Cadance arose on wobbling legs, very much like a newborn foal. She stumbled, staggered, and then was grabbed. She felt pressure on her neck, immense pressure, and she was pressed against a warm body, her cheek pressed against soft cotton.
She realised that Maeve was kneeling down and hugging her. Cadance, overwhelmed, wrapped her wings around Maeve and held the crying girl. She still wasn’t sure what was going on, but she was back in the real world. Maeve was trembling, but not letting go.
“I had a funny dream,” Maeve whispered. “I touched your horn and everything went weird.” She took a deep breath. “And then I was inside of Luna’s head, seeing everything that she saw, feeling everything, I could see through her eyes… but there was something I couldn’t see… something at the top of the tower, at the top of the stairs.”
Cadance, who now had her legs braced beneath her, rubbed her cheek against Maeve, wondering where the others were. She and Maeve were alone together. Just as suddenly as it had started, the hug was over and Maeve was pulling away, her whole body shaking so hard that Cadance could hear her teeth clattering together.
As Maeve pulled away, Cadance could feel Maeve’s right hand lingering upon her cheek. The pink alicorn looked up into Maeve’s eyes and saw Maeve’s freckles. She was almost, but not quite, the mirror image of her mother.
“I’m guessing that you’ll want to talk, but probably don’t know where to start,” Cadance said, her sharp foalsitter instincts kicking in. Maeve, however grown up she might be at times, was still a hurt little girl on the inside. Cadance had seen that with her own eyes. She watched as Maeve nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks, and a quivering smile on her strange, but still somehow attractive flat face.
“Well for now, talking is not important. Let’s just take a moment and recover, shall we? And then maybe we can get you some of your calming tea before you chip your teeth, you poor dear.”
Princess Luna, who was now recovering, shook away the last effects of the strange spell that had been cast upon her mind. She had been left weak and powerless, more like a foal than anything else, even her wits had been dulled. She shook her head, which turned into a powerful full body shake that ended with her wings snapped out and fully extended. She felt like herself again.
The horrible depression that she had, which Twilight Sparkle had eased, was the furthest thing from her mind. She thought about Maeve’s mother, Maeve, or as Luna would now refer to her, Maeve the Older. She gave herself another shake, looking more than a little birdlike.
“Luna…” Twilight, still recovering, pointed at Luna.
“What?” Luna danced about on her hooves, getting a feel for her own legs again.
Twilight’s eyes narrowed, she blinked, and then, when what she saw didn’t go away, Twilight knew that she wasn’t dreaming. “Luna, there is a silver key around your neck.”
Luna, angling her head to look downward, heard the clink of metal. She felt it before she saw it. A silver chain with delicate silver links, and a small skeleton key. Luna shook her head in disbelief. “This is not possible. This was only but a dream. This key should not exist.”
“But it does,” Twilight said to Luna as she took a step closer. “The key to Maeve’s heart.” The smaller alicorn looked up at the larger, and then her eyes focused on the key again. “We need to find Maeve and Cadance.”
“Yes, I need to find my daughter,” Luna agreed, her eyes narrowing. Luna, feeling more like herself than she had for a long time, looked down at Twilight. Once, a long time ago, Luna had been the Element of Laughter. She raised her eyebrow. “Tell me, Miss Sparkle, how do you feel about dating a single mother?”
Twilight, flummoxed, stood agape, staring up at Luna, unable to reply. She watched as Luna waggled her eyebrows. Her cheeks bloomed with heat and her throat went dry.
Lowering her head, Luna placed her lips near Twilight’s ear. “I have a child… she’s problematic. She’s a confirmed castle wrecker. She might also have some intimacy issues and some problems with two mares being together, at least until she can get things sorted out. Is this going to be a problem for you?”
Unable to reply with words, Twilight Sparkle, flustered, let out a whinny, followed by a nicker, both of which were punctuated by a snort.
Pushing her way through the doorway, Luna stepped into the small, intimate kitchenette, one of many to be found within the castle. A little nook filled with snacks, tea, coffee, and other refreshments. Like every other kitchenette in the castle, it was stocked with Maeve’s medicinal tea. Standing in the doorway, she saw Maeve sitting on a cushion, clutching a steaming mug that she held in her wooden hand. Shining Armor was fixing something to eat on the counter and Cadance was sitting beside Maeve. Luna sniffed, smelling tea, smelling peppermint, and… chocolate hazelnut spread? She saw Maeve’s green eyes focus upon her.
“Maeve, what do you remember?” Luna asked as she made her way to the table.
“She remembers everything,” Cadance replied. “She saw everything through your eyes. She was inside of your head. But she did not see inside the room at the top of the stairs.”
Luna froze, biting her lip for a moment, trying to think about the why. Then, Luna nodded and sat down on a cushion that sat on the floor beside the low table. She decided to talk to Maeve about it later, the contents of that room. Maeve needed to know. But first, she needed to heal.
“Something is different,” Maeve whispered after she took a sip of tea.
“It is?” Luna asked.
“I just feel different,” Maeve replied.
“How so?” Luna grabbed one of the delicious but plebian teabags out of the container on the table, poured boiling water into a mug, which was a far cry from a proper teacup, and then dropped the tea sachet into the hot water.
Shrugging, Maeve blinked a few times. “I don’t know. But it felt nice hugging Cadance.”
“Shining Armor’s shield has changed something.” Cadance looked over at her husband and then at Maeve. She looked into Maeve’s bloodshot and bleary eyes. “Where is Twilight?”
“She will be with us in a moment,” Luna replied. Twilight had gone into the little fillies’ room. Luna looked around the kitchenette, her eyes lingering on sugarcubes, the jar of honey, the collection of tea sachets, a little Fancy press coffee pot, and little plastic disposable spoons. Luna detested plastic spoons and heavy, clunky mugs. She liked fine silver and delicate teacups, but she was in no mood to complain. This would just have to do.
Blueblood’s welcome home had not gone as planned.
Shining Armor set a platter of toast with chocolate hazelnut spread down on the table and then sat down; not beside Cadance, but beside Maeve, which surprised Luna. She watched as Maeve’s right hand reached out, trembling, and touched Shining Armor’s neck for a moment, her fingers lingering upon his blue mane.
It was a start. It was a good start. Luna thought of Red and the time that Maeve spent with him. Maeve had moments of affection with the sickly colt already, but things would be easier now.
“So what was in the room at the top of the stairs?” Maeve asked.
Luna’s ears perked. She saw Cadance and Shining Armor both look at her. Luna wasn’t certain how to broach this subject. Luna wanted to tell her, but something inside of her refused. Maeve needed more time, but Luna felt that Maeve needed to know.
“Maeve, do you remember anything that was said in the dark room? The place where Shining Armor shielded you?” Luna asked. She saw Maeve shake her head and a troubled expression crept over the girl’s face. Luna sighed.
“I just saw stuff… I can’t remember much of what was said anywhere. I remember a little version of me picking my nose and offering you a booger,” Maeve said. “I saw… him beating me, over and over… I can remember a version of Red. He was the size of a potato.”
“Inside of the room at the top of the stairs is the most innermost part of your mind. A special place. A protected place. It holds your memories.” Luna paused, not wanting to lie, but not certain if Maeve was ready for the truth. “It holds your mother’s memory.” Luna glanced over. Maeve seemed satisfied with that answer.
Pulling the tea sachet out of her tea, Luna added a bit of honey and some milk, trying not to scowl at how improper this was. “In time, the doors in your mind will open and you will know more. You have something to work towards.”
“I wonder where Twilight is?” Cadance asked.
Luna shrugged. “She said that she would join us.” She watched as Maeve set down her mug and picked up a piece of toast with chocolate hazelnut spread on it. The girl folded the toast in half, then folded it again, and stuffed the whole thing into her mouth. Luna, smiling even though she knew that she shouldn’t be, shook her head.
“Hey, that’s kinda impressive… I thought only Twilight could do that,” Shining Armor said, turning his head to watch Maeve chew.
“Shining!” Cadance gave her husband The Look, but he ignored her.
“Twily went through a stage when she was little… she thought eating was inefficient and a waste of time. She got frustrated having to eat all the time, it cut into her studies, you see.” Shining, still ignoring the glare he was getting, continued: “So, she’d take foods that she could fold up, like peanut butter and toast for example, and cram the whole thing into her mouth. She also drank a lot of her meals. Developed a fondness for soup.”
Lifting up her mug, Maeve let out a weak giggle.
“Princess Celestia cured Twilight of this problem though. She gave Twilight some enchanted food. The food looked like normal food, in this instance, a slice of cake, but in Twilight’s mouth, it was just like super sticky taffy. It was almost impossible to chew. While Twily was stuck chewing, Princess Celestia gave her a lecture about enjoying the simple pleasures in life and told her how lucky we are to have them. I was guarding the door when this happened. I got in trouble because I couldn’t stop laughing.”
“You got a lecture later about the importance of remaining silent as a guard, even when your little sister is being lectured,” Cadance said.
“There needs to be a club… ponies who have been lectured by Celestia.” Luna took a sip of tea, grimaced at the weakness, and then set her mug down upon the table. “Well, ponies and little girls too.”
“Twilight Velvet, my mother, she got lectured by Celestia apparently.” Shining Armor sighed and grinned. “Twilight Velvet and Night Light, my father, were caught kissing in one of the many gardens.”
“What happened?” Maeve asked.
Shining Armor picked up his toast, raised one eyebrow, and replied, “My mother didn’t listen to Celestia’s lecture. Not quite a year later, a little colt was born. Nice pony. Has a weird sister though.”
Maeve blushed so hard that her freckles all connected.
Snickering, Cadance looked at her husband but was unable to give him The Look. She had heard this from Twilight Velvet as well. When Shining Armor had announced his intentions to court the lovely princess, his mother had sat down and had told Cadance a story.
“That’s what marriage is for, right? Having babies? Or foals?” Maeve asked in a low voice. She looked at Cadance and then at Shining Armor. “I mean, that’s how I came about, right?”
“Well, that is one reason to get married, but that’s not the only reason,” Cadance replied. The pink alicorn became serious. This was her domain, and she felt the need to provide clarity if it was needed.
“I don’t think two women could make a baby… so why would they get married or fall in love?”
There it was. Cadance took a deep breath and glanced at Luna. The blue alicorn seemed unphased by the statement. Luna looked calm. Cadance saw Luna looking back at her, and it was almost as if her expression was saying, “I’m the Princess of the Night.”
“Love is a funny thing, Maeve. You can fall in love with who or what somepony is on the inside.” Cadance cleared her throat and took a sip of her somewhat cooled tea. “You can be so in love that the outside doesn’t matter. Love has a funny way of finding a way.” Cadance thought for a moment about Maeve’s budding affection for Red. Love was going to have to find a way. That was going to be tough. Getting Maeve used to the idea of love for the sake of love shouldn’t be too hard though, or so Cadance believed.
“What about having babies? Or foals?” Maeve blinked, her expression dark. “Twilight explained the basics to me. She called it a ‘biological imperative’ and said that our bodies place a priority on passing along our genes, whatever those are.”
“Well, there is adoption, there are ways for mares to have foals without, well, without the usual ways of making foals,” Cadance replied in a soft whisper. “Love finds a way.”
“Cadance?”
“Yes?”
“What if a pony and something not a pony fell in love? Could they be happy?”
“Of course, Maeve. Love finds a way…”