Cadance awoke with a plan. Or more accurately, she spent all night thinking of a plan, and waited until morning to implement it.
If Sombra had possessed Flurry or otherwise corrupted her, it would be pointless to confront her daughter directly. Last night proved that a direct confrontation would just further push her towards darkness. Cadance had to be careful and act like nothing was wrong. She had to be sneaky.
Luckily, love can sneak up on you, Cadance suppressed a chuckle and got out of bed with a smile. That smile immediately turned to a frown as her hoof itched. Her morning routine had the extra step of putting a band-aid with a cute ladybug on the small cut. Otherwise, she left the bathroom just as glamourous as usual, with mane and tail immaculately curled.
Cadance’s master plan was to have the staff make Flurry’s favorite crystalberry pancakes to lower her guard, and to serve as an apology for last night. She would use the distraction to subtly inspect her daughter for signs of corruption. Dark magic was insidious, creeping into thoughts like whispers.
If Sombra had possessed Flurry, he would surely display no interest in revolting, sugary pancakes. For all Sombra’s many evils, he was actually a health nut. The former king was rugged underneath that cape. Half of the misery caused by his dark reign was trying to make the crystal ponies eat healthier...
...so they worked harder in the mines.
Her plan immediately fell apart the moment she reached the kitchen. The staff was gone, taking the ‘Defeat of Sombra Day’ off. Technically, Cadance made the declaration after midnight, so the next day should be a holiday, but the alicorn decided that the spirit of the law was more important than the technicalities. They had dealt with more than enough technicalities in Sombra’s dark filing system that took up most of the basement.
Cadance took another sip of Luna’s Dark Side of the Moon roast coffee at the dining table. It ate through the stomach lining of anything less than an alicorn. Cadance preferred tea, but she needed the boost after last night, alternating between munching on a dry bowl of CelestiO’s and toast beside a jar of crystalberry jam.
Cadance certainly couldn’t make the pancakes herself, so she was forced to scrounge together a breakfast and wait. Time was of the essence. It wasn’t the meal she intended, but the cereal was marketed as cake for breakfast. If Sombra’s dark spirit resided in her daughter, he would never eat anything at the table.
Shining Armor arrived first, looking absolutely haggard after an all-nighter. Despite the Crystal Heart’s best efforts, his short beard was ruffled again. “You look great as always, honey,” Shining greeted his wife and nuzzled her, avoiding her lips so he would not be exposed to any of the coffee.
“You too,” Cadance lied. Shining was still in his pajama bottoms and needed a shower. He slumped beside her at the table, pouring himself a bowl of cereal with milk to make the cake bits extra sweet.
“Staff’s gone today, huh?” Shining commented. “Hope they’re enjoying themselves. We all need a break after last night.”
“I wanted to make crystalberry pancakes,” Cadance replied. “For Flurry.”
Shining winced. “I talked to her last night.”
Cadance had to play it cool, but her hopes soared for a moment. “And?”
“She was really upset. The mini you smashed was really important.”
Cadance’s hopes deflated. “The what?”
“The miniature,” Shining clarified. “We’ll have to order the replacement.”
“I don’t care about the doll,” Cadance scoffed. “Did you notice anything…off about her?”
“That she was very upset,” Shining deadpanned with a frown. “It’s important to her, Cadance.” He jabbed a hoof towards the wall next to the fridges. It was ordained with progress reports and tests, all bearing smiling ponies with ‘A+’ next to them.
“She’s been doing so well with school and hobbies,” Shining said proudly. “Believe me, it’s hard to run an adventuring party and keep your grades up, let alone compete in tournaments with her miniatures. That takes a lot of planning, you know.”
Cadance wanted to roll her eyes, but did not. “I just got so worried after Sombra’s horn went after her.”
“Yeah,” Shining agreed. “But she’s a tough filly. She wasn’t scared at all last night.”
“What if…what if it left something?” Cadance ventured. She needed her husband on her side. “She got so angry last night, Shining. You didn’t see it.”
“I saw the figure,” Shining answered. “She tried to glue it back together, but your hoof pulverized it. Flurry’s heartbroken.”
“It’s a weird little doll.”
“Cadance,” Shining set his spoon down. “Apologize to her when she comes down for breakfast.”
“What?” Cadance reared her head back. “She screamed at me! It was an accident!”
“And I told her she had to apologize to you for that,” Shining nodded.
Cadance opened her mouth to argue, but a cold feeling settled into her gut. “You talked to her for a while, then?”
“Yes,” Shining picked the spoon back up in his magic. Cadance stared at his horn. “I made it clear that what she said wasn’t acceptable, no matter how angry she was.”
“You talked to her alone?” Cadance asked with growing dread.
“Yes?” Shining answered. “Wait, what did you mean earlier about the horn?”
He’s compromised. The thought slammed into her head, and she warred internally over what to say. “Sombra’s horn blasted her with dark magic!” Cadance blurted out. “What if she’s possessed?”
Shining glanced down to the coffee mug. The liquid was starting to eat through the crystal cup, like it usually did. “Honey, did you get any sleep?”
“Don’t change the subject!”
“Okay,” Shining switched to ‘be patient with the alicorn mode.’ “You believe Sombra is possessing our daughter, something that he’s never once demonstrated the ability to do in a decade of fighting him?”
“Dark magic is corruptive,” Cadance replied. “Maybe not Sombra himself, but maybe the magic is inside her, festering and rotting away all her goodness!”
“Woah,” Shining blinked. He raised a foreleg and mumbled around a mouthful of cereal. “She got angry at you for a moment; she’s a teenager.”
“You’re not taking this seriously,” Cadance accused him. She crunched down on a slice of toast. “Our daughter could be in danger.”
“Okay,” Shining relented with a sigh. “She should be down in a bit. Apologize first, then we’ll talk.”
Cadance squinted at her husband. “Okay.”
They ended up waiting for almost an hour. It was long past an appropriate brunch time before Flurry Heart shuffled down the stairs, wearing another frumpy blue hoodie with a severe case of bedhead and split ends. She blinked bloodshot blue eyes from behind her glasses and stopped in the doorway.
Cadance’s breath caught in her throat. A shadow stretched across the dining room.
“Good morning, sweetie,” Shining offered.
Flurry made a low noise in the back of her throat and shambled over to the table.
Unformed words, an aborted cry for help. Cadance stilled her trembling forelegs, eyes locked on Flurry’s awkward, shuffling steps. She’s still in there!
Flurry Heart sat down and levitated over the box of CelestiO’s, pouring herself a disgusting amount of cereal. She blinked her eyes slowly; they were crusty and bloodshot.
Dark magic.
Cadance was so terrified that she yelped when Shining kicked her shin under the table. He gave her a pointed look, then tilted his head at their daughter. Flurry didn’t notice the interaction. She shoved a large spoonful of soggy cereal into her mouth and chewed slowly.
“D-did you sleep well?” Cadance stuttered.
“No,” Flurry mumbled. She smacked her lips and ran her tongue over her braces. “Was up all night.”
“Flurry,” Shining prompted, “do you have something to say to your mother?”
Flurry’s ears pinned back and she looked away. She swallowed another spoonful of sugary cereal instead of replying.
Don’t give up! Cadance screamed in her head. Go to the light! She couldn’t hold back her own tears and sniffled.
“Sorry,” Flurry muttered under her breath.
“What was that?” Shining cocked an ear.
“I’m shorry,” Flurry lisped, still looking down at the table.
“For…” Shining continued.
Flurry finally made eye contact with her mother. Cadance was frozen, stunned by the red veins and icy stare. Her daughter’s eyes bore into her, promising a thousand torments behind thick frames.
“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Flurry apologized.
Cadance was silent, seized by the inequine stare. Shining kicked her shin again. “Apologize,” he whispered.
“I’m sorry,” Cadance said quietly. A tear trailed down her muzzle. “I’m so sorry. I love you, Flurry.”
Flurry’s eyes widened. She looked like an owl with her glasses. “D-don’t cry! I didn’t mean it last night!”
“Your mother was worried about you after Sombra’s horn did that…thing,” Shining clarified. “It was a long, stressful night for everypony.”
“It was gross,” Flurry snorted. “I had to wash my mouth out.”
“But you feel fine,” Shining asked. “You don’t feel…angry or envious?”
“No more than ushual,” Flurry lisped. “Usual.” She looked to the side. After a moment, she admitted, “I’m still upset about Primarch Horus.”
“Your do—” Cadance began. She whinnied as Shining kicked her knee hard under the table. The bowls and cutlery rattled. Flurry gave her mother a confused look, then shrugged and resumed eating her cereal.
“I am sorry about Primary Horse,” Cadance apologized. Shining pressed a hoof to his muzzle beside her.
“Primarch Horus,” Flurry corrected. “The Horse Heresy is what happened, not his name.”
“What?” Cadance asked.
Flurry’s brow furrowed. “In the grim darkness of the future, friendship has failed. There is only war,” she intoned in a high-pitched squeak.
Cadance shuddered as the dark-magic fueled prophecy swept across the room. The lights seemed to flicker and dim. Flurry leered across the table with a metallic smile.
And giggle-snorted. “Thatsh how it always starts!” she lisped. “Horus was the adopted son of Empress Celestia. The Nightmare forces corrupted him and turned him against her!”
The prophecy. Cadance turned to Shining desperately.
“Yeah,” Shining nodded, oblivious. “I was always more of an Ogres & Oubliettes stallion. Pharynx played the Changelings against you last time, right?”
“And I beat his flank,” Flurry said proudly, then her ears perked up and she gasped, spraying the table with crumbs. Cadance tensed.
“I forgot!” Flurry exclaimed. “Luna’s gonna be here tomorrow!” She fretted with her unpolished hooves. “Oh, I wanta finish the miniatures first! I won’t have time tomorrow…” she trailed off, standing back up from the table and slurping down the rest of the cereal from her bowl.
“Sweetie, don’t forget the toast,” Shining reminded his daughter. “We have some crystalberry jam.”
Cadance pushed the jar of jam forward with a foreleg. This was part of the test. She hadn’t touched it yet, preferring her toast dry. Flurry’s eyes widened and she popped the lid off with her magic.
“Thanksh!” Flurry chirped happily to her mother. For one moment, Cadance saw her daughter break through the corruption with a beaming smile. She smiled back, relieved.
And then Flurry raised the large kitchen knife in her magic and stabbed it down.
Cadance flung herself back and away from the blade. “No!” She landed hard on the crystal floor, skidding away with flailing wings pushing herself along the floor with a squeak. “Shining! Help!”
Shining and Flurry stared blankly at Cadance while she propelled herself across the floor. One of the benefits of having a crystal palace was that the floor was slippery smooth at virtually all times. Flurry raised the kitchen knife back up with a large glob of jam affixed to the blade. It dripped back into the jar. “Mom?”
“Don’t do it, Flurry!” Cadance screamed. “It’s me! Fight the corruption!”
Flurry squinted at the jar. “Is it out of date?”
“No, it’s fine,” Shining laughed awkwardly and scurried after his wife. Cadance had crawled into the kitchen and was peeking around a cabinet back into the dining hall. She pulled him down with a wing and held him close.
“Do you see?” she hissed into his ear. “Do you see!?”
Shining struggled under the alicorn-strength wing. “I see our daughter having toast,” he protested. “She’s not possessed!”
Cadance stared around the corner as Flurry slowly spread the jam onto a slice of toast with low, slow, sweeping arcs. The knife scraped against the bread, like an executioner sharpening an axe. Flurry retrieved more jam and repeated the motions with a mild frown, looking at the abandoned coffee mug.
“Why is she using that knife?” Cadance harshly whispered.
“You set the table,” Shining reminded her. “That’s the only knife you brought out.”
“That’s the only one I could find!” She swept her wing around the kitchen, gesturing to the myriad drawers and shelves and inadvertently freeing Shining. In the dining room, Flurry Heart took a large bite, crunching through the toast with her jaws of steel and smearing jam on her muzzle.
“Look at her!” Cadance narrowed her eyes at the sight. “She’s baring her teeth at us.”
“It’s her braces. She chews like that.”
“She does it menacingly.”
“Honey, she’s not corrupted by dark magic.”
“Her eyes!”
“Are bloodshot from staying up all night,” Shining finished with a frown. He pointed at his own eye with a hoof. “So are mine.”
Cadance trembled. Enthralled. Just like Chrysalis. “Y-you’re right,” she nodded shakily. “I-I’m just tired.” She stepped away, trading a look between her husband and her daughter. “I think I need to lie down.”
Flurry frowned at her mother and crunched down on the last of the toast. She licked at her braces when she was finished. “Are you okay?” Flurry wiped the crumbs off her hoodie with her oversized wings.
“Yes!” Cadance said quickly.
“You’re not going to be able to sleep after drinking that,” Shining warned, pointing to the table. Luna’s coffee had eaten through the mug and was beginning to chew through the crystal table. “Flurry, do you mind?”
Flurry scrunched her muzzle and scooped up the mug and liquid in her golden magic. It roiled and vibrated in her aura. “Ew. Mom, you could’ve finished the cup.” She teleported the mess away to Hazardous Waste Containment with a flash.
“You’re right,” Cadance nodded. “I should have.” She continued backing away towards a side door. “I’m sorry.”
Shining gave her a look filled with concern or suspicion. “Honey…”
“You were right,” Cadance said clearly. “It was an overreaction. I shouldn’t have panicked last night.”
Shining gave her a wary nod.
“I’m shorry for yelling at you,” Flurry apologized again. “I love you.”
Cadance stopped at the door. “I love you,” she said with all her heart, then slammed the door shut behind her. She pressed her head against it, resisting the urge to weep. She needed evidence. She needed help.