Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long wait, but as you can all tell. This is not the only story I have to write. I placed this fic on hold for a while to focus more on my more popular fics out there.

But anyway, here it is. Hope you all like it.

“Uhm….” Was all that Ruby could utter as she looked between the Emperor and Thera respectively on the table, both of them looking quite tired and unfocused.

She may not know what could have possibly caused both of them to look this tired, but it didn’t take a genius to guess what the culprit might be, especially when Thera gave off a yawn.

“Wonder what kept these two up all night. The emperor being somewhat understandable, but Thera?” Ruby thought while focusing back on her own breakfast.

Mateus, on the other end, was not in the mood for anything edible that required chewing. After that little…chat with Thera, the majority of the rainy night was just spent by aimlessly wandering the Palace halls, the demons of his past making it pretty much impossible for him to get any shut eye.

Normally, just doing an all-nighter wouldn’t normally drain him that much, but a combination of continued late night studies, overall planning for the near future, and the fact that said demons where keeping him up for most of the time, pretty much meant that exhaustion would factor in sooner than later.

Especially when all he could think of, strangely enough, were the questionable decisions he had made in the past, and the loss of his dear mother…

It’s been quite a while ever since he felt so tired and unfocused as he did now, an experience he sure could live without if he could ever help it.

“Uhm… your highness, would you rather have some coffee instead? You certainly look like you could need something like that.” A maid beside him piped up, rousing the unfocused emperor from his thoughts.

The only answer she got was a wave of his hoof. The maid was rather confused at first before Mateus looked at her.

“Yes, just go get me coffee.” He responded before going back to resting his head on his hoof.

She nodded before going over to the royal kitchen to do just that.

“Well, this is certainly going to be a slow day. I just know it.” Ruby muttered before taking another bite from her toast.

“Slow? You don’t even know what slow is.” Mateus commented before resting his gaze back at the table below him.

The polished wood gave him enough to criticize because he spotted a tiny scratch right next to his elbow.

The awkward silence was swiftly dispelled when a set of hooves suddenly broke the tension, coming directly from the stairs behind the emperor’s chair by the looks of things.

“Well… yes, Shining. The citizens seemed all to be pretty happy with their current situation. In fact, some of them even celebrated their new…” An added voice said, before quickly stopping itself, alongside with the clip-clopping of hooves once they noticed that the room was actually occupied.

Both Ruby and Thera looked up, even the emperor was looking over his shoulder and spotted the pair of dignitaries and the two guards who were responsible for this ruckus. All perfectly dressed, with saddlebags at the ready.

Ruby arched an eyebrow before swiftly getting up from her chair to greet the two. “Greetings, Princess Cadence and Sir Shining. But... what’s with the saddlebags? Aren’t you going to dine with us first before heading home?” Ruby questioned.

Cadence shook her head. “Sadly, no. The train has already been scheduled to arrive very early in the morning and we need to be at the station before it officially arrives. Not sure how it is for you crystal ponies, but train conductors back in Equestria can be quite… nitpicky when it comes to pre-planned schedules. Even with royalty, surprisingly enough.” She responded, rubbing the back of her head.

Ruby nodded. “I see. In that case, the least I can do then is to see you four off personally and wish you a safe trip once the train arrives.” Ruby responded before switching her gaze to the still-unfocused monarch.

“Would you like to see them off too, your highness?” Ruby asked.

Mateus waved her off.” No, no. I would love to but I can’t. I have a meeting to arrange with many of the local nobles and commoners that are in charge with the city’s trade, industries, or the city’s infrastructure and so on. Not to mention giving Sir Cid a little visit later on too.” He answered before a maid suddenly emerged from the kitchen’s door while carrying a tray on her back.

A tray which was carrying both a kettle and two cups, respectively.

“Well, in that case, it will be just me then. My most sincere apologies for this issue, Princess.” Ruby apologized after switching her gaze back to the princess and her spouse.

Cadence just smiled. “Ah, it's nothing. I can understand why his imperial majesty is busy right now. Running and rebuilding a whole new country that has been gone for over a thousand years does require a lot of work, especially when trying to be so ambitious.” She responded before turning to the golden unicorn.

“Your majesty, it was a pleasure. But both my duties and my two aunts are anxiously waiting for my return. I am sorry that our visit was cut so abruptly.” She announced with a bow which Shining followed.

“No need to bother yourself with that, Princess. Duties are duties, after all. Though feel free to visit anytime if your benevolence allows as it has so far. Those who wish no harm to me and these citizens are always welcome within the city.” Mateus answered, giving her a small, kind smile.

Cadence returned it, though hers a lot larger and a lot more genuine than the emperor’s, before turning to her husband.

“Let’s go, Shining. The train has most likely crossed the southern borders already. We need to be there when the train finally arrives.” She suggested, which Shining could only agree to with a nod.

“As my wife said, thanks for the hospitality.” Shining added before he and the rest of the trope finally excuse themselves out of dining room, followed by Ruby as promised. That left only the drowsy emperor and an equally drowsy looking Thera behind.

The entire room quickly fell into silence, minus the sounds of the maid pouring in some coffee for her golden-haired monarch and the soft snoring of the warmaiden next to him, Thera having at some point simply fallen asleep on the table.

Mateus, of course, didn’t mind that much, as he at least understood her feelings and desires. His own mind was telling him to do the same thing, as he grabbed the cup with his magic before taking a tentative sip from it.

“Hmmm…this is some good coffee.” He exclaimed while looking at the cup in front of him.

The mare next to him smiled. “Thanks, your highness. It’s actually an old family recipe.” She confirmed with a nod.

The emperor hummed again before taking another sip. “Well, my thanks to your family then.” He responded before finishing the rest.

“Thank you for liking it so much, your highness. You have no idea how much this means to me, and my aunt and uncle.” She beamed.

Mateus simply accepted her thanks for what it was before helping himself of another cup of coffee and downing it almost immediately.

“You know what? I am just going to take this with me.” He announced before getting up his seat with the kettle and mug floating next to him.

The mare, of course, was surprised at this, but didn’t bother or dare to say anything as the emperor simply left the dining room without much of a fuss.

This left only her and a knocked out Thestral who was now drooling over the table.

She scratched her head. “Well, nobody has ever instructed me what to do with someone who is sleeping on top the royal dining rooms table. Should I wake her or just leave her as it is?” She asked herself while gazing at the snoring mare.

“She hasn’t even touched her food. More for me, I guess.” She exclaimed before sneakily snatching the morsel for herself.

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

Cid was looking over the plans and diagrams that the emperor has gifted him with for like the thousandth time and still he was in awe at the complexity and genius behind them.

“How come I have never thought of this myself?” He wondered to himself as he looked at a very particular plan; one revolving around a machine with legs that can be driven by a pony, powered both with oil, steam and magic at the same time.

“Honey, I think you have a visitor!” Cid’s wife called out, somehow still somewhat noticeable despite the clunking and grinding inside his workshop.

Cid turned his head away from the diagrams and looked up at his spouse, who was standing at the opened door in all of her well-dressed glory.

“Is that so? Tell them that I am currently busy.” He responded quickly before looking back at the diagrams laying on the table.

“Actually, it is the emperor himself, honey. He is currently occupying our front lawn with his regiment of guards, waiting to speak with you.” Maple added, which caused Cid to almost drop his tea cup in surprise just when was about to take a sip from it.

His head immediately snapped back up to his wife with alarmed eyes. “What? Why haven’t you let the emperor in then already? Allow his highness entry for the gods’ sake!” He frantically replied.

Maple casually nodded before disappearing again from behind the door, with her long and luxurious ginger colored tail being the last to disappear from Cid’s view.

“You hear that, boys? Stop your clanking and stop your welding, the emperor himself is giving us a visit today! So drop everything and make sure that everything looks and seems presentable for his imperial highness!” Cid shouted, causing everyone to cease their work, only for all of them to frantically start stowing and carrying everything away and swiping the rest under the tables out of sheer mindlessness.

Cid himself also began to fix up his desk of all of its clutter and notes, mostly stacking up all the diagrams and plans in a neat and acceptable pile only for them to quickly crash and fall onto the ground, which caused Cid to cry out in frustration.

Though a knock on the door frame swiftly ceased his calls as he froze. He gazed back, only to be met by the sight of crystal guards standing at the house entrance to his workshop, fully equipped and armed.

“His Imperial highness, is here and wishes to ask for entry into your workshop to discuss important matters with thee.” The guard announced with a deep and almost emotionless tone.

Cids nodded. “Well yes, of course. Thanks for the heads up.” Cid replied.

The guard nodded before moving out of view, only to be swiftly replaced by the golden form of the Emperor himself who was wearing some casual robes, lacking both his armor and magical staff. Even his hair was styled differently than usual, being combed back a bit and not sporting the organized wild style he also once had.

Though the strong magical presence he exuded was still there - something even Cid could sense, despite lacking a horn for himself.

“Sir Cid.” Mateus began as he stood in front of the mechanic.

Cid’s nodded and bowed. “Your highness, you honor me and my wife with your visit. What is it that I can help you with inside my workshop, your majesty?” Cid began before rising from his bow.

“Simple, just wanted to see if you have managed to make any sense of all of the plans and diagrams I have given to you.” Mateus asked, looking at the noble with a level minded look.

Cid nodded. “Yes of course I have, your Majesty. Though not all of them just yet to be honest, as I can only review so many diagrams at any given time.” He replied in an apologetic tone.

Mateus just waved it off. “No problem, I just came here to hear your opinions on the matter and expertise. Can your build them?” He asked, getting straight to the point.

Cid again nodded. “Well yes, of course.” He replied before pulling out a random diagram from the pile and began looking at it once more. Mumbling to himself before replying “Well, the only problem would be in gathering up all of the required material to build all of these, let alone mass produce them, as you could probably guess. The crystal empire has a very large abundance of crystals of all properties, natures, and sizes, but sadly nothing else to compensate for that.” He added, before gazing back at the emperor with an unsure look.

Mateus tapped his chin in thought. “Well, what about the mountains which are basically encasing the city itself from all sides? Surely some of them must have some form of ore deposits or precious metals for us to extract. Geologically speaking, mountains always have something inside of them, given just how they are formed in the first place.” He suggested, which made Cid scratch his scalp while also thinking about it.

“Could certainly be worth an expedition. To be honest, nobody has ever considered prospecting the mountains around us for any useful metals, and for a good reason. Why exert ourselves to dig through mountains when we have an almost never-ending abundance of crystals to lean back on? Plus, we also used to trade these crystals in exchange for any other resources we might need, such as ore and other materials. There was never really any need for anything to do anything else. Especially with the high demand of our crystals back in the good old days.” Cid explained before looking back at the blueprints in front of him and then to the rest sitting on his desk.

“As you could guess, trading will most certainly be no longer an option, especially given in just how many raw materials we need from this point onwards. We need a local source.” Mateus added, to which Cid nodded.

“True. I can discuss this with the other nobles around the city. The nobility here pretty much owns and holds most of the empire’s finances and pony power to conduct such large scale projects and mining operations.” Cid added.

“Good.” Mateus replied. “Get this operation started then as soon as possible. I shall then also inform the captain of the crystal guard to pick a portion of his guards to assist with the scouting efforts and offer protection to those with more experience. Time is of the essence. The city itself is still heavily exposed, with or without the shield.” He added.

Mateus was about to take his leave before a thought suddenly struck him - the second reason as to why he has personally come to this estate.

He turned himself around once more to address the mechanic again.

“By the way, how is the work on the first prototype going? Have you already acquired all the necessary equipment and materials you need?” He question, causing the stallion to perk up.

“Oh, you mean those mechanical walkers?” He questioned, which the emperor answered by giving him a “go on” gesture with his hoof.

“Yes, yes I have, as you can see down there.” He pointed a hoof down into his workshop where a large selection of pistons, wires and a large pile of both bronze and steel of varying forms and sizes was scattered about on many different tables and workbenches. The ponies down there all bowed in respect towards the golden monarch after Cid has fully diverted the emperor’s attention to them.

“Good, good. Once the prototype is ready, do contact me. I wish to see the fruits of my designs and your engineering for myself, to see if everything is going to work according to plan.” He answered before once again turning around and making his way back towards the door where the same guard was waiting for him.

Cid nodded. “Of course, your highness. Leave everything to me. I shall get everything done in time, as promised.” He answered before turning back towards his workers.

“Alright, break time is over. You heard the Emperor. Get the parts ready, assembled and organized. We have a magi-tech walker to build.” He commanded.

The entire workshop quickly sprang back to life as ponies from all different colors, genders and sizes began to muscle on the given task which was expected from them.

Cid could easily do a lot of the work himself, but given the deadline he received meant that he had to hire a couple of more hooves to help out in order to get all the material and necessary parts done before the real fun could start.

The assembling a never before seen or heard machine, which should easily give them the mechanical and technological edge they need despite their rather smaller military in comparison to the other Kingdoms bordering the Empire.

He had a feeling that recent events won’t really go as well with their equestrian neighbors down south as he wants to, especially if the recent visit of one of the princesses was anything to go by. Something didn’t seem to have gone according to the plan if you consider the expressions which both the guard captain and the princess had during their first arrival here, and even during their departure.

Even more reasons to hasten up his work, in case things somehow go south (pun intended) with their larger neighbor.

Enchanted crystal weapons and a powerful shield can only do so much, after all.

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

“Ugh… is it just me or have the blizzards outside the shield always been so… discomforting?” A guardsmare complained as she, some of her comrades and a couple of prospector experts were pushing themselves through the thick storm that enveloped the expansive ice fields that surround the city.

“Always has been, and always will be. Doesn’t matter if we are made of flesh or crystals.” Somepony replied behind her. Another guard, just like her, alongside a couple of others and even a few workers, such as specialized geologists and miners, respectively.

They might be crystal miners in origin, but mining ore couldn’t be that different from mining mineral.

Right?

Well, only one way to find out. At least that was what some of them liked to think as they all closely followed their escorts through this slight snow storm.

“Remind me to go grab a coat the next time we are tasked to patrol the snowy fields. Even the visibility is poor.” The mare added as she continued to take the lead of this sizable column of crystal ponies. basically taking the full brunt of the snow storm which contributed to her bad mood as well.

The following stallion behind her sighed. “Yes, lieutenant. I shall be the first one to inform our regiment to pack up some clothes whenever we are forced into moving our sorry flanks out into the snow to perform our duties. I won’t let you down… ma’am.” The guardstallion casually replied, not making it very clear if he was genuine or sarcastic with his response.

No matter, though, as he was still given a quick glare from the lieutenant before focusing back at the task at hoof. Unbeknownst to her, she and her group have been followed and watched for quite a while now, which is why a few of the miners at the back of the group have been constantly murmuring to themselves nervously.

Some of the guards noticed, including their leader. Her right hoof never left the grip or pommel of her sword after she too suddenly managed to spot something out at the corner of her eyes, only for it to quickly disappear when she turned her gaze to look at it.

“You know, I wonder how the other groups are doing. Have they already found themselves a nice cave to explore and more or less get out of this bloody snow? I really can’t see anything past my muzzle at this point.” Another guard wondered far at the back, which was barely audible over the rushing winds and the crunching of snow beneath their hooves.

“And to think that at the start of the day the weather was perfectly clear. Sometimes I envy our southern neighbors and their pegasi.” The Lieutenant thought to herself as she pushed on.

“Thank the gods for our natural resistance to the cold, at least. Otherwise this venture would have turned itself into a disaster real fast.” She continued to mentally muse as the ground suddenly began to shake.

“Is it just me or is the ground suddenly…” Somebody wondered before it quickly got worse, forcing everyone to hold and to look around themselves in both surprise and panic.

“What is happening all of the sudden?” The mare could hear someone shout as the rumbling slowly increased in intensity.

She was about to order for everybody to stay calm and lower themselves to the ground and wait the tremors out, only for her own thoughts to betray her as the ground underneath her suddenly collapsed, forcing her to go with it.

She didn’t even have the time to scream, but the comrades behind her did.

“Lieutenant!” The closest ones shouted as she simply braced herself for a long and perhaps painful fall.

Painful, yes, but thankfully not long as she soon found herself hitting the ground with a loud clang.

Crystal might be a much lighter material for armor in comparison to any metal-based gear, but that still didn’t mean that it was weightless either… or less painful on impact.

“Ma’am, are you ok?” A guard from above asked as the snow and dust around her was still choking her out.

“Yes, yes, I… I am fine… Just… just see if you can get down here.” She shouted back in between coughs and being quite disoriented, not to mention feeling sore pretty much everywhere on her body.

“Quick, see if we can get down there and help Miss Shelephia!” She heard somebody call out.

She eventually opened her eyes to look around, only to see nothing but a cloud of soft ice and dirt still surrounding her, though the pain in both her chest and left foreleg were not making it any easier for her.

“Lieutenant, are you alright?” A guardstallion suddenly came up to her with both a concerned look and tone.

She looked up at the stud, giving him a look of surprise. “How did you manage to get down here so fast?” She asked the stallion despite the ever increasing clip clops of hooves echoing from behind her.

The guard pointed a hoof at the direction where the echoes were coming from. “Well…” He began. ”The collapse of the snow and ice has also created a natural ramp for all of us to slide down here. Thankfully the hole isn’t too deep, otherwise this might not have been the case. Not to mention you, ma’am, would have been much worse off than just getting the wind knocked out of you.” He replied before focusing back on her.

A couple of guards quickly moved up as well, offering to help the officer up onto her hooves, while also sharing their concerns with her.

She eventually accepted the help of one of her guards and hissed loudly to herself once she was assisted up back up on fours. Or rather, just the two of them, as her right foreleg was drabbed around the neck of a guard while her left was dangling off the ground, thanks to the possible injury it might have suffered.

“For buck’s sake. This whole ordeal has just been a disaster from start to finish. A possible broken hoof and a rib in the middle of the ice fields. Just brilliant.” Shelephia complained as she began to look around once more to finally determine where exactly they were at the moment.

The dirt and snow ice cloud in the beginning had finally subsided to allow some visibility of this new cave.

Everyone’s eyes immediately went wide at what they saw in front of them.

“What the… what in the gods' name are those?” One of the local miners shouted, backpedaling just a bit to hide himself behind the equally surprised guards and keeping himself as far away from that... that black equine-looking thing as possible.

The others behind him did the same, their eyes filled with both shock and fear at the same time.

They have certainly seen nothing like these before.

“Intruders, intruders! We have intruders!”