Chapter 10: Welcome to the Crystal Empire, the Door is right there.

Edited by: cosmic flash

“No, no, no this part goes into that part on the main shaft.” Cid called out slightly frustrated after seeing that one of his assistants was once again mounting a crucial piece of his new project in the wrong area.

“Sorry Sir Cid, but…your diagrams are somewhat crudely drawn and hard to decipher sometimes.” His assistant complained while moving around the table, with the part still balanced on his back to get it to its designed place on the new project that they were working on.

Cid was about to retort to that before just giving up with a sigh, truth be told his sketching skills really weren’t the best. Quite ironic giving the fact that he is both the head blacksmith and metalworker of the crystal empire while also a part-time inventor.

Even more comical was the fact that his wife Mable Hammers was actually an excellent artist and painter, her drawing skills being VASTLY superior to his. Then again he sometimes questioned how it was possible for a creature with hooves to be able to draw and paint so well in the first place without the use of either magic or digits, at the same time how was he able to bend metal with a hammer, despite his own lack of either magic or claws?

Cid Hammers was once again having an (Or more like lead himself to again) existential crisis regarding the functionality of the world around him. The answer usually went to magic as it always does, an answer he never felt satisfied with.

Cid shook his head before moving his chestnut brown hoof onto his golden brown mane to rub his head.

“Not now Cid. Focus on your work or else everything is going to blow up like the last time you had a midlife crisis.” He mentally told himself, both his goatee and mustache moving a bit as he scrunched his muzzle on that particular thought.

His wife having never let that incident go for a whole month since it did involve him almost blowing a quarter of his mansion up that day.

He was about to criticize another assistant of his bending a piece of metal the wrong way when a sudden knock from the door behind him drew his attention.

“Honey, you’ve got a visit from the captain of the crystal guard himself. I do hope you haven’t done anything illegal or dangerous…again.” The muffled voice of his wife came through the closed door.

Normally his workshop would be A LOT busier and also a lot noisier too, but given the fact that today is the day of the annual crystal fair in celebration of the king's death and the start of a new age meant that most of his usual workforce was obviously absent today making it a lot easier for him to notice when his wife actually came down to his workshop.

“My main client is here once more? Wonder what brings him down to my workshop this time?” Cid thought to himself as he moved past the large table and towards the back door.

He opened it carefully revealing none other than his lovely wife Mable standing there in her usual expensive looking attire with the well known and young captain Silver Sword standing behind her.

“Greetings there Sir Cid Hammers, sorry for the intrusion but I came to you to simply deliver a quick message.” Silver immediately cut to the point.

Cid was a bit surprised by this but kept his composure as he dusted himself off a bit on his already slightly ruined suit. “Straight to the point I see, quite understandable given the festivities today, a perfect day to spend some quality time with miss Sapphire.” Cid answered with a smile, an action which actually broke the captain’s stoic look as his eyes went wide.

“What? N-no…for starters we are just friends and second she is actually back at the palace with a few of her guards keeping an eye on the throne room. Where did that last comment even come from anyway?” Silver Sword responded and sounding a lot less professional while doing so. Which made Cid’s smile go even wider before his own wife decided to add her own two gil into the conversation as well.

“My husband is right dear captain, you and Lieutenant Sapphire seem perfect for one another you should give it a try, especially since you two have been friends since foalhood as far as I heard.” Mable added in while pushing a golden lock of her light brown mane out of her face with a hoof.

Poor Silver was stunned, a simple task of relaying a message had turned into an awkward pincer move between one of the two most respected nobles within the empire.

He was feeling really uncomfortable at the moment.

“Can we please just get back on track here, as I said I came here to relay a quick message from the Emperor himself.” Silver stated with a groan but mostly for the sake of quickly switching the subject from the one he found himself in.

Cid deciding to just let the young stallion off the hook nodded which almost made Silver sigh in relief before he composed himself.

“Well, I simply came here to personally tell you that the emperor wishes to speak to you about new weapon designs and overall ‘modernizing’ the crystal guard.” Silver finally stated which made both Cid and Mable look curiously at him.

“Oh and also discussing some future ideas and plans as well as new machinery and what not.” Silver quickly added which rose Cid’s interest levels even more.

“Wait a sec…” Cid began as he adjusted his multi layered mechanical loupe sitting on his scalp. “The new Emperor wants ME to talk about possible upgrade plans of the crystal guard and concepts of new machines?” He asked in surprise; to which Silver swiftly nodded.

“Well yes, according to him he most likely has some plans which he would like to share with you about some designs and concepts.” Silver confirmed which almost caused the complex and expensive looking loupe on Cid’s head to slide off.

At first there was silence, though that silence didn’t really last long as Cid quickly had a look of glee on his face which made his wife simply roll her eyes and shake her head.

“Our new Emperor is possibly versed within the fields of machines and science as well? Count me in, I am always ready to try out new things.” Cid happily announced loudly.

“I’m going place a lot of our personal valuables back into the city vault in case things start to blow up again. Don’t cause too much mayhem dear while I go do that.” Mable announced as she made her way back upstairs.

Cid in response simply rolled his own eyes this time as he watched his wife slowly disappear from view, leaving the two stallions alone in the small office.

“Don’t mind her captain, she can be quite overdramatic at times.” Cid openly stated.

“Well she actually might have a point there.” Silver answered flatly which caused Cid to glare at him for it.

“Oh shush, trial and error my friend, trial and error. All part of an inventor’s life.” Cid stated before trotting past him to follow his wife up the stairs.

Silver simply shook his head as he followed the middle aged noble up as well and to return to the palace as soon as possible to personally meet these outsiders he was informed of just earlier.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Both Cadence and her 3 companions could once again only marvel at both the architecture and overall beauty that were the interior halls of the crystal place. At first Cadence and her party were forced to momentarily shield their eyes the moment they first stepped into the palace as the sudden increase in light levels was an unexpected surprise for their retinas to witness, though when they did finally adjust to the unnatural light levels within the palace halls the same eyes immediately grew to the size of dinners plates at the scene presented to them.

“I had once read about the architectural mastery of the crystal ponies and their unique ability to bend and mold crystals to their will. But actually seeing it with my own eyes and stepping inside one of them for the first time is nothing compared to whatever books I have read about it.” Cadence thought to herself in continuous awe as she and her companions were lead by the previously introduced Ruby Quill.

“These purely made crystal halls are amazing, larger than the halls of Canterlot Castle.” A guard behind Cadence commented out in which she could only agree on.

Whatever the strength of these crystals may be, it was in no doubt that these crystals were stronger and more stable than the basic stone and marble used for Canterlot castle, since massive halls like these would be impossible with such material alone.

They continued their trek through the massive halls, passing by row upon row of crystal guards standing vigilant along the walls with even a number of patrols and servants passing by them.

Cadence could even still hear the muffled festivities that were still happening outside through a few large windows that they passed.

“The throne room is right ahead of us.” Ruby Quill suddenly announced after having climbed a set of short steps and breaking Cadence’s train of thought.

A pair of six guards flanked them from both sides of the wall leading to the massive wooden portal in front of them which was guarded by another four guards of course standing right in front of it.

“I guess they take security extremely seriously here. Really no surprise to be honest, given their current state.” Shining whispered to no one in particular as they continued to approach the four heavily armed guards blocking their path towards their goal.

Cadence could once again only agree before she and her party were immediately halted by said four guards with their spears pointed towards them.

“Halt, state your business within the throne room outsiders.” One of the guards in front ordered, as he glared through both his helmet and faceguard.

Cadence once again could feel herself nervous as the other six guards surrounding them visibly tightened their grips on both their spears and swords. Same with the two royal guards behind her. Even Shining took a silent gulp as he realized the obvious losing situation they suddenly found themselves in if things would somehow go sour.

They were very much not welcomed here and he could easily tell it.

Ruby Quill immediately stepped forward. “No need for such strict regulations, these Equestrians have been invited by the Emperor himself to meet with personally.” Ruby announced openly towards the head guard which only strengthened his glare towards them instead of softening it as Cadence had hoped.

“Equestrians, these are Equestrians?” The head guard asked, his voice obviously showing a bit of displeasure at this revelation. “What else is Equestria sending us this time, that would disrupt our development?” The guard continued on, a line that even made Shining frown a bit for a second despite his training.

Cadence was once again surprised, sure Sombra was from Equestria during his early days same with his followers, and sure he and his guard have caused unimaginable grief and damage to the crystal ponies. But even so Cadence was still more or less baffled at the level of dislike the crystal ponies have for its southern neighbor.

“What…what has Equestria actually done to the crystal ponies in the past that would elicit such disdain in the first place? Why didn’t aunt Celestia warn me about this?” Cadence wondered to herself as she began to look around. The guards surrounding them all keeping their weapons held firmly and ready to act at any given time should the opportunity present itself to them.

Is this really the greeting you get when travelling to different countries? All of a sudden Cadence had a new level of respect for the trouble that both Celestia and even Shining a few times had to go through whenever travelling to distant lands or kingdoms. She always thought that diplomatic missions were nothing more than disguised vacations trips when she was younger. She obviously was wrong.

Her train of thought was interrupted once more when Ruby Quill voiced herself again diverting the crystal guard’s attention from them to her, to Cadence’s relief.

“Lieutenant Lancer please, no need for such words here towards our guests even though they might be hail from the….” Ruby tried to explain but immediately stopped herself when the throne room doors behind the guards suddenly opened up.

Everyone in front of it immediately had their eyes fixated on it when a set of guards suddenly exited, followed by a scene that caused everybody present to do a double take in surprise.

Following the two newly emerged guards were a group of two maids carrying what looked like a guard frozen in ice with only his head sticking out and his teeth chattering.

“Make way, we need to quickly get this soldier outside and thaw him out before frostbite sets in.” One of the guards shouted as he and his companion quickly made way past the other guards and Cadence’s group with the two maids in quick pursuit despite their heavy load on top of them.

“What…what the…?” A royal guard was the first break the silence as everybody watched the group of ponies disappear around a distant corner.

Ruby Quill was the second one to recover as she took this opportunity to just trot past the lieutenant and into the now exposed throne room. Again beckoning the Equestrians to swiftly follow her.

Cadence and her gang swiftly complied as they moved past the still confused looking head guard. The other three of course were somewhat hesitant in letting them past but decided against stopping them as they simply lowered their spears and allowed them entry. Once again to Cadence’s relief.

That relief though immediately changed to surprise instead the moment she and her two comrades entered the interior of the throne room itself.

“What is it with this place liking it big…like REALLY big?” Cadence once again thought out as she began to observe the interior of the huge throne room that was at least double the size as the one back in Canterlot. Large banners were hanging from both the walls and ceilings depicting the symbol of a crystallized snowflake behind a teal colored background, in no doubt the flag of the crystal empire. Guards were also present within the throne room itself, flanking Cadence and her guards from both sides of the red carpet they trotted upon, being just as vigilant as the ones outside and ready for whatever danger or cause for action that might present itself to them, with both their long spears and swords at the ready. Once again demonstrating just how tight and serious they were about security.

Everybody stopped when they finally reached the end of the carpet which lead them directly in front of a crystal throne. What they all saw immediately caused everybody to tilt their heads in a really questionable and confused way.

Right beside the foot of the throne stood a Thestral, a pure one if the predatory look in her eyes told Cadence anything, in comparison to the ones her aunt’s night guards were. Cadence had only seen a couple of purebred Thestrals in her life, which were again easily recognizable by the predatory glint that they all have behind their cat like eyes which automatically caused ponies to feel uneasy close to them, including her, and also because they tend to be more rash with a much more full row of sharp fangs and thicker wings compared to the so called half breeds as they were called by the few pure Thestrals she met. Why, well as far as she knew or heard it’s because those that serve the night guard are actually Thestrals who have pony parents as well, which justifies the whole ‘half breed’ accusation pretty easily.

Though none of those were really the main focus of interest to her, what was her main interest was the fact that a supposed harsh and cruel predatory version of an equine had a very sheepish looking smile on her face while looking up at whoever was sitting on the throne high above them, and following her gaze she was immediately both surprised and somewhat mesmerized at the pony, or more like crystal unicorn sitting on it.

If the unicorn was male or female was still debatable for Cadence as its well-toned body structure, despite covered in the most interesting and beautiful golden armor and purple robes would suggest that she was actually looking at a stallion despite the more mare-ish type features in his or her face… mainly the small muzzle.

Though yet again neither of these were what really caught her attention, what did though was the disapproving glare the unicorn was aiming down towards the Thestral mare sheepishly looking up at him while rubbing one of her fore hooves nervously with the other. Which again was weird given her knowledge and personal experience of these hunters being a proud warrior race.

But then again, looking back up at the…Emperor…she could immediately read from his eyes that there was a huge amount of authority and hints of hidden intimidation behind them which Cadence once again made her both intrigued and slightly nervous as well for some reason.

“Shining might actually be right…I have a bit of a bad feeling about this unicorn, first of all his horn is long, like really long which would suggest that he is far from being a slouch when it comes to possible magical abilities and knowledge…in fact…is he levitating that enchanted sword without the use of his horn next to him? I…I can’t see or feel any obvious or visible trace of magic on and around it…how…how does that work?” Cadence wondered to herself as all of her focus was now fully looked on the golden clad, golden maned and furred unicorn sitting on the throne.

“No more enchanted swords for you, stick to the normal ones.” The Emperor suddenly chided which immediately caused Cadence to perk up in full attention with her eyes going slightly wider as well.

“That…that voice…”

The Thestral in question looked up at him shocked before a rather angry expression quickly took over. “WHAT?! But…but WHY?” She demanded which only made the glare on the now fully confirmed stallion harden even more.

“Because you obviously lack the knowledge of how they work and how to handle them properly.” The Emperor responded back in a controlled but still annoyed sounding tone, which made Cadence’s ears perk up even more and her mouth slightly open.

“Oh dear Celestia…that voice of his.” Cadence thought to herself as she found herself strangely mesmerized by this stallion’s very masculine but also pretty calm and gentle voice. A voice that would make any mare back in Canterlot melt by just hearing it, especially with such gorgeous looks and toned body…well estimated toned body as most of it was completely covered from view by the armor and other attire the stallion wore.

Thera continued to just glare up at the stallion as both Cadence and everybody else in the room were completely ignored by these two. In complete bafflement especially for the Equestrians.

“Lack of knowledge? How am I supposed to have known that simply lightly tapping someone with the blade would cause them to immediately freeze up?” Thera shot back which made some guards around the throne room momentarily lose their stoic expression, one next to Cadence even raising her eyebrow.

“And THAT is exactly why enchanted weapons for you are out of the question, at least as long you are here in the empire.” The emperor responded with a quiet snort as he finally broke his gaze with the mare below her to look at the levitating ice sword next to him.

“But…but…I WANT IT, I LOVE SWORDS AND I ALWAYS WANTED A MAGICAL ONE!!” Thera practically shouted like a little filly which took everybody in the room completely by surprise, even more so when she suddenly opened her wings and was taking a stance that dictated that she was about to leap up into the air and in no doubt towards the emperor to reclaim the sword from him.

Ruby Quill who had been just as confused and silent this entire time suddenly reacted, moving forward in an attempt to calm the situation down before it would end in a disaster.

She would have when the Emperor unexpectedly chucked the sword away to the side and towards a nearby wall with shocking speeds as it produced an ear crunching loud shattering noise as the blade literally burst into many fragments the moment it made contact with the crystal wall. Once again shocking everybody.

“Plus the blade was poorly made anyway.” The golden monarch commented while rubbing his chin as he watched the few remaining pieces of the blade clank down onto the floor.

Thera of course was stunned, falling backwards onto her flank staring at the shattered reminds of the once beautifully made sword. She was about to retort, shout, and cry on the loss of her first enchanted sword ever before her look, a mix of anger and distress was quickly replaced with a look of realization.

“Oh…wait…did…did it seriously just shatter on just one hard throw?” She questioned to no one in particular while raising an eyebrow.

“A very good quality made blade wouldn’t have even dented itself by such an action.” The emperor commented which the mare could only nod as she got back up on all fours.

“Huh…so it was trash anyway. Definitely not a sword I would be interested in, even if it was enchanted or not.” The Thestral commented as she seemed to be regaining her full composure once more. Completely forgetting the previous conflict and incident that had occurred literally just a few moments ago.

There was a moment of silence as everybody in the room, with the exception of the guards, were still somewhat unsure as to what this was all about, especially the two royal guards behind Cadence and Shining with their still dumbfounded looks.

“Uhm…your…highness?” Ruby suddenly announced, sounding somewhat unsure.

The Emperor hummed as he looked down at her, before for the first time laying his purple colored eyes onto the Equestrians behind her which caused every one of them to suddenly feel nervous again, except Shining as he again kept his composure which the Emperor noticed.

Ruby stepped up further before gesturing the new arrivals with a hoof while looking up at him. “Your highness I have brought and escorted the Equestrians as you wished. Presenting Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of Equestria and her escorts Captain Shining Armor and the two royal guards.” Ruby announced which caused the Emperor to sit back thoughtfully on his throne.

“Does every civilized nation consist of equines in this world?” The emperor thought to himself as he tapped an armrest with his right hoof as another thought suddenly struck him. “Also, Equestria…really? If all of their cities and settlement have horse related names as well over there then I am afraid to say that I won’t be able to fully take these people seriously as a possible future opponent.” He quickly added to his mindset as he eyed the so called Equestrians more closely, an act that the white unicorn seemed to have noticed.

The mentioned unicorn suddenly stepped up, closely eyed and watched by every guard within the room before he stopped right at the foot of the throne to bow down respectfully in front of the golden monarch.

Shining rose, looking up at the emperor as he silently cleared his throat. “Your Majesty, as your assistant has already introduced, I am Captain Shining Armor, captain of her Royal Highness Princess Celestia’s royal guard of Equestria. We have come far personally to liberate the crystal ponies of the cruel unicorn tyrant King Sombra in hopes to also repair relationships and heal past mistakes that Equestria has made.” Shining armor announced.

“I see.” The emperor simply answered as he kept leaning on the back of his throne.

It was then when Cadence finally shook her head before stepping up as well to bow respectfully before him beside her husband’s side. “If what we have heard is true, then I promise that we have come here with no ill intentions whatsoever, we are just ambassadors in that case, representing Equestria at large in hope to perhaps build up good relations between both of our nation's.” Cadence butted in, making full use of everything Aunt Celestia had taught her over the years.

The Emperor simply sat there, rubbing his chin as he contemplated the Princess’s words. “I doubt that I am personally interested in engaging with a nation that doesn’t seem to be well received in mine. Then again, I am not in any position to make enemies…not yet that is.” Mateus thought to himself as both Shining and Cadence got back up from their bow.

“Might as well hear them out more properly, I might receive some good intel from them regarding the lands to the south. Information is one of the most valuable resources after all.” He continued to mentally contemplate as he leaned forward a bit to address these two better.

“Well if you have come here seeking no ill towards the empire and its citizens then I welcome you at least.” Mateus announced while twirling his staff a bit on his hooves. “Besides the fact that we are in no interest to consort with outsiders, let alone let them inside in the first place it would be harsh and a bad image to myself and the empire at large to send you and your party back out into the harsh elements that make up the crystal city’s lands. You are all free to stay for some time and explore the city freely while doing so.” He added as he leaned back on his seat.

Shining relaxed as this as he gave the golden monarch another short bow in thanks. “We very much appreciate it your highness, we will promise to not be a burden to either you or the crystal ponies during our limited stay.” Shining answered, keeping himself neutral at all times.

It was then when Cadence took her chance once more as her own curiosity got the better of her all of a sudden, mostly revolving around the fact that he was the one who brought King Sombra to his permanent demise and freed to crystal ponies before they could.

“By all due respect Sir.” Cadence began in which Mateus gaze switched to her. She gulped silently as his gaze, despite his good looks was still intimidating.

Those eyes of his, she couldn’t really place a hoof on it but those eyes seemed to give off a huge amount of knowledge, power and even traces of internal anger and pain. Most of them making her feel pretty intimidated while the last one also made her feel a bit of pity.

Whatever that pain was she didn’t know, but most ponies don’t radiate such pain out of their eyes unless there is a lot of it locked deep inside someone. The same kind of pain she could somewhat feel inside Aunt Luna as well when she first met her.

She mentally shook her stupor away as she forced herself to focus. Not to be distracted by either his voice or looks, or what his eyes could tell her so far.

She cleared her throat. “I was just wondering, or more like we as a whole.” She peeked up as she momentarily gazed behind her before looking back. ”How did you manage to defeat King Sombra? He was known as one of the most gifted unicorns in history.” Cadence finally asked which caused everyone to go silent.

“Well I can personally show you.” Another voice suddenly announced as all eyes except the Emperor’s were switched to its source.

A Sapphire colored mare suddenly came up from one of the doors behind the throne, judging by the fact that she was wearing a pretty well ordinated armor would suggest she was an officer. Just like the stallion guarding the throne room door.

She seemed to be carrying something on her back as she casually approached the group. Some of the guards around them saluting to her as she stopped right between them and the emperor.

“Wha-what do you mean by that?” Cadence asked the guard mare as she eyed the newcomer.

The mare simply smirked. “Well first off, my name is Lieutenant Shimmering Sapphire, or just Sapphire for short since my name is somewhat of a mouthful.” Sapphire answered as she moved a free hoof around her back to retrieve whatever item she had back there.

She then threw it right in front everyponies’ hooves with a loud clang echoing through the room.

Cadence and the gang looked down at whatever item it was that the now known lieutenant had thrown at them.

Cadence was confused, for her it looked like the badly burned and melted remains of something metallic, circular in form even.

“What…what is it?” Cadence eventually asked before looking back at her.

The mentioned guard simply continued to smirk as she tapped the object with her hoof. “THIS is what remains of King Sombra. His Crown to be precise.” Sapphire casually answered, which caused every equestrian in the room to go wide eyed.

“Wha-what?” Both Cadence and Shining asked in unison as their gazes went back and forth from the badly scorched crown to the mare and vice versa.

“Well you heard me right, this is precisely what is left of our previous king.” Sapphire answered again as she felt the reaction of the Equestrians personally quite amusing.

Judging by their reaction they were probably unused to the concept of killing, which was somewhat strange to her. But she didn’t linger on that thought too long as she still had stuff to explain.

“In fact, you can also ask Ruby Quill for confirmation to that since she was practically there when it happened, same with the Bat-pony who killed one of Sombra’s two reminding guards.” Sapphire quickly added while pointing a hoof at each individual pony in question.

She flinched a bit when she noticed that Thera was giving her death glares from where she stood. “It’s THESTRAL, NOT Bat-pony. That last one is treated as racial slur back at home. So you better keep that in mind for the future missy.” Thera explained before looking away with a huff.

Cadence and Shining simply ignored that small outburst as their attention was still glued onto what was left of Sombra’s crown and generally the idea that the King basically got turned into nothing but ash, if ash at all.

“What kind of Magic could just disintegrate a pony like that? I don’t think even Aunt Celestia knows a spell that could yield such downright deadly results, and even if she did, I know that she would absolutely despise ever using it in the first place.” Cadence wondered to herself as she tried to form a mental picture of Sombra's brutal demise before shuddering at the idea alone.

The closest spell she knew that is designed for purely offensive purposes is an electrocution spell that flings a victim off their hooves while also stunning them at the same time. Never capable of causing too much damage or let alone outright kill them.

She tried to stay away from the more deadly spells and even if she would have been interested, Aunt Celestia would have forbidden her from studying them anyway.

She was the princess of love after all not the princess of bashing in faces.

She shook her head before diverting her eyes to look back at the Emperor at front as she stepped up. “My…we request to leave so that we could find ourselves a place to rest. It really has been a very exhausting day for me and my party.” Cadence requested with another short bow which caused the emperor to rub his chin a bit.

“I have no problems with your wishes to recuperate your strength after your obviously long and tiresome journey through the wastes. In fact you may want to stay within the Palace numerous guestrooms if you desire some luxury during your stay. Ruby Quill over here will show you the way if you accept.” Mateus offered as a gaze was directed at the mentioned red mare at the end which caused her to immediately jump into action.

“Oh…uh well yes of course. I can very easily escort you and your followers to the aforementioned ambassador rooms here within the Palace if you accept the Emperor’s hospitality.” Ruby Quill offered kindly towards the Princess.

Cadence smiled at this as she switched her gaze back towards the golden unicorn to show her gratitude. “Thank you so much your highness, we would be of course honored to accept your generous offer in staying here inside the Palace despite us technically trespassing unannounced.” Cadence respectfully thanked him with another quick bow of her head before turning herself toward Ruby with a nod which she returned.

“Alright this way then. Please stay close and keep your curious hooves to yourself even though there is nothing much to touch on the way there anyway.” Ruby lightly joked at the end before leading the way towards the aforementioned guest wing of the palace.

Cadence and her gang quickly followed her alongside a few of the Crystal guard as they all casually filed themselves out of the throne room through one of the back doors.

“Respect is nice but sugarcoating me with it won’t really affect how I will generally treat people or in this case ponies depending on who they are, what they did, or how I feel about them in the first place.” The emperor thought to himself as he watched them all slowly disappear behind the large doorway leading into the upper floors leaving him, Thera and the rest of the guards alone in the Throne room.

“Well that went better than expected.” Sapphire commented out as she picked up the remains of King Sombra’s crown off the floor.

The emperor ignored her as his gaze casually went back to the dark blue mare down beside him as a curious thought once again popped up. “Seriously though, why are you still here? I would still imagine after all of this you would have already made your long journey back to whatever nation you hail from.” He questioned casually which made the mare in question look up at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Direction reason and also injuries for the most part, the weather outside the magic barrier is still too hectic and cold for me to even travel across alone, both on hooves or on wings if one wasn’t broken.” She answered while showing him her bandaged wing.

“So I guess you are going to be stuck with lil’ ol’ me for a bit longer.” She added with a grin at the end which made the emperor smirk back at her.

“Well no problem, I will just hire one of my guards to babysit you then in case you get your…hooves on some more shiny glowing swords and what not.” He countered back which caused Thera to just glare up at him instead and him to quietly chuckle.

“I am serious though.” The emperor added.

“Shut up...you’re not my dad!”

“That would be a disaster.”

“I fully agree.”

Author's Notes:

Before you all start crying, YES I have a reason and also a backstory in mind as to WHY the crystal ponies resent Equestria as a whole. But you will all have to wait for future chapter for all of that to make sense.

Also do you guys want me to make a concept art of Cid for next chapter?