1 - Dark Intentions

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Cadance looked out her window with a sigh. Other foals had siblings. She did not. She ruffled her wings and lit her horn. She was a princess. She's earned that right, but it had brought her not a brother nor a sister.

"Hm." But which would be better, if she had a choice?

A brother would be loud and do boy things. Colts were a lot of trouble... No, a sister, for sure. Someone to share things she liked with. Cadance giggled at the thought. A little sister she could be the bigger sister of. That'd be nice!

A knock stirred her from her fanciful dreams. "Yes?" She hopped to the ground and scampered to the door with a clip-clop of her small hooves. "Is that a maid?" She grabbed the door's handle in her magic and got it open, on her second try.

Unicorn horns took practice, and she was still new at it.

What she didn't expect was a cowled pony dressed in dark tones. "Who are--" Cadance didn't get to finish the question, being grabbed and shoved somewhere cramped, where she could only smell her own fear and the fabric of the sack she'd been thrown into.

She could feel the bag bouncing around her as her assailant fled the scene, with her!

Cadance's heart pounded as she was jostled roughly inside the coarse sack. Fear and confusion overwhelmed the young filly. Where was this villain taking her? And why?

She struggled against the binds, horn glowing as she desperately tried every unlocking spell she knew, which wasn't many. But the magic suppressing rope only seemed to tighten more with each attempt.

Cadance blinked back tears, memories of her cozy castle bedroom already feeling distant. She thought of Celestia, of the guards and nobles that were surely searching for her by now. But even they couldn't track what magic couldn't touch.

The bouncing slowed to a stop. Cadance held her breath, listening intently as her captor's steps moved away. Were they finally letting her go? A tiny spark of hope flickered - then was snatched away as an ominous incantation echoed through the room. The blood drained from her face. That spell sounded dark and terrible, no joyful chorus of happy ponies.

"Please!" Cadance cried out. "Why are you doing this? I'll give you anything!" But her only answer was a bone-chilling laugh.

Strange magic soaked into her from every angle, peering, staring even. It felt like something was grossly violating her privacy in ways she didn't even understand. It was... like something was looking at her from every angle, even the inside. She was being examined in ways no pony even had words for.

With that information, a new body was forged, one for one, every little bit was copied over to this simulacrum, staring blankly out in the darkened place.

When the spell was complete, magic glowed on the sack around Cadance and ripped it free, allowing her to see the result.

Another Cadance was staring back at her, through her... No, they weren't looking at anything. They were just looking, straight ahead. There was no life there.

Around her stood six ponies with sneers. one clopped their hooves. "Stand." The copy of Cadance stood without noise. "Left." They turned left. "Right." They turned right.

The pony laughed darkly. "It worked... A perfect copy." They circled around the copy of Cadance, inspecting them. "Every last detail, perfect... Celestia will have no idea..."

Cadance shuddered, gaze locked on her lifeless twin. It was like staring into a twisted mirror - those blank eyes reflected nothing within. Just an empty vessel for this villain's schemes.

"You can't!" Cadance cried, struggling against her bonds once more. "I won't let you use her to get to Princess Celestia!"

The lead villain turned, a cruel glint in their eyes. "And who's going to stop us, little one?" They strode over to Cadance, tilting her chin up with a hoof. "You were merely the template. Now that your duplicate is complete, you have outlived your purpose."

They turned back to the hollow Cadance copy. "Dispose of her," they ordered casually.

The clone stepped forward, horn igniting. Cadance trembled, looking desperately into those cold eyes. Was there any trace of life to appeal to? Or was this shadow without a soul truly lost?

As the cursed magic built to a crescendo around her, Cadance squeezed her eyes shut, wishing with all her heart she didn't have to face this fate alone.

Elsewhere, in the vast nothing, nature abhorred a void. That other-Cadance was just that, an empty space. And into empty spaces, nature put things. It was just the natural order of things. Few could deny it for long.

There were infinite souls and minds flowing, each rushing to where they had to be. The suction of that void drew on the stream, yanking one free to hurtle through the void to a new destination.

Nothing planned it, and yet it had to happen. Was it fate?

The new Cadance blinked closed their eyes. On opening them, intelligence glowed behind them, a mind within. "What?" She spread her new wings. "Seriously, what?"

The ritual master scowled at the copy of Cadance. "You were destroying her. We have no use for her." He pointed at the original Cadance. "Go on. Show your loyalty, and your use."

The new Cadance blinked, gazing between her trembling original self and the sinister ponies surrounding them. Everything felt fuzzy, half-formed. But one thing was clear - she couldn't let them extinguish this scared filly's light.

"No," she stated firmly, much to the villains' surprise. She stepped in front of Cadance protectively. "I won't hurt her, or help you infiltrate Canterlot. Find someone else to do your dirty work."

The ritual master glowered. "You dare defy your maker?" He lit his horn menacingly. "I gave you form and function. You belong to me!"

New Cadance met his glare unflinchingly, even as shadows gathered around them. She had awoken disoriented, with no past or purpose. And yet now, she felt the first fledgling sense of self blooming within.

"I belong to no one," she retorted. "Now let us go, before I stop asking nicely..." She ignited her own horn, surprising herself with a protective fury that seemed to radiate from her very soul.

Whatever spell brought her here, she now had a say over her fate. And come what may, she would shield this innocent filly with her newfound life. "Back off." At the same instant as that second word, magic pulsed from her powerfully, knocking away the cultists nearest to her. "Not a request."

The original Cadance smiled with building hope. Her alter-self was a good pony! She was... maybe even better at magic than Cadance was? Not fair... But also it felt like a bad time to complain about that. "Untie me, please!" She wriggled in her bonds. "I'll help."

The new Cadance flared out her wings, taking flight above the unicorns in the cramped room. There was just enough space for her to soar over their heads. "We're leaving!" She grabbed the original in her magic, yanking them up to float with her. "Which way is out?!"

"I don't know!" Cadance wiggled her still bound hooves. "Anywhere is better than here."

"Anywhere it is." They vanished.

Cadance landed roughly in grass, rolling with the momentum with oofs and grunts. "Ow... Um... You still there?"

"Here," groaned out the new Cadance. "No creeps." The new Cadance rose to her hooves. "Now... Where am I? What am I? Who am I?" She walked over to the original Cadance and began untying them with a glowing horn. "While we're on it, what did I just do, and how did I just do it?"

Cadance shook her head, freed. "I don't know. I don't even know that spell. You can teleport?!"

Without panic, the new Cadance tried to do the spell again, but she had no idea how she did it the first time. "Um... not... working?"

Cadance hugged her copy. "Doesn't matter! Thank you. Thank you so much!"

The new Cadance frowned at first, but relief washed over her as a hesitant smile spread onto her face. Whatever mysterious power woke her into being seemed intent on protecting this innocent filly that was her source.

She rested her chin on young Cadance's head as they hugged. "Of course... I couldn't let anything happen to you." A warm, protective affection welled up inside. Was this what having a sister felt like?

Cadance eventually pulled back, looking up at her with watery eyes. "We have to get back to the castle! Princess Celestia has to know there are bad guys trying to copy ponies with evil magic!"

New Cadance nodded firmly. "Right!" She glanced around the misty forest surrounding them uncertainly. "...Which way is the castle?"

Cadance giggled in spite of everything. "This way, silly!" She grabbed New Cadance's hoof, leading the way down a worn path. "We're not far..."

New Cadance smiled affectionately as she followed her counterpart. She had many unanswered questions - chief among them, just who she was and why she'd been created. But for now, helping this spunky filly was purpose enough.

They came across Canterlot, both trotting up to the gatehouse.

The pony that worked there looked quite confused. "Um... Princess Cadance. Princess Cadance is standing next to you." He wasn't even sure which of the two he should be directing that at.

"I'm new." The new Cadance pointed at herself. "And a little lost, but we're together."

"And we have to get to the castle." They sounded exactly the same. This was natural, both having the same throats and everything else. "This is very important."

Cadance led the way inside, both winding through the streets, racing for the castle as one determined unit.

New Cadance slid in closer. "Ponies are pretty good at running fast..."

Cadance perked an ear at her new sister. "Yes they are. That's a funny question... What are you comparing them to?"

New Cadance frowned, just the clops of their hooves on cobblestones to keep them company for a time. "I had two legs and two feet, not hooves. I wasn't this fast. It's neat."

But there was a downside. A human could walk with purpose all day long. As a pony, Both Cadances were starting to pant for breath as they rushed up to the gate of the castle.

There were two guards there, equally amazed at there being two Cadances.

The guards glanced between each other in shock before one finally stepped forward. "Princess Cadance? Is that...also you?" He peered closer at New Cadance.

The original Cadance shuffled a hoof self-consciously. "It's complicated. But we need to speak to Princess Celestia right away!"

New Cadance nodded eagerly beside her. "There are evil ponies doing forbidden magic in the Everfree Forest!"

Original Cadance nudged her sister. "That wasn't there, I don't think. We were in the castle."

The guards shared an uneasy look. "Dark magic, you say?" One guard turned, signaling to the others. "Escort the princesses to the throne room at once!"

As they were swiftly led inside, New Cadance leaned in to whisper to Cadance. "Should we tell them I'm...not really the princess?" She still wasn't sure of her origins herself. Calling herself royalty felt strangely ill-fitting.

Cadance glanced back in surprise. "Of course you're a princess! You're me, silly!" She gave her a playful nudge. "And once Princess Celestia hears what happened, I just know she'll figure out how to help you..."

New Cadance smiled softly back. Cadance's innocent faith that things would work out was catching.

But there was Celestia, looming large over the entire throne room despite only occupying her throne in the middle of it. Her penetrating gaze upon both Cadance's. Her horn glowed softly as they approached, washing over them. Unlike the cultists, it was like the softest of feathers were brushing over them. Her magic was a kind magic.

"My little ponies." She leaned forward, somehow becoming even larger. "I can feel there is a... considerable story before us. Guards, bring drinks for these fillies. Then, please, tell me what happened."

2 - Breathe

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Armed with a tall glass each that they held in their magic, both Cadances nursed softly at the water.

Celestia smiled gently. "I would like to start by knowing if you are in danger."

One Cadance thrust her hoof up. "I don't think so, anymore..." She sipped from her glass. "They didn't expect us to get away."

The second nodded firmly. "They wanted me to hurt her!" She pointed at the first. "I said no. Why would I hurt her?"

Celestia inclined her head. "Who is it that wanted Cadance hurt?" There was no anger in her voice, no accusation. She was a kindly aunt, listening to her nieces. "I would not want either of you harmed."

"Thanks." The second Cadance sighed softly. "I don't know. A bunch of creepy ponies in creepy hoods."

"They were in the castle!" blurted out the first Cadance. "They got me to their secret room quickly. It couldn't have been that far."

Celestia scowled, not at them. She looked to her guards. "I want every stone turned until we find their lair." The guards saluted and marched off, even as others came to take their place. "Now... Did they hurt either of you?"

Both shook their head in harmony, not at all injured. The first Cadance grabbed for the second. "Only because of her. My sister refused to hurt me. She's the best sister ever."

The first laughed nervously, trying to edge away from the eager grasps of her 'sister'. "I wasn't... even..." How to explain? Even she didn't know what happened. Was she dead? Was that heaven? Or the other place? Either way...

She was a pony. A pony with magic, and wings. Pity she didn't really know how to use either. "They... made me. They cast a spell and made me. I don't know how to... me." She directed a hoof at a stretched wing. "Do these work?"

Celestis beckoned New Cadance over for inspections, feeling over her wings. "They appear to be in fine order. You just don't know how to use them, I imagine."

"I love my wings." Original Cadance flapped her wings with a giddy smile. "I'll show you. Auntie, can I go show her?"

"Not so fast." Celestia settled back on her chair with a sigh. "Let the guards finish inspecting the castle. I don't want either of you to leave this room, for now. I'm glad you're both alright." She pointed to a corner. "Would you like to see me be princess?"

Original Cadance rushed over and eagerly plopped down, watching.

New Cadance was less certain. "Um, okay?" She wandered next to Original Cadance. "We're going to watch her shout commands at people?"

"Auntie Celestia isn't that kind of princess." Old Cadance rolled her eyes. "She loves us all. Watch."

With things cleared, the next petitioner was allowed in. They were an earth pony with their hat in their hooves. "Ma'am, thank you for taking the time." He looked around furtively. "I was... I was hoping to open a shop."

Celestia perked. "How lovely. Here in Canterlot, I assume?" The stallion nodded. "Marvelous. tell me more of this store you would open. What manner of good or service would you offer there?"

He described his haven of paper and ink, a bookstore for those seeking such a thing. "Books helped me when I was a foal, ma'am. Reading them let me escape my little town... I hope I can pass that on to foals of the future."

Celestia's smile deepened at the explanation. "That sounds like a lovely idea... Have you a spot selected?" She could see the uncertainty playing over the stallion's face. "Speak to Raven. She is quite adept at such things. Dismissed."

Raven Inkwell, a proper unicorn with a floating clipboard, advanced on the stallion. "This way."

"But..."

"Sir." Raven inclined an ear at him. "She is giving you what you want, sir. I am charged with going over the finer details. She trusts me to my job, sir. If you would, this way."

He mumbled with confusion, but did follow Raven off to handle the rest of the request.

Celestia waved for the next petitioner to be brought in.

New Cadance watched the exchange with rapt fascination. So this was what it meant to be royalty - not just sitting on a throne barking orders, but listening to your subjects and guiding them towards their goals.

She glanced over at the younger Cadance, who was practically bouncing with excitement. "See? The princess takes good care of everypony! I wanna be just like her when I grow up."

New Cadance smiled softly back. In truth, she still felt lost, unsure of her role or purpose in this world she'd suddenly found herself in. What Celestia was doing felt kind and good. At least watching her was watching a good thing, right? "So... What's your name?"

"Cadance." Old Cadance giggled at the question. "We're both Cadance."

"We can't both be Cadance." Cadance looked herself over. "I need a different name."

"Aw." Old Cadance considered her double. "Well..." She rocked left and right. "I am Cadance. My specialty is love and connections." She focused her magic, forming a heart that floated over her head. "What's your specialty?"

New Cadance squinted at her double. She had magic, she knew that. She had already cast a spell or two. But that was in a frantic adrenaline fueled rush. Slowed down, it wasn't as easy. She focused on her new horn, making it glow the same shade as the other Cadane, but no heart appeared, or much anything else.

"From here." Old Cadance tapped at her chest. "From deep inside. Let it out."

"Let... it out." She focused on that horn and tried to turn the thoughts inwards at the same time. "What is in me... out..."

A heart appeared, but it was clad in armor, slightly studded in metal, looking more ready for battle than Old Cadance's defenseless but open little heart. "That... makes sense." New Cadance tapped her guarded heart, made physical. "I hate it... But it's not wrong."

Old Cadance let out a 'wow'. "Neat! Yours is awesome!" Whatever darker meanings the guarded heart could have meant, she missed it. "You're a warrior! You showed up at the right time and you kept moving just right to take care of the bad ponies. Measure, rhythm... tempo! Yes. Tempo."

"Tempo?" Tempo curled a hoof to look at herself as if her name would be branded on her arm already. "Tempo and Cadance." She snorted at that, it turned into a muted laugh, lest she interrupt court. "I like it."

"Good." Cadance grabbed Tempo in a hug. "I like you too."

Tempo colored with a mildly sour expression, but she accepted the hug anyway. "And now I have a silly little sister."

"Very silly." Cadance fell to her haunches. "A silly sister and a warrior sister. I like it. Now pay attention." She pointed to Celestia's court.

Tempo smiled as she settled in beside Cadance, determination rising within. She might still be figuring out this whole "having a body" thing. But she had a name now - and with it, the first fragile shoots of an identity taking root. Cadance believed in her, depended on her even. And that gave Tempo a sense of purpose unlike anything she'd known before.

She watched attentively as Celestia handled petitioner after petitioner, meting out wisdom and aid in equal measure. Soon, the sun began to sink below the horizon - time for night to begin.

As the solar princess prepared to withdraw, Tempo hesitantly stepped forward. "Will you find who took Cadance?" she asked softly. "And who made me?" Those loose ends still gnawed at her, but perhaps Celestia in all her ancient power could discern the truth.

Celestia gazed down at Tempo kindly. "In time, little one. For now, I think a proper room and bed is in order for our new princess..." She gestured to an attendant nearby who set about ushering the two fillies away.

Tempo glanced back even as she was led off, meeting Celestia's bright eyes. And in them she saw understanding, even compassion. But also something more calculating, something that whispered worries unvoiced.

Cadance tackled Tempo from behind, grabbing her up in a warm hug. "She already has a room! And a bed!"

Celestia inclined an ear at Cadance. "Does she now? Where is this?"

Cadance giggled as she hugged her new sister. "Sisters can share a room and a bed."

"They can..." Celestia sank down towards Tempo's level. "But only if that is what they wish, or all their parent can provide. As your caretaker, I could give you a separate room... Which would make you happier?"

"Her name's Tempo," spouted Cadance, rubbing against Tempo. "My sister, Tempo!"

"Tempo, hello." Celestia reached with both hooves. "Hello, Tempo. You are welcome here. Cadance has already taken you under her wing." That was a cue for Cadance to do that literally. "And I trust her judgment. If she accepts you, then I do as well. Neice, what room would you like?"

Tempo hummed with thought. On one hand, er, hoof, some space from Cadance would be... nice... On the other hoof, Cadance would be super sad if she just outright said she didn't want to be around Cadance... "Can we... share a room but have separate beds? I roll in my sleep."

"Then let it be done." Celestia rose to her tall height. "Get some sleep, both of you. The maids will bring the other bed shortly."

As Celestia withdrew, Cadance eagerly tugged Tempo along to her bright, cozy chambers. "We're gonna have the bestest slumber parties every night!" She bounced onto the fluffy bed, glancing back at her sister hopefully. "I know the maids will take a little bit to move a new bed in. Wanna snuggle up together for now?"

Tempo shuffled a hoof, warring emotions playing across her face. Truthfully, all she wanted to do was curl up alone somewhere quiet and try to make sense of this loud, chaotic new world she'd been plunged into.

But one look at Cadance's sweet, trusting face had her climbing up beside the filly. Cadance gave her life meaning amidst all the uncertainties around Tempo's origins. Was it really so much to endure a little closeness so that bright soul didn't lose her sparkle?

"Just until my bed gets here," Tempo murmured, nestling in hesitantly. Cadance rewarded her with a sunny grin, nuzzling up close before drifting off to sleep almost instantly.

Tempo gazed up at the dark ceiling, listening to her sister's gentle breaths. She looked to the door, suspecting it would burst open again at any moment. How did Cadance just... relax like that? How could she trust her bedroom when it was where she had been taken just hours before?

Tempo grunted to herself with annoyance. That was why she was there, right? She was the warrior to keep little Cadie safe. She was the Tempo to keep things flowing properly. "I won't let anypony grab you again..."

A knock came from the door and Tempo glared at it. Fortunately, it was a maid that came in, pulling a bed behind her. Another maid was behind it, pushing. Soon they wrestled it into position. They decorated it with a sheet, comforter, and pillows. Without a single word, they both bowed to Tempo and hurried from the room.

Tempo hopped down, peeking back at Cadance, yep, still sleeping peacefully. She hurried to the door. It had a lock. It wasn't locked. Tempo reached up and fiddled with her hooves until she got it locked properly. "Somepony has to protect you..." She fell to all fours with a releived sigh. "And... I get a bed." She circled around the new bed, looking it over. "It... isn't as fluffy at Cadance's..."

They had brought a twin bed for Tempo. Cadance was slumbering in the middle of a queen-sized bed.

Tempo huffed, tail lashing in annoyance. "Unfair..."

But there was one way past that... She blew out the lantern and hopped up next to Cadance. "One night..." She curled up with her new sister and soon both were safely dreaming.

3 - A Tempo For the Day

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Tempo hopped up, springing to her hooves with a lashing tail. Her sudden motions had stirred her sister with a mumble.

Even as Cadance struggled to awaken, Tempo jumped down and noticed a tall mirror. She trotted over and looked at herself. She was Cadance. Well, she was a copy of Cadance. She was pink, with her mane and tail showing other colors in long streaks. She ran her hooves through her mane gently, then brought her tail to comb along it.

"What're you doing?" Cadance hopped down, joining her. "We have to get ready, Tempo."

"For?" Tempo released her curious parts and turned to Cadance.

"Class, duh." Cadance rushed over to smooch her sister on the cheek, then vanished into a closet. "I'll wear..." She came out, adorned like a proper school filly. "Ta da!"

Tempo gave a single clap. "Not bad. Let me check." She reached with her horn. That was still a new thing, but so much less complicated than spells. She got a grip and turned the lock, then the knob.

Carefully, she peeked out into the hallway, looking left and right. "Looks... clear. Go ahead."

Cadance raised a brow at her sister. "You are very silly. I'm safe." She walked around Tempo to the hallway beyond. "See, no bad ponies here."

Tempo lowered both brows. "You were just taken, yesterday." She huffed. "Fine, trust your sister to keep you safe."

"I will." Cadance paused long enough for Tempo to get in range, then gave her a big hug. Just as quickly, she dashed down the hallway, giggling.

"Like it never happened." The worry of the day before, forgotten? Tempo walked along after Cadance.

A hoof came down on Tempo's back, right in the center. "I require--"

Tempo swatted the hoof away and bounced back, growling and ready to fight.

Celestia smiled gently. "You suit your name, little Tempo. A moment of your time? I have questions only you can answer, I feel. I have posted several extra guards at her classroom. She is safe, I assure."

Tempo glanced at Cadance, already turning a corner, set to get to class. "Alright... But if she gets in trouble..."

"I will accept full responsibility." Celestia stepped aside. "This way." She welcomed Tempo into a waiting room with a low table arrayed with snacks and steaming drinks. "Please, avail yourself." Her horn glowed as she closed the door. "Tempo, a fine name... Given by Cadance, was it not?"

"My sister gave me a lot of things..." Her entire body? Tempo shook her head. "Yeah."

"She loves you."

Tempo colored faintly. "You don't... need to remind me of that. I love her too."

Celestia sank at the table, floating up a cookie to take a delicate nibble of. "Do you? Little Tempo, you are a curious creature... I can see webs on webs of magic on you."

Tempo joined Celestia at the table, but didn't reach for a single snack, or any of the drinks. "Yeah? Then why am I still free?"

"Why would you not be free?" Celestia inclined her head. "You are Cadance's sister. She was quite insistent on that point."

"Yeah..." Tempo frowned. "But she's a filly. I bet she says a lot of wild things."

"You would not be wrong." Celestia snapped her cookie in half and floated the half not touched by her teeth towards Tempo. "Snack?"

Tempo didn't reach for it. "What do you see?"

"I see little more than a doll." Celestia leaned forward. "A doll that my niece loves very much. A doll meant to hurt my niece, but this doll cut its own strings. It now walks beside her and offers to be her shield. That is an unusual doll."

Tempo turned both ears back. "That sounds... scary... But you're letting me?"

"Should I not?" Celestia leaned in, sweet breath washing over Tempo. "You are loved. You love. The nature of this love... well, do we understand any love, truly?"

"You're getting philosophic..."

"That's a large word for a filly." Celestia sat up. "Which I don't think you are, truly. Doll named Tempo, you are loved, and you are welcome. I would wish to know more about you. Surely even you want to know about you, hm?"

Tempo shifted in her seat across from Princess Celestia, still wary even as the solar monarch gazed at her kindly. She had so many swirling questions about her sudden existence, but where could she even begin?

"I want to understand what I am," she started hesitantly. "Why I'm here, how I can do magic, everything. But it's all a confusing jumble." She met Celestia's ageless eyes questioningly. "Can you help piece together my origins, Your Highness?"

Celestia took a long sip of her tea before responding gently, "In time, perhaps my vision can uncover the truth shrouding your birth into our world. But creation magic leaves tangled trails that even I cannot easily unwind."

She set down her cup with a soft clink. "What I can say for certain is that powerful forces shaped you, dear Tempo. Great purpose stirring in your heart alongside young Cadance's love."

Tempo looked down at her hooves, struggling to grasp concepts still so abstract to her. Purpose and love swirled within, yes - but so did an aching unsettled feeling she lacked the words to express. Like she didn't fully belong anywhere yet.

"I want to protect Cadance, above all else," Tempo murmured. "But is that enough? Can whatever magic made me be satisfied protecting just one filly?" She met Celestia's luminous gaze helplessly. "What if that magic wants more than I can give?"

Celestia reached a wing across the table to gently envelope Tempo. "Have faith, little one. Your wings may still be unsteady, but your heart knows its way." She smiled softly. "Love and purpose shall guide your flight, if you let them..."

She sat back. "But, right now, I most wanted your consent. We can look, and discover. I will not give up on my niece's sister so easily." She winked suddenly. "That technically makes you my niece as well, and I shudder to imagine abandoning any niece of mine to the winds."

Tempo dared a little smile. "T-thank you. Um..." She rubbed at her cheek. "This will sound funny... But I'm younger than Cadance, and older... I don't think I'll fit in her class."

"I should imagine not. You are a special case." She reached, slowly stroking down along Tempo's mane. "You have special needs. For you, I suggest a specific tutor. But don't think that gets you around meeting other ponies. I will not raise a hermit." She had no idea she'd raise Twilight in her original state. "That job I will place in Cadance's eager hooves. Listen to your sister."

Tempo's smile grew. "I trust her." She rolled her eyes. "Unless it's about being safe. She's clueless."

"Entirely." Celestia threw one of the two halves of cookies into her mouth to crunch softly a moment. "Do you remember Miss Inkwell? Raven Inkwell? She will oversee your education."

"Ma'am?" A door behind Celestia opened, allowing Raven to poke her snout in.

Tempo pricked at the unicorn. "I remember her. Hello?"

"Hello." Raven stepped inside, sitting next to Celestia. "I normally attend to Her Highness' specific needs. She has instructed me that you are her needs for the foreseeable future."

Tempo glanced between Celestia and Raven, understanding dawning along with a spark of excitement. This poised unicorn would help uncover her origins and purpose? Finally, some real direction instead of swimming through endless uncertainties!

"I'm ready to learn whatever I can about myself, and this world," Tempo said, sitting up straighter. Raven gave an approving nod.

"We shall have to start from the very beginning, I think," Raven mused, levitating a fresh sheaf of parchment and a quill pen. "Have you any concept of history, mathematics, science? Can you read and write as of yet?"

Tempo blinked slowly, a creeping heat rising to her cheeks that she pushed back down. Of course she couldn't read or anything else Raven listed - she was born yesterday! But letting embarrassment take root would get her nowhere.

"I don't have any knowledge beyond recent events," she responded levelly. "But I'm a fast learner when it comes to skills, especially with magic I think." She lit her horn, levitating a nearby empty teacup just long enough to prove her point before letting it settle back onto its saucer.

Raven scribbled some notes down before flashing Tempo a Mona Lisa smile. "Well then! We shall start at the very beginning. I do so look forward to unraveling this little mystery here..."

She pointed the feathered end of her quill at Tempo, who couldn't help but grin back eagerly. The prospect of deciphering her existence suddenly seemed thrilling instead of terrifying. With mentors like these in her corner, perhaps she could earn the right to stand alongside Cadance after all!

Celestia cleared her throat. "Whatever her skills may be, that she is keeping up with this conversation should be taken into consideration. An 'old soul', as they sometimes call it. I think it applies here."

Raven tapped at her chin in slow motions. "We should start with a proper assessment. Your words could be concealing the truth, even from you. Math and reading levels." She tapped her hooves with each topic. "Philosophy and creative thinking. Puzzles and..." She could see Tempo was becoming intimidated, shrinking back.

"My apologies." She used her glowing horn to pet over Tempo. "We will start with the basics and see where you stand. You can't fail this. We are simply seeing where you stand."

Tempo leaned into Raven's reassuring touch, catching herself quickly and straightening back up. Seeking comfort still felt oddly unfamiliar, as natural as the instinct was.

"I understand this is an assessment, not a test," she murmured, meeting Raven's eyes. There was patience there, and academic curiosity instead of judgment. Tempo clung to that lifeline now extended to her.

"We shall begin simply, gauging your capabilities more than drilling hard facts," Raven continued gently. "Can you write the alphabet from memory, for example?"

She slid Tempo a fresh piece of parchment and an inkwell, likely a trivial task for any school-aged pony. But for Tempo, this would be a first glimmer into how readily she could absorb new information.

Brow furrowed, Tempo grasped the quill awkwardly in her telekinesis, tongue poking from the corner of her mouth. Letter shapes swirled half-formed in her mind, but like smoke they resisted capturing clearly. Still, she put ink to page, determined to impress her new mentor.

The results were shaky and blotted, misshapen at times. But when she finally set the quill down, every letter was represented, from A to Z. Tempo met Raven's gaze anxiously, praying she wouldn't find disappointment there...

Raven floated the paper in her magic, bringing it up where both she and Celestia could see it, and judge it. Several tense moments of quiet passed.

"Fascinating." Raven set the paper down and pointed to the P. "What is this?"

"P? Paul, Persimmon... Pole?" Tempo went through the first P words that came to mind.

"And this?" Raven pointed to Q.

"Q. Quit, Quill, Query?"

"I see." Raven glanced sidelong at Celestia.

Celestia popped the other half of her cookie in her maw. "It would seem your vocabulary is quite good, but your writing is... curiously off. You are saying the letters, but not writing them correctly."

"Easily fixed." Raven smiled, as if everything were fixed. "Let us move on to numerals and their functions."

She breezed through addition and subtraction, foalishly simple. Technically, Tempo was one of those. She blew past that.

"And now..." Raven led the way towards multiplication, then division. She began adding variables as they got into quadratics. "Enough."

Tempo jerked, surprised. "Enough?"

"Enough." Raven tapped the paper where the last equation was. "You know enough math for any pony not attempting a more specialized career. You may further pursue it, but that is beyond the guidelines I've been given. You have officially graduated school, at least in terms of math. I look forward to teasing out your other strengths, and weaknesses."

4 - Many Questions, Few Answers

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When it came time for history, Tempo failed. She failed everything beyond what she had heard that precious single day of existing as Tempo. She had no idea how things worked, except when she did. She understood Celestia was the ruling monarch.

She understood what guards were and their function. She understood the idea of bad people and how they might be punished, though... "Arrest them. Maybe kill them?"

Celestia sat upright. "We do not... usually sort to such extreme measures. Only the very very worst have been subjected to anything close to that... And even those could be undone."

Tempo blinked softly, looking a proper foal a moment in her confusion. "How do you undo that?"

Raven cleared her throat. "We're being distracted. It is not your position to determine the ultimate decisions of the law. All you need to know is that killing is bad. Hurting other ponies is bad. Taking their things without their permission --"

"--is bad," cut in Tempo. "Obviously. Um... What's next?" She dared to take her first cookie in her magic, bringing it up for little nibbles.

She didn't see, or perhaps notice, the crumbs she was dropping to the ground in the act.

Raven looked over her notes. "I think I have all I need to begin your lessons. You are an interesting case, with some sharp peaks and other deep valleys. It will be my duty to raise those valleys upwards, but I feel you are an eager learner. This shouldn't be too difficult for either of us."

She rose to her hooves. "I will begin tomorrow. When Cadance goes to class, you will return here, and we'll start your education."

Celestia nodded to Raven as she left the room. "Education can feel intimidating, but it's not there to measure your worth, as a pony. We want to help you be your best."

"Am I a pony?" Tempo set her cookie on the table. "You called me a doll."

"I apologize." Celestia inclined her head. "What you are... physically, is less important than what your heart sings. You feel ready to stand beside ponies, as one, and I won't stand in the way of that."

Tempo flashed a smile, but it was quite short lived. "Then what am I, really? Why am I? Raven will teach me Where and When. How am I?"

Celestia curled a hoof at Tempo, a kind smile worn. "Only you could answer that last one, but I would like to know. How are you?"

"A little confused." Tempo tapped her hooves together softly. "It was easier when I was just worried about Cadance..."

"I don't meant this in a bad way." Celestia's horn glowed as she pulled a sheet out and set it up on a tripod. On the sheet was a drawing of a pony golem, insides exposed. It was a very detailed, mechanical, drawing. "But constructs, like you, tend to work in directs and absolutes. Having one thing to focus on is where most would prefer to be, though most don't speak preferences."

Tempo frowned slightly at the anatomical drawing, a vague unease surfacing. Constructs and golems - was that all she amounted to? Just something pieced together by an outside will, bound to a single driving focus?

"I don't feel like an empty machine," she said quietly. "I have thoughts, emotions, questions..." She met Celestia's luminous gaze. "Does a golem dream of the future? Imagine new possibilities?"

Celestia inclined her head thoughtfully. "You raise an excellent point, dear one. Perhaps I speak too soon trying to fit you in a box."

With a flick of magic, the anatomical drawing rolled itself up to be set aside. "You are still unfolding, it's true. And I shall leave space for that growth rather than premature labels."

Tempo smiled back hesitantly. She supposed it was understandable for them to be suspicious. A mysterious new entity tied to sinister magics? Caution was warranted.

But the way Cadance had embraced her so unconditionally echoed in her mind - innocent affection asking no difficult questions about Tempo's 'how' or 'why'. Just accepting the gift of her presence with joy. Could she earn that same wholehearted trust from Celestia in time? Or was she doomed to always be held at hoof's length as a potential threat?

She met Celestia's luminous gaze again, refusing to shy from it. "I don't fully understand myself yet either," she admitted. "But I hope as I learn, so too might you, Your Highness..."

It felt vulnerable opening up this way. But if she shut the mighty alicorn out, she suspected she'd always be gazing in from the fringes. Honesty and courage were her only paths forward.

But Celestia radiated only warmth. "You are that, but you are so much more. You have a heart. Golems do not have room for one of those, but you fit one." She leaned in, neck craning over the table towards Tempo. "You have room for questions, doubts... Worries. All things a simple golem would not have room for. You fit it all. It's no wonder to me you feel a bit... crowded." She nosed Tempo gently, nose to cheek. "You are a miracle, and one I welcome."

Tempo grabbed Celestia's snout between two hooves. "You're not scared of me?"

Celestia didn't resist the grab, allowing Tempo to hold her. "Should I be? As I said before, you love. You are loved. We both have questions, so many of them, but none of them are questions about that."

Tempo sighed as she released Celestia. "I feel like I should eat, but I am not hungry. I should drink, but I am not thirsty."

Celestia's horn glowed as she picked at Tempo as gently as possible, looking inside her. "Golems, dolls?" She frowned. "What term do you prefer? I don't want to make you flinch every time I speak of your body. It is just that, your body. You. You are more than that."

Tempo felt a smile breaking free, fleeting as it was. That she was more than her body felt so... encouraging... "Which is the most accurate?"

"You are a golem." Celestia reached for that diagram. "You began 'life' unthinking and unfeeling. Most golems never change from that course. Something changed that." She unfolded the diagram. "And made you a creature instead."

"Creature?"

Celestia perked an ear. "My apologies. A creature is any animal that speaks. A critter is any animal that does not. A monster is an animal that may or may not speak, but is dangerous regardless. You are a creature."

"Not a monster?"

Celestia reached with both hooves, scooping up the little filly that was also a golem. "Not a monster," she assured in a whisper.

Tempo relaxed into Celestia's embrace, some knot of tension easing its grip inside. She was still piecing together so many mysteries about herself, but Celestia's unconditional acceptance echoed what Cadance had shown her too.

Maybe she didn't fully understand the how and why of her existence yet. But with loved ones like these believing in her... "If I'm not a monster, what am I for then?" she asked softly, not pulling back from Celestia's hooves just yet. "You called me a miracle before... But was I meant for anything special?"

She thought of the cultists that had pulled her into being - their cruel plans to copy Cadance and infiltrate Canterlot. Tempo had turned on them, yes. But were more sinister threads woven into her origins?

Celestia gently stroked Tempo's back as she pondered the question. "I cannot claim to read every riddle in your making, little one," she eventually replied. "But I believe each creature comes to life with a purpose waiting to unfold."

Her horn glowed, summoning the anatomical diagram again. "What others intended hardly matters now. You chose your own path - just as your heart and talents shall guide whatever destiny awaits you."

She smiled down at Tempo warmly. "Stay true to who you are, dear Tempo, as you continue to discover her. The rest shall follow in time..."

Tempo nestled closer, gazing at the complex artwork. Once a blank template, now complex inner workings were revealed. Much like her own dawning soul.

"I'll try my best," she whispered back.

She noticed the pile of crumbs where she had been sitting. Who left that mess!? Oh... She did... Tempo colored, realizing it. "I... don't think I can eat."

Celestia followed Tempo's gaze. She swept up the crumbs and tossed them away with her magic. "Perhaps not. Could you taste it?"

"Yes." Tempo jumped down and grabbed that cookie in her magic. "I remember tasting it." She went over to the same trash Celestia had used and took a bite over it, allowing the crumbs to fall into it.

Celestia turned to keep Tempo in focus. "What does it taste like?"

"Buttery, sweet, light... It's a good flavor, I think..." Something about it tickled at some hidden past. But she had no past! She had just been born. Created? "I can taste it."

"May we do a little experiment?" Celestia sliced a thin portion of cake onto a plate and slid it towards Tempo. "Press that against your lips, but don't bite it."

Tempo looked confused a moment. What a curious experiment! "Okay..." She took hold of the plate with her magic and brought it over to touch her lips against. Flavor. She could taste it. "Oh... Carrot cake?"

"Carrot cake," warmly assured Celestia, wings unfurling. "Wonderful. What a lovely little trick we've discovered."

Tempo's eyes widened with fascination as she realized what Celestia meant. Her lips and tongue still had all the taste buds and receptors to savor flavors it seemed. Even if consuming food itself was pointless, she could still experience that simple joy.

"It's like kissing the memory of a meal," Tempo murmured after pulling back from the delicate cake slice. Already her mind raced ahead with this new discovery. "I wonder if it works for other senses too? Like smell, sound...感觉..."

She trailed off, nose scrunching in confusion. Had she just slipped into another language unexpectedly? The words had spilled out unthinkingly, yet felt oddly natural on her tongue.

"What was that last bit, dear one?" Celestia asked gently. "You appear to have tapped into something new..."

"I'm...not sure." Tempo's horn glowed as she summoned some jasmine tea to her nose, inhaling gently. The soothing floral scent filled her senses, memories flickering like heat lightning in her mind. "It was something about...sensations? I can't grasp it fully, it's too slippery..."

She looked up at Celestia almost pleadingly. "What's happening? Are there hidden things locked in my mind too?" Saying it out loud made her tremble slightly. Just how much had been written into her newborn soul without her even knowing?

"Calm... You are fine." Celestia stood up. "But overwhelmed, as any pony would be in this situation. Let's just be pleased at what we've learned today."

"What did we learn?" Tempo put the tea and desert down on the table. "That I'm not a pony like Cadance?"

"You are a pony." Celestia circled the table towards Tempo. "Whatever you're made of, you are a pony. My niece, in fact. And why would a pony have a niece that is not a pony as well? That would be quite absurd, don't you think?"

Tempo snorted at the strange logic. It didn't work like that, and she knew it. But that Celestia insisted felt like a soft balm on her confused heart. "Thank you... Aunt?"

"Aunt." Celestia sat before Tempo. "You may call me that. Aunt, Auntie." She smirked impishly. "You can get away with silly names like Celly. Auntie Celly. That'll make it quite clear we are close. I am no princess before you, just an aunt."

And Tempo was no golem, just a foal, in return... "I have so many questions..."

"And so few answers." Celestia kissed the top of Tempo's head, just beside her horn. "But we'll find them. Have patience, and know that we welcome you, even with the thousand riddles you represent."

5 - Schoolmates

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Cadance led Tempo along with a bright smile. "I told my friends all about you."

"Good things?" Tempo hastened to Cadance's side. "I only just learned things recently. We haven't even talked about them."

"About this brave pony." she bumped against Tempo gently. "--who rescued me, and did amazing magic."

Tempo felt heat rising. "Once... I couldn't do it again. I don't know how."

"And that's okay." Any problems there, Cadance didn't see. They emerged from the castle to a grassy clearing with other foals. They spotted Cadance and Tempo and waved in unison. "There's my friends now. Hello!"

A colt sat up. "Hey, Cadie. Tempo? Heard about you."

A nasally sounding filly nodded. "Nice to meet you. I heard you fought some bad ponies."

"And it was brave," noted a thinner colt. "Brave and amazing! I wish I coulda seen it!"

Tempo shifted awkwardly under the sudden attention from Cadance's curious friends, smiling hesitantly. "It, uh, wasn't really a fight," she murmured. "More like an accidental magical surge. I don't even know how it happened..."

She scuffed a hoof across the grass, memories of those confusing moments still a bewildering blur of desperation and protectiveness swirling inside her.

Cadance just grinned, giving Tempo an encouraging nudge. "You saved me from the bad ponies and that's what matters! However you made that awesome teleportation spell explode out."

The colt, Glyph, leaned in eagerly. "Would have loved to see something as awesome as that! Can you teach us the incantations? I've always wanted to teleport further than across the room."

He flicked his short tail, magic lighting his stubby horn as if ready to start practicing that instant. The snooty filly rolled her eyes but looked anticipatory too.

Tempo flushed, wings ruffling up under her cloak self-consciously. "I wish I could show you," she admitted, "but I was kinda just wildly making stuff up to escape at the time. No idea if I could do any of it again."

She dared meet Cadance's gaze, worried she'd be disappointed in her new sister's magical uncertainty. "Sorry to be such a letdown compared to the story..."

Cadance just slid closer and hugged Tempo. "It'll come back, I'm sure. You're still new." She squeezed Tempo tighter. "Love you... But, oh, did I show you the stick fort?"

She bounced away. "This way."

Tempo blinked rapidly, her sister's easy affection catching her off guard as it often still did. Then she hurried to follow the energetic filly, glad for any distraction from uncomfortable scrutiny, even if that meant...playing with sticks?

The stick fort proved to be little more than a lean-to constructed of long sticks leaning against the wall of the castle. Tempo touched one and it threatened to fall ovre. "Not very... secure."

Glyph huffed. "I told them that!"

Cadance pouted, arms crossing. "I didn't see you fixing it. Tempo, do you have ideas? You're full of great ideas."

Was she? Tempo turned her thoughts inwards, trying to find some kind of idea. Something good...

She wanted to protect Cadance. Cadance wanted a little fortress. Protect.

"Right." Tempo reached out and brushed the sticks, horn glowing as she almost soldered the sticks to the ground. She reared up and repeated it for their connections to the wall. They were no better looking, but they were far more secure. "How's that?"

Cadance's eyes widened. "Wow..."

"Woah," agreed Glyph. "You're a natural! Okay, no excuses! Show me how to do that one. You just did it. Please!"

Tempo blinked in surprise as the other foals gazed at her handiwork with impressed expressions.

"Oh, um, I was just reinforcing the structural integrity," she mumbled, scuffing a hoof self-consciously. Hardly an impressive feat compared to long-range teleportation.

But Glyph practically vibrated with excitement beside her. "You made it way sturdier with just a glow! Come on, you gotta show me how you shaped the magic so perfectly."

Cadance edged over to gently bump Tempo's shoulder. "See? You have lotsa special talents just waiting to come out, sister." Her grin widened. "Ooh, I know - you can help us make the fort bigger!"

She gestured across the clearing where a few small boulders dotted the grass. "We can use those rocks to build the walls up solid. But they're too heavy to move..." She blinked pleadingly at Tempo.

With the way both Cadance and Glyph gazed at her so hopefully, Tempo felt her reservations melt away. She was still figuring out so much about herself - perhaps she had underestimated her capabilities. And helping Cadance expand her little fort did sound gratifying...

"Okay, stand back everypony," Tempo announced, horn lighting up brighter. She focused on the nearest boulder, picking it up and floating it over to hover beside the fort. Though heavy, it felt almost natural manipulating its bulk psychically.

"Let me just fuse these into the walls..." She concentrated, melding the rocks seamlessly to the wooden frame. Soon a solid, fortified structure emerged from their efforts, just wide enough for the foals to fit inside.

Cadance's eyes shone. "It's perfect!" Before Tempo could react, the exuberant filly had tackled her in an ecstatic hug. "You're the best sister ever!"

Tempo flushed under the wave of affection, wings fluttering shyly. Creating magical constructs gave her a deep sense of satisfaction, and Cadance's unconditional praise warmed her heart.

"What's this?" barked an adult voice. Peeking out of their fort, they saw a guard scowling at them. "You're in so much trouble!" He pointed at the fort, and the wall it was attached to. "When Princess Celestia hears about this..."

Tempo's eyes widened as... Well, her heart didn't quicken. She didn't have one, but she could feel the tension. Had she ruined everything? "Please... I didn't mean..."

Cadance hugged her silently crying sister. "Don't be mean!"

The guard flinched back. "Mean?"

"Mean!" shouted Cadance, glaring at him. "She's still learning what she can do... and what she can do... Just... Just tell her."

The guard rubbed awkwardly behind his head. "Oh, um... Okay. Tempo?" Tempo looked up at him. "You are not allowed to make modifications to the castle. Do not do that again. Okay?"

"O-okay," got out Tempo weakly, shuffling her hooves together. "I'm sorry."

The guard smiled gently. "It's alright. Can you..." He pointed to the little extension Tempo had made. "Can you put that back where you found it, please?"

Tempo nodded hurriedly, blinking back anxious tears. She lit her horn again, levitating the boulders off the expanded fort walls and replacing them in their original grassy spots.

"I really am sorry," she mumbled. "I was just trying to help make Cadance happy." Her ears drooped. "I didn't know it was wrong..."

Cadance hugged Tempo's legs, gazing pleadingly up at the guard. "It's my fault too! But she wouldn'tve done it if I didn't ask for help with our fort. Please don't tell Auntie Celestia!"

The guard rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "There's no need for all that now. Just remember - no more castle modifications without clearance." He looked from one sad filly face to the other and sighed. "Tell ya what...how bout I show you the old fort in the barracks yard instead?"

He turned and beckoned them to follow towards the lower ramparts. There a collection of weather-worn towers and blockades stood, made of wood and stone. "All yours to play soldier ponies in if ya promise to leave the real castle walls alone from now on. Deal?"

Cadance gasped excitedly to Tempo. "This is way cooler anyway! Come on, let's claim the big tower!" She grabbed her sister's hoof, all woes instantly forgotten as she frolicked towards the crumbling but charming structures, their new domain.

Tempo followed gingerly behind, nerves still jangling from nearly getting them in monumental trouble. But the guard's warmth had left an impression on her - he cared more about understanding her intentions than punishing a foalish mistake. Maybe there was still hope an oddity like herself could find a place here too...

She stepped through an arched doorway into the spacious tower keep, gazing around at imaginary battles long faded now. Cadance's smiling face peeked out of various broken windows. "Our new fort!" the filly declared happily, and Tempo couldn't help smiling back. She may still have much to learn about restraining her powers, but at least she'd always fight to protect this precious sister of hers...

Glyph climbed to the very highest point. "I call this Fort Bravery!" He assumed the bravest stance he could think of. "Soldier Tempo!"

Tempo blinked, looking up at him. "I'm a soldier?"

"You are so long as you're in this fort." Glyph giggled with building warmth. "See to the repairs." He pointed at where little cracks had been forming. "I know you can do it, and we have permission, so no trouble this time."

Cadance stuck out her tongue. "She's my sister, don't boss her around."

"She's in the fort, she has to follow soldier commands." Glyph rolled his eyes. "That goes for all soldiers."

"Well..." Cadance got a scheming smile. "Then that goes for you too. Soldier Glyph, put up the flag."

"We don't... have a flag?"

Cadance raised a brow. "Then you'd better get one, Soldier Glyph. Soldiers have to follow orders."

"Yes, Ma'am," he deflated, defeated by his own logic. He scurried off in search of that flag.

Tempo giggled quietly as Glyph scampered off, before turning her attention to the crumbling fort walls. She lit her horn, magically sealing cracks and reinforcing weak points with smooth new stone.

Soon the tower stood firm and proud once more, flags flapping merrily from the ramparts where Glyph had managed to erect makeshift banners. Tempo gazed around their handiwork with satisfaction.

"All repaired for your approval, lieutenant," she reported to Cadance with a playful salute. She found herself settling comfortably into this fantasy role, a loyal soldier ready to bolster their company.

Cadance beamed, scampering over to inspect the fortifications. "Excellent work! Ah, but we must plan our defensive strategy as well." She leaned in conspiratorially. "I heard tale of a fearsome monster roaming these very woods."

She gestured to the shadowy trees encircling them. "As my second-in-command, we must protect Fort Bravery at all costs!" Splaying her tiny wings imperiously, she glared out at the forest like a commander sizing up enemy terrain.

Tempo instinctively moved closer to the filly, scanning the treeline for any sign of threats. "Don't worry sir, err, ma'am!" She lifted her chin. "I won't let anything happen to you or our noble fort."

She knew it was just foalish games, but some deeper part of her thrilled at the chance to be Cadance's protector again, phantom foes or no. If they were an imagination, Glyph showed no hint of it, glaring out at the thousand threats that faced them. "I say we should practice! We won't fight them off without being good fighters."

Cadance put a hoof to her chest. "I don't want to fight. Why can't we talk to them?"

Tempo inclined her head. "If they are monsters, it will be hard to... talk, sister."

Cadance's face fell at Tempo's matter-of-fact reply. "But Auntie Celestia says we must always seek peace before conflict," she protested.

She scuffed a hoof, glancing between Tempo and Glyph's determined expressions. They were ready to imaginarily battle whatever crossed their path, while she still clung to her ideals of harmony.

"What if the monster is actually nice and wants to be our friend?" Cadance tried hopefully. "Like in my favorite book where the little dragon just needed some love..."

She trailed off at their doubtful looks. Young as she was, the seeds of her talent for spreading love already showed in her endless faith and compassion.

Tempo stepped over to gently bump her shoulder. "You're right, we should give any new creature a chance," she conceded gently. "But we also need to be able to protect this place if needed. I promise though..."

She met Cadance's eyes. "I'll always try talking first before attacking. Okay?" It was the least she could do for her peace-loving sister.

Cadance's ears perked up. "Promise?" She held out her hoof eagerly. Tempo hesitated only a moment before twining their hooves and mirroring the motions of an oath. If it put that sunny smile back on Cadance's face, promise much anything...

6 - Growing Days

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Cadance stood firmly upright before a door. Celestia brought over a marker to swipe just above Cadance's head. "Lovely little niece, you've gained a considerable bit since last we checked." She pointed the marker at the new mark, then the old one a few inches below it.

Cadance did a little proud dance. "I'm growing, Auntie." She grabbed Tempo with the same glowing energy. "Check her next!"

Tempo turned an ear back. As lovely as things had become... With a soft sigh, she went for the other side of the same door, where there was only one mark.

Celestia brought the marker over, but made no mark. Repainting the same line, again, felt silly. "Hm... Cadance, dear, why don't you run along?"

Cadance had heard that tone before. "No."

Celestia cocked an ear. "I want to talk with your sister, about personal things."

Cadance remained attached to Tempo. "We're twin sisters. We have no secrets."

Tempo nodded at that. "There is nothing you could tell me I wouldn't want her to know."

Cadance burst into giggles, snuggling the smaller Tempo gladly.

Tempo smiled softly at Cadance's infectious laughter, but uncertainty still stirred within as she met Celestia's luminous gaze. However close she and her sister had become, a divide still lingered between herself and Equestria's ruler.

"We don't have to talk about it now if you'd rather not," Tempo murmured, scuffing a hoof. She hoped Celestia's hesitance signaled simple distraction, not lasting doubt. But the way the tall alicorn watched her - had something changed?

Celestia inclined her head gently. "I merely wished to spare you both saddening facts. But as Cadance says, you two are twins in spirit now." She gestured them closer and they clustered near, eager and apprehensive all at once.

"Dearest Tempo..." Celestia began slowly. "I know you've wondered at times why your growth differs from other foals. The truth is, what magic shaped you did not design a changing form."

She met Tempo's widening eyes with compassion. "You shall always be as you are - a filly in shape if not in years. I did not wish to burden you so soon, but Cadance's joy shows your spirits remain bright."

Silence hung between them a moment. Then Cadance nudged against Tempo fiercely. "That doesn't matter one bit! You're my sister no matter what." She blinked back sudden tears. "Who cares if you stay little? More importantly, we'll always have each other!"

Tempo sat on her haunches to cross her arms with a frown. "No." She echoed her larger sister's word in timber perfectly. "I'm already... I shouldn't be this." She pointed at herself. "I was made to... hurt her." She noses against Cadance's cheek. "Instead I protect her. I already don't follow that stupid magic."

Celestia smiled faintly. "You are a rebellious one, Tempo... But..." She reached out and ran her hooves over Tempo slowly. "You are... You are my beloved niece... But you are also a doll, a golem. A doll does not grow. Only living things do that."

Cadance huffed at that, joining in Tempo's obstinance. "Than build her a bigger body." Her tone implied it was just obvious. "Auntie, you're being silly."

Celestia blinked at that suggestion. "From the mouth of babes... But I'm not sure if that would... work." Still, she dares a smile, sitting up over the foals. "But if we don't try, how will we find out?"

Tempo's eyes shone with fragile hope. A bigger body that could keep growing? She turned to Cadance, hardly daring to believe. Her sister met her gaze with defiant optimism.

"It has to work!" the little pink filly insisted. She puffed out her chest. "Auntie is the strongest magical pony ever. She can make a whole new form for you, I know it!"

And though anxiety lingered around Tempo's heart, she wanted so desperately to share Cadance's confidence. If Celestia herself believed in this mad hope... What other choice did they have but to try?

"But what if..." Tempo began nervously. "What if I lose myself? What if making a new body erases who I've become so far?" A dozen fervid worries cascaded through her mind for what seemed the hundredth time since waking into existence that strange day.

Yet Cadance simply rested their foreheads together tenderly. "You are Tempo," she whispered, strong with conviction. "Nothing any silly spell does will ever change your heart..."

The tiny filly's faith rang loud in Tempo's mind, overcoming fear with its innocent melody. She turned to meet Celestia's kind gaze. "I'm ready if you are, Auntie... Let's bring this Tempo into full bloom."

Celestia nodded and rose to her hooves, horn flaring. White wings encircled Tempo as the air thrummed with gathering magic. "Have courage," Celestia intoned softly. "Your song is just beginning..."

Suddenly, the glow flashed blindingly bright! Cadance gasped as incandescent streams of magic spiraled Tempo into the air...

When golden sparks faded at last, Tempo hovered there transfigured - now a grown filly, early in her teen years, just as Cadance had reached. She stared at her new limbs in awe, then laughter broke joyfully from her lips.

Cadance cheered, rushing to hug her restored sister. And Tempo swept the gleeful little pony up in turn, heart near to bursting.

Celestia let out a breath, sides moving as she recovered from the considerable spell. "Tempo, you... What makes you 'you' is resilient, more than even I would have guessed. I felt it, even as I reshaped your shell."

Cadance nudged against her sister, returned to twin status in appearance. "So we can keep doing that each time I get bigger?"

Tempo turned an ear aside. A growing body would have been best, but... Maybe what they had arrived at was a close second best? She could look Cadance in the eye again, and that was way more important. "Thank you, Auntie."

Tempo gazed at Cadance, her twin once more, and affection swelled powerfully inside. True, she may never grow like a real pony. But the chill of being trapped tiny had lifted thanks to Celestia's gift.

"I can't thank you enough." Tempo met Celestia's luminous eyes. The tall alicorn had poured so much magic into restoring her adolescent form just to ease their worries.

Cadance grinned, bouncing eagerly around them. "This is perfect! Now we get to be the same again." She popped up between Celestia and Tempo, gaze pleading. "Does this mean Tempo doesn't have to go to school anymore either?"

Tempo blinked in surprise - in the joyful rush she'd nearly forgotten how her lessons had continued setting her apart daily. A wistful smile found her lips. "I guess I am about the same level as you now, sis..."

Celestia snorted with a little smirk. "You stopped going to foal's school, Cadance. That does not mean you're done with school, young lady. You are both headed to the next level." She clapped her hooves together. "You'll be challenged, but it will be fun. You'll learn whole new things and meet new ponies."

Both fillies looked uncertain, but the nature of it varied, with Cadance wondering at the classes and what new friends she might make. Tempo was thinking of how to protect Cadance in a new place.

Celestia reached out to boop Tempo on her snout. "You. You have a choice."

Tempo blinked, eyes focused on the hoof on her face. "What's that?"

"You could not go." She drew the hoof away. "A choice, I admit, I doubt I see you taking. You don't need to go. Raven has assured me you are now educated. The valleys, if you remember them, have been filled in. On the other hoof--"

"No! No way!" Tempo crossed her arms before stomping her hooves. "I'm going with Cadance to her new school."

Cadance brushed against her sister. "You're the best! If you know this stuff, you'll help?"

"Yes, of course." Tempo smooched Cadance's cheek. She'd also protect Cadance from everything, but she didn't mention that part. "I am ready."

Excitement trembled in her voice. "Maybe out there I can finally uncover my full purpose!"

Cadance nodded vigorously beside her. "Ooh, won't it be fun figuring out our special talents together?" She mimed scanning a cutie mark onto her flank. "We'll have the most awesome class adventures, I just know it!"

What neither predicted was that a growing Cadance wanted to start being useful beyond being an adorable filly. She started foalsitting for a filly as small as she had been when she found Tempo.

"Sunshine, Sunshine,
Ladybugs awake.
Clap your hooves
And do a little shake!" sang out all three of them.

It had taken Tempo a few times hearing it before she got it down perfectly, but they ended with all three of them shaking their rumps at one another and laughing.

Twilight rushed off to read a book she was captivated by, leaving her foalsitters behind.

Cadance raised an ear at her sister. "You don't have to come with me to Twilight's. This is a one pony job, promise. I have this."

"I have you." Tempo gently embraced her sister. "I know you can do this. You're very talented, sister."

Cadance colored faintly. "Thank you, but..." She was growing enough... "Eventually, sis, we're going to do things the other can't be there for."

Tempo slowly inclined her head. "What would those be?" But Cadance had no answers, just blushes, leaving Tempo a bit confused. "I will protect you. I promised you."

Cadance nuzzled Tempo gently on the chest. "I love you so much, but if I... Twilight!" The conversation broke as the two scrambled to stop Twilight from doing something ill-advised.

Tempo helped Cadance wrangle the energetic little Twilight, but her sister's words lingered in her mind. Doing things apart...somehow the thought filled her with unease. Hadn't she vowed to always stand by Cadance's side?

Yet the subtle changes in Cadance as she grew didn't escape Tempo either. A gentle wisdom taking root, and slowly spreading wings longing to soar free.

Tempo blinked back an anxious prickle. Cadance deserved to find her own path, as much as Tempo still craved the purpose caring for her twin gave.

Perhaps the time was coming where she must test her wings beyond just being Cadance's sworn guardian. The idea terrified...yet didn't a seed of restless curiosity live inside her too? Wanting to discover who Tempo was in her own right?

She gazed at her cutie mark - the same heart emblem Cadance bore. Two twins reflecting one cutie mark between them... But that was how she was made.

For the first time, Tempo dared wonder what talent destiny might unveil if she stepped fully into her own...whatever that meant without Cadance to define her.

A tear dripped from her. Why did a doll cry? She'd shed tears a few times in her life, and they'd always confused her. If she was a doll, how did it even work? She wiped a leg over her stinging eyes. Such thoughts did little to make the tears stop. She felt bad, and she cried.

She forced a smile despite it. "I have so much more to learn." She trotted after Cadance to resume helping with Twilight. Abandoning her mid-foalsitting session? That was just a step too far.

Foalsitting brought smiles all around once more as they played and laughed together. But Tempo now saw the subtle ways Cadance guided young Twilight too - gentle encouragement here, a teaching moment there. Already she had the heart of a teacher and mentor.

Bittersweet pride swelled in Tempo's chest. However much she craved things to remain unchanged between them, Cadance clearly shone brighter leaning into her burgeoning talents.

So Tempo would adapt in turn - find some new harmony that still kept her twin close while giving space to fly free. She just needed to uncover her own latent gifts fate surely meant for her beyond playing guardian.

The answers eluded...but Tempo would seek them with renewed fervor. For both their sakes.

7 - High School Heartaches

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Tempo guarded Cadance. This was a constant, far beyond arguing. One may as well try to deny the sun in the sky. When a stallion gave Cadance a funny look, Tempo took note. There were many stallions to take notes about. Cadance was growing more and more enchanting, and they were noticing.

But there was one little thing she didn't plan on. She was just as pretty. Her attitude wasn't the same radiance as her sister, but her body was a copy.

Stallions noticed her, but Tempo didn't notice them, too busy watching Cadance.

There was one specific stallion that kept looking at Cadance. He was a danger.

She roused to action, ready to protect her sister. Poor Shining didn't expect to get shoved against a locker with Cadance glaring at him. Wait, no, that wasn't Cadance. "Tempo?"

Tempo's tail gave an angry lash. "Why do you keep staring at Cadance?" Tempo leaned in. She didn't breathe, so there was no angry breath to use as a weapon of intimidation. "If you're planning to attack her, you have to get through me."

"What? No! No way!" He crossed his arms in front of himself.

"But you keep watching her." Tempo squinted suspiciously. "You monitor her movements, but you aren't her friend. You barely talk to her. You get..." She drew a hoof back, hovering in the air. "What are your intentions?"

"Um..." Shining ducked under her remaining hoof and scooted away a few steps. "It's none, um, of your business."

"I would disagree." Tempo followed at a slow, purposeful, walk. "I will protect my sister. Cadance will not be hurt."

"I don't want to hurt her." He laughed tensely. "I'd never want to do that..."

Tempo halted her advance as Shining laughed nervously, realization slowly dawning in her eyes. "You...don't want to hurt Cadance?" she clarified.

At his vehement head shake, she peered closer, taking in his faint blush and shy smile. Comprehension clicked - she had seen similar moony looks on the faces of castle guards when the object of their affection passed by.

"Ohhh," Tempo uttered, tension easing from her frame. She gave Shining an appraising up-and-down glance. "You wish to court my sister then."

It wasn't really a question, but he sputtered out a response regardless. "Well I - she's just so - I mean, all the colts think she's-"

Tempo tilted her head, waiting for him to collect himself. She supposed she couldn't fault the poor boy for being flustered in front of her rather imposing double.

"I just think she's really nice, that's all," Shining finally mumbled. "Super pretty and sweet..."

He risked meeting Tempo's gaze. "I get that you're protective of her. But you don't have to worry about me, honest!"

Tempo considered him a moment longer before allowing a little smile. "Very well then. But Cadance's safety is still my first priority..." Her eyes glinted. "So you'll have me to answer to if you upset her."

She held out a hoof to shake. "But friendship first, monitoring second," she added in a lighter tone. Perhaps she could give this bumbling colt a chance - for Cadance's sake if nothing else.

Shining looked immensely relieved, eagerly accepting the hoofshake. "You got it! And maybe we could even all hang out sometime too?" He smiled hopefully. "Could use all the tips I can get on how to get out of the friendzone..."

Tempo blinked. "That's a new word." She glanced at the other students milling past, a few watching what had been a confrontation. "What does it mean?"

"Uh!" Shining looked like he desperately hoped for a hole to fall into. "Well... Um... She knows me..." He tapped his hooves nervously. "But not much more than that... I want to be more than just 'a pony she knows.'"

"You can't be her sister. You're not a mare, and that's my job." They weren't accusations exactly. Tempo was just noting facts. "Her brother?"

"No, no..." Shining laughed tensely. "You are very intense."

Tempo smiled at that. "I care about my sister. I will protect her. What relationship are you trying to get?"

Shining sank against the lockets. "There are too many ponies watching us..." The crowd was slowly growing. "Can we go over this, maybe... after school?"

"Alright." Tempo walked past him, looking confident that she had done her part for that moment.

Shining wiped his sweating brow with a swipe of a foreleg. "Wow..." He hurried to the next class with a nervous laugh.

A pony stood in front of Tempo. "You are in the way." Tempo pointed past him. "I share the next class with my sister. I need to be there."

"I was, uh..." The stallion rubbed one arm with the other hoof. "I'm in that class too."

She thought back. Yes, she'd seen him before. "And?"

"I was hoping for some help." He smiled with that hope. "You seem to understand it really well, um... If you have time?"

Tempo considered that. "You could... join our study sessions."

"Yes! Please? That'd be great." He did a little canter in place. "You're the best!"

"You are..." She rolled her hoof at him, waiting for his name.

The stallion blinked in surprise before chuckling. "Oh right, guess I got ahead of myself there! I'm Prince Blueblood - we have Magic History together."

He smiled winningly and Tempo faintly placed the brash, charismatic colt who often dominated class discussions, albeit not always accurately. She tilted her head as he prattled on eagerly.

"So yes, I could definitely use some help before finals. All the study groups I try to join tend to just turn into social hour." He laughed. "Not that I mind too much! But the exam is going to be brutal..."

He trailed off hopefully and Tempo considered for a moment. An opportunistic social climber he might have been, but an extra study partner could prove helpful...

"Very well, Prince Blueblood," she decided. "You may join our group..."

But perhaps it was destiny itself that neither mare noticed the attentions of the stallion chasing after their heart.

Tempo proved to be a harsh teacher. Cadance was her beloved sister, so she was gentle as a habit, to her. Blueblood had no such protection. She barked at him each time he got something wrong if she had told him better before. "Are you paying attention?"

She leveled a hoof at him accusingly. "Sometimes, I am uncertain. We went over that yesterday, and a week before that. Now, I give you a chance." She settled to her haunches. "Tell me the answer. I know you are aware of it."

"I say..." He glanced aside at Cadance, not being so grilled. "She is... demanding." He cleared his throat though and frowned with thought. That he got it right seemed clear, as her yelling eased.

She went right on to the next topic. For as harsh as she was, she was just as eager to compliment her students when they got something right, especially when they surprised her.

Cadance leaned in towards her tutor. "Don't be so mean to him," she whispered.

"Mean?!" Tempo was not quiet. "I'm not being mean. He asked me to help him. I'm helping. His grades have been steadily improving."

Blueblood chuckled softly. "I can't argue that, madame, but you are a little, shall we say, prickly?"

"Just a little." Cadance held her hooves close.

"Because he doesn't listen otherwise." She focused on Blueblood. "Why are you looking at us? That page doesn't look completed."

He squeaked, returning to his work. "Yes, ma'am."

Cadance laughed in gentle musical notes. "Sister, how did you tame him? Prince Blueblood is renouned for being a pain in every back end he's run into."

"Hey."

"Back to work." Tempo glared at him the moment before he resumed the classwork. "He seems entirely reasonable, if in need of a guiding hoof. He has good taste. That's why he's here."

Cadance's laughter only raised in volume. "Sister!" She threw an arm over Tempo, hugging. "Sister... That was so prideful, I'm dying."

"Was it?" Tempo flipped an ear back. "I'm sorry?"

"Don't be." She shoved Tempo gently. "I love it. You're really growing into your own pony, and I'm entirely behind that." She folded her arms. "And I like this Blueblood. Not like the bratty colt that spilled a drink in my mane."

Blueblood colored sharply. "Ma'am! That was... We were very young at that time, before... um, Tempo."

Cadance waved it off. "I'm not angry anymore, and you're much better now. Look at us, all in the same room and I don't want to hurt you."

Blueblood squeaked. "You wanted to hurt me?!"

"I'm joking." Cadance leaned in with a smirk. "I would leave that to Tempo, if it came to it."

Tempo watched the easy back-and-forth between her sister and their study partner, still getting used to Cadance's mature playful side emerging as she grew older. There was a warmth there she hadn't expected.

"I suppose Prince Blueblood has proven himself an apt pupil, if still needing firm guidance," Tempo remarked. She eyed the stallion critically. "But be assured, one hoof out of line around my sister..."

She left the threat dangling, horn glinting. Blueblood gulped audibly, nodding so hard his expertly coiffed mane bobbed.

Cadance just laughed again though, gently bumping Tempo's shoulder. "Oh I don't think we'll have any worries there! Why, I think his manners have quite improved thanks to a certain strict tutor..."

She grinned impishly at Blueblood and he managed a shy smile back beneath Tempo's harsh gaze. Tempo blinked in surprise - when had these two grown so familiar without her noticing? Still, she was glad to see Cadance coming into her own confidence.

"Yes well, I suppose I can restrain from turning him into a toad...for today," Tempo allowed. "Now! Back to memorizing important unicorn innovations of the classical era."

She levitated their hefty history textbook over, letting it thump heavily onto the table before them. Blueblood sighed, but it sounded more playful than the exasperated huffs she'd initially elicit from him.

Cadance caught Tempo's eye, giving her a little grin and wink. Despite herself, Tempo had to fight back an answering smile.

Surprises only kept coming in school. Just when Tempo felt she had things worked out nicely, things changed.

Cadance burst into their room, giggling. "I have a boyfriend," she sang, dancing in place. "He's such an adorable little nerd! I love him so much." She hugged herself with happy little sighs. "Oh."

She stood up. "You might now know him. He's a little quiet outside of his little clique. Shining Armor? Cutie mark of a shield?"

Tempo tensed. That colt?! She had lowered her guard for just a moment, it felt, she let that pony just walk past her...

"You know him?!" Cadance had picked up some part of Tempo's surprised reaction. "Great! I hope you two will get along, because expect to see him around here more often."

Tempo forced a mechanical-sounded laugh. "Of course..." She rubbed her cheek softly. "You already have a pony you love."

"I have many." She began tapping her hooves as she counted, "You, Auntie, some of the wonderful ponies that help us around the castle, our dearest friends... Why?"

Tempo frowned softly. "I... Celestia is very dear to me, but none have the same spot as you, Sister. You are the one I love."

Cadance blinked, crashing to her haunches. "Oh... Tempo... Dear Tempo." She reached a hoof, running slowly over Tempo's cheek. "You are my sister. The connection we share will never be replaced."

"So you don't need new ponies to love?" She looked so hopeful, eyes glimmering.

"That isn't what I said." Cadance headbutted Tempo gently, horns jostling. "They are different kinds of love. Tempo, please... Help me. I need your support. This is a new step for me, and I want to take with you. Will you protect me?"

Tempo let out a sigh, despite not breathing. "I will always protect you."

As if that was ever in question.

8 - Occult Pitstop

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"I don't see the educational value in this." Tempo was wandering down the aisle of the carnival. There were games on one side, junk food on another, and attractions just over there.

Loud music encouraged levity in the ponies there. The smell of popcorn and cotton candy filled the air, jostling against the candy apple stand they were wandering past. In the distance, ponies screamed on a thrilling ride.

Cadance laughed, nudging against Shining Armor, her obvious date. "This is for fun."

Tempo glared at Blueblood, who squeaked in fear. "You said this was for education."

Blueblood laughed nervously. "I... Um..."

Cadance turned to get Tempo and Blueblood in her view at the same time. "Blueblood, you need to stop lying. Tell her."

"I say..." He curled back, tongue thoroughly tied.

Tempo whirled on Cadance. "Tell me what?!"

Shining snickered softly. "He totally likes you."

Tempo blinked softly. "We are friends, that's to be expected."

Shining shook his head. "Not that kind of--"

Blueblood crashed into him. "Silence, you fool! Let me... tell her properly."

Cadance clapped her hooves. "Please, go right on ahead." She grabbed a box of popcorn to eat some, ready to enjoy the show.

Tempo blinked slowly, glancing between the furiously blushing prince and her grinning sister. Comprehension was just beginning to dawn as Blueblood stammered, shooting pleading looks at Cadance.

"I, ah, may have slightly stretched the truth about today's...educational agenda," he finally managed. "But only because I wished to, well..."

He scuffed a hoof, looking ready to melt into the carnival floor. Tempo tilted her head, surprise shifting to something gentler. She hadn't noticed before how boyishly charming his flustered expressions could be.

"Out with it, Prince Blueblood," she pressed, but kept her tone free of its usual sternness. "Did you want to discuss something...just between us two today?"

Heart thudding, the prince risked meeting her violet eyes. "Tempo, I...I greatly enjoy all our time together. Studying with you has been the highlight of my days for a while now and I..."

He trailed off, a shy yearning writ across his face. Tempo felt something stir in response, a fluttery warmth she hadn't experienced before. Without the abrasive front he put on in public, this earnest, sensitive side of him rather appealed to her.

"I was hoping to get to know my fair tutor better beyond just academics," Blueblood managed softly. "If you might honor me with the chance for, perhaps, an outing or..."

His voice dropped to a mumble. "...or a date..."

He cringed as soon as the words left his mouth, bracing for certain rejection or mockery. But Tempo found herself smiling, a blush rising to match his. The sounds of the carnival suddenly felt far away leaving just the two of them hovering there.

"Just a chance is all I ask," he repeated weakly into the silence. Heart hammering, Tempo stepped forward to gently bump his shoulder.

"Well, as we're already here among the ring tosses and confections, perhaps we shall see if this outing counts enough to start with?"

Blueblood looked ready to faint in relief. Behind them Cadance silently punched the air in triumph while Shining just grinned like he'd won big at the races. Tempo shot the two a wry but grateful smile before turning her attention back to the elated prince at her side.

"There are things we must discuss." Tempo suddenly stole Cadance's box of popcorn in her magic. "I am not a normal mare. You need to know this if you intend to court me."

Blueblood inclined his head, confusion mounting rapidly. "I've been around you for some time, my dear. You have some interesting tics in your speech and behavior, but nothing outside the bounds of normalcy, I assure."

Tempo brought a popcorn to her mouth, touching it. It was enough to get a taste of it. "Middling quality. They overcooked the butter." She pressed the box back to Cadance. "I am a pony, but I'm not a pony."

"You are... but you are not?" Blueblood looked between Tempo and Cadance. "Um... You appear to be a lovely pony. A princess, in fact. I could scarcely imagine a more lovely pony."

Shining tapped at Cadance, slurping at his cup of soda. "What is she talking about? Is she just being weird about something normal?"

"Not exactly." Cadance wrapped an arm over Shining. "But, since you're here, you should hear this too..."

Tempo grabbed Blueblood's right forehoof and drew him closer with it. "I am my sister's sister. But." She pressed that hoof against her chest. "What don't you feel?"

Blueblood was red as one of those candied apples. "I... say... Um..." His heart thundered in his chest. He was touching her, and not a casual brushing. She was holding him right against her. It felt...

Wait.

As hard and loud as his heart was pulsing, his hoof, it felt... nothing. She was soft, she was lovely, but there was no thumping there. No heart was replying to his press, even when he leaned curiously in, pressing with his own strength instead of casually accepting her pull. "Ma'am?"

"I am a doll." Tempo inclined her head. "If you want... to... have a foal... I am probably the wrong pony to court."

Shining blinked slowly. "Um... is she joking?"

Cadance squeezed Shining firmly. "She is not. That is Tempo. She is a pony, and a doll."

"I say..." Blueblood drew his hoof back, standing upright. "May... I have a little time to... process this?"

Tempo turned away. "Take the time you need." She marched away, leaving the rest alone.

Cadance slid in next to Blueblood, leaving Shining alone a moment. "Not the right words."

"They were the honest words, ma'am." He rubbed behind his head. "This is quite the reveal... Please, a moment." He turned away from her, marching off towards the entrance of the carnival.

Cadance sighed. "Lovely..." She went back to Shining's side. "They both need room, but are you up to some fun?"

"With you? Always!" He kissed her cheek with a smile. "But I have questions."

She snorted, the two walking off together.

Tempo couldn't leave. That would have been abandoning Cadance, and she protected her sister. If she wasn't sure of anything else in the world, she knew she did that, which meant not leaving.

"Miss." A pony, dressed in an ornate hoof and flowing clothes was seated before a crystal ball she rested her hooves on. "You look in need of my services."

Tempo paused, turning to the stranger. "What services are you... offering?" She looked up to the sign above the mare. Fortunes Told, Past Lives Discerned, Love Lines Untangled, or so claimed the sign.

The fortune telling mare smiled knowingly. "I can feel you are in dire need of what I have. Come, sit. Let's begin. Is it a love problem that sends you past me today?"

Tempo jerked with surprise. How did that stranger know that?! "Um." She sat across from the mare. The chair was simple, but functional, beneath her. "So... Which will you be doing?"

The mare tapped gently. "That is partially your choice." She turned a hoof flat-side up. and inclined her head at a smaller sign with prices.

Ah. Right. Many things took bits to make happen. Tempo was a princess, she had those. She willed out her bag of bits and fetched a few to put on the mare's waiting hoof. "Let us begin."

The fortune teller smiled in satisfaction as she made the bits vanish with a flick of magic. "Very good, very good! Now, what question weighs most heavily on your mind today?"

She gazed at Tempo over her crystal ball, taking in the tense set of the princess' shoulders and her brooding expression.

"Affairs of the heart, I sense," the mare declared, not waiting for a response. Her horn lit as she waved it over the crystalline orb. "Reveal this one's romantic troubles..." she intoned mysteriously.

Shadowy shapes swirled within the orb but Tempo could discern no clear images yet. She leaned forward, curiosity warring with skepticism inside her.

"I see you carry a great protection in your heart...towards one so dear, so precious." The fortune teller nodded knowingly. "A love ever reaching outward, not inward."

The smoke cleared just enough for Tempo to glimpse herself shielding a smaller figure - was that Cadance? before it obscured again.

"But now tender shoots turn towards you, wishing to bask in your radiance..." The smoke rippled. "Two colts, is it? Young hearts hoping for the light of your love in return..."

Blueblood and Shining's anxious faces appeared briefly. Tempo reared back in surprise. Fortuitous guesses or something more at play here? Either way she found herself drawn in...

"Yet you guard your own heart fiercely. What scares you so?" The fortune teller tapped the orb, its surface clearing to reflect Tempo's own conflicted features. "Tell Madam Silverleaf what troubles you, my dear. Let the cards guide us to discern your romantic fate..."

She pulled out an ornate deck as Tempo organized her turbulent thoughts. Could this strange seer truly unravel the tangled threads of her heart? She steeled herself, then began hesitantly... "There are things about me, my very nature, that may prove difficult for a suitor to accept..."

Tempo frowned faintly. "Shining had better not have interests in courting me. That would hurt Cadance, and I would hurt him."

Silverleaf laughed musically. "How terrible your anger is." She placed down the first card. "Let's look into your past first. It's what put us here." She turned the card over and paused. "How interesting..." She looked up at Tempo. "Do you know your past? Where you came from?"

Tempo thought backwards. "I..." She was created, but she was created for a reason she immediately rebelled against. Where had that come from? "I don't entirely know..."

Silverleaf set her cards down and moved her hooves over the orb. "Then it is time to ask the spirits. They allow us little glimpses." She wagged her hoof in request.

Tempo put a few coins on that hoof. There was a listed price for spirit requests.

With the payment in hoof, quickly tucked away, the orb's fog listed ominously. "Let us look back. Think to the earliest moment you can remember, and we will press past that barrier. Come, spirits, speak..."

There was nothing but fog, but a peek, there, there was Tempo, swirling around a room over a scared Cadance. It was her first moments, going back, back, to when she had been just a doll, glaring at Cadance passively, but just before they got to there, the view yanked away, and it was dark.

Silverleaf inclined her head. "Spirits... Come now... She wants to know more than she already knew." She caressed over the smooth glass. "Spirits..."

A faint image, more an impression. Infinity, then one. Back, back.... A strange little girl. She wasn't a pony. A human girl was smiling brightly at something, until something brought a look of shock to her face. The image ended, the vision concluded as the fog rose up to fill the orb entirely.

Silverleaf hummed gently. "I feel... we have seen your past life. What a curious creature you were." She gently tapped at the orb. "Thank you, spirits. You have shown us."

Tempo frowned faintly. "But... That did not say where I came from."

"Didn't it?" Silverlead smirked softly. "The very first moment you remember was rebellion. Before then, the spirits showed your last life. That was not the first moment you remember, dear mare. That was the first moment you were. Before that, we leap to lives already lived." She sat back, looking self-satisfied. "Your past is revealed, as promised."

"As promised," trailed Tempo. "Thank you." She slid to her hooves, walking woodenly. "Thanks."

She forced herself to hurry. Where was Cadance? She had to keep an eye on her sister. That she protected Cadance was the one thing she knew for certain, and she really felt like she needed something she knew right then.

9 - Sometimes, It Doesn't Matter

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Tempo rejoined Cadance. "Are you alright?"

Cadance inclined an ear at her sister. "I was going to ask the same. You look rattled."

"Today was educational." She smirked faintly at that. "Despite Blueblood's efforts. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Cadance threw a hoof over Tempo, drawing her forward. "Shining is holding my place on a ride I want to be on, and now I'm taking you."

"Hm?" Tempo let herself be drawn towards a line that seemed to lead towards a source of screams. "Is this safe?"

"This'll be great." There was Shining Armor, waving them forward to join them on the line. "The most thrilling ride in this place. Prepare to have your heart leap out of your chest."

Tempo hiked a brow high at that. "I doubt my heart will do that." More quietly, she added, "One needs a heart first." She cleared her throat. "Sister, why are we going towards danger?"

Cadance laughed, giving Tempo an affectionate little shoulder bump. "Oh it just feels scary, it's not really dangerous!" Her eyes shone with anticipation. "The cars do these big fast loops that make your tummy flip."

She mimed the twisting motions with a hoof. "But I'll be right next to you the whole time. We can even hold hooves if it helps!"

Tempo gazed uncertainly towards where ponies were disembarking the ride cars looking windswept but thrilled. She wasn't even sure she could experience physical thrill...but disappointing Cadance didn't sit right either.

"Very well, if you vouch for its safety, I shall try it," she conceded, allowing herself to be pulled along by her sister's energetic pace.

Shining grinned at them as they joined him in line. "That's the spirit! This coaster is awesome, barely ever fatalities." At Tempo's suddenly stricken face he backpedaled. "Uh, joke! Joking. It's super safe."

Cadance just rolled her eyes, smiling. "Ignore his teasing, he's just trying to psych you up more."

She hip-bumped Shining playfully. "But hang on tight all the same!"

As they shuffled closer, Tempo eyed the rickety tracks and near-vertical drops with increasing doubt. But Cadance's reassuring presence beside her remained a comfort. Surely any experience shared with her sister couldn't go too poorly...

Soon they were buckling into the front car, bar lowering securely over their laps. Tempo clutched it with both hooves, ignore her thrumming magic.

"Here we gooo!" Cadance cheered.

With a lurch, the coaster surged forward...and Tempo's screams soon matched everypony else's. But while the others yelled from adrenaline and fun, her wails stemmed more from ballooning regret...

Cadance turned to check Tempo as they climbed a hill slowly. "Isn't this exciting?"

Tempo glanced ahead where the tracks simply ended with open sky ahead. "Too exciting?!" They began tipping forward, her plea turning to a shriek.

Even if she was a doll, she could feel the lurching motions. She wanted to continue existing. The thrill of that potentially being taken away worked on her just as well as anypony else. When they dismounted, she was just as rattled as anypony else there, leaning on Shining and Cadance.

Shining nudged against her gently. "Wow, I was wondering if you'd try stonefacing that, but you were... Sorry, that's mean, you okay? Have fun?"

"I..." Tempo closed her eyes and settled to the side of the traffic. "Mmm... I... Yes." She opened her eyes, smiling at Cadance. "That was fun, mostly because, even... Even when I was scared, I had you and Cadance."

"Aw!" Cadance wrapped her arms around Tempo's neck. "You lovely pony. " She grabbed Shining in her magic, pulling him into the hug. "Best day ever! Or at least this moon. Now, enough excitement. I want something with a view, and quiet." She pointed to the Ferris wheel. "I say we get to the top of that, ogle at the sights, and then maybe we can head home?"

Shining chuckled, wandering away. "I'll get some drinks to enjoy, you grab the line." The couple nodded at one another, accepting the plan easily.

Cadance nudged her sister along. "No thrills or spills here, just a gentle up and down and a lovely thing to watch. This'll be wonderful."

Tempo let out a shaky breath as Cadance guided her toward the gently rotating Ferris wheel, its glowing passenger cars swaying through the dusk peacefully. Already her nerves were beginning to settle after the hair-raising adrenaline rush of the coaster.

Cadance helped Tempo ease into the cozy passenger bench, the safety bar lowering snugly over their laps. Shining was seated next to Cadance on the other side, the two gentle snuggling. As the wheel began its unhurried ascent, Tempo gazed out over the festive carnival grounds below. From this height, the bright flags and lanterns took on a dreamy quality much preferable to gut-churning velocity.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" Cadance remarked, following her gaze. "Amazing how different things look from even a small change of perspective..."

She scooted closer until their sides pressed comfortably together. Tempo let her weight settle against her sister with a contented hum. Just the two of them up among the emerging stars, the rest of the world fallen away for this quiet moment together...

Soon their car reached the highest point, canopy of lights and velvety sky stretching out before them. Tempo drank it in, the earlier churn of questions and worries in her mind settling.

"Thank you for convincing me onto these contraptions," she murmured. "You make even the wildest ride brighter..."

Cadance nuzzled against Tempo's shoulder affectionately as they began the peaceful descent. "You are my sister." She smooched Tempo, then turned to nuzzle Shining. "I am surrounded, literally, by ponies I love so much." She giggled with a grin. "Best day..."

As they climbed off the ride, soothed and happy, Shining brought a floating drink in to Cadance. "We barely touched these."

Cadance popped her mouth over the straw and took a big sip. "Mmm, perfect. Thanks for grabbing it. Alright, let's--"

"Wait!" A teen colt, much like them, came rushing. Blueblood heaved for breath. "Wait... Finally... found you." He looked ready to collapse from his effort, sides trembling as he struggled for breath.

Tempo inclined her head. "I thought you were avoiding me."

"No!" Blueblood stood straight. "I... said I required a moment to myself." He snorted gently. "You gave me quite the surprise... Ma'am, you will give me some space when I need it." He moved in closer, noses almost touching. "That is what special someponies do."

"We are not..." Tempo's ears danced. "Wait, are you...?"

"If you'll have me." He dropped to a knee. "I don't care about foals or other tawdry things. You are an enchanting pony, all on your own. If I am cursed to enjoy only your presence and nothing more, I accept this curse gladly."

Cadance tried her best to restrain her giggles, hiding behind a fresh deep drink of the floating cup of soda.

Tempo's eyes widened, suddenly finding herself at a loss for words as the earnest prince gazed up hopefully before her. Cadance's bubbly delight was proving infectious too, filling the air between them with giddy possibility where once Tempo had expected only awkward tension after her matter-of-fact revelations.

"Prince Blueblood, I..." Tempo smoothed a hoof self-consciously over her neatly coiffed mane. "Truly, the fact I am...not fully flesh and blood does not trouble you? You would still wish to court one who cannot provide heirs or intimacy?"

She knew a political union would make little sense. Any pragmatic royal would surely seek a bride whose warmth promised a future of love and family. And yet still he knelt, adoration in his eyes eclipsing all pragmatic protests...

"My lady, it is you I desire - the grace of your voice, your brilliant mind, your radiant soul!" Blueblood pressed a fervent hoof to his heart. "Should we never share more than pleasant words and chaste company till the end of our days, still it would fill my spirit to overflowing simply to walk at your side."

Tempo's own conflicted heart quickened at the selfless passion in his words. She searched his face for any lingering doubts. But finding only earnest devotion shining back, she extended a hoof to him with gathering confidence.

"Then rise, good Prince, and greet me properly." She flushed but did not look away as he pressed fervent kisses along her knuckles. "I believe we have much to continue discussing..."

Behind them, Shining mimed exaggerated gagging motions only to get an elbow from Cadance's wing. But her eyes shone too at seeing her stoic sister thawed by first sparks of romance. Linking hooves loosely with Blueblood, Tempo led them towards the carnival's exit, a new glow about her.

So their family altered a little. Just as it had when Shining had joined it. Blueblood lingered near them often, even when study was far from their minds. It was confusing at first, but Tempo chastised herself. The confusion stemmed solely from its newness. Blueblood was an attentive and loving special somepony, almost obsessively.

She nudged against Cadance. "My boyfriend seems to love me even more."

Cadance hiked a brow. "Sis... I can literally see you're wrong."

"Hm?" Tempo looked over Cadance with inclines of her head and shoulders. "You can?"

"I can. You can't? Huh, something else we don't share. We share so many other things, I forget sometimes it's not everything." Cadance tapped at the side of her head. "I can see how ponies are tied. I can see love lines. Shining's line to me and Blueblood's line to you shine so bright and, mmm... We are lucky mares, but both are just as brilliant."

Tempo tapped her hooves softly. "Oh..." But it turned into a smile. "You are an amazing pony, sister. I will protect you."

Cadance smooched Tempo's cheek. "Lovely pony. Now, what makes you think Blueblood loves you so much? Is he doing something nice? Tell me!" She grinned with hooves pressed together. "Please!"

Tempo flushed, glancing aside self-consciously even as a pleased little smile tugged at her lips. "He's begun reciting poetry..." she admitted. "Long, elaborate verses rhapsodizing my 'radiant violet eyes more bewitching than the rarest amethysts' and 'shimmering coat which doth shame the very moon.'"

She coughed, ears dipping bashfully. "They're quite overblown praises, dripping with exaggerated metaphor. But..." Tempo peeked up at Cadance's delighted grin. "I'll confess my heart quickens hearing such pretty words dedicated solely to me."

"That so perfectly precious!" Cadance clapped her hooves together. "Oh he just utterly adores you, I knew it from the start." She hip-bumped her sister affectionately. "Look at you inspiring lovelorn ballads."

"He wished to read one aloud at our study group with witnesses," Tempo admitted. "I had to refuse before he drew a crowd. Can you imagine?" She rubbed the back of her neck self-consciously.

Cadance just laughed merrily. "Well I for one would happily spectate such a display of public infatuation! But I understand wanting to keep it just between you two for now..."

She winked. "Either way, seems somepony's quite thoroughly smitten. So soak up the sweet words - you deserve all that devotion and more!"

Tempo's blush deepened but she smiled back gratefully all the same. "I shall have to pen some private verses in return one day soon..." She still struggled to match Blueblood's unchecked passion, but a matching effort felt appropriate for one so unconditionally enamored with a mare like herself.

"You don't have to." Cadance gently rubbed her side against Tempo's. "Don't change who you are. Find how you want to express your love, and do that. Do it genuinely, and see how he reacts." She hopped up onto a chair. "If he likes it, another point for you two." She sighed wistfully. "Languages of love... Ideally, you two should understand each other without a translator."

Tempo hopped up across the table, facing Cadance. "What if we do not speak the same language?"

"Then." Cadance leaned forward over the table. "If you still love each other, you start learning each other's language. And I expect you'll make a pretty poem or two, hm?"

10 - To Love a Doll

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Tempo gazed on the blank paper. "Love." She surely loved Cadance! That was ironclad in its sureness. She took hold of that feeling and tried to play a quick swap, putting BlueBlood's smiling face where Cadance's radiance once would.

She felt... something different, but it was a feeling. "Hello, little prince." She imagined leaning in over the little imagined prince. "Do you wish to kiss me?" The little prince nodded.

"I would... Like that."

Tempo started back, breathing a little harder, despite not needing any air. "Love..."

She smiled gently and floated a quill over in her magic. "To gaze on you," she spoke as she wrote, feeling she was in the right place to really begin. "Stirs feelings I once had no name for..."

She folded her poem gently with a swipe of her hoof and pressed her seal to keep it shut beneath warmed wax. "I hope he likes it." That it mattered, to her, if he did felt like another mark in his favor.

"Sis!" Cadance burst in through the door. "Are you... You already sealed it?! I wanted to see it!" But when Tempo reached to break the seal, Cadance tackled her to stop it. "No! He'll see if you break that. It's too late. Off to that star-eyed colt it goes." She grinned like a foal herself. "I'll just have to hear it when he opens it."

Tempo let out an "oof!" as her enthusiastic sister tackled her, barely saving the freshly penned poem from being prematurely opened. She flushed, clutching the folded parchment tightly.

"Yes well...I suppose you shall hear his reaction soon enough," she murmured, smoothing a self-conscious hoof over her braided mane. Strange, to feel suddenly shy about something crafted in private now that it was destined for another's eyes.

Cadance rolled off her sister, grinning ear to ear. "Oh I just know he's going to absolutely adore it! However much or little it says."

She playfully elbowed Tempo's side. "Because it came straight from my sister's heart for him. That alone makes it precious!"

Tempo managed a tremulous smile, buoyed by her support as always. Still, nerves and anticipation roiled within at the thought of baring even this small piece of vulnerability.

"I hope the silly prince agrees with such generous sentiments..." She trailed off as the royal messenger arrived to collect any outgoing letters. With a last deep breath, she passed her poem parcel over. No going back now.

She endured Cadance's energetic play-by-play speculation about Blueblood's reaction for the next hour until a familiar regal knock came at their chamber door. Tempo shot upright, heart suddenly thrumming.

There he stood, expertly groomed as ever, her letter held gently in one hoof. But his eyes shone with unrestrained awe and delight that took her breath away.

"Tempo..." He stepped forward reverently. "However can mere words express the joy these earnest lines stirred in me?"

As he fondly recited a stanza, tears suddenly pricked Tempo's vision. Not from the words themselves - but from realizing no one had ever gazed on even a small piece of her inner self with such tender appreciation. "Do you speak truly?"

Blueblood looked genuinely baffled. "To pen, in deceit? A horrible notion! Never!" He turned up his nose at the very concept being put before him. "When I write poetry, know that I can never be speaking more truthfully. That is why I prefer it. If I am to gush such tremendous... notions... in what way better?" He came at her, hooves wide, and she allowed him to embrace her, to press close in warm exchange a moment. "Now, your sister was quite clear." He took a step back. "You have learned my language, marvelously, I will add! You speak the language of my love and I would only ask that you continue to whisper it gentle, to send me into soft palpitations of delight... But to allow only that would make me a terrible partner."

Tempo stepped off her chair, working around Blueblood. "You have been an acceptable partner. What do you mean?"

"I mean." He turned to keep her in front of himself. "It's my turn to learn your language, dearest mare. How can I tell you that I love you in a way that will ring truest in your ears. You know my weakness, but I would know yours, so we can leave the other a pile of satisfied pony on command."

Tempo flicked both ears against her head with a faint metal tink. "I see... I do not see. This..." She pointed to her love letter, still held in Blueblood's magic. "That was my first try. I don't know my own love language."

"Oh." Blueblood inclined his head. "Well, that just won't do. I'll just have to be adventurous!"

Tempo blinked at that. "What do you mean?"

"I'll have to try different things. And you'll inform me as I grow closer or further away. Today! Dinner, my treat. Just us, alone, some fine wine... How does that sound?"

Tempo considered Blueblood's suggestion, touched by his earnest desire to learn how best to express his affections. She offered him a small, hesitant smile.

"Dinner alone together sounds lovely," she replied gently. "We can continue our conversations in a more intimate setting, without pressures or distractions. And..."

She dared reach out to brush his hoof, still unused to initiating such contact herself. "I would very much like for us to keep understanding each other better. To know each other's hearts."

Tempo met his gaze softly, sincerely. "I may still be learning my own language of love. But exploring that together feels...right, in ways I cannot yet fully voice." She gave his hoof a tender squeeze. "I only know my soul feels less tangled with you near."

Blueblood's eyes shone at her hushed admission, and he raised her hoof to his lips. "Then let our hearts be the sweetest poetry to serenade one another," he murmured against her skin.

Tempo's nerves dissolved into a blossoming glow inside at his touch. Perhaps between two souls still discovering themselves, they might forge something quietly extraordinary all the same...

She graced him with a fuller smile now. "Well said, my prince. Shall we?"

So it was that the two began exploring what love languages would reach Tempo best. Private intimate affairs worked well, but the presence of food and drink didn't specifically help. She didn't eat, in the end. But they did learn something. She was warmed in real ways by the effort her lover put in to make it happen.

When she learned he had actually cooked the food himself, it meant the world to her, even if she would never actually eat it.

Later, when he brought up things she had only mentioned once or twice, she felt her heart, or whatever it was she had in there, quicken. To know he loved her enough to dedicate such things to memory so quickly, surely part of her love language.

She threw herself on the bed next to her sister. "Did you go through this with yours?"

"Yes, actually." Cadance giggled with memories. "He loves me, but that doesn't help me say I love him. To say that... he loves to hear it, directly. I love you. Three words, nice and blunt, said just as bluntly. It means so much... That, and a new comic from a series I know he's interested in. The better my guess, the more he's squealing."

Tempo laughed at the mental image of it. "That sounds true to him. I'm still learning myself." She rolled over onto her back. "It's exciting, but I'm a little nervous... but he's so patient... Blueblood really loves me."

"Aw." Cadance nestled with her sister. "That's the important part, and that you two are working so diligently for each other. Is... Has he really shown he's alright with you as you are?"

"As I am?"

Cadance perked an ear. "Sister, dear, no offense, but you are a doll." She tickled at her sister's sides gently. "Which is perfectly fine for a sister, but for a lover, there are a number of things you just don't do. And I'm not just speaking of the practical matter of heirs."

Tempo blinked slowly as Cadance's words sank in. Her sister was right - as accepting as Blueblood was, he must surely realize by now that she could never fully reciprocate certain types of more intimate physical affection. Expectations around what it meant to be lovers likely looked starkly different from his past rendezvous compared to a partner like herself...

She chewed her lip, anxiety creeping back in. "Do you...do you think he has doubts or regrets now but hides them to spare my feelings?" she asked softly. "Surely he must miss things we can never share..."

Cadance quickly backtracked, pulling Tempo into a fierce hug. "No no, I'm certain he's utterly sincere in his devotion, sis! Please don't misunderstand." She squeezed tighter. "That colt is clearly over the moon for you just as you are."

Tempo let herself be comforted by her sister's embrace, the familiar scent soothing her nerves. "I just worry...that one day he may wake up wishing for a real mare at his side instead of a doll playing pretend," she admitted quietly.

Cadance gently bumped their horns together. "All I meant to say is, make sure you check in about any needs going unmet for him too, not just your own." She smiled softly. "Our dear prince would walk through fire for your happiness. But the path to mutual fulfillment takes compromise on both sides..."

She nuzzled Tempo's cheek. "Just talk openly with each other, like you have been. That's the key to any lasting love."

Tempo sighed, letting herself relax again. Cadance always knew just what to say. "You're right, of course..." She managed a small smile. "I suppose I'm still learning how relationships and indeed my own heart work. But with Blueblood, somehow fumbling through it together feels comforting..."

Cadance stood on the bed suddenly, wings flaring. "Good, now, just as we start to get comfortable... graduation is coming up! Shining says he got accepted to the guard, of all things. Can you imagine it, Shining, a guard?"

Tempo blinked at the very idea. "No, I cannot." But she smiled as she sat up. "I wish him well. Sister, do you have plans for after graduation?"

"Stay at Aunt Tia's side." She waved off in that direction. "Until she has a need for me. Being a little princess means my life's pretty well ordained, and in her hooves. Not that I'm worried about those hooves. Auntie's one of the best."

Tempo smiled with memories of that kind mare. "I can think of far worse. But what of me?" She curled a hoof at herself. "Am I a princess? Should I also wait? I don't.... want to leave you, sister... I am happy at your side."

Cadance's sunny grin softened as she reached to run an affectionate hoof through Tempo's neatly coiffed mane. "Oh Tempo, of course you'll stay here with me! I would be heartbroken without my favorite sister at my side."

She winked playfully before growing more thoughtful. "Although I suppose questions around your role and status should be formalized at some point..."

Cadance tapped her chin then brightened. "I know! We'll have Auntie Tia officially proclaim you a princess of Equestria too. Then none can question your rightful place here."

She twirled excitedly at the idea, wings fluttering. "Princess Tempo - ooh it has such a lovely ring! And think of all the royal duties we can share together."

Tempo smiled hesitantly back. "I admit the prospect sounds appealing..." To finally have her still uncertain standing solidified would help settle lingering doubts inside her. And getting to support Cadance's someday rule felt like the purpose she had been missing.

"But would Princess Celestia allow another alicorn princess so easily?" she worried, not wanting to overhope. "Surely questions would arise, nobles inquiring after my lineage and such..."

Cadance waved a dismissive hoof. "Let Auntie and I handle the politics! The ponies already love you." She hugged Tempo happily. "Soon it'll just make your place at my side official for all to see..."

Tempo let herself bask in her sibling's infectious optimism. Perhaps her future hadn't fully come into focus yet. But standing tall beside Cadance sounded like the best place to be no matter where destiny led...

11 - In Dark Corners

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"Our plan failed, those years ago." The stallion clopped down a hoof on the table. "All those bits, all those plans... Ruined... What do we have to show for it?"

A mare, dressed in the same sinister clothing, raised a hoof. "If we can control her, sir, we have a pony where we would want her."

"But we can't," he hissed with a scowl. "She refuses to listen to our commands. I built her! Why is she so... stubborn... Dolls are not supposed to be stubborn. Give a command, they follow it, end of story."

The mare tapped at her cheek thoughtfully. "Well... She's still yours, isn't she? Why not figure out what went wrong?"

"Don't you think..." He trailed off, frowning. "I... haven't tried. She dwells in royal circles, making her difficult to approach casually. We planned Cadance's snatching for moons!" He let out a soft breath. "On the other hoof, they are young adults. They are at the right age where they begin to roam outside the view of caretakers at times..."

He leaned in closer to the mare. "You might have a point. Watch her. Figure out when she is alone and vulnerable. We'll make a tool of her yet..."

"As you command." The mare dipped her head and fled away with a bounce in her step.

Tempo smiled. The crowd cheered and applauded for her. She was coronated with all the fanfare a princess of the nation was due, and not a pony had a complaint.

Of course, most of them had no idea they were applauding a golem. Tempo was in no hurry to remind them. Still, the thought of it shook about in her as she walked stiffly into a quiet room to sink to her haunches.

"You did quite well." Celestia entered from another door. "You should have seen poor Cadance when she was coronated. She was quite young, and bedazzled by the entire event." She looked Tempo over. "I spoke too soon... Do you want to talk?"

Tempo smiled at her adoptive aunt gently. "Thank you for offering. Would they be as happy? Would they applaud, if they knew they were stomping and clapping for a doll?"

"If they knew you entirely, I think they would." Celestia sank next to Tempo, swaying tail curling halfway around the unsure automaton. "There is something in you. I couldn't say what, exactly, but you are more than what you are built of. You are a pony, and I don't say that just to encourage you. There is a living spark in there, little Tempo. Never doubt that."

Tempo leaned against the warmth of Celestia for a quiet moment, considering quietly. "Auntie, am I warm?"

"Hm?" Celestia raised a hoof to gently run across Tempo's cheek towards her neck. "You are cool, but not cold. Before you ask, it is not unpleasant. Little dear, you have a boyfriend, do you not? Surely he has an opinion on such delicate matters and how they may apply to--"

"--Yes, yes, I do..." Tempo fidgeted in place. "He's never complained. He likes hugging, and kissing." Tempo smiled gently. "I wish I could give him more. I feel no... need for what I know he wants... But I feel bad not giving it. Am I a poor partner?"

"Hm." Celestia was quiet, just warming Tempo by proximity, which felt nice and so quiet. "I don't believe so. Some ponies just don't want that. They don't think of it. You are one of those, and that's not a 'broken' thing to be."

Her eyes widened with a new thought. "Ask him, if he wishes a foal. If he does, adoption is a fine option. There are foals in need of loving parents, and I feel certain you two would be ideal for that. In fact... I should have thanked you ages ago."

"What for?" Tempo rose to her hooves, avoiding stepping on that wafting tail. "What did I do?"

"You tamed a wild prince." Celestia remained laying, but was tall enough to easily match Tempo, or even beat it if she wanted to. "He was quite a hoof-ful before, but you calmed him... Ah, will you be at the Grand Galloping Gala this year? At his side, you two will make quite the dashing couple. It would thrill him, and you may have fun. Twilight's coming, do you remember her?"

"Little Twi?!" Tempo perked at that, smiling. "That cute little filly that buried her nose in any book she could find?"

"The same, but... Time has passed." Celestia stood then, striding for a window. "She is grown, following her own destiny. She will be there, as an adult, and my student. Treat her well, not that I feel I need remind. You already like her, do you not?"

"Twilight?! Of course. She's a darling little.... mare?" That would take getting used to. "Wow, all grown up... I hope she's doing well. I guess I'll find out. Oh, yes! I'll go! I want to see Twilight, and I get to make Blueblood happy too. I'll definately be there."

"Marvelous." She touched her forehead to Tempo's, horns jostling lightly. "I'll be there too, like every year." Celestia rolled her eyes at that. "It's a duty. Now, let's move on to other topics." She led Tempo back into the castle, the ice cracked. "You have ponies who want to meet their new princess."

Cadance danced in place with a giggle. "You're going?! I've been asking you to go forever! What changed your mind." She hurried up to touch noses with her sister. "I am so over the moon right now."

Tempo raised an ear. "Speaking of that, will Princess Luna be there?"

Cadance recoiled a step. "N-no... She's still recovering, poor thing."

"Poor thing..." It clicked. "Oh! Twilight did that, didn't she? I remember hearing about that..."

"She did!" Cadance withered. "Why are you going the one year I can't?"

"You can't?!" Tempo hopped forward at Cadance. "Whyever not?"

"Princess duties." Cadance pointed towards a window. "Princess Celestia will be at the Gala, so somepony else has to be doing actual work."

"Poo. I'll do my best to represent us both." The two met in a warm hug, sure they'd do their parts.

Tempo smiled politely as the delegates crowded around the newly titled Princess, offering their hearty congratulations and probing curiosities in equal measure. She answered vaguely where she could, trying to focus on the Gala's glamor instead of the small doubts still needling at her.

When a break in the salmon-coated nobles finally appeared, Tempo slipped gratefully towards one of the buffet tables for a respite. She touched pastries to her lips out of habit more than any ability to savor the decadent fare.

As she surveyed the splendid ballroom, she caught sight of Twilight Sparkle animatedly chatting with Rarity across the dance floor. Tempo smiled softly, reminded of that shy little bookworm enthralled for hours in the palace library’s embrace. How remarkable to witness the earnest student now grown into a confident young mare in her own right...

Tempo took a step towards Twilight before a nearby whisper caught her ear, faint over the orchestra’s swelling strings. "Is it her?" The voice sounded furtive, tense. Tempo glanced back, brow furrowing. Had she imagined...?

But her eyes caught on an elegantly dressed stallion hovering near a servant’s entrance, scanning the room almost frantically. As his gaze passed over her, Tempo froze. Those cold, calculating eyes...she knew them. Her very first memories were of that cruel visage glowering down at her.

He had come. The cultist who forged her into being had hunted her down at last.

Fear seized Tempo in its icy grip. She backed towards the ballroom’s grand doors, horn instinctively flaring defensively. She had to find Celestia, Cadance, anypony who could--

The pony was leaving. Just like that? She watched him stiffly until he walked out. She hurried to find somepony not occuppied to talk to and ran into Blueblood first.

It seemed Rarity had also found him. "Darling, I've heard so much about you..."

Tempo forgot her former fear. She couldn't see the lines of feelings between ponies like Cadance, but that Rarity had an interest in Blueblood felt perfectly clear. She stomped ahead with an angry little snort.

But Prince Blueblood didn't need her backup. "I'm sorry, madame, but I have an escort this evening. Ah, there she is." He threw a hoof over Tempo, drawing her close. "Meet Princess Tempo, my marefriend."

Rarity's eyes widened, her dreams dashed cruelly on the rocks of reality. "Marefriend? Oh... I see..." She laughed tensely. "Of course..." Her tense eyes settled on Tempo. "What a lovely princess you've found. Of course... a prince and a princess... Quite a good pair." She wandered away with a tense laugh, guarding her rejection poorly.

Blueblood turned to Tempo, already forgetting Rarity. "Dear, you look troubled. Did something happen? I'm here to help. You, especially."

Tempo glanced back uncertainly towards where that ominous figure had disappeared. But Blueblood gently turned her chin back towards him, brow creased in concern beneath his princely circlet. “What’s got you so distracted, my dear? You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”

When Tempo shared her brief sighting of the strange lurking pony, Blueblood pressed closer protectively.

“Well, whoever it was has scurried off now the coward. Likely envious some other gentleman got to you first, eh?” He winked playfully, though his grip on her shoulders remained steady.

Tempo managed a wispy laugh, wishing she could shake off foreboding so easily. “Would that it were such benign jealousy...I should not let shadows ruin this lovely night.”

Blueblood tilted her chin up, brushing his nose affectionately to hers. “Well then, how ever shall I distract my fair lady from these gloomy fancies?”

When Tempo asked if they might withdraw somewhere quieter, his grin gleamed. “My thoughts precisely! Far too much stuffy propriety choking the gaiety from the air in this crush. Let us away to the balconies at once!”

They went, side by side, only to be accosted by a manic pink pony. "You two look like you might be having a good time." Pinkie popped a party hat on either of their heads. "Hirrah! Now this is a party."

"I say..." Blueblood hiked a brow at Pinkie. "Whatever do you think you're doing?"

Pinkie paused her fleeing away. "Making this part shake, obviously."

Tempo smiled at Pinkie. "You are a friend of Twilight, aren't you?"

"Yep!" Pinkie bounced closer. "You know her?"

"I used to help foalsit her. I would love to hear about one of her friends. What does she do, as an adult?"

Pinkie's smile grew by the moment. "I could tell you such a story, or three... Sit down!" She hurled a pillow at Temp, knocking her down back onto the cushion. "So, there was this mare that wandered into Ponyville..."

Blueblood chuckled gently, sinking beside Tempo to hear the tale. "You know, she's here." He glanced at where Twilight struggled to approach the busy Celestia. "You could ask her directly."

Tempo followed Blueblood's gaze to where Twilight lingered anxiously on the fringes, working up the courage to weave through the crowd surrounding Princess Celestia.

"You're quite right," she murmured, touched by a sudden urge to go reassure that awkward, bookish filly she used to know...as if no time had passed at all. Tempo gently extracted herself from the exuberant Pinkie Pie's hold.

"Do pardon me a moment - I see an old friend I really must greet."

She crossed the polished floor towards Twilight Sparkle, a fond smile rising unbidden to her lips. But as Tempo drew up beside her, the words froze. Twilight stood nearly as tall as Tempo now, slender and elegant with her lustrous violet mane swept up neatly. No gangly little unicorn...when had she grown into such an enchanting mare so swiftly?

"Twilight?" Tempo managed finally, surprise still fluttering inside her. "I...I'm not sure if you remember me clearly anymore, little starshine, but--"

"--Tempo?!" Twilight whirled, eyes flying wide with astonished joy. Before Tempo could react, Twilight had tackle-hugged her fiercely. "Oh my gosh, Tempo it is you! I'd heard you became a princess but so much time passed...Oh wow, look at you!"

She drew back, beaming radiantly up at Tempo with shimmering eyes. "I can't believe after all these years...! You were like the big sister I always dreamed of back then!" Impulsively she hugged Tempo tight again, laughing through sudden happy tears. "I never stopped missing you..."

Tempo swallowed a surprising lump in her own throat, hugging Twilight back just as fiercely. How strange and wondrous, this forgiving power of love to melt years apart in a heartbeat...

"Nor I you, my little star," she whispered. "Now come - we have so very much catching up to do!"

But without her calming presence, Pinkie had resumed her rabble rousing, and the door bashed in, admitting animals of all varieties and a heaving Fluttershy. The party would end more insterestingly than it usually did.

12 - Chaotic Touches

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It would be impossible for Tempo to know, but her life would brush upon another that day. She walked calmly down the hallway of the castle, minding her own business, when a curious creature stared at her from the stained glass. He was casually taking over, and she hadn't noticed yet.

"What's this?" he asked with dulcet tones. "A little doll, lost in the halls?"

Tempo froze, whirling around. No male other than Blueblood knew all her secrets, and she was sure that wasn't Blueblood. "Who are you? Come out."

"Such firm demands." Discord was suddenly in front of her, hand curled under her chin. "But I don't respond well to demands."

Tempo bit at his hand, but he drew it back far too quickly.

"What a temper... Little Doll, if you're so angry, they'll throw you out." He chortled, amused with himself easily. "Wouldn't that be a shame?"

"You are not supposed to be here, whatever you are." Tempo glared at the intruder in the castle. "Who are you?"

"You keep asking that." Discord waved a finger in a tutting fashion. "I am Discord, master of chaos. You... mmm... are a doll pulling its own strings. Let's follow them." He tapped at her head, and everything went blank a moment. "Ah, there we are, you have a puppet master. Little doll with its own master, hovering just overhead, how interesting..."

Tempo reeled back as chaotic visions swirled darkly through her mind at Discord's touch - herself as an expressionless marionette, the cruel cultist gleefully tugging at tangled strings binding her motionless form...

She shook her head fiercely, dispelling the disorienting mental assault. "My past chains do not define me, trickster," Tempo bit out, horn flaring. She had fought too long for her independence to tolerate this mad creature's games.

"I answer to no puppet master but my own conscience now. Whatever you seek here, demon, I suggest you slither back to the shadows that birthed you!"

Her radiant blast of magic should have turned Discord to ash...yet her furious attack passed right through the chortling spirit, bursting a defenseless vase instead.

"Such fire!" Discord taunted, now reclining casually atop her horn. "You may pull your own strings, little toy soldier, but can you control your destiny, I wonder?"

He vanished in a pop, materializing to block Tempo's path ahead, leering down imperiously. "Or does your dream of freedom come with...strings attached?" He dangled glowing filaments before her face mockingly.

Tempo charged forward with a cry, head thrusting to skewer him through - yet her horn met only empty air, her momentum sending her crashing into a clumsy heap. As Discord's howls of laughter echoed down the hall, Tempo trembled with rage and hated helplessness.

"Oh, wait." Discord cocked his head. "I'm needed elsewhere. Keep it 'real', puppet." He vanished with a puff, off to cause chaos elsewhere.

Tempo stamped the ground with a grunt of frustration. "Cadance!" She rushed to find her sister. "I will protect you, at least."

As luck would have it, Cadance wasn't even in the castle. A maid was happy to report that. "And good thing too. Have you heard it, that laughter from nowhere? Something foul's ahoof in the castle!"

"I met him." Tempo glared without a target for it. "Be on guard. I'm glad sister's not here."

Without Cadance to guard, she went down her list of important ponies. Celestia surely had guards, so Blueblood won out. She found him in his room, looking quite distraught. "What's wrong?"

Blueblood directed to his normally stylish type. "Look!" It was polkadotted in wildly clashing colors, as were all his others, each a different garish blend of hues. "I woke up and they were all like that!" Elsewhere in the castle, someone laughed at their clever joke. "I don't understand it!"

Tempo closed with her boyfriend. "The castle is under attack. I am sorry... that happened, but I'm more happy you're alright other than that. Are you okay?"

"Other than that..." He sighed gently. "I suppose I am, dear. My day has improved for your presence." He leaned in to gently rub snouts with her. "It's hard to stay upset with you at my side." They paused in their worries for a good hug, both feeling better for the exchange. "Now, what horrible presence is this, that befouls my wardrobe and the rest of the castle?"

Tempo closed her eyes, letting Blueblood's embrace soothe her rattled nerves. The simple comfort of contact with one who knew her truth was a bulwark against chaos.

"The intruder calls himself Discord," she finally replied, pulling back to meet Blueblood's eyes grimly. "Some malignant spirit of turmoil and tricks. He taunted and eluded me with ease..."

She glanced away, vexed anew by lingering humiliation. "I could neither deter him nor determine his motives. But there is malice in his mischief, I am certain."

Blueblood nodded seriously, fussing to neaten Tempo's mane. "You are hardly the only one made sport for this troublemaker's amusement, clearly." He sighed, eyeing his garish new wardrobe in despair.

"But together we shall rally and face the knave! Such discord cannot be allowed to infest our noble halls." He planted his hooves staunchly, glaring at some imagined Discord...then deflated.

"Ah, but how precisely do we fight chaos incarnate, dear heart? If even your considerable power could not subdue him..." He trailed off helplessly, glancing back to Tempo.

She sighed, then straightened with sudden realization. "We find the one pony he cannot make mockery of - the bastion he breaks himself against." Her eyes flashed with dawning hope. "Princess Celestia."

She grasped Blueblood's hoof firmly. "Come! If any can shield us from this tempest, it is She..."

Thus resolved, Tempo led them racing down the corridors towards the royal chambers. Discord's twisted performance had only begun, but she prayed her adoptive aunt yet stood stalwart against his siege. This was not to be, finding Celestia not in her room, but in a hallway, frowning. "Ah, Tempo. I've called the girls."

"Girls?" Tempo cocked an ear. "Which girls? Me?" She didn't remember being called...

"Twilight, and her friends. You remember them, hm?"

Blueblood perked. "However are they going to assist?"

Celestia touched Blueblood on the back. "As much of a splash as they made at the gala, they are trustworthy warriors of Equestria. They will save the day. Do remember Twilight is my personal protege."

Blueblood pinned his ears. "She never let me forget it."

Tempo rubbed against his side. "Only because you kept asking why she was there, at school." That made him color and she nuzzled the warm spot, easing him. "If you trust her, than I do as well. She is a good pony. She was a good filly. A little studious, but that's hardly a flaw."

Celestia gestured down a hallway. "Once they are here, we will equip them with the elements."

"--Of Harmony?" finished Tempo curiously. "Why not have them now?"

Celestia smiled gently. "Because we are not the bearers, they are. They can make use of them. We could only enjoy their shine. They are safest where I placed them, where none other can reach them."

Tempo's eyes widened. She of course knew myths of the legendary Elements - said to channel the very forces binding their world in equilibrium. But for untested mares to suddenly be called worthy bearers?

As ever, her aunt's serene certainty was infectious however. Tempo smiled back tentatively. "I suppose if any souls still sing that first harmony, yours would know and guide them unerringly."

She squeezed Blueblood's hoof as he bristled, clearly unconvinced of this ragtag band's fitness for such glory. But Tempo trusted Celestia's wisdom implicitly...and found Twilight's clumsy foalhood tenacity rising bright in memory.

"Come, let us make ready to receive our champions then..." Tempo gently led her skeptic prince along after Celestia's billowing pastel mane.

Celestia looked over her shoulder as she walked. "Have you two forgotten? They used the Elements once already. That is how they put my sister to right, and returned her to my side."

Both Tempo and Blueblood started. Tempo huhed. "Is that how it was done? I hadn't heard that part..."

Celestia gestured to a window as they passed, showing that moment. "I have these created for a reason, my dears, so that we don't forget the great moments that shape this nation."

"Celestia!" There was Twilight, racing towards them with her friends right behind her. "We came as quickly as we could!"

"Twilight." Celestia leaned in for a little nuzzle time. "So good to see you. Let's get the elements, so you can do your part, hm? A little chaos stands no chance before you."

The ponies let out a cheer, falling in line with Celestia with not a scrap of doubt.

"Where are you going?" Discord popped out onto Tempo's back, small enough to ride there easily. "We weren't done talking."

Tempo gave an angry snort. "Get off me. Celestia is about to defeat you."

"No she isn't," he laughed out. "I already took care of the Elements, little toys... I have games planned for those ponies, but forget them. I'm far more interested in--"

Blueblood swatted at Discord as if to swipe him free. "Unhand Tempo right this instant!"

Discord flickered out of reality a moment as the hoof passed through him. "Rude. I'm just talking. If you won't be polite, I'll have to play with you too, do you want that?"

"No!" Tempo bucked and reared, though it had no affect on Discord. "Leave him alone. I'm listening."

"Good, good... Now." Discord stroked over her mane with a smirk. "Little doll, such a curious thing... Not the first doll I've ever had, but most are more... living."

Blueblood huffed at the interloper. "She is quite alive, made of metal or otherwise."

Discord waved him away. "You're a bit biased, don't you think, loverboy?" He leaned in towards one of her ears. "He really does--"

She grabbed him with her magic, yanking him in front of herself. "Stop! You will not sour my thoughts of Blueblood."

Tempo glared fiercely at the cackling spirit dangling in her telekinetic grip. Though her magic squeezed tight enough to throttle any mortal beast, still Discord's infuriating smirk never wavered.

"I am through tolerating your attempts to poison what you cannot comprehend, cretin," she ground out. Blueblood stepped closer, supporting her with a steadying hoof on her back.

"So speak your business plainly before I feed you to oblivion piece by piece..." Tempo's eyes blazed, but Discord merely tsked.

"Such impatience from one so pretty! Still, perhaps we got off on the wrong hoof..." He twirled idly as if lounging on a sunny cloud. "I simply hoped to uncover what makes you tick, my dear! It's not every century one meets a doll with aspirations."

His form smoothed into polished wood grotesquely. "Perhaps I overstepped - we carved creations ought to stick together, no?" Discord leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper as Blueblood bristled.

"What I mean to say is...I understand the aches of those yearning for impossible things." His eyes glinted as he patted Tempo's hoof patronizingly. "Why wish so fiercely for love and freedom...when we are but playthings of crueler powers?"

Tempo stiffened, unreasoning dread trickling down her neck before outrage flooded in, hot and clarifying. With a burst of magic she hurled Discord bodily away down the corridor.

"I am no creature's plaything, demon!" she cried after his crashing form. Blueblood steadied her as she trembled, smiling in pride.

Discord's distant cackle echoed back mockingly. But Tempo had weathered crueler mockery than his in her short life. She raised her head unflinching as Celestia and the Elements' bearers raced back towards them, golden hope rising like the sun.

Blueblood leaned against her. "Pay him no heed, m'lady. You are a lovely pony, and my partner. Ever shall I praise every bit of ground your hooves alight upon!"

Tempo blinked at him, then cracked a smirk. "You don't have to get poetic... But I appreciate it. Come, let's see if we can help with this chaotic menace."

13 - Chaotic Touches, Part two

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The ground shivered as hedges manifested outside. Discord seemed to have no particular issues being in more than one place at a time. "Now, as I was saying." He was also near them, hovering and leering. "I don't think it's fair that they get to play, and you don't. Hardly fair at all..."

Tempo huffed at him. "I doubt they are 'playing'. They've come to defeat you."

"And they're doing a terrible job of it." Discord puffed at his chest with a sneer. "But they sure are trying, poor things. Back to you!" He pointed at her firmly enough to poke her on the end of the nose. "Let's have an argument!"

Blueblood rolled his eyes at that. "I'm uncertain we've ever stopped that, foul sir."

Tempo stomped a hoof. "You are the only source of irritation in the day."

"Now that's not true." Discord floated on his back in a lazy circle. "You have as many questions as I do... Let's do a test! How much do you two truly love one another, hm?" He snapped his fingers, and the nature of the castle around them writhed and flowed, seperating them from one another swiftly. "This should be fun."

Blueblood called for her in suddenly hostile and gloomy hallways, but saw no sign of Tempo. "Where is she..." Seeing no way but forward, he started down that corridor. "Dreadful thing, drawing us apart physically, but not in here." He put a hoof to his chest with a nervous smile. "I'll find you, dear, wherever you've gone to..."

Tempo was far more methodical. Examining the room, she swiftly saw there was only one exit and began down it with an angry snort but firm steps. "When I find you, I will..." She trailed off that threat, coming upon a brightly lit, and large, room with untold many ponies in it, watching her suspiciously.

They were all dressed like nobility, but there was no warmth there, only cold mistrust. "What is this?"

"That's our question," huffed out the closest mare. "What are you, and why does Celestia play favorites with a doll? Considering where you came from..."

"They should have just burned you," added a stallion. "And thrown what's left in the trash where you belong!"

Tempo halted mid-step, recoiling as if physically struck. The ballroom of elegant pony nobility stared back at her with such overwhelming scorn that she fought the instinct to flee.

Then outrage blazed up, scorching away her shame. "You...you all know nothing of me! Where I come from bears no weight on who I become..."

Her voice wavered slightly. They knew her secret - or enough to piece together sinister implications. Still she raised her head defiantly. "Princess Celestia welcomed me as kin. My own merits lifted me to royalty this day!"

Tempo stamped a hoof, magic flaring like a sunrise around her. "If my beginnings offend oh so righteous sensibilities, know too I chose compassion over cruelty at every turn since!"

The silent herd of judging eyes bore down, so many shadows of past fears given form to haunt her ascendance. Still Tempo refused to waver before their wordless disgust.

"I renounced wicked paths and fought for the light..." She trembled, glaring back fiercely. "Does overcoming darkness not make one noble too? Or do you simpering sycophants only measure worth by bloodlines and connections?"

Their gazes narrowed, tension crackling. But Tempo stood firm, horn blazing brightly as a beacon against sinking night. If that was some trial of Discord's devising, so be it...but she would face the demons haunting her fledgling peace head-on, no more hiding.

Blueblood wriggled his nose, detecting a soft and pleasing aroma of some incense. He entered a small room of dim light and soft trappings. Even the floor gave way beneath his hooves as if standing on a soft mattress.

There was a mare there, looking quite similar to two he knew. The not-quite Cadance/Tempo swished her tail. "There you are... I was wondering if you'd find me." Even her voice wasn't... quite right. She was close, so close. Close enough that the little differences stood out in the uncanniest of valleys.

"You poor thing, caught in here. Come over here and I'll make it all better." She sat, arms spread towards him. "You deserve a hug... Maybe more?" Her brows lowered. "There's a heart in this chest..."

"Uncouth." He approached her only to push her over. "You are acting in a way no lady should. You do not know me nearly enough to make such an offer."

The Tempo-facsimile gawked as Blueblood loomed over her imperiously. A fire kindled in his eyes, one that brooked no impertinent seductions. She squeaked as his hoof pinned her to the divan.

"What enchantments fuel your pitiable ruse, I know not. But my betrothed is irreplaceable!" Blueblood trembled with rage and something more plaintive. "You think to break me with this farce?"

He shoved away from her, pacing the suffocating chamber. "Show me a hundred lookalikes parroting honeyed words! None could move me save the true lady - she who lifted my benighted spirit beyond jousting words to that hallowed communion of souls no petty tricks may debase..."

Blueblood rounded on the false Tempo, voice cracking. "So send your worst deceptions, charlatan spirits! A thousand lines may cast their lures - still I shall march to MY beloved's side untrammeled by cowardly doublings..."

His impassioned tirade echoed through the stagnant air. The Tempo-puppet said nothing, empty eyes downcast while his heaved from exertion and swallowed back tears.

"Now face me yourself, cankerous Discord!" His cry rang like thunder. "Do your worst, tyrant - but know naught can shame hearts welded fast in love's defense!"

"You're being so cruel," spat out a new mare. "He'll never get what a stallion wants out of you, but you drag him along like that?"

A stallion huffed. "A wife, like you? Who would suffer it?" He buffed his chest, shaking his head. "You talk the talk..."

"Pretend the walk," added another. "But when it comes down to it..."

Tempo trembled, fury and shame battling. "He wants more than just some mare to give him an heir, foul things!"

A mare poked Tempo, near her enough to do so. "More than... But he still wants an heir, you cruel thing."

A stallion coughed into a hoof. "There are other things he wants that you cannot give him, puppet."

Tempo flinched away from their intrusive shoves, humiliation churning within. Still she clung to the memory of Blueblood gazing at her like she was his whole world made incarnate...

"I-I give what I can," she forced out. "As does he, without complaint or condition..." Even if that meant pangs of longing she could not fulfill, his steadfast devotion never faltered.

Tempo sucked in a sharp breath, hooves trembling at her sides. "What right have any to dictate the shape of affairs between consenting hearts? Are gentle words and caresses not affection enough?"

The scornful unicorns reared back as sparks flew wildly from Tempo's horn. "Who are you vapid foals to define how passion must appear? If he yet stands proudly at my side, what lack you accuse means nothing!"

The shadows of the ballroom blurred as anguished tears stung Tempo's eyes. Still, her voice rang clearly over their braying mockery. "Say my heart's too different and strange - his still embraces mine without hesitation! That is the only 'lacking' your crude minds could never grasp..."

She advanced towards them fiercely now, the air smoldering with fury and pain. "So play deaf to a tune beyond your senses - we shall dance to kinder melodies far removed from your petty scorn!"

With final cry she expelled the gathering power in a nova of cleansing light - feeling revelations take wing - before crumpling in a sobbing heap. The shadows retreated but still Tempo shook...for their thoughtless cruelty had ripped hidden doubts from where she'd buried them so long ago...

Blueblood pressed past a dangling curtain into what seemed to be a brightly lit and sprawling workshop of busy ponies. They were working on other ponies that stood perfectly still.

One hurried up to him. "Sir. Are you here to pick up your order, sir?"

Blueblood perked an ear. "My order?"

"Your order." The pony turned and led the way to one of many still ponies. "Made her to your exact orders, sir." He tapped at the pony, metal clanks coming from each tap of their hoof. "Every inch to specificiations, sir!"

There stoof Cadance, or Tempo? It was neither, and Blueblood knew that. This one looked just like them, but had no spark. They gazed out with lifeless eyes. "She doesn't move."

"Of course not, sir." The pony reached up to press some tiny button on the back of the doll, causing it to lurch to life. "There we are. Unit, this is your new owner."

"Affirmative." The Tempo-facsimile nodded at Blueblood. "How can I serve you?"

Blueblood stifled the urge to scream, civility hanging by an ever-slenderer thread. "Dreadful demon, you test me sorely indeed!" Finding no solace even in bluster, he resorted to petulant hoof-stomping.

"This perversity exceeds imagination! You craft a soulless automaton and expect what - that I should embrace her over the true beloved whose every nuance and eccentricity stirs me so?!"

He stormed up to the placid doll, mashing their faces close. "Harken here, witless simulacrum! However he may ply false flattery, to me your vacancy screams volumes..."

Blueblood whirled away with a scoff, though his stomach roiled with unease. "As if I'd mistake bland obedience for those piercing glances that lay my very blood and bone bare by rapturous light alone..."

The engineer opened his mouth but Blueblood bulled on heedlessly: "As if programmed platitudes could replace the honey-kissed words she whispers that provoke such sweet torment! No - never shall cold counterfeits eclipse the flesh-searing blaze of her unstudied devotion..."

His diatribe's fervor saw him circling like a rabid beast now, all composure forgotten under passion's whip. "Let infinitudes of these plastic mannequins profane our semblance! My faith yet stands immutable..."

He raised raging eyes ceilingward, still they shone misty with adoration. "Hear me, banshee spirits that bedevil us! Not all your baubles and tricks shall sully that which heaven and hell conspire in vain to parallel!! Now produce MY lady and end this pestilent charade!!"

It all blew away like so much dust, and from it, another Tempo. A fake? This one was sagged to her belly, crying. Another method of that cruel trickster to get at him? Blueblood approached cautiously. "What trickery is this?"

Tempo looked up, blinking her eyes clear as best she could. "Blueblood?"

Just hearing her speak. Somehow, he felt it in his core. That was the one. He hurried to her, grabbing her tight. "Dearest! You're safe... What did that fiend do to you to bring such tears? Have no fear, I am at your side."

She nuzzled into his sides, wiping the tears off into his fur as she stood up. "I feel very... silly..." She let out a soft sigh. "I'm fine... I'm alright, with you here." They touched noses, rubbing gently. That affection was one they could share and did gladly with swaying tails. "I'm so glad you're here."

"As I am, beloved. As I am..." He glanced around the darkened room. "Does this mean we won over that cruel beast's machinations?"

"I do not know if that rogue is done with his torments..." Tempo murmured into Blueblood's shoulder. "But reunited here, I feel I could weather far worse in defense of this."

She touched their horns together gently. "Forgive my tearful lapse of faith, dear prince. They said some... It was awful. But your devotion reminds what the truth really is."

Blueblood snarled at the dark. "Well, that monster had best not show his face before me, or I'll--"

"--What?" Discord was before them, simply being there where once he was not. "Very lovely... But we're not done yet. You'll be pleased to know the Element Bearers failed miserably in their own way... Poor things. Shall we continue?"

14 - Chaotic Touches, Part Three

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"Now, I am willing to admit when I'm wrong." Discord stroked his magnificent beard meaningfully. "And I was! I do like being surprised, really, so thank you both." He paused to pat Tempo and Blueblood on the head each. "Such lovely playthings. Your love is true, near as I can tell."

He leaned in close to Blueblood. "Even If I don't understand it. Really, playing with your toys? I thought grown stallions matured out of that stage."

Blueblood swatted at him to little effect. "She is not a 'toy'. She is a living creature, and one that has blessed me with the chance to spend time with her."

Tempo pushed to get between them. "Stop taunting him. It's me you want."

"Hmm, you're not wrong." He prodded Tempo on the end of her snout. "He's just attached, for reasons only he understands. Now, if I had such a delightful little condstruct, the things I'd do."

Tempo shivered from her hooves top her eartips at the disqueting thoughts that came from that. "I would rather not know. What do you actually want?"

"Actually, nothing." He floated back with an easy smile. "I have a town to torment, and you've been fun enough for now. Why don't you go ahead and polish yourself up for me when I get back." With a sharp snap, he was gone, replaced with an entire supply of waxing materials.

Tempo kicked a sealed bucket away with a frustrated cry. "Monster. Every ill word they ever spoke of him was accurate to a letter." She whirled on Blueblood. "Are you entirely alright?"

"Entirely." He reached for her and they hugged gently. "But I do wonder what 'town' he's gone to haunt? I feel a bit poorly for whichever ponies those happen to be, though, am I a terrible pony for thinking it a blessing that it isn't us?"

Tempo considered that with slow taps of her hoof on the ground. "I understand it. I do not think either of us are wrong for feeling that. But we are better ponies." She gently propped him up. "We should do what we can, for others. Let's forget the images and phantoms and turn our eyes to real ponies."

Blueblood's ears pinned back remorsefully beneath Tempo's stern but caring look. "You shame me to the quick, beloved...and justly so," he admitted.

Her compassion piercing through his self-absorbed funk kindled inspiration in turn. "Wherever that rogue spirit has wandered off to spread more chaos, you speak true - real ponies face that storm helpless."

He planted his hooves with fresh determination. "What's our comfort weighed 'gainst such strife? We who weathered and found our bond strengthened must now guide others to safe harbor..."

Tempo smiled as he rallied, tail giving an almost hopeful wag.

Blueblood lifted his head high, feeling Tempo's virtues rubbing their salutary shine off on even weathered old dogs like himself, or so he imagined in that instant. "Your wisdom humbles me yet again, my dear. Ever tempting to stew in our private thoughts - but fie on hiding behind walls whilst a whole town falls prey!"

He flourished his cape with an elegant snap, grinning. "Well spoken, Princess - these hooves may lack wings but I swear they'll not be found wanting speed to the aid of your noble charge!"

Fear and uncertainty yet clung to the castle's worried denizens...but Tempo's stalwart poise banished the tang of defeatism, naming their true priority. Together they raced to rally others who might share salvation if fortune favored..

He smiled sheepishly over at her. "I promise to spend less breath hearing myself spout pretty words - and more lifting others your peerless example guides true!"

Tempo rubbed against him gently. "Then, perhaps, today was worth having. Let's try to make some good, hm?" They found things in need with troubled ponies right there in the castle.

Charging out of their chambers, they ran into distressed maids, butlers, and other nobility with confusion in their eyes and a shake in their legs. Blueblood frowned at the sight. "Servants, I require you!" His booming call had quite a number hurrying over to him.

Tempo blinked at the sharp call. "Why--"

Blueblood held up a hoof for quiet. "Good. Now, I demand you all take a breath, slowly now." He began leading them through exercises, calming down the crowd step by step. "It's alright, he's gone, hopefully forever. You've all done quite well, proven by the fact that you stand before me." He inclined his head. "Others are not so fortunate, or strong. Help them."

So it was that he sent his recovered servants off to find less-able ones to coach back into mobility, to then go and begin assisting nobility and dignitaries. Tempo watched it all with wonder. "Dear, this is amazing. You have such leadership when it comes to it."

"Of course." He slapped a hoof to his chest. "I am royalty, am I not? Leadership is my job." He leaned against Tempo gently. "Thank you for reminding me of that."

Tempo nestled against her suddenly commanding prince, pride and affection kindling brightly. In truth, she'd hoped at best to guide a few frightened castle residents back to sense herself while this brash Blueblood raced off after adventure.

Yet witnessing him marshal shaken servants into regiments of level-headed authority with such ease left Tempo awed. For all his foppish flaws, in crisis noblesse oblige took hold - this prince transformed to dignified general, issuing directives for the good of all.

Had she underestimated his royal mettle so? "Blueblood, I...I must apologize for ever doubting your capabilities thus hidden," Tempo murmured, kissing his cheek impulsively.

"In calmer tides, one scarcely predicts the stalwart captain who emerges to steer ships steady..." She watched him dispatch another newly steadied pair off to relay his recovery instructions, gratitude and wonderingly regard warming her voice.

"But revealed now, I find your regal composure blinding..." Tempo's eyes shone as she turned to fully embrace him. "Command me too, dear Prince! How may I amplify efforts to console this shaken flock until discord's damage mends?"

He threw an arm over her, hugging her close. "My dear, you're already helping. I am trembling, on the inside. Were it not for your steadying presence, I'd be worse off than many of them." He rubbed and leaned on her as if to show that. "Remain right at my side, and we'll steer things right, together, my dear."

Tempo returned the lean, keeping him upright. "You are doing wonderfully. Where is Princess Celestia, and my sister? Are they both safe?"

Blueblood hummed at the thought. "You." He waved a maid closer. "See if you can locate auntie, and bring her here if she isn't otherwise occupied." The maid bowed and rushed off. "Hopefully we'll see her in a moment."

The entire castle was unwinding, step by step. The ripple effects of the attending servants saw more and more ponies shaking free of the troubling times Discord had visited them. Celestia arrived, walking down a hallway with guards before her. "Blueblood, Tempo." She nodded at either. "I don't want to assume. How are you feeling?"

Tempo flashed a bright smile. "Aunt, lovely to see you, but I was hoping to ask the same question first. Are you alright?"

"No." Celestia frowned delicately. "That monster is on the loose, troubling my ponies. I will not be 'alright' until that is settled. The bearers, Twilight included, remain locked in that battle."

Tempo's smile faltered at Celestia's brusque reply before fresh determination flooded in. Of course her aunt would not rest easy until their people were safe and that infuriating chaos demon brought to heel once more.

"We understand, Aunt," she ventured gently. "Prince Blueblood has already begun commendable work rallying the servants here and giving directives to steady nerves. But of course greater strife remains beyond our walls."

"Have they assisted, Auntie?" Blueblood smiled brightly, looking ready to be praised by the one he saw as highest. "Were they they the ones that found you?"

Tempo moved closer, seeking to bolster Celestia's obvious weary spirit however she could. "What further preparations can we make to receive those who battled Discord upon their return?" she asked. "Surely Twilight and her stalwart friends will prevail - but they may need succor themselves afterwards."

Blueblood stepped up beside Tempo supportively. "We stand ready to aid local recovery efforts as well, Princess. Just say the word - my family yet keeps estates across Equestria. Our regional managers could be directing resources and relief in short order."

He swept a courtly bow. "Levy our wealth and contacts so your good work may continue, my Liege..."

Tempo smiled proudly at her prince's generosity. Together perhaps they could smooth some lingering fear from Celestia's timeless brow if deeds matched ready words.

Celestia spread her wings, just to fold them against her back. "Two such lovely ponies stand before me. I am put mildly at peace to hear your eager cries to assist. Blueblood, I'm told you were the one that got the castle back on its hooves. Put that talent to work for the city." She pointed past a stained window. "There are many ponies out there that could use a helping hoof. See that one arrives."

"Ma'am!" He saluted sharply. "Let's be off, Tempo dear. We have a city to save!" He sounded a bit excited about that, eager to show his abilities. "We'll be back, Auntie."

Tempo allowed herself to be guided away. "I hope Twilight does well."

"I have faith." Celestia turned to other ponies. Her work, as ruler, had not even paused for their meeting.

Blueblood maintained a veneer of nobility's measured grace, but alarm quickened his pace as much as eager duty. For just beyond Canterlot's magnificent arched gates, the world had twisted upon itself in ways defying sanity itself...

Levitation spells reversed randomly, once sturdy buildings now dangling upside down precariously. Unicorns yelped, finding all magic turned sporadic folly - fireworks erupting unpredictably or doves exploding from top hats.

Through the madness zigzagged citizens gone giddy with horror - pegasi crashed mid-flight, earth ponies fumbled over their own hooves. And over it all loomed a swirling firmament rippling with ghastly faces...

"Steady on!" Blueblood shouted to a reeling mare, supporting her weight. Where to even begin ameliorating this riotous confusion?

He looked desperately to Tempo even as another detached cottage drifted by. "I fear the castle troubles may have proven but prelude to true bedlam, my dear! However can we impose reason's rule now reality rebels?"

Tempo grimaced, magically deflecting a plummeting potted plant from a foal. "I confess such intense turmoil tests even my adaptive mettle..." Yet the prince depended on her poise - and citizens needed saviors, not fellow victims. Tempo's horn blazed brighter, raw power holding back a cacophony of unmanned carts from stampeding loose. She had been born to protect; whatever mayhem awaited, failing those who needed her most remained unthinkable.

That she would protect was one fact she could always hold as a steady point.

Blueblood applauded her efforts as he caught specific ponies and drew them towards the ground. "You, you, and you." He pointed to three of the least frazzled of the lot. "I need your help, as does the rest of Canterlot!" He began barking orders at them. Despite the troubled times, having a firm voice of authority seemed to stir some vibrance into them as they rushed off to help spread the order he offered.

The two of them worked together, doing their best to anchor the city amid the chaos. The strange energies didn't want to fade, not while their master yet lived, but the ponies forced to live in it were finding some measure of balance with Tempo and Blueblood working dutifully, soon joined by more and more other ponies that put aside their personal problems for the greater good.

The spirit of Equestria wouldn't be smashed so easily, despite Discord's plans to do exactly that.

15 - In a Blue Moon

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Marching firmly through the castle, a new set of hoofsteps. Princess Luna walked with purpose, almost crashing into Blueblood as their paths happened to intersect. "I say!" He backed up from the point of impact. "Apologies, auntie." He snorted gently. "I'm not used to having more than one of those, but it is a delightful thing to grow used to."

Luna nodded. "It is, isn't it? Where are you going?" She stepped around him. "I'm looking for Celestia. I'm afraid I must apologize for my behavior."

Blueblood smiled, patting her shoulder. "I think she'll forgive you, Luna. You were under the influence of a very powerful force." He paused. "And she knows you're sorry. She'll be happy to see you." He nodded to her. "Go on."

Luna smiled back at him. "Thank you, Blueblood. It means a lot." She continued on her way, only to hesitate. "Does everypony know the story?" She sagged in place. "My shame is quite public at every turn."

Blueblood winced with a nervous laugh. "Well, in some ways." He raised a hoof with hesitation. "Might I ask where you were coming from in such a hurry?"

Luna hesitated a moment, eyes darting around the hallway and its fine arts. "A small burg, Ponyville? Have you heard of it?"

"I have, actually. I've been meaning to go visit." He glanced down the hall. "I hear there's a wonderful spa there." He smiled. "I think I'll head there after this, what do you think?"

Luna snorted gently. "You are quite welcoming. I had--" She paused. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I had heard nasty rumors that you were quite the opposite. I am pleased to learn they were fabricated, or you've changed since."

Blueblood pinkened in his cheeks. "I am inspired by my better half. Her golden rays stir in me the need to grow and improve, like Celestia's sun on a flower." He coughed into a hoof to realign himself. "But, as I was saying, you are welcome here. We both have something of a spotted past. Let's rise past that, hm?"

Luna nodded. "Yes. I shall try." She resumed her walk, leaving Blueblood to his own devices.

Blueblood smiled after her, then headed off to find Tempo. She'd likely be waiting for him. "There you are, beloved. I hope you weren't waiting too long." He kissed her cheek. "Shall we go for a walk?"

Tempo's ears perked, smiling as she rose from the bench. "I would love to, dear. It's been a busy day." She leaned into him. "I am glad to see things calming down." She nuzzled against him gently, then stepped back. "Did you run into auntie? You have that look."

He perked at that. "Yes, but the other auntie, Luna. Lovely dear, but a bit lost in ways."

Tempo considered that with a soft hum. "Wish I had run into her, I had a question she might answer. But let's put that aside. Cadance and Shining Armor are having a date, and they invited us along. Are you up for that?"

Blueblood started with clear surprise. "They are both lovely ponies, but if they are romancing, would it not be better to leave them alone for it." He moved in, nose to Tempo's cheek. "We could have our own lovely time, hm?"

Tempo's ears flicked at that. "They said to bring you, and that they would like to get to know you better." She turned to face him. "And I would like to get to know them better. They are family." She smiled at him. "We can have our own time later, but I would like to go out with them."

Blueblood hummed softly. "If you wish it, I will do it." He nodded firmly at that. "As if I have much a choice." He spread his hooves towards her. "You have me quite ensnared, willingly I make clear. Dearest Tempo, let's enjoy this then."

Tempo kissed his cheek. "Wonderful. We'll meet them in town." She led the way, feeling his eyes on her. She knew he liked watching her, and she was happy to oblige. "I apologize." She grit her teeth a moment. "I can't put his words entirely aside. I love you, and I know you love me, but--" She paused in her speech despite marching on quietly for a moment. "--but, why? You are a handsome stallion. You could have a thousand other willing mares, living mares."

He circled in front of her in a hurry. "You stop that. Now, I can't tell you how to feel, but I can tell you how I feel." He put a hoof to his chest. "And I know I don't want any of those thousand other mares. They've thrown themselves at me before, no interest. You, on the other hoof, inspire poetry in me. Your every step a thing of wonder. Your ever word, worth noting down. You are my special somepony."

Blueblood dropped to a knee, a position he did not take often. "Which is why--"

Tempo furiously blushed as Blueblood sunk before her, wondering what he was about to say, but something in her had an idea of it and she felt dizzy and stunned, watching him.

"--I ask you, my beloved Tempo, to do me the honor of becoming my wife." He produced a ring, a simple band of gold. "I will not pressure you for an answer, but I wanted to give you this." He smiled in a mild gesture. "It is yours, yes or no. Take it, if it pleases your eyes, and with no other pressure beyond."

Tempo stared at the ring, then him, then the ring again. "I..." She took the ring, putting it on her horn. "I..." She threw her hooves around him, pulling him into a kiss. "Of course yes. I can't." She stopped trying to find the right words, hugging him tightly instead.

Servants that had been studiously ignoring them instead clapped for the two with polite little cheers. It wasn't every day that a proposal was given in their hallways.

Blueblood hugged her back, lifting her up as he stood. "You've made me the happiest stallion alive." He nuzzled against her, then carried her down the hallway. "Now, we should go meet your sister and brother-in-law, shouldn't we?"

Tempo blinked with surprise. "Did he also propose? She said yes?! How did I miss this?!"

Blueblood nuzzled gently into her cheek as he walked, straining a little under her. She was a pony of metal, and that came with bulk, though he bore it as best he could. "We planned it. He is proposing today as well. Tonight, we will share the good news, hopefully. I certainly have some to give him."

Tempo giggled, leaning into him. "I suppose we do." She looked at the ring on her horn. "I'm glad you asked me." She smiled at him. "I'm glad you're mine."

"And you are mine." He finally set her down, heaving for lost breath. "Dear, dearest--" He slowly regained his breath. "The land of Equestria is egalitarian. May I ask that I be swept up in your powerful arms?" He barely finished the question when she did just that, easily lifting him and walking off with him. "This is surprisingly delightful." Surrendering to her grasp just felt right, and he nestled against his golem of a betrothed with a pleased smile.

Tempo carried him all the way to the cafe where they were meeting Cadance and Shining Armor. She set him down gently. "I'm glad you like it." She leaned in to kiss him.

Cadance giggled at the sight. "Look at you two! What love birds."

Shining snorted. "They've been inseparable for a while now." He glanced at Cadance, then again. "Speaking of that." He trailed a hoof over the little table. "I had a question I've been waiting to ask you, Cadance. Got a moment?"

"Of course." She sipped from her colorful drink. "What's on your mind?"

He took a deep breath, then let it out. "Cadance, I've loved you for a long time, and I'm so happy to have you in my life. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He produced a ring, setting it on the table. "Will you marry me?"

Cadance gasped softly, eyes going wide. "Yes!" She threw herself at him, kissing him.

Blueblood clapped, settled in his chair. "Good show!"

Tempo sank into the chair next to Blueblood. "It would seem we two sisters are betrothed on the same day. I like that."

Cadance perked her ears at Tempo. "On the same--" It hit her. "You didn't?! You did!" Her horn glowed as she grabbed both Blueblood and Tempo, squeezing their chairs closer together. "You lovely couple! Ooo, we could have a double-wedding! Wouldn't that just be lovely?"

Blueblood blinked. "That is an idea." He glanced at Tempo. "Would you be alright with that?"

Tempo considered it. "I think I would." She considered Cadance and Shining Armor. "We were not always sisters, but our bond is sure. To marry on the same day, in the same place." She smiled at the thought. "At the same time? That sounds so nice."

Cadance squealed with delight. "I can't wait to tell auntie! Oh, she'll be so happy for us!" She hopped up and down in her seat. "I can't believe it! I'm getting married!"

Shining smiled at her. "I'm glad you're excited. I am too." He kissed her cheek. "I love you, Cadance."

"I love you too, Shining." The two got lost a moment with mutual nuzzles and peppered kisses.

Blueblood leaned in, hesitant. Tempo took the hint and pecked him first, turning into soft nuzzles as both couples lost a few minutes just joyfully enjoying one another with one another.

Shining finally drew back and turned his eyes and snout at Blueblood. "So, how'd you pop the question? You saw mine. I wasn't there for yours."

Blueblood smiled. "I asked her while on one knee, holding a ring." He glanced at Tempo. "She asked me why, and I told her that she was the only mare for me." He leaned into her. "I told her that I loved her, and I meant it."

Tempo leaned into him, ears perked up. "I said yes, of course. He is my special somepony."

Cadance let out a wistful sigh, love suffusing her every pore. "You two are so adorable together." She could see their connection, their romance, and it was bright and vibrant, shining with such force that she had not a single doubt in their mutual attraction. Why, about the only connection that rivaled it was the one she shared with her Shining.

Her fiancee smiled at her, their eyes meeting, and the two shared a soft giggle. "I guess we have a lot of planning to do, huh?"

"Yes, we do." Shining kissed the end of her snout. "But I really only have one question."

"What is that?" Cadance perked an ear, nose wriggling where she had been kissed.

"Who's doing the planning?" Shining leaned back. "If we tell Princess Celestia, you know she'll happily get other ponies on the case for us. But, before we do that, I thought I'd ask. If that's something you want to do?"

Cadance considered that. "I think I would like to do it myself. We could plan it together, but I would like to be the one to do most of the work."

Shining nodded, but looked across to Tempo. "It's your wedding too. You get a vote in this."

Tempo started as if surprised. "Yes, of course. But, I trust sister. She knows about love. She knows it better than I do. I can't imagine a wedding she planned going badly."

"Come here!" Despite her words, it was Cadance that went to Tempo, tackling her in a tight squeeze. "I'll do my best to give us both a picture-perfect wedding."

Blueblood smiled at the sight. "I'm glad we all get along so well." He reached over to pat Shining's shoulder. "I'm happy for you, brother."

Shining nodded. It took a moment for that to click. "Oh, right! We're brothers now." He laughed with the sinking realization. "Wow."

"Brother-in-law, to be technical, but why be technical among family?" Blueblood winked. "We are brothers, we can leave it at that between us." He gestured at Cadance. "Lucky me, I have also gained a wonderful sister. You best take care of her."

"That goes for you too." He waved at Tempo. "We both have a lovely mare to take care of, and be taken care of by." He chuckled softly. "Come to think of it, I bet we kinda, you know. Yours is powerful, physically. Mine is a princess. We are two stallions of mares that could bend them in half if they're bad."

Blueblood snorted with amusement. "Well, I don't know about that, but I suppose that's true." He leaned in. "I hope you don't think less of me for having a mare that can do that."

Shining quickly put a hoof to his chest. "I have one too! We're two peas in a pod." He tapped at his cheek. "Say, ever play Ogres and Oubliettes?"

Cadance swatted gently at him. "Are you trying to get another player for that silly game?"

"It's not silly." Shining crossed his arms. "Seriously, have you?"

Blueblood nodded. "I have, actually. It's quite fun. I haven't played in a while, but I would be willing to try again."

"Great! I'll send you an invite." Shining's horn lit up. "I'll send you one too, Tempo."

Tempo blinked. "I don't know what that is, but I'm willing to learn."

Blueblood wrapped an arm around Tempo. "It's a game of fantasy, and storytelling. It can be a wonderful tool for learning, but also of experiencing dread without actually risking your lovely hide."

Cadance smiled at the two of them. "You two are just adorable." She sighed softly. "I'm so happy for you both."

Tempo leaned into Blueblood. "Thank you, sister. As if you're any less with your own." She considered a moment. "Oh, we have to announce this, do we not?"

"Too true!" A paper appeared before Cadance with a pop and she began scribbling with a floating quill. "We have to let everypony we know about what's happened. Hopefully, they'll all be just as thrilled as we are."

16 - Wedding Plans

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Celestia, and much everypony else, become immediately excited at the news. Two weddings, of royalty, at the exact same time? There weren't enough hours in the day to get ready for it. They worked alongside Cadance, following her plans to the letter. "I'll handle this one." Shining Armor was writing a letter quickly. "I'll let Twilight know about this."

"Thank you." Cadance wandered off, having so many other things to worry about. "You're a lifesaver."

Shining smiled at her. "I try." He returned to the letter. "Hey, Twily. I have some great news. I'm getting married! And so is your sister. You two are going to be sisters for real." He frowned at his words. "No, way too informal for this." He started again, using proper names and without the joking hints. "Twilie appreciates things done properly."

In another part of the castle, Tempo stood impatiently as maids held up different dresses before her, floating one, then the next in an unending procession of wedding fashion. "They all look fine."

Blueblood called from behind a divider, "How we present ourself is of grave importance, my dearest Tempo. It is not only for ourselves, but for the ponies beneath us. They take cues from us, and the way we comport ourselves. It is a task, but one we must bear! Such is the obligation of royalty."

Tempo inclined an ear at Blueblood, or at least in his direction. "You are not technically royalty. You are too distantly related to Princess Celestia."

Blueblood gasped. "Dear, I meant you. Besides." He tapped at his chin before straightening up for his own maids. "I am marrying you. That makes me part of royalty, does it not? Oh, that is an exciting thought. I will do my utmost to live up to the new title! Prince Consort Blueblood, that will be me."

Tempo snorted softly. "You are already prince, dear. You needn't change that." She looked over the dresses again. "I still don't see the difference between these."

Blueblood advanced on the divider and tossed over a suit. "This is the one I have chosen. Select one that goes with it and you have done wonderfully, as if you could ever look poorly."

Tempo blushed. "You are quite the flatterer." She looked over the suit. "I suppose this one is acceptable." She looked at the maids. "You heard him, find me something to go with this." The maids bowed low and scurried off to find a fitting dress. "I'm glad that's past. But, as I was saying, you are already a prince. It's your name."

"A name and a title are two different things." Blueblood stood as tall as he could. "Married to you, I will be a true prince. Um, not that I'm marrying you for that reason. I would divest myself of my wealth entirely if it meant being at your side." He wrinkled his nose. "Only one holiday abroad a year, like a commoner, worth it!"

Tempo smiled faintly at that thought. "I am certain common ponies--" She aborted the thought, deciding it wasn't worth the battle. Let Blueblood think his silly thoughts. "I love you."

"And I love you too, but that is hardly enough to express it." He threw his hooves wide. "Let us prepare, so we can shout it at the world and they can all know our boundless amor!"

Tempo giggled. "I suppose we should."

The maids returned, holding up a dress that matched Blueblood's suit. "This one, your highness?"

Tempo considered it. She reached out a hoof to trail along it gently. "Alright, yes, this one." She nodded at it, relaxing with the dress selection being complete. "Are weddings fun, for the ones being wed?"

Blueblood smiled at her. "It is a celebration of love, and joy. It is a wonderful thing, and a magical one. I'm sure you'll love it."

Tempo smiled back at him. With the two having selected their dresses, the servants drew the barrier back and they came together, as if they were magnets, unable to hold each other away. They met with warmly hugging arms and fond nuzzles.

"I'll be there." Blueblood nosed into her neck. "So if you feel anything but joy, you can let me know. I will protect you, dearest."

Tempo hummed softly. "I know you will. I trust you." She leaned against him. "I'm glad we found each other."

"As am I." He squeezed her gently. He stepped back with a lash of his tail. "This is so exciting! Come, there are other things to oversee."

Truly the castle was alive with preparations for both pairs.

***

Later, when Cadance and Tempo were together, inspecting one another's dresses, a knock came from the door. "Coming," called Cadance, trotting over to the door as her magic pulled on the handle. She started with surprise. "Shining, we're busy."

Shining flashed a big smile. "You will be busy in a moment. I have something to show you." He glanced past Cadance to Tempo. "This is a one pony surprise." He winked and turned away, walking off.

Cadance watched him go, then turned to Tempo. "I'll be right back." She followed after Shining, curious. "What's this about?"

"You'll see." He led her through the castle, and outside, starting to snicker to himself as he descended some cavernous stairs. "You're going to love this."

"Will I?" Cadance laughed with confusion. "Shining, we're trying to get ready? What on Equestria are you taking me to see right now?"

Shining waved around at the dazzling crystals in those caves. "This, for one."

Cadance's eyes widened. "Oh, this is quite pretty." She wandered up towards a large rock, poking it gently. "Would Celestia be alright with us using these, in the wedding?"

"I have other plans." That voice didn't sound like Shining. Spreading her wings wide, Chrysalis cackled as her magic wrapped around Cadance. "Besides, that will be my wedding, thank you."

Cadance yelped, trying to break free of the magic. "Shining, help!"

But Shining wasn't there to hear her yelp. Chrysalis shoved Cadance into a dark room of crystal to brood impotently. "Your magic won't even work in there. Poor thing, go ahead and cry or whatever you ponies love to do." Laughing wildly, Chrysalis walked away. With a rush of green flames, she became a second Cadance. "I have a wedding to perform."

Chrysalis-as-Cadance wandered through the castle, searching for the real Shining Armor. "I'm sure he's around here somewhere." She paused at the sight of Tempo, but advanced a moment later. "Sister, have you seen Shining?"

Tempo started in surprise. "I thought he was with you. Wasn't he going to show you something?"

Chrysalis considered that. "Oh, I forgot. He was. I wonder where he went off to?" She turned away, walking off. "I'll be back."

Tempo watched her go, then returned to her own preparations.

Unfortunately for most ponies involved, Chrysalis did find Shining and ensnared him casually in her magic. He was little match for her.

But her odd behavior didn't go entirely unnoticed. While most ponies were quite focused on the wedding, Tempo remained a step removed. She had the luxury of distance, not directly planning the wedding and only playing a part. She kept glancing over, watching the "other Cadance", noticing that she didn't react quite the way the real Cadance would have.

"Sister." Tempo dared to approach Cadance. "I was hoping to ask your help about something."

"I'm busy planning the wedding." Cadance waved Tempo away. "It's for both of us, remember?"

"I do remember that." Tempo paced nervously. "You are overworking yourself. You should relax. I can take over, if you like?"

"No you can't." Cadance hiked a brow high. "And I'm fine. Go on, practice your vows with Blueblood or whatever."

Tempo smiled politely at that. "I am working on that. But, if you insist." She backed off, heading for Celestia. "Aunt Celestia." Tempo paused to bow before her. "I apologize for bothering you."

"You are never a bother." She nodded at her golem of a niece. "A pleasure always. You must be very excited, your wedding so close."

"I am," breathlessly admitted Tempo. "But there are other things. I can't put a hoof on it, but I feel Cadance may be being injured. She isn't acting herself. Planning two wedding at once is obviously stressing her." She stood tall. "As her guardian, I insist something be done about this. Can't somepony else take over the wedding planning?"

Celestia reached a wing, gently brushing Tempo's side. "Your care for Cadance is beyond any doubt. She is so lucky to have a sister like you, but I can't do that. This is what she wants. As a princess of love, demanding she allow somepony else to plan her wedding is unthinkable. Imagine how upset she'd be if I tried?"

Tempo flinched. "I, I suppose you have a point. It wouldn't feel right. Not after everything we've been through. I don't want to ruin things for her."

"Nor do I." Celestia leaned in, almost touching noses but not quite. "So, have faith that she will make it through this, and be her strength, as I know you can be. Help her weather this, and she will thank you forever."

Tempo brightened at the very idea of it. "Yes. Yes, excellent idea. I'll get closer to her by helping her." She curled a hoof to her chin. "Do you know where Shining Armor is? She was looking for him before."

Celestia directed a hoof. "Last I saw, he is with yours. The two were practicing their parts. It was quite precious."

Tempo smiled at the idea of the two stallions working so hard, side by side. "Thank you. I'll fetch him." She raced away on that mission with purpose in her eyes.

Celestia nodded, returning to her own matters. "Poor Tempo. I know she has feelings for Cadance. I would hate for this to strain the relationship between them, but sometimes such things are necessary." Her concern melted into a gentle smile. "But their sisterhoof is hard to argue."

She thought back to when she had first met Tempo, odd metal doppelganger of the filly Cadance. "I'm glad I didn't do anything too hasty back then. You've been such a treat." She turned to the next supplicant. "Your turn."

"What is your command?"

Tempo turned, confusion in her eyes. "What?"

Shining inclined his head in the other direction. "What is your--" He grunted, rubbing at his head. "Ow--Tempo? Hey." He wobbled in place, clearly a bit disoriented. "The headaches are getting worse. I can't wait for this wedding to be over with."

"I have it," called Cadance, moving to nudge Shining away. "I'll make those nasty headaches go away."

Tempo knew Cadance's powers. Banishing headaches was not one of them. She glared as the two retreated into Cadance's room. "Are you alright?" Tempo jumped in surprise, coming down facing Blueblood.

She half-tackled him, pushing him towards their own room. "We need to talk."

"As always, I am here at your service, m'lady." He bowed properly the moment Tempo stopped pushing him. "How can I be of service?"

"Not here." Tempo shut the door behind them, then leaned against it. "I am suspicious of the other Cadance." She marched over to Blueblood, sniffing at his neck. "Why are you damp?"

Blueblood glanced away, cheeks flushing. "I was nervous, so I took a dip in the water." He pawed at the floor. "It helped calm me down."

"I can see that." She brushed over his cheek with a hoof. "But since when did you like random dips? Why is everypony acting so oddly?"

Blueblood leaned in to touch his nose to her cheek. "I could ask why you continue to be so even-keeled. My beloved, you are the rock in a stormy sea, unmoving despite it all."

"Stop that." Tempo gently pushed him back. "It is not time for our compliments. Something strange is happening and I mean to get to the bottom of it." She moved over to the window. Outside, the ponies of the castle were animatedly preparing for the wedding with no idea what was going on. "I don't like this."

"It's probably nothing." He touched his nose to her shoulder. "Everyone is excited is all, and feeling pressure from the looming ceremony. The bride is allowed to be a little peculiar before such an event." He gently rubbed his nose against her cheek. "Are you not also feeling on edge? We all are, but for such an event? Worth the price."

Tempo glanced at him, ears twitching. "You are making a strange amount of sense." She narrowed her eyes. "Don't do that. You're worrying me." She put a hoof to her forehead before laughing gently. "But you're right. Maybe I am just worrying about nothing. I am used to keeping a wary eye on Cadance." She inhaled in a hiss. "It is my--Destiny? Is destiny the right word?"

"It is what you care most about." He wrapped her, drawing her into a warm hug. "And it is one of many traits about you I adore completely. Be nervous, my lovely Tempo, but know that I stand ever by your side."

17 - Cave Divers

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Tempo almost crashed into a pony, so distracted was she by her recent worries. "Sorry." She helped the other pony up, her metal body proving the victor in a little contest of opposing momentums. But that pony, she knew her, from somewhere. "Have we met before?"

Twilight inclined her head at Tempo curiously, about the same look in her face. "Hm. Well, I'm Twilight Sparkle. You are?"

"Twilie!" Tempo perked up with a smile. "It is I, Tempo." She curled a hoof at herself. "It is so nice to see you."

"Tempo!" Twilight glanced away and back. "Tempo," she repeated in much more hushed tones. "You are the closest pony I know to Cadance, aren't you?"

"I take pride in it." Tempo smiled, if briefly. "Why?"

Twilight glanced around them. "Is Cadance--off? She's been so excited about the wedding, but it seems strange. I've known her for a long time, and this isn't her normal excitement."

Tempo took a little breath, despite not needing to breathe. "You noticed this as well?"

"I'm not the only one then." Twilight waved for Tempo to follow her. "This way. Let's not talk about this in the middle of the hallway." Twilight opened the door for Tempo and let her into the library, shutting it behind them. "There we go. What do you think?"

Tempo looked around, settling down with a little hum. "She is acting strangely, using abilities I never saw her have before, and--It's not like her." Tempo frowned just thinking about it. "Blueblood insists this is normal for a pony planning their wedding. I am certain, to some extent, it is. I don't think this is exactly that."

"I agree, and I think I might know why." Twilight produced a book, laying it open in front of Tempo. "The Mare in the Moon." She pointed out a specific page.

Tempo inclined her head. "Didn't you already defeat that?" She pointed up at where a moon may be, if not for it being daytime. "There is no more Mare in the Moon."

Twilight blinked before clopping a hoof to her head. "I'm very stressed right now myself. I feel like everypony is making light of what I've seen. Cadance is just not acting herself. You're the first pony to even agree to that much." She pressed her hooves together in front of her mouth. "Tell me truthfully. Did she seem off to you?"

Tempo's ears folded back. "Very off." She considered Twilight and her claims. "We agree on that. The question is, what can be done about it? I am Cadance's protector! How do I protect her from this?"

"I didn't know she had one." Twilight had been a little filly when last she knew Tempo, and never had a reason to know Tempo's protective role. "But good! Good. I need your help, please. My, uh, less wild theory is that this Cadance isn't our Cadance. Our Cadance doesn't act this way. I saw her zapping my brother with strange magic!"

"The headache removing spell?" Tempo flicked an ear. "That is a spell I never knew Cadance had."

"That one! Why everypony else thinks that's normal, I have no idea." She huffed with frustration. "The trick is finding the real Cadance."

Tempo stood up firm and tall. "That is my job. I am her defender. I will find her and make sure she's safe."

Twilight rolled her hooves one over the other. "I love the enthusiasm, but where will you even start looking?"

"I don't know, but I'll find her. I know Cadance's smell well." Tempo tilted her head as she thought. "I can track her."

"Like a bloodhound! You can do that?" Twilight raised a brow at Tempo. "You are even more talented than I remember you."

"Not exactly like one of those, but close enough. Leave finding Cadance to me." She touched noses with Twilight, smiling. "You have grown up well. I hope we get some time to talk after this."

"That would be nice." Twilight returned the little nuzzle, but they both had things to do. They parted with determined marches to see it done.

Tempo was not a pony, not biologically. She had no biology, to start. She did have mechanisms, and some of them gave her senses that a pony simply lacked. She drew in air, not to fake breathing, but to taste and sample the air, to get hints from it. She never stopped inhaling, the air passing through her entirely to pass out the other end without a problem.

That included things other than oxygen. She sampled the air for any hint of the particular bouquet of Cadance's scent. She could detect the subtle variations, but there was something different. Her nostrils flared, eyes widening. There, in the air, was a mixture of Cadance's unique and wonderful presence, laced with a spike of fear.

Tempo followed it, nose as often high in the air as she was poking around the ground, following where it seemed strongest. She eventually happened on where the abduction took place, but there was little obvious hint of the event other than the scent being at its strongest. That was a place where Cadance had been scared, she knew that, and she hated it.

"If I were somepony taking a princess of love, where would I put her?" Tempo turned from the small alcove, marching off through the castle. It was a huge, sprawling place with any number of hiding spots. She thought back to the ones that made her. They had taken advantage of such hiding places to come in and try to do terrible things. Tempo shook her head quickly. "Don't be distracted!" she reminded herself. "I must find her."

Her rump pulsed, which was an odd sensation. It hadn't pulsed before. She curled to look at it, where her cutie mark of the armored heart rested. Being a doll, her cutie mark could have appeared as anything she wanted to be, but that was the symbol she had found to be her own. She was the guardian of heart, Cadance's protector. That symbol was pulsing with urgency. "What does that mean?"

She wasn't even a pony. Her cutie mark was just a fashion accessory, or so she thought. Its magical throbbing implied otherwise. "Do you know where Cadance is?" She tentatively touched the mark. She had been told it was impossible for ponies to interface directly with their cutie marks, but Tempo wasn't a pony.

With that thought firmly in mind, she closed her eyes and concentrated, connecting to the mark. She didn't feel much, but it did seem to tug, in a direction. "You're getting smarter, I like that." She didn't have time to admire the change though, turning to gallop as quickly as she could in the given direction. "Please be alright, sister."

Her hoofbeats carried her out of the castle, down to the caves beneath. "Why down?" She considered the layout with a frown, but the scent had returned. Her poor Cadance was being scared, or had been scared? It was hard to know the difference, but, either way, Tempo knew she had to be there, and she made her way through the staggering maze of tunnels and caverns.

It was like a different world entirely, a sparkling wonderland of endless possibility. Tempo's eyes sparkled a little in that delight, but she kept to her task, nosing along the ground to follow Cadance's scent. "Cadance!" she called out in a sudden bark. "I am here. Tell me if you can hear me."

But she heard nothing but the occasional drip of water. Worse yet, she ran into a dead end. The scent stopped there, hitting a wall and no further. She had run out of places to go. "Cadance," she miserably got out as if saying her name would summon her. "Where are you?" She pawed at the wall impotently a moment before she frowned at the crystal barrier.

"I have no better direction." She twirled around, pointing her back end at the wall. "You will surrender Cadance to me, or else." What the else was, Tempo had no idea, but, Celestia as her witness, she would figure it out if she had to. She braced her forelegs and lashed out, kicking the door with all her might, as if it were the crystal's fault.

Her metal hooves slammed into the crystal with a tremendous weight. She could feel things cracking, some of them being bits of herself, but more of it being the wall. With a shattering of crystal and explosion of dust, the wall gave way to the cave beyond it.

"Tempo?" A haggard and weary Cadance stood up from behind the wall, looking at Tempo with amazement. "What are you doing here?"

Tempo bounded over, tackling Cadance into a tight hug. "I knew something was wrong. I'm glad I could find you!" She nuzzled against her, like a happy puppy reunited.

Cadance hugged Tempo with a tired smile. "And I'm glad to see you." She embraced her metal sister gently and gladly. "I was captured by some crazed thing that wants to take my place." She frowned with a shiver. "She said she'd eat Shining, because she needs him, too."

"Shining?" Tempo thought of her sweet sister and her loyal Shining. "What can she possibly want with him?"

"There's no time to ponder that." Cadance forced herself to her hooves. "We have to get moving."

"I'm right here." Tempo moved to support Cadance, only to almost stumble, barely managing to redirect her falling to crash to the stone ground without landing on Cadance. "Sorry."

"Sorry?!" Cadance was on Tempo instantly. "Are you alright?"

Tempo slowly sat up. "Kicking that wall wasn't the best idea, perhaps. I'm not as good at magic as you are, sister."

"You did more than good." Cadance nuzzled her injured sister. "Poor thing. Looks like we're both banged up now. Let's go as quickly as we can, but no faster than that, hm?"

"Yes, sister." Tempo staggered upright on three legs, walking alongside Cadance. "At least we can escape now."

A cold laugh echoed through the chamber. "I think not."

With a rush of flames, Twilight Sparkle was dropped before them, rough and with tears in her eyes. She saw the two Cadances in front of her and assumed battle stance, horn glowing dangerously.

Tempo raised a hoof. "I found the real Cadance, Twi."

Twilight hesitated. Tempo sounded just a little different than Cadance. "Tempo? Tempo! You found her!" She pounced forward, hugging the two of them with a happy sob. "I was starting to think this day would only get worse."

Cadance nudged Twilight, which was enough of a hint. The two began their traditional greeting involving waking up ladybugs. Tempo smirked at the dance. "You two are precious at times. Twilight, can you help us? Neither of us are feeling well right no--w?" She yelped as she floated in the air, grabbed by Twilight's magic. "I forgot you were so good at that."

Twilight casually moved both of her future sisters into a train cart and hopped in after them. "Let's get moving!" With a powerful magical shove, she sent them careening down wild tracks. "Um, do either of you--" She pulled upwards to clear a jump. "Know if we're headed in the right direction?"

"This is the way." Tempo pointed ahead of themselves as they made wild turns. She had no innards to throw off with the sharp movements, but she knew what fear was, and she cringed at the many close calls coming and zipping past them.

When they finally reached the entrance, Cadance was gasping and Twilight panting. "Wow, that was fun." Cadance brushed a hoof across her brow, wiping away sweat.

Twilight shivered with excitement. "We have no time! They're doing the wedding, now! Come on!" All three of them struggled to move as quickly as they could.

But Tempo couldn't keep up. "Go without me, I will catch up as quickly as I can."

Cadance hugged Tempo tightly, if briefly, and she took off with Twilight towards that false wedding.

18 - Storge

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Shining Armor grimaced as he felt himself being manipulated magically, by the changeling queen. He was at her mercy, and at her control. His vision blurred, the world swimming and doubling, before turning black.

Chrysalis in disguise laughed, a cackle of delight as she stood in the place of the real Cadance. "My prince." She leaned in to nuzzle him, but it was to taunt, not out of any amount of affection. "Marry us, kindly."

Princess Celestia stood before them, as did the entire court and countless witnesses further down the grand hallway. "By the power vested in me by the laws of Equestria, I am honored to officiate this blessed union, between this couple in love."

Blueblood turned to Celestia, ears pinned. "Auntie, dear. This was to be a two pony wedding, but where is Tempo? We cannot proceed without her. To marry one while the other is not here, I cannot in good conscience do this."

Celestia smiled patiently. "Your compassion is noted, nephew. She will be along shortly."

Chrysalis bared her teeth at Blueblood, but she could hardly act out there. "We agreed on the time and place long before now, 'Auntie'."

Celestia raised a brow. Cadance loved Tempo, and was adored in kind. That sort of dismissal felt a little out of place. "Perhaps we could wait a moment."

"We shall wait then." Blueblood stood tall and proud, and alone, only moments before he would be joined by his beloved.

Cadance grit her teeth, digging deep for her resolve as she burst through the doors behind the crowd with Twilight. The two of them charged through them as best they could, calling for the wedding to stop.

Chrysalis abandoned her disguise in favor of laughter, having her brief, if triumphant, duel with Celestia. "Weak little thing, pathetic. I will feed my drones a meal they've long been waiting for."

Shining Armor fell in front of Cadance. "Twily? What's going on?" He winced as he got up. "I think I got hit by something. I passed out."

The illusion on him wore off, showing everyone the full sight of what they were in for. It was also the moment the shield collapsed, Shining unable to hold it up a moment longer under the assault of the changelings battering against it. They broke inside in a wave.

Shining tried to cast another one, but it didn't hold, not with Chrysalis draining his strength to bolster her own. It flickered in and out, and it didn't offer any protection at all. Canterlot was swarmed immediately, ponies fleeing in all directions around them away from the invaders.

Tempo ducked under a changeling as the drone flew over her at high speeds. "What is going on?" She had just reached the hallway to find it partially abandoned, screaming ponies filling the air instead of any sounds of a wedding, paused or going.

"Long story." Cadance worked to create a new barrier to protect the group of them, not that it lasted. The changelings were everywhere. "The changelings are attacking the city. They're capturing ponies." She pointed up at the cocoons already being set up, pods to drain ponies of their love.

Tempo felt something click deep inside her. "Assuming defensive stance." With great pops, damaged portions of herself reset with metal clangs and softer clicks as new things came online. "None will hurt Cadance. Defensive target locked."

Cadance blinked at the strange words and the strange way they were spoken. "Tempo, are you—" She had to duck as a changeling attacked her, but it was batted aside by Tempo. "Are you alright?"

Tempo pushed Cadance behind her. "Secondary defense targets located." Her horn glowed as she took hold of Blueblood and Shining Armor, drawing them to just beside Cadance. "Initiate defense." With an electronic whine, magic she hadn't tapped before came fully online. "Mission objective: Defend Cadance." She launched herself at the changelings, crashing through them.

Celestia snarled. "Why do you do this? What is your aim?"

Chrysalis laughed with wicked glee as her drones swarmed Cadance, her other targets having fled. "Love! Sweet, sweet love. You think I could truly live on such a wretched emotion as your petty kind enjoy? Not without taking it first."

Tempo was on them in an instant, not physically, but fine lasers darted around as if her horn was doing its best to imitate a disco ball, each glittering line striking a changeling down in a rapid takedown. No damage was permitted to fall on her defense targets.

Tempo's new weapons didn't stop at her horns. The ports in her hooves opened, launching lines of magic-laden crystals. They shattered against the changelings, a fine, but highly targeted spray of glittering sand that was soon hardened to rock with a simple spell.

While the chaos was erupting, Twilight and her friends were rushing for the elements. They battled just as bravely against the changelings that came to stop them, but they were not designed for battle. They were not war machines.

Tempo was, and the number of drones in the area kept lowering by the moment with her passionless assault. Not a single drone managed to lay a hoof on Cadance. She was surrounded only by limply struggling drones. "Mission almost complete. Lowering defenses."

Cadance didn't understand any of it, but she smiled in relief as she trotted over to Tempo. "When could you do any of that?!"

Tempo shook her head, her eyes refocusing as her soul pressed back to the surface. "That was scary. May I hug you right—"

Cadance didn't let her finish, pouncing and hugging Tempo tightly with a happy noise. "You're a hero, but we have a whole city swarming with changelings. Can you, um, do that, but bigger?"

Tempo gently squeezed Cadance. "I can try." She wobbled a little in place, and a lot when Cadance let go of her. "I'm not sure." The longer she stood, the less certain she was.

Blueblood and Shining closed with them, each going to their mare with gentle nuzzles. "My lovely Tempo," sang out Blueblood poetically. "My warrior mare. You have saved us."

"She did." Shining nuzzled Cadance, and then Tempo. "Thank you, both of you."

"Of course." Cadance smiled, only for her ears to pin. "But we are still in the middle of an assault, I remind."

Shining slumped against her. "We've done a lot, but I think we're all tired."

Blueblood stomped a hoof. "I have not." He threw a hoof over the slumped Tempo, gently holding her close. "Tempo, my dear and blazing guardian. It is my turn to stand vigil over you in your moment of weakness."

Tempo blinked, leaning into Blueblood's embrace. "I, I will rest then. Thank you." She shut her eyes and slumped to the floor without preamble, little ticks and noises revealing that she was well and truly shut down for the moment.

Cadance snorted, turning to touch her horn to Shining Armor's. "I'm just glad we're back together. I missed you so very much, I don't have the proper words for it."

Shining returned the smile, the painful fog he'd been living in parting before the powerful love that Cadance was offering him. "Me too, um, glad to have you back."

Chrysalis cackled at the two with a snort. "Go on, enjoy your last little cuddle. Your little death machine is worn out, and my drones are just getting started. There's nothing left to save you now."

Cadance frowned as she pulled away from Shining Armor, turning to Chrysalis. "What do you have against love? Why go to all this effort to stop us from having it?"

"Stop you? Perish the thought." Chrysalis waved that away. "Have all the love you want. All the more for us to take from you. We will grow plump from the feast on offer today."

"Then what are we fighting over?" Cadance stood strong against the Queen. "Is it about your kind feeding from mine? Is that all this is? A grudge over what you are?"

"What we are?" Chrysalis raised a brow, her smirk one of assumed victory. "We are predators. You, unfortunately for you, are prey. It shouldn't be that hard to grasp." She turned to a drone that had landed beside her. "How proceeds the invasion?"

"Your Highness." The drone saluted sharply. "We are capturing the ponies swiftly. The pods are full of their loving little hearts." He paused before adding, "And their tears." He grinned wider at that.

"Good, good. That should be enough for us to finally get the meal we've been waiting so long for. Taste that, little princess." She spread her arms wide. "That is the glorious life of a predator."

Cadance withdrew to Shining Armor's side, hugging him. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." He laughed bitterly, squeezing her back. "I have to stop saying that."

Blueblood perked an ear, hearing something. "Tempo, beloved, are you waking up?" He watched her intently. "Is it so? The fate of a city and perhaps a nation rests on your shoulders, my darling, and I have faith you can lift it."

Tempo didn't move, at least not yet. She did, however, make a series of clicks and whirrs that were followed by her opening her eyes and sitting up. "Defense systems restored. Defensive parameters adjusting. New mission." She stood up, marching off on unsteady legs.

Blueblood was on her, practically tackling her. "Not alone! Never alone. I stand at your side, fierce warrior mare that you are. Do you hear me? I am never far."

Tempo pushed him back by the head. "You are at risk, as is Cadance and Shining. I can defend you if you remain here. It is safer."

He reached his hooves up, batting her own off of his face. "I will not sit back in safety while my beloved stands tall against evil incarnate." He rolled his eyes dramatically, then blinked at Tempo, staring into her eyes. "How curious." But he shook off his moment of fascination. "We will stand together!" He struck a dramatic pose, to the tune of Tempo shaking her head. "For we are Tempo and Blueblood, and we are always together."

Cadance lifted a hoof before falling against Shining. "Even in this dark time," she muttered, weakened. "We are together."

She began to glow, as if buoyed by the love of their couples. "We are together." All four of them, Cadance, Shining, Tempo, and Blueblood lifted from the ground. Each was lending their power, glowing at first in their own shades, but it slowly shifted to a unified hue.

A blast of love would save the day, but not one of eros, but one of overwhelming storge, family love that radiated from them in all directions, shoving the changelings away, out of the city and banishing the pods from around the ponies held in them, to let the confused ponies flop to the ground, still covered in goo.

It continued on, pushing Chrysalis herself back with a hissing cry of pain, as if she had been burned. The force of it, a mix of raw magic and pure love, pushed back her and her hive, both vanishing in all directions away from the liberated city.

With the invaders dispatched, there was nothing standing in the way of their wedding. Tempo shrank back, ears flicking back. "I am shown to be even less of a pony. I understand if you want to back out. I will not hold it against you."

Blueblood narrowed his eyes, spinning to face Tempo. "Ponies do not just abandon those they love, Tempo. We are meant to be together. I am yours, and you are mine, and that is forever." He touched his nose to hers. "You are not shown to be any lesser today, nay! You are a hero, standing taller still than I had imagined yesterday."

Cadance was wobbly as she came over to them. "Blueblood is right. I think you're even more of a pony now. I'm glad you're with us. You saved me, you saved Shining, and you saved the whole kingdom! How is that anything less than pony?"

Tempo glanced away, embarrassed. "I have been told before that I am not a pony. I am an abomination, a freak. I am not supposed to exist."

Shining half-fell against her. "By ponies with their heads not on straight. C'mon! Let's get us all married. I can't wait to have such a lovely sister, and a brother." He nodded firmly at Blueblood. "And a wife." He leaned gently against Cadance. "Today's gonna be great."

The quartet did eventually get married, despite all the changes to the planned ceremony and the actual wedding itself. Everypony involved in the wedding had their life changed that day. None would forget it, nor would they wish to.

19 - Rumbles to the North

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Tempo awoke from a dead sleep in her room. She had a room. She had a bed, as a pony should, or at least as she insisted. She had a lot of things to make her comfortable in the palace. It was a curious thing, considering, technically, she could have just skipped sleeping.

Though ponies around her didn't like talking about it, and even she preferred not to linger on the thought, she was a construct. She wasn't alive. Sleeping, eating, breathing, and all other things a living thing had to do to remain alive, she just did not.

She gazed into a mirror with a soft hum. What even powered her? She had no idea, and, in the dark of that night, it bothered her. How long would it last? Some authors had claimed that fabricated beings wouldn't know the sting of death, but that felt silly to Tempo. She had an existence, and she valued it. The idea of it ending bothered her, and it could end. If her power source just turned off, there would be no Tempo left, and who would guard Cadance then?

"Cadance is alright." She touched a hoof to the mirror. "I know she's alright. I can feel it." Tempo stepped away, smiling despite herself. She liked being able to feel things, and the gentle reassurance of her link with Cadance was one of those things. She also had emotions. Good ones, bad ones, and all the ones in the middle. However artificial her body, she felt reasonably sure that her feelings were true.

She considered going to check on Cadance, but things had changed. They were married. That meant Cadance was sleeping next to Shining Armor, the two snuggling through the night.

This also meant Tempo had gained a sleeping companion. She turned just to jump in surprise. Prince Blueblood was already watching her intently. "I thought you were sleeping!" She hurried towards him. "You should go back to sleep." She knew he needed so much sleep, unlike her. "You have to stay healthy. Please."

Blueblood smirked at her with a tilt to his head. "Why?" He gently wrapped her with a firm and warm hug. "If I'm sleeping, then you will spend all your time fussing over me, won't you?" He leaned in to gently press his lips to hers. "I was thinking of you, of course. You don't need to sleep. Why not relax with your thoughts?" Nuzzling Tempo's cheek, he purred gently. "What's wrong?"

"I love you so much." She sank against him, tail wagging with building warm emotions. "My dear Blueblood." She took pride in being one of the few ponies he allowed to skip honorifics with him. "I was just musing. I am sorry if I woke you up. I was just wondering about life and its end."

"A most serious and grave topic, to be sure." He tilted his head at her. "May I ask why that was on your mind?" He tugged her gently back to the bed, which was as big as he demanded of it. "Are you considering something specific, my dear?"

Tempo trotted alongside him, hopping on the bed with him. "Not specifically. It's a little vague, and I'm not even sure how to articulate it. I've been told that I was artificially constructed." She swiveled an ear back. "Which I am. There's not much room for doubt. But I wonder, and I wonder." She closed her eyes, laying on her belly next to Blueblood. "How am I made? You don't know either, besides the basics. When will that fail? What will happen after then?"

"Would you like me to speak plainly, or elegantly?" He nudged her cheek, one of his most common and favorite ways to get her attention. "I think you already know, but I will spell it out." He rolled over onto her, nuzzling and nipping her neck. "We will deal with that when it happens, my darling."

She playfully tossed him off, though that did give her room to turn and look him in the eyes. "I am a defense machine." She rubbed her cheek with the flat of a hoof. "Which is a task I took on myself. They didn't make me for that. I know my maker, and sometimes I wish I didn't. They wanted a spy and infiltrator, they got a defender instead. Either way, I defend, and if I stop working, I can't defend. I don't like that idea."

"You'll never not be able to defend, not to me." He ran a hoof gently down her cheek and neck, reaching her chest to feel the quiet beating of her heart, really more of the gentle motions of her artificial internals. "I don't know when your end will come, but I know my own is a long way away." He leaned in, touching his horn to her forehead. "And if yours comes before mine, well, then I won't accept it."

Tempo blinked at that. "As much as I hate the idea, death is not something you can just 'not accept'. Not healthily, at least."

"Nonsense! I, Blueblood, Prince of this fine Kingdom, have decided that it is not permitted. I won't allow you to die." He narrowed his eyes with determination. "Do you not think me capable?" He sat up at that. "I will turn this world upside down until I return life to you. One advantage to being artificial, my dear. If we undo the damage that caused the issue, you should stir once again. So wait patiently for your husband to puzzle through it, and we'll enjoy a new hug after that dreadful time is resolved."

Tempo squinted at him. "You would do all that?" She reached to pat his nose. "You are a strange, wonderful pony. You would search the ends of the planet for the answer to something like that, wouldn't you?"

"Oh, not the world." He pawed at the blankets around them, not bothering to raise his voice in the slightest. "The world, nay, the universe!" One could but imagine what strange ideas Blueblood had that involved somehow escaping their planet on that quest. "If it meant even one additional second of you, my dear, it would be well worth the price."

"I suppose that's where I come in." She laid beside him. "To remind you that there's other things to do with that time."

"Hmm?" He considered the words. "I struggle to imagine what things you would rather I be doing other than fixing you, my dearest. Perhaps a break to eat and drink every once in a while?"

Tempo blew on his face. "You know. There are other things in the world that I'd rather you pay attention to, not that I expect you to focus on just me." She went still suddenly. "I am being foalish. I want to protect, and you stand ready to help me be ready to do that. I should be thanking you." She flopped against him, pinning him with her considerable weight, even if she was sized as a perfectly normal mare. "I love you. Thank you for existing. I know I'm not supposed to, but I have many reasons to cherish my existence, and you're the best of them."

"Well, you have a lovely cutie mark, and you are a genuinely heroic soul. You can't say I'm the best of them, surely. In fact, I would go so far as to say that you are the best thing in my life. My cutie mark is nothing to comment upon, and you know of my history, and of my eccentricities." He rubbed at his own cheek a moment. "You and Cadance have such a bond. I glow with envy at times, considering it. Would—"

"She is my sister." Tempo inclined her head. "You are my husband. You both have wonderful connections to me, different, but wonderful. You both matter more than my own life, if it comes to it." She idly thumped her hooves in the air. "I will protect you both." She tucked him gently beneath her, a position he allowed and relished.

With her pressing on him, roosting like a careful hen, he fell back to sleep, and she settled her own thoughts, happy to have him there.

The next morning, they stood next to Shining Armor and Cadance. Across from them, Celestia. She nodded at each of them. "Thank you for gathering. We are investigating rumors, and they affect all of you." Her eyes went to Tempo. "And I have some news for you specifically after that."

"Rumors?" Tempo looked down. "They have been around, yes. I have seen a few. They make me worry. You suspect the worst, don't you?" She furrowed her brows, looking to Celestia.

Celestia lifted an ear. "You're trying to skip, but one thing at a time. An ancient city may be reviving. We are confirming that, but, should it prove true, I can think of no pony more qualified to take charge of it." She reached out, drawing Cadance closer. "This is your moment. I have no doubt you will rise to the occasion."

"City?" Cadance glanced down with a slight grimace. "Are you sure? I'm not sure I want to rule any cities right now."

"It will be under the guidance of others." Celestia nuzzled Cadance gently. "The chance to help restore a place from the past, that's exciting, isn't it? Besides, you'll have Shining Armor at your side, and I can't imagine Tempo will let you go without her."

Tempo lashed her tail. "That would be impossible."

Blueblood thumped a hoof to his chest. "And if dear Tempo is going, then I am not to be far behind, you know that."

Tempo flicked an ear. "This is going to be interesting, isn't it?"

Celestia turned to Tempo with a firm expression. "That is one way to put it. We await final words from our scouts, but if the Crystal Empire has returned, you will be headed there. The train can take you to its doorstep, built when the empire had existed before. Its ponies will be confused, awakening into a new world. You will all help them get on their hooves."

Tempo glanced at her husband. "At least this way we have plenty of time to consider things. A journey to an ancient city isn't the sort of thing that is done quickly." She trotted a little in place. "You mentioned there was something else, Auntie? What was that?"

Celestia breathed deeply. "There's something you should see." She tilted her head, asking them to follow her. The four ponies walked behind Celestia, descending steps to a lower level within the castle. She willed a door, making it glow as it opened before her. "We found a pony you should speak to."

Inside the dark room was a single pony, shackled firmly and glaring at them with hot resistance. "One of the cultists. We found them skulking about. They have refused to speak to us so far."

Tempo could feel her internal systems of battle warming up. "I'm not your puppet," she shouted at the chained pony before she could control herself.

The pony shrank back with a blink of surprise, but then they stiffened, scowling at Tempo. "You're the lost one!" They grunted as guards stood on either side of them. "Get her away from me!"

Celestia nodded at the held pony. "Since this involves you quite directly, I thought you should be involved. Do you have questions for them?"

Tempo took stiff steps forward, glaring at the mare. "Where is your leader? What does he plan for me? I will not let him have me back."

The prisoner recoiled from her. "Don't you touch me! I will not break! I will never serve you!"

Cadance trotted forward to Tempo's side. "Hey, calm down." She gently nudged Tempo aside. "Sometimes a softer touch is better." She closed with the pony with a little smile. "We're not your enemies. Your leader is leaving you to rot here, unkind of them."

"I knew the price," muttered the prisoner, sinking miserably to her belly.

"What was it you were trying to do?" Cadance sat before the mare. "Maybe we can help, if you tell us?"

"You are part of the problem!" The mare hissed with fury. "You can't fix yourselves. There's nothing you can do for us."

Tempo marched over, looking directly at the pony. "We can offer aid or assistance." She flattened her ears, taking a step closer to the pony. "Just tell me why he's hunting me."

The mare glared at Tempo with fear and angry mixed together. "You were his tool, rebelled against him. You could have been the end of this! I can't even call a tin can a traitor. Just broken!"

Celestia's horn glowed as she grabbed Tempo in her magic. "You've heard enough of her. We have more pressing things to do." She left Cadance to continue her attempts, but brought Tempo away to be verbally abused no longer.

20 - Plotting and Scheming

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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."

21 - Ice Breaker

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The castle interior was no less impressive. While the snow had kept the outside looking pure and pristine, the inside revealed signs of age. Thick carpets covered the floors to absorb noise. Tapestries hung from the walls, all faded from sun and time. Still, despite this, there was a grandeur radiating from it. They were walking through an ancient civilization, one that had come to the edge of its doom, and risen back from that brink.

Cadance looked around the throne room, nodding at the staff of crystal ponies that had begun to gather for them. To say they were there 'for' them was misleading. The ponies looked as much confused about things as they were anything else. One mare stepped forward and gave a curt nod. "What is our assignment?"

Tempo flipped an ear back. "Most were dazed, but you sound like you're ready for business."

"I am a maid. Being late for... him... meant punishments. I don't want that." The maid shivered in memory of past abuses. "What is our assignment?"

Cadance looked on the mare with clear pity. Shining was faster to speak, "You don't have to, I mean, no punishments. We're here to help."

"What is our assignment?" The mare had repeated it without deviation, more robotic than Tempo, at least in attitude.

Blueblood nodded at her. "Very well then. Help us help you." He waved at the castle. "Inspect the palace for damage, take note of any you find, and let's get this place operational, hm?"

"Sir." The maid went off to speak with the other, less alert, ponies and they all slowly got moving out of the throne room.

Cadance sighed in a slow noise. "Tempo, please. I need to take stock of things, but this cold can't be allowed to stay. Look around. There has to be a spell or something that can help."

Tempo glanced at Blueblood, but nodded. "I can do that." She galloped from the room.

Cadance called to her, "Oh, and stay in the palace!"

With Tempo gone, and the others now focused on organizing and helping the new empire's ponies, they had time to discuss matters privately. Blueblood watched Tempo leave, and then turned to Cadance. "We have some supplies." He nodded towards crates being hauled in by the guards. "Will they be of assistance?"

Shining Armor nodded firmly. "Food and basic provisions for us and some extra. Princess Celestia felt sure that there'd be some here, but I'm getting more and more nervous about that being true." He looked around the throne room, shaking his head. "How would they have survived?"

Cadance stared down at her own hooves, the crystalline floor shimmering beneath her. "If they hid away, or slept for the ages, it's possible." She stood up with a snort. "Auntie said they were basically 'vanished' until shortly before we got here. They must be suffering, and we are to help, that is our job."

Blueblood cocked his head at her. "Of course it is, dear sister-in-law, and you will do it, as is your duty. I shall ensure you have all you require." He trotted off, but his voice could be heard even when he was gone from view, calling out orders and shouting encouragements.

Shining waved a hoof at the guards. "I'll get on them. They're fully aware and ready, so let's put them to work." He whistled sharply, getting their attention. "Time to patrol!" His subordinates thundered out with a mass salute, eager to do their jobs.

Cadance turned to Shining, whispering to him. "You were great just then."

"It's just what a captain should be able to do." That didn't stop him from touching noses with Cadance, the two smiling. "I'll join them, you work in here."

That just left Cadance, considering how she could help. It was a quiet time, with little to do. The crystal ponies around her did little more than wander and gaze at the tapestries and various items on the wall, touching them gently. She herself did her part, lifting the various cushions to let dust float off them.

Elsewhere, Tempo was going through the books, and there were plenty to choose from. Bookshelves lined the rooms and hallways, packed tight with volumes that showed little sign of decay. "Strange."

She read, finding more information on the crystal ponies, and their strained relationship with their king, Sombra. Some of the books spoke as if they loved him, but it wasn't a thick layer of propaganda before the truth became quite clear. He ruled by fear and force, not any affection. She hated him already, though it was not difficult to do.

She also found records of a particular group of unicorns that stood in opposition to the Crystal Empire. She made notes of their names, which would be important if they could be found. But that didn't help them right that moment, so she pressed on.

After a fruitless time with the books, she continued on the hunt for some magic. Surely, with how long these ponies had existed, they would have some tricks to show for it. She discovered, quite by accident, a well-hidden staircase tucked in the back of a mostly empty room.

Tempo climbed for what felt like hours, emerging into a dark room. She lit her horn with her magic, casting brilliance around her. Books, countless spines displayed to her, were in every direction. She smiled at the sight, sure that there would be some answers hidden amongst them.

The search was frustrating at first, with many books being simply old versions of others. One in particular stood out. The cover was black, and she read the title with growing curiosity. "Protections and Abjurations," read the cover as Tempo's eyes swept over it. With her smile growing, she willed it open and began to skim quickly. The spells within were dense and complicated, they'd need an expert to untangle.

Fortunately for Tempo, she knew such a pony. She carried the book carefully as she trotted back down, feeling the weight of it in her magical grasp. She took the stairs slowly, to avoid dropping it, though a couple times she nearly tripped anyway. With a final clop of her hoof, she touched down on the ground floor and burst out to search for him.

He was in the throne room, speaking with Cadance. "Shining," she called, rushing with the book before her in a magically buoyed flight.

"Yes, Tempo?" He looked at her questioningly.

"We have something." She stopped before him, holding out the book. "It talks about protective magic, and there are a bunch of spells in there."

Shining Armor took the book into his own magic and drew it closer for a peek. "Ooo, hm. Not simple." His mouth moved silently as he mouthed out the spells he was reading. "Ah, this one though." He put a hoof on it. "In cases when the 'Crystal Heart' is not available, a weather protection! No idea what a Crystal Heart is, but we don't have it, so."

Tempo poked the page he'd landed on. "Could you do it?"

Shining's eyes flickered across the pages again. "I, well, yeah. It's not gonna be pleasant." He ran his hooves along the edges of the books. "This is not a spell you cast and walk away. You have to keep it going."

Cadance gently leaned against him. "Fortunately, we have each other. Show me how to cast it and we can take turns." She ran a hoof down his neck. "Even if we can't keep it up the whole time, it should buy us time to figure it out."

Shining considered it, putting a hoof on Cadance. "We have to try, at least." With a glowing horn, he fired the spell up, through the palace. The magic shot to high above the city and rained down over it, creating a dome as he focused. Inside the dome, the temperature began to rise, and the snow stopped almost instantly.

Tempo turned her eyes to the roof. "How are you going to maintain it? If you run out of energy, and you fall—"

"I'll be alright." Shining closed his eyes, focusing. "And like Cadance said, we can take turns."

Cadance wrapped an arm around Shining for support. "Tempo, thank you. You've given us time and space to breathe, and that means a lot right now. Mmm, send a message to Auntie, fill her in on what we've managed so far, okay?" She kissed his cheek, earning a faint chuckle.

Tempo rushed off to do so, finding the easiest way to communicate with the faraway pony. She felt her horn warm with the connection. "Auntie, it's me. We are taking charge of the situation, and we have a plan."

"Excellent! But how are we speaking?" Tempo couldn't see Celestia, but could hear her confusion. "This is wondrous, but I was not aware you had this talent."

Tempo laughed, closing her eyes to focus better. "I didn't. But it is my duty to be helpful, and I have found a spell. Shining Armor cast a spell to protect the city, and I thought I should tell you myself."

"My clever niece!" Celestia's voice was full of warmth. "Your actions are timely and wise."

"Thank you, Auntie." Tempo dipped her head, even if Celestia wasn't actually there. "The spell is taxing. Shining Armor and Cadance have agreed to take turns using it. Blueblood is getting the local ponies into action. We are doing what we can, but this project is more severe than we expected. The city's people are stunned, and can only help a little."

"I see," came Celestia's thoughtful reply. "I would not have guessed this, but I can only imagine what horrors the Crystal Empire endured. It has been hidden from the world for ages upon ages." Celestia's thoughtful noises came a moment. "I will send help. Can you stay strong until then? Inform Shining I'll be sending his sister and her friends."

"He will be very happy to hear that." Tempo wagged her own tail, lifted by the news. "Thank you, Auntie. I will go and deliver the news." She broke the connection and headed back to the throne room. Shining Armor was still going strong, but he had begun to sweat from the effort of holding the spell.

Cadance touched her horn to his, taking on the spell in a delicate handoff that left her holding it up instead. "Tempo? You're back quickly. What did she say?"

Tempo approached her, hooves echoing in the vast chamber. "The city is too large for us, that much is plain. She's going to send us reinforcements." She noted Blueblood's attention was caught. She turned to him. "She promised to send Twilight Sparkle, our sister-in-law, and her friends."

Blueblood chuckled at that. "I haven't forgotten who she is, dear." He came in for a moment of nuzzling. "But that is good news indeed. That spell, it's wonderful. The ponies are already looking better with it no longer storming out there. I'm not a magical expert, but if I can help?"

Cadance lifted her head as she held the spell up. "You have a lot to do around here, and the castle needs a lord." She pointed to the throne with her nose. "Make yourself at home."

"But sister!" He glanced at the throne with a slight grimace. "You are the princess, not I, as much as the idea excites me. I did not come here to depose my own sister on the first day! Truly unconscionable! What would Tempo think?"

Tempo offered a mild shrug. "You're a leader here. You need to take charge and lead." She gestured to the room with a wave of her hoof. "We are all doing our best to assist in whatever way we can." She suddenly pounced, almost knocking poor Blueblood over with her bulk. "I will gladly help if you desire?"

Blueblood laughed, hugging her and almost toppling. "Your presence alone is quite enough, my lovely wife." He nuzzled into her neck, holding her close. "But you can help. Keep ponies in an orderly line as they come to speak their needs. Be gentle, they are dazed."

"Of course." Tempo reared up to smooch his nose, and then she pulled away from him. "I can do that. Just call if you need me."

Blueblood righted himself, still watching Tempo as she went to go stand by the doors, looking like a regal and serene guardian, as ever she was. He turned back to the other ponies in the room. "If I could have your attention. The princesses are, at present, far too occupied to manage things. So it falls on me to lend a hoof. I speak with Cadance's authority, to be taken away at her leisure." With a proper bow, he moved to take the throne and begin a proper day of court.

22 - He Comes

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Tempo and Blueblood sat in their room, warmed by a crackling fire. Tempo glanced up from the book she had been reading. "Blueblood, I was curious, I hadn't noticed that statue. What is that one for?" She looked towards the windowsill where a crystal stood.

Blueblood followed her gaze and then looked back at her. "Oh, that. That is an old legend, if you're interested."

Tempo smiled with a swishing tail. "I would love to, but I feel a little guilty, having a story time while my brother and sister struggle to keep us safe. Surely there's something we can do?"

Blueblood raised a hoof to his chin, ears pinning. "I wish there was. I am a unicorn too, as you have noticed by now. Perhaps they could teach me the spell as well?"

Tempo trotted over to hug Blueblood firmly. "I am also a unicorn." She winced back faintly. "Simulacra or not. You raise a good point. We should be taking turns too."

"Indeed we should, dearest." Blueblood rubbed at her cheek with his own. "If we both learn the spell, then that doubles the amount of time Cadance and Shining can rest, correct?"

Tempo clapped her hooves with building enthusiasm at the idea. "Let's find which of them happens to be awake right now. Let's take some weight off their poor shoulders."

Blueblood got up with her, following her out to the main hall. Cadance and Shining were both present, both sitting before a pair of chairs. They looked exhausted, but smiled when Tempo and Blueblood approached.

Tempo hurried her steps. "Sister, brother. We realized we've been complete foals. We are magic-users as well. Teach us the spell so we can help."

Blueblood nodded firmly at that. "We are royals tasked with assisting, as we not? Keeping this spell going is the least we can do to assist, dear siblings."

Cadance regarded them with surprise, her ears tilting. "But you're both—"

Tempo interjected. "You've both been at it nonstop since you arrived here, and neither of you have slept. Shining is a unicorn, so I have faith he can teach us both how to cast this spell."

Shining laughed with fatigue, horn glowing. "I'm, um, holding it, right now."

Cadance stepped forward. "So I will be the one sharing this spell, if you two are quite certain?"

Blueblood sat down in front of her, eyes locked. "Absolutely, dear sister-in-law."

Tempo sat at her side, offering her a soft smile. "Show me."

So Cadance did, tutoring them both on the specifics of that spell.

"Your highness!" A guard rushed in from outside. "Eyes!"

Cadance inclined her head, torn between watching the two practice the new spell and the guard. "Eyes?"

The guard pointed outside. "Just beyond the barrier, eyes! Dread eyes, glaring. I don't know what they are, or who, but they look quite, um, bad, ma'am. They haven't passed the barrier."

Cadance stiffened at the news. "It's as Auntie feared, he's returned. If he can't get past the barrier, good. That means we need to keep it up even more than we already wanted it." She turned back to her practicing family. "Keep at it, both of you. I need to go look."

"Wait, Cadie, we should go together." Shining rushed after her, keeping up with his sister.

Cadance placed a hoof on Shining's chest. "I love you, but you're busy." She kissed the tip of his nose. "Be strong. I'll be right back."

Shining pursed his lips, frowning at her. "That's not a good reason, Cadance." He nuzzled at her, and she giggled at his affections. "You shouldn't be going alone."

"I won't be." Cadance nodded to the guard, and soon several others joined her as she marched from the palace.

Shining sank to his haunches with a weary sigh. "No pressure, but I hope you two get up to speed quickly. I hate not being able to help Cadance like that."

Tempo turned an ear on Shining. "You're helping her, and the whole city, by keeping that spell going. We're working on it as quickly as we can."

"It's a little complicated," murmured out Blueblood, horn glowing as he tried it over and over again. "I'll get it, old chap! Just give me—" He lowered his horn with a soft pant before resuming his practice runs. "—a moment, kindly."

Shining waited there, staring at the door, and wishing he could be on the other side of it.

It didn't take much longer for the ponies to emerge, Cadance among them. She wore a severe frown. "He is out there, and there isn't much we can do about it."

Tempo flicked an ear back against her head. "Who is he?"

Cadance perked at that. "Auntie didn't tell you? No matter. With him at our doorstep, it's hardly a mystery." She sighed softly. "Sombra, former ruler of the—" A crystal pony in hearing distance squeaked with horror and dashed for cover. Cadance lowered her volume as much as she could. "—former ruler of the Crystal Empire has returned, and I imagine with no good will in his corrupt and blackened heart."

Tempo flexed her forehooves, glaring out the window. "Well, what is he? An alicorn?"

"Nope. Just a very determined unicorn." Cadance gave a dismissive shrug. "Which is better than some foes, but this one is especially annoying." She rubbed at her head with a hoof. "Annoying makes him sound far less threatening than he is. He's a true menace. We have to keep that spell up, and strong."

"Ah ha!" Blueblood smiled with triumph. "I have the spell working, dear sister. Brother, let me take a turn."

"You're sure?" Shining tiredly considered Blueblood. "You got the hang of it?"

"Oh, certainly not. I doubt I will ever really get this down just by practicing it." He spoke with a carefree ease, as if that didn't concern him. "But it is my turn to bear the weight. I won't master it until I'm doing it."

Shining considered him a quiet moment, but ultimately leaned in, touching horns to pass the spell along with a bright spark. The shield around the city flickered faintly as Blueblood began keeping it up, but he was doing it. "Thank you." Shining flopped to the side with a pant. "Oh wow, that's so much."

Cadance leaned over and began rubbing at his temples and then his ears. "You're doing so well, Shining, but rest now." She massaged her hooves into his skull.

Tempo was on Blueblood, hugging him from behind. "Is it too hard? I'll keep practicing so I can take my turn."

Blueblood turned an ear back at Tempo. "If casting this spell gets an embrace from you, dear beloved, than I would cast it for the rest of my days." His mouth moved without words, seeking a more poetic way to express things. "My magic is yours to command."

Tempo nudged his cheek, giggling. "I think you've had too much of a heavy burden recently. I'll just use you as a pillow." She nestled in against him as her horn glowed with the practice. The two were working together, much as Cadance and Shining had been doing not long before.

"Your majesty, a train approaches!" A guard saluted sharply. "The train will arrive outside the range of the protective shield, unfortunately."

Shining Armor frowned at that. Unfortunately, they were but ponies, and their protective barrier could only go so far. "I'll go meet the train. It's probably Twilight and the others, and we can't leave them to chance. He may notice them."

Cadance patted his shoulder. "Don't strain yourself."

He shook his head. "They're more important."

Cadance was forced to agree. "They are family."

The train arrived a short while later. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity all exited the train and piled onto the snowy platform. Shining Armor waited for them, wrapped up in snow gear as best he could, even a visor over his eyes to reduce the glare of that white snow. "Twily!"

Twilight blinked, not recognizing Shining a moment before it clicked. "Shinie!" They crashed in a mutual embrace, both laughing.

Shining pointed back the way he'd come. "We have to get back to the palace, quickly." He led them on into the snow, despite their confusion. "Cadance and the others are waiting."

Rainbow Dash shivered. "Yeah, but not for us, apparently."

"It's very cold," piped up Fluttershy.

"Sorry." Shining flattened his ears. "It's warmer as soon as we get close to the palace."

Applejack snorted. "I sure hope so. I was not expecting this, no sir. Like stepping into the arctic, it is." She trotted ahead of the others, just to pause, gaping as a set of malevolent eyes opened wide in the dark chill. "What the?"

Shining paused, turning to look, and saw those same eyes. "Hurry, into the city." He picked up the pace, breaking into a gallop. "Quickly, please."

Pinkie Pie hopped over to join Applejack in a leap, eyes turned to the sky. "Meanie!" She cried, kicking up snow at the eyes on her way, to little effect.

The eyes chased after them with only low chortled as a great dark red crystal of a horn manifested, firing dark bolts of magic at them all. Shining Armor, with little to spare, erected a defensive barrier around them all to ward off the attacks, but the strength of Sombra's assault shattered that little bubble as darkened crystals erupted from the ground around the fleeing group.

Rarity screamed in pain as one of the sharp points pierced her hide.

"Go, go!" Shining pushed them all, guiding them along as the eyes closed in, his horn radiating a duller glow with every moment. He hissed as a bolt found his horn, causing it to erupt in strange crystals that shut off his magic entirely.

A deep laugh rang from the darkness as those eyes vanished. "No escape."

Shining Armor gulped. "You're not supposed to be here."

With a final leap, they crashed through the barrier into the warmth of the city proper. The eyes glared at them from beyond the barrier, but seemed unable to pass. Sombra withdrew with a dark chuckle, promising to return without a word spoken.

The group finally made their way to the palace. Blueblood met them. "I see you all made it." He nodded to Twilight, and then the other girls. "I am the Lord of the castle for the time being." He waved behind himself. "Princess Cadance is resting."

Rarity looked at Blueblood, coloring in her cheeks. "Ah, hm. Dear? May I ask why you're here, of all places?"

Blueblood inclined his head at Rarity. "Whyever would I not be? My beloved is here, to say little of my sister and brother-in-law. I am here to assist them all in every way I possibly can." He tapped a hoof to his forehead. "I am well rested, and you all appear quite cold. Would any of you like a beverage of some kind? It has to be cold out there, yes?"

Rarity's coloring only got worse by the moment. "You're being a dear, um, darling, um." She stepped awkwardly from hoof to hoof. "No hard feelings?"

"Hard feelings?" It took a moment for Blueblood to remember. "You made an attempt on what you thought to be an eligible bachelor. It'd hardly be fair of me to carry a grudge for that. You didn't continue once informed of your error. A simple mistake."

Twilight trotted over to give Blueblood a hug. "It's nice to see you. But how's—"

"We have to work, my dear sister-in-law, to restore this kingdom to its true glory." He lifted his head. "And I will do my part to aid it in every way." He gestured to the various crystal ponies bustling around, each doing a small task as they helped clear the debris from the castle, though it looked far better than when he had first arrived.

Twilight nodded quickly. "I gathered that, but how is Cadance? She's resting? What from?"

Shining rubbed at the base of his cursed horn. "She was helping keep the spell up that keeps us safe, and warm. And, mmm." He tried to cast the spell himself, but only little sparks danced and nothing more. "And I can't help anymore, blast it."

Blueblood sighed softly, eyes closing as he maintained the spell, showing no sign of slowing or stopping. "Do be calm, I have it. For now."

Tempo stepped out of a doorway, smiling at the arrivals. "Oh good, you're back, Twilight." She hurried over to her gained sister-in-law. "A pleasure to see you." With Cadance not there, Tempo initiated the ladybug dance, and Twilight gladly reciprocated, leaving them shaking their rumps at one another with a smile. "Shining, are you alright? I know you were struggling with the spell."

"I can't do anything now, blast it all." Shining grimaced in disgust. "The spell got my horn." He sighed and slouched. "Sombra was throwing crazy magic around and he got me." He waved at the others. "I got them here safely at least."

Applejack nodded at that. "We do 'ppreciate that! But how do we turn things 'round? We can't go on like this, ah 'magine."

Fluttershy whined faintly. "That nasty unicorn has us trapped here?"

"It's a little more complicated than that," explained Blueblood. "Come, sit." He ushered them all to the nearest seating. He brought them up to speed as well as he could, about the empire's return and Sombra's threat.

23 - To the Heart of Things

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Twilight being Twilight, it didn't take her long to find out about a local holiday that might lift the crystal pony's miserable morales. She and the girls were determined to host a perfect 'Crystal Faire', whatever that was. Tempo stepped in Twilight's way as she darted about. "May I also help?"

"Tempo, hi! Yeah, of course. But I'm in kind of a rush here." She sidestepped Tempo, continuing on. "I think I know what can help these ponies, and we're going to bring the party to them."

Tempo glanced back towards the others. "What does this party entail?"

"Party," chirped in Pinkie with a nod. "Yup! It's got lots of parts, and Twilight has the list." She bounced along, determined to do her own little part of things. "But we also need snacks."

Twilight led Tempo further until she stopped and twirled around. "We're missing one thing, and I haven't found it yet."

Tempo's ears raised at that. "Please tell me. Maybe another set of ears would help."

Twilight's horn glowed, forming an image of a crystalline heart above her head. "I need to fashion one of these, quickly, and we have so many other things to do, can you assist?"

"Gladly." Tempo looked around and her magic cut into some out-of-the-way crystal with precision. Her body favored precision when it was an option, slicing out the heart she had seen fairly exactly and swinging it around to show, oh. Twilight had already fled off to her next task. She shook her head, tucking the heart under her left arm and trotting off awkwardly to bring it to Cadance instead.

Cadance reclined against Shining Armor. The two of them had found a quiet place to relax and recharge, together. "I really shouldn't be lying around, but I do need to recover."

"That is why I have arrived." Tempo set the heart aside for the moment and advanced to touch horns with Shining, then Cadance, taking the spell from her in the contact to take her turn holding it up for the city. "Why don't you let me do it? I don't get tired the same way. It would be easier if you left the spell with me."

Cadance groaned faintly, shaking her head. "That's tempting, but we can't. I appreciate that you're here to help, but we're responsible for the safety of this city. This is our job." She nuzzled against Shining as he likewise nuzzled back. "I'm glad you're here, Tempo, but you're not the princess."

Tempo huffed gently at the rejection. "I may not be the princess auntie assigned to this job, but you both told me I am a princess. Were you deceiving me?"

Cadance waved a hoof weakly. "Of course not, but this is my city and my people, specifically. I have to take responsibility." She closed her eyes as her ears pinned. "I hate not being able to do my job, but I'm so weak."

"Cadance, it's alright." Shining nudged her gently. "Neither of us are at our best." His expression turned to a smile. "But we do have backup. Tempo, if you feel tired, remember you have a lovely stallion that'd gladly take a turn."

Tempo's face bloomed with warmth as her tail fluffed up. "I do have a husband that seems intent on spoiling me."

Cadance raised a brow as she half-smiled. "And you love him for it. Thank you, both of you, for standing strong at our side. Now, why did you bring that crystal here?"

Tempo looked over her shoulder at the crystal. "Ah, right. Twilight wanted to make this heart crystal, and she had to dash off to do something else."

Cadance nodded slowly, head falling back. "You'd best catch up with her then."

Tempo willed the heart over and marched off with it bobbing beside her. "Twilight?" She looked left and right, hoping to catch sight of the studious unicorn wherever she happened to be hiding. "Twilight Sparkle?"

The palace was bustling. Crystal ponies were busy preparing the castle for the upcoming Crystal Faire that the guests were hosting, and that in and of itself was an event. Tempo struggled to weave through the crowd of ponies, bumping and jostling with every step, the crystal heart hanging to her right side, making the journey even more interesting at times.

She broke free out of the doors of the castle and spotted Rainbow Dash flying overhead, setting up decorations and flags, though she had to fly back for more again and again.

Tempo glanced around for some sign of Twilight. A nearby stall caught her eye. It was run by a female pegasus with a teal coat and blue mane, selling crystal apple-flavored treats to any hungry customers. She decided she needed to see this, if only for curiosity's sake. She made her way over and sat before the booth with the heart settling in at her side.

The pegasus noticed it before she noticed Tempo. "That's a pretty heart." She only then looked at Tempo. "Hello! Still setting up, but nice to see you. Already tempted by my crystal apples?" She lifted the food over with a wing, offering one to her customer.

Tempo leaned in to sniff at the crystal treat. "A crystal apple, really? I must know what that is like." She leaned in and touched the end of her snout to an apple for just a moment, but it was enough that she got a full taste as if a normal pony had actually bit into it. "Delicious."

The pegasus blinked with surprise. "But you didn't actually taste it." But she smirked at that. "Or pay for it."

Tempo reasoned through that. She hadn't taken the apple. Did she owe bits for touching it? She fished one out and slid it across the counter of the stall. "Thank you." She grabbed the crystal and floated it along, going to continue her hunt for Twilight.

The pegasus nodded at the offered coin. "You're welcome." She tilted her head as she watched the odd alicorn and the crystal float off. "She reminds me of Princess Cadance." It only hit her a moment later. "I am being slow today. Bye, Princess Tempo!"

Tempo spotted a flash of Twilight and accelerated to see her and the girls having a meeting, discussing something. Tempo couldn't hear them, but they waved her over. She floated the crystal with her. "I have the heart crystal."

"Great!" Twilight nodded with satisfaction. "With that, we have all the supplies we need." She clapped her hooves with a pleased smile. "You've all done great. This will be a crystal faire for them all to remember!"

Tempo glanced at the heart crystal, and then the rest of the supplies that had been collected. "But what is a 'faire'?"

"A faire is a place to have fun," explained Twilight. "A place and a time, like a holiday. This one celebrates many of the great parts of the Crystal Empire." She waved Tempo over to look at the book they'd been consulting about it. "See? We'll have all kinds of games and contests for everypony to enjoy, and that'll lift their spirits. Well, that and the sweets."

Tempo leaned over to peer at the text. She gave the heart to Twilight and took up the book in her magic to flip through it carefully, analyzing it with an intensity. "I see. I see, hmm, yes." She nodded along as she worked until she got to the end, where she frowned. "Twilight?"

"Yes, Tempo?" Twilight blinked as Tempo turned the book back to the page with the celebration. "What's up?"

"The last page." Tempo waved at the book. "It's missing. I cannot read what isn't there. My studies are incomplete and, I admit, that bothers me." Leaving a task completed at 95%? It was too maddeningly close.

Twilight peeked at the book herself. "I didn't notice that before, but I don't remember reading it either. It must have been lost or torn out."

Tempo glanced at the crystal heart as she levitated it back. "Are you sure it is ready?"

Twilight accepted it back. "Ready as it'll be without the last page, anyway."

Tempo folded her arms, considering the book and that heart. She was so close to completion, but it was denied to her. She noticed movement and looked up just in time for Rainbow Dash to swoop in on them.

"Yo, guys, I just heard from a crystal pony that they're supposed to power a 'crystal heart'" She noticed the crystal heart floating next to Twilight. "Like that, yeah. Some crystal heart. Sombra was keeping it deep in the castle. Good job finding it, wow. Already ahead of me?"

Tempo felt something stir. "Excuse me." She stood and strode purposefully into the castle, down into the depths, listening, sniffing, tasting the air with her tongue, using every sense and every part of her body to search for a secret path or door or something, because her instincts screamed that there was a 5% gap, and she could not rest until it was filled.

"Tempo!"

The alicorn was too focused on her task to immediately acknowledge the other pony. Twilight rushed up to her side. "I know you want to help, but if Sombra hid this, you don't have the key." She hugged her sister-in-law gently. "Let's do this together. I have the girls playing distraction outside for now."

Tempo calmed her mind with a series of deliberate breaths. She noted Twilight's presence and touched a hoof to hers. "Forgive my enthusiasm, I feel that something important is right before me, and I could not rest if I did not seek to solve that problem."

Twilight put a hoof to her own chest. "I'm right with you. I want to find the real crystal heart just as much, I promise. Now, Sombra uses shadow magic. Celestia showed me how to do that." Her horn glimmered with dark notes as she threw the dark magic across the floor, revealing a spiraling staircase into the depths.

Spike whistled at the sight, shaking his head. "We have to go down there?" He plopped his tail down to the ground. "I just knew it would be scary and gross. But I'll do it for Twilight. And the crystal ponies."

"I'm going to lead the way, okay?" Twilight started down, horn glowing with light into the gloomy depths.

Tempo could feel that answer approaching, and felt pleased, not scared, as she descended the stairs behind Twilight and Spike. She lit her own horn to help illuminate the way. They reached the bottom after a short while, and there was nothing but a large door, one with a glowing purple lock.

Tempo peered at the door. "There are magical defenses on it. Can you undo them?" She leaned in and carefully examined the intricate locks. "They are quite complex."

Tempo advanced. "I can try." She fired a thin line of magic into the lock, which just triggered it, plunging her into a nightmare.

Tempo took a half-step back in surprise as reality shifted around her. Cadance stood before her, glaring at her with a burning hatred. "You've really messed up, this time," she spoke with dripping hatred. "I thought I could count on you." Her voice dripped with acid as she loomed closer. "But you were not the pony I hoped for."

"Cadance?" She was not blind to the animosity in the princess, but she could not understand it. What had she done? "Please, explain. I will try my best to address my shortcomings."

"I can't trust you." Cadance recoiled as if struck. "You are a failure to me. Your very existence is an insult to my brother."

Tempo gasped softly, retreating back another step, which only prompted Cadance to advance on her with increasing hostility.

Tempo felt a sting as tears ran down her face. Her accursed metal form didn't like making them, but they were coming, and she felt rust rapidly marring what had been perfect copies of Cadance's cheeks as her vision grew blurry with the build up.

"You're not even trying to justify yourself." Cadance loomed ever closer. "You should be ashamed of yourself! You've turned on us."

Tempo shook her head, denying the claim. "No! I only wanted to be a good sister, and your protector!"

Twilight shook Tempo firmly, rousing her from the forced nightmare. "Are you alright? You're crying."

Tempo rubbed at her eyes. "Nightmare, fake, but Cadance was cruel." She rubbed at her cheeks, wincing as her hoof came away with more rust staining it. Golems were not built to cry, but she did. What cruel creator had fashioned her with such obvious failings?

Spike scrambled up on top of Tempo and reached around, rubbing her gently with a rag to help clean her off. "It's okay. Twilight figured out how to open the door."

Twilight pointed up to the crystal. "We can go pass. Are you alright to continue? You don't have to come."

Tempo gasped with shock. "I failed!" Her horn glowed with intense power as she put the bubble back up that had come down in her moment of terror. "There." She put a hoof to her chest, though she had no lungs to heave in fright. "I'm sorry, Cadance. This is not my best day. I would continue. I must make it up to her."

Twilight touched hooves. "We can talk later, alright? Come on." She urged them along through the door and out onto a flight of stairs that went right back upwards in a seemingly infinite procession. "Ugh, this looks impossible." She grumbled her frustration, trotting a few steps up, looking back to the others. "Well, come on."

Tempo glanced down at the darkness beneath her hooves and ascended behind Twilight, Spike still on her back. She did not normally play mount to anything, but his presence was oddly comforting at the time, so she allowed it with the faintest smile.

Tempo climbed. It was monotonous, and tedious, and taxing, and she was not alone in that feeling as Twilight let her frustration out in a series of frustrated grumbles.

Spike slumped his shoulders. Though he wasn't climbing himself, he joined in the complaints. "Twilight, do you have a spell to hurry this up?"

"A spell?" Twilight considered this a moment. "Yes, I think, actually." Her horn glowed with the arcane letters as she grabbed gravity and casually reversed it. She fell to the roof of the stairs and began sliding up/downwards towards the top of the staircase with a cheering woop at the suddenly rapid progress she was making.

Tempo quickly copied her with her own horn, falling to the roof of the stairwell and sliding up with Twilight. "Wee! This is actually a lot of fun, thank you." She giggled at the sudden excitement as she slid up the stairs with an eager hoof waving. "Wow, I have never done this before."

They both raced along up the stairs. Spike was holding onto Tempo for dear life as the world spun around him.

Both spellcasters cancelled that spell as they flew up into a new space. Gravity righted itself and they came down on their hooves in a new room, and a wobbling Spike atop Tempo. There, just ahead of them, the crystal heart sat, just waiting for them to come claim it.

24 - Be Still, My Beating Heart

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Tempo regarded the crystal heart with a look of concentration. It was an elaborate design that seemed so very simple at a glance. The heart was an awe-inspiring entanglement of enchantments and fine work that she was almost instantly lost in studying it.

Spike hopped off her back and dashed for it, which prompted Twilight to unfreeze as well. The two reached it at about the same time, grabbing it and setting off the alarm. Dark booming laughter came from outside with a warning grow. Dark crystals erupted in a circle around the crystal, trapping Twilight under them. Spike was too small to hold with the crude barrier, rushing right back out the way he came. The heart bumped against the exit, a little too wide to make it.

Twilight pointed to the heart. "Take it to Cadance, quick!"

"What about you?" Tempo stared at her in confusion. She had to be kidding. "I can't just leave you here." She seemed to notice a moment later. "Also, it's stuck." She charged forward and slammed her heavy metal frame against the crystal barrier, cracking it and jostling the heart.

Spike tugged fiercely, getting it a few more inches closer to freedom.

Tempo whirled around and lashed out her hind hooves in a powerful kick, sending crystal bits flying everywhere. Spike fell back with the prize. "Got it!" He gave a firm salute. "I'm on it, Twilight."

"I'm with you, Spike." Tempo was on his tail as the two sprinted from the room and right to the window, where a path of crystal led down to the surface. The walkways provided were narrow and slender. "Spike, you can navigate this." She pointed even as he bounced off her and started the journey. "Go, Spike, go!" She waved a hoof at his scramble.

Twilight yelled from behind them both. "Get moving, Spike!"

"I'm going, I'm going! Don't nag me. I'm going." He kept trotting up the twisting walkway as he gripped the precious crystal to his chest.

Tempo hurried back to Twilight. "Let's secure your freedom, sister." She glanced about. "Hm, we could smash it with an attack from above, if we could only reach." She paced the edge of the cage, wondering how to deal with the bars. "I lack a pickaxe."

Twilight smirked as Tempo went down curious paths of thought. "What you did before was effective, if you could keep hitting it? Your heavy metal body is quite talented as a bludgeon when all else fails."

Tempo jammed her shoulder forward and lashed out a hoof out in the other direction, pressing outwards as the crystal groaned under the growing pressure as she slowly forced it either way as she grunted with the effort. "But you are too close, I am afraid I would hurt you in the process."

Twilight smiled up at Tempo's worry for her. "Then keep distracting him while I see if I can find another way out."

"Right." Tempo abandoned attacking the crystal to rush for the window. She could see Spike working his way down. She could also see the smokey form of Sombra rushing up to attack Spike. "Unacceptable." But what ways did she have to counter it? She angled her head and fired a thin laser at Sombra, forcing him to swerve and dodge, at least slowing him down.

Spike suddenly fell with a yelp, far too far below for Tempo to reach before both hit the ground. She cringed backwards, but Cadance caught him before he could get hurt. "Sister!" Not that Tempo was sure she could be heard. "Yes!"

Sombra didn't seem to care. He barreled after Cadance, his horn glowing with darkness.

Cadance ran out of Tempo's field of view. "Sister is doing something." Tempo strained, trying to get a peek. Whether she could see it or not, she would feel it. An immense wave of magic and love exploded up from beneath her, shattering Sombra's crystals to dust, overflowing across Tempo, Twilight, and everything else she could see.

Twilight yelped as she became made of crystal.

Tempo wasn't there to see it, mind a thousand miles away.

In that dark place, she could hear hooves gently stepping towards her. An alicorn loomed over her, powerful and majestic. Tempo shook in confusion, but felt nothing to fear from the great princess. "Who are you?"

The princess smiled gently a moment, reaching to place a hoof on Tempo. "What are you?" they countered in soft tones. "Why do you exist?"

"I'm not sure. I am not a natural pony." Tempo looked down at herself. "I am made of metal. It isn't right. Ponies are beautiful creatures, they should be soft, warm, and inviting. I am hard, cold, and imposing." She sank to the ground on her belly. "Sorry."

"You protected them." The princess circled Tempo slowly. "You are loved by them, and you love them. Is that not enough?"

"No!" Tempo shook her head in a furious denial. "It isn't. I need to be a true pony, it isn't enough to pretend at being one. I don't have a heart, or know what it means for my heart to race. Their experiences are kept away from me, and I can only guess."

The princess cupped Tempo's cheeks gently. "Then I know what its touch will be for you." She leaned in, touching nose to nose. "Live."

A moment later, Tempo opened her eyes, her heart thumping powerfully in her chest. Everything felt off in ways she had a hard time pinning down.

Twilight brushed past her, just to pause. "Tempo?" She turned to face her sister-in-law. "Do you feel alright?" She reached out, brushing a hoof along Tempo's fur, pressing a bit harder than one would need to just feel the fur.

Tempo gently swatted the hoof away. "I'm alright. Why are you feeling me like that?"

"You're much softer than usual." She leaned in, almost mashing her face to Tempo's. "You're breathing."

Tempo gasped, as if just to make that point clear. "What? I do not breathe, unless I am smelling something." She lifted a hoof to her mouth and could feel it, the soft in and out breaths. Her lungs, which she had, were working to move air as her heart thumped. She was alive, and crystal. "Cadance?" She pushed past Twilight in her sudden urgency. "Cadance, I am—"

Twilight put a hoof on her side. "Let's get down there." She led the way for Tempo to get down without hurting herself in her frantic hurry.

Blueblood found them first, pouncing on his beloved Tempo, just to become quite perplexed, which showed on his face. "Dear?" He slid free of her. "You are looking splendorous with the crystal treatment." He was also a sparkling crystal pony, like everypony else in the city. "But there's more at play." He went in, touching nose to her cheek. "You're hot. Tempo, are you well?"

Twilight stepped up. "I think she's alive now, Blueblood." She rested a hoof on him. "Congrats, big brother." She squeezed him gently. "Now, we have to go, and I believe you should return to Cadance's side."

Blueblood took a moment to process that. "Alive? Truly? Um, but yes. We should return to Cadance. She will need to be informed of this post-haste!" He moved to Tempo's side. "Come along, my dear. Let's not delay. Twilight, do you know what happened to her?"

Twilight shook her head as she started to trot along with the others. "No, I don't know. We were in there, and—"

"Sombra," muttered Blueblood. "Oh, there she is." Hidden behind a crowd of bowing crystal ponies, Cadance became visible as she stepped forward with a smile. That smile only brightened as she spotted Blueblood and Tempo. "There you two are! I was looking for you." She halted before them, noting Tempo's new appearance. "Is that?"

Twilight moved in from the side. "She appears to be alive."

Cadance reached out for her sister, drawing her into a gentle hug. "You must be terribly confused! Poor thing. I'm here for you, promise."

Tempo nodded, sinking into her sister's embrace. "I am not sure what happened."

Blueblood slid himself into the hug, pressing in between the two alicorns. "But you are indeed a living creature. I loved you before, and still do. This is amazing. Does anypony know if this will last, or if it's a flight of fancy? It wouldn't do to have you revert into a golem. You would be too upset, and I'd be sad, but we can't have it. Perhaps some tests are in order. I may need to pull a few strings."

Cadance snorted with a faint laughter. "Blueblood, there are no strings you could pull that would change that. I feel certain, for most of us, we will stop being so... shiny... in a few days. I don't know how long you will remain like this, but guessing it'd be about the same time feels safe."

Twilight sighed faintly. "And it's going to be a shame. I like the way I look."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Oh, not you too."

Cadance took a breath. "As delightful as the shine is, to be alive when was not before, it must be so very confusing." She looked to Blueblood. "Help your wife."

"As if you need to ask." He wrapped his arms around Tempo. "How do you feel? Is anything different than you remember?" He rested a hoof to her side. "I can feel your heartbeat." He moved to the other side, pressing his ear to listen. That soft thumping sound was something he hadn't been hearing from his wife before, and it held him in awe. "Your heart is so strong. My dear Tempo."

Tempo wiggled, shaking her head. "We must leave." She gently pulled free of his grasp. "I can't..."

"Can't what, my dear?" Blueblood nuzzled against her shaking snout. "Speak, if you wish. I'm listening, whatever it is." He leaned in, ears upright and open to whatever she had to say.

"I can't protect Cadance like this." Tempo slumped. "I am weak and soft. I feel so vulnerable. I am no guardian."

Blueblood pulled Tempo into a firmer hug. "Even the sun must rest, but it remains just as brilliant when it returns. Do not fret, loveliest Tempo. I will defend my beloved sister until you are able." He planted a kiss on her cheek, making her shiver from the attention. "I love you, as you are. Crystal or otherwise."

Cadance saw what was happening, and gently stepped around. "You two should retire for the day."

Blueblood nodded slowly. "I have to agree."

Cadance gave him a playful smirk. "But I must ask. Would you have fallen for her without the crystalization?"

"You know the answer to that, sister." Blueblood led his wife away. "I married her when she was metal, and to metal she will return. If I wasn't ready to embrace that, I choose quite poorly, hm? Now, let us away." She led Tempo into the palace, away from the crowds and everypony else.

Tempo followed, trotting behind as her mind whirled with the implications of her transformation. "Why did I transform? How? What does it mean? I can't be alive, can I?"

"The Crystal Heart affected all of us." Blueblood waved over his shiny form. "For most of us, we became more brilliant. For you, your first breath of air. You're beautiful, regardless."

Tempo shook her head. "But why? I was created to defend Princess Cadance, and I cannot, now." Her ears flattened. "I am weak and worthless like this."

Blueblood's horn glowed as he closed the door behind Tempo, the two of them safely within their room. "There is no pony that doesn't deserve a break once in a while. Tonight, you are to think only of yourself, and enjoy your being. Tomorrow, or whenever you return to being metal, you can take up the role of steadfast guardian." He caressed her tenderly. "But for tonight, be mine."

Tempo shivered at his touches, her senses heightened in her current state. "Blueblood." She reached to brush a hoof along his cheek, just to feel the soft fur, the warm skin beneath. "Oh." It occured to her in that instant. While one thing had been taken from her, another gift had been given to her. "I'm, I mean." She colored as she squirmed. "I see."

She would see far more clearly as they nestled together and both grew more familiar with the changes she'd experienced.

Out of Cadance

by David Silver

1 - Dark Intentions

2 - Breathe

3 - A Tempo For the Day

4 - Many Questions, Few Answers

5 - Schoolmates

6 - Growing Days

7 - High School Heartaches

8 - Occult Pitstop

9 - Sometimes, It Doesn't Matter

10 - To Love a Doll

11 - In Dark Corners

12 - Chaotic Touches

13 - Chaotic Touches, Part two

14 - Chaotic Touches, Part Three

15 - In a Blue Moon

16 - Wedding Plans

17 - Cave Divers

18 - Storge

19 - Rumbles to the North

20 - Plotting and Scheming

21 - Ice Breaker

22 - He Comes

23 - To the Heart of Things

24 - Be Still, My Beating Heart