Chapters The Prince Of Crystals: Two Months
By Cartoonlover13
Edited and pre-read by Angry Lass and ChudoJogurt
It was a bright Spring day, and the clock was almost striking six. Princess Luna's duties as ruler of the Crystal Empire were now almost now in order. Crystal pony, after crystal pony were going to come here to have an audience with the Night Alicorn. With the setting of the day most ponies would be playing and going about on their normal days. But there was hardly a pony out in the Crystal Empire, and all that were out, were still in mourning.
Princess Luna remembered on how she once wanted to be the sole ruler of Equestria in a darker time in her life. Now look at her, currently a sole ruler of a nation.
But it wasn't right. She was not meant to be the ruler of the Crystal Empire. It was only a temporary arrangement and she was only filling in for her grief-stricken nephew-in-law. While ponies were happy under her rule, there is only one pony who was meant to be their ruler.
The Regent of the Crystal Empire trotted through hallways of the gigantic crystal castle, passing by the tapestries of the fallen Princess were everywhere to remember her. The pony who saved Equestria from the Changelings and saved the Empire from King Sombra, was dead now. Servants bowed to her and guards saluted, but there wasn't a single smile in sight.
Then she came upon the room - a room nopony had been into for two months. The Princess Of The Night let out a heavy sigh and then knocked on the door. "Shining Armor?"
She heard the breaking of a glass, causing her to flinch.
"Yes! What do you want?!"
"Dost thou not know I am now the ruler of the Crystal Empire?" The alicorn said in a complete monotone. It wasn't the first time she has said that.
"Yeah...so?" Asked Shining Armor.
The Princess of the Night heard the husband of her adopted niece gulping down liquid.
"Yes, but tis is but temporary, and I am merely a regent. I am the diarch of Equestria, not meant to be the ruler of the Crystal Empire!"
"Leave me be...the Empire seems to do just fine without me."
"Captain-"
"Don't call me captain! I resigned, remember?!" shouted Shining Armor cutting off the annoyed alicorn.
"Thou mayst have resigned as the Captain of the Royal Guard, but you cannot abdicat from thine throne. Thou art one of the two remaining members of the Crystal Empire's Royal Family. And the other one is but a baby. Even though acquired through marital bonds, and not by blood, thy royalty still binds thee with thy duty! Be warned, for I am coming in"
Shining Armor let out a cruel chuckle, "No you don’t, I put up a spell preventing anypony from entering my room."
"Dost thou not understand alicorn magic? I would have thought you should, since you were married to Cadance."
"Do not say that name!" cried out the Prince.
Princess Luna’s horn glew and in a quick flash she was in the bedchamber of her nehew-in-law. The curtains of the bedchamber were ripped and had hoof marks on them, the wallpaper was ripped off, and the room was filled with the stench of alcohol and vomit.
The Princess of the Night looked at the once proud father-to-be. His mane and tail were greasy and looked as if not washed for days, his coat was dirty and disheveled, his eyes puffy and red from excessive crying.
At least it was better than when he was intoxicated. The younger sister of Princess Celestia squinted at the unrecognizable picture in Shining Armor's hoof. Wait… she knew… it was a faded picture of him and his late wife Princess Mi Amore Cadenza on their wedding day. They both looked so happy, including Shining Armor.
"She was an alicorn. How could she die?" mumbled Shining Armor sullen. “How!?”
"Alicorns giving birth to foals who are alicorns is very rare and it can on occassion take their life."
"Why!? You and Princess Celestia and had children in the past!"
"That was different.” Luna looked aside, averting her gaze. “Celestia and I's foals were all not alicorns like us.”
The diarch gritted her death as Shining Armor turned away, not even looking at her.
“You must move on. Cadance's death was a tragic accident. Alicorns giving birth to ones of their own kind can result in a dangerous magic overcharge.”
Shining Armor scowled, "Do not talk of that baby! I'm sick of that baby... all she has caused for me is just pain and suffering!"
"PRINCE SHINING ARMOR! DO NOT DARE TO BLAME THE DEATH OF YOUR WIFE ON YOUR DAUGHTER!!"
Shining Armor was taken aback by Luna’s Royal Canterlot voice. "You have no idea what I'm going through! "
Princess Luna looked as if she was going to hit her nephew. Teetering on the edge of her rage, she took a deep breath and tried to maintain her composure calm.
"That is so selfish..."
Shining Armor's ears perked up at the Princess’s remark.
"Do you not think I'm hurting?! Cadance was my niece and the closest thing to a daughter I had! What of Cadance's adoptive parents? Are they not hurting?!
“And then your sister, Princess Twilight, for whom Cadance was a foalsitter since she was but a foal, and who loved her like her own blood?! All of Equestria is in mourning, Shining Armor, for they have lost a Princess! Then Celestia she raised Cadance and they had a mother daughter bond. Celestia and I are immortal and had many loved ones come and go. What do you think of Celestia, who lost her husband, who tried to protect innocents from rebels of the crown! Celestia and I mourned when our foals died. She mourned when I was banished! We both mourned when our parents died and left us rulers of Equestria! Did we shut ourselves in, and abandon our duties! No! We stayed strong! And fulfilled our duties as leaders! Do you want to let down your wife who thought of you as her knight in shining armor!"
Shining Armor stayed silent, shocked, while Princess Luna regained her breath after the rant she has treated her nephew with.
"My nephew-in-law?" asked The Princess of the Night, finally calm.
"Y-yes?" replied Shining Armor, shakily.
"Thou might have lost a life you held so dear to your heart, but you got one precious life in return. Be the parent and the ruler Cadance would have wanted you to be."
Princess Luna saw an open but still full bottle of scotch whiskey on the floor - Shining Armor’s drink of choice to drown the pain of his loss.
Princess Luna grabbed the bottle with her magic and examined the bottle. "Hmmm, The Hooflivet. Very common amongst the wealthy."
Shining Armor wiped his reddish eyes, on the edge of bawling.
"Tell you what, my nephew-in-law. Thou must choose between this bottle or thy , daughter, family, and the memory of thy wife. ‘Tis your choice, Prince Shining Armor."
Saying that, Princess Luna left the room to leave her nephew-in-law to make his decision.
The Prince Of Crystals: Family
By Cartoonlover13
Edited and pre-read by Angry Lass and ChudoJogurt
There were certain things Shining Armor will never get used to. And that thing was ponies were bowing to him and saying "Your Highness". He did have ponies bow to him before, but when he was with Cadance and she was a Princess. Before that, it was just a salute and a simple "Captain". That would be one of the many changes he will go through, he guessed.
He stopped abruptly when crystal doors blocked him from entering the throne room. He hesitated for a while, but after a deep breath he shoved the doors open with his magic.
Now here he was in the throne room, and there was his aunt-in-law sitting in the throne his wife once sat on. The thought of sitting on the throne made the Prince shudder.
Shining froze in fear as he made eye contact with his aunt-in-law. The former captain hung his head in shame. He slowly brought up his head to face the Night Princess.
"So. Hast thou made the right decision?"
"I'm very sorry for being such a moron, Luna. I will no longer neglect my duties. But I barely know a thing about politics. How will I rule an empire alone!?”
The Diarch of Equestria smiled. "Let thy worries rest, Shining Armor. I shall be your advisor. When I think my job of teaching you politics is done, only then will I go back to ruling Equestria. But there is another thing that must needs be done - for you to be a good parent."
The single parent nodded. His parents were taking care of Flurry Heart ever since he locked himself in his room. He appreciated that, but he was Flurry Heart's father, not them.
The stallion let out a very small chuckle as he remembered that Flurry Heart was named after when she nearly destroyed the empire. Of course he didn't know about it until the last minute when everypony was being evacuated from the empire.
Things turned out well in the end as the Empire was safe. But Shining Armor hadn't seen his daughter in two months and he missed her awfully.
"I will look over the Empire in your stead whilst thou goest to Canterlot to get Princess Flurry Heart." Princess Luna said.
***
The train ride was very awkward and he sat in complete utter silence. Shining Armor was once a guard and he still had the instincts of one. So it was weird when he was the one being guarded. Everywhere he looked there was a guard.
He wasn't nervous at all during the train ride here, but now he was trembling in fear right in front of his parents’ house. C'mon Shining Armor, you can do this! He kept repeating to himself in his mind.
The unicorn slowly raised his hoof, he then knocked gently three times on the door. There was silence for a few moments but the Prince heard a familiar voice say, "I'll get it!"
The door slung open revealing Shining Armor's sister, The Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle. "S-Shiny?!" Her eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of their sockets.
"Hey, LSBFF I-"
The widower didn't finish that sentence as his sister quickly embraced him.
"BBBFF! I can't believe you're here!"
"Yeah...me too..."
Twilight quickly ended the hug and looked at her brother very confused. "Wait a minute… why are you here?"
"Princess Luna told me I need to rule the Crystal Empire and raise my daughter and… I have agreed. Um, is Flurry Heart here?" Shining Armor then shifted his gaze behind his sister examining the house for his daughter.
Twilight nodded. “I-I haven't seen you since the funeral. How are you?”
Shining Armor let out a deep breath little did his sister know he was close to bawling. “I… I'm fine.”
Twilight stepped out of the way and her brother entered his old home. Coming down the stairs were his parents, Night Light Sparkle and Twilight Velvet.
"Shining Armor!"
His son cringed, his ears flopping. He knew exactly his father was going to give him a stern talking to.
"Shining Armor Sparkle! How dare you neglect your daughter and your country!" The father scolded. "I understand Princess Cadance, may she rest in peace, passed away but you must move on!”
"I know dad, but Princess Luna talked some sense in me." Replied the Prince.
Twilight Velvet nodded. "I'm glad for that."
"Thank you for taking care of Flurry Heart, but you aren't her parents. I'm her parent."
"Shiny," said Twilight putting a hoof on her brother. "You don't need to be alone. Single parenting and being a ruler will be very hard. If you need us to help either with politics or parenting I'll be happy to help."
"Us too," added in Velvet. "But probably not with politics, just parenting."
"Yeah… speaking of parenting Flurry Heart is up stairs," responded Night Light.
The former captain's ears perked. "Thank you mom and dad." He then ascended up the stairs his heart pounding so hard he felt as if it would to explode.
He entered the guest room where his baby girl was kept. Will he be able to do this? Of course the Princesses would do anything to support him, but… those mare nobles and politicians. He just knew mares of high power would not like a stallion being a leader of the Crystal Empire, an annex of Equestria.
He peered down in the crib, and there she was, her light pastel pink coat, purple mane with light blue stripes like his own. Deep down he was glad she turned out a mare - at least there wouldn't be any backlash towards her.
His daughter's joyous eyes gazed upon his own. He stared at her horn and the surprisingly large wings on her back. The first alicorn born in Equestria - and he had fathered her.
His daughter was the last remnant of Cadance and he wasn't going to let her go… ever.
The Prince of the Crystal Empire stroked the cheek of his little baby. "I'll rather die than let anything happen to you, my little Flurry Heart."
Prince Of Crystals: Supporters
By Cartoonlover13
Edited and pre-read by Angry Lass and ChudoJogurt
"I'm so happy for you, Shining," said Twilight Velvet grinning widely.
Shining Armor returned a smile to his mother. "I'm finally ready to accept my responsibilities it might take a while without Cadance but I'm sure I'll get used to it."
The conversation was interrupted when somepony knocked at the door.
"Oh, I'll get it," Shining Armor trotted to the door. When he opened it to his surprise was his old friend and his wife's cousin, Prince Blueblood, the nephew of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the son of Duke Blueblood, and descendent of a line of unicorns on his aunts’ mother's side.
"Prince Shining Armor!"
"Hello, Blueblood," replied Shining Armor. He then saw the captains of both the Royal Guard and Night Watch behind him. He raised a brow, “what are you doing here?”
"May I come inside to talk in private?" Asked the prince a so-called pompous snob .
Shining Armor nodded and the prince and the two captains went inside the house. As soon as Blueblood went in the train he let out a deep sigh.
"Thank Celestia!" He exclaimed his voice a bit more relaxed. "Are you alright?!" He put his left hoof on Shining’s shoulder.
Blueblood only acted like a pompous snob when he was around other nobles. Once you get to know him he's not bad.
Behind him was a batpony mare - Selene, Captain of the Night Watch and a white unicorn named Iron Hoof, formerly the Vice-Captain of the Royal Guards of Canterlot and now the Captain.
Shining ears drooped as the two captains bowed.
"Uh, there's no need for that," Shining Armor cringed -he never liked the bowing. "And I'm fine, Blueblood."
Iron Hoof grinned at his comrade and Shining Armor grinned back. Both stallions hugged each other.
"How are you doing?" Iron Hoof Asked .
"Better," Shining replied, with a scant smile. “As far as those things go.”
The rest of the Sparkles trotted close to the doorway, curious.
"Prince Blueblood?" Twilight said incredulously.Wasn't he the guy who treated Rarity like dirt? I think they made up, but still...
"Hello, Princess Twilight," Blueblood and the two captains bowed causing the alicorn to blush.
"So, why are you all here?” questioned Shining Armor.
"Oh," the prince and the two captains then stood up. "Since you are now the sole ruler of the Crystal Empire, Selene, Iron Hoof and I would like to assist you in anyway. I have had my hoof in politics for quite a while, if I do say so myself, and so I would be glad in giving a hoof to you."
Shining Armor took a deep breath. “This is all happening so fast. Parenthood and ruling... I'm just glad you're helping me.”
"Shining Armor, just to let you know, many mares of high station like you having a ruling position. I know Lady Platinum won't like it- she does have a rather outdated mindset," added Prince Blueblood.
Twilight scowled. "Lady Platinum the Fifty-Second?"
"Yes, Princess Twilight," Iron Hoof shook his head. Bad memories from when he was her bodyguard swarmed his mind.
Night Light scoffed. "I cannot stand that mare! She threw a hissy fit when her daughter didn't become Celestia's student and when Twilight became an alicorn. Saying she didn't deserve it as she wasn't of ‘noble birth’.”
"Yeah, heard stories about her from my rookie Royal Guard days. But I don't care what she says I will rule," Shining Armor had in his face a triumph smile.
"That's my colt!" Exclaimed Iron Hoof strapping his hoof around his former captain.
Princess Celestia took in deep breaths of fresh air. She trotted through the gardens in the Crystal Empire castle. The gardens were full of luscious flowers and the green grass was neatly trimmed.
Crystal Guards flanked her sides. She then caught sight of a marble table with her sister in a chair, taking a bite of a tan sugar cookie. Right next to the table was a statue of the former ruler of the Crystal Empire before King Sombra, Princess Amore.
The table was filled with fresh tan sugar cookies and a teapot with two teacups for the two rulers. Both sisters smiled at one another and both had dark purple bags under their eyes.
"Hello, dear sister!" Exclaimed younger alicorn.
"Hello, Luna," said Princess Celestia taking a seat in the chair. With a wave of her hoof she dismissed the guards.
The two sisters hadn't seen each other that much in the two month, while the Night Princess served as the regent of the Crystal Empire. They mostly communicated through their letters and only met up a few times for tea - like this time.
"It's nice to see you again, Lulu.” Celestia smiled. “You’ve done a great job, little sister, helping our nephew-in-law while he was...unavailable.” her smile died at the broach of the horrid subject “How is he, by the way?”
Luna let out a deep sigh. "The young prince is doing better. I actually managed to get him out of his room this morning before you came, and he is now willing to take upon him his Royal Duties, with my advice and help.”
"That's great, I'm so glad for Shining" Celestia let out a small smile, pouring tea into her cup.
"Yes, ‘tis most good that he has found in himself the power to move on."
"Luna?" the older sister asked.
"Yes?"
"I've been meaning to ask you this - why were you the most interested in Shining Armor ever since you came back? You’ve been the most supportive of us - Twilight, our nephew, Blueblood, the captains of both the Royal Guard and Night Watch, and I have all done our best to help him, but none like you. Why?"
"I’ve only known my niece but for a few years. Yet if she was the Princess Of Love in earnest and if she truly deemed Shining Armor worthy to be her husband, I have nothing but the deepest amount of respect for him."
"And?" Questioned Celestia, knowing here was more to the picture.
Luna sighed. Her sister was right there was more to the picture. "He reminds me of my son, Nightshade."
Princess Celestia's expression turned into a more somber one. “I'm sorry I couldn't keep him being your child secret for longer.”
“It's fine. At least it got out after he died and he didn't turn out like your children. My niece and nephew didn't get the chance to live life as normal ponies.”
Celestia's ears drooped as she thought of her long deceased unicorn children, Princess Artemis and Prince Solaris
Luna continued. “Then I became Ni…”
“Let's not talk about that, alright?” Interrupted the older alicorn.
“Yeah...what happened to my grandfoals after I was banished?”
“Your grandfoals went back to Hollow Shades where Nightshade grew up with his aunt, Midnight Rose. Over time ponies claimed they had direct descent from you. They then founded the House of Nightshade. It's great they didn't turn out like the Blueblood House.”
Luna nodded. “Hey, Tia, I never told you the father of my child?”
“No every time I brought it up you shut me down.”
The Lunar Alicorn sighed, putting a hoof to her head. “Remember Moonshadow, the former Night Watch captain before being killed by an extremist group who saw batponies like him as demons?”
Celestia felt like her eyeballs were going to pop out of their sockets due to her surprise. “M-Moonshadow!?”
The Princess of the Night nodded. “Yes he was the father.”
“I-I can understand why you never brought it up, Luna.”
“Shining Armor reminds me of my son. A little dorky, strong, courageous, and...um…”
"Not quite there in the head sometimes?" Completed Celestia.
The younger alicorn replied. "Yes. I am glad my both my progeny and yours have always strived to do good.” The dark blue alicorn sighed. “Unlike myself.”
"Yes, I watched over your grandfoals when you were...absent." Celestia shifted her gaze to the statue of her old friend, Princess Amore. "Do you think Amore would've approved of Shining Armor?"
Luna smiled. "Yes, because he's worthy of the crown no matter what other ponies say."
