The Love Room was probably not the best name for that particular room, considering it existed within the Bordello of Candy, but it was analogous in function to a ‘war room’, and Cadance didn’t want to name it that. So, the Love Room was the nervous center for all the ‘operations’ within the Bordello and ‘away missions’ as well as it housed Cadance’s map of all ponies with relationship problems in the entire world.
If not for the powerful magic map, the room would actually amount to a bunch of ponies in desks in front of the map managing records of all the princess’ ponies and their activities, the finances and supplies of the establishment, and Cadance's “Love Management Center” with its enormous archives, relationship tracking charts and the parts that were supposed to be an access to an alchemy lab, complete with classrooms, and the area reserved for the Dream Achievement Initiative, but Princess Luna refused to disclose dream her ponies could fulfil in real life. Spoilsport.
To be very honest, to this day it still amused Cadance that Princess Celestia took the whole thing as seriously as she did when she first asked for help in getting the whole place built and operational. Most ponies didn’t, and maybe this was a sign that either Cadance was right and that Princess Celestia was the so-called Illuminated Despot ponies, as referred to the old leaders that actually did invest in the betterment of their magical and societal knowledge.
Or maybe she just wanted to let Cadance follow her talents? Princess Celestia often did things Cadance didn’t understand. She supposed one time too many.
Regardless, her map allowed her to locate any couples having trouble in their relationship, but also allowed her to track ponies she’s personally known by means of colored blips and their cutie marks or symbols that represented them. She could see Princess Luna in her palace, but not Queen Chrysalis. She could see Princess Celestia in Ponyville and Chocolate Velvet, a few miles away from her chasing Twilight in her airship, Cadance supposed, which was represented by Twiligth’s cutie mark.
She sat in front of the large table, on her crystal highchair, adorned in gold and with her cutie mark high up high, and was brought out of her thoughts by one of her ponies, a handsome light-blue and salmon, with pretty green wyes, crystal pony called Azurite. He wore a few traditional decorative collars with scales of shinny gemstones and called her attention hum-humming politely next to her, on the side of the table.
“Princess, I have the reports from the interrogations of the Lunar Guards and of the changelings.” He showed her a few sheets of parchment on his mouth and laid them on the table. “We have names, registration numbers and ranks from the Lunar Guards and have also confirmed that they came accompanying Princess Luna. Her entire guard is here, which makes sense, since her goal was to spread her guard though the town and to keep our local Royal Guards under watch in the barracks.”
The princess paid attention, so he proceeded. “The changelings gave us no information and wouldn’t buckle under any offers or promises, and… Well, your highness knows we can’t really threaten them.”
Cadance kept to her thoughts and raised her eyebrow at the ideas she had inside her head on how to make them talk, but she wouldn’t do any of those things.
“We did manage to learn one thing about the Changelings, through the Lunar Guards, though.” With her attention again, he kept going. “It seems Chrysalis wasn’t supposed to be here, but after talking to the princesses in Canterlot, she decided to stick with Luna. There seems to be something wrong with her guards and princess Luna isn't happy about it. She also brought all of them, along with several ‘normal’ black-carapace changelings. Most importantly, the changelings have occupied the palace.”
Cadance's mood plummeted. It was almost like the two were cheating against her, teleporting entire companies along with them.
Not to mention that none of that was a particularly huge help and it frustrated her. It seemed that Luna, not being an idiot knew exactly what Cadance wanted coming home. With her guards in the streets, she couldn’t seek help from the vast majority of her subjects and with Chrysalis’ changelings in the palace, she couldn’t simply sneak in, grab what she wanted and teleport away. Maybe she could deal with the changelings, but as soon as she tried anything, Luna and Chrysalis were sure to show up. A fight was just not the way to deal with this.
She wanted to talk personally to those changelings and try to understand more about them, as she had a very strong feeling that there was something wrong with them, but more than that, they might be the fruit of some very shady business between the Queen and The Sisters. She had a feeling, and it might just be because of the whole legend surrounding Chrysalis that it might have a connection to whatever happened in the past.
She also worried for her fillies and colts around the city. She didn’t think that Luna’s guards would hurt them, but she couldn’t be sure about Chrysalis’. Lighting her horn and interacting with the map magically, she located all of them throughout the city, sneaking around and returning with the locations for the roadblocks. Maybe with the full picture in front of her, she might find a gap in Luna’s setup and exploit it to, at least reach the palace.
Then one of her said fillies entered the room, wearing her outdoors cape and carrying her bow and arrows on her back. “Princess! Princess Luna and Queen Chrysalis are coming here! They figured out you’re likely hiding here!”
Well, it wasn’t a particularly well-hidden secret anyway… She tapped her chin with a hoof. If she played it right, she could use this to her advantage. A smile appeared on her muzzle and the idea of a conversation seemed more approachable than an open fight. They would be on her home field, surrounded by her supporters… She wished she could appeal to their base desires but knew that wasn’t likely to work on Luna in that situation, however that didn’t mean she couldn’t use her charms and talents to help her!
***
Chrysalis was just happy that Cadance had a suitable coach. She was afraid she’d be forced to change to another form just so that she’d fit or that she would have to face the cold outside and walk to their destination; but apparently, the princess was ready for visits from the others. Celestia would need a big one when she visited, after all, and heavens forbid Celestia would have to walk.
Or herself. Queen Chrysalis was above walking, much less in that freezing cold.
Anyways, they had decided that it would be a better strategy if Chrysalis left her soldiers, both the Praetorians and the regular military caste changelings in the palace in case Cadance tried to sneak around them.
Another thing on her mind was the realization that she’d been putting resources on that research of hers with the Praetorians. While ponies had coaches with magical internal heating, the Rock barely had a ventilation system worth noting, and was pretty much used by her Spawning Pool. And then her bedchamber was like a personal palace. In a way, she was a bit conscious of the fact that she was hogging resources for her use. Even if she could say that the Spawning Pool benefited all the Swarm.
Did she really need her dissected statues? Her archeological artifacts and fancy weapon displays? Her piano? Her giant bed? Maybe she could put those things for sale?
Preposterous… It was her due as the Queen. The Princesses too had all sorts of comforts. Heck… Celestia and Luna literally had a hoof-made consort to them, complete with a cure for their inability to bear children. It was curious though, that Cadance didn’t need any of that to bear Flurry Heart. For starters, Shining Armor was a normal unicorn stallion. Sure, as normal as one of those ‘Sparkles’ were, but still…
It wasn’t only that. The ponies had a wealth of small magical comforts her changelings didn’t. Maybe she should have swallowed her pride sooner and looked for some friendship, for a change. She felt silly: at the time she feared Celestia would force her to sell her treasures to help with the Swarm’s financial situation. It hadn’t even occurred to her that Thorax might already even had liquidated everything while she was away.
In the end, they have all been so nice to her. Ironic that she’d ended up putting resources on The Sister’s project along with her little secret of the Prateorians. It’s a shame it ended up turning out a mess. Maybe she could salvage the Praetorians and make them more viable.
She stared downward, consumed by her thoughts before her eyes shifted up to Luna. Each sat on one of the two long seats, with the alicorn on the back one. On each side were the closed doors and windows that showed the city’s empty streets.
Luna’s guards pulled the coach at a steady pace with their clip-clopping filtering through the windows, as if they were used to it and it also dawned on the queen that she didn’t have any sort of carriage to use like that. At the same time, she doubted her soldiers would pull her around with the same sort of proud Luna’s ones did. Maybe her Praetorians… But it’s not like they’d have a choice anyways.
“Luna?” She looked at the other and her voice was soft.
“Hum?” The princess kept staring through the window.
“I’m sorry.” The queen’s eyes shifted, despite Luna never looking at her. “I shouldn’t have tried to intimidate you.”
“No, you’re not.” The blue alicorn seemed barely interested. “You’re upset you didn’t have it your way.”
The queen didn’t answer right away but her voice and expression turned sour. “You sound like Celestia.”
“We’re both experienced in dealing with spoiled children and nobles.” The other replied casually, almost as though she wasn’t paying attention to the conversation.
Chrysalis scowled and raised her voice. “That was completely unnecessary!”
Luna then giggled and smiled at the queen. “You’re doing fine, Chrysalis. Next, you’ll try to do better because you’ll feel ashamed that you ‘fell’. Then you’ll proudly behave. Eventually you’ll see an opportunity and you’ll try to exploit it to get ahead, thinking that you’ll get away with it without getting caught. Then, when you do get caught, you’ll feel upset you didn’t have it your way, will catch yourself at that and will be ashamed again and will try to do better.”
The princess smiled ever slightly more softly. “It doesn’t end.”
“I guess… That’s living…” The queen concluded and the other agreed with a soft nod. “I suppose you know me more than I’d like to admit.”
“It’s how children behave.” Luna smiled mischievously and the queen growled loudly but didn’t reply. Luna actually was right, after all.
“You understand me, don’t you?” The queen flashed her a conspiratorial grin. “Maybe I should be consulting with you instead of Celestia.”
“Good try.” Luna gave her a knowing grin. “But that is not how it works. You’ll be lucky you don’t get sent to Twilight’s School of Friendship after this stunt.”
Chrysalis shuddered at the thought.
“Though, I have to admit… In your place I might have done something similar. You did figure out something you weren’t supposed to.” Hearing that, the black one felt a small amber of pride in her chest, but then Luna added more. “Celestia will be furious though. You did something that borders on the darkest of necromancy and she abhors that. You’re lucky it was completely unintentional. You also caused them much more pain than any creature should ever have to bear. You’ll answer for that.”
“Well, it was kind of Celestia’s fault!” Chrysalis defended herself.
“No, it wasn’t!” Luna was completely amused by the idea. “You were doing something that you shouldn’t. Then you tried to hide it, even when you realized that something was very wrong, until you thought that you could use it for your gain.”
The queen didn’t answer.
“We can fix this, Chrysalis.” Luna added. “It is your responsibility, but you don’t have to deal with it alone. At least now that you opened up about it.”
Chrysalis frowned. “I just…”
“I know. You’re afraid of the Lion. Deep inside, you want to protect your children from him.” The princess nodded understandingly, interrupting her softly. “Most of the smart creatures aren’t amused by the whole circus the griffons have raised in the Senate and are afraid. Don’t kick yourself too hard.”
“You’re not doing anything!” She practically accused Luna. It was a weird feeling and, once again, lost between emotions she was not used to have boiling in her chest, she went with the easier one: anger. “You’re both worried about some pet project of yours. And now there’s Twilight and Cadance running around with that asinine research of theirs and the whole house of cards that is ready to collapse on you two! It’s the last thing we needed!”
Luna’s eyebrow rose. “You’re the one that sent them to the Lion.”
“I had to tell them something that they wouldn’t recognize as deceiving!” She raised her black hooves in frustration. “Trust me. I know lying.”
“We are doing something about it, Chrysalis.” Luna remained calm. “Several things, in fact. Our navy is being renovated for airships, as we know the Lion has an airfleet of his own. Celestia has recalled a very good officer to command our new flying armada. She has been transferring assets to regions surrounding the griffon lands and to our loyal provinces within. I have been visiting the dreams of key individuals, and it is no coincidence one of Twilight’s students is brother to the Lion. What is more, Celestia has shifted the classes in her school towards the politics of war and peaceful coexistence. She’s been stimulating Queen Novo to make acquaintances with him, so that she may influence him, and she has been openly condemning the Lion’s main source of support: the corrupt leadership of the griffons. You may not see it, but Celestia has all of Equestria just short of mobilizing against the Lion. He won’t be able to move out of Snow Mountains for more than a week before his forces are annihilated if it comes to a war.”
“But she’ll allow him to become king.” She spat back.
“The griffons are entitled to choose their own leaders, Chrysalis.” Luna remained calm. “It is one of the bases of our system. It would fall apart if citizens couldn’t choose representatives to sit in the House of Chosen and if their leaders, elected or inherited, couldn’t sit in the House of Majesty. Our relationship with them is one of respect. They trust Celestia’s leadership. Her wisdom, and in return we must respect their choices. Not to mention that Celestia believes the Lion may turn out to be a good ruler for the griffons. Even if he hates us, he may learn to coexist when his supporters realize that we are willing to compromise.”
“I suppose ruling an entire world is a bit more complex than a rock full of bug-ponies…”
“Actually, it is just a big mess.” Luna giggled. “Celestia is taking care of that… Just in her own way. She wants to avoid too much of a hassle, but also to avoid too much of a disagreement with Twilight and Cadance. Equestria needs us to be in good terms with one another. That is actually her goal… Ponies, griffons, everyone come, and they go, but if Twilight or Cadance held a grudge against us the consequences would be too much. Which is why we’re here to deal with Cadance.”
Then Luna frowned in annoyance. “Actually, that is why I’m here. You’re just intruding.”
“Oh, Luna… You wouldn’t have a clue to check the obvious place where she’s likely hiding with her little guerrillas. Not to mention, you have a tendency of speaking too much and not even noticing.” She finished with a venomous grin that Luna didn’t completely understand. But it lost importance when they retreated back into their thoughts.
Silence followed again and the two of them retreated inside their own heads, which bothered Chrysalis because it gave her the time for introspection. She frowned and her eyes shifted from one side and the other until she finally looked at Luna again. “I shouldn’t have made them…”
Luna nodded softly. “I’m not sure you understand the depth of what you did, Chrysalis. You mentioned disposing of them as though they were broken possessions.”
For some reason she couldn’t completely understand, hearing that greatly upset her. It started with a feeling of annoyance, but it grew until it became regret and, finally, a strange hopelessness when the depth of what she did hit her with its full force. Her eyes burned and her mouth trembled a bit, but the worst of all was the tightness in her throat. Her eyes closed tightly, and she soon found herself strangling a sob, like a dagger of regret someone punctured her throat with.
“Chrysalis?” Luna called her softly, worriedly.
“They were in pain… I know I shouldn’t have done it, but it was done, and I had to deal with it… And it only got worse.”
“That is why we don’t deal with these things Chrysalis. Do they have memories of ‘past versions’?” Luna asked and the queen shook her head slightly.
“Not on the conscious level, at least. They look up to me, and I don’t think that they would if they did.” Her voice trembled a bit with the very pungent memory of the joke she made about the laboratory on fire and wondered to herself how could she have been so callous to joke when she had done all that to her… Children? “They call me mother, Luna. They love me helplessly and I made a mess of their heads and their bodies trying to make them into soldiers I could push around without a thought. And now the other changelings are afraid and have distanced even more from me. Thorax is afraid and is constantly trying to not upset me. Twilight and Cadance suspect I may be a monster”
Well, she was… Dumbass. At least Luna didn’t seem to judge her. She simply listened patiently.
“I’m just doing my best. I’m trying to be like her… A good leader. But… I don’t know how.”
Luna shook her head softly. “Don’t try to be Celestia, Chrysalis. It’s impossible. Celestia is ordained to be what she is… Be a better yourself, instead. Especially because Celestia is far from perfect. Even as far as being a leader, a ruler, or commander, a sister of friend. She's done her share of dark deeds, in times of need, that were ‘justified’... She’s taken revenge, she’s acted in anger and in prejudice. She’s simply more experienced now, at avoiding certain mistakes. As I am. And as you’ll be, eventually. See us as an example, but don’t try to be us.”
The queen listened to Luna even though she was used to be listened to. She hated these feelings and instead reminded herself of her importance to the Swarm, and how she was the most important thing, and that was why Celestia and Luna had spared her. Without her, the changelings would be condemned to spiral into oblivion. That was better… Ignore that pain and crush it down in the back of her mind, keeping it occupied with more important stuff.
“I know!” The queen shook slightly. Talking to Luna made her feel better, that things would be fine, too. “But I keep ruining things! Ponies love you two and you don’t need to mess with their heads!”
Luna watched carefully how Chrysalis seemed to be feeling and her sorrow seemed to be replaced with frustration now, so she allowed herself a giggle when the queen smiled awkwardly. “Actually, you literally fix their heads! It’s quite the opposite.”
“Chrysalis, I know it’s trite to say, but the secret is doing to then what you would like then to do for you, were your roles switched. You also don’t have to undo your mistakes of the past. Do it right from now on and everything will be fine. Threat the other changelings like your subjects instead of resources… If you want them to treat you more like you’re their mother, or beloved queen, give them reasons to see you as such. Eventually, you won’t feel so bad you literally made the Preatorians to see you like that. You’ll have earned it, at least.”
“I’m trying! But it’s so frustrating when most the Swarm is keeping their distance from me all they can, and at the same time the Praetorians are doing everything to make me happy even when I’m mean to them! It’s so heartbreaking when Limpy is holding his hoof from the floor and is actually trying so hard to-”
“Wait!” Luna’s ears perked up and her eyes went wide as a pair of plates. “You actually named one of them ‘Limpy’?!”
The queen just stared at her.
“Chrysalis, you can’t name them after their flaws! I thought it was just the name you gave to the archetype that overpowered them. You literally called them by those names? What were you thinking?!”
“You see?!” The queen shrieked. “I keep doing these things!”
“All right… It’s fine.” Luna rubbed her temples and took a few deep breaths with her eyes closed. “You’ll rename them. You’ll start by renaming them, and it will be fine!”
The queen simply nodded.
“I know there is Bossy, Limpy, Grumpy and Laggy. What did you name the other three?”
She kept her mouth shut for a few seconds, causing Luna to stare at her. “What did you name them, Chrysalis?”
The other one changed to a more casual and faux-relaxed posture, gesturing with a hoof along with her words. “You know I believe that it is very toxic to dwell on past mistakes. It is much more productive to focus on what lies ahead of us. Wouldn’t you agree, Luna? Not to mention, we need to devise our strategy to catch Cadance if she is present at the Bordello. That is, after all, the reason we left the palace, is it not?”
“Fine then.” The princess smiled smugly. The important thing was that Chrysalis understood she shouldn't have done it. “But I’ll be watching you.”
***
The Bordello of Candy was not simply a glorified brothel like Luna had imagined. It was a palace from the Era of the Two Sisters sculptured in stone and adorned with copious amounts of stained glass that housed a glorified brothel, a rowdy casino, a lewd hotel and a lascivious restaurant, all themed after the old age before The Sisters had unified all of Equestria. And she knew that only by looking at the flyer she picked at the entrance. What in Tartarus was that filly thinking?!
Apparently, it was also the headquarters for Cadance’s personal guards too, but that wasn’t apparent in any way from the outside or in the flyer.
It was like one of the old cathedrals of the Two Sisters ponies insisted on building throughout the earlier days of their rule, but instead of a place ponies would go to reflect on the wonders of Harmony, it was a place where ponies would go to actually do the things Luna saw on their dreams and were the reason she kept a bottle of bleach on her vanity. She only needed to figure out a way to bleach her brain that didn’t hurt.
In the cold night, it was covered in fresh snow, sitting at the top of a mountain, and the courtyard, within the fortifications, was converted into a place coaches, chariots and the like would be left while their owners visited the place. The original fortifications still remained, with its towers and main gate, and the only approach was a single road that connected to the city bellow. Literally, all Cadance did with the outside was add several forms of decoration, such as banners and heart icons.
“Unbelievable.” Luna grumbled. “I suppose that I should have expected that Cadance wouldn’t be as daft as I imagined.”
She wore a pure black velvet cape and hood, with blue satin rimming while the changeling queen wore dark green velvet and black rimming.
Chrysalis stood next to her, by the coach they had just come in. “Cadance is crazy enough to build a brothel when Celestia and Twilight have built schools and you have an orphanage. But I had to admit I didn’t expect her to have a personal guard, all of her own, with a headquarters disguised as a brothel.”
“It is eye opening, indeed.”
The two of them crossed the open parking space, and surprisingly enough, there were a few pony-drawn vehicles in there. Mostly richly adorned coaches made of wood and adorned with crystalized metal pieces, as well as gold or silver.
“I can’t believe that ponies would be here during a curfew.” Luna stared at one of such coaches and her companion chuckled.
“They probably were caught outside and couldn’t go home. It is the perfect place, though. It’s full of stiff beverages, luxurious food and pleasant company.” Luna rolled her eyes, but the Queen went on. “I wonder if I can find any of those freaks that are into changelings!”
They both laughed a little and soon they reached the tall wooden doors to the establishment. They found themselves facing a big white griffon wearing a silver cape closed in front of his chest with a heart brooch. “Greetings. The Princess is expecting your majesties.”
“Is she now?” Luna stared curiously at the griffon, who then gave each a small envelope, all pink and closed with a wax seal of Cadance’s cutie mark.
“She has asked that I give each of your majesties a token. You can use it to gain entrance to the Bordello at any time and make use of the services provided.”
“Thank you.” Luna looked at the outside of hers while the other ripped open the envelope and produced a small crystalized metal, shield shaped, brooch with Cadance’s cutie mark, but with an arrow though the heart.
Luna then stared at hers, devoid of external expression, spinning it in her telekinetic magic. “I don’t know if I should feel flattered or if I should order my guards storm this place, bring Cadance out and then tie her to a pole and whip her flanks until she has grown some common sense.”
The queen chuckled staring at hers. “Don’t be a prude, Luna. Also, she’d probably like that.”
Luna’s ears lowered and she grunted audibly.
With a quick look over the small brooches, both knew exactly what to do. Luna held hers up towards the doors and they opened by themselves, allowing passage, and after both had passed through the doors, they magically dismissed the small artifacts into nothingness.
“A brothel with a magic lock…” The princess mumbled to herself. “I could teach that child a thing or two about ‘love’.”
The changeling queen followed the princess into the atrium while Luna kept mumbling and complaining to herself. “How come the Equestrian Society for the Good Manners of Royalty isn’t rioting in front of this place right now? I can’t wear a dress slightly provocative for my consort without them throwing a fit.”
They were in a luxurious, if rustic, atrium with a few couches and long chairs, all in clear mahogany and colorful upholstery in satin and velvet, and that kept a few ponies, mostly crystal ponies, leisurely sitting and talking to each other, while drinking from elegant crystal glasses the servants of the Bordello offered them. In fact, one of them offered the Princess a glass with a green liquid, complete with a slice of lemon, but she ignored the pony, still mumbling to herself. The queen took it for herself, though.
The walls were in polished stone, gray and cold, adorned with tapestry of the princesses and beautiful sconces holding shinning white crystals, instead of torches. A giant golden and crystal candelabra also offered magical light from its shinning gems and the windows were framed in red curtains. Statues showed mares and stallions in different and situations and scenes, most of them related to gracious dancing or risqué posing. The sound of ponies talking and laughing coexisted with the ringing of crystals, but conversations stopped though, as the arrival of both drew attentions from the whole room.
“Look at this place…” Ponies couldn’t tell what with, but the princess definitively seemed to be angry about something even if they couldn’t entirely hear her. “And I couldn’t put a statue on my orphanage… I wouldn’t be surprised to find more ‘detailed’ statues any time soon.”
The queen left the glass with a confused crystal pony that was talking to another and staring at Luna, and then she came up the princess’ side.
“Luna, you sound like an old lady complaining that the skirts are too short.” The queen complained right next to the pony. “You are ruining our style.”
The princess stopped and raised her head and perked her ears. “Style?! We are not here to indulge! We must-"
Green telekinetic magic interrupted her tirade and pulled her muzzle to the Queen, who spoke low and seriously. “Do you want the whole of Equestria to know something is not only wrong, but also out of control?”
Luna hum-hummed ‘no’.
“Then keep your muzzle shut and start having a good time. Ponies come here to enjoy themselves!”
When the queen let go of her, Luna smiled awkwardly at the ponies staring at them. “Don’t mind us. Please enjoy your stay.”
Chrysalis smiled regally. “The princess is nervous. I am her first female date after her marriage.”
Luna suddenly realized that there was a high probability she would commit regicide that night. She could feel a headache coming just imagining the newspapers. Ponies stopped paying attention to them, however.
“Aren’t you worried what Thorax might think when you say things like that?” She whispered to the queen.
“Of course not.” Chrysalis grabbed another glass carried by a servant, in a tray in his back. A black drink, in a large glass. “It is good for him to always worry he could be doing better by me.”
Then a pair of ponies approached them. One a very cute milky white and blonde unicorn wearing a fluffy white dress, and the other was an aqua colored crystal pony with a pink-ish mane and a flowy light green dress. Both wore large headdresses with white metals and multicolored feathers.
“Hello Princess Luna! Queen Chrysalis!” The unicorn greeted them cheerfully. “May we take your cloaks?”
While the queen calmly unhitched her cloak, Luna held back her irritation, but spoke with a less than friendly tone. “So, which are you two? Cadance’s little courtesans or guerrillas?”
The crystal pony covered her mouth with a small smile and the white unicorn giggled, snorted, and kept giggling for a while.
“Well, at least you’re having fun, aren’t you?” The queen smiled coyly and the four kept to a more reserved tone, distancing themselves from the patrons, entering a different hall, to the side.
Luna spoke again. “Tell us you cared well for our captured soldiers.”
“Ah, they’re fine, your majesty!” The white one said. “I’m Milky White, and this is Topaz. Very pleased to meet you.”
“The pleasure is ours.” Luna replied, calmer now, and the queen didn’t speak but nodded softly. “Tell us more about them. You certainly know the drill.”
“Oh.” Milky waved a hoof dismissively. “They received rooms in the hotel and have been put under watch. They also have been fed and received water.”
“Very good.” Luna nodded. “What about Cadence?”
“The princess would like to convene with your majesties.”
Both guests looked at each other and the Princess spoke again with the pony. “Fair. Can you take us to Cadance, then?”
The unicorn nodded happily. “She has directed us to take your majesties to one of our meeting rooms!”
Then the crystal pony took Chrysalis’ cloak and Luna’s, but as soon as they turned to show them the way, Luna raised a hoof. “Wait. What exactly goes on these meeting rooms, normally?”
“They are business meeting rooms, Princess.” The crystal pony said calmly, turning to her. “We have a hotel in the premises after all, that does receive ponies interested in doing business with potential customers.”
Milky then raised an eyebrow. “Not to mention that we do clean our rooms…”
***
Cadance’s room in the Bordello was almost as luxurious and comfortable as the one on her palace. It was, however, much more rustic and she loved it. It gave it a sort of ‘old world’ feeling that not even old cities like Canterlot had anymore but could still be found in the out Palace of the Two Sisters, in Everfree. Something drew her to that period. Sometimes she thought that ponies of the present were a little too nice. It made her feel awful to think like that, but it seemed that all the fun was in the past, especially when the Two Sisters had these secrets, hiding what they had done, as though they were ashamed of their younger years, when they could be really wild.
When she felt like that, she wondered if she didn’t actually envy them. That she resented the fact that she had been born in the era of being too nice and boring. She tried to imagine a Princess Celestia that would lead hosts of soldiers into battle during the First and Second Griffon Wars. Fighting her in their sparing sessions, she felt like a force a nature… Meeting her on a battlefield, no rules, no safeguard spells… It must have been terrifying.
She had found a few pieces of anecdotal information here and there, mostly quotes from obscure books and journals of ponies long gone that painted a picture of a queen that would take anything she wanted and would share her quarters with whoever she ever liked. Granted, Cadance might have been reading from the wrong sources, that romanticized that period and had the big white alicorn as the center point of a convenient narrative.
The big alicorn princess, armored in gold and backed by dozens of knights… Maybe some of her aunt’s romantic streak has rubbed off on her. She was a princess, had married a knight and did attend to the tournaments and festivals, after all.
It was a bit weird to imagine Princess Celestia like that, at least until Chocolate Velvet came around. He seemed to have lit a fire on the old alicorn that Cadance hadn’t seen before.
And then all this present mess happened!
It was sad from another perspective. The following day would be Heart Day, her very own weekly festive day meant to bring families together, when the whole family would come together and celebrate, but instead of preparing for it, Twilight was on her airship going to distant griffon lands, Aunts Celestia and Luna were hunting them and her plans of including Chrysalis and Thorax in the family festivities were more busted than her plans to play matchmaker for her aunts.
It seemed like being a princess was much more fun in those older times.
Nevertheless, she sat on her comfortable chair, in front of her richly adorned vanity, wearing a clear pink bathrobe adorned with her cutie mark, allowing her hooficure to polish her hooves and her maid to preen her wings while another took care of her mane.
With closed eyes, the princess took a deep breath and spoke to herself. “I am very happy… Hum… No. I am immeasurably happy! Yes, that sounds much better… Hum… Maybe Overjoyed? No… That is too much.”
Somepony knocked on the door and entered soon after. It was Milky White, Cadance`s second mare in her Bordello, and the one pony she’s been expecting. “They’ve arrived, princess. Princess Luna doesn’t seem very happy, though.”
“Auntie Luna is just nervous. She’s not used to the sort of place this is. And Queen Chrysalis has a strange way of making us feel weird too…”
“Are you nervous, princess?” One of her maids, a vivid blue crystal pony with a green mane asked her while she worked the princess’ mane.
“I am. A bit…” She admitted. How wouldn’t she be? She felt immersed in Luna's powerful magic that overshadowed Chrysalis' own. “Aunt Luna could really hurt me if she meant it.”
Fortunately, she had a plan!
“The fact that she didn’t….” Her maid wondered. “Shouldn’t it encourage you to think that this whole situation is just a silly misunderstanding?”
“I wish…” She said, staring back at the mirror with worry. “But I’m afraid that my aunts may have done something very wrong in the past and then tried to hide it. It’s possible that their rule is illegitimate and that they may have done something so outlandish that they must answer to it. Not to mention several things that seem odd and out of place even now.”
“Princess, this is dangerous. Your Highness and Princess Twilight Sparkle are going against the most powerful mares in the world. Milky admonished her from behind. “I mean… they are older than Equestria as we know it… Should you really be trying to get them to answer for things they did in that time?”
“I am a Princess…” Cadance said, frowning a little. “I’m dangerous too. Not to mention that the consequences of what they did are still felt in the present time. Take Archduke Blueblood. It seems as though he could have a strong claim to Equestria’s throne. Hum… More likely to the ruins of Everfree, I suppose. But that is not the point. It is that compensation might be due. As is fitting reprimand for what they may have done.”
“I’m not sure I follow though…” Milky White appeared on her mirror, from behind her while her maid worked her mane. “Why do you need to spruce up to talk to the Princess and to Chrysalis?”
“If I am to have any luck with my plan, Princess Luna must see me as a respectable Majesty. The sovereign and legitimate ruler of the Crystal Empire, and thus, I must look the part.” She said with a flair of raised muzzle and majestic poise. “And Chrysalis will react better to an attractive, sexy mare.”
“Eeeh… If you say so…” The pony shrugged.
“Trust me.” Cadance said with a grin, staring at her eyelashes flapping in the mirror. “It’s one of the things I’ve picked up from Princess Celestia: if you’re going into a difficult negotiation, you can afford to have all that you can in your favor. Including your appearance.”
“Sounds like dating advice, actually.” Milky wasn’t very impressed.
Cadance frowned. “Well, politics and sex are somewhat similar. Both are dirty, noisy and someone always gets covered.”
Milky did her best to remain calm... There was always Yakyakstan, after all. But she also worried for the sort of dating advice Flurry Heart would get growing up. Well, she was stuck with her princess and could only hope Cadance knew what she was doing.
Her maids kept quiet and to their job of preparing the princess’ mane for her meeting with Chrysalis and Princess Luna, but the silence didn’t last long: a letter arrived via ‘DragonFire’, not magically traceable, and requiring of specific magical knowledge and one willing dragon, both of which her sister-in-law and partner Princess conspirator had in abundance.
“Twilight!” She grinned happily, grabbing the rolled-up scroll in her telekinetic magic and quickly opening it. It had been written hastily, but Twilight’s exquisite hornwriting was unmistakable.
‘Made it out of Ponyville!
They had an army, but we had a Discord.
He is, also, willing to talk about events of the past. The airship is on its way to Manehattan, and we will wait for you to talk. Don’t take too long though. I don’t know for how long Fluttershy can entertain him.
Twi
P.S.: Chocolate Velvet needs cheering up. If you find him on your way, don’t hit him too hard.”
Cadance burned the letter with magic and ‘squeed’ excitedly then clapped her hooves together. “Oh! Perfect! I just need Princess Luna to spill her beans now!”
“Now…” She took a deep breath and started reciting a speech after clearing her throat. “I am immeasurably happy that you both have come to this meeting. I expect that through mutual respect and understanding we can reach a favorable agreement on how to proceed with the actual situation, preferably in a way of justice and friendship!”
He grinned at herself in the mirror. That sounded perfect.
***
It was a nice room for a business meeting room, to the point Luna worried the white unicorn might have lied about what it was used for. It looked like a meeting room for business, but if there was one who knew how weird could fantasies get, it was Luna. So, she carefully examined each and every inch of the room while Chrysalis sat by the small round table covered in sweets, drinks and fruits.
The room stood on the top of a tower and a window showed the city below behind the falling snow, but inside the temperature was very comfortable as was the aroma from the vanilla incense. It reminded Luna of the place they would keep a noble hostage prisoner. The whole thing gave her weird feelings.
Luna and Chrysalis sat next to each other, patiently waiting for Cadance to arrive while the queen tasted a few sweets here or there. Luna, on the other hand, wanted to be out of that place rather sooner than later because she didn’t want to think of the drama if a photograph of her in that place ever got published.
“Try to relax a little, Luna.” The queen said tasting a small sweet of chocolate and black licorice. She bit half of it and tasted the filling with the tip of her tongue. “You might as well enjoy.”
“Do you remember that we came here to apprehend Cadance, not for an actual date?” Luna’s ears folded back.
“Of course, I remember, but I don’t see why we can’t have fun too.” The changeling smirked and offered Luna some sort of sweet, a small tartelette with passion fruit, covered in yellow and its black seeds.
Fortunately, the door opened with one of Cadance’s… Luna chose to categorize them as ‘associates’; along with the white unicorn mare who called herself Milky White. And then, Cadance came in as though she was the star of an opera. She wore a flowing white dress with golden arabesque embroidery and a lot of the regional gems wreathed into her intricately woven mane.
The trio looked regal and convincing to Chrysalis: a monarch and her aides. She thought that the young and fit alicorn, with a well-groomed mane and brushed coat looked luscious. Luna too. In fact, Chrysalis decided that the best situation possible, right then, would be to stay in the Bordello with both of them!
Luna though cringed internally at the pink alicorn next to one unicorn guard/courtesan and another crystal pony one, reminded of the appointed generals that would come from conquering nations into subjugated ones to rule in the name of their conqueror, and then tried to weave themselves into the local culture like they belonged in an effort to show respect for their culture and quell rebellion that resulted in even worse insult and resentment.
Fortunately, Cadance was well intentioned, and it seemed that neither the crystal ponies or daft alicorn noticed anything. Even if the Crystal Empire was liberated, and she still stood like a sore hoof as a leader from another culture to Luna. Thankfully, it was all Equestria in the end and the ‘alicorn factor’ always made things easier.
What the hay was Celestia thinking when she gave it to Cadance like that? She certainly remembered as well as Luna the monumental gaffe that sort of thing was shortly after ponies started growing a conscience about culturally sensitive subjects.
Then the pink princess put a hoof over her chest and smiled happily, taking a breath. “I am immeasurably happy you both have come to-"
“Cadance, whatever you think you are doing, is not going the way you think it is.” Luna said from her seat. “Sit down already so that we can talk.”
The pink alicorn frowned frustrated and sat down angrily at her chair.
“What do I need to do to get you and Twilight to abandon this quest of yours?” Luna sounded mentally taxed by the whole affair.
“You could start by talking about what the hay you and Auntie Celestia did that made you feel the need to hide it!” Cadance frowned. “Then we could talk about compensation for all the wronged parties! And an apology for lying to your fellow princesses! Or even better, the whole of Equestria! An official confession would be nice too!”
“Very well, if it will make you feel better, I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my abilities.” Luna tried to relax as best as she could.
Chrysalis smiled amusingly. Cadance looked so cute when she was angry.
“Nice! But first there is another thing.” The young alicorn grinned and her horn shone somewhat fiercely, letting go a bang of magical energies. A golden ring manifested around Luna's horn. “There! I believe now you see that you are in a position of captivity and must yield, as the target of an investigation.”
While Chrysalis wondered what in Tartarus Cadance was doing now, Luna remained stoically calm at how out worldly preposterous that child’s notion of herself was. “I only hope this thing is a real inhibitor ring and not one of the toys your cohorts certainly use in this place for other ends rather than a serious interrogation.”
Cadance frowned a little more. “This is a real ring, alright. It was made to specifications to inhibit alicorn magic specifically because I feared I would be forced to keep you or auntie Celestia under control, precisely in this sort of situation! I served as a template myself!”
“I do hope this is some mighty magic, otherwise you would look like an infantile fool.” Luna remained eerily calm and it was starting to creep into Cadance's confidence.
It was then Chrysalis rose a hoof, almost worried. “Cadance, you do see me here, don't you? How do you expect me to not free Luna and help her dealing with you?”
Cadance then smiled confidently again. “I sure do! The thing is that I expect you to see that we both can work together and that you sided with the wrong party in this whole affair.”
“Do tell.” The queen grinned, narrowing her eyes in curiosity.
Luna unwieldly grabbed a glass of orange juice with her hoof and, nonchalantly took a sip from it. “How amusing. Princess Cadance is playing at intrigue. Somepony call Mister Marlin. We have the ending for his book series right here. All we are missing are some gelded soldiers, a dragon, an obnoxious bastard, an incestuous couple and a foolish child who thinks herself queen. Oh, wait… We already have the child.”
After staring angrily at Luna, Cadance turned back to Chrysalis. “Don’t you want to know the truth about what happened? By what you told us in the Rock, it seemed like it was a significant episode for you.”
“I don’t really care.” Chrysalis shook her head. “I stand to gain nothing from it.”
“Well, that is where you are wrong!” Cadance grinned a little too much. “Together we can figure out not only what is happening now, but what happened in the past. Seek a compensation! How about that?”
Chrysalis wasn’t impressed. “I already know what is going on in the present. I am a part of it, dimwit. And I am not interested in whatever happened in the past.”
“But… But… You told us a scenario that looked like the world was about to be destroyed, or something just as terrifying.”
“I don’t care, Cadance.” The queen was beginning to tire of the game. “If whatever happened wasn`t their fault, then there is nothing to bother then with. If they caused it, then I’m already on the winning side.”
“Surprisingly, things didn’t go as you planned… And you are angry about it because your ego was hurt.” Luna accused her. “You are wounded that you were lied to. We did it to protect you. To protect all of Equestria. You are welcome.”
“It’s not about me! Twilight is angry too!” Cadance struck the table with a hoof. “We already know that you did something, that you hid a lot of information about this griffon empire, about your arrival and the unicorns tending to the sun and the moon. The only reasonable reason why you would do something like this would be because it would jeopardize your position now!”
“Is that what you think?” Luna looked almost bored. “That I and Celestia did something so horrible that we would change history books, consort with the griffons and hide their own blemish and then we’d pretend it never happened.”
“That is exactly what you did!” Cadance hit the table again, in anger, this time causing all the cute little sweets to jump and glasses to clink together. “You two think yourselves above reproach and that is why you do things like the treaty with the changelings and think that everypony else has to shut up and take it, like it or not!”
“Is that what this is?” Luna still remained stoic, if haught. “You’re upset you weren’t invited for the negotiations with Chrysalis? When you’re behaving like a child right now, can you blame us for keeping you out?”
“That is not the point!” Cadance shouted this time. “I understand you think you do these things for the good of Equestria, but you can’t decide what is good for Equestria by yourselves.”
“Tell me, Cadenza.” It really infuriated her the way Luna called her ‘Cadenza’ with that tone, but she controlled herself. “What could the whole of Equestria do if Celestia decided she was done being nice to all of you? What would the yaks do? What would the griffons or the even the dragons do? There is an unspoken law that is true to every universe, Cadenza. Might does make right.”
“This is horrible!”
“No, it is not. It is a simple fact that the strong has power over the weak. Creatures like the old Dragon Lord and emperor Grigor believed that the strong had the right to abuse the weak, while me and Celestia have the duty of protecting the weak. And even then, there are several ways of doing so and it has changed as time passed on.”
Luna took another sip from her glass. “The truth is that the same game is played with different rules by different players. Most creatures in Equesria don’t even realize that the only reason they are alive is because we have allowed them to, and they would cease to exist if we demanded it. You are included in this and you should learn to play by the rules that were presented to you; and instead of learning it, you are offended you weren’t deemed ready yet.”
While Cadance was stunned that Luna had just told her some truths, Chrysalis had far more practical things in her mind and was frustrated over the fact that Cadance not only let Luna take control of the conversation, but also failed to extract any meaningful information out of the younger of The Sisters she could use.
She had hoped to come out of it unscathed, but Cadance was being an idiot and Chrysalis had to take the reins of the conversation. But she didn’t really worry about the past that concerned Twilight and Cadance so much. The queen worried about something much more practical, such as what was their plan with that stupid coltfriend of theirs and on what she had invested the Swarm’s resources on. So, she raised a hoof with a petulant smile that almost worried Luna. “Actually, I would like to know some things about Chocolate Velvet.”
“What about him?” Cadance’s ears perked up and her expression changed from frustration to curiosity while she looked at one and then the other.
“You are making a mistake, Chrysalis.” The blue alicorn warned her, narrowing her eyes.
“I don’t know, Luna.” The queen flashed her a grin full of sharp teeth. “I think that you may have made a mistake not sharing the whole truth with me.”
“Have it your way then, but you will regret it.” The blue princess rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. “You were doing so well.”
“What. About. Him?” Cadance insisted; her instincts told her she had found something important and her frustration levels felt a lot more tolerable now. Suddenly it seemed like he was part of the mystery and it filled her with curiosity, not to mention that the fact that he was a friend made it even more urgent. Perhaps a victim in The Sister’s schemes? What did he have to do with this whole thing?
Chrysalis obliged. “Didn’t you think it was strange that he came out of nowhere?”
Luna fumed. For the first time she seemed legitimately angry since they left the palace. “Cadance, she will violate the privacy of an individual and of the deal we have made because of this asinine investigation of yours. Cease this now before it is too late.”
“No.” Cadance frowned. “You wouldn’t have had to hide anything if it wasn’t wrong to begin with.”
“Well spoken, Cadance.” The changeling chuckled. “Well, Twilight’s friends found him near Ponyville, like he had just popped into existence there. Didn’t it strike you as strange?”
“I assumed that it was a way to protect his origins.” Cadance said softly. “I assumed that, like me, he had come from an orphanage or something of the sort, and the princesses were trying to protect his privacy of scrutiny from the news.”
“Chocolate Velvet was made.”
“What do you mean?” The alicorn shook her head in confusion.
“He was, literally, built magically.”
“What?” She recoiled a bit. “Like a flesh golem? A Hoofenstein’s monster?”
She recoiled more; with the acid taste of the sweets she ate while getting prepared for this meeting returning to her throat. “This is revolting!”
“Calm yourself, Cadance. You are imagining the wrong thing.” Luna stared angrily at her.
But Cadance was busy contemplating images of a pony being assembled piece by piece in some sort of dark laboratory, complete with a leaky ceiling and magical sparks all over a metal bed. “It can’t be! He is too lifelike for that!”
Chrysalis grinned a small evil grin. “I don’t know if this is better or worse, but we didn’t harvest organs or parts for him. Celestia cast several spells that formed his body. It took several days, almost a month. Not only that, but Celestia stuck him with a soul she plucked from who knows where. She needed me to keep him alive during the process until he was ready to survive. She paid me with my name in the House of Majesty.”
Then the queen tilted her head a little, with an amused half-smile. “It gets better. They both, Celestia and Luna, had me prepare a cure. It seems like they were incapable of generating foals, and with some experiments I did with the samples Celestia had given me of herself, I have discovered that her soul lacks a part of it that would allow it to go to whatever it would be supposed to go if she died. How about that?”
That was a lot to take in for poor Cadance. Maybe comparing him to a fictional creature made to invoke feelings of dread and from a cautionary tale was unfair, but the whole thing seemed otherworldly bizarre!
Cadance could definitively understand her aunts wanting somepony special for them, particularly considering the specifics of their position and, even if they could literally have any stallion or mare they desired, such would not be a good idea. But having a pony literally fabricated for them was surreal. It bordered on the insane and something Cadance would imagine as a megalomaniacal project for some exceedingly rich and powerful noble, completely out of touch with reality.
Then it hit her that her aunts were exceedingly rich and powerful nobles. She stared at Luna who stared back at her, apparently stoically, but she knew her aunt and could see it in her eyes. Luna was furious.
What about this weird detail about Auntie Celestia's soul? How did that factor in?
“Why?!”
While Luna couldn’t believe how unsavorily stupid Cadance was being, the queen shrugged. “I imagine that their little coltfriend was a luxury they wanted? Why don’t you enlighten us, Luna?”
“Chrysalis is being very disingenuous.” Luna huffed. “For starters, the actual deal was for her to release the changelings from the most extreme forms of her control over them, and for them to share their medical advances with the rest of Equestria. Chocolate Velvet was supposed to be a collaboration, and she was never meant to experiment and create her Praetorians or unravel Celestia’s privacy.”
“Privacy?!” The queen launched. “That is one way of putting it, I suppose.”
“In reality…” Luna went on. “The worse one could gather from the situation was that Chrysalis was allowed to take the seat in the House of Majesty in Thorax stead. It was meant as a display of good will and that we trusted her with the position.”
“Does he know?” Cadance shook her head slightly, still trying to understand the logic behind that and Chrysalis shook her head.
“I wouldn’t tell him. I don’t think it would be healthy for his head to know this sort of thing.”
“Auntie Luna?” Cadance tried touching her hooves with her own, but she retrieved them from the table.
“Now…” Chrysalis spoke again. “Since I have invested a considerable amount of resources from the Hive in this curious project, I would like it very much if the actual reason behind his creation was disclosed to us. I insist, Luna.”
She stood quiet for a few a few seconds, then she showed them a manic grin. “You are not going to like the answer.”
Cadance became intimidated, nervously holding onto the table's edge and the queen narrowed her eyes. “I’ll take my chances, Luna.”
“Celestia merely lusts after him.” She said plainly.
“No, really.” Chrysalis narrowed her eyes some more, adding more than a dangerous edge to her voice.
Then the blue alicorn giggled and laughed. “Oh, my stars. Everypony is so used to seeing Celestia scheming and plotting that nopony believes that she, like everypony else, can do things for the simplest of reasons!”
“She's become so madly in love with him that she’ll cater to his every whim and she’s become so jealous of him she won’t even let me near him without her supervision!” She laughed and followed with louder laughter, putting a leg over her face. “He caters to that stupid knight fetish of hers and so she gave him all the best enchanted armor and weapons we have. Custom fitted and heavily adorned with the most expensive things one could put on a barding and matching weapons. It’s cost us millions of Bits. Equestria is almost broke.”
Luna sighed and took a sip from a glass with grape juice. While Cadance had her mouth agape in shock, the queen had become furious, grimacing and snarling like a feral dog.
The princess stared at Luna, and then at Chrysalis, and then back at Luna and finally back at Chrysalis. “I… I don’t know what to say!”
“I am going to murder Celestia and that freak of hers!” The queen said, hitting the table so hard Cadance ‘meeped’ in surprise. “I am going to have my army ready for when you and Twilight come back with whatever you find in the griffon lands. We’re going to have these two removed from Canterlot and… Put in an asylum or something!”
“Crissy! You can’t be serious!”
“Oh, yes, I am!” The queen growled. “We have the Lion to deal with, and now Celestia has to, finally, be going senile!”
“Chrysalis! This is… You can’t! I mean!” Cadance almost panicked before she managed to grab her wits again, massaging her forehead with a hoof. “Chrysalis! Listen to me! It’s not that serious! They just… Had a living being fabricated to their specifications like he was a piece of furniture… And then… Aunt Celestia has gone insane like… Wasting millions on him… And.. And… Parading him about like a piece of ornament… Oh my goodness! This is awful!!”
She quickly lost her wits again. “What do we do?!”
“Like I said…” The Queen stood from her chair and stared directly into Cadance. “I’ll have my military ready. You and Twilight go get whatever information you can that we can use against these two. Try to get the Lion involved, it shouldn`t be too hard now.”
“I need my barding and weapons! Shining’s too!” She touched the queen with a hoof as she passed by getting her to stop and look at her.
“Go to the palace. I’ll get my soldiers to assist you. Do it quickly, before Luna’s guards realize something isn’t right.” Chrysalis said, barely stopping on her way out.
“Chrysalis! Wait!” She turned on her chair and called, but all she saw was the door closing on the queen’s wake. “Oh…”
“I am amazed at how easily she can flip sides and switch emotions to suit her needs. I wonder if she even realizes she does it.” Luna said calmly. “It’s going to take a long time before Chrysalis learns that she won’t get anything like that.”
Cadance stared at her, confused, worried and somewhat a little distressed. Luna went on. “Things didn’t go as you planned, did they? You wanted to know about things in the past, but Chrysalis was only interested in the ‘investment’ she made; in the end, neither got what you wanted to hear because you’ve allied yourselves with the wrong party. Feeling like a fool, already?”
Since Cadance simply stared dumbly at her, Luna went on. “Now, remove this ring before somepony gets hurt and come with me to Ponyville where Celestia is. The sooner you abandon this quest you’ve embarked on with Twilight Sparkle, the better, and we can try to make you understand the situation.”
“No!” Cadence shouted, pulled out of her shock. “You need help! You both need help! You… Three! All three of you need! Help!”
Luna simply stared calmly and wondered how could the wondrous mystery of Harmony have produced such an idiot, but her playful side got the best of her and Cadance did her best not to freak out. More. “What you did is not normal! I don’t really understand what is going on, but we’ll figure it out!”
Obviously, she failed.
Luna smiled ever so slightly. “What isn’t normal, Cadance? Messing with historical records, making secret deals with evil queens or custom designing a coltfriend?”
She stared blankly for a second or two. “All of those!”
Luna giggled more than she would like to admit. “Calm down, Cadance.”
“No! I’m fine! I’m perfectly fine! You need to calm down!” The pink alicorn held onto the side of the side of the table like it was the only safe thing in existence and Luna found it curious and funny how ponies always got their manes into a mess when they became nervous. Cadance`s was shedding its gemstones by the second as though not even the intricately woven traditional mane do could withstand the stress she went through right now. “This is fine! This is perfectly fine! It’s not like there is a war about to start, or Chrysalis was out of control, or The Princesses that rule the world could be going insane, or there was an artificially made pony running around! EVERYTHING IS PERFECTLY FINE!”
“For pony’s sake, Cadance.” Luna did her best not to laugh. “Stop for a second and breathe. You already knew he was from another world. This is not a difficult leap to take.”
“I thought you and Auntie Celestia meant that he was from a distant place! Not that you had him made like one would order a dress!”
“Take this thing out of my horn and let’s talk. I’ll show you some things that will make everything easier to understand.”
The other princess shrieked though. “No! You’re staying with that hornring until we have the situation under control! You’ll stay here! In the tower! Where it is safe!”
With that, she turned and rushed towards the door, slammed her muzzle on it, opened the door with her magic using much more force than needed and rushed out, closing the door on the way out, got her tail stuck, opened it again and then closed it.
Luna stared at the closed door. Then at the two ponies that remained. They didn’t seem much better off than Cadance was. “Can I expect you two to be more reasonable?”
“Sorry, Princess!” Milky White said. “We’re keeping you here until Princess Cadance says you can go.”
“It’s for your own safety, princess!” The crystal pony said seriously.
Luna stared at them for a while. It always amused her when ponies told her they wouldn’t let her do things. But she also didn’t want to hurt these ponies, and the situation was amusing, but under control. “Fine then.”
She then proceeded to taste the fine sweets on the table.
***
Cadance hurried down the stairs, clip-clopping frenetically on the stone stairs and crashed into Chrysalis with a panicked shriek as soon as she left the stairwell.
“Cadance?! What in Equestria are you doing?!” She turned, yelling angrily. Fortunately, the corridor was empty, and ponies wouldn’t hear them in distant rooms thanks to the music and cheering sounds of festive ponies.
“I’m sorry!” The princess took two steps back frantically. “I’m sorry! I just…”
Chrysalis held her with her hooves, sitting in front of her. “Cadance, calm down. I understand. This is your first revolution and you are scared. Trust me, these things are normal. This sort of things used to happen all the time in the past, before Celestia and Luna.”
“That doesn’t sound nice at all!” The princess yelled louder than she had expected.
“Now now, this place is full of ponies that don’t need to concern themselves with this whole mess. So, what you are going to do is go to the palace, find your things, and take them to Twilight’s airship. There you will tell them all we learned here about what your aunts are doing and you are going to convince Twilight to stop losing it like you are now, and then you will both to go to the Lion, figure out how this whole thing wraps together and the three of you will call for a vote of no confidence in The Sisters.”
“If it is necessary, my army and the Lion`s will be ready to support you and ponies will be lost without The Sisters. Understand?”
Cadance seemed to be paying too much attention to her. “Did you understand?”
The pony nodded a little too fast.
“Can you do that?” She nodded too fast again. “Good. Now, we both will walk out, and I will deal with Luna’s guards that pulled us here. Once in the palace grab what you need, and from there, teleport to Twilight’s airship.”
“Okay…” Cadance breathed out, finally. Then she frowned. “Wait a second. If Celestia and Luna are removed from office, who would take their place?”
Chrysalis put a hoof on her chest. “I would humbly accept the nomination.”
“Yeah… Right…” Cadance frowned.
“This is not the time, though. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, we need to get you to your palace and to Twilight’s airship. Come on.” She put one of her membranous wings over Cadance’s back and the two of them walked through one of the many corridors in the Bordello, soon reaching the central room where Cadance held a faux-throne.
It was the main area of the restaurant that made use of the original main hall complete with three sets of long tables before the throne and a giant candelabra that generated light. Ponies sat by the tables, enjoying their meals but when the pair entered, they cheered for the princess and she found herself waving awkwardly at them while the queen simply kept her confident smile.
Fortunately for Cadance’s nerves, the pair found no resistance until the entrance hall and past the main doors, where they found Luna’s guards, talking to her griffon greeter. She worried they would become distrusting of the queen escorting their ‘prisoner’, but she soon found something different over her back and the membranous wing of the queen had been replaced by soft feathers.
When she next stared, it was Luna next to her, escorting her towards her coach.
“Princess. It seems everything went as planned.” The big thestral guard greeted them, joining the others in a respectful bow.
For a second Cadance worried, but there were no unicorns in the group to recognize the changeling magic at work and the ‘Princess’ voice was a perfect imitation. “Queen Chrysalis knows how to make an impression on a pony. Cadenza saw that she had no alternative, for the good of the rest of Equestria.”
“Princess, is that so?” The griffon eyed the pair suspiciously.
Surprising even her nerve-wracked self, Cadance’s voice was under control, as were her shudders and she managed to sound regal enough. “Auntie Luna has explained to me a few things I didn`t know and… Honestly, it all makes perfect sense now.”
The griffon nodded, satisfied. “Very well, them.”
One of the thestrals opened the windowed door for them and ‘Luna’ encouraged Cadance with her wing. “Kindly take the young princess to her palace so that she may remain in comfortable captivity. Chrysalis’ guards will care for her needs and security. You may return and enjoy the services of the Bordello, if you so desire.”
“Your highness.” The thestral guards agreed.
“Now, you would not give these fine gentlestalions any trouble, would you Cadenza?”
She smiled awkwardly. “Not at all, auntie.”
With that, Cadance boarded the coach and away she went. The queen under Luna’s guise realized that something wasn’t exactly right. She moved her ear, listening to nothing in particular as she narrowed her eyes.
“Is something wrong, Princess?” The griffon asked, curiously.
“No…” The blue alicorn said, looking around in the parking area, only to return her eyes to the griffon. “It´s nothing. Just keep to your post.”
She went back inside, not worried if the griffon would do as she ordered and hurried all the way back to the tower where Cadance had imprisoned Luna. Opening the door, things there remained the same, with Luna still wearing the hornring, and drinking something, awkwardly holding a wine glass with her hoof, and under watch from the unicorn and crystal pony Cadance had brought. A few gems littered the carpeted floor, but that didn’t bother the queen as her green magic changed her back to her original form.
“What are you up to?” She barely accused Luna of something she didn’t know of, walking to the table.
“I am tasting the yak spiced wine. It is stronger than I expected. I quite like it.” Luna said a little surprised.
“No.” Chrisalis sat on the chair opposite to hers. “You are planning something. No way in Tartarus that simple hornring would keep your magic inhibited for long! I thought you were deathly worried that Twilight and Cadance would talk to the Lion, but you are sitting here, like you are on vacation!”
“Oh. That.” Luna put her glass back on the table. “Celestia ought to catch Twilight and I figure Cadance will be there too, then she’ll stop them. Furthermore, I’ll reach out to them in their sleep, as I had planned with Celestia.”
“No.” Chrysalis put her hooves on the table and stared fiercely at the princess. “You are planning something: this doesn’t add up to the way you acted when we arrived. What about my soldiers. And about Chocolate Velvet?”
“Ah… Well…” Luna grinned her a small excited smile. “A time for everything… I figured I could simply enjoy the experience!”
“Luna, what are you talking about now?”
“It’s been thousands of years since I’ve been held hostage! My sister went to rescue me with a whole Battlehorn Legion. It was pretty impressive…” She said rubbing her hooves together. “I’d like to experience that again… And… Well… This is a tower, I am a princess, and you are an evil queen. And now we even have a knight under the Royal House…”
Chrysalis looked right at her for a few seconds as her brain had to restart the process of understanding what she had just heard a few times. “Luna, remember that conversation about you and Celestia going insane? You are not helping.”
That had to be a distraction. Now that Luna knew that she wasn’t happy about Chocolate Velvet she was trying to distract her. The princess certainly knew that Chrysalis could create some mayhem in Celestia’s way to protect Twilight and Cadance. There was no way Luna really was waiting for her prince charming to come and save her! That was madness and there was also no way Chrysalis would believe Luna thought she would believe this insanity.
She stared at Luna, rubbing her chin with a hoof, and her eyes narrowed at the princess, who then stared submissively at her with the saddest eyes the queen had ever seen. “I guess you’ll have to force me to tell you what you wanted…”
The queen wavered, but held on, lowered her voice. “This isn’t funny. You and Celestia managed to make a millennia spanning, multi-world mess!”
Then the alicorn pouted like she was the cover for one of those magazines stallions (and Chrysalis) bought only because they wanted to read the articles. “But I thought I should enjoy myself a bit…”
Chrysalis breathed in deeply. “Luna…”
Those big blue, innocent eyes and her waving starry mane… The Queen wavered. She could think of thousands of ways this whole mess could go wrong and how she was walking into whatever scheme Luna had set with before her eyes. But… It was Luna… One of the most desired mares in all of the world.
Chrysalis sighed. She was, certainly a flawed creature and almost felt like betraying Cadance, and in a way, her own people. But… Luna!
She sighed again, and then gave Luna her best malevolent grin. “Well, then… I suppose we will have to turn this tower in to an adequate interrogation room befitting of the Bordello of Candy.”
Amid all that, the crystal pony turned to Milky White. “Uh… What is going on?”
“I’m going back to Princess Celestia’s Royal Guard…” She sounded so, so tired…