Title: First Contact
Pairing: Cadence/Nightmare Moon
“Cadence, what are you doing?”
Guiltily, she snapped the book shut. “Nothing!”
Celestia approached with elegant footsteps. Everything she did was elegant. Despite her new horn and increased stature, Cadence wondered whether she would always feel stubby and clumsy standing next to her.
“A book?” Celestia arched an eyebrow. “Why so cagey about a book? Are you looking for a bedtime story for Twilight?”
“Not this one,” Cadence admitted. “It might scare her.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“Um, just some folktales. You know the kind: wicked stepsisters having their hocks cut off, breezie godmothers, griffins plucking out the eyes of wrongdoers.”
“Oh my.” Celestia nodded. “You’re right. That’s far too scary for Twilight.” She looked up at the bookcase, squinting in thought. At length, her magic extended in a glittering aura to pluck a tome off a high shelf. “Try this one.”
“Huh?”
“Nursery Rhymes for Pedantic Foals.” She winked at her adoptive niece. “I used to use it on … another student of mine when she wouldn’t go to sleep.”
“Oh.” Cadence accepted the book with a little discomfort. She had known Celestia had students before her, and likely would after her too – Twilight was already primed for the role, in fact – but it was still jarring to hear confirmation that she didn’t occupy such a special place in hr aunt’s heart. “Thank you, Auntie.”
“Think nothing of it. Now you’d better get along. It’s nearly six o’ clock, and if I remember rightly, Night Light and Twilight Velvet are going to the opera tonight.”
“Yes Auntie. See you tomorrow for our lesson!”
“Uh, Cadence?” Celestia nodded at the unoccupied bookstand. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Oh … um …. Could I borrow the folktale book for myself?”
“I didn’t realise you were interested in such things.”
“This one caught my interest.”
“Well all right then, but please be careful with it.”
“I will. Bye!”
Twilight was fast asleep, a tiny bubble of drool edging from her mouth onto her pillow. Cadence sat in the rocking chair beside her, the folktales book open across her lap. Her eyes lapped up the beautiful images keenly, tracing each curvaceous line with both gaze and hoof.
“I’ve seen you in my dreams,” she whispered softly. “You came to visit me, didn’t you?” She turned the page, drinking in the full profile painting of an alicorn with wings spread wide. “I thought you were just something my mind made up, but you’re not, are you? I’ve never even seen this book before, but I knew what you looked like. I knew … you existed.” She shook her head. “That you exist.”
An echo of laughter she could only hear when she slept seemed to wind around the room like smoke.
Cadence licked suddenly dry lips. “Nightmare Moon …”