The entire Crystal Empire was in mourning. Cadence didn't even have to influence their emotions. Everypony who had known Shining Armor had loved and trusted him.
But none had loved him so deeply or trusted so fully as Cadence. He had trusted her back. And now he was dead.
She looked down at the crumpled papers, discarded attempts to convey the horrible message, and she laid her head down. How could she tell Twilight that her brother was dead?
Worse, how could she tell her that it was her fault?
A sudden explosion of purple made her look up. She shot to her hooves and lit her horn, expecting an attack.
She wasn’t expecting Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight rushed up, apparently unaffected by the magical drain of the teleport. “Cadence, I had…” Her voice trailed off as she saw Cadence’s expression. “I had a terrible nightmare…” she finished quietly. She sat next to Cadence. “It was a vision, wasn’t it? Luna said it could be.” She took a shaky breath. “So… Shining Armor; he’s…”
Cadence wrapped her forelegs around Twilight’s shoulders, and finally, for the first time, the dam cracked. She slumped to the floor, despondently sobbing. Shining Armor was dead. Dead. It was all her fault. She couldn’t save him. She had failed.
Twilight buried her head in Cadence’s shoulder, unable to hold back her own tears, trying to show comfort that she didn’t feel herself.
Within the hour, the rest of Twilight’s friends had arrived, with Celestia and Luna following soon after. Twilight had taken them aside to tell them all. Nopony seemed to be taking it well.
Without Twilight, Cadence wandered the halls, not paying attention to where she was going.
She squinted as she noticed that her breathing seemed to be a bit louder. She looked over to see that Celestia had silently joined her. “Are you sure you’re fine?”
“I’m sure, Auntie,” Cadence said firmly.
Celestia continued walking, but didn’t seem entirely convinced. “Twilight has expressed desires to stay after the funeral, just to make sure you’re fine.”
“And what did you say?” Cadence asked.
“Do you think I could stop her?” Celestia asked gently.
Cadence chuckled. Twilight had always been headstrong. If she wanted to do something, she usually did. “Then I guess I’ll order a guest room made up,” she said.
* * *
Twilight tried to help me. Really, she did. She must have been grieving so much, too; but she managed to organize her friends and set up his funeral and everything.
I, however, never quite managed to do anything. It’s a good thing ponies usually don’t wear clothes, because sometimes I didn’t even remember to put my ponyshoes on; I would have had a terrible time trying to get outfits coordinated. I’m fairly certain that I would have starved myself to death without Twilight’s constant efforts.
Eventually, I had to pull my mask back on and convince her that I was going to be ok. She couldn’t hold my hoof forever, after all; she had her own life to get back to, and I’m certain staying in a place with constant reminders of her brother wasn’t healthy for her.
I wasn't going to be ok, though. I would never be. It just wasn't my destiny.
I’ll freely admit, Shining’s death really messed me up. It took all my energy to keep that facade up for Twilight, and as soon as the train she was on was out of sight, I broke down again. I even had to be carried back to my room. I think it took nearly a month before I could at least pretend to be normal. During that time, I’m fairly certain I nearly drove out all the castle workers, and the ones that did stay stayed out of fear of me more than loyalty to me. But I didn’t really care.
* * *
There came a gentle rapping on the door. “Your highness?” a crystal pony attendant started.
“What do you want?” Cadence demanded, not raising her head from her forelegs.
“You… you haven’t held court in almost two weeks, your highness. The ponies are-”
Now she looked up, with anger blazing in her eyes. “Leave me alone!” Cadence roared as her horn blazed with dark magic. She pulled up terror, and was oddly calmed by the sight of the crystal pony’s coat darkening, her ears pinning, her eyes widening as her pupils shrank, and the uncontrollable trembling that seemed to overtake her body. She managed a weak bow before stepping backwards into the hallway, and as soon as she thought she was out of sight, she turned and sprinted, her ponyshoes clacking and echoing through the empty corridor.
Cadence dropped her head back down. It didn’t matter. She was just one pony. She’d be back. And even if she didn’t come back, there were plenty more just like her.
* * *
In total, it took me about six months, but I did manage to pull myself together and I did my best to help my crystal ponies again. Economic growth remained stable, at least. But something inside me had cracked, and it wasn’t healing.
Celestia can resist it, the pull of the dark magic. She's been alive long enough that she's pretty much immune to anything that could influence her for evil. Luna, less so... but still powerful in her own right. Now, Twilight... Twilight could resist it. She's just inherently that good, that pure. The first time she came to the Crystal Empire, I didn’t even worry about her falling prey to it; I knew she would be able to overcome its influence through her sheer goodness.
And then there's me.
My family situation doesn’t come up often. Most ponies just accept that I’m Celestia’s niece and leave it at that. That, of course, isn’t entirely true. To be completely honest, though, I don’t know everything about where I came from. I used to be a pegasus, I remember that. My earth pony parents found me alone in the woods, and they adopted me and raised me as their own. Being a daring filly, I went out, I befriended a witch and Celestia recognized my power, and the next thing I knew, behold, behold, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza cometh.
Did she know, I wonder? Could she sense it? My power? My heritage?
Did she know that I was directly descended from King Sombra?
And did she know that I had inherited his madness?