Luster Dawn, Princess of Unity, looked upon her subjects with pride in her heart. Ruling alongside her mentor, Twilight Sparkle, was a dream come true. How she had ever felt jealous about not getting all of the fame escaped her mind. This truly was the best life she could have asked for.

As the sun rose and the moon settled in for the day, the pink Alicorn took a breath, admiring the dawn and giving her thanks for the redemption and the second chance she had been granted thanks to the Elements of Polyphony.

It seemed like just yesterday she’d been granted her wings after her final friendship lesson. Graced with a group of her own friends, Luster was able to learn about each creature, growing close until she was able to earn the title of princess at the end. Of course, that wasn’t enough for her at the time.

After those months of studies, the years of being just another student, Luster had wanted to rule alone. Celestia’s student, Princesa Mi Amore Cadenza, was granted her entire empire once she graduated. The princess’s daughter inherited it, leading alone. Twilight was gifted her own castle and her own title, independent of Celestia and Luna’s ruling titles.

It wasn’t unfair to want more, was it? Luster hadn’t thought so. She was valid in her reasoning. Blinded by jealousy, sure, but she wasn’t asking for more than any other princess had been granted.

“Your Majesty!” A guard called, snapping Luster from her thoughts. The Alicorn turned suddenly to match the urgency with which the guard approached her. He was panting, wings drooping.

“Iron Wing?” He was the head of Luster’s guard. He didn’t lose composure easily, “What’s wrong?”

Iron Wing took a moment to regain his breath, standing up straight as he faced his princess, “Princess Twilight Sparkle requests your presence at this morning’s breakfast. Urgent news from Canterlot has been made known.”

That was strange. Twilight was capable of sending her own letter or popping in and out of a room to notify others of news. She rarely sent a guard to fetch someone else. Luster Dawn felt her stomach turn. This suggested Twilight wasn’t able to talk.

“Thank you, Iron Wing,” The pink Alicorn thanked her guard, nodding to him as she took off to the royal library. If Twilight couldn’t talk, odds were she was lost in research. Something bad must have been made known in Canterlot.

The white, gold, and purple architecture of the Canterlot castle was still true beauty to Luster Dawn; she was a permanent resident of the structure but still, she admired the construction. The library was in one of the upper towers, able to be reached by ladder or by flight. Luster Dawn chose the latter, urgently trying to reach her mentor.

Arriving at the library, the Princess of Friendship was already several bookcases deep in research. About what, Luster Dawn couldn’t be sure.

“Twilight?”

“Luster!” The purple Alicorn’s head shot up, revealing tired eyes and unbrushed hair (it was still flowing, sparkling like the elder princesses' hair always did, but it looked messy still). “Thank goodness you’re here. Do you recall your studies about the Crystal Empire?”

Luster Dawn paused for a moment, ruffling her feathered wings as she thought back to her studies nearly a thousand years ago. The Crystal Empire, ruled by Princess Flurry Heart now, had emerged after its own millenia in darkness (she could relate). The old king, King Sombra, had forced the citizens into a population of slaves thanks to his hiding of the Crystal Heart– the item that brought hope and love to the empire. After its emergence during Twilight’s time, she had found the Crystal Heart once more, bringing light to the empire and allowing Princess Cadence and Shining Armor to rule kindly, blessing their ponies with joy and excitement.

“I remember,” Luster Dawn responded, thinking about the last time she visited. It had been a while. “What’s wrong? Has something happened? Iron Wing said the news came from Canterlot.”

Twilight nodded, turning to flip through another bookcase, pink magic shuffling all of the many volumes of Crystal Empire history around, “Yes. Irradiance notified me of a new guard in our ranks. Have you ever heard of a Noctis Steel?” Luster Dawn shook her head slowly. Twilight sighed, “I was afraid that would be your answer.”

“What’s wrong with the guard?”

“He’s not a guard. I’ve never seen, heard, or spoken to him before. Irradiance saw him outside of his own bedroom but after he tried to speak to him again, the guard was gone in a puff of smoke.”

That wasn’t normal. Luster Dawn felt a chill come over her as she thought about what the implications of the new guard were.

“You brought up the Crystal Empire because you’re worried this is the work of Sombra?” Twilight nodded. Luster Dawn let out a sharp laugh, “But you defeated him ages ago! You told me yourself– the Elements of Harmony! All of your friends!”

Twilight finally set down the books and sighed, turning to Luster Dawn. “We’ve defeated Sombra time and time again, but he’s a pony of the shadows. As the years go on, he’s never been completely banished. I worry that, with Irradiance’s magic, he’s attempting to target him.”

“But he’s not even from the Empire,” Luster Dawn reasoned.

Twilight made a face, Luster Dawn supposed she knew more than she was letting on, but ignored it. If Twilight was keeping things secret, it was probably for a good reason.

The purple Alicorn continued, “Queen Lilith was after his magic… you were after his magic,” Luster Dawn winced, but she was right, “There’s no reason to think that another villain wouldn’t try to go after him.”

“Should we order for guards to further protect his room? His friends?” Twilight shook her head.

“If Sombra truly is targeting him, I don’t want him to think we know it’s happening. A pony of the shadows can manage to find a place to spy anywhere.”

Luster Dawn nodded, taking a breath. She hadn’t returned to her post as princess for long and already there was a threat to be wary of. Is this what Twilight dealt with during all of her training years? Suddenly ruling alongside her mentor felt so much better than ruling alone.

Twilight continued, indigo eyes looking far away, “We’ll notify Celestia, Luna, and Cadence and we’ll reach out to Flurry. If there is something going on, it’s likely that the Crystal Empire would be a victim of it sooner rather than later.”

“Should we contact Spike as well? Or the Pillars?”

“No. Like I said, we shouldn’t make more creatures worried than we need to. After we speak to the others we can contact Irradiance and his friends. For now, keep an eye out,” Twilight returned to her flipping through of the books, looking for an answer somewhere, “Sombra’s had years to prepare. He’s likely a worse threat than ever.”

Author's Note

RAHHHH short prologue!!! bc it didnt need THAT much prologueing this time. just a little scene-setting. i plan to make this one VERY irradiance focused. my timeline is always sort of weird but average a thousand years after twilight became princess so her friends are dead, flurry grew up, blah blah blah.
meet the characters, earn our elements, and this one is furthering irradiance's backstory. bc i LOVE him. so don't expect super regular updates but i hope to write this as my semester continues bc you've gotta balance dynamics homework with something am i right?
ok bye :)