Bonus Ch - Cadence’s Ballad - Part 2
Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian
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Bonus chapter
Cadence’s Ballad
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part 2
After enjoying the air show, Twilight and her friends regrouped with the wonderbolts, updating Spitfire and Soarin about the recent events in Ponyville. With the order from Princess Luna to accompany her as an excuse, both officers agreed to join their visit to Fancy Pants’ residence tomorrow.
Cadence returned to the barracks to continue her training as a royal guard, still remaining tiny to ensure that her being an alicorn wouldn’t give her any advantages over the other recruits.
The next day the group visited Fancy Pants’ residence. To their surprise, even Blueblood was invited.
After the party ended, Spitfire proposed an idea to make a big trip to the north where she would show them her secret training ground, a place where she and Twilight almost got captured by two unicorns and two griffons.
Fancy Pants offered to organize their transportation.
The group stepped onto the snow, leaving the warmth of Fancy Pants' luxurious blimp while Cadence recognised her surroundings all too well. A huge space on the horizon where her proud empire once stood, now empty and covered by snow. She shed a tear of sadness as her old memories surfaced.
“Shining,” Cadence called, attracting his attention.
“What is it, are you cold?” Shining Armor asked as Cadence’s head was emerging from behind the scarf on his neck. Everypony in the group except two smallest ones were wearing some clothes to protect themselves from the cold.
“No, I am fine,” Cadence stated. I can withstand colder temperatures than that. She asked, “Are we really going to climb up the highest mountain in Equestria?”
“Yes, we are, at least this is what Spitfire told us.”
Cadence smiled. “I have been here before so I know the way. Would you mind if I visit a certain place on my own and join you later?”
“A certain place…? If you want, I can just take you there and…”
“No!” Cadence shouted, much to his surprise. “I… I want to go alone, it’s important to me, so please, don’t follow me there.”
Shining Armor sighed as he could see his own breath form a white smoke in front of his muzzle. “Are you sure you’ll be okay on your own?” He asked. “We didn’t bring anything warm for your size, and it’s extremely cold out here, outh...” He could feel a very strong kick to his neck. “Hey, what was that for?”
“Shining, you’re my very special somepony, and I appreciate your concern.” She gave him a quick tiny kiss on the neck. “But I don't want you to think of me as a defenseless filly,” Cadence stated angrily before delivering a punch with her tiny hoof. “Luna survived for a thousand years on the cold moon, and I managed to take care of myself for the past centuries, cold or not, I’ll be fine.”
“If you say so. Just don’t make us wait for too long.”
“I won’t,” Cadence remarked, and with one solid jump, she got herself from under the warm scarf and landed on the snow. She didn’t account for her tiny size though as the snow reached up to her neck. Without wasting time, Cadence spread her wings galloped as the huge walls of snow didn’t even slow her down, gaining momentum before flying towards her destination while cold blizzard obscured her vision.
The tiny alicorn looked back to see her friends as they showed signs of confusion, at least until Shining Armor started explaining why she was leaving. The image of leaving her friends caused another memory to surface, a memory of her own banishment.
After several minutes of bracing the storm as her wings became more stiff, she reached the place where her castle once stood. She landed gracefully, her bare-hooves barely sinking in the snow under her reduced weight. She lay down on her side, perching herself on the snow bed as the sad memories from more than a millennium ago surfaced, bringing her to tears.
Slowly, the snow started to cover her body and tears were freezing into ice, but she could care less.
After minutes of crying, Cadence waved her wings and shook snow from herself before looking around the wasteland that was once her proud empire, at subjects who were no longer there because of her failure. Now ignoring the cold freezing her tiny body, Cadence looked south where she walked badly beaten and hurt by Sombra, spared only to announce his birth and to strike fear into his enemies.
After taking a deep breath of cold air, she thought about Shining Armor. Am I really trying to love once again… has the pain from the past not taught me anything?
Around 1200 years ago.
***
Cadence knew that Celestia and Luna felt guilty for failing to save her kingdom, offering protection and care as an apology or simply out of pity.
Not feeling worthy of special treatment and afraid of taking political position as it would remind her of her past, she took a different approach, studying and preparing herself for the trip ahead.
For a few decades, Cadence studied diligently all fields of illusion magic until she felt prepared to merge into Equestria’s populace and start all over again as a common pony.
Being a crystal pony at heart, she disguised herself as closest to a crystal pony as she could, taking the shape of an earth pony.
As she moved into a small town away from the capital, Cadence could feel the cold snow under her hooves as it was winter. Adapted to cold, she didn’t wear any clothes the entire way.
“Excuse me, young lady.”
Cadence stopped and turned towards the source of the voice.
“You must be new in the town. Traveler I suppose?”
She nodded, only to see this bronze earth pony put a blanket on her cold body and point at a wooden building. “I work in the INN, please come with me and warm yourself.” She noticed he had a compass for a cutie mark.
“But, I…”
“Don’t worry about bits, first night is on the house,” the earth pony said energetically as Cadence nodded and followed.
Maybe I should have let Auntie Celestia or Luna give me some bits for the trip… no, I won’t be a burden, I will work to earn them, Cadence thought as she looked upon the kind earth pony’s face, noticing a small scar. “What had happened to your face, does it hurt?”
The stallion shook his head. “Not at all. I usually check more dangerous paths and escort travelers into safely. This scar is from an accident I had while climbing a mountain,” he said warmly. “My name’s Lead Way, what's yours?”
“Cad… Careline,” she said hesitantly. “My name is Careline, nice to meet you Lead Way, it’s a pleasure to be in the presence of such a kind and generous stallion like yourself.”
“Thanks.” Lead Way blushed at Cadence’s complement. “By the way, what brings a wonderful lady such as yourself to this empty hole at the end of the world?”
“I’m searching for a place that I could call home and a job,” she said, hiding her own blush behind her foreleg.
“Home and a job so close to the border? This place is somewhat dangerous with all those aggressive animals, earthquakes and diseases, not to mention lack of medical care and limited supplies. Are other towns too crowded or something?" He smiled brightly. "I think I have an idea. Safe and calm work for a cute lady like you.”
“T-thank you…” Cadence answered as her blush only deepen.
***
As time passed, Cadence got a job as a waitress. After years of working her gentle heart and positive attitude won the hearts of the staff she worked with, even the owners of the Inn started to treat her as family, and she was surrounded by many good friends.
While Cadence’s new life started off well, things didn’t go as smoothly as she had hoped. She had more than once lied to ponies who found fur on her sides that felt somewhat… feathery. Explaining why her head seemed a bit sharp for some reasons lead to more than a few awkward moments.
The biggest crisis came with an epidemic of unknown origin in the town which caused many deaths. She did her best to help ponies in their last hours of life, only to gain symptoms of the infection on herself, symptoms that even her basic illusions couldn’t hide.
Without enough of medical experience to extract the cure from her own blood to help the town, while the infection was lethal for the local ponies, she had no choice but to fake her own death. Thus, one night she cast a spell that allowed her heart to stop temporarily, yet her alicorn magic kept her alive. The next morning, the staff of the inn woke up to find “Careline” dead in her bed, assuming she had died peacefully in her sleep.
The next day, the staff brought a coffin and carefully levitated Cadence inside, resting her head on a pillow while placing flowers in her hooves. None dared to touch her. Taking the coffin, they silently walked towards the cemetery, a crowd behind them as those who saw the open coffin of the kind earth pony bowed their heads and wept.
Soon, they arrived at the cemetery, where they placed the coffin just above the grave that held her name on the tombstone. Nopony said anything until Lead Way stepped up first, staring down at her. “Careline… was the kindest pony I ever knew. By just looking at her was like seeing the sun shining in your face. And yet that kindness, killed her… If she hadn't tried to cheer up other ponies, she would never have died from the infection,” Lead Way said with anger in his voice as others tried to calm him down. “Why, why did you have to be so kind, so caring, why did you have to leave us just to cheer up some ponies who were going to die anyway!”
Lead Way broke his way towards the wooden coffin as he looked upon the dead earth pony, while other workers and his friends restrained him from touching her infected body. “I always… always… wanted to say,” his eyes watered, “that I love you dammit. Why did you have to leave me!?”
Cadence didn’t dare answer as it would make her lies and being an alicorn known, while his every word struck her with guilt like a dagger. All she could do was to continue what she started.
Once Lead Way was escorted away to let his emotions calm down, a female worker, a white pegasus with a leaf in a cup of tea as cutie mark faced the crowd and spoke in sadness. “She was, always a hard and diligent worker, always kind and cheerful to our customers. But at the same time she was more than just a friend, she was part of our family. She slept alongside us, spent time with us, cheered us when we were sad, while we cheered her…and I... I...” The pony ran away crying while another took her place and Cadence felt her heart ache at every word of her friends. She would be able to end their sadness so easily, and yet she didn’t have the courage to.
They all think... so highly of me... yet they're so wrong. I'm and always was nothing but a coward.
As time passed and many more ponies spoke, some placing flowers in the coffin before the priest spoke the last rites. “Although Careline was taken from us at a young age, we must never forget the kind soul we were all touched to know. May she find peace in the next life.”
The coffin soon closed and was buried deep underground. Cadence continued her act until she was sure all the ponies were gone. Only then did she drop her disguise and lit her horn as she made a hole in her coffin and dug herself out to the surface at night.
Once free, she levitated the earth back into the hole, covering any traces of her escape, slowly turning towards town while tears flew from her cheeks. “I’m sorry… especially to you, Lead Way… but I cannot let anypony know my secret.”
She wiped tears from her face and sighed. “It seems that it wasn’t meant to be a home for me after all.” She flew away from the town she got used to love, a place she had to abandon if she hoped for a chance to start anew.
Almost a hundred years had passed and Cadence “died” twice before she was forced to move on.
She was walking under a unicorn disguise as she hauled the cart with various cargo to sell, traveling in a convoy consisted of many earth ponies and pegasi, all travelers or traders.
She and her company started to pass a dangerous area called ‘the valley of mischief’ as it was a popular traveling route too far away from civilization to have any guards securing it.
It didn’t take many trips before a group of griffons and diamond dogs surrounded them from the air and from underground, knives and daggers in their paws and talons.
“I see you're new here, so let me state the rules,” a griffon said firmly as he aimed his dagger at a pony neck, the pony in question sweating from fear, causing the griffon to smile in amusement. “If we see something we like, we take it. We don’t have any bits for trade, but I’m sure I can convince you all to give us a big discount.” The griffon smirked devilishly. “And if we don’t find anything edible to feed our stomachs, we will find and eat a volunteer or two instead.”
A diamond dog walked closer to a pony who hauled some gems, knife ready to strike. “We take gems and nopony gets hurt. You not have gems and you dig them for us,” the diamond dog stated as he grabbed several gems and jewelry with his paw.
“As for me,” a pony in a mask said, getting attention from the travelers and traders, “a small pleasure in exchange for letting you pass.” He walked towards a certain pink unicorn.
Cadence took a step back as the masked pony walked towards her. She could see a diamond dog yelling at another mare for not having gems and capturing her while some griffons raged about a lack of food and that they will organise a pony barbecue.
Cadence sighed before shouting loudly, “Leave them alone!”
Griffons, diamond dogs and the masked pony glared at her and advanced. The pegasus and earth pony travelers tried to get in the way, screaming, “don’t hurt her”, but were pushed away violently. Every pony watched in horror as Cadence was surrounded.
“How about we leave them alone and eat you instead,” the griffon said while giving an annoyed glance upon her target, daggers swinging in her talons as if it was a toy.
“No, the loud pony have heart-shaped gem on her flank, she must know how to dig gems,” the diamond dog stated.
“How about a trade?” the masked pony offered. “Your gem mining service for diamond dogs and pleasure services for me, and I will convince my meat eating friends to let you live.”
“I have a better offer; how about you and your friends leave everypony, let them pass unharmed and let them keep their belongings?” Cadence stomped against the dry ground as dust and sand spread around it. “In return, I will let you go unharmed.”
Every pony looked at her as if she was insane as the bandits laughed hysterically.
“You either got guts or a death wish, not that it matters to me,” said the griffon as he prepared his dagger to strike.
“This pony is stupid, can a stupid pony even dig gems?” asked the diamond dog.
The masked pony sighed. “I tried, but it seems that I will need to use force to take what I want.” He grabbed Cadence’s foreleg, only to be kicked away, and the moment he recovered, a pink levitation field threw him away right into the stone formation on the roadside.
“I warned you, now time for consequences!” Cadence shouted while her horn flashed brightly, and the moment the griffons got in attack range, she levitated their weapons from their talons, as she did the same with diamond dogs’ knives.
“I don’t need knife to crush a pony,” the diamond dog said as he charged at Cadence, only for him to be pushed by levitation field into other dogs, and to everyone's surprise, a rope was levitated from one of the carts to restrain the attackers.
“I’m just borrowing it, I hope you won’t mind,” Cadence said cheerfully as she tied three diamond dogs together who now struggled against the rope, unable to free themselves.
Cadence’s attention on the diamond dogs was distracted as she felt sharp claws striking her back, and before she knew it, three griffons started trying to tear her apart, only for a few brave ponies to rush to her aid and tackle them.
Cadence slowly opened her eyes and shook her head, now recovered from the confusion, only to see two pegasi and two earth ponies engaging in combat against three griffons. Wasting no time, she separated them before levitating the griffons at a rock formation, their heads crashing against the stone. She did the same with the masked pony who tried to run, and soon, all the bandits were lying unconscious in a pile with stars circling above their heads.
It didn’t take long before everypony thanked Cadence for protecting them while admiring her raw power, though a few questioned her outstanding durability for lack of deep wounds. Cadence and the travelers escorted the criminals to the closest town where they were judged and put on a trial.
For the next few years, Cadence disguised as random travelers and started to walk by the valley of mischief, luring any pony, griffon, diamond dog or whoever hoped to earn easy money and making sure they end up behind bars. While she was afraid of being treated like royalty, participating in politics and revealing her secret to others, bandits were never a threat to her. Making a good use of her powers was the last thing she could do for her past mistakes... or to suppress her guilt.
After a while, she gained reputation as guardian of travelers. A decade later, the valley of mischief became safe again, as no one would dare to risk facing the newborn legend. Her help no longer needed, Cadance moved on to start a new life.
Cadence opened her eyes and shut down her memories as her body trembled from the cold, not yet adapted to the temperature after centuries away from the frozen north.
With one strong swing of her tiny leg, she kicked a big portion of the snow in front of her. “Stupid love! I can spread it all around me, I can remind ponies why they love one another so much. Yet, whenever I am in love with a pony, something always goes wrong!” she shouted in self-pity before she jumped as high as she could and stomped against the snow, kicking it in rage. “To think that the last pony I loved had to be...!”
The decades after Luna’s banishment were the hardest for Cadence as she tried to help wherever she could.
After Celestia recovered enough and learned how to control both the sun and the moon, she assured her that she didn’t need her help anymore.
Tired of politics and the moving of heavenly bodies, Cadence once again tried to start a new life, ending up in a war against the griffons where she helped as a messenger, guard, nurse or whoever she could under various disguises. Dying in action became a regular occurrence.
As time passed, Cadence ended up disguised as a unicorn trooper as it let her use magic, and fell in love with a charming and brave pegasus sergeant who fought by her side.
Half a year later as the war was finally over, Cadence was carefully trotting upward towards the top of a hill, invited to a stargazing by her special somepony.
“Silent Strike!” she shouted as she ran towards the grey pegasus sitting under a blossoming tree, who smiled back at her. Pink leaves were decorating the area. “How’s my favourite pegasus doing? You never told me you enjoyed stargazing.” Her ears drooped at the memory of Luna, who and whose night wasn’t appreciated when she needed it the most.
To Cadence’s confusion, Silent Strike shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s not the case, honey. I just wanted us to be in a place where no pony will interrupt or see us. I… I have something important to tell you.”
“Oh yes, I do!” Cadence shouted.
“You do… what?”
Cadence blushed. “I thought… nevermind. So, why are we here?”
“To drop our secrets, my dear.”
“Secrets?” Cadence said, taking a step back, “what secrets?”
Silent Strike placed forehooves on his sides and shook his head. “You don’t need to act anymore, I know that you’re hiding under a disguise.”
Cadence lost her balance as her pupils shrank. “W-what are you talking about?”
The stallion raised his eyebrow.
“But, how?”
He chuckled. “Oh, that was easy. I can recognize even such advanced illusion magic as I’m under a disguise myself.” He helped her stand. “Though in terms of disguises, you still have a lot of room for improvement your can make. I can give you some lessons.”
“Disguise, you?”
Cadence was caught off guard as the pony in front of her pressed his muzzle against hers, now looking deeply into her eyes.
“You’re the most understanding pony I’ve ever meet, merciful even to griffons who tried to kill you. I love you, truly!” Silent Strike said firmly as Cadence blushed. “If you really love me, you’ll love me for who I really am, and I’ll love you for who you really are. Let's us both drop our disguises and keep one another's secrets safe.”
I don’t understand, is he also hiding under an illusion? Well, if he knows my secret and hasn’t told any pony, I guess I owe him the benefit of the doubt, she thought before nodding. After looking around to make sure that they were alone, she lit her horn and revealed herself for who she was. The pony in front of her flinched and gasped.
“So you’re an alicorn, I didn’t expect that,” Silent Strike said firmly. The moment Cadence gave him a curious stare, he smiled and followed his special somepony's example, and to Cadence's surprise, a pony she loved was now a black pony-shaped creature with bug-like wings and a weird shaped horn. A few holes in his body clearly stood out.
“Who… what species are you?” Cadence asked curiously as she pointed towards the creature, who just laughed.
“What, no screams, threats or hostility, it’s far better than I expected,” Silent Strike said cheerfully as Cadence repeat her question. “Fine, fine, I’m a changeling.”
“Changeling? Can you tell me more about your species and why you did disguise yourself as a pony?” she asked. While finding out that her special somepony was never a pony to begin with was quite unexpected and a bit scary, he was still Silent Strike. Furthermore, she couldn't be mad when she was hiding her true nature from others as well.
Silent Strike nodded. “We’re creatures that needs magic to survive, yet we cannot generate it as ponies can,” he started his explanation, gesturing for Cadence to sit next to him. To his surprise, she did without hesitation or disgust.
“The only way for a changeling to attain it from other living creatures is either to steal it or trick our prey in giving it.”
“Trick? Prey?” Cadence asked. “Is that why you disguised yourself as a pony?” She held her hooves against her chest. “To steal magic from ponies… from me?”
“Correct,” he replied with a hint of guilt as his black and pointy ears drooped. “While we can forcefully take magic, this process isn’t efficient. A lot of it is wasted during the transfer, and the process is painful and dangerous for our prey.” He lowered his head and sighed. “However, it’s said that emotions stimulate magic. For us, positive emotions are like bridges we can use to attain it.”
The alicorn raised her foreleg defensively and furrowed her eyebrows. “Is this why you made me love you, to steal my magic through the most pure of emotions?” Her anger vanished quickly, now replaced by sadness as her ears drooped. “I understand that you need it to survive so I won’t hold a grudge, but wouldn’t just being friends with me enough to sustain you?” She turned her head to the side. “Betraying me like that… is just cruel.”
“Ponies have the greatest affinity for magic of all races we know, and we need it to survive. I’m glad you understand it.” Silent Strike smiled as he placed a forehoof on Cadence’s shoulder as the mare refused to meet his gaze. “But at least we don’t eat our prey like a predator, we just drain a safe amount of its magic, and besides,” he nuzzled the alicorn, much to her surprise, “not every changeling fakes his love.”
Cadence raised her head and looked him in the eyes. “Let me guess, if changelings love one another, they just transfer their magic, no one gains anything?”
Silent Strike nodded. “That’s right, but the reason why I drooped my disguise, and at the same time gave up on the best magic love buffet in the entire world,” he said as Cadence felt a bit awkward upon hearing this sentence, which was certainly not the most common line a stallion would say to a mare. “Is because I hope that you’re understanding enough to look past my appearance and my feeding habits and love me without my lies.” Cadence could see a hoof full of very small holes straightening towards her as she could see hope and trust in the changeling’s eyes. “You’re not a prey to me, nor a means to survive, but my special somepony. Will you give me a chance?”
She looked at the bug-pony hesitantly, but when the changeling was about to lower his head in defeat, he felt her hoof touching his and was greeted by a smile. “I will.” She embraced him tightly.
***
For the first weeks the relationship between the odd disguised pair went well, until one day Cadence woke up in a cocoon as a group of changelings hauled her to some unknown destination. She tried to struggle to free herself from the cocoon, but the green fluid inside kept her immobile.
“Release me this instant, where are you taking me!” she shouted, finding it odd that whatever fluid she was in, it let her breath and speak.
“We’re taking you to the hive,” one changeling drone said firmly.
“You’re full of magic to sustain us,” another drone added.
“Your talent is emotion magic, love magic, one we can easy extract,” a third changeling added.
“A perfect food source for our hive, our Queen will be satisfied,” the last changeling said.
Cadence narrowed her eyes with hate and disgust, a glare she would give her captors if the cocoon didn’t cover most of her vision. “You want my magic, be my guest,” she said firmly before lifting her horn, only for the blue aura to vanish as Cadence felt a surge of fear. Until now her magic kept her alive through many dangerous events, through torture, illness and being struck by weapons. She haven’t felt as powerless ever since her encounter with Sombra. “My… magic… what have you done with my magic?”
“A mere precaution, we wouldn’t want such a valuable food source to escape.”
Cadence glared angrily as her eyes watered. “Did Silent Strike tell you about me? Was he behind my capture?” After several seconds of silence, she screamed, "Silver Strike, you traitor, I trusted you!”
“We don’t know much about Silent Strike, he was just a changeling from another hive who fed on you,” one of changelings remarked as Cadence blinked a few times in confusion, the fluid in her eyes not bothering her in the least.
“That changeling and his Queen had to be foolish, keeping you all to themselves. Small and insignificant hives should serve their bigger allies if they want to keep their territory, not challenge us,” said the other changeling.
“You mean… he didn’t betrayed me?”
“I can feel your compassion towards him and how strong it is. Either he was really good at deception, or you’re very naive,” the changeling remarked, causing Cadence to frown. “Make no mistake, you were just a fo…”
“Leave her alone!”
Every changeling turned towards the source of voice while Cadence felt annoyed by her lack of ability to turn around.
“I said, Leave her alone!”
“S-Silent Strike?” Cadence said, recognizing his voice.
Cadence could hear something striking the cocoon, making a small hole in it, though she was still immobile.
“You dare to betray your allies? Step aside or you and your hive will face the rage of our Queen!”
“We may be your allies, but we aren’t your slaves. Now release Cadence!”
“You’ve had your chance, now she’s ours!”
“She doesn’t belong to anyone!”
Cadence could hear Silent Strike and other changelings started to argue, and a moment later she felt another magical projectile struck the cocoon. She could hear the noise of a raging battle. “Silent Strike!” She started to struggle, but the fluid and the green goo still kept her trapped despite the many holes in her cocoon. “Don’t you dare hurt him!” She tried to light her horn, sending more and more magic into it. “Work, please!”
Seconds later, she heard Silent Strike’s painful scream.
“Noooo!” Cadence shouted as she increased the channelling of her magic into her horn in her rage, until it flashed despite the fluid she was trapped in, tearing the cocoon to pieces.
She shook the fluid and cocoon fragments from herself and spread her wings before turning towards her very special changeling. Her pupils shrank upon seeing green blood escaping his injured body while sinking into the grass. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at the three changelings who were towering over the wounded one who responded by charging at her.
Being outnumbered and covered in green goo didn’t scare Cadence as she shot a beam of her magic, knocking out one of the attackers. Her eyes started emitting a green aura for a short moment. Her rear hooves struck a second one, pushing away the remaining two attackers. Punches and kicks followed until the way to her lover was clear. “Silent Strike, speak to me, please.” Noticing her special somechangeling opening his eyes and looking at her filled her with hope. “You… came for me…”
To Cadence’s horror, Silent Strike coughed up green blood. “It seems… that… p-pony and…”
“Please, save your strength,” Cadence said in desperation, cursing herself for not learning more advanced healing spells during the war against the griffons, and the idea struck her. “Changelings use ponies’ love to eat magic, and magic to heal themselves, please, eat mine and survive, please!”
“Too late…” Silent Strike said as he coughed more green blood. “Seems that our love… was not meant to be.”
Cadence held him tightly in her hooves, tears falling uncontrollably from her face onto the changeling’s chin. He looked at her, eyes slowly closing as he placed his hoof on her face, caressing it. “When I met you... you were so lonely... I could taste your pain... you’ve... you’ve suffered so much.”
“Silent...” muttered Cadence, holding his hoof.
“Cadence, my love, until I met you...” he sighed, a smile slowly forming. “I never thought a changeling and a pony could... could be together without deception... but now I see... that we can... if only...” His eyes widened as he coughed again.
“Please! Don’t die! I love you, Silent Strike. Please, don’t leave me!” begged Cadence, unable to stop the tears from falling onto his face. She leaned down and kissed him, he returned it and for what seemed like an eternity, they held their lips together as well as their hearts.
Finally, Silent Strike retreated as his eyelids began to lower themselves. “This is it... goodbye Cadence, my love... I...love.... you....’
His hoof went limp in her grip and he breathed his last. Cadence shook him, kissed him, shouted his name but there was nothing she could do. She had lost another loved one. Why... why must I suffer like this every time I fall in love. She gently picked her lover up and flew far away towards the mountains.
She didn’t stop flying as she remembered all the times Silent Strike made her smile. She also remembered all her past loves and how she had to leave them too. In her heart, she vowed never to love again, never to suffer the pain of heartbreak.
Gently, she touched the ground in an isolated area of the mountains and placed Silent Strike on it. With her bare-hooves she began to dig a grave, not stopping until it was done. She then placed him inside, put some flowers she found in his hooves, and looked upon his peaceful expression one more time.
He looks so happy… she thought, caressing his cheek. If only I could join you… you and everypony else I loved….
A thought then came to Cadence. Why can’t I join you? What do I have to live for anymore? My kingdom is gone, as well as my friends and family. I’m a burden to Celestia, I failed to help Luna, and living has only caused me more pain. Death… death would solve everything.
With a final resolve, she kissed Silent on the forehead and gave a small smile. “Don’t worry, my love. I will soon join you.” She filled his grave before breaking off a piece of bark from a tree and used her magic to make a tombstone:
Here lies Silent Strike
Proof that changelings and ponies can love each other
Rest in Peace
Satisfied, she bowed her head and soon headed to the edge of the mountain, sharp rocks awaiting her. Nervously, she made it to the edge before closing her eyes and discharging her magic to a point of exhaustion. So this is it… she thought as she slowly prepared herself. It’s time… farewell world…
With a deep breath she jumped, letting herself fall down towards the rocks. She closed her eyes, letting the wind whip across her face. Her mind flashed back to home, the Crystal Empire, her subjects, Celestia and Luna, all the ponies she came to love and care for. She could see each of them, they were shouting something. It was… it was.
“STOP!” cried Cadence in tears as she pulled up at the last second. She skid across the ground, kicking up dirt as she lowered her head in shame. “What am I doing… what am I doing! I’m sorry… I’m so sorry!” She continued to cry until sunrise.
Cadence opened her eyes as she recovered from yet another painful memory, her vision blurred by the coat of snow. She dug herself out of it while ending her memory-trip.
After shaking her very cold body from the snow, she murmured to herself, “After that day… I swore to never love ever again… to never let a special somepony in my life… Everypony I loved, hurt me or I hurt them in the end.” She began to cry again as images of Shining Armor flashed in her mind. “Twilight was the most kind and cheerful mare I ever took care of… her family was so kind and understanding… and Shining Armor, I love him so much, and he loves me… but will I once again end up hurt…? Or will I end up hurting him?”
Cadence slammed her tiny hoof against the snow. “Will our love be worth the pain once he passes away while I live on?” she murmured to herself in sadness before being levitated gently. Cadence looked around in surprise, only to see the giant face of Shining Armor looking at her in concern, and a moment later his scarf surrounded her cold body, enveloping it tightly. She glared into his big eyes in anger. “I asked you not to follow me you big dumb stallion! Can’t you even do that?”
“Cadence,” Shining Armor said calmly. “I love you, I couldn’t leave you alone when you're hurting.”
Cadence wanted to say something, but found the words stuck in her throat as she was gently placed on the back of her special somepony while a warm scarf heated up her frozen body like a blanket. “We shouldn’t keep the others waiting. We’re here to have fun, cheer up.”
Cadence didn’t say a word as she thought deeply, Maybe the pain after he passes away will be bad… maybe something will go wrong again, but if what we feel to each other is indeed true love… maybe it is worth that pain. She nuzzled Shining Armor on the neck while hiding under his scarf. She closed her eyes and smiled, now napping on her very chosen stallion, but ready to fight the fate alongside the pony she loved.
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7669588
Part 2 of Cadence's ballad is out, so have fun with it and don't forget to comment. Unless you're looking forward to Luna's fun part 2, in which case, sorry for disappointing you.
good chapter made me kind of sad near the end
Hooray for 100K.
Good chapter, but dont like waiting this long for it.
Seeing this update always puts a smile on my face. Though it does make me wonder how Cadence's knowledge of Changelings will affect the wedding.
So Cadance had relationship with changeling? ...Interesting!
Looking forward for the wedding days, must be several plot twists there.
*Like*
*Like*
*LikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikemash*
7680587
Thanks. I tried to show up that Cadence's pass wasn't all fun and good. I tried to show that Cadence had struggles of her own to overcome, not to mention her flaw that prevented her to simply reveal her true nature to those she cared about.
7680621
Maybe I reached over 100k words, but the number of likes is rather low when compared to prequels. I fear this story isn't as good as the previous ones.
7680690
Sorry, but I upload with editing speed of my editors. Can't really rush things. Though you can always check up my Fluttershy thestral series to pass the time.
7680814
7681438
I can easily say that it will affect her quite a lot. Though, to be fair, Cadence showed knowledge about changeling once she was rescued, so she either encountered them before, or Chrysalis told her a bit about herself and her kind after capturing her.
7681608
Thanks.
What part of Cadence's backstory made you so excited if I may ask? (I bet it was the changeling/Cadence ship)
7681819 To be honest, I'm split when it comes to Cadance and her life. Specifically alicornimortality, whether or not it would extend to her
I liked your whole take on it though
7681819 Huh, I don't remember that. Eh, it's been a while. Out of curiosity, will you be doing Equestria Girls? Cause I really want to see how a tiny Twilight would handle that.
7682476
I pass on Equestria girls. While movie 2 and 3 are way better than the first one, I'm not the biggest fan of humanized ponies. Not to mention that there's way too much stuff to work with as it is.
7682625 Awww.
Oh well, can't win em all. I can just headcanon that she went back to normal size for that part.
Most chapters i feel like i am reading Georg's writing.
This chapter felt like it was written by SuperTrampoline.
7681819
Don't worry about it. Sequels tend to have lower unique views and likes. People miss the start or lose interest after reading the first story. It's a good story.
7681951 unfortunately we don't know how alicorns are immortal to begin with. The only theory I have is the tree of harmony. While looking at it you can celestia and lunas cutie marks on them hence their connection. By that logic it extends not just to twilight but rd, aj, rarity, fluttershy, and pinkie as well because they all have a connection to the elements.
But if you take the tree out of the equation then that means all alicorn are immortal to include flurry heart. Don't ask me how that works. That being said then how does discord fit in being apparently as timeless as the royal sisters.
So unless we have cannon confirmation then we can only guess. So id say this representation is as accurate as any other.
7683439
Georg rarely assists me by suggesting small improvements to some scenes in my story, though I never heard of "SuperTrampoline", nor I know if it is a good thing for this chapter or a bad thing?
7684439
In my story, tree of harmony is responsible for giving Celestia and Luna the Elements to defeat Discord, as well as give them enough powers to maintain balance between night and day cicle, as well as resistance to Discord's magic (after Discord scattered the Elements first time and took Celestia's horn and Luna's wings, the Elements turned them into alicorns a few years later and provided resistance to his magic so he wouldn't be able to pull the same trick on them again).
As for so called immortality, alicorns aren't exactly immortal. Their lifespan is just extremely long as tree of harmony and the Elements needed champions who would maintain harmony and keep Discord in check for millennia. Yet, there's a limit to their lifespan.
This is a possibility. After all, the Elements gave main 6 more than one type of magic in my story, so extended lifespan is a possibility as well. How much though is up to debate.
I have special plans for him, don't worry. Since Discord and Royal Sisters aren't exactly expanded upon in MLP, I put my own interpretations on them. Though as for Flurry Heart, in my story alicorns aren't born, so expect some changes in season 6 timeline. (If we ever get there that is).
7684574 I think this is him?
https://www.fimfiction.net/user/Super+Trampoline
7684439 Show writer did confirm Twilight wouldn't outlive the other 5
7684905
Is "show writer" the show's writer or an avatar for someone? If the show's writer said so then great there's there's the confirmation and I myself would very much like to know when he said that, cuz its the first i've heard of it.
7684574 it's cool commander like I said unless the cannon gives something that contradicts it then pretty much all of it is up to interpretation. And according to spirit guide "show writer" (haven't found out if it's the show's writer or someone named show writer) it was confirmed twilight would not out live her friends though how we interpret that as they all have the increased lifespan or none of them is again up to debate.
7685016 Megan McCarthy
Twilight won't outlive her friends
7687056
Thank you for that, I just couldn't tell if you were referencing the actual writer of the show someone's screen name. And yes i've heard morons argue "well this random person said this" people seem to get more retarded every year.
it was cute, gave good backstory, so it was worth it. hell, it was worth reading just for shining/cadence snuggles. me wants more snuggles for them! she's so cute like this!
CommanderX5-Chan! I want to do what's in this gif all night with you!
giant.gfycat.com/AdvancedGroundedKusimanse.gif
Cadence's Ballad part 2... liquid pride, everypony, liquid pride.
7713104
Gallons of it.
OK i can say that to this point the story is ok.
but now i find this chapter and i can say this chapter is something to be vary proud of.
this is a vary good chapter it hits all the feelings just right.
Foreshadowing?
A decade later, once the valley of mischief became safe again (as no one would dare to risk facing the newborn legend), she moved on to start a new life.
--OR--
A decade later, the valley of mischief became safe again, as no one would dare to risk facing the newborn legend. Her help no longer needed, Cadance moved on to start a new life.
Chrysalis is soooooo screwed if that day happens
And this right here is why becoming an Alicorn is NOT a glorious thing.
10654852
It has downsides, but also its perks. One shouldn't look at one without the other.
Did anyone else think of This song when reading both of these chapters