Cadance yawned so hard that her eyes watered. Her thighs tingled, and her hip bones stabbed into her rump. As much as she loved hearing back from her citizens, Cadance hated how long she had to sit on the hard crystal throne. Perhaps she should treat herself to a pillow. When was the last time she treated herself to something nice?

Cadance closed her eyes and leaned against her throne. Her head drifted off into her thoughts, "wedding dress." A warm, broad smile covered her face as her heart fluttered in her chest. Warmth spread from her stomach through her whole body. She was so nervous going down that aisle that she thought she would hurl on the spot with so many creatures watching her. Her beloved was waiting for her down the white carpet, which was strewn with roses. The aisle seemed much longer and elongated. With every hoof step, an hour passed in her mind.

Her laugh echoed off the walls as she remembered why she didn’t throw up. Shining was so nervous that he ended up tripping over his tailcoat and flopping to the floor. Cadance couldn’t blame him; Cyralis brainwashed him and forced him down the aisle. Chrysalis’s attack hurt her as well. She kept looking over her shoulder, wondering if another villain would kidnap her. That one trip calmed all her nerves; that was her husband, and this was her day.

Then... nothing. The last time she treated herself was to that dress. Over budget by a thousand dollars. Since that day, she has focused on the kingdom and fixing others' problems. She shivered as she wiggled her numb rump. attempting to reintroduce feeling into it Perhaps it was time to treat herself again with something nice and lasting from Yackyackastan.

Cadance opened her eyes again, lifting her notepad in her magic. A list of feedback and worries from her citizens.

• Overpopulation

• Concerns with food production

• Mice infestation - call Fluttershy immediately

• Repave the streets

Underneath it all, she wrote ‘buy yourself a pillow.’

"Yaaaaaaaaaawn," Cadance squeakingly yawned. The shadows had grown. The birch tree in the yard is nearly as tall as the ceiling. It was time for her to turn it in. Luckily, tonight was an early night as she got all her paperwork yesterday.

"Uhg," she groaned as she got up from her seat, "mmmmmmmm." She squeaked as she stretched the kinks in her back. Her trots echoed off the tall walls of her castle as her hooves clanked against the floor.

Her back clenched; she was so tense she had to do some yoga. Her back arched down, "downward facing griffin," as she pushed her forehooves forward. "Ooo," she cooed as her back cracked in several places.

"Upward facing dragon," she squeaked again, bringing her back off the floor and up into the air. Her back cracked in several places, and she continued to stretch. She thanked Celestia that—well, Celestia gave her that book on yoga.

Lighting her horn, she zapped into her bedroom, which had soft blue walls accented with white. She flopped down into the light purple silk sheets, making sure to leave room for when her husband returned. Cadance was asleep, not getting a chance to tuck herself in.

3 am

Cadance awoke, her eyes readjusting. She stared at the wall clock. A recent invention from Twilight and Starswirl tracked the time, so no sundial was needed. The arrows shaped like her and her beloved's cutie mark read 3 a.m. Why on Celestia's green earth was she-.

Cadance stopped her thoughts as she sniffed; something in the air was different. This time she took a longer, deeper breath. The air was thicker, heavier, and smelled faintly of burned cherries. Cadance pushed herself off the bed, greeted by the harsh, cold air of her bedroom. She shuddered, and her teeth chattered as she sniffed at the air again.

What was that? Cadance sniffed again, her brain struggling to place what that smell was besides burning cherries. "BURNING!" Cadance yelled as she shoved her husband out of bed.

"Oof," a gleaming ground exclaimed, "What—?"

"BURNING!" Cadance shrieked again as she jolted out of bed, her wings open. Cadance shambled her way to the floor with a yawn, and she used her magic to help Shining up.

Shining sloppily trotted to the door, flinging it wide open. He ran into the hall, shaking his muzzle to try and wake up. The introduction of sudden heat against his barrel was all he needed.

"AH!" Shining jumped and shambled the other way, his heart in his throat. He looked down at his side. You could see that his white fur was ash black. By chance, his pink hide remained untouched. He immediately looked back up and down the hallway to find a raging fire.

Orange licks of flame danced across the hallway, and the fire consumed everything in sight. How was that possible? Most of these walls were crystal! Shining frowned—how was a fire possible with all the crystal? "I’ll deal with the flame; you get Flurry," Shining said as he raced down the hall.

One step, and that's all it took for Cadance to feel the heat, the fur of her hide standing up instantly. She ran to her baby’s room across the hall, slamming the door open.

Using her magic, she dug through the silk blankets but found no baby. "Flurry?!?" She yelled as she felt her chest tighten and her heart beat hard against the ribs of her chest. She dug through everything—the toy box and the dollhouse.

"FLURRY, WHERE ARE YOU?" She yelled as her breath quickened and her chest tightened. Her body felt heavier and frozen. It was like the whole world stopped; time no longer existed, and all that existed was pure panic and fear. Where had her baby gone?

"FLLLUURRRYYY!" Cadance howled as her mind darkened. "Her baby, taken by the flames." Lost. Is this an invasion? taken by an enemy. Gone.'

Her mind told her, and she was grinding her teeth together, feeling a sharp pain. "No," she told herself as she ran back into the hallway. There was no time to worry; only act.

Shining fur clung to his muscular frame, but the floor was bone dry. The fire consumed the hallway. "Come on," he grunted as he threw another ice spell into the fire. Learning from Sombra under Twilight's eye was part of his reformation. Not that they helped, no matter what he threw at the fire. It kept going.

"Flurry, she's not here," Cadance yelled to her husband.

"What?" Shining stood tall and proud, but Cadance could tell how tired he was. His eyes were closed, his magic fading, and his breathing was laborious. Still, she had to tell him. "Flurry, I can't find, I can't find, I can't find our baby Shining!" Cadance yelled, her hooves pressing against her chest as her eyes welled up. "I can't find her."

Shining's eyes widened with fear, and his magic stopped. "Sh-sh-sh, she's around," he quickly said as he refused to accept any other option. Flames as hot as Tartarus are climbing faster up the walls. She was around, somewhere.

A tear rolled down Cadance's cheek. "Okay," she said, her voice void of all emotion as her heart beat against her ribs. She didn't believe Shining, but she wished she did.

Cadance felt flat as she started writing a letter to her stepsister. It was the only thing that made sense in her head. Twilight defeated so many villains that she could handle a fire. "Teach me that spell," Shining's monotone voice echoed in his heart.

Author's Note

Hey,
So this is gonna be different. This story and the one that shares its name are completely different, plot, villains, characters, and their arcs. A lot of the last story made no sense.

Uploads are gonna be different there is no schedule this time. I'm doing one chapter at a time. Grammar, plot, I'm doing it all. I think this will help, last time I got stressed and exhausted and I think it shows.

I plan on finishing this unless it's really really disliked (I'm talking rating ratio and comments ask me to stop). Then and only then I'll stop. So let me know your thoughts.

-Buttery

grammar checked 11/27/22