//------------------------------//
// Thora In My Side : Part 1 
// Story: Cadence Unbridled (Sections 1 & 2) 
// by Flikaline 
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Thora In My Side : Part 1

Cadence was glad she could finally relax a bit. Now that her mother’s soul was free, she didn’t have to worry about it. Maybe she was a bit too relaxed. The fact that three ponies had gone missing, two of them royal guards, barely seemed to bother her. She entered a shop.

‘Hi, Joe,’ Cadence called, ‘how’s business?’

Joe looked up.

‘Oh, hi Cadence,’ Joe replied, sounding slightly downcast, ‘yeah, business is fine. My aunt and uncle have been trying to help me out. Looks like things have been going well for you.’

‘Well, I’ve managed to get some stuff sorted out,’ Cadence responded, ‘and Thora hasn’t been picking on me much recently.’

Joe gave a small, guilty smile.

‘I think I might know why that is,’ Joe told her grimly, ‘Thora’s been picking on me instead.’

Cadence was rather startled by this. It hadn’t occurred to her that Thora was bullying somepony else instead.

‘I’ll sort this out,’ Cadence muttered seriously, ‘you’ve been through enough without Thora bothering you.’

Joe gave a slightly nervous laugh.

‘You know,’ Joe said thoughtfully, ‘it is kind of like having Goody Four-Shoes back.’

He gave a shiver.

‘Then again,’ Joe continued, ‘those two are quite close in character in some ways. Not to mention they used to get on very well.’

‘They knew each other!’ Cadence spluttered.

When she thought about it, it should have been obvious; after all, they were cousins.

‘Oh, yes,’ Joe replied grimly, ‘quite the best of friends those two. Thora came to visit, in fact, that morning on Hearts & Hooves Day.’

‘Trixie seems to like you though,’ Cadence said, trying to cheer him up, ‘she seemed a bit disappointed you couldn’t go on the camping trip.’

‘Yes, she does,’ Joe responded, ‘Aunt Trixiebelle and Uncle Knight Shade like me too, but Thora always seems to be able to find a time when they aren’t around. I would keep out of her way as much as you can at the moment if I were you. She has it in for you, and you never know what Thora is really up to.’

*

It was drawing towards the end of a sunny afternoon, and Cadence was approaching Fleur de Lis and Millie, who were chatting and giggling animatedly, when somepony tapped Cadence on the shoulder. Cadence turned her head in surprise to see that it was Thora. Cadence found it very hard to take in that Thora had a reasonably friendly expression on her normally sulky face.

‘Can we talk, Cadence?’ Thora asked in a serious tone.

Cadence took a moment to look around, in case she was actually being talked to by somepony else.

‘Uh,’ Cadence replied awkwardly and anxiously, ‘sure.’

Cadence didn’t feel she could refuse. There was a nervous excitement building up inside Thora that Cadence didn’t notice. The two fillies trotted off towards the edge of Canterlot, talking as they went.

‘I’ve decided to make a few changes to my life,’ Thora began.

Cadence was slightly startled.

‘I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf as it were,’ Thora continued.

‘Are you going to stop picking on Joe then?’ Cadence blurted out before she could stop herself.

Thora looked a little surprised.

‘Of course,’ Thora replied carelessly.

‘Have you told him what you’re telling me?’ Cadence asked cautiously.

‘No,’ Thora responded, ‘I thought I’d tell you first.’

‘Why me?’ Cadence inquired a little nervously.

Thora didn’t reply. Cadence thought it was best not to press her. It was a rather personal question in a way when she thought about it, especially considering how little she knew about Thora. All she really knew about her really was a few ponies she was related to, that she had done some foalsitting, and that she had once gone out with Shining Armor. 

They had walked quite some distance now. Cadence couldn’t help but feel anxious about this. She didn’t like the idea of being all alone with Thora, despite her talk of reform. It just didn’t feel right.

‘Where are we going?’ Cadence asked suddenly, noticing that Thora’s movements were far from casual. 

Thora tried not to smile too much.

‘I’ve got a little surprise for you, Cadence,’ Thora told her.

A surprise? This wasn’t good Cadence doubted that even a surprise from a reformed Thora would be a good thing.

‘I’m not sure about this,’ Cadence said quietly, ‘maybe we should go back.’

‘Oh don’t be silly, Cadence,’ Thora giggled, ‘it’s just a little something. A token of how I feel about you.’

Cadence didn’t know what to say or how to respond, so she continued to accompany Thora mostly out of default. Perhaps it was the right thing to do in any case; after all, Cadence had wanted to be friendly with Thora when she first met her. Maybe they could be friends. Still, the further they went, the more Cadence wanted to go back.

‘How much further?’ Cadence asked Thora.

‘We’re almost there,’ Thora replied. 

Something was moving up ahead.

‘What’s that?’ Cadence inquired a little jumpily.

‘Your surprise,’ Thora responded with a smile.

‘Hello, Cadenza,’ came a familiar female voice.

Cadence stared in horror. It was the Empress. As Cadence turned her head in shock towards Thora, she knew that almost everything Thora had said to her was a lie. The malicious expression on her face said it all. Cadence couldn’t believe it. She knew very well that Thora didn’t like her, but this was too much.

‘Do you know who she is?’ Cadence asked Thora, ‘Do you know what she does?’

‘Of course she does!’ the Empress said with an unpleasant laugh, ‘she’s been most helpful.’

‘You’re selling me out!’ Cadence exclaimed. 

Thora gave a smirk. She was clearly very pleased with herself. 

Without any warning, Thora had kicked Cadence to the ground. As Cadence struggled to her hooves, vines erupted from the ground and wound themselves around Cadence’s back legs and middle. It was the Empress’s turn to feel pleased with herself.

‘Thora,’ Cadence gasped croakily, ‘why are you doing this to me?’

‘Because I hate you!’ Thora snarled. 

She had obviously been working up to this for some time.

‘I hate your voice, I hate your beautiful hair, your pretty face! I hate those big eyes of yours! I hate your wings, your horn! I hate how you’re so perfect all the time! I hate the way you managed to get away from my cousin when she tried to give you what you deserved!’

‘You know about that!’ Cadence exclaimed.

‘Of course I do!’ Thora snapped, tears welling up in her eyes, ‘I asked her to get rid of you if you happened to cross her path! You got rid of the one pony I could relate to! Joe knew very well why I was bullying him! He was probably just too scared to tell you. All you ever think about is yourself!’

‘That’s not true,’ Cadence retorted, now knowing that Joe had tried to warn her about this, ‘I’m always thinking of others!’

‘You never think about me when you’re flouncing your charms on Shining Armor!’ Thora spat, angry tears pouring down her face.

The Empress did not look impressed by this display.

‘You dumped him!’ Cadence shouted, ‘I didn’t steal him from you!’

Was it just Cadence or was Thora a little taller than she had been before? Her nose looked sharper and Cadence was almost certain her legs were a bit thinner. Thora punched Cadence in the face in fury.

‘If you knew . . !’ Thora began savagely, ‘I don’t care what you think, Princess. You’re going to get what you deserve!’

Cadence suddenly came to her senses.

‘Help!’ Cadence cried.

‘No Shining Armor around to save you this time!’ Thora sneered.

‘I’ll shrink her,’ the Empress told Thora, ‘and you summon the cage.’

Cadence could suddenly feel herself getting smaller. When she stopped, she found that she was about a fifth of her normal size, and quickly found herself being shoved into a cage. Cadence tried to shout but it seemed her voice had shrunk too. She could barely make herself heard. The Empress picked the cage up in her mouth and she and Thora trotted away.

*

‘WHAT!’ Shining Armor yelled.

‘You just let her walk off with her!’ Joe cried.

Fleur de Lis and Millie were rather taken aback by Joe’s and Shining Armor’s extreme reactions.

‘They were just going to talk,’ Millie mumbled, trying to ignore the attention the colts had brought to them.

‘I know Thora very well,’ Shining Armor said grimly, seeming to calm down a bit (unlike Joe who was clearly panicking), ‘whatever she’s planning, it won’t end well. Not to mention Thora seems to be getting worse.’

‘I tried to warn her,’ Joe stammered, ‘I should have been blunter about it!’

‘We should go and look for them,’ Fleur de Lis told them, getting to her hooves.

‘You’re right,’ Millie responded, standing up too, ‘why didn’t I think of that?’

*

‘Which way did they go?’ Shining Armor inquired anxiously.

After a moment of looking around, Millie’s eyes fixed on a particular spot.

‘They went that way,’ Millie told them, ‘you can see where the ground is flatter than it would naturally be, but it’s not so trampled that it could be considered a regular path.’

The four ponies, Millie in the lead, Joe at the rear, hurried in the direction Thora and Cadence had gone. When they got to the spot where it, at first, appeared that Thora and Cadence had stopped, they knew something was amiss.

‘Something’s definitely wrong,’ Shining Armor sighed, ‘and there’s no evidence that either of them teleported.’

‘What have I done?’ Joe exclaimed, ‘I should have told her what I knew!’

‘We don’t know for sure that Cadence is in any real trouble,’ Fleur de Lis told him, trying to sound reassuring, ‘it could easily be just another one of Thora’s pranks.’

‘There are two sets of hoof prints leaving but neither of them is Cadence’s,’ Millie informed them, ‘the first set definitely belongs to Thora but the second set belongs to somepony who appears to resist gravity. What I mean is their hooves barely touch the ground.’

‘Are you saying this pony attacked them?’ Fleur de Lis asked.

‘Not both of them,’ Millie replied carefully, ‘I hate to say it but I think Joe’s right. It looks like they both ganged up on Cadence. At least, I’m almost certain that it was Thora who kicked Cadence down . . .’

‘It was a trap,’ Joe stated, ‘Thora lured Cadence into a trap and . . .’

‘I never truly thought Thora would sink this low,’ Shining Armor commented in a low, disbelieving voice.

‘I should have told on her,’ Fleur de Lis sighed, ‘like I promised Cadence I would if Thora did anything else.’

‘Who was this other pony though?’ Millie inquired.

‘Does Cadence have any enemies whose hooves barely touch the ground? Joe asked.

‘As a matter of fact,’ Shining Armor answered, ‘she does.’