Sunset has been known to set people on fire when they displease her. Celestia has every right to be concerned that Sunset might do it because she gets frustrated at some poor farmer taking up time Celestia could spend on Sunset by asking for the right to do some minor task that Sunset believes should be beneath their attention.
I still felt fine by the time I finished my chain of short-ranged teleports — physically speaking, at least. Emotionally, I would admit that I was far less so.
I'd let Celestia inside my guard in terms of both proximity and emotions only to suffer what should have been exceedingly predictable results. Not one single hour spent conscious since I learned that she might adopt me, and I'd already started seriously weighing whether I could act like somepony different just so that Celestia would get what she wanted. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
The two members of the Royal Guard stationed at one of Canterlot Castle's numerous side entrances did not nod to me as I stomped by, but they weren't supposed to. Tradition demanded that they should be as disciplined and silent as a statue despite the attempted provocations of ponies.
In reality, much of the Royal Guard were incorrigible gossips. Runic relays had been built near most places that a Royal Guard might be posted in sight of the public, and those relays allowed silent speech between each guard and other guards posted within fifteen meters or so. Honestly, even with that amenity, I was continually amazed by how some ponies could stand to — well, stand. And do nothing. All day. It wasn't like they still had the silent-speaking luxury when Celestia visited other cities!
I shook my head and continued trotting inside. Theirs might be a career that would drive me mad, but they still served Equestria well. Although, really, I was starting to feel as though my own life would twist my mind just fine without aid. I didn't know what Celestia wanted to accomplish, or why she swapped between normal behavior or abnormality at the top of a hat. Just — ugh! Why would she offer to adopt me if it was just going to be an excuse for ennoblement? She didn't need an excuse! And there were levers that would hurt less than this!
An odd echo to my hoofsteps gradually dragged me out of my brooding. I glanced toward the source and was somehow unsurprised to find Voice of Imperceptible Dreams trotting just behind and to the left of me. Nopony seemed to notice Her, and She sped up to trot beside me once once we established eye contact.
"I'm guessing ponies will think I'm crazy if I start talking to you?" I whispered.
Voice shook Her head and spoke at a normal volume.
"I find silent communications to be irksome and almost every prior anchor has pursued that option when I decline to appropriately filter interactions. Altering awareness of words directed at me is much less frustrating; observers will know you're speaking to somepony, but details will be beyond them and they will find no issue with this unless somepony benefitting from the effect tries to draw their attention to it. Moving on: Good morning, Sunset!"
I almost wanted to laugh, but at the same time, didn't feel like releasing even a derisive bark.
"If you've been watching, then you know it's not," I grumbled back.
"Oh, but the grand sum of the entire morning does not depend upon your new mother's missteps!" Voice disagreed, either willfully or obliviously misinterpreting my words. "The overall local level of happiness for this particular morning is above the average, or at least the one established with a low sample size of the last few days. Also, I have a gift for you!"
That got my attention. To some Outsiders, a 'gift' was distinctive from a 'boon,' with gifts being those which were sourced locally rather than birthed by an Outsider's powers. I couldn't remember whether Voice had used the terms interchangeably or not, but it was still enough to draw my attention.
Reality momentarily rippled, and Voice drew forth — a doll?
I blinked and stared at the wood carving, not entirely certain of what I was looking at. It was certainly pony-shaped, and seemed rather familiar overall, but also not? Its odd layering was certainly disquieting.
"...What am I looking at?" I eventually asked.
"A scaled down model of your muscular system!" came the cheerful reply.
I almost tripped over my own hooves. Of all the gifts to give me, it was myself without any skin or fur? That would be a threat from almost anything else.
"Why?" I asked incredulously.
"I thought it might help you review your anatomy, I wanted to practice detail work using unicorn magic, and it might cheer you up! Making this accomplished at least two of the three."
I gingerly gripped the carving in my own telekinetic field, incredibly glad that she hadn't taken the time to paint it. Just the outline was bad enough. At least somepony who didn't know any better might think the lines were just stripes.
"Er — thank you?" I hazarded. "I'm not sure what you'd want as a reciprocal gift, though."
"The pleasure of your existence is enough of a gift, don't worry!"
If She had been anypony else, I would have condemned Her words as a blatant attempt at currying favor. Voice had no need for that, though, and was almost certainly being entirely literal. My only concern was that She might make a habit out of eccentric gift-giving; if She viewed Her enjoyment of my existence as a gift to Her, then balancing the scales would be an eternal act.
I shook my head, dismissing the thought, and focused on a detail that warranted further investigation.
"Why are you bothering with unicorn magic? Isn't it harder than just using your own?"
Voice lifted one hoof and tilted it from side to side without breaking pace, gravity completely failing to topple or slow Her even when neither of Her front hooves were on the ground at all. Thankfully, She went back to moving along normally within a few mind-bending seconds.
"It is more difficult, but my 'magic' also isn't normal by local standards," Voice explained. "Just because I have yet to decide on a long-term form yet does not mean I do not wish for one."
I stumbled to a stop for all of two seconds. The knowledge that Celestia would be coming after me, albeit at a much slower pace, returned me to a steady trot. I really wanted to be able to get breakfast before we had to start arguing again.
"You want a pony identity?" I asked, baffled.
I felt like that would make it much harder for Her to engage in the wandering and unseen observation that She seemed to enjoy. But if She actually wanted to socialize with other ponies, I supposed that would make it much easier to keep Her entertained over the long term. I imagined my life would grow boring for Her eventually.
"I do!" She cheerfully agreed. "I have a story, too. It's long, and winding, and no entities I socialize with will view its start or end. But it feels rather odd to isolate myself like this when ponies are all about community, and I would like to make more pony friends."
Something about Her words stood out to me: No entities I socialize with.
"You don't have any Outsider friends?" I asked, hoping it was a safe conversational topic.
I guessed correctly; Voice didn't seem particularly bothered. If anything, she seemed to possess an interest shared by so many other ponies: talking about themselves.
"Nope! I'm a grazer, not a predator; the cosmic equivalent of plant matter usually doesn't require any sort of a hunting pack, so I'm generally in direct competition with other grazers. Grouping with others isn't useful for defense, either; my survival strategy is that of poison and spikes, also known as being more trouble to consume than I'm worth. Like you!"
I had been nodding along with most of Her explanation, but froze at her concluding words. I snorted and glared at Her, confident by now that a little irritation was safe.
"I am not poisonous."
"No, you pretty explicitly are," She disagreed cheerfully. "Have you ever heard the saying 'don't consume an energy field larger than your head?' You're now the anchor to one! Eating you is a very bad idea."
My narrow-eyed glare softened back into what was starting to become my natural state of being around Voice: bafflement.
"...No. No, I can't say that ponykind has that saying," I said slowly. "Energy field density is more of an issue than volume. Really, you're safe either way so long as you're careful about how much you siphon at a time. But I had been under the impression that there was no ongoing energy transfer between us?"
"Truthfully, it's just a side effect of me being lazy," Voice admitted. "It's easier and less traumatizing to restore you when your body is mostly intact instead of half-digested. Don't worry, you won't hurt anypony who bites you!"
I shuddered, suddenly very glad that She had gone to the trouble. I hadn't even considered the possibility of being reconstituted inside something's digestive tract. I could almost certainly blast my way out at that point, but it would have been horrific and likely exceedingly painful. Ensuring that the backlash took outright ingestion rather than mere biting was reassuring, too; I wouldn't need to worry about teething foals deciding to gnaw on me.
"R–Right. Thanks, I suppose?"
"You're welcome! To return to an earlier topic: do you have any preferences for my name as a pony? I was initially considering 'Story Seeker,' but I've already introduced myself as 'Voice' and haven't experienced any significant character development that would warrant a change. 'Voice Stealer' would be amusing, but not exactly something effective for socializing with ponies. 'Voice Appreciator' is technically correct, but doesn't quite match as well as I would prefer."
I shrugged and fought off a yawn. If I wasn't going to be allowed to do anything interesting today anyway, I might just return to my chambers and nap after breakfast. That plan sounded great, actually. I could pretend to care about bedrest and keep Celestia from chewing me out at the same time. Really, her insistence on self-preservation above all else had reached utterly ludicrous levels. Just because I wasn't a full alicorn yet didn't mean that I wasn't plenty sturdy even without Voice needing to revive me.
"I don't have any suggestions off the tip of my horn, but I can try to think of something."
I put truth to my promise and started toying with different combinations. It quickly became clear that Voice was right about Her options, though. Most two-word combinations using 'Voice' as a first name would subsequently speak of voices in the context of other ponies. Transforming the order so that Voice came second would give us far more leeway on the meaning front, but might cause socialization issues if ponies thought She was being standoffish by wanting them to use the second part of Her name rather than the first.
Eventually, I conceded defeat and started trying to think of ways to make Voice's actual name work. It didn't take me long to land upon one.
"I think 'Voice of Imperceptible Dreams' works just fine as a name, actually," I told Her. "If anypony asks, just tell them you're a transformed merpony, or that your mom was."
"You have merponies?" Voice asked, borrowing Cadance's tone of delight. "Oh, I must see them later."
"Not very many, but a few decide to immigrate to Equestria every year," I confirmed. "Some of them apparently find solid ground reassuring, and Equestria is far safer than Seaquestria. Yes, it is named that, and no, it is not a protectorate or even close ally of Equestria. I don't know either. Oh, but I suppose they usually prefer 'seapony,' so maybe use that instead of 'merpony.'
"At any rate, some seaponies still name their foals after 'sea, squall, and song' long after the defeat of the Sirens and their self-proclaimed successor Speakers. Your normal name would fit right in. I think there might actually be a popular singer who used to be a seapony? You would need to — er, correction, you should ask Cadance if you are interested. I don't particularly care about that sort of thing."
Judging by Voice's almost-body-breaking grin, it seemed that my suggestion was a good one. She hadn't smiled this widely since she first saw Spring Hail.
"Perfect. I know a fair number of vocalization-based magics usable by ponies, too, so it's not like I wouldn't be able to fit right in. Thank you for the suggestion, Sunset!"
My mind was promptly invaded by an image of panicking ponies stampeding to escape a karaoke hall.
"Um," I faltered. "You—might want to do some reading on the Sirens before you start throwing around exotic song magics. To summarize briefly: nothing that might force ponies to adore you, or cause conflict between others."
I hesitated for several seconds. On one hoof, probably needing to sing. On the other hoof, magic. Embarrassment lost quite decisively.
"I don't suppose you would be willing to teach me the magics you'll be using? I tried studying Heartsongs at one point, but those tend to be spontaneous rather than something that can be properly harnessed."
"Certainly! But what are 'Heartsongs?'" Voice perfectly echoed.
My nostrils flared as I thought back on the futility of trying to study that particular magical phenomenon. Being part of something greater than oneself, if only for a few minutes, was always fun for everypony involved — even if many participants might not have any idea what in Equestria they were even singing about. I remained convinced that there had been some sort of a selection effect over the many generations since Equestria's founding; those who fought to avoid being drawn into Heartsongs usually had a great many other things wrong with them. Enough for complete strangers to notice avoidance and offer a helping hoof. If even those offers were rejected, it went beyond merely concerning and into the realm of socially ostracizing, 'this pony is scary.'
"You won't see them very often in Canterlot," I explained. "Not larger than the odd solo or duet, at any rate. One prominent theory is that the high proportion of unicorns ensures that excess magic is spent long before it can reach high enough concentrations to trigger a Heartsong. But yes, Heartsongs. I think you'd like them; they generally occur when a pony's emotions exert enough force to initially encourage them to break into song in order to share their excess with others, and if the resulting pull is strong enough, to drag everypony nearby into a spontaneous performance. For obvious reasons, it's easier for positive emotions to do this, and such variants always reward participants with more energy than they put into it. Sad Heartsongs, less so, but everypony tends to band together and support each other after one of those."
My guess about Voice's preferences turned out to be correct. This time, there was no attempt at ensuring Her smile stayed within the boundaries of pony anatomy. Extra columns of teeth revealed themselves as her grin grew to monstrous proportions, and pink-colored sparks drifted across her eyes.
"You ponies are the single cutest intelligent species I have ever encountered, and likely will ever encounter. You come with automatic empathic musical numbers. That's adorable!"
I chose to take it as a compliment rather than condescension. I tossed my head with pretend arrogance and sniffed haughtily.
"Even a Visitor agrees that ponies are the greatest, I see. It is no wonder that you should wish to imitate our excellence."
Voice giggled, and I basked at the implied approval. When was the last time that I'd actually made a deliberate joke that wasn't deadpan or dark, and somepony actually appreciated it? I couldn't even remember.
And speaking of things that I didn't remember, I suddenly stopped before the oversized double doors of Celestia's private dining room. I hadn't been paying much attention to our route, but I think I would remember if they were on the ground floor.
"…Hold on," I said aloud. "How did we get here while traveling in an entirely straight line, without going up any stairs?"
Even while knowing the answer, I turned a questioning gaze upon Voice. The Outsider stared back at me unrepentantly, clearly not at all regretting her blatant twisting of space to suit her whims.
"I'm not actually very good at walking up stairs or steep inclines just yet," She admitted. "Quadrupeds are hard."
Seriously?
"You temporarily twisted the layout of the castle," I said slowly, "because it was easier than walking up some stairs."
"Correct!"
I stared at the unrepentant Visitor for several more seconds before deciding that it was more trouble than it was worth. Any guards who should have been along our route would just need to cope with being confused. I gripped the doors with my magic, exceedingly glad that I could actually do so once again, and swung them wide open.
Cadance glanced up from her lasagna at the sound, a formerly telekinetically-gripped fork clattering atop her plate. She blinked when she saw that I was arriving alone.
"Oh, good morning!" Cadance greeted me, sounding confused. "You're back and using magic already? I thought you still had a few more days."
"I might have an irate Goddess of the Sun after me in the next few minutes," I admitted, huffing. "I feel fine, but she wanted me to stay and let doctors poke at me for several more hours and I'm absolutely not going through that again when there's no good reason for it."
I trotted to sit down across from her and started pulling metal covers off plates. As usual, there was enough food to sate even two alicorns and a growing unicorn.
"…So you discharged yourself against medical advice," Cadance concluded, not sounding particularly impressed.
"Those doctors treated me like I was a plant," I hissed. "Or perhaps a puppy. 'Sit down,' 'turn around,' 'breathe in,' without ever really talking to me unless it was to issue instructions. They didn't even ask how I was feeling in any detail! Relaying symptoms rather than just relying on outside observations is important! So, yes, I discharged myself since I feel fine. I even chain-teleported to the gate and I'm still fine."
Physically, at least. Emotionally, I had returned to the verge of screaming now that I didn't have an ongoing conversation with Voice to distract me. I had let myself feel hope, and the moment I put my guard down, Celestia was back to her normal behaviors. And I didn't even have anypony whom I could possibly complain to.
My eyes fell on Cadance, and I reassessed my own thought. The Alicorn nervously leaned away and almost escaped her seat altogether, apparently unnerved by whatever she saw in my gaze.
I glanced around the dining room, noted the pair of Royal Guards staring fixedly forward, and called upon my magic. A large, translucent teal bubble formed around us to capture sound. Upon the spell's conclusion, our words would be released all at once as an utterly incomprehensible mishmash of noise. Much more reliable and less energy-intensive than trying to block sound altogether, with an obvious failure state should somepony meddle with it.
"Princess Celestia said she wanted me to be her daughter last night–" I started.
Abrupt warmth from Cadance made me choke off the rest of my sentence, bitterness momentarily stymied by an alicorn's joy. Why she was happy when this meant we would technically be related and being civil-ish to each other would be mandatory, I didn't know.
"Oh, congratulations!" Cadance cheered. "I'd suspected she might've been working up to that, but–"
"I think she's having second thoughts this morning and is considering backing out of the adoption she offered," I interrupted, and Cadance faltered.
The Princess of Love stared at me like she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. I glared back, fully intent on expressing the full force of my displeasure if she tried to act like I was joking.
"…Nooooo, I don't think she's going to be doing that," Cadance said slowly. "Aunt Celestia would never have told you if she wasn't absolutely sure. The kind of heartbreak that would result if she tried — I would lead a popular revolution and depose her if she was willing to be that casually cruel to you."
I let out a harsh laugh even though the joke wasn't really that funny. Fleeting amusement fled when I saw the level look that Cadance was giving me.
"I'm entirely serious," Cadance informed me. "Alicorn of Love, remember? Love doesn't just include the romance that everypony seems to associate with me. If she starts breaking hearts so callously, she would need to be removed at least temporarily for the good of everypony, including her, because something would be very very wrong at that point. My money would be on possession or dark magic."
Cadance's outlook was horribly naive, but nonetheless logical. I added a few tallies in the evidence against thinking of me as a regressed immortal column. It didn't make me feel any better. If Celestia wasn't adopting me because she thought I was small and young and needed guidance, that meant the more manipulative motives were ever more likely.
"Politics is sometimes lumped in with those two," I acknowledged, "but I don't think it counts. I can't smile placidly and pretend to be a completely different pony while the rich, powerful, and reckless are insulting me, Cadance. Does anything you know about my personality seem like it belongs on the kind of pony who should be Celestia's daughter?"
"Loyalty, Honesty, Kindness, and sheer brilliance," Cadance said immediately.
I stopped to stare at her.
"…Excuse me, but what?" I had to ask. "What part of 'she wants me to wear masks like she does' was not clear? That is the exact opposite of being honest. And you were the one who claimed I was unkind to most ponies!"
Cadance shook her head.
"You asked me what traits seem like they belong on Celestia's daughter. Did you think I was oblivious when you didn't even look a little interested after Voice offered to make you into a 'demon goddess?' Even before she admitted it was a bad idea, you weren't at all interested. I always thought you were pursuing power for its own sake, but now that I'm starting to get to know you, that doesn't seem to be the case at all. That's Loyalty.
"Honesty? You've hardly ever hesitated to tell ponies what you think of them or what they're doing! Hay, I would have believed you if you told me that I was hopeless with unicorn magic and should stick solely to what my Special Talent could help me with. Instead, you pushed past your own hatred to provide honest encouragement. You could, with just a few words, have killed any future I might have with unicorn magic, and I'm certain you were fully aware that you could do so. As much as you like to present yourself as a big, tough pony who shouldn't be trifled with–"
"I shouldn't," I warned her.
"–doing that for me was a genuine kindness that I'm aware was difficult for you. Being kind and honest when it matters, even if that's difficult — perhaps especially then — is certainly a trait that 'belongs on Celestia's daughter."
She was acting like squandering her potential wouldn't be even more frustrating for me than it was for her. I had the distinct feeling she would misinterpret my words if I told her that, though.
"Brilliance goes without saying," she continued. "You're the youngest polythaumic archwizard ever, and increased access to resources can only explain some of that. I'm not afraid to admit that you're smarter than me, and I can track the interactions between overlapping love hendecahedrons in my head. Most ponies start to look uneasy once I pull out the sticks and string, and they usually make excuses to be somewhere else before I even finish the first ten connections. Pinboards weren't received any better."
Although she might have diverged into patting herself on the back at the end, I did still understand and appreciate the sentiment. I supposed it was probably one of the hardest comparisons she could think of.
"Those are all traits you possess, Sunset," Cadance told me with tangible warmth. "And she's chosen to adopt you out of all the exceptional ponies she's ever met. I would say that the 'traits that belong on Celestia's daughter' are what you already have, don't you think?"
Or she just thinks I have the potential to express ones that she likes more, I thought, but didn't verbalize.
"Were some of those 'duties you thought I would scoff at' related to motivational speaking?" I had to ask. "Because I wouldn't. It's important to practice and that was actually a pretty good speech."
Cadance straightened and preened under the praise, wings twitching with pleasure.
"They were! Thank you for noticing. But did it help any?"
"…Maybe a little," I admitted.
Cadance nodded and settled back down in her seat.
"Do you want me to go help you talk to Aunt Celestia?" Cadance offered. "I really am certain that she's serious about the adoption, and it would be a shame to spend some of her rare free time being mad at each other."
The lingering warmth from Cadance's speech was instantly doused by the reminder of what Celestia had chosen to do.
"She doesn't have any 'free time,'" I snarled. "She's going right back to Day Court, and won't let me accompany her. Even if you say she won't back out, I say that's because my adoption doesn't mean anything to her. It's another lever for Equestria's perfect princess and I was a complete idiot for attributing more to it than that."
Cadance leaned away from me, wide-eyed and obviously uncomfortable to hear somepony angry at her beloved Aunt. After a few seconds, however, unease seemed to be shoved aside in favor of a disbelieving frown.
"Wait. She's not taking time off?" Cadance asked, aghast.
I nodded silently, still seething.
"But—she's never adopted a daughter!"
"She isn't freeing any extra time until three months from now," I said darkly. "I don't doubt that she'll fall for somepony's sob story and break even that promise."
Cadance continued staring for several long seconds before letting out an unhappy huff.
"You know what? Forget helping you talk to her until later. I'll yell at her myself."
I should be happy about the show of support. When even Cadance, Celestia's favored yes-mare, knew that Celestia's choices were wrong, that really said something. Old habits died hard, though.
"Do you even know how to yell?" I couldn't resist asking.
Cadance's eyes narrowed, but not with displeasure. There was definite satisfaction and mischief in Cadance's gaze as she started, and continued, inhaling. I had a sudden feeling of impending doom to accompany the realization that I may have made a mistake.
"Please don't tell me she taught you the Royal Canterlot Voi–" I rushed to say.
"IS THIS CLOSE ENOUGH TO YELLING FOR YOU, SUNSET SHIMMER?"
I am absolutely loving the relationship between Cadance and Sunset here. It's so good. Cadance seems to be the first person after voice to really understand Sunset and honestly Voice only sorta counts because Voice cheats.
my survival strategy is that of poison and spikes, also known as being more trouble to consume than I'm worth. Like you!"
I had been nodding along with most of Her explanation, but froze at her concluding words. I snorted and glared at Her, confident by now that a little irritation was safe.
I am absolutely loving the relationship between Cadance and Sunset here. It's so good. Cadance seems to be the first person after voice to really understand Sunset and honestly Voice only sorta counts because Voice cheats.
...does Voice approve of this voice-based magic? =)
Has Cadance had training on holding court? Right now, I'd be more inclined to believe that she would be better at not setting all of Equestria on fire by messing up somehow than Sunset.
Nah Sunset is the kind who decided you can never have enough and filled herself up with so much poisonous material that trying to touch her wrong causes pain for all involved.
Unfortunately not even Sunset knows the proper way to approach her, and of those around her only Cadence is starting to even figure out the trick to it.
A large, translucent teal bubble formed around us to capture sound. Upon the spell's conclusion, our words would be released all at once as an utterly incomprehensible mishmash of noise. Much more reliable and less energy-intensive than trying to block sound altogether, with an obvious fail
"You won't see them very often in Canterlot," I explained. "Not larger than the odd solo or duet, at any rate. One prominent theory is that the high proportion of unicorns ensures that excess magic is spent long before it can reach high enough concentrations to trigger a Heartsong. But yes, Heartsongs. I think you'd like them; they generally occur when a pony's emotions exert enough force to initially encourage them to break into song in order to share their excess with others, and if the resulting pull is strong enough, to drag everypony nearby into a spontaneous performance. For obvious reasons, it's easier for positive emotions to do this, and such variants always reward participants with more energy than they put into it. Sad Heartsongs, less so, but everypony tends to band together and support each other after one of those."
"Heartsongs" are a popular fanon explanation/term for it, with the exact in-universe mechanics thereof varying by author (or not addressed at all aside from the term).
Y'know, I was worried when Sunset regressed to old habits in the last 2 chapters, but my god am I happy that Cadence is here. A fully unique view to knock these 2 out of their respective trenches of thought.
Considering Twilight is a filly right now, I'm pretty sure Pinkie is also around. It would have made sense if we hadn't already seen her family in the show.
"Heartsongs" are a popular fanon explanation/term for it, with the exact in-universe mechanics thereof varying by author (or not addressed at all aside from the term).
Makes perfect sense to me, Fight Song sounds like it would make for a perfectly cromulent Heartsong.
I can't recall where I came upon it, but there was something with Hermione and Twilight singing the praises of their shared enthusiasm for books. Presumably to the tune of "Gold Gold Gold Gold" or perhaps other favourite dwarven songs about gold.
If you can directly prove the existence of the bonds of love (in all of its various forms) then you arguably should be able to detect a Heartsong too.
This suggests that you might be able to trigger a Heartsong on demand, though perhaps not be able to direct one.
Trigger it in the crowd around you. If it needs a bunch of free floating magic in the air and strong feeling feelings then you just need a way to detect strong emotions and a way to quickly flood the area with magic.
Has a non-alicorn used the Royal Canterlot Voice? It sounds(heh) like it could be a combination of magic from all three tribes, lung capacity and constitution to withstand it from Earth Ponies, Pegasi magic aiding in dispersion and reach with Unicorn magic for added control and power.
Well, that was an earlier test than expected! (The fact that Sunset would no doubt do the same shall undoubtedly have no bearing on her evaluation of that response as childish)
Theoretically the 3 month deadline could explain why Celestia wanted to delay asking for a while before Cadence pushed her into it. I doubt that that's actually the case, but it is vaguely justifiable.
"You ponies are the single cutest intelligent species I have ever encountered, and likely will ever encounter. You come with automatic empathic musical numbers. That's adorable!"
I chose to take it as a compliment rather than condescension. I tossed my head with pretend arrogance and sniffed haughtily.
"Even a Visitor agrees that ponies are the greatest, I see. It is no wonder that you should wish to imitate our excellence."
And I didn't even have anypony whom I could possibly complain to.
My eyes fell on Cadance, and I reassessed my own thought. The Alicorn nervously leaned away and almost escaped her seat altogether, apparently unnerved by whatever she saw in my gaze.
Cadance is about to regret the fact that she befriended Sunset more than she regretted not befriending Sunset.
And meanwhile, Sunset is making the "Plotting Calvin" face since she just realized that she has a peer she can talk to. Even if she's not about to admit that part yet.
On the upside, Cadance is about to get a crash course in misconceptions and palatial intrigue as Sunset is a great source of both.
Most ponies start to look uneasy once I pull out the sticks and string, and they usually make excuses to be somewhere else before I even finish the first ten connections. Pinboards weren't received any better.
"She isn't freeing any extra time until three months from now," I said darkly. "I don't doubt that she'll fall for somepony's sob story and break even that promise."
Cadance continued staring for several long seconds before letting out an unhappy huff.
"You know what? Forget helping you talk to her until later. I'll yell at her myself."
When Celestia's ears stop ringing, she is going to be really bucking proud & impressed that her subjects are willing to take a stand to her. Or something.
I didn't even put those two facts together. There's just going to be an expanding blastwave when that spell drops.
Hey, didn't sunset say it's a good evidence of tampering? I have a sudden suspicion that Celestia is about to return, will gently undo the spell so she can talk to sunset about why leaving the hospital early is a bad idea... only to get blasted into the wall as an entire sentence's worth of RCV is deployed all at once.
