Cadence
“And that is why I believe that the proposed tariff reduction should be rejected by this august body,” finishes the pegasus standing behind the podium opposite my throne. Took him long enough.
I resist the urge to roll my eyes at the round of polite stamping that passes through the Grand Council of the Crystal Empire. Most of these stallions and mares plan to vote in favor of the legislation anyway – so my agents assure me, at any rate. I for one frankly could not bring myself to care less what our tariff on imported… what was it again? Something to do with railroads, I think. Locomotive engines? Coal? Freight cars? Whatever. Tariffs and taxes go up and down all the time with the passing of generations, and unless I can see that it’s going to seriously hurt somepony or the Empire as a whole, I’m generally alright with leaving this aspect of governance to subordinates.
I get to my hooves and ritually call for a vote now that we’ve heard the final cases in favor of and against the proposed legislation. The ponies in the semicircle of surrounding my throne each raise a small green flag for “yea”, a red flag for “nay”, or a white flag to signal abstention. The results are carefully noted and recorded by the attending scribes. It’s one hundred fourteen in favor, twenty-three opposed, with thirteen abstentions. Just as my ponies told me it would be, an overwhelming majority in favor.
The proposed bill then passes to me for final approval. As Princess of the Crystal Empire, I have final authority on what may or may not become law. The council has the right to draft and propose almost anything they may wish, but if I decide against it nothing happens. Fortunately for them, as the Empire has grown and my attentions have been… diverted by other matters, I’ve found it much simpler to allow them to take on more of the burden of our governance and only intervene when needs must. They may not have any legislative power beyond what I allow, but many of them have the power to make my life much more complicated if I threw my weight around more. And since that would mean I have less time to work on a solution to my most serious problem… well, if the council wishes to manage the petty affairs of state, they’re welcome to it. I just wish I didn’t have to sit through it.
Technically Shining has every bit as much authority as I do, but in practice things just tend to work more smoothly with the majestic alicorn instead of the animated statue presiding, so the throne beside my own is more often than not empty these days. I hope that will change soon; a partner would make enduring these sessions far less tedious. But until that day comes, one of us has to be here to approve or reject all legislation, and right now that’s me.
I give my approval with a cursory glance at the bill. Like I said, this is trivial to me and I’m confident in the ability of my councilors to manage elementary work alone, and in my numerous staff to alert me to anything untoward in the legislative pipeline. In any case, if I do accidentally make a mistake, I can undo it basically at will. For all the drawbacks and distractions it brings, there are benefits to being supreme ruler.
“And let it be known,” booms Thundering Voice, still our Royal Herald after all these years, though he’s getting on up there. I expect he’ll be retiring soon. “That on this day, the twenty-first of frostfell, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza did hereby…”
Blah blah blah. I tune him out. No offence to the stallion, but is it really that hard to just say “the bill passes”? Must we do everything in this exaggerated manner? That’s half the reason these assemblies take so long.
I sigh internally. But bombast and pomp are what the nobility wants, and even an alicorn has to cater to them to a certain extent to enable a proper functioning of her nation. That’s why a full fifty of the one hundred and fifty seats on the Grand Council are reserved for members of nobility, rather than democratically-elected representatives from across the Empire. Some ponies wanted even more than that when we founded this council to assist us back when Shining was properly alive, but they were taught their place. I will make concessions for the sake of my subjects, but nopony had better test me when my temper’s up.
I turn just the slightest amount of attention back to Thundering Voice as he continues on in his bass tone. “Next on the order of business is the issue of a proposed amendment to the regulations regarding the importation of nonnative flora from the Zebrican continent. Presenting the proposal and making the case in favor is her ladyship, Shining Sunstone,”
I again suppress my urge to roll my eyes at the polite stamping as the orange-gold mare takes the stage. I’m going to have to spend the next hour listening to these ponies argue about whether it’s ok to import particular breeds of exotic flowers for their gardens or not.
This is going to be a long afternoon.
Celestia
“And I assure you, your majesty,” declares the armored gryphon in front of me in what he’s trying to make seem a confident tone. “That the captain of the East Wing city guard has been dismissed for his laxity, and the Imperial Guard has taken custody of the prisoner and will be conducting a full investigation. We shall get to the bottom of this treacherous attempt on your life, you have my word.”
“I thank you for your diligence, Captain Gidon. I am certain that I am in safe talons with the Imperial Guard on the job.” I reply, favoring him with a reassuring smile. In truth, I’m more worried that they will be hurt than that I will, judging from the frankly subpar attempt to kill me earlier. I’ve seen far more cunning efforts over my long life.
“We shall not rest until every perpetrator is hunted down and brought to justice,” he vows with a talon clutched in a fist over his heart, for the fifth time in the past twelve minutes. He appears to be taking the lapse in security as a personal affront to his honor, in spite of it not even being his assigned task at the time.
“I am certain you shall not, captain. Again, my sincere thanks for your efforts on my behalf. You do your nation and emperor proud.”
He visibly swells slightly with the praise. “Your words are kind, majesty. You shall know if and when anything is discovered.”
“Then I suppose I should not delay you any further here,” I say with a nod. “You are dismissed, captain.”
He salutes me, returns the helmet to his head, and marches duly out the door to my quarters, the exterior of which are now positively swarming with armored pegasi and gryphons, looking on high alert. Captain Gidon wished to post guards inside my room as well, but I vetoed the idea. I desire privacy more than I do more potential casualties among my protectors. Anything capable of harming me would tear through them, so I feel that diverting Imperial Guards from gryphons as highly placed as the Speaker of the Senate himself to guard me was excessive, but my honor-bound hosts insisted. Their need to feel like they are doing something to protect an important guest overrides the logical fact that I need little protection from anything that they can overcome.
Once again, I make concessions to the wills of mortals for the sake of their egos. I just hope they don’t get themselves killed if somepony else decides to take a shot at me.
A day and a night pass me by like so many immaterial wisps on the wind. I choose to spend the time reviewing the facts on the case before me for one final time. It is, in truth, a rather straightforward case as far as international incidents go:
The Senadas are a small set of islands some few dozen miles off the coasts of the Gryphus Empire. Essentially twenty-one barren rocks sticking out of the oceans, little lives on them beyond some especially hardy breeds of lichen and shrub, along with the occasional flocks of migratory seabirds that take advantage of the isolation and lack of predators to lay their eggs in relative safety. They were discovered and nominally claimed by the Gryphus Empire almost three thousand years in the past, but the simple fact is that they were strategically and materially worthless to the predators. Compared to the richer pickings elsewhere, the Empire found no reason at all to build on or occupy the isles, instead claiming them simply for the sake of doing so. Mortals and their need to clutch at even the most petty of possessions.
This state of affairs continued until some six hundred years ago, when the Gryphus Empire was in the midst of one of its intermittent civil wars. One faction, rallying under the banner of a lesser daughter of the dead Empress Scyla II, claimed the isles among its territory. When the war turned sour for them and their coffers began to run dry, they resorted to selling whatever they could find to continue the fight against the empress’s other children. Among the things they sold was the Empire’s claim on the Senadas. In that age, before the Revolution overturned (and decapitated) the monarchy for good, Prance was experiencing an economic boom and was ruled by an inexperienced king who enjoyed flaunting his newfound wealth. He purchased the Gryphus Empire’s claim to the islands on a whim, before discovering them not to his liking and continuing the prior policy of total neglect.
Eventually, the civil war ended with the destruction of all of the empress’s offspring but one, and that victor, then crowned Emperor Serath XII, did not acknowledge the legitimacy of his sister’s actions. He asserted that, as she was nothing more than a pretender and usurper to throne that was now his, she had no authority on which to auction the property of the crown. The Prench believed that their purchase was legitimate, continuing to argue that they were the rightful owners of the isles. The issue has never been resolved, but until a very short time ago nopony had that great an interest in the ownership of valueless rocks in the middle of the ocean. Even the most proud and aggressive and domineering of leaders chose to fight over something more worth their while.
Then, a handful of weeks ago now, some enterprising Prench marine biologists visited the isles to catalogue their underwater life. By sheer chance, in the course of their dives they stumbled upon underwater caves containing an abundance of gemstones. Analysis of the recovered samples proved a magical energy content far higher than normal, making the jewels valuable for everything from boosting the natural magic of spellweavers to providing power for cities or airships.
When the naïve scientists announced their discovery publicly, the international community went into a tailspin. I wish I had been there to hold them to silence until a more appropriate time, but even my eyes have their limits. When hurried official geological studies by the Prench and Gryphus governments indicated a high probability that the Senadas contained considerably more of these gems, the issue nearly reached crisis point. Both governments asserted their total right to ownership of the isles and their natural bounty, and neither was willing to recant their claims. The tensions mounted, and many, including myself, seriously feared that it would come to blows if either side moved to enforce their claims. Before that could happen, more level-headed factions in the twin governments, some secretly at my behest, managed to convince their leadership to call for a conference to discuss and hopefully resolve the issue between them. I was duly invited to mediate between the two.
This may be somewhat difficult, but I believe I can find a compromise between the two sides before it comes to war. Nopony needs die over shiny rocks at the bottom of the ocean.
I stand at the side of Emperor Serath on a flattened landing platform outside of the mountain that makes up Ostflugel proper, a heavy wind whipping through my mane and the sound of enormous engines drowning out all else. Above us, a trio of gigantic white Prench airships is in the process of a coordinated landing. Pegasi and gryphons alike fly back and forth between the ground and the impressive-looking warships, affixing moors and guiding the pilots into a careful touchdown.
As they get closer, I can pick out details on the Prench airships. Each is a latest-generation model of pony warship, capable of carrying hundreds of soldiers in the armored compartments beneath their vast, reinforced gasbags above. Siege weaponry and battle wizard platforms are displayed prominently along their sides and top, while the bottom visibly possesses great bay doors capable of opening to unleash airborne soldiers or explosives in equal measure. Each one is a powerful weapon capable of unleashing devastation on ground and air alike, and not something to be taken lightly. Equestria possesses its own equivalents of these ships, and as somepony who has seen them in their demonstrations, I know and respect just what they can do to soldiers or civilians unfortunate enough to be caught underneath.
That Premier Radient Light is arriving in three of them tells me a great deal about his attitude towards the peace process.
Shining Armor
I skim the report in my hooves with an incredulous expression on my face.
“That’s it?” I demand of the stallion in front of me, perhaps a bit more roughly than I should.
To his credit, he stands his ground. “Yes sir. That’s all. No evidence we’ve gathered suggests there is any more to their connection than that.”
I pound my hoof onto my desk, actually cracking it (the desk, and my crystalline hoof) a bit. “That’s not good enough! I need something better! Some substance! Don’t you have anything more on those two?”
He remains as stoic as ever. “I’m sorry, sir, but facts are facts. There is simply no evidence to suggest that the relationship between Lady Rose Quartz and Lady Opal was ever anything more than a series of non-magical commercial transactions between their households. I’ve done the best I could to thoroughly investigate all the interactions between the two that I could find, including their council voting records, personal visits, and all the financial records I was able to access. That’s it, sir.”
“Aaaaaahhh…” I moan, running my hoof over my face. My subordinate, Sharp Eye, simply stands stoically where he is and waits for me to finish. With a sigh, I eventually do and return my attention to him. “Thank you for your hard work, Sergeant.”
“Anything for the Empire, sir. Will there be another name you wish me to dig through?”
I think about it for a moment before shaking my head. “No, not at the moment. I’m sorry to have pulled you away from your usual duties. You can return to them.”
He salutes. “No need to be sorry, sir. Investigating a traitor to the Empire is always a worthwhile pursuit.”
“Be that as it may, you can go now.”
“Yes sir. Let me know if there’s anypony else you wish me to dig up dirt on.”
Sharp Eye’s a good pony, I decide as he leaves my office and shuts the door behind him. I borrowed him from a police investigative unit to do some snooping on my behalf, and I’ll admit he’s as thorough as his record led me to believe. But he didn’t find anything of what I was looking for, and now my latest theory’s been dashed.
I still haven’t gotten anything on Lady Quartz’s unknown conspirators. I’ve been running investigations of her closest associates for years now, ever since Cadence started deteriorating. But nothing I can find indicates they were at all complicit in her actions, nor that they are doing anything untoward with my wife. Lady Opal was one of the longshots, and she didn’t turn up anything fresh either. I need a clue, a lead, anything really. I can’t just leave Cadence to continue hurting like she is.
I suppose I’ve got no choice, then. I know it seems weird for a pony who most consider some type of undead, but I don’t like the idea of desecrating a grave. It’s always seemed… wrong to me. And Lady Quartz has been buried in her ancestral plot for decades now. But I need something to point me in the right direction. I need to examine the spell she used, and there’s only one place that the traces might remain: her corpse. But I don’t know anypony skilled enough in magic to read the traces of twenty year old spells on a rotten skeleton and give something I can work with from it.
Well, that’s not entirely true. I know one.
I pull out a sheet of paper and begin composing a letter.
Dear Twilight...