Cadance is immortal. Her husband, however, is not. And what will she, the princess of love, be without her husband? As such, Cadance strikes a deal with the only pony who has truly cheated death: King Sombra.
"And they all lived happily ever after."
Cadance believed that was true when she was married. A princess and her knight in shining armor, just like in the fairytales. Their true love had defeated the evil Queen Chrysalis just like in the fairytales. In short, Cadance felt like she was well on her way to her own happily ever after.
However, as an alicorn she is immortal. One day she will be forced to outlive her beloved stallion, and her happily ever after will die. What will she be then? The Princess of Love without her beloved?
No, that cannot happen.
But there is a pony who has cheated death a number of times: King Sombra.
With his help, Shining Armor too can become immortal, and they can both live happily ever after, together forever.
Right...?
This is not a shipping story. There are romantic themes, but it is not the focus of this story.
Cadance licked her lips and preformed her signature breathing exercise. Breathe in… and breathe out, slowly. The guards outside the throne room doors looked at her, but she did not care. She had much more pressing thoughts in her head than the odd looks from a few guardponies.
It all had started when her daughter was born. A nagging, half formed thought in the back of her mind. It really did not matter at all back then. The small discomfort it gave her was drowned out thousandfold by her very own little bundle of sunshine, Flurry Heart. So, for many moons, she had been perfectly content just watching her filly explore and learn. Just watching Flurry play with alphabet blocks, or tumble around with her stuffed animas, or something as mundane as holding the small foal to her bosom as they were both going to sleep was enough to stave off any worry.
But in time the growing seed of uncertainty grew into something she could not look away from. It had received extra nourishment from something that had happened only a few days back. A Frost Wyrm, a type of beast native to the northernmost reaches in Equestria had accidentally wandered near the Crystal Empire. With magical control of cold, a Frost Wyrm was a dangerous creature and so it had to be deterred. Naturally, her husband had gone to oversee the operation.
It all had worked out just fine, until the Frost Wyrm had decided to be afraid of something, at which point the entire guard unit and Shining Armor suffered severe frostbite and several days in the hospital.
”Princess, can we help you, or…?”
Cadance’s ears twitched and brought her back to reality. She realized she must had spaced out just outside the throne room door. ”No, thank you. I’m just… thinking,” she said. Before she had the chance to postpone the inevitable any longer, she knocked on the door. Strictly speaking, she was equal to Celestia and Luna and did not need permission to enter the throne room. However, she was very aware that age difference between her and the elder alicorns was millennia, at least. She would never feel equal to any of them, and to just waltz into the throne room was nothing she could see herself do in a lifetime.
”Yes?” Celestia’s warm voice answered her knock. ”Come in.” Cadance did so and respectfully went up to the twin thrones where the royal sisters were waiting.
”Princess Celestia, Princess Luna,” she said and respectfully dipped her head to the both of them. Again, that was nothing she was required -or even expected- to do, but today she did not come as a fellow princess. Today she came as a worried mare and mother asking a huge favor from the sovereigns of Equestria. ”Thank you for seeing me.”
”Of course we will see you, Cadance,” Celestia said with a smile as warm and as wholesome as the sun she governed. ”You know you can always come to us, with any and all of your concerns.”
”I know, I know. It’s just… I’m not used to it, its all,” Cadance said. ”Anyway, I guess you have heard what happened a few days ago? With the Frost Wyrm?”
”We did, yes,” Luna said. ”Our admiration goes out to the unit which expelled it. Frost Wyrms are strong and unpredictable foes, and a challenge to all who faces them. We heard that captain Shining Armor himself was among the ponies facing it. Yet again he proves his valor and bravery.”
”I will make sure to tell him you said that,” Cadance said. ”But the reason I bring this up is not to fish for credit on his part, but because… well, it has gotten me anxious.”
”Are you worried about further wyrm attacks?” Celestia asked.
”No, that’s not it,” Cadance said. She bit her lip. Now came the hard part. ”It’s just that, as the Princess of Love, I can’t stop thinking about… about him not coming back some day.”
The other two alicorns sat silent, looking thoughtfully at her.
”He is still as healthy as always, but he isn’t getting any younger. And since I became an alicorn I hardly age at all any more.” The minuscule shift of Celestia’s posture revealed that she at least had figured out where this was going. Cadance swallowed and continued. ”Eventually… I will have to outlive him and… and I can’t stand the thought of it. I can’t stand the thought of being alone after him, and that Flurry too must outlive her father!”
”We… know, Cadance,” Celestia said carefully. ”I cannot claim to understand what you are going through, but we understand your fear.”
”But isn’t there anything you can do?” Cadance blurted. Months of repressed worry came rushing to the surface. ”Can’t you do something for him too?”
”Do something?” Luna asked. ”Just what are you asking us to do?”
”Well…” Cadance fidgeted under Luna’s gaze. ”You have made me an alicorn, and there is no doubt Shining Armor has done more than me to deserve it… so… so maybe you could let him ascend too?”
”No,” Luna said. ”We will not.” Celestia sat silent, a pained expression on her face.
”But… but why?” Cadance asked lamely, a minor panic attack growing in her heart. ”Surely he is worthy! He has done-”
”His worth is not in question,” Luna said, stoic and cold as the moon. ”However, this recent creation of many alicorns has been…” she glanced at Celestia, who sighed and gave a small nod. ”...Has been foolish on my sister’s part. While the ramifications are not yet fully understood, the ascension of any pony in out of the question.”
”Why?” Cadance asked again. ”If you could make me an alicorn, surely you can make Shining Armor one too?”
”Cadance,” Celestia spoke, softly. ”As of late my sister and I have felt something. A shift in Equestria’s magic. The start of this phenomenon correlates all too well with your daughter’s birth to be a coincidence. Magic itself fundamentally revolt against alicorns; we are simply to strong for the balance of magic to handle.”
”Balance of magic?” Cadance asked. She did not understand this subject; she was not really a mage.
”Think of it like a pit in the ground,” Luna said. ”If a ball is placed on the edge, it will roll down if the slopes are steep enough. We alicorns are like the pit and the ball is magic. Magic is attracted to us. With the creation of many alicorns, the pit becomes steeper. More and more magic is slowly gravitating towards Equestria.”
”And… that’s bad, right?”
”Wild magic is an unpredictable and dangerous phenomenon, nearly unheard of since Discord was turned to stone. However, during his reign, wild magic was rampant in our land, causing untold chaos and devastation.” Celestia said.
”We are still investigating the effects of five alicorns, but no other pony will ascend for the nearest century, while the magical field is monitored.”
”Century! But- but Shining Armor will be dead before that!” Cadance stammered. ”There must be something you can do about this! Twilight is the Element of Magic! Surely she can do something about this, right!? Or Discord!?”
”We will not attempt to manipulate the very fabric of Equestria through untested means for the life of one pony,” Luna replied. ”We are alicorns, the welfare of our land stands above any one pony, be him a beggar or a prince. Your future loss is regrettable, young one, but there is nothing that can be done about it.”
”But… but…” Cadance looked desperately at Celestia, her mentor, second mother and friend for life. ”You can’t let him die…”
Celestia sighed and hung her head. ”My sister is right. I cannot intervene, however much I want to.”
”But can’t you just extend his life? Not make him an alicorn, but just extend his life? For Flurry’s sake?”
”No!” Luna said, her voice shockingly loud and somehow echoing. Her eyes seemed to burn as she glared balefully at Cadance, who covered slightly for the agitated pony. ”Such magic is one We shalt never touch. Tis an abomination, mockery of all that magic otherwise is! Thou should be ashamed, fellow princess, for even suggesting such a heinous act!”
”Luna.” Celestia put a hoof on Luna’s shoulder and stared sternly at her sister. ”Sister, I share your sentiment, but remember who you are talking to.”
”I… no, I’ll just leave,” Cadence said meekly. She had made Luna upset with the last request, though she did not understand why. There was nothing more that could be done now, not with Luna as agitated as this. She nodded to the two elder alicorns and left the throne room with her head hanging low and her ears plastered against her skull, defeated.
She made it halfway up the stairs to her chambers before the first tears pooled in her eyes and the first sob made it past her lips.
”Cadance?”
She recognized Celestia’s worried tone. There was no point in asking why she was worried; Celestia probably knew that she had spent the last four hours up in this room quietly crying for the lonesome, desolate future she would be condemned to.
She knew she was being silly. She knew she had many happy years left with the stallion she loved, and that she would make memories to last her forever in those years, but it did not help. She was the Princess of Love, living archetype of the most powerful emotion of all. Just as her entire being was suffused with the greatest of love, just as much did every fiber of her being hurt at the mere thought of leaving that love behind. She was love. It was part of her as much as her wings or horn. She could not live without it, as little as she could live without her lungs or heart. So she cried.
”Y-yes?” she answered Celestia. ”Come in.” She did not even bother to dry her eyes. She knew that Celestia knew she had been crying, so what was the point?
Her mentor’s golden magic opened the door and Celestia went up and hugged her. Cadence hugged back. It felt nice to have somepony just holding her. ”Cadance, we must talk. I must say how truly sorry I am for you… and I need to explain Luna’s behavior too, if you would let me. Please, do not hate my sister. She is just doing what she thinks is right, though it must be hard for you to see.”
”Why was she so…” Cadence mumbled into Celestia’s velvet wing. ”What did I say to upset her like that?”
Celestia sighed. ”Cadance, this is not an excuse, and Luna went overboard when she used the Royal Canterlot Voice, but I think you scared her greatly.” Celestia guided Cadence to the bed and they laid down beside one another, as they had many times in the past. ”You have to understand that Luna does not know what to make of you. When she returned from the moon, she was stunned to find another alicorn beside her and me. To her, that was something… so alien she could not comprehend it. Even after I explained all the things you have done to achieve this status, she… just doesn’t know you. She does not know where your moral barrier is.” Celestia was quiet for a moment and looked into Cadance’s eyes. ”You don’t know why life extension is so horrible, do you?”
Cadence shook her head and Celestia nodded, as if she just had her suspicion confirmed.
”The only pony who have done that was King Sombra. He managed to use his dark magic to extend his life. We don’t fully know how, but Luna thought you wanted to do the same. Luna saw an alicorn asking to use dark magic, and she was afraid. It does not excuse her outburst, but I felt you should know why she acted like she did.”
Cadence nodded numbly. This felt like a glass of water being poured onto a forest fire. It helped, but not substantially. Shining Armor was still going to die. What Luna thought or not hardly concerned her at this point.
”If you want, I can stay here for the evening,” Celestia said sadly. ”Luna will be taking over my duties for tonight.”
”I think I would like that, yes,” Cadance said. She already knew it would not help.
Cadance ruffled up her feathers, giving herself a fuzzy look. She always thought she looked silly when she did that, but Shining Armor said it made her look cute. Now, however, her reason for doing it was not looking cute, but something much simpler: she wanted to keep warm.
She had only been here once before despite it being in her very own castle in the Crystal Empire. That was when Celestia showed her the room and taught her to access it. Back then she could have promised that she would never come here, and yet only a year or so later, here she was. She wished she had remembered this cold though. Then she could have brought her earmuffs and maybe a warm winter saddle too. But it was too late to turn back now.
She proceeded deeper and deeper down the stairwell, her hooves clip-clopping on the crystal steps. Small puffs of smoke escaped her lips with every breath and swirled in intricate spirals up to the roof. She stopped and looked up. She could hardly see the roof anymore. The stairwell continued uninterrupted and seemingly forever. With a little bit of imagination, she could even imagine the blue roof being the sky. She was walking down from the sky.
It felt better thinking of it like that. It left out the fact that what she was doing practically felt like treason to Celestia. She was, in fact, going down deep beneath the earth to see the fallen king, Sombra.
After all, Celestia had said it herself: she did not know just how Sombra had extended his life. Maybe it was not some horrible ritual. Maybe it did not involve dark magic. Maybe she could barter with Sombra and get him to share his secret. It was a long shot, but she really did not have anything to lose just by exploring the option, right?
Her brains told her no. Her heart told her that Celestia would despair if she ever found out about this, and she dared not even think about how Luna would react. After all, this was pretty much what Luna had ben worried about.
Finally she came to the bottom of the stairwell, to the surprisingly normal door. Just a dark oak door with iron fittings. It was not even locked. She pushed the door open and peeked in, more apprehensive than she wanted to admit.
The cell was circular and carefully walled with black bricks. Celestia had explained that they had been quarried in Tartarus and shipped here to create a magically isolated room. Four torches burnt on the walls, though Cadence knew nopony ever changed them. They just burnt on and on. From the walls stretched four thin gold chains that ended in empty manacles, as if whoever they were for had just vanished and left them laying on the floor. Those manacles had been enchanted by the four alicorns to keep the most dangerous pony in recorded history trapped here. The same pony whose horn now sat alone between the golden links.
Cadence swallowed and preformed her breathing exercise, sucking in a mouthful of frigid air. It sent a shiver through her body.
Before she could second-think herself, she closed her eyes and reached into her soul for her magic. She felt her horn beginning to shimmer, and she reached out for the golden shackles. ”Come,” she whispered.
Something whispered back, directly to her mind. Her ears instinctively twitched to catch a sound that did not exist. ”If you want an audience, you will have to ask properly, young one.”
Normally, Cadence would have refused and left. This time, she did not have that luxury, however. ”I, Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire, requests that you receive me, King Sombra of the Crystal Empire.” She thought back to wherever King Sombra was. Cadence knew he could not leave this room, physically or mentally, but he still did not seem to be entirely in it.
”I shall grant your request,”
Cadence opened her eyes.
Sombra stood before her, his legs chained in the thin golden links. Even though Cadence knew just how Sombra looked, she still took a step backwards. Sombra was huge, easily larger than her and probably twice as heavy even without the massive armor. Even in the dim light of the cell she could see how his powerful muscles strained under the smooth ashen coat. His size and strength only served to make his silent appearance all the more eerie. Even the metal links around his legs had not made the slightest sound. He looked disdainfully at her. It had more of an effect than she liked due to his size. She was not used to look up at a pony, especially not one so menacing.
”Bow, young one,” he barked shortly, sharply.
”I won’t,” she replied. ”I am a princess, I bow to no one.”
Sombra’s eyes narrowed. ”If you were a true monarch, you would not have to say your title. To think such weakness now governs my empire… How come ponies call me cruel when this irony is so much crueler.”
”For good reason! Your name is still cursed by every crystal pony who even dares speak it!” Cadance growled.
”Precisely. Even here, chained, buried and thought dead, I still command more respect than you ever will,” Sombra spoke calmly, certainly. Cadance swallowed her withering retort. She was not here to bicker, she needed the help of this wretched pony.
”I am not here to argue with you. I…” she wanted to throw up. ”I need your help.”
If looks could kill, Cadance would have died ten times over from Sombra’s glare. ”A monarch does not ask, he takes. From a prisoner, he shall not even have to do that. He should barely have to think for his wish to be granted.”
She did not answer his last challenge, however much it stung, but preformed her breathing exercise again. It left a bitter taste in her mouth to swallow such insults, but if she wanted to get anywhere she would have to play by Sombra’s rules, at least for now. ”I have come for your help, Sombra. Will you hear my request?”
”As the true sovereign of this empire, it is my duty to hear what you have to say, young one, though it is not a duty I enjoy.”
”I want to know how you extended your life like this. Can anypony do that?”
Sombra smirked. ”So you are not satisfied with near immortality? Perhaps I misjudged you, Cadenza. There may yet be a small glimmer of potential in you.”
”I am not asking for me, I am asking for Shining Armor,” Cadance explained.
Sombra sighed. ”Are you referring to the insect I swatted outside my empire?” Cadence did not answer, but she did bite her tongue to prevent her from saying a few choice words about how Shining Armor was everything a true monarch should be. ”I shall take your silence as a yes. Before I answer, I want to know: does he know about this plan? Does he know that you want him to study Dark Magic with me?”
”So Dark Magic is involved?” Cadance asked, keeping her voice steady despite the wave of defeat that washed over her.
Sombra nodded. ”Dark Magic is to normal magic what carbon steel is to iron ore. It is stronger and tougher, more ductile and more flexible. It opens doors to things so terribly wondrous that few ponies would dare to dream of them. Immortality is but one of many blessings it can give to those who dare to unlock that door.”
”We are done, Sombra,” Cadance said and turned. She would not find any help here, and she would sooner die than give Sombra the satisfaction of seeing tears in her eyes.
”So he does not, in fact, know about your plans?” Sombra chuckled. ”Well, then perhaps he won’t have to use dark magic after all…”
She knew she ought to leave. Nothing Sombra suggested could end well. Just thinking such dreadful magic could be used for good must make her the most naive pony in Equestria. And yet, if that was what it took for just the shadow of a chance to stave of Shining Armor’s death, then she would gladly be the most naive pony in Equestria. So she stopped and looked over her shoulder.
”Maybe there is somepony else can do it for him?”
She remained still, listening and waiting. Sombra smirked darkly. ”Maybe you?”
”Me?” Cadance was surprised. Had Sombra not listened to her at all? ”I am not interested in your twisted magic. I only want Shining Armor to live, I don’t care about your misguided sense of power!”
”Not even if that power is what could save his life?”
”How?” Against her will, she turned to the dark pony again. ”How can I save him?”
”Alone you can’t. You will need my magic and expertise in using it.”
”And just how would that work?” Cadance asked neutrally.
”I would gift you with dark magic and help you reenact the same ritual I used to extend my life in ages past. I used the ritual on myself, but nothing prevents it from being used at somepony else. And the subject does not have to be conscious. You could preform the ritual on this ’Shining Armor’ in his sleep, for instance, and he would be none the wiser.”
Cadance opened her mouth to protest, to shout at Sombra that she would never go behind her husband’s back like that, but somehow her words died on her lips. Already by being here she had gone behind his back. He had never, and would never, ask her to give him agelessness. Worse than that, she knew Shining Armor would resent her for this if he ever learned what she had done.
She also knew that if the roles were reversed, he would have done the same for her sake, and she would resent him for it. So she asked the one deciding question. ”Will this… if I do this, will only I have to use dark magic? Not my husband?”
”Correct. On that, you have my word as king.”
”I don’t trust you.”
”My word is good as gold. A king never lies,” Sombra said bitingly.
Cadance could immediately think up a thousand- no, a million- reasons this was a very bad Idea. She was actually considering going behind her beloved husband’s back to make a deal with the most evil tyrant in recorded history. She, Princess of the Crystal Empire, was considering a deal with the pony who had cursed the same empire to be gone for a thousand years and then tried to reclaim it through fear and cruelty.
And yet, for all that, she could also see one reason to take the deal. That one reason that resonated so within her. For her love, she wanted to go through with this, no matter what happened to her.
”Alright,” Cadance said. Her voice was collected considering the circumstances. ”I will do it.”
”Then bring back parchment, one sheet is enough, a bottle of ink, a sliver of Sombratite and the feather of an alicorn,” Sombra said.
”Sombratite?”
”The crystals I conjure with my magic,” Sombra explained impatiently. ”Surely you have some stored away for studying? Bring the smallest, sharpest one you can find.” He glanced over Cadance. ”And I assume awooden stick, some leather straps and a bathrobe would also be advisable…”
Cadance leaned into the bed and pecked her daughter on the cheek as she levitated the stuffed snail into Flurry’s waiting hooves. The tiny alicorn gave a happy gurgle and tucked the snail in under her own wing. ”Bye Whammy!” Flurry heart dove under the soft covers. Experience told Cadance she would not see much of her daughter for a while, so she took the opportunity to quietly tiptoe out of the room. She found Sunburst waiting in the corridor.
”She has her Whammy and will most likely fall asleep soon, once she has tiered herself out. But you’ll stay and keep watch over her, right?” Cadance asked.
”Of course,” Sunburst said. ”I’m always happy to spend time with little Flurry. Seeing the first ever alicorn infant play and grow is something I would never trade for anything.”
”That’s really nice of you, Sunburst,” Cadance said. ”I really need to get some extra shuteye tonight. I have had trouble sleeping these last few days.” To emphasize the point, Cadance yawned.
”Alone without Shining Armor I presume,” Sunburst said. ”But I understand. I wish you a good night.”
”Good night, Sunburst,” Cadance said and went to her bedchamber.
Strictly speaking, she had not lied. She had slept poorly for a while when she tried to convince herself that dealing with King Sombra was a bad idea. Sadly, the furious wish in her heart had not relented to any of the sound arguments she had thrown at it. Not even reading through the few records left of King Sombra’s time, where his most hideous crimes were documented had changed her mind.
Shining Armor would come back from the hospital tomorrow. This was her last chance to act undisturbed. She sighed and pushed open the door to her room.
Every item laid neatly placed on her desk: Parchment and two bottles of ink. Leather straps and a thick wooden stick. A floofy bathrobe with a feather she had plucked from her own wing, and finally, the one thing that worried her the most. A thin, razor-sharp sliver of jet-black crystal, hardly bigger than the thorn of a rose. She nodded to herself and pushed her many worries into the back of her head. She was a princess, she was strong enough to deal with Sombra. She picked up the items.
This time, Sombra was in the room when she came down the stairs. He stood still as a statue, eyes closed and breathed calmly, measuredly. It was an odd sight, seeing such a dark-hearted, brutish pony stand so calm.
”I have returned,” Cadance’s voice echoed in the cavernous room.
”Do not disturb my meditation,” Sombra said directly to her mind. He did not move a muscle. ”I have kept my schedule for a thousand years incased in ice, and I will not let an impatient mare interfere.”
Cadance bit back the silencing answer and instead laid out the items she had brought.
”So you have brought everything?” Sombra said suddenly. He opened his eyes and smirked at her. ”I honestly did not expect you to return. Perhaps there is hope for you after all?”
”I wish I could believe there was hope left for you,” Cadance said.
Sombra took no notice of her jab. ”I need you to combine the Sombratite with your feather to a quill. Push them close and their residue magic will do the rest.”
Cadance held the two small items in her magic. Her eyes wandered from one to the other. The slender, pink feather gradually changing into royal purple at the tip, and the blacker than black sliver of crystal, looking like a hole in space. If Sombra was correct in that they would react once they came close, then this was her very last chance to back out of this. After this, there was truly no turning back. ”Whammy!” Flurry Heart echoed in her mind, her own smiling little foal.
”I’m doing this for you, Flurry,” she whispered and brought the two items close. "And for Shining Armor... and for me."
A small fizz later, they had indeed combined into a makeshift quill. The crystal had simply flew to the end of her feather and lodged itself in it.
”Place the parchment on the ground with the ink next to it. Then balance the quill on the tip. It will stand on its own.”
Cadance obeyed. The quill shivered slightly, but it did stand upright on the parchment surface, like some bizarre plant.
”Now, then,” Sombra said with a pleased expression. He shifted his attention from the arrangement on the floor and to her. ”Now you will have it all in black and white. We are going to write a contract for our agreement. What are your terms, Amore?”
She had expected something like this. There was no way a pony like Sombra would trust her to keep her word, and she would never trust him. ”And… this contract is binding? I assume this is one of your so-called soul contracts?” she asked.
Sombra’s look turned approving for a moment. ”Why yes, actually. Might I also hope you know how they operate?”
”They are a set of directives signed by two ponies. If anypony breaks any of the directives, the other pony gains complete control of the contract breaker.”
”Precisely. So, Amore, tell me your terms loud and clear and the quill will write them down. If we both agree to sign the contract, then we have a pact.”
”Here are my terms,” Cadance ran through the list in her head. ”You will teach me all I need to extend my husband’s life and make available to me any magic, dark or otherwise, necessary to do so.” The moment she silenced, the quill vibrated on the parchment, dipped itself in the ink and copied down her words in a perfect, flowing script.
”Done.”
”You will never tell anypony about this agreement without my explicit consent.”
”Done.”
”You will not hurt me or Shining Armor.”
”Done, with a certain exception. To 'make dark magic available to you', I will have to place a certain… enchantment, we can call it, on you. It will act like a magnet and attract dark magic from wherever there is anger, fear or despair in Equestria. However, to place this enchantment, I need to preform certain... procedures. Nothing dangerous, if a little painful, and it will only affect you.”
Cadance bit her lip. ”Then you promise that you will only hurt me within the requirements of that enchantment, and that my physical and mental health will replenish soon. You will not hurt Shining Armor.”
”Done.”
”Those are all my terms,” Cadance said and steeled herself. Now came Sombra’s requests. ”Tell me yours.”
”I have nothing to add,” Sombra said. ”I find these terms acceptable, and I pledge my heart and soul to this contract.” As he silenced, the quill placed itself on the bottom of their contract and swiftly wrote out King Sombra’s signature. A ripple of magic passed over the contract once the quill stopped. ”Now the only thing left is for you to sign.”
Cadance looked at her enemy. What was he playing at? He had no demands at all? He did not even want compensation? Cadance had been sure he would demand the blood of thirteen virgins or something, but this…? Nothing? Just what was Sombra’s plan with this?
”What is the matter, Cadenza? I told you my word is good as gold,” Sombra pointed out.
”Then I should worry now, when you don’t seem to have any words.”
”Perhaps. But the question is if you would rather see your loved one age and die than take a contract that by all logic seems to get you everything you want at a most affordable price?”
Cadance hesitated only a moment. This was, objectively, the best outcome possible in her situation. Sombra had not demanded anything. She could not ask for more than that.
She took the quill in her magic and wrote out her own signature just below Sombra’s. Another ripple passed over the contract, and a shiver passed down her spine, like an icicle had caressed her back ever so gently.
Sombra smirked. ”Now then… Let us begin the enchantment process. It will take you some time to attract the necessary magic, so the sooner the better.”
Cadance swallowed. ”What shall I do?”
”Roll the leather straps around the stick and bite down hard. I don’t… or rather you don’t, want to scream and disrupt my concentration.”
”What are you going to do to me?”
”Write the runes that attracts dark magic. Or, to be more precise, I will carve them into your skin.” Sombra levitated up the quill. It gleamed sharply in the torchlight. Slowly if floated closer and, with her heart beating hard in her chest, she bit down on the leather-bound stick.
She gasped in pain as the quill pierced the skin on her right front hoof. Sombra began to write.
Cadance did not know how long she spent in Sombra’s cell that night. It was all a haze of pain, and her first clear memories were of her stumbling up the stairwell with her bathrobe tightly wrapped around her. She had not understood why she had brought it until they were maybe halfway through the hideous ritual. It was because at the end of it she would have a long line of eldritch symbols carved all over her body. An alicorn would not die from it, but it would result in a barrage of impossible questions if anypony saw her like this.
She had gotten up to the bathroom and washed herself. Then she destroyed the bathrobe. She was lucky she did this during the night, when there was nopony around. By tomorrow, her body would have healed the injuries enough to not arouse suspicion. She would still be sore as if she had been through a wrestling match with a minotaur, but that was a small price to pay for an eternity together with Shining Armor.
She crawled into the bed to sleep. Even the soft and light blankets made her sore skin tingle uncomfortably. Still, sleep did find her eventually, and a smile appeared on her face.
Right now she could only be proud of herself. Just like any mare and mother, she would take care of her husband and daughter by any means necessary. It did not matter what Celestia thought about this; she did not understand the bonds of family and love like Cadance did. For that matter, Celestia had been clear that Cadance was not her student, but her equal.
Well then. In that case, she was in her full right to do what she did. Celestia had made Twilight ascend. Cadance was in her full right to give Shining Armor immortality.
And she would. Tomorrow morning he was going to come home from the hospital, and tomorrow night she was going to make her move.
If she was not too exhausted after the welcome she was going to give him, that is…
Her smile became a little wider in her sleep.
The frigid air felt even colder this time, biting through her coat and making her shiver slightly. Sombra still did not seem to even feel the cold. ”I sense your stallion has returned to the castle,” Sombra said. ”So I assume you want to learn the procedure to extend his life now?”
”Yes,” Cadance said shortly. ”How long will it take for me to learn?”
”Merely a moment,” Sombra said with a secretive grin. ”I have a… most effective method for teaching.”
”Remember the contract,” Cadance blurted. ”You cannot hurt me.”
”I won’t,” Sombra said bitingly. ”Do you know how to meditate?”
”Yes, in a way,” Cadance said, surprised. ”Or, I have this breathing exercise to calm me and find a type of… zen-place, you could say.”
”I don’t care,” Sombra said. ”As long as you can open your mind and remain controlled, that’s all I need.”
Cadance took a moment to glare at Sombra before she closed her eyes and performed her breathing exercise, calm and slow, again and again. The cold air felt almost pleasant, cool and refreshing in her throat. ”Now, then…” Sombra’s voice echoed in her mind.
Cadance felt like an earthquake had gone of inside her skull. She opened her eyes, stumbled to the floor and choked as she somehow tried to breathe both in and out at the same time. A million words tumbled around in her head, none of them related to anything she had ever known before. Thaumatic field density sevenfold focal point ley-line nexus unicornian Old Ponish Winifred Starcranz' second law of Ætheromancy. It felt like she had endured a lecture in Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns while also being drunk and had somepony shouting random numbers in her ears. Her brain felt mushy, clumsy, as if all this new knowledge Sombra must have implanted in it had messed up everything that was already there. Vorpal crystal netherworld compass ouroboros crest...
She took a deep breath, fought down the gag reflex and practically dived into the new pool of knowledge in an effort to categorize it.
”Let me help with that,” Sombra said. ”Tell me something about the thaumatic field in this room.”
By instinct, Cadance performed a spell.
She did not know what the spell did or how she cast it. If somepony asked how it worked she would not be able to explain. But the answer was there. ”This room has a very strong magic, adhering from both the imprisonment spells that keep you here, but also from geothermal forces that keep the Crystal Empire’s surface warm,” Cadance answered. She put a hoof over her mouth. She had not meant to say anything, because she did not know the answer.
Only… she suddenly did know the answer.
”And how would you extend somepony’s life? Surely you can tell me that?”
She could.
She knew in detail exactly what she had to do. The ritual was complex, but she felt like she had known it since she was born. Only… she did not know why it worked. She had no context at all, it was just like a recipe in a cookbook, she did not know why the different components in the ritual accomplished a life extension, even if she was absolutely sure they did. Her mind felt fractured. She could walk herself through the ritual, but the moment she asked the simplest questions about the theory behind it she hit a brick wall. She had no idea!
I need seven candles, each one set at a tip in a seven-pointed star that shall be drawn underneath the ritual’s focal point, as indicated by the Netherworld Compass, another spell used to locate a Ley-line nexus with great precision. But why do I need candles? What do they do? What happens if I don’t have them? And what is a Ley-line?
She did not know.
”You know the ritual now,” Sombra said. ”Leave me.”
Cadance needed a few moments to process what he had said. Her mind still felt a little rough around the edges. She slowly started to make her way up to the castle proper again. As she did, she ran through her newfound knowledge again.
She should be able to do this tonight. The ritual itself did not take more than three hours, thirty-six minutes and eleven seconds, after all, and she should be able to get the materials she needed from the castle stores.
Cadance bit her lip and observed the scene before her. She briefly wondered what anypony would think if they saw this.
She had to perform the ritual in the bedroom. Shining Armor would be asleep, and she did not want to risk waking him up by moving him. The problem was that the bed had not really been factored in when Sombra concocted this ritual, so she had to make some extrapolations.
The focal point was a seven pointed star, each tip made out of a different substance. Cadance did not know what a focal point was, but she did know what coal powder, sulphur, gold dust, crushed crystals, water, salt and mercury was. After having drawn the seven pointed star partially on the bed and partially on the floor, she had performed a spell called ”Netherworld Compass,” which she really had no clue what it had done, but she felt, knew, that it had done exactly what she needed it to do. Then she had lit the candles and enchanted a small piece of crystal. She did not know why, but even in her thoughts she kept referring to it as a vorpal crystal. It now floated gently over the focal point.
”Right,” Cadance said and nodded. Everything was in place. ”Here goes then.” She closed her eyes and hissed in pain. The runes Sombra had etched into her skin started to shine in a strange black light. It was painful, but some treacherous part of her enjoyed it. The sweet taste of power tickled the back of her throat, making her feel… hungry. She felt pure magic surging through her, rippling and pulsing under her coat. It felt wonderful, like she could do whatever she wanted. Any insecurity there might have been left evaporated instantly.
Why had she ever doubted? She had never felt better! This magic was unlike any she had felt before. It was refined and distilled in a way she never thought possible. It was almost like she didn’t want to call it magic at all. This felt like something much more precious than normal magic. The way her entire body felt energized, the way it crackled and sparked around her. The rapturous taste of power! It felt wonderful!
”No!” She thought, shook her head and forced herself to focus on the matter at hand. ”Dark magic corrupts, you know that, Cadance. Remain calm, focus and do what you have to.” She performed her breathing exercise twice to calm down.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Then she corralled the magic coursing through her up towards her horn and began chant a long incantation. Strange words tumbled over her lips, words she had never heard before. She realized the language was some dialect of Old Ponish, but she barely recognized one word in ten. Still, she somehow felt that every word was perfectly pronounced. As she spoke, her horn ached and pounded. The candles flicked over the scene, dousing and relighting themselves to the subtile rhythm in her incantation. With every flicker, the candles seemed to dim slightly, letting the shadows of the room creep closer and closer to Shining Armor’s sleeping form.
The incantation continued on for hours, the runes over her body burning darker and darker until she looked like she had long cracks running all over her coat. The shadows continued to stretch forward towards Shining Armor, like the legs of a large black spider. Ever so slowly they stretched up the sides of his bed, over his sides and up on his chest.
She spoke the last syllable, and the needle-thin tips of shadow converged right over Shining Armor’s heart. She could hear it beating, she could feel the thumps in the air. Stronger and louder his heartbeat became until it sounded like a giant drum.
Thu-Thump.
Thu-Thump.
Thu-Thump!
Thu-Thump!
THU-THUMP!
THU-THUMP!
”What have I done?” Cadance thought faintly as she stared at her beloved stallion. Miraculously he was still asleep in the noise, though his body shook and convulsed with every heartbeat.
THUMP!
With one final pulse, Shining Armor finally laid still as the vorpal crystal above him fractured and broke. The shards gently fell over Shining Armor like a glittering snowfall. The candles all darkened at the same time. The black runes written over her skin faded and the intoxicating feeling of power finally receded. All was quiet.
Cadance stared around in the darkness, feeling like she had just woken up. With shaking legs and wings she stepped towards the bed. ”H-hello? Shining Armor?”
”Hmmm? WHOA!” Shining Armor jolted and sat up in the bed. ”Cadance! I just had the weirdest dream!”
Cadance interrupted him with a powerful hug. ”You’re okay! You’re really okay! I love you! I love you so much!” She hiccuped, laughed and cried all at the same time. She felt Shining Armor put a hoof on her back, right between her wings.
”I love you too, sweetheart.”
"And we'll never have to be apart again. Ever again." Cadance buried her face in Shining Armor's coat. "I love you. I will be yours forever."
The bell tolled one last time before silencing. Most ponies stood silent around the coffin, but no small number were crying, and none more so than a lonely crystal mare named Rose Quartz. Cadance’s heart ached for her, and that was one reason she had decided to attend the funeral in person. The other reason was that she felt guilty somehow.
Cadance had spotted Rose swooning over the now dead stallion some weeks before. With her knack for relationships it had been easy enough to guess just what feelings the mare had. After a little prodding, Cadance was happy to conclude that they would fit well together. A small push in the right direction was all it took for them to fall in love with one another.
It did not seem like that particular love was meant to be, however. The stallion had apparently committed suicide just a few days ago. To Cadance it felt like a bucket of water had been thrown in her face. She had not sensed any type of sadness in him when she probed his feelings.
She pushed that thought away. Rose Quartz was the one who was truly suffering, and it was her Cadance had to help and console now.
”Hello,” she said softly.
”P-princess,” Rose quartz made a haphazard attempt in collecting herself and smile at Cadance, but her eyes were still red and glossy. ”I didn’t realize you were here…”
”I wanted to give you my condolences,” Cadance said sadly. ”I… can’t pretend to know how you feel, but I know that nopony should have to face something like this alone. I can’t bring your loved one back, but I want you to know that if there is anything you want me to do, or if you just somepony to talk to, then I will listen.”
”Oh…” Rose looked at Cadance, surprise almost drowning out the sorrow on her face. ”Well I guess… Thank you. Thank you so much…”
Cadance put a hoof at Rose’s shoulder. ”I know it’s hard, but try to remember you are not alone in your hurt. Your friends will be there with you too.”
”Cadance!” Shining Armor came to meet her the moment she stepped through the castle door. ”I missed you. How was the funeral?”
”I guess it was as good as expected,” Cadance said with a sigh. They hugged. ”I invited poor Rose here in case she need somepony to talk to. I don’t know if she will come, but I had to do something for her.”
”That’s fine. We should try to help any way we can,” Shining Armor kissed her on the cheek, giving her a suggestive little lick too.
She gently pushed him away. ”Not now, the city planners wanted me to look through a suggestion for a new park.”
”Can’t you do that later? I have waited for you to come home, and I’m sure Flurry too wants to see you,” Shining Armor asked hopefully.
”No, I can’t just stop working just because I am a mother now,” Cadance said with a sigh. ”I’m already running later than I should. I’ve got to go.”
”I’ll be thinking of you!” Shining Armor said.
”It’s cute when he is that amorous.” Cadance thought wistfully as she went through the crystal castle to the meeting room. In fact, the affection Shining Armor showered her with was a beautiful gift to the alicorn of love, and one that kept her mind off another matter.
What she had done to her husband still gnawed at the back of her mind. She knew there was no true alternative that she could have lived with, but that still did not make her feel to good about what she had done. Furthermore, she was still anxious as to whether the ritual had worked or not. It would take time for her to determine that, years most likely. Until she had concrete evidence from her own experience, rhather than the experience Sombra had implanted in her, she could not be sure it had worked. And if it did work, then she would have to tell Shining Armor what she had done. He would resent her for it. She knew he would. But she was also sure their love was strong enough to survive it. It would take time and effort to regain his trust, but if there was one thing she had it was time, and for her love no effort could be to big.
Cadance shook her head. Never mind this now; she had other matters to take care of.
A few days later
”I used to imagine my life with him,” Rose Quartz said in a lifeless voice. In fact, just about everything about her looked more dead than alive. Her soft red mane was messy and oily, evidently not washed for days. Her eyes had stared out in space ever since she came to Cadance today. She had looked at Cadance when they greeted one another, but she had not really seen her. The cup of tea Cadance had offered likewise stood untouched. ”How we’d sell my house and move into his. How we’d use the money to… to-” Rose Quartz choked forth a sobbing wail. ”We should have had a foal! When I went in heat we would- we would-! Just a few months more and we-!” She screamed out her sorrow in one long, mournful cry before she collapsed into Cadance’s hooves and cried into her shoulder.
”Shh, it’s alright to cry,” Cadance whispered and hugged the broken pony. ”It’s alright. Just let everything out.”
”This isn’t fair! What did he do to deserve this!?” Rose cried. ”What kind of world does this!? Why can’t you princesses do something about this!? I don’t want to be alone! Not after him! I want him back! Please!”
”He is not coming back,” Cadance whispered as softly as she could. ”I’m sorry, but he is gone.”
”No! Nonono!” Rose wailed and let go of Cadance. She got up from her chair and laid down on the floor. ”Come back!” she screamed and bashed her head into the crystal floor. ”Come back!”
”Rose Quartz, stop,” Cadance said firmly and levitated the disheveled pony up and hugged her again. ”That’s enough.”
Rose Quartz seemed to melt into her embrace, as if all her stamina simply disappeared. She just cried into Cadance’s shoulder without hugging her back.
”Cadance~” Shining Armor called with a sing-song voice. ”Flurry Heart and I really miss you~!”
Cadance stiffened. That was precisely the sort of thing Rose Quartz should not have to hear. Was her husband stupid? He knew what she was doing, how could he shout something like that now!? ”Later!” she shouted shortly, just wanting to silence her daft husband.
”But we miss you now~!”
Rise Quartz gave a pitiful whine and pushed Cadance away. ”S-sorry for disturbing you,” she whispered, though her voice cracked at the last word. The pale red crystal pony turned around and ran for the door, tears flowing freely down her face. Cadance looked after her, filled with equal parts sadness and an intense wish to murder Shining Armor. She could not do anything about the first of those feelings right now, so she decided to take care of the second one. She thundered out of the room and went to find her husband and a battle axe.
As she turned around a corner that would take her to the nursery she suddenly found herself caught in a pair of strong hooves. Her surprised sound was cut short by a kiss on the lips. Angrily she pushed Shining Armor away. ”What do you think you are doing you big oaf!? Do you realize how poor Rose must feel right now!? How could you say something like that when I was with her!?”
”Well, just as I said, I really missed you,” Shining Armor said simply, staring right at Cadance without blinking. ”I don’t really know about Flurry, but she’s not important. As long as you are here with me, that’s all that matters.”
Cadance took a step back, a chill rushing down her spine. Flurry Heart was not important? Shining Armor would never say such a thing, it was as alien as a goodhearted Queen Chrysalis. ”What’s with you, Shining? You don’t sound like yourself.”
”There is nothing wrong with me, Cadance,” Shining said with a grin. He still had not blinked or taken his eyes off her. ”Not now that you are here. I’ve never felt better. I love you, Cadance. I love you so much I just want to hold you, kiss you… I would eat you, if I could.”
To be fair, it was not the strangest thing Shining Armor had ever said to her during all their nights when they were cuddling and whispering sweet nothings to each other, but the manic smile and dead stare made this the creepiest thing she had ever heard him say.
”Just kidding!” Shining Armor said and finally broke the manic look with a hearty laugh. ”You’re to easy at times, Cadance.”
Cadance did not know what to say. Then she remembered why she came. ”Really funny! Too bad I’m not really in the mood for your stupid jokes! Rose Quartz will be heartbroken thanks to you!”
”Don’t yell, Flurry will be worried,” Shining Armor said calmingly. ”I will explain, I promise, but let’s take care of Flurry first. It’s time for her lunch.”
Cadance glared at Shining. ”Fine, but I will expect one good explanation from you the moment she is done, understood?”
”Of course, Cadance. Calm down.”
Together they prepared Flurry’s food, as well as tracked down some of her toys around the castle. They should all be in her room, but since she continued to use her teleportation spell at random they usually disappeared from there rather quickly. Thankfully Twilight had enhanced them with a tracking spell, allowing them to be easily returned.
Sunburst sat on a chair when they entered the nursery, keeping an eye on Flurry trying to build a tower of alphabet blocks. The moment she saw her mom and dad enter she abandoned her tower and ran over to them. ”Hello Sunburst,” Cadance said. ”How has she been behaving today?”
”As usual,” Sunburst said and marked the book he had been reading. ”A few errant teleportations into the pantry, but nothing too major.”
”How do you know she teleported to the pantry of all places?” Shining Armor asked as her went down and nuzzled his daughter.
”She didn’t teleport there, she teleported me there. Also, while we are on the subject, perhaps you can place a key inside the pantry too? I had to wait for the chef to unlock the door before I got out.”
”Silly little Flurry,” Shining said softly. ”You know what we have said about teleporting Sunburst away.”
Flurry answered with a happy gurgle and waved her forelegs up and down. Her horn lit up but flicked out immediately again.
”Hello, Flurry,” Cadance said and went down beside Shining Armor to nuzzle her foal. Flurry shivered and, with a frightened wail, conjured up a shield around her. ”Flurry!?” Cadance exclaimed, the warm feeling in her chest suddenly twisting into cold fear. ”What happened!? It’s just me, your mommy!”
Flurry heart coughed violently and looked around her, eyes wide and pupils like pinpricks. The yellow bubble around Flurry became brighter, stronger.
”Sunburst, is she ill!?” Shining Armor asked with a voice trained to instill immediate obedience into guard recruits.
”She was fine until just now,” Sunburst said. ”and alicorns don’t get sick.”
Flurry’s bubble-like shield glowed like a small sun before it abruptly went out. Flurry laid on the floor, fainted.
”FLURRY!?” Cadance and Shining Armor both cried out in terror.
”Cadance, send a message to Spike and Twilight, right now! Sunburst, stay here and keep watch over her! I will go get a doctor!” Shining Armor’s voice broke no argument. Cadance had already written half of the message before he was done talking.
Shining and Cadance were both pacing outside the nursery. The doctor had come quickly and they had decided to leave him to his work in peace, and Sunburst had respectfully left them alone for now. ”What happened!? Flurry is an alicorn, and we don’t get sick! And so sudden too? She had been just as lively as usual according to Sunburst, how could she just feint like that?” She was thinking in circles, but there was nothing else she could do.
”Princess? Your foal has woken up,” the doctor said, just a few minutes after he had stepped inside the nursery. Both Shining and Cadance rushed to the door, only to be stopped by the doctor. ”I must advise you to be calm. I have never treated an alicorn, but a normal foal would be disoriented and should not be stressed. Don’t rush in and try to be quiet.”
”Of course,” Cadance said and tried to peek over the doctor towards Flurry’s crib. The doctor moved aside, and cadence went in swiftly, followed by Shining Armor.
Flurry did not seem to be the slightest stressed. She was already fussing about in her crib, wanting out to play. Cadance released a breath she did not realize she had been holding. Her little one was safe! All was well.
”Here, let me help you, Flurry,” Shining Armor said and picked up the filly and placed her on the floor. She immediately ran over to her tower of alphabet blocks, knocked it over and began to rebuild it. Cadance’s worry slowly disappeared and was replaced by love. Love for her husband and love for her little one.
”Oh thank goodness,” Cadance said quietly. ”Thank goodness.”
”Cadance! What happened!?”
By the voice, Twilight Sparkle was on the very limit of a panic attack. Unwillingly Cadance left the nursery and went to meet her sister-in-law. ”Flurry Heart suddenly fainted and-”
”No, what happened to you?” Twilight interrupted. ”There was something strange about your letter. There was…” Twilight bit her lip and looked around. Then she leaned closer and whispered. ”There was dark magic in it.”
Cadance felt her jaw go slack. How could that have happened? ”N-no, that’s impossible,” Cadance said, though she realized there was no chance Twilight was wrong.
”I know it is, but I also know it was there. I am the element of magic, remember? I have a sixth sense for it. Dark magic feels unlike anything else.”
Cadance knew it did. The euphoria she had felt when she first grasped it was nothing short of rapturous.
”Cadance~?” Shining Armor’s voice was soft and strangely high pitched. Delirious. ”Where did you go? I don’t want you to leave me~.” Shining Armor slowly sauntered out of the nursery. His manic look was back. It was as if he did not even see Twilight, or heard Flurry’s displeased wails at being left alone. ”I don’t want you to ever leave me again. I think I will die if you do. If I don’t breathe the same air as you… If I don’t drink from your glass and eat from your plate… AHAHAHA! I really love you, Cadance!”
”Ehm… hi, brother,” Twilight said hesitantly. ”How, uh, are you doing?”
”Twilight, shut your mouth,” Shining said bitingly. ”I want to hear my wife breathe.”
Twilight looked at her brother as if he had just grown several extra heads. She did not even look insulted.
”Shining…” Cadance said quietly, ”Please tell me that was some sick joke.”
”Hah! I assure you, I have never been more serious!” Shining said, his voice once again delirious and lips crooked upwards in a mockery of a smile. ”Why won’t they all shut up? Flurry with her constant yelling and my sister with her twaddle? Drives me crazy.”
”Shining?” Twilight asked carefully. She still did not seem to have understood what she was hearing. Then again, neither did Cadance. ”What’s gotten into you? What are…?”
”Oh, for the love of Cadance, SHUT UP!” Shining Armor screamed. His horn flashed and with a bright "Clang!", a blue dome appeared around Cadance and Shining Armor, locking Twilight and everything else out. Not a sound could be heard, aside from her own quick and shallow breathing.
”Much better,” Shining Armor said and turned to her. ”Now there’s just the two of us. No annoying baby or sister or city planners or guard recruits.” Behind him, Twilight pushed her front hooves to the solid bubble. Cadance could see worry radiating from her eyes, but she could not hear a word Twilight said. She saw the mouth move, but heard not a syllable. ”Cadance,” Shining Armor said, snapping her attention back to him. ”I love you. I love you so much. I want you. I need you. I need to have you.”
He walked towards her with the posture of a drunkard. He stumbled and tripped over his own hooves, but his eyes never left hers, or even blinked. Instinctively, Cadance recoiled and stepped backwards, until she felt her hindquarters hit the bubble wall.
”I need you!” Shining Armor’s voice broke into falsetto and her rushed at Cadance. A harsh sound snapped in the bubble as Twilight appeared in a cascade of purple magic. The small alicorn’s horn blazed as Shining Armor’s hooves left the floor. He hovered in his little sister’s magic, legs flailing and trying to gallop.
”What’s gotten into you!?” Twilight asked angrily. ”What is this!?”
”I told you to shut u-” Shining Armor stopped in the middle of the sentence. His eyes pulsed once with soft purple before he went limp and started snoring. The bubble around them dissolved.
Cadance stared at her husband, her horn gleaming pink. Tears fell from her eyes. ”Twilight,” she said shakily. ”I-I… I’ve made a huge mistake.”
Cadance had seen much heartbreak and hurt in her life. Being the princess of love came with certain works that were not mentioned in the brochures, for example that she was the pony most unhappy mares and stallions visited when their romances did not work out. It was not a responsibility she enjoyed, per se, but she was one she felt proud preforming. Helping crushes bloom into something more was always sweet, but helping ponies when they were at the lowest and then see them learn to love again was the most beautiful thing she ever saw.
Yes, she saw hurt sometimes. But she had never seen it on Twilight’s face and she had never been the cause of the hurt. ”How… how could you do this, Cadance?” Twilight asked quietly, staring at her as she laid on her bed. ”How… I never thought you could have done this…”
”I know it was wrong of me, I know!” Cadance pleaded, trying and failing to keep her voice steady. ”But there was no other way! I need him in my life, Twilight! I need him! I couldn’t do nothing!”
”Sombra, Cadance. It was Sombra you went to. You knew nothing good could ever come from dealing with him.”
”But I hoped it might!” Cadance said. ”There was no other way, so this one had to work! It just had to!”
”So you have placed Celestia-knows-what spell on my brother and to top it off you managed to get Dark Magic into yourself too!?” Twilight said sharply. ”And that ’had to work’? Really!?”
Cadance made an unhappy sound, fully aware of how pitiful she must appear. ”Yes,” she peeped. ”It had to work.”
Twilight sighed. Cadance wanted to cry like a little filly, because she knew what that exasperated sigh meant. It meant that Twilight was disappointed and angry with her, but also that she was going to let the blame (and brutal lecturing) wait. Right now Twilight was thinking about how to fix the problem. Cadance knew she did not deserve such a wonderful pony’s help, but she still nearly weeped because she would have it.
Shining Armor was not well. She could not have dealt with his insanity alone. Twilight had appeared like a saving grace in the darkest hour and offered her help. Cadance could only weep with thankfulness. ”Thank you, Twilight. Thank you.” She clapped her hooves together in a praying gesture.
”You’re my sister-in-law, not to mention my friend,” Twilight said, sounding almost bemused. ”Of course I will help you, even if I am disappointed. Now then, I need to know. Just what do you know of the spell you used? You say you know it inside and out, so describe it to me. Every little step.”
Cadance nodded and recited the spell. It still came as natural as breathing to her, though she still did not know what it did.
When she was done, Twilight looked thoughtful. ”Well, there are good news and bad news.”
”Give me the good news first,” Cadance said quickly. She needed something good right about now.
”Most of that was not actually dark magic. You’ve just preformed what we mages calls a bound spell, or an enhancement. Basically, that means that most of the ritual was not actually an effective spell at all, but only a way to tie another, lesser spell to Shining Armor.”
”And what is this lesser spell?” Cadance asked.
”That’s the bad news. I don’t know,” Twilight said. ”The binding magic is not dark magic, so that I can recognize from your description. But the spell you bound to Shining Armor is dark magic, and I’m not good enough at dark magic to recognize its spells.”
”So what I did was binding an unknown, dark magic spell to my beloved?” Cadance asked, ears dropping. ”Can you find out what the spell is?”
”There are two ways to do that,” Twilight explained. ”Either we observe the effect of the spell directly, or someone needs to tell us. I don’t think we can directly observe the spell on Shining; not when we don’t know what we are looking for.” Twilight grimaced. ”So we will have to ask Sombra.”
”Do you think he will tell us?” Cadance asked hesitantly.
”Not unless he has something to gain,” Twilight said. Her lips were pulled in a taut, angry line. ”But we don’t have much of a choice.”
”Ah, Sparkle. I almost expected you.”
”Sombra.” Twilight said the name as if it was a blasphemy.
”That is King Sombra to you,” Sombra snapped. The next moment he smoothed his expression into a smile. Twilight came to think of a snake when she saw it. ”But I am nothing if not forgiving. Please tell me, to what do I owe the honor?”
”What have you done to Shining Armor?” Cadance asked. ”You promised in your contract that you would not hurt him! I demand you tell me what has happened to him!”
”I did not hurt him. You did, Mi Amore.”
”DON’T YOU DARE!” Cadance screamed. She would never raise her voice against another pony normally, but the circumstances were not normal. Shining Armor was not well and Twilight relied on finding information here and now. It was all too much for her to handle Sombra’s insults on top of everything else. ”DON’T YOU DARE SUGGEST THAT!”
Sombra chuckled. Cadance felt like ice cold water trickled down her neck when she heard it. ”Oh, I dare. But since I am a benevolent king, I will explain just what you did to him. If you ask me nicely, that is.” Sombra smirked and got something challenging in his eyes.
Twilight glared back. She gritted her teeth. ”Please, explain what has happened to Shining Armor.”
Sombra eyed Twilight and Cadance, one after the other. ”Tell me, do either of you know what dark magic is? What it really is, at its essence?”
”I assume you will tell us,” Twilight said neutrally.
Sombra smirked again. ”Dark Magic is the magic of corruption. It is the most beautiful magic of all, for it is the one form of magic that affects other magic. The magical power to influence magic. So simple, yet so complex…” For one moment, Sombra looked happy. Not snide or sarcastic, but genuinely happy, like someone talking about something they were interested in. Then his normal, condescending demeanor returned.
”I digress. What is important is this: for you, Cadenza, dark magic results in a maddening, all-consuming, obsessive love. That type of love that devours all rational thought until you can only think of your lover. That is what has happened to Shining Armor. My dark magic enchantment taints all your magic slightly, and your magic is your love- any time you feel love, you radiate a little of your magic, and with it my dark magic taint.”
”So when I love Shining Armor…?” Cadance asked quietly.
”When you love him, he is fed dark magic, and his love for you became the obsessive madness you see in him now. And before you try to deny, tell me something: have you loved your daughter as of late?”
Cadance’s breath caught in her throat. Flurry Heart fainted just when she felt a powerful surge of love for her. She stared at the floor, her entire body numb from what Sombra implied. When she spoke again, her voice was hollow. ”Was this… why that stallion I made fall in love with Rose Quartz…?”
Sombra nodded. ”Dark magic can do a lot to the weak and unprepared. Insanity… or worse.”
”So… this is my doing? All of this is…”
”You, yes indeed,” Sombra smiled. ”Being loved by you is a death sentence, Cadance. And the best part is that no other pony can safely dispel dark magic from another pony. Can you, Twilight?”
Cadance turned to her sister-in-law. Twilight chewed on her lip. ”There is nothing that prevents dark magic from being dispelled,” Twilight snapped at Sombra. ”I am the element of magic! I will find a way to remove it safely.”
”Then you had better hurry,” Sombra smirked. ”The longer he is exposed, the worse he will become.” Sombra looked back to Cadance. ”Before long you will be married to a psychopath, who will stop at nothing to make you his in whatever way his addled mind can think.”
”Shut up! SHUT UP!” Cadance screamed in powerlessness. ”How can you do this! What did Shining Armor do to deserve this!? Leave him in peace! Please, I beg of you!”
”What did he do?” Sombra looked almost amused by that question. ”Why nothing at all, he is but a pawn in our great game of chess. He will be sacrificed when the time is ripe, and that will be the end of his torment. But you, Cadenza… the sheer audacity that someone like you sits upon my throne… it makes my blood boil in anger. Merely killing you would be too little… no, I will take everything from you. Anything you love will wither and die, leaving you all alone. Because it is not the dead that suffers, it’s those they leave behind. And you will be left behind again and again, until you have nothing but despair in your heart.”
Cadance sat in her room alone, quivering in terror and feebly hugging a pillow. Tears flowed freely from her eyes and matted the bed where she sat. She sniffled and whimpered, vulnerable as a newborn foal.
And she was alone. She was so terribly, terribly alone! The silence felt like it was crushing her skull! With a pitiful sound she looked up and at the door out of her bedroom. Hours had passed, and Twilight was not back yet. She had gone directly to start working with extracting the dark magic from Shining Armor, and Cadance had resorted to confining herself alone in this room. She tried not to think about her husband in mortal danger, because if she worried about him then she loved him, and that would make him worse.
So Cadance sat alone, thinking of nopony. She suddenly wished she knew how to meditate. She would give nearly anything not think right now. She could not even have her little filly, the light of her life, with her. Cadance was assaulted by a pang of worry for her little foal, followed by an even worse pang of fear. Was she okay? Was this working? Did this fear too count as a type of love? Was she slowly poisoning her filly too, just by laying here, thinking this?
”Help me…” Cadance whispered quietly to whoever might listen. ”I can’t do this… I don’t want to… I can’t do this anymore. Please, help me… anypony, help me…”
But no help came, and Cadance looked away from the door. The tormenting silence returned. She managed to endure another minute before she truly felt her mind starting to break. She could not do this. She shambled up from her bed and paced the bedroom. Anything to have some sound and something to do besides just crying. The longest she could walk without turning around was eight steps, twelve if she stretched it. All the while she still hiccuped and sobbed. She bit her lip hard enough to feel a metallic taste in her mouth.
”Cadance? Are you okay?”
Twilight’s voice was the sweetest sound Cadance had ever heard. She whipped around, absently aware that she must look like a total wreck. ”Sh-Shining… is he…?” she asked with a thick, shaky voice.
”I have not been able to remove the dark magic, but I managed to contain it. He is not in danger right now,” Twilight looked at Cadance, hesitating slightly. ”But we still need to find some way to get Sombra’s enchantment off of you. That enchantment is the root of this whole mess. As long as you still have that…”
”…being loved by me is a death sentence,” Cadance replied glumly. ”Do whatever you need. I would rather be dead than live like this anymore.”
Twilight looked at Cadance, long and hard. When she looked away, she sighed. ”I have an idea. If it works we could save Shining Armor the same way. But I will have to ask Starlight and Sunburst to help me. Celestia and Luna too. And we will have to evacuate the empire…”
”Evacuate… the entire empire?” Cadance had never imagined the enchantment on her was that powerful. Was the entire empire in danger once they started prodding at it? Just what was Twilight planning?
Not that it mattered. Cadance just nodded. It was past time she revealed her mistake for all the world to see, including Celestia and Luna. She would accept whatever punishment they decided for her. She only hoped they would still let her take care of little Flurry Heart.
Cadance sat in a meeting room in the Crystal Castle. Twilight, Starlight and Sunburst had all left to prepare whatever they were planning to remove Sombra’s taint from her. Shining Armor, meanwhile, had been evacuated from the empire alongside the rest of the crystal ponies, together with Flurry Heart.
Aside from herself and Twilight’s team, there were only two other ponies left in the empire, sitting right in front of her: Celestia and Luna. Cadance did not know what reaction she had expected from them when she told them everything, but she knew it was not this. Neither of them had said a word. They simply looked at her and each other, their expressions unreadable. It was all Cadance could do to keep her hooves from shaking as she awaited her judgement.
”Sister, art we certain Twilight Sparkle shalt be able to resolve the unholy benediction imprinted upon Princess Cadenza?” Luna asked, though she stared out in space when she said it, not truly seeing Cadance or anything else around her.
”If Twilight says she can, then she can,” Celestia said simply. Luna nodded.
”In that case, we shalt have to turn our attention to what must be done afterward,” Luna looked directly at Cadance, and she looked back. She felt small, infinitely small, as if Luna’s gaze held all of space and time, and it was all focused on down on her. ”Thou hast besmirched the alicorn race through thine actions, Princess Cadenza. We cannot speak for our sister, but know that in our eyes, thine title art revoked and thine dignity scattered. We do no longer consider thine judgement pure enough to befit a Princess of our realm. Let it be known that from this day forward, thou art considered a fallen princess in our eyes.”
”I…” Celestia looked helplessly between Luna and Cadance, her eyes revealing an excruciating pain. Cadance suddenly felt like she was drowning in shame. How could she have done this to Celestia, the kindest, friendliest, purest pony ever to grace the world? She was the cause of the pain in Celestia’s eyes. Cadance wanted to vomit. She wanted to rush into the shower and scrub her coat so hard the shame in her came out. She did not deserve to be an alicorn. She did not deserve to be a princess. She did not deserve her daughter. She did not deserve her husband. For the pain she had caused Celestia, she hardly even deserved the very air she breathed.
”…cannot agree, sister,” Celestia said quietly, a lonesome tear glittering like a diamond as it fell from Celestia’s cheek. ”Cadance has made a great mistake, but she is not a bad pony. Her intentions were pure. I know she would never wish this to happen.”
”Thou art entitled to thine own considerations in this matter, dearest sister” Luna said. ”However, for the future of Equestria, we wishes to broach the subject of the fallen alicorn’s daughter.”
Cadance’s breath caught in her throat and her heart rate quickened. She forced herself to remain still.
”For it is our belief that young Flurry Heart oughtest be placed under thine care, as a student in the revered school for gifted unicorns. The filly is clearly a magical prodigy, and her education must be considered of utmost importance. We cannot with honesty in our heart consider the fallen Princess Cadenza a pony whose hoofsteps are to be followed. As such, the care of the young one should to befall another, more honorable pony.”
”Luna, I cannot request she parts from her daughter. Such cruelty hardly makes us better than the fallen king of this empire. I cannot consider it.” Celestia’s tone was hard, cold.
”Dear sister, we mean no disrespect,” Luna said calmly. ”And thou would be remiss in thinking this is our cruel idea of a punishment. Tis but what we believe to be the best for the realm. We do stand for what we said: Flurry Heart could be a force of good to our world, as Twilight Sparkle has already been. However, with Flurry’s great powers comes also a risk of a terrible adversary one day. What pony she turns out to be shalt depend upon the ponies she learn from; this is certain. Can thou look us in our eyes, sister, and tell us that thou think Princess Cadenza is the right pony to carry this mantle?”
Celestia sat silent. Cadance felt her heart beginning to sink. This could not truly happen. She did not deserve this! She had wanted to save her husband! She could not loose her foal in the process!
”Yes, sister. I think she is.”
”Then let is be so. We… I hope with all my heart that we shall not have to regret this day.”
Cadance let out the breath she had held. She had hurt Celestia beyond imagination. Luna probably would not speak with her for years after this. Twilight too felt betrayed by her actions, Cadance could tell.
But she would still have her little foal and her husband. And she would make sure her little Flurry never made a mistake like the one she had. That would be her way of answering for her mistake, by teaching her filly to be a good princess. Cadance could not turn back time. Her mistake was already made, and the only thing she could do was to learn from it. But the future was unwritten. She could still change the future for the better, and that was what she would do.
They stood in the throne room, just where Sunburst had instructed them. Twilight, Sunburst, Starlight, Celestia and Luna all stood at the tip of a pentagram that had been painted on the floor. Cadance stood in the middle of it, trampling nervously with her hooves.
”Riiight… right, right, right…” Sunburst mumbled as his eyes darted from the scene around him down to a parchment he held in his magic. ”Okay, I think this would be it. We should be able to do it like this.”
”Do what, exactly?” Starlight asked. ”What are we trying to do here?”
”Well, I probed Cadance’s magic carefully," Sunburst said. "Whatever Sombra did it not only attracts dark magic, but also joins it with Cadance’s magic. We need to do this in two steps- first we need to remove the attraction enchantment, then we need to purify the magic already inside Cadance.”
”Can that actually be done?” Starlight asked hesitantly. ”I have never heard about a unicorn’s magic itself becoming tainted.”
”I will use the same spell we used to hide the alicorn magic from Tirek.” Twilight explained. ”We rid Cadance of her magic, pull it out in the open and makes it dissipate into the crystal castle.”
Sunburst continued. ”We don’t know much about how king Sombra’s magic works, but we do know that when it comes into contact with the crystals of this empire, it coagulates into the crystals associated with him. When we put Cadance’s tainted magic inside the castle, the taint should coagulate too, leaving Cadance’s own magic. Then we can give it back to her. We basically use the castle and the surrounding empire as a dark-magic filter. We still need to clean up the leftover dark magic, but that is much less dangerous than trying to remove it from Cadance directly.”
”Your plan is a clever one,” Luna said. ”I stand ready at your command.”
”As do I,” Celestia said. ”Lead the ritual, Sunburst.”
Sunburst nodded and pushed his glasses further up his snout. ”Let’s go.” His horn began to shimmer and a golden ring of magic appeared around Cadance. Twilight followed suit. She closed her eyes and began channelling a ray of magic into the ring, which promptly expanded outwards and changed color to an ethereal white. Starlight, Celestia and Luna joined a few moments later, delivering more and more magic into the thin ring swirling around Cadance. It shone with a searing, painfully white radiance and looked like it was spinning fast around her. The casters continued to channel more and more power to the ring, though Cadance could see them sweat and strain to keep the magical ring intact.
”…Okay… I’m doing it!” Sunburst called through gritted teeth.
Then the ring contracted into a blinding white disk around Cadance, before it fully disappeared into her. It felt like she was back in Sombra’s cell. Her entire body screamed in agony as the runes inscribed on her suddenly began to burn in an ashen light. Less than a moment later, the fire in her body was gone. She felt numb, lightheaded. Her vision was unfocused. The floor under her hooves felt like it was moving. Breathing too felt harder than usual, like there was a chain wrapped around her chest. Worse than all that though was the incomprehensible emptiness she felt. It was like her soul had been sucked up with a sponge and then wrung out, leaving only a bleak vacuum behind.
”It worked. That’s got to be her magic!” She recognized the voice to some degree, but it sounded like the speaker stood very far away. Cadance shook her head in an attempt to get ahold of what was happening around her. She felt the floor at her side and realized she must have fallen somehow.
She looked over towards Twilight just as a ray of furiously pink magic struck the floor in front of Twilight’s hooves, disappearing into the castle.
Not a sound was made. It was like the world itself held its breath.
The silence stretched on, but Cadance felt the atmosphere in the room shifting from anticipating to confusion and finally, worry. Something was not what it was supposed to be.
”What is happening?” Twilight’s voice was barely more than a mumble, but in the compact silence it was loud as a thunderclap. ”We should hear the dark magic crystalizing all over the empire. It is not supposed to be this quiet…”
Sunburst furrowed his brow and lit up his horn. ”Cadance’s magic is spreading through the empire, as expected… but the dark magic is… gone?”
”Magic does not disappear,” Luna said grimly.
A tremor, sharp as a whiplash shot from the ground and up the castle. A deafening peal of breaking glass ricocheted between the crystal walls, drowning out even the screams of surprise from the ponies inside the throne room. Slivers of crystal fell from the ceiling, long and sharp as razors. A wave of similar sounds struck the castle from everywhere at once as the crystalline constructs all over the empire felt the sudden shockwave and started to splinter. Cadance’s ears gave out to tinnitus almost immediately and the waves of sound hit her almost like physical projectiles, tripping her again.
”What is this!?” Twilight screamed and narrowly dodged a sliver from the roof, big enough to impale her. ”What is happening!?”
Celestia’s golden magic flared, catching the falling crystals and gently lowering them to the ground. The rumble and cacophony of breaking glass started to fade. Cadance staggered up and stumbled towards the balcony. What had happened to her empire? The other ponies evidently had the same idea. They burst out of the room and stopped in their tracks as they saw the devastation.
Not one building still stood. Wherever they looked, all that was left of the once glorious empire was a pile of colorful rubble. The roads too were fractured, long cracks crisscrossing over them. All the crystal trees too had been swept aside and laid in splinters over the ground and about the ruins of the buildings. Cadance turned around and looked up at the castle itself. It still stood, but it was fractured everywhere she looked, the once beautiful surface now marred with angry reflections as the sun scattered in the million cracks that now crisscrossed the castle.
”How is… this possible?” Starlight asked quietly. ”This… was not supposed to happen.”
”Thank goodness we evacuated the empire,” Twilight whispered. ”I thought the worst we would face was Sombra’s crystals starting to appear…. but this is… how could it happen?”
”Why, it is simple, really.”
Cadance felt her heart plummet and her legs beginning to shake. She turned around.
Sombra stood in the throne room, looking around at the broken keep with a wry smile. Twilight, Sunburst and Starlight all reacted at the same times, sending rays of magic at him. They passed straight through him, not even fazing the dark pony. ”In truth, I am surprised you let yourself be tricked so easily, Celestia. I thought you had figured out my relationship with the dark magic at this point.”
”What art thou insinuating?” Luna said, her wings spread and horn lowered.
”I am like you, Luna, Celestia. That is what I am insinuating,” Sombra’s grin was unbearably smug. ”I hope you still remember some of what I taught you about magic: You can think of it like a pit in the ground. If a ball is placed on the edge, it will roll down if the slopes are steep enough.”
Celestia and Luna watched Sombra warily.
”Dark magic may be special type of magic, but it still obeys fundamental magical laws. For example, it is attracted to other dark magic, just like other magic is attracted to you alicorns. But there is no dark alicorn… there is only me.”
”The dark magic we released! It went to you!” Twilight shouted, her pupils contracting to pinpricks. ”But-! But-!”
”Correct. In that cell you put me in, my ability to attract magic was severely crippled. I used Cadenza as a way to lure the dark magic close. When you unleashed it just now it was close enough to break through your cell… to me.” Sombra eyed his opponents, his hellish eyes lingering a fraction of a second longer at Cadance. ”I shall take my leave. But fear not: the rightful king of this empire will return in due time. I promise you that.”
”Thou shalt never harm another pony again, Fallen King!” Luna called with her Royal Canterlot Voice. ”This we solemnly swear!”
”My word is good as gold,” Sombra replied.
Luna spread her wings and lowered her horn. Her eyes glowed completely white as she unleashed a flurry of ethereal rays of light as Sombra. The dark unicorn in turn let his horn flare in an ashen aura of wrongness. Shadows rose from underneath him, groping his legs and red cloak. Just as Luna’s lights made contact, he turned into smoke and disappeared.
Cadance counted herself the luckiest mare alive. Her beloved had all right to hate her. He had all right to never want to see her again. He had every right to leave her, take his daughter with him, and find a mare who would not end up causing the second greatest disaster the Crystal Empire had ever known. He could do all those things, but instead, by some heavenly luck, he was here instead, cured of his maddening magic, and the immortality it would have brought him. It too had been filtered out together with the dark magic.
Cadance nuzzled closer to his warm, strong chest, listening to the calming rhythm of his heartbeat. She never wanted to leave. Here she was safe. Here nopony resented her, judged her, or pitied her. Here, there was only love, pure and strong. She felt a hoof on her side, under her wing as to rest over her own heart. ”… and then he was just gone,” she finished recounting the last fateful hours for Shining Armor. ”He swore to return.”
”He will return. To his cell,” Shining Armor said tenderly. He too did not want to dwell on such grim matters now. ”I… can’t believe you went though all of that for my sake Cadance. I’m so sorry for my part in all of it. If only I had understood how you must feel, every time I risked my life serving in the guard… How could I have been so blind as to not realize how hard it was for you?”
”No, don’t take any blame for this,” Cadance said. She looked up at his face. ”What happened had nothing to do with you. I fell in love with you, and if I cannot love you for defending Equestria, then I don’t deserve to be your mare.”
”Don’t say such things, sweetheart,” Shining Armor whispered and kissed the tip of her horn, sending a sweet tingle down her spine.
The two was silent for a few minutes, just resting in one another’s presence. Cadance broke it, whispering. ”Shining?”
”Yea?”
”How can you still love me?”
Shining Armor smiled and stroked her mane. ”It’s easy. I see you play with Flurry. I hear you laugh. I know how hard you work to give other ponies the gift of love. And I know you would walk through Tartarus and back for me. Loving you is as natural as breathing. I don’t think I could ever stop.”
”I don’t deserve you,” Cadance whispered and burrowed her face into his snow white coat.
”I have never deserved you for all the time I’ve known you. But yet somehow you still love me,” Shining Armor said and nuzzled her mane. ”But you should know better than anyone that love can work in strange ways.”
”Hmm…” Cadance purred. The empire was still fractured. Sombra was out there somewhere. Luna resented her. Twilight was disappointed and Celestia was hurt.
But for now, none of those things matter. For now, Cadance was at peace.
