Celestia’s eyes narrowed as she watched an ever-so-familiar black dome begin to form over the region known as the Arctic Ocean, previously known as the Arctic North. The ground trembled, making her second guess whether she should be watching this event from her private chamber’s balcony. She could hear many ponies down below begin to panic and run inside the nearest shelter, but she didn’t take her eyes off the dome.

The trembling ground erupted into violent shaking as loud, earthy cracks echoed through the air. Then, as suddenly as it began, it all stopped. The ground stilled, and the dome began to slowly fade away. Acting quickly, Celestia activated her magic, bringing her telescope in front of her. She peered into its eyepiece, adjusting its position and magnification with haste until it pointed toward where the Crystal Empire’s capital once stood.

What she saw left her both shocked and confused. Instead of the quaint crystal village she had expected, Celestia found herself staring at an enormous metropolis filled with concrete towers and looming skyscrapers. The majestic Crystal Castle still stood intact; however, Celestia’s view of it was limited to its middle and peak.

Celestia's mind raced with questions about this sudden development. She thought that King Sombra simply cursed the Empire into a state of limbo for all these years, but it seems that she was mistaken.

Glancing at the sky above the region, Celestia noticed storm clouds gathering over the Arctic North, threatening to plunge the region into an eternal blizzard once again. She sighed deeply, her heart heavy with worry, and silently hoped the crystal ponies could hold on until help arrived.

Four sharp knocks on her chamber's doors brought Celestia out of her thoughts.

“Your Majesty! Are you alright? We’ve just been struck by a terrible quake!” a guard’s voice called out from the other side.

Celestia turned her head to the door. “Yes, I am fine,” she said, though a look around her chambers told her everything else was not. “I need you to bring me Princess Cadence and Prince Armor as soon as possible. This is of the utmost importance!”

“Of course, your majesty!” Celestia heard before the sound of hooves galloping away reached her ears.

Celestia turned her head back in the direction of the Arctic North, but her face fell into a frown when she saw a layer of dense fog begin to obscure the region.

“...ime..!”

“Pri… ster..!”

“Prime Minister..!”

“RICHARD!”

Richard awoke with a gasp, shooting into an upright position. His vision was a blur of incomprehensible colors and it felt like his brain was pounding against his skull.

“Prime Minister, sir! Are you alright? Can you hear me?” Tierno's voice shouted over the other panicking parliament members.

Richard’s heart hammered against his chest as he whipped his head toward Tierno’s voice. The human was kneeling over him, inspecting him for any injuries. Richard shuddered as the memory of what happened before he faded away began to flood his mind.

The blackness came without warning, consuming everything it touched. It seeped from the ceiling of the parliamentary building, crawling downward and swallowing everything in its path. One by one, objects and people faded away before Richard’s very eyes.

Richard grabbed Tierno's sleeves tightly, his hooves shaking, “M-My wife, my daughter! Where are they!? Are they safe!?” he demanded desperately.

“I don't know, sir! But right now we need to get you to a safe location!” Tierno said before unholstering his aetherium-powered Glock 19.

Turning off the safety, the weapon emitted a low, menacing hum as bright white light began to seep through the gaps in its slide and frame.

Using his other hand, Tierno grabbed the radio attached to his belt and put it near his mouth.

“This is Bravo-127, requesting that any and all units active on and near the parliament building to secure the perimeter! Safe extraction of the PM and other parliament members is needed ASAP!”

The next moments passed in a haze for Richard, his mind only managing to grasp fragmented memories of what followed. The next thing he knew, he was seated in the safety of a heavily armored limousine.

A bump in the road brought Richard back to a state of lucidity, “Wh-What… happened?”

Richard looked around to find the other seats occupied by four stallions of varying colors. Each wore suits and ties with black Kevlar vests over them. In their hooves rested aetherium smg’s—MP5K's Richard recognized.

“Prime Minister, sir. Are you alright? You stopped responding shortly after you awoke,” Tierno said from beside him.

Richard couldn't say he was okay, his mind felt a bit scrambled and he still had no idea what was going on.

But most importantly, “My family. Are they okay?”

One of the stallion agents nodded and said, “We received word a short time ago that your wife and daughter are both safe and secure. They’re on their way to the Castle as we speak, sir.”

“Are we headed there as well?”

“Yes, sir. After we arrive, we are to escort you to the Castle's emergency bunker.”

“Is the Shield up?”

“Yes, sir. It is currently at 80% strength and is in Lockdown mode.”

“Do we know what’s happened?”

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the group. That was all the answer Richard needed.

Richard took a deep breath to calm his nerves, “Is there anything else I should know?”

Another stallion spoke, “Yes, sir. As strange as it sounds, before the Shield was activated, the city was suddenly engulfed in a blizzard. Other than that, we don't know anything else.”

Frowning at the strange information, Richard spared a glance outside the limo’s bulletproof window to see that the city was covered in fog. Squinting his eyes to see past the fog, Richard noticed many ponies and some humans running down the streets with panic on their faces while some others tried to bring some still unconscious people to safety indoors.

‘Dear God, what is happening?’ Richard thought.

Eventually, the limousine arrived at the Crystal Castle, and Richard was swiftly brought inside and escorted to an elevator located in the armory.

Tierno stepped up to the elevator, sliding a black keycard into a card slot before entering an eight-digit password on the keypad below. The red light above the elevator doors turned green with a soft beep, and the doors slid open.

Quickly moving inside, Tierno pressed the down button on the elevator panel. The doors slid shut, and the elevator began its descent, carrying the group 100 feet underground.

After about twelve seconds, the elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal a short hall with a ten-inch thick steel door at the end. Installed next to the door was an iris scanner along with another keypad.

This time, one of the stallion agents stepped forward, positioning himself so that one eye aligned with the scanner. He waited patiently until a soft, camera-like click sounded, signaling the scan was complete. Using the tip of his hoof, he then entered his own eight-digit password into the keypad. When he pressed the enter key, the keypad emitted a confirming beep, followed by a loud clank as the door unlocked and slowly swung open.

Stepping through the door, Richard was greeted by the sight of the Castle's emergency bunker. Multiple large screens lined the back wall, displaying maps of Atlantia along with its military bases and cities. Additional information flashed on the screens, including city Shield strength, radar data, and military status reports. One screen even displayed a live news broadcast, where an anchor was frantically urging people to shelter in place amid the widespread confusion.

Richard ignored the streams of information on the screens, focusing instead on the large table in the center of the room. Around it sat a group of high-ranking ponies and humans, their voices overlapping as they engaged in frantic discussion.

Approaching the table, Richard took his seat at the head. He placed his hooves on the table and took a moment to breathe, allowing himself to relax in the brief calm. Once he felt composed enough, he raised a hoof and struck the table with two loud, deliberate bangs, catching everyone's attention.

“What’s our current status? Give me anything and everything you know,” he ordered calmly.

A beige-coated mare with green eyes stood up, Richard recognized her as Vanilla Hazel, the director of the AIA.

“Sir,” she greeted with a small bow, “To begin, the Shields in all major cities are active and operating at 80% strength under Lockdown. Most of our military bases and forts have responded to communication attempts, though a few remain unresponsive. Efforts to hail ships on patrol or conducting exercises have also been unsuccessful. Furthermore, our attempts to contact NATO allies have, so far, yielded no response.”

Vanilla Hazel took her seat, and a brown stallion, dressed sharply in a general's uniform, rose to address Richard.

“Sir, to add to what Ms. Hazel mentioned, we’ve not only lost contact with our navy but also with all of our satellites. However, before communication was severed, one of our satellites managed to transmit one final image.”

The general slid a picture across the table to Richard, who took it in his hooves. Richard’s brow furrowed in confusion as he studied the image. In the center of the photo was Atlantia—or rather, where it was supposed to be. Instead, the entire continent was obscured by a massive black void.

“What is this?”

“We don't know, sir.”

“Is this a chemical attack of some kind? Radiological? Biological?”

“We don't know, sir.”

“No! Don’t tell me we don’t fucking know!” Richard shouted, slamming his hoof against the table with a sharp thud.

Everyone went silent, startled by Richard's sudden outburst.

“I don’t know if all of you experienced the same thing I did, but I’m pretty sure I just died for a few moments before reappearing like nothing happened. And now you’re telling me that when I address the nation, I’m supposed to tell them we have no idea what’s going on???”

A heavy silence settled over the bunker as Richard’s words lingered in the air. What could they say? Nothing like this had ever happened before. They had no way of knowing what might come next if this was only the beginning.

“Sir, may I make a suggestion?” an alabaster-coated stallion asked as he rose from his seat.

Richard nodded, “Go ahead.”

“I don't believe it would be in our best interest to try and deceive or convince the people that everything is fine. I believe in this case that upfront and brutal honesty would be the best course of action.”

“And why do you think that?”

“Because if we lie and say everything is fine, and something else happens, it will be much harder to gain the public’s cooperation—not to mention the other unsavory consequences that could arise.”

Richard nodded in understanding. The stallion’s reasoning made sense to him—it was better to address civil unrest now and secure the public’s cooperation later than to risk the nation fracturing under the weight of paranoia.

“Okay,” Richard turned towards the general, “General, I want fighters scrambled to scout our waters for any threats that might have evaded radar detection. Additionally, mobilize troops to enforce martial law and re-establish contact with unresponsive bases. Call all reserves and personnel on leave and place the military on full Locked and Loaded readiness.”

Richard stood up from his seat, “Inform the press that I will address the nation in an hour,” he said before excusing himself from the table.

From the corner of his eye, Richard noticed Tierno step up beside him. Taking a shaky breath, he whispered, “Please, Tierno... take me to my family.” His voice quivered, betraying the weight of his emotions.

Tierno nodded, “Of course, Prime Minister.”

Princess Cadence took a deep breath as she watched the train that would carry her, her husband, and a small unit of Equestrian soldiers to the borders of the Crystal Empire slow to a stop at the station.

“Alright, fillies, load up and get comfortable, because this is going to be a long trip,” her husband, Shining Armor said to the group of 15 soldiers.

The soldiers boarded the train in an orderly, professional manner, but that professionalism quickly vanished once the doors closed and the train began moving. Cadence watched with slight amusement as Equestria's steadfast soldiers began to pair off and retreat to their rooms, behaving as though they were at a casual sleepover. Soon, only a handful of them remained in the cart with her and Shining Armor.

“Dinner's gonna be served at 1800 hours, so don't miss it!” Shining Armor said before retreating to a separate, private cart with his beloved.

“Shiny?” Cadence called as she lay on the bed of their private cart.

“Yeah, Cadence?” Shining Armor responded while closing the door.

“How long will the trip take?” she asked nervously.

“We'll be arriving at our stop early the next morning, so the whole day essentially. That's not even counting the distance we're going to have to walk to reach the nearest city. If it's still there anymore.”

Noticing his wife's nervous expression, Shining Armor approached the bed and took her hoof in his own.

“Hey, are you okay? Is something bothering you?”

Cadence took a shaky breath, “I guess I'm just nervous about this whole plan. Auntie always said that the Crystal Empire might return one day and I always thought I'd be ready for it, but now I'm starting to second-guess myself.

“Not only that but it's changed. What if the Crystal Empire isn't what we think it might be anymore? What if they're war-like or separated into different states? The crystal ponies were only earth ponies too, what if they forgot about unicorns or… or pegasi? Wh-What if Sombra’s already there!?”

Before Cadence could sink deeper into her doubts, Shining Armor pulled her close, pressing her face against his fluffy chest. He gently stroked her neck with his hoof and placed a tender kiss just below her horn, his voice soft and reassuring as he began to speak.

“Shh, Cady, just relax for a moment, okay?” Cadence nodded against his chest. “Now, I’m going to let go, and I want you to take a few deep breaths for me. Does that sound good?”

“Y-Yeah, that sounds g-good,” Cadence said.

Shining Armor let go, allowing Cadence to take a moment to compose herself. She took several deep breaths, feeling her racing heart gradually slow to a steady rhythm and the restless twitching in her wings subside. Once she felt composed, she raised a hoof and gently wiped away the tears that had begun to spill from her eyes.

“S-Sorry, I didn't mean to lose myself like that, hehe. Some princess I am…”

Shining Armor frowned, “Don't say that Cadence, you're a great princess, and your reaction is completely normal. It's okay to be scared or nervous, I am too.”

“Auntie wouldn't be scared,” Cadence weakly argued.

“That's because she has more experience, Princess Celestia's been alive longer than everypony on this train combined. She's probably done this hundreds of times, but that doesn't mean she isn't at least somewhat nervous. She might just be really good at hiding it.”

Cadence turned away, not entirely believing Shining Armor's words. Shining Armor sighed before walking around the bed to face her again.

“Listen, I understand how you feel, Cadence. But, I guess, what I'm trying to say is that you're not alone. I'm here and I'll be with you every step of the way, okay?”

Cadence took another deep breath, “Yeah, okay, I think I'm fine now.”

“...”

“...”

“...Want me to cuddle with you?”

“...Yeah.”

Author's Note

Let me know if you all spot any mistakes :)