Cadance: The Love Arsenal

by IndiBrony

The Basics

"Okay, so, listen close. In here I store everything I need to get this job done in the quickest and most efficient manner possible. We'll be visiting a lot of ponies today; earth, pegasi and unicorn, from large, crowded events, to the poor lonely souls on their own. Some may think the armour and whatnot can be a little overkill, but believe me, there have been years where I've wished I'd had it. I'll be wearing toughened shoes, a chest plate, a reinforced neck-piece, and my favourites: my horn and wing amplifiers."

Cadance pulls off a couple of glowing pink rings from one of the shelves, placing them on her horn. "With these simple rings, my magic is amplified ten-fold." She extends her wings, levitating two larger rings over her them. "The wing amplifiers help me fly faster, and prevent me from getting fatigued too easily. With my royal duties throughout the rest of the year, I don't get too much flying time, but today is extensive. Think of it like your average pony entering a marathon every year and having little to no practice - it's insanity. I've learned to take measures against injury"

She grabs her armour, placing a shoe on each hoof, lifting her chest plate and neck piece over her head and around her neck. "The armour does exactly what it says on the tin, but the chest plate and neck piece hold special abilities of their own. They hold red gems in them. You may have seen something similar before if you've ever heard of the Sirens. These gems feed off of people's negative energy. However, the Crystal Heart can convert that into love. My magic is amplified further by the Crystal Heart. However, I discovered that when performing love spells with magic from the Crystal Heart, I'm actually taking love from the crystal ponies and redistributing it. Basically, the more love spells I cast, the more unhappy the crystal ponies get as a whole. These gems stop that from happening. The pure, converted energy keeps the crystal ponies happy. It seems a little complex, but that's pretty much how it works." Cadance paused.

"There's one drawback to it all, though. Converting the bad energy comes at a cost... you'll probably see later. For now, though, we've got love to spread!" The Princess beamed, turning to the other crystal shelves.

"There's a reason I call this my Love Arsenal. Back when I first started, I used to carry a simple bow and arrow. It kinda became my symbol for a long time. Technology advances, though. They say love is a battlefield. This is how I fight my war. I have grenades, I have bazookas, I have dynamite, I have pistols, sawn-off shotguns, an axe, a sword, and, of course, the classic bow. I also bring with me a plethora of different items in my utility bag - hopefully I'll get to show you a few neat tricks. Love potions work better when ponies don't know they're under a spell. If they see me coming, the illusion can be broken in an instant. I can't risk being spotted by my targets."

"Are you ready for this? I ask seriously, because whilst I hope this will all be a simple teaching exercise, it can get pretty grim. I wish I could say I'd never had to deal with ponies who had been tipped over the edge, but the world isn't a pretty place, and some just can't deal with the nightmares in their reality, in their own minds, and Hearts and Hooves day can bring out the despair in some ponies. If you're willing to take the risk, fair enough. However, it's not going to be all fun and games today, okay?"

"Ready, then? Allons y!"