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// 19 - Rumbles to the North 
// Story: Out of Cadance 
// by David Silver 
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Tempo awoke from a dead sleep in her room. She had a room. She had a bed, as a pony should, or at least as she insisted. She had a lot of things to make her comfortable in the palace. It was a curious thing, considering, technically, she could have just skipped sleeping.

Though ponies around her didn't like talking about it, and even she preferred not to linger on the thought, she was a construct. She wasn't alive. Sleeping, eating, breathing, and all other things a living thing had to do to remain alive, she just did not.

She gazed into a mirror with a soft hum. What even powered her? She had no idea, and, in the dark of that night, it bothered her. How long would it last? Some authors had claimed that fabricated beings wouldn't know the sting of death, but that felt silly to Tempo. She had an existence, and she valued it. The idea of it ending bothered her, and it could end. If her power source just turned off, there would be no Tempo left, and who would guard Cadance then?

"Cadance is alright." She touched a hoof to the mirror. "I know she's alright. I can feel it." Tempo stepped away, smiling despite herself. She liked being able to feel things, and the gentle reassurance of her link with Cadance was one of those things. She also had emotions. Good ones, bad ones, and all the ones in the middle. However artificial her body, she felt reasonably sure that her feelings were true.

She considered going to check on Cadance, but things had changed. They were married. That meant Cadance was sleeping next to Shining Armor, the two snuggling through the night.

This also meant Tempo had gained a sleeping companion. She turned just to jump in surprise. Prince Blueblood was already watching her intently. "I thought you were sleeping!" She hurried towards him. "You should go back to sleep." She knew he needed so much sleep, unlike her. "You have to stay healthy. Please."

Blueblood smirked at her with a tilt to his head. "Why?" He gently wrapped her with a firm and warm hug. "If I'm sleeping, then you will spend all your time fussing over me, won't you?" He leaned in to gently press his lips to hers. "I was thinking of you, of course. You don't need to sleep. Why not relax with your thoughts?" Nuzzling Tempo's cheek, he purred gently. "What's wrong?"

"I love you so much." She sank against him, tail wagging with building warm emotions. "My dear Blueblood." She took pride in being one of the few ponies he allowed to skip honorifics with him. "I was just musing. I am sorry if I woke you up. I was just wondering about life and its end."

"A most serious and grave topic, to be sure." He tilted his head at her. "May I ask why that was on your mind?" He tugged her gently back to the bed, which was as big as he demanded of it. "Are you considering something specific, my dear?"

Tempo trotted alongside him, hopping on the bed with him. "Not specifically. It's a little vague, and I'm not even sure how to articulate it. I've been told that I was artificially constructed." She swiveled an ear back. "Which I am. There's not much room for doubt. But I wonder, and I wonder." She closed her eyes, laying on her belly next to Blueblood. "How am I made? You don't know either, besides the basics. When will that fail? What will happen after then?"

"Would you like me to speak plainly, or elegantly?" He nudged her cheek, one of his most common and favorite ways to get her attention. "I think you already know, but I will spell it out." He rolled over onto her, nuzzling and nipping her neck. "We will deal with that when it happens, my darling."

She playfully tossed him off, though that did give her room to turn and look him in the eyes. "I am a defense machine." She rubbed her cheek with the flat of a hoof. "Which is a task I took on myself. They didn't make me for that. I know my maker, and sometimes I wish I didn't. They wanted a spy and infiltrator, they got a defender instead. Either way, I defend, and if I stop working, I can't defend. I don't like that idea."

"You'll never not be able to defend, not to me." He ran a hoof gently down her cheek and neck, reaching her chest to feel the quiet beating of her heart, really more of the gentle motions of her artificial internals. "I don't know when your end will come, but I know my own is a long way away." He leaned in, touching his horn to her forehead. "And if yours comes before mine, well, then I won't accept it."

Tempo blinked at that. "As much as I hate the idea, death is not something you can just 'not accept'. Not healthily, at least."

"Nonsense! I, Blueblood, Prince of this fine Kingdom, have decided that it is not permitted. I won't allow you to die." He narrowed his eyes with determination. "Do you not think me capable?" He sat up at that. "I will turn this world upside down until I return life to you. One advantage to being artificial, my dear. If we undo the damage that caused the issue, you should stir once again. So wait patiently for your husband to puzzle through it, and we'll enjoy a new hug after that dreadful time is resolved."

Tempo squinted at him. "You would do all that?" She reached to pat his nose. "You are a strange, wonderful pony. You would search the ends of the planet for the answer to something like that, wouldn't you?"

"Oh, not the world." He pawed at the blankets around them, not bothering to raise his voice in the slightest. "The world, nay, the universe!" One could but imagine what strange ideas Blueblood had that involved somehow escaping their planet on that quest. "If it meant even one additional second of you, my dear, it would be well worth the price."

"I suppose that's where I come in." She laid beside him. "To remind you that there's other things to do with that time."

"Hmm?" He considered the words. "I struggle to imagine what things you would rather I be doing other than fixing you, my dearest. Perhaps a break to eat and drink every once in a while?"

Tempo blew on his face. "You know. There are other things in the world that I'd rather you pay attention to, not that I expect you to focus on just me." She went still suddenly. "I am being foalish. I want to protect, and you stand ready to help me be ready to do that. I should be thanking you." She flopped against him, pinning him with her considerable weight, even if she was sized as a perfectly normal mare. "I love you. Thank you for existing. I know I'm not supposed to, but I have many reasons to cherish my existence, and you're the best of them."

"Well, you have a lovely cutie mark, and you are a genuinely heroic soul. You can't say I'm the best of them, surely. In fact, I would go so far as to say that you are the best thing in my life. My cutie mark is nothing to comment upon, and you know of my history, and of my eccentricities." He rubbed at his own cheek a moment. "You and Cadance have such a bond. I glow with envy at times, considering it. Would—"

"She is my sister." Tempo inclined her head. "You are my husband. You both have wonderful connections to me, different, but wonderful. You both matter more than my own life, if it comes to it." She idly thumped her hooves in the air. "I will protect you both." She tucked him gently beneath her, a position he allowed and relished.

With her pressing on him, roosting like a careful hen, he fell back to sleep, and she settled her own thoughts, happy to have him there.





The next morning, they stood next to Shining Armor and Cadance. Across from them, Celestia. She nodded at each of them. "Thank you for gathering. We are investigating rumors, and they affect all of you." Her eyes went to Tempo. "And I have some news for you specifically after that."

"Rumors?" Tempo looked down. "They have been around, yes. I have seen a few. They make me worry. You suspect the worst, don't you?" She furrowed her brows, looking to Celestia.

Celestia lifted an ear. "You're trying to skip, but one thing at a time. An ancient city may be reviving. We are confirming that, but, should it prove true, I can think of no pony more qualified to take charge of it." She reached out, drawing Cadance closer. "This is your moment. I have no doubt you will rise to the occasion."

"City?" Cadance glanced down with a slight grimace. "Are you sure? I'm not sure I want to rule any cities right now."

"It will be under the guidance of others." Celestia nuzzled Cadance gently. "The chance to help restore a place from the past, that's exciting, isn't it? Besides, you'll have Shining Armor at your side, and I can't imagine Tempo will let you go without her."

Tempo lashed her tail. "That would be impossible."

Blueblood thumped a hoof to his chest. "And if dear Tempo is going, then I am not to be far behind, you know that."

Tempo flicked an ear. "This is going to be interesting, isn't it?"

Celestia turned to Tempo with a firm expression. "That is one way to put it. We await final words from our scouts, but if the Crystal Empire has returned, you will be headed there. The train can take you to its doorstep, built when the empire had existed before. Its ponies will be confused, awakening into a new world. You will all help them get on their hooves."

Tempo glanced at her husband. "At least this way we have plenty of time to consider things. A journey to an ancient city isn't the sort of thing that is done quickly." She trotted a little in place. "You mentioned there was something else, Auntie? What was that?"

Celestia breathed deeply. "There's something you should see." She tilted her head, asking them to follow her. The four ponies walked behind Celestia, descending steps to a lower level within the castle. She willed a door, making it glow as it opened before her. "We found a pony you should speak to."

Inside the dark room was a single pony, shackled firmly and glaring at them with hot resistance. "One of the cultists. We found them skulking about. They have refused to speak to us so far."

Tempo could feel her internal systems of battle warming up. "I'm not your puppet," she shouted at the chained pony before she could control herself.

The pony shrank back with a blink of surprise, but then they stiffened, scowling at Tempo. "You're the lost one!" They grunted as guards stood on either side of them. "Get her away from me!"

Celestia nodded at the held pony. "Since this involves you quite directly, I thought you should be involved. Do you have questions for them?"

Tempo took stiff steps forward, glaring at the mare. "Where is your leader? What does he plan for me? I will not let him have me back."

The prisoner recoiled from her. "Don't you touch me! I will not break! I will never serve you!"

Cadance trotted forward to Tempo's side. "Hey, calm down." She gently nudged Tempo aside. "Sometimes a softer touch is better." She closed with the pony with a little smile. "We're not your enemies. Your leader is leaving you to rot here, unkind of them."

"I knew the price," muttered the prisoner, sinking miserably to her belly.

"What was it you were trying to do?" Cadance sat before the mare. "Maybe we can help, if you tell us?"

"You are part of the problem!" The mare hissed with fury. "You can't fix yourselves. There's nothing you can do for us."

Tempo marched over, looking directly at the pony. "We can offer aid or assistance." She flattened her ears, taking a step closer to the pony. "Just tell me why he's hunting me."

The mare glared at Tempo with fear and angry mixed together. "You were his tool, rebelled against him. You could have been the end of this! I can't even call a tin can a traitor. Just broken!"

Celestia's horn glowed as she grabbed Tempo in her magic. "You've heard enough of her. We have more pressing things to do." She left Cadance to continue her attempts, but brought Tempo away to be verbally abused no longer.