Cadence walked through the castle's marble and gold halls, flanked by her unicorn guards. As she approached the throne room, the pegasi guards lowered their halberds to prevent her entry.
“Halt! Her Majesty has requested that no visitors are to see her at this time.” announced one of the guards.
Cadence, to her credit, did not back down from the challenge. “Then I will not be disrupting Day Court. Continue your duty, however as a princess of Equestria I am no mere visitor, so I request you cease barring my entry.”
Silence. As the pegasi and unicorns took measure of their counterparts, Cadence began to worry that another incident could happen, fortunately, the pegasi backed down, raising their halberds.
“You are correct, princess. You may enter, however, your escorts will remain here.”
That was the first hurdle passed, but to lose her guard here would mean no one would be able to witness her conversation with Celestia, at least no one on her side.
“Very well, Raven, Gleaming, please wait here, do not cause any trouble.”
“Ma’am” both her guards saluted and broke rank to await her return.
Passing through the doors, Cadence was met by a common sight.
While the throne stood empty, a large table showing a map of Equestria was currently been circled by the elder alicorn of the sun, an alicorn who was clearly displeased.
“Your majesty.” Cadence unfurled her wings and bowed to show reverence. There were times when she needed to stand against Celestia, as the closest pony to being her equal, however, this was not one of those times, at least not yet. Ponies and creatures beyond Equestria were looking for answers to the recent colorful wave that emanated from the Equestria, and the longer the crown was silent, the worse the suspicion and speculation would become.
Silence, Cadence hated how the halls to Equestria's seat of power nullified as much sound as possible, it only made the sound of her racing heart that much louder in her ears.
After what felt like an eternity, Celestia turned to acknowledge Cadence.
“We ordered none to enter, and yet, thou stand before us.”
Cadence raised her head, though remained in her position of reverence. Before Cadence, stood Celestia, alicorn of the sun, guardian or order, and Queen of Equestria. At the elder alicorn's side as always, floated her weapon of choice, a greatsword, sheathed in enchanted bindings to protect those around from its ever-burning blade, what concerned Cadence however, was Celestia's choice of armor. Celestia was never seen without her weapon and some sort of armor, however, the black armor with gold trim she currently wore was like nothing she had seen before, and all her senses told her that whatever it was, she should be afraid.
“Forgive me for intruding, however after the rainbow incident, ponies have been looking for answers.”
“Just ponies?”
“No, ponies and emissaries from the other kingdoms.”
“The wave reached that far then?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, I have received correspondence from as far as Olenia and new Mareland.”
“Did thee now. We are almost impressed at the speed of the other races, they did not waste a second to come begging for answers.”
“Indeed, Your Majesty, but it did originate from Avalon Castle did it not? They have reason to be concerned”
Avalon Castle, the largest cloud fortress of pony kind, the golden bastion of pony supremacy, and, its seat of power. It was also the home of Queen Celestia and the upper echelons of Pony Society, along with many knightly orders of pegasi. It was also a symbol of terror for any creature outside Equestrian borders. After all, for as long as memory could recall, when the golden towers of Avalon were seen on the horizon, no army or fortress had ever withstood its military might. If the other races discovered that the rainbow wave emanated from here, the mass panic would be disastrous, it would set her goals back decades.
“Allow us to correct you, Princess. First, it is of no concern what the other races think, for their concerns are not ours. As long as we are the sole custodian of Sun and Moon, their opinions mean nothing to us, they are safe, provided they do not get in our way. Second, the incident was not our doing nor did it start in Avalon, a trainee flight camp not far from here is the source.”
That was surprising, Cadence expected Celestia to disregard the other creatures, but for the Solar Monarch to divulge any information about the rainbow wave was unexpected, at least not without some arguing.
“Thou should not concern thy self with these trivial matters. We have another task more befitting of your station.”
“Your Majesty?”
“There has been an incident in Canterlot, an out-of-control unicorn. This filly is to be placed in your custodianship, you are to bring her magic under control and ensure another outburst does not happen.”
“But, Your Majesty?”
“Enough Cadence, this is not a request but an order.”
“May I ask why you chose me when others would surely do just as well?”
“You may, for we wish you thee to understand your place. This filly is a danger to the order that we protect, if unchecked or nurtured by the wrong hooves she could bring destruction to this kingdom. As a filly, she created a dragon from stone, and turned three instructors into plants, by accident. We should not have to explain the potential she might hold as a fully grown mare. You are to oversee her development so she may better Equestria with her gifts.
“So I am her caretaker then?”
“Indeed, the filly is also to be exiled from Canterlot, and any large city till her magic is stable. As her custodian, you are to be within a respectable range at all times.”
NO! If she couldn’t access the major cities, how was she to maintain her network, foster relations, and build a peaceful future?
“Queen Celestia, Please …”
“SILENCE!” The Royal Canterlot voice boomed across the hall. “Thy final task is that thou shall watch this filly grow, experience joy, find love, and suffer heartbreak before she eventually dies! It is time to learn thy nature Alicorn! Even if she lasts 100 years you will learn. Have I made myself clear, child?”
Disaster. Could it be worse? But there was always one other option.
“What if, I refused?” Raising to her full height, Cadence did her best to match Celestia. The older mare had at times relented on her decisions when she’d stood her ground, perhaps this time.
“Then we would have no choice. As the filly's family lacks the resources to make reparations, the horn of their filly, Twilight Sparkle would be sold to make amends.”
Twilight !? Why did she have to say that name?!
“That will not be necessary, Please forgive my insolence, I will do as you command.” She’d lost, but how? Cadence had worked so hard to have few vulnerabilities, she had steeled herself and sacrificed so much that now she only had two. She feared that the first, her lover would one day be discovered, but for Celestia to jump straight to Twilight …
“Very good, now leave, you have preparations to make.”
“May I ask, if an incident occurred near the training camp, does that mean a foal is responsible?” Cadence was defeated, but if she could gleam some small pieces of information regarding the incident, she might be able to alleviate her allies' nerves.
Celestia sighed. “Rumor suggests a filly caused an explosion and became an alicorn, a second filly however is also missing. We shall personally confirm if the rumors of this alicorn are true. Now leave, We have much to prepare.”
Without another sound, Cadence left the throne room.
She would return to Canterlot with her guards, and no doubt seek comfort from ‘Gleaming Shield’. Celestia was almost impressed at how well the two had kept their relationship a secret. After all, the house of Twilight had long been a strong supporter of her rule, and they’d produced some of the most competent mages in history. The scandal of Shining Armor being the paramour of her political rival would devastate the house.
And perhaps this Twilight Sparkle might finally be the solution to her problems. Regardless, she had removed Cadence and Twilight from Canterlot, and as long as Cadence did not break her orders, she would be away from any city for the foreseeable future. Away and safe.
Returning to the map, Celestia dismissed the illusion hiding the pieces she had delicately placed across the Equestrian map, revealing many pieces of white marble and black obsidian.
She did not understand how, for she had been certain that the cults were too weak to make any move of this scale, but she had been wrong. While the rest of the world panicked over a pretty light show, Celestia discovered a much darker truth. The seals on the moon had been weakened and breached. Nightmare Moon was no longer completely sealed within the moon, her influence was free to once again seep into the dreams of creatures, it was only a matter of time till she was free. War was coming, and she was not ready.
********************************
In the dreamscape, as Twilight had decided to call it, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Applejack had been glamoured to look like normal fillies. She was impressed with her work, weaving illusion and alteration together, with a base of conjuration to affect their physical bodies. It would be nearly impossible for any pony to discover their additional appendages, Short of knowing what to look for or dumb luck, her friends were safe from whatever was going on in Equestria.
After pooling their knowledge, from what they knew of Equestrian society:
Pegasi were the nobles, not unicorns.
Celestia was kind of an aggressive/ badass (Rainbow's words).
The Storm King has already invaded the Hippogryphs.
And fortunately, Pinkie had no ability to channel magic.
With three of her friends sorted, Twilight was about to turn to Rarity when she felt a tap on her withers,
“Oh hello Rarity, I was just about to come speak to you, are you ok?.”
Rarity leveled her most unamused stare at the purple filly before she began to gesture at her horn, wings, and mouth.
“I err, I’m not sure?”
Rarity gave an annoyed huff and attempted to express her displeasure with a hard stomp.
“Honest, I have no idea why any of this is happening, much less why you're a kirin.”
The off-white kirin, with a purple mane, was easily recognisable to Twilight, what was different however, were the purple scales along her back and a pair of webbed wings at her side, she wondered how Spike will react to meeting Rarity. Twilight was snapped out of her observations when said kirin began to gesture at her mouth and attempt to speak.
“Ooh that, if I remember correctly, the kirin silenced themselves to prevent their transformation into niriks.”
Rarity nodded and smiled, she hoped the purple filly was about to provide a fix for her vocal predicament.
“But, I have no idea how the silencing enchantment was broken.”
…
Before anything else could be said or done, an enraged Nirik exploded, shattering the realm around them, and waking the ponies from their slumber.