Love Will Tear Us Apart
Love Will Tear Us Apart
By Slate Sadpony
“Why have you come into the Crystal Empire, Chrysalis?” said Cadence. As elected regent of the Empire, she was doing her best to put on a good face, but it wasn’t easy. She had never wholly recovered from her previous encounter with Chrysalis, and though she knew her husband and his Royal Guard would gladly give their lives to ensure her safety, their presence was not entirely reassuring. Shining Armor was certainly well trained and equipped, and he had defeated Chrysalis before. But the soldiers under his command were, by and large, poorly equipped and visibly frightened by the swarm of changelings formed up behind their queen. They were toy soldiers, really. Well suited for parades and marches, but useless in combat. Cadence found their fear infectious.
“Well it certainly isn’t to feed my people,” said Chrysalis with disgust. She turned up her nose at the Crystal Guards pointing their spears at her. “King Sombra’s aura still persists in this hideous place. Even with your presence, Princess, the love here is superficial and rotten. I would not even feed it to a petulant foal as punishment.” Cadence huffed at the insult to her kingdom. While the Crystal Ponies were certainly traumatized by their enslavement by Sombra, Cadence knew that they loved and were loved every bit as much as the ponies of Canterlot. If anything, with her guidance and assistance, the Crystal Empire was becoming one of the most loving places in all of Equestria.
“As regent of this realm, I demand you leave immediately!” said Cadence, her gold horseshoe stamping hard on the crystal floor beneath her feet.
“In due time, princess,” said Chrysalis, grinning. The word ‘princess’ dripped with sarcasm and disdain. “I have something very important to show you.”
Moving on cue, two changelings descended from the teeming mass above, carrying between them a small bundle of dark green silk. In the bundle was a unicorn with a green mane and white fur. The changelings brought it down near the guards, hissing and snapping their jaws, but staying well out of range of the spears.
“What is this?” asked Cadence. “Are you resorting to kidnapping now? Come to return some stolen foal whose love you sought to devour?”
“Do not mistake me for some common criminal,” said Chrysalis. She was visibly stung by the insult, her face snarling as she spoke. “This is my child.”
Cadence was startled. The foal looked nothing like a changeling. Had it assumed a shape or something? Twilight had done extensive research on changelings after their assault on Canterlot, but they remained largely unknown and mysterious. Could baby changelings adopt forms like their adult counterparts? Did they get stuck in those forms?
“And why bring it here?” asked Cadence. Chrysalis smirked.
“Because it is also your husband’s child,” said Chrysalis.
Cadence blanched, then turned to Shining armor, but the look on his face told her that he was every bit as surprised as she was.
“What’s with the shocked faces? Surely you didn’t think I would fail to make the most of my time imitating you, Cadence.” Chrysalis snickered, her laughter horrible and shrill. “After all, what better time to feed on love than when it has freshly been made?”
Cadence leaned over, whispering in her husband's ear. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?” she demanded.
“I’m every bit as surprised as you are!” said Shining Armor. “I don’t even remember most of what happened that week, you know that. And even if I did anything, I would have thought I was doing it with you!”
“What, so you think I just give it up at the drop of a hat?” said Cadence, her rage building.
“Well it’s not like either of us was the ‘wait until marriage’ type!” retorted Shining. “All I ever cared about is that I was with you!”
Cadence could see the pain in his face, but in light of her own anger, it seemed irrelevant. “What, because you know I’m some slut you can ply with soft words and a few chocolates?” said Cadence. The revelation was all the more painful when she thought back to how long they had been faithful to one another. Ever since back when they were in high school together, Shining had shown interest in no other mare. There were ponies she expected infidelity from, but Shining Armor? It was unthinkable. But the foal looked like him, there was no denying that.
“As much as I enjoy watching lovers quarrel, I cannot dawdle in this disgusting wasteland you call an empire,” said Chrysalis. “My children must feed. And that is why I am bringing this foal to you. While he is part changeling, his father’s blood weakens him. He must take corporeal, physical sustenance to survive, and that is not the way that changelings...Eat.” The concept of physical food was clearly repugnant to Chrysalis, her face contorting around the word "eat."
Cadence realized that this was not some sort of changeling trick, or some horrible act intended to drive a wedge between Cadence and Shining. It was an act of desperation, a mother giving up her child so that it might live. For one brief, flashing moment, Cadence felt sorry for Chrysalis. Evil though she certainly was, it was not the sort evil that drove monsters such as Sombra. Chrysalis was, in her own way, driven by a love of her children. A dark and horrible love, but love nonetheless. “I...See,” said Cadence, staring at the child.
The changelings holding it gently removed its silken wrappings and placed it on the ground. Clearly a colt, he had his father’s horn and his mother’s mane, tail and wings. He lacked the holed limbs of true changelings, as well as the fangs, but his eyes glowed green with their supernatural sight. He stared at the guards curiously, his eyes filled with hunger. But hunger for what?
“His name is Prince Hornet,” said Chrysalis. “And I expect to hear reports that he has been well fed and cared for. My changeling agents are everywhere, princess. If they tell me that you have failed to care for my beloved son, I will show you the true wrath of the Changeling Collective. And should you ever come to harm him, I swear upon my children's lives that I will make you suffer!”
Cadence wasn’t sure, but she thought for a moment that she saw a tear in Chrysalis’s eye. Was this her way of showing her love for her children? With threats of violence and war? “I will take him,” said Cadence. “And raise him as my own.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say, and these words seemed to mollify Chrysalis.
The changeling queen began to back up, then turned around to her massive brood. “Homeward, my children!” said Chrysalis, hissing out the words as her entire army turned around, whizzing off to the south as a giant swarm.
Cadence noticed she took one look backwards over her shoulder, and it was clear that Chrysalis was crying at the thought of having to abandon one of her own children. Could the being who had so callously sought to deceive and feed upon the ponies of Canterlot really have such love for one of her own?
As the swarm of changelings dispersed and the guard relaxed, Cadence slowly approached the foal. He had no diaper on, nor did he have a cutiemark. As he buzzed his wings, it became readily apparent that they could not yet propel him through the air. His horn, too, seemed impotent. This wasn’t exactly surprising for a foal, but it certainly seemed to clash with his visibly sinister origins. He was a helpless infant, regardless of the way the guards cowered around him and held him at spear point.
“Careful!” said Shining, holding Cadence back as she approached the child. “It might be a trap!” Cadence shot him an incredulous glare.
“It’s a baby,” said Cadence. Gently, carefully, she bent down and picked up Prince Hornet. The prince did not squirm or cry. He just stared at her with his green, unpupiled eyes. “See? He’s no more dangerous than you were at his age.” She slowly brought the foal to Shining, letting him get a good look. Though she was keeping her eyes on Prince Hornet, she could see the guilt and sorrow in his eyes. He felt genuinely remorseful about this, even though, deep down, Cadence knew he was entirely blameless.
“What do we do now?” Shining Armor asked.
“I promised that I would raise him,” said Cadence. “And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
***
“Get back here right now young colt!” said Cadence, chasing after Prince Hornet down the hall.
Hornet just hissed, charging forward with both his wings and hooves. Although he could not yet fly, and his magic was weak at best, he showed remarkable intelligence for such a small foal, and his ability to get into mischief was surprising. When he wasn’t terrorizing the guards or vandalizing the rooms, he was trampling his filthy hooves in the kitchen or knocking over the innumerable crystal sculptures and statues which decorated the palace. Worst of all, he was extraordinarily fussy. He seemed to always be hungry, yet it was a struggle to get him to eat. Cadence had foalsat dozens of young colts back in her formative years, and none had proven to be as troublesome or uncooperative.
“Gotcha!” said Shining, intercepting Hornet at a corner and grabbing him by his wings. Shining struggled to hold the foal as Hornet hissed and kicked like an angry cat. Shining handed him to Cadence, where he continued to growl. “What’s he gone and done now?”
“He kicked over the oatmeal I was trying to feed him,” said Cadence. “I don’t understand. I’ve never met a foal who didn’t love his oatmeal. I even put banana slices in it!”
Shining armor sighed in frustration. Though Cadencebore the brunt of Hornet’s bad behavior, Shining was in no way exempt. He, too, woke up in the middle of the night to Hornet’s loud and haunting cries, and spent hours trying to get the colt to take a bottle or go back to sleep.
“You never met a foal who was half changeling,” said Shining, his voice barely concealing his subdued anger. There was guilt in his voice as well.
Cadence had wanted to be angry with him at first. She wanted blame him for Hornet’s misdeeds, and make the colt his problem, not hers. She found, though, that she couldn’t. Shining had never meant for this to happen, and she knew that, if there was any way for him to have possibly prevented this, he would have. He seemed to hate the young prince more than she did, and while he never struck or spoke cruelly to the colt, his feelings were impossible to miss. Prince Hornet was a living testament to his weakness, his failure and his unintentional infidelity. How could he not hate that? Especially when it was knocking over his furniture.
“Yes, but he’s also half unicorn,” said Cadence. “And I just wish he would be more like his father, sometimes.”
Shining smiled lightly at this. Ever since Hornet had come into the house, he seemed to have trouble believing she still loved him. Shining hugged her close, and then instantly backed up. “Fwoah!” he said, putting his hoof over his nose. “Well he must be eating something, because it smells like he needs another diaper change!” He smiled weakly, giving her a face that said “please don’t ask me to do this, but I won’t say no if you do.”
“I’ll handle it,” said Cadence, sighing. “You’ve had enough for one day.”
“Thank you,” said Shining, trotting off towards the throne room. “Don’t forget, though, we’ve got a meeting with that investment group from Manehattan about opening more franchises in the Empire.”
“I won’t,” said Cadence. There was at least one saving grace in Hornet’s presence: his bad behavior and insistent troublemaking made meeting with foreign dignitaries comparatively relaxing. Also, the boring negotiations and pointless posturing were much easier to get through when she was so tired that she nodded off during the boring parts.
Carrying the fussy, wriggling Prince Hornet back to the nursery, she sat him down on the changing table and began to remove his diaper with her magic. She remembered that, back when she was foalsitting Twilight, this had been something she actually looked forward to. Once the disgusting part was over, it was a time to be close to the foal, an opportunity to touch noses, tug hooves and rub the bellies. It was this physical contact that really let her build a rapport with a foal, since she couldn’t exactly hold a conversation with one.
Hornet, however, seemed insistent on spurning even her softest caress. He kicked and squealed, throwing his hooves around wildly. Getting the diaper on was a challenge, and any sort of caressing was out of the question. He would kick and hiss and nip if she even tried to rub her nose, and when she touched his belly, she would quickly find herself glad that his teeth had not yet come in. As such, the process was rushed and messy, and the end experience always left her feeling frustrated. Why wouldn’t he just cooperate? Couldn’t he understand, on some instinctual level, that she was just trying to take care of him?
The changing finished, Cadence sat him down on the table, staring intently into his soft glowing eyes. “What am I going to do with you?” she said, then picked him up, gently placing him into his crib. She just hoped that, this time, she would come back to find him napping instead of tearing into the sides with his horn or using his developing wings to try and escape.
***
Cadence collapsed into bed, exhausted. The political discussions had been long and frustrating, and though Shining was there beside her the entire time, he had been of little help. A soldier and an athlete, there was little he could do other than to rub her shoulders or give her a kiss when it came to extended discussions about trade and taxation policies. Clearly, Twilight had inherited all of the brains in the family, leaving poor Shining struggling not to come off as stupid or uncouth when it came to things as complex as tariffs and subsidies.
As she laid down, she could feel Shining beside her. She wrapped herself around him, holding him close. He was her anchor in these troubled times, someone she could come to for a listening ear and a gentle hug. He was always so patient with her, even when she was in a bad mood or crushed by stress and sleeplessness. He always put her first, even when she knew that he needed her more than she needed him. She was still infuriated with him for being “responsible” for bringing Prince Hornet into her life, but here, in bed, it hardly seemed to matter.
She could feel him rubbing a hoof up and down her flank, feeling her gently. She giggled. He had always know where and how to touch her, how to make his body one with hers. It was the reason she’d seen no reason to seek such attention from other stallions, though they had certainly offered. Profusely, even. But how could anyone love her the way that Shining Armor did? And make love to her in such a delightful and wonderful way?
“It’s been awhile,” said Shining. “May I?”
She could feel his lips on her body, slowly sliding down her stomach. “Please,” said Cadence, closing her eyes. She knew what was going to happen next, and she had been longing for it. The feel of him, the closeness, the love: it was something deep, and intimate, and special. But deep down, she couldn’t get past the fact that it was no longer theirs, no longer something that only they shared. There had been another. There had been a dark, terrifying interloper who’d stolen this “secret” from them. And even as she felt him touch her, she knew that the intimacy that they had shared before would never come back. Shining could never belong wholly to her ever again. That witch Chrysalis had stolen him from her, permanently.
Prince Hornet’s scream pierced the night like shattered glass.
The noise seemed to cut into Cadence’s ears, the pain sending her into a fury. Her exhaustion, the interruption of her most intimate moment with her most beloved individual, and the fact that Hornet was a living testament to how he had been stolen from her all combined into a furious mass of rage and disappointment. She shoved Shining off of her, sending him sprawling onto the floor, dazed and confused.
“You handle it!” she shouted. She could feel the tears coming to her eyes, the rage building in her heart. “You handle that little bastard of yours! I’ve had enough!” She could see in Shining’s face that her words had cut him deep, and in his pain, he lashed back at her.
“My bastard?” said Shining, stumbling to his hooves. “I wasn’t the one who adopted a changeling in front of half the royal guard!”
“You’re the reason I had to adopt him in the first place!” she said, stamping her hooves on the bedsheets in her frustration. “What did you want me to do? Turn him away and have Chrysalis wreck the palace in her jealous rage? You’ve seen what that witch can do!”
“Oh so this is all my fault, huh?” said Shining. “My fault that I love you so much, I can’t say no to anything you say? Anything you want? Is that it?”
“You can’t say no to my plot, you mean!” said Cadence. “You see a pink plot with a fluffy tail next to it and suddenly there’s only one thing on your mind! And it certainly isn’t ‘make sure this is my bucking wife’!”
“Well excuuuuse me Princess!” said Shining, his own hooves now stamping on the crystal. “Excuse me for loving you so much that all I’ve ever wanted is to make you happy! Excuse me for letting you wrap me around your hoof! Excuse me for being BRAINWASHED by a WITCH and then not being able to control myself! Because I thought SHE was YOU!”
Suddenly there was a tremendous shattering, as if a thousand crystal goblets all hit the floor simultaneously. Dashing into the nursery, there was no doubting the source of the noise. Prince Hornet’s shrieks had ascended into a horrifying wail, shattering the windows, the lamps, and even the crystalline furniture and decor. The entire room had turned into an avalanche of broken crystal, and in the center of it all was the Prince, screaming and howling like a demon, his eyes open wide and full of hate.
Ignoring the pain as she trod on the sharp fragments, Cadence grabbed the child with both hooves, locking eyes with it and screaming in frustration and pain. “Why are you doing this to me? To your father? Why can’t you just be a good little foal and let me love you?”
The realization that hit her then was so blinding, so overwhelming that she felt herself unsteady on her hooves, struggling to maintain her balance. It was all so obvious now. All of her years of foalsitting, of caring for and loving young fillies and colts, of helping parents to love their children: it had all taught her so much. Why had she so easily forgotten what she learned?
She held the prince close to her, ignoring his writhing and hissing. Heedless of the pain from her hooves, the exhaustion in her mind or the anger in her heart, she caressed him gently, patting him on the back and rubbing him softly in her embrace. She sung to him quietly, rocking him in her arms even as he struggled like a wild animal.
“Hush my darling and I’ll sing you a song,” she said, struggling to keep her voice from cracking under the stress. “Of a handsome young prince, from times long gone.” She continued to sing, rocking him in his arms, caressing his nose, his stomach, his back, oblivious to his anger and frustration. Instead, she slowly carried him to the royal kitchen, rocking him and singing to him all the way.
“His mane was quite bright bright, his hooves were quite strong, and when he ran through the woods, his friends came along.” Carefully, slowly, she retrieved a bottle of formula from the fridge and filled a bottle, using her magic to gently warm it until it was as warm and comforting as her own voice. Slowly she pressed it to Hornet’s lips, and gently, he took it into his mouth, suckling with silent content.
“They ran through the fields, they ran through the streams, they ran through the leaves and soft white sunbeams.” She could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks now, but she didn’t stop. She kept rocking him in her arms and singing to him, ignoring everything but the hungry young colt in her embrace.
“You’re bleeding,” said Shining Armor. “You cut your hooves on the shattered crystal. We need to get you to the Royal Doctor.”
“In a moment,” Cadence said. She hadn’t even heard him come up behind her. “I need to put our baby to bed first.”
“Our?” said Shining, visibly taken aback by this.
“Yes, our baby, Prince Hornet,” she said, smiling weakly. She rocked him in her arms gently, presenting him to Shining. “He was just hungry. That’s all. He was literally starving for love. And when all we fed him was hate, it’s no wonder he got so upset.”
“Fed him hate?” said Shining, still confused.
“Don’t you get it?” said Cadence, nuzzling her clueless husband. “He’s a changeling. He feeds off the emotions of those around him. With nothing but hate to eat, he turned into a monster, just like Queen Chrysalis. Formula isn’t enough for our little prince. He needs our love too.” Shining smiled, moving in close and holding his wife to him.
“Don’t all babies need love?” he asked, kissing her ear gently.
“Of course,” said Cadence. “But our baby needs lots of love, because he’s special. Just like his Daddy!”
“Hey now,” said Shining, gently rubbing a hoof up and down Cadence’s back. “I’ll have you know that I did not spend one day in the ‘special’ class at school, I was just as ‘special’ as every other foal in class. Except in math.”
Cadence smiled weakly, leaning into her husband’s embrace. There was still anger between them, simmering beneath the surface, but as Cadence held her husband she could feel it beginning to cool. It would take days for things to truly heal, but still. Cadence Now had hope that things could be, one day, fixed. She nuzzled his cheek softly. “Now that’s the stallion I married,” she said.
Hornet had fallen asleep now, his eyes closed, his face finally peaceful. He smiled gently in his sleep, curling up his arms and legs and breathing gently.
His face reminded Cadence of the baby photos she’d seen of Shining Armor. Filled with quiet strength. And promise. “Help me put him back in bed, and then we can go see the doctor about the shards of glass in my hooves,” said Cadence.
Shining nodded, helping her to limp back to the nursery, then using his magic to sweep aside as much of the shattered crystal as he could. He was able to carve a path, at least, and Cadence was grateful for that.
As Cadence calmed down, the pain seeped in from her hooves. It didn’t feel so bad right now, but come the morning, it was going to be absolutely agonizing.
“He doesn’t look so bad,” said Shining Armor. “When he’s sleeping, anyway.”
“He looks like his father,” said Cadence, leaning into him. Despite the pain, the exhaustion and all the heartache, she found herself unable to tear her eyes away from the sleeping colt, his legs and wings gently moving as he began to dream. “Love will tear us apart, if we’re not careful,” she said, then gave her husband a warm hug. “But sometimes, it’s the only thing keeping us alive.”