Cadance fondly remembered her trip to Ponyville. While she couldn't stay for more than a day on such short notice, she did have fun with the Mane 6; and she did get to see all of the favoured background ponies. She and Dash had really hit it off, and she had had a good time with Applejack. She even endured Rarity and Pinkie. She barely saw Fluttershy at all.
Sadly, her reminiscing was brushed aside as Shining nudged her and asked;
“Is that it?” pointing a hoof at a bag.
“No! For the hundredth time it's that same stupid black bag. My doesn't have a stripe! It's like that stripy bag is mocking me.” She stared at the bag going past them on the conveyor belt with a building rage. Lifting a hoof she declared. “BUCK YOU STRIPY BAG!” She fumed there for a bit. “Well that bag is lost; guess I'm doing some shopping later.” Then she noticed the last thing she would ever think to see in a desert. A surf board. “Wow, for real? Who brings a surf board in the middle of the desert?”
“Some of the guys I trained with do that. Crescent Wave always took his board with him.”
“But it makes no sense! All it's going to do is just sit there and take up space. UUUUGGGHHH!” She facehoofed as they walked out of the train station.
Now why were we in the desert you ask? Well, not long after returning to Canterlot my auntie decided that she wanted me to represent Equestria in some trade talks with Equintopia.
Equintopia is a country formed from Equestrian ponies and horses from Saddle Arabia, who were not happy with how their original countries were run. Because of this, she often met a lot of tall ponies, or short horses, that made her look average size rather then the taller mare she normally was. Poor Shiny was, however, looking a little on the runt side. They had arrived in the town of Overusedpuns, no joke, that's it's actual name. She just had to shake her head at that. At least somepony was as annoyed by the puns as she was.
She spotted a tall unicorn stallion holding a card up with 'Princess Mi Amora Cadenza' on it. She rolled her eyes at the formal name. She hated it with a passion and had tried hard to get ponies to just call her Princess Cadance, or better yet just Cadance. Thank Celestia that Twilight grew up knowing her by her preferred name, and that Rarity caught on quick. Out of all the girls, she would be the one to know the name Cadenza. She walked up to the stallion and smiled.
“Princess Cadenza?” He asked and she responded.
“I prefer Cadance, but yes, that’s me. Are you our escort?”
“Yes your highness.” He said with a slight bow. “Do you have all your things, your highness?”
“Well what we have left. Some got lost in transit.”
“I am sorry to here that your highness. Well, let me escort you to where the Prince and his wife are staying.”
Cadance and Shining were lead through the town, passing by homes and modern business untill they got to a fancier part of the town. Soon, they caught sight of their destination; an elaborate looking hotel made almost completely of white marble. With the exception of the palm trees lining the front, it reminded her of the buildings back in Canterlot. The lobby’s floor, rear wall and ceiling was a fantastic mural of the desert in sunset. The stallion guiding them went to the front desk and exchange words with the receptionist, before coming back to Cadance and Shining with a pair of keys. Each was on a chain designed to go around their necks.
“The bellhop will show you to your rooms.” The stallion said, and soon a young mare, one clearly of pony desent, showed up and took their luggage, guideding them to the elevators and too their rooms.
Well, it turned out their ‘rooms’ was actually their ‘room’.
“This is the executive suite sir and ma'am. Only the Emir's suite is better, but that is being used by the crown prince and his wife. You have two separate bedrooms if you decide to not share.” Cadance gave the mare a dead pan stare while Shining blushed behind her.
“My GUARD (she emphasised the word), will be fine in the second bedroom.”
“Of course, my apologies your Highness.” She bowed low, and quickly moved on with the tour. “Here we have the joint living room, with a small kitchenet area if you are inclined to make some of your own meals, and a bathroom area for you as well. Please enjoy your stay.” mare said, bowing again before she left the room.
“It's nice.” Shining commented as the door thumped shut.
“That it is.” Cadance replied, moving to inspect her bedroom on the right. She wasn’t really impressed - she normally lived in a castle; but to Shining, who lived on the guard barracks, this was a real treat. She kept her feelings to herself until she opened the bedroom door and she saw a grand bed with silk coverings. “Minemineminemineminemineminemineminemineminemine.” She chanted and she leaped to the air and landed on the bed. “OOOHHHH So comfy!” She may be a tomcolt, but there are somethings, like the feel of silk on her fur, that she could care less about when it came to gender stereotypes.
“So is this how a princess is supposed to act?” Shining commented.
“Hey, when you nearly die you might come to enjoy life. And as for acting like a princess - You haven't seen my aunts when it's their personal time.”
“Do they really act like you do?”
She nodded her head vigorously; “Yup, we may be princesses and ageless rulers but we are also still ponies. We like to have fun at times.”
“Only at times?” He asked with a smug grin. She just gave him the look. That seemed to cow him, for he nervously looked around. “How about we get dinner?” Cadance looked out side and saw the sun beginning its decent.
“Sounds good to me. Let's see the room service menu.” She hopped from the bed and glided over to the living room. There was a service menu on the coffee table. She settled down on one of the large seating cushions, and began to peruse the menu. “Let's see....Oh! They have pizza!”
“Sweet! Let's split a large.” Shining commented.
“HA! No. I'm getting a large for myself. You can have a medium of anything you want.”
“How can you eat a large on your own?”
“Alicorn metabolism.” She replied smugly. “Why do you think auntie Celestia can stuff her face with cake and only have it show up in her flanks? Our metabolism allows us to eat far more then the average pony. So I'm having a large cheese and you will have what?”
“I'll take a medium with daisies.”
“Got it.” She stood up, and walked over to the writing desk in the corner. She took a quill in her magic, and wrote out their order, adding a few drinks aswell. The order written, she looked around for a box of enchanted candles.
One of the things that had really surprised Cadance when she first arrived in this word was how inventive ponies really were. They may not have modern conveniences like phones, but what enchanted items could do blew her away.
Finding the box, she lit the one marked ‘Room Service’, and held it the parchment. In a puff of smoke, the order was on the way to the kitchens.
It wasn’t long before their food arrived, and after a lovely dinner they both hit the hay. After such a long trip, across at least one time zone, they were both exhausted, and it wasn't long for before they slipped into Luna’s realm.
* * * * *
The next day the pair enjoyed a hearty breakfast, before Cadance and Shining went to meet the prince and his wife. They saw a hoof-ful of guards, comprised of all tribes, and mixed tribes, before going into the Emir Suite.
Once inside she got her first look at the Prince of Equintopia. He was as tall as she was, with Blue fur, a gold mane and tail and a powerful looking set wings at his sides. Next to him was a average height unicorn mare with bright red fur, and a yellow gold mane. She also wore an outfit similar to Jasmine from Aladdin with a veil over her muzzle.
“Princess Cadenza, I am Crown Prince Dawn Light.” Gesturing to the unicorn mare. “This is my wife Princess Sunny Wave. We welcome you to Equintopia.” She gave a slight bow and replied.
“Thank you. I am Princess Cadance and this is my bodyguard Lieutenant Shining Armor.”
“Well, shall we have lunch and discuss the hopefully future trade pact between our two nations?” Dawn asked.
“That sounds lovely.” She took a seat, and all they made their orders to the nearby servant before they began. “Alright, since you called for this meeting, I’d prefer for you to open the talks, please, Prince Dawn.”
“Very well Princess Cadenza.” She lifted a hoof up to interrupt him.
“Please call me Cadance, I prefer it over Cadenza, and saying ‘princess’ every time is going to get tiresome quickly.”
“Very well, Cadance.” Prince Dawn couldn’t help but smile at the sudden drop of formalities. “At the current time, our country is facing a bit of a food shortage. It has been a very dry year for our nation, and as such the yields haven't been good. We have our reserves, but they will only last so long.
On the otherhoof, our glass weaving industry and gem mining operations have been experiencing production boom, leaving us with an abundance of both. So we would like to make a deal to sell our surplus in return for shipments of food from you.” He hoofed her a paper of the proposal and she looked it over.
Cadance read through the details, before one of her eyebrows shot up. “The quantity of food you are bargaining for is not enough for what you are proposing. We would almost be robbing you blind. Those are very valuable resources.” Cadance thought to herself for a few moments.
“Looking at the value on the table, might I propose that in exchange for these resources, we not only send the food you request, but we can set up a weather operation? We could hire teams of weather ponies willing to work abroad to help your farms on a short term basis, and train your own citizens. You have plenty of sea water, and with some of the techniques that our pegasi have perfected they can separate the salt, providing fresh water to distribute across your nations farms.”
The Prince sat there with his jaw hanging limp.
“That… that…” The Prince’s wife nudged him with a hoof.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that I have never before met a ruler as open and generous as you, your highness. When our nation was founded, we had very few weather trained pegasi. Over the generations, what knowledge we had has been lost. And here we are now; our country is struggling to feed itself. So when we approach you with a deal loaded in your favour, in the hopes that you don’t use this as an opportunity to annex us - you do the complete opposite. You honour me, allowing me to call you by your name, and then offer to help my kingdom. I just don’t know what to say.”
“Well, it isn't like we would be doing it as a charity. I plan for Equestria to profit from this fairly. Helping you is a bonus, and any strengthening of the relations between our nations is always a good thing.”
“You truly live up to your title as Alicorn of Love, with both your kindness and generosity.”
“I can’t claim own those titles; two brave mares back in Equestria do, but I am flattered you would think me worthy of those them.”
The Prince smiled, “Those, and so much more. With that out of the way, there are some other things I would like to talk about, and I have a good feeling from this point on.”
* * * * *
After a couple hours of talks, Cadance and Dawn light decided to take a break and tour the city. They had made their way to the central bazaar, and Cadance had been getting to know Sunny Wave. As they passed a clothing stall, she asked Cadance about Equestrian fashion.
“I not too much into fashion, actually, Sunny.I know the perfect pony to ask, a fashionista and friend called Rarity Belle; she's a good friend of Shining's sister Twilight. Other than my regalia, I don’t own much clothing. What outfits I did have with me got lost on the way here, so I only have the clothes on my back.” She heard a gasp from Sunny Wave.
“That's all you have!? We cannot allow this crime against fabulousity continue.” Before she could act she felt magic around her and she was floating in the air.
“WAIT! YOU DON'T NEED TO DO THIS!” She pleaded but to no avail. “OH COME ON! I ESCAPED RARITY'S FASHION SENSE WHY CAN'T I ESCAPE THIS!" She screamed as she was dragged into a building.
Shining and Dawn looked on as Sunny Wave went into a fashion shop dragging Cadance with her. Both stallions were silent for a bit before Shining dared to speak.
“Your wife is passionate about things isn't she?”
“You have NO idea.” Dawn replied. “ She loves beauty in any form and hates when it's denied to some pony. She does this often, but it's what I love about her.” Dusk then eyed Shining. “I suspect there our things you love about Princess Cadance?”
Shining blushed, but he couldn’t deny such obvious feelings (even if Cadance was that blind to them). “Well she is strong, willful, and has a love of life; but I'm still getting used to her change after the accident.”
“Accident?”
“I’m surprised you never heard about it, back home it made national news. Several years ago she was hit by several falling pipes in a construction accident, and they honestly thought they lost her. She recovered, but she wasn't the same mare. She went from being your typical girly girl to a complete tomcolt. She started physical training, and making court rulings with less compassion. She called it 'Tough Love'.”
“Well, I did notice she seemed rather muscular for a mare. She carries herself like a warrior despite her pretty form. How does the populace respond to her?”
“She is loved by them, mainly because of her open dislike the nobility's attitude. They call her the ‘Common Pony’s Princess.” Any further discussion became mute when the mares emerged from the shop. Princess Sunny Wave had a content smile on her face as she trotted back to them. He then turned to Cadance, to find she was wearing the local garb. The outfit was similar to Sunny's, but lighter and clearer so that you could still see Cadance's fur beneath the thin red fabric. It brought the attention to the toned figure beneath. Her mane and tail were brushed, but she still had the ponytail she prefered. She. Was HOT. Shining couldn’t take his eyes off her and had a tingling between his legs. He changed his stance to make sure no pony saw his emerging erection.
That didn't last long though, as he noticed her look. She was glaring at him, and clearly unhappy with the outfit. When she looked with his eyes she mouthed- 'Don't say a word.' Shining gulped, and knew he wouldn’t. She could get so scary at times.
The tour soon finished, and they retired for the day, biding the Prince and Princess a good night till the talks again tomorrow. After they return to their rooms, Shining was sure she was taking off that outfit, and likely cursing to herself at wearing it. However Shining could get the image out of his head, or the desire to be in there seeing her remove it.
She was always a pretty mare before the accident, and his training meant he didn't get much time to admire her body until now. Yes, she wasn't beautiful like Cadance's friend Fleur, or effortlessly graceful like her aunt Princess Celestia; but she had become striking in a her own way. She projected the image of a warrior princess, and he couldn't stop thinking how hot that was. As he fell asleep, he dreamed of taking the sexy warrior princess.