“Mommy, can I ask you a question?” The young Princess’s voice was as soft and gentle as her white coat, and without hesitation her mother smiled warmly.
“Of course, snowflake,” said Cadence, her eyes gladly leaving the pile of royal correspondence on her desk in favor of her daughter. She stretched her wings gratefully and stood from the massive chunk of crystal that served as her work station, the smile on her lips growing as she stepped around it and started for the door where Princess Flurry Heart stood. “I was hoping to take a break soon anyway, so I’ll gladly spend it with you.”
The small alicorn filly smiled happily and leaped forward to plant her face firmly against Cadence’s pink coat, and with a giggle Cadence hugged her back fiercely. “Thank you, mommy!” she said, her voice muffled by the larger alicorn’s coat. “I was worried that-,” she withdrew her face and took a deep breath, a motion that caused her eyes to grow almost comically large as she gasped. “-worried that I was going to be bothering you,” she continued, the voluminous curls of her mane bobbing as she hopped backwards away from Cadence. “I know this is your work time, and daddy said that I shouldn’t come bother you, but…”
“Oh, don’t you worry about daddy,” said Cadence with a wink. “I’m sure that he’ll understand.” She stretched out her right wing and touched her daughter’s face with her purple-tipped pinions, and she felt her heart swell with warmth at the look of happiness that washed over Flurry Heart’s face. She’s almost eight years old, she thought, and she seems to grow more every single day… The thought was bittersweet to Princess Cadence, who was already unsure that she spent nearly enough time with her quickly-growing daughter, but there was nothing to stop the young filly from growing and growing until she sprouted into the beautiful mare she was destined to become. That’s the point of having my door always open, Cadence thought as she wrapped her wing around her daughter and pulled her close to her right side, the filly giggling loudly as she did so. So that she can always talk to me, no matter what’s happening.
“So, what is your question, my little crystal gem?” asked Cadence as she started forward, her hooves clopping softly along the stone beneath her. “Are your studies giving you problems again?”
Flurry Heart frowned as her short legs hurried to keep up with her much taller mother, which she had to do despite Cadence taking much slower steps to allow her to keep pace. “No, it’s not my studies… although I might be having problems soon if Aunt Twilight gets to pick my classes...” The tiny Princess stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry, her pink-tipped white wings rustling against her sides as if to accentuate the rough, gassy noise. “I don’t see why I have to study algebra and Starswirl’s ‘Theories of Magical Transference’ all at the same time – why don’t we do one and then the other?!”
Cadence’s smile became a grin. “Because that’s how your Aunt Twilight did it,” she answered simply. “She seems to think that the two complement each other.”
“She also thought pink and yellow went together,” Flurry Heart muttered furiously, her ears flattening against her pink, purple, and teal mane as she frowned. “I saw the pictures of her coronation – those colors did not compliment her coat in the least.”
Mirth rose in Cadence’s chest like a rocket, and it was only her varied experiences with children, both hers and not, that allowed her to maintain a straight face as she leveled her gaze at her precocious daughter. “Flurry Heart,” she said softly, her voice coated in a thick dose of parental warning, “what have I told you about saying unkind things?”
The indignant frown on Flurry’s face melted into one of remorse, and her ears seemed to sink even deeper into her mane, if that was possible. “A pony should build others up, not tear them down,” she recited sheepishly, her wings drooping down her sides.
“That’s right. Ponies should help each other feel better about themselves, and if you want to grow up to be a pony who helps others you’re going to have to control that tongue of yours, Princess.”
“Yes, mother…” said Flurry Heart, and Cadence knew that she’d hit a good chord with that warning. Flurry doesn’t say ‘mother’ unless she’s serious, Cadence thought with an inward smile. I hope that she’ll remember this. “…but it was a terrible dress,” the filly finished with an indignant toss of her mane. “Is it all right to tell somepony that colors don’t look good on them?” she asked, her bright sky blue eyes shining brilliantly up at Cadence.
Now Cadence’s smile returned as she rolled her eyes. “As long as you do it in the nicest way possible,” she said, her right wing reaching out and stroking Flurry’s mane once. The filly giggled again as the two alicorns exited the long hallway out into the main hall of the Crystal Castle, its high ceiling and shimmering walls a testament to the power and magic that flowed through Cadence’s kingdom. “Now, is that what you wanted to ask me about?” she said as she turned towards the doors on the far side of the room. “Because if it is, we can go get some lunch together. Would you like that?”
Flurry Heart’s eyes widened and she nodded happily. “I’d love to get lunch with you, mommy,” she said, leaping forward and flapping her wings rapidly so that she could hover at almost eye level with her mother, “but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh? Then what’s on your mind?” Cadence watched her daughter float above the floor, her face scrunched in concentration as she forced herself to stay in the air for three seconds, four, five, before she gasped and dropped back to the floor, her chest heaving as she gasped for breath. “A five second hover – you’re getting better, snowflake.”
“Thanks… I can’t wait ‘til I can fly like you and Aunt Twilight,” she grumbled, but after a moment of what seemed to Cadence to be intense introspection the filly shook her head vigorously. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk about, either! I wanted to ask you about something that’s been happening to me.”
The mother and daughter’s hooves clopped across the threshold of the Castle and out into the warm air of the kingdom itself, the fresh air teasing Cadence’s coat and blowing stray locks of her hair around as she focused on Flurry. “And what’s been happening to you?”
“Well…” The filly took a deep breath, her muzzle scrunching as she concentrated. “I guess… I’ve been hearing voices. Mostly at night, when everypony else is asleep, I hear voices… or maybe just one voice? I don’t know if it’s one voice or two or three, but there’s not a hundred of them or anything – just the one, I think.”
Cadence’s hoofsteps slowed as an icy prick of fear blossomed like growing frost in her heart. “…voices, Flurry?” she asked softly. “And… what is it that these voices say to you?” The filly’s frown deepened, her ears twitching amid her curls.
“That’s the weirdest part,” she said as the pair passed the Crystal Heart hovering in its place. “It’s not like they’re talking to me… but I feel like they want to.” She sighed and shook her head vigorously. “This is really hard to explain…” she whimpered.
Cadence stopped in her tracks, her hunger forgotten as she turned and dropped to her knees next to her daughter, her stomach clenching as the cold grasp of fear slowly wheedled its way into her. Flurry stopped and turned to face her, and Cadence saw her concentration melt away as she looked up at her. “Flurry Heart, I want you to tell me what you’re hearing,” she said, her words soft but insistent as she fought to keep the fear she felt from dominating her face. “It’s very important. I want you to tell me as much as you remember, okay sweetheart?”
“O-okay, mommy,” said Flurry, her wings fidgeting against her sides as she took a step towards the older alicorn. It was something that the little filly did whenever she felt nervous or scared, and deep inside Cadence knew that she was probably scaring her daughter with the intensity of her questions… but the sick, acidic tasted in the back of Cadence’s mouth didn’t care. My darling daughter… if only you knew the history that your beautiful kingdom has, she thought as Flurry shifted nervously on her hooves, struggling to find her words. King Sombra and the Umbra would love to get their hooves on her… and I’m certain that Chrysalis wouldn’t be above trying to take her away from me… Cadence’s eyes hardened slightly. I have to find out what this is.
“Just tell me what the voices said, and then we’ll go get some lunch, okay?” Cadence coaxed, doing her best to make her voice light once more. She nodded to Flurry Heart and clamped her mouth shut tightly against the flood of frantic encouragement and tainted promises that threatened to pour out.
“All right… well…” The filly took a deep breath and let it out, her eyes wide as she focused on the Crystal Heart beyond Cadence’s right shoulder. “It feels like I’m hearing a voice calling out for me… not like it knows that I’m hiding from it or anything, but… like you do when you can’t find me, but when you’re not worried about me… does that make sense?” She made an aggravated sound in her throat and pressed a hoof to her forehead as she squeezed her eyes shut. “I hear them call my name, but like they just need to find me to tell me something… and sometimes I hear things that sound like parts of other words, words that aren’t my name… but it’s… like I’m listening to ponies when I shouldn’t, through a door or a wall…” She sighed angrily, and Cadence saw the glimmer of tears at the corner of her eyes. “I hear them talking about the sky, and about the crystals, a-and how they’re… stopping something..?” She growled again and dropped her hoof angrily back to the ground, sniffling loudly as she did so. “I… I’m sorry, mommy, but I can’t remember any more than that…” She dropped her gaze to the ground, her small form shaking as she started to cry. “I tried to remember as much as I could, but…”
Flurry’s words weakened the fear that had solidified in Cadence’s heart and her tears caused it to fracture and melt away, and without waiting another moment the pink alicorn reached out with her front legs, grasped her daughter and pulled her into the tightest hug she could manage from her prone position. She felt Flurry wrap her front legs around her neck as best she could, her small form shivering as she fought her tears.
“Hush, my little gem,” she whispered, guilt welling up inside of her like blood from a wound. “I’m very sorry, Flurry Heart… I didn’t mean to scare you, it’s just that...” She sighed. Anything I say is going to sound like a justification for scaring her… Cadence squeezed her eyes shut and extended her wings, wrapping them around Flurry like a protective cocoon. “I should have been calmer about this,” she whispered, her stomach clenching in a completely different horrible way than before. “Hush, my little one… peace, my sweet…”
Slowly, Flurry Heart’s form ceased its shuddering, and when Cadence released her grip on the white filly she sat back and wiped a hoof across her eyes before meeting her mother’s gaze.
“Why did you get so scared, mommy?” she asked, her voice soft and quavering. “I didn’t think it was anything to be scared of…”
Cadence gave her a small, sad smile as she used her right wing to brush Flurry’s mane out of her eyes. “I’m so sorry that I got upset,” she repeated, “but… there are ponies in this world, Flurry Heart, that do not look on our family with much kindness.” She took a deep breath. “There was a pony who lived here in our very castle who would wish unknowable amounts of harm on me, your father, and even you if he was able to return… and I was afraid that it was him.”
Flurry Heart’s eyes widened, and despite Cadence’s protective embrace she shrank in on herself, clutching her hooves together over her chest. “And… and do you think it’s him..?” she whimpered.
“No, I don’t think so, thank Celestia.” Cadence withdrew her wings and legs from her daughter and stood, dusting herself off with her wings before placing them back to her sides. “If it were him, you would have felt fear… a lot of fear… but you weren’t scared when you heard these voices?”
The small filly shook her head firmly. “Nope.”
“Hmm… that does raise some interesting questions.” Cadence tapped her chin with her hoof. If it’s not Sombra… could it be Chrysalis? Or perhaps an enchanted item in her room that is trying to get her to use it..? “When did you first start hearing this voice?”
Flurry’s muzzle scrunched again. “Um… I don’t remember all of the times I’ve heard it, but the first time I can remember hearing it was a few months after my last birthday.” She looked hesitantly up into her mother’s eyes. “Is… is that good?”
Her seventh birthday… okay, that might be useful down the line. “It’s perfect, snowflake,” said Cadence as she flashed the filly a warm, winning smile. “You’ve done a very good job of telling me what I needed to know about this, and I think I might be able to help you a little bit now, then a little bit more down the road. Okay?”
“Okay!” Flurry beamed up at her, eyes wide and ears perked. “So what should I do?”
Cadence sat down onto her rump, her voluminous tail curling around her as she reached out and touched her daughter’s chest. “I think… that you need to listen to your heart,” she said after a few moments of silence. “If you feel like you need to learn more about these voices that you’re hearing… I think you should do it.” Alarm bells sounded in her head even as she said it, and Flurry Heart mirrored her own uncertainty by arching an eyebrow up at her.
“Are… are you sure?” she asked, perplexed. “I… I should listen to them more?”
Cadence sighed and withdrew her hoof from Flurry. “I know it sounds a little strange, but hear me out.” She pressed her hoof to her chest, the golden shoes she wore clinking softly against the thin collar she wore as her royal raiment. “We are alicorns, Flurry Heart. I don’t know if you understand how much that means in our world, but it’s not something that’s very common. There are only five alicorns in the world that we’re aware of and, of those five alicorns, two move celestial bodies through space, one controls the power of friendship, and one,” she lifted her hoof from her chest and pointed to her face, “controls the power of love.” She dropped her hoof back to the stone beneath her. “And of the five of us, only three are natural born alicorns: Princess Celestia, Princess Luna…” Cadence smiled and reached out with her hoof until she touched her daughter’s nose. “…and you, little gem.” The filly snorted and giggled lightly, but she didn’t laugh for long. Her eyes were intent upon her mother, and Cadence felt a swell of pride in how seriously the filly was taking this. She definitely takes after the Sparkle side – Twilight used to give me that exact same look when we were talking about books. “This means that your special talent, your power, could be something to do with these voices – something that is unique to you and you alone.”
“You mean…” Flurry Heart’s eyes grew serious, “…that these voices could lead to me getting my cutie mark?!”
“Oh Flurry,” Cadence sighed and rolled her eyes with a smile, “I’m just suggesting that you might try to find out a little more about these voices while I do some research of my own. I’ll contact your Aunt Twilight about this, and maybe even your Great Aunts Celestia and Luna – I’m certain that one of them will be able to figure out what’s happening.” She patted Flurry atop her curly mane. “But – and this is a big but, Flurry Heart – if these voices ever tell you to do anything that might hurt you or others, or mention dark crystals and shadows, or tell you to steal the Crystal Heart for any reason, you come to me immediately.”
Flurry tilted her head to the left slightly, her eyes narrowing from beneath Cadence’s hoof. “Even at night?”
“No matter what time it is,” confirmed Cadence, ruffling the small pony’s mane gently with her hoof before placing it back to the ground. “If these voices ever tell you to do any of the things I mentioned, you come running and tell me what’s happening. Understand?”
The white filly nodded. “I promise,” she said, her tone more serious than any time that Cadence could remember. The Princess of Love smiled at the filly before leaning down and kissing her on the cheek.
“That’s my girl,” she whispered. “Be strong, snowflake, and we’ll figure this out together. Okay?”
“Uh-huh!” Flurry nodded so hard that her mane bounced completely out of place, mixing the triple colors in it and causing Cadence to laugh aloud.
“Oh Flurry… what am I going to do with you and that mane of yours?” she lamented. To her surprise, the filly leaped to her hooves as her face broke into a broad smile.
“Feed me! You said we were going to go get something to eat!”
At the mention of food, Cadence’s stomach let out a most unladylike growl so loud that she actually blushed. “Oh, well… I suppose that does sound rather good right now, doesn’t it?” she muttered sheepishly, drawing a loud laugh from her daughter.
“Mommy, your tummy sounded like a dragon!” she giggled, her childlike laughter ringing like crystalline wind chimes through Cadence’s whole body and driving the last vestiges of fear away from her heart. This filly is truly one of a kind, she thought, her smile returning as she rose to her hooves.
“So it does,” she said as she turned back towards the Crystal Kingdom’s market district. “Shall we go and see what’s for sale in the market? I think I heard that there’s going to be some new pies on sale there today.”
“Oh really?!” Flurry Heart leaped forward and took up her place next to Cadence, her tiny hoofsteps clicking against the stone. “I love pie!”
Cadence nodded and led the way towards the rest of their town, her dowsed spirits slowly buoying back upwards in the presence of the sweet filly that she was proud to call her daughter. These voices are certainly enough to give any pony, parent or not, something to think about, she thought as they left the shade of the massive castle in favor of the warm sunlight in the market, but if Flurry’s not scared of them – and as long as they don’t sound like Sombra or the other Umbrum– then I think that she’ll be fine. She cast a glance at Flurry, and despite her strong trust in the small filly she felt the cold prickle of fear in her heart once more.
I’ll send word to Twilight, Aunt Celestia, and Luna tomorrow. I’m certain that one of them will have some advice for me.