Celestia quickly excused herself once the doctors arrived, saying she was going to meet up with the leaders of the small teams they had divided the army into to give them the recent news. Luna stayed in a corner, almost as if trying to make herself invisible and somehow avoid the consequences that her decisions would soon bring. However, she quickly regained some of her confidence and put a small smile on her face as the doctor reported his observations on both Shinning Armor and Cadence.
“Captain Armor is in a weaker state due to lack of food and water, but a couple days of rest and at least 3 weeks of minimal movement should be enough for him to regain his strength back. I would suggest he abstains from complex spellcasting for a week, nothing bigger than telekinesis if possible.” He paused for a moment, flipping the page on the notes he had taken as he believed the princesses would benefit from having more details at hoof. “Princess Cadence shows signs of perhaps also being weaker due to the same circumstances but being an alicorn helped her body resist it better. I would also advise bed rest and to avoid complex spell casting for a week, but that depends on how fast she recovers.” Finally, he looks up from his notes to look back at both ‘patients’. “But they should be stable enough to leave for Canterlot in 2-3 days and endure the train ride.”
Luna allowed a sigh of relief to leave her mouth, her body visibly relaxing upon the knowledge Cadence and Shinning Armor would be alright and back to their normal selves soon enough. She had been quite worried that the end of the war may have arrived late and caused them any long-term damage that she would have to carry in her conscience. “Thanks Doctor Greencross, I’ll be sure to give my sister your report and let her know everything is in order. I’m sure you have other patients to take care of, you may go back to them now.”
The doctor nodded, levitated over his report to the princess and bowed, walking out of the tent to go check back on the other patients he had. Mostly those who got injured during the war and the few that were sick due to external factors. “Hopefully now that the war is over things will calm down and I won’t need to face war injuries again”
Cadence silently watched the exchange, narrowing her eyes when she sees that the calm mask Luna had put on for the doctor quickly slipped away, showing the full concern and sadness in her face. In any other circumstance she would have attributed it to the current situation: everypony was tense because they only knew the war was over, but not the reason why. Expectations were held high regarding both princesses, even more now that things seemed calm. Many questions roamed her mind: ‘How did Luna get all the way down to the dungeon on her own without being found?’, ‘What happened between the last time they were able to see each other 2 months ago and yesterday?’, ‘It was obvious secrets were being kept, but how serious were they?’, ‘She looked sad and troubled, not happy that the war is over. Why?’. And probably the most important one that might have been obvious even to the doctor when he arrived at the tent ‘What is going on between Celestia and Luna? They seem to be avoiding each other, which is not normal’
Twilight would probably take a couple minutes to arrive, and one of the guards would quickly tell her everything needed so she was up to date. Not to mention that if anyone could make sure that Shinning Armor didn’t try stand up and act as if nothing happened, it would be his sister. Carefully, she stands up, using her wings to keep balance and brushes off one of the guards who quickly comes over to try help her “I’m fine, don’t worry. Make sure Twilight doesn’t wake up her brother once she arrives but let her stay all she wants. I’ll be sitting with Princess Luna for if you need anything”
Upon receiving a hesitant nod, she walks carefully over to where her aunt Luna was laying down, so deep in thought that she probably hadn’t yet noticed that she was awake and walking. Flops down on the pillow next to her, earning a startled jump from the older alicorn as she suddenly noticed she had company. “Cadence! You really shouldn’t be walking around yet… you need to get all the rest you need to recover quickly. And I’d appreciate not having a mini-heart attack every time you surprise me”
Cadence managed a small giggle, nudging her aunt to make her lay back down again. “Sorry aunt Luna, you were looking a little lonely and I’d thought you’d like some company. Plus, I really wanted to thank you for coming down and rescuing us, it was a very welcomed surprise” Sighing, Luna laid back down, biting back a flinch as Cadence thanks her, not feeling like she deserved getting any due to the decision she had to make for that to happen. “Think nothing of it… I’m just glad you’re alright.”
With enough luck on her side, Cadence wouldn’t ask right away what was going on between her and Celestia, as the tension between them was obvious. She didn’t think her sister would be able to look her in the eye the same way she used to before the war started, at least not for a long while. It was not only the problem of making such an important decision without talking to her first, but also about having zero idea of what the future held at this point apart from simple speculations. But of course, Cadence was good at picking up little details, and would ask sooner or later.
“Aunt Luna… what exactly happened so the war ended? I can imagine it must have been quite important and sudden if you got into the castle without a scratch on you and with such a calm exterior but… whatever it was caused your sister to be mad at you? What will happen to Sombra now? We didn’t win the war thanks to the army, did we?” Cadence wanted answers now, but she also didn’t want to pressure her aunt too much in case she had a breakdown. But she felt like she was owed an explanation and didn’t want to find out at the same time as everyone else as then it would probably be too late to get any of the important details from her aunts.
“No Cadence, we didn’t win the war thanks to the army. Sombra called for a meeting, to which Celestia and I went. He proposed three ‘peace points’, asking us to simply agree to one of them so the war would end” She paused, trying to come up with a good choice of words for explaining the next part. “Simple to say, the first two would have left either the whole Crystal Empire under his control as if nothing happened…” A shudder ran through both as memories came back regarding the state the Empire had been in. Those weren’t options that gave much peace of mind for the future.
Cadence shook her head, trying to get rid of those thoughts before turning back to her aunt. “What was the third option? Surely something at least, a bit better?” “The last one was… decent. He wanted a queen, meaning either Celestia or I would marry him and stay in the Crystal Empire. We would have till the next sunset to tell him our decision”
She looked shocked, like many others, she didn’t think Sombra would offer a ‘peace’ treaty after all the things he had already done. But it was obvious that he had done them knowing how much it would affect the sisters. “But what happened next? Did you and aunt Celestia come up with a new strategy to beat him? You didn’t agree to his terms, did you?” Luna closed her eyes and bit her lip while pressing her ears to the back of her head, obviously hesitating on answering Cadence with the truth. Finally, she gives in and confesses in a small voice “I agreed to his last term. I’ll marry him and stay in the Crystal Empire to ensure the safety of the rest of Equestria and the end of the war.”