//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 Cadance's POV // Story: For the Moon so Loves the World // by Ayla //------------------------------// Cadance sat quietly in the guest room she was staying in, staring solemnly out the window at nothing in particular. Shining Armor, who was sitting beside her, gently placed his hoof over her own. "You're doing the right thing you know." He told her. "Am I?" Cadance asked softly. "Or am I just... sharing the burden so my own won't feel so heavy?" "You know very well that constantly wondering what happened to her is far worse than knowing the truth, no matter how bad it is." Shining Armor pointed out reasonably. "I suppose." Cadance sighed. So many things had changed in the last year. Ponies couldn't look for Celestia forever, but now, finally, the mystery had been solved. It was strange, Cadance thought, how when you were looking forward to something time seemed to slow to a crawl, but when you were dreading something it seemed to speed up all too quickly. Before she knew it, they were all in the meeting room. "Cadance, what's this all about? You said it was urgent." Twilight said, looking at her in concern. Cadance knew that she was about to break a lot of hearts. There was no way to cushion this, so she decided to come right out and say it. "Celestia is dead. We found her body." Flurry Heart gasped, her eyes immediately shooting to Eclipse who just sat in silence looking stunned. Twilight screamed. "No! It's not possible!" Shining quickly ran to hug her as she broke down into sobs. Cadance simply waited in silence for things to die down. After about ten minutes, Twilight pulled away from her brother and wiped her eyes. "How? How did it happen? Did someone... was she... m-m-murdered?" She stammered out. "No." Cadance said quietly. "How could it NOT be murder?! If it was just an accident, we would've found her long ago!" Twilight said furiously. "Someone had to kill her and hide the body! It's the only thing that makes any sense! It's the only logical explana-" "It was suicide." Cadance interrupted. Now Twilight looked as stunned as Eclipse. "No... No that... why... she wouldn't..." "She did Twiley." Shining Armor said gently. "What we found, it... it explained everything in a glance." "Show me." Eclipse said suddenly. "I want to see this for myself. You didn't... didn't disturb anything did you?" Cadance shook her head. "Everything was under a stasis and anti detection spell, though the spells had weakened enough for us to finally be able to find it. She's fully intact. She's nearby actually." Eclipse stood up. "Lets go." The others stood up as well, and followed the Crystal Empire rulers out to the cave. Tears streamed down Twilight's face again as she saw Celestia laying there inside the cave. It had been set up as if she was simply going to bed. The mattress, the blanket, the pillows... The sun princess actually looked... peaceful. Her eyes closed as if she was just asleep, a small smile on her lips as if she was having a happy dream. But the hoof that lay at the edge of the picture said it all. "Oh Princess... no..." She whimpered. "She just couldn't take it anymore." Cadance said softly. "She missed her too much. I'm sorry, I know this is tragic, but now... we have to figure out what we're going to do." "What do you mean Mom?" Flurry asked. "Are we going to let the public know, or keep it a secret? What would they think, knowing that their princess lost all hope and chose to abandon them? What would that do for their own hope?" Cadance asked. "They must never find out." Eclipse said with finality. "My mother was a good ruler. I won't have her reputation tarnished. Come, let us leave her to rest." Silently, the others followed him out and watched as he used his magic to put the rocks back into place and to fuse them together. Now the cave looked like one big solid boulder. Twilight collapsed into pitiful weeping again while Flurry had a few tears going down her cheeks as she looked up at Eclipse. "Goodbye Mother." The newly appointed king said softly. Eclipse closed himself in his room with Flurry Heart for the rest of the day where Cadance could faintly hear the stifled cries he obviously was trying to avoid anyone else hearing. Shining Armor was busy being there for his sister, leaving her free to go back to the guest room alone. She pulled out the diary from under the bed mattress that she'd found in Celestia's room when she'd been searching for any clues it might have about her disappearance. It had been well hidden, she'd stumbled on it by sheer accident when she knocked loose a false bottom in a drawer. In it was Celestia's entire plan. From how she'd tried to find someone to take her place, to her pretending to love a stallion just so she could produce an heir, to her finding the cave, to her deciding how to meet her end so she could be with her sister once again. She didn't think she'd ever forget what she had read, especially the last line. To whoever finds this, I am sorry. I know this is selfish, but I can't go on without her. Cadance was actually relieved that Bluenote had died in a carriage accident a couple of months after she'd disappeared. Was he with her now? Did he know? Cadance didn't dare let anyone else know, thinking of what Eclipse had said earlier. "My Mother was a good ruler. I won't have her reputation tarnished." Cadance had done all her crying earlier when they'd first found the body. Still, no matter how much this hurt, she understood why Celestia did it. Luna and Celestia. The moon and the sun. They were two sides of the same coin. One simply couldn't survive without the other, she thought with a mournful sigh. Knowing she would keep this secret to her grave, she tossed the diary into the fireplace and watched it burn.