Return of Amore

01 The Return (4/4)

The crystal guards defending the entrance of a grand castle welcomed Amore and her group with welcoming hooves. To think her status would garner such a reaction still baffled Amore. It was just too hard to believe that she reigned as this Kingdom's Princess. And yet the natives continue to prove otherwise.

Amore could draw nothing from her memory. No beginning or end that could provide any context of her predicament. If not for Sombra and Radiant Hope at her side, she feared where her mind would be right now.

They walked the halls of the castle, guided by a crystal guard who promised them to the throne room. However, the pony they hoped to meet revealed herself at the end of a hall.

A pink Alicorn stood slack-jawed from afar. She then dashed through the hall at an unceremonious speed and pounced on Amore with a vigorous hug, nearly knocking Amore off her balance.

"Mother," Cadance whimpered. "It's you. It's really you."

"Mother?" Amore questioned, perplexed by this sudden revelation. "Ah, then you must be Princess Cadance. Sombra and Radiant did not mention that my daughter happened to be an alicorn."

Cadance pulled her head back from Amore, gazing at her with befuddled eyes. "What?"

"Cadance!" A white stallion emerged from the hall with a small alicorn foal in his hoof. "You shouldn't run off like that. You spooked Flurry..." He paused when he noted Princess Amore before Cadance. "It is her."

"Um," Radiant started. "You two did get the letter I sent, right? I think it walks you through everything we know."

"Well, yes," Shining said. "But from your history, it just sounded too good to be true."

Cadance looked towards Sombra. The stallion tugged his cloak to hide his face. "This happened because of what you did to her long ago, isn't it? When you crystallized and..." Cadance pulled back from Amore and took a deep breath.

Just as Cadance collected herself, a pink blur dashed past her and stuck itself upon the shoulder of Amore. Amore picked the blur that revealed to be Flurry Heart, who waved its hooves wildly to grab her.

"Now who is this cute and adorable creature?" Amore cooed, poking a hoof on the filly's belly. Flurry giggled and nibbled upon Amore's hoof, which made Amore coo again.

"That is my daughter," Cadance answered. "Her name is Flurry Heart."

"Oh, my." Amore gaped at the filly. "Then that would make her my granddaughter. Goodness, to think I would learn to be both a mother and grandmother in one day."

"Are you alright?" Shining asked, joining with the group. "I'm sure this is a lot to take in."

"It is," Amore confessed. "But I will never process this without a calm mind. I shall follow the flow set before me until I can grasp my bearings."

"You were always one to be calm under any circumstance," Cadance said. "No matter how bad things seemed, you held yourself and every pony together. You always gave them hope everything will be alright in the end. It's what I aspired to become when I became Princess."

"And it would seem you have done well for yourself. I know this may sound hollow given my loss of memory, but I want to say that I am proud of who you became. I can see from how well the city is that ponies entrusted their faith in you."

Cadance placed a hoof on her pectoral to catch her breath. A tearful smile came upon Princess Cadance as she responded, "You don't know how much it means to hear that from you. I promise mother, we will get your memories back."

Cadance hugged Amore again as Flurry rubbed her face against the coat of her mother and grandmother. "Welcome home, mother."