The day Crystal Hope died was not one that Amore would ever forget. The skies had poured torrents of rain upon the crystal city of Mirrormere, as though weeping themselves, for almost a full week after, delaying travelers from attending the funeral for the old queen. Amore was initially shocked, as her mentor had seemed to improve and heal some of the wounds from the Fall of Equus over the past five years, but quickly realized upon reading the elderly pegasus’ journal that the wounds had only been made fresh with the birth of her daughter.
Looking out her still rain-spattered window at the coming dawn, Amore sighs heavily. Today, her mentor would be laid to rest, just as she’d wanted to be - beside her student, Little Love, in the tomb beneath the palace.
Sighing and turning to walk back into her room, Amore looks around while not really looking at anything in particular. Somehow, the world feels… less, since Hope had passed. As if the light of the world had grown dimmer, less vibrant. Shaking her head, Amore crosses to the small table beside her spacious bed, and stares at the sole item currently occupying it.
Hope’s crown sits on a small pillow after having been polished by one of the royal jewelers, gleaming silver with blue crystals cut into faceted brilliance in the shape of her Virtue’s sigil. It was in her room for one last inspection before it was placed on Hope’s brow for the final time. The finality of that feels wrong, that if she keeps the crown in her room a bit longer, Hope will come in and ask her where she left it. That she won’t really be dead. Yet, Amore was now the Queen of the Crystal Empire, she had been for years now, but somehow she had always felt like Hope was the true Queen, the true ruler of this mountain nation. Yet, now? Now there is no hiding in her shadow, no pretending that if she messes up Hope will chide her in her grandmotherly way and then make it all better.
She is it; she is the Queen. Hope can no longer help her.
That thought, above all others terrifies her, and chills her very core as surely as the rain beyond the windows.
Her thoughts are interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Sighing heavily, Amore goes to the door, intent on telling whichever of the palace staff that had chosen that moment to knock on the door to go away and leave her alone. Opening the door, though, her annoyance fades and is quickly replaced by a sad smile.
“Auntie Amore,” a light purple foal clutching a teddy bear says, looking up at Amore. “May I come in? I… I don’t want to be alone right now.”
“Of course, Radiant,” Amore says warmly, her smile growing as she steps aside. “I… I don’t really want to be alone right now myself.”
Radiant Hope comes inside and quickly goes over to the bed, climbing up onto it and laying down so she is out of the way of Amore who closes the door and walks over to the bed herself.
The two lay on the bed together for a while, neither of them speaking. Radiant is curled up against Amore’s side, teddy bear clutched to her chest as her unfocused eyes stare at the crown resting on the nearby table.
“Is she really gone forever?” Radiant whispers to the quiet room.
“She is,” Amore replies in her own whisper. “Crystal Hope has passed into the world beyond, little Radiant.” The sound of soft sniffling causes Amore to look down at Radiant, whose eyes are now shut tightly as tears stream down her face. Leaning down, Amore nuzzles the top of Radiant’s silvery-blue maned head. “It’s alright, my dear god-child. Your mother loved you with all her heart. She will always be with you.”
“No!” Radiant sobs. “It won’t be alright… I want my mommy…” Radiant buries her face into Amore’s side and continues to sob, her godmother wrapping an arm around her and holding her close.
“I know, Radiant,” Amore whispers softly, looking once more towards the crown on the table. “I want her too…”
The rain falls lightly all around Amore as she walks at the head of the funeral procession, a long flowing black cape with it’s hood drawn up to protect her from the rain, the only visible part of her head being her horn with has a soft light glowing at it’s end. Behind her is the entire compliment of palace guards, their own armor covered by black capes like her, their helmets gleaming in what little light filtering through the grey clouds above. In the middle of the guards, upon a wagon drawn by a team of four guards, is the crystal coffin of Queen Crystal Hope.
A long trail follows behind the guards at the coffin; dignitaries and prominent citizens of not only the Crystal Empire, but also the Kingdom of Equestria, the newly established Griffin Kingdom over the sea, and the currently ruling Marquis of Prance, the Donna of Istally, Esponya’s Condesa and her consort, the Duque of Coltugal. At the head of the train of dignitaries is Star Swirl, flanked by Celestia and Luna, with his daughter all but glued to his side.
Of all those present today, Amore feels worst for Star Swirl and Radiant. Star Swirl has lost the love of his life, the companion he had sworn to protect and cherish for all his days even. Their love had been so strong that even the fall of Equus had not dimmed it. They had kept their love alive all these years, and now that light had passed from this world.
And Radiant, she had only known her mother for five years, and now she had lost her. A filly so young should never have to see their mother dead and buried, the pain clear on her face each time Amore sees her.
Amore is brought forth from her thoughts as her hooves echo upon the crystal floor of the plaza beneath the Palace. Refocusing her attention ahead of herself she sighs as she sees the large cavernous opening that leads to the royal crypts beneath the palace standing open. They have reached the final destination of the precession, after making a long circuit around the city so all of the citizens could say their goodbyes.
She stands motionless as the guards wheel the cart forward towards a small raised platform in front of the entrance. Here, the final goodbyes shall be said, and Amore has the honors of giving the eulogy.
And so she waits. Slowly, the wagon is unloaded and pulled away and the guests are seated. Star Swirl and Radiant are seated front and center, the young filly’s gold-green eyes never leaving the crystalline coffin that contains her mother’s mortal shell. As soon as the last of the mourners is seated, Amore pulls her hoof back, her crown sparkling in the dim light cast by the many torches and light spells illuminating the courtyard, and strides forward.
She stops before the coffin, and gently reaches out to place a hoof against it, closing her eyes and sighing. “I hope you are proud of me, Nana.” She then turns and looks at the assembled crowd, nodding her head once and taking a deep breath.
“Mares and Gentlestallions; Hens, and Cocks; my heart is heavy today as we mourn the passing of one of the greatest ponies this world has ever seen,” Amore starts, her voice filling the courtyard effortlessly. “Yet, it warms me to know that so many have come to see my mentor and adoptive grandmother, Queen Crystal Hope into the next world.” She gestures to herself, and then to Star Swirl and Radiant. “As I am sure it brings a small measure of comfort to her daughter, and to her husband Star Swirl.” Star Swirl smiles softly as those closest to him pat his shoulder or offer him a smile of their own. Radiant simply scoots closer into her father’s side, burying her face in his cloak to hide her crying.
“There are no words, truthfully, that I can say in this or any language to express how much Crystal Hope meant to me, and to this Empire,” Amore continues, tears forming in her own eyes, “because there are no words for the profound effect she had on me, and on all of us as a whole.” She looks up, her eyes awash with tears that dampen their usual fire. “But what can be said, is that with her passing, we have lost the last of the Equus. That with her passing, truly, we have lost our last connection to that once great empire.” She pauses for a moment to let her words sink in and the echo to fade. “Many of us, myself included, can draw our lineage back to that Empire, to cities and towns put to the torch, and stamped out in the great war that was Equus’ end. I myself hailing from Roan, the city in which Crystal Hope herself once held court.” She points back towards the coffin behind her, her eyes never leaving the crowd. “In those dark times, when the world came crashing down, she held us together as a beacon of light, of hope, when it was needed most. It is now our duty, to carry on that legacy; to bear the torch she has given to us, and to carry the banner she has left in our care.”
Amore then pauses, and looks to her left where a vase of flowers is sitting. The flowers are roses of a beautiful crystal blue which had been grown from a single cutting carried by one of Hope’s gardiners from Roan to Mirrormere. She levitates a single rose from the vase and holds it in front of herself. For a long moment she looks at it before turning towards Hope’s coffin and setting the flower down on it. “I have nothing more to say, save to promise, to her and to you all, that I will do my best to make her proud.” She lays the rose upon the coffin, then goes and takes the vacant place beside Star Swirl.
Everyone else shuffles through, laying roses upon the coffin, and then the guards lift it once more and take it down into the crypt. As they do, Amore opens her mouth and starts to sing.
A queen she was on crystal throne
In many-pillared halls of stone
With golden roof and silver floor,
And runes of power upon the door.
The light of sun and star and moon
In shining lamps of crystal hewn
Undimmed by cloud or shade of night
There shone for ever, fair and bright.
The world is grey, the mountains old,
The haven’s hearth is ashen-cold;
No harp is wrung, no hammer falls:
The darkness dwells in crystal halls;
The shadow lies upon her tomb
In Tsuyouma, in Byzantium,
But still the sunken stars appear
In dark and friendless Mirrormere;
There lies her crown in water deep,
Until Hope wakes again from sleep.
As her sung eulogy’s echoing chords fade from the air, Amore sighs heavily as she watches the doors to the crypt close, their resounding boom echoing her heart which seems to beat a little stronger for a moment at the closing. A nuzzle at her arm draws her attention down to her side, and she smiles softly at what she sees.
“There there, Radiant…” Amore says softly, pulling Hope’s daughter close and hugging her. “You should go check on your father… I am sure he needs you right now, darling.”
“Yes, Auntie Amore,” the little filly sniffles, holding Amore close for a moment longer before scampering back towards the Castle’s entrance. Amore sighs softly, watching her mentor’s foal until the door closes behind her and hides her from view.
She had sworn to Hope that she would watch over Radiant as if she were her own daughter when she had been named Radiant’s godmother, and she fully intended to keep that promise even if it killed her. Looking back towards the closed doors of the crypt, which, now that they’re closed, blend into the floor almost seamlessly, Amore closes her eyes and shakes her head. The weight of all of this, of Hope’s death, of no longer having her mentor there to assist in governing the empire she had founded… it is almost crushing.
Then, suddenly, she is pulled back to reality by a pair of wings draping over her. Opening her eyes she finds that one wing is the color of a midnight sky, the other as white and pure as fresh fallen snow. Despite her mournful thoughts, Amore cannot help but smile warmly at the owners of those wings. Even in these dark times, she can count on her two closest friends, and fellow rulers.
“We’re sorry for your loss, Amore,” Celestia speaks softly, her head bowed as she looks to Amore.
“Thank you, Celestia,” Amore replies kindly, fresh tears in her eyes as she looks towards the crypt doors. “I am honored to have been Crystal Hope’s successor.”
“We have never met anypony like her,” Luna speaks up, her tone just as mournful as Amore’s. “The world would diminish should we not see her like again.”
Amore does nothing to stop the tears that fall from her eyes at Luna’s words, allowing them simply to fall to the crystal floor beneath her hooves with soft pattering sounds. “You are right. I should very much like to meet somepony like her again, Luna.”
“Come, Amore, let us get you inside and dried off,” Celestia offers softly. “We can trade stories with Star Swirl. Together, we shall weep for this loss, and remember Hope not for the fact that she has died, but that she lived and made us all better by doing so.”
Nodding slowly, Amore stands and together with Celestia and Luna goes into the castle. She casts one final glance back as the doors close behind her, and whispers softly to herself.
“Roan has finally fallen.”