Solaria

Lies and slander.

These are mine. I've set giant mouse traps around them while I go try to take over the world with powers I can't possibly understand, and will likely lose control of.

Cadence nodded once curtly, smiling at Luna's wink and levitating the chest before walking to the doorway. "It's in good hooves. Madam Bistro, I'll be waiting with the cab outside. We can't delay too much longer or we'll miss the Friendship Express! Everypony else, thank you for the company and conversation. I hope I all see you again soon!" With that she moved outside to stand near the stallion and his cab, settling the packed crown neatly into the back seat. (Going to make my exit here, thanks!)

After realizing that the shop was getting rather crowded, Cadence gathered her fudge close and checked the time. She'd already been here much longer than she'd thought! At this rate she wouldn't be able to get to the few things she'd set out to do today, but if she hurried she still might make it. Trotting up to the front counter, she left a generous pile of bits and made her way toward the door. "Sweet Surprise, thanks again for the hospitality and the fudge! It's delicious. Polaris, always a pleasure. Everypony else, thank you for the company as well. Prince Blueblood..." She paused for a moment, thinking. "Stay glorious. Have a wonderful day all!" she finished before flitting out the door, her bright tail whipping out of sight around a shop corner. (Aaaand I'm going to exit there, thanks!)

Oh I've got something with a perfect Rarity likeness with which you can play.

I'm sorry to hear that Silver. Best of luck to her, you, and yours. Serious situation, so I'll just... *insert some witty comment here.*

Shorts huh? Found it. I feel like there was something I needed to tell you about roleplaying Lyra... Nope. Guess not. Go and have a blast.

On 12/21/2012, I will be laughing as I actually end the world. It will be pastry-related.

Oh, everypony knows what I would do

Seeing a donut shop on the way to work, realizing I had enough time to go inside, and pulling a hard U-Turn to obtain said donuts. Also getting a ferret in the past month. Also getting a nice amount of sleep last night. And not working tomorrow. Who am I kidding, all my days are pretty fantastic. Congratulations on the wedding, Volty. I had no idea you were in so deep. ..... I definitely won't be hiding in the cake. OH! And Weesh has a pony avatar? What delightful madness is this?

I'll make sure to hoof the new Spike a Cadence doll with which to play.

Cadence blushed slightly when she was told that Dr. Tale had no idea who the filly was. They had walked in at almost the exact same time, and like always she'd made the mistake of assuming things. She had to get better about that. Maybe then she wouldn't get reminded of the habit so often back at the castle. "I'm sorry Dr. Tale," she said quickly. "I just always think that ponies who come into places like this, looking like they're together, always know one another. This shop has that feel of a special place that not too many know about unless they've already been before, if you know what I mean... Although I suppose the big SALE sign does help it stand out a bit today." Turning her attention to the filly, the empathic alicorn caught a glimpse of the apprehension in her eyes and turned on one of her warmest smiles. She was always meeting such nervous colts and fillies these days! "I would love to introduce you to Duke Polaris as soon as he's done entertaining my cousin's attention," Cadence said quietly to the curator stallion. "I apologize for my split attentions, just a perk of royalty you know," she added with a tiny grin before looking at Whirley. "Did you come to get some fudge too?" she asked, bringing her order down with a soft glimmer of magic. "You can try some of my daisy fudge if you'd like, it's wonderful! If not, I'm sure Sweet would love to help you after her new guest there." The princess had noticed the most recent arrival and her very interesting contraption, but to try and speak with more than just the two ponies she was already engaged with might be seen as rude, regardless of royal duties or station.

*waves* Bye skropion.

"Of course!" Cadence responded quickly to her aunt's question. "I'll be taking it to the royal historian as soon as I return home!" She turned away slightly, admonishing herself under her breath. "Why didn't I think of that before? There's probably lots of replicas and everything around Equestria, and I just go and automatically assume this is the right one! Ugh, so dumb sometimes..." Resisting the urge to smack a hoof into her face, the princess gently took hold of the crown again and levitated it back over the chest before strapping it inside. She was always too quick to believe things sometimes, so excitable. There was probably a lot of truth to when advisors told her she still had plenty learn when it came to royal duties. Years bred experience after all. With a quick glance to the waiting cab outside, she stood beside her aunt once more with a set expression. "Unless you need me for anything else Princess Luna, I'll be on my way back to the castle to get this piece verified and secured. I have a very patient gentlecolt waiting just outside to ferry myself, Madam Bistro, and our cargo to the Friendship Express, unless you think I should summon a guard detail."

Cadence couldn't help her jaw dropping slightly as she heard Ice Storm's story unfold. She hadn't even had a good school experience? Granted, her own had been somewhat boring, but never bad. What in the world would have possessed young fillies and colts to treat a classmate that way? The mare highly doubted that it was something terrible that Ice had done, and even if she'd made a few ponies uncomfortable that was no reason to spit on or do horrible things to the unicorn. She didn't want to interrupt, seeing as how this was a rather impromptu counseling session, so the princess resigned herself to listen and learn as best she could. She hadn't exactly lead a sheltered foalhood due to her desire to be out and among her subjects, but sometimes situations like this were still new to her. What really, truly baffled her however, was that Ice seemed to claim that her parents had stopped loving her. It couldn't be possible, strong love just didn't go away, expecially for one's own filly. Cadence narrowed her eyes and squared her shoulders, determined to listen to Ice Storm's every detail and get to the bottom of the mystery. If she had to, she'd use her own powers to discover the truth.

Cadence watched idly as a few new ponies trotted in, most likely seeking the same thing she had: the fudge sale. As Rose had begun speaking with Polaris again, the mare found herself watching the arrivals curiously. The stallion was smartly dressed, and the filly seemed slightly confused, if not nervous. Before she could even say anything, however, the gentlecolt introduced himself as Dr. Spin Tale and admitted that he had attempted to attend the CRPR Open House, a comment that brightened Cadence's neutral expression considerably. "Really?" she said with enthusiasm. "It turned out much better than I had hoped, actually. We had a few... hiccups... but overall the get-together ended pretty smoothly." She had either forgotten that her cousin was nearly right at her side, or more likely didn't mind that he was hearing her talk in the "common tongue." It was something she'd had to practice since fillyhood, speaking properly, but she enjoyed the ease that everypony else spoke with, how full of emotion the words were. Also, it was a little harder to get ponies to understand you when using the Royal Canterlot Voice. "I actually might have one of those pamphlets with me still," the princess added, rummaging around in her saddlebag and tugging various odds and ends around the sack to try and find it. "It has most of the information I discussed, just with less presentation and snacks." A small wrapped chocolate? No. Monogrammed hoofkerchief? Not quite. Cadence sifted through several more documents and odd objects, the most interesting being a spare tarnished hoofguard from Celestia knows when, before she found the pamphlet neatly folded and buried in the farthest corner of her bag. She kept a wing slightly extended over the contents this entire time, her rose muzzle darkening to crimson as she noticed just how many things she'd accumulated in her saddlebag. Where had all this come from? Not that it really mattered. She turned and hoofed it to Dr. Tale. "Here you go!" she said brightly. "Did you have any particular questions for the CRPR? We're always open to feedback, and I'd love to know what you think or what we could do better." Her eyes fell again on the young filly edging toward the doorway. "Is that your friend back there?" the royal mare added with a warm smile.

Cadence watched Martini go through a bit of an internal struggle, her dealings in empathy causing her to read the minute facial expressions most ponies didn't notice, although she did it more than she probably should. It was a little hard to turn off once learned. She would do her best to be friendly and laid-back, however, as she'd gotten this reaction before: ponies who wondered just how far they could relax around royalty. Cadence wasn't her aunts, and though she recognized that a certain formality had to be upheld at times, this wasn't one of them. "Of course," the mare said airily with a smirk, taking another sip from her wine glass as it tinkled with sound from the contact with her husband's. "A young princess and the future poster boy of the REA? By high school standards, it was bound to happen! We all know that the social hierarchy of students directly translates into one's standing post-schooling..." In truth, she had always appreciated how sincere and dedicated Shining had been, even at that confused age. It had impressed the more naive Cadence, and somewhat played upon her fantastical ideal of how a perfect stallion should be. After all, she'd only had stories and books to go from before she'd actually attended school. As she finished the last of her delicious wine, she turned back to their barsmare companion. "Martini, if you don't mind I'd like something with a little fire to it. You said your family served fruity drinks, right? I think I'll ask to be impressed," she teased lightly. "I'd like to really get the night started, since my husband seems oh so hesitant."

Cadence's smile somewhat froze on her face when she saw her regal and beautiful Aunt Luna canter into the shop. Her ethereal mane flowed in a wash of her own natural aura, something the pink alicorn couldn't hope to achieve for a long time yet, and her armored accessories were polished to a gleam. Very discreetly, Cadence summoned her magic to smooth her own hair just a bit more into perfect position. It wouldn't do to be anything less than regal in her aunt's presence. "It may actually be just a few moments," the princess said in an aside to the cab driver, indicating the other royal mare before turning her attention to Madam Bistro. "I'm afraid it might be. I perfectly understand if you would like to hurry ahead so you don't miss your train, I won't keep you if you have somewhere you need to go." She waited politely for the other ponies to finish their introductions before moving forward herself, inclining her head toward her aunt then straightening with a smile. "Princess Luna, a pleasant surprise to see you here!" she said warmly, opting to stay formal as they weren't alone and removed in the castle, and she thought Luna might prefer it. "Did you also receive news of the amazing artifact that Pigpen managed to procure recently? It's quite a find," she added, opening the chest and levitating Princess Platinum's crown into the air for the Princess of the Night to inspect.

Cadence gave a gentle pat to the filly's shoulder as she offered to add her own magic to the mix, leaning down a little to converse with the smaller pony once more. After all, the situation was relatively volatile as it was. "Don't worry, I'm sure Heart Healer has it well under control. If she needs help though, why don't you use your magic to help me stabilize them? That way we can be doubly sure that we'll bump them back up to where they need to be. If not, there might be a lot more tears than anypony here wants to deal with..." As she looked on to the impromptu counseling session, a thought began to form in the back of the princess's mind. Didn't she offer something to Ice Storm at the end of the CRPR Open House? She wracked her memory trying to recall it, as whatever it was had seemed to make the mare happy at the time. If nothing else, it gave her something to do while she waited for the empathic unicorn to do her work on the distressed Ice.

*waves* Have fun.

Ice Storm's response only further solidified Cadence's beliefs, and she inwardly shook her head. She might be able to promote love and feelings associated with it, but this seemed to be far beyond her reach. She wouldn't even know where to begin to start helping the unicorn. Thankfully, trained professionals like Heart Healer would likely have an easier time with it. At least she hoped so... "Well, I hope she does accept. If you can help her in any way maybe we can finally get to the root of the problems and start mending the trouble between Canterlot and our friend here," the alicorn said to Heart. "You must have had several horrible experiences here to get this way, and I'm sorry on behalf on everypony here," she added, turning back to Ice. She wondered where the little filly from before had gotten off to, but then again this situation was rather important. One of her new friends might just resign herself to dejection and misery, and she wouldn't let it happen while she was around.

"Well, you know me Prince Blueblood," Cadence answered the her cousin in a somewhat flat, falsely-cheery tone. "I always have to be a rebel and walk around Canterlot..." She mentally slapped herself and wiped her face clean of anything but a perky smile and continued. "After all, sunshine and fresh air are wonderful for maintaining a coat with my coloration. I wouldn't want to look anything less than presentable at any given time, considering our aesthetic duties to our subjects. I'll admit I'm envious of your ability to do so effortlessly." Confident that she'd been complimentary and polite enough to allow Polaris to take over the conversation with her stately unicorn relative, the alicorn stepped back a little and flicked an ear while listening to Rose's quiet question. As long as she'd known him, the Duke had been skilled at verbal discourse; she nodded slowly. "I guess so. His position definitely requires that he be rather skilled like he is, and I can't really hope to compare in that department. I mean I can be polite and witty, but his vocabulary just exceeds mine by a fair amount. Better him than me though," she added, speaking the last part in a whisper. "It seems like my cousin is a little miffed today."