Fluttershy)2,737 words
Hidden Scars (Peace Walker)2,235 words
He Can See You Now (Starlight Glimmer)2,247 words
Darkness Turned to Light (Water Flare)3,633 words
The Smallest Things (Sunset Shimmer)3,288 words

Light and Love (Cadance)

Crystal Castle, Crystal Empire
March 5th, Year 2 under the four princesses

Under a gentle blanket of darkness, the Crystal Empire sat silent and peaceful. It had been eighteen months since the Crystal City had returned from it's thousand years in a cursed, timeless realm and already it was as it if it never been gone for a so much as a day. Diplomatic relations with nearby nations had begun again, trade was starting to flow in and out of the empire, they had even negotiated an extra level of security by becoming a protectorate of Equestria while remaining completely autonomous. As much as the combined unity of the empire was credited for it's successes, each and every one of it's residents was more than willing to pass the praise onto their leaders; Prince Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, though everypony knew just Princess Cadance was fine.

The two had been ruling the Crystal Empire ever since it's return after overthrowing the dark king Sombra with the help of the Elements of Harmony, and Great and Honourable Spike the Brave and Glorious. For the first time in over a thousand years the positive energy of the empire filled with light and love had re-joined the harmony of the land and now it had reached a new height with the latest news to come from the ruling couple. While she hadn't been seen outside the Crystal Castle for several days, everypony was sure that the princess had never been happier.

They weren't quite correct.

Cadance awoke with a shocked gasp, looking round quickly, soaked in sweat. Her body slowly relaxed as she realised she was still in bed, laid out on her front, wings spread out fully, the one on her right draped over her husband. Shining Armor had already been woken up and had a hoof on her shoulder, watching with concern as she steadily got herself under control. A small squeak under her left wing caused her to fold it in quickly. Nestled up to her side of the bed was a silk coated crib containing a bronze coated, silver maned unicorn foal, her three day old son. Her hoof gently wrapped round the colt as she leaned down and nuzzled him gently, watching as he rolled onto his back and looked up at her through those adorable baby eyes of his.

"It's okay, Aurora, mommy's here." Cadance whispered, nuzzling and reassuring him with the gentle care that only a mother could provide until the foal started to settle down again. Part of her was glad that he couldn't see her right now as she realised her vision was blurred from tearing up in her sleep.

"Cadance...What happened?" Shining asked quietly, stifling a yawn as he did. He'd been barely getting any sleep over the past week but always managed to keep going when his wife or son needed him, and right now he new she needed his support more than any time in the past year.

"It was just a dream..." Cadance replied eventually, turning and resting her head against his, though her voice was shaking slightly and her eyes showed she was still haunted by what she remembered...

The ground shook from the force of another magical blast impacting the rose coloured shield surrounding the Crystal Castle, flares of orange and deep blue magic spearing into the sky as they were deflected from their target. Beyond the safety of the shield, smoke poured from a number of destroyed buildings and several fires from stray magic hits were building. Despite how many of the city's citizens had been evacuated to the castle, Cadance knew deep down that it was impossible to believe that everypony had made it. The thought tore her up inside almost as badly as the state her husband was currently in. Shining Armor stood at the base of the castle, beside the crystal heart, his horn sparking and pulsing as he fought to keep the shield standing against their unknown attacker. It was taking every last ounce of his strength and Cadance was having to put her own support into simply keeping him standing. Even as another magic burst hit the shield he stumbled backward, gritting his teeth and looking like he was about to lose a vein in his forehead.

As she wrapped her hooves around his shoulders to keep him from falling backward, Cadance glanced outward at their attacker. The maelstrom of magical energy hovering a hundred feet in the air and about half a kilometre away meant that she couldn't see anything solid, merely a silhouette of a unicorn in the center. She couldn't worry about an identity now though, not with Shining close to dropping and her ponies in panic. Many of those that had made it to the castle were bunkered down inside, though a few of those sheltering in the lower levels or at the entrances were close enough that she could hear their voices of fear and anger.

"Why is this happening to us? Why can't the princess stop it?"

"What do we do? What do WE do?"

"Why isn't Equestria coming to help us?!?"

She couldn't answer any of those questions, even as she tried to think of what to do next there was a flash of white light behind her and everything just...Ended.

Cadance clenched her eyes shut to try and hold back more tears at just the thought of her subjects in such a situation, tensing more until she heard Aurora start to whimper softly. She quickly turned and tried to comfort him again as Shining got up and moved round to the other side of the crib to help. Despite her best efforts, the foal didn't calm down until Shining wrapped a hoof round him, at which point he snuggled down in his father's hold. The worst part was, she knew it made sense. Even if he wasn't able to see her reaction right now, Aurora seemed to easily pick up on the emotions of ponies around him, and she still had a lot of fear in her heart. Celestia had once taught her that Alicorns were sometimes capable of seeing visions through their dreams and she couldn't shake the feeling that something so awful was just that.

"There we go, ssshh." Shining's voice shook her from her thoughts and she looked back at him gently coaxing the foal back to sleep. The sight was a gentle reminder, while she needed to keep her dream in mind just in case, she needed to focus on the two ponies in front of her right now. Tomorrow was a big day for all of them and they needed to be at their best.

"Sorry, for disturbing you." She said softly once both Shining and Aurora were settled, letting her husband place the colt back down to rest.

"Hey, I'd have woken up even if it was nothing," He whispered back, looking back at her and nuzzling her neck gently. Cadance didn't doubt it, he'd been sleeping so lightly recently that he'd wake up at a light breeze. She considered it a positive though, it meant he was always available and had no trouble getting back to sleep either. "Besides, when my wife has nightmares the night before her son's crystalling, I'd be up and helping until she felt better, no matter how long it took."

"Thanks, I love you too." Cadance smiled softly and rested her head against his, their horns rubbing against each other. The feeling helped her relax quicker and before long she could feel her tension wearing away and the lure of sleep washing over her again. The worry was still nestled at the back of her mind but she couldn't let it get to her right now. After all, she thought as she drifted back into a silent sleep, tomorrow was a big day for all of them.

It was a lot easier to let worries go to rest in the light of day, especially on a beautiful spring day like it was now. Cadance was feeling much better as she woke up and glanced round. Shining had already gotten up, probably letting her rest while he finalised the crystalling preparations. A sound of gentle movement told her that Aurora was still there and also awake, to her relief he was a lot calmer than he had been during the night.

"Good morning, my precious little one," She said softly as she leaned down and nuzzled the foal, getting a little happy babble in return as she carefully rolled onto her side and lifted him up in her magic, placing him down at her teats for his morning feed. "I just had a bad dream last night and didn't mean to upset you."

Thankfully he didn't seem to mind, still happily settled. She simply watched over him for a time, nursing him with the cautious care of any new mother. Despite being the princess of love, Cadance had never really seen herself as the type to be a parent. Aside from thinking she'd be kept too busy to settle down, there was always the lingering issue of potentially outliving her husband and children. Princess Celestia had admitted that she didn't know if alicorns that had ascended to the role were immortal and even if Princess Twilight had looked into the matter, the very limited options to study meant that they wouldn't be getting an answer any time soon. There was a good chance she'd be outliving her husband and son.

Yet here she was, and she couldn't be happier about it.

Aurora finished before too long and looked up at her, his eyes still too dark to make out their colour but still having a small shine to them that indicated he was happy enough. Cadance smiled more and stroked his back with a wing, getting another happy sound out of him. A small part of her knew that she'd been very lucky with how well she'd been managing so far, combined with Shining Armor chancing upon the Fledgling's Forbearance spell just a week before Aurora was born. It wasn't all going to be this easy and she knew there would be times where parenthood would feel like the hardest thing in the world, but she had a wonderful husband and countless friends to help her through it.

Speaking of which, they had what was probably going to be a rather straightforward event in a few hours. She wasn't sure about the part of the tradition that required her to introduce him to hundreds, if not thousands of ponies at so young an age, though at the same time she knew that letting the crystal ponies meet their new prince, the confirmation that a peaceful line of succession was secure for the first time in over a thousand years, would give the whole empire, and by extension the rest of Equestria, one of the greatest positive influences it had ever felt. Her wing gently wrapped around the foal and lifted him up to her chest, holding him close as he settled down against her with a soft giggle. Cadance couldn't help but smile warmly as she carefully got up and headed off to prepare them both for the crystalling. They had a full day ahead of them, including the moment she would finally get to introduce Twilight Sparkle to her nephew for the first time.

Any dwelling would have to wait.

Author's Note:

Before anyone asks, Aurora is Shining and Cadance's only child right now instead of Flurry Heart.

Also, I really apologise for the quality of this one. I wrote the bulk of it back in May, before I'd hit my stride, so it's probably the weakest piece I've posted in quite some time.

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