Cadence Unbridled (Sections 1 & 2)

by Flikaline

Crystal Fires : Part 4

Crystal Fires : Part 4

Being chained to a wall wasn’t exactly fun. In fact, it was downright unpleasant, not to mention uncomfortable. There was no way Cadence could free herself; even if she had known an appropriate spell, she would be unable to perform it with her damaged horn.

What should she do? When he returned, what would he . . ? Cadence suddenly remembered the device attached to her hair. Would she be able to move her head close enough to it for it to be able to be used? She leaned up as far as she could.

‘Grandpa?’ Cadence called weakly, ‘Grandpa, are you there?’

‘Cadie?’ came Dusk’s voice, ‘Cadie, is that you?’

‘Yes! Yes, it’s me!’ Cadence replied anxiously.

‘Cadie, where are you?’ Dusk asked in a worried tone, ‘Are you hurt? You sound frightened.’

‘I’m, I’m down in the old mines, Grandpa!’ Cadence responded quickly.

‘The mines!’ Dusk exclaimed, ‘what are you doing down there! Can’t you find your way out?’

‘I’m chained up to the wall!’ Cadence told him, ‘I can barely move! And Sombra will be back soon!’

‘Chained up to the wall!’ came Dusk’s shocked tone, ‘Did you say Sombra! He’s escaped!’

‘Yes!’ Cadence replied fearfully, ‘He’s down here! He was the one that chained me up!’

‘What!’ Dusk cried, ‘Cadence, don’t panic. Everything will be alright. We’ll be down there as soon as possible! You’re going to be okay!’

Dusk was gone, and Cadence felt even more alone than before. Sombra would be back any moment and then . . . She didn’t know, and that was at least half of what scared her. How could she have let this happen? She had let them down, she had let down those crystal ponies who had been so kind to her; what would they think of her now? She tried once more to struggle free but it was no good.

‘Oh,’ Cadence said sadly to herself, ‘what a useless princess I am!’

‘Couldn’t agree more!’ Sombra responded unpleasantly, before turning back into a unicorn again, ‘You’re puny for a start, you can barely run . . .’

‘I didn’t ask your opinion!’ Cadence snapped. She hadn’t noticed that he had returned.

‘Don’t interrupt me and watch your tone,’ Sombra spat, ‘no wimpy crystal ponies around to save you this time!’

‘They are not wimps!’ Cadence protested angrily.

‘Which reminds me,’ Sombra continued, putting his face very close to hers, ‘you mentioned ‘others’. Where are they?’ he demanded.

‘I won’t tell you!’ Cadence replied defiantly, stammering slightly.

‘Oh, but you will, Princess, you will,’ Sombra told her with a nasty smile, ‘you will do everything I say . . .’

‘No I won’t!’ Cadence snarled.

‘We can do this the easy way or the hard way,’ Sombra growled, ‘would you like your wings and horn to become permanently damaged, for example? Do everything I say, and I might consider being a little less harsh on you.’

‘Never, never, never!’ Cadence cried, fuming with rage and fright.

‘I will have mastery over you, Princess,’ Sombra snarled, ‘you and all your crystal ponies!’

‘I won’t let you!’ Cadence retorted, struggling not to cry, ‘I won’t let you hurt any of them!’

‘You don’t have any choice,’ Sombra sneered, ‘you won’t be able to save them from me. You seem to be more in favor of torture now, talk later, then more torture, rather than talk now, and torture later. You’re certainly in need of some obedience training . . .’

‘I will never do what you say!’ Cadence yelled, ‘Never!’

Sombra turned his head and walked away.

‘At your choice,’ Sombra jeered, ‘which you won’t have for much longer. You will soon be my slave. I’ll be back soon with some torture devices which will make you more co-operative.’

A few moments after he was gone, Cadence couldn’t hold it in any more, and burst into tears.

‘Oh, Cadence, don’t cry!’ came the voice of Sparkler.

Cadence looked up in surprise. Sundance, Sparkler and Glory were cantering towards her.

‘We’re sorry,’ said Sundance, ‘we just didn’t think it was a sensible plan to gallop in while he was still here. Of course, if it had got much worse . . .’

‘And we’re so sorry we left you behind,’ added Glory, who performed a spell which released Cadence, ‘we didn’t notice you were gone until we got outside.’

‘Lucky you knew that spell, Glory,’ Sparkler whispered.

‘Type of spell you learn when you panic as much as I do,’ Glory responded.

Cadence was too full of emotion to be able to stop herself from crying.

‘It’s going to be alright,’ Sparkler told Cadence soothingly, while holding her in a protective embrace and stroking her mane, ‘you’re going to be okay. There, there . . .’

‘We need to get moving,’ Sundance muttered urgently.

‘Yes, yes!’ Glory stuttered, rocking slightly from side to side while Sparkler used her mane to wipe Cadence’s face.

‘Thank you,’ Cadence murmured.

‘Come on, come on!’ Glory grumbled impatiently, moving her hooves up and down in anxiety.

They all hurried out the way the three mares had come.

‘We’re better off now, at least,’ Sundance said, ‘we know which way to go.’

Suddenly, there was a deafening, furious roar.

‘He knows, he knows!’ Glory shrieked.

‘Gallop!’ Sundance shouted, ‘Hurry!’

‘You will belong to me, crystal ponies . . .’ Sombra hissed.

Cadence and the three mares increased their speed.

‘Sundance, where was Sombra imprisoned?’ Cadence asked quickly.

‘In the ice of the arctic north,’ Sundance replied, ‘why do you want to know?’

‘Where is that?’ came Cadence’s urgent tone, ‘how far is it?’

‘We’re practically in it right now,’ Sundance responded, ‘there’s probably an opening where he
escaped from near the entrance.’

‘We need to get him back in there,’ Cadence stated, ‘or, at least, I do . . .’

‘What!’ Glory exclaimed.

‘It’s the only way,’ Cadence explained in a low voice, ‘he will just continue to prey on us
otherwise, and it would only take one pony to make one false move while he’s standing outside
the town and he’d have a good chance of forcing them to let him inside.’

‘You’re planning to re-imprison him?’ a shocked Sparkler whispered, ‘how could you possibly
do it?’

‘I don’t know,’ Cadence replied, ‘but there isn’t much choice.’

They stopped. They had reached a large gap. Sundance was furious with herself.

‘How could I have been so stupid!’ Sundance exclaimed, ‘Glory can teleport, Sparkler, you can
fly, I can jump it, but only just, and I’m a very good jumper; there’s no way the princess would
make it and her wings are too damaged and . . .’

‘I could try to teleport,’ Cadence said cautiously.

‘I’m afraid that trying any magic risks damaging your horn for good,’ Sparkler told her.

‘We have to go!’ Glory screeched, ‘We can’t turn back now! We’re trapped if we don’t go!’

‘You three better go,’ Cadence murmured sadly, looking at the ground. Sparkler turned to the
other two mares.

‘You’d better go while you still have the chance,’ Sparkler said, ‘but I’m staying here. I can’t
leave Princess Cadence here alone.’

‘There must be some way to get her across safely,’ Sundance responded thoughtfully.

‘Hurry up and think of something quick!’ Glory quivered.

After a moment, Cadence knew the only plan that had a chance of succeeding.

‘Listen to me,’ Cadence told them, ‘this is a risky plan, and after all you’ve done for me, I don’t
want to endanger any of you but this is the only thing I can think of.’

The three mares waited for her to continue anxiously.

‘You three must get to the other side and create a ladder. Sparkler must be at the bottom, then
Glory, then Sundance. Sundance is the strongest so she’ll have the best chance of holding both of
you and me without falling. Sparkler will probably need to fly for a short distance to catch me
but she won’t be able to hold me for very long so Glory must be ready with a summoning spell.’

‘But if my summoning spell failed . . .’ Glory protested.

‘I am completely willing to take the risk for the princess’s sake.’ Sparkler interrupted.

‘But the princess is quite likely to be falling with you!’ Glory stuttered.

‘I would rather fall to my death then be enslaved by Sombra any day.’ Cadence responded, ‘I am willing to take the risk as long as Sparkler is.’

‘He’ll be here any moment!’ Glory exclaimed.

Sundance went first, easily making the leap, and landed clumsily on the other side.

‘Hurry up you two!’ Sundance called, before picking herself up.

Glory teleported and Sparkler took to her wings. Cadence looked at the gap and gulped. Suddenly, the plan seemed so much more dangerous than before. She hesitated, but at the same time, she could hear Sombra coming closer and closer; she could see him coming closer and closer. Cadence took a deep, shuddering breath, backed up a few steps, and took the leap. She closed her eyes. If she had fallen, she didn’t want to see it. She felt wind whistling past her and then, nothing.

‘Princess,’ came Sundance’s voice softly, ‘you can open your eyes now.’

Cadence opened her eyes, more due to surprise than anything else. She looked up to see the smiles of the three, very relieved, mares. Cadence quickly got to her hooves. They galloped off. None of them dared to look back.

‘How was Sombra imprisoned before?’ Cadence asked as they rushed along.

‘I don’t exactly know,’ Sundance admitted breathlessly, ‘the two princesses combined their magic somehow.’ Cadence thought hard, then turned to Glory.

‘Do you know any spells we could use, Glory?’ Cadence inquired.

‘No,’ Glory murmured, ‘only the technique of driving somepony in a certain direction while performing another spell . . .’

‘Well that’s useful!’ Sparkler exclaimed.

‘But the spell, and the pony performing it, would have to be very powerful and very effective, plus, the ice would need to be sealed up and it would probably only work for a very short time unless an immortal unipeg was involved.’ Glory responded.

‘I know what we could . . .’ Sundance began, then stopped.

‘What?’ Sparkler inquired.

‘It’s no good,’ Sundance replied with a sigh, ‘I forgot about the princess’s damaged horn . . .’

‘Tell us anyway,’ Cadence said.

‘Well,’ Sundance explained, ‘if we could channel our crystal power through the princess, she might just have enough power, but with her horn as it is . . .’

‘I’ll do it,’ Cadence told them.

‘What!’ shrieked Glory.

‘If you do this,’ Sundance replied, ‘your horn will almost certainly be damaged beyond repair.’

‘It may even split in two!’ Sparkler added in a fearful tone.

‘I must risk it,’ Cadence responded, ‘and if you want somepony with magical ability to be your princess, you can replace me after this.’

‘No!’ Sparkler cried, ‘we would never . . !’

They were nearly at the entrance now. They hurried out.

‘We need to find that opening quickly!’ Sundance said rapidly and anxiously, ‘It’s our only chance!’

It was bitterly cold, and it was lucky there was very little wind, but the ground was very slippery and icy. Sundance, being easily the fastest, quickly found the gaping plates of ice that Sombra had escaped from. Cadence told the other three to hide and be ready; she wanted Sombra to be unsuspicious of their plans for as long as possible.

‘Remember,’ whispered Glory, ‘push through your horn magically in a similar way to how you would physically push something with your hoof.’ Cadence gave a nod, before walking away a short distance.

‘Do you think this will work?’ Sparkler asked Sundance in a quiet voice.

‘She’s as close to a crystal heart as we’re going to get,’ Sundance replied, ‘we must have faith in her.’

He was coming. They could sense it. Now they could see it. Cadence was having great difficulty controlling her fear. He was coming towards her! What if she couldn’t do this? What if she failed them? Failed all the crystal ponies? She gulped.

‘Those cowardly crystal ponies abandoned you then, Crystal Princess?’ Sombra sneered.

Cadence glared.

‘Not exactly, loyal subjects, are they?’ Sombra continued.

The three mares jumped out of hiding and were in position in an instant. A pale blue light from them seemed to shoot into Cadence and her cutie mark glowed. Sombra quickly realized what they were aiming to do and, with a ferocious growl, began to fight back.

Cadence began to perform her love spell. To her horror; even the smallest amount of magic was causing her immense pain. She gasped in shock and pain, but forced herself to continue, she had no choice, she couldn’t let her ponies down, and if she didn’t save them, who would?

She was having to put so much effort into continue performing the spell and to fight Sombra’s magic through the pain she was in which was now becoming torturous; she could feel her horn beginning to crack; her cutie mark was flashing rapidly.

She couldn’t bear the agony much more, but she had to, but she couldn’t. Just when she could stand no more, she heard a voice beside her.

‘You can stop now, Cadence, we’ll take it from here.’ Cadence looked up. It was Princess Celestia.

Cadence collapsed on the ground in pain and exhaustion. As she looked around, Cadence caught sight of Aquila and Dusk hurrying over.

‘Sorry we took so long, Cadie,’ Dusk gasped breathlessly.

Cadence quickly found herself in the middle of a battlefield with magic flying in every direction. She flattened herself on the ground. Sundance, Sparkler and Glory came out of their formation and watched as magic raged.

Sombra quickly realized he stood no chance against three immortal alicorns. Enraged at his oncoming defeat, Sombra made a grab for Cadence. The filly’s screams alerted the adults in less than a moment, but the spell was nearing its complete stage and it looked like Cadence was about to be dragged under the ice too.

The three alicorns stopped the spell as quickly as they could as the three crystal ponies looked on in horror, hurrying over to the ice that was quickly closing up, but they arrived too late. The three alicorns rushed over.

‘No!’ Glory yelled, ‘this can’t have happened! Not to such a brave, sweet . . .’

‘She was the best princess we ever had!’ Sparkler wept, ‘at least one of the best! So brave! So selfless! She practically sacrificed herself . . !’

Sundance tried to say something but she couldn’t even form a single word. The three alicorns were close to tears too, when they heard a sound below.

‘Can somepony pull me up, please? I can’t hold on much longer!’ They all looked down. Because the spell remained incomplete, parts of the ice below did not line up, were not solid or needed recreating. It was Cadence. She had managed to cling on to a piece of ice.

Dusk put his horn into the ice and told Cadence to hold onto it. Celestia and Aquila removed enough to let Cadence out and then began resealing the ice. The three crystal ponies thumped their hooves in jubilation. Cadence’s horn was in a terrible state, it was almost completely split in two. She sighed very sadly, remembering that it would now be beyond repair. Aquila came over.

‘Let me help you,’ Aquila said to a sad and surprised Cadence, ‘my special talent is magical healing, I should be able to at least make your horn as undamaged as it was before you performed that magic.’

*

‘Those crystal ponies sure like you, Cadie!’ Dusk said cheerfully, a few minutes after beginning to start for home, ‘quite the heroine you are!’ Cadence smiled wearily.

‘Grandpa?’ Cadence asked curiously, ‘when you met Crystal Lace, who was the other alicorn with you?’

‘Funny you should ask,’ Dusk replied, ‘it was Aquila.’

Cadence was rather surprised and turned to Aquila.

‘But wouldn’t that mean that True Star . . ?’ Cadence inquired.

‘She would have been the next crystal princess if she had lived.’ Aquila responded sadly.

‘Auntie Tia,’ Cadence asked, ‘why do you think Sombra came out in the first place?’

‘Well,’ Celestia replied, ‘it’s very unlikely he will manage to come out again, at least not until the Crystal Empire returns. And, well, I don’t really know how or why he came out, but I have a theory.’

Cadence waited.

‘I don’t want you to feel bad about this, Cadence, even if it is true, because it isn’t your fault,’ Celestia continued, ‘but I think the combination of you being the crystal princess combined with The Mark may have been near enough to the empire returning to have woken him up.’

Cadence felt really bad, she knew she shouldn’t, but she did. Cadence climbed onto her aunt’s back just before they took off. Hopefully, this journey would be less eventful than the previous one.

Author's Note:

End Of Section 1