Rats In The Belfry

by Beegirl Scribbler

Chapter Five

The pink alicorn filly crouched in the grass, staring wide-eyed at a red mantis the size of a cat.

“Are you real?” she whispered. The praying mantis glared at her and did not answer.

They were in the middle of a dark field, near the entrance to Tambelon. Cadance had been told by her aunt to wait here and touch nothing. Not that there was much to touch, of course—just the black wall of the shadow-city. And grass, she supposed.

The praying mantis crouched and leaped onto her snout, shrinking to the size of a normal insect. Cadance giggled, falling onto her back.

The mantis stared at her.

“Stupid filly,” she heard somepony say. The mantis seemed to hear it, too—it tensed. Its eyes flashed gold.

Cadance and the mantis both looked around. The world was dark. There was nothing to be seen, save the shape of the nearby Smokey Mountain. Cadance looked off toward the top of the great dead volcano.

She blinked. “Um, little bug? There's something up there.” She squinted. “Looks like...um...”

The mantis looked up. Like a bolt of lightning, it turned and sprang off her nose, vanishing into the dark.

Cadance watched it go, bemused, then looked back off at the mountain. Whatever was up there, her heart told her it wasn't good. There were two creatures up there, and one of them was in pain.

Cadance stared vacantly at the pair of empty thrones, contemplating an old memory. Easier days, perhaps. But not better ones.

She turned back, eyes pausing over the stained window of her and Shining Armor's defeat of Chrysalis before settling on the real form of her aunt, Princess Celestia.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

Celestia sighed. She looked tired, though it was only early evening. “Cadance, you're supposed to be on vacation. I can't ask you to do anything.”

Cadance rolled her eyes, smiling. “Aunt Celestia, I'm on a diplomatic mission. If this was a vacation, Shining Armor would be here.”

“All the same, I don't want to bother you.” Celestia scowled, looking back toward the doors. “I just wanted to talk to somepony about this. I worry Grogar plans to manipulate my little ponies.”

Cadance winked. “Isn't that your job?”

“Yes!” Celestia snapped. She blinked, and coughed. “I mean, yes, but it's different when I do it.” She jabbed a hoof at the doors. “Grogar is a being of utter evil. He has never wanted anything more than to reclaim Tambelon and expand it until it covers our world like an overgrown fungus.”

“That won't happen, Auntie.” Cadance grinned, trotting over to the Sun Princess's side. “The key is all the way in Ponyville. What's Grogar going to do to us here?”

“Grogar is very good at toying with ponies when he must,” Celestia muttered. “He's worse than Sombra, really, because at least Sombra or Auros would enjoy the manipulation.” She started toward the doors, and Cadance walked alongside her.

“And Grogar doesn't?”

“Grogar likes to see ponies suffering.” Celestia shrugged, levitating the doors open. “But he despises talking to them.”

Cadance giggled, remembering. “Alright, Auntie. I'm going to keep an eye on him, okay?”

Celestia entered the hallway and looked around. She turned back to her adopted niece. “No, Cadance, I can't ask that of you.”

“It's nothing! Really!” Cadance turned and trotted away. “By the way, any idea why the sun's...” She stopped walking. “...setting...”

She trailed off. The sun never set this early. Luna had become an utter procrastinator after a thousand years of quiet scheming, and the ponies of Canterlot usually had to spend at least an hour or so in the dark.

She turned around. Celestia had gone off to bed, leaving her alone in the darkening hall.

She turned back and let out a yelp. Grogar stood before her. Luna and Fluttershy were following behind. Grogar smiled, showing his sharp teeth. “Crystal Princess. Step aside.”

Cadance quickly shuffled to the side to allow the three to pass. Looking beyond, she noticed a strange figure in red robes walking down the corridor. She stared at it. What in Equestria is that?

At that moment, the figure glanced at Cadance and waved. Cadance frowned. Whatever the strange creature was, she didn't like it. She started to walk towards it.

“Ah, Princess!" A monocled white unicorn poked his head through a nearby doorway. “A word, if you please.”

Cadance looked at the unicorn, then looked back. The figure had left. Sighing, she turned and trotted over.

The unicorn made way for her as she entered the darkened room. When the door was shut, he raised an eyebrow. “You don't seem excited to see me.”

“Well, I am, a little.” Cadance frowned. “Shouldn't you be helping Twilight and the others, Fancypants?”

Fancypants coughed, adjusting his black bowler. “Well, that appears to be a problem, Princess.” His eyes shifted from side to side. “The honorable Princess and her friends arrived at the dragons' mountain and spoke with the leaders, as planned. There was some initial tension between them and some of the younger wyrms, but I was able to defuse it.”

“Well, that was expected.” Cadance waved a hoof. “Go on, please.”

Fancypants shrugged. “There were no other incidents with the dragons. Everything went rather well on the diplomatic front.”

“So what's wrong?” Cadance glanced toward the door, then back at Fancypants. “And why aren't you telling Luna about this? This is her time, after all.”

“Hm.”

Cadance waited, but Fancypants remained mute. After a moment, she cleared her throat. “Well?”

Fancypants scratched his back. “It...well, it went well. The dragons were willing to transfer their prisoner to our allies. It appeared that the mission would be successful.”

He trotted over to a window, eyes cast on the floor. “Unfortunately, they did not have the prisoner.”

Cadance froze. “What?”

“They led us to the cell, and found that the image within was...not an honest one.” Fancypants turned back to Cadance, and magically straightened his monocle. “The 'witch of all ages' has escaped. We don't know how, or how long she's been loose, but she is out.”

“That...” Cadance swallowed. “...really isn't good.”

“It certainly is not. I was teleported back to inform you all. Twilight and her friends will return once their search of the dragon lands is complete.” Fancypants sighed. “That will take a week. That place has few hiding places, and is not hospitable to outsiders, but it is rather large.”

“So what do we do?” Cadance walked over to Fancypants and nudged the shades open. The stars shone bright in the sky, though something seemed off about them. “That witch has been evading us for centuries! If only dragons can catch her—“

“Well, that's not quite so.” Cadance looked to Fancypants, who had a small smirk. “Being able to see through illusions helps, but dragons are hardly the only chaps who can pull that off.”

Cadance cocked her head. Fancypants's fondness for vague assurances was seen by her aunts as amusing, but it had always driven her insane. “And what do you mean by that?”

Fancypants's horn glowed. His hat lifted, revealing a delicate silver circlet resting upon his head. “The dragons were nice enough to gift me with this little device.” The hat lowered. “None of the witch's illusions will have any effect on myself as long as I wear it. If she attempts any of her mischief here, we will know it.”

Cadance opened her mouth to respond, but stopped as she heard a thud. Fancypants appeared to have heard it too. He froze, then his horn flashed and the door slammed open.

There was nothing. Fancypants trotted out and looked around. “Hm. I don't see anything.” He glanced back at Cadance, giving a curt nod. “I wouldn't worry overmuch. Somnambula has been too cowardly to show her face for a thousand years, and I highly doubt she'll show it now.”

Cadance bit her lip and nodded back. “I guess so. Keep an eye open, though.”

“Oh, I shall.” Fancypants walked out. “I'll see you later, Princess Cadance. I suggest you go and see to your Aunt.”

“What?”

“From what I heard, she'll be engaged in a discourse with my esteemed cousin Prince Blueblood about now. This should be their first real discussion, too, as Celestia usually sees to his needs.” Fancypants chuckled as he trotted out of view. “I would give him one minute before Luna seeks to murder him, but that pegasus with Luna may extend his lifespan a bit. All the same, you might want to hurry.”

Author's Note:

Okay, so this chapter was hard.

The thing is, Cadance has really grown on me, and I wanted to write about her. But she just doesn't have much to do. Luna is with Grogar and Fluttershy, so Cadance just had to chat with Celestia a bit. Then what? Well, I decided to bring in one of my favorite minor characters, Fancypants.

This whole story has been all about me learning how to work with paragraphs and sentence flow, and this is one of the first chapters I really started to struggle. Not that my earlier chapters were perfect, of course--I just didn't notice the flaws then. Editing now, I'm glad I started to notice when I did. I used to think there was nothing more unpleasant than editing in pacing and description. I was wrong.

Comments

[Mr. Grimm]

Ah...I have a feeling I know where Somnambula is...

But that brings up another question: What ever happened to good old Bray, Grogar's loyal donkey-servant?

[Beegirl Scribbler]

2078735 He was annoying, so I cut him out.
In seriousness, that's a good question. You'll see!

[vazak]

Good chapter I really liked the building you did with Cadence and Tambelon! As well as all the other hinted world building!