[Poetry] As Twilight and her friends prepare for the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the real Cadance tries to hold her fragile mind together in the caves beneath Canterlot.
As Twilight and her friends prepare for the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the real Cadance tries to hold her fragile mind together in the caves beneath Canterlot.
and shining armor with the smile that melted her heart and the stupid jokes that made her groan even though they weren't that bad and and twilight little
no—
not so little not anymore twilight sparkle who liked to guard the book forts that they used to build together
and now she was... well it was—
cold
...just her alone
with all the echoes in the whole grand city's stomach for company
and
all she could do
was watch her magic fizzle out
and
breathe
...shining armor with the dorky sister and dorkier smile a mane of blue and...
they'd been planning it forever and there was the surprise for twilight, who never remembered her princess name to be best mare and she'd have marble underhoof and sunlight on her face
Burning in the cold with all the dryness of the Arabian deserts where the sand tangled her mane and Shiny's smile was brighter than his armor, shining in the hot sunlight brought by her lovely auntie so far away and Canterlot was gone then but she had been safe and smiling because she had him at her side the sun in her face and Equestria behind her on a trip with a deadline and no green eyes or bugs and laughter so cruel it—
But her throat burned sand-hot and she couldn't wet her lips
all her magic did was fizzle out just like her focus and her fluttering heart couldn't hold her aura there and her gaze traveled everywhere and anywhere
because...
green eyes and bugs with chitin shapes cut from shadow and darkness stole her away
and all her magic did was fizzle out in the caves where silence was louder than anything she knew before
and in it her ears rung with the sound of nothing at all
but
Her throat was burning and her breathing was labored Her whole chest seemed to shrink with each inhale until on the floor from the sound of her new favorite song dripping in the icy dark was
"Cady it's alright, I'm sure that whatever dress you'll pick will be fine. Besides, I'm not supposed to see the bride in the dress before the wedding, it's bad luck."
don't think about everything above and the weight that crushes you
"I still can't believe that you don't like red velvet cake — it's the best kind! Hey, don't give me that look — I know you practically grew up in a kitchen, but gods, Cady can't you try a bit of this one, I promise it's good, I swear upon all of Twily's old book forts — no, hey c'mon don't you dare talk about how me liking pineapple on pizza is weird because it's not, I swear! Cady, please?"
as stone presses down from above to pop your little air bubble tomb and above you stone knives dance on a ceiling you can't see but they move every time you close your eyes and in your cold-bathed chest thin heartbeats skip a little faster and it goes on for so long sapping her strength why she couldn't even move a pebble right now... lying there alone cold and waiting for nothing
"Cady, what's wrong? Is it stress again? Hey, Cady, it's fine if you want to take a walk or something, I remember enough of these nobles to know which ones you thought were too pretentious in their music tastes to be cool. Just go take a breather, okay? Hm? What do you mean where? It isn't like I'm asking you to leave the city, Cady. Why not just go visit that hiking trail on one of the nearby mountains that opened up last month. C'mon, do it for me, please? You're far too absorbed in all the little details. The napkin colors aren't that important, I'll just take it from here."
and she thought she remembered a green dream beneath her hooves and mountain air tickling her throat all alone looking out at the twilight of a kingdom that couldn't be real because the sky was not a sea of stone
but she also held something like a little candle of sunlight in magic so pure and blue that didn't falter
all it took was one pause something like a blink and—
"Don't worry so much, okay? Everything will be fine, and yes, Cady, I love you too. Have fun!"
Celestia smiled warmly at the little pink lesser alicorn filly sitting next to the great goddess' shadow. A soft bit of motherly laughter as she watched the teenager tap the horn she still had yet to get used to.
"I know that you still aren't familiar with all the rules of magic, Cadance, but that is why you have me to teach you. Nopony has ever become a lesser alicorn before, and that is why we're going to need to start with some basics. Now, what is one of the most basic spells that you have seen?"
"Levitation?"
"Yes, but today I wanted to talk about teleportation."
"But Auntie, can't I just fly to places I need to go? Princesses can still fly can't they?"
Celestia laughed again. Lightly. "Of course they can, but now that you have a horn, it would be wise to learn teleportation. What do you know about teleportation?"
"You wink out from one place to another? Uh, that's it really. I've never really been a unicorn before, but I have a really good theory that in-between teleporting is kind of like when you smoke a—"
"Cadance," Celestia said with a sterner aspect of her motherly side showing in her tone, "I would appreciate it if that particular... hobby... of yours could be kept out of all future magical discussions. Equestria having a second princess is already very big news, and that you are the first pony to be made in an Alicorn's image with such powerful magic is even bigger news. But the news that you are also... a, well, I'm not really sure how to put it, but it is going to be a little shocking to the Equestrian public to know that their newest ruler-to-be and such a sweet little filly... well..."
"Aww, okay Auntie. So, um, magic isn't like that? Uh, okay then. Oh, I have a question!"
Gently, Celestia used her magic to push the pink filly's outstretched forehoof back down with its twin so it was no longer waving wildly with a dangerously loose gold shoe.
"What is your question, Cadance? Please, tell me it is magic-related..."
"It is! I just wanted to know if me just suddenly growing a horn back home means I'll be bad at magic."
"Cadance!" Celestia said, tone worried and slightly scolding as she rested a gold-clad forehoof on the filly's wither. "What could make you say that? You are going to be a very powerful pony when you master magic and I don't want to hear you talk about yourself like that."
"No, Auntie, that's not what I meant. It's just that a unicorn has a horn the day they're born and a pegasus like me has their wings the day that they were born too. If somepony just suddenly grew wings to go with their horn—"
"Cadance, I assure you that ponies do not spontaneously grow wings. Look at me, do you think I just grew wings one day? I was born with both my wings and horn—"
"What about your super fantastic, super trippy mane, Auntie? Were you born with that?"
"No. Did you have anything else to say?"
"Yep, I was going to ask if this means that I'll be, like, magically stunted because I wasn't born with a horn. I feel really different since I got it but not like I'm skilled at magic... just really tingly and itchy sometimes."
"I would not use the word 'stunted' to describe the state that your magic is in, but yes, you will have a harder time mastering some very basic concepts in magic. Your love magic is a talent unique to you, but when it comes to unicorn magic... you may be slow in a few areas. Levitation is unlikely to be one of them. With enough practice, basic levitation is easy enough. But teleportation... it can be harder. Especially if you needed to teleport from a dangerous place — like ruins that were filled with magical traps."
"Auntie, are you saying that I'm going to suck at teleporting?"
"'Suck' is again, not the way I would put it. I would say that you would be able to properly teleport even in dire situations when your strength is down and you are unfocused once you are in your mid-twenties. Until then, your ability to do so is going to be very weak, which is why I would like to see if there is anything we can do to make up for that weakness."
every single time she closes her eyes and the stone world of water and cold that has frozen the blood that marks her hooves cracked under gold shoes from attempts to chip away at her prison trying her best to put force into where her arcane strengh has failed
her dirty mane falls like curtains to blur black spots that dance at the edge of her vision
and sometimes
somtimes she can sit for hours swaying in an unknown wind as gravity pushes the weary wisp of a mare with spots dancing before her eyes
and she stares at nothing but recalls, in her haze, and the fog of memory some brilliance called stars and for them she lingers on
But as the time she can no longer count just ticks on by and the cold walls of crystal have their venom seep into her and lucidity is an occasional recollection of something that may or may not have been as her trance wears on and the sitting spell continues with all this weight of worry and exhaustion and magic that fades without the love it was borne by, in the most difficult of times and even stars fade from her eyes
Her voice is regained with water but there is no one to speak to and the few times she cried out in this crystal-spiked den only her ears rung with shattered forms of her image, but all of them are but reflections splattered across the crystalline chunks
And when nearby echoes that can't be more than a dream fade there is an instant when crystal shatters and a bit of magic sparks within her at the sight of—
