One last thing.
Cadance paced back and forth in her room. After all that had happened, after being trapped in those caverns under Canterlot, being rescued by Twilight Sparkle, and defeating the changelings, she deserved some rest. But she couldn’t be able to. Was she forgetting something? Her old bridesmaids had been rescued, and the wedding was ready to be held tomorrow.
Her gaze landed on an old picture of Twilight and herself. How beautiful were those memories from her childhood as Twilight’s foalsitter, even after Twilight had grown up, they had kept meeting sometimes. They had shared beautiful moments together, Cadance had felt so heartbroken when she saw how Twilight had reacted to her down in the caverns. And most important of all, they had never kept any secrets from the other. Except… that one.
Cadance sighed. ‘I owe her so much for saving me. I think it’s time to tell her. She deserves to know.’ There was something else Cadance had to do. It wouldn’t be easy, Twilight may never see her the same again, but it had to be done. Cadance had kept that secret for so many years, It was time to finally take it off her chest.
The sun was setting in the city of Canterlot. The dimming light contrasting with the marble towers made a beautiful sight, worthy of a picture. Twilight Sparkle stared at it from one of the tallest towers, where she and her friends were staying for the night. No matter how many times she saw it, this wonderful sight always left her speechless.
She was alone for the evening, the others had gone out for their own different reasons. Twilight had been in charge not only of the preparations for the wedding, but also part of the reconstruction of Canterlot after the changeling invasion that same day. Now, all she wanted now was to stay indoors and rest a bit.
Twilight smiled as she remembered the events that had happened today. She had thought that Cadance had changed, that she was mean, but in the end a changeling had been impersonating her. Even when Twilight and the girls weren’t able to get the Elements of Harmony, Cadance and Shining Armor’s love had been stronger, and banished the Changeling Queen and her army far away. They wouldn’t be a threat anymore.
However, Twilight could see that Cadance hadn’t got back to normal. Something was bugging the young princess, and only Twilight had noticed. They had shared so much time together that Twilight could see through her as if Cadance was made of glass. That was why only Twilight had been the only one that had noticed Cadance’s strange behavior. She would have to talk to her eventually, but that could wait for now.
“Twilight?” A voice took Twilight back to reality. Cadance had just landed next to her. Something still seemed odd with the alicorn, but now it was almost obvious that the young princess was uncomfortable because of something.
“Hey Cadance. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine, thanks. Are the others here?”
“No, they are out. Do you need something?”
“Actually, yes Twilight. I… hoped we could talk for a bit-”
Cadance sighed and looked away. After a moment she looked at Twilight again.
“You know we never kept secrets from each other, right?”
“Yes, of course” Twilight replied “I told you everything that could be bothering me. And you did the same”
Cadance looked to the floor. “Actually, that is not entirely true. There was one that I could never tell you. It’s not that I didn’t want to, but I never had the courage to tell you. I wanted to tell you know, so I could be in peace with myself. Could I tell you? You are not mad at me for not telling you something?”
Twilight was a bit surprised by this, but shook her head “No, Cadance, I’m not mad. If you want to say it now, go ahead.”
Instead of start talking, Cadance looked at the floor for a minute, gathering courage to start talking, until she finally lifted her head and looked at Twilight.
“Do you remember the times we passed together?” The princess decided to make small questions to get to the point she wanted to talk about, instead of saying it out loud and startling Twilight.
“But of course! How much of a friend I would have been if not?” What kind of question was that? Of course Twilight remembered that! Those had been the best years of her life.
“And after I stopped being your foalsitter, but we kept going out as friends? Did you like it?”
“Please, Cadance, don’t ask that, you know I loved each one of those moments. You did too.” Twilight was confused. Where was Cadance trying to go with these questions?
The alicorn smiled and looked away, this time she kept talking without making eye contact. “You have no idea how happy I was each time Celestia told me I had to take care of you. Even after I was told that I didn’t have to foalsit you anymore, but we could still visit each other, I was still happy. I counted almost every hour that was left to see you again.”
The princess chuckled, although not really energetically. “When we grew up, it changed a bit. I was still happy to see you every time we could meet, but not in the same enthusiastic way I was when I was a filly. It wasn’t just what we could do today, or where we could go. Aside from that, I was happy just by being with you, to a point that the world seemed gray when you weren’t around. It confused me a bit at the beginning, wanting to be with you at all times. Seeing you smile was enough to make me happy, even in a bad day. Every time I heard you laughing, I felt that I could swoon, or melt, or both things at the same time. And I didn’t know why I was feeling like this.”
Cadance took a breath, and finally looked at Twilight with a slight smile in her lips. “It took me quite long to realize that I was in love with you.”
Twilight needed a moment to process what Cadance had said. When she did, realization hit her like a brick.
“WHAT?! You were in love with me?!”
“Actually, I still am, sort of.” Cadance’s ears flattened against her head and she looked to the ground. She was visibly sorry. “I’m sorry Twilight, I’m really sorry for telling you this, especially in this day, I know I should have told you this long time ago, but I just couldn’t gather courage to do it. I don’t care if you’re mad at me.”
Twilight took a step closer to the princess. “All this time? And you still…?” She paused a moment to clear her thoughts. “Why? Why you had to tell me this now?”
“You deserved to know. It was something I had to tell you.”
“But why now?” Twilight pressed on. “Why you had to tell me this right before your wedding? How do you expect me to watch you walk to the altar knowing that you loved me in first place and not my brother?”
Cadance perked up at hearing this. “Twilight, no. Please listen. Yes, I loved you, and I still do, but I love Shining Armor too. Both of you have a place in my heart. I’m not going to marry him just because you couldn’t love me back. I love him too, just as I love you.”
Both of them were staring at each other’s eyes now. Twilight could see right into Cadance’s eyes: she was sincere, she loved them both.
Twilight sighed and looked away. Cadance took this as something bad. “You’re mad. I’m sorry I did this. I won’t keep you here, if you don’t want to be at the wedding it’s okay.” She was at the verge of tears. She had opened her heart to her first crush and only managed to lose her most valued friendship.
“What? No!” Twilight quickly ran up to her and hugged her reassuringly. “Cadance, please, no. I’m not mad, it’s just that this is so surprising… I don’t know what to say. But I’m not mad, I could never be mad at you.”
Cadance sniffed and wiped out her tears. Despite this, she was wearing a smile. “Thank you, Twilight.”
“But I have just one doubt. How did you fall in love with Shining if you were only interested in me?”
Cadance pawed at the ground nervously. “Yeah, about that; let me explain that…”
(Start of flashback)
Cadance walked through the castle’s gardens. Last night she had taken a decision, she would tell Twilight her feelings today. She was nervous though, it wouldn’t be easy.
As she approached Twilight’s room, Cadance knocked on the door three times. Nothing came from inside. How strange, normally she would be here at this time of the day. Getting a bit more nervous, Cadance knocked again, this time stronger than before, but there was no response. Just then a guard passed by.
“Excuse me. Is Twilight Sparkle in her room? Where is she?” She asked.
“Twilight Sparkle? No, she was leaving Canterlot if I didn’t hear wrong.”
“She is leaving?” Cadance quickly ran out of the tower Twilight’s room was located. . ‘Twilight is leaving? How much time will pass until she comes back? This can’t be happening, not now!’ Cadance had to hurry, before it was too late.
Once she was out she took off and headed towards the main garden of the castle. Twilight wasn’t there, nor was any chariot. . ‘Think, THINK! Where else she could be? The library!’ Cadance took off again and headed to the library. Once she was near the complex of towers that made the castle’s library, she landed and searched for Twilight. Cadance finally found the unicorn near a balcony. But it was too late.
“No, no ,no, NO! Twilight! Wait!”
Cadance ran to the balcony, but she was too late. Twilight had already departed in a chariot, and was too far away to reach flying. Without knowing what else to do, Cadance just dropped her head on the balcony’s rail, and let her tears flow.
“Please, come back…”
She had lost it, her last opportunity to tell Twilight her feelings. Cadance couldn’t leave Canterlot, and who knew when Twilight would come back.
‘Stupid, stupid! You just let her go away. What a friend you were…’
So deep in her thoughts she was, that she didn’t notice the sound of hoofsteps from another pony.
“It was hard for you too, it seems.” Came a male voice. She had heard it before.
Cadance sobbed and answered pretty annoyed. “You think?” She then wiped her tears and looked up. Next to her was a stallion with a white coat and a blue mane. His cutie mark was a blue shield with a six pointed star in it. Cadance recognized him immediately.
“Hey Shining.”
“Hey Cadance” Twilight’s brother walked up to the princess and put a hoof on her shoulder. Cadance kept looking at the sky, just where Twilight had left.
“She didn’t even say goodbye.”
“It was hard for her too. She was leaving everything behind, going to a place she had never been before. Maybe saying goodbye to you was too much for her.”
Cadance sighed and looked at Shining Armor. They had met before, playing with Twilight when she was still a filly. They were good friends, usually talking when they could, but just now, when she saw right into his blue eyes, Cadance saw that he was, in fact, pretty handsome. She smiled.
“Thank you.” She said.
Shining Armor smiled. He had never noticed until now, but Cadance was kind of cute. No, not cute, she was beautiful.
“Let’s go.” He said, leaving the balcony. “Let’s go get something. I pay.”
Cadance giggled and followed him.
(End of flashback)
“After that, we started dating. And that’s pretty much the story.” Cadance had put her forelegs in the rail, and she was looking at the sunset. She turned to Twilight. “You understand now? I love both of you, you and him too.”
Twilight sat on the floor. “You know, you could have used your spell on me.”
Cadance shook her head. “I wanted it to be genuine, not the result of a spell. I love you, but I could have never forced you to love me. I didn’t want it that way.”
Twilight stayed silent for a minute, and the she stood up. “Well, what else can I say? I’m not mad at you, if that concerns you. In fact, I’m glad you could tell me this.” She finished with a smile.
Cadance smiled as well. “Thank you, Twilight. You have no idea how better I feel for finally telling you this.”
Both mares looked at the horizon again. The sun was almost gone.
“Are you planning to tell Shinig about this?”
“Maybe.” Cadance sounded unsure. “I’ll try to make him understand, but it may be hard.”
“Don’t worry, if you ever need help I promise I’ll be there. It’s the least I can do.”
“…Thank you Twilight.”
Both of them watched as the last trace of sunlight disappeared in the horizon, and everything was enveloped in the night’s embrace.