Consoling Conferences
Sunset
Eventually, Cadance pulled herself off me after a few minutes of both me and Princess Celestia consoling her. I like to think that we had called a temporary truce while we were helping the newborn Alicorn. I, however, realized fully that we were simply putting a pause on our current hostilities. There would be time for spilled fire and blood later after Cadance had been consoled.
“What happened?” I asked the Alicorn that had refused to let go of my hoof and had me under her wing. Was this meant to be some form of protection? Who was she supposed to protect me from? Princess Celestia? The thought nearly made me choke. Which in turn had Cadance tighten her grip on me. Eventually after proving to Cadance that I wasn’t about to perish with her and Princess Celestia here, she finally began to speak.
“I saw Starfish, or well I saw how he really looks. I panicked so I broke your tracker. You came in and…” She trailed off from her slowly spoken words as she stared at Princess Celestia. I could see the mental strain that she was under as she contemplated her next words. I could only frown at the sight. Did she not know that we had been traveling with a changeling? I had only suspected myself that Mistletoe was something more than what she claimed to be. Had she somehow missed the signs?
Did she somehow get to this point of being both a Princess and an Alicorn without knowing about changelings? My gaze twisted from my partner to Princess Celestia’s immaculate form. She was just silently observing Cadance as she continued to be unable to speak her next words.
Which was strange as I had simply teleported her away from the onset of oblivion. Had I done something more? Bringing those memories to the forefront of my mind as I replayed them once more, I could find nothing from my actions that I had taken to save her, that she would even be against. Perhaps, teleporting her without her permission but afterward, when I apologized, she had permitted me to do so in the future.
Cadance found the words that she wished to speak as she continued, however now she was no longer looking towards the Immortal ruler of Equestria. Her gaze was now focused entirely upon me. “Sunset, is that Celestia?” She whispered somehow disregarding the fact that she had spoken to the Princess earlier. I nodded, and at my confirmation, she once more froze.
I turned to Princess Celestia who once more had a smile placed upon her lips, it was a fragile thing. I could see the confusion that lurked deep within her eyes, as she watched her fellow Princess wallow. Thankfully this time Cadance found her words much quicker “Sunset do you think we should take a walk?”
I thought that she knew how to lie. If this was her idea of getting a message past Princess Celestia I am not impressed. I looked at Princess Celestia and saw the amused look of the ruler that had watched another pony fail to sneak something past her.
“Cadance, I promise you that nothing shall happen until the end of this conversation. I am here to check up on not only yourself but Sunset as well.” Princess Celestia brazenly lies as she calls out Cadance’s failure of obfuscation. I would teach her how to properly get around the Princess of the Sun’s ever-watchful gaze. Cadance, however, buried her now reddened face into my side in a futile effort to hide from the elder Alicorn.
Celestia continues undaunted by the strange showing of my partner. “I do believe that I shall allow the two of you to get your story straight while I apologize to Stinger and Cipher.” She says as she trots over to the entrance of the room before pausing and looking back. “I would appreciate it if the two of you were to remain here until I return.” She warns us before exiting the room. The door softly closed behind her. Leaving now only a singular Alicorn with me.
“Cadance?” I questioned my partner who is still attempting to smother herself to death in my coat. “Don’t feel too bad about Princess Celestia catching you, it took me years before I could get around her.” I offered my words of comfort only for the pink Alicorn to groan into my side. Strange. “I can teach you how to lie to her face.” I offered my partner as it was a valuable skill to have when dealing with Princess Celestia. Even though technically it was more a form of misdirection, yet before I could amend my previous statement Cadance pulled her head from my side.
“What is even happening? Why is Celestia here? How are you even alive? How am I even alive?” she exclaimed, her volume increasing with each word that came rocketing from her mouth. I just waited until she was done and was now panting from an exertion that I believed to be far more mental than physical. After allowing her to take a few deep breaths I answered her questions.
“I believe that we both blacked out after my spell concluded. Why you blacked out I am unsure, however, I must have overloaded myself with the amount of magic I performed.” I started, however, I could see a strange sight in my partner's purple eyes. She looked fearful of me once more. Why? What had I done? I had saved her? Had I not? Running the cooling charm at a fraction of the strength I usually do, I steeled my resolve and continued. I would deal with her fear of me later. “I am unsure how she found us. I can hypothesize however that she noticed my temporal magic. I am unsure how to answer your final two questions.”
Cadence took in my words as if they were the final drops of water found in the middle of the San Palomino Desert. Oddly she flinched back from me when I spoke of Princess Celestia finding us, yet she did not let go of my hoof nor did her wing uncover me. Did she and the Princess have a falling out? Was there tension between the two members of Equestrian royalty?
I felt a flame flicker into coexistence deep within my being at those roiling thoughts. A divide between the two Princesses would be a useful thing indeed. After all, if they were contesting against each other, I would be able to take countless advantages from such struggles. With the closeness and trust I had recently acquired from my partner, I would be able to direct her to wound Celestia in a far more effective way than any pony that was alive in Equus.
I would be able to use the turmoil to ascend uncontested by the Princess of the Sun herself. For she would be far too busy dealing with the Princess of Love. It was unlikely that Princess Celestia would kill the newborn Alicorn, especially after putting so much effort into ensuring that she finishes her ascension. This would allow my partner to survive against the Sun. She would be burned and battered, all to gain me even more time to ascend.
Why did such a thought encase me into an imagined imprisonment of ice? Why did it feel wrong? Why did such thoughts bring me far less amusement than they had when I had first planned Cadance’s demise?
The spark of heat that had formed into a quickly raging flame was just as quickly extinguished by those final thoughts… I was truly a pathetic pony, I couldn't help but think to myself as I brought my gaze back to reality and to the pony that had entrapped me within a web of her design. Cadance was still staring at me, her purple eyes were widened with fear yet she made no effort to escape.
Did she say something? Had I once more let something slip to her? “Did I say something again?” I sighed as I allowed the last of the burgeoning flame, to extinguish. Thankfully Cadance shook her head in the negative. Her mane now no longer concealed by my spell work cupped her face as it moved with her head.
“Sunset is there a reason why we aren't fleeing from Celestia?” she hesitatingly asked. Her voice was quiet, yet I knew that it was not enough to escape the Celestial Monarch’s senses. I wonder how she would take her equal siding with me, her failure, over herself. A flame burst into existence, and I allowed myself to embrace it as I answered Cadance.
“She will be able to catch up. I can’t teleport nearly as far as she can without a proper array that I have previously arranged. I had one set up at the cave, and the only other one I have prepared at this moment would only put us further into her clutches.” After all, it would be counterproductive at best to retreat to her seat of power when attempting to escape from the Princess that had long ruled over Equestria. Cadance thankfully understood my limitations on this matter.
If I was able to allow the two of us to escape, I would. It, however, was for the moment something far closer to an impossibility than practical. Perhaps when I and Princess Celestia once more cross horns I would be able to think of a way to escape, but for now I was trapped within her gaze once more. I would adopt my previous role and play to her expectations, she had won after all. “To the winner go the spoils,” I muttered under my breath as I cast the cooling charm reflexively. Cadance looked alarmed but before she could say anything I continued. “Speak the truth there is little chance that Princess Celestia isn't listening in on this conversation.”
“Can’t you use your… magic wall.” She was referring to my privacy ward I believe. It didn't matter. Princess Celestia could get around any spell of mine that she noticed. Especially with her attention no doubt still focused on me to ensure that I wouldn't snuff the life of the newest Equestrian Princess.
I just shook my head in the negative as Cadance winced. She fell into a deep silence that she only emerged from after a few silent minutes had gone by. I had spent my time watching her, seeing how the emotions that converged forth brought a bevy of changes to the pony before me.
Her hope provided her with the foundation for her to stand taller. Only for the realization of fear to cut her down. Followed by indignation that forced her to stand back, yet not as tall as she had achieved before. Even as I was watching the pink Alicorn before me, I watched countless emotions swim through her eyes that I had no hope of recognizing.
She eventually settled on fear, which filled her form. It was far clearer in her eyes that had hardened in a false attempt at protection. Yet it was clear to me that the crystals were easily shattered. “Sunset, do you remember dying?” she hauntingly asked. Her words were followed by a silence that I could not even dispel.
I do not remember dying. I did not even recall being close to death ever since the pony that had attacked me back at Canterlot Castle. I perhaps had underestimated my wounds from that fight considering I had been asleep for a week. I shook my head in the negative and watched as Cadance silently pondered my words.
We were wrapped in silence. Cadance contemplating deep within her mind even as she still clung to me. Her wing almost protectively wrapped over my form, holding me close to the Alicorn of Love. She was warm. She didn't even notice the heat that I was stealing due to her grasping me, so lost in her thoughts. Taking the time, I turned my attention to the duplicate of myself and dispelled my magic allowing my once duplicate to wither away back to the vial that it had once been.
Cadance had not been as deep within her mind as I had presumed as at my action, she pulled me even closer to herself. Tightening her grasp on me, she let out a mix between a whine and a breathless scream. It took a moment for her to calm down even as I attempted to soothe her to the best of my ability. Yes, I could have teleported away from her but… Considering how she reacted to my duplicate dissipating. I did not look at the other reason such as that she was warm and was freely giving me her warmth.
It took for there to be knocking on the door for both of us to be startled out of the embrace that we had been lost in. Cadance loosened her grip on me even if her wing still covered me. “Come in.” She said after a pause in which her cheeks were far pinker than red. Princess Celestia opened the door as she once more caught my gaze.
“I take it that the two of you have gotten your stories straight?” she asked as if she hadn't been listening in on everything that we had been discussing. I nodded as I felt Cadance stiffen at Princess Celestia’s veiled question. “Good. Then I have a few questions for you both.” She stated as the door closed behind her with an audible click, as the world around us faded. Now we were within a grassy field upon a checkered blanket. Her Sun blazing high above in all its splendor.
Oddly Cadance stiffened somehow further at the display of Celestia’s magic. It had the same basic principles as my privacy ward. Just far more advanced. “Please make yourselves comfortable.” Princess Celestia intoned as rays of sunlight brought forth three seats. I stayed still, continuing to stand. Cadance kept her wing over me and her hoof holding mine. Princess Celestia watched us for a moment to see if one of us would break from the other and sit. Once it was clear that neither of us would, the three chairs dissipated back into the sunlight that they were summoned from.
“How exactly did you find us?” Cadance stuttered out as she shuddered around me. Was she this terrified of Princess Celestia? Has Princess Celestia done something to her? I heard a snap, as flames began to pool in my blood. Preparing to converge upon the target of my hate. My eyes found the target and I froze… Was I just considering attacking Celestia on Cadance’s behalf? I couldn't prevent the convulsion that ran through my form.
It took incinerating the thought forcefully to get myself back under some semblance of control. I was before Celestia I would not fail. I couldn't once more prove that I was the failure she knew I was. I had to be perfect for her. I had to be perfect for her. I was nothing without her.
Celestia thankfully didn't make any mention of how strange I just acted instead she seemed almost entirely focused on Cadance. Her pink eyes once more ignored me entirely as they only held room for the Alicorn that was named her equal. That she herself had named her family. The one that had usurped me. The one that had stolen my place at Celestia’s side. I would show the parasite the cost that its actions had accrued.
Before I could act on my molten thoughts, I teleported from the parasite's grip and flash-froze myself. The cold and ice encased me before I could attack the Alicorn Princess. The cold sunk into my very being as I allowed my warmth to be stolen from me. Being replaced by a cold clarity. I could see Cadance’s horn light as she summoned forth a crystalline shard that was sent hurtling at me. Before I could defend myself from the attack the crystal was shattered with a towering blast of fire.
Princess Celestia frowned at me. I could see the disappointment in her eyes as clear as her Sun in the middle of the night. How I was once more a failure. How I once more was nothing but an abandoned project that would be soon forgotten. That I deserved to once more be abandoned into the ice and cold. Left by the one that had once loved me. Her eyes softened as she turned to Cadance. Turning away from me.
NEVER ME! I shuddered even through the ice that encased me. I felt the frozen water begin to boil around me. The ice that once encased me within its frozen bindings, shattered. Free of my self-imposed bindings I looked towards the two Alicorns that were staring at me.
“My apologies for my actions. Where were we?” I forcibly ensured my voice was calm, as I asked even as I seethed. Celestia simply looked over me once more before nodding. Cadance, however, quickly found her way to my side once more.
“Sunset are you alright?” The Alicorn of Love asks as she reaches out with her hoof. I nodded at the pony that was my partner. It was a lie, and I knew that every single pony in this room knew it. However, I could deal with my failures later. Celestia was still here. She had to be dealt with.
“Please ask your questions, Princess Celestia,” I asked, turning from my partner’s purple eyes to Princess Celestia’s pink. From an inferno of caring concern to a cold calculating set of eyes.
“Why exactly did you flee as far as you did from the castle after rescuing Cadance? You both could have gone into Canterlot City. Instead, you went to a cave far beyond the borders of Canterlot, deep within the wilderness. To a cave that was prepared with magics focused to avoid detection.” The Celestial Princess questioned us as she stood before us. A Unicorn and a newborn Alicorn stood for the moment against a fully ascended Alicorn. I could only imagine the tales that could be told of such an encounter.
“I could not be certain that there would not be any attackers within the greater entirety of Canterlot. That cave was a haven I had prepared years ago for my inevitable departure from your castle.” My words honed by years of her tutelage slipped through the field of traps that littered Princess Celestia’s questions. Her eyes narrowed as my words seep into her.
“Cadance, Sunset has mentioned that she has offered you on multiple occasions the chance and ability to leave from her side if you wish,” she asked after a moment of considering her words.
“That is true,” Cadance confirms with a swift nod from beside me. Even as she says it she continues to hold onto my hoof and I can feel the familiar heat of her wing slowly covering me. Was she afraid that I would leave her alone? That I would Abandon her?
“I see, Cadance, why is it you were so distraught?” Princess Celestia asks as her gaze focuses on the Alicorn that is next to me. I take a deep breath as I stifle the flame that sprouted. I had already failed once in this conversation. I would not prove myself to be any more of a failure. I can feel Cadance still, and a glance at her face shows that she is in deep concentration.
“Well… I am not sure how to say it other than…” Cadance hurriedly speaks only to pause and take a deep breath before she continues with steel in her voice. “I think that there was time travel involved. I have two sets of memories. Both events couldn't have happened at the same time. Especially with what Sunset said about sensing chronomantic magic.” She concludes by leaving only silence in her wake.
That e-.
“I perished.” It was an oddly cold thought. One that sent waves of ice throughout my very existence. It made sense with how clingy she is, how she was asking after if I remembered perishing. Interesting, I wonder what managed to kill me? “What finally extinguished my flame?” I asked Cadance as I turned to face her fully.
“You really don’t remember?” she asked, her voice tainted with a strange inflection that I couldn't place. I shook my head in the negative which caused her to let out a soft neigh as she continued “You promised to protect me, and you did exactly that…” She trailed off as her voice continued to get smaller and softer. However, that did not change the chaos that those words of hers had inspired.
I promised to protect her? I… She… Why had I promised to do that? What in Celestia’s name had happened? Why had I promised? What had I promised? What had I been extinguished for?
“Cadance, what were my exact words in that promise?” I urged the Alicorn before me. I had to know. What had I promised her? Why I had promised her. How had I forgotten a promise that I had made? I… Did it even count as me making the promise? I didn't know but… I needed to know what I, or another version of myself, had promised her. “Cadance please,” I begged the Alicorn that was my partner. She knew how much I valued my word, to make a promise and then-. “Did I at least keep that promise until I perished?” Please Celestia at least let me have done that.
Cadance throughout my beckoning was silent, her purple eyes a converging sea of crystals that formed and shattered with each thought. She met my gaze, and I could see the fragmented crystals coalesce into a grand creation of her design. A sharpened blade of crystalline might was brought to bear against me.
“The last time you promised me you died in a vain effort to accomplish it. Why in Celestia’s name would I tell you about that promise?” She questioned her words a blade that attempted to strike true. She forgot who she was contesting, I was second only to Celestia herself… and she is still here.
Twisting my gaze from my partner that refused to answer my question instead to the celestial monarch that had allowed herself to slip from my attention. She was content to only watch as the two of us revealed far too many secrets. I could see the sparks of intrigue within her eyes as she no doubt was using the information she had just gleaned to her advantage. I turned my attention back to the pits of purple crystalline blades.
I could see that Cadance was about to continue this argument. Before any more information could be gleaned from her words, I silenced her
“Princess Celestia is still here.” I hissed uncaring that the Princess of the Sun was able to hear this warning. Cadence froze and her eyes flicked over her fellow Princess. Her face flushed in embarrassment as she took a half-hoof step away from me but otherwise still held me.
“Indeed.” Princess Celestia announced, cleaving through the silence. “Moving past this hiccup, Cadance I believe that what you have experienced. What you no doubt believe to be from some pony rewinding the clock, in a manner of speaking. Was instead likely a vision of a potential future. One that thanks to your actions was averted.” She serenely spoke in a softened tone. Her entire being exuded trust and yet her eyes which I had always been captivated by held something beyond speculation.
I could, however, see for just one singular moment that in her eyes, the gentleness was not found. That one moment where instead of a kind and gentle radiance that filled her eyes was instead replaced with a seething hatred. One that I would have easily been misplaced within my own eyes.
“A vision? It felt so real.” Cadance muttered lost in the idea that what she had experienced was but a vision. I looked towards her and saw her nearly sag in relief at the thought of being able to erase all of that pain that she had endured. That she could escape the suffering that she had survived. Perhaps on another day, I would have pulled back the wool from my partner's eyes, but as she clung to me, I decided to confront Princess Celestia about her newest lie, at a later moment. When Cadance was willing to move forwards, I would help her to the best of my ability.
“I have one final question for the two of you then. Depending on your answer I will have a proposition that I believe will interest you.” Princess Celestia smiled as she spoke. One that was filled with a false calculative warmth that promised everything yet gave nothing. After seeing that neither of us was going to challenge her she continued. “My final question for the both of you is would you like to return to Canterlot with me?” Princess Celestia strangely asks.
Was she demanding it of the two of us? Cadance I could understand, she was a fellow Princess, but I was included in that statement. Or was this a situation in which I was supposed to say no and for Cadance to agree to Princess Celestia’s question? It wouldn't be the first time she has had me do such a task. However, the wording for this ‘question’ was different from her previous orders.
Was she truly asking if I would like to return to her castle then? Where she would proceed to ignore my very existence. That was until she needed me to complete a task for her. Or if I had once more stepped a hoof out of line and ruined her ideal creation. NO! I wouldn't go back. I would not be summoned back to her castle just to be forgotten.
I would return when I was an Alicorn. When I was ready to confront her. When I was ready to slit her throat and bathe all of Canterlot in my mother’s blood. Drowning all those that had long since looked down at me. Decrying that I would never get the love that I had long since desired.
Only I would return to her place of power when I was ready. Until then I would continue to flee from her perfect vision, no matter what it costs me. No matter what I must sacrifice. I would not give in to the false promises. I would not be abandoned by Celestia again!
“I’m sorry Celestia but I believe that neither of us is interested in returning to Canterlot at the moment,” Cadance answered Celestia’s question before I could even think of voicing my objections. It took me a moment, but I nodded in agreement with Cadance’s words. Celestia tilted her head, in agreement with our decision, even if it was clear that she would have preferred Cadance to return to Canterlot with her.
“In that case, I would prefer the two of you to have some ponies travel with you while you are traveling.” I could feel the frown on my face form even as I attempted to not react to the words that she was spouting. “I understand and am thankful that the two of you have survived far more than what could ever be expected of you both. However, you are both still young, and have yet to understand some lessons that only come with experience.” She continued as if she wasn't attempting to have us travel with her would-be spies. No spies were concealed, hidden, this was far more-.
“You want us to have a foal sitter?” I couldn't help the question that spilled from my lips. I had been taking care of myself with no oversight for years now, but since I was no longer within her castle Princess Celestia apparently could no longer trust me to not incinerate myself. “I am the strongest Unicorn in Equestrian history, and you want me to have a foal sitter?” I repeated the question almost dumbfounded by even the idea. Princess Celestia simply nodded.
“It is the same principle, yes. You hire a pony you can trust and then have them watch over the ponies that you care for. You have that pony ensure that they are taken care of and ensure that they are kept safe.” She pauses as she smiles, her Sun high above shone with her. “As Cadance no doubt knows there's far more to being a foal sitter than what is initially assumed.” Cadance slowly nodded, apparently as mystified by her fellow Princess's behavior as I was.
“Technically I’m still a fully licensed foal sitter, -” Cadance began “- I know how to take care of any foal. Which I would like to point out that I am not.” I waited for her to continue, and when it was clear that she wasn’t going to I pushed against the underside of her wing, which jolted her into action. “Sunset I can get, but me? Really?” I tasted the ashes of betrayal once more. It seems that Princess Celestia seemed amused by Cadance’s statement if the way her eyes lit up was any inclination.
“Oh, you believe yourself ready to travel through Equestria with only Sunset by your side?” I could feel the moment Cadance froze at Princess Celestia’s words. “You may have dealt with numerous colts and fillies, but traversing throughout Equestria is a different task entirely.” Princess Celestia paused her grandstanding for a moment to let her words sink in. I could only wait, rapturously enthralled by the being before me.
“However instead of hiring a pony from the surrounding area, instead I have tasked two of my guards with protecting you both. I may not agree with your choice to continue to travel, however, you are both old enough to make your own decision in this regard. However, as the pony that is entrusted with taking care of both of you, I ask that you let me do this.” As she concludes her proposition the reality around us reshapes itself to the room that Cadance and I had recovered within.
Princess Celestia made her way towards the door that opened on her command before she turned back to the both of us. “Please think over my offer. You have both proven that I cannot keep you chained within Canterlot.” She pauses with a sigh before her smile fades from her face. Revealing the visage of a mare that has seen eons pass her by, and has seen the countless births and deaths of generations past. She steps through the door letting it softly close behind her.
Leaving only myself and Cadance enshrouded by the silence that permeated existence itself. Threatening any that would dare to break its hold over reality… That was until the door was pushed open once more by the Celestial Monarch herself. “Oh, Cadance I was meant to pass along a message from Cipher. She wanted to ask if you would prefer to push the dinner until tomorrow. Perhaps have it as breakfast?”