//------------------------------// // Why is playful spelled with one 'L'? It just looks wrong to me // Story: As The Sun Sets // by Noobblue //------------------------------// Cadance wasn't sure how she felt. That's why she took the day off. Instead of finding something to busy herself with, or making something to busy herself with. She spent the morning after washing, meditating. She cast a couple of sound proofing wards around her office, and pulled a couple of books and an apple from 'around' for her day of physical relaxation. Mentally though... Cadance needed to do a lot. She'd spent the last three weeks getting hit by revelation and happenstance and more and more and more without sorting it out for herself. Just responding, instead of acting. As she took a deep breath, and sat on her favourite green throw pillow she'd brought down from her room; Cadance thought. Empire. Shining. Foal. Cultists. Silver. Organization. The Empire is still thriving. Without the constant slave drive obviously the economy can get on. Satisfaction? It struck Cadance that it had been quite a while since she'd heard anything about populace satisfaction. From Shining or otherwise. Amber wasn't a pony relations specialist, but would occasionally tell her what ponies in The Spire were thinking. I'll have to ask around. I need to, I bet that Stone Cut wasn't self contained... Why did that happen then? The Cultists too... Were they just part of some research group? I know Shining looked into them, I'm sure he would have told me- okay so never mind. So Stone Cut hired some cultists, big deal right? Except that ponies would have noticed, and those ponies didn't tell the guards, that means they were either made silent or worse... I shouldn't've looked over that. If individuals are rallying to depose my rule, then what of the many? Surely Stone Cut would have tried something safer if he was alone. No, his plan speaks that he was confident he could get away with it. That either means he was crazy, desperate, or right. The only reason anypony knew anyways was because of Silver. Silver... She skipped over the lump in her head. I need something else to occupy my time. The Empire may be flourishing, but it's still stagnant; I'll send a letter to Celestia, see if I can get an in on the Minos Engine Pact The MEP was a research and development agreement between Minos and Equestria for mechanical devices. Minos would build them, Equestria would fund it in exchange for the output. She didn't have a hoof in the pact's creation, but nonetheless, found good reason to get the Empire involved. I could probably get Silver to set up a portal for me... Straight to Minos. Why have a pact when we could just have a joint research team? ... The Empire is going to need a better school system soon. It wasn't just because she was pregnant, that the thought passed her mind. The Empire was almost entirely adults. The number of children didn't break one hundred. It was a desperate problem that would generally be solved by immigration. Except I don't want it to be solved by immigration. The Crystal Ponies need more reason to have foals. I'm thinking... a research institute I can turn into a college later. I'm sure Point Flare and her cohorts would want to work there. Shining could help me staff it with his buddies from CSGU. Yeah... I like that... Cadance lifted an eyelid and levitated a quill to mark down 'school + look into populace satisfaction' before closing her eye again. We're also going to need to build a nursery at some point, that can wait though The feeling of being a mother welled up within her and felt her joy turn over in her chest. It was one of those softly keening sensations of satisfaction that rang in the mind. She ignored her thoughts for the time being, and reveled in the feeling. I'm going to be a mom... I should get a book, or... something. Cadance's mind lost a few hours just on that as her imagination let itself go. She imagined what her foal would look like, filly or colt? Who'd they grow up to be? How often would they fuss when she filed their hooves? All of those little noises and conversations they'd share as the little one grew up. For those hours, she pretended she was already there, and lost herself in the abstract thoughtform story she'd created for herself. She laughed and laughed in her mind on picnics and kite flying they'd share with Shining, and mentally drew herself away with the thought to make the years count. To make every year count. Still a ways away. The story and the voices fell away as she focused again. Quick Silver. Her face scrunched up as she put together all the fragments she'd encountered to the forefront of her mind. Some big company, leading to a scaling economic factors... Not to mention Silver's political investment, she's 'in charge' of a noble house... Wait... does that technically make Sunset Shimmer a... oh, hmm, didn't think about that, ah except Silver isn't... I guess she could actually be of a noble house? Does that mean all of her children and relatives are too? Never mind, not important. She's looking for a hoof hold, that much is obvious. She already has a bit of attention and clout from showing up Stone Cut; with bits backing her, she could really start moving and shaking in The Empire... That plus her magic...  Silver's already probably cut several deals, 'deals with the devil' no doubt. How many ponies are like Point Flare? Willing to work in exchange for something nopony else can give them? She has no short on ponypower. So what's the end goal? She can't just take over The Empire, the Nobles would shut her down before she had the money to do it, but if she really wanted she could probably manage it with magic. Except for her promise She said she was here to help Okay so theoretically ruling out bad things, what good could she be doing intentionally? With bits? Anything... oh, so many things. The local economic stimulus will... Except her company isn't exclusive to The Empire. She hires from everywhere, all over... not just Equestria, changelings too? Oh dear, I almost forgot about... Kirshi? Kirsha? 'They're kind hearted indeed' Played me like a fiddle, but I did get something from that. Silver's never just told me to not stick my nose into something. So at the very least I can be sure that whatever she's planning, large scale, has to do with Tack & Co. The memory of Silver laughing when she said the name flowed to the forefront of her focus. Why laugh? And why fake pretend to hide the humour? Hmmmm.... Nope, not getting anything out of that. If it's some joke, I don't know the context anyways. Silver could just be trying to trick me too. Where was I? Changelings. Silver pays them in love?  Wait, can you just do that? If it's that easy, then why would Chrysalis attack at all? Ugh, what does it mean? Changelings are obvious ideal workers, no question why Silver would want them on payroll. Except... Hold on. If everypony on site knows how to deal with me... Why take me to the one changeling? Breeze wasn't a changeling... Ohhh! That conniving! Ugh! Cadance huffed and stopped thinking about it. She grumpily levitated an apple up to her mouth and took a bite from it. "Can't believe I fell for that." Should I go back? No, Silver definitely has something else prepared no doubt... Okay. She re-jumbled her thoughts, Silver claims a lot, if I don't believe her intentions of goodwill, then she must have some way to circumvent the issues of political control, the Houses won't just topple, and she'll need to start there first. So I can check out their defenses while checking up on them. Defenses? I don't know, I'll work it out. Maybe if I can get them to work together more? Regardless. There's a reason to encourage the houses, I'll have to... ugh... nobles, okay. If I do believe Silver which... I guess that's the entire gambit then isn't it? Silver's a convincing liar, if I ever try to stop her directly, I think I may just succeed. I definitely will in the end, regardless. Which she knew, so she was playing the long game as soon as... she stepped hoof from that statue. If she could get me to play along for long enough, then I wouldn't be able to stop her at whatever she's doing. If she's doing anything at all. It's hard to tell if her abrasive attitude is because she's actually irritated or if she's trying to 'manage' me. It could be both, which makes it the perfect visage. So what... What... She wants me to play the long game against her, because she thinks she’ll win. She's acquiesced to spending time with me for that exact purpose, which means she is trying to manage me; which is easily seen in how she acts when we're together. Obviously it's an act, but why? Silver's proven to be a genuine genius time and time again, so why turn down my intentions? She no doubt knows for sure I want to befriend her, so why push my away? That's what clicked in her mind Push me away. That's exactly what she's been doing... Keeping me at wings reach, close enough to watch, but not close enough to actually get close... But why? The curse. It must have something to do with this 'curse' she mentioned. I felt it. Some... malignant magic that comes from inside. It’s what she brought up when I confronted her, really the only time we’ve ever butt heads and she’s fought back. Cadance idly reached out for the sensation with her magic, there was nothing. It made me feel my own frustration. Purely my own emotion, but how does that even make sense? Cadance knew a heft on the subject of emotions, and their connection. Emotional casting was a kind of magic that left the caster consumed by their emotions, filtered in through magic; except in that case the weight of the emotion was always driven by the magic. The 'emotion' was just raw energy in a certain state. This 'curse' brought out the pony's own emotion into the mix.  I can't come to any conclusions without knowing more about it. Silver being scared is a note though. Whatever this 'curse' is, finding out exactly how it works is clearly a priority to figuring out Silver. Luna wouldn't tell me. What did Silver say? Didn't...  Of course! You dummy! Discord! Discord knows Silver, knew Silver... I'd need to find him to talk to him. Twilight mentioned he didn't want to even be near Quick Silver, and while I'm at it... I... No Cadance. One thing at a time. She lifted her eyelid again and wrote down 'talk to Discord!' and then went back to her revelations. So. Empire work, get the nobles working together and put out some feelers. Ask Celestia about political stimulus. Put the works in for some management meetings, I need to talk to the Ponies, see what they're thinking and feeling. Ooo! yes, and a school, I should start laying the groundwork for that. I'll have to check with Amber for some kind of budget margin. And Shining. Her feelings flickered I need to talk to Shining about all of this... Silver especially, I know how he worries. Plus, he'll have a bunch of addendums. Idea! Leaving the apple to aerate itself on the desk, Cadance cleared it with a flap, and happily trotted out of her office to go find and subsequently bother her husband.