Rest.
I can never get enough of it. For the last few nights before arriving I had gotten a shorter sleep than I should have.
And sometimes, when I get enough time to sleep, I couldn't rest properly.
Including this morning.
Cadence slowly opened an eye, and was greeted with a bright sunlight. She stretched her stiff wings and sat up, scratching her back.
"Morning, Spike."
Spike was sitting up, looking over the photograph. "Morning."
Cadence rested her head on Spike's shoulder, taking the opportunity to find out what the photo was. It was of a younger Spike, standing next to a pre-teen Sweetie Belle. Spike stood at slightly-less the height of his marefriend, arms around her neck, grinning like a madpo... maddragon. Sweetie Belle was beaming. Up the top was a banner which said "Happy 1 Year of Togetherness-ness", complete with a bouncy pink pony, slightly blurred from movement.
"This was my best day ever. More so than my birthday or even hers." He smiled, and then placed the photo in his bag. "C'mon, let's go."
Cadence tied her hair up, deciding to brush it later, and followed the happy dragon. Then Spike froze.
"Hang on."
She could pick up a low whine that seemed to slowly be increasing in pitch.
"What's th-?"
Spike shushed her. After a moment of listening, his eyes widened and he shoved her into the back wall.
A huge explosion burst the front door and most of the wall back, knocking Spike under a pile of rubble. A silhouetted unicorn, wearing plates of armour and lifting a sword in a lavender aura, stood on the highest point of the rubble.
Cadence kept low, ducking the few stones that were hurled to her direction from the blast. The armoured figure trotted a few feet forwards, a band of light casting across her muzzle. Her coat was azure, her mane two tones of pale blue, and her eyes a dull pink. She grinned menacingly, casting her eyes over the alicorn.
"The Arch-Priest wants to see you."
Cadence rose to full height, wings open as a display of aggression. "I'm not going, not with you."
The azure mare scoffed. "You think that I was giving you an option, Cadenza?" The snapped her head to her subordinates. "NOW!"
Multi-coloured ropes of energy wrapped themselves around Cadence, binding her legs and wings, and she hit the wooden floor with an audible thud. She winced in pain, and then felt a tiny prick on her neck.
The mare walked up and lifted Cadence's head up. Cadence's vision was starting to blur and fade. "Do not worry; I'm sure the Arch-Priest will be more... hospitable."
Anything else that was said was as lost as Cadence's consciousness, as she slipped into an annoyingly familiar black abyss.
Cadence cracked her eyes open slowly, but clamped them shut under the blinding lights. She felt weak-bodied and groggy, and eventually opened her eyes. Through her haze she spotted a parchment-robed figure, sporting a very familiar purple mane. The figure turned away from the large statue in the centre of the room, which Cadence recognised as Celestia, and towards her. The mare smiled.
"Hello Caden-"
"What the hell, Twilight!" Cadence snapped out in anger.
"I don't under-"
"You attacked me, tied me up-" Cadence noticed that she was no longer binded. "-and drugged me, for what?"
"Cadence, ple-"
Cadence rose to her full height, only slightly taller than Twilight. "You have a lot of explaining to do!"
Twilight looked up at her friend with slight fear. "I-it was Paladin Lulamoon! I didn't do that!"
"But you ordered her to, yes?"
Twilight stiffened, before dropping her gaze to the floor. "I did. I had to make sure you got here safely."
"Funny way of showing it." Cadence muttered.
"I mean, if the Clan, Order or Peacemakers got to you first..." Twilight shook her head. "But that's not important."
Cadence relaxed. "Celestia sent me to-"
Twilight gasped. "Celestia sent you?! For what reason?"
"Um... To... check on you...?"
Twilight squealed in delight and started hopping around. "Our Goddess Celestia is watching my purity and devotion!" She landed in front of the statue, and bowed, muttering something for a whole minute, before bouncing back. "This is a true blessing!" Twilight leaned right up to Cadence's muzzle. "What did She say about me? Am I showing her true power well?"
Cadence stepped back. "Actually, she sent me here because she doesn't know what you've been doing."
Twilight froze. "Say wha?"
"You haven't written anything to her, or your brother for that matter, in over three months." Cadence placed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "And because she's far too busy running Equestria, I was sent in her place."
Twilight stood there, taking the information in. "So, what you're saying is... Celestia hasn't seen my work here in Her name..."
Cadence instinctively looked for an escape route. "Uh... Yeah."
Twilight looked at Cadence, pupils shrinking. "Oh, well, that's ok then."
"Huh?"
Twilight grinned, in a way that terrified the living daylights out of Cadence. "I'll just get her attention then. Send some Priests over to Canterlot, ritually sacrifice Clan members, find Spike and send a letter to both Goddesses, induct more mem-"
"Hang on, can you go back a bit."
"Um... Find Spike?"
"No, before that."
"Ritual sacrifices of Clan-"
Cadence shrieked. "You can't honestly be thinking of that!"
Twilight looked puzzled. "Um... Why should I not be?"
"Celestia doesn't need sacrifices! Hell, she'll probably hate you more for that!"
"Ok, so sacrifices are out."
Cadence sighed.
"I'll just torture them instead, for not believing in-"
"WHAT?!"
"Hey, they're still alive."
Cadence groaned. "That's not the point..."
"Then what is?"
"Princess Celestia rules Equestria on a basis of friendship and love. Murder and torture is just... wrong. Especially for someone who follows the royal sisters as bucking Gods."
"Goddesses."
"Whatever." Cadence turned. "Think about the ideals of your Goddesses before you act."
Twilight looked away from Cadence's back, and then snapped her vision back with a manic grin. "You're right. But there's something else I need to do."
Cadence turned back, and immediately regretted it. "What... would that be?"
"Study."
Cadence hit the concrete floor with a thud. "Ow..."
Twilight, still manic, looked at her old friend. "Sorry about the condition of the cell. We only have one of them."
Cadence sat up, just as the door slid shut and locked. Twilight trotted away, muttering something.
"So, they got you to, huh?" A deep stallion's voice said behind her.
She turned back to see a large unicorn... well, pegasus unicorn... sitting on the far wall. His coat was a near-black and his mane and eyes a deep purple. To his left was a blue-and-red coated mare of similar race, with a yellow mane that reminded her of fire and a beige-coated stallion huddling in the other corner.
"I guess so."
The big stallion smiled. "Voidgale Donovan." He stuck out a hoof.
"Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence for short." Cadence took his hoof and shook it.
"Ah, you're that Princess who married Captain Armor." He smiled. "Pleasure to meet you. The mare here is Firebomb. Sister of the most annoying Earth Pony I've ever had to deal with."
"Hiyas!" Firebomb said, quite excitedly.
"And that guy is Genome. Don't talk to him, he despises alicorns."
Cadence looked at Genome. His black mane was quite ruffled, and had a question mark cutie mark, partly obscured by a wing.
"Isn't he an alicorn himself?"
"Impure alicorn. Or winged unicorn. Or pegasus unicorn. Same thing." Voidgale stood up, stretching his legs and wings, muttering something about beds. "His genes are in conflict. It's screwing with his mind."
Cadence looked at her own wings and horn. "So, does that mean...?"
"Nah. Mares are surprisingly resistant to the negative effects of impurity. But you're not an impure."
"I'm not?"
"There are three types of Alicorns. Impures, Pures and Royals. The three of us are Impure, Princess Celestia and Luna are Royals."
"And I'm..."
"Pure, as far as I can tell."
Firebomb trotted up. "So you're a Princess? Like, Celestia-type Princess?"
"Sorta, yeah."
"So you're immortal and stuff?"
Cadence smiled. "No, I've got a normal lifespan, and I'm not an effective Goddess."
Firebomb smiled. "'Kay."
The princess turned as she heard hoofsteps behind her. Walking up was a white unicorn with a ravishing purple mane, wearing parchment-coloured robes (customised with some extras) and levitating a clipboard. "Donovan?"
"Aye?"
"I'm sorry, but your examination is up." The mare looked at the floor as she opened the door.
Voidgale sighed. "Well, wish me luck."
Cadence and Firebomb replied in unison, as the large stallion walked out of the cell. He turned to the robed mare.
"I know this is hard for you, Rarity. It'll be over soon enough, though."
Rarity hung her head lower as a guard of two stallions escorted him out of sight. She looked back up at the remaining three.
"I'm so sorry about all this..."
"Nah, s'okay." Firebomb replied excitedly.
Rarity looked around the cell, and her gaze froze on Cadence. "Princess Cadence?"
"Hey." Cadence replied in mock happiness.
"Celestia be damned... How did you get here?"
"Long story." She smiled weakly. "But it's good to see you."
"I wish it was in better circumstances, I'm afraid." Rarity turned away to head off. "I'll be back in a few hours."
Cadence shifted to the wall where Voidgale was resting, and sighed. "This isn't going well..."
"Don't worry," Firebomb said as she returned to her spot. "Void will be fine."
"No he won't."
The two mares turned to the beige stallion, who was now looking up at them, silently judging them.
"None of the others have come back. They're being opened up, dissected, all while alive and in pain."
Cadence gulped.
"And all of this is being done in the name of those 'Princesses'." He glared at Cadence. "The Princesses must be heartless- no, soulless- to let this happen!"
"They don't know it's happening, if it is at all."
"Oh, sure, they may say that, but they really do know its happening and they like it!" He laughed maniacally. "I must be the smartest pony alive to know all this while you believe them!"
"He's crazy." Firebomb whispered.
Genome continued laughing before clutching his head in pain, and collapsing.
"Of course, he's right about the nopony returning."
"Great..." Cadence leant back. "What am I supposed to do now?"
As if the heavens heard her, Twilight walked into view. "Cadence?"
"What?" She spat the word out.
"I'm just checking on you, that's all."
"Ugh... Can you at least tell me why you're acting all crazy?"
"I'm not acting crazy."
"Just-! Tell me what happened."
Twilight smiled, looking saner than she had prior. "Gladly."
Twilight levitated a seat from somewhere and sat on it. "A few years ago, one of my friends grew unhappy with me. We started arguing about the minor stuff, and then it grew into religious debates. She formed the dreaded Spectral Clan, and I the Holy Celestial Temple. And we've been fighting ever since."
Cadence looked at her with mixed emotions. "For a biased view, that was surprisingly neutral."
"One must keep up the appearance of goodwill."
"Just a few questions, though."
"I'm all ears." Twilight shifted position.
"Why are you capturing winged unicorns?"
"Ah, that's a good one." Twilight smiled. "I'm trying to gain a better understanding of my Goddesses by finding out how her Chosen Ones work."
"And... what do you do to them?"
"Dissect them alive and in pain." Genome said again.
"No no no, we use anaesthetics." Twilight replied.
"But the dissections?"
Twilight looked worried for a moment. "Unfortunately, yes. But we try to keep them alive after the operation. But nopony has actually survived the process to date."
"Have you thought that maybe it has something to do with the magika network?"
Twilight nodded. "Voidgale's the first. If it all goes well, he'll be back in a while."
Firebomb squealed in delight, then pointed a hoof accusingly at Genome. "Hah! I knew he'd be fine!"
"Shut up, kid, I've got a migraine..."
Cadence felt relieved. "Thank Celestia..."
Twilight bowed her head and said a few words before stepping off the chair. "Anyway, I have to go now. Try to get some rest."
Cadence couldn't sleep.
One reason was the floor. Solid as concrete, probably due to the fact that is was, in fact, concrete.
Another was her worrying about what was happening outside the walls of the Temple.
And the last was the occasional yell from somewhere down the hall.
Firebomb was curled up against Cadence, her breathing audible in the otherwise absolute silence.
Hoofsteps caught her attention, and the darkly-lit figure of Rarity walked up to the cell door.
"Genome, you're up."
Genome tried moving as far as way as possible, which it wasn't as he was already hugging the corner. He started screaming in terror, and flew up to the roof's corner above him.
Firebomb stirred. "Shuddup, Genome..."
Genome continued resisting until he screamed in pain and fell to the floor, limp as a wet noodle. Rarity sighed, and trotted in to grab him by the tail by the mouth.
After she dragged him out and spat out his tail, she turned. "Sorry for waking you, Princess."
"I couldn't sleep anyway." She weakly smiled.
Rarity looked around the hallway, torchlight glinting off the smooth stone walls, then turned back to the ponies in the cell. "I'm risking death by doing this... Do you want to get out of here?"
Cadence nodded, and felt Firebomb do so as well.
Rarity sighed. "Come on out, then." She pulled two robes out of her saddlebag. "And put these on."
Cadence tried grabbing the robe with magic, but found it impossible to muster up the focus. "Uhm... My magic..."
Rarity facehoofed. "Oh, how could I forget about mentioning the A-A-E Field?" Rarity gestured them out.
Firebomb eagerly trotted out, and picked up the smaller of the two robes. "Thanks miss."
Cadence cautiously walked out. "What happens if we get caught?"
"I'll be killed and you'll be returned here." Rarity smiled weakly. "But that's not going to happen."
Firebomb slipped into her robes easily, and then ran back into the cell. She leaned into a pile of hay and pulled out a military-green saddlebag.
"Where did you...?" Rarity looked at it puzzlingly.
"I made it out of Blisterspeed's clothes, and some leather from Icefall's sash."
"And what's in it?"
"Bombs. Duh."
"How the hell did you-"
Hoofsteps.
Cadence looked down the hall and saw two flickering shadows walking past. Rarity tapped Cadence in the shoulder and pointed to the cell.
Firebomb strapped the makeshift bag onto her back, Rarity slipped the other robe into her saddlebag, and Cadence sat back down in the cell. Rarity shut the door quietly and winked at Cadence.
After a moment of tension two ponies walked into the hall. One was a stallion, his attention fully on the mare in armour beside him. The mare, likewise, had her attention on the stallion. The two walked past, chatting about mundane things, right past the two robed figures and the prisoner. Rarity made sure they were out of earshot before gesturing Cadence out.
After a bit of hassle Cadence managed to dress in her robes and in short order the three mares were walking along the halls, following Rarity.
"So... How's Voidgale?" Cadence asked
Rarity looked down, sadly. "He... didn't make it. The sheer amount of stress on his network just..."
Cadence nodded solemnly. Firebomb was on the brink of tears.
"S-so Void is..."
"I'm afraid so."
Firebomb started crying loudly, not too loud that it'd draw attention to them. Rarity pulled her close with her hoof.
"There there... He's in a better place now..."
Cadence tore her eyes away from the sad scene and saw three long shadows. She poked Rarity to let her know.
The three figures turned into the hallway, and walked with purpose. The two figures to the side were fully-armoured stallion. One had a spear, the other a crossbow. The centre figure was the azure mare that brought Cadence here.
The paladin walked up to the scene. "Scholar Rarity, what are you doing here?" She asked with cold steel.
Rarity looked up. "This young mare just lost her father in the war, Trixie. Don't be so cold."
Trixie seemed, for a second, to soften, briefly remembering a distant memory. Then she rehardened and looked at Cadence. "And she?"
"She's new here, and I'm showing her around."
The Paladin looked over the hidden alicorn, almost recognising her. "She seems familiar."
"She has a sister."
"Very well then. I expect Genome's results on the Arch-Priest's desk ASAP." Trixie, flanked by the armoured ponies, trotted off.
Cadence sighed. "That was a close one."
Rarity nodded in agreement, then stiffened. "They're heading to the cells. Oh no, no no nonononon!" She started walking fast. "We have to get out of here."
Firebomb pulled herself off Rarity, and followed as Rarity started breaking out into a trot. Cadence ran up as they reached a gallop.
Over the sounds of their own hooffalls, they could hear Trixie roaring out Rarity's name, and the sounds of armoured hoofsteps ringing through the hall behind them.
"The front door is right there!" Rarity sprinted to the door and slammed into it. "Open it!"
Cadence, Firebomb and Rarity pushed with all their magic, slowly moving the door open. It was soon open enough for Cadence to pop out, and then Firebomb, then Rarity.
Just as Rarity ran out, Trixie forced the doors wide open, moving the huge slabs of metal as if it were plastic. "Sureshot, crossbow!"
Trixie gripped the crossbow that the armoured guard had passed her and took aim. With a jolt the weapon launched a bolt into the direction of Rarity.
Rarity galloped harder than she had before. The bolt flew right into her back leg with a yelp from the unicorn and she stumbled into the dirt.
Firebomb skidded to a halt. "Rarity!"
"Go, leave me!" Rarity screamed at them.
"But- You're sister-!" Cadence yelled back.
"Tell her-" She winced in pain. "Just tell her I love her, and anything else that you want! Just leave me!"
Another bolt snapped through the air, striking Rarity directly in the horn. It snapped. Rarity screamed like she had been dropped in white-hot fire and was still alive after five hours of pain, all in the space of a second.
"Rar-"
"LEAVE ME!" Rarity wailed through her pain, and fell limp, but still awake.
Cadence turned and ran. Firebomb followed quickly, dropping the robes.
After a minute of running, the two stopped for a breather. Cadence flung her robes off.
"Cadence?!" Spike's voice could be heard. The tall dragon emerged from behind a sheet of metal. "Where the hell have you been?"
"Temple. Twilight. Rarity. Saved..." Cadence was too low in breath to speak properly.
"Come again?"
Cadence sighed in frustration. "We were kidnapped by the Temple. I saw Twilight. She's insane. Rarity saved our flanks."
Spike sighed with relief. "Thank Celestia." He walked up and handed her bags to her. "I've got your stuff."
Cadence groaned. "Knew I forgot something..."
Firebomb bounced up to Spike. "Hiyas! I'm Firebomb!"
"I'm Spike." He held out a claw, which Firebomb put her hoof in and shook it.
"So, Firebomb, will you be joining us?"
"Nah, I'm gonna find my bro's family. They moved outta Ponyville two years ago."
"I wonder why." Spike muttered under his breath, full of sarcasm.
"But when this is all good, I'll talk to y'later, 'kay?"
"'Kay." Cadence replied. "So, Spike, what have you been doing?"
"Recovering from head trauma."
"Ah." Cadence smiled. "This has been quite a rough day, and I can't wait to just sleep properly..."
She flipped out her journal, and opened to a fresh page.
Sacrifices. I've heard a lot of sacrificing things for others, such as some freedoms one may have. An example is that since I married Shining I lost a day a week, but I'm ok with that because that's my day with Shining.
Another example is Rarity giving up her own life for mine. Generosity like that is next-to-impossible to find anywhere in Equestria.
Tomorrow, I'll try to reach the Clan, see if I can convince them to stop fighting. From what I've heard, that'll be hard, but I'll try my damned best.