Shameless

Shameless

Nopony said a word as they boarded the train bound for the Crystal Empire under the withering apathy of the afternoon sun–it was just their luck that the train had been all the way across the country when it had been recalled, dashing hopes of an early departure. Pavise and Emery shepherded the Princess to the rearmost train car; it wasn’t strictly necessary, given that Celestia had arranged for them to be this trip’s only passengers, but the guards were wary nonetheless. The rest of their group followed wordlessly, the heavy plodding of their armored hooves their only response to the oppressive atmosphere.

They all sat together, clustered protectively around Cadance. Pavise sat across from her, fortunate under any other circumstance; he couldn’t bring himself to feel happy about it now. He glanced toward the Princess, the unbelievable news long since having stolen her joy. Her lifeless eyes, usually vibrant with emotion and feminine beauty, bore into the shuddering metal beneath them.

Unfocused, Pavise lost himself in the mire of his dark thoughts. To hear that a pony, especially a Prince, had been assassinated was especially inconceivable. Ponies rarely died to anything other than natural causes or illness, and save for the unusual brutality of Sombra’s regime Pavise had never witnessed another pony harbor murderous intent for another. A chill crept up his spine as he imagined the twisted individual capable of equicide.

They reached the Crystal Empire sometime after midnight–the trip had been just as long the first time, but somehow felt doubly slow now–and the guards wrapped around the Princess as she was coaxed from the train and onto the station. Many more guards, although none from Shining Armor’s former protection, awaited them on the platform. A few blinked fatigue from their faces, shivering in the night wind; Pavise idly wondered how long they had waited for the Princess’s return.

“Is the castle secure?” Emery said, glaring at the nearest guard. Pavise vaguely recognized the lieutenant as one of Shining’s guards, but couldn’t remember his name. He snapped to attention, but his glazed over expression betrayed his mourning.

“...Not yet, sir. There are a few guards still searching for more attackers, but I told everypony else to come with me down to the station to await the arrival of the Princess.” He peered behind Emery at Cadance, whose comatose expression dulled his crystal luster dramatically. “I… If you want, sir, I can take a few stallions back to the Empire and rendezvous with the guards still in the castle, to prepare a sweep.”

Emery nodded, and the lieutenant grabbed a few nearby ponies before galloping off into the snow. The rest of them left a few moments later, reduced to a brisk walk to match Cadance’s lethargic strides.

Every window of every house glowed with candlelight as they finally reached the city, shining a bright vigil over the ponies as they walked to the castle. The long shadows cast by the countless dancing flames haunted Pavise, and the barren thoroughfare leading to the castle seemed to stretch before them infinitely. Pavise shuddered in his armor, keeping his head low as the bitter wind nipped at his face.

“Looks like the whole city already knows,” said one guard from behind him. Pavise suddenly felt angry for the stallion’s pointless remark, though he knew that he was only trying to lighten the mood. There simply wasn’t anything that could defeat the prevailing sobriety of Shining’s death. Even the signs of nearby shops hanging below decorative canopies whined on their hinges, as if the city itself mourned his passing; the scant trees that dotted the city groaned their own wailing grief in the night.

When they finally reached the castle, a few more guards spilled out of the supporting spiral stairwells and trotted over to them, rendering curt salutes to Emery.

“Sir, we’ve secured the castle–there are no other ponies hiding anywhere as far as we can tell.” After finishing his address, the guard–Pavise noted it was the lieutenant from earlier–gestured for Emery to follow him aside. They spoke in hushed tones out of earshot, and Emery returned to the group, freshly bothered.

“Princess, the maids have prepared the guest suite for you to stay in tonight.” Pavise stood puzzled for a moment before realizing with a jolt that it was possible nopony had yet moved Shining’s body from the royal chambers.

Cadance suddenly raised her head, the despair clear in her ragged voice. “...Can I see him, Emery?”

Pavise blurted the words out before he could stop himself. “I- You can’t, Princess. It’s…” His eyes darted to Emery in a silent plea for help.

“You need to rest, Princess–we all do. It would be better to start sorting things out tomorrow,” Emery said after a pensive few seconds. Some of the other guards voiced their agreement, though not too confidently.

“...I understand.” Cadance returned her stare to the ground and Emery visibly relaxed. She gave no more protest as they ushered her into the castle; Pavise could only hope that she would find some comfort in Luna’s realm of dreams.

The guards moved Shining’s body to the medical wing of the castle the next morning. Emery had taken charge of the transfer, leaving Pavise behind to watch over the Princess. Despite their prodding, she hadn’t eaten breakfast, and had almost refused to be led to the throne room, flanked by more than a dozen ponies. In the end, she hadn’t asked to see Shining Armor again; she didn’t say anything at all that day.

Funeral preparations began soon after–slow, painful, and utterly confusing in procedure. Traditionally, crystal ponies that had passed away had always been interred in the crystal caves on the outskirts of the city. Nopony knew what sort of geological event had created the caverns, or the beautiful beams of enchanted gypsum that lay therein, but custom dictated that when a crystal pony died, they were to be placed among a particularly magical bed of crystals toward the rear of the cave that breathed the energy of life and death; the crystals were alive, for lack of a better word. Any ponies laid to rest amongst the cave’s magical crystals were eventually absorbed into the magical life force of the cave.

It was for this reason that planning Shining Armor’s funeral was so daunting. Although he was–had been–Prince of the Crystal Empire, he wasn’t a crystal pony, and nopony knew if the crystals would take to his body the same way.

Members of Shining’s castle staff, royal advisors, senior guards, Crystal Empire nobility, and even a few Crystal Empire historians had subsequently formed a council to decide the Prince’s eternal fate. Cadance hadn’t been asked to chair the council, mostly because she couldn’t be persuaded to do much of anything at present; Pavise and Emery officially represented the Princess’s wishes, but Pavise could barely manage more than a slight nod at any given proposal. Amidst a war of opposing ideas, he couldn’t keep the miserable sight of Cadance’s anguished form out of his head long enough to cast his own opinion.

“Perhaps we could bury him, the same way the rest of Equestria does,” somepony said, a tentative suggestion.

“What, and deny him his rights as a pony of the Crystal Empire?” said a stern amethyst stallion, one of Shining’s former advisors. “Prince Shining Armor risked his life, and eventually lost it for the sake of our Empire–he deserves to take his final rest as a Crystal Pony would.”

The discussion carried on this way well after the sun had retreated behind the caps of the distant Crystal Mountains, everypony only breaking for a brief lunch half past noon. Around seven in the evening, the council finally reached the tentative decision that for all intents and purposes, Shining Armor was just as much a crystal pony as the rest of them, and he had earned the right to rest amongst their dead; dissenters merely hoped that the cave would accept him.

The how of the ceremony having been settled, Shining’s advisors penned letters to his family, as well as to Celestia and Luna, and the funeral was to be held only a week after his death. That day, Pavise volunteered to scout the cave ahead of time, both to ensure its safety and to escape the mounting miasma of grief that had gathered about the castle in preparation for the unfortunate ceremony. The rest of the procession would leave the castle a little while later, and wait by the cave mouth for the all clear.

Walking to the cave was a blur, and Pavise nearly missed the entrance after the aimless jaunt across the city. The cave itself was nestled in a small outcropping of rocks west of the castle, on the edge of the Empire’s borders. A faint whisper of magical energy breathed out of the entrance; when he finally entered the cave, he was taken aback by the sheer beauty of what was essentially his city’s mausoleum.

Inside, giant gypsum clusters sprouted like crystal geysers from odd angles inside the expansive passage that led to the enchanted crystal bed, illuminated by magic and pulsing vibrantly. The cave walls themselves were entirely crystalized, a faint bluish hue emanating from within. Beneath his careful hoofsteps the blueish stone seemed to ripple outward, as if he were walking on the surface of a lake.

Pavise had never been to the crystal caves himself–crystal ponies lived much longer than normal ponies, and most of the funerals he remembered had been held to honor the lives of slaves that perished in service to Sombra. They were smaller affairs, and Pavise hadn’t known any of the dead or their families enough to receive an invitation. All of a sudden he felt guilty for enjoying the natural beauty of the place, knowing full well that soon their fallen Prince would be laid to rest amongst the many perished souls of the Crystal Empire; he quickened his pace to the main passage.

Although the cave’s atrium had enough space to fit a small army inside, there were few detours or side passages, and after a few minutes brushing aside immense fallen crystals and probing what little cave wall he could reach without trespassing through the enchanted crystal bed, he was satisfied that there were no ponies waiting to ambush the Princess or any of the other funeral attendees.

“Cave is secured!” said Pavise, loud enough to carry to the others hopefully waiting outside. After a few moments of uncertain silence, gradually he heard the rhythmic plodding of many hooves as one by one ponies entered the cave.

Cadance and her bodyguards descended first. Emery spearheaded the formation, and the rest of the guards formed a protective shell around their Princess, matching her pace.

Pavise thought that, despite the unimaginable agony she must have been feeling, Cadance still looked noble, statuesque even. Her mane had been brushed since the last time he had seen her, and her face had been scrubbed of tears. And yet, he could still see the quiver in her lip as they came to a rest across from him, beside the bed of crystals. She seemed to stare at nothing at all, and he desperately wished he could comfort her; but he could only walk over to the ponies stiffly, greeting Emery before falling in beside him.

Methodically, reverently, the rest of the ponies made their way into the cave. Twilight and two older unicorns were next, and Pavise gleaned that they were probably Shining’s parents. The light gray unicorn mare sniffled and leaned on the taller blue stallion beside her. He was whispering something to her, and his eyes welled with tears when she responded, pitiful and hoarse.

Twilight looked terrible. Her mane was a mess, and her misty eyes were clamped shut; her ears splayed out behind her and her tail drooped low, gathering dust as she walked between her mother and father. She nearly tripped over a stray rock, and Pavise was certain she would have remained on the ground if she’d fallen.

“...You can’t really be gone, right? It has to be some kind of sick joke. What kind of pony would just kill another pony, especially somepony like you, Shining? Who could hate you? You’re the best stallion I’ve ever met–the best big brother ever.” Twilight’s ceaseless questions to nopony in particular only drew more sorrow from her parents, both of whom pressing closer to her side as if to hold her up.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both walked into the cave afterward, wearing practiced masks of composed commiseration. They had likely seen countless funerals over the centuries, the passing of ponies both close and distant. Bowing their heads as they approached, they shared a few words with Cadance that Pavise couldn’t hear, then took up a little space behind them, close to the wall. Celestia spared a look at Twilight, but said nothing when the unicorn and her family took their places nearby.

Many more ponies filtered in, and despite the warmth that hundreds of pony bodies congregating together brought, the cave still felt as cold as the purpose that had gathered them all. When the flow of attendees ceased at last, the ceremony began.

Pavise had never attended a funeral in the caves, but he knew intrinsically what to do, and so did everypony else as they closed their eyes and began to hum. It was no particular melody, not to Pavise’s knowledge at least. Just one unified, gentle note that carried through the cave; after a few moments, the vibrating response of the cave's magical crystals met their hums, filling them all with a sort of peace despite their heartbreak. It was the sort of thing only Crystal Ponies could understand, and Pavise inwardly hoped the other Princesses wouldn't be too alienated by their ritual.

He couldn’t see to be sure, but he knew that by now Shining’s body was slowly, reverently being carried through the cave and toward the crystal bed.

Step. Step. Step.

He had met the ritual bearers, the ones escorting the Prince to his final resting place, during the arrangements days prior. They were a stout bunch of stallions, led by a gruff lad named Rock Salt, and had without any additional convincing been ready to carry Shining’s precious body on the day of the funeral. Their heavy yet equally careful hoofsteps echoed throughout the cave, providing a sort of percussive accompaniment to their humming.

Step.

Step.

Step.

When the hoofsteps ceased, everypony fell silent, and Pavise opened his eyes.

There he was. Before the crystal bed, dressed in his decorated service coat, lay Shining Armor. Medals forged in gold and silver shone dimly in the light, and the many colored ribbons on his chest spanned a rainbow across one side. It was odd to see him lying there, peacefully, as though he were only sleeping. Pavise half-expected him to jump up, chuckling mischievously as he explained that it had all been an elaborate prank.

“Surprise! I got you guys pretty good, huh?”

But no such reassurance came. He was still, as if bound to the ceremonial litter upon which he had been carried by invisible chains. The funeral bearers parted silently as Rock Salt stepped forward.

“A thousand years,” he said with a deep melancholy. He had an unexpectedly eloquent manner of speaking that contrasted sharply with his sturdy frame. “We spent a thousand years crushed under the hooves of Sombra’s reign. No freedom, no love, no hope. When Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came to our aid and defeated him, we thought we were saved, but Sombra cursed us to serve him even from beyond the veil–we were vanished, gone without a trace. Nopony knew what had happened to us, and we were slowly forgotten.” Rock Salt looked at Celestia and Luna, who nodded knowingly. His forlorn gaze swept across the crowd, and then fell upon Shining Armor’s lifeless body, softening.

“When Sombra returned, we returned as well. We were confused, dazed, and recovering from a thousand year stupor that stole away our memories, as well as our identities. It wasn’t until Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance came here, until they restored our Crystal Heart, that we finally remembered who we were.”

He turned bodily to face Shining Armor’s body, and knelt down low–the rest of the ponies in the cave, including Celestia and Luna themselves, knelt with him.

“We can only thank you for saving us, Prince Shining Armor, and for giving us the hope we never thought would return. I pray to the Great Gypsum spirits that you are accepted as one of us; accepted as a Crystal Pony.”

Whispering something quietly, Rock finally stood, and with him everypony else. The ritual concluded, he glanced with uncertainty at Cadance. She hadn’t reacted at all to the speech, and her glassy eyes pointed straight ahead, at something far away nopony else could see. Luna broke from her place and shouldered a few guards aside to stand beside Cadance.

“Cadance, you should speak with him–give him your goodbyes, and your sorrows, so that you might face tomorrow with more strength than today.” Luna gently nudged the smaller alicorn, and with mighty hesitation did Cadance finally drag herself away from the guards formation, which parted to her either side. All eyes fell on her as she stepped closer to Shining’s body, and at last she truly opened her eyes.

“Shiny. My Shining Armor… I never should have left you here,” Cadance said, her voice scratched to a whisper. She collapsed beside him as fresh tears enveloped her face, and she buried her nose in his cobalt mane.

Pavise looked away, respectfully, as Cadance sobbed and mumbled her goodbyes; gone now was any semblance of togetherness with which Cadance had walked into the cave. A peculiar sensation wet Pavise’s nose, and he realized that he was also crying–not because of Cadance's sadness, but because of his own.

Pavise and Emery had worked with Shining since they graduated from training, and it was under his hoof that they learned how to train the rest of the guards. He had been sort of like an older brother figure to them all, and even though Pavise's heart burned for Cadance, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't going to miss Shining's corny jokes or jovial attitude, or even the seemingly never ending gallops around the city in the morning. It was like the guard was a wagon wheel and Shining was the steel that reinforced the wood underneath–with him gone, any bump in the road could send them into a splintered mess.

He wasn’t sure how long they stood that way, but nopony dared to drag Cadance away from her husband–they were too preoccupied with wiping away tears or wailing unashamedly along with their Princess anyway. Finally, Cadance drew a loving hoof across Shining Armor’s face, brushing his mane away and kissing his cheek softly.

“...Goodbye, my love. I don’t know what I’ll do without you.” Luna moved to help her, but Cadance stood uneasily by herself, rubbing her tears away only to be replaced by fresh sadness. When the guards welcomed her back into their circle, she shook her head and repeatedly muttered to herself. “My Shiny… My poor Shiny…”

Twilight’s family also gave their condolences. His mother smiled bitterly through her tears and stroked his side for a long time, recounting childhood memories and the trials of growing from colt to stallion.

“You were such an amazing son… I’m so proud of the stallion you became, Shining.”

His father only shook his head, the words seemingly taken from him upon seeing the motionless form of his colt below. Twilight had to be pulled away by Celestia after crumpling in a heap onto her brother’s corpse, howling and screaming like an injured filly.

“No! Don’t take my brother away! Please! We can still help him, I-I can find a spell, maybe something in the Canterlot Library that can bring him back! Celestia, please don’t!”

It was difficult to watch the spectacle of her misery, and Celestia could only coo softly as she pressed the sobbing unicorn into her side and covered her with her motherly wings.

A few other ponies, including Emery and the other guards, paid their respects afterward. Captain Moldavite, the leader of Shining’s guard, was strangely absent, and Pavise wondered if he or any other of Shining’s guards had also been slain during the assassination–he should have heard about it, though.

When his turn came to bid Shining Armor goodbye, Pavise felt ashamed when his lips parted and closed inaudibly. What would he even say? Pavise had known Shining Armor to be a tremendously capable and kindhearted stallion, but…

He was in love with Cadance.

Pavise knew he felt the same sorrow as everypony else that Shining had died, but his feelings for the Princess gave way to a sickening joy. Standing before his lifeless body now, it felt nauseating to try and invent some momentary kindness when deep down he had always wished for Cadance’s availability so that he could court her himself.

He lingered for a while in front of the Prince’s corpse, countless lines conjured and thrown away, but in the end he said nothing and moved away.

When at last everypony’s goodbyes had been said, the ritual bearers finally moved his body to the bed of crystals and said a small prayer together.

At once the crystals began to illuminate, and little buds of gemstone crept across Shining Armor’s form. One by one, little shards of magical energy formed over his body in patches of otherworldly light. Twilight cried anew at the sight, but made no more attempts to dash wildly toward her brother. Cadance looked on, burning the last image of her heart pony into her memory.

Everypony else held their breath as the last bit of alabaster fur was covered by the crystals. With one last brilliant pulse of light, the magical glow died, and it was finished.

With the most pressing matter finally having been settled, Emery launched a formal investigation into the assassination. Though they apparently hadn’t had a chance to discuss it, Celestia volunteered to leave behind some more experienced guards to help investigate and fill additional patrols as per Cadance’s intended negotiations.

As it turned out, Captain Moldavite had been missing from the funeral because he and Topaz Dust–the guard who had been on duty the night of Shining Armor’s murder–had been thrown into a dungeon cell to await their trial for negligence. At least nopony else had been killed that night; it was still hard to be grateful, though.

About a week or so later, Emery formed a tribunal of advisors and senior guards–Pavise included–to determine the fate of Moldavite and Topaz. All parties involved gathered in a grand ballroom carved from the castle interior as the morning sun still listed further into the sky.

Pavise watched with disinterest as the accused entered the makeshift courtroom, guided loosely by their former comrades. It wasn’t as if they could go anywhere even if they did run–there were still dozens of borrowed stallions patrolling the streets for any lingering evils.

The head of the council, one of Shining’s advisors called Crystal Clear, prompted a retelling of the night’s events from Topaz’s perspective; he was the chief witness, after all. According to his testimony, a hooded pony had darted out from the shadows and bucked him once in the head, knocking him unconscious. When he came to, Shining’s door had been left wide open, as well as a window by his bedside, and the Prince was dead.

Topaz and Moldavite were interrogated until noon, but their stories remained consistent throughout: Topaz maintained that he’d been taken by surprise, and Moldavite had of course been off duty and asleep when Shining was killed. Their answers exhausted, the two defendants waited in shameful silence as the council discussed the matter in hushed tones amongst themselves.

Pavise had generally agreed with whatever anypony else had said, not truly listening to the discussion. As far as he was concerned, removal from the service was the most appropriate punishment–failing to protect your rulers, disadvantaged or not, was the ultimate failure a guard could bear. Finally, they returned their attention to the two guards, and Crystal tapped the desk for silence.

“After a brief deliberation, the tribunal has determined that you, Topaz Dust, and your superior Captain Moldavite are guilty of negligence and thereby responsible in part for the death of Prince Shining Armor. You both will be stripped of your status as Royal Crystal Pony Guards and dishonorably discharged.”

The senior advisor clopped his hoof against the table once more; a pair of guards each awaiting nearby moved to escort the convicted ponies out of the makeshift courtroom. Topaz didn’t resist, merely hanging his head with shame; Captain Moldavite was expressionless. Although he hadn’t been present that night, guard regulation dictated that the superior was just as culpable as the subordinate for any negligence or lapse in duty. It wasn’t as if he had a charge to argue his sentence, either.

“I… I understand. I failed, I know I did. I’m sorry,” said Topaz as he was led away. He paused once, turning back to seek the attention of the council; he locked eyes with Pavise. “Please tell the Princess I’m so, so sorry,” he pleaded, and in cowardice Pavise looked away.

A few days later, Emery dropped a bombshell on Pavise as they were meeting together over lunch regarding updating the patrol schedule.

“In addition to doubling our patrols around the castle, and upping overnights around the top floor, I want us both stationed outside the Princess’s bedchambers every night for a few weeks–at least until we can deal with the prisoner,” he said, and added as Pavise’s muzzle tensed, “I know that it’s not ideal, but I don’t trust anypony else to guard the Princess other than myself.”

“Well, I guess that won’t be too bad. It’ll take some time to adjust my schedule, but it’s no worse than pulling watch during training.” They had already been running abnormal patrols since the funeral, and it had already begun to wear on Pavise, but at least the exertion was keeping his mind at bay; he had no energy to sort out his feelings, for which he was thankful. Pavise moved to take a bite of his sandwich, but paused when he noticed Emery still staring, mulling something over in his head.

“And… I’d like for us to rotate inside the Princess’s chambers every other night as well. I hate to insult Her Highness’s privacy like this, but I don’t want to take any chances. There’s just too much we don’t know right now, and if whoever is behind this takes out the Princess too our Empire will descend into chaos. There’s not a lot we can do with so few guards, even with Princess Celestia’s support,” Emery said finally, breaking away and huffing. “But at least we stand a better chance if we have a pony outside and in.”

The gears slowly ground in Pavise’s head as he realized with a remorseful blush just what Emery had decided. Pavise would see Cadance’s chambers in person, see her as defenseless and intimately as a lover would. It was a dream come true for a guard in love–if only the circumstances hadn’t been so dismal.

“But-” he began, yet Emery had a point. It was better, at least for now, to spare nopony in making sure the Princess was protected night and day, especially at her most vulnerable. He swallowed his disagreement like a cup of nails and nodded. He would be following orders, protecting the Princess, and there would be nothing else to it.

But why did he feel so dirty about doing it?

Cadance herself had little to comment on these arrangements, and nodded apathetically when Emery finally finished sharing the plan with her the next day.

“Whatever you think is best,” she said before walking off, sallow and frail.