Silver refused to sit still. The illness of the poison had faded to a mere grogginess, and he wouldn't be slowed. He left the ship and went shopping, and it wasn't the poison that bothered him, but the weight in his heart. He had never shopped for a casket before, but he refused to let anyone else do it for him. Despite his best efforts, perusing the options for transporting Aila had him wandering the city with fresh tears. He finally found one that appealed to him, or at least disgusted him the least. It seemed the right size, with inscriptions of horses running wildly along the trim, as Aila should be right that moment.
Silver rested his head against the cool wood of the thing and stood silently for a time, breathing raggedly and dampening the thing, the miserable thing that was one of the final cursed gifts he could give to the pony that deserved so much better than she received. He paid for it to be ensorcelled with a preservation spell. The idea of Aila... rotting... on her way home was too much to bear. Silver followed after the cart that held it as it was delivered to the boat, and watched as Aila was loaded into the last bed she'd ever know.
"Did you want to say anything before we seal it up?" asked the cat. His tone was gentle and genuine, and Silver smiled at the small kindness.
Shei rushed forward and put her hooves on her dead sister, wailing inarticulately for a moment before she began to sing a soft song in a language Silver didn't know. The feeling poured into it blurred Silver's vision as he fell victim to his own emotions again, and all he knew was misery. He felt a bite at his ear and looked up sharply. Shei was standing beside him. "Do you wish to speak to her?"
Silver rose on shaking legs and approached the casket, looking at her peaceful face. His chest tightened and he felt an overwhelming fury. Where were his rainbows? Why couldn't he get rainbows just once, for someone else? Did she deserve to die for his mistakes? He didn't realize that he was speaking this all out loud, muttering hotly under his breath. He noticed at the end, and flushed with embarrassment and new rage. He slammed a hoof into the floor, leaving a ding in the lumber. "This isn't how it should be! I'm sorry, Aila. I'm so sorry. I fucked it all up. I fucked up your life. I'm just a pathetic loser that can't even stop from bringing destruction wherever I go. Dave the Destroyer, that's what my father used to call me, and he wasn't wrong. Everything I touch. I'm sorry!" He sank beside the coffin, eyes squeezed shut against the tears that flowed regardless.
He felt something soft brush against his side. Celestia had moved beside him and softly pet him with a wing. "This failure is mine, Silver Stars, you can't have it. I accept all responsibility."
Silver scrambled clumsily to his hooves. "Easy to say that! What can you do about it? Can you bring her back?"
Celestia shook her head. "It doesn't work that way. She is beyond us, returned to the great song that birthed us all. We should honor her part, and carry her in our hearts."
Celestia's words did little to cool the raging hurt in Silver, and he turned away. "Seal it up. I don't want to see her anymore."
Celestia set a hoof on Silver's withers. "You can't say goodbye like this. Face her, and send her off with the same love you had for her in life."
Silver cringed, and slowly turned to face the still and calm form of Aila Windsong. "I... I can't chase you where you've gone. I can't be your master. You're free now, Aila. You're free to run wherever your hooves take you." He stopped, tears overwhelming him again. "I hope you're happy, wherever you are." Did ponies have a religion? He didn't know, but it wouldn't help him at that moment. "Goodbye..."
Shei sagged against a wall, her own tears flowing freely. The lid of the casket was brought into place, removing Aila from view, and soon it was sealed, ready for transport. The cat departed with final well wishes.
Silver looked up at the sealed wooden box, where once a loved pony was, and he trembled, breathing harshly and erratically as the finality of it all kept washing over him. "Why can't we do anything?"
Celestia rest a wing over Silver. "I have long asked this question. The centuries come and go. The best and brightest, and the simplest and kindest, they are all taken away from me. Some harshly, and some so softly it was as if they simply moved away, but in the end, they are just as gone, and I cannot follow them. I'm sorry, Silver. I am more sorry than you likely believe, but I am sorry."
Shei sat beside the two, looking between them with a soft tremble of her own, teeth clenching. "I... I am the one that encouraged her. I fed the poison to her. It was my hoof that dealt death to her, smiling all the while. 'You are his favorite, he won't mind you eating some,' I said. 'He won't be angry at you in any way that you won't enjoy, trust me!'" She sagged to the wood with a shuddering sob. "Trust me! That's what I said. Look where my word has landed her! Oh Aila, I should have been the one to die. You saved yourself for a prince, and I threw myself away to some..." Her words failed and she wept, body trembling with the power of her regret. "I killed my sister!"