The prison block in The Spire was something aside from the cafeteria that Cadance had had a personal hoof in redesigning.
That is to say, she had had it remodeled and turned into an office in conjunction with Shining for the patrol guard. They operated independently of the Crystal Guard, and had their own command structure. Cadance had heard a little of the spiel from Shining about the Logistic Corp and how he was organizing their pony power in something that could actually be useful on the world stage.
That being said, there wasn't much work to do, Sombra hadn't kept prisoners.
The actual ponies in question had been dressed down a couple of days ago for any information they were willing to provide by Cadance and the guards. Several reports had been taken, but that was before Stone Cut had joined them all in their cells.
Apparently the stallion had to be removed shortly after as the cultists had quickly come to blows with their 'benefactor.' That landed this strictly within the confines of the royalty to handle, there were no laws for an independent power holder united under the crown to fall in with semi-loyal cultists.
Thus Cadance found herself in front of the prison cells of the cultists, with Stone Cut at the end of the hall full of bars. The cells themselves had metal instead of crystal for their lining, since it was easier to weave enchantments in aluminum.
At least, that's what the construction agency told me
Shining was with her, as well as the guard posted in the hallway, though he was more just watching.
As she walked in, one of the mares, a pegasus with a mauve coat pushed herself up against the bars. "Princess!" She said excitedly, "Are you letting us out?"
She had discussed with them release in short in return for cooperation the last time she was here. That had changed a little.
"It depends on how this interaction goes." She answered honestly, Shining nodding next to her and adding:
"We have all the facts so far, from here we need to discuss some sort of trial or punishment you're willing to accept." He magicked a couple of sheets of paper in front of himself, "I came up with several ideas that you definitely won't like, but if you accept them there's no need for a trial, if you don't, then you'll be subject to the judgment of ponies much less caring than my wife."
The ponies in the cage wilted at that, Point Flare, the orange mare in the back was still staring at the floor. She had been in a coma for a while, and was moved into the cell once the doctors deemed she would be fine. She had only nodded and complied, quietly letting herself get put in a cell.
It was also the same time Point Flare's cultist 'friends' had attacked Stone Cut
The other catatonic mare was in another cell, and was simply staring dumbly at Cadance. She had come around to talking with her friends in their cell, or at least said the observations of the posted guard. Otherwise though, she was generally unresponsive. Cadance glanced over the crystal pony, quietly wondering what had driven them to try and sacrifice another living pony.
"What are our options?" The mauve mare asked
Cadance interjected before Shining Armor had a chance to start listing, "First." She gestured to them, "I want to make something explicitly clear."
This drew the attention of the cultists, Cadance taking on her princess tone, the one Celestia had personally taught her.
"The facts say a number of things. Like how you tried to summon Sombra from the depths of Eternity, how you were willing to kill to do it." Point Flare had lifted her depressive state from the floor at the mention of 'Eternity'
Cadance changed her voice, "They also state that you were all under duress at the time, forced to do what you did by Stone Cut."
Shining piped up, "We are, however, not foolish enough to believe that any of you are innocent just because of Stone Cut's involvement."
"Which means that in addition to the laws that condemn you, you equally have some stretch of protection, regardless of what is true or not." Cadance said
Shining smirked over his papers, "How much of that protection you receive depends entirely on how easy you make this for us."
Cadance and Shining shared a mental hoof bump. The cultists, all of them were paying attention now, it was a basic interrogation strategy, give them hope of control, and see what they do. The guilty pony would reason, the innocent would flail.
"We'll cooperate" The mauve mare said, along with the nods of all the ponies in the cell, and the ones in the next cell over. Six total, two pegasi, three crystal ponies, and two unicorns, Counting Stone Cut of course.
"Shining?"
He nodded, "Your options are as follo-"
Cadance interrupted again, "Sorry, one more thing." Shining rolled his eyes, "If any of you have anything else to say, we are nearing the point where your testimony will have to be shared in a court. If you all have anything else you'd like to share with us, you must do it now."
The ponies looked at each other, Point Flare looked at her hooves and quietly said, "I'm sorry."
Shining hummed, careful not to show how far that actually got his leniency. Shattered horns were no joke.
"Your options are as follows: You would be brought into the guard for life, serving your life sentences by serving the crown. It's better than prison; For the non crystal ponies, you could be shipped back to Equestria, and be tried there by their courts and their laws." There were several shaking heads of disapproval, which included, Cadance noted, both Equestrians and Crystal Ponies.
"You could all simply stay in your cells, and we could call deadlock on any legal passthroughs, you'd live your lives on the crown's bits, but in a cell." More shaking
"Or you we could have you work in the mines." The Crystal ponies blanched at that and Cadance raised an eyebrow.
"If you all feel like Sombra would be a better ruler, I hope that last punishment is a decent enough reminder of why my wife is in charge around here." He said tersely.
There was a scoff from down the line, and Stone Cut banged his hoof against his cell bars. "Better ruler my bare flanks Captain."
Shining bristled, but Cadance beat him to responding, "You genuinely think Sombra, the insane slave king, was a better ruler?"
Stone Cut just half snarled and shook his head, turning away from the bars and the Princess of Love.
There was a beat of silence.
"Is that all of our options?"
Here we go Cadance
"Actually. I have a special offer for you six."
There was a quick sharing of looks between the ponies. Apparently, at least based off of Cadance's understanding of their glances, these ponies were definitely closer than just a group of cultists, and Point Flare was definitely the leading voice. Almost half the glances were directed towards her.
They eventually turned to her, somberly waiting for her to make her offer. Cadance had talked it through with Shining, and he had actually given in to the point that basically being servants to Quick Silver was a solid enough punishment.
"Quick Silver, the mare who apprehended you all, has offered a sort of... work release pr-"
"What?!" The mauve mare exclaimed.
The silent mare in the back covered her head with her hooves and started shaking. Point Flare started rapidly shaking her head.
"Is-" Cadance tried, but Point Flare interrupted her.
"Princess Cadance, I know we're cultists, I know we're criminals, but whoever that pony is, you have to destroy them."
Cadance made a face, "Destroy, I-" She stumbled over her words, "You don't remember, but she saved your life."
Point Flare just shook her head and looked past Cadance like she was staring at a ghost that had come to remind her of her misdeeds. "You don't understand."
"Then explain." Said Shining, not willing to play the long game.
The ponies, besides Point Flare and the fearful mare, looked to the ground, or otherwise away from the Princess and her consort.
"She came in like a storm." Point Flare began to speak, clearly struggling to get the words out. Cadance felt the rise of emotion from the other sides of the bars. "There were seconds." She shook her head, "Noises like... screaming foals mixed with scratching a chalkboard through a radio as she ate the light in the room."
That sobered Cadance real quick.
"I was the only one who actually saw her. When she broke my horn."
The whimpering from the mare on the floor grew, and Cadance could hear her begging.
"Every other moment was..." Point Flare clenched her eyes shut as the rest of the ponies continued to try and ignore or forget what they saw.
Cadance felt the presence of the curse Silver had alluded to. She banished it with her aura, and Point Flare took a deep breath.
"Imagine what it would look like if a pony was made of dough at the limbs." She trembled, "Stretching at the bone with jagged edges that are too unnatural to be real."
"She came into the basement like some kind of arachnid demon, screeching like Tartarus had breached the hall."
Cadance was mentally at the edge of her seat.
"Whatever that thing is." She began stuffing sentences in between heavy breaths, like she'd just run a race.
"It came from outside so quiet that Kay didn't even notice until he was stone."
"It burst through the study wall like a manticore."
"Stole the magic from our hooves, and the light from the walls."
"It didn't care about being on fire. I only made it laugh."
"It chased us and then disappeared, but I could still hear it giggling right behind me wherever I looked."
"I broke my horn out of fear after I saw what it did to Misty."
"It grabbed her and pulled her apart, re-assembled her as she screamed."
"I saw her insides Princess."
"It came for me next, and I blew my horn in terror."
Her story lungs empty, she finished, "It just quietly laughed as I fell, certain I was worse than dead."
...
...
"That is a particularly harrowing tale." Shining said slowly, deeply.
The tone of the moment certainly changed
Cadance was speechless.
Shining was not, "Unfortunately, that's not out of character for Quick Silver."
"What." Came Point Flare, slowly taking a step back from the bars of the cell.
"You were going to murder somepony. Quick Silver stopped you. Fear tactics are something we train, and it's not uncommon."
Point Flare looked like she just swallowed a centipede the length of her limb.
Cadance spoke up, "It's also like Quick Silver to go overboard like that."
"No. No. no no no no" The mare in the corner was crying now
"You don't understand Princess, that... that! That thing! It's not a pony! It's some monster!"
Shining monotonously stated, "The stallion you foalnapped from the street was quick to call you monsters as well."
Cadance was genuinely surprised at Shining's defense of Silver.
"From the short conversation I had with Quick Silver on the subject, she's a very reasonable mare. Different, but you could learn dark magic from her." That clicked with one of them, his ears imperceptibly perked.
"Princess-"
Cadance cut her off with the wave of her hoof, "The exact words, Silver asked me to give you directly as an incentive. Her offer was, 'revenge, and a horn to do it with.'"
Point Flare went silent. Cadance watched the gear click in her mind at the idea of getting her horn back.
"My horn?"
"Silver was apologetic that a mare of your magic aptitude was hurt in such a way, she wishes to restore it for you."
A little fib, but a useful one.
Flare was stunned, "She- I... Can she do that?"
"Yes. and under her watch, you'd be allowed to study her knowledge of dangerous magics, for the crown. Not as traitors."
The cultists began sharing more thoughtful prospective looks. Even the mare on the ground stopped shaking and went back to just covering her eyes. The crystal stallion patted her on the shoulder a couple of times and said something supportive.
The mauve mare spoke up, "Can we think about it Princess?"
"Yes, of course." She turned towards Shining, and he led the way towards the cell at the end of the hall.
He showed his uncertainty with what she had just done with a single look, and she tried to pass back the same.
I don't know what I'm doing, same as you.
He raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'You're right, I don't have any idea what you're doing'
To which she rolled her eyes.
"Ugh, what do you want from me."
Stone Cut.
Shining cleared his throat, "We want a statement from you before we transport you to a high security facility in Equestria."
"Phaf, of course you do." He spat
"I see your false demeanor has faded all the way now Stone Cut."
He snarled at her, honest to goddess snarled at her like an animal. "You're pathetic." He verbally threw at her.
"Why's that?" She taunted him.
He got up on his hooves, "Why? WHY!?" he rushed towards the bars and reared up and slammed his hooves against the bars so he was eye level with her. "You turned our EMPIRE into some dingy little village! My family used to be RICH!" He slammed on the bars several times, "YOU usurped the throne from what separated us from freezing in the snow!"
Gotcha
"You get that Shining?"
"Yeeup" He said, writing down Stone Cut's subtle admission of loyalty to the tyrant.
She gave him a smile she copied from Silver. "Thank you very much Stone Cut." And gave him a solid heel turn, her and Shining simply leaving him to froth. That is until Stone Cut called her a whore.
She stopped in her tracks and her wings flared on their own. There was a mental flash through her head of violence, before she used her magic to stop Shining from turning Cut's prison cell into a trash compactor.
They left the real cultist to his frothing insanity.
The other cultists were seemingly deliberating something. The shaking mare, Misty, if Cadance remembered, had seemingly recovered, and they were all sitting around the bars talking to one another.
As they approached, there were several nods, and Point Flare stood.
"We'll do it."
Cadance, still trying not to send a stun bolt down the hallway at the yelling Stone Cut, tried to keep her cool, "Just like that?"
Point Flare shook her head, "Only if... Silver... will take all of us."
Shining gave an imperceptible nod, confirming his support of this plan.
Cadance spoke, "Then there's no need for a trial, I can clearly see who was the true driving force of the crimes that were committed by your group." Stone Cut's screaming accentuated her point.
Shining finished for her, "We'll sort out the legalese, and Cadance or myself will collect you to bring you to Quick Silver."
"Thank you for your time." Cadance said, and both her and Shining left the Empire's only prison block.
Dear Quick Silver,
Point Flare and her group have agreed to work for you, but I have several caveats.
I want updates from each of them individually, letters or proof that they are well that can be filed as official reports that they are actually being punished for the crimes they committed. Similarly, they're going to need housing and food, can your home support six ponies?
I'd also like to make clear that I don't know what your plan is for them, and would like to, in detail please. The deal I cut with them was that they'd have the opportunity to study black magics under your watch, and report their findings to the crown. Amber is drafting up the documents as an addendum that allows us to deconstruct Sombra's old traps in The Spire.
Also if you could, I'd like more of those gemstones you use to send letters, they could potentially be incredibly useful. If not only for quickly sending letters to you.
Signed, H.R.H
Princess Cadance of the Crystal Empire.
Ah, never seen you be some formal!
It was novel getting a hoof delivered letter! It reminded me of my own days as a sovereign.
Thank. You. For. That.
To answer your question, of course my home can support several ponies, and they'll be treated with the same avarice I treat myself with. Though I recall I only extended such an offer for Point Flare, I, nonetheless have a use for the other five. They will remain unharmed, and although I can't promise that I'll teach them anything, there is a strong chance they will learn something regardless.
I can arrange to have them send letters to you or a secretary while they work under me, but I won't have you breathing down their necks any more than that. Anything else you can ask me directly; on that note, I'll simply send you the spell I use to send letters with the spell to repair ponies.
See you after court when you deliver them tonight, Little Princess.
P.S. That courier, Ms. Gleam? She deserves a raise; give it to her.