The Prince's Predicament 2: The Princess's Predicament

Cadance stretched her legs and stood up from her bed. This was it. Today was the last day she would spend in prison. Starting tonight, she'd be back on the Crystal Throne, ruling over her little ponies once more.

She excitedly ran the brush through her mane and tail, smoothing everything out to a fine sheen. She had to look her best when she greeted her subjects again after such a long absence. Of course, even if she didn't, there would be countless ponies perfectly willing to help her look even better. It had been almost four years, after all.

Well, three years and eight months, rather. Luna had kept reminding the tribunal that poisoning the royal consort was effectively the same as poisoning royalty, especially as said consort was currently the acting prince until Cadance returned, and that the punishment for such an act was a life sentence. If anypony else had tried to so much as roofie Shining Armor, they would never again see the light of day, nor feel the comforting embrace of the moon. Stone walls and iron bars would be their entire life.

However, what was odd about Luna's push was that she never once voted to extend Cadance's sentence. Instead, she had only tried to keep it as it had been last set. She'd been outvoted at every turn, with both Celestia and Twilight always pushing to reduce the sentence due to extreme circumstances, but she could have pushed it even further and caused Cadance's sentence to be extended. If Luna had pushed back even harder, she could have, with no consequence, caused Cadance to still have ten years remaining. But she hadn't.

Granted, if Luna had done nothing, Cadance would have been set loose long ago. In fact, if Luna had not reported it, the tribunal never would have been formed, and Cadance would have gone completely unpunished.

None of that mattered, now. Cadance had spent too long in this minimum-security cottage full of guards that were more ready to defend her than keep her here. For too long, she'd been restricted to just three servants. Her authority was to be returned today, and nothing could dampen her spirits. Not even the fact that her assigned guard today was Private Information, who had resisted her feminine charms throughout her entire stay.

"Good morning, sexy," she chuckled, wrapping her hooves around his shoulders.

"Good morning, princess," he spoke platitudinously. "Sleep well?"

"I did!" she answered. "How about you?"

His expression did not change from deadpan. "That's classified."

"It always is," she chuckled, kissing his cheek. "It's such a shame that we never did anything. Do you know what today is?"

"I do, ma'am."

"What's today?"

"Today is Thursday, November twenty-eighth, the year o--"

"It's my release day!" she interrupted. "Come noon, your job will be over, and you can stop taking it so seriously! We can stop pretending that you're not interested in all of this."

"Mm-hmm."

In all of this time, Cadance had managed to sleep with most of her guards and servants. There were three that had resisted her; Doctor Heart, who was in charge of her psychiatric recovery, Private Information, who guarded her room most nights and mornings, and Tiny Tot, a literal child that Luna had employed to watch her. Not necessarily to do anything, just watch her. Cadance found herself unable to mount any of the servants when Tiny was watching. Perhaps Tiny was bait, to either catch Cadance doing something worse, or to add indecent exposure to the list of criminal charges to keep Cadance here longer, but it was a cruel and unusual punishment that Luna would need to answer for.

After breakfast, Luna arrived and unlocked Cadance's royal regalia. She'd also brought a manedresser along to tidy up Cadance's hair. At least, to make it better than simple brushing. Once she was made presentable, they all piled into the carriage, and away they went.

"Finally, free of that stuffy cottage," groaned Cadance. "It's a nice enough place, but when you're stuck there for years, it's--"

"A prison," finished Luna. "Yes, it was meant to be. Were you not a princess, you'd have not received such comforts. The bed alone was more than we would normally give to crimes so heinous in nature."

"We give beds to prisoners," scoffed Cadance.

Luna narrowed her eyes. Her sentence had been more than three hundred times the length of Cadance's, and she'd been given no psychiatric aid, no bed, not even so much as a roof over her head. Compared to her banishment to the moon, Cadance had it easy. Then again, Luna had not been a favourite at the time, and nopony had argued for her release. Still, she kept her thoughts to herself.

"I can't wait to see Shining again."

Luna nodded. "Indeed. I told him to expect us this evening, but it seems we may arrive early."

"How is he?"

"He is doing quite well, I should think. Favour from the Crystal Empire is quite strong. He has instituted new guard patrol routes that make the citizens feel safer, he has enhanced their freedoms to give them more opportunities for activities, has reduced crime, unemployment and homelessness, and the citizens could not be happier. Under his rule, they have thrived."

"That's my husband!"

Luna brought a hoof up to her chin. "Indeed, he is. I am quite glad to have had him in charge of things in your absence. He is quite skilled."

"You should see him dance."

"I have. I danced with him when we had the yaks over for the Grand Galloping Gala. I was quite embarrassed, to say the least."

"Really? He was that bad?"

"Not at all. His skill outpaced mine own."

That was a surprise to Cadance. Last she'd known, Shining was a good dancer; better than most stallions. That he could outdo Princess Luna, a pony with such refined grace as to make Celestia jealous, was an astounding feat. He must have improved significantly since last she saw him.

"Is that why you tried to keep me locked up?" snorted Cadance. "So you could dance with him?"

Luna did not look amused. "You insult me, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. To think that my reasons could be so crass as that... No, I argued for your continued imprisonment because your actions would have warranted such. If being banished taught me anything, it is that my actions have consequences. And here I was, hoping you'd have learned the same lesson..."