Shadows of My Past

by Calligraphy Legends

~Part 11: Endings~

Over the next couple of weeks, Celestia was busy planning a coronation for the new princess. She was trying to push it off though, for a few reasons. 1) She wanted Cadence to make up with her parents first. 2) Cadence wasn’t even trying to make friends, she needed to live life like the young mare she was. She wasn’t even a full grown mare yet, just an adolescent. She needed to spend some time beyond the castle walls. Then, Celestia got an idea to deal with the second reason.

“Cadence, could we talk?” Celestia said, knocking softly on her door.

“Of course,” Cadence said, magically opening her door. She had been advancing very well in her studies.

“I need to ask a favor.”

“What is it?” Cadence slipped her mane into a ponytail, replacing her hairbrush on her vanity. The room was fully furnished and had a cyan and purple theme to it. However, Cadence had no personal decor.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I recently took on a new prodigy.”

“Yes, a filly named Twilight Sparkle.”

“Precisely, she has a lot of magic and needs to be supervised. Her brother used to watch her, but now he’s entering training to be a royal guard. I need somepony I can trust to watch her, will you?”

“B-but I’m still learning magic myself.”

“I know you are, but I also know that you’re great with fillies. Please, I need somepony who isn’t in it just to try and get close to me. Would you please at least go in for an interview with them? She is really very sweet.”

Cadence silently thought on it. She used to love foal sitting back home in Reinville, she was starting to miss it. And Celestia needed somepony she trusted, this meant that she trusted her.

“Alright,” she answered.

When Cadence went in for the interview, Twilight Velvet and Night Light really liked her. She had prior experience and Celestia’s approval.

“We’d love for you to watch her,” Twilight Velvet said.

“However, it’s ultimately up to Twilight,” Night Light added.

Twilight Velvet retrieved her daughter from the next room. The young unicorn was tightly hugging a Starswirl the Bearded spell book. Her purple eyes looked up at Cadence with deep curiosity. She gently set down the book with a levitation spell and walked up to the couch the pink alicorn sat on.

“Hello, I’m Cadence,” Cadence smiled gently at the small filly.

Twilight climbed up the couch, pulling one leg up at a time. Cadence was about to help when Night Light motioned not to. Her parents knew all too well that it was better to let her do it on her own. Twilight caught her breath once she was up on the couch, she couldn't have been more than five or six.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle,” she said in a matter of fact tone. “I require someone to look after and care for me when Mommy, Daddy, and Shiny are out. What makes you a good candidate?”

“Well,” Cadence thought for a moment, taken aback by the filly. Most of the young ponies she cared for just wanted somepony to play with. “I have lots of experience and I promise to always listen to your thoughts and opinions.”

“Do you follow all the rules?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Will you ground me if the need arises?”

“I don’t see how it ever could, and I wouldn’t want to, but I suppose if I had to… Yes.”

Twilight looked over to her parents and smiled, “She’s perfect.”

---

One evening on her way back from foal sitting, a messenger flew up to her and passed her an envelope. She waited until she got back to the castle to read it.

Cadence,

I know you’re mad at us, and you have every right to be. But your mother is sick, and she isn’t getting better. I don’t know how much longer before- Listen, just please come home. If nothing else, to say goodbye.
-Dad

Cadence read it over, though it was a bit hard with the teardrop stains and ink marks. Her mother, no. Not her mother. Cora, the mare who raised her, was sick. She considered leaving, but she couldn't. She had to look after Twilight. Twilight needed her.

Cadence crumbled it up as she walked down the hall, when Celestia suddenly opened her door.

“Cadence, what is that?” Celestia asked.

“Nothing,” she lied.

“How is Twilight?”

“She is doing great, we had a picnic today.”

“That’s good, yesterday she came to me because, well, some bullies had been picking on her again. I felt so bad, I was hoping she would be feeling better today.”

“Celestia,” Cadence paused for a moment in thought, “do you really care for Twilight?”

“Of course I do.”

“But, she’s not your daughter…”

“That doesn’t mean I love the young filly any less.”

Cadence, not sure what to say, tossed the crumpled message into a nearby waste basket and continued to her room. What she didn’t see was Celestia pull it out and read it.

The next day, when Cadence arrived at Twilight’s house, she was surprised to find Princess Celestia there. Sitting in the kitchen having tea with Twilight, Smartypants, Twilight’s Clover the Clever plushie, and Sir Snuggles.

“Princess?” Cadence gaped.

“Cadence, I’ll be watching Twilight today,” Celestia said.

“B-but I-” she began.

“It’s okay, Cadence,” Twilight said. “Go visit your parents.”

Cadence shot Celestia a look. And Celestia shot back a look that could level a field of enemies.

“But first,” Twilight lowered herself from her chair and trotted up to her. “Sunshine, sunshine-Cadence!”

“Sorry,” she quickly apologized, breaking away from her silent argument with the princess.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” The two greeted each other. Cadence wasn’t sure where the rhyme came from, it was lodged from something in her distant memories. The ones she couldn’t quite make out.

Cadence started rattling off instructions to the princess on how to care for the filly.

“Cadence, I am perfectly capable of looking after Twilight,” Celestia reminded her. “Go.”

Cadence flew over Equestria as fast as she could. She didn’t know why, but something in her heart was telling her she didn’t have much time. She hit a storm going past Neighagra Falls, spraining her wing in the process. Landing on the puddled ground she took a deep breath. Focusing all of her strength and energy, she tried a teleportation spell. She hadn’t gone very far yet, only a couple feet, but she had to get to Reinville.

She closed her eyes, felt herself being swept away in the rain, and then nothing but warm air on her cheek. She stood outside of her home. She quietly went inside and upstairs to her parents old room.

As she silently looked in, it was like every grudge she was holding slipped away.

Pear Slice was fast asleep, his face pressed into the comforter as he leaned on the bed. Cora was also asleep, but hers was a dangerous kind of peaceful sleep. She was pale and her breathing was weak. Coming in short, uneven breaths. She looked thin, too thin. Her mane lay unkempt behind her and Cora appeared as if she had no strength.

Cadence silently walked up to her bedside and crumpled, holding her mother's hoof and sobbing. A tear fell from her cheek and onto Cora’s hoof. It glittered softly and Cadence’s horn began to spark with magic. An opaque, broken, pink hued heart soon floated out of her horn. Gliding through the air towards her mother, it glowed with a vibrant crystal color. Repairing itself to be whole once more and falling onto Cora’s chest.

Cora’s eyes fluttered open gently, the dull blue turning bright when she saw her sweet little Cadence.

“Cadence?” she breathed.

“Mom!” Cadence hugged her, sobbing quietly. “I’m so sorry for how I’ve been acting! You didn’t deserve all the pain I’ve caused you! Please, please don’t leave me!’

“Shhh, shhh,” Cora stroked her daughter's mane softly, attempting to comfort her. “It’s alright, I’m right here.”

Cadence and her parents worked to repair their relationship over the next week. Cadence sent word to Celestia, apologizing, but insisting that she was needed at home for now. It wasn’t long before Cora was back to her old self. Her broken heart had finally been healed.

Cadence spent a lot of time talking with her parents about life in Canterlot, about Twilight, and about what Celestia had told her of her past. She spent a lot of time explaining that.

“You can’t tell anypony,” Cadence explained. “Nopony can know of the Crystal Empire, or Sombra.”

“We understand,” Cora smiled.

“Does this mean you’re coming home?” Pear asked.

“No,” Cadence sighed. “It’s not because I’m mad, I’m not mad anymore. It's just, I’m loving living in Canterlot. I love foalsitting Twilight, and I really need to work on my magic. But I’ll visit as often as I can, and you can come visit me. Do you understand?”

“We always knew you’d move out one day,” Pear answered.

“And we know it wouldn’t be easy,” Cora said.

---

In just a week, Cadence was officially coronated. The event was gorgeous, as roses were everywhere. Cadence wore a crystal dress and was given a crown, which she was glad was much smaller than Equestria’s rulers was. Her parents were there, Summer was there, and even Twilight was there. With her older brother, a handsome young Stallion named Shining Armor.

Cadence gave a speech and was congratulated by her loved ones. After the coronation, that evening, she sat on her balcony. From so high up, she could see all the way to the crystal mountains.

“I will reclaim my kingdom,” Cadence whispered into the wind. “For my family.”

Still unknown to everypony that the pony who tore it down, was Mi Amore Cadenza’s own brother.

Author's Note:

Yeah, I know a broken heart sounds cheesy. But, hey, it's a real thing, so it's not that cheesy. Right?