//------------------------------// // Okay, Take two, please // Story: As The Sun Sets // by Noobblue //------------------------------// I honestly should have seen this coming Cadance dove towards a pathway down towards the hedge where she saw Dusks colours flash against the ground. "Dusk! Wait!" She called out to him, he laughed in response "Catch me if you can Little Princess!" She smirked, he was giving away his position calling out to her like that. She angled herself up over another hedge and saw him running perpendicular to her, she swung around to the side and caught him turning back the direction he came. He kept running. "Dusk! Listen okay?!" She shouted over the wind resistance, it made her realize how fast she was going, and how fast Dusk was running, "I'm not going to force you to do anything, I just want to-" "Do you think you're going to catch me by talking?!" He dove through a hedge wall, and she lost him for a split second before visually catching him to her left, running away from the hedge maze and towards the palace. One flap, and she was off again. He was fast, but she was faster by far in the air, and much more maneuverable. "Please! Will you just stop for a second an-" "I ain't gonna chat it up with another princess who flies like a bat mid shit!" Excuse Me? She clenched her jaw and flew in closer to him, "Now Listen here yo-" Dusk stopped dead in his tracks, "Oh heavens, please shut your mouth!" Before turning to the left and sprinting towards the edge of the palace grounds. Cadance had to bank hard to the side to keep ontop of him, but he was gunning it towards the edge of the palace grounds, which meant he was running out of places to go, she grinned despite the insults, and after clearing a fountain and a walkway, she dove to land on the opposite side of a guardrail. Dusk had hopped it and was looking over the side at the drop down past the palace falls that lead to mid Canterlot. Cadance hit the ground just as he reached the edge, her horn lit in preparation for his next move. "That's it Dusk, there's no-where else to go." She heard herself, harsh, and out of breath. She was stood in a tiny crater where she landed and, "You shouldn't've said that." Before she could react, he tossed himself over the edge of a very long drop down Canterhorn. She felt one pound of her heart before she tore the grass jumping off the edge after him, her wings pumping to get her momentum up. He was falling with two hooves behind his head, gazing up at her with a raised eyebrow. He had maybe a mile before he was splatted on the side of Canterhorn, she caught up with him in the air and shouted over the pressure. "What are you doing!?" "Trying to explode violently against a hard surface?" He said back, casually, then switched to taunting, "Why? Did you want to stop that? Maybe catch me or something?" She shook her head, their chase flooding her mind and the stress exiting in her voice, "YES! Of course I do! What are you even! This is CRAZY!" He just looked at her, mid fall to his doom, no response, his eyes still blank of emotion. "Huh" Cadance tried to fly closer, to grab him or try to catch him, but he angled his hooves so she couldn't dive closer for a solid grip, no matter what direction she came from, he kept turning to stop her. "Stop it! You're going to get hurt!" "Uhuh, you're a unicorn right? Why not just catch me with magic?" Another hundred feet or so. She wrapped him in her aura. Slowed his decent, and the two came to a halt a couple hundred feet above the mountain side. She looked at him, breathing heavily, struggling to mentally catch up with the situation. She glared at him, he looked back impassively. She tried to catch her breath. "Alright, I'm in. Can you put me down though?" He said to her, mid air. Over Cantorhorn, leagues away from her Empire, from Shining Armor. What have I gotten myself into. She slid along a warm air current, towards an outcropping of rock she deemed safe enough to stand on, and put him down on top of it, landing herself just a moment after. "Why did you do that?" "Do what?" He said, inspecting his hoof. "Do what? Jump off the Palace!" She approached, stomping her hoof to accentuate her frustration He started drawing in the dirt. This time, she paid attention, not to be caught off guard a second time. "Relax, this is just the rest of that teleportation matrix." He noticed me noticing, he's sharp, why am I doing this- "Don't dodge my question." "Which one" She sighed. "Why did you jump off the palace." Patience Cadance. "Oh that? I was curious." ... At least he showed some emotion He had indeed, a small lilt of joviality rather than snark. "Curious about?" Cadance lead, "You." "Me?" He hummed in confirmation, still drawing in the stone. "About?" Cadance said, leading forwards again, Patience Cadance "You ascended from being a pegasus correct?" He actually looked up at her now. She wasn't sure if she liked that more or less. "I am." "It was pretty clear with that flying, I'm honestly impressed, I thought you'd be far more clunky in the air with your lanky frame." He turned back to the stone and remarked after, "You were also far quicker on the jump down after me, when I did it to Celestia, it took her almost five seconds before she tried to catch me." Before she could recover from the remark on her physique, "You've done this before?" "Can you lend me some magic?" He said, taping his hoof against the stone, "To teleport us back to the clearing, little Luna's probably still pacing. Fretting over my little escape attempt." Trap for sure. "We're not moving till you-" a tap and a flash, "-nevermind" They were back in the clearing where they started. "Cadance! You have retrieved Dusk! Excellent work." Luna approached the two. He didn't need my magic to teleport, Skilled mage... right... okay She held up her hoof towards Luna. Okay Cadance, you've got his attention, you need to take control of this situation. Fast. Large and in charge like Celestia taught you "I've got it all under control Luna" That sounded really contrived She tried to discretely glance at Dusk, he was smiling at her in a way that said: 'that was really contrived' whoops "You have this handled Niece? Truly?" Luna returned to a passive pose, inquisitively glancing between Cadance and Dusk. Cadance did the same once. She noticed that the clearing was occupied in the air and on the ground by numerous Thestrals, likely called to aid Luna right after she shouted. "Yes, I've," She changed verbal momentum, "I have a plan, and I think Dusk's willing to give me a chance." "Yeah, the Little Princess has me hooked," he dismissively waved a Luna, "Now go away." Luna frowned, Cadance intercepted. "While rude, I think it's best we continue how we discussed, I can handle it from here." "If you insist my niece." Luna lifted her wings, "Thestrals to me, let us vacate the gardens to the castle." Luna turned back to Cadance. "Retrieve me if need be Cadance." "I will, promise" Cadance also took note of the two crystal guardsponies at the opening in the hedge. The whole chase took just about a minute before they returned, and now Cadance had a moment to calm her churning mind to actually try to come up with some sort of plan. Luna was midway through the last of her statement before vacating the clearing. "She probably won't." "You're opinion is noted Dusk." Luna snapped back, scowling, before turning and trotting out of the clearing, night guard in tow. She stopped at the edge and turned back towards Cadance. "If I can be honest with you, I feel unsure about leaving you in the hooves of Dusk Swirl. Are you-" "I have both Brazier and Runner to assist me if I need anything, and we already agreed that this would be best done one on one. Thank you Luna, but I can take it from here." Luna worriedly glanced back and forth again towards Cadance and Dusk. Dusk who was rolling his eyes, and Cadance who was determinedly standing amidst the grass in the clearing. Luna left without another word. As did her Thestral retinue, until it was just Cadance, Dusk, and the two crystal guards left in the clearing. Cadance took a couple of steps towards Dusk, getting a good distance in front of him before dropping to the grass in a sit, and holding out her hoof. From the top "My name is Cadance. It's nice to meet you Dusk." He held out his hoof to shake hers, he wrapped his leg awkwardly around hers, and wiggled it. "I know who you are, and you shouldn't lie to someone you just met." He let go, letting himself sit as well. "You definitely did not enjoy our meeting." Right... "Do you need a minute?" He said, surprisingly softly "I'll be o-" "Don't lie to me. I promise you can't." There goes the softness, replaced with 'stern' and 'annoyed' "Okay." Cadance took a minute. So what is the plan here Cadance She took a deep breath, and counted to five, then released it, pulling a hoof away from her chest. He seems to be both polite and rude in equal measure, I need to 'turn him to the side of Harmony' whatever that means. He's letting me breathe, so this must be doable. Okay... Regardless I have to start with "Tell me about yourself." "Myself?" He raised an eyebrow and gave a side smile, it seemed to be a reoccurring expression Gotcha "Luna told me a lot of related information around you, but had very little to say about your personality as a whole." "and you want to get to know me before what? Turning me over to the side of Harmony?" He made air quotes with his hooves. "Something like that." "Well okay then" He stood and struck a pose, "Little Princess, you're looking at the most legendary living dark mage this side of the hemisphere, the master of the mind and the creator of modern psychology, I am, " He bowed, "Dusk Swirl. It is an absolute annoyance to have to be awake and talking to you." A beat passed before he sat back down in the grass and looked off to the side, "I enjoy long walks off the side of cliffs, and find dull, boring food fascinating to no end. I'm a follower of the School of Unrelenting Force and self proclaimed master of insults," he leaned in conspicuously and 'whispered' "Although Discord will try to take that title, don't believe him" "I like the quiet, and when I'm not basking in the silence, I also enjoy the sounds of crying, and screams of rage, generally pointed in my direction." He stopped his description of himself, and looked at Cadance with the look of sarcastic interest still plastered across his face. "and who might you be" he gestured towards her. Okay, this part is easy, I know who I am "I am Princess Cadance, and-" "Liar" he interrupted, expression unchanged. She scrunched her muzzle, "I'd like to think I know who I am" "You'd think that wouldn't you." He flipped back, then he sighed loudly just before she responded. "Listen, I'm not going to spend the next hour playing this little game. You're either going to get it or you won't, but in the interest of fairness," he paused then looked her in the eye, the intensity betraying his bored disposition, "Do you honestly view yourself as a 'princess'?" A beat. "Yes I do... maybe a little unconventionally," he smiled, "but a princess all the same, I have my responsibilities to my kingdom, and my ponies... I just, go about my duties in ways unique to me." "See? Now we're getting personal. Explain." "Explain my duties?" "Sure, I mean, why not?" Cadance tried to change her tone, she wanted to lead him towards getting used to her, not make him feel like he was getting a lecture. "Well, I guess my main focus is keeping my citizens happy, and together. It takes a lot of effort to keep so many ponies focused on the same goal, and not only is it important for them, but also for the crystal heart." He made a humming noise, "The Crystal Heart? You mean the artefact from ages past?" She turned to show off her mark "Well I'll be. You run the Crystal Empire then?" getting somewhere... this is still so surreal "I do, me and my husband Shining Armor" "What of Sombrero?" "Sombra?" she questioned, "King Sombra?" "Yeah! What ever happened to the old fool, we used to work together." "You worked with King Sombra?" "Yeah, he was investigating the heart, and a number of black magics, he requested my expertise, at the time, he was a normal stallion." He rolled his neck to the side, "Well, for a ruler that is. He was harsh, but fair, back then you had to exude confidence from every pore or the citizenry would snap you up in an instant." "We know very little about the Crystal Heart, only what it does. Could you perhaps share what you shared with him with me?" "Are you trying to get me talking about magical theory to try and acclimate me to your presence?" He shot back, frowning crap "Well- no, I was just-" "IF you try lying to me again, I'll just turn myself back into stone" "Okay, I'm sorry." I'd best just let him have that one, another angle, how abo- "What, why?" He said inquisitively, smiling. "For trying to get you talking?" She carefully answered. He shook his head, and tilted it in confusion. "What? Is that a bad thing nowadays?" Cadance thought for a second, then narrowed her eyes. This whole conversation is a chess game to him. He's just trying to toy with me! That doesn't even make any sense! "I just asked you a question, you're the one who got all defensive and tried to lie like you'd done something wrong." He laughed once, "Gotcha" he said, half scoffing and half laughing to himself. He looked away towards the stone plinth he rested on less than an hour ago. Talking to him is pointless... He'll always try to turn it around on me, Luna said so to begin with... He said he wouldn't be playing 'this' game, so let's see what he thinks of me when I stop playing too, I've got you now. Cadance, with her new plan, put a relaxed smile on her face, and re-settled herself into a sitting position in the cool air of the Canterlot Gardens. After maybe a minute or so of her inspecting his form, he turned back to her with a kinder smile on his face. He didn't speak. Cadance felt the impression that he was genuinely happy she stopped talking. I'm not sure if I should be happy I got him to actually smile, or insulted that it was because I shut up He eventually closed his eyes, and tilted his head up towards the sky, he... moved his head around oddly, it reminded Cadance of a flamingo feeling the air currents with it's neck. He stayed like that. Seemingly enjoying the night air for at least ten minutes. This is so strange, first, a mysterious summons to reform an equally mysterious villain. Then the villain turns out to be a sarcastic earth pony mage with the skill to teleport, and here I am, just... sitting in a field with him. Enjoying the night air... at least I think it's working' "You know, I knew some ponies who tried to play that little game with me until they died of old age." Cadance chose not to respond. This time, she saw the bait for what it was. "You figured out the pointlessness of 'talking' to me relatively instantly" "I did." she said simply. He turned his head back down and re-opened his eyes. "ah, so she speaks." He inclined his head towards her, "And what exactly did you learn?" He rested his head on a hoof. Cadance actually took a moment to consider what to say. She knew what she knew of course, but how to explain it was a completely different story. "You don't care about me or this. The only reason your here is because... you're bored." He gestured for her to continue, but rolled his eyes nonetheless. "So... this whole thing is... pointless." She frowned, and felt the weight of failure settle on her withers. "Well yeah, I mean, you came at me like I had a problem, and tried to talk to me like I was a noble. The only problem was that I'm smarter than you, and don't particularly enjoy being treated like I had some sort of debilitating issue that you think you can just trick me into not having using verbal gymnastics. It was stupid, and honestly rude." She waited. "What makes you think I even need to be reformed?" He stood, and advanced on her, slowly. "What brought upon you the audacity to try and pull the verbal nonsense you just tried to pull to... what? Get in my head?" he shook his head. "Is this how ponies make nice nowadays? Really?" "No." "Well at least we're on the same page then." He was close enough to touch her, and glared at her. "So what're you going to do now hmm?" What am I going to do now? I don't even... I don- "I don't like you." It took Cadance a moment to realize that it was her that just let that out. She looked level at him and watched his eyes widen. where did that come from?! She opened her mouth to try and fix what she had just done, but was interrupted by Dusk throwing his snout back and laughing once deeply. "HA!" He looked back down at her and started giggling, "AYE!" Dusk took another step forward and slapped a hoof on her shoulder, "See! There's a little bit o' the old honesty right? That wasn't so hard was it? Ha!" "I-" She tried, but he doubled back, "PFFFTBBTTTP, BWAHAHAHA," He stumbled over, laughing his heart out. Was he laughing at her? It's not fake, does really find that so funny? "Hooo boy! All this time, and I thought I'd have to pop you!" He saddled up to her side and elbowed her in the ribs, "Good thing you did it yourself ay?" Pop me? What is that supposed to mean?? "AY! Guard pony! Stop looking at the birds!" Cadance turned her head towards her two guards "A dark mage is close enough to kill your princess in moments and you're just enjoying the view? C'mon now!" Kill me? What? She shuffled away from him "Ay don't worry Little Princess, I'm not gonna hurt you, your guards just suck." he said, a massive smile still plastered on his face. "Could you though?" "Could I kill you in moments you mean?" He was a bit quick to respond to that, like he was expecting it. Cadance merely nodded in response I feel like I'm being tossed around in a bouncy house, this conversation is so fast! "Rule one of dealing with a hostile practitioner of dark magic Little Princess. This'll help you with liches and the likes too." He closed his eyes and bounced his head like he was reciting a word at a spelling bee, "Don't ever let one get close enough to touch you. Almost all dangerous dark spells capable of permanent harm require direct contact with the user and the target in order to function." He looked back at her with a face that said 'I didn't just imply I could murder you with evil magic' She looked back at him in confusion. He seemed to like that. This is going to be a long night.