Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is not who she said she is, she had no idea WHO she really is
A parent will do anything for her children, even it means giving them up so that they will be safe from dangers and live in a peaceful life, despite the pain that comes for the parent.
That pain is something Princess Amore has gone through for one thousand and fifteen years, but now after being restored from her imprisonment by her fellow subjects, the time is upon her kingdom, and she wants her daughter back. Even if that means saving her adoptive Canterlot family from the Storm Kingdom.
A parent will do anything for her children, even it means giving them up so that they will be safe from dangers and live in a peaceful life, despite the pain that comes for the parent.
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Darkness hung over the Artic North of Equestria. But across the landscape, there were multiple corpse of ponies lying in their own blood. Some blood were pure red, while other were black. Several of the crystal houses were destroyed, what remains were debris and destroyed furnitures. The only sound now were the shouting and screaming across the distance.
Magical explosions sent dust, dirt and debris flying around the Crystal Empire. The clanging of steel and the whooshing of arrows and magic filled the air while crystal guards fought against the umbrum ponies. As fire, blood and death filled the battlefield, a unicorn was seen standing near the edge of the cliff that oversees the battle.
King Sombra couldn't stopped himself from smirking as a small group of the crystal ponies was surrounded by umbrum ponies and their dying screams filled him with delight.
He teleported from the cliff to the battleground to the front of another group of crystal ponies. The groups' eyes widened in surprise at the tyrant unicorn appearance before recovering and charged at him.
Sombra sidestepped one of the charging crystal ponies before slicing another one in front of him. He then proceeded to use his dark magic via his horn to shoot out dark crystals, impaling all except one. The last thing the remaining crystal pony saw was Sombra smirking before he struck her with his scythe and her life went out. He was enjoying his latest kills before the umbrum captain arrived.
"What is it, captain?" Sombra asked.
The umbrum captain bowed down and raised up before replying. "My team have managed to breach one of the defences and are now clearing the way toward your victory, my lord."
Sombra smiled and said: "Well done, my captain. Have your team ready to breach the Crystal Castle once you had cleared the way."
"Yes, my lord." The captain of the umbrum ponies bowed down before standing up and ran to give the orders to his team.
Sombra stared at the castle before saying. "Soon, once the Crystal Empire is conquered, then all of Equestria will be mine!!!" He gave a sinister laugh.
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Meanwhile in the throne room, Princess Amore, wearing grey armour and grey helmet, was levitating a pale pink alicorn crying in a bundle while the room was rumbled and bits of crystals fell onto the ground. Amore looked at the pink alicorn with a sad smile and tears in her eyes and said. "Oh Cadenza, go back to sleep and remember that... that..." Amore choked down a few of her tears, before continuing “that I will always love you..." Amore gently nuzzled her daughter, who slowly stopped crying and closed her eyes, drifting back to sleep.
Amore's horn brightened up and began channelling her magic around her daughter before speaking. "I will always remember you, my little Cady; I always will."
As soon as she finished her sentence, the filly was engulfed by a white light before the said light along with the pink alicorn shot out through one of the throne room's window. Amore sobbed quietly, but was interrupted by the throne door being burst from the hinges and shattered into million pieces.
Amore wiped her tears away with one of her forelegs as Sombra casually strolled in, flanked by guards in dark grey armor and helmet with green eyes. The crystal guards, standing beside Princess Amore, readied their swords, spears and horns.
"Princess Amore, we meet again."
"Sombra... " Amore coolly said while glaring angrily at him.
"Amore, I have one request and it is quite simple." Sombra said.
She knew what he wants, but still raised one of her eyebrows.
Sombra then said "Surrender the Crystal Empire and your throne to me, and you and your subjects will be spared."
Amore gave Sombra an angry glare and snarled. "Over my dead body will I surrender my subjects and myself to you, you fiend!"
She and the crystal guards then proceeded to get themselves into fighting positions.
Sombra stared at them for a few minutes before saying in a sinisterly and deathly voice.
"So be it."
He and his guards then ran toward with their weapon in their magic while Amore, levitating her crystal sword, gave a shout and charged at him along with her guards head-on.
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The light that shot out through one of the Crystal Castel throne room's window continued to soar through the sky for an hour, heading toward the Canterlot Castle before slowly descending down and landed near the entrance of the castle gardens.
The filly alicorn could be seen slumbering in a bundle as the night hung over the castle.
It would take thirty minutes before two alicorns came in the view of the gardens. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna landed, both covered in snow.
"I can't believe Sombra turned Amore into statue and destroyed her. Not to mention, he cursed the empire to vanish for a thousand years after we banished him away." Princess Celestia began while shaking the snow off of her coat.
Princess Luna placed a hoof on her sister's shoulder. "You couldn't have known, Tia. Neither of us couldn't have known. We did what we could, sister."
Celestia sighed. "Still... You know what? Let us retire to our chambers, tomorrow we can find a way to remove the... Wait a second..."
A light gurgling sound was heard by both the solar princess and the lunar princess.
Celestia and Luna noticed the bundle at the entrance of the garden, and looked closer. They were met with the face of a sleeping pale pink filly alicorn, with her hair stripped in colors of pale yellow, bright pink, and purple.
"Sister, is that..."
"Yes, Tia. A baby alicorn. Who and why would somepony abandoned that poor thing like that?"
"I do not know, Lulu. But we can't just leave her out here like this, lest she gets hurt or kidnapped."
"I... you're right, let's bring her in. I will see if I can get the chef to boil some milk for the filly to drink. Poor thing might be thirsty."
"Very well, Lulu. I will get the filly comfortable in my chamber while I figure out this filly's title since she is born as an alicorn." Celestia smiled. Princess Luna trotted back to the castle to get the milk, while the solar princess gently picked up the bundle and examined the filly within. "Hello there little one, what's your name?"
It was then she noticed the small piece of paper. Using her magic, she levitated it up to her and read the name out loud.
"Mi Amore Cadenza"
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One thousand and fifteen years later...
A family of three were walking around the Crystal Empire, enjoying a cold breeze of wind while waving at the crystal ponies, before they were interrupted by a crystal pony with swirly cyan hair, yellow skin, purple eyes, a black and yellow round hat, a black suit, black shoes with golden wings, and a white bag with a yellow strap.
"Your highness, a message from Canterlot Castle." Mercury said, bowing down, before giving a scroll to Princess Cadance.
Cadance levitated the scroll via her magic and read it out loud, so that her husband, Shining Armor, can hear what it said while holding the baby alicorn, Flurry Heart.
My dearest niece, I am pleased to say that your sister-in-law, Twilight Sparkle, had decided to host a Friendship Festival in Canterlot.
"Friendship Festival?" Cadance confusedly said.
While it will be great for you to come and help Twilight and her friends out to set up the festival, it is unfortunate to say this, but your husband will have to stay behind to guard the Empire and the Crystal Heart from incoming threats. It is also worth mentioning that a popstar singer named Songbird Serenade will also be attending for this festival and Twilight will required me, my sister, and you to use our magic for something. See you soon.
Your aunt, Princess Celestia.
"Guess I will be staying behind." Shining Armor replied. Cadance put the scroll and looked at him.
Cadance said with a sad smile. "But still, you should be there for your sister's festival. Not to mention, you deserved to take a break with me from rulering the empire and taking care of our daughter." She sighed and hung her head down.
"Hey." Shining placed a hoof to his wife's chin, and raised her head to look at him with a sincere smile.
"It's alright, sweetie. I have Sunburst to help me to take care of Flurry and some advisers to help me out."
Cadance doesn't looked convinced.
"And beside, it is you who deserved to have a break from doing all the work from the Empire. You need this, otherwise you will overworked yourself." Shining continued
Cadance finally smiled and nuzzled both Shining and Flurry.
"Alright, Shining. If you say so."
Cadance pulled back and turned her head towards Mercury.
"Messenger Mercury." Cadance started.
"Send a message to my auntie that I will be coming to Canterlot."
The train journey from the Crystal Empire to Canterlot was long. Some of crystal ponies talked among themselves while others were just looking out the window. Princess Cadance herself was sitting on her haunch in her private compartment and decided to look out the window while leaning against it.
From the distance, she could see Canterlot Castle from her view. It has been a few days since she last saw her aunties with a disaster in their hooves, not to mention the last time she spent with her sister was when Twilight decided to invite her and Flurry Heart to watch one of Trixie's magic show.
As she watched the castle from the distance, her eyes started to slid down as she drifted to sleep. Before long, sleep had claimed her.
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Cadance woke up at the sound of a howling wind. She immediately jumped up onto her hooves and looked around in panic and shock.
"Where am I? Was I not on train a moment ago?" Cadance asked shakingly herself.
After a few minutes, she calmed herself down and surveyed the surrounding area.
The only thing she could see were snow covered ground, snow falling around her and her kingdom just barely seen from a distance. That's when she saw something from the distance on her left.
A cyan blue light can be seen shining around what looked like another Crystal city with a smaller Crystal Castle, shielding it from the harsh blizzard.
While she looked at the city in confusion, she suddenly noticed somepony walking toward her from the direction of the city.
As the pony walked closer, Cadance was able to make up it's appearance.
The pony was a unicorn mare at the same size as Princess Celestia, with a very pale vermillion coat, her mane being in gradient of brilliant raspberry to moderate cobalt blue, her horn being a shiny light blue shaded from the tip to cyan, and a cutie mark of deep blue snowflake between blue laces on both flanks. And lastly, she was wearing blue garb around her body and a blue crown on her head.
Cadance stood dumbfound as the tall unicorn mare got closer and closer until the said mare was standing directly in front of her.
She could not stop herself from fidgeting and sweating as the unicorn's face was directed at her face with the mare's eyes closed.
Suddenly, the pale vermillion unicorn's eyes opened her brilliant amber eyes, and said a name that only Cadance's auntie, Princess Luna, would normally called her.
"Cadenza..."
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"Huh!?" Cadance jolted up from her sleep, looking around her compartment confused.
"Your highness, you say something?" One of the crystal guards asked through the opened door.
"Oh... Was I... It’s nothing. Just feeling a bit tired, Private Cloud Bolt. Nothing to be worried about." Cadance replied with a gentle smile.
Cloud Bolt saluted at her before closing the compartment door as he went back to his post with his fellow guard.
She stared at door, before stealing a glance through the window, reflecting her cutie mark. She could see the Canterlot getting closer in her view.
She sighed to herself as the crystal train continued it's journey toward it's destination.
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The crystal train finally came to a stop at Canterlot station, and all of the passengers including Cadance were greeted by a large number of ponies ranging from Ponyville, Appleloosa and Dodge Junction to Manehattan, Fillydelphia and Las Pegasus. She was escorted by her crystal guards all the way to castle.
On her arrival at Canterlot throne room, Cadance ordered her guards to wait for her outside. Standing near the door, she could hear the four familiar voices talking.
She took a breath and then released it with a hoof held to her chest before straightening herself.
And with a smile, she opened the doors via her pale blue magic.
The three ponies and a young purple and green dragon, who were discussing, all stopped and turned their head toward the door before smiling at the arrival of a pale pink alicorn.
"Cadance!"
Cadance smile widely at the excited lavender alicorn with mane and tail made of dark indigo with streaks of purple and pink as Twilight Sparkle galloped toward her.
Knowing what was going to happen, she readied herself.
"Sunshine sunshine ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake!” both mares sang while doing the dance to go with it, at the end they both broke down into a fit of giggles and hugged each other.
Celestia and Luna both looked at them while smiling.
After the sisters had hugged, they both looked at the elder princesses. Cadance began with a raised eyebrow. "So I read the scroll that said that Twilight required our magic for something at the festival?"
"Of course, Cadenza. Twilight, Let us continue where you left off." Luna replied.
Twilight yelped at the sudden mention of her own name, but quickly composed herself and began speaking, "Well, you see, I was wondering if you could use your magic to reposition the sun and moon for the concert performance of Songbird Serenade?" She ended with a forced grin.
The solar princess looked at the other two princesses for a few second before turning her head and looked at her former student's eyes.
"Twilight." Celestia started, using her motherly tone. "As much as I want to help you, I'm afraid I have to reject your proposal." Twilight's face fell.
Celestia started. "As a Princess of the Sun, my magic is served to move the sun."
Luna continued off what her sister. "And as a Princess of the Moon, my magic is served to move the moon."
And finally, Cadance said: "And as a Princess of Love, my magic is served to help ponies overcome their problems."
After all the three princesses said their speeches, Twilight looked away in disappointment.
"And beside." Twilight looked at the solar princess.
"As a Princess of Friendship, you already have all the magic you need to make this festival a success." Celestia added with a gentle smile.
Twilight looked at her mentor's eyes for a while before saying: "Very well, Princess Celestia." After those words were said, Twilight turned and walked out of the throne room along with Spike who was an armful of scrolls.
The three princesses looked at each other in silence.
Cadance was the first to break the silence. "I will go and talk to her, auntie Celly and auntie Lulu." She trotted after her sister, leaving both the solar princess and the lunar princess alone with each other.
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After trotting for a few minutes, Cadance finally found Twilight sulking, walking with Spike.
"Twilight!" The name got rid the said mare's sulkiness and was replaced with a sad smile.
"Oh, hey Cadance." Twilight replied, looking at her sister direction. Cadance slowly walked beside and draped a comforting wing over her sister, giving her a little nuzzle.
"Twilight." Cadance started. "Why don't you start and tell me who is this Songbird Serenade pony?"
Twilight's eyes immediately sparkled and started talking. "Songbird Serenade is a biggest popstar singer in Equestria who resides in Manehattan. Not to mention, her fame and talent are so unmatched."
Cadance couldn't help but smiled sincerely as Twilight continued to ramble on about the popstar singer.
"Did you know, she has an angelic voice and uses her incredible music talents to sing to have a deep belief in the values? Hay, Songbird is even quick to donate her time and energy to any good cause and is always willing to give back to her adoring fans."
Twilight squealed loudly: "All of that makes Songbird the most beloved celebrity in the entire ponydom!!!"
After Twilight had said all of that in one go, she immediately started to blush in embarrassment and covered her face with both of her forelegs as all the ponies within the castle were all staring at her while Cadance and Spike were trying their hardest not to laugh.
After a while, the ponies were shrugged themselves and resumed their activities.
"Twilight." Cadance called out to snap her sister out of embarrassment, causing Twilight to look up at her.
"Listen, about the proposal." She started.
"While my aunties and I may have rejected your ideas, I think that with your own magic, you could still make the concert performance of Songbird better." Cadance paused to see Twilight nodding her head.
"Not to mention" She continued. "With your friends' ideas and help, it would make the performance even better."
Twilight's gears were turning in her head before she gasped.
"You're right, Cadance! Why didin't I think about that?!" Twilight said.
"Thank you so much for reminding me that I have friends I can rely on, Cady." Twilight finished by hugging Cadance with her forelegs, who in return hugged her back with one of her owns.
A few minutes of hugging later, both sisters released each other and parted way.
"You know, I can lend you and your friends a helping hoof if you need it." Cadance replied.
Twilight smiled and said: "That would be helpful, Cadance."
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At the Canterlot Square, Cadance, Twilight and her friends were busy getting the Friendship Festival up and running. Spike was ticking the checkboxes while Twilight was making sure that everything goes as planned. Applejack was handing out apple ciders to everypony. Rainbow Dash was using her Wonderbolt moves to clear the weather. Pinkie Pie was making various types of balloon animals. Fluttershy was rehearsing with her chorus of the songbirds. Both Cadance and Rarity were decorating the stages with various of ornaments and trinkets for the coming popstar singer.
Within minutes, the Friendship Festival was up and running in a glamorous and prestigious way. The Mane 6 and Cadance all looked at the scene and could not stopped themselves from feeling pride from doing all their hard work.
"Hay Yeah! We did it!" Rainbow Dash cheered excitedly.
"I simply can't believed we managed to get this Festival up in a nick of time." Rarity said.
"Darn tootin we did, Rare!" Applejack replied.
"Yeah, I set up many parties fast and quick, but I never set up this party quicker!" Pinkie Pie squealed while bouncing up and down.
"Yay!" Fluttershy cheered softly.
"Thanks to your help, Cadance, the Friendship festival is ready for the arrival of Songbird Serenade." said Twilight, looking at her sister.
Cadance blushed from the compliment and brushed her mane. "Oh, it's nothing. I just feel like helping you."
"Well, we still have some time before Songbird arrives. I say we take a break. All this clearing the clouds has me all worn out." The rainbow-mane mare said, already lying down on a piece of cloud.
"Well, ah think Rainbow's right. Ah'm sore." The farm mare said.
The rest all agreed with the two mares.
"Well, I'm going to double check everything to see the festival is up to it's standard." Twilight proudly said before turning to ask her sister.
"How about you, Cadance?"
"Actually, I'm going back to the castle. I have some things I need to grab from the castle to bring back to the Crystal Empire. So, I will see you once I have put them in the train." Cadance replied with a smile.
Twilight nodded happily, and the two shared one more hug before parting ways, Twilight heading off to double check up on the festival preparations with her Number-One Assistant, and Cadance towards the castle.
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Cadance walked through the castle hallway, and climbed up the stairwell. At the end of the stairwell was her old tower room.
She had known she had been adopted, and she also knew that her biological parents had abandoned her near the entrance of the Canterlot Castle garden. Both her aunties had told her the truth, but had also told her that they don't care about that. Even though their relation isn't the same, she was still their niece. Her aunties has also told her that Princess Amore may be her distant relative to her since Cadance's full name has "Amore" in it.
But an incident, around three years ago, at the Crystal Empire had made her doubt herself. Now she had to wonder if there was more to her abandonment than she thought.
Cadance entered the room that belonged to her. It was still left untouched by the two elder princesses, despite her rarely using it anymore since she had moved to the Empire to rule.
She looked around the room to make sure she was all alone before locking the door behind her via her magic. Next to her old walk-in wardrobe sat a full size mirror.
Cadance slowly walked toward the mirror and stood in front of it, looking at a pale pink alicorn wearing golden regalia who stood there staring back, wearing a nervous expression on her face.
She stood there for a good solid minute, just staring at herself in the mirror.
Then, she closed her eyes and with a flick of her magic, a light blue aura glowed and shimmered around Cadance's body, before dying away.
She opened her eyes and stared back at the mirror.
While she still retained her pale pink coat and her stripped in colors of pale yellow, bright pink, and purple mane and tail, there were now two parts of her body that weren't the same.
Her horn, instead of pale pink, was now a shiny light blue shaded from the tip to cyan. Her wings were now white with trailing edges of the feathers being pale blue.
Cadance now stared at herself.
It felt good to be finally able to restore some of her magic after using it to disguise her horn and wings.
Every time she had time, Cadance would hide away and look at a mirror, staring at her wings and horn with curiosity. She had spent many months trying to find why she was like this in the Crystal Empire, before giving up after finding no references. The only pony who knew about this was her husband, Shining Armor. As for the rest, she hasn't told them as she was simply too scared of their reaction.
While the reasonable part of her mind knew they would accept her and still love her like her husband, the other part of her mind also knew that they would think that she was the changeling queen, Chrysalis, and would banish her or turned her into a statue.
Light blue aura glowed around Cadance's body once again as she used her magic again, replacing her horn and wings back to it's original colors. Though it doesn't eased her nervousness and curiousness.
Darkness hung over the Crystal Empire as Cadance made her way back inside the Crystal Castle from the balcony, after waving some crystal ponies a peaceful night.
As Cadance walked through the empire's hallway, she stopped by one of the room and opened the door. She slipped inside and closed the door behind her via her magic. The room was fairly large, a wardrobe along with a small cabinet and a full size mirror was next to the door Cadance just closed and a crystal crib was sitting there near the corner. In the crib was Flurry Heart, her daughter, sleeping peacefully while hugging her favourite plush Whammy.
Next to it was her husband, Shining Armor, standing near the crib.
"I hope I'm not too late." Cadance said, smiling as she walked closer to her husband and her daughter.
"Not at all, Cady." Shining replied, turning his head and nuzzled his wife.
Cadance nuzzled him back before pulling back and stared at his eyes.
"I can't believe how far we have come." She said.
"Yeah, how long has it been? Four years?" Shining asked.
As they began reminiscing their pasts, a shuffling against the bed in the crib interrupted them.
Confused, the couple turned their head to their daughter. Flurry Heart was now shivering like a leaf. Confusion was immediately replaced with concerns, prompting the couple to check.
"What's wrong, my little Flurry? Are you unwell?" Cadance asked her daughter.
"Maybe we should call the-"
Whatever Shining was going to say, it was suddenly interrupted by a blast of yellow magic burst from Flurry's horn when she suddenly sneezed and hit directly at Cadance's chest. The Princess of Love was sent flying into the wall, sending dust and dirt everywhere in the room
Shining Armor coughed, looking back and forth between Flurry Heart and his wife, before shaking his head.
"Cadance! Are you all alright?!" He worriedly asked while rushing to his wife's aid.
As dust and dirt began to settle, he started to see his wife more clearly.
"Oh dear Celestia, you're all right! Do you need-" Shining stopped with a slack jawed look of surprise when he saw his wife.
Cadance, while retaining her pale pink coat, has a shiny light blue shaded from the tip of her horn to cyan and a pair of white wings with trailing edges of the feathers being pale blue.
She began to regain conscience.
"Sweet Mother of my aunt's name, I know she possessed powerful magic, but that was one strong magic." Cadance said as she steady righted herself, shaking the dust and dirt off of her, only to freeze.
Her husband had taken a defensive stance with his horn flared up while her daughter, who was now sleeping, was enveloped by his magical shield.
"Shining, what-" She began before getting cut off.
"Where's Cadance, Chrysalis?! He snarled.
"What are you talking abou-" She asked before getting cut off again by her husband stamping one of his hoof down.
"Don't play dumb. Where. Is. My. Wife?" He angrily asked with a death glare.
"Shining..." Cadance started, trembling slightly at her husband's question. "You're scaring m-"
She stopped when her eyes fell onto the mirror near the door and saw that her horn and wings were different now.
Realising why her husband was being hostile to her, she immediately defend herself.
"Shining, it's me. I'm not Chrysalis. I am Cadance, your love of your life."
"LIKELY STORY, Chrysalis" he snarled. She flinched back.
"Shining please..." Cadance whimpered, pool of tears beginning to form in her eyes. "If I was Chrysalis, I would have kidnapped Flurry Heart and used her to overthrow you. If I was her, I would have brainwashed you by now."
Slowly, the Prince of the Crystal Empire dropped his defensive stance, but his horn still flared with magic.
"Alright, if you are really Cadance, then say something only my wife will remember." He demanded.
The Princess of Love nodded her head quickly before replying.
"I remembered that a week from our wedding, Queen Chrysalis kidnapped me and take my form, before trapping me in the crystal cave under the Canterlot castle. I also remembered how I tried to find the way out, but kept failing miserably." Her voice wavered. "I also remembered how scared I was being alone in the cave while thinking about you being with the imposter."
By the time Cadance had finished talking, the tears in her eyes had begun to flow down her cheeks and she started weeping.
Whatever anger Shining Armor had quickly melted away into guilt and regret. Immediately, he dropped his magic and his magical shield around his daughter, before trotting toward his wife. He hugged her as she continued to cry on his shoulder.
"Cady, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." Shining apologetically said as he stroked her mane.
After a few moment, Cadance slowly stopped weeping and nuzzled her husband's neck before the couple parted ways.
"Feeling better now?" Shining asked to which she nodded her head, sniffing while wiping her tears with her foreleg.
Deciding to change the subject, he asked with a raised eyebrow. "So, why are both your horn and wings different?"
Cadance turned toward the mirror and looked at her body, twitching and fluttering her wings, before replying. "I... I'm not sure."
She quickly whirled her head toward her husband. "Don't tell my aunties and Twilight about this, please." She begged. "I don't know what will happen if they found out and I really don't want to know."
Shining winced. "I don't know if I can do that, Cady."
Cadance wore a panic expression, before he closed his eyes with a sigh and continued. "But I will see what I can do. We can also use that opportunity to find some answer to your appearance. For now, try disguising both your horn and wings."
She sighed in relief and nodded her head, before using her magic. A light blue aura glowed and shimmered around her, reverting her back to her old self.
Just then, a crystal guard barged his way into the room.
"Your highnesses, is everything alright?!" Lieutenant Sky Vision spoke up.
"At ease, lieutenant." Shining Armor reassured. "Everything's fine. Our daughter just have a magic surge when she sneezed. That is all, you are dismissed."
Sky Vision saluted the Prince before heading out the way he came and closed the door.
The couple stood there silently for a couple of minutes before it was broken by Cadance.
"Let's just go and sleep. We will figure something out tomorrow." The Princess of Love said, rubbing her temple.
Shining stared at her before sighing. "Yeah. That's probably good idea."
The couple quietly walked back to their bedroom, their mind still fresh from what had happened.
Celestia's sun shifted significantly as Cadance left the train station to meet her sister-in-law after bringing some of her things from her old room to the Crystal Train. The Friendship Festival is now in full effect as ponies were starting to crowd around the stage. Amidst the crowd, she saw Twilight standing near the stage.
Just as she reached her younger sister's position, a multi-layered cake suddenly landed on Twilight, splatting the batter everywhere. Cadance was able to stop some of the cake batters by using one of her wings to shield herself from splatting onto her.
She couldn't stopped herself from giggling while the Princess of Friendship was now glaring angrily at Pinkie Pie as the cake batter slowly slide down Twilight's body.
Then, two security guard ponies approached with a white furred pony with a yellow and black mane covering her eyes, with a matching tail, and a huge pink bowtie on her mane, arriving at the stage from the crowd of ponies.
"Hi. I'm looking for the pony in charge." The mare spoke as Photo Finish managed to snap a few quick photos of her. “I need to set up for my sound check.”
She then turned her head toward the Princess of Love and said: " You must be the one in charge of the Friendship Festival. Hi, my name is Songbird Serenade. Pleased to meet your acquaintance." She reached out her hoof for a hoof-shake.
Cadance returned the gesture, smiling sincerely at the popstar singer before replying. "Pleased to meet you too, Miss Songbird, but I'm not the one in charge of this festival. My sister-in-law, Twilight Sparkle, is.
The popstar blinked her eyes at her before rubbing her head.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Songbird said to Cadance before turning her head toward the Princess of Friendship trying to get rid of the cake batters.
"I'm here for my sound check, Princess Twilight." Songbird spoke.
"Ah, Ms. Songbird Serenade?" Twilight recognised the mare. "Welcome!” She greeted as she approached her. “So glad you could make it.” She added as she tried to remove the batters. “I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I apologize for the mess. I'm usually not so…”
Only for her to stop when she accidentally splatted some cake batters on Songbird's jacket, to which she blushed at her own action.
“Caked in cake?” the popstar singer jokingly figured.
Cadance covered her mouth with her hoof to stop herself from snickering at Songbird's joke.
All of a sudden, a black storm cloud appears in the sky over Canterlot, causing everypony to look up at the cloud fearfully. It was later followed by multiple airships before a larger airship landed on the festival ground. A small hedgehog then came out of the ship.
"PONIES OF EQUESTRIA! WE COME ON BEHALF OF THE FEARSOME! THE MIGHTY!! STORM KING!!" The hedgehog announced. "AND NOW! TO DELIVER THE EVIL EVIL MESSAGE! PUT YOUR HOOVES TOGETHER FOR COMMANDER TEMPEST!!"
At the call of the name, a unicorn mare with dark orchid coat, with moderate rose with lighter edge mane and a broken horn, emerged from the airship. The appearance of the unicorn pony earned everypony gasps and shocked expression.
"Tempest, is it?" Celestia began with a raised eyebrow, her tone guarded. "How may we help you?"
"Ah, I'm so glad you asked. How about we start with your complete and total surrender!" She declared imperiously, as both the solar and lunar princesses gave angry frowns at her. However, Twilight walked past Cadance toward the Storm King's lieutenant.
"Hi, Princess of Friendship, not really sure what's going on, but, I'm sure we can talk this out?" Twilight asked to which Tempest gave the Princess of Friendship most unimpressed look.
"How cute. . . ." Tempest replied, before raising her voice. "Here's the deal ladies, I need your magic. Give it up nicely please or we make it difficult. . . for everyone!" At that moment, the four princesses' expressions became like stone.
"Did you bring an army, miss Tempest?" Asked Celestia, her tone being calm. No sooner the solar princess asked the question, ranks of monstrous storm beasts filed out from the airship the Storm King's lieutenant was standing on, shields and spears held at the ready. As the troops from the larger airship got into formation, more Storm Guards from multiple airships, jumped down in front of the terrified crowds of ponies.
"As a matter of fact, I did." She drawled, smirking at four frowning princesses.
Cadance turned her head to see her aunt Lulu stepped forward as the lunar princess glared angrily at Tempest.
"Look Tempest," Luna started. "We ponies are reasonable and that's why we're going to give you... ONE LAST CHANCE TO STOP ALL THIS NONSENSE!" She finished with her Royal Canterlot Voice. Celestia nodded as she spoke up.
"This doesn't need to end in violence Tempest. Perhaps if you explain why you and this. . . 'Storm King' need our magic, then we can find a way to help you?" Tempest narrowed her gaze at the solar princess, as she retrieved a small orb, from a pouch hidden beneath her mane.
"I don't think you princesses understand the position you're in. Let me help illustrate it for you." She declared with a cold smirk, as she tossed the orb into the air. With an acrobatic twirl, Tempest struck the orb with her back hoof, aiming it directly at Princess Luna. As her soldiers locked shields, and surged forward.
Cadance stared at the orb that was flying straight to her auntie Lulu before widened her eye in horror as she sensed dark magic coming from it, before quickly calling out to her.
"Auntie Lulu! Look out! It's dark magic!!!"
The Princess of the Moon, upon hearing what her adoptive niece had said, tried to block it with her magic shield. After struggling for a minute against the orb’s powers, she got hit by it as black magic dust surrounded her and began turning her into statue.
"Luna!!!" Celestia cried out in horror.
“Aah..I…I can’t stop it!” Luna screamed as she was turned to dark crystal statue. Both sister-in-laws stared at now petrified Princess of the Moon in shock.
All of Canterlot was immediately thrown into chaos as the storm beast rushed forward. The Royal Guard had responded immediately, but the sheer size and strength of the invasion force meant they were quickly outnumbered and subdued.
Twilight, Spike, Cadance, Celestia and the rest of the bearers of Harmony tried desperately fight as many Storm Guards off as they can.
"There's too many of them!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she uppercut one of the storm beast in the face.
"Ya think, Rainbow?!" Applejack answered sarcastically as she bucked one of them with both of her hindlegs.
"Twilight! Cadance!" The solar princess called them as she smashed ten of Storm King's soldiers into the ground with an effortless pulse of magic. "Go south beyond the Badlands! Seek help from the Queen of the Hippo-"
Celestia would never get to finish her sentence as she was hit by another orb, turning her into statue.
"Princess Celestia!"
"Auntie Celly!"
The Storm King's lieutenant, using Twilight's disbelief as an opportunity, immediately fired another orb at Twilight. Cadance saw that and her eyes widened in horror before quickly pushed her sister-in-law out of harm's way, the orb hitting her instead.
"NOOOO!!!" The Princess of Friendship screamed.
Tempest smiled with a sadistic glee as the Princess of Love was covered with black magic dust. But when the dust finally settled, her smile was replaced with disbelief as her jaw dropped at the sight before her.
Princess Cadance was standing on the ground unscathed, her face full of confusion as she stared at her body. Twilight and her friends were all staring in shock.
After staring at her own body, she immediately enveloped the Mane 6 and Spike in her telekinetic grip before sprinting away.
Tempest shook her head. "Grubber! Soldiers!" She commanded them upon seeing the two princesses, Spike and the Mane 5 escaping. "Go get those two princesses! Find them!"
After the Princess of Love got a fair distance away from the invasion force, she gently put them down on the ground. After that, all seven ponies and a dragon quickly run, dodging the soldiers' attempt to grab them before finding themselves cornered on the bridge by two soldiers blocking off each side of the bridge.
Cadance tried blasting them with her magic, but one of her magic ended up reflecting off one of their shields and destroyed the bridge they're standing on, plummeting themselves into the river and over a waterfall.
The small hedgehog, Grubber, and several of the soldiers all arrived on the scene, but could not spot them from down below.
Grubber groaned while pinching the bridge of his nose with his hand. "Great. Boss is so not going to like this."
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Just Below Canterlot
The seven ponies and a dragon regained their consciences after falling over the waterfall and quickly swam toward the shore. As they dried themselves up, Applejack started the conversation.
"Everypony okay?" Applejack asked.
“Okay?! We just got our cupcakes handed to us by the worst party crashers ever!” Pinkie exclaimed in defeat.
“I said we go back up there and fight!” Rainbow Dash told everypony, not wanting to give up on Equestria just yet.
"Are you crazy?!" Spike exclaimed. "You saw the size of those goons! Not to mention, you saw what Tempest is capable of. You seriously wanna go back and challenge her?!" Spike almost shouted.
"Spiky-Wikey's right, darling!" Rarity agreed. "Tempest was able to capture both Princesses Celestia and Luna with those orbs of her."
“So now what? We can't hide here forever.” Applejack pointed out. “And let's be honest, we can't go back to the castle after what Tempest did to the Princesses. We gotta keep them from Twilight and Princess Cadance.”
"Speaking of Princess Cadance..." Fluttershy added as she turned her head toward her and asked. "How come the orb didn't turned you into... you know... the crystal statue?"
As soon as Fluttershy finished his questions, all of them stopped their conversation and turned their head to Cadance.
"Yeah, how come you didn't get turned into statue when Tempest threw the orb at you? " Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. "Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna got turned into statue after that unicorn threw the orbs at them."
Cadance could only shrugged and said truthfully. "Honestly, I don't know. A defected orb, I guess?"
The six ponies and a dragon all stared at her, which started to make her sweat. Then, Twilight sighed and turned to get her friends attention.
"We figure it out later once we liberate the Canterlot castle from the Storm King's army." Everypony nodded in agreement, to which Twilight continued. "Right now, we need to go south beyond the Badlands. Princess Celestia said to seek help from the Queen of the Hippos."
"Hippogriffs." Cadance interjected. "Auntie Celly said to seek help from the Queen of the Hippogriffs. She told me that she knew the queen when I was visiting her back in Canterlot."
"Right, Hippogriffs. And she is beyond the Badlands which means we'll have to leave Equestria." Twilight added grimly.
The Mane 5 and Spike shared a look with worry before Cadance interrupted them.
"Guys, listen!" She called out. "You girls have travelled all around the Equestria, not to mention saved the world many times." She continued with a smile and gestured her hoof to herself. "Beside, you have me."
Twilight's friends all looked at each other before nodding their head with determination.
"All rightly! Let's go find this Queen of the Hippogriffs!" Pinkie declared as she bounced off northwards.
"Uh Pinkie.” Twilight called out to her. “South would be that way.” She said as she pointed her to the right direction.
"Okie dokey loki!" The party mare happily said before bouncing off ahead in the right direction.
While the rest of Twilight's friend followed Pinkie, Twilight stayed behind to talk to Cadance.
"Thank you for saving me, Cadance." Twilight happily said to her sister-in-law. "How can I even repay you?"
Cadance smiled before replying. "There's no need to. I'm just looking out for my sister-in-law."
Twilight giggled before looking out at the distance. "Do you think the Queen of the Hippogriffs will help us?" She asked.
"I'm sure... she will..." Was all Cadance said before she started coughing.
Twilight turned her head, concern on her face, asked. "Hey, are you okay?"
The Princess of Love stopped coughing after a while and said, "I'm fine. Let's just go and find the queen. The fate of Equestria is in our hooves." She finished with a smile.
Twilight looked at Cadance for a while before nodding and went to catch up with her friends.
Cadance watched at her sister-in-law talking to her friends while thinking about what had happened at Canterlot.
'Why didn't I get petrified like both of my aunties?' She thought to herself.
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Back in Canterlot, all of the captured ponies have everypony restrained and muzzled as they are all escorted by the soldiers while the other’s cause the balloons hanging around to float away after cutting the strings holding them down.
On the balcony of the castle, Tempest Shadow oversaw as the soldiers does their work as the balloons floated up to the sky. Her mind was currently on the Princess of Love. 'Why didn't the Obsidian Orb turned her into statue? It worked for the other two princesses .' She said to herself in her mind.
Sighing to herself, she made her way back inside the throne room where the two petrified princesses were now standing in the middle of the room.
Two of the Storm King’s soldiers approach her in front of a circular bowl shaped table separating them with a potion making a ring-tone like noise.
“Well? Answer it!” Tempest irritably ordered them to do so as they poured the potion into the bowl sized table into the potion inside. The blue smoke appeared from the bowl of chemicals as the Storm King appeared from the smoke from the magical phone call spell.
"There you are." The Storm King said. "Report."
“Successful, everything went exactly as you planned.” She reported.
“Good!” The Storm King said very pleased to hear that. “Now do we have all four Pegacornicuseses, or whatever you call them?”
"They are called alicorns, and all but two." She honestly reported without fear in her eyes, before adding. "Which reminds me..."
The Storm King arched a eyebrow at her, to which the lieutenant continued.
"I threw one of the Obsidian Orb at the Princess of Love and the orb hit her directly, but somehow she didn't get petrified like the other two princesses." She said.
Storm King stared at her for a minute, before he said. "Ok, I will admit that I did not see that coming. We may have to improve the Obsidian Orb to prevent that from happening."
Tempest nodded her head before she was interrupted.
"But, you are going to get them right?!” The Storm King asked with brewing fury.
“Of course!” Tempest calmly replied before continuing. "Give me three days! I'll have everything ready for your arrival. And by then, you will all have what you came for once I have captured the remaining princesses.”
“All right then.” The Storm King nodded his head in agreement. “Just remember, Tempest. Only I have the power to make you whole. Make this staff work, and you'll get your reward. Fail me, and your horn won't be the only thing that's broken.” He venomously warned the unicorn.
“It won't be a problem.” Tempest replied unfazed to the threat.
“Great!” The Storm King replied suddenly upbeat as the spell started to wear off. “I'm ready to power up, crash and bash, and be the biggest, baddest bugaloooooo...”
As the spell wore off, Storm King's lieutenant saw Grubber standing in front of her.
“Do you have the princesses?” Tempest asked him.
"Yeah. About that... both the princesses might have... got away... " Grubber hesitantly answered as he fidgeted his fingers nervously.
The lieutenant stared at him before zapping him with her magic who screamed in pain.
“We need all four for the staff to work.” Tempest stressed the importance of having all four princesses here, before raising her voice.
"Those two princesses are not gonna keep me from getting my horn back! Prepare my ship!!!" Tempest threatened Grubber, to which he immediately obeyed with a salute before running off in fright.
After the hedgehog left the throne room, the Storm King's lieutenant stared at the double doors for a while before turning around and walked out to the balcony.
"You can run, princesses." Tempest started before raising her voice again. "But you can't hide forever! I will find you!" She finished with a determined face, looking out at a distance.
After two days of walking, running and some setbacks, the seven ponies and a dragon have finally reached their destination and met the Queen of the Hippogriffs, Queen Novo. The only problem was that Queen Novo had just told them that the Pearl of Transformation was not going anywhere.
Twilight could not believe her eyes. After that entire trip and her friends not taking the mission seriously except for Fluttershy and Spike, it was going to end in a failure? As Princess Skystar, Queen Novo's daughter, told them that they could stay there, she started to wondering what were they going to do now since she and her sister-in-law were the only princesses not turned to stone.
As the Princess of Friendship thought for solutions, some coughing interrupted her thinking and she, Fluttershy and Spike all turned to see Cadance coughing. Seeing that, Twilight's worry for Equestria was replaced with her worry for her sister-in-law.
During the two days journey, Cadance's coughing had started off small before gradually becoming serious. Fluttershy had noticed it first and checked her over and over again, but couldn't figured out what was making her sick. Spike also noticed and asked if she was okay, to which the Princess of Love nodded her head and told him she was okay.
After coughing, Cadance looked up to see Twilight, the shy mare and the dragon looking at her in concern. Seeing that, she smiled and replied. "Guys, I'm alright. How about this, I will try talking to Queen Novo. Maybe I can change her mind."
While three of them don't looked convinced about the Princess of Love being okay, they knew that they had no choice as the Queen of the Hippogriffs refused to give the Pearl.
Twilight sighed and said. "Alright, Cadance. Just be okay."
She nodded at the Princess of Friendship before swimming toward Queen Novo.
"Queen Novo..." Cadance started before she got interrupted.
"I already told you..." Queen Novo whirled around before she continued. "That Pearl is going no-hey, are you alright?" Novo stopped her rant and asked as she looked at the Princess of Love in concern.
Cadance raised an eyebrow in confusion before her eyes fell on the reflection of the air bubble she was using to breathe underwater. Her nose was bleeding. She could feel the wetness on her lips. She heard gasps and turned her head.
Twilight's friends and Princess Skystar looked at Cadance in shock. Her sister-in-law and Spike stared at her with concern while Fluttershy had both of her forelegs on her mouth.
After hovering in the water for a while, Cadance felt her throat squeezing and immediately swam toward the beach.
The rest looked at each other before swimming after her.
The Princess of Love jumped out of the water and landed on the sand, with the rest behind her.
Twilight, wearing a worried and concerned face, walked toward her sister-in-law as Cadance started to cough out blood and asked, "Cadance! Are you really alright?!" The Princess of Love turned her head at the question. Twilight, her friends and the two Hippogriffs all gasped in shock and horror at the sight before them.
Cadance's nose was bleeding, her mouth was now covered in blood and her eyes were red and swollen.
Twilight whimpered while reaching out her hoof, "C... C... Cadance...?"
"Twilight... I... don't... feel... so... good..." Was all she said before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and collapsed to the ground, her crown falling off her head.
"Cadance!!!" Twilight shouted out in panic.
The Princess of Friendship, with teary eyes, rushed forward and cradled her sister-in-law in her forelegs. Fluttershy also rushed forward and quickly checked Cadance's pulse while Spike joined Twilight's side, their face being worried.
"Her pulse is low. I think the orb did something to her." Fluttershy said as Cadance's breathing became erratic.
The rest all stared in shock before Applejack stepped forward and asked. "What's wrong with her, Twi?"
Her question was answered with an angry glare from Twilight who shouted at Applejack. "Oh, so now you noticed it?! Where was that when Cadance's condition started to get worse?!"
The Mane 5 excluding Fluttershy could not stopped themselves from reflexively cringing from the shouting of the Princess of Friendship as they started to feel guilty for not realising Cadance's health.
Sound of footsteps and hoofsteps caught their attention and the group, including the two hippogriffs, all turned to see two Storm King's soldiers with a airship in the sky behind them and Tempest who was looking at Cadance in shock and confusion.
"What the hay is wrong with her?" Tempest finally asked.
"How the hay am I supposed to know?! You're the one who threw the orb at my sister-in-law and made her like this!" Twilight snarled at her.
Tempest flinched back at the Princess of Friendship's accusation and immediately defend herself. "What are you talking about?! The Obsidian Orb was meant to petrify, not do whatever it's doing to her!"
Before Twilight could opened her mouth, a loud "thud" was heard from behind the Storm King's soldiers, getting every creatures' attention. They all gasped at the sight in shock and horror.
It was one of the Storm King's soldier, but it had multiple light blue crystal shards stabbed onto it's back, the rest of it's body being riddled with medium injuries.
The lieutenant rushed toward the fallen soldier and immediately asked. "Who did this?! Who did this to you?!"
The injured soldier weakly point it's finger toward the airship above, prompting Tempest and the rest to look up.
On the airship, there were three ponies standing on the deck which was littered with Storm King's soldiers corpses, their eyes giving off pure icy blue magical vapour trail from the corner of their eyes and out into the open air, looking at the Storm King's lieutenant. One was a pegasus stallion, wearing what appeared to an ancient royal armor and helmet. The other two were mares. One of them, a unicorn, was wearing a cloak with the hood on while the other one, a earth pony, was wearing a helmet that had small metal wings on it's sides and a weather armor tied by two belts and a metal medallion and was holding a spear.
The three ponies jumped off the airship and landed on the ground safely, with the help of the unicorn mare's magic, in front of Tempest and the two soldiers, just behind the shadow of the mountain.
Tempest flinched back in surprised by their action, but quickly regained her compose.
"Who are you three?!" Tempest demanded. They remained silent at the lieutenant's question before assuming a fighting stance.
"Not talking? Fine then! Let us get right down to business! Soldiers! With me!” She charged up her broken horn, charging forward, and unleashed her unstable magic to the three while two soldiers readied their spears and charged forward.
The three ponies split up, with the unicorn conjuring a bunch of light bluish crystal shards for the unstable magic to hit.
The pegasus flew up before flying down and headbutted his head into the first storm soldier's stomach. The storm soldier flew and landed on the ground, dropping it's weapon before recovering. To it's shock and confusion, light bluish crystals started to form around the pegasus's knuckles and wrists before they stopped, giving the winged pony a pair of crystal armored forelegs. Before the storm soldier could do anything, the stallion rushed forward and punched it's face with one of his armored forelegs, causing saliva and blood to fly out of it's mouth. The pegasus stallion continued to punch it's face multiple times before finishing up with an uppercut, causing the storm soldier to fly and crash into a large boulder, knocking the solider out of commission.
Meanwhile, the earth pony vaulted over the second storm soldier using her spear, before landing on her hooves and bucking it with both of her hindlegs. The soldier flew and crashed into tree, but quickly regained it's compose before turning around. The soldier swung it's spear toward her, to which the earth pony blocked it's attack with her spear. It attempted to strike at her again, but the pony quickly rushed forward and headbutted her head into the soldier's stomach, causing it to lose it's balance and fell on it's back. Before the soldier could get back up, the earth pony jumped on it's stomach and raised her spear with both of her forelegs, it's tip glittering with crystal, before bringing it down to the soldier's chest. The spear penetrated through the soldier's armor and into the heart, ending the second storm soldier's life.
Simultaneously, when the unstable magic hit and destroyed the crystal, Tempest frozen in shock when the unicorn was seen levitating a few crystal shards via her magic, before shooting them straight toward the lieutenant. Tempest quickly rolled over to her left, before firing another magic at the unicorn. The unicorn sidestepped, causing the magic to hit a nearby tree before following up a beam of light blue magic. Tempest could only widened her eyes before she was hit, flying a few meters before landing on the sandy ground. The lieutenant rolled and quickly got up to her hooves, only to get hit by a crystal shard straight into her left foreleg from the cloaked unicorn.
Tempest hissed in pain before an another pain in her left hindleg was shot through her flank, falling to the ground. She gasped before crying out in agony and looked down to find a spear embedded in her flank, but was unable to remove it as the pegasus suddenly landed in front of her.
He immediately shoved himself off the ground by his front hooves, wings flapping firmly as he wrapped his hindlegs wrapped around her throat. She gargled, grabbing at his limbs, before the pegasus stallion's wings twisted and flapped again, reversing his momentum and dragging the mare head-over-heels in a front roll that sent her crashing toward the mountain wall, her limbs spread apart. As Tempest tried to get back to her hooves, she felt her forelegs and her horn hardening into the rock. She took a look and saw that both of her forelegs and horn had been hardened by light bluish crystals, trapping her. Before the lieutenant could think about freeing herself, a bright blue light got her attention and turned to see the three ponies standing in front of her. Seeing that how the three ponies had just easily defeated her and her group of soldiers, she let her body sagged and looked down in defeat.
Seeing the Storm King's lieutenant giving up, the three ponies turned to see the group of six ponies, a dragon and two hippogriffs staring at them, their mouth opened in pure shock. The group continued to stare at the three ponies before Spike broke the silence.
"Who are you guys?" Spike started to ask, "And why did you help us? And also, how did you do all that?!" He finished with a raised voice.
The three ponies glanced at each other, before the cloaked unicorn giggled.
"Let's just say we have a lot of practice." She said with before she and her group walked out of the shadow while pulling back her hood.
The Mane 6 and Spike all gasped.
The pegasus stallion had a crystal dark blue coat covering his body, with his mane and tail being blue with three various shades, his eyes being yellow, wings being white with trailing edges of the feathers being pale blue and a cutie mark of a tornado. The earth pony had a crystal brownish coat covering her body, with her mane and tail being light brown, her eyes being amber and a cutie mark of a sword. The unicorn had a crystal white coat covering her body, with her mane and tail being mussy green with two various shades, her horn being a shiny light blue shaded from the tip to cyan and her eyes being light purple.
While the two hippogriffs had no idea who they were, the rest knew the two ponies.
"CLOVER THE CLEVER?! COMMANDER HURRICANE?!" They all yelled in shock and confusion.
"Yep. That's right." Commander Hurricane strolled forward, his expression neutral. "Leader of the Pegasus Weather Brigade, if they still existed in Equestria." He added.
Clover giggled but was interrupted by Cadance's weak coughing, causing everyone to divert their attention to the Princess of Love.
Twilight cradled her sister-in-law before the earth pony rushed over and put a hoof to Cadance's forehead.
"She's burning up with a fever." The earth pony said as Twilight gave her an odd look.
"And you are...?" Twilight asked while stroking her sister-in-law's mane.
The earth pony smiled. "Dew Nourish, combat medic for the Mighty Helm."
Before more questions were answered, a loud blaring horn was sound, prompting everyone to look for its source. Tempest looked up from the ground. "You three may have defeated me..." She suddenly said, causing everyone to look at her, before she continued. "But now the Storm King has found you! It wouldn't be long before you were brought to your knees."
As soon as the lieutenant finished her sentence, three Storm King's airships appeared from the cloud. Tempest smirked. But the smirk on her face quickly fell when the airships flew over their head without stopping, flying across the open ocean.
As they faded from the sight, the Storm King's lieutenant could only stare at disbelief.
"W... Wh... What...?" She muttered.
Clover continued to stare at the sky where the airship disappeared before turning around to look at the cloud they appeared and said with smile. "Well, looks like the Storm Kingdom are falling back to their kingdom."
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Canterlot, Forty-five minutes ago
Songbird Serenade was currently in one of the cages. Feeling sad and depressed, she looked down and started to sing.
"I am here and I see your pain
Through the storms, through the clouds, the rain
I'm telling you, you can not es-"
A loud explosion interrupted her singing, causing her to look back up. She gasped.
Several crystal coated earth ponies, unicorns, Kirins and yaks were on the ground attacking several Storm King's soldiers while releasing the prisoners. In the sky, several crystal coated pegasuses, bat ponies, changelings, griffons and hippogriffs were attacking from above using crossbow, magic, muskets and bows and arrows while destroying the invasion force's airships.
Songbird had her attention at the battle before a loud "thud" made her turn her head.
In front of her cage was a female Kirin, her coat were crystal reddish brown covered by crystal armor; her mane, fur and tail were light brown; her cloven hooves, back, and forehead were dark brown and her large horn that curved backward was shiny light blue shaded from the tip to cyan. Behind her was an unmoving Storm Soldier, blood pooling around it.
The Kirin quickly used her magic to destroy the lock on the cage before opening the door, allowing the popstar singer to step out.
"Hey." The Kirin called out to Songbird before asking. "Are you okay?"
The popstar nodded her head to which the Kirin smiled and said. "Good. Go with the other ponies." She pointed at the exit where several prisoners were now escaping while other crystal coated creatures defended them for the soldiers. "It's safer for you."
Songbird nodded her head and started to go toward the exit before stopping. She quickly turned and asked. "What's your name?"
The Kirin blinked her eyes at the popstar's sudden question before replying with smile. "Mallow Sear. My name is Mallow Sear."
After answering Songbird's answer, the Kirin, Mallow Sear, turned around, transforming into Nirik before charging forward toward the battle.
The popstar singer quickly flew toward the exit.
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Captain Crimson Chaser, a unicorn Royal Guard, was being chained up and muzzled, being forced to move by the Storm King's soldier.
As they were moving through the hallway toward the prison cells, a loud crash was heard before the storm soldier that was holding the unicorn flew to the wall.
The captain, confused, turned his head to see his saviour hovering above him.
His saviour was a male changeling, it's body was crystal light green chitin covered by crystal armor, it's insect-like wing was crystal light blue and it's curved horn was shiny light blue shaded from the tip to cyan.
The changeling quickly glued the soldier to the wall with the Changeling resin, before turning to face him.
The changeling used his magic to break the muzzle and chains around Crimson, allowing him to breathe.
"Are you hurt?" The insect-like pony asked, to which Crimson shook his head.
"My name is Furx." The changeling introduced himself, levitating a spear toward the captain before he asked again. "Can you fight?"
The captain stared at the spear before enveloping it and said. "Yes, I can still fight."
Furx genuinely smiled at the lieutenant before speaking. "Good. Because we got prisoners to liberate." To which Crimson smiled back.
Immediately, both Furx and Crimson Chaser started to run toward the prison cells, to free the rest of the Royal Guards.
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Canterlot was once again thrown into chaos. The crystal creatures, along with the help of the Royal Guard that were imprisoned by the Storm King, were overwhelming the storm soldiers.
Meanwhile, Storm King was starting to get furious as his plan to power up his staff was crashing down while looking at the battleground below on the balcony. The throne door was suddenly burst open, revealing a panic Grubber, making the king turned his head around.
"Boss, we've got big troubles!" He started with panickingly voice. "A herd of yaks just stormed inside the castle and there are now several some sort of crystal creatures attacking and overwhelming our troops!"
Just as Storm King started to speak, a loud roar interrupted him, prompting his head back to the battleground. His eyes was widened in fear at the direction of the roar.
In the sky, a massive crystal red scaled wyvern with light blue crystal spike running along it's spine, was descending down toward Canterlot while a large crystal yellow scaled dragon was flying around the castle, unleashing blue flames on the airships and the storm soldiers.
As Storm King stared in horror and fear, the throne door was suddenly burst from the hinges and shattered into million pieces.
The King and Grubber turned to see several crystal ponies and crystal creatures containing griffons, yaks, hippogriffs, bat ponies, changelings, and kirins. They were all staring angrily at the Storm King and Grubber.
"FALL BACK!!!" Storm King shouted before jumping out of the balcony with the small hedgehog following along, leaving the two petrified princess behind, and landed onto one of the airships.
The pilot, hearing what Storm King had ordered, quickly piloted the airship out of the city and into the sky.
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Present time
The group all stared at Clover with confusion, but before they could ask, a bright blue light got their attention.
Where the light was now stood a unicorn mare being at the same size as Princess Celestia, with a very pale vermillion coat, her mane being in gradient of brilliant raspberry to moderate cobalt blue, her horn being a shiny light blue shaded from the tip to cyan, a cutie mark of deep blue snowflake between blue laces on both flanks and wearing blue garb around her body and a blue crown on her head.
Clover, Hurricane, and Dew immediately bowed down while the others just stared at the new arrival.
"Princess Amore!?" Twilight recognised the mare.
At the call of that name, the unicorn mare turned and saw Twilight cradling Princess Cadance.
Princess Amore, concern on her face, started walking toward them, her attention toward Cadance.
However, before she could get any closer, four mares immediately stand between her and the sister-in-laws. The four mares were Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity.
"Hah, nice try, rogue changeling!" the rainbow-mane mare yelled at Princess Amore at the sheer horror of Twilight, Spike and Fluttershy as Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash took a fighting stance. "You can forget about hurting Cadance, because we will-"
Whatever the cyan pegasus was going to say, the four mares were suddenly enveloped in light blue magic before they were pulled toward Princess Amore's furious face.
"You dare suggest that I would hurt Cadenza?!" Amore snarled with her eyes giving off pure icy blue magical vapour trail from the corner of her eyes. "My own daughter?!"
Everyone except Clover, Hurricane, and Dew all dropped their jaw at what Amore had just said.
The unicorn princess tossed the four mares aside.
The pure icy blue magical vapour trail disappeared and her face was quickly replaced with concern when she noticed Cadance was breathing weakly, trotting toward the two sister-in-laws before stopping in front of them.
Amore's concern face deepened when Cadance started coughing out blood before being replaced with determination. Her horn immediately flared up with magic, surrounding the Princess of Love.
Almost immediately, Twilight and her friends stared at Cadance being lifted up as dark magical dust was pulled out of her before it was destroyed by Amore. Twilight's sister-in-law slowly lowered to the ground
The Princess of Love gasped and her eyes opened half-lidded before they slowly closed as light blue aura glowed and shimmered around her before dying away, revealing her disguised horn and wings.
Twilight and the others except the three crystal ponies all stared in sheer shock as Amore levitated her daughter onto her back before looking at the Princess of Friendship.
"Clover and her friends will explain everything to you." The unicorn princess said while gesturing the three crystal ponies. "Right now, I need to take care of my daughter."
Amore's horn glowed a bright light blue; and before anypony could stop her, she teleported both herself and Cadance away.
Twilight and her friends all stood in silence for what seemed liked hours, but in fact was just several seconds.
Princess Cadance - Princess of Love - Ruler of the Crystal Empire - Wife of Shining Armor - Adoptive Niece of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna - Sister-in-law of Twilight - was a daughter of Princess Amore, who was alive.
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The fighting continued for another few minutes before rest of the storm soldiers were forced to surrender. But after the Storm King's soldiers surrendered, the crystal ponies and crystal creatures quickly disappeared via teleportation with the help of the crystal unicorn, crystal Kirins, and crystal changelings. The ones who stayed in Canterlot were a yak, a bat pony, a hippogriff, a griffion, Mallow Sear and Furx.
Inside the small crystal city, a large group of crystal ponies and crystal creatures gathered around Princess Amore. The unicorn princess looked at the still sleeping form slumped on her back, and smiled.
Cadance's dazed eyes were met with distorted images, crystal-like figures staring at her, shades moving around behind them.
As quickly as her consciousness returned, it left her.
...
The next time Cadance managed to get some consciousness, she found herself in a well-lit, smoothly light blue wall hallway that arched towards the ceiling with crystal-like materials.
Cadance tried to make sense of her situation, to remember how she came to be here, but a pounding head kept her from making any sense of her thoughts. As if something or somepony sensed her discomfort, an unknown and unclear soothing voice started to comfort, and it slowly helped her drift back into a peaceful sleep.
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Cadance woke up with a start. She laid motionless for a few minutes as her mind started to catch up the memories of previous events. The beach.
Twilight.
Her losing consciousness.
And what happened just after she regained consciousness before it left her again.
"Clover and her friends will explain everything to you. Right now, I need to take my daughter back to heal her." The tall unicorn mare said.
Cadance thought about what that unicorn said.
Daughter...
It couldn’t be true, could it?
Before she could think more about any more on it, Cadance felt her magic disguise begin to strip away.
‘No… Twilight can’t find out like this…’
The last thing Cadance felt before she slipped back to darkness was the magic aura enveloping her and lifting her up before she drifted back to unconsciousness.
The memories after that event were all blur to her, but it was the final memory that clicked in her mind, causing her to start panicking.
"Did Twilight see me? What I looked like?" The Princess of Love asked herself in an alarmed tone.
Before she could panicked even more, she sat up and took several deep breaths, just like she did before entering the throne room back in Canterlot Castle and when she taught Twilight several years ago.
"All right, Cady, one problem at a time, first one being, where am I?"
Cadance surveyed the object she was sitting in, it was a large comfortable king-sized bed decorated with bluish crystal silk, just like her bed back at the Crystal Empire. The bed was located at the end of a large room, centred in the middle facing the double doors. On the right side of the bed was a large bookshelf filled to the brim with books while on the left side was a desk with an inkwell, some scrolls and a lantern sitting on top of it. At the centre of the room sat a round table along with four chaise longue with cushions. The floor was a polished dark sky crystal floor, while the walls were smoothly light blue. A window was left opened, showering the room with sunlight. But what caught the Princess of Love's attention was what sat near the wardrobe at the far right side of the room...
"My necklace!" Cadance nearly shouted.
A mannequin with golden regalia sat near the left side of the wardrobe. She jumped out of the bed to inspect her regalia herself. Looking closely at her golden regalia, she found a pearl heart shaped in the middle of her necklace embedded in it. Sighing in relief, she quickly donned on her necklace as it was a gift from her husband from their last anniversary, before donning the rest on her. As she slipped her last golden slippers on, she noticed the mirror at the front of the wardrobe and saw her reflection.
She instantly froze and stared at the mirror.
Both her horn and wings were now in different colors.
Cadance started to hyperventilate as her fear were confirmed, her magic disguise had been ripped away in front of her sister-in-law.
Before she could hyperventilate even more, a creak from the double door interrupted her and caused her to whirl her head toward the doors to see a crystal pony.
The crystal pony was a pegasus mare carrying saddlebags with a red medical cross emblazed on them, her coat being crystal light grayish magenta, her mane and her tail being light bluish white, her eyes being dark cerise, her cutie mark bearing a red cross with wings and lastly her wings being the same colors as Cadance's wings.
Both mares froze as their eyes met.
"Your... your highness, I apologised for walking in but..."
Cadance kept staring at her, making the pegasus sweat.
Suddenly, the pegasus found herself being close to Cadance, almost muzzle to muzzle.
"Your wings are just like mine! Where am I? Who are you? Why are my horn and wings in different colors? Are there others like you? What do you know..."
The Princess of Love stopped herself from asking questions as she saw the pegasus shrank down, left eye twitching.
"Oh... sorry about that." Cadance blushed.
"It's... it's quite alright, your highness..." The pegasus sighed.
Cadance smiled sheepishly while rubbing her back of her head with her hoof.
"Well... anyway, my name is Princess Cadance."
"I am very well aware of your name, your highness. My name is Remedy Elixir, at your service!" Remedy Elixir said as she bowed down in front of Cadance.
"Wait, you know my name?" The Princess of Love asked with confusion on her face.
Remedy looked up before replying. "Why of course, your highness. Your mother told us everything about you when you were born."
"M.. mother?" Cadance asked while her thought went back to the beach.
"Right now, I need to take care of my daughter."
"Who's... my mother?"
"Why, it's Princess Amore."
Cadance froze at that name. "W... wh... what..."
Another figure emerged through the already open double door. "I will take it from here, Miss Elixir."
Princess Amore looked Cadance, a warm motherly smile worn on her face.
"Leave us." Amore ordered, prompting the pegasus to do a quick bow before leaving the room and closing the double doors.
"H... h... how are you alive?" Cadance stammered, staring at the unicorn princess before she continued. "From what I heard from my two aunties, King Sombra petrified you and shattered you into many pieces, scattering your pieces across the Equestria before taking over the Crystal Empire."
Amore's face darkened at the name of the tyrant unicorn, but was immediately replaced with a sad smile.
"When the Crystal Empire returned after a thousand years, remnants of the Crystal Imperial quickly dispatched several groups of guards to find my pieces to rebuild and heal me, along with the help of some other creatures who were lost in the Frozen North before and after the empire return. Once there were enough pieces of me rebuilt, I was able to tell them where some of my remaining pieces are for them to find." Amore answered.
Cadance stared at her for a while before nodding.
"I... I see... wait a minute..." Cadance thought what the pegasus said before asking. "What did Remedy Elixir mean when she said that you are my mother?"
Amore gave a sad sigh before casting a sound proofing spell around the room.
Cadance arched an eyebrow at that display, but remained silent before Amore spoke.
"I assumed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna told you the story of the Crystal Empire from the history book, but I will tell the story again."
Amore began. "A thousand and fifteen years ago, King Sombra arrived and wanted to conquer the Crystal Empire. He was able to take over the empire despite my efforts. Then, both the princesses from Canterlot came and managed to banish him to the ice of the artic north, but he was able to put a curse on the empire before he was imprisoned which caused it to vanish for a thousand years."
Amore stopped to see Cadance nodding her head.
"But... " The unicorn princess continued. "What the history book didn't say is that a month before King Sombra's arrival, I gave birth to an alicorn filly..." She paused before speaking again. "That alicorn filly... was you, Cadanza."
Cadance's eyes widened, her heart seemingly stopped, her body trembling.
"Cadenza?" Amore asked with concern in both her voice and face after a few minutes of Cadance not saying anything.
"No..." Cadance started.
"NO...!"
"NO, IT'S NOT TRUE!!!"
Amore flinched back at the Princess of Love's sudden burst.
"You..." Cadance spoke with distressed tone as tears started to stream down her face. "You can't be my mother..."
Amore's heart broke when she saw Cadance cried and she too started shedding tears from her eyes.
Cadance was now struggling with internal conflict.
She didn't want to believe, but at the same time, she want. For one thousand and fifteen years, she had known from her aunties that Princess Amore was just a distant relative, only to told by the said mare in front of her that she was actually her mother rather than her great grandmother.
"I... I don't... I don't believe..." Cadance mumbled, looking away from Amore as she started to stroke one of her wings while tears continued to flow down her cheeks. "No... it can't be true..."
A shadow loomed over her, and she looked up to see that Amore had moved up to sit in front of her.
"Oh, Cadenza..." Amore spoke in an anguished voice. "I'm so sorry if that was too much of a shock to you, but it is the truth. I am your real mother."
Cadance shook her head as she tried to process the information.
She wanted to deny Amore's words, but she sensed no deception within the unicorn princess's voice.
Though her head was telling her not to accept it, her heart was leaping in her chest at that revelation.
After a few minutes of sobbing and weeping, Cadance finally spoke through an anguished tone.
"If... if you're really my mother..." Cadance whimpered. "Then why did you abandoned me? Leave me at the garden?"
"Because I didn't have a choice!" Amore cried, her voice echoing inside the sound-proof room.
Cadance looked at her in shock, her eyes being red from all the crying. "W-what?"
Amore regained control of her emotions before she spoke again. "Be... because I didn't have a choice. I had to give you up, otherwise Sombra will make you his heir."
"His... his heir?" Cadance asked while sniffing.
"Yes, his heir." Amore's voice sounded pained before she continued, her eyes closing. "A month after your birth, King Sombra gathered his umbrum army and started to march toward the Crystal Empire. The Crystal Imperial tried to stop the attack, but his army was too strong and they were able to breach one of the empire's defences. Minutes before he arrived to the throne room, I was able to channel some of my magic to you to send you away from that tyrant. Right before I sent you away, I said..."
She opened her teary eyes and said. "I will always remember you, my little Cady; I always will."
As soon as Amore finished her sentence, Cadance flinched back, her eyes widened.
"I will always remember you, my little Cady; I always will."
She remembered those words when she was just a filly, but couldn't figured out who had said that.
Until now.
"M... m... mom?" Cadance spoke in a trembling voice as tears continued to stream down her face.
Amore didn't respond, only nuzzling the top of her daughter's head and hugging her, letting more tears flow down her cheek. A few seconds later, Cadance returned the hug to her mother, sobbing into her mother's shoulder.
How long they cried, they lost count after 10 minutes.
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The crying had slowly faded away, but the two ponies still did not let go of each other. Neither of them spoke up, but no more words were needed to express what they were thinking. By then, it was a couple of hours into the day.
"Don't you have royal duties you need to perform?" Cadance broke the silence.
Amore shook her head. "No. My subjects are okay in doing things by themselves, and they are giving me all the time for me to see and talk to you."
They stayed silent again before Cadance spoke again.
"So, where am I?"
The unicorn princess reluctantly let go of her daughter and looked at her.
"We are currently in one of the Crystal Empire's outpost cities."
"Crystal Empire's outpost city?" Cadance asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes." Amore answered. "There are six outpost cities surrounding the Crystal Empire from a distance."
The unicorn princess stood up and gestured her daughter to follow her before moving toward the opened window. Cadance followed her and looked out the window. Her eyes widened at the sight she saw.
From the window, the Princess of Love could see various buildings similar to the ones in the Crystal Empire and individuals of various races walking or doing their business. Among the crystal ponies, there were yaks, griffons, hippogriffs, bat ponies, changelings, even kirins. Some of the races were wearing crystal armors and holding spears, swords, muskets or crossbows, symbolising them as part of the Crystal Imperial. Around the outpost city were crystal walls and a cyan blue shield blocking the blizzard and snow from coming in.
"What's powering the shield surrounding this outpost?" Cadance asked, turning her head toward her mother.
"The Crystal Heart." Amore answered before continuing when she noticed her daughter's eyes being widened. "There are seven Crystal Hearts in the Frozen North. While the one in the Crystal Empire is the powerful relic that can protect the empire from evil, the other six relics can only protect the outposts from blizzards."
Cadance processed the information Amore gave through her head as she stared at her mother in shock. To think in the Frozen North, there were actually six more Crystal Hearts in each of the outpost cities that she didn't know existed.
"That's... a lot to take in." The Princess of Love finally said while staring down at the floor.
"I know." The unicorn princess nodded her head.
A moment of silence hung between them before it was broken by Cadance.
"So... what happens now?" She asked, looking at her mother from the floor.
Amore gave her daughter a warm motherly smile before she answered.
"Walk with me."
"Um... Ok? Where are we going?"
"I'm going give you a tour of the city we are in."
Cadance looked up into the unicorn princess's eyes, before she answered.
"All right..."
Both princesses left the bedroom behind and began to walk down the hallway, several crystal ponies and crystal creatures bowed as they passed by.
There was silence between the two a little while, before Cadance broke it.
"You said that you were able to tell them where your remaining pieces were for your subjects to find once there were enough of your pieces rebuilt. How do you talk to them when your body isn't fully rebuilt?" She asked.
"Well..." Amore started. "When Sombra shattered me, my soul fused with all the pieces that scattered around the world. When enough of my pieces were rebuilt, I was able to make up my astral form for me to talk and used my magic to find some of my remaining pieces."
"I... I see..." Cadance trailed off as she took the information her mother had gave.
"Hey..." Amore stopped and placed her hoof on her daughter's shoulder. "If you want, you could stay in the bedroom for a while to process all this information."
The Princess of Love stood there and looked down, debating what to do. After a while, she had decided.
Cadance looked back up and said. "Well, I still have a bunch of questions." She gave her mother a smile. "Plus, you have been trapped and alone for so long. Not to mention, I had always wanted to know more about you before... you know."
Amore gave her daughter a tearful smile before pulling Cadance into an embrace.
"Ok..." She croaked out.
‘Maybe everything will work out after all.’ Amore mused.
Crystal Empire, One thousand and fifteen years ago
“Citizens! May I present the newest member of the Crystal Empire!”
The entirety of the Crystal Empire was in a state of celebration. Families had gathered in the square around the Crystal Palace, cheering as everypony watched the newest member in awe from the ground.
While the celebrations and parties got underway, one individual lay quietly in the bundle, being cradled. The one cradling the small form was Princess Amore, who was staring lovingly at the foal in her forelegs after showing everypony from the balcony. The crystal guards had silently excused themselves to give the unicorn princess personal time with her new daughter.
A small gurgle came from the pink alicorn filly as she looked upon her mother for the first time, their eyes meeting. Amore saw sparkling light purple eyes meet her brilliant amber, and two small tears slowly flow down her cheeks, as a warm smile stretched across her face.
When her daughter was born, the unicorn princess was very surprised when the filly was an alicorn. While some unicorn and pegasus couples would usually give birth an unicorn or pegasus foal, there was a very rare chance that the baby could be born as an alicorn.
Still, just because her daughter was born as an alicorn doesn't mean she should judge her, she was and still always be her daughter.
"Hello, my little one." Amore addressed her daughter with a small chuckle. "I have been looking forward to meeting you... Cadanza... and I'm not the only one."
As soon as she finished her sentence, the door to the balcony opened, and a rather tall pegasus stallion wearing a crystal armor with his helmet being held by one of his wings walked in - Artic Spirit. He has a light whitish blue coat, with a blonde mane and tail, his eyes being light purple and a cutie mark of three crystal shards cladded in armor. Artic had been known as the new captain of the Crystal Imperial guards when Amore became the ruler of the Crystal Empire. Now, he was more known as the husband of Princess Amore and the father of the empire's newest member. Amore had thought him as a friend, but in the end he had captured her heart.
"Ah, Artic, come here." Amore softly called out her husband.
Artic approached his wife at a slow pace, his eyes fixed on the newborn filly in her hooves. "She looks beautiful honey, just like you." He said.
Amore giggled. "Well, she has your eyes."
"The best in the world!" Artic chuckled before his face became worried. "I just hope we get to see our baby grow into the wonderful mare I know she will be."
Noticing his worried face, her mood dropped slightly as she replied. "Artic... I know you're worried about King Sombra, but we will find him and stop him... I promise."
"And what if we can't find him? Some of the guards and civilians are getting very uneased as we kept failing to find him, not to mention some of the patrols had reports of some shadow type creatures staring at them from a distance. If we don't stop him... promise me we aren't going to lose her!" Artic couldn't stop himself from almost shouting as he looked beggingly at his wife. "Promise me that no matter what happens, she will grow up safe and live in a peaceful life."
Smiling, Amore placed a hoof to her husband's chin and said. "I promise I will never let anything happen to our little Cady."
Artic gave his wife a sad smile before apologising. "Sorry, I really shouldn't have..."
He didn't get his finish his sentence as Amore pulled him into a lovingly kiss via her magic. Cadance watched the display in pure curiosity, before she drifted back to slumber in the comfort of her parent's presence.
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Present day
Amore woke up from her slumber with a start, looking from side to side frantically trying to find out where she was before her eyes fell on sleeping form of Cadance next to her. She had realised that she had been dreaming. Dreaming of peaceful times before King Sombra... before her husband's death.
Looking to her right, Amore saw a picture of herself and her family smiling sat on the bedside table. Sighing, she grabbed the frame with her light blue magic and looked at the picture. Sooner or later, she would have to tell Cadance about her father, about Artic Spirit.
After staring at the picture for a while, she gently placed it back down on the bedside table. Her body tensed with overwhelming emotion as her thoughts drifted to her deceased husband, yet she found comfort in the fact her daughter was back with her.
Turning her head, she looked at her daughter sleeping peacefully next to her before smiling.
Now was not the time to dwell on the past.
Not when the future began to look so bright, and she still had a promise to keep.
A somber mood covered the capital of Canterlot. An increased guard presence along with the Elite Royal Guards patrolled the streets and a tense atmosphere had built up in everypony. A sense of paranoia and fear remained prominent among the population in wake of the recent attack from the Storm King.
Deep within the halls of Canterlot castle, a group including Twilight's parents sat in the royal dining room, contemplating the revelation that has shaken them all to their very cores except for the three crystal ponies.
Princess Amore was alive, and she was Princess Cadance's mother.
"I simply can't believe that Princess Amore was alive, let alone to be Princess Cadance's long lost mother..." Rarity said in shock.
"I can't believe you threatened Princess Amore." Dew said in disbelief as she glared at the fashionista in disapproval.
As Rarity slunk back into her chair guiltily, the others except Hurricane and Dew sat in uncomfortable silence.
Hurricane grew angry and moved closer to the rainbow-mane mare. "Yeah, what is wrong with you?!" He scolded Rainbow Dash, the cyan pegasus flinching back as his eyes started to give off pure icy blue magical vapour trail. "You not only straight up called her a rogue changeling, you also yelled at Princess Amore!"
Rainbow Dash could only lowered her head in shame as she sunk lower into her chair.
"Speaking of princess..." Spike interrupted, causing him and the others to look at the Princess of Friendship.
The said mare was staring out of the window, not even registering the conversation as a war was going on within her mind.
"Princess Twilight..." Clover spoke as Twilight's parents trotted to their daughter. "How are the princesses doing?"
Twilight sighed before replying. "I don't know what's going on with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, they just threw me out of the throne room when I told them everything after I unpetrified them... they told me that they wanted to process everything on their own for a while."
Both her parents and Spike hugged their family member, giving her nuzzles.
Just then, the door to the dining hall opened as a unicorn stallion walked in, getting other's attention.
"What's going on?" Shining Armor asked. "Twilight sent me a letter that told me to come here as soon as possible. I had to ask Sunburst to take over for a while at the Crystal Empire and take care of my daughter."
Suddenly, the Prince of the Crystal Empire found Pinkie Pie right up to him, almost muzzle to muzzle.
"You have no idea!" The party pony screeched. "We were just asking some question for our new friend, Skystar the hippogriff, when suddenly Cadance's nose started bleeding and she went to the surface! When we caught up with her, she was already coughing out blood and all of the sudden, she fainted! While Twilight, Spike and Fluttershy were checking on her, the party-crasher came along with her soldiers! Before that Storm King's lieutenant could do anything to our friends, three ponies jumped down from the airship above and started to beat them up! After all that drama, three airships appeared from the sky and flew over our heads! Not a moment later, a tall unicorn came out of nowhere and it turns up to be Princess Amore! Amore used her magic and some dark black mist came out of Cadance, and soon both her horn and wings were in different colors! Not to mention, Amore claimed that Cadance is her daughter! I mean, how crazy is that?!"
By the time the pink mare finished, the poor stallion has shrunk down, eyes twitching.
"I... she... what?" Shining stuttered before he registered what Pinkie Pie had said. "Wait, her horn and her wings were in different colors? That would mean her magic disguise dropped."
No sooner he said those words, Shining immediately threw his hooves onto his mouth, but it was too late.
The other's face all looked at him with shock, confusion, surprised and anger.
"You knew?" Twilight said, turning away from the window, her face being red with anger. "You knew about Cadance's horn and wings being in different colors, and you didn't tell me or us about this?!"
Shining flinched back as his family started to march toward him as they stared daggers at him, causing him gulp in fear.
"I... I..." The unicorn stallion stuttered before getting interrupted by his mother.
"Why did you not tell us or the princesses about that?!" Twilight Velvet screeched at him.
"Because I was afraid!" Shining blurted out, causing his family to flinch back and looked at him in surprise.
Twilight and her family looked at each other. They could see that his body had started to shake uncontrollable as he slowly sat down. Soon, they all surrounded him and sat down while the others all looked from where they were.
"Care to explain?" Night Light asked with an arched eyebrow.
Shining nodded before explaining. "Three years ago at night, I was checking on our daughter and Cadance came in after she had done her duty. We began reminiscing our past like how far we've come, then Flurry suddenly sneezed and let out a magic beam that caused my wife to fly into the wall. As I went to check on Cadance, I noticed both her horn and her wings were different. Immediately, I assumed that Cadance was Chrysalis. I quickly placed a shield around Flurry and started demanding where my wife was. She tried to tell that she was really my wife and I slowly started to believe her. But when I asked her to say something only my wife will remember, Cadance told me everything she remembered about the wedding incident before she started to cry."
Shining's family stared at him in shock, while the other except the three crystal ponies all grew ashamed looks.
The unicorn stallion sighed before continuing. "As soon as I saw her cry, I realised that Cadance was definitely not Chrysalis as I remembered that making her remember about the wedding incident would made her break down. I immediately went to comfort her as she continued to cry. After a while, Cadance calmed herself down and we talked about it. After a few minutes of debating, she and I decided to keep this to ourselves until we could figure it out why her horn and wings had changed colors. We didn't find any references to why she was like that."
He shook his head before he resumed talking. "We were planning on telling you and the princesses about this after the news of Queen Chrysalis's death one year ago. But Cadance and I feared that if we told you or the princesses about this, you guys would banish her or turn her into a statue without any hesitation."
The others all dropped their jaws at what Shining just said before the unicorn stallion sighed again.
"Mom, Dad, Spike, LSBFF..." Shining started, looking at his family's eyes with teary eyes. "I'm so sorry for not telling you. I was too scared about what you or the princesses would do if I were to tell you or them about this."
The alicorn stared at her brother with a blank face before sighing.
"BBBFF..." Twilight started before looking at him with an understanding smile. "You don't have to apologise. I can understand why you did it. If I were you, I would have done the same."
"Twily's right, Shiney." Twilight Velvet said with a smile, causing him to turn his head to his mother. "Hay, if your father and I were to find out that our daughter was a changeling, we probably kept this a secret as we would be afraid that Princess Celestia would take your sister away or banish her."
Night Light and Spike nodded their head in agreement.
Shining, seeing that his family understood him, hugged them all.
They stayed like that for a while before parting away.
"So..." Shining started. "Pinkie Pie said that Princess Amore is alive. Is that true?"
Twilight and her friends all looked at each other before the alicorn answered.
"Yes, it's true." Twilight said.
He stared at his sister in pure shock and dropped his jaw as he processed the words.
It took several minutes before the unicorn stallion shook his head and asked.
"How is it possible?!" Shining exclaimed. "How is Princess Amore alive?!"
Before Twilight and her friends could answer his question, Clover interrupted them with a cough, causing the others to turn their attention to the crystal unicorn.
"You know..." Clover started. "You don't have to call Princess Amore princess. I mean, since Princess Cadance is her daughter and Prince Shining Armor married her, Princess Amore is technically part of Princess Twilight's family."
There was a long, long moment of silence as the others except Hurricane and Dew all dropped their mouth open and stared at the crystal unicorn in shock. Even Shining sat frozen, as he was hit by the realization that Princess Amore was actually his mother-in-law.
Before they could processed the information, the door to the dining hall opened again and the royal sisters, along with a group of six crystal creatures that stayed behind, walked in which caused everyone to turn their head to see the princesses.
"Your majesty." The three crystal ponies bowed down in front the royal sisters.
"Please..." The lunar princess said. "There's no need to bow."
The three crystal ponies raised up as Twilight walked up to the royal sisters and asked. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, are you ok?"
Both the princesses looked at the Princess of Friendship and sighed.
"Truthfully..." The solar princess started while rubbing her forehead with her hoof. "We are still processing everything you have told us. The fact that Princess Amore is now alive and our adoptive niece turns out to be our friend's daughter are still shocking to us."
Luna draped a comforting wing over her elder sister, giving her a little nuzzle.
"So..." Applejack spoke up. "Who the hay are they?" The orange mare pointed a hoof toward the four crystal creatures, getting everyone's attention toward the group as they have already met with Mallow Sear and Furx.
The yak has a coat of crystal tangelo and crystal brown, his mane being moderate tangelo and his horns being shiny light blue shaded from the tip to cyan.
The bat pony has a coat of crystal grey, her mane and tail being lavender, her cutie mark being three white-petaled flowers, her slitted-pupil eyes being bright yellow and her bat wings being whitish purple.
The griffon has a coat of crystal moderate azure with grayish amber, his head feather being pale cyan to brilliant amber, his eyes being light cyan and his wings being white with trailing edges of the feathers being pale blue.
The hippogriff has a coat of crystal whitish yellow, his mane and tail being grayish green, his eyes being pinkish red and his wings being white with trailing edges of the feathers being pale blue.
"Everyone, I would like you to meet..." Celestia started before pointing the members individually. "Yeth, Midnight Blossom, Ironclaw and Sunwing."
Luna continued off where her sister said. "They now serve Princess Amore as they claimed that she saved them."
"Moon princess's right!" The yak, Yeth, exclaimed. "Yeth own her!"
"Princess Amore and her guards saved my life, and I would forever stand for them." Midnight spoke.
"She would have left me to die when I was out in the Frozen North, but instead she allowed me to stay. I own my life to her." Grimmy said.
"Princess Amore's guards saved me from blizzard after I ran to the Frozen North when Mount Aris was fell to the Storm Kingdom." Sunblade spoke.
While Twilight, her family and her friends all stared at them with surprised, the others were smiling genuinely.
"It would appear our old friend, Amore, is still kind and helpful mare even after many years." The solar princess deduced with smile.
"Despite how scary Princess Amore is." Rainbow Dash muttered while shivering.
"Well, maybe in the first place you shouldn't have threatened her." The lunar princess deadpanned.
The room became silent as Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash bowed their head down in shame.
Twilight coughed herself to get everyone's attention. "We need answers." She said. "And those answers are likely lay with Princess Amore, and maybe Cadance herself."
"That won't be necessary..." Celestia answered. "Yeth and his friends were able to give some answers to us."
The crystal creatures all nodded their head.
Luna said. "My sister, Prince Armor, Twilight, Spike and I will discuss the plan. Meanwhile, the rest of you are welcome to stay at the castle for as long as you wish. But..."
The lunar princess's voice became cold and serious. "Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity are to stay within the castle."
The four mares all took a huge breath in, and wore shocked and disbelief expressions, before the solar princess continued off.
"My sister's right." Celestia said as she walked up next to her sister, her face being stern. "Think of this as your punishment for not taking the mission seriously and for not taking our niece's health seriously. Beside, I don't think our friend will be happy to see you four given how hostile you were toward her."
The four mares hung their head as they began to leave the dining hall along with the three crystal ponies and the crystal creatures. Twilight noticed Clover and Hurricane looking at her friends sadly before looking away, but decided to talk about that later.
Twilight and the others left the room, walking down the castle’s long winding hallways. Her thoughts were on her sister-in-law the whole time, and she worried for Cadance's well-being.
"Prince Armor, I want to gather my captain and my sister's captain. We will continue this in the throne room.” The lunar princess ordered as Shining threw a quick salute before trotting off.
"You alright, Clovy?" Hurricane asked.
"I'm alright, honey." Clover replied with a smile before noticing everyone staring at her and Hurricane except the crystal creatures.
"What did you just call Hurricane?" Celestia asked Clover.
"And why did you call Clover Clovy?" Luna asked Hurricane.
Both the unicorn and pegasus immediately blushed.
"Well..." Hurricane finally spoke after a few minutes of silence. "Because Clover and I are married."
The royal sister, Twilight and Spike all dropped their jaws as they stared at Hurricane before Clover interrupted them.
"We've been dating for twelve years before getting married." Clover said as her face became more red.
A loud "thud" was heard, causing all eyes to be immediately directed toward the Princess of Friendship who had fainted on her back, her hind legs twitching.
Several ponies and creatures stood before the currently empty throne in Canterlot castle; Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and now fully-awake Princess Twilight Sparkle, along with Prince Shining Armor, Solar Guard Captain Crimson Chaser and Lunar Guard Captain Night Shadow. Beside the prince and the two captains were the crystal ponies and the crystal creatures.
Shining Armor took a deep breath, steeling himself for what was to come. With a heavy heart, he began to recount the events of the past three years, his voice laden with remorse and regret. Celestia and Luna listened in silence, their expressions a mixture of surprise, disappointment, and understanding.
"I am disappointed in you," The solar princess finally spoke, her voice gentle but firm, as Shining Armor flinched back under her gaze. "That you would think I would turn my niece into a statue for something beyond her control."
"I'm sorry, your majesty," Shining Armor replied, his voice heavy with shame as he continued. "I know Cadance and I should have trusted you. But we were just so afraid."
Celestia sighed, a gesture weighted with the burden of understanding. "Now that's out of the way," she said, her tone shifting to one of resolve as she continued. "I think it is time to share what Yeth and his friends have told us."
"Indeed," Luna agreed, her eyes reflecting the weight of the revelation about to unfold.
Just before anyone could speak, a scroll with the seal of Crystal Empire emblazoned onto it suddenly manifested from blue fire in front of the solar princess, causing her to grab it via her magic.
Confused, Celestia undid the seal and read the letter out loud.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I hope this letter finds you well. Today, a remarkable event unfolded in the Crystal Empire, one that I feel compelled to share with you.
As I was attending to my duties, a sudden surge of magic emanated from the Crystal Heart, enveloping both myself and the citizens of the empire in a shimmering coat of crystalline essence. The atmosphere was one of jubilation and astonishment as the crystal ponies erupted into cheers, their joy reverberating throughout the kingdom.
Curious about the cause of this extraordinary phenomenon, I sought answers from the crystal guards, who were equally caught up in the revelry. To my amazement, I learned that Princess Amore had finally been reunited with her family—a momentous occasion that filled the hearts of all with boundless happiness. Does the name 'Amore' ring any bells for you?
And thirty minutes ago before it happened, I was going through the library when I stumbled on a page that belonged to the History of the Crystal Empire. According to the page, it stated that there were actually six more Crystal Hearts in each of the outpost cities. It said that the outpost cities were served as a first defence before the barrier while the Crystal Hearts protect the outposts from blizzards. It also stated that they are built from distances away from the empire, so the guards could see threats coming in Frozen North before the empire does. The name of the outpost cities are Outpost Artic, Outpost Frost, Outpost Crystal, Outpost Snow, Outpost Shard and Outpost Blizzard.
Anyway, I shall continue my investigations into this matter and keep you informed of any further developments.
Royal Crystaller, Sunburst
Twilight, Spike and Shining had their mouth opened as they processed the news Sunburst had written on the scroll. The three crystal ponies and the crystal creatures could not stopped themselves from giggling at their reactions.
The two captains and the royal sisters were starting to get concerned as Twilight, Spike and Shining stayed silence after a while before it was broken by the Prince.
"SI-SIX CRYSTAL HEARTS?!" Shining cried.
"IN SIX OUTPOST CITIES?!" Twilight and Spike exclaimed in shock and disbelief.
"Yes." Celestia said as she lowered the scroll down as her ears were pinned to the back of her head to block out sounds.
"Regardless!" Luna interjected, redirecting the conversation. "Now you know that there are currently six outpost cities with six Crystal Hearts somewhere in the Frozen North, which mean Cadance could be in one of them. We just need to find it."
"Your majesty, wait!" Night Shadow suddenly blurted out. "What about Storm King? If both of you leave Canterlot, what to say that he and his army will try to attack again?"
Both the solar princess and the lunar princess inward cursed themselves, they were so focused on Amore and Cadance, they had forgotten about the Storm King's kingdom. Now they had to make sure to look out for any signs of Storm King's kingdom activities.
"That's where we come in." Clover interrupted as she, Hurricane and Dew walked up to the royal sisters, getting everyone's attention.
"We know which outpost cities Princess Cadance is currently staying because me and my friends have lived in the Frozen North for a thousand and fifteen years and we know the way." Dew said.
"But the journey won't be easy as there are hostile frost animals roaming between the Crystal Empire and the outpost cities." Hurricane stated. "So I recommend that you send at least a small team of four to us, that way we can protect them easier and get to the destination faster."
Both Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor stepped forward. "Me and my brother volunteer for this mission. Cadance is one of our family and we will find her."
Spike nodded in agreement. "I'm in too. I can send messages when we reached the destination and even breathe fire for warmth during our journey."
"Meanwhile..." Mallow Sear spoke up. "Furx, Midnight, Yeth, Grimmy, Sunblade and me will stay behind to help your captains out in case of Storm King's kingdom attack again."
Celestia nodded her head. "Which leaves only the fourth member in question."
The group pondered for a few moments before Twilight spoke. "How about Flash Sentry? He is one of high-ranking ponies in the Crystal Empire Royal Guard. He has experiences in aerial attacks and recons. And as a pegasus, he can help us in looking out for incoming threats from a distance."
As the Princess of Friendship's proposal hung in the air, a flush crept up her cheeks as she recalled her previous encounters with Flash Sentry. Shining Armor's eyebrow arched in amusement at his sister's sudden fluster, a knowing grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"It seems like an excellent choice," Shining Armor remarked, his tone laced with amusement as he continued. "And it's not just because of your... previous interactions, right, Twilight?"
Twilight stammered slightly, her cheeks burning brighter as she hastily clarified, "Of course not! It's purely based on his skills and qualifications for the task at hoof."
Shining's expression softened, understanding evident in his eyes as he looked at Twilight. "It's a solid choice," he affirmed, his tone reassuring. "We'll need all the expertise we can get on this mission."
"Good idea." Luna said. "With the Storm King and his army still out there, we can hardly spare any more guards than we have to. On the other hoof, the ERG (Elite Royal Guards) military is seldom used these days. Aside from the occasional monster attacks, it spends all its time training, so its soldiers should be readily available.”
Crimson Chaser chuckled. "Well, that is true. We haven't had any major fights since the changeling attack on Canterlot during the wedding of Prince Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadanza."
"I will get Flash Sentry to be re-assigned to us, when me and my siblings get back to the Crystal Empire." Shining said before adding. "Anything else?"
"Only what the guards should do in the meantime,” Night Shadow asked.
Midnight walked up beside Clover and spoke up. "I recommend we have the Canterlot Royal Guards and Elite Royal Guards to reinforce the defences. We can have some guards to patrol the Canterlot's surrounding area to make sure no enemies are scouting and assign some ERG regiments for recon to pinpoint the Storm King's stronghold. By gathering intelligence on the enemy's movements and positions, we gain a crucial advantage in our preparations for any potential conflict."
Celestia thought about this for a few moments, before answering. "I agree. The Royal Guards and the ERG will reinforce the defences and patrol around the city. However, we cannot send out recon teams. At least, not yet."
Yeth arched an eyebrow and asked. "Yeth wants to know why not."
The solar princess sighed before answering the crystal yak's question. "We can't, not until things have calmed down a little. When that has happened, we will be able to spare a few ERG regiments to recon for Storm King's stronghold. Once we have located his stronghold, we will figure out the next plan. I also want to reiterate that all discovered Storm King's soldiers are to be captured and brought to the dungeons for interrogation, not killed or unnecessarily harmed. Is that understood?"
"Yes, your majesty!" The two captains said as they saluted Princess Celestia.
"That is all, you are dismissed." Luna said before the two captains and the crystal creatures left the throne room.
"As for you six..." Celestia spoke, getting Twilight, Spike, Shining and the three crystal ponies attentions. "I believe you have a mission to go."
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The next day, Crystal Empire
As Lieutenant Flash Sentry patrolled the vibrant streets of the Crystal Empire, he couldn't help but noticed the heightened energy that seemed to electrify the air. Everywhere he looked, crystal ponies moved with an extra spring in their step, their voices filled with eager anticipation for the imminent arrival of Princess Amore. Even the usually stoic crystal guards couldn't suppressed their excitement, their disciplined strides now punctuated by animated conversations and cheerful greetings to passersby.
Flash Sentry, a brilliant gamboge pegasus with a two tones of moderate sapphire blue mane, was currently on patrol with two crystal guards, their spears being held in their hooves. He could hear the two crystal guards were talking to each other excitedly.
Observing the lively scene with a mixture of bemusement and understanding, Flash couldn't fault the fellow citizens of the Crystal Empire for their enthusiasm. After all, the events of yesterday had been nothing short of miraculous, with the unexpected return of Princess Amore sparking newfound hope and joy throughout the empire.
His thoughts were currently on the lavender alicorn. Ever since the Princess of Friendship had first bumped him when she entered the throne room for her first princess summit a few years ago, he could not stop thinking about the alicorn. Her blushing face. Her beautiful lavender coat. Her attractive violent eyes. To his, she was a perfect mare.
His thoughts were cut short when he saw Prince Shining Armor walking up with Princess Twilight Sparkle and Spike at his sides, along with the three crystal ponies he does not know. "Lieutenant Sentry?" Shining called out.
Straightening up, Flash snapped to attention. "That's me, sir," he replied with a salute. "What can I do for you?”
"You have been re-assigned." The prince said.
"Re-assigned? Did I did something wrong, sir?" Flash asked with worry in his voice.
"No you didn't do anything wrong. All you need to know is that you will be under the joint command of me and my sister, for a special mission into the Frozen North. The details of this mission are on a need to know basis, and you will be briefed further on soon." Shining reassured him.
Flash Sentry opened his mouth for a few seconds before he started to talk. "You and your sister are organizing this mission directly? I suppose I should get ready, when do we leave?”
"In one hour, Spike and the three ponies will also be accompanying us." The prince said as the group began to make their way to the Crystal Palace.
"I see..." The orange pegasus nodded his head before he asked. "So, what's this mission about, sir?"
The Princess of Friendship answered the guard's question. "Like my brother said, it is a need to know mission. But I suppose you should know."
The lavender alicorn began. "Well, apparently Princess Amore is alive and Cadance, my sister-in-law, happens to be her daughter."
Flash gave Twilight a disbelief look and said. "Wait... what?!"
"I know, it's a lot," Twilight responded, her voice tinged with urgency as she continued. "And to add to that, there are actually six outpost cities hidden somewhere in the Frozen North, each containing a Crystal Heart. Cadance is located in one of these cities."
"Wow, that's a lot to take in." The lieutenant admitted before asking again. "So, who are the three ponies we are bringing along?"
"Oh, they are Clover the Clever, Commander Hurricane and Dew Nourish." Spike answered before quickly adding. "And no, Clover and Hurricane are not changelings, they are real. They just been living in one of the outpost cities for a thousand years, assisting the Crystal Imperial Guards in searching for Princess Amore's scattered fragments for the past fifteen years."
Flash stared at Spike for a couple minutes before shaking his head and said. "I see. Where do we meet after an hour, sir?" He asked the prince.
Shining said. "At the entrance of the Crystal Empire."
The lieutenant saluted before the group go their separate ways to gather supplies for the journey.
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One hour later, Crystal Empire's entrance
Six ponies and a dragon stood before the entrance of the empire; Princess Twilight Sparkle, Prince Shining Armor, Lieutenant Flash Sentry, Clover the Clever, Commander Hurricane, Dew Nourish and Spike. Twilight and Spike were wearing scarves for warmth while Flash and Shining were wearing their armors. Each of them had saddle bags filled to the brim with supplies while Flash took on the additional burden of three sturdy tents.
"All right..." Clover spoke up, getting the other's attentions. "I need you four to listen to us very carefully. The journey between the empire and outpost cities will be extreme difficult as there are many hostile frost animals roaming around in the Frozen North. They are nothing like the animals you guys deal back in Everfree Forest. These creatures are more intelligent, nearly indestructible, and exceptionally ferocious."
The three ponies and the dragon couldn't stopped themselves from gulping as they took in the information Clover and her friends before they nodded their head in agreement.
"Now, the outpost city we're heading to is Outpost Arctic," Dew said, her voice steady, her spear held firmly behind her back. "Expect a significant presence of frost animals there. Stay vigilant and watch each other's backs. Any questions before we embark?"
The three ponies and the dragon shook their head.
"In that case..." Hurricane said, his gaze swept over the desolate landscape as he continued. "Let's not linger. We must press on before the blizzard arrives."
With that, they set off into the Frozen North, their resolve unshaken despite the challenges that awaited them.
Cadance was sitting on the bench near one of the guard towers while listening to the griffon who happened to be one of the Crystal Imperial guards, as he explained the weapons the guards use for protection of the outposts.
She learned about the repeating ballistas, formidable war machines strategically placed atop the towers. These intricate devices boasted reload mechanisms that allowed for swift deployment of ammunition, ensuring a constant barrage against any potential threats. The spears wielded by the guards were imbued with magic, enabling precise shots that could be unleashed before requiring a brief recharge. And then there were the archers, armed with arrows tipped with explosive magic, ready to decimate any adversary with a single strike.
"Wow... this is fascinating!" The Princess of Love beamed. "These weapons could prove useful for Royal Guards and Elite Royal Guards for any major fights."
The griffon chuckled in agreement as he said. "Well, there are plans on distributing weapons to Equestria and other races. However, the persistent threat of frost animals has hindered our efforts to transport them safely to the Crystal Empire for us to distribute to the Equestria and other races."
Before the Princess of Love could delve further into the topic, sound of hoofsteps caught their attention and they turned their head to see the tall form of Princess Amore walking towards them.
"I see that you are getting acquaintances with the guards and the weaponry the Crystal Imperial used." Amore said with a smile before asking. "How are you doing?"
Cadance started. "Morning, mom. I actually doing quite well. I've been learning a lot from the guards about their equipment."
"And she agrees that we should distribute the weapons to Equestria and other races." The griffon said with a smirk.
"I see..." Amore remarked before continuing. "If you're done, there are some creatures I would like you to meet. They are the leaders of the various races here and the ones who had helped the Crystal Imperial to find my pieces across the Equestria."
"Sure." The Princess of Love said, quickly standing up before speaking with a smile at the griffon. "It is nice to meet you, sir."
The griffon threw a salute at the two royal ponies as Amore and Cadance walked away from him toward the city, before going back to his position.
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At the corner of Outpost Artic was a large crystal barrack where Crystal Imperial guards and personnel of various races were hanging out or training themselves. The sounds of drills being run and the chatting from various races filled the air. One particular crystal pony was enjoying it.
Nimbus Dash; a crystal light purple pegasus mare with dark blue mane and tail, wearing a silver armor with one gauntlet on her right forehoof and a silver helmet with a red crest, her wings being white with trailing edges of the feathers being pale blue and a scar on her left eye; was currently giving some soldiers special training session in advanced aerial combat. Her spear was slung over her back.
Nimbus used to be part of Cloudsdale Royal Legion, but now she was part of the Crystal Imperial after having been cursed to be trapped within the Frozen North for a thousand years and helping to find Princess Amore's piece across the Equestria for fifteen years.
Despite her focus on the training at hand, Nimbus's thoughts wandered to days gone by, reminiscing about the camaraderie she shared with her dear friends, Bella Breeze and Flash Magnus, during their time together in the Cloudsdale Royal Legion. Memories of laughter and companionship filled her mind, a bittersweet reminder of the bonds forged in the crucible of duty and honor.
As she guided her soldiers through the intricacies of aerial combat, Nimbus couldn't help but long for the days when she and her friends would gather during breaks or embark on missions alongside their esteemed leader, Captain Ironhead. Though time had passed and circumstances had changed, the warmth of those memories remained, a source of strength and solace in the midst of her duties.
She sighed to herself. While she enjoyed the company of Commander Hurricane and the other races working with the Crystal Imperial, it just wasn't the same.
Her musing was cut short as a stallion's voice called out to her. "Nimbus!"
She turned her head and smiled when she saw who the stallion was.
Grimhoof was a pegasus stallion with crystal light cobalt blue coats with dark grayish blue mane and tail, wearing a bronze armor with on gauntlet on his left forehoof and a bronze helmet with a red crest, his wing were like hers being white with trailing edges of the feathers being pale blue and some scars on his right foreleg.
He happened to be one of her friends who was also part of Cloudsdale Royal Legion before joining Crystal Imperial too to find Princess Amore's piece across the Equestria for fifteen years after the curse by King Sombra trapped him for a thousand years.
"Ah, Grimhoof," Nimbus greeted with a warm smile, wrapping him in a brief embrace before stepping back, curiosity evident in the arch of her eyebrow. "What brings you here? Last I heard, you were overseeing the guard towers."
"Well..." Grimhoof started. "There's been a change of plan. Princess Amore wants us to bring the leaders of griffons, yaks, hippogriffs, bat ponies, changelings, and kirins. She wants to introduce them to her daughter."
The pegasus mare stared at him for a few seconds before replying. "I see... Alright, you go and get the leaders of griffons, bat ponies, hippogriffs and kirins while I go and get the leaders of yaks and changelings. That reminds me... where are we meeting Princess Amore and her daughter?"
The pegasus stallion stopped to think a moment before answering. "We will be meeting them at the base of the Crystal Spire."
"Alright, see you soon." Nimbus said as they both hoofbump each other before Grimhoof flew off to find the leaders of griffons, bat ponies, hippogriffs and kirins.
The pegasus mare turned back to the soldiers and yelled. "All right! Training's over! I got a yak and a changeling queen to find!" After she finished her sentences, she spread her wings and flew up before flying away to find the leaders of yaks and changelings.
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At the entrance of Outpost Artic, a changeling queen was seen talking to one of the guards; her body with holes in her legs was equal in height to the solar princess with crystal black chitin, her insect-like wings were crystal light blue, her teal mane was being done up into a neat bun, her slitted-pupil eyes were green and her crooked horn was shiny light blue shaded from the tip to cyan.
Queen Seraphine listened intently as one of her subjects delivered a report. Frost animals had been spotted near the outpost, but the situation appeared to be under control. Seraphine's sigh of relief echoed through the crisp air as the changeling drone assured her that there were no casualties; the frost animals had fled before any harm could be done.
Sounds of hoofsteps and flapping of wings caused her to turn her head to see Nimbus Dash and a yak walking up to her.
The yak has a coat of crystal dark tangelo, his mane being moderate scarlet and his horns being the same colors as her.
"Ah, Nimbus, Thunderhoof." The changeling queen greeted them with a smile before asking. "What bring you two here?"
Thunderhoof answered her question. "Pony princess wants us to be introduced to her daughter at the Crystal Spire."
Seraphine's brow furrowed with concern, her thoughts racing. "Are you sure that's a wise decision? Considering..."
Before the changeling queen could finish her sentence, Nimbus interjected firmly, halting her doubts in their tracks. "Stop right there. You're nothing like your younger sister. Don't ever think about that again."
Seraphine's gaze softened, gratitude flickering in her eyes as she absorbed the pegasus mare's reassurance. With a sigh, she conceded, realizing she had let her doubts get the better of her.
"You're right," The changeling queen murmured, her voice tinged with self-reflection.
Turning her attention back to Thunderhoof, Seraphine asked. "Who else is coming to meet Princess Mi Amore Cadanza?"
"Stormfeather, Au Hasard, King Crestwing, and King Fire Blaze. Grimhoof went to get them." Nimbus provided the answer, listing off the names of their companions.
Nodding in understanding, Seraphine gestured for them to lead the way. "Lead us to them," She instructed, determination resolute in her tone.
With that, the pegasus led them toward the Crystal Spire to meet Princess Amore and her daughter.
'Time to meet Princess Mi Amore Cadanza.' The changeling queen thought to herself.
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Amore glanced over to see her daughter, Cadance, utterly fascinated by the crystal creatures and the majestic buildings that adorned Outpost Arctic. Having been given a comprehensive tour the day before, Cadance was already familiar with the layout of the outpost cities. She had learned that each outpost city boasted several residential buildings, military barracks, a crop farm, a library, and a bustling market square. The crystal creatures she encountered were all gentle and adorned with coats of shimmering crystal.
As the Princess of Love saw the crystal creatures walking busily, she found herself pondering a question to pose to her mother.
"Mom..." Cadance started. "Why are my horn and wings different now? Three years ago, they retained the same colors as my coat before my daughter's magic surge hit me and now they are in different colors. And why do some of yaks, griffons, hippogriffs, changelings, kirins and bat ponies have the same colors of their horns and wings as mine?"
Amore turned her head and answered her daughter's question.
"Your transformation, my dear, is a testament to the magical energy that flows within you," She explained gently. "When your daughter's magic beam hit you, it unlocked a deeper aspect of your own power, manifesting in the alteration of your horn and wings."
The Princess of Love listened intently, absorbing her mother's words with a sense of wonder. "But what about the others?" She inquired, her curiosity piqued.
"As for the others..." Amore started. "It all started when some of the yaks, griffons, hippogriffs, changelings, kirins, and bat ponies stumbled upon the Crystal Empire and the outpost cities in the midst of a freezing blizzard due to their situation being from being chased out to looking for shelters."
The Princess of Love listen intently as Amore explained. "They had sought refuge within the protective walls of the outpost cities, finding safety from the relentless cold and the howling winds. And while they sought shelter, they also found what happened to me during their stay and decided to help the Crystal Imperial guards to find my scattered fragment and rebuild me. Over time, they integrated into the ranks of the Crystal Imperial, working together to try and keep the Frozen North safe and secure."
Cadance nodded slowly, piecing together the threads of her mother's narrative. "So," she ventured, "Their horns and wings gradually shifted to mirror the colors of the Crystal Empire as a symbol of solidarity and collaboration?"
Princess Amore smiled warmly at her daughter's understanding. "Exactly, Cadenza," she affirmed. "In times of hardship, it's important to come together and support one another. They may be different, but their shared bonds of friendship and teamwork are what make them truly strong."
Cadance nodded, her heart swelling with pride for the Crystal Empire and its diverse inhabitants. In that moment, she understood the significance of their shared colors as a testament to the bonds forged in adversity and the enduring spirit of friendship that still thrived even before Twilight Sparkle became the Princess of Friendship.
As the Princess of Love processed her mother's information, another thought came to her.
"I just recalled..." Cadance began, her voice tinged with apprehension as she continued. "During the Storm King's invasion of Canterlot, a pony named Tempest Shadow hurled an orb containing dark magic at me—one that could petrify any creature upon impact. Strangely, I didn't turn into statues like my aunts did. But then, two days later, while at the beach, my nose started bleeding profusely, I coughed up blood, and my eyes swelled and turned red before I lost consciousness. After that, I regain a little bit of consciousness only to feel better before I passed out again. Why did that happened to me?"
Amore stopped walking, causing the Princess of Love to stop and stared at her mom as Amore gave a sad sigh.
"Because..." Amore started. "The protection spell on you faltered when the orb struck you directly." She paused to see her daughter looking at her in surprise before continuing. "You see, as King Sombra slowly made his way toward the throne room, I channelled some of my magic to create a protection spell that would protect you from any injuries or spells before I sent you away."
Amore's eyes reflected the weight of her decision, the memory of that harrowing moment etched in her mind before she continued. "My guess is that the orb that contained dark magic was able to penetrate and weaken the spell I cast, allowing a fraction of its magic to seep inside you and take effect."
Cadance listened in stunned silence, her eyes widening with shock as she processed the revelation. She shuffled on her hooves as her emotions swirling tumultuously within her.
Sensing her daughter's distress, Amore reached out, gently placing a hoof on Cadance's shoulder, her touch a soothing balm. "It's alright, my dear. I managed to cleanse the dark magic from your system before it could fully take hold, and don't worry about Celestia and Luna," she reassured, her voice steady with reassurance before continuing. "The Crystal Imperial guards were able to repel the Storm Kingdom's forces from Canterlot. Your sister-in-law and her friends are safe."
Cadance stared at her mom, her gaze meeting Amore's with a mixture of gratitude and understanding before she said. "Thank you, Mom." she murmured softly, her voice filled with appreciation as she continued. "For protecting me and saving my aunties. And please, just call me Cadance. I prefer my nickname to my full one."
Amore smiled and nodded her head at her daughter, but before they could continued their conversation, Nimbus flew right up to the two royals and threw a salute.
"Your majesty..." The pegasus said, saluting before continuing. "The leaders are now at the Crystal Spire. I am to escort you there."
Amore acknowledged Nimbus with a nod, her attention drawn to Cadance, who seemed visibly taken aback by the arrival of the pegasus. Concerned, she gently tapped her daughter's shoulder, prompting the Princess of Love to speak up.
"You... you're Nimbus Dash. From the Cloudsdale Royal Legion," Cadance uttered, her voice a mixture of surprise and realization.
The pegasus was shocked to know that Princess Amore's daughter actually know about her and asked in surprised. "How did you know?"
Cadance smiled and said. "Flash Magnus. My sister-in-law and her friends freed them from the Limbo and helped them defeated the Pony of Shadow. In Twilight's letter, she told me that Flash Magnus told her that he was best friends with you, Grimhoof and Bella Breeze. You, Flash Magnus and your other two friends would often embarked on missions with Captain Ironhead."
Nimbus Dash slowed down beating her wings, and slowly landed on the floor without making a sound, then folded her wings to her sides. She looked completely in shock as she took in the information the Princess of Love.
"To think that all this time..." The pegasus started. "Flash was believed to be perished at the hooves of the Pony of Shadow." She murmured, her voice tinged with disbelief.
Slowly, a wistful smile tugged at the corners of Nimbus Dash's lips as she contemplated the implications of the Princess of Love's words. "Grimhoof will hardly believe it." She admitted, a note of anticipation coloring her tone before continuing. "He'll be thrilled to learn that our old friend is still alive."
A wave of shocked overcame Cadance over that new information and she asked. "Grimhoof is alive and with you?"
The pegasus lifted herself off the ground with a beat of her wings, continuing. "Yes," she affirmed. "Grimhoof and I were trapped within the Frozen North by King Sombra's curse for a thousand years when we were exploring the Frozen North. We spent the last fifteen years working with the Crystal Imperial guards searching for and collecting Princess Amore's scattered fragments to rebuild her."
As Cadance processed this astonishing revelation, Amore intervened with a gentle smile. "It seems your sister-in-law was able to bring Nimbus and Grimhoof's friend back." she remarked, her tone reflecting a mix of curiosity and warmth before she continued. "But for now, let us not tarry. Lead the way, Nimbus."
With a firm nod, the pegasus gestured for the princesses to follow as Cadance and Amore trailed behind her.
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Grimhoof stood resolute near the towering Crystal Spire, its crystalline form a testament to the magnificence of the Crystal Empire. At its base, a mesmerizing crystal heart hovered, suspended between two pillars—one rising from the ground, the other descending from the ceiling—as if held aloft by sheer magic.
His gaze shifted, taking in the solemn assembly gathered nearby. Thunderhoof, Queen Seraphin, and the leaders of the griffons, bat ponies, hippogriffs, and kirins stood with dignified poise, a tableau of unity and anticipation, awaiting the imminent arrival of Princess Amore and her daughter.
Stormfeather, leader of the griffons, has a coat of crystal dark gamboge, with his wings being white with trailing edges of the feathers being pale blue. His mane and tail were both dark violetish gray and his eyes were black.
Au Hasard, leader of the bat ponies, has a coat of crystal light gray, with his wings being whitish purple. His mane and tail were both royal purple and rose with dark grey bat wings and his slitted-pupil eyes were teal. His body was almost as tall as the lunar princess and he has a cutie mark of two dices. He was wearing Lunar Guard armor with bracers with long, deadly blades that curved out of them in both of his forehooves.
King Crestwing, King of the hippogriffs, has a coat of crystal lightish gray, with his wings being white with trailing edges of the feathers being pale blue. His mane and tail were both artic blue and his eyes were cyan. His body was equal in height to the Queen of the hippogriffs.
King Fire Blaze, King of the Kirins, has a coat of grayish amber with his cloven hooves, back, and forehead being dark amber. His horn that curved backward was shiny light blue shaded from the tip to cyan. His mane, fur and tail were all dark gamboge and his eyes were dark artic blue. His body was equal in height to the Queen of the Kirins.
Sounds of hoofsteps and flapping of wings caught his attention. Turning his head, he saw two royals and Nimbus walking up. With a deep exhale and a smile, Grimhoof marched up.
"Leaders of griffons, yaks, hippogriffs, bat ponies, changelings, and kirins are awaiting for the introduction to your daughter, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza." The pegasus stallion reported while saluting.
"At ease, Grimhoof," Amore said as she gestured for him to stand comfortably. She turned her attention to her daughter, a fond smile gracing her features. "Cadanza, allow me to introduce you to King Fire Blaze, King Crestwing, Au Hasard, Stormfeather, Thunderhoof, and Queen Seraphine," she said, indicating each leader in turn.
As the introductions were made, Princess Cadance's eyes widened in surprise, her heart skipping a beat as her gaze fell upon Queen Seraphine. Memories flooded her mind, images of her time held captive in the caves during her wedding, and a name escaped her trembling lips.
"Ch-Chrysalis?" Cadance stammered, her voice betraying a mixture of shock and fear.
The leaders and two pegasus all winced while the changeling queen remained calm. After a moment of silence, Queen Seraphine walked forward before stopping in front of the Princess of Love.
"I'm afraid that I am not Chrysalis..." The changeling queen started. "But I was her elder sister."
Cadance's mind reeled before she stammered. "You're Chrysalis's... elder sister?"
"Yes." Seraphine honestly said. "I was petrified and banished to the Frozen North by Chrysalis before the Crystal Imperial guards freed me."
The Princess of Love’s jaw dropped. “Wha-...WHAT!? You... she..." She stammered as she tried to find the right words. "Why?” She eventually managed to utter.
Amore, already aware of the intricate history between Seraphine and Chrysalis, guided the other leaders away, allowing the two to converse in privacy before turning her head towards the two pegasuses.
"Grimhoof and Nimbus Dash." Amore addressed them, causing the two to look at her before she spoke. "Take the rest of the day off. You two deserved it. And Grimhoof, you might want to sit down once Nimbus tell you something."
Grimhoof arched an eyebrow at Amore but did not questioned her, while Nimbus gave her a gentle smile. They both saluted at her before flying off. She turned her head back to the two as Seraphine began her story.
"Chrysalis and I were once sisters, bound by blood and kinship," The changeling queen started to explain, her tone heavy with the weight of memories long buried as she continued. "But as time passed, she started to sought power at any cost instead of friendship. Chrysalis saw me as a threat to her rule after I confronted and argued with her. In her paranoia, she casted me into a state of petrification and exile in the Frozen North, where I was remained imprisoned for centuries before being rescued."
As the truth of Seraphine's plight sank in, Cadance felt a surge of empathy coursing through her veins as her ears drooped. "I'm so sorry, Queen Seraphine," she whispered, her voice filled with genuine remorse.
"It's fine." The changeling queen spoke calmly before continuing. "Beside, Chrysalis had her death coming by her own hive after I showed her diary that contained about permanently riding hunger for love to her hive."
The Princess of Love gawked at Seraphine's words before asking. "What?! You orchestrated Chrysalis's downfall?!"
"Yes." Seraphine smirked before continuing. "Remember this form?"
No sooner the changeling queen said, green flames surrounded her and her tall form was replaced with a unicorn mare with a coat of light bluish gray, her mane and tail being moderate blue, a cutie mark of dark blue heart and her eyes being moderate lime green.
Cadance's jaw dropped as she remembered the changelings told her and her husband about a mysterious pony who had somehow acquired Chrysalis's diary and exposed her secrets to the hive before vanishing without a trace.
"It's... it's you." The Princess of Love stammered as Seraphine shed the disguise.
With a gentle smile, the changeling queen nodded before she spoke. "Yes, it's me. I took on that guise to ensure the safety of Equestria and its inhabitants."
Cadance nodded slowly, processing the gravity of Seraphine's words before speaking again. "Thank you... for everything you've done, Queen Seraphine."
Seraphine smiled graciously at the Princess of Love as she took in the words Amore's daughter said.
Amore could not helped herself but smiled graciously as her daughter started to converse with the other leaders.
Chapter 11 - Flashback Three: Fall of Queen Chrysalis
Darkness shrouded the Arctic North of Equestria. Most of the crystal ponies had retreated to the safety and warmth of their homes, leaving the streets deserted and silent save for the occasional howl of the chilling wind.
At the edge of a precipitous cliff, a group of undisguised changelings gathered, their forms silhouetted against the backdrop of the Crystal Palace. Among them, Pharynx, with his distinctive red frills, took charge, his imposing presence commanding the attention of his comrades.
"Listen up, changelings," Pharynx began, his voice low but commanding. "You all know the plan. We disguise ourselves, infiltrate the Crystal Palace, capture the princess and her family, and return them to the Badland Hive. Any questions before we proceed?"
The group shook their heads in unison, their determination evident in their resolute expressions.
"Excellent," Pharynx declared, his wings twitching in anticipation. "Let's move out."
But just as they prepared to take flight, a calm and composed voice interrupted their preparations. "Excuse me?"
The changelings froze, their movements halting as they turned to face the source of the interruption.
Standing a few feet away was a unicorn mare; her coat being light bluish gray, her mane and tail being moderate blue, a cutie mark of dark blue heart and her eyes being moderate lime green. Though her appearance was quite startling, it was her expression that was the biggest surprise. She doesn't looked scared. In fact, she looked more calm.
Finally moving past their shock, the changelings assumed a fighting stance toward the unicorn mare. Yet, despite their hostile posture, the mare remained unfazed, her calm demeanor unwavering in the face of their aggression.
Pharynx walked past the group before stopping just in front of the unicorn and demanded. "Who are you?! What are you doing here?!"
The mare did not flinched back from Pharynx's demand and opted to answer calmly. "Who am I is not important. But as to what am I doing here, I'm here to make you open your eyes and see through Queen Chrysalis's lies."
Her words hung in the air, causing a moment of uncertainty among the changelings. They exchanged uncertain glances, unsure of how to react to this unexpected revelation.
Pharynx narrowed his eyes, his gaze probing as he considered her words carefully.
"And what proof do you have to dare claim that our queen is deceiving us?!" he demanded, his voice laced with skepticism.
His response was the unicorn mare conjuring the diary with a flick of her magic. Flipping through its pages with practiced ease, she located the pertinent entry and presented it to the red-frilled changeling.
"Read it," she urged.
The changelings exchanged uncertain glances, their confusion evident as they realized the diary belonged to Queen Chrysalis. Despite their reservations, Pharynx seized the diary without hesitation, his curiosity outweighing any apprehension and read the page.
]When I was pretending to be the bride at the wedding in Canterlot, I decided to sneak inside one of the libraries to see if I could find any information about the Elements of Harmony. As I was skimming through the shelves, I happened to stumble upon a page about us in The Monstrous Manuscript of Monstrous Monsters book. Apparently, there is a way for us changelings to rid ourselves permanently of our hunger for love.
I was taken aback as I read the words over and over to ensure I had not misunderstood, but it was true. I contemplated revealing this knowledge to my subjects, but then I realized that by keeping it a secret, I could maintain control over them, ensuring they remained dependent on me for sustenance. By keeping them in a perpetual state of hunger, they would be more aggressive and more compliant with my plans.
Nevertheless, I destroyed the book, ensuring that my subjects would not stumble upon it should they ever venture into the library.
As Pharynx scanned the page of the diary, his expression shifted from skepticism to disbelief. The words written on the parchment seemed to leap off the page, painting a damning portrait of Queen Chrysalis's deceit.
The other changelings gathered around, their curiosity piqued as they peered over Pharynx's shoulder to read the contents of the diary.
"What does it say, Pharynx?" one of the changelings asked anxiously, his voice tinged with apprehension.
Pharynx's jaw clenched as he slowly lowered the diary.
"It says that... there is a way for changelings to be permanently rid of their hunger for love." Pharynx admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.
The revelation sent shockwaves through the group, their faces a mixture of confusion and anger.
"But... but why would she lie to us?" another changeling questioned, his voice trembling with uncertainty.
As the changelings grappled with the implications of Queen Chrysalis's deceit, Pharynx sank to the ground, his mind reeling with a mix of emotions.
He pulled himself out of his reverie and turned to the unicorn mare to ask. "What do we do now?"
The changelings fell silent, their attention now focused on the mare's response.
The unicorn mare, who had remained quiet until now, met Pharynx's gaze with unwavering resolve.
"I think you know what you need to do," she said, her voice steady.
Before any of the changelings could react, the unicorn mare disappeared via her magic, leaving the group at the place she once stood.
After a while of silence, Pharynx's closed his eyes before opening them, his gaze hardened, a steely resolve taking hold as he squared his shoulders.
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Badland Hive, a few hours later
Queen Chrysalis's day had taken a turn for the worse as she sat alone in her throne room.
She, for some reasons, was unable to establish contact with any of her subjects. Frustration gnawed at her insides as she attempted to reach out across the wavelengths, only to be met with silence.
A creak from the door drew her attention, and she looked up to see Pharynx, his expression dark with anger, standing before her.
"Pharynx?!" The changeling queen snarled, showing her own carnivorous fangs as she continued. "Do you mind explaining to me why have I lost all contact to the entire hive?!"
The red frilled changeling stayed quiet before throwing Chrysalis's diary on the floor in front of the changeling queen via his magic.
The changeling queen's eyes widened as she regarded Pharynx, a mix of shock and anger evident in her expression.
"Where and how did get your hooves on my diary?" She demanded, her voice laced with impatience.
The red frilled changeling crossed his hooves over his chest, his scowl deepening before he replied. "I think the real question is why did you decided to hide the fact that there is a way for us to rid ourselves permanently of our hunger for love."
Chrysalis's glare intensified, her wings flaring out in a display of aggression. "That's none of your concern! And how dare you speak to me in such a manner!" She snapped, her tone sharp and dismissive.
Pharynx remained unfazed, meeting his queen's furious gaze with steely resolve. "It became my concern when it affects the entire hive," He retorted, his voice firm as he continued. "You've kept this knowledge from us for far too long."
The changeling queen's eyes narrowed as she asked, her voice betraying a hint of sarcasm. "And what do you intend to do now?"
"It's not just me," Pharynx declared as the door swung open, revealing a throng of angry changelings before he continued. "It's all of us."
Chrysalis's shock turned to terror as her subjects flooded into the throne room, their expressions set with anger.
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Crystal Empire, the next day
Princess Cadance sat upon her throne, a mountain of paperwork towering before her, each document demanding her attention with its insistent presence. Her expression betrayed her boredom as she mechanically filled out yet another form. Meanwhile, her husband, Shining Armor, was occupied with their energetic daughter, Flurry Heart, elsewhere in the palace.
Just as the Princess of Love was lost in the monotony of her task, the doors to the throne room burst open, disrupting the quiet atmosphere. A crystal guard hurried forward, his urgency evident as he bowed before the princess.
"Your majesty!" The guard announced, his voice tinged with urgency.
Cadance looked up from her paperwork. "Yes?" She inquired, prompting the guard to straighten up.
"We have located a group of changelings at the outskirts of the empire, and we have detained them. We are in the process of bringing them here for questioning," the guard reported, his tone grave.
The Princess of Love's interest was immediately piqued, her mind racing with possibilities. "And is there anything else?" She asked, sensing there was more to the guard's report.
The guard hesitated for a moment before reluctantly continuing. "Your majesty, the changelings we detained were not in disguise. They were in their true forms."
Cadance's eyes widened in shock, her grip on her magic faltering for a moment as the documents slipped from her grasp, scattering across the floor.
A moment later, with a mixture of concern and determination, Princess of Love rose from her throne and addressed the guard.
"Thank you for informing me," she said, her voice steady. "Escort the changelings to the throne room immediately and bring my husband here. I will speak with them with my husband."
The guard nodded in acknowledgment before swiftly departing to carry out her orders. Left alone in the now-silent throne room, Cadance took a moment to compose herself, her thoughts racing as she considered the implications of this unexpected development.
A minute later, Shining Armor came through the door, his face being worried
"Cady." Shining started. "What's going on? The guard told me to come to the throne room as soon as possible."
Princess Cadance turned to her husband as she recounted the urgent news.
"Shining, we've had an unexpected development," she began. "A group of changelings has been detained at the outskirts of the empire, and they were not in disguise. They're being brought here for questioning."
Shining Armor's brow furrowed in concern as he absorbed the gravity of the situation. "Changelings, in their true forms?" he echoed, his mind racing with possibilities. "That's highly unusual. What could they want here?"
Cadance nodded in agreement, her thoughts mirroring her husband's. "That's what we aim to find out," she replied, her tone resolute.
A few minutes later, the heavy doors swung open once more, and the crystal guard returned, leading a group of changelings into the chamber. The prisoners were kept under close watch as they entered the presence of the royal couple.
While the changelings still had black chitin covering their body, there were several major differences. First, there were no holes in their hooves or their wings, which shimmered in the light. The carapaces on their backs were different colors. Lastly, their eyes had changed to ones like Queen Chrysalis had, except each had an iris that matched their carapace.
The Princess of Love and the Prince stood side by side as they assessed the newcomers. Their gaze swept over the group, their eyes narrowing slightly as they took in the undisguised changelings.
"Welcome," Cadance began. "I trust you understand the gravity of the situation."
The changeling with a purple carapace and purple eyes carrying saddlebag on his back stepped forward, his posture rigid as he addressed the princess and the prince. "We do," He replied. "My name is Pharynx."
The Princess of Love and the Prince nodded, acknowledging the red frilled changeling's name. "Alright Pharynx," Shining started, "Why have you come here, and why in your true forms?"
The changelings exchanged uneasy glances, a flicker of uncertainty crossing their features before Pharynx spoke again.
"We came here as representative for a long lasting peace between Equestria and our hive." He explained.
Both Cadance and Shining widened their eyes in surprised as the processed the words the purple changeling said.
"A peace treaty?" The Princess of Love repeated, her voice tinged with disbelief. "But why now? And why in your true forms?"
Pharynx met her gaze and said. "A coup took place within our hive. Our queen, former Queen Chrysalis, had been permanently disposed and drained to death."
"Permanently disposed? And what do you mean 'drained to death'?" The Prince asked in confusion.
"Why don't you open my saddlebag and see it for yourself?" The purple changeling replied.
The royal couple looked at each other in confusion for a while, before Cadance reached out an item wrapped in cloth from inside Pharynx's saddlebag via her magic.
Confused, she removed the cloth from it and the royal couple gasped in shock, their eyes widened and their mouths hanging agape.
Inside was a black crown with turquoise gemstones tipping each point on it. Both Cadance and Shining knew the crown belonged to Queen Chrysalis as they remember the changeling queen wearing it when they first saw her in their wedding.
"That's..." The Princess of Love stammered as she continued. "That's Chrysalis's crown."
The Prince looked up from the crown toward Pharynx and asked. "Why did you disposed her?"
The changelings face immediately darkened as the purple changeling spoke. "We found out that she had hid the knowledge that there is a way for us to rid ourselves permanently of our hunger for love."
Pharynx's revelation hung heavy in the air, casting a shadow over the already tense atmosphere. The royal couple exchanged a glance.
"You mean... Chrysalis knew how to end the changelings' need to feed on love?" Cadance said as her voice quivered with a mixture of shock and disbelief.
The purple changeling nodded solemnly before replying. "Yes, your majesty. She possessed the knowledge, but she kept it hidden from the rest of us."
Shining arched an eyebrow and asked. "And this knowledge... how did you come by it?"
The changelings exchanged glances before Pharynx answered the prince's question truthfully. "A unicorn mare came to us before we could infiltrate your empire. She gave us our former queen's diary that contained that knowledge."
Surprised, the royal couple looked at each other before the Princess of Love asked the purple changeling. "This unicorn mare... who was she? How did she come by Queen Chrysalis's diary?"
Pharynx sighed in resignation before replying. "We do not know her name, or her intentions. All we know was that she appeared to us with the diary, urged us to open our eyes and see through our former queen's lies before vanishing without a trace."
The prince stared at the purple changeling before asking. "This unicorn... what does she looked like?"
"She has a coat of light bluish gray, her mane and tail is moderate blue. She has a cutie mark of a dark blue heart and her eyes are moderate lime green." Pharynx answered honestly.
The throne room became silent as the royal couple processed everything the purple changeling had told. After a while, they sighed and nodded at each other.
"Pharynx." Cadance spoke. "We thank you for your honesty. We will take this into consideration as we move forward."
"Meanwhile, you and your group are welcome to stay while we write a letter to Princess Celestia."Shining said as he trotted up to his wife's side.
"Thank you, your majesty." The group of changelings said as they bowed down before Pharynx asked the royal couple a question. "Do you both know where my brother, Thorax, is?"
The Princess of Love and the Prince blinked in surprised before composing themselves.
"Well..." Cadance started. "He is currently in Sunburst's house. It's near the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. He's been helping with some research and magical studies."
The purple changeling's expression softened with relief upon hearing this news. "Thank you," he said sincerely.
"And if you and your group require anything during your stay, our staff will be at your disposal." Shining said.
Pharynx nodded his head, before him and his group were escorted to their temporary quarters within the palace.
As the doors closed behind them, the Princess of Love turned to her husband and said. "Shining, we need to inform Twilight and the others about what's happening. They'll want to be kept in the loop."
The prince nodded in agreement and replied. "I'll send Spike a letter right away. He can relay the message to Twilight and the rest of her friends."
Cadance smiled appreciatively at her husband's quick action. "Thank you, Shining. And while you do that, I'll start drafting a letter to Princess Celestia. She needs to be made aware of the situation as well."
With their plan in motion, the royal couple set to work, each fulfilling their respective roles in addressing the unexpected turn of events.
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Just a couple of distance away from the Crystal Empire, the same unicorn mare stood there watching before green flames surrounded her.
Once the flames died away into nothingness, it was replaced with a tall form of changeling queen; Queen Seraphine, elder sister of Queen Chrysalis.
"Forgive me, Chrysalis, but I cannot allow your insatiable thirst for power to wreak further havoc upon our kind." The changeling queen murmured, her voice heavy with regret and sorrow.
With a flutter of her majestic wings, Queen Seraphine took to the sky, her form disappearing into the night as she soared away from the empire.
In a realm far removed from the tranquil borders of Equestria, nestled amidst the tumultuous waters just off the coast of the Slug Troll Swamp and to the north of the imposing Great Iceberg Barrier, lay a formidable rocky island. Its rugged terrain boasted imposing mountains that towered tall and unyielding, while the sandy shores stretched along its jagged perimeter, battered incessantly by the unforgiving waves. Above, the sky raged in perpetual turmoil, with thunderous clouds swirling in an endless dance of lightning and tempest.
Upon this desolate island stood a fortress, its silhouette rising defiantly against the tumultuous backdrop. Though modest in appearance, its architecture was imposing, with a tower adorned by antler-like branches that seemed to reach skyward, defying the relentless assault of the elements.
Within the confines of the Storm Realm's throne room, the Storm King seethed with unbridled fury. His plan to harness the formidable power of his Staff of Sacanas had crumbled before him, thwarted by the unexpected arrival of the crystal creatures and crystal ponies. They had managed to overwhelm his formidable Storm Guards, forcing him and his beleaguered army to retreat to the safety of their stronghold. Adding insult to injury, Tempest Shadow's mission to capture the two princesses had ended in failure; she herself now languished in the dungeon, a bitter reminder of his thwarted ambitions, leaving him seething with rage and bitter disappointment.
A creak from the heavy doors of the throne room drew his attention, and he looked up to see Grubber standing before him, clutching a report in his trembling hands.
"Ah, Grubber..." The Storm King's voice rumbled ominously as he addressed the diminutive hedgehog. "What news do you bring?"
Grubber shuffled forward nervously, his eyes wide with trepidation as he presented the report to his master. "Uh, sir," he stammered, his voice barely above a whisper as he continued. "We've managed to regroup most of our forces, but the losses were... substantial."
The Storm King snatched the report from Grubber's grasp, his eyes scanning the parchment with a scowl. "Substantial losses indeed." he growled, his grip tightening on the edge of the throne as he continued. "But we are not defeated yet. Tell me, Grubber, what of our remaining resources? How soon can we mobilize for another assault?"
Grubber swallowed hard, his gaze dropping to the floor as he spoke. "Our armory is depleted, so it'll take time to replenish our supplies and get most of our troops back in action. Not to mention, we will need to get more troops as we only have like three dozens of them."
The Storm King's expression darkened further at the news, his mind already calculating their next move. "Very well..." He said, rising from his throne with a sense of purpose before continuing. "Gather the generals. We will not rest until Equestria bows before us. Our reign of chaos will not be denied."
With a nod of understanding, Grubber scurried out of the throne room to carry out his orders, leaving the Storm King alone with his thoughts. As the storm outside continued to rage, he turned to the window, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon where Equestria lay. In the swirling tempest, he saw not defeat, but opportunity.
A few minutes later, the heavy doors of the throne room swung open once again, drawing the Storm King's attention away from the window. Standing before him were three generals, their battle-worn armor a testament to their resilience.
"Generals..." The Storm King's voice resonated with authority as he addressed his trusted commanders. "We may have suffered setbacks, but our resolve remains unshaken. It is time to prepare for our next move."
The three generals nodded in solemn agreement, their expressions reflecting the determination in their leader's voice. One of them stepped forward, his gaze unwavering as he spoke. "Shall I begin preparations for another assault on Equestria, my King?"
The Storm King paused for a moment, considering his options. "Not yet." he replied, his tone measured as he continued. "We still need to reinforce our ranks, replenish our armory and recruit more troops. Our enemy may have momentarily repelled us, but they have not seen the full might of our forces."
The generals exchanged glances, silently acknowledging their orders. "Very well, my King," The first general replied.
Turning his attention to the second general, the Storm King continued. "I want you to send scouts to gather information about Equestria's defenses. We need to know everything about their strengths and vulnerabilities."
The second general nodded, his expression determined. "It will be done, my King." The second general answered.
Finally, the Storm King addressed the third general. "Meanwhile, I want you to expedite the process of rallying our troops, restocking our supplies and recruiting more troops. The time for our next assault will come soon enough."
With a collective affirmation, the generals departed, each with a sense of purpose and determination etched on their faces. Left alone in the throne room once more, the Storm King's eyes glittered with anticipation.
"While my first invasion may have failed, but the second one will be more successful. Once my staff have been powered, Equestria would tremble beneath the might of my wrath!" He sinisterly said as he laughed menacingly which echoed through the throne room.
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Canterlot
Celestia sat alone on her throne in the throne room as the Day Court was finished forty-five minutes ago, her mind was currently on Princess Amore and Princess Cadance.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the doors of the throne room opened and Luna walked in, concern on her face.
"Sister, are you well?" The lunar princess asked.
The solar princess's shoulders sagged as she shook her head slightly. "No, I'm not." She admitted softly as her ears drooped.
Luna closed the distance between them, her concern palpable as she stood before her sister, offering silent support.
"Is it about Princess Amore and Princess Cadance?" The lunar princess inquired.
Celestia sighed to herself before she answered her younger sister's question. "Yes... It's just... we had failed to save Amore and the Crystal Empire one thousand years ago as she was turned into a statue by King Sombra before he destroyed her and scattered her fragment pieces across the world. And now fifteen years later, not only we found out that Cadance, who we adopted after we found her abandoned at the garden, turned out to be our friend's daughter, but also Amore was brought back to life and sent the Crystal Imperial to push the Storm King's kingdom out of Canterlot while she went to her daughter to save her from the effect of that dark magic orb two days ago."
The lunar princess listened intently, her expression reflecting a mix of empathy and understanding as the solar princess poured out her troubled thoughts.
"And I don't know what to do." Celestia confessed with uncertainly in her voice as she continued. "I don't know what to do if we meet Amore again. Will she hate us? Will she forgive us for failing to arrive in time to save the Crystal empire? And what about Cadance? When she learns of our past shortcomings in protecting her mother and their kingdom from a thousand and fifteen years ago, will she turn away from us? "
Luna placed a comforting hoof on her sister's shoulder, offering silent support as her sister wrestled with her emotions.
"We cannot change the past, sister." The lunar princess said, her voice being genuine and sincerely as she continued. "But we can learn from it and strive to make amends for our friend."
The solar princess looked at her younger sister.
"And moreover..." Luna continued, her tone carrying a note of reassurance as she carried on talking. "Cadenza will likely extend her forgiveness and implore her mother to do the same. And as for Amore, her desire to reconnect with us is undeniable. And if she chooses to remain by our side, I have no doubt she will remain a steadfast ally, not only for the good of Equestria but also for the bonds of friendship and family that unite us."
Celestia smiled as she leaned in to nuzzle her sister affectionately before she spoke up. "Thank you, Lulu. I don’t know how I managed without you for so long."
Luna joined in the warmth of the moment, a soft chuckle escaping her. "Neither do I, Tia. Neither do I..." She admitted as she shared in her sister's sentiment.
The Frozen North, two days after Cadance's awakening
"Lieutenant, report!" Shining Armor barked.
"Nothing yet, sir. Just endless snow and some boulders as far as my eyes can see." Flash Sentry responded, his wings flapping as he hovered above the terrain.
"That's what the frost animals want you to think," Dew Nourish interjected, striding past the sergeant as she continued. "The frost animals will use the surrounding snow to camouflage themselves and lie in wait for their prey to wander into their trap."
"What do the frost animals look like?" Twilight asked with concerns.
"They resemble the creatures in the Everfree Forest, but with notable differences," Clover explained, her tone grave as she continued. "The Frozen North has changed them. The frost animals are encased in indestructible crystals that cover their entire bodies, except for their eyes. The Frost Wolves have developed heightened agilities compared to their forest counterparts. The Glacial Bears have razor-sharp icicles claws and teeth that can rend through even the toughest armor. The Ice Worms have the abilities for burrow underground to surprise attack and to breathe out icy blasts that freeze their prey in an instant."
"Clovy's right." Hurricane interjected, his gaze scanning the horizon for any signs of movement as he continued. "They're very cunning and adaptable, blending seamlessly into the snowy terrain."
Spike tightened his grip around Twilight's neck, his fear palpable.
"Understood," Flash Sentry said, trying to conceal his unease.
"You seem well-informed about these creatures," The prince said, his curiosity piqued.
The unicorn mare exchanged a solemn glance with the commander and the combat medic before answering Shining Armor's inquiry. "We've encountered them before, during our time in the Frozen North looking for Princess Amore's scattered fragments. We lost good ponies and creatures to those frost animals."
Shining's ears drooped as his expression softened. "I'm sorry to hear that," He said. "It sounded like you three have been through a lot."
"It's alright." Clover replied, her voice carrying a hint of resilience as she continued. "We have made peace with their deaths."
The prince nodded in understanding, before concentrating on their task.
The six ponies and a dragon continued to make their way through the Frozen North, an inhospitable place that was seemingly just snow and boulders for miles and miles on end. So far, they hadn’t spotted any signs of frost animals within the last two days. The seven trudged on for a few more hours in silence before anypony or anycreature spoke again.
"So what's with your wings and your horn?" Spike asked Hurricane and Clover. "They looked different from your coats."
"Spike!" The Princess of Friendship gently chided him.
"It's all right, Princess Twilight." The commander assured her before turning his head to Spike and answered. "As for my wings and Clover's horn, after a thousand years have passed, we started to try to find a way out of the Frozen North. While we were looking, we found some of the Crystal Imperial guards wandering in the Frozen North. We found out that they were looking for Princess Amore's scattered fragments, so we decided to help them. Over time, as we continued to help find Amore's pieces and help, both my wings and Clover's horn gradually shifted to mirror the colors of the Crystal Empire as a symbol of solidarity and collaboration."
The dragon nodded as he absorbed the weight of Hurricane's words. "That's pretty incredible." he remarked.
The unicorn mare chuckled as she interjected. "It's been quite the journey, indeed." She said. "But seeing the transformation of our wings and horn serves as a constant reminder of the bonds we've forged and the purpose we've embraced."
Flash hummed himself as he thought before he turned to Shining and asked. "How could anypony or anycreature adapted to this cold place?"
The sun had begun to dip lower on the horizon, casting its final rays across the landscape. The twilight sky begun to unfurl like a canvas of shimmering hues above them.
"That's actually a really good question." The prince said before turning his head to Dew Nourish and asked. "How do you three manage to withstand this cold? It's freezing."
The combat medic offered a small smile in response to Shining Armor's question. "It's not easy." She admitted. "But years of living here have taught us to adapt. We've learned to layer our clothing, find shelter when needed, and keep moving to generate warmth."
Shining nodded in acknowledgment. "It's impressive how resilient you've all become." He remarked.
Hurricane held up a hoof to signal the others to stop and spoke up. “We should rest here for the night.”
The prince nodded his head in agreement and said. "Agree. Flash, set up the tents."
"I will be on a lookout for any sign of frost animals." Dew spoke as she unslung her spear.
With the combat medic on the lookout, the others got to work. A small cooking fire was kindled by Spike, three tents with sleeping bags in them were set up and rations arranged for the night. As night finally rolled in they sat by the fire, enjoying the warmth as the unforgiving cold of the night got even more colder.
The dragon rummaged through his saddlebag and withdrew a medium-sized plastic bag, his chuckle tinged with nervousness when Twilight looked that and arched an eyebrow at him.
"Marshmallows? Really, Spike?" The Princess of Friendship questioned.
"What? It's been ages time since we've done this together." Spike reasoned as he shrugged sheepishly.
"He does make a compelling point, LSBFF." Shining said.
Twilight looked back and forth between her number-one assistant and his brother, before a smile spreading across her face and said. "You know what? You're right."
Spike smiled and teared the packet, carefully distributing the treats evenly. The Princess of Friendship converted some snow into sticks. They cooked the marshmallows on the open flame; Twilight, Shining and Clover held theirs in their magical aura while the others used the sticks. A while later, Spike rose from his spot to offer marshmallows to Dew, leaving the rest to enjoy the warmth of the fire.
"That reminds me..." Twilight began, her tone turning thoughtful. "As we were leaving the dining room, I noticed the sad looks you and Hurricane gave my friends."
Both Clover's and Hurricane's expressions turned somber.
The unicorn mare glanced at her husband, a pained expression crossing her features before she spoke. "It's hard not to feel a pang of sadness when we think about them. Especially when your friends resemble ours so closely." she admitted softly.
"Private Pansy, Princess Platinum, Chancellor Puddinghead, and Smart Cookie?" Flash inquired as he chewed on a marshmallow, having to know about the history of the Founders of Equestria.
"Yes, those were our companions," Hurricane confirmed, gazing into the flickering green flames of the fire as he continued. "We journeyed together through many trials and triumphs, facing challenges that tested our courage and unity."
"They were more than just allies, they were our closest friends." The unicorn mare said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears before she continued. "We were at Canterlot when we first heard about the Crystal Empire. So, Hurricane and I volunteered to explore the Crystal Empire. While we were walking along the Frozen North to reach Crystal Empire, a sudden dark mists rushed across the snowy landscape that devoured us and we found ourselves in some sort of void. We tried to find a way out, but we couldn't find it. After one year or so, we were just about to give up when the landscape transformed back to the snowy terrain. We were confused, before we realized that we were back at where we were supposed to go. On our way, we stumbled up upon some sort of station and we figured we could asked for direction. When we asked, we learned the horrible truth that... a thousand years had passed."
Hurricane wrapped a comforting wing around his wife, whose tears had started to streamed down her cheeks.
"Clovy broke down when we learned the grim truth. I had to comfort her as she cried and lamenting that we never got to say goodbye to our friends, her mentor and his friends." Hurricane said, continuing off his wife's story as he spoke. "After a while, Clover managed to calm down a bit before we decided to look for a way out off the Frozen North. I don't need to tell you what happened after I told your dragon our story a few minutes ago."
Twilight, Shining, and Flash listened intently as their ears drooping in sympathy.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring up painful memories." The Princess of Friendship apologized, now feeling guilty.
Clover wiped her tears away with her hoof, composing herself before she spoke. "No, it's fine. I'm still trying to move on."
A moment of silence hung between the group before it was broken by the Twilight again.
"Actually, there's something you need to know..." Twilight spoke, getting the couple's attention as she started her story. "Many days ago, Sunburst found Starswirl's journal and he found out that in the last entry, Starswirl and his friends had used magical artifacts and talismans of the elements they each represent to seal away the Pony of Shadows in Limbo. But in order to imprison him for good, they had to trap themselves with him. So me and her friends used those and brought them back from Limbo. Only downside was that bringing them back also brought back the Pony of Shadows. But we managed to banished the darkness back to Limbo as well as saved the pony that was consumed by the darkness. Turns out the pony, Stygian who brought them together, got cast out when they thought that he betrayed them by trying to steal their power when in actuality he only took their artifacts so he could replicate them and become like them."
There was a long moment of silence as Clover's mouth dropped open and she stared in shock at the Princess of Friendship as she proceeded the revelation.
"I... I don't know what to say. All this time, I had thought that he died from old age." The unicorn mare finally said.
Twilight nodded solemnly as she spoke. "It's a lot to take in, I know. But I thought you should know the truth."
The prince broke the silence, his tone filled with sympathy. "It must be difficult to process," he said, offering a reassuring smile to Clover.
The lieutenant leaned in and said. "If there's anything we can do to help, please don't hesitate to ask."
There was a silence before Clover said. "Thank you."
Suddenly, a howl echoed through the night, causing the group to froze. The unicorn mare immediately smothered the cooking fire and extinguished what was left of the flames with her magic as Dew and Spike rushed toward the group.
"Frost Wolves," Dew announced breathlessly, her eyes scanning the darkness as she continued. "Three of them. They seem to be on the move, but they're not aware of our presence yet."
"Good." The commander remarked, rising to his hooves as he continued. "That gives us the advantage. We'll stay low and quiet, let them pass without alerting them to our presence."
With a silent nod of agreement, the group huddled together, their breaths held as they waited for the wolves to move on.
As the group held their breath, the sound of padded footsteps grew louder, the frost wolves drawing closer with each passing moment. Twilight, Shining, Flash and Spike exchanged wary glances, their senses heightened in anticipation.
Suddenly, Clover held up a hoof, motioning for everyone to stay still. "They're getting closer, remain calm and still." She whispered, her voice barely audible above the night's gentle whisper.
With bated breath, they watched as the shadows of the wolves loomed closer, their silhouettes dancing against the moonlit snow. The dragon tensed while the rest of the group remained as motionless as statues.
One of the wolves paused, sniffing the air, while the others pressed forward. Twilight's heart skipped a beat as she caught sight of it.
The Frost Wolf stood before them, its body encased in impenetrable crystals, except for its glowing eyes, emitting trails of dark blue vapor that danced and swirled in the frigid air.
The creature's presence sent a shiver down Twilight's spine, her instincts urging her to flee, yet rooted to the spot by fear. She exchanged a glance with her companions, silently communicating their shared trepidation.
It's gaze seemed to linger for an eternity, its eyes piercing through the darkness with an otherworldly intensity. But just as suddenly as it had appeared, the creature turned and padded away, its crystalline form blending seamlessly into the night.
"Is... is it gone?" Spike whispered, his voice barely above a breath.
The combat medic cautiously approached the spot where the Frost Wolf had stood, her eyes scanning the darkness. After a tense moment, she returned to the group and spoke softly. "They're gone. We're safe."
The group exhaled a collective sigh of relief as the tension that had gripped them began to dissipate.
Hurricane sat up and said. "I suggest we get some sleep. We still have a distance to cover to reach Outpost Arctic."
The group nodded their head in agreement and moved toward the tents to get some shut-eyes.
"So what does the Pearl of Transformation does?" The Princess of Love asked.
King Crestwing looked at her and said. "The Pearl of Transformation can be used to transform the hippogriffs into seaponies and control the weather in ways that can hide our capital if needed."
Princess Cadance was conversing with King of the hippogriffs and decided to get to know about him and the hippogriffs more after conversing with the other leaders yesterday.
"I knew that the pearl could transform any beings into seaponies since Novo did that to me, my sister-in-law and her friends when we first arrived to Seaquestria, but your wife never mentioned to us that it could also control the weather." The Princess of Love said.
"I..." Crestwing spoke and lapsed into silence for a moment, then sighed before continuing. "Cadenza, I'm sorry about Novo. I can't believe that she decided not to help you, your sister-in-law and her friends to fight against the Storm King ."
Cadence mentally winced to herself. She remembered how angry the King of the hippogriff was when she explained what his wife had done, once she had learned that he was Novo's husband yesterday.
"You're not too angry at her, are you?" The Princess of Love asked.
"No, Cadenza. Just… upset and disappointed that she would just outright refused to help." Crestwing said, letting out a sigh before he continued. "While I still love her, I can't let this go. So when I meet my wife, I'm going to have a firm talk with her and ask her what she was thinking and how she could do that."
"I see. And please call me Cadance." Cadance said just as Grimhoof flew in, getting both the alicorn's and the hippogriff's attentions.
"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, I am to escort you to your mother, Princess Amor. She's near the square and wants to talk you about something." The pegasus stallion said as he saluted.
"You don't have to call me by my full name. Just Cadance will do." The Princess of Love replied with a warmly smile.
Relaxing his posture, Grimhoof said. "Yes... Cadance." He gestured the princess to follow.
"Well, it's nice to see you, King Crestwing." Cadance said to the hippogriff.
"Well, it's nice to see you too, Cadance. And please, just call me Crestwing." Crestwing replied with a gentle smile.
With that, the two part ways as the hippogriff returned to his duties while the Princess of Love followed the pegasus stallion.
"So, what was it that my mom want to talk to me about?" The Princess of Love asked after a moment of silence.
"I'm not sure, but she said that it is something you should know about." Grimhoof said.
Cadance nodded her head.
"Cadance..." The pegasus stallion started, turning his head to her before continuing. "I would like to thank your sister-in-law for bringing back Flash Magnus back from the Limbo. You have no idea how happy I was when Nimbus told me what you said to her yesterday."
The Princess of Love could only gave Grimhoof a smile as she spoke. "Well, Twilight is a very resourceful pony. She will always figured out the solutions for the problems along with her friends. She and her friends are the Bearers of Harmony."
The pegasus stallion chuckled before replying. "Now that's something truly admirable. It's good to know that such capable ponies are out there looking out for Equestria's well-being."
Cadance nodded in agreement as she spoke. "Absolutely. Twilight and her friends have proven time and time again that they can handle any challenge that comes their way."
They continued to exchange conversation to each others as they walked toward their destination.
After a few minutes of walking, they found Amore standing there staring into space.
"Your mother is waiting for you there, Cadance." The pegasus stallion said as he gestured for the Princess of Love to proceed ahead.
"Thank you, Grimhoof," Cadance said with a nod to which Grimhoof saluted her before flying off, before making her way towards her mother's location.
"Mom..." The Princess of Love called out, getting Amore's attention before she asked. "Grimhoof said you wanted to speak with me?"
Amore gave a sad sigh before she spoke. "Yes, there's something you need to know. But before that, I need to show you something."
She gestured her daughter to follow her, to which Cadance arched an eyebrow but chose not to say anything before following her mom.
A few minutes of walking, they reached the square of Outpost Artic. In the middle of the square stood a large statue of a pegasus stallion adorned in an armor, holding a sword in his mouth.
The Princess of Love stared at the statue before turning her head to Amore and asked. "Mom, who is that?"
Amore now has a face of sadness and sorrow, before she answered her daughter's question.
"That..." She started, her voice faltered while gazing on the statue as she continued. "That is your father."
Cadance's breath caught in her throat as she stared at her mother for a few seconds before turning her head toward the statue of the pegasus who her mother said was her father.
"What... what happened to him?" The Princess of Love finally whispered after a few minutes, her voice choked with emotion as tears welled in her eyes.
Amore turned her head to her daughter, her expression being a mixture of sadness and reverence, and spoke. "Three and a half weeks after your birth, this outpost we are in was the first to be attacked by King Sombra and his army. Your father happened to be there when the outpost was attacked. He and his soldiers tried to defend the outpost, but over time they began to lose. When the survivors of the outpost arrived, they revealed to me that..." She paused as the pain of old wounds resurfaced before continuing. "That your father was killed by King Sombra's captain during the attack of the outpost."
Cadance slowly sat down in silence, absorbing the new information. Her gut twisted and she couldn’t help but shed tears for a stallion she would never get the chance to know.
Amore enveloped her daughter in a tender embrace, offering silent support as she slowly sat down next to her daughter.
"I'm so sorry, Cadenza." Amore whispered, her voice laden with sorrow as she continued talking. "Your father was a brave and noble stallion."
Cadance leaned into her mother's embrace, seeking solace in the warmth of her love, before whispering. "I wish I could have known him. To hear his voice, to feel his presence..."
They sat there in silence while embracing each other. They remained in that position before Amore broke the silence and said. "His name was Arctic Spirit, and this outpost bears his name in honor of his memory."
The Princess of Love's thoughts swirled with a mixture of emotions, her heart aching for the father she had never known, yet feeling a newfound connection to him through the stories her mother shared.
Amore gently brushed the tears from her daughter's cheeks with her hoof before whispering. "I know, my dear. I wish you could have known him too. If you want, I have some pictures of him."
Cadance nodded her head as she said while sniffling. "I... I would like that."
Before either their conversation could continue, a crystal bat pony guard ran up to the two royals before throwing a salute, getting both of their attention.
"Your majesties! We have just rescued a small groups of ponies and a dragon from the frost animals at the entrance. One of them is an alicorn, and among them are Clover the Clever, Commander Hurricane and Dew Nourish. Au Hasard and Queen Seraphine are also meeting you there." The bat pony said.
“What!” Both the mother and the daughter shouted at once, causing the guard to wince as he folded his ears back in response.
Amore quickly composed herself, her mind racing with the implications of this unexpected news before she spoke. "Thank you, guard. Please escort them to the infirmary and ensure they receive the care they need."
"Yes, your majesty." The bat pony said as he saluted before running off, leaving the two royals alone.
Cadance gave her mother a confused look and asked. "Did the guard said who I think he just said?"
Amore offered a reassuring smile before responding. "Yes, my dear. He did. It's a long story, one that Clover and her friends will surely share with you. Besides, there may be familiar faces awaiting us at the infirmary. "
Amore began to move toward the direction the guard ran off while the Princess of Love herself had her suspicions as to who they were and why.
‘Well, there are two ponies and a dragon I can think of who would brave a frozen wasteland right after, say… one of their family members was taken.’ She thought as the realization sent a chill down her spine.
Cadance began following her mother to the infirmory as both began moving at a brisk pace through the outpost.
‘Oh Shining, Twilight, Spike. What trouble have you guys managed to find yourself into this time?’ She wondered to herself.
