As The Sun Sets

by Noobblue

Something something, the chapter that goes after the last one because it was getting too long

It didn't take long for the guards and medics to round up the injured criminals. At first, the guards had issues arresting ponies that were seemingly just attacked, but the grey crystal stallion by the name of Quartz Heart claimed they were indeed foalnappers, and were planning on some dark ritual before Quick Silver arrived. Several of the previously petrified ponies agreed, and were happy to be arrested.

They actually pleaded for it, after a bit of questioning Shining was able to figure out that Silver had scared them all so bad that they just wanted to be away from 'the monster', and the majority of them agreed that the palace was the safest place. One mare, who was previously covered in burns before Silver, still refused to speak. The mare with her horn broken was still magically unconscious.

The firefighters put out the fire easily, it having been smothered by the collapsing building. The remains were cordoned off for a contract company to clear out in the morning.

Cadance gave a quick announcement to the ponies on the street that a resident had saw Quartz Heart get foalnapped and stepped in to stop the cultists; an action that she tried to carefully explain, quickly got out of hoof.

Cultists...

Cadance was flat on her back, laying in bed. Shining dozed off to her side, having slammed back asleep as soon as he had blankets over him.

Cultists for Sombra... In the Empire?

Even though Cadance was in bed, and... Well she knew she should be comfortable, but it didn't feel like it. Her mind kept going back to, well, everything.

She had flashes of movement and fire and will running through her mind. Questions tried to assail her through it all.

Hours ago I said exiting... more like exhausting

She flopped over and tried to banish the thoughts and go to sleep. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Pressing herself into the covers and using her magic to reset the blankets.

A moment passed where she forcefully thought of nothing but the comfort and the quiet.

...

...

A moment passed

And her mind reminded her that something was wrong. That there was a pony out there that took on a group of cultists, a pony that could destroy her city. Somepony that was supposedly older than Celestia, smarter than Twilight, stronger than Shining and...

and I can't do anything about it...

Cadance rolled over to the edge of the bed and sat up

Dusk is out there, doing something and...

That pony is consuming my thoughts,

Well Dusk is crazy! I mean, fire and violence and... Blood magic!

She cringed. She willfully let somepony cast blood magic on an injured pony. Not only that but she intelligently commanded a Royal Guard Stallion to let a, technically, unknown force to the crown, use blood magic on them, and a civilian.

Cadance awkwardly leaned her head forwards and dropped her face into her hooves.

They're going to be talking about that for years I'm sure... Princess of the Crystal Empire commands resident to use cursed magics on guards.

She looked over her shoulder at Shining Armor. Her husband. She felt her heart slow as her mind shifted away from her mistakes into what she did right.

I saved two ponies...

I lead the charge to a save more.

She remembered the flames and the stone ponies. How she navigated the air. She mentally laughed

I haven't done stuff like that since I was younger. Jumping off a wall in a flaming building? Doing a four hoof roll?

Cadance smiled.

It was so...

Her mind flashed with the idea of a rainbow as she was searching for the right description.

Awesome. I was awesome

She silently giggled at the hilarity of the word choice as she rolled it around in her head.

Her mood lightly improved, Cadance rolled to her side and off of the bed simultaneously. She tried to quietly make her way out of her room with the intent for midnight snackies, the same intent plastered over her face in the form of a childish grin.

She poked her head out of her door and cringed a bit, the light in the hallways was far to bright in comparison.

"Princess?" Came the voice of a guard mare to her right, "is there something wrong?"

Cadance did a quick reset of her posture and facial expression and smiled at the mare. "Nothing's wrong, I'm just a bit hungry after the excitement."

"Would you like me to send somepony to fetch something for you?"

"No thank you, I couldn't sleep, I'm gonna try and get myself moving so I can rest a bit easier."

The guards mare nodded her head. She wasn't a crystal pony, so Cadance couldn't place her name.

"May I escort you to the kitchens then Princess?"

Cadance's hackles raised at the statement, and she turned an appraising eye towards the sentry.

Why ask to escort me? Could... No, there's no way...

"Uhm, Princess? Are you alright?"

Cadance shook her head, her heart racing in her chest but she didn't take her eyes off the mare.

"Yes of course, I'm alright, I just wasn't prepared for your offer."

The mare remained physically stalwart, not giving off a hint of information via body language, "My apologies Princess, the guard is just a bit frazzled, me included."

Cadance nodded slowly, "That's... I understand, I'll be safe on a trip to the kitchen though" and she started on her way... but she had to resist the urge to look over her shoulder at the mare.

---

I was more exhausted than I thought

Cadance stood in the smaller kitchen of the palace for the dignitaries and nobles that came to visit or negotiate. The canteen she had pushed for was really for mass serving. They didn't have meals or such prepared, so she meandered her way up a few floors to here. There were salads and soups refrigerating with just a little bit of foil over the tops of them, perfect for a light snack.

She had made it halfway to the kitchen before being struck with the exhaustion of her day. It was nearing probably four am; she had probably not gone this long without sleep since before become a Princess.

No, that was definitely in college.

She pulled a salad from a cooler and set it on the table and unwrapped it with her magic. Looks be damned, her mane was literally on fire within the past five hours, so she just placed her muzzle into the bowl and chowed down.

It felt astronomically good. Like her body was cooling, and

thump thump

Knocking?

Cadance looked up from her meal as the kitchen door opened, and a piece of lettuce fell from her nose.

"Cadance?"

It was... Twilight.

"Twilight?"

Twilight fully stepped into the kitchen.

They looked at each other.

"I look like a hot mess right now don't I."

Twilight tried not to smile, she failed of course, but she did try.

She approached her old foal sitter and offered a hug, which Cadance gladly took.

Cadance levitated the dropped lettuce leaf into her mouth. After swallowing, she spoke, "I take it you heard about the night's fiasco?"

Cadance felt Twilight nod against her neck, their hug still unbroken. When Cadance looked at Twilight's face, it was scrunched up in thought.

"So you're here about Dusk then?"

She nodded again.

"I swear, that pony has been the only thing happening recently"

Twilight pulled away, "Discord was the only thing anypony in Ponyville talked about for weeks after he was reformed"

"Bad things?"

"Not always. Some ponies were excited to have the lord of chaos as a protector." She giggled, "Especially because of how crazy Ponyville gets."

Cadance shook her head, "I still can't believe it's called 'Pony-ville'"

Twilight smirked, "And the 'Crystal-Empire' isn't on the nose either?"

"Touché"

The fell into silence... sorta, Cadance had more salad. Sweet, delicious, crunchy salad

"So... You came back to talk about Dusk?"

Twilight looked concerned.

"Bad things?"

She spoke, "I talked to Discord."

Cadance rose an eyebrow, "Really?"

Twilight rose both, "I know! More so, he came to talk to me."

Cadance frowned, "Ah, about Dusk."

"Yes."

"What did he say?"

"A lot."

Cadance realized what Twilight was thinking about, "The cliff notes?"

"Discord and Dusk Swirl were enemies... real enemies. Discord tried to explain it to me after I almost demanded it. They weren't just rivals, Discord and Dusk fought"

Cadance felt her shoulders sag, "I'm not surprised, you should have seen Dusk today; Equestria wasn't always as peaceful as it is now."

"Discord called it a war."

"A war?"

Twilight nodded, "Discord had faced down armies before, and won by just snapping his claw. He explained it to me like that, that he had never even fought a pony before, not even Celestia and Luna truly fought him. Even with their powers, he only ever toyed with them."

"Which is what eventually lead to his downfall." Cadance tacked on

"I said the same..." Twilight smiled, "He told me not to interrupt."

Cadance held up a placating hoof, and then waved it in a 'go on' gesture.

"Discord described all his troubles, all of the conflict he'd ever faced in his entire life as a snap fix" Twilight took a deep breath, "and he explained it like that, so when he said that going up against Dusk Swirl felt like a war to him, that I would understand the depth of what he meant."

Cadance opened her mouth, but Twilight interrupted her.

"A war he said he lost"

Cadance closed her mouth.

"Cadance... Dusk... Let me tell Celestia and Luna. Please." Twilight stumbled over her words for a moment before continuing, "Discord practically begged me to stay away from Dusk, Discord was scared of what he could do to me. I was... I am..." Twilight struggled.

Twilight was scared. Not just scared, but afraid. This was not the filly Cadance had explained the dark to when she was young. This was a fellow Alicorn Immortal that had faced down monsters and gods, and she was afraid.

Discord isn't here to tell me this because he is too scared to be in the same city as Dusk

Cadance looked away from Twilight.

Dusk is immortal too. I can't just...

Cadance opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Twilight isn't a liar, and Discord wouldn't make that up. Dusk is too dangerous, you saw that today.

Her mind vied to make a decision.

Dusk fought Discord because he was a tyrant, because he was hurting ponies, it was the same tonight

One side threw out an argument

Good ponies don't rip holes through torso's and remove horns

The other countered it,

Who's to say that he did that? It's not like we know, horns can shatter for all sorts of reasons

Blood magic Cadance. Turning into smoke and dust? Evil magic, dangerous, evil magic. IF Dusk wasn't evil, he's on track to become that way.

He's ageless and very old, if he hasn't gone mad by now, there's no reason to assume he ever would.

He's tricked you. Countless times, ignored you, and your requests, you have no control, and if left unchecked he will hurt more ponies, you have a responsibility as a princess

That one stumped her for a moment.

He asked me... The bar! He swore that he'd not use magic on ponies without my knowledge and clearance! He kept to his promise!

and then she realized what side she was trying to argue for.

"Cadance?"

Cadance looked at Twilight, torn away from her thoughts

"I don't..." She trailed off.

"Cadance, please." Twilight was... pleading with Cadance, it baffled her. Cadance couldn't see why Twilight would have this powerful a fear.

"What else did Discord tell you?"

Twilight shook her head, "He told me that Dusk being immortal was a mistake. That Dusk never wanted it, never wanted to live forever. Discord told me that Dusk wasn't like him. That Dusk knows about the values of friendship but just still labels them as 'not important' because..." She saw a glimmer of tears in her eyes. "I've never..." She blinked them away, "I don't think I ever heard Discord be serious, that serious at least, but it's something I can understand."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't choose my wings."

Cadance spread hers on reflex and frowned.

"You know how that feels, imagine thousands of years of that? Dusk is insane. He's violent."

Cadance's wings spread further, "Discord is insane too... and probably older, you're not arguing for his re-imprisonment."

"Are you saying Dusk should be let free?"

Twilight's face was hard to make out in the sparsely luminated kitchen. Cadance didn't need to though. She heard the tone and the rasp of Twilight's voice, the fear in it. The fear that Twilight would have to go against Cadance.

Cadance opened her mouth, but her throat was dry, and her mind was empty of excuses, it had yet to even come up with a reason.

Except one.

A look. A voice, and a feeling. An emotion. Something in her mind clicked

Dusk loves

"Dusk is under my protection."

"Cadance, you can-"

"I can. I'm sorry Twilight, but... He deserves a chance."

Cadance waited for Twilight's response but Twilight was just as verbally stunned as Cadance just was.

"Why?" She questioned breathily.

"I don't know."

They stared at each other

They stared at each other for a long time.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but whatever it was died in her throat.

Eventually Cadance leaned forwards and wrapped Twilight her wings.

They both sat there in silence for a while, both of their conflicting emotions mixing together like aerosol food colouring. Cadance could feel it in her bones how Twilight felt.

"I love you Twilight"

"I love you too Cadance."

They remained there.

"Please be careful"

You can't promise that

"I'll do my best."

Twilight leaned away, and the weight of her emotions left with her.

"Okay."

Twilight stood, and began to leave. Slowly, she clearly wanted to say more, but both her and Cadance knew there was nothing else that could be said.

Before Twilight fully left the kitchen, Twilight looked back, "I'll see you at the gala?"

"Of course."

Twilight slowly tore her gaze away from Cadance, and left.

Cadance sat at the counter. Her salad forgotten. Her horn weighted on her head, but her heart filled her with determination.