Author's Note

Finally another chapter!

So sorry for this, anyone who's still reading. Work has gotten so much more overwhelming, alongside commissions. I've been writing this fic in pieces, as well as some things I've written and planned out forwards. Thanks for your patience and sorry to those that lost interest due to the hiatus!

Chapter 16 - Love's Gone

The eyes scanned the hastily scribbled words on the crumpled pieces of paper.

Sergeant Knit Chase. Responsible for recruitment. Arrested.

Officer Blue Breeze. Responsible for weapon's procurement. Killed while resisting arrest.

Officer Tulip. Responsible for delivering Solarist intelligence. Arrested.

Messenger Tranquil. Responsible for recruitment, operating in the Crystal City coffee houses. Suicide before arrest.

Messenger Floral Keeper. Responsible for recruitment, operating in the flower store. Killed while resisting arrest. Note: Secret passage was not revealed, agent was able to detonate explosives for cave-in.

The list went on.

Shining Armor's blood ran cold. He extensively looked at the list. It was hastily provided by the fixer Gardenia, who promptly left the Crystal Empire with her family afterwards.

Key members of the Floral Heart were disappearing. They were being cracked down upon, heavily - despite his best efforts.

He knew that the Inquisitor was onto them. Their meeting made that much clear. He had to act, yet without raising too much alarm and without causing too much noise within the underground movement. He had to be subtle. He warned them all, quietly. Yet, it was not enough. Resigning outright was suspicious, as those that did so out of fear were immediately arrested.

It was all tumbling down before him, on the written lines on the messy paper.

He sighed softly, placing his head in his hooves. What could he do? What should he do?

He gazed down upon his desk. There was a picture, one that gave him hope. One that made him remove the pistol in his drawer and the single bullet within it long, long ago.

He heard the knocking on the door. It was an unfamiliar knock. And it was soft. In his line of work - a soft knock was much worse. His subordinates knew that he preferred loud knocks that were easy to hear at first. This was a stranger.

"...Come in." Softly sighed the white unicorn. There was no fighting it.

The unfortunate face was here. The face of the inquisitor. Gonelove's visage was a toxic smile - not toxic because of its wicked appearance, for he was able to look genuinely warm and even pleasant. No - it was toxic because...who smiled in this kind of situation? To make matters worse, Gonelove sported a pair of hoofcuffs, ever-so non-chalantly tied to a belt on his waist.

"Shiny." Gonelove quietly spoke as he began to make steps towards the desk. "How are you doing this afternoon? I hope this isn't a bad time?"

"...Well." Shining Armor gazed upon his desk once more. "That's a great question, Grand Inquisitor. If I said yes, would you turn around through that door and leave...?"

"...I suppose I don't have that right. Hence the phrasing - I hope it's not a bad time." Gonelove dryly laughed. By now, he was in-front of Shining Armor's desk, standing right ahead. By the time he approached him, a deep frown was painted upon his face. Gonelove gazed blankly at the white unicorn, and sighed - a sigh that released so much. His shoulders slumped, and his head was hung low. He lost his smile. "...You know why I'm here."

"..." Shining turned his head to the side, gazing out the window, to reveal the twilight. The sun was setting over the Crystal City. "Stop hunting after the others. All you need is me. Everyone else won't be able to operate the Floral Heart."

"I'm sorry, Shining Armor." Whispered the other unicorn, his head lowered further. Shining hated his voice. It wasn't fake. It wasn't fake at all - it wasn't mocking him and it wasn't teasing him. He meant it all. "But Her Holiness has given me her orders. I cannot contest them."

"Then..." Shining grit his teeth, sharply turning to Gonelove. He stood up, and brought his face close, to directly yell at him. "Cadence! Leave Cadence! She has nothing to do with this! I...I-I coerced her into joining me! Whatever involvement she has in the Floral Heart was a result of me threatening her! I...T-tell them I threatened to...That I...T-That I threatened to forbid her from seeing Flurry Heart!"

"..." Gonelove frowned, shaking his head. "The court has already ruled her voluntary involvement. However, I have done what I could to convince a house arrest. This is the likely verdict. I doubt Daybreaker would want to send the Princess of Love to a labor camp."

"Then..." Shining quietly stared forward, and sat himself back down. "...It's all gone...h-huh...?"

The inquisitor sighed softly, and pulled out a small envelope. "Apologies, but I am obligated to do this. Okay...?"

The white unicorn blankly nodded...Staring forward and through the stallion.

Gonelove coughed - adjusting the tone of his voice to make it harsher, and less empathetic.

"Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Crystal Empire Guard..." The inquisitor sternly said - his voice full of judgement, yet held back ire. A voice that adjusted itself to be as professionally firm as it had to be to get his point across, and nothing else but that. "On behalf of the Inquisitor's Bureau, you are under arrest for treason. Effective immediately, you are to be escorted and remain under the protection of the Solar Guard, and await trial. Please..." He put the letter away. "Come along...."

"...Okay." Shining softly said. His eyes, for a moment, gazed upon the framed photograph of himself, his wife, and their child. "I...just need a moment."

"...Of course. Shining." The inquisitor softly smiled. "I understand. It's not going to be an easy day for either of us, having to face Daybreaker. Take as much time as you need..." He said, and turned around to face him with his back. He leaned against the desk, gazing up at the ceiling, and out of the windows...How pretty the dust-filled godrays of the setting sun seemed to him.

Shining found himself glancing at the light. Then, once more at the photograph. He then gazed at the papers on the table. The framed medal he had beside them. At Gonelove's back. At his neck...At the letter opener on the corner of the desk. At Gonelove's neck...At the letter opener...

...At the photograph.

His horn, quietly, began glowing.

"..." Gonelove smiled softly, closing his eyes. "I do wish things turned out differently."

Shining let out a scream, and went for the kill. The letter opener was aimed right for Gonelove's artery.

What Shining hadn't considered was that at this time, Gonelove's horn was also glowing. Glowing black.

The white unicorn wasn't sure why - he wasn't sure what happened. But his magic listened to him, only it did so inversely. He lifted up the blade, but as he put all his effort into swiping the weapon across his target's neck, he found himself instead on the receiving end.

He took his final gasp. The letter opener swiped in the totally opposite direction, and cleanly sliced across Shining's own throat.

...

The inquisitor turned around with his sad smile. Shining's eyes were wide with shock, but his body language was stiff, and still. A hoof climbed to his neck to feel the iron-scented wetness that gathered around his neck, and leaked down to his chest.

"...I really do." Gonelove whispered. "It's so very unfair. I must choose between you, and what I worked so hard for in my life."

Shining couldn't say anything. Weakness overtook his body, and gravity felt heavier. He attempted to walk, as much as his heavy hooves could take him. He wanted to head for the exit. Not to escape, but to hope that perchance, Cadence was just outside. Not to seek help, but to see her once more.

And yet, only taking a few steps past Gonelove, the white unicorn collapsed. Immediately, Gonelove caught him, and gently guided him down onto the floor.

"Shining..." Gonelove softly frowned, stroking the stallion's bloodied mane. "I promise you...I promise you with every fiber of my being - with my horn and with my own life. I will not let your death be brushed under the shadows. Although those who follow you are sick traitors, I shall not let neither them, nor the crystal ponies; nor our glorious empire think of you as anything other than a hero. This much - for taking you away from your daughter and wife...This is my responsibility."

"And then maybe..." Laughed the inquisitor. "Once I'm done hating this world, we might meet again."

Shining wanted to say so much. Mostly to tell Gonelove to fornicate with himself, even if those words were genuine. But blood was running out, his throat unable to make the sound. He could only extend a hoof for Gonelove's horn, hoping somewhere, somehow, he had the strength snap it right off.

Gonelove instead wrapped his hoof around Shining's, and continued holding him - feeling the stallion's body become more still, and heavier. Heavier...And as heavy and limp as it could get.

The only sounds were of the birds, as their songs could be heard from the window of the castle.

"..." Gonelove sighed, and positioned Shining Armor's body in a straight position on the floor. He wanted him to look graceful.

The tranquil peace that came with the passing however was interrupted by a shrill scream of a mare.

Gonelove turned around, and smiled at the doorway. Indeed, he saw the alicorn - recoiling and shaking terribly at the sight...The sight she never wanted to imagine ever seeing. Not in this lifetime, not in any other.

"...Princess." Gonelove softly bowed. "On behalf of the Inquisitor's Bureau, I must sadly inform you that you and your late husband have been charged with treason. In accordance with royal laws however, we will not strip you of your rank, only limit you to house arrest. However, I'm afraid Captain Shining Armor has resisted arrest with the intent to kill the body responsible for detaining him. Please, comply." He said, and stood up from the bow. "We don't want the Crystal Ponies to lose all their hope. Do we?"

"You...S-Shining..."

"..."

"...SHINING!" She screamed as hard as her vocal cords could let her.

Cadence sprinted at Gonelove. However, he knew very well what to expect. He only needed to make a simple, vacant step to the side. As expected, the Princess ignored the Inquisitor, and instead crouched by Shining Armor's side. "Shining!" She cried out. Her horn began to sparkle. She attempted to use whatever healing magic she could, but there was no way to regenerate the body in time. Not even for an alicorn.

She sobbed throughout, her hooves shaking him in desperation. Could she wake him? Could she find that little spark of life left within him needed to bring him back? Could she, a demi-goddess, do anything to save the life she cherished more than her own?

She saw his eyes flicker. There was a sparkle. There was still life in them.

Gonelove bowed his head. "...I do not understand healing magic. But I know a thing or two to have kept him alive just for this. I don't think he'd want me to be the last pony he saw before the end."

She gasped. Shining...Shining was looking at her. Tears streamed down her face. She put a hoof to his face, and caressed it. She wasn't able to bring herself to hug him - she couldn't bear breaking eye contact with him as...

As the sparkle in his eyes was finally gone.

It was all gone.

...

In the end, Cadence was able to hug the body. The embers of what she held dearest, now devoid of warmth.

Gonelove frowned. "I cannot apologize for this, as much as I want to. Now, Cadence...It's time. Please, do not linger."

"I..." Cadence sniffled softly. "I won't...I...I won't..."

"...Princess." Gonelove sighed. "Be a dear, and let's--"

"I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!"

"Huh...?"

Gonelove had little time to exclaim or shout. A flash of violet had struck his eyes, and he felt himself for a moment become weightless.

A blast sent him flying to the other side of the room, right into a bookshelf. The books rained upon his body, the concussive force had made his vision blur. He cursed softly, the head trauma made it difficult to properly power up his horn. He was only able to muster up movement in his neck to turn his gaze upwards and look at what had just happened.

His eyes gradually widened. He rarely felt terror. He had lost that ability since the terrible things he had experienced learning magic.

But now, he once again felt like the little colt - on the receiving end of the cat o' nine tails held by a mentor who expected too much, and too soon.

What he saw was not the Princess of Love. What he saw was a being of malice. An alicorn, malformed and twisted into an ugly being of sheer hatred and sorrow. She was taller, larger - and she emitted with a form of sickly velvet aura, one that seeped out of her mane. Her teeth were razors that could put sharks to shame, her eyes had formed into snake-like pupils, and her fur now appeared dark and ethereal.

Was this...a similar effect to Daybreaker?

He had to remind himself that he had to whip himself for associating Daybreaker's godly visage as something "malformed, twisted, and ugly" when this was all over. As he looked up at her, pain struck him. Pain in his chest. Was the fall just a lot more painful than he had anticipated?

"...I will make you suffer so...so much..." Whispered the wicked beast before him, slowly stepping towards him. Her hoofshoes had transformed into one of a dark silver, their metallic clicking thunderous and ominous as she came closer. "I will kill...all of you...You will remember me. You will beg me, and scream my name - Arrhythmia! " Shouted the mare, her voice digging right into his head.

Gonelove cried out in pain. Something was seriously wrong. It hurt so much. Did he break a rib? Was his spine injured? No...It was a pain right in his chest. "Shit...So this is the same power that draws out Her Holiness and Nightmare Moon..." He whispered softly. "This isn't good--"

His instincts kicked in. He wasn't sure why...But he made it a point. Don't let her touch you.

He weaved his head underneath her hoof, and mustered his pained body to roll past her. With his agility, he was able to slip out from underneath her, and use his legs to propel himself away from her. Oddly enough, putting more distance between himself and her relieved some of his pain, allowing him to at-least make it past her and slowly stand on all fours.

That was definitely the right move, but not one that guaranteed his safety. With a scream, her elongated horn began to sparkle. It sparkled too much. Usually, the sparkle of a horn was majestic. This felt like some sickly, multi-colored static that spun around her. With a scream of anger, she turned her head at him, and fired off a blast of magic. The sound was terrifying, as if it ripped through the fabric of reality itself...soundless, and yet extremely deafening all at once. When it happened, the world had become completely grey for several seconds, all color sapped from the world before it returned.

Gonelove never learned to make shields - but he did learn how to deflect spells. That branch of magic, after all, is what led him down this path. However, the speed of her magic resulted in the reflection to come too late. The trajectory of the powerful blast was instead sent directly downwards, right into the stone floor. The stones immediately cracked and shattered, and collapsed underneath him, sending Gonelove falling into the darkness below.

***

Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!

...The sound of the obnoxious seagulls did little to comfort the little alicorn as she sat on the deck. She sat there by herself, clutching the toy snail that sat beside her. She gazed up at the sky...How many days had passed with her out in sea?

The maid, so duty-bound she wore her outfit even if on a ship, pointed at the filly in concern. The orange unicorn pensively sighed, nodding a 'thanks' to the maid before he approached her.

"...Flurry?" Sunburst quietly whispered as he came from the side, putting a hoof on hers. "Are you okay?"

"...I don't feel really well." The pink alicorn softly whispered. "...Have you ever felt a headache that feels like it's caused by something other than, well...the stuff that makes headaches happen?"

"Barometric pressure, maybe." Said Sunburst. "You should relax inside, Flurry. It's much cooler thanks to air conditioning systems...For a pony who spent almost all her life in the Crystal Empire to now appear in warm tropics isn't always comfortable."

This did not solve the alicorn's concern. "...It's something else, Sunburst. I can feel it...I..."

All of the sudden, she sprung up. "...I want to see mom! I...I need to see mom and dad right now! Something is wrong, I...I can sense it, I--"

"F-Flurry!" Gasped the stallion as he stood up. "Please calm down, it's--"

"No!" Exclaimed Flurry. "Tell the captain to turn the ship back!" She shouted. "We're going back right now! I...I-I DEMAND that we go back to the Crystal City! We--"

"Flurry!" Sunburst shouted, trying to be both disarming and assertive. "We cannot!" He cried out. "We...We can't."

If there was anything the alicorn hated, it was to tell others she was a princess.

"I am the princess of the Crystal Empire!" She shouted, hooves attempting to grab onto his collar. She was successfully able to do so, both of them rising to their hind legs. "I-If I tell you to turn back, you must listen to my command! You're my crystaller! You must obey what I say!"

"I can obey what you say, Flurry..." Hissed the stallion with annoyance at the sheer insolence of the teenager. "...So we return to Solar docks. Do you know that almost everyone on this boat is now wanted? We had to scrape up the few servants, guards, and staff who either had family abroad or none at all. They have waived their lives off to protect you because if they come back, they will be tortured and executed on the spot."

"...!" Flurry's eyes shot open, ears twitching with each word he said...Her eyes were becoming more reflective.

"...It's your choice, Flurry." Sunburst frowned, looking aside. "But all those who boarded this boat want only one thing - to get you to safety, and escape it all. You have the authority. If you're going to make such a choice...Then do it yourself - as Princess of the Crystal Empire."

"..."

Flurry's grip on his collar softened as instead, she merely held her hooves pressed to his chest. She slid down onto the floor, sobbing profusely as she found herself a meager child once more. In a fetal position, she could only sob and murmur. "...I don't want anything bad to happen to mom and dad..." She said - clutching the toy that was nearby...

Sunburst frowned, and lowered himself to her. Using his magic to levitate her, he avoided separating her from the toy, but was able to get the two into a hug. She was only happy to have two of the beings that protected her in her embrace.

"...It will be okay, Flurry." Whispered the stallion, making his voice soft and warm. "I promise."

He spoke with an assuring tone - giving it the same tremble as a voice that was kindly smiling. But while she hadn't been looking, he was deeply frowning. He knew why Flurry was feeling this headache.

He, after all - felt aching in his heart.

***

As he waded through the shaking castle, Gonelove found his health stabilized. Something had happened that gave him relief. He could finally take deeper breaths and not worry about the strange pain that he had felt in his chest. Why was it there in the first place? What could have hurt him so? Physical damage can't just disappear, not always with adrenaline either.

The castle indeed shook as if under slight tremors - and he knew why. The Crystal Heart must have been in limbo. One owner alive, the other dead - and that one owner was both powering up, yet corrupt. How would the city "feel" in this situation?

His hooves silently took him through the shadowy underground - rows of pillars dotted it...A lot of cover, and yet many corners which could be used to ambush him.

In the darkness, he caught a glimpse of a silhouette. Immediately, he let out an ugly gasp. A cry of pain, recoiling from a feeling that rocked him through his core. He felt weight. Heavy weight - right on his chest. It was such a weight that his body winced and his muscles began to involuntarily flex. He wanted to fall over. But why? Why was he feeling this way?

He rolled behind a column, gasping and ventilating over the crushing sensation. He felt it right in his heart - the feeling of irregular heartbeat that, even despite taking heavy breaths, never went away. A feeling of fragility and pain, that every heart beat could have been his last.

But now, he felt a sense of ease. The feeling was letting go. But what was it? Why did it happen? Why did he feel something so sudden, strange, and crushing?

Was this a stroke? Was it...cardiac arrest?

He heard the steps of hoofshoe-adorned legs stepping...coming towards him.

Click...Clack...Click...Clack...Click...Clack...Click...Clack.

He grit his teeth. What was he to do? He needed to study his opponent. But could he? Did she know he was here? Was this just a coincidence? Would he be a dead stallion for sitting in place, or a dead stallion for giving his position away?

He believed it was time to pray for a swift death...until he heard the sound of hoofsteps running from behind those already approaching him.

"Stop!" Cried out a crystal guard. "Who--...N-Nghh...Who are you...!? By the order of the P-Princess...cease and submit!" He said - his voice at first energetic, and now faltering - as if something he looked at was hurting him.

Gonelove turned his head. He had assumed these barks were directed at him, but it was much to his surprise that the guard in question held his halberd towards Arrhythmia. Why wouldn't he? She appeared like the more significant threat, and she looked nothing like the Princess he served.

The demonic creature only gazed at the guard, and began to take steps towards him. The stallion gulped, it forced him to take one step back. But even as chest-pains and terror overtook him, he couldn't let down the Princess of Love. With a shout, he charged forward.

"Out...of my WAY!"

It all happened within a blink. It took her a fluid, simple motion to completely deflect the halberd with a mere flick of her hoof. With too much momentum, the guard could not stop himself from running into her.

All he did was bump into her.

Then, he felt everything stop. He dropped to the floor before her.

Momentarily, the stallion began gasping. He began convulsing. His breathing became panicked, and there was no rhythm in it. Gonelove watched the scene from around the corner, only able to see the guard as it all unfolded. He looked with shocked eyes - in realization that the guard was suffering from a heart attack. And the sensation...He quickly caught onto the fact he only felt it when he was looking at her. It explained why this feeling was returning to him once more, despite the fact it abated earlier.

And the fact this stallion was now dying a second after he bumped into her...

How could he fight an enemy that was untouchable...?

Fight or flight?

The inquisitor was a flier. Want to serve Her Holiness? Live another day.

...But could anyone in this world outrun an angered being whose spouse they had just murdered?

Touché.

His horn pressed against the pillar. It was now glowing black, beginning to vibrate; a sensation which mixed with the already on-going tremors. Then, he reared his legs, and bucked the column right at Arrhythmia. He had packed this slab of stone with kinetic energy, and rendered it weightless for the mere moment needed to send it flying, before quickly returning its weight.

The monstrous alicorn could turn her head - and do only that as the large cylinder of marble smashed into her. The attack would have killed anyone. In-fact, it served as a collateral mercy kill against the slowly-dying stallion as a chunk of stone fell on his head and crushed it quickly. Furthermore, the dust had an unintentional side effect - it effectively shielded his eyes from this cardiac-inducing sight.

But from the dust, the silhouette emerged unharmed - now storming towards Gonelove, who watched in horror as he turned and started running.

"DIE! DIE, DIE! I'M BEGGING YOU, DIE! CEASE TO EXIST! BE UNDONE! DISAPPEAR AND BE AS IF YOU WERE NEVER BORN!" She screamed - her horn produced shimmering blasts of magic which tore through the stone and debris the inquisitor attempted to hide behind. Pillars were torn into bits, metal doors were melted straight through, and the walls quickly found themselves with gaping doors that allowed the alicorn to keep walking towards him. "KILL YOURSELF! I DON'T WANT TO SPEND ANOTHER SECOND IN THE SAME WORLD AS YOU! KILL YOURSELF NOW SO THAT I CAN DO THE SAME AND BE WITH MY BELOVED!"

Gonelove gasped as he cowered in the shadows. He heard her words...He wondered if reminding her of Flurry would be of any help, but he understood alicorns very well. If brought to this state, there were aspects of themselves that they lost. Gonelove would have called it "madness", but his duty involved detaining those who'd suggested Daybreaker to be mad in any shape or form.

...He sighed as quietly as he could. Even in life or death, he'd think about his work. He knew no other way to de-stress.

What did he know so far as he made his way through the castle - which was becoming more destroyed by the second? He was running out of space and time. Can't look. Can't touch. If he did - he'd die of cardiac arrest. He had to keep running. But nothing would stop her. Not the barred doors - which she gave him plenty of time to block, before she simply blew them open with her power.

But all things came to an end. As did the hallways and doors...

He hid in the shadows. The last line of defense - he believed he could make it past her and run. That he could find that way through - that way out...

He felt the pounding in his chest. As if his heart was being used as a punching bag. The pain was intense, fast. But all he needed was the right moment. All he needed was to hold on, and focus...just to focus...

"I fooound yooooou..."

He gasped like a frightened child, his body barely able to propel himself out of harm's way as the creature pounced onto his position. He was truly cornered, faced with a creature he could not look at, but nor could he escape. He closed his eyes shut, relying on echolocation and sense alone to help him. He was in a death trap, where every inch could be fatal. A single bit of contact meant cardiac arrest.

And this beast knew this. The pink, dark alicorn towered above him, her wings unfurled...and her horn vibrating and producing heat as it prepared its spell. A pink - as sickly as a sugar overdose, were the sugar expired and poisonous. A sickly hue that was not love - but a perversion of it.

The color in the room had disappeared.

"BEGONE!"

Gonelove shut his eyes. He had to think...

He had to think...

He had to remember.

That's what those on the brink of death do, after all.

Think about what led you here.

***

"It's your own fault." Sternly said the middle aged unicorn, hitting the young colt over his hooves with a cane. "Magic has chosen to leave you. You bear the responsibility for this. If your horn spews that corruption, it means that you do not follow the true teachings of magic. You have turned your back to Celestia. To all of Equestria." He said, gritting his teeth as he smacked his hooves again.

"I--..." The young colt did not know what to do. Or say...

"I'm sorry, I won't...I won't do--"

"Hollow words." The adult said, and continued smacking his hooves, even as blood began to stain the cane. "You are a doomed spawn, child. No apology can take it back. Not after your disgusting being claimed the life of your own mother. And now, you've driven your father - my brother - to suicide. It's your fault."

"It's...It's n...not..."

Adoration Gonelove did not understand how anything was his fault. How would a colt understand what a miscarriage was? What suicide was? As far as he knew, his mother and father were just located somewhere else. Why did this stallion - his supposed uncle, feel like anything but family?

Family members, normal ones, aren't supposed to punch children. And yet, Gonelove was sent reeling over the room as his uncle stood with his hoof curled to punch harder.

"Little shit..." He whispered. "My brother's will says I have to tutor you in the ways of magic. But how can I teach a parasite to contribute to society? How may I teach a virus to heal? How may I teach a fire to soothe? You either shape up and be a good little pony, Adoration - or the brain damage will--"

"..." Gonelove wasn't sure why he was doing this. Was it fear? Was it hatred? He shakily stood up and glared up at his uncle with wet eyes.

His uncle stared blankly. To him, this wasn't reality. A stupid dream he could dream as such. "...Really? Adoration - this isn't how this is going to happen..." Said the uncle. It was a rather calm response to the sight of the colt's horn glowing black...A color physically considered impossible among normal ponies. "You're not going to do anything to me. You've claimed two lives already. Tartarus awaits you. Don't make your punishment wor--"

Gonelove's memory made it appear as if the moment he blinked, there it was. The decomposing corpse of his own uncle. He ignored the corpse for days - so disgusted by his own uncle that the scent of rotting flesh hadn't bothered him as much as having to touch him. Not because it was a dead body, but because it was a stallion he detested.

He detested the world. For cursing him with a horn that only maims, for cursing him with a society that ostracized him for that which he couldn't control, for living in this stupid country ruled by the mare he hated the most - Princess Celestia.

Gonelove hated this world.

And the mistake of Arrhythmia was making him relive that day. The spark that reignited the searing, molten flames of sheer hatred and fury.

***

"Checkmate." Whispered the inquisitor.

The wave of energy that blasted from her horn would pour right at the stallion - but it wouldn't ever touch him. His horn, glowing blacker and blacker, would harness it. It swam around his head, like a school of fish...And only then did the corrupt avatar of Cadence realize what had happened.

Every second hurt him. Every second he kept this spell, his heart would not beat any further. But surely a pony could live a few seconds without a heart? He's been doing so for his whole life, after all.

A scream of fury was followed by that aura of magic rushing right back at her.

She screamed - the force struck her right in the chest. Her form had already been somewhat fluid - like a cell with a pierced membrane. But now, this shape malformed - like a liquid that violently shook and rippled.

"AAUUGHHH! K-KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" She screamed, falling onto the floor and convulsing. This beast was a symbol of hearts, as was Cadence. What was it like to experience a hundred cardiac arrests at once? If not a thousand? Arrhythmia struggled - wanting to both breathe and scream, but unable to do both.

"I'LL...KILL...YOU...I'LL..."

"I'll..."

"...I'll...I'll be there soon...S-Shining."

"I'm...sorry...Flurry...Heart."

Thud!

In the end, even a malformed demigodess would fall like a ragdoll on the floor upon death. She fell onto her side, gracefully and without a sigh nor groan. The body of Arrhythmia would remain on the ground, with particles separating from her and flying up into the sky, like purple ashen flakes.

He couldn't believe his own deed - truly believing he was done for in that moment. But sitting against the wall, he gazed at her. He conveyed no emotion - too tired and shaken to even display his love for life and the appreciation for being left alive.

But seeing the little particles of pink lift up from the alicorn, Gonelove hung his head low.

"I'm sorry. But you made one mistake, Princess..." Whispered the stallion. "You believed this whole time that love trumps over all hate in evil. But in truth?"

He chuckled, looking at his hooves.

"My hate for this world far outweighs the love you've had for your family."

As the corpse of the alicorn began to disintegrate, Gonelove gasped as he saw another replace it. The strange form of Arrhythmia was now making way for the Princess of Love that Equus knew and loved. Underneath the layer of corruption and malice was the same alicorn the Crystal Empire loved...

...He sighed in relief. He at-least knew that they could be buried together.

But as the old body disappeared, a bright-pink light floated now, right ahead of him. It floated above the corpse of Cadence, lamenting over her head...Like a dog, awaiting its dead owner to arrive. It wanted to connect so badly to her, it wanted to be a part of her...But it could not.

This is what he searched for.

The inquisitor smiled, and reached for it. There it was. One of his objectives.

The root of Princess Cadence's magic.

It absorbed into his hoof...and dormant strength began to fill him. He was certain this was it. Cadence's own magic. Her power. Her potency...And the strength of this element would allow him to harness it on his own. If he wanted to claim the power for himself, he could...

What to do with the thing that could give him near godlike powers...?

***

Daybreaker gazed at the glow face-to-face. The object had no real shape; it was merely that - a brilliant but elusive glow, one that could be held but not touched.

"Cadence is dead." Said Daybreaker. "...How will you take responsibility for this, Gonelove?"

"However you command me to, your Holiness." He whispered. "I am ready to fight, or use diplomacy and subterfuge to keep the Crystal ponies contained. If you wish me to be punished, then I am ready."

Daybreaker looked down at him, and smirked. "No. I won't punish someone who followed my orders, even with unexpected methods. For our goal - the sacred goal for protecting Equestria and its future, no cost is too great...But tell me this, Grand Inquisitor...You stored it within you to ensure it would be delivered here. But at that point, you wielded the power of an alicorn. Why obey me when you knew you had this much power?" She leaned in, her sharp eyes studying him head to hooftip. ""You could have contested me. Could have tried to catch me off-guard. Why didn't you?"

"Traitors are the scum of the world, your Holiness." Gonelove smiled. "I live and die for you, and for your - our cause."

Daybreaker looked down upon him with that sharp look...But a smile came upon her.

"...You and Aurora." She sighed. "I do wish you two had gotten along. And I wish Twilight was here...With you three, and the other elements, some of Equestria's other finest heroes...We would need not worry about resorting to trickery and experimentation."

"I'm afraid Aurora and I are oil and water." He awkwardly chuckled, waving his hooves to the sides. "A general that believes in the process, and a zealot who believes in the result."

Curiously studying him, Daybreaker closed his eyes and stood up from her throne. But as she did...The gates opened for but a brief moment.

The teenaged alicorn stepped in. Flurry Heart walked cautiously, careful and doing her best not to offend the monarch sitting on the imposing throne before her. "...Your Maje--"

"Ma'am is fine, dear..." The fiery alicorn smiled softly, hiding the pink glow with her own fiery essence, completely swallowing mere seconds before Flurry fully stepped in. "We're both royalty, after all."

"Yes, ma'am..." Flurry hung her head somewhat. "I...Just wanted to ask you a question, if...I may?"

"Of course." Daybreaker patiently gazed at her, gently ushering Gonelove to step aside so that she could take a look at her. "I'll do my best to answer. What seems to bother you, young one?"

"...Is...Everything okay with mom and dad?"

"..." Daybreaker stared blankly for a moment at the teenager. It took her moments before she came up with an answer. "They're on vacation, young one. They're on leave in the Meridiennes for the time being. You know how stressful work is for them, don't you?""

"...Ah...Of course..."

"Why do you ask, if I may...?"

"I just...Felt something was off." She lied.

But the answer was enough. Daybreaker gently nodded. "Do hurry along dear. I believe you had magic classes to attend at this hour, did you not?"

"A-Ah, yes...Thank you for having me, ma'am..." Flurry ever-so-gently bowed, and turned around. As she left the throne room, Daybreaker's eyes darted to Gonelove.

"...I changed my mind." She said. "Lash yourself fifty times for orphaning the little one."

In response to the rather unfair change of mind, to the fact that Gonelove was told to hurt himself for something he practically had no control over...He bowed gently. He was content with the verdict. "I shall depart to the torture chamber now, ma'am."

"Good." She sighed, sitting back down on the throne as she stared at the stained glass...The one that was shattered when Canterlot was sieged by the joint forces of the enemy.

"...We will be ready soon. Soon, the whole world shall be under my range. Equestria shall never be unsafe again. All evil, all danger - it will be purged before it can fester...The wicked necromancers, the cowering changelings, the scheming griffons, the insolent river ponies, the insane hippogriff communists, the vile yetis...those traitors in New Mareland...They will have the easiest choice of their lives. Very, very soon..."

"...I only wonder..."

"Where is Luna?"