Four Hours, Four Fucking Hours.
That's how long we've been in Caninia.
And Now look what's happening.
As the Equestrian Delegation and The Separatist Royals both run towards the Traditionalist castle, I ask myself What did I do to deserve this?
Blueblood and Cadance are actual Diplomats, they should be here, not me.
Amber and Jenn are Princesses of this land, It's their sister who is being held hostage, They should be here, not me.
So why in the name of God am I here? I have no reason to be in this Delegation, I don't represent Equestria in any way shape or form.
Oh, It's because you can translate what President Lycanroc is saying. So Can The Dogs, I don't need to be here!
The only reason Raven Inkwell had to send me on this stupid example of a diplomatic mission is because they didn't want me to just wait back in Equestria, Doing nothing but wait for the Crystal Mirror to open and send me back home.
Was me not doing anything but wait really that bad? I wasn't hurting anybody, I was just minding my own business, I wasn't even interacting that much with the Elements of Harmony, Only two of them, and even then maybe twice a week.
What I'm trying to get at, is that I am not supposed to be here, I am thousands of Kilometers away from the den I made my temporary home, and I am stressing my head off.
Is this some kind of punishment? Because I recognized that this world runs on cartoon logic and decided to stay away from the plot anyways? Is that it?
Some kind of way for Fate to make me proactive instead of passive?
God Fucking Dammit.
Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was not having an easy day.
It started when she woke up extremely early and tried to bake some cookies as an apology for Chespin, her new coworker.
It then got harder when she realized that the ship she was traveling on didn't have the ingredients to actually bake Anything, so she had to improvise.
The Cookies she made came out awful, but she promised herself that when she got back to Canterlot she will bake the best cookies she ever baked as an apology for how uncomfortable Chespin was during the voyage.
She must have said something bad without knowing if he avoided her for so long.
But it didn't stop with the cookies, When she finally arrived at Caninia she was shocked to see the carriage she will be taking is Horse-drawn. While yes, she understands that not everywhere has Ponies or other people who are strong enough to carry carriages, and will have to resort to wild animals to do such for them, but Cadance didn't have to like seeing Animals doing such cruel tasks.
Back in Equestria, Ponies moved their own carriages and the rich could hire Drivers to draw their carriage for them.
While the Idea of having a Pony draw somepony else's carriage might sound to some like a form of torture or slavery, The Drivers actually have a really good insurance plan and are payed very well. Mr Fancy Pants actually pushed to raise the minimum wage for Drivers after a series of storm exited the Everfree and made traveling on dirt roads between towns a lot less safe.
After an hour on the carriage, The Horses stopped outside the edges of the capital city.
According to Chespin, Who as it turns out can speak with animals, The Horses were threatened not to bring any outside body that could help stop a civil war from occurring by President Lycanroc.
So the group had to walk the rest of the way to the castle.
But as it turns out, There are two castles in Dimondia, When in which Queen Katherina rules, and the other which her Sisters built and moved to rule from.
She should have seen this coming, Hay! This should have been in the Report Raven gave her to get ready for the delegation in the first place!
So it seems now Cadance will have to improvise, something that sadly, she isn't very good at.
So when she reached the wrong castle, The one in which Princess Jennino Lanternlight rules, she thought that the mission will have to end early.
I'm sorry Celestia, But there's not much we can do if the rulers of the nation want us out.
But as luck would have it, Before her group could be kicked out of the city by the guards, a Princess came to their rescue.
While Princess Ambrosia Muffinsbuns wasn't the Royal she was here to meet, she was a royal nonetheless, and her words meant law to the guards.
After being invited to join her for lunch in the castle, the group where led to a dining room.
Now, Cadance was way out of her depth. She was tired from waking up early, her legs were aching from walking for half an hour into the city while carrying Chespin on her back, And now she was invited to lunch with a fellow Princess.
She wasn't ready for this, She was ready to meet and talk with Queen Katherina Proudpaws, Not Princess Muffinsbuns.
And more than that, the food that was served was... Meat.
Well yes, Cadance had some Vegan and Vegetarian options to pick from, That didn't change her discomfort at seeing other creatures eat meat.
While Ponies are an Omnivorous species, and there are no laws that outlaw the consumption of meat, that doesn't change that in Cadance's eyes, eating meat is eating something that was once alive.
And seeing not only Princess Muffinsbuns and now also Princess Lanternlight eat meat, but also Chespin and surprisingly enough Blueblood?!
While yes, he did only take a single Sausage as an added dish to his Creamy Mushroom Pasta, she still wasn't expecting him to do that.
Chespin sure, He seemed to be some type of rodent, they are known to eat almost anything available, from Fruit and Vegetables, to Meat and Seaweed.
Even knowing that her coworker can eat meat, doesn't mean Cadance has to enjoy the thought.
During the middle of the feast, Blueblood had to go outside and Speak with Chespin about something, leaving her alone with the two foreign princesses.
Though technically right now she is in their land, making her the foreign princess, but that doesn't matter.
While Blueblood and Chespin were outside of the room, Princess Lanternlight looked at Cadance and asked with a dry tone to her previously cheerful voice "Why are you here?"
Now with the tense silence surrounding her, Cadance took a quick look around the room and noticed something very important.
The Dining room didn't have any windows and only had three doors.
One leading to the hallway her group came from, One being the door where Princess Lanternlight entered from, and one being the door to the kitchen.
With the door she came from being behind her, and the door where the Princess came from being on the other side of the room, the closest door Cadance could run to in with the least obstacles is the one to the kitchen, which only leads deeper into the castle.
Cadance knew she should have listened more when Shining Armor taught her about ways to keep herself safe.
Always look for an escape route being one of the most important lessons he gave her.
For all intents and purpose, Cadance was trapped in a castle on foreign soil, in a nation with no official treatise of peace between said nation and her own, and she was being questioned by what could be considered a rebelling faction of the ruling class.
And that moment Cadance understood, that right there and then, she was in the most danger she has ever been in in her entire life.
So she spoke, She told Jennino and Ambrosia about Duke Snifflepaw, about Queen Katherina's invitation, about the fear she had of a civil war breaking out, and of the peace treaty she promised to sign should this delegation stop the civil war from occurring.
She told the two princesses everything. Because of one simple reason.
Princess Cadance was terrified.
She was not in any shape or form ready to be handling negotiations on foreign soil with a nation that has a neutral, bordering on hostile relations with Equestria.
She wasn't trained for this, This isn't like the trade negotiations she had with Minotopolis, The Minotaurs already have a peace treaty signed and are close allies to Equestria.
This mission, This Isn't anything like that.
And Cadance knew that she terrified of the thought that this mission will fail.
Not only will a Civil War start, But the ties between Caninia and Equestria will officially become hostile.
And when Blueblood and Chespin returned to the room, The tense atmosphere of an interrogation changed back into the warm atmosphere of nice lunch.
Jennino even tried befriending Chespin, Blueblood didn't seem to understand why but he supported Chespin getting closer with the princess.
Perhaps he thought having Chespin get closer to the Princess will help negotiations, but Cadance knew the truth.
Chespin looked like a small Rodent, Something easy to capture and get rid of.
Jennino might truly want to get closer to the Green and Brown Diplomat, but there is an equal chance that she is doing so to change his loyalties from Equestria to Caninia.
Or hold him hostage if need be.
"Damn you Raven Inkwell" Cadance whispered to herself when nobody was paying attention.
Reaching the older castle, the one we were supposed to go to instead of the one we reached, we are once again stopped by guards.
Not because we weren't expected, but because of the two princesses that came with us.
Luckily someone had a brain in their head and told the guards to stand down and let us all enter.
After quickly walking through the halls of the old castle, we enter a throne room with a Blue Diamond Dog sitting on it.
Finally, after four hours we can finally start talking with the one that called this Delegation in the first place.
Queen Katherina Proudpaws.