Andromeda
Cadenza lay there before me on the hospital bed, a blank expression on her face. I barely register the dull tone in the background signalling that Cadenza’s heart has stopped working. This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen; it isn’t supposed to end like this! I feel the tears begin to form in the corners of my eyes as I try to shake Cadenza’s limp body back to life.
“C’mon, Cadenza... please, please, please… you promised you would stay with me, you said you wouldn’t leave me… please, say something! Anything…!”
I fall onto Cadenza as I weep openly now. I don’t even consider the others in the room with me, my entire focus is on Cadenza. There must be something I can do; anything I can do!
…
Magic.
My magic.
It’s been so long since I’ve used it… I don’t even remember the only time I ever tried casting a spell of any sort. I… I can’t…. No, but I can’t leave her like this here either. Something has to go… something has to be left behind…. It… it might not even work…. I have to.
“No…”
I can’t leave her like this!
“…no, no, no, no, no…”
I CAN’T!!
“…no, no, no, no! You are NOT dying on me now! I won’t… I WON’T LET YOU DIE ON ME NOW, CANDACE!!!”
???
Andromeda’s shouts begin to echo in the small room, his horn glowing brighter and brighter as he summons every shred of his magic to his cause. The amount of energy he generated was tangible, nearly visible to the naked eye as shimmers in the air around the two ponies. Unicorns as far away as Ponyville could feel the magic that gathered in that room; and yet, still it grew. Until, in one final blast, the built-up energy released itself all at once, the resulting explosion flinging Cadance and Andromeda to opposite ends of the room.
The shockwave of magical energy surges out from the center of the infirmary and spread, not stopping for anything or anyone. Every pony in the room was flung to the floor as the blastwave shatters the walls. It travels through the castle, taking out multiple supporting structures. Several towers begin to collapse as the load-bearing walls beneath them are near completely obliterated. Every single glass pane in all of Canterlot shatters as the energy surge reaches them, the eventual mana blast being felt by unicorns from as far away as Manehattan and Las Pegasus as over a decade of repressed magical energy, amplified from a complete lack of use, magnified by Andromeda's erratic and powerful emotions, was released in its entirety in a single instant. When the blast dissipates, a gaping crater is left in the side of the castle where what was once the infirmary used to be, only the inner edges on the castle-side of the room still somewhat intact.
Cadance
I felt sore all over, the dream I had been having already faded from my mind. Where was I…? I looked around at my environment as the pain dulled. I coughed from the dust in the air, then groaned when my lungs cried out in protest. Apparently that got someone’s attention.
“C…C-Cadance…?”
I would recognise that voice anywhere, despite its shakiness.
“Auntie Celestia…?”
I looked over to try and see her when she pulled me into a hug. She started babbling about how I was ‘alright’ and ‘okay’, and how they thought I was dead… wait, but… I was dead? ...but I was dead, wasn’t I?
“…a-and then Andromeda, he… I don’t know what he did but he…”
As the realisation dawned on us that Andromeda was also at the epicentre of the blast, we both froze, and started searching the room for him. Had he done this? Had he somehow managed to bring me back to life? Where was he? He was here before, where…. And then I saw him. Our eyes made contact, and as I looked into them, I realised it. Oh sweet merciful Celestia... what is happening to him?
Andromeda
My eyes met Cadenza’s for only a moment before I realised the true depth of what had just happened. In a fraction of a second I understood that I had not only used my magic to bring Cadenza back to life, but that I had used an overly excessive amount of my magic in the process, and that only meant……
I am one dead pony.
I couldn’t hurry myself out the door and into the hallway fast enough. In seconds I was already in the fight for my life, sprinting down the hall like a lunatic. I heard the door slam open again behind me.
“Andy! Wait!”
I could hear Cadenza’s hoofsteps as she ran after me down the hallway as if she hadn't just perished and come back to life. In no time at all she would catch up to me, her alicorn strength and stamina besting mine any day, let alone now. But I still had to make it back to my room; to Celestia’s room. I didn’t want them to see this, I… I couldn’t let them see this. The pain was already taking its toll, and I could tell from the heat in my hooves that I was definitely burning hoofprints into the carpet. I rounded the last corner and barrelled straight past the guards and into the rooms I shared with Mu... Celestia; tears flowing freely from my eyes. I stumbled, tripped on the edge of the rug, and fell, rolling to a stop in the middle of the floor.
“An-! …Andy…?”
I could hear Cadenza’s comforting voice through the haze of pain, and it brought me some amount of peace as I wept.
“Hey, hey. I’m here, it’s alright…”
Cadenza shifted me into a position so she could hug me. I let my tears continue flowing as we stayed like that for what felt like a few minutes; but eventually, I had to let go.
“Th-thank you, Cadenza. I.. I’m feeling a little better now.” She smiled at me, and I smiled back, but I knew the moment couldn’t last for very long. “I… I’m sorry, Cadenza; I failed you. I failed you, Mum, Twi, myself… everyone.” I sighed, hissing at the pain it caused me before looking Cadenza in the eye. She was puzzled, slightly confused, and very concerned for my condition. “We… we had a good time together, didn’t we? … Thank you, for- for everything; and, tell Mum I said that too.”
I could feel the flames burning, the inferno rising. Cadenza went to try and hug me again, but I moved her away.
“I- I’m sorry. This next- this next bit isn’t likely to be pretty. I-…… Goodbye, Cadance…”
And with that, I let the inferno tak̸̪̕é̷͚ ̶͔́m̵̨̲̘̻̩̍͐̕e̷̹̘̮̭̼̓.̷̛̥̗̉̈̈́
???
The light around Andromeda intensified before Cadance’s eyes. She couldn’t understand what was happening until it was too late. And then she realised. THIS had been the reason he was afraid of his own magic. Not because of anything that had happened to him, no; but what would happen if he ever used it. The light soon grew so intense and the energy so great that she had to cover her eyes with one hoof and back away from the heat. And then, came the screams.
Celestia watched from the doorway, just outside the room. She had arrived just after Cadance, dismissing the two guards there before watching the events unfold. She could hear the screams almost as loud as the ones he had made in his nightmares. But this time, it was real; the force acting upon him to inflict pain was tangible. In his writhing agony, Andromeda somehow managed one final look back towards Cadance, any tears he may have shed immediately vaporised as the light in his eyes vanished, the screams stopped and he grew still. And then, almost as suddenly as it had begun, the inferno ended.
In Andromeda's place was a burt, blackened corpse. A charred body that used to once resemble a pony Celestia knew and loved. But whatever force had overcome him was not done yet. As Celestia went to take another step inside, and Cadance moved to get closer, a crack formed on his body. Then another, and another. A new flame began seeping out of the cracks, a burning plasma fueled by pure magic. The shell of charred pony did not hold for much longer, breaking open violently. As it shattered, a piercing scream came from the writhing being released from inside. The white fire seemingly tearing away at his magic, burning away at his very soul. His harrowing screams were louder than before, piercing the air like a knife in the heart.
Cadance had to erect a magical barrier to protect herself from the heat, though even that wasn't enough as the magical flames seemed to catch on and begin burning the barrier. Cadance quickly dispelled her heat-shield and made a hasty retreat towards the edge of the room.
And then, once again, it stopped of its own accord. Andromeda, whom had been levitating in the flames, dropped to the floor in a shivering wreck. Celestia watched in stunned silence from the doorway as Cadance slowly mustered the courage to move over to Andromeda and make sure he was alright, holding him in a comforting embrace.
Celestia wanted to move, to do something; this was her own son for her sake! Yet all she could do was stand there and watch. The others finally caught up to her, having been checked over for injuries before following Celestia, though she signalled for them to stay where they were, before motioning to leave. The three of them would need some time after what had just happened. Celestia finally walked into the room, if it could still be called that. Anything that was remotely flammable had been reduced to ash; the windows were now puddles of molten glass on the floor, and the intense heat had ruined what little remained of the room. What hadn't been utterly destroyed was now strewn haphazardly in the corners of what was once her living room. She finally walked over to the two ponies on the floor- and stopped dead.
"This… how… what…?"
There were so many questions it was overwhelming, yet… the wings hanging limply from her son’s back only told one truth: somehow, her son, Andromeda Solstar, Prince of Equestria, had ascended to the status of an alicorn.