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

Thora In My Side : Part 2

Cadence found herself tumbling out of the cage and onto the floor.

‘You’ve caused me a lot of trouble, Cadenza,’ the Empress snarled, ‘not only did you get away and ruin my plans for Equestria, but you also freed two of my souls.’

‘They were never yours to start with!’ Cadence, who had returned to her normal size, butted in.

‘Both of which were giving me a lot of power,’ the Empress continued savagely, ‘now I not only want your soul, Cadenza, I need it. But all in good time . . .’

‘Aren’t you going to do it now?’ asked a surprised Thora.

‘Don’t you know anything about letting your victims stew?’ the Empress snapped impatiently.

She clearly didn’t think much of Thora at all. It seemed she was only letting Thora tag along because she had delivered Cadence to her.

‘No,’ the Empress went on, ‘we’ll put her in the dungeon with the others.’

Cadence quickly found herself blindfolded. She was being dragged forward (that was the Empress) and being shoved from behind (that was Thora). Cadence had had no idea where she was before she was blindfolded. All she knew now was that the ground was hard and cold, and that they had gone through several doors. Was it Cadence’s imagination or could she hear soft voices talking. The further they went, the louder it got, until, suddenly, there was silence. Then there was the sound of an iron door being opened.

‘P-p-please,’ a male voice suddenly stammered, ‘let Sky Skimmer go. If you do, I won’t try to run away or put up a fight . . .’

‘As if you could put up a fight!’ Thora spluttered with a high laugh.

The Empress gave an amused giggle while pushing Cadence inside and removing the blindfold.

‘She stays, Snowhoof,’ the Empress told the desperate stallion, ‘if you keep up this annoying begging and pleading she’ll be the first to go, or, perhaps, I’ll make her watch me suck the soul out of you.’

The Empress turned her head towards the female earth pony who wished the foreleg in front of her face could hide her.

‘What do you think, my dear? Do you want to go first? Or would you rather watch your hero die?’ 

Sky Skimmer turned her face away.

‘Looks like your fillyfriend won’t be getting away,’ Thora sneered.

‘She’s not my fillyfriend,’ Snowhoof mumbled, ‘she rejected me . . .’

Sky Skimmer looked at the ground. The Empress locked the door behind Cadence and motioned Thora to follow her, which, after giving Cadence one last nasty grin, Thora did. 

Cadence heard somepony erupt into sobs. At first, she thought it was Sky Skimmer, but when she turned to look, she saw that it was actually Snowhoof.

‘What am I going to do!’ Snowhoof cried, ‘I’ve got to get you out of here, Sky Skimmer! That foul creature has no mercy, nor an ounce of pity!’

The other stallion, a pegasus, in the cell gave a sigh, and slowly got up and came over to Cadence. When he was quite close to her, he stopped in his tracks and his mouth fell open.

‘Princess Cadence!’ he gasped, ‘is that you?’ 

Cadence suddenly realized she knew the two stallions and they were the two that had gone missing from the Royal Guard. Evidently they had both been off duty when they had been taken prisoner, as neither of them were wearing armor and Snowhoof was wearing glasses rather than contact lenses. Sky Skimmer must be the third pony who had gone missing. The way the horrified guard was staring at her made Cadence feel a bit awkward. She decided to ask him some questions.

‘How did the three of you get caught?’ Cadence inquired.

‘I was injured in battle,’ the pegasus guard told Cadence, ‘and I got back to base okay, so I was able to persuade the other guards that I could make it home okay. That creature attacked me on my way home and I was in no state to fight her off, not that I didn’t try of course. Sky Skimmer got caught in a trap that creature set and Snowhoof tried to help her. Snowhoof could easily have got away but he wouldn’t leave Sky Skimmer. He wasn’t able to fight that creature off. It’s strange really. He’s usually a wimp, a much bigger wimp I mean.’

Cadence glanced over at Snowhoof and Sky Skimmer.

‘Sky Skimmer’s been really badly affected by all this, the pegasus guard went on, ‘she’s usually very chatty but since she’s arrived here she’s barely said a word. All she seems to do now is make squeaking noises every so often, and occasionally move a bit closer to Snowhoof.’

Cadence felt rather sorry for the mare but couldn’t help wondering why she had turned Snowhoof down.

‘We have to get out of here,’ Cadence stated, glancing over at the crumpled Sky Skimmer, ‘you three are earth ponies and a pegasus, maybe some magic will work.’

‘But that creature has magic too, doesn’t she?’ Sky Skimmer mumbled.

It must have been the first time she had spoken in ages. Snowhoof looked bother shocked a relieved.

‘I was starting to think you had lost the ability to speak,’ Snowhoof blurted out, ‘I’m so glad you haven’t. I was so worried!’

Sky Skimmer turned away from him in embarrassment.

‘I think that creature’s magic works in a different way from a unicorn’s,’ the pegasus guard said, ‘so it may have a chance.’

‘And I thoroughly doubt Thora’s been allowed enough involvement to have used any magic on it herself.’ Cadence added.

‘We’ll have to watch out for that filly once we’re out,’ stated the pegasus guard, ‘she may not be very experienced in the evil ways unlike, um . . .’

‘White Flame,’ Cadence suddenly put in.

‘Is that the creature’s name?’ Snowhoof asked.

‘How did you know?’ Sky Skimmer inquired.

‘It is,’ Cadence began hesitantly, ‘I just suddenly knew. I don’t know how. It was as if a voice in my head just told me her name is White Flame.’

‘Are you sure you didn’t hear her name mentioned before and you’re only remembering now?’ the pegasus guard asked; he sounded doubtful.

‘I’m certain,’ Cadence replied.

‘Is this really the time to argue about it?’ Snowhoof inquired in a voice which was only just audible when the pegasus guard looked like he might be about to argue. 

Snowhoof seemed to think that every moment wasted put Sky Skimmer in more danger, and Cadence very much doubted that, despite the fact he was a royal guard, he had even realized who she was. 

Cadence turned her attention to the bars that were depriving them of their freedom. First, Cadence tried to unlock the door. She tried several times while the other three looked on hopefully, but she either couldn’t do the spell properly or it was the wrong type of lock. She had always struggled to unlock doors by magic (she could lock them just fine). Second, she tried several spells on the bars. She tried to bend them; she tried to make them narrower; she tried to shrink them. These failing, she even tried some spells on the bars on her right side which were between them and the next cell, which had its door slightly ajar. Sky Skimmer let out a couple of dry sobs on Snowhoof’s shoulder.

‘Are we really truly stuck?’ Snowhoof inquired.

‘There must be some way to get out of here,’ said Cadence thoughtfully, scratching her horn with a hoof.

Cadence’s eyes fell on the soft ground. Perhaps she could use some sort of digging spell.

*

‘What I was going to say earlier was that Thora might not be very experienced,’ the pegasus guard told them, ‘but unlike White Flame, she has no real control. Her behavior is unpredictable. She could do anything at any time.’

Cadence nodded. Snowhoof wasn’t really listening. His main concern was that Sky Skimmer stayed close to him and didn’t strangle behind.

‘Maybe you should lower the volume a bit,’ Sky Skimmer suggested quietly.

‘What is this place anyway?’ Cadence inquired.

‘It’s rather likely that it’s an abandoned shadow pony settlement,’ the pegasus guard replied.

Cadence nodded, not really taking it in. It suddenly dawned upon her that it could take them a very long time to find the way out. On turning a corner, and entering a chamber, they caught sight of a rather surprised Thora. Thora’s surprise quickly turned to rage.

‘Don’t think you’re going to get away, Princess,’ Thora snarled.

Snowhoof was rather bemused, then seemed to noticed Cadence’s horn and wings for the first time. Although she was hiding it well, Cadence came to realization that Thora was afraid. She couldn’t let Cadence slip away now. Not after all she had said and done, and she had no intention of doing so.

‘What would your parents think of you divulging in such a hobby?’ Sky Skimmer suddenly said scornfully.

Before Sky Skimmer had spoken, both stallions had been about to attack Thora in order to protect the princess, but now Thora’s anger had been transferred to Sky Skimmer.

‘Just as I suspected,’ Sky Skimmer whispered to Cadence, ‘her actions are controlled by her anger.’

Cadence blinked in surprise. Sky Skimmer was evidently cleverer than she looked. Snowhoof had moved closer to Sky Skimmer again, thinking that she might be in more danger now than Cadence.

‘We should really aim to capture her,’ the pegasus guard muttered to himself thoughtfully, ‘but in this situation, it could put the princess’s safety in jeopardy.’

‘Perhaps we should aim to scare her off,’ Snowhoof suggested in a low voice, having overheard the pegasus guard, ‘I can’t see her running back to White Flame.’

‘We could divide and conquer using Thora’s anger,’ Cadence put in under her breath.

Sky Skimmer gave a nod, and, before the stallions could object, Cadence and Sky Skimmer had raced off in opposite directions. Their actions caused the stallions and Thora to become confused but it also noticeably made Thora’s rage increase. Yes, Cadence decided, Thora had definitely increased in height slightly, and now, Cadence also saw that Thora’s horn had become almost as sharp as that of Goody Four-Shoes’s. Cadence gave a small shudder as she ran.

Predictably, Thora went for Cadence with only a few moments of hesitation, completely ignoring the two stallions that had been in front of her.

‘You really should consider some anger management classes,’ Sky Skimmer commented in a loud voice.

Thora tore her gaze away from Cadence and pelted towards Sky Skimmer. The stallions, seeing what the mare and filly were trying to do, rushed in. 

They were getting close to the doorway before Thora suddenly realized what they were doing. Once in the tunnels again, they would be so easy to lose. At any rate, she doubted she would be able to keep up with them beyond the doorway. Her anger was taking its toll on her stamina. She had one last chance. Thora dived at Cadence.

Thora, although stronger than Cadence, was no-where near as strong as Cadence had expected, and she seemed to be struggling, but, then again, Thora’s strengths did revolve around her ability to manipulate. Thora may not even have really physically attacked anypony before. 

It was very hard for Cadence to avoid Thora’s bitter punches while she was being held down. What had she really done to deserve such hatred from Thora? Was this her fault? Could she have done something differently? The weight was suddenly lifted from Cadence and she looked up to see the pegasus guard and Snowhoof, each holding one of Thora’s forelegs.

With a sudden, desperate strength, Thora managed to break free. To Cadence’s surprise, Thora pelted towards the doorway.

‘Are you okay, Princess?’ the pegasus guard asked Cadence while Snowhoof was pushing his glasses back up his nose at the same time as making sure Sky Skimmer was okay.

A small thought occurred to Cadence.

‘Does Sky Skimmer already have a coltfriend?’ Cadence whispered to the pegasus guard.

‘That’s the odd thing,’ the pegasus guard responded in a low voice, ‘she doesn’t, and she’s never had one despite her likable personality.’

This puzzled Cadence even more but she put it from her mind, there were more important things to think about right now, like which one of the many tunnels they should take. Once they had gone through the doorway, it became even more obvious that they could very easily get endlessly lost. Not to mention that White Flame was probably on their trail. If only they had thought to follow Thora. At least it appeared that there were only a few of White Flame’s followers, if any, which were here. It was clear that her only reason for being in such a place at all was to capture Cadence.

As Cadence stared at the tunnels, she gave a startled blink. She had thought she had seen something, or, at least, been aware that something was there.

‘Is something wrong?’ Snowhoof asked anxiously.

Cadence shook her head, slightly dazed. There it was again. Something between light and sparkles.

‘Did you see that?’ Cadence asked cautiously.

The expressions on the other ponies’ faces made it clear that they hadn’t seen it. The sparkly light seemed to stop in its tracks and form into an outline of a familiar pony. Cadence stared.

‘True Star?’ Cadence mouthed, but no sound escaped her lips.

Cadence quickly realized that, for some reason, she was the only one who could see it. Maybe it was all in her mind. The outline jolted her head and moved a small distance down a tunnel before stopping and looking back.

‘Is something wrong?’ Snowhoof inquired with increasing worry.

‘I think,’ Cadence said slowly, ‘I think I know which way to go.’