//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Love Is Never a Mistake // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// Feeling a vague sense of unease, Twilight Sparkle watched as Cadance, Spike, and Adora played together. She didn’t know what they were doing, but they appeared to be having fun. Questions lingered in Twilight’s mind, important questions that she wanted answered. There was a mystery here that was left unsolved. As Twilight was watching, Cadance pulled Adora closer and then began to whisper into Adora’s long, pink, bunny rabbit-like ear. Twilight watched as Adora grinned and then a prickling sensation of fear overcame Twilight. With a fierce cry, Adora launched herself like a coiled spring, her long supple body snapping out straight, and Twilight’s vision filled with pink, very much like trying to swim in an ocean of pink lemonade, something that Twilight had once been forced to do on account of Pinkie Pie. Pink lemonade stung the eyes something awful. A second later, Twilight, now giggling, was pinned to the floor and Adora was looped around on top of her. The alicorn wiggled and squirmed beneath the draconequus, but everything she did was naught but futile effort. Seeing something else that was pink in the corner of her eye, Twilight turned and saw Cadance. Cadance had her wings extended. “NO!” Twilight begged, knowing what Cadance was about to do. Twilight tried to squirm away. “No!” Twilight shook her head, realising that she was trapped and that there was nothing she could do. “No, please!” Cadance shook her head and with a grin full of mock-menace, Cadance stabbed at Twilight with her wing-tips and began to tickle, causing Twilight to shriek and giggle. Twilight tried to roll away, but it was impossible. There was just too much limp draconequus pinning her down. “Who is the best foalsitter in the world?” Cadance demanded. Twilight, unable to reply, continued to bellow with laughter. “Say it! Who is the best foalsitter in the world?” Cadance said, repeating herself. “YOU ARE!” Twilight screamed in between her guffaws. Cadance pulled away her wings, her eyes wide, and a crazed manic grin upon her face. “Oh… I’ve lost control of them… look out for… the wings!” Cadance flared out her primaries and menaced Adora. Seeing that her mother meant business, Adora squealed and whompled off, her long body doubling up like an inchworm as she ran away, her claws scrabbling upon the stone floor of Twilight’s crystal castle. Having no one left to menace, and with Twilight subdued, Cadance whirled around and faced Spike. “Prepare for your DOOM!” “Nope!” Spike took off at an all out run with Cadance hot on his heels. Twilight’s laughter was interrupted by knocking, there was a powerful thumping at the front door. Sucking wind, her sides heaving, Twilight disengaged from the game of tag and excused herself to go and answer the giant double doors. As Twilight made her way down the hall, there was a terrific crash. Cadance and Adora were far more durable than regular ponies, for them, playing rough didn’t mean getting hurt. Much to Twilight’s surprise, Cadance liked to play rough; this was a side of Cadance that Twilight had not seen. Spike was also quite durable. Twilight did however, worry about the structural integrity of her castle. Standing before the double doors, Twilight Sparkle undid the locks and then pulled the door open. The last two ponies she expected to see were standing on the other side of the doors, looking at her, wide eyed, and curious. “Princess Celestia… Princess Luna, do come in,” Twilight Sparkle said, inviting them inside. She stepped aside and made a gesture with her wing. “Why thank you, Twilight,” Celestia said as she entered. “Yes indeed, thank you,” Luna added as she passed. Standing just inside the door, Luna began to look around. “You’ve done very little to decorate—” “Luna!” Reaching out, Celestia prodded her sister with her hoof. “Um, it’s okay, Luna’s right,” Twilight said as she shut the door and locked it. As she had shut the door, she took notice that guards had taken up position at the bottom of the stairs. Twilight scowled for a moment, not liking that there were guards in front of her castle, even though she was unable to say why she disliked it. “OOOOH!” Jerking her head around at the sound, Twilight saw a pink blur approaching at impossible speeds. Twilight cringed and threw her wings up in front of her face. She couldn’t bear to look at what was about to happen next. Adora was whomping down the hall at full steam, her tail whipping from side to side, running in a lopsided manner on mismatched legs. “OOOOH! OOOOH!” Adora sounded almost like a train as she barreled down the hall. “Look out—OOOF!” Twilight, covering her face, heard Luna’s panicked cry at the moment of impact. A second later, there was a meaty sounding thump, and then Twilight heard Celestia make a most unladylike grunt, followed by Celestia saying, “Oh she—OOOMPH!—she’s full of enthusiasm, she must get it from Cadance!” Pulling away her wings, Twilight peeped out from one halfway opened eye and looked. Adora had pinned both Celestia and Luna to the floor and was sitting on both of them, squeezing them both at the same time, squishing them together. Luna was squirming and trying to get free from Adora and Celestia, while Celestia was squeezing back, engaging Adora as well as Luna in a three way hug. Luna’s cheeks and eyes bulged as she was squeezed. “This is undignified!” Luna gasped as she was squeezed by both Adora and Celestia. Twilight Sparkle had never seen Princess Celestia behave like this before and she didn’t know what to think of seeing her former teacher act so foalishly. Hearing hooves on the stone floor, Twilight lifted her head and watched as Cadance approached. There was something about Cadance’s smile. Twilight couldn’t say what it was, but something about it made Twilight feel emotional, a strong rush of feelings that almost made her feel lightheaded. “Oh, you have such a beautiful smile,” Celestia said as she stared upwards at Adora. “Thank you, Aunt Celestia,” Adora replied, batting her eyelashes and smiling to show her many teeth. “And you’re so well mannered as well.” Celestia glanced over at Cadance and then back up at Adora. “There is no mistaking that you are Cadance’s little sweetheart.” Adora let go of both Celestia and Luna as she got up. She then helped Luna get to her hooves, and then Celestia. Adora, unable to help herself, gave Luna an affectionate hug, followed by a slobbery kiss on the cheek. “Pray tell, what have I done to earn such affection from you?” Luna asked as she extended one wing and wrapped it around Adora’s long, serpentine neck in an affectionate hug. Luna ignored the fact that her cool demeanour and facade of utter aloofness was now gone. Adora, looking bashful, reached out and touched Luna’s neck with her paw. “You tucked me into bed at night and you read me stories. You’re the bedtime princess.” For a moment, Luna looked as though she had been struck. Her eyes went wide and she pulled away from Adora, her ears pinning back against her skull. She backed away, her eyes shimmering with tears. “Pardon me, I need a moment.” Luna took off at a run down the hall, covering her face with her wings, leaving behind a sorrowful looking, stricken draconequus, a confused Twilight Sparkle, an open-mouthed Cadance, and a sad looking sister, Celestia. “Did I do something wrong?” Adora asked, wringing her paw and her talons together. Celestia shook her head as Luna vanished around the corner. “Luna still has trouble with her emotions.” “I don’t understand.” Adora’s large, oversized, diamond dog like paw twitched as Adora raised it up to scratch her head. She slumped down, looking miserable, and stared off in the direction that Luna had vanished. She began to sniffle as tears spilled down her cheeks. Celestia, standing beside Adora, lowered her head and gave Adora a gentle nuzzle, trying to make her feel better, and Cadance moved closer, standing beside both Celestia as well as her daughter. Around the corner came Spike, who took one look at everything and then a look of confusion settled over his face. He waddled closer, glancing at Adora, then Twilight, and then back at Adora, feeling concerned for the draconequus. “What happened? Why is Adora crying?” “She made Luna feel loved, and Luna was overwhelmed,” Celestia replied, being honest. “Come, let us find a more comfortable place to be together. Luna will join us when she sorts herself out.” “Shining Armor has gone to be with his parents,” Princess Celestia said as she settled herself upon a pile of cushions. “He’s in Canterlot and he’s very, very upset.” “Shining Armor will come around.” Cadance spoke with the utmost of confidence as she replied. “I’m not worried. Shining Armor will do the right thing. Shining Armor always does the right thing.” Cadance paused and shook her head. “Sometimes, it takes him a while to figure out what the right thing is.” “Poor Shiny,” Twilight said as she flopped her backside down upon a small, round, chartreuse cushion. As Twilight was opening her mouth to continue speaking, she saw Spike enter the room, alone. Instead of saying what she had been about to say, she said something else. “Spike, where is Adora?” “She’s laying down for a nap… she says she’s tired. Princess Luna is in her room with her, reading her a book and cuddling with her in the bed.” For a moment, it looked as though Spike was blushing. He stammered, making wordless noises, and then recovered. “You know what, I think I’m going to join them.” Turning tail, Spike departed, hurrying away. Celestia watched Spike go and when he was out of sight, she turned to look at Cadance and Twilight Sparkle, her eyes narrowed, and her face serious. “No word on Discord’s location just yet.” The white alicorn paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and then cleared her throat. “We need to discuss what to do with Adora.” “There is nothing to discuss, I intend to take her home with me,” Cadance said. “Cadance, she is a draconequus—” “Aunt Celestia, I am only going to say this one more time.” Cadance cleared her throat and her ears perked forwards. “I am taking her home with me.” Hearing the tone of Cadance’s voice, Celestia’s ears splayed out sideways. Realising that this particular action was not up for discussion, Celestia conceded to Cadance with a sigh. “Very well Cadance… but what do we do with her? What if she turns out to be dangerous? How do we keep our little ponies safe?” “Well, to start with, we begin by treating Adora as one of our little ponies.” Cadance’s voice held a hard edge and her eyes narrowed. Cadance’s teeth clicked together and her lips trembled as her jaw muscles clenched. “Cadance, there is no need to be upset, I am trying to approach this rationally and logically.” Celestia looked over at her former student. “Help me, Twilight, please, make Cadance see reason.” “No,” Twilight said right away. “No, I’m sorry, I can’t. I see where this might go and I will not choose between two friends… or my teacher and my sister in law. I can’t.” Twilight shook her head and her lips pressed into a tight, straight line. “Look, I’m not trying to be an awful pony, I just want to keep everypony safe, including Adora.” Celestia, her expression one of apologetic concern, looked Cadance in the eye. “All I want is time to get to know her better… time to develop trust.” “That’s reasonable,” Cadance replied. “And you can do that by coming to the Crystal Empire and watching Adora while she is at home.” “I do have an issue to bring up about Adora and the Crystal Empire,” Twilight said, her voice cracking mid-sentence from nervousness. The expression on Cadance’s face didn’t help matters at all. Nervous, now fearful that she had made her sister in law angry, Twilight stammered. “I-I-I just w-w-w-wanted to bring up t-t-t-the fact that Discord might w-w-w-w-want a say in where Adora lives.” Hearing Twilight’s words, Cadance’s flinty expression softened a bit. “You make a fair point Twilight.” Cadance heard and saw Twilight heave a sigh of relief. She then turned to face Celestia. “She is still coming home with me, this changes nothing. If Discord is as reformed as he claims to be, then he too will want the best for Adora. And that means a stable, loving, nurturing home environment.” Expressionless, Celestia realised that this was a battle that could not be won, not without great cost or the potential ruination of many relationships of all involved. Inwards, she felt a growing sense of fear. This is what spirits of disharmony did, causing derision, strife, discord, paranoia, and distrust among ponies. Celestia was worried that it was already happening. Or was it? Celestia wasn’t certain. She didn’t know how Cadance would act in this situation, she had nothing to compare with, no means to gage how Cadance might act under normal circumstances. “Aunt Celestia, I don’t want there to be any ill feelings between us,” Cadance said, her pink ears splaying out sideways. “Nothing about this visit is turning out the way I wanted it to. I wanted all of us to be together… there was something I wanted very much to do while we were all together.” “What was that, Cadance?” Twilight asked. Turning her head, Cadance gave Twilight a bittersweet smile and replied, “Shining Armor and I are going to have a foal together. I just found out about a week ago and I wanted all of us to be together and having a special time together. But then Shining Armor got all moody, and that’s understandable, and then Auntie wanted to take my foal away.” Cadance swiveled her head around and affixed her stare upon Celestia. Suddenly, things made a little more sense to Celestia. The alicorn’s ears perked up. “I didn’t want to take Adora away, I just wanted to keep her in Canterlot under supervision for a while… but that is neither here nor there and I will not discuss this matter further and upset you. My apologies, Cadance.” “Apology accepted,” Cadance replied. “You have an official invitation to the Crystal Empire. You can supervise all you want and spend as much time as you’d like getting to know Adora.” “And perhaps throw a foal shower?” Celestia asked. “Hey, I bet Rarity and Pinkie both would love to get in on that!” Twilight said as the tension in the room dissipated.