Princess Cadance let out a very hoarse sigh as she stared out from her balcony.

She let herself a moment to lour at a small town in the distance, the face normally reserved for the worst of situations. At least, she had felt so. She had the strongest of convictions that the fact that Shining Armor had invited her sister to their wedding via royal decree and not by personal letter was to be deserving of such an expression. There was a very real threat made against Equestria at the time, however, so that kept everyone on edge. She allowed herself little space to complain due to that.

It seemed that nothing could make up for this, however.

“Just silly.” She muttered, laughing softly as a smile returned to her once again, her eyes directed at it as she hummed. Not daring to take her eyes off of the forest, she brought to form, in front of her eyes, a plain looking book. The cover was a pale brown, the cloth pressing down onto the paper having become roughened.

Holding it telekinetically as she glanced through the pages, she eventually settled upon a page on the book, stuck with a bookmark that read “Running of the Leaves”. She buried her muzzle through the ticks repeatedly and the timings on the book, her head cocking to meet the clock’s.

“10:09 a.m, it seems.”

She sighed and set the book aside, giving a wider smile now. Her eyes squinted slightly at the patches of yellow and red surrounding the town, glancing briefly at a tree-like castle before her answer came to her in the form of dots of all colours shifting grey clouds all over very specific areas of the little locale.

Nodding with her eyes shut briefly, she smiled knowingly, turning her head to glance at her clock before letting her eyes wander over the trees that dotted around the white spires, rustling slightly with every brushing of the cool wind. She began to take notice of the individual leaves sauntering towards the ground, their shades of red and yellow swirling with exuberance as she let out another sigh, her tone now lighter and happier than before.

“I can allow myself a short walk… shouldn’t take too long.” She smiled, allowing herself a moment of quiet as she felt her eyelids drooping to a close, light emanating from her horn as she felt a hundred rustles past her hooves.

A cascade of colours soon rushed into her vision as it slowly widened in a vertical fashion, her eyes glimmering slightly at the breathtaking sights of the leaves dancing in the breeze. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled it in infrequent jets of air, a quiet whistle resulting from between her lips as she strolled down the now covered path.

---

Princess Cadance let out a soft sigh as she allowed her eyes to close again, taking in the feeling of a cool breeze brushing past her, the rustling of the leaves still ever present on her hooves as one of those leaves fell past her, gliding past her body and under her left wing, gracefully going to float until it found its way to the ground.

And from memory, the leaf would somehow find its way back on the tree again, that much she knew.

It all worked like a cycle, though most of the details had been forgotten. Something, she recalled, about the leaves decaying before being used as minerals for the trees. She laughed weakly at this thought and smiled, imagining a pair of ponies quietly enjoying a rest under the shade of the trees, staring out into the distance as they watched the leaves fall to the ground.

Somewhere in there, she found a young, pink pegasus squeeze through in between the two ponies, giggling with a bubbly disposition as she looked up to the two of them. Some features soon filled the blank templates, filling them with spots of magenta and cerulean, their colours smashed together into one coherent piece as every other part of their bodies formed with a sharp clarity.

The faint sound of the calming rustles and the gently taps faded away as a fresh set of tears filled in her eyes. She stretched her hoof out into the air in front of her and sniffled softly.

“M-mom?” She whispered pleadingly, the sun setting on her as the image faded with her own sounds, drowned now by a sudden sharp pang to her heart. She found herself choking as it gave way to a deluge of memories, all blurred and the details as equally lost. Her tears glistened brightly, increasingly pushing her into becoming a heaping blob as the pain became deeper and deeper.

“Stop this tomfoolery right this instant!” She yelled, her eyes still filled with tears as one of the castle guards passing by. He shivered a little before standing firmly in front of her, his eyes meeting halfway to hers, noticing her reddened eyes with minimal shock as he got into a guard stance.

“Apologies your highness.” A bow was given as she looked at him in confusion. “The captain of the Guard allowed us this moment of solitude as a form of rejuvenation. It had apparently been a new system in place to better prepare the soldiers mentally for battle.”

She smiled ceremoniously and nodded, wiping her eyes a little. “Please rise. No transgressions have been made and you are allowed to return to your… duties.” She nodded assuredly of those words as she saw the guard’s face, her own face matching his.

“Is everything alright, your highness?”

Holding her smile, she gave him another nod. “Everything is fine. You may make your leave now.”

Sighing, he nodded slowly and bowed to her.

“Farewell, your Highness.” And with that, he had gone on his way.



She stared at him with a sad stricken look on her face as she trotted away from him as well, pausing her trek to plant herself squarely on the ground. Taking a few deep breaths and giving her chest a few beats with a hoof, she felt her slowly racing heart drop back into place, her slightly spastic breathing now returned to place as she frowned again, her eyes narrowed at the sky’s warm demeanour, painted in light hues of blue.

‘I should probably finish this walk.’ She sighed, breaking into a weak smile as she pushed herself back on her hooves and continued trotting down the path in silence, her tail swinging about in place as her eyes were now glued on the path.



‘...perhaps I could try something.’ She smiled weakly and nodded to herself, taking another inhalation before pushing against the ground forcefully, bringing herself upright on her hind legs. Spreading her wings out slowly and gracefully, she shook them plainly before tentatively taking a step forward.

Immediately, she felt her hooves skip carelessly over the dirt road and lost her balance, the wind brushing hard against her back as she fell. Her sharp descent was abruptly stopped by a firm grip on her neck, bringing her back to her quadrupedal position. She opened her eyes to see a pair of laughing lips, white as the knight the lips belonged to.

“Just like old times, huh Princess?”

She saw his cocky grin and rolled her eyes with a weak smile. “You don’t have to remind me now. I almost did it too!”

She felt a tug and was pulled into a one-hoofed hug, her ears catching a chuckle before turning her head to him. “Alrighty then, Cadance.”

Her face broke into a warmer smile and she reciprocated the hug, leaning slightly against him as she wrapped a wing around him, her eyes glued slightly to the autumn leaves. Upon seeing her husband’s own raptured moment, she giggled softly and smiled, letting go of him slowly as she began to take a small step forward.

His own hoof soon followed and the couple took a few tiny steps, each one of them becoming more distant from the other, until their trotting was at a normal pace. Silenced by the beauty of the autumn leaves and the company of the other, both Cadance and Shining kept mum as they gave their surroundings a good stare, occasionally glancing to the other to smile at their almost whimsical expression.

“We should do this more often.” Shining remarked plainly, a slight smile on his face as he turned to kiss her lightly on the cheek. Smiling and blushing slightly, Cadance nodded slowly as she heard him let out a giggle of his own before a serene quiet fell onto them again.

“So, how’ve you been doing?”

Princess Cadance turned to smile weakly at him this time, shaking her head at his question before turning away again to admire the leaves in silence. Shining Armor nodded slowly and allowed her the space to continue trotting silently, his attention focused onto her still.

“...is this about the love magic you do?”

He saw her almost shaking her head, her yellow loft brushing up against his coat briefly before his ears picked up a loud sigh, her hooves bringing her to an abrupt stop as she stared forlornly out to the streets of Canterlot.

“Well… I’m...” She nodded this time. “Yes. It has everything to do with that. And that STUPID number...” She allowed herself to rest her haunches on the path, grumpily rubbing her hooves about the dirt a little. Shining sighed and leaned down to her, nuzzling her neck gently as he pulled her into a full embrace.

“That doesn’t matter anymore now, does it?”

She looked at him with teary eyes and he winced instantly. “My country almost fell in ruin because of what I did!” She threw her hooves into the air as the words left her mouth, visibly forcing the tears to stay in her eyes. “My… my parents… they completely ignored their affairs… and… a-and it’s my fault...” She allowed her head to drop, deeply in shame, as a few of her tears began falling, dripping like clockwork on the dried up leaves.

Shining quietly tightened his embrace and stroke her mane gently, patting her back shortly after. “L-let them fall…” He whispered into her ear, his voice like a soothing stream to her at this moment. Nodding slowly and letting out a sniffle, she sobbed deeply on his shoulder, her eyes pressed agonisingly against his shoulder plate as their ears were both drowned in her sorrow.



“...do you feel better now?” Cadance could only muster a sniffle, with Shining feeling the brushing of her mane up and down his own neck. He nodded and gently brought her forehead up to meet his muzzle, giving it a small peck as he stroke her mane. She allowed a weak smile to surface on her face, bringing her muzzle against his neck in return.

“Thank you Shining.” She smiled more warmly as she faced him, upon which he returned the smile with a nod and a smile of his own. His face glowed just a little more than hers did at that moment.

“You’re being silly now. This is, like, my job. As much… no, more so than my job as captain.” He saw her wincing at his words and felt his stomach sink. He looked deeply into her eyes with regret as he saw her eyes fill with tears again.

“I’m sorry if I had ever made you feel otherwise...”

He felt a soft hoof brush against his cheek and turned to her, his expression now a mix of expectation and shock.

“It’s… it’s not that…” She frowned deeply, her eyes now narrowed onto the ground as her trademark lour reappeared. Shining shivered at the sight of it and had a fleeting thought about when he had been told that her headache removal spells “didn’t work that way,” as she had put it.

Her mouth opened a little, leaving it gaping before she closed it again. He sighed and nudged her gently with his muzzle.

“It’s okay.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “Go on...”

She looked at him tentatively and let out one last sigh. Nodding slowly, she took in the last deep breath she could handle for the past hour or so before she began talking.

---

“...oh...” Shining Armor nodded slowly, frowning slightly at what he had just heard.

“Yeah… oh...” Cadance looked away very awkwardly, giving off just as much pain as he was showing to her then.

“So… you sneaked into your parents’ library?”

“Yes.” She nodded, her head dropping in shame.

“And you studied up an archaic spell that could bring ponies back together?”

She bit her lip and nodded again.

“You used it on your parents, but dismissed the words that said that they would completely ignore anything else?”

A frown slowly bore itself on her face. “Yes.”

“And-”

She groaned a little and placed her right hoof on his mouth. “Yes. Everything’s a yes.”

“Even if I had said you lived with siblings?”

She stared at him incredulously before giving him a very dark face, smirking slightly in the midst of it. “Of course...” She rolled her eyes as she said this and Shining plainly nodded, zipping his mouth quickly with his hoof before waving his front hooves to her.

“...they took me away.” Shining’s flailing stopped very quickly as he slowly lowered his hooves to the ground, giving her a confused look.

“...a republic.” She said, a weak smile now forming on his face. “There was a rebellion after my parents neglected the nation-”

“-and they arranged for you to stay here instead until they solved the mess that they couldn’t up till-”

“Don’t remind me.” Her words were almost sharp on arrival, prompting Shining to gulp visibly.

He sighed again and brought her into another embrace, using his hooves to stroke her mane and ears gently. Squirming a little in his grip, she let out a few groans before her body softened considerably, letting out a few tears as she returned the embrace.

“I’m sorry… here I am sobbing when I’m supposed to be moral support...” Shining shook his head at her and continued stroking her head.

“There you are being silly again.” Cadance pulled away from him abruptly and scowled at him briefly.

“Not, I’m not. You’re here on business, doing your royal duties and I’m just being lazy in the castle because of my magical abilities...” He frowned slightly at her words, tapping his chin a little as he stared at her. A glower began to appear on her face and it grew into a torn glare.

“...did it say anything about how it got to the number? I mean… it sounds oddly specific to have it be at the 4,904th time that the spell would be affected in the same way as the first.”

Cadance looked down to the ground thoughtfully and shook her head. “Actually… I don’t think it specified it very well. It was said that the most times the spell was used was up to the 4,856th time. It was something that was theorised by Doctor Pharms, who studied in these types of spells extensively.”

Shining smiled weakly at her and nudged her gently. “Well, even if you know a lot, you can still be wrong, can’t you?” She looked at him weakly and frowned slightly, shaking her head at him.

“Twily’s a smart pony, but she couldn’t have been right about everything.” She looked at him confusingly and he chuckled weakly, a faint blush on his cheeks.

“She talked to me last year about all her adventures in Ponyville after… well, all that happened.” Her eyes widened at his words and he gave the shift in mood rapt attention.

“Something wrong, honey?” She stifled a laugh well as she shook her head.

“It’s okay.” She nudged him again. “Please go on.”

He chuckled and nodded slowly, wrapping his hoof around her. “One of the things she told me was about how she had been wrong to assume that her friend’s mythical signals were all false when they proved to be right consistently.”

She nodded to him and urged him to continue.

“So she accepted that she was wrong to have assumed that.” He smiled weakly at her. “Maybe yours… is the same thing?”

Cadance looked down and stared at the city bustling about in front of them thoughtfully, imagining the scenario he had just told her with a soft giggle. “That does sound like her...” She mumbled almost affectionately, turning to give Shining a broader smile, her expression still laced with uncertainty.

“Maybe.”

Shining Armor nodded simply and stood back up, holding his left hoof out to her. Accepting it with her right, she pushed herself back up and grinned a little to him, wrapping her wing around him again as they made the final bit of their trek down to civilisation.

Their hooves seized all movement at the gate.

Cadance’s eyes focused deeply on the now bustling street.



“The race...”

Her eyes glazed up to the noon sun and she laughed softly, giving a very mood-torn smile.

“The race! I’m almost going to miss it!” In an instant, she teleported Shining Armor and herself to the top of another balcony, sticking her left eye into the telescope, it’s legs attached to the floor firmly as she brought it into focus on a shimmering tree-like castle, the glimmer shining towards the eyepiece slightly as the rest of the town drowned in its allure. The telescope’s plastic coat was frantically twisted about its axis as Cadance began searching for any signs of seemingly dead trees.

She felt a slight jab at her side and she turned to him with a grin. “The Running of the Leaves!”

He blinked at her blankly and frowned slightly. He felt a slight headache invade his brain. “Uh huh…?”

“No time to explain.” She swayed the telescope about in an increasingly slower motion, her entire body swaying along with it, right until her right eye caught sight of a plain beige banner, dotted with autumn leaves lining its edges.

Cadance tilted the telescope downwards ever so slightly. Almost shockingly so that it had gone unnoticed to all but herself, she had nonetheless let out a sigh of relief as she saw all the ponies had gotten into a readying position just behind a wide white line situated just below the banner itself.

Shining Armor smiled weakly and let out a heave in relief, setting his haunches on the floor as he stared at her. He took a right hoof and rubbed his forehead gently.

“And… go!”

His smile held as he got up and trotted off back into the castle.

Immediately after Shining’s tail had vanished behind the doors behind her, the telescope began swooping itself in varying degrees, Cadance’s right hoof jerking its frame all over the place in a frantic pace. Her heart raced like a trembling wreck, climbing up into a familiar surge of energy as she continued her crazed movements, wondering onto whom she would chance upon.

Upon the first sight of some mesh of colours other than the cool autumn leaves or that of the bark, her horn burst into a vivid flash as this flash’s brightness enveloped most of her eyesight for an infinitesimal moment.

A faint zip shot from her horn to the spell’s targets.

Cadance’s eyes widened at this display and began to sweat slightly, feeling tiny beads all over her forehead as she broke her contact with the telescope. Hurriedly, she began to do a mental check of her past experiences with using the exact spell she had, recounting all the moments of hearts fluttering out of her horn.

“...oh no...”

A pair of zips hit her gently on the forehead and her mind conjured up the very faint image of two mares. She felt her sweating grow excessive as her eyes filled with shades of purple and orange, her knees knocking visibly as she snatched the handle back into her hoof, swooping the telescope over the trail for the race.

Her lips quivering, she saw a purple alicorn and an orange earth pony giving an almost affectionate look to each other after they had collided. Just as they went out of focus, she noticed the other racers galloping along as well, forcing herself from the telescope by that time. She stared blankly at the view eyepiece and let herself go silent as the sound of her hooves clopping on the floor remained.

Cadance felt herself stay in this mentality for the longest time that she possibly could. The weight of the possible consequences of her routine fell onto her like a giant brick.

“What… what did I just do?!”

At this point, her emotions ran so deep and so high that her horn smashed into pieces rather figuratively. Letting out a tiny whimper, she allowed her entire body to go limp and fell straight onto the cold marble floor, her head still dancing with the imagery of a blossoming romance crushing friendships.

And dooming Equestria in the process.