//------------------------------// // 21 - Deliverance // Story: A Penny for your thought // by Damaged //------------------------------// The city was beautiful. Everywhere you looked there were bright, light-patterns refracting through crystals and spreading over everything. "Wow, this is so pretty!" Stick's wonder matched my own as we made a slow approach to the castle that was quite easily the most dominating structure around. "Silver will be in there." I gestured with a hoof to the castle and Stick nodded. "Well duh. We still have one challenge." She shook herself a little, her wings buzzing nervously. "Okay, how do we do this. Go to her court, ask for a private meeting?" We were clearly, from the guards' point of view, approaching them and the entrance to the castle. "Public court, you have two letters to deliver, she can choose to take them in private once she has them." Stick nodded to this and produced the letters from… Celestia knows where. I pondered how my thinking was just a little more 'pony' and shrugged it off. "We are here to deliver missives to Princess Cadance from Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight Sparkle." Stick sounded proud and looked it. The guards stood back from the entrance and another approached from inside. "Princess' court is about to begin. I will escort you there." If the city had been a lovely, random riot of color, the castle was a perfectly planned one. Each crystal that caught the sun fed its light to another, and another, fanning patterns and rainbows everywhere. "This castle is amazing." My soft words to Stick were, of course, overheard by the guard and I saw him stand a little straighter. I didn't consider it to be 'buttering him up', since it was true. We were led to a large room with rows of benches. At one end a low couch was empty but clearly meant for the monarch. "Supply your names to the herald of arms." The guard gestured to a pony at a small desk, their deep red crystal body making even more oddly pleasing patterns around them. Stepping over and letting the guard retreat, we approached them. "Names and titles?" "Penny Farthing and Stick, of Canterlot." The mare's quill scribbled some things. "Official titles or just city of origin?" "City of origin. We have letters for the princess." Stick did all the talking, I almost felt cowed by all the formality. I guess now I know why the other ponies at Celestia's court got so upset with us for just… barging in. "Very good, you are not first to be called, so please be seated and silent until you are." A small slip of paper floated up and Stick gently plucked it from the air and the unicorn's grip. "Thanks!" The changeling, somehow, made doing their job seem like a friendly thing and the pony actually smiled a little back. Our hooves made the softest of clopping sounds on the floor as we found some room to settled down and wait. There were some mutterings from other ponies present, apparently things seemed to be running a little late. How terrible, I thought, that the princess might have something else she needs to get finished with before organizing their little quarrels into order. "All rise! All rise! Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, savior of crystal ponies!" The herald called loudly and, along with everypony else, Stick and I rose up to our hooves and I couldn't help giving an excited little clop with mine as I did. Cadance looked amazing. Slightly different features meant she was exotic, even among the princesses. She seemed distracted as she made her way to the couch and, as she sat down, everypony else did but a moment in delay. "Announcing…" The herald's words trailed off, I wasn't really listening and for a fraction neither, it seemed, was Cadance. Her attention finally refocused as the aggrieved ponies started their own little argument with another. "Calm down gentleponies, please. Now, first-" her voice cut off and I saw her eyes narrow slightly. "Guards…" My heart thumped, she was looking right at us. No. Right at Stick. "Seize that changeling! There are probably more!" The ponies she had been addressing retreated, turning to look at who she was referring to. "Stick, stay seated, got your letters?" A bubble of force, more powerful than anything I had felt before, even from Celestia, was suddenly wrapped around Stick and forced me away. I knew who it had to be and with all his magic focused down, instead of protecting a whole city, Shining Armor could likely keep nearly anything enclosed in it. The two letters fluttered down, cut off from Stick's magic by the barrier. Cadance and Shining strode down toward us, the former looking furious, the latter, somehow, a little apologetic. "Princess, please, she comes in peace!" I tried to throw myself to the leader's hooves but a guard insinuated themselves between us with practiced efficiency. "After what she did to me, trying to steal my husband, my life! There will be more about, like last time." Cadance sounded furious. I knew right then this could go very, very badly. I looked up to Shining who now stood beside her. "Please, she isn't Chrysalis, she hates her as much as you do!" The name of the changeling queen finally got the princess' attention away from Stick and to myself. The guard was pushed from Cadance's way as she leaned down. "What do you know of a changeling's feelings? They are born to lie and steal and lie." I trembled too now, this was almost too much to handle. Knowing this mare could have us ordered to execution if she wished, no matter the furor afterward, was a fear I couldn't suppress. "Cadie?" A male voice asks, softly. "You are probably a changeling as well! Shining, imprison this one too!" "Cadance…" "What are you waiting for?!?" "Princess.." Cadance's shock at hearing Shining use her title instead of her name finally snapped her attention to something other than her fury. "Shiny?" I sensed that the anger had been covering something more, fear. "Look at them, both of them. Do they look like Chrysalis did? Did they even come in a disguise?" The fear inside, at possibly being torn away from Stick was the worst. I couldn't feel the slight tension inside, that I had finally realized was her. I didn't even see the fury leave Cadance, but I heard it. "They look like ponies scared of what an angry princess would do." The alicorn's words finally got me to look back up at her. A deeply frightened mare, but one who stood up to her fears. "P-Please, we, we came to see a friend. He is staying in your castle. Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight S-Sparkle gave us letters to deliver." The two missives were crumpled a little, the force-shield around Stick having pressed them into the floor slightly. Shining Armor's magic faded then as he spotted them, the papers lifted in soft blue magic and carried to Cadance. "Court is adjourned for the day!" The herald's voice came, the mare clearly seeing that no further business was likely to happen until this was resolved fully. Nopony said anything until they reached just outside the door where, thanks to the silence, their sudden excitement could be heard as gossip was hatched and embraced. Cadance had cracked the first letter, the one with Celestia's seal on it. Reading it, her own pink magic now supporting the letter, she looked between Stick and I. Her eyes seemed to unfocus a moment and shock flowed over her features. I felt legs wrap around me, a trembling mare now stuck so fast that I could do nothing but reach back and try to offer protection and support. There was a deep sigh from Cadance. "Hey, this one is from Twily." Shining's voice seemed huge in the room now empty of all the supplicants. The next letter was examined and read by Cadance and I saw her lips threaten a smile at a few places. "Two of my peers speak well of you, Stick?" Cadance was addressing Stick and my marefriend looked up out of my embrace. "But there is more. My sister speaks of you as a friend and-" Cadance cut off, shaking her head. "I have seen ponies in love, it is my special gift to be able to see the depth of it. Nopony this wrapped up in another could hide a thing from them." Cadance's attention changed to me. "How do you speak, then." I drew a deep breath, I had to say the right thing. I didn't want to accidentally incriminate Stick, or otherwise make the princess hate her. "I love her. I… she has been nothing but a friend and the greatest thing in my life." I deflated after getting the words out, I wouldn't be able to say another thing now. Strong legs caught me and I was wrapped a little tighter. "Cadie, Stick here didn't do those things to us." Shining Armor, speaking up for two ponies he doesn't even know, how many ponies would I end up owing my life to? "Anger, hate. They aren't your emotions. I love you Cadie, let it go." "There is a story here, a long one." Cadance looked at Stick and I. Oh boy. I began with my own story. Starting with losing my friend. Cadance had settled down on a cushion, Shining remained standing. When I got to the part of meeting Stick I nosed at the mare. "You are probably best giving your story, leading up to now." Cadance nodded at this and my marefriend began her own. "I grew up in the hive. It was Chrysalis' hive." The princess gave a little nod, even as I am sure she could hear the same disgust for the queen that she had. "My task as a little drone was to keep the breeders, her consorts, comfortable. I wasn't allowed any time for myself, I was given rations that kept me alive." "I noticed there was increased activity, the breeders were," she blushed, "more active. There were more drones than ever before and food got shorter and shorter. The ponies she kept…" Stick's cheeks had tears in them now and I hugged her tightly, feeding just a trickle of magic to try to help her continue. "They did get let out of the pods, to recover, but Chrysalis only treated them as food, like a crop of wheat. Then… there was plenty of food. Chrysalis was gone, nearly all the drones." Cadance seemed to know where this had gone and nodded. "Our wedding." Stick smiled, a mean smile I don't think I have ever seen her have before. "I am not a theater pony, but one day, if you want me to, I will try to recall exactly the rant she had, when she had her flank kicked all the way back to the hive." Cadance grinned at this; I couldn't help it myself. "I think we would all like that, very, very much. But continue for now." "Food was as bad again. The leaders, under Chrysalis, were pushed to try to find more ponies, to even attack small settlements." The changeling's disgust was obvious and, I think, helped her cause even more. "Then she came. Our drones had captured some ponies wandering in the Badlands, I am not sure exactly what the deal was, but one of our leaders made a deal with them. Word was passed from a very few, to those they trusted. I wasn't either. But when Chrysalis ordered us to chase down the ponies… a queen's command is impossible to refuse, I didn't. We chased and then, just as we were about to fall on them in a wave, another queen revealed herself. "Another changeling queen? The one from Canterlot?" Stick nodded. "Queen Fast. She told us, at first, we didn't need to fight, that she could give us better. It didn't really work, though, until she commanded us. For the first time in my life I had a choice. I had two queens giving me opposing orders. Chrysalis… something is really wrong with her. I followed Queen Fast."