Cadence Unbridled (Sections 1 & 2)

by Flikaline

Youthful Desires : Part 1

Youthful Desires : Part 1

Auntie Tia’s not going to be very happy with me when I get back, Cadence thought as she raced along, that was if she got back. She had just come back from foalsitting Chilly Puddle and Felix, telling them a story about Robin Hoof of Trottingham and his merry mares, when she had seen some of the Royal Guard returning from an expedition. She had thought Shining Armor had been with them but it seemed he hadn’t been.

Curious, Cadence listened into their conversation with Celestia. She soon discovered that their plan, they didn’t give any details about it or what or why, had gone vitally wrong, and all of them, except Shining Armor, had been captured. Shining Armor had then proceeded to rescue the others, but had got himself captured in the process.

Determined to rescue him, Cadence had hurriedly snuck into the room where the guards planned their strategies, found out the location, and rushed off at a high speed.

She was nearing the location now. She could see a very large dead tree sprawled across the ground. There was a small hole close by that looked like an entry point she could just fit through, however, it would not make for a quick exit, Shining Armor probably couldn’t fit through it and it was impossible to see where it led. It could be some sort of trap and she doubted the creatures, or ponies, or whatever it was that lived here would be able to fit through it.

Cadence looked around carefully for another entrance close by. She was about to look further away when she noticed an engraving of a couple of doors on the dead tree. She gave a light push and the engravings became real doors which opened slowly with a slightly creaky sound. She took a deep breath and walked through them.

It was very light and the solid walls were bright white. It almost hurt Cadence’s eyes and she was almost panicked by the lack of places to hide, luckily, she didn’t meet any of the creatures that lived there, but she did see them.

They had a vaguely pony shape but seemed to be somewhere between solid and liquid, sort of like clouds, Cadence thought, they almost seemed to be floating, their hooves did touch the ground as they walked but they didn’t seem to need to. Their black, round eyes, except for a small white line, contrasted with their white bodies; their manes and tails, which for the majority seemed to be white too, moved in a wind that wasn’t there.

It wasn’t long before Cadence found Shining Armor who was tied to a wall by some plant life. When Shining Armor saw Cadence, he was both surprised and frightened.

‘Cadence,’ Shining Armor said in a worried tone, remembering the last time she had gone to rescue somepony, ‘you shouldn’t have come.’

‘I had to,’ Cadence replied shyly, looking at the ground with a small, embarrassed smile on her face, before hurrying over and casting a spell which snapped the plants.

‘Let’s hurry,’ Shining Armor told her, ‘they’ll be back any minute!’

Cadence nodded nervously. They both quickly hurried back the way Cadence had come, unfortunately, they attracted the attention of a couple of the creatures who immediately raised the alarm. As they galloped, more creatures joined the chase; Shining Armor managed to knock away any that were too close to them.

‘Maybe I should distract them,’ Cadence suggested breathlessly.

‘There are too many of them,’ Shining Armor responded, knowing that these creatures would be equally interested in catching both of them and that they might try to use Cadence to get information out of him, ‘besides,’ he added, ‘look what nearly happened last time you . . .’

He stopped. He felt guilty. It had been rather insensitive to remind her. Cadence’s face had gone slightly pale.

‘I’m sorry,’ Shining Armor puffed, ‘I shouldn’t have said that.’

‘I have nightmares about it,’ Cadence admitted, thinking that maybe all the danger she had been in was getting to her.

The two ponies increased their speed, bashed through the small group of creatures at the entrance and raced into the grass. They were soon met by ten ponies from the Royal Guard who had been sent by Celestia to track down Cadence and Shining Armor and who sent the creatures who had continued to give chase, into retreat.

*

Celestia was not at all pleased with Cadence.

‘It’s one thing for trouble to keep finding you,’ came Celestia’s stern tone, ‘but it’s another to go out looking for it on impulse!’

‘But I had to . . .’ Cadence murmured.

‘Didn’t it occur to you that I would send some of the Royal Guard in to get Shining Armor out!’

‘They may have got captured too!’ Cadence responded, her anger rising, ‘And it may have taken too long!’

‘As it was, I had to send some after both of you,’ Celestia told her, getting more angry too, ‘don’t you think they were more likely to be captured trying to get both of you out! And what if you’d got yourself captured! These creatures may be a threat to Equestria! Do you want to help them!’

‘All I wanted to do was help Shining Armor before anything happened to him!’ Cadence shouted.

‘What you did was stupid!’ Celestia retorted, receiving a glare that Cadence had only given to the goblins, Goody Four-Shoes and Raven Mocker before. If Celestia hadn’t been so angry, she would have known that she had already crossed the line. ‘No-pony with any sense would have done such a foalish thing especially without telling anypony! Are you trying to end up like you par- . !’

Celestia stopped, realizing she was going way too far, but she had stopped too late for there to be any doubt about what she had been about to say. There was silence. Cadence didn’t say a word. She slowly gave her aunt a cold and hurt look, before turning away and walking off, making a big effort to hide her tears.

Celestia felt immensely guilty and desperately regretted what she had said, especially when she realized, because she had so busy recently, partly due to Twilight Sparkle’s gradual transition from living at home and Celestia teaching her, that this had been the first major conversation she had had with Cadence for some time.

It had been bad enough for Cadence that she seemed to be losing Twilight Sparkle, but recently, it had seemed that she was almost replacing Cadence. Shining Armor hurried after her.

*

‘I was too harsh on her . . .’ Celestia was saying to a servant with a sigh, ‘I made a big mistake.’

‘She does seem to have become slightly defiant recently,’ the servant commented, ‘and, if I may say, being tough on her is likely to make it worse.’

Celestia sighed again; Cadence probably felt neglected.

‘Love does make you do crazy things, you know,’ the servant added. Shining Armor entered the room.

‘I want to speak to you about Cadence,’ Shining Armor told Celestia.

‘I suppose you’ve come to tell me I was too harsh on her too,’ said Celestia sadly.

‘Well, you were,’ Shining Armor replied quietly, ‘but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.’

Celestia was slightly surprised.

‘It’s partly about those creatures too,’ Shining Armor continued, ‘they were planning to try to torture information out of me about our defense system, so it does seem they are quite a threat. I know their leader is female, but I didn’t meet her, I met her second hoof pony though, if they consider themselves ponies. They seem to be able to do various things; they have some degree of control over plant life and some can turn into another animal. At least some of their power comes from some sort of crystal. The point I was going to make about Cadence is that those creatures won’t be happy that I got away and they never forget a pony once they’ve seen them. I think Cadence may be in more danger from them than the rest of us, especially if their leader happened to see her.’

Celestia felt even more guilty now, knowing that if she did try to tell Cadence that she might be in danger, she probably wouldn’t listen to her, and if she forced Cadence into safety, the result could be dire, probably ending up in Cadence putting herself in danger.

Celestia regretted her words even more as she had gradually begun to realize that, in Cadence’s position and at Cadence’s age, she probably would have done the same impulsive thing she had done. Celestia knew she had been far, far too harsh and the irony was that she had been so harsh because she was worried about Cadence’s safety.

*

‘I will have her!’ the empress said in a slow, sinister tone.

‘But won’t she be affected like the others?’ the second in command asked, ‘I mean, isn’t she in the age range?’

‘She may be in the age range, Arion,’ the empress replied, smiling slightly, ‘but like her dear mother, she is an alicorn; she will almost certainly be immune.’

‘You don’t seem to mind,’ Arion (who had a pale green mane and tail) commented.

‘It’s so much more . . . personal this way . . .’ the empress responded in the same tone, but the illusion of fire dancing in her eyes gave away her excitement, ‘and so much more . . . deserving . . .’

‘You seem confident,’ Arion (who was renowned for his speed) said.

‘I am confident that that filly will be like her mother in more than one way very soon,’ the empress replied, an unpleasant smile plastered across her face, showing orange teeth, ‘I am confident that, once the first stage of the operation is complete, the first thing I’m going to do is take that princess’s soul!’