Day Six, Morning: Casually Connectable
It was a typical spring morning in the Crystal Empire: The Imperial City glistened from the care given to it by its citizens, and from the many parts of the land, the small towns and villages were filled with contented, happy ponies, all doing their part to move forward from their tragic past. And over the whole of the land, shrouding them all like a benevolent umbrella, was the overarching power of the Crystal Heart, which kept Sombra’s still-impending curse at bay. The magic of the Heart brought warmth and life and allowed the timeswept citizens of the Empire to continue their daily lives unmolested, as they were already still coming to terms with what had happened to them so long ago.
Sadly, that was one of many parts of his legacy that had remained to haunt his former subjects: that he had been willing to kill the entire populace by freezing them to death either in the tundra that surrounded the city; or by keeping them in a netherspace for eternity, beyond the realm of the living. The end result had been that the Empire had suffered the latter, and for centuries, where a magically prosperous and peaceful nation had sat, nothing but barren, frozen wasteland had existed, a place so cursed neither the neighboring nations attempted to annex it nor did wild animals choose to live there. In time, the Frozen North, as it came to be called, was a large, desolate stretch of land that none chose to settle, because the tales of the curse persisted, even as the particulars had faded into time.
Thankfully circumstances had, for the most part, turned against Sombra, and due to the faith that the alicorns had that the citizens of the Empire could be saved from their ruler’s dire whims, the spell began to waver. Equestria sent its forces in, and as Sombra rose from his ancient slumber in order to wreak havoc once more, Princess Twilight Sparkle stepped in to do what needed to be done in order to defeat him, and in doing so, broke the first part of the curse, returning the towns, villages and city of the Crystal Empire back to normal space.
Since that time, the citizens of the former empire lived peaceful and fruitful lives as subjects of Equestria’s newest province, even if they now needed to catch up with over a thousand years of history, ever thankful to the alicorns and Equestria for saving them from a fate worse than Tartarus. Still, the spell had not been broken in its entirety just yet, and the tundra remained, though it began to recede little by little each day as the Crystal Heart continued to fulfill its duty; it was hoped that in a time to come, the last remnants of the dark unicorn’s machinations would vanish, leaving everything as it had been before he’d sullied the land with his presence.
In that time, the citizens had come to accept their lives as Equestrian subjects, and that the Empire was now that in name only. They had come to accept the wise and just rule of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the last living member of House Amore and by right the technical empress of the Crystal Empire, along with her husband, the gallant Prince Shining Armor, the Captain of the Guard. They had accepted Princess Twilight as their hero and savior as well as her brother, the young dragon Spike and their friends, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. In time, they had even accepted the descendant of Sombra herself, the young unicorn mare Raspberry Beryl, who, while cursed with the magic and abilities of her forefather, had none of his wickedness and in truth had a heart as pure as that of Princess Cadance.
This was the modern Empire, and those living in it wouldn’t have it any other way.
Seated on her veranda, sipping her favorite tea and casually munching away at crystalberry cookies, Cadance hummed a note of utter contentment. Overall, it had been a productive week here in the Empire, with her Court proceedings going much faster and more efficiently than usual. Many of the disputes that had been brought before her, ones she’d had to sit over for days or even weeks to find an answer to, had been solved in mere minutes; and long, dreary petitions that were brought before her court that took her equally as long to go over were done within an hour of being brought to her. It actually allowed her to get some other paperwork done and to even spend some time relaxing. She wasn’t as much into the details of paperwork as her elder aunt, nor did she enjoy much of the courtly intrigue that her younger aunt did. She was, after all, the Princess of Love, not the Princess of Administration. So this week had been a Faustsend for her, a clear and total blessing.
The reason for that was the strange figure sitting across from her, poring over the latest documents brought to Cadance’s attention. The stranger, though blessed with a similar manestyle and eyes, was nonetheless as different from her as night was from day – or at least as her aunts were from one another. To an individual not familiar with the particulars, this line of thought would not have made sense, because the figure across from her was none other than Mi Amore Cadenza herself, in a manner of speaking. An alternate-reality version of herself, and this one not a princess but instead Mi Amore Cadenza, Esquire, Assistant District Attorney for Equestria County. A woman versed in law inasmuch as Cadance was versed in statecraft and her aspect as the Alicorn of Love; and, as the alicorn found out during the week, also carried the sobriquet of “Goddess of Love”…though in the human’s case, it was somewhat of a dysphemism, given that most of her cases dealt with all the wrong aspects of it.
Still, the human Cadance had brought with her a razor-sharp knowledge of administration and skills in paperwork that dwarfed the princess’ own knowledge, and with the latter’s office here in the Imperial Palace still smaller than it needed to be, the help offered by the lawyer had been something that the ruler had gleefully cherished, and not just because it was assistance offered by a friend, but a genuine and true boon to save her from the tsunami of paperwork that typically engulfed the governance of Equestria’s largest province.
Closing the folder, the human reached for her own cup, this one filled with coffee, a drink that the princess didn’t entirely care for, but still had on-hoof for cases such as this. “Cady, I don’t know how to tell you this,” she began, “but…if I were seated on your throne, this…stallion?”
“Ardent Granite?”
“Yeah. I would have him seated in prison for at least a dime,” the lawyer explained. Seeing the curious look on her counterpart’s face, she clarified, “Ten months in prison. What he’s doing to that mare is wrong.”
“I know. He’s very much in love with Luminescent Mineral. Problem is, she’s interested but is still devoted to her wife. While I do think it’s sweet that he’s so in love with her, I also think that he’s going about it the wrong way.”
“Well, where I come from, we call that stalking and harassment. Furthermore, add trespassing onto their property and breaking and entering, given that Ms. Mineral’s wife found him in their closet and…yeah. I don’t think there’d be a jury anywhere that would let him off the hook.”
To the shock of the human Cadance, the princess simply said, “I would.”
The human gave the alicorn a raised eyebrow in response. “You’re kidding.”
“I know you’re looking at this through the lens of justice, and yes, I’m grateful for that. Given how we’ve structured the justice system in Equestria, it’s rare when we actually have criminal cases, so I would think we would tend to underplay that. But he didn’t want to cause harm to Mineral or Apatite Crystal. He simply wanted to love Mineral.”
“But you can’t know that!”
“I do. I’m the Princess of Love,” the alicorn reminded her, “and I know true love when I see it. Furthermore, I can see it building in her as well. Yes, I will admit, his timing was incredibly horrible and he should have thought things through better, but given time, I suspect that our dear Mr. Granite will have to deal with a punishment of a different sort.” The mare gave a wicked smile. “Two mares might just tire him out constantly, and even though group marriage isn’t particularly legal in Equestria, it’s common enough that he’ll have his hooves full with the two of them.”
Cadance rubbed her head; this was definitely not how she was used to dealing with things back home. “Look, maybe that’s how it would turn out here, since you have that gift, but back on Earth, we don’t. We would have to think of the safety of the two women, and a man breaking into someone’s house might end up with two women assaulted if not worse.”
“But you don’t know that for sure,” the princess argued.
“You’re right, we don’t. But again, since we don’t have your gift, we can’t afford to take those chances.” The lawyer was quiet for a second, as if thinking of a better way to clarify her thoughts. “Back when I was in law school there was this case we studied that’s a textbook example of what I’m talking about. If I remember correctly, it happened in upstate New York back in 1995. Guy fell in love with a girl, did pretty much all the same things you had here. But instead of trying to talk to her, he let it fester. Finally, he went over to the dance studio where she worked in order to ask her out, only to find out she was a lesbian. He picked that moment to snap, and so what did he do? Killed the girl’s partner, then took her to his house and kept her chained in the basement for eight years while he tried to, ahem, ‘love’ her into staying with him. She finally managed to escape when one of their children snuck out of the house and begged the neighbors for help.”
Now it was the princess’ turn to be horrified. “He forced himself on her?” she said in a tone of complete shock. “That would never happen here!”
“That you know of,” the human Cadance corrected. “Bad things happen everywhere, and not everyone is willing to talk about their bad experiences, even if it means potentially catching a lawbreaker.”
“But ponies would—”
“Cady, in my time here, I’ve found your world to be a wonderful place. I’ve also found that ponies can be prejudiced, xenophobic and bigoted. Remember that report that Shining told me about the other day? Tavi was attacked at a restaurant, because the two owners – both ponies – already had negative opinions of humans based on mythology and decided to take it out on her just because she was there.” The conversation became awkward silence for a few seconds before she added, “Look, your world is a lot shinier and happier than mine is. We’re jaded and cynical because that’s part of the human condition. And maybe you’re right, maybe this is a case of ‘let the punishment fit the crime’. But as a keeper of the law, I don’t have the luxury to do that. Our judges don’t have the luxury to do that. My fiancé, as a law enforcement official, doesn’t have the luxury of doing that. Maybe some theoretical case out there looks worse than it actually is, but we can’t count on someone not doing something stupid just because Happily Ever After didn’t make its guest appearance in the potential perp’s life.”
“And yet you see it every day,” the romance alicorn noted.
“What do you mean?”
The alicorn gave a wise smile. “You see it in how your Pinkie is trying to romance Sunny.”
The human shook her head in vehement disagreement. “Honestly? Not happy about that, not at all. That girl’s a little too obsessed, if you ask me. I know she won’t try anything stupid, but she’s clearly on the good side of that edge between devoted and psycho. If I didn’t know that Sunny was capable of taking care of herself, or that they didn’t have such a good circle of friends, I would honestly be concerned. Pinkie isn’t just laying it on thick – she’s well past that.”
“And yet you don’t see what I do,” the romance alicorn pointed out. “Miss Pie clearly loves Sunny, in the same way that you or I love our own husbands. That girl doesn’t see herself just as somepony interested, but instead as a future spouse. I think that’s very romantic.”
“Look, I’m all in favor of true love winning the day; contrary to what I may be in my day job, I really am a hopeless romantic,” Cadance admitted. “But the truth is, Sunny only thinks of Pinkie as a friend. Furthermore, even if she was interested, she’s told me she’s out of the dating pool simply because she doesn’t feel she’s ready for a relationship at all. She told me all about the issues she had with her ex, and that was before all the troubles my office had because of her ex.”
“Your office?”
“You know about the whole Club incident, I presume?” Cadance asked her counterpart, and when the alicorn shook her head, she gave a quick report. The look on the face of the alicorn went from interested to horrified, especially when Cadance had pointed out that Rarity, Octavia and Twilight had been potential victims, and that one of the purported ringleaders – and one of the only two to be found innocent of charges – was Sunset’s ex-boyfriend, Flash Sentry.
“That’s horrible!” Princess Cadance gasped. “I didn’t know that at all!”
Cadance nodded. “That’s the main reason why. She really doesn’t trust anyone right now and even though she can protect herself in ways that no other person can, she doesn’t want to find herself in that position.”
The princess looked dismayed. “That’s not good. How is Sunny going to express her own love for Miss Pie if she doesn’t trust herself to love her.”
Cadance shook her head. “I just said—”
“I know what you said, but that’s not what’s true. Sunset doesn’t want to admit it, or maybe she’s denying it, but there’s a strong attraction there. She cares very deeply about Miss Pie, so much so that she may be afraid of hurting her.”
“I doubt that.”
“I don’t. If Miss Pie isn’t the one that’s tied to the Strand, no matter how deep their love is, Sunny will only suffer, because…well, I’m sure you can figure that one out for yourself.”
“The Strand?”
Princess Cadance’s answer to that was the glow of her horn as she cast a spell. Instantly a bright, glowing red cord appeared around one of her hooves and stretched out the door. A second one appeared around the human’s arm, also heading out the door.
“This is my strongest ability: The Strand of True Love,” the alicorn began. “It—”
“Finds out who one’s true love is, who they are destined to be with, and who they will likely be with forever,” the human Cadance interjected. When her counterpart gave her a confused look, she just smiled. “The Red Thread of Fate is a concept in many human cultures and means much the same thing.”
“I’m surprised that your culture has that,” Princess Cadance stated with surprise.
“We love just as much as ponies, though it doesn’t seem that way sometimes. We humans are capable of the highest highs and the lowest lows, sometimes even at once. My aunt Luna once told me that humans are living contradictions because we contain multitudes. But anyway, please, continue.”
Princess Cadance gave a conspiratorial smile as if she was sharing one of her deepest secrets. “As you can see, it binds those who are destined for each other and are soulmates. It grows thicker and stronger as time goes on and as love is expressed. As you can see, mine is exceedingly dense, as it is the bond between me and my husband. Yours isn’t as thick, but I suspect that has more to do with the fact that you two aren’t married yet, not that a ceremony would make any particular difference.” Seeing the sudden appearance of a concerned look on her counterpart’s visage, the alicorn continued with, “Don’t worry! That’s still far stronger than most I’ve seen. The fact that it’s there just means that you’re meant to be together.” She brought up a second image, glowing before them; a second later, the image duplicated and each duplicate floated to each particular Cadance’s cord. “That’s the average for most loving couples in Equestria,” the princess explained. “As you can see, yours is still much stronger, as it is with your fiancé.”
The princess then summoned two images of Sunset and Pinkie. Sure enough, the line was thick on Pinkie’s end, possibly even thicker than the ones either Cadance had. However, as it reached towards Sunset’s arm, it thinned out until there was barely more than a laser line, a strand that appeared no thicker than a single molecule.
“This is an approximate but no less accurate representation of Sunny and Miss Pie based on what I saw before the latter departed to Ponyville,” the alicorn explained. “As you can see, it’s thick on her end, but as it approaches Sunset, it thins out.”
“Well, I’m not surprised,” the lawyer argued. “The fact that it’s pretty much nonexistent on Sunny’s side basically says that she doesn’t see Pinkie as anything more than a friend. Not that I’d be against them being together, other than that Pinkie really needs to tone it down.”
“I’m glad you see it that way, because that’s not the color of amicable love.” The princess gave a knowing grin. “No, the spell for the Strand of True Friendship doesn’t even look remotely the same – trust me, my Twilight and I have gone over that spell quite extensively. However, I should point out something: if there was absolutely zero romantic intent there on Sunny’s behalf? The line wouldn’t even connect.”
“Well, I’m not entirely convinced,” Cadance replied.
“You’re not the one who needs to be convinced,” was the response. “That is up to Sunny and Miss Pie. They are tied together. There is no guarantee that they will end up together, but this makes it clear that they are meant to be together.”
“Forgive me if I still remain skeptical. It’s not just….” Cadance suddenly noticed that her counterpart suddenly looked ill at ease. “Are…are you okay?” the human asked.
“I…I don’t know,” Princess Cadance admitted as she stood up uneasily. “I feel so…weird all of a sudden.” Without warning, she suddenly fell back down on the cushion. “Sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.” Seeing the look of worry on her staff’s face, she tried to give them the most reassuring smile she could.
“I’m wondering if we need to get you to an infirmary,” Cadance suggested. “You have one here in the palace, I presume?”
“That might not be a bad idea,” the princess stated. “It might not be anything, given that alicorns don’t get sick, but maybe it was just something I ate that disagreed with me. Would you mind going with me?”
The human nodded. “Sure, just lead the way,” she said, and both departed the veranda.
A distance away, on the pavilion field, a cracking sound rang out, its sound echoing across the cityscape. In the distance, a crystalline target shattered into harmless shards, felled not by the usual missiles used against it – arrows, javelins or a magic blast – but instead bullets, a more modern projectile. Furthermore, these were not rounds from a griffin shootstick or minotaur blunderbuss, but instead a more powerful weapon, brought to this realm from a place heretofore unknown to the surprised residents watching this display.
As Special Agent Shining Armor, United States Federal Bureau of Investigations watched, the weapon discharged, the aim horribly inaccurate and the gun control nearly nonexistent, but that wasn’t surprising. This was the first time that a weapon of this nature had been fired in the Crystal Empire and the first time the individual firing the firearm was doing so. As a law enforcement officer, while he completely trusted the individual shooting the weapon at the moment, he wondered if he was making a mistake by doing so, especially with the personage in question. It was, in many ways, like handing a child a lethal weapon and hoping they would do right by it.
The gun, surrounded in a blue field of magic, lowered itself to the table. “I…have no words,” Prince Shining Armor, Captain of the EUP Guard and prince consort of the Crystal Empire, spoke in a hushed tone. “I mean, I could have easily have done the same thing with a magic blast, but…eventually we tire out. If we – or worse, our enemies – had something like this, it could turn any battle, decisively and possibly completely.” The stallion turned to look at his counterpart. “And you face things like this every day?”
“Yes, but whether soldiers or cops, those who face guns on a daily basis are trained for such eventualities,” the human Shining pointed out. “For example, there’s a limit to how much ammunition you can carry – even the strongest individual carrying a ruck sack of nothing but ammo boxes is going to run out given enough time. There’s also the fact that we get tired too, both physically and emotionally – I’ve been in a few shootouts that took only minutes, but felt like hours. The reaction time and adrenaline just pushes through you until you’re completely exhausted at the end.” He then sighed. “Then there’s the fact of the emotional cost. It’s a truism amongst human cultures that if you draw a gun, you had best be prepared to take a life.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Prince Shining replied. “Still, if a weapon like this is so powerful and yet you say it’s one of your lesser ones, then I am curious about the more advanced ones.”
“The triplets brought those with them,” the human told him. “I’m not entirely familiarized with the sort of weapons they carry, but generally speaking as military personnel, the guns they use are far more lethal than the ones I’m authorized to wield. They also have a greater arsenal at their disposal overall.”
The prince thought about that. “On second thought, I’m not sure I want to know more, if that’s the case.”
“Trust me, you’re better off. Those weapons are magnitudes more powerful than my handgun, much less those griffin weapons that are like guns—”
“The shootsticks?” the prince spoke. When the human nodded, he replied, “Unfortunately, the way of the world – both yours and mine – is progress, and I’d be a liar if I said all progress is beneficial. The griffins have their shootsticks, and the minotaurs recently created blunderbusses as well, and if neither species had invented firearms, another one would have. The pandas are fairly creative and scientific-minded, and the kitsune have a militant enough mindset that it would have been feasible. The gargoyles and centaurs, while overall peaceful, have stark reminders that they do not live in a world that’s entirely peaceful to them, and Abyssinians can be fair weather friends as a species, sad to say. Sooner or later, somepony would have done it, and as you can see, they already have. All in all, we’re lucky that the griffins are in the midst of a centuries-long civil war, but sooner or later that will end in one way or another, and a unified Griffonstone, like Minos, will have a military advantage over us. I hate to admit it, but with the weapons from your world, it would make things easier for us.”
“Shining, we didn’t come here to sell weapons to your people or to even introduce our weapons to your world,” the human reminded him. “I know as a military man, you have to think that way, but my sister came here to introduce peace to the world and show everyone out there that humans aren’t the nightmares the myths have them believe. Hard to do that if we’re presenting ourselves as arms dealers.”
“I know; I’m just thinking of the uncomfortable facts and unsavory parts of military life,” the prince reminded his counterpart. “That’s the joy of being the EUP Captain – I have to think of ways to protect my people and my family and not all of them are going to be devoted to peace. Believe me, I’d be much happier if we lived in a world where my job was nonexistent, but if such a place exists, it’s clearly beyond both your species and mine.”
Shining thought about the hell he’d been through in the past year, and then the “remixed” version, due to the new timeline. He’d lost friends and fellow officers in either case, and had to worry about his own life and that of his family in either. Hell, his sister had even died in one of them, though he was still wrapping his mind around that. In fact, that he had somehow managed to normalize all of this either spoke wonders for his abilities as an officer of the law, or the fact that his sister was an alien goddess was the least of his problems now.
He retrieved his gun from the table and holstered it. “I get what you mean,” he stated. “I’ve seen too many good men and women die fighting the good fight against criminals and even though I would rather it never happen again, I know it will. All I can do is just keep them in my memories and continue to live life as I should.”
“Well, then let’s focus on other things,” Prince Shining agreed as he gestured away from the parade grounds, heading out. “You ever play a game called Ogres & Oubliettes?”
“Well, based on my initial tests, you’re as fit as a fiddle, Your Highness, not that any alicorn wouldn’t be,” the doctor said, turning away briefly from the charts. “In fact, I can’t see anything wrong except for….” He paused. “Oh, my. Oh my, oh, my.”
“What is it, Dr. Wellness?” Princess Cadance asked, suddenly worried. At her side, the human Cadance put a comforting hand on her counterpart’s withers. She knew that tone and it rarely boded anything positive.
Wellness gave her a wide smile. “Your Highness…it is my proud duty to say you’re with foal.” He looked at the chart again. “Twins, in fact.”
“Twins?” the princess stated, her jaw dropping.
“Yes. Looks like you’re about two months along, Your Highness. Congratulations. I will, of course, keep it confidential up until you and your husband decide to make a public announcement.”
“I…I’m going to have twins,” the princess said to herself, as if she couldn’t believe it.
“Congratulations,” her human counterpart told her, truly happy for her. At the same time, however, a note of concern crept into her voice. She forced it out, however.
“C’mon,” Princess Cadance said jubilantly to Cadance. “Let’s go find the colts and let them know.”
Seated in her office, the Princess Highfalutin’ read the most recent reports. Her little pet project was coming along swimmingly: in the few days that she’d taken charge of this blasted wasteland of a province, she’d cowed a number of committees and councils into submission, making it clear just who was in charge here in the province. Furthermore, her little attack dog, Teeline, had taken her advice to heart and reportedly had confronted that goody-two-hooves Sunmane and made her backdown in front of her village council.
Now all she had to do was to tighten her grasp around this province and it would be her personal playpen.
There was a knock at the door, and with a tone that she carefully made sound as though she was distracted by work, stated, “Come in.” As the door opened, revealing Teeline, Highfalutin’ practiced her most wan smile. “Oh, good, you’re here – a bit of sanity in my day.”
Teeline gave her princess a soft smile. “I don’t think I’m that much of a good fortune, Your Highness.”
“You are more than you know,” she lied. “If it weren’t for you, I would have problems turning this province around. Thanks to you, we finally have a chance of making things better for our ponies.” Though in truth she didn’t give a single damn about said ponies, it sounded good and it was convincing enough to almost sound as though she was being sincere.
“Here’s the report you asked for,” Teeline said, producing a summary of the Major Prep that had gone on the day before. Due to her duties-slash-exile, she could not attend, though likely those damnable harridelles, the alicorns, made more than enough of an excuse for her. Between them and their toady, Kibbitz, it was a wonder that the mountain Canterlot rested upon was still standing. In any case, she had a general idea of what had presumably happened: in her absence, most likely many of her erstwhile allies decided to take advantage of the power vacuum and set themselves up as the new mover and shaker, only to run headlong into Celestia’s daughter, who very much didn’t play by the same rules that her (presumed) mother did.
Sure enough, the report detailed Riven Oak’s attempt at corralling the young alicorn, and how she pretty much turfstomped him into the marble tiles of Nobility House. The fact that Sunset Shimmer had a mind that was far different than that of her so-called mother made her probably the most dangerous of the alicorns. Fortunately, she was easily attended to by the fact that she didn’t live in the same reality as the rest of them, given that she seemed very tied to the humans she arrived with.
She looked at Teeline. “Teeline, dear, would you find out all that you can about Princess Sunset? I suspect that we may have an ally here in helping us improve the standing of our residents and I would welcome that.” As Teeline nodded and departed, the unicorn gave herself a self-satisfied grin; while the simpering little filly probably wouldn’t find out anything that Highfalutin’ could use, it would serve as a starting point for Trapper and Redeye to truly dig at what hidden information was there on Sunset Shimmer. After all, the chances of an all-powerful unicorn just suddenly having an argument with her mother and heading away for years only to return as an alicorn seemed more than a little incredulous. And even though Riven Oak had blown his chance to get across what was likely the truth about Sunset, it didn’t mean that his little tantrum couldn’t be put to actual use.
She made a mental note to get the full record of what happened during the Preps, if only so that she could see how Oak had overplayed his hoof and how Sunset had shoved it right back at him; finding out a method to counter that mare would be something to file away for safekeeping and revealed when necessary. After all, when the day came that Highfalutin’ would be able to challenge Celestia for the throne, if Highfalutin’ was to get back what was rightfully hers, it wouldn’t be the elder alicorn that would be the problem…
…it would be the younger.
The “stallion cave” that Prince Shining had built for his Ogres & Oubliettes adventures significantly impressed Shining. The year before Sunset had come into their lives, he, Cadance and a bunch of their friends had gone to GenCon. There, they had found a modern bar that was an accurate depiction of a Dungeons & Dragons tavern, and the group delighted in spending quite a bit of their time there, both in-costume and out of it.
Down here, in the prince’s O&O room, the ambience and décor was very similar. At the moment, Shining had a tankard of wheat beer (stronger than the stuff he was usually accustomed to drinking but apparently still safe for human consumption) in hand while he planned out his character; next to him, several other members of the staff, mostly off-duty guardsponies but more than a few others who weren’t military, were doing much the same. One or two of the maids, while not playing, seemed to be interested enough that they decided to stay and watch the proceedings. And finally, seated behind the Dungeonmaster (or rather, Oubliettelord) screen and setting the overall mood, was Prince Shining, who had shed his normal attire for a spooky looking cloak.
The pony seated next to him, a guard by the name of Speckled Obsidian, looked at the human’s sheet. “Uh…what’s an elf?” he asked.
“Fantastical creature that looks like a human, but doesn’t actually exist,” Shining explained. “Our legends about them are that they mainly live in the forest, have long ears and impossibly long lifespans, but otherwise mostly look and act like humans.”
“So…like deer?” Obsidian asked.
Across from him, a maid just scoffed. “Obsidian, I keep telling you – deer exist!”
Obsidian just shook his head and looked at the human. “Don’t mind Lace Agate there,” he confided. “She’s a little off her rocker.”
“But they exist! I keep telling you!” Lace insisted. “They live in the same place as the kirin do!”
“Except that the kirin have never seen them, and even they think deer are fictional,” stated a zebra butler by the name of Zuri. At first, Shining had been curious about the zebra’s non-use of rhyming slang, until Zuri had pointed out that he had been a visitor to the Empire just before everything had gone down and had been sheltered by kindly ponies who had been against Sombra’s rule and so had been caught when the Empire had been timeswept. As the rhyming patois had taken root long after that time, he’d never been familiar with it and so obviously didn’t speak in such a manner. He had stayed on in the Empire, mainly due to the crystal mare he’d settled down with.
Lace pointed at Shining. “Well, we thought humans were fictional, too, and clearly they’re not!”
Another maid, a mare named Fantastone, looked at her. “I swear, you sound like that mare out in Ponyville! You know, the ones with the weird notions about humans and Sunset Shimmer and….” The mare paused, then looked at Shining sheepishly. “Which, er, I guess they turned out to be true, huh?”
Lace thrust an accusing hoof at Fantastone. “You take that back! Lyra Heartstrings is a genius when it comes to these things! She’s the greatest scholar on the unknown since Talespinner!” The mare squeed. “Did you know that in her last newsletter to the group that she’s going to start looking into the legends of Lybians?”
Obsidian looked at Lace oddly. “The group?”
“Yeah! The Directly Unexplained Multilateral Bureau! We study all the things in Equestria that nopony believes is true and prove it!”
Fantastone facehoofed. “You named your group DUMB?”
“That was…coincidental!”
Prince Shining groaned and leaned on a hoof. “You guys are doing it again,” he groaned.
Shining looked at his counterpart. “This happen all the time?”
“Entirely too much,” the prince admitted.
Obsidian then looked at the clock on the wall. “Great, there went all my free time. I need to get home to grab lunch before I take on the afternoon patrol shift.”
Prince Shining blew a lock of his mane out of his face. “Yeah, I guess we’ll pick up where we left off next week.” He looked at his counterpart. “Sorry about that.”
“Well, maybe I can talk my sister into letting me find a way to join your games. Plus, then I can bring over my D&D gear.”
“D&D? What’s that?”
“Dungeons & Dragons – it’s like O&O, but made for humans,” Shining explained.
“Wow, that name sounds completely made up!” Fantastone drolled.
Just then, a page came down looking for the prince. “Prince Shining! Princess Cadance needs to see you as soon as possible!”
Fujitsu seethed. He had been arrested! Arrested, like he was some common one-tail, by these…ponies! So-called allies who arrested him for his decision to seek his intended in the Manner of the Night! How dare they? Didn’t they know who he was?
Worse still, he’d been here two whole days and he had yet to be released even with his diplomatic immunity. Not even the alicorns were brave enough to challenge his father, the emperor, so either they were holding him in secret, or…
He smiled. Yes, that had to be it. How could he be so blind? Clearly Octavia desired him so much that she asked Baroness Sunset to arrange for a secret tryst for them. Given his brother’s prohibition, if the human vixen so very much wanted to give him the clouds and rain, obviously it would have to be discreet.
He went back to the bed and sat down, knowing it would fulfill a proper use soon.
Seated on the opposite end of the scrying spell, several Agency offers tried to figure out a psychological profile of the prince, as was standard procedure.
“Did you see that?” Fakeout asked, turning to his colleague. “The guy was raging and then suddenly gave himself a smile, laughed and sat down on the bed as if he was waiting for somepony.”
Fakeout’s colleague, Mindgames, watched as the kitsune just luxuriated in his cell after his tantrum. “Seems like somepony’s got an unstable mind,” she commented. “Continue watching him and I’ll go report our findings to the Director.”
“Shouldn’t we, ah, not go that high? I mean the section chief’s just down the hall and—”
“No, we got our orders on this one: the Director’s taken a personal interest in this particular case. It’s why he’s being held by us and not the Guard.”
Fakeout frowned. “And here I thought it was because it wasn’t squeaky-clean enough for the Guard.” He then turned to look back at his subject – and blanched. “Did he just…?”
“Yeah,” Mindgames agreed, jotting it down onto her notepad. “Anyway, I’m going to go talk to the Director about this. Be right back.”
Mindgames took the elevator up eight levels from the sublevel where the freakstick kitsune was being held in his cell, and up to the main Agency building. Unlike the other services that protected Equestria, the Agency’s headquarters didn’t look like an official government building, but instead was in the old Green Onion Grocery Co. Ltd. building. Sure, there was an “official” Agency building, but it held the organization’s less clandestine functions. This was where the real business of spycraft went on.
As she exited the elevator she walked down a blank hallway with unadorned doors, until she reached one at the end of the hall. She placed her hoof on the door and it glowed a soft white before the color changed to green. The door then slid away, granting her ingress.
Inside was a tastefully decorated office, with chairs, a coffee table and a desk, behind which sat another pony. Behind her was a second set of doors, which were currently closed. “Good morning, Agent Mindgames. Are you here to see the Director? He’s in with another agent at the moment.”
“It’s about Captive 221,” the earth mare replied.
“Ah, yes, he wished to be informed of that. Please, go ahead on in.” She gestured to the doors. Mindgames walked in to see Blueblood talking with a familiar earth mare.
“Ah, Agent Mindgames,” he said, gesturing to a seat. “Good to see you. I was just talking to Agent Sweetie Drops—”
“Bon-Bon, if you please, Blu,” the earth mare replied. “I’m retired, and so is my Agency codename.” Looking at the newcomer, she gave a smile. “Good to see you, Yuma. How are things?”
Mindgames, whose real name was Yuma Spurs, took a seat. “They’re great, Bons. We miss you around here. I know why you retired, but the place just doesn’t seem the same without you.” She then turned to the prince. “C221 started doing some…interesting…things. Thought you might want to know about it.”
Blueblood started reading the report and raised an eyebrow. “By interesting I take it you mean disgusting,” he said, his eyes narrowing.
“Well, far be it from me to consider the sexual deviancy of other species, even with my psychology degree,” Yuma commented, “plus he thought he was in total privacy. Apparently it hasn’t occurred to him that he’s under surveillance.”
“Well,” he said with displeasure, “let me know if anything further happens. The Ministry of Justice is compiling the charges and sharing them with the Inariese government, and once the coronation is over, we’ll turn him over. But until then, I want to know everything about that little rapist bastard and I want enough to nail him to the wall, got that?”
Yuma was surprised by her superior’s sudden anger. “Got it.” She turned back to Bon-Bon. “If you’re in town for a while longer, let’s do lunch, okay?”
“My coltfriend and I are in town this weekend as guests for the coronation, so sure, just let me know,” Bon-Bon replied as Yuma departed. She then turned back to her original conversation. “Well, if there’s any indicator that you’ve changed, Blu, I guess that would be it.”
“I appreciate the candor,” he told her, then leaned forward, his chin resting on his forehooves. “Are you sure you’re not interested in coming back?”
“Trust me, I’m happy doing my thing as a confectioner. I mean, if there’s ever a world-spanning war or crisis, sure, count me in, but until then, I’m happily retired.”
Blueblood leaned back in his chair. “Bons, if there’s one thing you should know about Equestria by now – especially since you were in the Agency – is that there’s always a crisis.”
“Twins?” the prince asked his wife a few minutes later. She nodded and he lovingly embraced her. “That’s great! We’ll have to think of names and everything! And wait until we tell the family! They’ll be completely thrilled.”
“I know,” Princess Cadance told her husband. “We need to start thinking of names, and we should start preparing the bedrooms and everything! Do we have enough space for cribs in our bedchambers?”
A slight distance away, the human Cadance watched as her counterpart and Shining’s counterpart happily celebrated the wonderful news. However, there was something tugging at her heart. They looked so perfect together and they most certainly deserved this moment of joy, and Cadance knew she should have been happy for the couple, as it was, in a sense, a portent of her own life with her fiancé.
So why didn’t she feel that?
Shining saw the look on her face and whispered in her ear, “I know that look in your eye. Do we need to talk?”
Leaving the two lovebirds be to their moment of joy, the two walked away, finding a secluded balcony where they could be alone. “Cady,” Shining began. “It’s not a contest, okay? We’re going to get married next year and we’ll have time to work on a family. They’re a few years older than us and have been married for a couple of years already, so it’s natural that they’re already at that point.”
She shook her head. “No, that’s not it,” she told him. “I know we’re going to have children. I know, because….”
“Because?”
“Because….” She looked at him sadly and said, “Because…this has been willed where what is willed must be.”
Shining paused as he took note of what she said. “Those…those words: I’ve heard them before, but I can’t recall where.”
“I can,” Cadance told him. “Those are the same words Sunset’s grandmother said just before she changed everything. And those are the words I heard in my mind a couple of months ago…when I met the mothers of our daughters.”
“The what?”
“I…I don’t know how to say this,” Cadance began. She paced around nervously, then bit her fingernail as she debated whether or not to tell him their fate. Because it was just that: a fate that was beyond what either of them had expected, and one that had been opened up to Cadance. She looked down at the ground, unable to continue.
He reached out and raised her chin, so his eyes met hers. “Cady…I’m here. Tell me.”
“I….” she paused and looked at him bleakly; there was no easy way to do this. “Somehow, I received a message from Sunset’s grandmother, Queen Faust. We won’t have children of our own. Our fate is to save the Children of Three.”
“Children of Three?” Shining looked at his betrothed as if she’d thrown on Prince Shining’s cloak and started to lay out a D&D campaign. “That sounds like something out of Neverwinter Nights, Cady! What are you talking about?”
“Our children. Our…daughters.” She wrapped her arms around her and suddenly felt very cold. “I’ve met the mothers. We have to save our daughters, Shining. When they’re born, we have to.” The passion in her voice was clearly there, and the look in her eyes was haunted. “I know it doesn’t make any sense, but when has any of this made sense? Our own lives are no longer our own, Shiny!”
Shining looked at her. “What are you talking about?”
“We’re fated to have two children that aren’t ours, born of three mothers and no father! Do you know how weird that sounds?”
“Cady, you’re right – you’re not making any sense!”
“Because it doesn’t make sense!” Cadance cried.
“Cady, I don’t know what’s going on,” he told her, “but you know I’m here for you.” He looked at his fiancée, and there was nothing but love in his eyes. “Please, Cady…explain everything.”
So she did: she related what had been prophesized to her and what Sunset had confirmed. Of the unnatural fate that had come about and that even now, it had been confirmed, as strange as it was. Of what would come, and that fate had chosen her to be the standard bearer for it. None else would be suitable, wyrd demanded, and not even Sunset herself could countermand it.
“You should have dated Sandy,” she told him. “You wouldn’t be tied to this…this…whatever it is!”
“Yes, I would, because I never saw Sandy, or Hearts or Lemony like I did you,” he told her. “I have never wanted my life intertwined with them as I have with you. We were meant to be together, Cady, whether it’s at home or here in this fantastical place. You have always had my heart and you always will.” He walked over to her and took her hand in his. “And we will get through this, you and I.”
“Even if it means…?”
He nodded. “We face everything together, sweetheart.”
“Well, we’re glad to hear that.” Both humans turned to see both of their counterparts, standing there, looking at them. “I felt the anguish in your heart, Cadance,” Princess Cadance told her. “But I didn’t know what it was. I thought it might be envy, but I suppose I should have known better.”
“No, it wasn’t that,” Cadance replied. “You two deserve to have and love children of your own, and the line of Amore will be restored. But that’s not our path to walk – our fate will be much different.”
Prince Shining laughed. “You know…fate can be a funny thing. When my sister was born, none of us ever thought that she would grow up to be what she’s become. Not a single one of us…except for my grandfather, strangely enough. He said that Twily would probably be the strongest unicorn anypony had ever seen, and we thought that it was nothing more than a grandfather’s bias for his beautiful little newborn granddaughter. But…sure enough, he was right. When everypony looked at my newborn sister and thought she would follow in my father’s footsteps, no one believed that we were in the presence of a future alicorn. Maybe my grandfather didn’t even know. But he saw something in her that moment, something that marked her fate in a way that has defined her ever since.”
Princess Cadance nodded. “Cadance, I know this bothers you, because of what you believe in and that you don’t know how to handle it. But you have the love of somepony…er, someone who will be there for you. You will love those girls, not because you were fated to be their mother. You will love them because you’ll be their mother, fate or not. And anything else that comes along with it is just window dressing.”
“How can you be so sure?” Cadance, still filled with doubt, asked her counterpart.
The princess gave a soft smile, as if she had the key answer to a puzzle. “I grew up as a pegasus in a small town, not knowing that my family was descended from the last surviving line of the House of Amore. I had no knowledge that I was a princess, much less that I would become an alicorn, and if you’d asked me before any of it happened, I would have thought that I would have just grown up to be an average filly in an average town, not knowing what direction fate would point me in. I certainly wouldn’t have thought that I’d become the ruling princess of the Empire, or have a husband that thinks the world of me,” she said, reaching over to nuzzle him. “Fate only gives you the map – it can’t make you walk the path.”
“But if I don’t walk that path….”
~ Otherwise, I fear my rage and anger will pass to my own daughter and she will become a flurry of hate and despair~
In her mind’s eye, Cadance saw ice and storms in her mind. Gale force winds that tore at everything, a violent scirocco. She then saw nothing but love, and the blizzard became gentle powder flitting to the earth, the blustery winds becoming a warm, gentle breeze. She understood everything at that moment.
“We’ll have to give up our honeymoon,” Cadance suddenly said to Shining. “We can’t afford it if we’re going to have a family right out of the gate.”
“Are you sure about this?” Shining asked her.
She nodded. “Your sister can’t do everything alone, Shiny – we shouldn’t leave everything on Sunny’s shoulders. It will be hard, but…yes. I’m ready for this.”
“Well, perhaps we can help,” Prince Shining told her.
“We have a summer home in Bitaly – the ancestral home of the House of Amore – that you are welcome to use for as long as you wish,” Princess Cadance told her. “We ourselves spent some time there and it’s beautiful. And, having just gotten through the wedding, we both know that you’ll want to do the thing that is on most couple’s minds once they tie the knot.”
“And that is?” Shining asked.
The two royals looked at each other with knowing smiles, then turned to their counterparts. “Get some actual sleep,” they said with the tone of a pair imparting a grand secret.
Dinner that evening was at a fine restaurant in Snow’s Edge, the northernmost town in the Empire, right on the line of the where the Crystal Heart’s power met the unyielding snows of the north. It was quite unusual, seeing the green spring grasses of a beautiful evening come right up against a solid wall of ice that stretched hundreds of feet into the air and beyond as magic gave way to the forces of nature. The restaurant in question, the Snowline, was wildly popular and many times it was booked solid for weeks in advance. So when the princess and prince of the Empire had requested to dine there the first time after its opening, the restaurant owner and the waitstaff went out of their way to make sure their rulers had the time of their life at their restaurant. Since then, even with the busy schedule the Snowline maintained, they always had a table specially reserved for their princess and prince, so that they would be able to enjoy their time at the restaurant and to enjoy the delicious food.
And right now, that was happening…though not in the way that Princess Cadance would have preferred.
“No, you can’t have that,” Prince Shining told his wife. “You’re eating for three now, and that’s not the healthiest thing!”
“But Shiny,” Princess Cadance whined. “I want a double chili hayburger with everything on it, chili cheese hayfries and an oat shake! I always get that when I’m here!”
“Yes, but it’s different now,” he insisted. In response, she gave him an industrial strength pout.
Across from them, both Cadance and Shining laughed at their counterpart’s antics. The human Cadance and Shining were coming to terms with their own decision, and though for now they didn’t need to focus on it, the thoughts weighed heavily on the woman’s mind.
“I’m sorry, hon,” Cadance told Shining. “I panicked. I should have known better.”
“Cady, you were afraid,” Shining told her. “That’s only natural. We’re only just beginning to understand the world that Sunset’s brought into our lives and the roles we’ll play in it. But we’ll do it together.” He reached over and took her hand. “And that is a fate that I’ll willingly accept.”
“Me too,” she said, leaning over and kissing him.
Prince Shining looked at his wife. “You have something to do with that, Cady?”
Princess Cadance looked at their counterparts, so clearly in love and clearly ready for whatever would come their way. “No, it was all her. After all, did you know at her workplace, they call her ‘the goddess of love’?” The alicorn grinned as she looked at the other couple, so in love and so unprepared for the future – no different than any other pairing.
“She mentioned that, but I don’t see how that has anything to do with your abilities, dear.”
“Sometimes,” the alicorn of love said with a satisfied look on her face, “even the goddess of love wants to find her own. And even though it’s probably a path that she would have never thought of on her own, somehow…this just seems right.” She gazed at the couple, seeing their Strand growing stronger as they looked at one another. “Yes, this is just perfect for them.”
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...there is such a trope as Strangled by the Red String, isn’t there?
You know, I can't help but find Cadance's attitude about things that 'can't happen in Equestria' incredibly naive...considering they, and much worse, did happen in the very building she's living in, maybe right where she was sitting. She thinks the Club was bad, Ras should lend her Sombra's journal... Really pounded in when we switch from happy fun times in the Crystal Empire to the 'Highfaultin steps on people and plans her coup' show.
9782042
Yes, yes there is. And if the Pink ones have their way, Sunset will be it's victim. I'm thinking that string is there on Sunset's side because she would have that tinny little thing with any of her friends. She has seen the other realities where she gets when all of them.
Pinky, somehow, went to one of them. I stand far more with human Candace than the princess in this one. If they truly are "destined" well, Pinky better hope she gets a really long life out of her magic.
9782295
There’s a difference between love and emotional addiction. And it is disturbingly easy to mistake the latter for the former.
9782279
It’s the same way people think that since Things are better in the present, so it really could not have that bad back in the past.
Twins? Skyla and Flurry?
9782334
Yes it is. I do also wonder about how Princess Cadence can be so Blaise about the imbalance in size as well. Pinky's is possiblity more all consuming than that shared between the Alicorn of Love and her sword.
The same kind of Love that still hurts Luna. Yet Sunset's is so anemic that it's damn near non-existent. I can't believe humans and ponies are so different for that to not be horribly unhealthy for all involved.
9782295
Well, there is the theory that Pinkie might be Sunset's swordbearer, which means she'll inherit an alicorn's lifespan...
9782518
It's about her only chance, seems like a crappy Sword for Sunset though. Tia gets Starswirl, Luna gets Alexander the Grate and Cadence gets Shining, but Sunset gets Pinky?
I mean it's looking like Twi is getting Pony Divine. We have a pattern here, and Pinky doesn't fit it...
Where did that chat between Faust and Cadence happen, again???
9782557
What pattern, though?
Div and Shining seem to be the only true military ones. The other swordbearers are a wizard of legend, and two peasants turned knights. If anything, Pinkie has more in common with Bucephalus and the Megan than the others.
It's also plausible for Pinkie to be a swordbearer, because as Luna noted, they're not always lovers. Starswirl apparently treated Celestia like a beloved niece and from what little we know of the Megan, she and Faust had a formal knight-lord relationship, though were probably also close friends as well. Maybe that's Pinkie's fate.
9782944
Now for the fun side question - who will be TWILIGHT's swordbearer?
9782042
It wouldn't apply. I think I've been fairly lengthy in documenting Sunset and Pinkie's "will-they-won't-they", which that trope doesn't do.
9782841
End of 7DSJ Book IV.