Queen Mi Amore Cadensa

Regale as always the queen walked amongst her subjects in Canterlot her long flowing mane fallowing her slowly as tufts of it drifted off into the sky like the clouds they now represented, much like her aunt before her Queen Cadence shimmered as she walked, her long elegant horn  giving her reason to keep her head held high above everything else allowing her to see above her subjects and keep an eye on her beautiful daughter, "Charity, hurry dear we have much left to get done." she called her soft voice ringing over the crowd and providing any who felt the least bit agitated with comfort.

“Coming mother.” Charity answered pulling away from the Pony’s with whom she had been speaking in order to be next to her mother, their coats accenting each other beautifully as Mother and daughter should. As she walked her multi-colored mane caught the breeze just right causing it to flutter up into her face and startle her.

Cadence smiled softly, ignoring what the colors of her daughter’s hair forced her to remember, the Grey, brown and blue, which gave off a slight glow as fear left the Princess’s heart, she shook her head and turned deep red and yellow eyes on her mother, "Shall we go visit father today?" she asked as the crowed began to disperse, it having only been in existence due to the sudden appearance of the royal family.

“I suppose we could.” Cadence sighed, “But I thought I told you that we would be very-.”

“Busy today… I know mother, I know." Charity turned her beautiful grey face away from her mother, "But you have been thinking of him so much lately."

Cadence lifted her wings slightly remembering things that she knew she should not, “I told you not to use your mind reading powers on me Charity." Is all she said before she started to walk once more.

“I’m sorry Mother.” Charity apologized sadly fallowing her Royal Majesty to where the royal guard’s waited with a carriage. Both Queen and Princess entered the same carriage, and a team of 13 guard’s in total became part of the party to take them to the place where it had happened so very long ago.

As they traveled Charity turned to her mother, “Mother, tell me the story about how you and father found each other.”

Cadence was silent for a moment as though she had not heard her daughter, Charity opened her mouth to ask again when her mother finally said, and “I have told you so many times, do you not know it by heart”?

“I adore hearing you tell it Mother." In her mind the princess stated to herself, 'it's the only time I can actually see love in your eyes.'

Cadence stretched her wings for a moment, the puffy clouds that came off her mane and tail trailed behind the carriage as the Queen pondered how to start her story this time, "It all started, with the death of my First Husband..."

“King Shining Armor…” Charity whispered her eyes wandering toward their destination.

“Yes, Shining Armor." Cadence closed her eyes and allowed herself to be engulfed by her memories; Princess Charity closed her eyes as well so that she could join her mother in the joy that these memories could bring. “His death was difficult for me, at that time I was new to being Ruler of Equestria, only a few years had it been mine to command..."

***

Cadence looked out her window at night, looking at the moon where both her aunts now resided, having become too powerful to stay in Equestria they had left it to her and her husband, sadly a dark un named pony had attacked Shining Armor while he was on guard, leaving him to die in a place where no pony ever walked. Cadence had done all she could to cure him but she was not strong enough and he fell before her. How Cadence wished she knew who that pony was, so that she could punish them accordingly, but all searches had yielded nothing. "Aunties... What must I do? I am alone now, what will I do?" her head fell, tears streaming down her muzzle and landing on the window sill before her.  

There she stayed for three days, allowing Equestira to go on without her, knowing that she was not as important as her aunts had been, for there was no real reason for her to be revered, she was only a symbol of when it was necessary to have a Princess to raise the sun every morning, but that was not a necessity anymore, no one needed this, for the sun and moon worked on their own since the original Princesses now lived on them and made sure that they rose and fell as they had for many centuries.

On the fourth night, a voice called to her, a voice that she had never heard before. She fallowed it into the garden, and there she found him, Discord the most evil and powerful creature in Equestria, frozen in stone. She kept her distance attempting to ignore his words and yet attempting to find the truth in what he was trying to say to her. "What do you want?" she demanded trying to be brave.

“There is nothing that I need from you Princess…” he stated from inside his stone prison, “I only wish to know why I hear you crying up in you tower every night. You have a voice that is far too beautiful to ever be heard crying.”

She blushed slightly then shook the complement away, “My Husband is dead. I have the right to cry!"

He was silent for a moment, “That Unicorn… the one with whom you defeated the Changling Queen and gave you the status which you now hold?" Cadence ignored this last statement and turned to leave, "Hold it right there Princess, who said I was done with you?"

“There is no reason to stay. You do not deserve my company.” She stated firmly and after that, she left.

“You’ll be back…” he stated as a crack appeared in his statue, “Oh yes, you’ll be back.”

Sadly, she did go back, every night for many months, she went back to him, he was the only one who would listen to her, the only one who gave an opinion that was not overbearing or contradicting to her feelings. He was honest with her and treated her well from the stone that held him. When the day came that he grew strong enough to break free, she was there to greet him and to accept him. Their affair was secret from everyone, not a soul knew that he was not a stone, for he would fake being a statue whenever anyone who was not his Princess would appear before him. When the anniversary of her husband's death came around, she went to him in the day light, "Discord... I don't want to lie to them anymore." she said her eyes kind yet firm, something she had learned from him. "I want the kingdom to know."

"They will never understand.” He stated leaning forward to see her better.

“They don’t need to understand.” She answered.

“They will have much to say, and it won’t be pleasant for you."

“I am not ashamed of my love for you.”

They stared at each other for many moments before he removed the color of stone and lowered himself to be on the ground with her, “As you wish, my Princess.” He placed his paw on her cheek and she rubbed against it, “If we are going to do this, we’ll do it right.” As he said this, he began to shrink, smaller and smaller until he was her size then his body changed becoming a mirror of her, yet he stayed himself so very well. His mane was just as it had been before as was his tail and his left rear hoof. His horns molded into one and his claws became hooves. When he was finished he was a Pony just like her yet his smile reflected just who he truly was, the bringer of Chaos, Discord.

She smiled and walked closer to him and placed her horn against his in a Unicorn kiss. Their horns glowed together with this final step in honesty and the power to love even that which most would not her mane changed from what it once was, and became cloudlike, drifting off in tufts yet never growing thinner, she pulled away from him and looked at her mane and tail, "w-what happened?"

“I gave you some of my power. You are now as powerful as your aunt was, Perhaps more.” He said his eyes showing nothing but love for her, "it is my gift to you... and you can keep it, if you become my bride..."

She flushed and nodded slowly.

***

“So father became a Pony for you?” Charity interrupted her mother’s story with the same comment she always did.

“Yes.”

"And he gave you the power that you now have?"

“Yes, he did.”

“So it is because of father, that you are able to do all the things that you can do now?”

Cadence nodded. “That is correct.”

“So then why…” Charity walked over to the statue of her father that inhabited the forest where they had landed, "is he stone now?" she turned to her mother, "you never told me that part."

Cadence watched her daughter from a distance, it was true that she had been neglecting to finish the story for her daughter, but it was only because it was so painful for her to explain and it had been her fault to begin with. “I don’t think you’re old enou-.”

“That is always your excuse mother!” Charity interrupted her face showing slight anger, “When will I be old enough?!”

Cadence turned from her, and a few moments passed before she said, “It was… because of Screwball.”

“Screwball? Who is screwball?”

“She, was your father’s first daughter.”

“Was?”

"She, tricked me, into thinking that it was your father’s fault that Shining Armor was dead. When in fact it had been because of Scewball.” Cadence kept her voice steady despite the tears that had started to appear in her eyes, "When I confronted your father, he didn't know what I was talking about, we had been together for five years, and the kingdom was just starting to trust him. He even had a space in Equestria where he could create all the chaos he desired and his candy rain had become quite popular during Fright Night. He tried to understand what I was saying, but I was too hysterical to listen. I yelled at him, something I had never done before for any reason. I demanded that he tell me what had happened, how he had done it. He didn't have an answer for me, so he returned to his original form, telling me that if I wanted to talk about it like a civilized pony, that I could find him here.

I waited to go to him, and when I finally did I was still angry, I tried to talk to him about it, but I couldn't take it, my emotions got the best of me, and we fought. It was the first and only fight we had ever had, and because of the power that he had given me. I was able to turn him into stone due to my anger. Screwball, had been hiding in the darkness, and she jumped out and attacked me since I was weak from having used my power to turn him. She stood above me, ready to strike and leave me as she had left Shining Armor, but at that moment, your father used that last bit of energy he had, which I am sure could have released him if he truly wanted, but instead he used it to destroy Screwball and save my life."

Cadence walked over to the Discord statue and looked up at him for the first time in years, “I lost the second love of my life that day. I had let the lies of Screwball corrupt my heart and force me to hate the Stallion that had been there for me and who loved me in return. I regret my actions on that day more than anything in my entire life." she looked to her daughter, "I found out I was pregnant with you four days after that. I may have lost your father four hundred years ago because I was too blind with rage to see that he was telling the truth, but I still have a part of him with me, and that part is you."

Charity smiled at her mother, “And you could not give power to him like he did for you?"

Cadence shook her head, “The spell I placed on him is too powerful for me to even break at the stage that I am at now. I have nowhere near as much power as I had the day I put it on him, and unless I have more than that I will not be able to remove it." She looked up at him once more, "I miss him every day. There are times when I have trouble remembering his voice."

Charity stepped up to her mother. "Mother, I know I could never understand how you feel. I doubt that if even I go through what you went through, that I could comprehend the pain you must be feeling."

Cadence smiled softly, “Pain is nothing, when I have you to take care of.”

Together they headed away to what needed to be done, the Gala was close and many things still needed to be looked over before other things could continue. As they flew off, Charity turned back to look at her father’s statue, and she thought that she had saw a crack form in it.