You Too Will Deteriorate

by cleverpun

8. Desolate, Yet All Undaunted

“Very qu-quaint.”

Celestia turned the flower around. A small card had been attached to it. “No hard feelings — Discord”, it said. Next to the signature was a crude caricature of Discord, with upside-down Us for eyes and entirely too many teeth in its smile.

She turned it around again. It resembled a Calla lily, but with a narrower profile and in an unusually bright shade of white. She set it aside. Discord usually put more effort into his traps, so it seemed safe. For the moment.

The door opened, and a pink alicorn walked in. She had entered without knocking, which meant she possessed a lot more confidence than Twilight Sparkle.

“H-hello,” Celestia said.

“Hello.” The alicorn sat down without asking either. “My name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Most call me Cadance.”

“Who are the e-e-exceptions?” Celestia asked slyly.

“Diplomats who stand on tradition. Overly formal subjects. Enemies. You know, the usual adherents to protocol.”

“Which a-a-am I?”

“Well, that’s up to you, isn’t it?”

Celestia smiled. “My h-h-host trained you very well. Between her t-t-tolerance of the monster and the naivete of my l-l-last interviewer, I was worried she might h-h-have been too lax.

“Or perhaps, you m-m-might not be here to interview me. Perhaps you are here to c-c-convince me to leave.” Celestia leaned forward. “No matter how many d-diplomats and alicorns you parade in front of me, I am not going to ch-change my mind.” Celestia leaned forward further, let a little magic soak into the air, to make it hotter and stuffier. “My patience will not w-w-withstand many more meetings.”

“I am here to discuss the situation with you, nothing else. Predicting your reaction, planning for a specific outcome—I suppose those are beyond any of us,” Cadenza said.

“Surely you must have s-s-some ulterior goal. A p-p-princess wouldn’t waste her time when there are so many e-e-errands and tasks to be done.”

“My goal is discussion.” Cadenza continued smiling. “I’m sure my time won’t be wasted.”

Celestia smiled. A very well-trained diplomat indeed. Cadenza’s expression and body language remained perfectly neutral. Despite Celestia’s aggressive movements and magic, Cadenza didn’t even ruffle her feathers.

If Cadenza wanted to treat this like a negotiation, then so be it. Celestia resumed her neutral sitting position. She let the magic fade from the air and returned her voice to normal. “What would you l-like to discuss?”

“What do you think of Canterlot?”

“It is h-h-hard to have an opinion on your city, when I have been in this r-room during my entire stay.”

Cadenza smiled. She gestured at the door. “Would you like to join me for a walk?”

“Wouldn’t your subjects be…d-d-disconcerted by me?”

“They have gotten used to these sorts of things. They’ll be fine.”

Celestia studied Cadenza. She had to possess some motive, some plan. Her casual manner and tone betrayed none of her schemes.

“V-very well. If you are off-f-fering, I would be glad to.” Celestia stood up. Cadenza would tip her hoof eventually. Celestia would be ready. She gestured to the door. “After y-you.”

The sun felt nice. Even at the end of the day, sunset just around the corner, the warmth of the sun made her feel better. The market day had begun to wind down, but ponies still scuttled from stall to stall and building to building.

“How m-much further?” Celestia asked.

“Oh, it’s just along this way,” Cadenza replied.

The ponies glanced at her. Most raised their eyebrows, some gawked for longer than others, and a few whispered under their breaths. “Every week,” she heard one mutter.

Finally Cadenza stopped walking. The main street ended in a plaza. A fountain sat in the middle of a smooth marble plinth.

Cadenza waved her forward. A stone railing stretched across the far end of the square.

Celestia approached it carefully. As she reached it, she looked down. She saw the edge of the mountain stretching down, the forest sprawling below, train tracks winding into the distance. The sun sat near the horizon, drifting closer and closer to twilight.

Celestia rested a hoof on the railing. A light safety spell pushed against her.

“What do you think?”

“It is quite a n-n-nice view.”

“Princess Celestia had this city built after she banished Luna. She never told me exactly why or when construction started. But I suppose one can make a few guesses.”

Celestia leaned forward. The safety spell pressed harder against her chest, but she ignored it. A breeze brushed against her face.

“I know what you are g-g-going to say. You brought me h-here to lower my guard. And n-now you are going to tell me how it would be u-u-unfair to take that monster away from her new home.”

Celestia leaned back. “But this d-d-doesn’t change anything. If anything, it m-m-makes me think of all the life that monster destroyed.”

“Oh, don’t be silly.” Cadenza leaned on the railing. “I know you’re too old and wise for such cliches. I just thought you might like some fresh air, after everything you’ve been through.”

“Hmph, a well-trained d-d-diplomat, indeed.”

Cadenza took a deep breath. “I used to come here a lot when I was younger. There’s a lot of updrafts and downdrafts, it’s a good spot to fly.”

Celestia glanced around. The square had emptied. There had been a pony eating lunch, but they had likely left. She sensed no one, not even guards.

Celestia turned to Cadenza. She had closed her eyes.

“It would be a g-g-good place to kill someone.”

Cadenza opened her eyes at that. “Is that all you think about, anymore? Violence?”

“Dying…betrayal changes one’s outl-l-look.”

“I suppose it might.” Cadenza turned to Celestia. “But I wonder if it really did.”

“Exc-c-cuse me?”

“It would be quite easy for you to take Luna back by force. Violence and revenge is all you talk about. Why haven’t you just forced your way to her?”

“I had h-h-hoped my host would see reason.”

“You wouldn’t really even need to hurt anypony. Sleep magic, paralysis spells, binds, anything like that. If you really wanted to, none of us could stop you.”

“Are you giving me p-p-permission?”

“Of course not. But I wonder why you haven’t yet.”

“Perhaps I w-will, if everyone here is so int-t-tent on impeding justice.”

“I wonder if you really want to bring Luna back at all.”

Celestia furrowed her brow. “Why else would I b-be here, if not to mete out j-justice?”

“That’s the question I can’t figure out. Why would you be here?” Cadenza stroked her chin. The gesture was obviously an act. Cadenza had thought this out already.

“Perhaps you wanted to check on her?”

Celestia took her hooves off the railing. “Why would I want to check on th-th-that thing?”

Cadenza shrugged. “I really can’t say.” She gestured at her cutie mark. “Just because I’m the Princess of Love, doesn’t mean I have all the answers.”

Cadenza smiled. “I used to babysit Twilight, you know, back when she was young. She was so precocious and adorable, back then.” Cadenza chuckled. She drooped onto the railing a little as the memory surfaced. “I remember this one time, I pretended I had forgotten my saddlebags at her house, just because I wanted to see her again. I know it was silly, but I would make up excuses just so I could check up on her.” Cadenza turned to Celestia. “Sometimes it’s easier, that way. You don’t have to admit you love someone.”

“You dare accuse me of loving that th-thing? That m-monster?”

“Of course not. I was referring to myself.”

“You are not nearly as sssubtle or as c-c-clever as you think. Perhaps I was wr-wr-wrong about my host training her successors well.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.” Cadenza lowered herself from the railing. “Anyway, I suppose it is time to head back.” She waved a hoof. “After you. Unless you wanted to look at the view a little longer?”

“No, I have had en-n-nough.” Celestia turned away from the balcony.

Cadenza started toward the main street. “Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, Princess Celestia. I think I was right. My time wasn’t wasted at all.”

The two remained silent during the entire walk back.

Comments

[Shachza]

Ooooooo, I like this Cadance.

[ForSpite]

There's some nice character exploration in this piece and not just of the Celestias or Luna.

[vren55]

7473656 I agree :D

[Frankie2]

...what just happened?

[Camolot the Creator]

7801605
A swash-buckling swordfight of the most violent manner.

[Frankie2]

7947414 Where the hell did you get that from?

[Sir Mediocre]

7947696 Have ye ne'er heard what oft is said of the pen, lad? Concerning the sword and its mightier adversary?

[Frankie2]

7949873 I heard of it, I just don't see it here.

[FOXTrot2]

I could almost swear lichlestia was going to murder Cadenza

[Midknight Defender]

7950362

Only because you neglected to realize that Cadence's tongue is the pen, here. She writes in sound in air, instead of ink on paper, but her words are no less pointed than any argument by pen or sword that were ever raised in discord in any universe imaginable.

[Csquared08]

Oh wow. That was unexpected. Good show, Cadance.

[stag the story teller]

9029725
I agree with you b in my country there's a saying that says that the tongue can hurt more than the sword and it goes something like this: it has a sword for a tongue