The Ballad of the Crystal Empire
A storm raged outside of the castle. Canterlot called for rain, and its weather team obliged. Canterlot needed the rain but the little filly cowering under her covers could have done with out the thunder or the lightning. Cadence was, at the time, about eight years old. Eight and a half she would correct others when they mistakenly only said eight. She had been an alicorn for only a few months and had lived in the Canterlot castle with her aunt Celestia just as long.
She liked Canterlot, and she liked Celestia very much but part of her missed her old home. It was a small little village full of earth ponies. She was the only Pegasus there, but she always felt at home. She always felt loved. She always felt like she belonged.
In Canterlot, on the other hoof, she felt like everypony expected great things from her. She felt like no pony really saw her any more. They just saw a young alicorn, and that worried the young filly. Aunty Celestia was training her to use her new found magic and other things daily. Cadence was even given the title of princess, and was told she would soon have the power that the title came with.
“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza…” She muttered quietly to herself hugging her pony bear tightly. “It’s an awful big name…” She said to the pony bear looking into its little black eyes. She didn’t really like the title, she didn’t really like her name much either. She preferred Cadence. It was a short seven letters, it flowed easier, and she thought it sounded very pretty . Princess Mi Amore Cadenza just felt too big, too heavy of a name for the little filly.
She hadn’t appeared to the public yet. Aunty Celestia said, “Not everypony will be happy about a new princess.” At least that’s what Cadence herd. Aunty Celestia always explained things with big words and long stories. Aunty Celestia had a lot of stories, and even more big words. Cadence liked the stories, but she could do with out the big words.
She held the pony bear out in front of her, “What if they don’t like me Shiny?“ She asked.
Shiny was what she had named her little stuffed friend. She wasn’t exactly sure what he was made of, but it was soft, and warm, and shined brightly. Almost like it was made out of plush crystal. The notion of a soft crystal baffled the new princess, but it was the best way she could explain it. Cadence frankly didn’t care what Shiny was made out of. She loved him very much, he had always protected her, and he had always reminded her of home.
The storm continued to rage on outside while Shiny gave no reply to the young princess. “What if I disappoint them? What if I’m not what they expected?” She sniffled a little bit hugging the pony bear tightly. “Oh Shiny I just want to go home.” Lightning struck the ground outside causing a massive thunder clap. “Eek!” Cadence squeaked out fleeing under the covers.
She lit her horn with magic so she can see the pony bear in the darkness. “Shiny…I think we should go sleep with Aunty Celestia…” She put the pony bear in her mouth and trotted out of her room, down the hall, and into the other princesses chamber. “Aunty Celestia…” She said meekly in the darkness.
“Yes Luna?” Celestia answers back, she sounded tired, and a bit worried.
Cadence looked a bit confused, she had never herd of a Luna. Let alone another pony who looked or sounded like her. She knew it was dark, and new that it was late but Luna was certainly a silly thing for her aunty to call her.
“Aunty Celestia…who’s Luna?” Cadence asked trotting into the room. She’d decided on trying to levitate Shiny. It seemed like a good idea. It freed up her mouth so she could talk to Celestia, and she got in a little magic practice too. Cadence lit her horn to acuminate the room but, unable to really mustard performing the two spells at once no real light came from her horn. Just the faint glow of her levitation spell.
She yawned loudly. An act, Cadence thought was very unbecoming of a princess but, she let it slide. “Just an old friend dear. I haven’t seen her in a very long time…” Celestia said lighting her own horn as Cadence let Shiny drop to the ground, she was a very sleepy little princess. “I miss her, and in the light you looked a bit like her.“
It was still an odd thing for her aunty to say, Cadence thought.
Celestia tucked Cadence under her wing. “Now then, what’s wrong sweetie?”
What was wrong? Where to begin would be the better question. Cadence didn’t want Celestia to know how afraid she was. Princess aren’t scared, she thought. Princess are suppose to be brave, and pretty, and good leaders. Little Cadence wasn’t any of those things.
Thunder clapped outside. Little Cadence was afraid of thunder, that meant she wasn’t brave. She had goofy looking teeth and her main wasn’t nearly as lovely as her aunts. That meant she wasn’t very pretty, and most of all she wasn’t a good leader. She didn’t know what made a good leader but she sure wasn’t it. Cadence began to shake a little as the storm continued to rage on.
Celestia pulled the little filly under wing a bit more, “Scared of the storm?” She chuckled a little bit. Cadence nodded vigorously. The storm certainly wasn‘t helping her fear subside. “I think I have a story to fix that. Would you like to hear it?” Auntie Celestia always had a story. They always explained things and had big words. Cadence liked them all the same.
“Yes please…” The scared little filly mummers out as she snuggled into her aunts wing. It made her feel safe.
“Alright,” Celestia began. “a long time ago in a kingdom that shined like light. This kingdom was so bright because it was made of crystal, because of this it was called--”
The Crystal Empire.
Author's Note
No this doesn't mean I've stopped working on Dual Melody. In fact they are in the same universe and go a bit hand in hand. I had originally intended for this to be a one shot but from the looks of it it's going to be a few chapters. Not long chapters like I'm trying with Dual Melody but short little chapters like this. Cadence and Celestia are a bit of a framing device. Over all I like where I'm going with this and just want to get this bit of head cannon out there. Hope you like it.
