The Son of infinity

by Krystl_Fae

Chapter 7: BEGINNING

I stepped into the aunt Celestia's chambers with even more nervousness than the day prior. Celestia had told me about the events of last night and how he had had a nightmare. It was a little surprising that Andy (a cute little nickname I had mentioned to Celestia for Andromeda) could use the Canterlot Voice. Even I still couldn't use it. But for it to happen in the middle of a nightmare of all things? I couldn't imagine what was that bad.

As I stepped inside, I saw the adoption papers sitting on the coffee table along with Andy's breakfast. I guess he still wasn't up yet-

A muffled grunt and subsequent groan issued from Celestia's room.

I made my way in to find Andy over near the lit fireplace, a few white shards of... something lay in between him and the fireplace, his head held in his hooves.

"Are you alright?"

He flinched and looked at me when I said that. I guess he wasn't expecting me yet.

Well, I wasn't expecting her to walk in on my latest attempt to remove my magic... More specifically, what I had deduced to be the primary source/focus of magic in my unicorn anatomy: my horn. I had tried removing it many times in the past to... various levels of success. This time I was trying using fire. I actually managed to chip it a few times without singeing my hair when Cadance spoke up.

Just how long had she been there? ...not long I hope... no, she hadn't seen me. Thank goodness.

It seemed the last time I chipped a piece off, my low growl of pain must have piqued her interest. Luckily, that means she doesn't know what I was doing... considering that removing a unicorn's horn is sometimes fatal.

Thank ye Princesses for thine interference. (An old saying I had found in a very, VERY old book I once read that I found to be appropriate for this situation.)

"So… this makes it official?"

During the whole process of filling in the adoption papers, I had begun to lose my concentration and relied more and more on Cadenza's support. (Yes, I had slipped up again twice today and decided to just roll with it- the name, I mean.)

"Basically." Cadance replied "See, this one confirms you've read everything, but this signature confirms you're accepting of the terms."

Everything was written in what Cadenza called 'legalese', the language lawyers used in documentation. I asked Cadance for the "rundown" (a new term to me) and she gave me a brief summary after I tried reading the first few pages. It was... difficult, to say the least. Even for me.

"Okay…" I crudely signed the document, holding the pen in my mouth "…eleven down, one to go... right?"

Cadenza picked up the last document in her hooves to read it over. The expression on her face as she began reading was unreadable. It was... some manner of concentration from reading the legalese, thoughtfulness, concern, and questioning with traces of confusion... or at least, that's what I think it could be.

"Ok, so this one we can pretty much skip for now, and go through when auntie Celestia gets here. It's just more of the same, but for inheritances and stuff."

I couldn't tell him yet. Celestia hadn't told him, and I wasn't about to break it to him yet. I was expecting a document to come up at some point about royal position, though I was still quite unprepared for it; despite that.

Thankfully, Andy (he had accepted the nickname fine) was a little taken aback at the mention of titles and inheritance, and shook his head quickly back and forth. He wasn't too impressed by the idea of a noble title just yet. All the better that we leave this one be for now then.

It had taken us most of the day to sort through the pile of documents and now that we had finished we could do whatever we wanted. I was completely grateful that during the course of the day we had gone from barely speaking to actual conversations, even if they were about the large pile of documents we had completed. At least we were on speaking terms and he seemed comfortable around me now. I guess getting to see how nice Celestia is had helped him to open up to me quickly.

"Hey, Andy, now that we’re pretty much done, do you want to go down to the gardens?"

Celestia had recommended I take him outside to get some fresh air at some point and Celestia's private gardens were the best choice. They were nearby and there was nopony around to spook Andromeda or call me 'princess', so it was a brilliant plan.

"I… I don't really know… but, I mean… I guess…?"

I didn't wait for him to change his mind.

"C'mon then, let's go!"

I grabbed him by the hoof and nearly dragged him out into the corridor and down the staircase to Celestia's private gardens- the guards usually posted outside Celestia’s room noticeably absent.

I had never seen such a beautiful sight. The gardens were immaculate- not a single flower out of place; and they were all in bloom too, even thought it was the middle of winter. It took me quite a while to get over the awe-inspiring sight.

Cadenza had given me a quick tour of the grounds and now I stood before the only odd thing in the entire gardens. Two statues, each depicting a chimeric creature known as a 'draconequus'. The first one was called 'Discord' by Cadenza, and the second had the name 'Eris' engraved on the base. While Discord looked like the perfect picture of calm, Eris was much, much more frightened. She looked peaceful on the outside, sitting in a meditative pose and using her dragon-like tail for balance, but I could see it in her eyes, absolute fear and terror, like she was helpless to escape.

…a fear I know all too well.

And yet, something about the two screamed 'likeness' to me; as if the story between Discord and Eris was similar to that of me and my... original parents. As if Discord had purposefully cast aside Eris moments before they were both trapped in stone for eternity.

Of course, such a thing wasn't really possible, but it had its artistic value. Cadenza didn't like the statues, nor did she think they fit in the pristine gardens, but I saw otherwise. The two of them fit in near perfectly, contrasting against everything else in the area in a somewhat magnificent display of differentiation between the color of the gardens, and the stone grey of the petrified statues.

"Hey Andy! Come take a look at this!"

I took one final look at the twin statues before moving to follow after Cadenza. I could have sworn I saw Discord wink at me from out of the corner of my eye, but I resisted the urge to look back.

Cadenza was waiting for me at the entrance to what seemed to be a giant hedge-maze.

"What is it, Cadenza?"

"This is the hedge maze! It's said that whoever makes it to the center of the maze will win the treasure there! Let’s go!"

"Are… are you sure? What if we get lost?"

"It's a magical hedge maze silly! If you want to leave, you simply have to wish to find the exit and no matter which path you take you'll end up back where you started!"

"Well......... alright."

"Race you to the treasure!"

And with that, Cadenza shot off into the maze, turning left immediately.

Moments later, she reappeared and started walking back across towards the right.

"Wrong way."

Twilight walked into Princess Cadance's room. She had begun to miss the times the two of them had spent together after the last month or so of little to no contact, and now that she was trying to see Cadance again, she couldn’t find any trace of her, leaving Twilight wanting to know where old babysitter was. When Twilight realised that Cadance wasn't there, she sighed and went to leave, before something caught her eye.

Twilight was a perfectionist, and a neat freak. And that single book out of place on the bookshelf would not do. As she went to move it, she read the cover. "One peek wouldn't hurt... right?" she asked herself as she opened up Cadance's diary.

"Just what have you been up to, Candace?"

**Cadance's Diary:
Hearth's Warming Day - 10:30pm
Celestia didn't show up to the celebrations today. She went straight to the throne room and called for the captain of the guard to give her report on an 'urgent matter'. Just what could be so urgent that she would miss one of the most important holidays of the year?**

Twilight frowned to herself. She knew that the Princess had missed the Hearth's Warming day celebrations in Canterlot, but for her to miss out on even the royal celebrations? This was unheard of. Twilight skipped the rest of the entry and flipped forward a few pages until....

**Cadance's Diary:
J 3 ~ 7am
OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH...**

Twilight reeled back at the hastily written phrase repeated across the whole page. It was messy, as if written in a hurry- the date and time, usually so neatly written, was roughly scrawled in a hurry... and it was only from yesterday too. Something must have been REALLY up for Cadance to simply write down this mess. She turned the page.

**Cadance's Diary:
Jan 4th - 8:15am
Oops, I just realised yesterday's entry didn't explain anything. Ok, let's start from the beginning.**

This was what Twilight wanted to see. She leaned forward to study Cadance's next words carefully.

**Cadance's Diary:
So, on Hearth's Warming eve, Celestia takes a break from her meeting and goes flying over Canterlot, like she sometimes does to relieve stress. During her flight, she hears faint cries for help. As it turns out, the colt she rescues has no name, no parents, was found in an alleyway in the middle of Black Canterlot, and should have died weeks; if not months, or even years ago from his injuries. Auntie Celestia told me what the medical doctor told her; "If you (Celestia) were to suffer the same injuries this colt has faced, then you would not survive for five minutes, even with your alicorn healing." Crazy, I know, right? But it's true!! I spoke to the doctor myself this morning! She said that every word was true, and listed so many injuries that it made my head spin. And this colt survived ALL of that for YEARS on the streets of CANTERLOT!!!**

Twilight didn't know what to think. If she stopped for a moment to think, she might have felt aghast about the colt's situation, but she was completely enraptured by the story at this point. It was like she was reading someone recapping their favourite novel.

**Cadance's Diary:
So, anyways. Celestia decides to take care of him personally, feeling somewhat responsible for his condition considering he was found on the streets of Canterlot, and yesterday came to me about staying with him while she caught up on the work that had piled up while she was looking after him and trying to find his parents.
As it turned out, he didn't have a name, and nopony in Canterlot has ever even seen him before, even though he has been living here his whole life. It's crazy, I know! But there's still more! There are no records of anyone like him ever being born! It's like he fell out of the sky!!
Anyways, Auntie Celestia approached me yesterday about taking care of him. I obviously accepted. When I first met him, he was the cutest, shyest little thing I had ever seen, despite being less than ten years younger than me. He accidentally called me 'Cadenza' instead of just 'Cadance', but I'll let him call me that if he wants; he's just too adorable and bashful to say no to. When I finally got to properly look at him, I honestly couldn't tell you how I felt; but I'll get back to that later.
So I sat down and tried to talk with him for a while, but we just ended up silently reading books. As it turns out, he doesn't use magic, even though he's a unicorn (his horn is broken, but according to Celestia it doesn't impact his magical ability...?). When I asked him why, he started shaking like a leaf and tearing up. He went pale, as pale as his black coat would let him, that is, and left to go sleep it off for a bit. Apparently he's afraid of it... I decided that since he's afraid of his own magic, and therefore won't use it, I won't use mine either. That way it's fair.
Anyways, Celestia also told me today about what happened yesterday and what she's planning on doing about the colt. The two of them agreed on the name 'Andromeda' for him, and today we're hoping I can help Andy get through the adoption papers. No, I'm not adopting him, that'd be silly! Celestia's adopting him!**

At this point, Twilight dropped the book in her magic. Celestia... PRINCESS CELESTIA was ADOPTING A SON!! Twilight scrambled to get back to where she was; she had to know more, she NEEDED to know more.

**Cadance's Diary:
So yeah, OH! And he doesn't know about our royal titles yet, so there's that. He's been so isolated that he didn't even know what an alicorn was, and Celestia said that when she first lit the fireplace he looked awestruck. That was LITERALLY the FIRST time he had EVER seen fire. In his life!!
Anyways, that's abou---- OH! I should describe him!!
He's rugged, but in a kind of handsome way, with a shiny black coat, a white mane with a light blue stripe running through it, and those dre--- I mean, and red eyes. Heh heh, yeah, he has red eyes. Um... Yeah. Black coat, White mane and tail, light blue streak, no cutie mark, dreamy-- I mean, red eyes, and a shy personality. Overall, he's handsome; he makes my heart fl----- NEVERMIND THAT LAST BIT!! COMPLETELY DISREGARD AND IGNORE THAT.... oh, who am I kidding. Nopony's going to read this except me. Heeheehee~ Oh, Andromeda, how you make my heart soar. You don't even realise it, but you're just.. you're gorgeous, handsome, shy... oh Andromeda. Any mare would be lucky to have you. If only you knew how much**

Twilight slammed the book shut a few moments later with a blush that made her look like a tomato. She didn't need to see that bit, and wanted to erase it from her mind. Perhaps... reading that far wasn't the best idea. As she tried, and failed, to get her blush under control, she heard a noise from the open window.

Replacing the book onto the shelf it came from (neatly), she moved over to it and looked out. In Celestia's gardens was Cadance and- Twilight gasped and let her jaw drop. Not only was Cadance currently with Princess Celestia's future son, but... as much as Twilight didn't want to believe it, she was right. Twilight couldn't stop the blush from returning to her cheeks. Cadance's description had been spot-on, and even from this far away, Twilight could still see that he was almost definitely the most handsome colt she had ever seen- not that she’d ever thought to look before! Her studies had always been more important than this kind of thing, but… maybe Cadance’s words had gotten to her. She was the alicorn of love for a reason; she knew exactly how to spark romance in any situation... perhaps all too well.

Twilight then realised; if Celestia was going to have him as a son, she would likely be teaching him personally as well, and that meant...

Twilight blushed even harder when she realised how often she was going to be around him from now on. Normally, something like this wouldn’t get to her; but his story- even in the brief summary Cadance had given- had made her feel as attached to him as a protagonist in any other story she might read, and Cadance’s words had obviously flipped a switch in her. The fact that he was actually real was the last straw. Sure, Twilight had crushed on a few fictional characters before (and at one point Starswirl himself), but they were fiction. Andromeda was real, and she would likely be seeing him around nearly every day she came to the palace from now on…

All she needed now was an introduction.