From Dream to Nightmare
Cadence
After my dear Auntie leaves me in peace, I try to continue my walk for a time. The gardens are still lovely, and not a few of my plants tempt me to take a nibble. Unfortunately, I find that I’m still not really gaining very much from it. By the time I decide to leave, I still feel like I’ve been put through one of those barbarian meat grinders.
The cold hard truth of the matter is that now, even after I’ve gotten what I wanted most of all, I’m just as trapped as ever. I’m no match for my aunt, and she still holds all the cards. Revenge fantasies aside, even together it’s doubtful Shining and I could match her and her sister, and I can’t even alert him to why we should in the first place. So, I’m left to face the fact that I’ve effectively sold my soul to satiate my greatest desire. I’ll be living a double life, forever lying to my nearest and dearest, and even giving away my children.
I hate Celestia for forcing me into this. I hate myself, for being so thoroughly self-centered in the first place. I’m very much aware that none of this could have taken place had I not been selfish enough to hold back my husband from the afterlife at the cost of almost everything he had.
But you know what the worst part is? If I’m going to be one hundred percent honest with myself, it’s the knowledge that after all of this, after everything I put Shining and Twilight and myself and everypony else through… I’d do it again. I really would, and I know it. I’d sentence my husband to centuries in lifeless crystal, knowing how miserable it made him. I’d endure the night he was almost killed, when I faced my aunt and lost miserably, when I felt my body burned to a crisp. I’d even sell my own unborn children once more. I would do everything that I did all over again, if only I could be allowed to keep Shining Armor at the end of it all.
And that knowledge scares me more than anything else.
Retiring early, to my complete lack of surprise, doesn’t help me much. You can’t escape your troubles with a hot bath or a comfortable bed when they’re all in your head. It’s quite rare that I wish to be buried in work, but at the moment I’m not too busy, and in any case I can hardly trust myself to do well by my ponies when I’m at war with myself. They deserve better from their princess. So I shut up, flick off the lights, and lie down to sleep.
“Get away from me!” snarls Shining Armor, putting a hoof on my chest and shoving me back a ways. “How could you do this?!”
“I… I…” I whimper pathetically and look at my own hooves, unable to meet his blue eyes. “I h-had to... don’t you s-see? I couldn’t… I couldn’t…” Unable to even finish the sentence, I manage to raise my gaze slightly, looking to my sister-in-law for support. But Twilight Sparkle only glares daggers down at me. I cower, feeling very small.
“You disgust me,” she spits at my hooves. “Your own children?”
“I… had to…” My voice is feeble, and the words sound hollow even to my own ears.
“You knew, you witch!” Shining growls at me. “You knew I’d rather die a thousand deaths than let harm come to any foal of mine! And you sold them for your own pleasure!”
“Shiny, I-”
He slaps me hard across the face, hoof impacting roughly against my cheekbone. I topple to the ground with a whimper. From where I lie on the crystalline floor of our palace, blood trickling down my cheeks, the siblings tower over me.
“Shut up!” he snarls. “You two-timing, worthless, selfish bitch!” Shining advances on me, placing a hoof on my neck and bending down. “I was loyal to you,” he hisses into my ear. “I was the most devoted stallion on the planet! I spent hundreds of years in a cursed half-life because you said you couldn’t live without me! I betrayed my own conscience and accepted the risks of carrying a beacon dark magic on my very soul so you wouldn't have to be alone! How many would do that?”
I try to answer, but all that comes out is a frightened squeak.
Shining put more weight on the hoof atop my neck as he bends down until his muzzle is inches from mine. I for all the world that I could vanish on the spot, but I can’t even pull my eyes away from his own.
“How. Many?” he repeats, his voice a deadly low whisper.
“N-N-None,” I manage, and his head rises just a fraction.
“That right,” he says with a nod. “And how did you repay my loyalty?” His hoof presses down even harder on my neck. I can feel my windpipe being compressed “You sold out everything I believe in! My principles, my duties, my subjects, my family… everything!” His eyes are piercing to the point where I could swear that they’re on fire. “All so you could have your oh-so-precious hunk of stallion meat!”
“Not… true…” I whimper through my tightened throat.
Shining’s hoof pushes down so hard it cuts off my air flow altogether. “LIAR!” he roars, his Royal Canterlot Voice enough to shatter glass and eardrums alike. “If you cared about me, if you gave one tenth of a percent of a damn about who I am and what I want, you’d have let me die!”
My reply is nothing but a strangled gurgle, though I’m unsure of what I could say to that in any case.
“If you cared about anything but your own gratification, you would have killed me yourself before selling my foals to a monster! If you had even the slightest bit of conscience, you would have banished Sombra back to hell the moment he showed his ugly face! I would do anything to protect those I love, while you knowingly let an evil spirit wander free across the Crystal Empire for decades because you didn’t care for anypony but yourself! Who knows what harm he’s done in that time?! Princess of Love?” he snorts. “You’re a heartless monster, Mi Amore Cadenza.”
“I should have left you in Tartarus to rot,” Twilight says. “You and Tirek would make a good couple. You deserve each other.”
I look pleadingly up at the siblings, but their faces are hard and unforgiving.
“Come on BBBFF,” Twilight says, “Let’s go. Leave the witch to drown in her own bile.”
Shining removes his hoof from my throat, and I gasp for air. Shining and Twilight turn their backs on me and begin walking away. I hold out a hoof, silently begging them to come back, to give me another chance, but they don’t even spare a glance. I try to speak, but nothing comes out.
Then the two are gone, and I’m not an alicorn princess in the Imperial Palace anymore. I’m a little pegasus filly, wandering alone through a dark forest. I don’t know where I came from, or why I’m here. I just know that I’m alone, weak, and very scared.
I wander through the forest for what seems to be hours. There’s nothing and nopony in sight, no movement besides my own. Not even the smallest insects are to be seen on the ground, and the sky is nothing more than an endless grey horizon. The sun and moon and stars are gone. My wings are lead – they cannot lift me so much as an inch off the ground.
I call out in the weak voice of a lost filly, but nopony answers me. Desperate, alone, and afraid, I repeat my pleas for help into the uncaring wind. But there’s nopony to answer, and tears roll down my cheeks.
Without warning, cruel laughter echoes around me. Out from the shadowed trees steps an enormous equine figure, covered from head to hoof in black, chitinous armor plates. Green eyes look down on me from a monstrous parody of an equine face, a wild mess of membrane hanging down from where her mane should. Her open mouth reveals row after row of viciously pointed fangs.
“Welcome home, my child,” Queen Chrysalis says magnanimously as I cower on the forest floor. “You have done well.”
I can’t even manage the strength of will to get up and flee from the monstrosity before me, much less speak.
“You played your part perfectly and everypony fell for it,” she grins broadly. “They showered you with love and affection, never knowing, never even suspecting…” Chrysalis laughs again. “The hive feeds well tonight.”
What?
Drawn by some instinct, I look down at my legs. I let out a scream.
Where there was soft pink fur, there is only hard, black chitin filled with holes. Franticly, I look at my back. My feathered pegasus wings have vanished from my body. In their place are insectile buzzing things filled with whole. Even as I open my mouth to shriek again, I can feel my teeth elongating, becoming sharper.
I spy a puddle out of the corner of my eyes. Hoping against hope, I rush over to look at my reflection. The face the stares back at me from the muddy water is that of a soulless, love-sucking, parasitic monster – an unholy blight on all those she falsely claims to love.
A changeling.
My screams and Chrysalis’ laughter echo throughout the dark forest.
I gasp like a drowning mare when my eyes shoot open. The cool tower air rushes easily down my throat and into my lungs. I take several more gulps in quick succession as my heart hammers in my chest. I can feel cold sweat dripping down my body.
Gradually, awareness starts to return to me. I’m in the Imperial Palace, I realize. I’m in our bed. It’s damp with sweat and I’ve kicked the silken bedsheets around, but I’d recognize it anywhere. I look over my shoulder nervously, half in hope, half anticipation.
I breathe a sigh of relief. Shining Armor is still there. My husband hasn’t left me. I’m not a changeling imposter. He’s still asleep even – gods bless whatever makes him so hard to wake up. My secret shames are still secret.
It was… It was only a nightmare.
Right?
Breakfast the next morning is a rather subdued affair. I say little except when spoken to, pick at my food, and generally keep my head down. My low mood spreads easily – Shining picks up on it quickly and wraps a comforting wing around my back. His show of concern naturally just makes me feel worse about myself. Twilight looks a bit down at the bad atmosphere, but doesn’t seem to be able to come up with anything to rouse the mood. Even Celestia seems more subdued than she normally is, her violet eyes flicking back and forth between myself and Shining.
The one piece of good news that comes up is that Celestia will be leaving soon after breakfast. She says she’s been away from Equestria for quite long enough. Twilight, on the other hoof, will be staying for a few more days, to catch up with us after our time apart. On most days, that would make me genuinely smile, but not today. The pretty pink princess is too busy feeling sorry for herself, you see. So I fake it instead – nopony else should have to feel bad because I am.
Celestia’s exit stage left really isn’t much to speak of. She wears that serene smile (though I now think it’s more a smug smirk) as she gives us all warm hugs and pleasant words goodbye. As always, she’s warm and soft to the touch, and smells nice. A pretty mask over an ugly soul, I think. Then she steps onto her golden chariot, and in a few minutes is out of sight altogether.
Brother and sister soon inform me that they were planning on spending some time together today, and ask if I’d like to go with them. I don’t want to spoil it for them, so I make some excuses and head off on my own. Besides, there is one thing that I’ve been meaning to do for a few days now. Celestia’s visit only reminded me of its importance.
“Are you certain, doctor?” I gaze at the papers before me with a skeptical eye. “Absolutely certain?”
The nervous stallion in front of me tugs at his collar hesitates slightly, but nods. “About as certain as I can be at this stage, your majesty. It’s quite early on, you know, and we can’t always be sure… but with all the tests in agreement I would hesitate to call it any other way.”
I sprung this visit to him out of nowhere, so I don’t blame him for being a little nervous. Also, I picked him precisely for the fact that he isn’t royal personnel – less likely to spread gossip around the palace that way. I want this confidential, at least for now.
“I see,” I finish reading over the results he’s presented me. Insofar as I can tell, his diagnosis is accurate. “Thank you, doctor,” I slide off the medical examination table.
He bows. “No trouble at all, your highness,” he assures me. “Your presence was merely…”
“Unexpected,” I fill in, saving him the trouble of finding an appropriately tactful way to put it. “I trust you’ll keep this duly confidential.”
“Of course!” he bows lower. “Of course! My lips and records are sealed tighter than Tartarus’ gates!”
“Thank you,” I respond, already beginning to head to the exit and wondering what to do next.
“Oh, and your highness?”
I turn around and look at him. “Hmmm?”
He smiles timidly. “Congratulations.”
I leave without saying anything more.
That evening after my duties as princess are through sees me in our bathing chambers, floating in water hold enough to scald ordinary ponies and attempting to relax, or at least calm down a bit. But the atmosphere does about as much good for my overworked stress response as trying to fight a forest fire with a single bucket of water. I’m feeling exhilarated, giddy, stupid, ashamed, and afraid all at the same time.
I’m pregnant. After all this time, it’s finally happened again. I don’t know exactly when the foal was conceived, and it’s still in the very earliest stages of development, but it’s happened. In about eleven months’ time, I’ll give birth again – to the very first alicorn foal to be born in countless generations, no less. My most primal and instinctive response is, of course, happiness. I love caring for all foals, but especially my own. It’s been far too long since I’ve had a chance to do that.
My more rational side is, of course, far gloomier. I still have a bargain to uphold. The child growing inside me is pledged to my aunt and whatever purpose she might have for it. What do I do now? How to I tell Shining? What am I going to say when Celestia inevitably comes for my foal? If Shining were to find out the truth… he’d leave me, I know it. If he didn’t kill me outright. I don’t suppose I could blame him if he did.
I wring my hooves and flap my soggy wings in self-reprimand. Stupid, stupid mare. I knew I should have taken precautions… but there was so much repressed passion. I’d waited so long for my wish to come true. So much so that Shining and I went through several rounds without my even considering the possibility of consequences.
“Cadence?”
Well, speak of the devil… or think of the devil in this case, I suppose.
I turn my head to face the speaker, a ghost of smile playing on my face. This may just be what I need right now. Shining Armor stands at the door, looking somewhat weathered but clearly happy. I can feel the satisfaction that he’s radiating. That’s good, at the very least.
“Well,” I ask, “What is my prince charming waiting for? An engraved invitation? Come in and shut the door behind you.”
He smiles flirtatiously and does as I bid, slipping easily into the burning hot water in our very large bathtub. I swim over to where he sits and press myself into him. I settle my head against his chest, nuzzling it gently, while he wraps one hoof around my neck and runs the other softly through my mane. The sensation is very pleasant, and I slowly close my eyes and breathe deeply. From here I can feel the steady beat of my husband’s heart and the rhythmic motions of his breathing. It feels good to have a chance to genuinely relax, if only for a little while.
This goes on for a while. I don’t know exactly how long – keeping track of time is something I really don’t care to do at the moment. Just sitting here, enjoying our time together, is more than enough to keep my mind occupied.
Without warning, Shining’s grip on my neck tightens exponentially. His other hoof joins the first. His hold is so strong that it’s actually a bit painful. Before I have the chance to ask what’s going on, he twists right sharply.
Snap.
With a sickening crunch of bone and muscle, I feel my neck being broken, alicorn bone snapping as easily as brittle twig. The rest of my body goes limp and loses all sensation. I’m so utterly shocked that I haven’t the slightest inclination to do anything besides lay there stunned before black metal chains appear from nowhere and wrap themselves around my horn. Even my sensation of magic fades away as they secure themselves tightly.
Shining Armor releases his hold on me, and I drop face-first into the water. I’m light, so I float with a portion of my skull and ears above the surface. My face, contorted in shock and pain, is completely under the water. Thoughts and emotions race through my mind. Why is he doing this? Has he somehow been alerted to what I did? Has Shining decided to retaliate for my deceptions? What’s going on?
I’m so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I miss the first few words that he speaks to somepony I can’t see from my limited vantage point.
“…told you it would work. He’s an assassin and a hostage, all rolled into one,” Shining says in an uncharacteristically smug tone of voice.
A female voice answers, but it’s low and I don’t quite catch what it says.
A familiar hoof reaches down under the water and grasps my chin. My face is pulled upwards and out of the water by the foreleg of Shining Armor. But when I look into my husband’s face, it’s not his kind blue eyes that are staring back at me.
“Your kind are so gullible.”
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Ah okay, so the Changelings now have brainpower
Looking forward to more! Thanks for the read
Sombra has a body. Wow. I guess now everything is gonna fall apart. great chapter.
At first I was screaming in joy for the next chapter, after I've read I'm bursting into tears! This is my favourite story, I always check for updates, BEST STORY EVER!! But still, little Cady..
If Twilight finds out what Celestia did maybe she could fight Celestia and possibly win, I got a few reasons why
I find it hard to believe the changelings so well fed and organized and now they've taken down a third alicorn. Hopefully having her neck snapped won't kill the unborn not-yet child.
I want to know what Sombra's after. I don't think his ghost was playing games with Cadence when he claimed to regret at least some of his actions. I do have to wonder if the changeling herself is in thrall, though. I feel like the changeling could be fooled to think that Cadence was dead...
I'm a little confused how she can see, because I assume that a snapped neck is probably fatal to the body and I have to wonder if the chains will kill her for good by removing her access to magic or if it's just the ability to reach out and use it directly that she's had taken away for the moment.
So... Sombra took over Shining's body? But where is Shining? Still trapped in there?
If so, he can fight back; if not, if in fact he's been trapped in some sort of crystal prison by Sombra's dark magic (as is quite possible), then any alicorn who knows he's missing can try to track down the sense of dark magic that golem-Shiny was previously radiating...
Celestia's going to notice that something's odd, though, when Cadance is polite and friendly to her in private. Whether that makes Shining more or less likely to survive this story I'm not quite sure... but I do predict that Cadance will not be happy if she's rescued by Celestia.
Pad?
Side Note: Excellent grammar and lack of mistakes throughout, as well as a fantastic story. Keep up the awesome work!
Damn. Now that Cadance is pregnant, Shinings odds of survival dropped by a lot, following narrative logic.