Bonus Deleted Scenes (canon to the story): Song of Myself
This chapter was heavily condensed into the epilogue. In it, we see Cadance, Prismia, and Celestia heading for Cloudsdale so Celestia can take care of some “business.” This business includes showing Cadance and Prismia some sights around the city, before searching the Cloudsdale archives for the Amore family tree and an older newspaper. The paper explains what actually happened to both of Cadance’s parents as well as revealing their identities. It is here that Cadance truly accepts who she is and declares herself “Mi Amore Cadenza” for the first time. In the end, this chapter felt like it really dragged out the resolution and had many superfluous sections that added nothing to the overall story. It also featured a fairly Out-of-Character Celestia, although this was a deliberate ploy of hers.
Your final song from me... or is it? And can anyone tell me why this one's different to the others?
The chariot raced in and out of a white and blue ocean, stretching above the green pastures far below. The Sun had crested the top of the sky by the time Cadance ran out of things to talk about.
“Are either of you getting hungry?” Celestia asked after Prismia ended one of her many tales of wonder.
“Oh, no, that’s okay, Princess,” Cadance said. “I can wait until we reach Canterlot.” She looked away, cheeks darkening as her stomach betrayed her words with an audible rumble.
“There is no need to stand on ceremony around me, no call to impress,” Celestia said. “You must be hungry. The floating city of Cloudsdale is just up ahead, about another ten minutes flight. I have business there anyway, as well as some things I would like to confirm.” She winked. “You can both try Cloudsdale’s most famous delicacy. Take it from me—you will never eat anything so light and tangy as cloud cake.”
Cadance smiled and nodded. “I guess I am a little hungry.” She looked down from Celestia. “Have you ever had cloud cake, Prismia?”
“I have heard of it, but no, I have not,” Prismia said. “Cloudsdale is one of the few places I have not yet visited. My nomadic lifestyle could never have supported the cost of an airship ride to the city. Notice also my distinct lack of wings.”
“That is easily remedied,” Celestia said. Her horn glowed. “I know a spell that can briefly enable you to walk on clouds. Oh, come now—” she chuckled as Prismia began to stammer “—it will be perfectly safe. You can trust me.”
“I… yes, Princess.” Prismia swallowed. “However, let me go on record as saying I am glad to be between you two in this chariot. I truly cannot stomach the sight of the ground from this altitude...”
Cadance giggled. She moved further to the left, placing her hooves upon the chariot’s edge, and looked down and around. Grassy plains stretched out beneath them, hundreds of metres below. Left behind in the chariot’s wake, the White Tail Wood and Smokey Mountain sat like great sentinels, separating the plains from a vast, seemingly endless body of water to the west. To the southwest, many other mountains rose into the air, although they were not like any that Cadance had ever seen before; all of them were tall and narrow, too precise to be natural.
“Princess, what are those over there?” She pointed toward the distant hills where some large white letters decorated the countryside near the tall, narrow mountains.
“They are towers, Cadance,” Celestia said. “Sometimes, so many ponies gather to live in one place that they build giant houses that touch the sky, to save land space.”
“Wow, really? So many ponies all living together like that?”
“Tall Tale is much the same,” Prismia said. “That city in the distance is Las Pegasus. Those letters on the mountain next to the city spell out the word ‘Applewood,’ which is Las Pegasus’ largest district. Many famous and popular ponies live there.”
Cadance nodded, returning her gaze to the sprawling countryside below. Among the grassy meadows and rolling hills, there were pockets of small woodland areas, winding rivers, and what appeared to be an orchard with a large red building at its edge.
Something odd near the orchard caught her eye. She leaned further out of the chariot and fixed her sight upon the flurry of motion. Several small figures zipped through the air, each one a different colour. They brought together small tufts of cloud, all combining seamlessly to create a blanket of shadows over the nearby town.
Cadance hopped up and down in her seat. “Princess, Prismia, look!” She pointed down at the figures. “Those other pegasus ponies are playing with the clouds!”
“That is what pegasus ponies—or pegasi—do, Cadance,” Prismia said, peering briefly over the edge before quickly withdrawing. “That town down there must be Ponyville. It seems they are scheduled for some spring rain.” She swallowed and turned to Celestia. “Princess, if that is Ponyville, we must surely be coming up on Cloudsdale very soon?”
Celestia nodded. “Indeed we are. The time has come.” She closed her eyes, her horn glowing golden. “I need you both to sit perfectly still, please. I am about to perform three complex spells, and I need your complete compliance for them to work.”
Cadance and Prismia looked at each other and nodded. Placing their hooves firmly on the chariot floor, they joined Celestia in closing their eyes. The sound of a spell activating reached Cadance’s ears, and she felt a tingle run through her body: up and down through her muscles, over her coat, finally converging into the base of her horn. Pressure briefly mounted in her forehead before fading away.
“Is it… safe to open them now, Princess?” she asked, eyes still squeezed shut.
“In a moment,” Celestia said. “Let me finish my other spells first.”
Cadance sat and relaxed, rubbing her forehead. Celestia’s magic flared through her eyelids while the chariot’s motion rocked her gently, the breeze setting her mane to dance about her face and shoulders. She heard a quick intake of breath to her right, exhaled only after the magical sound faded. The sound returned, another moment passing before it dissipated for the final time.
“Now before you open your eyes, I ask you both to not be alarmed by what you see,” Celestia said. “Especially when you look at me. Are we clear?”
“Yes, Princess,” Cadance and Prismia said together.
“Good. You may open them now.”
Cadance’s eyes fluttered open. As she looked to her right, she lifted an eyebrow at Prismia. “Uh, you don’t look any different. Am I missing something?”
“Well, I feel lighter,” Prismia said. She waved a hoof in front of her, twisting it around with an interested expression. “It is as if my hooves wish to float away.” She lowered her hoof and turned to Cadance with her eyebrows raised. “You, however, have a far more obvious change. Reach up and touch your forehead.”
Cadance tilted her head, but did as Prismia said. There it was, her new horn; she could still feel it protruding from her forehead. “Um, yes? What about it?”
“I see no horn. To me, you are a regular pegasus again.”
“What? But I can still feel it...”
Cadance lowered her hoof and looked past Prismia. “Princess Celestia, what magic did you… you… Princess?”
Her eyes roved over the strange pony sitting next to Prismia. Although her coat and cutie mark remained the same, that was where the similarities ended. Celestia had shrunk to half her size, and her own horn had also disappeared. Her mane and tail were no longer multi-hued but a solid pale pink, and they hung down instead of rippling constantly around her. Small fluffy wings replaced her larger regal ones.
“How do you like my new look? Aren’t my wings pretty?” The mare ruffled her feathers and giggled, her voice rising in pitch as she spoke.
“Impressive illusion, Princess,” Prismia said, a smile growing on her face. “Even I would have to keep my horn alight to maintain such a disguise.”
“Princess?” The mare giggled again, a hoof to her mouth. “I’m not a princess. I’m Sunny Skies! Nice to meet you!” She held out her hoof to Prismia—who shook it rather slowly with an odd expression—then to Cadance, who also laughed as she took the hoof ‘Sunny’ offered.
“Now that we’ve been reintroduced, I’ll tell you what I just did,” Sunny said. “This is how I normally run around when I wish to mingle with my subjects, without everypony bowing wherever I go. Prismia, your spell has temporarily substituted your unicorn magic for pegasus magic, enabling you to walk on the clouds with us. Lastly, Cadance, I cast a similar spell on you as I did to myself. Alicorns are extremely rare, of course—I’ve hidden your horn from plain sight, so that ponies don’t cause an uproar and crowd us while we walk amongst them.”
She turned back to the east. “Just a little further up, and…” She swung her leg out as the clouds ahead parted; Cadance’s mouth fell open with an awed gasp.
“Here it is. Prismia, Cadance... welcome to Cloudsdale.”
* * * * *
A minute later, Sunny ordered her escorts to park on the opposite side of an enclosed field. When she, Cadance, and Prismia hopped off the chariot, Sunny ordered her escorts to remain behind, and thanked them for their services.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” she said as they left the Royal Guard behind. “However, I would prefer to go about our business here without everypony crowding us, and four Royal Guards following a normal looking trio of ponies would be sure to raise questions.”
They walked along the outside of the field. Cadance eyed the many different coloured pegasi inside, her head on a swivel as she tried to take it all in. Pegasi darted back and forth at high speed, flying through cloud rings, up and over clouds shaped like other obstacles, and around in large circles just inside the field’s exterior.
“What’s happening here, Prin—I mean, Sunny?”
“It looks like we’ve caught the Wonderbolts in one of their training sessions,” Sunny said. “The Wonderbolts are a group of elite fliers who put on shows all over Equestria for ponies’ entertainment. No pegasi are faster, more agile, or anywhere near as precise as this expert team.”
Prismia walked next to the two, also looking as three of the pegasi simultaneously flew through a series of rings in a complex looping manoeuvre. “I have seen the Wonderbolts before. I must say I was rather impressed with their new captain, Spitfire. Watching that mare in flight is to witness flames given wings.”
“Wow,” Cadance breathed. “I don’t think I could ever fly that fast. But I never flew much anyway, really. I never liked doing it around my family—I always felt guilty that I could and they couldn’t, I suppose.”
“I understand,” Sunny said, placing a hoof on Cadance’s shoulder. “That sounds very considerate of their feelings, Cadance. But now you are unrestricted in that regard. Indeed, a pegasus pony who chooses not to fly is often looked down upon in Equestria—especially by others of your kind. Pegasi are a very proud race, as you will come to see soon enough.”
Cadance nodded. She followed Sunny as they traversed the ocean of white, Prismia at her side. A constant breeze blew around them, ruffling Cadance’s feathers. As they passed a statue dedicated to some armoured pony, she looked at Prismia and stopped.
“Are you okay, Prismia? You’re shaking pretty hard.”
Prismia simply smiled, pulling her cloak tighter about herself. “Worry not, Cadance. I am still acclimatising to walking on these clouds, is all. Although I admit it is rather chilly, and the wind does not help matters.”
“Oh, you must forgive me, Prismia,” Sunny said. “I completely overlooked that you aren’t as resilient to cold temperatures as Cadance and I. Quickly, come with me!”
She bounded off past the statue of somepony named Hurricane and entered into a nearby building. It rose high above them, its supporting pillars carved with an intricate spiraling pattern. The entrance was wide and open, four ponies able to walk through side-along.
Cadance and Prismia crossed the threshold and gasped together: rows upon rows of shelves lined the walls as far as they could see. In front of them, several staircases led up and down and around what seemed like tens of thousands of books, piled up high toward the ceiling. The midday sun beamed through the gigantic glass dome covering the building, light piercing through and casting different rainbowed refractions off the shining interior. Pegasi walked and flew around everywhere, grabbing and reshelving books.
“Cadance! Prismia! Over here!”
They turned to their right, where Sunny was speaking to a larger blue mare. The counter behind her displayed many different food and drink options. “I ordered us all some oatmeal with strawberries, a slice of cloud cake each, and a pot of tea to help warm us all up.” She motioned to a table. Together, the three sat down as another mare brought out a table number, three cups with leaves at the bottoms, and a pot of hot water on a tray.
A half hour passed as they ate, drank, and chatted in peace. As she nibbled at her food, Cadance’s attention wandered between watching other pegasi drift around, listening to Sunny and Prismia discuss finer details of Prismia’s rehabilitation, and her own thoughts. The oatmeal warmed her stomach, the cloud cake tickled her tongue in the most tantalising way, and the tea seemed to soothe her very soul…
I’m in Cloudsdale, a place I never knew existed last week...
“Cadance.”
Sitting on this seat, with two ponies I met just days ago… sharing food and drinks and conversation...
“Cadance?”
I’m some kind of alicorn princess, only the second in known history… Crystal Pendant… Crystal Princess—
“Cadance! Are you still with us?”
Cadance jolted upright in her seat, eyes darting left to right. “What? Oh, I’m sorry! I just…”
“Are you all right?” Sunny asked, her head tilted, mane touching the table near her plate. “I, um… yes, I am,” Cadance said. She held her head up, breathed in then swung her right leg in front of her while exhaling. “I’m okay. Now what were you saying?”
“Sunny and I have finished our meal and our talk,” Prismia said. “If you have also finished your meal, Sunny wishes for you to accompany her while she peruses the library for some specific information. Both of you have some history to discover.” She closed her eyes and stood from her seat. “I will browse these halls at my own leisure.”
Cadance looked from Prismia to Sunny, who nodded. “What I hope to discover concerns both of us,” Sunny said. “Although I said Prismia is free to accompany us, she has decided that, in the event we find what I seek, such a moment should be shared between only you and I.”
“What kind of moment?” Cadance asked. She turned back to Prismia. “What could be so… um, private that you don’t want to know?”
“Trust me on this, Cadance,” Prismia said, closing her eyes and tipping her head forward. “It has potential to make you quite emotional. As such, it really should be something you come to terms with yourself.”
Sunny stood from the table, drifted over it, and landed next to Cadance. “Come on, Cadance!” Her foal-like giggle returned, light dancing in her eyes as she reached out to grab a pink hoof. “Let’s go find some history!” She lifted the hoof and backed away, bringing Cadance off her seat as well with the motion.
Cadance gave a last look at Prismia, acknowledged her nod, and spread her own wings.
Up and down sets of stairs, through narrow aisles, passing trolleys of unshelved returns, the two pegasi flew past hundreds of shelves of old books, scrolls, and ancient-looking artifacts. Sunny led while Cadance stayed behind, having no idea what her partner sought or where to find it.
“Sunny,” she called, panting as they zigzagged in and out of the aisles, “would it be easier to just... ask somepony what you’re looking for?”
“Oh, of course it would,” came the voice ahead of her as it rounded the next corner and disappeared from earshot. “But—” Cadance jumped as Sunny appeared on the other side of the shelf next to her “—I’m actually enjoying this if I say so myself. My old mentor used to get so annoyed at me when I raced around his library like this. ‘Libraries are for being quiet and still in,’ he would say, but it was always so much fun to zip in and out of his knowledge halls.”
“I… er...”
Cadance shook her head as Sunny took off yet again.
Princess Celestia sure knows how to disguise herself well. She’s not only changed her appearance, but her entire attitude too. Nopony would ever suspect they’re in the company of the Sun Goddess.
“Hey, wait up!” she called again. She flapped up over the top of her nearest shelf and cast her eyes down, head moving left to right. She caught sight of a white and pink blur streaking in and out of the aisles and smiled. Passing overhead, Cadance flew toward the tenth aisle in front of her and dropped down to the floor, just in time for Sunny to round the corner.
“Oh!” Sunny giggled as she slid to a halt, barely a metre from Cadance. “Hello again. Nicely done, by the way—” she turned her head and touched her hoof to an embossed plaque on the shelf to her right “—you found the right section!”
Cadance looked at the plaque, swept some stray mane from her face, and squinted her eyes. “Re… records, ge… gene… what’s that word, Sunny?”
She looked back at the sound of magic and did a double take; Sunny Skies was gone, replaced by Celestia in her usual form.
“Sunny? Who is ‘Sunny’?” Celestia asked, offering Cadance a wink. Her horn glowed a second time, and a gold-tinted shield enclosed the pair, along with the particular section they stood in.
“Princess?”
“I believe that what we are—hopefully—about to discover should be kept as private as possible.” Celestia’s horn dulled, but the shield remained. “Nopony can see, hear, or walk through this shield. We have complete privacy now.” She pointed to the plaque. “It says Records, Archives, and Genealogy, Cadance. Can you tell me why we might be in such a place today?”
“Um…” Cadance frowned at the plaque. “Well, ‘records’ are about the past, right? But I don’t know what ‘archives’ or ‘genealogy’ means. Is that something else to do with old things?”
Celestia nodded. Looking up to her right, she grasped a large stack of papers and floated them down. A red ribbon in a neat little bow held them together, a contrast to the yellowing pages it bound. She also floated out a scroll housed in a section from a lower shelf, marked A-C. The stack touched down upon the floor while the scroll unravelled before her nose.
Cadance watched Celestia’s eyes rapidly rove back and forth over the scroll, the top of the paper folding over as she brought more up to eye level from below. She shuffled over to the stack of paper and stared at the lines of black text and different images covering the aged pages, her head tilted at a gentle angle.
“Well, that is interesting.”
Cadance looked up at Celestia’s voice; the scroll covered the floor, only the very end floating before the princess’ eyes. She sat there staring at the bottom, her expression unreadable. A few seconds later, she resealed the scroll with her magic and returned it to the shelf.
“You are twelve years old as of three days ago, correct?” she asked.
“Mm-hm,” Cadance murmured with a nod of her own. She thought for a moment. “At least, I always believed my birthday was three days ago… but I must be at least a little older than that, really. Mother and Father must have based it on when they found me, I guess.”
She fell quiet for a moment as Celestia began unraveling the ribbon. “I… don’t actually know my true birthday at all. I’m sorry.”
The papers floated apart as the ribbon fell away. Celestia narrowed her eyes as paper after paper floated in front of her eyes, each one replaced by another as she lowered them to the floor.
“Now would be an opportune time to practice wielding your magic, Cadance,” she said, motioning to the growing pile at her hooves. “Try to pick them up and move them around using nothing but your mind.”
“Okay, Princess.”
While Cadance concentrated on moving around individual papers, Celestia finished her first pile and reached up for a second lot. She repeated the process until both ponies found themselves surrounded by paper pillars.
Sweat formed on Cadance’s brow, and she began to pant. Celestia was searching for something specific, but what? And why was it taking so—
“Ah, here it is. Come, Cadance—this is something you need to see.”
Cadance looked up at Celestia. Her expression was unreadable: whether sorrow, joy, or indifference, Cadance could not tell. She dropped the small pile of papers in her grasp and fluttered next to Celestia, who lowered her head and the paper for Cadance to see.
“This story is dated the seventeenth day of Vita—the first month of spring—year nine hundred and seventy-seven After Banishment,” Celestia explained. She highlighted a square below some slightly faded text. “Look at those ponies in the picture.”
Cadance peered at the greyed-out photo. A handsome stallion—not unlike Stamska, if only he had wings—stood with a wing around a beautiful mare wearing a radiant smile. Around her neck, she wore a pendant identical to Cadance’s. In their other three wings, they cradled a small bundle in front of them. The foal had its eyes closed and a small smile on its face.
“They’re… my parents. My real parents,” Cadance whispered, misty-eyed before she knew it. She studied her blood mother’s soft features, her blood father’s strong muscles and larger wings, and the little wings on the curly-maned foal between them. Everything she knew about herself came crashing around her. These were the ponies who brought her into the world, who loved her even before she was born. The picture immortalised their faces, both beaming up at her from the time-worn pages.
“Yes, Cadance.” Celestia pointed to the caption below the photo and began to read. “Crescendo Breeze and Ruby Amore—pictured with their newborn foal, Cadenza Amore—shortly before the disappearance of all three.” She looked at Cadance and smiled, although her eyes glistened. “You have Ruby’s coat... and her eyes.”
What colour eyes did they have? How did they met, fall in love, plan a life together for me and themselves? How could they have ever fallen prey to a monstrous dragon—
“You knew them, Princess?” Cadance asked.
“Mmmm.” Celestia looked back at the picture again. “I kept a distant watch over Ruby’s family for a very long time. I only met Crescendo the year they were married, though. When you came along, I meant to visit again so I could meet you all properly. However…”
Taking a deep breath, she pointed to and highlighted the textbox above the photograph, and exhaled slowly. “Crescendo Breeze, twenty-two,” she began, “and Ruby Amore, twenty-one, were last seen heading for the city of Van Hoover on the fourteenth of this month. Friends of the couple say they were on their way to visit family after the birth of their daughter, Cadenza, on the seventeenth of Termina, but had failed to arrive at their destination. Crescendo has a viridian coat and a silver mane and tail; Ruby has a peach coat and a dual-coloured mane and tail of blonde and brown. Family members in both Cloudsdale and Van Hoover are hysterical, and urge anypony who bears any information about the couple and their foal to contact both them and the authorities.”
Cadance heard the words, but barely registered their meaning as she continued to stare at the picture, determined to burn the image into her mind. A drop fell onto the paper; she turned her head away, lest she spoil any more of her family history with her welling emotions.
Crescendo Breeze… Ruby Amore… Father and Mother… they died defending me. Crescendo must have distracted the dragon to let Ruby escape with me. She crashed into Kartanya and Artax… only Kartanya and I survived that day of flames, torrents, and bloodshed.
“So m-many lives lost… to s-save me…”
The tears flowed freely then, Cadance wiping her cheeks as history bombarded her with wave after wave of realisation. It was all about her. It always had been: Her parents made their sacrifices, Artax made his, her adoptive family took her in, and all of Zahara embraced her.
Celestia lowered the paper and met Cadance’s gaze, both of their eyes shimmering. “This newspaper is twelve years old as of today, Cadance. There can be no scrap of doubt remaining that you are Crescendo and Ruby’s missing daughter... and the sole remaining heir to the Crystal Throne.”
Silence lingered upon the pair of alicorns as Celestia wrapped a wing around Cadance and held her close. Both of their tears fell then, undammed, through the cloudy floor at their hooves.
For the first time in many years, Celestia clutched the hopes of an entire empire—an entire race—to her side. The Crystal Princess’ heir, long thought dead, had finally returned to the world. And, for a brief point in time, nothing else mattered; nothing but the little pink alicorn filly, sobbing into her foreleg, who had overcome all odds and realised her destiny.
“Crystal Princess Amore’s ancient line endures. You have returned to us… Cadenza.”
Cadance gave a long sniff and drew back from Celestia. She closed her eyes, wiped the remaining tears away, and stood tall.
“As I stand before you now, Celestia, I swear—to all the ponies who’ve ever loved me, who gave their lives so that I may live, to you, my family in Zahara, and everypony in Equestria—I will be the best princess I possibly can. And the name I choose, the title I bear as a descendant of Crystal Princess Amore and in honour of my loving family…”
Cadance took a deep breath and closed her eyes, spreading her wings.
“Is Mi Amore Cadenza, the Princess of Love.”
The Crystal Pendant gleamed.
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I kind of skimmed it and skipped the wolf thing. Still the wolves could be reused for another story.
Very cool.
5517063 Reading it again, and looking at the way Cadenza described you-know-who, it sounds a lot like Nightmare Moon.
I kept thinking, "Is Celestia going to think it's Luna?"
5521776
I think Celestia would know it wasn't NIghtmare Moon. For one, the silhouette still inside the moon would show she is still imprisoned.
5522082
The secret is to care about your characters like your own children. I, too, shed many tears over this chapter. I hated myself for it, but I knew it was necessary.
"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader."
Robert Frost
Termina only has three days, silly.
5523407
But y'know, I would think that Celestia of all ponies wouldn't need to come back once a month like that... Then again, it does sound like a rather complex spell. I'm guessing your headcanon doesn't allow for things like mana batteries to keep up the spell for longer.
Indeed, I totally forgot about that little story. This is what happens when you read a story at the rate of less than a chapter a day.
5523628
Yes, only true love makes one willing to give themselves up and the one thing that gives them a chance so that the villain can immediately go back on his/her word and slaughter everyone anyway. True love has no place in a battle in the defense of home and family, that's stupid.
You could have easily had Kavi get to town before Chrysalis – like she did for the vargar – and play things out in a similar fashion and had just as much of an impact, if not more so. You want to have a big sacrifice thrown in? Have Kara be left outside the shield and caught, and then have Cadance leave the Crystal Pendant with Prismia to sacrifice herself in return for letting Kara back into the shield. The villagers survive under the shield, Cadance cements her love and loyalty for her sister (particularly the one who saved her in the first place) and by extension her family, and Prismia is still free to deal with the changelings before they can properly take Cadance away.
So that's: epic conflict (changelings trying to break the shield), great love and sacrifice (Cadance for Kara) and a last-second victory (Prismia and the dragon).
5523678
You think too logically.
Twelve-year-olds don't.
(Sometimes I do think you've lost your inner child)
5523687
Wait, Cadance is only twelve? I completely forgot about that. I was thinking she was more along the lines of fifteen or sixteen. Anyway, I guess being young has to be equated to dumb? I suppose I'll buy that, but I'd rather think too logically than too emotionally.
...although it does make it hard to write for emotionally-driven characters, I must acknowledge.
If I'd lost my inner child, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction based on a show for little girls.
5523705
Touché. I'll give you that.
While the ending was certainly touching, I thinking switching to the shorter version was a good move. This one stretched the ending for a little too long.
5527695
Sorry you feel that way.
People will have headcanons, I suppose. I can't please everyone. I hope you've liked the rest of the story so far, though.
Besides, the formation of the Empire is really only a minor point in this. The focus is on Kavi. So please don't let it bother you too much.
I'm not certain I see this scene needing to be cut. I think it adds some interesting character elements to Cadance that were lost in the final version of the epilogue.
That said, I really enjoyed this story. Good stuff
This was a good and heartwarming story. Thank you very much for weaving this wonderful tale for us all here.
5534885
You are most welcome. Thank you for walking alongside Cadance.
I am SO going to enjoy this with Dark Passion Play and more NW goodness in my ears! See ya on the other side
5552889
Yay, another fellow Nightwish fan!
I hope the story is as awesome to you as their music.
5554487
In the words of Song of Myself...
Well, that was amazing! Enjoyed the story very much, thank you
Story Scout Foals Errand here to award you this! For writing a spectacular and in canon origin story of our favorite pink princess Mi Amore Cadenza!
i.imgur.com/od0xMCF.png
5567375
thank you!
Cadance really grew on me throughout this story
Great job at writing this, Ceru! And sorry for posting this comment so long after reading it 
I'm totally not here because of The L-Train.
Reading this now to get a better feel of the music :P
Quite a few things already caught my attention, but now that I've noticed that the chapters are actually Dark Passion Play's song titles (except Song of Myself), I'm going to delve into this without any further wait
How to describe this story in one word: SEQUEL!
(There is no mention of Cadence/Cadance going from wearing her mane down near the start to her signature bow style, am I the only one noticing this or was it intentional?)
5596211
Good eye. I think of it as being a thing that she adopted in Canterlot.
(And there may or may not be something semi-related coming in the near future...
One PCaRG review, piping hot.
5612560
Awe kewlies
5617660
it really is.
Thanks for the follow. May I continue to entertain you.
Not sure how much control you have over it, but the ePub download is broken. Google Books won't process it, and the validator site they recommend ( http://validator.idpf.org/ ) throws a bunch of errors when given this file.
5618935
I don't even know what that is.
Is it something that a mod can look into?
5618964 Stories here on FiMfiction can be downloaded as plain text, HTML or ePub (an ebook format). Something about the story is messing with the ePub formatting, so it won't open properly. Yeah, that might be something a mod would have to look into.
Sunny Skies, nice. Makes sense to keep Cadance in disguise until her official announcement, they probably don't need to start any rumors.
Hmn, a Cloudsdale library with a built-in snack bar. I'm not sure if Twilight would approve or be appalled.
I suppose that's another notable artifact of Cadance's home environment, there's quite a bit of schooling that she simply hasn't had.
So, she's twelve-ish? I imagine that puts us maybe 15 years or so out from the beginning of the show, then. Five years til she'd be high school aged to be sitting Twilight, and maybe another ten years past that for Twilight to spend studying under Celestia.
Now that felt like an ending to the story, and to be honest I think it would have been better included for real as opposed to just as a canon deleted scene.
Took me a couple of days to read but by far this was a fantastic trip. The story was amazing and the writing was fantastic. It was one big roller coaster for Cadence but in the end she found her place to be. In one part I took notice and appreciated was when she and Celestia first came together and I immediately thought of the photo by Silfoe. It surprises me to see how artwork created by so many fans can create story potential for many others. In the end this story was very well done and I am glad to have come across it.
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Thank you very much for walking with her.
5639986 You are most welcome.
Three chapters in and I'm loving it already. I have to admit I didn't see that one coming. (Seems kind of harsh for albinism, although my OC has a similar back story. [only difference is that he is an earth pony and he has yet to kill anyone, at least that I know of anyway.])
Just finished the main story and I have to say it was intriguing. (The backstory bit in Chapter 5 earned a spot in my 'Inspiration Section.')
Although, I can't help but wonder what Cadance's mother was doing that near a dragon? Also, I'd like to disagree with you about there are no bad ponies. Two words: King Sombra.
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Funny you should say that...
Inspirational? Wow. That's incredible. Thanks so much.
It's never directly stated, but Ruby and Crescendo were on their way to see relatives and they stopped in the cave atop Smokey Mountain to rest. They had no idea what awaited them inside the cave until it was too late...
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Did you guys... get bored?
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I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
This story had more effort go into it than probably the rest of my fics put together.
This story deserves twice the likes thus far. Also why is there no tag for adventure? The story definately has the advanture feel to it.
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I'm so glad you think so. This fic will always be my baby.
Um...
(Although if I had my way the tags would be in order Adventure Sad Alternate Universe, since I consider the Sad tag secondary to Adventure.)
6028550 Wait there is an adventure tag....
My account is glitch. Stupid computer.
This bonus chapter though... Very nice inclusion.
All in all, a fantastic story, CV. Thank you for writing it!
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Thank you in kind for giving my finest work your attention, and all in one go too!
I'm so happy you enjoyed it.
This has been sitting unread in my list for way too long, and I finally managed to plow through it in one go. I like the canon deleted scene, but I think the way you have it is good. I had to avoid looking in Ayemel's gallery at the art for this story for fear of spoilers (she did a lot of work for me also, but I'm yet to release them in conjunction with my story). Now that I've seen them in tandem with the context, they make sense, and I love them all the more.
I haven't read the source material myself—I intend to—but I have a feeling I'm going to prefer this version over that. I really like the way this played out, CV. Very, very well done.
A beautiful tale, beautifully told
This is everything I'd hoped the official novels would be, and if it was in my power this would be the official canon. Well done.
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That I helped you smile through moments of weakness and general ill-feeling gives me all of the warm tingles.
Thank you for reading.
"Song of Myself" is from "Imaginearium". All the others are from "Poet and the Pendulum".