To Die a Hero...
When the first shed of light beamed over me, a mass of tears welled the empire as I walked through with many of my friends begrudgingly escorting me to my final end. Twilight with one chain in her magical grasp, tender and gentle with pulling me by the throat.
Celestia and Luna, Mom and Auntie, holding the chains to my arms whilst the tears they held back fell as shards of crystal. Not even the sniffle Aunt Luna gave made it to the crystal ground as what it should be, for the magic crystallized it within a blink of an eye.
As for Cadance and Shining Armor...well...
The skies were glum, grey and lifeless, a canvas of regret and sorrow as I watched the hearts of many break into agonizing torture of my bravery.
I suppose introductions would be fitting, but why give so when the end is upon me? I've lived a good life, a wonderful time of love, friendship, family, and many other things that I cannot detail.
I'd be a fool to lie about my untimely finish, death waiting at the doorstep of afterlife with his skeletal hand reaching out to me. His job is probably back into balance since my eternity is finally going to cease and desist.
But to save my betrayer for her unique power... I must lie.
I never wanted to be this man or to be in this rotten position that is out of Celestia's hoof. But to take upon the responsibility of an empire is something I cannot be an heir to, for it would destroy the power that protects it and its subjects.
My home, The Crystal Empire, is surrounding me with every loving subject regretting the laws that were made by the original Alicorn of this world. Cadance' mother, Queen Aphrodite, stood on the balcony of her prosperous kingdom with the High Council behind her.
Kings and Queens of many kingdoms watched as I slowly approached the ending of my day. The blade was sharp and stainless, wielded by the one that I once called a best friend...a brother.
His betrayal is my punishment and last resort to save The Crystal Empire from a tragedy that would destroy them. If I was to become the hero I have always wanted to be, then I have to step forward into the valley of shadows and endure the lies that are for the good of this kingdom.
The Magic of Friendship cannot save me this time, nor can the magic of The Crystal Empire, nor can the diplomatic powers of my mother and aunt.
And they know it...
"This isn't right!" I heard to my left. I turned away and watched the owner of the voice push herself through the crowd and lining of crystal guards. Her shades fell and broke in half, revealing the everlasting beauty of red, before she fell to the clutches of five guards holding her by her limps and midsection.
Vinyl, my first friend in Equestria. She never showed such emotion to me before, her eyes never becoming so red in horror of the actions I am taking in order to protect this world from probable darkness.
"You can't do this to him! It isn't his fault, it was her that betrayed us all!" she pointed at my former queen, my former wife...Cadance. "She deserves to die for this. He's just lying to protect her from-"
"Vinyl!" I regrettably snapped, causing her to go silent as guards dragged her back into the crowd. Her tears continued to pour while my lifeless breath whispered through the winds.
She whimpered, gritting her teeth while Octavia took ahold her. "That's enough Vinyl." I exhaled, my spirit to go on no longer with me. "What's done is done. It cannot be changed, nor will it because The Crystal Empire needs her. I cheated on Cadance, I had an affair, so stop trying to protect me when I'm the one at fault." I lied ever so boldly; everyone but most of the High Council knowing the truth.
"But...but you're not...y-you're-"
"Enough, Vinyl. Just go back to Octavia and be done with it!"
Celestia and Luna nodded in agreement of this, albeit rather slowly and regrettably. Twilight just stood in place with an even tighter grip on the chain, not to hurt me but to clench tightly onto what it is she can hold for the moment. Until my need to feel her connection one last time drove what little energy I have left to give one last show of love.
Twilight, my friend, a sister I never had, and yet...
"Twilight." I cooed to the sobbing alicorn, brushing my hand across her matted cheek. She threw herself onto me, nearly breaking my balance with the force of her tackle into my chest.
We stopped a few feet from the stage, holding each other so close that we practically matched a lover's embrace. He muzzle dug into my neck, forming a reddened imprint of her aggressive love for me. I stood in place with both hands free enough to comfort her, to hold her, to place my first and last kiss to her forehead.
The others, the element wielders, just stood around the stage with allowance from the High Council. And though they were stronger about this than Twilight, I could see tears in each and every one of them.
Even Rainbow Dash...My Most Loyal Friend and Sister.
"I can't." Twilight cried quietly, choking on her emotions. "Why does it have to be this way? Why can't the High Council change their mind? Why can't they just make you live as a peasant or slave?"
"It's their world to rule, their law-" I sniffled and wiped a tear from my eye, the shakiness now clear in my voice. "-And it is the only way to save Cadance and The Crystal Empire."
"But this isn't right! You don't deserve to-" I squeezed her harder into my chest, muffling the start of a long and treacherous cry that reverberated across the entire kingdom.
I didn't want to leave her like this, not after everything we went through as the best of friends. Salvation, however, meant sacrificing myself for the sake of others.
If I don't then Cadance will be executed, and The Crystal Empire will be without the one that can control the Crystal Heart.
As much as I want to see her die, my heart still beats with true love for her. And just thinking about the risks makes me tremble in fear of what could happen in the future.
Cadance, oh how I hope so much for you to learn your lesson in love. I hope that you have your true love again, your Shining Armor, and I hope that your betrayal to me will make you realize how your life has come with a price.
How love has come with a price...
"Please don't do this." Twilight whispered, begging as Aphrodite signaled the guards to make her resume the walk. "Please admit the truth, please don't die for us." she whimpered.
I wiped away her tears and stared into her majestic, purple eyes, finding the spark in her to be so strong that it hurts. "No matter what happens, now matter where I go-" I proceeded to cry with her while the guards tapped her shoulder. "I will always be with you, I will always be watching you, and I will always be your second B.B.B.F.F."
She hugged me one last time, before licking my cheek. "And you will always be in my heart." she said somberly.
Once again I was forced to stand and approach the upcoming kill, but not before I turned around and took my family into my arms for the last time. I held mom and Aunt Luna, allowing a long needed hug to be basked in one more time. I pecked their cheeks and allowed them to cry into my shoulders.
I traded them loving glances. "I'll always be with you both in spirit." I mumbled meekly whilst the frustration from the High Council forced Aphrodite to fly down and be sure that Shining Armor is ready to do the unthinkable.
The True Goddess of Love glared at her daughter, ashamed of her and the stallion that she chose over our marriage. Her cerulean eyes burned with a passionate fire of hatred for Shining Armor, a look that hasn't been seen since the day she caught me having sex with Cadance.
Shining Armor looked away with his own set of tears, his sword now shaking in his magic grasp, unfocused by the punishment he was being given.
"Aphrodite I am begging you," he whimpered, brave enough to still see me as his best friend by holding a picture of us in his hand. "Please don't make me do this."
Aphrodite snorted angrily and glowered; her mane deflated the same as Pinkie Pies.
She said in a whisper but for all on the ground to hear. "The High Council are forcing us to do this to him, so it is only fitting that you are punished as well, seeing as how he is lying about cheating on Cadance to protect you and her."
"Mother-" was all Cadance could say before I rose to the stage. I turned to the leader of the High Council and glared at him, knowing how much of a tyrant he can be at times.
I felt no love or care for him, neither did mom and Aunt Luna, and neither did his wife.
"Alright-" he stomped his hoof, causing everyone to flinch before they turned back to me. "Let us make this quick."
"Terra." I said vehemently, spitting in vain with a bad taste in my mouth.
He glared at me from his high position in the fortress, his voice booming throughout the empire with calm and collective inquisition.
"Does the offendant have anything to say before we commence with the execution?"
"If only you knew that it was Cadance that cheated on me." I mumbled, ghosting the truth for myself. I turned away and lowered to my knees, then allowed the guards to rip off my shirt as the alicorn I cannot hate leaned into my ear.
"Don't make him do this." Cadance pleaded quietly, hugging me and nuzzling my cheek; her growing belly now touching me. "For the love of Equus, tell him the truth, tell him that I betrayed you for Shining. Let me accept the punishment, let me-"
"No," I bore my gaze into the crowd, barely acknowledging said mare. "The Crystal Empire needs you, Equestria needs you...our unborn foal needs you."
"The offendant is charged with the act of lechery, adultery, and conspiring in an affair with a commoner." Terra started. He cleared his throat and continued, stopping all of what Cadnace had left to say. "Such things are not seen so roughly in the laws of nobles and lower class citizens. However, for being the former husband of Queen Mi Amore Cadenza and former king of The Crystal Empire, these are crimes seen as treasonous acts against Equestria. How do you plead?"
I looked up and pondered how things could have been if I had not married Cadance, if I had not been the one to comfort her when she divorced Shining Armor. The easy life I could have had is gone, never to be given a second time. The friends I made are now shaking their heads, even Applejack, and pleading for me to answer truthfully.
To their dismay...
"Guilty on all accounts."
"No!" The Mane Six shouted and tried to stop this, only to find themselves held back in Aphrodite's magic.
"Very well," I watched Shining Armor cry up to High Council King, eyes watering and lip quivering. "Shining Armor, you may proceed."
Thus I waited for my former brother to raise the blade to me. He grunted with each step closer to his mark, resisting in mind and soul to touch me with the sword I got him for his birthday last month. His helmet fell off after he leaned down and said the prayer I requested in the dungeons last night.
That much I can say is the most respect he's given to me, even if it is against his religion.
"God," he mumbled weakly, the blade now slowly rising. "Guide this spirit to your heavenly embrace, cast away the evils that await on the other side and guide him through the Valley of The Shadows. Help him find his way to you, make him see no evil, make him hear no evil, but m-most of all-" he started to crack under the pressure. "Make it so he, your returning child, will watch over Equestria as a guardian angel."
And on that note...I sang the song I made overnight, knowing the last note in my voice will be remembered and cherished by Vinyl.
I started with Twilight and others...
"Oh misty eyes of such sweet magic, staring into me with many things that I do not understand."
"Please guide me away from the loneliness, steer me from the shadows of hatred."
"Take me away from the bitterness, from the sadness, and show me a world that I cannot see in front of me. Give me a friendship that will forever last, give me a friendship that will never be destroyed."
I turned to mom and Aunt Luna as the blade rose to its highest point.
"And let the evil be pushed away before it takes ahold of me. Allow the light and the darkness to hold me, to keep me safe and secure in their hold."
"Hear me well, hear me good. Oh Sun and Moon...call me your own, call me yours before I am taken, and show me a love that will never die."
Everyone broke down to their haunches or bellies, drowning the crystal ground with their sorrows. I turned to Cadance and finally gave my last piece to her, believing that it will sink deeply into her mind.
"Oh misty eyes of sweet kindness, give me all these things, give me what I am so belittle of. And if you do then let me know what I must do to keep it close to me."
"I'm sorry...brother." Shining whispered.
"For I know that love...has a...price."
(SCHLICK!)
The End.