The Things We do For Love
Pony POV Series
Sharing Love
By Kendell2
Loose Canon
Warning! Spoilers for Pony POV Series: Finale 38!
Oh, that was so sweet! Mrs. Velvet always writes such wonderful romance stories! You know, it isn't easy to write a pony with so many potential lovers and all of them feel real and possible. Then again, it is a harem genre story, so maybe that's the point...
Oh? Who am I? I'm Love Struck. Hehe, no not literally, I'm happily married. My name is Lovestruck. And sorry, I was just reading this wonderful romance novel by a Mrs. Twilight Velvet! I do wonder why the series was kept between “Equestria's Most Boring Facts” and “The Wonderful World of Snails Expanded Edition” at the town library. I only found it because my daughter Heart Throb wanted to try and impress this smart colt at school she has a crush on. Ah, young love. Only time will tell if it takes root, but isn't that how love always works?
Hehe, sorry, I know I get a little worked up when talking about love, but with a name like mine how can't you? I joke, I chose this name when I got my Cutie Mark, my birth name is White Rose. Kidding aside, my family does kind of have a thing for love, dating back as far as anypony can remember. In fact that colt Lickety Splits told my little Heart Throb that our ancestor was a hero in the Age of Myths! He also said she apparently had a crush on the literal Prince Charming from the fairy tales when a door to fairy tale land was opened up...Okay, silly as that sounds, it certainly is a romantic sounding story! Nurse Redheart's also cousins with us, but if Lickety Split's to be believed Saint Sweetheart was of the original Heart Throb's bloodline. So yes, I suppose you could say love is in our blood!
What do I know about love? Quite a bit, actually. My Cutie Mark is love, more precisely love...advice? Sorry, it just feels like there's a better term for it but it doesn't exist... I just seem to have telling when two ponies are made for each other in my blood! Oh there's nothing I love more than going out on Hearts and Hooves Day and helping couples enjoy it! I've even helped a few of my friends finally match up with their sweet hearts! I can't think of anything sweeter than a couple having their first kiss on Hearts and Hooves Day! Well except having my own romantic day with my husband! Little bit of trivia, me and my sweetie held off on ours until then just to make it extra special!
I guess it goes without saying what my favorite holiday is...funnily enough, it's also my birthday. Almost like fate is telling me something, huh?
What?! Force two ponies together?! Who would do such a thing?!...Sorry...just...love is sacred. I just try to get ponies in the right place at the right time for them to realize it. Forcing them together...it's just sickening to think about. Even if they were made for each other, you could ruin everything by making them love each other! And...ugh...I don't even want to think about what that witch Chrysalis did to poor Shining Armor! Though I do find Changelings interesting creatures. Beings that live on love...I just wish they'd never believed they had to steal it...The love bank? Yes, I've donated.
Oh, my husband? His name is Grand Slam, he's a baseball player, but don't let all the muscles fool you, he's a sweetheart deep down. Oh I remember the night we met...He'd just had the worst game of his high school career, he was so down...I wasn't anypony special, I was just some girl who had ticket duty that night. I saw him looking down, I hadn't seen his face...but, well, we're ponies you know. We wouldn't be ponies if we didn't have empathy in our genes. I just asked him 'are you okay' and he jumped in surprise, accidentally knocking over the table and all the tickets and bits for them went everywhere! We both went down to pick them up at the same time. Hehe...we both went for the same one and bonked our heads (thank goodness I know how to angle my horn)...and then we came up, looking in each others eyes...
I just remember staring into them for a few minutes...him staring into mine. Love at first sight. We didn't go right into being Special Someponies, we just got up and put the tickets and bits back, saying our apologies...but we were both blushing so much you'd mistake us for Pinkie Pie. I know I know, I can see when others are made for each other, but... Sometimes it's easy to do things for others but hard to do them for yourself.
Did I what?! No, we didn't get a room! Ugh...That'd be LUST, not love! For your information we didn't so much as share a bed till our wedding night!...And then it was husband and wife sharing a deep, intimate moment. Yes, he's quite the stallion, but...what we did wasn't as important as who it was with.
Oh...you were just checking? Why? I don't need to think about it.
...Oh...you want to know about that day? Discord...Discord made me the most hateful wife imaginable...made me an abusive mother...took every ounce of love I had for my family and turned it to hate...I...I remember telling Grand Slam he'd better be an all-star or I'd leave him!...And Discord made him a henpecked husband that wouldn't defy me if his life depended on it. That's...that's not what I wanted...I wanted a husband who'd be by my side, not be my servant...But...for awhile Discord got me to question that...he got us all to question things...I felt like he'd ripped my heart out...
Then Princess Gaia gave us a day of pure innocence. Me and Grand Slam spent a lot of it giving each other blushing looks and calling each other cute names...oh, and I remember the three of us playing a game of baseball. Heart Throb was so happy to play ball with daddy...Hehe, and had the natural reaction a foal would when all returned to normal and the first thing the two of us did was kiss!
I know Princess Gaia did something wrong...but I will always thank her for healing me and Grand Slam's hearts...
Oh, how did I get my Cutie Mark? Hehe...simple: getting two of my friends to finally admit to each other they were in love...You know, I've always wondered something... my Cutie Mark is a bow and arrow... I feel like I should know why but could never put my hoof on it...
Huh? You have a friend you'd like me to meet? Who? Oh, hello. That's a nice Mohawk. Shake your hoof? Well I don't see why not-
'Choose your fate.'
What was that?
Huh...you know...I suddenly feel sleepy...
“Thank you, Pandora.”
“Oh! You're welcome, V! Now me and Anarchy have to go! We've got other stuff to do!”
“I know...Good luck, my friend.”
“You too!”
Me and Yours Truly sat at the flower show! It was Valentine’s Day, both our favorite holidays put together! But who didn't like Valentines Day? It was just so full of love! Well, every day is full of love, but this one especially!
Oh, who am I? I'm Always and Forever! Me and Yours Truly do everything we can to make Ponyville's Valentines Day a day to remember! We make so many Valentines Day cards our hooves get tired! We make sure all the Valentines Day candy gets made and sent out! We even help ponies pick out Valentines Day gifts!
After Valentines Day is over, sometimes Yours Truly sleeps a lot, but I don't...I don't know why. Just...I don't see her if I don't go to her a lot of the time. I guess I just like spreading love year round! Sometimes I dream I'm a little...what's the word for what Spike is? One of those except wearing a diaper and I have a cute little bow and arrow and I fly around spreading love all the time! I was so cute!
But...you know...sometimes I feel like something is missing...something I can never figure out what it is and neither does Yours Truly!...It's like a kinda love is on the tip of my tongue and I just can't name it...maybe I wish for Twinkle Wish to tell me...
Huh? Where did all the colors go? What are all those shadowy ponies?!
There are big ponies running all over the place with horns and wings, and weird...things that are a bunch of different things! Some of them...some of them make our friends disappear...Why...why can't I remember their names anymore?
Yours Truly! I run to her house and wake her up! We both run outside and...and the world's getting worse...parts of it feel like they're missing...I...I'm crying...Ponies...we shouldn't cry should we?
Me and Yours Truly run for it! We run all over the place! We...we just try to get away...we're...what's the word? Scared...We hug each other in a bush and cry and cry! This isn't what things are supposed to be like!...Isn't love supposed to win all the time? Isn't it supposed to make everything right?...Who loved anypony more than we do? Me and Yours Truly...Did we just not love enough?
Huh? Who's that?!
I see a pony who...well, looks like a pink shadow. She's really pink! A lot like yours Truly! She...she feels kinda familiar.
“You...love everything, right?” the girl shadow asked.
I nod. “I love love! I like spreading it wherever I go! I love Valentines Day! It's my favorite holiday!”
“Mine too!” Yours Truly yelled.
“Hmm...I used to love...I used to want somepony to love me...” she said. “...If you want to escape all the bad things happening...I can help...”
“You can?!” I ask, me and Yours Truly hugged each other and jumped up and down!
“One of you...”
We stopped and stared at each other. “What?”
“If you don't want to get erased, which given what you are, you probably will be...I can fuse with one of you, and we'll become a new pony who can exist...but there's only one of me and two of you...choose...” she said.
We looked at each other. We both felt like crying...we had to choose...
“Do it with Yours Truly!” I said.
“Do it with Always and Forever!” she said.
“...Yours Truly, please go with her...”
She hugged me. “But I don't want you to be...erased? Was it? That sounds bad!...You need it more than me...”
“No I don't!”
The pony looked at us. “...You two really love each other, don't you?”
We both nodded. “Yes!”
She looked...sad? Or like she was...trying to be. “...I used to love...I remember it...Hang on...”
The pony left us...we both huddled together close...and then she came back with a...not a girl shadow. He was big and brown, his mane was white. He had a baseball mitt and baseball for a Cutie Mark!
“I never had a husband...but Slugger had a wife...but she's already fused with somepony else...he's alone...I...I feel sorry for him. Or I would if I still could...I don't want him to be left behind here because his wife moved on...Yours Truly can resonate with that love he used to have...it might be the only Shadow I could find that could maybe work...Hehe, hard to believe I can actually...not care but almost...”
“I wish I could feel bad...I wish I could miss her...” Slugger said. “But yeah...it'd be nice to be able to feel love again...”
We both looked to each other, then to Slugger and the other pony. “...Okay...”
“Good, let's do this...”
Me and Yours Truly look to each other as the two of them come inside. With...with Heart Throb and me coming together...I think I finally figured out what that missing love was...
Ugh...what? That was a weird dream...But felt...familiar.
Why does everything look weird? I don't like this shade of pink...
“...Good morning, Lovestruck...”
I blinked and looked up. Was Grand Slam back from work? No the voice was a girl's...
I looked around the room, but the only thing there was a love bird.
“Lovestruck,” said the love bird, waving...WHAT?!
“Ah! Talking bird!”
“I'm not a talking bird...this is simply a secondary Avatar. Call me Lovely. I am the Spirit of Love...and...it pains me to do this, but I must be quick...Who I am is not important,” the love bird said. Who she was wasn't important. “...The world as you know it has been changed...and I need your help to keep ponies from dying...”
Dying? Dying?!
“HEART THROB!”
“Wait Lovestruck!”
I gallop full speed to my daughter's room, due to the fog she'd been kept home for the day. Cloudsdale was quite the flight from Ponyville and no offense to the school chariot ponies but I wasn't risking my baby's life in this thick fog. Why Cloudsdale when we live in Ponyville? She needed to go to flight school.
My baby...she's curled up on her bed crying...she looks...just like the rest of the room.
She looks to me and hiccuped. “M-Mommy...p-please don't make me go to the Rainbow Factory...”
I blinked. “Why are you afraid of that?”
“B-Because I failed my flight test...They're...they're going to throw me into the Pegasus Device!”
My heart skipped a beat. I'm not pegasus, I'm a unicorn. But I know that ghost story. Why...why do I feel like it's not one?
I hugged her. “I won't let them, sweetie...I promise...”
I hug my baby for I don't know how long...please...please don't let this be real...
I stepped out of the room as Heart throb went to sleep, I had to think...
“...I'm sorry Lovestruck, but they will come for her. She's trapped in a dark lie that will drag her to where she's 'needed' for it's purposes no matter what, and you cannot stop them...and that's the only reason that she's here and not already there: so they can torment you...” Lovely explained.
“Who's they?!”
“The ones who twisted the world to make all beliefs true...I can't tell you, I'm sorry, the world won't let me tell you.”
“What do they want with my baby?!”
“...The sad thing is they care nothing for your child, only for their world's suffering. I assure you, everything that can be done to stop this is being done...but with things so twisted there are many in danger and only so many hooves to help. We are spread thin.”
I gasp...I...my baby...
Cue several minutes of me arguing with a Love Bird, pleading and begging for answers...I know the five stages of grief. I went through all of them...and maybe broke a vase.
“I'll do anything! Just don't let them take her!”
“As you are now, there's nothing you can do, I'm sorry...”
My...my little baby...wait...
“...As I am now?”
Lovely nods. “...You're free, but there was nowhere safer I could bring you...I had to struggle to keep you safe and yourself so I could do this...but if you become something more, then this bubble will be a safe haven...your daughter, and your husband will be safe here...but in exchange...I'd need for you to help me save others...and take a gamble I'm sad to say is a necessary evil for this to happen...”
“Grand Slam and Heart Throb will be safe?...Explain...please...”
I didn't care. My sweetheart and my baby...what kind of wife and mother wouldn't take a risk for her child?
Lovely gave a sad sigh... “...Long ago, I fell in love with a stallion named Mars...he was a brave and noble knight...a white knight if there ever was one...We had a child, a Demi-God. He was the Concept of Sharing Love...”
“Sharing love...” I muttered. “...Why does that sound like...a part of me recognizes it?”
“...Because...one day the world changed, the ponies did a spell that granted everypony's wishes. The specifics are not important now...and he became known as a pegasus named Always and Forever...”
I gasped in shock. “...I...I remember that name...it was in my dream...”
“You should...because when the world had to be reset...a tragic event that has caused creation itself sorrow beyond measure...Always and Forever became you...Your dreams already told you the answer.”
I staggered back. “I...I...” I had to take a few moments to process it. “I'm a demi-goddess?”
Lovely shook her head slowly. “No...you are not my son...nor are you Always and Forever...you are...their spiritual descendant so to speak...Another in this town is very similar...That matters not,” she explained. “...But...you see, when the world returned to how it was...my son...he...”
She started crying. My blood ran cold. “...He's...I'm so sorry...”
Lovely looked up at me with a sad smile. “...Thank you...he...he was killed...worse than killed...he no longer exists...And with him my bond with his father was erased as well...”
I don't care she's a bird, I hugged her has gingerly as possible...no mare should lose that...no one should. “I'm sorry...”
“...It's...it's not okay...it probably never will be...but thank you...Lovestruck...”
We finally separated and she composed herself again. “...~~Cupid~~ spread love far and wide...~~the bow~~ in your Cutie Mark belonged to him...it is the last image of it that still exists, but it has sadly lost it's meaning...”
I gasped. My Cutie Mark...so...so that's why it's like that...~~Cupid's Bow~~... “...I...I get that I'm the...spiritual descendant of your son...but...how can I save my family?”
Lovely chuckled. “A worried mother...and that love is why you're the only one that can do this...being my son's spiritual descendant would mean little if you didn't have it...When a God, or Demi-God is erased, their Concept is as well...the Concept of Sharing Love no longer exists...”
She flew over and perched on my shoulder. “...But it can exist again...even if my son never can...If the Concept's Shadow of Existence merges with a pony with an infant Concept or the equal in their hearts...it can reconstitute their Concept and make it exist again.”
I gasped. What happened to...my dream. “...So if I merge with your son's Shadow...I become Concept of Sharing Love?”
Lovely nodded. “And with it again a part of creation, it can reintroduce itself into being...and potentially save many lives and make the ones who are trying to save the world have more of a chance...and as a Demi-Goddess, you would have advantages neither deity nor mortal possess that could allow you personally to save others...your mortal half would hide your divine half, so you could make more use of your power and go undetected than a full deity, and while not as powerful as a full deity, you would be far stronger than you are now. You, as a Demi-Goddess, will be of both the mortal world and the spirit world and can move freely between the two at will, allowing you to escape if you are in danger to where your attacker cannot follow...”
“...So I won't just be possessed by ~~Cupid~~ or something?”
“No...if it works, you won't be my son...you never will be, nor are you a replacement...nor will the damage his demise did be undone...you will be you...” I could tell a part of her wished that wasn't the case...I can't blame her... “Just more...And I will love you as if you were my daughter, not my lost son...”
“...And my family?”
“How can reviving an aspect of love destroy love?” Lovely asked. “You will not lose the love you have. My son...he was always free to be open and a part of the world, for he was as much a part of the mortal world as the spirit world...this will be like a mortal ascending to godhood...or it should be, this is the first time we've ever actually done this...a Shadow of a destructive Fallen Deity once tried it but...that was under completely different circumstances, and ~~his~~ would be vessel destroyed ~~his~~ Shadow. However...there's one problem...the reason I'm only doing this now that the world is on the verge of ruin to attempt it and the reason it's a good thing that fallen one's attempt was stopped...The situation is different, but there is still a risk.”
I looked over and into her eyes. “A risk?”
“...When a normal Shadow merges with a host, if they're not compatible, the consequences could be catastrophic...and that is with a mortal shadow...” Lovely looked nervous. “...A Concept's Shadow is far more intense. More powerful...If you are not perfectly compatible with ~~Cupid's~~ Shadow of Existence...it WILL overwhelm you...you WILL...worse than die...And what comes of the merger...will not be a good thing.”
My blood ran cold. “...I...”
“I wouldn't have approached you if I wasn't certain this has a near perfect percent chance of this working...” Lovely explained. “...My brother, the Alicorn of Knowledge, did the calculations and he said it should work...but if it doesn't...it's your choice, Lovestruck. It has to be your choice. But before you make it, walk out to the edge of this fog bubble and look out.”
I gulped and trotted out to the edge of the bubble...AH!
I came running back in as white as a sheet. NO I'M NOT TELLING YOU WHAT I SAW! I...I think I may have wet myself.
“...The whole world is like that...That's why I'm asking this of you...” Lovely explained. “But if you choose not to, I can take you and your family-”
“...Do it...”
She blinked and looked to me. “Lovestruck...”
I looked towards me daughter's room. “...If there's even a tiny chance of my daughter and husband being protected by me doing this, I'll take it...”
“...You truly love them, don't you?”
“You need to ask?”
Lovely chuckled. “No, I don't...and that love is why you're perfect...but no one thing...”
“Yes?”
“While a demi-god, being half god and half mortal, is different than being a god, and subject to fewer restraints than a full Deity...if you accept this, you will never be able to give up the burden of being Sharing Love as long as you live, and you will live for a long time. Even if the world is fixed, you will be Sharing Love still...”
“My real job...it will be to share love, right?”
“Yes. To plant the seeds of love in hearts, and seeing if they take root.”
“...I've been doing that all my life...I think I'd actually be just fine with that.”
“Alright...Pandora, do it.”
Huh?
A unicorn mare in a prance maid uniform jumped in through a window and opened the closet. I felt all the warmth be sucked out of the room...it felt...wrong...no...like I was wrong...ugh...
Out of the closet came a little colt...no...a colored three dimensional shadow of one. His fur was white and his mane and tail were pink...his Cutie Mark was covered by a diaper. He looked tired, like he'd been through a lot to get here...
“Alright, there you go! One shadow, gotta go!” the mare closed the closet. “My own help-save-the-world plans need doing!” she explained, waved to Lovely, and then jumped out the window.
“...What just happened?”
“That was a friend of mine...only a member of her family can open a portal to Oblivion were my son...my son's shadow...” Lovely started crying, looking at the little shadow...
“~~Momma...somepony stole my bow...~~” the colt explained, like a child who's favorite toy had been taken.
Lovely looked furious for a moment, then calmed. “I...I see...~~Cupid...~~ mommy...mommy still loves you...she always has...”
“~~...You can't love what doesn't exist...~~” the little shadow said, looking...like he wanted to be heartbroken but couldn't...
“I...I know...Lovestruck, please, you need to accept him...then you can combine and bring his Concept back. Please...” Lovely practically begged, tears streaming down her face.
I lowered down in front of the shadow so I could look him in the eyes. “...I'm Lovestruck...”
“~~I was Cupid...a mean pony murdered him...~~”
It felt so wrong hearing a colt say that...I wanted to hug him but I felt like I couldn't...
“...And you're mad at that?”
“~~No...I can't be mad...and...I remember...even when she killed me, I couldn't bring myself to hurt her...Even as a shadow I can't bring myself to hate her...~~”
“...Because love doesn't hate...”
“~~It doesn't...love is kind...~~”
“Love is beautiful.”
“~~It's something to share...~~”
“Because love is special, it's true...love is like a flower...”
“~~When you have it, you can plant one of its seeds...~~”
“And if it's good soil, then it sprouts, and becomes a new beautiful flower...”
“~~But it's never good to try and make it grow by force...~~”
“Because if you make it grow where it can't, it suffers for it...”
“~~But when you have love to share, nothing is more beautiful than to see it take root...~~”
“You still want to share that love, don't you?”
~~C~~upi~~d~~ nodded. “~~...I remember how good it felt, even if I can't feel it anymore...and want to feel it again...~~”
“And I've been...spreading love all my life...as best I can...the possibility to share it more?...I'd love that, ~~C~~upi~~d~~...let's share love, together...let's make Sharing Love live again...”
Cupid and I hugged each other
A light inside me shined...and around us a pink flame began to burn...not destroying anything, but feeling warm and inviting...
The flames spread out and formed into my Cutie Mark...our Cutie Mark...
The strange look to the world seemed to repel from us, like we were fire and it was darkness.
The clouds above Lovestruck's home dissolved and became a beautiful day, the same bow and arrow symbol forming in pink flames. Heaven's light seemed to shine down, as if heralding something.
I felt what was separating myself and Cupid crumbled. Cupid felt so...massive...like he was something immense despite how small he was...his shadow entered me and I felt my light grow...my soul grow...becoming more...like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly...
“Alright, son, keep thy eye along the arrow shaft, don't lose focus and don't accidently release the bow too early.”
“Thanks papa.”
Memories...I could remember...but...those memories weren't me...I'm not just Lovestruck, I'm not Cupid...I'm me.
The fire implodes inwards, forming a perfect heart of pink fire around us...around me...
A pink bow and arrow crystal floated in Lovestruck's soul...and suddenly glowed with a blinding light...
It's golden mounting changed shape and grew out, coming around and down to form a heart shape, with golden wings coming out behind it. Behind it rose a card, a pink Alicorn above a stallion and mare. However, the card was split in half diagonally, the bottom half having stylized image of the crystal itself.
In Tartarus, a voice roared in anger.
“NO!” a filly with no name, no appearance, and no cutie mark screamed in absolute rage. “I GOT RID OF IT! I KILLED IT! HOW CAN IT BE BACK?!” she screamed as her one solace, that she'd killed the Concept of Sharing Love, was stolen from her. She pounded the frozen ground until her hooves bled...well, bled more. “It's not fair...”
Havoc's eyes appeared on everything on the barren landscape around her, staring at her. “Neither Was What You Did To Cupid, Neither Was What You Did To Venus, Neither Was What You Did To Mars, Neither Was What You Did To Applejack's Parents...” each eye echoed louder than thunder right in her ears, going down a list of every last being who had suffered in any way from her act of supreme selfishness. Covering her ears would yield no result, deafness was not possible. It would take years to reach the end.
I felt like I exploded, then imploded. Like I was suddenly destroyed and then remade...Or like...half or me was...No...that'd sound like I was imperfect...
I...Sweet Celestia, I can see it...it's so beautiful...I...I'm sorry...It's hard to describe...but I can see LOVE...I can FEEL love...I'm PART OF LOVE...
The fire explodes off me, washing over everything. The darkness and strange style burns away...it's not quite how I remember it...more...grainy, but not in a bad way...like it was older but still bright and colorful.
A pair of ponies dressed in Rainbow Factory outfits trotted up to the door, a windowless cart behind them. One of them reached for the door knob...right as the shock wave radiated outwards, washing over them. They dissolved like shadows in the light, their cart following suit.
Across all creation, the Concept of Sharing Love reasserted itself and returned to being.
“Sharing Love isn't forcing love where it doesn't belong, for love can be destroyed that way. ...Sharing Love is planting a seed...it cannot be planted in just any soil, but in the right soil, between the right two hearts. If the soil is right, then it will sprout...it will grow, it will expand...And it will continue to be shared...”
'Lovely' hugged me with her wings, for a moment looking like the pink Alicorn I now knew from Cupid's memories was her true form...I hugged her back.
“...I...I love you, daughter...”
“...I love you too...mom.”
She wasn't my birth mother...we both knew that's never going to be the case...but I didn't mind calling her mom...I was kind of adopted now...
It was weird...I remembered having her and Mars as Cupid, Now and Forever had what she believed to be her parents...and I have my parents. I love them all. And I will never forget how much I love any of them.
“Lovely?”
“Well, this avatar was intended to be short lived...” 'Lovely,' or as I now knew her, Venus explained.
I finally looked myself over. I had wings now, but not pegasus wings. They were like those of an angel...but more...a cherub?
And...
“...Do I have to wear the diaper?”
Venus snickered, covering her beak with a wing. “It's part of the package, sorry for not warning you...”
Oh well, can't be all roses...and it was at least a comfortable diaper. But no way was I actually using it. I guess I should be glad I'm still a mare and not a colt...
“...I hereby dub you, Suadela Peitho Equestria.”
“...Not Ponyland?” I asked, recalling from my memories.
“You're not Cupid, Ponyland is not your home. Equestria is.”
Venus looked at the space Cupid's shadow once occupied. “...Goodbye...Cupid...” I saw a tear run down her face.
I nodded. Cupid was part of me...but I wasn't Cupid. I put a hoof to my heart. Rest in peace...brother.
“Momma!”
“Heart Throb!”
My daughter...she seemed to already know what I did somehow...she also looked a little different. Her muzzle was longer, she seemed a little pudgier and she was grainy like the rest of the world...but she was my daughter, nothing would change that. Nothing ever could.
Grand Slam came running in and hugged me...almost like he was warped here somehow. I wasn't complaining. We hugged, he seemed to know I was a demi-goddess now...he didn't care. I was still the mare he'd married. I was just glad he was safe...
“I love you, Grand Slam...”
“Same here, Lovestruck...You've always been my angel, this just makes that literal.”
I was tempted to correct him, but it was too sweet a comment to ruin.
...After spending some time with my family...I knew I had to say goodbye to them and get to work...they would be safe at home, Venus assured me...they're the ones I wanted this for. The power was a burden, my family being safe was the real blessing.
“...Without the bow, your power is limited...” Venus explained, her avatar seeming to flicker and she looked weak. “You will have to touch to use them.”
“I understand,” I replied. “...Are you okay?”
Venus looked tired, like she was running out of energy... “This was only a temporary, secondary avatar. It's energy is nearly spent...but I will be watching over you...and you can fly to my domain whenever you want. The door is always open...”
“...Alright...get a good rest, mom...”
“I wish I could...good luck, daughter...” she replied, giving a smile and burning away in pink flames.
Let's get to work...
I came across a mare running from the vampire her husband had been turned into. Neither of them could remember one another...it was as if their love never existed...well let it exist again.
I flew through the trees, and up behind the vampire. Being undetected seemed almost second nature to me now. The moment I touched him, it was like an arrow to his heart and he stopped in his tracks.
He looked at her like she was a thing of beauty...but more than that, he lost the will to harm her. “My dear...I don't know what came over me, but I...”
I flew behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. “...I...You don't want to hurt me?”
And her love made her trust him...few things can over come a curse like true love. And few things can stop a monster from killing but love that is returned...
When all this is fixed their original love will return...but until now this will have to do...and it will keep her safe...
I always loved Black Beauty and the Beast, such a romantic story.
Hide!
“What?”
Fly up as high as you can and hide, daughter! Something terrible is coming!
I grabbed any pony I saw and took them up with me as the Nightmare Forces attacked. I took them to the tallest mount I could and safe guarded them there. Thank Venus for Demi-Goddess level strength!
“Thanks, Miss...”
“You're welcome...just doing my job...”
The mare I saved kissed her husband and they hugged their daughter. Aww...
I don't know what drew me here. I didn't see anypony in danger or hurt, I'd been protecting ponies as much as I could, either with love or with my wings and strength once the Nightmare Forces had been dispelled. I swear I even saw Daring Do once or twice!...I saw a pirate ship fall out of the sky...right after I felt something very very wrong in my heart...in my being...
“Mom?”
I'm still here, dear...keep going...
No pony was in the wreckage, thank Grandmother. This ship looked like it'd been through a lot...I wonder who...
Then I saw it...laying embedded in the ground.
It was like my Cutie Mark made flesh...A pink bow with the edges curled. Simple, but beautiful.
A few lingering bits of gold seemed to come off it like shadows fading in the light...I could feel it...
“Cupid's bow...”
I swear for a moment I saw Cupid appear between it and me and give me an approving nod.
I trotted over and pulled it from the ground. The moment I touched it I knew it was a part of me. A flare of pink fire surrounded me, then condensed into quiver with pink arrows ending in hearts on my back. This wasn't a weapon, it was a tool...I could feel it. Somepony had tried to use it for battle...
Daughter, please come to me...
I slipped through the boundary. It was second nature to me now. As easy as opening a door.
Mother's realm...beautiful doesn't begin to describe it...Imagine being hugged by everypony you know and love, and everypony they know and love onto infinity and try to make a place out of it...that's the Realm of Love. I took out a rose and put it at the statue of my brother at the entrance before going to Venus herself.
“...I...I'm afraid I lost my temper...my Avatar is indisposed...” Venus told me, looking guilty. “I'm sorry, Suadela, I can't help you any further in the mortal world...or anypony else. I accept responsibility for it...but on the positive side...you've got your bow now...”
I nodded. And I hug her to comfort her. I...I haven't known her long, but I can feel Cupid's love...and I want so much to feel it too. “Yeah...somepony else was using it...”
“I know...” Venus sounded angry...it felt wrong for her to. “May I see it?”
I nodded and handed it over in my telekinesis to her.
Venus flew up and held it in what seemed to be a portal to somewhere else. I saw other Alicorns focus their magic on it. I had to shield my eyes from whatever they did.
Venus floated down and landed in front of me, returning it. “This bow in the wrong hooves could do untold damage...and in the hands of one who cannot handle it's power could kill them to draw on its full power...the pony who had it before just barely withstood it's power...me and my siblings have endowed it with the same enchantments as we do our own personal weapons...from this moment forwards, only one worthy of it may even so much as lift it.”
I look it over and nod. “...Thank you...now what, mom?”
“...Now continue to protect the mortals...we must all do our part to ensure nopony dies today...Do what I may no longer do.”
I nodded, gave her a hug and flew back to mortal reality.
My family is safe...as an aspect of Love, I will do all I can to help others...
No pony deserves to lose a son, daughter, or anything else...and won't today if I can help in any small way.
End
Author's Note
Okay, so I was having a conversation with Alexwarlorn after the Daring Do chapter of the finale and brought up what D___t's attempt to reconstitute his Concept and brought up the idea of Venus using Cupid's Shadow and a compatible pony, and he said it was possible and an interesting story idea. Which is how a lot of our conversations go that inspire loose canon stories.
Then I found out Lovestruck mylittlewiki.org/wiki/Lovestru… and a G3 pony who looked exactly like her mylittlewiki.org/wiki/Always_a… exists. Yeah, at that point I kinda had to do this.
Then I saw him have Tootsie throw away Cupid's bow in the new chapter, and decided yeah, I'd finish this and post it. I'm happy with it.
I should also note that, given Alex's hatred of quantifying things, I didn't WANT to quantify how Demi-Gods function in full. Personally, I don't think they're subject to the same 'banned from heaven 'thing as full gods are and have a choice in the matter, kinda like some Demi-Gods in greek mythology go to the after life but some like Hercules ascend to full godhood. But that's just me, so I didn't specify.
