“Now, my wittle Flurry Heart, it’s time for bed sweetie.” Cadance whispered as she laid her daughter down on her bed.

“But mommy, you didn’t read me a bedtime story.” Flurry complained to her mother’s dismay.

“Flurry, I promise I’ll read you a story tomorrow night. Sound good, sweetie?”

“Okay, mommy.” Flurry relented as Cadance tucked her in for the night, slowly falling asleep. However, just as her mother was about to turn to leave, Flurry Heart muttered something that caught her mom’s ears.

“Mommy, I miss daddy.” Cadance nearly froze in place at the utterance of her daughter’s words. Briefly snapping out of her shock, Cadance silently nodded her head as she walked out.

“I know you do, dear. I know.”

(Play BGM 01 - Coin Song)

Cadance wandered the halls of her castle with the cold wind from Hearth’s Warming Day still keeping the ambient air nippy. As she trotted along the corridors, the memories brought back by her daughter’s remark still lingered in her mind. It was a memory of three years ago when tragedy tore her heart and her world asunder.

Cadance and her husband Shining Armor were at a diplomatic meeting in Canterlot, meeting with the many leaders from all across Equis. The main goal of the conference was to discuss means to improve trade relations between their respective countries and they’d seemingly come to an agreement that was mutually beneficial to all parties involved.

However, at the height of their gathering, a group of changeling assassins came out of the shadows, without warning and brimming with hatred. Queen Chrysalis had been trying to find a way for some time to decapitate the leadership of all of Equis’s nations to finally ensure Changeling dominance across the world. The Royal Guard detachments were caught by surprise, though thanks to Chrysalis’s previous attack on Canterlot, were not ill-prepared for such a situation. They fought with the ferocity that they were trained with, cutting down groups drones while suffering only a few minor casualties of their own.

Shining Armor, naturally joined the fray, fighting alongside those whom he once called his brothers-in-arms. Eventually, the Changelings went into full retreat as their numbers dwindled, but, not before one threw a spear directly at Cadance.

Ordinarily, this would hardly be an issue as both Cadance and Shining Armor were seasoned magic users. However, Chrysalis had thought ahead and had a spear carved from the rare, Ancient Dark Stone. Said mineral was rumored to absorb all non-Changeling magic and it clearly lived up to the legend as neither Cadance nor Shining Armor could summon up a spell to stop the spear. It was in that split second that Shining Armor made a choice. He made a vow during their wedding, that he would protect her, even if it would cost him his life. Upholding that vow, Shining Armor rushed towards his wife, pushing her out of the path of the spear before it pierced his heart. Collapsing on the floor, bleeding and coughing blood, Cadance tearfully held her beloved husband in her hooves as the last breath of life left his lungs, leaving his body a lifeless husk.

As expected, Cadance didn’t take it well one bit. The stallion she gave her heart and soul to had died in arms protecting her. It felt like her heart had been torn from her chest and ground into a pulpy mess. However, that pain was nothing compared to breaking the bad news to his sister, Twilight Sparkle. She never saw a mare cry that much and seeing it damn near tore her apart.

When the funeral took place, she tried to hold back her tears but failed, especially when Shining’s casket was being lowered into the ground. Then and there, Cadance, the Princess of Love, had her heart broken for the second time, saying goodbye to the stallion she loved.

Over time, she was able to recover from the tragedy, she had a baby and an empire to care for after all, but the memory remained in the back of her mind, ever present and ever so painful. There were times where she wanted to cry but she knew she had to be strong for the ponies of the Crystal Empire, even though they shared their monarch’s pain.

“Oh Shiny, not a day goes by where I don’t wish you were back.” Cadance sighed as she looked on at her private garden. It served as the one place she liked to dwell after a long and stressful day. In particular, she had enjoyed taking Shining Armor and sometimes Flurry Heart with her, sharing the tranquility with her family. Now, however... it was just a painful reminder of much happier times.

As she turned to her bedroom, she was interrupted by the sounds of approaching hooves. Turning around, she saw an orange unicorn approaching her with papers in his saddlebags. The stallion in question was Coin Counter, Cadance's Chief financial advisor. Though he wasn’t present during the tragedy at Canterlot, due to helping prepare the financial policies for the changes the trade pact would entail, he was nonetheless saddened by her loss. Ever since then, Cadance always had him as a friend to talk to when she still felt hurt by the incident. However, he had been somewhat emotionally withdrawn for the past two years and she’d yet to figure out why.

“Your hh-highness,” Coin Counter spoke with a noticeable stutter. “I have this year’s financial statistics report.” Being handed the papers, Cadance briefly skimmed through the report and nodded with approval.

“Everything seems to well be in order here, good work Coin,” Cadance said with an amused smile. “The benefits of the trade pact are certainly starting to show. Thank you, Coin.”

“Y-Y-Yo *sniff* You’re welcome, princess.” Cadance clearly took notice of his visual discomfort. Though he tried to hold it back, he couldn’t hide the sniffling, a precursor to crying.

“Coin, are you alright?” Cadance asked. She could see that he was beginning to act nervously.

“I’m fine, your highness.” Coin said as he wiped his tears from his eyes. “Just have a cold, that’s all.” He clearly knew that she didn’t buy it as Cadance shot him a look of concern, knowing something else was the cause.

“Are you sure?” Cadance asked, further to Coin’s discomfort. “You’ve been acting oddly for the last two years.” Cadance trotted closer, making Coin Counter back away slowly. “Is something bothering you?” At that moment, Coin Counter’s heart started racing and aching from the stress. The pressure was enough to trigger a flashback to a memory he wishes he’d forgotten. The trauma was too much for him to bear and with a flash of his horn, he teleported away, much to Cadance’s chagrin.

“What in my aunt’s sunrise is up with him?” Cadance pondered as she began to drum up reasons as to why her advisor had been acting so out of sorts. As much as she thought of the causes of his distress, Cadance realized the only way to make sense of things was to confront him.

Cadance trotted over the south wing of her castle where Coin Counter’s residence was. Though he’d been given the option to live in the city itself, he chose to live in the castle to be close to his work. More importantly, he enjoyed the beautiful crystalline scenery of the castle and the other perks that came with it, apart from being close to his boss, his friend. As Cadance brought her head near the door, she heard the faint sound of sobbing coming from the other side. Opening the door, Cadance got an answer to her question.

(Play BGM 02 - Leto’s Theme)

Coin Counter sat on his haunches, crying in front of his lit fireplace. Cadance got the hint that he was upset but, not to the magnitude she saw. Between his audible sobbing, he held a framed picture in his hooves. It was a picture of him in a suit with a mare in a dress, a bridal gown to be precise. She looked to have a coat of cream-white fur and a curly rose red mane. He gave the picture a light kiss before his sobbing resumed.

“My dearest Winter Rose,” Coin Counter cried as he held the picture close to him as if he was giving it a hug. “Why, why, oh why were you taken from me so soon?! WWWHHHYYYY?!!”

“Oh dear,” Cadance whispered. “It’s… It’s his wife. He never told me about what happened to her.” It began to make sense to her. Something happened to the mare in the picture, something that put him through untold grief. “But, why didn’t he say anything?”

Cadance heard his crying intensify as Coin Counter set the picture down on the ground, still sobbing a puddle of tears. “I… I never even got to kiss you goodbye!” Cadance wanted to trot in and comfort him but she elected to standby and wait to see if he calmed down. To her horror, he didn’t as Coin Counter pulled out a short sword he had in his cloak and pointed the blade at his abdomen. Cadance immediately knew what his intent was.

“Mother of Celestia!” She gasped as she watched her advisor prepare to take his own life.

“My love… My everything…” Coin Counter muttered as his tears began welling up harder than before. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”

“NOOOOOOO!!!” Cadance yelled out as she charged through the door but she was too late. The deed was done as Coin Counter impaled himself with his blade, coughing blood as it pierced through his back. Just as he collapsed onto the floor, he was tackled by a shocked Cadance, wrapping her forehooves around his body. Slowly, he held up a hoof to his shocked and worried monarch’s face, tearing up and muttering the name of his long dead wife. With a flash of her horn, they were quickly teleported to the castle’s infirmary, much to the surprise of her royal physician, Patchwork.

“Cadance, as much as it’s an honor to see you, I’m going to have to ask you to ease up on teleporting in here like that so often. You always startle me wit-” Just before he could finish his statement, he saw the reason for her abrupt entrance. Patchwork saw his ruler holding a grievously wounded Coin Counter in her hooves. His jaw dropped as he saw the chief financial advisor bleeding heavily and barely clinging onto life. “GOOD HEAVENS, WHAT HAPPENED?!”

“He did it himself!” Cadance yelled. “Hurry and get him help, now!” Calling to the nurses in his employ, Patchwork brought Coin Counter on a stretcher before ordering the nurses to take him to the Operating Room.

“Princess, wait here while we stabilize him!” Patchwork advised his ruler before he rushed to the OR to assist in tending to his patient.

Cadance waited for what seemed like hours, sitting and trotting around in the waiting room, before exhaustion finally caught up with her and she fell asleep. Throughout her sleep, she began wondering if her friend would pull through. But an even bigger question came to mind. Why? Why would he try to take his own life? What happened to his wife that drove him to such an extreme? Eventually, she was roused from her slumber by Patchwork.

“Your Highness?” Patchwork asked.

“How is he?” Cadance asked back with a tinge of worry.

“Miraculously, he’s going to be alright. We were able to save him before any permanent damage could be done. Though, if you hadn’t gotten him here so quickly, he very well would have bled out.”

“Thank you, Patch. You have no idea how grateful I am.” Cadance sighed with relief.

“We were able to heal him rather definitively, so I had him sent back to his quarters to recover. I predict he’ll be out for a whole 24 hours due to the shock and blood loss. But, I have one question.”

“What is it?”

“Why did he do it, your highness? I mean, you were there when it happened Any clues as to what caused him to commit self-harm?” Prompted by his question, Cadance teleported the picture Coin had held and shown it to the beleaguered doctor, eliciting a somber look from him.

“He was hugging and kissing this picture before he did it.” Cadance said. “Something must’ve happened to his wife, but I don’t know what.”

(Play BGM 03 - Forever Rachel)

“Oh no.” Patchwork whispered as a sense of dread filled his heart, audible to his ruler. He saw the all too familiar appearance of Coin’s wife like he saw a ghost from long ago. He shook his head and sighed with regret.

“Was there something that happened?” Without a word, Patchwork motioned Cadance to sit down with him. Looking down on the tiled floor, Patchwork sighed as he prepared to answer.

“It happened a little while after you lost Lord Armor. Coin and his wife Winter were trying to conceive a foal. They had difficulty doing so but Winter eventually became pregnant. He regarded the whole thing as a miracle.”

“He would’ve made a great father.” Cadance commented. “What happened to his wife though?”

“On Hearth’s Warming Eve that year, Winter went into labor. He was unprepared and so were we. He rushed her to my wing and we were able to get her situated but…”

“What happened?”

“Winter died while giving birth… and the foal followed shortly after. It never had a chance, even though there were no signs of complications.” Cadance’s heart dropped as she heard her physician’s explanation. It all made sense, Coin Counter was in deep emotional pain from losing, not only his wife but his newborn child as well. Cadance began to tear up out of empathy but not close enough to cry. Recomposing herself, her eyes looked back at her physician.

“It would seem he hasn’t recovered from it.” Patchwork sighed as he put down his clipboard.

“Why haven’t I been made aware of it?” Cadance asked.

“He wanted to keep it a personal matter from what he told me. From what I saw, he was so stricken by grief that it looked like his world had been shattered. I tried my best to console him but he just closed himself off. As per his wishes, we had both bodies cremated and placed in urns.”

“But, what set him off? When he approached me earlier, he seemed like he just had a cold.”

“Well Princess, from what I’ve last heard of him, he’s gotten worse with every hearth’s warming season since. About a month ago, it was reported that he began having hallucinations where he saw his wife at random points during the day. About a week ago, he experienced another such episode where he began hugging what he thought was his wife but was just air. From there, he just lost it. I’ve honestly never seen a stallion so broken.”

Cadance felt distraught as she learned the truth of her advisor’s behavior. She wanted to be angry with him for lying but she couldn’t bring herself to, knowing she went through a similar ordeal three years ago. She felt his pain and it was an old familiar sting to her. With her mind made up, she resolved to keep him company while he recovered, not wanting him to feel alone.

“May I visit him tomorrow night, doctor?” Cadance asked with sincerity.

“You can, but I would advise you to take things easy with him. In his current condition, I don’t how he’ll react to still being alive since suicide was his intent.” With his blessings, Cadance trotted towards the exit before looking back at her royal physician, thanking him for saving her friend.

“Patchwork… thank you.” Cadance said as she walked out.

Author's Note

Well, here begins my first fic in the FiM universe. I never thought I would do one in this setting. I hope you'll like this part. Enjoy. :)