//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Cadence // by bahatumay //------------------------------// That afternoon, Celestia took a moment to compose herself outside Mi Amore Cadenza's room. Eventually, she realized that she could not put this conversation off any longer, and pushed the door open; but this time after casting a spell to ensure she did not step in any other traps. Mi Amore Cadenza sat on her bed. When she recognized Celestia, she crossed her forelegs and spread her wings defiantly. Clearly, she was ready for a fight. Celestia had no such intentions. Instead, she smoothly slid onto the bed next to her, while still giving the filly plenty of space. “I seem to recall promising to teach you how to preen your wings this morning,” she said. Mi Amore Cadenza did a doubletake. She squinted, suspecting a trap; but Celestia merely stretched a wing out and waited for her to follow suit. Mi Amore Cadenza scowled, still suspicious, but finally and grudgingly she spread one of her little wings as well. “Now, birds and griffons preen with oil from a gland under their tail; but our pegasus magic makes our saliva have the same lubricating effect without needing to lick anywhere near your tail.” Mi Amore Cadenza cracked a tiny smile against her will. Celestia continued. “Feathers work best when they’re all aligned; so if there’s one out of place, it will mess up your flight.” “I know that,” Mi Amore Cadenza said snippily. She was lying, Celestia could tell. Seeing as how Sombra had been a unicorn, she had likely never seen a pegasus flying, let alone flown herself. “With your feathers in the correct condition, flying should come almost naturally,” Celestia said smoothly. She surreptitiously pulled one of her own feathers out of place, then showed Mi Amore Cadenza her wing. “Now, a feather like this one right here needs to be realigned. So take hold of it with your teeth, and slide it back, like this.” She demonstrated. Mi Amore Cadenza squinted at her wing. She found one that was particularly bad, and hesitantly opened her mouth. “That one might need to be pulled,” Celestia observed. “Old feathers sometimes can't be fixed, and it's best to just let the new one grow in.” Mi Amore Cadenza narrowed her eyes slightly, and grabbed it, intending to put it back in place anyway just to be contrary. But just like Celestia had predicted, though her tug was gentle, it fell out in her teeth, and she spat it out. “Shards,” she swore under her breath. Celestia chose to ignore that. “Feathers fall out all the time. It’s important to take them out for the health of your wings, so new ones can grow in properly. That one next to it might work, though,” Celestia suggested. “I saw that one.” Mi Amore Cadenza grabbed it and tugged it back into place. “Like that?” “Perfect. Be sure to keep your lips moistened and keep going.” Under Celestia’s supervision, Mi Amore Cadenza preened her first wing. She didn’t need to say much; Mi Amore Cadenza picked it up quickly. Celestia waited until she had finished half of her second wing before speaking. “You're quite the audacious filly,” she said. Her head spun around. “Don't call me words I don't know!” Mi Amore Cadenza scowled, suddenly remembering that she was angry with Celestia. Celestia allowed herself a little chuckle. “It means daring, adventurous, willing to take risks. Not many ponies would dare try and influence the princess of Equestria.” Mi Amore Cadenza tried to keep frowning, but one corner of her mouth curled up a bit. “Yeah,” she said, with more than a hint of pride in her voice as she ducked down to pull another feather. “I am pretty 'dacious'.” “What were you trying to do, anyway?” Celestia asked. “I wanted to get a cookie,” Mi Amore Cadenza said simply. Celestia blinked. “I… beg your pardon?” She sat up a bit and spat out the feather she’d pulled. “I wanted to stop the stupid court and get a cookie.” Celestia blinked again. Mind magic was class three forbidden magic, often requiring months of practice before even attempting to use it and carrying harsh penalties if ever used on another pony, it was moderately dangerous for the victim (especially in the horn of an untrained caster); and she was using it to try and get a cookie? “Is that all?” “Yeah. It was boring. Don't you have room in your dungeons or your salt mines for all those boring ponies?” “Salt mining is a private business in Equestria, and we haven't used the dungeons in many years,” Celestia informed her. Mi Amore Cadenza frowned. “Then how do you get rid of the annoying ponies?” “We don't,” Celestia shrugged. Mi Amore Cadenza sat back, her mind positively blown. “Is that what you always do?” Celestia asked curiously. “Huh?” “Use mind magic on ponies to have them do what you want, forcing them to comply?“ “Yes,” Mi Amore Cadenza said, as if it were blindingly obvious. “How else do you do it?” “You can get ponies to do things for you by being nice to them and being their friends. Then they want to do things for you.” Mi Amore Cadenza scoffed. “Being nice means you're being weak; and friends are just enemies who try to get close to you before they can hurt you.” “Is that so?” “Why do you ask all these questions?” Mi Amore Cadenza demanded. “I'm just wondering why you think that way,” Celestia said simply. “I've found that there are very few problems that cannot be solved with kindness; and I've also found it feels good to do things for other ponies.” Mi Amore Cadenza rolled her eyes. Celestia continued as if she hadn't seen. “See, in my life, everypony is my friend; and every morning, I raise and lower the sun. That's certainly not a weak thing.” Mi Amore Cadenza smiled and shook her head, disbelieving. “No way. The sun doesn't need a pony raising it.” “I'll show you after dinner,” Celestia offered. She glanced at the clock, and her eyebrows raised. “Look at that. It’ll be lunch time in an hour.” Mi Amore Cadenza brightened. Another thing occurred to Celestia. “But you can't have just cookies for lunch,” she cautioned. “Watch me,” Mi Amore Cadenza challenged, flaring her wings. Celestia cracked a half-smile. Already, her preened wing was flaring easier and more fluidly. If she guessed right—and she was fairly certain she had—Mi Amore Cadenza would finish the other wing and then spend the rest of the morning practicing her flying. * * * Sure enough, when Celestia came to pick Mi Amore Cadenza up for lunch, she found her working on flight, hovering in the air. Taking this in stride (as it were), she smiled. “A little flight before eating would do me well, I think,” she said, spreading her own wings. “Fly with me?” Not about to turn down a challenge (even though the sweat shimmering on her coat suggested that she probably should), Mi Amore Cadenza nodded. Celestia let Mi Amore Cadenza lead for a bit down one of the longer halls, just to see how well she had picked it up. She was pleased to see that she had picked up up flying almost instinctively; her little habit of flapping constantly instead of gliding along the currents would be broken naturally on its own. Mi Amore Cadenza blinked as Celestia took the lead once more, leading her. Her scowl turned into mild confusion as Celestia turned away from the dining room. She soon landed, and unicorn guards lit their horns and opened the doors, revealing a table with plenty of food set. This was a new room, one Mi Amore Cadenza hadn’t been in before. The decorations weren’t suns, as they often were, but more of a landscape theme, with rolling hills and amber waves of grain under purple majestic mountains. This beauty was lost somewhat on Mi Amore Cadenza, who scowled as she climbed into her seat and then looked at her plate. In front of her was a lovely selection of good foods… and only two cookies. Celestia hid a smile as she climbed into her own seat. Mi Amore Cadenza glared defiantly at Celestia and lit her horn… but the light fizzled out and the green glow of her eyes faded to nothing but a weak spark. She frowned, confused, and tried again; but she got the same result. She looked up at Celestia, frowning, silently demanding an explanation. “Oh, didn't you notice? We’re sitting in a magic cancellation circle,” Celestia said airily, using a hoof to lift the fork to her mouth. She winked at Mi Amore Cadenza as she placed it in her mouth. Mi Amore Cadenza scowled and looked down. Sure enough, deeply carved into the ground around the table was a circle with strange markings; she recognized some of them as magic cancellation runes. She scowled harder, then screwed up her face and concentrated as hard as she could in an attempt to brute force her way through the block; but all she managed to produce were more sparks and the thinnest wisp of a purple trail from one eye, leaving her gasping for breath. She growled and then got off her chair, clearly intent on leaving the circle. Celestia chewed thoughtfully and swallowed politely. “A princess may be put in positions she does not want to be in. Sometimes, these are due to her own mistakes or inattentiveness; but where she really shows her strength is how she reacts to them.” She raised an eyebrow. “After all, we’re both in the circle, aren’t we?” Mi Amore Cadenza slowed to a stop, ears pricking. She muttered something under her breath that would have been quite appalling in polite company, turned around, and hopped back on the chair, scowling darkly. Celestia got the distinct impression that she had returned more out of defiance than anything else. She scowled once more at Celestia as she faced the table and picked up the fork with her hooves. Preened wings or no, she was still in the presence of an enemy. She looked at Celestia's little smile and scowled harder. “Suck shards,” she spat. “Don’t look so down,” Celestia said helpfully. “Dessert is coming later.” Mi Amore Cadenza couldn't help but brighten a bit at that prospect, and she ate quietly. Celestia was pleased to see that she could use her hooves just fine. That smile of hers faded somewhat when the dessert actually arrived. It was a large, white round thing with the outside painted white with thick paint and the interior divided with red lines and it was most definitely not a cookie. “It’s not a cookie,” Mi Amore Cadenza said accusingly. Celestia hid a smile. “No, it is cake. I happen to enjoy it even more than cookies.” Mi Amore Cadenza squinted. There was nothing better than a cookie, right? Half out of curiosity and half out of a deep seated desire to prove Celestia wrong, she lifted her fork and cut herself a bite-sized piece of the moist, rich cake. She slowly put it in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Her eyes widened ever so briefly and her wings nearly spread; but she quickly hid her reaction and tucked her wings back in. She finally looked up. “Not as good as a cookie, but it’s not bad,” she said grudgingly, reaching for another bite. Celestia hid a smile. When she was done, Celestia remarked, “I have other business to attend to; but you're free to visit some of the other areas of the castle, such as the hall of records…” Mi Amore Cadenza squinted. “…or maybe the gardens…” Mi Amore Cadenza scrunched her nose. “…or maybe the pottery restoration wing…” Mi Amore Cadenza stuck her tongue out. Celestia pretended not to notice. “…or the long, padded training hall where the guards practice their flight sparring, that should be open all afternoon and you wouldn’t be interrupted in there…” Mi Amore Cadenza’s ears pricked up, and she retracted her tongue. “…or maybe you would like to come with me to court again today?” “Training hall sounds good,” Mi Amore Cadenza said quickly. Celestia nodded. “Then I'll take you there.” * * * Mi Amore Cadenza practiced her flying all afternoon; at least, she probably had, judging by how hard she was panting and the frothy sweat covering her pink fur. Celestia had immediately sent for a large trough of water, and it was a testament to how thirsty Mi Amore Cadenza was that she didn't even bother demanding that somepony else test it for poison first before she drained it. At Celestia's subtle suggestion, she also went in for a bath. By this, it should be understood that she kicked out the attendants, let the hot water run and nearly overflow the tub, loaded her mane and tail with excess shampoo, and deemed rolling around in this soapy water sufficient for her coat, which she cleaned with a few lazy brushes. Still, she did look (and smell) relatively clean as she stood in front of Celestia, ready for dinner, and so off they went. Mi Amore Cadenza was ready for the magic cancellation room this time. So it came as a bit of a surprise when instead, Celestia led her outside. Mi Amore Cadenza frowned as she crossed the threshold. “What's wrong with the dining room?” she demanded. “Sometimes it's nice to have a change,” Celestia said airily. Mi Amore Cadenza narrowed her eyes and muttered something under her breath that sounded vaguely like ‘show-off’. Celestia waited a few moments before continuing. “Also, I like to lower the sun from outside.” “Oh, yeah.” Mi Amore Cadenza’s ears pricked up. “Don't think I forgot!” Celestia hid her smile. “It never once crossed my mind,” she said. * * * Mi Amore Cadenza sat on her haunches, glaring suspiciously at Celestia. It was time to show her moving the sun. Unless she couldn’t do it, of course. Mi Amore Cadenza had already checked to make sure there weren’t any tricks going on. Celestia, still mildly unnerved at the previous sight of the little precutiescent filly wandering around with dark, purple magic flowing from her eyes, waited until precisely the scheduled time, and then she stepped forward onto the balcony. She spread her wings and raised herself into the air. She felt like she was performing at another Summer Sun Celebration, but with an audience of only one. Still, Celestia did feel obligated to put on a bit of a show for her. She lit her horn and gently rolled her head back and let the light on her horn grow stronger. She lifted herself higher and spread her forelegs, slowly lowering them as, under her guidance, the sun slowly sank beneath the horizon. With similar motions, she raised up the moon in its stead, and then slowly let herself drift back down to the balcony. She landed gracefully, with barely a sound as her hooves hit the marble beneath. Mi Amore Cadenza stood, stunned. The magic flow faded into nothingness. Her jaw had dropped and her ears had pinned and her wings had spread and her eyes were as wide as the dinner plates she had just eaten off of, and Celestia couldn't help but crack a smile. “Will I learn how to do that?” Mi Amore Cadenza whispered reverently. “Maybe someday,” Celestia said. “It takes practice, and a lot of energy; but I don't doubt that one day you could.” Mi Amore Cadenza nodded, her face a mask of confusion. “But for now, it’s time for young princesses to go to sleep,” Celestia said, kindly but firmly. “You must rest if you want your magic to grow stronger.” Still thinking about what she had seen, Mi Amore Cadenza put up no protest as she followed one of the castle workers back to her bedroom. * * * Mi Amore Cadenza paced and pondered in her room. This had definitely given her much to think about. Celestia was clever, tricky, and strong; strong enough to bring down the sun! And then bring up the moon! Not even daddy could do that! So how did Celestia get so powerful? By being nice? She stomped a hoof, wings flared in frustration. That didn't make any sense, though! Strength came from crushing the wills and bodies of other ponies! Asserting your dominance! Not by helping ponies preen and giving them cake! But maybe it was different here. There were strange ponies here with flat coats, not the crystally coats she was used to. There were not nearly enough crystals in this strange place, and for a brief moment, Mi Amore Cadenza felt homesick. “Shards,” she cursed under her breath. She wanted to be strong. She wanted Daddy to be proud of her. He'd be proud of her for learning how to fly, that was for sure. But she needed more. If that meant learning to play by different rules, she would learn. And one day it would be her sitting on Celestia's throne, being fed cookies and sentencing annoying ponies to the salt mines. So. Do things for other ponies and get stronger. Stronger was good. But what could she do? Mi Amore Cadenza pondered all through the night.