As The Sun Sets

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.