Air.
Fresh air.
It was everywhere. It was everything. It was warm. It smelled like spring. It felt like spring. She floated in it. Swam through it. Breathed it. It reminded her that she was alive.
She couldn’t see anything. The world was white. The burning white of pain. The calming white of ecstasy. She couldn’t even see herself through it. Just white. And air. Forever. She was okay with that.
No, she wasn’t. Was she? Should she have been? It felt so right. She could spend eternity here. Maybe she had already. But she was forgetting something. She knew she was.
She remembered.
Amore touched down. The ground was wet, and it made a glassy tinkle as her hooves landed. She looked around, and the world came into view as if by her will.
Delicate, periwinkle mist—barely pastern-level—swirled in every direction, extending to the horizon where it met the pink clouds that crowded the sky. The sun shone from its zenith, but the light was blue and dreamlike. And despite the mist, the air felt soft and warm, like a fleece blanket. A choir, or something like it, sang in the distance, taming the silence into peace.
Off to her left, the mist suddenly rose. It sculpted itself into different shapes. At first, they were formless nothings, yet her brain still tried to make sense of them. They slowly morphed and grew, taking on more structure. One was a bridge that crossed a pond which hadn’t been there moments ago. Another was a cluster of long, tall plants that painted themselves pink. Another stood above everything else—a mighty chestnut tree.
Amore blinked. She was in the Amaranth Commons.
But there was one shape that took longer to condense than the rest. A small one—just chest-height. It grew beneath the tree. Parts of it curled off in strange ways, flowing like water. Other parts looked more solid. It was more intricate than anything else, like a carved statue.
Suddenly, the shape clicked in Amore’s mind. It was a pony. A filly. Unlike everything else, her colour didn’t shift. Her whole body stayed the same soothing blue that defined this misty realm. She sat looking away from Amore, staring off to the horizon.
Amore approached. “Hello?” she called. Her voice tasted like honey and sounded like rain.
The filly didn’t react. Amore started walking closer. “Who are you? Where are we?”
“Do you miss Mom and Dad?” The voice came from everywhere. It wasn’t loud, and its tone betrayed nothing, but Amore knew the voice. It was her own. It held a younger cadence, but she still knew it.
“Sorry?” Amore said.
The filly cocked her head a bit to one side. “I think about them a lot.”
“What happened?” Amore asked. “The umbrum? The Empire?”
“They loved us like nopony else.” The filly’s ears fell. “It’s hard to let anypony else love you like that.”
Amore arrived next to the filly. Looking down at her face made Amore’s chest hurt. “Are you the Crystal Heart?”
The filly giggled but still didn’t look at her. “That’s just like you. Even after what happened, you’re still thinking about anything but yourself.”
“What did happen?”
With one glimmering hoof, the filly pointed outwards. Amore’s gaze followed it to the horizon. The clouds shifted and parted, and a clear image filled the sky. Amore’s heart tightened.
Everypony in the Empire was there, gathered in the Crystal Heart Pavilion. All of them clung to one another, not a dry eye to be seen. Some were screaming, though Amore couldn’t hear them. Others appeared to be singing. Beyond them, the distance was gorgeous. No shadows. No storms. Nothing but clear skies as far as she could see.
She lifted a hoof to her mouth. “Where are the umbrum?” Amore blurted. The question even sounded stupid to her.
“Gone,” the filly said. “Someplace where they can’t hurt anyone. You did them in. Dispelled them completely. Congratulations.”
Amore tried to smile, but couldn’t. “It’s over, then. We won.” It was a statement of fact—nothing more.
“Does it look like we won?”
Among the guards, Amore saw Jade Shine and Marble Knight in a shouting match, both with softness in their eyes. Primrose sat a small distance away, her face buried in her husband’s coat. Off near the palace doors, Crystal Quill looked utterly lost. Behind her, Cobalt was limping through the hall towards the courtyard alongside his family.
The view rotated, and suddenly Citrine filled the whole sky. They were looking down at Amore, pounding their bloody hooves on an unseen surface. Their face was a mangled wreck, scowling and frowning at the same time. Their eyes were locked on something only they could see. For all the world, Citrine looked ready to crumble and scatter to the wind.
The image moved again, panning slowly around the whole of the plaza, showing everypony’s broken expressions. The Empire was still standing. None of her loved ones had been killed. The Crystal Heart remained intact. The umbrum were gone. The future was bright.
And still, nopony smiled.
Amore’s cheeks were already drenched with tears. “They’re safe,” she whispered. “That’s all that matters.”
“Is it?”
Her words caught in her throat. She swallowed them and sat there, watching the horrible scene unfold. It burned into her memory. She wanted nothing more than to reach out and hug each and every one of them. To tell them that they would be okay. To tell them how much she loved each of them. How proud she truly was.
Amore’s jaw clenched. “Am I dead?”
“Not quite,” the filly said, still enigmatic in her inflection. “But I have a feeling you will be soon.”
At that, Amore managed to peel her eyes away. She looked down, and the filly was smiling. “What do you mean?” Amore asked.
“Well, you have a choice.” The filly gestured her hoof across the whole of the landscape, sweeping wide before pulling back in and touching her own chest. “All of this is only here because of you. You’re the one holding me together.”
Amore went cold. The warmth of the air quickly reclaimed her, though. “So the umbrum… they managed to destroy you.”
The filly nodded. “You can stay here. With your love, we can live forever. Protect them forever. Or…” She lowered her hoof and looked back to the horizon. “…you can go back.”
Looking again to her friends and family, Amore frowned. “What would happen to you?”
“I would cease to be.”
Amore shook her head. “I can’t do that. The Empire needs you.” She sniffled, and her voice was an eggshell. “I need you.”
“You made me,” the filly said. “That means you lived before me. Without me. You don’t need me.”
Exhaling a shaky breath, Amore said, “But I wasn’t a princess then. You do so much for me now. How could I keep everypony happy and safe if you weren’t there?”
“As long as you’re there, they would be happy. As for the rest…” The filly chuckled. It sounded like wind chimes. “I’m sure you’d find a way.”
“I don’t know.” Amore gazed around. The nearby bunches of amaranth danced in a wind that wasn’t there. The ponds were still and crystal clear. The tree’s branches bloomed above her, each of its blossoms a perfect shade of white. It was beautiful. But she’d never enjoyed this place for its beauty.
She sighed. “I can’t stay here, either. I can’t abandon them like that.”
“It’s not abandonment. You did everything for them. Gave them everything you had. There’s nothing more you could’ve done.”
“Then why does it feel like I failed them?”
“Because you took away the one thing they cared about most.”
Amore met the filly’s eyes for the first time. The depth she found there was unfathomable. They were so young, but they revealed so much. They were windows into a library of infinite complexity. And at the same time, they were mirrors. Perfectly shined, they reflected just what they saw.
Wrapping one hoof around the filly, Amore pulled her close. She looked like she would be cold to the touch—she was anything but. Her warmth was one Amore had felt thousands of times, but there was something new about it now. For an eternal moment, she allowed herself to enjoy that feeling. She embraced it. She never wanted it to end.
They sat like that for some time, the angelic chorus of the world lulling them into a long reverie.
Finally, the filly said, “There is one other option.”
Amore perked her ears. “What’s that?”
“It would only stave off the inevitable. And it would require a great personal sacrifice.”
Chuckling, Amore looked down at her. “Do you think that’s really a problem for me?”
Her smile fell. The filly was frowning, her head bowed. “You can go back, for a while. And I can keep myself together, for a while. But you would need to return my gift.” The filly closed her eyes. “That’s the only way.”
Amore stared at her gormlessly. Her eyes went stark as the realization dawned. Her wings ruffled at her sides. She pulled in a breath, held it impossibly long, and exhaled. It wasn’t even a decision anymore.
“Do it.”
The filly nodded. “As you wish.”
All around, the mist roiled into a whirlwind. It was colossal—it filled the whole world and then some. The filly got caught up in it and vanished. The vortex closed in on Amore, growing tighter and tighter. The winds tore by at dangerous speed. She would be in its clutches before long.
The sense of peace never left her. The chaos enveloped her in a cocoon, binding her completely. There was a flash, a dull boom, and then the world went white once more.
Amore heard their voices long before she saw anything. Gasps and cries filled the air. Everypony clamored and shouted, tension dripping. She saw the first hints of colour, and suddenly everything was quiet.
The magic swirled off of her body, leaving only the faintest shimmer. She descended slowly, smiling down on her family as her hooves touched the earth. Exhaustion hammered through her instantly, and she collapsed to the side.
Everypony burst into action. They spoke over one another as they crammed in, questions and condolences flying in staggered parts. The ponies formed a close ring around their princess, eyes wide and mouths slackjaw.
Citrine pushed their way through and knelt down beside her. They lifted Amore’s head in their hooves, sparkling tears in their eyes. “Amore! You’re alive?! What did they do to you?! Your… your wings…” With half-lidded eyes, Amore glanced at her back—the strain in her neck all too apparent.
Her wings were gone. Her coat was smooth and unbroken, as though nothing had even been there in the first place. She grinned. “I would give them up a thousand times over to see all of you again.”
Biting their lip, Citrine wrapped Amore in a hug. Amore placed a tender hoof on their withers and cast her gaze to the rest of the crowd.
They had gone mostly quiet. All eyes were fixed on her, and many of their faces turned up in smiles. The tears were still a constant, but they were different tears. Brighter tears. Tears that would water their seedling of an Empire and foster a better tomorrow.
Some ponies glanced to something just above her. Amore followed their eyes and found the Crystal Heart, glowing vibrantly as ever. She nodded to it and lowered her head to rest in Citrine’s mane. A warm silence reigned, undercut only by the familiar thrum of the Crystal Heart’s magic.
Primrose stood at the front of the crowd. She looked left and right, and eventually she said, “So, what happens now?”
Amore laughed. An honest to goodness laugh. “Now?” She beamed at everypony, truly feeling their loving gazes for the first time.
“Now we get to live.”