Rainbow Dash's Cloud Manison

Rainbow was sleeping soundly next to her guest for the week, Empress Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire, or Cadence. It'd only been about three hours since she found out about her dilemmas, so the cyan Pegasus had contemplated her thoughts on what the pink Alicorn's words. From Shining Armor's infertility, to his wife's divorce by losing his horn to her, the young mare's thoughts about Twilight's brother were anything but pleasant.

"I can't believe it! That son of a bitch was...ugh...I can't even think straight without getting furious! Bet Twi's not gonna be happy with what-"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

But, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a sudden wail coming from the left side of her bed, followed by constant kicks and wing beatings on her back, which were strong enough to give her some bruises, despite how resilient the cyan Pegasus was usually. So immediately, Rainbow woke up, turned 180 degrees, and looked with her tired out eyes to see that it was Cadence, tossing and turning while screaming and sobbing in agony, and was also having a horrible nightmare, one that actually happened.

"NO, PLEASE! MAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT STOP! WHY SHINING WHY?! WHY'RE YOU DOING THIS?"

As Rainbow Dash covered her ears to lessen the pain, she felt her tears underneath her eyes, for it pained her to see a Ruler of Equestria in such a state like this, even more so than Princess Luna was during the Tantabus Incident. She knew she had to wake up Cadence before she was plagued by any further nightmares. So Rainbow moved her foreleg to try and tap Cadence's shoulder, but as she caught a glimpse of Tank walking towards the distraught Alicorn, she stopped, trying to get the tortoise's attention.

"Tank. Tank! Tank, get over here right now!" she half-whispered, hoping that it would be enough. Sadly, he just continued towards the flailing Alicorn as fast as he could, though really, he was going really slow. Frustrated by Tank's ignorance, Rainbow Dash quickly got off the bed to avoid getting more bruises from both Cadence's right wing and legs, still trying to get him to go to sleep. But as she approached the Alicorn's side of the bed, Rainbow saw that Tank was actually trying to comfort her, because Cadence suddenly felt his hard shell and clutched it tightly on to her chest, still shaking around furiously while the tortoise was hiding inside.

"SHINING! PLEASE...MAKE IT STOP!" Cadence shouted, forcing Rainbow to cover her ears again. Several minutes later, the cyan Pegasus had now only heard small sniffles and sobs from Cadence, and Rainbow quickly looked up from the floor to see something she'd never seen in her life.

The Alicorn Empress was now holding on to Tank gently while he nuzzled her neck for support. While this had left Rainbow teary-eyed, the older pony was now waking up, slowly opening her eyes to not only see the friendly tortoise with a soft smile planted on his face, but also,  the cyan Pegasus standing next to them both, about a few feet apart at best.

"Oh, um...uh...Hi Rainbow Dash," the pink Alicorn said sadly, her voice was all croaked from the commotion earlier, "Um..." she started before noticing Tank, "Is this your pet Tortoise, Tank?" Rainbow only nodded, but also cleared her throat before she spoke.

"Yep, he's like family to me. Oh, and if you're wondering, he got up to comfort you while you were having a nightmare,"

Cadence listened well, but suddenly remembered the nightmare she had. But instead of breaking down again, she focused her bloodshot eyes on the Pegasus before wiping any tears she had away and deciding to talk to her.

*Sigh* "Rainbow, I guess you already know about what that Nightmare was. But, It's more than just a sudden betrayal. To be honest, I believe it was all about to crumble at some point. But I was blinded by how much I loved Shining, so I didn't have a grasp on reality until after the party at Ponyville," she stated while lowering her head, having the now shocked and confused Pegasus climb up onto the bed and wrap a wing around her and nuzzle her cheek.

"Wh...What do you mean by that?" She asked in a tone equivalent to that of a concerned sibling.

"Well, what I mean by that is...here, let me show you," as soon as Cadence finished, she lit up her horn, turned her head to face Rainbow, and casted a spell on Rainbow Dash, bringing her into her own mind.

Cadence's Mind:

As Rainbow opened her eyes, the first thing she saw that surprised her was what looked like to be a dreamscape similar to hers, but with the colors of Cadence's mane organized to look like a sunrise, and a hallway of doors not too far from where she currently was. Next, she saw Cadence looking down at her with a small smile on her face, which was no longer stained with tears.

"Where are we?" the cyan Pegasus asked, never losing the shocked expression she had.

"We are now Inside my head Rainbow Dash. For this is where I will show you the truth," She said in a voice that sounded ghostly, but welcoming and gentle as it always was, "Please, follow me if you wish."

Rainbow was confused by the last part of the pink Alicorn's sentence for a moment, until she realized that she was still laying down, causing her to giggle nervously and blush in embarrassment. Once she was up on all fours, Cadence led her through all of the doors that detailed every single dream that she ever had in her life. Dream of the past, present, and future. Of course, all of these doors were unlocked save for the one at the very end of the hallway. This one had about two dozen chains wrapped around it, six regular locks to prevent the chains from falling off, and even a special lock at the center with Cadence's cutie mark on it.

"Wow, tight security huh?" Rainbow asked in her usual cocky grin, chuckling to herself.

"This was recent," the older Alicorn replied, "Fortunately, I can just as easily disable these locks with just the right spell," She then turned her head towards the Pegasus, "Alright, after I disable the locks, follow me. Do you understand?" She asked firmly while still keeping her gentle tone.

"Yes, I do."

"Prepare."

Cadence then aimed her horn at the central lock and shot a key spell on it, forcing the other locks and the chains to fall off immediately afterwards. Once the last chain fell off, the door opened by itself as if it were possessed, and the two mares went inside, ready to face what was ahead of them. But when she followed the pink Alicorn, Rainbow Dash found herself looking at what appeared to be the throne room of the Crystal Empire, but it had a small projector in the middle that casted an image of a black rectangle with a white triangle pointing to the right.

Now Extremely Confused, the cyan Pegasus asked: "Uh...excuse me...Cadence. What's going on?"

"What do you mean by...oh. I see now," she suddenly had a look of realization on her, and facepalmed, or facehoofed herself, "Oh right. I totally forgot. Rainbow Dash, this place is where I play all my memories at. Whenever I want to view multiple memories from my life, I go here. Much like you go to a place in your mind that allows you to play your memories, Right?"

Rainbow was about to retort, but then remembered the memories of Tank's Hibernation and the events leading up to it. Looking at the pink Alicorn again, she could only nod in agreement and hang her head in defeat.

"Aw, don't let yourself get down Rainbow. There's nothing to be ashamed of," Cadence then extended her right wing over the cyan Pegasus' back, and ending at her athletic toned belly, providing extra warmth to her. The younger Mare only looked up at her and blushed furiously, turning her coat to purple in an instant.

The pink Alicorn then looked over to the black rectangle and lit her horn, causing Rainbow to look in her direction and see that the white triangle had now turned into two white bars that were parallel to eachother, and Cadence's most recent memory started playing from the beginning.

Scene 1: The Western Crystal Hospital

The Nightmare began with Cadence and Shining Armor at the waiting room of the Western Hospital of the Crystal Empire, with smiles that were plastered onto their faces. Later, the doors that lead to a hallway and further down the Hospital were busted open when a deep and gruff voice spoke out.

"Empress Cadenza! Captain Armor! Please come with me to room 117 for your appointment."

The Royal Couple got up to their hooves and immediately approached the source of the voice, a Crystallized orange Unicorn with a black mane, a Doctor's coat, which concealed his Cutie Mark. When the two lovers stopped in front of the Doctor, he was the first to speak.

"Ah, your Majesty,  welcome to the first of several Hospitals within your ever-growing Crystal Empire. My name is Doctor Igneous, and I will be your Doctor for today."

"Thank you Doctor Igneous," Shining Armor said, replacing the smile he had earlier with a serious look, "My wife and I will explain everything once were somewhere more..." he then whispered to Igneous, "...private."

"Oh, I see. Let's get going, shall we?" Igneous asked, earning nods from both of them.

As Doctor Igneous was leading the happy duo, Cadence turned her head right by 90 degrees to see a very nervous expression on her husband's face.

"Shining, are you sure you want to do this?" The pink Alicorn asked, "You don't look like you really want to."

The white Unicorn looked at her with a sad smile and sighed a deep breath before answering her question, "I have to Cady. If I don't, we'll never really know if we're able to have kids or not."

"Oh Shining," Cadence simply giggled, "There's nothing to worry about. Even if we can't have kids, we can always adopt a foal of our own, so it's not the end of the world, alright?" She then reassured the Unicorn by wrapping one of her wings on his back, earning a small smile from him.

"Alright, I won't freak out about it." Shining said, nuzzling his wife. Though deep down, he was hoping he would have kids with Cadence.

Once they reached room 117, Doctor Igneous ran some important tests on Cadence and Shining Armor, tests that would determine if they were able to have a foal. The procedure went on for about thirty minutes until the Crystal Doctor was finished, gathering the results for the Royal Couple. Once he got their attention by clearing his throat, he began to speak with a clipboard being levitated by a crimson aura.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, your majesty," he gestured to Cadence, " is that you're able to bear a child," now, he was looking at Shining Armor with a saddened look on his face, "The bad news is that Captain Armor cannot be the Father."

*Double Gasp*

"Wh...What do you mean Doctor? Is it be...because I'm an A...Alicorn?" Cadence asked, tears already filling her eyes to the point of streaming down non-stop.

"Yeah, what kind of joke are you playing Doc? Because we're not really laughing, are we?"

"Shining?"

"Both of you, Please!" Igneous interrupted, getting the Royal Couple to calm down before continuing, *Sigh* "Your Highness, you're able to have almost every Stallion you come across get you Pregnant, whether it'd be an Earth Pony, a Unicorn, or a Pegasus. But you can't have one with your husband is because...uh...because"

"Because WHAT? Tell me Doc, Why can't my wife have a child with me?" Shining Armor yelled, making both the Crystal Unicorn jump and Cadence sobbing quietly to herself.

"Well, it's because you're...how do I put this...you are infertile," The Doctor said sadly, while looking down at the ground and levitating the clipboard towards the white Unicorn with his crimson aura, "Here are the...*Gulp*...results for the test."

Shining Armor quickly snatched the clipboard from Doctor Igneous with his left foreleg, causing him to yelp, and studied the results. Cadence tried to look at the results alongside her husband but he refused to let her look, clearly not wanting her to be ashamed of him. Then, as soon as he finished reading the results, Shining threw the results back at the Crystal Unicorn's face and teleported out of room 117 immediately, leaving a tear-filled Alicorn behind.

As the Clipboard landed on the floor after making contact with Igneous' muzzle, Cadence slowly trotted to where it was and levitated the object to her level to read it. After she finished reading everything on the piece of paper, she gasped in disbelief and was starting to have tears come out of her eyes, for this information just terrified her. The doctor heard the weak sobbing coming from his Empress and walked to her side, putting one of his forelegs on her back to comfort her, for the results had indeed read that Shining Armor was in fact, Infertile.

"My Empress, I'm so sorry, I wish it wasn't true, but sadly, it is," he said, patting one of the most benevolent Alicorns of all of Equis on the back. He then gave Cadence a copy of the results and asked: "Would you like to keep one for yourself?"

Cadence then looked at the copy and thought for about thirty seconds before answering to the Doctor.

"Yes Doc, I would like a copy," she answered weakly, levitating the piece of paper with her horn and surrounding it in a sky-blue aura, replacing Igneous' crimson aura. "Do you have an envelope that I can use Igneous?" The crystal unicorn only looked at his desk and levitated a medical envelope towards them both. The Alicorn then put the copy into the envelope, sealed it, and gave the kind Doctor several bits before teleporting from room 117 and to the Crystal Palace.

With one last look at where Cadence was, Igneous sighed and muttered to himself before levitating the bits, "I hope this ends well for them both, or else we're in for a long set of changes."

Cadence's Mind:

After Flashback Cadence teleported out of the Hospital, the other Cadence lit her horn to pause the memory, giving Rainbow some time to let what just happened sink into her own mind. Afterwards, the cyan Pegasus finally spoke out what she thought of so far.

"Wait. So he just teleported after trying to hide the answers from you?" The Alicorn only nodded, allowing Rainbow to continue, "So that's his reason for hating you now, just making everything worse for the sake of keeping his pride in check? No offense Cadence, but unless there's a specific reason why, that's actually kinda lame, even for him."

When Rainbow finished, she groaned effortlessly, clearly unimpressed by what Shining Armor did, but the Crystal Empress responded by tapping with her foreleg on the younger mare's shoulder, getting her attention. The cyan Pegasus was about to start talking, but as she looked into the Alicorn's eyes, she could only tell, that through all the sorrow, pain, and suffering that she'd gone through (plus, she remembered about what she told her after the discovery), that there was more to the whole story. Cadence then lit her horn to play the memories again, right where they stopped at.

To Be Continued!