Save me… Please, save me from this place…
A ghastly voice beckoned through complete darkness. Amore had trekked through the void in haste, desperate to find its origin.
But no matter how far she galloped or how keenly she honed on the sound, it rang farther from her. It was like it echoed from a faraway place where it seemed hopeless for her to reach.
Amore’s heart went ablaze at her pessimism. The outcome of abandoning the distressed voice was something Amore would never relent to. So, she heaved her body forth again, hoping to draw closer. Even when she felt something strange tugging her down, she powered through its grasp and heaved forward.
Black tendrils had encroached from the empty void and wounded across Amore’s body. But even then, she continued to push forward. She wouldn’t abandon the voice. Though she knew nothing of its source, whether or not dangerous, she would persist for its sake.
Save me… Please, save me from this place…
“It’s okay,” Amore spoke, her voice ragged from her struggle from the crushing tendrils. “I’m coming. Just please, tell me where to find you.”
Save me… Please…
Mother… Mother… Mother!
“Wha…” Amore’s eyes peeled open before a bright light. The flash of light burned Amore’s eyes for only a moment before being saved by the shadow of her daughter. Princess Cadance stared down upon her with troubled violet eyes.
“Mother,” Cadance said, pulling down a blanket draped beneath Amore’s neck.
Amore finally remembered that she was in bed. After her long trip to the Crystal Castle, she became fatigued and resigned for the day at a guest room.
“It’s okay,” Cadance said, rubbing off beads of sweat from her mother’s forehead. “You just had a nightmare.”
Amore raised on her haunch and darted her eyes through the luxurious crystalline room with grand furnishings. Though she felt relieved to be out of that darkness, a part of her wanted to delve back to find that voice. She took a breath to collect herself.
“Thank you, Cadance,” Amore said with a frail smile. “I don’t know why my mind would disturb me like that.”
Cadance pulled her mother’s head beneath her chin, grooming Amore’s frazzled mane with a hoof. “All that matters is that it’s over. You’ll never have to deal with them alone as long as you’re around your friends and family.”
“And I plan to never leave them again,” Amore said. “Well, once I remember who those friends and family are, that is.”
Cadance kissed her mother’s forehead. “We’ll take it one day at a time. For now, how about we have breakfast?”
The crystalline halls enchanted Amore. Its shimmering luster across the constructs of the castle filled her with the imagination walking through a bejeweled palace that should exist only in fabled stories. Did she truly hail from a magnificent place like this?
“You’re going to love what I have prepared for you,” Cadance said with an ounce of giddiness escaping her voice. “I cooked all the dishes that you used to make for me when I was a little foal.”
“Ah, so I know how to cook,” Amore said. “That is assuring. It would be a shame if I couldn’t provide for my daughter.”
“Your casserole was to die for. I still can remember the time when I snuck in the frigid pantry to gobble the leftovers.” Cadance brushed the back of her head and giggled. “I’m sure I was difficult to manage. My old nanny went crazy over all the shenanigans I pulled.”
“Nonsense, I expect a little misadventure of the young. Parenting is a journey of its own kind.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
They eventually entered the dining hall of the castle. A long table sat in the middle was mostly vacant of creatures except for Shining Armor and Flurry Heart seated at an end.
“Oh, you’re finally back,” Shining Armor said after spoon-feeding Flurry Heart. “That took longer than expected.”
“Was I gone for too long?” Cadance said as she and her mother took a seat near them. “I’m sorry. Time seems to fly by when I’m with mother.”
“She was only two halls down,” Shining pointed out. “Let me guess, you took the scenic route, didn’t you?”
“There’s a scenic route?” Amore asked. “Are you certain? I found nothing grand during our walk. Well, grander than the crystals around.”
“Anyway,” Cadance changed the subject. “Mother, try the casserole I’ve prepared. It tastes just like how you used to make it.”
“My, that is quite the bold claim to make,” Amore observed a slice of Cadance’s cooked casserole on a plate before her. Its amalgamated layers of cheese, scrambled eggs, and vegetables released charming steam into her snout, enticing Amore’s belly.
“It’s not often you cook,” Shining said, feeding Flurry another spoonful of her casserole. “I think it’s been some months since I’ve ever seen you in the kitchen.”
“Oh, don’t be pouty,” Cadance said. “This is a special occasion.”
Shining sighed and moved the spoon from Flurry’s constant lunges. “Of course, Honey. Though it was a rare sight to you in that polka dot apron I bought you long ago. Reminds me of our time at my mother’s kitchen.”
“You two have cooked together?” Amore asked. “That’s so adorable.”
“Yeah,” Cadance said, averting her gaze from her mother. “You could say that.”
Flurry suddenly became restless, shuffling about in her highchair to reach the table. Amore noted the young princess staring at her with curious eyes. Shining settled the filly back on the highchair and rubbed her cheek.
“Don’t move around like that, Flurry,” Shining warned. “You can play with Granny Amore after breakfast.”
“She’s a tenacious little one, isn’t she?” Amore said.
“Flurry is very expressive,” Cadance said. “It’s a good thing her Crystaller taught her control of her magic. The first few months were utter chaos.”
“I’m aware foals can be erratic with their magic. Surely it wasn’t that bad?”
“It sure was,” Shining confirmed with a nod. “Our Flurry jeopardized the security of the castle numerous times with her magic.”
“That day when she made all of our guards fall for each other is still vivid in my memories,” Cadance said. “It happened the day after I read her a romantic story about the prince frog and mare.”
“I didn’t enjoy that one.” Shining deadpanned.
“At least there was a silver lining to all of it. Sunburst taught her to undo all accidents she has caused. It’s because of that her control of her magic has improved.”
“Our home just so happened to be a victim of her misadventures for it to happen,” Shining added. “But enough about that. Princess Amore or uh… Mother? What should I call you?”
“Mother is fine,” Amore said after taking a bite of her casserole. “You are my son-in-law. I expect nothing less.”
“Wow, I’m honestly surprised how easily you are taking things.”
“Barely anything can faze mother,” Cadance proudly said. “It’s why she’s such an outstanding leader. She has this aura around her that makes ponies feel safe and comfortable to share anything with her.”
“Am I now?” Amore asked. “That is quite the talent to live up to. I would be lying if I said I was not anxious to disappoint you.”
“Don’t worry, mother,” Shining said. “All you need to worry about is recuperating yourself one day at a time. Speaking of which, what do you have planned for today?”
“Well, none of my memory has yet to come back to me. I was hoping to take a stroll around the Empire. Perhaps there is a place that could procure a trigger. However, I’m not sure how I will feel about being stared at by every pony.”
“I could come with you,” Cadance offered. “It can a mother-daughter date. It’ll be just like we used to do at nights before you blanketed me to bed.”
“As nice as that sounds,” Shining said. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible today. You recall that you have a meeting with the dragons and changelings for the afternoon, don’t you?”
The excitement that suddenly kindled Cadance’s face had dulled. “Ugh, you mean the trade agreements. Can’t you take care of it for me?”
Shining shook his head. “Not possible. I promised Flurry to take her to the indoor playground today. To break a promise to my daughter would be the greatest dishonor to a stallion.”
“How about we trade spots then?” Cadance suggested. “I’m sure Thorax would be thrilled to speak with-”
“Cadance,” Amore’s voice halted her daughter. “It’ll be okay. There will be other times for us to spend together. I don’t plan on leaving you again. So please honor your duties as Princess.”
Cadance raised her hoof before she would attempt a counter. However, her voice fell silent and then sighed. She frowned at her mother’s gentle smile. “Okay, mother.”
“Thank you, Cadance. And while you are attending to your duties, I shall assist Shining at this indoor playground.”
“You hear that, Flurry,” Shining spoke to Flurry. Her sky blues eyes trained on Amore. “Your grandmother is coming with us to the playground.”
Flurry made rowdy shuffles in her seat. If not for the safety belt strapped on the highchair, the filly would have pounced upon grandmother by now. Flurry groaned in frustration in her endeavor to escape her seat.
“Flurry, calm down,” Shining told her. “You’re going to push the chair over.”
“Why not let her out?” Amore suggested.
“You sure about that? I think it’s obvious what Flurry plans to do if she goes free.”
“I know,” Amore chuckled. “And I’m quite fine with it.”
Shining paused briefly on Amore’s words and then shrugged. He undid the belts on Flurry, prompting the little princess to soar and descend upon Amore. Flurry’s grandmother welcomed the filly with open arms, giggling at her constant squirming in her hooves.
“My, this place is wondrous,” Amore commented about the inside of a building she, Flurry, and Shining entered. She awed at the colorful tubes, ball pits, and nets elegantly strewed across most of the large room. “I feel as though I have stumbled into the dream of a foal.”
Flurry dived into the ball pits as a legion of foals gathered around her. While Flurry became acquainted with her friends, Amore followed Shining to a lounge space where many mares observed the foal from afar.
“Last year, there was a surplus of tax leftover from reconstructions,” Shining explained. “Cadance noticed all the usual playgrounds around the empire had crumbled from an incident during the Crystalling. We could have simply rebuilt them to their former glory, but Cadance wanted to make something grand for Flurry and the foals to revel in.”
“That was very kind of her,” Amore said. “But do you suppose the residents are fine with this choice of distribution?”
“To a minimum, yes,” he admitted. “However, Cadance won the hearts of the mass with a passionate speech. She knows the right words to tug at their heartstrings.”
Amore watched Flurry play with the foals, climbing in pipes and venturing over the nets hanging over the ball pit. The foals followed behind Flurry like a vassal, joining her quest across the course.
“I’ve noticed that Flurry has a knack for adventure,” Shining said. “She always appears to be the first to head into things before her peers. Something tells me she would make a bold leader in the future.”
“Is that what Flurry desires?” Amore questioned.
“No clue.” Shining shrugged. “She still has a lot of time to figure that out. But whatever she decides, I’ll give her my undying support.”
“You make a wonderful father,” Amore commented. “And I believe the other mares have taken notice of that as well.” Amore nodded towards onlookers of mares, making brief glances and giggles at them from their tables.
Shining averted his gaze from the mares, using his bangs to hide his face. “I really wish they would stop doing that.”
“Don’t be like that,” Amore chuckled. “They just find you admirable. Hey, how we go over to greet them. They seem like nice mares.”
Shining shook his head. “No way. I’ve done it once and I’ve regretted it since.”
Before Amore could dig into Shining’s experience, Flurry Heart had strolled by her grandmother’s side. The filly tugged on Amore’s hoof as if to beckon her to follow. “Would you like for me to join you?” Amore asked.
“Don’t be so demanding, Flurry,” Shining told his daughter. “She’ll play with you when she’s ready.”
“It’s quite alright.” Amore flapped a hoof before Shining. “To be honest, I’ve been itching to give these old bones an exercise.”
Amore followed her granddaughter to the playground where Flurry’s vassal of foals gathered around her. The curious young ones beheld Amore’s towering height as some attempted to climb up her hooves. She stood enamored by their wondrous spirit, delighted, and applauded them for their ascension atop her back.
Shining sat baffled at Amore’s eagerness for the swarming foals. With barely a minute passing, Amore had molded amongst the foals.
His ears perked to the voices of mares bearing witness of the Princess’s playful display of carrying the foals about the course.
“She’s just as carefree as I remembered her.”
“You think Princess Amore will let me get a picture of her with my son?”
Shining Armor watched her mother-in-law frolic with Flurry and the many foals. Amore staggered at the many contraptions of the playground, allowing the foals to explain its use in their excited voices. She then engaged in many games thought up by the foals, complying with whatever role they picked for her.
Amore and the foals played games of hide-n-seek and cat-and-mouse. Shining quirked a brow at how passionate Amore got into them. For a mare that is rumored to be grand and elegant, she had no qualms to play the feral cat to thrill the hearts of the foals.
“Wow,” Shining chuckled. “She’s a real natural at this.”
During their game of cat-and-mouse, Amore cornered Flurry Heart at the exterior of the colorful tubes. Amore purred and gave a cat smile to her helpless granddaughter. Whether Flurry made a break for it on her hooves or soar to the air, they both knew Amore had chipped enough distance to catch her with a single lunge.
Amore made dramatic steps towards Flurry, pandering to the suspense between them. Her granddaughter made high-pitch giggles, charming Amore more to catch and coddle the filly in her grasp. She would drown the cute filly with many kisses.
However, Flurry provoked Amore with a bold grin. The filly harnessed a canary aura around her horn, prompting caution in Amore. After hearing mentions of her granddaughter’s hazardous feats with her magic, Amore felt compelled to steel herself.
Flurry triggered a flash before Amore. It blinded Amore, forcing her to protect her stung eyes. The light was swift to dissipate. And when Amore opened her eyes, her granddaughter was nowhere in sight.
“Flurry,” Amore called. She looked about her surroundings, hoping to find another flash to reveal her granddaughter’s whereabouts. But Flurry emitted no light.
“Flurry,” Amore called again. “Where’d you go, dear?”
The lustrous light of the sun and crystals rinsed over the blush garden within an opening of the Crystal Castle. Amore remembered her sitting between fields of roses, some crystalline and some natural.
She remembered walking to the garden to sate the fervor of her daughter. Little Cadance riled a hectic cry in Amore’s chamber. Amore wanted to review the bills drafted by her senates in quiet, but her poor daughter grew weary of her many toys in her crib. Resigning to her daughter’s cry, Amore knew a place in the castle that would always calm her filly.
Amore permitted Little Cadance to walk a few feet from her to play in the flush foliage of the Crystal Garden. Her daughter made a habit of collecting the plants and adorn them in her mane.
Amore would rise and reign her daughter in when drifted too far. Little Cadance groaned and rebelled against her mother’s grasp. She dared to even make a gallop away to a faraway field of roses, but Amore whisked her daughter back to her side with magic. Peeved, little Cadance attempted to punish her mother with gnaws from her small teeth.
“Please don’t be difficult, Caddy,” Amore sighed, her face forlorn and tired. She whisked a collection of flowers above little Cadance’s mane and wounded them into a beautiful circlet of crystal and life. “Here, why not enjoy this?”
The trinket in Amore’s magic captivated little Cadance and happily welcomed it atop her head. The filly then skipped around her mother, stopping a few times to readjust her flower circlet.
Relieved to have stopped her daughter’s tantrum, Amore settled around the garden and propped her chin atop her forehooves. A yawn escaped her, but she kept her eyes fixed on her daughter.
Amore found it astonishing how her daughter could smile so easily. She envied the filly’s innocence, wishing she could let her mind wander aimlessly. But she was stuck. Like a whirlpool, it would always pull her back to that event. To where the bliss in her life started cracking and splintering.
“Is there a reason you’re out here?” A voice pulled Amore from her heavy thoughts. She recognized a cyan mare had strode beside her.
“Lady Turquoise,” Amore acknowledged. “As you can see, I am offering my daughter a chance to unwind.”
Lady Turquoise glanced at the playful filly, her eyes neutral and uncaring. “I see. Then I presume you have reviewed the proposed bills?”
“I will finish them in time, Lady Turquoise. For now, let me be a mother.”
“You are both mother and princess,” Turquoise countered. “You could make the former so much easier if you’d simply hired a nanny.”
“I’m sure any mare would jump at the chance to nurture my precious Cadance. But what she needs most is the love of her mother.”
“She’s not even a year old, Princess. Cadance does not share the same pain as you.”
Amore furrowed her brow but continued to keep her sights on Little Cadance frolicking in the garden. “What do you want?”
“What I and every pony want is for you to move on from your depression. We have respected you with a month to mourn, but you must carry on with your duties, efficiently.”
“I have attended all the senate meetings, I have listened to the requests of my ponies, and the crystal heart continues to shine its barrier over the empire. Where have I not been efficient?”
“For one, your negotiations with the Yaks. It would serve best for Equestria to improve its relationship with our neighboring countries. And as I recall, you have smitten the young prince of the Yaks with your presence.”
“I will not remarry,” Amore declared, emphasizing her defiance with a glare.
Lady Turquoise, however, was unfazed. “I know this doesn’t sound appealing to you, but you must think for what is best for Equestria.”
“What you’re asking is for me to taint my love with a creature I don’t share the same with. That love was meant for one stallion, and now I must honor it.”
“You can learn to love him the same way. It is possible to have more than one.”
“I wish to share it with only one.”
“And you think that is best for the Empire? Do you believe that will ensure the security of your ponies?”
“I did not come out here to be lectured about my leadership. If you have nothing pleasant to share, then I urge you to continue your day elsewhere. I wish to be alone with my… where’s Cadance?”
Amore looked about her surroundings, but her daughter was nowhere in sight. She raised from the garden and galloped about the field.
“Cadance!?” Amore called. “Cadance!? Where are you!?”
“Mother!” Amore woke to the sound of Shining Armor in her ear. He shook Amore’s body and continued his call, “Hey, mother! Snap out of it!”
“What?” Amore shook her head, immediately craning it with a hoof after a sharp pang emerged from her head. “What happened?”
“Flurry teleported off somewhere,” Shining informed her. “Help me find her.”
Amore noted the mares from the lounge tables have scoured across the building with their foals. Each called the name of Amore’s granddaughter, anxiety drenched in their faces. She felt her body grow heavy, weighed down by overwhelming dread.
“Yes,” Amore stuttered. “I shall.”
Shining Armor hurried to the entrance of the building. “I’m going to gather guards to form a search party. You keep looking around here just in case she comes back.”
When Shining exited the building, Amore joined the search with the residents. They looked through the tubes and beams beneath the ceiling, but the young princess was nowhere to be seen.
The surrounding ponies grew more frantic the longer their young princess remained hidden. Amore recalled how Cadance described her to be unyielding through any predicament, but Amore could not find the strength to feign confidence. She was no different from the mares and foals who became consumed by angst.
After checking around the tubes again, Amore paused at a strange feeling. An amalgam of darkness and sorrow that was quick to vex her.
Like a moth drawn to a lantern, Amore followed the aura of this feeling as if hypnotized. She found herself outside the building, rounding it into a small alleyway of crystal and litter. She continued through the narrow path until she reached a dead end.
She discovered a figure, hooded in red, lurking at the side of an ore dumpster. The figure moved with caution, slow and steady. In moments, Amore could make out a small pink foal cowering away from the hooded figure.
“It’s okay, Flurry,” the figure said. “I won’t hurt you. I only wish to guide you back to your family.”
Amore stepped closer without making a sound. Upon closer look, she discovered the pink foal to be her granddaughter, Flurry Heart.
“Flurry,” Amore called, earning the attention of her granddaughter and the hooded figure.
“Princess Amore,” the figure said.
Amore gaped at the figure, finally recognizing the voice of the figure. “Sombra, is that you?”
Flurry Heart rushed over to Amore and hid behind her forelegs. Amore calmed the filly with a rub of her hoof. “You found Flurry for us,” Amore said. “Thank you. But how did you know she was missing?”
Sombra’s emerald eyes seeped under his hood. Amore could sense the sadness in his eyes as it looked upon the frightened little princess.
“Ever since you left the castle, I’ve been following you,” Sombra confessed. “I wasn’t in my intention to do so, but…”
“I suppose this has to do with you formerly being a tyrant,” she concluded. “But if they allowed you to run free, then they must have trust in you.”
“I don’t know about that. Even with good intentions, I have frightened Flurry as well.”
“Why not take off the hood?” Amore suggested as she hoisted Flurry in her hoof. “Don’t you know how foals are wary of strangers? … Wait, did you say as well?”
“That’s right.” Sombra lowered his hood and revealed his face to the two princesses. “This moment was not our first.”
“It was during a day I let Cadance play at the gardens, was it? I remember getting distracted in a discussion with somepony. Cadance had run off chasing after a butterfly and somehow ended up in the alleys of the city.”
“You remember that,” Sombra said, surprised. “Can you tell me anything else?”
“I remember sending my guards to look for her and joined in the effort as well. Just when I feared the worst, I found you standing in a dark alley just like this. I saw you trying to persuade Cadance to come out of a toppled barrel, but she wouldn’t budge until she saw me.”
“The events are uncanny, aren’t they?” Sombra chuckled, yet Amore recognized the somber in his voice. “I guess some things never change.”
“Pessimistic as always.” Amore shook her head. “Then I guess it falls to me to prove you wrong.”
Sombra quirked a brow. “What do you mean?”
Amore whisked Flurry Heart onto her back and began her exit from the alley. “Come with me,” she said. “We’re going to spend some time at the castle.”
