The tall, pink pony paced back and forth. The empty hallway echoed every step she took. Even though Cadence normally was a calm, relaxed, easy-going type, her stress had somehow bested her today. Could she find out? The thought haunted her and she shuddered, trying to clear her head. No, she'd never.... Twilight Sparkle, a new alicorn, was dangerously close to discovering her secret. A short breath was inhaled as a second pair of hooves joined Cadence's. She slowly turned around, staring at her sister-in-law.
"Twilight!" Cadence cried, forcing herself to sound happy. "H-How are you? Good I bet.. Celestia have you busy? Oh, I bet!" She rambled quickly, then forced a smile. A bead of sweat slowly trickled down the princess' forehead. "Ooh, are you hot? I'm hot..mmmph..I mean this room seems a little warm, don't ya think?" She half-mumbled. Twilight stared at her, a puzzling look struck on her face.
"Cadence, are you.. feeling all right? You seem... tense." The purple pony moved closer to the pink princess, extending her hoof out, then lay it on her shoulder. Cadence flinched at the touch, and shook Twilight off briskly. "Of course, sister.. I feel fine, promise..." She whispered, barely audible. Cadence was never a good liar. Twilight's face twisted into deeper confusion. What could Cadence be hiding? The fake smile plastered on her face gave her away. She was lying, and it was quite obvious. Her pink cheeks turned bright red, and another bead rolled down her face. Quick, short breaths escaped the taller pony. "Cadence, you're never stressed, and you're a terrible liar. Tell me, what are you hiding?" Fear struck Cadence's pale blue eyes. Her mouth opened, but no sound left her lips. Her heart beat slower, slower, until the pony collapsed on the marble floor.
"CADENCE!!"
She can't find out. I won't let her. Twilight, this is for your own good. I promise I'll protect you.. Always...
But I can't say the same about me. He wasn't defeated. I'm... so... sorry...
I'm sorry, Twilight. I tried my best. My protection spells don't always work, though. In that moment, he had taken me. I would've told you, but he wouldn't let me. I opened to speak, to cry out, to let everything go.... but he wouldn't let me. I'm sorry. You're on your own now, Twilight. Maybe you'll learn to defend yourself. I hope you do. Don't end up like me. I love you too much.
"Now Cadence, you know better. Did you really think you could just tell her? Foolish, foolish little girl. You know how powerful I am. You know how weak you are. What in the world drove you to think that you could just break our deal with no consequence? Maybe I've let things slide too many times." A dark, shadowy figure hovered over a weak princess in her unconsciousness. A dark laugh echoed through the even darker cavern. "You silly, silly young pony. You weak little pest. You were always a thorn in my side." Weary eyes slowly opened, staring towards the mocking laughter. "S-s-som...." Cadence stuttered weakly. "What? You did I say you could speak, Cadence?" The voice roared angrily.
"No. You didn't. But I wanted to speak. So I did." Somehow, her strength returned to her. She didn't know how, but she didn't question it. The shadowy stallion simply stood there, not saying anything. He just waited for her to go on. "Sombra. Sombra. Let me go. Twilight... She needs me..." Cadence said, as she began to stand up. "This is just a dream. Not reality. I am only unconscious. I can wake up... I can... I can.."
"No. You can't. Because, my little naïve fool, this is not only unconsciousness. This is magic, the best kind. It's dark magic. Don't you understand? I control you. I decided to take you here, and I decide when you go back."
"Sombra... Send me back.."
"Why should I? What are YOU going to do?" Sombra roared, pounding the floor. Rocks shook beneath both of them just from the bellow of the enraged king. Cadence fell back from the vibrations surging through the rough cave floor.
"I-I'm sorry... Just... Don't hurt her!"
"Her? Her... Her... Ah, you mean precious little Twilight, right? The evil little brat who you teamed up with to defeat me! Yes, yes.. Now why would I hurt her? Oh, yes.. Because I HATE HER. Actually, now that you've mentioned it.. It seems as though you care more about her than yourself. If I torture her, you'd be in more pain... Yes... Cadence, you stupid fool. Now you've doomed precious Twilight. Yes, you. All you. This is your fault." Another roar, and the evil king vanished. Cadence was left alone to weep. And that is all she did, weep. Those very tears broke the magic that held her in unconsciousness. When she woke up, however, she wished she hadn't.
I'm so sorry, Twilight. I left you too long. I was crazy to leave you. Don't hate me.. I promise everything will be okay. Somehow, I was stronger than him. I think... I think you were the one, Twilight. I cared so much about you.. You empowered me to stand up to him. I should've taught you the protection spell sooner. I.. I could've saved you. You wouldn't need saving if it wasn't for me, though. I was a stupid moron. I tried to protect you, but in doing that, I hurt you. I led him to you, sister. I'm so sorry.. Please forgive me...
"I'm too late..." Cadence cried softly. Twilight lay on the floor, unconscious. She seemed to be unharmed otherwise, but that didn't help comfort Cadence. I... I did this. This is my fault. Sombra took little Twily and it's all my fault... The princess slumped on the floor, hot tears rolling down her cheeks once more. "Twily...Twily..." She whispered desperately, "Please Twily.. Get up.. Please..please.. please....." She continued to sit there, cradling Twilight in her hooves. The salty tears soaked her pink coat, then dripped onto Twilight's. "I've made too many mistakes. I'm sorry, little Twily. My mistakes should've never had to involve you." Cadence was completely lost. Nowhere to go, nothing to do, no pony to turn to. Everything came crashing down. Shining Armor was gone, so Twilight was the only one Cadence had left. And now, Twilight was gone, too.
"Mmphh...mmhmm..ah?" The purple pony wearily opened her eyes. C-Cadence.. The last thing she could remember was seeing her sister-in-law collapse on the floor. "W-what? W-where's Cadence?" She mumbled. She stood up, too quickly. Immediately a wave of dizziness swept over her, and her knees buckled. Somepony caught her just in time. Twilight lifted her head to thank the pony who had helped her... Until she saw who it was. "S...S....Som...Sombra..." She stuttered. An evil grin flashed across the dark stallion's face. "Are you lost, 'Little Twily'?" He smirked. Twilight opened her mouth to scream, but she was in such a state of shock, nothing audible escaped her.
"This is a nightmare... I-I need to wake up..."
"Nightmare! Well, maybe for you, I guess. For me, this is a dream come true!"
"You're demented, Sombra. Demented. I'm waking up now.
"Oh, am I really the demented one? You can't wake up. Ugh, do I have to explain this to like, EVERYONE?! You're in a dark magic dream. You're only going to wake up when I let you. Got it, princess? Until then, you and your precious Cadence will never meet again."
N-no.. No....
I will see her again...
Twilight went into complete panic. Nowhere to go, no pony to turn to... She was lost. Completely lost for the first time in her life.
I think it's time I finally told you, Twilight. The reason why I'm always so weak. The reason I was powerless against him. I promise, I will tell you everything. Although, I can't. Not now... He's too strong. In due time, little Twily, you will know everything. Everything about the Crystal Empire, about him.... Everything.... Someday... someday soon. Promise. promise.
Cadence sat there, staring blankly at Twilight's seemingly lifeless body. A tear dropped from the tall, slender pony's cheek. "I must do something..." She told herself. Her voice bounced through the empty hall. Another tear. Taking a deep breath, she bent over to pick up Twilight. Moving carefully, she dragged the unconscious pony through the castle. "Finally.." She whispered, breathlessly. Cadence pushed a large door open, pushed Twilight through, then collapsed. The pink pony never had much energy. After a while, she got back up, and nudged the purple alicorn onto a plush pillow. Cadence gasped when examining her. A scar. Then two. Three. "No....no...." Cadence whispered once more. With all of her remaining strength, she dashed out of the bedroom and headed for the washroom. She grabbed a bucket, filled it, then ran back. First, she began to wash the red marks. She rubbed them gently with her hooves. Twilight.... What is he doing? The marks didn't seem to get any better, despite Cadence's efforts. Only two options remained. The princess proceeded to do the less extreme one. Taking the bucket, she poured the rest of the ice cold water onto Twilight. No response. One thing left. Magic.
Concentration. This cannot be broken when preforming any sort of magic. However, concentrate was the last thing Cadence could do when staring down at Twilight. Another deep breath. Interfering with his magic would certainly prove to be a challenge. At this point in time, maybe even impossible. Cadence disregarded this completely. The only reason such a task would be impossible was Cadence's condition--emotionally and physically. A spark burst from her horn. It then floated down onto Twilight, as Cadence watched intently. Another spark. A whole stream of poured onto the purple pony. This time, there was a response, yet it wasn't the desired one. Cadence intended to wake Twilight from her dream. What happened was Cadence was teleported into the dream instead. He knew she would try to break Twilight out. He took precautions to make sure that didn't happen.
Cadence groaned. This time, because she used magic, it hurt entering the dark dream state. "CADENCE! Y-you came! I knew..you...would...unnnnggg...." A thud echoed through the dark cavern. Cadence jumped at the noise. She knew the voice. She knew who fell. She knew why. This infuriated her. "Sombra, stop. Our deal never included Twilight. Heal her." The princess said, boldly.
"Oh, dear me. What have I done? Hm, seems I've broken our deal... Oh wait. No I haven't, have I? Yes, yes. Don't you remember anything, you pest? I said that this wouldn't include your family. Now, let's see. Twilight wasn't part of your family back then.. And she's not really family now anyway. Just because you married her brother, that doesn't mean that she's suddenly blood related, correct? So there you have it. I'm not breaking the deal."
"Twilight was right in calling you demented. She's as much family as I've ever had. Unlike some ponies..."
"Just what are you trying to say, thorn?"
"Sombra, you are, and always will be, a terrible father."
"Oh, you're bring that up now, are you? It's not my fault you didn't believe in dark magic. Also, how did you know she called me demented?"
"Justifying yourself, are we, 'daddy'? Also, that's none of your business!"
"Someone got extremely powerful and sassy over the course of about an hour, didn't they?"
"I realized Twilight's safety was more important than my silly fears of the likes of you. Nothing more."
"Is that any way to speak to me, fool?"
"Hah! You're one to talk."
"Aw, now Caddy, you know me better than anypony. This is my nature. You, on the other hand..."
"Shut... I-I mean.. Quiet. Quiet, Sombra. I came here to do something, and it's not sit here and idly chat you."
And with those words, Cadence cantered over to where Twilight lay. Unconscious.. But how? She's already.. But still here... Her mind raced with thoughts. Sombra still stood, stunned by his conversation with his daughter. He was still processing what had happened, and Cadence knew this. She had to work fast, before he caught up. Leaning over Twilight, Cadence gasped. Four scars. This time, he'd gone too far. "Sombra! What did you do to this poor pony, that she has four red scars! Why, I ought to give you four scars! No, I should give you ten! Eleven! I don't care how many you have, so long that learn to never touch her again!!!" She yelled, more angry than she had ever been. She charged Sombra, illuminating her horn. A beam shot directly onto his chest, knocking him to the floor. Hovering over him, she raised her hoof. "Stop!" A voiced yelled. Much to Cadence's surprise, it wasn't Sombra. It was Twilight. "Cadence, this isn't you! He's your father, no matter what! Don't hurt him! Don't!" Twilight begged. Cadence got up, releasing Sombra and left him, laying on the cave floor.
"Twily, I'm so glad you're okay...!"
"The same could be said about you, sister! You scared me twice today! You're going crazy!"
"I've always been crazy, Twily. I just got worse at hiding it."
Both sisters looked longingly at each other, smiling weakly. They were exhausted from the day's endeavors. It took a minute, but they decided they should hug.
"I'll tell you, Twily. I'll finally tell you." Cadence said. Twilight broke the hug and looked back at Cadence, confused. "Tell me... What?" She asked.
"....Everything."
It's finally time, Twilight. Finally.
Cadence looked straight at Twilight. They were still in the dark dream state, but they didn't care. "Twily...." Cadence gasped, "Are you ready?" Twilight nodded, although she was still uncertain of just what she was being told. Sombra had fled, so the two sisters remained alone in the dark cavern's depths. Twilight stared blankly at Cadence. Cadence simply smiled and gestured for Twilight to sit down. A deep breath inhaled, then exhaled.
As a young filly, I was a princess. I didn't know why. Everypony said it was because Celestia adopted me. No, I would tell them, because Celestia referred to me as 'princess' before the adoption. A few of piers ridiculed me, saying I was pampered. They would tell me all the time that I didn't deserve the life given to me. They mocked me, saying I never had to work. I would defend myself. I would tell them about how I foalsat for a special little filly. No, that wasn't good enough. This was Celestia's prized student, after all. Another step up for me, less work because she never got into trouble. After all, only the best students got foalsat by princesses. No, again. Remember, Twily? I foalsat you even before you became her student. This never mattered to them. Only the hurt in my eyes mattered.
Yet again, a problem arose. Somepony had claimed me. Him. Sombra. I never explained my connection to him. The reason I'm a princess is because I'm the King of Dark Magic's daughter. Celestia had found me when they defeated him in their first findings of the Crystal Empire. He was never truly defeated, even the second time when you helped me. It's because of...it's because of me. I am the reason he can't be defeated, but I'll get back to that later.
For a while, Celestia was completely oblivious to the fact it was indeed Sombra who had claimed me. A branch of Canterlot royalty had been under control of Sombra, and he used that to get me. Prince Blueblood, someone I'm sure you've met, claimed me as his cousin. Celestia had adopted Blueblood as well; he was an orphan like me. Naturally, it took some slick talking and dark magic, but Sombra eventually took me back to the Crystal Empire. Everypony thought the empire had fallen, but no. A spell had been cast so that only selected ponies could see it.
Sombra had allowed me to see the empire. At this time I was still very young, mind you, so my judgement could've been easily clouded by anypony. He lied at first, luring me into a sense of false security. I was convinced everypony had some good in them. And this was my true father, after all. He wouldn't want to hurt me, right? Wrong. After about a year or two of living peacefully within the empty castle, he gave me a proposal. If I wanted to still live at the castle, away from my piers and everypony's hate, I had to agree to use dark magic and revive the fallen empire of enslaved ponies. That was the only option he gave. I refused. I may be the daughter of dark magic, but my special talent was love. And I wasn't about to abandon my morals for him, in spite of him being my father. His first attempt to sway my opinion was dark magic. My magic counteracted his, and he fell, dazed. His second attempt was what gave him complete control over me.
It didn't surprise me when he found out how to control me. My motivations, what drives me, he used those to his advantage. I didn't know what drove him, so my attempts were less effective. My motivations... I want.. Everypony..to..be... Happy. To have a friend. To know they're loved. Mainly because I didn't know what these things meant. After all, my father abandoned me, my mother was killed, all my friends would betray me, and so on. I... I didn't want anyone to go through what I had to go through. I've been through crud nopony should have to deal with. So when Sombra threatened to enslave my friends, what was left of them anyway, and my family... I gave in. I had to do what he wanted. I promised that I would aid him, under one condition. My family wouldn't be harmed. That included my adopted parents. Luna, Celestia, and Blueblood would all be safe. Blueblood, it was too late for him anyway... The poor boy. He was like a little brother to me. Sombra drove him into complete insanity. He wasn't physically harmed, but the things Sombra did to him forced him to become the stallion you know now.
Sombra did something similar to me. This is something I've been meaning to tell you for some time. This is why I'm so weak and easily tired. Twily... I'm sick. Not just any kind of sickness, however. You may know about this specific type because of how many books you've read. I... I can't eat...I'm ashamed of who I've become. Sombra would taunt me mercilessly about how I was overweight. I wasn't, but his magic convinced me I was. That was one of the many mistakes I've made. I just wanted you to know, Twily, you are the only thing that kept me from...leaving...forever. And I thank you for that..
Cadence slumped over, coat once again soaked with tears. Twilight sat, frozen with shock. Everything had made sense finally. Cadence wept silently, tears rolling quickly off her cheeks. Twilight looked down at the princess, lost with what to do. She lay a hoof on her shoulder.
"Cadence... I had no idea.... I knew you had been upset after what happened to Shining, but... This.." Cadence looked up, eyes swollen. She smiled weakly, whispering, "It's okay.. I have you." Twilight returned the weak smile. She knew how it hurt to be alone; she had been there before.
That, however, is another story.