//------------------------------// // Answers from Cadance, Rarity's warning, and Wisdom of the Archangel. // Story: Joy of hidden Love and the Wrath of Lust. // by FoxofRarity //------------------------------// Joy of hidden Love and the Wrath of Lust By.FoxofRarity Chapter. 41 Disclaimer-My little Pony Friendship is Magic belongs to Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Princess Cadance took the picture and began to trot to the gardens so she can talk with Octavia. “I wonder what she’ll say about the picture or how will she react?” Cadance spoke loudly in her lovely mind. But before she knew it Luna landed in front of her while the tortoise on Luna’s back fell off. “OH! Sorry Tank.” Luna’s horn glowed in picking up Tank and placing him on her back. “Luna, what a pleasant surprise.” Cadance replied. “Yeah sure, listen whatever you do, don’t show Octavia that photo you found.” Cadance jerked her head back in surprise. “How did you know about that photo I found??” Luna rolled her eyes. “Well gee let me see, oh yeah we’re Alicorns! Our minds are connected remember! I guess since you were very busy paying attention to Celli’s mind you didn’t feel me check out your thoughts and found out about that photo you found in that book.” Luna horn’s glowed in getting the photo from Cadance’s grip. “How come you don’t want me to show her that photo?” Princess Cadance asked in seeing the photo get taken away from her. Luna’s ears dropped. “Because the least I can do for him is preserve his honor and not make Octavia question everything she knows of him.” *Poof* Luna teleported before Cadance had the chance to say anything else. “How rude.” Cadance continued her way to where Octavia is still playing the sonata. Octavia pressed her bow harder onto the strings of her cello, the force made every note rise to high pitch screams. Her hoof moved faster increasing the tempo of the sonata, in the blackness of her closed eyes she can see Gold Sky playing alongside with her. Huge drops of sweat ran down his brow because he hoped he can remember everything Octavia taught him. “Good bye my precious Gold Sky.” Octavia released her grip of her bow causing to fall to the soft grass and the sonata to come to an abrupt end. “Aw I was enjoying that.” Cadance exclaimed, startling Octavia who was not aware of her presence. “Oh, sorry about that your majesty, do you want me to start over again so you can enjoy it?” Octavia bent down to pick up her bow. Cadance waved a hoof. “No that’s alright my dear. Also there’s no need to be so formal, just call me by my name.” “Yes Mi Amore Candenza.” Octavia said as she laid down her bow and cello. “Not that…” Cadance placed a hoof over her mouth to keep herself from giggling. “Well yes that’s my name but I prefer if you’ll just call me Cadance.” “Of course, Cadance.” Now before anything else, Cadance’s horn glowed. A couch came down, a few silk handkerchiefs, and one of Octavia’s most recent photo albums. “Did you learn the couch thing from Rarity?” Cadance thought for a bit. “Yes I did, in fact she taught me a lot of things but I’m not here to talk about that.” Octavia knew her cue at the end of that sentence; she walked slowly towards the couch to take her place. Cadance’s horn glowed, she decided to enter Octavia’s mind to take a look at the good or clean memories she has of Gold Sky. Octavia felt the intrusion. “Cadance, why are you entering my mind?” Octavia said in a tone that had more curiosity to it then any form of aggravation. “I’m entering, wait!? How do you know I’m entering your mind?” Does everypony now know what she’s doing? “I can feel when somepony is entering my mind don’t ask how I’m able to because I just can.” Cadance thought she already seen it all. “Ok, then talk to me, tell me everything about your husband.” Octavia right eye brow rose. Cadance can’t be serious, does she not know Gold Sky’s name. Of course Octavia had to be gentle about this, after all it’s an honor to have Princess Cadance herself take the initiative to come and comfort her with her understanding of Love. “Do you know my husband’s name?” Octavia asked…gently. “His name?” Cadance now wished she asked Luna the name of Gray mare’s husband. The beautiful grayish purple eyes of the gray mare looked at her with rising disappointment. “His name is Gold Sky.” Octavia replied. “Oh sorry, about that I-I only met him once and that was a long, long time ago.” Cadance cleared her throat. “Now where were we? Ah yes. Tell me everything about your husband... I-I-I mean Gold Sky.” Those eyes again stared at her with disappointment. Octavia stayed quiet while Cadance just waited. A long quiet minute passed and Cadance saw this will not get her anywhere. “Well…don’t you wish to keep his memory alive?” Cadance asked. Octavia rubbed her belly she did not want her developing son to hear any of this, in quiet motion she tapped her head a couple of times. Cadance tilted her head. “You have a headache?” Octavia slouched her shoulders, she shook her head to that question and pointed at her head again. “Migraine?” Octavia softly placed a hoof on her forehead. “Just use your telepathy so we can talk each other because I don’t want my son to hear any of this.” Octavia pointed to her belly so Cadance can understand. A kind smile formed on Cadance’s lips. “Your baby is a colt! That’s wonderful news congratulations Octavia, I’m very happy for you.” Octavia broke eye contact. “Well to be honest I don’t know if my child is a colt. I-I want a son while Gold Sky wants a d-d-daughter.” Octavia stopped speaking but started to speak in her mind. “Celli said to me, that if I’m to move on then I should be hoping for a son because that’s what I want.” “Ah, I see what you mean but do you really know the gender of your child?” “No.” “Did you get an ultrasound yet? Because if you wish to know the gender of your child, an ultrasound is your best option and Nurse Redheart is an expert.” Octavia thought for a bit while she rubbed her belly some more, getting an ultrasound sounds like a wonderful idea but came to realize that it’s only been a few days since she found out that she's pregnant so maybe it’s too early to get one. “Maybe in a couple of weeks or months, I think it’s too early to know what gender my child is.” Cadance placed her right hoof on Octavia’s left shoulder. “Well whenever you think you’re ready, Nurse Redheart will be more than happy to do your procedure.” “She’s capable of just about anything in the medical field!” Wondered Octavia. “She is Octavia. With five hundred years of experience she’s can do anything, oh she also has a lot of advice in prenatal care.” Now that the small talk is over it’s time to talk turkey. Before starting Octavia passed a hoof over her belly again. “My dearest son.” Octavia spoke out loud. Curiosity. “If I’m not crossing any lines here but if your child is a colt what are you going to name him?” Octavia will hold fast to her decision. “Gold Sky.” Cadance tilted her head. “So you’re going to name him after your hus, err, yeeeah that sounds like a wonderful name! And if your child is a filly?” “Tavi.” A rather quick response that had a terrible taste to it, Octavia hated that name but if he wanted it then it's fine and she will get used to it, in time. Cadance thought about asking Octavia if she has any plans in the set future to remarry but from seeing those grayish purple eyes…perhaps it is not a wise choice. “Have you read my mind yet?” Octavia asked. “Huh? You want me to read your mind instead of listening to you tell me everything about him?” Octavia sighed. “All right I’ll just tell you about his love, because at least my son will hear about his daddy’s great love. The rest I want you to read from my mind. I don’t want to talk about that.” Cadance nodded. “Ok tell me about his great love, I’m all ears.” Cadance’s ears perked forward. Octavia felt her hair dance in a warm breeze, she heard a whisper but the language she did not understand at first. “His native language. I can hear it in the wind; h-he’s comforting me right now, Cadance.” Octavia closed her eyes so she can listen. “He’s singing to me…” Octavia smiled. Cadance stayed quiet. “The legends are true; the Native Equestrians do share a powerful bond with the Earth along with their bodies joining the earth rather than decomposing. But I didn’t know that they can sort of communicate with their loved ones.” Octavia opened her eyes, now she’s ready to tell Cadance everything. “Every day will be a loving day. Because not a day will go by in which Gold Sky doesn't make me feel like I’m the center of the entire universe. In the morning I will find myself in his arms and wings or I will find him in my arms with a cute smile on his lips. He loved it when I nuzzled him so he can wake up, as always he’ll pretend to still be asleep so I can nuzzle him some more. After we got up he will brush my hair along with helping me when I put on my bow tie. The nice thing about that is he never used his magic, ever. How about you Cadance? Does Shining Armor wake you up with loving nuzzles?” “Yes.” Cadance responding happily. “Going on, while I’m eating breakfast Gold Sky will prepare my lunch, get my cello, slip in some poetry he wrote himself, and will make his own lunch. After we've finished eating he’ll walk me to the train and hug me like h-he’s never going to see me again. Hmm, believe it or not Cadance I wished I never boarded the train, oh.” Octavia paused to let Cadance ask a question. “You didn’t want him to let go of you. So you interpreted his constant affection as his total love for you. Was there ever time you didn’t want so much affection?” Octavia shook her head. “I loved every moment of his affection. Any way I work at the Equestria music academy in Canterlot, I founded that academy so I can teach children and adults the beauty of music. I used the money I made from my performances plus a pink diamond Gold Sky had to buy the instruments and other things. Gold Sky on the other hand or hoof worked at the furniture delivery depot, I don’t why he chose to work there but I guess it doesn’t require much use of magic plus his partner Derpy is so amazingly funny! I will always invite Derpy, her boyfriend Soarin, and daughter Dinky Doo for dinner twice a month. I, look this will take long…Cadance you know how you, Celestia, and Luna are connected by the mind?” “Yes. I know what they’re thinking and I can see everything they’re doing through their own eyes. Right now Celestia is helping a wounded guard and Luna, hmm what’s Luna writing? Oh! She knows I’m looking at her thoughts, he-he oops!” Cadance cleared her mind. “Well Gold Sky knew both our minds were connected, we can talk to each other whenever we wanted to, he’ll tell he I love you constantly, I’ll tell him he’s my lovely heart beat, and so on. BUT! What he didn’t know is that I can hear every thought he thinks of.” “What do you mean?” Cadance decided to take notes on this little confession. “I mean that every thought that passes through his head I can hear. Basically is like I’m reading his mind every minute of the day while he’s completely unaware of that. I know whatever he’s doing, where he’s at, and what he craves to eat when he comes back from work and I’m home early. Gold Sky will always be thinking of me and I know this because I can hear him play my music in his head while he working. Sure you’re thinking that I’m snooping by listening in but, but, can you blame me?” Octavia felt some guilt telling this to Cadance, she knew better than to keep this hidden from Gold Sky but how if she is all he ever thinks about…well her and the delicious cookies Pinkie makes. “Absolutely not Octavia, how can I blame you? It’s natural for mares to be curious about what’s their husbands are thinking and doing. So it’s an unintentional gift being able to hear every thought he’s thinking. I know for a fact that you felt his strong love for you. Of course some will say that what you’re doing is wrong but to me I don’t anything wrong with it.” Cadance gave Octavia a nod of approval. “Well if Princess Cadance the Princess of Love approves of this than I guess there is no need to feel guilty about that trait.” Octavia thought. “Octavia, what did I tell you.” The gray mare corrected herself. “I-I mean Cadance the Princess of Love.” “Thank you, Octavia.” Cadance cleared her throat. “How come he didn’t like to use his magic? He is an Alicorn like me.” Octavia too did not know why but nonetheless attempted to answer Cadance’s question, still some pieces of a puzzle pieced together in her mind. Sometimes she can only hear silence in Gold Sky’s head. “I don’t know Cadance. Gold Sky never told me why he didn’t use his magic much, in fact truth be told I never inquired him about the issue because at the time it didn’t seem too important. But sometimes when he thinks he’s alone he will stand in front of my huge dresser mirror with his wings fully spread out. I love it when he does that, it sort of reminds me of a peacock showing off its exquisite feathers. However, his facial expression told me something way different; it was like a mixture of anger and sadness. In those moments his mind will go completely silent. He’ll sit down to rub his belly too and say so much for seppuku. Do you know what seppuku is Cadance?” Octavia asked. “Seppuku is aw, um, uh, it’s, something cooking, um…” Cadance pretended to go into deep thought. “Honorable suicide! Only the Griffon assassins do that when they fail a mission. Why will he want to commit suicide! This makes no bloody sense, he has the best life anypony can wish for. A beautiful wife, good friends, close relations with Tia, and wait a minute I miss-thought this! Either his attempt apparently didn’t work or somepony forced him to do it and he’s just enjoying the fact that it didn't kill him, so he’s only rubbing his belly scar cause after he or it plunged the knife into his abdominal area, his wound must have healed. Heh, almost forgot he’s... well was immortal like me.” Cadance thought to herself in liberal sense and plus with confidence thanks to that she temporary severed the connection to Octavia’s beautiful mind. “I’m sorry Octavia I never heard that word.” “Then perhaps it must be a word in his native tongue.” Octavia did a cute raspberry. “How long will this take before she gets to real deal?” Cadance thought carelessly. Octavia clearly heard Cadance’s outburst and understood that she is wasted the Princess’s time. There is no point in talking about the past, it may bring back a meager portion of happiness but it will also bring more pain when that puny happiness disappears. “The real deal, Cadance, I’ll ask you the real deal.” Cadance eyes widened and hoped that Octavia is not mad because Cadance didn’t mean for Octavia to hear what she said. Octavia pointed to her head and this time Cadance understood. “Why?” “Why what, Octavia.” “Why am I pregnant?” Even when speaking through the mind sadness can still be heard. Cadance misunderstood the meaning of Octavia's question. “Oh, pfft, it’s simple. Your body released an egg from your ovaries and when you had sex with Gold Sky, the egg got fertilized by…” Octavia quickly stopped her right there. “CADANCE I DON’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!” Octavia yelled. “Are you sure? Because I could go on and tell you that once your egg gets fertilized, voola… You’re pregnant!” *Squee* “CADANCE!!!” “Ok, ok I’m sorry for being acting a little immature; I’m the youngest of the Trinity.” Cadance did a quick deep breath. “Starting over, what do you mean by why?” “Why am I pregnant? Why am I carrying a new life when I myself don’t think I’m ready to be a mother.” “Go on.” “Around the fifth year of my marriage, I started to talk about starting a family. All those ups and downs of being a mother filled my imagination. Staying up all night, changing diapers, reading bedtime stories, hearing the first words, and so on, it just brought me so many smiles. Gold Sky always stayed quiet about the topic, he’ll just nod with a smile along with having a silent mind. I once bought blue paint with some paintbrushes, obviously Gold Sky had no clue why I did this.” Cadance knew her cue “You made your desires clear to him.” “I told him…I want a son. He said nothing expect fear in his eyes, heart, mind so on so on so on. It was right there that I realized Gold Sky is afraid to be a daddy. Now because of that, I’m not sure if I’m ready to be a mother! I’m scared! Cadance I am truly scared! What am I going to do when it’s time to give birth?” Octavia’s eyes turned pink. “What can I say to my son when he asks where his daddy is!? His daddy, my husband, m-m-my heart and m-my pulse. I’m scared. Why me. Why did I have to get pregnant? Couldn’t somepony else get pregnant instead of me! My desires now become my fear…Am I meant to be a mother.” Octavia turned to Cadance. Cadance has the answers. With loving care, Cadance placed an arm on Octavia’s shoulders. “Octavia no matter what you think or do you’re meant to be a mother just like me. All mares have the never ending maternal love just like most stallions have a never ending paternal love.” “Most?” Octavia asked. Cadance sighed. “Any male pony can have a child but it takes a real stallion to be a daddy. Octavia you’re going to be a mother and sure it’s natural for you to be scared, you lost your husband, this baby is unexpected and you have no clue what to do. But like I said earlier all mares have maternal instincts. Those instincts will tell you what to do. You see Love will be powerful inside of you…” Octavia interrupted. “How.” “Bonding…all mothers have a powerful bond with their children. The moment your son comes into this world and Nurse Redheart places him on your bare skin of your abdominal area the bonding begins. A new born child immediately recognizes you as its mother and you start loving your child with all of your heart. As your son grows so will your love, kissing him good night will bring a smile to your face, seeing him smile at you will melt your heart. Because it’s beautiful! Years will pass, so time will tell if your son has reached the stars or hit rock bottom but to you it won’t matter because you’ll take him into your arms and tell him how much you love him. When he’s waiting at the altar you will be shedding tears, it will be hard to let go but your son will always remember your love. Octavia, all stallions young and old will remember the relationship with their mothers, meaning, you will forever be in your son’s memories. Trust me, once you became a mother your life will change and you will receive many blessings.” Cadance paused momentary to get a quick sip of water. “A mother never makes mistakes; she is in touch with everything around her because love will guide her allowing her to make the right decisions. Octavia I am immortal and I have seen many things in the countless years I’ve been through but there’s one thing that never changes. It is the look in the eyes of the mare when they hold their child for the first time. A new life in their arms, the greatest gift they have with so much joy and prosperity. Or to put in a final seal…a mother sees her child as her heart that is living outside her body.” This answer made sense to Octavia expect she could not relate to that. Octavia asked a quick question of her own. “What about the daddy? Is his love as strong as the mother’s?” “No. It is not. Paternal love can’t compare to a mother’s love not even by a long shot.” Octavia remembered her father and her mother. “My mother never raised me.” This has to be a joke. “Octavia that’s not true. I’m sure your mother took care of you and I think you’re saying that because maybe you didn’t have such a good relationship with her.” “No Cadance I did not…I never bonded with her and she didn’t care. All she cared about was her singing career and the great amount of wealth it provided for her. My father raised me with his great love; he took the place of my mother and gave me the love I needed that she failed to give. In fact she will only visit my father and me when she performed in Ponyville. She will only tell me good night and pat me on the head. In the morning she’ll just tell me to stay out of trouble and pat me on the head again before leaving. Do you call that motherly love? I don’t. But my father took her role and he did a damn good job at it. He didn’t care about himself, in fact he never bothered remarrying because I became the only mare that’ll matter in his life. I became his heart that’s living outside his body, Nurse Redheart told me that he took me into his arms first before my mother.” Cadance stopped Octavia. “Why did Nurse Redheart give you to your father first instead of your mother?” “Because Nurse Redheart saw with her intuition that my mother lacked the maternal instinct so she decided to give me to my father fist and I recognized him as my daddy who talked to me while I was still in mother’s womb.” Octavia faintly heard his voice. Cadance came to see that in an ultra rare occurrence there will be a mare that ignores her maternal instincts and there will be a stallion whose love can surpass that of the mothers. “From what you told me Octavia I can deduce that you hoped Gold Sky will have a strong paternal instinct like your father. But going back to you, I can already sense your growing attachment to your baby by simply looking at the way you tenderly rub your belly. Your love is growing for your son…Octavia I know you asked Tia to help you become a good mother. But you know, can I help too?” Cadance asked. Octavia smiled softly. Princess Cadance explained everything that soon the joys of motherhood will come to her in due time. Octavia spoke this time. “Cadance I will be honored to have your help. Thank you.” Octavia went up and hugged Cadance. Cadance enjoyed the hug and moved on to the next point of love. Octavia will become a mother so love inside of her will be immeasurably strong but now Cadance will like to know about the amount of love Octavia has for her dead husband. Seeing that Octavia let go of her, Cadance asked Octavia if she wanted to continue speaking through the mind or through voice. “Mind.” Octavia replied. “Very well. Octavia do you love your husband?” Cadance asked calmly. “Cadance, you know I love my husband with all my heart.” The kindness in Cadance’s eyes faded away. “Tell me the truth Octavia, do you really love him with all your heart.” “Yes I do, yes I do! Cadance I do.” Octavia felt Cadance enter her beautiful mind. Cadance explored all of Octavia’s short term memory, she found Octavia spilling her fury onto Gold Sky and to Cadance’s shock she found Octavia’s regret for hitting Gold Sky. Nevertheless, Cadance does not judge until she knows the full reason behind every decision. “Then explain to me why you stuck him many times when he confessed to his illusion cursed act of infidelity. You seen the sadness in his eyes when he made his confession, he knew you will get hurt and furious but he told you everything with no point of turning back.” Even Cadance’s voice became serious. “I…” Octavia felt the painful guilt again when she realized what she’s done to Gold Sky. But nopony has the right to blame her, she was angry and everypony will do or say things they don’t mean. “I felt hurt that Gold Sky will do that to me.” Cadance sat down next to the gray mare. “Octavia.” She said in a Fluttershy soft tone. “He didn’t do that to you, he was cursed. Even though I only met him once or twice, I felt his extraordinary love and with so much love I know he would never commit infidelity.” Octavia decided to tell Cadance the reason why she reacted the way she did. “My mother Cadance.” Cadance jerked her back while her eyes widened. “He committed infidelity with your mother!!!!???” Octavia too jerked her head back in surprise. “WHAT!! NO, NO, NO, NO, THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT!” Cadance let out a sigh of relief. “Phew you almost gave me a heart attack there, even though that’s impossible to ever happen to me.” Octavia tried again without pausing, she couldn’t tell if Cadance did that on purpose or if she really was surprised. “I reacted like that because my mother committed infidelity destroying my dear father completely. You can say she practically broke his spirit but even though that caused him a lot of pain and emotional scars he never stopped being the loving father he’s always been to me.” Now it made sense. “So that’s why you reacted that way. *sigh* It’s only natural since you witnessed what infidelity did to your father, I know you were hurt but that still did not give you the right to hit him. He confessed what he did, that should have told you of the pain he felt when he realized what happened…and I don’t mean to offend you by asking but who was the mare he committed illusion cursed infidelity?” “Princess Celestia.” Cadance quickly severed the connection. “Now I understand what Celestia told me earlier.” Octavia continued. “Cadance, I hoped you understand what I’m going to tell you next.” “Yes, of course.” Octavia shifted a little on the couch once more guilt came to her and this time she made that decision on her own. “I broke into the brig to free Gold Sky, I-I well he called for me because he wanted to see me, but I just couldn’t think of living without him. I didn’t care if we will always be looking over our shoulders every minute of the day or living somewhere outside of Equestria. I just wanted my Gold Sky back, when I found him in his cell I felt so happy t-to be with him. But Gold Sky believed in…doing the right thing.” “He chose to stay.” Cadance said. Octavia nodded and Cadance saw everything that Octavia said to Gold Sky through her short term memory. “Why did you do that to him?” “I-I don’t know…I didn’t want him to go!! I-I just couldn’t accept the choice he made! What else could I have done! He chose to leave me…!” Octavia’s eyes became pink but with no tears, there is no point in crying for the past. Cadance just patted Octavia on the back. “At that matters is that you will always love him and will be a wonderful mother.” Octavia just had one last question. “W-will I ever see him again?” Cadance’s ears dropped. She saw Octavia rubbing her belly when she asked that question. “Only time will tell.” *** “Helllllllllo Rarity, are you okay??” Twilight asked. A face of worry formed on Fluttershy and Rainbow waved a hoof in front of Rarity’s face. Rarity felt her heart beating fast and her mind coming up with different possibilities if she tried to tell Rainbow Dash what Twilight did to her. “Twilight, I-I-I’m doing all right t-thank you for coming, you can leave now.” Rarity hoped Twilight will leave. Twilight played her wonderful skill of deception. “So quickly? Rarity I came here to ask if you wanted to join me and Fluttershy for a bite at the Sugarcube corner.” Twilight had to include Fluttershy. Twilight knew she can easily deal with Fluttershy because of the guilt that’s making her mind open to telepathy. If Rarity said no then Fluttershy will beg her to come by using those huge cute powered cyan eyes of hers but Rarity didn’t have to do this alone. “Uh…” Rarity turned to Rainbow Dash. “What?” Rainbow asked at first until she finally understood the meaning of Rarity’s facial expression, a warm soft smile formed on Rainbow’s lips. “Of course I’ll come with you Rarity.” Rarity breathed a breath of relief while with her supreme eye to detail noticed a tiny twitch under Twilight’s left eye. “yay! Let’s go girls!” Fluttershy happily led the way to the Sugarcube corner with Twilight behind her and Rarity & Rainbow Dash walking side by side. Rarity for sure knows that with Rainbow Dash around Twilight will act with extreme restraint because Twilight cannot stand Rainbow’s consistent prodding in many things. All four of them entered the restaurant and as normal as normal is Pinkie Pie popped up in front of them. “HIYA GIRLS!” Pinkie squealed joyfully, her happy, happy eyes spotted Rarity & Rainbow standing side by side. “Rarity! Rainbow Dashie! Did both of you enjoy the wonderlistic sweet suite I got for you!?” Fluttershy’s ears perked up with wonder while Twilight rolled her eyes. Rainbow spoke for both her and Rarity. “We had such a, a, uhh…” Rainbow is trying to find the right word. “OH! Prestigious, we had such a prestigious time together!” Fluttershy smiled so did Pinkie Pie who heard what she wanted to hear and Twilight just put on her fake smile. “Awesome as a blossom! I’m glad you two are a wonderful couple, any who let me sit all of you and give you the menus. My shift is almost over, perhaps then we can all do something together.” Pinkie using her mysterious powers produced a table with chairs from out of thin air. Pinkie left to help Mr. Cake in the kitchen. Rarity & Rainbow Dash sat together, Fluttershy and Twilight also sat together. But Twilight sat across from Rarity and Fluttershy sat across from Rainbow. All four mares pondered what to get. It’s not every day that it’s only the four or five of them once Pinkie is done with her shift, get together to break bread. “It’s over Rainbow, you told Rarity about Gold Sky so now you got a huge weight off your shoulders. Just think about the yummy cupcakes you’ll be eating soon. Cupcakes…cupcakes…cupcakes.” Rainbow suddenly got up causing Rarity to turn her attention away from the menu and to Rainbow. “Rarity, something came up I will be right back. Fluttershy can you please come with me.” With her supreme eye on detail Rarity can see Twilight’s oral facial muscle move…Twilight is concealing a heartless smile. Rainbow took Fluttershy with her to the lady’s room. Fluttershy wanted to ask Rainbow why she brought her here but couldn’t bring herself to ask because when she looked into Rainbow’s eyes, she spotted tears forming. “Rainbow.” Fluttershy said in her kind spirited voice. “Are you okay?” Rainbow did not answer instead she hugged Fluttershy. “Oh!” Fluttershy said in surprise. Rainbow began to weep. Her warms tears fell on to Fluttershy’s shoulder, causing guilt to rise up again. “It’s sinking in. I-it’s finally sinking in. I’ll never see him again.” Rainbow said through her soft cries. Fluttershy hugged Rainbow back. “It’s okay Rainbow, I got you and I’m here for you.” Fluttershy lovingly reassured. At the table Rarity hoped Rainbow will be back soon because even though Twilight raised the menu up a bit to hide her face Rarity can still feel Twilight’s gaze. “So Rarity, how did your little date with Rainbow go?” Twilight asked. Rarity replied quickly. “That is none of your concern Twilight. L-le-leave me alone.” Twilight giggled. “Rarity you do realize that I just read your mind and I got to say I never knew you were in love with Rainbow Dash. But I guess she was an early one of yours before you finally mastered the art of flirting.” Rarity dropped her menu, what gives Twilight the right to read her mind. “Who do you think you are to read my most private memories!?” Rarity unknowingly ignored her fear of Twilight so she can reprimand her. “Yes Rainbow was the first mare I fell in love with but the main reason I never confessed my love to her, was because I didn’t know if she will love a mare who loves her. I thought she loved stallions and will flat out reject me with extreme prejudice. So she is the one that became unattainable and last night I had the chance to experience what I could of experienced if I took the extra step.” Rarity’s eyes widened when she realized what she just confessed to Twilight out of anger. Twilight placed a hoof over her heart. “Aww that is so sweet Rarity. You know if I take the time to imagine both of you together then the whole world with turn into a sphere of diamonds and rainbows.” Mocked Twilight. “Wretch.” Rarity hissed. Twilight just smiled at Rarity. “Oh I love you too Rarity.” Rarity turned her focus away from the twisted lavender mare before her but to no avail her azure eyes focused on Twilight’s out of the tiniest detail horn. Rarity couldn’t help but just ask Twilight what she did to her horn. “Twilight…your horn, what did you do to it? I-it looks different.” Twilight almost forgot that the combination of her DNA and that of Gold Sky’s made her horn a bit longer. Before combining his DNA with hers, her magic was already very powerful in fact to say the least it was four times more powerful than Gold Sky’s magic because he didn’t know how to use his magic. Now her magic is as powerful as dear Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadance or perhaps even stronger if she allows the fire to consume her. Her strength on the other hand or hoof is eleven times of that of Big Macintosh thanks to her mighty magic which increases the power of her strength. Twilight for once didn’t want to talk, she still felt bad for Gold Sky dying. “I just did some magic and my horn just grew. Perhaps it must be some kind of a side effect, but let’s stop talking about me and start talking about you. What are you so sad about? Did Rainbow brush your mane incorrectly?” Rarity felt like hitting Twilight with a powerful right hook like she did to the changelings awhile back at Princess Cadance’s and Shining Armor’s wedding. “What you did to me, what you did to my mind!! Caused Gold Sky to die!” Rarity said ultra quietly out of consideration that Octavia could be nearby and catch ear through her keen hearing. Twilight performed a false chuckle. “Me? Ok sure I got a wonderful taste of you with seconds and thirds plus fourths if I include our first adventure.” Twilight shook in delightful childish joy in mentioning that. “But I am not responsible for Gold Sky’s death of course I placed that alibi in your head to keep you quiet or to make you avoid everypony, but don’t try to blame his death on me! Applejack was the one who sent the letter to Princess Celestia, so if you’re going to blame somepony blame that stubborn marefriend of yours.” Rarity instinctively corrected Twilight. “We are no longer marefriends! Sh-sh-she just wanted to u-use…use.” The hurt one feels when they find out they’re just being used came to Rarity. “U-use me. She just wanted to use me.” Rarity’s ears dropped and she frowned despite Twilight being with her right now. Twilight for reasons she could not explain to herself felt compassion. This is really strange. Empathy in Twilight? Of Course she is in love with Rarity but that doesn’t answer the question. Carefully Twilight placed a hoof under Rarity’s chin to help raise her spirits. “Rarity don’t be so downcast. You can count on me to be here for you, I wanted to tell you that Applejack is just an empty pleasure seeking mare that has a long streak of bedding mares and stallions all over Ponyville. You are luckily the one who got away and on top of that she decided to stop pursuing you. So please Rarity let me help you. Please let me help you.” Twilight’s beautiful…angelic voice, wrapped itself around Rarity’s neck like an embrace. For one little millisecond Rarity almost wanted to say yes to Twilight’s thoughtful plea. Until she looked into those violet eyes that pieced her soul with merciless lust and will do so again without any second thoughts. Rarity aggressively slapped Twilight hoof away from her and swung her hoof at Twilight to strike her in the nose. “Ugh! Huh!?” Twilight caught Rarity’s hoof in mid swing. Slowly Twilight lowered Rarity’s hoof to the table and held it down with minimal application. “I can’t move my hoof!!” Rarity no matter how hard she tried couldn’t free herself from Twilight’s grip. “I’ll take that as a no. But please we can start all over again; I will wipe away both our minds from the terrible memories! With a clean slate we can be happy together, in love, married, you and me! Rarity you don’t know how much I love, no wait let me rephrase that, you don’t know how much I questioned myself when I began to feel these strange feelings for you. I read countless books about love, I asked Cadance about these feelings. All she told me was to find out what triggered those feelings and go from there. I even asked Spike to tell me everything about you which he happily obliged nonstop…I love you Rarity. Let me be a part of you and you be a part of me.” Twilight is doing her puppy eyes. Rarity just wanted to scream in total anger! “I will rather die!” Twilight released Rarity’s hoof. She asked nicely. “That will hurt Spike’s feelings and I know you don’t want that.” *DUM-DUM!* Rarity’s heart gave a tremendous beat. Rarity pressed her face against Twilight. Her voice turned into feral growls. “If you do anything to my Spikey-Wikey I-I…so help me Luna, I will destroy you!! You will feel unimaginable pain and you will wish that you can die in order to escape your suffering. You better not lay a hoof on my Spike! I mean it. Don’t you dare touch him because I will, I will destroy you.” For the first time Twilight felt some fear rise inside of her, however, Rarity is angry…and Twilight loves that. A bright white spark flew from Twilight’s horn. “Rarity you’re so beautiful.” A dreamy smile shined from Twilight’s face. *Gasp* Rarity’s anger got replaced with fear. Twilight is feeling warm with lust. “So let me guess Rarity you’re in love with dear Spike.” Twilight didn’t bother to read Rarity’s mind, after all there is simply a ninety five percent chance that Rarity only threatened her out of pity for Spike. A silence came over Rarity. She did not know how to respond to Twilight’s question. “You already know the answer to this question Rarity.” Her heart said. “It’s true; you do know the answer to the question.” Her mind said. “I love Spike and I wish to be with him.” Twilight smirked. “Typical you don’t wait, wait? Wh-whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat did you say???” The smirk disappeared. Rarity said again. “I love Spike and I want to be with him!” “You, ah, ye, uh, ba, ba, ba…Celestia, uh, uh, frak!” “What’s the matter Twilight? Cat got your tongue?” Rarity mocked in awaited pleasure. Twilight paused, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. “My offer will always be available Rarity but that does not mean you will be with Spike.” Twilight’s horn glowed brightly. Rarity’s horn also glowed. “I finally harnessed the full power of my magic Twilight, I am now a match for you.” “Yeah as if.” Twilight told herself. “You will not touch my Spikey-Wikey.” Rarity’s magic gave her the bravery she needed to stand up to Twilight. Both mares stared at each other waiting for one of them to make the first move. Twilight relented; she could easily defeat Rarity but with her new magical strength, untested there is a high probability in severely harming lovely Rarity. “I still love you Rarity and nothing will ever change that.” Twilight whispered in seeing Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy coming back to the table, her horn stopped glowing. Rarity snorted breath out of her nostrils while her horn too stopped glowing. “I hope something does.” Rainbow Dash took her place next to Rarity. “Rarity have you and Twilight ordered already or did both of you decide to wait for us?” “We waited for you two to get back.” Said Rarity. “Oh how sweet of you, thank you.” Fluttershy voiced cutely. Rainbow called Pinkie. She, Rarity, and Fluttershy told Pinkie what they wanted. Now Twilight just needs to tell Pinkie what she wants. But Twilight didn’t say anything, she just sat there with a blank expression. The gears in her mind spun out of rhythm. Twilight needed to think, she needs to be alone. Away from Rarity & Spike. Pinkie popped up behind Twilight’s shoulder. “Helloooo, Twily wily are you here or anywhere near here?” Pinkie asked. *Poof* With the exception of Rarity the rest were quite surprised that Twilight will just teleport like that. “Where did she go?” Rainbow asked. Rarity’s magic took hold of her cranberry juice and brought it close to her lips. “I don’t know Rainbow but it shouldn’t be any of our concerns.” She said coolly. “Are you sure Rarity?” Fluttershy got worried. Rarity azure eyes gave Fluttershy a strong piercing touch. “I’m sure darling, I’m really, really sure.” Fluttershy hid herself behind her mane. Meanwhile Pinkie came by with the food. “Guess what girls my shift is over! Lets par…eat!” Before digging in Rarity made an announcement. After she’s finished eating she plans to pay Octavia a visit in Canterlot, Fluttershy and Pinkie asked if they can join her which Rarity agreed to. Rainbow asked if she accompany them but Rarity told her it’s alright and to spend time with Luna. “Rainbow thank you so much for spending a lot of time with me I don’t know how I can thank you but I will figure out something, I hope you and Luna can still join me for a nice cup of that fancy wine.” Rarity voiced. Rainbow smiled at Rarity while rubbing her head against Rarity’ head. Fluttershy felt happy for the duo until she wondered why Rarity told Rainbow to spend time with Princess Luna, so she asked. Rarity and Rainbow Dash looked at each with childlike smiles. “Fluttershy I know you think that me and Rarity are a happy couple but in reality we are not. I am dating Princess Luna and Rarity is dating, uh…” Rainbow stopped right there, so quickly she forgot. “Spike!” Rarity said out loud with pride. Pinkie’s and Fluttershy’s jaws dropped all while Fluttershy’s mind entered a scuttled frenzy again. “So wait, wait, wait, wait, are you saying that Rainbow is with Luna the Princess of the shiny Moon while Rarity is with Spiko?” Pinkie asked. The Elements of Generosity and Loyalty nodded to Pinkie’s question. Pinkie placed her hoofs on her head while her eyes spun independently in different directions “Oh this is too much, make it stop! How come nopony tells me anything around here?” “Because you like to pop up and surprise the heck out of us Pinkie.” Rainbow said affectionately. “OH!” A typical limitless smile radiated from Pinkie’s lips. “That makes total sense.” “So let’s eat, drink, and be merry. yay!” Fluttershy voiced. In the densest part of the Everfree forest Twilight Sparkle placed a hoof against an old but sturdy oak tree, with a quick motion she quickly tapped the tree. “Whoa!” The entire tree got uprooted and feel to the ground. “Oh my Celestia I’m stronger than Big Macintosh!” Twilight decided to move from point zero, zero one percent of her physical strength and commence experimenting with her full normal power. So Twilight got in front of another big oak tree. She breathed deeply. With full power she bucked the tree, causing it to fly high into the sky with roots and all, to disappear into the horizon where Twilight’s eyes can no longer see. *** “What the!!” Gilda shouted in seeing a tree land before her. Twilight bucked the tree all the way to the Griffon Republic. *** Twilight decided to hit another tree with a full power uppercut and once again the entire tree flew beyond the horizon. *** “General Mao look out!!” A Griffon assassin pushed Mao out of the falling tree’s path. “Phew close one; anyway let’s not allow a flying tree to hinder our march to the weak Republic.” Mao and his reborn Fascist army continued their march to the Griffon Republic. *** “This is incredible, so even at the decimal level my strength is still dangerous so now it’s time to test my magic. Ho, ho, ho, this is going to be great!” Twilight clapped her hoofs together. Twilight looked around to find a suitable target. “Ah.” She found a large lone mountain. “Ok Twilight same as before I will be starting at point zero, zero one percent of my magical power. Firing a charged magical blast in three, two, one.” Twilight fired a blast of magic. The magical bolt struck the lone mountain and nothing happened. “Oh I guess I better start over at two percent…AH!” A bright light flashed from the mountain followed by a huge gust of wind that sent Twilight falling to her knees. The bright light then disappeared within the mountain. *BOOM* A mushroom cloud rose into the sky and Twilight watched in awe at this deadly but beautiful display of destruction. The lone mountain is no more and to fire a blast of magic at full normal power... Will Be Suicide. Not for her life but for what keeps this new power from corrupting her. *** “I see you finally know your purpose Gold Sky. All the time when you were alive on Earth you searched for the meaning of your existence and unfortunately through death you now know, along with being part of the Son’s creation.” Lauren said to Gold Sky as both them flew past the countless stars in the night, err vast universe. “I am love or as the Great Spirit says Love with flesh and bone. But still Lauren my eyes are finally open to my purpose but what does that have to do with Celli still seeing me as a son?” Gold Sky asked. Lauren stopped, in her infinite wisdom she knows the power of nurturing motherly affection and knows when apply it in the proper situations. She placed a hoof on Gold Sky’s head rubbed it for a bit before traveling down to his right cheek with a warm smile on her face. This the same way Celestia will wake up Gold Sky when was just a young colt. Gold Sky stayed quiet to enjoy this, in the galaxy of his mind many images of Celestia flashed before him. “Well at least we are not going to see my mother and father in the heavenly paradise.” Gold Sky said softly. Lauren giggled. “Things will be differ…wait.” Something’s not right. “Repeat what you said Gold Sky.” She stopped stroking his face. “Aw why did you stop?” “Oh!” Lauren resumed stroking his face. “Sorry about that but please repeat to me what you said earlier.” “I said well at least we are not going to see my mother and father in the heavenly paradise.” Gold sky said again. Lauren’s tilted her head with a raised eyebrow. “Gold Sky whenever you talk about your parents you always call them mommy and daddy because their deaths came in a very early period of your life, but now you call them mother and father? Why?” Gold Sky blew some hair out his face. “They don’t know me anymore, don’t you remember that I almost had a complete nervous breakdown when I hugged both of them and they looked at me with total confusion. I am my mother’s and father’s flesh and blood. That will always be in my heart but now I must let go of them, they’re dead like me and now I see that I only got one parent left who remembers me…Princess Celestia.” Lauren patted his head. “Then let’s pay her a visit so I can explain what you want to know.” Gold Sky smiled at Lauren. Both of them traveled faster than light. In the palace Celestia left the medical ward, she trotted lazily to her room. “LT. Toudou I will like to have complete privacy so please deny anypony who wishes to see me. Don’t worry though I won’t take long.” “Yes your majesty.” Toudou stood guard. In her room Celestia sat down on her bed. She turned to look at her night table that had a picture frame of her and Twilight Sparkle. Celestia reached for something that stood behind the frame. “Look Gold Sky.” Lauren pointed out. Celestia took out a frame that held a picture of her and Gold Sky. “My dearest son.” Celestia said softly. “Why did you have to leave me like this? I understand why you left me two hundred and ten years ago. I still love you my son.” Celestia hugged the frame. “You were a blessing to me and every day I made sure to enjoy every minute with you.” Celestia blinked her eyes dry. Lauren placed a wing over a frowning Gold Sky. “What you’re seeing is the never ending power of the bond shared between mother or mommy and son. Don’t be so sad Gold Sky she still loves you.” Gold Sky closed his eyes. “I never got to tell her I love her…Octavia and Celestia were the last ponies I saw before you came for me.” Celestia hugged the frame tighter before placing it back behind the frame with Twilight’s picture. She got out of her room. “Toudoh please follow me to my study room.” “Yes your majesty.” Lauren and Gold Sky waited for Celestia to enter her study room, Lauren’s horn glowed and it touched Gold Sky’s head. “What did you do?” Asked Gold Sky. “Celestia is about to experience a flashback, so what I did will allow you to see what she will see.” Lauren responded happily. “Toudoh same as before.” The Unicorn saluted at her majesty and stood guard. Celestia closed the door behind her, for one full deep breath she closed her eyes to remember the warm fire in the fire place, loud crash of the thunder outside, and reading The last Ponies of the Wind. Gold Sky’s eyes widened. “I-I remember this!” Celestia opened her eyes. She saw herself laying belly down on a large cushion reading a book. Suddenly she heard loud knocking, without even saying a word a young Gold Sky ran in trembling violently. He told Celestia the thunder is scaring him and hopes if he can sleep by her. Without even thinking Celestia lifts up a wing, he lies by her and she covers him so he can be safe. Celestia smiled in seeing this, she will always kiss Gold Sky on the head so he can have sweet dreams. “Twilight was never afraid of storms but Gold Sky was. Oh how different those two are. I lost my son but I still got my daughter.” “Like a caring mother she protected you with her love. Isn’t that sweet Gold Sky.” Lauren saw Gold Sky nodding at her. Celestia sighed deeply. “I will tell his parents what happened to him…I should of done it sooner but better now than never.” “You want us to go with…” Gold Sky stopped Lauren from finishing her sentence. “No. She’s just going to add my marker next to my parent’s grave markers and tell them that I’m with them in the heavenly paradise.” Gold Sky felt his spirit going cold. “C-can y-you pleas hug me.” “Of course Gold Sky.” Lauren replied in such a warm tone. Gold Sky felt Lauren’s embrace provide him with peace. “All my life I always wondered what my purpose upon this world is. Waking up with Octavia by my side I still wondered, getting a bone popping hug from Sweetie Belle whenever I picked her up from school I still wondered, confessing a dark secret to Celli about the innocent blood I shed I still wondered, and when I had one last conversation with Redheart I still wondered. The Great Spirit answered my question but what can I do about it? I am in the heavenly paradise away from my wife, sisters, and friends. How can I be the physical manifestation of Love if I made many terrible decisions. Love is perfect and I am not perfect only Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Derpy are perfect. How can Octavia and Celli love somepony like me when I kept secrets from them, you know Octavia will leave me when I tell her the horrors I committed. Love never keeps secrets but I did so what does that say about me! The physical manifestation of Love abandoned the mare who loves him has her own flesh and blood. The physical manifestation of Love left behind the dearest thing anypony can have because nightmares combined with fear forced that so called manifestation to become a coward.” Lauren teleported both of them the surface of Jupiter, right in the pupil of the red eye. “Why are you talking about yourself like this? They love you because you love them it is simple as that. Gold Sky please listen carefully to what I’m about to say. Love has no limits like the Son, so because of that you were given the life of a mortal with immortally. You faced temptation, hardship, pain, love, loss, and death. Amazingly through it all you still are the true physical manifestation of Love. You’re not perfect but you are part of the Son's perfect creation and he loves you very much. And on a side topic you are not the only one who asked the Great Spirit to take away their immortality.” Lauren said while she embraced Gold Sky. “I-I’m not!” “Before your parents were born Celestia was married to the best stallion any mare can wish for. His name is Starswirl the Bearded, a stallion of untold genius engulfed by Celestia’s love. But you see Celestia wanted to start a family. Unfortunately he revealed to her that he’s infertile which vanquished all her hopes of being a mother, still she loved him with all her heart. As may want to know Starswirl became immortal but…” Lauren stopped on purpose to see if Gold Sky is paying attention. “But what!” Gold Sky asked eagerly. Lauren smiled. “Starswirl believed with every fiber of his body the natural order of things. He believed that immortally should only be given to those who have endowed with it by the Great Spirit. So when he found out that he obtained immortally he prayed to the Great Spirit to take it away from him, of course Celestia found out about this but couldn’t do anything about it so all she can do is just respect his wishes.” Gold Sky never knew anything about this but suddenly or if not obviously, it started to make sense. Celestia loved him as her son because when she couldn’t have a family with Starswirl she got blessed with him after his parents died. Some blessing he turned out to be though. Lauren cleared her throat to tell Gold Sky the physiological definition of the bond between mother and son. “Gold Sky the reason why mother and son share such a strong is through this. Ahem. In the physiological structure of the mind, the colt will bond with somepony opposite of his gender. Which is your mother. You see in males they crave constant affection and who else can provide that than the mother. Who showers them with love and support. Along with that males will without even listening to their instincts will run to their mother’s arms when they become afraid. And lastly males will always remember their mothers more than their fathers. Like you.” Lauren let go of Gold Sky to see his facial expression. Gold Sky blinked a couple of times; Lauren’s explanation made him miss Celestia even more. “W-what you said, the same applies to the bond between father and daughter. Lauren nodded. “This is will cheer him up.” She thought. “Somewhere beyond the sea, somewhere waiting for me. My lover stands on golden sands and watches the ships that go sailing. Somewhere beyond the sea she’s there watching for me.” Lauren sang. “That song…! I sang it to her whenever she had difficulty falling asleep.” Gold Sky breathed out when memories flashed before him in tempo to Lauren’s singing. “If I can fly like birds on higggggh! Then straight to her arms, I’d go sailing. It’s faarrrrrr beyond the stars. It’s near beyond the moon, I know beyond a doubt my heart will lead there soon. We’ll meet beyond the shores we’ll kiss just as before, happy we’ll be beyond the sea and never again I’ll go sailing.” Lauren quickly nuzzled Gold Sky in the head during a rest in the song. Gold Sky just became lost in finally knowing his purpose will not help him in any way and Lauren told him what he wanted to know with her wisdom. It’s far beyond the stars. *** Twilight ducked in a hastily made foxhole. She fired a bolt of magic at ninety eight percent of her magical power so she had to avoid the powerful heat that burned the leaves off the trees around her and turned ground zero into glass. Twilight got out to see what remains of another lone mountain she used for target practice. To her amazement the entire environment surrounding the mountain got wiped out leaving only ash. A huge adorable smile formed on Twilight’s cute face! “This is…this is…” Twilight decided for once to use Pinkie’s terms. “THIS IS AWESOME!! With power like this I can keep Fluttershy away, have Rarity…oh.” She almost forgot about a certain dragon. “Spike…hmmm what can I do about him?” Twilight shook her head like a crazy to clear her mind, she will not let anything ruin this joyous occasion. “I should head back home and read that book about the side effects of transplants because I felt compassion when Rarity told me how Applejack only wanted to use her and I already knew that long before Applejack confessed that to me and Fluttershy. But yet I felt bad for her when she told me that.” So Twilight decided to first take a quick dip in a nearby lake to wash off the ash on her hair. What she failed to realize…in the four billion genetic characters she memorized there was one L. *** In the gardens Cadance and Octavia are enjoying a small tea break. In Cadance's mind she had difficultly comprehending the fact that Octavia's father. Had a paternal instinct that is stronger than that of Octavia's mother. The gray mare knew that Cadance is still thinking about that so she decided to bring it back up. "Are you still thinking about what I told you about my father?" Octavia asked. Cadance placed her cup of tea on a little table next to her. "It's pretty unheard of that a father's love is stronger than the mother's." Octavia shrugged at Cadance. "Unheard of, no. But rare, yes. A few years ago Nurse Redheart told me a story about her and Nurse Tenderheart." Cadance loves stories. "Please tell me." Octavia cleared her throat. "It's about her adoptive parents." *** Celestia stood in front of Gold Sky's parent's grave markers. Her magic made a rose grow for Sylvia, a tulip for Silver Wind, and a daffodil for Gold Sky. On his marker. Gold Sky Loving Son. Loving Husband. Loving Father. She did it for Octavia because though an epiphany she now knows that Gold Sky never wanted to be a father so it's best to keep this hidden from Octavia. "Good bye my son." --- Chapter 42- A solution yes. Attainable...No. (Bon Bon, Big Macintosh, and Lyra Heartstrings chapter.) My dearest readers long hectic work week and will be taking a respite from this story to work on a new chapter for Octavia and the Alicorn's peace. So chapter 42 may take a while.