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// Third Canto: Faith 
// Story: Devotion's End 
// by Undome Tinwe 
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XV.



Sound the wedding bells at once!
On ev'ry corner, cry in joy!
Beloved princess hath announced
A union that all played coy

For they always did agree
That matrimony can't be staved
Their love was obvious can be
Now let the final trials be braved

Cakes and dresses, line them up
Measure twice, and then again
Ensure there’s wine in ev’ry cup
And music systems, watch that gain!

Now the revellers arrive
In droves to see the nuptials
With gifts aplenty, commerce thrives
And ev'ry room is booked in full

Morning comes on day ordained
A kiss as Flurry wakes her bride
"I'll see you when it’s time to claim
Reward for all our swallowed pride”

“On the 'morrow we shall be
United in the eyes of law
There is naught else I wish for me
Than moniker of ‘wife’ to call”

With reply replete in love
Does Cozy part from Flurry Heart
Attendants ev’rywhere above
Descend upon the two apart

First the dress, of finest silk
Sends shivers as it slides past wing 
And then the jewels; white as milk
The pearls surround her neck in strings

Next the preening, do hold still
The pain will only last a skosh
Then makeup too, applied with skill
And finally, bouquet of rose

Bride of Crystal, mise en scene
Reception where they all await
The princesses, who all are then
Sequestered in the tower great

Cold seeps into revelry
As guests complain, a guard draws near
To Cozy is delivery
Of news most grim, sowing fear

"Lost all contact have we now"
He warns her as the ice creeps in
"With all five princesses somehow
And just outside the air grows thin"



XVI.



Frozen fractals lace the walls
An icicles descend from high
Beyond the doors, the wind does squall
Unnaturally Nature cries

"Take me to her room at once"
Commands the next surviving heir
She's led through halls in ice ensconced
As Winter's touch corrupts the air

At the doors, it's hard to breathe
And Cozy tells the guards to leave
With all her courage now unsheathed
She calls to one who starts to grieve

"Open up, my one true love!
I know the patterns of your spell"
So slowly, heav'ly, door does move
And Cozy trots through blinding hail

Storm now pulls her dress from clutch
A string of pearls is wrenched away
As howling wind and chilling touch
Attempt this sacred bride to slay

Calm asserts itself in time
When Cozy finally tumbles out
Into the eye of storm sublime
And sees her lover free of doubt

"Welcome, Cozy, to the end"
Serenity exudes the mare
As from above she does descend
To grace the saviour too aware

Of the horrors now unleashed
"The princesses were no great match
Surprise was all I had to pierce
Defenses then at once dispatch

"Foes for which we've sought for long
To fell and start a golden age
The throne to you alone belongs
Your pride and anger now assuaged"

Round the princess, chains of light
Lock others in an icy cast
Above the one who ended fight
An orb of magic holds them fast

"What of you, O Goddess cold?"
Though power burned throughout the room
The pegasus does stand so bold
And questions she of finest plume

"Victory, I see you've won
And though this day was marked for us
Commend I must this ploy you've spun
To score this win without a fuss

"But condemn your secrecy
I also must, for I would fain
Agree to yield to clemency
On this, the day of our domain"

"Sorry, truly, I do mourn
The loss of greatest vow in life
But better now than morrow's morn
No mare should have to kill her wife"



XVII.



Silence reigned as Cozy balked
"You surely cannot think that I
Would raise a hoof to one who walked
Beside me when I sought to flee

"Now we rise and fall as one
The throne we seize will seat but two"
Around the mare, the blizzard spun
A whirlwind trapping her into

Icy death should she remain
"Enough of this!" the princess screams
A blade of ice she forged arcane
Presented as was in the dream

"Do your duty, servant mine!
If you believe yourself are bless'd
As acolyte of one divine
Then drive this sword into my chest"

In the maelstrom, silence reigns
Except for tinkling as the blade
Fell onto floor, 'til Cozy deigns
To take the crown, so price is paid

"Truly did I swear to serve
A greater power than myself
And for that vow, you do deserve
To live, to love, the greatest wealth"

"Useless then, you are to me"
The air grows denser, colder now
As power glows for her to see
"If thou abandonest thy vow

"Death shall set you free as well"
Ice infects the wings of both
As jagged shards make lungs to swell
The chill finds bone, the mare does cough

But she's made of sterner stuff
In Tartarus, in stone, in flesh
The ice cannot her fire snuff
And so she takes up sword and leash

"Cause you gave me, cause to live
And cause to die for too, you see"
The hooves do tremble, but she gives
A smile to one who set her free

Stunned by beauty so divine
The princess watches as a mare
Takes to the skies, with wings so fine
And sheathes the blade with utmost care



XVIII.



Far and wide, a flash of light
Illuminates the eve'ning sky
Cacophony as all delight
That Death the princesses deny!

Question next that they do pose
If wedding still will carry on
A look of sadness, they disclose
Festivities, their time is gone

Somber is the mood that night
As five do gather 'round a bed
Where mortal mare for life does fight
Against the wounds from which she bled

Then it happens, as the spark
Departs one mare forevermore
A gasp of horror as her mark
Does now fade out, and is no more

Six to five, who all look up
Disturbance in the stars they sense
Relief as Aether uncorrupt 
Does beckon one to guide commence

"Go to her," the Eldest says
To one who tried to end her life
With heavy heart and no delays
The youngest leaves to see her wife

Stars surround the one who gave
Her life to save another's soul
"Is this what sits beyond the grave
Am I to wander without goal?"

One of many lights transforms
And takes the form of alicorn
"My love, who braved the greatest storm
I come to you, deserved of scorn

“For we both can't but agree
Was greatest sin that ever lived
Corrupting faith did I to thee
Forgiveness I implore you give”

Sorrow plagues her as she kneels 
Before the one she has so wronged
Upon her chin, a touch that heals
From one who smiles with peace prolonged

"Who among us have not erred?
You gave me clemency from sin
And now is judgment long deferred
Delivered unto one who grins

"For before the price I pay
A chance to love did I receive
To die for self, a most sad way
To die for love, I do believe

"Is better than to live with hate"
A kiss then shared in astral sea
As reconciliation sates
The guilt that makes both want to flee

"So is this the last goodbye?"
Does Cozy ask with tear-filled eyes
"When I am gone, will you still try
To fight until your last demise?"

Smiling, Flurry then replies
"An end for most this would have been
To strike a spell with sword of ice
The blast did break your body then"

Magic glows around them now
"But in an act of sacrifice
Did you prove true to be allowed
An honour that I can't suffice"

Transubstantiation starts
As arcane forces now consume
A mortal mare who did depart
Too far before her time to bloom



XIX.



In the night, a star descends
So bright that all can see as day
Before the Crystal Heart it bends
And lands in front, where dirges play

From the light, a mare steps out
With wings and horn, it's all too clear
What she's become, there is no doubt
The other princesses draw near

Front and center, Flurry stands
With horn aglow she then declares
That privacy they do demand
The spell is cast, away with flair

In their chambers, much to say
But first a hug, and tears to fall
For many trials have come this day
And many more, beyond recall

"Worthy of the throne no more
To you since I now have this horn"
Though Cozy smiles, the dread is fore
As she awaits her lover's scorn

"Blind was I, right from the start"
The guilt in Flurry's voice is strong
"Though horn your sport, within your heart
Does matter more than wings or prong

"Always was it I alone
That was unworthy of the throne
For unlike those who are more grown
I never earned this coat of down

"You, however, like the ones
Who came before, did sacrifice
The Heart, the Stars, the Moon, the Sun
Among the chosen you suffice

"Only I was born as such
And only I earned not my keep
And so my anger was my crutch
That cost your life, and so I reap

"Seeds of hate that I did sow
But you broke free and showed faith true
And now to you that I should bow
I doff my crown, to give to you"

"Once again, I tell you this
But selfishness did taint my vow"
With utmost urgency they kiss
"I wished to serve, so that somehow

"You would choose me evermore"
With that confession, both grow light
As sins forgiven, scars they bore
Begin to heal, so they take flight

"Much to learn, of Faith and Love
For both of us, a road so long
Together shall we grow thereof
As Hope will never cease Her song"

Dance among the stars as one
For reckoning has still to come
As they account for lies they've spun
And purge the darkness they succumbed

But for now, their hope shines bright
For they've found freedom in their faith
Belief gives darkest minds the light
To leave their pasts behind to waste