The rapid beating of her heart subsided as she approached the gates of Jet Cemetery. Her breathing steadied as she held her lantern high and switched it on. She pulled her hood closer around her and carefully stepped inside. This was one of the few parts of the Empire that were not paved with Crystal, and for that, she was thankful. Their newly appointed guards didn't patrol the area itself, but she went among the graves as quietly as she was able on the soft ground. She dragged a shovel with her.
She had plotted out her target a mere week before tonight, and waited for a time she could do this without disturbance. No one could know what she was about to do. And she had to do it before anyone noticed she was gone. When at last she came to the row of tombstones that held her chosen spot between them, she set her lantern down, putting it's light on it's lowest setting. It was enough for her to see, but not to be seen. A quick scan of the stones in front of her, among all the 'beloved wives', 'proud fathers' and 'brave brothers', revealed the two graves she was looking for. One held the cutie mark of a four-leaf clover, the other, a shepard's crook crossed with a pitchfork. She scowled at the enormous scratches that once held their names and titles.
The pony approached the space between the two defaced tombstones, and looked sadly to them both.
"I'm sorry." she said quietly, even with no one around to hear her. "I never meant to hurt him. Believe me, I didn't ."
Stepping back, she stared intently at the wide space between them. Rising her shovel up, she stuck it in the ground hard. Bringing up the tool again, she tossed the dirt aside and brought it down savagely. Slowly but surely, she dug a hole between the graves, working up a sweat even in the cool night air.
Once the hole seemed deep enough, about four feet down, she reached into her cloak. From it she withdrew a long, slightly curved object. The wide end was a slate gray and it's point was a brighter red. This was the biggest piece that could be found, and was all that was left. Anything else was destroyed on sight. She held it up to the moon, and looked it over, before softly bringing it to her lips. She knew that this part was someone else's duty, but she would have to suffice. She could never ask her to help her.
Gently, she placed the horn on the bottom of the hole. She stepped back, looking over her work. Then she turned around.
"Today, we are here to honor the life of King Sombra," she spoke to a crowd that wasn't there. She could imagine the looks that would be on their faces when she said that. The contempt, the disbelief, the utter disgust. But she would continue.
"I didn't know him for very long, but I've heard...quite a bit about him." At this point, the murmuring would start. Talk of his cruelty and his slavery and how his demise wasn't quite enough. But she would ignore it.
"None of that is important right now. What matters is that for all I've heard of him, he proved to be a strong, unyielding, and incredibly intelligent stallion. And those traits are to be admired." Oh, the ruckus that would erupt then. There would be screams of falsehood, accusations of treachery, she might even get something thrown at her. But she would deserve every bit.
"But the reason I say all this, is because no matter what you thought of him, no matter what attributes he had that may or may not have been worthy of praise," she would pause. And they would wait and listen.
"I had no right to take his life." she said as a tear ran down her face.
She could not imagine what they would say then.
She turned back to the hole, still freshly dug. Taking her shovel again, she dug into the mound of displaced earth. As she dumped it into the hole, she began to recite the mantra that was used to bury crystal ponies a millennium ago:
"Your body cold,
Returns to stone."
She shed another tear as she filled the hole further.
"Your soul freed,
It’s light has shown."
Moisture ran down in thin streams down her cheeks.
"Your mind spent,
Is all but gone."
She had to wipe her eyes. Her tears were staring to blind her.
"Now let your heart,
Guide you home."
As she finished filling the hole and packing it down, she lied down on the covered grave. She wept. She wept for him when no one else would. It was hard for her to control herself, and her volume got away from her.
"You there!" shouted a gruff voice that caused her to freeze. She leapt up to see the light of a unicorn shine directly on her. His fur was purple, and he had the glittering crystal coat and sparkling armor of a Empire Guard. "What are you doing here?!" he yelled.
Without thinking, she darted back the way she came, knocking over her lantern with a crash. She sped through the cemetery, hearing the clopping of the guard's hooves behind her. Passing the gates, the Empire's houses came into view, and she quickened her pace. She could lose him there. A quick run into the Market District, and she hid under an empty wagon left behind by the day's activities. The guard came into view, and looker around for her menacingly. Another guard soon came upon him.
"Hey, shouldn't you be guarding the outskirts?" he asked. The other one huffed.
"I was. Then I caught this hooded ghoul seeking to rob Jet Cemetery."
"Robbing graves? Gee, I didn't our dearly departed warranted that brand of scum." he said, seeming far too cheerful of the fact.
She could feel herself wanting to cry again.
Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her.
"Evening, Gents. Just out here looking for- oh, there's my cart." She held her breath, hoping in the dark night, she couldn't be seen.
"What's this now? A stowaway? Sorry, miss, but I need this for business." The unknown owner pulled the vehicle from over her. The guard who spotted her before noticed.
"You!" he exclaimed. She tried to get up, to run away, but she felt him tackle her, and twist a front hoof painfully behind her back. "Thought you could get away, huh? Well criminals aren't getting free rides in this city any mor-" he stopped dead as he puller her hood from her head and revealed her face.
Shining yawned.
"Okay, explain to me again why a simple grave robber needs my input?"
Flash looked rather uneasy as he tried to explain. "Well, Your Highness, it's not so much what's she done, it's more and issue of who she is."
He turned to the two guards that led the culprit towards Shining Armor, who was cuffed and had he face hidden by her hood. Shining looked at them incredulously as they forced her head up, and pulled her hood down. He gasped.
"Cadance?" he asked, shocked. His wife could only look at him morosely, her lip quivering and her face still glistening with tears.
"I'm sorry." she said.
Author's Note
So, how'd I do?
By what paragraph did you figure it out?
