Dear Diary,

I see the Crystal…

The day was blue, sun standing tall in the skies. In truth, I had to wonder why there hadn’t seemed to be much change in the weather over last few days. More accurately, ever since we had left the Everfree. Like all the previous days, it was getting too warm for my comfort and there was little shade to seek refuge in.

To the west, we could see the mountain where Canterlot was located. From this distance the city itself was mostly hidden away. Now that we had left the forest, we focused on moving quickly and watching the skies in case we were spotted. But there didn’t seem to be many people around. To avoid a repeat of the ambush in Ponyville we were avoiding the smaller settlements. Even if we hadn’t been fugitives, the Changelings had made it unwise to associate with strangers.

The land had been surprisingly rugged, covered with hills and crags. Perhaps this was what had allowed us to remain undetected for this long. Trixie referred to a farm of sorts that we passed, which looked like the physical manifestation of despair, as a “rock farm”. This confused me to no end but I didn’t enquire further because I wanted to retain a little bit of my sanity. And if it turned out a “rock farm” was anything like it sounded, my sanity would shatter instantly.

Now we were moving into more open land, verdant and almost uniform as far as the eyes could see. And, in the middle of it all was a great city, perhaps more than Canterlot. Twilight, Trixie and Dash’s moods improved considerably when it came into view, so I was sure it was our destination. At first it looked normal enough for any extravagant city, but the way it reflected the light from the sun made me reconsider just how appropriate the name was.

Until now I had assumed that Sombra’s had the representation of the Crystal Empire Sombra had given me was embellished an attempt to impress me. But as we drew closer to the city, it did seem to be made of crystal. The first question that came to mind was why it was like that, though the answer was probably because some ruler had wanted it to be like that so they could show off to others.

“Looks like we’ll reach it by nightfall,” Twilight said. I nodded; that seemed like a fairly good estimate to me.

We continued to walk in silence for a couple of hours. Despite our optimistic view on the chances of reaching the city without incident, we all continued to watch for any activity on the horizon or in the skies.

“There!” Trixie whispered, pointing to the distance. A small group seemed to have left the Crystal Empire and were headed right towards us.

“What should we do?” I asked, looking at Twilight. She sighed in return, pausing for a moment.

“Let’s just meet them,” Twilight finally said. “It’s broad daylight and we must be visible from the city. If Cadence believes I’m a traitor, then we don’t have any hope regardless. Don’t worry though,” she added with a smile to me. “Cadence knows I would never betray Celestia.”

I could see that she added ‘I hope’ to her statement in her mind, but I smiled back and nodded. We stopped, watching the strangers approach. A part of me wondered if it was a coincident and they would pass us by, not seeing us and letting us be on our way. I knew this to be false, of course, as they were headed straight for us, but perhaps Twilight’s optimism had rubbed off on me. She had certainly rubbed against me often enough for that to be a possibility.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle,” a brown coated man approached, wearing a suit of armor similar to the guards in Canterlot and a rather out of place monocle. He flanked by six other men and they all had a crystalline appearance that I couldn’t stop starring at, try as I might. The man gave a bow, which showed off his bald head. “My name is Pearl Cufflinks, regent of the Crystal Empire. It is my honor to welcome you and your… companions to our great Empire. The Crystal Princess wishes to speak with you post-haste.”

“Regent?” I asked, exchanging a glance with Twilight.

“It will be our pleasure, Regent Cufflinks,” the purple girl quickly said, trying to hide her worried tone and cutting off any elaboration on my comment. “It will be good to see Cadence again.”

“Follow me then, if you please,” Cufflinks adjusted his monocle, turning around. His escort waited for us to follow him before forming the rear guard. “I am pleased to see that you made it here before Canterlot’s Royal Guard found you. We have been most worried that you might be caught.”

“Does that mean you don’t think Twilight is a traitor?” I asked, feeling my heart skip a beat while I waited for his answer.

“I consider myself to be an educated man, both in politics and history,” the regent answered, his words short and to the point. “Even without the Crystal Princess’ assurance that Princess Twilight Sparkle would never betray Equestria, the claim would be highly dubious. In truth, and forgive me for my bluntness, but I fear the people of Equestria are too blinded by their love to Celestia. Being a citizen of the Great Empire, I have been spared such indoctrination. This allows me to see the world more objectively.”

“O…kay…” I got the feeling of having been shut down from any further conversation. Indoctrination seemed to me to be the same sort of behavior as rewriting history and Celestia had again been accused of it by an outsider. On one hand, Twilight was so admiring of her, both as a ruler and mentor. But on the other hand, Sombra, this Cufflinks and even Luna painted a somewhat darker picture of her. I frowned to myself as I recalled what Sombra had said about Celestia believing ‘her own propaganda’.

**

My eyes darted from place to place, barely having time to look at one thing before something new caught my attention. The Crystal Empire was absolutely beautiful. As far as I could see it was forged exclusively from crystalline materials. The lights reflected from every angle, giving momentary glimpses of rainbows that disappeared when I took a second look. Even the people escorting us and those we passed on our way had this effect, but they seemed to be every bit as mobile as Twilight or I was. When Sombra had showed me this city, it had seemed so dull. In person was something quite different.

At the center of it all a tower stood above the rest. It rested on four pillars, blue and white in color. It’s height dwarfed the rest of the town, with several spires besides the main one. Around it there were always a par of guards in sight, armed and armored. Looking up, I saw a figure on one of the many balconies; it was a woman, of that I was fairly sure even at this distance, and had a light pink coat and multicolored hair. Almost as soon as I turned my gaze to her, she disappeared.

“The Crystal Princess, Mi Amore Cadenza. Her Majesty prefers ‘Cadence’,” Cufflinks answered my unstated question. “Her appearances on the balcony do her radiant beauty no justice, as you shall see soon enough.”

“And Shinning Armor?” Twilight asked.

“He left for Canterlot when you were declared a traitor. He is acting Regent of Equestria, but we have reason to suspect most of the Royal Guard follows the orders Celestia gave before she appointed him. He does not believe you are guilty any more than Cadence does.”

I saw Twilight brighten up a bit, but both our expressions turned dark. Shinning Armor could have walked into an ambush in Canterlot. But at least her brother did not suspect her of treachery.

“Now, follow me if you please. We must prepare you for meeting Her Majesty.”

**

I felt unease as the guards searched the girls and I in a side room of the castle entrance. Trixie had a ring of sorts placed on her horn, which she looked less-than-happy about. Twilight mumbled something about it preventing magic. My question was: then why not just take it off? As the guards turned around, I saw Trixie try to do just that, but it seemed to be stuck.

All of us were presented with a new set of clothes. Trixie refused to try them on, insisting that her own were more than good enough. Twilight, Dash and I, on the other hand, were happy to have something new. The girls were given dresses that matched their skin and hair color, and had a symbol of their cutie mark, while I was given a simple black and white suit. No tie though, for which I was glad.

“You look smashing, as Rarity would say,” Twilight whispered to me. I found myself blushing, but shook it off.

“And you look gorgeous,” I replied. I wasn’t exaggerating either, as the dress emphasized the curves of her body, while letting her retain a look that said ‘I’m probably smarter than you’.

“Now, please do as I do,” Cufflinks looked to Trixie and me, giving an overstated bow. His right hand was held at his chest, while the left one was stretched out. He put his right foot backwards. I, somewhat clumsily I had to admit, followed his example. Whatever else, I had little wish to offend royalty more than I already had. Trixie did too, but with more flair and she worked in a way to take off her hat in the same move.

“Hmm, it will have to do. Now follow me.”

**

We were escorted into a throne room, not unlike that in Canterlot, save for the crystalline look. On the throne sat the woman I had seen on the balcony, patiently watching us approach. She was the first person I had seen here that appeared like Twilight and myself. She was roughly as tall as Luna, with an elegant white dress, defined hips and generous bust. At each side of her two guards stood.

“Welcome,” Cadence smiled at us. Her tone was warm and welcoming, if a little tired.

“Twilight!” the same voice shouted at us from our left. A door in the back slammed open and Cadence came running out. She had scratches and torn clothes. Her eyes and horn glowed with a familiar green and purple light; crystal magic.

“Princess!” the guards were on the Cadence at the throne in an instant, holding her to the ground, doing their best to counter her magic. She yelled at them and at the new arrival. Trixie took hold of Dash, pushing her away from the throne, fearing if she could be influenced still.

“Cadence!” Twilight exclaimed, running up to the newcomer, embracing her in a hug.

“Twilight!” I shot after her, trying to come between them. “How do you know she is the real one?”

“The magic,” she pointed to it. “Only Alicorn and Sombra can use it.”

The real Cadence nodded, pushing us aside. She approached the imposter, drawing a dagger from the best of one of the guards. Without hesitation she planted it in the neck of the pretender, holding her free hand in front of its mouth. Slowly, but surely, she slit its throat. A pool of green blood formed on the floor; by the time she was done, the imposter had the form of a Changeling. When the lifeless insect fell to the floor, I noticed she was at least a head taller than any other Changeling I’d seen before. She had a slimmer build, like Princess Luna, and her eyes had slit pupils. I looked over at Twilight for some sort of explanation.

“Chrysalis…” Twilight said in almost a whisper. Hesitantly approached Cadence and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at Twilight.

“I’m… It’s over. She is dead.”

I saw a tear run down her cheek. “How long were you…?”

“Not long: only a day or two. She caught me inside my study. Thank Celestia that Sombra’s old magic is the key to much of the old castle.”

In the background, the guards carried the body away and sent for someone to clean up the blood. Trixie and Dash slowly approached, visibly shaken.

Twilight firmly turned Cadence around and hugged her tightly. “You are amazing, Cadence. You always were. And now you’ve saved our lives again.”

The Crystal Princess eventually broke the hug and smiled at Twilight. Then her expression turned to horror as her eyes fell on her horn. “Twilight! Your horn! What happened?”

“She pushed her magic too far while saving my life,” I answered, feeling a pang of guilt.

“Always the hero,” Cadence gave the other princess a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll get you medical attention. You deserve nothing less than the best.”

“Rainbow Dash also needs help,” Twilight said. “She was bitten by a Changeling.”

Cadence nodded. “And there is another matter. But we can wait until morning. You and your friends look like you have been through hell.”

The Crystal Princess led us to the door in the back she had come from. As we were about to pass through, she pulled me aside for a moment.

“I love Twilight with all my heart,” she whispered, her eyes piercing into my very being. “If you break her heart, I’ll do to you as I did to the Changeling.”

I felt my heart stop for a moment. “I… I’d never do that… if I could avoid it…” I mumbled eventually.

“I believe you,” she finally said, giving me a content smile. “She has chosen well.”

Author's Notes:

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