Cadence grew up an orphan, losing her parents in a depressurization incident. Although her life with foster families was always at least acceptable, she was still a child of the streets. Perhaps it was the Pegasus street racers that left that impression on her as a child. In any case, she always loved the street fashion of the lower levels of the stations. And cybernetics, too, when it emerged.

Life in space isn’t easy for pegasi. Flight is almost impossible in the underground levels, and the upper levels are occupied by forests or other restricted areas. So Cadence sometimes flew in large hangars. And it was there that she noticed a new evil. A cabal of witches was stealing love energy from across the subsector to fuel their illegal businesses. Just because most of the old evils had exploded along with the planet didn’t mean there wouldn’t be new ones. And she decided to stop it by herself.

Her transformation into an alicorn immediately after her victory immediately attracted everyone’s attention. No one knew such a thing was possible, and many considered Nightmare Moon unique. Accusations of biological experiments and other nonsense soon followed, to Cadance’s horror, as she couldn’t understand what had happened. However, to her growing horror, the Empress of the Night herself soon visited her home. Sensing the rise of another alicorn for the first time, Nightmare immediately arrived and found the story and the former Pegasus’s cutie mark suspiciously familiar…

Fortunately for the younger alicorn, the ruler of the Lunar Monarchy didn’t see her as a threat. Or even an opportunity. She simply found her existence extremely encouraging and invited Cadance to join her, promising her autonomy as long as she heeded the wisdom of her elders. Since then, Cadance has lived as Nightmare Moon’s apprentice and potential second-in-command. For personal reasons, Nightmare Moon was reluctant to bestow the title of princess on anyone, so officially, Cadance is a duchess and a possible heir.

Although she finds life in the palace irritating, she often returns to the lower levels where she spent most of her life. Or, conversely, she spends her time flying above the palace, enjoying flight as never before.