Armor was there, profoundly sleeping. Staggering at opening her eyes, Cadance saw scars marking his armor, but nothing that would indicate a great struggle. At least, he wasn’t injured. Though she wished he wasn’t drooling and, most importantly, she had something to clean it with.
She heard rattling and the shuffling of paper. The green light first made her heart stop, but the sound of metal calmed her down inexplicably.
She waited for her vision to clear. She checked the back of her neck. There was nothing, no wounds, and no gnawing pain.
Cadance smiled, suddenly fully relieved, and addressed Trazyn the Infinite.
‘Ah! I was complaining that you two would forget about me!’
He did not bother replying, too busy examining a book he had assuredly stolen – nor did he bother constraining her as they had done to Celestia and Starlight, she noticed with her free arms wiggling about. Trazyn was alone, however, with only two lychguards acting as a company, standing on standby at the only exit; that pulse described was not present. Blackstone was influencing her magic. Though escape was clearly not an option she possessed. Nothing new to her, really. She took her time to admire those… Necrons. Their posture was impressive, and the bizarre serenity they brought to the room was half-comforting.
Chrysalis had the same glow, she mused.
Luna and Celestia told her of Necron history – at least as much it had been given to Celestia in that first encounter twenty-five years prior. Trazyn, under the constant interruptions of an annoyed Orikan, had insisted on the sun that had seen the birth of the ancient Necrontyr was the cause of their unfortunate future; the cause of the War in Heaven (which he had resumed in two throwaway phrases); the rise of the Star Gods, their fall, and their shattering; the mysterious figure that was the Last of the Silent Kings; and millions of years long sleep. She was told of the birth of races specifically tailored to fight against the Necrons, but the details were left unuttered.
Luna, more than Celestia, had been the one conveying those stories over many sessions. All the while, she and Cadance came to the same agreement that something was enticing – cool, Cadance had said – about those Necrons. And for some bizarre reason, they both had the urge to paint after every telling.
‘It is an honor, Overlord Trazyn the Infinite.’
He showed the palm of his hand in a silent greeting.
Cadance grumbled, offended by his attitude. ‘Have you talked to Luna? Twilight? I am sure they were better guests.’ She made sure to not make it sound sarcastic.
‘No,’ he cackled, catching his interest. ‘I do not exactly appreciate them. One is too depressing and annoying; the other speaks too much and cannot harness proper decorum. Which is which will depend.’ Cadance quietly snorted in amusement. Of course, Trazyn picked it off and smiled internally. ‘Additionally, they lack that charm you and the other mongrel have.’
‘Thank you… I guess. And my husband-’
‘A firebrand that exasperated me.’
Debating was useless; she knew it to be true. Sighing to calm herself further was the best strategy at her disposal.
‘Have you talked to the elements of harmony in some more elaborate fashion?’
He laughed profusely and waved the question away.
‘I find your Empire’s history quite interesting,’ said Trazyn, finally gazing at her. ‘Particularly the last decade of it. And like so, I come to the main body of your presence.’
‘Do tell, do tell – it is not like I can object.’
‘A willing participant!’ gleefully exclaimed Trazyn. ‘Those are rare,’ he laughed. ‘At any rate – why “empire”?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You are not an empress. You are not “Empress Cadance”. Why is that? An empire should not be the puppet of another power.’
‘I know.’
‘Thinking of elevating your standing? Or give it to your child?’
‘When she will grow up, I will start thinking about it with her, my husband, and,’ she made circles with her hoof, ‘the others.’
‘You will have two-’ He stopped to examine the readings of the medical device he haphazardly built with Orikan.
‘Excuse me?’
‘Vestiges of a recent birthing process? Or is it accumulated fat?’ He slapped the device, and then threw it on the ground, shattering it. The broken remains were then rapidly cleaned by a previously unseen scarab. ‘Your psychana must have been troubling the device. But we are getting away from the topic,’ he asserted. She raised an eyebrow but nothing more. He was simply rude. ‘Princess is not a sufficient title, by all means. Demote the Crystal Empire to the “Crystal Principality” and save yourself the headache.’
‘Or that, yes.’
He crooked his head. ‘You don’t really care, do you?’ She shook her head. Trazyn sighed as he blocked a vox-message from Orikan, urging him to come back to their ship with the ignition codes.
‘That’s it?’ innocently asked Cadance. ‘No more questions?’
‘Not, really. I took my time, but all relevant information has been taken and processed in only a few months – your months to be precise. While fascinating for its few interesting artifacts, it is a painfully generic world. Though its biological diversity intrigues me. I will need to study on my own to understand the reason for such diversity. It is very rare to see such coexistence. Though one individual stood out the most for me,’ he cackled. ‘Glitterhoof.’
‘Ah!’ exclaimed Cadance, not able to help herself. ‘The one and unique! The greatest creature to have ever lived!’
‘The manner of his rise to power is intriguing and equally amusing.’ She nodded. ‘I had hoped for something similar for those mighty Griffons.’
‘Have you interrogated a griff in your stay in our world?’
‘Why yes. And she wasn’t very amicable. Few were, really. Then again, apart from you, I haven't meant any truly amicable Unclean. You lie like your mentor, but at least, you are not geriatric.’
‘I am flattered… I-I guess.’ She mentally shrugged, but her face showed a slither of confusion. ‘Who was the least friendly? Just out of curiosity.’
‘You, my dear. Or rather, your original people. They babble and babble for no apparent reason other than to coerce you into becoming a “friend”. Naïve and derivative, and by a large margin, a completely unfriendly attitude. Those “institutions” they have for it is such a waste, and I am surprised a sort of Ecclesiarchy has not risen around it. But I digress.’
She did not add to it.
‘And the Changelings?’ she asked again.
‘I came across your rival – I think without a doubt she is better than that dimwit currently on the throne. A shame she is no longer ruling.’
She frowned. ‘I disagree.’
‘Of course, you do. But she did try to rule once more, you know?’
‘Really?? When?’
‘Three days prior. In that forest next to Canterlot. It was very entertaining to watch her fail. It was also very easy to snatch her afterward. It made her more… pliable. An indomitable spirit, she has.’
‘In love,’ she leaned in conspiratorially, ‘perchance?’
He emitted a loud puke. ‘I am teetering on admiration, but nothing more.’ He received another strongly voiced message, attached to it was a malignant techno-virus.
‘Anyhow, it is time for me to leave. And let me say, your willingness and calmness are very surprising Cadance.’
‘When you survive nearly being killed two- no, three times! In less than five years, experiences like this one are just… Well, you just miss the torture part to really make it a point of contention and anxiety-inducing.’
‘Jaded by experience,’ he mused.
‘My life was positively rocked with world-ending events. And I was once turned into stone.’
‘I know. Awful music that day.’
‘You were there?’
‘Oh, yes. Let me tell you; that Storm King was a complete letdown. I expected someone with Imotek’s level of genius, not a literal bumbling buffoon. The Stormlord knows he has power, at least; he does not require to take one of the others. But it was fun seeing my colleague losing his engrams when the King started playing with your astral bodies.’ He emitted a low laugh.
‘I can see the fun in it. Yes…’ She smiled back.
‘Also, what a bunch of incompetent idiots you have as masters. How did you not notice the damn things arriving? You are inside land, you have means of quick communications for the primitive people that you are, and have an outpost resting on clouds. That is pure incompetence at this point.’
‘They are idiots – as you said. I am an idiot too, so it is understandable. Luna and Celestia were supposedly in charge, so… Yeah, we’re idiots.’
‘Complacent is more exact of a word.’
‘I do admit, I can be lax sometimes.’
‘Just do not let yourself be too complacent.’ He paused; he then returned with a seemingly malign expression. ‘With all you have lived through, I have one more thing.’
‘Do ask.’
‘I have one last question before relieving ourselves from each other. A question that has lingered in my mind ever since learning more about your kind. A question that is perhaps the oldest one in your world, lying waiting to be asked in the subconscious of all – but you will never ask it out loud. You are too terrified to want to know its answer or what it will install in the mind or minds of those targeted by it.’
Then it dropped, and she felt more lost than ever before. She felt the atmosphere weighing more upon her as if she knew the answer but was too terrified to say it or admit that the alien may be right.
The question was simple:
‘What will happen when an Alicorn goes to war?’
****
Cadance dragged a half-awakened Armor out of the cave. It did not prevent him from noticing her incredible passiveness. She had been quiet in the aftermath of Chrysalis’ attack, she had been quiet after every danger they had faced. She never showed it, he had always been the one privy to her silent phases.
‘So, that’s it?’ he ponderously asked. ‘Am I being captured by you instead of them?
He had the reflex to start joking. Cadance would at times break her quiet for him, but the back and for were painfully one-sided.
However, that instance of rapid mood swings was more clearly shown when someone came to intrude upon them. Anyone. Though he wondered if Celestia had wind of it.
‘Where are you taking me? To your wondrous palace?’
‘Oh, I am taking you to a palace alright.’
He forced her to stop, wanting to stand up on his own hooves again. Though he could not let go of her grip properly.
‘Did they hurt you?’
‘Only one.’
‘The Infinite or-’
‘Yes. Him.’ She nodded repeatedly. ‘Yep,’ she wearily smiled. ‘He just wanted to have his little fun before leaving. I was a wonderful guest, I think.’
Shining Armor laughed. ‘You always were a wonderful guest.’
‘Oh, I don’t think “always” is appropriate.’
‘True enough. I was of the privilege to not be a welcomed guest to your grumpy periods.’
‘And you can be equally so.’
‘And I am accused of exaggerating.’
They laughed together. She told him of the question.
‘Don’t…’ he hesitated. ‘Don’t think more about it.’
He petted her on the head, messing her hair to distract Cadance. Great was his disappointment when for all his usual efforts, he had barely moved them. She offered him to take her hood, and he promptly stretched her on her face.
‘I don’t like it,’ she said behind a tired smile, keeping the hood above her expression.
‘I don’t either. But we have the time to think about it.’
Cadance nodded and took out a device she had hidden under her wing. ‘He called it: Dramatis Mortalis. It is a complete history of every race in his- their universe. A “gift”, he called it.’
He stared blankly at it, his words lost to describe the possible impossibilities stored within. ‘I am sure they will appreciate it.’
‘Flurry’s gift prone first, however.’
‘Of course,’ she started crying.