shadows being - Glad you liked it :D
Arkraiththeepicbrony (Ch94) - Yeah, they were a little close together. But, perhaps there's a reason for that ;)
Arkraiththeepicbrony (Ch57) - What flashback do you mean?
Arkraiththeepicbrony (Ch54) - Eeyup
Arkraiththeepicbrony (Ch52) - How do you mean?
Arkraiththeepicbrony (Ch38) - That was the point; he accidentally used the wrong unit of measurement, and since feet and inches don't exist in Equestria, the construction ponies read the measurements as metric.
Arkraiththeepicbrony (Ch35) Blackberries
Arkraiththeepicbrony (Ch23) - Lol I can understand that
Arkraiththeepicbrony (Ch14) - ?
Arkraiththeepicbrony (Ch13) - I'm glad you're enjoying it :D
Turnupgarin43 - Lol I can see that. Perhaps they'll join, perhaps not. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. ;)
SquirtlePWN - Lol that was the plan ;)
The Ten Ton Hammer - Well that's not good. At least you're enjoying it though
MortBlackthorn - That it did
xel101 - It's cool, life happens. Sure, I could give you a few pointers.
Darksroid17 - What other characters, indeed. Lol it does tend to do that, doesn't it. But then, the same could often be said of the show.
PyroahXBlaze - Happy New Year to you too! Lol we'll just have to wait and see; at this point, your guess is as good as mine ;)
coldshadow 92 - Why thank you :D
ShadowfireAngel - Lol you and me both ;)
KillerWoW - :O How could you?! Lol jk ;)
Mikalzilla - Hmm... that could have been interesting...
A/N - Howdy everypony! I hope everyone enjoyed their New Year; I know I did. As much as I love them, I'm glad the holidays are over; they never leave me with time to write. Anyway, now that all the hullabaloo is done with, I can get back to my normal writing and update schedule. As always, don't forget to follow/favorite, review, and most importantly; Enjoy!
After a second bout of passionate love-making, Twilight and I decided that we both needed to clean up, and headed into the shower together. We both found it difficult to keep our hands and hooves off of one another, and we ended up making even more of a mess before cleaning off again. When we were all clean again, I turned around to turn the water off so we could get out. When I turned back around, tears were running down Twilight's cheeks, and she had a crooked smile on her face. "I… I can feel her, Blake… I can feel Aerith… She's so… so happy! We did it; we saved her…"
I felt a smile of my own crease my lips, and I wrapped her in a warm hug. "That's amazing Twilight!"
She sniffed and looked me in the eye. "I can hear her too. I-I don't know how... but I can. She wants to thank both of us for what we sacrificed for her… but she doesn't know how."
I smiled and kissed her sweetly. "She doesn't need to thank us at all Twilight…"
We both took a moment to let the news sink in before we toweled ourselves off and got ready for the day. Once I was dressed, I left the bedroom and started towards the kitchen, intent on making breakfast for everyone. I didn't get far though; as I passed the door to the room Cadance had been staying in, I heard a particular sound, one that made my heart sink. The Princess of Love was crying.
I let out a quiet sigh and continued downstairs, though with a different purpose in mind. When I reached my destination, I put on a pot of coffee, stronger than I usually would have made, and went down into the bar room to fetch something while it brewed.
By the time I made my way back upstairs, the pot was finished, and so I poured a large mug of the steaming, black liquid, and topped it off with the amber liquid I had grabbed from the basement. After adding a little cream and sugar to the mix, I took the mug back upstairs and knocked quietly on Cadance's door. "Hey Cady, it's me. Can I come in?"
Cadance's crying was interrupted by a gasp as I knocked, which turned into a few sniffles. "S-sure Blake…"
I opened the door carefully, quickly spotting the distraught mare on the bed. She was facing away from me, and all the lights in the room were still off. I made my way over to her and sat down next to her before offering the steaming mug to her. "Here… I thought you could use this."
She gave me a grateful look as she took the mug in her hooves before taking a sip of the coffee. Her face crinkled up slightly as she tasted the addition I had made, but she held it to her lips, taking a long, slow sip of it before pulling it away and allowing it to rest in her hooves in front of her. "This has alcohol in it, doesn't it?"
I nodded. "It does. My best scotch, in fact. I hope that's ok with you."
She nodded and scooted over to me, leaning up against me and nuzzling my shoulder. "Thank you Blake… you were right; I really needed this." I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her a little closer as she continued to sip the steaming coffee. "What am I supposed to do, Blake? I never even dreamed something like this could happen."
I let out a quiet sigh, and stroked her shoulder gently. "That's up to you, I guess. If you don't want to lose him, I suggest finding some sort of anger management for him… if not… well, let's just say that I understand."
She was silent for a long moment. "I… I don't want to lose him… but I don't think I can forgive him… He's attacked two ponies in as many visits here… I just don't know why he gets like that."
It was my turn to be silent as I thought over the implication of what she'd said. I spent a long moment simply staring at the palm of my free hand, flexing it slowly as my eyes roamed the various lines and creases in the toughened flesh. Finally, I spoke up. "Maybe… maybe it somehow has something to do with me."
Cadance pulled back slightly and looked at me. "Blake… Why would you even think that? You're a wonderful stallion."
I shook my head. "I don't know… I'm still fairly new to this whole 'magic' thing; outside of my own abilities, I really don't know a thing about it; so for all I know, there's some sort of magic field around me that affects how certain ponies act." I was silent for another moment as I thought about my own words. "That would certainly explain Rainbow Dash's behavior lately…"
Cadance let out a long, slow sigh. "Blake, I'll admit that I don't know nearly as much about magic as Twilight does, but I can assure you that that isn't how it works; your latent aura just doesn't affect the ponies around you like that, you have to will it to do something before it will act."
"Maybe…" I replied simply. "Anyway, why don't you finish your coffee, then I'll go make breakfast for everyone so we can get together with the girls and find something to do to take our minds off of this business."
She gave me a small smile. "I'd like that." She smiled at me for just a moment longer before tilting the mug to her lips, swiftly draining the cooling liquid within.
She passed me the mug, and I gave her one last, quick hug before leaving her to freshen up while I made my way downstairs to complete my original task of making breakfast for everyone. I stood in the middle of the kitchen as I decided what I wanted to do for everyone. It didn't take me long to decide; a simple breakfast of hash browns, biscuits and gravy, fried daisies, and fresh, sliced fruit sounded like the order of the day to me.
Before I had even finished making the food, I heard the tell-tale clip-clopping of hooves on the stairs as ponies started making their way downstairs. I peeked out of the kitchen doorway and saw Twilight making her way down with the two fillies in tow. "Morning Daddy! What're you making? It smells really good!"
I smiled warmly at the little filly as she hopped around enthusiastically, waiting for Twilight to make her way down. "Thanks Dinky; it'll be done soon enough, so don't you worry." It was then that I noticed that Twilight had a slight frown on her face. "Thinking about your brother?" I asked, getting her attention.
She looked up at me and nodded. "Yeah… I was trying to put it out of my mind, but I started thinking about what he did after you left. I just don't understand it, it's like he's not even the same stallion I call my BBBFF when he comes here."
I nodded as she continued down the stairs. "I hear you Twi; Cadance and I just talked about pretty much that exact same thing not too long before I came down here. I was kind of worried that there might be some kind of magic involved; it would certainly explain why Rainbow's been acting so off around me lately."
Twilight tilted her head to the side. "I… I'd never even considered magic… I doubt it's any of us that's doing it, but it's possible that there's something unusual about this house, or maybe the land it was built on… I'll have to look into that. Maybe Princess Celestia will let me use the archives in Canterlot to look for an answer."
I let out a quiet sigh. "I hope you can find something Twi, one way or another."
Scootaloo and Dinky ran past Twilight as she reached the bottom of the stairs and leapt through the air, each one latching onto one of my shins. "Don't worry, Papa! Mama Twilight's the best at magic, she'll find a way to fix Uncle Shining and Rainbow Dash!"
Neither Twilight nor I could resist smiling at their display, and I reached down and tousled their manes affectionately. "Thanks you two. I know Twilight will come up with something; she doesn't do all that studying for nothing after all."
The bookish purple mare giggled and turned towards the living room. "You should try it sometime; a little studying never hurt anypony after all."
I chuckled and turned back to the kitchen to tend to the food. "Then what do you call a headache?" I called from over my shoulder as I tended to the hash browns.
"You know what I mean, you jerk!" She called back playfully after me.
I was glad that our spirits had lifted, though I was still concerned about Cadance; this whole mess must have been hitting her even harder than she was letting on.
Just as I turned the hash browns and lit the burner under a separate skillet for the fried daisies, I heard Twilight speak from the living room. "Good morning Cadance, how are you feeling today?"
The Princess of Love replied softly as I set the first of the daisies on the heated skillet. "I'm alright Twilight… Blake and I talked earlier, and he helped me out a lot, just by being there for me." She paused for a moment. "Whatever it is he's cooking is bound to help as well."
I chuckled and called out to her. "It's not called 'comfort food' for nothing!"
Surprisingly enough, Cadance giggled as she trotted into the kitchen. "You're right of course, and I've yet to meet anypony who does it better than you."
I chuckled again and shook my head. "Now you're just flattering me Cady; I know there's plenty of cooks out there better than I am."
She nuzzled up against my side in a sort of friendly hug. "They may be better cooks than you, but they're not better friends, and that's the difference." She said in a suddenly somber tone.
I stroked her shoulders gently with a free hand, unsure of what to say. Cadance stayed in the kitchen the entire time I prepared breakfast, staying close, but staying out of the way as well. I started to suspect there might be something on her mind other than just seeking companionship, but I pushed the thought aside for the time being.
Soon enough, I had finished making everyone's breakfast and began carrying it out into the dining room, only to find that Derpy and Applejack had already joined Twilight and the fillies in the living room. Just as I was about to ask about Luna, I heard a rather loud yawn from the top of the stairs.
The Princess of the Night smiled sleepily down at me. "Good morning my love."
I smiled back at her. "Good morning to you too, sleepy-head. Sleep well?"
She giggled and began trotting down the stairs, sniffing the air. "Actually, last night was rather exhausting."
Twilight nodded. "I can imagine; you had to do a lot in the Dream Realm last night."
Luna took a seat next to my usual spot at the middle of the table and sighed. "It's true; on top of what happened in Blake's dream, I've also been having to actively safeguard Scootaloo's dreams; it seems that for whatever reason, I can't passively detect her nightmares like I can with other ponies. To say that that's troubling would be an understatement."
Cadance gave her a questioning look. "What happened in Blake's dream Aunt Luna?"
Luna shook her head. "I believe he and Twilight should be the ones to tell you about what happened last night; it directly affects them both, after all."
Cadance looked between us as I passed out plates for everyone to eat off of. "So, are you two gonna tell me what happened?" A knowing smile creased her features. "Besides that…"
I chuckled at the implication. "Is it really that obvious?"
Cadance gave me a flat look. "Blake, I'm the Princess of Love… do you really think I'd get that title and not be able to tell when something like that happens?"
"Hey Papa? What's Princess Cadance talking about?"
I froze with a forkful of food halfway to my mouth. "I um… Well Scoots… That's something you'll find out about when you're older."
Scootaloo pouted. "Aww, come on! That's what everypony says!"
I shook my head with a small smirk. "Tell you what Scoots; come tell me when you start thinking about colts, then we'll talk."
The spunky filly pulled a face. "Eww! I'm never going to think about colts!"
Twilight giggled next to me. "That's about the reaction I had when I was your age." She reached over and took my hand in her hoof. "Trust me; you'll change your mind…"
"So does that mean you two had sex?" Poor Derpy spat out her orange juice and started coughing at her sister's unexpected question.
When she composed herself, Derpy gave the little filly a bewildered look. "Dinky! Where did you even hear that?!"
Dinky looked down at the table. "I'm… I'm not supposed to say."
I sighed, and set my fork down. "Dinky, you aren't in trouble, and neither is whoever told you about that. We just want to know where you learned about an adult topic like that."
She didn't say anything for some time, and I could tell the tension in the room was getting to her. Just as I was about to tell her that she didn't have to tell us, she spoke up. "I-it was my classmate, Snips… He got this book from the library, and it had stuff in it about how foals are made."
Luna smiled at the distraught little filly. "Thank you Dinky, that was very brave of you. Now, let's continue eating; like Blake said, you aren't in any trouble."
We continued our meal in relative silence for a time after that, with Dinky doing little more than picking at her food. Deciding to break the tension, I spoke up. "Hurry up and eat, Dinky; when you're all done, I'll take you, Scootaloo, Aurora and Pabu to the park so you can all play together."
My offer seemed to have the intended effect, since she looked to me with a wide grin on her face. "Ok Daddy, I will!" She began to eat her meal with a renewed vigor.
I looked arounds the table. "Of course, you're all welcome to come if you'd like."
Each mare, save for Luna and Cadance, shook their heads. Derpy cited that she needed to pay a visit to her work for some ambiguous reason, though I had an idea what she really had in mind, Twilight claimed she wanted to get started on researching possible causes for her brother's actions, and Applejack stated that she needed to be back at the farm to help get ready for Cider Season. Luna smiled warmly at me, indicating that she wanted to come, but Cadance didn't say anything.
It didn't take us long to finish the meal, and after the dishes were done, Dinky and Scootaloo scurried off upstairs to do whatever it was that they needed to do to get ready, which I assumed was to grab a scarf or something else to fight off the chill in the air.
Once they were gone, I walked over to Cadance, who had taken a seat in the living room, and sat down next to her. "Hey Cadance…. Are you ok?"
She took a long, deep breath, and let it out slowly before turning to me. "I… I don't know, Blake… I just can't help but think that I don't deserve the title of 'Princess of Love'." I was silent for a moment, not knowing how to even respond to something like that. Before I could speak up, she continued. "I… I know I still love Shining Armor… But, after what he's done… I don't know if I want to…" I saw tears start to bead up in the corners of her eyes.
Not knowing what else to do, I wrapped my arm around her, and pulled gently her against my chest, which she didn't fight. It wasn't long after her head came to rest against the soft cotton of my shirt that the dam burst, and she began sobbing into my chest. I didn't say anything during that entire time, allowing her to let out her pent-up emotions, holding her close to comfort her.
Finally, the tears slowed and stopped, and she simply rested there for a moment. "I… I'm such a horrible mare…" She whispered. "I can't even bring myself to forgive my own husband…"
I reached up and stroked her mane, sliding my hand down her back before bringing it back up to repeat the process. "Cadance… What Shining tried to do to Shimmer was wrong on a level that most ponies of this world can't even understand, so it's understandable that you're upset with him, and forgiveness for an action like that is going to take time."
Cadance sniffled. "But… Aunt Luna tried to do the same thing… how did you forgive her so quickly?"
I shook my head. "It wasn't the same, not really; she didn't outright attack Shimmer, she warned me to get away from her and readied a spell in defense, but she held it in check. I didn't attack her like I did Shining because I know her well enough to know that she could never end the life of a being like that…" I took a moment to collect my thoughts, and took a deep breath of my own. "I know that at the very least, she would have made sure Shimmer was aware of and prepared for her demise, she wouldn't have just attacked her while she was unconscious and helpless. Besides, we were deep in the Everfree when we came across her, and for all we knew, she would have been hostile to us; when you and Shining first saw her, she was inside my home, and she spoke to me with a degree of familiarity. That should have given Shining at least some indication that she wasn't hostile."
Cadance remained quiet the entire time I spoke, listening to my reasoning. "I… I think I understand how you forgave her so quickly now… but… what you said just makes it harder for me to forgive Shining Armor."
I sighed and hugged her closer. "Sorry Cady, that's just the truth of things."
I felt her shake her head against my shoulder. "No. You're just being honest with me Blake; you don't need to apologize for that. If anything, I should be thanking you for telling me what happened with Luna; maybe I can find a way to use that same way of thinking to help myself forgive my husband."
It was at that moment that a certain pair of overly excited fillies bounded down the stairs. "We're ready Daddy!"
I couldn't suppress the chuckle as I felt their enthusiasm instantly begin to lift the mood. "Come on Cadance, you should come with us; I bet these two are just what you need to take your mind off of things."
Cadance gave me a soft, genuine smile. "I'd like that. I love spending time with your little fillies, Blake."
"Then it sounds like we're all in agreement." The two of us looked to the origin of the voice to see Luna standing at the top of the stairs, wearing a sapphire blue scarf with her cutie mark embroidered near the ends. "I think a day at the park with these two will do all of us some good today."
I could see Cadance's face brighten as she thought about it more and more, and she quickly rose to her hooves beside me. "I'll meet you there, I need to grab my own scarf!" she stated as she dashed off towards the stairwell.
I grabbed my light jacket from the coat hanger by the door, called to Aurora and Pabu, and when they joined us, we all headed out towards the park, making sure to take our time and walk slowly so that Cadance had plenty of time to catch up to us before we got to the park.
Fortunately, our timing seemed to be right about perfect, and we heard the Princess of Love calling to us from behind right as we reached what served as the entrance to the park, which was little more in a change in the density of the trees and the greenness of the grass. Cadance slowed to a trot as she approached us, and we all entered the park together. "Thanks for waiting for me." If she'd exerted herself at all during that run, her voice didn't show it in the slightest.
I smiled at her. "Of course; we couldn't start the fun without Equestria's Best Foalsitter, now could we?"
Dinky and Scootaloo grinned down at her from their usual perches on my shoulders. "Yeah! You're loads of fun to play with, Cadance!"
I knelt down and let the two fillies hop off of my shoulders. they wasted no time in scampering off deeper into the park, calling back to us as they went. I smiled and turned to the mare at either side of me. "Well, shall we?"
Cadance's smile grew. "We shall. Come on, let's go play with them!" She trotted off after them, with Luna and I in tow behind her.
The park in Ponyville was fairly modest as far as parks went, with only a few attractions for foals; A few swings, a slide or two, and a rather large sandbox being the main ones worth any note. I had a feeling that there was more to it than what I'd seen already, but this seemed to be the girls' favorite spot, so this was where we always came.
By the time Luna and I caught up to them, Cadance was already sliding down a slide, the two fillies in her lap, all three had their hooves in the air and calling out in excitement. Luna smiled at the scene while we took a seat on a nearby bench to watch the fun. "I'm glad to see that those two have taken her mind off of her husband, if only temporarily." Our attentions were drawn to Aurora and Pabu as they scampered past, tumbling around as they wrestled with one another.
I nodded as the fillies led Cadance over to the sandbox and they proceeded to make plans for some sort of sand construction. "I know what you mean... I really hope Twilight finds out that there's really something affecting his behavior, and it's not just the way he is; I remember how he was when I first met him, and the last two times he's visited, he's seemed like a completely different stallion."
"I have known him for even longer still, and I can see the change as well, my love. But, enough about that for now; I've brought something I believe you've been putting off." She levitated a battered and stained scroll in front of me.
I took the scroll from her and turned it over in my hands. "Is this...?"
She nodded. "This is the scroll that my sister sent to you while you were in that dreadful labyrinth. I know that you've yet to read it, so I thought that this might be the perfect opportunity."
I chuckled as I slipped the seal from the scroll and unrolled it. "You really want to know what your sister had to say, don't you?" She giggled as I began to read.
Dearest Blake, I want to apologize for the... curtness of my last letter. I must be honest with you, I was more concerned for your personal safety and that of my student and your friend than any of the official reasons I gave. I must admit something, though I fear to do so face-to-face... I can see the same traits in you that have endeared you to my sister, and they have endeared you to me as well, as you've no doubt guessed by now. I wish I could say that keeping those emotions in check is easy, but the truth is that I feel the struggle becoming more difficult with every passing day. I will do my best to reign in these emotions towards you. All that I ask is that you please, please... be safe...
She signed her name in cordial fashion at the bottom. I looked up from the letter to see that Luna had been looking over my shoulder. "Blake... there is something I must ask you... and I want you to tell me honestly." She paused for a moment and looked back to the letter. "What do you feel for my sister?"
