It was night over the Crystal Empire - the sky was black and the air was cool. Cadence and Shining Armor finally returned to the Crystal Castle from a night with Shining Armor's parents. Practically in sync, the two slipped into bed together ready to surrender to the gentle embrace of sleep.
"You're parents' place was nice..." said Cadence adjusting herself, the taste of their slow-roasted carrot stew still on her mind.
"I told you they weren't that bad." Shining Armor yawned, scooting closer to Cadence. "We have to go back their in the summer time, we can go back and visit. They always have this big family party every summer. It's great..."
"That sounds nice."
Cadence put her hoof gently on Shining Armor's shoulder and for a short while they laid there, happy to be in each other's warm embrace.
"Hey, honey?" asked Shining Armor.
"Yeah?"
"I should meet your father next week."
Cadence's eyes and wings shot open wide, launching the blanket off the both of them, letting a chilling breeze hit them both. Shining Armor was shocked. He had never seen his wife ever act this way - except for the time when she accidently burned herself.
"What's wrong?!" asked Shining Armor, slightly frantic.
Cadence's wings slowly lowered as she calmed herself.
"Oh... it's nothing." she sighed.
Shining Armor's was not convinced. His years as a royal guard and time with his wife was too great for him to be mislead so easily.
"It's... your parents... am I right?" asked Shining Armor, somewhat unsure of himself.
Cadence shut her eyes and slowly nodded her head knowing that there was no way out of the question.
All that Shining Armor wanted to do at that moment was ask questions. He wondered what was it about Cadence's parents that caused her so much unease with the mere mentioning. He wondered if something had happened to them and it haunted her. Though his curiosity was rising, he knew better than to disturb Cadence any further by pressing on.
"I'm sorry." said Shining Armor. "Forget I said anything. Let's just go to sleep."
"No... It's okay..."
Cadence knew that it'd be a mental ordeal for Shining Armor if he knew the truth about her parents. It still taxes on her psyche to know. Shining Armor may not even look at her as his precious jewel again with the same loving eyes as he did right there beside her, but the idea of keeping her secret to the grave started to seem more like a fantasy.
She looked into his eyes and, though the curiosity was still on his face, when she looked in his eyes, she remembered back to the day of their wedding. Early on that day, it seemed like the world was coming to an end, but she looked into him and found hope. If they both survived that together, then surely they he could handle the truth.
Although, he didn't have to know, but if they were going to spend the rest of their lives with each other, then neither of them can be afraid of the trials ahead.
"Sure. Next week, we'll go visit my dad." said Cadence.
Shining Armor, though still a little confused, felt a little joy. It just processed in his mind that Cadence never talked about her dad. He never brought it up directly. She would normally find some way to avoid the question. She had never mentioned anything on the subject. The next week would be prove to be interesting, he thought as he fell asleep.
Though Cadence clung on to hope, she still couldn't shake off the dread that was draped over her.
It was the weekend yet again. Shining Armor and Cadence were pulled along in a humble wooden cart on the way to her dad's house with Cadence guiding the two earth-pony royal guards. On the way, Shining Armor's mind sparked with many ideas of what he may be like. So easily could he imagine him being a kind-hearted doctor. His wife was just like that kind of pony - Caring. He tried to ask a question or two, but each time, Cadence told him to wait until they get there, leaving him to imagine.
Shining Armor was broken out of his daydreaming when he realized that they were being taken outside of the capital, away from the city. It was definetly strange that they would be taken out of the kingdom, but not flown there. It only got more peculiar when, after about half an hour, the guards stopped the cart at the mouth of a cave that was on the side of a mountain capped with snow.
"Here? This is where your dad lives?!" Shining Armor asked, awed by her father's choice for a home, almost thinkning that this was some kind of practical joke.
Cadence slowly nodded and stepped out.
"Is your dad a dragon or something?" He kind of believed it himself. She seemed so much less lively since her father was brought up and she has been careful about revealing him.
"... I wish..." Cadence muttered beneath her breath resentfully.
They walked down a long stone corridor that was lit with the dim orange glow of torches that hung on the wall. It got warmer the further down they went until they stopped at an old-looking wooden door. A strange rush welled up in the each of them.
"Shining, please, wait here for a second." Cadence pleaded.
"Is something wrong? We don't have to do this."
"No, just trust me - Everything will be okay."
Cadence walked in, shutting the door behind her as she entered. Almost immediately, there was a loud, gutteral shouting. Shining Armor's heart started to pound with worry, but there was no screaming. He trusted Cadence. He held onto that and resisted the urge to bust in there. He calmed easier when, quickly, the shouts lowered to an irritated grumble. It seemed like eternity until Cadence poked her head out of the door.
"You can come in now." she said. "Just be professional about this."
Shining Armor opened the door a little wider and took a single step when he saw, sitting in the room in front of him, was Sombra. Shining Armor's face was frozen in an expression of pure shock. In a single motion, he took Cadence by the shoulder, stepped out, and closed the door. Had had too many things to say and ask. All that came out of his mouth was chokes and wheezes.
"You need to calm down!" said Cadence as she turned his head so that they were eye to eye.
"How can I be calm?" he muttered. "That was the evil king we killed!"
"I know this might be hard for you, but that's the way it's been. That's how I'm the princess of the Crystal Empire."
"May I remind you that this isn't exactly the first time we met?!"
"Look. I know that there's a lot to talk about, but that's why we're here."
Shining Armor hesistated. He looked at that mare and felt helpless. It was clear to him now, that this moment was something that was important for her - After all, she never told Twilight or Princess Celestia about this before, and Cadence does act like this is something that she wants to do more than he does. A part of him felt like he could've gone his whole life without knowing this. Another part of him felt like he saw all that he needed to see and that he could go home. But, it was clear, Cadence wanted him there for more than that. He just couldn't find a part of him that could say "no" to her.
"I want you to tell me... Will I be okay?" Shining Armor asked.
"Yes. My dad's power is weakened since he died and we talked ahead of time and he's promised not to hurt you."
"Okay. I trust you."
Once more, they walked in. Sombra sat on a couch in a living room that almost resembled that of a log cabin (if one were ever made of stone). All of the furniture was old and damaged, obviously thrown out by some other pony. The room was illuminated by a clear gem imbedded into the ceiling that glowed with a magic white light.
Shining Armor took a seat on another couch in the living room away from Sombra, Cadence sitting down right next to him. A long silence followed as Sombra and Shining Armor stared at each other.
"Believe it or not, I'm really interested to know a little about the stallion who's married to my daughter." Sombra spoke breaking the ice.
"Oh, well, I went and got my education in Canterlot when I was young," Shining Armor began, avoiding eye contact. "Then when I finished, I went to become a royal guard, and I became captain. My little sister's a princess now, too..."
Another long silence dragged on as Sombra took a breif pause to think. His son-in-law waited nervously for some response.
"So what have you acomplished?" Sombra asked.
"Uh, I helped to repelled Queen Chrysalis from the capital not too long ago and then I..." Shining Armor stopped as he was about to bring up when he helped to overthrow him. "... I also was rewarded by Princess Celestia on numerous occasions."
"Good, good." Sombra replied with a nod. "My daughter deserves a great warrior. She's one-in-a-million. She got her into magic when she was just a filly, you know. She was the best I've ever seen. I trusted that she'd put her potential to good use. I put her in special classes so that she could become a great ruler and I found just the right ponies so we could make her into an alicorn when she was around the same age when most fillies get their cutie marks. It was probably a similar spell to what Celestia must have used on your sister."
"Oh, well, your daughter is a very talented, elegant mare."
"She's more than that. She could've been the pony that'd overthrow Celestia, you know."
"No, I wouldn't." peeped Cadence.
"Do you see that cutie mark?" Sombra asked Shining Armor, refering to the crystal heart on Cadence's flank.
"Yes."
"She found out that she could manipulate the hearts of ponies before I sent her to Equestria."
"I stop hate, dad!" Cadence interjected. "I don't manipulated anypony."
Sombra grumbled.
"You had potential. You could've taken over any kingdom you wanted for the Crystal Empire!" Sombra continued, now talking to Cadence. "That's the only reason I tried so hard to teleport her you to Equestria from here. I've had to find very powerful ponies to do what I've done for you!"
Shining Armor was stunned. He could never imagine Cadence being some sort of tyrant. In a way, it made sense how she's a princess in the first place, how she got to Equestria... It meant the mare he married was the result of a tyrant's plan. The resentful look on Cadence confirmed for him that Sombra wasn't lying just to disturb him.
"Well, uhm." Shining Armor spoke, in an attempt to change the subject. "Congradulations, on your ressurection."
"It's not as hard as you think." Sombra responded. "I just studied enough forbidden magic and made deals with the right people. Honestly, this is probably the fifth time, I've been brought back to life. "
"You've been killed five times?!"
"Being a tyrant is a very interesting profession with its perks, but the job security is pretty awful. I could think of a few ponies, though who could do it and have no problem..."
Sombra rolled his eyes to his daughter who answered by striking him on the shoulder.
"Did you once think that maybe - just maybe - I wasn't into taking over Equestria?" Cadence asked, annoyed.
"You were the one who wanted to be in charge of something."
"I meant making the Crystal Empire a better place! I didn't mean taking over Equestria!"
"I didn't think you meant overthrowing me!"
Shining Armor now saw that Cadence had the same firey-eyed glare that her father had. Gradually, he could see more and more of the family resemblence. In Cadence, he could see the same hostile stare that Sombra had given him a long time ago and the imposing agression of a tyrant. It scared him finally seeing it.
For the rest of the time, the three talked for about thirty minutes about what went on in the Crystal Empire until Sombra's impatience, Shinining Armor's shock, and Cadence's shame all became a little too much for everypony. Cadence and Shining Armor left after a brief "good-bye" and briskly made their way back into their cart and headed back to the Crystal Empire.
On the ride home to the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor stared blankly out into the snow. If it wasn't for the hope of Celestia's downfall, then he wouldn't be married. That thought clouded his mind. Sitting across from him was somepony who was the incarnation of Sombra's wrath. He stayed quiet, waiting for Cadence to say something first, but mintues of silence followed. He looked away from the path at Cadence and saw that she was looking down on the floor, rubbing her foreleg, looking as dismayed as she had on the day of Chrysalis's invasion, no doubt thinking about the same thing he did, though she seemed fearful.
Shining Armor sat next to her and put a reasuring hoof on her shoulder, letting her know that everything was going to be alright. She turned her head to him and, once again, she saw, in his eyes, hope. She scooted closer to him and they both shared a warm embrace as they reached home.
