Diamanda listened impassively as Trixie explained all that she had told Twilight. "That is a bold assertion to make, Miss Lulamoon. Especially now of all times."
Twilight, though, shook her head. "You said that they never found your granddaughter's body correct? Not even Sombra did. Ponies remember him demanding they search for her after he took over. Why would he do that if she was dead?"
Diamanda nodded. This was true. "And how would she have gone forward in time? No magic that I know can do this. Only Elder Magic can, and none have ever lived who can use it. Most believe it is only a myth."
Trixie smiled hopefully. "Maybe someone we don't know cast it? You said yourself she and Princess Cadance are identical. Why can't they be one and the same? Just cast forward in time?"
Diamanda frowned, and the temperature dropped dramatically as she did. "You forget yourself, Trixie Lulamoon. My sister's protection ends at the gates of the castle. Do not mistake that we are talking as we are as meaning you have free reign. I have dealt with your kind before. I will do so again."
Trixie gulped, backing up in fear, and even Twilight gulped. Diamanda saw this and allowed herself to relax slightly, letting the temperature rise. "I am sorry. But this had ripped open an old wound I had thought long healed. But the truth remains. My granddaughter is dead. It is only coincidence she and Princess Cadance look alike."
"Who do I look like?" Cadance asked as she joined the trio from a side chamber. "Sorry. I did not catch all of what you were all saying. Something about me? Good things I hope?"
Twilight and Trixie shared an uneasy look before the unicorn bowed and saw herself out. "This is far above the Great and Powerful Trixie's paygrade, so I will leave you three to continue. I have a show to get ready for, and a good magician never leaves her audience waiting."
Twilight's eyes twitched. Damn it, Trixie. Where was an Ursa Major when you needed one? She cleared her throat as Trixie closed the door behind. "Um. Yes. We were talking about you Cadance. I'm sure you have heard about Queen Diamanda's family by now?"
Cadance nodded, looking at the elder alicorn with concern. "Yes. Many ponies have said how much I look like your granddaughter. Identical in fact, according to her Crystaller. I'm sorry I'll have a chance to meet her. She sounded so wonderful and full of life."
Diamanda nodded, smiling at the memories. "She was. I believe the two of you would have gotten along great. And yes, the two of you are identical. But she was a Pegasus. You are not."
Twilight nodded, another piece of the puzzle falling into place. "Ah-ha! That is just it though. Cadance was not always an alicorn!"
Diamanda looked at her. "Is this true? I had heard something to this effect."
Cadance nodded, smiling sheepishly. "It is true. I was born a Pegasus. An earth pony couple found me in the woods not far from their village near the Unicorn Range. Mother always said there seemed something special about me. A special kind of love they did not understand. It's part of why they named Mi Amore."
Diamanda's breath hitched. That was the ancestral name of her family. No other family used it aside from her own. How could a family living on the outskirts of Equestria know it? "And you have no memory before you awoke there?"
Cadance shook her head. "No. The first memory I have is waking up in my mother's hooves as an infant." She smiled. "They never hid the fact that they were not my birth parents, or that I was the only Pegasus for a hundred miles in every direction. I didn't care. The other fillies and colts never excluded me from their fun and games. Yes. There were things they could do that I could not, and things I could do that they could not, but we never cared." She chuckled. "You should have seen their reaction when I returned as an alicorn."
Diamanda smiled, and even Twilight couldn't keep a straight face. No matter how many times she heard this story, it never got old for her. It seemed to have more impact since her move to Ponyville, but she did not care. "Is there a way to know for sure?" She asked hopefully.
Cadance and Diamanda shared an uneasy look, and so Twilight pressed forward. "Look. Maybe this is all nothing but a load of horeapples. Or maybe it is not. Would it not be better to know for sure?" She looked at Cadance. "Your cutie mark is the Crystal Heart. It cannot be a coincidence."
She looked at Diamanda, and her heart sank as she put a hoof on her shoulder. "And maybe your granddaughter truly is gone. I cannot imagine what that feels like. But if this does prove to be a false lead, then the two of you can stop tiptoeing around each other like this. It is not fair to either of you."
Diamanda thought about it for a moment, before she sighed. "There is one way. A Soul Weighing."
Cadance and Twilight both blinked in confusion. "A what?" Twilight asked.
Diamanda chuckled. "The Soul Weighing. I am not surprised you do not know of it. It is older than I am. It is a way to determine if two ponies are truly connected. Either in love or by blood. We each put a part of ourselves on the scales. If one weighs more than the other, we are not. But if they are balanced..."
Twilight nodded, heading for the door. "I know where we can get some scales then. Give me a moment."
Diamanda chuckled as she ignited her horn and produced a set of golden scales she set on a nearby table, the weight already zeroed out. "No need, Twilight. This magic requires a very specific set. Fortunately, I know the spell to summon them." She walked over to Cadance and bent down so that their horns were touching. "You must trust me for this, Princess Cadance. This will sting a little."
Cadance didn't know what she meant, but she closed her eyes and let herself relax. She did trust Queen Diamanda, though she did not know entirely why.
Diamanda nodded as she too closed her eyes. Their horns ignited together in a golden glow before both gasped as what appeared to be a part of their souls floated out of their bodies and settled on the scales. Opening them, the trio watched as the process began.
For a moment, the scales tipped back and forth, and for a time, it seemed as if the scales would tip in Diamanda's favor. Twilight could only assume that it did so because she was the elder of the two, but she could not be sure and made a note to ask about it later.
But then it happened. The two halves began to align themselves, before stopping dead as the scales aligned perfectly. Nopony said anything, not daring to hope that this wasn't anything but a cruel joke. But the scales never moved. As the seconds passed, the two soul pieces began to glow brightly, seemingly attracted to each other, before they returned to their respective ponies.
Twilight could not believe it. Was this true? But as Diamanda and Cadance opened their eyes, she could see it in them. This was no joke.
Cadance choked back a sob. "Grandma?"
Diamanda's breath hitched. It was just like her mother's voice. "Cadenza? How? When?"
Cadance didn't respond, only burying her head in Diamanda's shoulder, and letting loose years of tears unshed at having finally found her birth family. A second later, Diamanda let her own tears fall as she pulled her granddaughter close. The two sat like that for a long time, just letting it all out and talking.
Unseen and unremarked upon, Twilight quietly saw herself out, smiling widely as she quietly closed the door behind her.
Later that night, as the Great and Powerful Trixie dazzled the roaring crowd with her best tricks, and even a few new ones she had created for just this occasion, a reunited family sat together in the front frow, cheering as loudly as the citizens around them. Their closeness would raise many questions, and even more so once the news broke to the empire, but for now, nopony paid it much mind.
At their side, Twilight tried not to bounce in place from the excitement. She would be putting in a good word for Trixie for sure once she returned home to Ponyville. Not just for her help in bringing a family back together, but also for a rather good magic show.
Twilight only wished their first meeting all those months ago now could have gone as well as this. But that was in the past now, and while she doubted she and Trixie would ever be super close, Twilight didn't mind calling her a friend.
But all of this had awakened something inside of her. It was time. Time for a long-overdue confession. There was just one question. How the hay was she going to not make an absolute fool of herself in front of Penumbra?