Point of View: Princess Cadance
“Love...what is it?” I chuckle lightly. “I'm the Princess of love, and I can't answer this question myself. Everypony thinks I know what love is, due to me casting the love spell and all. But truthfully, I don't know myself.”
Twilight stares at me. I smile as I see her wings extended in surprise. “But...but, you're so confident about the topic!”
“I'm a Princess, Twily. It's my job to be confident. Like it is tia's job to raise the sun and deal with every matter in her court decisively. Like it is Luna's job to be confident in her night sky and dreamscape. But sometimes, Twilight?” I lean my muzzle to her ear. “we ourselves do not know the power of the very forces that we wield.”
She gapes at me. “But...but...you give advice to everypony.”
I smile. “Yes, I do. But nopony asks me what love is. What is love? No pony comes in here and asks the questions that truly need asking. Instead they come in here, into the love court and ask about everything about love. They ask about how to ask a pony out, for date ideas and various stuff.”
“Stuff?”
“You know, sex. Bucking. Every single fetish under the sun, including bucking on coals.” I wave my hoof dismissively. “You know, the usual.”
“I did NOT need to know that.”
I shrug. “You asked. By the way Twilight,” I whisper into her ear. “Wingboner.” I giggle as I watch her glance backwards and groan in frustration at the sight of her outstretched wings. She gingerly folds her wings by her side...and I giggle some more as she shifts.
“Twilight, out of all the books you've ever read, are you going to seriously have me believe that you don't know about wingboners?”
“Yes...I know about them.”
“Then quit trying to hide. It takes an experienced pegasus years to even begin successfully hiding the wingboner. It's not going to work.”
She sighs and releases the wings. They spring to her side, fully extended. She mumbles.
“I'm sorry Twily, what was that?”
“Two years and I'm still not used to these wings.”
I giggle and I open my muzzle. Twilight cuts me off with a glare. “The question.”
“Oh...what was your question again?”
“What is love?”
“Love...I do not know what it is, but I will try. Let me start by explaining something about ponies.” I stand up and begin walking around Twilight.
“You see Twily. We as ponies crave hope. We hide our scars...” I push a hoof into Twilight's wings, revealing missing feathers. Twilight gasps and backs away. “Don't run away Twily, you don't have to hide here. Anyways, where was I?” I think. “Oh yes. We hide our scars, we build up walls. And when it all comes down to it. We are pretenders, to both others and ourselves.”
I stop in front of Twilight and stare into her eyes. “But love is that feeling that reminds you...we're still alive. You gave me that feeling back when I was your foalsitter.”
“Really?”
“You see Twilight, you ask me the question, what is love? Love is not something that you can bottle up...rather, it is the force that enables us to fight. To grow. You see Twilight Sparkle, when we lose love, we can't fight.”
“But maybe...maybe, just maybe, that's the beauty of love.”
“What?”
“Love is fragile. Very fragile. It must be maintained.”
She gestures for me to go on.
“Do you remember your foalhood? During those years, you cared all about books. But anything material that you love is a one-way street. It can't break your heart, you are the only one in power. But, that kind of love?” I stomp my hoof. “It's empty. Meaningless.”
She nods.
“But love between ponies? That is a two-way street. That is the beauty of love. I can break your heart Twilight Sparkle...but you can break mine. So both parties must mutually work on love. They must both trust and be receiving of truth to the degree both parties are willing to maintain it. The more you are willing to maintain love, the more you trust that pony.”
“And Twilight, the more you trust that pony, the more failures hurt. The more their failures hurt, and the more your failures towards them hurts. You know of this pain yourself. You experienced one of the deepest kinds at our wedding.”
She nods, tears beginning to flow. I hold up a hoof to her eyes and wipe the tears away. Then I hold her in an embrace.
“Twilight Sparkle, you also understand the final beauty of love. When you fail, love trusts you enough to say 'I believe that you will not fail again.' When you have failed one again, love reaches down and says, 'I trust you.'”
I hear the deep voice of my husband speak up. “Twily, I've had problems understanding love myself. Cadance...she well, she shows the final beauty of love so well. I've messed up with her, but she continues to love. The final beauty of love...it's so pure and so needed...yet it's so rare. Maybe, that's why Cadance is the Princess of love.”
I hug Twilight closer. “Twilight, love is many things. It's that pony that hugs you close when you are broken.”
“It's the arms that say, you are not alone.”
I hear Twilight speak up. “It...is” She halts, and I feel the tears drench my coat. “It is the words spoken in rebuke that wound so deeply from those we love...but at the same time, it reaches down and says, 'One more time,' and pulls you up from the ground.”
“Exactly.” I open my mouth to speak more, but I pause when I hear Twilight continuing to speak.
“It is in the form of that pony who stands by you, even when all others hate you.” A halting pause. “Fear will not...no, it cannot understand love. It believes that it must end sometime.”
I just listen to the words of wisdom as Twilight sums in a few words, what I was searching for the words to say for years at times. “But love reaches down and says, I will give you a second chance. Though you have hurt yourself and those who love you so many times, it never fails in reaching out. Love...casts out all fear. In the presence of love, fear must run.”
I hear Shining's voice speak. “It is love that breaks even the most hardened gentlecolts down to tears.”
I close my eyes in thought.
“Twilight Sparkle, love is a mystery. But what you have described, is the essence of what I have been searching for all my life. By all rights, you should be the Princess of love.”
I hear a faint giggle from Twilight. “No, Cadance. That's where you are wrong. You should be the Princess of love. There's no pony more deserving of the title.”
I look her in the eyes. “Why do you say that? You just captured the essence of true love, whereas I could not myself.”
She smiles at me. “Because, when I said all of those things,” she points with her hoof, “I was thinking of you.”
Point of View: Princess Luna
I stare from the balcony. I feel a smile creep on my face. “Truly, thou art the first to understand the power thou weildest. Tonight, thou have verily understood the power that you wield.”
“Well, Lulu. Looks like you were right.” I smile broader as tia lands next to me. “Your lessons have paid off.”
“Indeed. Now I can get that precious buckfest that I've yearned for a thousand years!”
“What!” I laugh as I hear my sister stammer. “But...that...LULU! Please tell me that ye jest!”
I smirk. “You owe me five bucks now. I don't care which currency.”
“Why...oh...”
“I told you that I could get you to speak in the olden language.”
She facehoofs. “Sometimes, I'm unsure whether I hate you or love you.”
I shrug. “Eh...you love me.” I fly off the balcony. “For now Tia, I'm going to bed. Feel free to leave payment on my bed...” I wink at her. “In either currency.”
I fly off. Behind me I hear Celestia mutter. “Oh for the love of the stars, what am I ever going to do with you Lulu?”
I yell back. “BUCK ME OF COURSE!”
“GET TO BED LULU!”
