Chapter 3: In the Everfree

Celestia sat tall on her red velvet throne, regal as usual. Meanwhile, Luna sat lazily on her own throne, staring at the ticking clock on the wall. And finally, Princess Cadence stood in the middle of her two aunt's who both sat on there thrones. Since Cadence wasn't an Equestrian Princess, she didn't have a throne. "When will they get here!" Luna whined.

Celestia, Luna, and Cadence were all to go into the Everfree in search of the biasma. Meanwhile, Princess Sparkle and her friends were supposed to be in charge, assuming, that is, that they ever even showed up.

"Momentarily, sister. Your so impatient." Luna rolled her eyes.

"Not all of us can be as patient as you, Tia. And do you really think its wise to leave Equestria in the hooves of Twilight Sparkle and her friends? I mean, she's a bright mare and all, but-" Luna had never been a big fan of Twilight. While she didn't hate her, she just didn't see what was so great about her.

"Luna, her, and her friends, have saved Equestria multiple times from disaster. Had it not been for her, you might not even be here. I might not even be here, assuming Discord took over Equestria, Cadence might not be here, and the Crystal Empire wouldn't be here. I'm sure she can manage Equestria for an hour." Celestia hated it when ponies questioned her student. While Twilight was young, she was wise for her age, and more than capable about figuring things out. For every test Twilight had had to endure, she had passed.

"I think Twilight is more than capable of watching Equestria." Cadence said. "She's responsible, and a good problem solver too. If something, anything that demanded attention were to fall upon Equestria, Twilight would quickly think of a way to fix it. She's kind of like Tia, except more...nervous." Cadence pointed out. For ages now, the three princesses had been silent, and Cadence was more than happy to have a conversation with her aunts.

"Cadence, Tia, your just saying that because you know her. Celestia, she was and is, your faithful student. Cadence, she's your sister-in-law, and you used to foalsit her. Me, no connection. I see her as nothing more than a common mare, another that will come to pass."

Celestia looked shocked. "Is that really how you think of Twilight? A common mare? Yes, eventually, Twilight will come to pass, but she is a princess. Luna, she is equal to you, to me, and to Cadence. She has gone through a lot, Luna. I think everypony, even me and you could learn a good lesson from her."

"Incorrect, sister. Me and you have the highest authority in Equestria, we are equal. Cadence isn't a princess of Equestria, she's a princess of Crystalia, but, since she is our neice, she has some authority. Twilight isn't apart of the bloodline, she's a pony with a VIP pass, and that just gives her an equal amount of authority as Cadence. Besides, Tia, we're goddesses. Immortal, and the only ponies with the ability to raise and lower the Sun and Moon. By all means, we outrank Twilight, and so does Cadence, in a way."

"How do I hold a higher rank than Twilight?" Cadence asked. "For starters, your a natural alicorn. Plus your my niece. Plus your the ultimate ruler of Crystalia, while Twilight is only a princess with small authority. And finally, your a goddess, Cadence. Goddess of love." Cadence began to process this. She had never even imagined being a goddess of anything, let alone a grand-supreme-ruled of Crystalia. She had always just thought of herself as a pony with the ability to make ponies fall in love, and the only pony with an attachment to the Crystal Heart.

"But me, of course, I outrank all of you." A familiar voice said. Sitting on a cloud of cotton candy was none other than Discord itself, enjoying a cup of refreshing chocolate milk.

"Discord, your not even a ruler of anything." Celestia pointed out. "True-" the Alicorn said before he could speak "Your a God. A God of chaos. But you don't rule a kingdom at all." The mare pointed out. "I could have..." The draconequus said with a wink. "In fact, I can, if you'll let me, Celestia." Celestia have him the don't-you-dare-speak-of-that-again look.

"Fine, Tia. If you won't marry me...maybe Woona will."

"Woona-"
"No."
"Wooona-"
"No."
"Wooooooo-"
"NO" she exclaimed in the royal Canterlot voice. The floors shook, and Discord had to hold on steadily to his cloud.

"I think the answer is clear." The princess concluded.

The sudden sound of hooves could be heard from outside, and momentarily, Twilight came trotting in alongside her friends. Rarity was trotting like some sort of model, Rainbow flying, Fluttershy slightly flying above the ground, Pinkie bouncing, and Applejack just trotting in casually. "Princess, what is the emergency?" Twilight asked.

"An old enemy has returned, Twilight. Me, Luna and Cadence are to go and investigate the disturbance. Me and Luna are truly sorry for calling you in on such short notice, but-"

"Sorry? Oh, Princess, don't apologize. Me and my friends would be overjoyed to watch the kingdom!" Rarity exclaimed. She had clearly outdid herself. "Yeah...Really, Princess."

"Twilight, please, address me as Celestia in person." Twilight nodded, blushing. "And the same goes for the rest of you. Address me as Celestia. We will eventually all be on a first name basis." The six nodded. "Any who...we should be on our way now." The Lunar Princess said, gracefully leaping off her throne.

Celestia flew off of her throne, and landed lightly on her hooves with much grace. Cadence followed suit, and trotted towards the doors. The Crystal Princess had been unusually silent, because the truth was, she was scared. Cadence was young. She knew almost nothing about Equestria, and strangely enough knew even less about her own Empire. She had never even heard if the biasma, let alone seen or met one. She hardly knew what she was up against! While her aunts had given her a brief description of the unknown enemy, she still knew little to nothing.

Before trotting out the doors, she hugged Twilight. How did Cadence even know she would return? However, the pink Alicorn didn't mention her growing fear of the biasma, but simply said that the two sister-in-laws needed to see each other more often. She also greeted Twilight's friends, it would be rude to forget about them.

While Celestia waited patiently for Cadence to follow her, Luna went right on ahead, heading toward the gardens were the royal carriage awaited. "But-but what about ME!?" Discord exclaimed. "I wanna go too! Tia Pleeease?" Celestia thought for a moment, and before she could speak he quickly said "If you don't take me...I'll spread chaos! From here to Ponyville! I might even take a trip to Crystalia!" Celestia thought again. "Fine."

Discord snapped his fingers and he was gone.

The three Alicorn princesses and one draconequus took a brief flight over Equestria, before landing on the ground in front of the Everfree. There was caution tape surrounding the area were the carriage stood, and all around ponies stood, cheering and holding signs that read encouraging things about the princesses. Mostly Celestia and Luna.

However, when Discord stepped out, the growing crowed fell silent. Discord clearly wasn't a very beloved member of Equestria.

Discord didn't seem to mind though. "Attention, citizens. We advise you to stay as far away from the Everfree as possible. Whatever you do, do not, and I repeat, DO NOT go into the Everfree, for whatever reason." Luna boomed in her royal Canterlot Voice. Usually, Celestia usually did most of the speaking, but Celestia was to gentle to ever use the Royal Canterlot Voice.

Celestia, Luna, and Cadence trotted into the woods, Discord following them. Celestia had lowered the Sun about half way down, so the biasma would surely come out in search of their next meal.

Immediately upon their entrance, the four felt a cold rush of air. The climate and temperature in the forest was a lot colder than that of Equestria. Little to no sunlight touched the ground, do to the towering trees and Everfree Mountains, which blocked the Sunlight.

There was a sudden rustling in
the bushes and Cadence whipped around, only to see a squirrel jump from the bush an scruffy up a tree. "Cadence, if this is too much for you, you can go home." Celestia said, placing a hoof on her niece's shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with admitting your afraid." Yes. Cadence was scared. No, terrified. She didn't know what she was up against, or what was out there.

"You always said to face your fears, and that's what I'll do." Cadence said. "I think...we should split up!" Discord said. Celestia and I, and Luna and Cadence." Discord said with a wink toward Celestia, who sort of blushed looked around eagerly, as if trying to find a way to get out of the situation. "Discord, that's not a good idea." Luna pointed out.

"If we lose each other, we're screwed. If we happen to find a biasma, we're screwed. We may not be prepared." Luna said.

"If we split up, we can cover more ground." Cadence pointed out. Not only was this true, but Cadence really wanted to talk to Luna. "But-" Celestia said. "Tia...two to two. Ok, fine, we'll do rock, paper scissors."

"Fine..." Celestia trotted towards Discord, and lit her horn. An image of a rock, paper, and pair of scissors began floating in the air. "Rock...paper...SCISSORS." A transparent image of a pair of shiny scissors was in front of Discord, and a an image of a piece of scissors.

"Fine." The white alicorn said in defeat. "Luna, Cadence...watch out for yourselves. We and Discord go left, you ponies go right, and if in need of assistance, spark your horn." Cadence and Luna watched Celestia and Discord trot away, and Luna sighed.

"We might as well be on our way." Luna said. The two princesses trotted through the wood, Luna occasionally stopping you raise the moon a little higher, or raise the stars.

"Auntie...do you...remember my mother?" Cadence choked out. Luna paused, and for a moment, all was silent. "Yes. She was...the kindest pony I remember. Always laid back, not exactly shy, but laid back. She loved spreading love, wherever she went. She was always falling in love. She had so many boyfriends, almost as many as Chrysalis." Luna smiled fondly.

"She loved you, Cadence." The Lunar Princess concluded.

"If she loved me, why'd she leave?" The pink alicorn responded coldly. "Because. Because she couldn't take it anymore. Your mother was beautiful, she had many boyfriends, five husbands. When her last husband, your father, died, she fell into depression. She got in a relationship with Sombra. But Valentina was still depressed. So she committed suicide. Disconnected herself from the Crystal Heart. Sombra felt like nopony loved him, so he went all evil. He trapped you below the Crystal Castle." Luna concluded. Cadence couldn't help but note that the Equestrian Princess was holding something back. No, she knew Luna was holding something back. Other than that small detail, Cadence felt as though everything else was the truth. But Luna was a good liar.

Luna suddenly lit her horn a bright silver and hit something in the distance. A fateful squawk was heard, and a fully grown cockatrice fell to the ground. "There are probably more..." Luna said through bared teeth.

"Luna, don't hurt anymore of them. We're immune to them, so we don't need to harm them. Please." Cadence knew Luna would say no, but it was worth a shot. "If I don't kill them, they'll kill somepony. It's better they die rather than a pony." Luna growled, shooting another cockatrice from a tree. "Luna..." Squawk. Another fell to the ground.

"Auntie, look!" Cadence said, a string of dark blue mist was drifting through the trees. "Cadence, there's nothing there." Luna pointed out. "Yes! A...a blue mist! Luna! Why won't you believe me..."

"We should head home, Cadence I'm sure Twilight is worried sick, my hooves hurt, and I'm sure your tired. No, I know your tired." The Princess sent a spark of silver light into the air.

"Now what?" Cadence asked. "We wait."

Cadence smiled. "Meanwhile...how was your night out, Auntie?"

Author's Note

Wow. 100 views.

Anyway, this chapter took a lot longer. I kept writing it, getting bored, and then rewriting it. Next chapter coming soon