private The Tyranny of Princess Cadence

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Agent505,

 

Cicada followed, as did Queen Chrysalis. They conversed in low voices. "So," Cicada said, "You're sure that this is nothing to do with Celestia?"

 

"Perfectly," Chrysalis replied. "This is something else. However, it's important that we find out exactly what it is and who's behind it."

[Agent505 661]

@@00Pony,

(Not at all, that was the plan )

 

About half way around the wall, one of Harmonic's Onyx guard pegasi soldiers flew over to him and landed beside him, flawlessly matching his pace "Sir, we found tracks around the scene, following them back we discovered there was a point where two mares - Silent Catalyst and Unyielding Devotion where joined by a third unknown party - a stallion, from the larger stride and hoof-size." 

"And I know exactly who that stallion is..." Harmonic interrupted.

"I...uh...yes sir, but it seems there was a...conflict of interest, so to speak. The tracks in several instances become erratic, as if there was a fight..."

Harmonic grunted dismissively. "Good. Keep an eye out for anything else you may find, and tell the sniper teams to get on the wall and watch the long-sights. I think a storm's setting in..." 

[Ano170 162]

@@Agent505,

 

Seeing Enid shake her head and sigh, Arrow turned and resumed walking away with ears flattened and a sinking heart, not so much concerned as to where he was going so long as it was away from the Empire.

 

I never want to see that place again, Arrow found himself thinking, with surprising bitterness. He kicked up a snow flurry, and when it cleared he was surprised - and, he had to admit, relieved and perhaps even delighted - to see Enid had caught up to him. She wasn't wearing her amulet anymore, which made his heart twist again.

 

"Here." Arrow extended a wing out over the unicorn mare. "It's cold."

 

The wind picked up, whipping the snow around Arrow's eyes and muzzle. "I could always fly overhead and get the lay of the land," he suggested. Really, he didn't want to leave Enid on her own, but he also knew that the two of them wouldn't last long wandering aimlessly out there. 

[Agent505 661]

@@Ano170,

 

Enid was loosely following along by Arrow's side until he put his wing around her, at which point she hugged up to him responsively - tucking his wing under her chin by tilting her head over to one side. When he suggested flying off and looking around, she clamped his wing in her mouth lightly, but hard enough so he'd feel it.

She shook her head as much as she could to try and show her distaste for the idea, but with the suddenly increasing snow and winds - Arrow's idea was starting to sound best.

[Ano170 162]

@@Agent505,

 

Arrow felt Enid dig her teeth into his wing, and tensed slightly in mild surprise.

 

"You know for a fact that if we keep wandering around out here with no direction we'll..." Arrow trailed off as a thought occurred to him which made his blood run colder than any blizzard; what if Enid wanted to die?

 

Now more reluctant to leave her than ever, Arrow nevertheless turned to the mare, flashing her a brief, tight smile. "I'll be back soon - keep moving but don't go too far." He nuzzled her neck briefly in what he intended to be reassurance, then launched into the air before Enid could stop him.

 

Flying fast and low, Arrow covered the ground much quicker from the air, though it soon began to feel as if his wings would snap off in the cold. Given his cutie mark as an explorer, it took a relatively short time for him to spot something - a mound in the snow. Landing, Arrow saw that it was in fact a cave, all but buried in the snow.

 

Beyond the tight entrance, the cave opened out to be surprisingly spacious, as well as dry. Even better, it didn't appear to house any animals.

 

Grinning, Arrow turned, squeezing back out of the hole leading into the cave, then cleared away some of the snow around with his hooves to make the cave entrance easier to spot from the ground. Once satisfied, he took to the air once again and headed back in the direction he'd come from, scanning the ground from just below the cloudline. Just as he was beginning to grow concerned, Enid showed up as a little dark mark against the endless expanse of white.

 

"Enid!" He called out, landing in front of the mare. "I found a cave, not far from here - we can shelter in it until the snow dies down."

[Agent505 661]

@@Pripyat Pony,@@Ano170, @@00Pony,

 

(Sorry for the long reply everyone. Luce, not much I could really reply with - Also i'm gonna get Sanguine back in the action, if that's okay with you 00Pony - also just bare with the timing issue, things are a bit off but blergh)

 

"Commander! A small force approaches the main gate, exact numbers unknown. The winds and the snowdrifts are making it difficult to see, we shouldn't be out here." Called one of the unicorn mares, sliding to a halt across the top of the wall near Harmonic and his group. 

"Are you questioning my decisions?" Harmonic growled, glaring up at her through the snow. 

"N-no sir, I simply wish to state that we would do better if we closed up the gate and-" 

"And what? Disobeyed our Princess? No, we patrol around the outer perimeter until we know it's safe, now get back to your position." 

"Yes sir!" With that, she disappeared back across the wall towards the gate and the rest of the unicorns. 

 

"My Queen - we must move out, if these are Celestia's soldiers on a scouting run in the storm, we must make sure they do not return." Harmonic snarled as he began his march towards the reported group.

_____

 

Enid closed her eyes as the pair walked, lowering her head before Arrow flew off, leaving her to sit in the snow alone. 

After what felt like a split second of eternity, she heard Arrow's voice calling out to her once more. She looked up solemnly at him with empty eyes, before standing up and staggering over to him weakly on shaky legs. She nodded - barely, before her front legs gave way and she collapsed onto her chin, struggling to get back to her feet. 

Edited September 14, 2013 by Agent505

[Ano170 162]

@@Agent505,

 

"Enid!" Arrow cried out, rushing through the snow to the unicorn mare.

 

I shouldn't have left her alone - she could have frozen to death; we both might yet...

 

Arrow crouched, slipping his neck under Enid's chin and nudging the mare gently back to her hooves. "It's not far Enid, I promise - lean on me if you want." 

[00Pony 286]

@@Agent505,

 

 

 And there she was. The Crystal Empire. Sanguine stopped for a few seconds, allowing himself to take in the sight of the city. The short Crystal stallion grunted and began to make for the city, his remaining followers staggering after him. Despite being a Crystal, and having lived his entire life in this kind of environment, even Sanguine could not stand blizzards like this for long.

 

He narrowed his eyes, thinking he might have seen ponies outside of the city. Probably a scout troop. Sanguine allowed himself a brief second to wonder why they were up to standing outside of the walls. The assassin changed his trajectory to be walking on a straight line towards the group. He found himself cursing the snow, for it obscured his vision in a most irritating manner.

[Agent505 661]

@@Ano170,@@00Pony,

 

Enid shook her head as she struggled back to her feet and wobbled slightly, trying to keep her balance. She took a slow step forward, shivering slightly and taking a deep breath, motioning with her head for Arrow to lead. 

_____

 

The storm outside the city was quickly picking up, to the point where snow was freezing over on Harmonics coat and visibility was fading quickly. "We're not going to last long out here, and any of Celestia's scouts wouldn't have moved into this voluntarily" He narrowed his eyes as he peered into the distance, wait...something wasn't right. Suddenly some of the ponies from the group ahead took up some speed and flew in the direction of Harmonic's squad. He didn't change his stance as they approached, and then he quickly realised they where a part of his Onyx guard. "Did you fetch the assassin?" he asked, to which one of the guards simply nodded and pointed at the rest of the group in the distance. Harmonic nodded, picking up his pace almost to a run on his way to debrief the squad.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Agent505, Both Queen Chrysalis and Cicada were beginning to feel the effect of the blizzard. Cicada didn't think that Celestia's soldiers could be anywhere near the perimeter; and if they were, they would soon freeze to death. She said to Harmonic, "We should complete the circuit, then head back to the city. We won't be doing any good out here, and we ought to check back as this may have been a diversion to lure us away from the main city."

[Ano170 162]

@@Agent505,

 

For a moment, Arrow gazed uncertainly at the slightly trembling Enid, but then he sighed softly, not wanting to insult the mare's pride. "Alright, then." he said, not unkindly.

 

Turning to look forward out into the blizzard, it took Arrow only a minute or two until he had his bearings, at which point he set out with as brisk a trot as he could manage in what he was certain was the direction of the cave. In spite of the cold biting him from both inside and out, it felt good somehow to be following his cutiemark once more - as if somehow in all this madness something had fallen back into place.

[Agent505 661]

(Okay, i'm back now, sorry for the long absence guys, let's get this thing going again shall we?)

 

@@Pripyat Pony,@@Ano170, @@00Pony,

 

Harmonic stopped dead in his tracks on the way to the incoming group, and let out a short breath that immediately condensed in the now sub climate temperatures. "As you say miss, we shall return at once, the guard will complete their patrols and regroup in the palace." He replied quietly, but decidedly, before he turned and made a straight beeline to the main gate. 

_____

 

Enid was quivering - not from the cold, but from hunger. She was starting to shake wearily and sway from side to side as she walked, but managed to keep a respectable pace behind Arrow. She couldn't help but look back in the direction of the empire every few steps, however, until it eventually disappeared from sight thanks to the growing snowstorm. Arrow couldn't have been more than a few feet in front of her, and she could barely see him from where she was. 

_____

 

(Because i've totally forgotten what Cadence was doing...)

Cadence had perched herself on Harmonic's balcony, looking out over her empire. Gritting her teeth at the thought of losing it all to a tyrant like Celestia, she couldn't help but kick about in frustration every now and again, and plan things with herself...

"I just can't believe it...Celestia of all ponies...she's here...she knows...this isn't how it's supposed to go! 

What does a spider do when it catches a wasp? The wasp will destroy the web if the spider is too small...and we're tiny in comparison...we cut her loose! Block them out...keep the wall...forever!"

Suddenly she jumped up, firing off her protective shield spell around the empire with an impressive pink flash, turning the entire morning sky a bright shade of purple momentarily...also denying all access to anything on the outside of the shield...

[Ano170 162]

@@Agent505,

 

Arrow wasn't sure how long it took them to find the cave again - in the blinding, silent blanket that was the blizzard, time became more or less meaningless. Or maybe he was simply delirious with cold, or fatigue, or hunger. Probably all three, most likely. He barely felt the cold anymore - it had seeped into his bones, and chilled him from the inside.

 

So, when he finally saw the slip of blackness in the white that denoted the cave's entrance, Arrow found he couldn't run to it - only half stumble, trembling with every slow step as he sank into the snow. Halfway there, he stopped and turned back to Enid, relieved to see the faint blurry outline of the unicorn as she struggled along behind him.

 

"Almost...there..." He managed, waiting a moment for her to get closer before turning back towards the cave entrance, finally reaching the dark hole and almost falling over as he waited for Enid.

 

This was a lot easier from the air...

[Agent505 661]

@@Ano170, 

 

Still trudging sluggishly along, although with a somewhat unexpected determination and endurance, Enid managed to haul herself into the cave as she walked right past Arrow, barely giving him a glance on her way before she turned and sat a few feet away from the entrance, leaning her head the wall as she looked into the impenetrable darkness of the cave. 

 

Occasionally she would kick the floor with her front hoof, knocking up dirt and then dropping her hoof back down again, before holding her stomach when it would rumble.

[Ano170 162]

@@Agent505,

 

(OOC: Such gratitude ).

 

Arrow frowned a little when Enid simply walked straight past him, but really he was too exhausted to care. He simply followed her inside,  stopping for a moment to feebly kick a little snow to cover the entrance to the cave - he didn't want Harmonic or somepony else from the Empire to find them - and then collapsed heavily on the ground not far from Enid. He couldn't even manage an "oof" as his chin hit the cave floor.

 

Staring beyond his hooves, he could see Enid clutching her stomach as it growled. "Nothing...I can do...for that." He panted for a moment. "Sorry."  His voice cracked slightly on the word, and both syllables felt like an icy needle being drawn out of his throat.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Agent505,

 

Chrysalis just managed to keep the gate open in time when she saw the pink flash of the shield covering the Crystal Kingdom. Her second, Cicada, was not yet back, tho she could see Cicada approaching along with Harmonic and the others. She sent Cicada a quick message thru the Hive Mind.

 

"Cadance has put the shield up. I am currently keeping the gateway open, but do not have much time. Hurry!"

 

Cicada, turned to Harmonic. "It seems that the Princess has put up the shield," she said to him. "We must gallop to the gateway, where the Queen is holding an opening for us. She will hold it as long as she can, but we must not risk being trapped outside. If need be, I can teleport the two of us inside, but your and Sanguine's soldiers will have to find their own way there."

[Agent505 661]

@@Ano170,@@Pripyat Pony,  @@00Pony,

 

The intensity of the flash from the shield was bright, bright enough to make Harmonic wince and cover his eyes with his foreleg, before he raised his head in the direction of Sanguine and shouted "General! Get your men inside as you see fit, return to the palace immediately upon your return! ...who knows if you can even hear me over this storm..." 

Quickly afterwards, he ducked into the shield and grunted to himself, looking over at Chrysalis "What's she thinking? She could have killed us all..."

_____

 

Enid sighed, looking back at Arrow and seeing him defeated and lying on the ground, she took a deep breath and walked slowly to his side. She looked down at him with a blank expression for a while, before she cautiously lay down beside him and rested a hoof over his shoulders. 

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Agent505,

 

"I'm guessing that Cadance thinks that Celestia has somehow managed to infiltrate the city," Chrysalis replied, dryly. She was showing signs of strain given that she was still keeping the gateway open for the others. Cicada looked worried. "I hope that Sanguine gets here soon," she said. "My Queen cannot hold the gateway forever."

[00Pony 286]

@@Agent505,

 

I'm going through something of a block, it seems

 

 It felt good to be back at the Empire. Harmonic shouted something, though Sanguine could not fully hear what. Either way, Sanguine and his followers had only barely made it within the radius of the shield when it was activated. Only just arrived and already nearly killed. Yep. This was home.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

As soon as everypony was inside, Chrysalis released her spell and the gateway was closed. Nopony could now get thru the shield without applying strong magic which would exhaust the pony who tried it, making them no threat. Cicada was relieved in a way cuz this meant that the city was safe from Celestia; even such a pony as the alicorn Princess could not hope to enter the city as long as Cadance kept the shield up, which wouldn't be longer than a few days. Still, it left them long enough to be able to plan.

[Justin ZW 396]

@@Pripyat Pony, @@Avolon, @,

 

 

Swordpoint marched in silence through the cold night. It had begun snowing several hours ago, when they reached the frozen tundra. They'd come upon a small valley, and he was considering stopping the company there to rest for the day. He glanced up at the night sky. There was a vague hint of color to the east, which made up his mind. He turned to a younger green pegasus on his right. "We camp here for the night. Spread the word and have the unicorns cast the barrier spells. We're a mere ten miles away, and we must use the utmost of caution."

[RAGESTAR 479]

crimson stopped and stared up at the colors in the distance just as swordpoint did, knowing very well that they were mere miles away from the battle that would decide the fate of equestrian. crimson stood there in the blizzard, contemplating battle strategies, the cold didn't really faze him, as he merely raised his body temperature levels to keep his body warm, causing the snow around him to melt into large puddles, being careful as not to melt all the way through the snow however. After spending years living on the cold streets of his hometown, his body had almost set up a defense mechanism to cold weather. 

[longgone 873]

Golden Age, finally able to warm himself by putting on his great coat, wrapped himself up tightly and shivered. If there was one thing he hated, it was cold, but even he knew all he could do was endure. "Bully," he said without much emotion "No fires tonight...tell the boys to wrap up tightly.."

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Justin ZW, Sanura looked grimly at the glow in the sky. Something about it made the hair rise on the back of her neck, but there was no point in scouting round at this time of night. It would only, at worst, give their position away; at best, there was nothing she would learn and she'd only tire herself. She shivered, pulling her cloak around her. That was the problem with being half zebra, Sanura was more suited to warmer climes than this. It was going to be a long night.

[Ano170 162]

@@Ano170,@@Pripyat Pony,  @@00Pony,

 

 

_____

 

Enid sighed, looking back at Arrow and seeing him defeated and lying on the ground, she took a deep breath and walked slowly to his side. She looked down at him with a blank expression for a while, before she cautiously lay down beside him and rested a hoof over his shoulders.

 

(OOC: I'm not dead! Just...lazy...and forgetful...and preoccupied...).

 

Feeling a hoof on his shoulders, Arrow opened his eyes and looked over to see Enid laying beside him. He smiled gratefully at the mare, pressing himself slightly against her coat for warmth. He let his eyes close again, but all he could see behind his eyelids was his family - waiting for him.

 

Would they think he was dead? Or would Blossom just assume he'd finally decided to leave and not come back, as she'd always seemed to suspect he would? Would she marry again? Would his foal grow up fatherless?

 

Of course, it's all already happened, technically. Blossom will be long gone by now.

 

 He wondered where she was buried - next to an empty grave bearing his own name? What about his filly Spark? Was she still alive somewhere - an adult mare with her own family, not knowing what had happened to her father? What if she hated him?

 

Arrow pressed his hooves to his head, letting out a strangled noise between his teeth that was halfway between a snarl and a sob.