“What on this planet were you thinking?” Cadence scolded the Professor. “Do you have any idea how stressful this puts everypony in?”
In the Throne Room, Professor Key Signature sat on his hunches. He knew that sooner or later the royal couple would have an entire skeleton to pick from, “Are you about finished?” he asked stoically.
“Of course not!” Shining stepped in, “Foal-napping the colt, taking him outside of the Palace for his own safety, and let’s not mention him ending up that beating he received from the stadium.”
“This is exactly what we feared would happen,” Cadence commented. “We’re lucky that Spike was able to intervene before that mob was able to do anything worse. Yet, at the same time, that was completely reckless, coming from you! Honestly, what in the name of both of my Aunts were you thinking?”
There was a pause.
“If you’re done scolding me, your grace,” Key began, “I would gladly present my case.” Cadence huffed but allowed it. “To begin with, when I went to Inverno's room this morning, I asked if he wanted to come. I didn’t foal-napped him, for that would imply that I took him against his will.”
“So why did you take him outside?” Shining questioned.
“With all due respect Prince Shining Armor, I may not be wise, but I have the experience of a father and a grandfather. So frankly, I did this out of Inverno’s own good. The colt, ever since he’s been discovered has been treated like a prisoner here. That might be fine with a pony that has committed something abhorrent, but we’re talking about a colt whose only crime was being born to the wrong parent. And Inverno is not a criminal, he’s a child. He’s a foal that needs to be out in the open and interact with other ponies. In fact, did you know that until this morning, he’s never seen or touched grass up-close? Inverno, although in disguise, had experienced something that was long denied to him.”
“And what, pray tell, is that?” Shining raised an eyebrow.
“Freedom.” Key answered, “For this whole morning, he got the chance to explore, learn new things that he couldn’t learn in the Palace. He got to interact with some of your citizens, try new things, and heard music that he genuinely cried tears of joy.
“And frankly, I don’t care if you fire me on the spot. Inverno, regardless of his age, has been a great student to teach. I wasn’t assigned by the Princesses because of the offer of money, but because I know how to both handle my students as well as to make them better ponies. So believe me, this so-called ‘stunt’ was a way to apologize for being too harsh with him the other day and to expand his mind beyond the Palace gates.
“Besides,” he added, “He was the one who helped get my granddaughter back.”
“What?” Cadence asked.
“It’s true. At the concert during intermission, we’ve run into my granddaughter who we’d had a fight years ago. Inverno was the one to help me fully apologize to her for my actions back then, and it was because of him, that we are family once more.”
The doors to the Throne Room opened up, Sir Spike stepped through. Cadence looked over to the Professor, “We’ll discuss that later.” She got up from her seat and trotted over to Spike. “How’s he doing?”
“The guy’s really shaken up, to say the least,” Spike said. “He’s pretty much afraid of any Crystal pony that comes near him now. So it’s been a bit of a struggle just to get him wrapped up in the infirmary. He keeps muttering how ‘the animals’ was going to finish him off. The poor guy.”
“We really need to do something,” Cadence commented, “With Inverno, we’re walking on thin ice as it is.”
“Agreed,” Shining nodded, “But what are we planning to do? Our own citizens had beaten the snot out of ‘em.”
“Excuse me,” Key spoke up, “Before I get fired, mind if I at least try to suggest something to improve the situation?”
“What could you possibly suggest from the problem you’ve caused?” Shining questioned.
Taking a deep breath, the elder Earth pony answered, “Baby steps first. I think we should treat the problem of the Crystal ponies first. So, perhaps, we should find out who was involved in throwing punches at Inverno and try to make them see who the colt really is.”
“What good would that do?” Spike asked, “I was there, and they looked pretty angry back there.”
“For one, convince them that they had just beaten up a foal that didn’t provoke any justifiable cause. And if that works, they may tell the Empire that Inverno isn’t the monster that they’re making him out to be.”
“And you think that might work?” Cadence inquired.
Professor Signature shook his head, “I have no guarantee, but I believe it’s worth a shot.”
“Very well,” the Princess of Love said, “Round up anypony that was involved with the incident, and I’ll do what I can to reason with them.”
_*_
Twenty-three Crystal ponies knelt before the throne that Cadence sat on.
“Please rise,” she told them. “I suppose you all know why you’re here.”
“We do, Your Majesty,” one of the stallions informed her. “It has something to do with Sombra’s foal.” With a smile, he added, “No need to thank us, Princess Cadence.”
“Excuse me?” she asked, taken aback. “Thanking you?”
Twenty-three ponies blinked, “Wait,” said one of the mares, “You mean you’re not thanking us?”
“No! Of course not,” Cadence stood up on her throne. “You’ve just nearly beaten a foal to death.”
“A foal that belongs to Sombra,” someone pointed out.
“So?” she asked, “What exactly made any of you want to go on to attack him?”
“He’s Sombra’s son,” another stallion said, “Isn’t he the beast that roams at night, trying to-”
“No,” Cadence interrupted, “Until this morning, he’d never gotten the chance to leave the Palace. And trust me, I wasn’t protecting you from him, I was protecting him from you!”
“Princess,” another mare said, “I’m afraid we don’t quite understand. Why would you protect him from us?”
“Because of how you see him,” Cadence answered, “I was afraid that in light of Sombra, you wouldn’t see past his resemblance. Instead of looking at who he is. I know this will come as a shock to all of you, but Inverno isn’t the demon you make him out to be.”
Twenty-three jaws hit the floor, “But Princess Cadence,” one of the mares interjected, “That would imply that… he, is just a foal?”
“Tell me this then,” the Princess of Love replied, “Forgetting the fact that he’s not a Crystal pony, related to Sombra, or that he has serpent eyes and canine teeth, what exactly has the colt done to deserve such a beating?”
“Uh… well…” was the collective response. The former angry mob thought back to the cause. Trying to figure out what sort of wrong he did, only to come up with nothing.
“The Inverno I know,” Cadence continued, “Is just a colt who is the victim in a series of unfortunate events. He has preserved this Empire’s music, and is currently composing the musical equivalent of an apology to you.”
“He is?” one of the stallions asked.
“Yes,” the pink Alicorn nodded, “And even if he was remotely anything like his father, don’t you think he would have started attacking during the concert?”
The twenty-three Crystal ponies came to a realization. “So…” one of the mares said, “h-he’s really just a… pony?”
Cadence nodded, “That’s what Shining and I have been trying to tell you. And thanks to all of you, he’s in the infirmary right now, completely terrified of anypony that’s made out of crystal. So in other words, you’ve just become his monsters.”
When those words sank in, one by one, they came to comprehend that, “Did we…”
“…. Just beat up…”
“…. A foal?”
Twenty-three ponies looked at each other, “Oh Celestia!” one of the mares started.
“What have we done?” finished a stallion.