Romance and the Fate of Equestria

Wait, seriously? How in the hell did a whole month pass, again, since last time I updated? Christ, what is wrong with me? Uggghh…

For the first half of Part Two, I had to constantly remind myself that it was autumn in the story, so I could put that in the narration to remind the readers—it had to be done, because in envisioning the MLP world, the mind kind of defaults to spring and summer, doesn't it? Heck, that's how it is with most worlds. And when that was over, I similarly had to remind myself that it was winter… didn't really work, there was hardly ever any snow on the ground. Now spring is on its way, so I don't have to leave myself those constant reminders anymore. It's an odd feeling…

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Eight

Twilight entered a large dining hall, escorted by a pair of royal guards. At the wide and ornate table, Cadance sat in a throne-like chair at its head, Raven sitting at her side; the table was set with plates and silverware at each place, but no food yet.

"Ah, Twilight, good," said Cadance. "Did you find your way here all right?"

"…It's Canterlot Castle, I can't really miss it," Twilight said blankly.

Cadance chuckled awkwardly. "I just meant… nothing delayed you? All was well?"

"Yes, it was a pleasant trip," said Twilight. "Uneventful, which I guess is how I like it." She sighed and grinned wryly. "I suppose it's too much to hope that you invited me to dinner just for the pleasure of my company?"

"Heh, I'd love to say that I did, but no. There's business."

Twilight nodded in acceptance. "All right."

Suddenly a strobe-light effect filled the dining hall, complete darkness and blinding light alternating several times a second. A pure black disco ball dropped from the ceiling, and the reflections it cast inverted the colors of the room where the light touched it.

"Oh, for goodness' sake," Cadance grumbled.

Annihilara's massive jaws appeared over the table and unleashed a heavy metal scream, which was followed by a series of power chords from every direction, booming drums, and black lightning striking from the floor to the ceiling.

"Just ignore her, it'll stop eventually," Cadance said over the music.

The disco ball absorbed the black light from each strike, and soon a single bolt shot out of the ball and bounced all over the room, making the sounds of a pinball machine.

The bolt took shape into Annihilara, who formed her wings into the shape of a parachute and gently floated into one of the seats, her body taking on the consistency of a rug as she draped over it. One final twanging guitar chord rang out.

"Actually, that was a good finish," Twilight observed.

Raven was quivering, her teeth chattering. Numerous cooks and stewards came in bearing dome-covered plates, accompanied by stewards with large bottles of wine levitated in their magic auras, all of them looking around, bewildered, for the source of the music.

"Princess Annihilara?" Cadance said exhaustedly.

"Yeah?" Annihilara replied, inducing jumps of surprise from the castle employees, who had never seen her before, but they dutifully brushed it off and continued setting the table.

"Why must you do that?" Cadance continued.

"Do what now?"

"Make a music video out of it every time you enter a room."

"Oh, that," Annihilara said dismissively. "There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for that. You see… I'm shy."

Cadance blinked rapidly for several seconds. "You're shy?"

"Yes."

"You bust into places like a full-tilt diva because you're… shy?" Cadance said skeptically.

"Yeah," Annihilara said, straightening in her seat, eager to explain. "See, I don't talk much."

"Don't you, though?"

"In fact, no. Starting way back when I was a kid, I would try to take part in a conversation, but the amount of ponies who even noticed I was there was… minimal. Often, quite often, I'd have something to contribute, but I was just too shy. Whatever I had to say… I just couldn't bring myself to say it.

"And these days, you know, I stand out a bit more amongst my relatives, right? If I wanna be seen, it's easier. But working up the courage to actually let myself be seen or heard? That's hard. It takes a lot of mental fortitude; it goes against my instincts is what it does. My instinct would be to hide in the shadows and just listen until I feel comfortable enough to interject… which I never do. So I get it over with all at once: I force myself to become the center of attention as soon as I appear."

She spread her wings, and her body slowly shifted back into its normal shape. As usual, she winced in pain and glared at her cutie mark. "I would love to know when that's going to stop hurting. Stinkin' mark of suicide…

"But yeah, when I do that, then ponies can't help but include me in the conversation. I don't have to wait for the right moment to speak up; ponies talk directly to me and I talk back. Much like you and I are talking right now. See? It works."

"Oh, that's just silly," Cadance chided. "You know that as long as we're in this position I wouldn't dream of doing anything without hearing your opinion on it first. I do plenty of speaking directly to you."

"Well, okay, I've kind of lost sight of exactly why I do it," Annihilara admitted. "If I don't have to do it anymore around here, I wouldn't mind cutting back on it. It is kinda humiliating…"

"It shouldn't be. You're very good at it."

Another huge guitar solo rang out; Cadance cocked an eyebrow at Annihilara.

"What?" she demanded. "It's not me. I'm already in the room."

The towering double-doors burst open, and a cloud of white fog rolled into the room, accompanied by small bursts of fireworks. Shining Armor slid in on his knees, madly shredding a guitar.

Once his momentum would carry him no further into the room, he started playing from the frets closest to the guitar's body, producing shriller notes, and held the guitar up over his head.

A moment later, he was flat on his back, writhing across the room as he played, then sprang to his hind legs, playing the guitar behind his back, then jumped up onto the table and flung the guitar against the wall, where it shattered in an explosion of sparks.

He collapsed into a seat, out of breath. "See, Cousin Annihilara," he said, grinning impishly, "you're not the only one who can pull that off."

Annihilara sprouted a wispy pair of hands, which curled into fists and raised their thumbs at him.

He stared blankly. "I… don't know what that means."

"Two thumbs up," she said lamely. "It's… it means approval."

"Oh, okay."

Prince Blueblood stalked into the room, glaring. "Prince Shining Armor," he said coldly. "I see your attempt to upstage Cousin Annihilara has been… well-received."

"If you say so," Shining Armor chuckled, reclining in his chair.

"Don't you think I would have wanted to join you in something like that?" he demanded.

"Actually, that did occur to me," Shining Armor admitted.

"And?"

"I went ahead and did it without you anyway."

Blueblood growled and took his own seat. Annihilara extended her arm the length of the table to ruffle his mane. "I'm sure you would have been good at it," she said sweetly. "What do you play?"

"I don't play an instrument," he said with absolute hatred.

"I don't see how that's the fault of anypony here," Cadance said with stern kindness. "Please reserve your venom for another time, cousin. The court has business to discuss with Twilight here."

The dishes were uncovered, and the dinner was served. Cadance piled several beignets onto her own plate, while Annihilara once again reached across the entire table to scoop herself a bowl of plum pudding, which she proceeded to messily and noisily devour.

Ignoring her, Blueblood turned his stony gaze to Twilight. "Ah, yes, the ever-important Princess Twilight," he sneered.

Twilight blinked. "In what way am I…?" she said dully. "I am not a princess!"

"Nor should you be," Blueblood agreed. "And yet, here you are."

"Hey, little cousin, what did I just say?" Cadance said sharply.

He hung his head submissively.

Cadance nodded in satisfaction. "Twilight, I've been contacted by the elders of the church of Song Li. They informed me that the empress wishes a friendship to be established between our two countries. I was also contacted by Celestia and Luna, who confirmed that it's something all five of the traveling goddesses have been discussing."

"The princesses can contact you?" Twilight said in surprise.

"Every so often," Cadance said. "Writing back is discouraged, because any message I send might show up at an inopportune time, but they do contact me. Small words of inspiration, mostly, until we got to this situation here. Song Li's people have requested a diplomatic meeting at a safe place in Manehattan, to discuss what our two countries can do for each other. Here's where you come in: as they are the high priests and priestesses of Westeroceros, they requested that the meeting be with the high priestesses of Equestria—that is to say, you and your friends."

"Oh," Twilight said nervously. "You told them that we're not really priestesses, right? We don't even have the Elements of Harmony anymore."

"They fully understand that," Cadance said with a smile. "But given your past experiences and the way Celestia speaks highly of you, they regard you as their counterparts. I think their feelings would be hurt if we turned down their request and sent somepony else. Not insulted, just hurt. They said they would understand if you were unavailable and somepony else was provided, but I'd really like to send you anyway as a sign of good faith."

Twilight nodded. "When will this meeting take place?"

"Next Sunday, if it's agreeable. I've arranged an airship to take you to Manehattan on Friday, and booked a hotel."

"Wow," Twilight pondered. "I haven't been to Manehattan in the longest time… didn't care for it. Too noisy, lots of ponies."

Cadance laughed. "Well, I can't say that the city has changed, but you have. Maybe you'll adapt to it better this time around."

Twilight smiled and gave her another nod. "Any talking points for these negotiations?"

Cadance produced a thick folder packed with parchments. "I've had Raven here compile data on both countries; imports and exports, things that are in supply and demand. A trade agreement seems like as good a place to start as any."

"I see, I see…" Twilight mused, floating the portfolio over to herself and flipping through it absently. "I'll send for the girls, then. Schedule permitting, I'm sure they'll all embrace this opportunity and excel at it." She chuckled. "Each in her own unique way, of course."

"Yeah, no kidding," Cadance laughed.

Twilight clicked her tongue and slowly nodded her head as she sank into deep thought. "Diplomatic negotiations…" she muttered. "And as the capper of a weekend in Manehattan. That's wild. Would it be okay if some of the girls brought their significant others?"

"Oh, yes, bring guests, absolutely," Cadance said, nodding vigorously. "Make a little vacation of it. Bring whoever you like. Spike, the Crusaders. Just don't forget to study the material and that Sunday is the day of the meeting."

Twilight smiled. "I wouldn't forget. Is there anything I should know about Song Li's religion? I wouldn't want us to inadvertently say something offensive."

Cadance shook her head. "It's a very informal religion. More of a philosophy, really. You see, while Kolassa and Okapiopteryx are shrouded in mystery—even our own princesses are, to a certain extent—Song Li is very open about the fact that she's a visitor from another dimension, a member of a vast race of creatures, any one of whom could have been the one who chose to make their way to this world. So she's not seen as a goddess whose word is law, so much as a great leader with some good philosophical ideas."

Raven passed her a small book.

"Ah, here's her holy book," Cadance said. "It's quite short. It should be all you need to know to make sure you don't offend the priests' sensibilities."

"Okay, got it," said Twilight, taking the book and setting it neatly on top of the thick folder. "One last question: should I be expecting a similar conference with people from Kolassa's and Okapiopteryx's countries?"

"No, it was only Song Li's people who requested you specifically," Cadance said. "Representatives from the other two nations will be meeting with, you know, traditional diplomats, ambassadors, ponies like… well, not Blueblood."

He eyeballed her, looking more weary than anything.

"I'm sorry," she muttered hastily. "I know you don't like my teasing… I'm making an effort."

He ignored her and continued eating.

"Mmmph…" Cadance whined. "I just don't know how to talk to him anymore."

Twilight shrugged helplessly, with a sympathetic wince.

"So, would you like somepony to contact your friends for you?" Cadance said.

"No, I'll do it. Hopefully they're all available, and I can get them all the train soon enough for us to leave by Friday."

"Perfect, Twilie," she said brightly. "You might be changing the course of history here."

"That's right. Changing the world with…" She checked the portfolio. "Authentic Westerocerosi sweet and sour sauce."

Annihilara laughed. "Ooh, I like their honey barbecue myself."

"Hummus," Shining Armor supplied.

"Ooh, hummus!" Cadance said in delight.

Twilight laughed. "Ah, but I know what you meant. We'll be getting a lot more than trade agreements out of this."

"That's right. Friendship is magic!"

"Yeah, it is. And I'm the… the high priestess of friendship."

Cadance giggled. "You sure are."