Shards of Hatred

by ChaoticHarmony

Adulation

--—Shards of Hatred ----

---- Chapter IV: Adulation ----

---

“Wait, what?” Shining Armor looked up to his wife, who was at the moment glaring at him from the top of her throne.

"You heard what I said, Shining Armor." After a few moments, within which Shining Armor simply stared up to her in shocked silence, Cadance sighed. "I told you that you are to see your sister and her friends in Ponyville." The Crystal Princess regally nodded, as if that instantly settled the matter. Shining Armor couldn't help but sigh, bringing a raised eyebrow from his wife.

"Cadance," he started up the steps only to be stopped by a blue wall of magic, "what about protecting the Empire? What about keeping order in the city?" His horn glowed briefly as he teleported past her shield into the air beside her, his hoof lifting up to brush her cheek lightly. "What about keeping you happy?" Another wall of magic halted his attempts to secure a kiss from the mare he loved.

"You know perfectly well that the empire has more than enough protection at the moment, what with the Crystal Heart being recently charged with love." Cadance flashed him a knowing smile as he peeled his lips away from the magical barrier and harrumphed. "You also know that the Crystal Ponies would never cause a riot or anything like that, given their all-too-recent escape from King Sombra." A delicate shudder ran through Cadance's body at the memory of barely eluding the dark unicorn's shadowy grasp.

Taking advantage of her distraction, Shining Armor ducked around the blue wall and wrapped his hoof around the alicorn. "But what about you? I don't want you to be up here all alone."

With a snort, Cadance pushed him away. "Oh please, Shining. I have an entire empire to keep me company." Wrapping a wing around the unicorn's shoulder, she led him over to the balcony and stared out over the land she ruled. "What would really make me happy is you going out to see your sister and her friends again."

"But—“ Cadance silenced his protest with a strict glare.

"Didn't you tell your sister after we defeated Sombra that you should go see her when the fate of Equestria isn't hanging in the balance?" The stallion felt the feeling of defeat course through him as his wife gestured out to the land below them. "This looks like it isn't being threatened, nor has there been any news about threats anyplace else."

Heaving another resigned sigh, Shining Armor looked up to his wife with weary eyes. "You know, I hate it when you do that."

The alicorn blinked innocently at him. "Do what?"

"Use your brain and stuff." His mumble was met with a womanly giggle as the words escaped his reluctant lips.

"Oh, I know." Cadance leaned in and kissed him once before pulling away. "Well, now that is all sorted, I have a carriage ready to take you out to the train station."

"You already knew you were going to win didn't you?" Shining Armor’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at the innocently smiling face of his wife.

The innocent smile turned into one of mischievousness. "Of course I did.”

---

Soon after he had kissed his wife one last time, Shining Armor found himself standing on the newly crystallized platform alongside a few other tourists who all possessed a regretful air about them. As he tried to comprehend exactly how he had gotten here so fast, the unicorn cast his eyes about the platform to his fellow platform-waiters. Shining almost felt sorry for the ponies that were soon to return to their dull, pastel, not-crystal lifestyles. Almost. His friendly smile soon dissipated after they had stared at him with those dejected eyes. Man, I don’t know why these ponies are so sad about leaving this place. The unicorn shook his head confusedly. I mean, it’s nice and all… but I like to not have to worry about breaking something at every step. The beaming face of his wife, glistening in the setting sun, drifted into his mind without his call, small cracks spider-webbing across her perfect visage.

Shaking away the disturbing image, Shining stepped over to one of the happier-looking pegasi and tapped her shoulder, only to wince as her violet eyes filled with tears at the sight of him. So much for happier…

“Oh! Hello, Prince Shining Armor.” The named pony had to suppress the urge to pick the mare up out of her bow as she dipped down low. “How are you?” The big, sad eyes found his once more, tears slowly overflowing their lids as the pony so-obviously thought about his luck to be able to stay here in the Crystal Empire forever.

“I’m doing well. At least, I was, until my wife sent me away.” His grumble was only meant to be for his ears alone, but the mare perked up in shock. A hoof reached under his chin and pulled his face upward to stare directly into the suddenly eager eyes.

“Oh? She sent you away? Whatever for?” Shining Armor couldn’t help but sigh and push her hoof away at the badly concealed hope that the mare possessed in her voice. The pegasus’ wings drooped down from where they had been flared out, showing the pony’s disappointment in action. “Oh, you don’t wish to tell me. I understand, martial matters aren’t something we share with everypony.” Even though there was more concern there, he could still detect the hope that was sitting just under it.

“Oh no, it wasn’t anything like that.” Even though the pony’s reaction was known to him, Shining Armor couldn’t help but wince as the eyes returned to the platform floor. “I mean, I just have to go see my sister and stuff.” After a moment of awkward silence, he kicked a bit of dirt from the edge of the station floor before continuing. “She’s Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic.” Shining couldn’t keep the swelling pride that he felt towards his sister out of his voice as he said the words.

“That’s nice.” After a few more moments of silence and standing there, Shining turned away from the obviously uncaring mare and moved back to where he had been standing before. Just as he stopped and about-faced to stare directly into the air above the train tracks, a whistle cut sharply through the oppressive quiet.

It was hard for Shining to not seem too eager about the train’s arrival, but he was still the first one aboard the car after the wave of arriving tourists disembarked. As he settled onto one of the padded seats and stared out at the camera-waving ponies, a smile worked its way across his face despite his not wanting to leave. At least I can go see Twily again. Who knows… maybe it will be good to get away for a while. A nice, stress-free week out in Ponyville.

Shining’s gaze, cast out from behind the thick windows of his passenger car, yielded him a beautiful view of the grassy plains and rocky hills that all dotted the unclaimed land between the Crystal Empire and Equestria’s normal borders. One day, he thought with a small smile, we’ll get ponies here. One day. A particularly large bump that was caused by who-knows-what bounced him into the window, muzzle first. As Shining Armor rubbed his throbbing nose with a hoof, he couldn’t help but smile. Well, not today at least. He shivered at the thought of disobeying his wife for something so foalish as claiming land for the Empire; land that was in the middle of nowhere.

As he turned his head again, the grayish-brown color of the Ponyville Station poked itself into the corner of his vision. “Oh, we’re h— Pinkie Pie?” The unicorn pressed his hooves up to the glass in an attempt to trace the pink blur as it bounced around at the same speed of the train. “What are you doing out here? Did you know I was coming down for a visit?”

Pinkie Pie’s lips moved in a blur as she fought to keep pace with the train, distorting whatever they were saying into nothing that was comprehendible. Soon the squeaking of the breaks cut into their limited conversation, bringing an obvious frustration to the pink mare, who then leapt away with her hooves waving angrily in the air during every bounce. As he slowly came to a stop, Shining looked out of his window with a small degree of shock jolting through him. The rest of his sister’s friends all stood on the platform, looking expectantly at the doors that soon opened to let him and the rest of the travelers out of the train. Each of their faces, all holding varying degrees of unhappiness, brightened slightly as they saw him.

“So… what’s up girls?” That was when a wall of super-fast-moving pink pony crashed into him.

Author's Note: Hey guys, I know it's been FOREVER since I've posted a chapter update... Real life kinda took me away for a while. Also, I know this chapter is really short... but it's all I can do right now.

News: I'm going to be writing a comedy one-shot as a little break from this story. An update will hopefully come out next week

Comments

[Gak]

A wonderful chapter, regardless of the length

[Juria]

Hey, better late than never!

[Mossflower]

great chapter, even though it was short.
i don't know who i feel the most sorry for:
cadence; who has to force her husband to go see his little sister
shining armor; who's being forced to leave to see his sister (don't really feel sorry for him...douchebag...)
twilight; her brother has to be forced to go see before doing so...

[ChaoticHarmony]

1759457 Well, to be fair, to go see his sister, he'd have to leave his wife RIGHT AFTER she gained control of her newly-formed empire.

This story takes place RIGHT after the S3 premier.

I'd be worried about leaving her too.

[Mossflower]

1759459
yea, okay then, ill feel a little sorry for him...

[ray10k]

Shining, you just forgot rule number one:
Ponyville is trouble.

[PlaguePaladin]

GAMECHALOO GET MY BOW!
i shall get your bow old chap along with applebertie!
I SHOOT A MOFO IN THE THROAT WITH MY BOW!
now what new magic is it? description says that she holds the fate of a new magic...

[ChaoticHarmony]

1759839 Well.... that'll be revealed here soon....

[rdox]

Wait a minute, I haven't liked this story yet!!! There you go, now that's fixed.

[FlygonPony]

Well, lets see what's going on in Ponyville. Twi must surely be in trouble due to the last chapter. Lets wait and see.....

[Ms_Fruit_Bat]

1775117 Just search through stories with nightmare moon and twilight sparkle in the character slots you should be able to find some.

[calm melody]

can't wait for the next chapter CH! this is interesting

[WithRegardsTo]

OK, I just read the first four chapters. Is it just me, or are things escalating very quickly, with lots of details being left out. I feel like a whole freaking ton of stuff just happened, and we're merely getting little snapshots of it. But I ask, is it just me, because it might be just me. I don't know. I'll keep reading though. I might have to re-read this fic later though. it's possible just not having read so many fics lately, that i'm losing focus.

[TempesttheDragnix]

I just read this entire chapter in Equestrian.(I had to learn it on the spot! ) It was legen-

Wait for it........

-dary!!

And also, this story gets 5/5 mustaches!

-Tempest the Dragnix

[DarthWill3]

I can understand Shinning Armor's divided loyalties between his wife and sister. Always hard to leave one to see the other.
The girls don't seem to be a bit cheerful today.
Pinkie, you are SO random!

[King of Kings]

2975869
Family, blood-related family that is, always comes first.

[Widow Peak]

2459368 Nope, you are right. The transition from one scene to the next leaves a lot to be desired...