//------------------------------// // The Only Constant Is Change // Story: Post Negative Comments Only // by Estee //------------------------------// The Empire was painted in rose. It was approaching seven in the evening now, and sunset was coming along with it. Sunset over the Empire did interesting things as the variable hues of the darkening sky interacted with buildings and streets, changed hues and coated the land in new shades. Tonight, the atmosphere was rendered in soft oranges and yellows, and when that light reached the surface... the world itself became rose. Except for where there were shadows. There, it changed into blood. Cadance looked out through the space created by the open doors which led to the palace's main balcony, three stories up, and saw so many of those shadows being cast over the central approach road. Most of them were from buildings, right up until the edge of the open space which surrounded the palace -- and after that, they were being cast by ponies. So many ponies, slowly shuffling forward, every movement sounding a note from the crystal road. No part of that song sounded anything like Sombra's compositions. It was a music she hadn't heard before, stretched-out beats, reluctant bars... It was something very much like a dirge. She took a slow breath, looked behind her, and saw only Equestrians -- and Lapis, of course, shivering and trembling and forever waiting for that next order. Her staff, and the rookie Guards, were already in front of the palace, directing the arriving crowd into their waiting positions. Back to watching the funeral march. One pony. It just takes one pony, and this is -- everypony in the capital. Parents silently escorting their children, elders being helped along by the younger generation, foals gently carried in saddlebags. There has to be one... And then there was the sound of hooves behind her, sounding something much less than music. "Princess?" An Equestrian accent: she glanced back. The four Guards -- two Equestrian, two crystal -- snout-nudged a frustrated, somewhat battered, slightly proud (in spite of himself), and very nervous-looking stallion out in front of them. Her husband raised his head a little, making an extra effort against the weight of the restraint which covered his horn -- but didn't quite manage to meet her eyes. "I --" he said, and that was all she felt like letting him get away with. "-- we'll talk later, Captain." For what might be a very long time. "You come second." (Lapis' trembling increased.) "The Empire has priority. Everypony, thank you for bringing him in --" and the two natives were already galloping away, racing to join the swelling herd before the deadline arrived "-- oh..." Her head dipped, and a member of the Equestrian delegation used it as an excuse to approach. "Princess? We found these... we're not sure how they got into that room, but... this is an official gathering, and we thought..." She looked at her crown and regalia, suspended inside the mare's rust-hued field. Several seconds passed while she kept looking. "Thank you," she finally said, and the edge of the bubble receded, exposing a portion for her to initially field-grip. The transfer was made, and the weight was back. It was funny, really, just how heavy it was. One of the Equestrian guards -- the youngest in the group, the one her husband spent the most time complaining about, the personal curse placed on Shining's existence for which no counter existed -- looked out across the crowd. "That... is a lot of ponies," he swallowed. "I know," Cadance quietly said. "Princess -- if something happened -- I know the Captain can get a shield up quickly, but there's barely any clear space to anchor the base --" which was drastically overestimating the actual amount of clear space "-- and with that many bodies around, pressing against it before it can harden... I don't know... if we could stop..." "I know," Cadance evenly repeated. "That's the idea." She heard the blink. "...Princess?" "It's called a herd," she said, and heard Celestia echoing inside her next words. "It's the power of numbers, Mr. Sentry. It's a weakness for us, much of the time: that under the wrong circumstances, we can so easily fall into moving as one, with reacting as a single entity being so much worse. But there's also a strength in it. You have to try and introduce a new concept into the group, and that's seldom easy -- but if it works, then the herd may move as one. In the direction they need to move. They just need..." me? "...somepony strong enough to guide them." He swallowed. "What if they all move the wrong way?" "Such as?" "...straight ahead?" And Shining answered for her. "Then it's going to be one Tartartus of a training exercise. Cadance --" She had meant to cut him off again. The chimes of the clock did it first. "-- get ready to do your job, Captain." She stepped out onto the balcony and looked out across -- no, not the Empire, not as a whole, for those outside the capital had been exempted by the wording of her Decree. But... ...thousands? Easily. They had yet to conduct a full census, but it was at least thousands just in the capital, the ones who had survived Sombra's reign to reach this day. Some homes hadn't needed to empty out for their residents to reach this point. Some had been empty for a very long time. There were so many ponies. And in that moment, it felt as if every last one of them was standing upon her back. The sound fetching-and-projecting spell, the one Celestia had taught her, generally used at festivals and huge gatherings (this huge?) and the largest press conferences, not that the Empire had a press... she had cast that before anypony approached. Her own words would easily reach the crowd -- but when a pony spoke at all, the spell would focus upon them and carry those words to every ear within. The range was limited, as was the duration -- but with Cadance performing the working, it had covered the grounds around the palace, and would last for what should be long enough. She took a breath. The Empire heard it, and held its own. Cadance looked out over the crowd, every possible part of a shivering spectrum tinged in rose and blood. "Hello," she began, and immediately decided it had been the wrong word. "I... know you're all wondering why I called everypony here tonight..." The spell only focused on words. She could not truly hear the sound of so much sweat falling from trembling bodies, could she? Even when there were so many... "...I -- wanted to talk to you. To all of you, without the -- " it was so hard not to spit the word "-- Ear. But more than that... I wanted all of you to have a chance at speaking to me. Because... there's so many of you, and... there's just me up here, only me, and... look around, everypony. Please. Look at your friends and family and neighbors, all here together, all standing together. Can you see how many of you there truly are? Can you see that --" you've been gathered into a single area where everypony could be attacked at once She blinked. Her front knees went weak. The thought had been her own -- and yet it had not. The herd was gathered. The herd was afraid. And with so many ponies below her, the scent of terror was rising up from them in a great invisible cloud. With every breath, she took it in. And for a single second, it had overridden her, forced her brain into thinking the same way they were, every action she took perceived through a veil of purest pain... There's too many. It's too strong at the ground level. Whichever way one goes, they could all go. And any who somehow hold onto their own will might be trampled in the stampede. She could hear the Equestrians behind her, how their breathing had quickened. Shining, with his personal fight audible in the repeated impact of his tail against his flanks, using the sting of the little whip to shock himself into focus... This was a mistake. This was... another mistake. I can't do this. I shouldn't... But there was nopony else. She had been silent too long. The crystal ponies knew it. Everypony did. And even those who weren't ponies, because in her desperate survey of the herd, looking for any signs of turning, of breaking, she had just spotted rays of descending Sun glinting off a pair of bent horns. "-- you're stronger than me." It had been too weak, and she knew it. "All of you put together. And... you heard the first Decree. It... it wasn't a trap, it wasn't trying to hurt you or trick you. It was trying to let you know that... you can speak. That's your right. It's... the deepest right there is, maybe even the first. You can tell me... anything. And with all of you here together, everypony will see that... anypony who talks, who says anything to me, even the most critical things... nothing will happen to them. Ever. Not for words." They were staring at her. "...please," and she fought their terror back as her wings threatened to spread, every awakened instinct seeking the quickest route to escape. "It's been so long for all of you... there must be things you've wanted to say. Honesty. Criticism. Questions. I -- tried to dictate the form of your speech, the way the words could emerge. That was wrong, and I'm sorry, I am. It was a mistake. But... I'm new at this, I'm going to make mistakes, and -- somepony has to tell me. You're all here now, all of you, and you can say anything to me, anything at all, any piece of honesty, any criticism, any question --" They were waiting for the culling to begin. Begging. Pleading. And there was still a place beyond that to go, as the horrible weight of their old lives soaked into her fur, as every feather trembled, as she realized that so many mistakes along the path of her life had been hers, and that included every decision which had brought her to her horn. "-- please... it just takes one pony --" "-- why are you still here?" The spell gathered up the words, sent them to every ear on the grounds. And but for two ponies, the world froze. Cadance's body turned, fast, too fast, faster than she should have let herself move in front of other ponies, but there had been a voice, one she knew by heart, every tremble and quaver and shake... ...and Lapis was stepping out onto the balcony, illuminated by rose and blood in the last seconds of Sun. She was just barely moving. Every knee threatened to give out, and her hooves touched the crystal as if any impact would make the world crack. But still, she moved. Forcing herself, hoofstep after hoofstep. "You... you said you came to save us. To -- free us. And you -- you killed him, and... we thought... we thought there was a chance, but... you stayed. You moved into the palace, where he was, and..." The little secretary's breaths were too fast, too shallow. Every word brought her that much closer to a faint. And yet she approached. "...you -- never asked. Maybe... there was some kind of prophecy, and there's a mark, but... those aren't us. They should never speak for us. You said you came to free us... but then you stayed, and you never asked, you never asked what anypony thought or wanted, and... if you stay... if you come from nowhere and say you're just here to change our lives for the better, but then you just take over and you stay..." There was a new scent rising from the herd, and it too was flush with terror. But it seemed like an older one, somehow. The scent of memory. Lapis stopped, less than a body length away from Cadance. Too close to get away from anything, anything at all, every possible way an alicorn might be able to bring death. "...what makes you any different from him?" They stood together, in the single moment between Sun having been lowered and Moon being raised, with history waiting. Cadance felt her body pull back, her legs arcing away, the moisture beginning to coat her eyes, her own control starting to slip as the fear of generations soaked in and -- -- one thought. One thought and you love me. I look out over the crowd. I spread the casting as far it might be able to go. And then they might all love me. Gather them every night at sunset, and they will love me. Forever. '-- what are you so afraid of?' Myself. She forced herself to look down, met the trembling blue gaze, and gave her answer to the voice of an Empire. "This." She tossed her head back, twisted her body as hard as she could, for she did not want to ignite her corona for any reason. Threw all her strength into the movement -- -- the regalia skidded across crystal, came to a stop against a little column, sounding one final screeching note. The crown flew out over the crowd, and where it landed, she neither saw nor cared. And her final words to an Empire were soft, gentle, and true. "I abdicate." She trotted past a slumping Lapis with her eyes closed, feeling the tears flow, the stares from the Equestrians, and everything coming up from the herd... "...Katydid?" The voice cared about her. The voice loved her. The voice didn't understand. She couldn't seem to open her eyes. "Get your things, Shining. Just enough to get through a few days of travel. You've probably already got half of that in your luggage. I'll... take just enough for the same amount of time. Only what's ours: make sure to leave everything else behind. They can send the rest after us, if they want to. Everypony else -- these are my final orders: all of the delegation Equestrians in the Empire are to depart, as soon as they can. No more than two days, and the ones who are living with the crystal ponies should try to leave faster, because... nopony wants an overseer in their house. But Shining and I will be on the last train out tonight. There should be just enough time to catch it. And there's a cordial shop on Clarity Avenue. I accidentally broke most of the owner's stock. Please repay him. That's... that's it, I think. So..." And from that youngest of Guards, "...Princess?" It got her eyes open. "Don't call me that," Cadance said. "Ever again." The spell was still going. The crowd was beginning to talk, and her own working carried a few of those words to her ears. She recognized the voices: they belonged to her former and not-at-all-sick Cabinet members. "...what do we do?" "I -- guess we... finalize the budget? And then... um... what was next on the old schedule? Inviting the other nations to set up their embassies again?" "I think that was it. We should -- I think we -- what should -- Mustangia? They were always good allies, before he broke the ties. They should be the first nation we invite back!" "...does Mustangia still exist?" " -- I -- don't know..." She dismissed the working, listened to the silence, and went to pack. It hadn't taken long. There hadn't seemed to be very much which was hers. Just about nothing, really. And then she'd flown to the train station, carrying a silent Shining with her in a field bubble, they'd been just in time, and... there had been a few crystal ponies at the station. Not many: only the fastest, the ones who could get from the palace to the tracks during that little time span. And they had quietly watched her board the train. Minutes. Silent minutes moving through the mostly-empty train, finding a suitable vacant compartment, and then Cadance had stared out the window as what had never been her land passed before her eyes, until they crossed the border and all which remained to be seen was fast-blowing snow. "Chartreuse," she said. Her husband was often eloquent in the face of pressure. "Huh?" "You dyed yourself chartreuse. You hate chartreuse." "I -- kind of figured that if I didn't want to look at myself, then maybe nopony else would either." And back to silence. "Katydid? What... what are we doing?" "I thought... Vanhoover for a few days. Just try to rest together. And then maybe Ponyville. We should see Twilight: you really do owe her more than a few visits, even if the military stallion in you is nervous about intruding on her command area -- and I mean the library. After that... well, the news will have reached Celestia by then, I'm sure, probably right after the first delegation members get back to Canterlot. And maybe she'll wait for me to reach her, or she might just come out to find me, and... but... that's why we're going to stay in Vanhoover for a while. Because then she can find me, if she wants to. And..." So much snow. Everything isolated by the cold. She leaned her face against the window, felt the chill soak in through her snout. "...I'll tell her what happened. About the mistakes. About all the mistakes. And whatever she says after that, she -- says. Eventually, she'll run out of things to say. And then it's Ponyville, and... the rest of our lives. Whatever those can be." He was staring at her. "I should take that restraint off," she said. Because that one rookie had still been fumbling with it when everything had... happened. "Hold still for a second --" "-- so this is real?" She nodded. "We're not going back? This isn't a bluff, or some kind of plan? We're really just -- leaving?" "I abdicated," she softly told him. "I'm the only pony who could do that, and I did it. It's over, Shining. Because... Lapis was right." "You're not him," he insisted. "You were never him --" "-- because I did something he would never do." It felt as if the ice outside was beginning to coat the compartment. "Shining... you always tell me you're military. It's a joke sometimes. But it also influences the way you act, and how you see the world. You hate a permanent retreat, and that's part of why you're reacting like this. But I want you to look at what we did in the Empire from that perspective, just for a second, add that to the way the crystal ponies think and feel and everything they've been through -- and then tell me whether the nation we entered would think we came in conquest." And now the cold had frozen his tongue. "I made a mistake," Cadance told her soul-link. "I made just about every mistake possible, and Celestia... she made a big one, just sending us up there and assuming we could just -- move in. She might yell at me, but I think I can yell back. A lot. It's going to be hard... it's always been hard to call her out, but... she needs her share, this time. But so many mistakes were mine, and -- the Decrees, Shining." It was her first laugh since the whole thing had started, and it was hollow. "Isn't that a stupid word? Decree? I know what it really is now..." There was a knock at the compartment door. They both glanced towards it, and saw the big hand waving behind the little window. And somehow, the motion came across as -- shy. "Come in," Cadance said, and wasn't sure why. The door opened and the minotaur, still in the half-crouch required to use the window, entered. He looked at the occupants, then glanced at the two benches they were occupying. "Mind if I sit on the floor?" "Go ahead," Cadance told him, and he folded his legs carefully. "Shining Armor, Iron Will. I don't believe the two of you ever met, unless my husband ran past you while fleeing from his own rookies." Iron Will said the only thing he probably could have said. "Huh?" Cadance sighed. "We haven't discussed it yet, but I think he decided honest criticism wasn't good for a marriage. He was probably right. Are you on your way home, Mr. Will?" The minotaur hesitated. "I'm -- on the train with you, Cadance." "Princess," Shining Armor automatically insisted. "Shining?" Cadance gently said. "-- yes?" "Shut up. What do you mean, Mr. Will?" Another pause. "After what happened, I kinda thought you'd need someone you could talk to. Someone who didn't work for you, and wasn't in love with you. Someone you just -- knew. A little. Someone neutral, you know? And I heard some of what you two were saying, while I was coming down the hall. You're not that loud, but the train's really quiet when it's this empty, and I don't know if you closed the door all the way, and... I heard that last bit. So you know what a decree is now, huh?" She sighed, and found she couldn't meet the minotaur's quiet eyes. "Trying to solve a problem with the problem. I was giving them orders. And I didn't want to see it. Everything I said was wrong, everything I did --" "-- nah." She looked at him then, and was surprised to see him grinning. "You think I did something right?" "Yeah. The last thing." Without sarcasm, "I agree. My abdication was really the best thing I ever could have done for anypony." "Not what I meant, Cadance -- and not how it came across to these ears. The last thing you did was give them an order. The only order you can ever try to give a slave." And now she was staring at him. "What's that?" The smile was smaller now, which concentrated the sincerity. "'Be free'." And before she could even begin to recover from that, he added, "You did screw up one other thing, though, at least in my opinion. You said speaking's the biggest right. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that's how it works. Just about anyone can find their voice. What counts is having someone listen. The little blue refractor talked: you found your one pony after all. But you heard her, and..." He shrugged, leaned back against the door. It creaked under his weight. "You gave them their voices," he told her. "Let's see what they say." On their second day in Vanhoover, the last of the Equestrian delegation got off the train. Some of them only did so briefly, intending to stretch out their legs and sample a little local cuisine before heading back out. Of that number, a percentage asked around, were told which hotel Cadance was staying at (for it wasn't as if she was particularly hard to miss), and a few of those decided to take their own rest before going home. But others would ride the rail in a more-or-less straight line, heading for Canterlot, the press which wasn't in the Empire was in Vanhoover (and she still wasn't particularly hard to miss) and had presumably sent notice of a rather unexpected presence... Celestia would know. Any day, any hour, she would know. And Cadance moved about the settled zone, sometimes with Shining, sometimes without, toured the sights without seeing them, shopped without caring about the purchases, and prepared her words. Some of them were shared. She talked to Shining about what she planned to say, and it could almost approach the comedic, watching his face as she prepared to verbally enter the realm of what so many ponies would have considered to be blasphemy. And she talked to Iron Will, for the minotaur had decided to stay for a day or two, perhaps longer. "Just while things shake out in the Empire," he'd said. "They still need me, and I might go up and give it one more try, while I'm this close. But they don't need any outsiders this minute, so... well, my assistants will be okay for a little longer. I can wait it out. For a while." She didn't openly question his reasons, for they were his, and... he was someone to talk to who wasn't Shining, for Shining loved her, would do anything to support her -- and that meant that when criticism was truly needed, his first instinct remained retreat. On the third day, minotaur and pony wandered through a public park, with the former curious to check out the local maze, and discussed assertiveness. "So it's not so much about yelling at everypony else?" "It's more about yelling at yourself until you get the courage to act on the words -- hey..." "What is it?" He was peering through low branches: greater height meant he often had to duck or risk being scratched by evergreen needles, and it had taken him a moment to find a safe place for straightening up. "Thought I saw a little rainbow there." "Not in this weather. Trust me on that. We'd need some rain first, and then --" "-- not what I meant. Like a reflection off somepony's coat." "A crystal?" "Maybe..." Both looked. Neither found anypony. On the fourth day, there was a knock on the hotel room door, where the couple was packing again. And with that, they found Cadance. "Princess?" said the most senior mare member of her former Cabinet as she shivered within the doorway. Cadance blinked. Stared. Sighed. "Don't -- it's just Cadance, Tanza. Please come in. What brings you into Equestria? I'm guessing it's something my husband packed by accident. If you need to go through his luggage, and I'm glad you didn't arrive any later --" "-- it's you, Princ -- miss -- I... can we talk? Please? I'm here on behalf of the Cabinet, and... we just need to talk. It's..." The deep blue-black mare was dancing in place a little, and that sight was familiar, if somewhat -- slowed. "...important." She mentally reviewed the train schedule. Plenty of time before they had to start on the journey to Ponyville, where the inevitable argument with Celestia could take place a little closer to home. They'd both agreed that they'd waited in Vanhoover long enough, although Shining's newest source of personal terror was having the inevitable fight take place in front of his sister. "Just give me a few minutes. There's -- someone else who should hear this." The mare blinked at her. "Some -- someone?" Cadance nodded, trotted past her, and within minutes, Iron Will had joined the group, suitcase still clutched in his left hand. "Did something go wrong after I left?" was Cadance's first automatic question. "We didn't hear any stampede or riot, but --" "-- no," Tanza said. "Everypony was confused. But they just talked a lot, and -- eventually, they went home, and they kept talking there, and... the Cabinet met the next day, a lot of ponies came to our homes before we had a chance to get together, they all wanted to know who was in charge, and some of them wanted to know how we'd decided that, and..." She stopped, with her face assuming the horribly awkward expression of somepony who was still searching for a workable title. "...miss? We met, and..." A slow, trembling breath. "...what happened to Mustangia?" Cadance gently let the words come. "The ponies are still there. But it's part of Saddle Arabia now. It's been... a long time, Tanza. I'm sorry." And the final word had to cover so much... The mare stared at her own forehooves for a while. "...come back." Shining Armor nearly jumped from a sitting start. Iron Will's mouth opened, very slightly. And Cadance -- "-- what?" "...we know the Empire. We remember what it was... and we know what it could be again. But we don't know the world. What's out there. What it thinks about us, how it wants to deal with us or might take advantage, and... by the time we learn, it might be too late. So the Cabinet talked, and -- we talked to a lot of ponies, and -- we want you to come back." It took time, to get her feathers back into place, to wipe the shock away and bring her tail back down to the floor. "Tanza... I'm not a good leader. I'm pretty sure everypony saw that --" "-- you're new. Like we are. New and old, all at the same time..." And softly, "I don't want to lead." Tanza was looking at her. Directly. A first time for everything. "I don't know if I ever did," Cadance quietly said. "I was expected to. But... it's not me, it's not the heart of me. I don't want power, Tanza." "We know," the mare steadily responded. "And that's why... you should have it back. Because we talked to everypony, just about everypony there is after we asked them to gather again, and they nearly all agreed... that the best ones to have power should be the ones who would... give it up. But -- it can't be like it was before. We think we need... something new. And the first new thing we need is to say, with me here asking for everypony, after the vote..." Several deep breaths, until she could assert the words. "...please help us. But -- not forever. In a new way. And to help us figure out what that new way is. Just until we're ready to take over ourselves. We'll... try to say something if we think -- you're getting it wrong..." Cadance instinctively looked to her love. "Wherever you go, Katydid," Shining Armor told her. "Always. But -- you can say no if you want to. You know that." And then she looked at Iron Will. Who blinked. "What?" "Come with us," Cadance softly asked. All the long moment managed to produce was a very sincere "...huh?" "Because the Empire does need you, Mr. Will. Because... I need someone to tell me when I'm being stupid, and I'm pretty sure you've more than adequately established your qualifications there. So I'm offering you a job, for as long as you want it. Assertiveness trainer and advisor to the Empire. You can say no too, and I know you're more than capable of it. And even if you say yes now, you can leave later, when you think it's time, and I won't think any less of you for it. Either way, I still owe you an invoice. But -- I am asking you. As --" and she smiled at the words "-- a friend." His eyes closed, and several seconds passed before she saw the yellow again. "My assistants... they're -- I didn't tell you before, they're goats. I've got them well-trained, but..." Cadance slowly nodded. Goats existed on the blade edge between animal and sapient: often smarter than anypony ever expected, but -- not smart enough. "They can't live on their own." "Not without going wild again, and they'd have a hard time with that, after being with me for so long. I put them up with somepony good while I was up here, but... they need to be with me. And they don't do well on trains..." "We'll find a way." Cadance smiled. "I happen to know a very powerful long-distance teleporter. Two, actually. And given her usual timing, one of them will probably show up just as we're about to get on the train. So -- will you come?" Two weeks had passed. (It had taken five days just to agree on the final draft.) And now the Cabinet was assembled in front of the palace, with an Empire surrounding them, in the form of just about every pony within it. Cadance had brought in movie cameras to record the occasion, wound up taking half an hour to explain just what they did, and upon seeing the reaction, realized that the very first truly new business would have to be a cinema. "So here it is," and the recast spell carried her words to all. "We studied every form of government there is, along with a few that failed, so we'd know what to avoid. And at the end of all of it -- is our Constitution. The laws of power which keep that power distributed between government and the ponies it's meant to help, along with making sure the government doesn't have too much in the first place. Rulership by the consent of the governed. And my current part in this... is to lead your Cabinet, with the understanding that they can override me by majority, at need, until you no longer need me. Oh, and since so many ponies seemed to need a form of address, 'Princess' is now nothing more than the title given to the pony in that position, if you personally feel the need to use one at all. But once a year, the Empire will vote on whether you all still feel I'm needed. And when enough of you say it's time -- I'll step down." Because that day will come. And I don't have to do the same thing forever. There was no spontaneous full outburst of hoof-stomping applause, no total explosion of cheers. But here and there, a few ponies expressed themselves, some of their neighbors followed, and in time... Their voices would come. Their voices would be heard. "Copies will be made and sent to every home in the Empire," a crownless Cadance told them all: regalia would be reserved for greeting dignitaries and ambassadors, along with anypony else who might not understand just yet. "Everypony will always know what the laws are, what their rights are, with nothing ever hidden by shadow. But before that can happen -- we need to sign this thing." Her field fetched a quill -- one of her own feathers, plucked for the occasion as a token of sacrifice -- dipped it in ink, and presented it to the newest, youngest member of the Cabinet, the one who had both proposed and organized the vote which had brought Cadance back. With a smile, "I think you need to go first." Lapis took quill between steady teeth and put an extravagant signature on the parchment. And then still more hooves stomped against crystal, as spontaneous music sounded the beat of freedom. Cadance liked to fly over Geode Park early in the mornings. Not too early, and being mindful of where her shadow might fall, because healing took time. But still... it was fun to listen. "AND WHAT DO WE SAY?" "...hello?" "...I'm -- happy to be here?" "...thank you sir, may I please have another?" "...um... errr... no?" His face said he'd instantly seized on that last, but Iron still had to wait for the bleats to fade before he could continue. "AND WHEN DO WE SAY IT?" "...after you tell us to?" "...if there's a sign somewhere, or a list, or..." "...in chorus with somepony else?" "...when it's -- personally and culturally appropriate?" "I'LL TAKE IT!" It was a start.