//------------------------------// // Love and Tolerance // Story: Tales From the Phoenix Empire // by Chengar Qordath //------------------------------// I love Equestria. I’m less certain about the Equestrian Empire. I know that’s a strange thing for a prominent government official to say, but it’s true. Mi Amore Cadenza, the Aedile of Canterlot, has concerns about the Empire. I’m not saying I want to lead the charge in a grand revolution—those rarely end well. But I have concerns. Thankfully, I had other things to take my mind off of work and politics. Like a visit to the Sparkle Estate. The Empress might not officially favor her family line, but the Sparkles have done very well for themselves under her rule. It probably helps that the family line has consistently produced some of the greatest ponies of our age. Granted, my initial interest in the Sparkles came not from their status in the Empire, but from the fact that Shining Armor had a cute butt, and a little sister who needed a foalsitter. Those two things dovetailed rather nicely. While I absolutely loved taking care of Twilight, and would have happily done so even without Shining, it’s hard to ignore the fringe benefits. I certainly didn’t complain when his parents had another foal right when Twilight was getting a bit old to still need me around. I met two wonderful mares who are like sisters to me now, and Shining eventually worked up enough courage to ask me out on a date. I do love it when a plan comes together. The Sparkle Estate is a rather impressive home, though done in the traditional Canterlot style of stacking and attaching towers on top of one another until the foundation could support no more. It was charmingly haphazard, yet never reached the point of looking like a chaotic mess. It probably helped that the nigh-mandatory limestone and marble architecture of Canterlot kept the home’s style consistent, even though it had been gradually expanded by dozens of ponies over the course of nine centuries. I tapped a hoof on the front door of the Sparkle home and waited to see who would answer. A second later Amethyst opened the door, a huge smile on her face. "Cadance!" Unsurprisingly, Amethyst looks a lot like her older sister, or at least what Twilight looked like when she was a teenager. She was a fair bit shorter than her sister, though she might still have one last growth spurt left to make up that difference. Her coat was a lighter shade of lavender that bordered on pink, and her mane lacked Twilight’s highlights. Not to mention being a messy mop of hair compared to Twilight's very neatly arranged manecut. I returned her smile with one of my own. “Hello, Amethyst. Can I come in?” Shining always said I didn’t need to ask that question anymore, given that being engaged to him made me part of the family, but a little extra politeness costs nothing. That question brought a mischievous light to her eyes, and I braced for trouble. She is a teenager, after all. “You want in? Sorry, you gotta pay the toll if you wanna get past me.” She gave me a grin composed of one hundred percent pure teenage sass. “I'll accept cash, dinner, a concert, helping me sneak a glass of wine when Mom and Dad aren't looking—or if you're really desperate to get in here and drag my brother off for a bit, I guess I could accept a hug. But it has to be a good one. The real deal, not one of those quick ones just to get me outta the way.” I let out a long-suffering sigh. “Extorting hugs out of your old foalsitter. What has the world come to? Fillies have no respect for their elders these days.” I gave a resigned groan, and let the little blackmailer have what she wanted. “You’re not old enough to be complaining about those damn kids who need to get off your lawn,” Amethyst countered with a smirk. “Besides, you owe me for that one time you dropped me, back when I was still a foal,” Despite the snark and complaining, Amethyst wrapped a foreleg around me and hugged as hard as she could. I had to crouch down a bit to actually manage the hug on account of the size difference. Not only was Amethyst short, but I’d been a tall mare even before ascension added a few extra inches to my height. “That was Shining Armor’s fault.” In my defense, I was going through the hormonal teenage phase myself at the time, and Shining had just come back from his junior officer training, looking very sweaty and muscular and ... well, suffice to say I lost concentration for a few moments. “And in any case, you were fine, and I gave you a cookie to make up for it.” “Yeah, yeah...” She gave a final squeeze, then broke the hug. “Anyway, it's great to see you again. C'mon in.” She opened the door and led me inside. “Dunno why my doofus of a big brother hasn’t just given you your own key already.” He had, but as I said before I preferred to knock first. The foyer of Sparkle Manor was designed to impress, and did its job very well. The floors were Zebrican hardwood, very exotic and very expensive. The walls were paneled with the same, though relatively little of the two walls lining the entranceway was actually visible. The left wall was dominated by a massive portrait of the Empress and her daughter Midnight, the founders of House Sparkle, while the right wall contained an equally large and heavily enchanted family tree leading all the way back to the Empress herself. I took a moment to trace down the family tree to the current generation of Sparkles. Somepony had already scrawled my name next to Shining Armor’s, and the messy penmareship gave away the culprit. “Thank you, Amethyst, but let’s wait until the wedding and everything’s official to modify the family tree, okay? “Why wait?” Amethyst shot back, “Everypony knows you’re already part of the family.” I swear, if Amethyst had her way Shining and I would elope tonight. I have to admit, there was a bit of appeal to the idea. “So how have you been, Amethyst? Staying out of trouble, I hope?” “As far as anypony can prove, yeah.” I found myself recalling how much more of a hooffull Amethyst had been to foalsit, compared to quiet, bookish Twilight. “School's ... well, it’s school. Good news is that I’ve got next week off, which’ll give me a lot of great opportunities for staying out of even more trouble than normal.” She leaned in, and whispered conspiratorially, “Unlike certain cadets at certain military schools. You know how it goes—they still have to do their PT at ungodly hours in the morning, then go in, eat, shower, then do it all again with the odd drop of water still tracing down their flanks as they work out...” Yes. I was familiar with that particular sight. Amethyst smirked at me, probably knowing exactly what I was thinking back to. “Granted, you were eyeing a certain Sparkle when you did that, and I wasn’t, because that would be squicky. Now Solarises on the other hoof...” Her grin turned slightly dreamy. “Mmm, gotta love those toned flanks and bouncing cutie marks.” I made a mental note to drop by the Imperial Academy and do a little investigating into the current crop of cadets from House Solaris. Assuming I could find the object of Amethyst’s affections and the pony passed inspection, I would have to see what I could do to help the two of them out. Before I could start grilling Amethyst for details, her mother trotted in from the dining room. Twilight Velvet also bore a strong resemblance to the other Twilight in the family, right down to having a similar manecut—something I doubted was a coincidence. Most children do have one parent they idolize slightly more than the other. I suspect that if Twilight Sparkle dyed her coat white and replaced her pink highlights with white ones, everypony would think her mother had been hit with a youth spell. “Did I just hear you say something about getting into trouble, Amethyst?” Mrs. Velvet fixed her daughter with a piercing stare of maternal scrutiny, but broke it for a moment to offer me a smile and a nod. Amethyst quickly plastered a look of such utter innocence onto her face that anypony with an ounce of savvy would know she was up to something. “Getting into trouble? Me? Why, Mom, perish the thought! I was just talking about how much of it I was going to stay out of.” She tried to keep that guiltless smile on her face, but her mother responded with a suspicious frown. Obviously she knew her daughter too well. Amethyst opted for a new strategy. “And anyway, look! Cadance is here!” Twilight Velvet kept her suspicious gaze on her daughter for just long enough to make it clear she wasn’t fooled by the obvious attempt at a distraction, then turned to me. “Hello, Cadance.” She trotted over and gave me a quick a hug. “It’s always a pleasure to see you. Is this just a social call, or are you here on business? I beamed at her and returned the hug. “Do I need a reason to visit my future family?” “Of course not,” my future mother-in-law agreed with a smile. “I just wanted to know if there was anything we needed to discuss before Shining and my daughters started fighting over who would get to spend more time with you.” “Well, she was our foalsitter before she was his fiancée,” Amethyst declared, latching onto one of my forelegs. “So we called dibs on her. Finders keepers, first come, first serve—whatever other clichés you need. Point is, I’m not letting go of her for the rest of the evening.”   I chuckled and shook my head at Amethyst’s antics, then turned back to her mother. “I was hoping I could stay for dinner. Shining mentioned you were having company over, so if you can spare another seat at the table for me...” “You’re always welcome in our home,” Mrs. Velvet assured me. “Assuming you don’t mind pasta, of course.” I most certainly didn’t. “And yes, Twilight’s bringing a friend over for dinner.” “To hay with staying over for dinner,” Amethyst cut in, grinning up at me. “You sure you don't want to stay forever? We’d all love it if you just moved in already.” Tempting as that offer was, it wouldn’t have been a good idea. Sleeping under the same roof as Shining might make it a bit too tempting to do things that we ought to wait for until after we were married. Instead of dwelling on that line of thought, I decided to put my focus on the sneaky teenager in front of me. “Okay, you’re being way too flattering. What are you buttering me up for?” Her mother turned to Amethyst with a knowing grin. “She's always up to something. In this case, I suspect she wants you to cover for her the next time she tries to sneak out at night.” “Hey, I resent that remark,” Amethyst protested. “I just want my awesome foalsitter-friend-forever around more, is all.” Amethyst took a half-step closer to me, and added under her breath. “But, y’know, if you just happened to want to dispel Mom’s detection spells on my bedroom before you went to bed...” I restrained the urge to chuckle at Amethyst’s general teenagerness, and refrained from letting her mother know about that request. “I come by all the time as it is.” “Let's not quibble over details and just have you move in already,” Amethyst rejoined. “Like you said, you’re here all the time as it is. Why not just live here and save yourself the trouble of walking between our house and your apartment?” I frowned, and tried to think of a polite way to explain the problems with that. Namely, that the last thing I needed was to give all the scandalmongers in Canterlot another reason to spread nasty rumors about me. Just ascending had been enough to paint a huge target on me. There were times I almost regretted becoming an alicorn. Twilight Velvet must have picked up on my trouble, as she quickly swooped in to defuse the situation. “Now, Amethyst, she’s already engaged to your brother. I’m sure you can exercise just a little patience and wait until the wedding is done.” “Yeah, yeah.” Amethyst tried to wave her mother’s advice off, though the attempt at teenage indifference was rather spoiled by the way she grinned at me. “Want me to go get Shiney?” “Oh no,” I answered, my tone light and teasing. “I certainly wouldn't want to see the love of my life. My fiancé. The stallion I’ve promised myself to. I can’t think of any reason I would ever want to see him.” “Works for me!” Amethyst offered me a sassy grin. “That just means I get more time with you.” She leaned in, and faux-whispered. “It’s okay, we all know you’re only marrying the big doofus so you’ll have an excuse to hang out with me and Twilight.” I rolled my eyes at that. “I hardly need an excuse.” Mrs. Velvet chuckled. “Oh my poor, spoiled baby of the family.” “At least she's spoiled sweet,” I offered in Amethyst’s defense. Compared to most of the trust-fund foals I’d met in Canterlot, Amethyst was an angel. I suppose the Empress does deserve credit for dismantling the old nobility, so ponies couldn’t drag themselves into positions of power just by riding the tails of their parents. “Amethyst is pretty sweet,” her mother declared, pinching her daughter’s cheek with a quick bit of telekinesis. Amethyst responded exactly as one would expect from a teenager. “Mooom!” Her reaction brought a particularly devilish idea to mind. “Mrs. Velvet? I think you should relentlessly mother her until she goes to get Shining.” Mrs. Velvet clearly approved of that idea, stepping a bit closer to her daughter. “What's the matter, dear? Are you embarrassed by your mother?” She leaned over and gave her a quick nuzzle. “Don’t forget, no matter how old you get, you’ll always be my baby girl.” Amethyst let out the obligatory teenaged grumbling at her mother’s affection, but returned the nuzzle.  “Do you have to do the cheek-pinching?” “No,” her mother admitted, “I don’t have to do it. But I want to.” She pinched Amethyst’s cheeks again. “They’re just so cute and pinchable.” I decided to have a little mercy on the filly, and reminded her of how she could escape. “Amethyst, would you mind going to get my fiancé, or would you prefer to spend more time with your mother?” To help her along, I gave her a quick nudge towards the stairs with one of my wings. “Okay, okay, I can take a hint.” Amethyst trotted over to the stairs, and took a deep breath, only to have her mouth clamped shut by a spell from her mother. “Amethyst,” Mrs. Velvet chided, “Go upstairs and knock on your brother’s door, like a civilized mare. I don’t want you shouting like we’re on the parade grounds.” “Fiiine!” Amethyst grumbled, reluctantly trudging up the stairs. Once the teenager was out of sight, I threw up a quick privacy spell and removed several letters from a hidden compartment in my saddlebag. “From the Circle.” Mrs. Velvet’s face briefly turned serious and she quickly took the letters and teleported them to a secure storage area. “May it remain unbroken.” Despite the privacy spell covering us, she took a moment to quickly check the room for any other ponies. “All is well?” “Just more routine reports, for now. Siren had no new orders for either of us.” That last was a bit of a fiction, given that Siren was just my code name. I was almost certain that Twilight Velvet suspected the truth of that, but when you’re part of a technically-illegal secret society, maintaining plausible deniability is important. So long as Twilight Velvet didn’t know who led the Circle, she couldn’t compromise us if the Ministry of Heart brought her in for questioning. Well, technically I was only the second-in-command of the Circle. Our true leader was a bit too immobile to manage our day-to-day operations. “Well enough then.” A faint frown crossed her face. “Though I don’t know how much longer things will stay this quiet. As Luna’s return approaches, things are likely to become interesting.” “No doubt.” I considered my words carefully. “I have an appointment with the Empress tomorrow. Hopefully, I will be able to glean something of her plans for addressing the matter.” “Beyond the fact that she’s grooming my daughter for bearing one of the Elements,” Twilight Velvet added. “If that is her destiny, then she will play her part.” I didn’t like having to sit back and think of a mare I’d helped raise as an asset. However, with the fate of Equestria hanging in the balance I couldn’t afford to be too sentimental. Twilight had her destiny, and trying to shelter her from it would not only stifle her, it could doom us all. Mrs. Velvet was silent for several seconds, then reluctantly nodded. “I know, but she’s still my daughter.” She sighed, shaking her head. “I know I should have faith in her, but...” She sighed and ran a hoof down her face. “Hopefully it will turn out for the best.” “I trust her.” I might have said something more to comfort her, but I heard the sounds of hooves coming down the staircase. One thing I do love about Canterlot architecture, the tendency to build up and have lots of staircases makes it harder for anypony to sneak up on you. I quickly dropped the privacy spell and put a smile on my face. “Shining? Is that you?” Amethyst took the last few steps at a gallop, positioning herself so that she could properly present her brother. “Announcing the one and onlyyy Shining! Armor!” Shining followed his sister down the stairs, a huge smile on his face. “Hey, Cadey!” I beamed at him, and trotted over for a quick kiss. “Hey, you.” Amethyst took one look at the two of us, and tried to ruin the moment catcalling and cheering us on, complete with stomping her hooves in approval. Shining did his best to ignore his little sister acting like a brat, focusing on me. “It's great to see you again.” He pulled me in for a hug, and stole another quick kiss. Amethyst decided to keep up her brat act. “So, Shiney...” She turned on him with an evil grin. “The mom and the marefriend talking without you. You know that spells doom. Right, bro?” “It was only a little bit of doom,” his mother assured him. “He should survive.” His little sister smirked at him. “You hear that, bro? You’re doomed. Dooooomed!” Mrs. Velvet offered her son a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Shining. I've only told her a few of your more embarrassing childhood stories.” I got into the spirit of things. “The best ones, of course.” “Thanks, Mom,” Shining deadpanned. “Making me look bad in front of my fiancée. That's the perfect way to start a visit.” A second later his frown faded, and a smile took its place. “At least let me in on the fun when Twily's new friend comes over, okay?” “Ah, yes.” Amethyst announced with a sage nod. “The first rule of sibling relations: the horseapples roll downhill.” The effect of her snark was somewhat spoiled by her mother’s disapproving glower at her less than polite language. My ears perked as Shining’s announcement reminded me of that. “Twilight has a new friend?” Twilight was not the most social of ponies to begin with, and being the Empress’ personal student had put an enormous amount of pressure on her to perform academically. Between taking care of all her normal schoolwork and any special assignments from the Empress and her own private projects, Twilight barely had enough time for her family, let alone any kind of social life. Shining grinned knowingly at me. “Uh-oh. Watch out everypony, Cadey’s Romance Receptor has started tingling. Flee, before she pairs you up with the first pony she sees!” “Oh shush.” I playfully whapped him the chest. “I know love is my special talent, but I’m not that bad about it.” Although if Twilight and this new friend of hers were close, maybe I could give them a couple encouraging little nudges. I don’t want Twilight turning into a lonely old mare with only her books and growing collection of cats for comfort. So maybe I should help pair Twilight up with this friend of hers. It was for her own good, really. I just wanted her to be happy. “Now now...” Mrs. Velvet chided her children. “Don’t be too hard on your sister. This is the first time she’s ever brought a friend over, and you know how easy it is to embarrass her.” “Oh, I know.” The devious grin spreading across Amethyst’s face boded ill for poor Twilight. “Don’t worry, I won’t go too far. Just far enough.” Shining chuckled at that. “Laugh it up while you can, Ammy. The second you bring home a friend, you can expect all kinds of terrible vengeance.” Amusing as the sibling banter was, I had other matters on my mind. “So who is this new friend of Twilight’s? Is it somepony I already know? What kind of friend? Just a friend, or...” “Whoa, breathe, Cadance.” Shining chuckled and gave me a quick squeeze on the shoulders. “And as for your questions, Twily says they’re just friends, but she’s spent the last half hour in her bathroom getting ready. Draw your own conclusions.” “I could’ve sworn I saw her using makeup, too,” Amethyst added. “Makeup. From the mare who usually only brushes her mane and coat before an audience with the Empress.” Oooh, sounds like there was something there. “I just hope Shining doesn’t get in the way this time. I still can’t believe he reassigned that one poor stallion to the frozen north.” “That was pure happenstance,” Shining offered in his own defense. “Our garrison in Northmarch always needs a couple more ponies, you know how restive the caribou can be. It was a total coincidence that the one stallion who kept looking at my little sister in ways I didn’t approve of happened to be part our next shipment of fresh meat to one of the worst postings in the entire empire. Besides, it’s been fifty years since the last major caribou rebellion; he’ll be fine. Well, aside from the frostbite, ice trolls, snow leopards, and those two sleeping dragons.” I made a mental note to make sure Shining didn’t find about the cadet Amethyst had her eyes on anytime soon. Not that I thought he would do that kind of thing to a pony his sister legitimately cared about—he’s not a monster, just a bit of an overprotective big brother. Besides, Amethyst was at least developing a crush on somepony suited to her family’s status. The Empire might not have a proper nobility, but there were still families of wealth and prestige who were usually expected to marry among their peers. Given that they were the descendants of the Old Queen Celestia and held many important offices in the Empire, a pony from the Solarises was certainly a suitable match for Amethyst. Mrs. Velvet cleared her throat to get everypony’s attention. “Whatever the case may be, I hope you two will be nice to Twilight’s guest. If it’s an innocent friendship, I don’t want you two making a scene and embarrassing the family. And if there is something between them, we don’t want to push too hard. It wouldn’t do to extinguish the spark that might become a flame.” I offered my future mother-in-law a smile. “Don't forget what my special talent is.” “Oh, Empress,” Amethyst groaned, running a hoof over her face. “Mom's scheming again, and she’s gotten Cadance in on it.” “Twily might as well start planning the wedding now.” Shining turned to his sister, nudging her towards the front door. “It's too late for us, Ammy. Run for it while you still can. Go and be free! Maybe if you run away and join the circus Mom won’t be able to find you!” Amethyst and her mother both rolled their eyes almost perfectly in tandem. “Despite popular belief,” his mother informed him, “most of my scheming is being used for good. I just want all of my children to be happy.” “Don’t worry, Shining.” I gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. “I'll keep her honest by joining the conspiracy.” Mrs. Velvet offered a satisfied nod. “That settles it, then. I'm sure Cadance will be a moderating influence on my tendency to help my children, even though they don’t appreciate all the trouble I go to just to make their lives a bit better.” Apparently, despite being a grown stallion and a colonel in the Phoenix Guard, Shining was still vulnerable to the maternal guilt-trip. “Sorry, Mom. We were just messing around.” Amethyst, by contrast, could at least protect herself with a shield of teenaged snark. “I feel soooo reassured now,” she deadpanned. “I mean, you can just see it on my face. Don't I just exude reassuredness? It’s pouring out of my pores like sweat off of Twilight whenever she has to do something more strenuous than heavy reading.” The bratty little sister paused, then amended. “Well, at least that’d be how it was before she became the Empress’ student. I thought magus training was supposed to be about, y’know, magic. Never would’ve figured running laps was part of it.” “A magus who can’t manage a five mile jog is only useful if every single threat to Equestria is polite enough to knock on the magus’ front door,” her mother explained. Mrs. Velvet would know, given that she was an imperial magus herself. Admittedly, it had been a while since she’d done active fieldwork; being a mother with three children made a safe research job in Canterlot a lot more appealing. Shining grinned, and grabbed his little sister in a bear hug. “Speaking of, isn’t it about time we got started on your physical training? It’s about time you shed some of that baby fat and started putting some muscle on.” “Gah!” Amethyst struggled in vain, but she was no match for her brother. “Lemme go!” “What was that?” Shining asked, smirking at her. “You want me to noogie you? Well, if you really want it...” He proceeded to do exactly that, merrily ignoring her whines and whinnies of protest. The two of them were making such a ruckus with their sibling bonding that I almost didn’t hear the sound of somepony knocking on the front door. Mrs. Velvet heard it too, and directed a pointed look at her children. “That’s her. Quiet down, you two. Let’s try to at least present a somewhat dignified first impression.” The two of them stopped wrestling and started acting bit less like a pair of overgrown foals. And to think I was going to be marrying into this family. I couldn’t have made a better choice. My mother-in-law trotted over and opened up the door, a polite smile on her face. I was a little surprised to see Sunset Shimmer standing in the doorway. Last I had heard, Sunset and Twilight didn’t get along very well at all—something about the two of them fighting a duel at the Academy over a research project. Maybe this was less a matter of them being friends than it was the Empress trying to force them to bond after that fiasco? Or maybe it was one of those cases where once they’d gotten everything off of their chests, they could actually start getting along. After all, the Empress’ two personal students would probably have a lot in common. Sunset gave a slight shuffle as she stood in the doorway, seemingly uncertain about what to do next. It was quite the change from the usual brash and arrogant Sunset. “Hello, ma'am.” Mrs. Velvet offered the young mare a reassuring smile. “Hello, Sunset. Please, come in.” She stepped aside and swung the door open for her, and the Empress’ other student trotted in. “I’ll let Twilight know you’re here.” Her horn glowed, and a little wisp of magic shot up the stairs, presumably for Twilight’s room. Sunset trotted in and waved to everypony, then paused and nodded to myself and Shining. “Aedile, Colonel. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” “I take you already know my eldest, Shining Armor, and his fiancée then?” Mrs. Velvet inquired. “Only by reputation, really,” she answered. I could say much the same about Sunset. I knew she was the Empress’ personal student, and had a bit of a reputation for being hard to get along with. I also knew her parents, mostly on account of Firstlight Shimmer and Scarlet Runeseeker both being Imperial Archmagi. I also knew that more often than not both of them were out of Canterlot on business, so it was no surprise that neither of them had come to dinner with her. Normally they would have accompanied Sunset when she was having dinner with another family of their stature, especially given that it involved a bond forming between two ponies of marriageable age. However, duty to the empire trumps all other concerns. “Well, dinner should give us chance to get to know each other, then.” Mrs. Velvet trotted over to Amethyst’s side. “This is my youngest, Amethyst. Sadly, my husband’s tied up with work, and won’t be able to make it. I hope you don’t mind things being a bit informal?” Sunset met the question with a shrug. “It’d sound pretty hypocritical of me to complain when neither of my parents could make it.” She trotted up to Shining Armor and shook his hoof. “My pleasure to meet you.” He offered her a polite smile which I was a bit surprised by, given the history between Sunset and Twilight. I suppose he must have decided that if Twilight was willing to give her a second chance, he could too. I shook her hoof next, and smiled as well. “I can’t wait to get to know you better, I’ve heard great things about your work.” Admittedly, most of the praise I’d heard for her academics was along the lines of, ‘She’s a nag, but...’ No need to mention that little detail, though. Amethyst trotted forward, giving Sunset a once-over, and not quite succeeding at making her smile genuine. She was certainly trying, but she had a bit more maturing to do before she could master a proper poker face. Her smile was clearly a bit guarded as she declared, “Nice to meet you, I guess.” We were saved from any awkwardness by the sound of hooves on the stairs. Twilight was coming down at an odd pace, some of the steps way too fast, and others ponderously slow. Almost as if a certain mare was torn between wanting to get to her destination very quickly and showing a bit more restraint, and thus wound up combining the two into a complete mess. Eventually Twilight finished coming down the stairs, and a huge grin popped onto her face as she saw her guest. “Hey, Sunset!” Restraint went out the window, and she took rest of the stairs at a fast trot. “Glad you could make it.” All eyes in the room turned to Sunset, waiting to see how she would respond. Considering the production she’d made of just coming down the stairs, I was already fairly certain that Twilight was nursing the beginnings of a crush. Not that it was a surprise, considering Twilight had never really been close to another pony in her peer group before. The only pony she was close to outside of her family was the Empress, and Empress Sunbeam Sparkle was technically family too, however distantly. Sunset’s awkward uncertainty faded away, and she grinned back up at her new friend. “Hey, Twilight. I was just meeting everypony.” I was already fairly certain about Twilight’s feelings, but I decided to try a quick test to, as Twilight would put it, confirm my hypothesis. “Hello, Twilight. Did you do something special with your mane?” It didn’t look radically different, but there was a little extra curl and flourish to it. The sort of thing a mare might do if she wanted to make herself look nice for a special somepony, without making it too obvious she was trying to look nice. Presumably that was why she’d opted against makeup—it would stand out too much compared to how she normally looked. I suddenly had an all-too-clear mental image of Twilight in her bathroom, stressing out over how much care she could put into her appearance without overdoing it. She has a bit of a bad habit of overthinking things, especially when she gets stressed. In hindsight, perhaps I should have gone upstairs to check on her beforehoof. Still, she seemed to have managed it well enough. Twilight gave an embarrassed flush and an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I was in my room fixing my mane. To look nice. Because it needed brushing. Because manes need that done to them sometimes. I just wanted it to be perfect. Well, not perfect, because there are no objective criteria for evaluating the appearance of a mane, so absolute perfection is a logical impossibility; there will always be subjective elements to any judgement of physical attractiveness. However, there are some elements ninety nine percent of ponykind would agree on, so I tried to aim for a happy median of commonly accepted appearance traits. I just wanted it to be nice. I mean because Sunset is our guest and I wanted to be nice—for her, as our guest and my friend.” She plastered a very wide, very awkward grin on her face. “I’m fine! How are you?” Amethyst leaned over and faux-whispered to her brother, “Who is this smooth-talking charmer, and what has she done with our sister?” Twilight’s ear flicked at her sister’s sarcastic smartflankery. “Well sometimes my mane can get just a little messy when I'm stressed.” Sunset cut in before either of Twilight’s siblings could get another word in. “I think it looks really nice.” She paused, and a moment later I caught a hint of a flush in her cheeks. “Although since there are no objective criteria for such an evaluation, as you rightly pointed out, that’s just my unsupported subjective opinion.” Twilight blushed modestly at the compliment, though I couldn’t miss the smile on her face. “Thank you, Sunset. You look nice, too. Even though you didn’t really do anything special.” She paused, then hastily corrected herself. “Not that you needed to do anything special, you always look great! Your normal manestyle is nice and really complements your eyes and ... um...” Twilight trailed off, her cheeks positively flaming. Sunset wasn’t doing that badly, but she was undeniably blushing. Considering my special talent, I had an obligation to help the two of them out. Besides, they were such a cute couple. “Well, shall we get to the meal?” The question promptly distracted everypony from the budding romance of social awkwardness. Mrs. Velvet was quick to guess at what I had in mind. “I made enough pasta for everypony, even if Shining and Amethyst need seconds again.” She smiled at her two other children. “Everything’s already on the table under a warming spell, so we can eat whenever we’re ready.” Like any growing teen, Amethyst could not resist the siren call of food for long, even if it meant passing up on a perfectly good opportunity to tease her big sister. “Thanks, Mom.” She gave her mother a quick nuzzle and cantered into the dining room, most likely already loading down her plate with everything she could fit on it. Shining and I followed a short distance behind her. As we walked, Shining leaned over and murmured. “So, you’re the love doctor here. In your expert opinion, how long do you think they'll dance around the 'We're just friends' stage?” I thought that over. “It’s hard to say, with how nervous and inexperienced those two are. Probably until one of them plucks up the courage to make a move, or gets so nervous she blurts out how she really feels.” I paused and gave a mischievous grin. “Or until somepony gives them a helpful little nudge in the right direction.” “Somepony like you?” Shining prompted. “Maaaybe,” I answered with a coy smirk. I tossed a quick look back at the lovebirds, and noticed they seemed to be sticking close together on the way to the dining room. “I'll make sure Ammy doesn’t push them too hard,” Shining promised. “She’s a brat, but the teasing’s just how she shows she cares and is wishing them luck. Classic teen logic.” “It works in such mysterious ways.” I grinned at the little troublemaker, and after a moment she noticed and smiled back. Meanwhile, Twilight took a seat, then pulled out one next to her. “Do you want to sit here, Sunset? Next to me, if that's okay. Because there's plenty of chairs if it isn't, or if you’d rather sit next to somepony else.” Sunset offered her an uncertain smile, then settled into the offered chair. “Sure, thanks.” She murmured a few more words to Twilight, and then started loading both their plates with salad and pasta. Amethyst grinned at the two of them and was about to say something when Shining reached over and put on a hoof on her shoulder. I couldn’t hear most of the whispered conversation, but I did make out a half-audible whine of, “But Shineeey!” After a few more whispered words, the two of them fell silent, and rest of us settled in. Mrs. Velvet occupied Twilight’s other side, sitting opposite me, Shining was on my right, and Amethyst was on his right. Once Mrs. Velvet was settled in, she waved a hoof at the rich spread of pasta, bread, and salad weighing down the table. “Feel free to get whatever you want.” She paused and smirked at Amethyst, who had half of a breadstick poking out of her mouth. “Well, those of you who haven’t started already.” Amethyst quickly swallowed her current mouthful of food and offered a sheepish grin. “Um, it’s really good. Thanks, Mom!” Shining helped cover for his little sister. “This looks amazing, Mom!” I joined in on it. “Yes, it does. Thank you.” Twilight and Sunset joined in on praising the food. Flattery worked, and Mrs. Velvet decided to let Amethyst’s little slip-up pass. “Thank you, everypony. It’s really nothing special; cooking isn't that different from alchemy when you think about it. Both are just a matter of mixing ingredients and adding heat.” Amethyst offered us a grateful little smile, then wasted no time diving right back into her dinner. The rest of us soon followed suit, though at a somewhat more dignified pace. Once the meal had properly gotten underway, Mrs. Velvet turned to Sunset with a politely inquiring smile. “So, what sort of projects have you been working on for the Empress, Sunset?” Sunset’s ears perked in interest at that. “I’ve been busy refining the aetheric trans-variance on my teleportation circle prototype … I'm trying to adjust for several issues within the spell matrix that are based on magical principles that were completely theoretical until I started this project. I think I can account for it by modifying the runic spell matrix of the stabilization pattern.” “I’ve been helping,” Twilight added. “Nothing too serious—it is Sunset’s project, after all. But whenever she needs somepony to bounce a few ideas off of or help her talk through things.” Well, that sounded promising. It was no wonder Twilight liked her, when they could both connect over their studies. I had always assumed Twilight would need a partner who could satisfy her intellectually as well as emotionally and physically. “So, you two are study buddies?” Twilight rubbed the back of her mane, and shot a nervous smile at Sunset. “Pretty much, yeah.” Shining finished off the last few forkfulls of pasta on his plate, then tossed out a question while he was busy refilling. “Are you two working on any joint projects together?” “Nothing yet, we both have enough of our own work to deal with as it is.” Sunset used a quick spell to toast her bread, then loaded some of her pasta onto it. “So far, all we’ve really done is consult with each other on our own projects and train together.” Twilight nodded along with that. “We're considering a couple ideas for some sort of joint project, but nothing concrete yet. No point in worrying too much about the details when both of our schedules are packed as it is.” I took a sip of the lovely wine Mrs. Velvet had provided to go with the meal, and pointedly ignored Amethyst’s enviously pleading glance at my glass. Even if I were inclined to help corrupt an impressionable youth, Twilight and Sunset were occupying my attention. “Well, I think you two make a lovely couple.” I gave that remark half a second to sit on its own before amending, “of study partners.”  “Riiight.” Twilight let out a nervous little giggle. “Study partners. Who study together. For learning.” “And science,” Sunset agreed. “And magic. Although really, the two of them are so closely related that they’re virtually indistinguishable.” The two mares fell into an awkward silence, both staring intently at their food. Shining leaned over, and whispered into my ear. “I thought we weren’t going to tease them?” “It was only a little,” I offered in my own defense. “And I can’t help it, the two of them are just so cute together.” “Maybe you two should try a chemistry project?” Amethyst suggested. “I mean, you two do seem to have a real knack for chemistry. With each other.” Shining and I both chuckled at that, but he also directed a meaningful look at his little sister. Amethyst’s ear gave a slight flick, but she got the message and returned to her meal instead of hitting her big sister with another helping of teenaged snark. A little teasing was fine, but I didn’t want things to get the point where they started getting horrendously uncomfortable. Just a little cutely awkward. Mrs. Velvet seemed to have reached the same conclusion, as she turned to me and shifted the topic of conversation. “So, Cadance, I hope the Empress hasn’t been keeping you too busy. I know the Aedile of Canterlot has a lot to deal with.” “Oh, there’s always a dozen things going on,” I agreed. In a lot of cities the office of aedile is a fairly minor one, but Canterlot was the political and social hub of the entire Empire. The Grand Galloping Gala, the Summer Sun Celebration, the Unification Day festival, and dozens of other events were all my responsibility. And Celestia forbid anything, however minor, goes wrong with even the slightest details of any event, or I would never hear the end of it. Not to mention the constant discussions with Quaestor Fancy Pants over how many bits I would need to pay for all of those events. As reasonable as he was about most matters, the expense of a massive event like the Grand Galloping Gala could be rather daunting. It’s rather telling that I actually felt a bit relieved when something went wrong with the sewers. Most Aediles spend more time worrying about the public works side of the job than the public events side of it. I wasn’t that lucky. Still, nopony made a fuss over the sewers unless something went catastrophically wrong, and dealing with the occasional sludge demon was almost refreshing after putting up with all the bother of organizing the Unification Day festival. At least with that, all I needed to do to leave work behind at the end of the day was take a very hot, very thorough bath. Mrs. Velvet let out a sympathetic murmur. “I know exactly how you feel. Night Light’s always busy with something. I suppose it comes with being the Tribune of Unicornia.” I could scarcely imagine all the trouble he had to deal with. Representing the interests of every single unicorn in the Empire, appealing any laws or policies he felt were bad for unicorns, and advising the Empress on unicorn affairs was a huge responsibility. Not the mention the fact that tribunes were the only government officials beyond the local level who needed to worry about elections.  “I’ve heard talk that the caribou might be getting a tribune before too much longer,” Sunset idly commented. “Should’ve been done a long time ago; we could’ve prevented their last rebellion if they had somepony in Canterlot to tell us how upset they were with their governor’s policies.” “They are still adjusting to being part of the empire.” Twilight paused in the middle of her explanation for another bite of pasta. “Electing a tribune is one of the most important steps on the pathway to imperial citizenship. It might be a while before they’re ready for that.” “Would anypony mind if we don’t discuss politics at the dinner table?” Political discussions always made me wary. Maybe it was just paranoia, but I was worried that if I spent too much time talking about politics I might let what I really thought slip out. Some of the Circle’s opinions would be less than popular, especially with the Empress’ two personal students at the dinner table. Much as I love Twilight, she’s also very loyal to her teacher. All it would take is one offhoof comment about my opinions during one of her lessons, and I could find myself enjoying the hospitality of the Ministry of Heart. Though speaking of Her Imperial Highness... “I will be meeting with the Empress tomorrow.” That drew everypony’s attention, with Amethyst letting out an excited, “Really? No way! I mean, sure, Twi meets her all the time, but that’s kinda special.” Shining offered me an encouraging smile. “Very nice. Is it anything you can talk about, or do you even know?” “All the letter included was a summons and an appointment time.” Empress Sunbeam isn’t in the habit of explaining herself to her subordinates. “I have my suspicions though. I don’t mean to brag, but I do think I’ve done a very good job as aedile.” “And Aedile of Canterlot is a great post for a pony looking to prove she has the potential to hold higher offices,” Mrs. Velvet added. “It’s how Dad became popular enough to win the tribunal election.” Twilight added. “Maybe you could do the same.” She slowly trailed off flushing and shooting me an apologetic look. “Sorry, I forgot that wasn’t really an option for you.” A tribune had to be a member of the tribe they represented. Considering the fact that the only other alicorn in the entire empire was the Empress herself, I didn’t think it likely there would ever be an alicorn tribune. I quickly moved the conversation along, before it lingered too long on that awkward moment. “Whatever the case, I've never had a proper meeting with the Empress before. Sure, we’ve met at the Gala and other events, but we didn’t really have a conversation.” If I was honest, I was a bit nervous about talking to her. A single conversation with the Empress can make or break a pony’s career. “I suppose that’s no surprise, though. She usually only talks to officials who rank a bit higher than aedile.” Mrs. Velvet connected the dots quickly enough. “It sounds like you’re hoping for a promotion.” “Well of course she should get promoted!” Amethyst had to quickly put a hoof over her mouth to keep from spraying her dinner over the table. Her table manners have improved from when she was a little foal, but she was still learning. “I always have a great time at the U-Day festivals, and the last Summer Sun Celebration was awesome!” “Cadey even managed to make the Grand Galloping Gala fun,” Shining added, grinning at me. “Anypony who can manage that deserves her pick of any posting in the Empire!” “Flatterer.” I gave him a playful little nudge. “You know it’s true.” Shining nudged me back, grinning. Amethyst seemed to have gone silent, halfheartedly poking at her food. I was about to ask what was bothering her when she spoke up. “You're not going to have to move or anything, are you?” I flinched at that possibility. The thought of leaving Shining and the other Sparkles behind was painful. Even if Shining managed to get transferred to wherever I wound up, that would mean he would be leaving his family behind too. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. “There are plenty of jobs in Canterlot—it is the center of the Empire, after all. I’ve also heard that the Praetor of Canterlot is considering retirement.” “Cool.” Amethyst grinned at me. “You’d make a great praetor. I bet you’d be awesome at—you know—praetoring.” Mrs. Velvet let out a long-suffering sigh. “Now I understand why Civics was your worst subject on your last report card.” “Mooom!” Amethyst whined. “I told you, I know all that stuff! It’s just that my teacher’s a total jerk!” “Uh-huh.” Her mother crossed her forelegs over her chest, fixing her daughter with a suspicious glower. “In that case, I’m sure you won’t have any trouble at all telling me exactly what a praetor’s duties and responsibilities are, right?” “Of course not!” Amethyst’s grin was just a bit too wide and nervous to be genuine. “It’s ... um ... gimme a sec...” Shining leaned over, and I saw a tiny wisp of magic shoot from him to Amethyst under the table. A second later her eyes widened, and she shot her big brother a grateful little smile. “Right, praetors are the administrators who occupy the level between mayors and provincial governors. Easy. Told you I knew it.” “Thank you for helping her, Shining,” their mother commented dryly. Either Shining’s magic wasn’t sneaky enough to get past his mother, or she just knew her own children too well. “Amethyst, just because you don’t like some of your school officials is no excuse for bringing home bad grades. I know you don’t always get along with Headmistress Harshwhinny, but—” “Thinks she’s some kinda bigshot just because she also works on the Imperial Unity games,” Amethyst grumbled under her breath. “Like that’s even a real job, when the Imperial Unity games happen once a decade. If she was that great she wouldn’t be running a prep school the rest of the time. And all the other teachers are always getting on my case, or complaining about stuff that doesn’t even matter. Miss Rarity’s the only teacher in the whole school that’s actually worth a damn.” “Language, Amethyst,” her mother chided. “Part of why you’re going to the Harshwhinny Preparatory Academy for Young Mares is so you’ll learn not to talk that way.” “Anyway,” Shining cut in, defusing the budding mother/daughter confrontation. “I’m really proud of you for getting promoted, Cadey. You earned it. And if you have to leave Canterlot, we’ll find a way to make it work out.” “The Empress usually tries to avoid splitting up families whenever she hoofs out assignments,” Twilight offered in her mentor’s defense. “If she does end up sending you out to the provinces, I have a feeling she’ll pick one where the local legions need a new colonel.” “That would be like her.” I reached over and took one of Shining’s hooves in my own. “Whatever happens, we’ll work it out. Love always finds a way.” I leaned over and gave Shining a quick kiss. Twilight and her mother both answered with approving smile. Amethyst tried to show her usual teenage disdain for romance, but the huge smile on her face rather ruined the effort. “I’m sure you’ll be wonderful, whatever post you get.” Mrs. Velvet beamed at me, pride clear on her face. “I don’t think Shining could’ve found a better mare in all of Equestria.” Shining’s cheeks pinked. “Aw shucks, Mom.” “Congratulations, Cadance.” If not for the fact that we were on opposite sides of the table, Twilight would’ve hugged me. “Thank you, Twilight.” My attention shifted to her not-date. Sunset had been rather quiet for a while, and it wasn’t hard to guess why—she was the odd mare out in a fairly established group of ponies, Twilight was the only one she knew, and given her reputation for being antisocial I rather doubted Sunset was good at dealing with a room full of relative strangers. Especially when we were all so used to talking to one another that it was easy to unintentionally shut her out. “So Sunset, I read an interesting paper on pushing the boundaries between illusion magic and evocation the other day.” “The one by Magus Lulamoon?” Sunset inquired. “I read it too, I wasn’t impressed. Lulamoon’s great at illusion work, but she should stick to that. Trying to play around with quasi-real magical energy to add substance to illusion-work is a non-starter. And that’s not even getting into the fact that quasi-real magic is inherently unstable.” “I think it’s a promising line of research,” Twilight countered. “Granted, her theories are very raw right now, but if it pans out she could revolutionize the field.” “Sure,” Sunset allowed. “If it pans out. Frankly, most of Lulamoon’s work sounds very impressive and has tons of potential, but I’m not gonna get too excited until she produces results. It’s easy to make a theory that sounds impressive on paper, a lot harder to actually produce solid data.” “You’re just being an evocation snob,” Twilight accused with a good-natured grin. “Believe it or not, you can’t counter every illusion spell by just setting everything around you on fire.” “Of course not,” Sunset agreed. “That’s why I have ice magic too. Plus all the enchantments I could learn from Mom and Her Imperial Majesty.” “But no illusions of your own,” I concluded with a grin. “Nothing beyond the basic standbys,” Sunset allowed. “A magus who can’t cast simple invisibility and displacement spells doesn’t deserve the name. Illusion magic is useful, I just think it’s not the best primary focus for a magus. Magus Lulamoon’s constantly trying to publish her latest theories and ideas, so anypony who’s done an ounce of research before they run into her in the field is going to know most of her magic is safe to ignore.” “Illusions do work a bit better when you have the element of surprise,” I agreed. “So you’re thinking of joining the Imperial Magi, then?” Not that I was surprised by that, considering the fact that both her parents were archmagi, and Sunset had a natural talent for combat evocation. Really, it would’ve been a surprise if she had a different career in mind. “If I have the option, yeah,” Sunset shrugged, turning her attention back to her meal. “Depends on what the Empress has planned for me. After all, I can’t imagine she took me on as her personal student without some kind of plan for what I would do once she was done training me.” She finished off the last bite of pasta on her plate, then turned to me. “I guess you’d understand, right? When the Empress hoofs out orders, we have to follow them.” Sunset pushed her plate back and refilled her water glass, using a quick bit of magic to add some ice cubes to it. “Congratulations on the promotion, by the way. I’ve liked all the events you organized, so I bet you’ll be great at whatever the Empress has planned for you. And receiving a personal appointment from the Empress herself should finally put those rumors about you being a false alicorn to rest.” The friendly smile I’d been wearing froze as soon as those words left her mouth. Shining slowly lowered his fork, still loaded with pasta, to his plate, an icily neutral glower on his face as he struggled to keep calm. Twilight was utterly mortified, and immediately met my eyes and mouthed a silent apology. For her part, Sunset took one look at everypony’s reaction and her ears slowly drooped, a confused frown on her face, as if she didn’t quite grasp just how far out of line she’d gone.. Most of the time I could shrug off all the ridiculous Canterlot gossip that circles around anypony who hold public office. Nopony seriously believed that I funded my activities as aedile by selling illegal drugs, or that I was Celestia reincarnated into a new body. However, the rumor that I was a false alicorn had gotten under my skin. The day I’d ascended was supposed to be the happiest moment of my life. The day I finally realized my full potential, and seized my destiny. According to the rumormongers, I’d cheated my way to it. Ponies had tried that in the past, using dark magic and blood sacrifices to try and emulate or even outright steal alicorn magic. All they’d ever achieved was transforming themselves into a twisted mockery of everything alicorns were supposed to stand for. The idea that I could have done those sorts of things was beyond infuriating. I know Sunset hadn’t meant any harm, but the mere mention of the subject was enough to spoil my mood. The silence was finally broken by Twilight. “Sunset...” Her ears were flat, but she was glaring at her friend and her tone carried the sharpness of reproach. Sunset flinched at the open condemnation in Twilight’s voice, and mumbled. “Sorry. I was just trying to—I shouldn't have brought it up.” “Damn right you shouldn’t have.” Amethyst growled, not even trying to hide her anger. “Anypony who takes that load of utter horseapples seriously is an uneducated moron who deserves a lifetime vacation at the Ministry of Heart.” She rose from her seat, trotted over, and latched her forelegs around me in a protective hug. “I said I was sorry!” Sunset snapped, turning defensive. “No need to bite my head off.” Mrs. Velvet cleared her throat loudly enough to get our attention, and shot a pointed look at Amethyst when it looked like she would continue regardless. “Is everypony enjoying the meal?” I gave my mother-in-law a grateful smile, and quickly seized on the chance to change the subject. Sunset had already apologized, and dwelling on the subject would just ruin the rest of the evening. Not to mention it might push Sunset into a corner. Given her reputation, I didn’t think it wise to push her too hard when she had been trying to be on her best behavior for most of the evening. Besides, a disastrous family dinner might ruin her budding relationship with Twilight. “It's wonderful, Mrs. Velvet. Thank you so much.” Shining dropped a hoof under the table, and gave me a quick supportive squeeze. “Yeah, the pasta's great, Mom. Thanks a million.” Twilight turned her mother with a smile that was just a bit too wide to be genuine. “Great as always. Everything’s great now. Great great great.” “Yeah.” Sunset listlessly poked at a breadstick. “Great.” Amethyst was still glaring at Sunset and hugging me, so I whispered a few quick words to her. “Let it go, sweetie. She didn’t mean anything by it.” The teenager closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded as she untensed. “Yeah. Okay. That kinda talk just gets me...” She shook her head, and turned to face her mother. “Yeah, the food’s great, Mom. Thanks.” It took a few more seconds for her let go of me and go back to her seat. “Thank you, everypony.” Mrs. Velvet turned to her houseguest, reintegrating her into the conversation. “So do you cook at all, Sunset?” Sunset blinked in surprise, then offered a grateful nod to her host. “Yeah, I do my own cooking whenever I’ve got time for it. Dad said it was a good way to learn precise control with my pyromancy. ‘Course, when I’m in the middle of a big project I don’t always have time for it, but when I do...” “Her stir fry is amazing,” Twilight added, grinning at her friend. Sunset was quick to return the smile. Shining smirked at that news. “So you’ve cooked dinner for Twilight, have you?” “We were just having a late night study session, and didn’t feel like going out,” Twilight hastily explained. “You know, eating in our room instead of going to Burger Praetor together.” She blinked, and her cheeks pinked again. “Well, not together together, just together. As study buddies. Together, in the same room, at the same table, but on opposite side of that table. Because the tables at Burger Praetor are set up that it’s more comfortable to eat that way.” “I usually make enough stir-fry to have leftovers for a couple days anyway,” Sunset explained, every bit as flustered as Twilight. “You know, so I can save time by just reheating it all later. It’s not like I had to do anything special to cook for both of us. I mean, I did try to make it a little nicer than usual, since I was cooking for company. And I toned down the spices a bit because she doesn’t like too much of that, but that’s just part of being a good host. I wanted her to like my cooking, because she was going to be eating it. And ponies should like the food they eat.” Okay, as adorable as those two were, I was going to have to do something to help them with their tendency to awkwardly ramble. Though perhaps the problem would fix itself once they properly hooked up. Shining was nervous when we first started going out, but he got over it after I kissed him a few times. It had been cute, and a bit flattering. Twilight’s mother came to the young couple’s rescue. “Perhaps you could help me cook next time you come over for a family meal?” Knowing Mrs. Velvet, she would use the opportunity to thoroughly gauge Sunset’s suitability as a partner for Twilight. “What kind of stir-fry do you usually make?” Sunset relaxed a bit more, back to the state she’d been in before her faux-pas. “Well, I vary it up a lot. It’s usually just whatever I'm in the mood for, or whatever ingredients I have available. You can make a stir-fry out of almost anything, really.” “True,” Mrs. Velvet agreed. “Variety is the spice of life.” She offered Sunset an encouraging smile. “So, I think we should make plans. Are you free at the same time and day next week? We usually try to make this our family dinner night.” Sunset considered that for a moment, then slowly nodded. “Yeah, I can make it.” “Great!” Twilight pulled out her schedule book, and quickly jotted down a few notes. “Oh, I should probably put grocery shopping into the schedule too. And maybe we should pick up a cake or something special for dessert. And as long as we’re thinking of it we should write up a list of exactly what groceries we’ll need.” I grinned at the budding couple. “Well, I know I’m looking forward to it.” Mrs. Velvet nodded. “I’m sure we all are.” Mrs. Velvet leaned across the table, and whispered. “And I’m looking forward to helping the two of them along, as well.” “Oh, definitely,” I agreed with a grin. I was already eagerly anticipating the chance to pair the two of them up. Shining must have overheard us, because he murmured, “I tried to warn everypony about Cadey’s Romance Receptor, but nopony listened. Now look where we are...” I had to wait outside the throne room for almost an hour before Empress Sunbeam would see me. I’m sure she was very busy ruling over most of the known world, but the delay was still annoying. Maybe it was a side effect of spending so much time with Twilight, but I liked to think that if the appointment was for three in the afternoon, then I would meet with the Empress at three. Though I suppose in the grand scheme of things, formally promoting an aedile to higher office wasn’t anywhere near as important as dealing with the provincial governors or the tribunes, or whatever other affairs of state were occupying her time. Besides, it’s not like I would actually complain about it to her face. Chewing out the Supreme Ruler of Equestria for being a few minutes late would be good way to find myself reassigned to the frozen north. I was in the middle of flipping through some of the paperwork for the next Summer Sun Celebration when she finally arrived. I was a bit disappointed to see that Shining wasn’t among the Phoenix Guardponies attending her, though I suppose it shouldn’t have been a surprise. The Empress’ personal security detail was just a tiny part of the overall Phoenix Guard. It still would’ve been nice to see him one last time before I met with the Empress, though. I dropped into a respectful bow, and after a few moments she gestured for me to rise. “Aedile Cadenza, it’s a pleasure to meet you properly. I was most impressed with the last Grand Galloping Gala.” She continued down the corridor, right past the throne room. I didn’t say anything, but she must have guessed at my unspoken question. “We will be meeting in my quarters, not the throne room. I think I prefer something a bit more private for this.” That was unexpected, but hopefully a good sign. A private meeting with the Empress was usually more prestigious than a public one. “I am honored, Your Imperial Majesty.” She answered that with a neutral noise from the back of her throat, and we walked in silence for some time before she spoke again. “I trust the plans for the Summer Sun Celebration are proceeding well?” “They are, though I confess that this year’s Celebration and the Gala are both likely to be overshadowed, with the millennial festivities coming up next year.” Despite the circumstances, I couldn’t help smiling at the next thought. “Fancy Pants is no doubt dreading all the extra expense of the millennial celebrations, but we can’t let the thousandth year pass without doing something special to mark the occasion.” Of course, if certain prophecies were accurate, the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration would have one very unexpected and unwelcome guest. With that in mind, I would be fine with any expense, just so long as Equestria was in a position to have a thousandth Grand Galloping Gala at all. The Empress made a few more polite inquiries for the rest of the walk, until we arrived at the entrance to her quarters. As the guards took position outside her doorway, the Empress used her magic to open the doors and strode in, then looked back at me expectantly. I followed her into a foyer that was practically the throne room in miniature, though featuring a massive throne that had made a few concessions to comfort over grandeur. Through one of the side doors, I could see a dining room where practically everything seemed to be made out of a mix of gold and rubies. I have to imagine the silverware—well, gold-and-rubyware—was all but unusable. At least it all looked very impressive. The Empress took a seat on her throne, which was set on a raised dais that allowed her to tower over me, then closed the doors behind us. I felt a hint of nerves as the doors shut, and a privacy spell settled into place. It was just me and the Empress; nopony else would even know what we talked about. “Would you like something to drink?” The Empress drew a bottle and a pair of golden, ruby-encrusted goblets from the kitchen area. “The Tribune of Zebrica presented me with a lovely bottle of hibiscus wine that I’ve been very eager to try, and I think this is the perfect occasion for it.” I usually didn’t drink alcohol beyond the odd glass of wine at dinner, and having dinner with the Sparkles had accustomed me to wine that had been watered down as much as it could be without losing the right to be called such. Powerful unicorns and alcohol were known to be a rather dangerous mix even in Star Swirl the Bearded’s time. The last thing Canterlot needed was a drunken Twilight ripping apart Sparkle Manor because she’d misplaced her notes. Still, one does not refuse the Empress when she offers a drink. I took the goblet, thanked her, and tipped it back. A second later I nearly choked on it; the wine itself had a nice enough flavor, but it was quite a bit stronger than what I was used to. I politely set the goblet aside. “Thank you, Empress. It’s lovely. I’m just used to lighter drinks.” “I do like my wine with a bit more bite to it than most do.” She sipped from her goblet, then directed a reassuring smile my way. “And there’s no need to worry. We are alicorns, child. We would have to finish the entire bottle for it to start affecting us.” In light of that information, I took another sip of the wine. It wouldn’t do to seem ungrateful, and I didn’t need to worry about getting tipsy and making a fool of myself. I suppose I should have known one of the gifts of an alicorn would be an earth pony’s constitution, but I’d never thought to see how it applied to my alcohol tolerance. To be honest, if not for being friends with the Sparkles, I never would’ve developed my magic as much as I had. Considering the rumors that had been floating around ever since I ascended, I’d been wary of  pushing the limits of my new status. “Now then,” the Empress announced, setting her goblet aside for the moment. “I see no reason to leave you in suspense as to the reasons for our meeting any longer. As you no doubt suspect, I invited you here today for some most welcome news: you are being promoted.” “Thank you, Empress.” I dropped down in a humbly grateful bow. “I would be honored to serve the Empire in whatever capacity you deem best.” “Don’t thank me yet,” Empress Sunbeam murmured, pausing to sip at her wine again. “Northmarch needs a new Imperial Governor. Normally you would have to serve as a praetor for five years first, but one of perks of being Empress is that I’m allowed to make exceptions to my own rules, when the good of the Empire is at stake.” My wine goblet clattered to the floor, completely forgotten. “Northmarch?” I repeated incredulously. “You’re sending me to Northmarch?” The frozen wasteland full of rebellious caribou that had been the Empire’s dumping ground for years for rejects and failures. That was my new post? “That is where you are needed,” the Empress answered matter-of-factly. “With all due respect, Empress, that is a mistake.” I took a deep breath, and carefully laid out a calm and rational argument in my head. “My performance as Aedile of Canterlot has demonstrated that I am a skilled administrator capable of organizing some of the most complex and daunting events in the Empire. Further, though I am not trying to brag, I am by far one of the most popular and widely liked mares to have ever held the post. Would it not be wiser to assign me to task within Canterlot, where I could build upon that existing good will to better serve the Empire?” The Empress was silent for some time, idly swirling her wine in its goblet. “A well-reasoned argument, but you have overlooked a critical issue: your skill at both administration and winning the love of the common pony is precisely why I’m sending you to Northmarch.” “You’re exiling me because I’m too popular?” Did the Empress feel threatened by me? Was she afraid that I was scheming to steal her throne? It was not as if she had been terribly welcoming when I’d first ascended—she probably could have dispelled the false alicorn rumors with a few well-chosen words. Instead she’d let the rumors circulate. Why? To keep me weak and isolated? Was she that scared of me? And if she was, did that mean I had enough strength to be a real threat? “Hardly.” Empress Sunbeam gave a lazy, disinterested smile. “Tell me, child, are you upset because you feel being transferred to Northmarch is a waste of your abilities, or are you upset because it would take you away from most of your friends in the Circle?” I tensed in shock when she mentioned the Circle, then immediately forced myself to relax. It’s possible she didn’t know anything, and was just fishing for information. If she only suspected I was associated with the Circle, the last thing I needed to do was tip my hoof and give everything away. “The Circle? What, do you mean my circle of friends in Canterlot? I will miss them, yes, but I always knew that my duties might take me away from them.” Empress Sunbeam let out a low chuckle and tipped her glass to me. “Well played, Aedile Cadenza. I almost believe you’re innocent.” She took a sip of her wine. “Almost.  But back to business. I’m well aware of the problems in Northmarch, and why it’s considered the worst posting in the Empire. Which is why I’m sending you to clean it up. The caribou haven’t been fully integrated into the Empire yet, and I want that corrected. The last time I tried that, my governor took too firm of a hoof with them. I think this time, a softer touch is called for.” I retrieved my own dropped goblet and cleaned up the spilled wine. “So this isn’t a matter of exile, but sending me to clear the province up?” “Precisely,” the Empress agreed. “I don’t like the idea that any portion of my empire is only useful as a dumping ground for failures. I fully expect to see a caribou tribune in Canterlot by the time your term is done.” A cold smile crossed her lips, and she added. “And I want one of the most important members of the Circle far away from Canterlot for the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration. I’m sure I don’t need to explain why.” I said nothing in response to that, and after a few seconds the Empress gave an impatient snort. “Child, if I intended to move against you, we would be having this conversation within the depths of the Ministry of Internal Security.” It took me a moment to remember that was the formal name of the Ministry of Heart, since only a few government officials actually used it. “Since we’re meeting in my private throne room, you can safely assume that I have no intention of throwing you in the dungeons for being a member of an illegal secret society.” She had a point, but I still wasn’t going to confess anything I might regret later. “Assuming that I was a member of this Circle, why would you want me out of Canterlot?” “I would think the reasons obvious, given the Circle’s history,” the Empress answered with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “Considering Celestia founded your organization, I have to imagine she left some kind of instructions regarding what to do once Nightmare Moon was released from her prison. Unless you’re in the mood to share what the Circle has planned, I think it best to remove it from the board. I don’t need secret societies with unknown agendas interfering in one of the most sensitive and dangerous security operations in the Empire’s history.” I measured my words very carefully before I answered. “If I might indulge in purely hypothetical speculation based solely off of the information you’ve provided, I would guess that the Circle’s agenda would be to ensure Luna’s survival. Old Queen Celestia was very fond of her sister, and always regretted her madness. She would also be aware of your merciless default policies regarding threats to the safety and security of Equestria.” “Executing most of Tartarus’ occupants did send a rather clear message,” Empress Sunbeam agreed. “Not to mention what I did to that one statue. Celestia always had a gentle touch. She believed that everypony and everything deserved a second chance. That you should always offer your hoof in friendship, even to your enemies.” The supreme ruler of Equestria shrugged. “I don’t see the appeal of risking the lives and safety of my subjects just to give a villain another chance.” My eyes widened in surprise as I put it together. “You’re going to kill Luna?” “Nightmare Moon,” Sunbeam corrected. “There might come a day when she is indeed Luna once more, but it’s been nearly a thousand years since she could claim that name. And yes, I will kill her without a moment’s hesitation before I allow her to kill even a single one of my subjects.” She held up a hoof to cut me off before I could object. “That said, I promised Celestia that I would do everything within my power to save her sister’s life and restore her to sanity, so long as she did not become an unacceptable threat to Equestria’s security. I have no intention of breaking that promise, if only because breaking a magically binding oath tends to carry a large variety of negative consequences.” She shrugged, then casually added. “And in any case, a redeemed Luna would be a valuable resource for all of Equestria.” “In that case, why move the Circle out of the way at all?” I toyed with the empty wine goblet, for lack of anything else to do. “It sounds like you wouldn’t be doing anything they don’t approve of.” “Just because our agendas are largely compatible doesn’t mean we might not come into conflict,” Empress Sunbeam countered, idly refilling my empty goblet. “The Circle is still an unpredictable variable in my plans, and I don’t like unpredictable variables. Besides, while the Circle has been an undeniably useful asset, I find the very basis of its existence offensive. Celestia didn’t need to create a secret society to keep an eye on me, and make sure I don’t—how did she put it? ‘Allow the darker aspects of my nature to come to the fore.’” She snorted in contempt. “As if I need moral guardians. Or Celestia had any right to lecture me on rulership.” “Celestia was ten times the mare you are.” It was a couple seconds before I realized I’d been foolish enough to actually say that out loud. I thought about trying to quickly moderate my comment, but I never got the chance. Empress Sunbeam’s reaction caught me by surprise. I would’ve expected her to yell at me, call her guards, send me to the dungeons, or even strike me. Laughter, on the other hoof, caught me completely off-guard. “Child, if you think being a good mare has anything to do with being a good ruler, then you’re even more hopelessly naive than I thought. Celestia was a wonderful pony, but she was too nice for her own good. And more importantly, too nice for Equestria’s own good. She may have been the better mare, but I’m the better empress.” “That remains to be seen,” I grumbled before I could stop myself. To my surprise, Empress Sunbeam let out a delighted chuckle. “Oh, it’s been too long since I had a good argument. I think that’s one of the few things I regret about the crown. Everypony’s afraid I’ll send them to the dungeons the instant they challenge me, as if I were some petty two-bit tyrant who can’t bear to hear an opposing viewpoint. It’s why I tolerate the Circle’s presence, even though the reasons for your existence offend me. I don’t agree with your perspective, but Equestria benefits from having an established loyal opposition. There have been times when my opinions have been modified by new facts.” She offered me a low, tight smile. “You’ll do very well in Northmarch. Both because you have the skill for it, and because I will accept nothing less than your best.” Ah. Back to the subject of my trip to the frozen north. “Sending me to the Northmarch isn’t going to do anything to help those rumors that I used black magic to ascend.” The Empress raised a single eyebrow at that. “If you can’t deal with a few nasty rumors, you should really get out of politics while you still can. It’s only going to get worse as your career advances.” “But you could’ve stopped them!” I all but shouted at her, flinging my goblet to the floor in frustration. “All it would have taken was a single public statement from you, and all that talk would’ve gone away!” Empress Sunbeam met my anger with reserved, detached calm. When she finally spoke, it was only to say, “You know, if you’re going to keep dropping your goblet every time I say something you don’t like, I don’t think I’ll share any more of my wine with you.” She teleported both our goblets and the bottle away, then turned her attention back to me. “As for your objection, I wasn’t aware that it was part of my royal duties to dispel every single rumor somepony finds upsetting. If that’s the case, I rather urgently need to visit an elementary school playground to let everypony know that one of the young fillies is not, in fact, a ‘booger-face’ as the rumors claim.” “That’s not the same as—” The Empress cut me off again. “You ascended without my permission. Without so much as even consulting me first. You joined a secret society dedicated to monitoring and manipulating me in line with the agenda of a mare who’s been dead for over eight centuries. And after that, you’re surprised when I don’t go out of my way to help you resolve a few petty inconveniences?” She settled back into her throne, and rolled her eyes. “Please. If a few rumors upset you that much, do something about them yourself. I am your Empress, not your nursemaid.” “I understand.” I reluctantly dropped down for a formal bow. “Will there be anything else, Your Imperial Majesty?” “I believe we’ve covered everything,” The Empress agreed. “There will be quite a bit of paperwork to attend to, of course. The usual things, like transferring your files to whoever I appoint as your successor.” She paused, and tapped a hoof on her chin. “Feel free to recommend somepony, if you have any especially talented subordinates. And of course you’ll need all the relevant files for your governorship. My secretaries can attend to that, though. Good day, Governor Cadenza.” I couldn’t see anything especially good about it. Predictably, I spent the rest of the day buried in paperwork. Between putting everything in order for whoever the Aedile of Canterlot would be and going over everything I would need to know for my new post, I barely had enough time to eat and sleep. I hadn’t even had time to drop by Sparkle Manor yet. Or maybe I was just putting it off. I wasn’t looking forward to telling them that I would have to leave them all behind. I was almost tempted to resign. Managing the Circle would’ve been more than enough to keep me busy, especially since my conversation with the Empress indicated we had a security leak that needed to be plugged. Bits wouldn’t be a problem; I might not have much in the way of savings, but Amethyst wasn’t the only Sparkle who was eager for me to move in. I wouldn’t want to be a freeloader or a trophy wife, but Shining’s family would be more than willing to support me until I could find a new job. Sadly, that wasn’t an option. Even if I wasn’t happy about the assignment, I still wanted to be part of the government. Besides, Northmarch needed a good governor. If somepony else took the job and made a mess of things, I would feel responsible. I might not like the Empress very much, but she was right about one thing: I could do the job. It would be hard and thankless, and I would probably be utterly miserable the entire time, but I could get it done. After a long day at the office, I trudged back to my apartment. The Aedile of Canterlot might be a prestigious post, but the pay wasn’t especially impressive. My apartment was comfortable enough, but not exactly the height of luxury. Admittedly, I hadn’t felt the need to fancy up my home too much when I was a regular visitor at Sparkle Manor, and my Circle activities ate up a lot of my disposable income. Keeping up with the Circle from way up north was going to be difficult, but I would find a way. At least the promotion came with a pay raise and new perks like an official residence. I suppose I should try to look on the bright side. It was a little hard to do that right now, though. All I wanted to do was go home, eat more ice cream than I should, and hope that I could come up with some way to fix this whole mess. I’d barely settled in with a tub of ice cream and a folder full of paperwork when somepony started pounding on my door. I opened it up to reveal Amethyst, still wearing her school uniform, grinning up at me. There was a newspaper floating beside her. “Cadance!” She leaped forward and latched her forelegs around my neck. “Why didn’t you tell us you were getting promoted to a governor?! This is the most awesome thing ever! And did you read today’s paper? ‘Cause it gets even better!” “What do you mean?” Amethyst hoofed over the newspaper. The front page was dominated by a story about the Sapphire Guardian foiling a bank robbery, but page two had an article about my promotion. Amethyst pointed to a line in the article and quoted, “In a brief public statement earlier today, Empress Sunbeam Sparkle declared, ‘I have absolute confidence that my fellow alicorn will perform her duties flawlessly.’” Amethyst gave an excited little bounce and squeal. “Don’t you get it, Cadey? She called you an alicorn! And not just that, her fellow alicorn! It’s right there in the newspaper and everything! Nopony can talk horseapples about you now!” I stared at the text, trying to wrap my head around it. Why would the Empress do that for me after the way our conversation had gone? Had she decided she didn’t want ponies using those rumors as an excuse to question her choice? Maybe now that I was working directly for her she didn’t like the idea of rumors floating about that made one of her servants look bad. Or maybe, as strange as it seemed, she’d just done it to be nice. Maybe that whole conversation wasn’t about why she wouldn’t help me, but why she wasn’t obligated to help me. That did sound like what the leader of the Circle had told me to expect. While I’d been puzzling through all of that, Amethyst was still excitedly babbling along. “It sucks that you’re gonna be so far away, but it’s not like we’d never be able to visit. Shining’s already put in for a transfer, and one of the colonels up there had just retired so there’s an open slot for him. And oh yeah, you’re Governor Cadance now!” She grabbed one of my forelegs, and started yanking me out the door. “C’mon, there’s no way you’re not coming home for dinner tonight. We’ve got celebrating to do!” Despite the fact that I had at least twice her body mass, there was no resisting Amethyst’s enthusiastic pulling. And in any case, between the article in the newspaper and confirmation that Shining would be coming with me, I was starting to feel like celebrating as well. “Okay, okay. Calm down, Amethyst. Just give me a minute, and I’ll be with you.” “Okay, but make it a fast minute.” Amethyst sat in my doorway, impatiently tapping her hooves. After a few seconds her ears perked. “Oh, hey, Twilight wanted me to give you a present. Y’know, to celebrate your promotion and everything.” Amethyst rolled her eyes. “I know this’ll probably be a complete and utter shock, but her present is ... a book.” She pulled said book out of her saddlebag, and passed it over to me. Needless to say, I wasn’t surprised. I still remember getting my book-shaped birthday present from Twilight, the little filly innocently grinning up at me and declaring that I would never guess what she’d gotten me. I looked over my latest gift from her while trotting over to the section of my bookshelf I had set aside for all my birthday and Hearths Warming presents from Twilight. “A History of Northmarch: From the Crystal Empire to the 4th Caribou Rebellion,” I read aloud. I set the book aside, and made a mental note to read it later. I should know the history of my new province, after all. “Okay, Amethyst, I’m ready.” “Alright then!” She re-grabbed my foreleg, and dragged me out the door. “C’mon! Let’s go let’s go let’s go!” I laughed and let myself be dragged off, pausing just long enough to put my ice cream back in the freezer. All the research, paperwork, and packing could wait for a bit longer—I wanted some time with my family.