//------------------------------// // PONYVILLE // Story: Love....SERIOUSLY!? // by Admiral Q Ponyform //------------------------------// When Cadance finally awoke from her slumber, she rolled over and checked the time. It was almost dinner time already. With a yawn and a stretch, she removed herself from the sheets, and headed to the bathroom to take care of the necessities, before heading off to dinner. When she arrived in the private dinning room, she saw that both her aunts were present, but Luna still looked a little sleepy. Luna looked as if she was about to face plant onto her food and snuggle it, the mental image enough to let her know she would be unable to avoid laughing if so. “Oh, good evening Cadance, I trust you had a pleasant sleep.” She couldn't help the smile on her lips. “Like a foal, thanks to dreaming of the look on your face.” She heard Luna giggle, and she looked over the menu. Celestia rollied her eyes and wore a ‘grin and bear it’ face. “Oh auntie, look on the bright side.” She paused to give her order to the waiter before continuing. “You have all eternity with me and Luna making sure you aren't bored all the time.” That actually won a genuine smile from the big alicorn. “Well, I suppose that is a perk.” Celestia commented before looking at Cadance with a predatory look. “You do know I will plan on getting even, right?” “Of course, it's all part of the fun. So did anything major happen while Luna and I were out?” Celestia ate a piece of her dinner before replying. “Oh, just a dragon. It decided to start hibernating in a nearby mountain, and was causing local smoke polution with his snores.” “Oh, well I hope the local guard took care of it easily.” Cadance replied, though she had a nagging feeling of deja vu with that. “Oh no, I sent Twilight and her friends to take care of it. Twilight even sent a friendship report on their success a couple ofhours ago.” Cadance sat bugged eyed as she remembered that episode now. Even though Twilight won both in the show and in this reality, there was no guarantee of it being so always. Heck she alone was proof that things could change. Cadance dropped her cutlery; “Please tell they had guard back up?” She asked. Celestia looked at her confused. “No, I had faith that they would succeed, and they did.” Celestia responded. She double facehoofed. “Auntie you can be so STUPID at times!” Celestia looked at her shocked, but before being able to reply, Cadance continued. “There is no denying that Twilight and her friends are very talented, but they are still civilians. I may have made sure Twilight could defend herself but the others I have no clue on. You sent a group of young mares to remove a full grown dragon?!?! They could have easily been EATEN. Not only would Equestria have lost its best line of defense, but also a mare I care dearly for. All for a task that can easily be handled by the guard! A dragon isn't an issue you need the Elements of Harmony for, it’s nothing like the scale of Aunty Luna's tantrum.” “Heeeyyyyy!” Luna weakly complained as her headed hovered over her Prench toast. “Sorry aunty.” She took a calming breath, one hoof pressed to her chest, before continuing. “That settles it, I'm heading to Ponyville tomorrow to see Twilight and her friends.” She stomped her hoof on the table and left to go prepare. Celestia was speechless for a few more seconds, before she shrugged at it and returned to her meal. As she left, Luna waved a forehoof in her vague direction and said; “Fare thee well niece.” Then she faceplanted into her her food, wrapping her forelegs around the plate and snuggling into it. Celestia looked around, and spotting no pony, began to sport an evil grin. She summoned a camera, and took a picture of her sister sleeping on her Prench Toast. * * * * * * Cadance was walking through back though the halls when she noticed Shining a few feet ahead of her. He was in a world of his own, and likely leaving for the night and heading home. “Hey Shining!” He jerked and looked behind him, eyes falling on her. His mouth split into a wide smile that caused a flutter in her heart. 'No!No!NO! Nasty thoughts go away!' She said mentally. “Hey, Cadance. You called?” She quickly recovered from her mental argument; “I'm heading to Ponyville tomorrow, to see Twilight. Can I assume you want to be the guard that comes with me?” Shiny made a loud whiney, and had that innocent look of delight on his face and even Cadance had to admit it was cute. “Twily!? I get to see Twily again!?” he said, moving closer to her. He saw her nod. “Thank you Cadance.” Before she could react Shining kissed her on the cheek before pulling back. Cadance.exe has stopped working. \\ Cadance.exe rebooted successfully. It took Cadance a few seconds to regain her composure. Luckily, Shining had been too busy dancing in joy, so he never noticed that she hadn’t moved in about twenty seconds. “We..well I figured that you would want to see her, and having at least one guard will appease the Captain enough. So pack tonight, we are taking the first train to Ponyville tomorrow morning.” He nodded and skipped..yes SKIPPED, away. She watched him leave, and brought a hoof to the cheek Shiny kissed, a light smile gracing her muzzle. THEN SHE REALIZED WHAT SHE WAS DOING. Shaking herself to get rid of those thoughts. She raced to her room to pack. * * * * * The following morning, Cadance and Shining caught the southbound train at 6am. They were riding on the childish and colorful Friendship Express, heading to Ponyville. Cadance had refused the station masters offer to order the attachment of the Royal Carriage, mainly because she wanted to get there quicker, but also partly because she wanted to be seen amongst the populous, and not appear aloof. She was enjoying the view as they descended the mountain, coming to the realisation that she was will finally going to get to see the iconic town. Shining sat next to her on the seat, doing paperwork. Or at least, he was trying to. In reality, Shining was as giddy as a school boy, he was this close to just jumping around in his version of the yes dance. Only his guard training prevented him from doing so. What could she say, the guy loved his sister in a way that was just short of the ewww area. After they finished up the last assigned work, she magically sent it on it's way and looked out the window. To her surprise, and delight, she saw PONYVILLE fast approaching. The town had at least a hundred buildings, most of which were thatched roofed houses; but she could see some of the more iconic ones. The Town Hall was the easiest to spot, with the Golden Oaks Library not far behind it. The roofs of Carousel Boutique and Sugarcube Corner could be seen just over the tops of those around them. And of course, Rainbow Dash’s house listed off to the side of Ponyville proper. Shining looked over as well; “Looks like a nice little town.” She could only nod, not trusting herself to speak yet. The train pulled into the station a few minutes later, and they grabbed the items they brought with them, before they and exited the train. “So what's the plan Cadance?” “First, we need to find the local inn, and book a room for a few night. Once we’ve done that, and ditched our stuff, I’m hoping we can bump into Twilight over diner time. It is getting close to noon, so she might be having lunch.” “Good plan. Oh I can't wait to see Twily again!” “Your not the only one.” They found the inn a short walk from the station exit. After getting the staff to stop prostrating themselves in front of her, they booked two rooms that held an interconnecting door. She wasn’t ready to share a room with anypony yet, but needed to have Shining close by in the event of an emergency. After leaving their luggage in their rooms, they set off into Ponyville. At first it was kind of annoying - everypony was bowing to her till she finally declared. “Informal visit everypony, no bowing please.” About ten minutes into their journey, they walked past a house that stuck out slightly from the rest. They were close enough that they could hear the sound of a comically large butten being pressed – ‘CLICK’. A ‘poof’ sound was then heard, before the voice of a very british accented stallion declare; “But I didn't even install a muffin button!?” “YAAAAAAYYY!” A mare cried out and the sound of more button pressing was heard. Cadance just shook her head at that, while Shining shied away from that house. Finally she spotted the mare she was looking for. Twilight was at a café, sitting at one of the outside tables. What was even better was that the rest of the elements were with her. Signaling Shining to stay quiet as keep low, they approached the group. They had just finished a conversation when she slid up behind her. She pulled herself upto full height, and put on her best Celestia voice impression; “I am glad to see you have taken my advice on friendship.” She saw Twilight stiffen. Her ears shot up, but then one of them dropped done, indicating that she had noticed something off. She slowly turned to look behind her. Cadance smiled at the younger mare. Twilight's eyes lit up and she cheered. “CADANCE!” Twilight turned towards her, and gave her that smile and look. “Sunshine,sunshine, Lady's bug awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake.” They said in unison before hugging and giggling with each other. “Hey Twily.” Immediately, Twilight squeed and hugged tackled her brother. Cadance felt the warmth they had for each other and loved it. She felt empowered by it. Frankly, since she started studying magic, and her love magic, Cadance had started to see less and less of a difference between her and changelings. But she doesn't NEED love like them to survive, or have the shape changing ability, YET. She still plans to get Luna to teach her that shape changing ability at some point. She continued to muse on her thoughts on love; she seems to be stronger when she is around it then when not. Sure, she is still a bucking alicorn, and the guard have long learned she is no push over, but being surrounded by love just makes her more dangerous to those that would do her ill. Her hug with Shing done, Twilight broke Cadance out of her trance by beginning introductions. “Girls, this is my brother in the royal guard, Shining Armor. And this is Princess Cadance.” Her friends suddenly noticed the fact she was an alicorn, and they all bowed. “Everybody stand up. This is an informal visit. Even if it wasn’t, I hope to soon call all of you friends, so there will never be a need for bowing or using my title. Cadance will do.” Leave it to pinkie to be the first out of the gates. “Wow that doozy was right on the bit.” 'I counted as a doozy?.............SWEET.' She thought to Pinkie's comment. “Um what's a doozy?” Twilight asked confused. “My latest Pinkie Sense.” “Pinkie Sense?” Twilight asked confused while Cadance struggled to hold her laughter in. “Every once in a while I get these weird reactions like an itchy back which means I'll have a good day, or twitchy tail for falling objects. I'll learned many different combos on them.” “That's....that's just impossible.” Twilight stated. Applejack put a hoof around Twilight and said. “Sugarcube, we in Ponyville learned years ago that when Pinkie has a Pinkie Sense going on you better pay attention. It may not match with yer high faluten sciency stuff but ah have seen her predictions proven right every single time.” Twilight looked like she was about to argue further when Cadance decided to intervene. “I think we have gotten off topic here. Twilight, introduce me to your new friends.” –‘I better pretend I know nothing of these girls’- Twilight used the calming technique Cadance taught her and began. “Well you just heard Pinkie Pie, she's the pink mare there. She helps run the local bakery, Sugarcube Corner, and is also Ponyville’s premier party pony.” Pinkie beamed at her. “The orange mare next to me is Applejack. She and her family run Sweet Apple Acres.” “Oh, your that Apple family? We have some of your products on the menu at the Castle and I love them.” Cadance interjected, and Applejack actually blushed at that. “Thank ya kindly, Princess.” Applejack responded. “Next, the white unicorn mare is Rarity Belle, and she runs her own fashion shop; the Carousel Boutique. She can make the best custom outfits for any occasion.” Cadance lifted up a hoof towards Rarity. “I know what you are going to say Miss Rarity, but as generous as an offer to tailor me a dress is, I am more of a tomcolt , and thus not into dresses. However if I do need something made I will send it your way.” Rarity sighed and she almost did that cute pout, but relented. She did however mutter about a waste of great beauty. “I didn't peg you as a tomcolt at first, but looking at you now I can totally see it. I'm Rainbow Dash by the way. The fastest flier in Equestria.” Rainbow said with her ego on full display. If she didn't like Rainbow so much she would probably tried to knock her down a few pegs. Instead she noticed Fluttershy trying to hide under the table. “And who is that?” She asked pointing to Fluttershy. Who eeped and tried to hide more. Cadance just wanted to hug the cute mare. Rainbow filled her in ;“That's Fluttershy, she's my oldest friend, and she takes care of animals here in Ponyville. As you can guess, she is a little shy.” “She's rightly named. Well hello everypony, I'm Cadance, Princess Celestia’s niece.” Rarity was the first one to respond. “It is a pleasure to meet to Darling. But pray tell, what is your relation to Twilight Princess?” Cadance smiled at the signature greeting; “Oh, I was her foalsitter for years, before helping to look after her when she moved to the castle. She’s almost like the little sister I never had.” She pulled twilight into a hug, and ruffled her mane. Then her eyes light up and she sported that evil grin once again. “In fact I have some mementoes from that time I think you all will enjoy.” With her magic she summoned her photo album and Twilight’s eyes went wide - she KNEW that book. She felt Twilight try to take the book, but a flick of her wing on Twilight's horn shorted it out. Twilight then tried to grab it with her hooves but she held her back. “Girls, feast your eyes on Adorkable Twilight!” She opened the book to them as Twilight gave up, before she face hoofed and melted in embarrassment. * * * * * After a few minutes of laughing, cooing, and general embarrassment Cadance put the book away, for now. “Please tell me there is more to this visit then embarrassing me?” “Well I just had to come and see you after I heard that you six faced down a dragon. I am really not happy with the Princess on that. You could have all been hurt, or worse. I don’t like seeing anyone hurt, especially not my favorite filly. So I came to finally meet you all, see if you were all ok, and catch up with you Twilight.” The girls seemed pleased that she had come to check on them. “Thank you Cadance. You really are a good friend.” “Speaking of friends; when was the last time you spoke to your Canterlot friends? Twilight dug a forehoof into the dirt. “Not since Princess Celestia sent me here a few months ago.” She answered sheepishly. “You should check up on them then. I know Lyra and Colgate moved, and Lemon Hearts, Twinkle Shine, Minuette, and especially Moon Dancer would be happy to see you again.” Twilight looked down a bit before nodding. “I'll make time Cadance I promise.” Cadance smiled.That discussion over Cadance sat back and looked around, before she noticed that Pinkie was missing. “Where's Pinkie?” Before anypony could answer that they all saw a blur of pink. The next thing she knews was that she was in Sugarcube Corner. “IT'S YOUR WELCOME TO PONYVILLE PARTY!” Pinkie shouted. –‘She has managed to get this all together in minutes? Or had she known, and done this in advance. The show was right; thinking about this hurts your brain’-. She looked over to Shining. They both shrugged and entered the party. It was an exhausted Cadance that shuffled into her room at the inn, midway through the night. The party was a whole lot of fun and she was giddy for having experienced a Pinkie Pie Party. Even more that she met all of the Mane 6 now. There was a few things she still disliked about her condition, but today was definitely not one of them.