> The Best Intentions
>  by SpearmintSonnet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Potion of Love and Obsession
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1: A Potion of Love and Obsession:

The room was dark and smoky, filled with dim, ever shifting light that played off of the tall shelves and empty potion bottles that adorned them, making them seem to dance and sway in time with the illumination. Books were strewn around the room, each lay open to a seemingly random page. Most were stained from the odd smoke, the crisp white pages now dyed in a strange array of blues, oranges, and greens.

The room itself was sparse- other than the shelves, there was a desk pressed up against the wall opposite a window with the curtains drawn. Upon the desk there were many potion bottles, most were empty, a few were even shattered as if the contents that they had previously contained had been volatile. There was only one book on the table and it was propped up against the wall, it's pages faded and old, but the writing was crisp and clean upon the page. A quill was laid across the top, fresh ink dripping slowly down the back cover of the book.

A glow of magic appeared around the quill and angrily ink slashed across the page, crossing out another line of text as more smoke billowed out of a beaker and a gray pony coughed loudly into his hoof.

The unicorn stallion slowly laid his quill down and stared forlornly at the page that was filled with text that had been scratched out. Each a failed attempt at the spell he was trying to produce. “It's just not working,” he muttered, his hoof over his mouth as he coughed yet again. So much smoke was not good for his lungs, but he dared not risk anyone else see his work. Not yet.

He tapped a hoof against the floor softly as his eyes quickly scanned the tabletop. Very few ingredients were left- a few wisps of cloud drifted in a vial, a little lightning sparked in a crystal cylinder, a few drops of rainbow glow clung to a beaker, but hardly anything else worth mentioning. The alchemist pony sighed again. So many of his attempts had failed, he would need to buy more the next day if his studies were to continue.

“But I cannot give up. I will never give up. She is worth it.” He glanced upwards towards the nearest shelf where a small picture sat next to a intricately carved wooden box. A glow of magic surrounded the image, drawing it close to the stallion who smiled fondly. “I will do anything for you, my love. My Princess.” The engraving was one of a pretty pink mare, a pegasus, who's tri-colored mane was done up in beautiful curls from which hung several dozen small crystals. The unicorn looked at the image for a moment longer before setting it back on the shelf.

He glanced around the room one last time and sighed with defeat. Nothing he had tried that night had come remotely close to what he had been trying to produce, but it never had. Slowly the unicorn stood up and backed out of the small room. He used a little of his magic to keep the smoke contained in the chamber while the door to his bedroom was open, when it shut behind him he let his horn dim and released the magic.

Laying down on the comfortable bed, the stallion released his pent up breath, reveling for a moment in the blessedly fresh air. “Everything will be clear tomorrow. I'm sure tomorrow is the day I will have a break through. I can do this. I must.” It was what he told himself every night before he fell asleep. Months ago when he had begun his research he had believed it. Now, after so long, it was merely part of his routine.

~~~

The next morning, the young stallion went to the market to restock his supply of alchemical ingredients. As he pushed open the door to the small potions shop, a small bell rang to announce his entrance. Inside the shop was filled to bursting with books, vials, and boxes. Along the side walls ran bookcases that had books stacked on them any which way, sometimes with vials topping precarious stacks or holding up books that didn't quite fill a shelf. Boxes served as display tables and were covered with vials and beakers.

From the back of the store came a tall blue earth pony with a short lavender mane. He smiled when he saw the younger stallion. “Morning, Prince. How's the weather been treating you?”

“Quite well, quite well. I much prefer northern springs to its winters.” The stallion stepped lightly around the boxes to the back counter.

“Don't we all, though? Don't we all!” The blue pony smiled brightly, “What are you here for this time, Prince?”

“The same as usual, Half Penny.” The unicorn's horn glowed and a small purse of gold bits dropped onto the counter between the two stallions, “but no lightning this time... I think I've quite exhausted it as a possible component.”

The shop-keeper moved quickly to gather everything his customer asked for, “Seems odd, if you don't mind me saying, a unicorn like yourself interested in earth pony alchemy.”

The prince smiled sagely, “Being the only unicorn which an alchemical talent leads one to be the topic of interesting conversations.”

“Of course.” Placing the last of the vials onto the counter, Half Penny began wrapping each in paper. “Is that everything, Prince?”

Looking over everything, the younger stallion mentally checked each component off until he nodded, “Yes, I believe so.”

“Very well,” he set down the last of the vials and smiled at the prince, “And will we be seeing you at the Crystal Fair next week?”

“I wouldn't miss it for the world.” The unicorn lifted each of the wrapped vials into his saddle bags and nodded to the shop-keeper.

“Have a good day, Prince Silver Scales.”

“And a good day to you, Half Penny.” The prince gave the earth pony a nod as he left.

Half Penny hook his head as the door shut behind his royal patron. “Royals. I'll never understand them.”

~~~

Back at the castle, Silver Scales sequestered himself in his little smoke-filled drawing room. Coughing, the prince lit his horn with magic just to see. “I really should air out this room eventually,” he coughed again, sitting in front of the desk and pulling his notebook close with his magic. Lifting the quill, he dunked it in the inkwell and began scribbling out notes.

Potions had two or three components that complimented each other and amplified the qualities desired to bring about a quantifiable result. Too much or too little of any component would leave the potion weaker than optimal, but so long as everything was prepared and mixed correctly the desired result would be brought about. This was the basic art of alchemy. Something that Silver Scales had learned when he'd first started dabbling into alchemy as a foal.

Now it was the mantra he chanted to himself as he worked, trying again and again to find the perfect blend of ingredients to create a love potion. But not just any love potion- a powerful one. One that wouldn't just last an hour or a week. One that would last a life-time from just a single dose. It was beyond ambitious to think that he could create what other alchemists had tried and failed to, but the prince was sure that they had just over-looked something minute.

Or he had when he had started. Now with pages and pages of his old notebook blotted out as failures, even the love-struck prince was beginning to lose hope. Sitting back away from his desk, he closed his eyes, a hoof rubbing his temple to stave off a headache.

His horn glowed and the image he kept safely on a high shelf in his workroom floated down next to him and settled on the desk. He stared at it for long minutes, thinking and dreaming of his princess- the lovely Princess Cadence of the Crystal Kingdom.

When Prince Silver Scales had first come to the Crystal Kingdom with his family several years before, he had immediately fallen in love with the young pegasus. She was kind and generous and was always smiling. When his family had left to return to their own kingdom, he had begged to stay behind. With his parent's blessing, Silver Scales had begun courting the princess, but she had gracefully rebuffed each of his attempts, eventually telling the prince that while she was fond of his attentions and his company, she loved her kingdom first and foremost and did not believe she would ever love another single pony even half as much.

Heartbroken, Silver Scales had returned home to the kingdom of Magia where he poured himself into his alchemical research. For months nothing could be said or done to bring him out of his rooms.

One day in late September, he was pouring over an old tome when a single potion caught his attention. It was a love potion. Excitedly, the prince read on, but was sorely disappointed when he realized the affects were not permanent. Quickly he began reading into love potions, but each time it was the same- no potion was infallible.

But the prince was no longer so deeply depressed. He decided to return again to the Crystal Kingdom and spend his days researching a more potent love potion.

Now, with several months gone by, Silver Scales had begun to loose hope that he would ever find the potion he was looking to create. He looked longingly at the image of Cadence that sat on his desk for a moment longer before sending it back up to the shelf. He pulled the ingredients he'd purchased that day out of his saddlebags and laid them neatly along the wall.

Wrapping his magic around each of the vials, the prince probed the ingredients, pulling pairs together to see what reacted. Being a unicorn, Silver Scales had an advantage over most other alchemists, he could use his magic to tell him what kinds of ingredients might react with one another if he held them close to each other. He concentrated on each pair of ingredients as he pulled them together, writing down new combinations he hadn't tried before in his notebook. Once he had several jotted down he set to work testing each.

Today he started with eagle feather and north wind. Gently he place the eagle feather into a medium sized silver beaker. With a prayer to the goddess Chrona that this combination might work, Silver Scales unstoppered the bottle of north wind and carefully poured a few breaths of air across the feather. That was all it took for the feather to dissolve into a puff of golden smoke that billowed out of the beaker. Holding a hoof to his mouth, Silver Scales leaned back from the desk and coughed several times, replacing the stopper in the vial of north wind, and scratching out the combination in his notebook. Using his magic to clear the air over his desk again, the stallion sighed, “Oh well, on to the next one...”

Glancing into his notebook, Silver Scales used his magic to pick up the next two elements he would try- moon dust and ice crystals. When he mixed the two together, he flinched away from the concoction, afraid that it might burst the beaker, but this combination did a lot of nothing. For a moment, Silver was disappointed, but when he probed the potion with his magic, he felt life in it. Not much, but it was something.

Lifting the beaker, he slowly drew it past the other ingredients waiting for the small spark in his mind that would signal something would happen. But he felt nothing, so he tried again; still he felt nothing. Whatever he'd made, it was not reacting with any other components he had at his disposal. He decided to probe the potion farther, see if he could even divine what it did.

Slowly he let his icy blue magic seep into the potion, feeling around it to see what kind of catalyst he would need to tap into it's full potential, and to possibly see what that full potential was. As his magic reverberated throughout the potion, it became increasingly clear that while this was a stable potion, it was not the love potion he was looking to create. Sighing dejectedly, he placed the beaker on a shelf and scratched a thick mark through the next line on the page.

“Nothing to do but keep going...”

Throughout the rest of the day and into the evening Silver Scales slaved over his potions. Most exploded violently in his face, filling the room to bursting with multi-colored smoke. A few fizzled with sparks and others shattered the silver beakers they were held in. Eventually the prince stood coughing and moved to the window. Pushing the curtain aside and cracking the window open minutely, he noticed just how late it was- the moon had risen high into the sky and was nearly at it's zenith for early spring.

A yawn sneaked up on the stallion and he quickly inhaled a mouthful of the awful alchemical smoke. Coughing loudly, he cracked the window wide enough for him to stick his head out and get a few breaths of clean, cool air. As his coughing fit subsided, Silver Scales shut the window and moved back to his desk, but as his eyelids began to droop, it was clear that he would not get anymore work done that evening. He blew gently on the still damp ink in his notebook before shutting it and moving back to his sleeping quarters.

Laying down on his lovely, soft bed, the prince looked at the crystal ceiling and yawned again. “I'm sure I'll find the solution tomorrow. It can't be too far off now...” Quickly his eyes fluttered shut and he drifted off to sleep.

~~~

But he didn't find the solution that next day. Or the day after that. Or even the day after that. Soon the Crystal Fair arrived and Silver Scales was still no closer to discovering his love potion than he had been when he'd first started, or so it seemed to the prince.

Sitting in the smoggy darkness of his study, Silver Scales flipped through his notes, searching for anything. With a disgruntled sigh, he finally flipped to the last page and propped it against the wall again. There were several lines of text not yet scratched out. Still more potions to test. “And more that will fail...” Silver Scales muttered to himself dejectedly.

His horn lit up and levitated two ingredients across the room to his table- his quickly dwindling supply of rainbow glow and a strange plant native to Magia called Heart's Desire. Pulling an empty beaker close, he shook the pink lily blossom over it, dislodging several of the heart shaped leaves. He waited until they were settled at the bottom before picking up his pestle and gently crushed the leaves until they were broken up. He uncapped the vial of rainbow glow and levitated it over the beaker, slowly and carefully he let three drops of the precious liquid pour over the leaves.

When there wasn't an immediate reaction, he slowly began mixing them together with a glass stirring rod. Immediately he regretted the decision as the mixture gave off a rather rancid smoke. Coughing viciously, he waved his hooves over the beaker to disperse the smoke. Once the reaction finished, there was nothing but a black film on the bottom of the beaker.

“Well... I suppose I knew that was coming... Mixing herbs- even magical ones- with sky elements has always been shaky business.” as he coughed again, the gray stallion levitated the Heart's Desire back to the shelf it had been sitting on and his quill scratched out the top line of text in his notebook.

“Now what....” Silver Scales sat back and levitated the book close to his face so he could see the writing better. “Cloud and moon dust...” Carefully he lifted the two vials and poured some of the contents together into another beaker. There wasn't any hesitation as the room was filled with a bright pink fog, but despite the color, the potion was weak and just by touching it with his magic, the prince knew it was not what he was looking for.

“I'm so close! I can feel it!” Drumming his hooves against the floor, he looked around at the ingredients he had left. Again his stores were depleted, but there was still enough for a few experiments. He had plenty of cloud, rainbow dust, and crushed crystals left over, but he was down to his last drops of moon beam and had only one eagle feather remained. His other supplies were nearly exhausted as well. Running a hoof through his tousled mane, Silver Scales looked at the last few combinations scribbled in his notebook.

“Cloud and rainbow glow.” The unicorn poured a few drops of rainbow glow over the soft clouds in a clear glass beaker. At first it seemed to have been another failure when finally the cloud began to absorb the rainbow glow and slowly turned a pale pink. Intrigued, Silver Scales poured a little more of the rare component into the beaker until the cloud was a bright and shining pink. He lifted the beaker and let his magic seep into it, poking and prodding to see what it was going to do. It did have life to it, but it wasn't nearly potent enough, even if it was a love potion. Slowly he moved the potion across the few components he had left, and a few of them sparked, but one stood out more than the others- the eagle feather.

Worried that he wouldn't have enough rainbow glow for more than one other attempt, Silver Scales decided to go with his best bet- the eagle feather. Lifting it off the desk, he dipped it into the pink cloud and began to stir, slowly at first, but faster as a reaction started. The potion began to glow faintly and seemed to be working, but then the eagle's feather began to dissolve  and the pink glow dimmed and the potion burst, creating a large smoke cloud over his desk, streaking everything it touched with pink.

Coughing and spluttering, Silver Scales waved his hooves frantically in front of his face, trying to clear his vision of the pink smog. Angrily he pounded a hoof against the desk. So close! He'd been so close! What had gone wrong? Eagle feathers were the strongest kind he knew of- besides Gryphon feathers, and where in the known world would he be able to find one of those? It would be a stretch for Half Penny or any of the other merchants in town to have one. Ponies didn't get along with the war-like Gryphons and trade between the two races was unheard of.

Standing up, the prince moved back into his sleeping quarters to pace. It was easier to think when he wasn't surrounded by smoke and smog. Shutting the door behind him with his magic, Silver Scales started to walk in slow circles around the rug that insulated the floor from the icy crystals from which the castle was made. As he walked, he watched the moon rise through his window and soon he realized that no matter how he tried, it was no use trying to stay awake.

But when the prince lay down and closed his eyes, he found his mind wouldn't stop turning. Finally, after an hour of tossing and turning in bed trying to fall asleep, Silver Scales sat up. “Maybe I'll be able to sleep if I just look at her picture for a few minutes...” Pushing the covers off his body, the unicorn slipped back into the smoke-filled workroom. His horn alight, he carefully began levitating the framed picture down from it's high shelf, but stopped. He gently set the image back down and turned his magic instead to the intricately carved wooden box he'd placed next to it.

Lowering it to his level, he carefully pushed back the lid, revealing the contents. A long pink feather lay atop a cushion of silk. It was one of Cadence's pinion feathers and Silver Scales' treasure. He'd acquired it before he'd left the Crystal Kingdom and it was never far from him at anytime. He set the box down on his desk and carefully removed the feather, using a hoof to slowly stroke the barbs so the whole feather lay straight and smooth.

Just as he was about to put it away again, a thought flitted through his mind. What about this feather? Would it work as the catalyst I need? Immediately he dismissed it. If the spell didn't work, he'd lose the feather. It wasn't a risk he wanted to take, but as he lifted the box back to the shelf, he caught sight of the beautiful pegasus mare who had captured his heart and he was torn. It could be just the thing I need! But what if it fails? I'll be back where I started, and without her feather...

Waring with himself, Silver Scales returned to his bed, not expecting to get any sleep, but the day's events and stress caught up to him and he fell into a deep sleep.

~~~

All night he dreamed of Cadence, as he always did, but these dreams were different. He was no longer chasing his love fruitlessly. This time was a wedding, and he was the groom, his beloved walking down the aisle towards him, her mane piled up and curled exactly as it was in the image he kept of her. He was so over-joyed that he did not want the dream to ever end, but end it did, as all dreams do. Still, that feeling of joy followed him into the waking world and prompted him to try one last time to create the potion he sought.

“A bit of cloud and rainbow's glow,” Silver Scales said to himself as he mixed the ingredients together in another beaker, the one from the night before had shattered when the potion had imploded. “Stir with a pegasus feather...” Carefully and hesitantly he drew the pink feather down from the shelf. Holding it gently with his magic he looked at it one last time before taking a deep breath and dropping it into the cloudy pink solution. “This is for you, Cadence,” he said softly as he began to stir, slowly at first, but quickly he hastened the motion when he felt the potion begin to destabilize. “No... no no no no....”

As the feather spun faster and faster in the beaker, the potion continued to glow a bright pink until it flashed once and turned from being pink colored clouds to a thin solution that seemed to resemble fruit juice. Sighing with relief, Silver Scales drew the feather out of the solution and brushed the liquid off the end, placing the feather back in it's box.

Turning his attention back to the potion, he slowly probed it with his magic, the blue light sinking slowly into the liquid and agitating it slightly. Silver Scales pulled back, expecting the potion to destabilize and explode in his face like the others had, but this one just sloshed back and forth inside the beaker as if nothing were wrong. Exhaling, the prince turned his attention back to studying the potion he had created. He was so intent on hoping that the potion was a love potion that for a moment he was shocked that it was in fact a true love potion. And a powerful one to boot. Suspicious that his hopes were clouding his ability to accurately read the potion, he tried again, this time clearing his thoughts as he did so.

Setting the glass down, Silver Scales sat back, his eyes alight with wonder. “I've done it... I've actually done it. I've created a love potion powerful enough to last as long as my love does... I can't believe it!” He stood and began pacing around the small room. “Now what? Now that I have the potion... how do I get it to Cadence? I don't want her to know... she'd think I was the worst kind of stallion... nor can I let that dragon friend of her see me... Oh... what do I do?”

As he paced, he heard a loud shout of excitement from outside his little window. Pulling himself out of his happy little world, Silver Scales pulled the curtain aside and watched as the citizens of the Crystal Kingdom lit up the Crystal Heart with their uplifted spirits. As the streets of the kingdom glowed blue with the magic of the Heart and the protective spells were renewed for the new year, Prince Silver Scales smiled to himself. He'd decided how and when he was going to give the potion to Cadence- and it was that very night.
> An Evening of Disappointment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The setting sun cast its dying rays across the beautiful capital of the Crystal Kingdom, igniting the gigantic crystal that served as the castle into a myriad of brilliant oranges, yellows and reds until the enormous structure appeared to be a frozen pillar of flame.  The snow that covered the kingdom was painted a striking crimson, and the frost that adorned the windows of the castle shimmered in the shifting light of the sunset; in all, the castle was the picture of late winter beauty, sparkling and shining in its frigid blanket of snow.

But all of that beauty was lost on one lanky lavender dragon, who's entire focus was cast upon the tall armored pony who stood before her.  Her claws were bunched into fists and planted firmly on her hips as she met his gaze evenly, a frown creasing the scales of her forehead. “I told you, Princess Cadence will be at the banquet tonight!”

“That's what you said last time-”

“I know!”

“And the time before that.”

“I-”

“And the time before that.”

“Captain Iron Point!”

“All I'm saying is that we cannot insult Princesses Celestia and Luna. If Princess Cadence does not make an appearance, it could be disastrous.” The armored pony looked gravely at the smaller dragon. “You know that, Claudia.”

The lavender dragon sighed, rubbing the back of her neck with a claw, “I know. And she will be there tonight. I promise.”

“Don't promise anything. Just make sure she's there.”

As the guard pony moved off down the hall to check on his soldiers, Claudia moved deeper into the castle towards the royal wing. As her claws clicked softly on the crystal floors, the dragon thought back to when Cadence had cared about matters of state. Back to before Prince Silver Scales had appeared and stolen her heart. Then, Princess Cadence would never have dared to not make an appearance when royalty from other kingdoms visited. Not that it happened very regularly, the Crystal Kingdom was quite far north, but that made it even more important.

But since spring, Cadence and Silver Scales had been inseparable. Both seemed content to spend every waking moment in the others' company, leaving the particulars of ruling the kingdom to Claudia. And at first, the dragon had welcomed the work. She relished in the tasks at hand, even enjoying most of them, but it quickly became apparent that she could not handle everything indefinitely. There were certain tasks that the dragon could not do- such as meet with foreign dignitaries. That was something only the Princess could, and she was ignoring these responsibilities.

But that's all in the past now. Cadence will realize just how important this is! And if she doesn't, I'm positive Silver Scales will. He's not an idiot. With a confident nod, she continued down the hall to the princess's quarters. The Royal Equestrian Sisters would be arriving soon, and Cadence needed to get ready.

~~~

The great hall was filled to bursting with ponies, nobles and commoners alike were seated around long wooden tables. Serving ponies wove between the tables, offering food and drink to those who desired them. Noise filled the large chamber, reverberating off of the high vaulted crystal ceiling. It seemed as if every pony in the kingdom had gathered at the palace this evening.

At the far end of the room sat a smaller, raised table where two regal alicorns sat. One was white with a long and vibrant pink mane that flowed gently in the still air. The other was a dark violet with a shorter teal mane that perfectly matched her eyes. They were the Royal Sisters of Equestria- Princesses Celestia and Luna, honored guests of the Crystal Kingdom.

They spoke quietly to each other amid the noise and ruckus around them, Celestia's horn glowing softly as she poked at her food. Luna, on the other hoof, was too tense to eat, or even poke at her food. Shifting irritably, she kept glancing at the large double doors at the front of the room. “She sure is taking her sweet time!” The younger princess's voice was tinged with agitation.

“I'm sure she has a good reason for being late, dear sister.” The taller alicorn ruffled her wings slightly, “Princess Cadence has never ignored us before, why would she start now?”

“I suppose you are right...” but Luna's fluffed wings did not lay flat, nor did her gaze waver from the closed doors.

Slowly the minutes ticked by and the tension in the room continued to mount. Celestia lost all interest in her meal and began staring intently at the two great doors across the room from her, as if she could will Princess Cadence through them.

Just then a cool purple aura surrounded both doors and they slowly swung outward. As if this was a silent cue, the room grew quiet and everypony turned expectantly. For a long moment everything was totally silent, but then a rapid clacking could be heard. Luna glanced questioningly at her sister, but Celestia just shrugged.

A young dragon then came running into the room, hurrying up to the high table, she stopped and bowed low to the two alicorns. “I... I must apologize to Your Highnesses for My Lady, Princess Cadence. You see...”

“It is quite alright, young one,” Celestia smiled down at the young dragon, “I'm sure your princess has quite a good reason for being late.”

“No, Your Highness,” now Claudia looked very embarrassed, her cheeks flushed a bright pink. “Princess Celestia... Princess Luna... I regret to inform you that Princess Cadence is quite ill and cannot be in attendance tonight. She...” the dragon sighed, “she bids me apologize on her behalf, seeing as you have flown so far to be here tonight.”

The younger princess narrowed her eyes, “Your princess knew we'd be coming months ago, dragon, how is it she chose this night to be ill! And on top of that, how dare she keep us waiting...”

“Luna,” Celestia gave her sister a sharp look before turning back to the young dragon, “My younger sister brings up a good point. Why did you not inform us immediately upon our landing that she was ill?”

Claudia looked up at the white alicorn, “She hoped to be well enough by the evening to greet you. Unfortunately, that was not the case.”

Celestia nodded then asked, “What of Prince Silver Scales?”

“He refuses to leave Cadence's side for even a moment. He is afraid that she is worse than the doctors say...” bowing again, Claudia began backing away from the table, “My deepest apologies, Princesses.” Quickly she left the main hall without another word. The great doors closed behind her with a resounding boom that lingered in the air for several minutes.

~~~

Though the two sisters stayed for the rest of the banquet, they refused Claudia's offer to stay at the palace through the night. Stepping out of the winter air and into their carriage, Luna's wings were bristling. “I cannot believe her! Ill my left hoof! She's purposefully scorning us!”

“Now Luna, we do not know that. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza may very well be sick.” Celestia was calm and diplomatic as she said it, but as she gazed out over the snow-bound city, she did not believe it.

The younger sister sat back with an angry huff, her emotions stirring up, “Perhaps I should not have come... She may actually believe what some ponies say about me...”

Celestia turned to her sister, confusion written on her face, “whatever do you mean?”

“Oh it's nothing...” Luna's eyes became distant and she did not say another word, no matter what Celestia tried.

As the carriage flew off, drawn by six pegasi stallions, the young lavender dragon moved away from the entry hall, her cheeks still hot as she thought back over the other rulers Cadence had ignored over the past months. While they were all powerful in their own rights, none were as powerful as the rulers of Equestria. This was the last straw. Drawing herself up to her full height, Claudia moved purposefully though the castle halls to the princess's quarters.

She didn't even knock as she entered, being the princess's personal scribe and best friend from her youth gave the dragon special privileges. She found the happy couple enthralled with the others' gaze, their eyes locked on each other as they talked quietly, snuggling on the bed. Angrily, Claudia tapped her claws on the floor until it became painfully obvious that neither had noticed her entrance.

“Princess Cadence!” the pink pegasus raised her head in surprise as the dragon shouted her name.

“Yes? What is it?”

“We need to talk,” Claudia moved to stand in front of Cadence, trying to move her attention away from Silver Scales. “Do you have a moment?”

“Well...” Cadence looked longingly at the prince, “is it really that important? Can it not wait until morning, at least?”

“Yes it is that important, and no I will not wait until tomorrow. This is quite important and cannot wait. Not even a minute longer, Princess.”

With a short sigh of vexation and an apologetic look to Silver Scales, Cadence rose from the bed and followed Claudia. “I'll be right back, love.”

“I'll be here, Cadie.” The gray stallion smiled sadly.

As the door closed behind the two women, Cadence turned to Claudia, “What is it? Make it quick, Claudia.”

Her scales bristling on the back on her neck, Claudia nodded tersely, “Very well, I'll get right to the point. You're ignoring the kingdom and what needs to be done!”

“Nonsense, I care very much about my kingdom, Claudia! How could you say I'm ignoring it! If I'm a little distracted, that's to be expected! I'm in love.” Cadence brushed her off and tried to move back to the door, but the dragon stopped her.

“I'm not done!” Claudia moved between the princess and the door. “You're right, you're in love, but you can't let the kingdom fall apart!”

“And I'm not, thanks to you! You've been covering for me quite well and I thank you.” The princess smiled although she would not meet her friend's gaze. She tried to move passed, but Claudia stopped her again.

“I'm still not done, Cadence! You've been neglecting your duties as a princess!”

Cadence turned away from the door and began pacing the small room, “Are you saying you can't handle everything, Claudia?” The princess looked worried, but it seemed hollow. “I was under the impression that you could.”

“Cadence, there are things...” the dragon growled angrily as Cadence tried to move around her again to get to the door. “Cadence!” Claudia grabbed her friend's snout between her claws and made the princess face her. “What is wrong with you?” The princess's eyes looked far away and the dragon gave her a little shake. “All you think about is Prince Silver Scales! You have a kingdom to run! But you don't even care that you might have angered the two most powerful ponies in the world! I can't believe you asked me to tell Princesses Celestia and Luna that you were sick and couldn't attend the banquet tonight!” With a huff Claudia moved away from the door at last. “But I've kept you too long.” Now the dragon's voice was hard and terse. “Go back to your prince, Mi Amore. I have work to do.”

Cadence smiled at her friend, laying a hoof on her shoulder for a moment as she passed. “Don't worry, I'm sure you'll figure something out.”

The dragon's eyes narrowed before she closed them with a sigh and rubbed her forehead, “yeah... I suppose I'll have to.”

Claudia pushed open the door out onto the hall and began walking back towards the study where she would sequester herself for the rest of the evening as she tried in vain to catch up with the ever-mounting pile of paperwork that would greet her. As she walked, a tall stallion came into step with her. As he opened his mouth to speak, Claudia raised a claw and interrupted him, “I don't want to hear it, Iron Point. I know. I messed up.”

The older stallion was quiet for a long moment as they walked before he said, “that isn't what I was going to say.”

Claudia tensed up a moment before realizing that he'd said, “wait, it wasn't?”

“No. I wanted to ask if you thought there was anything... wrong. With Cadence, I mean.”

“Well, other than ignoring her duties because she's in love, I haven't noticed anything.”

The guard captain nodded, “I see... but I'm worried, Claudia.”

“So am I,” the dragon agreed. “If this keeps up, who knows what will happen? I can't keep ruling forever. One of these days some up-and-coming Lord or King is going to realize that our country is completely defenseless and attack. And with Cadence ignoring our allies and alienating us, we'll be powerless to stop them. Especially if the spells protecting the country are not renewed. I keep hoping that she will pull herself out of it, but with each week that goes by...” Claudia sighed. “I'm afraid that she's fallen so deeply in love with Prince Silver Scales that she'll never come back to her senses.”

“You're right, but do you think there's anything we can do?”

The young dragon was quiet a moment before she sighed, “I... I don't know, Iron Point. I really just don't know. I thought this visit from Celestia and Luna would bring Cadence back. Now... I'm just not sure anything will. Perhaps preparations for the Crystal Fair might bring her back, but at this point...”

“At this point we can't expect that to be the case,” the captain finished as the dragon tapered off. 

“Yes...”

The two were quiet until they reached the room Claudia was headed towards. Placing a claw on the door, Claudia started to enter when Iron Point asked, “What happens if we can't bring her back?”

The dragon was silent, her claws digging into the wooden door, “I think you know the answer to that question, Captain... The Crystal Kingdom falls.”
> A Promise Forgotten
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: A Promise Forgotten:

The moonlight slanted steeply into the royal bedchamber, pooling by the windows in luminous puddles that cast the rest of the ornate room in deep shadow. What little of the room could be seen shimmered with silver light, crystal sparkled and metal shined. Outside the window, snow glistened brightly causing the whole city to be washed in a white and silver glow making everything look bright as if seen at midday. It was a late hour, one at which most ponies slept.

But Princess Cadence could not find sleep. She tossed and turned fitfully next to her sleeping husband. Every time she thought she had found sleep, something caused her to wake up again. A voice. But she could never hear what it said, although somehow she knew it was important.

Eventually she rose, unable to fall asleep and unwilling to wake her lover, Cadence quietly moved to the window. Pushing the heavy curtain aside, she glanced longingly over the city. It has been a while since I had a good flight. Spreading her wings slightly, the princess nodded. A short flight around the palace would do me good, it will let me clear my head. Maybe then I can sleep. Quietly she left the room through the balcony door, leaving the door cracked open so it wouldn't lock after her.

Taking a deep breath of the frigid air, Cadence shivered. It certainly is cold tonight. Lifting her wings, she took off from the wide balcony, diving low to the ground and sweeping up the tower, being careful not to clip her wings on windowsills or protruding crystals. As she crested the highest tower, the princess flared her wings, settling down on the smooth crystals with care. She breathed deeply, taking another long breath of the winter air.

Lifting off the roof, Cadence circled the towers, weaving between the many columns of crystal. As she rounded one of the lower towers, she noticed a light flickering in a window. Curious as to who else in the palace might be awake at this time of night, the princess changed direction and alighted down at the nearest window large enough for her to fit through. Slipping through, she entered the library. It must be one of the scribes working late. I should check in on them.

Entering the hall, Cadence kept a careful eye on the door frames, looking for one with candle light lining the edges. Her hooves clacked quietly across the crystals as she followed the halls towards the room where the light was on. The door was wedged open just slightly, allowing a generous amount of the candlelight to cascade across the floor. The crystals glittered brilliantly until Cadence's shadow blocked the light. Pushing the door open wider, the pegasus princess noticed that the pony sitting in the office wasn't a pony at all, it was her friend Claudia, the dragon.

Without turning around, Claudia stuck out a claw and pointed to a pile of papers stacked on a chair, “Graceful Stroke, thank goodness. Please could you take those down to the clerks for filing? I'd do it myself, of course, but I have so much else to do... I simply don't have time.”

Cadence looked confused a moment until she realized Claudia had simply mistaken her for one of the scribe ponies, “Claudia?”

“Hmm? Is there something else?” Turning around in her chair, the dragon jumped to her feet in surprise. “Oh! Princess, it's you! I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you, I thought you were... well, that doesn't matter. What are you doing up at this hour?”

“I couldn't sleep. Something... was bothering me. I figured a flight around the castle would clear my head. I saw the light on in here and came to investigate. And I could ask you the same question. What are you doing up?”

“Well, not that it matters to you, but I've been keeping the country running while you've been   making googly eyes at that prince of yours.” Even though she was happy to see her friend up and around, Claudia couldn't keep the bitter note from her voice as she turned back to the papers scattered across her desk. Sitting back down, the dragon waved dismissively at the princess. “Speaking of, I really should get back to work.”

Instead of leaving, Cadence stepped into the room and glanced over her friend's shoulder, “Shouldn't I be the one reading these?” She turned her attention to the stack of papers Claudia had asked be taken down to the castle clerks. Across the bottom of each was a well-scripted signature. “Ha-have you been forging my signature? Claudia! What has gotten into you?”

Slamming her claws down on the desk, Claudia stood up and whirled on the princess, “You have no right to ask me that! I should be the one asking what has gotten into you!”

“Whatever do you mean?” Cadence was surprised and confused by the aggression in Claudia's voice as the dragon growled at her.

“You, Princess, have been lost in love with Prince Silver Scales, leaving me alone to make sure this kingdom doesn't fall apart! I have been working my claws to the bone to make sure this kingdom is kept up, and whenever I ask you for assistance or advice, or to just show your face to visiting dignitaries, you brush me off!” Claudia's face was red with emotion as she finally was able to get her feeling's out.

Cadence was surprised, “I thought... I thought you were able to take care of everything yourself...” Thinking back, Cadence did remember being distracted when Claudia came to talk with her once or twice, but strangely everything that happened after the Crystal Fair seemed to be a hazy blur. “I'm sorry... I didn't realize...” The mare sighed and turned to her friend, “what can I do to help?”

“Well,” the dragon indicated the stacks of paper around her, “choose a stack, I guess. Everything needs to be read, signed, and given to the clerks to file.”

Cadence carefully lifted a stack of papers off of the other chair in the room, setting them on the floor. Moving the chair around to face the desk, she sat down next to her friend and pulled a smaller stack of papers towards her. Claudia sat back down and began riffling through the papers she had been when Cadence had appeared.

Graceful Stroke did eventually come to pick up the papers Claudia needed taken downstairs. The minty green mare apologized for being late, waiting for the as of late irritable dragon to snap at her, but was surprised, and delighted, when Claudia dismissed it lightly. “Just so long as it gets done.”

Cadence and Claudia stayed up late, signing many different papers and petitions sent to the palace looking for the princess's approval. Once when Cadence glanced at Claudia signing her name, the princess chuckled.

“What's so amusing?” Claudia asked, setting the paper on top of a large stack of papers that was just one petition. 

The princess laughed again, “I was just noticing how well you can forge my signature. I wouldn't be surprised if the scribes questioned the authenticity of these papers-” the princess indicated her own signature at the bottom of a page that looked sloppy and lazy compared to Claudia's script “-because your signature looks better.”

The dragon laughed. “I'm doubtful that will happen, princess, but if it does, I suppose I will just have to sign everything from now on. So long as you do the reading.”

Cadence smiled, “oh sure, give me the boring bit.” The two friends laughed as they continued to push papers.

Graceful Stroke came back three more times before Claudia stood with a yawn, stretching her claws above her head. “Well... I think it's time for me to head to bed.” The princess looked up from her papers, distracted for the first time in hours, and yawned broadly. The dragon grinned, “and I think you could stand for some sleep too, Cadence.”

“Y-yeah,” the pegasus yawned again and shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs. Standing, she moved the last stack of papers to the “finished” pile the two had created on the far side of the room nearest the door. Cadence took one last look around the room and was shocked. Where just a few hours earlier papers seemed to stack all the way from the floor to the ceiling, covering every surface, and leaving hardly any room to breathe, now there was a significant chunk gone.

The two left the room, Claudia shut the door and locked it tight. Cadence was about to turn away and head back to the royal wing when her dragon friend stopped her with a claw on her shoulder. “Hey, Cadence, would you mind helping me later? I need to run an inspection of the guard with Captain Iron Point, but I've been putting it off... Would you mind being at the guardhouse around three?”

Cadence smiled at her friend, “sure. I'll be there.”

As the princess slowly walked back to her rooms, the dragon sighed with relief before turning and heading in the opposite direction. It's good to see Cadence is back to her former self. I knew it would just take some time. Won't Iron Point be surprised!

~~~

The next day the sun was beginning to sink in the sky as the lavender dragon paced back and forth out by the guardhouse. The captain stood nearby, his stance stoic and unmoving as his eyes watched the pacing dragon. “You told her three?”

Claudia nodded absently as she gazed up at the palace that towered above them. “Yes, I'm sure I did... unless I dreamed it all. I haven't been getting enough sleep as it is, I could have just imagined the whole thing last night...”

“Don't give up hope yet. It's just three now. And for all Cadence's virtues, punctuality was never one of them.”

Claudia smiled a touch, the Captain was right. Still, the dragon couldn't shake the feeling that Cadence just wouldn't show up at all. I have to believe she has gotten better, I can't be doubting her now. Looking up at the castle, her eyes found the small balcony that jutted out from the princess's quarters. The sun glinted brightly off the crystals creating a glare that shone directly in Claudia's eyes. Blinking fast and turning away, the dragon continued her pacing.

Time passed slowly for the pair below the castle as they waited in vain for the princess to appear. Finally Iron Point shifted, the plates of his armor clinking softly against each other brought Claudia out of her silent vigil, “Claudia, we should inspect the guards before the evening post gets here. The stallions don't like being kept late.”

Claudia was about to give a smart remark back to the captain, but snapped her jaw shut at the last moment. Now wasn't the time to irritate the only pony in the castle who thought she wasn't crazy. “Yeah... you're right... I was just really hoping...” The dragon snorted and shook her head. “Let's just get this over with.”

The captain nodded and followed after Claudia. They spent the next hour and a half checking all the guards on duty and Claudia kept checking each window as they passed, hoping to see Cadence below at the guardhouse, but each time she was disappointed. When they finally finished the rounds and the current guard was allowed to go home, Claudia waved good-bye to the captain and started back towards the castle, but Iron Point stopped her.

“Where are you off to in such a hurry? We still have work to do.”

“Captain...” Claudia sighed as she tore her eyes away from the high balcony. “You can do all that without me... and there's something I need to take care of. Right now.”

The captain watched Claudia for a moment before he sighed. “Alright. Just don't do something you'll regret in the morning.”

As Iron Point walked away, Claudia shook her head. “I promise nothing.”

Hurrying into the castle, the dragon tried to calm her nerves. Cadence probably just lost track of time. She's been known to do that. Come on, Claudia, you don't believe that she might have relapsed? How does one 'relapse' in love, anyway? Still she couldn't quell all the doubts she had, and as Claudia all but ran through the castle, her mind buzzed angrily with all her fears.

Reaching the top of the stairs that led to the royal wing, Claudia had to stop and take a breath. She stopped at the door, her claw resting on the wood to push it inward when she heard a loud giggle on the other side of the door. Drawing back a moment, Claudia thought twice about just barging in, instead rapping loudly three times on the door and stepping back.

From behind the door, the dragon could hear a muffled yelp, “Silver!” then a giggle, “Silver! Stop it!” A thump of hooves hitting the floor and the soft clop across the crystals. “Just a moment, it's probably nothing.”

Claudia clenched her fists and took a deep, steadying breath. Maybe Iron Point was right... I should have put this off longer. Slowly the door before her opened and Cadence appeared, her mane slightly rumpled. “Oh... Claudia... what is it?”

The dragon shrugged, feigning disinterest, “Oh, it's nothing really. I just couldn't help but notice you weren't at the guard inspection earlier.” Claudia made direct eye contact with Cadence for a moment before she added in an angrier tone, “even after you said you'd be there.”

The pegasus princess wrinkled her brow slightly, as if she was trying to remember, and for a moment Claudia thought she might get a heart-felt apology, but that moment passed as Cadence's eyes seemed to glaze over again and she shook her head, “No... I'm sorry. I don't remember saying that.”

“But... It was last night! You told me you'd be at the guardhouse at three today!” Claudia couldn't keep back her anger anymore. “You promised!”

Cadence sighed, not angry, but obviously annoyed at her dragon friend's insistence, “Claudia, you must be imagining things. I was asleep here last night. Like every night.” The two stood silent until Cadence tapped her hoof on the door awkwardly, “Um... was that all you wanted? Silver and I were... kinda in the middle of something...”

Claudia slowly shook her head, “no, Princess. That was all.”

As the dragon walked back down the hall, she heard Cadence turn back into her room, but the door didn't quite shut. “No, it was just Claudia. I told you it wasn't too important, Silver.” Grinding her teeth together, Claudia fought the urge to turn back around and tell Cadence just how important this was, but Iron Point's advice rang in her ears and she refrained, instead hurrying down the stairs.

I have work to do... Work that needs to be done... I can worry about Cadence later... I'll deal with it later...

> A Friendship Torn and Broken
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4: A Friendship Torn and Broken:

“No, it was just Claudia. I told you it wasn't too important, Silver.” but even as the words left Cadence's mouth, she wasn't sure they were true. A nagging feeling tugged at the back of her head telling her that she needed to talk to Claudia, that she should go after her.

“Of course, darling.” Silver Scales smiled at his wife and she smiled back, meeting his loving gaze with her own and the nagging voice began to quiet down. His horn glowed blue and pulled the door the rest of the way shut behind her. “Now... where were we?” His eyes took on a playful fire as his magic wrapped around her middle and pulled Cadence closer.

Giggling, the princess pushed against the pull of his gaze and his magic. “Silver... I really think  I need to go talk to Claudia. She seemed.. upset. Out of sorts. Like something was really bothering her.”

The prince's smile faltered for a moment as his horn dimmed, releasing the magic that held her in place, but he shrugged it off, “If you think that's necessary, Love. But if she really wanted to talk to you right now, wouldn't she have stayed and said what she wanted to? You told me she never has trouble speaking her mind.”

“Well... that is true,” Cadence walked toward her side of the bed and jumped up, curling up next to Silver. “She's always told me what's on her mind in the past... but something felt different tonight. Like she was holding something back...” Cadence pursed her lips and thought hard about it. Even though the conversation had just ended, the princess found that it was quickly slipping her mind what had actually transpired, becoming a fuzzy blur in her memory.

Silver Scales placed a hoof on her shoulder, drawing her gaze. “My dearest, why don't you wait until morning? Give Claudia some time to cool off a little. She did sound rather angry, maybe going and talking to her right now would not be the best course of action.”

Cadence found herself nodding slowly in agreement, as the niggling voice in her head finally fell silent. “Yes... yes, of course. You're right, sweetie. I should give Claudia a little time.”

“Unless you really think you need to talk to her-?”

“No, no, you're right. I should let her cool off and calm down.” She giggled again, a gleam in her eye as she snuggled closer to Silver Scales. “Besides... we were right in the middle of something...”

“Oh, indeed.”

~~~

Candlelight danced merrily around the small office, a direct counterpoint to the foul mood of its occupant. Papers crowded the small space, leaving only enough room for the lavender dragon to stretch her claws. Throwing down another cracked quill, Claudia hissed angrily at the black smudge that littered the otherwise immaculate parchment. “Damn it all! Now the scribes will have to draw up another letter to the Crafting Guild! This will put me behind another week- at best! By the Sun, Moon, and Stars!” This last remark was directed at a rather timid knock at the door behind her. “Well come in, Graceful Stroke! Come in already! These papers won't be moving themselves, you know!”

The door cracked open slowly as Claudia blew a gentle flame over the spilled ink to dry it and set the roll of parchment she had soiled on top of several other documents her foul mood had caused her to ruin. “Um... Claudia?”

“What is it Grace? I need you to take both stacks of papers down to the clerks! This one to be rewritten and this one to be sent out to the ponies that need to receive them! It's the same as it always is! Why must you constantly-”

The dragon's angry tirade was silenced by a much more commanding, “Claudia. What is the matter with you this evening?”

Turning violently in her chair, the young dragon jerked to face the annoyed pegasus behind her. “Oh. It's you princess. Whatever are you doing up at this hour? Shouldn't you be asleep, dreaming away this peaceful night while other ponies do your work for you?” The heavy sarcasm in the dragon's voice couldn't be ignored, even by the most benevolent and kind of rulers, of which Cadence was one.

“Claudia, what had gotten into you lately? It's like I don't even know you anymore!”

The dragon laughed a long and bitter laugh, “I could say the same of you, Princess! What has gotten into you lately? First you've been ignoring duties and now you completely let me down today! I only wanted you to come do a routine check of the day guard with me! How hard is that? But no you had to go and forget.”

“Forget? I didn't forget!” Cadence's voice was confused, but Claudia could not hear it. All she heard was her anger echoing in the princess's voice.

“Hah! You completely stood me up! You weren't there when I wanted you- when I needed you- and now you have the audacity to say that you were?”

“But... but Claudia...” Cadence's voice was quiet and sorrowful, “I was there....”

“Don't you pull this crap with me, Princess! You know good and well you weren't there this afternoon! Captain Iron Point and I waited from three o'clock onward until nearly nightfall and you never showed up!” Claudia huffed angrily as Cadence tried to hold back her budding tears.

“I swear I was there...”

That was the last straw for Claudia. Digging her claws into the back of he chair, she screamed, “But you weren't! Stop lying to me, Cadence! Just stop it! You weren't there! You were not! Stop saying you were! You're a horrible liar and I hate you! I hate you so much!” Claudia turned back around and sat down, yanking another quill out of her inkwell. “Now if you don't mind, I have lots of paperwork to take care of, so leave me alone.”

Cadence stood open mouthed in the doorway, tears streaming unbidden down her cheeks. “Claudia...” her voice was so soft it was a whisper and a sob. “I remember being there... with you... and the Captain...” the young princess shook her head, her mane whipping around her face, as she quickly backed out of the room and rushed down the hall.

Claudia turned around again as the door swung on it's hinges, settling half open and illuminating the hall and Cadence as she fled tearfully into the depths of the castle. The dragon, angry as she had been only moments before, stared down the hall after her friend, a sense of confusion and guilt hung in her chest that she wasn't used to feeling. Nor did she like it. But the anger that bubbled so near the surface for all dragons quickly blocked out the guilt and kept Claudia from following her friend. Muttering under her breath, Claudia tried to convince herself that Cadence deserved the tongue lashing she'd been given, but as the evening wore on, she ultimately could not.

Well there's nothing I can do about that now. Claudia thought to herself as she yawned and blew out the now much smaller candle. Perhaps I can talk to Iron Point in the morning. He might know what I can do to make things right with Cadence... that is if she wants to make things right again... and I wouldn't blame her in the slightest if she did not.

~~~

“...and then she just ran out of my office. Like she was actually upset by what I'd said.” Claudia looked up from her feet as she walked next to the guard captain and met his steady gaze with her own. “Which isn't like her at all... at least not these days. Nothing seems to get her down when she's around Silver Scales, but at night these past two days she's been different-”

“More herself, I would think.” Iron Point pointed out in his direct manner. “I'm not an expert in these things, my dear Claudia, but it seems as if our princess is more than just love-struck.”

“Does it?” Claudia was surprised and then paused, nodding slowly, “I suppose that does make sense... and it would explain her interest in royal affairs two nights ago verses her day-to-day ignorance of them.”

“Indeed it would.” the captain agreed.

“But this doesn't help me find a way to repair my friendship with her...” Claudia sighed. “If what you say is true, it won't matter what I tell her during the day, she either will ignore me completely or will forget what I say by nightfall.”

“Nor will she remember what you spoke of last night, it would seem, since she had no knowledge of her promise to come to the inspection yesterday. I would say that your only option will be to hope that tonight she decides to seek you out once again. If that fails...” Iron Point shrugged. “I am not sure what you should do.”

Claudia nodded slowly. “I suppose you're right. Well... I suppose I should get going... have to plan the Crystal Fair and all...” She started moving back towards the castle, but paused and turned back to the captain. “And... thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you right now.”

Iron Point smiled and waved her off, “I know. Now get going. The Crystal Fair won't plan itself!”

~~~

The whole day Claudia sat in her office surrounded by stacks of papers and scrolls only half paying attention to what she was reading and signing. Most of her thought and attention was on what she would say to Princess Cadence that night. Eventually the sun sank below the western horizon and the dragon was forced to light her candles to continue her work.

As she whipped her quill across the dotted line at the bottom of an exceptionally long scroll that she'd just skimmed over, there was a soft knock on the door. “Come in,” Claudia called out as she dropped the quill back down in its inkwell. Turning in her chair, she watched as the door opened and a young mare stepped in. Claudia's scales drooped as it turned out to be Graceful Stroke and not the Princess. “Oh... hello Grace.” she couldn't keep the notes of disappointment out of her voice as she settled back into her chair facing the window. “Uh... everything is where it usually is. Just... take it downstairs... you know... like usual.”

“Of course,” Graceful Stoke lifted the stacks of papers carefully into her saddlebags and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her with a click.

Claudia sighed and unrolled the next scroll, carefully skimming the writing and waiting, anxiously waiting, for another knock at the door behind her.

As the evening wore on several more knocks came, but none of them were the princess. Discouraged, Claudia blew out her candle early and headed back towards her rooms. Well... I suppose it was a tiny bit optimistic to think Cadence would come visit me tonight after the welcome I gave her yesterday... Maybe tomorrow night...

But as the next evening came around, Claudia's hope diminished. She went about the motions of work as best she could, but for the first time in a long time, her heart wasn't in it. What if Cadence was close to pulling out of this, but I was stupid and selfish and chased her back when she needed me most!

Thoughts like this plagued the young dragon as the day went by and nothing Iron Point, or any other pony, could say affected her mood.

She tentatively let her hopes start to rise again that evening as the sun set and each time there was a knock at her door, but they were quickly dashed time and again as Cadence continually failed to appear at Claudia's office door.

“Grace... I'm heading to bed,” Claudia said only a short time after the guards called the midnight hour.

“Of course, Mistress Claudia.” the young servant nodded as she shuffled papers into the saddlebags she wore slung over her flanks. “Did you finish everything early?”

“No...” the dragon  pushed papers out of the way so she could blow out the candles in the window. “I'm just... too exhausted to continue right now.”

“I see... Then this is everything?” The mint mare stood awkwardly in the doorway waiting for a snappy retort from the dragon.

There was a soft sigh from across the room before Claudia said quietly,“Yes, Grace. That's all.”

The mare nodded again and hurried out of the crowded room and down the hall towards the clerks offices on the lowest level of the castle. Claudia carefully locked up the office and twirled the keys absently on her claws, a habit she'd gotten into when deep in thought. As the keys spun carelessly, they jingled merrily giving discordant rhythm to Claudia's thoughts.

Cadence has probably gotten over her couple nights insomnia... It's not like her to be avoiding me so, even after a horrible argument... but... we've never had an argument like that before... With a sigh the dragon continued walking towards her room, glancing out the window every few feet along the moonlit hall until something caught her eye. Two ponies were walking out towards the city- from a distance it was hard to tell exactly who they were, but as the smaller pony raised her pink wings, Claudia did a double take. Squinting slightly, the dragon paused in her steps and moved closer to the window. There's more than one pink pegasus in the world. Claudia thought to herself. Even in an earth pony country. Just because it looks like Cadence from here doesn't mean it is.

Claudia had almost convinced herself that the pony below was not in fact Cadence when the pony turned, her mane blowing momentarily in the breeze, the pink, purple, gold of her mane shimmering dimly in the late winter moonlight. A smaller, metallic glint nestled in her locks convinced Claudia beyond a doubt. Either it was the princess's identical twin, or the young monarch was avoiding her. The dragon felt her claws clench and dig into the windowsill before her as hot, angry tears began flowing unbidden down her face. That... that's it. Cadence obviously doesn't care at all about the well being of our friendship or the kingdom as a whole. Angrily she moved down the hall, her vision blurred as she walked. So blurred in fact that Claudia nearly walked into one of the night guards as he patrolled the upper level of the castle.

“Miss Claudia, are you alright?” The young stallion stepped awkwardly out of the dragon's way, clumsily keeping a hold of his spear.

“Yeah,” the dragon sniffed as she rubbed her eyes. Fortunately the shadows hid her face and scales don't turn red when crying, but even so, Claudia felt her dragon rage burning at the thought of another creature seeing her like this. “I'm fine.” She made her voice sound hard and uncaring as she brushed by the soldier.

“Oh... okay...” the young stallion wasn't convinced, but he knew enough about Claudia, and dragons in general, not to push his luck. “On your way then.”

Turning down a side corridor, Claudia cast one more glance out the windows, but she could no longer see Cadence and whomever she was walking with. Who cares?The dragon huffed angrily to herself as she walked. Obviously Cadence doesn't, so why should I?

~~~

At the same time Claudia was leaving her office, Cadence was up and about, unable to sleep for the fourth night in a row. No matter how hard she tried to sleep, a nagging voice in the back of her head kept her firmly in the waking world. Frustrated and angry at her unbidden insomnia, the princess had spent a fruitless evening the night before fighting for sleep until, in the wee hours of the morning, pure exhaustion gave way to a dark and dreamless slumber.

Now, disheartened at the prospect of a similarly fruitless night spent fighting to sleep, Cadence stood bleary-eyed on her balcony. Uninterested in flying, she had already spent a good long hour doing so, and unwilling to toss and turn in bed for hours, the pink pegasus desperately wracked her brain for something- anything- to do. Going down and helping Claudia crossed her mind several times, but she pushed those thoughts away. Painfully she recalled the looks of anger, hurt, and finally hatred that had been written on the face of her best friend. Brushing tears out of the corners of her eyes, Cadence shivered in the wintery wind. No, seeing Claudia for any reason was too painful to endure.

Down below movement caught her eye as a pair of dark shadows moved out from the mixed blackness that spread out from beneath the castle. Turning her attention towards the ponies below, Cadence was surprised to recognize both the captain of her day guard and a corporal of the evening watch. As the guard changed both at sunrise and sunset, it was strange to see guards from either watch mingling together. Her curiosity piqued, Cadence lifted her wings and stepped gracefully off the edge of the balcony, gliding down beside the two stallions who talked quietly together.

“Princess Mi Amore!” The corporal exclaimed in surprise as he and the captain bowed. Corporal Buckler if memory serves, Cadence thought as she nodded to both. “Wha-what are you doing awake at such an hour?”

The princess smiled cordially. “I was unable to sleep this evening and felt some fresh air would suit me. I saw you two walking from above-” she indicated the balcony she'd flown from with a wingtip- “and came down to investigate... Also I wish a private word with Captain Iron Point, Corporal.”

The midnight blue stallion shifted uncomfortably a moment, “It's captain, actually, your Highness... I was promoted nearly six months ago... surely you recall?”

Cadence blinked in surprise, but smiled and nodded in ascent, “ah, yes, of course, I apologize, Captain. It slipped my mind for a moment.”

The young captain nodded, accepting the answer, and turned to Iron Point, “And thank you for your advice, it is, as always, greatly appreciated.” He bowed low to his princess once again before moving off in the direction of the guardhouse.

Turning to the older captain, Cadence allowed her face to fall into confusion. “When was the corporal promoted? He said six months ago, but that can't be right. Six months ago Captain Bowyer was talking about resigning, but he never went through with it. Course, he was always threatening to resign.”

Iron Point chuckled softly, he remembered the previous night watch captain fondly, but shook his head, “Princess, Captain Bowyer resigned in September of last year and Corporal Buckler took his place.”

“September...” Cadence thought for a long moment before finally shaking her head, “I don't remember that.”

“It was several months after your marriage, Princess...” the captain paused, mulling over his words before slowly adding, “not that you were there. Claudia arranged the ceremony.”

The princess blinked. Something about what he'd said seemed off, “Several months after our marriage? But Captain, it can't be more than a couple of months since the Crystal Fair.”

“Princess, it's nearly March. The Fair is about to come around again.”

Taken by surprise, Cadence laughed, "You're not serious."

"I am quite serious, my Lady." It wasn't his words, but the finality in his voice and the sober look in his eye that convinced Cadence that what he said was not some ruse or joke. Not that the captain was known for a flippant sense of humor. 

“No! It can't be! It can't be nearly a year already, it doesn't feel like a year!” Cadence shook her head violently, “No, no no no. It's still May, we just had a late winter snowfall. Quite common. Summer is right around the corner and...”

“Princess.” The captain's steady voice cut through her babbling and Cadence looked up to meet his gaze. Laying a hoof on her shoulder the captain nodded towards the city, “Walk with me.”

The city this late at night was utterly silent. The crystal buildings shimmered palely in the weak winter moonlight and the snow twinkled merrily on the ground just as the stars did in the heavens. Cadence looked around at the icy kingdom, her mind spinning hopelessly as she thought about a whole year passing without her knowledge. No wonder Claudia was so furious with me. If what the captain said was true then I've been ignoring my royal duties for more than just a few weeks or a month... but a year! A whole year! “It seems impossible!”

“What seems impossible, my Lady?”

Blushing slightly as she realized she'd spoken aloud, Cadence elaborated, “that I've been ignorant of a whole year passing by. I had no idea... it seems so strange!”

The captain nodded, “you and the Prince have been quite... distracted with one another. I'm not surprised if time flowed differently to your perception.”

“But then why didn't Claudia come to me?”

“Perhaps she tried, but you were unwilling to listen?”

“Impossible. I always listen to Claudia, especially when she needs something of me. I'd never let her... down...” suddenly thoughts of the young dragon yelling angry and hateful words at her two nights before rose in her mind and the princess tapered off.

Silence reigned for a long moment. Nothing but the snow muffled sound of their hooves against the cobbled streets could be heard until Iron Point broke the silence. “What about the other day?”

Shaken from her thoughts, Cadence blinked and glanced at the captain, “what do you mean?”

“The other day Claudia told me you had promised to come do an inspection of the guard with us, and yet you never showed.”

“But I was there!” Cadence felt her wings bristle angrily for a moment, but she forced them back down against her sides as she took a calming breath holding her right hoof against her chest as she breathed in and extending it before her as she breathed out. “As I told Claudia, or tried to, I remember being there. You reprimanded three different soldiers for mistreated armor and equipment, one for lazing about, and one for continued mistreatment of rank. Two soldiers were on leave at the time and you had to run their inspection later.”

“Quite an excellent memory you have, Princess,” Cadence beamed at the praise, but quickly her mood fell as the captain continued, “but that was not the inspection from earlier this week. You are remembering the last inspection you oversaw. Which was nearly a year ago to date.”

“But... but how can that be?” Rubbing a hoof against her forehead, the princess groaned and Iron Point laid a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “I mean... I suppose I don't quite remember being there, but at the same time I don't remember not being there either. It's... it's all kind of fuzzy, like I drank too much wine.”

The captain was silent a moment before speaking slowly, choosing his words carefully, “It seems, my Lady, that you have a different perception during the day than you have a night. You make promises under the moon that you do not, or cannot, remember while in the light of the sun.”

Taking a step back in horror, Cadence looked at Iron Point and asked,“Are you saying that I'm suddenly... lunar?” The princess watched the captain, hopelessness and worry etched on her face. Being lunar, active only at night, was a rare and incurable phenomenon found among a few ponies who, for some reason, were cognizant only at night. It was something a pony was born with, so the thought of being lunar her whole life and not realizing it quite horrified the princess.

“No. No, Princess, I do not believe you are a lunar pony.” Iron Point laid a comforting hoof on her shoulder, “although all your recent behavior points to it, you have not shown the characteristics until now. I doubt that is the case.”

Cadence couldn't suppress a sigh of relief, “but... but what could it be then?”

The captain shrugged. “I am not sure, my Lady, but perhaps there is somepony who does.”

“Who?” Cadence asked, feeling a small glimmer of hope as she watched the captain.

“Sharp Retort.”

“The apothecary?” Cadence blinked in surprise, “what would she know?”

“She might be able to tell us if this is just a normal thing- you falling in love, for example- or if it's something more... serious.”

“You mean magic.”

“A spell, yes.” Iron Point turned and began moving back towards the castle, “Just because we live in a nation of earth ponies does not mean we can ignore, or brush off, the possibility of magic. Especially when your husband is a unicorn.”

“I see...” Cadence nodded slowly. “Yes, if any pony would know if my... condition is a spell or not, it would be her. But we can't let her know why we're asking,” The princess added quickly. “We can't let it become common knowledge that my... that I have been compromised in any way.” 

“Indeed we cannot,” the captain agreed. “However, I think we can trust Sharp Retort with the truth. While she is quick to speak frankly, she has never broken my confidence. If there is anypony in the palace we can trust, it is she.”


“You're absolutely sure we can trust her? I cannot allow word of my... absence... to be broadcast outside our borders. If other ponies knew we were this vulnerable it could be...”

“Disastrous. Yes.”

“It's a wonder no pony has found out yet...” Cadence murmured.

“Claudia has been covering for you very well in the past months, however rumors do spread and we have not been able to stop them all. However, we have been able to keep proving those rumors nearly impossible.”

“Thank you, Captain. Then we can assume that it is really only you and Claudia that know how I have been for the past... year?” Cadence asked as she and Iron Point returned to the castle proper.

Again the captain nodded his head, “it's just the two of us and a handful of castle servants who bring you and the prince meals. Now, you have much to think upon and a whole day to do so, but I must leave now if I am to be well rested in time for the changing of the guard tomorrow morning. Or, rather, this morning.” Iron Point smiled as they stepped back under the shadow of the main castle before turning and heading towards the guardhouse.

“Wait... Captain?”

Turning around on the steps, Iron Point nodded, “yes, my Lady?”

“I just wanted to say... to say thank you. I appreciate your willingness to help me though this... whatever it may be.”

The captain bowed, “It is my honor and duty to do so, Princess.”

“Indeed,” Cadence said quietly as her captain of the day guard walked off. Stretching her wings, the princess lifted off and headed back towards her quarters, her mind buzzing. I still can't believe it! A whole year? That's absolutely inconceivable! Landing gently on the balcony, Cadence stifled a yawn with her hoof, pushing open the clear crystal doors with her shoulder and moving towards the bed where she collapsed next to Silver Scales.

Lifting her head up slightly, her mane falling over one eye as she gazed lovingly at the soft gray form of the stallion she loved. Gently she caressed his mane with a hoof as she settled in next to him, her body curving around his so she could press herself closer. Sighing contentedly, Cadence wrapped her arms around his sides, her muzzle nestled in his mane. Slowly her eyes fluttered shut as she passed silently into sleep.
> A Night on the Town
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5: A Night on the Town:

The night was cool and clear, and the twinkling of a million stars greeted Princess Cadence as she stepped out of the Crystal Castle and into the moonless night. She glanced around looking for the guard captain. He'd left a note on her nightstand that told her to meet him outside the castle so he could take her to see Sharp Retort. As she looked around, taking in the beautiful evening, Cadence heard the soft clop of hoof steps behind her. Turning, the princess smiled to Iron Point. “I thought we were going to see the apothecary. Isn't her office below the castle?”

“Yes,” Iron Point acknowledged as he began walking towards the edge of town.

Hurrying to catch up with the larger stallion, Cadence asked, “then why are we out here?”

“Because Sharp Retort isn't in her office at the moment. She's collecting some late winter herbs outside the city.”

“This late at night?”

The captain shrugged, “Apparently this is the best time to collect them.”

“That's quite... odd.” Cadence said at last as the pair passed outside the city and into the dark of the surrounding land.

“Not nearly so odd as a Princess who wants to see me close to midnight. Can't you think of a better time to need a potion?” The voice came from a stocky mare with a short black mane and bright blue coat. She carried a pair of baskets slung over her flanks like saddlebags that were filled with all sorts of herbs and grasses. Giving the princess a once over with her midnight blue eyes, the apothecary added, “it's most inconvenient for me.”

“I'm sorry this isn't the most convenient of time for you, Retort,” Iron Point said as Cadence opened her mouth to say something very unladylike back to the outspoken alchemist. “It is, however, the most convenient time for the Princess, as she is... occupied during the day.”

“Oh yes, I had forgotten. Isn't that what you wanted to speak to me about?”

Leaning over to Cadence, the captain murmured, “Don't let Retort's jibes get to you, Princess. It's just her way.”

Cadence took a long steadying breath, pushing her right hoof along the ground, towards her as she breathed in and away as she exhaled, before turning and smiling wanly at Sharp Retort. “It is, actually. You see, recently I've discovered that...” she paused, trying to think of the most delicate way to put her situation, “that while I am alert and able to go about regular business at night, during the day I seem to be... unable to.”

“So you're lunar? You know I can't help with that, right?”

Flinching, Cadence nodded, “Yes, but... no. I am acting lunar, but it's not something I've suffered from before. I think it's a spell.”

“So... what do you want me to do about it? How can I help you, if you already know it's a spell? Do you need me to break it? I can't do that without the original spell or we could be at it for months.”

Cadence sighed, “I don't know that it's a spell, though I believe it is. Do you know of a way to... to test if there's a spell on me or not?”

The alchemist looked off in the distance for a moment, lost in thought before she shook her head, “there's not method that I know of that I can perform. All of them require a unicorn's magic to work. Perhaps the Prince would be of more assistance to you than me.”

“We believe that Prince Silver Scales is under a similar spell, Retort.” Iron Point admitted.

“Well then that is trouble, isn't it?” The earth pony mare tapped her hoof rhythmically on the hard earth as she was again lost in thought. After a span of several minutes, the mare admitted, “while I can't come up with a way to see if there is a spell on you, you can find out if a potion's been used.”

“How?” Cadence asked, “What do I have to do?”

“You need to watch what you eat and drink,” the apothecary said simply, “All potions need to be renewed after a span of time or they lose their potency. The stronger the affects, generally the more frequent the dose is- not always, of course, but usually. And if we consider how long you've been under this spell...” Sharp Retort paused and gave Cadence a piercing stare. “How long have you been affected, Princess?”

Cadence swallowed and muttered something under her breath, too low for either of her companions to hear her.

Retort sighed and tapped her hoof impatiently, “Princess, I do not have all evening.”

“It's been almost a year...” The princess admitted, still very quietly.

Sharp Retort couldn't keep a look of surprise from crossing her features for a long moment before she regained her natural air of sarcasm. “Well then... It has to  be a potion.”

“How can you be so sure?” Iron Point asked, his attention riveted on the younger mare.

“Easy- no spell could last that long with such potency. Especially if there isn't an enchanted item around.” Tuning back to the princess, Retort asked pointedly, “There isn't an item is there? Something you received around the same time as you... fell out of reality?”

The princess shook her head slowly, “Only the gold wedding band I received at the wedding...”

“I'll need to see it, Princess.” Sharp Retort interrupted.

“But I don't wear it all the time,” Cadence finished.

“Then that can't be it. It'd have to be on you at all times for the spell to be effective.” The apothecary sighed and rubbed a hoof over her forehead, brushing a strand of her jet black mane out of her face. “So we're dealing with a potion... That makes things slightly easier- for me at least. I can make an antidote for any potion, given that I have the original recipe for the potion.”

“But I don't know what kind of potion I've been given!” Cadence reminded the alchemist, her usually calm voice almost frantic now. “I don't have any idea in the slightest!”

“Then you'll have to find it,” Retort said simply. “The library in the palace is the most extensive in the Empire, I'm sure if the potion is to be found, you'll find it there.”

“How-?”

Sharp Retort cut off the princess as she continued, “You read the potion's affects, Princess, and if they match you can bring the potion recipe to me and I can contrive the antidote. Don't worry,” she continued with a roll of her eyes, “no antidote is a poison. If it doesn't work to revert the spell on you, it will not do anything. You might feel dizzy or lightheaded depending on the strength of the antidote in question, but those should be the worst of the effects.”

Cadence nodded slowly, “but the Crystal Fair is in less than a month, and I need to be... well by then. If... if I'm not...” the princess shuddered. “No one else can activate the Crystal Heart and without it...”

“We're defenseless,” Sharp finished, looking completely serious for the first time all evening because despite her antagonistic and sarcastic airs, the alchemist deeply cared about the country she called home. 

The princess and her captain nodded in agreement.

“Well, I can't help you with the searching,” Sharp Retort said finally, breaking the silence that had pervaded the air around them since she'd last spoken. “I have far too much to do with my regular duties. My apologies, Princess.”

“It's quite alright,” Cadence's words came out on reflex. In reality, the Crystal Princess was in no way looking forward to searching the whole of the Royal Library for one spell in particular. Research was something she did not take great enjoyment in, unlike scholarly ponies. In fact, if she was being completely honest with herself, Cadence didn't even like doing the required day-to-day work of running the kingdom, either. It was boring and routine where as the princess loved things to be slightly less predictable and not at all tedious. “I suppose we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the coming weeks.”

“Indeed,” Sharp Retort gave a sort of half-bow to the princess, the lowest she could without spilling the herbs on her back, and began walking back towards the castle.

The princess and her guard captain stood out in the frigid landscape that separated the capital city from the rest of the Crystal Kingdom. After a few minutes, Iron Point broke the silence. “You know I won't be able to help you either, My Lady.”

“W-what?” Cadence turned to her trusted adviser and gave him a pleading look. “But... but I... I can't search the whole library all by myself! Not in less than a month!”

“Princess,” the captain's voice was calm and level as he placed a hoof on Cadence's shoulder, turning her gently back towards town. “I have my own duties to attend to during the day and I simply cannot shirk those duties by staying up at all hours to help you search the library.”

Cadence was silent as they walked back into town, but finally sighed, “I know... but... I can't do everything by myself. It's... impossible.”

Iron Point turned his eyes to the princess as he walked and looked her over, gauging her emotions and desire in one sweep of his eyes. “Maybe there is somepony who can help you.”

“Who? Who can I trust enough to tell them about this, other than Sharp Retort and yourself! I can't just ask anypony...”

“Perhaps you shouldn't ask a pony to help. Perhaps you should ask... a dragon.”

Though his words were quiet and not forceful in the least, Cadence felt as if the captain had just punched her, knocking all the wind out of her. Taking a moment to recover from the momentary tunnel-vision, the princess felt her cheeks grow hot with anger, “You mean ask Claudia.” Her voice was tense and clipped, a tone most ponies knew meant that the princess was dangerously close to losing the great deal of patience she had.

“Yes,” the captain's voice stayed level and calm as he spoke. “I'm sure if you... rectified things with Claudia, she would be more than willing to help you with this endeavor.”

“You're so sure of that?” Cadence could hear that her voice was tense and sharp, a tone she wasn't used to using, but she was angry and could not see an easy way to quell the fire that burned behind her eyes. “You're so sure that... that she'll just help me when all I've been doing is hurting her... you're sure of that?”

“No,” the captain started, but his words were cut off by Cadence.

“Of course not. You just thought you'd say something falsely helpful to try and give me hope in an obviously hopeless situation. It was a pointless gesture, Captain, and it's quite unlike you...”

“Princess.” The one word cut though Cadence's tirade, pulling her up short and causing her to turn and look at Iron Point. The captain stood in the street, his body tense as he watched the princess with his piercing silver eyes. Feeling suddenly like a small filly caught stealing cookies from the kitchen, Cadence shrank back from the older stallion. He watched her for a long moment before saying calmly, “I do not think that Claudia will want to help you right away- there is even the possibility that she will not be willing to help at all- but I believe that if you talk to her and make her see that you are trying to make things better, that she will want to help. Your friendship is strong and one argument is not going to end it so easily.”

With a sigh, Cadence nodded, “you're right, Captain... and I'm sorry... for what I said just now... it was wrong and it was never my intention to accuse you of being shallow.”

Iron Point smiled. Many times over the past years since Cadence had assumed her parents' throne the captain had viewed Cadence as he would his own daughters, and this was one of those times. He took a few steps forward to close the distance between them before gently wrapping the young mare in a hug. “It's quite alright, Princess. But try not to lose your temper with Claudia? Heavens know she as enough of a temper for the both of you.”

Giggling, Cadence nodded, “that she does...” Gently she extricated herself from Iron Point's hooves and stepped back. “I... may go looking for her tonight... but if I don't, and you see her tomorrow, can you tell her that I want to see her? After dark, of course.”

“Of course,” the captain agreed.

~~~

After saying good night to the captain, Cadence decided to head up to the library and try and get a jump-start on finding the spell. No better time than the present, as Mother used to say. With a shudder and a sigh, the princess pushed open the large double doors to the library and used the flint and steel hanging near the door to light a candle. Lifting the holder with her wing and holding it steady, Cadence walked into the dim room and began searching the shelves for spell books.

When she'd found several decent books, as many as she could carry between her wings, the princess stacked them on one end of a small table and sat down next to them, the candle places off to the side so that it spread its light across the table without putting the candle in danger of being knocked over. Gently, Cadence pulled down the top book and opened it. As she started skimming the table of contents, the princess couldn't keep her heart from sinking in her chest, this is going to be a long night...

Valiantly, Cadence forged her way through the first three books, but found absolutely nothing. Any potions that sounded even half way plausible at first glance didn't exhibit all of the symptoms that Cadence herself had. She quickly became discouraged knowing that she still had the whole library to search, with most of her nights being spent in a seemingly fruitless search for one particular potion.

Sighing to herself, the princess closed the fourth book and set it atop its fellows, running a hoof through her mane as she thought, not for the first time that evening, how much more enjoyable, or at least bearable, the experience would be with Claudia around. The dragon, despite her temper, was usually a very happy and fun-loving dragon with a wonderful sense of humor who could keep Cadence's mood up even while performing the most tedious of tasks. Standing up from her desk, the pegasus mare finally decided it was time for bed, as the sky was beginning to brighten with the barest hints of predawn.

Yawning broadly, Cadence made her way by wing to the balcony outside her room, blowing out the candle and leaving a note for the librarian not to disturb her books. She pushed open the glass french doors and slipped into her room quietly, careful not to disturb Silver Scales who was sprawled out on the bed they shared. The princess smiled as she moved across the room to gently push her lover aside and crawl into bed.

~~~

The next morning dawned bright and early for the guard captain Iron Point. The last night had lasted longer than he'd intended and his sleep only afforded him a couple hours of rest. He yawned as he sent his contingent of soldiers on duty around the palace and town as the Royal Guard acted both as peacekeepers in the city and defenders of the castle. One of the younger soldiers paused a moment, breaking step as he passed the commander.

“Feeling alright this morning, Captain? You look tired.” The young soldier was a pale yellow stallion with a bright orange mane. He was fairly new to the guard and it took a moment for Iron Point to remember his name.

“I'm doing just fine, Private Lance. Get to your post.” Iron Point spoke firmly and even a little harshly to the young soldier, but it was no harsher or firmer than he would have to any other solider insinuating that he was unable to perform his duties at the castle.

“Yessir!” Shattered Lance jumped forward and hurried at a trot to his station high on the castle walls. “My apologies, sir!”

The captain sighed as the courtyard before him stood empty again and his shoulders slumped forward. He was exhausted, and not just from his lack of sleep, but he would retire before he would tell anypony that. Not even Cadence herself could get him to admit aloud that he was getting old, even though his bones ached on rainy days and creaked on all the others. I should think about retiring, Iron Point thought to himself with a sigh, but not until this crisis is over. Let it never be said that Captain Iron Point abandoned his Princess or his post. And with those silent words to himself the captain stood tall again and began his own rounds through the castle.

The captain didn't follow any particular path through the palace, he simply went where his hooves took him, which was more often than not right to where there was trouble. Today was no different. Before noon the captain had settled several petty arguments among the castle staff, berated one of his own soldiers for hassling a young maid, and traversed more than half the castle doing so. Soon after noon, the captain found himself in the scribes wing of the palace. He rarely came here ever as the scribes were generally solitary ponies and there was little need for him to patrol this area of the castle, however his hooves remembered his promise to the Princess even if his conscious mind had forgotten.

He passed an open door just as Claudia stepped out. “Good afternoon, Captain,” the young dragon muttered halfheartedly. “You looking forward to the Crystal Fair this year?”

The captain glanced sidelong at the young dragon who'd fallen into step with him. “I have not been especially looking forward to it this year, if that's what you mean. I do enjoy the festival, but as a guard I have not gone to the fair for the express purpose of my own enjoyment in years.”

The dragon sighed, “well... I hope I don't disappoint you horribly when I say there may not be a festival this year.”

Iron Point sighed, “are you still worried about Cadence...”

“It's not even Cadence at this point, Captain,” Claudia spoke over Iron Point harshly, “I simply can't get everything together in the time I have left! We could move the festival back a week or three, but then the farmers will be knee deep in planting and, if we hope to have a full harvest come winter, we can't take a whole week for a celebration of spring! But if we don't... well, I'd harp about tradition, but if we push the celebration back we'll be breaking every tradition this country's held dear for generations beyond count.” Claudia sighed, her left claw rubbing the ridge over her eyes. “I just... don't see how I can make it work... and then there's Cadence...” The dragon's voice darkened, “it seems to me that there is no way to bring Cadence back to the way she used to be, which means that there is no way to reactivate the Crystal Heart even if the celebration did take place on time.”

Iron Point nodded slowly then paused as a memory trickled back into his mind- “I... may go looking for her tonight... but if I don't, and you see her tomorrow, can you tell her that I want to see her? After dark, of course.” He glanced at Claudia, opening his mouth to ask if Cadence had gone looking for her the night before, but her tonality towards the Princess had been too angry for her to have been given an apology in the recent past. So instead he passed on Cadence's message. “Claudia... Cadence has asked that I tell you that she wishes to talk to you tonight. She is under a spell and requires your help breaking it.”

Claudia snorted, “A likely story. Cadence has changed and I just have to accept it.” The dragon sighed as they left the scribe's wing and she stopped in the crossways. “Look, it was good talking to you, Captain. There isn't anypony else I can talk to about my worries now... but I don't believe for a second that Cadence is under a spell. She's chosen to completely forget her duties to her country... and now I have to take up those duties myself. If this country's going to fall into ruin, I'm not going to go quietly.”

Iron Point huffed, “You're just as stubborn as ever. Do you really believe that Cadence, who lived only for her kingdom for so many years, would forget that duty as soon as she fell in love?”

“Well what else am I supposed to believe!” The dragon all but shouted, her voice echoing eerily in the crystal halls. “How else can you explain... everything?”

“Magic.” The captain said with finality as he turned to continue his rounds of the castle. “Just because this is an Earth Pony kingdom does not mean magic does not exist. Remember that in the future, Claudia.”

~~~

The dragon stood alone in the halls, thinking about what the guard captain had said for many minutes before she shook her head and moved back to the room where she'd been working the past few days and nights. This room was a little bigger than the one Cadence had found her in before; there were two decent sized desks, several chairs, and two windows, and everything, save for one chair, was covered in thick stacks of paper and parchment. Claudia sighed as she sat down in the chair and began her work again.

She wanted to believe the Captain, and his insistence that it was magic controlling Cadence made sense, but then why was it only during the day? Why did Cadence seem totally normal at night, but completely looney during the day? Looney... Claudia shook her head again, the princess wasn't lunar either.

Carefully, Claudia began signing paperwork. She tried to keep her mind on the task at hand and not let her mind wander- it was when her mind wandered that she made mistakes. Mistakes that took several days to rectify because new documents couldn't just be drawn up over night. Mistakes that sent the potential of the Crystal Fair happening at all spiraling down to nothing.

Finally the dragon couldn't stand it anymore, she tossed the quill back into the inkwell and stood up. “I need some air,” she muttered to herself. “Sitting alone in this stuffy room can't be good for me.” Locking the door to her office behind her, Claudia walked down to the city. Even with a thin coating of snow still covering the valley, there was a distinct air of springtime floating around. Everypony in town seemed in higher spirits now that winter was losing it's hold on the country and everypony was looking forward to the Crystal Fair. It was an event that was as natural as the sun rising in the east or snow fall on Hearths Warming Eve.

The Crystal Fair began the day after Winter Wrap-up and lasted exactly a week. This allowed the land to thaw after an extra long winter before planting began. Claudia flinched inwardly as she knew this Crystal Fair would more than likely not happen as everypony was accustomed to. Even if the festivities occurred on time, if the Princess wasn't able to light the Crystal Heart, the protection spells on the country would dwindle and the happy, joyous feelings that the kingdom reflected across the rest of the world would slowly fade. The rest of the world wouldn't suffer, but the Crystal Kingdom would begin to fade away.

Trying to pull herself away from these thoughts, Claudia's mind went to Cadence. What if the Princess really did need her help to find a cure for the spell encapsulating her? The purple dragon sighed and rubbed her eyes. If the Princess really needs my help she can come find me.
> Sleeping in the Library
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6: Sleeping in the Library:

The next evening found Cadence slaving away once again in the Royal Library. Her table, which she had previously thought had been full of books, now had several more stacks just as high surrounding it. The young pegasus looked at the mountain range of books she had collected. This would be a whole lot easier if I had somepony here to help me... Sighing deeply, the princess looked towards the door to the library, hoping for the dozenth time that night that her purple dragon friend would walk through so she wouldn't have to, but for the dozenth time that night, the door remained closed.

Cadence moaned quietly to herself. The castle was extensive and Claudia could be anywhere, or so the pessimistic part of her brain insisted. The truth was, Cadence probably knew exactly where her friend was, but the prospect of going to her and asking for forgiveness didn't appeal to the princess. However, staying in the dusty library all on her own was even less appealing, so the pink pegasus slowly walked out the library doors and into the rest of the palace.

Her first stop was the small annex room Claudia had been using as a study the two nights that Cadence had found her, but the room was empty of everything except the desk and chairs that usually adorned the room. There was no soft candlelight in the window or piles of dusty papers and scrolls. Slightly disheartened, Cadence shut the door and began moving farther into the castle.

Claudia probably found a new room to work in... probably to avoid running into me at night. Not that I blame her. Cadence sighed as she walked through the empty, echoing halls. Moonlight glittered across the crystals, making the need for torches imaginary on all but the darkest and cloudiest of nights. The shimmering light seemed to lead the princess deeper into the castle, towards the private chambers of the ponies who worked in the castle.

At the end of the hall was a door that looked no different from the others at first glance, but a closer examination would reveal thin scratches in the opaque crystal. Scratches that could not be made with hooves. This was the door that lead to Claudia's room and it was the door that Cadence stood in front of for several long moments. As the princess she could just walk in, no pony would object, but it felt wrong this time and so she raised her hoof and eventually knocked gently on the door.

For a moment, Cadence thought the door would never open, that Claudia was elsewhere in the castle and that she would have to continue her search, but that moment passed as the door creaked open and the small, angular head of a dragon peaked out around it. “Who is it? It's almost midnight!” The sleepy dragon blinked twice before her eyes focused on Cadence. When they did, her sleepy expression hardened slightly, though not as much as Cadence had feared. “Oh, it's you. Did you need something Princess? I'm sure you just got the wrong door, the cook is three doors down from mine and your maid is across the hall.”

“No... actually, I was looking for you, Claudia.” Cadence took a deep breath, “I... I wanted to... apologize... to you... for what happened the other day... with the guard inspection. I really had meant to be there... but... but I wasn't... and even though it was out of my control completely... I still broke my promise to you... and I'm sorry.”

Claudia was quiet for a long minute as she slowly took in what Cadence was saying. “You did break your promise.” The dragon's voice was level as she spoke. Calculating, as if she was taking the time to pick the very best words for what she wanted to say, “but Captain Iron Point told me what's been going on, with you and this spell thing, so I guess I can't really be mad at you. And I did snap at you horribly the other night, so... I'm sorry for that.” The dragon looked even more uncomfortable apologizing than the princess did. “I... didn't really want to believe what he said- about a spell and your being out of sorts being more than just love-sickness, but I guess it's what makes sense, huh?” The dragon leaned on her door frame and smiled slightly, “I suppose this means you need my help in the library, huh? You never were one for research.”

Cadence nodded then looked at Claudia closely, “The captain found you yesterday? And you didn't stop by the library at all? Why?”

The dragon snorted, “After the way you shunned me before, I thought it was the same kind of thing. You making a promise you wouldn't keep later. I figured if you really meant it, you'd come search me out. And you did.” Stepping out into the hall, Claudia shut her door and locked it, slipping the key and the ring it was attached to over her wrist so that the whole thing jingled merrily. “So what are we looking for exactly?”

“To be honest, I have no idea.” Cadence admitted as she fell into step with her long-time friend. “Sharp Retort said that I'll just have to search every book in the library on alchemy, and if the potion sounds like it could be what's affecting me we bring it down to her so she can make the antidote. And we do that until we find the right potion and antidote.”

“Isn't that... dangerous?” Claudia asked, real concern in her voice. “I mean, I don't know much about magic and potions, but testing different potions on yourself without being one hundred percent sure it's the right one can't be without consequences.”

“Well, Retort said that no antidote is a poison, so if the antidote isn't the right one, it'll just make me a little dizzy or nauseous for a bit, nothing more.”

The dragon made a disbelieving noise in the back of her throat, but admitted, “She is the court alchemist for a reason, I'm sure she knows what she's doing.”

Cadence nodded as she pushed open the library door again, “I've set up my books over around that table, so that's where we'll start.”

Claudia's eyes followed the princess's pointing hoof and she whistled slowly when she saw all the books around the table, “And this is just the start, huh?” She took a deep breath and turned back towards Cadence, “Well then, I guess we'd better get started then, huh? The sooner we start looking for potions, the sooner we can get you cured.”

The two friends took up books on either side of the table and began  skimming through them, searching for the right potion that would unlock the spell entrapping Cadence. Slowly the hours passed and soon it was no longer moonlight, but gentle, predawn sunlight streaming through the library's great open windows.

The two agreed to meet again the following night to continue the search as Cadence yawned broadly and left the library. Claudia stayed behind to continue searching and to tell the librarian not to go to the trouble of replacing all the books they'd removed from the shelves, the number of which had increased greatly as the night wore on and now covered two tables instead of only one. 

When the librarian did appear soon after true sunrise, she was shocked and appalled to see so many of the books strewn across the library. “Claudia!” her shrill voice could be heard across the room, even though she spoke in a whisper. “I thought I told you to warn me before you began another of your long-winded research project!”

The purple dragon smiled halfheartedly, covering a yawn with her claws, “So I did, Britannica, and I do apologize for this. Something came up last night and I didn't have time to talk to you before hoof. I'll put most of these away myself, to make up for it...”

“No, no, that's fine.” The white and pink mare shook her head as she began picking up some of the books off the farther table, “I can take care of it.”

“Um... actually the books I'm done with are over here.” Claudia indicated a pile off to her left where she set the book she'd been reading. “I wasn't able to get through as many of these as I'd wanted last night.”

“I see,” the librarian set down the few books she'd gathered back where she'd gotten them and instead picked up the pile Claudia had indicated. “And what exactly made you decide to start researching...” the mare glanced at the title of the book on top of the pile “... alchemy? I didn't think you were interested in that kind of magic.”

“Well... something came up.” Claudia did her best to mimic Cadence's and-this-is-a-good-time-to-stop-asking-questions look, which seemed to work fairly well because Britannica seemed to get the hint and began putting the books away. “If you could maybe find me some books of basic alchemy and other fundamentals, that would be great.”

“I'll see what I can do,” Britannica tossed her dual-toned pink mane as she set another book back in it's place on the shelf. “Anything else you need?”

Claudia yawned as she flipped through one book and set it down, starting a new pile, “just... don't let anypony disturb these tables, even if they really need one of these books. This takes top priority right now, alright?”

The librarian nodded, “whatever you say.”

~~~

The young dragon stayed in the library all day and into the afternoon, taking only small catnaps on the books when she could no longer keep her eyes open. When Cadence rejoined her after sundown, Claudia was sleeping across several open tomes. “Did you leave the library at all today, Claudia?” the pink pegasus asked when her friend sat up.

“No....” the dragon yawned broadly. “I didn't.” She grabbed the book she'd been skimming and flipped a page.

“Well... you should get some sleep soon. You can't keep going like this. You may not be a baby dragon any more, but that doesn't mean you don't need your sleep.” Cadence sat down across the table from her friend and picked up one of the tomes in her hooves.

“Yes, Mother,” Claudia rolled her eyes as she continued to read. “Anyway, I did find a couple spells I think might be what we're looking for.” She indicated a small stack of open books that was sitting precariously on the edge of the table. “You might look them over just to be sure.”

Cadence set down the book she'd been flipping through, making sure to keep it open to the page she wanted before grabbing the first of the open books and looking the potions over. “This one might be it... So might this one...” she picked up the third book and frowned, “Claudia. This potion is for curing the Feather Flu.”

“Huh?” Claudia frowned, tugging the book out of Cadence's hooves and squinting at the page. “Oh.... I guess it is. Whoops.” She snapped the book closed and set it down on the stack of books to be returned to the shelves. “I guess I was getting pretty tired...”

“You look exhausted,” Cadence told her friend. “Why don't you try to sleep a bit while I keep searching? I'll wake you up in an hour, okay, so it's not like you'll leave me hanging.”

“But...” Claudia tried to argue, but the princess interrupted.

“No buts, Claudia. You've been working all day and you need rest.”

The purple dragon sighed before stepping away from the table and to the pile of books she'd pulled from the shelves to form a makeshift bed, “but you wake me in an hour, no more, okay?”

“I promise,” Cadence smiled at her friend before turning back to the piles of books. Claudia yawned broadly and lay down, curling into a ball and closing her eyes. Within moments she was snoring gently, small puffs of smoke billowed from her nose as she breathed.

The time ticked by slowly in the utter silence of the otherwise empty library as Cadence picked her way through the tomes on the table. She made sure to grab the smaller, narrower books so that she could feel she accomplished something while her friend slept. The first book she skimmed was utterly useless, full of nonsense potions and magicians tricks and the second wasn't much better. It was a book of mythical cure-alls that Cadence was pretty sure, even with her limited knowledge of alchemy and magic in general, were impossible frauds. The third book seemed more promising as it spoke of potions used to beguile the mind, but Cadence set it aside when she realized it was mostly on love potions, and there was no way a potion like that was affecting her.

When she heard the guard call the hour outside the open window, Cadence moved to wake her friend. Claudia slept like a rock in mid-winter so it took several good shakes to bring the young dragon out of her slumber. When she did, the dragon stretched tall and yawned, “Did you find anything useful?”

“Not really,” Cadence admitted sitting back down in front of the table. “Mostly nonsense and myths than any real alchemy.”

“Yeah, I've been running up against those problems too. Seems like half the books I've looked through are either alchemical theory or mythical potions that just can't exist. Not that alchemical theory is bad, it's just not what we're looking for.”

“No, it's not,” Cadence agreed, pulling another book off the stack. “This just seems kinda... fruitless, doesn't it?”

Claudia reached across the table and smiled slightly, “Don't give up, I'm sure what we're looking for is here. We just have to be strategic about it. Don't give up hope just yet.”

The two turned back to their books and continued to skim, hoping against hope that the next paragraph, page, or book would hold the spell they were looking for, and while many were close, none seemed to fit exactly what they were looking for. Slowly the stack of potential spells grew until it stood ten books tall. It was then that Cadence decided it was time for her to turn in again as the sun was slowly making it's way over the eastern horizon.

“I'll take these down to Sharp Retort so she can start working on the antidotes,” Claudia said, gathering up the several books in her claws. “I'm sure she's going to need all day to finish them.”

“Good idea,” the princess yawned as she walked through the halls with her friend. “I'll see you again tonight. Try to get some sleep between now and then, okay?”

“Sure, sure.” Claudia smiled and waved before heading downstairs towards the dungeons where Sharp Retort set up shop.

~~~

The bright blue alchemist was surprised when Claudia stepped into her dark offices underneath the palace. She had been expecting the princess herself, not her dragon companion, but at the same time it didn't surprise her that Claudia had come instead. Still it was prudent not to jump to conclusions, “What brings you down here so early this morning, Claudia? Whatever it is, can't it wait? I'm fairly busy right now,” which wasn't true, but the elusive alchemist didn't like random ponies, or dragons, disturbing her delicate work.

“No, it really can't wait.” Claudia huffed, settling a stack of open tomes onto the counter that Retort stood behind. “Princess Cadence sent me down here with these books, which we think might have the potion or an antidote for the potion that is afflicting her.”

The mare raised an eyebrow at the stack of books before her, which was easily a foot high, even with the books splayed open. “So many? I doubt all of these are anything close to what the Princess is looking for, however,” the alchemist continued to talk even as Claudia made motion to object, “I will look them all over. There's no reason to doubt what I have not seen. But I'm going to need time. Bring the Princess down here this evening. I'm sure I'll have at least one or two antidotes for her to try by then. If not, I'll at least have a better idea on when they will be ready for her.”

Claudia nodded, “I can do that. And come see me if you need anything specific for your potions.”

The alchemist couldn't help but laugh at that, “Oh, dear dragon, if I don't have what I need, then no pony for a hundred miles will. But no matter, if there is something I need urgently, I'll be sure to send my request through you.” With a dismissive motion of her hoof, Retort shooed Claudia from her office whereupon she began pouring over the open books, reading the spells in much more detail than either Claudia or the Princess had before. Shaking her head, the blue mare quickly dismissed nearly half the potential potions, all of which were for natural illnesses.

They could have done a little better research than this, Sharp Retort muttered to herself and she set aside the fifth tome. But I guess I shouldn't expect much from middle of the night searches, especially from ponies who just don't understand the subtle nuances of alchemy. And of course the Princess wants results, what with the fate of her kingdom in the balance. I'm sure that puts a lot of pressure on Claudia to give me as many potential cures as possible. The mare huffed as she set the sixth book in a different pile from the others, setting aside the potion for future reference. That still doesn't make it easy for me! Does the Princess think I have unlimited supplies at my disposal? Does she think I can drop all my other projects and clients for her problem?

Huffing angrily, the mare closed the eighth book after just a glance, the potion detailed was one for curing warts. For the love of the Moon and Stars, I swear to the heavens if this is the fare I continue to get, I don't care if the fate of the WORLD lies in the balance, I will out-right refuse to help! Not even Iron Point could convince me otherwise! He doesn't have to work with this!
> A Mystery Uncovered
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 7: A Mystery Uncovered:

Cadence met Claudia down in the bowels of the castle the next evening outside Sharp Retort's offices. The young dragon looked better than she had the evening before, but only marginally. The pegasus eyed her friend carefully, “You did get some sleep today, right? You didn't stay up all day in the library again?”

“No,” the dragon yawned, covering her mouth with a claw. “I did sleep a bit, but not as much as you would have liked, I'm sure. But if we're going to take care of this, one of us needs to be working on it, and during the day, that would be me.”

The pink princess frowned, “that would be fine if you slept at all during the night, but you won't unless I get on you about it!”

The door before them swung open and the blue alchemist poked her head out, looking irritable. “If you're going to come in, do so! Don't stand outside my door and chatter like twittering birds all evening! I have work to be done, and I cannot be distracted!” She raised an eyebrow when she realized who it was loitering behind her door, but she made no motion to take back the frustrated words she'd spoken. “If you're here to try these potions, you'd be better served to enter my office rather than stand around outside, Princess.”

“Yes, of course,” Cadence smiled as she pulled the door wider and entered with Claudia on her heels. “Then you do have some done?”

“I have a couple. One at least needs some more time, but only because it requires some ingredients I cannot obtain until later this week.” Retort gestured to the counter where two small vials sat, one with a glowing blue liquid and the other filled with a mixture that had the color and viscosity of blood.

Cadence grimaced at the second vial, “Are you sure that potion is supposed to look like that, Sharp Retort?”

“Don't you trust me, Princess?” Retort actually sounded forlorn as she spoke, but quickly cracked a devious grin, “I suppose I don't blame you. However, there is no malice in my work and I would never force you to try any potion if you are not comfortable in taking it.”

Taking a deep breath, the princess reached for the first vial and downed its contents in two quick swallows, gagging slightly on the foul taste. “What... what was in that?” she gasped as the potion started to burn its way through her.

Retort's face was impassive, “You're probably better off not knowing, Princess. There is a good reason why very few alchemists choose to use their own potions. You should be feeling any effects quickly, if there are any effects, that is. Some potions don't give visible results.”

The princess nodded, which caused her head to spin, “Is dizziness a normal side effect?”

“No,” Retort shook her head and moved around the counter. “Well, it is, but not if the potion worked. You might try the other one now. Or wait a few minutes. It makes no difference.”

Steeling herself, Cadence reached for the second potion. It sloshed around unappetizingly in the thin glass vial. This one didn't burn as it went down, instead it felt quite cool and refreshing. The princess allowed herself a short moment to fantasize about this being the cure to her ailment, but it quickly passed as several waves of nausea washed over her in quick succession. Covering her mouth with a hoof, she tried to breath evenly in an attempt to not throw up on the alchemist's floor. “I suppose that one didn't work either,” Cadence sighed as the waves of nausea passed.

“I would agree,” Claudia sighed and turned to Sharp Retort. “Thank you for taking the time to help, even if it was fruitless.”

“It wasn't completely useless,” the alchemist disagreed, passing the dragon some of the books she'd brought down the night before. “You learned that these potions aren't the solution so if you ever see them again you can ignore them.”

“Right,” Claudia muttered, taking the books back. “Well... we'll see you in a few days, I suppose.”

“Hmmmph,” Sharp Retort grunted as the princess and her dragon vacated her offices.

~~~

The two friends headed back upstairs to the library. Expecting it to be empty for the night, both were surprised to see the librarian, Britannica, waiting for them with a stack of books. “I found some of the volumes you asked me for, Claudia, but unfortunately it seems many of them are missing from the shelves.”

“Maybe I won't need them,” the dragon said, taking the stack from the mare. “And you're sure they're missing and not just misplaced on the shelves?”

Britannica looked indignant, “I am entirely sure, Claudia. Those books are not in my library.”

“Perhaps you could tell us which ponies have the books, and when they are returned so we can use them,” Cadence offered.

“Normally I wouldn't give out such information, Princess, at least not who has the books, but considering your husband has many of them, I don't see the problem.” Britannica moved back towards her desk and the file cabinets that held cards on each and every book in the library. She began moving between the cabinets, removing a card here and there. “Speaking of, Prince Silver Scales checked out many of these books over a year ago. I haven't seen him around lately, so would you mind telling him that he can either pay me fifty bits and keep the books, or return them and pay me twenty. Either way, the sooner I know which it will be, the sooner I can restock the library.” She handed the Princess a small stack of cards that contained the book title and the names of the last several ponies who had checked them out.

Cadence nodded, “I'll be sure to tell him...”

“I would very much appreciate it, Princess. Now, if you'll excuse me,” the librarian yawned broadly and headed towards the doors, “I need to get to bed. Goodnight Princess. Claudia.”

Cadence moved to the table she and Claudia had commandeered for their research, setting the cards in front of her as she began looking through them. “Dear gods, some of these books have been checked out for years.” She sighed and began setting the cards into piles based on who had checked out the book and when. “I'm not sure we'll be able to find all of these, even if we needed them desperately.”

Claudia walked over and pointed a claw at an ever-growing stack off to the right, “and those are the books Silver Scales checked out?”

“Yes, most of them at least.” Cadence stopped what she was doing to filter one or two cards out from the stack. “These are all of the ones he had borrowed.”

“What would a unicorn need all these books on the fundamentals of alchemy?” Claudia asked as she flipped through the cards, taking note of the titles.

“Well, from what I remember him telling me, his magic isn't very strong and so he turned to alchemy, which he turned out to be very good at.” Cadence said sitting back from the table. “I think he said his love for alchemy was present in his cutie mark, among other things.”

“Hmmm, you haven't seen any of these books hanging around your suite have you, Cadence?” the dragon asked as she straightened the cards between her hands. “I know I didn't notice them the few times I've been there, but then I wasn't looking.”

“No, I haven't, but I think they were all checked out before we were married. Can you check the dates?”

Claudia riffled through the cards for a moment before nodding, “All of these books were checked out between March and April last year. And you're sure you haven't seen them in your apartments?”

“Absolutely sure,” the princess confirmed. “I would have noticed them by now.”

“Well then, maybe he left them in the suite he'd stayed in before you were together. If I recall correctly, he was staying in the West Tower Wing of the castle.” Claudia thought a moment, “yes, I'm quite sure that's where he would have been. We always set up visiting royalty there.”

“Do you think the books are still there? I mean, he might have moved them. If that's the case, they could be anywhere!”

“Calm down, Cadence,” Claudia raised a claw, “if we assume that Silver Scales fell under the same spell you did around the same time, then he wouldn't have thought to move his books. I'm sure his room is the exact same as it was when he was last there.”

The princess nodded, “that makes sense... Well, do you want to go grab the books now, or wait until later?”

Claudia set the cards back down on the table, “No time like the present, as they say. Let's go. The West Wing isn't too far from here anyway.”

The purple dragon lead the way through the empty castle halls towards the tall spiral tower on the western side of the castle. It was a generally empty area of the castle at the best of times as it was only used when royalty of other kingdoms visited. That wasn't a problem now as no royalty had visited the Crystal Castle in over a year, and certainly not since Cadence and Silver Scales had been married. However, despite it's lack of use, it was just as clean and beautiful as the rest of the palace.

Inside the tower, rooms were spaced at intervals up the tower, and most suites spanned the entire breadth of the tower. The room Silver Scales had stayed in was one that did not, however, and only took up half the floor between two rooms- a larger sleeping area with a small room annexed to one side. It was quite similar to the rooms that Claudia had and was one of the sparsest of the royal suites.

The bedroom was neat and clean, with no outstanding objects to make one think that somepony had been living there. In fact, one could say that the room was down-right sterile. Hopes for finding the missing library books dwindled until Claudia noticed the small door that led to the suite's drawing room. Pulling the door open, the dragon was greeted with billows of smoke of many different colors. From the smell and color of the rancid fumes, it was obvious that the smoke was not natural in origin. In fact, it was the same kind of smell that permeated Sharp Retort's rooms downstairs and was the reason she did not have offices in the upper levels of the castle.

Leaving the door open, Cadence and Claudia ventured into the small, smokey room. Even after the smoke began to clear, it never completely cleared. The bookshelves and walls were stained with strange colors and smells, as well as many of the books that lay scattered around the small space. Claudia began picking them up and setting them on the desk. In her bustle to collect all the books in the room, a small black book got shuffled into the mix.

The little room had so many books, the pair feared they'd have to take two trips down to the library, but Cadence found a pair of saddlebags against the wall. Neither noticed the framed picture or ornate wooden box set on the top of a bookshelf. Quickly, the pair left the smokey room, books in hoof. They decided to wait to look through them until after they got back downstairs since neither of them wanted to stay very long in the smokey suite.

Returning to the library, Claudia set her stack of books onto a separate table. “Let's organize the books over here, since I'm pretty sure not all of these are the missing library books.”

“I'm pretty they aren't,” Cadence agreed, pulling the worn saddlebags off her flank and setting them on the table, the books inside spilling out as the worn clasps broke under the weight of the tomes. “I think I even saw Silver Scales' name on one of them.”

“Well, some ponies mark their books,” Claudia said as she picked up the stack of filing cards.

“No, I mean, his name was on the cover, like he'd written it.” Cadence clarified, beginning to sort through the books on the table. “Perhaps he was doing research and refining some technique he had written about before. I've heard of mages and writers doing such things. That could explain all these books up in his room.”

“It's true,” Claudia agreed as she too began sorting through the books, setting them in one of two piles. One was the books that belonged in the library, the other was all the books that didn't and were presumably the prince's. Eventually the pile dwindled until only the mismatched black book remained in the middle of the table. “What's this?” The dragon scooped up the book in her claws and turned it over. “I don't remember picking this up from the Prince's room.”

“I'm not sure,” Cadence said taking a moment to look up and scrutinize the book. “Let me see it.” Holding out a hoof for the book she, too, turned it over several times before flipping it open. The book opened easily as the cover was beginning to tear away from the inside pages, which was strange. All the other books in the prince's possession seemed to be well cared for, while this one was clearly tearing at the seams. The princess carefully turned through the pages until she came to the first with writing:

Mother gave me this diary journal so I could document my travels throughout the Known World. I doubt I will ever use such a trivial thing, but on the off chance that I have nothing better to do, I suppose an opening entry would not be without merit. My name is Silver Scales, I am the second son of King Moonstone of Magia and his Queen, Crystal Breeze. I am a unicorn, but have very little skill with my natural magic. Instead, I prefer to make use of the Earth Pony art of Alchemy. Most of my family does not approve, but as I am not the Crown Prince, what I choose to do with my time and energy is of very little consequence. My brother Starstriker, however, is scrutinized every waking moment, which suits him just fine. He prefers to be the center of attention at all times and is quite upset when he is not.

But I digress. As I have stated before, I do not plan on writing within these pages quite often, though perhaps this notebook will serve well to catalog my research of Alchemy...

The entry continued on, but it was there that Cadence stopped reading and looked up at Claudia, “It's Silver's journal!”

“You probably should just set it aside then,” Claudia advised as she picked up one of the tomes that had been in the Prince's room. “We need to look for a cure.”

“Yes, yes,” the princess agreed, but she could not tear her mind from the little black book. Even as she reached for another book, her eyes stayed riveted to the dusty, worn cover. She glanced over and saw Claudia engrossed in her own reading and quickly snagged the journal, hiding the much smaller book behind another, a simple trick she'd used to fool her tutors back in her foalhood. I doubt Claudia would really begrudge me reading his journal, the princess justified as she gently opened the cover again.

This time she skipped the first entry and looked for something a little more... interesting. Just a few pages in another entry caught her eye:

I was certain that I’d never pick this journal up again, but as fate would have it I desperately need somewhere to write out my feelings and this book is the most easily acceptable place.  My family and I have just returned from one of our royal visits to another kingdom, both to cement the relationships of our kingdoms and to introduce my brother, the future King of Magia, to the Princess who rules there… and by the stars of my ancestors, I met a mare there who is unlike any I have previously met.

Here in Magia, whenever my brother and I go out into the city we are almost swarmed by mares as we try to go about our business- it seems as though we can barely take two steps without having some random pony barely older than a filly swear her undying love for us, or my brother, at least!  (He always was the better looking of the two of us.)  But this particular mare, she… she was different.  She was very polite to me and my family, but she had such a cool air of authority that I… I cannot help but be drawn to her.  My father Moonstone and my mother Crystal Breeze, the King and Queen, and my brother Starstriker, the crown Prince, she greeted with perfect poise and grace… but when she greeted me, she smiled… and by the stars, what a smile…

We spent a week there, and in that time I was able to remain in her company a great deal, and now that I am home I find myself… missing her.  She is always at the edges of my thoughts, her warm smile and kind eyes… I know I shall not forget her for a very long time.

Cadence blushed a little and turned the page, secretly eager to read more about Silver Scale's first crush:

I am in love.  Hopelessly, unabashedly in love, and there is no reason to try and deny it.  My brother Starstrike has decided that he finds it particularly amusing to try and dissuade me, but even he is slowly acknowledging that what I am feeling can only be love.

The mare that I mentioned in my last entry did not leave my thoughts as I feared she would; instead, she has moved from the edges of my mind to the very forefront, chasing away thoughts of all else in favor of her beauty.  For a long while I wasn’t sure what ailed me but soon I realized that it could be nothing else but love; I find that I cannot eat as I once could, cannot drink as I once did, and for the longest time now sleep has eluded me.  Try as I might to sleep beneath the blanket of stars, whenever I close my eyes I see only her, as if the very firmament of the heavens were sending me visions of her to grace my dreams.  I toss and turn as the nights wear on, thinking of her lustrous coat and shining mane, her glimmering eyes and summer smile… and as sleep eludes me early in the morning I rise to watch the sun return to the world, and the brilliant pink of the morning sky makes my heart soar and ache for it reminds me of her.

My days are spent adrift, my heart mine and yet not; even my parents have taken notice of my condition, and have had the castle mages delve me with magic to ensure that I am not suffering from some unknown illness.  I am, of course, perfectly healthy… or as healthy as a stallion may be while a mare holds his heart in her hooves.  I cannot even read anymore- ME!  Not able to read!  For as the words envelope my world they are lost against her, the depth of their knowledge as shoals to the breadth of the sea that is my love.

What I would give to be with her again… for her I would abdicate my throne, were it mine to do so, and live as a pauper in the streets just to be near her once more.  The moon is her crown and the sun her collar, the stars countless baubles around her graceful neck; the clouds are as folds of silvered cloth between her wings and the sky her robe, shifting in the multitude of hues that are her glory.  She is a mare of such beauty that the alicorns of the ancient stories would sigh in longing of her, or if not in longing of her then to be her, for surely there has been no more perfect pony in all of creation than my love.

The longer I am away from her, the more one thing becomes certain- that without her I am a sliver of my former self, a shadow of what I am and what I may be with her.  I have already received permission from my parents to return to her and court her, for there can be no other option for me.  My heart is with her already, and so must the rest of me be.  To her I go, and my hopes for what may be go with me.  Perhaps soon I shall return to this journal with glad news!

Another page turned and the journal picked up just a few weeks later:

I have come home to Magia.  The mare whom I love has… rebuffed me.  I was in her kingdom for a little over a fortnight, and I tried everything that I could to show her my feelings… but in the end she told me that her love for her kingdom had to come first…  So now I have returned to my brother’s foalish jabs and my mother’s worried glances to wallow in my misery.

The Princess knew she should set the book down, there was research to be done and a cure for her condition to be found, but somehow she could not pull herself away from the pages:

Did she even try..?  Why would she say that she cannot love me as she loves her kingdom when she has not tried, did not allow herself to love me?  How could she say such things when she does not know the depths of my love, the breadth of my devotion to her?  How can she deny my feelings for her when she has not given me the chance?

I have been home for almost two weeks now, and despite my family’s insistence that time would heal my broken heart, it has not.  I still think of her endlessly… perhaps even more now that she has told me that we cannot be together.  Truly she is a beautiful horror upon my soul, sweeping my life into the deep shadows of misbegotten love.  I am broken, and I do not know if I shall ever recover.

My parents have tried to get me to leave the castle, to roam the capital as I did not so long ago with Starstriker… but his company is worse than loneliness, as he is newly betrothed to the young daughter of Queen Sunstrike of Cirrus, Princess Rose Wine.   Father is beyond pleased, as such a union will give him an ironclad connection with Cirrus, and Mother is overjoyed because Princess Rose Wine is a finely-bred mare of beauty and grace… but all I see is a Pegasus, just like the mare whom I love.  All I see is happiness when I feel despair and all I wish to do is leave all of that behind me.

I spend almost all of my time in the library now; where before I could not stop to read for seeing her eyes before the pages, now I cannot seem to pull myself out of the books arrayed before me.  I throw myself into the tomes laid out by my ancestors, hoping and praying that somewhere amidst the knowledge they have left behind for us that I may find an answer to my heartache, a solution to take away all of my sorrow and misery… and yet for all that I read I cannot stop thinking of her.  Even after she has sent me away, cast from her sight like an unwanted pet… I cannot stop.  I see her when I close my eyes, I dream of her when I sleep, I pine for her and need her in ways that I never thought a pony could need another pony… I cannot stop loving her, even though her love is denied me.

Why would she do this to me..?  How could she?

How could you..?

Mi Amore… Mi Amore Cadenza… how could you do this to me..?

Mi Amore… my love…

…I cannot stop loving you.

Seeing her name on the page gave Cadence pause. Flipping back through the journal, she reread the entries and saw them in a new light. She sat back from the journal, letting it sit open against the parchment pages of another tome. In the back of her mind she did recall rebuffing the affections of a stallion, but for the life of her she did not recall who it had been. According to these pages it had to have been Silver Scales, but that can't be right. Cadence argued to herself. Intent on finding answers, she picked the journal back up and continued to read:

I knew that my time in the library would not be wasted!  In enveloping myself in words I found that my misery is NOT irreparable, and indeed I have even found a solution!  After pouring over almost every book in the library, I ended up settling into the most familiar section for myself- the Alchemical section, where a copy of every book in the kingdom of Magia that deals with the art of alchemy can be found.  I have, of course, read all of these books before, but for whatever reason my recollection of this one particular book never brought forth the knowledge that I now have in my possession!  Oh, my dearest love… finally I shall be able to show you.

Mi Amore Cadenza, you told me that your love for your kingdom would always come first… but what if I showed you how amazing our love could be?  How we could be together and yet let you rule your kingdom with justice and kindness, as you always have done… and perhaps with yet more kindness, as love breeds such things in ponies.  My beloved, my most adored Princess- I will show you what our love could be, and we will be together at last!

However, I believe that though my solution lies in alchemy, I will have to… alter some of my discoveries a bit.  I shall depart within the fortnight for the Crystal Kingdom, where my research will begin afresh.  It has been far too long since I have dabbled in my talent.

Wait for me, my Princess; soon I shall brew our future.

Pages turned faster as Cadence felt herself drawn into the strange story detailed in the careworn pages of an old, forgotten journal:

THIS. IS. NOT. WORKING.

I do not understand… WHY is this happening to me!?  I have tried EVERYTHING I KNOW to make this potion work- EVERY conceivable combination of every known element, earthen or ethereal, I have tossed and brewed and mixed, yet EVERY TIME I am met by the same, inevitable result: FAILURE!

My studies in the Crystal Kingdom have been fruitless in my pursuit of a love potion that would show the Princess what our life could be like if she simply let me in- if she simply let my love take hold of her and loved me in return.  True I have discovered many other kinds of potions that may have never been if I had not created them, but my purpose remains unfulfilled, and my life remains empty without her… yet I am not without her!  She is here, and yet not mine!  Every DAY I see her around the castle, and EVERY DAY I am driven to continue my search for the perfect potion… yet I fail.  Every potion, every concoction, every mixture and brew that I combine ends in complete and utter DISAPPOINTMENT!!

Just like me.  Worthless useless STUPID DISGUSTING JOKE

I am a failure, a joke, a disappointment to myself and to my family… and most importantly to my Princess.  I have failed her, in EVERY WAY POSSIBLE…  I am not worthy to be hers, and yet…

…and yet I MUST HAVE HER.  I… I cannot live without her… As painful and heart-wrenching as my life here with her is… the mere thought of leaving causes me physical pain.  I writhe in agony, my body wracked with innumerable phantom pains whenever I contemplate leaving; as if a thousand guards were stabbing me with their spears, and only the decision to remain gives me respite.

My life is consumed, and I know this… yet I cannot, WILL NOT end my research until she is MINE.

MINE. MINE. MINE. MINE. MINE. MINE.

I love you, Cadence!  Can’t you see?!  I love you, Mi Amore, more than anything, more than EVERYTHING!  I love you with every breath, every fiber of my being, and YET YOU DENY ME!!!  You see my constant wanderings; see my flat coat and dead eyes AND YET YOU DO NOTHING TO HELP ME, DO NOTHING TO GIVE ME RESPITE.  YOU SAY THAT YOU CARE AND YET YOU REJECT ME, REBUFF ME.

I LOVE YOU, CADENCE.  I LOVE YOU MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF!!!  AND… AND I HATE YOU.

I HATE YOU, CADENCE… I HATE YOU!!!!

If I cannot make a love potion that will make you see my feelings for you, then perhaps I shall be able to make a POISON that will take us BOTH FROM THIS LIFE and free us from the earthly bonds that tie your affections, AND THEN PERHAPS WE SHALL BE TOGETHER FOR ALL ETERNITY.

IF I CANNOT HAVE YOU, CADENCE, NOPONY WILL.

Reading the entries slowly made Cadence feel exposed, as if she were a deer being hunted by a great cat of the Zebrika Desert. How could one consider these feelings to be love, she wondered, for to the crystal princess they sounded nothing of the sort. Eager to distance herself from these obsessive phrases, she turned the page to the very last entry in Silver Scale's journal. It was short and simple, the page covered in ink stains, as if the writer had been nearing the point of exhaustion:

I… I’ve done it.  I can barely write my magic is so weak.  I have been working for almost… what is it?  16 hours straight… and my magic is nearly exhausted, as am I, so I apologize for ink stains, but… but I have done it!!!  I’ve finally made the potion… and I’m giving it to Cadence tonight.  I have waited long enough, I shall wait no more.

When I write in this again, I shall be a married stallion!

I love you, Cadence- more than you could ever, ever know.  We shall be together, my love.

FOREVER.
> Seeking the Solution
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8: Seeking the Solution:

A heavy thump reverberated around the silent library, causing Claudia to look up from her reading. “What was that?” she asked, glancing across the table at the princess who looked pale in the mixed candle and moonlight. “Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost.”

Cadence shook her head, both to disagree with Claudia's statement as well as to clear her head and quiet the worried monologue that was raging in her mind. “I... I don't know, Claudia... this... I... I wasn't prepared for this...”

“Prepared? What are you talking about, Cadence?” the dragon stood up and moved around the table to look at the book that Cadence had knocked to the floor. Bending over to pick it up, she noticed the small black notebook from earlier tumble out from between the pages. Grabbing it as well, she turned it over in her claws, “Was this what you were reading? Cadence, we really need to look for a cure and spending valuable time looking at your husband's old journal is a waste!”

“Chastise me later, please,” the pegasus said, “but... I think you should read it. I think... maybe... this could be the answer we've been looking for.”

Claudia huffed to herself, keeping a scathing comment tucked firmly in her cheek, but she flipped the book open and began reading. I'll just humor her a little. Something obviously startled her, but the likely hood of us finding anything useful in her husband's journal is slim to... Her train of thought trailed off as she began to read the odd entries. Her eyes grew wide as the obsession in his words waxed and waned as the entries progressed. When she reached the end, her claws were shaking. This was a new look at the stallion Cadence had decided to spend her life with, and it was a look that Claudia had not expected.

“It says he made a love potion,” Cadence said, her voice quiet. “a love potion to... help me see the depths of his devotion. Is... is that what this has been?”

Taking a deep breath to calm her own shattered nerves, Claudia spoke slowly, “We don't know that for sure, Princess. I'm sure there's more to this than meets the eye. Besides, if it's true that he made his own potion, he'd have to leave notes somewhere, right? And I've looked through most of his personal books already and I haven't found anything. I'm sure love potion is just a code for... something else.”

Cadence shook her head, taking the book back from Claudia. “As much as I want to believe you, my friend, I'm... sure that whatever Silver Scales was working on- be it an actual love potion or something completely different- it wouldn't be in his already published works.” Carefully, she turned to the last entry and began flipping farther into the book, but the pages were blank.

“Maybe Silver Scales didn't write down his research notes in this journal, Cadence,” Claudia reasoned. “Perhaps there is another book, either in his old rooms or your quarters now, that holds the information on the... love potion spoken of.

The pink mare was about to agree when she noticed scribbles written upside down on the left-hand page of the journal. Turning the book over, she realized they were lists of alchemical ingredients and all had at least one scratch mark through them. Many had more than one. As she began flipping back through the book, she found multiple alchemical circles and other technical script that she couldn't decipher. “I think I just found his notes, Claudia.” She passed the book back as the dragon extended her claws.

“I think you might be right... and that we should show this to Sharp Retort.” Clapping the book shut, the purple dragon hurried to open the library doors. “If we hurry, we might be able to catch the alchemist before she heads to bed for the night.”

~~~

It had been a long two days for the dark blue alchemist and she was ready for a well-deserved rest. Maybe I'll even sleep in tomorrow, she thought as she locked up the last of her rare ingredients in a magic-resistant cabinet. A quiet yawn passed her lips and she stopped to wait it out instead of bumble her way through her own shop. Blinking tears from her eyes, the small mare moved to open the door. She wasn't expecting anypony, she made sure never to schedule appointments after midnight, and was quite irritated to find that there was somepony waiting outside her door. It didn't matter that it was the Princess and her aide, nor did it matter to her that both looked like they'd stepped on a grave. The already snappish mare was exhausted and not willing to deal with any more work.

“What are you two doing?” She asked, pushing her way between them to shut her office door and lock it. “I don't have any more potions for you to take tonight, Princess, and I won't for a while, so unless you are one hundred percent sure you've found the potion you're looking for, I hope you're not looking for me.”

“This is really important, Sharp Retort,” the princess said, her wings rustling against her sides.

“You've been saying that ever since I got roped into this mess, Princess,” Retort glared, turning the key in the lock and sliding it into her saddlebags.

Cadence looked indignant and opened her mouth to argue when Claudia stepped between the two mares and shoved an old book into Retort's face. “We came down here to show you this. We think it might be the answer to Cadence's magical mystery.”

Retort turned her dark blue glare on the dragon, but took the book in her hoof. Expecting to find some simplistic or even amateur potion, she was surprised at the complexity and sheer elegance of the alchemical script on the page. She felt like she was looking into one of her own notebooks and only a second look at the script convinced her that it was not.

“Where did you find this?” the alchemist asked, not taking her eyes off the smoke-stained pages. “Whose book is this?”

“It's Prince Silver Scales' alchemical and personal journal,” Claudia explained. “We found it while looking through his quarters for some library books we needed, well, thought we needed, at least.”

“I thought the Prince was a unicorn,” Retort asked. “Why would a unicorn be interested in Alchemy?”

“The short answer is that it's his special talent,” Cadence explained. “Though I never realized how deeply he dabbled in the art.”

Thoughts of a warm bed and quilted sheets fled the blue mare's mind at the prospect of picking apart the magic of a fellow alchemist. For a moment she almost forgot the Princess and Claudia were in the hall with her. “Ahem,” she coughed and looked back up at the pair, “So you think that the Prince is the one behind your condition?” Saying the words aloud made the already skeptical earth pony raise an eyebrow. “It doesn't seem likely to me.”

“Well...” Cadence shifted uneasily on her hooves, “we aren't sure it is, but in his journal, Silver Scales mentions the desire to create... a powerful potion. And in the end it seems he succeeded. Could you please look through the notes he left and see... what kind of potion it is as well as if it is actually possible to create?”

Sharp Retort almost couldn't hide the glimmer of excitement from her eyes. She loved this kind of work, but suddenly she was hit by another yawn and thoughts of her busy week rushed back into her mind. Sighing, the alchemist promised herself that when this was all over, she'd take a well-deserved vacation. In the meantime... “Of course, Princess. I can't tell how long it will take to piece together these notes. They are well detailed, but scrambled. I will send you word when I have something to show you.”

“That's all I can ask for,” Princess Cadence smiled and turned back towards the stairs to the upper levels of the palace, Claudia following after like a loyal hound. When the hall was empty again except for her, Retort pulled her keyring back and out unlocked her shop door. “Sleep is over-rated anyway.”

~~~

Sharp Retort spent many long hours pouring over the text scribbled in Silver Scales' journal trying to understand the exact nature of the potion he had been trying to create, not realizing that the true purpose was outlined in detail at the other end of the same book. The alchemical circles were the most telling as each type of magic had it's own style of circle and mind-altering spells were the most unique of all. The experienced alchemist knew this on the spot, but the subject of mind-altering magic was extensive- from spells made to convince the victim to disclose secrets to spells made to alter a pony's perception of the world and everything in between.

Eventually the blue mare came to the conclusion that if she was going to figure out the exact purpose of Silver Scales' secret potion, she would have to make it herself. Fortunately, the final potion was easy to find. It was the first set of ingredients not to have been struck through several times as well as being marked by stars in the margins of the page on either side. “A pinch of cloud, a bright rainbow's glow. Stir with a pegasus feather, fast not slow. Hmph, he even made it rhyme. How clever.”

The elements for the potion were rare, even in the Capital City of the Crystal Empire, but there was one supplier in town who always seemed to have more than his fair share of rare ingredients. “I think it's about time to pay my old friend Half Penny a visit,” Retort smiled slightly as the first morning bell rang.

~~~

The market place was bustling, even so early in the morning. Many housewives did their shopping early, both to get the freshest produce and to catch the best deals in the open market. Retort wove her way between the stalls, ponies, and crates that clogged the otherwise spacious main roads looking for on shop in particular. It wasn't on the main road, but was tucked in an alley between two larger and much brighter stores. A rickety sign swung over the main door, distinguishing it from the other back alley doors. Half Penny Alchemy, the sign read. The paint darkening the carved words was faded and peeling, but Retort felt it only added to the charm of the little shop.

She pushed the door open, causing a little bell over the door to jingle which drew a pale blue earth pony out from the back room. Half Penny smiled and nodded to the younger mare, “Good Morn to you, Ma'am. And what brings you to this side of town so early?”

“Oh you know, the usual,” Retort's voice didn't carry its usual air of sarcasm as she spoke to a fellow alchemist. “I was wondering if you had some... special ingredients around.”

The taller stallion arched an eyebrow, “special, how?”

“Special... rare,” the mare vaguely elaborated. “I'm looking for ethereal elements, if you have any in stock.”

“I might,” the stallion said, “but they are horribly difficult to get a hold of, so there is no guarantee I have what you're looking for.”

“I'm not looking for much, just a few ingredients. Rainbow glow, cloud, and pegasus feathers.”

Half Penny whistled softly, “those are rare in these parts, Retort. Especially the pegasus feathers. I'm not even sure I have any.”

“I'm sure I could convince you to check for me,” the mare moved up to the counter and set a small stack of coins down in front of the stallion.

Glancing between the coins and his customer, Half Penny slid the golden bits into his hoof and slid them into a pocket of the apron he wore. “Sure, I'll go check for you now, though I can't promise anything.”

“I would never expect you to,” Retort smiled as she moved back into the shop. She browsed the shop, looking for some of the other, less common ingredients that she needed for other potions that she made. Half Penny's often had what she was looking for, but not always in an easy to find place. She was still searching a shelf in the front of the store for pink sea coral when the shop-keeper returned.

“You're in luck, I do have some pegasus feathers,” he said, laying the hoof-full of feathers out for the young alchemist to inspect. One was a bright yellow, two were green, and the rest were either blue or violet. All extremely common variations. Still, it was better than nothing.

“How many are you willing to part with?” the mare asked, gently picking one up to stroke between her hooves. It wasn't an uncommon practice to dye bird feathers in brighter hues in an effort to make a profit by counterfeiting them as the much rarer, higher quality pegasus feathers, but these seemed to be real horse feathers.

The shop-keeper thought about it for a moment, “I suppose that depends on what you're willing to pay.” His response didn't surprise Retort at all, she'd placed the ball in his court and he'd simply tossed it right back to her.

Sneaky stallion, she smiled to herself. “The problem is I haven't bought pegasus feathers in a long while and I have no clue what the asking price is. I would hate to try and cheat you out of a honest living. Especially when we're dealing with such costly goods.”

Half Penny was quiet for a long moment before he responded, “I won't take anything less than 20 bits per feather.”

Retort whistled quietly under her breath, but didn't let any discomfort show on her face. She smiled and shook her head, “I'm sorry, but I can't pay any more than 15 bits.”

“Look, I know you work at the palace, you can pay whatever it takes to get your ingredients. 20 bits or take your business elsewhere.”

“Half Penny, be reasonable. You and I both know you're the only alchemist in town that stocks rare ingredients like pegasus feathers. And even if somepony else managed to get their hooves on some, they'd be as fake as the glass in your windows. I'll pay you 18 bits a feather, no more.”

The blue stallion nodded slowly, “very well, 18 bits each, no more, no less.”

“I knew you would be reasonable, my friend.” Retort smiled as she passed the shop-keeper her bits and gathered up seven of the feathers. “Now, about the clouds...”

~~~

An hour later Sharp Retort exited the small shop, her saddlebags full of alchemical elements, including the clouds and rainbow glow needed to recreate Silver Scales' strange potion. Excited and ready to work on dissecting the complicated potion, despite a lack of sleep the previous night, the mare trotted back to the castle.

Back in her underground shop, Sharp Retort carefully lit several candles and covered them with clear glass domes that had three tiny holes bored in the top to let air flow through. The potential for strange and occasionally explosive alchemical smoke was extremely high, especially when working with prototype potions, but the mare still needed light to see by. Satisfied that she had plenty of light to work by, the mare moved to set up the rest of her workspace, and she started by locking the door.

I don't need any unexpected visitors walking in on me, she thought as she set up the journal on her book stand, making sure it stayed open to the correct page. She next pulled out the three ingredients specified- Clouds, rainbow glow, and pegasus feathers- as well as several beakers and measuring devices. The Prince was unfortunately vague when describing how much of each ingredient was necessary. I suppose I'll just have to use some trial and error. No big deal.

She quickly started mixing variations of the potion with only the first two ingredients- cloud and rainbow glow- setting aside the potions that stayed stable and tossing out the several that were too unbalanced that they imploded, filling the small room with rancid pink smoke.

When the alchemist was sure that she had several potions to work with, she began stirring them with the few pegasus feathers she had, taking into account the admonition to stir quickly rather than with the slow, controlled movements other potions required. These potions turned a blue-violet color that looked vaguely like grape juice in contrast to the cotton-candy like potion they started out as. But one could hardly call that a potion, Retort mused. A potion is classified as a liquid or semi-liquid used to achieve a result. The end result from these first two ingredients being mixed is most certainly not a liquid. I suppose it would have to be classified as a second stage element, which then it would make sense that the activating catalyst is another element and not, say, just as simple as stirring the potion with a silver stir stick. 

Turning around, the mare moved across the room to a counter that was conspicuously clear of any alchemical agents except for a small rack of silver vials, each filled with a clear liquid. Lifting the rack carefully, Sharp Retort brought it back over to the counter she had been working on, careful not to let any of the potions get stuck behind it. Picking up the first beaker of grape-purple potion, she carefully poured a small dose into the first clear potion in the rack. Swirling it once with a stir stick, she moved carefully down the line, making sure to pour the exact same amount of liquid into each of the seven vials. After stirring the last bit of potion together, she retrieved another rack of the clear potions and began again, this time with a different beaker of the grape-potion.

She did this three more times with a new beaker each time. The clear vials contained magically neutral agents that when mixed with alchemical ingredients or potions would slowly turn a certain color depending on what kind of ingredient or potion was mixed in. After completing the five different tests, Retort moved to check the first batch.

Each vial had turned a different color, as was to be expected. Each vial contained a different agent created to seek out certain properties in a potion. Using one would be insightful, but a potion's true purpose could only be divined by using a combination of these potions. The more a potion was tested, the more accurate the resulting discovery would be.

Retort pulled down a large almanac of test results taken from other experiments with similar agents. It was the only book that she always kept in her possession and one she would die, or kill, to keep. Carefully she opened the book and began searching for the potion that would most match the first vial's new color and slowly she continued down the line until she found a single potion that closely fit all seven vials she had tested. Glancing at the book the mare looked confused. That can't be right... Shaking her head, she was at first able to convince herself it was a fluke, but as she searched for matching results from her other four tests, the results came back the same.

Finally the mare sat back and sighed heavily. “What we have here is a powerful love potion.”

~~~

The next night Claudia and Cadence again met in the castle under croft where Retort had her office. The two were surprised that the alchemist had called them back so quickly, neither of them had expected to hear hide or hill from the mare for at least a week, but neither were going to complain. If Retort had wanted to see them, it was for a good reason, whether for good or ill was yet to be seen.

Retort quickly ushered the pair into her office and shut the door, “Alright, well, it seems like the potion Silver Scales was attempting to invent was a Love Potion.” She glanced between the princess and her aide and sighed, “I'm guessing this doesn't surprise either of you?”

“It was what we were expecting,” Cadence admitted.

The blue mare sighed, too worn out to make a snappy remark, “I won't ask how or why, the point is I don't think you, or anypony for that matter, could have expected the power behind this potion.” Motioning for the two to follow her, Retort moved back into her work space and pulled out one of the beakers of grape-colored potion. “I ran several tests on many different versions of this potion and while they did vary slightly in potency, all were far more powerful of a Love Potion than any I've ever run into before. Most love potions have to be renewed somewhere between every two days to two weeks. However, I would wager to guess that this potion would only need to be renewed about...” the mare paused to think a moment before continuing, “oh, I'd say, every three weeks to a month- at best.

“However,” Sharp Retort continued moving slightly on her hooves, “this doesn't explain how you, Princess, could have been enthralled for nearly a year on what we can assume is one dose of this potion. It is simply impossible. Yet....”

“Wait,” Claudia interrupted, “how can you assume that Cadence has only been given one dose?”

The alchemist sighed, “It's only a theory, but if she had been dosed regularly then she would not have broken out of the spell- not now, not ever. That is how a potion like this works- when a pony still in the thrall of a previous dose is administered another dose of the same potion, the potency of the potion is renewed, in spite of any resistance the body has worked up to resist the potion. The fact that I could come up with these ingredients, but supposedly the administrator of this potion could not, or did not, can mean one of two things. Either the pony administering the potion has decided to stop, which is unlikely, or the potion was never administered on a regular basis and is starting to run it's course.”

“But neither of those make sense!” Cadence argued, “I'm still under whatever spell has been woven on me during the day! It is only at night I regain a sense of myself. What do you make of that?”

Sharp Retort was quiet as she thought, “there is only one reason I can think of,” the pony admitted after a long pause. “There is some minor reagent that you come into contact with during the day that you are not in contact with at night. It is not a full version of the potion you were originally given, but it is enough to reawaken its effects.” The pony waved a hoof, “But you have distracted me! The point I was originally trying to reach was that the potion I've created here is simply not powerful enough of a spell to have enthralled the princess for this long.”

“So we can assume this isn't the spell we're looking for,” Claudia sighed, running a claw over her head spikes. “Well... that was disappointing.”

“There could be ways to make the potion stronger,” Retort surmised, “using an element that is closely linked to the subject could increase the potency of a potion, a lock of hair or tear for instance...” Retort's words were cut short as she noticed the princess shuffle her wings in agitation. “Or a feather...” the alchemist looked sharply at the princess, “Did you ever give Prince Silver Scales one of your feathers?”

Cadence looked startled, but nodded, lifting her right wing to show an empty space between two of her long pinion feathers. “I gave it to him a long time ago,” she admitted.

“Then I need one of your feathers,” Sharp Retort said, holding out a hoof. Cadence looked about to object when Claudia tugged one free from her left wing and passed it to the alchemist who immediately turned back to the counter where a clear beaker of pink-colored clouds was sitting.

“Ouch!” The princess glared at her friend. “I would have given her one myself and you didn't have to yank it out so hard!”

“Sorry, Cadence,” Claudia said, ducking her head slightly, “I just feel like we're so close to solving this... I guess I was a little over excited.”

“Hmm,” Cadence rolled her eyes before she started coughing. A pink smog had erupted from the small beaker in front of Retort, filling the room and tinging the light a soft pink. “What... was that supposed to happen?”

Retort shrugged, covering her mouth with a hoof as she pulled the feather out of the solution. She was caught up in the discovery, well, rediscovery, she admitted. Lifting the beaker with her other hoof, she swirled the liquid which was giving off a soft pink light that was just brighter than the candlelight. “Huh,” she motioned to Claudia to grab a rack of clear vials from her other work station. The dragon quickly retrieved them, setting the selection gently down next to the alchemist who quickly began siphoning the potion into each of the seven vials.

Without turning to face Cadence, the blue mare said, “I'll need a little time to work with this new potion, Princess, but I can tell you right now that while this may not be the potion that has been afflicting you for the past year, I can say with relative certainty that it is powerful enough to be. I might even go so far as to say a potion this powerful is more of a poison.”

“Will you be able to create an antidote?” Cadence asked.

“I'm not sure yet, princess. Creating an antidote could take as long as conceiving this potion did, but I'll see what I can do. This potion isn't too complicated, the problem will come from creating an antidote that is just as powerful. It would be easy to...”

“Can it be done?” Cadence asked, her voice firm.

“It can be,” Retort relented. “I just may not be the pony able to do it, though I will try my best.”

“That's all I can ask,” the princess smiled and turned to leave. “Send for me when you have completed your studies.”

“Yes, Princess,” Retort said distractedly, she was already mentally picking apart the strange potion. What a crazy love potion, so simple yet so powerful. I may be in over my head this time...
> Late Winter Dawns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9: Late Winter Dawns:

Several days later, Sharp Retort was greeted once again by visitors in her subterranean offices. Cadence and Claudia stood close to the wall as many of the surfaces and most of the floor space was covered in alchemical elements, byproducts, and tools. The alchemist herself was sequestered in the far back corner, a small silver beaker in hoof. “Sorry for the mess,” she apologized as she carefully shuffled her way back to the Princess. “I haven't been able to clean anything since I started.”

“You said you had an antidote?” The princess asked, her eyes lighting on the small beaker.

“Perhaps,” Retort said vaguely. “Of course I cannot be sure as we are not sure if the love potion Silver Scales created is even the spell you have been afflicted with. In any case, it's not ready yet.”

“Not ready yet?” Cadence raised her eyebrows, “Sharp Retort, I was under the impression you would have something for me when you called me down.”

“I still need something to tie you to the potion,” the alchemist elaborated. Indicating the vial she held, “this is a mixture of blue-silver crystals and morning dew. It's the only mixture I've been able to come up with that reacts favorably when mixed with the initial potion, but it's still not enough.”

“Couldn't you use the feather I gave you before?” she asked.

“I have and it ended badly. Earthen elements do not mix well with Ethereal ingredients at the best of times.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

Retort sighed, rubbing her forehead with a hoof, “Princess, feathers are ethereal by classification. At least pegasus feathers are as they are innately magical. Your pinion feathers are even more so as the core vein of your pinions are made of the same material a unicorn's horn is. However, both crystals and dew are earthen- they come from the earth and are not innately magical. So I need something from you that is not innately magic. I'm thinking your tears would do nicely.”

“Tears?” Cadence asked, “but I'm not feeling sad.”

The alchemist reached over and grabbed a small orange vial. “Drink this. It's a potion that I've used before to collect tears in the past. All it is is an emotion enhancer. You'll feel things stronger than usual. After you take it, I need you to think of something sad, something that if it occurred would upset you greatly. And physical pain doesn't work too well, I've found, so try to think of something else.”

Cadence sighed and downed the orange liquid, which tasted vaguely of oranges and citrus. Immediately Cadence began running through a lift of things that would make her sad. Losing Silver Scales was at the top of the list, but the more she thought about it, the less it made her sad to think about. Next was losing Claudia or the Captain, two of her closest friends, but still the tears refused to fall. Frustrated, Cadence cursed her inability to complete a simple task. The fate of her country was at risk and she couldn't even shed a few tears over an imaginary situation. Her eyes widened as she thought about letting down the hundreds of citizens that called the Crystal Kingdom home. It was more than just herself she needed to think about, she wasn't breaking this curse for herself, she was doing it for ever stallion, mare, and foal that looked up to her for guidance and strength. She was doing it for each and every family that relied on the Crystal Heart Spell to protect them from raiders and ambitious Lords. If she couldn't break this spell, she would be letting down more than just herself, she would be putting her whole country at risk! Slowly she felt her eyes begin to water and she squeezed them tight, instinctively trying to prevent herself from crying, but it didn't help. The potion running through her system forced tears down her face.

Retort stood next to the princes, a tiny vial held under her eye to catch the first few tears that fell. When she had the vial filled, it didn't take long as the small container would only hold a very small amount of liquid, the alchemist turned back to the silver beaker and poured the tears in. Carefully she stirred the solution, watching as the clear elements slowly came together. After a long ten minutes of stirring, plenty of time for Cadence to pull herself together, Retort was looking at a soft blue potion that gently pulsed in time with her stirring.

“Alright, Cadence,” she said turning back around, the beaker in her hoof, “this is the antidote for Silver Scale's potion. I can't promise it's the solution to your problems, but I can tell you this is the most powerful antidote I've ever made. Hopefully it will do the trick.”

Cadence nodded and reached out for the potion, she could feel something building around her, a kind of energy, but she didn't pay it any mind as she carefully drank the entire potion. Everything seemed to stand still for a moment, even time itself, but then the feeling was gone and the princess sighed. “I guess it didn't work. I don't feel any different.”

When she turned to face Claudia, the dragon's mouth was hanging open. “Is something wrong, Claudia?” she asked and turned to Sharp Retort who had a similarly awe-struck look in her eyes. “What is going on?”

“Y-you're...” Claudia's voice was horse and she swallowed before continuing, “Cadence, you're glowing.”

“Thanks?” she looked slightly confused.

No sooner had the word passed her lips than the feeling of energy building intensified. A flash of light blinded the three and when they could see again, there was one less pegasus in the room.

~~~

As the light faded from Cadence's eyes she was horrified to see she was no longer in Sharp Retort's lab under the castle. Glancing around, the pink pegasus realized that she wasn't anywhere. The air around her was cold, but not freezing. If she stopped to think about it, the air around her didn't feel like anything. The only light there was to see by were from tiny dots of light, stars, Cadence realized as she continued to look around her. I'm surrounded by stars.

But it wasn't just stars; as her eyes adjusted slowly to the strange levels of light, Cadence was able to see more than just singular points of light. She could see colorful patterns in the dark blackness around her- swirling lines of stars that formed galaxies and multi-hued clouds that were the remains and beginnings of new stars. She found that the longer she looked in one direction, the more she could see, but that only frightened the princess. Turning to look below her, she hoped to see something other than stars and blackness, but she was disappointed. Though it felt as if she were standing on thick glass, to the eye there was nothing beneath her hooves except for more stars. 

“Welcome, my Daughter,” a soft voice spoke from the blackness, drawing the young mare's eyes up from her hooves and the infinite space below them. “I have been waiting for you.”

Cadence squinted into the darkness before her and slowly she made out the outline of a pony before her, but not any pony she had seen before, and certainly not the familiar shape of her mother. Standing tall and proud, her coat shimmering with a multitude of stars, was a regal alicorn. She smiled down on the startled mare comfortingly, “W-where am I?” the pink pegasus asked, feeling even smaller now than she had moments before. “A-am I dead? Did the potion Sharp Retort give me kill me?”

The alicorn laughed gaily, “Oh no, my child. You are not dead. Most certainly not dead. You might even say you are the most alive you have been since the day you were born!”

“Um... I don't follow...” Cadence looked confused, “I don't even know who you are...”

“My goodness, I haven't introduced myself yet? A thousand years away from civilized ponies certainly doesn't help one remember these things! Ah yes, I am called Chrona and am the Mother of Alicorns,” the black alicorn bowed her head slightly, “but I don't need to ask who you are, my dear. You are Mi Amore Cadenza, Cadence for short, of the Crystal Kingdom, my youngest daughter.”

Cadence shook her head, her mind was spinning wildly as she tried to take in everything the strange pony was saying. “Your youngest daughter? But my mother was Frostfall Serenade!”

Chrona laid a hoof on Cadence's shoulder with a small smile, “Walk with me, and I will explain:

“Thousands of years ago there were many alicorns, we were as common as earth ponies and pegasi. We were the most powerful of races and we ruled the world with grace and benevolence. However, it would not last. Many years before the Age of Chaos a new race of creatures was discovered in the world. They were strange creatures that seemed to be made of dozens of different animals fused together. We do not know where they came from, nor do I still, even after all these millenia. Very little is known about these creatures of chaos and the only thing I know of for sure is that they called themselves Draconequus.

“These strange creatures waged war against the alicorns, fighting us for supremacy and control of the Great Kingdoms.” The ancient alicorn turned away, as if these memories were painful, “we were defeated at the last, though not before taking a great many of their number with us. Every last one of the alicorns was killed in the final conflict and with them went any hope of peace and harmony among the kingdoms.

“For you see, in killing the last of the alicorns, the draconequus succeeded in ending our ancient line. An alicorn foal can only be born from two alicorns, you see, and only alicorns had enough power to stand up to the draconequus. But there is one other way for an alicorn to be born, a pony- strong of heart and courageous in spirit- could ascend and take on the mantle of alicorn.

“For thousands of years no ponies were strong enough, and during those years draconequus ruled over the ponies and other creatures of the world, spreading disharmony and chaos. A hundred years ago eight little ponies stood up to the last of the draconequus, a creature who called himself Discord. These eight ponies included my two daughters- Celestia and Luna of Equestria. They were nearly defeated, but six of the ponies gave their spirits and lives to turn Discord into stone. They are remembered in the Books of Time as alicorns in spirit, if not in form. The two ponies to survive accepted their destiny and became the First Alicorns of a new age.

“They restored peace to the world and have reigned with love and justice ever since.”

“But I don't understand what this has to do with me,” Cadence interrupted. “I'm just a simple pegasus princess from a northern kingdom, and a small one at that! How can I compare to the bravery and strength shown by Celestia and Luna in facing down Discord?”

“You, my daughter, have displayed courage and strength in a different way. Faced with your own adversity, you have overcome all obstacles set in your path to protect your kingdom. You have proven you love your kingdom enough to sacrifice your own happiness for their good. That in itself is enough. You are a Princess of Love and shall be forever known as such... if you wish to be.”

“Excuse me?” the pegasus asked, “I'm afraid I don't understand... are you giving me a choice?”

“Yes.” Chrona said simply. “No pony is forced to accept the gifts of being an alicorn, for our life is hard and full of pain. Just because you have the fortitude to be among us does not mean you want to be. If you wish to remain as you are, you shall be returned to your castle unchanged, save for your memories of this place. However, whatever you decide is your final answer. You will never get a second chance to join our ranks if you turn it down now.” 

Cadence nodded, “may I have a moment to think?”

“You may have all the time you need.”

~~~

Dawn broke over the eastern horizon, casting morning light across the beautiful crystal valley. Snow glittered just as brilliantly as the crystal buildings on these last days of winter. Many ponies were already awake and moving around the still sleepy town while others were still waking up. One stallion in particular was just beginning to stir in the royal suite.

Silver Scales stretched his long gray legs as his mind slowly rose out from the lovely mist of dreams. All night he had dreamed of the gorgeous pink pegasus he had married, as he had every night for an exceptionally long time, and he was anxious to see her laying next to him. For the last several weeks he had woken before his wife and had spent several wonderful hours just watching her sleep. It was comforting and comfortable. Rolling onto his stomach, the stallion sighed and smiled to himself. How did I get so lucky to have such a wonderful mare fall in love with me? He laughed slightly at the thought. He knew how she'd fallen for him, but that no longer mattered to the stallion. The mare of his dreams reciprocated his feelings, whether of her own free will or not was no longer an issue. He was happily, blissfully in love. That was all that mattered.

He gave a long yawn and opened his eyes, glancing next to him and expecting to see his wife sleeping soundly at his side. But she was not nor was there any indication that she had come to bed last night. Startled, the prince sat up and looked around the spacious suite, but there was no sign of his wife anywhere. He stood up and lifted his blue and white cloak around his shoulders with his magic, snapping the clasp into place and letting it settle against his back.

Quickly walking through the castle, the prince asked any pony he met if they had seen the princess that morning, but to his increasing disappointment, none of them had. His worry and frustration heightened as his search continued. Without her around, he could feel the long-forgotten ache in his heart returning. Silver Scales needed Cadence, more than he'd ever needed somepony in his life and the thought of losing her... was too much.

He became agitated with the serving ponies around the castle. How could they not have seen his gorgeous love? Was she not in the foremost of their thoughts as she was in his? Storming through the castle, the gray stallion did not notice his coat was slowly turning a darker hue. The potion Sharp Retort had described as a poison was slowly beginning to show its true colors.

The angry stallion began pacing the front hall, stopping and raging at any pony careless enough to get in his way, including a blue and black mare who looked as lost as the stallion felt. Her normally luminous coat was dull and her mane hung lank down her back, “Have you seen Princess Cadence, you have to have, you're all lying to me if you say you haven't seen the Princess!” Silver Scale's voice was ragged and horse from shouting all morning.

“She's gone...” Sharp Retort's voice was empty and hollow as she spoke. “Just... gone...”

“You're all ly- what did you say?” The prince's eyes grew wide and he turned, forcing the mare to look him in the eyes when she didn't respond immediately, “Where has she gone?”

“She's just gone,” the mare repeated, shaking her head, “she took a potion, an antidote I made to cure her of love-sickness... and she disappeared. She's been missing since just before midnight...” tears began gathering at the corners of the mare's eyes. “I... I don't...”

“She's gone... and it's your fault?!” The prince lashed out and struck the mare across her face, knocking her back and into the wall. “Oh my dear, I will make you regret ever having set hoof near my Princess.”

Sharp Retort watched, horrified, as the stallion before her changed- his body shifting from slim and wiry to broad and heavy, his coat deepening from pale gray to nearly black, his mane lifting and shifting in a nonexistent breeze as it turned from deep blue to black, but strangest of all were his eyes. Once lavender in color, they were now red surrounded by a violent green. Purple-black vapors shimmered from the edges of his eyes as his horn lit up with a bubbling green magic.

Retort shrank away from the Prince as he shifted and grew, pressing her body against the wall as her eyes grew wider and wider.  Finally the transformation ceased, and the Prince- or at least, the pony who used to be the Prince- turned his crimson gaze upon her... and with agonizing slowness he smiled, revealing a pair of sharp, pointed fangs among his teeth.

“And now... I will make sure that you never set hoof near my bride again,” he growled.  He took a step towards Sharp Retort, his horn flaring to life as tears slid down the mare's cheeks.

“No... please, listen to me...!” she begged... but the Prince would not be swayed.

And in the end, he was as good as his word.

~~~

The Crystal Castle was truly the wonder of the Crystal Kingdom, rising majestically from the center of the city to stand as a sentinel over all.  But the spire was more than just a place where the Princess lived and worked- it was a marvel of magical construction, a wonder in and of itself that quite literally outshone all other castles like it.

The ponies who had constructed the Crystal Castle all those countless years ago had worked into it uncountable facets along its surface and interior, facets that trapped light within the innately magical crystal and forced it to bounce around a great deal more than it should.  This allowed more and more light to be collected by the Castle, and as a result the entire building shone brilliantly during the day as it reflected the bright rays of the sun.

But night was when the Castle was truly at its most beautiful, for not only did it collect the light of the sun, but the moon and stars, as well; and on the nights when the moon was full, ponies from the Crystal Kingdom could leave their street lamps unlit, for the radiance from the Castle would light up their streets with soft, silver moonlight and allow them to see perfectly well even in the dead of night.  And even on nights when the moon was not full the Castle captured enough moonlight and starlight to cause even the most unromantic pony to sigh at the beauty of it.

The night when Cadence vanished was almost moonless, with little more than a thin sliver of crescent moon in the sky to give the Castle light, and the night after was little better; but ponies still counted on the soft glow of the Castle to guide and comfort them through the dark hours before dawn.

Tonight, however, something changed.

Slowly, the Castle lost its luster, dimming almost indistinguishably until it ceased to glow at all; then, the surface gradually dulled, losing all of its sheen and shimmer until within minutes it was as pale and gray as a pillar of stone.  It was so late at night that nopony really took notice... but soon after the Castle dimmed, lights began to go out in the city.  First went the homes closest to the Castle... then the lights of the homes beyond those: every light in them just suddenly winked out, be they candles or fireplaces or magic.  Every light simply winked out of existence, plunging home after home into pure darkness.

In an ever-growing circle around the dull, stoney Castle the lights went out, driving warmth and hope farther and farther away from the center of the city as the heart of its solitary ruler grew weaker and weaker... and it was into this gathering darkness that a brilliant light flashed, a flicker of the brightest white at the base of the Castle itself that flared for a moment, then faded... leaving behind a rather stunned-looking Princess Cadence.

Looking about her, the princess was surprised by how dimly lit the city was, but she had no time to dwell on it. A tall purple dragon barreled out of the castle and into the pink mare. Claudia wrapped her arms around Cadence's neck, hugging her tightly, “where have you been? I've been so worried! Something's happened to Silver Scales and...” Pulling away from her friend, the dragon glanced up at her forehead. “Um... Cady. You have a... um... thing sticking out our of your mane... is that a horn?”

Reaching up, the princess touched the base of the unicorn horn that had sprouted out of her mane. “Oh... I guess that wasn't a dream,” she said quietly to herself.

“What happened?” Claudia asked, “where did you go? How did you become an alicorn?”

“It's a long story,” the princess sighed, “but what's happened here? What happened to Silver Scales?”

The dragon flinched, “I actually don't know for sure... but he's so... strange. You should go see him, though, he's been calling for you for... hours.”

How strange, Cadence thought as she followed Claudia up through the palace. As they passed the servants in the castle, she noticed how dull their coats were, the lost looks in their eyes, and the lankness of their manes and tails. She knew that the appearance of crystal ponies reflected their mood, but she had never seen so many ponies looking so... forlorn. Several perked back up as they saw their princess, their coats flashing brilliantly as their looks of dismay turned to surprise and elation. Captain Iron Point was one such pony and he hurried to the princess's side as she traversed the second level of the castle.

“Where have you been, Princess? The... King has been looking for you... all day.” The stallion's voice was heavy as he spoke, as if the already aged pony had put on another ten years. “I would suggest you go to him, but... at the same time I would not.”

“Whatever do you mean, Captain?” Cadence asked, “and who is this 'King' you spoke of?”

The stallion shuddered, “he calls himself King Sombra. I do not know where he came from, but he insists that he 'was once called Silver Scales'. I cannot say if that is true, but what I do know is that I have not seen the Prince since Sombra appeared.”

Cadence's gaze turned hard, “take me to him. I will not have an usurper take my throne while I am here to protect it.”

“Very well, My Lady,” the captain nodded, “follow me.”

The captain lead the small party up to the throne room, a large and spacious room that was rarely used except to formally greet visiting royalty. Usually the doors were shut and barred, but today they were thrown open. At the far end of the room stood a dark stallion in gleaming silver armor, a red cloak covered his back and attached under the plate armor he wore up his neck and over his shoulders. On his head sat a horned crown that wrapped around his head under his mane which seemed to flow in the breeze when there was none. Strangest of all were his eyes. Violently red, they were surrounded by a glowing green matrix and on either side a vapor of purple shimmered.

When he noticed he was no longer alone in the specious room, he growled and turned towards the intruders, his deep voice harsh as he spoke, “What are you doing here?! I told you all not to come near unless you had found my Princess!” the captain and dragon flinched back, but the third pony stood tall. She was an alicorn, beautiful and radiant beyond her years. Her coat was soft pink, her mane streaked with gold, violet, and magenta. Sombra's eyes widened and slowly their color faded from red to lavender. “Cadence!” He cried, his entire demeanor changing at the sight of his love.

“Yes I am,” She said coolly, “that tells me nothing as to who you are or what you are doing in my throne room.” Her wings extended halfway in a show of barely restrained aggression.

“Cadence, darling, it's me.” The stallion stopped just short of the mare, an iron clad hoof extended towards her. “Yes, I appear different now, but so do you. I am better, now that you are here to join me. Things can be just as they were before... when things were perfect.”

The pink alicorn shook her head in confusion, “you think things were perfect as they were? Silver, we sat in a stupor for nearly a year! That was not perfect! It never will be!”

The unicorn's gaze darkened, “what are you saying? That you will not come back to me? Would you abandon your husband so heartlessly?”

“Whoever you are now, you are not the stallion I married,” Cadence said harshly, but her eyes softened, “Come with me and we can make things right. We can set things right with the ponies and rule together, but not like this. Come with me, we can talk with Sharp Retort, she can find the cure to your condition and...”

Sombra's eyes took on a crazy glint, “Sharp Retort... Ah yes, the alchemist. She was the one who stole you away before. I do not think you will be able to consult her about my... condition, dear Princess. I have made sure she will never come between us, between our happiness, ever again.”

The princess's eyes grew wide as realization slowly settled in, “You... you...” but she never finished her sentence as Captain Iron Point moved to stand between her and Sombra.

“You monster,” He spoke, his voice calm even though his shoulders shook under his armor, “I will never allow you to lay hoof upon my Princess.”

Sombra's eyes grew wild and the purple mist shimmered around them as the stallion's horn lit up with a bubbling green magic, “Cadence is MINE!” the stallion screamed as a dark shadow extended from him, lancing through the captain and stopping just short of Cadence. In a heartbeat the shadow solidified into a purple-black crystal that cut deeply into the older stallion.

With a cough and a gurgle as blood rose in his throat, Captain Iron Point turned to the princess, “Go! Go, Princess, go far from here!”

Eyes wide with shock as she watched her faithful captain go limp, his heart speared by a hellish crystal, Cadence stood frozen for several moments. Her whole body felt cold, she had never seen death before in her life, let alone watched somepony be killed right before her eyes. She lifted her gaze to Sombra who did not appear to see her anymore. The stallion was standing over the fallen body of her captain, shouting horrible things at his corpse.

Cadence felt Claudia tug gently on her wing. “We need to go,” she whispered, “it's not safe for you to be here!”

“It's not safe for ]anypony anymore,” Cadence said, her voice hollow as she allowed her dragon friend to clamber onto her back. She turned and ran out of the throne room as Claudia settled herself between her wings.

“You will never escape me, Mi Amore!” A loud voice followed her as she ran down the halls. “I will have you back, mark my words! Mark my words!”

As the princess ran through the castle looking for a way out, huge spears of dark crystals shot their way out of the walls and floors, attempting to block her path. Cadence dodged them as she ran, leaping through a window at the end of the hall that was just large enough for her to fit through. As she started to plummet, her wings extended and she lifted away from the castle, but the spears of crystal followed her, jutting out of the walls around her, trying to lock the alicorn in a cage of crystal. One lanced out in front of her, but there was no time for the princess to turn and avoid it. Realizing she would hit the crystal head-on, she closed her eyes and waited to impact the unforgiving rock. Around her, she heard a loud crack and felt small slivers of crystal slide along her coat.

Opening her eyes, Cadence turned around and saw the crystal behind her slowly begin to regrow. “Did you know you could do that?” Claudia asked. “That... flashing thing with your horn?”

“You're saying I did that?” the princess asked, turning her attention back to flying. Now that she was out of the lee of the castle, she had to battle fierce storm winds. “I used magic?”

“That's the only explanation I can think of!” The dragon shouted to be heard above the howling winds that buffeted the pair as they flew over the darkened city.

Cadence flew as quickly as she could though the snowy weather, grateful that she knew how to use her wings, even if she couldn't control her magic. I can't believe this storm! She thought to herself as wave after wave of cold air billowed over her and she was pelted with thick pellets of snow. To think that Spring was only about a week away!

But just as suddenly as the storm began, it ended. The winds died down and the snow quit pelting the two friends. Startled, Cadence stopped, spinning around in the sky to look behind her. What she saw, she could not believe- galloping around the sky in tighter and tighter circles around the Crystal City were dozens of misty, ethereal ponies, their muzzles elongated and their eyes glowing white. Their wild cries blending with the howling wings.

Claudia gasped as she realized what the ghostly ponies were: “Wendigos.”
> Land of the Everfree
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10: Land of the Everfree:

Far from the cold and snow-bound Crystal Kingdom sat a tall, dark castle surrounded by a wide and sprawling city. To the west of the castle, almost out of sight, lay an expansive forest known by many as the Everfree. In fact, the city was known by the same name, as was the castle it surrounded. A century ago it had stood as the last line of defense against the forces of Discord who had inhabited the forest. Now it served as the ruling seat of the small country of Equestria and a sign against any who would stand to oppose its joint rulers, Celestia and Luna.

In the east, dawn was breaking. The light of the sun glinted, barely hidden below the horizon, waiting for the princess of the sun to raise it from below the earth so that it could grace the kingdom with light once again. But it did not rise. The tint of light teased the sky, hinting at a beautiful day to come.

Inside the castle throne room sat three ponies, two were regal alicorns sitting atop twin thrones, the elder was shimmering white with a long pink mane, the younger was a deep, cool violet with a short teal mane. The third pony didn't much look like a pony at all- his eyes were gold with slitted pupils, his wings were not the feathered wings of a pegasus, but the fleshy, ribbed wings of a bat. His ears were slightly elongated and notched at the top, but not from injury. He was a bat-pony, a rare species of pony that were strictly nocturnal. He wore the dark purple and black armor of the Night Guard along with a crest over his chest that signified his rank as Captain.

All three sat or stood quietly, though impatiently, for a fourth pony to appear. It was traditional for both Captains to be present at the raising and setting of the celestial bodies, as the princesses had to put their whole energy into the process, and if either were distracted in the middle, the results could be disastrous. However, the time was long overdue for the sun to be raised and the moon sent away and the Captain of the Day Guard was nowhere to be seen. Luna yawned broadly and sighed in vexation, “Sister, the hour has long passed that the night should end. We must send the day along its course, whether your captain is here or not!”

Celestia sighed and nodded her head, “I fear you are correct, dear sister. Let us raise the sun and set the moon that the day shall progress as it must...”

The two princesses were about to light their horns with magic and enter the trance they needed to move the celestial bodies when the doors at the end of the hall burst open and a tall gray unicorn hurried up the long hall. His golden armor glinted in the early dawn light as did the captain's crest on his cuirass. The tardy soldier bowed low to the princesses before standing again and holding up a hoof, forestalling the reprimand he deserved. “I apologize for being late, Princesses, but there is something that requires your immediate attention.”

The sun princess raised an eyebrow as she stole a glance at her sister who looked equally confused. “Our immediate attention, Captain? Sunrise and Sunset are the two most important ceremonies that my sister and I oversee, and you would have us leave now?”

Off to the left, Luna gritted her teeth in frustration, Sunrise and Moonrise, dearest sister, but no pony other than herself took notice. All eyes were on the gray stallion in golden armor as he stood defiantly before the sun princess.

“Yes, Ma'am.” The stallion did not flinch or falter as he spoke, which bespoke as loudly of his character as it did about whatever emergency had caught his attention. The sisters shared another quick look before Luna stood gracefully and, followed by her bat-pony captain, quickly started towards the open double doors. Celestia rose to follow, sweeping grandly down the center aisle of the room before stopping next to her captain. She turned to the gray unicorn and met his gaze evenly.

“This had better be nothing less than the return of Discord, Storm Fleet, or I swear to the Goddess Chrona that this will be your last day as my captain.” The tall white alicorn then turned and swept out of the throne room, taking with her the warm golden glow that seemed to permeate the air around her.

Captain Storm Fleet shifted awkwardly on his hooves, beginning to regret his rash decision to interrupt the morning sunrise. Maybe Gold Fletching was right... maybe it could have waited until after Sunrise.

Celestia stopped just outside the throne room next to her sister as they waited for the Day-Guard captain to emerge from the throne room. Luna had already dismissed her captain as the hour was growing late for him to be awake, despite the lack of sun in the sky. Storm Fleet motioned for the two princesses to follow him down towards the castle proper and gatehouse.

Down several winding staircases they trotted until they reached a door leading out onto the front courtyard of the castle. It was a grand open expanse of stone-covered ground with small gardens and benches dotting the otherwise open landscape. This was where courtiers and commoners alike could admire the castle and await an audience with either princess. Usually it was filled with ponies, some in glorious gowns and suits cut in the latest fashion, others wearing little to no clothing at all. This morning there were few such ponies as a circle of guards was discouraging any passers-by from lingering.

The unicorn captain walked up to one of the guards who then moved forward, along with two ponies next to him, clearing a path for both princesses to walk abreast and see what they were guarding. Laying on the ground, clearly exhausted and unable to stand, was a soft pink pegasus with a tri-colored mane in serious disarray, a purple adolescent dragon standing over her, cradling her head in her claws. The dragon looked up at the approach of the princesses, “Princess Celesta, Princess Luna.” She nodded to each in turn as custom dictated, but immediately dropped all pretenses of custom as Cadence turned her head to look up, tossing her bed-ruffled mane as she moved.

The two royal sisters stared open mouthed at the sight before them- the young mare whom everypony in the known world knew was a full-blooded pegasus was now sporting a long, delicate unicorn horn that speared outward from the center of her forehead.

Claudia opened her mouth to explain, but Celestia held a hoof up to forestall explanations. She turned to her guards, “Get them both inside, now.”

~~~

Cadence could feel warmth across her whole body, a sensation she thought she'd lost while flying over the frigid Griffon Kingdoms. Slowly she began recalling other events from the frantic two-day flight from the Crystal Kingdom to Everfree Castle. Had she even made it to Everfree? She couldn't remember. The last thing she remembered was the face of a white pony standing over her... was it a unicorn? She remembered seeing a horn, or was it just the pony's mane? The princess sighed and rolled over as she slowly became more conscious. Finally she could keep up the charade of sleep no longer and sat up in bed. Standing before her, horn lit with a soft gold magic, was Princess Celestia of Everfree as she set the sun for the night.

Cadence sat in silence as she watched the sun princess slowly lower the sun to its resting place beyond the horizon. It was not until the older mare turned around that she knew her young charge was awake. “Good evening, Mi Amore Cadenza” Celestia said with a comforting smile. “It is good to see you are finally awake.”

“Please, just 'Cadence' is fine, Princess.”

The white alicorn laughed quietly, “then it must be 'Celestia', not 'Princess', Cadence.”

“So she's awake now, is she?” the voice came from the opposite side of the room. Draped in shadow, accented only by the dim light of the moon, stood Luna, her stance stiff and formal. “Then it's time we get some answers.”

“Dear sister, let her rest! She has been through much...”

“She has rested for three days without waking, Dear sister,” Luna protested hotly. “I believe we deserve answers as to how this young mare has acquired the magic of a unicorn!”

Cadence could not help shrinking back from the angry tone in Luna's voice, perhaps it was just from her recent experience with Sombra, but it seemed to the mare that the moon princess's voice was tinged with more than just frustration and confusion.

“This is true,” Celestia agreed, turning her attention back to Cadence, “I would like to hear how one such as yourself acquired magical talent.”

The pink mare took a deep breath, steadying her easily shaken nerves, “It will be a long story no matter how I tell it,” she warned.

“We have the whole night before us,” Luna pointed out, her tone only slightly less hostile now that she was getting the answers she desired.

“This is true,” Cadence agreed as she took another steadying breath before she launched into her tale, beginning several years ago with the visit of a Magian Prince...

~~~

Hours passed as Cadence poured her story and heart out before the two sisters of Everfree. Slowly the sky behind Celestia darkened and the sky behind Luna brightened and the sisters slowly migrated to the opposite sides of the room as if by instinct- Luna preferring to stand in the shadows, while Celestia chose to walk in the light. It was nearly time to raise the Sun and set the Moon before Cadence wrapped up her story- “I felt like my only option was to come to you, Celestia and Luna. There are no other alicorns that I know of who could teach me what I need to know, and Chrona confirmed my beliefs herself... You are the only ponies I can turn to, so I beg of you, I implore you, please, help me save my kingdom. Help me right the wrongs I have done to my ponies, to you, and to so many others. I did them unintentionally, but the deeds have been done, and I wish to set them right. But I cannot do it alone.” The young princess felt moisture welling in her eyes for the hundredth time that night, but for the first time she could not hold it back. Small pearls of salty tears rolled down her cheeks as she fought desperately to pull herself together. Now was not the time to cry, there would be time for that later, now was the time to act.

Taking one last steadying breath as the wet streaks dried to her coat, Cadence looked up and glanced between the Princesses. Celestia looked regal as always, her mouth set in an inscrutable line across her face. Luna looked similarly stoic, her features set in a stony frown as she gazed at the much younger princess. Finally, the elder sister spoke, her soft voice sounding tired. Only then did Cadence realize she had been up the whole day before, the entire night, and now had to stay awake all of today. “We sympathize with your plight, Cadence, neither of us wishes to see your kingdom fall into the hooves of a pony who would do harm to the ponies who live there.”

“However,” Luna spoke as her sister paused for breath, “we cannot offer our help immediately. While we rule the ponies of Equestria, we do not control their lives and we will not send our soldiers away from their families if we can avoid it.”

“Equestria is peaceful, and has been since the Fall of Discord,” Celestia added. “Our ponies are not eager to fight and will need to be swayed to your cause. We will do what we can for you, Cadence, but we are not miracle workers.”

“Sacrifices will have to be made, and not just by us, if you truly desire our aid.” Luna concluded the simple speech with a stark finality that made Cadence fear that she would not get the aid she needed. Not here, not anywhere, but the look in Celestia's eyes made her feel as if hope was not all lost. Perhaps she could sway the nobles of Equestria the way she had swayed Celestia.

~~~

Things did not go as Cadence had hoped. Instead of a unified decision for or against giving aid to the Crystal Kingdom, the Council of Everfree was split in their decision. Noble ponies spent hours that stretched into days arguing over the most miniscule of details that ranged from public image to long-term financial pros and cons that a potentially long war would bring. The crystal princess sat quietly next to Celestia as the ponies sitting around the long table on the middle of the room argued fruitlessly.

Slowly she began tuning the ponies out until all she heard was an indistinct humming all around her. Cadence's gaze began wandering around the intricately decorated room. Long and narrow, the Council Room was tall and domed with stained glass windows set all the way down each wall. Bright sunlight colored the otherwise stark white room with blocks of reds, blues, greens, yellows, and every color in between.

Set in the center of the room was a long wooden table with dozens of chairs set around it, one for each noble lord and lady who held a set in Celestia's Council. At the front of the room sat three seats on a raised platform- one was rose colored with a sun emblazoned on the back, the second was midnight blue with a silver moon crest, and the third was plain as there was not usually a third princess in attendance, but Cadence didn't mind. She did very little talking and eyes were rarely on her except in angry glances that seemed to accuse her. Why did you bring this upon us? Who do you think you are? Cadence felt herself flinch away from such gazes, turning her attention to the floor, ceiling and walls of the great chamber.

After what felt like hours of endless bickering from the two sides of the table, Celestia stood, spreading her wings wide and looking down on the nobles at the table below. “Enough. You have each stated your cases for the day. Lord Blueblood, please state your ending argument.”

A tall, white unicorn stallion with a wavy blond mane stood from his seat and cleared his throat. “As I have said many times before, it is not prudent to send our armies to the Crystal Kingdom. They are not at war, there is no war. Our treaty with the Kingdom demands we send aid only in times of war. Therefore, I say we do not spread our forces thin by sending some north. Steelshod is a greater threat to us than a simple unicorn king in a small northern country.

“Also, what kind of message would it send to our other allies? Do we favor the Crystal Kingdom above other nations? Will we flippantly send aid to any ruler who asks us, regardless of the risks involved? Are we claiming to be the central ruling power among all the kingdoms, able to strike down a king if he steps away from what we consider to be the 'right' way?

“I say, we play this safe. It seems this 'King Sombra' is not yet a threat. If he becomes a threat in the future, then we can deal with him. For now, this is not our problem. If Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is not able to right this problem on her own, perhaps she is not fit to rule the Crystal Kingdom at all.”

Cadence felt her wings rustle angrily as Lord Blueblood sat back down. A smattering of polite clapping rose from the other lords and ladies who took his side in the matter. They were the 'proper' nobility, the ruling class who cared little for the lives of the ponies they ruled and all for their appearances to other nobles. Celestia continued to wear a neutral face as she turned to the other side of the table where a forest green pegasus stallion was sitting, his wings puffed up in indignation at the speech Blueblood had just given. “If you would stand and give your final address Lord Cedrus, we will  adjourn until tomorrow morning.”

The green pegasus stood, his soft brown mane bobbing slightly as he turned and bowed to both princesses sitting at the front of the room, “I beg to disagree with my fellow councilstallion, Blueblood. I believe that we should send aid to the Crystal Kingdom. We know they have never had a standing army, ever since the fall of Discord. They are a peaceful nation and have no means to protect themselves if their magical barriers fail. I would contest that keeping the kingdom from defending itself is in itself an act of war against such a peaceful kingdom, and by that notion we are compelled to offer aid, as the Lord Blueblood stated earlier.

“As for what kind of aid we are to send, I can give no estimate. I am not a pony of war, and would deffer such judgment to a pony who is- Captain Storm Fleet of the Celestial Day Guard or Commander Lightning Dazzle of the Wonderbolts Air Defense. They are the ponies to ask about how much aid we can spare to send to the north, for I to do not wish to see Steelshod soldiers invade our fair country.

“So it is here that I implore my fellow councilponies to see reason- if King Sombra could become a threat, is it not better to take him out while he is yet weak? We have heard the stories and know of the destruction of the draconequus- a race our ancestors once thought to be only a minor threat and yet held our world in their chaotic claws for several millenia. I do not wish to see the same mistake mirrored in my lifetime.”

Without another word, the green stallion sat, a quiet smile on his lips as he glanced at the table across from him to where Blueblood sat, looking equally satisfied. They had said their pieces, now it was time for the rest of the council to cast their decisions. Cadence dreaded this part of the proceedings most of all, waiting for each councilpony to cast his or her vote for or against her cause was nerve wracking.

Celestia stood again and turned to the mare sitting at the front right side the the table, “Lady Hearts Warmth, to whom to you pledge your vote?”

“To the Lord Blueblood,” the silver mare said, tossing her brilliant blue mane.

“And you, Lord Greymere, to whom will you cast your vote?” Celestia asked the stallion sitting next to Lady Hearts Warmth.

“The Lord Blueblood, My Lady.”

And so the voting continued around the elongated table, the pink princess silently keeping count of the votes until finally Lady Goldenrod cast her vote for Lord Cedrus, bringing the tally to 12 for and 14 against, not tied as it had been on previous days, but neither had the majority needed to take action. Celestia gave her closing remarks before ending the evening session of Council. Cadence waited until the council room was empty before rising to her hooves and exiting the room after the sun princess.

The hall outside the long council room was deserted, none of the councilponies had stayed to speak to the princesses as they had earlier. There was no need, everything they could have said had been said, just as it had in Council. Cadence felt her heart sink, every day she was away from the Crystal Kingdom was another day for King Sombra to do something horrible to her little ponies. Tears rose in the crystal princess's eyes, but she could not tear her mind from thoughts of what Sombra might do. There was no telling how the unicorn stallion would take out his anger on her little ponies... and it was her fault.

Warmth enveloped the young princess as white flooded her vision. Celestia wrapped her wings around the younger mare, holding her close as Cadence cried. “It's all my fault,” she moaned. “I should have noticed sooner... I should have done something... Blueblood is right... I'm not fit to rule if I cannot protect my little ponies from King Sombra...this is all my fault...”

“Shh,” Celestia's voice was soft and kind as she carefully wiped away her tears. “It's not all your fault, Cadence. And do not believe everything Blueblood says, he does not know what trials you undertook to reach us. All he can see is your plea for assistance, what he takes as a sign of weakness.”

“Isn't it, though?” Cadence asked, her voice catching as she spoke. “Shouldn't I be strong enough to protect my ponies on my own?”

“Mayhaps one day you will be able to,” Celestia agreed, “but you are still young, do not hold yourself to unreachable standards. It will only hold you down. You did all you could and when you could do no more, that is when you asked for aid. You are stronger than you know, but even the strongest ponies need other ponies to support them in times of great need.

“And you are my blood, Cadence. Your grandmother was my sister and I do not forget blood ties easily. You will have my support, and that of Luna, despite whatever consensus the Council arrives at.”

Cadence smiled weakly through her tears and wrapped her hooves around her aunt. “Thank you, Celestia... thank you.”

At the far end of the hall, which sat in the early evening shadows, stood an equally shadowed figure. Tall and dark, her teal mane brushed over one side of her face, Luna watched Celestia embrace their grand-niece, showing the young mare more affection in that motion than the alicorn had shown her sister in over a hundred years. Her bright teal eyes darkened and her pupils narrowed slightly as she whirled around, away from the touching scene behind her.

It had been one thing after another with Celestia recently, and this was simply one more tally against the sun princess. Luna felt tears of her own in her eyes, but they were not tears of pity or remorse for her niece's plight. They were tears of anger and bitterness towards Celestia. If blood means so much to you, Sister, why have you abandoned me?
> A Long Walk to Tread
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 11: A Long Walk to Tread:

The council meeting the next day seemed to be dragging on longer than usual. There were no clocks in the long room, but the passage of time could be estimated by the sun's slow journey through the sky outside the great stain glass windows. Cadence kept glancing at the tall windows, hoping that midday, and a brief respite from the loud and angry voices of the councilponies, would come soon.

Celestia was weathering the torrent of angry conversation only marginally better than her niece. Her features calm and serene, there was a darkened look to her eyes as she watched and listened to her council argue. Finally, when it seemed like the volume in the hall could rise no farther, Celestia stood, slamming her hooves against the tiled floor. “Listen to yourselves!” Her voice rose over the others like a wave, crashing down upon the council, bringing silence in its wake. “I have never heard so much anger and discord in this room! I say again, listen to yourselves. Discussion about the issue at hoof has been lost to petty banter of which lord or lady will look down upon the council for its ultimate decision. Yet no decision has been reached!

“What I have to say next may shock you, as it is not well known throughout the world. The spell that protects the Crystal Kingdom from harm does more than that- it protects each and every pony who lives, laughs, and plays under the sun. The kingdom is called “Crystal” not only because of the unique traits of the native ponies that make them sparkle in the sunlight, nor for the beautiful crystals that grow naturally in the far north. The Crystal Kingdom is called such because it's magic is like a multifaceted gem that reflects light across the rest of the world.” Celestia's horn lit up and a small purple crystal that had been sitting unassumingly to her right was lifted up and set on the table in the middle of the council. “If the kingdom is filled with light and love, these feelings are reflected across our world.” Her horn flared, sending a burst of white light into the crystal that was reflected around the room as a rainbow.  “But if fear and hatred take hold, these emotions are also reflected, with equal power.” This time her horn flared black and a shadow like magic struck the crystal, sending shadows crisscrossing around the once glowing room.

“These feelings must already be taking hold in the kingdom if my council is filled with strife and hatred. Therefore, this is no longer an argument of whether or not we send aid to the Crystal Kingdom, but rather how quickly can we strike out against this threat to our peace.” The princess stood tall as she looked out over the council, her wings flared at her sides, “However, if an agreement cannot be reached by the end of today, Luna and I will be heading north to take care of this problem ourselves. We will respect the council's lack of decision and leave our soldiers here to defend our own borders against Steelshod, but some action must be taken, and the sooner the better.”

Lord Blueblood stood as Celestia sat back in her chair, “Would you have us be leaderless if something were to go wrong in the Crystal Kingdom?”

Celestia met his questing gaze with a steady one, “The Laws of Succession are set up in such a way that Equestria will never be without a leader in the case of untimely death.”

“What if ponies begin to think that you are unfit to rule as you will flippantly go off and leave us defenseless?”

“Do you think that, Blueblood?” Celestia asked, her eyes narrowing and her voice rising, “Do you think that by leaving the whole of our army here in Equestria is leaving you defenseless? Or do you believe that I am unfit to rule because I will go out of my way to protect not just our kingdom, but the entire world from a threat that, if left unchecked, could herald the return of the Spirit of Discord?”

Lord Blueblood shifted on his hooves, but did not stand down, “all I am saying is think about how this looks to your subjects, Princess...”

“You cannot sway my hoof in this matter, Blueblood,” Celestia said, her voice hard, “I have made my decision and you cannot change it. However, if it would make you sleep easier at night, the Elements of Harmony will be left here, at the disposal of the Celestial Guard.” She kept to herself that the only ponies in Equestria that could wield the Elements were herself and Luna, but this still seemed to pacify Lord Blueblood as he returned to his seat. Celestia turned to the rest of the council, “Does anyone else have reason to protest my decision?”

The room was quiet for just over a minute before Celestia nodded and dismissed the council for midday. They would reconvene in an hour's time to begin discussion of the new developments Celestia had brought forth as well as how they would choose to act upon them. In short, politics would resume, and Cadence was still not looking forward to it.

~~~

The later evening found Cadence in her rooms at the palace shifting uncomfortably in brilliantly polished bronze armor that Princess Celestia had commissioned for her. It fit perfectly over her shoulders and back, but she still felt uncomfortable wearing the armor. “I'm not a soldier,” she sighed to her friend, the lavender dragon who sat on the edge of the plush bed. “I can't fight, so what's the point of giving me armor?”

“The Princess probably wants to keep you safe, especially if things get dangerous. It wouldn't do the Crystal Kingdom a bit of good if you were...” the dragon paused a moment before continuing slowly and haltingly, “if you were... injured... accidentally in battle.”

Cadence turned to her friend, the plate armor clanking awkwardly, “You... you think it's possible we might see fighting? That there might be a war?”

Claudia's gaze shifted worriedly, “I don't know, Cadence, but I suppose it's possible... I mean, the council members sure thought it was possible...”

“But my ponies aren't fighters, they're farmers! And the guard is loyal to me, they won't fight Celestia if I'm with her. What else could Pri- King Sombra fight us with?”

“That is the question,” Claudia sighed, sliding off the bed and motioning to Cadence's armor, “You probably don't need to wear that anymore. It can't be comfortable to sleep in. I'll help you out of it, if you want.”

“No, that's okay Claudia,” Cadence sighed, her horn lighting up with a violet magic, “Celestia says I should practice my magic while I can and levitation is the easiest.” Slowly a similar aura of purple bloomed around the clasp that held the armor on her back. With equal slowness, the buckle came undone as Cadence's horn flared even brighter. “Gah!” the pink alicorn gasped as she let go of the magic, “Why is this so hard? I've seen fillies do much more with hardly any effort!”

“It's an ability they were born with,” Claudia mused, stepping forward to lift the heavy metal armor off Cadence's back. “And they practice all the time. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it eventually.”

“Right,” Cadence sighed as she pulled the thick cloth shirt that kept the armor from chaffing her back and sides over her head, being careful not to rip it on her horn. “I still feel rather stupid needing so much focus to do simple levitation.”

Claudia just smiled and shook her head as she lifted and set the armor on the half-ponyquin standing in the corner. “You'll learn, don't worry. It's like learning another language, you don't pick it up over night.”

The pink alicorn just snorted noncommittally and continued to pace slowly around her room.

“How did things go in Council today?” Claudia asked, trying to take her friend's mind off her lack of success with magic.

Cadence shook her head and flopped onto the bed. After nearly two months of negotiations and pointless arguing, the nuances of Council were beginning to wear on the princess. “They finally agreed to allow Celestia and Luna bring a regiment of unicorns and pegasi north.”

“Only a regiment?” Claudia asked. “Are they serious?”

“Well, the Council seems to think that if two alicorns can't take care of Sombra, no amount of army would make a difference.”

“Three alicorns,” the purple dragon reminded her friend with a small smile.

“Might as well be only two since I can barely use my magic,” Cadence sighed. “They also want this to be as quiet as possible, so the fewer soldiers gone, the better.”

Claudia sighed, “Well, I suppose that makes sense. So, now that they've given permission, when do we leave?”

Slowly the princess sat up and turned to her friend, “Claudia... I...” she took a deep breath, what she was about to say, what she knew she had to say, was tearing her apart inside, but she could not shake the image of Captain Iron Point's dead body slumped over the jutting crystal. “Claudia, I don't want you to come with me back to the Crystal Kingdom.”

“What?” The purple dragon turned away from where she had been cinching the armor to the ponyquin. “You can't be serious, Cadence! Of course I'm coming back with you!”

“No... no, you can't...” Cadence felt tears prick at the edges of her vision. “Be-because if you do... Sombra could kill you... or threaten to... to make me... make me do what he wants...”

“Did Celestia put you up to this?” Claudia asked, her claws balled into fists at her sides. “This isn't funny, Cadence.”

“No... Celestia never said anything about you coming or not... this...” Cadence sighed heavily before continuing, her voice hollow, “I can't watch you die... You're the only one I have left... Sombra killed Iron Point and Sharp Retort just because they were trying to protect me.” Lifting herself from the bed, she walked to her friend, placing hooves on her shoulders, “I won't let him kill you... and staying here is the only option.”

Claudia turned her face away, trying to keep her own tears from falling. “But who will protect you if I cannot?”

Cadence wrapped her hooves around her friend, “Celestia and Luna will be there to protect me, as well as Equestria's finest soldiers. I couldn't be in safer hooves. Besides... I do not think Sombra will try and kill me. He wants me alive, after all. He cannot have a dead princess as his bride.”

“You're not thinking of...” Claudia was interrupted by a soft sigh from Cadence.

“Of course not... but if it keeps me alive to see you again, I will let Sombra think whatever he will.” There was a long pause between the two friends before Cadence stepped back and smiled weakly.” We will defeat him in the end. We have to... for the sake of the Crystal Kingdom.”

Claudia nodded. “Very well... I will stay here.”

“Thank you, Claudia... thank you...”

~~~


Later that evening, in the coldest hours of the night, Cadence stood shivering at the head of a contingent of guards alongside Celestia and Luna. All were encased in metal armor- Celestia's was gold, Luna's a deep purple that was just darker than her coat, and Cadence's was still the shimmering bronze. The unicorn soldiers before them wore a mix of the day-guard's gold armor and the purple-black armor of the night-guard. Above them in the air was a small unit of pegasi who wore a bright blue armor with bright gold lightning bolts emblazoned on the shoulders and flanks.  They were the elite of the pegasi guards, the best of the best, the  Wonderbolts. Celestia had specifically asked them to be part of their small invading army despite the council's protests, but when she had threatened to take the Elements of Harmony instead, all complaints were quieted.

The leader of the Wonderbolts was a small pegasi mare by the name of Lightning Dazzle. She quietly broke away from the rest of her unit to land before the three Princesses. She bowed to each then turned to Celestia, “it is best if we head out now. Everything is in place and the sooner we leave, the sooner we can reach the Crystal Kingdom.”

“Very well, Commander,” Celestia nodded, “lead on, but we must skirt the Griffon Kingdoms. King Orrik Skybeak would not take kindly to even the smallest army passing through his lands.”

“Very well, your highness.” with a silent flap of her wings she was airborne again. As one the army turned and began moving towards the main gate of the palace that already stood open for them. Celestia extended her wings and took off to join Lightning Dazzle at the head of the army. Luna, however, waited with Cadence, her wings half extended as she waited for her niece to take flight.

“It's so strange...” Cadence said, the words passing her lips before she could stop them.

“What is strange?” Luna asked. Despite her initial distrust and wariness towards her kin, the violet alicorn had grown fond of the pink mare during the months she had stayed in Everfree. Celestia had also entrusted her schooling in magic to her younger sister in hopes that Luna's grasp of magic would improve.

“Well...” Cadence felt her cheeks flush as she extended her wings and took off, Luna's dark form a shadow next to her. “I never in my wildest imagination would have thought I would need to fight for my kingdom... I never expected that I would be flying at the head of an army trying to win back the lands that my grandmare conquered less than a century ago.”

“Fate has set you on a strange path to walk,” Luna agreed. “but you are not alone. Celestia and I have a similar walk and we stay by your side.”

“Thank you,” Cadence smiled slightly as she glanced behind her at the darkened Everfree Castle. Her eyes traced the walls and spires of the castle until she found a singular point of light high in a tower. It was Claudia, she knew, waving good-bye as she had not been able to attend the send off personally. Cadence lifted a hoof and waved once at the receding point of light and as she did there are a sinking in her heart that made her wonder if she would ever see her dragon friend again.

~~~

After three days of travel, Cadence was beginning to feel sore. Her wings ached from being in the air most of the day, her legs hurt from walking the rest of the time, and her whole body protested at the thought of spending another night sleeping on the unforgiving earth. Nopony else looked any better, though the soldiers were careful not to let their commanders see their discomfort. Celestia was walking with her unicorn captain at the head of the army, their voices an indistinct noise over the rhythmic clop of hooves. They were in the foothills at the edges of the Eagle Eye mountains that bordered the Griffon Kingdoms. Flight was unadvised so close to griffon territory and only the Wonderbolts were in the air, carefully scouting the route ahead.

Luna walked with her young niece carefully instructing her from time to time on the fundamentals of magic, often having her perform small spells on objects they came across, most notably the rocks that were always underhoof. “You don't need to pour so much magic into your spells, Cadence,” the princess chastised for the dozenth time. “Just enough to feel the pebble and lift it. Like this.” The violet princess's horn light up with a brilliant teal light  as she plucked a single rock from the side of the path. The rock, surrounded by an aura of the exact same shade, lifted carefully off the ground and bobbed gently next to Luna as she continued to walk. “Now you try.”

Cadence sighed as started to slow down, but Luna moved behind her and bumped into her, “Don't slow down. You don't need that much concentration. Just pick up a pebble like you would with your hooves.”

The pink alicorn sighed and fell back into step with her aunt. Lavender light enveloped her horn as she glanced around for a rock to pluck from the ground. A small one caught her eye and she extended her magic to it, carefully wrapping it in a lavender glow.

“Faster,” Luna pressed. “The longer your take to cast the spell, the easier it will be to loose concentration.”

Just as she said, Cadence felt her grip on the rock break and it tumble down the side of the hill a short way before stopping.

“It's not a baby bird you need to lift gently for fear of hurting it,” Luna told the frustrated princess. “You don't need to be so careful.”

Cadence nodded as her horn lit up again. This time she quickly swiped up the first small rock that caught her eye, bringing it to eye level in a moment.

“Very good. Now hold it there as long as you can.”

The pink alicorn bit her lip as she concentrated on the small rock until everything else seemed to fade away and her vision was solely on the rock. This trance lasted but a moment as the young princess stumbled on the path. Her concentration broken, the rock dropped back to earth with a soft plop and a puff of dust.

Luna couldn't repress a chuckle as Cadence slowly picked herself back up. “Again I tell you, moderation. Magic like this is not like flying where every fiber of your being must be focused on keeping yourself aloft. Think of this like gliding, you need very little concentration to keep your wings wide and steady and so you can focus on other things. In the same way, you must learn to put just enough concentration into keeping the rock aloft, but still be able to focus on walking.”

Cadence snorted softly, “but it's so hard! I can't seem to keep myself from pouring everything I have into the spell...”

“Then perhaps you should hold the rock where you are not looking at it. Off to the side, perhaps. Just out of your vision so it isn't in the forefront of your mind.”

This time the pink mare tried just that. She quickly lifted a rock from the path and allowed it to settle off to her right at the base of her wing, but just as before it was only moments before her concentration was broken and the rock fell. “I just... I can't get it!”

The violet alicorn sighed, “then I believe we're done for the day.”

~~~

It took the little army nearly a week to skirt the Griffon Kingdoms and reach the edge of the Crystal Kingdom. The first civilization they'd seen in all that time was a small settlement that housed around twenty families. Most of the army skirted the village, only Commander Lightning Dazzle and two of her Wonderbolts entered the settlement to restock their supplies and hear word of the kingdom. When they returned, Dazzle immediately went to council with Celestia in her tent.

Cadence was there, as well as Luna, and the three alicorns listened intently as the Wonderbolt Commander gave her report- “They don't know much,” she admitted, “these ponies live at the very outskirts of the country and are not privy to what happens closer to the capitol. However, I was able to gather that there is a dangerous snowstorm that has been beating down on the lands just north of here. It's not natural, by all accounts. Perhaps the King has employed pegasi to keep a snowstorm brewing to keep inquisitive eyes away from him.

“In any case, these ponies do not know that Cadence is missing from the capital, which also means that Sombra has not declared sole reign of the kingdom. There is very little else to know about the kingdom except that the annual Crystal Fair has not occurred.”

“Thank you, Lightning Dazzle,” Celestia nodded to her commander and the pegasus bowed out of the tent. “This is indeed serious... an unnatural snowstorm...”

“Wendigos,” Cadence said, “not pegasi. They were already gathering around the capital when Claudia and I made our escape.”

Luna turned to her niece, “you did not mention this before.”

The pink mare shook her head, “I did not remember until now. Everything that happened that day... wendigos were the least of my worries...”

“I understand,” Celestia sighed, “however this does make it harder to get to the capital. If it was a pegasi storm, our own soldiers could take it out, but wendigos... There is not a known way to dispel them. Not easily, at the very least.”

“Perhaps they will disperse on their own if King Sombra is defeated.” Luna tried to sound optimistic as she said it, “They are drawn by negative spirits, if we can destroy the force bringing them here, they may leave on their own.”

“Perhaps,” Celestia agreed, but she did not sound nearly so optimistic. After a long moment of silence that stretched between the three ponies, Celestia stood, “we leave in an hour's time. Rest and eat while you can.” Without another word, the sun princess exited her tent to find her commanders leaving Luna and Cadence in her tent.

The subsequent hour passed quickly as Celestia counciled with Lighting Dazzle and Storm Fleet discussing what their next move should be. Eventually it was decided that a march on the capital was still their best, and only, option. King Sombra was their target and, as far as they could tell, he was still in the Crystal City. Finally the army regrouped, the small meal fires were put out, and they set off again towards the capital city.

They walked in forced silence, the only sound was the occasional the clop of hooves on rock. There was no telling what King Sombra was using to protect his kingdom, outside of the wendigo storm surrounding the capital, and that was hardly a protection.

Just as the sun was beginning to sink in the sky, a wall of white snow could be seen before them- the edge of the storm the wendigos controlled. It was decided that they would camp for the evening where they were, despite the early hour. Nopony wanted to be caught outside at night in a snow storm, especially not one of magical origin.

Tents were erected and bedrolls laid out, but campfires were left unlit as a precaution against unwanted visitors and a unit of unicorn soldiers was charged with guarding the camp through the rest of the day and into the night. Cadence decided to stay in her tent and fruitlessly practice her magic. Luna joined her for a short time, but soon left as the younger princess became more and more frustrated with her luckless attempts at controlling her magic.

Day turned to night as the royal sisters set the sun and raised the moon and slowly everypony migrated to their tents to sleep for the night, but their sleep was restless. The seasoned warriors were all on edge, feeling as if unseen eyes were watching them. Soldiers who were otherwise stoic and calm were caught looking over their shoulders as they walked around camp. Even Princess Celestia felt as if something was wrong. It was not until the following day that they realized how right their feelings were.

~~~

The army had been marching through the wendigos' storm for just over an hour when the golems attacked. There were only four of them, but the pony-shaped crystal beings were more powerful than they appeared. One was imbued with magical power and seemed to be leading the small group, if a mindless being could in fact lead. Each stood just slightly taller than an average pony with jagged crystals jutting out from their shoulder and hip joints. Their manes and tails were cut short and ragged in the same fashion and each was colored in a shifting array of blacks, grays, and purples, much different from the brightly colored crystals that were native to the kingdom.

The army was caught unawares as the four golems faded out of the snowstorm and attacked. Two unicorns went down in the first attack, their bodies cut to pieces on the sharp crystals. Quickly the pegasi took off into the air, both to clear the battle field and to get out of range of the earthbound golems. The rest of the unicorns took up a defensive line between the princesses and the golems, their horns blazing with a rainbow of colored auras as each prepared a different spell to cast either at the golems in attack or over their fellows in defense. Several unicorns cast fire magic at the golems, melting one and dissolving another. Seeing half of their number go down did nothing to stop the other two from leaping to attack again.

One jump toward Captain Storm Fleet who blasted it back with a bolt of lightning that sliced through the crystal golem, shattering it into millions of jagged pieces. The last gathered magic in a crystal that jutted out of its forehead. The magic was the same kind Cadence had seen Sombra use- bubbling green and black that caused umbras of violet to stream from the edges of where its eyes should have been. With a twist of its head, the golem lanced a spear of dark crystal up at the pegasi circling above in the storm.

The spear missed a pegasus by a feather's breath and spiraled out into the storm. The unicorn golem did not have the time to focus on another spell as seven different spells hit it at once. The golem exploded from the impact, scattering crystal fragments across the snow.

“Now we know how Sombra plans to defend his lands.”
> Darkness Descends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 12: Darkness Descends:

Never had the Crystal Kingdom experienced a darker time in its long history. Even the terrors of the Age of Discord could not compare to the depths of hopelessness and misery that plagued the ponies now. The Unicorn King ruled them harshly and mercilessly , blaming the populace for the flight of his princess. He enslaved them, making them mine the crystals he used to make golems, the golems in turn placed an ever greater fear in their hearts.

This ever mounting fear and hopelessness in turn drew the wendigos, drowning the once beautiful city in a suffocating blanket of snow and wind. There was no hope in the Crystal Kingdom, no hope of survival, let alone of rescue. Mirroring the hopelessness in the ponies hearts, the houses were dark and devoid of the brilliant hues that once graced them. Out of the smooth walls jutted blackened crystals, the symbols of the Unicorn King and his hellish rule.

Even the castle, once a symbol of light and hope across the world, was dark as night, its surfaces sprouting the same jagged black crystals, but these were much larger and foreboding. From the front there were dozens that stood straight out from the walls- the crystals that Sombra had used to chase Cadence as she fled the castle. These seemed to glow darkest of all and were a fierce reminder to the ponies of the kingdom that King Sombra was not one to be trifled with.

It was to this snow-blanketed city that Princess Cadence returned, flanked by both Princess Celestia and Luna as well as Captain Storm Fleet and Commander Lightning Dazzle. Only these five ponies entered the seemingly deserted city, their hoof falls muffled as they slowly made their way through the snow-clogged streets. Cadence looked around her, horrified by the darkness and despair she saw around her and she could feel these emotions taking hold of her as well. Her coat seemed the lose its luster with each passing step and soon her mane lay slack against her neck with none of its usual body.

Luna was the first to take notice of Cadence's lack-luster appearance. Stepping up to walk next to her niece, the violet alicorn laid her wing across the pink one's back. “All is not lost, my friend. We can still win back your kingdom. Do not lose hope, for you are all that these ponies have to have hope in. If you give up, so do they.”

Cadence nodded slowly, but her coat retained its lusterless appearance. “I know, but... it all seems hopeless now. No matter how I look at it, the more I see of the capital, the more I can't help but wonder if I was right to return here...”

The purple alicorn paused for a moment before her horn lit up with teal magic. Suddenly a bubble the same color as her magic shimmered into existence around the five ponies, isolating them from the storm of snow and hatred outside. Inside their bubble, the snow melted, revealing the crystal cobblestones beneath their hooves which were no longer dark like they had been, but were bright and shimmering again. Similarly, Cadence could feel hope return to her, warming her heart and brightening her coat. The young alicorn looked to Luna, gratefulness etched into her features. “You must teach me this spell one day.”

Luna nodded, the toll of keeping the magical bubble around them left her unable to speak for fear of losing her concentration. Slowly the procession continued until they reached the base of the castle where Luna released her spell with a gasp, the teal bubble popped and the snow took no time in filling in the space that had been brightened. Again, Cadence could feel the darkness of her kingdom slowly trying to take hold of her, but this time she was ready to fight it. Steeling herself she turned to her guardians, “I do not wish to fight King Sombra and I pray that we come to a peaceful solution. I ask for your assistance and council in this endeavor, whether these proceedings come to a peaceful conclusion or one of war. “

“We are with you, Princess Cadence,” Celestia said formally, nodding to her niece.

“I am with you,” Luna added with a smile on her face.

Cadence looked between her aunts and then to the two captains flanking them who nodded their assent and she felt tears gathering at the corners of her eyes, “Thank you.”

~~~

The darkness inside the castle was complete. Black crystals covered the many windows and galleries that looked out over the once-glittering kingdom, allowing none of the minimal light outside to brighten the halls. There were no torches in the alcoves either, Celestia and the Guard Captain, Storm Fleet, light up their horns to light the way as Cadence lead the procession through the castle. The dark crystals that made up the walls now seemed to drink in the magical light, throwing it back twisted and partial so that no matter how clear or gentle Celestia tried to make the light, it always appeared sickly and dim.

The light wasn't the only thing eerie about the castle. At uniform increments on the walls were pony-shaped statues. They faced outward from the castle and their faces were hidden in shadow. Cadence did know what they were and took to skirting around them whenever they loomed out of the darkness.

As they walked, Cadence could feel the confidence she had collected before entering the castle slowly drain away as her thoughts drifted. Despite her valiant effort to keep her thoughts optimistic, Cadence couldn't help being drawn the the worst possible conclusions to her visit, all of which ended with Sombra winning and plunging her country- her whole world- into darkness and chaos. As these thoughts assailed her, a dark magic began to rise around Cadence and her companions. Sombra had not been ignorant of her arrival and had placed spells and charms along her way to whittle down at whatever armor the young Princess had. It was the specialty his magic had taken since his dark transformation, inflicting fear.

Sitting in his throne room, the dark king waited silently, his spells telling him exactly where Cadence and her entourage were in his castle. His horn flared every few moments, activating more spells to weaken his opponents in a way not even the powerful Celestia would think to protect against. With a twitch of his lips, he smiled to himself, knowing in his certainty that the battle was already swinging in his favor.

He felt as Cadence walked into his chamber and knew exactly where she stopped- halfway between the door and his throne where it sat at the far end of the throne room in front of what had been a beautiful stain glass window before his crystals had covered it. He looked up from his throne and smiled compellingly at his Princess, "Aah, Princess Cadence!  Welcome home!  I was beginning to wonder what had become of you, Your Highness."

Cadence watched him with distrust in her eyes, "I appreciate your concern, Sombra, but though I admit I am surprised. I did not expect you to be so concerned with my well-being." 

The stallion smiled, and this time it looked genuine, "And why would I not be?  You are the ruling Princess of this Kingdom, and more importantly you are my wife; is a husband not supposed to worry if his wife goes missing?"

"Of course a husband should worry if his wife goes missing, but I am not your wife. No matter what you say or believe, you are not the stallion I married." 

"Ah yes, yes... there is the matter of our last encounter... and I apologize.  That was not how I wished you to see me, and as an unfortunate side effect of the transformation I underwent, I..."  Sombra's head drooped in shame.  "...I am ashamed to say that I lost control of myself.  I know I did... things that cannot be forgiven, but... that is no reason we cannot negotiate civilly."  It took all of his self-control not to snarl at her, to sound angry or hurt, but he knew that if she sensed even the slightest division of his thoughts she would withdraw from him; and that was exactly what he did not want... not yet.

The young princess watched the self-proclaimed king as he sat upon his throne, emotions waring inside her. Part of her wanted to believe that Silver Scales was still there, somewhere, under all the anger and malice she could almost see rolling off Sombra in waves. That was the part that still loved the gray stallion, but the rest of her openly rebelled, reminding her that this stallion had killed her Captain of the Guard in front of her; an act so horrible that even if he had come to see the error of the act, it could not be undone. Carefully she kept her features even as she replied, "I see no reason why we cannot negotiate civilly. I am here to reclaim my rightful place as Princess of the Crystal Kingdom. I wish for this to be a peaceful return as this kingdom has not seen violence in generations and I hope to keep it that way.

"You have two choices before you. If you choose to leave peacefully and restore the kingdom to what it was before you took over, you will be allowed to leave these lands under your own power. However, you will be banished henceforth and forever and given no sanctuary while inside the borders of the Crystal Kingdom. If you set hoof on our soil again, you will be fitly punished." Cadence paused a moment to let her words sink in. "You will be free to go where you will outside our borders, however many of the surrounding kingdoms have heard what you have done and you may not be welcome within their borders either, though I cannot speak for their rulers.

“If you refuse... I will be forced to take you into custody to be put on trial here in the Crystal Kingdom for your crimes against us. If you resist arrest, I will use whatever force is necessary to subdue and restrain you. But there is no need for such force, as I'm sure we can negotiate civilly."

The stallion felt his ire rise, but managed to restrain himself as he bowed to the alicorn.  "Your... ultimatum is reasonable," he said quietly.  "I will indeed relinquish the throne to you, Cadence... but..."  His brow furrowed with concern... and yet another tendril of the spells he had woven into the room around them flickered to Cadence.

"But?" The young alicorn arched an eyebrow at the stallion sitting on her throne, not noticing the current of magic that began to flow around her.

"It's just..."  He cast his eyes out the window, out onto the kingdom that spread out before them.  "I worry for your subjects, Cadence."  He turned his eyes back to her, his magic slowly flowing out of himself, into the room and slowly but surely into Cadence herself.  "You left so suddenly, without warning or notice... for many days they weren't even certain you still lived.  They worried for you, Cadence, and begged me to tell them what had happened, but even though I knew why you had left..."  He turned his eyes away from her, looking pained.  "I could not tell them what had happened to their Princess."

Cadence felt more than just a pang of regret lance through her heart, indeed it felt to the young alicorn that a spear of anguish lodged deep in her soul at his words. Feeling tears well up in her eyes, Cadence couldn't help a small sob escape her, "I... regret what I did, but at the time I had no choice. I was frightened and... and confused..."

"Oh Cadence, I know," said Sombra, his voice soft and forgiving.  "And I do not blame you for your actions, but... my dear, I fear your subjects may."

Another tendril of magic snapped into place around the alicorn.

She shook her head as fear began to flood her, "n-no... they'll understand... They'll understand I had no choice... That I feared for my life..." Cadence began to shake uncontrollably as she began thinking about what her ponies thought of her after she had left them at the mercy of such a terrible stallion. Her eyes began to glow softly green as she slowly succumbed to the magic Sombra had carefully laid around her. 

"I hope that will be the case, Cadence... but they were terrified.  You saw how I was, how... how angry, how full of hate... and you left me to rule them?"  He shook his head, his eyes full of pity.  "How will they react to you coming back now, Cadence, when you abandoned them in their time of desperate need..?"  He could feel her, now; he could feel her fear, welling up inside her like the swelling walls of a dam filled near to bursting.  His magic slowly closed in around her as he continued speaking, his voice soothing and gentle.  "You wish me to leave, but I was the one who stood where you should have and guided your subjects when they were leaderless.  I only did what I had to do as your hus- I'm sorry, as your former husband."  His eye twitched at the word "former", but he pressed on, his demeanor unmarred.  "But who else was there, after you had fled?"  He gave her a sympathetic smile.  "Of course I understand why you left, but can you imagine what could happen to you now that you've returned..?"

His magic flickered around her, settling between Cadence and the rest of the room like an ethereal prison of frozen lightning.

Unable to see or protect against the magic gathering around her, Cadence felt her courage and righteous indignation fall away in the face of what she saw as flawless logic. She had never thought about how her citizens would react to being left for months at the hooves of Sombra, had only seen herself as the savior returned to rid them of the menace, not as the coward who left as soon as things started to get out of control. What would her grandmare, the great warrior who helped rebuild the Kingdom after Discord was defeated, think of her? Tears fell freely now as she realized that she had done nothing good for her kingdom. They would probably be better off without her... Looking up at Sombra she asked pleadingly, "What should I do?"

Now Sombra's smile was genuine; she was so lost in her fear now that nothing, NOTHING would bring her out of it- not Celestia, not Luna, not ANYTHING.

"Oh, my dear, sweet Cadence," he said gently, his voice dripping with saccharine sweetness and understanding.  "There is only one solution."  His smile grew infinitesimally, and when he spoke again his voice was deep, commanding and absolute.  "Come back to me."

Cadence looked up at Sombra then back at Celestia and Luna. The violet alicorn just nodded sadly, as if it was the last thing she wanted to do, but Celestia spoke softly, "you know he's right. There really is only one option left."

Feeling as if her whole world was beginning to crash down around her, she looked back at Sombra, "Will this fix things? Is this really the only thing I can do now?"

"If you do this, Cadence, everything will be fine again," he reassured her, his pointed teeth glinting in the low light of the room.  "Your subjects will see us, together, united once more beyond the shadows of our... miniscule conflict."  He gestured with his hoof as if to dismiss the matter entirely.  "They will see me, strong and enduring, and they will see you again, beautiful and passionate, and they will be happy again, Cadence!"  He extended a hoof towards her, his eyes intense upon her.  "It is the only way to ensure the happiness of your kingdom, my dear... with the Crystal Heart gone, only our bond to one another can keep this kingdom safe."  The web of his magic closed in on her yet again, squeezing her ever tighter in the bonds of her fear; surely she could last no longer against his coercion...

Something itched at the back of her mind at his words, "The... the Crystal Heart... it's gone?" Glancing to the right of the throne where it usually sat atop a crystal pillar, Cadence noticed for the first time that the blue crystal was missing. She turned back to Sombra, her eyes wide, "What happened to it?"

The stallion's eye twitched, but his voice remained level and calm.  "It is gone, Cadence; what does it matter what happened to it?"

Real fear and worry, not magically spurred, shone through her eyes, "No, you don't understand! The Crystal Heart has protected our kingdom for ages! It is the only thing that can protect the kingdom, short of a standing army, which we don't have! We're peaceful ponies!"

"But I HAVE an army, my love!  The golems you saw in the fields; THOSE are our army!  And with it we will protect our kingdom from all who would threaten it!"  Again his hoof extended to her, more forcefully this time.  "Just come to me, and forget the Heart; it is gone, and you should not trouble yourself over it."

"It matters what happened to the Heart because it's an artifact of great power, if it were to get into the wrong hooves, there's no telling what kinds of things could happen. Tell me! What happened to the Crystal Heart?" Cadence pleaded.

Sombra's teeth ground together audibly, and his hoof plunged back to the floor angrily.  "You... you want to know what happened to the Crystal Heart?!" he snarled, his silken decorum finally tearing away at her insistence.  "FINE!  I'll TELL you what happened to your precious Heart: I HID IT.  I took that blasted hunk of stone and I hid it away, somewhere it will NEVER come between us!"

"You... you stole the Heart..?"

"I DID, and it will never threaten our reign, my love!!"  Suddenly, Sombra's horn exploded to life; a sickening miasma of bubbling green and purple magic flared around the curved red horn, and as it did so all of the magical traps and tendrils he had so painstakingly laid around his beloved's hooves flared to blazing life.  The cage of fear he had woven about her snapped closed, and the unicorn king allowed himself a triumphant smile.  "No magical object nor pony in Equestria will stand between us ever again, my Cadence..."

A bright light the color of Cadence's magic blazed from the magical cage and it splintered, sending Sombra's magic flying in all directions, leaving the pink alicorn standing tall, surrounded by a shimmering glow of magic, her eyes glowing the brilliant white of a magical flare. "You stole the Heart?!" Her voice was tinged with horror, but no longer was she the cowering filly she had been. Now she was filled with fury towards the stallion who had attempted to ensnare her once again in his devious magic, "Do you understand what that Heart alone means to these ponies? The Crystal Kingdom can survive without me, without this castle, without anything or anypony, but without the Crystal Heart, the kingdom will not survive. You must return the Heart!"

Now Sombra let his smile widen, and his eyes flared with purple mist.  "...No."

"Do you not understand me?" Cadence took a step forward, her eyes still glowing brilliantly, "The Crystal Kingdom cannot stand without it's Heart, even if you were to rule instead of me! You must return it to it's proper place!"

"Do you think I care ONE BIT ABOUT YOUR KINGDOM?!" Sombra screamed, his teeth bared like a rabid animal.  "DO YOU?!  Because I do not care if it crumbles into DUST!  I do not care, I have NEVER CARED ABOUT THIS WRETCHED KINGDOM!!!!"  His eyes flared again, a brilliant emerald green that flashed brightly in the room, and when he spoke again his voice was hushed and quiet.  "I have only ever wanted YOU, Cadence... you, and you alone, are what I desire..."  His voice slowly rose again as he took a step towards her down the pedestal.  "I want you, Cadence; I want to have you as I had you before, and only by surrendering to ME will your precious KINGDOM be safe..."  His pointed teeth glinted in the light once again.  "And I will rend your world to SHREDS to have you."

Standing tall against the onslaught of words Sombra spewed, Cadence narrowed her eyes, "You lost me the moment you forced me to take that love potion, Sombra. You will never have me, nor this kingdom. I would destroy you before I become again what I was before, and I will destroy you if you do not return the Crystal Heart!"

"Then you have sealed your fate and that of your kingdom!" he snarled, his mane flying around his face as he shook his head angrily.  "If I cannot have you, then YOU will have NOTHING!!"

Sombra's horn bubbled with purple and green magic as he jumped forward, closing the last few yards of space between himself and Cadence in two bounds, barely giving the young alicorn the chance to raise up a defense against him. His magic lanced forward and clashed against the sky blue of her own in a blaze of white light that left the onlookers dazed. Blinking stars from her own eyes, Cadence barely had time to lift her horn again as Sombra lashed out with yet another lance of magic.

This time two waves of magic, one golden as the sun the other the soft teal of moonlight on the water, rolled over Cadence as both Celestia and Luna stepped forward, "You are not alone in this fight, Cadence," Celestia declared as she turned her magic against Sombra, throwing her own spears of power at him while Luna kept their magical shield in place. The dark unicorn dodged Celestia's magic bolts and continued to concentrate his efforts of Cadence. He did not even seem to notice that the other two alicorns had stepped into the fight other than to occasionally jump to the side to avoid being struck by magic. His eyes bored into Cadence as his magic continually struck Luna's shield, battering their defenses. It was quickly apparent that Luna, not nearly as skilled in magic as her sister, was losing the fight and would soon be unable to protect against Sombra's magic.

Cadence looked between Luna and Celestia, both valiantly fighting for her, but it wasn't them Sombra wanted. It was her, and she was putting them in danger while doing nothing. Part of her reasoned that she couldn't fight him on his terms- his magic, while not as powerful as hers, was better honed. He knew how to wield his magic to suit his will even if his prowess did not lie in battle, she couldn't even lift a stone for more than a moment at a time. There was no way for her to fight him alone and expect to win.

"So this is how it is, Cady?!" Sombra shouted as he dodged Celestia's magic, his eyes never leaving the youngest alicorn.  "You let your aunts do the fighting to win your kingdom back for you?!  A valiant way to win!  I'm sure your subjects will just LOVE to hear how you were too WEAK TO STOP ME!"

"My strength does not lie in battle," Cadence said softly, "my ponies know this. Our strength has never come from war, but from peace and protection. I told you before, we are peaceful ponies. My subjects will understand."

Celestia flew back to stand near Luna and Cadence, "This is accomplishing nothing," she said quietly, "Luna, lend me some of your power so we can end this now."

"Of course, Sister," Luna agreed, allowing her shield to encompass Celestia so she could draw power from it. Slowly Celestia gathered magic, her horn glowing steadily more bright as she concentrated. Soon not just one umbra, but three could be seen glowing around the thin length of her horn. When she could hold no more power, Celestia lanced forward out of Luna's protective barrier and released all her magic at Sombra.

Golden light jetted along the length of the throne room, lighting up the room brighter than the noon day sun. Sombra had only a moment to react to the blast of alicorn magic, but it was not enough time to avoid it. He pitched backwards into the crystal wall behind him, the fractured remains of his throne embedding themselves into the wall before the wave of Celestia's magic shattered it and threw Sombra out into the courtyard several hundred feet below.

All three alicorns along with their guards stepped up to the gaping hole in the palace, a soft snowfall a stark contrast to the howling blizzard they had walked in to. Below on the cobbled walk, massive chunks of crystal had embedded themselves into it giving off the strange air of a sort of burial ground with too many tombstones for one body. 

"Is... is that it?" Cadence couldn't help asking as she continued to scan the rubble below her. "I wish it had not come to this... but I am eternally grateful you were both here," she smiled only slightly as she turned to her guardians, "things would have ended very differently, I'm afraid, if you had not been here to help."

Luna draped a wing across Cadence's back, "We wouldn't have had it any other way..." She hesitated when she noticed a house across the courtyard begin to shake, "What is going on over there..?"

Both Celestia and Cadence only had time to notice the weirdly shivering building before the whole upper floor exploded outward, throwing brick and mortar in all directions, some even landing at the hooves of the ponies standing in the throne room. Out of the rubble of the building a shadowy form appeared, innumerable cuts and lacerations across his coat leaking blood that showed starkly against his black coat.

"It can't be..." Celestia murmured.

King Sombra rose inside the house, his teeth bared like a wolf as he stared hateful daggers up at the three alicorns.  Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but the stallion stood straight and tall as he faced them; it was clear that he was not defeated... far from it, in fact.

"Is this all you have, Cadence?!" he shouted up to the throne room, his voice cracking as the insanity in his eyes became evident in his voice.  "Is THIS the vaunted power of your family?!"  He took a step forward, crushing debris beneath his hoof.  "If that is how you wish this to be done, I will level this entire city as I fight you!  Even if I die, your subjects will suffer the consequences of your stupidity!"  His horn erupted to life one more, his bubbling magic shifting as if it were boiling along its length.

Cadence stood dumbstruck as Sombra emerged from the destroyed house. No pony should have been able to survive Celestia's spell, let alone have the energy to keep fighting afterwords. Looking at the other two alicorns, she saw the same looks of disbelief mirrored on their faces. Sombra was no longer an ordinary pony, they could not underestimate him again. Celestia did not plan to as she stepped forward, her horn lighting up again with her golden fire.

Luna put a hoof forward to stop her sister, "Celestia, did you not hear him? He'll level this city if we continue fighting him! We have to think of a better way!"

"What better way is there, Luna?" The white alicorn asked, her horn dimming slowly. "We MUST destroy him or Cadence will never be free of him, this kingdom will never be free, and we do not have the Elements of Harmony with us to turn him to stone like we did with Discord."

"I don't know... maybe there's a spell or something." Luna shrugged her shoulders, thinking desperately, "You know magic better than I do, isn't there some kind of spell to, I don't know, turn him into something harmless? A puff of smoke, a field mouse? Maybe a way to banish him that doesn't involve turning him to stone?"

At the word 'banish' Celestia flinched minutely, but her sister jumped on it.

"You do know one!" Luna exclaimed, feeling some of her fear recede. "What is it? Can we do it?"

"I don't know!" Celestia cried, the levels of her calm demeanor finally breached, "Yes, Luna, I do know of a spell like that, but it's only a theory I read about once in Starswirl's manuscripts! The spell he described was one that would banish a pony to the shadows, but I do not know if the spell would even work or how it would work or what effects it would have! Starswirl even said himself that it was an experimental spell he would not even attempt! He forbade me from attempting it while I studied with him, for fear I would kill myself in the casting!"

Luna was quiet for a moment, "You were just a unicorn then, and a young one. We are alicorns now, with power imbued into our blood that even a wizard like Starswirl could only dream of! I'm sure that we could do it now, if you can still remember the spell... you can remember it, can't you?"

Very quietly, Celestia said, "yes, Sister, I do remember the spell. I do not think it is a good idea, but it is a sight better than having Sombra bring this city down."

Down below, Sombra was gathering power to him, just as Celestia had done before. His magic pulsed and bubbled violently as he concentrated more power into his horn. The dark unicorn knew this would be his last stand against Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, and he planned to make the most of it. He wanted to cause as much damage to Cadence before he was killed, as much damage to the city that had stolen her away from him. Quietly he began to chant as above him he watched Celestia and Luna begin to gather their power as well.

The pink alicorn watched silently as Celestia began muttering to herself the first in a long line of chants and incantations that would culminate in Sombra's demise, they hoped. Luna, they had decided, would serve only as a power source for Celestia, a kind of battery she could draw power from if the spell proved to be too much for her. She also saw Sombra gather power around him, could see his mouth moving silently as he, too, began the spell he would use to destroy her.

She watched him closely and soon she began to hear his word ringing in her ears, quietly at first and then slowly louder. Startled, Cadence looked around at Luna and Celestia, but they were too deeply ingrained in their spells to notice anything strange. Instead, she turned to Storm Fleet. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what, Princess?" the young guard captain had been watching everything that happened between Sombra and his Princesses, silently awaiting any orders they might give. "I did not notice anything strange."

"Nor did I," Lightning Dazzle agreed, her white and blue mane waving in the breeze.

"It must have been nothing," Cadence murmured, her gaze turning back towards Sombra, but as soon as it did, she heard it again. "There! That!"

Again the captains looked confused, "we didn't hear anything, Princess."

"Unless it was the wind," Dazzle tried to sound helpful. "It is quite breezy up here. Perhaps what you heard was the wind?"

"Perhaps," Cadence agreed, though she didn't really believe it. In truth, she was hearing Sombra as he chanted his spells through the magic that still bound him to the very floor she stood on, the very wall her wing tips brushed as she began to pace. And as she paced, his words became clearer, as if she was moving closer to him rather than farther away.

"...the memories of the Crystal ponies are what keep them strong, and in turn it is the memory of the Crystal Empire that keeps the rest of the world strong."  Sombra's eyes began to glow brightly as his magic flared.  "Take from them their memories!  Take from the world the memory of the Crystal Empire, and may it be forgotten for all of time!  May the world forget its colors and spires, and may they forget the love and power that once resided here!"

The pink alicorn looked around again, her eyes gazing out over the snowy courtyard below and up into the ruined house where Sombra stood. She could still see his mouth moving as he chanted, his horn glowing and pulsating with magic. Silently she prayed that Celestia would be able to finish her spell before Sombra finished his.

Sombra's mouth curved into a predatory smile.  "But most of all... take from these ponies their own memories- their memories of hope, of love, and most of all... their Princess."

She pulled up short, Cadence turning her full attention to Sombra. "Please tell me one of you can hear this..." she glanced at the two pony captains who stood near her, but both shook their heads. Fear gripped her heart as she turned her full attention to Sombra's words, however she was hearing them.

"Let them forget her joy, her radiance and her love!  Let them forget the power she once held to keep them safe, and let them remember only my power to bring them pain, and never-ending torment!  Let these ponies WALLOW IN THEIR DESPAIR FOREVER!!!"

Sombra stared up at Cadence, his eyes glowing green, his horn bursting with his bubbling, evil magic.  Above him, Celestia began to glow brightly as the power of her spell finally reached it's peak, and with an arched eyebrow at the pink alicorn who had once been his bride, he intoned the last part of his spell- the part that would seal his curse to the land and make it suffer forever.

"per et potestate odium et tenebrarum
Ego præcipio tibi, de ex abyssum anima meus
tollere hoc Inperium, abs terrenum ex memoriam
sic ut erit perdidit in aeternum.
Accipe eorum spes... et fac eos obliviscor.
E unum qui tradens ego."

Celestia's glow threatened to blind them all, but as her power grew Sombra locked eyes once more with Cadence, and in her ears she heard one final breath of his words:

"Vale, Filia Regina. Regnabis quaeso in aeternum."

Cadence watched as Celestia's blinding spell lanced down at the unicorn stallion. This time he didn't even try to avoid being struck down. As his black misty magic spread out around him, the golden arrow of Celestia's power struck him in the heart and wrapped around him. In the same moment a cataclysmic shudder shook the earth as the courtyard split open and Sombra was hurtled into it's untold depths. As he fell, he did not scream or cry or wail, he only closed his eyes and sighed contently, his work completed.

Another earthquake shook the ground as the chasm snapped closed, leaving not even  a seam in the crystal pavement to show it had ever been there. Celestia wavered on her hooves, her knees buckling slightly as if unsure if they could still support her weight after using so much of her magic. Storm Fleet hurried to his princess's side to steady her. Luna also looked exhausted, though she did not need support to stand.

"It is done," the dark blue alicorn sighed, "Your kingdom is restored to you, my friend, and all is well."

Cadence, still stunned by what she had seen, didn't say anything, just looked wonderingly at the place where Sombra had stood moments ago. She didn't move until she felt somepony nudge her gently. It was Lightning Dazzle.

"You should address your ponies, Princess. They will want to know what has happened and that King Sombra is no more."

"Y-yes. Yes, of course." Cadence nodded and forced herself to smile. Magic could never outlive the caster and Sombra was dead. Any magic of his could not stick to the kingdom now that he was gone. There was very little about magic that the young alicorn knew, but she took comfort in this small thing she remembered her father telling her once upon a time.

The pink alicorn walked from the throne room flanked by Luna and Lightning Dazzle, Celestia and Storm Fleet remained in the throne room so the older alicorn could regain some of her strength. The three ponies crossed the hall and stepped out onto the large balcony that overlooked most of the capitol city. Below, Cadence could see many of her subjects were milling in the streets, shouting in confused voices as they tried to piece together what had happened. Cadence stepped up to the banister that circled the balcony and flared her wings.

"My little ponies! You have nothing to fear anymore. Sombra is gone! He has been defeated and no longer holds sway over you or your homes. I, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, have returned to take my rightful place as ruler." Cadence spoke loudly, but didn't need to shout. Ancient spells on this balcony made any spoken words reach all across the city, making it the ideal place to give such speeches.

Down on the ground, ponies looked up, confusion on their faces. Most began muttering to themselves again, but one voice rose from among the masses, though it was impossible to tell who is was. "But... we have no Princess! She abandoned us and Sombra said she will never return!"

Cadence felt her chest tighten, "But you are mistaken! I am here, Princess Cadence! Daughter of Princess Frostfall! I did leave, for a time, but I have come back! Sombra is gone!"

A different voice rose from the ground, "Sombra may be gone, but our Princess has not returned. Whoever you are, you play a cruel joke with the lives of honest ponies. Leave us now, we have no need for your lies."

Cadence stepped back from the banister, her eyes flooded with tears. Somehow, Sombra's spell had not dissipated and still very much had a hold of her ponies' hearts. Luna began to step forward, her eyes hard and strong words on her lips, but Cadence stopped her. "It's no use... can't you see, they're spelled. Sombra cast a curse on them... they do not remember me."

Luna was torn between berating the citizens of the Crystal Empire for their obvious foolishness and finding answers to her own questions. The alicorn's innate curiosity won out and she turned around, “Perhaps Celestia can shed some light on this.”

“Perhaps,” Cadence agreed. The two left the balcony and returned to the throne room where Celestia was standing on her own, wings folded at her sides.

“I heard everything,” the exhausted monarch sighed, staving off the explanation. “but I do not know why Sombra's power might still be tied to the land. Perhaps his final curse lingers and will dissipate in time.”

Cadence fidgeted nervously, “maybe... but somehow I don't think that's it...”

Celestia and Luna both turned to look at the young alicorn, “What makes you say that?” the elder asked.

“Well...” she paused, rubbing her hoof on the ground as she tried to explain what she didn't understand herself. “During the fight, I kept hearing a voice. It was Sombra... at first I couldn't understand what he was saying, but eventually I could. It sounded like a spell...” the princess shuddered as she recalled the unicorn's chilling words. “He said things about forgetting me and the kingdom and love and joy and how the ponies here would only remember him... I guess I thought it was an artifact of the spells he had laid on me before, but... but what if it wasn't?” The young ruler looked up into the eyes of her supporters.

The white alicorn looked puzzled for a moment then began to pace, slowly as her weakened condition did not allow her to move quickly. Luna also looked confused and wondered aloud, “It's possible what you heard was a spell.. but if so, how could it outlast his lifetime? Even beginning spell casters know that no magic can outlive their ability to sustain it. If a pony dies, so to does their magic... isn't that right, Sister?”

Celestia nodded, though she seemed lost in thought, “there is only one answer then, isn't there?” The alicorn looked between her the others who stood around her, “Sombra is not dead and his magic lives on.”

“I thought you said that spell would destroy Sombra!” Luna exclaimed, “I thought you said...”

“Calm yourself, Sister. I said no such thing. I said I knew of a spell that would banish Sombra to the shadows. I had no idea if it would kill him or not, but it seems as though it has not.”

“Then what do we do? Can you bring him back so we can destroy him?” Cadence asked, though she did not sound hopeful. The kind of magic Celestia had performed was not something just any pony could do.

The pink alicorn felt her heart sink as Celestia shook her head, “no... I'm afraid that if Starswirl did have notes on how to undo this kind of magic, I do not remember them. And it is possible there were never any notes to begin with. I could attempt to undo the spell upon him, but it would take time... time I do not believe we have.”

“What do you mean?”

“Haven't you noticed, the castle is still just as dark as it was before. Sombra's black crystals are gone, but the luminescence has not returned. Nor have your ponies regained their shimmer. I fear that without the power of the Crystal Heart, Sombra's magic will weigh heavily upon the kingdom and upon the rest of the world.” Celestia shook her head sadly, “And if this is true, time is something we cannot waste. We must find the Crystal Heart without delay.”

“But Sombra could have hidden the Heart anywhere! There is no possible way we can search the entire length and breadth of the world before darkness envelops us!” Cadence felt her as if everything was spinning out of control once again and she was beginning to wonder if she had ever had control to begin with, or if she had just imagined it all along. “It doesn't matter what we do, Sombra wins...”

“It seems like the only way we could get out of this on top is if we could stop time long enough to find the Crystal Heart.” Luna sighed, shifting her wings into a more comfortable position. “But that isn't possible. It's not possible to just stop time...”

Celestia hesitated, opening her mouth half way to say something, then closing it again. The spell she was thinking of was even more powerful than the one she had just used to banish Sombra, and it required something even more powerful than magic- a focus. A pony who would potentially give their life to tie the kingdom to reality. Without a focus, the kingdom would disappear into a magical aether, never to be seen again. She was going to let the thoughts pass and search for another solution, but Luna saw her hesitation.

“Sister, please, if you have an idea, tell us!”

The white alicorn sighed and ruffled her wings, “Very well, but I'm not sure the spell would work. Later in Starswirl's manuscripts he talked about being able to lock something in time, or to propel it forward or backward in time without moving it's place in the physical world. Most of his later work was dedicated to the art of manipulation. But the spell he spoke of was for small objects or artifacts. Nonliving things that would not be affected adversely from being transported through time...”

“We wouldn't have to send the ponies themselves, would we?” Luna asked, “just the kingdom? That's what's affected by the magic...”

This time it was Cadence who shook her head, “Sombra cursed the ponies here just as much as the land. I'm not sure how good it would be to let these ponies leave without giving them a place to go. This is their home and without a Princess to guide them... I fear they would rebel against being forced from their homes, even if it was for the betterment of the world. Whatever we do to the kingdom, we must do it to these ponies... to keep any of Sombra's magic from spreading.” As she spoke, the pink pony felt tears fall from her eyes. A horrible hopelessness filled her heart and she knew it wouldn't be long before she succumbed to the same lackluster appearance of her subjects. “Celestia, whatever you must do, do it now. We can't sit here debating forever.”

The elder Princess of Equestria spoke quietly, “I do not know what will happen, Cadence. Your kingdom may disappear forever, never to be seen again. You may be lost in magical currents, becoming the energy that unicorns use to power their magic. I cannot even predict where you might come out again, if you did. And... there is one other thing.” Celestia paused for a moment before continuing, “I'd need a focus. Something tied to the kingdom to keep it in place. Something to tie it to this plane so that it hopefully doesn't get lost in the magical currents. It would have to be something that is already tied to the kingdom, so it couldn't be just anything. Under normal circumstances I would say we use the Crystal Heart, but... well, if we had that, there wouldn't be this problem.”

“I see,” Cadence was quiet while she thought. After a few moments, she asked, “what about me? Could I be used as the focus? I'm the Princess here... my cutie mark IS the Crystal Heart, if there ever was a pony more connected to this kingdom... I don't know who that would be.”

Luna caught her sisters eyes and slowly shook her head, selfishly wanting to find a different solution, but time was rapidly running out. She did not have a better solution and Celestia knew it. Turning away from her sister, the white alicorn spoke to Cadence, “I'm not sure what it would do to you, Cadence. Usually a focus is inanimate so it can't feel anything. I have no idea whether or not this spell would cause you pain or even kill you in the casting. If we had any other choice, I would say we seek it out... but as it stands, this appears to be our only option...”

“Yes,” Cadence nodded, squaring her shoulders and standing tall, “it appears to be, and I am willing to make whatever sacrifice I need to to save my kingdom. It's my fault this happened, I aim to make it right.”

“Very well,” Celestia turned to her sister, but the blue alicorn was gone. She had run out of the throne room while her sister and Cadence spoke, unable to bear losing her young companion and friend after such a short time. “I would love to take time to rest and complete this spell myself, but time is not on our side. I will return to our camp outside the city and enlist the help of the unicorns there. Between us, I'm sure we will have enough energy to complete the spell...”

Silence stretched between the two ponies. There was nothing left to say, but both felt that something needed to be said. Finally Cadence reached out a hoof and wrapped it around her aunt, drawing the older alicorn into a tight embrace. “I will miss you, Celestia... and Luna as well... please... tell her I don't make this choice lightly and that I wish there was a better way...”

Unable to keep tears from her own eyes, Celestia nodded, holding her niece close, “of course I will tell her. And... if you return... I promise we will be waiting for you.”

The two alicorns stepped back from each other and nodded to each other before Celestia turned and left with her two commanders leaving Cadence alone in the castle.

~~~

Outside the palace, Celestia immediately took off and flew to the camp outside the city. Without delay, she gathered the dozens of spell casting unicorns in her tent and explained what she was going to attempt to do. Most were hesitant, but all eventually gave their aid. The alicorn wished her sister would help, but the blue alicorn had not returned to camp after fleeing the castle. Unable to take time to locate her sister herself, Celestia sent Commander Lightning Dazzle and a squad of her Wonderbolts to look for her. In the meantime, she and six of the most powerful unicorns spread out in a wide circle around the capitol city of the Crystal Kingdom.

Chanting, they created a bubble of energy that kept ponies inside while other unicorns began layering spells to contain any magic that was inside the bubble, hopefully trapping Sombra's spells before they escaped out into the rest of the kingdom. The bubble didn't just stretch high over the kingdom, easily encasing even the high parapets of the crystal castle, but also reached equally deep into the ground creating a perfect orb around the city proper. It took several hours to lay all the necessary spells, but eventually Celestia began chanting the long and involved spells that would remove the crystal city and everyone inside her magical bubble from reality as they saw it.

Cadence spent her time pacing in the throne room, the most central point in the castle that was also the center of the capitol. She watched as the protective bubble formed around her, creating a false sky that was much closer and shifted in color from beautiful blue to golden to pink and on again. She knew all she could do was wait for Celestia to finally cast the spell. Idly she wondered if she would even know the spell was cast, or was Celestia right in worrying that she might die as the focus.  

Magic gathered in waves and layers around Celestia as she pulled more and more power to her. It would take an enormous amount of power to transport the entire crystal city into another dimention, and the white princess was beginning to wonder, even with the help of all her spell casters, if she would be able to harness that power, especially in her weakened state. Still she pushed on, even as two and then three umbras of magic radiated from her horn, her coat streaked with sweat from her exertion.

Unexpectedly she felt the weight of magic shift and she latched down on it, worried that it would escape her and radiate out in a catastrophic wave of uncontrolled magic. She felt another tug and opened her eyes to see Luna standing next to her, their horns crossed. In her mind, through their magic, she heard Luna's voice, I want to help, Sister... you cannot do this without me. Celestia gasped in relief as she released her tight grip on the magic and allowed Luna to shoulder some of the burden. 

Together the two sisters were able to gather the energy they needed and Celestia spoke the final chants to seal the spell and the Crystal Kingdom-

“Caress of time that touches all,
release this city from your thrall!
I cast it to the Aether bright,
let it return e'er the time is right!”

From her horn, power blazed and like a cannon it shot directly at the heart of the crystal palace where Cadence stood. It was over in an instant; after the beam struck there was a blinding flash of white light that left every pony around blinded for minutes on end. When they were finally able to see again, the Crystal City was gone, only a crater the same size as the city was left in it's place.

Celestia turned to Storm Fleet who was running up to her from his post around the city, “Fleet, keep a contingent of soldiers here to watch for the City's return. I will send reinforcements to you as soon as I return to the Everfree Castle.”

The unicorn bowed, “As you wish, Princess.”
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 13: Epilogue: 

A small stone fort sat in the middle of the icy north, battered by icy winds and snow. Several guards stood out in the elements, swathed in capes and scarves and boots along with their usual armor. These were not royal soldiers in Canterlot who wore golden armor that wasn't good for anything except to glint in the sunlight, these were hardened veterans who lived and died in their battle-ready iron suits. No one knew or remembered why they were stationed here, so far away from the rest of Equestria, but Princess Celestia insisted on keeping a military presence in this frozen wasteland. And who were they to question it?

Inside the fort, young soldiers sat huddled around fire places and under blankets, trying to keep warm before being sent back into the cold for their watches. Some played games of cards with friends to keep from succumbing to complete, mind numbing boredom. One such group was sitting near the fire, four young stallions sat in a circle, their cards held close as they watched the others suspiciously. A golden maned earth pony stallion with a warm brown coat grinned as he laid out his hand- three aces and a pair of queens. A full house. His three companions groaned and tossed their cards into the center pile.

“That's three wins in a row you've pulled, Harvest Moon! You sure your cutie mark's one for farming and not for playing cards?” A pegasus mare with a cerulean blue coat and lavender mane asked sitting back after throwing her cards away.

“Pretty sure, Opal Streak,” he smiled charmingly, “Last time I checked, anyway. Anypony up for another game?”

Several ponies shook their heads and stood up, among them a blue haired unicorn stallion with a white coat, “Not me,” he groaned, “I already have to cover two of your evening patrols and one shift on cooking duty. I can't afford to take on any more, or I won't sleep for a season!”

“Ah, Shining, but you've been doing better! Hey, you almost beat me in that last hand!” The brown pony laughed as his friend shook his head again, bundled up and stepped out into the cold, winter wind.

Shining Armor was a second year cadet on his first deployment to the north. All young soldiers took at least one stint on northern patrol as a rule. Shining didn't much care for the frozen north lands, but he kept his mouth shut and bundled extra tight against the cold. He walked along the upper parapet of the fort, ducking into the small gaps in the stone, hoping for a little cover from the wind as he patrolled.

He passed one of his superior officers who gave him a look of concern, “Weren't you up here just before noon?” he asked, his honey yellow coat poking through his gray and black wraps.

“Y-yes, sir,” Shining admitted, his teeth chattering slightly in the cold. “But I'm back out again now. Ah-I'll be alright,” he answered the unspoken question and smiled, “maybe this will teach me not to try and gamble away my patrol shifts.”

The officer just laughed, “or it'll teach you to get better at playing cards. As you were, private.”

The white unicorn saluted before continuing down the wall. There wasn't much to see out during a storm like this. Wind, snow, and clouds whipped around and obscured the sky making mid afternoon look like midnight. Some days it was actually quite beautiful, if you could see past the bleak white and gray landscape. Shining was just about to turn the corner onto the eastern wall when he saw a flash of light. Turning, he thought it might have been lightning, but when no crash of thunder followed, he grew concerned. Maybe he'd imagined the flash of light... but how could one imagine a pink light in the middle of a gray and white snowstorm? He deliberated for a moment before hurrying back to the main lodge where his commanding officer would be. If anything seems weird, you talked to your superior. That's what they were there for, to answer questions and to make the decisions a cadet was too green to make. 

Shining Armor shook off a layer of snow as he pulled his scarf down around his neck, “I need to speak with Commander Steel Feather. I think I saw something come from the direction of the crater.”

The pink unicorn who sat behind the secretary desk just waved the young stallion by, “He's in his office. Make sure to knock before you enter.”

The white unicorn nodded and moved down the hall to the commander's office. He knocked carefully and waited to go in until he heard a quiet, “Come in.”

Seated behind the desk was a pale gray pegasus wearing a blue and gray uniform. She was shuffling papers on her desk, but set them aside when Shining entered, “What can I for for you Private Armor?”

“Well... I was up on patrol just now and I saw what appeared to be a flash of light coming from the direction of the crater.” Shining stood at attention as he spoke.

“We are in the middle of a storm, Private, are you sure it wasn't lightning.”

“No, Ma'am. Respectfully speaking, it wasn't lightning. There was no thunder afterwords and the flash of light was pink... at least as far as I could see.”

The gray pegasus watched Shining for a moment, her eyes narrow. “Then I advise you to take a small unit of ponies and check it out. You have a half hour.”

“Yes Ma'am.” Shining saluted and left the office, careful to shut the door behind him as he left.

Out in the storm, Shining listened irritatedly as Harvest Moon muttered angrily to himself, “why'd'ya have to drag me into this? I was warm and cozy until you came running in and told me and Opal and Juniper to get our gear on and follow you. What are we looking for anyway and why couldn't it wait 'til morning?”

“For the last time, Harvest, Commander Steel Feather said I should take a group out and check out this flash of light I saw.”

“And you're sure you saw something, Shining?” This time it was Opal who spoke up, “You're sure it wasn't just a trick of the light?”

The white unicorn sighed, “No, I'm not sure it wasn't a trick of the light, but what if it is something?”

“It better be something,” Harvest muttered, “or I'm never forgiving you for dragging me out of my warm barracks. Not ever.”

“I think I could live with that,” Shining Armor muttered into his scarf as he trudged along to the edge of the crater. “Look, we're here. Let's look around...” he trailed off. They had just walked through nearly a mile of snowstorm, but as soon as they stepped into the crater the wind stopped howling and the snow began falling gently around them. Looking back, he checked to make sure he hadn't imagined the storm, but sure enough the winds were howling just as fiercely as they had been. That made him shudder, magic was a weird thing and this crater seemed to be crawling with it. No wonder no pony wanted to get too close. “Let's just look around real fast and head back. This place gives me the creeps.”

“No joke,” Juniper, a mint green pegasus mare agreed, her faded orange mane standing straight up. “Let's split up so we can cover more ground.”

Shining nodded agreement and the four ponies split up, Harvest following the left side, Juniper the right, Opal headed across the open ground and Shining reluctantly followed. Silently he wished that he had never seen that weird flash of light, but he was also glad his friends were there with him, even if they were just as unnerved by the strange crater.

As he headed toward the center of the crater, he couldn't help but notice that it was  perfectly spherical, as if someone had taken a giant ice cream scoop and carved out the earth. A shiver passed down his spine that wasn't from the cold- something was at the bottom of the crater. He was about to shout for his friends, who were now very far apart from him, he almost couldn't see them against the blanket of snow, but something stopped him. Instead he walked forward until he had a closer look at what was in the crater.

At first all it looked to be was a pink bubble, but as he moved closer the form became more apparent- it was a young unicorn mare curled up in the snow. She wore no protective clothing which shocked the unicorn even though normally seeing a pony without clothing was completely normal. The other strange thing, though he didn't immediately notice, was that the snow around the strange mare was pressed down smooth, melted into the shape of a heart with two swirling lines off each side.

Shining stopped just outside the heart and asked, “Are... are you alright?”

The mare looked up and blinked, wings rustling against her back, “where... where am I? Who are you?”

The white unicorn's eyes went wide, “You... you're an alicorn!”

The mare smiled slightly, “well, of course. I'm Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of... of...” she looked confused a moment, “well... I can't really remember where I'm from...”

Shining Armor took a deep breath. “I think I should take you back to Canterlot, Princess. Perhaps Princess Celestia will have answers... to both our questions.”


THE END