The Saviour of Saddle Arabia

by The Marshmallow

3 - If it tastes like love...

[...] The reign of Duchess, later Queen, Oasis the Wise was for the most part thoroughly unremarkable. On the domestic front, she was a very capable and hooves-on administrator, but she didn't promote any significant reform. In international politics, she was known for her passivity. She never pledged any of her troops to Equestria if not asked, nor she was on the forefront promoting trade agreements.

In retrospect, she mostly waited for opportunities to arise, ready to seize them at a moment notice. Never it was as apparent as when, upon the return of Lord Discord, she immediately decided to support him, being the first ruler under Equestrian influence to do so. While it came as a surprise to many, it proved to be the right choice; as others submitted themselves to our Lord, she managed to assume a leadership position in the coalition, becoming a symbol of continuity and stability in those uncertain times.

Her loyalty didn't go unnoticed; Lord Discord himself rewarded her with more autonomy for Saddle Arabia than it had had in centuries, making it a kingdom once again from the duchy it had been for the longest time. Also, her agreement protected for a long time her subjects from Chaos, which even today our lord so rarely unleashes upon the White City.

Thus Oasis fulfilled her ancestors' dreams; earning once more the title of Queen for herself and her progeny, alongside the well-deserved name of "Wise".

-'Histories of Saddle Arabia, Volume VI', Various authors

As the late afternoon came, the heat of the day started to dissipate, giving way to a fresh breeze coming from the north-east. In saddle Arabia, everypony loved that merciful time of the day, from the poorest beggars to the most powerful nobles, from the lowly artisans to the richest merchants. Royalty was no exception.

In the shade of the porches of the white palace, overlooking the beautiful secluded garden encased like a gemstone in the castle's cloister, Chrysalis and Discord were relaxing and having fun. At least, Discord was having a lot of it; The Changeling, posing as Oasis, was mostly giving him forced smiles and fake laughter. The visual gags he could perform thanks to his god-like powers, albeit impressive, were just so childish. A waste of his potential, even.

"...And then I turned him into a parakeet!"

Discord laughed heartily, while even the Queen couldn't help but chuckle. She did find the anecdotes of how he dealt with anypony who bothered him quite funny, even inspiring. Recently he was telling more and more of those, which was making their rendezvous a little more enjoyable. "That should be a lesson he won't forget", she simply commented, a little smile on her muzzle.

"Right?" And Discord agreed, a smile twice as large on his lips; he then rose from his chair and quickly floated towards the garden. Among the flowerbeds, which collected the most beautiful samples the kingdom had to offer, luxuriant trees sprouted, offering ripe and plentiful fruit. He was focused one of these, an equestrian apple tree, from which he picked the ripest, most perfect pome he could find. But as soon as he had it firm in its grasp its intense red colour started to turn into a shiny golden under the effect of his chaos. For a few moments, he seemed quite intent in the act, in sharp contrast with the effortlessness that usually characterized its magic. And then... "Catch!"

Chrysalis, who had been observing and wondering what he was doing, was still caught off guard. The apple started to fly towards her, suddenly thrown by the Draconeequs, and was her a simple pony she would barely have been able to react in time. being a changeling queen, though, came with some advantages. Her reaction-time was excellent, and in a fraction of a second, her hoof was already in the position to catch it. She didn't need too, though, as the pome stopped mid-air, repositioned itself precisely, and then slowly descended towards her hoof. She sighed. Discord liked to have her taste different foods and have her relate them to emotions... Which she just found demeaning. "I shouldn't eat this, it's almost dinner time."

"You really are getting used to being a pony, aren't you?" The queen blushed slightly; they both knew very well that a Changeling had little use for regular food. But that was not was she meant. She should have expected Discord wouldn't take the polite hint. But maybe it was enough to change the topic of conversation... "Talking about the time... I wonder why Cadence isn't back yet?" He vanished for a moment reappearing just beside the Queen, sitting sideways on his chair and facing her, a ponderous expression on his face.

"I have no idea", and she was being honest. She had given clear orders to her servants, orders that included timeliness. She had never seen him be away from his niece for so many hours, and despite the prospect of spending the afternoon alone with the Queen clearly being something he cherished, he didn't want him to worry. She had no idea what the consequences could be. "The princess should be fine, anyways." Whichever inconvenience she could come across, she was escorted by well-trained guards. And despite her being young and poorly trained, she had quite the unbelievable magical reserve.

"She is." And he said it in such a matter of fact way, as not to leave any other option, that the queen herself was quite surprised. She expected at least a little bit of worry, but there was none whatsoever. "I've been teaching her how to defend herself." He sounded quite proud of her niece. Not the fastest learner, maybe, but her alicorn-ness brought even relatively advanced spells within her grasps. "I was wondering if something interesting might have happened to her..."

Chrysalis nodded understandingly... But once again, she had failed to read him. It was much harder, being she unable to sense some of his emotion like she would have done with anypony else. "I believe we'll know soon enough." Given the time, she thought, they should have been well on their way back. If something bad had happened, some of the spies she had disseminated around the city would have already related it to her. "We should go check if the servants are making dinner properly..." And saying so, she started to move towards the palace.

Or at least she tried, as Discord appeared right in front of her, gazing intensely in her direction. First to her, then to the golden apple, and finally to her once again. She would never not be disturbed by his attempt at puppy eyes... But she also knew better than ignoring such a direct hint. Suppressing a sigh, she went and bit the plump fruit, which broke in his mouth with a satisfying crunching sound. After chewing it just a little, honest surprise surfaced in her eyes. "It is good", she admitted.

It still didn't quite taste like love, but it was getting closer.

---

Just like her adoptive uncle, Cadence was having a lot of fun. The four guards accompanying her and the two servants pulling the elegant carriage… Not so much. The ride across the capital city had gone on without accidents of any kind, but it had still dragged on much longer than anypony would have expected. The single culprit was the princess herself, due to her sheer excitement. Not only she loved the sights of the city and greatly enjoyed smiling and waving to the ponies in the streets… But a bit too often her sight was captured by some potential detour, which led her escort to hear once again the now all too familiar command of: “There, there! Go there next!”

All the guards, four robust-looking Saddle-Arabian earth ponies, rolled their eyes simultaneously. And yet none of the guards, changelings in disguise as it happened, were keen on disobeying or disappointing royalty; their training was very clear about possible consequences. One of them had to speak up though, and the highest-ranked among them took the lead, readily elbowing one of them and wordlessly ordering him to do the deed “P…Princess.” He said, betraying some anxiety “I believe it is time to go back to the palace. Lord Discord must be very worried…”

“Aww…” Unsurprisingly, the princess was disappointed, and the unfortunate guard that had just spoken was already covered in cold sweat… When she said something much more reassuring: “I suppose you are right” Although the sun wasn’t yet setting, it had moved considerably from the position it was when they had started, and in contrast to the earlier heat it was getting kind of chilly. It was time to be responsible, stop playing and go back to… “That one! I want to go there!”

And the two disguised changelings dragging the carriage obeyed immediately, and despite being righteously tired after the long journey they did so gladly. In a stroke of luck, that would bring them back on the original route. Soon they were in a new road, much similar to the previous one but just slightly narrower. A secondary road, still large enough for the carriage to go through, lined with two stories white residential buildings and with a few ponies on the sides kneeling at their passage.

Then the road came to its end, and they turned right into a much larger street that would, in time, bring them to the palace. Unsurprisingly, there were also many more ponies there, one of which was... A bit too close. A colt appeared from right behind the corner, catching the group by surprise, and forcing them to an abrupt stop. And despite them not being quite that fast, the carriage was still pretty heavy and had considerable inertia that the two coachponies would be unable to fully contrast in the little time they had. Which wouldn't be a problem if only the colt could jump away to safety. As it happened, though, the surprised had locked him into a freeze reaction, making for a dangerous and unpleasant situation.

A situation that Cadence quickly averted, enveloping the colt in her aura and lifting him from the ground fast enough to save him, laying him just beside her afterwards. She panted for just a moment, feeling the effect of the brief but intense effort. Despite her gargantuan amount of magic and being taught by some of the best teachers bits could buy, she was still terribly inexperienced and wasteful in her spells. This made none of the guards less impressed, as such a fit was arduous even for an adult mare and impossible for the average filly her age.

As for the colt, he was impressed too, but as the surprise subsided, his eyes started to be filled with gratitude. He immediately threw himself at the princess, taking her in a hug, squealing "Thank you! Thank you!" The war was pretty warm, even pleasant. It had been a while she had received any hug but her uncle's, and the filly felt something stir inside her. The colt didn't seem to notice "I thought I was done for!"

He had barely time to end that sentence before the guards tackled him. Two pulled him away to from the hug and immobilized him, while the other two threatened him with the Saddle Arabian sabres held in their mouths. "What do you think you are doing, getting so close to the princess" The voice of the changeling was quite harsh, as one would have expected, and the colt was rightfully terrified.

The baffled princess, blushing and still a little bit confused by the sudden hug, finally had the chance to really look at the colt. Maybe it was the pristine white fur, or maybe the long-ish and a bit untamed sky coloured mane. It might have been his still small but solid frame, which promised to grow in quite a fine stallion. Possibly his eyes, which matched his mane and gazed at her with an impossible depth, which made her feel like she was falling in them. Whatever it was, her heart skipped a beat. "Let him go!" She still managed to look and sound surprisingly composed, even princess-like. Silk Pants would have been proud. "We should be the one apologizing, we almost ran over him!"

And she was not wrong. The guards, although still looking suspicious, did let him go immediately. "We are sorry", one of them even said, while two others put their weapons away. And the colt, still trying to calm himself down, could do nothing but nod, with an uncertain smile on his muzzle.

That pleased Cadence, especially since the smile was cute too, but that was not enough. "We should bring him to the palace, to give him a proper apology" And certainly there wasn't any self-interest in this offer. Absolutely none at all.

A chorus of "What?" echoed her order, equally from the colt and the changelings. The guards looked at each other, confused. This is not what they expected, nor it was what they were prepared for. And although the Queen did give no directive for how to act in such a situation, it was certainly not something they could do.

Right?

---

As Discord and the Chrysalis arrived in the dining room, her three children were already sitting at the table. Or at least, the oldest two were, while the youngest was being carried by her wet nurse just alongside them. They all rose from their chairs (and the nurse got closer as well), so the Queen could hug and kiss all of them. She did so ceremoniously, and yet it looked as if there was genuine affection.

The eldest of the three, a sand coloured mare in her late teens with an elegantly fashioned golden mane, was seemingly in her rebellious phase. She was the only one looking slightly bothered by that display of affection. The second in line, a twelve-or-so years old filly seemed on the contrary quite appreciative, not only welcoming but even reciprocating the kiss she received on her ground coloured forehead with a nuzzle to her mother's neck and smiled as the Queen delicately caressed her pink mane. The younger, a blueish colt with a sand-coloured mane who looked barely two, seemed content as well, but it was more difficult to gauge his reaction, given his apparent age.

Just as the Queen was pulling back, and Discord was stepping forward to hoof-shake them all, a miniature Discord appeared near the corner of her eye, quickly getting closer to her left ear, then whispering something unnoticed by anypony else "Which were the changelings, again?"

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. Once again he was proving how, despite being able to somehow sense changelings, he couldn't perceive the single individual, nor easily discern among changelings and non-changelings in a crowd; they were far too similar once transformed. That was good. What bothered her was the fact he was unable to remember that simple but vital concept. "Only the youngest one. The others know nothing", she barely whispered, counting on his exceptional hearing. It hadn't been three years since she replaced the real Oasis, so while she could easily fake her pregnancy, it was a bit too late to do the same for the two that had already been born a decade or more prior.

Also, it was worth noting that the 'actor' playing the young prince was much older than it seemed, somewhere around ten, and extremely talented for his age at that... If he was a two years old grub, he obviously wouldn't have been able to keep such a perfect shapeshifting.

Soon Discord pulled back as well, moving towards the table together with the Queen and her family. The table was prepared for five, meaning all the members of the two royal families minus the baby, which was still kept nearby for the moment. Discord sat first, and the Queen positioned herself right at his left. The two daughters sat on the other side of the table, in front of the two, and a single seat was still empty. It was the one to Discord's right, obviously reserved for Cadence. The Queen thought they should have been waiting for her a bit more, as it was still barely sunset.

It was as if he knew she would be there soon.

"Uncle Dissy, Uncle Dissy!" A pink blur bolted in the room, soon followed by the two guards that were supposed to escort her. They couldn't follow her easily, and certainly not when she was that excited. "You won't believe what happened today!" A few ponies were rolling their eyes in the room. The unruly princess must have been a bad influence on the much better-behaved princesses of Saddle Arabia, some servants thought, especially since they seemed to like her enthusiasm so much. But so did most of those working in the palace. Her cheerfulness was contagious!

Even Discord wasn't immune to it and was quite glad seeing her niece so happy. And he wanted to take part in the fun. "Wait, let me guess!" It seemed an interesting game. He put on his best, pensive face, and kept him for long moments... Then he finally asked: "Did you pick a stray or something?"

The princess wasn't even surprised at the weird but surprisingly relevant guess of his uncle, and could just answer with a small blush and a timid "Kind of?" mere moments later the white and blue colt arrived in the room, closely escorted by two guards. He looked lost, scared even by the context he had found himself him, but seeing the filly seemed to be of some relief. Maybe he was not as obvious as her, but he seemed to reciprocate her crush. "His name is Pristine Pond." They had quite some time to get to know each other, on the way back. "Can we keep him?"

It was a joke, to be fair, but only Discord started laughing.

Author's Note:

Setting the following scene would take too long, both time-wise and word-wise. And it's 1 am. I know I should probably re-read this once more, but I'm just too tired to do so.
And I don't want to procrastinate any more this chapter, which already took forever to make.

Also, it seems a nice, cliffhanger-ish place to stop!

With love,
The marshmallow.

Comments

[toshibafox]

I like this version of cadance better than canon for some reason.

One theory is that I see Cadance and Discord's relationship like that of Princess_celestia and blueblood except he's not being turned into a villian like most fanfics write him instead of trying to give him some depth.

[The Marshmallow]

9972013
Thank you!
I think that MLP doesn't really touch upon the intricacies of actually becoming a princess, nor the relationship between Celestia and Cadence (When the latter was replaced by Chrysalis, Celestia didn't even realize... How?!). That is definitely something I want to explore a bit more (Only with Discord instead of Celestia).
Writing a Cadence that is a bit more fun-oriented (being educated by Discord) and spoiled (receiving anything she could wish of) while still being "Cadence" is challenging, but I'm really glad you think I'm doing a good job!

P.S. I'm not dead, only a bit overworked. I should be able to finish the next chapter by the end of the week!