//------------------------------// // Chapter 36: Et tu, Cadance? // Story: Favorable Alignment // by Ice Star //------------------------------// Celestia sighed tucked another strand of her mane aside, using her gold aura to move the strands that had fallen in her face back to their usual place, covering one of her eyes, both of which were now bearing noticeable signs of fatigue. A clock ticked on the wall of her quiet, airy study. She had various places that could be called her study, but this one was more soothing ones. Walls of soft lavender and white gleamed in daylight and tapestries in warm shades of purple and orange lay still on the walls. Snow painted the land outside in streaks, hundreds of flakes in a flurry wind blowing by now and then, the sun's light still managing to shine through into the tower room. She hadn't realized that one of her hooves was tapping in time to the clock. She bit her lip and pushed the papers in front of her aside as well, taking care to stack them neatly after removing them from her immediate focus until they blended into the neatness of the room. Requests from ponies could not distract her, and while they would require her attention at some point, they were of no use now. Something more important would need her focus. These intervals were of little help in crafting any kind of plan - ponies ought to not test boundaries in such a time. Eventually, she would run out of problems and questions from common ponies who were of far more concern to her than Blueblood's further inquiries into who the anonymous lunatic burning his perfect topiaries was. Property damage done by some unimportant arsonist was not as dire as a still-missing goddess. Needing no signal or further hesitation Celestia moved a neat stack of plates aside. They amounted to exactly twelve. All were from the last three hours, though the sandwiches, baked goods, and other snacks on them were gone. Once this was done, Celestia shook her head. Stress eating? She couldn't recall the last time she had done that - which was somewhat unusual. Her memory was an impeccable record of neat lines dictating happenings and schedules that seemed ridiculous for her to diverge from, if the thought had occurred to her. Thankfully, the only effect of this choice - one that she had become used to in recent months to the point of making it unconsciously - would be a boost in the energy she could use to raise the sun. As she levitated a thick tower of books and folders overstuffed with various newspapers, letters, and other documents - many written by the princess herself - Celestia's gaze caught some nondescript shadow on the wall. Will I have to raise the moon again as well? Hearth's Warming Day had been Tartarus itself for her this year. She had spent months putting and pulling off the mask of composure as needed and counting the numerous bouts of worry when her breathing was ragged and shallow at thoughts of what had been and what might be to the point where even her panic had withered into something ugly that she did her best to trim down, minimize and hide away. But that moment when the moon had not risen had been something horrible. She had thought that maybe Luna had simply been a little late or that her own experiences - which she doubted were pleasant ones - had drained her and caused her sleep in. Or maybe she had been hurt- And that invasive, constant thought had slipped passed the fragile barrier she wished to maintain - if only so she could maintain the composure her ponies needed her to have so she could help them - and the chain reaction, and explosive bout of panic had cracked something- -and she found herself crying alone on a snowy Hearth's Warming Day, wanting only a signal of dawn's coming as a reassurance of Luna's safety - that wherever she was in the world, she would be and could be okay and that she was spared the aching relapse of longing to see her sister that burdened Celestia once more. It had been the final straw. Strange reports of slumber and dreams of airships from Rarity and Twilight - along with a concerning recollection of Luna, her eyes carrying the near-infinite worry that her slim frame could not, pleading for a peaceful solution to a problem that slipped past Rarity's knowing - had been another large step in the direction of... somewhere. Even the letters they sent carried no speculations that ever went past being a vague timeline of events. Twilight and Rarity had met Luna - they Sky Scraper was described too perfectly in Rarity's dreams for it to not be so - and there somepony had meddled with their minds and weaving spells of enchanted slumber, and they had done so heartlessly. With the added detail of an eye of fire scrawled onto the papers sent to her, Celestia had no doubt in her mind who brainwashed her poor student and her marefriend. Celestia began to set up her research, flipping to whatever pages she had left on and arranging documents as she was sure she ordered them the day before. Magical research and knowledge was not among her strength, nor was honed power, but she would be damned if she didn't try to do something. Books of advanced navigation and travel magic spilled across the large table she sat at. Between them were highlighted maps, too small to form a true layout of the world. Instead, the incomplete collage of coastlines, ocean currents, and various territories within the southern nations served as a quilt of places they could be and might have been... To Celestia, it was nearly uncanny how the possible path of the Sky Scraper was able to elude the rescue effort Celestia had sent. They must have been going north or west... but there was also the possibility of Sombra taking Luna to the barren south seas - maybe in a bizarre attempt to flee to the West with a hostage? A test subject? Celestia truly wasn't sure exactly what sadistic motive that Sombra had for abducting Luna and any speculation into such a matter yielded no results beyond Celestia shuddering at cold that wasn't there and trying in vain to refocus on whatever was in front of her. She had scried the Sky Scraper yesterday, only to be presented with dark blurs and glassy reflections only made hazier from the distance and uncertainty of her spell's strength. Once it had failed, she had tried to scry her sister, which wasn't something she thought she could fail. All she had to do was conjure any kind of physical image of Luna and recall her presence, after that she need only to add any details she would know in order to increase the precision of the spell. It had not been pleasant to imagine what Luna could be going through. There was crushing loneliness, confusion, panic, and deep sadness that could be plaguing her. When that failed Celestia reluctantly allowed herself to draw a glassy-eyed Luna, too statue-like and cold to look like her sister truly was, hints of dark aura flickering madly in her eyes. That, too did not succeed. Celestia tried using the semblance of an angry Luna, eyes filled with magic from the heavens as well as an ill Luna. Each detailed mental phantom, made so perfect for scrying, fell apart as soon as the spell was released and she got nothing. Trying to cast Sombra's image so it might be reflected back to her through an aura-wrought mirror was somewhat easier. The exact subtleties of his appearance had never found their way into her memory properly, so she was left with what she looked like upon last seeing him and how he styled himself as a king, armor-clad with a elements of a warlord's helmet clearly seen in his crown. And then she need only to think of a sadistic smile or unequine fangs flashing with as he angrily shouted and brooding mask that hid impulsivity and recklessness... a defiance that stoked some kind of resentment within her colder side when she thought of all those he had hurt: Twilight Sparkle, the crystal ponies, and now on the list among so many names and simple casualties in his eyes... Luna, her dear sister. Yet even this turned up no results. It was as if the Sky Scraper, Luna, and the tyrant had managed to disappear from the world. But now, Celestia simply looked over maps, her roaming eyes to trained to appear frantic and her behavior restrained except for the slightest ways she moved: an awkward swallow, a rolling of her withers to hide a tic as elegantly as possible, a seamless smile to sew a worried frown shut tight. There were too many places to go. Too many places to be. Too many possibilities. There was no here and there, only everywhere many times over. The vastness of her world wasn't something that struck a chord with Celestia right now. She needed a clue. She was so worn from waiting and fretting, and even she could sense that some kind of action must be taken. There had to be something that could narrow her search, but Celestia was sure that nothing had been overlooked and she had only checked all the letters and alleged sightings - everything she had been mailed - from the first word to the last roughly twenty-some times, having to relinquish sleep every now and then in order to balance this frantic work with... well, balancing Equestria. Thus, she was absolutely certain nothing within the past few months could have been overlooked under her careful eye. Tiredly, Celestia blinked one heavily lashed eye as something fell on her muzzle, bouncing onto a map of Maretonia's coastline from there. It was a kernel of popcorn. She smiled a little more, brushed the food away with her hoof and looked up to the high ceiling of the place, ignoring - and to the best of her ability, hiding - the slight watery feeling she had in her eyes when they met the light of her sun. It was nothing for her to worry about - not to her. "Hello, Discord," Celestia said pleasantly, all traces of tiredness hidden from her guest. "Is there any chance I would be able to help you with something?" He traced a claw around the rim of his popcorn bowl. "That would be unlikely; however, I might be able to help you with something." "You can?" Celestia dare not let her barely-present hope show itself to be unrestrained in her tone. Discord shifted the bowl, his paw flicking a few pieces of the snack across the room, though he did not notice. "You're worrying about Luna again." Celestia's face remained mostly impassive, only the slight way she bit her lip betrayed her unshakable feelings of worry. "I am," she said quietly. "And you did try to scry her?" "Many times." Discord let out a surprisingly humorless chuckle. "You always bite your lip like that whenever you think she might be getting into trouble." Fiddling with a nearby pen in her magic, Celestia let out another sigh. "I suppose I do." "You always have." "She's always been a hoofful, Discord." Dropping the pen, Celestia rolled up a paper detailing an unbelievable sighting of Luna in Prance and tossed it at the draconequus floating above her. His grin widened, but he effortlessly batted the ball away with his tail. "Yes, she certainly has been. It's impossible for her not to impose her little-sister antics on everypony." "Are you suggesting that Luna will try to pout until King Sombra submits to her will?" "It isn't exactly impossible..." "He's a nothing more than a brute, and an arrogant one at that. A childish gesture would not move him." "It's still not impossible..." "You and I both know that Luna only lets her mischievousness show if she trusts somepony greatly and believes they won't mock her for her behavior. King Sombra is not a pony that she would ever try to open up to." "But-" Celestia gave Discord a look telling him that while his contributions were appreciated, his interruption was not. "Even if she made the mistake of trusting him - one I would not blame her for - he is not a misunderstood creature, like a timberwolf or some other outcast creature that can be seen in a compassionate light. He is not one to harbor any kind of sensitive tendencies or wounds that would stir Luna's compassion for the strange." "He is truly that cruel in nature?" Letting some exhaustion show, Celestia nodded and kept her head bowed out of tiredness. "The things he has done are unforgivable. Hundreds of crystal ponies both young and old were slain by him, and he felt nothing but glee in doing so." "If he is such a bloodthirsty fellow, then wouldn't Luna be able to trick him?" Discord suggested, stroking his chin with his paw, brow furrowed in thought. "Trick him how? He is to set in his ways that he even denied my offers of reformation. King Sombra seeks only destruction of life by any means that bring him pleasure." "Did you try and imagine how she is emotionally when you scried her?" "Yes, Discord. Many times but nothing worked. I tried to imagine her sad, sick, angry, lost, and other things... there was still nothing." "What about imagining her happy?" "Happy?" Celestia asked, the disbelief and confusion in her voice mixing with fatigue. "You did speculate she might be under the influence of mind controlling magic, yes? What if she was being forced to stay happy?" "What good would that do to her captor? The last thing he would allow Luna is happiness." "It would be a simple enough trick. He is powerful, isn't he? I've never met this Sombra character but you certainly make him out to be dangerous. Is mind control within his power?" "Mind control is easy for him, but he has had many opportunities for sneak attacks and trickery in that regard - however futile most plans imagined by him would likely be - yet has never acted upon any of those chances. I don't believe he has ever tried to trick others often, with the exception of when I had cornered him on the last day he was mortal and when he was able to charm Cadance into thinking he was worthy of a title." The princess' eyes stared duly at the array of papers and books in front of her, worry bleeding past disguised exhaustion. "If anything happens to her, it'll be all my fault..." A few tears slip down Celestia's cheek, and she wipes a couple of them a way with a hoof. "What kind of a sister am I?" Discord wasted no time in conjuring a box of tissues and passing them to Celestia, who refused by bowing her head and swallowing, even if her throat already felt tight. "Maybe she escaped and is on her way home? He may be immortal, but he doesn't sound very smart from what you say - just powerful and cruel. If that's true then, I'm sure she could have managed to slip away from him." "Perhaps..." Celestia whispered. She would have said more, but a letter burst into existence, magenta sparks declaring the identity of the sender before she even opened it. On Hearth's Warming Eve, Princess Celestia had received a lovely gift from Shining Armor and Cadance... two gifts to be exact: a painting of the sunrise over the south Germane shore and a package of tulip bulbs. The latter had struck her as something Luna might get her. Nopony else knew Celestia loved gardening and the sweet scent of flowers more than Luna. However this certainly did not appear the card with a written message of well-wishing she would expect to receive during the holidays. She lifted the heavy yellow envelope and broke the seal on it - the double-crest of Twilight and Rarity easily giving away to her magic - and began to read, her expression crumpling to disbelief as she read every word. "Cadance?! No, no, no it can't be Cadance and Shining, they would never-" "Celestia, what is it? Did something-" "It's Sombra! They-" Celestia let out a heaving breath verging on a sob before managing to go on. "Twilight and Rarity found Cadance and Shining in his company in Ponemünde... there was another mare there-" "King Sombra was just walking around Ponemünde in broad daylight?" Discord asked incredulously. "No, he was disguised... but this other mare..." "You think she might be Luna?" "In disguise," Celestia added quietly. "Yet the description of the mare Twilight gives is not a disguise that Luna would usually adopt and..." Celestia's ears flop down and her voice looses the strength it had carried thus far. Discord frowns and plucks the letter from her magic, squinting at the paper. "Cadance and Possibly-Luna looked happy in the company of this stallion? Shining Armor however looked reserved and... Hmm... they left after a brief fight that consisted of Twilight firing... and this Sombra character didn't let Cady get hurt when she stood directly in the spell's path? I thought you said he would willingly let others die to ensure his survival." "He would, even if he had to make them," she muttered darkly. "He didn't do that. In fact, Twilight wrote that Cadance was the first one to try running and- Wait, why were these two in Ponemünde?" "That's an answer that I'm starting to fear, Dissy." Discord huffed slightly at the nickname and tossed the papers on the table, where the envelope they were torn from lay. "Celestia, what do you think happened? How did Sombra and Luna even get there? Doesn't that seem like-" "Too much to be luck? Yes, it does." "Maybe Luna and King Sombra learned about Ponemünde from papers on the ship-" "Twilight says Cadance and King Sombra almost appeared to be friends, or at the very least more than a little familiar with one another." Discord offered nothing in reply, choosing to whistle softly and look out the window. "I don't think Twilight and Rarity had anything to do with this," Celestia said with certainty. "Why not?" "King Sombra doesn't know the spell that would take him to the Pantheon's floor. Both Twilight and Cadance were given that spell shortly after their respective coronations." Celestia was unusually quiet, letting her silence allow Discord to fill in the blanks. "...You think pretty pink Cadance somehow managed to betray you? For a dark overlord?" "Yes," Celestia managed, voice low. "But I can't fathom why. I've known Cadance since she was a young mare and she's a loving, kind, though occasionally naive mare... but after what King Sombra did to Twilight I cannot see why or how they must have kept contact..." Her voice trailed off, and Celestia's eyes widened with dawning horror. "What if... Cadance and King Sombra never broke contact?" Waving away another bowl of popcorn Discord gave Celestia a skeptical look. "Why would that happen? I don't ever remember your precious pupils-turned-princesses keeping secrets or getting themselves in circumstances like this. Well-" He lifted a claw to his chin with consideration. "Do you suppose Cady might have been blackmailed?" Celestia scoffed lightly, but not patronizingly. "Blackmailed with what, Discord? King Sombra is a crystal pony colt poorly transformed into a unicorn, and he was never an observant youth. While I do not doubt he has power above an average unicorn - Luna and I have seen the proof - he is not some almighty being... just an incredibly reckless one who seeks to abuse power in order to abuse ponies, which has led him to take..." She shook her head when she felt she had spoken enough. "...It is no longer far-fetched to say that Cadance-" Celestia struggled to conceal a few tears making their way down her face and swallow properly. Her voice was barely audible as she forced out the last few words. "-has betrayed me, the rest of her family, all of Equestria, and the Crystal Empire that she swore to protect." Discord's paw paused in the air, subdued interest and obvious alarm showing in his expression. "How do you plan to respond to this...?" Celestia looked down, saying nothing at all, her silence communicating what she currently would not: too much time had passed for anything to be truly done now that Luna was too far away for anypony of the ability required to deal with the situation. She had been fooled. Her own niece, a spy. There were no plans that would help them immediately, Celestia needed time and careful calculations, but the longer she waited the more the distance between her and Luna grew with each passing second. Only after this realization sunk in did Celestia begin to weep openly.