Twilight combed through the Star Swirl the Bearded category in the Canterlot library. So far, she couldn't find anything because it was mostly the same stuff she found at the Everfree Castle. But when she looked down in his old athenaeum in the mountains of Canterlot…
Every pony was relaxing around the castle; Luna and Cadence were sleeping and Celestia and Sombra were attending their duties. Then, a great cry shouted out, startling them all.
"EEEUREKA!"
Twilight came rushing towards them as the family gathered around to know what was going on.
"I did it! I found a way to temporarily reverse Cadence's spell!" she held out a scroll.
"YOU DID?!" they all said.
"Uh-huh. This spell doesn't completely get rid of the curse, but there is a way to get around it…"
"Really? How so?" Cadence's eyes gleamed in hope.
"This spells works at night, when the moon's bright glow touches a body of water. By the moon's reflection in the water, the cursed being can be transformed back to their true self."
"Can it be…?" Rarity remarked in disbelief.
"Tell me, dear niece, how have you come across this miraculous spell? I have searched endlessly to find something like this."
"So have I." said Sombra.
"It was down in Star Swirl's old library."
"Ah, that explains it. I could never understand all those words on the signs and to where everything was."
"The point is Cadence can finally have the enjoyment of being a pony again!"
"Except where exactly are we going to find this body of water to help with the transformation?" questioned Applejack.
"Duh!" said Pinkie. "In our very own backyard, of course!"
Twilight gasped, "The lake! Of course! Pinkie, you are a complete genius!"
Rainbow whispered in her ear, "Let's not overdo it…"
Hours later, they were back in the Everfree Kingdom. They went to the lake as they waited for sunset. Luna waited anxiously for her sister to lower the sun so she could raise the moon at her daughter's expense. Cadence found a lily pad in the middle of the lake as Twilight readied herself on the shore to perform the spell. In the distance, the sun began to lower and Luna took that as her cue and raised the moon. The moon's reflection landed on the water as it went towards Cadence. Twilight's horn glowed and touched the water. The glow spread to where the moon's reflection was, which was underneath Cadence.
Every pony had a nervous look: Pinkie and Cheese were biting their hooves, Applejack and Spike held on tight to each other, and Fluttershy and Discord did the same thing. Flash kept to Twilight's side as he noticed the sweat rolled down her face. No doubt she was hoping she got the spell right and that she didn't let down her cousin, who was counting on her.
The glow and the reflection met. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then… All of the sudden, the glow grew bigger as it surrounded Cadence and the water began to rise all around her and went up. The water descended and there stood an alicorn.
The group cheered on. Luna had tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe she was seeing her little girl in her proper form again. Cadence looked around to see everything fairly smaller than what she saw from a Breezie's view. She rushed over to hug her cousin, who was bit shorter than she was now. The rest of cousins joined in the hug until Twilight broke it and gave a frown.
"You do realize though… once the sun rises tomorrow…"
Cadence gave a small smile and hugged her again, reassuring her that she did understand.
"Cadence…" said Luna.
She turned to her mother and opened her arms. The two hugged each other tightly.
The boys ended up gawking at the pink alicorn. The girls saw this and gave them either glares or small slaps.
"Look at you… You look so grown up…" her mother had to shed a tear.
"Let us not dwell in the past, Mother… but enjoy this special moment…" She said before they embraced again.
"If I could, my darling, I would make the night last forever so that you may stay as this."
"That may sound nice, but I won't have any pony suffer at my inconvenience."
Luna then had the box that held the crown inside materialize in front of her and took out the crown. Cadence kneeled before her mother as she placed it on her head.
"I must go now, my darling, but knowing that you're in excellent hooves and being able to be a pony for a short while makes me feel at ease…"
They hugged again, unaware that someone was watching them.
"So… they found a way around my curse, have they…?" Tirek sneered at the image in the mist and then turned the image to Twilight, "That meddlesome little princess… She should know better than to tamper with a powerful curse…"
His eyes glowed menacingly.
Cotton Candy pouted in her bed, "Aw, why can't we hang out with Aunt Cadence more now that's she back to being a pony?"
"Because you have to go to sleep now." said Cheese while tucking his daughter in.
"But…" she yawned, "I'm not sleepy…" her eyes began to droop.
"Yes, you are."
"No… I'm not…" she fell asleep and snored.
Cheese smiled, shook his head, and went out to the living room, where his wife was sitting on the couch.
"How is she?" she asked.
"Just went to sleep…" he fell to the sofa. "Whew, is it always this hard to raise kids or are we doing something wrong?"
"I don't know." Pinkie shrugged and they cuddled in comfort.
Meanwhile, Twilight was reading Fire Spark his bedtime story as Flash listened by the bedroom door, smiling at the sight. Their son finally went off to sleep and Twilight kissed his forehead and put away the book. She went to her husband and they gently shut the door behind them. Cadence smiled as she met them by the apartment's entrance.
"He's a wonderful boy…"
Twilight grinned, "Thank you…"
Flash put a hoof around his wife, "Don't know where we would be without him…"
"Are you planning to have more?"
They blushed and Twilight replied, "Well… we have been thinking about it…"
"But we're not sure…"
"Actually, Flash… I do want another child…"
"You do?"
"But only if you're willing, and that we can find the right time."
"Twi… Are you positive you want this?"
She nodded, "Fire is growing up so fast. I need another baby to fill the void."
He stunned to hear this, "Um… Alright, but as you said, we'll need to find the right time for this."
"Between running the kingdom and taking care of Fire, it's hard to do so." she hung her head.
Cadence felt sympathetic towards the couple. She thought of Shining Armor and how she dreamt of starting a family with him back when they were young. Of course, she never said that to him since she didn't want to scare him off. They were still kids at the time. Now that she knew how he felt about her, she was more than determined to have him for her husband if the curse ever got broken completely.
She told them, "Don't worry. I'm sure the opportunity will present itself. All you two have to do is take it…"
They smiled at her words and knew she was right.
Eventually, the family met up in the throne room where Cadence was trying to get used to her old wings. It was hard for her at first, but she got back into the swing of things.
"Not bad for someone who hasn't practiced in awhile." she told herself.
"You sure did better than when Twilight tried out her wings for the first time!" Rainbow pointed. "It took Flash and me a whole week to get her to avoid hitting trees!"
"Ugh… Like you had to tell her that! I was a beginner! I wasn't born to have the wings right away!"
Cadence patted her back.
Suddenly, Spike gave out a yawn and started to droop over. His wife noticed and said, "Not that this hasn't been fun, but Spike and I need to get our rest, since it's likely that Jewel will wake up for the two o'clock feeding."
Fluttershy gestured, "So will Screwy."
Discord nodded and stretched, "Well, nighty-night." He teleported his wife and himself to their room.
The others said their good nights and all who were left were Twilight, Flash, and Cadence.
Cadence pointed, "You should get some rest, too."
"You sure you're going to be alright?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. As the Princess of the Night's daughter, I am able to stay up as long as I want."
"Okay, then…" she gave her cuz a quick hug, "Good night, we'll see you in the morning."
She nodded as she waved them off. Once they gone out of her sight, she went to a mirror and looked at her reflection. It's been a long time since I had an actual muzzle… or magic from my horn… She flicked her horn to see a blue glow, It'll be awhile before I can use it again.
Twilight's pet owl came up to her, "Oh, hello, Owliociolus. I had almost forgotten owls are nocturnal."
Owliciolus hooted.
"Well, at least I have you for company while everyone else sleeps." she smiled and petted him as he hooted again.
Tirek grunted as he turned off the mist. He had seen enough cuteness for one night.
Suri came up to him then, "Master?"
"What is it?!" he asked impatiently.
"We searched everywhere, but the item you seek is nowhere to be found."
"Useless! You keep looking until you find something! I need it now more than ever since my curse has been altered…" he commanded, "Go! And don't come back until you have something useful for me!"
"Yes, Master." She went up a flight of stairs leading to a cave where Silver Shill and Coco Pummel were around a fire. She shouted at Coco, "Next time don't suggest we report to the boss!"
Coco quaked, "I'm… I'm sorry… I thought he want to know we came back empty-handed…"
"Well, he didn't! Now we are not to disturb him until we have something for him! Now get me some water! I'm dying of thirst here!"
Coco gulped and got up. "Right… away…" she stammered as she went out to a well outside and shed some tears as she was reaching for the bucket. Suddenly, a voice startled her by saying.
"Why do you let her do that?"
She dropped the bucket and turned to Sliver Shill.
"Sorry…" he said. He began reaching the bucket for her and said again, "Why do you let her order you like that? She's not the boss. Tirek is."
Coco sighed sadly, "Suri was the one who took me in when I was having a tough time trying to be a fashion designer… Without her, I would have been living on the streets."
"Still, she treats you no better even if you were living on the streets… I should know…"
"Really?"
"I had to move from place to place keeping myself alive. It's hard, but I get through it… Same can be said here. Once I've done my service to Tirek, I'll be on my way again."
"Hopefully, things will get better for the both of us once we fulfilled our assistance to him…"
"Does that mean you'll leave Suri when that happens?"
"I… don't know…"
"That's a shame. If I was you, I would leave the first chance I get…" he turned back towards the cave.
Coco stood there in bewilderment, but then took a cup and filled it with water. She stared at her reflection in the well and imagined herself being free and happy, and with him by her side… She shook her head and went back inside. She handed the cup over to Suri.
Suri humphed, "It's about time." She yanked the cup away and gulped the drink down.
Coco didn't see it, but Silver glared at Suri and then glanced at her. He didn't see it before, but in the light of the fire, he could see how enticing she really was- those cute blue eyes, her creamed colored coat, and her mane, so soft and smooth. Every bit of her made him want to help her out of her terrible situation. She obviously felt that she had an obligation to Suri and felt she had to live up to it. He swore to himself that once the Tirek business was over with, he would take her far away from here.
Cadence looked at the lake and then the moon. She knew her mother would soon be lowering it, but she was sure that didn't stop her from begging with Aunt Celestia to stall the sunrise just a little longer. While Cadence was grateful for the extra time, she knew that the day must come for those who need the sunlight, especially for her cousins and Shining Armor. Shining had to get up to take his place to protect the castle and Canterlot.
She felt guilty the other day for hearing how Shiny had been missing her and had been in love with her all this time. He can't last another day… He wants to see me… and I want to see him… He's heartbroken… I have to mend it… but he can't know about my curse, because knowing him, he'll stop at no means to try to break it… But if there's another way for him to see me but not knowing the curse within me… She looked down at the lake and at her reflection, If he comes here seeing me as this… It could work… She smiled at the thought, but once she saw her mother's moon lowering, her smile turned upside down and the sun began to rise. Slowly, she began to transform and shrank back the size of her Breezie self.
She sighed, and then with a look of determination, she went back inside to go find Twilight and tell her plan. Tonight, Shining Armor… We'll finally be reunited…