//------------------------------//
// Hearts & Hooves Day Disaster : Part 2 
// Story: Cadence Unbridled (Sections 1 & 2) 
// by Flikaline 
//------------------------------//


Hearts & Hooves Day Disaster : Part 2


‘What are you doing here! Who gave you the right to come down here!’ came the angry and bitter tone of a mare, whose voice was reminiscent of nails on a chalk board.

‘T-T-There w-was no s-sign to say I s-s-shouldn’t come d-down h-here!’ Cadence stuttered.

‘Ha! Like a care about that you little runt!’ the mare spat.

‘I’m – I’m not a runt,’ Cadence said slowly and quietly, ‘I’m above average for my age.’ Cadence quickly realized saying this had been a mistake. The mare gnashed her teeth in agitation.

‘I don’t care about your fitting in facts! Keep your measly mouth shut!’ 

‘I’m sorry,’ Cadence breathed, her heart beating loudly in her chest.

‘If you’re so sorry, you’ll shut up and stay still while I look at you!’ the mare snarled. 

Cadence did as she was told; standing still nervously, sweat dripping down her face as she listened to the sound of hooves encircling her. Cadence wondered how the mare could possibly see that well when there was no light.

‘Oh, oh! An alicorn are we!’ The mare sounded even more bitter and resentful now, and hints of envy were starting to emerge in her tone. ‘I suppose you think you’re pretty special!’

‘Not more than any other alicorn,’ the frightened princess replied.

‘Oh, and modest too!’ came the mare’s savage tone, ‘as well as pretty and a princess and perfect in almost every way! It’s ponies like you who make me sick!’

‘I didn’t choose to be any of the things you claim I am!’ stammered Cadence, ‘I’m sorry if I bothered you! It won’t happen again!’

‘You’ve got one thing right!’ sneered the mare. Cadence ran blindly for the doors. On reaching them, she found she couldn’t open them. ‘You’re not going anywhere,’ the mare said smugly, ‘you’re going to stay here and be punished!’ Cadence was terrified.

‘Please,’ Cadence began, feeling as if all the warmth had been drained from her body, ‘please let me go!’ The mare ignored her.

‘Now, let’s see, what do I do with you . . ?’

‘Please let me out,’ Cadence pleaded, ‘I’m really sorry if I bothered you!’

‘No, that wouldn’t work,’ the mare was saying to herself, ‘besides, I’ve tried something similar before . . .’

‘You won’t gain anything from keeping me here!’ continued Cadence, getting rather desperate, ‘I really am so truly sorry, I promise! You’ll never have to see me ever again! Just please let me go!’

‘Oh, I’ve got it!’ said the mare, sounding a lot happier now, ‘I’ll turn you into a bunny rabbit and make you into soup, and then, I’ll serve it to your friends and family!’ 

She was quite delighted with her scheme. Cadence was alarmed. She couldn’t be serious? 

‘That will serve as punishment enough . . .’ the mare continued, ‘now, let’s see, how does that spell work again?’ 

Cadence’s eyes had got somewhat used to the dark and she could now vaguely see the outline of the tall unicorn who was holding her captive: her mane was shoulder length, her teeth were bright white and her tail was quite short, but thick. It was also noticeable that there was a small amount of one of her ears missing, and that her nose was unusually pointed for a pony.

‘Oh, I remember now!’ said the mare, before turning to Cadence and putting her very sharp horn very close to the princess’s throat. ‘Even think about moving, and I’ll plunge my horn into that pretty neck of yours!’ the mare told her in a soft but sinister tone. Cadence let out an involuntary whimper.

Within a few moments, pink magic had erupted from the mare’s horn, and Cadence could feel herself shrinking and changing shape. She felt dizzy, and all she could hear was the mare laughing cruelly at her. 

Cadence was barely aware that her transformation was complete when she found herself being picked up by magic and dropped into a basket. The mare lit a couple of lamps in the room by magic. 

After Cadence had got used to the light, she was able to see her pale pink paws and feet. She was slightly paler color than she had been as a pony; her eyes were a slightly paler color too. Cadence looked out through the gaps in the basket weaving and watched the dappled dark gray pony, with yellow dappling, as she gathered ingredients from various cupboards around the room. Every moment it became more blatant that the mare, who had an orange mane and tail and freckles on her face, was completely serious about turning Cadence into soup.  

A big cooking pot had been moved to the center of the room and some water was being heated up in it. Cadence continued to watch as the mare summoned a large sharp knife and placed it on a surface. Cadence knew that that knife was meant for her. She simply must find a way to escape! Okay, she thought, I managed to escape from those goblins with help, I can get out of this.

A voice suddenly came from the other side of the pair of doors.

‘Goody Four-Shoes!’ came the voice of a colt, ‘I know you’re in there! Open up!’

The mare gave an irritated sigh, summoned the keys from a drawer, and unlocked the door. Cadence was very surprised when she saw the colt she had met earlier in the café walk into the room. He stopped in front of the mare.

‘Oh, Goody, you’ve got that look on your face again,’ said the colt in a worried and concerned tone, ‘what evil acts are you up to this time?’

‘Just, just making soup . . .’ Goody Four-Shoes replied innocently, with a small smile.

‘Yeah, right!’ said the colt, ‘what’s the catch, Goody? Is it poisoned?’

‘I’ve told you not to call me that!’ Goody Four-Shoes retorted, ‘and quite frankly, little brother, it’s none of your business. You’d better pipe down, Joe, I’m the only family you have left, without me, you’ve got no-pony.’ 

Cadence could tell that Joe would much rather have had no-pony, but was too scared of his sister to say any more. Cadence wished there was something she could do to make him feel better. It must be simply horrible having a sister like that. Joe gave a sigh.

‘All I’ve ever wanted to do is set up my own donut shop,’ Joe said sadly, looking at his cutie mark. Goody Four-Shoes gave a snort, while glaring at her own, a pink ballet shoe.

Cadence suddenly realized that she had done everything wrong. This pony was an extreme malcontent; she hated Cadence for being the exact opposite of what she thought she was. Cadence knew that if she had acted as if she was hard done by, Goody Four-Shoes would probably have let her go, but that would have meant lying, and Cadence had doubts she would have been able to do that, even if she had known. Still, despite the mare’s intentions, Cadence couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for her.

Cadence thought hard. She was no longer a pony, which meant that she couldn’t fly or use magic. The most obvious time to try and escape was when Goody Four-Shoes took her out of the basket but that was too risky and was cutting the timing too fine. Was there a chance that Joe might help her if he recognized her? No, she could not rely on that, or expect him to, he would be risking his sister’s wrath, and would probably be too scared to risk it.

She tried pushing the lid, but she either wasn’t strong enough or something else had been put on top of it. She suddenly remembered the colt she was supposed to meet and felt awful. He would think she had stood him up! 

She forced herself to continue to think: she was a rabbit; did that give her any advantages? She was small so if she could get out, she would be harder to spot and could probably fit through small holes. Her large ears had improved her hearing but that wasn’t particularly useful. Her sight was the same and her sense of smell might have been a little better. She might not have hooves but she still could walk on all fours. She tried walking around the basket which quickly turned into a natural hopping movement.

‘What’s in the basket?’ Joe asked his sister suspiciously, his attention having been drawn to it by Cadence’s movement.

‘It’s just a bunny rabbit, she’s just being a little noisy,’ Goody Four-Shoes replied in a casual tone. 

Joe went over to see for himself. He peered through the gaps in the basket work. His green eyes widened. Cadence couldn’t really tell if he had recognized her or not.

‘That’s no rabbit, Goody,’ Joe said in a worried and shocked tone, ‘no rabbit has a natural fur color of pale pink and has pale purple eyes.’

Goody Four-Shoes smiled broadly.

‘Okay, Goody,’ Joe said rather breathlessly, ‘you’ve made your point. Thinking up such a thing and getting this far with it proves you’re no goody four-shoes. You don’t have to go through with it!’

‘I’m going through with it,’ Goody Four-Shoes said simply, chopping up some ingredients by magic.

‘Don’t do it, Goody,’ Joe pleaded, ‘what if you got found out?’

‘I’d be quite happy if I was!’ she retorted, relocking the doors by magic at the same time.

‘Think of Mum and Dad,’ Joe begged, ‘what would they think if they were still alive?’

‘Ha! It was Mum who forced me to go to those disgusting ballet lessons in the first place!’ growled Goody Four-Shoes, ‘She only has herself to blame!’

Cadence had taken the opportunity to think harder than ever. She had noticed there was a small hole at the bottom of one of the doors. It was just big enough for her to squeeze through. If only she could find a way to get out of the basket. There was a loose corner in it, but her paws couldn’t . . . Of course! She had forgotten about her large rabbit teeth! She hopped over and began to nibble as fast as she could.

‘That filly’s not responsible though, is she?’ Joe continued, ‘She’d never dream of hurting you!’

‘Don’t you think that’s half the point!’ Goody Four-Shoes snapped, ‘keep your mouth shut, Joe, or you’ll be next!’

Cadence was out of the basket and sneaking slowly and carefully towards the doors. Joe quickly noticed her and was delighted, unfortunately, the expression on his face gave it away. Goody Four-Shoes turned her head in an instant. Cadence bolted for the hole, only just avoiding several summoning spells. She only just got through the hole.

Cadence looked around swiftly. Goody Four-Shoes would unlock the doors any moment now and Cadence knew that there was no way she could outrun the evil mare. She needed to find another hole and keep herself hidden in the shadows. There was no nearby hole she could see. As the doors opened, she hid herself in the darkest area she could find. Goody Four-Shoes and Joe came out of the room.

‘Search everywhere,’ Goody Four-Shoes ordered, ‘find her!’ 

For a few moments, Cadence felt calm, but then, she felt a pit in her stomach, remembering how the mare had been able to see her perfectly well when there was no light at all. She would find her easily! Cadence heard hooves approaching her. She was surely done for!

‘Have you seen her yet, Joe?’ came the demanding tone of Goody Four-Shoes. Cadence looked up to find herself between Joe’s back hooves, hidden from the predatory eyes of Goody Four-Shoes.

‘Sorry, Goody, I haven’t,’ Joe responded; the fact that he was lying was almost undetectable, ‘maybe she went down that corridor,’ he suggested.

‘You make a good point,’ Goody Four-Shoes admitted grudgingly, ‘you stay here while I go and look.’ She galloped off. 

When Joe was sure that she was gone, he let out a sigh of relief before turning to the bunny rabbit he had been hiding and protecting from his sister’s clutches.

‘There’s a hole down that corridor over there that leads to the drain pipe,’ Joe whispered, ‘you should be able to get out through there. I’m so sorry about all this.’ 

Cadence wanted to thank him and tell him it wasn’t for him to apologize but, it seemed, she was too scared to speak. The colt didn’t seem to expect a response in any case, so she nodded violently and hopped off as fast as she could, really hoping that Joe wouldn’t get found out by his merciless sister.

*

Shining Armor couldn’t understand it. Cadence was usually early. 

‘Looks like you’ve been stood up,’ said the café owner, putting a sympathetic hoof on Shining Armor’s shoulder, ‘I’m sorry,’

‘But, Cadence would never do that . . .’ said Shining Armor softly, looking at the floor.

‘I know it’s tough, lad,’ the café owner replied, ‘especially on Hearts & Hooves Day.’

Shining Armor felt like crying. He couldn’t understand it, he just couldn’t . . . 

He suddenly noticed something, he gasped, he hurried over to the table. Cadence’s necklace! She’d been here! Shining Armor felt sick, what if something awful had happened to her? 

Shining Armor picked up the necklace and looked down at it in his hooves. 

‘I’ll find you, Cadence,’ Shining Armor said, ‘whatever it takes, I’ll find you, I promise.’