//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Twelve Years Ago in Canterlot // by SS Nomad //------------------------------// As the residents of Canterlot sauntered down the town’s central parkway, none really stopped to take note of the two mares sitting at a chess table discussing their plans. A few foals noticed how familiar the two looked, but their parents hurried them on to whatever assuredly important business they had. Cadance glanced up and down her companion’s disguise, “You know, I have to say I like how your mane looks when it’s not… floaty.” Celestia adjusted her sleek, wavy mane so she could see it, “It has been a long time since it looked normal, I suppose I kind of missed it.” Reaching into the bag she had tucked under the table, Cadance lifted out a small notebook in her magical grasp, opening it to the page she had bookmarked, “So, I suppose we should discuss where to start.” Celestia smiled, gesturing to the notebook, “I’m glad you’re taking this seriously. Do you have a particular idea in mind?” “Well,” Cadance mumbled, looking over her notes, “First I suppose we need to figure out where to look. Would you mind if I ask some personal questions?” After a subtle glance around to confirm nopony was listening, Celestia gestured for her to proceed. With doctor’s orders to take the rest of the day off for recovery, Shining Armor sat in his bunk room, studying. All of these books on military protocol and strategies would doubtless be useful. Know your enemy. Celestia expected Shining Armor to meet her at a specific location outside of the castle in about half an hour, which meant there was still time to collect as much information as possible. The collection of texts and notes from officer training were a treasure trove of intelligence. “How goes keeping him distracted?” Squire’s voice sang back up to her from the depths under the castle, “Perfectly. He gets more lost at every turn.” Queen Chrysalis was no stranger to a well executed scheme, but this one was going almost too well. This was clearly not a nation used to war, evident both in how they acted and what they taught their soldiers. She absently flipped through a chapter on crowd control in emergency situations with an amused grin. “Update me if anything of note happens,” she mentally mumbled back to her minion. With Squire’s short confirmation, Queen Chrysalis got back to her studies. Cadance set down her notebook, resting her chin on her hoof to think, “Based on all that you’re saying, I’ve had a few ideas.” Princess Celestia looked hopeful, “Please, go on.” Taking a deep breath to approach the subject with an objective tone, Cadance presented her evaluation, “Everything you’re telling me makes me think your past relationships all stumbled over your power and long life. I can only come up with about two options in that regard. You could find somepony who can actually look past all that and see you for who you are, but those are few and far between.” “I’m sure they exist, though,” Celestia interjected. With a defeated sigh, Cadance grumbled, “I’m not so certain.” Cadance looked up to see her aunt looking at her in what seemed to be confusion, so she went on, “I feel like I’ve been having the same problem. Being royalty, it’s so hard to be viewed as anything else. I’ve spent generations looking for my true love and seen nothing. Part of me wonders if I’ve already missed the opportunity to find them.” Celestia reached forward and held Cadance’s hoof reassuringly, “I’m sure you’ll find them. Isn’t that how it works? It’s fate.” Cadance let out a single, airy chuckle, “Fate guarantees an opportunity, it’s up to you to take it.” Not really sure how to break Cadance out of the slump, Celestia just changed the subject, “What was the other option?” Cadance snapped back to reality, “The other what?” “You said there were two options,” Celestia explained, “One was to find somepony who saw past my being a royal. The other?” Cadance rolled her eyes at herself, “Well, it was just a stray thought I had once, not exactly practical. Basically, you’d need to find somepony who saw you as an equal.” Celestia nodded slowly as she came to terms with the idea, “I suppose that would limit the options.” “So yeah,” Cadance mumbled, “fate of Equestria hangs in the balance.” As hypocritical as it felt to say, Celestia tried to reassure her, “Oh, don’t be so pessimistic. I have a good feeling about this.” Despite herself, Cadance was intrigued, “Any particular reason?” “There’s a rather significant planetary alignment coming up,” Celestia explained like it was common sense, “It feels like a good omen to me.” “Planetary alignment?” Cadance replied, incredulous, “Somehow I didn’t realize you took astrology quite so seriously.” Celestia looked at her in disbelief, “So you’re telling me your special talent is seeing the strands of fate, but you don’t believe in astrology?” Cadance pulled back with slight surprise, thought it over, and answered, “Yeah, I suppose that does sound kinda weird, doesn’t it? I just always figured there was a good reason so many ponies stopped caring about it. Scientists always insist it’s just confirmation bias and has no basis in fact.” Celestia just smirked in return, “Well, we’ll just see, then.” Queen Chrysalis noted the time and calmly put all of Shining Armor’s books away. She had to go pick up Princess Celestia from the parkway shortly, and it would be a good opportunity to learn as much about her as possible. Silently leaving the barracks, she passed another guard who she recognized from Shining Armor’s memories. “Heya, Hank. You off duty?” she asked in her best imitation of Shining’s speech patterns. Hank gave her a friendly punch to the shoulder, “Yeah, I see you’re skipping your post.” “Doctors orders,” she replied with a slacker’s smile, “gotta take care of myself, after all.” Hank nodded, “You okay? I heard they found you knocked out.” Chrysalis waved off the issue, “Nothing major. I’m back on rotation tomorrow, pending no more problems.” “Alright, well,” Hank offered a lazy and half joking salute, “carry on then.” Responding with an absent minded wave over her shoulder, Chrysalis headed off castle grounds. “I’m thinking intellectuals,” Cadance proposed, “particularly wizards and mages.” Celestia pondered the idea, “Worth a look. I’ve been with more than a few in my time, and it tends to go well.” Cadance giggled her response, “I remember all those rumors around you and Starswirl.” Celestia hid a blush, “Any other ideas?” Cadance offered a halfhearted shrug, “I mean, a few, but none feel quite like as good of a start. Unless you know any other deity level entities around.” “Other than you,” Celestia contemplated, “almost every other one I’ve run into I’ve either banished, imprisoned, stripped of power, or exiled from the flow of time.” The weight of the statement crushed the flow of the conversation, leaving Cadance only to look up at the one who said it. Celestia could be terrifying sometimes, it was just her demeanor and grace that distracted most ponies from that fact. The thing that shook her the most was Celestia’s expression, completely calm as if all she’d said was what was for lunch. With a deep breath to clear her mind, Cadance moved to stand up, “Well, I’d suggest we go poke around one of the colleges or arcane research facilities, see if we spot anypony for you.” Quickly checking a clock tower, Celestia put on a gentle smile, “Actually, would you mind checking to make sure they don’t just happen to be walking around here?” Cadance looked around, watching the many ponies of Canterlot going about their business, “I mean, it’s not like there’s much of a chance, but sure. No harm.” Cadance took another deep breath to focus, closing her eyes and letting the magic flow through her. When she opened her eyes, she could easily see the strands and webs of fate binding every pony in sight. As always, she saw that her future and her aunt’s were deeply entwined, but she’d seen that a hundred times before. Looking around, she saw a few ponies walking with their lovers, many more moving about their business, but no strand from Celestia to her destined love. “No luck,” Cadance announced. Celestia quickly checked the clock tower again, “Could you keep looking?” Cadance turned back to Celestia apologetically, “It won’t be much use. We should probably move on.” “Please?” Cadance let out a deep sigh and went back to looking, “Okay, but there’s not much point. If they’re not here, they’re not. You can’t force fate to your will.” Cadance noticed a new glow out of the corner of her eye. It was something she’d wanted to see for so long that she didn’t believe it despite it being right in front of her. Her eyes traced from herself to a figure in the distance. Her eyes focused. It was him. As the clock tower chimed, Celestia grinned and replied, “Watch me.”