Torn Town : Part 1
It was good to feel the wind beneath her wings again, but there was no way she could keep up with Soarin’, who was quite some distance ahead of Cadence. Soarin’ was really the only one she could bring with her as there were very few pegasi, and even fewer that she was well acquainted with who lived in Canterlot, or passed through there regularly.
Starburst had not been in Canterlot at the time Cadence had thought of it. She had been thinking about her now healed wings, which made her think of flying, which made her think of thin air. Air, that was almost impossible to breathe. The Empress had said that she wouldn’t be able to breathe where her mother’s soul was. Maybe it was somewhere very high up.
One think Cadence did remember from class was that sky ponies lived very high up. Maybe they knew something, maybe they could breathe thin air, maybe they could help her. Her mother’s soul might even be in a sky pony settlement.
‘It’s nice to be flying with somepony who isn’t Spitfire,’ Soarin’ said to Cadence once she had caught up with him, ‘as great as it is with her, she acts so military about it, seems to think she’s already captain of the Wonderbolts.’
‘You want to be a wonderbolt too, don’t you Soarin’?’ Cadence asked.
‘Well, I did. But if Spitfire’s going to be captain, I’m not so sure,’ Soarin’ replied with a smile.
Cadence laughed.
Cadence could suddenly see green up ahead. It was grass. There was land. Surely there would be a sky pony settlement there. Cadence wondered if now would be a good time to actually tell Soarin’ what they were actually doing. She did not notice four ponies spying on her from various places.
The four of them glanced at each other, and nodded seriously.
In an instant, Cadence found herself gagged and her forelegs being held down by two ponies that looked a bit like overgrown pixie ponies or breezies. Cadence quickly realized, as she was struggling, that they must be sky ponies.
‘Don’t let her get away,’ the sky pony who wasn’t dealing with Cadence told the others, ‘she may be our only chance.’
Cadence really wished she and Soarin’ had remained at the same pace.
‘That’s easier said than done, Carnation,’ muttered Cosmos, who was holding one of Cadence’s forelegs down.
‘Please stop wriggling,’ pleaded Faerie Flight, the sky pony who had gagged Cadence.
‘And please don’t make this harder for us than it already is,’ added Sprout, who was holding down Cadence’s other foreleg.
‘Come on,’ said Carnation urgently, ‘let’s go!’
Cadence found herself travelling through the air at a high speed. The sky pony, who hadn’t been holding, had flown ahead. The sky ponies could propel themselves surprisingly fast with their fragile wings, which looked like rather angular versions of butterfly wings. They seemed to be a bit like flutter pony wings, except they were bigger, firmer and stronger. These ponies had rather angular eyes too now she looked carefully at her captors. Cadence managed to remove the gag.
‘Where are you taking me?’ Cadence asked anxiously, ‘what are you planning to do with me?’
The three sky ponies didn’t answer, and were unable to make eye contact with Cadence. Whatever they were intending to do with her, they weren’t very keen to do and wouldn’t be pleasant. Cadence struggled harder.
‘Put that gag back on her, Faerie,’ sighed Cosmos.
Faerie Flight tried to put the gag back on Cadence, but Cadence got rid of it again. Unlike with the blinkers those goblins had put on Cadence, there was no anti-magic spell on the gag for the one putting up with it.
‘Please stop removing it,’ Faerie Flight begged, ‘it’s our duty to do this.’ She gave Sprout a helpless look.
‘No point putting it back on anyway now,’ Sprout pointed out, with a sad sigh, ‘we’re almost there.’
Cadence looked down to see Carnation hovering by a rather jagged stack, which had a large rock placed on it. Close to the stack was . . . Well, Cadence wasn’t really sure what it was. It looked like a black whirlpool or a huge black hole. Cadence put this together with the sky ponies’ fear and reluctance.
‘You’re not going to sacrifice me to that, that thing, are you?’ Cadence exclaimed, aghast.
Where had Soarin’ got to? She needed his help.
‘We’re really truly sorry about this,’ came the miserable tone of Faerie Flight.
‘We don’t want to do this,’ added Sprout in a similar tone.
‘Then don’t!’ Cadence shouted, ‘No-pony’s making you!’
‘But that thing is,’ stammered Cosmos, indicating the gaping black abyss.
They were nearing the stack and Cadence couldn’t help but notice the chains around the rock.
‘I could help you,’ Cadence cried, ‘if you let me go, I could help you get rid of that thing. Together we could find a way!’
The sky ponies looked tempted, but their fear of the great beast was more significant.
‘Hold her down while I chain her up,’ Carnation told the other three.
‘Is the beast awake?’ Faerie Flight inquired, stammering slightly.
‘No,’ Carnation replied in a whisper, ‘I thought her shouting would wake him but he’s still sleeping.’
Carnation suddenly looked up and saw something in the sky.
‘Soarin’!’ Cadence yelled, ‘Soarin’ help me!’
‘I’ll deal with him,’ Cosmos said with a snarl, taking to her wings.
Cadence realized she would have to save herself. She had to think. Her horn and wing would have made it obvious she was an alicorn, so her royal status wasn’t going to get her out of this.
‘My aunt’s an immortal alicorn,’ Cadence began, ‘you’ll be in big trouble when she finds out.’
The sky ponies hesitated for a moment, but then continued to chain her to the rock. They were far more terrified of that thing than of an immortal alicorn. Cadence knew she didn’t have much more time. Any moment now, they would be finished and then they would leave her there to be swallowed by the monster. Wait, wasn’t there something in class she had been told?
The sky ponies had finished chaining Cadence up and they were now starting to walk off, Cosmos maintaining a magical hold on Soarin’.
‘Wait!’ Cadence cried out, ‘I’m the Crystal Princess! You need me!’
The sky ponies stopped in their tracks with gasps.
‘You need me, right?’ Cadence continued breathlessly, ‘your magic, it’s connected to . . !’
‘The crystal wand,’ Sprout murmured shakily. The four of them turned their heads slowly to look at Cadence.
‘If we were responsible for the death of a Crystal Princess . . .’ Cosmos continued in terror.
‘We could lose our connection to it,’ Carnation exclaimed, ‘If that happened it could mean the end of our kind! Our magic is our life!’
‘We wouldn’t be able to breathe thin air anymore,’ Sprout cried, ‘or allow others to.’
In an instant, Cosmos had let go of Soarin’ and they were all hurrying over to Cadence. Within a few seconds, Cadence was free.
‘We’re doomed!’ Faerie Flight yelled in dismay, crying her eyes out, ‘we’ll never survive now! He’ll destroy us!’
Sprout tried to comfort her, but ended up weeping herself. Within moments, all four sky ponies were in hopeless tears.
‘I’m still willing to help you,’ Cadence put in quickly, ‘but please explain why it was so important to sacrifice me to that thing . . .’
The sky ponies had fallen at her hooves before Cadence could get another word in. They were thanking her, groveling and clutching her forelegs. Cadence felt incredibly uncomfortable with this, and it wasn’t like she had done anything yet.
‘Couldn’t that thing wake up any minute?’ Soarin’ asked awkwardly.
The four sky ponies were instantly on their hooves.
‘We better make it so these two can breathe thin air first,’ Sprout said, ‘only our most powerful magic shows when it is being used,’ she explained to Cadence and Soarin’, ‘so you wouldn’t have much warning, but you will feel something inside you.’
Cadence suddenly felt an odd sensation and then a clicking feeling inside her body.
‘We’ve changed how the inside of your body works,’ Cosmos explained, as they rose into the air, ‘you will now take in more oxygen when you reach thin air.’
‘You may be a bit breathless until you get used to it,’ Carnation commented.
‘Why haven’t you managed to find out how to deal with this thing before?’ Cadence asked as their hooves touched ground.
The sky ponies looked around quickly and nervously.
‘He’s always watching,’ Sprout whispered.
‘What?’ Cadence inquired.
‘He knows what nearly every sky pony is doing at any time,’ Sprout muttered, ‘at least, when he’s awake, we’re not too sure about when he’s sleeping.’
‘A couple of guests arrived this morning and are already in the library looking over some books,’ said Carnation, ‘you could help them.’ Cadence nodded.
‘Do you think your daughter would be willing to take this colt on a tour?’ Cosmos asked Sprout.
‘Daffodil would be willing I think,’ Sprout replied, ‘and they look about the same age too.’
‘So why me?’ Cadence inquired a little abruptly.
‘Well,’ Faerie Flight began, a little reluctantly, ‘that monster, it appeared out of no-where, has been demanding sacrifices from us. If we don’t comply, he will destroy us all and our homes. Before, he was willing to accept anypony, but now he’s been demanding a princess.’
‘Don’t you have a princess?’ Cadence asked.
‘Yes,’ Faerie Flight responded, ‘but we just couldn’t sacrifice her . . .’
‘May I meet her?’ Cadence inquired.
‘Yes, of course,’ Faerie Flight told her.
They led Cadence and Soarin’ to what looked like a rather fancy day care center. Cadence wondered what the princess was doing here. She doubted a princess who was not willing to sacrifice herself for her ponies, and who hadn’t already dealt with the problem, was unlikely to be looking after little foals. They all went inside and then the sky ponies went ahead to get the princess. After a few minutes, they returned.
‘Here she is,’ said Faerie Flight.
Cadence looked around but she saw no-pony.
‘Hello!’ came a small enthusiastic voice.
Cadence looked down.
‘My name’s Princess Tulip Twinkle! What’s yours?’ (She had said chewlip instead of tulip).
Cadence found herself looking down at a very small pony who didn’t have all her first teeth yet and had only recently learned how to walk. She was just a trotter!