• Published 3rd Mar 2015
  • 7,749 Views, 1,387 Comments

Every Cloud has a Silver Lining - David Silver



After deciding to stay in Equestria and learn its ways as a unicorn colt, Silver Lining now faces Canterlot and learning how to be a unicorn with his former-OC and Trixie to watch over him. Will he master magic, or discover the cruel side of foals.

  • ...
50
 1,387
 7,749

21 - Pony Down

Trixie and Rough sat side-by-side beside the bed. Soft beeps of the machinery and the quiet noise of other ponies moving around the hospital were far too quiet to keep them from sleep. They had sat there waiting for Silver to awaken for the greater portion of the day, and fatigue pulled at them both. They eventually surrendered, sleeping against each other as they remained, ready to protect the foal they had been charged with.

Luna stepped in moments later, then gestured with a wing. A pink alicorn stepped in after her. "Why are we being so quiet?" asked Cadance, "And what was so important that you called me away from the Crystal Empire?"

Luna pointed at the sleeping Silver, "That one. His heart is in dire need of your expertise. He does not know what he loves, or lusts. He is afraid to love anything, but desperately wants it."

Cadance perked an ear, "That doesn't sound like something I can wave some magic at."

Luna made a soft urging motion with her hooves, "Try. You are the only one I could think of to call. He is too valuable to the kingdom."

Cadance wondered what manner of foal this could be, this colt, to have Luna so concerned. She glanced over at the two other ponies. Were they his parents? They looked it. He had his father's pelt coloring and his mother's mane coloring, though his mohawk was his own. Maybe it was just cut like that? In either event, they were deeply asleep under what Cadance suspected to be Luna's magic.

She trotted beside the bed and let her magic spread out over the colt to get a feel for things. The first thing that stood out was that the colt was suffering terrible damage. She guessed he burned out, a not all that uncommon thing to happen in eager young unicorns. She let her love flow into the abused pathways. She was no healer, but her kind magic would help them spring back on their own and reduce the chance of scarring along his aetheric net. As the magic flowed gently, his breathing became more relaxed and he sank deeper into whatever dream world he was in.

She turned her attention to his heart and mind. Sure, there were those who claimed the heart did not make decisions, but Cadance's magic said differently. She could feel love there, and she followed its many lines. She found little threads running across the room to his parents. They were firm and two-sided. She smiled gently. It was always nice to see a loving family. With her eyes so attuned, she could see a smaller thread dangling between the two sleeping ponies. It was frail and tenuous for a mated pair. Cadance's smile faded to concern. Was worry for their foal tearing them apart? She could help with that. She sent love through the filament, pure and untainted by any other motivation. She strengthened that thin wire. It wouldn't last forever, but they would wake up with an intense desire to express their true feelings, and that would make it stronger on its own.

She saw other cords, but they went off to places far distant. They faded from her sight once they went too far. One went to Luna. Cadance tilted her head curiously, examining this cord. Luna saw Cadance looking at her and blinked, "What do you see?" Cadance ignored the question, examining the thread. The love flowed both ways in a restricted channel. Neither had confessed their true feelings, but those feelings...

"What is your relationship to this colt?" asked Cadance with a confused tone.

Luna brushed the door closed with a wing gently, "He is no colt."

Cadance shook her head, her eyes still on the cord that hung between them, "That doesn't answer my question, Auntie. I'm going to say something and you're going to want to yell at me, but you shouldn't."

Luna's wings ruffled up in preparation, but she sat still. Cadance decided to continue, "He loves you, the way a stallion loves a mare, but also the way a colt loves his mother, and the way a pony may appreciate a pretty bird. It is a confusing mess that he has tightly repressed." She pointed at Luna, "To say nothing of your side."

"We do not wish to hear this," said Luna, falling back on her odd speech as she looked away.

"Too bad," said Cadance. "You look at him like a coveted object, but also a... I just don't know." She raised a brow, "You don't love him, not like a mare loves a stallion. You are better at guarding your feelings. Even now I can see your side growing dark and trying to hide from me. This is not healthy, Luna."

"That is not why we summoned you hither." She gestured a wing at Silver, "Fix him and his broken heart, do not harry us."

Cadance let out a slow breath, "If you toy with him, you are part of the problem, Auntie." She turned her attention fully on the colt, gently pulling through the tangled cords, digging deeper and trying to get to the truth of it all. She tilted her head, "He only has some love for himself. It is not terminal. He is not suicidal. Is he depressed?"

Luna shook her head, "He has acted energetic enough. We are told he has made new friends and does well in school."

Cadance gave a soft huff, entirely unconvinced. "Honestly, Luna. You summon me here in such a rush just to not listen to me."

Luna's wings unfurled wide a moment, "We are listening! Please..."

Cadance let her sight return to normal as she faced Luna, shaking her head, "No. Enough. You're done listening. I'm listening. Tell the truth."

Luna recoiled a little at Cadance's sudden outburst, "Thou will not order us! We are your superior!" She only realized after the fact that she had used the Canterlot royal voice, shaking the room and likely frightening many of the patients in the hospital.

Cadance shook her head slowly, "I'm leaving. I'm sorry, Luna, I really am. I can't help you." She rose to her graceful pink legs and started for the door.

Luna threw herself in the way, "No, wait, please. We... I am sorry."

Cadance slowly settled to her haunches, "I am going to assume you are beside yourself with worry for your friend and put that little episode behind us. Are you ready to talk?"

Luna glanced around the room. Rough and Trixie remained under the sway of her spell, slumbering peacefully. She gave Cadance a soft nod, "Since you insist. The colt you see was once an alien species."

Cadance rose to her hooves, "If you're not going to be serious with me... Really, Auntie."

Luna shook her head quickly, "You can ask Celestia! She knows it is the truth. He was a 'human', an evolved ape much how we are evolved horses."

Cadance settled, making note to ask Celestia about this to be sure. "Alright, but he isn't anymore?"

Luna pointed at Silver, "It was his request to become a pony, that he might find love and life in Equestria."

Cadance glanced back at him, feeling the threads coming from him, "I would say that he has, but why would he not seek his own kind?"

Luna shrugged gently, "He is the entirety of his own kind, on this world. He chose to become a pony, rather than be the only human."

Cadance shuddered softly, "I would decide the same. To be alone..." To the princess of love, it seemed worse than a death sentence. "Alright, is he adjusting well?"

Luna wobbled a hoof, "That remains to be seen. He has friends, as I have said. His guardians love him truly, and he adores them in return. I have never seen him look at them with less than love."

Cadance nodded in agreement, "Their love is strong. But something brought me here?"

Luna frowned in thought. "There are several things. His desire for contact corrupted his change, I believe. He becomes complacent and happy around any mare. I was able to get him to agree to anything once he had submitted to my presence."

Cadance looked perplexed. She turned her eyes to see the threads of love and approached the colt. Sitting by the bed was not close enough, nothing happened. She reached for him. When her hoof got within a foot of his nose, a new line formed, running to her. It was a simple and frail line. She examined it intently, holding out her hoof. It was a formless love. He wouldn't even know who it was directed at, just that he was in love or being loved. The cord seemed to slowly change the longer she held the hoof there. It was growing more permanent. She wrenched her hoof away and it faded away. "How long did you keep him near you?"

Luna went quiet.

"How long?" Cadance asked again. "Luna?"

Luna's ears were pinned to her head, "An hour?"

"An hour!" exclaimed Cadance. "A minute would have been enough to get whatever you wanted. What did you want?"

Luna shrank with guilt and Cadance frowned a moment before her features softened, "Please. I will not judge you."

Luna let out a soft sigh, "He gave me leave to spread his mind before me."

Cadance's eyes went wide, "Did you know he was under that effect?"

"Yes," said Luna in a tiny voice.

Cadance sank in place, staring off into space for a moment before she came back into focus. "That is... there are no words for it, Luna."

"You said you would not judge," said Luna, wings spreading wide.

Cadance pointed at Luna, "You've taken everything from him, and he was powerless to say no. How long ago was this?"

Luna looked away to the side, "About a week."

Cadance's wings spread, "He loved you before then! You could have just asked nicely, and he likely would have agreed, but you reached in. You just... took it. That is monstrous, Auntie. Did you not know he liked you?"

Luna accepted the scorn Cadance heaped on her. She deserved it, and she knew it. She sank to the floor with a thump. "He trusted me... I wanted to protect him. I thought I could get justice for him, if I could get the truth from him."

Cadance folded her wings and approached Luna, "You have forever soiled your love with him. Do you love him? Can you love him? You know everything about him, but he knows almost nothing of you. You, princess of Equestria, and he, an alien. Is he immortal?"

"Do not lecture us!" hissed Luna, "You are married to a very mortal stallion."

Cadance tilted her head, "Did Celestia not tell you? I'm not immortal. I will grow old and die with Shining Armor held close at my side. I have one life to live, and I will try to live it well. Is he immortal? I am guessing not."

Luna's ears fell, "No... He was middle-aged when we found him."

Cadance looked over at the colt, then back at Luna, "He looks quite young for middle-aged."

Luna huffed out her breath, "That was another mistake of mine. Celestia has already chewed my tail about that."

Cadance shook her head slowly, "You must tell him. If you have even a shred of respect for him as a creature, you must tell him what you did." She looked to the bond between them, "He may forgive you, if he thought he had a real chance with you. But he doesn't, does he?"

Luna sat stoically.

Cadance shook her head, "Of course not. You are an immortal princess from a harsh time. This one just wants love and doesn't know how to find it. He needs a gentle hoof, not a cruel mistress." Cadance strode for the door, "He will be fine when he finds true love's companion. Don't prevent him from finding it and he will recover."

Cadance's parting words had a barb to them, and Luna winced as they dug deep into her.

Author's Note:

This chapter surprised even myself. I started off with the idea of Rough and Trixie talking over an unconscious Silver and then, bam, it was like Luna actually cast her spell and stormed on the scene. She had a part to play and flipped her hoof at me and my pathetic ideas.

I love it when a story does that.

Sleep spells can cause insomnia and typos.