The next day was the Royal Ambassador's Meeting. Mom had been coaching me on how to behave and what to expect to happen for most of the morning, with my father ‘helpfully’ criticising everything I managed to do until she got fed up with him and kicked him out of our room. I had had my mane pulled up into every single style imaginable but it refused to stay up, or mom wouldn’t be happy with it, and she’d start over, yanking my mane around until my scalp ached and I was actually happy when my aunt Celestia came and asked to speak to me alone.
I followed the high princess silently through the halls, watching the palace staff frantically rushing around to get ready for the great conference and lavish banquet required of it, my stomach rolling a little from an unknown nervousness as the smells of all the food assaulted my nostrils. I started to wish I had stuck around to have my hair pulled out as we approached the castle library where I had convinced my father that I had destroyed one of the walls in place of the results of one of Twilight’s untamed spells. Neither my father nor my aunt had spoken to me about it after my positive prognosis had been given, and I hadn't seen Twilight either. I had almost forgotten about it, but a heaviness settled in my belly as I realized I was going to be scolded by my patient but firm regal aunt.
“It seems that somepony has damaged my library’s wall.” Aunt Celestia said, her voice deceptively calm as she gestured to the wall where the hole had been repaired and hastily painted over, the tiles cleaned up from the floor. I felt no clear anger or disappointment from her, but surely she had brought me here to abdicate me. Or maybe I had pushed my emotion sensing magic so far away it was deceiving me.
“Oh, yeah...” I mumbled, guiltily.
“Your father told me he found you and my personal student at the scene, and you said you were showing her something when your spell backfired?” the princess raised an eyebrow and I grimaced.
“Yup. That’s what happened. I’m really sorry, auntie.” I tried to grin in that cute way Twilight could do that according to her brother helped her get away with anything, but I probably failed.
“So, am I to understand that my almost full grown niece, adept in magic, and in complete control of her spells is responsible for this, while my student, who I am teaching to tame her wild magic, and has done this many times before is completely innocent?”
“Uh.... yes?”
The ivory coated monarch shook her head and sighed. “Oh Cadance, you’re a kind, selfless little pony, but taking the blame for Twilight Sparkle’s mistake isn’t going to help her learn anything.”
“I know...” I sighed, hanging my head. “It’s just my father was there and...I didn’t want him to yell at her,” I paused. “Like he always yells at me.”
“I see,” Princess Celestia responded with less concern in her tone than I expected. “But please, let me take care of the discipline for my own student.”
“Yes, Auntie.” I mumbled, feeling dejected, and wondering what ‘discipline’ would befall the little filly. I hoped I hadn’t gotten her in even more trouble.
“What do you say, young filly?” my aunt continued, sternly, and I startled to see the lavender unicorn trudge out from behind her.
"I’m sorry I let you take the blame for me, Cady.” she mumbled much as I had done, looking down at her hooves as she scuffed them across the floor.
“And...?” our mutual mentor pressed.
“Um... thanks... for trying to protect me.” she looked up at me with those huge eyes of hers and smiled, innocently.
“You’re welcome, Twilight.” I smiled too.
Suddenly my aunt’s familiar warmth and compassion returned to her face as she smiled at the two of us. “Learning to take responsibility for your own actions is an important lesson to be learned, my little pony. Just as with Cadance it is a noble and valiant trait to try to protect another pony, but in this case that pony needed to try to accept the responsibility for herself.”
“Yes, Aunt Celestia.” I replied, while Twilight mimicked without saying the more familial title. “We’re sorry.” our voices joined in unison and the elder princess chuckled softly.
“Now, Twilight I know you like to be here to study in the library, but today there is something very special going on in the castle and I cannot permit you to stay here unattended. Cadance and I must go now to get ready, but I’m sure you’ll see her again during the rest of her visit here,” Princess Celestia looked down at the disappointed little filly and sighed. It seemed even she wasn’t immune to Twilight’s manipulative little pout. “And we’ll start our lessons again in the fall. Now go outside and play, you silly filly.”
I nodded to show her my own encouragement, and the lavender unicorn immediately cheered up and waved to us as she trotted to the solar guard stallion the princess had asked to escort her home.
When Twilight had left the library my aunt blew out a puff of air and turned to me. "I don't know how you ever kept up with her.”
I giggled, mischievously. "If you help my mother figure out what to do with my mane without making it fall out, I'll give you a few Twilight Sparkle customized foal sitter pointers. Cadance patented and approved.” I concluded with a wink.
“You got a deal, my little foal sitter expert.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Royal Ambassadors Meeting was the first of all my new royal duties I actually enjoyed. In fact, it was magical. It was the most awe inspiring and spectacular event I had ever experienced. And it may have even helped me come to terms with my own ancient origins. For when my parents had explained that I would be meeting with representatives from all across Equestria they had never said that some would be different species.
Of course there were pony representatives from the other separate kingdoms as I was. There was the pure white, enigmatic queen of the frozen north who brought in a chill with the flow of her ivory flowing mane and lion shaped tail, and whose eyes shone blue like the deepest lake. The unicorn Emperor and Empress of the East, a dainty couple without any alicorn characteristics, but a distinct almond eye shape and glossy night coloured coat with strange and intricate cutie marks that said as much in their images as the words they represented. Even the Saddle Arabian horses, a race of tall earth pony-like equine with alicorn like muzzles, powerful muscled legs and beautiful saddle costumes did not surprise me as much as when I was introduced to the other representatives from beyond the Equestrian borders.
The Zebrican zebras were similar to ponies but had striped coats, with short, upturned manes, dainty black-tipped hooves, and a thin tail with wisps of hair growing at the end. Represented by Princess Aida, a white coated zebra, with black stripes and a longer white and gray mane compared to the other zebras accompanying her who had the more common mohawk style, she also seemed to possess a kind of cutie mark that was a part of the black stripes on her pelt. It looked a little bit like a sun with a half moon underneath, strangely similar to Equestria’s own symbol of harmony of sun and moon, and made me wonder how we were all connected. But also so far away.
The princess’s fiance accompanying her was the Zebrican version of a unicorn, an Abada, a gray, striped equine much like a zebra, but with a twisted horn on the edge of his snout, along with the unicorn like horn on his forehead. His mane was a Zebrican mohawk, and he appeared fierce, with dark slanted eyes, and a ring through his nostrils. But he was polite, and amiable with the other members of royalty when he did actually utter any words, and his unification with the zebra princess was a great advancement in the traditionally separate races. It was a union of unicorn magic and traditional zebra sorcery, well supported by Princess Celestia and the rest of the equine kingdoms. Harmony was our goal, even if our kingdoms were under different rule.
The griffon representatives from the aptly named Griffon Kingdom were a people I had never seen before, and never expected to see. I had always been a little afraid of them, along with the dragons of the far South-East, just because I had led a sheltered life, and the idea of meat-eating giant birds with bodies of lions walking around with other ponies struck me as terrifying. Although my own country was a popular tourist destination for them. But like I said, I had always been sheltered, and knew nothing of the outside world besides what I could read in books. Until I attended that meeting.
The Griffon Kingdom was a Patriarchy unlike our own, and was represented only by a fierce looking elderly king and his guards who I had trouble looking at without shivering. Equestria had remained peaceful with them for hundreds of years now, but this guy didn’t seem like he liked that. Or he just didn’t want to bother with me, the new little pony princess. Which was fine with me because I really didn’t want to bother with him either.
Still, he seemed to get along well with my aunt and my parents, and just because I was afraid of him I wasn’t going to ruin centuries of peace by being rude. So I fearfully introduced myself to the king, and it turns out he just needed a little encouragement, for as soon as I said ‘hello’ he responded in kind, with a charmingly accented congratulation on my becoming a debutante, and bowed deeply to me. It seemed there was more to the griffons than I really knew. And I was glad of it.
The representatives who made the biggest impression on me, and quite possibly changed my life though, were the kirin from Neighpon. Or more specifically, the king and queen representatives of Ryuuma-kyu, an island off the coast of Neighpon that was populated by the rare and beautiful Equasian Kirin, a dragon and unicorn hybrid creature with a unicorn's magic and grace, and dragon's fierceness and strength, along with their long lifespans making the kirin of Ryuuma-kyu as ancient as the alicorns. Or perhaps even more so.
The two representatives for the isolated little island only open for Equestrian tourism and trade, and as a haven where anypony who chose to love a dragon could live together without prejudice, were the kirin king and queen, Ryuuma-jin and Sei-ryuuma. The king was a tall, long legged, somewhat equine-like creature with almond shaped draconic eyes, and a tall backwards curving gold horn on his forehead. He had a broad alicorn muzzle with a long mustache reminiscent of the Eqausian dragons he was descended from, and a wild crimson mane flowing down the back of his lengthy neck. His body was long and slender, and was covered in thick, midnight-blue fur that trailed down in tufts at his split toed cloven hooves. Dragon scales rested on a yellow belly, and continued down his reptilian tail ending in ruffles of fur the colour of his mane like a lion’s tail.
I bowed, nervously, unable to take my eyes off the strange and new creatures, and the king of the kirin smiled kindly at me. “Hello, young princess.” his voice was deep, and thickly accented as he bowed to me, and I responded.
The slighter more equine-like queen stepped forward and bowed also. She looked a little more like a unicorn, with a regal muzzle, soft eyes like my aunt’s, and a silver curved horn. But she still possessed a dragon’s pupil, light green scaled belly, and a long reptilian tail. Her coat was an azure colour that shone in the light, while her mane was the darkest of ebony but with a violet tint, and hung down all the way to the floor, only partially held up by her back. They were beautiful and majestic creatures and I felt no fear of them, only awe and a sense of their benevolence and strong magic.
“We have been hoping to meet you for some time now, princess,” The queen spoke in a soft, melodic voice, and I tilted my head to one side, wondering why a foreign queen would be interested in me.
"You wanted to meet me?" I asked, stupidly.
"Yes, Princess Cadenza. For we have heard much about you from Princess Celestia, and believe we may have the answers to some of the questions you may be seeking about your ancient origins."
I felt a sudden pain in my chest at the thought of being able to learn more about the mystery of who I was, and what being a Mederi actually meant, especially since I had seemed to defy their tragic fate. Could these dragon descendant unicorns more ancient than my own alicorn aunt really know something about the lost alicorns of which I was the last? Had they once known a pony like me?
"You know who I am?" I stammered, as my heart hammered against my ribs, my hopes rising dangerously as they always did.
"Yes, child. The kirin of Equasia are an ancient species like the alicorn, and we have met the heart-healer ponies---the Mederi of which you are descended from.”
“You’ve met them? You knew another pony like me?” my words were shaky, struck short with emotion as I tried to imagine what it might be like to meet another like me. What could I learn from them? Could they show me how they could heal? Would they know if I was truly one of them? Or was there anything I could teach them?
“They are no longer in this world. You are the only one we have seen in thousands of years, but they live on in our ancient culture. The healing and love they brought to us helped shape our country into what it has become, and the unicorns, dragons and kirin of our land continue to worship them, and practice the lessons in love and hope that they taught us in a very dark time.” the kirin queen’s voice seemed to darken as did her words. I knew nothing about Neighpon or the kirin so I could only imagine what their history might have been like, and how my ancestors could have somehow helped them. A place peaceful with dragons could not have always been like that could it?
“I don’t understand. Did the Mederi live in your land? I thought they were only in old Equestria. What did they do to change your country? And how do you practice their magic? Isn’t that something only they could do?” questions seemed to slip through my lips like water as they piled up in my brain. I couldn’t possibly express them all, but I burned inside to try. This may be my last and only chance to do so.
“Calm down, little one.” the king spoke up then, reaching his fur lined hoof out to me. “We do not know much more than you do now, but the shrine unicorns and to a lesser extent the kirin too may be able to show you what they have learned through their studies. They have dedicated their lives to studying the healing that was shown to us, and how to focus the mind to replicate the Mederi’s emotion sensing magic, and may be able to show you what they have learned. We can only offer you this description of our culture and hope that you can one day come to our land to find the answers you are looking for. Our own interaction with your ancestors was limited, but they live on in our tiny kingdom, and we would be honoured to show you what we can to aid you in your quest.”
I felt the disappointment like a punch in my belly, my ears bent low as I realized I would learn nothing that day, that I had to somehow make the journey to Ryuuma-kyu myself. A reality that may not be so hard as a member of royalty, but I would surely have to wait until I was full grown to do so.
But just last year it had almost been too late for me.
"I-I see." I sighed, fighting back tears at the sudden crash of my unstable and debilitating emotions as my hopes for discovering more about myself shattered in my heart. "I hope I can visit your country one day. I will try." I added, sadly, unable to hide just how disappointed and heartbroken I was.
"Princess, we are sorry. We did not mean to upset you. I am sorry we could not offer you more than we have. I hope someday you can come to our island and learn whatever it is you are meant to learn, and find whatever you are meant to find." the queen said, solemnly, her concern evident to me in more ways than my magic could sense. “You are welcome anytime.” she brought a handkerchief of the softest silk over to me in her golden magic, and wiped the tears from my eyes as softly as my mother would, and I smiled.
I would eventually go to the ancient land of Neighpon, and the island of Ryuuma-kyu when I got older. I held onto the silk handkerchief given to me as a gift from the beautiful dragon-unicorn hybrid creatures called the kirin as one of my most cherished possessions. There wasn’t anything else like it in Equestria, and the cherry blossom design was the same colour as my coat, the flowers of an ancient culture I longed to see. Until the time came for me to journey to that great land. And to find the answers I was looking for. Alone.
But that is another story.