As The Sun Sets

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.