//------------------------------// // Morning // Story: As The Sun Sets // by Noobblue //------------------------------// Cadance awoke gently, and then immediately fell back into sleep. Her mind did a quick register of her state and after taking stock of the warmth and comfort of her bed and her current position, decided that she did not have to be awake just yet. The next time she came too, she fell right into being awake, sliding away from her sleep imperceptibly. She stretched lengthwise, and pressed her nose into the pillow she had in-between her front hooves. "Cadance?" Came Shining's voice Cadance continued to bury herself in the covers and comfort as she slowly allowed herself to become aware. She let out a soft affirmation that she was awake, with a light inflection at the end, "mmmm?" She felt the mattress indent on her side of the bed, which was odd. Shining usually slept on the other side. To check the state of things, Cadance opened her eyes, accepting that it was time to get up properly.  As she blunk the sleep out of her eyes, she got a look at her husband. Shining Armor clearly hadn't slept and was standing with two limbs on the bed sheets, a look of worry and exhaustion plastered over his face. "Shining? What's wrong?" She said as she began sitting up, ruffling her wings to move the blankets off of herself. "I... You." She frowned, "I'm what's wrong?" "No I-" He shook his head, "I'm sorry, give yourself a minute to wake up." "No no, I'm wide awake now, what's happening?" Shining got off the bed, and began to fall backwards, Cadance only noticed after he had sat down that there was a chair behind him. Did he... Was he awake all night? Watching me sleep? "You came back last night." Shining said slowly, breathily, reinforcing the idea he had been up all night Last night "Silver just... Opened a portal into our bedroom, dragged you inside from some alleyway somewhere." "It's ok-" She tried to interject. "Cadance," He stopped her interjection, "You were very out of it. You didn't even hear me talk, Silver just led you to bed and you flopped and I couldn't wake you up." Guess I slept pretty hard "Silver wouldn't tell me anything either, just 'What happens at 'GN' stays at 'GN'" His tone turned frustrated at the comment. Sounds like Silver "She was just messing with you honey." Cadance looked him in the eyes, "I'm okay, really I am." Whatever Shining was going to say next happened just a bit too slowly, and words kept tumbling from Cadance's mouth. "Better than okay... I haven't slept like that in months." She enunciated the fact by rolling her neck and her shoulders. It was true, she felt great, a bit of stretching, a shower and she'd be at peak physicality. The sun had yet to crest the horizon, but she still felt like she got a full six hours of sleep. "I don't know what to do, Cadance." Cadance's frown returned and her gaze softened as Shining spoke "I feel like there's nothing I can do to help you, and-" He looked away, "You keep getting into crazier circumstances, I keep seeing you... I keep worrying about you, and every time it's..." "How can you be fine? You came back drunk." He began gesturing, "Not tipsy Cadance, drunk." "Silver has a spell for the alcohol poisoning." She said quickly, a little ashamed at the state she came home in, but not too ashamed. She was more emotionally distraught about her husband. He's really upset Cadance "That's just it Cadance. Every time something happens, or you do something, there's always something to make it okay." He shook his hoof in his other as he listed, "Silver has a spell, nothing 'technically' bad happened, nopony was hurt, no laws were broken. It's always something. Silver is skirting the rules so closely tha-" "Shining." "Just let me finish? Please?" She bit back her words, and nodded. "What am I supposed to do Cadance? I..." He deeply frowned, "Dusk is better than me, stronger, smarter, I can't protect you, and then I see you come home like that and it terrifies me." Cadance stepped out of bed and wrapped her Love in her wings and hooves. It was a little awkward with the chair, but she had the height to make it work. She spoke quietly, the distance not requiring anything more, "Silver, isn't better than you Shining. Just different." Shining scoffed "I'm sorry I worried you. I did have fun last night, I thought, 'Shining has made guard friends over a drink? Why can't I?'" "Not friends like that." "I actually think so Shining." She pulled away, "It worked, at least" "It did?" He said "Yes." She gave a hard nod, "Silver may not have actually engaged with me, I'm not too sure, but once I leaned into having fun... Well, so did Silver. She and I talked a lot. I learned a lot about her, exactly what we were hoping for." "She?" Cadance nodded, "That's one of the things. Apparently Dusk slash Silver doesn't really have any stable persona's." "What does that mean?" "Well..." She tried to put it to words, "Dusk has been a bunch of different ponies, worn a lot of literally different faces. Has lived several life times. I just don't think they have a sense of self anymore." Shining mulled over the idea for a bit before speaking, "Like how Discord isn't any of his parts." She nodded, "Exactly, he's just Discord." "And at the moment, Dusk is Silver?" "She didn't tell me that specifically, but that's what it felt like." Shining went silent. She could feel his whirling emotions, satisfaction and relief that she was apparently safe and sound, but apprehension and fear of what was to come.  He feels powerless to help. Powerless to keep me safe. The two of them sat momentarily, breathing in the moment, and their short conversation. Shining eventually spoke again, slowly, trying to put his thoughts to words as best as he could, "I want to help. I do, I... If you're right about Silver being a good pony, then it's worth it. I trust you." "You just don't like the way it's going so far." She finished for him. "I get that Silver isn't normal, isn't going to act normal." Cadance gave a soft chiming laugh, "Tell me about it." "I just worry." "I know you do, and it warms my heart and keeps me going." She pressed a hoof over her chest and gave him the warmest smile she could. He gave a deep sigh, "So I just need to... Let you do you then?" "I think that I may actually have an idea." Shining raised an eyebrow. "But first, you're going to get up here and get some sleep. The sun's not up yet, you still have a bit before we have to get up for real." She snarked at him, and used her magic to grab his hoof and lead him into bed. Shining smiled, and Cadance internally soared. There it is! Good work Cadance! The mental hoof shaking from all her thoughts celebrating the kindness she was able to show. "You can even have my warm spot" She said, climbing back over where she was just sleeping, and pulling Shining Armor into bed. She laid down next to where she knew he'd lay down, and wrapped a wing over him in the next moment. They settled in a spoon, and Shining pulled up the blankets with his magic. Cadance's mind, having decided she was awake, rebelled at the idea of going back to sleep. So she spoke, "Does everyone in your family have that colour of aura?" "Hmm?" Shining said, settling into the cuddle "Your magic aura, the purple shades. Twilight has a slightly different colour, and I know your mother does too" Shining, aware of the distance, spoke softly when he answered, "It's a unicorn thing. Powerful magical lineages tend to have similar coloured magic." A beat passed "What makes you ask?" Cadance inwardly chuckled at the explanation she had, the irony of it not lost on her. "Sliver thinks Sunset Shimmer might be one of her descendants." Shining responded by not responding. "I know right?" Shining softly shook his head, "I wonder about the nature of the pony he had children with." "According to her, there were several." She added, “Which is not surprising, considering the length of Silver's life." "How long is that?" "I've gotten enough information to guess that she was born a couple hundred years before the Discordian Era." Cadance said. "Hmmm, guess it's not too surprising then no..." Cadance felt his emotions shift again. Back towards negativity. "Something else on your mind?" She tentatively asked Shining took several seconds to respond, but he did eventually respond, "Are... Are we going to..?" Cadance's good mood plummeted, she squeezed him gently, "I don't know Shining. Silver said it wasn't possible." "You talked to Silver about having foals?" "She asked... I didn't really feel the need to lie, anypony could guess that I... Well, that we would want a foal." He didn't say anything else. "Celestia never had a foal. Silver made it sound like she tried for a long time before giving up." He grabbed her hoof though, the one she had wrapped over his shoulder. Nothing unique, just a show of affection through contact. "Did Silver tell you why?" He asked, clipped "Genetics... Alicorns are just... Different." She recalled, however, the oddity of how Silver had gone about saying it hours prior, "Silver was odd about it though... Acted like She didn't know for sure." "That pony is odd about everything." She nodded, and pressed her muzzle into his neck. "You promise you'll keep yourself safe?" "I'll do my best Shining." From there, they lapsed into silence. At some point, Cadance felt Shining's breathing slow, a couple of hours later, the sun came up. After she woke her husband, and the two got ready for the day, they followed their routine; sitting together, and talking before going about their business. There was a somber tone sticking in Cadance’s mind as they spoke, but Shining, after his nap, was seemingly either putting the emotional density of their brief conversation behind him. Or he was just trying to ignore it like she was. "So what's on the agenda today?" Cadance asked Shining, who was still working his mane into place, responded with, "I've got a meeting with the patrol officers, and then I'm going to talk to our 'cultists' until lunch." Cadance nodded in recognition, "I don't have anything to do until lunch, mind if I join you for the interrogation?" "Of course, they seemed repentant enough because of Silver's fearmongering." He spat, "I'm sure they'll be happy to see a friendly influence." "Silver did the right thing, you know." "Yes I do. Doesn't mean I like her methods." "Fair." Shining got control of his mane, "What about after lunch?" "Open court, and then getting further ahead of the paperwork." "Gala's in two days." Cadance groaned, "Don't remind me, I still need a dress." "I'm surprised you're going at all." He quipped with a chuckle as he moved to grab his things. She rolled her eyes, "Well I wasn't, unti-" "Silver, yes I remember. It's been a common trend recently." He monotoned "Sorry." "It's okay." "What was your idea? By the way?" He tentatively phrased, less as a question, and more as a leading statement. "Tomorrow's schedule is clear right?" He nodded, "Yeah, everypony is busy that day preparing for the gala; not much ruling to do." "I'm going to ask Silver if she'll teach you defenses for dark magicks." He raised an eyebrow "Who better to teach you how to protect me than the one threatening my safety," She half pleaded, "Right?" He raised his other eyebrow, and pursed his lips, tilting his head forwards for the 'really.' expression. "She will, as well. I gave it a lot of thought." "Silver will teach me how to fight her?" "Yes." Shining went to speak, but rolled his eyes instead, "I guess it's not any more weird than I expect from Silver to begin with." "Break?" She said "Break." He responded To which they both spread out, Cadance grabbing a folder she needed for court in several hours that she had brought up from her desk yesterday morning. Shining made his way straight towards the door, and held it open for Cadance. They shared a quick kiss before they went their separate ways. Cadance to go talk to Silver about a list of business, Shining to go prepare the rest of his day. She knocked. Like before, in front of Silver's modest abode, there was a freshly cut lawn of grass and the light sound of string instruments from the inside. A couple of seconds went by after she knocked, before the music cut out. I'll have to ask Hooves trotted to the door, a beat passed before it swung open. Cadance saw the magic turn the 'door' from what was essentially a thin wall back into a swinging door. "Well if it isn't the party princess herself. Did I not meet your 'fun' quota?" Silver looked the same, and made her quip with a sarcastic tone. "There wasn't a requirement, I just came by to talk to you about a couple of things." She moved to lift a hoof, intending on entering, but Silver didn't move, instead taking up the entirety of the doorway. Cadance raised a mental eyebrow. "What things?" Cadance, a little thrown off by the not usual behavior, but seeing no reason why it would otherwise be strange, decided to ignore it for now. "Business things." "I was more interested in specifics." "You just want to talk out on the doorstep?" Silver smiled a half smile, "It's a nice morning out." Alright, forget ignoring it, Silver is hiding something. "Is there a reason tha-" "Yes" Cadance frowned. "Do I want to know?" She slowly asked. "I doubt it." Ugh "Should I know?" She tried a bit more tersely. Instead of immediately responding, Silver took several seconds to think before responding, she took on a neutral tone after five or six seconds and said, "From that perspective? Maybe, I guess I am committing a crime, but when do I not? I'm literally a walking crime." "Will you at least tell me what the crime is?" Silver nodded, "Illegal..." She tensed her face, "Or well, I'm guessing illegal, I didn't chec-" "Please?" "Body grafting." Oh dear "On?" She tried, inwardly hoping for the best Silver gave a slight shake of the head, and put a hoof to her chest, "No worries, just on myself, Little Princess" Should I state the obvious? Silver, noticing Cadance noticing the current lack of body grafting going on directly in front of her, bit into her own raised limb. The wound, or where there would have been a wound, crumpled and the flesh underneath flaked off into black ash and disappeared. "This is just a projection, my body is inside." She stated, like commenting on the sunrise. Okay... That's... okay right? Right? Cadance, no. You know what? "Whatever, it doesn't matter." Silver raised an eyebrow. "Will you teach Shining skilled magic? The way you know it?" Silver's eyebrow raise turned taunting, "Another favor? So soon?" "Yes." "Okay." Exactly... and why wouldn't she? Right? "Tomorrow work?" "No, but that implies that any time would work." She said, clearly annoyed. Guess that's that, onto the next migraine Cadance decided to sit, assuming she was going to be here for a while, "What were those cultists you stopped doing? Magically I mean." "Ah, I was wondering when you'd ask." Silver stepped forwards a bit more, and stood almost so that the door was closed, everything outside besides her flanks. "They were trying to get together a summoning ritual, like a resurrections charm, but more like calling the number on a card." Cadance mentally noted a teaching tone, surprised that Silver had a different way of talking to begin with. One that wasn’t confusing or misplaced that is. "It was a complex charged spell. It would have used a dying pony as an amplification and a spark to set off a heaping series of charged magic runes to reach into the background flux of Eternity, and draw Sombra's still living essence into our plane. Nothing complex, basically brute force summoning." There's a phrase in there that's very concerning "Sombra is still alive?" She said slowly "As alive as you'd be if you were dead." She blinked slowly, and gave Silver her best, 'unamused' look. "And if you're talking to those cultists today, tell that Point Flare girl that I'd like to hire her." Silver began stepping backwards into the doorway. "What for?" I bet I can guess "I could use a mare with her mana well and talent for elemental fire for a lot. Give her these incentives, if you would, and repeat them like this to her, exactly." Silver planted her hooves on the ground, and very seriously said, "A chance for revenge, and a horn to do it with." A chance for revenge, and a horn to do it with. "You're offering her a horn? And revenge?" "Yes, plain and simple." Silver said seriously "No tricks? No addendums?" "Nope" Cadance scrunched her face "You can just give ponies horns?" "Yup." Okay wow. I can’t let that go. "That's... An incredible leap in medical science Silver." Silver nodded, "I-" Cadance got her words together, "I know it's probably achieved with some gruesome process, but you just have to share how that's done. If you can do the same with wings and hooves... Thousands of ponies could go without disabilities in their lives." She finished softly. Silver very clearly worked it over in her head. It took longer than Cadance would have liked. "I can't argue that point, and I'm all for sharing the power of dark magic altruistically." She lifted a hoof, "But." and pointed it at Cadance, "I can't just draw attention to myself like that, you'd have to make up where you got the idea, lie basically, and it wouldn't be convincing." "I can come up with something." "Do you promise to share the process for the sake of helping ponies, and protect me from the obvious lash back if I am discovered?" Cadance opened her mouth to make the promise, the idea of helping so many ponies in exchange for secrecy she was already giving urging her to simply say yes. Except... You almost had me. "I promise to share the process for the sake of helping ponies, and to protect you from the 'lash back' if you are discovered because of sharing." Silver gave a heartfelt smile, and nodded, "I'll have a folder and some documents on your desk by tomorrow night." Then she shook her head, “Actually, I’ll just send them back with Shining.” "Thank you Silver." "Don't mention it." Cadance stood, "Do you have any other magical insights on how to help the common pony?" "Not any that are generally applicable no." Silver held out a hoof, "Will that be all?" Cadance bumped hooves with the shorter mare, "Yes... and uh, good luck with your..." She glanced at the bite taken out of Silver's limb. "Noted, Little Princess." Silver collapsed backwards into the house, falling into a pile of dust and disappearing as the door closed and sealed itself. Taking that as her cue, Cadance turned to take flight and head back to The Spire. She waved at a passerby before taking flight, and made sure her folder was still firmly under her wing before making haste back home.