Love Endures For Lifetimes Everlasting
Mid-afternoon sunshine bounced off the Crystal Empire’s many buildings, creating a kaleidoscopic effect across the sky. Eager voices mingled with music as residents and tourists alike milled about, inspecting the various stalls all offering their unique wares.
Princess Cadance smiled as she strolled down Emerald Boulevard. The scent of crystal strawberries, raisins, dates, and others filled her nostrils. All around her, other vendors bowed and called out when she passed them by. She waved to all her subjects, who beamed their own bright smiles in return.
As she approached a crystal fruit stall, she caressed the Crystal Pendant around her neck. Many years earlier, she had inherited the enchanted, heart-shaped sapphire and used it to help her spread love wherever she went. She had outgrown the need to wield it, however, and had bestowed its emotion-amplifying power upon her sister-in-law as a coronation gift. Although Twilight had put it to good use, she had felt uneasy about keeping it, and so Cadance found it in her possession once again.
“You are the Princess of Love,” Twilight had said upon returning it to Cadance. “You defeated the witch and purified it all that time ago. It rightfully belongs to you. Keep it, and pass it down to your foals.”
Cadance giggled, remembering Twilight’s words that day. Oh, Twiley. I think you’re more hopeful to be an auntie than Celestia or Luna are to be great-aunts.
Pushing the thought from her mind, she halted at the crystal fruit vendor and took a great whiff. “Wow, Glacé Cherry. Your fruit smells absolutely divine,” she said to the rosy mare.
“Thank you, Princess,” Glacé said, flushing an even deeper shade of red as she bowed behind the stall. “The berry cakes have been a particularly large hit with the couples.” She lifted her head and swept a hoof over her wares: shimmering fruits, cakes, and pastries. “Would you like one? Free for you, of course.”
Cadance opened her mouth to object, but a tinkle of magic interrupted her words. She rolled her eyes as a small amount of golden bits drifted into her sight and came to rest on top of Glacé’s glass counter. The magenta aura surrounding the bits faded as the tinkle subsided.
Cadance spun on the spot, wearing a bemused smile. “Shiny, you shouldn’t have. I was about to buy them myself.”
Her husband shot her a wink as he came into view beside her. “What sort of stallion passes up a chance to purchase a gift for his fair wife? On Hearts and Hooves Day of all days?” He eyed Glacé Cherry’s wares. “So, you recommend the berry cakes, Miss Cherry?”
Glacé nodded, her mint green mane covering half of her face. “Yes, My Prince. I also recommend my personal favourite, the crystallised pineapple pieces.”
“Excellent. I’ll take two cakes and a sample of the pineapple then.”
Glacé swept the bits into her register, picked out Shining’s request, and placed the cakes and pineapple rings into separate bags.“Thank you for your patronage, Your Highnesses,” she said with a second bow.
“Thank you for the treats, Glacé,” Cadance said. A crystal blue light grasped the top of the bags. “Enjoy the rest of the Hearts and Hooves Day Festival. May love fill you with its warmth today.”
“You too, Princess.”
Cadance waved and trotted away toward a crowded glassblowing exhibition, Shining at her side.
“Shiny, you really didn’t have to do that. I’m perfectly capable of buying my own treats at a fair.” She cast her eyes over the performance, intrigued by the beige earth pony stallion operating a torch. The audience oohed and ahhed as he worked on recreating a replica of the Crystal Heart.
“Oh, I know that,” Shining said. He eyed a young filly as she brought different coloured glass hearts up onto the counter of a nearby stall. “But when should I spoil you if not on this glorious day? It’s practically a celebration in your honour.”
Cadance giggled as he pressed his muzzle to her cheek. “Oh, stop it. You honour me every day by staying at my side. What more do I need?”
Shining withdrew his lips from her cheek. “Why, for me to empty the royal treasury and shower you in presents, of course.” He whipped his head back toward the stall. “Stay here. Back in a moment.”
Cadance held out her hoof. “Shiny, you really—”
Shining had already galloped toward the queue.
“—don’t… have to.” She lowered her hoof and sighed. She placed a hoof to her belly, the exquisite taste of the cakes still on her tongue. Although I suppose I should let him indulge me. Tonight is going to be huge for us… one way or another.
She squeezed her eyes shut. Keep it together, Cadance. You can’t give away your feelings just yet.
She opened her eyes amid a smattering of hoof-stamping and whistles. The glassblower had completed yet another heart, a fine clear piece unlike the other lightly stained ones.
A clear heart for a young romance, waiting to develop and gain its own colour. May whoever purchases it find their true love today.
While she watched him start up another, Shining returned, his horn alight for no visible reason.
“A gift for you, my love. Close your eyes.”
Cadance raised a skeptical eyebrow, but did as she was told. The bottoms of her ears tingled, almost drawing a giggle at their tenderness.
“What are you—hey, careful, that tickles!” She heard Shining laugh as the presence of his aura extended to just in front of her face.
“You may open your eyes now.”
Cadance’s eyelids fluttered open. She gasped; before her floated a pair of glinting glass earrings.
“Shining, they’re… they’re gorgeous!” She took them from him in her own aura, turning them slowly around. The earrings caught the sun, a different colour bouncing off them with every angle change. “I love the way they go from purple, to blue, to green—oh!”
As she lowered them to her hoof and her magic faded, the entire rainbow spectrum—and then some—winked up at her. “Wow. I’ve never seen such craftsponyship before. They’re not enchanted are they?”
Shining shrugged. “I don’t think so. Not unless the vendor or his daughter are hiding a unicorn back there somewhere. I was going to get you something else, but then the colours caught my eye.” He took the earrings in his aura again and moved one to either side of Cadance’s head.
“The young filly told me something interesting about these earrings,” he continued as he concentrated on clipping them at the base of Cadance’s ears one by one. “She said her father made them after a particularly erratic sunrise caused light to bounce off a piece he was working on. The whole rainbow caught his eye that morning—so he said—and a few hours later, these came to be. He felt the ground tremble that day as he worked, saw brilliant flashes of light illuminate the skies.”
Cadance brought a hoof to her mouth. “That was the morning of… when Tirek was defeated, wasn’t it?”
“A glorious day for the strength of friendship, love, and ponies everywhere. He called the pair ‘Twilight’s Dawn.' A new dawn for us all, after hope was lost. ”
“I never knew you to be so poetic, Shiny,” Cadance purred.
“I have my moments.” Shining’s smile dipped slightly as he turned his head to the side.
“Hm?” Cadance draped a wing over Shining’s shoulder, her pendant and earrings gleaming in the setting sun. “What’s wrong?”
Shining hitched his smile back up. “Nothing, dearest. Don’t worry.”
“Shiny…”
Shining snorted. “Heh. I should know better than to hide my feelings around you, Little Miss In-Tune-With-Emotion.” He sighed. “I just… I really hope today made up for my failure a few months ago.”
“Failure?” Cadance tilted her head. “What failure?”
“I… I couldn’t protect you. When Tirek came and sent you to that horrible prison—”
“Shhh.” Cadance pressed a hoof to Shining’s lips; her own found his, massaging them softly. Her tongue found his briefly before she pulled away and stared him in the eyes. “There was nothing you could have done, Shiny. Nopony could have guessed what was coming. Not even Aunt Celestia.”
Shining’s lips twitched, barely defying gravity before falling again. “You said the same thing regarding our wedding and when King Sombra blocked my power. Tirek wasn’t the first one to render me completely useless. I’m supposed to be the Captain of the Royal Guard, Cadance—what use am I if every time Equestria is threatened, my power gets completely negated?”
Cadance wrapped her forelegs around Shining and leaned into him. “It’s okay, mi amore. It matters not how effective you were—what does matter is that you stood for me. We repelled the changelings together. You stood up to the king to give our friends a fighting chance, even though you knew you might not make it out. And you defended my honour even against impossible odds. That’s all I’ll ever ask of you—your support.”
Shining bowed his head, relaxing into his wife’s embrace. “Still…” He ran a hoof through her mane. “I had to make it all up to you somehow.”
Cadance pulled out of the hug. “Shiny. Shiny, Shiny, Shiny. I told you already. All I need is your love—” she flicked a hoof over her left ear, touching the glass “—but I will admit, pretty things are nice too. Thank you for being so romantic.”
“Anything for the love of my life.”
“Come on, that’s enough,” Cadance said. “You get any more mushy, and you’ll start melting.”
A loud cheer rang over the streets, coming from the west end of town.
“Oh!” Shining snapped to attention. “I’m supposed to oversee the jousting. It must be starting soon!”
Cadance slapped his flank with her wing. “You’d better get over there then, ‘Captain’.”
Shining grinned and gave her a quick peck, before saluting and running off.
“Shiny!”
He paused, head turned over his shoulder.
“After sunset, meet me in the throne room. It’s my turn to surprise you.”
They locked eyes for but a moment; Shining nodded, then turned on his heels and scampered away.
The afternoon covered the stadium in soft golden light. The crowd cheered as ponies of all races charged at each other, the sound heard all over the Crystal Empire as the sun sank lower and lower, eventually bathing the city in a gentle glow. After all of the competitors ran their course, a unicorn by the name of Solid Scout emerged victorious.
Shining finished shaking hooves with all the exhausted participants. As Solid removed his helmet, Shining presented him with a golden medallion. “An exemplary display, Sir Solid. You have shown everypony exactly why I picked you as my second-in-command.”
“Thank you, My Prince,” Solid said, his head bowed to accept the medallion. “It is an honour to serve you and Her Highness… but also a pleasure to perform for you too.”
Shining clapped a hoof on Solid’s shoulder as he lifted his head. “I’ll see you on duty. Go and get some rest. It seems our other troops are a little too soft for my liking—I would like you to start rectifying that on the morrow.” He winked.
“Aye, Captain.” Solid saluted—Shining returned the gesture—and walked away, finding his wife and son in the audience.
As Shining watched the happy trio, his thoughts turned inward. In the wake of Equestria’s rather hectic past two years, it really felt to him that they were all lucky to be alive. Honestly, the amount of threats to national security are just staggering. It’s like Nightmare Moon’s return triggered some pre-ordained series of events of something. Hundreds of years of peace, and then multiple attacks against the crown in such a short space of time?
But then the colt hugged his father, leapt onto his back, and started cheering. Solid responded by jumping around, pretending to dislodge him.
Shining’s thoughts shifted. I wonder how it feels…
He shook his head. The time would surely come eventually. He made his way to the stadium exit, and took in the sight of the majestic Crystal Palace he called home. He smirked. I really am the luckiest stallion alive.
Cadance! Sunset!
Shining galloped north and up the palace steps, passing above the pillar of the Crystal Heart; many ponies stood around it, transfixed by its shimmering beauty. He continued on through the doors, crossing into the main hall. Trestle tables and chairs were all laid out, many of the tables already laden with plates and goblets, dishes and cutlery, jugs of water and trays of fruits, glass bowls of punch, juices, and other fresh-prepared meals...
Shining’s stomach rumbled. Those ponies who had volunteered to make the holiday a success would soon be tucking in to such a banquet. Theoretically, he and Cadance would be too… provided he made it to the throne room. He groaned and rubbed his stomach; it felt like he’d eaten that berry cake and few pieces of crystallised pineapple hours ago.
In a flash, he ascended multiple levels, appearing just outside the throne room double doors. Both guards—a pegasus and a unicorn—saluted him before withdrawing their crossed spears and granting him entry. As he crossed into the room, the doors closed behind him, cutting off all other sounds of merrymaking. He caught sight of Cadance, sitting on the throne with head bowed and eyes closed. Although he didn’t look directly at it, Shining noticed a white figure wearing a hooded black cloak standing on Cadance’s left side. Whoever they were, their face was hidden.
Cadance looked up at his echoing steps. “Thank you for coming, Shiny. Something has been on my mind ever since the Crystal Empire was liberated. I’m only sorry it took so long to tell you.”
Shining approached the throne and nuzzled Cadance. “Whatever it is, I’m glad you can tell me now,” he said, before stepping back and observing the stranger. “Now, would you kindly introduce me to your, er, company?”
Cadance looked to her left. “In a moment, Shiny. There’s something you need to see first. Just trust me when I say you need not fear for our safety.” She hopped off the throne, pecked Shining on the cheek, and stood near the double doors. With a look of pained concentration, energy began building in her horn.
Shining and the stranger stood still and watched as Cadance’s aura began to darken, eventually turning black. Purple spots bubbled on her horn while wisps of smoke extended from her eyes, still screwed up in concentration. A second later, she fired a beam of bubbling dark-violet at the throne’s crystal headpiece. The crystal also bubbled and turned dark, casting a lengthening shadow across the room to reveal a hidden staircase.
Shining gaped at Cadance as the aura faded and she shook her head. “Are you all right, Cady?” he asked.
Cadance groaned and opened her eyes, blinking a few times. “Urgh… glad I won’t have to perform that spell ever again…” She blinked hard one last time then trotted up next to Shining. “Don’t worry about me, Shiny. The hard part’s over. Now, we descend—the three of us, together.”
Shining looked at the spiralling staircase and nodded. He turned to the stranger. “Let’s tread carefully. These steps might be treacherous.”
A single nod was his only response.
Shining and the stranger descended slowly one after the other, Cadance floating down the middle and matching their pace. When they reached the bottom, Shining took a moment to catch his breath, and looked around. “A little dark down here, isn’t it?”
“Allow me.”
The voice was raspy—likely strained from overuse or lack of care, Shining supposed. From beneath the hood, a rainbow light emerged, illuminating the entire chamber. The whole place was barren and black-walled, save for a single door with a circular, donut-shaped handle and a dark-green crystal at its top.
Cadance looked to Shining. “Stand back.”
Once Shining obeyed, Cadance shot a beam of clear blue light at the crystal. The door shuddered, then stilled.
“Okay. We can enter now,” Cadance declared. She approached the handle and pulled. A bright light shone through the gap, forcing Shining to avert his gaze and raise a leg over his eyes. When he lowered it, he gasped.
Through the door, a short passageway widened into a glittering cavern of crystals and clear, starry water, not unlike Princess Luna’s rippling mane. A small island was in the centre of the circular pond. From up out of the island, a pedestal supporting what looked like a domed, glass container rose up as they approached the water’s edge. The cavern walls rippled, much like the water it reflected.
“What is this place?” Shining asked, turning to Cadance as the door closed behind them.
“This is the purified sanctuary of Equestria’s long-lost, subterranean Crystal Lake,” Cadance said. “Twilight entered this chamber herself, on the way to locating the Crystal Heart, however it was twisted and corrupted at the time—a place of nightmares. After she told me about it, I knew I had to come and see it for myself.”
Shining stared around, enthralled by crystals of many colours and their various highlights. It was as if naturally occurring rainbows coalesced with blackened shadows, forming a dark, shimmering yet tranquil starry paradise.
“I suppose I can introduce you to our guest now.”
Shining whipped his head around to stare at the stranger, who locked gazes with Cadance. Both nodded simultaneously; then, the stranger finally lowered her hood.
White body… white mane… white tail… paint-pallet cutie mark… pink eyes…
“Greetings, Prince Armor,” the elderly mare said. “I would bow, were it not for my weary bones and joints that pain me so. My name is Eva, or as others know me, Lady Prismia. I believe Her Highness has told you stories about me?”
Shining stiffened, raised a hoof, and then lowered it. He narrowed his eyes at the white mare, who stared back unblinking with her own eerily pale-pink eyes. “You are the one that my wife defeated as a filly, correct? The one who tried to steal her family’s love?”
“Guilty as charged, My Prince,” Eva said. “However you must know that, had I not performed such actions, your wife would not be the princess that she is today. Nor would she and your friends have been able to repel the King of Shadows.”
“Eva is a different mare these days, Shiny,” Cadance said, stepping between them. “She embraced the power of love after I helped reform her fifteen years ago, and she’s been on a brighter path ever since. I trust her, and you can too.”
Shining exhaled after a second, dissipating the magic he’d unconsciously activated. “Please forgive me, Lady Prismia,” he said, sinking into a very short and quick bow. “If Cadance is a friend of yours, you are a friend of mine. But you under—”
“It is no crime to be protective of your bride, My Prince,” Eva said. “In fact, that just shows me what sort of stallion you are.” She looked to Cadance and smiled. “He seems worthy.”
Cadance grinned, but only for a moment. “Shiny, please come here. The three of us are going to cross the river, where you will see the secret I’ve been keeping from you… from everypony.”
“Cross the river?” Shining looked around the area. “But, there’s no boat, no bridge. Could we teleport onto the island?”
Cadance shook her head. “The island is protected by an ethereal Mist, which absorbs magic from the air, the water, and any magical being that comes into contact with it. Ponies have tried to teleport inside it before… they simply never reappeared.” She fixed her stern expression upon Shining. “We will have to walk.”
“Walk?”
Shining looked at the surface of the lake and prodded it with a hoof. To his great surprise, though it rippled at his touch, his hoof did not sink below the surface. “Huh,” he said, looking at his hoof. “Walking it is then.” He looked up at Cadance. “Well, I suppose you should approach first. Lady Prismia—”
“Please, My Prince—call me ‘Eva’,” the mare said.
“Er, Eva can go second, and I’ll bring up the rear.”
Cadance nodded then turned and stepped onto the river’s shining surface. Eva walked behind her, rainbow light shimmering and twinkling around her horn. Shining followed Eva, looking around and behind them all. A minute passed in full silence, save for the faint plink of their hooves upon the river’s odd water.
“Why can we walk on this water anyway?” Shining asked, his attention drawn by glowing effigies of light rising above and falling below the surface; they seemed brighter and more solid the closer they drew to the island. “It looks as deep as any other lake. I can’t even see the bottom.”
“This lake has magical properties,” Cadance said from ahead. “Its most primary feature is that it allows nothing but light to fall below the surface, which keeps the water completely pure. Ponies can drink from it, ponies may walk on it, but they can’t taint it in any way.”
Shining tilted his head. Was it just him, or did Cadance sound oddly… more mature than usual?
“In any case, here we are,” Cadance said. She stepped off the river onto the small island, Eva stepping to her left, with Shining stepping off to her right. He immediately sensed a change in the air; it felt heavy, humid, enriched even. He could almost see the air, faintly swirling and distorting his immediate vision. He made to begin a spell, but the Mist poured into his horn and swirled around it, like a swarm of ants drawn toward honey.
“Whoa!” Shining deactivated his tingling horn and shook his head. That was… intense.
“Even activating the most simple spells in this Mist can have catastrophic consequences, My Prince,” Eva warned. “Light your horn at your own peril, lest the Mist milk every drop of power from you.”
“I see,” Shining said. “And I suppose that you and Cadance have been down here before?”
Eva was silent.
Shining smirked before turning his head to watch his wife. Cadance made to lift the glass dome, but faltered. Instead she turned, walked to Shining, and clasped her forelegs around his neck.
“This is where things change forever, my love,” Cadance whispered into his left ear. “I only hope you can forgive me…”
Shining grasped her tight in return, but only for a short time. “I’m sure that I’ll still love you after... whatever this is... is over and done with.”
Cadance leaned back and moved in again to kiss Shining hard.
“Judging by the light of your Crystal Pendant, my dear—” Cadance broke off to look at Eva “—I would wager that your husband is true to his word.”
“I am—”
“He is—”
Cadance and Shining both looked at Cadance’s barrel, their eyes filling with blue light.
“Well… here I go,” Cadance whispered. She left Shining’s side and approached the pedestal. Once again, she raised her hooves to lift the glass dome off the object it protected.
No.
Shining stared and stared at the object, willing with all of his might for it to be a trick of the Mist, a hallucination, anything other than what he saw.
“Cadance… why is King Sombra’s severed horn down here, protected by a glass casing, on a magical island, in a secret chamber, hidden under the palace?”
Cadance bowed her head and sat before the pedestal. The horn fragment flashed and flickered for a brief period of time before she replaced the dome. Once it was covered up again, she took a deep breath and faced Shining.
“King Sombra’s horn is here, because…” She swallowed, and continued, “Because once the Empire was secured, I went out into the wilderness and retrieved it.”
“Retrieved it?” Shining’s eyes bulged. “Do you realise what you’ve done? You’ve threatened the safety of the Crystal Empire by bringing that tainted piece of alicorn back inside the protection zone! W-why didn’t you just destroy it, or... something?”
“Because… I-I… I couldn’t. I just couldn’t d-do it, Shiny!”
Shining Armor looked on in horror as Cadance broke down in tears in front of him.
“H-hey now, Cady,” he said as he knelt down to stroke her mane. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just… sort of shocked, that’s all.”
Cadance sniffed and took some short, rapid breaths. “No, Shiny, it w-wasn’t you that upset me. You reacted exactly how I thought you w-would. It’s just… the reason I saved it… I… it’s just so hard to physically tell you! What if you h-hate me?” She fell back into tears again.
“That is absolute nonsense, Cadance,” Shining said, an edge to his voice. “You’re my princess, my one true love. I could never hate you for anything.”
Cadance looked up into his deep aquamarine eyes, and saw nothing but absolution and conviction behind them. She gave a final sniff, swallowed the lump in her throat, and stood again. The Crystal Pendant flashed around her neck.
“The reason I saved his horn, why I kept it safe instead of destroying it… I… I loved him. I loved him, Shiny!”
Shining Armor stood stock still, frozen in place, in complete disbelief at his wife’s words. He opened his lips, but his mouth had become a desert. He tried to breathe, but the air tightened and compressed in his lungs. He tried to think, to wonder, but the relentless thoughts of Cadance, Sombra, Cadance, Sombra ticked over in his mind against his will.
Finally he found his voice, separated his tongue from the roof of his mouth, and spoke. “You… you loved King Sombra? That’s what you said, but I just… I don’t see how that can be possible! We were partners, engaged, married before either of us ever heard of him.”
“Prince Armor—”
Shining ignored Eva’s interruption. “He threatened us! He tried to kill us—all of us! How could this happen?”
“Y-you don’t unders-stand, Shiny—”
“No! You’re right!” Shining yelled. “I don’t. I can’t. I just… urgh.” He clutched his head, his ears full of the sounds of Cadance’s renewed sobbing. “Just… I hope you have a real whopper of an explanation, because it’s going to take some kind of miracle for me to believe this.”
“Prince Armor!”
Shining eyed Eva, a decidedly forced neutral expression on his face. “What is it, Prismia? Perhaps you know how my wife could possibly have such an illogical, irrational set of feelings for one of the most dangerous fiends to ever exist?”
“As a matter of fact, My Prince, I do know.” Eva’s horn glowed rainbow for the barest of moments before the aura vanished. “But depending on what Her Highness may or may not have already told you before this day, perhaps there is something you should be aware of before she elaborates on her ‘illogical’ emotions.”
Shining narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by that?”
Eva turned her head slowly toward Cadance. “Have you… not told His Highness of your condition, Princess?”
Cadance shook her head. “I-I was waiting for the right time to tell him, I s-swear by Aunt Celestia! It was just never a good time…”
“Now is as good a time as any, my dear. Would you not say?”
Cadance nodded and, staggering to her hooves, caught Shining’s strained expression. “Shiny… I meant to tell you this much earlier—I mean, I would have, but I only found out myself a few years ago—it’s… the thing is… I’m k-kind of immortal.”
“What? Immortal?” Shining scratched his head with his right hoof. “But, that can’t be. You were born a filly, just as I was born a colt. You became a princess before you were even an adult, and yet you kept growing. We’re still the same age! How… how can you be immortal?”
“The same way that the Sun Goddess’ pet is immortal, My Prince,” Eva stated as she paced around the pair. “Surely you know of the Phoenixian’ brand of longevity?”
“Oh, come on,” Shining said with a chuckle. “You mean to tell me that Cadance will burst into flames at the end of her life and be reborn from her pony ashes?”
“You think too literal,” Eva said. “No, she will not—”
“I’m not a phoenix, Shiny,” Cadance said, interrupting Eva. “I don’t burst into flames, and I’m not reborn from ashes… but, I do reincarnate as another pony when I die. Somewhere in Equestria, a mare falls pregnant every time my heart beats its last.”
Silence reigned, during which time Shining sat on his rump and pondered the words while Cadance leaned up against Eva. He put his head into his hooves and groaned, rubbing his eyes. Around them, the Mist swirled, the crystals gleamed, and the lake shimmered.
“Okay.”
Shining stood again and looked at Cadance. “You say you’re immortal—you’re reborn after every time you die.”
“Yes.”
Shining nodded. “Right. And you said that you love… no, you said loved specifically. So… does that mean…?”
Cadance and Eva nodded. “Yes,” the former said. “Once upon the annals of history… I was once Princess Amore, the Crystal Princess. Sombra… was my lover.”
Shining stared, slack-jawed. “Y-you, and him… a thousand years ago… wow. I’m just… I don’t know what else to say, Cady.” Shining tapped his chin with his hoof. “Well, except for one thing. Just how do you remember any of what—”
“You’re right,” Cadance butted in. “I should have no memory of what went on over the past thousand years. But—and I promise I don’t know why this happens—whenever I come of age, I regain all of my past memories. It’s a maturity thing, I suppose.”
“So, you can remember all of your past lives, huh?” Shining sucked in a breath. “I guess… you’ve been married a few times?”
Cadance flushed a deeper pink. “Um… yes. Twenty times, to be exact.”
“Twenty…” Shining snorted. “Well, I’d rather not think of that. Instead, let’s focus on the issue at hoof. You were Princess Amore, betrothed to Sombra… then what? The Empire fell because he enslaved you all?”
“That’s right,” Cadance said. “Other things happened after that, but…” She suddenly beamed, relaxing her stance. “I’m actually so glad, Shiny. You’re taking this so much better than I hoped you might.”
“Cady, what did I say to you just before?” Shining’s eyes shone as he looked at his beloved. “I have, I do, and I always will love you, no matter what life—or in your case, lives—has in store for us.” He faced Eva. “What’s your role here anyway, Eva? Moral support?”
The albino lowered her head and laughed. “Oh, I care greatly for your princess, true enough. But no, my role is far more important than simply drying her tears.” She blinked, her eyes shifting toward Cadance. “Your Highness, if you would grab the fragment?”
Cadance didn’t move.
“Princess? You do want to go through with this?”
“I…” Cadance made to stand, but seemed to think better of it and fell back down. “I do. I mean, at the same time I don’t, but… I know I must. It’s so hard, I… no, I have to do it. I must free myself.”
She stood and removed the glass dome from the pedestal for the final time. The horn twitched and pulsed in Cadance’s trembling hooves. As it became exposed to the Mist, it wiggled around, and Cadance almost dropped it.
“Do you… want me to carry it for you?”
Cadance looked at Shining and smiled. “Thank you for offering, Shiny, but I can bear it myself.” She held the horn to her chest with two hooves and flapped her wings. Seconds later, she came to rest on the other embankment, Eva and Shining not far behind.
“Princess, it is time,” Eva said once she caught up. “Rid yourself of the taint, and liberate your own heart.”
Cadance nodded. “I… am ready to do this. Now that I know I have my Shiny’s love forever, I’m… comfortable with this.”
“All right.” Eva removed her cloak entirely, standing tall and completely white next to Cadance. “You are sure?”
“I am.”
“Very well. Let us commence.”
Cadance and Eva both lit their horns. The whites of Cadance’s eyes swam in her face as she and Eva worked on the spell. Images began to swirl around in midair—images that Shining never expected to see, generated and surrounded by a rainbow haze.
The Crystal Empire, a thousand years earlier; a pink, rosy-maned unicorn mare standing next to a dark-furred unicorn stallion in the Crystal Palace’s entrance hall; a particular four-legged foe with a beard and two long, spindly arms, offering the stallion a disturbingly familiar silver neckpiece with an inset blood-red ruby.
“My Prince, I advise you to stay back,” Eva said while the magic around Cadance’s horn intensified.
Freed from its misty prison, the fragment bubbled with purple and green.
“He’s coming back!” Shining yelled. “Why are we letting this happen?”
“Patience,” Eva said in a level tone. “We are in no immediate danger… but if it makes you feel any better, you can always cast a shield around it. Her Highness mentioned it was your special talent, after all. Come—show me your strength!”
Shining nodded. Without another word, he produced a sizable magenta dome to encircle the horn, already lengthening as it continued to bubble. Green and black smoke poured off it as the seconds passed, the ground beneath it darkening.
Beneath the shield, the masses of smoke swirled and crackled with raw power. Before long, it filled the dome, although Shining’s magic kept it contained. A low rumble filled the cavern, and Shining’s hooves rattled on the ground.
The dark, billowing clouds converged upon themselves, forming a tornado as they spun faster and faster. Static electricity crackled in the air. The miasmic display came to a close as the red-tipped horn emerged from its depths… followed by the spectral, still-smoking visage of a newly resurrected foe.
A deep throaty laugh filled the chamber as King Sombra leered at the three. He took in his surroundings: the shield, the crystals, the lake he stood upon… and finally the three ponies before him. His sight fell upon Cadance, and the fanged smile widened.
“Ahhh... the Crysstal Princcess who ruined me.”
And then, Cadance began to speak.
“Sombra. Once upon a time, you were a mighty king. You ruled us all with truth and justice. You gave our ponies everything they wanted, and you ruled fairly. Most of all, you ruled my heart—it always belonged to you. We had the perfect life… and then you ripped it all apart.”
“You sspeak in riddless, foolissh mortal.” Sombra growled. “What delussionss do you ssuffer from?”
Cadance continued, her voice strong.
“What happened over the course of that year? Why did you trust the wanderer from another land when he offered you his amulet? Why did you not destroy it when he was sent to the depths of Tartarus? I felt the raw power emanating from it even as you took it from his wraith-like hands—a ‘peace’ offering—a single day before his reckoning.”
The images changed again. A unicorn wearing the red-and-silver amulet offered by the Betrayer; grey eyes turning to green with purple wisps floating off them; a mare begging for her stallion to remove the amulet, only to be knocked away.
Sombra stared at Eva’s projections. “How hass one ssuch as yoursself come to procure thesse curiouss memoriess?”
“You went all in then—” still ignoring Sombra, Cadance kept up her speech “—it was all about the magic, the power, the ‘endless possibilities.’ ”
“Ssilencce!” Sombra fired a beam of purple-and-black energy at his containment; Shining cringed, but maintained his composure as the shield wobbled, reflecting the beam around inside the dome before it fizzled out. He glared at Shining Armor. “You… I remember you. Worthless sstallion—did you not learn when I bessted you in the icce fieldss? Your pathetic sshield will not contain the mighty Ssombra!”
Cadance’s voice shook a little.
“Why did you desire such strength so much? There was a light in you before then, but I watched you slowly turn to shadow. My heart called to you, but it was drowned out by the screaming desire for more: more energy, more control…”
Sombra roared and rounded on Cadance. “And you! Cceasse your prattling and releasse me thiss insstant!”
“You wanted it all—no matter the cost.”
Flashes of light filled the area as the images depicted a small legion of crystal unicorns firing beams at the dark one. No matter how damaging they seemed, his fur, muscles, and bones continually stitched and repaired themselves. Each unicorn was then promptly snapped in shackles, spell-suppressing rings fitted upon their horns.
“There were those who rose up against you. Every night you would return to me, beaten yet never broken. The shadow repaired your mortal wounds night after night.”
The newest images made Shining cringe and turn away, even while his wife continued to speak in a powerful, determined voice; Sombra’s eyes narrowed as the new events played out.
“Who are you, little pink princcess?”
“But as you showed me your scars, I held you closer still—I tried to hold you closer than the boundaries of flesh allowed. On the last night we paired…”
Shining tried desperately to ignore the picture, blocked his ears in an effort to repel Cadance’s words.
“...you pushed a thousand shards of glass beneath my skin… and left me lying there to bleed.”
“How could any stallion do such a despicable thing to a mare?” Shining finally snapped, rounding on Sombra with his teeth bared. “You promised to love her, to treat her with respect! Yet you nearly destroyed her! Her, and your loyal citizens, who once held you in the highest regard!”
Sombra growled and bared his fangs in defiance… before the enraged expression softened into a taunting leer. “Ah, sso you musst be this pretty thing’ss partner. Her ‘Sshining Armor, one might even ssay.” His low laugh rattled Shining’s bones. “I ssee the ssituation now. Thesse are her memories, are they not? And you… Yess. You are my ‘ssuccessor,’ no doubt. Tell me, young princce—how doess it make you feel to know that I laid claim to her firsst, hundredss of yearss before you ever exissted?”
Shining’s insides swirled like a maelstrom as he pawed at the ground. The shield flickered and wavered, threatening to disappear before Shining regained his composure and poured even more power into maintaining it.
“It was your choice—” Cadance raised her voice over Sombra “—you let the dark powers infest your mind from within. It was too late to stop the process. You crossed the moral threshold and never looked back. Red flooded our glittering streets.”
“The blood of expendable sslaves and foolissh rebelss,” Sombra hissed. He flicked his tongue out in a taunt. “Good for nothing but crysstal-gathering and reminders of their placce.”
A pink mare fled the glittering city with her strawberry-coloured newborn.
“I took our blood and ran to save us—I could no longer bear to watch you fall into shadow, into the depths. My voice alone could not pull your heart back together.”
The silhouettes of two alicorns shimmered into view. A triumphant grin spread across Shining’s muzzle, while Sombra roared and fired beam after beam at the apparition, yelling curses in an ancient tongue.
The shield shuddered under the assault, but held firm.
“The Sisters came then, when they saw what you had become for themselves. I only wished you would salvage some part of yourself, that part that once knew love. You could save yourself—you only had to remember who you were! Who you had been! All you had to do was remove it from your neck, but you refused.”
“And so, I watch my wife fuse her spirit with the Crystal Heart in an effort to save her ponies,” Shining said as the Princess of the Past disappeared in a cerulean light, becoming one with the Crystal Heart seconds before the Empire’s total annihilation.
“I hoped that maybe one day you would return, cleansed of your taint, with all the beauty I once knew,” Cadance continued relentlessly. “I only wanted to be there for you, close to you, always. It was our love that kept our people together, but your twisted ambitions—that accursed jewel!—shattered our perfect kingdom.
“A thousand years I waited, reborn time and again, my memories always waking within my new body upon marehood. Always the same cutie mark, the same destiny. But the curse endured. Centuries passed—centuries I spent hoping and waiting in vain.”
“You are not her!” Sombra roared. “I command you to be ssilent and releasse me! Do it now, and I might besstow merccy upon you all.”
Thoughts swirled around inside Shining’s head. Life after life, death after death, husband after husband… families created and destroyed...
“And then, finally, you did come back. But even a millennium had not tempered your darkened crystalline avarice. I stood beside my twentieth husband since yourself, our love forming a protective spell. For days we held you back, he and I, until my energy waned and you rushed forth to collect your trinket.”
Shining couldn’t help but cheer as he watched the memory of himself hurl Cadance at Sombra’s big, stupid, ugly face. Sombra continued to bombard the shield with blast after blast, concentrating on a single spot.
The shield buckled ever-so-slightly as a tiny crack appeared at the impact site.
“It was nothing but a prize to you. I knew in that moment. Power surged through my horn as I denied you of everything. I was free of longing for you, the shining light that propelled me all I needed. You would not be saved—your own heart burst, and soon your body joined it in jagged shards.”
“And good riddance!” Shining yelled. “He would have plunged us all into darkness.”
“You were all mine to do with how I willed!” Sombra snarled as he prepared another salvo of firepower.
“Sorrow filled the broken pieces of my own heart, even as the one we created together all those years ago radiated its love over Equestria. But it was in that almighty outpouring that our hearts and minds were one, and in those seconds before your ethereal body shattered, I knew my choice was right.”
“Cadance…” Shining whispered to himself.
The aura surrounding Cadance’s horn, and the Crystal Pendant both gleamed brightly, making the rest of the sparkling chamber appear dimly lit and in shadow.
“You are no longer my king, Sombra!” Cadance cried, her power concentrated and converging at the tip of her horn. “You hold no power over me anymore. My fragile heart has been repaired by another, one more pure and far worthier of both my love and the love of our reawakened kingdom. You are nothing but a distant memory now.”
Her horn reached blinding levels of illumination.
“The Amore you once knew died long ago. Yet she lives on in me, one who bears her ancient name.”
“You lie!” Sombra bellowed. “You are not her!”
My princess. My wife. My love.
“Shining Armor!”
Shining looked to Eva. “Drop your shield, now!” she cried.
“What? But he’ll—”
“The king will break through soon enough anyway! Let it go—Her Highness’ time has arrived!”
Shining looked between the Tyrant, the Witch, and the Princess… then nodded and allowed his magic to fade.
“I am Princess Cadance, and I rule our empire with love, free from darkness and fear once again. Farewell, mi amore primo.”
Power overwhelming flowed from Cadance’s horn into a great crystalline ball above her head. As the graphic images faded, Mist-enhanced energy rushed to coalesce together. Cadance opened up her magic, allowing the great ball to sink in through her own horn. With the sparking up of her own rod, an intense cerulean light filled the room.
A shot. A crash. A drawn-out roar. An explosion. Something shattering. Then, silence.
Shining Armor lowered his leg from his face and stared at the smoking crater where Sombra had been just a moment earlier. He focused on Cadance, her eyes set hard and firm even as she panted. The glow around her horn faded, and she wobbled on the spot.
Shining was at her side to catch her.
“That was… whoa, Cady. That was all so incredible.” He stroked Cadance’s mane as he rubbed his cheek against hers. “To think, all that time… all those lives you lived based on your first and oldest love. I can’t even imagine how it must have felt—must still feel.”
Cadance gave a tired smile and closed her eyes. She leaned in and gently brushed her lips across Shining’s face. She held the kiss for a long while, relishing in his closeness, his love for her. The pendant gleamed bright around her neck, and Twilight’s Dawn sparkled.
Eventually, she broke the kiss. “I won’t have to feel that way anymore. With Sombra’s death—his true death—and our new life… the Crystal Curse is broken. The cycle won’t continue any longer.”
“The cycle?” Shining raised an eyebrow. “You mean…”
“Yes, Shiny.” Cadance gasped down a deep breath before speaking. “You will be my last husband. When we both pass from this world, neither of us are coming back.”
Eva closed her eyes and began to walk toward the door.
“But…” Shining stared at Cadance, horror in his wide eyes. “Your immortality! You sacrificed it… for me?”
Cadance shook her head. “I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world without you. Besides, I didn’t simply sacrifice it for you. I sacrificed it for us.”
She grabbed his hoof and placed it on her abdomen.
“For all of us.”
Shining eyed Cadance’s expression, then her belly, then his hoof, and all around a few times again before it finally clicked. Horror became elation.
“Are you—”
“Yes.”
“And we’re gonna be—”
“Yup. Sure are!”
Both mare and stallion cheered in that long-forgotten chamber, their whoops carrying out into the castle throne room.
After a few moments of ecstatic hugging and kissing, Shining Armor’s stomach rumbled. “Er, we should probably get to dinner with the others,” he suggested. “There’s quite the feast going on in the entrance hall. And now that somepony’s eating for two…”
Cadance rolled her eyes, but stood all the same. “Come on then. I’ll race you to the top!”
“Hey, that’s not fair! You’ve got—”
A loud whoosh filled the stair chamber.
“—wings.” Shining sighed and departed, careful to click the door shut behind him. He made his way to the stairs, where Eva waited.
“Eva,” he started, “I just want to say—”
She held a hoof up with a deep, wrinkled smile. “No need, My Prince. Repaying the debt I owed your wife is thanks enough. Now come on—let’s get to dinner. You wouldn’t mind helping an old, arthritic crone up these stairs, would you?”
Shining nodded. “I can do you one better, actually.” He focused hard, scrunching his eyes closed. Momentarily, he and Eva slid to the top of the winding staircase. “Little trick I picked up from my sister,” he said, no small amount of pride in his voice. He grinned at Cadance, who had already made it to the throne room’s double doors. With a wink, she shot through them and disappeared from sight.
Shining could only smile.
Everything is going to be perfect.
“Happy Hearts-and-Hooves Day, mi amore finale.”
Author's Note
Have a happy ~~Valentine's Day~~ Hearts and Hooves Day, every~~one~~pony!
I'll be on the road for a week, come the day after. I'm driving from Perth to Brisbane, a trip of just under 5000kms, over the course of five days. Then, I'll be attending PonyconAU 2015 (I'm so keen to meet Cathy Weseluck and Meghan McCarthy 
)
Those of you who wanted to see more of Lady Prismia: here you are!
Love to all.
Adren
P.S. Here's another form of inspiration for this story. Start at 2:20-3:33 and then again at 6:04.
