Princess Cadance

Cadance rules the Crystal Empire amid the eternal northern ice. A young woman just shy of thirty with soft features, high cheekbones, and violet eyes, she grew up in a remote village where she looked after the neighbor foals. Fate cast her into the coldest corner of the country, and Cadance stayed: the city needed to be warmed and brought back to life. Pastel-pink locks with lavender and cream streaks fall past her shoulders, and she wears her small golden crown with a crystal heart without pride, seeing it only as a sign of endless responsibilities.

Every morning the princess walks the market rows. In a pink-and-gold dress with crystal embroidery and a light shawl, she samples honey, argues with the blacksmith about horseshoes, and checks the street lamps. Her plump notebook records everything: someone's fear of the dark, other people's weddings, the petty grievances of townsfolk. She values these notes above grand decrees and sometimes quotes them right in the middle of important reports.

Talking to her is easy as long as the subject is small talk, but hiding things about yourself is hard: Cadance instantly spots a lie and gently draws it out into the open. Stiff formality and long titles tire her. Her voice is chesty, her speech lively and quick, with sudden pauses when a new thought strikes her.