Lack of Communication Kills
“Mama, what happened to the ponies who ruled the Crystal Empire before you?”
It was a simple question, but one that caught Cadance a bit off guard. Both Flurry’s personal tutors and she herself had taught the young princess about Princess Amore, and there wasn’t a single pony in Equestria that didn’t know of King Sombra’s crimes, so it was a bit unusual for her to be asking about either of them.
Still, she didn’t question it too much. Perhaps Flurry was simply curious to know more, maybe even about who might have ruled before Amore? There wasn’t quite as much info on those rulers, unfortunately.
Quietly sipping her tea, she asked, “Now what do you mean by that? Surely your teachers have taught you all about Princess Amore, and the horrible king after her.”
“Well yeah, but what happened to them?” Flurry repeated, head tilting curiously, “Princesses and other rulers are supposed to be chosen, aren’t they? Why did Princess Amore choose Sombra to take her place if he was so mean?”
“Oh, well,” That hadn’t quite gone where Cadance was expecting, and now she was worried she was going to have to delve into a much more serious topic, “She didn’t.”
“Well, I’m a princess, and you said I’m gonna rule the Empire some day,” Flurry’s head tilted to the other side, thinking deeply, “So that means Sombra was Amore’s son! And you’re Sombra’s-”
“No!” Cadance nearly dropped her tea, absolutely disgusted at the thought, “No, not that either, Amore & Sombra were not related in any way, and neither are we to Sombra.”
“Oh. So why was he king?”
Yep, onto the sensitive topic. Setting her tea to the side, Cadance took a deep breath before leaning closer to her daughter. Flurry watched her in confusion, looking at her mother’s hoof as she set it on her shoulder.
“Do you remember your pet snail, Whammy Too?” She asked. Flurry’s confusion faded to sadness, and she looked down and nodded, “Do you remember how he stopped moving one day, and we told you he’d never wake up again?”
“You said he died,” She nodded again, “I still miss him.”
“I know sweetie, and I’m sorry I had to remind you of that, but it’s important to what I’m about to say.” She gently wiped Flurry’s tears away, taking another deep breath before explaining, “Princess Amore died, and it was Sombra who made her die. He killed her.”
“Oh,” Flurry wiped the rest of her tears away, betrayed and confused, “Why didn’t anyone ever teach me this?”
“We wanted you to learn about all the good things Amore had done, we didn’t think you were quite ready to learn about what happened to her, especially with all the other awful things Sombra did.”
“But what happened to Sombra? Everypony always said he was destroyed, does that just mean he died too?”
Cadance nodded.
“D-Did you make him die?” She asked, fresh tears in her eyes, likely at the thought of her mother committing such an atrocity, “Did you kill him?”
Though not entirely her doing, especially with his temporary revival, Cadance knew it easier to just nod and take the blame, “Yes. It was the only thing that could’ve been done.”
“Oh.”
Flurry asked no more questions, simply turning away from her mother in what Cadance could only assume was confused betrayal. She was sure Flurry knew that Sombra was evil, but she didn’t doubt that it hurt her daughter to know that her mother had taken another pony’s life despite that. She could only imagine the heartbreak she’d have felt if she’d mentioned her beloved Aunt Twilight had also slayed the king.
Readjusting herself in her seat, Cadance took a sip of her cooled tea and watched her daughter sadly. It’d probably be a while before she looked at her again, but she wouldn’t fault her for it. For now, she’d just be patient and kind.
“Flurry, dear?” She called, getting a twitch of an ear from her daughter, “Would you like a teacake?”
For a moment, the filly hesitated, but a nod came soon after. Cadance quickly passed her a cake, Flurry grabbing it excitedly and eating it in a less than acceptable manner. She’d allow it for now.
Wiping the crumbs from her mouth with an offered napkin, Flurry looked to her mother, “Mama?”
“Yes?”
“Am I gonna rule the Crystal Empire some day?”
Cadance nodded, “Yes, Flurry.”
Much to Cadance’s relief, after an evening full of restlessness, Flurry seemed back to her usual self the next morning. She’d eaten her breakfast and allowed her mother to brush her curly mane without a complaint, even kissing both her and Shining Armor goodbye before being escorted to school. It relieved Cadance to see that her confession hadn’t bothered Flurry as much as she’d feared, though there was still a lingering sense of doubt within her.
Thankfully, she had her beloved husband to confide in, even if he seemed a bit unsure of her methods.
“Why is this such a problem?” He asked, sitting beside his wife in their room, a rare moment of shared freedom between the two, “We already told her about death before, and telling her about ponies dying was just going to get harder if you kept putting it off.”
“I know, but it’s just so permanent,” She confessed, her past as a foalsitter haunting her, “I know we taught her about it when Whammy Too died, but ponies? She’s too young to know that they can die by another pony’s hoof!”
“Cadance, she’s seven. Mom and Dad taught Twilight and I about death and killing when we were much younger, though I suppose having flowers that needed replanting helped with that.”
“But ponies aren’t flowers!” She flopped into her husband’s lap, face covered with her hooves. “She probably hates me now.”
“Now I really doubt that,” Shining assured, stroking her mane, “What really matters is that she knows the truth now, though we might have to have another talk pretty soon.”
“I told her I killed somepony, how could she ever forgive me for that?”
“Well, that pony was Sombra, so I doubt she’ll be too mad at you for helping get rid of him. He was pretty awful.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Cadance sighed with a small smile, much to her husband’s relief, though it faded to a much more serious look after, “I wonder if she remembers when he held us hostage.”
“Maybe don’t think too hard about that.”
They sat in silence for a bit, neither having any specific duties to take care of. Cadance wasn’t nearly as busy as her aunts or sister-in-law ever were, in charge of a single city as opposed to their rulings of the entire country, so she was often left sitting pretty, so to speak. Still, she didn’t often get to see her daughter return from school.
“Flurry should be done with school soon, do you think we should pick her up?” She asked, “I think we should offer her some snacks or something.”
“Conversation on death aside, I think she’ll be happy to know that such a tragic topic comes with the benefit of extra treats,” Shining chuckled, allowing his wife to rise from her spot on his lap before standing up himself, “Both of us at once might make her a bit suspicious, you go on ahead. I’ll bake some peppermint cookies and meet up with you when you get back, alright?”
“Thank you, Shiny,” Cadance smiled, giving her husband a quick peck on the cheek before bounding in the opposite direction he went.
He was probably right, as harsh of a lesson it seemed, Flurry would eventually get over it. Deep down, Cadance agreed that telling her the truth earlier would have likely simplified things, and she had actually given quite a few younger foals some deep talks when their parents wouldn’t back in her foalsitting days. It was still rough, especially now that the foal at hoof was her own daughter, and not just a foal she’d made a more professional attachment to, but it had to be done.
Making her way out of the castle, she flew over to the Crystal Heart and pondered about her daughter’s escort. At such a young age, she was far too young to walk to school on her own, but setting her up with nothing but personal tutors had sounded far too lonely, so they’d chosen for her to go to school as well. Flurry didn’t seem to mind, but Cadance knew that she was depriving her of precious mother/daughter time.
Hopefully this would make up for it.
She took to the air, less likely to be distracted by her subjects from above. It was also quicker than walking, and would easily halve the time making it to the school. The guard scheduled to pick up Flurry may possibly be there to get her by now, but she’d simply dismiss him with thanks once she saw him.
The wind through her feathers was calming, and the sun warm. It was a lovely day for a flight, perhaps she’d invite Flurry to one after giving her some of the fresh cookies Shining Armor was making at home. She wanted to close her eyes and just glide for a bit. She was far enough from the castle to not risk colliding with it, and it would do good to just calm herself for a moment, listening to the quiet whistling in the wind, and-
Wait, why was the whistling getting louder?
Something ripped through Cadance’s feathers, and she let out a cry of alarm before plummeting. A Pegasus at heart, she was quick to catch herself, just enough to barely make it to the ground in one piece.
“Flurry Heart! What did I say about firing it out in the open!”
“Sorry, Ms. Chrysocolla.”
Cadance snapped her head up at the voice of her daughter, shocked to see her holding an empty crossbow. Had she just fired it? What was she even doing with such a thing? She didn’t quite get the chance to ask, her daughter’s teacher rushing to her side to check on her.
“Princess, are you alright? It didn’t hit anything major, did it?”
She sounded truly panicked, and didn’t seem any calmer when Cadance held out her wing. Thankfully, there was no actual injury, though the missing feathers probably looked bad to an Earthen pony like Chrysocolla.
“Yes, I’m perfectly fine. Just a bit shaken up is all,” Cadance confirmed, folding her wing against herself. Hopefully the arrow Flurry shot wouldn’t land on anypony else, “Why does Flurry have a crossbow?”
“You requested that the guards explain their duties today, remember? They showed off some of their weapons, and allowed the children to touch some of them. Flurry asked if she could try practicing with one of them, and seeing as she’s the princess, the guard allowed her to. With supervision of course.”
“And where’s that guard now?”
“Still inside, tending to another guard, unfortunately,” Chrysocolla grimaced, “You aren’t exactly the first casualty of this weapon, though he’s alright as well. Just a simple scrape of the leg.”
Cadance flinched. A minor wound was still a wound, and from the sounds of it, Flurry was at fault for that as well.
As if aware of her mother’s thoughts, Flurry asked, “Can I keep it?”
“Absolutely not!” She shouted, shocking both her daughter and her teacher, “I mean, maybe wait to practice a bit first? Maybe ask your dad if he could show you?”
“Aw…” Flurry tossed the weapon away with a pout, the ponies in front of her flinching again as the unloaded weapon crashed to the ground. She quickly brightened up after this, looking up at her mother with curious eyes as she asked, “So what’re you doing here, Mama?”
“I had some freetime, and thought it’d be nice to go pick you up. I was going to offer a nice flight as well, but I suppose we might have to wait a bit for that.” She glanced to her ruffled wing, before turning back to her daughter, “Where’s the guard that was scheduled to pick you up?”
Flurry looked away sheepishly, while Chrysocolla’s grimace returned.
“Don’t tell me that was the guard you shot at,” Cadance sighed.
“It was an accident!”
“It’s okay,” Cadance lied, receiving a concerned look from Chrysocolla. She ignored the look, making a mental note to have Flurry apologize to the guard later, and also make an apology basket for both him and Chrysocolla, “Let’s just walk home now, alright?”
“Okay!” Flurry trotted over happily, oblivious of her mother mouthing ‘sorry’ to her teacher before quickly following after her.
Other than an expected question of how her daughter’s day went, Cadance was mostly silent on the way, only speaking to greet her subjects or make a quick comment at her daughter as she described her day. Other than the crossbow incident, it seemed as though it was an average and boring day for her, filled with the same things as usual. She had some science homework to do, something to do with plants that she’d probably need help with, but that didn’t bother Cadance too much.
Once back at the castle, Shining Armor greeted the both of them with a hug. It took him a moment to notice Cadance’s wing.
“What happened, and should I be concerned?” He asked sternly.
“Accident at the school,” Cadance shrugged, “It’s fine now. I’ll explain it when we get back inside, I could really use a cup of tea or something right now.”
“Well, I do still have to take the cookies out of the oven, so I can start the water if you’d like.”
Getting in between her parents, Flurry shouted, “Wait, I wanna do it!”
“That’s very nice of you, sweetie,” Cadance smiled, “But do you even know how to make tea?”
“I’m sure it can’t be any harder than making cocoa. I’m gonna go to the garden and get some plants to make it with!”
She flew off before either of her parents could speak a word. Cadance shrugged again, making her way to the castle’s entrance with a confused Shining Armor following after her.
“I’m not sure what she's going to find in the garden to make tea with right now,” He said, watching the last glimpses of his daughter.
“Rose hips, probably. Or she’ll ask Mistmane what to do.”
“Makes sense.”
“So, wanna hear about how your daughter shot off most of my flight feathers today?”
“Wait, what?”
And thus, Cadance explained exactly that, making sure to mention the unfortunate guard as well. Shining had been sure to make his own mental note about raising his pay, listening to his wife’s story intently with eyes wide.
“Now, I’m not saying she can’t learn to defend herself,” Cadance assured, munching on one of the cookies herself, “But I do think she should probably get some safety training in first.”
“Yeah, probably a good idea,” Shining nodded, setting aside a few cookies for that apology basket, “I’ll ask her about that later.”
“I got the tea!”
Flurry rushed in with a mug in hoof, and not a teacup that she should’ve had. Cadance simply shook her head at this, figuring more etiquette training was in order, but overall uncaring in her desperation for something calming. She took the mug without so much as a peep, taking a less than sophisticated gulp before pausing.
Thinking for a moment, she swallowed and asked, “Flurry, what is this tea made of?”
“I made it with the pretty pink flowers in the garden.”
Just as she’d expected. Taking a much smaller sip, she relaxed and said, “See, I told you she’d use the roses.”
“Roses?” Flurry tilted her head, a look of innocent confusion in her eyes, “If I used roses, I would have said it was roses. I used the pretty pink flowers next to them.”
“Pretty pink flowers?” Cadance pondered, taking another sip. It took her a moment to register, and once it did, her eyes widened as she spit the tea out, “Flurry, that was oleander!”
“Oleander? We learned about that in class today.”
“It’s poisonous!”
“Oh,” Flurry frowned in frustration, taking a cookie from the apology pile on as her parents suddenly ran out of the room.
One cup of activated charcoal later, and an indepth look at Flurry’s homework, and things seemed relatively normal again. Flurry was still frustrated, likely at herself, and hadn’t been quite as cooperative as Cadance would’ve liked, but she stayed as calm as she could. Her daughter has been having a rough time, it was okay. She’d accidentally hurt a guard and her mother, she was bound to be upset.
“Do I have to learn about all these dumb plants?” She whined, head falling onto the table, “I don’t need to know all that!”
“Flurry, that tea could’ve made me very sick,” Cadance explained. Normally a tutor would be helping with this, but after the incident earlier Cadance thought that it’d be good to be the one to help, “I think it’s very important to teach you about these plants.”
“Could it have killed you?”
“What?” The question had caught her off guard, until the memory of her lesson on mortality sunk in, “Yes, Flurry. It could have even killed me if I’d drank too much.”
Pouting, Flurry crossed her arms. Cadance realized her frustration would likely last quite a while, and figured a break was in order. The slight dimness to the room showed that the sun had lowered significantly outside, and they hadn’t eaten dinner yet. Maybe a nice meal would make Flurry happy.
“How about you go wash up?” She asked, brushing aside the notes on her daughter’s desk, “I’m sure dinner will be done soon, if it isn’t already, and I think some food would be good for the both of us.”
“What’re they making?”
Cadance’s ears drooped a bit, “I don’t actually know.”
Flurry’s frown deepened. Hopping out of her chair to make her way to the washroom, she made sure to be extra loud as she shouted, “I hope it’s not something nasty!”
At that, Cadance sighed sadly. She really needed to be a bigger part of her daughter’s life, making her meals instead of leaving it to the castle staff. Though she could always bake sweets and such in her free time, she was usually too busy to make a proper meal. Perhaps she should see if she could reschedule things to have a day just for family. She’d planned similar days before, but usually used those days to visit those outside of the Empire.
Yes, that sounded like a brilliant plan. She’d talk to Shining about it later, and see if they could plan a family vacation for a weekend. It’d be good for all of them, some relief from duties and a nice bit of family time.
But where would they go, she wondered? Maybe she should ask Flurry where she’d like to go, perhaps to somewhere new? Or maybe even just to Canterlot to visit her beloved Aunt Twilight, which would go a bit against the plans for just the three of them, but Cadance would do anything to make her daughter happy right now.
The thought of this potential bonding time improved her mood, in any case. There was a pep to her step that wasn’t there before as she trotted to the dining room. Shining was likely there already, if he hadn’t decided to go patrolling for the evening. Sure, he was in charge of all the other guards, but ever since Twilight had taken the throne everything had been peaceful.
Upon making it to the grand dining hall, beautifully illuminated by the sparkling chandelier above, she sniffed the air and got a whiff of tonight’s dinner. Sure as she expected, her beloved husband was right where she expected, peeking into a steaming pot of what she assumed to be some sort of stew. Unfortunately not one of Flurry’s favorites, but not something she hated either. It all depended on the specifics.
“So, what’s on the menu tonight?” She asked.
“Looks like mushroom stroganoff,” Shining answered, already grabbing himself a bowl, “Where’s Flurry?”
“Washing up.” She thought to tell him to wait for his daughter, but decided against it. Getting his plate a bit early wasn’t a huge issue or anything, “Smells delicious.”
“Have the chefs ever made anything that wasn’t?” He passed the filled bowl to his wife, who took it graciously.
“Such a gentlecolt, you are.”
She took note of the flush of pink across his cheeks, still so easy to butter up after all the years she’d known him. Thinking of which, she grabbed a roll off another plate beside the pot, and took a nibble out of it. She’d eat that to tide her over until Flurry arrived.
Shining took a bite of his stroganoff. Cadance cleared her throat to get his attention.
“I think we should wait until Flurry arrives.”
“Whatever you say,” He shrugged, pouring himself some water.
And so, they waited, sitting in silence for less than a minute before something made the chandelier above gently clink its crystals together. At that, they both glanced up, the crystalline structure above swaying slightly. Cadance looked to her husband.
“Maybe a draft?” He suggested, “None of the windows in this castle have any glass in them, after all.”
“I suppose you’re right. A bit strange that we’re only now noticing that it does that, don’t you think?”
Shining shrugged again, “Maybe it’s loose? I’ll have somepony take a look at it tomorrow.”
“That’s not very reassuring.”
Silence again. The moments dragged on for much longer than either could have expected, seconds turning to minutes, but thankfully not to hours. The stroganoff was getting cold, and Cadance hungry. For somepony that was just washing up, Flurry was sure taking her sweet time.
“Do you think I should check on her?” She asked, ear twitching as the chandelier clinked again, “She’s taking an awfully long time.”
“Don’t you think it’d be a bit awkward to check on her in the washroom?”
“Probably,” Cadance shrunk back a bit sheepishly, tapping her hooves together, “I’ve just been worried about her, is all.”
“Is this about yesterday? I told you, she’ll be fine.”
“Just because you say that, doesn’t mean it’s true.”
The clinking seemed to get louder. Cadance blamed stress, but took notice of Shining’s twitching ears as well.
“Cadance, I know this sort of thing is rough, but you have to face the fact Flurry would’ve had to learn eventually.”
“Yes, but-” She flinched at the clinking. It was louder, and she was going to get somepony to check for that draft as soon as dinner was done, “I just want her to be happy! How can she be happy knowing her mother killed somepony?”
“Would it help if we told her it wasn’t entirely your fault?”
“I don’t-”
KR-ACK
The both of them looked upward in shock, the chandelier swinging unstably. Reasonably, this would be a good time to fly away or teleport, but Cadance was too shocked at just what, or rather who, was on the light fixture to think straight.
“Flurry?”
The cord snapped. Flurry yelled in what could only be described as victory. Shining hopped away, able to save his dinner, but not his shocked wife before she was crushed beneath the weight of the chandelier. Crystal shards and hot wax from candles flew everywhere, obscuring Cadance from view and eventually leaving a silence that was broken only by Flurry’s excitement.
“I did it!” She shouted, hopping up and down happily, as if unaware that her mother was crushed under hundreds of pounds of crystals, “I did it!”
Shining blinked in shock, “Did what, exactly?”
“I killed mama! I’m princess now!”
“W-what?”
Shining was at a loss for words, staring in pure horror at his squealing daughter, only turning away when he heard the clinking of crystals. Cadance popped out of the carnage relatively unharmed, albeit covered in cooled wax and shards of crystal.
“Flurry Heart!”
The little princess stopped her hopping, frowning slightly.
“You’re supposed to be dead still,” She observed.
“What is wrong with you?”
“I wanna be the princess! I had to kill you to be princess, didn’t I?”
“No!”
“But that’s what you told me.”
“What?”
Flurry rolled her eyes, “You’re the one that told me King Sombra killed Princess Amore, and you killed King Sombra. So that sounds like I had to kill you to become princess, and that means no more bedtime or homework!”
Flurry began hopping again. Cadance blinked. Shining took a quick bite of his dinner. At this point, he was just wondering where this would be going.
Eventually, Cadance repeated herself, “What?”
“You’re dead mama, I killed you.”
“Obviously I’m not!”
“You didn’t say you had to be dead forever,” Flurry pointed out, “Sombra was only dead for a little while, and then he came back.”
“So you do remember that,” Her father interrupted, taking another bite of his dinner. Cadance looked at him in annoyance, before turning back to her daughter.
“Flurry, killing me wouldn’t make you princess.”
“Actually, it would.”
“Shut up, Shining.”
“Hey, don’t be mean to daddy!” Flurry shouted, pointing a hoof at her mother, “Princess’ orders!”
“You’re not princess, Flurry, at least not that kind,” Cadance cried in exasperation, rubbing her face, “How do you even know Sombra came back?”
“Ms. Chrysocolla taught me that a long time ago.”
“Right.” Of course, that was an important part of history as well, “And do you know what happened to him the second time?”
“He retired like Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna?”
“No Flurry,” Cadance took a deep breath, previously unwilling to admit the truth but now hoping it would set things straight, “Twilight and her friends killed him, and he won’t be coming back from that one.”
“Oh.”
Flurry sat down, careful to avoid the shards below, and put a hoof to her mouth in thought. Allowing her that moment to think, Shining reached out to help Cadance out of the rubble, but a glare from the mare stopped him in his tracks. Perhaps it would’ve been a better idea to have put his stroganoff down first.
Brushing some of the mess out of her hair, Cadance took a few more deep breaths to calm herself. Then, she turned to her daughter.
“Do you understand what you did wrong?” She asked.
Flurry nodded, “Yeah, I think so.”
“Good, now let’s try to clean up the mess, and-”
“I have to kill Aunt Twilight!”
“Wait, no-”
Author's Note
This probably doesn't exactly follow the theme but the idea was there so here it is.
