//------------------------------//
// Love Finds You 
// Story: Broken: Love 
// by Knackerman 
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	"I still don't think we should rule out Sombra... Or Queen Chrysalis!" gasped Spike as the thought occurred to him. "What if the two of them were working together? That would explain why this 'Empress of Love' was so interested in making the citizen's of Equestria love her! That's got to be it!"

"Spike, I know you don't want to believe that Princess Cadence has been corrupted, but that's the simplest explanation." replied Starlight, closing the book and returning it to the shelf. "Besides, didn't something similar happen with Luna a thousand years ago?"

"That was different," objected Spike, crossing his arms. "Luna was just upset about ponies ignoring night time in favor of the day. She was jealous of the love she felt they showed Celestia instead of her."

"And then a dark powers took hold of her heart and fed on that jealousy, transforming her into Nightmare Moon," finished Sunburst, though with some reluctance. "And then she tried to bring about eternal night, and was only defeated by the Elements of Harmony."

"I guess when you put it like that it might be possible Cadence could be involved," admitted Spike. "But why? She is the Princess of her own Empire. She has a loving husband and a newborn baby..." Spike said, puzzled, looking over to where Flurry Heart was still fast asleep. "I mean with Luna it was obvious she was envious of her sister. Who does Cadence have to be jealous of?"

"Oh... Oh dear, oh dear... " Was all Sunburst could say for a moment as he stroked his scraggly beard with one hoof.

"What is it? Did you think of something?" asked Starlight, curious.

"Yes. I mean no! I mean..." Sunburst gave a heavy sigh. "I don't think I was supposed to tell anypony about this, but... Given the circumstances we're in... I might not know how any kind of 'darkness' crept into Cadence's heart, but I do think I know who she might be jealous of. You see, it all started about a month ago, not long after the Crystalling. Maybe a week?"





I was at the Palace, fulfilling my duties as Crystaller. I admit, I was rather nervous about it. Being a Crystaller is an important responsibility after all. Even more so when you are performing the role for royalty. I was fumbling my way through a few spells designed to enhance Princess Flurry Heart's understanding of what I had to teach, when there was a knock on the door. I answered, and it was none other than Prince Shining Armor and one of the palace guards, Flash Sentry, if I recall correctly.

"Busy already Sunburst?" asked the Prince with a fatherly smile. "Hows my little princess doing?"

"Oh, er, she's doing wonderfully your highness, wonderfully!" I replied somewhat nervously. In truth his daughter was mouthing her own wing at the time, and one of her feathers must have tickled her nose. She sneezed and the entire room turned from white to purple. 

I was mortified, but the Prince only laughed and said, "That's my girl!" he turned back to me, and with a more serious look on his face he said, "Why don't I take over here for a little while. There's something I'd like to ask you to do for me."

"As your daughters Chrystaller, it would be my honor," I replied with as gracious a bow as I could manage.

"Good," he replied, before drawing me in with one hoof, conspiratorially. "I'm not sure if this is strictly something that falls under your responsibilities, but I was hoping you could have a word with my wife..."

"The Princess!?" I exclaimed, surprised, before Shining Armor shushed me.

"Yes, the Princess. Let's just say things have been... less than harmonious lately. She won't tell me what's wrong, and there's no one else in the palace she seems to be willing to talk to. Normally I'd ask Twilight or one of the other Princesses to talk with her, but it seems like every time you get more than one Princess in a room together some crisis or another pops up. Nopony is able to get a word in edge-wise between all the screaming and running around." He wore a pained expression. It was clear that it bothered him that his wife wasn't willing to open up about whatever the matter was. "I figured, hey, you're practically family now right? Maybe she would be willing to open up to you? In private perhaps?" 

To be honest, I was terrified by the very idea. An audience with the Princess of the Crystal Empire would be nerve wracking enough without it being conducted in private. What would the servants say? But if the Prince had such faith in me, I didn't want to imply anything improper or untoward might happen. I couldn't think of any other excuse, so what choice did I really have? "Of course. I'll do what I can your grace."

"Excellent!" he replied, and he really seemed to mean it. He looked as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "My buddy Flash here will take you to Cadence's chambers. He'll be just outside the door, so when you're done speaking with her, he can show you the way back so you don't get lost. I know you're probably not familiar with the layout of the palace yet, so that would probably be for the best."

The guard nodded to me and then lead the way. 

I could feel my apprehension welling up inside like a geyser fit to burst. My nerves aren't the greatest, even at the best of times, and I don't mind admitting that it felt like my stomach had been replaced with a butterfly sanctuary as Flash took his position by the door to Cadence's private chambers and motioned for me to go inside. I hesitated, but it wasn't like I could turn back now. "Princess!" I called out tentatively, my voice cracking somewhat, so I tried again. "Oh, Princess Cadence? I'm ever so sorry to bother you but..."

I didn't have a chance to finish that sentence. I heard her sobbing before I saw her, laying on her bed with tissues spread all around in crumpled piles on top of her sheets. Her hair was a mess, and her eyes were puffy with tears. She looked up at me and I could see the sadness melt into anger. "Go away!" she bellowed. I turned to flee, but before I could so much as take a step, she called out again, "No, don't go! Not really. Please stay... I'm so... So lonely." She broke down into sobs again. I tell you, I couldn't credit her reaction. It seemed she was nearly as at a loss as to how to feel as I was, and definitely far more upset than I could be with my simple case of frazzled nerves. 

What can I say? I pitied her. I couldn't imagine what could have happened to upset her so deeply, so I went to her side and I asked, "Princess Cadence, why whatever is the matter?"

"Nothing!" she responded quickly, almost yelping the word. "Everything..." she added, sobbing into a fresh tissue. "Oh, I don't know. I must look a state. I can't let my husband see me like this, or anypony else for that matter. What would they think  what would they say!"

"But you are the Princess of the Crystal Empire. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza! Whatever is the matter I'm sure they would understand." I tried to reassure her, "Your husband and your people love you." 

"Do they? Do they really?" she asked, anger flashing on her face like lighting from a thunder cloud, before the anger faded like summer lightning into a shower of tears. "No, no I'm sure you're right. I'm sure they do. It's just... Things have been so hard since the baby came." She paused, and looked me in the eye. "If I... If I tell you something will you promise not to tell another soul? No one else in the Crystal Empire can now about this. Do you swear?" 

I regret that I said, "Of course your majesty."

Even so, she still hesitated a moment before saying anything else. She seemed to come to a decision and thus said, "Ever since Flurry Heart was born, I've just felt like things have been spinning out of control. I feel like I should be handling things better than I am but... Sometimes I just start crying out of nowhere. I know I've been short tempered with my husband, and even with a few of the palace guards. I'm not acting like myself and that frightens me." She paused to blow her nose before continuing, "When I'm not feeling sad or angry it's like I can't feel anything at all. That would be fine I guess, but then I just feel so disconnected from everything, from every one else. Like i'm caught in a void where I can feel nothing, no emotion, and nothing matters. It's like I'm a stranger to myself, some new Cadence that's just shown up one day and the old Cadence is gone and never coming back."

She began crying again and I really didn't know what to do about it. I settled for awkwardly petting her shoulder with one hoof. 

This seemed to be the right thing to do, as the Princess seemed to visibly get a hold of herself and went on to say, "I can't eat, I can't sleep, and I can just barely concentrate on what anypony else is saying. I know it's not Flurry Heart's fault, but I look at her sometimes when she's sleeping and I just... I find myself asking myself Who's baby is this? You know? Who's child is this that I'm raising?" Cadence shuddered as if she found simply putting her feelings into words abominable. "I can't let Shining Armor know I feel this way... or his sister, or anypony else. They'd think I was losing my mind. I mean what kind of mother am I if i'm jealous of the way my husband dotes over his daughter? If I'm angry about how every question from my citizens are asking after my babies health? Everything has been about the baby and nothing has been about me  since she was born! I know that's horribly selfish of me to feel, let alone say, but I just can't stop it." The Princess sighed heavily, clearly exhausted from the emotions roiling inside her and the strain of admitting to them, even if it was just to me. "I just want it all to stop."

"Princess," I began, struggling to put my own thoughts into words. "I'm not expert on these matters, but it sounds to me like what you're feeling is perfectly normal for a new mother. I mean this is your first child, yes?" I asked, and she nodded in affirmation. "It will take some adjusting and getting used to, but you have to know that your husband and your subjects still love you. If they shower your daughter with attention it is only because they wish to share in the happiness of the new birth. I'm sure in time these feelings you have will fade, and even if things are never the way they were before, it may just be because they are better."

"But what if you're wrong?" she asked. "What if these feelings never fade? What if they only get worse? There are times when I'm feeling nothing that I have these horrible, awful thoughts. Like someone else's thoughts saying such horrible things about everypony... Even my daughter. What if I do something I'll regret ,and never be able to take it back?"

"Those are just intrusive thoughts Princess," I tried to reassure her. "Everypony has them from time to time. What's important is that you can identify them and know them for what they are. so long as you don't act on them everything will be fine, right?"

"I guess so," she said uncertain, but in a way she looked better than she had before. She had stopped crying, and I thought I could see the ghost of a smile creeping across her lips. "You can stop patting my shoulder now I think." I removed my hoof and must have made an awkward face in my haste because Cadence began to laugh. It was good to hear her laugh. "Thank you for listening to me," she said. "I'm not sure I feel better, but I don't feel as bad. Let me guess... My husband put you up to this, didn't he?"

"I couldn't say your grace," I replied averting my eyes, because I really wasn't sure Shining Armor would want me to tell her point blank that he had indeed sent me to speak with her.

Cadence smiled all the same, "You may go then. And if you should happen to see my husband, tell him that i'm ready to talk."





"And then what happened?" asked Spike enraptured. 

"Well, then I went back to giving Flurry Heart her lessons," Sunburst replied matter-of-factly. "Though by that point her father had riled her up so much playing with her that the rest of the afternoon was quiet the waste."

Starlight Glimmer held one hoof to her forehead, "Leave it to a stallion to miss all the obvious signs," she grumbled. "Cadence was experiencing postpartum depression, and you told her everything would improve with time. This might be a worse situation than when Nightmare Moon tried to take over Equestria."

"How so?" Sunburst asked, his spectacles sliding down the length of his muzzle.

"The answers been right in front of us the whole time. Cadence is forcing her love on everypony because she doesn't feel loved herself. She wants everypony to love her, but what she's doing, forcing ponies to love her? That is never going to be enough. It's all just so much hollow flattery," replied Starlight with a certainty as if she new exactly what she was talking about. "Inside she's still going to be hollow. She's going to know that it's all fake. Just one big lie. But she won't stop. She'll keep going until the whole world is marching to the beat of her drum... and it will never be enough."

Flurry Heart began to cry softly in her sleep. She was waking up, and she was hungry and in desperate need of a diaper change. Sunburst was familiar with her cries, so went quickly to work, but it was clear he was mulling over what Starlight had said. "We need to go back to the Crystal Empire. We need to set things right."

"It won't be easy. By now she'll be entrenched," replied Starlight, once again speaking with certainty on the matter. "There will be thousands of brainwashed soldiers between us and her. Going in without a plan will just get our own minds subverted, or worse."

"Who said I didn't have a plan?" asked Sunburst with a smile as he finished changing Flurry Heart.

"Oh really?" asked Starlight incredulously. "And what might that be?"

"If Cadence is feeling unloved and disconnected, we just need to reconnect her to her people." replied Sunburst, sliding a bottle into the baby Princess's mouth as she finally calmed.

"The Crystal Heart!" exclaimed Spike, snapping his fingers. "You know that's not a bad idea! If there is some dark force that's controlling Cadence, the light from the Crystal Heart should be able to drive it out!"

"I guess I could try casting the necessary spell to make that work," said Starlight thoughtfully. But then she shook her head and continued doubtfully, "But that would be way too risky. Never mind actually finding the Crystal Heart, getting into the Empire itself will be next to impossible now. Even if the Crystal Army didn't already control the train lines, it would be risky approaching the Empire openly. The moment they even hear us coming, they'll crush us."

"Hmm. The moment they hear us...?" mused Spike to himself. "So we need something stealthy huh? I think I might have an idea."





"This is your idea of stealthy!?" exclaimed Starlight as they stood outside the castle, looking up at the hot air balloon tethered to a post buried deep into the ground. "They would be able to see us coming for miles!"

"Hey, you have to admit though, it's quieter than a train and less flashy than a teleportation spell," replied Spike. "And since the Crystal Empire doesn't have many Pegasus guards, You can bet it would be easier to float over the border into the Empire than it would be to try and just walk."

"He has a point actually,. One does not simply walk into the Crystal Empire," remarked Sunburst, looking up at the purple and pink swirled balloon. "With a little time and effort, we can layer a few spells over this balloon and make it undetectable to anyone that might see it from below. We'd be able to conserve our energy for spell work when we arrived." He turned to Starlight with a smile. "And it would certainly be faster than walking."

"Very well. I suppose we have no choice," It was the smile that did it, Starlight knew. But she didn't want Sunburst to know it, so she turned back to stare at the balloon with a grim look of determination on her face. "Crystal Empire here we come."