The city of Canterlot was far different from how Cadence had left it, the once pristine white walls were now marred by various burn marks, some of the cobblestone was still scorched, and the golden armor of the Royal Guards had been replaced with matte black ‘Composite Armor’. The Princess of Love sighed, the remnants of the riot were still fresh. That, however, was not her main concern, nor the reason for her arrival. As her train pulled into the station, Cadence looked to the platform. Standing there, sure enough, was her Aunt Luna. She was flanked by two Lunar guards.

Cadence gathered her things and stood up, then made her way to door of her private carriage. As she did, she noticed the train had stopped in the secluded station close to the castle, rather than the one that most regular ponies used. This struck her as odd, as most of the time her aunts would have made sure the populace knew she was coming. For what purpose, she was unsure, perhaps it helped boost the economy of small shops.

“Cadence, it is good to see you.” Luna said, snapping the younger alicorn out of her thoughts. “I apologize for the abrupt call, but I feel you are the best pony to discuss my dilemma with.” Luna spoke with all the eloquence as she normally did, but Cadence could sense something was amiss. She could detect worry within her aunt, Cadence wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“I’d be happy to help you with whatever problem you have, aunty.” Said the love princess, stepping onto the platform. The two Lunar guards quickly stepped forwards and retrieved her belongings, then began walking towards the castle.

“Come along then, we have much to discuss. I’d prefer to do so in private...” Luna and Cadence began walking side by side, both of them were silent. Cadence took a chance to see more of the changes to guards. Many of them wore black composite armor, at their hips were swords rather than spears. Each of them held an intimidating looking crossbow, and in the guard’s courtyard, there were numerous armored carriages. When they entered the castle, the guard armor went from black to silver, though she assumed it was only paint.

“I see the modernization effort is going well…” Cadence mentioned, looking closer still at the guards. Their faces were hidden from view, which made her nervous. Then again, maybe that was the point. Discouraging criminal activity was always a good goal.

“Yes, we have your sister in law and Dominic to thank for that.” Luna replied, Cadence noticed she seemed to perk up at the mention of the human. “Some may view it as unnecessary, but our military was woefully ill equipped, decades ago, before this effort was made it was completely useless.”

“Isn’t that good?” Asked Cadence as they continued down the hallway.

“Si vis pacem, para bellum.” Said Luna, again Cadence sensed a bit of a perk in Luna’s emotions. “A human saying. If one wishes for peace, they must prepare for war.” She let out a minor chuckle. “Or as Dominic puts it, the best defense is a good offense.” At the very mention of his name, Cadence felt the perk increase again. Mixed into the happiness, however, was worry and nervousness.

“With the Twin Island crisis mounting, I can see what you mean.” Cadence stated, she’d read about the crisis on the train. The Minotaurs and the Zebras were on the brink of an all out war over the tiny strip of land, and as much as Celestia had been attempting to calm the situation, nothing seemed to be working.

“At times I envy our subjects ignorance, they do not have to fret over more than trivial things.” As Luna and Cadence got closer to the lunar princess’ quarters, the princess in question gave a low sigh. “The reason I have called you here is of a… Private matter.” The two stopped before the grand doorway to Luna’s bedroom. The guards outside of it snapped into a salute and pushed the door open for the two of them.

“I am always glad to help you, aunt Luna.” Cadence stated, the two of them walked into the bedroom and the doors closed behind them. Luna silently trotted towards a pair of seats by the window. She’d spent many a day discussing things with Dominic in them, it seemed fitting to use them now. “What seems to be the matter?” Asked Cadence, sitting in one of them while Luna took the other.

“I don’t know…” Luna said somewhat uncertainly. “It stems from Dominic, when I am around him I feel strange. Happy doesn’t seem to describe it.” Cadence looked at her aunt with caring eyes, some semblance of understanding forming in her mind. “When the Red Wood attacked, I feared he’d perished… To me that fear was worse than any I have ever felt in my life.”

“You spend a lot of time with him, don’t you?” Cadence asked, to which Luna nodded.

“Yes, often times we sit here and discuss things.” Luna gestured to the seats. “About his world, about ours. What we care about, what we look forwards to.” The princess smiled slightly at the thought.

“The answer to your problem is obvious to me, as I’m sure it’s obvious to you too.” Cadence said while ruffling her feathers. “I can sense it in you.” Luna looked at the floor, the words rattled around in her brain. Three words, words she’d never imagined she would say. Yet they seemed to define how she felt. Unbridled happiness when she was around him, extreme worry at the thought of losing him. She’d stopped herself from saying it earlier, but there was no point in doing so now.

“I love him.” Luna said, and as she did she felt a weight lifted from her shoulders. Only for it to come back down. “But he does not love me…” Cadence looked at her aunt with a sympathetic expression, she had had a similar problem with Shining Armor. Stallions, and she surmised human males, could be extremely blind at times. Especially young ones.

“He views you as his friend, all things considered, it’s not a bad thing.” Cadence said, smiling slightly. “But, you will never be more than that if you don’t try.”

“How?” Luna asked, she looked at her niece with uncertainty. “I’ve never been ‘In love’ before. Cadence, what must I do?”

“I don’t know.” Cadence responded, looking at the floor. “Every heart is different, I don’t know enough about Dominic to say for certain.” A silence fell over them, it didn’t last long however. “Tell me about him. What make him special to you?” Luna hummed in response.

“He’s relatively smart, at least when it comes to basic things.” Luna began. “At least, he’s smarter than he gives himself credit for.” She adjusted herself in her seat, then looked out the window towards the Everfree. “Over the past few months we’ve talked about our different worlds. When he speaks about the world before the infection, he does so with such a passion I cannot help but find myself enthralled.” Cadence nodded along to what Luna was saying. “Speaking of passion, he’s absolutely devoted to his flag. For what reason I don’t know, but I can see the loyalty in him.”

“I see.” Cadence said, smiling slightly. “What faults do you see in him?” Luna sighed and took a breath.

“He’s rather angry at the world, even if he can be nice.” She explained. “He hates things to extremes, and he seems to be apathetic towards anyone but me and the few he let’s in.” The lunar diarch looked at the floor. “He’s put up so many barriers, he rarely let’s anyone get to know him. I wish I could take them down and show the ponies the real him…”

“Aunty Tia tried that, and we both know how that turned out.” Cadence responded, she shivered at the memory. “I think it would be best to try and reintroduce him to the populace, after the backlash has died down. As for your problem, I can only offer advice.”

“Anything would help.” Luna said, relaxing back into her seat.

“First of all, spend more time with him.” Cadence began. “Secondly, try giving him hints towards how you feel. Maybe do something he cares about, let him put the pieces together.”

“And if that fails?”

“Tell him the truth.” Cadence said firmly. “If he doesn’t get it, you have to make him get it. Only you will know when the time is right, I can’t tell you more beyond that.” Luna nodded and stood up from her seat.

“I think that’s all for today, maybe we should speak more tomorrow?” Luna asked, she felt a familiar tingle as her modern speech spell wore off. “We hath not the time to cast another spell, and we must have some margin of sleep before night court.”

“Of course, Aunt Luna.” Cadence said, walking towards the door. “I think I may visit a few shops, I want to make sure I have Shining's and my anniversary covered.”

“Do not forget to say hello to our sister, she misses you.” Luna said, opening the door to the hallway with her magic. Cadence stepped out and gave her a small wave.

“I’ll be sure to stop by.” Said the pink alicorn before she started trotting off, Luna closed the doors to her room and made her way to the bed. Then laid down to digest the information that had just been imparted on her. It seemed she would have to take her leave of absence earlier than expected, not that she minded. She hated dealing with snobbish nobles, she’d rather be seeing the world and how it had changed since she’d returned. Her thoughts drifted to her room in the old castle again, how many years she’d spent stewing in her own angst and self doubt. Now she would have to be confident, it seemed to be the only way to sate the feeling of want within her.

As Luna closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, she smiled slightly. There was a plan, she could do what had to be done.

[♦]

The halls of the Castle of the Twin Sisters were dark, as to be expected by a thousand years of disuse. The light from the sun still filtered in enough for Dominic to see, but it wasn’t much. Having grown bored of sitting around he’d decided to explore the old ruins, so far he’d found old suits of armor, and what he assumed had once been a kitchen. The man let out a sigh and stopped walking, his hand fell to the holster on his hip. It was an old instinct he’d carry with him until he died. The hallway was long and grew darker as it went along, if he went further he’d most likely end up lost.

Rather than take his chances, he decided to instead focus on where he currently was. The tapestries that hung on the stone walls were tattered, but in surprisingly good condition for a thousand years of sitting in an old, empty castle. The one he focused on most of all was one depicting Luna and Celestia, the two of them seemed to be standing on a tall hill. The Sun and the Moon were both setting and rising, and both alicorns seemed to be smiling. The image seemed to be sewn in gold and other precious metals, a true masterpiece.

There were many tapestries similar to this one throughout the castle, all of which seemed to lack information about who’d created them. It was almost like visiting a museum without any curator, and so he had to make up histories for himself. If it was like a museum, he had no doubt he would be turning to someone next to him and saying ‘I don’t get it.’ To which, she would most likely reply. ‘It’s art, you don’t have to get it.’

“Oh, Maria…” Dominic said to himself, his voice somewhat hollow. “What I wouldn’t give to have you here…” The man reached for his shoulder, expecting to feel the patch on his jacket. He then remembered the sorry state of his jacket, and how he’d have to fix it soon. The man lowered his arm and steeled his gaze on the tapestry. “It’s a lonely road, but it’s my road.” He said to himself. “Ain’t no one gonna walk it with me but me.”

Dominic turned on his heel and walked away from the tapestry, the only noise to accompany his foot steps was his breathing.

Author's Notes:

Here's another chapter for you guys, hope you liked it.

Comment, rate and fave if you want.

I'm off to bed!