As The Sun Sets

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.