The wind blew over the empire kicking up leaves and dust in the streets while also causing the banners and flags to wave magnificently. In the streets the ponies from all four classes went about their chores and duties without hesitation in preparation for the annual Aura Borealis festival that was fast approaching. It was a lot of work but the crystal ponies didn’t mind and every class looked forward to the festival. Overseeing the preparations high above the empire from her balcony was Princess Cadance who was accompanied by her advisor to the left and her daughter to the right. She let the breeze flow against her face before taking one last look over the empire and then turning her attention towards her advisor.
“So Shimmer, how goes the preparations for the festival in the lower districts? I don’t want a repeat of last year’s incident that nearly spoiled the celebration.” Shimmer fixed his glasses with his hoof and looked over his notes before giving the princess his answer. “I can assure you your majesty that the incident in question will never occur again. We are keeping a watch on all Sapphire class ponies now to ensure that there is no interruption in the labor. Arrests have already been made on those believed to cause trouble in the work force.” Cadance turned away from her advisor and looked over the empire once again but this time focusing on the Sapphire district. “Very well done Shimmer, I trust that you will not fail me like my previous advisor did. Now leave us, I wish to be alone with my daughter for a moment.” Shimmer bowed and then turned away making his way back down into the castle. Cadance now turned her full attention towards her daughter smiling. “Well come on, I believe that lunch will soon be ready and I would prefer that we eat while the food is freshly prepared.” Cadance turned towards the steps and made her way down with her daughter trotting up beside her. “Mother, I think Shimmer seems too nervous for a Diamond Class pony. I’ve heard rumors that while he was being grown the pony in charge of him accidently gave him the nutrients meant for the Ruby class. Do you think this is true?” Cadance couldn’t help but laugh at this. “Don’t be silly Starlight, those are just rumors. Don’t you think that I would know if my own hoof picked advisor had a dysfunction? Shimmer is just worried and doesn’t want to disappoint me like me previous advisor did.” Starlight thought about this for a moment and nearly tripped and fell down the steps in her distracted state. Cadance laughed before putting on a straight face again. “Star, don’t worry yourself with silly gossip and rumors. It would ease my mind if you put more focus on the ceremony that follows the festival.” Starlight looked away and blushed a little in her own clumsiness. “Yes mother.”
Cadance had taken her usual seat at the head of the table with Starlight seated to her left. To the right of Cadance lay an empty chair. When Starlight was a foal her mother had scolded her one day after accidently knocking the chair over while running around. Starlight had always been confused as to why her mother always insisted that there be three chairs when usually it was only Cadance and herself that ate alone except for the occasional formal dinner where her mother invited her inner circle. Starlight finished her meal of crystal berries and corn faster than her mother as usual and felt a bit curious. “Mother, if I may ask a question. Could you perhaps tell me what’s beyond the crystal walls that protect the empire?” Starlight asked this question rather playfully, rubbing her horn and tilting her head, knowing that her mother would most likely not answer, as per usual whenever when asked this question, but instead would get a bit annoyed. Cadance sighed, “For the thousandths time Star, nothing is beyond the crystal walls but grass, grass, and the occasional boulder or two. Now if you don’t mind I would like to finish my meal in peace. Why don’t you go run along and go check on the empire for me? Seeing as how you already finished your lunch.” Starlight moaned in annoyance, checking up on the crystal empire usually meant going through all the districts and facilities which usually took all day, “Fine…I’ll go see what’s happening in the streets.” Starlight left the table and began to move away. “Star, when you return I’ll be in the shrine if you need me.” Starlight headed out the door and made her way towards the palace entrance. She approached two diamond guards, “Come on fellas, let’s go have a look around my mother’s empire.”
Starlight blew her hair out of her face and sighed in annoyance, “Why does mother always have me inspect the empire for her? I mean isn’t that what Shimmer is for? Guard, what’s left to inspect? Are we almost finished?” The guard to her right turned to face her, “Well your highness, since we just finished inspecting the Sapphire class learning facility all that’s left now is the Emerald class district.” Star sighed again, “Fine…let’s get this over with already.” The three made their way to the gate that separated the Sapphire district from the Emerald district. The guards manning the gate opened it up and three ponies stepped inside as the gates closed behind them. Starlight walked along the dirt streets and looked around for any signs of trouble. She doubted that she would ever have something to report to her mother from these inspections but she did them without questioning her. An Emerald class pony quickly made her way up to Starlight, “Buy…bu…buy some green berries? You like green berries? Horned pony buy berries? Yes? No?” Starlight looked at the muddy green berries in the ponies pouch. One of her guards moved up but Star stopped him, “No it’s quite alright guard. I can handle this.” She turned her attention again towards the emerald pony who had a confused look in her eyes, “Buy? Buy green berries?” Starlight shook her head, “No thank you, I don’t really like the green berries very much. I much prefer the red ones. No why don’t you go see if any other pony wants to buy your green berries from you?” The Emerald pony ran off down the street looking for a potential customer. “Come along guards, I want to finish this up before night fa...” An idea suddenly occurred to Starlight, “Guards I wish for you to escort me to the Crystal wall on this side of the empire so that I may inspect it.” Both guards turned to look at each other before one of them spoke, “I’m sorry you’re Highness but under your mothers orders you’re not permitted near the crystal wall. Only your mother and her personal advisor conduct inspections of the empires defenses.” Star sighed; it was worth a try at least, “Very well, let’s finish up today’s inspections then shall we?” The group continued on their inspection of the district making their way towards the Emerald class feeding facility.
“Finally!!! My hooves are killing me…I thought we’d never finish todays inspections.” The guards closed the palace doors behind them. “Will you be needing anything else your highness?” Starlight made her way towards the palace shrine that her mother had constructed, “No guards, that will be all for today.” The two guards returned to their posts as Starlight made her way down the hall towards her mother. She opened the shrines doors and stepped inside to a familiar sight. In the middle of the chamber stood a statue that Cadance had dedicated towards Lord Shining Armor after he had passed away. Cadance as always lay in front of the statue. At the foot of the statue were two identical rings protected by a diamond cover. “Mother I have returned from the days inspections though there is nothing to report as usual.” Cadance looked over at her daughter, “Ahhhh…Starlight! Come sit next to me for bit will you?” Star nodded her head, “Of course mother.” Star made her way over towards her mother. Cadance looked up at the statue before talking, “It was hard for him you know. Getting used to life after the war ended.” Starlight also looked up at the statue, “For Lord Shining Armor?” Cadance nodded her head, “Yes and it brought me great pain to see him in such distress. It seemed to be luck that saved us and the crystal ponies since the empire was isolated in the far north. We didn’t feel lucky though, especially Shining Armor. He had lost almost everything that he cared about and loved. He lost his friends, parents, and his beloved sister.” Cadance paused and Starlight turned to look towards her mother. “We vowed to create a better society that would never be ravaged by sadness, tragedy, or conflict ever again. We worked tirelessly day and night to see our vision come true. My Shining Armor worked until the day that he passed away. I went through a terrible depression for many years locking myself away from the empire…until one day I had an idea.”
Cadance now turned to face her daughter, “And that idea was you my dear Starlight Sparkle. I had grown tired of ruling an empire alone without a companion. Shining Armor and I could never seem to have a daughter of our own because I was infertile. I had decided to have my own daughter grown from perfection, given only the best nutrients and the finest education that the empire had to offer. I watched as you grew from a flawless diamond into the gorgeous pony that you are today. I named you in honor of Shining Armor’s sister who I also cared greatly about.” Cadance now put her hoof around her daughter. “Your love has gotten me through the hardest part of my entire life after my husband passed.” Starlight in turn put her hoof around her mother embracing her in a hug. “Of course I love you mother, I always will.” Cadance stroked Starlight’s mane, “Now off to bed with you, even a princess needs her rest.” Starlight nodded her head and left her mother in the shrine. She climbed the many stair cases and made her way through the various hallways that lead to her bedroom. She entered her room and began to make ready for bed. She washed herself and combed her mane making sure that her horn didn’t mess up her hair. Her horn, it was always something that made her feel…special. She was the only pony in the empire that had a horn besides her mother and even then her mother also had wings. She stood for a while in front of the mirror looking at her horn. She tilted her head back and forth trying to imagine for what purpose the horn was for. “Is it for fighting? Dancing? Does it make a pony sing better or make them smarter? What’s the point of a horn?”
Star’s head started to hurt from so much thinking. She pushed the thought from her mind and then made her way towards her bed. She blew out of the candles and slid under the covers. Minutes passed and Star twisted and turned in her bed trying to fall asleep. From her window she could hear the noise coming for the streets as the rest of the empire continued on with its routine, “Probably the Emerald class performing their late night duties.” She put a pillow over her head to try and drown out the noise but it was no use. The preparations for the festival were just too loud. She removed her pillow from her head and her mind started to wander again. “Mother, Shining Armor, and the empire. Where do I fit into all of this? What use am I to mother other than support? I’m sure she expects great things from me. I wonder if I’ll make a good ruler someday. Actually, will I ever rule in my mother’s place? I don’t think she’s ever told me what she expects from me and I don’t think I’ve ever truly asked. Most of the time I just ask her what’s beyond the wall.” Starlight immediately sat up in bed, “The wall…” She got up out of bed and made her way towards her window. She looked out over the streets, her gaze fixed on the crystal wall that prevented ponies from entering or leaving the empire. “Maybe one day mother will tell me what’s beyond the wall or maybe even let me see for myself.” Starlight looked up the dark sky and yawned. “Someday maybe mother will stop being so secretive with me. Someday…” Starlight made her way back to her bed, laid her head on her pillow and fell fast asleep.
Cadance had stayed in the shine for a few more hours after her daughter had gone off to bed. Her eyes began to get heavy and her strength was fading fast. She took one last look at her deceased husbands face and then turned her attention towards the two rings at the base of the statue. “Such a beautiful day that was.” A tear fell off her face and she quickly wiped it away. She checked to make sure that she was alone before turning her attention towards the candles in the room. Once she was certain that she was alone a blue aura formed around her horn and soon around all the candles as well. Then in an instant all the candles seemingly blew themselves out at the same time. She made her way towards the shrines exit and closed the doors behind her with her hooves. “Your majesty?” Cadance quickly turned around to face to the source of the noise. She saw a figure in the shadows but could not make out who it was. “Who goes there?” The figure quickly moved out from out of the shadows and Cadance breathed a sigh of relief. “Shimmer, how many times have I told you NOT to sneak up on me like that?” Shimmer quickly began to shake and a worried look grew on his face. “A thousand apologies your majesty but I’ve come to inform you that the Sapphire class ponies that were arrested today have all been interrogated. Cadance’s intrigue grew from hearing this. “Well? Did they confess?” Shimmer fixed his glasses before answering. “Well not to treason or disrupting work but they did confess to not performing their duties on certain occasions.” Cadance grew annoyed by the conversation now. “Well if that is all I’m going to go to my bed chambers.” Shimmer called out to the princess one more time, “But what shall we do with the Sapphires that have been arrested?” Cadance stopped but did not turn back to look at Shimmer, “Dispose of them… I have no use for ponies that can easily be replaced.” Shimmer bowed his head, “Yes your majesty, as you wish.” Cadance began again to make her way towards her bed chambers through the candle lit halls
Starlight yawned as she awoke from her sleep, “Another dull night I suppose.” She kicked the bed covers off of her and made her way to the window. She looked at the streets below and saw ponies continuing on with their preparations. The Emerald Class ponies were still at work but now they were joined once again by the other three classes. “Just as busy as always I guess.” She left her window and made her way to the wash room and cleaned herself before making her way to the mirror. She carefully groomed her hair so that it would not get tangled up with her horn. She always wanted her horn to look at least neat and proper, like her mothers. Starlight was almost Nineteen years old but for some odd reason her mother looked almost exactly the same age that she did. She always found it curious that her mother didn’t seem to age. Star didn’t even know how old her mother was; she was too embarrassed to ask and was sure that her mother would just dodge the question. She finished combing her mane and made her way down stairs to meet her mother for breakfast.
Something was obviously not right as Starlight entered the dining hall, her mother was not there. It was usually Cadance who would be in the dining hall first and then send a servant to look for Starlight when she overslept, which happened at least once or twice a week. “Mother? Mother are you in here?” Their breakfast already seemed to be set on the table for them but upon closer inspection Star noticed that her mother’s plate seemed to be empty. There were crumbs of food on the plate, “Could mother have of already eaten?” Just as Starlight was about to leave the dining hall her personal servant Clover entered. “Your highness a thousand apologies but I was meant to inform you that your mother had a lot of business to attend to today and could simply not wait for you to arrive.” Starlight made her way towards Clover, “Please your highness if you could not tell your mother that I forgot to inform you and be generous enough to forgi…” Starlight put her hoof around Clover, “Will you please calm yourself Clover. It was just a simple mistake. Of course I can forgive you and I’m certain that my mother would too.” Clover bowed to Starlight, “Thank you! Oh thank you your highness!” Starlight made her way back to the table and sat in seat to begin her breakfast. Clover made her way to exit the dining hall but quickly turned around again, “Your highness, I almost forgot. Your mother also mentioned that she would not be joining you for lunch today either. Unfortunately a lot of work has fallen upon her regarding the empire.” Starlight paid no heed to this. With her mouth full of food she simply replied, “Okay Clover…”, as she began to make short work of her meal.
“What to do, what to do.” Starlight moved around her room thinking about something that could occupy enough time to kill off the rest of the day. “Hmmmmm…I guess I could always practice for the ceremony.” Star looked at the notecards her mother had given her to practice from. “Ummm…maybe later.” She put the note cards in a drawer, “Much later…” After realizing that there was nothing fun to do in her room she decided to go get so fresh air from her mother’s balcony. Star looked over the balcony to the entire empire before letting her gaze fall on the crystal wall. “I wonder…” Star immediately went to go look for Clover as the idea formed in her mind. She found Clover tending the inner gardens of the palace, “Clover could you please follow me? I am going to need your assistance.” Clover put down the watering can and followed Starlight back to her room. “What is it that you need your highness?” Starlight closed the door to her room and closed the curtains of her window. “Clover I am going to ask you to keep a secret, can you do that for me?” Clover nodded but was a bit wary of the conversation. “I need you to keep it secret even from my mother.” Clover looked at Starlight and then at the door. “Please your highness; don’t ask me to go against the princess.” Starlight laughed, “Don’t worry it’s not treason or anything like that. I just need you to cover for me while I sneak out of the palace to go see the crystal wall.” Clover nearly fell over on her back, “But…but…your mother has forbidden you from going to the crystal wall.” Clover was now breathing heavily. “Trust me Clover it will all be fine and my mother will never know about it.” Clover sighed and took a seat on the floor, “Very well your highness, I will cover for you.”
"Excellent! I knew I could count on you Clover!” Starlight put her servant in a hug. “Umm…your highness. If I may ask, how do you plan to sneak out of the palace? You will never fool the guards; they all know your face. Your horn will give you away!” Starlight thought for a moment. She was so caught up in getting Clover to agree to the plan that it had completely slipped her mind as to how she was going to sneak out. She looked at Clover and then a new idea occurred to her. “A hat should do the trick for the horn. As for my face well…maybe I could sneak out with that cloak that you wear for when the wind is terrible.” A smile grew on Starlight’s face, “Yes I’m certain that would work.” Clover nodded her head and immediately left Starlight’s room to go and retrieve her cloak. Minutes past and Star grew more excited about the thought of finally going to the Crystal wall. Clover returned with both her cloak and a hat tucked away inside her saddle bag. “Here you are your highness, my wind cloak and a hat from my personal collection.” Star immediately began dressing. She slipped the cloak on first making sure that her face was covered enough so that she would not be recognized but was exposed enough so that the guards would see that she was from the diamond class. Next she put on the hat so that it completely covered up her horn. “Well? How do I look Clover?” Clover looked at Starlight from head to hoof, “I would be lying your highness if I didn’t say that you didn’t look like a pony straight out of the diamond nurturing facility.” Starlight pleased with herself thanked clover one more time and then made her way to the door. “Your highness, if could ask you for two favors? Please don’t have me do this again and also try to ruin that cloak; it’s one of my most favorites.” Starlight laughed, “Don’t worry my dear friend, I’ll make sure to take good care of it and I won’t be gone long.” With that she was out the door of her room and made her way to the servant’s entrance of the palace.
“Well, here goes nothing.” Starlight whispered to herself as she approached the lone guard that stood watch at servant’s entrance. As soon as she made it obvious that her intention was to go through the door the guard stopped her. “Halt! I’ve never seen you before. What are you doing inside of the palace?” Starlight did her best to disguise her voice, “I was ummm…delivering an important package to the princess’s daughter?” The guard grew suspicious, “Then how come I didn’t see you come in?” Star started to panic a little but quickly came up with an answer. “That’s because I entered the palace when the other guard was on duty.” The guard was still not convinced, “Really now? What package were you carrying that takes over an hour and a half to deliver?” Star grew more confident now as she figured out the perfect solution. “I had to help the princess’s daughter sort out the package. If you still don’t believe me though we could always go ask her about it. Although I’m sure she would be annoyed to have to deal with a problem as insignificant as this.” Now it was the guard that started to panic, “No, no, no that’s quite alright. No need to bother her.” And with that the guard stepped aside and let Starlight out into the diamond district. “Thank you very much.”
Getting out of the palace was the hard part since it was much easier to move between districts when all you had to do was blend in with the crowd. After minutes of walking Star finally approached the entrance to the Emerald district. She was let in with no problem at all and then pushed forward towards the wall. “There it is, I can see it! Finally I’ll get to see it up close!” As she approached the wall she couldn’t help but notice just how much larger it was up close. It was larger than all the buildings in the empire except the palace. “Wow it’s just so…so…big! I never imagined it would be this magnificent. I wonder what kind of crystal it’s made of. Maybe its…” In that moment Starlight forgot one of the most sacred rules in the entire empire, no pony besides the princess or others with her permission are allowed to touch the wall. Four diamond guards quickly came over and surrounded Star. “Halt! You are being placed under arrest for touching the crystal wall without permission!” Two guards moved to Starlight’s left and right side and held her so that she could not run. Starlight began to panic, “Wait! Where are you going to take me?” A guard moved up and made it his intention to remove Star’s hat, “You will be taken to a facility where upon arrival you will be interrogated and then you shall confess to your crimes against the Princess and the empire. After that you will be punished accordingly to your crimes.”
The guard placed his hoof on Star’s hat but just as he was about to take it off a rock smacked him right on the side of the face. The guard fell over reeling in pain as three more rocks found their mark on the other guards. With the guards who were restraining her now on the ground Star quickly moved away. She heard a whistle and quickly turned around to see a Ruby class pony waving at her to follow him. With the guards now getting off the ground Starlight had to time to react or think. She simply ran towards the Ruby pony as the guards called after them , “STOP!! TRAITORS!” Star followed the Ruby pony down several alley ways as the four guards quickly pursued them. “Quick in here!” The Ruby pony pointed towards a small cellar in one of the buildings. Starlight went down the dark steps first as the ruby pony closed the cellar doors above them. “Who are yo…” A hoof was quickly put over her mouth, “Shush, stay quite.” Both of them listened closely for any signs of the guards. They heard the hooves of the guards come closer and then fade away as they passed the cellar. Starlight removed the Ruby pony’s hoof from her mouth. Star could sense that the Ruby pony was moving towards one of the walls of the dark room. He lit one of the candles and then went around lighting others in the small room. Star looked at the ruby pony, “Well? I’m waiting!” her companion looked at her with a confused look on his face, “Waiting? Waiting for what?” Star sighed, “Isn’t it obvious? For you to tell me your name of course!” The ruby pony laughed, “You know usually you begin by first telling the other your name before asking for theirs. Also would a little appreciation kill you? I mean I practically just saved your life by putting mine at risk.”
Starlight scoffed at this, “Oh I didn’t need your help. I would have had everything under control.” Star got a bit annoyed when her companion started laughing, “Under control? Well then excuse me but unless you were the Princess, her daughter, advisor, or Lord Shining Armor come back from the dead there was no way you were going to get yourself out of that mess.” Starlight blushed at this a little. “Well…” The ruby pony interrupted her, “Well what? Look I don’t know what I was thinking when I decided to save you. A diamond class pony such as yourself probably would of just been fine on her own.” Star’s anger started to grow., “You know what? I’m starting to think that maybe I should just go find those guards and have them arrest a brute Ruby Stallion such as yourself!” The object of her hatred laughed more at this, “Go ahead! Have them arrest me, what makes you think that you’ll get off any easier? Last time I checked touching the crystal wall without permission is a higher crime than assaulting a guard. Heck maybe we’ll share the same jail cell. Either way it won’t end well the both of us.” Starlight’s anger now boiled. “You think I won’t do it? Please obviously you don’t know me.” The ruby pony interjected, “Obviously.” Star shot him a mean look, “Well, I guess we’ll see who gets the worst punishment!” Starlight made her way up the steps to the cellar door in a mad dash. The ruby pony was caught off guard by this, “Hey WAIT! YOU”RE ACTUALLY GOING TO DO IT?!” Starlight opened the cellar doors and turned back to look at the stallion, “Obviously.” The stallion quickly darted to her and wrapped his hooves around her. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing? Get your hooves off of me!” Her plea was ignored as the stallion literally pulled her back down the steps and both crashed on the floor.
“You brute! I’m trying to mess this cloak up! It belongs to a friend of mine!” Star lifted herself and waited for a witty retort from the ruby pony but it never came. Confused she looked over in his direction and saw that he was staring at her with his eyes wide open. “What? What are you staring at?” It took the stallion a few moments before he walked over towards Starlight, picked her hat from off the ground, and placed it on his head. “Gee, I thought your hat would fit me real good…your highness.” It took Starlight a few moments to comprehend what just happened. She quickly put one of her hooves to her head in an effort to hide her horn. The stallion laughed, “No point in hiding it now your highness. Though if I could ask that you forget all of this as favor for saving you.” Star’s panic started to grow, “Why do you want me to forget all of this?” More laughter followed, “Well because I’m pretty sure that grabbing the princess’s daughter and tossing her to the floor is a higher crime than assaulting guards.” Starlight giggled a little, “Well I suppose that as a favor I could possible forget your face and all these events.” The stallion took the hat of his head and handed it back towards Star. Starlight’s curiosity about the ruby stallion grew even more now, “Well I don’t suppose I’m actually ready to leave just yet. Now you obviously know who I am bit I still haven’t learned your name.” The ruby pony laughed a bit before answering, “I suppose I haven’t told you my name yet but then again why should I?” Starlight shot him a nasty stare again “Okay, okay I’ll tell you.” The ruby stallion walked up to Starlight until they were face to face and then extended his hoof, “Hello, my name is Zander. Pleasure to make your acquaintance Starlight Sparkle.”
