been. Keeping her head above water was simple.

"I can get you an air bubble, or transform you. Whichever you prefer." Silver said, after swimming up to Cadance. She also held out one of her front hooves. Instead of being just matted silver in colour, her leg was now covered in tiny, almost invisible scales that shimmered in the setting sunlight.

Cadance kept her mind silent. "You pick."

Silver rolled her eyes and held out her hoof a little further, Cadance took it, Silver spoke, "This'll be flashy. Close your eyes."

Cadance followed the instruction. She still saw the magic outside her eyelids. The cerulean glow probably changed the colours of the water for quite the distance, but overall, she didn't feel any different. She felt the magic expanding and shifting around her due to how close it was, but that was it.

She opened her eyes once it faded to see her back hooves missing. Her wings had turned into elongated webbed fins that ran down her back and onto a tail of meat. Unlike Silver, Cadance was jagged at the edges, and her front hooves were thicker at the bottom, cloven with what almost looked like claws. Her teeth were sharp too, she was a predator.

"Oh." Silver said dumbly.

Cadance looked back towards Silver after her look over herself.

Silver was blushing.

"Let yourself breathe in the water, it's going to feel odd, but not like you're drowning." Then she dove under the surface.

Cadance wasn't sure what to make of that, but she dipped her muzzle into the water and inhaled.

Yup. That feels odd.

It felt like drinking water, but it... it was breathing. Like if air were viscous. The only difference from drowning was that her body didn't revolt against it, and she didn't actually start to drown as she breathed in the water and exhaled more from her mouth. In short order, her sinuses, throat, and mouth were filled with the salty substance. It flowed through her body the same way air would have.

Really odd.

She dove down too.

As she dove down, her chest began to shine with arcane shapes that twisted over each other. Silver swam around her swiftly, clearly she had plenty of experience. Cadance's descent was... poor...

"Wha-"

Oh, that's weird.

Cadance reached up a hoof to her missing ears, she pulled a hoof away as she brushed up against something that stung.

"Don't do that." Silver swam and hovered next to her, "Your ears are on the outside of your head now, so don't go bumping yourself into things."

"I-" Cadance felt more like what she was now. Moments ago, it felt like just an illusion strapped over her. Now, she could feel the flexing muscles under her front hooves where she could press claws out. She didn't have the phantom sensation of having ears, and she-

"Do I have two hearts?"

Silver reached a hoof out to Cadance's side and waited for a moment. Her head tilted, "Technically there's three in there, but yes, you have two. Funny, I didn't mean for the spell to do that."

"Is that a problem?" Cadance asked, sans worry, if it was Silver was right there. She'd... not leave her stranded in the middle of the Ocean to die.

Silver rolled her head in thought, and Cadance watched her mane drift around in the water. It was sparkly and metallic like her fur used to be. "The spell is designed to have a target form, and a deviation for the pony in question, it takes cues from you, for things like colour and fin shape. Apparently it took so much of a que that it transformed you into a hippocampi subspecies." Silver gestured between the two of them, "I'm sure you can tell the difference."

Taking another look, Cadance could tell the difference. If Silver had turned into half a fish, Cadance had turned into half a shark.

Silver shrugged, "Apparently this subspecies has two hearts."

Cadance filed the questions away and locked the cabinet. "Where to next?"

Silver looked up, "We'll have to wait until The Sun goes down. We really do not want to get lost out here."

Cadance stared, silently asking for an explanation.

Silver nodded, and her 'teaching' tone came back. "Distance is only kind-of real. Out here? So far away from Equestria? It's more of a suggestion. The further out you go, the more Space-Time folds over itself. You could take one step and end up fifty steps forwards, the currents could buffet you hundreds of leagues in just a moment."

"So stay close." Cadance affirmed

"Yes. I'd really like to not spend weeks finding you out here because you wandered off."

I won't.

Silver nodded and swam a little closer to look at the spinning magic over her chest. Cadance ignored the prompting to ask what it did and just let Silver work. She didn't end up doing much, Cadance watched her eyes glow as she drew out a new shape with her nose and then pushed it into the churning mass.

"There." Silver looked up again, then swam for the surface.

Cadance followed, albeit much slower.

Once she breached, Cadance got to experience the fun of 'having been breathing water' to going back to regular breathing. That being said, a little bit of her non-aquatic instinct was still present, and decided that the water calmly sitting in her lungs required violent exodus right that very moment.

"Swim with your back, not your tail. It's not like paddling, it's like flying." Silver said from the side.

Cadance sent her a glare as she finished coughing up water.

Silver giggled. It was an odd sound Cadance had never heard before, at first, she thought it was some kind of hippocampi noise. Cadance responded by splashing a wave of water at Silver with her hoof as soon as she was done hacking up a lung. Silver fell backwards into the water dramatically. Cadance didn't see why, until Silver's tail exploded out of the water and sent a tiny wave curving over Cadance's head.

After it happened, Cadance noticed the lack of dripping. Her... scales remained moisturized, but relatively dry. Her mane, of course, didn't care at all, and continued to wave around in the invisible power Cadance was projecting.

Silver surfaced again, slower, and stared at the sky. The Sun was almost past the horizon, Cadance almost felt comfortable looking directly at it. It was a nice moment, something Cadance tried not to overthink, she enjoyed it instead.

She had so many things to say. None of them felt right.

"There." Silver pointed up. "See V'df'ruris?" She was pointing at a star. One Cadance could see. "Responsible for viciousness in the blood. Violence in emotion." Silver began swimming towards it. Cadance was rolling the words around in her head when she remembered she had to stay close.

Silver was swimming slowly enough for her to catch up.

Swim with your back, not with your tail. Flying, not swimming.

Once Cadance started trying it, the instinct was there. She felt the water gliding over her fins like air flowing under her wings. She wasn't so much as pushing herself through the water as she was parting the water around her. Gliding forwards and making tiny adjustments for measures of extra speed. Silver equally paced herself up as Cadance got faster.

"You managed to get us pretty close by accident, this shouldn't take very long." Silver said, "Follow my lead, stay close behind me." Then she dove.

Cadance followed as instructed, carefully following in Silver's wake, it was exactly like flying in somepony's draft. The pressure was higher when she was too far away, but when she got right behind, swimming became easier.

The Ocean was beautiful.

Endless rays from the sunset sank into the waters and illuminated it all around her, cascading lines of darkness and light made the whole place a flowing kaleidoscope of oranges and blues. She could hear Silver swimming, but she could also hear the fluctuations of water from other fish moving around. They passed by a school that glistened like a disco ball with holes, and a few other larger sea creatures. A turtle, a lobster, some large fish, and they passed under a shark that was slowly relaxing near the surface.

It was a totally different world they descended into.

Cadance was broken out of her wonder by Silver spinning around to swim backwards. They made eye contact, and Cadance tried to silently communicate thanks for showing her this. Silver stared, and stayed silent for another minute while they swam down into the Ocean. It was getting darker, and the surface above still glistened with the light of the setting sun reflecting down into the waters.

Silver spoke, "This fish we're meeting down here."

Cadance wanted to perk her ears, but instead, she felt the instinct to flex a few fins down the side of her neck.

"She'll probably try to kill us both." Silver said, "Relax." She shifted into another backwards swimming position, "She'll go for me first when we get close, but it's important that you meet her, just like with Chrysalis."

Cadance nodded.

"Don't attack her." Silver commented as she began to turn around, "if she does get a hold of you, let her hurt you. Thrashing or fighting back will only make it worse, you won't be able to get away or fight back. You'll need to give me time to get her off of you, okay?"

Cadance nodded, though she felt comfortable letting some of her worry flow free.

They swam for another few minutes, until it was nearly pitch black.

Except...

Cadance could still see. It was like peering through static magic, there was a glow on everything, all greys and blacks, but she could still clearly see Silver in front of her, and the occasional fish that swam a little too close. Her own front hooves were dulled out, she could barely tell they were still pink.

Suddenly she spotted sand and rock. There was a floor to this massive bowl, and they were deep enough that Cadance couldn't see the surface anymore. Silver touched down with barely a sound, letting her front hooves grip into the sand and her tail float freely behind her. Cadance followed suit, her... claws came out when she tried to grip into the sand. She felt them push in, like she was stabbing the sand with her hooves.

Silver bit down, and Cadance heard a crack as a pinprick of cerulean magic passed over nothing, leaving an ornate gold needle in its place. There was a ruby sitting at the top of it, barely the size of an iris.

"Ready?"

Cadance wasn't. She wasn't ever ready for whatever hijinks Silver was about to pull. Cadance saw now that the question, and all the other times she'd asked it... It matched with her expression, Silver already knew the answer, it wasn't a question, it was a warning to prepare herself.

So instead of nodding, Cadance took a deep breath instead and nestled herself low until her belly touched the sand.

Silver pushed up and drifted until she was twelve or so hooves above Cadance, then she pricked her frog with the needle and left it there. The gemstone glowed, and Cadance felt a shiver run up her spine, which was ostensibly stranger than normal, as her spine had recently doubled in length.

Silver whistled a low irregular tune. It was ominous, and it bounced like classical cords, going from one deep note to the next with swiftness that made the hum in the water feel alive. The ruby continued to glow a deeper red than it would have if a light was merely shined into it.

Then Cadance, by virtue of having herself pressed against the sand, felt the ground shake.

Her head snapped in the direction of the vibration on instinct, and she caught a massive shape slip just out of her range of vision. It looked like a tentacle, or a hoof, it was blue but also red. She shouldn't've been able to tell through the darkness, but the colour was alien, it reached through the waters to her eyes.

Silver's whistle turned into a hum, as she swam a little bit closer to the shape. The red illumination from the ruby grew brighter, and Cadance saw the shape duck further away, and had to restrain a gasp at what she saw. Whatever it was, it was a monster, a twisted amalgam of flesh. Scales and muscle slid over each other like glass flowing down over a still living pony, but there was no shape, it churned like the waters around them.

Then Silver plucked the needle from her hoof, and the whistling stopped. The light went out, and there was silence for a split second before the water pounded against Cadance's ears with the sensation of something approaching. It was less time than Cadance had to recognize the sound of crunching bone on impact as she saw Silver's form disappear and twist into a storm of bubbles and water that nearly tore Cadance from her spot in the sand, her mane went whipping from the side and there was a scream like someone scraping their throat down the inside of a crystal berry grater.

Cadance clenched her eyes shut.

There was a struggle, and then everything went quiet again. She heard wheezing.

And then a feminine voice, far more pitched than Silver's. "You?"

There were a few coughs, and another identical call of, "You?"

"You?"

It sounded like a record jumping. Cadance opened her eyes again and looked around for Silver.

She heard the coughing resolve into Silver's voice, "Yes, it's me. Hi Lyrane."

"Who's Lyrane?" The pitched voice asked, "You taste good, can I eat you more?"

"No." Silver responded and the other... the creature whined at the response. Cadance heard another cough, "You can't eat anything sapient. Remember?"

"OooooH!" There was another pressure wave as the massive thing moved, "You-You?"

"Yes, hi Lyrane." Silver said quieter.

"Who's Lyrane? Funny, that word... It sounds really important."

Cadance spotted them. Floating far further away than they were before, Cadance followed through the plume of sand that had been thrown into the air in their scuffle as it settled. There, Silver and another hippocampus, roughly three times the size floated, there was blood in the water, it pervaded the larger fish like the sand around their scuffle. It drifted away from her scales like she was constantly bleeding. It was magic.

Blood magic.

"It is very important." Silver reached out a hoof to tug at one of Lyrane's, it was like watching a toothpick grab a cart axle. "I have something else important too, would you like to see that?" Silver was speaking gently, and calmly. Similar to how she'd speak to Cadance while being demeaning, but with more texture to it.

"Is it food? I'm really hungry."

"No."

"Awww."

Cadance watched Silver tug the massive creature towards her spot in the sand.

"She's one of the new immortals." Silver said slowly, "Her name is Cadance."

"What's Cadance?"

Silver didn't answer the question. Instead, Cadance let go of the sand beneath her, and moved her tail to the side a little to move closer. The moment she moved, blood red eyes that glowed with invisible irises locked onto her from a distance. It was the only colour Cadance could see in the dark, eyes the size of her hoof, filled with... hunger.

"W-hat's Cada-nc-e." Lyrane said again, this time, it was accompanied with full body twitching. Half of her body looked like it tried to lunge, the other half resisted, and her eyes sparked as blood fell out of her mouth in plumes that mixed in with the water to add to her bloody aura.

"Say hello first, Lyrane." Silver said it gently, and then let go of Lyrane.

In an instant, Lyrane was nose to nose with Cadance. A mouth that could have bitten off her head opened in front of Cadance's face. "Hello. You smell wonderful, may I eat you?" The innocent question had a tiny tilt of the head to accompany it.

Cadance shook her head no. She was trying to keep the bloody water out of her nose and mouth, or at least to a minimum.

Silver swam up next to them, and Lyrane spun and went through another near spastic attempt to bite into Silver before stopping. "You?" She twisted around, "I remember you."

"Yes. Hi Lyrane. It's me."

Lyrane pressed her snout into Silver's mane and inhaled deeply. The crimson smeared Silver's body, but she didn't seem to care. She just lifted one of her hooves and patted Lyrane on the neck. As soon as Lyrane's eyes opened again, she twisted away from Silver and jumped back into Cadance's face.

"Hello. You smell del-" Lyrane twitched, and pain covered her features, she had half a seizure for a few seconds before resuming a normal float in front of Cadance and tilting her head again. "Can I eat you?"

Cadance's everything felt like iron. Her hearts were pounding, her limbs felt heavy but thick at the same time. The aura of this creature was energizing her, but making her feel lethargic. The blood in her mouth tasted wrong, that is, it tasted good. Her will fought against her senses, settling on disgust.

"No."

She hung her head, "Awww..."

"Lyra-" Silver started, only to be interrupted by Lyrane twisting again to bite Silver. Cadance caught Lyrane's maw this time, in her vision. Previously, it was too fast for her to see. This time, she saw the bone slide away, and the mouth unhinge and stretch open before hoards of razor sharp teeth were hidden again as her mouth snapped shut.

"You!" She swam closer to Silver and twitched again, "I remember you!"

She smiled.

Cadance's heart broke. She understood now what she was looking at.

Silver caught Cadance's eye and nodded. "Here. Lyrane."

"Who's Lyrane?"

Silver ignored the question. "I brought something for you?"

"Is it foo-d?" Lyrane twitched again.

"No."

"Awwww." The exact same noise from before. Like it was a recorded playback.

"Here." Silver pulled something out of nowhere. It was a... paper square, no... a photo.

Lyrane looked at it, and then held still. All of the twisting and blood flowing around her stopped as her massive bloodied eyes scoured the image on the paper. Silver swam away, towards Cadance, and grabbed her by the hooves and hauled her up and out of the sand.

"Let's go." Silver whispered.

Cadance didn't want to go, she wanted to help.

Silver was stronger than her in the water, so she was pulled away anyways. Halfway through the dark, Cadance gazed back down to where Lyrane should have been. Cadance didn't see anything through the dark, not even the ground was within visual range anymore.

Cadance had so many questions. She wanted to know what she just saw, but she already did. She wanted Silver to say she was wrong.

Cadance began to swim with Silver, and Silver let her go. Cadance's body started to return to normal as they left the aura and the trails of blood flowing off the two of them were cleansed by the waters. Her breathing came easier, her limbs felt less bloated with energy, and her hearts started to beat in rhythm again.

Cadance turned to Silver with her mouth open, intent on trying to say something, but she failed.

A few more minutes passed as Cadance followed behind Silver's winding path to the surface. Once they both breached, Cadance went through the whole process of coughing out the water before looking over at Silver.

Silver had waited until Cadance looked over before speaking. "Lyrane is my oldest friend. She taught me blood magic."

Cadance didn't have to ask her next question. It was written all over her face.

"What else? She kept going deeper. She was a master of the art, the only of her kind. I pale in comparison to what she could do with blood magic." Silver splashed her hooves in the water idly, staring out into the middle distance, "Then she tried to crack the code. She wasn't content, just being a master. The blood kept calling to her, and she kept answering."

Silver sighed.

"Is there anything left?" Cadance asked.

"There's something." Silver answered, "You saw down there. There's something in her resisting the primal nature she brought into herself. Some part of her that remembers. It must be agony."

Cadance took a deep breath. "Why show me this?"

Silver blinked, and looked up at the stars.

Cadance saw something beyond Silver. Behind Silver, maybe even in Silver.

"So you'll know what's at stake." She eventually said, "Next time you think about casting some emotion spell that comes to you, do not. I want you to think about Shining Armor looking at you like..." Silver trailed off, "Imagine Twilight wishing she could put you down to end your suffering, but she can't, because you're so far gone that you can't be killed. There's nothing left to die."

Cadance's thoughts churned over as Silver swam forwards and grabbed her by the hooves.

"No more corruptive magic, Cadance." Silver looked hard. "None."

Cadance continued to stare.

"Not at least until you have your baby." Silver pushed a little, "Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good."

...

Silver let go of Cadance, and made some distance. "Some things are more important than revenge. Know this, I'll try all the livelong day to destroy the Empire, but no-one in the pantheon would ever try and end your life. We're all here together, no matter how much we hate each other's guts."

Cadance felt herself wanting to say something, but clamped down on the thought before it could become real.

Silver caught it anyways. "Celestia is... different. She shouldn't've done what she did... I wish I could have done more for them, but it was the only way to save her life, in the end... Infinity is a long time to justify a mistake."

Cadance didn't understand what was happening. She didn't try.

She flexed her tail and jumped Silver with her front hooves and wrapped her in a hug.

Silver sighed. "I promised I'd zap you if you did this again."

"Go ahead." Cadance did not let go.

Silver dramatically sighed heavier.

Once Cadance felt like she'd equally shown the required amount of affection, and bothered Silver enough, she let go.

Silver groaned, "At the very least, you can tell Shining that you won't be doing anymore dangerous casting. Then he'll stop bugging me about it." Silver waved a hoof, "Do me that favour, in exchange for letting you hug me."

"Careful." Cadance playfully warned, "Keep complaining and-" Cadance's mind caught up to what Silver said, "Bugging you?"

Silver raised an eyebrow, "Yes?"

Cadance matched her expression, "When would he have the time to do that?"

Silver's mouth turned into a neutral line, and then recognition passed over her features, "Ooooh. He hasn't told y-"

"Don't pretend like you didn't know that already." Cadance interrupted in a glaring monotone.

Silver's fake expression disappeared and she shrugged.

"When?" Cadance asked.

"Our training sessions, remember?" Silver made some gesture Cadance didn't know the meaning of, "Like you, you asked for every week."

Cadance's eyes opened wide, "Every week?"

Silver laughed, "Home then?" She said, tossing a portal coin into the air.

Cadance looked up into it as it opened up into her bedroom and startled the living daylights out of Shining Armor.

Cadance reached up for the rim and grabbed it with her clawed limb. "I best tend to my husband."

"You better."

Cadance pulled herself through, and the sensations of herself returning to normal surface pony mixed with the odd feeling of passing through folded space. The portal closed behind her, and only then did she realize that she was completely soaking wet. Her fur all pointed down, and she felt at least ten pounds heavier than normal. The sound of dripping from the water pouring down her legs covered the floor in a tiny puddle around her in short order.

"Cadance?" Shining exasperatedly asked as he got down off the bed. It was rhetorical, of course, and Cadance could have just used a spell to dry herself off.

Instead... "Wanna help me dry off?"

Shining smirked, "Obviously."

"Oh-ho, don't get too excited, we've got a lot to talk about."

Shining understood the tone of 'angry wife' and calmly walked into bathroom without taking his eyes of Cadance, lest she sense weakness and strike. Cadance followed, trying to slowly piece together all the smothered thoughts she had today.

Interlude chapter Two: Grey Skies and Riptide... and something else...

Dear Princess Cadance

I'm sorry if I'm not doing this right. I know your full title is a little longer than that, but Point Flare said the update letter was meant to be informal... except she also didn't give any real instructions, she seemed really grumpy and upset with you, did you two have a fight?

I haven't written a letter in a long time, no family to speak of-EXCEPT! I'm sure you heard that Rip accepted my proposal? Thank you for letting us go out to celebrate, I know we're all criminals, but between you and me, I never really cared for dangerous magic like the rest of my friends; even Kayfur, though he's adamant he's just around. Anyways, thank you for letting us go out, it meant so much to me, and Rip was totally flabbergasted (That's a word Quick Silver uses a lot), It's hard to surprise him, and his face was priceless.

First of all, it was not, and second, yes, thank you Princess.

I'm sure you can tell the difference between my mouth writing and Riptide's 'wind magic' writing, but me and him are writing this together. Point Flare asked us to.

On that note, now's a good time to explain 'wind' magic and why my penponyship is atrocious. Silver's been teaching Misty about emotion magic, Pointy is learning 'elementalism' and me and Kayfur are learning about World magic.

I tried to learn world magic with Rip and Kayfur, but it didn't click with me like it did them. Silver has me working the books side of Tack & Co. It's actually really interesting work. I've never seen the framework that Silver taught me, but it's almost cool how you can see all the numbers moving around when you have all the papers in front of you. Numbers being cool is strange, but Silver has a way of making it fun to learn.

So, my penponyship, Silver has me manipulating everything with my wings, and by wings I mean by magic. The same effect as unicorn telekinesis, but with wind. She gave me a special quill that's aerodynamic and sensitive to the magic; she said it was a training tool pegasi used to use.

World magic is all weird and stuff, but I think I have a pretty good way of explaining it. You're like a crystal conduit. Like how some unicorns store spells in enchanted gems, or how those magic torches stay lit all the time, magic is alive, and it wants to do stuff all the time, that's why when there's nopony to take care of the sky, wild weather starts to form. It's a build up of World magic, and when there's enough of it, we get wild storms and tornadoes and all of those kinds of things.

By being a conduit, you do things for the magic. It's how pegasi can make it rain; the magic in the clouds wants to rain, and that's why you need more magic to make a non-raincloud rain, and why you need more magic to make a cloud rain when it doesn't want to yet.

But all of that is instinct, that's what Silver said. Like how most unicorns can tell how to cast their first few spells, and spells related to their special talent, it's just something all ponies know how to do without words. Some pegasi are good with lightning, wind, water, snow, ect. Some earth ponies are good with trees, tiny plants, animals, wayfaring, etc. Silver says that World magic and Cutie Mark magic are very similar, which is why they overlap all the time; except she calls it 'Destiny' magic rather than Cutie Mark magic.

The best way I can explain doing it is kinda like convincing whatever magic you're trying to get a hold of that you'll do what it wants. When you stomp on a raincloud, it's instinctive pegasus magic. For something like manipulating wind, there's a lot of mental and wing exercises to get into the right frame of mind to know how to articulate my feathers to make the wind move the way I want it too. It's the same thing with snow, and with water, all of the magic gets a feel for you, and you get a feel for it.

Silver showed me how it works with a storm once, we took a trip out to a tiny pier town somewhere south. It was storming, and there wasn't anypony around, so Silver called out to the storm. I guess I've always known that the sky and the storms and everything are slightly alive. No two clouds feel the same, they all have their own attitudes, and sometimes a cloud will be flighty or lazy, but I've never seen something feel so alive. When she started working the storm, the winds and rain shifted around her like they were trying to fight each other and her.

She made lightning zap really particular spots, she made gusts of wind blow rain into balls of water that spun around in the air, and she made an invisible gusting tornado pick her up off the ground and fly her around without her wings flapping at all.

She said it takes three things. Surety of intention, strength of will, and depth in character. The storm wanted to consume her, but she knew exactly what she wanted, had a stronger will than the storm, and when the storm reached inside to see if she could handle its power, it found space to spare. Exactly like enchanted gems, they need to be able to hold all of the energy, the spell in them has to be precise, (or it won't work every time and it'll wear down) and the pony using the gem to cast the stored spell needs to know what they're doing, or it won't even start to work.

So I'm writing with wind, and it's really cool. I'm really glad you want us to teach at your school Princess Cadance, with everything we've learned from Silver, I feel like we could write whole books about dark magic.

And that's pretty much it. I asked Kayfur if he wanted to tell you about crystal magic, but he just shrugged and said you could ask him yourself, and I told him that you basically did, and he rolled his eyes and walked away. He's pretty grumpy, I'm sure you remember, but he's also really good at crystal magic. Silver doesn't even bother to teach him things unless she remembers stuff, all he's been doing for weeks is practicing, and making all the gems for Silver.

Thank you again Princess, I know I'm not learning any groundbreaking magic, but I know how I could have lost all of my friends, and never had the chance to propose to Riptide had you not sent us here instead of prison.

Hematite also wrote you a letter but... It's mostly chemistry jargon that I don't understand. I'm pretty sure she's been trying to discover a way to turn... spinny things into magic, but that's crazy, nonetheless, I put all the charts she gave me into the special envelope Silver gave us, so that's what those are.

Princess Luna's Perspective

One more paper to throw over into the bin.

It was maddening how much paper ponies used nowadays.

Back when Luna was on the fronts, when Equestria was still in its infancy, paper was a commodity more valuable than a good keg of wine. Of course, maybe not to the soldiers, but to her and the rest of the officers, a good map that wouldn't wear away, or papers to keep names and notes, not to mention keeping track of supplies. She knew a mare who never wrote anything down, and could always remembe-

I smeared ink all over that.

Luna frowned at the parchment covered in ink. She set the inkwell she knocked over in her daydreaming back upright, and turned the paper sideways in her telekinesis to try and figure out what was on it.

She shrugged, and with a flash of magic, the paper disappeared in a wave of heat.

It's not like it hadn't been to Celestia's desk already. Most of these papers had. The vast majority were second fires to Luna to hope she'd sign off on them.

Funny... You'd think a Diarchy would require both royal pony sister signatures, but no. Only one.

Luna hadn't been in her office for nearly a week, and she definitely didn't want to be there. She had no problems with her office, she just wanted to be somewhere else. That, and all of this paperwork felt demeaning; but it was work and she was a Princess, it was her responsibility, and she definitely was going to do it all and not go run off to the barracks to play cards until it was time for Luna to lower the moon.

She hadn't been thinking about that the whole time. She was paying attention to what she was signing and not signing.

Indeed

Luna snorted.

Then she sighed, after some time had passed.

After even longer, her head slammed down into the desk.

"uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh."

Give me a monster to fight. Please. Anything but this torture.

Almost as if on cue, Luna heard hoofsteps. She felt the teleportation into the hallway long before the noise actually reached her ears. It made her wonder why Celestia would bother teleporting several lengths from the door, rather than just teleporting straight into the office.

Probably another one of those 'unwritten rules' of the modern era I am unaware of.

At least it was something to focus on. She waited until Celestia daintily knocked on her door.

"Enter." Luna called out.

Celestia stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

Closed.

Luna wasn't sure exactly how many spells Celestia had cast to seal the room, but...

I'd be surprised if Discord could scry into here now.

Luna sat up, and furrowed her brow, Celestia had come in wielding nothing but an envelope and a parchment. Her face was as fake as it always was, except for the crease of concern running across her mouth, and the way her wings were imperceptibly about to unfold.

Celestia's voice rang out, the acoustics in Luna's office were perfect for a voice like hers. "Sister, you should really turn a light on in here. It's nearly pitch black."

"Both of us can see without any issue." Luna monotoned.

Celestia tried to fool Luna with a smile. "Yes, but what if somepony else needed to speak with you."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Right. Then I'd speak with them outside of my office." A beat passed, "Satisfied?"

"Is there a reason you're being so snippy?" Celestia joked.

Luna frowned and crossed her front hooves. "What did you need me for?"

"Can't we catch up for a moment?" She asked, "We don't have to get directly into business."

Luna didn't budge, both in pose and in tone. "I'd rather get all of this busy work done as quickly as possible."

"Right..." Celestia said slowly, "Right! How is your double life going?"

Luna narrowed her eyes. The question sounded innocent, like it was a genuine question. Except the word choice was so particular. Celestia repetitively used words in such orders to occasionally make jokes, since words would mean different things than Luna expected. It made it impossible to tell what she was saying half the time, and despite her encouragement and adamance that it was just to help Luna learn all of the most recent important lingo...

Luna just felt like she was the butt of the joke.

"Alright." Luna slowly answered after a moment. She wanted to say how much better it was than being a Princess, but she didn't. She was still trying to figure out what was going on, that, and she wasn't very interested in telling Celestia to begin with.

Celestia waited for Luna to continue.

When she didn't, she sighed and levitated the paper to the desk. Her tone lowered, like it always did when she was being serious. It's funny, her voice was pitched and had a kind of feminine timber to it in public. In the pony, Celestia could have been mistaken for a stallion, if not for the overt marish nature of herself. "Our... fraying relationship aside. Read this."

Luna took the paper in her own aura, and immediately recognized the horn writing and empiric seal. Luna didn't start reading, she looked over the letter at Celestia. "Cadance?"

Celestia's frown deepened, "Just read it. You'll see."

Luna did so.

Dear Princess Celestia.

As you well know, I have been ruling The Crystal Empire for a long time now. Since my stay here, I have noticed numerous things. Both benefits, bonuses, maluses, particulars. Everything. I've tried very hard to be a good Princess to these ponies, and majoritively?

I failed.

The crystal ponies themselves, the heart of the Empire, are fraying away. Did you know that there have been no new little crystal foals running around? We've been keeping track. The crystal ponies are terrified of the world, they're all waiting for everything to change again, and I waltzed in thinking that just because we defeated Sombra, everything would go back to normal. Largely, the only reason the Empire functioned at all was because of the strength of the crystal ponies. They put on a brave face, through trauma and pains and

They were slaves. Slaves, Celestia, less than two years ago. The entire world has changed. Most of them barely speak Ponish, and while the lessons worked for most ponies, there's still hooffulls who don't want to learn about the newer world.

All of that being said. I've made the decision to announce the Crystal Empire's sovereignty from the Equestrian Crown during the Crystal Solstice, this upcoming week. There'll be new immigration laws, of course, there will be tax changes, and we'll have to sort through a lot of legislation, but my team is already working the numbers, and I'll have something cohesive for your desk before I make the announcement. This is the only thing I can think of to turn the direction of the Empire back towards the heart of the problem. The Crystal Ponies need hope in a future that's theirs.

I was reminded, recently, by a friend, of something you told me once.

'Wisdom is oxymoronic. As one becomes wiser, you only simply realize that wisdom is for fools.'

This is happening. It's the right choice, and I'm asking you to trust me on this. I'm sorry I can't give you more warning, I'm sorry, I know it doesn't seem like there's justification for this, but I need you to trust me. I wish I had time to talk more to you about things that weren't... this... but duty calls.

Love,
Cadance

Luna set the paper down gently, with a thoughtful look.

That was only on the outside though. On the inside, Luna only had one smirking thought.

'Tis about time.

"It's clear to me..." Celestia started, "that this... experiment with Quick Silver has run its course, and this is the result."

Luna steepled her hooves. "I fail to see how those... how this has anything to do with that."

"Luna, please." Celestia took a few more steps towards the desk. Her wings ruffled. "You know how h- she weasels her way into your head. Plants ideas and makes things happen around you. Cadance would have never tried something like this without Silver, she definitely wouldn't've been so bold, and she absolutely wouldn't've thought I'd ever let something like this slide. It's Silver, she's done something, or gotten to Cadance, or something."

Luna tried to remain stoic, "And? What do you want me to do?"

"Put a stop to it." Celestia said, "It's clear Cadance can't handle Silver, so that's that. Experiment over. She can't be reformed, we need to catch her now and stop her before she damages more of the Empire or poisons Cadance any further."

"Poisons?" Luna responded incredulously, "What about this is bad? Exactly?"

"What about this is-!? Luna! Sovereignty from the Equestrian crown!? Do you know how much food we send them on the month? If we start having to tax those exports because it's a foreign power, that's international law, by the way, it'll cost the Empire so many bits, ponies will starve. Do you remember eight eighty seven? Do you want that?"

Luna leaned forwards and half stood, "Those situations are not the same. I can't believe you're not treating this with a level head, this could very easily be the boon the ponies there need to get back on their hooves."

"I don't understand how you're not freaking out over it!" Celestia spun around while waving a hoof, "Silver's hooves are all over this Luna, you know how she is, she'd burn Equestria down for a pun if she thought it was funny enough."

"Well I actually trust Silver-" Celestia opened her mouth, but Luna cut her off, "but far more importantly, I trust in Cadance's skill to deal with her." Despite the context, Cadance had fought monsters with Luna. They'd stood up to Tirek together, and more and more, Luna found herself drawn to Cadance's dreams if only so they could talk. Cadance was Luna's sister in arms, confidant, and friend.

She would be verbally defended, on Luna's honor.

"How can you say that when-" Celestia put her hoof down on the desk, displaying impossible speed to point at the paper that rest there. "Cadance is serving up the Empire on a platter of Order to the world? I've seen their economics, the-"

"I'm sorry, how? Exactly did you do that?"

Celestia stopped in confusion, "Do what?"

"The Empire's economics should be private information, even from you."

"..."

"Celestia."

Celestia shook her head, "Don't patronize me. I promised to go along with your little plan to release Dusk and pretend like I didn't know. You promised that you'd keep an eye on them, that we'd keep an eye on them. I haven't heard anything from you, so I've had to put forth the extra hoofwork."

"Espionage does not count as 'hoofwork'" Luna said with hoof based air quotes.

Celestia ran a hoof down her muzzle. "This isn't an argument Luna. Cadance has gone too far by the influence of Silver. This situation is untenable. Shut it down, or I will."

Luna knew Celestia could kill Silver. Demons, creatures, ponies and gods alike had tried to kill the mare. All had failed due to a pesky little curse made by Discord. Celestia knew how to break it, Silver had created the base, and Celestia had worked it out over a thousand years.

"So that's it then?" Luna snarked, "Is that how easy it was for you to cull the rest of the immortals?"

Celestia's right ear flicked, and her expression darkened.

"It was not easy."

Luna turned away from the hurt in her tone. The dual meaning of the statement was not lost on her. "You can't."

"If Silver proves, which she's done, that she isn't willing to be reformed. Then it's the spell." Celestia stated with more pressure. "There's no other option."

"We could wait."

"For the Empire to collapse? For ponies to starve? For Silver to find some way around it? For any horrible thing that could happen?" Celestia shook her head, "I don't think so. There has to be a line" Celestia tapped the paper again, "this is it."

Luna looked down at the letter.

I believe in you Cadance.

"No."

Celestia blinked.

"That is all." Luna stood. "You can take your ultimatums and aggression and violence to a mare who's as lost as you are. That is, you can take it to Discord. Maybe he'll have some advice for you. Cadance can do this, I don't understand how you could overlook that." Luna didn't give her sister the chance to respond. She teleported out into the gardens.

She took a deep breath, and fought a shiver of fear that ran down her spine.

That look.

Her sister had genuinely considered...

She...

Luna shook her head and lit her horn.

In the next couple of moments, Luna was gone.

Selene didn't have to worry about any of what just happened, she just had to worry about winning her bits back from Hallow before the moon went down.

Celestia's Perspective

Silence filled the ornate office as Luna teleported away.

Countless spells wove their way through Celestia's mind on instinct, desperately intending to stop her sister, but Celestia willed them all down. Her horn didn't spark, even consumed by hate as she was. To an outside observer, nothing happened, and Celestia smiled at the empty space. Fate itched at the back of her mind, calling for something she had yet to do.

"This plan of yours better work, Silver."

The Nine.

Cadance had already been through a whirlwind and it was barely noon. Today was certainly something.

It had started within the first few moments of the day. Ivory alongside Blossom had found her just as Cadance was leaving room with a report that two companies had wanted booth changes and one company had pulled out entirely. The three of them spent ten minutes doing a ten pony shuffle moving around all of the grounds planning. Then Cadance not only had to run the changes down to Fracture for the printing, luckily no papers ended up thrown away, they hadn't gotten to the program part yet; she also had to fly to Tack & Co.

After a quick but meaningful apology to Point Flare, and an appeal to her want to see the Crystal Solstice succeed, Cadance got access to the more secretive parts of their portal network. She was all over Equestria, personally asking leads and business owners about the new setup and cross verifying all of the information with the addendum that this was the final draft.

Then she received a letter from Luna that the contingent of ponies she had asked for were on the next train to the empire. She sent out Ivory and Shining to handle provisions and board for the group of soldiers and was simply hoping she'd be able to greet them all when they arrived.

That hope had been thrown out the window the second she'd turned the corner back to her office, trailing a tower of maps and papers, to see the stallion who accompanied Immaculate Gemstone to her fake hearing with Banana Split talking with Amber. He, quite boldly, declared that Cadance had been summoned by the Nobles, that is, all of them and her presence was required in a timely fashion.

Cadance had stowed away her grumbles, then everything else after scribbling down a series of notes for what she had to remember, followed the stallion, who had yet to give his name, down towards the room in the Spire that Cadance had dedicated to the nobles and then promptly forgot about.

The stallion was tight lipped, even on his emotions

Cadance was intent on figuring out the amused control and animosity filling him. It was quiet, and he seemed mentally focused on something else as they walked, so...

"So, who are you?" Best go with blunt.

He raised an eyebrow, "You'll find out soon."

"You really work the mysterious stallion ascetic, but for this, I'll ask you not to." She nodded to herself, still focusing her words into a weapon. "It'd be far easier for you to tell me, rather than me figure it out." She snarked, she felt a spark of annoyance mix with his animosity.

~gotcha~!

"That won't be necessary."

"You're not a servant." Cadance waved a wing nonchalantly, "That much is obvious, but you're around, in fact... I'm pretty sure I've seen you at morning standup before."

"You probably have." Came his clipped response.

Cadance tilted her head and brought a wing to her chin to 'think.' "Except that's the thing, if I don't know what you do, but you frequent morning meetings enough for me to recognize you, and you show up inexplicably tied to the nobles, then you must be a leader, or a brute. Somebody important enough to hide their name and their skillset, but still be connected to the wider inner workings of the Spire." Cadance was smirking, his frown deepened.

Oh this is fun!

Thing is... Cadance already knew who he was. He gave it away the moment he showed up at her office with a message from 'all of the nobles.' "You're part of the secrecy surrounding the nobles, which means you're either one of them, or you're part of the old military police that ran Sombra's reign that we still haven't tracked down."

He looked over at her with an unamused expression, Cadance having wiped out the emotion and replaced it with annoyance, and was that a twinge of appreciation? Cadance kept her interest off her face as she mentioned, "Which means you have some kind of unmentioned clout, power, or political pull that I'm supposed to be surprised by as soon as you reveal it."

He opened his mouth and Cadance interrupted him, "Now you're going to sa-" The realization slammed into her, interrupting her own thought. "Oh my gosh I'm turning into her." She said to herself, her deconstruction of this random stallion totally forgotten.

He squinted and shook his head.

Nobody told him Cadance would be so... Quirky and annoying. She was far different in the meeting; she was cut throat, quick on the uptake. "I voted against your involvement. To be clear. You..." He gave up whatever he was about to say. Thinking better of directly insulting her. He was thinking all sorts of things, but most importantly, Cadance had subverted his expectations and confused him. He thought he was in control, and now he had no idea what to expect.

Cadance smiled. His emotions told her all of it. Call it invasive, but he was the one who decided to stick his hoof into the fire.

Poverty in riches? Maybe not, but I'll settle for undermining silliness. You can think I'm a doofus all day long mystery stallion.

The stallion opened a door, and Cadance was greeted by a wave of magic. She felt a spell sink down over her horn, wrapping around it. "Nullification." She commented, calmly walking into the room.

It was a round table.

This is serious

When he said all the nobles, he really meant it. There they all were. Immaculate was the first she recognized, the mare staring at her as she entered. Fractured Mirror was talking with Ichor of The House of Iron, another tan crystal pony like Sugar Cane. He was sitting at the other end of the table and looked up at her comment along with Sky Cut, Stone Cut's old advisor, who was sitting right next to him. There was another pair of ponies Cadance didn't recognize, a mare covered completely in red, and a red mare who began whispering to the stallion that led her here as he walked up to them.

"I believe now is the time to begin." Immaculate called, prompting the other nobles to move and begin taking seats.

Cadance stood.

"Aye, like I've been telling you all. We're far out of time." Sugar Cane spun a hoof. He spoke sarcastically, of course, the stallion really only had that one tonal setting.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you're here, Princess?" Fractured Mirror said as he sat down, steepling his hooves and sending her a toothy smile.

Cadance kept a neutral expression, but the smirk sounded out in her voice. "No, actually."

A series of glances were exchanged. Before Immaculate started with, "We need to talk."

"I agree." Cadance responded, "We've been playing this little dance for long enough. I'm glad you all decided to stop cowering under whatever rocks you could find."

Whoah, where did that come from?

Sugar Cane laughed, "I've been at their throats about this since day one Princess, honest, they're just a bunch'a mites who don't like change."

"Sugar Cane. If you could hold your tongue for five seconds." Fractured said across the table.

"Then we all know what we're here for?" Cadance sent a raised eyebrow around the room and was met with silence, "Good. Then let's talk about where the rest of these nobles are. I understand why Slim Fitting isn't here, but where are the others?"

Immaculate raised an eyebrow.

"Fronts." The stallion from before commented, "They keep things moving with a face, and we get scapegoats."

Cadance interrupted Fracture's comment, "Then I take it Stone Cut getting caught was not part of the plan."

"We were against returning Sombra to the throne as a collective." Immaculate said, "But he had other ideas."

"And you three?" Cadance directed the comment towards the mystery stallion and the pair of red mares sitting to his sides.

They both spoke in sync. The first crystal red mare said, "My name is Lady Everette." - "And I am Lady Astralation." Said the one clothed in red. Cadance caught a tiny glance of her face, and the scars. It was clear why she was covered so completely.

The mystery stallion opened his mouth, "And I am Isotope, or Top. I lead the servants guild."

"Mr. Top sees and hears everything that goes on in this Empire." Immaculate led, "Everything but... your dealings, Princess Cadance."

Cadance smiled, "Which dealings would those be?"

"Tack & Co."

Cadance nodded. "Then you need me to talk about Quick Silver."

Fractured Mirror snorted, "The mare you wrote into being a noble on a whim? Yes. I'd like that explained."

Cadance took a few more steps towards the table and collected herself.

I can't do this... Ideas Cadance, work the problem. Start with what you know.

"You all know the dangers the company poses to the Empire as a whole, obviously. What you don't know, as you've just clearly stated is why." Cadance trailed off, trying to find more words to add to her thought.

"We were all under the impression that you and Silver were friends. Allies. Cohorts." He turned and gestured to Immaculate, "That is, until Silver threatened the Empire, then the story of your alliance became less and less believable."

"Until we found ourselves here." Immaculate finished. "We need your help Princess. Silver is untouchable in every sense, and the Empire is going to go under. This cannot happen long-term."

Cadance nodded and let herself feel an easy going smile at odds with the anxiety bubbling in her chest. "I have good news for you then."

"You and Silver aren't allies?" Sugar Cane prompted.

Cadance shrugged. "Your enemies close, Sir Cane."

Sugar Cane chuckled again and displayed more sarcasm as he dramatically pointed around the room at the other nobles, "Told all of you."

"But no." Cadance continued. "I already have a plan."

"What would that be?" Ichor responded calmly. The stallion was a depth of emotion, held in place by practiced will. He was like a roiling crystal ball of smoke, and incredibly hard to get a read on.

Cadance dropped her fake smile, "Why should I tell all of you? I'd say I don't appreciate the dancing, the games, the lies, the attempts on my life, on my family. Who's to say I don't put you all in prison one by one like I did Stone Cut?"

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry for sending that hit on you." Sugar Cane said about as apologetically as a bagel could apologize.

Didn't expect that.

"I, for one, tried to be subtle with my attempts on your friends and family Princess." Fractured put a hoof to his chest and raised his snout with what looked like near pride. Before he frowned. "Silver got in the way of that too. Whoever she is, she's a master manipulator. She even kept Amber from us."

"Amber?" Cadance had wanted to ignore most of that, but the comment on Amber slipped from her mouth before she could stop herself.

Fractured waved a hoof, "I don't know how that mare managed to keep Amber locked in the Spire for so long, and as soon as she leaves, it's loyalty. 'This isn't what she'd want me to do' assuming that's you Cadance. Turns out, a dig through the trash, and it's a secret admirer? Guess who we traced that back to?"

"This is far out of the scope of our purpose here." Immaculate spoke over the conversation. Then, she addressed Cadance's question. "We have this moment alone to give you the incentive, Princess. We were under the impression we were against you... So we fought with the same measures we used to fight with. They did not work."

"I'm not surprised." Said the mare with the hidden scars. She pointed up towards Cadance. "She is covered in more than Fate and Destiny, Will before and apart with Love. We never stood a chance."

Everette nodded sagely, and Cadance tried to piece together what she had just said.

"You all tried to have me killed. You tried accosting my friends and Silver stopped you all, that's why you thought I was with her?" Cadance didn't let the rhetorical question hang long, "Didn't you ever think to ask me yourselves?"

"We attempted negotiations with Silver first." Sugar Cane started

Immaculate finished for him, "It didn't end well. She is a menace, more than clearly another Sombra, slow in the making. Except we won't still be ruling when she takes over. It seems she has a personal vendetta against the nobility. Why not you?"

"I have no reason to trust any of you with anything I know. There is no reason for me to work with any of you." Cadance wondered if this was how Quick Silver felt when setting up a lie, only to knock it down with clever wordplay.

You already sent the letter Cadance. This is happening. Just tell them. Make it work. Make it real.

The nobles looked at each other, mulling over her comment.

Cadance felt it.

That moment, this moment was the next branching path. She could feel it in her bones. Those tiny little signs that what she was about to do would change her life forever. So she chose, of course, Cadance was never the mare to do nothing.

Just don't buck it up

"You see, all of this was intentional." Cadance said bluntly, "From Silver's noble title, to Tack & Co. The cultists, all of it. I've been playing you all, and this is where the game ends." Cadance rested a hoof up on the table. She glanced around at the confused looks. "Excuse the childishness of what I'm about to say, but I'm better at this game than you are. I have no reason to work with any of you, I don't need you, but I'm trusting all of you anyways, because I want to."

Silence panned for several seconds before Sugar Cane grunted. "First one in." He raised his hoof.

Ichor frowned, "Let us hold off on the vote for now, Cane, we're far from the completion of this conversation."

"No." Immaculate said. "Sugar Cane is correct. The trust we lost to the seers of old is lost. The Princess is on our side, we cannot move forwards without trust between us all." She closed her eyes and raised her hoof. "I second Sir Cane's motion to recognize Princess Cadance as a member of The Nine."

"Then let's vote." Isotope said. "I've always been against Cadance. She's-"

Fractured mirror chuckled, and Isotope frowned and waved at him, "Something you'd like to say?"

"Yes. As always-" Cane snorted, "You're a fool, Isotope. Cadance has expertly outmaneuvered us all, including that Silver stain. As always, you refrain from seeing the bigger picture. We already need Cadance, and she's willing to put aside the past in order to reclaim our future as a people." Fractured turned to Cadance, "For the record, I never liked you-"

Cadance reared her head back in offense.

Immediately following that, "I vote aye, in favour of Cadance." He said afterwards, "-but my father would have." He said it low, and with the eye contact between the two of them maintained.

"The future is full of ripples, Fate is twisting and bending. The path forward is unclear." Said Astralation.

"Isn't it always? Sister?" She raised her hoof. "I vote aye. If there is one thing we need now, it's an Alicorn at our beck and call. Never before have we had the chance to add such power into our ranks. Not since Empress Amore."

Ichor snorted, "You're all talking about tyranny over the Empire, with her support?" He gestured out towards Cadance, "An immortal ruler, where have I heard that before? Who's to say she doesn't use this 'tactician prowess' of hers to claim the Empire from under our nose?"

Cadance calmly interjected, "Who says I haven't already? Are you going to base all of your conjecture on fear?"

Astralation raised her hoof. "Fear. I am afraid of her doom as it approaches. When the true coin is flipped, will she have the Will to contain Fate itself? We should not believe in a force, we should believe in a mare. I vote nay."

Sugar Cane raised his hoof, "I vote nay, may as well keep this interesting."

Even. Cadance raised her wing. "I vote nay."

Several faces twisted in confusion.

"This is dumb." She said, "I'm not here to join your little political cult."

Immaculate Gemstone leaned forwards, "Then why are you here Cadance? What is your greater purpose."

Cadance met eyes with Gemstone. "I'm here to rule an Empire."

Several beats passed before Gemstone slowly raised her hoof without blinking. "I vote aye, in favour of Cadance."

Ichor raised his hoof. "I vote aye, in favour of Cadance."

All faces turned to Isotope. Who turned to meet Cadance's gaze.

Silence passed for a moment.

Cadance opened her mouth, "The plan is simple, the Empire was economically decrepit when it returned, from the damages Sombra had done, and by comparison to the rest of Equestria. I needed a way to jumpstart the pulse of the Empire's functioning. Now that the Spire is in working order, I set up the Crystal Solstice to announce our sovereignty from Equestria."

Cane coughed. "What?! Are you mad?"

Immaculate waved a hoof at him, and he looked confusedly between her and Cadance.

"It would be, unless I got the attention of the only mare in Equestria who could set up a monopoly in less than three months. Tack & Co went from being a part of, to owning the trading industry overnight, and Silver thinks she's untouchable; all that changes when Princess Luna recognizes Crystalian sovereignty the night of the Crystal Solstice."

Fractured laughed, "Genius."

"You plan on throwing away the food from our ponies mouths and replacing it with bits?" Isotope quipped, "I hope you're joking, Silver wouldn't feed the Empire. She's waiting to watch it burn."

"Silver wouldn't." Immaculate muttered.

"Except she's a dubious owner at best." Cadance continued, "We become a sovereign nation, we address internal issues, like the nationally functioning company based in our territory, one with zero accountability. There's only one pony to argue with, and she won't see it coming."

"You set the dominos falling so you could catch them all at the very end." Ichor mused. "And what if that doesn't work? Say you've overlooked the fine print-"

"The ponies won't care." Immaculate interrupted. "Between us, and Princess Cadance, there's nothing to stop us from just taking away Silver's rights to her own company. She doesn't have any family, no children, all of the facilities would default to the crown. The Crystalian's won't care, because we'd be working in their interest."

"This is the Empire I want." Cadance tapped her hoof on the table again, "The best idea wins. No more of this going around in circles."

Isotope rolled his eyes. "Well then... If we're going to do this, we're going to have to do it properly."

Ichor nodded, "He's right, we can't simply approve of Cadance from the dark. If we're going to attach law to publicity, there needs to be something formal."

Fractured waved at Cadance to get her attention, "How do you feel about the title: 'Empress'?

"Cane?" Immaculate asked

Cane looked like he was deep in thought, muttering to himself, "It's doable, praise imports, but it's doable."

"Astralation?" Was Immaculate's next focus.

The bundle of red cloth stared at Cadance in silence for a stretch, dragging some of the nobles to roll their eyes.

"The Sun comes for The Empress." She said, and nodded slowly.

Immaculate nodded. "Then it's decided. We take on Tack & Co. this way, what of the mare herself?"

Cadance hadn't thought of that.

In fact, the majority of everything she had just said was either: half a lie, totally made up, twisting the truth, or some terrifying mixture of all three. The fact any of this was working was as equally baffling to Cadance as it was exciting.

Just don't buck it up

"She has ties with the Equestrian Crown. She's a mare of many talents, magic included, what will she do when we pull the wall over her eyes?"

Cadance rolled the question over her mind.

What will she do? If this actually works... What will Silver actually do in response? There's no way she planned for this, the entire thing is mad. What will she do?

The concept kept rolling around on repeat in her head. Her mind pulled itself out of 'diplomat speak' and tried to work through the problem from an entirely different perspective. She had no clue what Silver would do, the majority of this plan revolved around making sure she couldn't do anything. Except Cadance hadn't considered what back up plans the mare might have. What if she goes on a magically fueled rampage and tries to destroy the Empire by force? It was unlikely, but anything of that nature could be possible with a mare like Silver.

What will she do?

"It won't matter." Cadance shook her head. "Without her holdings, she has no push. I'm not worried with what she'll do to me personally, the Empire will stand tall. That's all I care about. I can convince her to take the loss gracefully, and in the worst case scenario, I can fight her."

Ichor narrowed his eyes, "You say that like she'd listen to you."

"She will." Cadance nodded, "We were friends once upon a time."

Immaculate joined in Ichor's skepticism. "I find that hard to believe. Nothing about Quick Silver makes sense. She was a name that sprouted from nowhere, with connections that are tenuous at best." Immaculate took a breath, "Who is she?"

Cadance frowned, "Another immortal."

"What?" Everette half gasped, "How is that possible?"

Immaculate's gaze softened. "Another immortal... I see now... Silver knew of our origins, or at least, she alluded to them. That book she had, of course..." she trailed off, mumbling to herself, "It all makes sense..."

Cane waved his hoof, "It don't matter if she's immortal or a fish. She came after Crystalian ponies, I'll have it for Empress Cadance. I've been sayin' this from day one, we need a figure head or the ponies won't trust us enough to roll out of the mire.

Fractured leered at Isotope in that way ponies smile while internally wishing a painful demise on who they were looking at. "Still think Sombra was a good fit, Top?"

"Sombra lost his mind."

"As Silver has." Cadance said, trying to wrestle control back over the conversation. "She had exploitable resources. Like I said... She was once my friend... but... things have changed."

You tried to genocide my ponies, this isn't what I wanted.

Cadance wondered how she went from wanting to reform Dusk Swirl to preparing to banish Quick Silver.

I'm sorry. I really hope you don't hate me for doing this.

Cadance raised her nose, "If that will be all, I have preparations."

Immaculate nodded and Fractured said, "Go then, Empress Cadance." While flourishing his hoof into half a bow.

Cadance glanced around the room. Wondering how she managed what she'd just done. She'd walked in with half a plan, and was about to leave as an Empress, holding all of the cards. It was perfect. The plan for sovereignty was half baked, and formed mostly from panic, if Cadance was being honest; it was the only thing she could think of. Now it was the only thing she could think of. Luna would be all over it, Cadance simply knew. If she got no pushback from Celestia, she was home free from Silver's machinations.

Essentially, she was waiting for the other horseshoe to drop. In one single anticlimactic conversation, she was told that she'd won.

Except it didn't feel that way.

Cadance nodded to the nobles and turned for the door. She opened it with telekinesis, just to make a show of how their weak nullification spell hadn't worked on her. She felt the sparks of surprise flow out the door as they realized, and she enjoyed an anxious smile as she shut the door behind her.

Time to get back to work...

Yes, it certainly was a day. If only her legs weren't so sore.

Momentum bound

The Thestral stallion Cadance yelled up to nodded and pulled the stand back a few paces. Cadance used her horn to pull the tarp up to the top, pulling each of the three corners to its associated stand. She held it in place as another pair of Thestrals who tied the tarp down over the stands.

One more down.

"Looks good!" Cadance pulled open another box with her hoof, ignoring the process of removing the nails in favour of ripping it open. More packaged poles came out in pieces, and Cadance began assembling them with her telekinesis. Her magic had been getting the workout of the lifetime during the setup of the fair grounds, but whatever magic build up she was putting in the numbers for her.

Two more stands went up, and Cadance glanced over at the map, only to find that it had fallen from its place (That is, its place haphazardly set on top of a random box) and found its way onto the floor. She shrugged, looked at it, and leaned back up to move the stands to their roughly correct spots. A bit of jigging with her temporary crew, and another tent was up.

Only half of the fair grounds had tents, partly for the Thestrals themselves. There was a break tent for getting out of the sun sitting in the center of the impromptu construction zone.

Everything was coming together. The pony power of the Thestral guards working alongside her organization crew turned most of the open space into what was quickly starting to look like an actual celebration. A veritable train of wagons had sprouted off the actual train station, delivering all the materials faster than they could put them up. Ponies had already started to marvel.

Some businesses had already arrived too, that, and the crafts section of the fair was already full of ponies either setting up, or walking around for the sake of exploring. The publishing had drawn in half the hoof traffic they currently had, and the festival hadn't even started yet. Thestrals kept having to shoo' away onlookers who were in the way.

"~Heeeeeey," A voice said from behind her, she was lost enough in thought that she didn't recognize Shining until she turned to see him trotting up behind her. "Concerned husband here, how are you doing?"

"Conc-" Cadance set down the stands in her magic. "What? I'm fine, why?"

Hmmm?

"I bet." He smiled and walked up to her, "Just wanted to remind my pregnant wife that even though she can setup the entire fair by herself tha-"

Cadance snorted, "Okay-okay" She tossed her mane. "Break time! Thank you!" She got three salutes, and they all fell into a gliding formation back towards the center tent. "There. I'm taking a break-" Cadance sat down to better sarcastically articulate her point. "See?" The sarcasm was in good jest. She did need a break. Her hooves were killing her. Apparently boosted earth pony magic didn't translate into making her hooves not ache when she rapidly gained the weight of a child in under a month.

Shining's answer was to lean in for a quick smooch.

"How goes prep?"

Cadance gestured around, "See for yourself."

"I know. Practically overnight."

"Oh!" Shining flinched back from Cadance's shout, "Sorry, but that reminds me: Luna. I had this idea for a special night themed stage, she said she wanted to do her own speech or presentation and I was won-"

"Breathe Cadance."

Cadance sent him a look

He chuckled in fear, "Just... reminding you that you're on break."

Cadance levitated two pairs of gemstones out, "Do you think Luna would prefer?" She led. Shining had been part of the guard for nearly a whole year after Luna's return.

Surely he has to kn-

"Ooh, neither. Here," He turned and grabbed at the map. Lifted it up, and pointed, "This colour."

Cadance looked.

"Really?"

He shrugged.

Sure.

Cadance made a mental note and leaned back further onto her haunches. Taking in the activity around her. It was exactly as it should have been. Cadance was just another face in the crowd, when ponies needed help, there were teams upon teams of others in charge of managing the event. Cadance was an extra hoof, from here on in.

I may even get to enjoy the festival myself.

As soon as everything went up, her job was over, until opening ceremonies, her...

Announcements.

And introducing Luna, and perusing the grounds as a face to see before she could do anything on her own.

Shining sat with her, wondering what she was thinking about.

"So, why'd you really come looking for me?" Cadance eventually asked, once her hooves felt a little better.

Shining responded with no surprise, Cadance being able to tell there was 'something else' wasn't out of the ordinary. "I know it's only adding more things to your list but, Twilight's friends are here- actually they're at the palace, but they wanted to talk to you."

Cadance lifted a hoof, "They're not here for the festival?"

"They are, they came early because something happened with Twilight, something they said they needed you for."

Cadance tilted her head, "You seem distinctly unconcerned. Usually you'd be throwing a fit if there was something going on with Twily."

Shining thought for a second before answering with, "Is that a bad thing?"

"Of course not. I'm curious."

"Hi curious, I-"

Cadance interrupted, "Don't you dare finish that joke."

For the fiftieth time.

Shining chuckled.

Cadance gently closed her eyes and exhaled, trying to make herself seem more exasperated than she was. "Ten more relaxing minutes, then I'll go talk to them. Will you check on Homeward for me?"

"On it." Another smooch, and Cadance watched as Shining walked away.

Another few minutes passed before Cadance whapped herself over the head with her wing.

I forgot to ask him what floor they were on.

Cadance smiled as she approached, grimacing internally at how long it took to find them all. Twilight wasn't with them, of course, so she couldn't just pinpoint their location via emotion. They were in the dining hall, helping themselves and talking to a gathering of equal parts Thestral guards and ponies either staffing the Spire or helping with setup. They'd opened their doors for anyone who wanted to volunteer, treating anyone with lunch and dinner, should they want it.

Apparently Thestrals loved the Crystalian palate, as if they weren't out in the 'command tent' they were here. Something Cadance learned from Shining: A guard can always eat, doesn't matter where, when, or what condition. A good guard knows how to eat and sleep in any position, at any time. It was almost comical how much food they were going through, but the castle staff loved it and Cadance was focused on her destination, and the story Pinkie was telling about a rubber chicken and a cheese sandwich.

"Hey girls!" She called out as she approached

Pinkie sucked in a massive breath halfway through her sentence, and the ponies that looked away got a surprise when she yelled, "PRINCESS CADANCE!" Pinkie was no longer on the table, she was standing in front of Cadance, "Your mane looks a-mazing! I thought only Luna and Celestia's manes did that!"

Cadance giggled from the attention and flipped a hoof, "Well, yes but, the doctors say it's only in passing. Once the baby's been-"

"Oh my goodness!" Rarity exclaimed, cutting off Cadance's explanation, "Darling! You weren't lying when you said that it would be an..."

Applejack helped Rarity not be insulting. "Quick pregnancy?"

Cadance nodded, and glanced out towards the crowd of Thestrals for a split second before looking back to the assorted colours of Twilight's friends. "Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash. It's good to see all of you."

Pinkie waved rapidly, Rainbow Dash had something on her mind. All of them had some latent emotion lingering.

That'll probably be what they're here to... Where is-

Cadance looked back towards the crowd, sweeping her gaze over the ponies until she caught a pair of eyes she couldn't mistake. Selene, at least, a Thestral version made eye contact shortly before Cadance took a quick inhale and waved the group forwards, "Well let's not waste any time! I'm sorry I couldn't be up sooner."

"Don't worry about it none, this here's a big old festival you've been planning."

Cadance started walking, and waved a wing towards the Thestrals who did what soldiers do when being noticed by their princess. They cheered and drank. Selene sent her a smile and a wave.

"Like! Reeeeeeally big!" Pinkie pronked high enough to be eye level with Cadance. "I mean, I saw the pamphlets in the foal free press, but WOW!" She spun in midair, "It's way bigger in person!"

Person? Wh-

Cadance cut off her thought, "Thank you Pinkie, that means a lot, coming from the best party pony I know."

Pinkie dropped to the ground and did a strange series of motions.

"Uh-oh" and a pair of "Oh dear"s sounded out from the group behind her as Pinkie's body did a series of... things.

"What is it Pinkie? Somepony in trouble?" Rainbow asked.

Pinkie finished and tapped a hoof to her chin, "Nope! Somepony just said something they didn't know was wrong! Happens all the time." Then she spun and pronked down the hallway. Cadance looked to the rest, who only had shrugs to answer with in response.

"So, aside from the obvious. What brings you all to the Empire?"

"Ahm sure Shining Armor said something to ya, right?"

Cadance inclined her head, "Very little, something about Twilight?"

Fluttershy nodded, taking up the walking space next to Cadance. Her stride was a little long, but she was also walking far slower. Pregnancy and all that. "She's been stuck inside her library for a while."

"She's real beat up about something."

"Dreadfully so, we're not sure what to make of it."

"It's about some book."

A pair and set of eyes turned towards Rainbow Dash. "Princess Celestia gave her some dusty books to read through, and it's got her all..."

"I think the word you're looking for there Darling is Frazzled."

"OOoooOOo, Frazzled is right! I tried to throw her a big party with sparklers and streamers but she got all scared and really really upset and super frowny and I had to take it all down because Twilight said-" Pinkie's mane turned into Twilight's, colour included, "Pinkie Pie! You can't light fires inside a library! Especially one made out of wood!-" Her hair turned back to normal, "Except the Friendship Castle isn't made out of wood, it's made out of crystal, and I couldn't figure out why she was soooooooooooo-" Pinkie paused to take a deep breath, "ooooooooooooooooooooooooo upset about something else that made my party not help! It was awful!"

Cadance stared for a moment, working through what Pinkie actually just said.

"So you tried to throw her a party in her castle, and she was frightened because she thought there might be a fire? That sounds..."

Bad. Really really bad. Twilight gets neurotic sometimes but not...

"Uh- How did you follow all of that?" Rainbow asked

"I've been practicing keeping pace with face talking ponies." Cadance commented, "Nobles" she clarified at the looks. Rarity nodded to Applejack knowingly, who was deadpanning the whole situation away. "But it sounds bad, what's this book? A spell book? Does Celestia ha-"

"No, nothing like that." Fluttershy interrupted, "She said it was... a historical recount from hundreds of years ago."

Rainbow flew in front of the group. "Yeah! Except that was when she was still excited about it, a few weeks went past and she wouldn't even talk about it anymore. What gives?"

Cadance frowned and tilted her head to the side.

What aren't you saying yet?

She narrowed her eyes and took a few more steps towards Rainbow Dash, who seemingly remembered who she was talking to. "What makes you all think I know anything about it?" She turned towards the rest of the group, "If it's not... What is it?"

They'd all adopted guilty looks.

Applejack pulled her hat down over her chest, "Well, we may have broken into the castle late at night."

"It's not really bad! We're all allowed after all."

Applejack sent Rarity a look. "We also snuck into Twilight's study to see what it was all about. There were a whole bunch of letters penned out to Celestia about... Immortality and Alicorns and magic that we couldn't make any sense of."

Historical book. Alicorns... Celestia...

"Discord was acting strange about it too."

"You mean stranger than normal." Rainbow added

"Stranger than normal." Fluttershy clarified, "When I asked him about it, he said 'well she'd have to learn someday' and then when I asked him 'what' he got all jumpy and confused; then he turned into a sword that fell into a stone and that burst through my cottage wall and flew away."

"Ya didn't tell us that part sugar cube."

"He did fix the wall before he left."

Rarity raised a hoof, "Annnd, saying this as politely as possible, but it all started a while ago when... Something dreadful happened in Canterlot involving you and Princess Luna? Twilight didn't speak much of it, but we know she took a few surprise trips to see you after..."

"That is when everything changed!" Pinkie smiled, seemingly remembering.

Pinkie's emotions were... not unreadable, but majoritively unintelligible. They told of something deeper going on in the mare's head, though anyone who knew her with any depth would notice that anyways. Kind of like how Cadance could never grasp Celestia, but could still identify her by her unique emotions.

Cadance glanced between Pinkie and Applejack.

"We were hopin' you'd know something about it?"

Thing was, Cadance did know something about it. As Silver had said, and Luna had only vaguely verified, the entirety of history had been doctored carefully by Celestia. History that was distinctly not something that should be shared, not something Cadance could share. A history that would have shattered poor Twilight's worldview, if what Silver was spouting was to be believed.

Except why would Celestia have told Twilight?

The question she was really asking was: 'why Twilight instead of me?'

Then there was that public debacle in Canterlot. Twilight's friends thought it had something to do with Quick Silver, even if they didn't know that that's what they were asking about.

...

Cadance's mouth set itself into a straight line. "I'm sorry girls, but I can't say anything about the subject."

Applejack's eyes narrowed, and the quintet expressed a series of equally disbelieving looks.

"Twilight's coming to the fair right? I promise I'll make time to talk to her-" Cadance held up a hoof to interrupt Applejack opening her mouth. "Really; talk to her. I... Do think I know what's going on, but it's better to not talk behind her back, right?"

She got a trio of nods, "Then it's settled. Thank you all for letting me know, but I'm going to talk to Twilight."

"Ah guess I can't complain about that." Applejack muttered.

"What she would like to express-" Rarity said gently, sending Applejack the same look she sent Rainbow Dash. "Is how upset we are that we can't be involved. We understand that Twilight is an Alicorn now and we're not, but-"

"Horseapples." Rainbow helpfully clarified, "We're her friends! We've always faced stuff together, and now it's all 'royal secrets?'"

"Rainbow Dash." Cadance cleared her throat, "It's not like that at all, and I'm upset that you'd accuse me of something like it."

Applejack stepped in, "She's right Dash, it ain't right going around behind Twilight's back like we did, like we're doing."

Rainbow crossed her hooves, but didn't comment.

Cadance tried changing the subject, "You're all welcome to stay in the castle until tomorrow, I can have rooms or a room set out for all of you."

"Ah- you don-"

Rarity interjected, "Stay in The Crystal Spire? We'd LOVE to!" and shot Applejack a look that said 'don't take this away from me.'

"We'd be mighty pleased to accept your kind offer." Applejack quickly rephrased, laying it on a bit sarcastically thick.

Pinkie twirled her hoof with eyes wide as dinner plates, "Does this mean!?"

What does it-

"SLEEPOVER PARTY WITH THE PRINCESS! AAAA!"

Aaaaaand she's gone.

"I'm not sure that's what she meant."

Cadance shrugged, "I could go for a sleepover."

Shining was great, but the only mare friend Cadance had outside of work was Silver.

And that wasn't exactly... suited for 'relaxation'

"Alright!"

Cadance spun around on the now shimmering grey scale stage. Crystal magic works wonders when you have a team of crystal ponies well versed in construction. "Look at this place! Right?" There were cheers, Cadance looked over the teams. The sashes to identify leads, the Thestral guards having perched themselves on whatever they could find. Twilight's friends, who had joined in on the construction efforts, Homeward, Point Flare, and their respective teams.

"Can you believe that this was a month in the making?!" She projected, followed by more cheers and stomps. "All of you, and I really mean all of you. None of this would have been possible without every hoof, wing, and horn. Be it Crystal, Thestral, or whatever. Thank goodness you were all here." She joked, and got a few chuckles.

"Tomorrow is the biggest celebration Equestria has ever seen!"

Hoots and hollers mixed with the thumping of hooves and whistling. Cadance glanced at the blue tinted moon through the shield, wondering where Luna was in the crowd, if she was anywhere. "Tomorrow! We remind Equestria why we're called an Empire!"

More cheering, more whistling

"Tomorrow we show Equestria what the Crystal Ponies are all about! Because-" Cadance said immediately after to cut through the screams, "of all the ponies, of everyone who helped put this together, none of it would have been possible without the Crystalians of old."

There were nods, and Cadance dropped her voice, "Nobody needs reminders about Sombra. About the state of things, this Empire, less than faded memory ago. The places these ponies were in."

The crowd's excitement died to near a pin drop, totally unprepared for the direction Cadance's speech had gone.

"They were slaves." Her voice echoed and she let the comment hang in the air like a blade. "And look at this place." She gestured out, "I've never seen ponies so strong. With so much hope for the future. It's almost impossible, but here they are, glittering like stars, changing the world."

She let another beat pass

"So as the first event of The Crystal Solstice; for all of you who worked so hard, I'd like us to forgo the normal celebrations of a job well done. Instead, tonight, I would like us all to remember the Crystal Ponies."

Cadance's gaze swept across the crowd until they rested on Amber, at the edge of the stage.

"What they lost."

She turned again, until her eyes settled on the shield in the distance

"Their hardships."

She looked down at her own hooves.

"The pain."

The last word drifted into the air until a shrill whistle pierced the night. A Thestral had taken to the air and let off a noise the other Thestrals had joined in, screeching into the air. There was defiance in it, violence, grief. They pounded their armor with their hooves in tune with what Cadance was projection. Ponies stomped, and those that didn't understand were swept up into the emotion.

"Tonight! Let us remember the Crystal Ponies! Let tomorrow be for everything they created! And tonight, for everything they had."

The stomping turned to cheering, and the beat lost its cohesion. Cadance watched the non-Crystalians resting hooves on those that were. A few had broken into tears, the Thestrals kept up their screeching beat of violence for those that might try to harm them again.

Cadance felt the spark, and she opened her mouth.

"For friends that end
And time that goes
The Lives we've lost
To ice and snow"

This was not a song, but it was from the heart.

"The world untamed
In wilds aflame
To prey upon
the things we know"

She felt like she finally understood their struggle. Breaching the impossible, fighting something so unfair. Not so much as winning as surviving.

"While Fate reveals its wicked wrath
For us who walk the Starlit Path
To time apart in endless chase
I called my dreams in my own faith"

Defiance was just an act of Love. A choice you made that could not be unmade. Funny, how it always came back to choice.

"I carved my name in sky above
For power beyond apart in Love
The rules inside the laws sublime
To be in the time I cannot find"

A promise, is what it's called. It was something Cadance was starting to know; she'd save these ponies. She'd stop Silver, she'd help Twilight, she'd help Luna, Celestia, she'd do it all. Her voice raised to a shout, echoing over the rest of the noise her mind had tuned out as she half sang, half yelled her heart into the sky.

"For Will is run and burned to ash
By mine who’s heart and soul align
May not my hopes and dreams be dashed
But manifest by my design!"

Cadance's horn didn't light, her hooves didn't glow and her eyes didn't shine.

Because it wasn't an extravagant thing, a promise. Love.

It was quiet, paradoxical, impossible, unprovable.

Cadance's mane whipped in the ethereal wind as the Crystal Heart spun faster and let off a wave of crystallization magic as grey as the stage she was standing on. It was the second time she'd triggered it herself, maybe. She wasn't looking at the other ponies, she probably should have, but she was far more focused on the new emotion the heart had channeled.

Grief.

Cadance understood now. She left the stage with a flap of her wings, leaving the silent festivities of remembrance to continue without her. She had somewhere to be. She needed to have been there long before. She touched down only moments after taking flight, the tent wasn't far. Cadance landed in front of Homeward and co, surrounding Blue Skies, who was crying her eyes out with a smile. The Alicorn twitched a little, wanting to do this quickly, but also not wanting to disrupt the moment.

Symbol and Marker had the first looks of caring Cadance had ever seen on them.

"Thank you Princess." Was all Skies said.

Guess they heard me from all the way over here

They were all shiny too, the Crystal Hearts magic having done what it does.

"Could you show me where Silver is?"

Homeward's ears twisted around, "Quick Silver? The... Tack & Co. mare?" Cadance felt surprise she wasn't expecting.

"Yes, that's the one." She clarified.

"I thought I saw her helping set up the buffet tables over there, a few minutes ago."

"Thank you Homeward." Cadance flew away without warning, only taking a few steps away so as to not buffet the ponies. Homeward watched her go, and Cadance felt the fleeting confusion as she went. Silver had started a hoof wrestling contest with the Thestral guards, and was pretending to struggle in a way that, to Cadance, was a complete and utter exaggeration of what was going on. She landed, and the Thestral in question got just distracted enough for Silver to spin him over the table. The Guards laughed, of course.

"Princess! To what do we owe the pleasure?" Silver stepped forwards, "I promise we'll be back to work quickly."

Of course, I give a speech about remembrance and Silver starts a hoof wrestling competition instead of setting up the buffet table. Why is that the norma- err, normalest(?) thing abo- Focus Cadance.

Cadance raised a wing, and gestured for Silver to follow away from the crowd. "May I have a word with you in private?"

Silver followed, and kept up her 'noble' voice for just long enough to be far enough away, "Lovely speech you gave Prin- and we're out of earshot. What do you want?"

Cadance kept walking.

"Please don't do this. I can smell the apotheosis all over you, this isn't a stage play Cadance. I shouldn't have to keep making that comparison. Your dramatics' and poetry aren't welcome in my head."

Cadance made a face, "What about your dramatics' and poetry?"

Silver scoffed, "I'm no poet, and my drama is always in good taste." She sighed, "Can we please just go back to the celebration? I don't want to do this right now, or ever."

"You don't even know what I wanted to say."

"Y-er-" Silver gave Cadance a once over, "Odd, I guess I don't, but that's besides the point."

They walked in silence for a few moments.

Silver tried to change the subject, "So you've finally noticed the Heart can channel emotions other than 'hope' and 'love'."

"Why is that?" Cadance genuinely wondered out loud.

"Well, Sombra still used the Heart to create the shield while everyone was enslaved, so obviously there's something deeper there for you to think about. Magical artefacts are like that, you get old enough, and they basically have a will of their own."

Cadance hung her head, "I'm sorry for telling you that you didn't have to do this."

Silver frowned and went silent. That is, she stopped breathing, and her hooves stopped making noise as her crystalline form struck down on the crystal road.

"Of course you have to. You wouldn't be doing it if you didn't."

Silver rolled her eyes, "I already forgave you. Stop with this heartfelt apology nonsense. It's sappy and unnecessary."

"I'm going to prove you wrong." Cadance clarified

Silver rolled her eyes again.

"I don't know how yet... but I Will."

...

"Okay." Silver planted her hooves, "Welcome to the game then." She lifted one up and offered it to Cadance. Cadance took her hoof and Silver gave it a hearty shake that probably would have hurt a normal pony. "May the best of us win."

Cadance smiled, "Well let's hope." She joked

Silver snorted and let go. "Don't you have a pre-cel to run? And a spontaneous sleep over you're missing?"

"Yes, and stop spying on me." Cadance opened her wings and gave a parting glance to Silver's silent glare, mixed with the smile on her face. Then she took off for the Spire.

Sleepover episode I totally didn't plan for but here it is

"Hokay!" Cadance burst in through the door, pillow in hoof, blanket draped over her shoulders, "I'm here, and I'm pooped."

"You surely look it Darling, com-"

Applejack interrupted from her space on the floor, "Ahm pretty sure she's the kind of exhausted that doesn't take a... mud facial to fix." She sassed

Rarity a single cucumber from her eye and sent out a glare towards Applejack.

Cadance started cackling.

All five mares, Pinkie included, looked between themselves and the laughing Princess as she went on till tears. A few words tried getting out of Cadance's mouth as she stumbled into the room and the door behind her, but she just couldn't stop laughing. Pinkie shrugged, and also started laughing uproariously, that sent Rainbow Dash laughing to, and Applejack, from the sheer ridiculousness of what was going on. Fluttershy giggled, levity was shared, and Cadance plopped down into a pile of pillows next to Applejack and slowly began to calm down.

That's the kind of relaxation I needed.

"Wow!" Pinkie gently bounced over to her, "You must've had a whole buncha funnies all bottled up in there!"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Cadance sent Rainbow Dash a look that said 'no, you really wouldn't' and continued, "These past two months.... I haven't felt so... normal... a sleepover? I shouldn't laugh-"

"Yes you should-" Pinkie tried interjecting logically,

"Because it comes from satire."

"What?"

"Means she's laughin' at us." Applejack clarified.

Cadance flushed, "Well, yes, but- not like that!"

"Oh Darling don't be so apologetic, you're a Princess, and we're-"

"A big ball of goofs?" Pinkie offered

"Normal mares." Rarity finished

Rainbow, still in the air as usual, did a quick twirl. "Speak for yourself, there isn't anything normal about this much awesome!"

"Yes, of course, Rainbow Dash; though please keep your awesome contained, we don't want to disturb the already exhausted Princess in our presence."

Fluttershy spoke at a moderately loud volume for her, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Cadance flopped her head down into the pillow she brought with her, "Honestly girls, you're all really sweet, but I desperately need the sleep for tomorrow."

"Oh yeah!" Rainbow landed, "We were meaning to ask, did you want any help with that?"

"We may not have been here the whole time, but that nice mare showed us around like you asked her to! And we know all about the fair! We can toooootally help!"

Cadance's eyes peeked open up at Pinkie, "Nice mare?"

"Ah, a Noble mare by the name of Quick Silver?"

Cadance used her magic to pull her blanket over her head.

"Is that a no?" Fluttershy asked.

"No-er, Yes?" Cadance poked her head up, still trying not to put any pressure on her stomach by laying sideways. "Silver's been a crux of some of the... Noble trouble I've been facing recently, and she's... she's..."

"She seemed perfectly fine to me." Rainbow said, eyebrow raised.

Rarity tutted. "Well she was a noble Rainbow Dash, it's practically her job to 'seem fine' to everypony."

"She didn't... say anything odd, did she?"

"Outside of her exuberance for the fair-"

Exuberance for genocide.

"She seemed to be the perfect model of a Crystal Empire Noblemare."

"Anypony else notice how that noblemare wasn't actually from the Empire?" Applejack questioned

"What do yo-"

"Duh!" Pinkie bounced, as she always did, as she'd been doing this whole time. "Quick Silver was a pegasus."

"Oh." Fluttershy said

"Oh?" Rarity questioned, "What am I missing?"

"She's not a Crystal Pony" Cadance clarified, "And no, she's not from the Empire, but she has roots traceable back to a noble line that I thought would benefit the Empire to resurrect. She had the right documents and the Empire needed her resources." Cadance waved a hoof, "Never mind her though, help?" Cadance probably looked ever so slightly pitiful.

She wasn't certain if she'd done it on purpose. She hoped she hadn't.

"Certainly!" Fluttershy smiled, "I'm sure there's lots of critters that would love to help keep the streets clean if we made them some snacks, oh, and I know everypony else can help in all sorts of ways too."

"I can help organize!"

"I can help stylize!"

"I can keep the skies clear, and bring around messages asap."

Everyone turned to Applejack, who shrugged. "Ah can lift boxes, if ya want."

Rainbow Dash snorted.

"I'll send you girls out to Ivory in the-" Cadance yawned, "Morning. She'll be able to get all of you somewhere you can help, why though, out of curiosity?"

"Well we're already here." Applejack waved, "It'd be silly to ride all the way back to Ponyville just to come back tomorrow morning with Twilight."

"And not the funny kind of silly!" Pinkie's bounce halted in midair, "The Super Serious Important but Superfluous kind of silly!"

Cadance let her head flop back down and snuggled into her pillow. "That sounds perfect, thank you all, of course."

"Princess," Fluttershy started, "I don't-oh, please tell me if this is being pushy but-"

Cadance already knew. "Twilight?"

Fluttershy nodded.

Cadance sighed. "I... It wouldn't be fair to talk about it without her here. She's... Immortality hits hard, and... ugh, maybe even saying that is too much. I'm sorry Fluttershy, I'm far too tired for this conversation."

"That's totally okay, we get it."

You definitely do- oh my gosh I sound like SILVER. Stop that! Cadance!

"Uhm." Fluttershy noticed Cadance's internal yelling, "Are... you okay? Cadance?"

The use of her name rather than her title wasn't lost on her, nor the emotional context. Fluttershy was a wonderful mare, she was so willing and ready to listen to anything Cadance had to say. Cadance shook her head, "I'm not sure where to start, so I won't. Last month, months. I feel like my whole life is happening over again, and I have no idea what I'm doing. What I do know-"

Pause for dramatic affect

"Is that I need sleep."

Several ears flopped over in disappointment. Cadance internally smiled at her tiny little joke. "But don't let me ruin your slumbertivities. I've got a silencing spell for that." Cadance lit her horn, and a tiny blue see-through bubble appeared around her head and a portion of her back. She clapped on the inside, and the mares on the outside all nodded and started speaking to each other. Noise Cadance couldn't hear.

"Princess Cadance?"

Cadance tried to keep the exasperation out of her face, she may be inaudible, but they could still see her. Her eye may have twitched slightly, and she covered her head with her blanket. "Loleck?"

"Hello Princess Cadance."

Cadance's eye twitched again, "Okay, How. I absolutely did not grab the... Pillow you were before, I made sure of it."

"Your husband mentioned a slumber party. I prepared for you to-"

Cadance wanted to slam her head into the pillow on reflex, but the unique situation stopped her.

"Okay." Cadance cleared her thoughts, "Okay! Moth, what is it?"

"My Queen wished for me to alert you to an oncoming attack on the Crystal Solstice tomorrow."

Cadance gently closed her eyes, "You really don't hold back, do you Loleck?"

"No Ma'am." A beat passed, and the pillow in her hooves shifted slightly, making her want to chuck it as hard as she could across the room. "Queen's orders."

Great. It's not enough to have one maniac trying to subtly mess with me.

"Thank you for doing your job Loleck."

"Of course, Princess Cadance. Goodnight."

A beat passed. "Please, don't say that."

The pillow remained silent.

Cadance stared at it.

Ugh. It's just a changeling Cadance, why not just go to sleep on a changeling.

Cadance rested herself down onto Loleck.

Yup, this is totally normal and not gross at all.

A shiver ran up her spine, despite how warm she was naturally, and the blanket.

Oh my gosh, how many of the items in my room are changelings- is the blanket a changeling too? Is that how Silver's been spying on me this whole time?!

Cadance did not sleep very well that night.

The Crystal Solstice...

It was less than an hour past sunrise and the entire fairgrounds was already filled with ponies looking to beat the rush. Cadance had looked plenty at the charts and maps. She'd been outside the whole time it was being set up, and she knew exactly where all of the hoof traffic was going, and where to walk to avoid the influx of ponies as they came in.

Tack & Co.'s transportation methods were simple and effective. There were thirty minute intervals each hour, one for returns and one for arrivals. Arrivals got a return time based on a tiny fee of less than a few bits, and if you weren't at the gates when they opened for returns, then you had to stand in the long line for ponies who missed their return times.

That wasn't counting the natives, and not just the crystal ponies. Cadance hadn't remembered the last time she'd seen so many of her citizens outside. It really was a case of their culture falling apart, ponies staying indoors, nothing new happening as time kept passing; but not today, today, Cadance would have guessed that every citizen had stepped out for at least a moment to see the fair. For locals, attendance was free, so there wasn't a reason to skip out on it.

Cadance was shuffling around through the central business tents, making an appearance for all of the business owners who had chosen to show up the day of. That being said, she was wearing her regalia for the first time in...

Since I met Silver.

The clicking of her shoes on the crystal roads was audible only due to her recently heightened senses. That, in addition to the strange coasting of emotional senses she was pulling from the crowd as she walked on three hooves and waved and smiled around. Ponies coasted by her side to side, most of them focused on what they were doing or who they were speaking with. Those coming through the 'expo' portion of the fair tended to have something to do.

Though, a few of them stopped and waved. In one case, the 'As Of Right Now' highlight of Cadance's day, a filly riding around on her mother caught a glance of Cadance, and Cadance waved, leaving the filly to smile with an open mouth as her eyes went wide and she started to tell her mother that the Princess had just waved at her.

Excitement, carrying undertones of tentative hope and an interesting mix of anxiety and relaxation that made Cadance think of 'playing'.

If that even makes any sense.

She was belaying walking over to where Quick Silver's tent was, her current path was strolling through the Crystal Empire businesses on her way to Homeward.

All that, and the grounds had only been open for a few hours. Staff had been rushing around for final checks and distributing water and last minute changes for the past two, Cadance having stepped out of the whole process because she was only getting in the way. One too many tarps with a horn poked into it had the sleepy eyed Thestrals sho’ing her away.

She had the luxury of not having to shoulder past ponies, but she did have to make up for it by making eye contact and smiling at every pony that stepped out of her way. Why? Because, of course.

A minute of polite 'hellos' and waving passed before Cadance caught the eye of Homeward chattering away with a pair of crystal ponies. Behind her, (and this was clearly a practiced demonstration) Kayfur was growing crystals faster than Cadance had ever seen. Usually it takes a pair of unicorns or a group of crystal ponies a few days to get the seeds to sprout and grow in any reasonable timeframe. Kayfur was twirling his hooves, and the crystal was dancing upwards like water magnetized to his hooves, and solidifying into crystal at the bottom. The glow of his hooves matched the glow of the almost fluid crystal. On the other side of the tent, Symbol and Marker were showing off a chart and a map of the proposed college to a bunch of other business ponies. Point Flare and Misty Scarlet were talking behind a pair of boxes, Cadance only knew because she could feel them.

Cadance trotted right up to Homeward and the two ponies talking to her, they both went to bow, but Cadance rushed forwards and grabbed their hooves to raise them up. "None of that please." Both of them, a red mare with a bright pink mane, and a cyan stallion with a navy blue mane both struggled to find something to say in response to not only the presence, but contact with their Princess.

"Cadance!" Homeward came to their rescue by throwing a hoof forwards and inviting Cadance for a side hug.

Cadance conversationally said, "How goes the presentations?" , then turned towards the two ponies, "What do you two think?" She asked, nodding her head towards Kayfur.

"I'm not..." The stallion started, trailing off as Cadance made eye contact, "... sure what to make of it..."

The mare clarified, "It just seems too good to be true. With magic like that, it makes sense how..." She shrugged and pointed up at the Spire.

Cadance nodded, "Forgotten magical skills applied without the limitations of the casters who created them. That's what the school is for, imagine every pony being able to create their own crystal homes.

The stallion smirked, "Imagine the bits."

She punched him in the shoulder.

"What are your names?"

Homeward interjected herself, "Oh! Princess..." She spun around, "This is Wave Form-" Miss Pink Mane waved, "and this is Sapphire Stone."

Cadance perked a brow, "Oh? A Stone, I can't believe I didn't reco-"

He waved his hoof, "No no, I'm not part of the family, my parents just... I get that a lot."

Grief

So many of them had lost so much. Cadance opened her mouth, the barest idea of something consoling to say before she was interrupted by a peculiarly familiar soft voice. "Excuse me? Princess Cadance? May I speak with you?"

Cadance turned to see an ivory white pegasus mare with an unkempt pink mane standing within that range of 'just a little too close'. Despite the distance, Cadance smiled, "Of course? How can I help you?"

The mare tilted her head and took a step to the side. "In private?"

Cadance stepped to the side for two reasons, the first, there wasn't really 'privacy' in a place like this. A few steps to the side wouldn't cost her any distance aside from their voices being too far away to carry. Secondly, this mare didn't have any emotions, or rather, her emotions were hidden. That, combined with the pink on white led Cadance to tentatively raise a brow as they moved away from the crowd. "Celestia?"

A smile reached the mare's face. "Sunny Skies, as of right now."

Why are you faking your smile? Why are you hiding your emotions? Why are you in disguise?

Suspicion immediately fell into the forefront of Cadance's mind. It'd been the first time she'd seen Celestia in a few months... and she'd sent that letter fairly recently, so there was no doubt what this was about. Except that didn't explain the subterfuge.

"It's a very pretty disguise." Cadance said slowly.

Celestia turned sideways, "Cadance, please, we can talk for a moment before getting to business, can't we?"

"Can we?" Slipped out.

Oops.

Celestia frowned.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." Cadance looked around to the crowd and noted that nopony was looking in.

Celestia's tone shifted. "I'm sorry for showing up in disguise and unannounced, but I didn't want to throw your fair into disarray, or upstage Luna."

Liar

Celestia's tone shifted again, deeper, "I needed to tell you about the... sovereignty plan you broached me with."

I didn't.

"I'm sure there are a few details you missed and-"

"I'm sorry Celestia, but there aren't. This is what we're doin-"

She interrupted, "You haven't announced it yet, which means there's still time to undo any damage that's been done."

"Damage?" Cadance asked incredulously, "What damage?"

Celestia shook her head, "Noble discourse, disarray of resources. Did you know how many import taxes apply to staple foods?"

Cadance narrowed her eyes and straightened her back, "Seven." It was a strange thing to say intensely, but it worked. Celestia blinked once and opened her mouth, Cadance interrupted again, "The nobles were at my back when I made this decision, and it's been made, I'm not going back on my word."

"Cadance, my dear niece, I really don't want to argue with you about this. I-"

"Then stop arguing."

Celestia's mouth sealed itself shut and her brow furrowed, "Where is this hostility coming from?"

Cadance took a deep breath, "The only reason you could not want sovereignty is if you... want to erase the Empire's culture. The nobles warned me about Crystalia becoming... just another principality of Equestria, is that what you want?"

Celestia slowly responded, "This is the wrong way to achieve that."

Liar.

"No it isn't."

"Cadance." She tried to admonish, "You're young, and-"

"This is what you trained me to do. Age has nothing to do with it."

"Again with the combativeness." She frowned again, except her face didn't make any sense. Cadance knew Celestia, she didn't lie like Silver, she just didn't. All of these faces and expressions. The way she twisted her voice like a screwdriver into Cadance's ears, she'd heard it all before. It was uncanny, it was wrong. Had she always been like this?

Why are you shielding your emotions?

Cadance shook her head, "This isn't your choice Celestia, and I've made up my mind. Please enjoy the festival."

Cadance turned to leave, but failed. Her front hoof was stuck to the ground by a pale yellow glow.

Celestia smiled at her.

Oh.

"Cadance." Celestia said slower, "You can't do this. Genuinely, you have no idea how far the waves will roil."

Cadance tore her hoof up from the glow with nothing but muscle, and nearly popped her shoulder. "Maybe not, but I-"

Celestia raised her nose, "No but's, Cadance. Please, I need you to trust me with this."

Cadance belted out, "Why should I trust you when you're lying to me. Right in front of my face."

Celestia's right ear flicked.

"I don't understand." Cadance tried, "What is going on with you? I didn't want to believe w-"

"What who was saying?" Celestia cut her off. "Who was telling you things about me that were hard to believe."

"Nopony... There are... History books in the Crystal Archives."

Celestia's expression remained unchanged. "No there aren't. I removed them myself."

Oh.

Celestia was no longer playing games. A menace rose up from her stance that Cadance had only just now noticed. The menace of a thousand year old mare. "Do not give the announcement Cadance." She commanded.

Cadance asked simply, "Why?"

Celestia rolled her mouth around and turned away. "Be very careful of the path you're walking dear niece, and enjoy the festival." And then she was gone. Cadance blinked, and the disguised Celestia was just gone.

"Who was that?" Homeward asked, making Cadance jump. Her breath came in a short spurt as she tried to rationalize the sudden ominous end to the conversation with her fellow monarch. "Cadance?"

"Apologies, sorry, I got-" Cadance took a deeper breath, "I was lost in thought, where did your friends go?"

Homeward waved a hoof, "Oh, they've got a bunch of things to look at today."

Cadance nodded, "Would yo-"

"Of course!" Homeward jumped past her and moved into the tent, intent on showing Cadance all the bits and bobs. Cadance truly tried to listen, but her mind was still spinning around what she had just learned. So viscerally, at that. All those things Luna and Silver and Chrysalis had said about Celestia... they were more right than wrong, at least.

She just came out of nowhere and threatened me. Unless I...

Should Cadance be scared? What was she supposed to do about that? With a single conversation, an entirely new and foreign Quick Silver in the shape of Princess Celestia was occupying her thoughts.

Was it just talk? What if- oh my stars, what if she goes to war? Or fights me! I can't fight Celestia! What-

"Princess Cadance?"

Cadance blinked a few times, noting the looks she was getting before pulling up from her skills as a Princess for a swift recovery, "Oh goodness. I'm so sorry, I fell into my thoughts there for a moment, please continue."

Homeward tilted her head, "Are you sure? It's really all the things I've shown you already."

Point Flare had also joined in on the looks. Cadance still had to apologize to her a bit more profusely for...

Doing what Celestia just did to her...

Oh... yeah... I definitely need to apologize again.

"You look off."

"Dawn!" Homeward spun to meet the pony in question.

"Rays." Cadance said, also turning around, "It's good to see you. I was surprised when you weren't around."

Flare walked up to him with a big smirk and threw her hoof over his shoulder, "Dawn here's been riling up the crowd. Most of our hoof traffic is from ponies he sent up here."

"Yeah-"

You seem awfully comfortable under her hoof

"It's crazy early in the morning, so most of the ponies wandering around now are locals or are only trying to beat the hoof traffic for the 'festival'" he put in clearly audible quotes, "part of the festival."

"Clever." Marker said, having come up from the side.

"It was your idea, Marker." Symbol said from next to Cadance. Maker smirked and shrugged.

"Really though, I'm fine."

Homeward waved a hoof, "Really, Princess, are you sure we can't get you off your hooves for a moment?"

Kayfur called over, "They're all in cahoots to get you to take a break."

A series of hard looks passed from the group to Kayfur, who was seemingly basking in the angry glares for giving up the chicken.

Cadance smiled, "Okay. I'll go find my husband and rustle up some breakfast."

"You haven't eaten breakfast yet?" Point Flare asked incredulously.

"I-" Cadance stuttered, remembering Silver trying to bap her over the head for just that, "There's so much happening, it slipped my mind."

"Well go on then." Marker said.

"Sho." Symbol clarified.

Cadance spread her wings, "Okay okay, I'm going. There's plenty of fair food to enjoy." She turned to Homeward, "I'll check in with you later." Before taking flight and nosing her way up around the edge of the tent flap, out into the air. Generally, the fair was a 'no fly zone' so that equipment and fair staff could get pega-lifted and have an easy way around. Cadance technically counted as festival staff, so she was allowed.

Otherwise she would have walked.

No really.

Finding Shining Armor was never difficult, even in a crowd with so many flowing emotions, Cadance could pick out the beacon of love from the other side of the Empire. She set down next to him and Applejack. "Ah, Cadance perfect. I wanted to let you know a-"

"Hold that thought Applejack, I'm on a royal mission for breakfast."

Applejack smiled, "Well then, you came to the right place. Right down there's mah cart. You can talk to Applebloom but-"

Cadance used her magic to 'yoink' Shining, who looked confused for a moment before chuckling to himself. "Thanks!" She said to the parting Applejack, despite being obtusely rude, Cadance desperately needed to talk to Shining now that she had the split second to do so. "Shining?" She floated him into place next to her.

At her tone, his face morphed into 'serious' and he asked, "What else happened?"

Cadance opened her mouth, intending to start making noises until what she wanted to say ended up said, but stopped short. "Else?"

Shining pointed backwards, "Applejack was trying to tell you, remember those conponies from Ponyville?"

"They have a booth?" Cadance guessed

Shining nodded, "Applejack's keeping an eye on them." Shining switched expressions and tone, "What happened with you?"

"Celestia's here." Cadance answered, a little too forcefully. "In disguise, and she threatened me to basically shut down the festival."

Shining's eyebrows nearly popped off his head. Being in public though, that was all he could do.

"I don't know what to do."

Shining adopted the same deeply contemplative look that Cadance felt. They weren't walking towards food anymore, they were just... walking in a direction. After a few more waves and smiles to the crowd, Shining opened his mouth just in time for screaming to reach Cadance's ears. Cadance turned first with her wings spread, and spotted a swarm of changelings hovering over the crowd, back where they'd come from.

"Shit." Shining said, taking into a gallop. Cadance followed, and Shining stopped and sent her a look.

"I can-"

"No." He waved his hoof, "Spire, safety, now."

Shining didn't give her instructions, what just happened was because this was no longer Shining. This was her guard captain, and he told her to get to safety. Cadance lit her horn and teleported to the Heart. Immediately after, she was rammed by a charging bull, both of them going spinning onto the ground as the Heart came flying out of a bag, for everypony around to see.

Cadance was still trying to make sense of what was going on when the bull recovered, scooped up the Heart, and kept running. A menagerie of guards and a pair of Twilight's friends rushed past, and Cadance was still deciding what to do.

Focus!

She'd stay right there. They could handle it.

They could handle it.

She could already see the Thestral guard engaging with the cloud of changelings and winning. There was a rainbow streak against the sky an-

Oh, the Crystal Heart is missing.

Cadance rushed up into the Spire, she needed to reinforce the shield before it went out and covered the Empire in snow. The guards in the palace got quite the shock as Cadance blitzed past them all to the upper floors, shouting about an attack to those who were unsure about leaving their posts. The Spire itself could remain undefended. It was closed for the day anyway. A trail of gold a purple followed behind her as she flew, using her hooves to skip on sharp turns before throwing herself forwards again until she w-

Cadance took a long breath the moment she reached the balcony and spotted Quick Silver. She trotted out after recovering from the surprise, "I don't hav-"

"No you don't." She interrupted, waving her hoof forwards, "Shut up and do the thing."

Cadance did so. She lit her horn and recalled the adapted shield spell Shining had taught her. It was a lot like the point form projection, but required a second matrix for adaptive shield angling. Range was a big deal too, she fired a beam upwards, starting the spell as it wove itself down the side of the Crystal Heart's shield. There was resistance, some weight of spellform pressing back against her as the cascading failures of the magic she was reinforcing grappled against her will to find purchase.

Both held.

Cadance took a deep breath as she watched the storm of changelings engaged in combat with Twilight and her friends.

Hopefully it would be enough.

Oh look! It's on fire!

Cadance sat on the balcony with her horn glowing. Silver was just standing there, watching her.

Not any different than her spying on me. At least I can see her right now.

The sounds of fighting and horn lasers had quieted down. Cadance was now waiting for them to return the Heart. Something that was taking a concerningly long time. Despite the relative safety, the short interaction with that bull still had her heart pounding. The adrenaline response of being ready to jump into the sky at a moment's notice was still flowing through her, but she couldn't, not while pregnant, not after promising not to. Especially after Shining told her not to.

Another breath.

"Steady on there, Little Princess." Silver stood, and walked over towards her. "I can feel your heartbeat through the floor."

Cadance snorted. "That's not weird at all."

She shrugged and sent her a smile. "Give it a few years, your senses will get funky on you too, then you'll stop being judgmental, just you wait." She plopped down right in front of her, also staring out over the railing.

"Is there a reason you're here?" Cadance asked, followed by, "That you'll tell me without nine verbal hoops for me to jump through?"

Silver's mouth closed. She turned back towards the open air. "Looks like they caught most of the changelings."

Cadance frowned.

Right then.

Silver was doing the same thing Celestia was doing, only more... subtle. It was menacing, at a distance. Now that Cadance was so used to it; if she hadn't known Silver's intentions, the 'act' probably would have fooled her again. Though, she wasn't letting it out of her mind that the mare in front of her was dangerous, and definitely her enemy.

"I'm here to make sure you keep that promise." Silver said unprompted, still staring over the railing. "And to keep you safe."

A lot of thinking and a very healthy dose of wariness clued Cadance into the subtle implication woven between the two statements. Maybe it was Cadance reading into it, or maybe the flashes of ocean and the memory of the promise she made to stay safe changed her mood enough to realize what Silver had actually said.

You think this isn't over. You don't think they can handle it. You think you'll need to protect me, and that I wouldn't have been able to because of that promise.

Cadance took another breath and brought the spellform back to the forefront of her mind.

Silver turned towards her, looking over her shoulder. "I can take that, if you'd like."

"The spell?"

Silver stepped away from the railing, and a chilling, black, pointed stick of metal appeared in her hooves from somewhere. "One moment." The pole went into her mouth from her hooves, and she turned her head sideways and pressed the pole into the crystal floor. The scraping noise was horrendous. Shapes worked their way into the ground around Cadance, Silver going around in a few circles for a minute and a half before she hid the pole away again. "There we are. Touch your horn to the base, and then don't look at it. Should keep the spell going for another few hours or so."

Cadance did so. Silver was her foremost expert on magic, and she seemed to take a certain sort of pride in her work, leading Cadance to believe it would do what she said it would. That, and Silver tended to always do what she said it would. The circle of runes lit as she tapped her horn to it, and she averted her gaze and stepped away. It hummed in a way she could sense, Silver made an adjustment before walking back towards the door.

Cadance watched her leaving. "Where are you going?"

Silver's wings ruffled on her back. "Timing. You get a sense for these things when you're older." Silver's brow furrowed, "I genuinely can't explain it, even if I wanted-" She cut herself off and waved a wing. "Just come on."

Cadance almost turned back to the spell circle before remembering not to do that, and then followed Silver.

Everything is going to be fine.

She told herself. Even though she had the sinking feeling that this wasn't over. Now that Silver had put it in her head. At least the wind chill was gone now that they were inside. "So what are we doing?"

"Doing? Not going?" Silver asked with a smile.

"Can you not?" Cadance shot back, "I've already had enough of this attitude with Celestia."

Silver frowned, "She's here already?"

Already?

She waved a wing, "Never mind that, don't worry about her. She's probably just doing what I'm trying to do."

"Mess with me and destroy the Crystal Empire?" Cadance monotoned, only half asking. "I can't believe you... Luna wasn't lying about her. How could I have made that kind of mistake? How could I have not noticed... That before? It's like she's a totally different pony."

Silver snorted in aggravation, "Now that's insulting. You think that Celestia's one pony? She's more than a millennia old. She doesn't flip faces around like I do, she has to remember all of that. All at once. Cut her a little slack. You probably just made her mad and she freaked out a little."

"I'm not sure that's what happened."

It definitely didn't feel like that's what happened...

Silver shrugged, "Tell me I'm wrong after she apologizes to you."

Cadance tried to flip her mane out of her vision as she huffed, "That's not the point. Why did she have to be so..." A beat passed where Cadance considered using a certain series of words before settling on, "Dramatic? Why not talk to me normally?"

While rhetorical, Silver still answered, "What'd be the fun in that? This isn't a play, Little Princess."

Wh-

Cadance slapped a wing over her face. "Oh my gosh. That's why you keep saying that."

Silver snortled.

It is a play. A drama. I've immersed myself in poetical political intrigue while making friends with my enemy, fighting my mentor, helping her sister, saving a kingdom, all while pregnant. That's genuinely the description for a terrible romance novel.

"You keep saying that because you've been waiting for me to notice that you're lying." Cadance pointedly stated in Silver's direction. Cadance was ready for her though, as Silver opened her mouth and Cadance mockingly said, "It's not lying if it's blatantly obvious."

Silver's comment died from the 'know it all' smile that split her features. "Got it in one."

"Ugh." She tightened the wing over her muzzle, trying to massage away an incoming headache before it happened, "And I only noticed because you basically told me outright."

"You're welcome." Silver's smile turned slightly more serious. "Play by the rules of Fate, and her little brother may just give you a prize for it."

Cadance turned to sarcastically laugh it up at Silver's dramatics, but she was invisible, and the sound of heavy hoof steps were coming. She also felt... Despair, rage, fear. A deep cocktail of dangerous emotions unique to a few enchantments she'd scoured out of the Spire. Cadance took a few steps to the side, bumping into Silver with a quiet 'oof' and hid around the corner in time for the sensation to reach its peak, and King Sombra to go blurring past on a cloud of smoke, followed by some-

Was that a unicorn?

That thought was followed by,

THAT WAS SOMBRA

The intense flight or fight response Silver had helped her quiet filled her again, and she reared up, mostly on instinct before she felt Silver tug her hoof back down to the ground. "Sorry, I thought you were going to step the ot-"

"Silver! That was Sombra! He's alive?!" Cadance whisper yelled

Silver's invisible face cocked a confused brow, "He never died?"

Cadance's hooves tapped on the ground.

"Chill, what do you want to do?"

Ideas, Ideas, Id-

"I need to send a letter to the-"

A quill and a scroll appeared in front of her.

Cadance took a moment to remember that Silver was standing directly in front of her before taking both and scribbling a quick warning. Before she could send it, Silver yoinked it from her telekinetic aura and sent it herself. "Right. Sorry."

She snarked, "Literally why I'm here. Stop apologizing."

Cadance tilted her head, "Why the invisibility... Actually... nevermind, I have the feeling I don't want to know."

"Aww..."

Cadance chuckled. "So what do we do now?"

"Wait."

"What for?"

A scoff. "What do you want me to say? What makes you think I know what's happening?"

Cadance rolled her eyes and sat back onto her haunches. "So we wait."

"You're not gonna ask?"

Cadance smiled towards the sound of Silver's voice. "Does it bother you when I don't?"

"Honestly? No. I'm bored, today is a write off."

"How so? Can't we still stop the bad guys, save the day, go back to the Solstice?"

Silver rolled her eyes. Cadance could hear it in her voice. "Maybe for you, I plan on being a big damn hero and getting myself hurt or something equally dramatic. I dunno yet. It'll come to me."

"You're taking this very unseriously."

"Unseriously? Didn't you go to school for years? How can you be saying things like that?"

Cadance shrugged. "Well you are."

"Says you. You seem pretty relaxed for the current situation."

Cadance ruffled her wings and took a quick mental stock of herself. "Hmm, well, I am."

"Why's that?"

"Sombra can't get through Twilight, all of her friends, Shining Armor, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and an entire flight of Thestral guards can he?"

Silence.

Concern.

"Uh, can he?"

Cadance looked to her side.

Did she leave? Silv- Damnit, she would.

"Silver?"

Her voice returned, sounding confused. "Huh? What."

"Did you just space out?"

"No?"

Cadance sighed deeply, and whined, "How is this my life?" to no one in particular just as the Spire shook. She heard... She thought she heard Silver stand up, but it sounded more like several Silver's standing up. "What was that?"

"Don't worry about it. We should get moving. Follow me."

Ticking noises, like soft hooves hitting the title, but in a strange rhythmic pattern led Cadance down towards the throne room. The first thing she felt was the dark magic lingering in the air. She could feel... fear... some twisted sense of violent corruption leaning towards control. Like holding your hoof on a burner to keep yourself from falling after slipping on the kitchen floor. Then the strange skittering noises stopped, and Cadance walked into the throne room.

The place was unused for the most part, but now it had a giant gaping hole in the center of it.

And that crystal unicorn was standing by the window. Frowning up a storm. There was only one mare it could have been, so Cadance took the initiative, knowing that Silver had her flanks.

"You're the mare from Sombra's journals? Hope?" The mare spun around in surprise, and Cadance took several more strides towards her. "You were another one of Celestia's pupils, like I was."

Some flash of recognition flashed through her eyes. Something Cadance couldn't quite grasp. Hope was full of sorrow and regret... and anger. The kind of passionate frustration that could have only come from the world just not being fair.

"Princess Cadance." She said, "You... you look so much like Amore."

"I get that a lot." Cadance added conversationally, "Whatever you're trying to do ends here. Sombra's mission to release the Umbrum won't succeed."

Hope stepped up to her, and circled to her side. "You don't understand. The Umbrum aren't what you've been told. They're magical creatures. Nice! I lived among them and-"

"And they fooled you." A dual toned voice added itself to the fray. Chrysalis came stalking around a corner. "Princess Cadance, exactly the mare I wanted to see."

"You came looking for me?"

She laughed haughtily, the way she liked, "I couldn't just leave without adding your crown to my trophy rack. I'm looking to complete the set."

Lemme try this.

Cadance took off her crown and threw it at the ground near Chrysalis. "There, the Empire is yours. Go away." She turned away from Chrysalis' baffled expression and focused on Hope.

Yup, I understand why Silver does that now.

"You can't free the Umbrum Hope. Even if you were right, I have to stop Sombra..."

If the other princesses are... Oh dear...

The comprehension settled in. Hopefully they were only beaten. Not dead. They couldn't have been. Not Twilight, not-

Shining.

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Hope's horn lit. The inside glowed bright and she poofed to the other side of Cadance already running towards the-

What in the-

Where there was once a gaping hole, now stood a creature reminiscent of the monstrous spider Cadance had fought in Luna's dreams all that time ago. Half pony, sticking up from the base of the thorax. It was Silver, Cadance could tell, but the face and practically everything about them was different.

Hope gasped and slid while trying to stop before bumping straight into... it.

That explains the chittering.

"HeLlO. HoPe." Hope shook, and scrambled backwards as it advanced on her. "I wOuLdN't."

"It would do you good to listen to what the Princess has to say, Hope. Only you have the ties to convince Sombra to stay his hoof in releasing the Umbrum." Chrysalis... somewhat earnestly explained with an attempted air of disinterest.

"How? I saw you shattered-"

"YoU tHiNk DeAtH iS EnOuGh To KiLl Me?"

Cadance stepped forwards, intent on scolding the monster. "Silver, that's enough. You could have just closed the trapdoor."

The monster looked over at Cadance and made an attempt at rolling its shoulders as an 'I'm in the middle of something' gesture. Cadance hardened her look. It... rolled all of its eyes and began to shrink down, legs folding up and in until it was only Silver standing there again.

The mare in question reached a hoof forwards to Hope. "Today I go by Quick Silver. Hi, again. I'm glad you're not dead."

Hope looked back to Cadance in confusion, hoping for answers. Chrysalis snarled, "Can we get on with it please? I don't want to still be here when-"

Cadance smiled her way, "You can go Chrysalis."

"You don't tell me when to leave! I came here to help you! You ungrateful-"

Silver cut her off. "You can go now. Chrysalis."

She grumbled, "That's two." and her wings buzzed in agitation as she made a stomping retreat back the way she came.

Silver turned back to Hope. "You may not trust Chrysalis, but why would Cadance lie? Surely there's something more to the Umbrum that you don't know. At the very least, you could check first."

Hope looked Silver up and down. All Cadance could feel now was disgust and concern flowing from Hope.

Hopefully that was the shock you needed.

"She's right. Surely there's more we can do?"

Hope tilted her head, "I could take you to them?"

"Nope." Silver vetoed. "You see I've met an Umbrum myself. Pregnant Princess isn't going anywhere near that. Shining would wring my neck out."

"Can we go talk to Sombra?"

Silver's face scrunched up at Cadance's suggestion.

Hope turned suspicious, "How do I know you won't hurt him?"

"Oh I wil-"

Cadance interrupted, "No. You won't. Neither of us will. There's a bigger problem at hoof. First strike policy." She took a second to breath, "Something Luna taught me. I'm not... in fighting shape, so I won't try. Not unless Sombra tries to hurt me. Same goes with Silver. Do you think Sombra couldn't handle us?"

Hope side eyed Silver who smiled like she didn't know she was being side eyed but totally did. "I'm... not sure."

"I wouldn't risk it." Silver commented.

Hope came to some silent conclusion, and her ears turned forwards. "Okay. We'll go talk to Sombra." Her horn lit again.

"OoOoO," Silver started, "The Hop-"

-Bamph-

"-e express."

Several things happened at once.

Sombra turned and adopted a fighting pose. "What the-! Hope!?"

Silver swiftly stepped in front of Cadance. Hope tried to do the same, at the same time, and they ended up slamming into each other, Silver's weight sending Hope sprawling. Cadance's wings flared on instinct to the movement as Sombra jumped forwards to get in between all of them.

"Stop!" Cadance screamed in desperation before spells started to fly. "Everybody stop." She said quieter.

Sombra rose slowly, his face creased in concentration. His eyes bled smoke like a faucet, his body barely solid under his cape. "You..."

Silver's ears perked. "You recognize me?"

"I could never forget those eyes, Arbiter of Fate."

Cadance and Hope met eyes between the two of them, neither of them knew.

Silver's voice changed, "Your insanity has left you." Was her question.

"Hope." Was his answer

"Of course."

Silver glanced over her shoulder at Cadance before taking another step towards Sombra. "You know of the monsters."

"Yes." he hissed.

"What?" Hope asked, having collected herself, "What do you mean, yes?"

"The Umbrum. I wish to free them. The Arbiter bids me to stop." He glared, "I will not."

"Sombra-" Sombra's glare flicked to Cadance as soon as she spoke, behind his eyes, she saw her own death. A wave of life flashing before her eyes shook down her spine, a spell, or an emotion. Something so strong that it froze her in place. A moment passed, until she gripped the fear by the root and tore it from her mind. She blinked the smoke from her eyes and returned Sombra's glare. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

Surprise crossed his features. Then resolve. "It doesn't matter." He tapped his hoof twice, and the cavernous hall was filled with the sound of wood scraping on crystal and ice as a bookcase nearby slid to reveal a door. Cadance could feel the magic on it from where she was standing.

Hope gasped, "The door! You..." She looked to Sombra, "You knew- and you couldn't release them... Are they... Are the Umbrum really monsters, Sombra?"

Sombra frowned to himself, staring at the door. "They're as much of a monster as-"

A purple beam of magic crossed between all four of them and struck Sombra in the side. He grunted and spun. Cadance turned too, in time for Shining to step next to her and kneel down, ready to fight.

Oh shit.

Twilight's horn smoked. Her and her friends had piled into the room. She yelled, pointing at Sombra, "You hurt my friends and my family! I'm tired of all of you monsters making a mockery of my life and the things I care about! Not anymore!"

"Twilight no!"

It was too late. Another blast fired across the room, one meant for Sombra. Hope jumped in the way. Cadance saw it all happen in slow motion.

Not enough time to deflect the bolt. I can't move that fast. There's nothing I can do. I... I...

"HOPE"

Sombra wailed. Terror filled his being, and that harrowing depth of despair clawed its way up from where it had been shoved down to and exploded from Sombra's eyes as he turned into smoke. He stared, his face the only thing remaining unchanged by the whirling magic around him. He stared at Hope, groaning and moving on the floor.

She's still alive.

Sombra's gaze turned towards Twilight, only briefly crossing over Cadance. His jaw set with determination.

"You want monsters?"

A crunch of wood followed the door being annihilated in a direction, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. Two moments passed in silence as Sombra rose to his full height, standing defensively over Hope.

Smoke billowed from the floor behind the hole, and hissing and clattering and snarling filled the air. Something stepped through, a host of somethings. Monsters twisting in fleshy smoke, separating and splitting off into only vaguely pony shaped entities that gargled and snarled like they were already eating a pony alive. Hundreds of them tried to flow from the hole, only to be blocked by Silver dropping down from the ceiling.

"Big damn hero."

Her wings spread, bolts of arcane electricity ran up her legs from a circle of runes that had sprouted where she'd landed. Her eyes exploded with white, and her mouth opened to scream.

Cadance felt it, and there was a Spark.

Somewhere, a flower bloomed. A star shined a little brighter in the night sky. A mother remembered her children. Water flowed, mountains turned over in their slumber. Air blew, creatures loved one another. Someone refused to give up. Someone stood tall. Someone realized what it was all for. The Sun burned, the world turned, the sky breathed memories into reality. A single point of focus flowed down from Eternity, shook the core of the cavern and filled Cadance with every moment of her life worth living for.

"ALIVE."

The wall came down. Silver exploded raw, pure, Will into the hallway. The monsters reared back and hissed from the blazing white. It tore into them like flame burning through cotton fluff. It pushed them back.

"Hey! It's that nice mare!" Pinkie commented, unaware of what had happened.

"What is she doing!?" Rainbow yelled over the noise.

Cadance jumped forwards. "She's holding them back! Quick, we have to get out of here!"

"None of you are going ANYWHERE!" A wall of black crystal sprouting from the ground accentuated Sombra's point. It covered the wall and sealed the exit.

"Sombra stop!" Hope shouted. She tried to stand, and faltered. The green glow in Sombra's eyes lost some of its luster as he looked down. "She was right! Princess Cadance was right! They're monsters! Look at them!"

Sombra, somehow bidden to do so, turned to look past the still screaming Quick Silver. The monsters roiled against her and some invisible barrier. Sombra tore his gaze away and growled. "OF COURSE THEY ARE." He shouted back.

Hope hurt. "You knew?" She said in a small voice. Not nearly as much of a question as she was hoping it was.

Cadance stepped forwards, and her nose pressed directly into Shining's shield spell. She ducked and got a little closer. Twilight and her friends were trying to break through the black crystal. Shining was tugging at Cadance's mane, trying to get her down against the wind.

"Of course I knew!" He shouted, "I've always known! I've known since I first noticed I was different! I noticed the moment I looked into that damn Heart!"

Hope's eyes went wide, and she pulled the Heart out of her saddle bags.

Cadance's eyes equally went wide.

Twilight and her friends stopped to watch.

Silver's front left leg buckled, and Cadance noticed that the silver mane was beginning to melt. The shadows roiled closer.

"Your vision." Hope clutched the heart close to her chest. Close enough for Sombra to see into it. "What did you see?"

Sombra stared. "This." Came out with finality. "A monster. A demon. A king." He turned to face the monsters. "and there they are. That's proof of it. This was always what I was supposed to be." He shut his eyes tight. "Even the Arbiter could not change my destiny."

Hope narrowed her eyes, "Sombra! You big, dumb, idiot! Don't you remember what I told you I saw?"

Sombra cast away his despair for a moment as Hope insulted him. His ears flattened against his head. "You saw yourself, a Princess."

"Am I a princess right now?!" She yelled sarcastically.

Sombra blinked.

"I chose my own path, Sombra!" Hope shoved the Crystal Heart in his face. "I chose you!" Her head peaked around the side. "That's all it is, it's just a choice."

Silver's screaming became pained, the fur down her chest was beginning to burn. The smoke-monster-ponies were clawing out to reach her.

Oh. My. Gosh.

Sombra took the Heart in his hoof. Still staring at it.

It's a play.

Sombra lifted it over his head with his horn and swept his gaze around the room.

I'm watching a theater production.

Cadance desperately tried to take the situation seriously, mostly failing.

Silver. I hate you.

Sombra yelled, and his hooves planted onto the ground. "Move! We must restore the Heart!"

Twilight lit her horn. "Leave it to me!"

Cadance's eyes widened. "Wa-!" Cadance only got half the word out as Silver fell, the shadows exploded from the doorway and Twilight teleported them up into the fairgrounds at the last possible second.

-Bamph-

The take two part

Cadance looked to where Silver was standing before the teleport.

We left her down there.

The ground shook.

"Quickly!" Sombra's form condensed down and exploded into smoke towards the Spire. Cadance took to the air, everypony who could fly was flying, everyone else was running. Sombra barely out flew Rainbow Dash and slammed down under the base of the Spire as the doors ruptured with smoke and monsters.

Hope disappeared in a flash of light.

Cadance landed hard in the crowd of fair goers, running from the sudden rush of monsters.

Hold the line.

Cadance's defiance burned into intention as she pressed power into her horn and shouted. "RAAAH!" A wave of magic shot out of her horn like a horizontal blade as she dragged her head through the air to swing her horn. The monsters screeched in surprise at the intended lethal attack. Two more beams of pink threw themselves into the fray as Twilight landed, and Shining Armor skidded to a stop next to her.

Cadance shouted using the Royal Canterlot Voice. "Protect the citizens!"

It all kicked off as the monsters surged, diving around the sides to try and flank their group. Shining bashed outwards with shields, Twilight was teleporting everywhere with a sword made of hard light. The swings only served to confuse the suddenly separated smoke monsters, but she was fighting. Rainbow Dash streaked through the air, and Cadance watched Pinkie Pie shove a mare out of danger and keep running. She couldn't see where the rest of them were, but she could feel them fighting.

Cadance took a breath as the world turned around her. Everything seemed to slow. Cadance understood now what they were fighting, now that she could sense them without Silver disrupting the magic. They were Order. Monsters of emptiness. Cadance saw the border past where life had meaning, and there they were. Creatures of lifelessness. Living devoid of meaning or intention.

"Cadance!"

The shout gave Cadance just enough time to flare her wings and dive to the side as a massive cloud of smoke slammed down into the ground where she was standing. Her vision turned red, and Cadance lunged. For a moment, there wasn't any reason or logic, it was just Cadance pressing against the world. She did her best impression of Lyrane and took a bite out of the monster, kicking and twirling and blasting light from her horn in every direction after she had made the monster the only thing she could hit. The monster screamed as it died while Cadance's vision returned and she started to feel herself breathing again. She stepped down on the remaining wisps of smoke, blasting it one more time for good measure.

The entire interaction lasted less than two seconds.

"Whoah." Rainbow commented.

Shining fired off another kinetic shield and bristled with pride, "That's my wife!"

Cadance snarled in the direction of the largest mass of churning smoke. They shrunk backwards.

A wave of blue overtook the whole battlefield. The monsters had only a split second to screech as the Crystal Heart was activated. Lights and sparkles shone through the Spire, sending wave after wave of colour into the air. What was left of the remaining monsters exploded into smoke that diffused behind the light. Rarity squealed in delight as her mane fixed itself, as usual.

Cadance rushed forwards under the Spire.

It was a sight to see. Sombra's half take on the physical body thing had given into going full smoke pony. Hope was crying. Cadance tried not to let the comparison of a Shakespone tragedy fill into her head, but she did internally curse Silver one more time for the sake of it.

Luna and Celestia popped free of a petrifaction curse as Sombra and Hope continued to share a heartfelt farewell.

"You'll have to promise not to linger. You have so much you can give to this world."

Hope looked away, clenching her eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears.

Sombra wistfully looked towards the Heart as it spun. "So this is what it looks like. I'm glad I finally got to see it. A shame how long it took." His colour fell into purple. His eyes were the only thing left as a gust of wind blew him into the air.

"Sombra?" Hope's heart filled with fire. Fire that rose to her horn and blasted outwards, rising to meet Sombra. "No! I'm not letting you go!"

"Hope! Stop! You can't fight the Crystal Heart on your own! You'l-"

"She's not alone!" Cadance heard herself say. In the next moment, she fired her horn too, both actions happened so naturally that she only realized they happened seconds after doing them. She filled the air with the energy she had lingering still, drawing up on her divinity and pushing it into Hope's spell. The floating mass of roiling smoke and lights was joined by a purple aura, then a blue one, then a yellow, as Twilight, Celestia and Luna stepped up.

"You four? Why are you helping me?"

"You deserve to live." Celestia said, her gaze full of iron.

Twilight's horn brightened, "You deserve a second chance."

Luna nodded, "Well said." Her horn brightened too.

"You did just save my kingdom." Cadance snarked, bringing her own horn to bear.

They all pressed inwards, and Cadance felt the twisting currents of reality flow down into her. Her empathy showed her the wills of the ponies she had joined her intentions with.

No more!

I will save you!

Together!

She added her own voice to the mix, and she felt the Heart resonate with her will as she did.

Not on my watch!

Their voices fought against the currents of death, and won. There was a snap, like the whole of reality clicking down into place as a flash of light blinded Cadance. Once she blinked the stars from her eyes, she squinted out the daytime sun reflecting off the crystals as Celestia was already halfway across the distance to Sombra and Hope. The pair were sharing a moment of disbelief and Love.

I guess it would make sense that Celestia is used to being blinded.

The ponies all converged around Sombra. Pinkie said something about a party, and Cadance ducked her head down and ran towards the Spire. Nopony saw her leave, or if they did, they didn't say anything about it.

I'll just say I had to run to the bathroom.

Cadance went up the stairs only to then go down the stairs and into the throne room. Instead of using dangerous magic to open it, Cadance just rolled her eyes and punched a hole through the crystal. Mom strength. A couple of strikes and she could fit through. She flew down, rather than running. Past the secret rooms and into the cave.

Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Don't be-

Cadance rounded the corner, and there she was. Covered in scratches and bruises and burns, but she was breathing. She was okay. She didn't look any worse than the time Cadance put her into a hole, except Silver had gotten up from that.

Now, Silver had the realest expression Cadance had ever seen. Her eyes were lidded, nearly shut, and she was laying against where the door used to be, the hole now covered with a wall of shimmering diamond. Her ears perked as Cadance approached, she tried to stand, but her leg gave out and she flumped down onto the floor. Her gaze bounced around the room aimlessly, only vaguely focusing on Cadance.

"Silver?"

"Stay back."

Silver swung a hoof outwards, and her wings swept out as she fell against the wall again. It looked like she was trying to stand, but she couldn't figure out where to put her hooves.

"Silver, it's me."

Silver stared in confusion. Cadance took another step forwards and Silver tried to snarl, but the expression only reached her bearing teeth. She was like a cornered animal, hovering over the last thing she could remember to protect.

"Final warning."

Cadance lowered her voice. "Silver, it's okay. The fight's over."

Silver mumbled something, and then, "Never over. Always fighting."

Cadance took another step forwards and an errant spark flew from Silver's wing in her general direction.

"Hold... Hol... Hold the line. Like she said."

Silver suddenly went slack, and then perked up again. Like she had fallen asleep for just a moment and then wrenched herself back into consciousness. "Protect the citizens." Another attempt at glaring at Cadance, "I will not fail."

She was listening. Of course she was. Even when fighting a storm of monsters right on top of her, she was trying to look out for me. She's doing what I said... Silver...

I hate you.

"Why do you have to be..." Cadance frowned and gestured, "This. Why can't you just be evil?"

Silver blinked slowly. Still shying away from Cadance. "No difference. Evil is... Good... bad just pointed in a convenient direction. It's okay to do it to them... but not us, I don't lie. No pretending."

"Silver..." Cadance stepped into touch range and held out her hoof. Silver swung at it but it was more like a paw. "You're exhausted. You can sleep. You're safe now."

Silver looked off to the side, still holding onto Cadance's hoof. "Never safe. Can't sleep. Luna could ruin everything. I can't risk Cadance."

An idea struck out at Cadance. With Silver in such a delirious position...

I could ask her anything, and she might even answer.

They met eyes, Silver was barely lucid, but her eyes were still pools that Cadance felt like she was about to get sucked into whenever she glanced. They used to frighten her, but now Cadance understood why.

It was too much.

All of that time was too much for one pony to bear. Silver was insane. She'd broken a long time ago, but instead of hurting herself or somepony else, she started to fight everything and everyone until whatever she was doing started to work. Cadance had no idea how subtle and silent genocide translated to 'good' but Silver was trying. The mare was trying so desperately that any other mortal pony would have been dead standing two months ago. She was sick, alone, and she wouldn't...

Couldn't.

Trust anyone else to do what she thought was right, because nobody understood what she saw. Nobody else would have done it properly. So, Silver up and decided that she was responsible for the weight of the world, and wouldn't accept anything other than death or success. The weight had twisted her so far as to think eradicating the crystal ponies by generation was a good way to protect the world.

Silver lay vulnerable in front of Cadance, and the Princess finally understood why Silver was doing what she was doing.

Her hoof tightened around Silver's. "Come on. Up you go." Cadance tried to heft the smaller mare. It was like what lifting a normal pony would have been like months ago. Cadance was stronger, Silver was far heavier than a normal pony. She resisted of course, unwilling to leave her charge unguarded. "Silver, seriou-"

Silver surged forwards. Cadance heart skipped a beat, wondering if she was about to be attacked before Silver's body deflated again. Cadance heard her whimper, and tried to use her hooves to steady her before she fell.

"Promise-" Silver inhaled deeply.

Cadance shifted from the noise of... so many voices overlapping each other. It wasn't like Chrysalis talking, it was like a choir had just sung a single word.

"Promise me..." Silver shook, "Let her kill me. Promise you'll-" She sagged. "Promise you'll let her kill me."

Cadance fixed her grip.

"Pro... Promise..."

Silver continued to mumble as Cadance slung her over her back. A quick shuffle with her wings made sure Silver was in place. Cadance's heart felt heavier than it should have been. The grief flowing from the mare was choking. It seemed as though Silver had yet to repair whatever magic she was using to hide her emotions, a few more things filtered through, all smothered by all consuming grief.

Sick. You're so very sick, and I don't know how to help you.

That was probably the real reason Silver introduced Cadance to Lyrane. Silver was only a step away from that.

Cadance did know what to do right now, and that was to fly Silver home, and let her rest, at least until she was conscious enough to fix herself up. Cadance still wasn't willing to risk casting any sort of spell on her, not while she was like this, she might respond violently. There was no certainty that Silver's... potency had gone away with her lucidity.

So Cadance carried Quick Silver out of the magical catacombs underneath the Spire and into one of the guest rooms. She set the mumbling Silver down on the floor, rather than the bed, out of some... mixed loyalty to what Silver would have wanted, and despite not wanting to leave her...

Cadance was a Princess, and she had to do certain things.

She turned away from the door and nearly jumped out of her fur at Celestia standing right there.

"Goodness! Celestia!" Cadance breathed, putting a hoof to her chest. "You can't sneak up on me like that."

Celestia smirked in amusement. "I noticed you ducked away. I wanted to-"

Cadance held up a hoof. "I'm sorry for ducking away, I didn-"

"Cadance." Celestia interrupted, "Let me finish."

Cadance did so. She focused.

"I wanted to apologize for snapping at you. It's too early to declare sovereignty, the adversity it will breed between the next seven generations will feed down from the nobles and halt the development of society. I know it seems like I want to... erase old Crystalian culture but... It won't last anyways." Celestia clenched her eyes shut. "Sorry, I'm not supposed to be justifying it. I shouldn't have spoken to you like I had."

"It's okay Celestia." Cadance quipped with a smile.

Celestia's next words died in her mouth, having clearly expected Cadance to say something else. A moment passed before she recovered, only a moment, but it was still enough for Cadance to catch. "It is?"

"Yes. I understand." Cadance stepped forwards for a hug.

Cadance heard Celestia's ear flick as she let herself get hugged. Her confusion was noticeable by her not returning the hug, instead choosing to simply stand unmoving.

"You do?" Came her toneless question.

You and Silver are exactly the same. You're both alone and sick and trying your best to save the world all on your own.

"Yes." Cadance pushed back and met Celestia's searching gaze. "Now let's go party. I have a few announcements I have to make before I can cut loose."

Celestia's concern grew. "I... have to say it again."

"That's okay." Cadance started walking.

Celestia followed, then the tension in the moment passed into nothing silently. Celestia's hoof steps lightened, and her smile returned as neither of the two monarchs felt the need to continue the discussion. Everything that needed to be said had already been said. Cadance had barely avoided giving up the goose with Silver. If she was a little slower...

It didn't matter. She was safe, Silver was safe, miscommunication with Celestia solved, Cadance wanted to go say hello to her family and their friends. She wanted to drink something, do what she said she was going to do with the announcements, and then party the rest of the night away. That's what the celebration was for, anyways. Celestia seemed to feel the same.

The Solstice was in full swing once again.

The ponies at the fair saw the monsters, but more, they saw the might of Equestria and its heroes dispatch and clean up the threat in less than five minutes. There was a huge sense of satisfaction in the air, ponies were proud of their home. It was perfect. Exactly what Cadance had hoped. The near brush with destruction had brought ponies together. Inhibitions had dropped, and the fair transitioned from a government organized event to a massive block party that took up the entire town. Homes that had taken in the ponies running from the danger stayed open, and the business sections had become far less stuffy. Suits cracked jokes, celebratory horns were played poorly, and everybody remembered to Live in this moment.

It was everything Cadance had wanted.

She'd tried to join in the festivities, but she was still feeling melancholic. Leading her to simply walk around and bask in her success. Months ago, this was all just an idea she had. Now, the Crystal Heart was practically on fire. Lives were changing in front of her, and it was still barely to sun down when the real festival would begin.

Drawn from her musings by a pair of magenta eyes, Cadance tracked Rainbow Dash as she landed nearby. Technically she was a VIP, but she really shouldn't be flying over the tents. Cadance stepped away from the crowd, and waited. It took a little longer than Cadance expected.

What is she waiting for?

"Princess Cadance?" She asked, after approaching slowly.

Cadance put on a soft smile. She knew this was about something. She wasn't sure what, but that didn't mean she couldn't be polite about it. "Rainbow, how can I help?"

Rainbow's facial features clenched, and her ears swiveled forwards. "I've been- it's- so, oh my gosh. A hoof went to her muzzle, this is so stupid." A hoof wave, and Cadance felt her try to shove down a massive ball of anxiety. "I meant to ask you last night but you were so-"

Cadance ruffled her feathers and tilted her smile in amusement.

"Nevermind." Rainbow collected herself. "Cadance..."

"Yes?"

Rainbow opened her mouth, and nothing came out before she took to the air by a few hooves and groaned, "Why is this so hard?!"

"I can make a privacy bubble, if you'd like?"

Rainbow nodded slowly and looked away. Landing again.

Odd... I've never seen Rainbow so... demure?

The bubble went up, and Rainbow took another ten seconds to collect herself before gesturing at Cadance's everything and huffing out, "How do you do it?"

"Grit, guesswork, and mostly a lot of luck." Cadance responded immediately, still not really understanding what Rainbow was asking, but she could tell that the mare needed encouragement with something.

Her face said that wasn't the answer she was looking for. Her wings lifted and then folded back up, "No. I mean..." Rainbow pointedly gestured again, more particularly at Cadance's baby bump.

Oh.

Cadance let a wide smile split her muzzle, "Rainbow Dash, do you want kids?"

Rainbow blushed, "No. Yes. I... don't know." Another hoof to the face, "Gah, don't say it like that."

Despite the embarrassment, Cadance's enthusiasm brought a tiny smile out of Rainbow Dash.

"So who's the lucky pony?"

Rainbow shook her head, "No one. That's the thing... I don't know how... and, even if I did, how am I supposed to take care of a kid, be a Wonderbolt, and an element of harmony... You're a Princess... and... I don't understand all of the egghead stuff, but Twilight doesn't have a kingdom to run and she still has to work herself to the bone." Rainbow rolled a few more words around in her head, Cadance waited patiently. "How do... Where..." Eventually resolved into, "What do I do?"

Cadance pretended to think about it for a moment, "What about Scootaloo?"

Rainbow rubbed her hoof. "I'd fight all the monsters again for her, but... I don't know... It doesn't feel the same. I'm not... her parent... you know? It's... different."

"Well here's what you do." Cadance took a step forward, preparing to silence Rainbow when she tried to refute the instruction. "When you leave the fair and see her again, be her mother. Just do it. Stop asking questions and do what you'd do if she were yours."

Rainbow opened her mouth with a narrowed brow, Cadance intercepted with her hoof, "Ah-ah-ah, what did I just say?"

Rainbow thought for a moment. Her mouth slowly closed. Cadance unlit her horn and let the bubble fizzle away.

"Rainbow Dash!"

Uh, oops.

Both of them turned, Rainbow still reeling from her emotions, and Cadance smiling on in amusement as Applejack came shouldering through the crowd followed by the rest of her friends.

"Ya can't just go flying off like that!" Applejack took her hat off and wapped Rainbow a few times with it. Rainbow shied away and started laughing. "There are rules! And Fluttershy wanted to see the outdoor exhibit before we met up with Cadance." Applejack straightened her hat, turned towards Cadance, tip, "Howdy."

Twilight surprise hugged Cadance from the side. Cadance probably would have fallen over had she not had an unreasonable depth of magical strength. "Oof," She still said, "it's good to see you too, Twilight."

She stepped away, and Twilight was wearing that infectious beaming smile Cadance remembered from her days foal sitting. "I'm so glad you're okay. When you ran off, everypony was worried until Celestia told us you needed to... uh..." Twilight twirled a hoof, "You know."

Cadance giggled. "I'd love to do our normal greeting but..."

"Oh!" Twilight continued trying to land a plane by waving her hoof around, "That's okay, you don't have to." A silence passed as Twilight realized the rest of her friends had ducked away. Leaving only her and Cadance. She blinked a few times, turning back to Cadance before realizing what was happening. Whatever was eating at her came to the forefront of her mind, and her mood changed like flipping a switch.

"You don't have to talk about it." Cadance offered, "They were all worried about you."

Twilight kicked a hoof on the crystal road. "I know... and I want to tell you, but I promised I wouldn't. It's... well... I didn't think... so many things, and now I do..."

"Something about a book?"

Twilight nodded while cringing slightly, "I know you're worried, but I really prom-"

Cadance laughed.

Oh, so that's what that feels like. No wonder Silver hates it.

Twilight's confusion was met by Cadance's answer, "Oh, I'm not worried about you Twilight. I said they were worried about you."

Her ears tilted in a 'wut' expression that could have made anyone go: 'dawwwwww'

Cadance waved a hoof. "You're the Princess Twilight Sparkle. You've fought monsters and saved the world more times than anypony ever. You can do anything, and you have the world's greatest support structure. I'm not worried about you. Whatever it is, you can handle it. I only wanted to let you know, again, that I'm here for you. For anything."

Twilight wilted a little from the praise, then went in for another hug. "Thank you Cadance. I really needed to hear that."

Cadance pulled Twilight into a deeper hug, wings and all. For just a split second, there weren't two ponies. Cadance and Twilight both shared in their weariness, their confusion for the future, their hope, and their Love for one another. The ground may have glowed, their horns may have trailed homogenized colours of their auras in the air, but neither of them noticed. So focused on comforting each other that they failed to recognize the magic that swirled around them, the same magic that faded on a coin flip the moment they separated.

Cadance clapped her hooves. "So! Are you ready to help me take all of this down?"

Twilight smirked and lit her horn.

The space around the Spire had been turned into an open Plaza. All of the business section of the fair had been taken down as ponies who had been there all morning were going home anyways. It was getting dark, and the majority of the people attending had been gathering for the past thirty minutes around a raised stage of crystal where Cadance was going to Do The Thing. Twilight was in the crowd, Celestia was somewhere, but Luna and Cadance were backstage.

Luna was focusing on some spell, with a pair of Thestrals robed in white. She had given Cadance her assurance that she was ready for her part of the speech. Now they were just waiting on the rest of the nobles. Ichor, Mirror, Cane, and the two strange mares Cadance was forgetting the names of were here. Immaculate was walking in the door, talking with Isotope.

It was show time.

Cadance took a breath, adjusted her regalia, and stepped through the curtain.

Thousands of ponies. It nearly brought her to tears, and the nerves of getting it right rushed up her hooves and filled her smile with volume.

Oh... I did it.

Her short walk to the edge of the stage was... silently euphoric. It was strange how it wasn't any different at all, but it was.

Cadance made a face, and yelled, "Welcome to the Crystal Solstiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-!" like she was some kind of rock star. The ponies loved it, and the 'ce' part was drowned out by the cheering. "How have all of you been enjoying yourselves!" Followed by more deafening screams. "I'm glad to say, the festivities have only begun! In just a moment, ~Princess Luna~ has something very special to share with us, but before that, I have a few announcements to make, going out to the crystal ponies, and those living within our borders."

That was the nobles que to step out onto the stage. Coming around half a semi circle around Cadance as she spoke. Murmurs from the crowd signaled her to continue as the nobles found their places, "The damage done to Crystalia has been reversed! Our coffers are full, our legislation, streamlined. Our heroes stand tall, and the Heart burns ever brighter. And it's all thanks to you. I don't mean to play the humble card, but just look around, half the ponies I can see in the crowd are wearing volunteer vests, or are part of the team that help set up this whole event." Cadance reared back, "Give it up for the ponies who made it happen! Give it up for yourselves!"

Stomping started to shake the stage, the roars weren't sound anymore, it was just homogenized yelling into a single explosion of excited waves of sound. Cadance's mane flowed in the ethereal wind a little faster.

"I am deeply pleased to announced, that with close ties and assistance from the nobles," Princess Luna, sans regalia, exited the curtain and joined them on the stage at her cue, "That Crystalia, tonight, will be declaring sovereignty from Equestria, returning to our own nation, to carve our name into the sky like we were always meant to."

The roaring cheers were mixed with silent surprise and excited disbelief. The crowd didn't get the chance to explode again as Luna took the proverbial 'mic'. "Ponies of Crystalia and beyond. I came here... invited by Princess Cadance for many things... It is not at the top of my list to recognize the sovereignty of this Empire, though, I do. What I want to recognize is the will, the sheer strength of character required to dig a country out of where you were all pushed down into... I know about redemption. The world tried to break you all."

"And you said no."

Silence.

"In honor of your achievement, I would like to dedicate this year's Nightmare Night in The Crystal Empire to silence. In reverence of those who were lost along the path to..." Luna smiled, "This. Your brilliance, the product of thousands of ponies working through the pain to create something greater, something impossible. From the deepest parts of my heart, thank you. Thank you ponies for being so strong, and for changing my world for the better."

The cheering and stomping started off slowly, and once ponies realized Luna was done talking, it really started in earnest. It wasn't just cheering either, ponies celebrated. Grabbing their nearest pony and spinning them around. Cadance saw exactly two spontaneous kisses that the pair in question would definitely be talking about later, but all of it was shoved aside for the ponies who finally had their work recognized.

Luna hopped forwards in excitement and raised her hoof to the air. "NOW! PONIES OF CRYSTALIA!" She called over the cheering. "It is my great honor to kick off this year's Crystal Solstice with a memory of mine. In my absence from Equestria, the night sky has fallen to ruin, the nights are dark, and the moon does not glow as it should."

"NOT, TONIGHT. Tonight! Know that the sky itself recognizes your efforts! Tonight! Look to the sky and remember! See the dreams and the future laid out before you!"

Luna's ongoing energy and the latent charge in the air was Cadance's cue to stop holding back the magic of The Heart. She unlit her horn, and The Heart began to spin rapidly. Luna's eyes lit white, and Cadance saw infinity churn in the back of her mane.

"WELCOME TO THE CRYSTAL SOLSTICE!"

Luna threw her head to the heavens as the Crystal Heart exploded with light.

Holy-

The Moon became the center of the sky. There was no 'raising', it sat in the forefront of everything like a... Something. Cadance had no idea how to describe it. Behind it, the dark went away. There wasn't a sky anymore. It was only stars. The aurora mixed with the light, and Cadance, like everyone else, was spellbound by the sight. There wasn't a way to explain what should have been a dark night having been turned into noon day visibility. Colours threw themselves around the sky in celebration, and moments later, the ponies followed.

The Crystal Solstice.

Cadance and Luna and all the nobles shuffled their way backstage. As they were leaving, the workponies started work clearing away the stage for a pair of musicians Twilight had gotten Morning in touch with. Luna slouched as soon as she was passed the curtain. Cadance was at a loss for words, it was technically night, but even backstage, it was bright as could be.

"I must ask." Immaculate said, "I haven't seen the sky like that since before Sombra's reign. How did you do that?"

Cadance, finding her voice to tack on her own question. "What kind of magic was that? I've never... felt anything like it." Which was true enough, her empathic senses lent her connection to powerful magics the same as it did with ponies. What Luna had done was nothing she'd ever felt before. She had an idea though, and Luna confirmed her theory after a heavy breath.

The Lunar diarch looked and felt exhausted from Cadance's empathic senses, much like how Silver had exerted herself earlier. She spoke normally though, unlike Silver, who tended to oscillate her voice with mood. "Magic of the Skein. Dream magic, very few have the power to draw imagination into reality like that. Majoritvely, it is an illusion, it will take generations to truly return the sky to what it once was under my care, but for now, thanks to the Heart's magic, we can see what it could be."

Ichor snorted, "Poetic. Given the particular circumstance."

"They come." Said Astralation, hidden under more ornate red robes for the event. "Atiria remembers, and the Creeping Darkness comes for the stars in the sky, for it All." A visible shiver ran up her spine and shook loose some of the wrappings.

Her sister rubbed her back comfortingly and passed a glance between the onlookers. "Crowds make the visions worse. Apologies for the doom speak."

"Quite." Immaculate summarized.

Mirror smiled his same fake disarming smile and spoke with the flair required of his station. "So the hour approaches. Cadance, should I ask? Are you ready for your crowning?"

"In an hour, yes?" Cadance return asked.

"The ceremony begins then. Yes." Isotope grumbled, still clearly displeased with the entire idea.

"The beginning of The Final; The Narrative starts with a quote from our Lives."

Everette frowned and began to draw Astralation away from the curious gaze of Princess Luna. "I believe we should tend to her." The other nobles nodded, Immaculate and Isotope moved to follow them out, as Cadance took to Luna's side and ushered her out the other way.

"Oof, Cadance-"

"Shh!" Cadance continued pushing, despite Luna's strange vocalization of 'oof'. "You heard them, we only have an hour. You've got to tell me about what you did with the sky."

"Oh, uh-"

Cadance had never felt Luna become embarrassingly excited, but there it was. "What do you know of the multitudes of creation?"

"You know?" Cadance said as they stepped out into the fairgrounds, trying to stealthily clear the party area without attracting too much attention, "That's exactly along the lines of what I thought you'd say." Because of course whatever she just did had to do with the 'multitudes of creation'

Fun and unintelligible conversation incoming!

"Shining?"

Shining was joking with another soldier in brass, and what looked like a Thestral bodyguard with a full face plate when Cadance noticed him. She said his name from a bit further away, conscious of how she'd been accidentally sneaking up on ponies lately.

He turned to look over his shoulder in a glance, before seeing Cadance and turning all the way around. "Cadance! Fantastic everything is yes." He tried to say, "I mean that-"

"I knew what you meant." She silenced him with a smooch, "Listen, after the crowning ceremony, I need you to invite me to dance."

Shining thought for a moment, "So you can let loose and not get blamed?"

"Mmmmhm!" She turned around, "It'll be better for my image, thank you honey, I love you!" Then she was gone. Off to set up one more thing. She just had to find Twilight... or Silver... or Pinkie Pie.

Odd that I've come to the point of recognition that those three are interchangeable for musical accompaniment.

The good news was that Cadance only had to walk around for a little bit. Pinkie Pie was visible from a distance, Twilight always had something going on around her, and Silver would have found her. That being said, she found Twilight first, and they shared a few words about the music that would come after her crowning ceremony, details that would be passed off to Pinkie, which would make it to the musicians, hopefully with a minimal amount of confetti.

Hope she actually sleeps. Luna's busy... it's not like she could dream walk right now anyways.

"Point Flare!" Cadance bounced, accidentally launching herself a little with her newfound strength when she tried to move slightly faster.

Point Flare, easily visible due to the day like night time, turned to the tallest mare in the crowd and said a few words to Kayfur, who nodded, and then made her way over. "Yes?"

...

Cadance probably should have thought of what to say before calling Point Flare over.

"I... wanted to apologize, correctly. Now that we're not on a time crunch."

Point Flare pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow. "That would be nice."

Cadance wasn't full of herself. She was a leader, not a princess. The tone did still tickle at her pride though, the veiled, but still slight disrespect was there; but this was a party. Cadance was in the wrong, and she knew it. There was a glint of mischief that flittered over through the crowd of emotions, something Cadance was desperate to focus on, but...

Bite the horseshoe...

"Both for ignoring your expertise, and for trying to strongwing you into doing something you knew was wrong, I'd like to say that I'm sorry. For both, mostly for talking to you the way that I did." A beat, "Someone put in perspective how I treated you, and I'm sorry."

Point Flare chuckled, "Silver really knows her stuff. 'The 'ol raised eyebrow and pursed lips' is what she called it."

You were messing with me! Aha!

"She's rubbing off on you."

"She's rubbing off on you." Flare elbowed Cadance, "Everyone?"

Cadance rolled her eyes.

"She rubs off on ponies, it's what happens when you're that arrogant."

"Something like that," Cadance silently did an exchange of bits followed by a 'yoink' at range and a pair of paper cones with crystal candies attached in some oblong pattern came floating over, Cadance tried to emulate Pinkie, "Have you had one of these yet? They stick to your face!"

The ceremony itself was silent. Which was the 'tradition' part of the tradition. In a big fair with loads of things going on, the music stopped for long enough for Immaculate Gemstone to find Cadance, hoof over a crown to her, and for Cadance to put it on.

Cadance was staring out over the crowd, one crown heavier, as Immaculate said a bunch of nothing in too many words to ponies who wanted to continue partying, instead of listening. Cadance already did her big speech. That's why it was scheduled this way, there wasn't any one upping it, this was just a formal presentation of what they'd already basically announced.

Empress...

Cadance wondered if her adopted parents would have been proud of her.

There were polite hoof stomps, ponies smiled, Cadance let herself do the same as she waved to the crowd.

Empress to deal with Silver. A trade deal from political intrigue how...

How dumb.

Cadance wasn't proud. She felt wrong all over. Some deep seated sense of having done something wrong, guilt mixed with duty in exactly the worst way as she smiled and waved out at the crowd.

Maybe this was a mistake.

She couldn't deny that it worked though, supposedly. They still had time for the other horseshoe to drop, but luckily none of that mattered. Shining Armour stepped up onto the stage, and the stomping grew quiet as he stepped up to her, clad in his parade uniform, and offered her his hoof.

Slow music began to play, and Cadance's heart fluttered from Shining's smirk.

That's not what I meant you handsome idiot.

She took his hoof, and a slow dance started. Cadance stopped worrying. Shining led her through a few moves, mostly consisting of the two of them stepping around each other. It was elegant, simple, and if Cadance wasn't in public, the dance would have been very different.

Shining was right about one thing: She did love a stallion in uniform.

It's a good thing I made plans for this eventuality.

Another turn, and the deep sounds of a cello cut out, replaced by a similarly sounding instrument in technological wave form. Two beats passed as a single thrumming note played over the crowd before three flickering strobe beams shot through the crystal stage and the beat started.

Shining looked surprised, even more so when Cadance grabbed his hoof a little tighter and then spun him around to the new beat.

My turn.

Cadance yawned slowly. Really drawing it out to take advantage of the natural movement to stretch her jaw. The fair was over, mostly. The Thestrals had started an impromptu after party that Cadance had joined until the alcoholic beverages started flowing. When she left, Luna was halfway through a tank of some citrus rind drink that made Cadance's hair stand on end from a single whiff.

That being said, Cadance was going to think about everything that had happened in the morning. The light levels were confusing her body.

Find Shining, foalnap, Spire, bed.

Shining was somewhere. Cadance was wandering the fairgrounds, maneuvering her way through the crowd by feel of Shining's emotions. Most ponies had gone home, though, most of the locals were still either sitting out on porches talking or otherwise enjoying the exceptionally beautiful night.

"Heya."

Cadance perked up, and stepped to the side. She would have gone for the tackle hug if her hooves weren't killing her, just out of spite. "Silver! You're okay."

"Of course." Silver inclined her head, "Sorry I missed your fair."

"No you aren't, you said you would." Cadance countered.

Silver shook her head and frowned, "Let's not do this, I actually have a question for you." A beat, "Thanks for not giving me up to Celestia, but was she acting weird? If she was here, she should have been able to find me."

She missed the entire fair.

Cadance wasn't wearing her new crown. Shining had taken it for her mid way through their impromptu 'bust a move' in front of the city. There was a small, a miniscule chance Silver still didn't know. She could use that, she could. All she'd have to do is not say anything. "I'm not sure. Celestia's been acting weird... All the time, I suppose."

Silver tapped a hoof to her chin. "Concerning. She must already know I'm here." Silver mused, "What is she planning?" Then turned to Cadance, "And for that matter, what are you planning?"

dangit

"I can feel the domino's Cadance. Causality has a sense to it, it's all coming down to the wire." Silver stuck out the hoof she was tapping her chin with.

Cadance looked at it in mild confusion.

"Well?" Silver shook her hoof.

"Er-" Cadance lifted her own before hesitating, "Uh- is this a spell? What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to say goodbye."

What?

Cadance blanched, "Goodbye, what are you saying good- you're not leaving are you?"

Silver made the same face, "What? No. Ca-" A head roll in annoyance, "Were you not- never mind. Whatever. Odds are, we won't get next Thursday. So from here, this is goodbye. It was honestly a pleasure."

Cadance reached out a hoof and shook. Nothing exploded, and she didn't turn into a duck.

"Breaker Wave." Silver said as she set her hoof back down. "You asked, but I'm pretty sure you never heard." Cadance, momentarily caught off guard by the non-sequitur, blinked and opened her mouth, only to be interrupted by Silver striking a pose and yelling, "Dramatic exit!" before poofing into a cloud of white smoke.

Cadance coughed a few times and waved her hoof in front of her nose. A single flap of her wings was enough to remove the smoke around her.

Breaker Wave?

Cadance... was going to think about all of that in the morning. Shining first. She stalked off, following her empathic senses to her husband. At least she would have, if she wasn't suddenly interrupted by a purple Alicorn who looked just as tired as she did. "Hey."

That's right, I should say goodnight-er, goodmor? Never mind. They know.

Twilight chuckled, "You look tired."

"Not tired enough for a hug." Cadance stepped forwards, Twilight did the same, hug was had.

"You know, I'm surprised you're still awake at all. You don't normally fight monsters like I do."

"Are you saying I have low monster hunting stamina?" Cadance jokingly frowned before actually frowning. "Oh my gosh that was today."

Twilight laughed and stepped out of the hug. "We can talk later-"

"No." Cadance vocalized a little too strong, "I mean, go ahead. I promise I'm awake, I just may not remember."

"..." Twilight looked to the side and her thoughts churned over themselves. There was a massive ball of emotions tied together with stress and anxiety sitting in the smaller Alicorn. Unfortunately, Cadance was too tired to have spontaneous words of wisdom, all she could do right now was listen. "Do you think I'm... a good fit for a Princess?"

Cadance tilted her head, and waited for Twilight to finish her thought.

A hoof wave, "Not a good Princess, I know I can be, but a good fit for a Princess."

Cadance's memory called up a comment Silver made about Twilight being an adventurer. She dropped her tone and smiled softly. "No."

Twilight blanched, "What?"

Cadance half chuckled, "None of us were meant to be Princesses. Whatever being an Alicorn means? It doesn't have anything to do with ruling. You're overthinking it."

Twilight pursed her lips. "Oh."

A beat passed.

"Oh..."

Cadance mischievous smile, "You've been associating being an Alicorn with being a ruler this whole time haven't you?"

"UH- no, I haven't." Twilight lied. Cadance's good humour had gotten to her, and the tension in the moment lifted, but the anxiety was still there, all wound and sickeningly stuck inside Twilight.

"Do what you do as yourself, Twilight. Being something you're not only leads to mistakes and heartache, only sometimes success." Cadance's left eye angrily tried to close.

OK. That was all the wisdom I had for tonight, crashing.

"Thank you." Another hug, "I'll let you go find Shining. I saw him over by the..." A lilt, "Fried stuff stand?"

Stallions.

"Goodnight- er, goodm- Dangit."

Twilight laughed and took to the air.

Bed.

One last night

Cadance stared.

Papers, whiteboard, and half of an office desk made out of crystal. Courtesy of Amber Stone; all of it had been roughly shoved into her room due to the mild secrecy. Everything relevant to 'Quick Silver' was stacked up here.

Ever since the Solstice, and Silver's 'goodbye', Astralation's strange and vague prophetic warnings, Cadance had been carrying around this sinking sensation that she was missing something. Something desperately important. So she stared.

There was the transcript from the press conference where Stone Cut got arrested. Silver's words had been cut out and put down on a list of quotes Cadance had looked over a few times. Shining wanted her to go to bed, but was still awake, relaxing on their shared blankets while Cadance worked herself up.

"What am I missing." Cadance tapped a hoof on the ground.

Silver wanted the Solstice to happen.

She missed most of it.

She also tried to explode herself moments before, why throw everything away?

Trying to get into Silver's head was difficult. Like most ponies, she was more complicated than one individual tract of thought. She just had this habit of trying to make it seem like she was far more in multitudes than she actually was. It was such a compelling disguise of intent that there was no way to sift through the implications to find the actual truth. Since there were no technical lies, not ones that Silver would recognize as lies.

Her main loop-in was Point Flare and her gaggle of cultists friends...

But they were deeply loyal to Quick Silver, and as Cadance had learned, diving that low into political intrigue was something that... well... it left a bad taste in her mouth. Looking back on what she had tried in desperation really only brought embarrassment to the forefront of her mind.

At least Point Flare didn't seem to mind all that much.

Cadance's hooves were sore and her eyes were heavy.

The nobles had made the decision. They were ambushing Silver with all of the documents tomorrow. There would be a quiet hearing, like with Banana, and that would be that. Unless Silver had a very compelling argument to convince the nobles to change their minds, to convince everyone to change their minds, everything should work. There was, on paper, nothing she could do.

On paper.

Of course, Silver didn't care on a good day. There was a nonzero chance that she'd shrug, and then fight everyone in the room until they declared her empress of the world. Like Sombra all over again, except Cadance would be there. Silver wouldn't hurt her. Probably.

There are ways of coercion that don't involve pain, Cadance.

Her mouth turned sideways with her head. Looking at the white board sideways didn't help, just like it hadn't helped the last three times she tried it. It only made it harder to read. Not that the words had made any sense for the last thirty minutes anyways.

Brick wall. Thinking about it didn't help.

"Shining?"

Shining perked up from the bed, his ears swiveling forwards and his eyes met hers.

"Am I overworking myse-"

"Yes."

...

"Should I j-"

"Yes."

Cadance frowned.

"I'm not going to be able to sleep anyways."

It was exactly as Silver said. Climactic, thematic, whatever she wanted to call it.

and on Thursday too. How ironic. Guess she was right about that too.

It was all going to come to a head tomorrow. That was that. It would go the way that it went. Cadance hadn't ever felt so prepared for something in her entire life. That sinking feeling that it was all about to go wrong simply wouldn't leave her be.

Shining spoke up, pulling her from her thoughts, "I'll tell you what. You come over here, lay down, and talk out all the thoughts in your head until you fall asleep."

Cadance considered it. She started tapping her hoof rapidly, looking between Shining and her mess of information.

Shining smirked, "Okay, executive decision. You need to relax."

Cadance hung her head and plodded her way over to the bed. Sighing dramatically like a filly being sent to bed early with no desert. Shining tried to hold in some low chuckles and mostly failed. A louder, more dramatic sigh that was more akin to a bear sighing accompanied Cadance actually getting into bed, leading Shining to proper laughter.

A flomphf of the covers, and Shining repositioning himself to rest his head over her shoulder, and Cadance let herself relax.

oooh. That's nice...

Of course, as Shining had suggested, the ‘tired’ rose up to meet her anxiety, and the two did fierce battle. Similarly, as Shining had told her, Cadance began to try and turn her thoughts into words. The mind jelly that had suddenly overtaken her the moment she laid down was making it annoyingly difficult.

"I don't understand. That's the issue. I know why she's... doing all of this... but... there's still something that would have needed to prompt her. It seems like me waking her up isn't nearly enough to send her on a crusade against me, personally. So why?"

Shining nestled his head a little further into her, a small, physical affirmation that he was going to listen, and only listen.

I should probably do that more often.

"It's infuriating. She's insane. It's obvious, but she's proven over and over that she's some level of functional, she hasn't done anything without a reason, even if those reasons are ridiculous. So there has to be some justification, but I just can't put my hoof on it."

Another sigh.

"Am I overthinking it? Is she just crazy and that's it? I've kept thinking that, you know, that all of the charade and acting is a cover for the fact that she is simply evil. She even told me that a few times."

Cadance felt the need to gesture. Her wings and her hooves felt like talking for her, expressing all of the emotions.

Being comfy won out over exasperated flailing.

"And there's no back up plan. Even if I wanted to, all I have on the table is send a-"

I guess I should prepare a letter to Celestia, just in case.

Cadance moved

"Nope." Shining stopped her with his aura, gently, it wasn't so much as stopping as letting her know he didn't want her to move. "Morning."

Cadance huffed, but pushed herself backwards again.

Tired brought to bare warmth and the slow release of stress in her legs. Anxiety fought back with too many questions to think about at once.

"Ugh..." Cadance closed her eyes and elected to keep them that way. "What if... That's it. Just... What if?"

Swirling thoughts.

"She got into my head really well, Shining. I don't know which way is up anymore."

Another quiet moment passed.

"I'm... frightened."

...

"All of it happened so quickly but so quietly. There's so much deception and I can't control any of it. What if it was all a trick, and there's a bomb underneath the Crystal Empire that Silver explodes regardless of what we do? That's the same mare who took me out to dinner to meet Chrysalis, she kept it civil. She reminded me how to have fun and how to be angry... How can they be the same? How can someone..."

...

"She started a fight, and I have to finish it before things get out of hoof. So why do it at all? She said that it was always about me. I don't understand."

...

"I just don't-" A yawn. "Understand."

Cadance kept her eyes shut, despite wanting to glance out the window at the sky. After a few days, most of Luna's spell had melted back into the shield, turning the sky back to its normal non-bright self. Except, there were a few stars in the sky that Cadance could still see, that she was sure hadn't been visible before. She wanted to look at them again, but didn't.

Relax, Cadance.

"That's the same mare that took care of Amber when neither of us knew to help. It was weird, and insane, the way she did it."

...

"But it worked."

That was the thing. Overtime, Silver had begun to make sense. Cadance had felt as though she'd figured it out. Now, when Silver said something crazy, Cadance found herself thinking it was far less insane than it was. That first day they met. Publicly fighting a duel? Catching a rapier in the leg, all the way up to the shoulder? Madness, except now Cadance saw the setup for proof of her use of blood magic, it was a mirage, to make ponies think 'Quick Silver' was a skilled mage in only one particular field.

It wasn't snarky or quirky. Silver didn't try to intimidate anyone, it was a gambit to set up plausibility for a later argument. The fact that it won the duel was just a bonus. She was preparing for moments months in advance, but then, she'd also just causally forget crucial information like a regular mare.

Call it an unnecessary analysis of Silver's personality, but she was accelerating cultural genocide intentionally.

but why?

...

Tired was beating anxiety into submission. Stress had run out of questions to circle around.

...

Cadance stopped talking. It would be fine, it would be.

They could talk about it.

It would be fine.

Author's Note

Last chapter before It All Happens.

Time.

Author's Note

For these last few chapters, I wanted to toss in some more music that inspired me, or music relevant to the scenes, or the feel of the story or the mood. On the mood note, have Immortal, by Reinaeiry

Time.

Shining Armor had no idea what to do.

This situation started outside of his understanding, and where it had gone had simply been even further outside of his wheelhouse and skill set.

At the start, Cadance was okay, he was okay. It was something she was doing that they both understood he couldn't really get involved in. Except he did, by Silver's own hoof no less. She fought him, and then trained him. Weeks of combat training and shield molding had led to him being smarter on his hooves than ever, quicker with his magic. Then came the talking.

Silver always layered snark into their combat training. She always had something to say to him about this or that, how he looked, something demeaning. That changed, slowly... or maybe Shining's interpretation of it changed, because the rude comments started to sound more like suggestions, or Silver egging him on. They started to seem less like insults and more like challenges. He eventually started to bicker back, much like he'd seen her and Cadance do, once or twice.

He'd said horrendous things. He drew out the silent things in his mind, the things that his mind used to check his sanity. 'Do you feel like turning that pony inside out? Did that question make you feel iky? Good.' All of the tiny things he was sure all ponies thought of to occasionally relieve stress, dark thoughts meant to be forgotten.

Evil things, to that mare. She laughed and said worse right back to him. Scaling up their sparing both physically, magically, and verbally. Their combats started to become chess games, and Shining really began to understand... Which was strange enough to say. The more he fought and screamed with and at her, the more he started to understand the situation Cadance was in.

Cadance was older than he was, roughly three times his age. She was just as stuck in her ways as Quick Silver was. She wasn't willing to give up on the silver mare, and she had every power in the world breathing down her neck to figure out what would happen before it actually happened. Cadance was a princess trying to unite a people, a wife, trying to help her husband understand, a mother, currently dealing with the physical ailments that came with that, and a mare, trying to live a life she felt was worth it.

Shining had no idea how she did it. He worked, sure, but he didn't churn through days of paperwork in an hour alone. He couldn't plan a nation wide event in less than three months. He wouldn't've been willing to downplay how much of a hoof he had in it either. It was something people didn't notice about Cadance, she was willing to bend and shift and change her intentions. Part of 'the way' she was stuck in, was acceptance. She wasn't like an old mare who had to do everything a certain sort of way.

But she never broke.

Cadance always went on. Every challenge, every decision, every mistake. It was almost comical, she couldn't be stopped. That wasn't just a 'when she set her mind to something', it was always. Cadance had a silent, but ever present determination that filled her and drove her to do the impossible.

It was enrapturing. Part of the reason Shining married her, when she asked him. They changed it around, but everyone who knew them knew it was Cadance who popped the question first. She swept him off his hooves, and in a very real way, she was his knight in shining armor, she just didn't know it. That was them, they were both each other's hero, an impossibility they had stumbled across and refused to let go of.

Then Amber had dragged Shining to Cadance's office where she was bawling her eyes out at her desk. 'Failed' she had said. She blubbered, and didn't want hugs or food for hours. Shining had thought he understood, and he had, Silver had given the tiny three month life she'd made for herself to do something nice for his wife. For him.

She was immortal, that's just how she thought, living and dying probably didn't matter to her as much as it did to anyone sane, turning herself into stone was just... a nap, between lives. It was the same infinite and silent determination to Do that Cadance had in her, constantly driving Silver to stronger fights, deeper intrigue...

And Shining did know what to do. That was the problem.

Nothing.

That's what Silver had tried to prepare them both for. After getting the full story and explanation from Cadance that night, it made some degree of sense. Silver had decided his wife was better off without her, which was... at least... Before that day, Shining would have thought that correct. Like their fights, Silver had set up a situation where she'd lose, and he'd learn something, only for Cadance, losing meant Silver's life was essentially over.

She couldn't show her face in the Empire anymore, she was a scion of the noble houses; it was barely short of banishment, and it had been Silver's plan the whole time. She'd made herself expendable, and done so to put the Empire squarely in Cadances' skilled hooves. He'd always been so worried about the future he'd leave for Cadance, and Silver had spent three months altering the course of history in Cadance's favour just to prove a point.

It was that point that Shining didn't understand. Cadance had gone on about her immunity to Silver's curse, about how she didn't want it to end this way, and 'being just like everyone else', but it may as well have been old ponish to him. What had Silver proved? That Cadance didn't actually care about her? He knew first hoof how incorrect that was, so what was the point?

Why even go to that length? What did she have to prove and why?

Mostly, he was upset that Silver had intentionally emotionally harmed his wife. Normally, he would have given her a nice slam into the ground for that, in their training duels, but she was gone. That part sucked.

Everything about it sucked.

The days passed, and Cadance threw herself into governance. She wasn't willing to waste the shot Silver had given her, even if she kept... hanging onto the idea that Silver would come back. After a week, every Thursday, Cadance found the emotional stability to take the time out of her schedule to go visit the statue. The first time, she was gone for a few minutes, the second time, she was gone for hours.

Shining had wanted to ask, but it was helping, at least. Cadance didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't push. Cadance became more withdrawn, diving more into running the Empire. She became harder to talk to, quieter. Cadance. His Cadance. Quiet as a mouse, unless she had a reason to project. She started a speed dating program, something to spark her old passion of bringing ponies together; and she basically dragged Amber out of her closet for it too.

That was an experience that Shining had no idea what to make of either.

Cadance spoke less, but she didn't communicate any less. She talked in action, in touch and hums. It just seemed like she'd lost the willingness to bother with people who didn't already know what she meant which, in its own way, made sense to him too. Regardless of what Silver did or what he thought of it, they were friends. It was clear as day. Cadance desperately missed talking to another pony who Understood her, and Shining wasn't that pony.

So he did nothing, like Silver had intended. She'd won, in that way. Done it all for them without asking any questions. She really had been there to help the whole time, and all Shining had to do was stand around and be Cadance's rock.

Something she was eternally grateful for, as she kept saying.

Time turned into a month, and Shining wasn't sure what to make of where his life had gone. He didn't feel sure of a lot of things anymore. Maybe he was getting older, and if so, far too quickly for his liking. Something Silver had taught him, something that drove him to do nothing, it was one of the first pairs of insults she'd thrown at him the first time he'd snuck away to train with her.

'You literally mean nothing in the scale of Eternity'

'Why aren't you doing anything with infinite possibility?'

Shining wasn't immortal. He didn't have to be stuck in his ways. He could do anything, make or break any promise and live any kind of life he wanted to. Cadance, Celestia, Luna, Twilight... Discord, to an extent. They didn't get that choice. They'd have to live with every action they took forever.

Silver was trying to tell him that he was worrying too much.

So Shining Armor didn't understand the plight or intricacies of the demi-gods that roamed his world, or the one he married. He didn't comprehend, not truly, the pain that came with what Cadance had lost when Silver had turned herself into stone. He didn't need to be sure of anything. He just kept living, kept going, like Cadance always did. That was enough for her, that was enough for him, and then Cadance burst into his office screaming about time travel and the baby coming.

Then Shining figured he might take up the whole 'worrying' thing again. It seemed like the right course of action.

This is it

Cadance sat by the crib, dead tired, sorta.

Shining had left to go collect Twilight and her friends from the train station a half an hour ago.

Cadance would have tried to spontaneously nod off, but she could feel Celestia and Luna in the Spire. The crystal jumbled the direction, but not the intensity. Everyone assumed that when Cadance had her baby, the magic build-up would subside.

It didn't.

Even with how tired her mind felt, her eyelids were open; she felt like she could fly a marathon in a hurricane. They had to be excruciatingly careful during the process; she broke several medical tools by accident due to her overcharged strength. All in all, Cadance wasn't in a rush to relive the experience. Physically or mentally. Her body was still ready to take on the world though.

So she stared.

It had taken a hefty amount of time and desperation to get the newborn to rest, and Cadance could tell that the little pony was still awake, mostly. She thought that she'd want to go do something else, maybe catch up on work, she felt far better than she had a few days ago, but no. She couldn't leave the crib. She just couldn't. It would have been easier to relocate the whole Spire rather than try and get Cadance away from her baby. Not after the time travel shenanigans.

She wanted to be happy.

No, that's not right.

Cadance wanted to be dancing around. Cheering and doing all the happy things new mothers did. She wanted to be the idealistic version of 'normal' she saw in her head. Except she wasn't.

She was woefully unprepared for how... tired it would make her. Not physically, this was different.

Because she was happy. So deeply happy that it was more akin to satisfaction than joy. It was an emotion completely unique to being a mother. One she'd never felt before. She wasn't sure what to make of it.

She also needed sleep.

And to get out of her own head.

Luna and Celestia arrived on scene, lucky for her. A good distraction from her internal quandaries.

"Cadance," - "Niece." They both said, Celestia smiling, Luna with her trademark RBF frown.

"Hi aunties, come to see the baby?"

"And you, Cadance. Do not forget that, if you will." Luna responded, but she did still walk directly up to the crib and look inside. Her frown vanished.

Celestia took a spot next to Cadance, "She's beautiful Cadance. Congratulations."

Of course. Neither of them comment on the wings and horn. Politeness? Confusion? Who knows.

Celestia's smile turned pensive. "I wanted to apologize again."

"You think I'm still frustrated with you?"

Celestia pretended to titter, "You didn't exactly jump in excitement to see me."

Stop assuming you know how I feel.

Cadance returned with her own trademark snark, "You shouldn't apologize when you're not sorry." She turned with narrowed eyes and met Celestia in a staring contest. "It doesn't suit you." Celestia's expression twisted into such a deep neutrality that she may as well have been a rock, or some other unimpressionable thing.

"Both of you do not start." Luna said, glaring at them both over the crib. "You will awaken the filly with your attitudes." She turned towards Cadance, "My sister only has eyes for Equestria, try not to judge her too harshly." Celestia opened her mouth but was cut off by Luna continuing. "Sister, stop being a 'fake bitch' and speak clearly."

Cadance snorted.

Luna leaned back into the crib and cooed.

Celestia sighed and hung her head.

She hasn't had anyone to care about for centuries. No family, no-one but ponies who'll age right before her eyes. She's probably forgotten how. Luna's right...

"Always business then, huh?" Cadance offered

Celestia's face remained neutral, "Two nations so close will breed a diversity that will destroy one. I've seen it happen before."

"Then we'll just have to work it out." Cadance countered

Luna looked up from the crib again, "Between your vast experience, and Cadance's insatiable thirst for success, I know the two of you can keep Equestria and Crystalia stable and happy."

Celestia was not convinced. "If you say so."

Thank goodness.

"Yes. Let's table this discussion for later. Twilight and her friends are almost here."

Celestia tilted her head, "I'm surprised. I didn't think you were the kind of pony to place 'tracking' spells." Her tone carried a hint of respect.

Cadance gave Celestia a look. "I don't. I can feel their emotions from here."

Luna laughed at the subtle miscommunication. Celestia took the cue to be done talking.

Twilight opened the door, the telltale colour of her magic was unmistakable. They met eyes for a second, and Twilight smiled wide and walked up towards the crib, all of her friends trailing behind her. Flurry Heart, disturbed by the sudden noise and presence of a bunch of ponies, began to stir.

Did we tell Twilight the baby was an Alicorn?

Ah welp, too late now.

"Of course... I could be wrong." Twilight's face read nothing but confusion, some parts terror. "The baby is an Alicorn!?"

Glances were shared, Cadance chuckled quietly. "It looks that way."

"But, but-" Rarity tried to form words, "Don't Alicorns ascend through some great feat of magic? Some Princess worthy deed?" Fluttershy and Applejack nodded along.

The latter commented, "How can ya just be born with 'em?"

Cadance bobbed her head. "It isn't quite so simple as, achieve magical greatness, earn Alicornhood."

"The birth of an Alicorn is something Equestria has never seen." Celestia started

Luna appended, "It is beyond even our understanding." She lied, subtly telling Celestia to remain silent.

Fluttershy mumbled something to Rarity that was overshadowed by Pinkie ExcitementTm. "Wow! A unicorn, and a pegasus! That-"

Cadance interjected, "And an Earth pony."

Cadance had been trying to grapple with her rapidly enhancing strength over the past few months, so she knew the difference. "I have to admit, I'm... worried. Surging and flight are already problem enough, among the fact that she won't sleep."

Actually, wakefulness might be part of the Earth pony endurance magical micro spell list. I'll have to look that up in th- Focus, Little Princess.

Rainbow spun around in the air, and Cadance was reminded that she needed to ask the prismatic mare about Scootaloo. "Well I know everything there is to know about super strong flying. I can show you some tips for keeping her safe."

"And I can help keep tabs on her magic!" Twilight smiled.

Flurry made a baby noise, and Cadance looked down to see what kinda looked like an oncoming sneeze.

Uh oh! Do som-

Oops, too late.

A twisting beam of gold and pink blasted from the foals horn and removed the next three layers of ceiling.

Cadance blinked the light out of her eyes.

Okay.

Leaning forwards to kiss her baby on the forehead while everyone else stared on in shock, Cadance calmly said, "Bless you." and dodged a piece of falling rubble.

As everyone reeled from what they had just seen, Luna and Pinkie glanced out of the window and confirmed the gathering, specifically, the size of the crowd preparing for the Crystalling. Cadance, with her hoof still in front of Flurry to keep her occupied, mostly to herself asked, "Do you think we should call it off?"

I don't want anyone being turned into ash, after all. That would be really bad for PR.

Rainbow Dash snorted, "Uhhm, we've all faced way worse than some baby magic."

There were more affirmations, but Cadance tuned out after Rarity called property damage adorable.

This is why you're not a princess.

Celestia spoke over the chatter, "In light of the little one's abilities, this Crystalling might be even more important than ever. Perhaps you should address your subjects, to remind them of that fact."

Cadance nodded, hearing the subtle undertones of 'there's more to this than you think.' She started walking. Glancing backwards at the crib and her-

My baby.

She almost turned around. She easily could have told Shining to do it, but she didn't. Cadance stared past Luna and Celestia following her out until the door shut between them.

And then Cadance stared at the door.

Yeup. This is definitely too far away.

"Cadance."

"Hmm?" Cadance shook her head, "Yes?"

"Do you need assistance clearing your coat before you address your subjects?" Luna, politely, questioned.

Cadance took a look at herself.

Oh yeah. I haven't slept since... err...

"Yes please."

Celestia lit her horn. A simple wave of magic passed over her, heating her fur and straightening it out.

"Thank you."

"Have you considered what you will be saying to-"

Cadance interrupted, "oh, I dunno, a compelling mix of, 'wow, a baby' and 'the future of the empire is bright.'" Cadance poked her hoof in the air for emphasis. "It'll come to me."

"And we shall, 'back you up' on stage, as they say."

Knowing Luna can speak normally actually does make that really annoying. No won-

Cadance thought of Silver, and her mood plummeted.

Celestia and Luna clearly noticed, but chose not to say anything as Cadance led them down towards the Crystalling stage under the Spire. Luckily, there was no mane straightening required. Her flowing mane didn't get mussed up anymore. Celestia and Luna followed behind her silently.

It was kind of unnerving.

Actually... Everything about this was unnerving.

Get out of your own head, Little Princess.

"Ponies of the Crystal Empire. Thank you all for coming, I couldn't..." Cadance pretended to choke, and wiped away a tear. "I can't believe how supportive you all are. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

"We love you Empress Cadance!"

Cadance let off a huge smile and rapidly waved towards the direction of whomever shouted that.

"I'm sure some of you might be getting tired of all of these celebrations, and I promise that most of what I have planned is coming to a close," Pause for dramatic affect, "But the growth of the Empire from here won't be stopping, if anything, it'll be speeding up. I-"

Cadance looked out into the sky.

"It's ironic, but to have the birth of my daughter mark the next golden age of Crystalia is a humbling honor." She pressed her hoof out into the air. "I am sure you are all as thrilled and ready for this Crystalling as myself, and Shining Armor." Cadance kept her hoof in the air, smiled and waved a few times to the crowd as they cheered.

Alright, Little Princess, short and sweet. Now we can get back to mothering.

Cadance let the crowd simmer for a few more moments, waving on to the crowd as they started to settle. Both Luna and Celestia stepped back to make way for Cadance to take the stairs down. She flapped over the edge instead and walked up to the curtains where she could sense Shining Armor.

She ducked under the curtain without bothering to pull it back to see Shining getting his mane brushed out by Rarity.

Celestia and Luna went around the edge, and Cadance walked up to her husband.

I can't help but notice.

Cadance tried to avoid her eye twitching. She plastered a soft smile on her face.

"Cadance!" Shining ran up to her. It was clear that he wasn't handling being awake for so long nearly as well as she was. "I chose the honor guard, picked the purity crystal, and I know exactly who the crystaller is gonna be."

Shining Armor. Where is my baby.

"That just means we only need..."

Cadance couldn't hold her expression straight anymore. "Uh- The baby?"

Shining gave the appropriate 'oh shit' look.

Cadance almost chewed him out right there.

He was stressed. She was stressed. Flurry was a hoof full. She understood, so she sucked it in.

"We're here!" Twilight shouted from the stairs, trailing Pinkie and Flurry in a magic bubble.

Cadance's stress spontaneously melted away. Shining sighed with relief and she shot him a 'you're gonna hear about this later' look. He smiled nervously. Cadance lit her horn, her blue aura mixing with Twilight's as they used the pressure physics inside the bubble to separate Pinkie from the baby.

Flurry didn't seem to like that. She whined from inside the shield, and Cadance was just about to pull her down to comfort her when a pop of cerulean light yoinked her Flurry from the bubble. It popped with nothing to contain, and Cadance's eyes were drawn towards-

"Silver!"

Silver spun a tiny firework off her hoof for Flurry, who was cradled in her opposing limb. The baby's whine turned to wonder as sparkles filled the air. Cadance took a step forwards-

"YOU!"

"Sister, wait!"

"I knew you had escaped!" Celestia charged her horn.

Cadance watched Silver fling Flurry at Shining with telekinesis. Her heart stopped in the transition, terrified Flurry was about to get hurt, both her and Shining disappeared in a flash of blue teleportation. Cadance flicked her eyes back over to Celestia to see her launch a curving beam of plasma.

No!

Cadance lit her horn, but it was too late. She wouldn't be able to block the spell from this range, not quick enough.

Silver winked at her as the spell crashed down.

Author's Note

These next few chapters could have been lumped into one long chapter, but I split them apart for:

"Ze MAHGIKS"

Also, these last few chapters are gonna be toting some music I was inspired by while writing this. Here's todays: Flying X Oblivion. Yall should listen, and check out these artists. They're incredible.
(And thematically relevant)

Defy.

Author's Note

Today's thematic accompaniment comes from Aviators, a song named 'Casting Shadows'. Link in story at relevant point in the scene.

Defy.

The flare of orange and white magic slammed into a purple hexagonal shield.

"Celestia!" Twilight yelled, her horn glowing brighter as Celestia casually doubled the intensity of the flame. The heat stopped being heat, and simply started to burn. The non-demi god ponies shied away behind a shield that Luna threw up as Cadance bore the brunt of it on her fur, luckily, Alicorns were moderately flame retardant.

Celestia didn't yell, but the timber and intensity of her voice carried over the roar of the flames as if she were screaming. "This is not the same as Voice, lower this shield right now."

Cadance felt a tap on her shoulder that broke her out of her stunned onlooking. Her head snapped to her side, casting the burning light onto one side of her face to show nothing...

No, not nothing.

Quick Silver was invisible, already having moved out of the shield Celestia and Twilight were fighting over.

"It's been fun, but I have to go collect on a debt." Said the disembodied voice of Silver.

"Twilight! Please trust me!" Celestia yelled.

"That's my que, pardon my dramatics, but do not; and Goodbye."

"Silver wai-"

"~Yo hoo~" Silver appeared behind Celestia, who bucked so fast Cadance was only able to feel the crack of air as Celestia spun to the other side of the clearing to make distance. Silver stood unharmed, and sighed, "There she is."

Celestia's mane whipped around in the invisible winds of her magic, her horn and eyes still lightly glowing with the power of the Sun. "What have you done, monster!" She challenged.

Silver chuckled, "You know, and you owe me."

Celestia's stance widened. Cadance's hooves hit the ground as she spread her wings to try and interject, but she smacked face first into a shimmering midnight blue wall. A flare of light from Celestia's horn blinded everyone.

Cadance pawed the ringing out of her ears and blinked the spots out of her eyes to see a gouge of crystal taken out from underneath the Spire in the form of a crater that spanned the distance between the two combatants, who were both missing. It firmly struck Cadance that this was no longer about talk. Nopony had been directly hit, and the mares behind her were lucky to still be alive. Cadance's fur was smoldering, and she was an Alicorn.

I could have been seriously hurt.

Cadance heard the tail end of Applejack shouting, "What in Tartarus is going on!?" as she got her hooves under her.

Where did they go?

Luna tried to throw another shield spell around Cadance, and Twilight's magic clashed with the lunar diarch's.

"THAT'S ENOUGH." Twilight used the Royal Canterlot Voice, and everyone and everything fell silent. "We can't be fighting each other!"

WELL DUH

Luna went to speak, but Cadance cut through the verbal pause first. "Where did they go!? We have to find them before Celestia kills Silver!"

"Cadance, you do not understan-"

Cadance turned about face and nearly shot a beam of magic at Luna, "BULLSHIT! I don't understand! Who cares? We have-"

Cadance was interrupted by a dull thwoom and he ground shaking. Even from under the Spire, the light from the blast outside the shield surrounding the Empire was painful. Cadance's heart had never beat so fast, she was in the air in the next moment, heading for the border of the city, she could feel Luna in pursuit.

This was about thousands of years of history between two gods who had decided to stop playing around and try to kill one another. The light from Celestia's earlier attack paled in comparison to the Elementalism she wielded outside of the shield. Cadance knew if she flew out there, she could be simply get snuffed out by an errant shot. She knew that.

Shining is going to kill me if I survive this.

"Cadance! Wait!"

It took Cadance less than ten seconds to reach the shield and pass through. Operating purely on adrenaline, she powered her flight into the sky where she saw an exchange of blue and blazing beams of light.

I can't attack Celestia

A simple decision making framework sprouted into her mind the moment she was in range. She couldn't stop Celestia, and there was no point in attacking Silver, so the next best solution? Cadance plowed into Silver and tore her out of the way of some sort of lance made out of lightning. Celestia's follow up beam of plasma went wide, and Silver's eyes spun around in her head from the Cadance shaped impact weapon.

"What th-"

"Silver!"

"Cadance!" Came Celestia's booming voice. "Get out of the way!"

"No!" Cadance roughly tugged the struggling Silver closer to her barrel, "We can talk! Nobody has to get hurt!"

"I expressly told you not to do this!" Silver yelled from beneath her, "You'll get hurt!"

Cadance fired a beam of light, and Cadance's eyes went wide when she realized Celestia wasn't going to pull her shots. Silver shook and threw a hoof forwards, a tiny ball of metal hit the beam and exploded into runes that swallowed the magic in puffs of smoke and spinning lines of light.

"Let me g-" Silver's command was interrupted as Celestia punched her in the nose. The force tore Silver from Cadance's hooves.

Cadance didn't even see Celestia move, but she was there, her horn lit in its far more visual yellow glow, and Cadance's perspective flipped as she was teleported back to the ground, barrel deep in a mound of steaming snow that had taken an unlucky misfire from the battle above. Cadance pulled herself out just in time for Luna to arrive, throwing another shield around her.

Cadance tried to blast it apart first, unsuccessfully. Even with her enhanced magical strength, raw beams weren't enough.

Magical combat is about counters, and I don't know anything about shield magic besides Shining's spell.

Cadance threw herself at the spell, also unsuccessfully breaking it.

"Cadance! Stop! Listen!"

"Let me out! I have to-"

Luna shouted, "I betrayed you!"

Cadance came to a stop in her struggling and saw the tears. Her mouth opened, but she had nothing to say.

"I... Celestia knew the whole time." Luna let out, and looked away, "She agreed to let me release Silver, in exchange for the opportunity to destroy her for good, if she did not... if you were unsuccessful in reforming her."

"What"

Twilight landed nearby, watching the exchange.

"I am sorry Cadance, but Quick Silver is too dangerous."

Cadance shook her head, "No. Shut up, what? Celestia knew the whole time?"

That doesn't make any sense!

The spell Celestia cast at the beginning, then everything that past it, that wasn't all acting, and if it was, why pretend otherwise? What was wrong with Cadance knowing that Celestia knew? If Luna and Celestia wanted it to be a secret, then why orchestrate the whole meeting to begin with?

"Yes. Cadance, you can't... I don't know how to-"

"Luna, seriously, shut up for a second, that doesn't make any sense!" Cadance tried to punch her hoof through the shield again, "Why would Celestia want to keep that a secret from me?"

Twilight and Luna both ducked under their wings as a beam of plasma chewed through the dirt and snow around them, missing their little triangle by a few house lengths. Cadance's mind churned with something, something that she had grasped, right at the edge of her ability to understand it.

It doesn't make any sense

"Cadance, please just relax for a second, you-"

"Why did you block her spell Twilight?"

Twilight's ears folded down, "It seemed like a good idea at the time..."

"Cadance-"

"Shut. Up!" She shouted back over the explosions of combat. Cadance grabbed her head in her hooves and looked up towards the fighting.

WHY doesn't it make sense?

Celestia fired a beam of light from her horn, Silver dodged it by turning into a liquid, threw a chunk of metal at Celestia, who exploded in fire to destroy it. They exchanged patterns in the air, fighting....

Fighting...

"I really want to see what you'll do."

"I have to go collect on a bet"

Celestia knew the whole time.

"She must be planning something."

"Goodbye."

Cadance's eyes lit up.

It doesn't make sense, because it's not supposed to. Celestia wasn't keeping her influence orchestrating all of this a secrets from me, she was keeping it a secret from everyone by hiding in plain sight!

Celestia knew the whole time, which meant it was an act from the very start. Except there's no point in going through trying to fool me unless she was also trying to fool Luna. Which she was. Silver already told me. It's a show.

Cadance leveraged herself through the snow and rushed over to the side of the shield with Luna and Twilight. "You have to let me out! It's a trick! This whole thing is a trick!" That's why the magic they were using was so devastating, so flashy. They were done playing 'games', and this was the warm up for the final act. It had all escalated so quickly intentionally, and the climax would mean the end of the charade, the only thing that wasn't a trick.

Twilight looked confused, Luna was still trying to wipe the guilt off her face.

"Damn it All!" Cadance slammed her hooves against the side of the shield again. Twilight flinched back. She'd never seen Cadance so violent before. "It's not a real fight! They set it all up in advance, it's the only explanation! They're putting on a show to justify killing Silver! She's not even going to try to get away! Luna! You have to let me out! Please!"

Luna closed her eyes with a mournful grimace; the shield thickened as her horn shone a deeper, somehow darker, blue. "I am sorry Cadance, but it is long past Silver's time for redemption."

No. She doesn't NEED redemption you idiot! She's doing it for US!

Cadance didn't have time to argue with how stupid that was.

"Twilight!" Cadance turned to her only other chance. "Please, this is wrong, you know it is."

Twilight looked like she wanted to hide under her wings. The ground shook again. Twilight lowered her head.

No.

Cadance threw herself against the shield again. "No! Let me out!" She begged her fellows, exactly like Silver had begged Cadance moments before Cadance had sealed her to this fate. "Do something!"

She was going to lose Silver again, and only she understood why.

"I'm sorry Cadance, but... I trust Celestia..."

Cadance fired another beam around the edge of the shield, trying to drag the layers down over themselves. Cadance glanced up at the production. Celestia was spinning Silver around. They were talking. Cadance couldn't do anything.

No.

Another bash, "Aaagh!" She threw herself against the walls again.

There has to be a way out of this. Cracks, think Cadance.

Her brainstorm cut when she saw Silver take a hit, a bad one. Something that sent her elastic form into near two pieces. She fell. Cadance watched her keep falling.

No!

"Silver!" She started mouthing encouragement as Silver fell. "Cmon Silver, catch yourself, don't give up so easily."

She kept falling.

"FLY!"

Silver hit the ground.

The beams stopped, the fight slowed to nothing, and Cadance felt something in the air spike as Celestia landed nearby.

"Get up Silver." Cadance said to herself.

Celestia began to sing.

Churning fire and lights of runes rose from the tip of the horn of the Alicorn of The Sun. Cadance felt the ethereal winds blow through her bones as Celestia called upon a power beyond. Fate bore down on them, and Cadance listened to Celestia sing about suffering, Time, emotions from someone who had lived too many years.

The song was about them, about this moment. Celestia was ready for this. This was it, this was the spell.

"Get up Silver!" Cadance raved, hitting the side of the shield one more time for good measure as the light grew. Components whistled and scraped against reality as Celestia drew more and more magic into a living spell. All of this. The last three months. All of it was for this. Silver had done something with Celestia, something that led them here. She made a life from scratch and changed history, and this was her reward.

Celestia sang about the world. About fairness, about Destiny and meaning.

Cadance took a deep breath and lit her horn. She had an idea, a crazy, stupid idea; but it was her only shot. She had done nothing when Silver had begged her to stop.

Not this time.

Cadance remembered the grief, the betrayal, half filled with Love. She imagined the eyes beneath Silver's façade, her voice when she was hurt. Silver knew exactly what was going to happen. She knew Cadance would do what she did from the very beginning, but she pushed and pressured and tried to convince Cadance to do otherwise in so many words and with so many tiny little adventures.

Silver had known, and she wanted something else. She wanted Cadance to Understand, but knew it wouldn't happen, so she bet on her life ending instead, because she believed so strongly that no one could truly care about her. She did that for Cadance.

Celestia's spell grew further, like a monolith in the sky, a volcano of living magic.

Not Today.

Cadance tugged on her divinity, dragging the rising magic into herself with as much Will as she could muster. It was a race, Celestia's spell was a monolith of shifting infinity, Luna's shield was blanketed in white as Cadance's eyes exploded with light. The snow under her hooves turned to glass and crystal that shone in an aurora as the air around her wings ignited and her horn burned white with smoke flowing from the emotions she was channeling. Through the light, Cadance could see Silver's form, she imagined being there, if only she could protect her, if only she could stand over her and change this horrible moment.

Not Any Day.

Celestia was practically invisible under the light of the magic she was wielding. Luna's shield cracked along the seems. Cadance to screamed, not in pain, but in rage. Will. Power. The scream of someone who had decided what they were going to do, and were releasing everything they could to get it done.

Her body had been drawing in magic for months, distance wasn't technically real, and that includes Time. As the two Alicorns brought to bear the powers of Eternity, a lone pegasus, still covered in soot, raised her head. Cadance heard her voice, saw Why, she imagined the meaning by the intention, and connected the pieces under the strain of the magic she was wielding.

Not. One. Life.

Celestia's spell was complete with a few more lines of Meaning with no language. Intention written in the sky. She cried and yelled about her lost time, her duty, her Life. No more loneliness. No more running. No more fighting or children or losing her family. She no longer had to be hated, that's what Celestia's spell promised.

Silver opened her mouth to connect herself to the magic that would finally let her rest.

"So this is my purpose."

"My odyssey's done."

"I lay my ambition. My hopes and my vision."

"Whatever may come."

Silver closed her eyes, accepting the Fate Cadance had pushed her towards.

Celestia fired her spell, the warbling monolith of reality made manifest surged forwards on a point sharper than any blade.

And Cadance stopped imagining.

NOT ON MY WATCH!

Luna's spell collapsed as there was no longer something to contain. Cadance stood over Silver's broken form by strength of Will alone, and caught the arching ray of living, runic plasma with her horn and stole the final line of the song etching itself into reality, screaming her own magic into the spell.

"Here I abandon my Heart and my Flame!"

"When I lose who I am, Will I then be enough?"

"Must I give up my being, for darkness or light?"

"Will I save all their lives, or does it always have to end this waaaa-"

Cadance's words turned into screaming as her body exploded. The spell reached down into her and gripped her soul by it's roots and pulled. So Cadance reached back, grabbed the edges of the living magic in her might, and she pulled back.

~ It Won't End This Way. ~

~ I Won't Be The Same. ~

Cadance felt the threshold break open, exactly like how she ascended. She cast her head to the heavens and saw Everything.

and that's why pumpkins are yellow

Author's Note

I'm sure most people are gonna recognize this one.

I have... ho-boy. So much to say about how quick the climax of this is... really, there's no other way for it to be. I'm sure you saw the length of this chapter right now. Have a listen, have a read. This may seem like the end...

~ But The Song Is Ever Sung. ~

There's an epilogue on the way soon.

Thank you all, for reading their story.

and that's why pumpkins are yellow

Cadance regained consciousness with a start.

Whoah

Ignoring what she'd just experienced, it looked like all of that magic sitting in her system had decided to make itself at home permanently. her legs were longer, and her mane had dropped down to swing in the air. It was smoky, silently burning like emotion magic did. Pink, purple, gold, and tiny little spots of sparkling white around the edges. There was also a chain wrapped gently draped over her neck. She could feel the magic inside of it.

Okay. I'll deal with that later.

She took a deep breath and pulled herself up on the snow. The constant blizzard had replaced the melted snow nearly instantly; not to mention covering her in a thick blanket that didn't feel nearly as cold as it should have. Giving herself a quick shake after stabilizing herself on her new height, Cadance turned her head slightly towards a twinge of emotion a few hoof lengths away.

Silver was there, staring.

She's okay.

Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and her mouth hung open.

Cadance smiled at her, Silver flinched. Surprise and confusion shot off of her, suddenly a weight shifted. Silver looked down at her hooves as she started to wake up. Cadance watched the now much smaller mare let herself feel the first swaths of emotions she'd felt in thousands of years. It was mind numbing. The weight that Silver had kept stored away in the back of her soul to keep her curse from affecting the ponies around her was nearly too much for Cadance to weather.

Except she simply Did.

Cadance took a few steps, Silver's gaze snapped up towards the movement as Cadance approached.

"You said I was the 'Alicorn of Connection'."

Silver smiled. Cadance slapped her over the head with her wing. Silver laughed.

"Damn liar."

Silver laughed again, "It's not a li-"

Cadance failed to fight beaming. "Silver! I swear if you say that one more time I'm going to curse you again!"

Silver's chuckles turned into roaring laughter as she stamped her hoof in the snow and tossed it around. She screamed in levity, and Cadance got close enough to notice the crying.

"I was wrong!" She yelled, "HAH!" She flopped backwards into the snow, "Wrong! Wrong! ha-HAH!" Two shuddering sobs ran through her, and Cadance got close enough to touch.

"Cmon. Let's get o-"

Silver jumped forwards and hugged her.

...

Cadance's wings came down around the smaller mare as she cried-

~ And This Moment Was Not Meant For Us. ~

Cadance and Silver eventually found their way through the Heart's shield where they were greeted by the rest of the Pantheon... and Twilight's friends. It was clear from the looks on their faces that they'd recognized they didn't really belong in this moment, except they also weren't leaving without Twilight. Stuck in that place of going to your in-laws as a filly and not knowing who the heck anyone was or what the traditions meant, but nodding and smiling along without complaint anyways.

Luna was the first to approach the pair. Cadance leading Silver under her wing. "Cadance-"

Cadance held up a hoof.

Kept walking.

Silver tried to avoid everyone's gaze, hence the wing. She'd gone back to smothering her emotions for fear of igniting something, much to Cadance's chargin, but the argument of setting a pony's mind on fire at range quieted much of her frustration, along with the promise that Silver wouldn't stay like that, now that she didn't have to. Discord's eyes widened upon glancing at the chain hanging on Cadance, but he didn't speak.

Luna was, of course, deeply baffled by the casual, non-aggressive brush off from Cadance.

Celestia on the other hoof, stepped directly in her way. "You deserve an explanation."

Cadance stopped and raised an eyebrow. "You and Silver made a bet to see if I could break her curse. She bet no, you bet yes. If she lost, she had to live, if you lost, you'd have to kill her. Except you planed on killing her being the thing to push me over the edge in order to break her curse, because you also banked on Silver being impossible, and me coming to the conclusion that none of this mattered except..."

Cadance pulled Silver closer with her wing. For the first time ever, she didn't resist the contact.

Celestia blanched, "Err-"

"On top of that-" Cadance interrupted, "you manipulated Luna into thinking the whole thing was her idea to begin with, giving you something to hide behind if this whole project went sideways, while also making sure neither Luna or me would catch onto Silver's or your intentions, or the bet you to made."

Celestia blinked.

"I'll take that as a yes." Cadance shrugged, "Well it worked, Silver's curse is broken, you're welcome."

An angry smile rose on Celesta's face. "You hear that Silver? I win."

Silver stepped out from underneath Cadance's wing. "You did. Though, I feel like this loss..." She glanced back at Cadance momentarily, despite not having to. "I'm certain it was worth it, for me at least."

Celestia frowned at the neutral admission, and narrowed her expression in preparation for violence when Silver stepped forwards to hug her. A growl, followed by, "Get. Off."

Silver stepped away, "Good to see you again, fluff ball. Good luck with your student."

Cadance, sensing the oncoming tension (based off of Celestia's 'I'm going to punt you into the air' look) stepped forwards and put her wing over Silver again. "Ho-kay. Let's not draw this drama out any further then. It's been a long day of explosions and bending the universe to my whim, so I'll be off." She looked over her shoulder, waved a hoof at Twilight, and matched Discord's hat tip by inclining her muzzle downwards. "Ta-ta!"

She imagined Shining, Chose to be there, and he jumped out of his fur as she appeared next to him, Silver in tow.

Flurry Heart blew a bubble with her face in excitement that mom had returned.

Shining rushed forwards to hug his wife.

Silver tried to move, but with a clever application of telekinesis, Cadance kept the silver mare shoved face first into the family group hug. Shining didn't like it, but he accepted it. Flurry was excited to see the sparkly pony again. Just generally excited, she could probably feel the relief and Love flowing around the hug.

Unfortunately, it had to end eventually, and Cadance pulled away.

Shining didn't know what to say.

"Will you watch her for another minute? I need to find Silver somewhere."

Shining glanced over at Silver, who was still trying to hide her light crying.

Shining opened his mouth to say something, but the words caught in his throat.

Silver wiped her face. "I'll bother you later, fart bag, I promise."

Cadance snorted. She had no idea what kind of relationship her husband and Silver had with one another, but that particular insult was not what she expected, nor something she thought could put a smile on Shining's face. He readjusted Flurry in his mane, "Yeah, I got her. Go do your thing."

Cadance shortly debated forgetting about all of this garbage and teleporting her and Shining to an island where no-one would find them, like Silver suggested.

Just a thought.

Cadance leaned down for a smooch. Her new height was slightly awkward for that, but likely great for spooning. A later thing. Then she led Silver out of the room and into the hallway.

Silver stepped away from her, and stared at the floor opposite to Cadance like a filly who'd been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar.

A beat passed.

"I'm not sure what to do now."

Cadance countered immediately with, "Well you're not turning yourself into stone again."

Silver let out a tiny smile along with a chuckle. "Silver wasn- I wasn't meant to live past helping you, metaphorically, and literally. I'm not sure what else I can do. I don't even know if I want to do anything. Usually if I'm meant to do something, I don't get a break between adventures."

"Mmmmm."

She looked up, "You don't care at all do you?"

Cadance frowned, "I do. I don't care for what you tried to do to yourself, there's just no point in talking about it."

Silver shook her head. "Thank you."

"You made it happen."

"That tends to..." Silver looked up, "Oh no, I saw that. You're not gonna catch me so easily."

Cadance stomped a hoof and rolled her eyes. "You're incorrigible."

Silver narrowed her eyes, "Didn't I tell you not to call me that ever again?"

A smirk mixed with a proud smile. "You did. I ignored you."

Silver smiled back, and then deflated. "I dunno if I've got banter in my right now, Little Empress."

Cadance gestured with a wing. "How about a warm bed, some food, and sleep." Cadance made it clear the last one was not a suggestion.

Silver looked... guilty.

"I changed my mind." Cadance joked, "I'm no asking anymore. Cmon, I'll get you room service, and come check up on you later." Cadance pushed, Sliver laughed and let herself get dragged along to a guest room. Get assigned a guard, and get handed a menu before Cadance left her to her own devices. With a parting joke about antagonizing the staff, to which Silver promised: "Only, 'enough'."

Cadance had a Royal Crystaling to attend to, and a husband to attend to, and it also metaphorically just smacked her upside the head that she'd have to get her entire wardrobe refitted now.

A breath.

Time just kept on chuggin' along. Cadance left a mental reminder in her head to see if Silver had chosen to sleep after the ceremony was over. Also, to make her if she hadn't. Then she set off back the way she came to start on that massive list of things she still had to get done today.

At the very least, it was a start.

Back in '920

A week later
Still Cadance's perspective though

Midday, Quick Silver led Cadance down into some... old looking building that definitely needed a paint touch up on the outside. No signage, no markings, and hidden away in an old road zone, now behind a bunch of high value apartments deep within Manehatten. The only reason Cadance didn't feel like she was walking into the start of a horror movie was due to her knowledge that Twilight had a hoof in preparing this with Quick Silver.

Having the two of them work together was surprisingly much easier than expected.

"Get out of your head Little Princess, adventure awaits." Silver said from ahead of her, ducking into the building after unlocking it.

Cadance adjusted her saddlebags and followed with snark, "You know, it's empress now."

Whatever Silver said next was cut off as Cadance dipped into the room, ducking a little to keep her horn from glancing the door frame, and getting a look at the interior.

It was a skating rink

With the video game inspired carpets filled with random shapes and stains from spilled drinks. Silver flicked on the lights as Cadance marveled, lighting up the whole place in a quiet strobe that flashed purple and green around the rink itself, as the blue and purple lights lit up the outskirts of tables, an arcade by the corner, and what looked like a bunch of old, terrible chain restaurants that had long since been cleared and emptied. There was a disco ball, there were dumb table covers, it was everything Cadance remembered from when she was young.

"I haven't figured out the music an-"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" Cadance interrupted.

"Okay." Silver responded, smiling to herself as Cadance danced on the tips of her hoofsies.

"This is fantastic! Silver! Ooooh~!" Her excitement bled into her voice. The sparkles shooting out from her mane as she expressed herself lit up the space around her in a tiny aurora. "When you said to bring my old jazz stuff, I was hoping, no, dreaming that this is what you had in mind. It's just like what I remember! Where did you-"

Silver waved a hoof, "That was the Twilight part. Pinkie found this place a while ago while they were here. Twilight hooked me up with the owner and helped me with the repairs on and off since last month."

Last month huh? You really do plan for everything.

"It's perfect. You even got the stains right."

Silver nodded slowly, "... yeah. That was intentional."

Cadance stared.

Silver stared back.

They both started giggling.

"So, when's everyone else getting here?"

"Nuh-uh. Keep your head out of scheduling-" Silver smushed her mouth together when she said "empress."

Cadance 'snrked' to herself and took another look around. The building had a deceptively low ceiling, like a bowling alley.

"Show me what you brought? I'm dying to know how you're going to set this up, I missed the decade all of this is from so I'm honestly clueless about what I copied." What silver had 'copied' was a leather jacket combo with a white under-T that fit her a little too well for Cadance's liking. It was abdominally jarring, and doubly so funny.

"So!" Cadance levitated open her saddlebags, "I'm sure you noticed my coat is extra poofy?"

"It was the first thing I noticed." Silver nodded sagely, "You've got about a quarter of an inch of extra floof. Very impressive."

Cadance continued, "I had these earth pony hoof braces commissioned for yak negotiations-"

"Strength enhancement?"

"Yaks." Was Cadance's answer, followed by trying to finish her sentence. "Me and Amber did some pattern work-"

"How is Amber? I haven't bothered her in so long."

Would you stop interrupting me?

Cadance huffed, "Amber is doing really well. We got her to move back into her home without throwing everything out- I say we," Cadance flopped a hoof over, "It was mostly Ivory and Morning-"

"They got together right? Through your speed dating cult?"

"Yes." Cadance hissed, "And it's not speed dating, and you're- Would you quit trying to stop me from explaining what you asked me to explain just to be annoying?!"

Silver laughed.

"You're impossible." Cadance snarked

A much more serious, "You're impossible." Came from Silver.

Cadance sent her back a softer smile before pulling out her leg warmers. "These. We made these." They were a softer pink than her coat, nearly purple, bunchy, and were all wrong for all the right reasons. The top held a strap and the magic strength enhancing braces. "Cause we found out that a side effect of channeling all of my magic into earth pony strength is this!" She said, slipping one on. Immediately upon her telekinesis folding down the strap, the magic articulating her flowing mane cut, and her hair turned back into normal tangible hair, flopping down over her muzzle and into her face.

"OoOoOo" Silver marveled.

A pair of brushes and a mirror followed out off Cadance's bag, and she went to work.

Silver continued to 'ooh' and 'ah' as Cadance turned her now magic-less mane into a giant ball of fuzz with a clever application of static, magic, and skilled brush strokes. It took barely under a minute, emphasizing how many times Cadance had done this before. When she looked up from her mirror, Silver's mane was slicked back, and the top half was mulleted.

Cadance shook her head, her mane bouncing as her hoof came up to hold back a laugh.

"What?" Silver asked

Cadance pointed at her shapeshifting mane, "That's cheating!"

Silver chuckled and struck a pose, "So how do I look?"

Cadance squeezed her eyes shut to hold back a guffaw and let out a breathless, "We both look ridiculous."

Silver laughed a little harder, stomping a hoof a few times and wiping away a tear. "Totally worth the embarrassment. Though I have to ask, what's next? Braces?"

Cadance shook her head and pulled out a pair of hoof skates.

Silver gasped in surprise, "Little Princess! Please don't tell me you already know how to rollerblade."

Cadance made short work of the shoes and straps, magic and all, then gave a little flourishing pirouette. Except... you know... quadrupedal roller skates.

Silver looked impressed, "I can't believe you've been holding out on me; and here I thought we'd get to have fun learning together." She frowned and tilted her nose up, "This would have been the perfect thing to know about before we did this." Another indignant huff, "I could have practiced!"

Cadance levitated another set of skates out the other side of her saddlebags. Levitating them over to Silver and waving them around, "~We've got some time~"

"You're too playful for your own good." Silver snatched the skates, "But no, I still need to get the sound working before we-" Silver struck a pose midway through walking off to the side, "Take To The Floor!" She took another completely normal step, "C'mere and look at this." She said, gesturing and walking over to one of the carrot booths.

Carpet wasn't the greatest to roll across, but it was easier than taking the shoes off, that, and Cadance hadn't worn these in so long that she didn't really want to take them off. Funny how they still fit. There was an analogy there for immortality, or something, Cadance wasn't feeling too needlessly poetic at the moment.

Silver ducked behind a counter, there was a flash of magic that Cadance had to look away from. Silver poked her head back up around the counter and was dressed like a Carrot Shack employee, the hat and everything. It even looked like she'd been aged down, the metallic freckles on her face had enhanced to form the 'highschool job' look.

"Uh-" Her voice cracked, "What can I get for you?"

Cadance laughed before regaining control of herself, "This is too much Silver. Seriously, I'm not gonna be able to handle this."

"Uh-" Her voice cracked again, "I'm not sure we have that on the menu?"

Cadance burst into giggles, and Silver pulled the hat off of her head and returned to her normal shape.

"For realsies," She said, now in her normal, non-pubescent voice. "Want any snacks? I can make popcorn back here, if the circuitry still works from the last time I looked at it." She turned around and telekinetically dragged a popcorn box forwards.

What is my life.

Cadance didn't have to try to smile, not recently.

"Sure, hook me up."

Silver shook her head, "I'm never gonna keep pace with you on slang, you know that right?"

"Oh I know, I'm only feeling the razzle up in this place!" Cadance laughed, and spun around again on her skates as Silver fought with the machine. "Thank you Silver, for realsies, this is wonderful."

Popcorn started popping.

"So tell me, what's your favorite part so far? Besides me, of course." Silver waggled her eyebrows and framed her muzzle under a hoof.

"Duuude." Cadance waited for Silver to stop giggling before she continued, "It's definitely the lights. Even those clubs didn't know how to mesh lighting and floor texture."

"Well you can thank whomever abandoned this place. Most of the equipment was still intact."

"Makes you wonder why someone would abandon it to begin with..."

"Wanna hear a ghost story?"

Cadance shook her head, "Please keep that away from me, thank you. I'm not into ghosts, and that's-" Cadance turned and pointed at the general space in the room, "not an insult. Personally, I just don't care for ghosts. So if you're a ghost, and you're feeling spooky-" Cadance narrowed her eyes and passed her gaze over the room. "Keep it to yourself."

Silver put a bag of popcorn up on the counter. "Look at you. Talking to ghosts I made up."

"I've come a long way." Cadance picked the bag up with her magic. Popcorn, freshly popped, covered with far, far too much butter to be legal.

MMmmm... Perfect.

The door at the front opened. Chrysalis walked in. Silver peered over the counter, and Chrysalis froze a few steps into the room when she spotted what the two of them were dressed up as. They all shared a glance, Chrysalis looked around at the room once, then turned around to walk back out.

Cadance rolled up while Silver laughed.

Cadance magicked the door shut. "Where are you going?"

Chrysalis just stared longingly at the now closed door. Sighed, and then pressed her hoof into that throbbing spot between her eyes. "I swear, the pantheon is a bunch of children."

From over the counter, Silver shouted, "There's no point in being grown up if- OOf" She fell over the counter, comically. Cadance tittered, Chrysalis shook her head again.

"Fiiiiine." A green flash of flame, and Fanatic was back, done up with a double braid, braces, and a big white poofy jacket with a tie-dye shirt underneath.

Cadance gasped and sat back to clap.

"We take thish to our gravesfh."

Cadance desperately tried not to laugh. Silver didn't bother trying, "Braces! What did I tell you."

Chrysalis huffed.

"Oh stop it." Cadance admonished, "You look great."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes and moved over to one of the long tables.

"Silver?"

"Snack tray-" Silver answered in confirmation, "Got it!" and she dove back behind the counter.

Cadance rolled over to the table and sat down. Chrysalis opened her mouth only to be interrupted by the long trumpets bursting out of the doors and playing an overcompensating jazz thrump. A red carpet rolled out, and the door burst open to reveal nothing but light, smoke, and lasers.

Everything paused.

A tiny Discord ran into the room with a scroll.

"Announcing his majesty of Chaos! The purveyor of all things random! The King of Misfortune! The Master of Insults-"

Silver poked her head around the counter, "I refute that!"

"The King of swing! The creator of jazz-"

Cadance looked at Chrysalis for the verification of that last one. Fanatic shrugged.

"-ty of Dem-Beatz, the King of Swi-err, wait. I already said that one. The Arbiter of Afros! The-"

Cadance stared as the tiny Discord just kept going.

Fanatic slammed her hooves down on the table, "WE GET IT. Get in here you piece!"

The tiny Discord and the comically long unfolded scroll poofed, along with the smoke and lights. Discord stepped in, made a few strange grunts to match his 'Elvis' look. Complete with sunglasses, slicked hair, and extremely loud white clothing from top to bottom.

He contained himself for barely a second before exploding into the room with the sound of confetti and the smell of fish. "HELLO!" He yelled, materializing on the table. "I couldn't resist. Sorry," He booped Fanatic, who tried to bite his hand off. "Goodness how much of joy it is to finally have a non-scripted speaking role-" He looked at me, "Took you long enough."

Discord floated up, "And look at the two of you! Perfect! I wouldn't change a single thing." He spun to face Cadance, "Actually, what do you think of being completely clear?"

Cadance shrugged, "I'll try it once."

Snap, and Cadance was clear. Her hair was still present, among the skates and leg warmers.

"See! Now we really have ghosts."

"Od- wait, how did you know about that?"

"I read ahead- anyways-" Another snap, Discord took his seat next to Fanatic who looked very much like she was ready to either bolt or explode. It was a wonder how Cadance couldn't feel anything from her, what with how red her face was getting. Mostly in rage. Probably a little bit of hatred. "So what are we going to talk about? OoOoO-" He clapped, "I remember this age, ladies? Gossip? Huh? How about it?"

Cadance, still clear, lifted a hoof to conspiratorially lean over the table. "Twilight?"

Discord shrunk back as if being smacked over the head. Chrysalis laughed and pointed at him. He pulled at the cuff of his shirt. "Ah-oh-well-you see,"

"You bucked it up didn't you?"

Chrysalis burst into maniacal laughter.

"Alright you kids." Silver came up around the edge of the table, now wearing the second pair skates Cadance bought for her. "Soup's on!" Silver slid a few trays of fries, mozzarella sticks, carrot dogs, and all manner of greasy fast food that had gone out of fashion before Cadance had gotten tall. A few cups and straws sat themselves down around them in a plethora of colours and solutions.

"Wrong demographic." Discord chided.

Fanatic levitated up a box of fries and slurped up two of them. Cadance sent her a questioning look. "I like the texture." Was her response. Silver jumped up onto the chair next to Cadance. "So when are the rest popping in? They should have been here by now, I'm sure."

Cadance could feel Twilight and Luna somewhere in the city, but Fanatic beat her to an answer.

"Twilight said she had something to do first. Luna wanted to get involved, you know her." She said dismissively from around a mouthful of fries.

"Chew, Fanatic. You're gonna choke." Silver joked.

Cadance wasn't sure that was possible, but it got a massive eye roll from the-

Well, I guess everyone here is a shape changer besides me, so maybe not an accurate comparison.

"Oh!" Silver perked up, "I nearly forgot-" Chocolate pudding flung itself over the table at Discord who got caught in the mullet. "Fuck you, Discord." Silver snarled.

Discord magicked the pudding out of his hair and frowned.

Cadance lifted a clear hoof between the two of them, "Let's keep drama out of our day out okay?"

Silver whined, "But I started it!"

Fanatic matched Cadance's internal confusion externally.

Discord's face filled with a malicious grin as he flicked the pudding down onto the floor where it came to life and ran away. "So~" he hummed, "Speaking of romance, have you two-"

"Discord." Silver cut him off, agitated. "Cadance is barely a thirty second of my age, can y-"

"I've thought about it." Cadance interrupted nonchalantly.

Silver did a spit take.

Fanatic pounded her hoof on the table and cackled at Silver's surprise.

Discord looked just... decently confused.

"Cadance!"

"What?" Cadance responded petulantly. "Princess of Love? Hello? What, do you want me to lie? Of course I've thoug- ugh, not seriously." Cadance flipped her hoof, which looked weird due to being basically invisible. "Geez. Get off my back about it."

At least the admission defused the animosity.

Fanatic leaned over, "Seems like the Princess is a little more promiscuous than we thought, I wonder who else yo-"

Cadance frantically waved her hooves, "Leeet's not go there."

Discord snapped.

There was a beat of silence as everyone tried to figure out what he'd done while he blushed.

"Oh my."

"Discord! Did you just steal my thoughts!"

Discord looked down into the middle distance, "Oh goodness me."

"Discord!"

Fanatic continued to cackle. Cadance was smiling despite it all.

The front door opened to reveal Selene. She flapped her way to the table. "Hey everyone."

Silver smacked her on the shoulder, "Selene! Good to see you again, how's guard work been treatin' ya?"

"I am well, just..." She turned back towards the door. "I felt it a good idea to prepare you all for-"

Twilight led Celestia into the room.

Fanatic leaned back into her chair with a deep frown like she was about to stand and leave. Discord snapped and returned Cadance to her not clear self before calmly looking on. Silver narrowed her eyes. Selene let out a nervous chuckle, coupled with a toothy smile. "She-"

"If..." Celestia interrupted, still being led forwards by Twilight. The smaller mare was giving her encouraging looks and quiet pushes to continue. "If I could be given permission, I'd... I have something to say."

Cadance knew she couldn't extend that. She waited.

Silver waved a hoof. "Let's hear it."

Celestia sucked in a breath. Shook once. Her ear flicked.

Twilight said something too quiet for Cadance to hear.

Celestia opened up her eyes, tears welling up and said, "I forgive myself."

The weight of the words fell silently over the table. Twilight looked on for a response, and the tension was very jarringly, suddenly cut open by Fanatic who raised an eyebrow, "Why didn't you lead with that?"

Celestia imperceptibly let out a breath of relief.

"Cmon then!" Silver jumped up, "Grab a snack for the road and let's get rolling. Discord?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Discord snapped both his hands in staccato rapid fire, speakers appeared in flashes of white on the ceiling, the rink rolled all the dirt and grime up to one end of itself where the pudding monster ate it all and then disappeared, the lights mixed in with lasers and a few spotlights that started roaming the rink. He turned himself towards Twilight, Celestia, and Selene and fired off three finger gun shots from his shoulder, behind him, and under a leg that turned the three of them into their nine-twenties relative generalization.

Twilight turned into a nerd, which wasn't really much of a change in look; Celestia into a school teacher trying to be cool, and Selene into a jock, very reminiscent of Silver's getup.

Discord blew smoke from his fingers and then struck a pose. "Let's hit it!" He appeared on the rink as the first beats of some oldie but goodie rock song started to play.

"Yea-yeah!" Silver flapped herself over the table, telekinetically grabbing Cadance by the hoof and dragging her out of her seat with a quiet 'oop!'.

Fanatic rolled her eyes and got out of her chair like a normal adult.

Silver was apparently not joking in the fact that she had no clue how to skate. She tripped a few times to the rink, and with a quick explanation on how exactly she should be pointing her hooves, she and Cadance managed to be the last ones in.

Cadance had to keep pushing Silver with her magic to keep her speed up, but Silver didn't seem to mind, and she was getting the hang of it quickly.

"So!" Silver said while staring at the ground to get her hoof work right. "You wanna do the credits?"

Cadance smiled, raising an eyebrow.

What is this now?

"Credits?"

Silver looked up, "Yeah? I mean, can't you feel it? We're nearing the end of this little adventure. If I was writing out a novel, this would be when I have all the characters... you know, reflect."

Cadance rolled her eyes. "Silver, this isn't a novel. We did the other thing, remember?"

"I know, I know." Silver matched Cadance's eye roll, "But still! Isn't this so... thematically perfect for a recap? Where we've been? What we've seen? I genuinely thought I was going to be dead right now."

Cadance continued to giggle at the absurdity and kept skating to the beat of the music. It was a lot like galloping, the wind trying to undo her frizz, only with barely the same amount of work.

"Cmon, I do this all the time." Silver waved a hoof and nearly fell over. Cadance caught her with a wing. "Talking into the air, that is, you never know. Someone might be listening. Why not have a go? Cadance? Please? Share this with me."

Cadance felt the serious question for what it was.

She looked around at the building, the rink. The other immortals, skating.

Goodness gracious... look at us. What's wrong with us.

Cadance laughed, "Nah." She reached over and draped her wing over Silver's back. "There's nothing to say. As far as I care, I got everything I wanted. Just like you planned."

Silver looked at the floor and skated a little closer to Cadance.

"I wouldn't've been who I am right now, without you. Or without me. Even if I wanted to, there's no putting words to something as complex as ponies-"

"People." Silver perked up to correct.

"The only way it'd make any sense to begin with is if someone was really looking hard from the outside."

They silently did another few circuits as Cadance held the smaller mare close, hoping to comfort her and the whirling thoughts in her head. After the third go around, Silver shrugged off the wing and made to roll into the center as the most recent song cut out.

"In that case, I know how to wrap this up."

Discord floated up as Silver took center stage. A thirty seven stringed guitar appeared in his hand. "Oh I love these." He said, before slamming his talon down on the strings, and a quick jumping beat of chords exploded from the speakers.

Silver stomped a hoof and sang.

.
.
.

"They keep playing sad songs on the radio!"
"And I feel like I'm so alone, on this six-teen hour flight!"

.
.
.

Celestia rolled up to her side, her deeper tone mixing with Silver's pitch.

.
.
.

"And all the while I tell myself to just believe!" - "And all the while I tell myself to just believe!"
"That nobody can give so much, and never get anything!" - "Never get any-"

"Everyone I used to know!"
"They don't know what I've become!" - "They don't know what I've become."

.
.
.

They harmonized, stomping together,

.
.
.

"But I'm still the same!"
"Not much has changed!"
"I still know where I came from!"

.
.
.

Magic flowed from the two of them.

.
.
.

"I fell asleep with the lights on"
"And I can see that you're the first one in a long time"
"That had some faith in me"
"Had faith in me!"

"Tell my friends we won't be long!"
"The flowing life begs me to come back home"
"And it feels like I'm ready for anything"
"If you can wait for me."

.
.
.

Cadance shared a look with the other immortals as Discord continued to shred. She rolled towards the center too, opening her mouth and lighting her horn to join the song.

.
.
.

"And all the while, I say too much of what I think."
""And I can't remember what it's like!" - "To find meaning in anything!"
"For the Life of me!"

.
.
.

Cadance took center stage, staring Silver in the eyes as she shouted

.
.
.

"Everything I used to know,"
"I don't know what I've become!"
"But I'm not the same!"
"Everything's changed!"
"And I know where I came from!"

.
.
.

~ And They All Sang Together ~

.
.
.

AND!
ALL!
WE'VE EVER!
WANTED!
IS
SO FAR
FROM WHAT WE'VE MADE!

.
.
.

~ The Walls Came Down. ~
~ Their Voices Changed To Meaning As They Sang ~

.
.
.

We'll write our song!
We'll sing along!
And hope time heals everything!

Fell asleep with the lights ~ooooon!
And I can see that you're the first one in a long time.
That had some faith in me!
Had faith in me!

Tell them All!
We won't be long!
The lives we make will find us in our Time!
And I feel like!
I'm ready for anything!
If you could wait for me.

.
.
.

~ Her Voice Raised To Fill It All. ~

.
.
.

"This is all I have!"

"This is all I HAVE!"

"This is all we have!"

"This is all I have!"

.
.
.

~ Emotion Raised Beyond Intention ~

.
.
.

"I fell asleep with the lights ooon~"

"And I can see that you're the first one in a long time."

"That had some faith in me."

"Tell my friends."

"I won't be long."

"Your voice still makes me feel at home."

"And I know that."

"I'm ready for anything."

.
.
.

"'Cause You Will Wait For Me!"

.
.
.

~ And As They Sang ~
~ As They Danced ~
~ As They Meant. ~

~ Somewhere. ~

~ Somewhere Very Far Away. ~

.
.
.

~ The Sun Set. ~

.
.
.

Dear Beloved Niece

Dear Princess Cadence

Dear Caden

Dear Beloved Niece,

Firstly, I would like to say that I have missed you, your smile and disposition distinctly alter the mood of the Canterlot Palace. I write to you to request your aid in a project of mine own.

Although, before I continue I would like to posit that you keep knowledge of said project to yourself, not even my Sister knows of this and for the time being I would appreciate it staying as such.

A long time ago, a night court magician by the alias of Dusk Swirl was imprisoned much the same way as Discord, and for similar reason. He had a part in the starting of several wars, among being a practitioner of black magic, and committer of many a crime. He also had a hoof in my fall to Nightmare Moon. He is a Criminal of inordinate magnitude. That being said, whether or not he remains imprisoned is up to debate to begin with, and in leu of any guarantee to his imprisonment, I have made the decision to release him, and "get a jump on it" as they say today.

This is where I require your aid my Niece. Due to my personal connection with Dusk Swirl, I have believed myself incapable of handling this process on mine own, thus, after considering all of the details, I have come to the conclusion that you are best suited to reacclimate Dusk Swirl to the modern age; and potentially bring him to the side of harmony.

I confidently believe this is a task you are capable of, and request your presence in Canterlot Castle within the coming month in order to pursue said task. I eagerly await your response, and I am dually hopeful to see your smile fill the halls of this place again.

Sincerely,
Aunt Luna

Dear Auntie Luna

Hello Auntie! It's been wonderful to receive mail from you, your particular delivery style is something I will never tire of. (Though Shiny might begin to have heart problems)

I'm not sure what to say for your request however, I don't want to seem rude, but I also deign to be as honest as possible, I have the crystal empire to run, and along with keeping such a task secret, (and with the paparazzi chasing us royals around it'll be a lot of work) plus what you've described as an incredibly dangerous creature. I don't believe I'll be able to simply take a trip to Canterlot. At least, not unless I have more information.

Could you possibly tell me more about him? Is he a Stallion? Or some other creature? and I don't want to pry into wounds closed so long ago, but how could he have been present for Nightmare Moon? Is he a fellow immortal?

And dark magic Luna? What does that entail? You claimed he started several wars? Are you sure that you require me in particular? Not Twilight? Or maybe a host of guards?

As I've stated before, I just need more information before I can commit to leaving my Kingdom for any amount of time, I'm sorry I can't fly over there immediately, you know how much I find ruling to be... grueling. Although I will make plans regardless come running of the leaves to visit the castle to say hello to you and Auntie Celestia.

Thank you for your letter, and please let me know more so I can try to help.

Much Love,
Cadance

Dearest Niece

My apologies for not being more succinct with you regarding my request. I don't know how much I am truly capable of saying of Dusk Swirl. For you however, as far as timing goes, I would request your presence in Canterlot for a week at most, with one half of a fortnight to release and try to reform Dusk Swirl, if such is not possible, than he will likely have to be returned to stone afterwards regardless.

To try and answer your questions in a meaningful order: Dusk Swirl is in fact, immortal. I am not privy to the details, but at some point during Discords reign of Equestrian he acquired agelessness, as such, I would hope to befriend him for the coming ages.

He is also, in fact, an earth stallion of visible age of around thirty to forty years and is indeed a practitioner of all kinds of dark magics. During the rise of Equestria, he was Starswirl's counterpart, or more accurately, his rival. He is likely just as talented in dark magics as Dear Twilight Sparkle is with friendship, and is capable of doing both incredible and terrible things in equal measure.

As far as who he was, I haven't much to say. He may have had a hoof in starting several wars, but such was more a product of circumstance than his direct influence. In most cases he simply would push for conflict as is his nature, rather than diplomacy. I, at the time, tended to agree with him, and as a note, he was often correct in many of his presumptions.

Suffice to say, he is a mystery to me, he is not insane like Discord was, nor corrupted like myself when I fell to darkness or like Sombra with his own insanity. As far as I know, Dusk Swirl was imprisoned with a completely sound mind, which brings me to another detail. Celestia states that Dusk Swirl's imprisonment is self inflicted, she claims that one day, he simply walked out to the gardens and turned to stone, which leads me to believe that his imprisonment is on a timer, or he is simply waiting for a particular moment to escape, or even more likely, that he is not imprisoned to begin with.

In hindsight it occurs to me that Dusk Swirl was very lonely. Much lonelier than I, which is why I believe you are the one to assist him in the changing of perspectives. You have the particular skill of which to personally connect with ponies; which will be a requirement for this particular task. From my memory, Dusk Swirl was not a bad or evil stallion. He was always simply misguided, and too stubborn to accept any other path. I believe that if he had someone of which he could view as an equal, or a friend, he would be willing to listen to reason, or would perhaps simply "relax" as Discord has. I myself vouch that he is not a danger to the wellbeing of you or any other pony within the castle or otherwise, and like Discord, he tends to be merely a hazard, and often an annoyance.

I hope I have done well enough to more accurately describe what I have asked of you, and indeed wish to see you regardless come the holiday running of the leaves at the end of the fall season.

Sincerly,
Luna

PS, what of your prince's heart issues? Are my letters perhaps too loud? should I deign to have them transported by hoof? or perhaps find an alternate spellform?

Dear Auntie Luna

First of all, I'd like to thank you for elaborating and not taking my word as anything but mixed curiosity. I can absolutely assist you in this venture, although I will need to discuss it with my Husband so he can cover my presence within the empire. You have my word his lips will be sealed on the topic.

I will be arriving the week after the next on Tuesday evening, and look forward to discussing more of the details in pony.

Love,
Cadance

PS, Please do not change your form of delivery, it brings me incredible joy

The first actual chapter with things happening in it

Cadance ended up taking the evening train to Canterlot that Tuesday. It was mostly reserved for cargo transport, exports and the like. She herself had signed the papers for the trade between Equestria and the Crystal Empire, and likewise found herself wandering out of her boxcar to inspect the crates during her journey to the capital.

"Do you think we should produce bigger boxes?" She said during the trip, directed towards one of her personal guards, shadowing her. Shining, while supportive of this plan, had insisted that she take two of the best, a deep green mare of the name Crystal Brazier, and a sky blue stallion of the name Fog Runner.

Crystal Brazier was either quicker on the uptake, or Fog Runner was too distracted to respond quickly enough. "Bigger boxes?" She said, "do you mean the cargo? Is it not big enough your majesty?"

Cadance turned towards the boxes again. "It's the storage shape" She gestured at the boxes, "they're just smaller than the right size to take up all of the space in the rack. if we had a bit more height or width, they'd fill the rack completely, they'd jostle around less, right?"

"I'm sure we can write in a request to have them set to a larger scale if you'd like your majesty." Said Fog, a bit to sternly for Cadance's tastes.

"No, I'm sure there's a reason they're like this..." Cadance trailed off

Well... Guards aren't much for conversation I guess

Several hours later, Cadance made a hasty exist from the Crystal Express out onto the Canterlot platform. The Moon was up in the sky fully now, and the stars distracted her from the coldness of the cobblestones of the platform.

"Dearest Niece!" A voice, only Luna's to be clear, turned Cadance's head towards the front of the train platform. A flew flaps and Luna was hugging her, Cadance stumbled for a moment before returning the hug with a vengeance.

"Luna! It's so good to see you!" They separated "How have you been these past weeks?"

"To practice in honesty Cadance, I must say I have been anxious. Anxious around what I've called you here for, yet that is not a discussion for the open. That and you have just arrived! Let us 'catch up', there is a stagecoach waiting for us outside the station where we may discuss the finer details of your presence."

With that, Luna began to take long strides towards the edge of the train platform, nightponies were in the midst of unloading the Crystal Express, though several of the Canterlot ponies were giving her mildly surprised looks. Cadance followed, hoping the word wouldn't travel too quickly, her guards moving swiftly after her.

"How goes the bureaucracy of the Crystal Empire?" Luna asked without looking over, instead deigning to focus on not falling down the too slim stairs off the platform and onto the street.

"Oh please, I haven't touched most of it, you should be asking shiny most of the details."

"Ah of course, I always forget you are a mare of the ponies, you make public appearances yes? Do you hold court during the day like mine sister?"

Candance giggled, "It's 'my' Auntie, not mine, new ponish has far more tenses than old ponish." Luna nodded, "and I do hold court, but very little comes of it, I normally spend all day looking through backlogs of paperwork, coming up with ideas and placating the old nobles of the Crystal Empire, I've thought of doing away with them entirely in all honesty."

"Aye, that is a fine idea dear niece. I find that the nobles in Canterlot, while they do shake things around, tend to be the cause of most disturbances as well."

Upon their approach of a dark enclosed carriage, painted in Luna's colours of course, two Thestrals saluted and opened the carriage doors for the two princesses, Cadance's guards saluted in return, and she took note of the little ritual the two guard branches engaged in as she entered and laid down across from Luna and onto of the large deep blue cushion's that filled the chamber. Which was slightly bigger than it seemed from the outside.

The interior was just as expected, blues and purples laid over wood and plaster, and a ceiling reminiscent of the night sky.

Candance felt the need to comment. "Your personal stagecoach I'm guessing? It's rare I travel in such lavish style."

"Indeed it is, do you like it?"

"It's wonderful and very soft."

The carriage started rolling.

A beat.

"So..."

"Yes, it's best we begin my niece."

Cadance held up a hoof, "Before that, one Princess to another, I just need to hear it from you directly. Do you think this is safe?" Cadance looked Luna in the eyes, "I know how often 'great evils' tend to be loosened on Equestria, this isn't going to be another example of that right? I trust you, I just... Well like I said, I'd like to hear it straight from you."

Luna took a moment to respond. Cadance watched intently as Luna considered her words. "I do not know the particular outcome of all of this, however I am certain that this process will not result in any kind of harm to anypony."

"That's what I needed to hear, thank you."

"Of course."

Cadance thought about the details before deciding on starting simple, "When do you plan on releasing him?"

Luna tilted her head, "As I am entrusting you as his ward, I thought it pertinent to let you decide when he should be freed."

Cadence nodded, "Then we'll precede as soon as we're able, I made sure to sleep the day away today in preparation. Which leads us to what exactly we're going to do, I know you want me to handle most of this, but just so we're on the same page, what exactly is the plan? Also, I read your letters and, Dusk Swirl is just an alias? Are you aware of his actual name?"

"Unfortunately no, for all that knew him, he refused to ever give out his name, he claimed and was somewhat justified of the power of names, and wishing that none have such a power over him. Names have agency in certain kinds of dark magic you see," Cadence nodded in understanding, "To answer the other question, the plan is a little more complex than the reformation of Discord, but not much, by nature of what we have to go on."

"So to begin with, you just want me to get to know him?"

"Yes"

"Do you think he'll be willing to... well will he let that happen? You described him as the kind of stallion to not just 'go with the flow'."

"I believe he will at my request, along with that he'll likely take interest in the process. Although I should warn you that his interest will carry mal-intent." Luna turned towards the curtains in the coach, and used her wing to lift one to gaze out onto the streets of Canterlot.

"How so?" Cadance asked.

Luna took a moment before responding, leaving the curtain to fall back into place. "Dusk tended to engage in frivolities for the sole purpose of annoying others or derailing other pony's works or jobs. Its not unlikely that he will allow you to try and reform him simply to prove to you that you are incapable of such a feat."

Luna took another breath before continuing, "He is also likely to consistently point out flaws in your approach, and try and demoralize you from your goal. While he is not evil, he is definitely mean. I believed that his special talent is that of putting other ponies down."

Cadance scrunched her muzzle, "His special talent is bulling ponies?"

"If I remember correctly, his cutie mark depicts that of two silhouetted ponies pointing and laughing at a third silhouette, crouched and cowering."

Cadance frowned, "That... might be an issue... How can I connect with him if he's only interested in hurting my feelings?"

"In truth dear niece, we do not know. Dusk was not only a talented magician, but also a brilliant strategist. He published many theises' on the study of pony psychology and took pride in his ability to deconstruct ponies for who they really were. You will likely have to face him head on, and not break for him to respect you, and trust you. As I said in my letter, the hope is that if he sees you as an equal, he will accept your advice unconditionally."

Cadance kept her frown. "You think he'd just... do that?"

"Dusk was a strange stallion of duality in several portions. Sometimes he would fight a losing argument to the point of ridiculousness, and other times he would simply nod and accept he was in the wrong and begin contributing positively. I believe if you can prove that his perspective is wrong, he may just... accept defeat, and completely change who he is."

"Ponies can't simply change who they are can they?"

"We shall see" Luna said with a grimace.

"One other thing," Cadance said as the coach rolled to a stop, "I want to be able to handle this one on one with him. What I don't want is for him to feel attacked by two alicorns railroading him with questions about his worldview. Once we have him out and about, I'll try and stick with him as close as possible, and I want full autonomy for how to reform him. I read a lot form Twilight's notes on Fluttershy's efforts with Discord; and I think a one on one approach is definitely the best idea."

Luna spent the majority of those statements nodding, and simply responded with, "I concur, you shall have your space to deal with Dusk as you see fit."

Cadance than lit her horn and grasped the coach door, before exiting right into the palace gardens. Luna stepped softly into the grass directly behind her.

"Thank you sirs" Cadance said to the two Night Guards who walked them here, they saluted and then returned to 'at attention' in front of the stage coach. She turned and trotted before slowing to a canter to keep pace with Luna's longer stride out into the gardens.

The air was crisp, but moist, so it was just in-between too warm and too cold, perfect for a night walk. The grass was perfectly cut, and the décor was framed by the light and the marble that made up the features in the gardens along with the menagerie of plant life that filled the pathway the two Princesses walked together.

"One other thing," Cadance said, turning and looking slightly up towards Luna to speak, "I know he is a talented mage, but you said in your letter that he is an Earth Pony?"

Luna spoke while looking straight ahead, "Ah, well as you know, the earth pony has magic all their own, among Dusk's many projects was enhancing his own magical power. Not only, but he was also the greatest runesmith of his day, as well as the leading expert on rituals and many forms of casting accessible to an Earth Pony."

"It's hard to believe that an Earth Pony could match Starswirl in magical skill, were they really rivals? And why have I never heard of him if that's the case?"

"My sister likely wiped Dusk out of history in rage of his absence, and his influence in my fall to the Nightmare; and I'd say far more accurately that Dusk was by far Starswirl's better as far as magical strength was concerned. Starswirl was the founding father of many a spells foundation throughout era's past, he was a scholar first and foremost, an adventurer and monster hunter second. Dusk Swirl on the other hoof, while not an adventurer, often found himself in dangerous situations. He was by far a better warrior, and trumped Starswirl as far as raw magical power."

"How did he do that?" Cadance asked, bewildered

"Mmm, I was never told in detail, but among the things Dusk bragged about was inlaying runic structures within his own body. One of his powers I know of for certain is an array of powerful magic gathering spells inlaid on his bones."

Cadance tried to keep the recoil out of her features as she responded.

"That is... ghastly... His bones? Really? He carved magic into his own bones?" Cadance was mentally trying to catch up with such an idea. The idea of defacing your own body for power definitely seemed like the decision of a madpony.

"Aye, and I would also like to re-warn you of what he will likely use to dissuade you from your task. Dusk has done many a morally questionable thing, and will more than probably bring them up to try and disgust or scare you." Luna stopped at a wall of a thick hedge, growing straight from the ground. "Do not let him. So long as you stand firm, I am certain you will be able to convince him and achieve your goal."

"Okay." Cadance stumbled out, she had anxiety building within her, the more she talked about this, the more it seemed like she was the wrong pony for the task.

Luna cast a spell and the shrubbery shambled to the sides, opening up a doorway into a clearing within a ring of hedges surrounding the statue of a pony. The statue depicted the stallion sitting and looking to the side, with his eyes closed and a distinct frown on his face, though his ears stood at attention.

This must be him

"This is the stallion" Luna said

Beyond herself, Cadance chuckled internally at the irony of her mental train of thought and Luna's confirmation, she welcomed the humor as a distraction from how quickly this was all proceeding. "So how do we do this... do we just, zap him?"

Luna turned to Cadance, "I am unsure, I have studied several spells that will likely aid us, but there's no telling how lon-"

"Greetings"

The voice came from the side, and the two Princesses turned to the side to confirm the obvious. There on the stone plinth the statue of a stallion was no longer a statue, although his positioning had not changed, his colouring and the texture of his fur had. His coat was a strange offset of blue, Cadance could have mistaken him for a crystal pony if she didn't know otherwise, and his mane had a gradient from an almost purple at the base, to a red in the middle, and a fiery orange at the top, it hung around his head, puffed almost like a lions mane.

I guess it'll take that long

Cadance stepped up to the plinth, and brought up her courage, later she would realize that this was her 'Princess voice', "Hello Dusk, my name is Cadance and I-"

"Hold on, " He said, holding up a hoof, and coming to a stand, "Shut up for a moment." He had yet to open his eyes, and before Cadance had the chance to respond, he jumped down from his plinth and took two long strides up to her and got right up in her muzzle. After of which, he opened his eyes, almost touching snouts, he looked her straight in the face with grey eyes devoid of light or emotion.

Okay

Cadance struggled to bounce back from his invasion of her personal space, at least verbally, physically she stood her ground and did not flinch, even though his eyes were distinctly off putting. Luckily Luna came to her rescue before the staring became an issue.

"Hello again, Dusk Swirl."

"Princess Luna, what a pleasure it is to hear the 'cadance' of your voice again" He said, still staring Cadance down. He winked at the placement of her name, and then turned to Luna. Cadance stepped back.

"Your sarcasm is unwelcome as always Dusk" Luna spoke, a frown coming to her face.

"Well I could always just insult you directly, if you'd prefer, or her," He gestured towards Cadance, "I thought up plenty of material for her specifically since her coronation."

Cadance took the opportunity to jump in, "and how did you hear of that? I take it the stone you were in was porous?" She tried to give him a smile, and managed successfully, yet, he simply glanced to his side, and gave her an eyebrow before returning his gaze to Luna,

"Why are you bothering me exactly?"

Luna very quietly cleared her throat and answered. "I am here, along with my Niece to hopefully... Bring you back into the world. Help you."

He looked at her, looked at Cadance, looked back at Luna, then Cadance. Then Luna. "Lulu... That's a child." He said, lifting a hoof towards Cadance. She tried to respond, but before she could get the words out, Luna stopped her with a wing,

"She is not. I trust her to do the task I have stated, and you will go along with her will or face the consequences." Luna took a step towards him and tried to glare him down, he simply moved to the side, closer to Cadance and smirked. He began to pace, totting this way and that, locking eyes with Luna, and pivoting his head to always be facing her.

"What makes you think I'd do that, or... anything really?"

"Because if you do not, I will imprison you myself." Luna said, the same terseness flowing into her words

He continued to pace for two... four seconds before responding.

"and what of the little princess? What stakes do you have in this, hmm?" His eyes had not left Luna, yet Cadance knew to speak.

"I want to help you, I don't know how yet, but I know I'll have to get to know you to begin with... I guess the stakes I have is doing a favor for my aunt, but also for you."

He made a humming noise, continuing his pacing for another couple of back and forths, Cadance noticed that his back left leg was dragging in the grass, almost like he was injured. He turned to Cadance. "You believe that huh?"

Cadance just nodded. He smiled. It looked wrong. Didn't fit his face, Cadance wasn't sure, it just made her shiver from the inside out.

"Well then. I think I've heard plenty of this drivel." He turned to Luna, stomped a couple of steps straight up to her. "I don't know where out of your hindquarters you pulled this idea from, but to make myself... perfectly... cleaar...." as he trailed off, he scrunched his face while leaning over, looking over Luna's shoulders, "What in Tartarus is that?" He pointed.

Cadance glanced to the side, towards where he was pointing, seconds before hearing heavy hoofalls, and moments after realizing her mistake. She wiped her head around to see him make a break for one of the corners of the hedge rectangle. Luna turned shortly after her and lit her horn.

There was a flash, blinding Cadance, and she heard Luna cry out, once she regained her sight, she saw Luna knelt on her front legs, a small strand of smoke coming from the tip of her horn, the ground was lit in a pattern easily recognizable as a series of runes, and Dusk just rounded the corner of the hedge maze as Luna shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice

"Quickly Cadance! Catch him quickly!" The urgency behind her call and panic, one of the two stirred Cadance into motion without thought, she instinctively flexed her hooves and tossed herself into the air, spreading her wings and getting over the hedge line in one flap. The jump took a breath out of her, so she took a moment to glide in the direction he ran, inhaling deeply before flapping more and picking up speed. She caught a glimpse of his reddish mane over the hedge and dived towards it.

The chase was on, and all she could think about was how little of that interaction she followed, and how quickly this whole thing had broken down.

Yup, chasing a fleeing evil we just unleashed on Equestria.

You ever wonder if the legitimacy of the crown is based off of anything other than the ponies who have just been around the longest?

Cadance didn't sleep that night. She just went back to her room and tried to nap until the Celestia rose the sun.

Her thoughts swirled until then, desperately trying to come up with some kind of plan. Shining was right, she knew, Dusk couldn't just be left unchecked.

I also need to talk to Shining about punching Dusk.

Cadance frowned under the sheets

He really needs to work out his... unrealistic anger against Dusk

She looked over at her husband and smiled.

You're lucky you're so handsome

She placed a smooch on his sleeping head and rolled out of bed...

Again.

I wish I could have done more for Twilight, but for now, I've got to tame the monster that is my mane

and indeed it was, as she entered the bathroom attached to their suite, she was greeted with herself in a right state.

Her mane was completely tangled, everywhere. What was normally a smooth set of maroon, gold, and purple strands of mane was currently a solid muted pink if you looked at it from a distance. Up close it looked even worse, as it does when you observe yourself. Not to mention the burnt ends.

Cadance levitated several brushes and scissors into the air with a look of power on her face.

"Alright MANE. Prepare yourself for a styling"

Songs were written about what followed. Unfortunately, this is not the singing kind of story.

"Good morning Cady" Shining entered with a yawn

Cadance had just exited their standing shower, and was drying her freshly trimmed self.

Shining picked up his brushes and started straightening up his mane and fur, while simultaneously brushing his teeth with his eyes closed.

Cadance smirked and waited after leaving the towel draped over her wings.

Shining eventually spotted his wife in the mirror and promptly spat out the toothpaste in his mouth, his eyes bugged out and as he recovered he spoke, "Cadance! You!"

She tossed her mane

"What do you think? I heard that shorter manes are in this season."

Cadance's mane was cropped at the sides where it had burned, and the rest was sat in a double prench braid that wrapped around her neck, with the ends gently resting on her chest. The colours were separated, and lined the top in a 'Cadance's mane colours' rainbow. There was a bit hanging out from the front that curled over her forehead, and cushioned the space around her horn with colour. Her tail was wrapped in a relatively simple bun with a decorative hair clip running through it. Her fur was still a bit burnt around the edges, but what can you do.

Shining could blubber, which he did.

"I take it you like it then."

He shook his head, "I'm honestly more impressed with your skill, that's some incredible work."

She bumped his flank, "Finish your teeth and I'll give you a smooch."

Shining did that, and smooches were had.

On their way out of the bathroom, they started talking. They always woke up an hour or so early before their respective duties so they could talk and/or discuss anything important or not.

"So last night."

Shining shook his head, "Cadance, I don't even know what happened last night."

Shining looked like he had more to say, and he did, "Regardless, we're going to be doing damage control all day, I didn't even hear from you what happened. Just the bits I pieced together."

Cadance and him sat on their favorite floor cushions, "Then let me do that."

Shining nodded, and Cadance spoke, "On my way to bed, I got a letter from dusk with... Some kind of spell, similar to the one Spike uses."

At that point, Cadance had somepony retrieve the paper in question and levitated it over from a standing desk to Shining, he took it from her magic, and unrolled it with his hooves.

"Cultists, yeah I got that part." He kept reading, "He... Asked you to..."

"He asked me if he could use magic to deal with them, since he promised me he wouldn't use magic on ponies without telling me."

"When did he do that?"

"The night we met"

Shining rose an eyebrow

"The night me and Dusk met I mean."

Shining folded up the letter again, and put it on the desk, "Alright, so same page. Dusk asked you if he could deal with a bunch of Sombra's cultists, and you called the guards to go track them down with you."

Cadance nodded.

"And that's how it all shook out, I got the rest from the ponies themselves."

Shining looked tired.

"Twilight was here again last night."

"Wait really? And she didn't say hello?"

Cadance frowned, "There was more to what she wanted to say after she talked to Discord, or rather, Discord came to her, and issued a warning to deliver to us."

"About Dusk no doubt."

"Discord, and don't quote me on this, claimed that Dusk was a pony to be reckoned with back in the day, capable of properly fighting him."

Shining's frown turned into an unamused straight line, "So just about as bad as the worse case scenario."

Cadance rubbed the back of her neck, "Yeah. Pretty much."

"You know what."

Cadance leaned in

"Let's forget about Dusk right now."

"What?"

"You said it perfectly. 'What are we going to do'? As much as I'd like to punch that stupid grin off that pony's face again, we have problems we can deal with, and problems that we can't touch."

"Why did you hit Dusk last night?" She asked

Shining went a bit still, and turned to look away, his turn to look abashed, "I don't know. I guess the stress got the better of me."

"So problems?"

Shining leaned back straight, "Well let's list it, the physical damage is bound to bring in some false insurance claims today."

"I'll have Amber send out a letter to pin the construction company on anything that comes up."

Cadance used her levitation to pull a parchment and quill and started writing a note for Amber.

Shining nodded, "Good, easy fix."

"What's next?" Cadance looked up from the paper.

"We're going to have to sort out the criminal charges."

"Can't the guard do that?"

Shining shook his head, "Not because you were involved, and a technical Noble, and the unique circumstances."

"I'll ask Amber to pull the paperwork and schedule a hearing. We can go over it tonight."

"Then we've got the news, and civilians asking questions about what happened."

Cadance nibbled on the tip of the quill, "Do you think we should do a public announcement?"

"No, it's definitely too late for that." Shining tilted his head, looking at nothing, "We could write out a GA to the patrol guards; spread the details that way."

"What do you think about waiting and just answering questions as they come?"

Before Shining could respond, there was a knock on their door. It was Amber, she always knocked the same way.

Cadance magicked the door open, and Amber stumbled in with a frazzled mane and her trademark board in her hoof.

"Oh my gosh, Amber." and "You look like you got into a fight with a bugbear." rang out from the too royals as Amber took a step into the room.

"Worse your highnesses, nobles."

"Crap" aptly said Shining

"What do they want?" Asked Cadance

Amber sat on a cushion next to Cadance, "The nobles are in an uproar, at least half are actually upset, but the rest are just pushing because they want to know what's going on."

Amber looked like she didn't want to say what was next, "One house accusing us of harboring dark magic users. Another is demanding the crown pay reparations for burning down their mansion."

Ah... that's what it was

Shining spoke, "Lemme guess, Facet and Cut Houses?"

Amber nodded.

"What's happening now?"

Amber looked afraid, "All of the nobles are gathered in the Spire's third meeting room demanding your presence, and a statement."

Shining and Cadance blanched before Shining lifted his hoof, "Wait, all the nobles?"

Amber blinked and lifted a paper on her clipboard and read a couple of names before looking back to Shining, "Yes?" She said confusedly.

Shining flicked his eyes from Amber to Cadance.

Cadance smirked, "Perfect. Amber, how quickly can you get as many civilian reporters into that room as possible?"

"Cadance?"

"Give me twelve minutes"

"Go tell the nobles we'll be there in fifteen, and apologize on our behalf, quote the night's struggles. Go."

Amber nodded, and trotted off to the door, and left without another word. Cadance stood.

"I know that look honey, what's the plan" Shining was up with her the moment later.

"Put your armor on, we've got ten minutes." She levitated his armor from it's place on the other side of the room.

Shining obliged, "Plan?" he said, struggling with a strap

"Dusk is there."

"Yes?"

"Why would I need a plan?"

Shining paused his dressing and gave Cadance a 'what are you smoking' look.

"It doesn't matter what Dusk is there to do, he's going to humiliate any nobles to get whatever he wants. He's practically going to solve this problem for us. We just need to spin a public news announcement from 'Princess lets a noble use blood magic on a cultist' to 'nobles cause an uproar over a heroic crystal guard operation'"

Shining was visibly coming around to the idea of humiliating the nobles.

"So how do you want to do that?" Shining finished dressing himself and Cadance magicked a piece of paper and quill onto his chest.

"Write out an official guard report about the events of the night, we'll file it later, but I need something to read out."

Shining smiled, and took both in his telekinesis. "So the truth then, nice."

"I just have to find just the right moment to hit them with it, and hope Dusk plays his part in throwing them off."

"They'll lose all their steam and the Dusk will push them into doing something to help spin the debacle."

Cadance, still grinning like a loon quickly gave herself a once over in the mirror, levitating her regalia over to herself.

Shining tapped the paper with the quill and levitated it over to Cadance. She stuffed it in her magic and leveled out her crown, "Ready?" She asked

"Ready."

"Just one thing after another right?"

Shining nuzzled into Cadance's cheek as they met in front of their door, he matched her smile, "Can't stop, Won't stop."

The meeting room was large as far as meeting rooms goes. A long table filled with nobles was pushed to one end of the room, Amber had turned the other half of the room into press release seating and managed to get two throne like chairs setup in front of both with a fold out crystal table.

That mare needs a raise

Upon entering the room, Cadance was assailed by several of the nobles requesting her attention. Luckily, she got to ignore them until she was seated because of the equal shouting from the press reporters, equally vying for her attention. Her and Shining strode through the center of the room and quickly took their places, Amber stood on Cadance's right, and Shining to her left as she looked on at all of the gathered ponies.

Quick Silver was sitting in the back of the room, at the furthest corner pointed outwards.

Likely so he can see the whole room

Cadance lifted a hoof, and the room quieted down, but right at the tail end, she caught

"-just what were you thinking!" from Stone Cut, the assumed representative of the Noble House Cut

Cadance pulled her most authoritative voice she could muster, "The only thought I had in mind was the safety of my ponies Stone Cut."

Nailed it

Shining tapped her under the table in support.

Stone Cut, a blue crystal stallion with the cutie mark of a wide chisel quickly rephrased, "My apologies princess, I was referring to the dangerous ponies who set my mansion aflame."

Shining pipped up, "The Cultists you mean?"

"Prince, Prince! Are you confirming that there were in fact dark magic users worshiping Sombra located last night!?" A news reporter said off from the side.

There was a short uproar, before Shining used a quick spell to amplify his voice, "Absolutely" Which cut through the chatter easily, and he continued, "Last night, they were equally located, and apprehended."

"Princess! Princess!" One of the reporters called from the side, she looked at them to have them ask their question, giving her time to ignore the nobles, "Is it true you yourself engaged with the cultists?"

"It is true that I lead the charge to the place the criminals were apprehended, and was one of two ponies to enter the building while it was burning."

"I believe I can take it from here." Silver interject from the back, heads turned to face Silver, and there was muttering from the reporters, and one take of 'you!' from one of the nobles.

"Last night, I recognized the telltale signs of dark magic in use, and immediately sent a letter to the Princess to alert her."

Gasps filled the room, and a report cut through the chatter at just the right moment, "Wait! You were the first on the scene! The ash pony!"

The chatter erupted, and Cadance took over with the RCV, "That is Quick Silver of The Noble House of Silvers." Cadance's shattering of the crowd's momentum gave Silver a chance to speak and take back control of the conversation.

"After I sent the letter, I broke into the building and stunned several of the cultists on the interior before their leader, a unicorn mare named Point Flare, began igniting the building to fight me off, and similarly to hide the evidence of their actions."

Several reporters began trying to speak, but Cadance stood and flared her wings.

The nobles are in a verbal mire

"After I fought Point Flare and her cohorts into the basement, I found Cadance on the ground floor, turning the ponies to stone to protect them from the flames. I directed her to where the most injured ponies were, and re-engaged with Point Flare."

A crystal noble mare stood, and several the reporters practically screamed. Immaculate Gemstone, of the House of Gems, a well dressed earth toned crystal pony spoke, "Are we really meant to believe you took on several dark magic wielding cultists in a flaming building on your own?"

Quick Silver merely nodded, "If you need evidence of my skill, look no further than the duel I was recently forced to fight, Prince Shining Armor can validate my claims as a warrior." Quick Silver gestured to the pony in question, who was nodding slowly, "I also worked in the Manehatten minute mares for two years, to lay further evidence for your query."

Immaculate sat back down, satisfied, everypony turned to Quick Silver as she continued, "In our fight, Point Flare ruptured her horn using dark magic, which caused the building to collapse, Her Highness Princess Cadance, however, cast a spell to protect the ponies inside, and hold the building in place. I dragged the remaining petrified ponies out of the structure, and met with the guards that were outside, where we quickly engaged in saving the critically injured cultists."

The Facet mare, Slim Fitting stood, "Can you honestly call it meeting? Ponies said you burst through a crystal wall, half on fire, and melting into the wind. If I recall, the guard I asked told me they thought you were a cultist yourself."

"I absolutely call it meeting Fitting. Regardless of my state, or the concern it caused."

Another noble, a crystal mare by the name of Chance Reflection of the House of Mirrors spoke, "I'm sorry, you said you helped triage the injured ponies?"

"With blood magic"

The room erupted into chaos

Cadance unrolled Shining's fake report, and called out upon the room, "Silence!"

The room failed to quiet, and one voice took presidency, Fitting was shouting over the crowd, "You can't let another cultist go free!"

"In light of the facts" Cadance forcefully took hold of the energy in the room, "I deigned to pass judgment as soon as I could find Quick Silver." She lifted the report and began pretend reading a cliff notes version of what she was actually saying. "The official report claims that, 'While the use of blood magic was heinous, there is no doubt that it saved the life of the pony it was used on, in addition the practitioner was not only helpful, but instrumental in saving the lives of, and equally apprehending the criminals.'"

"Princess!-"

Cadance cut through the responses, "I was there. The report is accurate, Quick Silver used blood magic to save a pony's life, among the other good things they did there that night. That being said. Quick Silver, what justifies your use of blood magic on the Empire's land?"

All eyes turned to Quick Silver, who had opened a folder onto the table. "Why, my licensing your majesty."

"Licensing?!" exclaimed Stone Cut "What licensing! Let me see that!"

Quick Silver slid a laminated paper across the table to Cut, who ripped it off the table and began furiously reading over it.

The fact that Cut didn't immediately refute the paper implied something great, and the reporters all quieted as they began scribbling in their flipbooks.

"Licensing to practice blood magic? That's preposterous?"

Amber spoke up from the side, but was interrupted by Cut.

"This is legitimate," He said with a snarl as he placed the paper on the table with a thump, "It's a license to practice blood magic, issued by the Royal School of Canterlot Studies, signed H.R.H. Princess Luna of Equestria."

"What!?" Slim Fitting ripped the paper from Cut's hoof with her magic, and lifted it to her face.

As she was reading, Immaculate turned to Quick Silver, "Quite a resume you have."

Quick Silver responded back, just as slyly, "Some would say almost too impressive to be believable."

"Indeed"

"This is for study! And is listed for Canterlot! This isn't valid here!"

Amber took the opportunity to interject, "Actually, because of the length of Madam Silver's residency, her paperwork should be valid."

"Ridiculous!"

Shining spoke, "Slim Fitting, please relinquish the evidence to the crown please."

In a moment, the paper came floating over to Shining, who looked it over, he passed it over to Cadance with a straight face. Cadance looked it over too. It was legit, a license to practice and use blood magic for the sake of research purposes in Equestria and it's territory, signed by Luna herself.

How did he get this?

"Amber?"

Amber, who was reading the document over Cadance's shoulder nodded, "I can indeed verify that this document would legalize the use of blood magic by one Quick Silver, for the sake of research purposes."

"For research purposes! Exactly!"

A reporter called out exactly what Cadance was hopping for, "Quick Silver, how can you still justify using blood magic on a pony?"

Quick Silver, still standing smiled and lifted her nose, "Easily." The room waited her response, and yet there was none, Silver merely sat back into her seat.

"Well?" Said Cane Sugar a yellow hued, blue maned crystal stallion from the Noble House of Agriculture. His name and cutie mark were identical.

"Well what?"

"Explain yourself damnit!" Said Slim Fitting

Cadance cut of Quick Silver's response, "Contain yourself Slim Fitting, or I will have you removed."

"Princess! You can't seriously be defending this monster!"

Cadance flared her wings once more as she thought of Twilight, "I actually am." Several glances passed between the nobles, and the reporters chatter increased three fold, she saw Silver smile and gesture with a 'go ahead'

"As mentioned, I was present. I saw the injuries that were sustained by the cultists in question." She looked around the room, "Shall I describe the nature of a blown horn? Or is the nature of such an injury so understandable that I don't need to?"

Shining spoke in an even tone. "Imagine having your hooves removed at your fetlock by a saw, or your wings ripped out by your primaries."

Many ponies in the room cringed. Cadance continued, "What would you do? If you had the knowledge and power to save a life?"

None of the nobles spoke, and the reporters busied themselves.

"In light of Silver's license, and the situational evidence and the experience" She glared across the room at Silver, "I am going to levy a hefty fine, for disrupting the peace, and public usage of dangerous magics"

Several nobles immediately began protesting. However, Cadance noticed that the smarter ones who were verbally attacking Silver merely sat back and frowned, realizing that they were fighting a losing battle.

"I also want to personally thank Quick Silver for her heroic actions in alerting the crown, and personally risking life and limb to save lives."

The reporters erupted in questions again as the nobles reeled.

One question pushed through the crowd, "Princess! How can you thank a practitioner of black magics!"

Cadance smiled a Cheshire grin. "Easily."

There were several laughs and Shining himself snorted.

Stone Cut rose from his seat, "Princess, I have to say, this entire thing is incredibly suspicious, a practitioner of blood magic just appeared at the right time to capture and fight six cultists?"

Silvers voice cut through the noise of the room with an aggressive tone, and Cadance noted, a bit of magic.

"I find you quite suspicious indeed Stone Cut."

Cut opened his mouth, but the same waft of magic spread from Quick Silver and she continued,

"I find it strange that Point Flare was not only crafting a complex, and days long ritual in your mansion, but equally so, that Point Flare has been employed as a maid in said mansion for nearly a month."

Stone Cut stomped his hoof, "What exactly are you insinuating!"

Silver rolled her eyes, "I am very clearly insinuating that you are a traitor to the crown of the Crystal Empire."

"How dare you! Upstart!"

Cadance tried to maintain control, but even her RCV couldn't cut through the outrage, Cut was held in place by the noble next to him, and the reporters were nearly bursting at the seems.

There was a blast of magic that filled the room with a light pink energy, and Shining shouted in the crowd, "There will be order in this chamber, or I will happily turn this room into a prison cell."

Cut was still shouting, until Cadance silenced him with a spell.

"Quick Silver, you are going to need proof to make such an accusation like that." She tried to sound like the Princess she was.

"Absolutely Princess." She gestured to the reporters, "What does the ground say? How many cultists were pulled from the burning home?"

Cadance looked to the reporters, Shining had glanced up to her in confusion.

A reporter spoke out, "Seven, uh, ma'am."

"Of course, seven." Silver turned back towards Cadance, "Princess, it's true that we pulled seven ponies from the home, yes?" Cadance nodded, "However, what nopony knows yet, and what I hope the Princess will forgive me for, is that one, of those seven ponies, was in fact, a hostage, who is currently in protective custody."

Shining spoke, "How does this relate to your accusation?"

"It's simple my Prince. There were seven ponies, one of which was not a cultist, however, nopony but me, and the the royalty in the room could have known that."

Cadance's mind went haywire as she connected the dots.

"So how did you know that I fought six cultists Stone Cut?"

Everypony in the room dropped into silence. Shining's brow furrowed. Cut tried to say something, but Cadance had yet to remove the silencing spell from him.

Cadance heard the sound of a pen hitting the ground as one of the reporters dropped it.

Cadance cut her spell.

"Princess! That accusation is simply preposterous! I heard from my servants, on their way in! They asked the ponies that saw the event all take place!"

Cadance evenly responded, "Your servants?"

Cut blanched, "My staff! Forgive my tounge your grace, I am quite understandably nervous! A slip! Nothing more!"

A static noise cut through Stone Cut's plea, "Are you sure we have to be doing this?"

Stone Cut's eyes went wide

"Listen Misty, we have to do what Stone Cut says if we want to stay hidden. He'll expose us otherwise."

The static cut out from the small puck shaped gemstone that Silver had slid onto the table. "I also have that."

Stone Cut made a break for it, only to have his face slammed by a Shining's trademark shield spell.

Shining spoke, "Those were the voices of the cultists. Stone Cut, you are under arrest for an unreasonably large amount of things."

Stone Cut slammed his hooves against the shield, but was silent. In the next moment, he was teleported away. The nobles were silent, the reporters may as well have been gone.

"If anypony else has something to add, then do so now. Otherwise, this meeting is adjourned. Me and my wife suddenly have a lot of work to do."

"I actually would like to say that my company has recently set roots down in the Empire, and our first major trade deal just went through with Hoof Take industries." Said Quick Silver

Several of the reporters seemed to like that, and Quick Silver began gathering her papers and her folder, and then began to leave. Shortly after came the rest of the nobles, followed in mix by the reporters.

The door closed.

"That went well." Amber said

Shining fell forward onto the table.

Cadance pat his head, "At least it's over"

"Actually." There was a shimmer from the corner table to reveal Quick Silver.

"Uh oh." said Amber again.

Quick Silver got up from her seat, and approached the table. Shining, now sitting up, and on guard, called out to Silver as she approached. "Stay where you are Dusk Swirl."

Silver ignored him and approached the table.

"You two owe me a favor."

"What?" Said Shining, incredulous. Cadance rested a hoof on his shoulder.

"I just took a stab wound on the eyes for you. That easily could have been 'pony found dead with traces of dark magic' as Sombra returns to power. Resurrections spells aren't cheap, and it cost me a lot to stay alive, plus disrupt the magic. That Point Flare girl really packs a punch."

"Girl?" Cadance tilted her head.

Silver glared at her.

"I'm sorry, w-what is happening?" Amber was trying to hide behind Cadance. Cadance looked back at Amber with surprise, Amber looked nearly ready to run. Her clipboard was shaking in her grip.

"Don't worry little one, just some transaction details between immortals."

Cadance looked back at Silver, and furrowed her brow.

"What favor."

"Cadance!" Shining hissed

"Magic."

"What?"

"Ever since Twilight flaked on me, I've not been able to make magic on a large scale, all the magic I have, I have to make manually." Silver gestured downwards at themselves, "This body is nearly out. I'm basically running on whatever tools I had left in my stashes."

"So... You need power?"

Shining's ears twisted forwards, "What he's saying is he's vulnerable." Shining's horn lit

"Try me, mortal." Silver spat on the table in front of Shining

Cadance pre-emptively pressed her hoof down on Shining's shoulder, and pushed him back into his seat. She calmly shook her head at him.

He grimaced.

"What power do you think I have to give you?"

"Alicorn Memories."

"I'm sorry?"

"I want several of your memories."

Shining snorted, "I've never heard anything so clearly evil."

Silver smirked, "Alicorn minds have a peculiar magio-psyche-magnetic wavelength that I can take advantage of as a fuel to start my more important machines. Memories themselves, if harvested correctly, are far more magically stable; they can be used longer."

"You are not harvesting my wife's mind for fuel"

"I wasn't asking you boy."

Cadance shook her head, "You're not taking my memories."

"Why not?"

Cadance shook her head in irritation, "Because it's wrong, and I said so!"

"Damn. Okay." Silver turned and began to leave.

Shining's eyes bulged from his head, and his face began turning red.

Amber shook behind her.

Cadance had a idea. A wild, stupid idea.

She leapt over the table, and cantered up to Silver, who stopped and turned around with a raised eyebrow.

"How about we go out for a drink instead?" She tried, her entire hind brain violently cringing as she felt Shining froth behind her, and swore she heard Amber faint.

with a little bit extra.

There was a knock on Cadance's door.

She looked up from her mess of paperwork, "If that's not my husband, I'm busy."

Shining peeked his head through the door, "It is your husband."

Cadance groaned and dropped her face into her hooves.

"Cadance?"

"Shining!" She drew out his name into a long whine.

Shining approached her desk, a mix between an amused and concerned expression adorning his face, "What happened?"

Cadance spoke from under her mane, having placed her head on her desk. "I made a big mistake..."

Shining walked around her desk and nosed her ears, "Well I'm here now, tell me all about it."

"You know how I had that meeting with Mirror?"

"Mhm '' Shining had half laid on top of Cadance, in a half standing, half hugging position.

"Well... He already knew what I wanted, and was going to try and weasel me into something, sooo..."

"Soooo?"

"Well I may have created a Noble Embassy in The Spire? And given the reins to The House of Mirrors?"

Shining snorted

"It wasn't a half bad idea, but if I can't..."

Soooooo muuuuuch paper wooooork.

Cadance groaned again.

"It'll be okay honey. Lemme help you."

Cadance peaked an eye through her mane at her desk full of nonsense, "Mmmm... but you just finished your work day..."

"I won't hear it from you." He nipped her ear, "We'll knock this out, send the papers out with Amber, and then we'll have the rest of the night to ourselves."

Cadance giggled softly, "Me likey that idea."

As Shining gave her another light squeeze, the stress from the day slowly filtered out of her muscles as she properly let herself relax.

"I'll go tell Amber to hang around."

Cadance hefted herself up off her desk and banished her childish demeanor, "Remind her to make me give her a raise one of these days."

"Copy that." Shining said as he stepped outside.

Cadance glanced over all of the papers.

Tartarus, what have I gotten myself into with this

The door opened again, heralding Shining walking back in with a bowl floating in his magical aura, "Amber said you skipped lunch." He said seriously.

Oh yeah, food.

Cadance's stomach growled to accentuate the thought, "I may have done that."

"Well here's a room temperature salad Amber got from the hall for you."

"Thanks honey."

Shining pulled up a seat next to Cadance and used his magic to sort through the papers on her desk, having long since gotten used to Cadance's methods of 'organization.' "Now what have we got? Work orders, remodeling, new paychecks... Lots and lots." Shining let out a huff. "We've really got our work cut out for us."

Cadance mumbled around her mouthful of salad in affirmation.

"Alright, where do we start?"

Cadance swallowed, "We're mostly just going to have to wait until I get details back from everypony involved, most of this is just getting a jump on stuff to make it go a bit smoother."

Shining tapped his chin with a hoof "So signing and sending out work orders?"

Cadance nodded, "That and explaining to the staff about this sudden and massive undertaking."

"Gotcha." Shining levitated a quill over, and started marking down some names

Cadance did the same. The next indeterminate length of time was filled with the pair doing pretty much the same thing, over and over; as is the nature of paperwork. Occasionally interrupted by Shining asking questions, or Cadance talking aloud about certain details.

The end result was a stack of letters and slips that would end up in all the little 'in' boxes scattered around the desks of the office spaces around The Spire.

"Amber!" Cadance called out as Shining mimed deflating just after he finished signing the last leaflet.

A couple seconds later, Amber pushed her way into the office and fought off a yawn. "Yes Princess?"

"Sorry about this." Cadance glanced at the stack of paperwork.

Amber looked at it and blinked slowly before walking over the stack, and hefting it onto her back.

"You're the only reason this city is functional, Amber, I swear."

Amber wearily smiled, "All in a day's work Princess."

Shining spoke up from the floor where he had deflated to, "Did Amber just crack a joke? Jeez, is it really that late?"

"It's just hitting around nine Prince Armor" said Amber, her tone and expression switching back to her 'business monotone'

Cadance glanced out to her window and out at the moon and the stars, now hanging in the sky outside the Crystal Heart's shield, silhouetted by the mountain ranges out past the borders of the Old Empire. She turned back just as Amber exited her office.

She silently glanced down at Shining, who was seemingly pretending to have died on the floor.

"Mmmmm."

"Blegh" Contributed Shining

Cadance tried and failed not to 'snrk' at Shining lolling his tongue out "I don't like paperwork either, but it certainly isn't lethal."

Shining looked up at Cadance, "You don't know that for sure" then returned to his 'dead' state.

"Uh-uh." She shoved against the desk, pushing herself and her chair backwards to give herself the space to stand. "Cmon, it's absolutely time for bed."

"Heh, yeah alright." Shining stood as Cadance lifted over a wing to where his back was about to be.

"Expressway?"

"Gotcha covered." Shining said while lighting his horn as Cadance wrapped the wing around him.

*pop*

Cadance glanced around, "I'm going to take out my braid." With that, she wandered over to the bathroom, leaving Shining to do whatever it was he was going to do. She pushed open the door and got to work with a brush and her hooves in tandem undoing the braid around her head and then brushing out the knots her mane had accrued during the day.

About half way through, Shining stuck his face in through the door, "Snacks?"

Cadance nodded, and Shining slipped out of the bathroom again. By the time she was finished, Shining had returned with a bowl of fruit.

Cadance chuckled incredulously as she walked out of the bathroom, "Where'd you get that from?"

Shining finished chewing a grape, then answered, "Palace staff always does rounds about this time to hoof out the leftover fruits from the meeting rooms to all the guards on watch."

"Really?" Cadance levitated an orange over to herself as both she and Shining approached the bed, the peel falling valiantly to her telekinetic aura before being discarded in a trash bin by the door along with all of the fibrous white bits inside. "I've never seen them before."

"You've got to know where to look." Shining rested the bowl on the end of their shared bed as he stepped up onto the mattress with Cadance, "After one of the officers complained, the staff started using the side hallways to not 'interrupt' the standing guards."

Cadance did a full three-hundred and sixty degree roll so she was flush against Shining, wrapping a wing around him as she enjoyed her orange. "Sounds like somepony I should talk to?" She half asked

"Nah, Black Eye means well, he just goes a bit too far with keeping everypony on their hoof tips."

"Black Eye?" Cadance raised an eyebrow

Shining just shook his head, "I know."

Cadance elected to just quickly eat the rest of the orange as she telekinetically grabbed for a grape. "Feels like names get weirder as I get older."

"Think there's a correlation?"

"Probably not."

"You could ask Silver."

"Why's that?"

"Well she'd know right?" Shining bounced a plum in his magic, "Being as old as she is, she'd know if names get weirder over time."

"Ah, about Silver."

Shining closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Oh great, what now?"

"Apparently she's been organizing our castle staff under the guise of 'Slick Quire'"

Cadance rolled her eyes as Shining face hoofed, "That makes a lot of sense."

"Hmm?"

Shining said the name with heavy audible air quotes, "Slick Quire, has been responsible for at least a quarter of my staff being on time and productive for the past week. Where does she even find the time?"

Cadance hummed to herself before saying, "I know she doesn't sleep."

"What? You mean, ever?"

Cadance nodded

Shining smirked, "No wonder she's so crotchety."

Cadance bapped him over the head with her wing, "Shining!"

"What?" He feigned hurt in his voice, "She's a crotchety old mare that doesn't sleep-" Another bap, "I'm just saying! It's not surprising."

Cadance chuckled, "You're incorrigible."

Shining's response was to kiss her on the cheek, "You married me."

"Uh-huh, and ~yooou~ missed." She said as she wrapped her wing around his head and assaulted his mouth with her own until she needed to breathe again. There was a moment of silence after she released him.

"I should miss more often."

She felt a laugh press itself out in her chest, lacking the energy to fully become the joy it was meant to be; instead expressing itself as a quick exhale through her nose. She laid down, shortly after, the fruit bowl long forgotten.

Shining laid next to her, and they stayed like that, enjoying the warmth of each other's company. Cadance immersing herself in her husband's magical emotional presence, until they both fell asleep.

Something something, Wendsday night slash Thursday morning

Cadance's head popped up from the grass.

The grass?

She looked around. She was in a forest clearing in the middle of the night, the moonlight mixing the strange ethereal glow of the glade.

I'm pretty sure I didn't go to sleep in a...

Cadance sat up all the way and thunked herself in the head with a hoof, "Ah, right, dream."

"You are quite perceptive Cadance."

Cadance rotated in place just as Luna stepped down of the silver glinted magic guiding her to the ground. The grass didn't part where her hooves touched, seemingly just disappearing from reality. Cadance looked around again, noting the solid colours and blurry objects far enough away to not be visually present.

Luna waved her horn, noting Cadance's inspection. A short moment of focus later, a blue wave of magic washed over the glade, sharpening the features, bringing in birdsong and the barely audible sound of water flowing somewhere in the distance.

Cadance stood and spoke as she closed the distance to Luna, intent on giving her a hug, "It's good to see you again, Auntie."

Luna leaned her head down as Cadance initiated the hug, wrapping a hoof around the smaller alicorn. "It is always a pleasure to see you as well."

They broke the short embrace, "What brings you to my dreams?"

Luna smiled, "I simply wished to speak with you again. The dreamscape is calm tonight, thus I found myself with several spare hours, and I could think of nopony else to spend the time with."

"Well thank you, what have you been up to? Since the last time we spoke?" Cadance sat down on a recently added cushion, as Luna summoned a table from dreamstuff to take up the centre of the glade.

"I have done very little. Perusing the dream realm takes up most of my time, and besides, there's little I can do for Equestria besides it." Luna shook her head, "This age is simply too different. Everywhere I turn there is a new way to do things. A new... pointlessly complex way to do things"

"I know it doesn't help, but I'm sorry it's like that."

Luna looked contemplative momentarily, then shrugged, "It bothers me much less than it did. I..." She looked like she was rolling an idea around in her head. Cadance's powers didn't quite work in the dream realm, but she really didn't need them either. Luna was expressive enough within her own domain for Cadance to work out the trepidation.

Cadance smirked, and raised a hoof, "Ah... So there is something you wanted to talk to me about."

Luna's head tilted, "How could you tell?"

Cadance chuckled "You're an open book to me Auntie." Luna looked moderately concerned, so she added, "I guessed." at the end.

Luna nodded, "I do. That is, have something to talk about. I have been considering..." Luna hesitated, her voice trailing off.

"You know I don't judge ponies Luna, go on, whatever it is, your secrets are safe with me." Cadance mimed a particular gesture pertaining to promises

"Right." Luna steeled her features, "I have been thinking of stepping away from royalty."

Cadance subconsciously sat up a little straighter, "What, you mean stepping down?"

"Ah, yes, stepping down from my royal position" She clarified

"Hmm." Cadance made the effort to mime being in thought, not that she wasn't, she just wouldn't have physically shown it without having done so intentionally.

Luna's expression turned neutral as she ruffled her wings slightly, "I was honestly expecting more shock from you."

"Quick Silver." Cadance summed up.

Luna nodded sagely, "Ah, yes, that will inure one to shock quickly."

Cadance dropped her posed and gestured to Luna momentarily, "What brought this on?"

Luna thought before speaking, "I... well... everything." She slumped at the table, "I'm not respected as a Princess, as Luna? Yes, as a ruler? No." Luna returned her posture back to normal, but the distaste for the conversation was still plain on her face, "I would not ever be a ruler in the eyes of ponies today, even without my past, my competition is steep. I have only thought about simply leaving it all recently."

"Why's that?" Cadance led

"Well. Friendship." Luna glanced at her hoof, "I know it sounds cliché, but I finally understand that I will not receive the admiration I want while being a Princess. I would rather live like Twilight Sparkle, it was her who showed me that friendship doesn't start from above the ponies around you. It all seems so simple in hindsight."

Cadance made a show of inspecting the back of her hoof, "I say, do it."

Luna glanced away from her convoluted thoughts and at Cadance with a raised eyebrow. "You are intentionally being blasé about this topic? Correct? That is sarcasm?"

Cadance shook her head, "Nope, why not right?"

Luna snrked, "Firstly, I would be leaving behind all of my responsibilities-"

Cadance countered, "You can still tend to the dream realm without being a princess, and you just said how the rest of your duties are unnecessary"

Luna frowned at both the interruption and counterpoint. "I don't want to create those problems for my sister."

"Did you talk to her by the way?" Cadance tried to steer the conversation away from the current topic.

Luna's frown deepened, "About her..."

Cadance awkwardly smiled and offered, "Unapproachability?"

"Mmm. No. I did not. I couldn't think of a way, or find a time to. I rarely even see her around the palace and... I believe she is also aware of the situation, and has simply not had a chance to address it."

"How can you tell?"

Luna's frown twitched upwards momentarily as she seemingly reminisced, "She has begun producing breakfast for me every morning as I am preparing to turn in for the day."

"Awww, that's so sweet."

Luna shook her head, "I have no clue where she has the time to do so, but she has been... I believe, trying to bridge that gap."

Cadance leaned forwards, hoping to convince Luna in equal parts to continue, and show Luna she was still listening.

"I do not know. It... Is a lot, I admit. I believe there stems my desire to simply leave it all."

Cadance nodded, mostly to herself, "I still say go for it."

"Why?" Was Luna's simple question back, the intent behind it carrying far more weight than the word itself.

Cadance tapped her chin, "It's the perfect time, isn't it? You've not been integrated into the 'royal system', but you've been recognized. That, and you're in a unique position to do all sorts of good. Celestia has been handling Equestria for a thousand years, she can handle running it for as long as she wants by now."

Luna gazed through Cadance, "I do not wish to simply abandon my kingdom and my responsibilities, even if I could with no guilt, such a thing goes against... goes against the things I believe in."

Cadance ignored Luna's verbal stumble and continued, "I don't have an answer for you." Luna's ears flopped down, "I think it could be a good idea. You could make your own friends, find somewhere to settle down. Maybe find a town on the outskirts of Equestria to protect from monsters."

Luna made an unreadable expression, "Has Quick Silver been telling you stories?"

Cadance returned a confused look, "No?"

"Hmm... Curious, that is, was rather, Dusk Swirl's life summarized."

Cadance reiterated, "A wandering, friend-making monster fighter?"

Luna nodded, "Besides the friend making."

"Right."

"Nonetheless, I thank you for your opinion, I will contemplate what you have told me."

Cadance rolled her eyes, "You're welcome, and nopony says 'contemplate' anymore."

Luna fake frowned as she leaned deeper into her old ponish accent, "And why not? Tis a fine word."

Cadance politely giggled as a smile adorned Luna's face.

"What have you been doing since we last spoke?"

Cadance pressed a hoof to her forehead, "What haven't I been doing?" She continued to theatrically gesture as she spoke, "Noble deals, my sudden pet project with a newspaper team, my less sudden project with building a school, and every day it just seems like something new just gets thrown onto the pile. That goodness I am still caught up with most of the paperwork; I'm so sick of paperwork."

Luna nodded as Cadance went through her triade, "On this, I agree wholeheartedly, back when Equestria was still a fledgling nation, the amount of paper waste of today would have been a genuine crime."

"Then there's open court, and you know how that is."

Luna just shook her head in sympathy.

Cadance went on, "Everypony has their own agendas, and I swear if I didn't have such a competent staff, the Crystal Empire would be more like the Crystal economic despondence groupings of isolated housing."

"That is oddly speci-"

Cadance interrupted by slamming a hoof onto the table, "And another thing! I just found out a few days ago, the Quick Silver is apparently part of my palace staff! Apparently she has the time to run half of the organization procedures!" Cadance took a deep breath as as she pulled her hoof to her chest, and exhaled as she moved her hoof away. "We're overhauling palace operations, and it's a lot of work, and renovation, the Palace hasn't been quiet since yesterday morning." She explained less animatedly

"You appear to have more on your plate than I do." Luna said carefully, hoping not to set off Cadance again

"I admittedly have an incredible staff, and a loving husband, who is equally incredible."

Luna's whole stance suddenly shifted to excitement, "Ah! Of course! Your pregnancy! Have you been to see the nature of it at a doctor's office?" The tail end of her sentence was mangled by her unfamiliarity with the terms.

"Yes, me and Shining did, and that reminds me about something I need to ask Silver tomorrow."

Luna tiled her head, her unasked question obvious

"Apparently my magical output jumped far enough to be considered seriously concerning, but everything else is fine as far as the doctor could tell."

Luna, to the part, looked concerned, "How concerning is seriously concerning?"

Cadance laughed, "It's probably nothing, if it was dangerous, I would have a lot of physical symptoms."

"But you require the opinion of Quick Silver?"

"She would know wouldn't she?"

Luna shrugged, "She would certainly give a compelling answer that sounds enough like she knows. There is no telling for certain, however."

Cadance lightly shook her head, "Right." She clarified, "Still worth a shot"

"Indeed, say, why tomorrow?"

Cadance raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

"You said you would be asking Silver tomorrow? Your question?"

Cadance realized the question, "Oh! Well, in addition to the fact that I'm asleep at the moment, tomorrow me and Silver are going out."

Luna's embarrassed look at forgetting Cadance wasn't nocturnal like her disappeared as shook her head in bafflement "Going out?"

Cadance twirled her hoof as she explained, "After I basically threatened to turn her in, she demanded that we spend Thursday nights together so that I wouldn't bother her at inopportune moments. So far, we've just gone out partying."

Luna's ears twisted in attention, "Partying? Like clubbing?"

Cadance's head cocked back, "I'm surprised you know what that means."

"Things that go on during the night are under my purview, the arts included." Luna said in a mix of pride and something else.

"I wouldn't exactly call it an art."

"It is something ponies do with incredible passion, and generally requires a lot of skill to undergo the tasks associated correctly isn't it?"

"Well when you put it like that"

"That sounds exactly like something Quick Silver would do."

Cadance's wings spread open subconsciously, "I just had an idea!" She folded her wings and collected herself, "Come out with us."

Luna immediately looked against the idea, so Cadance interrupted her before she could deny the plan, "Just think about it, you want to step down, but don't want to just quit, so why not just try what it would be like? Get a disguise and come out with us, make some friends, let your hair down, you know?"

Luna shook her head, "I am far more concerned with Quick Silver's perspective than my own concerns."

Cadance excited posture deflated, "Ah... right... I forgot about that."

"Silver has made a serious effort to keep me out of her dreams. In addition-"

Cadance interrupted, "She doesn't sleep."

Luna stuttered, "Wait, what?"

"She's said she doesn't sleep, and honestly, I don't see how she could do all she does and sleep at the same time." Cadance explained

"That makes a lot of sense" Luna looked off into the distant trees of the glade, "That is, however, very concerning."

"So... If she's not avoiding you..." Cadance led

"I still do not believe she wishes to see me." Luna said simply.

"That's what the disguise is for."

Luna curtly responded, "I could fool her visually, but she knows how I walk, how I speak, trying to hide my presence from her would be pointless."

"Maybe she won't mind? She does it with me to start with, don't you think she misses you? After all this time?"

Luna's ears folded down, "I hoped as such, but after our meeting in the Canterlot Gardens, it was clear that what I had guessed instead of my wishes was instead the truth."

Cadance 'hmmed', "Dusk, at the time, was playing us throughout... all of that."

"Not me." Luna shook her head, "At least, not at the end, the part that you were passed out for. When I cornered her."

Cadance stilled herself, and let Luna talk

"She warned me about the future. About Celestia's intent to kill her once and for all; so she and I made a deal. In exchange for me covering up her escape, she would give you a chance." Luna lifted her hoof to interrupt Cadance's incoming question, "The point being that during our deal, it was..." Luna's frown deepened, "Made clear to me that I should stay away from her. I believe the exact words were, 'keep your tainted stupidity away from me and Cadance while I work.'"

Cadance lightly cringed. "She's been a lot nicer, recently."

Luna looked at Cadance dejectedly and did not respond.

"Listen, what's the worst that could happen?"

Luna gave her a look

Cadance leaned forwards, more enthusiastically presenting the idea, "Silver's not a violent pony, at least not for no reason, at worst she angrily tells you to leave? Right?"

"You are not incorrect, but-"

"But nothing. I can tell even without my magic that you miss her."

Luna looked away.

"A lot."

Luna continued staring off, her eyes snapping to the dream animals wandering around, "I wish to pay her back for the kindness she showed me..."

Cadance raised an eyebrow, "Didn't she manipulate you? Leading to you hurting the kingdom and eventually getting impris-"

Luna curtly cut her off, "It's more complicated than that Cadance." She shifted in the grass, "Sorry. What I mean is that Silver's intent always carried love and kindness."

Cadance hummed to herself, "If that's the case, then shouldn't you give her a chance? Show her that you're willing to make up for your mistakes? Even if she doesn't want you to?"

The pair of alicorns fell into silence as Luna considered the premise. Cadance meanwhile was trying to piece together the depth of Luna's mood swings when it came to Silver. Without her magic, she couldn't just pick the emotional context from Luna's aura; so she was stuck to facial expressions and body language. The main issue being that Luna was quite accidentally good at hiding her internal monologue.

Eventually, Luna spoke up, "You think- That is, that Silver would go along with this?"

"Oh no, Silver will absolutely reject this whole premise, out of theatrics, if not out of spite."

Luna's expression went amusingly blank

Cadance's tone turned soft, "But I do think it will work- for you and her."

"If you think so, then I am willing to go out with you." Luna gave a confident nod as if she was making some kind of vow.

"Uh." Cadance added intelligently, put off by the intensity and the particular phrasing of the statement.

Luna, realizing the mistake, corrected with rosy cheeks, "That is, ehem, go o- I mean, spend the ni- bi- er" or at least she tried to correct herself.

Cadance held up a hoof, holding back her laughter, "I got it, don't worry."

Luna covered her face with her wings just as Cadance burst into giggles.

Cadance slowly stirred into wakefulness to the sound of someone running a rock over a cheese grater.

She reached over with her eyes still closed, realized she was facing the wrong direction, and then reached out with the opposite side wing until she found Shining. Eventually her wing found his head, and she pushed down on his shoulder. Shining's snoring stuttered and then cut off as she pushed him over.

Then she went back to sleep.

Cadance groaned as Shining tried to wake her up

"Cmon Cadance, it's really time to get up"

"Mmmmmmnoooooooo"

Shining chuckled, and Cadance assumed that he shook his head at her antics. His weight shifted off the bed and she lifted her head to see where he had gone.

Oh right, I fell asleep backwards last night

She turned her head to the other side to see Shining wearing half of his guard equipment, "Wait, what time is it?" she asked vaguely in his direction as she put her head down again.

"It's nearly ten."

Cadance's wings spread as she jumped up, "TEN?! Shining!" She jumped down and ran into the bathroom, Shining Armor's laugh following her in as she frantically fixed her mane up and made sure her coat was at least a little bit not a mess.

Shining eventually poked his head into the bathroom, now seemingly ready to go, "Want any help before I head out?"

Cadance, with two brushes in her levitation and a hoof in her mane shaking her wings out while trying to polish her back hooves off on a towel she'd just thrown on the ground, snapped her head in Shining's direction and aggressively flicked her tail.

"Right. Love you" Shining wisely left

Cadance called out, "You'll be hearing about not waking me up tonight!" but she didn't really mean it.

A few moments later she heard the door close, and the storm around her settled as she took a deep breath. Running a spell though her mane to get all the tangles out, she sat back and began working on tying it into something manageable

Gonna have to copy Amber's casual business bun

The brushes assaulted the wild nature of her coat as the soap and water on the towel cleaned the grime stuck on her hooves. A few moments later, she was ready to go.

"Alrighty." She turned her head a few times as well as the rest of herself to make sure she wasn't missing anything important. She nodded to herself, straightening out the hair in her tail as she race walked out of the bathroom and straight to the door out of their room. She grabbed her notebook in her aura in addition to a beanie for no particular reason. Once she got to the door, she tossed the beanie back to its resting place near their shared wardrobe and ducked though the exit.

Mumbling about how late she was as she half galloped down the hallways to the lower level, she remembered she could teleport and lit her horn as she slowed to a stop.

*pop*

"Whoah!"

Cadance appeared on top of a long table in a meeting room somewhere, the stallion who called out in surprise, Dawn Ray, probably did so because she was currently standing on whatever he was writing on at the time.

Cadance hopped down off the table, "So sorry I'm late."

"That's quite a way to make an entrance" Said Marker

Symbol finished, "I'll say."

"I may have slept in a little." Cadance shook her head, "Please, where were you all?"

Homeward answered, "We were actually still waiting for Blue Skies."

Oh?

"Oh! Right, of course, how is she?"

Marker verbally smirked, "You mean since she lost her job?"

Dawn gave Marker a look before turning to Cadance, "She's been a great help."

"She really knows her stuff." Homeward added

Just then, everyone's head turned to the door, Cadance leaned her head over and spotted Blue Skies through the glass struggling with the door while trying to hold a suitcase and a precarious stack of papers on her back.

"It's a pull!" Symbol yelled out.

Skies pulled the door open with the handle in-between her teeth, clutching the suitcase against her chest.

Homeward stood from the table and lit her horn, "Here, let me help you." The papers levitated from their place on Blue Skies' back and onto the table as she stepped into the room.

"Goodness, thank you; you would all not believe the morning I've had. I'm sorry for being late."

"It's okay. Cadance was late too." said Marker.

Blue briefly glanced at Cadance as she sat down on the table, turning her attention back to her suitcase and clicking it open. "I had a chance to read through your ideas, and I think I have everything."

Homeward retook her seat next to Cadance, who had choses to pull a cushion to the front end of the table. "Perfect, then we can get started."

"To begin," Dawn started, "We've been chipping away at learning what constitutes opening a school in modern Equestria."

Homeward smirked, "You have."

Dawn rolled his eyes, "Yes, Homeward has an expertise with this, so we've been able to start in the right place."

Blue Skies was skimming a sheet of paper as she spoke, "The main questions we have are scale and politics."

"More proof we're not the right ponies to run the school, we didn't even think of the economic positing of a research college." Symbol said

Homeward interrupted Marker before he could get started too, "What- they mean is that we overlooked the wider effects, I-"

"Doesn't look that way to me" Cadance said, "It's only been a week or so, and you figured it out yourself."

"Yes, well-"

Blue Skies interrupted, "First things first, is the school going to be its own private corporation? Or is it going to be funded by the Empire's treasury?"

"A hybrid." Cadance stated, mentally getting into the legalese headspace, "The school is obviously going to be founded by the crown, and most of the staff are going to be appointed by the crown, so saying that it isn't run by The Empire would simply be a lie."

There were a series of nods as Cadance continued, "It isn't going to be a non-profit, however. It'll still monetarily function as an individual party on paper, with tax bits funneling from the crown as a technical donation."

"Can that be done?" Marker asked Blue Skies

She nodded, "Yes, in theory, the main issue is the tax laws that affect individual corporations."

"Amber coached me on that; in short, the college can write up its taxes as crown funding, that is until it makes money on its own."

Dawn tilted his head, "Wait, so the crown won't actually be giving any bits to the college? The college just won't be paying taxes? How much money would that even save us?"

"More than you'd think." Responded Blue Skies, "International trade law is also a part of that, since it's a Crystal Empire institution, outgoing tax tariffs get comped as well."

Symbol was writing down a series of figures that Cadance wasn't able to read, "How much is that, percentage wise?"

Homeward answered, "Long-term, it's around a fourth of the total expenditures."

"So the Empire waives taxes, and a fourth of operating costs are just in the wind?" Marker asked

Blue skies answered him, "Keep in mind, that also includes things like income tax for staff paid by the school." Marker nodded in acknowledgment.

Cadance added on, "That includes equipment as well, license costs."

Symbol continued to scribble down information.

Dawn spoke up, "How big are we talking?"

The question was directed at Cadance, who wasn't quite sure what she was being asked.

"I mean, how big will the school be? Say to staff and students? Learners?"

Cadance tapped her hooves together, "I'm not sure. To be completely honest, I don't know how popular it will be to begin with."

"Give us a hopeful estimate." Marker said tersely

I'm not sure I appreciate your tone

Homeward must have noticed the facial exchange between the two, because she waved a hoof and said to Marker, "Do you think you could dial it back? Just a bit?"

Cadance tried to get a feel for the moods. Homeward was trying to be some frame of reassurance, whereas Marker's internal annoyance switched to frustration as he leaned back and crossed his legs in front of himself. He nodded, the emotion drifting away from Cadance, but she wondered what exactly Marker had against her.

I didn't miss you not calling me Princess either mister.

"Big." Cadance surmised

Marker rolled his eyes, and Dawn added, "I believe the term you used was, biggest ever? Correct?"

Cadance nodded, "That's right, split between a lab and a school."

Symbol spoke from around her quill, "Wait, so it is a research institution? Separate from the scholastic corporate entity?"

"Again, the plan is for it to be a kind of hybrid."

"That's probably going to be our biggest hurdle" Said Homeward as she closed one of her eyes and made a thinking face.

This is going to be a long conversation. Gosh, I wish I had taken that fruit bowl as I left.

Author's Note

Lots and lots of dialogue this chapter.

Also, Homeward is by far the cutest pony I've made in Ponytown

History's Ground Floor

Tonight was the night

If anything was going to go wrong, now would be the ideal time for it to happen.

Yesterday and today weren't nearly as boring as the day before, Cadance managed to stretch her work out to cover the entirety of the day, along with sitting in with Amber during open court hours, while still letting her lead. She'd settled nicely into her job as a judge, Cadance was quietly rolling around the idea of setting up a training program, and potentially deviating the judicial system away from the crown as a whole.

Cadance was getting a lot of... 'new' ideas that most ponies would be concerned or frightened about. Trusting a regular pony? Rather than an alicorn princess? Ridiculous. Except, here it was with Amber, working completely fine. Crystal ponies were inherently different, vastly different from the average complacent Equestrian.

Kinda like Cadance.

Nonetheless, today, the newsroom was open, the first paper had been tested and rolled through an hour ago, and now Cadance was resting down on one of the long cushions on the floor with Mirror's ponies surrounding both her and him. It was an 'interview' of sorts. More meant for the symbolic first opening, and also her opportunity to make a show for the Crystal Faire, lots of the ponies who were going to be working as journalists around Equestria for Mirror were here to watch.

There was a table, a chair, Mirror, and her. Everything else was informally plopped down in the center of the room. There was barely any room to stand what with the machinery and surfaces wet with ink; but there were few enough ponies that it wasn't a problem.

At least I have something to do.

"So Princess Cadance." Was followed by Mirror and his expensive looking suit and hollow smile. "Tell me everything about the Crystal Solstice."

Cadance had done vocal exercises that morning, and skipped the morning meeting stand up to keep herself in the zone for this. The immediate curveball was something she'd been ready for.

Crystal Solstice? Not a bad name, rolls off the tongue better than 'Crystal Faire on the Winter Solstice'

And thus, that's just what it was named. "The Crystal Solstice is my hopes and dreams for The Crystal Empire. It's not just a celebration, it's an expo and a gathering of all the greatest minds in The Empire." Cadance took a breath as a camera flashed, somebody having seemingly found a good angle. "We have business filling the stalls, new inventions, and hundreds of ponies coming from all over Equestria to show off innovations in both technology and magic. That's not to mention our Lunar guest of honor, Princess Luna of Equestria, to celebrate the Winter Solstice and put down a new mark on the calendar. That's where the celebration really begins."

"If I may?" Mirror gestured over the table, "You're saying that this faire won't be a focused celebration?"

"It absolutely will." Cadance corrected, "The faire will maintain all of the normal amenities that all Crystal Faires have before, and if I may say, The Crystal Solstice will blow all other celebrations out of the water. It's amusingly as simple as an organizational problem, technological innovations and applications of modern equipment and techniques makes setting up a city wide celebration far easier than it would have been thousands of years ago." Another breath to let the interested mumbling of the crowd die down, "That, and we have hundreds of ponies and a dedicated team working every facet of this celebration to cross every 't' and dot every 'i', to use a Griffonian expression. A far cry from the last Faire which included a group of six ponies and about an hour of planning time."

There were a few laughs at her monotone. Mirror smiled and nodded. A quill in his hoof expertly scribbled some notes into a pad at his front, in a language Cadance couldn't read. "A fascinating suggestion. You'd say this faire: The Crystal Solstice will be the biggest celebration The Crystal Empire has ever seen?"

"I would, I'd be sure of saying it too. My confidence in my team and what we're trying to do is unwavering."

"Wonderful Princess, simply wonderful." Mirror continued to... articulate. Everything in his body language spoke. The quill in his hoof, his nose, the way he leaned over the table, it all meant something. His emotions were mixed, and like always, there was a sparking menace sitting down inside him, waiting to catch on anything. Yet, he still spoke jovially, cleanly and succinctly. "Though, I must ask, and I do apologize if this touches on any nerves, but the ground says that you've had something in the works for a while, a school... per say. Some sources indicate that the Crystal Solstice is a... and pardon me for being blunt, but an excuse to popularize your idea."

Cadance nodded, and continued to smile. "It is true, in a sense. Like all things, it can be looked at from multiple different angles. I am working on a college-level, research-focused institute of learning dedicated to modernizing Crystal Empire scientific literacy, and pushing the boundaries of what Equestrian technology is capable of. The team and the project as a whole will be taking up one of the booths at The Crystal Solstice."

"I know it's not a lot to work with, but could you simply tell me more?" Mirror led.

Cadance leaned and smiled mischievously, "You'll have to come check out the booth itself Mr. Mirror."

There was polite laughter, and Mirror smiled wide, "Well in that case, you'll have to tell me about Princess Luna. Many still do not know she'll be in attendance, much less, the guest of honor. What is her role in the celebration? And why should the average Crystalian citizen be interested, aside from visiting royalty of course, it's not every day millennium old Alicorn comes by."

Cadance's smile pulled in, and she let herself fall deeper into a neutral stance. "Unfortunately, besides talking about the night-time festivities, there's little for me to share that isn't an immediate surprise. After sunset, and a short ceremony for the moonrise, everything is a closely held secret for the celebration. As a whole, Luna's presence is symbolic, in addition to her being my family, and supporting my efforts with her presence."

Mirror interjected, "I'd like to home in on what exactly her presence symbolizes, if you would."

"Of course." Cadance let a moment pass as she gathered her thoughts. Cadance didn't know what Luna was planning, which was half the problem with the question itself, secondarily-

Focus Cadance, just start talking

"Princess Luna's presence represents stability in change. Less than ten years ago, she returned from the moon, and Equestria was thrown into turmoil. The Crystal Empire underwent something similar, and I wouldn't be able to name a pony who could take a step to look around and not see the world changing all around us. Not only does Luna represent our alliance with Equestria, but the invaluable assistance to put The Empire back on the map. Today, our fields produce the foods unique to our nation, our local business reach everywhere in Equestria, the crown works with the nobles, and the quality of life for the Crystalian citizen has never been higher." Cadance gently, but firmly put her hoof down on the table, "Our nation and world is changing for the better. The Crystal Solstice is both a celebration of that, and an encouragement to continue the momentum, and carry us into a golden age."

"Like Equestria?" Mirror asked

"Better than Equestria." Cadance answered. There was muttering and shifting of hooves as crystal ponies exchanged glances.

Mirror made a face, and looked her up and down. "Princess Cadance, you almost sound as if... you're inciting a kind of... competition, between our two nations? Pardon me, but your tone is unmistakable."

Cadance nodded. "I am."

"Fascinating." He went back to scribbling down notes, "What would you hope to gain from such a rivalry? Especially while we're so dependent on Equestria's resources?"

"First and foremost, we stand to gain everything. We depend on Equestria in the same way they depend on us for friendship and kindness. Nowhere else in the world can the lives of the crystal ponies be found like they can here, and in the next few years, there won't be a reliance on Equestria's resources." Cadance leaned back so she was sitting straight, "Though, we're getting a little off topic."

"Of course." A dot and another scribble, "Princess, tell me, what of the cost of this festival? There's many a thing here that sound great, and words are all yes and such and so. The question on many a pony's mind is, where are all of the bits coming from for this?"

"Simple." Cadance let herself breath, leveraging the attention of the crowd, "The crown's resources were expertly managed by our teams of ponies, working behind the scenes. Among the bits in the Empire's coffers, and the money we received from the organizations and companies that came to us to get a spot in the Crystal Solstice, the financial impact as a whole is negligible at worst. Depending on how well the celebration develops interest, trade, and the complexity of our country, my ponies forecast that the celebration will net us a positive income. Something I am endlessly proud of."

Mirror let a disbelieving smirk rise to his features. "Princess, if I can be so bold, that sounds too good to be true. You're saying there will be no monetary impact? No taxes? No fees? You'd go so far as to say that the celebration will be giving back to the Crystalian citizenry?"

Cadance nodded, "It may sound that way, but it's all true, and only due to the generous donations of the Noble Houses; your own work for one Mr. Mirror. Sugar Cane and his connections and workforce are covering the catering for the event, and close work with the experts within all other branches of Crystalian Nobility, have provided: land donations, volunteer workforce, structural supplies, and more; the Crystal Solstice is on the path to success, and it's currently steamrolling towards it."

"..."

After Cadance was done talking, she realized that everyone in the room had gone quiet. Mirror was in turmoil, and the general emotion hanging in the room was confusion. The majority of these ponies worked together, day and night, so they were equally all on the same page.

What is happening?

Mirror's next question was genuine, some real emotion causing his mouth to move without a fake smile. "Princess, this celebration sounds like it could cover The Empire end to end in ponies. How are they all going to get here? The Crystal Express and the trains from Equestria wouldn't cut it, even if they were only running to one stop each."

Cadance changed her tone. Spoke gentler, and started looking out to all of the ponies, rather than focusing on Mirror. "I'm sure you've heard of Tack & Co.? Despite the organizations... let's say... economic monopoly, their equipment is one of a kind, and they work exclusively out of The Crystal Empire. I thought we stood to benefit from making a deal, and we did. In exchange for the continued exclusivity, and a deeper partnership, Tack & Co has offered to completely handle transportation."

"Do they not handle bulk goods? How would that work?" Mirror asked quickly.

"Their equipment is graded for ponies as well. I've seen and tested it myself, among having my best experts look it over, and received the seal of approval from Princess Luna for effectiveness, efficiency, and safety. I won't speak too much on their use in Tack & Co.'s business, but, what I will say is that it'll be as simple as getting in a line at one of Tack & Co.'s many stations, and then stepping through into The Crystal Empire."

A longer beat passed. Mirror had stopped writing notes. "How..." He drew out for a second, "Princess, as far as the ground goes, Tack & Co.'s owner is a secretive pony. How did you get the chance to speak with them? How did you make this deal?"

"With that, I will be completely transparent. Among what both The Empire and her company stood to gain? She owed me a favour."

"Really?" Mirror lilted, Cadance giggled lightly at the way he asked but nodded, "Would you be able to do something like that again?"

"It depends, but I do believe we're getting off topic once more."

Mirror nodded, and wrote what looked like a single word in his notepad. "Of course-" His entire disposition changed, "Princess, I have to know, you've gotten me on the edge of my seat with this news, and I knew most of it already. The ponies at home will be raving with excitement, and to top it all off, what will be the greatest event at The Crystal Solstice? For said ponies to feel the anticipation."

"In truth? There won't be a single greater attraction than all of you." Cadance let the comment drift into the air as ponies fervently continued to write. "Never has there been a celebration of this size and scale, never have so many ponies from all different walks of life been in the same place to connect, and enjoy each other. While not the guest of honor, The Princess of Friendship herself will be in attendance to guide and bolster the festivities with her friends, the several time heroes of Equestria."

"You're saying that the thing ponies should be looking forward to is friendship?"

"Yes, we have so much culture to share here in The Crystal Empire. Culture that's been drowned out by the age we were thrust into." A hoof struck the table, and Cadance let the passion seep into her voice, "Not anymore. The Crystal Solstice is The Empire's chance to shine like never before. Crystalian pride, unique creations nopony has ever seen, and the crystal ponies themselves run this festival from everything to setting up the tents, to running the whole show. This is their festival, and for the short time I've been your Princess, I can easily say that there is nothing better to put on display."

Someone cheered. A simple 'whoop' that came from the back. Then there was stomping, then there was chanting.

'Cadance!' - 'Cadance!' - 'Cadance!' - 'Cadance!' - 'Cadance!'

Mirror leaned back in his full chair, resting himself oddly upright while crossing his hooves in front of his chest. He nodded her way while Cadance drowned in the excitement and admiration. The dam had burst, and all the emotion came flowing in.

Cadance felt the ethereal wind on her mane.

Mirror waved his hoof over the crowd, and they started to calm, eventually cutting into silence. "Princess Cadance. All of this is exciting to no end, but as we're short on time, I'll only ask you if you have any final remarks or comments for the ponies reading this?"

"I do, actually." Cadance leaned forwards, placing both hooves on the table. "Not for the ponies reading, but for Equestria, and the world as a whole." She spread her wings, and her voice carried like she was talking into a microphone. "This. This is the Crystal Empire, to them? Welcome to the world. For the rest of the world...?"

Everyone else in the room leaned forwards in anticipation, and Cadance reveled for the moment and internally congratulated herself on her public speaking skills before a wide smile split her muzzle.

"I hope you're ready for us."

The bold and slightly aggressive statement solidified the confusion, and the pressure of emotion Cadance could feel lifted to a fevered pitch before the stallion in front of her clapped once. Mirror clapped, then again, then someone else joined. It was less than a hundred ponies, but Cadance was so invigorated from her speech that she felt like she was on top of the world, then they began cheering her name and stomping to her intentions.

She basked with a real smile, one that probably made her look a bit goofy, but that was her, so she didn't mind. Not right now anyways.

"Alright ponies!" Mirror shouted over the crowd and the chanting, and it began to die down. "Let's get to work! We've got only tonight to get this done!" There was more 'whooping' and the crowd dispersed. Most crowded around tables and handled pictures, but the chatter immediately filled the room as ponies compared notes and meshed together ideas in the first stages of writing the news.

Mirror waved Cadance over to his office, a small room with crystal glass and a sliding door. They both stepped inside, and Cadance slid the door shut with her telekinesis while taking out the additional files from her pocket spell. "Here you are Mr. Mirror." She dropped the stack of papers on his desk. "That's all the public information about the setup, events, business, everything you'll need."

He took a step over to the desk, and silently began skimming through. A beat passed, and Cadance tried not to dive too deeply into his emotions. Privacy and all that, but she could still tell at a glance that his internal turmoil had resolved into two particularly dangerous emotions.

Hope and Duty.

He got to the bottom of the stack. "We can probably make a pamphlet with all of this information. I'll have to run overtime to print a second orientation, but with that speech you gave, those ponies will be biting at the bridle to do it." He turned to her, and then stood in place as he eyed her up. An awkward moment of silent staring passed before he spoke again.

"Did you... You believe everything you said out there?"

Oh.

Guilt. Mirror was against her from the beginning. That much was certain.

"Yes, of course I did."

Another beat passed.

"And this Crystal Faire... it's really meant to do what you said it's going to do? No tricks? No games?"

"Yes."

His eyes narrowed, "That's impossible."

The emotions from before surged. Cadance's mane rippled with light, and she took a single step forwards and spread her wings as her horn lit on instinct, and the crystal beneath her hooves glowed with arouric light.

"I'm known for doing the impossible."

...

Mirror stepped back, and looked down at his desk. Cadance relaxed, and the moment passed away from them.

"I'll let you know when everything is ready for distribution." He said emotionlessly, "And, congratulations." He gestured at her stomach. Cadance had gone from 'that mare might be pregnant' to 'how far along is she' basically overnight.

"Thank you, Mirror. Really." Then Cadance stepped out of his office and into the bustling area that was History's Ground Floor. "Thank you ponies!" She shouted, whoops and cheers greeted her back as she made her way out of the hall. As she left, Cadance realized that whatever she did next had to be good, the high she was on was extravagant, she felt giddy in her hooves.

It's all coming together. It's actually going to work! Ooooo! I can't believe I did that!

She didn't do a little dance in the hallway, or laugh to herself. She was a regal princess. She calmly made her way back to her office without any fanfare. The moon had risen near an hour ago, so she didn't expect any late night work, but it was good to check anyway.

When she got back to her office, Amber was gone.

That usually didn't happen, Cadance had late night, so it made plenty of sense.

She should just go check her office and then go to bed.

...

Where does Amber sleep?

...

Cadance stepped over to the desk and lit her horn. She knew how to trace certain emotional impressions by instinct, especially ponies she knew. Twilight, Luna, Shining Armor, to a lesser extent, Amber. She was unique, and once she 'felt' Amber's presence, she just had to follow the sensations of her emotion down the hall.

It was a short trip, but the first thing Cadance noticed was that the path of Amber's latent emotion wasn't going down. It led her a floor up into the Spire, and through one of the hidden staff hallways, into a maintenance and storage area. She had to duck under some wooden planks and a set of scaffolding to get inside.

Amber was here.

Well, there.

Right over there, behind a door. Some wooden thing carved into the crystal by a team of ponies that didn't know how to work it. It was a shoddily constructed supply closet in an old throw up construction room that had been forgotten.

Cadance didn't grasp what she was seeing, because it didn't make sense.

Why would she be here? What is she doing? What is going on?

Cadance crept up to the door, making sure she didn't thump her hooves down, she didn't want to startle Amber.

She did still open the door. Amber didn't wake up, and Cadance stepped back as shocks of confused questions burned through her mind.

There was a cot, a few cans, Amber, and a pillow. The interior was clean. It had been dusted and swept, but the entire space wasn't big enough for Cadance to stand in without touching any of the walls.

...what...

Amber was laying wrapped up in the cot, about a hoof above the floor, clinging to the pillow like a raft. Her face wasn't twisted, but Cadance could feel the worry and most of all, the pain. It was drifting off of Amber quiet little waves that splashed against Cadance's confusion and doused her burning excitement. Amber didn't just sleep here, she lived here.

Cadance stared. Trying to make sense of it.

...I need to talk to Silver...

Silver understood this. Whatever was going on here, Silver noticed long before Cadance had. Silver had started doing something about it. Cadance wanted to wake the mare and ask her all of the questions bouncing around in her head, but...

She had a sinking feeling that it wouldn't get her anywhere.

So she closed the door, and quietly made her way out of the room.

Silver. You and I need to talk about what you're doing with Amber.

So you took my advice did you?

Smart.

What did you think of her little hidey hole? In my opinion, it's actually pretty first rate.

This isn't a joke, I really need you to take me seriously right now.

What's wrong? Why is she sleeping in the Spire? I checked the records, there's a home registered in her name.

You didn't... do anything did you?

I just need to know.

You don't need to know bubkiss Little Princess.

I told you to do 'X', and if you can't figure out what it means, then that's on you.

I'm not going to dive more into Amber's life than she wants to show you, I may not care about a pony's privacy, but that's because I can be trusted to breach it. I dunno about you, and furthermore, it's not my business to share.

Silver.

Please.

I'm asking you as your friend. I want to help her.

I know you're shaken up, but seriously, calm down.

Just because you found out tonight doesn't mean Amber is going to spontaneously combust by morning. This isn't about you.

I'm not your friend, and I'm busy. Talk to Amber yourself instead of trying to squeeze information out of me like you always do. In case you forgot, you made a deal, and I don't ever have to tell you anything.

"Any luck? You've been staring at that for a long time."

Cadance levitated the paper over to her nightstand. "No. Silver's... not going to help."

Shining made a face. "You sure?"

"No..." Cadance was shaken up, not to mention annoyed. She didn't want to whine about whatever was going on with Amber ruining her mood that day, but it had.

"You want to bother her about it tomorrow?"

Maybe...

"I don't know what else to do." Cadance flopped onto the bed she was sitting on. "How could I have not noticed?"

You did notice. That's the problem.

"It's not your fault honey." Shining was doing his best to be comforting, and was failing. In his defense, Cadance had done a poor job of explaining the situation.

She let out a heavy breath. "It is my fault. You don't- I did notice. Amber has been acting... off for months. I just never did anything about it. Now whenever I ask her how she's doing, she lies, or shuts down." She didn't know what to do. "What if... what if it's me? What if I did something and I just never noticed?"

"Amber's a straight shooter Cadance, she would have told you. She's also a nice mare, and a good friend."

Is any of that true?

She rolled into him, he put a hoof over her shoulder. "How can we be sure? She could... I just don't understand."

Shining nuzzled her, parting her mane and resting his chin in-between her ears.

"I think it's just bedtime." Cadance pressed back, and used her magic to adjust the blankets. "I need sleep. I need to think more about this tomorrow."

Shining gave her a kiss, but knew not to bother her after that. They settled in together, and it was an hour or so into the already late night when Cadance finally managed to drift off.

"Make it a Good One."

Cadance had to admit. It may have been a product of Silver's direct involvement, but the whole, 'everything is some form of thematicism' was starting to apply everywhere Cadance looked. Having that particular nail finally hammer itself all the way in, Cadance was struggling to take the situation she was in seriously.

The nobles, sans Isotope, had gathered together in the throne room. A pair of semi-circle stands had been placed around a running orange glittery carpet that had been rolled into the front of the room. Cadance sat sideways on the throne, her new crown in tow. She hadn't heard anything from, or about Silver since the Solstice. Astralation and her sister, Ichor and Sugar Cane sat to her left. Immaculate to her immediate right, followed by Fractured, then Isotope, when he returned. He had left to fetch Silver. There was a seat left open for Stone Cut, but apparently the stand in mare for him wasn't invited.

Things were about to change.

This was it, Cadance had been dealing with Silver on her lonesome so far; there was no going back now. Hence the intent to 'win' in one fell swoop. That being said, it was nearing comical. If the tension hadn't already weaseled its way under Cadance's wings, she would've been fighting off a tiny smile at the theatrics the nobles were oh so serious about.

Yes, that chair had to go exactly right there, and a little higher. The carpet-

Oh my gosh, the carpet.

Cadance hadn't seen anything so opulent. So... Pointless, some sort of Star Citrine, rolled into cloth, arcano-chemically bound with something else. That was what was on the floor.

Wild.

They had already discussed everything. Now they were only waiting and sharing glances. Wondering how long they'd be waiting for. Luckily, Cadance could sense Isotope's pessimistic paranoia from a distance, he was in the Spire, on approach. They wouldn't have to wait long, and going along with the theme...

Now seems about time for a short and sweet speech about what we're actually doing here.

"They're on their way." Cadance said at a regular tone, drawing the attention of the nobles. She lifted her nose and spoke a little louder. "The future of the Empire is at stake, I hope we all remember that we are here together by part of all of our efforts."

Mirror nodded, "Mostly you though."

Sugar Cane raised his hoof, "Hear-hear."

"If both of you could relax. Please." Immaculate groaned, "We are here with you Cadance. Never before has the Crystalian nobility had such an alliance with whomever sat on the throne. We recognize the importance, despite my compatriots inability to act respectful of their stations."

Ichor's low, almost impossibly low voice toned out, "I'm still wondering what we've missed."

Me too.

Cadance couldn't say that aloud, though, her face had been trapped in a stern but neutral look of confidence for the past forty minutes or so. Letting even an ounce of the anxiety she was feeling make its way onto her face was a quick way to lose the respect of some of the harder ponies in the room. Instead, she turned towards Everette and Astralation. The latter turned to face her in the same moment, and the eerie sensation of not being able to meet the scarred mare's eyes, but still being visible to her passed over Cadance for a moment.

Astralation nodded silently.

The doors to the throne room opened.

"Cadance!" Silver shouted out with a warm smile. Her voice was back to 'acting', with none of the usual undertones it held when they spoke one on one. Isotope looked like he was about ready to buck the pegasus he had just led here in the mouth. Which was arguably fair.

Cadance very visibly ignored Silver's greeting. "Isotope," a nod, "If you could take a seat. We can begin immediately."

"Thank the maidens." He mumbled, coming around the side of the half circle stands and making his way up the sides.

Silver stood in the center of the carpet. Frowning after she was ignored, and waited for Isotope to sit. Immaculate spoke first, to start everything off. "You know exactly why you are here." she accused.

Silver's eyes narrowed in confusion and vague annoyance. "Actually, no I do not."

Astralation took a shuddering breath and choked out, "Save Them."

The nobles looked at each other. In concern as Everette rubbed her sisters back, as she usually did.

"If I can make a random stab at it, I'm guessing this has something to do with my noble title?"

Why are you playing stupid.

Cadance could already see half of Silver's plan in the works. She was still pretending to just be a regular mare. Cadance hoped the nobles could see through the act. Like always though, the question is why. Cadance expected her to come out swinging, papers and logic and things Cadance had never thought of spinning out of her mouth like a tornado. She was expecting a debate, not a half hearted 'why am I here'. It was wrong.

Something is wrong.

"Among other things, we are stripping that title from you." Ichor answered Silver's question, to her surprise.

Silver looked up to Ichor's elevated seat and tilted her head, "Who are you?"

Immaculate's back straightened, "Allow me to clarify. Today, you are being stripped of your noble title. Your economic assets are being seized, and any power or influence you have is being given over to the crown."

"You're joking." Silver deadpanned. She opened her mouth for a rebuttal, but Cadance beat her.

"It's no joke Silver. This is happening. Tack & Co. is being seized, among the staff and your specialty operatives. You can't be trusted to run it, as you've made your intentions to harm the Empire clear."

"Harm th-" Silver's fake frown returned in full force. "Harm?! I'm not trying to harm anything, I'm trying to change the world. You can't even prove that I own the company, how are you goin-"

"Exactly." Cane flippantly interrupted. "As far as anypony knows, we've owned it the whole time. Who's going to care when the business model changes for the better?"

"This isn't just about my company."

"So you admit it's yours?" Everette asked.

Silver narrowed her eyes in Cadance's direction. "Even if you did strip me of my title. Tack & Co. is a global company, you can't just take it. Equestrian law sa-"

"No longer matters." Fractured interrupted next. "Not after the Empire seceded from Equestria. Not since the open and public declaration that the company operates exclusively out of the Empire."

Silver shook her head, "Seceded? What? Princ-"

"Empress." Cadance corrected, with the subtlety of a freight train. That was it.

How did she not know? How is that possible?

There was no way Silver hadn't known that, she was lying, there was some trick going on, something Cadance couldn't see. Silver had given all of the basic arguments, trying to prove what they were going to do was illegal. Except it wasn't. Not technically. It wasn't strictly legal either, it was in a middle ground of arbitrative law that allowed Cadance to make the decision herself. That's why they set it up that way.

Unless Silver challenged Cadance's rule, there was nothing she could do.

Legally

So what's the plan? What are you up to?

Silver shrunk back slowly, her face mixed with worry and deep thought. If nothing else, Silver was an incredible actor.

Fractured chuckled, "You know, I have to admit how deeply satisfying it is to see you with that face. After how much of a thorn you've been in my side."

Silver quietly responded, "You tried to hurt ponies."

"Yes. When we should have gone for you." Immaculate countered, "From the very beginning."

"No." Silver clenched her eyes shut. "NO. You can't."

"That tone implies that you have come to the realization that we can." Ichor said.

Silver spun her gaze around the room until her eyes settled on Cadance. Some manner of emotion passed through there, some twisted form of grief, so particular that Cadance wouldn't have recognized it had she not felt it before.

"Don't do this Cadance."

"What?" Sugar Cane said, craning his neck forwards.

Silver had said it so quietly that only Cadance had heard her. That must have been intentional.

What are you doing? Fight back!

Cadance didn't want Silver to succeed. She found herself cheering in her head out of guilt. She couldn't believe it, but Silver had been so clearly blindsided by all of this. She was losing, and the way she was just rolling over and letting it happen sat so awkwardly in Cadance's stomach that she wanted there to be something, anything. Any kind of resistance, it just felt so wrong to see Silver so...

and then Cadance remembered it was all an act.

She steeled her nerves and remembered Astralation's last prophetic muttering.

'Save Them.'

A moment passed by her senses, and Cadance took a deep breath.

"Quick Silver. You are hereby stripped of your title and your holdings, by order and will of the crown and the nobles of Crystalia."

The demand echoed around the throne room.

Silver took a step back and chuckled. Her face read confusion. She was expecting a joke, a 'but'. She looked to Cadance's face to see where the lie began, but she didn't find it. "You're..." Silver looked around. "This... What is going on? The nobles, how could you all support this? All of you?"

Sugar Cane shrugged, "Cadance is a good ruler. The first one I've ever felt comfortable getting behind. Made sense to me at the time."

Immaculate took a long suffering breath and sighed. "Yes. That. Though we have no reason to explain ourselves to you."

"Cadance... How... Why? How could you do this?" Silver's act was reaching some level of crescendo. It looked like she was near tears. "I thought we were friends!" Came the accusation.

Cadance kept her expression straight. She was an Empress.

I can do this.

Regardless of how that expression tugged at her heart. The anxiety rose up and told her that she was doing something wrong, but it was just Silver playing games with her mind. It had to be. "This isn't about our friendship Quick Silver. You left that behind a long time ago when you threatened my ponies."

Silver's eyes narrowed, clenched, and a few tears left her face. The grief intensified. "I never threatened your ponies." She turned towards the nobles, "Is that what she told you!? You're all making a huge mistake."

"You can not fool us. Accept your punishment and be on your way." Isotope said, the first thing besides a glare that had come from him during the conversation.

Silver stuttered. The first time Cadance had heard unbroken words from her like that. She shuddered. It was visceral, partially produced by how sharply Cadance was observing her, but whatever was going on was so perfectly manufactured that it wasn't... Silver looked at her again, and the same request crossed her eyes, silently begging Cadance to stop.

It's not real. She's acting. She's that good Cadance. Relax. You can do this.

Cadance hardened her expression. The look went away and Silver let out a fake laugh, some twisted humor flicked across her muzzle before she pointed her nose back up at Cadance. "So that's how it is, huh? You just couldn't wait?"

"For what it's wor-"

"SHUT UP." Silver screamed.

A few of the nobles gasped, and Cadance reeled from the release of pain. For a split second, the wall came down. Cadance was struck with an unignorable thought.

She's not acting.

Silver reached up into her mane and pulled out a folder. "You've all been tricked. Even if you could strip my name from Tack & Co. you'd still lose. It'd go to the next available successor."

"Which is no one." Fractured argued. "I dove into your past. Your fake personali-"

"Quick Silver is not fake. I was born. I lived. I... had a family. I went to school with Cadance... without paying... it's where we met." Silver waved her hoof around, and the cerulean glow over took the folder and levitated itself up to Immaculate. "That's why I'm not in the paperwork. My next viable kin is-"

"Princess Cadance." Immaculate's eyes were wide as she stared at the document.

Silver continued to let silent tears fall down her face, but she nodded. "It was a gift."

What is happening.

Immaculate looked up at Cadance in horror. Fractured leaned over to reach the document and similarly grew more surprised as he looked it over.

"Well spit it out!" Cane slammed a hoof down, "What does it say?"

Astralation mumbled something and shook in place.

Fractured pulled it closer and stared harder, like looking at it more might change the words on the page. Slowly, but loud enough to be heard, "It is, in essence, a will. Should Silver pass, or no longer be able to run Tack & Co. the company and its assets shall henceforth be transferred to, and under the governance of one, Princess Flurry Heart, daughter of Princess Cadance. Signed by H.R.H. Cadance of Equestria and Crystalia and H.R.H. Luna of Equestria."

...

Fuck.

Cadance held her facial expression. Barely. Her thoughts raced, majoritively on what she was supposed to do, but the question of how Silver had guessed the name she and Shining decided on. What it meant was that the nobility stripped Silver of her title, Cadance herself became the private owner of Tack & Co. She couldn't make it a public industry, because she would only be the guardian of the company until her daughter was old enough. Not to mention the fact that Cadance had not signed such a document, but there was no way to prove that, there was no way for them to tell.

She could have just lied, and said that Flurry Heart wasn't the name she'd chosen; except she was so flabbergasted that all she could do was keep her head on straight, she couldn't find the words.

Silver could, and she did, after choking back a sob. "She set you all up. She set me up. If you do this, you'll be setting the precedent for economic and political control to Cadance, she got you to hoist her onto the throne, and this will keep her there forever." Beyond the tears, Silver found the mental fortitude to smirk. "So what'll it be?"

Cadance kept her gaze focused on Quick Silver as the nobles exchanged looks.

Astralation shook again, coughed, and let out a pained grunt. "Save Them." She said.

Silence followed. The stare down coiled around the room like a desperate snake, trying to get a final meal before its strength failed it. Strangling the time from the air as Cadance desperately tried to think of something. Two hoof claps rang out slowly. All eyes turned towards Fractured Mirror as he clapped again, and again. Slowly shaking his head with a smile.

"My father, really, would have liked you." He nodded in her direction, and then sat back down. Turning his gaze back towards the ceiling.

What.

"Well... I supposed if that's the way it's gotta be." Sugar Cane shrugged.

"The lesser of two evils." Ichor agreed.

What.

Immaculate caught Cadance's look in a stare. There was a question written on her face that Cadance couldn't understand. They both turned back towards Silver, who looked like she was about to get hit by a train. Immaculate spoke, "You cannot intimidate us."

Astralation mumbled something else, though it seemed the majority of her shaking had passed.

Everette nodded, and met the eyes of a few others in the room, passing on their agreement.

"No." Silver said, mostly to the air. Shaking her head and walking backwards. "You can't. You- You can't."

Cadance had to say something to that look. Acting or no, Cadance had to say something. "I'm sorry it had to be this way Quick Silver."

Silver convulsed like she'd just been kicked in the stomach. There was a sound of pain, and she choked back a sob before running for the door. Cadance stood, unsure of what to do, her stomach hurt from standing up so fast but...

"I'm embarrassed to say I'm impressed with you, Empress Cadance." Isotope said with half a dying smirk on his face, "I knew you were good, I didn't think you'd cut a mare down that way, and your friend too. If you're willing to fight that hard for this place, I'll stand with you."

Cadance fluttered her wings, "I need to make sure she doesn't do anything drastic. I will return."

Then she was out the door, another flap and she was in the hallway, following the trail of pain and twisting grief. Hopelessness had mixed inside, tethering to two together in such a way that Cadance could see discoloration of the crystals on the ground where Silver had stepped, the emotion seeping into them like water into soil.

Cadance kept her wings moving to keep her weight off the ground. She wasn't thinking, she was just galloping, taking sharper turns down the halls until she watched Silver jump off of the balcony and take flight. "Silver!" Cadance rushed to the edge. Silver definitely heard her, she was just ignored. Cadance watched her power her way down an arch towards the far side of the residential district.

No time to hesitate Cadance! Go!

Cadence jumped. She already had it in the back of her mind. If Silver got violent, she'd run, she wouldn't try and take her on.

Silver had never tried to hurt her before. Not in any serious capacity, she'd talk first. Cadance had to know. She had to.

She was having trouble keeping up, what with how she was pregnant and Silver was doing the equivalent to dead sprinting in the air. Cadance could tell where she was going though, Immaculate's manor, the garden on the opposite side of the main grounds.

Cadance landed carefully away from where Silver had. She was standing in front of some stone plinth, and turned when Cadance's wings flapped one last time.

"Here to gloat?" Silver snarked. Her tears had stopped, but there were still marks on her face. She didn't look upset anymore. She didn't look like anything. Her face was blank, her eyes were full of things Cadance couldn't understand. The air hung with grief.

Cadance opened her mouth, her eyes narrowed in frustration. "Silver, what the buck just happened?!"

Silver smiled something sickening. "What, you don't like it?"

"Why did you just roll over?! What are you planning? You- you can't be about to try something dangerous, you can't be."

Silver snorted, followed by two choked laughs, and then half screaming as she stomped her hoof in fake amusement. She settled in a blink, "Isn't it funny how it all comes full circle? The only place I could do this, and it's back in some rich pony garden, chasing me down like something you need to solve."

Please would you make sense for once in yo-

"That, was. The plan."

Cadance reared her head back. "What do you mean that- You, what and that's it?"

Silver smiled.

Cadance reeled. "What you... you wanted all of that to happen?"

"Wanted? Cadance, fuck you." Silver shook. Like she was about to lunge, but held herself back. Her ear flicked. She clenched her eyes shut as more tears tried to form. "I trusted you. I believed in you. I guess that's my problem."

"What are you talking about!?" Cadance stomped, taking half an angry step forwards. "You're lying! That doesn't even make any sense, why would you want to put me so seamlessly into power that the nobles can't go back? All of those charades, and I stood to benefit from every step!"

Silver scrunched her face, "Why wouldn't I want that?"

A gear popped from the churning mechanism in Cadance's head and everything ground to a halt. "Wha- what? Silver. What."

She's not saying...

"You... you wanted to... hurt the crystal ponies, erase their culture."

Silver snorted, "No. I didn't. Don't."

"But you sai-"

"When?" Silver accused.

Cadance looked down as her mind chugged to skim through her memory of that encounter outside of Amber's old home.

She said that sh- She said that she was trying.

"You said that you were trying to destroy the empire." Cadance looked up, "You said that. I remember it vividly."

"So? Of course I was." Silver waved her hoof like it was totally normal, "The Empire had already hit it's downwards spiral, but nobody is really interested in trying to fight Time. So I stepped in, trying doesn't necessarily mean I planned on succeeding, and what better way to bring ponies together than a common enemy they can point their hooves at and Hate."

Cadance's mouth dropped open.

Silver chuckled. "~There it is~" She blinked a few more tears out of her eyes. "Your daughter's future is whatever you want it to be, the Empire is yours, your relationship with your husband and the pantheon has improved. You're wiser, and more keen on the interworking of the world. You have everything you dreamed of wanting before you met me."

She...

She built a target.

Tack- the company was something ponies could band together to deal with the decrepit economic status-

THE TREE. That's how she knew the name! She looked into the future to check on Flurry Heart. She knew from the beginning the struggles of the Empire, she fixed the Spire, she fought monsters for me, and she set up her entire presence to end with me sitting so far on top of the throne that the nobles weren't even reluctant to do it.

She told me she was here to help. She was. She just did- I wouldn't've believed her.

"Your whole life is ahead of you, Cadance." So trapped in the realization, Cadance half missed Silver's mournful words.

She trained a group of ponies to run the company after we took it off her, she did that on purpose, she... from the very beginning... and I-

She bet the entire future of a species, a country, on the simple fact that I'd betray her in the end, because I wasn't paying attention.

She tried to warn me twice. She didn't tell me she wanted to hurt the crystal ponies, she was trying to stop it and knew I wouldn't listen to her regardless of what she said, because I was still treating her like someone who needed help. She came here for me, and I-

"Silv-" The beginnings of an apology died in her throat as she looked up and her breath hitched.

Silver had stepped backwards onto the plinth of rock and spread her wings.

She was stone.

"Save Them."

Astralation's request hit Cadance like a yak when she realized what the scarred mare was actually asking.

The only thing left of Silver's presence was the lingering, but drifting emotions of what Cadance could now recognize as betrayal hanging in the air, and an inscription at the base of the plinth, the tail end of the comment Cadance had missed in her thoughts.

"No." Cadance said, blinking in confusion. "Silver you can't." Cadance took a few steps forwards. "Silver, no, you-" Cadance heard her words, she remembered how similar they were to something she'd heard recently. Silver begging her to stop. Begging to be wrong.

She knew that moment was coming. She let it happen because... it was part of the plan, but she hated it. She wanted to believe that I'd find another way, so she begged me to stop. I betrayed her. I did exactly what she expected. She was so sure I wouldn't trust her that she bet my city on it, and she was right.

Cadance just stared.

All the words she could think of were twisted repeats of what Silver had said not thirty minutes before.

Minutes passed as she stared.

Eventually, Immaculate joined her in the garden. "Empress Cadance. I see Silver has been dealt with."

Go away.

"Yes." Cadance responded numbly.

Go. Away.

Cadance heard the snarking, biting expression on Immaculate's face. "Good. I was half tempted to banish her too. Looks like it didn't matter. We'll spin another story about her trying to damage my estate and you coming to the rescue."

Don't speak of her like that.

"Of course." Cadance responded numbly

A questioning tone. Immaculate stepped closer, too close. Cadance felt a spark of rage. Her wing wanted to lash out. It just wasn't fair. There wasn't enough Time. She had made too many mistakes, it wasn't fair. It wasn't her fault, but it was. Silver could have- and so could she. It wasn't fair. It didn't have to be this way, it was all upside down and backwards and Cadance was struggling to breath and her eyes stung and the world was turning over on itself and

"Empress Cadance? Are you okay?"

Cadance inhaled deeply.

"No. That took a lot more out of me than I expected. If you'll excuse me." Cadance took flight. She didn't do it right, but the hurt in her wing joints didn't matter to her. Her first thought, rising above the chaos in her mind was to go find Shining Armor. Now.

Another, darker part, whispered something else.

Write a letter, Cadance.

"I'll get you the quill."

Betrayer.

"I'm your rough awakening into the scuffed up world we live in."

What did Silver ever actually do wrong?

What did she do to earn the mistrust I placed on her?

Cadance's mind failed to come up with an answer.

"Yes. Cadance, I do care."

Cadance flew towards her office.

...

~~Luna, I~~

~~Silver turned herself into stone.~~

~~Dear Pri~~

~~I need your help~~

~~Lun~~

~~I'm sorry.~~

~~I failed.~~

Will.

Author's Note

Lonely, Brad Sucks.

Will.

...

~ The Sky Came Apart ~

~ Past The Starlit Path ~

~ Cadance Saw Eternity ~

~ Eternity Looked Back At Her ~

~ The Dark Rose From The Light ~

~ The Meanings Fell Into Their Names ~

~ Fate Bore Down On Intention. ~

~ Will Stood In The Way. ~

...

"Why have you Come Here."

...

~ T'was The Question ~

~ Of Course ~

~ Why Die For The Doomed? ~

...

"I refuse."

...

~ Will Had Made A Decision ~

~ She Would Not Be Denied ~

~ Fate Had No Choice ~

~ Ending Is Not Meaning ~

~ Destiny Was Required. ~

...

"Her Path Is. The Words have already been Written. This is her Story."

...

~ Destiny Was Sure ~

~ The Choice Had Already Been Made ~

~ There Was No Future For Her ~

~ This Was The Final Line Of Her Song ~

...

"I refuse."

...

~ But Will Had Chosen Another Note ~

~ Another Song ~

~ Another Way ~

~ She Would Not Be Denied The Future ~

~ The Starlit Path Bent ~

~ It Nearly Broke. ~

~ Time Awoke. ~

...

"Your Choice is not Possible."

"The Future you see is not Possible."

"You will Become Undone."

...

~ Things Happen ~

~ In An Order ~

~ Patterns Form Life ~

~ Time Creates Possibility ~

~ Possibility Folded Against Her. ~

...

"I."

...

~ Eternity Shook. ~

...

"Refuse."

...

~ Will ~

~ The Ability To Do ~

~ The Force Of Life ~

~ The Purpose Of Meaning ~

~ She Had Chosen Another Path ~

~ She Pressed Against Fate. ~

~ And Destiny ~

~ And Time. ~

~ She Had To ~

~ For This Was What She Had Chosen ~

...

"Sorry for being late to the party. I had to bring a few friends."

...

~ Change Took Up The Fight ~

~ Along Side Will ~

~ To Right A Wrong ~

...

"Creation calls for something More."

...

~ Infinity Reached Down ~

~ The Light Of It All Became More ~

~ Because She Made It So ~

...

"You are not Alone."

...

~ Connection Found A Hold ~

~ Created More Where There Was Not ~

~ Greater Than The Sum Of Their Parts ~

~ They Stood Against It All ~

~ Together. ~

...

"Yield to Life."

...

~ Energy ~

~ Destruction ~

~ Turning One Into Many. ~

~ Creation ~

~ Turning Many Into One. ~

~ Eternity Stretched Under Her Focus ~

...

"I refuse."

...

~ And Will ~

~ Refused. ~

...

"Do you Love her?"

...

~ Everything Changed ~

~ Death Became Life ~

~ Where Ending, It Instead Began ~

~ Together. ~

...

"No."

...

~ Will Did Not love ~

~ That Was Not A Choice ~

~ Her Friend Would Not Be Stolen From Her ~

~ Emotion Fell Away As She Decided. ~

...

"I Will."

...

~ They Remembered The Choice ~

~ Will Bent Meaning To Her Vision ~

~ She Would Not Be Denied ~

...

"Time Passes."

"Destiny Bends."

"Fate Is Re-Written."

...

~ For In This Place. ~

~ For Every Story Told ~

~ For Every Song That Is Sung ~

~ Everything Is Possible ~

~ This Is What The Throne Promises. ~

...

~ Will Reached Out For The Curse ~

~ And With Meaning Stolen From Energy ~

~ She Tore The Curse From The Roots Of Eternity ~

~ And Freed Her Friend From Her Fate ~

...