As the sun set over the Crystal empire, its light cast over the buildings made everything sparkle and shine. Princess Cadence, ruler of said empire, loved these moments. After a long hard day, it felt good to sit down, relax and watch the sun set on the empire. The empire that she'd help save from the darkness that was Sombra. A sudden touch brought her out of her thoughts and she smiled as her husband wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"Hey there honey." He greeted then he planted a kiss on her cheek. "How's your day been?"
Cadence turned and returned the kiss on his lips. "Its been great now that you're here." She said. "And how about your's?"
Shining Armor settled in next to his wife. "Oh you know. Training our new recruits and what not."
"Hmm." Cadence hummed in agreement and leaned against her husband as they both watched the sunset. After taking the throne, they were very surprised to find that the imperial army was missing a generous portion of the house guard. Stranger still was the fact that nopony knew where they went or what happened to them. They were just...gone.
Though to be fair, the crystal ponies still had gaps in their memories and Cadence suspected that those ponies may have been outside of the empire when it vanished. Their positions still needed to be filled anyways and the Princesses were more than happy to help. Thus Shining was training new recruits from Canterlot.
"So how are the recruits coming along?" She asked.
"They're coming along rather nicely." Shining informed his wife. "It took a bit of work, but soon enough they'll be ready to gaurd you when I'm not around."
"Oh good." Cadence giggled. "But enough of business. Let's just sit here and enjoy the rest of the sunset."
Shining Armor smiled. "Now that I can agree with." As Celestia's sun dipped below the horizon, the couple sat there in each others embrace and it seemed as though nothing could spoil the moment.
✴✴✴✴✴✴
Cadence recoiled a bit against the bitter cold wind blowing against her. 'Where am I?' She wondered. But the world around her was blurry and out of focus so all she could see was white with small splashs and patches of green and grey. It was enough to give her a slight headache, but that was quickly forgotten when her gaze settled down at her hooves. This time she jumped back in shock and slight horror.
"No! It can't be?!?!" She said in shock. Her voice echoed oddly, but she didn't notice. Her gaze was locked on what was before her. Something she didn't expect to see ever again.
There laying in the snow was a long, curved red horn. Some ponies might think it was just some sort of spike, but Cadence recognized it for what it was. King Sombra's horn. And that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was the horn was leaking a pitch black smoke-like substance that was forming into the rough intangable shape of half a head.
'He's reforming.' She realized as a pit of fear dug itself in her stomach. 'He's going to come back!'
No sooner had she thought that then the scene was washed away and replaced by crystal blue. Literally. It felt as though she was now inside a crystal. And she wasn't alone. She couldn't see anypony, but she could feel somepony's presence nearby.
"H-hello?" She called out. "Is somepony there?"
"He will return." A kind and musical mare's voice could be heard all around her. "You must prepare, but not in the way you think you should."
"What do you mean?" Cadence demanded confused. "How are we supposed to prepare?"
A feeling of sadness was felt from all around. "The truth must be known for all to see, so that a lost soul may be saved."
"What truth? What lost soul?!" Cadence was getting more and more confused. "And who are you!?"
"A friend. And somepony who needs you're help to restore the one I love."
Cadence considered these words. "Where would you have me start?"
"Start with the time before Sombra." There was an odd snapping jerk and suddenly Cadence found herself staring up at the darkened ceiling on her bedroom, her husband snoring softly beside her.
For a moment she just lay there reorienting herself, the vision being so vivid she actually believed she was right there. Once she steadied herself, she glanced at the clock. It was almost morning anyways, so there was no point in going back to sleep. May as well get started in her research. Then a realization interrupted her train of thought. As much as she wanted to research everything she could, it wasn't possible for her to divide her time between this and helping restore the empire.
'But, I know somepony who'd love something like this.' She thought as a smile crept across her face. 'And I haven't seen my favorite sister-in-law in a while too.'
With this in mind, she threw off her blankets and climbed out of bed. At her motion, Shining stirred and blinked the sleep from his eyes just in time to see his wife moving towards the door.
"Cadie?" He mumbled sleepily. "What's wrong?"
Cadence smiled gently. "I'll tell you later, I promise. But right now, I need to write a letter."
✴✴✴✴✴✴
As the sun rose in the morning, Twilight stretched and opened the window to take a deep breath of morning air. As much as she enjoyed studying all night, nothing really beat a rejuvenating breath of fresh morning air. As the sun climbed higher and higher and the world brightened, a shape began approaching from a distance against the sun. Twilight squinted as the form grew closer and closer until she was able to make out what, or rather who, it was.
"Ditzy!" She greeted the mailmare. "Good morning! And isn't it a little early to be doing the rounds isn't it?" She asked half jokingly, but deep inside she was a little worried that something had happened and briefly hoped she was just out for an early morning flight. But the presence of her mailbag quickly shattered that illusion.
"Morning Twi!" Ditzy Doo Whooves greeted back. "Normally, yeah I'd be too early for the rounds, but there's a letter here for you that's marked 'urgent' and we of the Equestrian Postal Service like to make sure letters get to their owners when they need to." Ditzy paused for a beat. "Also I was the one in the office when it came in so, here you go!"
Ditzy then reached into her bag and pulled out the letter in question. Twilight suppressed a frown of worry as she took it. Instead she thanked Ditzy and gave her a few bits for her trouble before she left. Only when the mailmare left and she was in her home did she also herself to scowl in worry. When she saw that it was from Cadence, her worry only grew. Without a moments hesitation, she practically ripped the letter open and read. The next instant, Spike found himself getting dragged out of bed by a worried Twilight.
"Twalite? Whaaa-?" He slurred sleepily before he was interrupted.
"Pack our bags Spike. We're heading to the Crystal Empire." Was all Twilight said before galloping out of the library at high speed to find her friends, leaving behind a severely confused and sleepy baby dragon rubbing his eyes.
"Wha jush happin?" He wondered as he glanced at the partially opened door.
Author's Note
And there's the beginning. If you've read Daughter of the Unicorn King, you will know what the truth is, and that's fine. The whole point of the story is for the Mane Six to learn about the truth.
This story was written with permission from GhostQuill of course so I hope you enjoy this and Daughter of the Unicorn King.
