Amaryllis yawned, smacked her lips together a bit, and slowly opened her eyes. Sunlight came through the crystal clear window directly in front of her and warmed the room. Carefully, she pushed back the blanket with her hind legs and went to stretch herself, but something was in her way. Her head wandered to her left, to other side of the bed, where a sleeping Thiemo was lying. His body was buried up to his nose by another blanket, while his arms were wrapped around her. “Breakfast,” she said with a grin, and her snout vanished under the blanket. She stopped for a few seconds as she saw what the sunlight showed her through the white blanket. Slowly, she pulled back her head and turned red. She blinked and looked again.

What happened? That and more questions suddenly shot through her head. The last thing she remembered, or thought she remembered, was entering the Empire. A look around the room told her that they had to be in some sort of hospital. The bed they were lying in was on wheels, the walls were white and sterile, and in large letters was a number on the door to the room. Had she fallen victim to the barrier?

Cautiously, she stepped out of the bed, careful to not wake up the human, and looked out of the window. They were in the fourth or fifth floor of a large building. The streets below were crowded. Ponies, sparkling ponies, were wandering around, filling the roads. The buildings around her were glistening and glittering in the sunlight, some even way higher than the one they were in. If there hadn’t been glass in the way, she would have pushed her head out even further. She could just see the paths between the large buildings that seemed to float. There were ponies underway as well, like it was the most natural thing in the world. None of them seemed to be scared, even though none of them had wings on their back.

It didn’t matter how it happened, but she was in the Crystal Empire now – there was no doubt about it. She didn’t care about how she got into hospital. Thiemo was with her in bed, even though he usually seemed rather shy about that. Satisfied, and with a wide grin on her lips, she returned to the bed and snuggled against him underneath the blanket. Now just a light breakfast and everything would be perfect. She blinked and tried again. And again and again, but nothing came. No emotion, no love. Unsure, she felt for other sources around her, but found none. Panicked, she stood up. “Hello!?” she called, confused, but got no response. Her hoof hit something. “Thiemo!” She threw herself on top of him and began to shake him. “Thiemo! Wake up. Please…”

Her coltfriend closed his eyes a bit tighter and sullenly mumbled something in response to her shaking, but she knew no mercy. He grumbled a bit more before he finally his eyes and looked at her sleepily. “Amy?” Like her, he looked around the room first. “What happened? Did I miss anything?”

“I’m hungry…” He blinked.

“What?”

“I can’t eat.” She sniffled, a single tear running down her cheek. Thiemo, still clearly muddled, took her in his arms and hugged her tightly.

“There, there, no problem. Tell me–” The door opened, and a pony entered the room. The earth pony mare had a notepad on the wagon that she pushed in front of her and wore a cap with a red heart on her head. “Good that you are here. We could use some help.” She stared at them and looked down a bit. Thiemo and Amaryllis followed her gaze and saw that both their blankets were on the ground now. “Shit, that might have come out wrong, but we really have a bit of a problem here that we need some help with.” Thiemo’s words hit deaf ears as the nurse blushed furiously and disappeared with the wagon into the hallway again, slamming the door behind her.

“I look like I just came out of a magic lamp.” Thiemo pulled again at the way too wide pants that were covering his legs. Spike had gotten the clothes, a khaki-coloured vest and pants, for him after he had explained his situation to the dragon. Spike was at the hospital to pick them up since they had been expected at the castle for a while now. Twilight was supposed to bring them there bright and early, but the Princess was nowhere to be found. Spike suspected that she overslept since she had been awake the whole night again, something that had happening all too often. “Or that I stole MC Hammer’s pants.” Well, what did he expect? Even humans only occasionally wore clothes here.

“It was the best thing I could get in the short time,” Spike assured him again as they strolled next to Amy through the streets of the town. “Worse than Rarity,” he heard him mumbling. The dragon didn’t seem to realize yet that, with his larger vocal organ, even a whisper from him could be easily heard by others.

“They could at least have me left my boots.” Not that it was cold or the ground uncomfortable, but being barefoot just felt unfamiliar. Footwear was one of the most important things for an adventurer like him. In the past, a lot of his friends had told him that during their holidays in Egypt, they had taken off their shoes to run around in the sand. Today, he could only roll his eyes about that. Desert sand, hot desert sand, felt like glowing embers. Taking clothes off in the desert to cool off? That just meant dehydrating faster. Knowledge he had to learn the hard way and was now stuck in his head.

“What’s the matter with you and your clothes?” the dragon asked, irritated. “Other humans here aren’t wearing any either.” Spike stretched his neck a bit and looked over the crowd around them. “Over there. That human isn’t wearing any clothes.” Thiemo and Amaryllis followed his gaze and saw a human coming out of a building in the distance. From the looks of it, it was a commercial building. Thiemo had to look twice to realize that the man was indeed naked, aside from a tie around his neck. In one hand he held a file; in the other, a cup with a warm drink. He noticed their looks and nodded back in a friendly fashion. Slightly tense, Thiemo nodded back.

“See?” Amaryllis leaned over to him. “Other humans don’t have a problem with that either, and it’s not like you have something to hide.”

“And that’s coming from you, Miss Revealing, or should we see what happens if I take the ring off your horn?” Shortly after the interruption of the nurse, another one had come and explained to the panicked Princess which precautions they had to take. In the coming weeks, Amaryllis would have to learn to be more careful while eating here. “You ponies at least have a tail.”

Amy raised a brow. “You have one as well.”

It just wiggled a bit now. “Yes, but it’s not covering anything!” Thiemo took a step aside and pointed at the rear of a stallion that walked beside them. “See! Tail and legs. I would have to crawl underneath him to see something, and I definitely don’t want to do that!” He looked into the face of the confused stallion. “No offence.”

“None taken?” The stallion waited for a few seconds, his eyes were wandering between Thiemo and Amaryllis, but then he quickly went away.

“But if I would take my pants off, everyone who turned around could get a clear view.” To enforce his argument, he grabbed his crotch.

“Like anyone wants to see that!” another stallion shouted from the other side and laughed.

“My words exactly. Thanks!” The stallion just raised a hoof and with a chuckle continued his way.

“Don’t be like that, lad. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before.” A mare next to him leered at him before she burst out into tittering with her friends. “I don’t know, Em, I like stallions that act like they have something to hide,” another one from the group of middle-aged mares called out before they were out of audible range.

Both Amaryllis and Spike grinned at him. “You know,” Spike began and couldn’t hold back a slight chuckle as Thiemo’s face turned crimson, “ponies are always very natural, like all creatures on Albion. Clothes are only used for special events, like formal receptions, balls, and such events. Well,” the dragon wiggled his head a bit, “and in bed.”

Thiemo wanted to go on but stopped for a moment. “Hold on… If there are only clothes for those events, where did the stuff I’m wearing come from?” The dragon just grinned. “No.” He laughed. “Spike, what am I wearing?”

He casually waved a claw through the air. “Well, the nearest store was a sex shop.” Amaryllis giggled as well. “For minotaurs.”

The next five minutes of their journey Thiemo spent silently as they walked between the tall buildings. The dragon couldn’t stop his laughter, and a few times some fire accidentally escaped his nostrils. Amaryllis, in contrast, just occasionally giggled and urged him to take off the clothes if he didn’t like them. And for a moment, just one moment, he considered doing so. After all, he was running around in minotaur lingerie. For such large creatures, the pants would surely have been tighter and more revealing. For that, he had to be thankful and also for the fact that there wasn’t a need to cut a hole for his tail. Only as the palace came into sight did the two stop with their jokes. Now that they all calmed down, Thiemo noticed how different the Empire was. No one gave him strange looks, screamed, or ran away. Yes, he got a few stares, but that was rather because of his companions, clothes, or his unusual marks that no other human had.

Finally, they arrived at the castle ground, or to be more precise, at one of the four pillars that lifted the castle into the air. Like the Eiffel Tower, the gigantic tower stood on four large crystal pillars so that every visitor would have to take a staircase first. If Thiemo had to take a guess, he would say that the first four floors were only stairs. Spike eventually stopped whistled loudly. “Here our ways part. As you may imagine, this castle isn’t designed for my kind.” Spike could probably take the staircase in one or two large steps.

A crystal pony, wrapped in silver armour that was covered by gemstones, rushed over to them and saluted. “Sir Spike,” he greeted the dragon.

“Ah, good morning, Rupie.” The stallion had a bright blue coat that seemed to transition into a bit of grey. His mane could be seen clearly since he didn’t wear a helmet, and was of the same colour, only a tad darker. Probably the armour here were enchanted as well to make all guards look alike. The two others that were standing at the foot of the staircase at least looked completely alike. “These are the guests that Cadance is waiting on.”

Rupie turned towards Thiemo and Amaryllis. “Ah, welcome, your Majesty. We have heard about the troubles on your journey.” He bowed quickly. “I hope nothing serious has happened.”

“N-No, everything’s fine,” Amy answered, a bit flabbergasted, confused at the formal address.

“Very good. If you would follow me, you are already expected.” Rupie began moving while Thiemo turned towards Spike again.

“Thanks, Spike, but for the thing with the clothes…” He pointed with two fingers at his eyes, then at the dragon. Spike just laughed, and with a few flaps of his mighty wings, he disappeared behind the nearest buildings. Quickly, Thiemo caught up with his marefriend and the guard, who had already begun to climb the stairs.

“So… what is Princess Cadance like?” he heard Amaryllis asking.

“I am sorry, your Highness, but we were asked to remain silent until she has spoken with you.” They reached the end of the staircase and stepped through an open double door into the interior of the palace. Like the rest of the city, everything in here was out constructed of crystals as well. The walls, the picture frames, even the ornaments of the tapestries seemed to be woven out of some kind of crystal thread. To their left and right ran more corridors until they eventually arrived in a large round room in the middle. In the centre of the room, symbols on the room formed a magical circle that was surrounded by magical crystals that spiked out of the floor. “If you would step inside the circle, please,” Rupie asked them and stepped aside.

Amaryllis nodded and stepped inside, but Thiemo stopped before it and studied the symbols. Not that he could figure anything out of them, but the guard didn’t have to know. “What is that? Some kind of… teleporter?”

Rupie nodded. “Exactly. When the Empire was rediscovered, everything still ran on stairs. However, the castle was simply too tall to be reached comfortably by non-pegasi. That’s why Princess Mi Amore Cadenza installed them herself.” Slightly impressed, and with raised brows, Thiemo eventually stepped inside as well. Rupie followed them, grinned, and put a hoof on his chest. A gemstone inside the ornamented armour glowed up, and for half a second, Thiemo’s view turned white before it was over. “Over here,” Rupie said and left the circle again.

Thiemo followed but stopped as he saw Amaryllis in the corners of his eyes. She had raised a foreleg to take a step forward, but it was just shivering. Their eyes met. “I’m scared,” she said, so quietly that Thiemo barely heard it standing right next to her.

He stepped in front of her, took her face into his hands, and brought their heads together, their foreheads touching each other. Amy’s horn was now lying directly on his head, the sharp edge biting into his skin a bit uncomfortable. “How often do I have to tell you that they will be happy to meet you? You will see.” She nodded faintly.

Rupie behind them coughed, and they both split again. Thiemo gave her a smile before they followed the guard. Unlike downstairs, there were no corridors here, just doors to their left and right. Everything was made out of some kind of metal, ornamented like the armour of the guard that guided them. One door stood out from the others. At the end of corridor they were walking through, a large double door awaited them. In it were more crystals that were shaped like hearts. These hearts were also covered by a golden shroud. Thiemo had seen that crystal heart a few times around the city so far. It had to be their emblem or something. These golden twirls were new though.

Much to their surprise, Rupie stopped two doors before the end and opened the entrance to one room. “I’m sorry, but the human has to wait here. Orders from the Princess. She wishes to speak to you alone first.” Thiemo looked into the room. It reminded him a bit of the tower room in the Canterlot Castle where he had spoken with Luna and Celestia. Seat cushions formed a small circle on the ground, pictures of the city hung on the wall, and various refreshments stood on a table.

Amy looked at him pleadingly. “You can do it,” he just said and entered the waiting room. “I’ll stay here.” She gulped and nodded, and then Rupie closed the door again. For a moment, he heard their steps, then it was quiet. “So, what to do?” He clapped his hands and stepped through the room, over to the only window and looked out of it, only to immediately take a step back again. They were up, very high up. Quickly, he looked away and eyed the drink. Bottles of wine, champagne, water, cider, and something that looked like an energy drink were there. Thiemo pulled out the cork of the bottle with blue fluid and smelled it. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say this is sake.” Only that he had never seen blue sake before. In a cabinet, he saw various glasses and even a small bowl, just what he needed. With bottle and bowl in his hands, he sat down on one of the pillows and poured himself some. “Cheers.”

Just as the door had closed did the anxiety returned to Amaryllis. She was about to meet the pony that had declared her mother as her worst enemy. Just like Equestria and every other nation of Albion, but that wasn’t the point.

Rupie opened the large double door in front of them and motioned for her to enter before he stepped aside. Amaryllis just nodded, took a deep breath, and entered the room in front of her. A long red carpet awaited her and led her through a hall that almost looked like it was naturally grown. She would know. Changelings were very familiar with stones and everything remotely related to them. The pillars that were supporting the large ceiling seemed to have just grown out of the ground. Large, open windows at both side let in fresh air and a lot of light into the room, which reflected at the many walls, pillars and the ground. Slowly, Amaryllis walked over the carpet and looked at what awaited her at the end. On a throne the size of three ponies, and made out of sea blue crystals, sat a pink alicorn and looked down at her. Her mane was less like the ones from Princess Celestia or Princess Luna, but rather like Twilight Sparkle’s. Pink, yellow, and magenta were the three colours that made it up. Mighty wings were lying tightly at her body as she looked down at her with a blank face. Her eyes followed every one of her moves until she finally stood in front of her. Amaryllis did what she thought was right and bowed. She heard the alicorn standing up and stepping down from the throne with her golden shoes to approach her. One of her hooves was touching her chin, so she raised her head.

The blank expression on her face was gone, replaced by a smile as a single tear ran down her cheek. Before Amaryllis knew what happened, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza wrapped both her forelegs and wings around her. “Welcome home,” she said and hugged her even tighter.

Author's Notes:

I don't want to justify Cadance behavior, but she is the princess of love. Maybe some of you will notice some of her actions and what she is doing in the background. There is a saying in Germany: "Im Krieg und der Liebe ist alles erlaubt" (In war and love nothing is forbidden). So watch out for Cadance.

Thanks to Gron for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

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