4

Shock

Luna held her wings close to her body, trying to stem the bleeding on her left side. Her head already felt light, and she had to control her breathing to keep conscious. She started to think she'd die there, trapped in a tiny crevasse in some forsaken fork of a cave. They'd find her eventually, she felt, whether in five minutes, alive, or a half hour from now, dead. She could faintly hear the griffons arguing with each other as to where she went, and they were growing louder. She peeked out and saw the cave opening was clear now. She started to go out but then thought better of it. If she went out, the other griffons would certainly see her. Her only option was to wait and hope they'd miss her.

Suddenly, a griffon's cry rang through the air, startling Luna and piercing the otherwise incoherent atmosphere of Canterlot. Following it was a new order.

"Fall back! Retreat! Enemy reinforcements imminent!"

"What?" Luna said quietly to herself. What reinforcements? Cloudsdale? Ponyville? Whoever they were, they were making these bloodthirsty griffons retreat, and she allowed herself to take comfort in that. These griffons had to have killed hundreds of ponies already. They wouldn't retreat over something futile. She could hear two of her pursuers arguing about the new order, not ten feet away.

"What?! No! We can't retreat! We still haven't found her!"

"If we don't, we're disobeying a superior! Let's go, now!"

"What, d'you think we can't take 'em? We've wiped the floor with 'em! We can take care of—"

"I'm not saying we can't—never!—but if we stay here, we'd be disobeying."

"Come on! We are so close to getting the Raven!"

"Take it up with Gault, Gavin. We're leaving. Now."

"How about you leave, and you tell Gault you let the Raven go?"

There was a sharp cry and the sounds of a scuffle. After a few seconds, Gavin spoke up, panting. "Alright, alright! Fine!" He huffed. "I'm coming."

Luna held her breath and covered her face with one wing. They were going to exit the cave through the opening she had considered not a minute before. She counted twelve griffons as they passed by her spot, one holding a bleeding cheek. As soon as the last griffon exited the cave, Luna started to count to a minute to make sure it wasn't a ploy to lure her out. When she herself heard many more cries of retreat outside, she stopped, breathing a sigh of relief.

Luna pried herself out of her hiding spot, hobbling a bit. Waves of pain returned, no longer subdued by adrenaline. She could see orange light dancing on the ceiling of the cave. She gazed out at the city. She guessed, with that size of force, even with little over a half hour's time, most of the buildings were ablaze. She thought about all of the ponies she couldn't help, that were dead now because of the griffons. Some of the images which flashed in her mind made her want to vomit.

Her heart dropped as a terrible thought came to her. If they had chased her so relentlessly, then they surely went after...

"No. No, no, no..."

Luna limped towards the mouth of the cave. She checked the area for griffons, and, after making sure they had indeed retreated, she leapt into the air. She nearly faltered; almost all she could see was fire. She could now hear cries of pain the cave had mercifully blocked out. She pushed on. She had to know, she had to know...

She flew as low as she could, peering into buildings and calling her sister's name as she passed. She went upwards and checked the surrounding atmosphere, seeing both the retreating forces and what she guessed to be the reinforcements. She saw the tallest tower in Canterlot, which was untouched by fire: Celestia's tower.

Tearing through the the sky as fast as she could, Luna sped towards the top. She landed abruptly on the balcony, stumbling without the use of her broken leg. She looked around and noticed the door ajar. Her knees shook. She pushed open the door.

"T-Tia?"

Luna gasped, her ears folding back. Celestia was on the floor, staring right at her with fogged eyes, almost expectantly. Luna's heart twisted into a knot again, and she staggered. Her breathing quickened, unable to tear her gaze from her sister.

Celestia's wings were gone, bloody stumps in their place. Her horn was broken off, and her legs sprawled in different directions. Her mane, once flowing and sparkling with life, lay limp, matted, and partially soaked in blood, surrounding her head in a grotesque halo. Rust-colored blood had already caked around her nose and mouth. Luna followed the lines of crimson on her side to four stab wounds along her sister's side and chest, causing her to wince. Celestia's cutie mark, once a brilliant orange-yellow sun, was now a mess of red gashes.

Luna wanted to cry, to scream, to run, but it was as if her mind, in order to truly comprehend what it had seen, had stopped altogether, rooting her to the ground, forbidding her to move one inch, to end the morbid staring contest, to even take a breath, determined to make her stand in the doorway and take in the horrid scene. Her whole frame shook. Her brain tingled and fuzzed over. Her own blood began to make small red puddles on the marble. Her cheeks were streaked with hot tears. Her knees finally gave out. Darkness consumed her sight, and the ground came rushing up to meet her.

"Why isn't this going out?"

Rainbow looked for another cloud, seeing one a hundred feet or so above her. She swooped to it and pushed it back to the spot she was working on. She set it above the dying building, trying not to inhale smoke. The fire smelled different than any other she had experienced. It smelled of some harsh oil and something else she couldn't identify, and she could feel the hairs in her nose curl when she breathed.

Rainbow stomped hard on the cloud, releasing its shower. Flames shot up, and she could almost feel them licking her hooves. Coughing in the new smoke, she drained the cloud of all its water. The fire still raged on. Her eyes watering, she hovered above, completely bewildered. She again got another cloud, again dumped it, and still the fire burned. She slowly flew upwards. "What the hell?"

The inferno which consumed half the city wasn't drowning like she had hoped. By spreading out, the nearly hundred-strong group of pegasi quickly covered the area, but it was as if the fire only got bigger as they attempted to extinguish it. After only ten minutes, they ran out of nearby clouds and had to resort to flying behind the mountains or reaching far above to gather more, but nothing seemed to work. The only good news was the burning buildings weren't falling, being made mostly of stone, and the rest of Canterlot wasn't catching fire. The coughing and screams from below, however, didn't help any of their nerves.

Rainbow looked around at the other pegasi. They were desperately darting to and from the sky and the city. Their faces were dimly lit by the flames. Many of them wore a similar expression as she did. They too saw their attempts were almost pitiful. "Why isn't this working?!" she yelled to the sky. "What're we supposed to do?!"

An idea sprung to her mind, and she got excited in spite of herself. She dove down towards the streets, trying to find ponies to scoop up and save, but she stopped just a few yards short. Rainbow was convinced the air itself had to have been boiling. The hot air filled her lungs, making her cough violently. The fur on her chest began to singe, plugging her nose with the stench. She rose back up to cooler air. The stone buildings were effectively ovens now. Those poor ponies on the ground...

"Should we just give up?" Rainbow said to herself. "None of this is working. All we're doing is making it worse." She looked at the pegasi again. She couldn't just tell them to stop. She doubted any of them would anyway. She hovered in the air, debating. "What else can we do?" Spying a street the flames seemed to leave alone, she dove down again. Her coat nearly threatened to catch fire, and she flew back up. An unbearable feeling of futility engulfed her. "We can't help. We can't... we can't do anything." Her stomach churned. "Oh Celestia..."

She started. "Celestia!" Her mind spun, trying to think of where the two princesses could be. "They might have gone to Ponyville," she muttered to herself. "No, no. We would have seen them passing us." She flew in zig-zags above the city, trying her best not to panic. "Oh! They could be hiding in some safe house buried deep beneath Canterlot... that may or may not exist." She groaned. "Where the hell could they be?" She looked up. "The clouds? No, we would've seen them there too." Dread mounted in her mind. "What if they never left? Or couldn't?"

Rainbow whirled around, looking for the Celestia's tower. Spying it across the city, she rocketed towards it. Somehow, the building was untouched, as were the rest of the buildings on this side of the mountain. An odd sense of relief came over as she approached the tower. It looked fine, great even. Nothing was broken, not even a window. A nervous laugh managed to escape Rainbow.

Flying to a window, she peered inside. Seeing only drapery, she shrugged and made her way to the other side. She looked at the balcony and froze. She saw a dark figure on the ground, collapsed in a puddle of blood, its chest rising and falling rapidly. Only after seeing a horn did Rainbow realize who it was.

Snapping out of her stupor, she landed at Luna's side. Her eyes darted everywhere over her body, not knowing how to help. Her heart thudded against her chest, and she couldn't think straight. She looked inside the open door, hoping to clear her mind. She saw another silhouette in the middle of the room. Squinting, Rainbow guessed who it was. Celestia stared back at her. She was just a heap of blood and white on the floor. She wasn't moving at all. Rainbow's stomach sank and her head swam. She stumbled backwards, a dark, cold feeling enveloping her.

"No, no," she muttered to herself, "this... this is impossible, this can't happen. They're..." She started flying backwards, away from the tower. "No... They can't die, they... th-they can't be dead." She started quivering, her wings threatening to quit. She couldn't take her eyes off of the balcony. "H-h..." she croaked. "H-he... h-help. Help. Help!" Her eyes widened. "Help!" She flew up and back over to the other pegasi. "Help! It's the princesses! I need help over here! The princesses! Help! Help!"

Shining Armor, cut up and bruised, teleported into the bedroom. He staggered for a moment, panting. Cadence stood next to Flurry Heart's crib, which was safe inside a magenta bubble. The windows behind them remained unscathed, and the doors were kept shut by their solid crystal dresser. Shining heaved a shuddered sigh. Everypony was safe.

"Cadence," he said weakly, "they took the Heart. It's gone." He staggered over towards her. "I tried to stop them, but I got..." He grimaced and stumbled on his front knees.

"Shining?" said Cadence, trotting to him. "What's wrong? What happened to y—" When she got to his other side, she gasped and reeled back. A broken shaft of a spear was sticking out from behind his ribcage. A stream of blood ebbed from the wound, starkly red against his white coat. She looked between his face and his wound, lost for words.

"Yeah, yeah," he said in a strained voice, "stabbed." He groaned, looking at his side, but quickly clamped his mouth shut. He winced and closed his eyes, breathing slowly through grit teeth. He stood up, walking a few steps towards Cadence, but his knees gave out from under him.

Cadence stared at him, still too stunned to think. Shining put one hoof flat on the ground and tried to heave himself up again. Cadence finally walked over and offered her shoulder for support, and he nearly collapsed on her. She stood up, getting him on his own hooves, and tried guiding him towards the bed. They only took a few more steps when Shining slid off and fell again, crying out and landing in the floor with a thud.

"Oh—!" Cadence exclaimed. "I'm so sorry!" She began to tremble nearly as much as him. He shook his head and murmured something she couldn't hear. "Sh-Shining," Cadence said, "let's get you on the bed... come on..." She slowly enveloped him in her magic and began to levitate him. Shining yelped when he left the ground but was then silent.

Cadence cleared away blankets and sheets with her wings and gently set Shining down on his unharmed side. As she broke her spell, he writhed, but it seemed to Cadence as though he were trying to hide his pain. He closed his eyes and tried not to speak, but occasional murmurs and groans escaped his lips.

Cadence walked over to the magenta bubble and popped it with her horn. She picked her foal up and glanced at Shining. He shifted, as though trying to sit up, but inhaled sharply and fell back down. Cadence ran over to him, still carrying Flurry. Shining closed his eyes tightly, biting his lips. Cadence turned to set Flurry in her crib, but Shining moved again.

"N-no," he said weakly. "Let her stay." Reluctantly, Cadence turned around and carried Flurry to her father. With some effort, he raised his head up, and Cadence levitated a pillow underneath him. He lay down and looked at Cadence. "I wanna s-see her." She faked a smile and propped Flurry up. She went to put her on the bed but stopped when she saw the sheets around him beginning to turn red. Flurry seemed to study his face.

He smiled and gingerly pet her hair. "H-hey... How's our b-baby girl doing, huh? You d-doing okay? Doing alright?" As though she understood what was going on, Flurry started to cry. Cadence pulled her away, but Shining reached for her. "Shh... h-hey, Flurry, d-don't cry. Don't cry. Look! D-Daddy's here! Daddy's okay! Look!" He smiled big, and Cadence saw he was hiding a grimace. Flurry stopped crying somewhat, but she looked at him with big, watery eyes. "Hey," he said again, more softly. "Don't cry. D-don't cry."

He grimaced again, and Cadence took the opportunity and picked Flurry up, cooing to her softly. She could see Shining's smile fade out of the corner of her eye. She set Flurry down in her crib and breathed deeply. "What do you want me to do?" She turned to him. "I-I don't know if there're any guards around, but—"

"Promise me something," he said. She walked over to him, flinching upon looking at the spear again. She sat down in front of him and nodded. He sighed. "Be strong. For yourself and for Flurry. I—"

"No!" she yelled. She covered her mouth with her hoof and continued quietly. "Don't you talk like that." She started tearing up. "Don't you dare talk like that!"

"Cadence," he said, his eyes watery. "Please. P-promise me you'll be okay. Please?" She stared at him for a long time. She looked back at the crib and back at Shining. She nodded, her ears flat against her head. He smiled. "Th-thank you."

"But what can I do to help you now?" she pleaded. "I've got to do something."

He shuddered again and took a deep breath. "Go." Cadence balked. "Go," he repeated with more conviction. "Get t-to Canterlot or somewhere safe. The Empire will c-come back when the Heart is returned, but—"

"No! I'm not leaving you!"

"Cadence, I—" he grimaced again, curling up somewhat. Cadence's heart quivered. He looked back at her and smiled. He softly chuckled before coughing. She smiled back and hugged him gingerly. He wrapped a free hoof around her neck and pulled her close. "You're really gonna stay here, aren't you?" he asked, petting her mane softly. She nodded, wiping a tear from her eye. He kissed her softly. "I love you."

"I love you too, Shining," she whispered.

They stared at one another, not saying anything for a while. Cadence's lips trembled, and she closed her eyes. Her ears flattened, and she turned her head downwards. Shining sniffed and reached a quivering hoof over to her face. Cadence flinched up at his touch and with her hoof held his. Shining smiled and wiped a tear from her face. Cadence feigned a smile back. His hoof already felt like ice. She began to cry softly again but fought to keep her smile.

"H-h-hey..." Shining said. Cadence could barely hear him. He tried to move closer to her but stopped and inhaled sharply again. He wiped away another tear. "H-hey... don't... don't c-cry..." He kept smiling, beginning to tear up himself. His eyelids twitched. His hoof drooped somewhat, but Cadence wouldn't let it out of her grasp. His breathing grew quieter, shaking. "D-d-don't... c-cry..."

A few tense moments passed. He then gasped, and, with a small shudder, he exhaled. His hoof became limp, and Cadence gripped onto it with both of hers. His head settled. His eyes flashed magenta. His eyelids fluttered shut. He still smiled. Cadence's facade fell. The smile once again fled. Her eyes wide, she began to shake. She could do nothing but stare at him.

"Shining?" She fought to keep herself under control. She saw no movement in his face. "Shining?" It wasn't a question now—it was a plea. She took his hoof and held it to her forehead. She closed her eyes and sobbed with all her soul. Her wings drooped to the floor. She wanted to scream. She racked her brain, trying to think of any spell which could help him, but she knew nothing existed. She wanted to hear him talk one more time, but she knew she couldn't. She looked back at his smiling face and almost felt angry with him. How could he smile? How could he be happy? Tears obscured her vision, and she closed her eyes and tucked her head down.

After a few minutes, Cadence noticed she couldn't hear the griffons anymore. She sniffed and reverently placed his hoof next to him. She looked at him for a while more, wistfully remembering their time together. She suddenly had an idea, and she gasped softly. She could produce a bubble around the Crystal Empire and shield it from the Frozen North like she had done in the past.

She walked to the middle of the room, took a steadying stance, and lit her horn. Her gaze drifted to the bed, and she closed her eyes tightly, stifling a whimper. She cast the spell, but the cyan orb sputtered and died before her. She looked at it fearfully, her knees trembling. She tried again, focusing on the spell, but again the light flickered and fizzled out. She closed her eyes and tried once more, but she knew it didn't work before she even looked. Letting tears flow again, she looked at the bed. There was no way she could concentrate on a spell of that magnitude. It was over.

Flurry fussed in the corner. She looked at Cadence with the same big eyes as she looked at Shining minutes ago. It was as if she was asking what happened. Cadence winced and walked over to her. She picked her up and cooed to her, not so much calming her as herself. After holding Flurry for a while, she knew what to do next.

She gently laid Flurry back down and searched for a candle, finding one toppled next to an overturned desk and chair. She levitated a piece of stay paper on the floor towards herself. She walked over to the desk and set it upright with more cyan magic, setting the candle on top, lighting it. The few bottles of ink she had kept there had broken on the floor. After searching around, she found a bent quill. She dipped it in the ink puddle and hovered it above the paper. A drop of black landed on the paper. Even her magic quivered. She took a deep breath, and, with some effort not to break down again, penned a short and shaky note.

Shivering now, she transfigured the crumpled paper into a pristine snowflake, the same as Flurry's birth announcement. Holding it to her chest, not daring to look at the bed again, she walked to the balcony doors. All she could see were dark clouds and heavy snowfall. She gingerly pushed opened the doors and was greeted by the howling wind. A gust of bitter cold froze the tears on her face. She walked to the edge of the balcony, set the note on a trembling wing, and let the tumult carry it off. It was immediately lost from her sight.

She slowly walked back inside, not bothering to close the doors. All of the heat had left the room. Flurry began to cry, and Cadence walked over to her. She picked her up and held her again, trying futilely to warm her. She walked over and sat down by the bed, and she slowly rocked Flurry in her hooves, cooing to her softly. Soon, Flurry stopped crying, and the cold and snow slowly took them.