The pink alicorn lay in her make-shift dirt bed, cowering at the truly awesome sight of her aunt. Pointing an accusing hoof, Cadence shouted, “Oh come on! You’re being so unfair!”
The flaming deity gave a sly grin and replied, “Don’t be such a princess, Princess.” Then her horn began to glow, and bright tendrils of fire began to form. Soon, she had a huge flaming ball of evil at her disposal, aimed straight at the alicorn still lying on the ground. The attack was sure to knock her out, if it didn’t disintegrate her first.
Not wanting to be disintegrated (and rightfully so) Cadence quickly cried, “Aspetti! Time-out!”
In the audience, Applejack whispered, “Y’all didn’t tell me Cadence could speak fancy talk.”
“It’s Italian Applejack,” Rarity answered matter-of-factly. “I thought you could recognize a Roma mare. Her name is Mi Amore Cadenza.”
“Whatever. It’s still fancy talk…”
Meanwhile, the shout made Princess Celestia disperse the fireball, yelling, “Oh what now?”
Cadence motioned for the pegasus referee to come over. She complained, “Hey ref! There has to be some rule against this!”
“Ummm…” the stallion began. But he caught a glimpse of the terrifying Princess Celestia, who appeared to be glaring straight into his soul. He gulped and replied quickly, “Nope. Not at all. Play shall resume.” Then he flew back to his post…far, far, far, FAR away from there.
The little interruption wasn’t totally a waste, for it allowed Cadence to get herself back into the air. She still complained, “Questo è così ingiusto! How am I supposed to compete? L'ingiustizia!”
“Ready to admit defeat?” Celestia asked.
The pink alicorn scoffed and shouted angrily, “Never!”
Celestia had a smile playing on her lips, and she responded by launching a powerful bolt of electricity straight from the sky. Cadence tried to block it with a force field, but alas, her already powerful magic was no match for the sun goddess’s unstoppable power. She fell to the ground, right in the same place she had fallen last time.
“How about now?” Celestia taunted as her niece slowly flew back up.
“Not a chance.” Another zap, another fall, another slow recovery.
“Still no.” Zap!
“Nope.” Zap!
“….Aspetta un a-.” Zap!
“…Hgucd…lbsingd…ptugd.” Zap!
Upon watching Cadence fall to the ground once again, Celestia giggled with glee. “This is too funny! Get up again, I’m having too much fun!”
“This is getting hard to watch,” Fluttershy mumbled, unable to watch poor Cadence’s hurting.
Rarity, however, had a coy smile on her face directed towards a certain cyan pegasus. “Not so sure of that hundred bits now, are you Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow Dash shoved her hoof in the unicorn’s mouth while hissing, “Shut up!”
xxx
Meanwhile, in the shade of the watchtower, Luna was doing her best to help Cadence stay alive. But despite the amount of magic she was giving, Celestia was drawing a ridiculous amount of power from the sun. Much more power than Luna and Cadence could draw on their own.
So the moon princess could only watch painfully as her niece was once again zapped by her…rather uncharacteristically cruel sister. “C’mon love, you gotta keep fighting,” a worried voice said behind her.
Luna turned around to see Shining Armor replacing the Dusk Guard she had thought was standing behind her. “Shining Armor, what art thou doing here?”
“I told you I was here to relieve your other guard of duty, Your Majesty. That was about…an hour ago. I’ve been talking to you ever since,” the stallion answered respectfully.
“Yes…of course. I knew that.” Then the princess turned back around so she could watch Cadence get pummeled…again.
“Gosh, the Princess is being so harsh on her,” Shining Armor said, wincing every time Celestia landed a hit on his very special somepony. “This…it’s just not like Celestia to be like this!”
“You’d be surprised,” Luna said bitterly.
“She’s gotta be an imposter or something! A-a Changeling!” the stallion stammered.
But the moon goddess just shook her head and told him, “Tis good to see your loyalty still holds true, Shining Armor. But no other pony is able to harness the sun’s energy like my sister.” She glanced back up at Celestia, seeing the rage burning in her eyes. “I am afraid she’s being controlled by something much more powerful than mere Changelings.”
“And what’s that?” Shining Armor cried, ready to spring into action.
“Jealousy.” She turned back around and added quietly, “And believe me, I know how destructive it can be.”
Then, unable to take it, the loving husband pled, “Please Luna, there must be something you can do to help Cadence! I promise I won’t tell anypony about it.”
The night princess thought, Been there, done that. On the outside, she could only shake her head woefully and answer, “I am afraid there is nothing I can do. When Celestia gets power from the sun, she is almost unbeatable.”
“Then…then…take away the sun!” Shining Armor replied quickly.
“Pardon my manners Shining Armor, but that is a stupid—.” Luna paused, actually stopping to ponder the notion. Her gears in her mind began turning, a plan beginning to formulate. Sure, it was a pretty stupid idea, but it was the only chance they had.
“Canst thou obscure the sky with clouds? Or at least, make it appear to be cloudy?” the princess asked.
The stallion replied, “I-I think if I modify my cloak spell I can.”
“Than do it! Quickly! I’m afraid Princess Cadence won’t last much longer!” Luna said urgently. “And be careful, we cannot let Celestia see what we are doing!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, the Royal Guard Captain began to cast his spell, almost like the one he had used to protect Canterlot. Except this time, instead of a force field surrounding the city, it was the illusion of storm clouds. And due to Celestia’s use of lightning storms on Cadence, the ruse aroused no suspicion. For now at least.
At the same time, Luna began her own magic. Just hold on Cadence. Just a little while longer…
Behind the veil, the sun began to set.
Xxx
“Ah don’t understand!” Applejack cried, disturbed by the beating Cadence was enduring. “Princess Cadence only has one target left to Celestia’s two! Why doesn’t she just end this?”
Rainbow Dash, who by now was also concerned, uttered, “I don’t think Princess Celestia wants this to end. I think…she’s not going to stop until Cadence forfeits.”
The pink alicorn fluttered in the air, futilely launching magical beams, only to be dispersed by her opponent. “Per favore ...” Cadence muttered before she was struck by Celestia’s lightning once again.
“Please, niece, just give up. I don’t see why you should embarrass yourself even further!” Celestia suggested. But just as before, Cadence refused to stay down. The newlywed forced her wings to carry her back into the sky. Her face was bruised, her protective vest was ripped to shreds, and her body was littered all over with burn marks. But for some reason, Cadence still chose to face her enemy/beloved family member, no matter how bad the pain was. The vision of her beloved husband enveloped her soul, and his words of encouragement rang in her ears.
“I still don’t understand why you’re doing this to me,” the pink alicorn mumbled meekly, her tired wings trying hard to keep her steady. But, despite her battered body, her eyes still flickered with fierce defiance, stronger than any of the spells Celestia could conjure. With the tiniest hint of a smile hiding in her lips, Cadence uttered, “But if you want to win, you’re going to have to kill me. Because I will NEVER give up.”
Celestia answered, “In any other circumstance, I would commend you for your perseverance Cadenza. But I…I just can’t let you win this.” She reeled herself back, readying another shot of lightning.
“One last thing Auntie…” Cadence said quickly. The pink alicorn’s horn was glowing dimly, and a faint pink heart began to materialize in the air. Celestia paused, feeling this…tingly sensation in her chest. For some reason, she couldn’t bear to hurt the poor, cute, adorable, cuddly little figure hovering before her. If anything…she wanted to hug her.
Then, in a mesmerizing voice barely above a whisper, Princess Cadence said, “I love you.”
It took only a second for Celestia to process what her niece had just said, another to realize the love spell Cadence had just casted on her, and one more to disperse it. But those three seconds were just enough to catch her off guard. Enough for Cadence to send one last-ditch burst of magic to push the goddess away. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to get her away. And perfect timing too, for unbeknownst to everypony in Canterlot save two, the moon had risen.
First of all, all the Italian was translated using Google, so I apologize to my Italian readers (if I have any) for any grammar mistakes. I just figured it was a good excuse to use Italian. I mean, it just sounds so cool, y'know? And don't try to translate that title...it makes no sense.
Posting a bit earlier than I usually would because I'll be out of town for the next few days. This chapter took a turn towards the serious side, huh? If there was a Drama tag, I'd probably use it. But anyway, as always, grazie for reading, and don't forget to click that there green thumb up in the corner! Per favore?