Cadance The Crystal Princess

A lone crystal pony smiled at her work, a duster being held within her left hoof. Every speck of dust had been removed from the last sleeping quarter; every corner and surface was spotless. Unfortunately for her, she was so concentrated on cleaning the quarter that she wasn't informed of Princess Amore's and Princess Cadance arrival at the Crystal Empire.

Wiping the sweat off her forehead, she packed up her cleaning equipment and as she turned her body to leave, the sleeping quarter's door opened. Amore and her daughter strutted in, followed by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. When both parties saw each other, the crystal pony froze at the sight of the Princess of Love and her mother.

Immediately, the crystal pony bowed down in front of Cadance and Amore. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Princess Amore. My apologises, I didn't realise you have return to the empire, along with your mother."

Both the mother and the daughter smiled at the pony before the Princess of Love addressed her. "It's fine. Excellent work on cleaning the sleeping quarters."

The crystal pony's face flushed with pride at the compliment as she lowered her ears.

"However, right now my mom would like to talk to my aunties in private," Cadance finished.

The crystal pony rose from her bow and vacated the room, the royal sisters watching her go, before turning to Amore with guilty looks.

The Princess of Love, seeing her aunties' faces, decided to step aside and give her mother and her aunties some space for them to talk.

"So, Celestia and Luna, what do you want to-" Amore started, only to be interrupted.

"I'm sorry..." Both the royal sisters said in unison.

Amore blinked her eyes in surprise. "What? For what?"

Celestia walked forward. "For not being able to save you and the empire on time when you urgently needed help a thousand years. My sister and I should been faster."

"It's ok. I forgive you two." Amore stated.

Luna's eyebrows shot up. "You... you forgive us? After we failed to save you and the empire?"

Amore nodded her head with a smile. "Of course. You and Celestia did your best to try and come to my aid. Sombra was just too strong for me to defeat him."

"But still..." The solar princess muttered.

"Still nothing." Amore interjected. "Beside, you and your sister took care of my daughter during the time I was gone, so you have earned my forgiveness."

"Mom's right, Auntie Celly and Auntie Lulu." Cadance stepped in. "You two have taken care of me when my mom's got petrified by Sombra before he destroyed and scattered her fragments across the world. So please, don't blame yourself a lot."

Both the royal sisters glanced at both the Princess of Love and her mother, unsure what to say as their minds reeled before they smiled at them.

"You're... you're right, Cadance. I suppose that blaming ourselves isn't helpful." Celestia said.

The lunar princess nodded her head. "Indeed. We must move on from the past and focus on the present and the future."

The group smiled and nodded at each other for a while before Amore’s face gave a smirk. She turned to her daughter, Cadance, and said, "You know, this bring me back a memory where I first met the two when we were just fillies. Of course, they didn't make a good impression."

“What do you mean?” Cadance asked, curiosity piqued.

Both royal sisters’ faces immediately turned bright red.

“No, Amore!” The solar princess exclaimed.

"Don’t you dare tell Cadenza, Amore!" Luna shrieked.

Amore chuckled, looking at the royal sisters with a mischievous glint in her eye. “You worry too much! I would never dream of telling my daughter about how we first met. How, in your very first visit to the Crystal Empire, you tried to show off your recently learned lesson on flying, only to end up crashing into one of the hanging drapes, tangling yourselves together in the process before hanging upside down.”

Celestia and her sister looked mortified, their faces burning even more with embarrassment.

The Princess of Love on the other hoof, tried very hard to keep in a bout of giggling. "Tangled together and hanged upside down? With that, you eating cakes and Auntie Lulu using her Royal Canterlot Voice during her first Nightmare Night, all those would give my husband, Twilight and Spike a stomach ache after laughing so hard." She teased her two aunties.

Amore turned back to her daughter and raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "Eating cake? Royal Canterlot Voice during Nightmare Night? What's all that about?"

"Nothing!" Both royal sisters quickly stepped in between Cadance and her mother as they started to visibly sweat while smiling sheepishly.

Both Amore and her daughter couldn’t help but giggle at the expense of rather bemused Celestia and Luna. But when all was said and done, they relented.

“Very well then Celestia and Luna, we’re done. Not that I doubt you will try to get me back at some point in the future.”

“You know us too well,” The lunar princess said with a laugh.

"You know..." The solar princess started, getting the group's attention. "Both my captain and my sister's captain are supervising the clean-up from the Storm King's invasion. And Twilight had decided to throw another Friendship Festival. I was wondering if you and the leaders would like to come to this festival."

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"And here we are." Twilight finished with a smile, holding Flurry Heart in her left foreleg.

The leaders, Clover the Clever, Commander Hurricane, Nimbus Dash, Grimhoof and Dew Nourish all looked amazed by the accomplishments she and her friends had done, while Sunburst, Shining Armor, Starlight and Spike stood aside since they already knew all about the adventures and accomplishments.

"That's... that's amazing and incredible! Never thought a princess like you and your five friends can be a Bearer of the Elements of Harmony." Nimbus remarked with a smile.

"Me too." King Crestwing walked forward. "You six are truly remarkable. Taking down Nightmare Moon and Lord Tirek, saving the Crystal Empire, redeeming Discord and solving countless friendship problems."

Rainbow Dash flew up proudly. "Yeah! We are awesome at everything!"

"Like calling Princess Amore a rogue changeling and yelling at her with your three friends?" Commander Hurricane quipped.

The rainbow-mane pegasus sweated visibly while Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie looking at the ground in shame. The leaders, Prince Armor, Sunburst, Starlight and the two pegasi were staring at the four mares with their eyes widened in pure shock while the Princess of Friendship, Fluttershy, Spike and the rest of the group could only winced.

"Rainbow pegasus yelled at Princess Amore?!" Thunderhoof yelled.

"Are you four crazy?!" Stormfeather shrieked, tapping one of his claws to his head.

"Why would you do that?!" The King of the hippogriffs exclaimed.

"How could you do that to her?" Au Hasard reprimanded.

"You have no right to yell at Princess Amore!" Queen Seraphine snarled.

"What were you four thinking?!" Nimbus and Grimhoof scolded the four mares.

"What the hay is wrong with your four?!" Shining voiced his anger.

King Fire Blaze said nothing, narrowing his eyes at the four mares, while Sunburst, Starlight, Fluttershy and Spike exchanged uneasy glances.

The four mares stood with their heads hung low, the weight of their mistake heavy on their hearts. The Princess of Friendship quickly stepped forward to defend her friends.

"My friends made a terrible mistake, but they didn't know it was Princess Amore and thought she was a rogue changeling. They were just protecting Cadance. Please, understand that they regret their actions deeply." Twilight pleaded.

"Twilight's right." The shy pegasus stepped forward. "They didn't mean to do that. Please, forgive them."

The group exchanged glances at the Princess of Friendship's and Fluttershy's heartfelt plea before softening their expressions. There was a tense silence, thick with the weight of unspoken emotions and the importance of the moment.

Before any words were exchanged, the doors of the throne room opened to reveal Amore and the three princesses. The group watched as the four ponies walked in before the baby alicorn flew out of Twilight's foreleg and into her mother's embrace, which Cadance returned, while Celestia and Luna closed the door behind them.

"Twilight Sparkle..." Amore started, getting the Princess of Friendship's attention toward her. "Celestia told me that you are preparing another Friendship Festival after the Storm King's invasion." Twilight blushed. "And I was wondering if you could invite someponies and creatures of my friends."

The Mane 5's eyes widened at Amore's request while the Princess of Friendship stared at her.

Twilight stared at Amore for a while before stuttering. "Well, that's... something I could do."

Amore noticed the Princess of Friendship's stutter and raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem?"

Twilight's eyes widened before she shook her head. "No! There isn't a problem. It's just that..." She rubbed the back of her head. "I never actually invite a lot to the festival because it would put a lot of pressure on me."

Amore gave her a smile. "Well, why didn't you say so? I could help you, so could my friends."

The leaders, Clover the Clever, Commander Hurricane, Nimbus Dash, Grimhoof and Dew Nourish all gave the Mane 6 reassuring smiles. The Princess of Friendship glanced at her friends and her brother before her face turned into a smile.

"Thank you, Princess Amore." Twilight thanked before turning to the dragon. "Spike. Get ready to take some letters. A lot of letters. We are going to invite everyone."

Spike could only widened his eyes before falling backward to the floor while muttering, "My voice is so going to be dead."

The group stared at the dragon for a while before they all burst out laughing. The sound of their laughter filled the room, breaking the tension