The Cadenza Prophecies

by iisaw

3 Celebrating Survival

Chapter Three - Celebrating Survival

Not many ponies know it, but I often have nightmares. Luna fends off some, but not most of them. She says they're good for me. It sounds counter-intuitive, but I've learned through hard experience and a few unpleasant arguments that she's absolutely right.

My nightmares are of failure. Failing my friends and failing my responsibilities. Watching ponies and other creatures suffer and sometimes die because I wasn't strong enough, smart enough, or determined enough is horrible, but it certainly makes me want to be stronger, smarter, and more determined.

When Luna appears in one of my nightmares, it's usually to give me a do-over. She won't erase the scenario created by my subconscious anxiety, but she gives me the chance to make better choices a second time around. Or a third.

It's not pleasant, but she's right; it helps.

That night, I watched armored yetis swarm over Canterlot, leaving black stone statues in place of ponies I knew and loved. Yes, my stupid brain seemed to have decided that I needed to relive and lose a battle I had already won.

Luna appeared and held up her hoof in an imperious gesture. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stood still, watching her expectantly. She surveyed the scene for a moment and then turned to me and tilted her head. I normally find that pose of hers charming, but I was just a bit frustrated.

"What? You expect me to be able to explain this? I think I did pretty well, considering the circumstances."

She didn't say anything in reply, but bent down and took hold of the pavement in her teeth. She flung her head up and the scenery rippled and pulled away like a painted canvas tarp. Beneath Canterlot castle was Vagabond House. Beneath the gold and white marble buildings of the High Street was the hodge-podge of brick and half-timber warrens that made up the oldest neighborhood of Twilight Town.

"Oh," I said. "Yeah. Okay, that makes more sense, I guess. Garden-variety anxiety dream."

"The question you must ask yourself is why you would clothe your realm in the trappings of Celestia's. Perhaps you regret your decision—"

"No! No, I've never regretted it! And Twilight Town isn't my realm. It's anarchy, pure and simple. I don't rule it. The "Queen" business is a convenient fiction. Just because they look to me for guidance and I'm powerful enough to… Wait. You said Celestia's realm! Equestria is your realm too!"

"Ah." Luna blinked and shuffled her hooves. "That is of no import. 'Tis of thee we are speaking."

Luna tends to slide back into Middle Equish when she's emotional, and that alone told me that her slip of the tongue 'twas of some importance. But she was right in that getting my own head straight was the primary concern at the moment. That didn't mean I was going to forget her little "mistake," though.

"Okay, okay! Yes, I am worried about the Town. But what Tempest has told me so far means the Storm King is a danger to half the world and not just my little so-called realm. But the Town means so much to…" I sighed, “Yeah, I think I'm getting the point now. I've got a choice to make." I sighed and woke up.

Luna was still there, wings wrapped around me, with her velvet-soft lips nibbling at my throat. I sighed again and lifted my head a touch. She almost made me forget her comment in the dream. Almost.

We showered and loaded ourselves up with all of our fanciest regalia. I made sure to recharge the gems in my crown and I took the extra precaution of hiding a few unfriendly items under my bejeweled caparison. I don't think there's ever been a kingdom in history that's been invaded twice on successive days, but knowing my luck, I wasn't going to take any chances.

The long negotiation/interrogation session with Tempest the previous evening had convinced me of a couple of things. Despite being powerful and ruthless, the single driving force behind her actions was the desire to restore her horn. Since I had convinced her that the only place in the world that could grant that desire was the Magical Prosthetics department at the Royal School of Thaumic Medicine, I was confident that she would defend Canterlot with her life—at least until she had the ability to control her magic again. Then, all bets were off.

So, I'd invited her to the party.

Several ponies/creatures thought I'd gone insane.

Pinkie demanded that I "double-dumpling" guarantee that Tempest wouldn't mess up her party—again, and Rarity… Well, the only way I could get Rarity to go along with it was to make her part of the plan. She got her revenge in a very Rarity sort of way.

= = =

"Can you make that—" I pointed at Tempest's chain halter and suppressor ring. "—look like jewelry? And maybe make her a dress of some sort? Simple, but elegant?"

"A dress?" Tempest almost snarled at Rarity as she approached.

"Oh, no, no, no, darling!" Rarity said, violently shaking her head. "A dress on her would look like a parasol on a steam engine!"

Tempest put her weight on her back hooves and frowned, probably trying to decide whether or not she ought to be offended.

Rarity marched right over to her and looked her up and down. "No, dear, if you want her dressed for a party, we shall have to go the Barbaric Splendor route. Something like Princess Chrysalis' little platinum chains outfit but—thicker and in gold. Maybe with a lightly quilted demi-caparison. Hmmm…" She trotted over to Tempest's right side and stared at her head.

"It's a shame about the scar. She has quite a beautiful face otherwise."

Wow. Rarity could be catty on occasion, but that was uncharacteristically mean of her, even considering that the target of her metaphorical claws was a mare who had intended to petrify and parasitize her.

Tempest's eyes went wide and then narrowed down to slits. "I'm standing right here!"

"So you are, dear. Excellent posture, too! Do you fence?"

Tempest quite frankly had no idea what to make of Rarity. "Sometimes, I stab creatures who annoy me. Does that count?"

"Only if they're trying to stab you back." Rarity replied, absently. Then her eyes went wide. "Oooh! Ideeeea! What if we give her a nice bejeweled blade on top of the suppressor ring? That will give her a wonderful profile!"

"Uhm…" I knew that Rarity sometimes needed to be reined in when in the grip of her muse. "You plan on giving her a weapon?"

"Oh, just a little one! Besides, look at these muscles!" She poked Tempest's shoulder with a hooftip. "And she's nearly as tall as Luna. Even unarmed, she could kick the head off a Royal Guard before they could level a spear at her! She's not going to be a problem because she's not an idiot." Rarity turned back to Tempest. "Isn't that right, dear?"

Tempest's face scrunched up in confusion. "Is it weird that I can't decide whether to hoofbump you or trample you?"

"Neither is appropriate," Rarity said in a matter-of-fact tone. "But don't worry, you'll be playing une bonne sauvage, so ponies will undoubtedly give you the benefit of the doubt for any little faux pas you may commit." She turned and trotted for the door, turning her head just enough to toss a last parting shot. "You can, of course, bow as I exit."

Tempest was still sputtering as the door closed.

= = =

Quite a lot of the crowd (and the delegates, for that matter) were frightened of Tempest, but there were enough who tolerated her company that she quickly relaxed. She was a big hit with the griffins and dragons. We had her closely watched, of course, and the outfit that Rarity had made for her had several spells woven into the various gems that could be triggered remotely. We weren't idiots, either.

Her little sidekick, Grubber, seemed mainly concerned with eating as much as possible while staying in Tempest's protective wake. When he passed out, I made sure he didn’t have any cake lodged in his throat and teleported him back to his bed in the embassy.

Tempest watched me do it, and then gave me a considering look. "I think that's the happiest I've ever seen him."

"He doesn't really seem the type to fit in with a conquering military force," I replied, wistfully remembering Spike's younger days.

She shrugged. "Grubber has a sadistic streak, and the Storm King likes underlings who can appreciate his so-called style."

"You don't strike me as a mare who savors cruelty."

She gave a start at that and narrowed her eyes at me. "I have no respect for weakness, or creatures who have over-blown ideas about their place in the world." She looked away again. "I admit that I enjoy pointing out the foolishness of their illusions when necessary, but I'm never needlessly cruel, no. Cruelty is for weaklings."

"Hah!" Came a shout from above as Luna glided down to the street, giving Tempest a companionable wing-slap between the shoulders that staggered the mare. "Well said, i'sooth! 'Tis well that a warrior be as kind in peace as she is fierce in battle!"^[1]
---------------
[1] Luna's Modern Equish deserts her under the influence of strong drink as well as stress, but I was fairly sure she was not quite as inebriated as she seemed. Having had more than my share of cider that evening, I felt eminently qualified to pass judgment on the issue.
---------------

Tempest straightened up and looked her over for a brief moment before giving her a formal, if shallow bow. "Princess Luna."

"Commander Tempest Shadow, if I have it aright? As the Princess of the Night and all things that thrive in darkness, 'tis a name I favor well!"

I couldn't help myself. I leaned over to her and said quietly, "As I recall, you also enjoy a good tempest from time to time."

Luna roared with laughter and the goblet full of mead wobbled in her magical grasp. She slapped Tempest's side with a wing and said, "Wit, as well as strength and beauty! This mare is surely the summit of creation!" She gave me a long look from under lowered lashes that made my knees go weak.

Tempest was bewildered, and I didn't blame her. "Uh—sure. She's great."

Luna suddenly turned and loomed over her.. "Well, then! Admire her as you must, or worship her as do the wise, but know this, and know it well." Luna's mane and tail went pitch black, the little stars flaring and going out as the edges became as ragged and sharp as broken glass. Her voice came out as a predatory snarl that any dragon would have been proud of. "She is mine."

Tempest had barely time to take one surprised step backward before Luna shifted back to her cheerful, tipsy self, gave me a sloppy kiss on the mouth, and rocketed back up into the night sky.

"Sorry about that," I said, still watching my sweet, archaic lover soar over the city. "She gets a little jealous once in a while." I looked down and saw that Tempest was also staring upward. "You should take it as a compliment, really. She's pretty dismissive of most creatures as rivals, but you're… Uhmn…" Was I blushing? I had had a bit to drink myself, but surely not that much. "Well, I have a type, you know?"

Tempest looked down and frowned at me. "Not interested," she said.

Was I a little bit offended? Surely not. "Oh good! That means you won't end up in Tartarus trapped in an eternal nightmare." I paused and pretended to consider. "Well, not for attempted poaching, anyway."

Tempest squinted at me. "You… You're serious, aren't you?"

I laughed dismissively. "Oh, no! I really can't imagine you'd do anything that would make us go that far. You're a reasonable pony."

"Reasonable, yes," she said, flatly.

I walked with her for another hour or so, and formally introduced her to Ao, Spike, and Khaatarrekket, as well as many of my less unusual friends. The conversations ranged from light to intense, but they were all interesting. Eventually, Tempest and I found ourselves away from the crowd, near the edge of the great plaza, looking out over the moonlit Canter Valley.

"How do you do it?" Tempest asked suddenly. "How do you all get along and work together?"

The answer to that was one of the reasons I'd proposed the International Friendship Festival in the first place. Teaching by example. "It's pretty simple, really. We discovered that getting along was the easiest and most pleasant way to live. Some found out the hard way, but they all eventually learned that friendship is more fun and rewarding than just about anything else."

Tempest turned slightly and raised an eyebrow at me. "All?"

Cynical old nag. I was starting to like her despite myself. "Okay, not quite all," I admitted. "But, most of the others realized that polite avoidance worked fairly well in place of actual respect, and the few who stubbornly refused to get the message…" I trailed off.

"Tartarus?" She still seemed skeptical.

I stared her right in the eyes and didn't blink. "I've put some there with my own hooves, and worse."

"You aren't joking."

"Not at all."

She nodded and turned back to the view. "I wish my information had been better. It does make more sense now."

"What does?"

She waved a hoof. "Equestria. A nation as soft and weak as it appears to be should have been overrun long ago, but it's just the same as any other place. Your mighty ones make the rules and the rest obey, or else. You ponies just cover it up with singing, candy, and ice cream."

I sighed. "It's not like that. Equestria does have ponies like me to defend it, but we rarely interfere in other ponies' lives directly. You can see how happy they are." I waved a wingtip back toward the center of the plaza where Songbird was just starting another set.

Tempest gave me a crooked smile. "Sure. Everypony likes ice cream."

The last thing I had intended was to get into a philosophical debate with her, so I just shrugged and said, "Whatever it is, it works for us."

Tempest stared at me for a long time, her eyes narrowing. I began to feel uncomfortable but not threatened. Not exactly. "So—" she finally said, "—they're happy. But what about you?"

I gaped at her. "Me? What… Why would you think I'm not happy?"

She kept staring at me. "Just a hunch. From what your long kirin pal told me, you were once on course to take over this place from Celestia. Now you've got a little kingdom of your own that you keep insisting you don't rule. Sounds like you're dodging something to me."

I could have easily come up with a dozen devastating counter arguments, but I was a little too inebriated to do them justice in even an informal debate. "Oh, I think you're far better at dodging than I am, Tempest. I really thought I had you with that chunk of pillar."

That got a surprised bark of laughter out of her. "Like I said, Princess, I wish I had gotten way better intelligence before I rolled up here expecting a pushover."

"Well—" I gave her my sweetest public relations smile and batted my eyelashes at her. "—now you know!" I gestured to the food stalls on the periphery of the crowd with a toss of my head. "Ice cream?"

She grinned back. "You're buying."

= = =

=

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

I think Fizzlepop made a friend. That or she’s planning something, but Twilight’s drunk, not stupid.

As for the long term… Yeah, Twilight will need to confront some issues sooner rather than later, and she’s not the only one. But for now, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow the Storm King must die.

[Herald of Opera]

I took the extra precaution of hiding a few unfriendly items under my bejeweled caparison.

Aside: Rarity is a seamstress who doesn't understand the concept of packing light. She will have a ridiculous number of sharp objects on her at all times even if none of them are technically weapons. I cannot figure out why canon has her resorting to hoof strikes when it's also shown her able to wield all those assorted pointy things at once.

the outfit that Rarity had made for her had several spells woven into the various gems that could be triggered remotely

At the very least, the explosives in her collar were obligatory.

[Gastredner]

With how the things are going between Twilight and Tempest, I wouldn't be surprised if the latter would end up becoming one of Twilight Town's permanent residents. Who knows, maybe the place could benefit from having a bully-in-waiting who can knock around troublemaking heads when the Queen herself isn't around.

[Doge of Venucci]

Time for a traditional Equestrian party, before Twilight and the War Party will be unleashed upon the unsuspecting Storm King.

[Stahlseele]

We all know Twilight is dodging her Inferiority Complex, maybe a bit of Survivors Guilt as well.

[Nachtschwalbe]

The last thing I had intended was to get into a philosophical debate with her

I'd like for you to do that though...

[Daedalus Aegle]

Verily, we are bonding!

[Bones_]

WOW. I really enjoyed the chemistry between - well, ALL of the characters here! Rarity I think is a standount example; she was so awesome. Argh I'm too tired to give good eloquent compliments. mm characters good grug like. rarity funny twilight awesome luna cool. talking good grug like.

[JadeHaze]

Excellent character interactions! I'm itching to see more of Tempest and Rarity (not) trying to subtly insult each other.

[A.P.O.N.I.]

I mean, the mare does have a point. Knowing that you've got alicorns has got to remove some of your stress.

[iisaw]

11867742

"I cannot figure out why canon has her resorting to hoof strikes..."

Yeah! Honestly, what Rarity could do to someone with just a pincushion full of needles or a pair of pinking shears is terrifying to think about. Still, she does swing a mean hoof from time to time.

[DirtyFinger]

Hey iisaw, love that you made a new entry in your series!

I started rereading the Celestia Code and I wonder if you ever explained how Twilight became so ruthless, cynical, brutal and overpowering when compared to her regular canon self. And I ask that after reading the diplomatic missive to Chrysalis in chapter 5.

Is there a deviation event from the TV series that made her so or was she always that different in your universe?

Cheers, mate!

[iisaw]

11869111
I hope you enjoy the new story as it goes on!

The AA series started to be canon-compliant, and I just extrapolated what I judged about Twilight's character to fit some more brutal and deadly circumstances. In the show, she started out prideful, cynical, snarky, and a bit of a snob, and her friends eventually knocked the sharp corners off of those aspects, but they still showed up once in a while. As for brutality, she really did her best to turn Tirek into a smoldering corpse and remorselessly ran Sombra through a rainbow-colored meat grinder, so even canon Twi can be a little scary at times.

The letter is a very deliberate bit of hyperbole that is modeled on some Late Middle Ages "diplomatic" communication. Very politely threatening to murder someone and their whole family seemed to be the fashion back then!

[Latrans]

11869509
I think the main difference I see is that even as early as The Celestia Code, AA Twilight wanted to simply resort to use of force but generally didn't as she had been taught it wasn't proper. As the series goes along, her uses of force become more refined, but the desire never really drops away. This contrasts with canon Twilight who, while capable of using force, never wanted to* unless all other options had failed or were rendered irrelevant.

As you discussed with someone else, One of AA Twilight's greatest flaws is that she is absolutely convinced of her own infallibility and has the access to power needed to back up her choices.** This has led her to take a path of asking adversaries to comply while simultaneously projecting the message that they really don't have a choice in the matter. As demonstrated with the Midnight Sparkle's meddling and subsequent political chaos in her absence in The Skyla Pseudonym, this approach of compliance-by-force only works so long as the enforcing entity is there to do the enforcing. Similarly, in its current state (founding to post Skyla Pseudonym) Twilight Town only works as long as there is someone to enforce the "or else" part of "get along".

Given your works set in the far future of this universe (specifically The Quest and The Skyla Pseudonym's publisher's note) I like to think that Twilight's early (relative to her life's development) discovery of The Bright/Midnight Game jolted her enough out of the "always right and I have enough power to force that conclusion" mindset to set her on the more moderate path.

In closing... Look at me! I know more about how and why the author's world works than the author himself does and I'm going to lecture him on it!***

*There are obviously exceptions given the nature of a cartoon-aimed-at-younger-audiences format complete with corporate meddling, multiple writers, etc. but I stand by my statement as a blanket sentiment towards her intended character.

**I see this extending to the two sides of the Bright/Midnight game. They are both absolutely convinced they are correct and have dug in their heels hard enough to push themselves to extremes that would be abhorrent to their former selves. While the pretense is to prove one way is better than the other, they have absolutely become emotionally invested in the outcome.

***If I didn't enjoy and become invested in your work, I absolutely wouldn't be able to dissect it like this. You are an excellent author and I'm glad to have you back. Also, are you going to update your Offprint page with the new story?

[iisaw]

11869680

"Look at me! I know more about how and why the author's world works than the author himself does..."

Honestly, you're spot-on with this little break-down, and that's probably because you have the perspective/distance from the works to be able to see the "big picture" while I'm fiddling around with the minute details.

The thing is, even though Twilight is aware of some of these less-than-optimal aspects of her personality, it is very difficult for her to change them. simply by saying something like, "I really ought to be a little less murder-y."

I think you will be gratified and hopefully entertained by some of the upcoming Twilightnanigans!

EDIT: Oops! forgot you last question. Yes, I plan on doing updates on Offprint and AO3 when I get the chance.

[DATA_EXPUNGED]

Twilight rules not with the consent of the governed, but by their demand.

Resignations not accepted.

[protator]

11869680

... AA Twilight's greatest flaws is that she is absolutely convinced of her own infallibility ...

I don't think that's truly the case, as her constant nightmares show ... constant self-doubt is a core part of this Twilight as well.
The main difference is AA Twi doesn't suffer from imposter syndrome like show canon Twi, who constantly questions her own competence and adequacy.
AA Twilight, quite ironically, questions whether she's ruthless enough to protect her loved ones effectively.
(a marefriend who yells at her to be ruthless and horrible in battle, to kill her enemies first and worry about morality later fits this variation of book horse pretty well o.c.)