The Ruler of Ponies and Men

by Boopy Doopy

(10-4) Foolish Ideals

It was now Cadance’s turn to follow Brimstone as he lead her to the outskirts of Canterlot near the base of the mountain that stood behind it. It wasn’t the size of Mount Everhoof, but it did tower quite distinctly above the surrounding terrain. Cadance blinked as she realized it was right in front of them, knowing where this trip was going.

“Please don’t tell me we’re going to have to go up there…” she trailed. “I don’t have the magic or wing strength for that right now. I just got out of those chains they wrapped around me.”

“I mean, we can walk,” Brimstone offered. “You have four perfectly capable hooves. Besides, it’s how I got up here the first time to hide the bell.”

“Can’t you teleport us up to where we need to be?” she asked as she took in the mountainside. “I mean, you are a unicorn after all. Prove to me that you’re strong enough to help me by teleporting us up to the top.”

“Come on, you’re not gonna be that lazy, will you?” Brimstone pushed her. “You’re gonna let a little mountain hike stop you from conquering Equestria?”

“I- well- I just haven’t been as active lately. I told you, I’ve been cooped up in that castle for months on end and haven’t worked myself out yet. It’ll be weeks or maybe months before I’m in tip-top shape. Just teleport us up there, okay?”

“Ugh, fine,” Brimstone conceded, rolling his eyes before casting the spell. He wasn’t as magically built up as the rulers of Equestria, and so was only able to get about a fourth of the way to the cave on the mountainside where the bell was hidden.

“Sorry, I don’t have enough magic to take us both all the way to the top,” he announced to her. “But luckily we landed on the trail this time. I almost died trying to hide it last time when I ended up on the cliff face. But uh, yeah, we’re gonna have to walk. Sorry, but you're gonna have to use your legs.”

“Of course, you can’t even get us both there,” the alicorn complained, kicking a rock and rolling her eyes as she walked behind him. “You’re lucky I even choose to work with you.”

“Oh yeah, I’m lucky,” he rolled his eyes as they walked. Well, he had to admit, he was a little bit lucky that he was working with her. He had an effectively foolproof way to get in good and grab a position of power. Just make a plan with Cadance and then, when all seemed lost, come in and save the day. No hassle in the slightest, everything should go smoothly.

They walked silently for a while, Cadance mostly grumbling to herself as they did so, the trail spiraling around the mountain until they were about a third of the way up. Once they got to that point, a narrow section of the trail branched off into the mountain, creating a small pass and, eventually, a cave.

“This way!” Brimstone called, jogging ahead into the darkness. “It’s in here, follow me!”

“You better not jump me,” Cadance warned. “I may not be up to speed magic wise, but I’m still an alicorn, so watch out.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m not gonna do that,” he said, silently thinking to himself that he could take her on. “Anyway, here it is!” As he said it, he levitated the bell up for her to see, lighting up his horn as he did so so she could get a good view.

Cadance’s heart pounded as she stared at it in his magic, asking, “How does it work? Do you know how to use it?”

“Yes I do, and it’s simple really,” he explained. “You just place your magic into it like this…” he told her, demonstrating. “And then you hit it on this side, and…” He did just that and watched as Cadance was drained of her magic. She didn’t look very much different, although a little more tired with bags under her eyes now and slumped down more.

“Huh, I thought it would’ve taken your magic and you’d be on the ground and not able to do anything.”

“I’m sure I would but you forget I had a ring on my horn that stole my magic from me for months on end. I’m used to it by now, and don’t have very much magic built up as it is.”

“Ah, well, anyway, to return magic to yourself or whoever you want, you just do the same thing, except in reverse.” With that, he rang the bell and placed his magic back into it, returning the magic he took back to Cadance. “See?” he said. “Easy peasy. And between the two of us, this’ll be effortless.”

“It seems so,” she replied absentmindedly, focusing on what she was about to do. “Hey, can I see that bell for a second?”

“Sure, you can test it out, too, if you want,” he offered, floating it over to her. “Just make sure you- whoa!”

All of a sudden, she was using it to steal his magic, and when she was done a second later, quickly turned around to walk away, storing his magic in the bell for later.

“Haha, that’s a good one,” the stallion laughed nervously as he felt his legs going weak and fell down to the ground. “But I do actually need my magic to help you. Can you give it back now that you tested it out?”

“Here’s a little lesson in trickery,” Cadance smiled smugly. “Don’t show your secret weapon to someone who said that they didn’t want to work with you before, idiot.”

“...what?”

“Did you seriously think I’d work with you?” the alicorn asked. “I don’t even know you, and you really thought I would trust you? You have extremely foolish ideals if that’s the case. But that’s just how the politics of it all goes.”

“But I just gave you Grogar’s-”

“And you’re an idiot for it,” she interrupted. “That’s your fault. But you did help me. A few months to recharge should be more like a few weeks now because of you, so thanks.” With that, not another word was spoken as Cadance trotted away, Brimstone only able to blink at her shrinking figure in the distance as he processed what happened.

“Well…” he thought to himself, “I guess that just leaves telling Sombra about this as my only plan…”

Author's Note:

I thought we'd be all wrapped up by now, but we've probably three more chapters to go.

Comments

[Clawfoot]

So Cadence is the new Tirek essentially. Can't wait to see this blow up in her face.

[Loganic]

Idiot.

[JustAnotherUsername]

Sombra/Alex and Brimstone vs A powered up cadence, that'd be cool looking

[Misty Shadow]

Dumb and dumber. Better than him sending Cadance to attack Equestria though.

[Spiritus Arcane]

And Brimstone is rewarded as a traitor(and idiot) deserves.

[Knight of Crows]

Again, all idiots for trusting her further than the axe can reach. She's lucky she even got the trial considering no other villain had that luxury, even luckier to be pardoned for crimes that I would expect to be punishable only by death or life imprisonment, and if she still has her wings and horn after this, the judge must be even more forgiving than people like Jesus.

[Wolfwaffe]

Here's a little lesson in trickery

I see what you did there

[tsaukpaetra]

11010024
This is going down in history...

[Moonlight_Mist]

Does Cadance actually still believe she'll have a home to go back to much less any shot at ruling a kingdom at this rate?

[KingChaos]

11010938
She thinks she does. She's just that delusional.

[josue]

11013086
And this is why I don't believe in certain types of Mercy a full pardon with no punishment for what she did you see where that went

[Tape Deck]

Yeah, this Candace is just downright evil.
Not that there wasn't proof already