Out of Cadance

by David Silver

20 - Plotting and Scheming

Cadance sat down, frustrated. The pony before her, a filly really, had been kidnapped. Cadance was unsure of the details, but there seemed to be something different about her. She had a familiar scent, something Cadance had grown up with. "Did they tell you anything? You're safe now."

The filly dared a little smile up at Cadance. "Mostly they, um. I don't want to talk about it."

Cadance put a hoof under the filly's chin, pushing it up so their eyes could meet. "Those nasty ponies hurt a friend of mine. You're not alone in being mad, or scared, of them."

The filly pulled away from Cadance, and her wings flared open. "I am not a monster!" She touched them. "I shouldn't have these."

"Wings?" Cadance moved to put a gentle hoof on the filly's wing. "Tell me about them?" She turned the hoof to slow strokes down the filly's back. "Nopony is mad at you."

The filly curled tighter, not responding for a good minute. "I was supposed to be a spy, like my father. I was taken away by some of those cultists to be trained by them."

Cadance perked. "I see." She didn't, but a hint had been presented. "What would you be spying on, for them?" She leaned forward to rest her head against the filly's. "Can you tell me that much?"

"The ponies. They think I'm going to be the ultimate weapon to, well." She shivered softly. "They couldn't, um, make a doll to pretend being a princess, so they went for one that's alive." She hugged herself tightly. "That was me."

Cadance hissed at the mental image. "I see. Thank you." She looked over the filly, seeing no horn. As artificial alicorns went, clearly incomplete. "Were they still working on you? If we've already said too much, tell me."

"I don't think they wanted me anymore." The filly moved a hoof over her mouth. "They were talking about letting me go, or just getting rid of me. I didn't like either of those ideas." She swallowed thickly. "I don't know where we were, and I don't think they planned to bring me home before they let me go."

Cadance cupped the filly's cheeks between her hooves. "You've done more than enough, you brave little filly. To be clear, you did nothing wrong." She hesitated a moment. "Were you an earth pony?"

"Y-yes!" The filly shrank back, wings folding over her eyes. "Don't hurt me, please."

Cadance closed in, gently pulling the filly's wings from her eyes and embracing her. "No one here is going to hurt you. Those bad ponies did this, not you. You are still a little pony to be cared for." She kissed the filly's head. "Go on. Your parents are waiting for you, but if you need anything, come back to the castle, and you'll have an ear."

The filly didn't seem convinced, but she let Cadance walk her to the door, where her mother and father waited. A stallion and a mare, both of them rushing to the filly to crush her in a double hug, relieved to have her back. They were both earth ponies.

Cadance went to report what she had learned to Celestia and Shining Armor, each for a mildly different reason. Shining saluted. "I'll keep an eye out for them, and have the other guards do the same, Cadie."

The last pony she approached was Tempo. "I have good and bad news. Rather than asking you which first, I'll get into it. It's about the cultists."

Tempo shuddered at their naming. "That sounds like bad news by default. Go on? Unless they've been stopped?"

"That would be nice." Cadance shook her head with a soft sigh. "I think they abandoned trying to work with golems, which probably puts you off their radar. That's good."

"Sure?" Tempo sat up, tail giving one fitful sway. "So where has their attention gone? They didn't give up, did they? That'd also be acceptable."

Cadance clenched her jaw, a hard frown on her face. "I'm not sure this is better, but they switched their experiments over to—"

"Artificial ponies." Tempo growled.

Cadance inclined her heads. "Not exactly. They're not making ponies out of nothing. The ponies were made the old-fashioned way, but they're trying to make princesses out of them."

"What?" Tempo froze in place.

"What?" Shining Armor slipped over, joining the conversation. "That's disgusting! What do they think that's going to accomplish?"

"Make them special?" Cadance lifted her hooves wide and apart in a grand shrug. "Give them power, maybe? I think they want to make a political move, and having a princess, or three, would help with that. Having an actual political plan and winning the hearts of the ponies would be far more effective, but nopony told them that, apparently."

"I hope they're not very successful. That's just awful." Shining shook his head in dismay. "Cultists."

Tempo stayed quiet as they spoke. She knew too much about what they were doing, but she couldn't bear to talk about it. She fixed her eyes on Cadance's. "I will protect you."

Cadance half-tackled her sister, hugging Tempo close. "You'll do your best and that's all I can ask. Thank you."

Shining didn't dare butt in, but he did trot over to join in the hug, gently holding his sister and his wife.

With her future siblings nearby, Tempo felt certain she could stand up to any challenge thrown their way. "Have either of you seen Blueblood?"

Shining perked his ears. "Oh, yes. He's getting new clothes."

Tempo inclined her head at that. "New clothes? Why?"

Shining tossed his head northwards. "We're going north, remember? It'll be colder, so he wants fashionable, but warmer, clothes to wear while he goes."

Tempo tapped at her artificial body, producing a metallic clink with each impact. "I don't need winter clothing, I don't think?"

Cadance raised a brow. "You never tested. I don't want my sister to discover it the hard way. You'll get some nice warm clothes too, so don't fuss." She lightly batted at Tempo's nose.

Tempo smiled. "I don't have a choice in this, do I?" She could, of course, refuse, but she didn't want to. "I'll have what you're having." She brushed against Cadance's side. "We're still the same size."

"And most everything else." Cadance rolled her eyes at the thought. "Alright. I'll have them pack two of all the winter clothes I pick, and we'll match. Shining, you ready?"

"As ever I will be." He touched his nose to Cadance's cheek. "We're going to rescue some ancient ponies." He huffed softly. "Leaving my guard's the worst part."

Cadance turned her hug to Shining, embracing him warmly. "You'll get a new guard. The crystal ponies will need some, and those guards will need a leader. Good thing for them, we're bringing the best one around."

"Hey now, I'm in the room." Tempo brushed against them with a playful growl.

Shining hugged Cadance back, taking strength from the contact. "I love you. And your sister's a fine guard, but for you specifically." He smooched Cadance's snout, working in pecks towards the tip. "Normal guards have to keep an eye on everypony else." He nipped at the bridge of her muzzle. "A sibling has to guard just the one. She's always got one target, and she doesn't stop until it's safe."

Cadance rubbed a hoof over his shoulder. "Most sisters don't take that so seriously, but I got lucky." She released Shining to pounce on Tempo, hugging and ruffling them eagerly. "Such a lovely sister I have."

With things settled, they all did their part and soon met at the train. All four of the royal ponies, the two couples, and the chosen guards for the mission were piling onto the train and preparing to set out. It was a long and lonely trip ahead of them, but they were prepared.

Cadance leaned against Shining. "Let's look on the bright side of things. We're going to do something incredible."

Blueblood piped up. "Auntie said you'd become princess of them, for truly. Not just in name, but their ruler." He rubbed at his cheek awkwardly. "I was prepared to enact my royal duties."

"Of course you were, and are." Cadance smiled at her brother-in-law. "But only one of us could be at the top. I hope I can trust in you to support me? I could use some talented nobility on my side."

Blueblood thumped his chest. "Of course! I will banish the problems before you're even aware of them, ideally." He turned in place to Tempo. "We are both your guardians, dear Cadance. None will dissuade us."

Tempo grabbed Blueblood, nuzzling into his neck. "I love you."

"And I you." Their chatter quieted as they snuggled together, ready to face the future together.

Cadance enjoyed the warmth of Shining Armor. "I guess I get to be a princess. This'll be new. But I know I can do it." She nodded to Shining, Tempo, and Blueblood. "I have such good ponies right at my side."

All of them cheered as the train started forward, carrying them all towards destiny itself.

---

The crystal ponies that met them at the train station looked confused, to say the least. Speaking of that, calling it a 'station' was being, perhaps, too generous. It was scarcely more than a platform that the train happened to stop at, letting them all pile off.

There were only two crystal ponies there, at that platform, when they drew in. One, an older stallion, nodded as they emerged. "Hello. Welcome to, um." He frowned with thought, unable to finish his sentence.

Cadance approached, looking at the ponies carefully. "Crystal Empire." She smiled, and gestured to the gathered ponies. "Do you want to start introducing yourselves to the newly revived ponies of the empire?"

Blueblood stepped forward. "Announcing, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!"

Cadance blushed faintly at her full name being used. "Pleasure to meet you both."

The crystal ponies nodded to the royalty among them. The other, a younger mare looked Cadance over curiously. "What are you here for?"

Cadance smiled at the crystal mare. "I am here to be your princess."

"We have a princess?" The mare paused. "That sounds nice. Will you be kind?"

"I will try to rule fairly and well." Cadance pointed past the platform. "Is the city that way? It's hard to see in all this snow." She waved a hoof around in the air. "The snowstorm seems pretty dense."

The old crystal stallion nodded, looking in the indicated direction. "I think so?" It clicked a moment later. "Ah, yes, this way." He got to moving, and soon they were a procession of crystal ponies and normal ones, trundling through the thick snow.

Tempo moved in next to her sister. "You were correct."

"Glad to hear, but what about?" Cadance kept her eyes ahead, marching in step with the others.

"I find myself glad I got some clothing." She ran a hoof over her soft and fluffy jacket. "I think I do have a minimum comfortable temperature, and I can feel things catching and slowing. It's a bad feeling at best."

Blueblood threw a hoof over Tempo, hugging her close as they marched. "I'll keep you warm, beloved, so have no worries." He blew on her ear to make her shudder.

"I know, you have." She bumped him. "It's not just cold I dislike." She narrowed her eyes, the faint light around them glittering in her dark eyes. "This is a strange and new place. We have much to learn."

They trundled in the oppressive chilly darkness of the snowstorm for what felt like hours, but then a hoof hit a cobblestone. They had arrived at the city, pressing through the stone-lined streets that were almost as snowy as the land around it, but the crystal that made up the roads provided slightly better steps.

Tempo observed the buildings with a tilted head. They were simple structures of crystal and stone, each with a wooden door and shutters. The walls were all angled to deal with the heavy winds, but not by much. "How do ponies live like this?"

Shining huffed, breath emerging as a cold mist. "It's up to us to fix that. Look." He pointed ahead as a tall palace rose from the obscuring snow ahead of them. "That looks like somewhere to start."

Author's Note:

Welcome to the Crystal Empire. It's a bit of a fixer-upper. Surely our brave little family is up for the task!

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Comments

[Luckyfanisaac]

Still no Opal Bloom.

[Zobeid]

This is kind of hilarious, because the irony cuts so deep. I mean, I have to assume you did this on purpose. . .

"Give them power, maybe? I think they want to make a political move, and having a princess, or three, would help with that. Having an actual political plan and winning the hearts of the ponies would be far more effective, but nopony told them that, apparently."

But soon. . .

Blueblood piped up. "Auntie said you'd become princess of them, for truly. Not just in name, but their ruler."

So what the cultists are doing is darkest evil, but when Celestia appoints a new absolute ruler to the Crystal Empire, one who knows nothing of the land or its inhabitants, and without even consulting the ponies who actually live there, that's A-OK. Because of course the poor dears can't look after themselves, right?

[David Silver]

11858571

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

Okay where did the filly come from?

[TheArbiter1]

11858571
So 19th century monarchs being appointed in new countries

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

It seems that the Crystal Empire when Cadance and company first arrive is snow place you'd want to visit.

[David Silver]

11859272
I see what you did there.

[Luckyfanisaac]

Where’s the next chapter? It’s passed Saturday.

[David Silver]

11864939
Days past the 28th. Do not get any updates.

[Luckyfanisaac]

11864942
So we have to wait until next Saturday?

[David Silver]

11864950
Yes.

[Luckyfanisaac]

So uhh where’s today’s chapter?

[David Silver]

11871065
I typically post 8am or past, pacific time. But eh, since you asked.

[tsaukpaetra]

🎶 so it's a bit of a fixer upper, but this we're certain of; you can fixer upper with a little bit of love. 🎶