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"

"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."