Epilogue: Last of the Wilds
“And that’s the story of how I became a Princess of Equestria.”
Cadance sat at the end of the bed, a gentle breeze flowing through the open window. A solitary oil lamp flickered on the bedside table, littered with books and scraps of paper. A miniature notebook and quill sat next to a plush toy, which a small purple filly grasped in her aura.
Twilight Sparkle sat up and bounced on her bed, still cocooned in her blankets. “No, no, no! You can’t end the story like that, Cady! Now what happened next?”
“Ah ah ah, Twily. No more story until you lie back down again and relax.”
Twilight crossed her legs and pouted, her head sideways.
“Twily, please? I’m getting a little sleepy myself. I may just fall asleep before I finish the story. You don’t want that now, do you?”
Twilight turned back, held a firm expression for a moment, and then finally sighed as she fell back into bed, covers tightly drawn about her small body. “Fine… so what next?” Her patchwork doll floated in next to her as she clutched the covers even tighter. “You came here, right?”
“Yes,” Cadance said. “It was a long ride by Princess Chariot. Honestly I think I could have flown by myself a lot faster, but the Princess said it would be more proper to arrive in the service of her guards. Besides, we had to stop somewhere else first.”
“Where?”
“The city of Cloudsdale,” Cadance said. “Princess Celestia wanted to check some personal records on the way. So, we found them in the Cloudsdale archives… and, well, quite a few mysteries were solved that day.”
“Like what?” Twilight asked, sitting up again.
“Lie down, Twily. No more story for upright little unicorns.”
“Pfft. That’s a silly rule.” Twilight scoffed.
“It’s also your mother’s rule.”
Without another word, Cadance lightly pushed Twilight until she fell back onto her mattress. Wrapped up in her little cocoon, Twilight bounced a single time before becoming still. “Well?” she pressed, “what did you find in the library, Cady? Were there any good books?”
“Uh... yeah, Twily. Lots and lots of great books. They were mostly about flying though, so nothing you’ll ever need to worry about, okay?”
“Hey, that’s not fair! I might still wanna read them sometime.”
Cadance shook her head and giggled. “You just want to read every book in all of Equestria, don’t you, Twily?”
“Yep! Now come on! What did you find there?”
Cadance sat still for a moment, her head turned down.
“Cady? You okay?”
Cadance looked up as Twilight waved the plush doll in front of her face. “Smarty Pants wants to hear more too.”
“Hmmm.” Cadance smiled and leaned forward, running a hoof through Twilight’s mane. “We found my family tree. From there, I learned my parents’ names: my father was Crescendo Breeze, and my mother was Ruby Amore. Turns out that my mother was distantly related to an ancient Princess from long ago.”
“Wow,” breathed Twilight. “You’re really a Princess. So what did you do after you learned who you are?” She yawned as a pink hoof stroked her forehead before withdrawing.
“Well, the three of us all got back in the chariot and headed for Canterlot. We landed atop the castle’s north tower, where some Royal Guards were already waiting to take Prismia into custody. She went with them willingly, although she turned and gave me a hug before they led her away.
“I stayed with Princess Celestia in her chamber, because she didn’t want me to feel alone. I really missed my parents that night, but it was good to know that she cared so much. I’m still not sure who appreciated each other being there the most, though.
“She introduced me to the Day Court the next morning after sunrise. Everypony gasped and pointed at me at first, but then the Princess told them all to settle down and that she would make an official announcement soon. It was amazing, seeing so many ponies all making such a fuss over me.”
Twilight giggled for a few seconds before settling down. “So what happened to Prismia, Cady? Did she ever learn to love anypony?”
“I’m... not sure, Twily,” Cadance said after a pause. “I haven’t seen her since she was taken away. I’ve been so busy with my own studies, learning to become a proper Princess for the day I’m needed. I should probably go visit her sometime. But if I do, that’ll be another story for another time, okay?”
“Okay.” Twilight stretched her legs and yawned. She grabbed at the patchwork doll with a stringy mane and polka-dot pants next to her. “Thanks for the story tonight, Cady. You’re the best foalsitter in the history of foalsitters. I love you.”
“And I love you too, Twily. I’m so glad the Princess assigned me to foalsit for you. But it’s time for bed now. If you be a good filly, close your eyes and go to sleep, I’ll tell you another story tomorrow night.”
Twilight closed her eyes and nodded, hugging her doll tightly. “Smarty and I are both looking forward to it,” she said with another yawn.”Good night, Cady.”
“Good night, Twily. Sweet dreams.”
It took less than a minute of a hoof stroking her mane—coupled with some melodious humming—before Twilight was snoring faintly, mane askew over her face.
“Moonshine, Moonshine, fireflies alight. Rest your eyes and embrace the night.”
Twilight’s bedroom door closed as Cadance grasped the handle in her magic and twisted it gently. Once the mechanism clicked into place, she turned and tiptoed down the hall toward the stairs; with every footfall, she gently flapped her wings so that her hooves only very lightly touched the ground.
She turned at the end and look at a photo on the wall. It depicted her special little filly surrounded by her adoring—and adorable—family. Twilight Velvet sat with a foreleg around both little Twilight and her big brother, Shining Armor, while Night Light stood behind them all, a relaxed grin on his face.
For a short while Cadance just stood there, looking at the happy family. A pang of loneliness hit her chest.
I’ll have to ask Princess Celestia if I can postpone my study for a few days. I’m sure my family worries about me, even if they say they fully support my decision to live here.
She lowered her gaze and descended the stairs into the hallway. To her right was the ruckus room, where Shining Armor and some of his school friends were playing his and Twilight’s favourite board game, Oubliettes and Ogres. As she passed, she caught Shining’s eye; he immediately dropped the dice in his magical grip, to raucous laughter from his friends. I must have given him a bad roll, she thought as laughter rose up when she passed by, heading for the living room. A small smile crept over her face.
Gosh, that colt can be cute when he wants to be.
She proceeded slowly, poking her head around a corner into the living room. A flickering fire cast dancing shadows on the walls.
Night Light sat on a plush sofa, some scrolls next to him while he studied some kind of miniature blue statue with a magnifying glass. At a nearby desk bathing in light from an oil lamp, Twilight Velvet grasped a quill, scribbling every so often at a sizeable stack of paper. Both looked up as Cadance entered the room.
“Twilight is asleep, Mister and Missus Light,” she said. “We had a great time this evening.”
“We really appreciate it, Miss Cadenza,” Night said. He stretched and stood from the sofa, returning the statue to the coffee table next to it. He trotted over next to his wife. “Velvet and I have been ridiculously busy lately, and it’s a real load off our backs to have somepony looking after little Twily. Shining is great most of the time, but we understand he has his own social life too.”
“Oh, it’s no problem at all, Mister Light,” Cadance replied with a smile. “I’m quite happy to look after Twilight for you. She’s so adorable with her books and her doll. I was actually thinking I could take her to the Royal Library tomorrow, if that’s okay with both of you.”
“Yes, I’m sure she would love that.” Velvet lowered her quill. “Our Twily sure loves her studies. She’s already surpassing the other fillies at school by a long shot—we hope to hear back from Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns about her application any day now.”
A broad smile spread across Cadance’s face. “I’m sure she’ll pass with flying colours,” she said. She turned her head to the ceiling in the bedroom’s general direction. “You should have seen her mastery of levitation magic when we built a mini fort out of pillows and books. Why, she has better control of her magic than I do of mine!”
A loud whoop, followed by some cheers from outside the hallway, drew their attention.
Night Light rolled his eyes. “I think I have to remind those colts to keep it down after dark.” He kissed Velvet on the cheek then nodded to Cadance. “Thank you again, Miss Cadenza,” he said before departing the living room.
Cadance turned back to Velvet, the Crystal Pendant glowing around her neck. “You two are such great parents, you know. Twily and Shining are lucky to have you both.”
Velvet blushed and turned back to her stack of paper; scratching once again filled the room as she resumed crossing out and rewriting sections of text. “We’re lucky to have you too,” she said over the sound of her quill dancing with the paper. “You’re a sweet filly, Miss Cadenza. Thank you again for your outstanding services.”
“Thank you, Missus Light.” Cadance sank into a brief bow. Just the way that Aunt Celestia taught me. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Have a good night.”
“You too, dear.”
As Cadance made to leave the living room, three colts beat her to the door, followed by Shining Armor and Night Light. After wishing each other a good night—with a promise to continue their ‘campaign’ the next day—they exited, leaving Cadance standing there with both stallions of the house. Night looked between them, bearing the ghost of a grin before returning to his documents and the blue statue.
Which left Shining and Cadance standing there together, alone in the hall.
As Cadance turned back to look at him, he averted his gaze and coughed. “Er, I-I should get to bed, too,” he said, eyes darting every which way except at Cadance. “You probably should too—uh, I mean, not like I’m trying to get rid of you or anything, but… I mean, yeah. Bedtime.” He let out a surprisingly loud yawn and stretched his forelegs to the ceiling.
“I was just about to leave anyway, actually,” Cadance replied. She walked toward the door. “Need my ‘Royal Sleep’ as Auntie calls it, especially if I’m getting up early to take Twily out for the day.”
“Oh, you’re coming back?”
A glint appeared in Shining’s eyes for a split second before he turned his head again. “I mean, er, oh, that’s cool. Twily’ll… she’ll like that.” He started off upstairs. “I’ll—we’ll—see you tomorrow, Miss Cadenza.”
He placed a hoof on the bottom step—
“Cadance.”
He stopped and looked back at Cadance—rather, the floor at her hooves—his lip quivering. “Pardon me?”
“Cadance,” she repeated. “Just… call me ‘Cadance’ from now on, okay?”
Shining stood still for a moment before finally making no more than a second’s eye contact. “Okay. Good night, Cadance. Seeya!” With a wave, he spun around and walked upstairs a little too quickly, leaving Cadance standing in the hallway alone. She suppressed a giggle and stared down at the Crystal Pendant.
Well, that’s not surprising in the least.
As she stepped outside and closed the door behind her, Cadance looked at the sky. The Mare in the Moon’s silhouette stared down at her as usual.
It took me a while to adjust to it being much larger from Canterlot than back home in Zahara, but now I cannot imagine a night sky where it does not shine down from just over the castle towers.
She walked away from the house and opened her wings to the cool air. The breeze ruffled her feathers, but she no longer felt the cold as she once did; Aunt Celestia had told her that, like regular pegasi, alicorns do not feel the cold so much as other ponies.
She bent her knees and sprang off from the cobblestoned ground, enjoying the feel of the wind between her wings as she soared through the air. She started to head back to the palace.
So what happened to Prismia, Cady? Did she ever learn to love anypony?
Twilight’s question rang in her mind.
I’m... not sure, Twily.
She slowed a little in mid-flight.
I should probably go visit her sometime.
Cadance cast her eyes toward the northeastern end of Canterlot, where a small building rested a little higher up the hill than most others. She looked back at the palace, and then back at the building. After taking a deep breath, Cadance changed course.
But if I do, that’ll be another story for another time, okay?
Sorry, Auntie, but I’m going to be back a little later tonight.
Awkward moments between star-crossed lovers. So cute 
Well, guys. I guess this is the end of the road... at least for now.
If you wish, feel free to check out the following two chapters of bonus deleted content that, for whichever reason, did not make the final cut.
Thank you so much for treading this path with Cadance. She loves you for it, and so do I. 
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Cadance gon go see Prismia?
Also this was a nice touch. Having Cadance be telling the story to Twilight and also Shining Armor being an awful flirt was nice. No bestpone though.
I have really enjoyed ever minute of this fic; Well Done :)
I sure hope Prismia is doing ok.
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Thank you for being there next to Cadance. We both appreciate it.
Stick around, though. More is on its way. Special stuff... and secret stuff.
Interesting. I wonder what you have in store for this story.
Anyway, I loved reading this story and how you added and fleshed out Cadance's background. You added a lot to her character and managed to weave it with her canon persona at the same time. Also, the story itself was quite exciting and the prose and dialogue were all great in my opinion. Excellent work as usual, and I'm curious to see what you'll write next.
5513232 Took the words out of my keyboard, there. :D
Anyway, I hesitate to call this the best Cadance-centric story I've ever read. I haven't read that many overall. But... it is the best Cadance-centric story I've read and is a damned fine story in its own right. Nice drama, good characterization, good bits of action and an ultrasweet ending. Bravo!
I can't wait to find out what's going on with Prismia!
I loved every single word of this. I love Cadence, and seeing a backstory like this makes me love her even more
5513353 Looks like the sequel.
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Thank you, my friends.
5513523 You're welcome!
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story with us!
5513523 Hey, thanks for the awesome story. :0
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Mesmerizing from start to finish! (or is it really finished?)
Seriously, this was so wonderful to read. I know you put a ton of time into this and it shows in every word. :D
5513523 It was a well written story, and I enjoyed it.
I am now glued too reading this story too its conclusion I just feel that this story is pretty amazing.
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Awh, thank you
I'm both glad and sad that I made you cry, for it means my efforts were successful.
Hmm, epilogue yet marked incomplete. CV, just what are you up too? A final heart to heart with Prisimia or dare I say the start of another adventure? I'm watching you.
All in all, with this story, I will say I am impressed. Personally, Cadence is not high of my list of favorite ponies, still isn't. Yet I find your take on her background as enjoyable. Each of your original characters were solid, yet I feel they could have been more. Perhaps a bit of drama with the older sister, some sort of heart to heart or confrontation over the loss of the eldest brother. I feel that scenario had some potential for some deeper bonding between them if drug out a bit more. This is all a matter of personal opinion, so you really don't need to take it under consideration.
All things considered, this is a good read and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good Cadence background story.
Edit: The Nightwish songs in the author's notes made it even better.
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Thanks for your words and your attention, ZS. Yeah there are a few things I could have added or done differently I guess. Perhaps a venomous barb from Kartanya about Artax while she was being controlled might have done wonders.
Edit: In fact, I might add that in...
Also, glad you liked the songs. The entire album was a huge source of inspiration and really set the tone for the whole thing, including that which you will soon see...
You have weaved the story of how Cadence became an alicorn whilst using songs from one of my favorite bands! Kudos to you, as well as a like and fave! (Oh, and the story is marked incomplete yet has an epilogue. Please remedy this.)
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Thank you very much. I am pleased you enjoyed it so.
5516531 Okay. Story's marked incomplete, but has an epilogue. Could you remedy this? :D
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Story is complete, yes... But there's more to come still.
If that makes sense.
5516542 Oh, okay. I understand. :D
This has been an enjoyable read.
I'm looking forward to seeing how it ends.
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Thank you for reading. I hope you liked my take on the changelings, though I admit your theories are also very good.
I think I'll have to touch on more of your stuff, too; I've only read Dream.
5517063 I'll admit, I wasn't expecting them to pop up like that, but you tied it together pretty well.
Dream and Festival of Lights are probably my two "best" works.
Much better. The last chapter really left things feeling incomplete, hence my hesitancy. This is the conclusion I needed to see.
I really enjoyed the story, but there was one moment in the middle of this chapter where you switched the narrative from third person to first person--while Candance is talking to Night Light and Twilight Velvet in the living room. Just wanted to let you know so you could fix it; I'm not trying to be critical, just help out
Thanks for this story!
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Ah, there was a stray "our" instead of "their." Thank you for that. Fixed.
Glad you enjoyed it!
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There's a stray "me" too--here
I hope that's all of it; I'm really glad you changed the "our" to "their"!
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I hope that's all of it too, because now I'm embarrassed
Cheers!
That's not how it goes...
That was adorable
*snerk*
I approve!
That's not the whole backstory, we still need to know why that dragon was chasing Ruby! Well, I suppose it could have just been looking for lunch, but there still seems like there should be a larger story going on.
I like that lullaby twist on Ladybugs. Hush now tends to be the go-to lullaby in the fandom, so it's nice to see something creative. Also, it makes that Cadance's fairly unusual upbringing compared to most ponies would leave her with some differences like that.
You know, whatever one might think of the Shining & Cadance comic arc, I am forever grateful it gave us O&O for pony D&D as something that both he and Twilight played.
Ahh, awkward teenage Shining, so much fun.
Ah, this is an even better ending. Well done! Extra points for nerdy teenage Shining!
This was a beautiful story. I've never had the opportunity to read Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell, but I'm sure your story is as good, if not far better.
Disclaimer: I found this because Ayamel posted about it a while back. She is truly a talented artist.
Also, I take back what I said - your story is better.
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Thank you for enjoying the journey.
And yes, Ayemel is a truly great artist. Watching the art for the story come to life was an awesome experience.
So yeah, I read this a while back and forgot to leave closing comments. Here you go:
The good:
I knew I'd like this story when I read the line about the 'worm rushing along the bend.' That kind of perspective set the tone nicely, and it gave me something to wonder at while the other pieces fell into place. I found the pacing pretty well done. Never at any moment did I feel the story take a turn too quickly or skip past anything worth fleshing out. I liked the characterization and the names a lot--Kaviyayu (I'm amazed I remember that name off the top of my head) and company gelled well, and their dialogue flowed smoothly. The fact that Eva wasn't Celestia like I anticipated also got you bonus points.
The not so good:
)
Overall, the story was solid, but one of the main turns in the story (Prismia simply being the victim of a greater evil) hit me as cliche. It felt like a reason to divert blame from an otherwise good villain to an established one. She isn’t blameless, given her backstory and admission to her intentions, but it is a massive redirection of ‘THIS IS THE BAD GUY.’ Granted, I haven't read any of the material this story borrows from, so I don't know how pigeonholed you were by this canon, but I still feel a little cheated on that front. (I like my villains just being good, solid villains
Other than that, my only other notable qualm was your tendency for exposition where either none was needed or actions and suppositions were better suited for the situations. The moment that readily springs to mind is Prismia’s monologue in the battle inside the crystal heart. I felt you spent far too much time establishing unnecessary information, which crowded out the good bits of exposition between Kaviyayu and her tribe. Oh, and how
Team RocketChrysalis blasted off again. I couldn’t help but envision that.I hope this wasn’t too rambly. I’ll have to take a peek at your other stuff, too.
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I'm so glad you enjoyed the story overall. This was a massive undertaking and I had a ridiculous amount of help from other people whom I greatly respect and admire.
Thank you for your comments. I'll work on my exposition and scene-setting in the future.
As someone who tried to tackle Cadance's origins without any canon information way back when, and general Cadance enthusiast, it was awesome to read this story based on the crystal heart pendent story and alicorn ascension. I really loved the writing style, and world building (way better than mine) and it was great to see Chrysalis woven into it. No wonder she has a grudge on poor Cady's wedding.
Prismia was a touching relatable character too. I was waiting for Kavi to actually shout 'I love you!' to show her she had somepony who loved her since even though it had been her doing that hurt her Prismia was the one who took care of her like a mother when her family seemed to abandon her.
I read this in the hospital too and it cheered me up a bit while receiving treatment, so points for that too.
Thanks for a wonderful read.
Thank you so much for this wonderful story of Candance origin story! It was really amazing