As The Sun Sets

Tonight was the night

If anything was going to go wrong, now would be the ideal time for it to happen.

Yesterday and today weren't nearly as boring as the day before, Cadance managed to stretch her work out to cover the entirety of the day, along with sitting in with Amber during open court hours, while still letting her lead. She'd settled nicely into her job as a judge, Cadance was quietly rolling around the idea of setting up a training program, and potentially deviating the judicial system away from the crown as a whole.

Cadance was getting a lot of... 'new' ideas that most ponies would be concerned or frightened about. Trusting a regular pony? Rather than an alicorn princess? Ridiculous. Except, here it was with Amber, working completely fine. Crystal ponies were inherently different, vastly different from the average complacent Equestrian.

Kinda like Cadance.

Nonetheless, today, the newsroom was open, the first paper had been tested and rolled through an hour ago, and now Cadance was resting down on one of the long cushions on the floor with Mirror's ponies surrounding both her and him. It was an 'interview' of sorts. More meant for the symbolic first opening, and also her opportunity to make a show for the Crystal Faire, lots of the ponies who were going to be working as journalists around Equestria for Mirror were here to watch.

There was a table, a chair, Mirror, and her. Everything else was informally plopped down in the center of the room. There was barely any room to stand what with the machinery and surfaces wet with ink; but there were few enough ponies that it wasn't a problem.

At least I have something to do.

"So Princess Cadance." Was followed by Mirror and his expensive looking suit and hollow smile. "Tell me everything about the Crystal Solstice."

Cadance had done vocal exercises that morning, and skipped the morning meeting stand up to keep herself in the zone for this. The immediate curveball was something she'd been ready for.

Crystal Solstice? Not a bad name, rolls off the tongue better than 'Crystal Faire on the Winter Solstice'

And thus, that's just what it was named. "The Crystal Solstice is my hopes and dreams for The Crystal Empire. It's not just a celebration, it's an expo and a gathering of all the greatest minds in The Empire." Cadance took a breath as a camera flashed, somebody having seemingly found a good angle. "We have business filling the stalls, new inventions, and hundreds of ponies coming from all over Equestria to show off innovations in both technology and magic. That's not to mention our Lunar guest of honor, Princess Luna of Equestria, to celebrate the Winter Solstice and put down a new mark on the calendar. That's where the celebration really begins."

"If I may?" Mirror gestured over the table, "You're saying that this faire won't be a focused celebration?"

"It absolutely will." Cadance corrected, "The faire will maintain all of the normal amenities that all Crystal Faires have before, and if I may say, The Crystal Solstice will blow all other celebrations out of the water. It's amusingly as simple as an organizational problem, technological innovations and applications of modern equipment and techniques makes setting up a city wide celebration far easier than it would have been thousands of years ago." Another breath to let the interested mumbling of the crowd die down, "That, and we have hundreds of ponies and a dedicated team working every facet of this celebration to cross every 't' and dot every 'i', to use a Griffonian expression. A far cry from the last Faire which included a group of six ponies and about an hour of planning time."

There were a few laughs at her monotone. Mirror smiled and nodded. A quill in his hoof expertly scribbled some notes into a pad at his front, in a language Cadance couldn't read. "A fascinating suggestion. You'd say this faire: The Crystal Solstice will be the biggest celebration The Crystal Empire has ever seen?"

"I would, I'd be sure of saying it too. My confidence in my team and what we're trying to do is unwavering."

"Wonderful Princess, simply wonderful." Mirror continued to... articulate. Everything in his body language spoke. The quill in his hoof, his nose, the way he leaned over the table, it all meant something. His emotions were mixed, and like always, there was a sparking menace sitting down inside him, waiting to catch on anything. Yet, he still spoke jovially, cleanly and succinctly. "Though, I must ask, and I do apologize if this touches on any nerves, but the ground says that you've had something in the works for a while, a school... per say. Some sources indicate that the Crystal Solstice is a... and pardon me for being blunt, but an excuse to popularize your idea."

Cadance nodded, and continued to smile. "It is true, in a sense. Like all things, it can be looked at from multiple different angles. I am working on a college-level, research-focused institute of learning dedicated to modernizing Crystal Empire scientific literacy, and pushing the boundaries of what Equestrian technology is capable of. The team and the project as a whole will be taking up one of the booths at The Crystal Solstice."

"I know it's not a lot to work with, but could you simply tell me more?" Mirror led.

Cadance leaned and smiled mischievously, "You'll have to come check out the booth itself Mr. Mirror."

There was polite laughter, and Mirror smiled wide, "Well in that case, you'll have to tell me about Princess Luna. Many still do not know she'll be in attendance, much less, the guest of honor. What is her role in the celebration? And why should the average Crystalian citizen be interested, aside from visiting royalty of course, it's not every day millennium old Alicorn comes by."

Cadance's smile pulled in, and she let herself fall deeper into a neutral stance. "Unfortunately, besides talking about the night-time festivities, there's little for me to share that isn't an immediate surprise. After sunset, and a short ceremony for the moonrise, everything is a closely held secret for the celebration. As a whole, Luna's presence is symbolic, in addition to her being my family, and supporting my efforts with her presence."

Mirror interjected, "I'd like to home in on what exactly her presence symbolizes, if you would."

"Of course." Cadance let a moment pass as she gathered her thoughts. Cadance didn't know what Luna was planning, which was half the problem with the question itself, secondarily-

Focus Cadance, just start talking

"Princess Luna's presence represents stability in change. Less than ten years ago, she returned from the moon, and Equestria was thrown into turmoil. The Crystal Empire underwent something similar, and I wouldn't be able to name a pony who could take a step to look around and not see the world changing all around us. Not only does Luna represent our alliance with Equestria, but the invaluable assistance to put The Empire back on the map. Today, our fields produce the foods unique to our nation, our local business reach everywhere in Equestria, the crown works with the nobles, and the quality of life for the Crystalian citizen has never been higher." Cadance gently, but firmly put her hoof down on the table, "Our nation and world is changing for the better. The Crystal Solstice is both a celebration of that, and an encouragement to continue the momentum, and carry us into a golden age."

"Like Equestria?" Mirror asked

"Better than Equestria." Cadance answered. There was muttering and shifting of hooves as crystal ponies exchanged glances.

Mirror made a face, and looked her up and down. "Princess Cadance, you almost sound as if... you're inciting a kind of... competition, between our two nations? Pardon me, but your tone is unmistakable."

Cadance nodded. "I am."

"Fascinating." He went back to scribbling down notes, "What would you hope to gain from such a rivalry? Especially while we're so dependent on Equestria's resources?"

"First and foremost, we stand to gain everything. We depend on Equestria in the same way they depend on us for friendship and kindness. Nowhere else in the world can the lives of the crystal ponies be found like they can here, and in the next few years, there won't be a reliance on Equestria's resources." Cadance leaned back so she was sitting straight, "Though, we're getting a little off topic."

"Of course." A dot and another scribble, "Princess, tell me, what of the cost of this festival? There's many a thing here that sound great, and words are all yes and such and so. The question on many a pony's mind is, where are all of the bits coming from for this?"

"Simple." Cadance let herself breath, leveraging the attention of the crowd, "The crown's resources were expertly managed by our teams of ponies, working behind the scenes. Among the bits in the Empire's coffers, and the money we received from the organizations and companies that came to us to get a spot in the Crystal Solstice, the financial impact as a whole is negligible at worst. Depending on how well the celebration develops interest, trade, and the complexity of our country, my ponies forecast that the celebration will net us a positive income. Something I am endlessly proud of."

Mirror let a disbelieving smirk rise to his features. "Princess, if I can be so bold, that sounds too good to be true. You're saying there will be no monetary impact? No taxes? No fees? You'd go so far as to say that the celebration will be giving back to the Crystalian citizenry?"

Cadance nodded, "It may sound that way, but it's all true, and only due to the generous donations of the Noble Houses; your own work for one Mr. Mirror. Sugar Cane and his connections and workforce are covering the catering for the event, and close work with the experts within all other branches of Crystalian Nobility, have provided: land donations, volunteer workforce, structural supplies, and more; the Crystal Solstice is on the path to success, and it's currently steamrolling towards it."

"..."

After Cadance was done talking, she realized that everyone in the room had gone quiet. Mirror was in turmoil, and the general emotion hanging in the room was confusion. The majority of these ponies worked together, day and night, so they were equally all on the same page.

What is happening?

Mirror's next question was genuine, some real emotion causing his mouth to move without a fake smile. "Princess, this celebration sounds like it could cover The Empire end to end in ponies. How are they all going to get here? The Crystal Express and the trains from Equestria wouldn't cut it, even if they were only running to one stop each."

Cadance changed her tone. Spoke gentler, and started looking out to all of the ponies, rather than focusing on Mirror. "I'm sure you've heard of Tack & Co.? Despite the organizations... let's say... economic monopoly, their equipment is one of a kind, and they work exclusively out of The Crystal Empire. I thought we stood to benefit from making a deal, and we did. In exchange for the continued exclusivity, and a deeper partnership, Tack & Co has offered to completely handle transportation."

"Do they not handle bulk goods? How would that work?" Mirror asked quickly.

"Their equipment is graded for ponies as well. I've seen and tested it myself, among having my best experts look it over, and received the seal of approval from Princess Luna for effectiveness, efficiency, and safety. I won't speak too much on their use in Tack & Co.'s business, but, what I will say is that it'll be as simple as getting in a line at one of Tack & Co.'s many stations, and then stepping through into The Crystal Empire."

A longer beat passed. Mirror had stopped writing notes. "How..." He drew out for a second, "Princess, as far as the ground goes, Tack & Co.'s owner is a secretive pony. How did you get the chance to speak with them? How did you make this deal?"

"With that, I will be completely transparent. Among what both The Empire and her company stood to gain? She owed me a favour."

"Really?" Mirror lilted, Cadance giggled lightly at the way he asked but nodded, "Would you be able to do something like that again?"

"It depends, but I do believe we're getting off topic once more."

Mirror nodded, and wrote what looked like a single word in his notepad. "Of course-" His entire disposition changed, "Princess, I have to know, you've gotten me on the edge of my seat with this news, and I knew most of it already. The ponies at home will be raving with excitement, and to top it all off, what will be the greatest event at The Crystal Solstice? For said ponies to feel the anticipation."

"In truth? There won't be a single greater attraction than all of you." Cadance let the comment drift into the air as ponies fervently continued to write. "Never has there been a celebration of this size and scale, never have so many ponies from all different walks of life been in the same place to connect, and enjoy each other. While not the guest of honor, The Princess of Friendship herself will be in attendance to guide and bolster the festivities with her friends, the several time heroes of Equestria."

"You're saying that the thing ponies should be looking forward to is friendship?"

"Yes, we have so much culture to share here in The Crystal Empire. Culture that's been drowned out by the age we were thrust into." A hoof struck the table, and Cadance let the passion seep into her voice, "Not anymore. The Crystal Solstice is The Empire's chance to shine like never before. Crystalian pride, unique creations nopony has ever seen, and the crystal ponies themselves run this festival from everything to setting up the tents, to running the whole show. This is their festival, and for the short time I've been your Princess, I can easily say that there is nothing better to put on display."

Someone cheered. A simple 'whoop' that came from the back. Then there was stomping, then there was chanting.

'Cadance!' - 'Cadance!' - 'Cadance!' - 'Cadance!' - 'Cadance!'

Mirror leaned back in his full chair, resting himself oddly upright while crossing his hooves in front of his chest. He nodded her way while Cadance drowned in the excitement and admiration. The dam had burst, and all the emotion came flowing in.

Cadance felt the ethereal wind on her mane.

Mirror waved his hoof over the crowd, and they started to calm, eventually cutting into silence. "Princess Cadance. All of this is exciting to no end, but as we're short on time, I'll only ask you if you have any final remarks or comments for the ponies reading this?"

"I do, actually." Cadance leaned forwards, placing both hooves on the table. "Not for the ponies reading, but for Equestria, and the world as a whole." She spread her wings, and her voice carried like she was talking into a microphone. "This. This is the Crystal Empire, to them? Welcome to the world. For the rest of the world...?"

Everyone else in the room leaned forwards in anticipation, and Cadance reveled for the moment and internally congratulated herself on her public speaking skills before a wide smile split her muzzle.

"I hope you're ready for us."

The bold and slightly aggressive statement solidified the confusion, and the pressure of emotion Cadance could feel lifted to a fevered pitch before the stallion in front of her clapped once. Mirror clapped, then again, then someone else joined. It was less than a hundred ponies, but Cadance was so invigorated from her speech that she felt like she was on top of the world, then they began cheering her name and stomping to her intentions.

She basked with a real smile, one that probably made her look a bit goofy, but that was her, so she didn't mind. Not right now anyways.

"Alright ponies!" Mirror shouted over the crowd and the chanting, and it began to die down. "Let's get to work! We've got only tonight to get this done!" There was more 'whooping' and the crowd dispersed. Most crowded around tables and handled pictures, but the chatter immediately filled the room as ponies compared notes and meshed together ideas in the first stages of writing the news.

Mirror waved Cadance over to his office, a small room with crystal glass and a sliding door. They both stepped inside, and Cadance slid the door shut with her telekinesis while taking out the additional files from her pocket spell. "Here you are Mr. Mirror." She dropped the stack of papers on his desk. "That's all the public information about the setup, events, business, everything you'll need."

He took a step over to the desk, and silently began skimming through. A beat passed, and Cadance tried not to dive too deeply into his emotions. Privacy and all that, but she could still tell at a glance that his internal turmoil had resolved into two particularly dangerous emotions.

Hope and Duty.

He got to the bottom of the stack. "We can probably make a pamphlet with all of this information. I'll have to run overtime to print a second orientation, but with that speech you gave, those ponies will be biting at the bridle to do it." He turned to her, and then stood in place as he eyed her up. An awkward moment of silent staring passed before he spoke again.

"Did you... You believe everything you said out there?"

Oh.

Guilt. Mirror was against her from the beginning. That much was certain.

"Yes, of course I did."

Another beat passed.

"And this Crystal Faire... it's really meant to do what you said it's going to do? No tricks? No games?"

"Yes."

His eyes narrowed, "That's impossible."

The emotions from before surged. Cadance's mane rippled with light, and she took a single step forwards and spread her wings as her horn lit on instinct, and the crystal beneath her hooves glowed with arouric light.

"I'm known for doing the impossible."

...

Mirror stepped back, and looked down at his desk. Cadance relaxed, and the moment passed away from them.

"I'll let you know when everything is ready for distribution." He said emotionlessly, "And, congratulations." He gestured at her stomach. Cadance had gone from 'that mare might be pregnant' to 'how far along is she' basically overnight.

"Thank you, Mirror. Really." Then Cadance stepped out of his office and into the bustling area that was History's Ground Floor. "Thank you ponies!" She shouted, whoops and cheers greeted her back as she made her way out of the hall. As she left, Cadance realized that whatever she did next had to be good, the high she was on was extravagant, she felt giddy in her hooves.

It's all coming together. It's actually going to work! Ooooo! I can't believe I did that!

She didn't do a little dance in the hallway, or laugh to herself. She was a regal princess. She calmly made her way back to her office without any fanfare. The moon had risen near an hour ago, so she didn't expect any late night work, but it was good to check anyway.

When she got back to her office, Amber was gone.

That usually didn't happen, Cadance had late night, so it made plenty of sense.

She should just go check her office and then go to bed.

...

Where does Amber sleep?

...

Cadance stepped over to the desk and lit her horn. She knew how to trace certain emotional impressions by instinct, especially ponies she knew. Twilight, Luna, Shining Armor, to a lesser extent, Amber. She was unique, and once she 'felt' Amber's presence, she just had to follow the sensations of her emotion down the hall.

It was a short trip, but the first thing Cadance noticed was that the path of Amber's latent emotion wasn't going down. It led her a floor up into the Spire, and through one of the hidden staff hallways, into a maintenance and storage area. She had to duck under some wooden planks and a set of scaffolding to get inside.

Amber was here.

Well, there.

Right over there, behind a door. Some wooden thing carved into the crystal by a team of ponies that didn't know how to work it. It was a shoddily constructed supply closet in an old throw up construction room that had been forgotten.

Cadance didn't grasp what she was seeing, because it didn't make sense.

Why would she be here? What is she doing? What is going on?

Cadance crept up to the door, making sure she didn't thump her hooves down, she didn't want to startle Amber.

She did still open the door. Amber didn't wake up, and Cadance stepped back as shocks of confused questions burned through her mind.

There was a cot, a few cans, Amber, and a pillow. The interior was clean. It had been dusted and swept, but the entire space wasn't big enough for Cadance to stand in without touching any of the walls.

...what...

Amber was laying wrapped up in the cot, about a hoof above the floor, clinging to the pillow like a raft. Her face wasn't twisted, but Cadance could feel the worry and most of all, the pain. It was drifting off of Amber quiet little waves that splashed against Cadance's confusion and doused her burning excitement. Amber didn't just sleep here, she lived here.

Cadance stared. Trying to make sense of it.

...I need to talk to Silver...

Silver understood this. Whatever was going on here, Silver noticed long before Cadance had. Silver had started doing something about it. Cadance wanted to wake the mare and ask her all of the questions bouncing around in her head, but...

She had a sinking feeling that it wouldn't get her anywhere.

So she closed the door, and quietly made her way out of the room.

Silver. You and I need to talk about what you're doing with Amber.

So you took my advice did you?

Smart.

What did you think of her little hidey hole? In my opinion, it's actually pretty first rate.

This isn't a joke, I really need you to take me seriously right now.

What's wrong? Why is she sleeping in the Spire? I checked the records, there's a home registered in her name.

You didn't... do anything did you?

I just need to know.

You don't need to know bubkiss Little Princess.

I told you to do 'X', and if you can't figure out what it means, then that's on you.

I'm not going to dive more into Amber's life than she wants to show you, I may not care about a pony's privacy, but that's because I can be trusted to breach it. I dunno about you, and furthermore, it's not my business to share.

Silver.

Please.

I'm asking you as your friend. I want to help her.

I know you're shaken up, but seriously, calm down.

Just because you found out tonight doesn't mean Amber is going to spontaneously combust by morning. This isn't about you.

I'm not your friend, and I'm busy. Talk to Amber yourself instead of trying to squeeze information out of me like you always do. In case you forgot, you made a deal, and I don't ever have to tell you anything.

"Any luck? You've been staring at that for a long time."

Cadance levitated the paper over to her nightstand. "No. Silver's... not going to help."

Shining made a face. "You sure?"

"No..." Cadance was shaken up, not to mention annoyed. She didn't want to whine about whatever was going on with Amber ruining her mood that day, but it had.

"You want to bother her about it tomorrow?"

Maybe...

"I don't know what else to do." Cadance flopped onto the bed she was sitting on. "How could I have not noticed?"

You did notice. That's the problem.

"It's not your fault honey." Shining was doing his best to be comforting, and was failing. In his defense, Cadance had done a poor job of explaining the situation.

She let out a heavy breath. "It is my fault. You don't- I did notice. Amber has been acting... off for months. I just never did anything about it. Now whenever I ask her how she's doing, she lies, or shuts down." She didn't know what to do. "What if... what if it's me? What if I did something and I just never noticed?"

"Amber's a straight shooter Cadance, she would have told you. She's also a nice mare, and a good friend."

Is any of that true?

She rolled into him, he put a hoof over her shoulder. "How can we be sure? She could... I just don't understand."

Shining nuzzled her, parting her mane and resting his chin in-between her ears.

"I think it's just bedtime." Cadance pressed back, and used her magic to adjust the blankets. "I need sleep. I need to think more about this tomorrow."

Shining gave her a kiss, but knew not to bother her after that. They settled in together, and it was an hour or so into the already late night when Cadance finally managed to drift off.