Heart of the North
Of all the things Cadance did in her day that brought her joy, nothing compared with being with her young daughter while she was at play. A warm, motherly smile was upon the pegasus mare's face as she watched her beloved Flurry, who was currently using her newly-awakened magical skill to levitate some lettered wooden blocks off the floor, much to her delight. The infant squealed with joy over moving them about at will, and though Cadance was always sure to keep an eye on them to make sure they didn't fall on her, she was nevertheless always willing to give a word of encouragement about it. "Very good, Flurry. You're getting better and better at it."
The little filly smiled to her parent before resuming her playtime, and before long Cadance's attention was drawn to a pair of youths beside her who had been standing at attention for some time now. "She's coming along very well with her skill, Priestess," the first declared.
Cadance looked to her, a young, female Changeling, predominantly blue in her colouring, who looked both happy and quite nervous to be present right now. Her fellow, a Yak, who was naturally much larger, maintained a far more confident smile about her. Cadance, showing her appreciation for the kind words, gave a quick nod. "Her teacher may be new to giving lessons to one as young as her, but it's clear that he's performing ably."
"No need worry," the young Yak declared. "Sunburst is best teacher!" she said with that same, wide smile.
While the Changeling looked to her colleague with horror at having spoken so boisterously, Cadance merely giggled. "High praise indeed," she said. "I'll be sure to let him know how well regarded he is." Then, before anycreature else could say a word, there was a sound of the door of the chambers opening to the side, and all eyes turned to see a white unicorn stallion, clad in distinct, purple armour, entering. He greeted the two acolytes with a nod, but his gaze soon fell upon Cadance. One look between them was all it took for her to understand that this was no social visit, and so she looked to the other two with a smile that all could have seen was merely for show. "Thank you for your attendance. Now, if you would be so kind as to escort my daughter back to her room please? I have matters to discuss with our head Paladin."
And just like that, the two got the message. They bowed to her, and within moments they were upon Flurry, the Changeling carrying her gently while the Yak took care of her blocks, taking them along in case she wanted to play with them further. The adults of the room watched them go, and once they were outside, with the stallion having given a genuine smile and a pat on the head to Flurry on her way out, the door was closed. Now alone, there was a moment of silence between them, and though they both knew that difficult things were going to be talked about, they were at least willing to allow themselves a moment of tenderness. They approached one another, the stallion removing his helmet before embracing her lovingly. She returned his hold, and only a second later they kissed, the intimate encounter lasting at least a few seconds before they parted. "I swear, every moment I spend away from you makes me feel so much less than I am," he said to her softly.
Cadance smirked slightly. "Flattery won't get a stallion anywhere in life, my love...but it certainly doesn't hurt." They shared a laugh, but the mood turned serious again as Cadance looked her husband in the eye. "I take it this is about our recent visitor, Shining?"
He nodded grimly to her. "Everywhere I go today it's all I've been hearing about. This is a sea change, Cadance."
Cadance sighed, moving away from him and looking out of her window to the shining, crystalline city they lived in. "It was a shock to me too, make no mistake. Nopony assumed anything would change out East, and now, all of a sudden, we have a new player on the board."
"And a dangerous one, from what I've heard. Say what you will about the Senate, but we knew how to handle them if need be. This Luna person is a total unknown to us, aside from all the battles she's apparently won."
His wife turned to look to him once more. "Their new ambassador was certainly a charming sort. A welcome change of pace from the entitled, old stallions we usually get sent by them." She glanced to the side. "She assures us that this change of leadership is not meant to signify any kind of hostile intent to their neighbours."
Shining narrowed his eyes slightly. "Did you believe her?"
Cadance considered that for a time before answering. "I believe that she believes it. Whether it's the genuine intent of her new leader has yet to be seen. Time will tell."
Shining was clearly uncomfortable with the matter, and he soon found himself walking over to the same window Cadance was standing by, looking out to the far horizon. "And the High Priestess? Is it her position too that we sit and wait?"
"Mother will always choose patience and caution, Shining, you know that," Cadance answered.
Shining impatiently tapped his hoof against the windowsill. "Our daughter has only just come into this world, my love. And now, we get news like this." Slowly, he hung his head. "I don't want her to grow up in a time of strife between our nations."
Cadance watched him closely, seeing the understandable fear and worry he carried. An so, putting on another gentle smile, she placed her hoof under his chin, lifting his face to look at hers. "And she won't. Our peoples have lived alongside each other for countless generations. Things have always been tense, but never bad. And there's no reason to assume this change will bring that calm to a close."
Shining stared into his wife's eyes for a long time, before finally smiling to her. "How are you always able to say exactly the right thing to make people feel better?"
To that, Cadance shrugged. "When one is raised in the faith of love, Shining, it tends to come with the territory." As before, the two embraced, each enjoying the warmth of the other for a solid minute before moving away again. "I cannot say what will come of this, but whatever happens, we will do what we can."
Shining nodded to her. "I'm sure your mother is feeling more weight about this than I do."
Cadance chuckled. "Mother always takes the stresses of her people upon herself. But she always copes. Now..." She began to move away, to the door of the chambers. "I believe we need to see to other matters. Our domain has more visitors than simply an ambassador today."
Shining couldn't help but widen his smile. "You mean...?"
A nod from Cadance. "Indeed. Word reached me that they arrived in our country a short while ago. I'm sure there'll be cheers in the streets once the two start playing."
"Strange. They usually only arrive during the annual festival," Shining mused.
Once Cadance left her chamber, with Shining close behind, she added her thoughts to the matter. "I would wager a guess and say that they caught wind of our little bundle of joy and wish to see her."
"Ah," Shining said out loud, understanding his wife's point. "Makes sense. They always did have an affinity for the young." He glanced to the side as they continued walking together. "Speaking of which, I'm assuming that, since you let them go with Flurry, that you're satisfied with your new acolytes?"
Cadence gave another smile to him as she replied. "Indeed. Yona and Ocellus are sweethearts, both of them. Ocellus was a bit more nervous about meeting me, but in time I'm sure they'll both be fine members of our clergy."
Shining nodded firmly. "We've always found good-hearted folk among the Yaks and Changelings in the past, so it's nice to know our close friendship with them is as strong now."
Cadance then raised an eyebrow to her partner. "And word on the street is that you yourself have a young charge of your own?"
A dry chuckle escaped the stallion. "Yeah, Sentry. He's got the right stuff, but the kid's a bit of a stiff. I swear, he'd stand there, saluting and never moving a muscle for an entire day if you didn't tell him 'at ease' at some point."
Cadance leaned over, placing her head upon his shoulder. "Sounds an awful lot like another eager-to-please stallion I once knew."
Though he was loathe to admit it, he eventually relented with a sigh. "Okay, sure, maybe he is a touch like me in my early days. I guess he'll grow into the role of paladin sooner or later, once he mellows out a bit."
This time, it was Cadance's turn to sigh. "Mellowing out seems to be difficult for all right now. There's always something coming up to keep everypony's mind on the bad in life. Always distracting them from the good that's all around them."
Shining, in spite of his wife's rather grim words, smiled. "Truly, you are a priestess of love. Always looking to the positive."
Cadance returned the smile. "I suppose it's easy for me, with so much good in my life."
They stopped their walk, turning to one another before leaning closer and enjoying another kiss. When they parted, Shining smirked slightly. "Not that I don't have a lot of good in my life of course."
"Naturally," Cadance replied with a smirk.
But then, before another word escaped either of them, their ears perked up to the sound of music in he air. A smile came to them both, and they moved to the nearest window. The sight of their city beyond, glistening as always, was the same pleasant sight as usual, but what really drew their attention was the source of the aforementioned music. A pair of mares, an earth pony and a unicorn, the former bright pink while the latter was of a purple colouring. "Well, Cadance," Shining began. "If you wanted folk to be happier, I'd say our nation certainly has an advantage right now."
Cadance nodded in agreement with her husband, but otherwise remained silent, for the next voice was that of the pink mare down below who, after strumming the strings of the lute she'd been carrying, made a great declaration to the gathering crowds around her. "Gooooooooood morning to you, Crystal City! It's been a while, but the musical stylings of the Bard Sisters are here to delight your ears once again!"
The other, the unicorn, smiled widely to her sibling, strumming her own instrument before stepping forward and speaking up to the now very-excited collection of ponies before them. "Yes, you heard right! Pinkie Pie and Izzy Moonbow have returned! And we're here to delight your senses, lighten your hearts and bring a smile to each and every one of you!"
Pinkie giggled, leaning over to Izzy and speaking to her. "Hey, look at that! Looks like we're already doing that!" she said, pointing to several happy children in the crowd.
There was laughter all around, but after another few notes from Izzy she stepped forward again to speak up to them all. "And now, before anything else, we have an important quest to undertake!"
Pinkie nodded. "Indeed! Rumour has it there's a new, adorable, little filly here in the city, and we vowed to not rest until we'd introduced ourselves and played for her the most uplifting music she'd ever heard!"
Izzy mused on that for a moment. "Which, given that she's still a baby probably isn't that hard to do, but still..."
From up on the balcony, Cadance gave Shining a sly look, and the latter, after rolling his eyes and sighing, eventually turned to look to her with a smile. "Okay, okay, looks like you were right."
After a giggle, the priestess began to lead her husband down the hallway once more. "Well then, let's give our guests a good welcome."
Stats
Page generated in 0.014 seconds
Total duration
1,003 users online
1,430,429 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Hey Yona and Ocellus
Wait they don't know who Luna is
The
And hey it's Pinkie Pie and Izzy Moonbow two crazy ponies lighten up the party awesome
Okay this is a pretty interesting turn of event here again so somewhere in the Crystal Empire a familiar ponies and creatures Cadence just watching her daughter flurry heart just playing then the other two Ocellus and Yona are in charge of keeping an eye on the little one until Shining Armor showed up and talk with cadence about the news about Luna taking over and apparently it worries him but Cadence wants to reassure him that things will work out but before they continue on it looks like they have two visitors and a very aesthetic ones in a very interesting to make them as sisters Pinkie Pie and Izzy Moonbow just entertaining the little ones and everything but so far this is getting another interesting I wonder who else is going to show up they are the one who's left is sandbar I wonder how's he going to fit into the story I guess we'll find out next time
11562246
But what about sandbar
11563166
Well, we'll probably find out next week, but I have a hunch that he's back in Ponyville and is most likely that "new deputy" for Hitch that Sunny mentioned in the first chapter.
Hey there. Wonderful job, once again, on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up. Definitely appreciated the dialogue between Shining and (Pegasus) Cadance as they were watching Flurry Heart at play concerning the change of leadership in the East as well as the strong ties with the Yaks and Changelings (good appearance by Yona and Ocellus, by the way), the mentions of Flash and Cadance's mother before Pinkie and Izzy arrived, adding even more entertainment.
As for Sandbar, well, I have a hunch that we'll be checking up on him (as well as Hitch; in both of their first full appearances in this story) when we check back in on Ponyville.
And I wonder if Twilight knows she has a brother up north who's married to the Northern High Priestess's daughter.
And I wouldn't be surprised if Grogar was setting up something in the South that would get the three nations fighting mad at each other - aided by Chrysalis, Tirek, the Storm King, Sombra, Opaline and a few others (with Misty, Bray, the Dazzlings and a few other lower ranked minions led by Cozy Glow doing the bulk of the dirty work).
Anyway, definitely looking forward to more of this.
Looks like trouble's a brewing... but at least they'll have the Bard Sisters to keep them entertained.
11563316
Actually that is a pretty interesting idea for sandbar being with hitch as the young deputy that'd be cool idea
Hmm, so who is Cadance's mother, I wonder?
11564002
Amore, possibly?