Cadence Unbridled (Sections 1 & 2)

by Flikaline

Youthful Desires : Part 2

Youthful Desires : Part 2

Gone! They were all gone! This didn’t make sense, and what was even odder was that they must have disappeared late the previous night, or, early that morning. It could not be coincidence that so many, and within a certain age boundary, had gone. And it was certain all who were in that age range had gone. It was so precise that the exact age cut off point could be easily worked out.

All those old enough to walk and talk, to those who were roughly in their early teens, were the ones that had vanished. One of the servants quickly found out from a book that a similar thing had happened before in at least two places, but no-pony ever seemed to have found out what happened to the foals and the details were also very vague. A large amount of search parties had already gone out but no-pony so far had been found.

*

Cadence gave a yawn. The first thing she remembered when she had woken up was how much of a comfort Shining Armor had been to her the previous night, when he had eventually found her in a bush, contemplating running away due to her negative state of mind. She was in that same bush now; it seemed that she had been so tired that after Shining Armor had had to return home, telling her she should go back to the castle, she had fallen asleep.

It was late morning now and Cadence noticed, to her surprise, that quite a few pixie ponies, who normally only came out at night, were hovering around. Once they noticed Cadence, however, they scurried away. Not because they were particularly frightened of her, but because they felt rather vulnerable, not being used to the daylight. Cadence gave a small sigh; she had hoped they might be able to tell her what the occasion was, for they wouldn’t just come out during the day for no reason.

Cadence climbed out of the bush and quickly headed for the small river, maybe the seaponies would know; she wasn’t very keen on the idea of meeting anypony, especially not Celestia who would probably still be very angry with her, and angrier still that she hadn’t returned to the castle the previous night.

Quite a few adult seaponies were on the surface of the water. Cadence asked a mare what was going on.

‘All the land foals have disappeared,’ the seapony replied, ‘vanished overnight. Some of the older fillies and colts have gone too. You must be older than you look.’

‘Why?’ Cadence asked, slowly taking in what she had been told, and thinking about all those poor foals.

‘Well, if you were the age you look,’ the seapony told her, ‘you would be among those who have disappeared.’

The seapony dived under the water, leaving Cadence, who had once been told she was a little tall for her age, puzzled. She shrugged it off. She had to think what to do. All the adult ponies would surely know by now what had happened, the question was how, why and who. The hardest was the reason why, and how it had been done was quite difficult, but the ones who were responsible was a different matter.

Cadence knew who the most likely culprits were. Those creatures that had captured Shining Armor were the ones who were probably responsible. First, they didn’t know much about those creatures other than they had bad intentions, which made it seem like this was something they would do and no-pony, as far as Cadence knew, knew what powers these creatures possessed but there was also the fact that Celestia thought they might be a threat to Equestria.

Cadence paused for a moment. If Celestia thought they might be a threat to Equestria, there was a strong possibility that the foals’ disappearing was the first stage in a plan to take over. But why take foals in the first place?

Foals did not pose any particular threat and it would take a very long time for the ponies to die out if that’s what they were aiming at, perhaps they were holding them for ransom? No, everypony would know by now. Perhaps the disappearances were supposed to be a distraction or something? But what were they supposed to be a distraction from?

She would find out for herself what was going on and stop it herself if she had to. She galloped off in the direction of the main part of the city, determined to set things right. Maybe she should try and find out about these creatures from a book, perhaps that one she had taken to read the day she had met those goblins. She gave a small shudder. She thought that that book was probably somewhere in her room.

Cadence was so deep in thought that she didn’t really notice where she was going and crashed into a group of ponies, mainly consisting of mothers who had lost their foals, heading in the opposite direction to her.

‘Cadence!’ came the voice of Princess Celestia, ‘you’re okay!’

Before Cadence knew what was happening, and to her surprise, she found herself in Celestia’s tight embrace.

‘I was so worried!’ Celestia continued, a little breathlessly, ‘I thought that those creatures must have taken you like the others but then I saw your bed was unslept in and I wondered if something else had happened to you or if you’d been taken specifically, or . . .’

Cadence scowled slightly. She wasn’t quite ready to be forgiving, especially without an apology. Celestia hesitated, then, let go of Cadence. There was silence for a few moments.

‘So you worked out it was those creatures, did you?’ asked Cadence a little coldly.

‘Well, yes,’ Celestia responded, a little taken a back, ‘we also think it’s likely the foals were in some kind of trance which would explain why so many disappeared, and why it was those between certain ages.’

‘Why didn’t I disappear then?’ Cadence inquired.

‘Probably because you’re an alicorn,’ Celestia responded, ‘alicorns are immune to certain things.’

‘Shouldn’t the little princess go back to the castle?’ suggested Serviet’s mother.

‘Where are you going?’ Cadence asked.

‘To rescue the foals,’ Celestia told her, ‘we’re headed for where those creatures are living.’

‘I’m coming with you,’ Cadence stated.

‘What!’ exclaimed Serviet’s mother, ‘it’s not safe!’

Celestia hesitated, bearing in mind what Shining Armor had told her, knowing that the relationship between her and Cadence would be made worse if she sent her away, at least if she did come along she’d be able to keep an eye on her and protect her, not to mention that if she did send Cadence away, Cadence would probably defy her. But it was so dangerous . . .

‘Do you even know where you’re going?’ Cadence inquired, ‘none of the Royal Guard are with you.’

That was true, and they did only vaguely know where they were going. Most of the Royal Guard had gone out very early in the morning for a large amount of the day, returning just before the Grand Galloping Gala that evening, before the crisis was discovered and none of those remaining could be spared from guarding the castle and the rest of the city.

‘I’m probably the only one available who knows how to get there,’ Cadence added.

‘Alright, Cadence,’ said Celestia with a small sigh, ‘you can come, but make sure you stay close.’

‘It’s Princess Celestia’s decision,’ Twilight Velvet told Serviet’s mother who looked like she was about to argue.

‘Okay then,’ said Cadence brightly with a small, satisfied smile.

Celestia kept a very close eye on Cadence as they walked along and was constantly on the lookout for danger. Celestia knew that it was far from Cadence’s fault that she attracted trouble wherever she went but the fact was she did and it could come from anywhere at any time. Cadence knew that this was one way she was like her father: she wouldn’t let herself be kept from going out and getting involved even if there was a risk in doing it. Besides, no-pony else could have particular bad intentions towards her? It had happened too much recently for it to happen again anytime soon, maybe even for the rest of her life.

Princess Celestia looked worried about her, as Cadence noticed. Was she being overprotective, or was she keeping a close watch so she wouldn’t run off, or, perhaps . . . There wasn’t something that Celestia knew but hadn’t told Cadence, was there?

When they reached the spot, Cadence noticed that the small hole had been made slightly bigger. She pointed this out and also said that the hole was almost certainly the way the foals had got in. Cadence showed them where the main entrance was but the doors wouldn’t open.

‘We will have to find another way in,’ Celestia told them.

She sounded worried, and Cadence knew why: finding another entrance could take ages and it was likely all the other entrances, if there were any, had been made inaccessible, except . . .

Cadence stared at the hole, the hole she knew she could easily fit through. She hesitated. Those foals could be dying in there with only a few moments left to live, or being tortured, or . . .

While the adults weren’t looking, and continued to walk, Cadence slipped through the hole.