private The Tyranny of Princess Cadence

[Agent505 661]

@@Ano170,@@Pripyat Pony, @@00Pony,  

 

"Come with me, I need to talk to the princess" Harmonic barked over at Sanguine as he started walking towards the palace. "Whatever she's thinking almost got us all killed...my Queen, you seem knowledgable with the matters at hoof, would you be able to shed some light on the situation?" 

_____

 

Looking slightly puzzled at Arrow's sudden change in demeanour, Enid sat up and took her hoof away from him as she stared off emptily into the darkness of the cave once more. She tilted her head quizzically to the right, and then to the left, and eventually back to the right again, her ears flopping around as she moved. Finally she sighed, and looked back down at Arrow, who now had his hooves around his head and seemed to be making incoherent grunts of some sort. Sighing again, this time not quite as loudly, Enid lifted up onto her hind legs and placed her hooves on Arrow's shoulders again as she positioned herself directly over him, before finally flopping her hindquarters onto his lower back. She smiled, pushing against his shoulders with her hooves rhythmically, humming slightly to herself as she did so. 

_____

 

The shield around the empire flickered slightly and began to fade not only in colour but also in size, from a bright pink hemisphere to a faded purple dome that seemed to be like a deflating balloon, then suddenly it fully extended into its original strength and form. Cadence shook her head and rubbed her temple as she walked back into her throne room to take a seat. "There's no way Celestia could suspect anything so soon, is there? Her...insufferable reign must end...there's no way...i'm not doing anything wrong...she's the one who started this..." She shook her head again, squeezing her forehead with her hooves as she flopped back against the throne. "I'm overreacting...surely...i'll...Sanguine was to...and then the army...I don't even know how this happened! I don't even know what is happening! It's all...Steeleye and his rebellion...it's all in my head, right? Right?"

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Agent505, Chrysalis spoke. "I believe that Cadance is getting increasingly paranoid about possible invasion by Celestia," she said. "And that is why she raised the shield. It's not a good idea at the moment, as there are no signs of Celestia's army, and all it will do is weaken Cadance. Hopefully, when we tell her that you found nothing outside of the Empire, she might relax and lift it for the moment. It would be best if she teaches the shield spell to me, cuz then I can teach my changelings how to work it so we can raise it in an emergency. It would not be so much of a strain if several ponies are raising it at the same time."

[Ano170 162]

@@Agent505,

 

(OOC: I like the new layout, even if I keep forgetting where everything is XD).

 

Gradually, Arrow became aware of the sensation of hooves working his shoulders rhythmically, the surprise of the unexpected back massage bringing him out of his thoughts. Feeling heat rise to his cheeks, he shifted his head round slightly to look up at the mare.

 

"Thank you, Enid," he said, almost managing a smile.

 

 Arrow looked over at the sliver of light coming from the narrow cave entrance, a new, grim determination in his eyes as he remembered that however much he wanted to sink into despair he was not just responsible for his own life now, but to an extent Enid's too.

 

It's my fault she's in this mess...

 

"We should get some rest," Arrow told the unicorn. "Then the minute the blizzard passes we have to move on..."

[00Pony 286]

@@Agent505,@@Pripyat Pony, 

(apologies for the delay) 

 

 

Sanguine nodded in acknowledgment to Harmonic's ordering him to follow, and he trotted along at a fairly lively pace, belying his own exhaustion, to keep pace with the taller pony's longer strides. Chrysalis answered the Commander's question, which he'd spoken aloud to himself as if Cadence were present. In all honesty, Sanguine still did not trust the Changeling Queen, or her subordinates. but if Cadence said something was to be, then it was to be. It was not his place to question the ruler of the Empire.

 

But as much as he may dislike them, he still had to hold some respect, if only a little, for their espionage abilities. Sanguine did feel a little prideful over the skills of himself and his followers to conduct undercover operations - barring their last operation - without the aid of transformation magics. Chrysalis did make a valid point, however, about Cadence's reasons for raising the shield. She may have heard tell of his approach and panicked. The Crystal general did make a small growling sound at the Changeling Queen's suggestion of the shield spell being taught to her and her followers. Should the Changelings learn such a spell, it would prove difficult in eradicating them should it come to that in future. Despite this, there was valid logic in the suggestion and her reasoning. 

[Agent505 661]

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

 

Harmonic stayed silent for the rest of the short journey, focusing on his thoughts for a change instead of what he could kill or order around next. Finally he broke his own silence as he opened the second set of palace doors into the throne room "I just hope you're right." 

Cadence's eyes shot open as the group entered the hall, and she hopped down from her seat and started walking towards them. "Sanguine, what news from Neighagra? What beckons your early return? And Harmony, did the scouts find which of Celestia's rats managed to infiltrate my empire?" 

_____

 

Shrugging her shoulders, Enid turned around with Arrow to look at the outside of the cave, the cold weather was started to get to even her now, but thankfully it wasn't as bad as it could be with the surrounding walls they where buried in. She looked back at Arrow who now had a look in his eyes that Enid couldn't place, and she forced a smile on her face. She stood up and moved to one side, sitting a few feet away from him, partly in lieu of understanding his reasoning with getting some rest, and also partly because despite Arrow's thanks, she couldn't help but think she might have overstepped a line...with that unfamiliar, yet troubled look in his eye.  

[Ano170 162]

@@Agent505,

 

Arrow watched Enid move to one side of the cave, then sat at the other end, giving her a faint, slightly strained smile. "Well, guess I'll sleep for a bit..."

 

The smile dropped into a worried frown the moment he turned his back on the mare, as Arrow settled down for what he hoped would be a dreamless sleep. 

 

(OOC: Rubbish reply I know, but I'm a little stuck for ideas :3 )

[longgone 873]

Golden Age shivered in the cold darkness, his great coat wrapped around him tightly, though even that provided little comfort from the penetrating cold. He was quickly writing down words in his tiny notebook he kept packed in his knapsack, repeating them out loud in muttered spurts. 

 

He had experience quite the change of heart regarding his supposed "traitorous foe". He had been thinking about his beloved Captain, Shining Armor, to which he had surprisingly never brought to mind until then. He lamented for him, such a horrid fate for such a great figure. He thought about Cadence, who he oddly felt little hatred for, given the fact she had murdered him. He understood she was being controlled by Sombra. 

 

He then thought about the foe whom he would surely meet soon enough. He and them were both Equestrians, were they not? If he was able to look passed Cadence, why not them? He began to seem them less and less as lowly dogs, and more of, perhaps, misguided subjects? He felt sorry for them, how could he kill a fellow Equestrian? They were merely misguided, surely. They should not be killed, but corrected. They had made a mistake, for they were simply being misguided by a corrupted leader, and they should be stopped and corrected as fast and kindly as possible.

 

And so there he sat, putting his new feelings down in ways one such as him only knew, putting them in verse.

Edited October 9, 2013 by ~HistoricallyInaccurate~