Princess Cadance of the Cystal Empire walked through the halls, the beautiful glimmering of each crystal doing little to distract her from the task at hand. Her pace quickened with every step, her eyes focused on the door in front of her, said door varying greatly from the surrounding crystal, being made of a mossy dark oak. The type of door it was however made no difference to Cadance, all that mattered was the creature behind it. Reaching it, she didn't bother to knock, instead opening it outright to reveal a room quite unlike anything in the Empire. The first noticeable thing about the room was that it was made of the same oak in the door, with errant moss hanging from the roof. The next strange thing was the amount of smoke in the room, said smoke being a faded green colour. It overall looked like the inside of a tree. Her attention was brought to the creature in the centre of the room, sitting on an old, rickety chair as it stared into the green swirling abyss of a cauldron beside it. It turned towards the now approaching princess, small amulets attached to it's antlers jingling against each other.

"Why good morning princess." It said in a deep, yet soothing voice, smiling kindly at the Crystal Princess,"I've been expecting you."

The princess bowed her head slightly before speaking, "Then you know why I'm here, Adyum."

Adyum kind expression fell into one of seriousness, her gaze shifting back to the cauldron. "Yes, I do know why you are here, yet I am not yet sure you want to hear it." She said, her eyes flickering back to Cadance nervously.

"I already know that it has something to do with Sombra, so if he is coming back I need to be prepared for it." Cadance said, hardening her gaze, "I have been entrusted with the protection of the crystal ponies, and I will do everything to protect them."

Adyum sighed, standing up out of her chair, walking around to the other side of the cauldron, gesturing for Cadance to follow. "I have recieved a vision." She said, stopping in front of a portion of the wall, "And you were not wrong, it does indeed involve Sombra." She continued, causing Cadance to tense up a little as she waited for the news that Sombra was returning. "Yet it is not he that is returning." She said, pressing a portion of the wall farther in, causing it to slide back, revealing a hidden passageway.

"Rather someone closely relevant to him." She said, looking over her shoulder at Cadance before continuing forward.

After about a minute of walking they reached a small room, lit with bright green torchbugs floating around an ominous tree. Cadance simply stopped at the entrance, marvelling in wonder at the sight before her, while also questioning how she, nor any of the Crystal Guards had discovered this room. Adyum however, simply continued forward, stopping at the foot of the tree before turning back towards Cadance.

"Have you ever heard of the Black Prince?" She asked, a neutral expression on her face.

Cadance tilted her head in confusion before shaking it in reply, "No I've never heard of him."

She sighed at that, turning back to face the tree, "Well I wouldn't expect you to, he was one of the ponies who didn't come back after the banishment." She said, placing her hand on the tree causing it to vibrate ever so slightly, so much in fact that Cadance barely noticed it.

One thing was still on her mind though. Who was this Black Prince? His name sounded like a villains name, and apparently it was related to Sombra, so the chances of him being evil were quite high to Cadance. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Adyum began to speak again, her tone still the same neutral one.

"The vision I had foretold of his return." She stated, running her hand along the tree, "And with his return an empire would rise."

This panicked Cadance to no end. This Black Prince was returning and there was no way to know if he was good or evil. She didn't even know who this Black Prince was and she was already terrified of what this meaned. She had to mobilize the guards, yet not let the public know of this so as not to cause a panic. There was no telling how they would react after Sombra enslaved them.

Taking a deep breath she replied, attempting to not sound scared. She couldn't now that she was princess and all, "I must go now Adyum, thaank you for telling me of this." She said before backing out, heading down the passageway before making it back into the familiar halls of glimmering crystal, the previously unwelcomed distraction now a welcome one. Reaching her room after what felt like hours of walking she collapsed into her bed, her brain going over the worst possible scenarios for this, dozing off with a troubled mind...

Quickened knocking awoke her, jolting her out of the nightmare she was having, still shkaing slightly from the horror of it. The Empire on fire, with the Black Prince at it's head. Shaking her head in an attempt to clear the image from her head, she got up with a groan. Not caring to clean her disheveled hair, and the fact that she had slept in her clothes meant she could head for the door immediately.

Opening it, she was faced with a crystal guard, a look of restrained joy on his face. "Princess you need to come with me." He said, smiling in glee. Tilting her head in confusion she gestured for him to lead, following closely behind him.

They soon reached one of the balconies, opening it to reveal large crowds of ponies chatting and cheering. It seemed they were celebrating, even though there were no celebrations scheduled for today. Frowning she flew up from the balcony before descending into the crowds. Her alicorn ears were nearly overwhelmed by the amount of noise coming from everyone, so much so that she could barely hear any of the conersations.

"He's coming back!"

It's a miracle!"

"We need to prepare for it."

Reaching out, she grabbed one of the ponies by the arm, pulling him in close, "What is going on?" She asked, trying in vain to stop the cacophony of noise and still be able to hear the pony.

Said pony smiled greatly, turning to face her fully, "Haven't you heard? The Black Prince is returning!!"

Author's Note

I'm gonna be honest with you I just make this stuff up as I go along.