Someone Else's Sun

by LysanderasD

Chapter 2: Cadenza

Someone Else's Sun

A My Little Pony fanfic by LysanderasD

Chapter 2: Cadenza

Cadance woke to the gentle touch of a hoof on her shoulder.

On reflex she attempted to roll away. The soft surface on which she found herself yielded more than she expected, and she managed a full rotation onto her stomach before she regained stability and attempted to crawl further away, eyes shut tight. Her whole body protested, especially her wings, and the scars on her back throbbed as her feathered appendages twitched. Only after a long silence, with her breath coming shallowly and her heart racing, did she open her eyes. When her eyes were finally able to process what she was seeing, she let out a great sigh.

Never had she thought she would be relieved to wake up and not see the Crystal Palace. Instead she found herself in a tent, the fabric a deep blue that reminded her of the night sky. She had been resting on a great pile of pillows and blankets, looking as though they’d all been jumbled together in a hurry. Some of them had been taken from the Palace, though she noticed none of her personal effects among them. The whole place put her vaguely in mind of Auntie Luna after a bad da—

Cadance closed her eyes as a wave of nausea passed through her.

“Are you alright, milady? I, I’m very sorry for disturbing your rest, it’s simply…”

The stallion’s voice trailed off as she opened her eyes again and looked at him. She could tell at a glance that he was a timid sort, with a long yellow mane that covered part of his sky-blue snout and hid an eye from view. He had the earnest look of a doctor checking in on his patient.

“It’s good to see you awake at last, milady. When they brought you back to camp…” He shuddered. “The menders have done their best, but those scars… I’m sorry.”

Cadance nodded, resting her head on her forehooves.

“But you don’t want to hear about that… honestly, I’m sure you’re very confused. My name is River Source, Mender Magus in service to Lord Winter. And you, of course, are, um, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire, yes?”

She nodded.

“My word, we haven’t had a princess in ages. I’m afraid things have… changed while you were…”

The unicorn visibly bit his tongue. Cadance found herself admiring his discretion; while normally she hated ponies walking on eggshells around her, given the circumstances and the fact that her body still felt like it had been trampled by a hydra, the fact that this stallion was taking the time to choose his words carefully felt like a great boon.

“But now isn’t the time for a history lesson. Princess, do you think you can stand?”

The alicorn looked back at a hind leg, then back to River. He nodded. “It should all be fixed, yes, but this is just to… to be sure, you understand. I don’t know how long you were kept down there, but we’ve been able to reverse a lot of the damage. Of course you’ll need to eat well and recover your strength, but, ah, alicorns like yourself are quite, eh, resilient, I see.”

She’d been struggling to her hooves as he’d been talking, and as he finished she took a few shaky steps forward and off of the mess of cushions.

“I hope you’ll pardon the, eh, less than ideal resting area, your highness. For a time you were quite fitful until we managed to secure a dreamwalker to patrol your area.” He spotted her blank look and furrowed his eyebrows. “Ah, yes, dreamwalker, I suppose that would be new to you as well…”

He clicked his tongue, hesitating as he brought his hoof up toward her muzzle and she flinched. “I apologize,” River said, bowing deeply. “I did not consider your situation and I acted on reflex.”

Cadence looked down at him, biting her lip, before gesturing to let him know he could rise. He did so, looking at her without meeting her eyes.

“Princess Cadenza, as a physician it is my solemn vow to never knowingly inflict suffering on my charges. I humbly request permission to conduct a brief examination. On my honor as a mender, you will come to no harm. Please,” he requested gently, drawing a pillow from the pile with his magic, “sit. I’d like to conduct a very brief examination, just to see how well your wounds are healing.”

She sat, but she couldn’t help but draw her head away as his hoof approached again. At his barely-suppressed grimace, she slowly brought her head forward again.

River Source’s touch was like the faintest breeze on a still day. It reminded her of Cloudsdale—

This time she actually retched. The unicorn retreated slightly. “Princess?”

Her eyes screwed shut and she began to tremble again, drawing shallow breaths until the sickness subsided. As the examination resumed, she turned inward, throwing up the same mental shells that had kept her sane through the dark times. She was vaguely aware of questions, and chose not to answer them. Before she was really aware that River was done, she was already being gently guided back to the mound of pillows.

---

She bubbled back up from dreamless sleep to the sound of voices. She couldn’t make out the words, and honestly felt that she didn’t want to; they were intruding on her rest, and she was so tired…

One of them she eventually picked out as belonging to River Source. The other voice…

It was familiar in a visceral way, the kind of familiarity that took root in her mind and refused to give way. It was like something she ought to know; yet that deep timbre, the way the sound eased its way into her consciousness… It carried a certain intensity, a certain implicit forthrightness, and though it was clearly the voice of a stallion it reminded her for all the world of Auntie Luna.

The fear of the lash that did not come was what finally woke her, and she sat up suddenly, ready to beg for mercy before the biting magic came. The soft warmth of the pillows beneath her drew her out of that fleeting past, and she became aware of a slight but chilling breeze through the tent flaps, through which the voices had been coming as she slept.

River’s head parted the flaps, his expression brightening when he noticed her sitting up. “Your Highness, you’ve awoken.”

He withdrew for a moment and she heard him add “Please pardon me momentarily, my lord,” before entering the tent fully. “How do you feel? Any outstanding aches or pains?”

Cadence shook her head. River gave her an odd look.

“Princess… forgive my bluntness, but… can you speak?”

Despite herself, the look she gave him was slightly cold. He seemed to get the hint, and lowered his head. “Forgive my lack of tact, Princess, I overstepped my bounds. I simply assumed that it was a curse, and with the defeat of the Da… of our, em, opponent, it would have lifted itself. Our examinations produced nothing, but…”

“Doctor Source,” the deep voice outside the tent rumbled. “I would like a chance to speak to your charge.”

“Y-yes, of course, milord,” said the unicorn. “I simply—that is to say, she has been out of the loop for so long—”

“Doctor,” said the voice again, in the sort of voice a parent might use when they began to reach the edge of their patience. “I am coming in.”

“Yes, milord,” said River, turning to the tent’s flaps and bowing. Cadance’s attention was already there, and she waited to see who would come through the door.

It was an alicorn, which at once terrified her and absolutely failed to surprise her. What did surprise her was how large he was—easily Celestia’s height, possibly even more. She had never encountered a male alicorn; had not even known they were possible. But she had been surrounded by the impossible for a long time—even if her mind now refused to dwell on much of it.

The alicorn reminded her of Aunt Luna, at least superficially; he had the same midnight-blue coat, though his eyes were closer to lavender than teal and he lacked her trademarked ethereal mane. He had the look of a warrior, and though he appeared calm and professional, the way his cerulean mane sat suggested he had, until recently, been wearing a helmet. As it was, he was wearing something not unlike royal regalia—shoes and peytral in white-silver, but his head was bare.

He was sizing her up the way she was sizing him, and she knew it. She felt his eyes lingering on her scars and her cheeks burned as she ruffled her wings. Shameful. His mouth opened slightly as though he were drawn from his thoughts.

“Forgive me, Princess,” he said, crossing a foreleg over his chest and bowing his head deeply. “I realize this must feel an invasion of privacy by a stranger. I did not consider my position, or yours, and I apologize.”

The silence that followed was awkward. She watched him, not afraid to hide her suspicion. River Source cleared his throat. “Milord, she… she cannot speak.”

The alicorn’s brow furrowed as he looked back up at her. She managed to give him a shrug.

“I see,” he said, finally. “Well. Firstly, you must be hungry—I will have food brought at once.” River pushed his way outside the tent. “Secondly… well, you surely have many questions, and I would like to do my best to answer them.”

Cadance leaned slightly to try and see past him. The gap in the tent flaps betrayed nothing but bright light, and she winced. His head followed her gaze. He turned his head back to her, concerned, before nodding. “Can you walk, Your Highness?”

He held out a hoof. She took it, and very carefully pulled herself up onto all fours. She wavered a little bit, gritting her teeth, before she found her balance. The alicorn seemed unconvinced, but did not stop her. He turned to open the flap. Cadance shielded her eyes, but still found herself tearing up as the brightness filled the tent, and it took her a minute of blinking and rubbing at her eyes before she could bring herself to move out into the open air.

She shivered, removed from the warmth of the tent. It took her another moment to parse her surroundings. It was overcast, but the ground was covered in a dusting of snow that reflected what light there was. In every direction sprung wave after wave of tents, in various shapes and sizes and colors, with ponies she could only assume were guards, or—

Soldiers. Of course. A military camp. Where else would she be? Certainly not the Empire.

As from a great distance, she heard the alicorn bark an order, and after a moment she found something warm and heavy laid across her back. Drawn back into herself, she looked down to see she’d been wrapped in a cloak. The soldier responsible, an earth pony mare, gave a brief salute to both her and the alicorn before withdrawing. Cadance looked back to him again. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and careful.

“What I need to tell you will be difficult. I do not wish to shock or scare you, but there are certain facts you must be made aware of before we move on.” He wasn’t looking at her, but into the distance, eyes focused on nothing. Cadance furrowed her brow and opened her mouth, but could not give him a reply. He continued.

“My name is Artemis,” he said, meeting her gaze. “I am called Lord Winter. I do not know how long it appeared to be for you, but by our estimations, the Crystal Empire vanished for nigh-on a thousand years, only reappearing around four years ago. From the perspective of the outside world, you have missed over a millennium—and the Equestria you knew is no more.”

---

She ought to have been shocked, appalled—but she was more surprised to find out that she wasn’t. Time had had no meaning in the void—her memory of the last forever was filled with a haze of pain and agony and turmoil and worry and loneliness—and she found, coming out on the other side of it, that having the world change entirely in her absence was not entirely unwelcome. Returning to her life—or what would remain of her life, her kingdom her people—would have been difficult. Returning to Shining Armor, or to Celestia or Luna, or to Twilight… The thought almost sickened her.

She winced again, reflexively, waiting for the pain that did not come. Across the table from her, the Lord Winter hesitated.

“Your Highness?”

Her magic—shaky, uncertain, but still hers—grabbed the quill and parchment that had been laid beside her for her use, while her hooves and mouth were occupied with food. She wrote, What happened to the princesses? The other ones.

His lips thinned. “We… that is to say, our records of that time are sparse at best. We do know that shortly following the disappearance of the Crystal Empire, Princesses Celestia and Luna vanished, for reasons and to parts unknown. After no small amount of worldwide panic, it was found that the Sun and the Moon continued on their paths, suggesting that, wherever they were, the Princesses at least maintained control of the celestial spheres.”

She wrote, And Princess Twilight?

He looked confused. “...Who? We have no record of a Princess Twilight.”

Now her blood ran cold, and her magic faltered, dropping the quill. Artemis stood, noticing her distress, but, with some difficulty, she managed to bring a hoof to her chest and breathe in, then out, then in, then out…

“Are you alright, Your Highness?” At her confirmation, he sat back down. “It has been a difficult time for you,” he said, nodding. “I am not surprised your memories are somewhat jumbled.”

That stung, and she did not manage to hide it from her eyes. He had the dignity to look abashed.

“Or,” he admitted, “just as likely, our records are incorrect. There may very well have been a Princess Twilight. Even after the situation of Day and Night was resolved, there was no end to the distress of Equestria’s citizens, who had, for no short amount of time, always had a princess to look up to. Without proper moderation, the distress escalated to infighting, infighting to a schism, and schism to civil war. Much of Equestria was reshaped, and…” He hesitated. “As a political body, it did not survive. An uneasy peace fell over the Equestria that was—until lines were drawn, new countries created, and the old ways left behind. And unfortunately, just what caused the Empire to vanish in the first place is one of history’s greatest unsolved mysteries.”

He took a deep breath. “Where you sit now is—or, more aptly, was, land claimed in the name of the Great Noble House of Winter, which claims Mount Canter, and much of the north and east of what was once Equestria proper. The Great Noble House of Summer owns the south and the west, and much of what you might remember as the Badlands. Strictly speaking, the Frozen North is my land—but perhaps it is better to say it belongs to you, or will belong to you when the war is formally resolved. We do not know Summer’s position on your reclamation of the Empire and its land, but for myself and my subjects, know that you are welcome to take back what is yours...” Artemis paused. “...Eventually.”

Some part of Cadance wanted to protest (These are my ponies, not yours!), but she saw the logic. She certainly wasn’t in a position to retake her throne now, and she was self-aware enough to realize it. Wounded, starved, and scarred, she…

She bit her lip, and wrote, What about my ponies?

Artemis hesitated again. With a slight shock she realized she could tell why—her deep empathy, her talent, beginning to resurface. He did not want to hurt her, genuinely, and he knew the answer would do so. She steeled herself.

“The Dark Lord,” began Lord Winter, slowly, carefully choosing each word, “had… tools, to bend ponies to his will. To make puppets, and slaves, prisoners of mind and body. In the early days of the war we did not realize that we were fighting, for all intents and purposes, civilians…”

Cadance’s heart, already fragile, began to crack along the seams.

“...and even after we did, in many cases, there was no choice but to resort to… violent methods,” he said, ears pinned back. “The remaining population of Crystal Ponies is, as you might imagine, scared, scarred, confused… and diminished. I believe it would do their hearts good to see you, when you are prepared—but not today, and not in any permanent sense, until both they and you are in a position to live independently again.”

She wrote, with some difficulty, And the Crystal Heart?

She knew before he began that it was yet more bad news. She began to shake as he opened his mouth. “We have records of its existence—mostly as myth, or legend, like the Empire itself… but we have seen and felt no trace of it since we reached the capital.”

She realized, quite suddenly, that she had been coasting this far on shock, had not really, truly considered her position or her own self, ignoring it, blocking the pain. But now it was rushing back, memories and feelings, echoes of ignored pain, emotions, a tidal wave of pressure.

An image: A distant pale figure, cloaked in red and black, barking orders. A sensation: burning pain in her wings, along her body, in her very soul, her heart and her self breaking—

The world swam. Artemis leaped to his hooves. Distantly, she heard “Your Highness? Princess Cadenza! … Medic!”

---

She did not dream—she remembered, and her body hurt.

Ser, I need to know. What did you do to her?

She remembered this: The takeover was sudden and without warning. She had understood—indeed, by all accounts it had been proven fact both scientific and arcane—that Sombra had been utterly annihilated by her attack. There was no trace of him, and his long-overdue death broke the remnants of his curse, of his hold, over the Empire.

Torture. Agony. Ruination of body and soul. The Dark Lord hated, and he hated her most of all.

She remembered this: When the sky darkened suddenly on an otherwise brilliant summer day, however, the cause was unmistakable. This was no hurricane, such as the Storm King might have wrought, no swarm of invaders led by a vengeful changeling queen—this was blackness, sheer darkness, coating the Empire in palpable malice and fear.

You so casually express your cruelty, ser knight.

She remembered this: She never saw Sombra, was never given the chance to see Sombra. Not during the takeover. She saw, instead, ponies clad in ebon armor from hoof to horn, acting as his enforcers. Faceless, maneless, markless—noponies, knights obscured by darkness. They stripped her of her crown and of her throne, and locked her in the deep and the dark, the cold stone of the dungeon where the crystals did not shine, and there they took from her everything she had.

In the moment, I took pride in it. Now her ruination is my shame. She will hate me, when she sees me. She will not have emerged unchanged.

She remembered this: A blur of pain, lacerations, broken bones and plucked wings. She remembered fear and despair, a neverending surge of nightmares, of things that she knew could not be but could not deny, of isolation, of time standing still, an eternity of loneliness.

I trust I do not need to tell you that that sort of treatment of prisoners is unacceptable. Even him.

She remembered this: The fog of pain was lifted, and light shone upon her for the first time in uncountable years. Was it summer? She had forgotten. Maybe it didn’t matter. Ponies, actual ponies, finding her and freeing her. A flash of rainbow, a sensation of insistent speed. The quiet darkness of rest.

She is my only concern now. Her safety and recovery. Though she is silent, and cannot sing, she matters, Lord Winter—more than you could possibly know.

She remembered this: Her name was Mi Amore Cadenza. She had a loving husband named Shining Armor, and a brilliant sister in law, Twilight Sparkle. She had two loving aunts in Celestia and Luna. She was originally a pegasus from Cloudsdale. Her special talent was empathy, particularly love.

If she is willing, I will entrust her protection to you. But by the way you speak, this is not likely.

She remembered this: None of it mattered any more. Everything was gone. Everything was gone…

If I must protect her from the darkness, then so be it.

Author's Note:

For all, what, four of you still waiting for updates for this, here you go.

Edits are being made to bring all of this work's chapters in line with this one; a blog post will be put up eventually with more details regarding its original presentation.

Thank you for reading, and I appreciate your feedback.

Comments

[Ice Star]

This had a lot of promise. Is there any status on that blog?

[ColdGoldLazarus]

Oh my, this gives a lot more context, thankfully, but there's still so many questions. Now on to the Luna chapter!