private The Tyranny of Princess Cadence

[Agent505 661]

@@Pripyat Pony, 

 

"She certainly would cooperate more if she thought there was nothing she could do to help her subjects, but agree to our demands..." Cadence placed several more pins into the map, all into various towns and cities, near and far. "These will be more suited to your territory, I think." She gestured at several green strings connecting the locations, while my armies will handle these" she shifted her attention to the pink strings. "Sound good to you?"

 

Just as she finished asking, the guard walked into the room again, followed by the piercing eyes of Harmonic's guard. 

Approaching the table, he placed down two plates beside the map and bowed his head. "Your food, ma'am." 

The food was fairly basic, nothing to complain about considering it's what she asked for. A simple sandwich again, with a few ornate looking dressings and other garnishings that would be hard to distinguish from the filler itself - that being nothing more than lettuce and tomatoes, topped off with a thick layer of hay and fresh grass.

"Why is it always hay? Don't you tire of eating the same old foods Chrysalis?" Cadence asked, passing over her plate and taking a bite of her own sandwich. 

 

"Oh, and your highness? This...letter was left, I...assume it's for you" he hesitantly passed her the letter, which she eagerly took with her magic and unfolded it to read as she ate. 

"Princess Cadence...yep, yep, uh-huh...dinner...uh-huh...Steeleye." She muttered out loud the parts that caught her eye as she read the message to herself. "The scout? Invi...what? I bet you don't have to deal with this do you Chrysalis? I would imagine your changelings to be far more concerned with important tasks, rather than meaningless dinner-dates." She shook her head, placing the later on the table by her side as she continued to eat. 

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 20]

@Justin_ZW

"Do not worry all that will do is harm you. We will be able to turn Cadence back I am sure." Phylomon says to Swordpoint not letting on his inner worry  finally this military training to keep a straight face has payed off Phylomon thinks to himself. Turning around Phylomon lets out a soft sigh

[00Pony 287]

@@Agent505,

 

 

Sana nods. While she may not have agreed with his choice, it was just that. She wasn't about to question him a second time, "I'll send word to their care takers, and they will be released within the hour. Each will be given a few doses of the supplements to be taken ever thirty minutes. Without much strain, they should be fine."

She sighs quietly, "Is this satisfactory?"

[Agent505 661]

(Everypony still here? Gettin quiet...) 

 

@@00Pony,

 

"As long as they'll be able to defend their princess, for now, it'll do." He nodded, speaking in a slow, much calmer voice. "Send them outside the throne room, they'll know what to do once they get there."

With that, Harmonic headed out of the palace, making his way into the streets of the city for some fresh air.  

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Agent505,

 

Ooc: Sorry! Couldn't post earlier cuz the forums were playing silly buggers and I got an error message. -.-

 

Chrysalis munched her sandwich hungrily. Cicada, after a glance from her Queen, began to eat hers as well. Chrysalis commented, "The Hive is a perfectly trained unit. All my changelings are trained to obey orders to the letter. It makes it easier that we can all be connected to the Hive Mind. I can talk to all my subjects, Cicada can talk to those below her and so forth. I usually keep a communication channel open with Cicada to make it easier."

 

@@Concord Discord,

 

"That's a shame," the Captain mused. "Everypony ought to have friends. It's a real pity for a life to be wasted so easily. Of course, if you're willing to give me a good reason, I could always let you go. After all, you are no threat to us. Plus, your emotions, such as they are, have already fed me well."

[longgone 873]

(OOC: finally back! XD!)

 

 

The newly promoted soldier looked up in awe "General? Blood hell...ne'er in all me days. We'll...I've ne'er ever taken command of more than one regiment, but I guess I can give it a try." he said with a small smile.

 

He saluted the Princess "If things are all settled 'tween this here lot, I request permission to run down to the barracks and address my boys"

[Justin ZW 396]

@HistoricallyInaccurate

Celestia nodded to Golden Age. "Please do. And there is one more thing." She gave him a warm smile. "I understand your uneasiness in my presence and your dislike of me. I can't begrudge you that, after the civil war. However, I want you to know that I harbor no grudge. I am glad to have you serving Equestria."

 

(Annnnnnd back to the present.)

@@Pripyat Pony, @@Avolon

Swordpoint carried out the task of assigning troops to the cities nearest the empire. After he finished, he motioned to Sanura to follow him as he stepped outside. He sighed deeply. "I am worried, Sanura. I fear for the safety of the elements... and for Rainbow Dash in particular. I do not wish for her to be involved in this, and yet I am left with no choice. I can see no force except for the elements which could possibly restore Cadence." He turned to face her and made no attempt to hide his watery eyes. "I am afraid. Not for myself, but for Equestria... and for her. I do not wish to lose my love. If it was not for her efforts, I would still be a cold-blooded killer. I would still live without emotion, and without any sense of justice or honor." His gaze fell to the soft earth. "And I would still be in the service of that vile Omnia." He paused for a moment, wiping his eyes. "I don't suppose that hearing this will help your opinion of me. But I digress. You spoke of the magic of your tribe... is there any chance that it could bring someone back from such corruption? Please..."

 

 

As the train arrived at the station, the element bearers gathered stepped onto the platform, making their way to Canterlot Castle with haste.

 

(OoC: Not going to have them meet with Celestia yet. Too tired.)

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Justin ZW,

 

Sanura replied, "There is always hope. In fact, there is a wise zebra living in the Everfree forest, name of Zecora, who could give a better answer than I could. I sometimes go to see her as she knew my father, back when he was living here. I understand your worries; real hate is always frightening especially if it includes those we love. Not the same thing, but I have a similar concern for my mother. She lives in Ponyville at the moment and I worry all the time."

[Justin ZW 396]

@@Pripyat Pony

"I have heard of her," Swordpoint replied, "but I did not know that she is a zebra." He glanced at Sanura with wide eyes. "No offense meant, of course," he quickly added. "Perhaps we should visit her? If there is any chance we may take that does not involve endangering the element bearers, I would like to hear it."

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Justin ZW,

 

"I'm sure that we could," Sanura replied. "Zecora knows the element bears well. I'd like to hear her opinion on the matter; she's very wise. When would you like to make the visit? I could take you into the Everfree Forest to where Zecora lives at any time you think is best."

[Justin ZW 396]

@@Pripyat Pony

Swordpoint's eyes narrowed. "I would prefer to go immediately, if you are not opposed. Casting the wing spell on only one pony would be much easier than three. Have you any objections?"

 

 

Twilight opened the doors to Celestia's throne room. "Princess Celestia! Please tell me that what I've heard isn't true!" she called.

 

Celestia turned away. "... I heard it from Applejack herself. In addition, Swordpoint confirmed it. I see no reason to doubt it."

 

Twilight hung her head as tears formed in her eyes. "I... no... this can't..."

 

Applejack trotted to her friend and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Hey, c'mon, Twi... Ah know this is purdy hard tuh take, but y'all gotta be strong. It's your duty as an element of harmony."

 

Twilight wiped her eyes. "I... I'm sorry. But to hear that Cadence has... you know... it's hard. I just can't believe she would do this!"

 

Rainbow stepped forward. "Um... Can I see Swordpoint? I know that he's gonna be going into combat again, and I want to see him again before he puts his life into danger... again."

 

Celestia nodded. "Yes, Rainbow Dash. I am sorry. He should be around the castle gardens if I'm not mistaken."

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Justin ZW,

 

"None at all," Sanura replied, her eyes steely. "I have to hope that there's a solution to this whole mess that doesn't involve war, unhappiness and the pointless deaths of hundreds of innocent ponies. So I certainly believe that we ought to visit Zecora at once."

[Agent505 661]

@@Pripyat Pony, @@Ano170

 

(What's the deal with the Black Hoof anyway? There's only @Concord Discord still posting, can't have a faction with one person now can we?)

 

"Sounds like it could be useful. I take it that's a changeling thing, or could anyone learn?" Cadence nodded, taking another bite of her sandwich and glancing back at the letter thoughtfully. 'What is this stallion thinking? Does he not know I have an empire to run? I don't have time for casual meals...especially not with common soldiers'

Shaking the thoughts from her mind, she placed the last of her sandwich back on the plate, pushing it to one side. "I apologise Chrysalis, I believe I have kept you long enough when you have plans to attend to." Cadence levitated the map from the table and pinned it to the wall, giving it a close inspection as she did so. "I'll need to summon the generals again, with the looks of things. They work best together, which is...a trait I don't argue with. Splitting them up among these towns would be a bad idea..." she mumbled to herself as she mentally planned her army's next move. 

_____

 

A still teary-eyed mare ran down a few back alleys here and there, looking around frantically for the stallion she was told to search for. 

Eventually, she came to an alleyway that looked practically deserted. Just as she was about to walk away, she sensed the presence of another pony in the area and went over to investigate. Sure enough, it was the stallion she was sent for - Arrow. 

Looking sadly at him, curled up in the corner as he was, she nudged him slightly with her hoof - to no avail. So she nudged him again, and again. And then eventually she ended up prodding him in the ribs with her horn to get his attention. 

Edited July 1, 2013 by Agent505

[Ano170 162]

@@Agent505,

 

(OOC: Hey, sorry it took me so long to reply again. I was going to post yesterday, but the site decided not to play ball. :/ )

 

Arrow's eyes flew open immediately when he felt something sharp dig into his side. His first instinct was to bite down on the trigger-bit of his battle saddle, before he remembered it wasn't there and instead reached for the hilt of his new sword. The muscle pain and dizziness caused by reaching down, however, forced Arrow to stop before he could even get it out of the scabbard. Looking up, Arrow realised with some embarrassment that the unicorn who had woken him up was not, as he had assumed, a thief - or worse - but in fact one of Harmonic's soldiers.

 

"Ah...hello." Arrow said rather sheepishly, as it dawned on him that he had been caught sleeping in an alleyway. The hangover started to kick in viciously as he rose far, far too fast to his hooves. Glancing at the mare before him - one of the strange twins, Arrow believed - he realised that she herself didn't look so good either. 

[Agent505 661]

@@Ano170,

(It's cool, it's been derping on me too lately, and a few others it seems)

 

Enid didn't really react much to Arrow's awakening - or his location, she simply sat on her haunches and looked at him as he stood up. She looked down for a moment at the ground, before wiping away a few stray tears from her cheeks - although she had stopped crying now, the signs where all still there. With a brief sideways motion of her head, she stood up and began walking down the alleyway in the direction of the palace. 

 

(So I don't mind if you want to control her for a while until you reach the palace, if you feel like making a post about just returning. If you want to drag it out instead, we'll just drop one or two posts before we get back)

[Concord Discord 35]

@@Pripyat Pony

 

((Dammit, for the sake of character development, Curse isn't really a nice guy. Thinking desperately for a reason to let him live!))

 

"Well, I pose no real threat here, do I? I mean, I couldn't even use basic telekinesis without faltering. As you said, I'm only a 'humble unicorn'."

Edited July 1, 2013 by Concord Discord

[Ano170 162]

@@Agent505, 

 

(OOC: Either way is fine by me. I'll leave it up to you whether you want to add in another post before Arrow and Enid arrive or not, although I don't really imagine conversation between the two will be on the tables, so I suspect we could only have so much back and forth).

 

Arrow hesitated a moment to check his saddle bags had indeed not been pilfered from - and to make sure he wasn't going to topple over - before he  caught up to the unicorn mare. 

 

"It's Enid, isn't it?" Arrow inquired politely. "Unless of course you're Myra."

 

The unicorn simply turned her head slightly away and kept walking, giving Arrow no indication as to which sister she was. Arrow was beginning to regret bringing it up; whichever twin this was, she seemed to be trying her hardest to hide the pain she was feeling. Given that just yesterday both sisters had been involved in a battle, Arrow was beginning to suspect why she might be so upset.

 

"I take it Chaotic Harmony sent you?" Arrow tried. From the dizzy, swimming, pounding fog that was his mind rose a blurry memory from the night before about Chaotic mentioning Manehatten.

[00Pony 287]

@@Agent505,

 

Sana nods, "Very well.. I will notify their caretakers of the development, and release those who are able."

She continued to speak to herself after Harmonic had left, "I trust you understand the risks of this. But I'm sure they will be fine."

After twenty minutes of trotting from room to room, and filling out a few papers, the Unicorns that were healthiest were released from the medical wing, told to report to the throne room.

[Agent505 661]

@@Ano170,@@00Pony,

 

(Edited this, because I was distracted when I typed it up the first time - sorry)

(Also, Ano, I feel like I want to tell a story without words and see how well that ends up, if you don't mind?)

 

Enid stopped dead in her tracks at the mention of Harmonic's name, and she lowered her head to the ground. 

Whatever she was trying to hide before had apparently been too much to hide any longer, and she practically fell onto the floor and began crying again, allowing a very faint hint of a soft and almost peaceful voice to escape her, in quick and irregular sobs. After a very brief interval, she practically had a fit, and threw her helmet across the alleyway, bouncing it from the wall of a nearby house, before she returned to her prone position, burying her head in her hooves. 

_____

 

Harmonic nodded slowly at the nurse's statement before she disappeared into the ward again. 

He stood there silently staring out of the window for the entirety of the time she was gone, until she returned. "It'll have to do. I just need them guarding the throne room and protecting our princess." He sighed, eventually breaking his gaze from the outside to turn and face the nurse. "I trust you've done what you can for them given the time you've had, and for that, you have my thanks. For what it's worth, that is." 

Edited July 2, 2013 by Agent505

[longgone 873]

(OOC: yay for the present!)

 

"Do you honestly think there will be a fiend within a hundred miles of here?" 

 

The General, who only bore the new commission for a few days, had informed his regiment of the situation upon the day of promotion. After getting two more regiments under his command, he was set. He then set up a 24 hour long picket line around the city of Canterlot, shifts would be switched ever couple of hours. However, he did not like these new additions to his command. He preferred dealing with one regiment instead of several, for there was less confusion. He also did not like the regiments based on their appearence, they wore the standard armor of the Royal Guards. Golden Age never understood the appeal to such attire. Under the heat of the sun, one could fry like an egg! It was also known that armor was ineffective against longbows and certain melee weapons, for if that was not the case, then the entire civil war would've been Equestrian tanks walking about trying to kill one another with utter futility, excluding Goldie and his regiment of course. He decided to go with the armor that was native to his art of warfare, a mere suit of wool, not chain-mail. Many thought him crazy for such an idea, but he and his soldiers were already as good as dead.

 

He was now standing with one of his new privates under a pouring rain. The soldier, in the usual attire that Goldie could not determine if it was brass or bronze, was not very anxiously to start his shift. He was concerned about the possibility of encountering the foe, which Goldie believe was simply impossible. "As far as I know, the bastards are still in the Crystal Empire, you'd have to take a long ride on a train to get there, do you really thing they'd show up? Even if they did, I have 3 regiments in there, one  being highly experienced, plus the whole lot of the soldiers elsewhere in the city, do you really thing they'd stand a chance against all them?" Goldie said with as smile.

 

"Quality over Quantity sir..." came the reply

 

"Of course lad, but my lads are well trained, seasoned veterans of two wars."

 

The two stood there in silence for a moment. "Y'know..." the General interrupted "I hear that Cadence and her boys are conversing wi' the changelings...damn cheese-legs...first Canterlot, then we go and attempt to colonize the lot, and now they're in the Crystal Empire doing Celestia-knows-what...but they're a long ways away too. But who knows! If they do come here, I'd love to give them a few welcome presents in the form of cold steel" he said with a mischievous grin. 

 

Golden Age gave a brief salute and walked back into the city

[00Pony 287]

@@Agent505,

 

She shrugs, "I understand the importance of it. It is simply my duty to keep the Empire's military in their best health, hence my questioning you."

 

 Sana nods, "We should be able to release the others sometime tomorrow, or the day after. You are welcome. Honestly, thanks from any military leader is appreciated. It doesn't come to often."

[Ano170 162]

@@Agent505,

 

(OOC: Actually, I like the sound of that! If it's all the same to you, I'll try to avoid controlling Enid too much - I know she's technically an NPC, but I still feel like she's your character. Besides, it's more fun when you're not orchestrating everything. ).

 

Panic and alarm rose within Arrow as he watched the soldier before him break down. As the unicorn mare lay on the road with her muzzle in her hooves, Arrow's heart went out to her beyond the pain in his head.

 

Never let it be said my father did not try his best to raise a gentlecolt, Arrow thought to himself, feeling for the first time an odd nostalgia not for his days as an adventurer, but the days before he left to seek his fortune. Trotting forward to stand over the mare, Arrow hesitated a moment before lightly brushing her mane with a hoof, hoping he wasn't overstepping any boundaries.

 

"Miss?" he asked softly. "Perhaps...the Captain could wait a while longer, hmm?"

[Agent505 661]

Enid flinched at the stallions touch, momentarily tightening her forelegs over her head before she realized what was happening. It took her a minute, but soon she came around and sat up, tears streaming down her face, mixed with some dust and dirt from the road. Shying her head away from Arrow, she hunched up her shoulder in an attempt to either stop him seeing her, or stop her seeing him, it was unclear which. 

[Ano170 162]

@@Agent505, 

(OOC: Darn it, why are you making me care about NPCs XD. Especially when they're meant to be baddies! Guess I feel a bit guilty now about that random stallion I made up in Appleloosa...).

 

Arrow sat back, smiling gently at the mare but also respectfully averting his eyes from the sight of her crying. His eyes fell on her helmet, further down the street. 

 

"Just wait here a moment," he told her gently, before trotting over to retrieve the helmet and place it by the distraught soldier's hooves. "There's no rush," Arrow told her, forgetting  once again that he now had a superior to answer to. "Whenever you're ready."

 

Briefly, it occurred to Arrow that maybe he should suggest a detour, but he was reluctant - after all, he was married, and he did not want to give the upset unicorn the wrong impression.

[Agent505 661]

@@Ano170,

 

(Payback?  ) 

 

She sniffled a few times, now having calmed down somewhat, she looked down at the helmet momentarily before knocking it away and scowling. Standing up, she unbuckled her armour and it fell loosely to the ground, revealing the message that was carved into it by the shadow magic of the stallion before. It seems at some point, she changed her armour to hide the message, instead of showing it off. Looking worried for a moment at her wound, she looked over at the palace and tilted her head sadly, opening her mouth as if she was about to speak, before closing it again silently.