Lady of Love

by FireOfTheNorth

Family

Chapter 5: Family
Year 986 of the 4^th Age

Cadence absentmindedly touched the tiara resting on her head. Her hoof also brushed against the horn that she was slowly becoming more accustomed to. After making sure that her alicornification had come without any unwelcome side effects, Celestia had officially named Cadence as her heir. Technically, Matron of Sorceresses in Cant’r Laht was an elected position, but the Lodge of Sorceresses would go along with it if Celestia told them to; besides, Celestia herself had originally been elected under duress. There was also the small collection of other titles she had picked up over the years that would be made hereditary in one way or another if they weren’t already.

Rumors abounded as to why Celestia had chosen to proclaim an heir, just as they had when she’d chosen to take on an apprentice. Was the ancient sorceress, the constant around which Equestria had turned for centuries, dying? Or, was she just trying to confuse her political adversaries by doing something unexpected? Or, was she testing the prominent nobles of Cant’r Laht to see if they’d pounce at this perceived weakness, only to trap them? She’d been known to do both in the past, but that didn’t stop ponies from considering the alternative.

Cadence was sure that ponies within the great hall were speaking on these things and would have been so even without her newly sharpened hearing. No wonder Celestia always seems to know everything; she can hear everything that’s going on at the banquets she hosts. It is a bit distracting, though. Cadence was still learning how to deal with these new perceptions, but that wasn’t the only thing distracting her from the banquet being held in her honor.

Her thoughts were for her family, the one she’d left behind twelve years earlier at the base of the White Mountains. They would pop into her mind from time to time, and she’d wonder what had become of them, but the queries to the Cant’r Laht intelligence service invariably brought the same reply. “Nothing has changed on the mi Amore lands.” Baron Ferdinand mi Amore still ruled alone, still demanded too much from his tenants, still would fly into rages over his lack of an heir. Her sisters still lived on the estate, unmarried, for the baron would not dare let somepony from another noble house gain a claim on his title and lands. This time Cadence felt different though, drawn to take action. She waited until Celestia had finished her conversation with a prominent sorceress before tapping the table next to her to get her attention.

“Yes, my apprentice and heir, what is it?” Celestia asked merrily, reveling in her student’s achievement, but her smile faded as she saw the serious look on Cadence’s face.

“Celestia, I want to visit my family,” Cadence announced with conviction, “You have been incredibly gracious in taking me in, but I feel that I must see my father and sisters again.”

“Oh … Oh, I see,” Celestia replied, “Well, if that is your wish, I see no reason not to go through with it. Not that I have any reason to impede you from moving freely. I hope you know that you could have visited them at any point in the past if you desired.”

“Yes, of course,” Cadence said, “I just feel that now is the time I must return.”

“Ah, yes, I understand,” Celestia said, “I’ll arrange for an escort to go with you.”

“An escort?”

“Yes, I know you are perfectly capable of protecting yourself, but as my official heir now, you’ll have to put up with added protection, even if it’s unnecessary,” Celestia explained.

“I see,” Cadence replied, and a thought came to her, “Can I choose my own escort?”

***

“I’m sure she’d really like to meet you, that is, if it’s not too much to ask,” Shining Armor said, flustered, “Ever since the summer solstice ceremony, all Twily-Twilight has done is study books on sorcery.”

“Well, maybe I’ll have to give her some pointers then some time,” Cadence replied, not joking in the slightest. She had a reputation for helping ponies out with magic, so it wouldn’t seem suspicious at all to be spending more time near Shining Armor.

“R-really?” Shining said excitedly, “That is, uh, you are very gracious, my lady.”

“Another thing, you don’t have to address me so formally,” Cadence said, “In fact, you’re the son of an earl, so I think that technically you outrank me.”

“Maybe that was true before you were named Celestia’s heir, but even so, I couldn’t,” Shining Armor protested, “Not while I’m serving as your guard at least, my lady.”

“Fine,” Cadence sighed. Maybe in time.

Celestia had allowed her apprentice to choose who would escort her to the mi Amore estate, and she’d requested that Shining Armor serve in that capacity. The three-day journey was the perfect opportunity to hear about him straight from the horse’s own mouth, as the expression went. Celestia only smiled knowingly at her choice and decision to take the long way to her foalhood home. Cadence was able to use portals just as her mentor (though not quite as effortlessly), which would have been much quicker, but she’d chosen to go on hoof to have more time to speak to Shining Armor and more time to think about what awaited her.

The two weren’t all on their own; Celestia’s page, Raven, was also accompanying them. Her official role was to collect updated census information from the baron’s steward and take down any correspondence Cadence wished to make, but really she was to be Celestia’s eyes and ears and report back to her. Also, though nopony had told her to do so and she was not much older than the others in the party, she was acting as a chaperone. Not that anything would happen between the duty-minded Shining Armor and Cadence, who (unlike many in Cant’r Laht) still considered chastity a virtue, but she was vigilant nonetheless. Celestia wouldn’t have cared; Cadence was old enough to make her own choices and powerful enough that nopony would question them, but Raven (like Cadence herself) was of a more traditional bend.

The estate came into sight in the distance, just as Cadence remembered it. The roof tiles had faded with age and some of the walls had been replaced, but otherwise the estate was unchanged. The small cluster of buildings near it was likewise unchanged, apart from the inn Cadence had spent much of her foalhood in, which was now larger to accommodate more ponies fleeing the Kingdom of Manehattan and King Hadish’s rule. As they neared the estate, an earth pony rushed out to meet them. Shining Armor loosened his sword in its scabbard, unsure of what to expect.

“Roberta, my lady, so it’s true!” he exclaimed as he reached the trio and did a rapid bow before Cadence, “Look at you! An alicorn! I could hardly believe the news when I heard it!”

“Yes, Donnach, it’s true,” said Cadence as the steward stood amazed, looking like he wanted to touch her to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming.

The stallion looked like he’d aged thirty years since she’d last seen him. Dealing with Baron Ferdinand mi Amore every day would do that to a pony, but at least he hadn’t been executed. She hadn’t fully realized it at the time, but Donnach had been looking out for her behind the scenes from her birth up until Celestia had come to take her away. She owed this pony a huge debt of gratitude, but before she could express it, she needed to meet with another pony. Cadence needed to meet with her father, who’d wished for her death ever since her birth, who’d expelled her from home and denied her her birthright.

“Donnach, is the baron expecting me?” Cadence asked innocently, and the steward’s face fell.

“Oh, yes, he is in the dining hall,” Donnach said nervously, exhibiting a twitch he’d developed from working under such a foul noble, “We had best not keep him waiting.”

“Master Donnach,” Raven said, causing the steward to cease in his turn, “I’m sure Lady Cadence can find her way to the dining hall on her own. The two of us have matters to discuss with you.”

“Yes, of course,” Donnach said hesitantly, looking both relieved that he wouldn’t have to be in the baron’s presence and worried at what his lord would say later about him not being there, “If-if you’re sure. I wouldn’t want to do Lady Rober-er, Cadence any slight by not escorting her.”

“I’ll be fine, Donnach,” Cadence replied with a comforting smile, letting her impressive wingspan spread for effect, “It’s just my father I’m facing.”

Donnach gulped nervously at that, but let Cadence leave.

***

The dining hall was so much smaller than it had seemed in Cadence’s dim memories, especially when she was used to the great hall of Cant’r Laht Castle. The last time she’d been here was in the presence of Celestia during her trip to the Hill Kingdoms, and before that as a very young foal before she was thrown out of the estate. Baron Ferdinand mi Amore sat in his usual spot at the head of the table, Cadence’s elder sisters down one side. She sat across from them, nearer to her father than she’d ever been.

The servants that brought their food, took away their platters, and stood by waiting for orders all looked at Cadence with great curiosity. Not only was she the most hated daughter of their master and had returned, but she was also an alicorn. She had gotten the same curious stares from the ponies in the village outside the estate. Those that had been here a long time recognized her, but even those who didn’t marveled at the great sorceress. Stjepan paused in hammering away at his father’s forge (his own now) to gawk at her, no doubt wondering if she was the same filly who’d called him out by name when a crowd including Celestia had met her on that hill.

“We, of course, thought to come see you in Cant’r Laht when we heard of your ‘ascension,’” the baron said, bringing Cadence back to the present, “I could not leave, though, with so much work to be done here and nopony capable that I could leave the estate in the hooves of.”

“I see,” Cadence said, though she knew it was a lie.

Her father had no great works to attend to here other than squeezing every last bit of grain from the peasants that worked his fields. His intentions to visit her in Cant’r Laht were likewise a lie. Cadence was no fool and had realized even as a foal that she would receive no love from her father or sisters. To them, she was a murderer of their kin, even if she was one herself. Her family members acted decently toward her now, but she could easily sense the insincerity. They still hated her, they were just too afraid of her magic to express it.

“You must have an important position in Celestia’s government now,” one of her sisters said, remarkably keeping the disdain out her voice.

“Actually, she has named me her heir,” Cadence replied, and another of her sisters nearly choked on the wine she was drinking.

“How … monumental,” the baron said, and Cadence could almost see the wheels turning in his head, trying to grind out some advantage he could gain from the situation, “Have you assembled your own court?”

There it was. He no doubt had some excuse as to why now it would be acceptable for him to leave the estate in somepony else’s hooves. As part of Cadence’s court, the baron could move to Cant’r Laht, where he’d be close to the important ponies of the realm. He might even hope to change the mi Amore succession laws or be promoted to a higher station. All the while he would continue to hate Cadence for stealing his wife and heir from him, and she sensed that nothing would change that, not even all the benefits he’d gain from being by her side.

“I see,” Cadence said dourly as she stood, “Nothing has changed. You are all just the same. I had hoped that things might be different now, but you have clung to your hatred for so long that it has become ingrained. I had no say in whether my birth would take the life of somepony dear to you, but you have blamed me since then nonetheless. I came here seeking forgiveness, but I see that none is to be had, not from you.”

Cadence’s sisters shuddered, and her father stared at her with cold, piercing eyes as she made her speech. She realized that she had been projecting magic unconsciously and drew it back into herself. Her purpose her was not to punish or scare those who’d wronged her.

“You may hate me for the rest of my days, or the rest of your days, but there is nothing I can do about that,” Cadence continued, “What I can do is offer forgiveness of my own. I do not hate you, though I have ample reason to; it is not in my nature, it seems. I forgive you for all the trouble you put me through, all the abuse both before and after you expelled me from this manor in disgrace. But, to draw this matter to a close, I must also cut ties and leave you behind. No more will I acknowledge any relationship to you, just as you wished for all along. Goodbye.”

Cadence turned to leave but was stopped by the subdued voice of her father.

“All these years, and now you think you can choose to cut ties with me? Now that you have power and influence?” the baron said, anger gradually boiling to the surface, “Why, you little-”

He picked up a knife from the table and rushed toward Cadence. She turned and fixed him with a disappointed gaze, and the baron suddenly found himself unable to move. The blade of the knife began to glow and melted away, leaving only the hilt in his mouth. Cadence waited until the molten metal on the floor had cooled before releasing her father, who staggered over it and came to a halt in shock.

“Goodbye,” she said again, sadly, and this time nopony tried to stop her as she departed the dining hall.

***

“You’re absolutely certain that all this is true?” Celestia asked, pacing angrily.

“The steward told me himself. He was there when the baron tried to kill her at birth and stopped him many times throughout the years, but he couldn’t be everywhere,” Raven reported.

“The villagers said the same thing,” Shining Armor confirmed, “After she was thrown out of the estate, they took care of her and protected her from the baron and his guards.”

When Cadence had gone to speak to her family alone, Raven had gone with Donnach to speak in private and sent Shining Armor into the village to question the ponies there. Raven’s questions about Cadence’s foalhood had brought answers she hadn’t expected from the steward, and Shining Armor had had a similar experience. Now that Cadence was an alicorn and the heir to Celestia, they felt they could speak to Celestia’s representatives without fear of reprisal from the baron and hoped that Celestia or Cadence would do something.

“Cadence was physically abused for years, nearly starved, and she never said anything about it to me,” Celestia said as she sat in her throne, still fuming, “Why?”

“Cadence does not seem to blame her family for their treatment of her,” Raven said, “She understood their anger and their blame of her for the loss of a wife and heir for her father and a mother for her siblings.”

“It isn’t right,” Celestia said, gritting her teeth. Fortunately, there was little here for her to break with her errant magic, but Shining Armor looked incredibly intimidated nonetheless. “It isn’t right,” Celestia repeated to herself, her brow furrowing into an even deeper frown.

***

Donnach took a deep breath of fresh air as he trotted through his orchard. Trees stretched as far as the eye could see in all directions except for the one in which he’d come. There stood a cottage for his family, with homes adjoining it for the servants that tended to them and the fields. This was his dream, a far cry from reality. He had a few trees near Baron mi Amore’s estate on a small patch of ground that had been given to him for that purpose. In this world, he was master of this orchard and Baron mi Amore did not exist. He had the time to trot through the trees and enjoy their scent, enjoy the sight of the fruit ripening, without worrying about saving another pony’s servants from their master.

A figure appeared through the trees and Donnach altered his course, leisurely approaching it. He had no need to hurry and no need to worry here. That sense of contentment began to slip away as the figure grew closer, though, and there was an itch at the back of his mind. Before he knew it, the alicorn was standing before him, her coat seeming to glow slightly.

“Celestia? What are you doing here? This makes no sense,” Donnach said.

“This is a dream of yours, and I have entered it to speak to you,” Celestia spoke.

Donnach’s eyes grew wide as saucers as the reality sank in. Celestia was in his dream, the real Celestia!

“My profoundest apologies, Your Grace!” Donnach yelled as he kowtowed, completely prostrating himself on the ground, “I had no idea it was really you, or I never would have been so informal! Forgive me!”

“There is nothing to forgive,” Celestia said, and Donnach felt a slight tingling as Celestia raised him back to his hooves with her magic, “Your dream is most pleasant, better than others I have stridden into.”

“You are very kind to say so, Your Grace,” Donnach said nervously, locking his legs so he wouldn’t inadvertently bow again but still not making direct eye contact with his sovereign.

“I have entered your dreams because I have a message for you, Donnach, son of Haddoch,” Celestia said with great weight, “I have learned of the evil of Baron Ferdinand mi Amore toward his daughter, my apprentice. I have also learned of the kindness you and others have shown her. For that reason, I am giving you this warning. My judgement will fall on the mi Amores tonight. When you awake, take your family and all servants within the estate who, like you, protected and cared for Cadence and leave within the hour. Do not wake the baron, his daughters, or those who followed his example and were cruel to Cadence. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Your Grace!” Donnach said, terrified.

He ventured a look at Celestia and saw written on her face all the terror she would bring upon those who’d mistreated her apprentice. The anger emanating from her was palpable, even in her dream form. Flames seemed to burn in her eyes, dancing with malicious intent.

***

A storm was raging over the mi Amore estate, just like the night that Cadence had been born. It made the steward’s task easy as he awoke only those who had shared in caring for and protecting the young Roberta both before and after her expulsion from the manor. They were able to leave undetected from the estate, leaving behind most of their possessions and plenty of sleeping ponies. They were soaked before they even reached the village, but Donnach’s insistence that they keep moving and the terror written on his face kept them in motion even if he wouldn’t tell them why they were fleeing. He considered going into the village and rousing those who’d also cared for Cadence, but Celestia had specifically said to wake only those in the estate. If she knew of their compassion, then surely Celestia would spare them too, but that didn’t mean that it was safe to stop in the village, and he pressed the group of ponies with him to continue on.

They were cresting a hill a little way from the village when the steward stopped to look behind them. Everything seemed unchanged, and he wondered if the dream Celestia had been just a figment of his imagination after all. Then, a great burst of fire consumed one of the estate’s buildings, followed by more. Fires burst out again and again until the entire estate was a gigantic torch. The flames grew far higher and faster than they should’ve been able to in the downpour, and Donnach thought he could feel the heat even from where he was standing, though that was probably just his imagination.

Screams at times carried through the night, screams of ponies burning alive, but they were mostly drowned out by the storm. Donnach thought he saw a figure escape the fire only to have a tongue of flame reach out and pull him back in, but that was also probably his imagination. Many of the other servants had taken off by now, fleeing over the hills to get as far from the unnatural fire as possible. As his wife called for him to come too, he turned away from the destruction, but thought he saw a figure standing on another nearby hill as lightning flashed out.

None of what Donnach had seen was imagined. Celestia was standing on a nearby hill, directing her spellfire to reduce the mi Amore estate into nothing but ash and cinder. The ponies there deserved no better fate than this. She hadn’t used magic like this in centuries, and it was taking its toll. Blood streamed from both her nostrils and the corners of her eyes, staining her pristine white coat faster than the torrential rain could wash it clean, but it was worth it. When word of what had befallen Ferdinand mi Amore spread, it might just convince others across Equestria to hold back, to not mistreat their children as he had. Mostly, though, it satisfied Celestia’s legendary anger, and if any of the legends about that came from this spoke of her wrath, she hoped it would speak of a righteous wrath, even if it wasn’t entirely true. These ponies had harmed her apprentice, and now they never would again.

***

“Are you sure about this?” Celestia asked Cadence as her apprentice dipped her quill into ink before continuing to write.

“Yes, I am the last living mi Amore, and I wish to make it forever so,” Cadence said, “No longer shall I be Roberta mi Amore Cadenza, but mi Amore Cadenza alone. Cadenza shall be my house, a new house not associated with that of my father.”

“You would be giving up the title of baroness as well with this,” Celestia reminded her, “Are you certain that this is what you want to do? You might be confused, your feelings in disarray after the death of your family.”

Cadence paused and set down the quill, carefully wiping off the excess ink.

“I suppose I feel some loss, but no more,” Cadence said thoughtfully, “I walked away from them; my name is all that connects me to them now. I will regret their deaths, I think, but if you think me irrational or angry about their deaths, I am not.”

Cadence turned to face Celestia as she picked up the quill and resumed writing the document that would end House mi Amore. She knows. She knows I was the one who destroyed the mi Amores, and she doesn’t care. No, she cares, but she won’t confront me over it. She doesn’t blame me; she’s already forgiven me. And Celestia knew that Cadence would never be her successor, would never take her place. She is too caring, too understanding, too quick to forgive. She lacks the edge that will be necessary to unite Equestria one day, the drive to live to that day.

Neither of Celestia’s apprentices would be fit to succeed her, though for completely different reasons. She had to have a successor, though; she had to search for another apprentice. She had to choose wisely this time, had to pick the right pony. She had the feeling that she only had enough time left to train one more. It had to be the right one, if Equestria was to survive.