Inverno in F Minor

by CrackedInkWell

2: Found and Lost, in F Minor

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“U-Uh…” Shining stuttered, at a loss for words. He was shocked, to say the least. Even though the colt had a different coat (not to mention his horn wasn’t as curved), Prince Armor could see the ghost of the dead tyrant in the foal’s eyes.

Shining turned to his wife, but beyond her wide-eyed expression of surprise, he couldn’t read her face to see what she was thinking.

“Pardon me, your Highnesses?” the couple turned to the nurse. “I think he’s saying that is in part of the hypothermia. At this stage, one of the symptoms that he’s showing is confusion and memory loss. But don’t worry though, give us a few hours and we’d have his core temperature back.”

Cadence nodded, “Yes, I suppose we’ll come back when he’s well.”

“I’ll send a few guards to keep an eye on him,” Shining added.

After they left the infirmary and Shining had summoned a couple of guards, the pair returned to their royal suite to discuss the mysterious colt.

“You gotta admit,” Prince Armor said, “whoever he is, he looks really similar.”

“But how do we know?” Cadence questioned, “After all, it could just be a coincidence that he looks like Sombra. It doesn’t mean that he’s his kid. Besides, if he was, why lock him away from everypony?”

“Well… Maybe the guy didn’t want ponies to know about his son. If I were him, and if I had a colt of my own, and I was one of the most hated ponies in history, I guess I might have done the same.”

“But why?”

“Think about it, wouldn’t you have hidden your kid away when you’re hated by ponies that wanted to see you dead? That if you had a child of your very own, wouldn’t you want to protect them, just in case somepony wanted to have you overthrown?”

Cadence went silent for a moment. “But what if you’re wrong?” she asked. “I mean, all we’ve been going off of is his looks alone. The colt might be someone else’s for all we know. Like I’ve said, we don’t know anything about him. Also, I think you might be jumping into conclusions a little too soon.”

Shining folded his forelegs, “Well… Maybe I am. But what if it turns out that he is?”

The couple went back and forth debating until it was a time that the two of them should interview the young unicorn. By the time they went back to the infirmary, they found that the colt was now fully awake, and a good deal warmer than he had been just a few hours ago.

Cadence gave the young stallion a warm smile, “Hello.”

To the Princess of Love’s confusion, the unicorn jumped as soon as she spoke. “Y-You talk too!?” the colt asked, genially surprised.

“Well… Of course, I can. Everypony does.”

The unicorn shook his head, “No they don’t. Not until you and she started speaking.” He pointed to the nurse, “Which I find it really weird.”

“Why?” Shining asked, tilting his head to the side. “Haven’t you heard another pony talk before?”

“Only me and my Papa,” the unicorn replied.

“By the way,” Cadence interjected, “What’s your name?”

The young stallion still had a look of puzzlement on his face when he answered: “It’s Inverno. Don’t any of you already know me?”

“Not until recently,” Shining answered. “We didn’t know you were even here until a few hours ago.”

Inverno blinked, “Uh… okay? So who and what are you two?”

“I’m Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” the pink alicorn introduced herself. “But I prefer if you call me Cadence. And this is my husband, Prince Shining Armor.”

“But why are you… like me?” Inverno asked, “You two aren’t made out of crystal-like that nurse over there. So why is that? Are we related somehow?”

“Hey, did you say something about your dad?” Shining inquired, Inverno nodded. “Do you happen to know what his name is?”

“Sombra,” the unicorn said matter-of-factly.

Both Cadence and Shining grew pale, “Uh... What does he look like?” Shining asked.

“You want me to describe him? He’s tall, dark and has a mane that’s black as ink. His horn is something like mine, only it’s curved and red. Oh! And he has the same color of eyes that I have. Speaking of Papa, do you know where he is?” When neither Prince nor Princess answered his question, Inverno inquired, “I mean, he’s the King here, he oftentimes would wear a silver crown, and goes around with a red cape. You have seen him… right? Why are you two looking at me like that?”

“Oh, hay,” Shining sighed. “Look, kid… I don’t know how to tell you this…”

“Tell me what?”

“Um… Inverno,” Cadence said cautiously, “The truth is… Your father… Isn’t around anymore.”

The young stallion blinked, “What do you mean?”

“Kid,” Shining said, “Your dad… your dad is dead.”

Sombra’s son blinked, trying to process what he’d just heard. Then, he began to laugh, “Oh, good one. That’s funny. Ha-ha-ha! B-But really, where is he?”

“Inverno,” Cadence said, giving him a sad look. “This isn’t a joke. Your dad is gone - for good.”

The unicorn stopped laughing. “.... What? No. N-No! That’s not true. It isn’t at all! He’s around here somewhere. M-Maybe I should go find him.” Inverno got up from his bed, where the couple could see that he looked a little too thin, and lacked a cutie mark. The young stallion got up from the bed and headed straight for the door, “Papa?” he called out. The Royals followed him out the door, “Papa? Where are you? I know you’re here! Papa?!”

“Inverno, kid,” Shining called out, “There’s no need to call him out. He’s not here anymore.”

“No,” the colt shook his head, looking increasingly frantic. “H-He’s here somewhere! I know it! Papa! Where are you hiding?”

“Kid, stop,” Shining grabbed the young unicorn’s foreleg, “He’s dead, we saw him with our own eyes. I’m sorry to say this, but Sombra isn’t hiding. He’s gone.”

“N-No!” Inverno shook his head, anger in his eyes, “You’re lying! He’s here! He has to be!”

Cadence stepped forward, an apologetic look on her face. “He’s telling the truth, Inverno. I saw it happen too. I’m sorry to say this… but your father is truly gone forever. He’s not coming back.”

“I DON’T BELIEVE YOU!” Inverno shouted, stomping his fore-hooves onto the floor. As soon as his hooves touched the crystal, there was a loud CRACK as the ground beneath the colt fractured. They saw that the unicorn’s eyes were glowing. “WHERE’S PAPA?!” he demanded.

Shining’s horn glowed, “Kid, you need to calm down.”

“WHERE IS HE?!” Inverno screamed, his eyes glowing like fire, his magic adding a few more cracks to the floor. Suddenly, and unexpectedly for Inverno, he was suddenly lifted off the ground. Looking around, he found himself in a solid bubble. He pounded, he bucked, and he screamed: “LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! PAPA! PAPA HELP! PAPA! PAPA!” Shining struggled to maintain the force field under the colt’s intense thrashing.

Inverno fought against his cage to exhaustion, even his cries to his father grew weaker. “Papa?” Out of breath, he slouched down, his eyes beginning to water. “Papa, don’t do this to me… Don’t leave me alone again.”

Prince Armor lowered the colt to the ground while his wife approached the young pony.

“Shining, I think you can let him go now,” Cadence said, and her husband dropped the force field around Inverno. The unicorn colt looked up at the Princess; he saw that her face held nothing but sympathy. Exhausted, and emotionally broken, Inverno stared back at her, tears flowing down his muzzle. Cadence hugged the tyrant’s son as she watched him come to grips with the truth.

“PAPA!” He whimpered as he cried the word into her withers.

Comments

[LegacyMine]

Nice story, keep up the good work.

[The Crimson Reaper]

Emotional kick to the balls... the steel.toed boots of feelz.