Lunch arrives on the backs of the servers, just like breakfast, with heaping helpings of fresh salads imported from the Realm of Clouds for the ponies. Celestia continues her tradition of consuming nothing but cakes, this time with a heavy pineapple upside-down cake, pancakes topped with local desert fruits and cream, and a coffee cake that she keeps having to protect from a still-sleepy Luna. Doug has ostracized himself by choosing the local delicacy of blood pudding, deep fried and served next to roasted plantains, a thin-boned fish from the river, and prickly pears. Only Chrysalis sits close to him and, much to his chagrin, forces chunks of pineapple she swipes from Celestia. He steals worried glances at Shining Armor between bites.

If the two being together bothers Shining Armor he doesn’t show it at all, if anything glad for the respite from dealing with the often ornery changeling. He takes the opportunity to snuggle next to Cadance, draping a foreleg across her barrel and rubbing small circles on the slight bulge of her belly. While the pink Princess started as the most slender of the alicorns, only Twilight beats her on weight gained - and a lot of that they attribute to her recent alicornication. She nuzzles her husband between bites, lost in thought and enjoying the time they have together before neither will get any sleep.

Eventually, while everypony is working their way through their second helpings - for Rainbow Dash and Applejack, their third - two ponies from the Crystal Empire take the stage. Twilight Sparkle instantly recognizes the first - an elderly, bespectacled mare with a light lilac coat and cutie mark of a sparkling scroll.

“Hey!” Twilight jabs her brother as she points. “It’s Amethyst Maresbury! She’s the librarian that helped us when we got to the Crystal Empire!”

“Ow!” Shining Armor groans, but jovially, rubbing the dark bruise on his flank. “Oh, yeah! I remember her!” He curiously eyes the other pony as she takes off her cloak, revealing a purple coated unicorn. “But who is that?”

“No…” Princess Celestia draws out in a whisper, staring at the light-blue-mane and the yellow caduceus on her flank. “How can it be?”

Next to her, Princess Luna’s eyes go wide, then narrow suspiciously. “I recognize her, too. Radiant Hope?”

“Who?” Twilight asks, drawing close to the two Sisters.

Celestia speaks in a hushed tone that easily reaches everypony, Doug, and Chrysalis. “Radiant Hope was a student of ours over a thousand years ago. Before that, she alerted us to the atrocities King Sombra was inflicting on their people, the crystal ponies. We defeated Sombra, but he cursed the city to suffer his banishment as well. She was not within the Crystal Empire’s limits at the time; devastated, she returned with us to study. She was a promising student, but one day decided to leave us. We never heard from her again.”

“So she found some sort of Tartarus?” Doug asks, rubbing his hand against his chin as he studies the unicorn. “A place to go where she didn’t age?”

This stops Celestia in her tracks. She glances at Luna, the two trading grim nods. “That is a possibility, though we found no place in that prison. Could she be some kind of replica, merely taking the likeness of the original?” She eyes Chrysalis questioningly.

“She’s not one of mine.” The changeling’s eyes shine white, then she shakes her head. “Nor an umbrum.”

“An umbrella-what-now?” Applejack asks, many of the ponies sharing her confusion.

“Umbrum.” Chrysalis grimaces at the loathsome taste the word evokes. “Vicious creatures born of shadow, the umbrum crushed hope and brought despair to the crystal ponies. At the time it was a disgusting place, one I never wish to see again. Some time later, Princess Amore banished them by crafting the crystal heart. King Sombra took over before we could complete our infiltration, and you know what happened after that.”

“Hard to believe you look so young and beautiful after all those years,” Doug teases with a wry smirk. Chrysalis fixes him with an icy glare. “I’m sure Rarity would appreciate a few tips on how to age gracefully.”

“Hey!” Rarity exclaims, swatting at her curls with an offended air. “Just because I use a few anti-wrinkle creams does not mean I am aging.”

“But what is she doing back? And here?” Luna frowns, again regarding the crystal unicorn warily.

Alira steps forward, introducing the two crystal ponies with a wave of her hoof. “Presenting, on the behalf of the Crystal Empire, Amethyst Maresbury and Radiant Hope. They wish to present their case before things get… heated.” She backs away, leaving the two on stage.

Radiant Hope advances with a guarded smile, her gaze sweeping the crowd of creatures but often returning to the two elder Princesses. She addresses Celestia and Luna first, not with a subservient bow but the curt nod of a student.

“Hello,” she greets in a light and cheerful voice, next meeting Cadance’s smile with one of her own. Her head twists slightly to the side as she inspects the Princess of Love, briefly gaining a far-off look in her eyes. “I greet you all from the Crystal Empire, long may it serve as a beacon of light and hope to all the land.” Her head dips down slightly, a palpable look of loss in her eyes. “But, to our great sorrow and bereavement, it has been both too long and too short a time since the Empire has shined so brightly.”

The heliotrope unicorn bows deeply, respectfully, her voice carrying to everycreature. “The Crystal Empire needs a strong and capable ruler. I request; no, I beg that you consider me as that ruler, for we shall restore the Crystal Empire to its former glory!”

Murmurs erupt from the various creatures. The yaks and dragons look quite unhappy with this possibility, the griffons have their ever-present scowls, and even the Storm King has a look of bemusement. Doug bends his head to see Celestia’s response to what seems like an aberrant request; they wouldn’t put somepony in charge of a country just like that, would they? But the white alicorn merely watches, dredging memories from long ago.

“Radiant Hope!” Amethyst Maresbury admonishes, stomping up to the unicorn with a sharp glare. “That is not how this was supposed to go!” She turns to the creatures, apologetically continuing, “You see, when our rightful ruler, Princess Amore, was… defeated by the evil King Sombra, we lost much of our royal knowledge.”

“He wasn’t-” Radiant Hope growls out, then clamps down on her tongue before she can say any more. She takes a reticent step backward, adopting a neutral facade of a smile.

“Princess Amore?” Twilight asks, inspecting Cadance curiously. “But you’re Princess Mi Amore Cadenza! Any relation?”

“I don’t know,” Cadance admits, glancing at Celestia. She gets a shake of her head in response. “I was an orphan. But even if it was the case, that’s… nearly fifty generations removed. Practically everypony could trace some ancestry to her, if anypony can.”

Twilight nods, unhappy with the answer.

“We were overjoyed when our people were liberated thanks to the heroic efforts of Princess Twilight Sparkle and her family. And, prior to that, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The Crystal Empire will forever be in your debt.” The elderly crystal pony offers Twilight a respectful bow, much to the embarrassment of Twilight.

“Oh, it was nothing,” Twilight says, stammering as she looks around. “I mean, not nothing, because King Sombra was a huge threat, not just to us but to everypony. And…” She gulps as an orange hoof swats her in the flank. She loses her panicked look, smiling and bowing back. Her words sound practiced, though completely sincere. “Equestria is glad to consider the Crystal Empire as our friends, and long may we live and work together in peace and harmony.”

“Thank you for your kind words,” Amethyst Maresbury says just as sincerely, standing back up. Yet now she looks hollow, a shade of her former self as she recounts, “But King Sombra left more than a vacancy in leadership. He left a void in our minds, our memories, a pit so deep and black that even brushing against it reminds us of the atrocities we endured.” Her head bows in pitiful submission. “We hoped somepony would display Hope and Love, qualities necessary to run the Crystal Empire. Somepony who would bravely stand against darkness and fear, the cold that ever threatens to creep in. We have waited patiently, but after six weeks with no sign?” She shakes her head contritely. “The Crystal Empire suffers from the lack, and I fear that suffering will soon spread to all of Equestria, and the world.”

“I would take the crown,” Radiant Hope states, stepping up again. She pleads fervently, “I saw myself becoming Princess!”

“But as eager as Radiant Hope is,” Amethyst Maresbury interrupts solemnly, shaking her head, “there are… doubts as to her legitimacy. Whether she truly has the best interests of the Crystal Empire at heart. ”

“Ah didn’t sense any fiction in Radiant Hope’s story,” Applejack whispers to the herd. “But she is hidin’ somethin’. But it’s the same kinda hidin’ Doug does, or any of the Crystal Ponies for that matter.”

Amethyst Maresbury continues, “We request a wise and capable ruler, one filled with hope and love. I believe the Crystal Ponies would accept Princess Cadance as their provisional ruler. She fought for the Crystal Empire against King Sombra, and her previous experience will prove invaluable.”

“Wait, let me get this straight,” Garble shouts from the back, his deep scowl enhanced by his bared teeth. “You Equestrians think you can waltz into a sovereign country, depose its rightful king, and install a dictator of your choice?” He looks around, raising a red claw high. “Anycreature else see this as a blatant power grab?”

“Especially because I was the one who fought,” Chrysalis adds in a low growl.

“Excuse me,” Twilight growls out, her sarcastic streak on full display. Too many of the other creatures are raising their limbs as well. “Rightful king? He enslaved his own people, dominated their minds and controlled their actions! It’s right there in the history books!”

“Books that your Princesses wrote,” Gruff sneers from his standing position.

“Oh?” Sky Beak interjects, scowling at the griffon. “You believe the Princess of the Sun would stoop so low as to rewrite history, yet claim it is impossible when it happens before your very eyes?”

“Cry me a river, seapony!” Gruff wails in mock contrition, miming the action.

Alira bangs her gavel once, but to no avail.

“No wonder the griffons have fallen so low,” Sky Beak states with a solemn shake of his head. “If a river of salt was their demand to look the other way!”

“Why, you!” Gruff shouts, taking to the air and brandishing his talons. Sky Beak matches him with a keening battle cry, neither giving an inch.

Twilight desperately looks around, her own anger giving way to the distraught notion that what should be a peaceful transition of power will devolve into violence. It doesn’t help to see Princess Celestia idly watching with a bemused grin, Rainbow Dash’s eagerness, or Pinkie Pie’s cheering like it’s a buckball game. Fluttershy hunkering down isn’t a surprise, nor Applejack and Rarity standing protectively over her.

But the rest of the creatures treat the two winged delegates as more of a spectacle than a serious threat. She watches instead of intervening with dual forcefields and bubbles of silence, hoping against hope it will not come to blows. Alira keeps banging her gavel while the two posture, hurling barbed insults instead of spears.

Finally, it quiets down enough for Twilight to step in. “Even if, purely for the sake of argument, I concede that King Sombra was the rightful king? Princess Celestia and Luna fought him to a standstill in order to free the Crystal Empire from his tyranny. He was an imminent threat not just to Equestria but to all of Equus! Are you so blind as to think his ambitions would remain contained to the Crystal Empire? Or, had he defeated the Royal Sisters, that he would be content with Equestria?”

“I don’t know, Princess,” Gruff spits out. He turns his good eye to Chrysalis. “Are you blind to your own ambitions? When your chicks need a new spot to roost, will you eye the mountains to the east?” He turns his gaze to the ponies of the Realm of Clouds. “Or to the south?”

“H-hey!” Twilight stammers, nervously glancing at Celestia. But, more importantly, her Sister next to her. “That’s why we’re Princesses instead of Queens, because you can have many Princesses but only one Queen. We can live peacefully together in Harmony!”

“Can you?” Ember interjects from the side. The teal dragon steps up, smaller than the red dragon next to her but no less fierce. “Princess Luna rebelled against Celestia after little more than a hundred years of joint rule. How many decades will it take you?” Before Twilight can respond she continues, “And Princess Cadance has never taken on more responsibility than a figurehead.”

Cadance can barely meet the dragon’s smoldering eyes, but Celestia matches them with a fervor of her own. “While Cadance may not have as visible a position as my own or my Sister’s, she has been invaluable in assisting me during all matters of state. She will be a competent ruler of Equestria or the Crystal Empire.”

Next Chapter: Ch. 28 - Weight of the Empire, Part Three Estimated time remaining: 27 Hours, 45 Minutes