Author's Notes:

UPDATE:
I plan to heavily revise and fix this story up, so it might be going down soon

Finally got this done!
I've had this idea floating around for years (and in fact have a somewhat soul-sister story to this, about these two later on), and the Imposing Sovereigns Contest was the perfect kick to get it done.
For better or worse... it also coincided with a major trip, including backpacking through Fiji, so getting it written has been a greater challenge than usual.
I managed to sneak it in right before the deadline, even if it meant jumping on my friend's wifi just the minute we arrived at the airport.
So... as of now, at least, there are a few writing and grammar hiccups that I didn't catch in that last rushed half hour just trying to weave the parts together.
Will get those fixed up soon, though--this story is very dear to me :twilight smile:

I’m not ready to be a princess.

Cadence stared at the passing scenery, chin propped on her forearm as she recalled those words in her mind, turning them this way and that. She had meant it when she had said them to Princess Celestia three days ago, on the evening of her first birthday as a princess.

True, she never quite knew what to expect from the millennial old princess, but it was still a surprise when those words lead to this: a train ride home.

Well… not home. Not really. That would imply she actually had one.

Cadence sighed. And that was the problem, wasn’t it?

Her eyes drifted closed as she leaned more heavily into her foreleg raised up against the window, lulled by the gentle rocking of the train carriage and the warm rays of the sun. It would be a long time before they arrived, and she had slept poorly. Again…

Perhaps it’s time that you learned. But first you need to re-discover that which you’ve lost, and remember that which you’ve forgotten.

Those had been Celestia’s words, spoken like a premonition.

Then the memory changed. The sun faded, quite suddenly. Far too suddenly. Cadence shied back from the edge as the world went black as death, as cold and silent as a grave. This wasn’t right.

Somewhere, in the depth of her mind, she heard a familiar laughter, deep and menacing.

“No…” she whispered, shrinking down, feeling small. Weak. “No… it’s not real.”

The blackness was suffocating, and she found herself gasping.

Then the screams began. They always did.

A child crying for help.

“It’s not real!” she shouted, moving backwards, pressing herself to the hard ground.

“It’s a dream… it’s just a dream,” she said, eyes wide and staring into the perpetual night. Then even worse came… the screams faded into silence.

“Cadence?” A faint pressure at her shoulder caught her attention. "Are you okay?"

“Wha… huh? What happened?”

Shining Armor helped pull her to the bench. “Just a bump on the track. You all right?”

Blinking, Cadence stared about her and realized she must have dozed off against the window and fell off.

Another nightmare.

“Yes, sorry. I’m fine.”

Her smile grew warmer at the familiar presence of him. Shining Armor was perhaps not the best pick for her personal guard, but there was no one she would rather be with. He sat beside her as a regular pony, his very finely polished helm and armor in a sack beneath their bench, and her rather strong insistence.

Truth was she needed a friend more than a personal guard, but it wasn’t exactly something one could come out and say.

“Right, uh, I was actually going to wake you up soon anyway to see if you’d, um, like some lunch?” He smiled awkwardly, rubbing a hoof along his forearm. “It’s not much but my mom insisted that I bring some food for both of us.”

“That’s very sweet, thank you. That would be wonderful.” Cadence sat straighter and let the familiar smile settle on her face, watching as he pulled out a large bag from beneath the bench, laid out a square of cloth between them, and began to pull out food. Cadence helped herself to some sweet green honeydew as Shining Armor pulled out even more from the seemingly endless bag.

He squinted at the glass bottle hovering in his magic and muttered, “I didn’t pack this. Uh, would you like some—uh—sparkling water?”

“No thanks, I’m good.”

She took another bite of the melon as she watched him dig around his saddle bags with increasing bewilderment as he pulled one thing after another into the seat between them, from fruit and cheese to granola bars and a small bag of Admiral Arrow’s Sugar Sticks cereal.

“I’m guessing Twilight helped,” she said after that last one, knowing full well it was Twilight’s go-to snack after school.

“When did she even get the chance to slip that in there? My family apparently thinks I’m going on a picnic,” he said, muzzle almost entirely in the bag, pulling it out when he heard Cadence’s giggle which she poorly disguised as a cough as she looked out the window at the passing fields.

She had specifically requested Shining Armor as her personal guard and so far had zero regrets, even if Celestia had taken a little convincing to agree to a guard still in training. Cadence was fond of him. Part of that was from Twilight’s own childish bragging of her brother that made him out to be nothing short of a saint, but Cadence had also grown to know him on her own. When they had first met through Cadence's job as foal sitter, he had squeaked out her name and then hurried out of the room as soon as was decent. It had been adorable, frankly, although off-putting. But the more time she spent with Twilight and her family, the more Cadence grew fond of him.

Cadence glanced at Shining Armor’s cutie mark, now visible outside the armor of a cadet in the Royal Guard. A shield. Did he know what his purpose was? She asked.

“See, I want to be strong enough to protect those I care about,” Shining Armor said, taking no offense at the potentially sensitive subject. “i think that's my destiny, to protect others. I’ve been trying to become stronger lately: not just better at magic and defensive spells, but physically stronger. Just in case.”

"That's great," Cadence said and then lightly frowned, gazing at her own cutie mark of a blue crystal heart.

“I just wish I knew what mine was,” Cadence murmured.

The first princess in centuries—maybe a millennia.

So why her? Why now?

It was past midday that they arrived, the only two ponies to step off the tiny train station and watch as the train whistled and bobbed away. It wouldn’t return for two days.

It should be more than enough time, and Cadence had come prepared: in her saddlebag she had her notebook and papers, whatever she thought might help. Already she had spent days in the Canterlot Library and Royal Archives, and had spent a long afternoon at the orphanage she had stayed in briefly, before becoming a princess.

As she headed towards town, she turned to call out to Shining Armor to hurry up and saw him loaded down with not only his saddlebags, but also his armor and their—well, her—luggage.

“Here, let me take some of that.”

“Huh? Oh, no, no it’s fine!”

“Please, I insist.”

“It’s a bit heavy—“

“Not at all!” Cadence said with a grin and a grunt, sagging until the shocking weight of it before straightening up, her legs quivering a moment. Beaming at him, she began to march into town.

“This would have been a lot on your own,” she said. The town was further than she realized.

“I wouldn’t have minded. I figure it’s a good chance to get stronger.”

A princess should be strong, she reasoned, keeping a tight grin as she continued on, Shining Armor quickly at her side. One day she might need to be strong.

Her smile faltered.

But… strong enough for what?

“So this is your hometown?” Shining Armor murmured, gazing about with kindly appreciation.

It wasn’t much to look at: a small, Earth pony farming village, far from any other city or town.

“Something like that,” Cadence murmured.

He was noticeably confused when she brought them to a small bed and breakfast, rather than a home. He frowned when she was addressed by her formal title by the ponies of the village, treated her respectfully but also with a certain coldness.

“What about your family?” he asked.

And then, “What about your friends?”

After her distinct silence, he asked, almost desperately, “Acquaintance? Isn’t there anyone you know?”

“It’s... complicated. The truth is, I don’t know anyone here. I’m a foundling.”

Few ponies knew this. Who knows how Celestia managed to keep that little bit of her history quiet. Or maybe it didn’t fit the image of princess.

“A pony found me in the middle of a meadow and brought me back here. Thing is, ponies thought I was a changeling.”

“A changeling? You mean those love-devouring monsters? Why would they think that?”

“It’s an old tactic of changelings. They leave a changeling disguised as a pony child and then live off the love of the ponies that find them. When I was discovered by a wandering stallion, it was very suspicious. Especially since…” She paused, frowning. “Especially since I couldn’t remember anything. Only my name.”

“Really?” Shining Armor asked breathlessly. “That's it? Just your name?”

“No one could understand why, and no one recognized me. It was like I just appeared from nowhere.”

“No wonder they thought you were a changeling,” he muttered, and then quickly corrected himself. “Not that I think you are one!”

“Hah, it’s okay. But it wasn’t just that. There was always something odd about me.” Cadence paused, lifting her front hoof and gazing at it. Shining Armor also stopped, looking at her curiously. “When I was young, my fur used to… shimmer. I can barely describe it, but it made others nervous.”

It wasn’t surprising that the other ponies avoided her, and those rumors chased her to the orphanage. Ponies avoided her there as well, soon enough.

“It only stopped after I became an alicorn.” Cadence turned her hoof over before continuing on. Sometimes she missed it. It was like she had also lost something when she gained her horn and her wings.

She wondered, maybe even expected, Shining Armor to treat her different after that. Maybe a certain coldness, especially with his duty as her guard, now that they were amongst crowds. That didn’t happen, and Cadence found herself breathing easier.

They dropped off their baggage at the only bed and breakfast in town, that was old but clean and bright with a large window overlooking the nearby fields and forest.

They got to work. For the rest of that day the two of them searched for any kind of information that might lead to real answers: who she was, where she came from, and why. Why had she been found alone in that open field? Had someone brought her there? Had she been abandoned?

And why couldn’t she remember?

Cadence dwelled on those thoughts as she gnawed the end of a pencil, waggling it up and down as she frowned at her pages of notes, short, scattered, and seemingly useless. She was no closer than before. They looked through the local library archives, and interviewed the local constable, an earth pony mare who’s family had lived in that town for centuries and never heard of anything like what had happened. They spoke to the stallion who had discovered her, now a father and seemed truly sorry he couldn’t help. He really had stumbled across her by chance, although he mentioned that it was as if he had been lead there, as if something had called to him…

Cadence had listened with held breath as he spoke. It had sounded oddly familiar, but a pang struck her head and the sensation disappeared. She dutifully wrote it down in her notes, but it wasn’t enough.

At the ith a sigh she spat out the pencil and dropped her chin to the table. She still didn’t understand.

Why couldn’t she remember?

“No luck?”

“Oh!” Cadence straightened instantly, grinning at Shining Armor as he returned from ordering drinks after a day in the sun, carrying two glasses in his magic. "Yes, I'm quite well. Thank you."

A princess had to be strong. When ponies looked to her for guidance, she had to seem like she knew what she was doing.

“Want to talk about it?”

Cadence opened her mouth, wavering between desire and discretion. “N-no. It’s fine. Just a bit tired after a long day.” She smiled again, softer this time.

“Are you already out of ideas? Maybe you can go back to Princess Celestia, she might know something.”

It was a fair point—Celestia certainly seemed to know more than she was letting on.

“Maybe,” Cadenced conceded, unwilling to face Celestia just yet. This, somehow, felt like a test, and it seemed one that she was failing. Lifting her head, she gazed towards distant fields. “There is… one more place I haven’t been to yet.”

“Hey, maybe this will be the one, then!”

Cadence pushed her straw about sullenly. It was hard to keep up the smile, especially now. She didn’t want to return to that place. She didn’t know if she would be able to bear it.

But there was nothing else for it. As soon as their food was finished, with the sun already lowering amongst the scattered clouds, Cadence lead the way up the winding, low-beaten path. Past fields of carrots and cabbages overhung by old gnarled apples and twisting grape vines, it fell off to scattered trees and brush.

The land felt wilder here—untamed. Cadence continued on, dimly aware of Shining Armor’s confusion as they moved away from the town.

“Is someone… singing?” Shining Armor said softly, as they came over a small rise.

“That’s the sound of these woods," Cadence said, gazing about. It almost felt familiar, despite only being there once before. "It’s always been like this, for as long as ponies can remember. Some believe it’s magic of the land itself.”

“It’s beautiful. It almost sounds like a song. Do you hear it?” he asked in a hushed voice.

“Yes,” Cadence said, listening to something else that no one else seemed to hear, a sound that always chilled her heart. The sound of a child sobbing. “It is beautiful.”

There seemed something more, something just beyond her memory. Cadence pawed at the soft ground meditatively as Shining Armor nosed about the shrubs and trees. Something… like magic.

Something important…

She winced, rubbing her brow as a sudden stabbing pain in her head chased away those thoughts. That always seemed to happen, and she didn’t understand why.

The wind picked up, making her lift her head and gaze at the rustling trees overhead, dark green and dappled gold sunlight. It really did sound like someone singing. A deep pang struck her, something that almost made her want to cry. Maybe that was to be expected—this sound was the first thing she ever heard.

This little meadow, it was beautiful. Haunting. And, it seemed, useless.

As the sky darkened they left before the path disappeared entirely in the darkness, no closer to

As they left, however, Cadence turned back, gazing at the dark trees with their long, long shadows. Everyone else only heard the whispered song, the ghost-like lullaby. She heard it too.

But why did no one else hear the sound of a child screaming? Of a filly crying for help?

She was quiet as they walked back to town, and nearly declined sitting through dinner, not in any particular mood to smile and act pleasant. It was much more appealing to flop on her musty bed and mope.

Thank goodness it was Shining Armor to accompany her.

Another guard would have followed her order and left her to her privacy, no questions asked.

Shining Armor kept a respectful silence on their walk, but as they arrived in the small town, he pointed out things—a flutter of pale gray birds flying overhead, an old signpost that he tried to guess what the faded words said, making her giggle, and often smiling at her. It was very heard not to smile back.

Almost giddy, he bounded over to a small sign outside a cramped looking restaurant and began to name off the dishes, sweet and savory and all delicious sounding in his eager voice. Cadence found that maybe she could sit through dinner after all.

He was kind. She already knew that, but there, just the two of them alone, she grew fonder. It was subtle but clear that he did all this to cheer her up. His earlier anxiousness had faded. It was like having a friend.

Maybe they were friends.

Cadence glanced at him through her eyelashes, aiming for subtly, and the tiny thought that he was doing this purely for her as a princess faded instantly. This was genuine. His whole aura was sweetly genuine.

He was probably terrible at card games, she thought with a private grin.

“I’m sorry this wasn’t very productive," Shining Armor said as they both got ready for bed. “We still have tomorrow," he said encouragingly.

"Yeah. Maybe we'll have better luck then," Cadence agreed with a yawn. "But I had no idea today would be so exhausting."

Shining Armor fidgeted near the door. "Hey, Cadence... Princess, I mean. I know I’m just a low level cadet. I know we don’t know each all that well…” He trailed off, and Cadence looked up. It always felt odd, when other ponies compared themselves to her. As if they didn’t matter, or as if she was too good, too ethereal to approach.

She hated it.

“Well, I just wanted to say that if you ever do want to talk, or need something, I’m here for you. Twilight adores you, our whole family does. And just, so you know… I’m here for you.”

There was silence as Cadence absorbed that, as Shining Armor gave a slight nod of farewell before walking to his room.

“Shining Armor, wait.”

He waited, waiting as she tried to find words for what she was feeling. No, that wasn’t it. It was finding the courage to actually open up to someone. To finally let out what she had held together for so long. She frowned at her hooves, bit her lip, and when she looked up.

And she smiled. “I just wanted to say… than you.”

She didn’t have the courage. Not yet.

Shining Armor gave a small nod. His eyes were warm in the light of the flickering candle. “Good night, Cadence.”

Alone, she was able to dwell on her own woes. She was still no closer to an answer.

Except maybe she did have one new hint. Or at least it felt so, a clue she had discovered in herself during the walk to the meadow.

Perhaps the reason she couldn’t remember anything… was because she didn’t wantto remember.

She couldn’t breathe. The cold air stung at the tears coming down her cheeks as she ran, even as her legs shook from exhaustion and long-borne hunger.

She didn’t know where they were going, but a great sense of urgency pushed her on: run. Run. Go before it’s too late.

The world darkened. Someone screamed.

She was alone...

Something called out to her.

She startled awake, gasping and feverish after her nightmare, then rose in the gray darkness and tried to make sense of this strange feeling.

It was as if something beckoned to her. Now.

Outside the wind blew in cold gusts as she stole through the silent town, guided only by a waning moon and careful not to stumble as she found the path to the meadow.

Something was calling.

She was afraid, but still she ran on.

The wind howled in the trees overhead, the branches groaning and rattling and making her fur stand on end. Still she ran, until finally she came to the meadow.

It was empty, and the wind rose and rose about her, singing and screaming echoed in her ears.

She turned about in a circle, gazing at the dark woods surrounding her. What was she to do.

A child was screaming. She could hear it so clearly now. Someone begging for help.

But no, no… it was just in her head. It wasn’t real. It was just the wind.

“Is someone there?” she called.

A pale blue light flashed.

The light hovered, glowed brighter, and began to take form.

Then she fell into the darkness once more.

“It calls to you.”

Cadence looked to her mother, and then once again brought her gaze to the Crystal Heart floating before her, softly glowing with what seemed an inner light.

“I can feel it,” Cadence murmured. Even without her parents and teachers and fellow ponies telling her so, she knew of the special connection she shared with the Crystal Heart. It was only reinforced when she got her cutie mark, although she still didn’t understand why.

But it didn’t matter right then, she thought, cheerfully hurrying home with her parents. Everything was perfect, and she knew nothing of sorrow or pain.

A comfortable home with her family, her neighbors and friends, in the beautiful capital of their home, protected by the Crystal Heart.

Everything was perfect.

The day Sombra took over, her family hadn’t known until they heard the first cut-off scream from down the road, and by then it was too late.
Later they understood how it had happened, seeing the helmets of the Crystal Pony soldiers, mind controlled through dark magic. With those it was relatively easy to enslave the rest, most ponies unwilling to fight their own friends and family.

Cadence and her family wore the shackles like so many others.
Quickly she grew sick, and even as a doctor looked her over—another slave, same as them—but she knew it was the Heart that was sick. It was as if it was dying. It scared her.

Late at night, grouped together in a cage with other families, she would sometimes overhear her parents whispering. If Sombra discovered Cadence’s special connection to the heart, what would he do, they wondered. It was a miracle, perhaps, that they were never discovered. Or rather it was the great loyalty and kindness of those around them.

“We’ll get you out of here,” her mother whispered, curling around her as the guards passed.

As much as they tried to keep it secret from her, Cadence knew how much they struggled to prepare their escape. Bribing guards, bartering with what little their fellow prisoners had, and working to loosen or break their shackles, wearing them away until her parents hooves were sore, mouths bleeding, and the metal of the shackles thin. Thin enough to break, given the right pressure.

The real danger were the guards.

Ponies who escaped didn’t return. Not alive, anyway.

Cadence saw one of the bodies, despite her mother’s best attempts to hide it. It had been a pale yellow mare, her body looked so small. Lifeless. Her mane dark and flat against her neck, strangely smeared with black. It wasn’t until later Cadence realized it has been blood, dried and darkened.

“Soon, Cadence,” her father promised, nuzzling her head as she cried from pure hunger and fear. “Soon we’ll get you out of here. No matter what. Just hold on a little longer.”

“We have to go. Now.”

It was Cadence herself who forced their hoof.

Her parents glanced to each other, ears flat.

“Well… maybe… we can think about tonight—“

“No. It has to be now. The Crystal Heart is telling me we have to leave now.”
Another shared look between them, stronger this time, and far more afraid. Cadence bit her lip, turning her head to make sure no one overheard them. They had to go, it was like a great pressure and it felt both like her and not. She knew it was the Crystal Heart urging them to go.

Something was about to happen, a premonition.

It was bad timing—early morning but already light out, the guards were about, and they would be missed as soon as the shackle gangs were sent to the crystal mines. But they couldn’t wait.

It wasn’t long before the soldiers were after them, following their tracks through the woodlands. They were fast, and her parents couldn’t run fast enough, not with Cadence.

“Go left, I’ll hold them off,” her father said, breathing heavily. They could hear the soldiers close behind.

“No,” her mother said, and Cadence could hear the tears in her voice. “Please—“

The soldiers burst into sight, firing arrows that seemed to burn the air around them.

“Go!”

“Dad!”

Her mother pushed her along and they ran away from her father, and Cadence could hear her mother’s sobs as they ran, and a strange pained sound.

Then her mother began to fall back, unable to keep up. Cadence looked back more closely, and noticed an arrow shaft jutting from over her hip, and dark blood dribbled down her pale coat.

“Mom! You’re hurt!”

“I’m okay, just keep running,” she said, her voice high and strained, limping with every step.

Then they both stopped, silent. Something had happened. Cadence felt a deep pain in her heart, or like something breaking. Looking into her mother’s shocked face, she knew she had felt the same.

“M-mom?”

Her mother turned and stared at where they had come, tears dripping in the cold air.

Cadence knew. They both did.

It had been her father.

“Come on,” her mother said, “we have to keep going.”

Cadence now lead the way under her mother’s guidance, hurrying as best they could through the woods.

Soon, though, her mother fell and didn’t get up.

“Don’t touch it,” her mother said as Cadence made to pull it out. And then she realized—poison.

“Mom?” she asked, more scared than she had ever been in her life. Was she asleep?

“Mom! Wake up, please!”

Her mother didn’t reply, her breathing growing shallow.

“No… no, no, no! Help! Someone, please! I need help!”

She almost didn’t hear her mother over her own choking sobs.

“Cadence…”

“Mom! Please, stay awake. Stay with me.” Cadence pressed herself into her mother’s arms. “You can’t die. Please.”

“It’ll be okay,” her mother whispered, running a light hoof through her mane.

And she began to sing. The same lullaby she sang every night to Cadence.

Cadence clung tighter and thought she would choke in her sobs.

Two things happened, then.

The song faded.

The world cracked, like the shatter of thunder, and the world fell dark.
It should have felt a great force, like an explosion, but it was only silent and dark.

Then for the first time, or in fact, the second, Cadence opened her eyes.

Time passed in a gray silence.

Then she heard her name called out.

“Cadence! Where are you?”

She closed her eyes, feeling sick.

Shining Armor’s voice grew closer, and still she couldn’t will herself to rise, not until he seemed to be right behind her. Slowly she pulled herself up, her head hanging. The world seemed to spin, and then Shining Armor was before her, his coat gray in the light of false dawn.

“Cadence, are you all right?” he asked urgently. “Are you hurt? What happened?”

“I’m fine,” she said, not looking at him. Her voice didn’t seem to be her own.

“Fine?”

“… Yes.”

No.

A princess had to be strong. She didn’t know how to be strong. How to smile and pretend anything was fine.

Her parents… her home.

“What were you thinking!?” Shining Armor shouted, snapping her out of her stupor as she blinked at him, seeing the anger and the terror there. “Why would you come out here on your own? Without telling me? Do you have any idea what I thought when I woke and you weren’t there? Why would you… Cadence?”

She felt tears on her cheek. Shining Armor watched them drip and fall, his brow furrowing.

“What… happened?”

Her home had been enslaved. Destroyed.

Silently she gazed at him, her eyes burning, and a great warmth filled her chest and grew outward, like an angry fire. Her body felt not her own.

How could she tell him? How could she tell anyone what she had seen? What she had remembered…

“N-nothing,” she tried, the word choked as she looked away, anywhere but him.

Her parents had been murdered.

Because of her.

“’M fine,” she choked out again, feeling moments from breaking down entirely, and then she would fall apart entirely.

“Cadence…”

She shook her head, no longer trusting her voice, keeping her head turned far away so he might not see her tears.

A hoof softly touched her shoulder, making her flinch.

“It was my fault,” she whispered.

And she told him everything.

Finally it made sense. A part of her wished she could forget.

“Cadence… I’m so sorry,” Shining Armor said, after she had finally fallen silent. The tears had stopped, leaving her feeling empty and worn.

Where was she supposed to go from there?

Slowly her eyes focused on a small wavering flower. It had been nearly black by night, and now, with the rise of dawn, it was a pale blush pink. Was it growing over her mother’s body?

A cold shudder swept through her. A thousand years. It was beyond understanding.

“I don’t understand,” she whispered, her mind slowly unraveling all the woven pieces. “Why now? Why am I here?”

Why am I alive?

“I’m all that’s left,” she said. “I’m the last Crystal Pony…” Then she was on all four hooves, suddenly furious. “And I’m not even a Crystal Pony anymore! I’m a stupid princessand for what? They’re all dead! My parents are dead and it’s my fault!”

“Cadence—“

She reared back a step, unwilling to be comforted.

“If I hadn’t followed that dumb voice, we would still be together. If we hadn’t run—“

“You would have disappeared too,” Shining Armor said.

“I wish I had!”

She stood, glaring and breathing hard. Around them, birdsong began to lift from the trees.

To her surprise, Shining Armor was quietly staring at her, contemplative.

“Maybe this is your destiny.”

That was like a slap, and she jerked back as if he really had struck her.

“My destiny? My parents, my home, gone? For what? This?” She waved a hoof around the meadow. This, it seemed, was her only connection that remained. The Crystal Empire

“Well, you came back…” He frowned, squinting at the distance as if seeing something beyond. “Maybe the rest will come back too. Maybe even soon.”

Cadence wanted to argue, maybe purely for the sake of being angry, but then she considered his words. Could it be true? She had been on the very edge of whatever dark magic had consumed her homeland. Was the magic perhaps fading?

Was the Crystal Empire perhaps not dead, but merely frozen in time? As she had been?

“Even so,” Cadence said, “It won’t change everything. I’ll never see my parents again.”

“I’m really so sorry, Cadence. But they died so you can live—the best thing you can do is to honor that and live as best you can.”

Cadence nodded silently, blinking against the resurging heat in her eyes. She needed to hear that.

“And you’re not alone,” Shining Armor said, laying a hoof on her shoulder, that she didn’t shake off. “You have Celestia, and friends in Canterlot, and all of Equestria loves you. And you have Twilight.”

Cadence softened at that. She did love Twilight Sparkle, she was like a little sister.

“And my parents see you like a second daughter,” Shining continued, and Cadence believed him. “And, well… you have me.” He rubbed his forehoof, and smiled as if to say, ‘if you would like.’

Cadence sniffed and wiped at her eye with a hiccup, and let herself fall into his embrace.

“Thank you,” Cadence murmured, resting her chin on his shoulder. He was warm, and he felt like home.

“I’ll always be there for you,” he said, with an almost absurd chivalry. “Let me be your armor,” he said, very softly.

There was an embarrassed pause, and then Cadence snickered before pulling away, laughing and laughing. It was silly. It was almost painfully cliché, and she felt her heart almost glowing.

I love you.

The thought surged forth within her, entirely unexpected and new as she laughed and he grinned, flushed with embarrassment.

I love you.

So this was love. Thiswas her destiny as well.

He was home, to her.

He was her friend, and her family, and she could tell, deep within, that this was the pony she would spend her life with.

“Thank you, Shining Armor,” she whispered, and leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

They stood, blushing and grinning at each other before Cadence pulled herself back to the task at hand, and let her face fall.

“I need to talk with Celestia,” she said. Had Celestia suspected all of this? Was that why she had taken her under her wing, taught her how to be a leader?

Could this really be her destiny? If her homeland returned after a thousand years, it would need a leader, someone who understood both worlds.

But first, there was something she needed to do, and quietly searched for two sturdy branches. Without speaking, Shining Armor seemed to understand and found a long vine that he interwove and together they created a simple memorial for her mother and father.

She would do them proud. It was the only thing she could do.

“If you need some time alone, I’ll understand,” Shining Armor said, after some minutes of silence. “I can come back later.”

“No.”

Cadence stood, gazing down at the wavering flowers, her eyes quite dry now. There was a new peace in her heart, a newfound steadiness she had never known. Slowly she turned and lifted her eyes to Shining Armor, standing tall in the bright sun, his mane rustling in the breeze and his eyes so soft and blue.

Cadence smiled, breathed deep, and walked to him. She understood things now; she knew who she was, and, if her suspicious were correct, she would soon learn much more. Whatever lay in her future, she knew that she would be able to face it. She wouldn’t be alone.

“I’m ready.”