I walked through the palace in dead silence, my hooves not even clacking against the ground. Of course, if they had, I would have been distracting the guards. That would have been a second infraction, on top of what I had now.
Maybe the Princess would grant mercy. I had heard whispers, dangerous whispers, that she encouraged a free mind. There had been the faire, but this could all easily be a trick. That would explain the silence of the chains. They were not gone, just waiting.
I should not have been thinking of such a thing as the chains. They were not my business to interfere with. But Tourmaline's thoughts of the possible freedom made the thought of a second infraction seem further away. Yet I still had the first... I still desperately hoped that I would granted mercy.
I came to a stop at the terrible doors. The doors that the dangerous whispers all agreed led to whatever he wanted to happen. There were guards beside the doors, so I dared not even think that it was the Princess instead of him.
My head was bowed down at the exact angle, to make sure that my voice could be heard to respond as required, and so that my eyes would not even glance at those of the Princess. It would have meant the end, not matter how merciful she was feeling.
One of the guards pushed the doors open. I must not have heard her order then. I needed to listen far more carefully. I needed to do everything right to appease her, so at least Tourmaline would be safe.
"You can go right in, Ms. Facet," said one of the guards.
I was struck with more terror. I had missed her second order. It didn't matter any more, as my fate was set in stone. I now had to obey for Tourmaline's sake.
"Princess Cadence is very kind," encouraged another guard. "You don't need to be scared of her in the slightest."
Was he a fool? To speak our ruler's name so commonly when she was in the very next room! For his sake, I hoped that she had not heard this misconduct. Yet I dared to not tell him of his mistake, as the guards were still far above one such as I.
I walked into the very prescence of the alicorn. Thanks to Spike the Brave and Glorious, she had been granted with the power to expel him from the Empire. She had far more power than he, meaning that there was a greater need to show respect.
"Hello, Shining Facet," greeted a warm voice, as I waited for the soul-crushing tone of ice to replace it. "Thank you for coming to see me."
"I live to serve, Your Highness," I automatically responded, making sure to wait precisely the right amount of time after she had spoken. Perfection was always his goal.
"You can just call me Cadence." A ploy to see if I was truly obidient. I would not refer to her as a lesser. "And you don't need to look down at the ground, Shine. Do you mind if I call you Shine?"
"Whatever you wish, Your Highness." She had taken away part of my name. Naturally, the Princess had all the rights to do so.
A hoof gently slid under my chin. I tensed up, preparing for my punishment. My gaze was eased up from at the ground, until they met with sparkling purple ones. It had to be a trick. To have me looking away when she dealt the blow.
"I promise I won't hurt you." Her voice was so soft and conforming. The moment the harshness came would hurt even more. "Shine, can you please tell me why you think I requested you to come visit me?"
The tormenter asked of what occurrence I must be punished by. A much slower and emotionally-draining tactic than what he chose to do. "I failed to comply to the standards of speaking to the guards, Your Highness." Though my eyes were still meeting those of the Princess, my sights were only set on protecting sweet Tourmaline.
"Not at all." What other infraction had I committed? "There are no longer any standards for how you must speak with the guards, other than to treat them with the same respect you would grant anypony else." There seemed to be no malice. Could it be true that she really was kind at heart?
"Yes, Your Highness."
"It's okay." There was a sense of warm. She had even lowered her hoof, yet my gaze had not fallen. "I can't possibly understand what you innocent ponies had to suffer through under his tyranny, but I assure you that Shining Armor and I are trying to undo everything that he did."
It was true. She was kind. "Really?" I had nearly lost all sense of what to do! "-Your Highness?" That was far too close. Why was I being so careless?
"You don't need to refer to me as such." Had she smiled at my mistake? It was as if she had been waiting. No, she was going to drop the facade now. My punishment would be anything but swift. "You can speak your mind freely. There is nothing against that."
There was a sensation deep inside that said she wasn't toying with me, but my overwhelming instincts said otherwise. "Of course, Your Highness."
The smile visibly fell. "Shine, you do not need to speak to me as if I were him. I promise you that he gone. But if he somehow were to return-" I stopped breathing for a moment at the idea, "-we would call absolutely everypony in to stop him. From the Elements of Harmony to even Princess Luna and Celestia."
The Bringers of Light! "What..." What was I doing? "What about Spike the Brave and Glorious, Your Highness?" Had I just asked our ruler a question? Was I going mad?
Her smile returned. "Yes. We would call Spike in, too."
He was certainly a hero. To have braved against him to relieve the heart! To make a leap of such faith and hope! To deny Sombra-
Chains and pain and order. No, no! Why had I dared to think of him? He would come for me! He would come for Tourmaline! He would come for us all! We were to be his slaves and how beneath his iron hoof! There was no stopping the inevitable!
A soft wing wrapped around me, followed by a calming hug from the Princess. "It's okay. He's gone now." I allowed my tears to soak her fur. "He's gone forever."
The Princess had to be right. No tyrant could be so caring and motherly. And it almost felt like there was nothing that could hurt me. Nothing, while I sobbed onto the Princess's shoulder like a good filly.
