//------------------------------// // Come In Alone // Story: A Canterlot Divorce // by democritus //------------------------------// Twilight returned to the palace. Going back in to sleep probably would've just frustrated her mother, and if nothing else Celestia usually had a bed or two to spare. But as fate would have it, she managed to find the one pony that she needed to see. "Twilight Sparkle?" Princess Luna said, somewhat shocked, "What has you trotting in the palace at this hour?" "Auntie Lulu! How good to see you!" Twilight replied with a big smile. "...Auntie Lulu." "Sorry, sorry," Twilight said while trying to stifle a giggle. "I just needed something to lift the mood a little." "I... could tell. May I ask what's gotten to you, Twilight Sparkle?" "...Well..." Luna was family, the bride's other aunt, so she probably already knew, but it couldn't hurt. "Cadance and my brother are getting a divorce." "I had been informed," said Luna in a serious voice. "My dear sister had told me about how frequent they have become in the royal family, but I thought it hyperbole. Now with one happening before me I have to ask if Blueblood is even my nephew anymore." "Yeah, she's told me too, but Shining Armor isn't like that. Cadance isn't like that. Those two ponies were so happy together, it can't be as simple as it seems. Is someone There has to be something else, I just can't figure out what it would be." "I can see what you mean, Twilight Sparkle. And if nothing else it is clearly weighing on your mind. How may I assist you?" Twilight looked up. "Really? Like, really really?" "Really." Luna had a small smirk. "Finally, something is coming up Twilight!" She caught herself hopping. "Um, I can't get to Cadance. I know she's said she doesn't want to see anypony but I know she couldn't mind a visit from her little sister." "Hmm." Luna looked away from Twilight. "What is it?" "You have not seen Cadance, have you? She is... well..." Luna grimaced. "I think you should you see for yourself, Twilight Sparkle. Come with me. "A-alright," Twilight said. If she felt bad before, now was almost unbearable. "We are here to see Princess Cadance, sir. We are going in," Luna said to the guardpony at Cadance's door. "S-sorry, Princess Luna, but Princess Cadance said no visitors. I have decided to stand by her word as to absolve my guilt for refusing you, Princess Luna. My apologies," replied the guardpony. Dedicated to the end, Twilight thought. "That is all well and fascinating, sir, but regretfully must say that I do not care. We are going in," replied Luna in a tone that would wound lesser ponies. "Y-your Majesty I st-still—" "I think you have misheard me, sir. I said we are going in." "I-you-but—" "We. Are. Going. In," Luna replied. Twilight had found a newfound reverence for Luna at that moment. "Yyyyyyes your Majesty!" said the guardpony as he began running off, tears in his eyes. "What a wonderful soldier. I must confer with my sister about promoting him," said Luna. "Well then, Twilight Sparkle... shall we?" "If I don't, it will annoy me and things will get worse. Let's just do it already," said Twilight. "Alright, if you wish. I just hope you are ready for it." Luna said, as she opened the door, and stepped behind it to let Twilight and Cadance be alone. Twilight expected the worst. She expected Cadance to be bed-ridden. She expected an living wreck of a pony. She expected her sister-in-law to not be there, to learn that Cadance had left the country, or even to be no longer among the living. She didn't expect a smiling princess, sitting on her neatly tucked bed, in the dark, staring at nothing in particular. Twilight met her stare. Cadance's eyes showed no emotion. "Why, hello there little sister!" Cadance started to perform a dance. "Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" She sat back down, not even noticing Twilight didn't join her for once. "How is my dear sister?" She said in a haunting voice that sent chills down Twilight's spine. "Uhh... hi Princess Cadance?" Twilight knew she had to pick her words carefully. "I'm... wonderful! How are you?" "Oh I'm wonderful beloved sister!" Cadance said with an immense smile. "Why, just the other day my HUSBAND, Shining Armor, oh right you know him you two are siblings, well, anyway, we went to the store and he said 'Cadance MY BELOVED WIFE how would you like this necklace' and I said 'Oh Shining Armor MY DEVOTED HUSBAND it is beautiful!' Don't you think it's beautiful, little sister?" She rapped furiously on her golden necklace with her hoof. "It... looks nice..." "Oh but the gem is more blue than my old one! I like the blue. The blue matches my LOVING SPOUSE's eyes. Oh you know how blue his eyes are, oh and his mane. His beautiful blue mane. I like how it's actually three blues. It's fascinating isn't it? I wonder how he keeps the blues straight. Oh and his beautiful white coat of his! Sometimes it shines in the sun, and it hurts my poor little pony eyes but it is okay because to spend time with my CHERISHED LOVER I will gladly stare at the fucking sun until my Auntie Celly shoves it in my GODDAMN FACE!" She rapped furiously on her face with her hoof. Twilight blinked. "That's... ni—" "And that's why I love him," Cadance added. "Uh, Cadance—" "He means so much to me, the mere thought of being with him forever kept me going for the long long long time I was in that cave. That and edible fungi." "Cadance, how long were you in—" "Ah I didn't mention how sweet he is! Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed he's there to hold me up, and he's always so polite like a knight in... oh hahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I finally get why he's named that. And I love how he nibbles my neck, it makes me feel so ecstatic, I melt like butter, because I know what's coming next is his big-" "C-Cadance!" Twilight said, a blush starting to form on her face. "I get the point! But, if you love him so much, why did you agree to the divorce?" For once, Cadance blinked. "What." Twilight felt as though she had dropped a priceless urn. "The div—" "OH that silly thing Shining Armor was talking about! Oh sometimes he gets silly ideas in his head because he's such a silly goose! I think sometimes I can be a liiiiiiiiiiiiitle overbearing or at least that's what he says so I let him have some time alone now and then so once he's alone he can realize how FUCKING GOOD he has it with me! And he'll come back sobbing and I'll say "there there" and he'll bawl like a fucking baby and I'll hold him and he'll feel better because I am such a WONDERFUL WIFE and we'll be so happy and in love and have great make-up sex and we'll have a bunch of babies and we'll be together forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER AND" Twilight could take no more, and stepped out of the room. Even through the closed door, she could still hear Cadance going on and on. She wondered if the pony would ever stop. She turned to Luna, still standing there, and saw her fighting back tears. "I... I need to sleep," Twilight said. "I'm just going to sleep." Tomorrow would be better, or at least, finite.