Maud had finally entered the crystallised kingdom. The Crystal Empire. It glistened, it shined, it radiated beauty. Maud seemed to understand why Rarity was enamoured with this place. Honestly; Maud felt the same way about this crystallised kingdom. The more she looked out of the train window; she could see multiple ponies that had a tint of crystal to them. Mares, stallions, fillies.. all of them were like a different type of pony. It was bizarre to believe that such ponies and such a place could exist.
Maud grabbed her saddlebag and placed the bag over her back, tucking it close to ensure protection. She stood up from the leathery seat and made a beeline towards the opening train door and onto the wooden platform of the train station.
She had finally walked off of the wooden platform and onto the grass; towards the front entrance of the crystallised kingdom. Before she entered; she had noticed the entrance was also made of crystal. The glistening in her eye suggested she had absolutely loved what she saw.
Finally; Maud had entered through the crystal entrance and saw many crystallised ponies. Until.. she had spotted the most valuable piece in the whole kingdom; The Crystal Heart.
That previous glisten in her eye had returned. It was most stunning piece of crystal she had ever seen. She walked over towards the crystallised protector of the crystal ponies, the closer she got, the more she saw her reflection.
Before Maud could gently lay a hoof onto the heart shaped crystal, she was interrupted by the surprising play of bugles. She backed away from the crystal heart and looked up. There stood a white stallion with a navy blue mane and shining blue eyes. Next to him was a pink alicorn princess with a very curly mane and tail. In her foreleg; laid a light pink alicorn with a very large horn and wings. This must be Shining Amour and his wife Princess Cadence, alongside their daughter; Princess Flurry Heart.
The princess of love spotted the gray earth pony and was surprised by the regular pony’s appearance. She turned towards her husband, whispering into his ear and gently handing over little Flurry Heart. The stallion and foal watched Princess Cadence fly off of the balcony and onto the crystallised ground.
Maud gave a bow in respect towards the pink alicorn. Princess Cadence smiled gently at Maud’s respectful gesture. “You’re not from here.. are you?” The pink alicorn questioned, prompting the gray earth pony to stand up, her turquoise eyes focused on Princess Cadence. “No. I’m not from here. I’m Maud Pie.” The last name ‘Pie’ was instantly recognised by Princess Cadence! This must be a relative of Pinkie Pie!
“I am Princess Cadence. Wonderful to meet you. I have noticed your last name! You share the last name as Pinkie Pie.”
Maud gave a nod, confirming Cadence’s suspicion. “I am Pinkie Pie’s older sister.”
That had surprised Cadence! She would sometimes drop over to Ponyville and party with Pinkie Pie and she had never seen or heard of Maud until now.
“Well.. it’s still nice to meet you..” Cadence gave a sheepish chuckle and smile. “Pinkie Pie is a delightful pony! She even babysat my daughter, Flurry Heart!”
Maud knew her sister, Pinkie was pretty good with babies. Namely; The Cake Twins, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. But surely an alicorn baby would be harder to deal with than the pegasus and unicorn foals.
Shining Armour arrived shortly after; standing next to his wife, his eyes on the gray earth pony, Flurry Heart still in his arms.
After a brief moment of awkward silence; Maud asked the question. “So… what are you the princess of?”
Princess Cadence found solstice in her title of ‘Princess of Love’. “I am the princess of… love..”
The mention of love did intrigue Maud. She had felt love before. A few crushes and there and even a boyfri- well.. EX boyfriend would be the correct term to describe Mudbriar.
“Love is hard.” That wasn’t something Cadence nor Shining had expected to hear in such a monotone tone. “I have felt love.. it didn’t work out for me.” She may not have shown it but.. the hurt was still there..
Princess Cadence sympathised with Maud dearly. She had been lucky to have met and eventually marry Shining Armour but.. not all relationships go to that level. It’s a bit of a shame to sometimes watch love shamble and fall to irreparable pieces. “There’s… no harm in break ups.. it happens sometimes. But.. breakups do heal.. it’ll take a while.. yes; you may feel hurt and lost without that pony of your dreams but.. it’ll get better..”
Princess Cadence gave a smile to the lone earth pony mare. “There is always somepony that loves you. There always will be. The Crystal Heart can show your future. Would you like to see what the future holds for you?”
Maud had never heard about the crystallised heart having such power before. She knew it could eradicate evil from the land and banish it for a thousand years; it had happened to King Sombra and it even once destroyed him; turning him into many pieces. Maud gave a nod and walked back towards the crystal heart, looking into the reflection before it started to manifest.
What she had saw surprised her. She saw a wedding.. themed around rocks and diamonds. In the vision of the future; Maud had seen herself wearing a white tuxedo with a lavender tie around her neck. A wedding ring being held by a scaled purple claw.
Maud was going to be married in the future! But.. to whom..?
Maybe the diamonds were a clue to her future spouse.. Was it somepony here in The Crystal Empire? Somepony already in her life? Who can say? She did however catch a glimpse of pristine white fur..
She did know and has seen a few ponies who had white fur.. Double Diamond from the village Big Mac’s wife, Sugar Belle had originated from. She remembered seeing him at the wedding. Or would it be Diamond Rose from Canterlot? Perhaps even… Rarity herself..?
So many possibilities…
But Maud knew it to be true.. one day; she would wed and it did pull at her heartstrings..
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Maud had read books and books about the history of The Crystal Heart, The Crystal Empire and even the siege or rather; The King Sombra era.
She begun to write a letter assigned for Rarity when she had finished the last book on King Sombra. Writing her experiences onto the page. She did admittedly leave out some of the details about the vision she had saw but she did say that she knew she had a bright future ahead.
When she sealed the letter with her name and rolled it up, Princess Cadence was kind enough to send it. The note had become a transparent gust of steam, flying out of the crystallised entrance and towards the direction of Ponyville.
“I’ve enjoyed my time here.” Maud turned to Cadence, making the pink princess smile brightly. “It was a joy to have you here! I’ll even tell Pinkie Pie about your trip here!”
Maud nodded approvingly. “I’d like that. I have to go back to Ghastly Gorge now. But yes; thank you for today.”
Cadence, Shining and Flurry escorted the gray mare towards the train station, watching the large locomotive pull up towards them. Before Maud stepped towards the train; Princess Cadence handed a small crystal to Maud. “Just a souvenir for you. You’re free to come back anytime, Maud.”
Maud gave a quick smile and nodded. “I will someday. Goodbye.”
The gray mare had finally entered the open door and made her way down the aisle, past multiple ponies and sat down at the end of the carriage. Finally; the train gave a loud whistle and started to move down the tracks.
Today was a great day.. Rarity would love to hear about it. But for now; it was time to head back to her camp.
Maybe Maud would tell Boulder about her trip.. he would love to hear it..