White Zinfandel

ACT 2: When I Am Weakened and Helpless...

Three weeks later...

Shining continued to stare at the photo of him standing beside his late best friend. The two stood next to each other with a broad smile as Azure held up his certificate of completion from basic training. It brought to him fond memories as well as a bitter sadness as he continued to mourn the loss of his best friend. It still didn't feel as if he died just recently, but Shining was used to the shock.

"I can't believe this."

Cadance stood in front of her mirror as she removed all of her regalia. She could see the reflection of her husband standing in the distance, wearing a somber expression. She turned around and hugged him.

"I know you miss him dear, but I need you to stop staring at that picture. You're going to make things worse."

Cadance telekinetically moved the portrait from her husband's hooves and placed it face-down on the nightstand. Shining still believed he was to blame. "I've been the cause of this. If only I hadn't let my guard down."

"You didn't know." Cadance said, trying to comfort her grieving husband.

"But Twily did. And I ignored her."

Cadance grew frustrated at her husband's insistence of blaming himself and pushed him next to the bed so he could rest. The hour was growing late. "Shining Armor, stop this incessant pity party at once."

"What else am I to do?"

"Leave it alone, come to the bed, and let me hold you."

Shining complied with her suggestion and laid himself on his side of the bed. He laid alone in the comfort of the sheets for many moments until Cadance was finished with everything she had to do in the mirror. She finally laid herself into the bed, causing the weight to shift towards her side. Shining remained despondent. "I feel like I can't protect anything."

She turned over to her side to face him, whispering to him. "Why do you feel that way?"

"First, it was the foal-"

Cadance placed a hoof on his lips as she spoke softly. "We've already discussed this. You are not to blame for the taking of a life when you are the one who offered theirs in turn. The same goes for Azure."

"But I let it happen." He said, angry with himself.

"Fine. We all 'allowed' it to happen. But what had been designed by fate cannot be interfered with. We are only to observe."

Shining looked up to her, meeting with the large orbs of light blue. "You think so?"

Cadance petted her husband as she reminded him of her past. "There have been others that I've watched die, some of whom I've even fell for. And, you know, a hundred plus years of living shows you the fragility of life."

"So, what would you do when I expire?" Shining asked.

Cadance sighed deeply as she took her time to think about it. "I don't think that I'll be alive to know of it."

"Why not?" He asked, confused from her statement.

"Alacorns aren't immortal. We age just like you do, only slower."

"But you've got another thousand years or so." He argued, thinking about Princess Celestia's age and how it translated to her current well-being.

"Not if I choose to go earlier." Cadance corrected. "Celestia chose to live due to the attachment to her sister. Since she has what she longs for, she will continue to live as long as Luna lives."

"But Luna was tied to Azure." Shining said unhappily.

"Yes, but she was not prepared to join him due to the nature of his passing. So she will live on, sadly."

Shining took some time to think about what she said, only for it to confuse him even more. "But I thought that-"

"Unfortunate circumstances does not an alacorn's passing make. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here right now."

Shining remained silent at the thought of not being married to Cadance. She would be long dead before he or his parents was even conceived. "Would you trade your life to save mine if I was to die off early?"

"If you could still be saved, then yes. Otherwise, no. I wouldn't, because I would leave you alone. The pain of losing someone close to me is something I've grown acquainted with. You wouldn't be able to bear it."

Shining felt himself growing pale from the thought of losing yet another close friend. "Heh, I guess you're right."

"Can we get off this subject, now? I don't wanna think about my husband dying. I'd much rather get to that bridge when we come to it." Cadance turned over to the other side of the bed, cutting off her lamp as Shining did the same.

"Okay. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, dearest."

The room became pitch black as Shining's eyes remained open. He leaned back over to his wife. "You know, I'd think I would follow you if you died early."

"Go to sleep."

Shining had a dream that night. He awoken in a field of flowers, sitting at a table set with tea, sweets and a few other delicacies that ponies would normally enjoy. He, however, remained suspicious of what was going on. "What is this?"

"An invitation." A voice echoed throughout the dreamscape. Shining turned to every direction to try and find the familiar voice. He rapidly searched everywhere around him before the sound of a stallion clearing his throat seemed to come from near him. He looked back to where he was sitting and in front of him was a familiar face.

"Azure?"

The blue unicorn, now ascended into alacorn stallion nodded. "Yeah and no. I used to be called that name, now I'm something else entirely."

Shining held out his hooves, urging him to slow down on his explanation. "Azure, I need you to be called Azure. That's the only name I know you by."

"Okay, sure." He answered.

Shining had so many questions for his deceased friend. Some teetered on the edge of simplicity such as 'how's the afterlife' or 'what's death like'. Others were more inquisitive such as 'what is the meaning of life' or 'why did you die and why can't you return to us'. But for the moment, he knew that there was one question that burned brightest in his mind. "So why are you here?"

"I'm just here to ask you a question."

Shining remained seated at the table as he reached for the tea set on the table. "Okay, ask."

"Do you love Cadance?"

Shining blew air from his lips, sputtering at the question. "Well, yeah. She's my wife and I've been with her for nine years. I don't see how I wouldn't love her."

"Okay then. So here's another question. Are you in love with her?"

This time, Shining couldn't blow off the question that was asked. He didn't know how to answer. "I...don't get it."

"I mean, do you find yourself and her mutually connected by your emotions? Do you hurt when you see her?" Azure clarified.

"Why would I?"

The alacorn stallion drew in a vacant breath. "That's what I was afraid of."

"What?" Shining asked, unaware of what Azure was implying.

"I can't exactly say it the way I want to because it will come off as rude."

"Just say it already." Shining urged.

"Shines, I don't think that you are in love with Cadance as much as you think."

The prince grew bewildered at the thought of him not loving his wife. "What are you talking about? She's my wife."

"Yes, but she isn't the object of your desire. You like her, you love her for being the amazing friend she's always been to you. She's put out a lot for you and done everything she could to have you. But what have you done for her to say how much you love her in return?"

"I've been there for her!" Shining rebutted loudly.

"Through what?"

Shining stumbled as he tried his best to come up with a decent answer. "Well... I've... been through a lot with her."

"Not with her, for her." Azure recited, trying to clarify his point.

"But we defeated Chrysalis together, with the power of love."

"Can I give you a reality check for a second?"

Shining remained persistent in his argument. "Our love means something."

"Then why was it mainly her power, fueled by her love for you that caused the changelings to be tossed out?"

Shining offered a response, but his mind fell short of creating one. "Wait, what?"

"That little light show you and Cadance put up on the day of the wedding, that was all her. The only reason she couldn't do it earlier was because you weren't around."

"I was there!" Shining still combated the suggestion of him doing nothing for his wife, when suddenly the field of flowers turned into a war-torn chapel, filled with green goo and changelings flying everywhere. Azure turned him to the center of the room as the scene started to play out.

"Okay, then take a look at this."

"Still going are we?" Chrysalis asked with a grin.

Cadance struggled to stand as the beam slowly work it's way against her magic, towards her. Refusing to succumb to defeat, Cadance placed the last bit of her own love for Shining into her magic. "I... will... beat you..."

The beam stopped inches before Cadance's face as it started to struggle back to the winning combatant. Chrysalis gasped at the resistance the mare before her was putting up. Cadance refused to go down. With an angry snarl, the changeling queen released all of her magic as well as the magic of her victim, causing the beam to go into deadlock once more. With a sly grin, Chrysalis started to corrupt the energy of her opponent's magic. Being that the blue beam was filled with the emotion that the changelings so often fed off of, Cadance's own magic found itself turning green and being reflected back at the caster. With a large blast, Cadance was knocked back to a nearby wall.

"Second verse, same as the first." Chrysalis scoffed at the beaten pink princess.

"Cadance!" Shining shouted as he ran over to the fallen figure of his wife. As he sought to pick her up, the body faded from in front of him.

"This is an illusion, a flashback to when you were unresponsive. She needed you then, but you didn't show up."

"But I did later." Shining argued, trying to justify that he was still there to support Cadance as equally as she did to him.

"Because your little sister freed her from Chrysalis' grip and allowed her to save you. Another instance where you were saved by her."

"But..." Shining couldn't finish his statement as he found himself in the middle of a crowd full of teenage colts and mares. Azure pointed to a clearing and spoke.

"Can I show you something else?"

"STOP IT BLUEBLOOD!" The pink mare screamed to her cousin. Blueblood stopped short of the stallion, pulling out the spear with his magic. Shining winced as the prince held the bloodied spear over his face.

"There wasn't just you she had an interest in. Princess over there had four others. She loved them all before they all met their ends. They all served their duties and whatnot and died on the field shortly after confessing their love for each other. All of them except for the last one, who was executed for trespassing on place grounds. Points to you though. There was one thing that you were the first to do out of all of them, it was to take what was rightfully mine and piss me off."

"STOP THIS! PLEASE!" Cadance screamed to the angry prince. He nodded his head to notify the guards that it was time to make the young guard pay.

"Hold him down." Two of the guards held him down as Shining cringed in pain. Azure, who watched from behind the barricade, pushed one of the guards, only to have another come from behind and strike him behind the head with his spear shaft. As Azure fell to the ground unconscious, Blueblood held the spear in his hooves while he transferred his magic to the task of pulling back the stallion's mane, raising his head up. "AND FOR TAKING WHAT WAS ALLOCATED TO ROYALTY WITHOUT CONSENT, I, PRINCE BLUEBLOOD, HEARBY SENTENCE YOU TO DEATH! LAST WORDS?"

Shining groaned softly as the visions of Cadance filled his mind. "Cadance isn't... She wouldn't lie to me... Not like this."

Blueblood drew a smile across his face as he devised a way to make his death as insignificant as possible. "Oh... But she did lie to you. She was going to use you for an escape attempt. She's a princess on the run, avoiding her duties and all in the hopes of finding a stallion to rut her into the dirt. Ask her about anything... Her name was a lie, her status as a student is an absolute lie, she's not even your own age. She's lied to you about everything."

Cadance thought to herself as he projected to the blue-maned stallion. "Shining... That's not true! I really do love you-"

"Oh quit it, Cadenza! Go weep on the graves of the stallions that you've sullied yourself with. I'm pretty sure that the dust from their bones must be wanting to hear your wasteful cries just like they have been for the past seventy-plus years."

Cadance ignored his insult and spoke once more to her beloved coltfriend. "Shining Armor, I love you like no other. Please believe me."

Blueblood held the spear against the throat, focusing out on the point where he wanted to plant the blade. "And the ashes shall return to the earth from whence it came. The world shall fully receive what was given unto it!" His blade drew back as he readied the weapon for the plunge. "Recubo illic quod intereo!"

Shining's closes his eyes. There was nothing that could save him. This was a royal execution and only a royal had the power to halt it's course. Visions of his family and all of his friends. The visions of the young filly whom he had to reject faded into the darkness as he awaited his end. There was nothing left. Regrets or not... "This is it..."

Cadance pushed the guards out of her way with a swift flap of her wings. She stood forward and screamed to the top of her lungs. "UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF PRINCESS MI AMORE CADENZA, I ORDER YOU TO STOP!!!"

Blueblood halted his advancement. The distance between the spear and Shining's neck was still large enough to see that there was nothing to be afraid of. But in his mind, Blueblood pranced up and down in his victory. That was what he wanted. She almost admitted her status to everyone here, but now she would have to explain it to him in front of all of the students. With a grin, the prince retreated his weapon. "As you wish... highness."

Cadance ran to the stallion. She ran past her chuckling cousin and into the lap of the wounded teen she cared for and adored. His eyes opened to see that she was the one to call the halt. The other guards released him from their grip as Cadance openly wept in his hooves.

"I remember that night. I even apologized to her for being so angry with her even as she-"

"Protected you."

Shining felt that he was far from a decisive victory in his argument. "Oh... that's..."

The crowd suddenly changed from a numerous group of adolescents to a small gathering of mature officers who all sat in an office, staring past a glass window. On the other side was a spitting image of Shining when he was apprehended for punching an official of a hoofball game.

"One more thing, I need to show you this one."

"We're gonna clear you out somehow. Your charges will be omitted and your case will be swept under the table."

"But how? Not even a pony with your authority could even hope to drop this, especially with so many witnesses."

Orion released his son and removed himself from the table. As he walked out the door he turned back to his son. "There's always a way."

The door closes behind him as he trots to the other room. Opening the door, he sees the other officers that witnessed their actions behind the glass. The officers remained silent. Orion, suspicious of the unusual silence, speaks first.

"Well gentlecolts, how do we do this?"

One of the officers turns around to point to the wall behind Orion. "Well sir, you should ask your visitor."

As the blue unicorn stallion turns around, he sees a pink figure hiding within the shadow. Taken aback, Orion jumps away from the figure and prepares himself for combat.

"Those actions won't be necessary, captain." A young female voice calls out to him.

Relieved to hear the familiar voice, he lets his guard down. "Oh, it's you... what are you doing here?"

As the figure approaches the light, much of her figure is to be revealed as a medium sized mare with a pink coat. She had a multicolored mane with a light blue ribbon tied in a bow. She had a cutie mark depicting a blue heart. She donned both a horn and a pair of wings. As she pulled out a paper out of her saddlebag, she placed it into the hooves of Orion. The document was a form of omission, a roll of parchment that stated that the accused of the crime could walk free from any charges that was brought against them. As Orion reviewed the document, it already had the royal seal placed upon it as well as a signature.

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza

"My reason is simple, captain... I'm getting my boyfriend out."

Shining felt weakened by the sight of Cadance saving him yet again. At this point, there was no convincing his friend that he did as much to show his appreciation or love for her as she did for him. He had lost. "Oh... no... even then she-"

"Did way more for you than you ever did for her."

"I feel... so... useless." Shining bowed his head in shame from the defeat.

"Well don't. I think that it's fair that I'd show you this one thing you did when you were alone with another a few weeks ago."

"What are you showing me this time?" As Shining asked the question, he saw the same chapel they started off in, only empty of changelings and filled with decorations. Azure pointed his attention to the alter.

"Just watch."

"Shining paused the rehearsal for a moment and turned to the snow-white unicorn mare. "Rarity, are you feeling okay?"

Still feeling embarrassed from her flub, she lied to him. "Why of course, darling. I've never been better."

As she started to turn away, Shining walked over to her, trying to get her to look him in the eye. "I think something's troubling you."

"Is it that obvious?" Rarity asked as she turned away, back to the direction she faced earlier.

"Is it? How about neon signs saying 'problems this way'?" Shining said as he pointed to Rarity.

"I'm fine. Let's continue this rehearsal." Rarity shot back, growing annoyed over the stallion's persistence to know what had bothered her.

Shining began to get angry and stepped in front of Rarity's view once more. "Well, I don't want to continue if you're going to get an attitude."

"I don't have an attitude. I just want this to be over with." Rarity argued, stepping up to the inquisitive stallion.

"Just tell me what's wrong."

"There's nothing wrong!"

"You're lying."

"I'm not lying."

"You're a zebra trying to pass as a chimera. It's obvious."

"Just leave it alone and look at the alter." She commanded as she tried to shove his face in the direction she wanted him to look to.

Shining shoved her hooves away and stepped towards her. "Just say it."

"No."

"Say it."

"No."

"Please?"

"NO!"

"Look, I'm just trying to help."

Rarity growls as she screams at the stallion, determined to get off the subject. "I don't need your help, and I don't need you saving me!"

"I want to save you!" Shining shouts back.

"Do you!?"

"Yes!"

With a snarl, Rarity pushes the stallion with all of her strength. Caught off-guard, Shining lost his balance and fell to the floor, raising up to angrily feud with the mare that assaulted him. But before he could say anything, a familiar feeling pressed against his lips. Rarity held no quarter as she desperately sought to devour him. His mouth still open from the shock, he unwittingly allowed the mare access to his tongue. With fervent gasps of air, Rarity's lips smacked as she parted from his.

"Then save me now." She whispered, her voice becoming unsteady in it's tone.

"Your highness."

"See? Even then, you gave yourself to her more openly than you do with Cadance."

Shining blushed loudly as he tried to cover for himself. "But it was a misunderstanding. A mistake. I didn't mean to go that far with her."

"The two of you kissed on an alter that was designated for you and Cadance, I see nothing to misunderstand."

"Okay, so that was just once." Shining said frustrated that he continued to lose at every argument that was set against him. As his frustrations grew louder, so did the loud pounding of the music. Shining looked around to see that he was standing on a balcony just outside of a club. Azure pointed to two ponies staring at a window.

"Really? Then let me jog your memory. Even I was here for this one."

"Oh dear."

"What?"

"We've seem to be getting quite the audience." Rarity said as she pointed out that all of her friends, as well as his own, stopped enjoying the party to watch the two of them speak.

Shining looked back at the group of ponies and grew curious. "Those your friends?"

"The girls yes. Your's?"

"The boys, pretty much."

"I suppose they're just trying to make sure that we're careful."

Shining stopped for a moment and looked back at the table. He grew a devious smile as he lifted the tray from it's resting place and placed between them and the window. "Hey, let's give them a show while we're at it."

"Really? Here? Now?" Rarity asked nervously as she backed away a little, only to be caught up to by the larger stallion.

"Sure, it'll be just like old times." He answered.

Rarity was no stranger to the art of flirting, but when it came to the stallion she longed for, she almost grew unfamiliar with the practice. With a smile, she pressed onward, agreeing to his bluff. "Oh Mister Shining, I wouldn't have figured you to be a prankster."

As the tray concealed their faces from view, Shining closed the distance between them. "Yeah, I bet they think that we're kissing right now."

"Should we sell our stunt a little more?"

"I think we're close enough."

Rarity stared at the stallion in front of her. Her knight in shining armor, her prince, her Mister Shining, smiled at her. She took in his refined features, the chiseled structure of his frame. She allowed herself the opportunity to adore every dimple that formed all over his muscular form. The once, evenly-cut mane that was one his had grown nearly unruly, fluttering gently in the wind. The stallion that used to tower over her, didn't stand nearly as tall as she had come to identify him as, but his physique and his height did change for the greater. The scrawny hooves she was so used to seeing had transformed into blue sledgehammers capable of breaking her in two.

"Wow... Um... you've really grown."

Shining blushed deeply at her compliment as he allowed his eyes to travel to the indigo coiffure atop her pristine face. The blue shadow that glazed over her eyelids matched with her very eyes. With each time she blink, he felt a part of his soul become ensnared by the lost gaze and engulfed by the very same eyes that continued to draw him in like a sailor to the siren's aria. Her voluptuous curves sank in and out in perfect proportions. Every valley and elevation of her body was deserving of praise as he drew closer.

"Well, *ahem* so have you."

"I think we've been here a little too long." Rarity whispers, while ironically allowing her body to touch his. The first waves of his heat burning her coat drove her to press her body against him even more.

"Yeah. It's not like you were going to kiss me." Shining joked as he felt her soft fur brush up against him. The sweet smell of lavender radiated off of her body, causing his muzzle to seek her.

"TIMEOUT!" Shining said, pausing the flashback as he tried to defend himself. "I already said that-"

"You're lying to a spirit that has unlimited access to all of time and creation. I don't think you have a case here."

"But I-" Shining stuttered as the scene continued from where it was left off.

"TIME-IN!"

"Yeah. It's not like you were going to kiss me." Shining joked as he felt her soft fur brush up against him. The sweet smell of lavender radiated off of her body, causing his muzzle to seek her.

"To be honest... we can."

Shining felt a bolt of excitement strike his body as soon as she gave her consent to kiss her. His breathing grew hungry as he tried his best to keep levitating the tray beside them. Her body proved to be too much of a distraction for him to focus on his magic. "Just for performance, right?"

"Yeah... It's... all in good fun." Rarity said as she brought up a hoof to caress his face.

"No harm done?" Shining asked as his hoof traced the curls in her mane, slowly making it's way to her navel.

"Just a second, or a fraction of a second." She painfully urged.

"A quick peck." His answers rushed from his lips as he sought to close the distance between him and her.

"So... may I?" She asked anxiously.

"What's the harm in one little prank?" He said as his nose touched hers, their muzzles finally making contact with one another.

"Quietly now." She whispered softly as she felt the moist air of his exhales vaporize against her skin. Her lips quivered as his touched hers.

For the first time in their lives, they experienced the taboo that was their deepest affection. A quick peck on the lips was all that was as Rarity giggled softly and bit her bottom lip in excitement. She never felt so alive in her life. Much could be shared by her partner in crime, who also giggled a little. But their laughter stopped as they had realized what was done.

They shared a kiss when he was to be married to another. She violated the relationship of a stallion who was going to get married to someone else. It was a betrayal that proved to be hurtful to his future... but it was a betrayal that they continued to commit.

Rarity gave him another peck on the lips. This time, he pressed himself fully against her. As quickly as he retreated, Rarity offered to engage him even more. He fought back with his own advances, forcefully shoving his lips against hers, causing him and her to grant each other passage to their tongues.

Immediately, the invitation were accepted by the greedy stallion who pulled back briefly, only to be stopped by her teeth pulling his bottom lip into her. Drawn in by the act, Shining felt himself loose all means of restraint, not that there was much restraint left in him. Rarity gasped lustfully as she mouthed his name into her lips, letting his tongue scar her senses with his depravity. She felt herself sink into the nape of his neck, finished with the kiss. At this point, there was no turning back. She wanted him then and there. It was pointless to hold the tray up for what she was going to do to him. As she allowed herself to sink lower against his body, he stopped her.

"We really have to get away from each other." He said guiltily, realizing that what they did was a terrible mistake that could've been avoided.

Brought back to reality on what she was feeling, what she was offering herself to do and where she was at the time, she rose from his neck and stood in front of him, not separating the distance between them. "Agreed."

Shining breathed heavily as he knew that this was going to turn out bad if he didn't stop now. Deep down, he wanted to take her, just once before he was taken to the alter; a sin committed before a vow was to be broken. But something inside of him flashed and showed the face of his fiancee, telling him that his love was only for her. Finally, seeing that his mistake was a crucial one, he offered to finish their 'prank'. "Turn to the audience and poke our tongues at them."

"Silly faces are fun." Rarity said as she breathed heavily, still tasting the liquor from his tongue mixed in with the wine she drank.

Shining turned to the tray as he counted. "One...two..."

"Three!" Rarity shouted as he threw the tray away, revealing a stallion and a mare who poked their tongues out at them and made ugly faces. The others who watched either got a laugh from it or they groaned at the joke for being so risque. They could even see Azure's disappointed facial expression when he had to pay Rainbow Dash ten bits for what seemed like a wager.

"Ha! That's what you get for snooping around!" Shining shouted at the stallions.

"Sorry ladies, but it looks like you fell for the old bait-and-switch!" Rarity hollered to her friends.

As the gathering around the window dispersed, Shining turned back to Rarity. "Yeah... so... what happened just now?"

"Nothing worth remembering." Rarity blurted out, shocked and startled from the experience of what she had just done.

"Yeah... nothing at all." Shining seemed hurt by the mare's words, but he understood that she only said it to urge him to move forward with the marriage. That only seemed to hurt him even more.

"So why were you in pain over what she considered an event that was 'nothing worth remembering'?"

"..." Shining could not give a reason. Even he realized that he was well beyond beat on this one. He was caught in two lies and everything had played out just like it did in real life. But as he remained silent, the area around them grew dark with the exceptions of a slim crack of light piercing through the darkness. They could hear a foal sniffling next to them.

"Let's go back for this one. But this time, let's change the perspective"