Cadence made her way quickly to the throne room. The Solar Court was about to be in session and she wasn’t used to being up at the crack of dawn. It had been awhile since she had court duties, but she was looking forward to the challenge. She figured it would be beneficial to do something productive. These last few hundred years since losing her one true love, Shining Armor, she felt as though she had done a lot of drifting. Cadence no longer served actively as ruler of the Crystal Empire. She had relinquished her duties long ago to her only daughter, Venus. Her daughter was the thing she was most proud of in this world, and the only remnant of Shining Armor she had to hold onto. It gave her comfort knowing that her daughter, being an Alicorn princess, would never leave her side.
As she trotted quickly through the halls, she could make out a faint echo of hoofsteps behind her. At first she believed she was hearing things, and then the hoofsteps became louder,as the approaching entity advanced. Curiosity got the better of her as she turned around to greet whoever it was that was coming up behind her. As soon as she stopped, the hoofsteps stopped as well. Cadence cocked her head to the side, straining her ear to listen for any sound at all.
It happened very fast. A split second and she had no time to react as she was thrown to the floor. Her back hit the stone pavement and she let out a small squeal of annoyance rather than pain. As Cadence looked up into the eyes of her attacker, vivid green eyes stared back at her.
“Oh Cadence, I love that little squeal you made. You are SO fun to scare.” Said a voice in the darkness.
“S-Sweetie Belle?” Cadence asked, looking up into the dark Alicorn’s face.
“No! I’m Nightmare Belle!” she grinned, pointing to the battle helmet on her head. “Geez, get it right.”
The playful black Alicorn continued to sit on Cadence’s tummy awkwardly. Her eyes never left the Princess of Love’s face. Cadence shuddered. She had known Sweetie Belle before her transformation and the unicorn had seemed like a sweet little filly. Now there was something off about her. Cadence couldn’t quite put a hoof on it, but there was definitely something not right about this pony. Clearly it was because of the dark magic, but still she was never quite sure what to make of the younger Alicorn.
“Ahem.” Cadence cleared her throat. “Was there something you needed Sweetie Belle?”
The younger Alicorn looked down at her captured prey. “Oh right. I was supposed to reprimand you for being late.” She said, a grin settling on her lips.
“And?” Cadence continued, frustration beginning to show on her face.
Dealing with Sweetie Belle was a headache in itself. The faster she could speed this up, the better.
“And I’m supposed to bring you to the throne room to meet with my dearest Princess Luna.” Sweetie Belle finished, looking pleased that she had remembered.
“You’re sitting on me.” Cadence said, gritting her teeth as she tried to push Sweetie Belle off of her.
“Nightmare Belle likes to play with her captives.” Sweetie cackled evilly.
Again, Cadence wasn’t sure if this was a joke. But Sweetie Belle slowly eased up on her, allowing her the chance to get to her hooves once again. The dark Alicorn then began to trot towards the throne room, leaving Cadence to shake her head in disbelief. It took her a couple more seconds to regain her composure before she realized she was once again alone.
“H-Hey wait for me.” She called out frantically, chasing after Sweetie Belle.
What the heck had just happened?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Twilight Sparkle gazed slowly around the throne room. It was early morning and the day court was to be in session. Princess Luna was sitting in her chair looking exasperated. Noticeably absent were Cadence, Sweetie Belle and most importantly of all, Princess Celestia.
Twilight’s eyes roamed Celestia’s chair. She couldn’t recall a day that the Princess’ chair had ever been empty. If there was one thing Celestia was, it was absolutely devoted to the throne. In fact, that had been the reason things between them had not worked out, or at least the reason Celestia had given Twilight all those years ago when she had broken her heart. Twilight’s eyes dimmed at the painful memories and her head turned back to Luna.
“Where is everypony?” she asked casually.
She wasn’t really concerned where anypony else was, just Celestia. It was unlike her to be late.
“Cadence is on her way. We will start when she arrives.” Luna stated firmly, not looking up from the large cup of coffee between her hooves.
Sweetie Belle and Cadence then entered the throne room. Twilight noted that Cadence looked slightly out of breath and Sweetie Belle was cosplaying. Cosplaying? Sure enough she had the Nightmare Moon ensemble on and happily trotted to Luna’s right side. Luna flapped her wings. It was a tiny gesture but it served to distract the onlookers as she gently ran her hoof down Sweetie Belle’s back.
“This court will now come to order.” Cadence said, taking her place in Celestia’s seat.
One of the Solar Guards then handed Cadence her meeting agenda and she slowly let her eyes scan the list. Before she could even begin with the first topic, Twilight Sparkle interrupted.
“Excuse me.” She said. The concern was evident in her voice. “But where is Princess Celestia?”
Cadence looked to Luna and Luna stared back at her blankly. Drat! Luna silently cursed. She had the perfect plan and yet somehow she had forgotten about the Twilight Sparkle of the present. Of course Twilight would be curious as to the whereabouts of Celestia . Why hadn’t she remembered to think of a good excuse as to why Celestia was absent? Think brain think.
“She’s not feeling well.”
“She’s getting a new mane-do.”
Luna and Cadence once again exchanged glances. Crap! Luna gave Cadence an irritated look. Really? At the manedressers? At this hour of the morning? Cadence sighed. She was the worst liar in all of Equestria.
“I meant she wasn’t feeling well and decided she needed some “me” time.” Cadence scrambled.
Twilight looked around the room. “That really doesn’t make sense...” she trailed off.
“I heard she’s shacking up with that new magic student of hers.” Interjected Sweetie Belle.
That comment earned her a kick to the knee from Luna.
“Ouch. So worth it.” Sweetie squeaked.
The Solar Court erupted into conversation, everypony worrying and speculating on the Princess’ whereabouts. It was pandemonium for a few moments until Luna finally took control of the situation.
Luna cleared her throat. “Celestia will be taking a leave of absence. She is fine. There is no need to worry. Until she returns, Cadence will be taking over her daily duties and I will be raising and lowering the sun. If there are any other questions they may be addressed directly to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”
A collective hush settled over the room as the ponies seemed to accept Luna’s answer for Celestia’s absence. All but one little pony, of course. Twilight Sparkle sat back in her seat. Something wasn’t right and she was going to get to the bottom of it. She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. She hoped that wherever Celestia may be, her former lover was okay.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Princess Celestia softly stroked the tip of Twilight’s newly formed wing. Twilight was sleeping peacefully, her body curled up against the Princess. Celestia breathed deeply, trying to take everything in. She had just finished a marathon love making session with her faithful student. Twilight, exhausted had easily succumbed to sleep. Celestia didn’t want to close her eyes. She was afraid this all really was a dream, and she just wanted to savor the feeling of being close to her lover. It had been over a thousand years since she had touched Twilight Sparkle like this. She had missed it terribly. Celestia inhaled the scent of Twilight’s mane, burying her muzzle into the purple Alicorn’s neck.
She was slowly remembering this time in her life. Yes, it had been the night of Twilight’s coronation. A week prior, Twilight Sparkle had become an Alicorn. Celestia had known all along that her student was destined for great things. She had been guiding her to this for a very long time.
What she didn’t expect was for Twilight Sparkle to have asked her on a date. That really threw her for a loop. She remembered Twilight asking if she would no longer be her mentor. She also remembered replying that she would still be there to guide her. She just hadn’t been expecting the resulting conversation.
“So if you are no longer my teacher...” Twilight had started bashfully, her cheeks glowing pink. “Then do you think we could go out sometime?”
She had repeated her now former student’s words back to her. “Go out?”
“Yes. I mean only when you have time.” Twilight had managed to say, her blush deepening as it coated her entire body.
She had never been sure why at that moment Twilight had the courage to ask her out. Twilight herself had never known why either, as it seemed so out of character. Maybe it was the wings that had spurred on the confidence. Whatever it was, Celestia was intrigued and accepted her offer. She had thought at the time that she would spend the day with Twilight, and at the end of it, she would let her former student down gently.
Celestia laughed softly into Twilight’s mane, her memories causing her to wrap her front legs possessively around the sleeping Alicorn. How silly she was to think she was immune to feelings. Of course her feelings for Twilight had been growing since she had sent her student to learn about friendship. She had watched Twilight grow from an eager young filly, to a beautiful, strong Alicorn Princess.
Before she even knew what had happened, she had invited Twilight here, to her bedchambers. Celestia’s own cheeks grew red as she replayed the fabulous love making session she had just endured. She knew she had to concentrate on why she was here. How do you change the past to gain a better future? How could she avoid making the mistakes that had cost her Twilight Sparkle’s love in the first place?
These thoughts swarmed her head as she held Twilight tightly to her chest. She was scared to move from the bed. She was afraid if she let go of Twilight, she would never be able to hold her again.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Luna’s horn glowed and she summoned every ounce of her magic. It was time to check in on her sister. She was looking forward to finding out what Tia had been up to so far. Sweetie Belle and Cadence had accompanied her downstairs, also anxious to see if the spell had worked. As her magic grew, a giant orb appeared and lifted itself into the air. Slowly the orb began to shift, until it was large enough for all three princesses to look inside of it. The image in the orb was fuzzy at first, and then slowly it became clear.
There was Celestia in her bed.
In her bed with Twilight Sparkle.
In her bed, seductively stroking Twilight Sparkle’s wings.
“POOMF!”
Cadence’s wings flew open.
“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza! What a mighty huge wingboner that is!” remarked Sweetie Belle, laughing hysterically.
Cadence went completely red and tried unsuccessfully to furl her wings back into place. After a few more failed attempts she grumbled and stopped trying. Luna could feel her own eye twitching. She hadn’t meant to catch her sister in a private moment. On the plus side, it looked like things were going well.
“Celestia...” Luna whispered.
Celestia’s head shot upwards at the sudden appearance of her sister’s voice.
“Luna?” she called out hazily.
“Yes it’s me sister. I’m sorry to have uhm interrupted...”
Celestia quickly realized her sister could somehow see her. She grabbed the covers she had tossed aside earlier and covered Twilight and herself. Twilight moaned softly as the covers were draped over her, only serving to deepen Celestia’s blush.
“This isn’t really the best time Luna.” She whispered.
“I see that. We just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“We?” Celestia asked, her embarrassment growing.
“Uh I meant the royal “WE”?” Luna replied lamely, as Sweetie snickered.
“Good try Luna.” Celestia scoffed, pulling the blankets up to her muzzle.
“Sorry sis.”
Celestia sighed. It wouldn’t do any good to be upset with her sister.
“Luna I don’t know what to do...” she started. “I’m so scared to mess things up.”
Luna could hear the fear in her sister’s voice. It was odd considering Celestia was so good at hiding her true emotions. She felt her heart crack a little for her sister’s plight.
“You’ll be fine Tia.” Luna assured her. “You can do this. I believe in you.”
Celestia smiled, even though she couldn’t see her sister.
“Since you seem to be okay, I will let you go so I don’t wake Twilight up. We will check in with you again soon.”
Celestia nodded. Even though she had been embarrassed beyond belief, it still felt good to hear Luna’s voice. As she snuggled closer to Twilight, she could feel her own exhaustion begin to overtake her body. She struggled against it, determined to enjoy ever moment with Twilight. Her body had other plans though, as she slipped into a deep and restful slumber.
Luna smiled as she watched her sister sleep. Celestia would need all the sleep she could get. The orb slowly began to close, and Cadence was finally able to furl her wings back into place.
“Do you think she will be okay?” Cadence asked, worry apparent in her voice.
“She’s strong.” Luna chuckled. “Beside she will have to be. I’m pretty sure her little sister in the past was quite a hell raiser. She’ll have her hooves full that’s for sure.”
End Chapter 2