Empress Cadence of the Crystal Empire stood in her royal apartments, looking at a glorious sunset out her window to the West. It was the one moment of the day she’d always felt at peace and considered her Empire to be the most beautiful sight in all of Equestria. The orange glow reflected off the crystal surfaces throughout the city and broke into a multitude of soft hues in all the colors of the rainbow, which now danced across her pale pink dress.
A polite knock followed by the slight creaking of the door caught her attention. Without taking her eyes off the sky, Cadence lifted one finger, bidding her visitor to wait. She closed her eyes and summoned her magic, channeling it through the Crystal Heart to amplify it.
It had taken her close to a decade to really perfect this spell without wearing herself out, and it made her admire all the more how her aunt had overseen this duty for millennia. When cosmic forces like this were involved, raw power was not what was called for. It took concentration and care, not a blast, like most normal magic, but a gentle surge. Celestial bodies like the sun and the moon were not to be commanded, but to be treated with the respect they deserved, as they quite literally kept the world turning.
These days it came easy to Cadence, and the sun dipped gently below the horizon at her bidding. She let out her breath slowly and felt the almost identical surge of magic from far away to the southwest. Her eyes opened to see the moon rising. Cadence felt, rather than heard, the faint whisper of magic in the wind, a magic so familiar and comforting that it always managed to set her mind at ease even on the toughest of days. Good night, Cadence. Sleep well, it seemed to convey.
“Punctual as always, Twily,” Cadence said to herself with a smile. Then she turned around to her visitor who had stood in solemn silence the whole time. “Yes, Starlight Nova.”
The middle-aged woman in the blue cloak that marked her as court wizard cleared her throat. “Forgive my intrusion, Your Majesty. But a missive from Queen Twilight and Princess Flurry Heart arrived earlier. I thought you might want to know right away, rather than wait until your usual correspondence hour in the morning.”
Cadence beamed and held out her hands, and Starlight quietly deposited the parcel in her waiting arms. She read through the attached letter, eager for news from her daughter, then groaned. While Starlight raised an eyebrow, she unraveled a badly charred book that had been enclosed in the package.
“It seems my daughter caused an accidental fire in the Starswirl the Bearded wing during her magic training,” Cadence said by way of explanation, handing the destroyed book to Starlight. “Please, be so good as to have our scribes transcribe a copy of the book she destroyed. Then send it to Canterlot with my apologies.”
Starlight Nova glanced at the title which was barely recognizable. “Advanced Reliquary Reconstitution,” she read out loud. “That’s one of my father’s. I think I can do better than that, Your Majesty. Do you think Queen Twilight might enjoy having a signed 1st Edition copy of the work in her library?”
“I rather think she would,” Cadence told the daughter of Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer with a smile. Then she sighed. “What am I going to do with her? Flurry, I mean,” she remarked to no one in particular. “I had thought sending her off to live with her aunt for a while would lessen Flurry Heart’s … enthusiasm to experiment with dangerous magic.”
“I’m sure Queen Twilight is capable of taking the necessary precautions. She was probably just a little preoccupied by the Laughter Day preparations to prevent this little mishap.”
Cadence rolled her eyes. “Laughter Day, Honesty Day, Loyalty Day, Kindness Day, Generosity Day. I know how dearly Twilight loved all her friends, but creating five separate national holidays in their memory seems a little too sentimental. One Day of the Elements would have been sufficient.”
Starlight grinned wickedly. “Of course, you wouldn’t know anything about sentimentality. Which reminds me, how was your monthly inspection of the Shining Armor Brigade at the Shining Armor Memorial Stadium this morning?”
The Empress gave her a stern look. “You know, when you’re being passive-aggressive like this, you’re the spitting image of your mother.” As a matter of fact, when Starlight Nova had first joined the court, Cadence had slipped up and called her by her mother’s name more than once, as their hairstyles and facial features were virtually identical. The main difference was in the eyes. Those crystal blue orbs were distinctly those of her father, with that piercing intensity that always seemed to be looking into the distance in an attempt to unravel the mysteries of the universe.
Starlight Nova bowed mockingly. “Why, thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty.”
A fanfare could be heard from beyond the door to the royal apartment, followed by the boisterous voice of one of the guards: “Announcing, Sir Spike the Brave and Glorious, Prince-Consort of the Crystal Empire, Recipient of the Star of Canterlot, seeks audience with her Imperial Majesty, Empress Cadence of the Crystal Empire, Protector of the Crystal Heart and Guardian of the North.”
Cadence giggled. “Come on in, Spike,” she said simply.
The door opened, and an annoyed-looking man with green hair and wearing a red guard uniform stepped in, shooing the guards on his heels back. “Ain’t that a mouthful,” he commented unceremoniously.
“Well, we can shorten it to Emperor Spike after the wedding,” Cadence said, stepping towards him and slinging her arms across his shoulders. “Unless Emperor isn’t enough for you.”
Spike grinned at her. “The only title I really care about is husband.” Then he leaned in to give her a soft kiss. He meant to make it only a quick kiss, as others were present. But having not seen his betrothed in quite some time, his lips lingered just that moment longer on hers. Even when he finally did pull back slightly, Cadence in turn went after him, unwilling to let the moment end so soon.
Reading the atmosphere in the room, Starlight quietly excused herself, and the couple was left alone. After a while, Cadence broke the kiss and quirked an eyebrow. “What’s this?” she asked, softly stroking the goatee Spike had been growing over the last couple of days while he was away inspecting the border forts.
“What? You don’t like it?” the dragonblood asked in mock offense.
“Hm, I’m undecided. But you’ve never had a beard. Why did you decide to grow one now?”
“I’ll have you know that this is basically your fault,” he said, unwinding himself from her embrace and making his way to the liquor cabinet in the corner of the room.
“Is it?” Cadence asked while taking a seat on her bed and crossing her legs. “Tell me, how exactly is that rug on your mug my fault?”
He nodded, filling two goblets from a decanter of crystal wine. “It’s in style with the officers now. And you’re the one who insisted on me taking a Tour of Duty with the Crystal Guard.”
“It’s tradition for any prospect ruler of the Empire to have served with the guard,” she told him as she accepted one of the goblets from him.
“And I suppose my years of service as a Major General in the Equestrian Armed Forces don’t count for anything,” Spike said sarcastically, sitting down next to her and taking a sip.
Cadence lovingly ran a finger along the sash that had once belonged to Shining Armor’s uncle. It had been her Betrothal Gift to Spike. It had seemed right, a way to keep it in the family rather than let the heirloom gather dust in some storage room. And she was sure that Shining Armor would have approved, as Spike had been nothing short of a brother to him. “The Great War ended eighty years ago,” she reminded him. “Few people even remember all the details about it, much less that Celestia and Luna were once living, breathing beings.”
“Well, I know one person who remembers them. I got a letter from Dragon Lord Ember today.”
“Is she coming to our wedding?” Cadence asked hopefully.
Spike simply nodded.
Cadence quirked an eyebrow at, what seemed to her, a very understated reaction to the news. “What’s wrong? She’s one of your oldest friends. I thought you’d be more excited to see her and catch up.”
The dragonblood sighed. “I do look forward to seeing her. It’s just that, every time we meet, she keeps rubbing it in my face how she saved me during the Siege of Vanhoover.”
“Well, she did save your ass with her relief force,” Cadence reminisced, secretly delighting in using the word ‘ass.’ It wasn’t the kind of word an empress was supposed to speak in public. But here and now, it was only the two of them. She grinned, elbowing him in the ribs. “You say that your time in the Equestrian Army should count, but you always groan and roll your eyes when the bards put it on.”
“Put what on?”
Cadence kicked off her shoes and jumped up on the bed, striking an overly heroic pose that just looked silly in its exaggeration. “Iron Dragon stood atop the battlements,” she began to recite.
Spike fell back onto the bed with a groan and a roll of his eyes.
“The Horde advanced, Yakyakistan fell. Iron Dragon held the wall. The Horde advanced, Griffonia fell. Iron Dragon held the wall. Two nations in flight, coming to the gates of Vanhoover. Iron Dragon stood atop the battlements and said: ‘Come inside, for I WILL hold the wall.’”
“Are you done?” Spike asked in exasperation.
“Shush, this is my favorite part,” Cadence replied, putting her arm forward in a sweeping motion and continuing the poem. “The Horde advanced, night fell. Iron Dragon held the wall. The Horde advanced, the Royal Sisters fell. Iron Dragon held the wall. The Horde advanced … no more. For Iron Dragon held the wall and holds it still.” She plopped back onto the bed next to him. “Now I’m done.”
“Cute,” Spike drawled, “but I always preferred the Ballad of the Crystal Princess.”
Now it was her turn to groan. “Oh, no. Don’t you dare,” she said as he stood up with a smirk and struck a pose.
“Night fell on Canterlot, sun and moon swallowed by our people’s plight. Yet in the North, a light shone bright. Two nations on the brink, by light of aurora borealis they would link. Crystal Princess led the way, reunited those who’d gone astray. Gathered all in her embrace, refugees and members of every race. Together, they would join the fight, fully unleash the Empire’s might. Even lifted Twilight Princess from her mourn,” Spike recited, pausing momentarily at this point as a lump formed in his throat, before he straightened out again and continued softly, “the Crystal Empress thus was born. The sun returned at her command, the Horde be damned. The invaders to Tartarus condemned, the Great War was at an end. Light shone again on every shore, and the North knew peace forevermore.”
Cadence could feel his discomfort and the dark thoughts intruding on his mind as he sat back down next to her, she always did. And she was always quick to comfort him, leaning her head against his shoulder and interleaving her fingers with his own. “What’s on your mind?” she asked softly.
“It’s just … going on that inspection has brought back a lot of memories for me,” he admitted, closing his eyes and resting his cheek against her head, taking comfort in that lovely fragrance she always seemed to exude. “I haven’t thought about the war in a long time. Or rather, I’ve avoided thinking about it. It nearly broke Twilight, you know. She’s never forgiven herself for shutting down like that while you had to literally carry the weight of the world on your shoulders by yourself.”
“I never blamed her for that,” she answered. “She was still so young, and she loved Celestia so much. But she’s stronger now. Besides,” she went on, snuggling closer, “I didn’t carry the weight of the world alone. After all, Iron Dragon held the wall while I rallied what forces I could.”
Spike did not answer. Cadence remained quiet for the time being. Inwardly, she was chiding herself for making him take the tour of duty and bringing up those feelings in him. On the other hand, she knew that this was long overdue and was hoping he’d finally put the demons of his past to rest. But that was too much to hope for. She’d known herself those dreadful nights when horrific memories of the past had intruded upon her mind, made worse by the uncertainty of whether or not their mysterious enemy would someday return to once again ravage this peaceful land whose scars had not fully healed to this very day.
Yet Spike abruptly stood up, pacing around the room for a bit while Cadence remained still to give him the space he needed to collect his thoughts. “So, how was your day? Sorry you had to deal with all the wedding preparations yourself,” he finally said in a transparent attempt to change the subject to something more frivolous.
The Empress sighed inwardly, but decided to go along with it for now. “It was productive, if not fun. I finally managed to get the Yakish and Griffonian ambassadors into the same room, so, after six hours of negotiations, we finally came to a consensus about their seating arrangements during the wedding. After that, figuring out the trade tariffs for next year didn’t take them nearly as long.”
The dragonblood groaned lightly and let himself fall face first onto the bed. “Do we have to even invite them?” he mumbled into the sheets.
Cadence gave him an exasperated look. “Of course we do!” she told him in no uncertain terms. Not that she didn’t have her own reservations about the Yakish definition of what made a good party. There was too much smashing involved for her taste. She shook her head and climbed onto Spike’s back. Showing through her actions that she wasn’t actually mad at him, she began to massage the stiff muscles in his shoulders, which was acquitted by a moan from the dragonblood. “Besides,” she added, much more softly this time, “King Grover III. and Prince Gierfried are direct vassals to the Empire. They’ll have to renew their oaths of fealty once you’re crowned.”
Spike waved his arm dismissively. “Tell them to send a card. They can put the oath in there. Might encourage them to keep it to 500 words or less.”
No longer willing to put up with his attitude, even if it was in jest, Cadence flicked his ear.
“Ouch!”
She climbed off his back, crossed her arms in front of her chest and pretended to pout. “I wish you’d take this more seriously, Spike. You’re going to be Emperor of the Crystal Empire in less than a week. You’ll have to start acting like it, at least in public.” Now her pout became real. “Faust knows I’ve had to put up with all this ceremonial idiocy and court drama since forever now.”
He gave her a rueful smile in return. “Don’t worry. I won’t embarrass the crown.” He’d made it clear from the start, to both Cadence and the people of the Empire, that he had no wish to influence the politics of the Crystal Empire in any way. After all, Cadence had ruled for decades now and was beloved by her subjects throughout the realm and beyond.
Though Cadence herself intended to not let her future husband sell himself short. Politics was not in his blood, true. But he was a natural leader. The legend of the Iron Dragon holding the wall had served as an inspiration to every man and woman under arms at a time when mankind desperately needed heroes. And she intended to slowly integrate him into the administrative nuances of the court, until he was ready to be considered a true co-ruler of the Empire.
“Are you nervous about the wedding?” he asked then while turning his head to avoid direct eye contact. It was a sign, Cadence hoped, that he was finally getting back around to what seemed to be truly nagging at him.
“Not really. Let’s see, during my last wedding I was,” Cadence said as she began counting off items on her fingers, “kidnapped, almost killed by my future sister-in-law, had to escape a crystal dungeon, fight off zombie bridesmaids and battle an evil queen for the future of Equestria. Compared to that, this wedding seems downright quaint.” She gave him a smile to set his mind at ease.
But Spike didn’t see it. He was still staring off into the distance when he asked in a tone that was barely above a whisper: “… Do you still love Shining Armor?”
It was a simple question, but one Cadence could not immediately answer as a lump in her throat formed. “Yes,” she answered finally, in the same quiet tone the question had been put to her. “I still love him. Even after all those years. But I love you, too.”
“I love you, too, Cadence,” Spike said somberly. “And that’s just the thing. I still love Rarity, and sometimes it feels like I’m betraying her.”
Cadence once again squeezed his hand, causing the dragon to sit back up, even though his eyes still were not ready to meet hers. She knew this moment would come eventually. They’d both been widowed for nearly fifty years, but those old feelings would have to boil towards the surface before they took their vows, before either of them could really move on and commit to this fully. “Shining Armor and Rarity both knew what they were getting into. Don’t you think they’d want us to be happy?”
Spike nodded, a tear rolling down his cheek. “I’m sure they do. I’m just not sure we knew what we were getting into back then. We were the ones left behind. Even now I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, and I reach over expecting to feel her warmth. And she’s not there.” He drew in a shivering breath, tears falling freely now. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.” His voice was cracking as he said it, as if he thought it was a crime to feel the way he did.
Cadence suppressed her own tears, for she’d known that very pain herself. “You don’t have to. We’ll have each other.”
He gently grabbed her shoulders and pushed her slightly away. When he eventually looked at her with red, teary eyes, what she saw behind them was a crushing, overwhelming guilt. “Don’t you see?” he asked. “That’s just it. I feel like I’m being selfish. I’m a dragonblood, I’ll live a very long life. But it’ll still be just the blink of an eye to an alicornblood like you. I love you, Cadence … So, I don’t … I can’t … I won’t put you through that kind of pain again … because I know what it’s like … I’m so ashamed … I don’t want to be so selfish, but …”
She simply hugged him and drew him close as her own tears would no longer be contained. When his sobbing slowly abated, Cadence began to speak softly. “Spike, listen to me,” she said while he drew in his breath, seemingly steeling himself for whatever came next. “You do not have to feel guilty. And you do not have to be alone anymore.”
“But …” he replied weakly, wanting to break the hug but unable to leave the loving embrace. “I’m going to leave you alone again, just like Shining Armor. Just like Rarity left me. How can I marry you and be happy when I know that it will make you miserable down the line?”
Cadence cut him off by cupping his face with her hands and giving him a kiss. “Spike. I love you. And I don’t want to be alone anymore either. You’re right. I probably will feel that pain again. No, I know I will feel that pain again. But I’ll bear it when it comes. That’s why I don’t want to wait any longer. I want to live the time we have together to the fullest. I’d rather take the happiness that is in front of me right now, including the pain it brings, and enjoy it as long as I can, than to be alone forever.”
“Cadence … I …”
“You don’t have to feel guilty for being who you are,” she told him again, spelling out what he so desperately needed to hear.
A smile slowly crept back onto Spike’s face and he leaned in for another teary kiss with his bride-to-be, and he chuckled in spite of himself. “Remember Pinkie Pie’s funeral?”
Cadence also began to smile. “Most fun funeral I’ve ever attended.” Pinkie Pie had been the last of the original Elements of Harmony to pass on, at the incredible age of 112, some thirty years ago. Leave it to Pinkie Pie to have her last will and testament turn out to be a party plan for her own funeral, five days and four nights in Las Pegasus paid in full for her closest friends and family. Her only condition was for them to keep smiling, and they all honored her last wish, smiling as they wept openly.
“Do you think she knew then what the two of us needed?” Spike speculated.
Cadence thought back. It had been rather uncharacteristic for the party planner to make a mistake regarding the last party she’d ever throw. Back then, they’d all assumed it was simply a mistake on the part of the hotel staff that Cadence and Spike would have to share a hotel room. But the more she thought about it … “I think she very well might have known,” Cadence admitted at last, knowing that Pinkie Pie often could see things that were beyond the grasp of even an alicorn. “It’s not like either of us was very good at hiding how alone and miserable we felt at the time.”
“It’s incredible how a good friend will watch out for you even from beyond the grave,” Spike mused, clearly sharing in his fiancées’ fond memories of the trip that had begun their relationship. “I didn’t think I could ever feel this way again,” Spike said, brushing a strand of her hair from Cadence’s face that had clung to her wet cheek.
She smiled in response. “Yeah, me too. Laughter Day is coming up in Canterlot. I’m thinking maybe we drop by on our way to our honeymoon, visit her grave and give her our thanks.”
Spike nodded. “I’d like that. We’ll save her a slice of the wedding cake.”
They both leaned in for one more kiss, neither shying away from the salty taste of their combined tears, for they’d faced their pasts that night. And whatever the future would bring for the couple, they’d be sure to face it together.
Author's Note
I originally wrote this story over two years ago. After several drafts, and despite some help from Daedalus Aegle, I just never felt that it quite worked.
However, it has remained a story for me that just wants to be told. So I've given it a final round of polish and decided to release it, fully knowing that it isn't my best work.
If nothing else, I'm hoping that by putting it out there and opening it up for constructive criticism, it'll help me learn and improve for any future writing projects.
