(5 Months Later)
Darkstar arrived in Dream valley it was covered in a thin layer of snow with a natural chill in the air, the place reminded him of ponyville in many ways, but at the same time it was completely different. It was small like ponyville, but more spaced out. After asking around for a bit, he was able to find out that Shining Armor had bought a house, near the edge of Dream Valley close enough to get back easily, but far away enough to be a bit isolated. Which was a good thing, if a fight started he didn't want to wind up fighting the whole village. Shining had built a small reputation here as a respectable stallion, still Darkstars feelings towards him had become rather conflicted as of late.
Everything, Shining armor had done as he wandered ,pointed to that he was trying to redeem himself. What's more, everywhere he went he seemed to do whatever he could to as well. As well he seemed to be extremely depressed as well. When Darkstar was in sight of Shining armors home he quickly ducked into cover, he saw Shining armor walk outside and then take a deep breath.
Darkstar recognized the look on his face, the look of peace and happiness one earned only through suffering, he was about to step out of cover and confront him, when somepony came out behind him, a pegasus mare with a gentle silver coat and kind blue eyes.Her cutie mark was a heart with a silver wedding ring around it, He also took note that the mare was pregnant and they both had a ring on her right hoofs.
'Did shining armor remarry? If so does this mare know what he's done? Hmm, if I come out now, Shining armor may panic, I need to wait until he's out of sight and earshot before I do anything. Shining armor then picked up a woodcutting axe and walked into the nearby woods, the mare turned around and went back inside and after a few minutes, Darkstar got out from behind his hiding place and decided to talk to the mare ,face to face.
Darkstar walked up to the small houses door and knocked on it, a few moments later the mare asked through the door ,"Who is it?" Her voice was as gentle as her appearance, Darkstar said, " Somepony who knows Shining Armor well" There was a moment of silence before the mare opened the door. She then asked, "If you're here talking to me as opposed to attacking Shining armor ,then you must have a good reason to. Come inside, if you please and sit down, my hooves are killing me." Darkstar didn't sense any hostile intentions from the mare and carefully stepped inside, carefully scanning the area for any visible traps.
"My name is Silver Heart, what is yours, if I may ask?" The mare asked sitting down on a small couch, Darkstar said, "You're playing a dangerous game you know ,allowing a stranger inside your home Ms.Silver heart." Silver heart only smiled and asked, "If you had any hostile intentions towards me ,you would have already acted on them wouldn't you?" Darkstar had to admit she made a valid point, "Well ,while you're right about that. My name is Darkstar." At that Silver heart only let out a sad sigh and said, " So your Darkstar huh? I should of known you'd find your way to us eventually." Darkstar then asked, "So im curious what did he tell you about me? Also did he tell you what he did to me?" Darkstar asked dangerously low
Silver heart then shocked him by saying, " Yes, he told me everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. How when he was younger , he helped your parents do those terrible things to you, I know it all Darkstar." Darkstar then asked, "If you know what he did, then why did you stay with him? How can you even stand to be around him?" Silver heart only smiled sadly and said, "Because I love him, I love him with all my heart, he's the pony I would do anything for. If it wasn't for him, I still wouldn't have my cutie mark . I know everything ,but I also know what you don't." Darkstar was curious and asked, "And what is it that I don't know?"
"That what he did all those years ago,never stopped eating away at him. I don't know about your parents, but I do know that to this day, the guilt is like a rot inside him. He HATES HIMSELF Darkstar, he will never be able to let go of what happened. But most of all he's angry. He's angry at you, Twilight, The princess Cadence, he's angry at you all, he can't understand why you all thought he was so evil .That he could actually do those things and not feel the way he does. But the pony he's most angry at is himself. Hes angry at himself, because he never talked about what happened, he just hoped time would make it go away. But look what that got him."
Silver heart said sadly, then continued, " You took everything from him, his wife, his sister, his rank ,his title, his parents, You even took his Honor and pride. You took everything from him and left him with nothing. But that isn't enough for you? What more could you possibly want? Is your heart so filled with hate ,that you want to take even me and this new life he has? Do you really want to destroy whatever hope he has left? Do you really want to see a stallion, who already regrets the terrible things he had done and did everything he could to redeem himself ,Lose the only things he has left?"
Silver heart asked Darkstar who looked away and said after a deep sigh, "Your words cut deep. Deeper than any blade, you've made me see that I went too far. I let my hate and rage, guide and control me, looking back, I've done that for a long time. Before I do anything else ,I want to talk to Shining armor." Silver heart said, "He should be back any minute now, he went out to gather firewood."
As if on cue ,a stallions hoof steps could be heard on wood. And then the door opened and at that moment Darkstar and Shining Armors eyes met, Shining Armor dropped the firewood, but made no other movements.
After 5 minutes Shining armor broke the silence, "Why?" he asked sadly, Darkstar asked back," Why what?" Shining armor then said, "Why are you here? You wanted me to pay for what I did to you? I did, you wanted me to feel the pain you did, you wanted me to suffer like you did? I DID, You wanted me to lose everything I cared about and be left as a stallion that was less than nothing? I WAS. SO WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE?! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE?!" Shining armor yelled his voice getting louder as time went on till he eventually started yelling at the top of his lungs.
Darkstar yelled back, " YOU THINK THAT WHAT? YOU SUFFER A BIT THEN YOU'RE ALLOWED TO DO WHATEVER YOU DAMN PLEASE!? YOU TRIED TO START A WORLD WAR!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!!? WHAT POSSESSED YOU TO ADD TRAITOR TO YOUR LIST OF CRIMES!??!" Shining armor then yelled back," DO NOT TRY AND CALL ME TRAITOR! MY WHOLE NATION TURNED AGAINST ME!!! EVERYPONY I THOUGHT I COULD COUNT ON TURNED THEIR BACKS ON ME!!! THEY LEFT ME TO ROT IN A CELL!!! THE ONLY PONY WHO EVEN VISITED ME ONCE IN THERE WASN'T EVEN A PONY!!! IT WAS CHRYSALIS!!! THE ONLY BEING ON THE PLANET WHO GAVE A DAMN ABOUT ME, WAS THE BEING I ONCE HATED THE MOST!!!! AND WHAT THE HELL DID I HAVE LEFT TO LOSE?!?! I HAD NOTHING YOU TOOK IT ALL AWAY!!! I wasn't even left with my honor or dignity, you took even that from me." Shining armor said, his voice getting lower and sadder as it went on.
Darkstar felt a twinge of guilt at his words. He heard the hard truth in them and said," You're right. I took it all away and for a while, I was proud I did. But now that I know what you went through.... I feel like I was wrong in what I was doing, you saw no other way. But when I look at you ,I can feel my anger building up despite everything." Shining armor said, "I feel the same way." Silver heart then said, "I'm going for a walk, you two need some time alone, just please don't kill another?" They both nodded and silver walked outside and the moment the door shut he heard a loud bang and crash inside the house.
Shining armor ducked under Darkstar's quick, powerful swing, then swung his left hoof at Darks chest. Dark quickly caught it, however to was a distraction from shining armors head-butt, The force of the hit threw Dark off balance and disoriented him for second, shining armor pressed his advantage by bucking Darks square in the chest. The force from shining's powerful blow knocked Darkstar into a wall, with a large amount of force. To the point that it caused some cracks to begin form on it, using the force of the impact and harnessing the pain Darkstar re-centered himself and countered shining's next attack. Darkstar side stepped Shining's head blow and then before shining could recover slammed him in the side of his face with a strong punch.Shining grimaced and fought down the pain as best he could, and growled to Darkstar in anger,
"You took everything from me, everything I cared about, all for your selfish revenge. I'm going to make you pay for all the pain you put me through." Darkstar growled back, " I'd like to see you try, I've got more experience in one hoof then you have in your entire body." Darkstars thoughts however, didn't match his tone,
'Damn he hits as hard as a Dragon does, what the hell happened to him out there that he acquired such impressive strength? Hes immensely powerful, but slow. But at the same time he makes up for that with skill, i'll need to be more careful in this fight than I originally thought.' Shining's thoughts were as wary as Darkstars,
'His body is unnaturally durable for a unicorns, I have to put in all of my strength to hurt him, he bleeds like any other, but regenerates extremely quickly, i'll need to hit him faster to slow his regeneration he's quick and tough, but doesn't put much force into his attacks, he tries to save it up ,most likely due to the fact that he's been in prolonged battles. But that only further proves that he has a point, he does have more experience than me when it comes to combat. But I wont lose to him without a fight.'
Then Shining armor tacked Darkstar full force, breaking through the wall into the outside. Darkstar quickly recovered by bringing his hooves down on Shining's back, who grimaced and was thrown off balance by it, then Darkstar bucked shining armor into one of the nearby trees, Shining hit the tree hard and felt pain spread like fire across his body, Forcing himself to stand Shining knew he couldn't take much more of this. Then Shining noticed the position he was in and realized he could use the environment to his advantage, apparently assuming a defensive stance,
Shining prepared for Darkstars advance and when Darkstar was in range Shining feinted a jab which Dark easily sidestepped, but walked straight into the place Shining wanted him to be. At that moment Dark realized that his back was to several weakened but heavy trees and realized that he'd walked straight into a trap, Before Darkstar could move, Shining used all of his strength to break the closest of the trees and due to the force of it and weight of the trees they all fell very quickly, the last three of them hit Darkstar hard from above, nearly crushing him under their weight. Shining stood on guard, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before Dark emerged from the wreckage, Darkstar then forced his way out from under the trees, with more than a few cuts and bruises on him.
Though they were already beginning to regenerate, his stamina was nearly completely sapped by what happened. However, Shining wasn't doing any better, almost all of his energy was gone from knocking down the trees and his wounds weren't helping. Both of the exhausted Stallions knew that they and the other only had energy left for one last attack, Darkstar then swung at Shining armor from an awkward angle that was in his weakened state, was impossible to dodge. So Shining took the blow straight to the face but used the force of the blow to spin and Slam Darkstar with the force of both of their attacks.
For a second both stallions stood like statues, unmoving and strong before finally their hooves gave out and they collapsed in the soft snow, now covered sporadically with a bit of blood and sweat. Darkstar then said in an exhausted but somehow proud/impressed tone, "Damn you're strong, you can take a hit and dish it right back twice as hard. This was probably the most exhausting and equally matched battle I've ever been in." Shining gave a small exhausted smile and said, " I can say the same, I had always dreamed of being in a real fight , one where I could go all out, and now I've achieved that dream." For a second both stallions were silent before Dark broke it " Im sorry." Shining then asked back confused, " You're sorry?" Darkstar then said,
" Yes im sorry, it took me seeing the other side of this, but now I understand. You never forgave yourself after I ran away, you always hated yourself deep down for it. And I let my hate and rage blind me to that." Shining then said, "You're right, I could never forgive myself for what happened to you, hell I still get nightmares about what I did and I don't think its Luna who's giving them to me. I punished myself, I rarely ate or slept ,all I did was train until I graduated, then I asked for the most dangerous postings." Shining then took a deep breath, "I pushed my body to breaking point and then pushed more, I earned medals of valor and courage and rose through the ranks, without even realizing it. I fought gang after gang, I didn't even care if I lived or died, I thought I Was going to Tartarus either way. " Shining said sadly.
Darkstar gave him a sad look as shining continued on, " I would have destroyed myself, if it weren't for Cadence and Twily-I mean Princess Twilight. They...They helped me work through my demons in a way, I could smile again after Cadence and I became a couple. Just being around them made me feel like I was alive. But everyday I expected them to bring up what happened to you and I was prepared for it for years, but it never happened. I just... moved on, I thought they did too. I thought Princess Twilight had forgotten about it, or forgiven it, but what I just can't understand is, if she didn't then why didn't she talk about it?" Shining said sadly. Darkstar only looked away, Shining then continued,
" Why did she live so many years, pretending to be happy with her life? Why did cadence act like she was happy to? Did they both hate me? Was the love I thought they had for me fake? Was.... was everything in my life a lie?"
Shining asked in a depressed tone, Darkstar then thought to himself , ' Damn it, I did more damage to him then I thought. I feel terrible, all of a month ago my blood boiled at the slightest mention of his name, but now? All I feel is a deep , dark pit inside me full of regret and guilt. 'Darkstar then asked , "I've vented all of my anger, its gone now. I.....Want us to have a second chance, I want this to be put behind us. So ill just ask this just once and I know that you have every Empress given right to say no, but... Can we be brothers? Real ones?" Shining then gave a sad smile and said,
" Maybe, I know that id like that. But I suppose we can try at least, but only time will tell." Darkstar forced himself to stand up and shining did the same and shook hooves and Darkstar said " Brothers it is then ...... Do you feel that?" Shining then asked "Feel what?" Darkstar then asked back, " A feeling of dread ,like something is very…..angry Do you feel that?" Shining then said, "Now that you mention it .....yes I do.But where is it coming from?” They both looked over to the pathway to the house and saw Silver Heart standing there with a neutral look on her face, she then walked over to them and asked in a neutral tone, " Have you two finished yet?"
Shining armor and Darkstar nodded, then Silver said, "Good, because while i'm glad that its over, could you two please explain to me, WHY THE HELL MY HOME LOOKS LIKE A WARZONE?!?!" Silver yelled at the top of her Lungs. It was at this moment Darkstar and Shining took notice of the giant hole in the small house, the toppled over trees and the decimated environment around them. Rubbing the back of his head nervously while giving an embarrassed smile Shining armor said, "Umm sorry. It looks like we got a bit.... Carried away in the heat of combat."
Darkstar nodded nervously giving the same smile, while Silver Heart only groaned and said " Oh sweet Celestia and Luna give me strength, you two really ARE brothers you know that?" Shining and Darkstar only smiled and Darkstar said, " You know what Silver? I think you couldn't be more right about that."
Darkstars smile slowly started to vanish and Shining took notice of the hard look on Darkstars face and asked
”Darkstar something wrong?” Darkstar nodded and said, “ Yes there is still one massive issue we need to deal with. You have to go back to canterlot and face trial for what you did.” Shining gave Darkstar a understanding but still worried look and said, “ I know .”
Silver heart then interjected, “ Why can't he stay here? If it took somepony like you so long to find us then-” Silver was cut off by Darkstar
“Exactly, I found you, if I can do it so can others. I no longer hold any hostile intentions towards Shining, But there are many in the Imperium, Equestria and the Griffin empire that want him dead or captured but mostly dead.” Shining walked over to Silver with some difficulty still feeling the pain from his recent battle with Darkstar and looked i deep into Silvers eyes before saying
“Silver, honey…. Even if Darkstar covers for us, others will find their way here, we can't raise a foal or filly or both,if we live in constant fear of being discovered. I can't put them through that and I know you can't either.” Silver heart looked down and then back at her home sadly before saying, “I understand, but i'm coming with you.’ Shining flared up at that.
“What? Absolutely not, Canterlot is a month away at least and thats is without weather delays and winter between here and there can get crazy, I should know. Darkstar and I can handle that, but you can't expect me to allow you to come with us especially given your condition.” Silver only stubbornly said, “We are married Shining Armor, where you go, I go. I can't bear the thought of you out there, even if you're not alone. And you will never convince me otherwise.” Shining armor opened his mouth clearly in defiance of Silver Hearts words before she interrupted him .
“Let me ask you a question Shining, do you really think I can just wait here and hope for the best? All I would be doing is worrying for you and that isn't good for my condition either is it?” Shining gave Silver a dirty look that screamed, ‘Okay you got me, but ill get you for that’ Whereas Silver only smiled part honestly, part in victory and part smugly and Darkstar was having a hard time containing his Laughter at this and only said
“You married one hell of a mare Shining, stubborn, proud and intelligent. Something tells me all of your arguments in the future will end the same way. Don't worry ill put out a call to some of my old freinds, tell set us up so we can get there as fast and as comfortable as possible.” Shining growled at Darkstar and said in annoyance, “ Oh come on, you're siding with her now? You know what fine, if you need me i'll be gathering some essentials inside.”
At that Shining stomped off inside,the small home ,before Dark and Silver shared a look before Silver counted down, “3,2,1.” And then they heard a loud thud inside the house as Shining clearly passed out from exhaustion, leaving a Silver Heart unable to contain her laughter and Darkstar, smirking.
"Let me make sure i'm understanding this Darkstar. You want me to pardon Shining armor of his crimes, completely ignore the fact that he helped nearly start a world war, attacked both of our nations and caused Cadence to be hospitalized?" Celestia asked, in a monotone voice. Darkstar ran a hoof through his mane, "Look, I know what im asking is downright insane and sounds even more insane as I ask it. But, he's my brother Celestia and part of all of what happened is my fault as well, I took literally everything away from him, he may have deserved to suffer a bit for what happened ,but I destroyed the core of his entire life that he worked so hard to build. I understand that it may not erase what he did. But he was pushed too far and-" Darkstar was cut off by Celestia,
"Look Darkstar ,I understand where this is coming from, you want him to have a second chance and I want to help you, but I can't just give him a pardon for what he did." Celestia said, "What about what you did for the empress? Can't you-" Darkstar was cut off once again by Celestia, "That was different Darkstar, my sister was taken over by evil magic. She was not in total control of her actions, but Shining Armor was. If I pardon him , it will be a giant slap in the face to the very laws of Equestria, the laws I wrote and made myself. He's redeemed himself to you, the pony he hurt most and while I won't argue that that is a very good thing and I am truly happy for him, I can't just pardon him no matter how much I may want to." Celestia said sadly
Darkstar then asked her, "I thought that you once said ,you would do anything for me?" Celestia looked away, "That was a long time ago Darkstar, a very.... Painful time for us both, one I don't want brought into this. I would do almost anything for you, the 'almost' is this. Im sorry, everypony deserves a second chance , I truly believe that ,with all my heart I truly do. But.... I can't just give Shining armor his chance, even though he's earned it." Celestia said sadly, At that moment a thought popped into Darks mind, one that he knew would work, but he knew others would call VERY wrong.
'If I do this ,I can guarantee Shining Armors pardon , but.... if I do this, nopony will ever side with me over Celestia again ,despite what she did to me and my baby girl. But Shining needs this second chance. If only, so he can keep the peace he found in his new life.' Darkstar took a deep breath and said, "Celestia, im going to tell you something and then make you an offer." Celestia regarded him curiously, beckoning him to continue.
"I don't hate you. I tried to make myself hate you and believe me when I say tried HARD to make myself hate you, but I couldn't. A part of me still loves you and always will, I still get pissed at you when I think about what you did. But.... I can't bring myself to hate you." Celestia had her mouth open at this revelation, what she'd always hoped deep down, what she always knew in her heart had finally been confirmed and it meant the world to her.
"Darkstar you have no idea how much that-" Darkstar cut her off, "I think you should hold that thought, because the offer i'm going to make, is going to be the dirtiest, lowest and most under hoofed thing I've ever done." Darkstar took a deep breath, "If you pardon my brother.... I will let you back into my family." Darkstar couldn't look at her after saying that, not wanting to see the look she had. Celestias usually controlled emotions were unleashed and rampaging throughout her entire body. Rage at Darkstar for attacking her one true weakness, relief and happiness at being offered what she wanted more than anything, anger at Darkstar for trying to prey on her emotions like this and finally, confusion at what she was supposed to DO in this situation.
For ten long, silent and honestly, torturous minutes for the both of them, Celestia made her decision. " I will pardon Shining armor." Darkstar let out a sigh of relief at this. But it would not last , as Celestia said, "I will pardon him, for you. And for me, for US to have a second chance. But let me make this perfectly clear." She got up off her throne and walked down to Darkstar , who started to back up a bit.
" WE.ARE.EVEN. You can NEVER again use what happened between us all those years ago, by doing this for you. I've just broken almost every single rule I myself made. So we are EVEN. Don't scowl about it, don't get angry about it. You no longer have the right to. I will do whatever is necessary to earn your love back, but I don't want to hear you so much as whisper about what happened back then. UNDERSTAND?" Celestia finished stronger than she ever had in her entire life to Darkstar, who took a deep gulp and nodded saying
" Believe me when I say ,I know that we're even now. So now that he slates been wiped clean, what do you want to do now?" Darkstar finished smiling, Celestia sighed and said, "You really haven't changed in the slightest from the stallion I knew ,have you? Lets just go for a walk right now. I need some time to deal with what I've just done."
Darkstar nodded said," I don't know why ,but I feel like, I've made the best choice I have in a long time. It won't be a easy road we walk and it won't just be us anymore and while I know it may take years to rebuild the feelings I had for you , its still good to have you back." Darkstar said, Celestia gave him a sad smile and said, "Honestly I think I've finally gone crazy because of you but…. I couldn't agree more."
Shining armor and Silver heart were currently sitting together, relaxing in the canterlot royal gardens, Silver turned to shining and said, "I'm glad you know." Shining looked over to her and asked," Hmm? What do you mean Silver?" Silver said, "I said im glad, im glad I met you. If we hadn't met when we did, I still wouldn't have my cutie mark and I wouldn't have become part of this wonderful family." Silver said in a happy tone, "But mostly, im glad that I have a wonderful stallion like you, and i'm sure you'll be an amazing father." She said snuggling into shining armor who smiled and nuzzled her mane.
Unbeknownst to them however Cadence ,who was going for a walk in the garden overheard them. Cadence felt something inside her grow, Something she could vaguely remember feeling before. It made her feel hollow almost .....empty, she didn't know how to deal with the feeling either. 'Wh-Wh-what is this.....pit inside me? I-I-I cant describe it, it makes me feel horrible. But I've never felt it his strongly before . What is it?' She thought to herself, then while she was deep in thought ,Celestia who noticed the almost distressed look Cadence had walked over to her and asked
"Cadence? Are you okay? You seem to be distressed." Celestia said in a concerned tone.
Cadence jumped a bit not seeing or hearing celestia before hoof, and said "Yes im okay........ or at least I think I am, its just.......When I look at Shining Armor and Silver Heart over there, I just get this horrible feeling that I can't describe." She looked over to them again and Celestia immediately recognized the look Cadence had on her face,
"Cadence, come with me please." Celestia said, Cadence looked over to her and said, "Okay." Hoping that getting away from them would make this horrible feeling go away.
Celestia took off and flew into her bedchambers ,with Cadence close behind. When they arrived Celestia motioned Cadence over to a mirror near some cushions, they sat down together and then Celestia said
"Cadence you have 'The Look'. " Cadence was confused, " ’The look ‘?" She asked Celestia, "Yes 'The Look', the same look I had and still have when I think about or see Darkstar and the family he has now, the family I was once part of, but left. One I now have a chance to make amends with, and I intend to do so. But....." Celestia said pausing sadly, then continued "The look you have is the look of regret. Of pain, but mostly, it is the look of loneliness." Cadence scowled at Celestia, "What you did to Darkstar was wrong and don't try to compare what happened between Shining Armor and me to-."
She was cut off by Celestia who asked her the one question that made everything seem to stop for her, "Do you still love Shining armor?" Cadence, could not speak for a time, and Celestia continued, "That's what I thought, you DO still love him, just as I still love Darkstar. We are immortals cadence, we may live forever ,but our hearts are just as weak and fragile as any others. But you and I have more in common than just that, you have a chance the same I do, you have a chance to get the one you love back, but you don't see it do you?" Celestia asked Cadence who only looked away," Cadence I am NOT judging you, i'm trying to HELP you, but let me ask you this. When you look at Shining armor and Silver heart, do you feel this pit inside you? Some kind of feeling you can't place? Do you feel almost hollow?" Celestia asked knowingly
Cadence nodded sadly and asked, "Why do I feel like this? Divorcing him was the right thing to do at the time.....wasn't it?" Celestia then asked, "Was it the right thing to do? Yes, was it the most logical thing to do? Yes, for all intents and purposes was it the best thing to do for the Crystal empire politically, and logically? Yes once again, But was it the best thing for you personally and emotionally? Well.... I think we both already know the answer to that ,don't we?" Celestia said wrapping one wing around cadence who looked down sadly and said
"You're right. I did love him once, no..... I still Love him ,soo much that it hurts now, seeing him with another mare, in the situation I always thought we would be in, holding each other lovingly, eagerly discussing the names of our foal or filly. Impatiently waiting to welcome them to the world, to give it all the love it could ever want." Cadence started to shed a few tears as she said," After he left, I just.... I buried myself in training, what I feel now ,I began to feel then as I saw him walk away, I tried to purge it ,by focusing on becoming stronger, but I think I only buried it. Auntie, you're right. But what can I do? Im sure he hates me for-" She interrupted by celestia slapping her albeit gently on the back her head with her wing
"NEVER think that, even in my lowest moments I ALWAYS knew that while he may have been angry with me, I knew that Darkstar could NEVER hate me. Deep down he still loved me, I knew he still did and now he's confirmed it, all I need to do is earn that back just like you need to. But if you give into despair and think he hates you, you will never get him back, don't throw yourself at his hooves and beg for forgiveness either, listen to his grievances,
Hear his anger, understand it and when he's done venting himself, speak not what's in your mind, but speak what's in your heart. Be the Mare he fell in love with ,be the Cadence he would have fought and died for. Don't be a warrior or a soldier, don't even be a leader, those aren't who you are Cadence. But most of all, be true to yourself, do you truly like the life you have? Training, fighting, sparing and more training?"
Celestia asked, Cadence thought about it and said, "No, I suppose I don't, I feel like..... I've lost something else, I think.... I lost my inner peace as well ,Auntie. Did you ever feel that way?" Celestia gave her a sad look, "Everyday Cadence, Everyday. And I don't think I ever will regain it truthfully. But Cadence, that doesn't matter right now does it? What does matter is, will you follow the path of the Warrior Princess and lose him forever ,but rule your empire the way a leader would? Or will you return to the path you once followed of the Princess of Love and have a chance to get him back and rule the way a princess would ? It is your choice, Cadence your life belongs to you, only YOU can decide your own fate." Celestia said Looking at Cadence, who clearly needed some time to think about this.
Cadence then asked, "What about Silver heart? I can't just try and replace her." Celestia said, "You need to start somewhere Cadence and where else is better than her? Ask her how she feels towards you and how he does as well. Even if you can't get him back as a lover, getting him back as a friend isn't a bad thing." Cadence nodded and then stood up and said to Celesta, "You know Auntie despite everything, you may no longer be the most intelligent pony I've ever met but you're definitely still the wisest."
"Luna are you sure you want to have a chess match with me?" Celestia asks honestly, "Yes sister, im sure. I wish to know adept you truly are at strategy and tactics." Luna said, "Celestia in return said, "Very well, but why are Twilight, Darkstar and the others here as well?" Celestia motioned over to said others who all sat in attendance. Darkstar spoke first, "The empress simply wants to know if your mind is as strong as you make it out to be, nothing more." Celestia raised an eyebrow at that but said, "Very well, lets begin." With that Celestia levitated a chessboard and pieces over to her and Luna and the game began.
"Darkstar, I know that there is more going on than simply a friendly game of chess here." Twilight whispered to Darkstar so only he could hear, Darkstar smirked, "Well to be honest, the empress and I simply want to see if Celestia is as good a strategist as she is a leader. As we said before, however this could simply be a precaution, if the Imperium and Equestria do wind up going to war one day and are of equal military strength and skill, the war will be decided by superior strategy and tactics." Twilight frowned at that, "I don't like this Darkstar it feels pretty dirty to pull something like this."
Darkstar said smoothly, "Relax Twilight, this is simply a friendly game for now." Twilight huffed lowly and looked back to the game.
10. Minutes in The match was going much like one would expect, Luna's more aggressive combat style was smashing through Celestia's borderline overly cautious style. However that did not mean the competition was not stubborn, for every piece Celestia lost, Luna lost one as well, they were very evenly matched. Then Celestia did a surprising move, she moved her king up to the front lines along side her pawns and knights, to this Luna asked, "Sister, its a dangerous move to place your king there. What are you thinking?"
To this Celestia said pleasantly, "To quote a famous writer, 'If the king does not lead then how can he expect his subjects to follow', I believe that you follow that ideal as well, Don't you agree sister?" Luna smiled at that and the game continued. 5 more minutes in, Luna had cornered Celestias king on the far side. Celestias king could not move forward without Lunas king capturing it but could move back as she was protected but not flanked by her queen and bishop, however Luna was in the same position as well.
"Hmmmm." Twilight said to herself, Darkstar was the only one to take notice of this, "Something the matter Twilight?" Twilight looked over and said, " I think that Luna is going to lose." At that Darkstar raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why do you think that?" Twilights only reply was, "Wait and see for yourself, this will be interesting."
Luna then said, "Well sister? Neither of us can move our kings forward or move them back, perhaps we should call this match a draw?" Celestia only smiled and said, "I think not, there is still one move I can make." Celestia then shocked everypony in the room by moving her king forward, placing in directly in front of Lunas king.
"Hold on a second, this means that if Luna moves her king forward-" Twilight began, then Darkstar continued, "Then she'll capture-", Twilight then finished "Princess Celestias King", Darkstar then asked," She is deliberately throwing the match? Why?"
"What is this? Your just giving me a victory?" Luna asked suspiciously, thinking to herself 'It would be simple to simply move my king forward and win this match. But if I do that, then technically Celestia wins, I will not fall for such a cheap tactic.' Luna then moved her king to the side, avoiding taking the easy victory. However Celestia only smiled and said, "You fell for it." Luna was confused by this, until she looked down at the position her king was in, she had moved her king into the perfect position to be captured by Celestia's knight. Celestia then moved her knight and captured Lunas king and said, "Checkmate."
Luna smiled and said, "Im impressed sister, you had me march my king straight into your trap. However you will not be so lucky next time." Celestia raised an eyebrow and that asked," Do you want a rematch?" Luna said, "Yes, I would very much like one."
Darkstars surprise quickly faded away," Hmm, Celestia got lucky that time, But the empress will not lose a second time, of that I am sure." Twilight only said warily, "Don't be so sure Darkstar."
Unexpectedly, Luna lost again and again, for 5 times in a row before she finally asked herself, 'I don't understand, why do I keep losing? What am I doing wrong?' Celestia looked up and said, "Do you wish to know why you keep losing sister? Its simple actually, you're doing it wrong." Luna then asked incredulously, "Im sorry, what did you say?" Celestia then continued
"I said you're doing it wrong. Your aggressive play style, it shows that you are imagining yourself on this battlefield along with your soldiers. That is why you keep losing. You've forgotten how to fight from the war room at least effectively." Luna raised an eyebrow at that and asked, "What do you mean by that?" Celestia then said, "If you spend too much time on the battlefield you become too adapted to leading armies there and not in other ways. It is true that you do need to lead them on the battlefield sometimes, but if you do it too many times, you lose your ability to lead them from other places, such as the war room."
Celestia continued on with, " You place yourself down there with them, at all times, an admirable quality. However, as you can see, its causing you to lose to me. I may not lead them from the battlefield like you do, but that doesn't mean that I can't still lead them effectively. In some ways, even more effectively than you, you place yourself on those front lines, you watch your weak points and manage your army beautifully Luna, I will not argue that. But you don't see the big picture, at least not as clearly as I can. However, I can lead and maneuver them in ways you cannot and that gives me a significant advantage. But then again this is simply chess, not war after all."
Celestia finished pleasantly, Causing Darkstar to smile proudly, which in turn caused Twilight to ask him, "Why are you smiling? Luna DID lose." Darkstar said, "Maybe so, but Celestia just taught her and me a very important lesson about war. One we had nearly forgotten after fighting it so much." Twilight then asked, "And what lesson is that?" Darkstar then said, "That sometimes, you can't lead your soldiers from the front lines in battle. Sometimes you need to be leading them from the command post, because they need you there more. I knew this well, but never really applied it, I prefer to be down there with my brothers fighting alongside them. But, Sometimes, I need to be leading them from the war room. I'll make sure to remember this."
Luna then smiled and stood up and walked over to Celestia and gave her a big hug before saying, " Sometimes, I forget that you are older and wiser than me and need to be reminded of that. This is one lesson that I will take to heart. Thank you." Celestia hugged her back, " And I thank you as well sister. It has been refreshing to share this moment with you, I hope when next we meet, you'll be able to defeat me." Luna smirked at that, "Oh, you can count on that." Celestia smiled and said, "Well I have something to look forward to then."