Cadence

by bahatumay

Chapter 1

Luna and Celestia looked down in horror at the crystal ponies. Once paragons of peace and prosperity whose happiness brightened Equestria, they were now broken and defeated, their coats dull, their beaten bodies chained together as they worked in the mines. King Sombra looked down on them from his high balcony and laughed.

The two princesses looked at each other and nodded. The many crimes of Sombra could not be winked at any longer. It was time. He needed to be banished to the ice of the arctic north, for the good of the Crystal Empire and also for all of Equestria itself.

Together, they flew up to the balcony from where he watched his slaves work. He scowled at their appearance. “This is not your dominion. You overstep your bounds,” he growled, scuffing a hoof threateningly.

“You far surpass yours,” Celestia accused, lighting her horn. Luna quickly followed suit.

Sombra growled and lit his own horn, intending to end this quickly. He fired a burst of energy, but Celestia easily dodged it. He shot at Luna next, but she, too, easily evaded the attack.

What he should have done was attempt to stop the spell they were casting. Too late, he felt something unsettling happening around his hooves. Frowning, he looked down and his eyes widened as he saw the golden and navy magic swirling around him. His hooves began to dissolve as the spell took effect.

But Sombra was not going to let them punish him with impunity. Even as his body melted into shadows, he roared and lit his horn.

Luna’s eyes narrowed, and then flew open as she recognized the patterns in the magic. “Treachery!” she roared, casting up a shield around herself. “'Tis a powerful curse! Shield thyself, Sister!”

Celestia lit her horn and wrapped a golden cancellation spell shield around herself; but though the spell reached its tendrils out, they were not the target of his spell.

A dark circle formed around the entirety of the Crystal Empire, crackling with black lightning and purple sparks. Purple haze filled the air as black crystals exploded from the ground. and spiderwebs of purple magic reached over the Empire as if it were a snowglobe.

And as Sombra vanished into the ice, the Crystal Empire vanished as well, leaving behind nothing but the wind, ice and snow.

Celestia and Luna landed, horrified. Celestia lit her horn and looked for signs of life, while Luna closed her eyes and listened.

“I feel nothing,” Celestia said worriedly.

“Nor I,” Luna concurred. “It is as if the Empire has disappeared completely.”

They looked at each other in horror. So many lives lost before their time, innocent lives. Sombra's revenge had been terrible indeed.

* * *

Celestia walked back into her throne room dejectedly, her head hanging down. The crowds of ponies praising her name even in her failure to protect the crystal ponies made her heart ache.

Luna followed behind, her head also low and her mouth clenched tightly shut, though for different reasons. The crowds of ponies praising her sister's name, and her name alone, made her heart ache.

Finally, she had to speak. “Sister, something troubles me,” she said. The words came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them.

“What is it?” Celestia asked.

Luna opened her mouth, and then closed it. Now wasn't the time. Celestia likely felt overwhelmed. Besides, it was a petty thing she complained of. “It is nothing.”

Celestia nodded slowly. “Was it when the foul king cast his curse, didst thou not feel that he sought another target?”

Luna had felt nothing of the sort; but she seized this opportunity. “Yea,” she said. “This. Anywhere in Equestria could be the thing he sought.”

“Sought; but hopefully did not obtain,” Celestia said darkly. “Who knows what dark plots he created in his madness?”

Luna's mouth tightened, but she did not respond.

Celestia noticed, and offered her sister a weak smile. “Wilt thou accompany me to mine chambers? I have obtained for myself a portion of a new substance known as ice cream, and I greatly desire to taste of it.”

Luna tossed her head. “Cream has no business being solid,” she said dismissively. “I shall… I shall guard the night.”

Celestia noticed the little hitch in her voice, but didn't press the issue. “Very well. Guard my dreams, Sister?”

“Do I not always?” Luna said in reply, a small—and somewhat sad—smile playing at her lips before she turned and flew away.

* * *

Celestia looked down at her schedule and brightened as she recognized the next name. This was a visit she could look forward to. She adjusted herself on her throne and waited.

Right on time, the doors opened, and the royal librarian stepped forward, announced by a member of her royal guard. He stepped forward and bowed deeply.

Celestia inclined her head, wordlessly permitting him to speak.

He lit his horn and pulled in a cart full of scrolls, which rolled to a gentle stop behind him. “Behold, the records which survived the curse of Sombra; but behold, there is something we found which doth trouble me.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Speak,” she commanded.

“From the records which have been kept, we see that Sombra had an heir: a daughter.”

Celestia pursed her lips. This was new information. Powerful though Sombra may have been, it would have been a dramatic understatement to say he was mad; and the mare who lifted her tail for him must have been a strange mare, indeed.

And then it occurred to her that their intercourse might not have been entirely consensual, and she grimaced. Many things there were that happened to mares, and that should not have been one of them.

She shook her head. That she could dwell on later. “And what of this filly? Where is she?”

“The records led us to a small fortress, a good three day's journey westward of the crystal empire, within the borders of Equestria proper, guarded by two crystal ponies; but to our astonishment, they were mad; they knew not who they were nor what they were doing.”

Celestia pursed her lips.

“A search was conducted and evidence was found that showed unto us that the filly had been there; but had vanished without a trace.”

Celestia massaged a temple with her hoof. Doubtless that the filly had been Sombra's other target, and doubtless he had succeeded in pulling her down with him.

And doubtless the poor filly shared the same fate as the rest of the crystal empire.

* * *

Nearly a thousand years later…

* * *

At the sound of urgent knocking on her door, Celestia stirred and lifted her head. “Yes?” she murmured.

A royal guard poked his head in. “Forgive me, your majesty,” he said breathlessly, “but your presence is required urgently in the throne room.”

Required, not requested? Celestia did not let that word choice go unnoticed; but she did not react to it. She merely slid out of her bed with the poise and grace that befitted her position, and retrieved her regala. Once fully dressed, she nodded, and he led the way.

She was not sure what to expect; but when he opened the door, she suddenly felt rather silly—and more than a little bit overdressed—as she saw the young filly sitting there.

Even in the great city of Canterlot, sometimes there were foals who fell through the cracks in the system. Celestia was no stranger to this. What was strange was the appearance of this filly before her; and it wasn't just her tricolored mop of a mane. She sat on the stone and looked up at Celestia. Though her position and posture were clearly defiant, her large eyes took in everything, from Celestia's mane to her wings and her long horn. She frowned and her eyes flicked between them, as if struggling to comprehend this strange dichotomy.

As for Celestia, she, too, found herself looking over this filly, also struggling to comprehend. After all, precious few ponies anywhere—only two, as far as she knew; and, with a quick glance at the moon, she could see that both of them were presently accounted for—had both wings and a horn.

Comments

[Drago Cadenza]

This is what I imagine Filly Cadence would say first thing to Celestia: "Ahm Pwincess Caydie!"

[bahatumay]

7600318
That's adorable!!
Here, Mi Amore Cadenza is a little bit older than that, though.